Do you realize that Christmas started as a conspiracy?  Read the story.  It was a subversive underground movement to change the world and establish a new Kingdom. So the question is… what happened?  The story of Christ’s birth is a story of wonder, courage, relational giving and revolutionary love.  How could the celebration of this story turn into a season of shopping lists, stress, traffic jams and bad office parties?  Then when it’s over we are left with Christmas debt and the heart-whisper that somehow we missed something of great significance.  The first Christmas changed the world.  What if Christmas became a world-changing, heart-shaping event once again?

How do we join the conspiracy?  Seek Jesus.  Risk More.  Give Presence.  Love All.  Those four calls will form the foundation of our conspiracy.

How do we join the conspiracy?  Join together in our Operation Christmas Connect 1% Offering to serve kids all around the world.  This weekend at Calvary we’ll hear about how we can serve the children at the Rose of Sharon orphanage in the Dominican Republic.  Think about what a difference we could make in the lives of a few hundred children if we were to give 1% of our annual income to serve them?  It would be like Christmas all year around — for them and us.

How do we join the conspiracy?  Ponder the information you can find at the following websites.

Empty Tombs — Let your heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God.  29,000 children a day under the age of 5…die from preventable poverty conditions.  We can make a difference.

Global Rich List — Don’t think you’re rich?  Find your place amongst the world’s rich elite and thank God for blessing us so that we can be a blessing.

I Am Second — A very cool website which shares dozens of stories about how people have made Jesus first in their lives.  Isn’t that what Christmas is all about?  Seek Jesus.

Advent Conspiracy — Churches joining together in the conspiracy.  Lots of good information.

Rethinking Christmas — A great website for those who want to buy less and give more meaningful gifts.  Good ideas for the non-crafty or creative.  Like me!  :)

A recent blog post by Mark Batterson reminded me of a book I looked at a few years ago.  Didn’t read the whole thing, but have pondered the concept.  The book is Purple Cow by Seth Godin. In the book Seth unpacks this idea: If you have seen one brown cow, you’ve seen them all, but a purple cow, now that would catch your attention. One statement in the book gives a good ponder moment: “If you aren’t remarkable you’re invisible.”

Now here’s the deal…sometimes it’s okay to be invisible.  In fact my dark side leads me to a great desire to be known.  I must constantly remind myself that living the dream comes when I live for an audience of one — not myself, Jesus.  Which means that I want to be invisible so that He (Jesus) can be remarkable.

On the other hand, when it comes to living the dream God has for us…we are remarkable.  We are unique creations shaped by the master-artist.  A church is nothing less than a group of remarkably unique God-shaped masterpieces, which reflect the glory of the artist.  When people live as this kind of church, it should become remarkable in the community.  In other words, the community should take notice and remark.  And the mark of this kind of people is that it is good that we are here.  In other words, we should live in such a way that the Good News is good news for everyone.

How does this happen?  It happens when we live the dream and do the good works that God has planned for us ahead of time.  That’s why I get so excited about the annual experience we call leadership advance.

LEADERSHIP ADVANCE is an opportunity for a group of people — primarily, but by no means limited to those in their late teens through early 30’s — to come together and dig deeper into the discovery of God’s dream for their lives.  It’s taking another step to live the dream, follow our calling.

If you are interested in this experience, go tofor more information.  Or shoot me an e-mail.

That’s what President-elect Barack Obama and Senator John McCain spent on the last election.  This is NOT counting the primaries…just the final presidential election.  One BILLION dollars were spent by the two.  Now I didn’t do the final math.  Obama received more votes, but spent more money, so I really don’t know who paid the most per vote.  But the two of them together paid about $8 per vote.

Now this is NOT a political post.  It’s simply a reminder of the power of synergy and addition.  Small things done by many people can have huge results.  122,394,724 people voted.  One billion dollars was spent.  That’s about $8.17 per vote.  If tomorrow every person who voted would go to their polling place and give $8.17, we would have one billion dollars.  What could we do with one billion dollars?

Well we could elect a president, or…  Have you ever visited the website www.emptytomb.org?  Click the url and the first thing you see is a number.  Today when I looked the number was 8,402,358.  That’s the number of children, under the age of five, who died worldwide, so far this year.  The vast majority of them died from preventable poverty conditions.  This same website suggests that around 5 billion dollars would elimante the vast majorirty of those preventable poverty conditions.  Roughly the math says that if we canceled this year’s election we could save around 2 million children under the age of five.

But like I said, this isn’t a political post.  In fact let me take it to the most non-political subject I can find… Christmas.  Last year Americans spent 450 Billion Dollars on Christmas.  If we skipped Christmas one year we could save 9-10 million children under the age of five…and do it for the next 90 years.  If the rest of the world skipped Christmas we might get it to 100 years. That’s a lot of people spending a lot of money.

So let me bring it home…to Calvary.  It would be difficult to find one person at Calvary who could give $150,000 to serve the poor.  But is it possible that we could find 1000 people who would give $150?  If everyone did a little, we could do a lot.  If everyone did a lot, it would be a generosity conspiracy against poverty.  So this weekend, we are going to start talking about…a generosity conspiracy against poverty.

A couple of years ago, I took my daughters to Myanmar.  This year my family is going back for Christmas.  And after this election I’m just asking myself, “What could we do together…that might be better than an election…or maybe even better than Christmas?”

I had a number of people asking me over the course of the last few weeks… How are you going to vote? And if you have read any of my blog posts, you may have picked up on the fact that I’ve been pondering whether or not I should even vote.  More specifically I’ve been pondering, What is the proper way for a citizen of the Kingdom of God to be involved politically as a citizen of the United States?

So I just wanted to let those who care know… I did vote.  It was about 1pm.  There was no line.  I slipped in and out of 1250 University Drive — our church facility — without even being recognized.  Filled in my circles, put it through the scanner, told the wonderful volunteers thank you and headed out.  Final step still to be completed, getting my free cup of coffee at Starbucks.  I also thought about driving to Altoona for my free Krispy Kreme but decided it was too far.  So let me tell you how I voted.

1) I voted with gratitude. As easy as it is to see the problems in this country — that is not my final destination but is my current home — we are one of the few places on the face of the earth where there is consistently such a people-directed smooth transitioning of power.  I am thankful for that.  In addition I am thankful for all the Jesus-followers who are living out their calling in areas of government.  It is an incredible mission field.

2) I voted with a bit of heaviness on my heart. There are so many issues facing us as a people, as a culture and as a country.  But my heaviness comes less from the issues and more from my conviction that if our nation is in an unhealthy place the responsibility lies first at our feet — the church.   An early Christian author once wrote, As the soul is to the body, so Christians must be to the world. Or I would put it this way — the church is the heart of the city.  As the heart goes, so goes the city.  So if our cities are sick with greed or other diseases, doesn’t it start with the heart?

3) I voted wishing that I could trust that whoever won would tell me what I need to hear and not what I want to hear. Enough said on that one!

4) I voted with a sense of satisfaction that no matter who wins, we take a small step in a healing direction. What do I mean by that?  I mean that we will either vote into office a woman or an African American.  Less than 140 years ago, you had to be a white male just to vote, let alone run for office.  Discrimination has brought so many wounds to the hearts of people and our culture.  To elect a woman to the vice presidency or an African American to the presidency is a small healing step.

5) I voted with a sense of relief. The ads, the debates, the news articles, the ads, switching between CNN and Fox to hear both sides of the story, the ads, the yard signs, the late night jokes, a billion dollars spent on ads… did I mention the ads?  Anyway…it’s all done.  (Unless of course we get a tie. :)

6) I voted with not one bit of anxiety over who wins. The first presidential election I remember was Richard Nixon’s second.  From Nixon to Ford to Carter to Reagan to Bush, Clinton and Bush, I have yet to see one president who is purely evil or one president who is purely righteous.  I have yet to see a president who hasn’t made me glad that Jesus is King.  I think that’s the main reason I’m not very anxious about what tomorrow holds. Proverbs 21:1 says that the King’s heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs like a watercourse wherever he pleases. I pretty much believe that!  Takes away a lot of the stress.

7)  I voted as a guy with permanent citizenship in the Kingdom of God and guest citizenship in the United States. I’m still trying to figure out everything that means but I know it means this:  I did not vote as though the Kingdom of God depends upon my vote.  The hope of the world is not the United States and the hope of the United States is neither John McCain or Barack Obama.  The hope of the world is Jesus and we get to partner with him in transformational callings every day.  There were issues in this election that I am very passionate about…but I believe that the only way to bring change is by Jesus working through the church.

8)  I voted with a determination that tomorrow, no matter what, tomorrow I will pray for and honor whoever is President. I cannot find a place in the Bible where it says that all committed Jesus-followers should vote.  But I do find in 1 Timothy 2:2 that I am called to pray for all those in authority and I do find in Romans 13:1-7 that I am called to honor, respect and submit to governing authorities because they have been placed there by God.

9)  I voted in anticipation of getting a free Starbucks coffee. Sorry just had to throw that one in there.

10) I voted with these words from Jesus as my foundation. They will know you are my disciples (not by your party affiliation, or by the placard in your yard, or even by the issues you hold dear) by the love you have for each other. Tomorrow (hopefully tomorrow) when the last vote is counted and the last pundit has spun his/her spin.  It is still ultimately about the capacities of our hearts to love God, love each other and love our world.

So that’s how I voted.  Oh, you wanted to know who I voted for?  That’s a whole other blog, which will probably never be written!  :) 

We college essays for sale started a new series at Calvary last weekend, Living the Dream. First up…we spent some time pondering the story of Gideon — Judges 6-7.  A lot of thoughts still wandering around in my heart.

What dream are we living? For example why is it that the American Dream has so much power to shape our lives?  I suppose one could argue that somewhere back in time the American Dream was a bit more noble than it is today.  It had to do with things like freedom, servanthood, compassion for the poor and oppressed, liberty, justice, the pursuit of happiness, and stuff like that.  But is that the essence of the current American Dream?  Or has our dream degenerated to low gas prices, a bullish stockmarket, and increasing home values?  There is much being said about the fact that our two presidential candidates offer starkly different perspectives on the best way forward for our country.  But what if they are offering two starkly different perspectives on the best way to live the wrong dream? 

What power are we seeking? I love the journey that God takes with Gideon.  It’s a journey from the many to a few.  The essence of the story is that God calls Gideon to deliver his people from enemy occupation.  Gideon gathers 32,000 men, but the enemy has 135,000.  So Gideon goes back to God because he knows that he needs more people.  He is looking for the power of the majority.  But God isn’t concerned about majorities so God leads Gideon to cull the troops from 32,000 to 10,000 to 300.  And 300 men AND GOD brought home the victory.    Politics inherently seeks the power of the majority.  A few decades ago, Christians began to think that politics was the path to transform society so what was our goal?  A Moral Majority.  It didn’t work.  When it comes to the power God shares, faith is of  far greater value than majorities.  Which means that prayer is probably more important than voting… I’m not saying don’t vote.  Just saying don’t forget to pray.

If  you are interested in listening to the pondering we did… click here.

I love that picture.  It gives me a sense of freedom, potential, opportunity.  I’m not sure if you can tell or not, but it’s a sunrise, not a sunset.  The day is just beginning, full of possibilities.  That’s what our new series is about.  It starts this weekend.  I’m so looking forward to spending the next 5 weeks talking about the dreams God has for our lives.

When I was a kid, my dream was to be a professional football player.  During high school, it changed.  Starting to think I might not be fast enough, big enough or strong enough for professional football, I turned my heart toward coaching.  I was going to teach math and coach football.  But then I got to college and that silly math major was requiring too much — studying.  So I dropped it.  Studying was not what I came to college for to do.  But then I’ll never forget my first theology class in college.  I loved it.  Soon after that my dream was to teach theology and coach football.  I know.  Where was I planning on putting those two things together?  Then I went to seminary; thought I was going for my phd but ended up in a church; thought being a pastor was going to be a short-term gig, but you know how that ended up.

Somewhere along the way, I realized that I loved being a pastor and I couldn’t imagine doing anything else with so much passion.  That’s when I knew what direction I needed to journey to live my dream.

Over the course of the last decade+ God has refined the dream.  Building a church without walls to serve the Centre Region and beyond…all the way to God.

I believe that during the next five weeks, some of us are going to take huge strides to living the dream.  Invite a friend and come to Calvary.

What a glorious day.  We baptized seven people last Sunday afternoon at Harvest Fields.  Listening to their God-stories I was reminded again, how powerfully God will work in our lives if we let Him.  Each one had a story that God is in the process of writing on their hearts and through their lives.  Baptism was their opportunity to tell the world that God’s-story is the only story they want written in their lives.  You know baptism is not a magical moment.  It isn’t a ritual that takes away all our future problems.  But it is a statement by each participant that they are headed on a new journey with a new destination, and they are living with a new source of power — some of the same ol problems, but a new hope, a new power for living.

The pond was not crystal clear.  It was a little green.  The pond was not wild-life free, a snapping turtle here, a harmless snake there, a few fish.  The pond was not heated, it was refreshing.  On the other hand baptism is a statement that we are willing to follow Jesus — wherever he leads. :)  I guess the Harvest Fields pond was just a little test.

All I can say is that it was a God-awe-full moment to join with these seven as they told all of us that they believed in Jesus and had decided to follow Him.  If you haven’t been baptized maybe you should check it out.

So this won’t be a long post, mostly just a question.  Here it is:  Could it ever be our Christian duty to NOT vote in a presidential election? I’m just asking the question, not making a statement.  I’m wrestling with this more this year than I have in the  past.  Why?  It’s NOT because I’m watching the campaigns more than ever and I’m just getting fed up.  It’s NOT because I don’t like anyone on either ticket.  It’s NOT because I don’t care about the issues.  It’s NOT because I feel that Christians shouldn’t be involved in politics.

It has to do with transformation, Kingdom-of-God theology, and my hope for revival.  A few days ago I watched an interview with Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of England.  He has started a faith foundation to battle global poverty and he is teaching a class on religious globalization at Yale.  But what caught my theological imagination happened at the end of the interivew.  Mr. Blair was asked who he would prefer as the next President of the United States.  Mr. Blair declined to comment because he is not a citizen of this country.

It reminded me of some challenges Paul made like,  For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we eagerly wait for the Savior who will transform us… (see Philippians 3:20) and then also Hebrews 11:13-15 where we find that our heroes of the faith were people who viewed themselves as strangers and pilgrims on this earth who were seeking a better country.

I read the New Testament and see our roles characterized as ambassadors for Christ, soldiers for Christ, citizens of heaven, pilgrims and strangers seeking a better country… and I am reminded…

We do need hope.  We do need to be saved.  But we do not need hope in the political process and we do not need to be saved by our country.  Ultimately we need something more than either the powerful words of Barack Obama or the heroism of John McCain.  What we need is Jesus and a single-minded focus on the Kingdom of God.  What we need is people who will live, love and give like Jesus did.  What we need is a passion revolution.

Don’t hear what I’m not saying.  We need more theologians/politicians.  We need more servant leaders.  There is not one square inch of culture that Jesus does not declare, this belongs to me.  Don’t hear what I’m not saying.  I’m not calling for a retreat to our Christian ghettos.  That goes against everything that a church-without-walls is all about.  I’m simply challenging us to ask ourselves, do we seek first the Kingdom of God? (Matthew 6:33)  And if we do not, is it fair for us to expect that all the other good things we are looking for…will be added to our lives?

Okay, so it wasn’t such a short post.  Oh well.

So all week long — with these pastors from Estonia — we’ve been talking about how to see our lives, and our world transformed by Christ.  Why is that transformation so difficult?  Why is the beautiful journey of becoming like Jesus, such a fight?

In my last blog I talked about the way that our consumer-culture has us looking for the quick fix and transformation is not necessarily a quick fix.  Here’s another potential reason:

2) In a text-message culture, we can loose the art of meaningful conversation. Now the reality is that I don’t have to pick on texting.  I could just talk about the way that we are always connected, our souls are always online, and it simply leaves us with less time to be online with God.  (Maybe I’ll talk about that one tomorrow.)  But texting is a different kind of online — it’s communicating, without communion.  It’s words without conversation.  And it really is changing some of the ways we relate.

Did you know that 10 billion text messages will be sent in 2008 — oops that’s just by the Australians.  I didn’t even know they had cell phones.  (jk)  In fact, it’s estimated that world-wide 2.3 trillion text messages will be sent in 2008, up almost 20% from 2007.  Now the .3 (trillion) comes from four people in my family (Sarah, Katy, Jake and Josh) so I know something about texting.

Now honestly, I enjoy texting, iming, facebook chat…and various other sms opportunities.  Sometimes it’s the only contact I have with my kids.  :)  There are positives.  Texting helps me feel connected.  I don’t have to be alone when I’m alone, if I have my phone.  And those little check-up messages between friends can bring a positive lift to my day.  And when I’m out in public if I want people to think that I have friends I can hold my phone and just hit buttons really fast, pretending to be a world-class text-messager.

But I just want you to consider for a moment, if there are any ways that our text-messaging culture shapes our relationships.  Maybe not, but maybe…  Here’s the point and if you don’t think text-messaging affects you, still hear the point.  Discipleship, transformation, involves a conversation with Jesus.  One time Jesus said, My sheep (meaning my followers, my disciples, those who want to be like me) know me and they hear my voice. Transformation involves a conversation with the one of whom the disciples said, You have words that bring life. Becoming like Jesus involves a conversation that takes time, is deep, requires listening, and meaningful response.

If we want to change, we have to take the time to join Jesus’ conversation.  Do we have the time?

More tomorrow…unless I sleep all day because of jet lag.  :)

I’ve been thinking this morning… Why is it so hard to become like Jesus?  Actually it’s a thot that has come to me in many different ways during the course of this sabbatasizing process.  It’s a thot that could also come under similar headings like… Why is it so hard to change?  or… Crud, why did I do that again?  or… Shoot where did that attitude come from?

This question came to my mind again as I sat for two hours around the dinner table talking to a group of Estonian pastors about the process of transformation in our lives and the lives of people in our congregations.  Our discussion ranged from homosexuality to greed to marriage and family issues to conflict.  But shaping the whole conversation — at least for me — was this question… Why is it so hard to become like Jesus?

Maybe that isn’t your experience…maybe the day you became a Christ-follower…the transformation of your soul was handed to you with a nice bow.  But I gather that for most of us, this was not the case.  On the other hand, my deep, deep heart conviction is that the Jesus-transformation of my soul is possible.  So what makes it difficult?

The next few days I’ll share a few possible reasons…here is the first one.

1)  In a consumer-culture our minds have been conditioned for quick and easy.  We buy products fashioned for quick and easy consumption. Nobody milks cows and  then churns butter, we just to to the store and buy butter.  Go to Barnes and Noble and you realize that authors know that change sells…rows upon rows of self-help/change/personal growth books.  But how many books have titles like “5 Almost Impossible Steps to Becoming a Better Person” or “The Painfully Hard Journey to a Happiness.” or how about “Better Relationships:  If it was Simple Everyone Would Do It.” Then count the books that use words like quick or easy.

But following Jesus — becoming like Jesus — is a hard journey, Gary Thomas calls it The Beautiful Fight. It is not a consumer oriented experience.  It may be a spiritual battle.  It may be like training for the marathon.  It may even be like art — in my case more like sculpting granite, than painting watercolors — but it is not a consumer oriented experience.

If we want to become more like Jesus, we have to want it bad enough to battle for it, train for it, and chisel away for years on end, because of what we see inside.  When it comes to becoming like Jesus, I just wonder if we/I want it bad enough?