What Is Success

Last sunday was our time at Grace Chapel to celebrate all of the graduates in our community, I never know exactly how to honor people in situations like that.  One thing i did was try to share from my heart the words of hope that i wish someone had shared with me a long time ago (click here to listen to the sermon), the words about loving God and loving others and abandoning some of the selfish tendencies burned into my soul that have been labeled "The American Dream"

It hurts so much to feel the painful dissonance between my longing for comfort and ease and the call of the cross, the call to suffer and sacrifice, the call to something radical that leads to true peace for the poor, oppressed, and broken.  The hardest for me is figuring out how to see God's reconciliation working out with the people who i have the most broken relationships with.  

What would a church look like that was sold out for the community.  I really like the most recent podcast from Rob Bell's church.  This guy Steve Chalke, from Stop The Traffik, talked about the hubs which he is a part of that are less like churches or church ministries and more like communities serving and seeking Jesus in the whole of life.  One picture i loved was him talking about how they are 360 degrees, meaning that their is a radius around them and their hubs that become the place where they are trying to see the Kingdom come in a holistic way.

So many great Christian movements, so many opportunities to do something radical, so many people in need, and I always feel like I am waiting.  How do we jump in?  How do we move beyond what has been ingrained into the being that Christ has transformed us to be? Sometimes i just don't know.

Grace and Peace.