• Archive of "young adults" Category

    Grilled Cheesus

    October 13, 2010 // No Comments »

    OK, so there was definitely some buzz about this episode of Glee in the twitterverse, well, at least in my little corner of it anyway.

    I didn’t get the chance to watch it until just last night and I gotta say, if you think about the average way in which Christians/Christianity was portrayed on television, say, 10 years ago, and contrast that with this episode, there’s some serious conversation to be had about how things have changed.

    Rather than pick apart the episode from the outset, I wonder how those of you who watched (or will watch) this episode think about what’s going on here.

    Posted in atheism, culture, God, homosexuality, video, young adults

    Partnering in Kingdom Ministry

    October 4, 2010 // No Comments »

    Two weekends ago Amy and I were in Iowa.  We got to spend some time with her family and celebrate her birthday, but we also had the opportunity to guide about 20 students through a series of personality and spiritual gift tests.

    The students are all part of something called TOAG – Training Ordinary Apprentices To Go.  Catchy right?!

    They spend a year living in intentional community and doing various kinds of incarnational ministry as part of their preparation to serve as international, probably long-term, missionaries.  I think this is an incredibly helpful model of discipleship for mission and we were privileged to be a part of it.

    Our time with these friends was a huge reminder of just how much I miss investing in the lives of young adults (now is the first time in 8 years that this hasn’t been a major feature of my life) and how much I personally receive from doing so.

    We had fun, and I enjoyed leading these students through a presentation and guided reflection on their spiritual gifts, but man, what I really loved was watching my wife in action.   She has a crazy passionate heart for God’s global mission and a mature set of gifts to compliment her firm calling to mobilize people into it.

    With our trip to Cape Town, South Africa for the Third Lausanne Congress just over a week away, I am reminded of just how grateful I am that a passion to partner in Kingdom ministry forms the bedrock of our marriage.  It’s gotta be close to my favorite thing about life!

    Speaking of our trip to Cape Town, we are just about $1,500 $1,000 (We just received an incredibly generous gift of 500!!) shy of our support raising goal.  Not enough to keep us away, but significant enough that we’re still inclined to ask people to partner with us.  Below is a 5 minute video Amy & I recorded about this once in a lifetime opportunity.  If you’re inclined to partner with us, you can give here.

    Posted in Amy, conference, discipleship, intentional community, spiritual gifts, young adults

    Can Megachurches be Missional?

    October 13, 2009 // 8 Comments »

    That is the questions that Ed Stetzer and Dave Fitch are addressing in this video interview (26:44).

    The video is worth your time, but there’s in inherent flaw in the question.  Asking if megachurches* can be missional is sort of like asking if a diesel truck can run on unleaded gas.  Or if someone with type A blood can receive a donation from someone with type B blood. On the surface, it might seem like a legitimate question, after all, diesel and unleaded are both automobile fuel and unless you have the right tools, A blood looks just like B blood, but that’s just the problem – the superficial appearance is where it stops.

    Megachuches and missional churches, while superficially similar in some regards, are so intrinsically different that the question loses all meaning.

    The model of the megachurch relies upon Christendom as a cultural context while missional churches (as I said my last post) see Christendom as a debilitating cultural condition and therefore seek to subvert it.

    The very medium of megachurch so distorts the message of the gospel, that it’s left virtually powerless to shape a people for fully and authentically participating in the mission of God in the world – the hallmark of missional ecclesiology.  Note: I am not saying that God cannot or does not impact and change peoples lives in the context of megachurches.

    Another version of this question is probably more worthwhile.  Can megachurches become missional? Maybe, but we need more people who are willing to be honest about the full scope of what a shift like this will mean.  There is just too much money and and too much popularity to be gained from going around and telling megachurches that they too can hop on the missional bandwagon without monumental shifts in identity and practice.  Like telling those who are wealthy, happy, healthy, and powerful that they are in fact poor, confused, sick, and weak, most people who lead “successful” megachurches simply don’t have ears to hear or eyes to see.

    So, my experience tells me not to bank on it.  But my wife tells me that if I believe in the power of the gospel to restore the world, I might not want to be so quick to discount its power to transform churches!  Good thing she’s around ;)

    *my comments on megachurches are limited to a Western context.  I simply don’t know enough about megachurches in non-western contexts to speak intelligently about differing cultural factors.  However, I’d be quick to ask, “Who taught them to do church like that anyway?!”

    Posted in christendom, church, community, gospel, missional, young adults

    Young Adult Picnic

    November 28, 2008 // No Comments »

    This is about a month old, but better late than never right?

    At the end of October one of the small groups at Living Hope, comprised mainly of young adults, hosted a picnic at a local park as a way for other young adults to make some connections.  It was a really fun afternoon consisting of game playing, chili eating, and much conversing.

    The event was significant for at least two main reasons.  First, it was a great example of the people of the church (as opposed to merely church staff) taking responsibility and initiative for ministering to others.  Second, the event succeeded in a number of these new young adults committing to meet for a number of weeks to discuss issues of life and faith as well as to pray with and for one another with a view toward connecting to a more permanent small group.

    I was really excited about the event and look forward to helping people and groups host lots more stuff like this in the future.  Here’s a little slide show of great pictures that Brian took.

    Posted in community, living hope, young adults

    Loving My Worlds… and Wanting Them to Collide

    June 9, 2008 // 1 Comment »

    My position at Living Hope has been enigmatic to say the least. I am a Young Adult Pastor, but my task is not to create or run young adult programs per se. Instead, I have spent my time relationally connecting with young adults and seeking ways to help them connect to the broader church community as we try and let what it means to be the church flow from that.

    Young adults fall into 3 general categories: singles, young married couples, and young married couples with kids. I have been fortunate enough to be embraced by communities of all three types and yesterday was a microcosm of those worlds for me.

    Yesterday morning I socialized mainly with my house group, which is comprised exclusively of pre-kid, married couples. We collaborated to help one of those couples move and then I spent the afternoon with one of the married guys, Zach, checking out various neighborhoods and properties as we think towards the possibility of intentional community (post on that forthcoming!).

    Then, I had dinner with a slew of my friends who are married w/ small kids. We were celebrating Clay’s graduation as a Doctor of Physical Therapy. This is a great time for me – getting to see how parents deal with kid stuff, trying to love on them myself, and embracing the mess that simply must be embraced if sanity is to remain.

    Finally, last night I spent with a bunch of my single friends. People were really just hanging out and talking. We played a game my friends from Ohio lay claim to, “… and a bottle of wine,” and it was a great time.

    Each of these groups is of course incredibly unique and I treasure my time with all of these folks in accordance with that uniqueness. I am thinking more and more about how to help others discover the joy of sharing life with those in various stages of it, but in the meantime, boy am I thrilled that it’s something God has orchestrated for me. It’s just good for my soul.

    Posted in friends, intentional community, living hope, memphis, young adults

    A Gathering of Young Adults

    May 21, 2008 // 3 Comments »

    This past Sunday was great. Aside from out Sunday morning gathering being its usual awesomeness, a big group of young adults got together to play Ultimate Frisbee. We have had a few games already over the past few weeks, but we had some new folks show up this week and the two teams were really evenly matched. It was a beautiful day and I just loved it.

    Then, later that evening we had our first Gathering of Young Adults. SOS, one of the groups we have a partnership with in urban Memphis, allowed us to meet at their building (since we don’t have one) and it was a great environment for us. It was a great blend of some married and single young adults as well as some college students and even a few of those who are just graduating from high school. I was really excited about some friends who helped to lead us in our time together by offering prayers, leading communion, a responsive reading, etc. More than that, it was a time where people really got to participate in all we did by way of dialog, sharing, asking questions, etc. Aside from that, I really enjoyed how organic the evening felt. By that I mean that I basically knew everyone there. It wasn’t some sort of abstract event attended by a bunch of nameless faces. It was, for the most part, a gathering of all those I have had the opportunity to get to know over the last few months who in turn had more of a chance to see and get to know each other.

    For those Living Hope young adults who read this, I’d love to hear your thoughts about the evening and any suggestions you might have if we ever decide to do another one of these.

    Posted in friends, living hope, memphis, young adults

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