29 October 2009

A Warning List for Those Who Would Join a Missional Church Gathering


Heaven knows that Mosaic has had its fair share of challenges establishing itself as a viable, thriving church community over the years. There are enough reasons, theories and rational explanations to write a book on the common variables Mosaic shares with many fresh expressions of church (wait... hundreds of books have already been written on the subject); these variables have, for better or worse, shaped Mosaic into the delicate yet resilient, vacillating yet enduring, joyful yet exhausted community that we are.


There are myriad obstacles that have challenged Mosaic's growth, depth and presence in the west end of Glasgow. Some of these obstacles are cultural; some are circumstantial; but some come from within. I wouldn't identify it as 'in-fighting,' per se. I think it's more clearly associated with a misunderstanding of what our church's vision is, and where Mosaic is going.

In my limited experience, I've come to learn that 'broken fellowship,' or relational fallout among members of the Church community, can often be linked to differences in the understanding of common values and vision, combined with the definition and application (or living-out) of those shared values and vision. What ultimately results is the loss of faith, trust and respect in one another's leadership or role within the church/community - wounding, bitterness and blame may potentially follow.

I suppose this could now become a 5-Point rhetorical analysis on the areas of character, responsibility, biblical behaviour and such, but I'd prefer to take this opportunity to prehab the issue by addressing the root of such problems, particularly as it relates to our existing community at Mosaic.

David Finch is the pastor of a missional church in the northwest suburbs of Chicago called Life on the Vine Christian Community. He's also the author of The Great Giveaway, and writes regularly on his blog, Reclaiming the Mission. Almost three years ago he wrote a post entitled A Warning List for Those Who Would Join a Missional Church Gathering. Although he admits to having written it during a time of frustration with his own church-plant, and the fact that "some people (NOT ALL!) weren't connecting with where the church was going," I found much of what he was frustrated with to be similar to that which we have encountered as a church pioneering as a missional community.

In order to make some of the core points on the list more relevant to Mosaic, some of the content has been adjusted, and as I am not currently writing from a place of frustration, the tone of the list will most definitely be different. The overall ethos of it, however, will remain true to the general message of what people can and should expect when joining a missional community church.

Like some members at Finch's church, Mosaic has struggled at times to get people on the same page with where we're headed as a church. Are we a Bible-teaching church for mature Christians? Are we a 'seeker' church for first-time churchgoers? Should people feel like they're in church when they're at Mosaic, or should it feel more like a café, a pub or a living room? Is Mosaic a place where people will grow deep into their faith in Jesus, or is it a place where they will explore spirituality and participate in ongoing discussions about God and culture and Creationism and Intelligent Design? Of course, the hope is that the answer to all of these is, Both, or Yes, or All! We could talk ad nauseum about when 'church' happens and what it means to 'be the church.' We could talk about the purpose of the Sunday gathering and who it's for and who it should really serve. But really, all I want to do is help the folks that I do life, church and community with understand what to expect in a missional church/community... which may be the best place to start...

EXPECTATIONS - Many people bring with them (from previous churches) expectations that certain things will be in place when they come to church. One of the expectations that has been an ongoing topic of discussion at Mosaic has been an established youth program that is consistently in place every week that parents can count on for their kids. You know the kind - it's the only kind that most of us know - arrive, give kids hugs, kisses and name badges, and then leave them with qualified childcare providers until returning after church to collect them before going home - the Sundays of my youth in a nutshell.
I'll be the first to admit that participating in the childcare at Mosaic can be exhausting some weeks; and sometimes I fall into the trap of believing that church shouldn't be so draining. One of the concepts that some are having great difficulty grasping, is something that many of us are convinced of... that the best way to raise children is in vital community where we encounter Christ together in worship and mission; where youth are asked to join in mission with adults (of course, we also have a high value of mentoring and educating the youth so we're not chucking the baby out with the bath water when we seek to adjust the norm when it comes to youth programs).

The following list could be read and viewed as somewhat harsh, or perhaps a bit off-putting - typically anything that rings with some level of absolution (especially when it conflicts with other points of view) can be interpreted as unsettling to say the least, and downright threatening at worst. Nevertheless, it's important to be wary of expectations at the outset of a missional community. Most missional gatherings begin by calling out already existing Christians to gather in a time and place to give witness to the Kingdom of God (so that God might expand it). Most seasoned Christians come from somewhere else with perspectives and expectations about what church is. I think a warning list, therefore, serves a good purpose for both the beginning stages of a community's planning, as well as for a church community (like ours) that has struggled since its inception to truly land on a common understanding of what it means to be a missional community.

I believe an important posture to have is that of a learner, or someone that is teachable. I'm not saying that on my authority this is the official missional community list. As always, these things should be unpacked, sifted through and shaped by those in the community that call Mosaic home.
Is this list necessary? What would you add or subtract from the list?

TEN THINGS ANYONE JOINING A 21ST CENTURY MISSIONAL CHURCH-PLANT SHOULD NOT EXPECT:

  1. Should not expect to come to church each week as a consumer - getting what you need for your own personal growth and development, and your kids needs, and then leave until next Sunday. Expect mission to change your life - however, expect a richer, fuller life than you ever imagined.
  2. Should not expect that Jesus will fit in to our conditioned capitalist assumptions, lifestyle, schedule or accoutrement that may have been adopted before coming to Mosaic.
  3. Should not expect to be anonymous, unknown or able to disappear in this church community. Expect to be known, loved and supported in a glorious journey.
  4. Should not expect production style excellence all the time at Sunday worship gatherings. Expect organic, simple, creative and authentic.
  5. Should not expect a cracking youth program that puts on a show every week and really gets the kids 'pumped up,' without parental involvement. Instead, as the years go by, with our children as a part of our lives, worship and mission (after the hype would have died down), expect our youth to have an authentic relationship with God through Christ that carries them through a lifetime of journeying with God.
  6. Should not expect every Sunday to be a 'feel good' experience, or leave feeling ecstatic. Expect that there will ALSO be times of pain, lament, exhaustion, self-examination, and just plain silence. At the same time, never let us get away with allowing you to leave unchallenged to dig deeper in your faith, worship or mission.
  7. Should not expect sermons that promise that God will prosper you with 'the life you've always wanted' if you just believe him and step out on faith and give more money. This is a life that Jesus promised would be filled with loneliness, trials and persecution.
  8. Should not expect rapid growth whereby we grow this church from 10 to 1,000 in three years. Expect slower, organic, inefficient growth that engages peoples lives where they are at, and sees troubled people who would have nothing to do with the gospel marvelously saved.
  9. Should not expect that all meetings will happen where we meet for church (The Annexe). Expect a lot of the gatherings to be in homes, out in culture, or sites of mission.
  10. Should not expect arguments over style of music, teaching or even outlying doctrinal issues like dispensationalism. Expect mission to drive conversation.
Oh yeah... and one more thing: you should not expect that community comes to you. The truth is, real community in Christ requires effort and a reshuffling of priorities for you and your kids. I understand that you want people to come to you and reach out to you and that you're hurting and busy - we all feel that at times - but assuming that you are a follower of Jesus Christ (this message is for the people who would claim that), you must learn that the answer to all those things is to enter into the practices of "being the Body" of Christ, including sitting, eating, sharing and praying together.

As I read and reread this before posting it, I'm reminded of the struggles we have to contend with by choosing to be part of a missional church. There are certainly easier models that I could be a part of as a leader or as member, and maybe more importantly, there are a number of churches out there that may have more mass appeal, that people may feel more comfortable in. I'm not criticizing those models, I'm simply saying that I have chosen to be part of something more organic, something messier. We'll never be program-driven or teaching-driven. We'll likely never be able to compete with youth programs that attract kids like magnets to a frenzied collision of enthusiasm and energy every week. We're not likely to volunteer how many people 'attend our church.' When we gather, we don't gather for the sake of church, and we don't gather for the sake of community. But when we gather to worship God and love people, we are the Church... and we're in community.

It may be cliché to say we are Christ-driven, but what impassions us is shaping those in our community to know and love God more deeply, and in turn, to bring His Kingdom to a hurting world through mission.


18 October 2009

...these two things

I don’t know that I would necessarily say that I’m slow on the uptake, but I’m definitely slow on documenting or publicizing my ‘original’ thoughts, theories and ideas before someone else does.

Among other examples, the name of my personal blog, PunkMonk – the title of a book released several years after I used the expression in casual conversation, having no real notion how to capitalize on the semi-clever self-description at the time. I’ve also been toying with the idea of documenting some personal perspectives and experiences that I’ve developed and learned from throughout the past 10 years in ministry, and wanted to call it, Memoirs of a Bad Christian, only to discover that there’s a blog with a very similar title already… though I don’t think it’s copyrighted (Ha!).

I’m pretty sure that the majority of lessons I have to teach will come from poor choices, ‘bad’ decisions, and failures I’ve made or participated in over the course of my life. There will be no references to Chris McKenzie when developing models for success. Mine may be more of a retrospective in trial and error - in truth, grace and forgiveness. In other words, being perfected, not perfect.

It would be nigh impossible to draw from the majority of my learning experiences without directly referencing our first 4½ years in Glasgow with NieuCommunities (a leadership development program that actually failed before it began. It just took some of us a little longer than others to face that painful truth). I could attempt to write generally and elusively, alluding to vague concepts and veiled accusations, but that would be unproductive and unedifying, and would just frustrate you and me both. Probably the best way to engage this period of our lives (when relevant), and the way that is most consistent with who I am, would be to take the band-aid removal approach – just yank it off quick and get it over with and out in the open.

It’s been more than two years since we left NieuCommunities, and a lot of healing and growing has happened in that time. I mention this because I genuinely believe that I’ve arrived at a place where I can write on this subject from a healthy perspective that, while may not be all Sunday-morning-smiles and pleasantries, will be an open, authentic and fair account of what in hindsight was a colossal train-wreck; a tragic study in dysfunctional Christian community.

Because I have no desire or inclination to make this an accusation-laden rant to assign blame or responsibility to anyone involved, I will simply say that Jasheen and I left NieuCommunities under extremely painful and confusing circumstances where words like allegedly, dismissal, betrayal, communication ban, distrust, and ex-communication would largely sum up the experience for us. Despite all that, we are now healthy and even grateful for how everything unfolded (this may be unpacked in a later post if I ever discuss what a dear friend has pointed out as one of my biggest flaws – ‘terminal loyalty’ or ‘loyalty to a fault’).

I recently read a fantastic comparison between the simplicity of baseball, as presented in the film Bull Durham, and the passage in Mark 12 where Jesus answers the question, “Which is the most important commandment?”

The Greatest Commandment

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"

"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."

In a frustrated shower-room rant in the film Bull Durham, the manager of the minor league baseball team, the Durham Bulls, explodes in a fury over their recent losing streak, cornering the team in the showers and throwing baseball bats all over the shower floor.

“This is a very simple game,” he shouts. “You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and sometimes… it rains.”

When Jesus was asked by a regional scholar what the most important commandment was, his answer was so wonderfully simple, yet summed up the entire essence of what it means to live the Christian life: “Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your mind and with all of your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.”

At its core, Christianity is a very simple faith that we have a tendency to make excruciatingly complex and difficult. I’m not saying that it’s easy. I’m saying that it’s simple. To paraphrase and intertwine the description of baseball from Bull Durham, and the response Jesus gave in Mark 12: Love God. Love others. Sometimes it’ll be easy. Sometimes it’ll be hard. Sometimes… life rains on you. Or my personal interpretation (and mantra, perhaps), “Love God – Love others – Do what you like.”

Why do we always make it so annoyingly complicated? Jesus said that there was nothing more important than these two things. Not church, not community, not baptism, not worship music, not programmes, not position, not curriculum, not strategies. Nothing is more important than loving God and loving others.

Why do we try and make it about anything else???

(I’ll come back to this)

I reflect on the last 6+ years of ministry here in Glasgow, and I can’t help but recognize the lopsided measure of failures and trials to successes and triumphs. Almost every aspect of ministry in this place has been laden with challenging pitfalls along the way, from team dynamics to cultural adaptation; from missional living to cult-level expectations/requirements; from weak leadership to no leadership; from apathy and indifference to exhaustion and frustration; from NieuCommunities to Mosaic.

And as I reflect, I wonder how the Church would look if we simply concentrated on these two things. I wonder how differently things with NieuCommunities would have turned out if these two things had been preeminent in the handling of a delicate and complicated situation. I wonder how many wounds and how much disillusionment could have been avoided. Would we really care that much about worship and teaching style? Would we concern ourselves so much with thoughts and discussions about other people, and what they’re doing or saying? Would we care so much what people think about us, or whether they agree with us? Would we worship at the alter of Community, or would we worship at the throne of Jesus?

If we simply concerned ourselves with these two things, we would have so much more joy and enthusiasm about living out our faith. We would give and receive so much more grace. We would be a part of something that as of yet we only stage countless meetings and read hundreds of thousands of words about.

These two things, folks, are what it’s all about.

Love God.

Love others.

More on this stuff later…

23 September 2009

Six Years!


On this day six years ago I boarded a plane at LAX bound for Glasgow, Scotland. I didn't know how long I would be here, but if I'd have placed a bet then, I would have lost. Seeing as I've never lived in one place for more than six years (and that was back in elementary school), I couldn't imagine that Glasgow would be the next time I repeated that home-stand.

It's almost cliché (not to mention impossible to quantify) to say that far more than six years worth of experiences have transpired in that time. Growth, grief, faith and development largely describe the past six years of my family's lives.

In many ways it's been harder than I could have ever anticipated; an uphill struggle all the way. But at the same time, I've never felt that I belonged anywhere other than here... going through exactly what I've gone through here. And I feel today precisely as I did two days after arriving... that inasmuch as I can say about anywhere else in the world, it's home.

Since we've lived here for six years without a car, I wish that my shoes could tell the many stories of the places I've been and the people I've met; the streets I've walked and the cafés and pubs I've frequented. I've walked to Yorkhill Hospital to visit Jasheen in the Queen Mother's maternity ward both times that she was admitted there - for Gabrielle and Isabelle's births. Yes, we've had two little girls during our time here, both of which are as much Scottish as they are anything else. I dragged Jasheen onto a start-up ministry team that I will spend the rest of my days trying to convince her wasn't a cult. We've made friends that will be that for our lifetime, and said goodbye to folks we may never see or speak to again. We've cared for friends through marriages of infidelity, abuse and gross neglect - and walked through divorce with some of those same friends. From the elderly to budding teens, we've allowed our home to be a place of safety, comfort and refuge - be it play dates, movie nights, afternoon tea or bed & breakfast. And now I've turned Jasheen into a pastor's wife - by no fault of her own (ha!).

These past six years have been everything but dull. Life hasn't been easy. Being married to me (I'm sure) hasn't been easy. I'm sure even working with me has been challenging for some, to say the least. When we think of what might have been, had we stayed in California near friends and family, in beautiful weather and extreme convenience and relative luxury, we simply can't imagine doing life anywhere else. Glasgow isn't perfect, but it's perfectly suited to us... for such a time as this.

Six years... eligible for citizenship... a blink in light of eternity... just the beginning?

13 August 2009

To Münster, with... love?


As departure time for an upcoming trip draws nearer and nearer, life begins to blur a bit; tunnel vision sets in; anxiety flares; lists are made and items are checked off; and then ultimately, after staying up for two hours longer than you should’ve, nothing else exists in the world except for leaving on time, and remembering to bring everything.

That’s about the time that I start playing a little game that has developed over the course of my extensive travel experience (I’m not boasting. My parents live in the U.S. and Jasheen’s parents live in Singapore.; We have to travel to a staff conference once a year that’s typically somewhere that’s not Britain; we have good friends in different parts of Europe that we can usually get to for pretty inexpensive airfare – like £0.01 sometimes – all that to say, we have a lot of stamps in our passports). Anyway, as I was saying… It’s about that time that I start playing a little game called, “How far into the trip will we get before I come completely unglued and make Jasheen revisit her reasons for marrying me.” It’s not nearly as fun as it sounds.

Before I share at which point in our travels the wheels came off, I’ll just detail the outbound leg of our journey:

· Taxi (from home to Glasgow Central Train Station – 10min)

· Train (from Glasgow to Prestwick Airport – 45min)

· Airplane (Glasgow/Prestwick to Frankfurt – 1 hr 30min)

· Foot (Frankfurt-Hahn Airport to My Place hotel – 20min)

· SLEEP – 5 hrs

· Car (Frankfurt to Münster – 3 hrs 11min – not including stops)

This journey began at about 5.30p on Tuesday evening and commenced at about 4.30p on Wednesday afternoon. And in case you’re wondering, we wash, rinse and repeat on Saturday – yippee. To be fair, our little girls were amazing. I mean, amazing in the way that makes you look at your kids, then look at your spouse, then look back at your kids, then look straight at the audience and ask in external narrative, “who are they and what have they done with my kids?”

(Right before we left the flat, I jumped on the computer and frantically sent out an email to our beloved eNewsletter list requesting prayer for the conference we’re at, and travel mercies for our girls – who typically are NOT good travelers. It wasn’t very far into the trip that I noticed that people had responded. The way Gabrielle and Isabelle held up on the journey is inexplicable apart from being bathed in prayer.)

Ok.. so now that you know the timeline of the trip, we can get back to where this all started, my fun little game. I won’t keep you in suspense any longer. I left the flat feeling surprisingly good considering the upcoming journey that lay ahead. Jasheen even made a point to say, “Wow, you’re relatively relaxed,” something that was clearly uncharacteristic. And I felt good. What could go wrong?

When we arrived at Glasgow Central and were about 30 yards into the station, Jasheen exclaimed, “Oh! I don’t have my license!!!” (for the record, this is the point in the trip where my little game ended – I made it about 15 minutes into the journey) The license she was referring to was her driver’s license; the driver’s license that we would need in order to collect the rental car because we rented the car in her name since my license is expired; the driver’s license that was, at that moment, in her purse at home behind our locked front door. And there wasn’t enough time to return home, get the license and get back to the station to catch our train.

“Seriously,” I asked, “you don’t have it???” I wasn’t angry at Jasheen, let’s get that straight right off. I began to play out the potential scenarios of how this could effect our trip, none of which ended with us actually getting the car. So with the first leg of our trip done and dusted (the taxi), I launch with this zinger, “I’m honestly considering punting the trip and just going home.” Jasheen’s eyes got really big, but not in that ecstatic, you-just-gave-me-a-diamond-ring kind of big… more like that, I-know-donkeys-with-more-sense-and-class-than-you kind of big. And at that point I had effectively ruined Jasheen’s trip until around the time we landed in Germany. It’s a gift.

Needless to say, we carried on with our trip with the plan that we hoped the person at the rental car desk simply wouldn’t notice that my license expired in 2007. No such luck. After spending the night in Frankfurt, we proceeded to the car rental desk… and after being denied we were once again faced with the option to return home early.

Having assessed our options, Mike and Carol Kurtyka, whom we were traveling with, offered to rent the car with one of them as the driver. Problem solved. Reflecting back on the journey, I can’t help but review the trip in Billy Joel style, a la We Didn’t Start the fire fashion:


Got a taxi, Got a train,

Forgot a license, went insane,

Caught the airplane, Ryan Air,

Walked to hotel, didn't care

Gabrielle wet the bed,

Jasheen started seeing red

Tried to rent a car, got blanked

Thought the trip had finally tanked

Carol drove, Sophie chucked

Now our trip was really… well, not that bad.

Arrived in Münster half past four

Room was on the 2nd floor,

Now we’re here, where we belong

Traveled safe, but a bit too long.

Can’t rent a car you liar!

Your license is expired

Your ruse is oh so tired.


Well, we're here... in the land of bier, schnitzel, bratwurst, and the autobahn. It's so great to be back in Germany after so long. I revisited Munich in 1990 after returning to the States in 1989, but have long waited to return. Two more days and then we're back to Glasgow. Can't to see what adventure that brings!

24 June 2009

Something from this past Sunday

St. Ignatius of Loyola's Examen

The Examen traditionally has five steps:

1. Recall you are in the presence of God. No matter where you are, you are a creature in the midst of creation and the Creator who called you forth is concerned for you.

2. Give thanks to God for favours received. Pause and spend a moment looking at this day's gifts. Take stock of what you received and gave. Notice these clues that guide living.

3. Ask for awareness of the Holy Spirit's aid. Before you explore the mystery of the human heart, ask to receive the Holy Spirit so that you can look upon your actions and motives with honesty and patience. The Spirit gives a freedom to look upon yourself without condemnation and without complacency and thus be open to growth.

4. Now examine how you are living this day. Recalling the events of your day, explore the context of your actions. Review the day, hour by hour, searching for the internal events of your life. Look through the hours to see your interaction with what was before you. Ask what you were involved in and who you were with, and review your hopes and hesitations. What moved you to act the way you did?

5. Pray words of reconciliation and resolve. Having reviewed this day of your life, look upon yourself with compassion and see your need for God and try to realize God's manifestations of concern for you. Express sorrow for sin, give thanks for grace, and praise God for the times you responded in ways that allowed you to better see God's life.


16 June 2009

Online Catharsis


Purging My Emotions Regarding Online Absence

I don't know why it's been so difficult to maintain my blog. Of course, life is busy, but I used to find the time to sit down and type out my thoughts and experiences, and keep people relatively up to date with what was going on with the McKenzie Clan.

I have had so many things I've wanted to share on this blog, from... blogging to facebook; from family sickness (I have a throat infection and both girls have chicken pox in varied stages) to pub theology; from books I've read, to ministering in a pluralistic society; from missional community to intimacy with Jesus; from homosexual ministers to dialoguing with Mormons.
The thing about blogging though, is that if you don't do it in a timely manner, the potency of the moment is kind of lost, and then it's just a process of recapturing the moment and manufacturing an appropriate level of passion for whatever that particular subject or experience was. I suppose a blog could be a simple report on what's going on... but seriously (and I'm not being cynical), very few people's lives are really interesting enough to chronicle daily, or even weekly, accounts of what's happening in, to or around them.

Which brings me to my next point. I've begun to see blogging, like facebook, MySpace, online journaling and personal profiles, as another extension of the social networking phenomena that is sweeping... nay... has swept the planet, that really amounts to nothing more than a serious case of global narcissism. We create entire online personas of ourselves - profile pictures, interests and activities, friends lists, favorites lists - all carefully and strategically thought out to showcase to the world the very best version of ourselves; the best looking; the most spiritual; the most interesting.
I was reading in Adbusters Magazine a few months ago about a person who decided to commit 'facebook suicide' (delete their account). Ironically, the decision came about as they were trying to enhance their profile. They were looking for a new, clever quote that would show depth and introspection, when they came across a quote from Aristotle on a quotes website:

"We are what we repeatedly do."

What then are we? If all of our time is spent changing our profile pictures on facebook, thinking of clever status updates for facebook, checking our profile pages multiple times in a day to see if anyone has commented or responded to our most recent posts, is this what we are? People who revisit their own thoughts and images for hours each day? Have we become the most narcissistic people the world has ever known? The most voyeuristic? The most egotistic?
(click on link to examine this question further)

Now consider this cultural trend of self-obsession in light of missionaries. A big part of a missionary's ministry is "donor relations," the job of keeping up with and maintaining communication with one's support base. But I've discovered that my recent view of online personas has permeated my view of missionary personas, as well. On our websites, blogs and in newsletters, we too can create the best versions of ourselves. Missionaries are often compelled to sensationalize their ministry experiences or random encounters with people in their neighborhoods or in coffee shops - making them sound more dynamic than the lives of the 'normal' people that support our ministries. We may feel the need to create context or share statistics such as, "Glasgow is the most violent city in western Europe," and "Two of Europe's 10 worst neighborhoods are in Glasgow." These are true statements, but I don't know many people other than missionaries who discuss that kind of data... in newsletters and on blogs.
I guess what I'm saying is that, in the same way that I grew tired of constantly enhancing the online version of myself, I grew tired of enhancing the missionary version of myself, too. Yes, I'm one of the pastors of a church-plant, but to be honest with you, I really don't feel much like a missionary at all. I feel kind of like a guy that has been blessed with enough time during the week to reach out and share God with as many people as I can; to meet people where they're at and when they're available to talk about their spiritual journey; to process through pain and loss with folks at any given time of day or night.
I guess I just got tired of sensationalizing those encounters and exploiting the people involved. So I kind of stopped writing newsletters or blogging about daily life encounters. I'm certainly not saying that was the answer. I feel I've done a grave injustice to my donors and a disservice to my family by not communicating more regularly with supporters. I guess I'm just recognizing how the self-obsessed online culture has affected me over time and how I'm trying to gain proper perspective in how to balance the good with the bad
...because there is good...

For all the pitfalls and delusions of connection that accompanies facebook, there is, indeed, a positive side to all of it, too. Facebook is a remarkable tool for reconnecting you with people you may have otherwise lost touch with forever... especially those people you lost touch with before the days of email and the internet. I have found or been found by friends I lost touch with 20+ years ago when I moved from Munich, Germany to California. I may never have rekindled those friendships if not for facebook. Now I may have the opportunity to visit some of those old friends in Munich this summer when I'm scheduled to attend a conference in Muenster.
Being a third-culture kid living away from friends and family in the U.S., I'm also able to stay connected with people better through facebook than if I relied on the telephone or email. And thankfully, I haven't had any of those awkward or inappropriate online reunions with girlfriends-past. Probably the worst thing I do on facebook is brag about my kids through pictures. I love posting picture updates of my girls. I think they're beautiful and so naturally, I assume that everyone else will, too. It's sort of like, "Look what I made!!!"

To be honest, I expected to do a mini-rundown on what's gone on with us these last few months, and what's going on with us for the next few (how funny is that?), but it sort of turned into this cathartic process of understanding and describing why I've struggled to write newsletters or blog posts for the past six months.

I'll keep trying to do better... while maintaining journalistic integrity and respect for the people I encounter every day.

2 June 2009

Definition of the New Testament experience of church (ekklesia)

Organic church life is profoundly simple yet endlessly complicated. It satisfies the deepest longings of the human spirit but frustrates the soul and bids death to the flesh. It’s at the same time rewarding and maddening–it is without a doubt the greatest spiritual experience a mortal can know. Why? Simply because God has chosen the ekklesia in her organic expression to reveal the glories and the riches of His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and to bring to this earth the fellowship that exists within the Trinity.

-Frank Viola

11 March 2009

Life in the Fast Lane

Once again, my blog updates have fallen victim to the Tyranny of the Urgent.  Our lives have had so little margin since the beginning of the year that 'normal life' seems a distant reality.  We just can't seem to slow down... and in some cases, it appears we don't want to.
For the past several years we've used the analogy of having a revolving door installed to our flat to accommodate the coming and going of all our visitors.  Never has it seemed more appropriate than now.  Since December, we've had house guests every month... usually multiple guests per month, and it looks as though that trend will continue until at least August.
In addition, we have and host more dinners, meetings, birthday parties, baby showers, gatherings, and general hangout times than we've ever done before.  Yes, that includes when we had apprentices/students filing in and out on a weekly basis for 3 years.

The thing is, this exercise of hospitality is simultaneously life-giving and taxing.  We can honestly say that each of our house guests have been a blessing; they've been encouraging, helpful and gracious - playing with our kids, babysitting them, and helping out around the flat.  In most cases, they simply jump into our routines with us.
As good as it's been to host these great folks - friends and family - we're loving the family time that we're getting for the next couple of weeks.  Our girls are so used to having folks in the house, that when a bathroom door is closed or the curtains are drawn, they call out for the guest they think is responsible for that.
It has been good, however, to really concentrate on giving Gabrielle and Isabelle our undivided attention.

Aside from the hospitality, Jasheen and I have some pretty exciting things in the cooker right now, not the least being a new missional endeavor for me.  I've taken the point on a project that would see Mosaic launch and indoor skateboard park in the city of Glasgow.  In a place that sees so much rain, this could be a great place for local kids to skate during the cold, winter months.  We anticipated the park being built and ready by the end of the year, but research showed that the project will take much longer than that.  In addition to acquiring the necessary funding for the park, we also need time to find the right facility and get all of the certifications and permissions needed to launch and operate such a business.  It will be a business.  It will need to be at least profitable enough to cover the costs required to keep it open.  No margin, no mission.

I'm in the process of raising a team of folks to help with the administrative legwork for the project - not my strongest suit.  Jasheen has been vital to much of this on the front end.  Her business knowledge and experience has really helped me grasp a realistic timeframe for this endeavor.  We're praying about how all of this is going to come together, but one thing I would LOVE is if someone would catch the passion and vision of this project and take a year of their life to join us over here and commit to the project until it's ready to open.  But that's just a dream and prayer of mine.

In the meantime, I'm continuing to serve at Mosaic and Jasheen continues to be supermom and piano teacher.
The girls are growing so fast.  At 3 1/2, Gabrielle is still a relational dynamo... making friends hand over fist at nursery school.  Isabelle turns 2 this month, and she is doing well to keep up with her sister in all their playful adventures.

I will try to be more diligent in keeping the blog current.  Several folks have been encouraging me to write a book (subject of said book is still coming together), and some of the most important exercises for writing is... well, writing... and reading.  I'm going to try and write a little everyday, perhaps in blog posts, and perhaps in my own journal.  Either way, it should help me keep up with the blog better.