Why Patrick Matters

Were I to make a top ten list of "rebel pilgrims" St. Patrick would certainly make the cut. He was in many ways a rebel against the Roman church structure - his missional mandate from God was often getting him in trouble with the church system half a world away in Rome. He was also clearly rebelling against the traditional religion and beliefs of the Irish people...being the first to introduce them to the story of Jesus. Beyond that, he was also a pilgrim - a wandering foreigner in a strange country. As you may know, Patrick was not Irish at all. He was from Wales and taken as a slave to Ireland. At an early age he escaped his captors and found his way back home, only to be called by God to return to Ireland in a dream. He went back to Ireland immediately as a missionary, never to return home.

Patrick only has two small written documents that have survived. Here is a short piece from A Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus:

"I am Patrick, yes a sinner and indeed untaught; yet I am established here in Ireland where I profess myself bishop. I am certain in my heart that all that I am, I have received from God. So I live among barbarous tribes, a stranger and exile for the love of God...If I have any worth, it is to live my life for God so as to teach these peoples; even though some of them look down on me...

Could I have come to Ireland without thought of God, merely in my own interest? Who was it made me come? For here I am a prisoner of the Spirit so that I may not see any of my family. Can it be out of the kindness of my heart that I carry out such a labor of mercy on a people who once captured me when they wrecked my father's house and carried off his servants? In short, I am a slave in Christ to this faraway people for the indescribable glory of everlasting life which is in Jesus Christ our Lord."

Countless myths and legends surround this man. Some may even be accurate...but what we know without doubt is that he was a missionary consumed with the story of Jesus and his love for a people who first hated him. We could do worse on his day then to ask God for that same sort of love and passion for the city we call home.

Improv is timeless...sort of.

Last night the Q City Players (my local improv troupe) played a retirement home. I was going to blog all about it, but Chris Day beat me to it...so why duplicate the cyber effort? We should probably start conserving the internet and save some of it for our grandkids anyway.



Check out Chris' post here.

Project-ed.

I got some stuff going on. It didn't really hit me until this week. I've been rather consumed with launching Reset and the Virtual Bible Study over the last few weeks. Now that those are in full swing, I can see what looms on the horizon. Honestly, it's all exciting stuff.

1. The Road to Emmaus, PA. We have been negotiating a contract with a sales agent in Los Angeles for a few months now to represent this film to distributors. We signed the contract this week and I'm looking forward to see where it ends up. There are three stages to making a film: conception/script - production - distribution. Each stage can take months or years. I think I enjoy the process so much because each stage is a different challenge. (As it turns out, I have a film in each stage right now, because...)

2. VCC 2010 Film Project. The follow-up to The Road to Emmaus, PA will be a narrative film written by Brad Wise. The script is written and we are revising it now. It's a comedy with a big heart and a true message. It will be the biggest project we've done to date as a church. As producer, I've begun looking for alternative ways to fund the project outside of the VCC ministry budget, but it will be a VCC production that we will connect with a teaching series in late 2010. We'll also be seeking distribution for the project on a wider scale.

3. On the personal front, I've had a poker-themed comedy film in various stages of pre-production since I was living in California. At one point, it had grown to a bigger Hollywood movie with name actors attached, but I've recently decided to finish it at a lower budget this summer. The working title has been "Hitting the Nuts: The True Story of the Scott County Series of Poker," but that may change. It is a "mockumentary" (Spinal Tap, Best in Show, etc.) surrounding the underground poker world in rural southern Indiana. I'm producing it through my production company, Rebel Pilgrim Productions. My plan is to shoot it on my summer vacation here locally and in Indiana. We just need a few more pieces to come together over the next several months.

4. Throw my book project in the mix and I've got plenty to think about. (I just received my notes back from the content editor this week.) I have about three weeks to get a revision back to the publisher. I have some decisions to make about the story and characters based upon their initial feedback.

This is all good stuff. I am in no way complaining. The strangest part is that I don't feel especially "busy" these days, just appropriately busy. I am committed to working on church projects on church time and personal projects on personal time. It's amazing to know that making films like Emmaus and the 2010 movie are part of my church job. What a blessing. It's also just like God to let my do some other exciting things in my other time. At some point about a decade ago, I asked God to let me build a career out of telling stories. I thought back then that I'd became an actor or writer or producer or maybe even a teaching pastor. Turns out, he made me all of them. I think maybe that's redemption. That's the way God answers genuine prayers. He starts immediately, but it takes us about ten years to see that he has been in the process of answering them the whole time.

Covenant of Salt, Light and the Problem with Rules

I just posted the week three study on the Sermon on the Mount on the virtual Bible Study blog...

Reset is spreading!

Everyone is getting into RESET. Secretary of State Clinton tried to give a symbolic gift to her Russian counterpart. Turns out they put the Russian word for "overcharge" instead of "reset" on the button. Seems like that's something someone should have been able to figure out. Either way, we all need to reset from time to time.

Brother, Can you Spare a Denarius?

I'm speaking this weekend for the third week of RESET from Luke 20:20-26:

Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be honest. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor. So the spies questioned him: "Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"

He saw through their duplicity and said to them, "Show me a denarius. Whose portrait and inscription are on it?"

"Caesar's," they replied.

He said to them, "Then give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's."

They were unable to trap him in what he had said there in public. And astonished by his answer, they became silent.

I got to thinking. I need me a denarius. I wasn't sure what I would do with it if I had one, but how cool would it be to have an actual coin dating back to the time of Jesus? I put the word out on twitter and facebook on Tuesday and people around the world started looking for the coin for me. (They aren't super hard to find - just hard to find on my budget which is near nothing.) They gave me some solid leads, but we didn't get one. I tried a few bids on e-bay, but then decided that there was a good chance we wouldn't get it here on time for the weekend even if we won the auction. Plus it was getting a little pricy.

So today I willed myself a denarius. I started calling coin dealers around the country and asking them to give me a $150-200 historical artifact for free. It only took me three calls to find a well-educated, Jesus-following Roman coin dealer named Guy Clark. Guy patiently took the time to educate me on the exact coin I was looking for. (Turns out there are only two options that the Luke 20 passage could refer to - The Augustus Denarius or the Tiberius Denarius. He also told me that based on archaeological finds in Judea, it would be more likely that Jesus would have been shown the Augustus coin.)

We tried to work out a deal to buy the coin, but the more we talked the more he opened up about his faith and his passion around his career/hobby. By the end he agreed to send me the coin for a week if I would just pay for shipping both ways. I humbly accepted. So, VCC is getting an Augustus Denarius dating to the early first century for $17.50 this weekend. I'm pretty excited about that.

Now I just have to figure out what to do with it...

This isn't our coin, but it will look something like this:



Now, here's what I need from you. The next time you are in the market to buy an ancient artifact, support my friend Guy at www.ancient-art.com.

Discipleship and The Beatitudes

I just posted week two of the virtual Bible Study on facebook and at www.facebookbiblestudy.blogspot.com. I get 24 hours grace on typo's because it is 2:00 a.m.

No Line on the Horizon

Once upon a time there was a rock band. Not just any rock band, but one of those rock bands who defines a generation. Like all rock bands, they grew older. At the time in their lives when most other rockers would try to recapture their youth and do nostalgic reunion tours , this rock band did the unthinkable. They became brilliant practical theologians:

Reset Resources

After speaking this weekend at VCC for the second week of Reset I had more requests than normal for the resources that I mentioned in my lesson. We give away free New Testaments at The Vineyard and many people took those this weekend. Our bookstore also let me know that we nearly sold out of Bibles. They've never had such a "run" on people coming in buying a Bible for the first time. I took this as a positive sign since I didn't suggest that people immediately go Bible shopping in the bookstore. It seemed to be a natural reaction to the challenge to look at the gospels as the earliest and most reliable manuscripts recording the life and message of Jesus.

I use the website http://www.biblegateway.com daily. It contains several free versions of the Bible online. I tend to default to the New International Version in part because I've always used it and in part because I find it a fair balance between conversational writing and accurate scholarship. Of late, I have also been drawn to the English Standard Version for the same reasons. I do, unlike many theologians, recommend reading The Message or The New Living Bible along with the other versions. These are paraphrased versions written with a strong desire to be culturally relevant. The good thing about them is that they are easier for most people to understand. The dangerous part is that they are paraphrases of an author or collection of authors, not necessarily direct translations of the ancient texts. It's sort of like watching the Coen Brohters' Oh Brother, Where art Thou? to learn about Homer's The Odyssey, on which it was based. It's good to get the feel for what is going on, but if you want to know Homer you should read a direct translations. (And if you really want to know Homer you should learn to read ancient Greek...)

Beyond the Bible itself many people asked about Dr. Greg Boyd's books after seeing him speak on the video. I have read many of his articles and listened to his podcasts, but haven't read many of his books. To learn more from Boyd on the subject matter of belief in Jesus I would recommend one of these two books: Lord or Legend?: Wrestling with the Jesus Dilemma or Letters from a Skeptic: A Son Wrestles With His Father's Questions About Christianity

Other people asked how to learn more about the historical background of the New Testament as they read the book of Luke. There are, of course, countless commentaries on Luke written from every point of view imaginable. Many times having a commentary can distract us from the text itself. That said, I think without someone challenging our modern assumptions we can read things into the Biblical text that are not there at all. My current favorite commentaries for non-academicians are N.T. Wright's "For Everyone" series. I'd recommend picking up Wright's Luke for Everyone

I've been devouring Wright this year...I've either read or started reading five of his books. I loved Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church. He was recently interviewed on The Colbert Report:

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Bishop N.T. Wright

Colbert Report Full Episodes
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Joke of the Day
Stand-Up Comedy

Will this fix it?

I just changed the title of a past blog post and all of my posts disappeared on my blog. It's only seven years of my life, so I'm not too worried. I'm sort of hoping that this new post will make them all magically come back. If not, I'm officially depressed.

Got an Idea?

I just arrived home from a two-day retreat with four others planning the 2009-2010 (August - August) teaching calendar for The Vineyard. For better or worse, I now know what we plan on teaching 18 months from now. Some things always change, but most stay the same. I believe that the Holy Spirit has a way of leading us when we take the time to listen. To me, it has been a lifelong curiosity as to why sometimes he leads years in advance and sometimes he waits until the moment of. It's made me realize that they best way to lead a spiritual community is a rather simple formula:

1. Pray (with others when possible.)
2. Plan (with others when possible.)
3. Pray again.
4. Be willing to scrap the plan.
5. Do the plan if it still exists.
6. Repeat as needed.

Dave, Garry, Jim, Kent and I spent the last two days doing a lot of 1, 2, and 3. Now it's time to start working it out. I'm excited about where VCC is headed overall, and now I'm even a little more excited to see the plan for the next year start to unfold. The way I'm wired, I'm also excited to see what parts will be scrapped by a Holy Spirit inspired last minute Hail Mary. (Yes, I just used a football analogy stolen from a spiritual practice to make a spiritual analogy.)

New things excite me. Always have. I don't like change in some areas of my life. (I always order yellow chicken curry at a six with steamed rice at Lemongrass, for instance. I always think I'll get something different, but I don't.) That said, nothing excites me more than a new idea becoming a reality.

Reset was just one idea generated in this same meeting this time last year. On the way back from our retreat today we saw two billboards advertising Reset from two different churches. It wasn't until I got home that it hit me how much one idea can cause a chain reaction that leads to actual results and a common vision.


Sharing our Reset idea with our friends at Crossroads and asking them to lead us in the implementation of it caused it to grow into what it is today. New ideas are most powerful when they are fearlessly given away...sometimes that's the hardest part of having an idea - letting others have it, change it and make it better. But it's almost always worth it.

I'm also excited about the new web-based Bible study looking at Matthew 5-7. It launched this week and if you'd like to join us, just head on over at this link. I'm happy to give it away as well.

So, here's to ideas, blowing them up and giving them to those who can do more with them than you can.

Facebook/Blogger Bible Study Launched!

I just posted the first week's "virtual" Bible Study at www.facebookbiblestudy.blogspot.com.

Do you want to know what it is?

I've alway been a little into conspiracy theories. The grassy knoll, Roswell, the Steelers purposely breaking Carson Palmer's leg in 2005, etc. I've found that you are culturally allowed to be interested in conspiracy theories and alternate realities so long as you don't fully believe them. It's acceptable to watch UFO specials on the Discovery Channel during a bout of insomnia so long as you don't come to work the next day convinced that we are not alone in the universe.

We all have those people in our lives who believe everything is a conspiracy. I don't have enough faith in people to believe in too many conspiracies. I don't believe that lots of people can keep the same big secret all the way to their graves. At the end of the day, I tend to fall in line and "think normally." Maybe there are aliens out there, but I don't think the government is hiding them in New Mexico. Maybe it wasn't just Lee Harvey Oswald, but he probably had something to do with it. I'm pretty sure 9-11 had more to do with Osama bin Laden than Dick Cheney. You see where I'm going with this...

Now, here's the thing. Though in some regards I am a very normal thinker, I am also the ultimate conspiracy theorist. When it comes to the bigger than big questions of life, I think we have all pretty much been duped. I think we think upside down. What is real, we think is unreal. What is counterfeit, we think is legit. We functionally live our lives with an upside down belief structure. We are dizzy and lost - drunk on what we have come to call "reality."

When it comes to Jesus, many of us (myself included) probably still don't really get him. We've hippie-ized, American-ized, politicized, modernized, suburbanized, mythicized, and sanitized him so much that we've turned him into the opposite of who he was. The Bible has a word for that sort of creation - an anti-Christ.

Jesus came to throw our assumptions on their heads. He called us to live a life that requires we believe in conspiracies. We have to believe that God himself is conspiring against the fallen and evil powers of this world or we will never be able to understand anything Jesus taught us.

We're launching RESET this weekend at VCC. Let's be brave enough to start over. Brave enough to realize that all of us have assumptions about Jesus passed down to us by our culture and our families. Let's push the reset button (take the red pill) and see what happens.



"Let me tell you why you're here. You're here because you know something. What you know you can't explain. But you feel it. You've felt it your entire life. That there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there. Like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I'm talking about?"

Hit the RESET button on Jesus.

I'm very excited about the journey that everyone at VCC will be going on over the next six weeks. We will be studying Jesus and fearlessly looking beyond our personal and cultural preconceptions of who he was (and is) and what his agenda was (and is). THe learning process will be threefold: 1.) Teaching in the weekend Celebrations, 2.) Going through a daily study guide which everyone will receive this weekend, and 3.) Meeting together in a weekly Reset small group.

We are doing this along with about fifty partner churches in the tri-state area. That may be the most exciting part...a little taste of practical unity in a typically compartmentalized world.

If you are in the Cincinnati Metro and would like to jump on board, check out the information on joining a group here.

Here's a little video teaser of what the journey will be like:

Tuba Wolf Just Dropped

Here's a President's Day math problem for you:

B-wise + C-day + Nothing to do on a Thursday Night = ?

Give up?

Here's the answer:

Facebook Bible Study Update

In less than two days, we've had over 150 people sign up from all around the USA, as well as Canada, Ireland, Wales, India, Panama and Nigeria. The students come from all backgrounds: people of different faiths, confessed agnostics and several pastors from different Christian denominations. A few people asked if they could still join if they do not own a Bible. (The answer is yes, we will be using all free web based media including online Bible sites.)

I'm excited to lead the study of the "Sermon on the Mount" in Matthew 5-7 focusing on Jesus and the Kingdom. My desire is not to get as many people as possible involved, but I would like to let people know about it so that those genuinely interested can join in. If you'd like the html code to use the link below for your blog or website feel free to email me. (My address is on the right sidebar of this blog.) I'm not smart enough to post the html code here without it formatting into the logo.

Study starts Ash Wednesday, February 25 and runs through the season of Lent, concluding Easter week. To join click the icon below and ask to become friends with "Bible Study" then send a FB message to confirm.

Mark Driscoll on CNN

A few months ago my old buddy Chris Seay was on CNN and I posted his interview here. Today another old friend of mine was on CNN. Mark Driscoll is the pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. We don't agree on everything, but we spent a lot of time together when we were both very young struggling church planters. His heart for Jesus and people is genuine. Here he is talking about sex with D.L. Hughley. It is just a pastor being interviewed on CNN, but I guess I should say you may not want to watch it with the kids unless you are ready to explain a few new words.



Mark also has a new e-book called Porn-Again Christian that you can check out for free if you want.

Facebook Bible Study Launching

I mentioned a while ago that I would be leading a Facebook Bible Study. I've decided to teach a six-week study on Matthew 5-7 with an emphasis on the Kingdom of God and the visionary ideals of Jesus. It will correspond with Lent, beginning on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 25 and concluding the week of Easter. It may be a rough technical ride at first, but we will get the bugs worked out as we go.

If you want to join, you'll need to join facebook if you haven't yet. Then ask to become friends with BIBLE STUDY at this link: FB Bible Study

Here is the covenant you will be asked to agree to if you sign on:

The FB Bible Study Covenant:

1. We understand that the study is facilitated by a Christian, thus making the study unavoidably biased toward a confessional Christian worldview.

2. Having that understanding, we welcome anyone of any faith or tradition (Christian or non-Christian) to participate.

3. We come from every imaginable religious and spiritual background and desire to study the same Scriptures at the same time because we desire unity and mutual respect. We vow to respect everyone, even those with whom we disagree.

4. We vow to be completely civilized - among other things, this means no harsh or course language on the wall, no proselytizing toward our own faith, church or opinion, and no mean spirited interactions. There are plenty of places on the web for that. This just isn't one of them.

5. We agree that each study will be taught by a qualified Christian teacher/spiritual director. Joining the study is a vow to submit to and learn from the director; and, to do the work he or she assigns. (Think of it like taking a college class without the fees.) The primary covenantal relationship entered is between student and teacher. Each study has one and only one teacher. This is a learning environment, not simply a discussion group.

6. We agree that anyone may voluntarily leave a study or the group at anytime without shame.

7. We expect approximately 1-3 hours/week of independent guided study. We commit to the work and will voluntarily drop the study if we cannot make time for it.

una mas

Center City Collision Videos

Here are a few of the viral spots we did for Center City Collision, Kevin Rains' body shop in Norwood.

On Being Home

The phrase "rebel pilgrim" came out of a time in my life about a decade ago when I was looking for a simple way to express my emerging worldview. The "rebel" part of it stems from the idea that we (those of us now engrafted in the story of Yhwh and Israel through Christ) are, in fact, rebelling against the "normal" order of the world. We are revolutionaries, often standing against very popular and seemingly good ideals that make the world "work" better. In fact, we rebel against many perfectly sane and practical ideals because of our conviction that the created world is moving toward full redemption. We rebel because we do not settle for sane and practical when "thy Kingdom come" is still on the table.

But this post isn't really about being rebels, but about being pilgrims. We are the people of the journey - wanderers with a destination in mind. We are rebelling as we march through the eschaton (last days). The journey of our people began in the Garden, but the last days of our journey began at Golgotha. Since then we have been without a home, and yet paradoxically also with one. Like Israel with the mobile Tabernacle on what they viewed as an eschatological pilgrimage, the house of God goes with us as we move toward the time when the Temple replaces our tent - when God's presence is rooted in our homeland. It is my view that Israel was allowed to live this metaphor for us in the real hours and minutes of history so that we could more fully grasp the better day that is coming - the day when we not only know in part, but in full.

All of this creates an interesting understanding of the idea of home. I believe that our home is to come, yet there are tastes of home here and now. We build, or more accurately, the Trinitarian God builds our home as we go. Our pilgrimage itself is our home, but a better, more real home than this one awaits. I can grasp that we are not fully home as a people, but as an individual it is harder to believe in practice. I want to have a home - to settle - to turn my Tabernacle into a stone building, but I cannot afford such heresies because my people don't settle here. (I should say that I am coming to see more clearly that it is perhaps more dangerous to settle in a time or mentality than in a place. My redemptive theology is emerging to begin to see that God makes good of all things. i.e. matter matters to God a lot more than I used to realize. I have a hunch that the stuff of this world will be around in the fulfillment of all things, but that is another topic for another day. Just to say that perhaps it is more accurate to say we should not settle for the "now" vs. not settling for the "here.")

All this mental regurgitation stems from my recent trip back "home." Deb and I were in Las Vegas for a few days and arrived back in Ohio late last night. It was a good trip. We were able to see lots of friends whom we miss very deeply. I also miss the topography and the city itself tremendously. The mountains and blue sky and neon buzz. I was overwhelmed with sentimentality for most of the trip. It was strange to be back in the city that I knew so well after spending the last four years in two new places. Every street, almost every building, held a memory from ten years of life lived in one city. It was emotionally overwhelming, yet the city itself (along with our friends) had changed a little. Not much - just a little. The city sported a few new buildings with a slightly less fearless vibe. More than in Ohio, you can physically feel the uncertainty of the economy in Las Vegas. My friends were the same people but a little older with older children a few more gray hairs. Both they and the city I called home for most of my adult life had both done the unthinkable - they had continued to exist without me.

I was struck with a subtle sadness as I realized that Las Vegas wasn't exactly home anymore. To be honest, maybe it never was. Maybe rebel pilgrims don't have homes the way others do. The "home" that I desire Las Vegas to be is too lofty of a thing to ask of any city or community. As we came "home" to Cincinnati last night, it was with fresh eyes. This is home now...and it isn't. It is as much home as Las Vegas was from 1995-2005, or as Southern California was for a few years. It's as much home as Columbus was in high school or Russell, Kentucky was when I was a little kid. All of these places are my homes...and all those places are still there. Some of the people I love are still there in those places. But the "now" is not there - my old "now" I mean. The "now" has passed. The truth is, the closest we ever get to a real home in the eschaton is where we live right "now." Home (the Tabernacle kind of not-yet-home) is where the grace of Yhwh lets you pilgrimage today. So in a very real and tangible and joyous way, Cincinnati is now home.

But I cannot settle here any more than I can settle anywhere else. (Again, I used the word "here" but mean "now." Argh. I'm starting to write like an academician.) Home is where (and when) Yhwh reigns fully. At times He reigns in part and those are the times I taste my future home like a nibble of filet mignon on an hors devours platter. But the entire feast is coming - it has been coming since the Cross and Easter and it comes closer every day. And if we can grasp it, it is true to say that The Resurrected One is bringing it to us more than we are traveling toward it. He is coming from our future home with eternal home at his disposal. As St. John might say, a new heaven and a new earth are on a collision course until the day heaven slams fully into our current "now" creating, for the first time ever, our true home out of the broken stuff of our pilgrimage:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” Revelation 21:1-3

Our journey started in a Garden and the last days of it started at Golgotha...but here we see where it ends: at home, in God's repurposed City.

QCP - Best of Cincinnati?

Looks like our little improv troupe is on the official list for best comedian or comedy troupe in Cincinnati. If you want to vote for us, just click here. Scroll down to the ""Out and About" section and click on "best comedian or troupe."

Improvable Situations

The Q City players have three shows in February. Two Valentines Day Eve shows (6 pm and 7:30 pm) on Friday, Feb. 13 at Riley's Restaurant in beautiful Springdale, Ohio. Seating is limited and a fancy dinner is included in the price of the tickets. You must reserve seats in advance by calling Riley's at 513-771-3361. TIx are 25 bones.

For those of you who like your improv cheaper with no fixings, we have a show Friday, Feb. 20. I just got word that the venue is changing for that show, so I'll keep you posted.

You've been warned.

Endorsing Facebook

Myspace is creepy. When I was working as an actor I pretty much had to have a myspace page because there were some casting directors, producers and fellow actors who used it. I still have a page, but check it less and less often.

I was hesitant to join Facebook, because I assumed it was pretty much the same thing. After a year or so, I have decided that Facebook is a great resource for a guy like me. It's the perfect thing for an introvert who is still curious about his friends around the world. It takes a lot for me to pick up the phone and calls someone to "check in." My wife does this several times a day with her family and friends. To be honest, I think Debbie and my parents are the only people I have ever called in my entire life without having a real reason. I hate the phone. I've always loved e-mails and have been a loyal blogger for seven years now. The www gives me that tiny bit of extra space that I need to be a social being. As a pastor of a big church, it's also proving to be a good way to communicate back and forth with fellow VCC'ers. The house church guy in me can get a little overwhelmed wanting to know everyone at VCC, but knowing that it's all but impossible. I've probably "met" as many people in my church via Facebook as I have after the weekend Celebrations.

Facebook is to social networking what Google was to information searching. It's hard to remember the web before google perfected the search engine, but it wasn't nearly so connected as it is now. This post is nothing more than an acknowledgement that i have gulped the FB Kool-aid and firmly believe that it is changing the way people will communicate in the years to come. I'll be using it more and more to communicate with people who may have reason to care about things I care about. For VCC'ers, I plan on starting a FB Bible Study in the coming months...still thinking through how it would work in practicum, so send over any thoughts you might have. What sort of web based Bible study would interest you? How can we use FB as a tool to think out of the box in terms of learning, discussion, prayer, etc.

Here are some links for those of you who facebook:

Become my Facebook Friend.
Official Facebook page for The Vineyard.
Join the Q City Players Facebook fan page for info on upcoming improv shows. (This is my Cincy-based improv "garage band")

Now for a short disclaimer: I don't "poke" or "throw snowballs" or take compatibility tests on Facebook...that's just silly.

D(eadline)-Day

I can remember getting my syllabi (yeah, I just used an awesome plural word) on the first week of every semester in college. It always felt a bit overwhelming to see the papers I would have to write over the next four months. I'd have six or seven classes with a paper or two for each one. The "big" assignments were ten pagers. I'd usually have one or two a those per semester. Add up all the pages for every class and you'd get 30-60 pages. How was a guy supposed to do that and work twelve hours/week at the campus post office plus play basketball and/or ping-pong every night? (I went to Bible college so "partying" was defined a bit differently for us.) The point is, life was really hard back then. Good thing I have more free time to write these days.

I thought about those stressful collegiate days quite a bit as the pages of my book started to add up over the last few weeks. My deadline was 5:00 today and I'm proud to say that I turned in my homework 6 minutes early. Now the editing begins. The content editor will read it and suggest ways for me to fix the story itself. I'm actually excited about that part, though it certainly has potential to be a bit painful. After that it goes to the copy editor who fixes the grammar, spelling, textual errors, etc. My childhood friend Laura Derico was asked to copy edit, so that's kind of a cool side story to all of this.

The title is still tentative, but I decided on the following for now: The Basiped Chronicles - Book One: The Long Night. The evil enemies of my heroes call them "basipeds" though I never explain what it means. You closet etymologists can figure it out.

Here are the stats if you are into that: 36 chapters, 242 pages, 52,162 words.

It may all change, but that's where we are now.

Standard Publishing has been wonderfully supportive thus far. Best I can tell, this is their first fiction title, or at least the first in recent memory. That speaks to me about their faith in the story. I'm excited to work with them to create something meaningful.

You have certain days in your life when you realize that you are fulfilling a dream. Today was one of them.

Fairy Tale'n

Well, today was the day I was to finish my fairy tale. I am almost done and will turn it into Standard Publishing tomorrow. Of course, I mean "done" with the first draft. I'll post the gritty details tomorrow. My brain hurts from the sprint to the finish, but while deciding on the introduction I found two quotes that I am going to let stand alone with no commentary. I thought I'd share those with you now. They are by two men who changed my life by writing books before I was even born. One man changed my life with his fairy tales. The other with his book teaching me that fairy tales are more true than anything else that could be written.

“Fairy Tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us dragons can be beaten."

- G.K. Chesterton

“My dear Lucy,

I wrote this story for you, but when I began it I had not realized that girls grow quicker than books. As a result, you are already too old for fairy tales, and by the time it is printed and bound you will be older still. But some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again…”

- C.S. Lewis in the dedication of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

Classes Cancelled Tonight

God's wrath has hit the city in the form of cold white powder falling from the heavens. No classes at VCC tonight. The four-week classes I mentioned this weekend will now run for three weeks starting next Wednesday. All other Vineyard University classes are also now starting next week including Alpha.

It should be sunny and 75 degrees by then.

The Inner Life

I taught this weekend at VCC on the "inner" life. Most of us would call this the "spiritual" life, and I do as well sometimes, but doing so can sometimes have us forget that the physical, relational and emotional life is also spiritual. The inner disciplines have been an on again/off again fascination of mine through the years. Not to say that I have them figured out, or even that I practice them the way I should; but, I am, for lack of a better way to say it, "into them."

I thought it might be best just to give a series of web links here pointing toward some of my influential teachers and resources on the topic. Pick one that sounds interesting and surf away...

1. Henri Nouwen. I referenced Nouwen as a spiritual guide this weekend in my talk. This link takes you to the Henri Nouwen Society. Here's the book I referenced this weekend: Reaching Out: The Three Movements of the Spiritual Life


2. Renovare (Richard Foster). Foster's book, Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth, is a modern classic and should be mandatory reading on the subject. Two of his other books, Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home
and Streams of Living Water: Celebrating the Great Traditions of Christian Faith, also dramatically affected by spiritual development. This link takes you to the Renovare website which is a ministry heavily influenced by Foster and Dallas Willard, another thinker who radically influenced me early on. His work specifically on the disciplines is called The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives.


3. John Ortberg. John is an author and the pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian in San Francisco. He's one of my favorite contemporary Christian teachers. This link will take you to the video streams of John's teachings. Watch the first two of this year (the series is called "Flow") for teaching on the disciplines.

4. Life Together. Dietrich Bonhoffer's timeless classic.

5. Locally, my friend Dave Nixon is available for spiritual direction and retreats. His organization is called Sustainable Faith. He's also teaching a four-week class at VCC starting tomorrow night, assuming the current ice storm doesn't destroy the city.

6. Bible Gateway. It's a simple concept - the BIble online in many different versions. I recommend it to people trying to figure out which translation resonates best with them. Versions like The Message and The Living Bible may not be ideal for Bible study, but most people just need to know the stories before they can study in depth. They are great for that.

7. The Artist's Way. Julia Cameron's book actually changed the way I pray and think about God. It's not explicitly Christian, but I recommend for any Jesus follower who is also an artist, writer or creative.

8. Celtic Daily Prayer: Prayers and Readings From the Northumbria Community

9. Abba's Child: The Cry of the Heart for Intimate Belonging

10. Thomas Merton. I think this is the official site. A lesser known book from Merton that I'd recommend is The Wisdom of the Desert: Sayings from the Desert Fathers of the Fourth Century (Shambhala Library)

Arise, Peter. Kill and eat.

On some weeks of the month I have an all-day meeting on Wednesdays. This week was that week. It was a fine meeting. A few times each year I have an all day VCC Elders meeting. Today was that day. So, if you are keeping score at home, that's two all-day meetings in three days. For the record, I am not complaining. I'm going to go so far as to say that I actually enjoyed today's meeting. There are a lot of great people leading VCC and I'm honored to be one of them. I left rather grateful and excited about the future.

At the church Shareholders meeting last week someone prayed for me and told me to consider the following story from Acts to seek direction as we lead the church for the next season:

About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air. Then a voice told him, "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat."

"Surely not, Lord!" Peter replied. "I have never eaten anything impure or unclean."

The voice spoke to him a second time, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean."

This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.



Peter eventually realizes that this vision is meant to convey that non-Jewish people may freely enter the Kingdom through Jesus. Though God once called only the nation of Israel to be his special people, now he calls all his people, Jews and Gentiles, "clean" through Jesus' work. This was the earliest controversy of the church. Some felt that Gentiles should basically convert to Judaism before following Jesus, while others (like Peter and Paul) opened the Kingdom to anyone with faith in Christ. The matter was more or less settled at a big wig early church meeting with Paul, Barnabas, Peter, James and the other leaders a few chapters later in Acts 15.

So what? Good question.

It's true that there aren't many Christians running around trying to convert people to Judaism these days. Here's the question that this story points me to now - is there anything in our/your church that, if God asked you to do, your response would be "Surely not, Lord. I have never done that." I think if we are honest, most American churches have a longer list of things that they will not do simply because they are a church. Maybe we need some reptile-eaters out there these days. Maybe some of our churches need to be bold and do things that churches aren't supposed to do. I don't really have thoughts on what these things are...I'm pretty sure it's not dealing drugs or making adult films. I just know that God is in the business of asking his people to do seemingly ridiculous, sometimes near scandalous things for the sake of his plan.

So...for you church leaders out there. what would be let down from heaven in your blanket?

Once you figure it out, arise, kill and eat.

MLK Day 2009

I heard Barack Obama say something to the effect that we live in a world where our parents can't believe that there is a black president, but our children can't believe that there has never been one before. That's pretty good...and, if true, an optimistic sign of where we are heading.

Like almost everyone else I know, I walk around telling people that I am not a racist. I have genuine friends of all backgrounds. I don't think I am prejudiced, but I probably am. Maybe we are all in denial. Maybe we are all a little afraid of people who don't look or act like the people we grew up around. A lot of my friends, black and white, are islamaphobes. Some of my friends are homopobes. Some of my gay friends hate Christians. One of my friends is even filled with hatred for the Steelers. I guess it's complicated.

As a white guy in America, I can try to apologize for white guys throughout history who mistreated their fellow human beings for the worst reasons of all. I had a black friend a few months ago tell me that he hates it when white people apologize for slavery. I can see both sides of that one. Maybe my problem is that I don't fundamentally see myself as a white guy, but as a slave of Jesus. I am more prone to apologize for what my people (Christians) have done to promote or ignore racism than what my white forefathers have done.

The unavoidable truth is that the main reason I am a suburban middle-class American is because I was born to a white middle-class American family. If you track my story backward it will eventually lead to the story of slavery. My ancestors were white and got a head start in the American experiment. That is a true reality that cannot be ignored. At some level, I benefit from the sins my forefathers. It seems to me, however, that to respond to that reality with guilt or self-hatred won't get us anywhere. All I know to do is to trade in that story for the story of the cross. To die to the sins of my past. To invite others of all races and stories to die to their story in favor of the Jesus story. To be engrafted into the story of Jesus, a Jewish rebel pilgrim. In doing so, we find that Abraham and Moses become our new forefathers...our new story. I think this is what St. Paul's ministry was largely about: inviting us Gentiles into the Yhwh story through Messiah Jesus.



I think that today and tomorrow represent a true redemption within the American story. Historically speaking, what is about to happen tomorrow is unthinkable. As an American, I am glad that I get to see it in my lifetime. As a Jesusite, it causes me to look forward to a day when the earth will be fully ruled by King Jesus and his Father, my God. When he fully reigns it will look something like this:

After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." Revelation 7:9-10

J.J. Abrams

This 18 minute talk is great for writers, creatives, innovators, storytellers, and LOST fans. (It gets better as it goes...) I hope you take the time to watch it and think about how to use your own "mystery box" in the next story you tell. If you work for me, you don't have a choice...this is homework :)

1,000 Beautiful Things.

Jump in on Brad's latest idea.

Commissioned to Tell Stories

God's Message came to Ezekiel: "Son of man, make a riddle for the house of Israel. Tell them a story..." Ezekiel 17:1

I am asked about once a month to suggest books on storytelling for people interested in learning more. I rarely have a good response. I learned to tell stories from Mark Ellwood, my high school history teacher. I learned more from The Second City and The Groundlings. I learned about story as a kid from the wisdom of Joseph Campbell as translated to me via the imagination of George Lucas in the Star Wars Trilogy. Then I learned even more by reading the narrative of the Bible, particularly the gospels. To be honest, I've learned the most about storytelling by telling stories. It's kind of like driving or eating sushi...you just get used to it and then you are good at it.

Today I rediscovered someone else who taught me that storytelling is fundamentally a missiological activity. Lesslie Newbigin says the following in his tiny book, Truth and Authority in Modernity:

"Perhaps one final point needs to be made. If, in the postmodern world, we tell our story, we will be met with this rejoinder: "Yes of course. That is your story. But there are other stories. Why should I believe this one?" How does the Christian respond to this? Clearly we must resist the temptation to propose some supposedly more fundamental and more reliable truth on the basis of which the story of the gospel could be validated. Certainly we may try to show how the biblical story makes sense of human life in a way that no other can; but even this becomes clear only when one is a part of the story. In the end, the only answer we have to give is along such lines as these: "I have been called and commissioned, through no merit of mine, to carry this message, to tell this story, to give this invitation. It is not my story or my invitation. It has no coercive intent. It is an invitation from the one who loved you and gave himself up for you...That invitation will come with winsomeness if it comes from a community in which the grace of the Redeemer is at work. Whether or not it is accepted is not a matter in our power. To be anxious about it, to fret about it, is a sign of unbelief. The one who invites is in control, not we...We have to tell and live the story faithfully; the rest is in God's hands. What matters is not that i should succeed, but that God should be honored."

Seven years ago, I wrote this in the margin of that book: "If believed, this changes everything."

Turns out, for me, it has.

Yes, No.

One of my favorite SNL sketches last year. It was the very last one of the episode, where sketches usually go to die. It took me a while, but I found it. Yes...no.

The Eyes Have It

I've had the kind of sickness this week that slows you down in an annoying way. A throat infection that moved to my eyes...just annoying more than anything else. I can't read or write for more that a few minutes without my eyes burning. I've slept a little more than normal this week and feel great from the neck down. I picked up some magic drugs at Walgreens a few days ago and feel a little better today than yesterday. (Side note: some Walgreens now have nurse practitioners stationed next to the pharmacy to treat colds, flus, etc. It was cheaper and faster than going to the doctor. Whoever thought of that should get a raise. I recommend it.)

The big bummer for me is that the first week of January is usually one of my favorite weeks of the year. I tend to write some Jerry McGuire-style manifesto about the coming year. It has been hard to access the energy to dream about 2009, but I feel it starting to kick in now. I'll just be a week behind all year, which means I'll be celebrating our national freedom on July 11 among other things. Look for an inspiring manifesto next week...

{Re} Gifter Stream is Live

If you were unable to see The {Re} Gifter at VCC, you can now watch it online at www.regiftershow.com. Not quite the same as being there, but if you have a free hour I hope you can see it.

Blah.

I nearly always get sick after Christmas. I think it's because I tend to run myself to the point of exhaustion preparing the next great Christmas production every year. Even when I wasn't in church work, I'd often find myself involved in some big project like the timeless classic A Christmas of Convenience. (Just ask the 80 people who saw it...)

So, I'm sick. I'm not sure how sick I am just yet. I've had a slight fever today and a sore throat. I coughed all night last night which drove me into the arms of my favorite alcoholic beverage, NyQuil. (It's made with bits of real panther, so you know it's good.) Anyway, I took a few swings at 4:00 a.m. and woke up at 1:30 this afternoon. I had some food and tried to work, but was back in bed by 3:00. I'm speaking this weekend at VCC to kick off our new series called One Life. I'm excited about it and should be able to push through in spite of the plague.

On a very, very side note. I have a fun audition Monday for Betty Anne Waters, a new Hillary Swank film shooting in Michigan. This would have been a big audition for me even when I was living in Los Angeles - I'd get about one big feature film audition per month. Evidently, I get one about every two years living in Ohio. It's not my job anymore, just the world's most infrequent hobby. I'm reading for the part of an Irish bartender named Aidan, so I'll need to get one more visit in with Jason before he goes home to work on my accent.

Until then I'll be talking myself out of my illness...

Happy Anniversary, Deb.

Fourteen years ago today I married the most beautiful, kind, true and forgiving person I have ever met. I was 21. She was 20. We were just kids. We didn't know the first thing about anything, with one possible exception. We had learned a thing or two about marriage. Unlike so many of our friends, we were both blessed with parents who found a way to never give up on marriage. We grew up surrounded in the security of a loving mother and father who not only loved their children, but also genuinely loved and served each other. Fidelity is in our genes.

I tell people all the time that Debbie has been married to four different guys with the same social security number. Most gals would have given up on a guy like me at some point. God knows that I have given up on myself again and again. But she hasn't. She has an amazing capacity to see what I can become in spite of what I currently am. She embodies grace and hope. She's a great mom, and my boys will grow into men who know how to love and be loved because she is their mother.

Fourteen years into the journey, and I'm still that guy trying to figure out who I really am. I don't know if or when I'll find all my answers, but I am confident that when I do, Debbie will be there loving and supporting me the same way she as for the last 5,110 days. She's the one thing in my life that i never doubt...she's the most real thing I know and I love her.

Happy Anniversary, Deb.

This Week

I'm taking some time off this week to try to finish my book, A Tale of Two Kingdoms. I'm sitting at around 26,000 words as of yesterday. Contractually, they want it to come in between 30,000 - 35,000 which I think will be 150-200 pages. I have no fear of hitting the word count by January 30 (the deadline), but I am nervous about ending the story properly. As a writer, I've generally had a discovery philosophy where I much prefer to just write and see where I end up. This has it's benefits...and I'm sure it is rooted into my improvisational background, but it also has some drawbacks.

I can tend to meander and sometimes lose the throughline of the story I'm telling. I generally make up for this by constantly editing the entire story every so often to make sure I am on the right track. I have a loose outline for the last six chapters of the book that I'm writing now, but just having the outline for some reason creates some angst. Perhaps it is that, knowing this creation will be published, there is no turning back. This is the ultimate loss of creative control. I've been editing this story for nearly eleven years. Next month, others will start editing it with me...and then it will be cast in stone (or hardback) in the Library of Congress. It will be done forever. Only George Lucas can go back and have Greedo shoot first. The rest of do not have that luxury.

The big decision now really hinges on how to end this tale. The publisher and myself would love to see it become the first in a series, but that will depend on how it is received in the broader market. (I don't think they create an extended series based on an author's parents and 100 closest friends buying a book.) So, I'm trying to end it with both hope and some measure of uncertainty. If I knew for sure that there would be a second, the ending would be a bit more menacing. If I knew it was the only one, it would likely end with all the loose ends tied.

I know that I want the final chapters to have a strong eschatological emphasis. To help me prepare, I'm currently reading N.T. Wright's Surprised by Hope. I just started it, but I can tell it is going to be good - possibly mind blowing. Feel free to join me.

Chris Seay on CNN

Chris is an old friend of mine and a genuinely good guy. He was interviewed this morning on CNN at 5:45...about four hours before I woke up. Luckily, I found the clip on their website:

The God in the Cave

This sketch of the human story began in a cave; the cave which popular science associates with the cave-man and in which practical discovery has really found archaic drawings of animals. The second half of human history, which was like a new creation of the world, also begins in a cave. There is even a shadow of such a fancy in the fact that animals were again present; for it was a cave used as a stable by the mountaineers of the uplands about Bethlehem; who still drive their cattle into such holes and caverns at night. It was here that a homeless couple had crept underground with the cattle when the doors of the crowded caravanserai had been shut in their faces; and it was here beneath the very feet of the passersby, in a cellar under the very floor of the world, that Jesus Christ was born. But in that second creation there was indeed something symbolical in the roots of the primeval rock or the horns of the prehistoric herd. God also was a CaveMan, and, had also traced strange shapes of creatures, curiously colored upon the wall of the world; but the pictures that he made had come to life.

Want to keep reading? See the rest of this chapter of GK Chesterton's The Everlasting Man by clicking here.

Sam, Joe. Joe, Sam.

The {Re}Gifter is over. At least for now. It may try to resurrect itself in one way or another. It's very late and I may write more soon about what I learned through the three month process of seeing this thing come together. It was a bummer that we had a huge ice storm on closing night. Several thousand guests couldn't make it, but the right people were there. It was a good night.

It was good to give Sam (aka "The Creep" (aka "The RE-Gifter")) an official good-bye watching his beard float away down my bathroom sink. My face skin lives again...here's proof:

Sam:
Joe:

Closing Time.

The {Re} Gifter closes tonight at VCC. It's been a great run so far. If you haven't seen it yet, there should be seats available at the door. Just show up early for the 6:00 or 8:00 show.

Then tomorrow is our annual Christmas Eve Donut Outreach at 5:00 pm. We will be handing out 24,000 Krispy Kremes all over the city. This will be our second Christmas Eve here, and last year was a cool family moment for us.

Then I will lock myself in my house with the family for a week.

Opening Night

The {Re}Gifter opens tonight with two shows at 6:00 and 8:00. We have run out of the 2,000 released tickets for each show tonight, but there are a few hundred balcony seats available for walk-ins. If you'd like to come Monday or Tuesday, there are about 300 tickets left for each performance. They are free at www.regiftershow.com. We expect every show to sell out, so reserve your seats now if you haven't yet. You can also return extra tickets you won't be using via the website.

There are different emotions on the opening night of a film vs. the opening night of a stage play. Since the {Re}Gifter is both film and play, I get to experience the double whammy today. Days like this are what performers live for. The buzz of three months (or more) of daily work going on (or off) in one solitary hour. The efforts of a team of nearly 200 people merging to one place at one moment. It's a beautiful thing.

I'd like to thank Brad Wise for dreaming this thing up and leading every aspect to conclusion. I'm proud to call him a friend and partner.

Book Deal.

This has been a long week as we prepare for The {Re} Gifter at VCC. However, I was able to take an hour today and head over to Mason to sign a contract for my first published book. I'm happy to let you all know that Standard Publishing will be publishing my allegorical "fairy tale for adults" called A Tale of Two Kingdoms.



I started writing this book over ten years ago to coincide with a Kingdom teaching series at Apex. Through the years I have written in spurts here and there. I have one month to finish the manuscript which will come in around 35,000 words. From there it will be edited and eventually end up becoming a real live book sometime in 2009. If you would like a teaser, I read two chapters this summer at VCC during our Kingdom Cliffs Notes series. You can listen to the audio stream by clicking here.

I suppose today was a big day in my life, but in some ways it just felt like one day in a series of a decade of days that has seen this story evolve and refuse to go quietly into the night.

Here's the press release from Standard Publishing...it's humorous to see them attempt to explain who the heck I am:

ACTOR AUTHOR INKS CONTRACT

Author Joe Boyd knows a powerful little secret: Stories for kids aren’t only for kids. On December 18, Boyd signed the contract for his upcoming book, A Tale of Two Kingdoms, in Standard Publishing’s offices. Written as an allegorical fairy tale, this “kids story for adults” unpacks some relevant realities of the Christian faith in a simple and entertaining manner. In terms of its allegory and mythos, A Tale of Two Kingdoms is written in a style somewhere between C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia and Spencer Johnson’s Who Moved My Cheese? Joe has had articles published in Leadership magazine, The Lookout, Christian Standard, and House 2 House magazine.

Matt Lockhart, vice president of product development, said, “We’re very excited to be partnering with an engaging storyteller like Joe.” A teaching pastor at the 6,000-member Vineyard Community Church in Cincinnati, and 1995 graduate of Cincinnati Christian University, Joe worked formerly as an actor in Hollywood. His on-screen credits include a recurring role on ABC’s General Hospital as well as starring in Breaking Vegas (The History Channel) and American Heiress (Fox).

A graduate of The Second City Training Center and The Groundlings, among the most prestigious comedy training centers in America, Joe is considered an expert in the world of improvisational comedy. He has performed in more than one thousand improv performances, including a three-year run as Michael Just in the Las Vegas/Broadway Company of Tony ’n’ Tina’s Wedding.

Joe is driven by the concept that story is one of the most powerful ways for communicating truth and that storytelling is foundational for any culture to find its particular meaning and place in history. As a result, he has a passion for writing and telling good stories. Standard Publishing is excited to break into this category of adult fiction/allegory with the release of A Tale of Two Kingdoms in November 2009.

Nearly Bush Whacked

Love him or hate him, the prez has cat-like reflexes.

Last Call for The {Re} Gifter

The {Re} Gifter shows twice each night on December 21, 22 and 23. We've given away 9,000 tickets, but there are still some available at www.regiftershow.com. If you are in the Cincinnati area, hope to see ya there.

Tough Times, Bold Church

I do not believe that you have to be part of an organized 501(c)3 non-profit organization (what us Americans often call a "church") to be a follower of Jesus. Some people probably should not be a part of one. Some people should probably take a break from "organized church" so that they can explore Christianity at a more organic level. I needed to do that. I spent many years on the outskirts of organized Christianity. At first, it wasn't too healthy. Like I tend to do, I made it very black and white. I concluded that all organized church was all wrong - too political, too business like, too event centered, etc. The answer for me, back then, was to reject all of it. There was a year in my life when I would have even thought it to be sinful to go to a church service or be a professional pastor. I see how I got there. I had to go there.

Then I got back in. The full circle journey taught me many things. Leaving church work to work at the Rio Casino for several years taught me that God is everywhere. I needed to see God in a casino to believe he also exists in a church building. I needed to see that a real church could exist outside of a church building to believe that a real church could exist within one. I needed to see that the real issues with church are caused by the real sins in people...and that those sins exist in all churches of all sizes.

Some of my house church friends, no doubt, worry about my soul now...the same way my organized church friends worried about me in my house church days. The truth is I am a hybrid. I'm now part of a 501(c)3 in the state of Ohio called Vineyard Community Church. I don't need to be a part of it to follow Jesus. I don't need to be a part of it to be right with God. I don't need any organization called "church" to be a part of a real church. That's not at all what it's about for me. I have chosen to be a part of it. (Or depending on your theology, God has chosen me to join this story.) Either way, it's a choice.

I choose it, not because it is a perfect organization, but because I believe we can do good and be good together. I believe in the mission - to love the people of Cincinnati into a relationship with Jesus and to give away to the world all that God has given to us. If you called it "The Blue Papaya Cafe" and that was the mission, I'd join up. I believe in the values: a group of people who strive to be a servant community, outward-focused, worshipful, agents of empowered transformation and relevant to the world we live in. Those are five values that I would take as a life-long vow with a group of friends if given the opportunity. I believe in the output of our organization. I see the poor served, the weak elevated, and relationships restored. I see Jesus working in us and the Kingdom coming in what we do...that's why I joined. It's where I'm supposed to be now. Maybe in thirty years I'll be in some non-institutional Jesus hippie commune for retirees, but for now this is where God has brought me.

For the record, that's why my family gives to this place...not because we have to, but because we want to. We give because this is our mission. We give because we have chosen this organization to live out our Kingdom values at this time.

There is great momentum at VCC right now. Hundreds of new people are coming around these days. We may see 10,000 guests at the {re} gifter shows next week to experience a simply allegory of the incarnation. Thousands of families have been served at The Healing Center. Hundreds of students are being loved. The poor are given dignity. The gospel is preached. Lives are being saved. God is moving.

However, there is not momentum in the American economy. Jobs are being lost. Stocks are going down. Some who want to give more cannot because they have nothing to give. But some of us haven't lost our jobs. Some of us have limited giving because of fear. This is not who we are. We are fearless. This is the time to be bold. Debbie and I are going to give extra this month to VCC. We invite those of you who are able to sacrifice with us so that we can move forward with all of our plans to love and give as a church in 2009.

For VCC'ers...click here to join us.

Tis the season.

Assuming Dave doesn't get laryngitis or win a free trip to Cancun over the next three weeks, I've taught my last four weekend Celebrations of the year at VCC. This weekend we looked at Peter's life as an example of how Jesus saves a person over time by working us through our rebellion, pain and self-centered dreams toward a redeemed life. God recycles the junk we make of our life and gives it back as beautiful and useful art.

We concluded by looking at a chapter in C.S. Lewis' The Great Divorce. It's a favorite of mine:




Tahnee Torres, Brad, Isaac and some of our other artists at VCC worked up a cool video rendering of the chapter. You can see it when the weekend video streams on the VCC website tomorrow.

I'll be plenty busy over the next two weeks getting ready for The {Re}Gifter. If you haven't booked your free tickets yet, do it now. It looks like we could fill all six shows. There are also some cool tools at www.regiftershow.com to invite your friends via e-mail.

Migraine

Well, today may as well have not happened. I woke up with a migraine. This happens to me sometimes. When I work at a church I get about one migraine per week. When I don't I get one about every three months. I don't know why this is the case. I'd like to get all holy and call it my ministry "thorn in the flesh," but I'm pretty sure it is simply how my body responds to stress.

Of the four or so migraines per month, one is usually bad enough that I'll have to find thirty minutes to rest and then go about my day. I usually take Excedrin Migraine and it magically goes away in a few hours. About once a year I am afflicted so bad that I have to go home and go to bed.

Then there is the perfect storm/category five/mother of all migraine migraines. The last one I remember was around 1996. I shut down, see blinking lights, toss my cookies repeatedly and generally pray for an early death. Today was the day.

It started when I woke up, grew worse during my first few meetings and apexed during lunch with my friend Derek. Lets just say that while Derek was eating his enchilada platter I was in the El Rancho Grande bathroom doing my best impersonation of your average frat boy at 9 a.m. on a Sunday morning. Not my best moment.

I had to stick Derek with the bill and tried to make it home, but ended up taking a few scenic stops along the way.

I eventually got home and went to bed. That is the only cure. I woke up around 5:30 with what I call a migraine hangover. It's like someone has stuffed cotton in my ears and wax paper over my eyes. I now have a once-a-week level headache, which means I can function and, for whatever sadistic reason, write about throwing up at a Mexican restaurant for the world to read.

Here's the big confession: My life is easy. I thought of my friends who have much worse physical ailments than me on my way home today and managed a few prayers for them amidst my agony. That's all the wisdom I have on the events of my day...we all hurt, some more than others. But maybe our pain is the thing that reminds us to care for each other.

Get your {Re} Gifter Tickets Now!

The website is up and running. Go to www.regiftershow.com to reserve your seats for the show!

Hamburger Happiness

A little piece of Southern California has come to Cincinnati. Brad beat me to it, but I will eat here this week. This is good news. Only this would be better news, but I am sufficiently happy.