Michael and I had a long chat yesterday, mostly about current issues in the church and how we're trying to deal with them. By "Issues" I mean "people" - because that's what growing a church is all about. We've thought about making a sign to put in the Llama Diner that says: "We're in the people business: Salvage and Repair." Michael likes to refer to our church as the "Island of misfit toys", from the animated Christmas movie we used to watch as kids. We've all got our problems, our blind spots, and our character issues. The question is - do we see them? I often pray that God will give me eyes to see my own "stuff", because I see people all around me who seem blissfully unaware of how their words and actions are wounding others, or how their opinion of themselves is so radically opposed to how others view them. When they finally leave the church - and they usually do - they will leave blaming the pastor, the staff, the youth group, the worship team... anyone but themselves. Then they'll move to the next church and start the process all over again - and the list of their "former" churches can number in the dozens and stretch back 30 years. What a tragedy. And the world watches how the church misbehaves - only adding fuel to the fire that all Christians are hypocrites and double-talkers.
So, much of our conversation yesterday focused on how well we are doing at finding a balance between love, compassion and long-suffering on the one hand, and our willingness to look someone in the eye and say "You are wrong and your life needs to change" on the other. There's a place for both, but I tend to favor the former and neglect the latter. Michael has been a great example to me in this area, as I've watched him over and over as he shares the "last 10%" with a misbehaving church member in a calm voice and without anger. What's the "last 10%"? It means being brutally honest with someone to show them the issues in their life that no one else has had the courage to address. We'll give one another the 90% that's easy, but very few of us are willing to risk a friendship or a church membership to tell someone what their problem REALLY is. I admire this in Mike. Of course, the reaction of the person on the receiving end can vary from stunned silence to getting up and walking out of the room and out of the church. In the short time we've been here I've seen quite a number slam the door on their way out; but I've also seen some of those same people come walking back with their hat in their hand and a broken, repentant heart to say, "I'm sorry. Can we talk?" Wow. A broken, repentant heart is a powerful, powerful tool in the hands of the Lord. I told someone a couple of days ago that one of the signs of a truly broken and repentant heart is an attitude of genuine gratitude - knowing that we deserve nothing, and receiving everything with a grateful heart.
As I drove home yesterday afternoon I turned on the radio to my favorite Christian station, and the DJ was reading from Ephesians 4:29, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." Interesting that Paul says that our talk should help build others up "according to their needs", and that it should benefit those who listen - assuming that others are listening in to the conversation. Probably similar to when Paul confronted Peter in public about Peter's hypocrisy of fellowshipping with the gentiles when he was alone, but withdrawing from them when he was with the Jews.
When I heard the verse being read on the radio right after Michael and I had that conversation, I thought to myself, "OK Lord, I hear you."
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Friday, May 21, 2010
Blast From The Past
Nicole and I went to the "Eagles" concert down in Denver last night, thanks to the generosity of our pastor who gave us two free tickets. We were way up in the 'nosebleed' section, but had a GREAT time together. The concert started at 8pm, and we finally left around 11 because Nicole has school today. Almost every song they played catapulted me back to my days in High School in Kenya, as the Eagles were huge back then. I laughed when I saw the stadium filled with gray heads - but then, the Eagles are all in their 60's too. "Hotel California", "Take it Easy" and "Desperado" ... it was Rockin' last night, and those old guys can still crank it out. I bought Nicole a T-shirt and myself a baseball cap to commemorate the evening. I loved every minute.
We're finally going to see some more of our beautiful state this weekend when we drive down to Gunnison for a retreat with several other families - all CCC staff or former staff like us. Looks like the weather should be beautiful as well. Of course, the weather is always beautiful in Colorado.
I went through the first "dry run" of my crisis training material with six of the Journey staff on Tuesday. I think they came because Michael asked them to be there (he was sick that day), but by the end of the morning they were all psyched-up to get ready for the next crisis. It was kind of a surreal experience in some ways: I felt like an ex-CIA operative who now works as a sales clerk... and no one knows about his former life. The team here only knows us in the context of our life here in Conifer - and for the first time they heard some of the stories about crises we dealt with in Egypt, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan... I'm sure it's hard for them to imagine me in that world.
I just received the first few dozen copies of our new Storm Guides brochure, and it looks GREAT! I finally have something printed to give to prospective clients, and the beautiful full-color brochure should add some measure of credibility to the company.
We're finally going to see some more of our beautiful state this weekend when we drive down to Gunnison for a retreat with several other families - all CCC staff or former staff like us. Looks like the weather should be beautiful as well. Of course, the weather is always beautiful in Colorado.
I went through the first "dry run" of my crisis training material with six of the Journey staff on Tuesday. I think they came because Michael asked them to be there (he was sick that day), but by the end of the morning they were all psyched-up to get ready for the next crisis. It was kind of a surreal experience in some ways: I felt like an ex-CIA operative who now works as a sales clerk... and no one knows about his former life. The team here only knows us in the context of our life here in Conifer - and for the first time they heard some of the stories about crises we dealt with in Egypt, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan... I'm sure it's hard for them to imagine me in that world.I just received the first few dozen copies of our new Storm Guides brochure, and it looks GREAT! I finally have something printed to give to prospective clients, and the beautiful full-color brochure should add some measure of credibility to the company.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Road Kill Hamburgers
My buddy Dave called me yesterday morning around 7 a.m. while I was out for a walk; "I've sent you two messages dude!" I told him I couldn't hear the phone, and asked him what was up. "DJ called me this morning (local Sheriff's deputy) and said that someone hit four elk down near the High School - do you want some?" Four elk? How is it possible for one vehicle to hit four elk? I found out later that it was a jeep, and the driver walked away from the accident (although I'm sure his jeep didn't). I told Dave I'd help him clean the elk if he could go and pick one of them up in his truck - then we could take it down to Denver to have the meat processed. When he got to the site there were two guys loading two yearling elk into their truck, and there was only one cow left (someone had already taken the other elk... I find it amusing that we're like blue-collar vultures swooping in to grab the kill). Dave was trying to figure out how to load her into his truck - she weighed somewhere around 400 pounds - when a friend of his driving a front-end loader just "happened" to pass by at that very moment. It didn't take long to scoop up the elk in the bucket and drop her in the back of Dave's truck. He and I were talking about it later in the day - about how funny it was that his friend "coincidentally" passed by at that very moment, with just the right equipment to do the job. You'd almost think someone is looking out for us....
He brought the elk over to our house, and I called my neighbor Brian to see if he had a place where we could hoist her up to clean the carcass. He said we should come on down to his barn - and (of course) he had just the right equipment to hang the elk up. A few minutes later I'm up to my elbows in elk blood, having the time of my life (no pictures for the sake of the faint-hearted). We finished cleaning and skinning the elk and drove back up to my house so Dave could wash up before driving downtown. Now, I have to say here that I've never seen any foxes, coyotes or bears anywhere near our house since we moved here - but we had no sooner driven into my driveway when a fox showed up to sniff the back of Dave's truck; what an amazing sense of smell!
Dave drove down to Denver and dropped the elk off to have it converted into roasts, steaks and hamburger - and I am now officially a Redneck who eats road-kill :) I also know how to clean an elk now, which will come in handy come hunting season.
This is the view behind our house this morning. We had a late Spring snow last night, which seems really strange knowing that the temperature will be back up to 72 degrees tomorrow. Crazy Colorado weather. I thought we were done with the snow, but the locals tell me we can get snow virtually any time of year. It's all about Global Warming (not).
Daphne has started volunteering her services at the Angry Llama Diner entering the financial data from income and expenses, and she's loving it. She's also learning the ropes of waitressing at the restaurant, helps lead a weekly women's Bible study, and meets with three or four different
women every week. I guess you could say that she's really beginning to thrive. We're leading the Home Group leaders training togetherBusiness at the Angry Llama is so good we're already trying to figure out how to expand the seating capacity. We are full virtually every lunch and dinner - all week long - and we run out of table space on a daily basis. We're going to knock a hole in one wall to add more seating in the room next door, and we're busy collecting elk and deer antlers, trophy mounts, antique skis, antique guns... anything to give the restaurant a "mountain lodge" feel. Of course, as you look at the pictures to the right - we just threw up some decorations just to get the diner opened. You can see a couple of my paintings on the wall above the stairway in the picture to the right. I'm hoping to sell some framed prints through the restaurant, but no takers as of yet. Part of the problem (I think) is the fact that the paintings are kind of hidden, and that they don't fit with the "eclectic" decorations we currently have up.
I'm still working on getting Storm Guides up and running. Next week I'm going to train six or seven of the leaders from our church as a rehearsal for me, and to get their input on the training itself, the content and the presentation. I need to do at least a couple more "pro-bono" workshops to get the training to the level I need to reach before I begin charging for my services. I should have a full-color brochure printed by next week (thanks to our good friends El and Debi Ridder); I can then send copies of the brochure with a cover letter to different churches and mission agencies, and follow them up with a phone call. I am realizing one significant reality: churches do not make decisions quickly - especially ones that require a financial investment. I need to grow the business to the point where I'll have trainings set up 5-7 months out, and keep that pace consistently. Our support has dropped by about two thirds over the past three months, and I'm asking the Lord to help us build an income stream to make up the difference... and trying to rest in His sovereign care and control in the meantime.
He brought the elk over to our house, and I called my neighbor Brian to see if he had a place where we could hoist her up to clean the carcass. He said we should come on down to his barn - and (of course) he had just the right equipment to hang the elk up. A few minutes later I'm up to my elbows in elk blood, having the time of my life (no pictures for the sake of the faint-hearted). We finished cleaning and skinning the elk and drove back up to my house so Dave could wash up before driving downtown. Now, I have to say here that I've never seen any foxes, coyotes or bears anywhere near our house since we moved here - but we had no sooner driven into my driveway when a fox showed up to sniff the back of Dave's truck; what an amazing sense of smell!
Dave drove down to Denver and dropped the elk off to have it converted into roasts, steaks and hamburger - and I am now officially a Redneck who eats road-kill :) I also know how to clean an elk now, which will come in handy come hunting season.
Daphne has started volunteering her services at the Angry Llama Diner entering the financial data from income and expenses, and she's loving it. She's also learning the ropes of waitressing at the restaurant, helps lead a weekly women's Bible study, and meets with three or four different
women every week. I guess you could say that she's really beginning to thrive. We're leading the Home Group leaders training togetherBusiness at the Angry Llama is so good we're already trying to figure out how to expand the seating capacity. We are full virtually every lunch and dinner - all week long - and we run out of table space on a daily basis. We're going to knock a hole in one wall to add more seating in the room next door, and we're busy collecting elk and deer antlers, trophy mounts, antique skis, antique guns... anything to give the restaurant a "mountain lodge" feel. Of course, as you look at the pictures to the right - we just threw up some decorations just to get the diner opened. You can see a couple of my paintings on the wall above the stairway in the picture to the right. I'm hoping to sell some framed prints through the restaurant, but no takers as of yet. Part of the problem (I think) is the fact that the paintings are kind of hidden, and that they don't fit with the "eclectic" decorations we currently have up. 
I'm still working on getting Storm Guides up and running. Next week I'm going to train six or seven of the leaders from our church as a rehearsal for me, and to get their input on the training itself, the content and the presentation. I need to do at least a couple more "pro-bono" workshops to get the training to the level I need to reach before I begin charging for my services. I should have a full-color brochure printed by next week (thanks to our good friends El and Debi Ridder); I can then send copies of the brochure with a cover letter to different churches and mission agencies, and follow them up with a phone call. I am realizing one significant reality: churches do not make decisions quickly - especially ones that require a financial investment. I need to grow the business to the point where I'll have trainings set up 5-7 months out, and keep that pace consistently. Our support has dropped by about two thirds over the past three months, and I'm asking the Lord to help us build an income stream to make up the difference... and trying to rest in His sovereign care and control in the meantime. Monday, May 3, 2010
First Journey Message
I preached my first message at the Journey Community Church yesterday - well, my first two messages actually, since we have two services. That was also my first time to preach twice on a Sunday; I confess that the second time was better than the first! At the end of the service, Michael introduced Daphne and I and explained my new role as "Executive Pastor". We both felt very affirmed by Mike and the church team - and a number of people who came up after each service to greet us. There was one thing Mike said that really struck both Daphne and I: he was talking about his perspective on the qualifications for leadership in this church, and I would have expected him to say that you need a seminary degree, or X number of years as a missionary - but he didn't. The only qualification he talked about is that someone be a broken person - and that's what he's looking for. He has hired and fired two seminary graduates in the past who both had their doctorate degrees. He hired them because they seemed to know so much... but then he quickly realized that they'd never experienced significant life pain or brokenness. Now he looks for broken people more than those with theological degrees. He calls our church the "Island of Misfit Toys" after the animated Christmas movie that many of us used to watch as children: we're in the People Business - Salvage and Repair. I love it.
We (Journey Church) opened a restaurant two weeks ago called "The Angry Llama Diner" - I know, everyone asks, "What's up with that name?" The name comes from an interesting fact about Llamas: When a llama is placed with a flock of sheep, it seems to feel that it now bears the responsibility for the protection and welfare of the flock (maybe because of its size?). Apparently, the llama will protect the sheep from any intruder, including bears and mountain lions. It will lose the fight, but it WILL fight for the sheep. Mike loved the analogy with the church, and the name stuck. We have run out of room at the restaurant at least 20 times, and we probably have 200 people a day coming to eat either breakfast, lunch or dinner. But here's the best part: for the last two Sundays, we've had 20-25 people at church who came only because they were so curious to find out what kind of crazy Christians would run a restaurant like the Llama. It's working!
Two days ago (Saturday) I spent the morning helping our neighbor cut down trees on his property. He owns 60 acres that he wants to subdivide and sell as lots for homes. The forestry department guy came out and used up three different colors of spray paint marking the trees that have to be cut down to mitigate the fire risk - somewhere around 1000 trees. I learned one thing from the experience: cutting down trees is a HUGE workout! I probably cut down 20 trees, and man was I sore yesterday! Brian is a great friend to have as a neighbor, because he has all the cool stuff that men like to play with: bulldozers, A wood chipper that grinds up whole trees, 4X4s, a huge walk-in freezer to store deer and elk meat... what else could you want from a neighbor?
All for today
We (Journey Church) opened a restaurant two weeks ago called "The Angry Llama Diner" - I know, everyone asks, "What's up with that name?" The name comes from an interesting fact about Llamas: When a llama is placed with a flock of sheep, it seems to feel that it now bears the responsibility for the protection and welfare of the flock (maybe because of its size?). Apparently, the llama will protect the sheep from any intruder, including bears and mountain lions. It will lose the fight, but it WILL fight for the sheep. Mike loved the analogy with the church, and the name stuck. We have run out of room at the restaurant at least 20 times, and we probably have 200 people a day coming to eat either breakfast, lunch or dinner. But here's the best part: for the last two Sundays, we've had 20-25 people at church who came only because they were so curious to find out what kind of crazy Christians would run a restaurant like the Llama. It's working!
Two days ago (Saturday) I spent the morning helping our neighbor cut down trees on his property. He owns 60 acres that he wants to subdivide and sell as lots for homes. The forestry department guy came out and used up three different colors of spray paint marking the trees that have to be cut down to mitigate the fire risk - somewhere around 1000 trees. I learned one thing from the experience: cutting down trees is a HUGE workout! I probably cut down 20 trees, and man was I sore yesterday! Brian is a great friend to have as a neighbor, because he has all the cool stuff that men like to play with: bulldozers, A wood chipper that grinds up whole trees, 4X4s, a huge walk-in freezer to store deer and elk meat... what else could you want from a neighbor?
All for today
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