This past weekend I got to do something that I have never done.  I got to travel to conference, not as a participant, but as a leader.  The circumstances that led me to be part of the team leading this conference in a way couldn't be more odd, or, stated differently, couldn't be more peculiarly Kingdom-like.

The Book

I've mentioned James Bryan Smith's book The Good and Beautiful God: Falling in Love With the God Jesus Knows (The Apprentice Series) here before.  I think it is a fantastic book, and it is the first of three in a series.  In the book Jim carefully analyzes a number of prevalent "God narratives" that we all have (i.e., God loves me when I'm good, and punishes me when I'm bad), examines those narratives and the ways they show up in our lives (works righteousness, excessive guilt), and presents challenges to those bad narratives in light of "Jesus narratives" that radically reshape our view of God (i.e., we worship a generous God of grace who, for example, sends rain on both the wicked and the good (Matt. 5:45)).  Jim concludes each chapter with a spiritual practice that is meant to help establish new God narratives in the life of the reader.  The practices are simple and quite easy to undertake (sleep, holy leisure, praying the 23rd Psalm, etc.), and are effective because they create space for people to spend time with God.

The Conference

The Apprentice Conference was held at Crossings Community Church in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  The team for the weekend consisted of Deidre Franklin, Matt Johnson, Jimmy Taylor, C.J. Fox, myself, and Jim.  Jim, of course, was the one presenting most of the content.  He wrote the books, he has the most experience in ministry, and he is the man the people want to hear from.  But Jim is very clear in saying that much of what he has discovered has emerged through community, and thus invited members of the team to share various aspects of their thought, as well as join him for question and answer and discussion times at the conference.  On Saturday, C.J., Matt, and myself were responsible for small breakout sessions, and we each taught a discipline (or two) that people could take up in their walk.  On Sunday, Jim taught a Sunday School class, as did C.J. and I.  Based on the feedback we all thought things went very well.

Over the weekend I think we all learned a lot.  I discovered a great deal about everyone on the team, as we spent time together outside of the conference sessions, evaluated how things went, and listened to one another's stories.  I rediscovered that I really enjoy teaching, and I enjoy ministry.  I found myself encouraged to be in community with people who truly want to put on the character of Christ, not simply gain more information about him so that they can answer questions correctly on a test.  I was surprised to meet a pastor named Jeff from Washington state, who just happened to Google Jim's name after reading the book, and flew to OKC to learn more about the material firsthand.  I also spent time talking with a number of pastors during the breaks, who also delighted me with their questions, enlightened me with their ministry stories, and encouraged me as they listened to all I have been through over the past year.

All in all, I consider this weekend a beginning, with hopes that there will be many more weekends like it to come.  At the very least, I learned more about those on the Apprentice team, and am glad to have strengthened those friendships.  Also, I learned more about discipling people, which will continue to serve me in my ministry here.

Good stuff!  If you want to learn more about Apprentice, ask away!

Last May the people at Abingdon Press contacted me and asked if I could contribute an article to a church leadership resource that has now been released entitled Becoming a Praying Congregation: Churchwide Leadership Tools.  In the article I was asked to tell the story of 40 Days of Prayer for The United Methodist Church, as well as provide practical guidance for how Twitter, Facebook, blogs, and other social media tools can be used to support and foster the prayer life of a congregation.  I was humbled to be asked to contribute to this project, and after receiving the resource along with a companion prayer guide by Reuben Job, When You Pray: Daily Practices for Prayerful Living, I'm pleased with the final result.  Both books are meant to be used in tandem to help churches think about the vital role prayer should play while engaged in ministry.

Abingdon has set up a website for the book, where you can visit the contributors page to see my mug shot, along with a short bio I provided to the publisher.  There is a small grammatical error in that bio that I wish someone would have noticed and corrected.  Oh well.  The website states that contributors will be asked to add some content to their blog.  Maybe one day I'll make a contribution there.  If I do I'll be sure to point my friends in that direction.

This Advent season I'm doing something different.  I'm preaching through the season.  I'm not showing up at a center of worship somewhere here in Kansas City.  I won't be doing this underneath a tent somewhere in a nearby field.  I'll be recording my sermons as a way to live more deeply into this season of the year, and as a way to experience some solidarity with my friends who will prepare and preach through the lectionary readings (or readings of their choosing) as we celebrate Christ's coming and proclaim our belief that he will one day come again.  

Each Sunday of Advent, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day I'll be uploading a podcast to my website, and it will be there for anyone who might like to listen.  I've decided that I will preach from the Lectionary.  I have already found the readings quite challenging.  Each reading will be posted to my blog as Advent approaches, and I will be looking for feedback on those readings.  I will ask what people find provocative, if the words there invoke certain memories or experiences, or if the readings bring to mind a particular resource I may find helpful as I prepare.  I'll begin posting the readings each week as I prepare, and I hope that others will help me through my blog.

As an additional aspect of this project, I've obtained the help of my friends to read each of the texts for each day of Advent.  Before my sermon, you will hear from a few of my friends.  Some of them are college students, colleagues from The University of Kansas, others are adults, and some are high school students.  These people have all meant something special to me during my time in Kansas City, and their voices will add something unique to the project.  I've already recorded some of the readings, was blessed by the fellowship with these friends, and was encouraged by our conversation.

Though the podcasts will be free, I have created a way for people to respond to each sermon this Christmas season.  For the past two years, Molly and I have given money away in an amount that equals what we spend on family and friends for Christmas.  We have divided our giving between local and international non-profit ministries, and for the past two years we have chosen to give money to different organizations that we believe are doing good and important work.  Among the organizations we have chosen, we have given money to Living Water International.  I'm a big believer in what Living Water is doing.  So, as part of my Advent project, I'm asking people to join me in giving to Living Water this year (you can visit my LWI page by clicking the link), and I have set a modest fundraising goal for this Advent season.  I won't complain if we surpass it.  Read about what Living Water is doing, check out my project, and if you feel inclined to give, may you do so with joy.

I hope those who read this blog will help provide feedback on the readings, check out my Advent resource, find themselves blessed by the content, and join me in providing water for people in Jesus's name.

I'm a bit of a music junkie.  Monday night I had the chance to see Ben Folds.  It was awesome.  Me and my friend Scott Chrostek (Pastor of Resurrection Downtown) found a spot on stage left, right underneath the balcony overhang, and proceeded to thoroughly enjoy the show.  Folds spun great stories, told a few good jokes, called on the audience to help with "Happy Birthday" for a young lady in the audience, and coordinated the crowd as we faked a photo documentary for his opening act, who hail from Australia and were on their first trip across America.  We both pretended to totally be in love with them, then to act as if they sucked.  In truth, they were fantastic.

This week I got to see great music in a small venue with an enthusiastic crowd.  It was a bunch of college kids and people like me--a few young adults who somewhere along the way came into contact with Ben Folds' music.  A number of his songs tell stories.  Some songs express angst, which I think resonates with a number of people who are younger (such as "Still Fighting It").  Other songs are just silly, and fun.

All around great show.  I'd definitely go see him again.

Photo Credit: Simon_K on Flickr

"The lamb that was slain is worthy to receive power!"  John is here saying, not as an inscrutable paradox but as a meaningful affirmation, that the cross and not the sword, suffering and not brute power determines the meaning of history.  The key to the obedience of God's people is not their effectiveness but their patience (13:10).  The triumph of the right is assured not by the might that comes to the aid of the right, which is of course the justification of the use of violence and other kinds of power in every human conflict; the triumph of the right, although it is assured, is sure because of the power of the resurrection and not because of any calculation of causes and effects, nor because of the inherently greater strength of the good guys.  The relationship between the obedience of God's people and the triumph of God's cause is not a relationship of cause and effect but one of cross and resurrection.

-John Howard Yoder, The Politics of Jesus