Identity Theft - who are you?

We all have at least two selves. There is the one we present to the world and then there is our true essence. Unfortunately we often do not know the difference and the price we pay is very high. Nietzsche talked about people who have “hollow chests.” In his mind these were people who lacked virtue and a true sense of identity. They live life on the surface and are shallow or “hollow.” They do not know great sorrow or great joy or originality. I agree with Nietzsche’s assessment, but not with his conclusion that we can fill our chests full of authentic, virtuous character without trusting in God.

Jesus said, “He who has found his life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake shall find it” (Luke 9:24). Jesus believed he was the key to knowing who we really are and the meaning of our lives. He believed he was the author of life and the one who can tell us what our role in the grand story happens to be. He tells us it requires total surrender of our attempts to find ourselves a part from him. He throws down the gauntlet in Luke 9:24, challenging us to decide if we will walk it or not. Big gate or small?

This will be my topic this week at Restoration Community Church as we begin our series, "Identity Theft." I would love to hear opinions on this topic before Saturday. What do you believe about how a person finds their true identity? What do you think about Jesus claim in Luke 9:24?

Denver Church

Cosmic Christmas

Have you ever had one of those Christmas seasons that leave you feeling further away from God rather than closer? I have, but not this year. This year I feel really connected to God and to Jesus. Part of what has helped is my study of the Christmas story from the cosmic vantage point of Revelation Chapter 12. If you have a moment read the first few verses. I have been meditating on three “lost” symbols in verses 1-5.

One of the lost symbols is the woman (likely Mary) who gives birth to Jesus. The woman represents all of us who seek to birth to anything redemptive in this world. The second symbol is the dragon who represents evil. The dragon sweeps stars out of the ski and seeks to devour the baby. Any time we seek to birth something good in this world or live in the light we will find a dragon seeking to devour our “baby” or snuff out the light in our souls. The third lost symbol is Jesus. We have heard the Christmas story so many times that we have lost Jesus in it. We have lost the awe that comes when we really “get” what God did for us in that Christmas baby. Jesus came to show us God, to destroy the virus of corruption that has spread throughout our world and to show us how much God loves us. We know how much someone loves a person or idea by how much they are willing to sacrifice for it and in Jesus we see God make the ultimate sacrifice for us. He was born to die.

The cosmic Christmas story is not the pastoral, pastel, precious moment story most of us know. It is more like an action/adventure/drama/horror film. But it feels truer to the way my life has been this year and therefore it has really connected me to God.

Read it and let me know what you think.

Jesus Is Still Homeless

Saturday we handed out 600 burritos. We gave away 500 burritos in the morning and another 100 at night. It was our first service project as a church and from my standpoint it was a huge success. Below are a few reflections from our time on the streets of Denver.

• It feels good to do something that is a bit risky. Faith is a risk and it is always good to put our selves in situations that are outside of our comfort zone where we need God.
• Conversations matter as much as food. Most of the homeless people we gave burritos to valued the conversation more than the food.
• Kids really want to serve. I told a friend who handed out 200 burritos with nine students on Saturday night that this is the kind of youth group kids today want. They are hungry for something that is real and makes a difference. It is a welcome reprieve from the virtual world where they spend so much time.
• Homeless people need a church too. I did a wedding over lunch for a homeless couple we met Saturday. One group of Restoration friends had a conversation with some homeless guys who hear a message from the Bible. So, we are going to have church on the streets the morning of December 19th. I never dreamed we would be going to multiple services by the time we did our second gathering!
• Jesus is on the streets. We encountered a lot of love on the streets. I know we saw Jesus is some of these very good folks and hopefully they did too (Matthew 25).
• It is fun to be on a wild goose chase. The Celts talked about the Holy Spirit being like a wild goose. We are chasing the Goose as we start Restoration right now and it is really fun. I hope we never stop chasing the Wild Goose wherever he leads us (John 3:8).

This is the first of many service opportunities we will create in the future, so if you missed this one, just wait until early next year. Our next one will be on January 9th. I hope to see many of you there.

Separation of Church and Family

Times have certainly changed since I was a kid. I remember my parents saying the same thing. For example the whole idea of adolescence (the transition from childhood to adulthood) did not even exist for my Eisenhower generation parents. They thought of themselves as adults by the time they were teenagers. I was pretty aware of adolescence and its delay thanks to Gen X movies like “Reality Bites.” My kids just accept it as part of life. I am realizing what a difficult and yet life shaping, stage this is for my two oldest kids. I know I have only a few short, high influence years left to impact them. I was hitting tennis balls with Cole this morning and imagined him leaving for college. He did not see the tears welling up in my eyes as I tortured him with one pattern drill after another.

The church has the average kid about 40 hours a year. The average parent has their kids around 4,000 hours a year. Who do you think will have the most influence? I don’t need to answer that one. So, let me ask another question. How can the church and parents partner in the best way possible to see our kids become healthy, well adjusted, Jesus loving, human beings who live highly fruitful, world changing lives?

Deuteronomy 6 is part of a larger sermon where Moses is telling religious leaders and every member of the various adult generations in his audience, that they are responsible for raising up the next generation in the knowledge of God. He tells the parents to do the heavy lifting of impressing God’s Word on their kids with their example and teaching. But the whole nation was held responsible, according to Moses sermon, for the spiritual well being of the future generations among them.

At Restoration Community Church we will take this very seriously. We plan to create kids and students ministries where parents and volunteers and church leaders all partner up to create a discipleship synergy that optimizes the probability of our kids growing up to love Jesus and desire to be like Him. Please pray God will raise up the leaders and volunteers we will need to see this vision fulfilled.

We Are Not Starting A Church

I have started three churches and coached a number of people starting churches and frankly the glamour is gone. Don’t get me wrong, I love the church and I love starting new things, especially churches, but if that alone is the goal, count me out.

I don’t see the early Christians trying to start churches or church planting movements or even attempting social transformation projects. The same is true of our brothers and sisters in third world countries.

I have been in third world countries where Christianity is exploding and I don’t hear them talking about church planting or social justice. I think they get church planting and cultural transformation a lot more than most of us in the west, but whereas we get excited about models and movements and fashionable theories (at least I do), they are passionate about Jesus. They have experienced the transformation of their lives and they want others to experience the same.

They also have an understanding of the Holy Spirit we seem to lack. They follow the Spirit of God in all his mystery rather than a five year plan developed over a weekend with a consultant in the room. Instead they try to do what the Spirit is leading them to do day by day and the result is that lives are transformed by God’s love and grace, through countless moments of service and compassion. Wherever and whenever groups of people fall in love with Jesus, churches naturally spring up and social transformation projects occur rising out of gratitude and excitement about Jesus.

So, those of us committing to start Restoration Community Church are not about creating a new church or a new kind of church. Our excitement is not about a new model or way of doing church that is more culturally relevant or contextualized. No, what we want to do is simply follow Jesus as he leads us by his Spirit. We want to be in love with Jesus and totally surrendered to him. As we do this we will experience God’s restoration of our lives, marriages and families and we will virally infect those around us with the restorative power and grace of God. A church will be birthed out of this that is healthy and life changing for married folks, kids and singles. Other churches and ministries will be birthed out of the overflow of our common love for Jesus and each other. And we will see our city and world experience the restoration of God’s image.

Who wants to just start a church when we can have so much more fun and impact simply following Jesus?