miletwo::network

My heart, my passion, my mission in this world is to use my talents, my strengths, and my resources to impact the world around me with a single message. You are loved, you have value, and the God who created you with purpose desires to know you and have you know him. His Son made that possible. With that, comes the first part of my discovery of purpose and why I would choose to take part in the ventures that have unfolded before me.

Wow… Jon Dodson posted these over at theResurgence and I couldn’t help but pass them on.

• Eat with Non-Christians – nothing says community like a meal shared, and nothing will preach more loudly than giving your time to be with them.
• Walk, Don’t Drive — get out your car and be where people are. Walking is good for heart AND soul.
• Be a Regular – This might require firing your favorite Christian hair stylist or waitress in favor of ministering the gospel some place else. O, booo…
• Hobby with Non-Christians — What? Do something other than read your bible? Gasp! I recommend hiking. Demonstrate a love for the amazing playground that God has made for us, and take opportunities to tell them about it.
• Talk to Your Co-workers -- seriously. They won’t bite… hard.
• Volunteer with Non-Profits — Preferably Non-Christian ones. Food banks, pantries and shelters are a great place to meet people who need to know that God loves them and desires to see them whole again. My wife and I help out at the Oregon Food Bank every other week and we love it. Wouldn’t miss it.
• Participate in City Events — It’s a big world out there kids. Start seeing it in your own backyard.
• Serve Your Neighbors – See a neighbor with a need? Help out! Seriously… mow a lawn, help build a fence, change some oil… whatever. So let your LIGHT shine…

Read the full post over at: Simplified Missional Living | TheResurgence.

Oh mY! Often we wonder what our spiritual gifts are. Mark Driscoll has been posting a series of blogs about spiritual gifts and this week’s was one that got me going… it’s my gift!

In a spirited blog post, Geoff Surrat expresses concerns many of us are faced with as we deal with negative impressions of many.

It was at least five or six years ago when I first saw that monotone halo surrounding those curly locks on a mannequine at Urban Outfitters. “Jesus is my homeboy…” HA!  I laughed! My immediate reaction was… “yea… he’s definitely my homeboy too.”  Little did I know how radically diverse the reactions would be to this simple but powerful statement.

I’ve been talking about the concept of becoming a goer with a friend lately and have decided to put a few concepts in line prior to taking this to a larger audience. You, the faithful few who follow my blog will get to see it first.

I’ve been having some ongoing conversations with a buddy of mine centered on how we can reach the young people of our community. In so doing it is quickly becoming apparent that the way we’ve been trying to “do church” for so long is just not working any more. It’s time to start asking some new questions:

Hello to all my friends at the Gathering,

I’ve been reading David Alan Black’s mini-book on the synoptic problem since this morning.  It’s almost done and I’ll be bummed when I’m through it. The bigger issue I’m having today is that I’ve been around the church for over thirty years and I’m just now getting to this stuff. Why is that?  I guess it’s probably my own fault.  Either somebody forgot to tell me that Paul and Luke were buddies, that Mark hung out with Peter and likely wrote his gospel as a shorthand narrative of Paul’s sermons to the praetorium, etc. or I was sleeping that day.  I guess this kind of thing doesn’t come up in a thirty minute sermon titled “STOP BEING SO DUMB!” which is about the level that pastors today are able to get to with their stubborn and inattentive congregations.