third commandment

Well, it's been a while since I've posted. I don't have any excuses, especially since blogger makes it so easy to post that I can even do it from my phone.

Things have been quite busy here at work now that we're up and running for the season. My small group is back in session and I joined a 10-week Bible study on Thursday mornings with Chris Wesley.

With all these things going on, my group's discussion on getting rest and keeping the Sabbath was very timely last night. So often I think we believe the solution is just to bring more of God into more of our daily lives more often. That may be true, but it's also very clear that we're supposed to rest. Jesus took time away to be with the Father and fill up his cup.

Paul talks about love overflowing and suggests that it wells up from within and naturally pours out to others. That only happens when we're full though. What are you doing to fill up your cup? How do you spend your Sabbath? It's a path to somewhere; is it where you want to go?

what's on tap

Here's the second installment of "What's on Brian's whiteboard?" I think this exercise is quite pretentious, but with that said I still plan to share.

- Welcome Weekend (Sept. 12 & 13) plans for creating three unique environments for kids, students and adults
- Building layout plotting radio communication points on the weekend
- Channel breakdown for the different ministries using the headsets
- Diagram of the Children's Wing for All Stars and Religious Ed check-in
- Diagram of the new CN Backstage and ideas of how to improve its functionality
- A random leadership thought: Life cycles of creating a ministry (bad cycle) idea, to responsibility/accountability, to implementation, to people. And (good cycle) idea, to people, to implementation, to responsibility/accountability.

Things are really picking up around here as we're gearing up for three awesome fall message series, making some physical changes to the building, and preparing for the kickoff weekend right after Labor Day. As things get busier and busier, I have to constantly remind myself why I'm doing all these things and what it's really about. Church of the Nativity exists to bring people to Christ and his Church, leading them to knowledge of their faith and service for the greater glory of God.

Lord,
Teach me to labor and not to ask for any reward,
except that of knowing that I do your will.
Amen.

more caution tape

I talked about "red flags" in my last post. These are things that bring my attention to the fact that I'm not exactly in the right place. Thoughts like "What will make me happy right now?" and "You deserve it." are huge ones. But it's not all about thoughts, there are other indicators too.

As I've talked about before, we live in a physical world and, for now, our souls are connected to our bodies (check out 'allergies'). Back in May and June, Fr. White preached a series about the Catholic Mass and why we celebrate the Eucharist. One of the weeks was dedicated to the Liturgy of the Eucharist, the part of the service that ends with Communion. He said that our ability to be present to God during that time in Mass is linked to our frame of mind, which is linked to our posture. Remember your school teachers telling you to "Sit up straight, and pay attention!"? Those two commands were given together for a reason...

Just like Fr. White talked about, another indicator of my spiritual fitness is my posture or physical state when I pray. Am I lying in bed at night while I rattle off a few prayers? Am I sitting up straight or kneeling? (There's also a reason why kneelers and lying prostrate are parts of the Catholic tradition too.)

It occurred to me a few weeks ago as I was in the middle of the 'lie in bed while praying but really just falling asleep' style of prayer, that I did have the ability to get off my back, sit up, and actually pray. You would have thought that the Spirit had prompted me to jump off a tall building the way I resisted. I really didn't want to kneel because I didn't really want to pray. Feelings like this one, and general physical feelings of discomfort are red flags that wave "Whoa, Brian. What's really going on here?" Think about the difference between bumping into someone and saying "sorry" versus muttering under your breath as they pass by? It's not the actual degree of pain in your body or even the person who collided with you. It's your own spiritual condition. Pay attention to your body, it knows what's up, even when you may not...

leadership summit

I've just come back from the Willow Creek Association's 'Leadership Summit 09' (trend #TLS09 if you twitter). Bill Hybels, the Senior Pastor at Willow, kicked off the summit with a talk entitled "Leading in a New Reality." He referenced the economic crisis that changed lives so drastically starting last fall and how in turn that changed the way Willow Creek held their church services. He ended with some of his personal struggles over these past months as he explained the disciplines he exercised in order to increase his own margin, to fill his personal bucket up, so the he could continue to minister to others.

In light of my last blog post, I'd like to a note or two considering Bill's last point about filling his own bucket.

He talked about a time where his staff, his family, and even his dog were walking on thin ice when Bill was around because he was stretched so thin. He struggled to have quiet time with God and his daily routines fell by the wayside in order to make time for more hours in the office. All of these things added up to a bottom that he described as a powerlessness over work. This is not what God wanted for him, and it's not what God wants for us.

I think self care often gets a bad rap. Self care can be looked upon as selfish, even undeserved. How untrue! We constantly need to be taking care of our physical bodies (by working out, eating well), our personal relationships (by having quiet time, holding boundaries), and our spiritual lives (by praying, listening to G0d). We need to do these things to function properly, and, yes, we function so that we can serve others. Surrender is not a sacrifice of our own needs but a willingness to follow Christ through adversity despite our own will.

Remember how Christ worded the greatest commandment? Love your neighbor as yourself.

monday, monday...

I just left the video review meeting where the staff re-watched Fr. White's message from the first week of Greatest Story Ever Told! It was all about the story of Joseph at the end of the first book of the Bible, the book of Genesis. The takeaway was a line repeated throughout the story: "And the Lord was with Joseph." How would you act knowing that God is always with you?

I woke up this morning feeling pretty lousy. I had overslept, which is easy for me to do on Mondays, still felt exhausted, and didn't want to get out of bed... at all! I eventually wandered downstairs, made a large cup of coffee, and then my brain started churning out all these negative thoughts: "I feel awful. I just want to sit here and do nothing. What's wrong with me? Why do I always feel like this?" And this went on and on... until the thought entered my mind, "What can I do that will make me feel happy?"

That's a huge red flag for me! (Another is, "I deserve this.") When I'm actively thinking about/wishing for things that will make me happy, I've reached the top of my self-centered scale. When I'm there, I quickly become resentful of others, angry over little things, and depressed about my own life. I don't know if you can relate to this particular line of thinking, but I have a feeling some of you may... The point is that I need to catch myself in this downward, selfish spiral and remember that I am here to serve others. God is always with me, and only when I am being of service to others am I positioning myself to receive God's blessing.

Heavenly Dad,
Teach me to be generous.
Teach me to serve you as you deserve,
To give and not to count the cost.
Amen.

survey says...

I just published a poll on this blog; it's up at the top on the right side. If you've been to Nativity during this message series, check any of the boxes that describe your reaction to the changes this summer.

If you haven't, you've got one more week to check it out. 'What God Wants' has been about the five purposes of the Church: worship, fellowship, discipleship, evangelism, and ministry. These have been made popular in Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in California. Check it out...

The point is that we've been playing video messages of this series at the end of Mass. This was a pretty big curveball both for the staff and for our congregation, and as a result we didn't have much time to prepare Mass-goers. That said, we've worked really hard to make the experience enjoyable and have been encouraged by the numbers of people staying for our "summertime experiment." It's definitely exciting to be a part of a culture so responsive to a changing environment.

Again, if you've been with us for the video messages, I hope you respond to the poll.

moving day

On Monday I moved across the office to make room for our new Director of Children's Ministry, Lisa Scata. She just started full-time on staff and has moved into my former spot in the office... We're super excited to have her (1) as an awesome presence on the team and (2) charging up Children's Ministry, which is such a big part of Nativity's experience.

So today I'm getting a new desk. I'll plug Mark Downs here, who have been very easy to work with and will be providing me with a nice new setup. I have a lovely view of Vista Lane, a [shared] corner office, a brand new desk lamp from IKEA, and a sweet 6-foot whiteboard to lay out all my plans for 'weekend direction.'

(New idea: each week, devoting a post on my blog to whatever is currently up on my whiteboard...)

**Currently**

- The 5 steps to becoming an 'Emotionally Healthy Church'
- Advent series 4-week breakdown (worship fully, spend less, give more, love all)
- Thank you note from Lucas, addressed to 'Brain'
- New design for weekend minister namebadges

bad to great, part iv

Peter loses a friend. He does not see how this part of his life will turn out, but it's very painful right now. He learns that God makes all things work together for good for those who love him, but although he wants to believe it, this doesn't make sense. He realizes that it might take time to experience the good, and so he tries to press into God through prayer, fellowship, and worship, but the hurt does not go away. He is in despair.

allow God to redefine 'good' in your life

"Be always on the watch, and pray..."
Luke 21:36

I heard the story of a middle-aged man who lost his father at a very young age due to heart failure. All his life he was burdened by this loss and suffered greatly from it. On top of his pain he also had inherited a high predisposition to the same heart complications. The combination of the absence of his father and a seeming spite by our Creator, led him into years of bitterness, anger and depression. One day he had a serious, life-threatening heart attack which lead to surgery, and eventually more surgery. His brother also had a bad heart, and was treated for similar issues.

Then 'good' was redefined in his life. See, his father's death was so strange that doctors did an autopsy and numerous tests on his body. After years of studying the condition and its causes, when this man and his brother suffered from the same problems, they were able to be treated. By dying a tragic death at a young age, this man's death became a sacrifice. This evil was redefined years later to save the lives of his two sons.

Remember Peter and his friend who died so tragically? How terrible was it for this man's life to be taken? Jesus, who was God's only Son, and who was supposed to save the world, whom was murdered, how could that evil, that tragedy be overcome? Three days later God redefined good in Peter's life, in his friends' lives, and in the lives of everyone in history. It was only by dying that Christ could be raised.

There is no evil God cannot overcome. He is working all things together for good for those who love him, and one day his good work will come to completion. So wait, be patient, watch and pray. Allow God to redefine 'good' in your life!

bad to great, part iii

So God is working to make good of everything in our lives. We don't always see it, but we try hard to remember that he is. This goes against every fiber of our being at times, but we want to trust God and try to do it more and more.

allow God to redefine 'good' in your life

Let's apply another Scripture verse to our discussion.

"And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion"
Philippians 1:6

This verse points out another difficulty in applying this concept to our lives: the timing. The bringing to completion of good works in us takes time, maybe a lifetime. So Peter, who grieves the death of his friend, might understand that it will work out in the end, but struggles because that might not happen for some time.

So in that period of waiting, Peter must continue to love God (see part ii), and expect his love to overcome Peter's loss. It's that simple, but we don't make it that simple most of the time. So often an event like this will shake our faith; we think that since things aren't going so well that God is not looking after us, God is not good, maybe God doesn't even exist. I know that's how I feel.

But God cares more about our character than our comfort. God does not promise that bad things won't happen, instead he says when they do, "Fear not!" He wants us to press further into him in our weakness, in our doubt, in our fear. Because when we do, will will always find that he is working to bring it to completion in a great way.

station identification

Although a friend of mine chastised those who "twitter dump" (def: multiple posts in a short time after an extended period of neglect) earlier this week, I'm pretty sure I'm about to "blog dump"... I must say however that this 'mini-series' idea hasn't been the best for me. Having to draft my blog posts only hinders me from building up any momentum, and it definitely kills the spontaneity of the whole thing.

I'm going to pause here to give a personal update and will aim to wrap up this 'bad to great' stuff by week's end.

Katrina Relief
I had an awesome time going down with 5 other guys from Nativity to sheet rock a house in Mississippi. We helped a couple whose house was 'relocated' 150 yards inland after the hurricane four years ago. They were very gracious and hospitable and taught us all a lesson in dedication and perseverance.

Production schedule
The staff is undertaking a production schedule this summer that will allow for 16 weeks of lead time from "ideating" to delivering each message series in 2009-10. This is really exciting for us because it's going to enable all aspects of the weekend to unleash new potential. More time and energy will be devoted to developing the message content, the creative look, and synergy among ministries, which will result in greater focus and intentionality.

Vision casting
Saturday morning, a number of ministers, leaders, and members of the staff got together to brainstorm about the future of Nativity. It was really promising. The pastor began by saying that all things are rooted in personal history as he then gave some background info and told a bit of his story. How important it is to begin a big picture, big idea, long-term, planning session with personal history! The only way to figure out where you're headed is to understand from where you came. Take a minute to read Nehemiah 9 and Joshua 7 to learn about how our personal histories affect us.