The Bean KC

Church is changing these days. The dress code is changing; the music is changing; the messages are changing; for those of us who love coffee, the beverages available have already changed; and the expressions of church life are changing. Would the God of creativity and diversity have it any other way? With all this change going on in and around church, we have to ask ourselves how much change or what kind of change is good. There’s a few groups out there that want us to do more than merely “re-imagine church,” they would like to see its full expression and structure change as well. Is that a good thing?

To that end, Mike Warren, my ex-rommate from our Volunteer days at the University of Tennessee, and I have written critiques of the Organic Church Movement (OCM). Please click here to read Mike's critique. My critique is as follows ...

Imagine a local church tailored

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Take refuge in the Lord ... Trust Him

Thursday’s Colloquy session was spiritually invigorating as well as challenging. Things got off to a decidedly Biblical start with some Bible reading drawn from Psalm 35:27, Joshua 1:7. Deut. 29:9, and Deut. 2-6, 8, 11-13. “Be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law and turn not from it to the right hand or the left.” Mike Schmid helped tie this into Psalm 11: When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?" ... For the LORD is righteous, he loves justice;  upright men will see his face” (Ps. 11:1,7)

Space Shuttle Dream

I shared details of a dream I had recently where the space shuttle crashed into the earth, and I woke up in a cold sweat. Click here for more info on that dream. David Wilkerson recently published his own urgent message related to a dream he had. I still can’t believe Scott had a similar dream to the one I had with crashing space shuttle and all.

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 A couple of days ago I had one of those dreams that left me sweating, tired, stressed out and a little bit freaked out. When Job was questioning God’s continuing trials, he said this, “When I say that my bed shall comfort me, my couch will ease my complain, Then you scare me with dreams and terrify me with visions, so that my soul chooses strangling and death rather than my body.” (Job 7: 13-15). This dream had that terrifying tinge to it and more ... you know the ones where you wake up with a deep, abiding spiritual sensation and this feeling that God was in that dream somehow.

I dreamed that I was in Cape Canaveral, Florida, watching the space shuttle lift off, as my family and I have done many times having lived in Florida for 12 years, and Melbourne for seven of those.  A space shuttle launch is a beautiful thing to behold, and very loud too. It's a sight that never gets old. There was a gentleman behind me that keep telling me not to take my eyes off the shuttle. "Something's not right." It was almost annoying. The weather was gorgeous ... just a few puffy cumulus clouds.

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The story of Christ's birth is a story of Promise, Hope, and Revolutionary Love. So what happened? What was once a time to celebrate the birth of a savior has somehow turned into a season of stress, traffic jams, and shopping lists. And when it's all over, many of us are left with presents to return, looming debt that will take months to pay off, and this empty feeling of missed purpose. Is this what we really want out of Christmas?

What if Christmas became a world-changing event again?

The Advent Conspiracy is a grassroots movement with more than 1,000 churches in 17 countries participating as co-conspirators- with projects as varied as drilling a water well for those who lack access to clean water or simply encouraging congregations to think of meaningful acts of kindness as meaningful gift options to replace traditional gifts.

Last year, through Advent Conspiracy, $3 Million was raised for relief projects which included providing clean water and medical attention in communities around the world.

 This year, Advent Conspiracy anticipates that individuals and churches will match last year’s commitment to charitable gifts and will make a lasting impact in communities around the world.  For more information about Advent Conspiracy, please visit: www.adventconspiracy.org

Thanksgiving is such an awesome day.  It's a wonderful time to give thanks to God, count our blessings and pray for one another. Just read the words of Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation: 

"I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union."

So what are you thankful for this holiday season? Isn't the list endless?

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