11.10 prayer

I've posted the Nov. prayer letter for The Table in the "prayer" link to the right. Thanks for your prayers and support!

citizen

It's late Friday night and the house across the street is testing the maximum volume of their house speakers. What do you do? You see someone finish their 1 liter of Pepsi, and throw it down next to 7 other cans and bottles. What do you do? The dangerous road you walk down, still has no sidewalk. What do you do?

The answer to these questions for many of us is to wish someone else would take care of it. So we either sit and fester, sit and complain, or sit and call the authorities (the city, the cops, etc.). This answer is indicative of how our consumeristic culture gets played out in our daily lives. We see and believe ourselves to be consumers of a system, waiting to be served.

Presently, I am at an AmeriCorps/community development training. The grant I received is focused on boostering volunteerism in my neighborhood. With this focus, a goal is to change the attitude of seeing ourselves as consumers to begin seeing ourselves as citizens. A citizen, in my mind, is one who takes responsibility for the condition of their neighborhood. My hope is that citizenship will increase in my neighborhood as a of this grant.

I can imagine a better neighborhood than first described. So, it's late Friday night and the house across the street is testing the maximum volume of their house speakers. I can imagine a neighbor calling that house, because of an already established relationship, instead of calling the cops. Or, you see someone finish their 1 liter of Pepsi, and throw it down next to 7 other cans and bottles. I can imagine a neighbor asking that person to properly dispose of the trash, and if "the bird is flipped" knowing that the citizen-led regular trash cleanup will help keep the streets clean. And when the dangerous road you walk down still has no sidewalk, I can imagine a group of neighbors putting pressure on the local government to act, or seeking funds and approval for private neighborhood action. I would much rather live in this second neighborhood, where my neighbors are empowered. You?

living rhythms

In our journey of church planting, there has been a big emphasis on dreaming/planning/scheming. This continues to be the case, but with a new addition, implementation. After creating, casting, and refining vision for so long, it is strange to put those thoughts into action. Doing so is what makes those rhythms living things that express how God is moving through us.

With our leadership community, the vehicle of the new church is moving. This past month was The Table's first full month of living out our rhythms of hospitality, discipleship, and blessing. We "worshiped" three weeks, served the neighborhood one week, and threw a party the next. It is awesome to see this movement occur. It is not how I guessed it would be, but it is beautiful.

The vision of our rhythms did not begin this way. After reading a book called "Simple Church" by Thom S. Rainer & Eric Geiger, I became convinced that and organization's mission must also be its values and their vision. Too often a the beauty of a mission get bogged down by values and vision that are similar but different, leaving the organization w/ a massive document no one looks at.

So if someone asks what the mission of The Table is I'd say, "To live the HOSPITALITY we see in Jesus, to grow in our DISCIPLESHIP in Him, and to be a BLESSING to those around us, in His name." If someone asks what the values of The Table are I'd say, "To live the HOSPITALITY we see in Jesus, to grow in our DISCIPLESHIP in Him, and to be a BLESSING to those around us, in His name." And if someone asks what the vision of The Table is I'd say, "To live the HOSPITALITY we see in Jesus, to grow in our DISCIPLESHIP in Him, and to be a BLESSING to those around us, in His name." You get the idea.

Now that we have this in our minds as a church, it is cool to see us living it out. As a group we had a party where social lines and circles blurred b/t friends, neighbors, and church folk. To me it was a step of HOSPITALITY. In our worship gatherings and Bible studies, it is awesome to see and hear "iron sharpening iron" (the image of DISCIPLESHIP), as we grow in the likeness of Christ together. And it is cool to leave our 4 walls of comforts and go out and pray for the neighborhood as we pick up trash or visit neighbors in "their territory", and BLESS them on "their terms". It has been awesome to see us implement our rhythms, for His glory. I pray we will continue to grow in these rhythms as we continue follow the lead of Christ.