Away From Home in Malta

How do I explain how difficult it is to be away from home so often. There is much security of the regular rhythm of my life that many of you take for granted. Being with my gorgeous wife; talking to my boys who are in college; wrestling with a kitchen remodel project; enjoying the excitement of college basketball (and other so-called minutia). All are things I deeply miss.

Still, being with friends here from across the world who most of you will (sadly) never meet, energizes me. Norm (from CA), Grant (from Lebanon), Glenn and Jennifer (pictured here now living in Spain), Edwin (from Malta), Marwan (from Egypt) and many others -- they give me strength. They give me encouragement to know that what God has called me to in developing partnering initiatives makes a small, but perhaps significance difference in the world. They help me to deal with the loneliness of being by myself most of the time. Their stories are often my stories. Their hurts and struggles have become mine. And mine have become theirs.

Your prayers are needed as we enter into discussion this week about how we can address strategic ministry to the majority peoples of the Middle East. We seek God's direction. We seek His involvement. We desperately desire to come alongside what He is already doing.

Well, after much travel time and several flight delays, I've arrived in Malta. Things are progressing well with over 400 key leaders from the NA region here to talk about cooperative outreach strategies. Certainly value your prayers as things continue.

After a couple of days of storms, the island has returned to its normal weather. This is the sunset from my hotel room tonight. Unfortunately, because of being in meetings most of the time, this is about as much of the beauty as I get to see!

Kitchen Progresses

Well, the countertops are mostly in, we have new doors and things continue to take shape. We also now have a sink which we didn't really know how much we'd miss!

From a December 14 finish line we are now hoping for February 20. And, of course, I'll now be conveniently leaving for three weeks next Tuesday. . . .

Being Relevant or Sensitive?

I have said for a long time that so-called seeker sensitive churches don't really work (at least in the greater Seattle area). They can draw crowds and look credible, but don't build believers. They sometimes have the sizzle of entertainment, but rarely have the steak of substance. Now Bill Hybels, founder and pastor of Willow Creek Community Church the most famous and successful of those churches, is agreeing with me -- at least as it relates to spiritual growth.

Here's his quote in response to an intense study that Willow Creek Community Church did to see how they were doing in the area of life and change and growth:

"We made a mistake. What we should have done when people crossed the line of faith and become Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching people that they have to take responsibility to become “self feeders.’ We should have gotten people, taught people, how to read their Bible between services, how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own."

Reveal: Where Are You? by Greg Hawkins and Cally Parkinson is the book that shares the results of the study. Probably must reading for leaders looking to have more impact. You can also check out a few more stories about the study at:

http://www.christianexaminer.com/Articles/Articles%20Jan08/Art_Jan08_oped1.html
http://www.christiancentury.org/article.lasso?id=4266
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695241341,00.html

The whole thing is pretty interesting, just because it challenges the assumptions that many have had about seeker oriented churches and their "Field of Dreams" strategy (if you build it they will come). In my opinion, the real challenge is in how we as followers of Christ can be a relevant resource to those who are seeking to perhaps be more intentional in their spiritual journey, not necessarily just being "sensitive" or entertaining. But relevancy takes relational time and energy that most of us don't want to invest. It also takes the kind of honesty about our own faith -- including the fact that we are all on a journey and fail often -- that we shy away from.

With Friends from Across the World

Spent a wonderful day yesterday with my friend Andy Shie and his wife, Dona. They are from the small country of Brunei in Southeast Asia where he serves as a missions pastor of a good size church. I work with Andy in the sports ministry network where he is one of the key leaders.

Kitchen Remodel #3

We continue to progress on the kitchen remodel. Some of the cabinets have been installed and the counter tops measured. Now we have at least a week wait for the granite to be installed, along with the rest of the cabinets to come (which were ordered wrong by our original contracter). Ah, yes, the joys of home ownership!