One Prayer

If you only had one prayer to pray, what would it be?

I think that this has to do with the dreams God planted with in us, and as we listen to his voice in our lives, we can determine what that prayer would be.

What is your prayer?

Mine is to create a structure that will free God's people up to live out their dreams.

I dream of seeing people owning their faith, living like Jesus and responding as he did, with compassionate, truth and grace.
I dream of seeing people live in such a way that people around us like what they see and want to be part of it.
I dream of living out our faith as Jesus followers in such a real way that we have a true connection with Jesus and authentic relationships with one another.
I dream of people having so much support through their community that they have the courage to take the risk to discover and to walk out their dream.

The prayer.

I am beginning to live out my dream. I am beginning to see Missio Lux form in such a way that the lightbulbs come on. . . and as the light shines, we come alive and we decide that we will do anything we need to do to live out God's dream in us.

Divine Appointments from Around the World

We started having neighborhood dinners to connect and build friendships with our neighbors. Last month we hosted it, and my next door neighbor brought a friend who was from Bulgeria, which used to be Communist until the late 80's. She brought up the Christian faith because her current boyfriend was a Christian and was telling her that she wasn't good enough for him because she wasn't also a Christian (I wonder what Jesus would think of those conversations?).

Scot and Kim were there too and we were able to talk about our faith and our relationship with Jesus in a compelling way, painting a very different picture than she had from her Communist upbringing and current boyfriend. After she left, we also prayed for her; that God would change her circumstances, her relationships and her heart. (We heard through our neighbor that her boyfriend broke it off when she got back home.)

This month my same neighbor, who is from China, brought her cousin who had just arrived from China that day! He is in his last year of University and is studying to become a lawyer. I asked him about the Christian faith in China and he told me that it is illegal for anyone in his university to become Christian. I asked him how much he knew about it and he told me that he didn't know much, but that Christians followed a man named Jesus. I asked if it was okay if I told him more about that Jesus and he said yes, he would be honored to hear. I said a bit and he indicated that he "would be honored to hear more about my faith."

Let's just think about this opportunity for a moment. Here is a young man that will carry influence in China, the emerging world leader. He has heard nothing about the Christian faith, but is living on my street for the summer and has expressed interest, an honor, in hearing about Jesus and following him. Wow, this is a divine opportunity that I must not miss.

Wait to hear more! and while you are waiting to hear how my second conversation goes, pray about whom you are being called to invite to dinner, to plant seeds and to build relationships, and then dream about what God can do which is beyond our wildest imagination.

Independence Day

Yesterday I got a card in the mail inviting me to a new churchplant to celebrate our country's birth and independence day celebration. It struck me a bit odd that this new church would pick this weekend to send out a mailer inviting people to attend. For the obvious reason that a lot of people leave town, but bigger is the confusion that comes with trying to mix our faith with our allegience to our country.

But, in further reflection I remembered a sermon that I preached a couple of years ago on July 4th entitled "Our Citizenship is in Heaven." I thought it was important to remember that our first allegiance is not to our country but to the One who created this country: the One True God!

I think that this distinction is really important because when we begin to mix our faith with our patriotism the message of Jesus gets blurred. Jesus priorities never included getting elected or reigning on an earthly throne, but there were many around him who thought that was his goal.

I am comforted by the fact that even after all the disciples experienced with Jesus, they still didn't get it when Jesus was ready to ascend into heaven. They still asked him the question, "Lord, are you going to restore Israel now?" He had, but not on earth, and not through the political or military process. So, if at times we don't get what's happening, we have good company!

I also remember that historically the first 3 centuries of Christianity were really the church at it's best, when it was illegal and hidden. People were caring for one another to such an extent that people became saved because they liked what they saw taking place. Everything began to shift, however, when Christianity became the state religion.

We are blessed but also challenged by our political freedom. It is easy to take our faith for granted and expect that we will always have the privilege to live it out without interference. But, I look at China where it costs them something to live out their faith and I see a maturity and willingness to sacrifice, and I wonder what it would look like to Americans to live that way.

I love the 4th because it's a fun holiday but I always remember that my first allegiance is to Jesus and his kingdom come on earth. May we live as citizens of the King!

The Bull Horn

A couple of weeks ago, a family that is part of Missio Lux attended the People's Parade in Fremont. Now, you have to know Fremont. It's a quirky neighborhood in Seattle that attracts an eclectic mix of people. Once a year, they have a naked bicyle race. (I always wonder if that isn't terribly uncomfortable.....)

This family thought the naked bicycle race would be a handful of people. They quickly figured out that it was MANY handfuls of adventurous, hang it out there, people!

But, in a sense for this family, the naked bicyclers weren't as offensive as the man who came with the sign and the bull horn announcing that people were going to be judged by God and they were going to hell. He stood on the prominent corner and proclaimed this message to all the people that were present.

It hit Cathy pretty hard. She struggled with his view of God. She struggled with the message that he was conveying to a people that needed to know "God loves you" rather than "God is going to condemn you to hell for your behavior."

The next day when she was spending time with Jesus seeking his priorities for her day, she heard him say, "Go back and look for the man. Ask him what is driving his message. Ask him why he sees God this way. Go and be a witness to the witness."

Cathy took a big gulp and pretty much tried to worm her way out of her assignment for the day. She told her husband, "I have to go back."

So, she did. She said that "Every step I took closer to the corner, my feet got heavier and heavier. My thoughts became jumbled. I wanted to turn around and drive home as fast as I could."

But, she didn't do it. She kept on walking until she had walked through the entire fair and realized that he wasn't there. The Bull Horn was absent.

Cathy knew it was a test of her obedience. But, she also knew that she was prepared for next time. She discovered an idea that could counter his message too, perhaps bringing water to offer people on a hot day. No strings attached. No tracts attached to the bottle. Just a bottle of water to those Jesus loves and he created.

John 3:16-17 stand out to me for this subject:
"For God so loved the world that he sent his only Son, Jesus, that whomever believes him him should not die but will have life that lasts for eternity. For God did not come into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him."

Missio Lux is committed to being a loving light that will call others to the awareness that God is pursuing them, not to judge them and condemn them, but to be in an eternal relationship with them.

Where can you offer a bottle of cold water today?

An Airplane Conversation

Living a lifestyle of following Jesus can bring the most amazing opportunities.

I had one on my way to Denver last week. It was one of those days where I packed a half an hour before I left, and got to the airport late thinking that I had my husband Bill's premier status, only to be told that I had to go to the back of a VERY long security line. So, when I got on the plane, I breathed a huge sigh of relief and thought, "Good, now I can finally relax!"

But, of course, Jesus had other plans.

He sat me right next to a man that had just gone to a church in his town, Boulder, that Sunday. He hadn't been to a church for years and decided to go. He left in the middle because all he heard were pleas for money and a sermon that made him feel judged. He thought "who needs this?" and left, leaving a piece of his heart more bitter and closed off than ever.

I didn't know all this when he asked me what I did. I told him I was a pastor and that I was leading Missio Lux, a church that seeks to help people live a lifestyle of Jesus.

I spoke about the Missional Communities and how our time, money and relationships were freed up to experience and share the freedom and hope Jesus offers with everyone.
I told him about the Missio Lux structure that enables us to develop deep friendships where we do life together.
I spoke about having funds to live out our missional purposes, rather than giving it to the church budget.
But, most of all, I spoke about how Jesus came to earth to pursue a relationship with us, he did not come to judge us.
I also spoke about my fascination with the Bible, that it was the most interesting book I had ever read.

After I was done talking, then he told me his story. He spent a good amount of time, (after all we had it being held captive on the airplane), venting about his recent experience in the church and his overall experience in his life. He vented about all the Christians that he does business with, where he sees them live their lives on Sunday but also through the rest of the week and it does not match up.

I didn't try to change his opinion. I listened to him. I agreed with him where I could. I prayed for him under my breath and asked Jesus to shine his light on his spirit and to bring it to life. I prayed for more divine appointments to come into his life.

But, I knew that I had been given a divine appointment.

I was able to help love this man closer to Jesus, and to present a compelling picture for how our faith can be a lifestyle that makes a difference.
I began to dream about what could happen if there were thousands of us living a Missio Lux lifestyle of following Jesus, responding to the opportunities that Jesus gave to us wherever we are.....perhaps the conversation on the airplane would have looked very different.

Maybe this man would have told me how radically his life had changed because he had a community of people that loved him unconditionally. Maybe he would have told me what his missional purpose was and how he was making intentional sacrifices to carry it out. Perhaps he would have told me how Jesus meant everything to him and that he never thought that following Jesus could be so adventurous. Maybe he would have been telling the person next to him how much his life mattered because of the lifestyle he had chosen.

Paradigm Shift

We've all heard the Scripture read or spoken in Ephesians 3:20: "Now to him who is able to do immeasurely more than all we ask or imagine, according to the power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church, and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever, amen!"

But, did we realize that this verse has the power to change our lives dramatically forever?

It truly is bigger than we can ever imagine.

Here's why: the Greek word for "power" is dynamis which has a similar structure as dynamite.

It's explosive power.

The Greek word for "work" is energia, which has a similar structure as energy.

So, here's the deal: God's explosive energy power is in us. It's not something over there, it is in us. God's power (which comes from Holy Spirit) lives in us. His energy flows through us. He has given us everything we need to see more than we could ever imagine.

We often pray and ask God to do something. But, should we consider instead that we already have God's power and his energy within us to call forth ourselves?

Jesus told his followers to pray the Lord's prayer. Part of the prayer states this: "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

This is our reality: we are being instructed to call Heaven to Earth.

How can we do that? By releasing the dynamite power that lives within us. We can do this to bring God's heart, his will, his work, his plan to earth, so that earth begins to look a lot more like heaven and a lot less like suffering, pain, illness, poverty, and isolation.

You have been invited to dream. So, let your imagination go as you consider all the ways that you would like to see earth become more like heaven. What would you ask for first? Begin there and let God show you how available he is to bring forth his dynamite power to earth through you.

Meeting Arok

I am in Colorado, and today I met a wonderful young man named Arok.
Arok is Sudanese and comes from the same village as our Sudanese brother John. Today Arok and I met and I heard his heart for getting the children from his villlage to school. It seems that several months ago John and Arok got together and divided up the list of 60 kids, these are real lives, not just names, and decided that they would do what they could to get 30 kids each to boarding school.

Arok is an amazing young man.

He is 27 and in his lifetime he has seen his village burned down, his relatives killed, he has walked across to Sudan to Ethiopia, facing starvation and crocadiles and even lions, as they treked to a refugee camp. They were able to stay in Ethiopia for about 2 years before Civil War broke out in Ethiopia and the Lost Boys of Sudan were told to leave. They treked again. This time it took 6 months to go a two day journey by car. It took this long because it was the rainy season and they had to wait for the flooded rivers to subside before they could cross them.

They finally got to Kenya where they entered the Kakuma Refugee Camp. This camp was shelter but little else. He said it was such desert that it lacked trees and often water. The nearby villagers often came and killed them in the night. They were always hungry because they were only given one meal a day. They received a substandard education because they didn't have educators.

The world forgot about them, until one day the US opened it's borders. Approximately 3,000 Lost Boys came to the US until 9/11 happened and we closed our borders again. Arok was one of the blessed ones that came to the US, was sent to Colorado, and worked his way through school until he recently graduated from Colorado University with a degree in Economics.

Arok gets it.

He understands that he is to get educated so that he can become part of the solution to Sudan. He dreams of going back and helping educate his people. But, in the meantime, he showed me pictures of 15 children who are currently in school, but have no money to go back to the next term in September.

I saw the heaviness of his heart and I ache. I saw the desire to do anything he could to help get the message across that there is a sense of urgency. Without a chance to go to boarding school, eventually these kids will have to go back to Sudan and face the familiar dangers again: extreme poverty, a hostile government and army, and the open enemy of war. They will exist, but the cycle of poverty will continue to move from generation to generation.

This is my dream.

My dream is to see all 60 kids in boarding school and more. I dream of this Missio just being one of the areas that we focus on because each missional community will have their opportunity to see wholistic transformation come forth in their area of focus and passion.

Our intentional decision to make sacrifices of buiding and staff make it possible for the funds to be freed up to change a life; one life at a time. Right now we have 13 kids (photo above) who have sponsors who are making it possible for them to go to boarding school where they can be safe, fed and able to learn. Arok has 15 more kids that we need to find sponsors for so that next term, they can put their uniforms back on to return to school.

I know that one person can change a life, and it is my dream that out of these 60 kids, we can see not one life changed, but the entire nation of Sudan. Oh, God of Mercy, let it be so.