Judah, with the Youngest Ever UYWI Workshop Co-Presenter Samuel Liotti

At the Yankees-Mariners game, May 4, 2008. Photo Set here.

Download the PowerPoint here. Audio coming soon.

Legacy of Faith, Virginia Ward

Thursday Night General Session

[Got here late… missed most of the message …]

We have alot of Lee’s that we’re not taking care of:

+ Spiritually: we’re not praying enough
+ Academically: we’re not studying enought
+ Physically: we’re not exercising or eating well enough

Are you ready to pass the baton?

You are responsible for others as they are responsible for you. Somebody is ahead of you, and someone else is coming behind you. Receive the baton and pass it along.

Coming Soon

+ Powerpoints from “Jesus Justice,” “Empowering Indigenous Leadership,” and “20/20 Vision for Schools” workshops
+ Notes from general sessions
+ Featured UYWI resources (co-authored by yours truly)

A night for all pastors, church deacons and elders, youth ministers, educators, community leaders, and congregants still uncertain about 20/20 Vision for Schools or not sure what to do next in adopting a local school. Come hear Rev. Dr. Tony Evans of the Urban Alternative, a nationally recognized faith leader and President of the National Church Adopt-a-School Initiative, share why public schools are the cutting edge of ministry in our city.

Pastors must RSVP by email for the 5 pm gathering.

The 7 pm gathering is open to all.

Watch what Dr. Evans is doing with the National Church Adopt-a-School initiative.

From Little Things Big Things Grow

If you thought socially conscious music in the mainstream was a thing of the past, turn your ears to what Australia is listening to. A song about justice and reconciliation in Australia was the highest new entry in the charts two weeks ago - starting out at #2 on the Australian charts and #2 after Madonna on the digital track charts - and remains in the top 50. As The New York Times reported:

A song about racial reconciliation with the Aboriginal minority has become the fourth-biggest-selling recording in Australia, even though it is available only as a download from the Web.

The song “From Little Things Big Things Grow,” written more than 20 years ago by Australian artists Kev Carmody and Paul Kelly, tells the story of Australian nonviolence hero Vincent Lingiari. Under the name “GetUp Mob,” they have collaborated with other Australian musicians, such as Missy Higgins and John Butler, to sing of this historic moment in Australian history. And (to my knowledge) they have launched the musical career of Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd by sampling his historic apology speech:

As prime minister, I am sorry. On behalf of the government, I am sorry.

- From “The Sound of Social Justice in Australia” at God’s Politics blog.

Off to the City of Angeles for Urban Youth Workers Institute, blogging via JetBlue’s free wifi. I’ll be presenting or co-presenting four workshops this year, including:

+ Jesus Justice
+ Deep Justice in a Broken World: authors forum with Kara Powell (Fuller), Noel Castellanos (CCDA), and Lina Thompson (World Vision)
+ Empowering Indigenous Leaders, with Rudy Carrasco (Harambee)
+ 2020 Vision for Schools: Transforming Public Education within a Single Generation of Students, with Curt Gibson (Lave Avenue Church)

Then on Sunday, I’ll be preaching at Living Hope Community Church (Grenada Hills). Paz.

Scot McKnight on the Whole Gospel

Speaking to small group leaders at Northpoint Community Church


If you’re unfamiliar with Professor Scot McKnight of North Park University, aka “Jesus Creed,” dig him — “one of the most prolific bloggers ever” — here.







Courtesy: Emergent Village Podcast.

Judah is finally going to be a big brother! As you might imagine, Diana and I (and grandmas and grandpa, cousins, aunts and uncles) are thrilled, but none more so than Big Brother Judah. His response to the news (after faithfully praying for a little sibling for at least three years) was to dance around the room shouting, “Thank you, Jesus! Thank you, Jesus!”

We’re coming to the end of the First Trimester, so we’re expecting to have an extra little bundle to give thanks for at Thanksgiving.

+ Heart of a Champion

May 12, 2008
7-9 pm @ The King’s College (Empire State Building, LL, 34 Street and 5th Avenue)

The fifth in the monthly 20/20 Vision training series features Steve Riach (bio), a veteran film and sports television producer whose Heart of a Champion character education curriculum is being taught in public schools across America. Come hear his inspiring story and learn about an innovative collaboration between HOC and local 20/20 Vision churches. HOC, which Steve developed in partnership with professional athletes such as Harold Reynolds and Clark Kellogg, utilizes stories from the world of athletics to attract interest and communicate positive character themes. For more on HOC, visit http://heartofachampion.org.

+ Rev. Dr. Tony Evans

May 29, 2008
5-7 pm: Senior Pastors
7-9 pm: Pastors, educators, community and lay leaders
@ Christ Tabernacle, 64-34 Myrtle Ave, Glendale, NY 11385

A night not to miss, for all pastors, church deacons and elders, youth ministers, educators, community leaders, and congregants still uncertain about 20/20 Vision for Schools or not sure what to do next in adopting a local school. Come hear Rev. Dr. Tony Evans of the Urban Alternative, a nationally recognized faith leader and President of the National Church Adopt-a-School Initiative, share why public schools are the cutting edge of ministry in our city.

Scores of NYC pastors heard the pastor of America’s “Most Influential Church” confess his surprise to this finding from the Reveal study, which cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in 2007 and encompassed 20,000 church goers from dozens of congregations. Here are my notes from one of Bill Hybels’ New York City Leadership Center’s coaching sessions yesterday.

The REVEAL Study

Video Intro

It took Paul roughly 30 days to go from persecuting the church to proclaiming the Gospel powerfully. Yet people spend decades in our churches and never get transformed. Why?

It’s a false assumption that engaging people in activities and programs would produce maturity and Christ-centeredness. Reveal contradicts this.

Explorers (pre-Christian) → Beginners → Growing → Christ-centered’s

Willow found: 10-12% 20-25% 20-25%

The diagram captures the movement of a life lived apart from Christ to someone whose life revolves around Christ – Christ at the center of one’s consciousness. What are churches doing that moves people in this direction? What might the distribution have been for the New Testament church?

There’s a correlation between few Christ-centereds and few explorers, because Christ-centereds are most committed to evangelism. Be concerned if less than 10% at either end of the spectrum.

It takes different spiritual inputs to move people along each stage of the spectrum, and to prevent Christ-centereds from regressing.

BUT what’s the one input that consistently moves people along the entire spectrum?

Engaging the spiritual practices: prayer, Bible study, solitude and reflection, and journaling.

Everything else, Sunday worship, building, programs, etc, are less significant. So what are you doing to encourage people to engage personal discipleship? Give them the tools to self-feed. If the building blows up and there were no more services, “self-feeders” would be ok.

“Great church services” was never the answer when the question was, “What helps you grow?” Engagement with the Bible was the top response (along with the other disciplines)

When asked, “Why haven’t you taught this [the disciplines] more?” BH responded (after a few excuses): “It’s not sexy preaching.” But now he’s come to realize that we must use our biggest platform (weekend services) to teach our people about the disciplines, and give them the responsibility for their own growth. Personally committed to devote at least one major sermon series to the disciplines every year for the rest of his life.

The church is very important at the beginning of the journey and less important as you move along the growth spectrum. Why? They’re self-feeders. In the early stages of faith, explorers and beginners are more dependent on the church coming through and providing nourishment.

Between which segments is the greatest chasm?

The growers and the Christ-centereds (not explorers and beginners).

Why are societal pathologies similar between church goers and the nonreligious (e.g. divorce, giving to the poor, etc)? Because so many church goers are not Christ-centereds.

Are you so Christ centered that you’d be willing to forfeit your program and free-fall into his, regardless of what it costs you?

“However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.” Acts 20:24

You have 60-90 days to establish in a new believer what needs to be established or you run the risk of the rocky soil. What relationships, doctrines, books, etc. can best help in this establishment process?

I can’t post just one Foto today. Instead, a sampler from a new Flickr set (81 pics total) featuring John Liotti and his son Sam (who’s about to set a record as the youngest workshop co-presenter at UYWI this year).

Yankees - Mariners 05/04/08

“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.”

It should come as no surprise to people who believe this that blogging, like television talk shows before it, has taken on a therapeutic affect for some participants (including yours truly). CNN describes it like this:

Writing long has been considered a therapeutic outlet for people facing problems. A 2003 British Psychological Society study of 36 people suggested that writing about emotions could even speed the healing of physical wounds: Researchers found that small wounds healed more quickly in those who wrote about traumatic personal events than in those who wrote about mundane activities.

But it’s the public nature of blogs that creates the sense of support.

Reading someone else’s blog can be surprisingly beneficial… .

Speaking of, here are three recent examples of grieving parents whose therapeutic blog posts have inspired me as a father.

+ Katy Stevens (remembering Caleb)
+ Christine A. Scheller (remembering Gabriel)
+ Mr. Dueck (remembering Renee)

Perhaps most moving of all, for me, was following Rudy’s Psalm 34 blog after his then 4-year-old was diagnosed with leukemia.

Related

+ Remembering Abuelo, Nonna, and Cub.

The Cost of the Kingdom

For those who believe the Kingdom of God is an appropriate “Framing Story” for remedying global crises.





From UYWI 2006. Join me at UYWI 2008 next week.

A National Conference @ Princeton University

June 8-10, 2008

Envision…

The fundamentalist / liberal church split at the turn of the 20th century.

Envision…

Princeton Theological Seminary’s great fundamentalist walk-out in 1929.

Envision…

A broad array of theological perspectives, drawn back to Princeton in 2008 to focus on one thing: Christian Engagement in the public square.
Don’t miss this historic gathering.


$99 Early Bird Special before May 10

Plus, Special Group Rate* through May 15

Click here to register now or go to www.ev08.org.

* Group rate applies to groups of 5 or more.

I came home tonight to find this in front of my building.