Filed under: Community, Leadership, faith | Tags: church planting, eastside, Indianapolis, Indy Metro Church, Jesus
This naturally led to lots of conversation over the past few months as a church family in how focused we are together. Are we focused on the hundreds of thousands of people in Indianapolis far from Jesus? What about the thousands of people seeking spiritual answers throughout Indianapolis who haven’t experienced a Gospel-centered loving and serving community of believers?
Consider this analogy: Imagine how silly it sounds if a father were to spend hours every week teaching his son how to drive, taking his son to get his license, picking out the perfect car, gassing it up and then parking it in the driveway and throwing away the keys.
That is what happens if we spend countless hours equipping you and then not taking steps for us a church to “leave the drive way.” Unfortunately, that has been dubbed as “normal” for many followers of Jesus and church. Being on mission with God to love our neighbors and point people towards Jesus often get lost in our beliefs of who and what God is.
This past Sunday, I announced our commitment to enter into a 40 days of prayer and fasting as a community beginning September 1st focused on starting a second weekly public gathering for Indy Metro Church on the eastside of Indy (Catch the podcast at Indymetro.org). The neighborhoods of Irvington, Emerson Heights, Community Heights, and Little Flower are among the most densely populated in the city and together represent a multi-generational, multi-ethnic, socioeconomically urban community with great opportunity for the Gospel.
Whether you’re close or far and you would like to receive our follow up mailer on this 40 Days of Prayer please send your snail-mail address to: Carrie@indymetro.org.
The only thing we are committing to “do” is pray together to see if a shared burden and vision emerge among our community. As a pastor, it is an odd-mix of both excitement and anxiety as we attempt to gain clarity together. Appreciate your prayers as we start this journey!
Filed under: Leadership, faith | Tags: Acts, Christian, Jesus, morality, Penn
Recently, a Christian friend shared with me, “I don’t talk to people about my relationship with Jesus, but let them see how I live.”
And while I agree with Penn’s (of Penn & Teller fame) recent questioning of Christians who don’t “proselytize,” or specifically Penn’s statement of how much you hate somebody to believe there path is leading to eternal non-existence without your God, my friend makes a good point.
If Christians are living like Jesus, from the inside out truly set free, our lifestyles will reflect such a dramatic contrast to cultural norms that our friends, neighbors, coworkers, and family will see overwhelming external evidence leading them to actually accuse you of being a Christian….
A great example of this is in Acts 11:26, “The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.” This is the first example of the word Christian being used. In Antioch, the people who followed Christ were first called Christians…. It was a derogatory term meant to imply being just like Jesus. They were called Christians based on the external evidence of living so counter to surrounding culture, and instead following the lifestyle of Jesus.
People who were first called Christians we’re so loving, so forgiving, so grace giving, so generous, so merciful, so surrendered to the Lord’s truth, so committed to people who shared the Christian lifestyle, and just as loving to people who didn’t that it led people around them to realize these people, “Christians” we’re exactly like the Jesus they had seen firsthand or heard about.
Reflecting on this begs many questions to be answered. You may call yourself a Christian, but what do other people call you? And in our culture, both secular and Christian, we have gotten confused about that we are supposed to live in a way that we will be accused of being Christians. Not accused of being church goers. Not accused of being religious. Not accused of being good moral people. Not accused of being political. And defintely not accused of being smug ***holes who act as if we died on the Cross for our own sins.
If you call yourself a Christian, is their consistent overwhelming external evidence which backs it up?
Is it so obvious that people actually accuse you of being just like Jesus (read this last question to yourself slowly for dramatic effect)?
Filed under: Community, DIY, Leadership, faith | Tags: Christianity, faith, Howard Dean, Jesus, Johnny Cash, risk
Sunday am at Indy Metro I shared some concluding thoughts on our 4 month Nehemiah study that focused on a community of people so broken and weeping for a city they committed to doing whatever it took to see the restoration of a community bringing Glory to God. Throughout the entire book, we see Nehemiah to be a man who responded to the opportunities God brought to Him.
As I shared though having the opportunity isn’t enough- It requires us to take action, move, step forward, speak, respond, engage, love, to change…. It requires seizing opportunities that God brings to your door and being willing to live out the faith required to follow through.
So many Christians today have faith… but nothing about their lives require God to show up. No daily faith required in their conversations, schedule, finances, personal health, or with our children. There is so little risk in daily living for most American Christ followers… that you walk around really not knowing most of the time if God showed up or not. All the while asking isn’t there more?
And in my short journey with Christ I’ve experienced that one fully devoted humble, committed follower of Jesus Christ can have on the lives of people around them, their city, their neighbor, their office, their children, their generation, their classmates, their spouse, and their communities.
It’s sad though because I’ve observed so many churches completely tamed and neutralized what it means to be a fully committed follower of Christ. Our culture and many churches might as well have Jesus driving a mini-van, wearing his seatbelt focused on babysitting the kids in the car already. While the most accurate picture is prolly us in the back sitting on a milk crate holding on for dear life while Jesus drives a 350 HP 67 SS Chevelle with a bad paint job and an exhaust leak from launching train tracks chasing Satan hanging out the window yelling like Howard Dean.
Following Jesus has been turned into this safe, calculated, predictable and boring exercise. And inside most of us as Christ followers know something is missing don’t we? Maybe that is most the reason why most churches have always been absent of men? For men the image of following a neutered boring Jesus doesn’t exactly offer much appeal. A travesty too because I’m pretty certain American Christianity isn’t quite what the Scriptures describe.
For most Christians and seekers alike following Jesus can be summarized by the first song in this Johnny Cash movie clip. Puke! So my questions from the Sunday chat applies here too- What are you doing right now that if God for sure doesn’t show up you will be humiliated, embarrassed, ridiculed, exiled, or rejected?
Filed under: Community, DIY, Leadership, Serve, Uncategorized | Tags: Christian, creation, green, Spirit & Place
Doing some live blogging over at smallerindiana.com for our Spirit & Place festival event Imagining Creation. As part of the 13th annual Spirit & Place Festival, this has turned out to be quite a amazing experiential event!
Here are a couple live pics… visit smallerindiana.com to track it live.
Filed under: Community, Leadership, Serve, faith | Tags: God, Indy, IndyFringe, Jesus, Love, politics, rejects
One of most random performances I was able to see during IndyFringe was the Rude Mechanical Orchestra.This “Orchestra” was traveling from New York City to the Twin Cities. What was the quest? To protest the Republican National Convention of course! A 30 piece orchestra piled traveling in one old school bus painted up in layers of green paint pulled up….and out walked onto Mass. Ave what was a clearly one of the most unique bands I have ever seen. Uniquely outfitted in gear that Mass. Ave won’t soon forget. The only thing that could have topped it off for me is if Spike Lee himself would have led the band off the bus straight out from the Burroughs. The opening song was Push It by Salt N Pepa. Classic little diddy from my teen years (I had the tape of course), but I was expecting something more like Dead Milkmen by the looks of the performers.
It was boys’ night out; I was chillin with my crew on the Ave. What that means these days to those of you unfamiliar to Practically Speaking is that I was spending time with my three little boys. As I looked around it hit me that I was a clear minority on a lot of fronts; married, married to a woman, married to a woman that shaves her underarms, fairly conservative lifestyle (not in the hyper political sense), active follower of Christ, and though everyone was friendly it was evident I was on the fringe.
What does it mean to be on the fringe as a Christ follower? One of my struggles is encountering Christians, pastors, and churches, that seek to have Christianity at the “entitled” core of America. I’m certainly believe the values and fruits of Biblical Christianity make this city, state, country, and globe a more livable temporary environment. I am questioning the idea that Christianity and its values are entitled to be at the center of our country. Does God need a “Christian” political leader for His will to be done in this country? Is Christianity not meant to be first on the fringe?
The other day I was reminded by my friend Roger, of Grace & Peace Church, the place Jesus chose to give Himself up for us was at the fringe of the city.
Hebrews 13:12-14, “And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace be bore. For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.”
The fringe of the city wasn’t considered the “place to be” but full of the city rejects, lepers, etc… and that is where following Jesus Christ takes us. He shows us the path we have as outsiders and aliens of this world and on the fringe. The implications of this passage are challenging.
1 Corinthians 4:12-13, “We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world- right up to this moment.”
Though contextually Paul is making a point otherwise to the Corinthians, it’s hard to ignore some of the obvious insinuations of how we are to operate as outsiders even as considered the fringe or “garbage of the world.” How are we supposed to act as Christ followers on the fringe? We are to bless, we are to endure, and we are to live wrapped in kindness as outsiders living in a temporary world. Living so in hopes that God will bring the city that is to come through our love and consistent acts of devotion to Him…not through entitled attitudes or political parties.
What is at the heart of Old Testament leader Nehemiah? It’s a powerful example of God getting things done without the cultural leaders being followers of God. It’s a crazy thought to imagine… but God completed His will even without a “evangelical” at the helm and Christians lived on the fringe? In the midst of a Persian empire who wanted nothing to do typically with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, He fulfilled His plans on earth. God used this devoted follower living on the fringe of his culture to build a city, increase worship to one one true God, love people well, and gain the attention of the surrounding cultural, political, and national leaders as a result. Hmmm…
Filed under: Community, Leadership, faith | Tags: emerging, Fringe, Indy, IndyFringe, Jesus, storytelling
During the month of August, Indy Metro Church hosted IndyFringe Festival. This annual Fringe Festival in heart of the arts district is fully loaded with a variety of performances. Each completely unique. Since our gallery, hosted FringeCentral the entire month I met all kinds of people and learned a great deal.
I had the opportunity to enjoy coffee and conversation with one of the young performers Croft. While here he performed a show, Stinky Flowers and the Bad Banana. The opportunity to visit with Croft was a learning opportunity for me in the art of telling stories. Because of the constant telling and retelling of stories we do at IMC, I leaped at the chance to learn from this amazing emerging storyteller.
I was veraciously journaling and interrupting him as we we’re chatting, and one of the most profound things (seemingly basic to him) was this concept of physical based comedy, acting, and performing. It’s the necessity of encountering only the immediate moment of interaction. Staying focused in the moment. Not even minutes ahead but engaging life, the situations, and relationships it brings only in the moment.
One of the performances I saw during IndyFringe was Clown at Work. It’s rare that one can sit in a room with children, young adults, and retirees and see belly laughing of the entire crowd for nearly an hour straight with clean humor. Nothing less than remarkable. What stood out to me most was an amazing example of being in the moment. His expression of physical based comedy, staying in the moment, was remarkable. For every life, face, individual response and expression were an opportunity he engaged fully, responding accordingly to only incite laughter and further response from his audience. His “performance” was fluid based on what each moment brought. He maintained openness to the “relationships” as he encountered them and wasn’t focused on maintaining his show plan or alleviating the moments. Amazing!
My mom has always said her verse for our family is Matthew 6:33-34. Not necessarily a passage I am living out well but a passage she desires our family to be known for.
Matthew 6:33-34- “But seek first his Kingdom, and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
And what is my biggest challenge in life? To live in the moment! It’s being committed to living out each day fully for Jesus Christ, and not getting lost in the plans, concerns, expectations, and dreams of tomorrow. Not insinuating Gnosticism but breathing, living, and focusing in each moment with Jesus Christ. Being in the moment as a follower of Christ allows me to encounter every relationship, opportunity, problem, and every moment with total commitment to the will of God.
When I focus on one day and seeking His plans for me in that day I remain open to being divinely used for the Most High God. Not alienating people who need encouraged, or stressed about my financial pressures of tomorrow, and even simply enjoying my children today. Staying in the moment with Jesus during every encounter, relationship, and circumstance.
I am not there yet, but found wisdom from some unsuspecting sources to spur me along.
Filed under: Leadership, faith | Tags: character, God, happiness, problems, Rick Warren
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.”
Filed under: Leadership, Random, Uncategorized | Tags: Jung, leader, personality
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.
Filed under: Community, DIY, Leadership, Love, Serve, faith | Tags: generosity, Jesus, Love, poor, rich, Serve
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.
Filed under: Leadership | Tags: experience, failure, leader, Seth Godin, the dip
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.”
