Please pray for Pastor Matt Chandler and family

For those of you who do not know Matt, he is the lead pastor at The Village Church in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.  Matt has heavily influenced my life, journey and ministry through his teachings.  Here is the note from The Village Church website:

Matt Chandler suffered a seizure Thursday morning while at home, was taken to a nearby hospital and is now at home resting with his family.

Matt hit his head when he suffered the seizure and was taken to the hospital by ambulance. Doctors ran several tests on Matt and will continue to run tests in the coming days. We will keep you posted.

Please pray for Matt, Lauren and the kids. The best we can do as a church body right now is to give him space and our prayers. He is surrounded by family members, the elders and friends.

Matt gave a further update on his Twitter feed that he has been diagnosed with a small mass on the frontal lobe of his brain.  Further tests will be run next week.

The Idea Camp: Pacific Northwest

Well all the Idea Campers are set up for another exciting event beginning today in Portland, Oregon at 11:00 PST.  The focus this time around is “Being Present with the City”.  This is the description from their site:

This particular Idea Camp will focus on the topics of seeing our cities through the eyes of God and expressing love by being present in practical ways. The umbrella of being present encompasses themes of walking with and serving our neighbors as opposed to doing ministry to them. As primarily a faith-based conference, there will be an on-going focus on the importance of respectfully listening to the communities we live in, collaborating across faith traditions to pray and serve, and embracing our communities’ issues as our own.

Using an interactive platform and collective of leading thinkers and practitioners from the field, participants will be able to learn from leading experts as well as one another, share best practices, and work toward collaborative efforts. In addition, those following online will be able to experience the conference via the latest tools in social media. All of the general sessions and a handful of workshops will be streamed live and recorded to be used as future resources online.

If you are like me and cannot physically attend this event, but want to still check it out, follow their live stream here.  It runs today and tomorrow.  It’s sure to be a great event.  Check out other details at The Idea Camp website.

thirty-four reasons:

life

love

family

Lisa

Madison

Dylan

work

home

water

food

friends

community

words

wisdom

collaboration

freedom

connection

grace

sunrises

sunsets

the smell of wood burning

the warm of a fire

beauty

design

Jesus

long hikes

the smell of rain

a warm embrace

music

the smell of coffee

an ice cold beer

beaches

teaching

thirty-four years

Switchfoot’s Hello Hurricane

Well, it’s been three years since the last album release from Switchfoot and the guys have outdone themselves with their latest, Hello Hurricane.  Check out this video of their first single Mess of Me.  I can’t get enough…

the legacy of John Brown…

My dad forwarded me an interesting and challenging article last week that really got me thinking and struggling with some tough issues.  You can check out the original article here.  The topic is the legacy of John Brown.  It seems this is a topic today debated as much as it was 150 years ago when his famous raid took place.

It’s interesting to me that this is an ongoing question of our humanity.  Are there circumstances that call for and warrant violence?  At what cost?  I think these 150 years later, we, as a humanity, wear the scars of slavery in the United States, both those whose family were slaves and those whose family were slave owners.  I think we can also acknowledge that although we seem to have come a long way, in many ways humanity, broken as it is, is still filled with the same hatred and violence that allowed slavery to happen in the first place.  It is my hope that we can learn from our mistakes, and it is in that spirit that I tackle this difficult subject.  I admit that I am not even scratching the surface, and I am by no means a historian.

But to me, despite the atrocity of slavery in the United States, I favor the path of non-violent resistance.  This is by no means a judgment upon those who felt the only path to overturn this tragedy was violent opposition.  It is merely where my heart is.  I immediately think of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Despite the lessons that clearly were not learned from slavery, evident in segregation during the 1960’s, Dr. King and his followers proved how effective non-violent resistance can be.  As a follower of Jesus, I have to acknowledge that this is where I take my cues.  For it was upon a bloody cross that Jesus hung in what appeared at the time to be the biggest failure of a claimed Messiah.  It seemed that Rome had the final word once again as the empire silenced yet another uprising.  Although it was not the silence at the cross that endured for eternity.  No, it was the glory of an empty tomb and a missing body that has withstood the test of time.  The most glorious turning of tables on violence by a bold act of non-violence, that launched a peaceful uprising of love and servitude.  Do not get me wrong, even followers of Jesus have un-learned these lessons and the Church has bore and still bears the scars of these shortcomings, but Jesus’ message of hope endures.

So although I admire the passion that filled John Brown, that did not allow him to sit idly by and put up with the atrocity of slavery in the United States, I cannot condone the shedding of blood that resulted from his violent raid.  I may be naive, but I believe the power of non-violent resistance can transform hearts, people, society and the world…one person…at a time.

There’s much more to say about this and I would love for you to join me in the conversation regardless of your thoughts or convictions on the issue…

This year my birthday will be different…

After attending The Idea Camp this past summer in DC, learning about charity: water, and seeing this video by founder Scott Harrison, I was inspired to help.  So instead of receiving the obligatory birthday card with money or a gift from friends and family, I am asking everyone to cooperate with me in providing clean drinking water for those desperately in need of it.  I created my own website through charity: water here.  If you are interested in joining me, I invite you to visit the site and make a donation.  Or maybe this will inspire you to help in other ways.  There are some creative ways to help shown on their website.  Together we can make a difference.

architecture and the Church

Wesley United Methodist Church, Bethlehem, PA

I have noticed a drastic shift from the mega-church facilities of the last decade within protestant, evangelical and non-denominational.  As an architect who designs church facilities, I find this a fascinating shift that I am continuing to study further.

I have seen the emphasis shift from growing massive churches to planting new churches.  The hip word now is missional instead of seeker sensitive.  I am being a bit playful, because I know there is much more behind these hip words and this shift is authentic and scriptural.  However, I have been struggling in some sense with the de-emphasis on the building.  Now don’t get me wrong, I recognize as much as everyone else that THE Church is the people and not a building (despite all of our language in which we refer to church as a place).

I find it ironic though that so many churches that are showcasing innovation, creativity and art have relegated architecture (clearly an art form) to a big box with no natural light, lots of sets and backdrops and lots of decoration to make it feel “churchy” or not.  Have we lost our appreciation for architecture and the ability of space to draw us into the presence of God?  Or is this just a failure by architects to be relevent, accessible and humble servants of our clients.  Surely I do not have to go through the annals of historical buildings that evoke awe and reverence, drawing one into the presence of God to prove my point.  Nor do I suggest that every church building has to look like the Cathedral of Notre Dame.

What I am interested in is engaging in a healthy dialogue about this matter.  As a church architect, I have spent most of my time working with clients to maximize building and minimize cost.  As budgets shrink, integral design features disappear and all too many facilities are left to resemble spec office buildings and big box warehouses.  Windows are considered an expensive non-necessity.

I am privileged to work for a firm where we view our role as architects for churches as designers of spaces that encourages worship, reflection, devotion and ministry to happen.  Too  often though, design is misinterpreted as unnecessary aesthetic eye wash and not  integral to space.

I feel that we are missing an opportunity.  I certainly prefer to spend money on our mission rather than building, but we should view everything we do as missions, including the use and leverage of building for the Kingdom.  If we can design and create spaces that foster and encourage intimate encounters with the God of the universe, then our buildings are serving God’s mission.  Each local church can approach this in their own context.  Some churches will be called to renovate buildings within the heart of the communities they serve, revitalizing existing space and their community.  Other churches will be called to plant new facilities in the midst of developing areas to reach a growing community.

As creatures of habit, we have a tendency to fall into set ways of doing things and at times rather than innovate, we re-use ideas or methods that do not fit our particular context.  Imitation works when it is properly adapted to your context.  But when we reuse ideas or methods, we cannot just make hasty decisions based on convenience and ease of execution.  We have to challenge ourselves to stay on task and mission.

So let’s not view buildings as an unfortunate and costly necessity.  Let’s embrace the art of design to create beautiful God honoring spaces where the users meet God through space.  Biblically, that was what the temple was all about.  The Israelites visited the temple because somehow God’s presence filled it and to use N.T. Wright’s words “it is a place where heaven and earth come together.”  They also visited the temple to make a sacrifice to God on their behalf.  Although we, as followers of Jesus, are mini-temples where heaven and earth come together, our buildings should still be a place to meet God and come into His presence as our lives and our words speak of the ultimate sacrifice made by Jesus allowing us to come freely as we are to meet our God.

Idea Camp DC recap

Well, it’s been a week since I attended The Idea Camp DC and it was a crazy week.  I finally had a chance to let all of my thoughts surface since then.  Here are my thoughts/impressions:

1. My first impression was amazement at how this was pulled off so effectively by not using any marketing other than word of mouth and social networking media. My compliments to Charles Lee (@charlestlee) and his team.

2. I was impressed by the humility of all of the speakers and facilitators. This is a group of passionate, innovative and fully committed Jesus followers – accomplished pastors, authors and leaders and it was a privilege simply to be in the same room as them.  The beauty of this conference was that it wasn’t held in some extravagant venue, but a simple local church facility.  That pretty much set the tone for the rest of the conference.  The focus was more on the theme and the attendees than the speakers or facilitators. This wasn’t about show, but Jesus, honesty, creativity and collaboration.

3. I really enjoyed the pre-conference session with Mark Batterson (@markbatterson) and Dave Gibbons (@davegibbons) about The Origins Project. They spoke about their goals to focus on Jesus, innovation and humanity.  They used a lot of “re” words like re-think, re-imagine and re-discover.  For me this discussion was one of the highlights because God used it to affirm a lot of the seemingly wacky ideas bouncing around in my head lately.  This was an opportunity to listen to others share the same thoughts, ideas and desires which really resonated with me.  Dave Gibbons talked about how we have a tendency in our churches to focus on the things that make us comfortable, when in reality, we should be focusing on the things that make us uncomfortable.  He suggested that we balance our communities by honoring the past but also fueling the fringe.

4. Dave Ferguson (@daveferguson) told us “God birthed each of us with a dream.” Part of the process of our faith journey is figuring out what that dream is (the deep longing God planted within us) so that we can carry it out and fulfill it.  He spoke about how it is often directly linked to the pain or hurt we have experienced in our lives.

5. Another highlight was the opportunity to connect with others who are struggling to realize the ideas that God has planted in them. I attended a session led by Leroy Barber where we discussed how to go about being neighbors.  I loved this discussion because it was an honest and open chat among passionate and committed followers of Jesus trying to love their neighbors and their communities.  The relaxed and intimate atmosphere and tone of the conversation made me feel as if we all had known each other for years.  It reminded me of our early conversations years ago before we launched The Village.  I was very encouraged to hear the steps and actions other were taking.  It was also nice to be able to build up others who had either been frustrated by their results or were looking for answers and feedback.

6.  I had a great dinner with Atiba de Souza (@atibadesouza) and we shared our stories, passions and ideas with each other. My prayers are with him, his family and his church as they seek to serve the Columbia, Maryland community.

7. It was nice being able to attend this conference with my Dad. He and I have had the opportunity to collaborate in the past few years in different ways, and I certainly attribute a lot of my creativity and passion towards serving humanity to him.  We enjoyed our time to re-connect with each other and learn about the great non-profits committed to the cause of justice and compassion.

8. Finally, it was wonderful to join with everyone in the evening for a time of worship. It was simple, it was real, it was powerful.

Many thanks to the folks at The Idea Camp (@theideacamp) for doing such an excellent job putting this event together.   I hope to be able to connect with others to collaborate and sharpen each other as we live the servant lives we were created to live.

impressed with an Eagle

Donovan McNabb

I really do not want to contribute to all of the media attention directed toward Michael Vick, because if you are like me, you are tired of hearing it, but I felt like I had to share this story because it really impressed me.  As a Ravens fan holed up outside of Philly, it takes a lot for me to compliment an Eagle since most of the time I am usually on the defensive.

I read this article today in the Morning Call.  What really impressed me is that Donovan McNabb, although he is the undisputed starting quarterback, lobbied the team owner and coach to bring Vick to his team (keeping in mind that in Vick’s prime he was one of the league’s best quarterbacks).  His reason?  To quote McNabb, “I believe in second chances. I believe everybody deserves a second chance and I have strong faith in God that He forgives our sins and gives an opportunity to move on in a positive light to continue to inspire others.”  Way to go, Donovan.  Well done.

creativity, ideas and collaboration for compassion and justice

I have been thinking a lot the past month about creativity and innovation.  We spend too little time exploring creativity and harvesting its fruits.  I have found a solution.  A few months ago, I was introduced to The Idea Camp.

“The Idea Camp is a collaborative movement of idea-makers who facilitate free hybrid conferences and develop resources for people who desire to move ideas toward implementation. Facilitated by a growing collective of innovative thinkers and practitioners from numerous disciplines, participants gather around topics of interest to encourage and inspire one another, share practical wisdom from the field, and develop intentional networks for idea-making.”

This is brilliant.  What’s more is that they are leveraging social media and networking to facilitate the cause.  Check them out on Facebook and Twitter.

The Idea Camp’s latest free hybrid conference focuses on the topics of compassion and justice.  Here’s the details:

• Dates: August 28‐29, 2009
• Location: Mt. Olivet Methodist Church ‐ 1500 North Glebe Road Arlington, VA 22207
• Expected Number of Participants: 500+ in person and 2,000+ online
• Number of Organizations and Networks Confirmed to Participate: 40+ (see website for list)
• Conference Websites: www.theideacamp.com and www.theideacamp.ning.com
• Main Contact: Charles Lee (charles@theideacamp.com)

Our God is the God of  justice and compassion.  “Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!”  Isaiah 30:18.

Jesus calls us to be God’s agents of compassion and justice to those who are crying out desperately to him.  We must respond to the call.  There is a world of suffering and pain that God longs to heal and set free.

How can we use our creativity and innovation to collaborate for compassion and justice?  You can start by joining us at Idea Camp D.C.  Will you be there?