Friday Burn

::: I know prostitutes now.
EmGberg, SPACE 2005 Brasil alumn, now almost done with a semester in Cochabamba, Bolivia, writes about prostitution. Read until the end.

::: The Idea Camp - Pacific Northwest
So many great elements that Charles sees in this gathering - collaboration, a posture of learning and cooperation, practitioners of transformation. Such an inspiring community. Idea Camp DC ranks as one of the top inspirations for me in 2009. If you are near Portland, you should go.

::: 5 trends for nonprofits of the future
Link
via @cynthiaware

January Ember Fun

Ember is working on a small project for January - it's a guided student missions weekend. Cultural immersion, urbanization, connecting people in our network - it's the perfect kind of fun.

A core value of this type of project is "partnership," so part of our planning process includes listening to both the team we are guiding and our hosts. Much of the current breakdown in missions sustainability is due to one side dominating how a project should be executed. Think of a wealthy American team providing labor, materials and design - those scenarios equate low ownership, not much chance for indigenous leadership development and team members missing the concept of contextualization.

Another core value is "facilitate," as opposed to lead. The main task of our guides is to set up other leaders - in this case, the students own leadership team. Catalytic leadership is subtle, challenging and non-intuitive.

Uncomfortable - Urgent - Passionate

Sharon Cohn Wu from IJM spoke at Grace this past Sunday morning as another part of our Beyond series. She had some amazing things to say in her talk entitled, "The Unfamiliar Passions of God." Three of them stuck out to me:

+ We are comfortable with our perceived limitations.
+ Enormity undercuts urgency. [like in the case of 27M people enslaved today - or any other global issue we face]
+ Brutal indifference is an essential component of injustice.

Lots more could be said about her message, like the new awareness about human trafficking given to our community, the great tangible opportunities for follow up, and what people at Grace may be doing about justice around the world and how one of my friends loved that she was dressed like Trinity from The Matrix. But those three statements are plenty enough for me - and not just about social justice.

Rock What You Got

I took KT and two of her friends to see Superchick last night. Big thanks to SMfftt who got us into the show. Amazing time - the band looked like they were having the time of their lives on stage.

I've loved their music for a few years - upbeat, catchy, inspiring. But I love their attitude even more - girls together, get out of my way, lead and impact, we can change the world. Sometimes your kids need to hear that kind of stuff from other voices.

Book Notes - The Hole In Our Gospel

The Hole In Our Gospel by Richard Stearns
Richard Stearns tells quite a story in his book, The Hole In Our Gospel. Most startlingly is the contrast between his career as a luxury goods CEO transitioned to the US president for World Vision. An amazing story really and through it, he weaves a clear picture of the world we live in, how something is missing in our concept of "The Gospel", and simple steps to catalyze change.

It's really a memoir of his career transition, which is a fascinating story by itself. His worldview, faith and the way God moves in Mr. Stearns and his family's life are both fascinating and challenging - fascinating because you see that it could have only worked out this way and challenging because I think most of us can relate. We can understand his comfortable life, his hesitancy in taking a leap of faith and the desperation we feel when we risk like that. Through it I'm reminded that like Mr. Stearns, God has an epic, distinct plan for each of us and that He is molding us specifically for that - the world is in it's most desperate hour and we are the only ones that can help.

Of course, I love the way Mr. Stearns has touched on some important global realities along his story - realities like AIDS, extreme poverty, hunger, the water crisis, technology, the Millennium Development goals, the wealth of the Western Church.... ok you get the picture. If you like some of the stuff that I post about, you'll enjoy the book too.

Of course, reading something like this requires you and I to do something about it. Mr. Stearns includes two triads as filters for thought and action:
+ Awareness, access, ability.
+ Time, talent and treasure.

Here are some choice quotes from the book:

The gospel means much more than the personal salvation of individuals. It means a social revolution.
What if there are children who will suffer somehow because I failed to obey God? What if my cowardice costs even one child somewhere in the world his or her life?
It's not what you believe that counts; it's what you believe enough to do.
Frankly, giving things to the poor does much more to make the giver feel good than it does to fundamentally address and improve the condition of those in need.
Some scientists believe that one out of every two people who have ever lived have died of malaria. [What??]

We've drifted away from being fishers of men to being keepers of the aquarium - Paul Harvey.
I love the recklessness of faith. First you leap, and then you grow wings. - William Sloane Coffin
Obedience to the Great Commission has more consistently been poisoned by affluence than by anything else. - Ralph Winter

Grace is reading through this book during our Beyond series. If you are regular around here, you would probably love this book.

Disclosure: Thomas Nelson provided me a copy of this book for review purposes.

Latest Kindling

+ K&K are adjusting well to life in North Africa. After moving across the world, the team and community you find yourself in is pretty integral to your success.
+ Catalyst One Day at Grace is sold out. If you are going to be there, I would love to meet you.
+ I had breakfast with an old friend who is on his way with his family to join a church planting team in Vienna, Austria next summer. They couldn't get support from his wife's home church [think "daughter" of the church] because their destination didn't match the church's strategy. What do you do with that?
+ The Ember team is working on our first project slated for January. Very excited to tell you more as it gets some traction. Twitter played a huge part of this.
+ Best decision I made regarding the interns: making them start blogs and write in them every week.
+ Love this thought from @davegibbons: "Success should equal descending numbers (less poverty, less homelessness, less abuse, etc.), not ascending numbers (more people, more converts, more baptisms, etc.)" via
+ I'm absolutely obsessed with charity: water these days, just about following all of their staff on Twitter. Can someone I know please get a job there?

Boo

Reconciling - All People and All Things

Here's my contribution to the daily email that Grace is doing as part of the Beyond series.
++++
"I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone - for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men-the testimony given in its proper time."
1 Timothy 2:1-6

God's dream is certainly the redemption of all people, but maybe His dream includes more. This isn't necessarily rocket science. God wants every person to be reconciled with Him. The redemption of every person is at the heart of who God is. Past, present, future, He has not forgotten about anyone. It's reassuring for us isn't it? Not to mention, the confidence booster of knowing that our god isn't some sort of deity who decides based on behavior or achievement.

But there is one thing in the passage that is intriguing - why are we asked to pray specifically for those "in authority"? Could those in authority have something else to do with God's dream of every person? Are we missing something? Paul is imploring us to pray for those in charge - the judges, teachers, bosses, government officials. Perhaps God knows that they have sweeping impact. Their decisions empower or oppress, free or hinder, create great environments or create hell on earth. Families, teams, corporations, communities - values are influenced by those in authority, at least at the start.

Maybe God is also interested in the reconciliation of structures and systems. A team, a corporation, a type of government. A relationship, a community, a culture. Sure, maybe not foremost, but maybe this is part of what Paul means in Colossians when he mentions Jesus wanting to "reconcile to himself all things." When we ponder the large issues facing humanity today, issues like global poverty, the AIDS crisis, modern day slavery - we've got to be concerned with the individuals certainly. But solving many of these problems require a multi-faceted view of both the individuals and the structures that coalesce to bring humanity to it's knees. Solving global poverty must involve feeding people as well as food delivery systems. Freeing modern day slaves often requires solving issues of local government and law enforcement corruption as well as follow up with released slaves. Seemingly tangential, could those systems also point to redemption? I think yes.

I think God's dream for all of humanity includes every person - people are great illustrations for reconciliation. But the redemption of all things - now that is a God sized dream.

For reflection:
Look up the term "redemptive analogy."
Could there be a story in your background that is one?
What structures or systems helped model reconciliation?

Wednesday Burn

::: A Language Map of Europe
Like people groups, not limited to geopolitical borders.
Link


::: MTV Sticky
Youth Culture, Trends and Insight
Link


::: Teenager starts a nonprofit
Raised nearly $40,000 and she's 14.
Link via @decart

What Kind of Spiced Latte?

pumpkin!!