Creative chaos & church plant fiascos

Both Toby and I are highly creative. More so than two married people should be. We’re both writers and musicians. We’ve been involved in design and theatre. We love breaking the norm and challenging traditional thought and worship process. And, we wallowed in unlimited creative opportunities while we worked with large mega-churches.

Now, as young church planters in a highly postmodern, fairly anti-church culture, connecting with skeptics who are sick and tired of organized religion and manufactured worship performances, our experiences have greatly changed and we’ve had our share of interesting, creative worship events ranging from canine rampages to impromptu nudity.

In a short time, The Journey has outgrown our living room, a rented ski chalet and the library theatre, and recently leased our very own unit in a strip mall. We now have the amazing opportunity and terrifying challenge of drafting a creative space to connect outside-the-box thinkers with a way-outside-the-box God.

Works For Me: fifteen minute mania

As a pastor’s wife who works full time, is a college student, writes, volunteers for a variety of causes, and constantly hosts people visiting my home for dinner, overnight stays, and what feels like long-term care, I’m often overwhelmed when it comes to housework. With a schedule as crazy and unpredictable as mine, I’m short on time management solutions and long on sudden moments of instant panic.

Quite honestly, I don’t have any magic secrets for completing my housework faster, gimmicks for programming the dryer to also fold the laundry, or tips to help my carpet heal itself from muddy paw prints. And, while I can not say that I’ve perfected a flawless system for maintaining my household (this is process that I’ll be continuing to develop for years to come), I absolutely can say that I have skillfully mastered the art of mania.

Stirred

Last night was one of those times when God wakes me, stirs me, rips my heart, pours passion into the furthest corners of my soul, and revives me all over again. In this time of stretching, growth, and grace, I found this on Shane Vander Hart’s blog: John Piper speaking on the prosperity gospel.  

Watch it.  Be inspired.

Slavery in the US

I wanted to kill.  Not just kill, but torture and kill.  Not just torture and kill, but torture and kill again and again.

Okay, so that’s probably not the right thing for a Christian to say.  Certainly not for a pastor’s wife.  But it is true.

Last night I watched Trade, a great independent film about the enormous human trafficking industry.  My heart ripped into shreds as I became drawn into the world of kidnapping, sex slavery, and pedophilia. 

Some estimates say that this industry is the second highest in the nation, next to drug trafficking.  Every year, in the United States alone, there are over 100,000 women and children illegally passed across our borders to be held against their will for sexual and domestic slavery.  One Homeland Security official stated that the only reason we don’t see it, is because we aren’t looking.

Slavery has been a staple of humanity for thousands of years; but it has to end.  There must be something that we can do.   Standing by, pretending not to notice, and becoming caught up in padding our already comfortable lifestyles should not be an option. 

What will we do?

Three minute vacations

As I sit here surrounded by piles of folded laundry that need to be placed in their respective hiding places, I’m overwhelmed by a sense of urgency, passion, and despair.  Like many, I’ve found myself in the middle of my life, moved with desire to fulfill a longing for God in my heart.  Yet, the intensity of my desire is matched by an impending sense of responsibility that has imbedded itself into my life.  To compound the conflict, a quick glance behind my shoulder reveals years of what could have been, but are now shadows of what wasn’t.So how do we deal with the sense that we’ve found ourselves a little behind the game, so late in our lives?  How do we turn over that one ton leaf?  How do we prioritize a life filled with elements that cannot be shed, to pursue a few optional moments of spiritual fulfillment?

Good night, World

Like millions of Americans, I have trouble sleeping.

For me, the issue is not sleeping light, or waking in the middle of the night; rather it is the incessant march of thoughts, lists, conversations, and words parading across my mind. Often, I find myself lying wide-eyed for hours, planning the next day, solving a crisis at work, or reviewing the inevitable mental list of tasks pushed ahead one more day. Like an evil drone, the clamor that rises keeps me from fully relaxing and allowing myself to fall into a state of sleep.

 

Beauty of unbelief

Several days ago, I spent the evening getting to know a new friend.  I knew she was brilliant, fun-loving, and witty.  But I didn’t really know who she was.  

As we began to weave down the path of opening up, a beautiful picture began to emerge of her faith.  It wasn’t that she was a strong Christian.  It wasn’t that she believed that God was powerful enough to do anything.  Rather, it was that she wasn’t sure if she even believed.

Feeling ten feet tall

Way up here in the north, in the midst of icy driveways and freezing temperatures, I’m huddled against my fireplace trying to remind myself that Spring is on its way.   Sure, we have a few more months of cold toes, but soon we’ll welcome slush that will quickly give way to green grass and an abundance of strawberries, flowers, blue skies, and of course, tourists and mosquitos.  

Sinking into his purpose

  I am elated to share that The Journey has finally found a permanent home.  In the past few weeks, we settled on a storefront, began cleaning and repairing walls, and then set off on the adventure of turning it into a place that fits who we are. 

From the very beginning

This week, as I traced my way back to the beginning of time, I reread a familiar passage of scripture hoping to dig out the unfamiliar.  It was Genesis 2, a story line common to many.  Adam and God are checking out the new creation; Adam has the ridiculously overwhelming task of naming the critters; Adam gets a bride.

But this time, as I poked my head into the first family’s world, I was delighted many new and revealing elements came alive.  Of all the insights, the one that overcame me was the emphasis that God truly knows us; he knows who we are, where we are, where we’re going, and what we need – long before we know this ourselves.