the encounter

So you’re browsing the encounter blog and you see this box on the right hand side that says Twitter updates.
Currently (as of 8:53 a.m. on Jan 29) it shows:

• jdblundell i need to bring a fan to the office for my cubicle 20 minutes ago
• jdblundell what happens when you live alone and die alone > who picks up the pieces? http://tinyurl.com/yto2or 48 minutes ago
• thomas mathie Fae the Nanolog :: Philly – day 1 http://tinyurl.com/2z7fp8 about an hour ago
• jdblundell Listening 2 this american life podcast podcast on the bus a couple of hours ago
• jdblundell Cant find my keys a couple of hours ago

Wait, you haven’t noticed this yet? Well go check it out. We’ll wait for you….

OK now that we’ve all seen it, you’re probably asking, OK so what is it? It’s the encounter Twitter feed. The feed displays everything we add to our Twitter account throughout the day as well as things our friends post to their Twitter feeds. Now explaining Twitter might be a little bit harder.

Twitter.com is another one of those fancy Web 2.0 sites that is built around community and 140 character text messages. The site asks the basic question, “What are you doing?”

Users then respond throughout the day with their own activities, thoughts, notes and what not. There’s even a channel set up for things people overheard in their day-to-day lives. You’ll find all sorts of things happening, or being mico-blogged about on Twitter.

ESPN has a feed that alerts people with the latest NFL news. College professors are Twittering with their students. Folks are sharing their insight from the Sundance Festival. Reporters are sharing insight on the presidential race and MacRumors abound.

So what’s the big deal? Well once you sign up for your free Twitter account you can follow any of these feeds (including the encounter feed) to can get the updates from your own Twitter page, via txt message or e-mail. And what amazes me is the community that’s built around Twitter. I’ve mentioned this before, but thanks to Twitter and his blog, I know more about Thomas and his life in Scotland than I do about my friends and family that live within 20-30 miles. That’s good and bad — but for this blog entry, we’ll go with the good .

As you’ll notice on this blog, we’re also starting to use Twitter more and more for encounter. We’re posting info on upcoming events and hope to start using it for prayer request notices as more encounter peeps get on board. We also hope to start using it for interaction during the week and on Sunday mornings with folks. You might notice questions posted to the encounter Twitter feed that encourages you to respond. To do so, simply send a Twitter message that starts with: @encounterthis

Kevin Hendricks over at CMS has more suggestions for Twitter as well (who by the way kept me entertained/informed last week on living life without a furnace via his Twitter feed):

The main thing to keep in mind is that Twitter is just another medium. It could be a volunteer coordinator or an evangelism tool. Experiment and see what works:

• Ask questions: Sermon research, who’s coming to an event, what people might be interested in, etc.
• Share insights: Maybe it’s a quote from a sermon, maybe it’s a sudden insight from a Bible study.
• Highlight content: Point people to blog posts, articles or resources on your church web site.
• Hype events: Remind people of events and give a glimpse of what they’re missing.

So that’s about it. Now go for it. Twitter away.

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Laurie and I went and saw U2 3D this weekend. Awesome! It was way better than I expected and even more lifelike than I had imagined it expected.

I told Laurie afterwards that I was conflicted during the 80 minute IMAX concert experience. It was real enough that I felt like I was right smack dab in the middle of this concert in Argentina with several thousand fans around me. I wanted to take part in everything – yet I felt like I had to be restrained and remind myself I’m in public – in a theater. Of course if you know me, you know I love U2. It doesn’t take much “realism” for me to want to sing along.

Yet during the entire 80 minutes I sat quietly taking it all in and trying not to disturb my neighbors – or everyone in the theater behind me (especially since we were on the front row). Afterwards I was disappointed it came to an end and I actually felt like I had missed out on something. I couldn’t place my finger on it until I realized it was the interaction I missed.

I’ve been to one U2 concert and it was by far my most favorite concert ever. It felt as much of a worship service as a concert. And after leaving U2 3D it almost felt like I had been at church but only as a fly on the wall. I didn’t get to participate. All these people on the screen were involved and participating yet I sat on the sidelines.

I wonder how often we miss out in church because we don’t want to annoy the people next to us. We don’t want them to think we’re odd for standing up and cheering. We don’t want to be the crazy guy on the front (or back) row who won’t sit down.

What if we’re missing out on interaction with God? What if worship was so much more?

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Questions. A valuable avenuefor bringing what hides in the dark out to light. A way to uncover the thoughts and feelings of another person. A way to bring our own thoughts and feelings from below the surface to the light.

Proverbs 20:5 says, “Wisdom in the heart of man is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out.” Questions open the door of the heart to reveal what’s inside.It worksnot just with others, but also with ourselves.

Asking questions allows the thoughts and intents of our heart to come to light. They are at the root of Jesus’ invitation for us to ask, seek, and knock.

When it comes to God many people are afraid to ask questions – especially in the context of church, Bible studies, or groups. Its alwaysmy goal to create environments where people can feel the freedom to ask the tough questions- especially the ones about God.

This past Wednesday night in meeting with the high school students of momentum, we talked about the value ofquestions and the solidity of God to take thosequestions. Within a matter of minutes thefloodgates opened and theroom was filled with theseeking questions of students about God and life. I soon had apage-long list of questions that will serve as our map for many weeks to come.

Wisdom resides in the heart and mind of God. It is through questions that His wisdom is drawn out for us to experience. When we are drawn by grace and love, then the walls of fear fall away and we are no longer afraid of His judgment, His power, or of asking any question.

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Last week I posted some thoughts on building online community.
I didn’t get many responses on my personal blog but it did spur some further discussion over on Flickr at the Church Marketing Lab.

Also last week my new blogging buddy Johnny Laird (thanks Thomas) posted some thoughts on the community group that meets at his house.

He discussed several ideas he’s looking at for future meetings at his house.

After a little questioning he shared some additional insight:

…other Groups meet at other times too – basically whenever it suits.

On top of that we have a monthly “Walking Fellowship” that meets on that same Home Group Sunday to walk together around some the rural areas outside of Croydon. This is an important group for us too.

The Sunday evening meetings are worked on a rota basis too, as follows (with some variations):

“First Sunday” A very trad Salvation Army Gospel Praise meeting, featuring music from the Band & Songsters, congregational singing, soloists & Bible teaching.

Small Groups – On the second Sunday of each month

“The Journey” A more intimate Sunday evening meeting with shared study, issue based topics for 21st Century life, often with musical interludes & guest speakers.

Youth Church/ Cafe Church – alternate months

I asked him a bit more about the Walking Fellowship. He responded:

The Walking Fellowship walk together in the countryside, and the individuals hang out & talk with other people from the Church who may not always get the chance to spend any good quality time with. Usually they will end up at someone’s house after about an hour to an hour an a half walking. They drink coffee, eat cake, share some Scripture & prayer.

There’s no particular prayer walking with this group, but we have others who do.

Today he added a bit more to his explanation.

…forgot to respond to Jonathan’s question about whether it was a typical SA initiative.

In response to that, no – it’s not especially typical.(but then again what is?) I guess the thing about The Salvation Army – in the UK and globally – is no longer a homogenous one-size-fits all denomination in terms of method, but rather it is a very diverse Church, where all kinds of different expressions of service & ministry sit along side each other.

Last month, Laurie and I saw a story on ABC News about a woman in Philadelphia that has built a community of runners in a group of homeless men. She loved running and noticed a number of homeless men just hanging out during her morning jog – so she built a community with them.

Anne Mahlum is a 27-year-old marathoner. And on her predawn runs in Philadelphia, she kept passing a group of homeless men.

“They would say, ‘Hi’ or they would say ‘Hi Anne’ or ‘There’s the crazy runner.’ ‘How many miles are you doing?’” Mahlum recalled. “And they would smile and sort of applaud and cheer for me, while I would start my day.”

But one day in May, Mahlum said, “I looked back, and I was like, ‘I am cheating these guys. Why am I just running past them and leaving them there?’”

“Running is so simple you know. You really only need a pair of shoes. You don’t need a lot of equipment. You need heart and dedication,” Mahlum said.

Anne thought to herself, “Maybe running could make these guys feel as good as it makes me feel.”

So she decided to start a running club for the homeless and started asking businesses for help.

All of this got me think about other ways we form community.

• Online
• Online gaming
• Book Clubs
• Work
• Dinner Clubs
• Sports Clubs
• etc. etc.

Laurie and I love having our Dinner Club dinners. We took the idea from our friends Tim & Amber who hold monthly cuisine nights. A cuisine/theme is picked and everyone brings their favorite dishes. We were going to their dinner club but figured with the distance we might as well start our own. Everyone seems to have a great time when we do get together for the (somewhat) monthly meals. One of the things I have fun doing is trying to get people who might not normally get to spend time together to come to the dinners together. They may be friends of mine and Laurie’s but they may not know each other much at all. So it’s fun to see our friends mix it up.

We also have our encounter community group that meets every Tuesday night. I’ve loved watching our group grow not only in numbers but also in closeness with one another and with God. You can bet Tuesday nights are reserved for our community group.

And in addition to our 6 or 7 community groups at encounter there are other groups that meet throughout the week as well. On Wednesday mornings, there’s a group of 6-10 guys that meet at the local What-a-Burger for breakfast, Bible study and discussion before heading to work. There’s a new women’s Bible study that will begin soon. There’s also a group of guys that love motorcycles and get together on Sunday mornings before church to go ride and then meet to hang out at Chick-Fil-A on Thursday nights.

The key to all these groups I believe is a shared interest and the interest in sharing life with other folks around us.

I wonder what other ways we can build community in our churches and our neighborhoods. What are you doing?

Maybe before too long we’ll have an encounter walkers group, disk golf group and or joggers group or maybe we’ll take the time to build community outside our own church walls and have a neighborhood walker’s group, disk golf group or jogger’s group. Any takers?

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“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” Matthew 5:6

You’re degree of fulfillment is directly related to your degree of desire.
Its a principle that applies in every area of life. It is very true when it is related to spiritual and righteous pursuits. If there is within you a hunger and thirst for something more than what life alone, you yourself, and what others can provide, and you direct that appetite toward Christ, then there will be satisfaction and fulfillment greater than we can imagine.

• thirsty? you’ll really enjoy a good glass of cold water.
• hungry? you’ll really enjoy that favorite meal.
• tired? you’ll really enjoy rest.
• guilty? you’ll really enjoy forgiveness.
• bored? you’ll really enjoy purpose.
• confused? you’ll really enjoy peace.
• sad? you’ll reall enjoy joy.
• rejected? you’ll really enjoy acceptance.
• dirty? you’ll really enjoy being clean.

I don’t have to work up an appetite for one of these. I don’t have to try and make myself thirsty. My desire for water happens naturally as I live. I simply have to acknowledge it then act on it.

The others listed work the same way. I don’t have to work up an appetite for God. What I have to do is be honest with where I am and what I’m going through. In that honesty and vulnerability, I will discover my appetite. When I turn to Christ with the need I face, then I find more than satisfaction, I find fulfillment.

The more I am aware of my need, my appetite, my desire, then the greater the fulfillment will be when I find it in Christ. His grace is always available, always rich, always sufficient, always more than enough. So its not His fault if I’m not satisfied. Its my fault. I haven’t opened my soul in honesty and desire. I haven’t been honest with my appetite.

What are you hungry for?

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