I was reading through an old interview with Rick Warren, the guy who wrote the book Purpose-Driven Life, among other amazing things. Although I don’t think it would make it on Oprah’s guide to “spirtuality,” I appreciate a few of the things he said in this interview.

Love this this quote and thought to share- “Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you’re just coming out of one, or you’re getting ready to go into another one. The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort. God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.”

Ok, this is random but I find these types of personality surveys affirming.

It’s amazing the uniqueness of personality and passion God gives to every person as completely unique and detailed in every way. As Jesus says in Luke 12:7, “Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered…”

Jung Test Results

Your type is: ENFJ

Extroverted (E) 60% Introverted (I) 40%
Intuitive (N) 51.35% Sensing (S) 48.65%
Feeling (F) 56.76% Thinking (T) 43.24%
Judging (J) 61.76% Perceiving (P) 38.24%

“You are a “Persuader”. Outstanding leader of groups. Can be aggressive at helping others to be the best that they can be. 2.5% of total population.”

Check out the variety of free online personality tests at SimilarMinds. 

Sunday evening we helped lead a collision of the worlds. A collision of the rich and the poor; of different races; but most importantly a collision of love. One that I pray no one will recover from. An overabundance of love was poured out.  I think Paul describes it best in the letter of Philippians, “Poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you.”

This collision occured at the John J. Barton Annex. The John J. Barton Annex is a  government housing facility managed by the Indianapolis Housing Authority. A very diverse crowd ethnically and nearly all of the residents fall beneath the “poverty line.” A group of Jesus followers from IMC and Heartland “poured an offering” of love and service into the lives of many friends and “strangers.” I’m pretty sure no one left the same.

One of the most consistent topics throughout all of Scripture is God’s heart for the poor. There is no way to escape that God desires for people whom proclaim to be active followers of Jesus Christ to be lovers of the poor and marginalized in our world. Whether it was through the breaking of bread together, handshakes, hugs, singing some music, sharing a message of hope available to everyone, Jesus uses it all to bring light into the darkness. 

Proverbs 31:8-9, “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice.”

As disciples of Jesus Christ, our purpose or calling is to help people take steps closer to Him. For the addict to be freed; For the hungry to be fed; and the hopeless to hear about the hope we have in Jesus Christ.

I am tempted to be known for how many Bible verses I know, what my job is, or even what my possessions add up too but the reality is that, “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love” as Paul writes in Galatians.

Perhaps one of the most exciting things for me in the midst of this is having children participate in their own way.  Having children playing and introducing childlike joy is beautiful. As a parent attempting to raise children that spit in the face of a culture that rejects people based on their position in society… its a joy of mine to engage our children in these collisions of the worlds.

Loving God. Loving people. Following Jesus.

Every leader can lament of a Cul-de-Sac experience. Check out the summary of what Seth Godins explains as The Dip. This has helped me to process some past experiences, both success and failure. Looking forward to making this read.

“Every new project (or job, or hobby, or company) starts out exciting and fun. Then it gets harder and less fun, until it hits a low point-really hard, and not much fun at all.

And then you find yourself asking if the goal is even worth the hassle. Maybe you’re in a Dip-a temporary setback that will get better if you keep pushing. But maybe it’s really a Cul-de-Sac, which will never get better, no matter how hard you try.

What really sets superstars apart from everyone else is the ability to escape dead ends quickly, while staying focused and motivated when it really counts.

Winners quit fast, quit often, and quit without guilt-until they commit to beating the right Dip for the right reasons. In fact, winners seek out the Dip. They realize that the bigger the barrier, the bigger the reward for getting past it. If you can become number one in your niche, you’ll get more than your fair share of profits, glory, and long-term security.

Losers, on the other hand, fall into two basic traps. Either they fail to stick out the Dip-they get to the moment of truth and then give up-or they never even find the right Dip to conquer.”

Sitting in the middle of our Regional Gathering of Missional Leaders being facilitated by Gary Rohrmayer.

One of the things that he has said that struck me was this convicting statement was to, “Act like a leader!” While morally, ethically, and emotionally are all part of this… the context he layed it out is for the leader to act in a way in culture that other people already see them as.

As a follower of Jesus and a leader part of the mantle of leadership requires accepting some of the public expectations and issues that come with it. So often I miss the opportunity to influence people positively because I neglect owning the opportunities to lead to the fullest of my potential and the depth of the need.

I think about times when I haven’t allowed my baggage, job, excuses, etc. to be barriers to engaging a situation with the completeness of my ability. When that happens, God always does things that I never thought weren’t possible. And yet I think of times when I have blown opportunities to be used by God and, “act like a leader.” Uggg.

I can’t help but reflect on what it would look like for me to wake up for even a month straight and act like a leader for Jesus Christ?

My friend Jeremy of StoryLine is dreaming out loud a bit this Sunday.  His ponderings that, “dreams come with a cost. However, is the cost a dream higher than the cost of not pursuing the dream? Regret and unhealthy wonder are a high price.”

A personal mentor reminded me recently of the need to dream what God could do without the boundary and fixating on how the dream could be initiated, launched, or reached. All this has restoked in me a refreshing sense that comes from simply dreaming and immersing in the beauty of a vision for something uncreated and exploring the mysterious ways of dreams. Not getting lost in changes needed, issues, fears, insecurities, tyranny of the urgent, contingency planning, past failures and lost opportunities or even the past opinions of others that remain in mind.

Seems like I cannot escape the powerful evidence of dreaming. And for me, PTL the global movements of social entrepreneurs like SocialEdge who provide the continuing invitation to, “Think big! Think grand! Be audacious!”

Though I kick myself on missed opportunities to meet past dreams, perhaps the largest failures aren’t dreams unpursued but a mind and heart afraid to dream at all. I know also that unlived dreams come with a personal cost and considered to be lost opportunities to embrace whom God made us to be.

Though I believe with full conviction the Lord gave us minds to work out what He placed in our hearts, I so quickly lose touch with the art of dreaming purely outlandish, childish, and innocent dreams of what could be even if He never uses me to initiate! Ah yes, the beauty of dreaming…

Pretty excited about an upcoming gathering of missional leaders I am participating in. Lots of opportunity to grow, explore, be ignited, and learn.

Should be a good deal of fun too!

A quick vid on some of the things we are involved in around Indy. Lots more to come.

Last night was a great night for IMC. Every time a gathering of people get together to learn, encourage, dream, and plan  together about what God could do in the city through a handful of servants, its a beautiful thing.

I was reflecting on the dialogue from last night and the high committment of so many people that spend countless hours to build this new church in the city committed to serving the city. Especially with the majority of them being young adults, it’s amazing to see what God is doing.

A passage we looked at was Psalm 145. I was reflecting again on Psalm 145:4, “Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts; let them proclaim your power.” The amazing committment of so many people at Indy Metro is inspiring as we pray and plan in how to be more effective in telling this generation of the Lord’s mighty acts!

An interesting article recently posted on Indy.com.  A handful of people, including myself, were interviewed about emerging churches in Indianapolis.

Tucked away among the boutiques and bars on Massachusetts Avenue, the office for the new Indy Metro Church — which also houses an art gallery — fits right in on one of the trendiest strips in the city. Started by Dan Pride, a Florida transplant and founder of Heart of the City Ministries — a Christian fellowship devoted to planting churches in urban areas — Indy Metro Church meets every Sunday in the American Cabaret Theatre.

Executive Pastor Aaron Story, 32, often can be found working in the Mass Ave. art gallery, which he says the church hopes grows into a meeting place for people looking for art, conversation and community.

“It’s a place where people can come and not be judged,” Story said. “We won’t be getting out a bullhorn trying to convert people. Conversion happens through relationships.”

Why start a new church Downtown?

There is a general spiritual longing in the urban cores. Twenty or 30 years ago, people left for the suburbs. Now folks are moving back into the city, and there needs to be churches established for people to come and explore, and do so in a relevant way. That’s our heart: How can we communicate in a relevant way; a way that it is not antiquated?

You put a lot of emphasis on relevance. Why?

Say you grew up in a smaller town where there was a church on every corner, like I did. I couldn’t relate to those churches. I had this perception that, if that’s what it takes to be a Christian or a Christ-follower, I couldn’t be one. I didn’t fit that mold. And as I’ve grown, I’ve met a lot of people and realize I’m not alone in that.

What is Indy Metro providing that the traditional church doesn’t?

People long for relationships. When you can’t find deep authentic relationships in the old institutional church, that’s a problem. Our generation rejected that. And yet, this is the most spiritual generation of all of history. Look at TV, books, music — when you pick up a Dave Matthews CD, he’s not an evangelical, but a good chunk of his songs are openly spiritual. You leave his concert thinking, “I just had a spiritual experience.” There is a need, a longing to find a spiritual connection. As a kid, I thought there was only one way to worship; that I had to find God in this box. Now I realize there is something so much bigger I can be a part of.

Read the entire article on Indy.com.