Much like tv life, that is not realistic or true.

Our youth group, momentum, watched the movie,Imposter last night. In the movie Kevin Max from DC Talk plays a Christian rock singer whose life spins out of control because of his addiction to himself. The movie takes a very untypical approach in his return to his family, friends, and Christ.

There is no climactic, come-down-the-aisle scene. There is no great reunion between him and his wife. There is no weeping moment of reconciliation with his friends. Instead there is a process of brokenness, a path of rebuilding trust, and a deeper change in a broken man’s life. In the words of thedialogfrom the movie…

“God is more concerned that our hero go through a process than zapping him with spiritualmorphine.”

How refreshing to see a real life approach to a man’s walk with God. How genuine to see family and friends be slow to restore trust. How honest to see a man wrestle with himself and humility.

For 70s and 80s music fans you’ll also enjoy seeing Kerry Livgren from Kansas. For 90s and 2000s Christian music fans, you’ll enjoy seeing Jeff Deyo from Sonic Flood!

In the same way, there are sights, sounds, tastes, and joys in Heaven that can never be fully grasped here on earth. They will only be understood the day we are birthed into it. That day will be a new kind of birthday.

Aaron wrote the song several years ago at the passing of his father. It was an expression of hope and comfort for Aaron and the family. Here’s the song, “A New Kind of Birthday”.

One small bar of soap can spark many reflections—spiritual, sociologic, entropologic and ecologic—according to Claudio Oliver, who has spent 20 years working with the urban poor, and on community development, dental and medical projects, team equipping, and teaching in Curitiba, Brazil.

(You may remember Claudio Oliver from another video we watched last year during our Sunday morning gathering.)

From Ooze.TV and the TransFORM Network…

“All this got started because we were talking about holiness.”

Claudio shares the problem of used oil being poured down drains, where it goes on to pollute the community’s water. The center of community at his church has been collecting used oil from homes and small businesses in the neighborhood and using it to make soap, which is then wrapped in recycled newspaper and sold. Claudio uses this soap instead of commercially-made soap for all his washing needs—dishes, clothes, body—an example of how something that would have caused damage to nature is remade into something useful. He also gives a tour of his recycling barrels that store glass, plastic, paper, and other materials that come from people’s garbage. Two families come weekly to collect the garbage and from it are bettering their lives. One family has moved from being homeless, to the slums, to a poor neighborhood—all starting with the garbage collected at Claudio’s center of community.

But back to holiness: to be holy is to be used for a specific purpose. Oil, when it starts out, is used for a specific purpose—to cook food. But once it is used, it is damaged and it doesn’t matter what you do with it—put it in the sink, put it somewhere else—it’s going to cause problems in the nature around it. But if you clean the oil, mix it with caustic soda, and pass it through fire, it is transformed and can be used without damage. This, says Claudio, is a reflection of the Jesus-process in our lives. There is an outside intervention that cleans, and not only cleans but changes our nature, transforms us. You can’t change the soap back into oil, and similarly we are permanently transformed from something that causes problems to people and the world around us into something that can be used without damage. And so, cooking oil and soap are the modern-day metaphors for redemption in Claudio’s world . . . and possibly ours. To find out more about Claudio’s community, visit his website www.docaminho.com.br.

God often gives us ideas and passions because he wants us to act — so get up and do it!

Eugene Cho (One Days Wage) and Dan Merchant (Lord, Save us from your followers) share their story and experiences at The Idea Camp in Portland this past weekend…

Click here to view the embedded video.

Are you infected? Wanna be?

So many good points. So worth the nine minutes.

Click here to view the embedded video.

If we were to take the things we measure our success by and apply them to the ministry of Jesus — a lot of times we’d have to conclude that he was a failure.

Quite often in ministry, people were leaving Jesus rather than coming to him. By the end of his earthly ministry there was no one left. He was abandoned by everyone. And yet his ministry was a success because he was completely faithful to his father….

We’ve got to get our attention off the tangible outcomes of our ministry as being evidence of our legitimacy and root it in something deeper. That something deeper is exactly what Jesus rooted his ministry in. Jesus said that his bread — what sustained his life — was to do the will of his father…

Jesus had his identity rooted in the fact that he was the beloved son of the father.

How different would our ministries be and our souls be and our joys be if we disconnected our legitimacy from the outcomes of our ministry and instead rooted our identity and legitimacy in the fact that we are sons and daughters of our loving father?

So where does your legitimacy come from? Is it the outcomes of your ministry or your identity in Christ?

Read more about the Daisy Cutter Doctrine.

• participation by all
• dialogue vs monologue
• strong community
• a people on mission – sent out into the community

The conversations and additional ideas that were brought up were great.

Then later that night, I came across this video from Soul City Church (a church launching in Spring 2010), sharing some of their vision for a new kind of church…

Click here to view the embedded video.

Does this video spark your imagination? Does it even seem possible? Could/would you take part in church 7 days a week? What about 5, 3 or 2?

HT to @churchbartender for the video

“Here’s another old saying that deserves a second look: ‘Eye for eye, tooth for tooth.’ Is that going to get us anywhere? Here’s what I propose: ‘Don’t hit back at all.’ If someone strikes you, stand there and take it. If someone drags you into court and sues for the shirt off your back, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it. And if someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.”

Here’s the video we watched to spur some of the conversation…

Click here to view the embedded video.

It’s easy to talk in generalities about how we should react to strangers or the homeless or customers, etc. But the real application comes when we talk about those closest to us.

How does this change the way we relate to our spouse? Or our kids? Or our neighbor?

Reminds me of Paul’s instructions in his letter to the Philippians…

If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand. – Philippians 2:1-4

So what did you learn during your morning discussions? Or what stands out to you now?

Click here to view the embedded video.

Reminds me somewhat of this video we did a couple years back…

Click here to view the embedded video.

So here’s the question(s) for you. Why do you attend church? Why do you attend where you do? Or why don’t you?