Here is how I was taught to make disciples.  Once someone makes a decision to follow Christ you invite them to attend a discipleship class (these classes have different names but do the same thing).  The class instructs the new believer how to “be different.”  The problem is you don’t learn to be a disciple, you must live it.  Being a disciple and making disciples is about the going: not to church, but going as the church. As you live with people becoming disciples (this is called making disciples and it’s messy) you notice this band of people become much more than friends, they are your church.  I could say a lot more…but let’s stop here.

Because recently I have been discouraged, not at any one particular person or event, just false expectations I have created.  It’s hard to go through de-toxic of everything you’ve come to believe about the kingdom of God. My biggest down fall has been relationships.  I’d developed a “pulpit pastor” mentality about people over the last ten years.  Stand in the pulpit and tell them how to think, act, and respond to God – but at all cost guard myself from actually openness about my own life.  I feared rejection or worse lost disciples.  It’s hard to make disciples if you’re afraid of people.

Last week as I whined, Summer asked the big question:  Who are you discipling?  Who are you meeting with daily or weekly?  I had to confess no one regularly (sigh).  She really stuck it to me.

But as much as it hurt to answer – I respect her more than anyone.  She practices making disciples.  That is what is so attractive about her.  She surrounds her life with people becoming disciples.  Not viewing them as teacher/student, but as equals.  She is a true model of what Jesus called us to do: go and make disciples.

I have an amazing wife that not only challenges my life but has all my love.

But I read it for the last chapter.  It’s here that he briefly predicts the future of religion in America.  I think he said it well and I feel everyone needs to hear it.  If you’ve follow anything religion you already know people are looking for something authentic, but it’s how he predicts this value will shape the future of what church looks like that I want to convey.  Because the book says it well, I will use a lot of quotes.

What he says is the future of Protestantism has mostly to been found in megachurches.  With over 1200 churches, defined as congregations of 2000 or more, megachurches average “20 full-time paid ministerial staff persons, 22 full paid program staff persons, and nearly 300 volunteer workers who give five or more hours a week to the church.”  That’s more people than the average Protestant church can get to come through their doors on Christmas and Easter combined.

He says he certainly doesn’t think “that megachurches are in any danger of disappearing in the immediate future.”  But he sees a “powerful countervailing trend in the authenticity movement and its emphasis on content over package.” He sees the small but fast-growing house-church movement as “compelling evidence that the push back against megachurches is already well under way.”

Much like the early “Christians did when the Church still had to operate underground, house-churchers meet for worship not in soaring glass cathedrals or on sprawling religious campuses but in worshipers’ homes.  Production values are nil.  Hierarchy is flattened of necessity:  These are not staff-rich environments.  As one leader said of the house-church movement, ‘It is about authenticity.  Church services have succeeded at being more characterized by excellence, but one of the consequences of that excellence is artificiality and the feeling that everything is produced and that it is a show.’  Or as another participant told the L.A. Daily News, ‘What is so exciting about doing small-group house church is just the chance to be real.’  In a culture filled with fake and overblown events, that’s a powerful force.  Estimates are that the house-church movement have grown tenfold over the last decade, to about 20 million participants attending either full-time or occasionally. ”

The Barna Group (another pollster) estimates more than 70 million adults have at least experimented with house church participation. In a typical week roughly 20 million adults attend a house church gathering. Over the course of a typical month, that number doubles to about 43 million adults.

They both project the number to grow even more dramatically in the years ahead.

I think this thought is appropriate for this previous weekend.  Valentine’s Day was this weekend and if you have a significant someone than you probably celebrated some act of love (1 Cor 13).  But I don’t believe there is any act of love greater than the act of giving.  And in a world that evolves around two economies: time and money.  It’s the giving of time that can have no equal.

I bring these two economies up because this weekend I realized how much I truly love my girls (wife: Summer and daughter: Tatum).  They are the most important people in my life on earth and I can not conceive of loving anyone more.  So when I gave time to be with them in two venues of entertainment and found myself asking, “What I’m I doing?” I quickly recognize I’m loving my girls in the moment and showing them how much I love them by giving myself.  So what did I do with them?

Saturday night I watched “Confessions of a Shopaholic” with Summer.  If you know me that was torture!  The joy I found was hearing my wife laugh out loud and pull me close during the “mushy” parts.  I’m not a big teen movie buff (I can hear Summer now saying it wasn’t a teen movie, but if felt like one), I prefer action and story depth.

Sunday night we went downtown as a family to watch Sesame Street Live: Elmo’s Green Thumb.  Now this was not actually bad.  It felt kinda cool with all the families and the joy of watching children light up with the characters walked on stage.  When I was a child you couldn’t tear a stuffed Grover doll from my little hands.  He was in every picture.  So there was a bit of joy when I saw him take the stage.  However, it took Tatum about five songs before she released the death hug on her mother’s neck and watch the show facing forward. By the end all we could hear Tatum saying was “Where Elmo?”

I actually loved my Valentine’s Day because of the joy my girls gave me.

Let me give a disclaimer: My wife doesn’t fight; well, she doesn’t fight back.  She gives a little attitude when she feels it’s necessary (or not), but rarely doesn’t she actually argue. Nevertheless, it’s essential your argument ends well no matter if words or silence is exchanged. How you end an argument can determine the enduring success or failure of your relationship.

Control.  If anything I’ve learned it’s important to keep your cool and maintain control.  It’s never appropriate to be childish, abusive or immature in an argument.  You have every right to your feelings and communicating your feelings, but only when it’s helpful, not smug, and taking yourself lightly.

I’ve always told Summer that we are going to fight or disagree about something, it’s only natural.  But it’s how you fight and the desire outcome you have for the fight.  Do you want to resolve the issue or get even, revenge, or power?  If you have to win then that means your spouse has to lose. Everyone loses when we have those attitudes. This is no competition, it’s a partnership.  God said two became one.

Here are some rules to fight by.  I think every book, website, and marriage guru suggests some form of these so they all get create.  But here they are again.

Keep it private.  Fighting in front of your children, friends, or strangers is embarrassing. It scars children emotionally for life and because you couldn’t control yourself until you could speak privately.

Stay on Issue.  Don’t use this issue to air out or bring up old grudges.  Practice using boundaries around subject matters so that a fight doesn’t become a free-for-all.

Be Real.  Deal with the issue not the symptoms.  And be honest and truthful with each other – nothing false. Communicate what is really bothering you or you will end the fight feeling more frustrated.

No Name Calling. Stay focused on the issue, not on attacking them personally so you feel more powerful or proven.  Don’t let the fight degenerate into name-calling.

Remain Clear.  What do you want when the disagreement is over?  If you don’t know what you want when it’s all said and done — you won’t know if you achieved it.

Let Your Partner Save Face.  How you end is crucial.  Recognize when they are ready for the argument to be over – maybe in the form of an apology or a joke – and give them a way out of the disagreement that doesn’t require them to feel the loose. Also accept that some issues will not be resolved now and your partner has the right to space to think and reflect.

Keep Balanced.  Remember that not every disagreement means putting on the gloves.  Not every issue demands intensity.  You do not have to get mad every time you have a right to be.  Your partner can sense your emotions without you screaming or shouting.

Over By Bedtime.  My wife and I have an unsaid rule that arguments should be temporary, so we don’t let them go beyond bedtime.  Sometimes we want to sleep on it (she is a processor), but we don’t allow the ugliness of an argument to stretch beyond going to sleep.  Somewhere I remember the saying “don’t let the sun go down on your anger” (Eph 4.25-27; Psalm 4.4).

I wish I could say I’m perfect in all things martial discord.  I don’t claim to be a good husband, but I’m learning to be better.  I love my spouse as I’m sure you love your own (or will someday) and believe the best fight is the one that ends with both satisfied and eclipsed by love.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I live in Texas.  There is an act called “Common-Law Marriage” that allows two consisting adults to call themselves married if they show evidence that they publicly recognize each other as wife/husband.  Other people can also testify to the same effect. Another way is with legal documents (i.e. leases signed as husband and wife, tax returns filed jointly as a married couple, and insurance policies listing one person as the other person’s spouse).

What defines marriage? Does a certificate make you married? Can two people who live together, committed to each other for life, be considered married?  Is marriage a private issue between two people or calls on the support of the whole community?

The disciples in reaction to Jesus’ view of marriage and divorce were shocked and responded by saying, “If those are the terms of marriage, we’re stuck.  Why get married? (Matt 19.10)” Those are pretty strong words for followers of Christ.  But you have to consider their worldview of marriage.  Moses permitted divorce and Jews practiced divorce.  God viewed marriage for a lifetime, divorced provided a way out. 

Jesus’ view of marriage was different and He called people to return to its original purpose.  Husband and wife become one flesh in marriage – no longer two bodies but one.  Because God created this organic union of the two sexes, no one should desecrate His art by cutting them apart.  The only exception was where the spouse committed adultery.  It was this view of marriage that caused the disciples’ response.

Jesus said in Matthew 19.11-12, “Not everyone is mature enough to live a married life. It requires a certain aptitude and grace. Marriage isn’t for everyone. Some, from birth seemingly, never give marriage a thought. Others never get asked-or accepted. And some decide not to get married for kingdom reasons. But if you’re capable of growing into the largeness of marriage, do it.”

What classifies marriage?  How should we identify marriage? Every culture is different – marriage is as simple as a piece of paper and a state seal in some places, while others involve a week long celebration calling on the community’s participation. 

This week Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi got married in Beverly Hills.  Most twenty something live with their partner before taking marriage vows.  Professing Christians have a higher rate of divorce then unchristians.  Somewhere we lost the meaning of marriage. 

I believe Jesus had a deeper view of love, sex, marriage, even family than we do.  Can we grow into the largeness of marriage?  I mean cultivate a culture where marriage is more than paper and people.  The early Christians viewed marriage as “marry then love”, not “love then marry.”  Marriage was a choice for life before feelings had anything do with it.  One didn’t test drive the relationship or chose a partner based of emotions. Love can fade, Lust deceives, and Life changes.

Marriage is a commitment to stay when you don’t feel loving, give more then you receive, and disregard the option of divorce when life changes.  If you need a piece of paper (and you do in most places) to demonstrate your vow then so be it.  The really question is: can you capable of growing into the largeness of marriage?

So we decided to gather these people together and start the conversation.  Friday night was our first time to gather six adults to simply be friends.  We ate hamburgers, talked about life, play games, and ended the night asking everyone to join us in a Life Group (our small group).  The cool part, due to schedules, we will officially start our group on June 27^th – my birthday.  I couldn’t think of a better gift then to see the birth of a community, fellowship, and church on my 31st birthday.

Here is what I imagine we become.  A people who desire to retell the story of Christ through our lives. Who seek to adjust our lives around the life, mission, and teachings of Jesus Christ in the hopes that our experience will bring into clear focus this real and living Person to anyone watching. Not a place to go, but a people to belong to–a people who have been called to live out the Good News of God’s Kingdom in every niche of culture. Ultimately, create a unique sort of church where none existed before.

We’ve decide to start a church (i.e. Graceland) and approach it simple – by living out the gospel in our marketplace community and begin to draw a group of people from our local coffee shop, music venues, and markets to discuss what Jesus meant by the kingdom of God. As time passes this group will grow and become much more. This will not be where we go to church. It will be our life, our friends, and the people we are on mission with.

If you’re reading this and live in Austin or feel God leading you to Austin we hope you join us!

Sundays growing up meant work, not rest. Every Sunday morning without fail we got up earlier, normally ate cinnamon rolls or cinnamon toast, and made it to church for Sunday school. I hated Sundays as a child because not only did I get up early but I had to wear “Sunday clothes.” Now this was before children’s church so I sat through Sunday school and then the morning message. Okay, so I didn’t sit, I normally slept lying on the pew – but those stained glass windows will forever be engraved in my mind. We normally went to lunch at service with my grandparents and then home for a short nap, because the Sunday night service started at six o’clock sharp. I liked the evening service better because I could wear jeans and play outside unless it was a revival and my mom felt I needed reviving.

I say all this because it wasn’t rest, it was busy. Today my family went to a casual service, afterward Tatum took at nap, and we played in the backyard. I made a homemade Slip n’ Slide in the backyard. And as I lied on my stomach on the wet plastic playing with my daughter I thought – This Is Rest! This is what Sundays were made for and I think I saw Jesus smiling when my daughter giggled.

Summer called it Slip n’ Slide Sunday – I liked to think of it as REST.

This ran as part of a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal yesterday. Pure brilliance.

Underneath what’s pictured above were these sentences:

No 1st or 2nd Checked Bag Fees

No Change Fees

No Fuel Surcharges

No Snack Fees

No Aisle or Window Seat Fees

No Curbside Checkin Fees

No Phone Reservation Fees

Yes, there are plenty of good reasons why Southwest trounces the competition in customer satisfaction surveys, but this ad sums the main one up nicely. I know what I pay for a ticket is the final price and, to borrow their language, they won’t #$*!% me over.

Now if only they flew to Atlanta…

When two worlds collide strange things happen.  Colliding is what happen when the star of Austin (I love this city) and my mom met on 6^thStreet.  A few weeks ago she was visiting and these pictures were taken with the most famous Austinite – Leslie.

For those not familiar with Austin and its culture – Leslie is sort of an Austin icon.  Leslie is a homeless cross-dresser!  Many consider him to be the epitome of the Keep Austin Weird campaign, as demonstrated by his two time run for mayor.  Leslie hangs out around 6^th Street, this picture was taken around 6^th and Trinity during the Pecan Street Festival.

I guess you wonder why I would post these pictures (besides embarrassing my mother)?  To illustrate how much Austin needs Jesus.  Also, to cause you to pray harder for our city.  We are loving the people like Jesus (and as you can see my mother) would – we want to turn their hearts toward Him. 

Please keep us in your pryers. 

She also raised us in church and not any church a Pentecostal church(s).  When I was young we attended a Church of God in Memphis.  I remember seeing miracles as a child and thought speaking in tongues normal.  As a teenager we attended Assembly of God churches and I attended an A/G college after high school.  I credit my perspective of God to my mother’s deep faith.

At some point in everyone’s life you have to move away from your parent’s faith and into your own.  I made that transition in high school and more in college.  But it was after college that what happen on the Day of Pentecost became so much clearer.  I have a different outlook on Pentecost now.

First, let me say I believe in speaking in tongues.  I believe in the gifts of the Spirit and believe theu are for today.  No doubt.  But I don’t agree with the current state of the Pentecostal church.  I think many Pentecostal churches have taken the blessing of God and made it the object of their pursuit.  Let me use a story in 2 Kings 18 as an example of what has happened and what needs to happen.

We see in 2 Kings 18 where Israel (and now Judah too) has once again been in a cycle of obedience and disobedience to God, led by a revolving door of kings.  In 2 Kings we meet Hezekiah, a young man who seeks to use his authority to restore Israel to right relationship to God.  In order to do that, some housecleaning is in order.

In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abijah ^[a] daughter of Zechariah.  He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done.  He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called ^[b] Nehushtan. ^[c] )   2 Kings 18.1-4

In Isreal’s past God had instructed Moses to compose a bronze serpent and attach it to the end of his staff (Num 21.4-9).  This came in response to a plague of serpents that God sent as judgment on Israel’s rebellious complaining against God and Moses.  When they finally repent in the face of this serpentine judgment, it is the bronze serpent raised up that becomes the means of deliverance.  However, by the time of Hezekiah this bronze serpent has become more than a totem; it has become an idol that is being worshiped. So Hezekiah has it destroyed. Can you imagine destroying this symbol of God’s past salvation?  Yet his was necessary to give Israel the possibility of reengaging with God in the present, according to Hezekiah.

We are constantly faced with temptation to take the blessing of God and make it the object of our pursuit.  In the short term it is often easier to do this than to pursue the God who judges us.  But God is into reality, which makes the reason the evidence of the Holy Spirit so important.

I know all the reasons for speaking in tongues.  It’s evidence of the Holy Spirit (Act 2.4). It edifies the believers (1 Cor 14.4) and reminds us of the indwelling presence (John 14.16-17).  Speaking in tongues lines our prayers with His (Rom 8.26) and stimulates our faith (Jude 20).  But the most important reason I conclude is to empower us to be His witness (Acts 1.8).  I think this final reason, and most important, is what we should pursue as the Pentecostal church.  As leaders it’s important we balance between the “blessing” and the “mission.”