Tall Monastic Guy

There's a cost...

If you'd be interested in going on mission here with us, then ask yourself and carefully process through these questions...

Do I or could I love the city of Denver? Do I or could I fall in love with a neighborhood and be incarnational within it? Am I willing to find intentional, creative, unannounced and unnoticed ways of serving my neighbors? Am I willing to partner with non-profits and other churches in order to serve the city more effectively, even if I don't agree with every aspect of the way they do things?

Is 5 too much to ask?

For the past three years I've been regularly hanging with a crew of 4-8 guys at a pub for some simple relational time in which we share our lives and some scriptures. The outcome of this past thursday led us into some good territory as we arrived at the simple determination that everyone (ourselves included!) is hungry to be valued and to know that they matter. That was Jesus' vocation wasn't it? Simply stated if you can sincerely convey that “You matter to me.” You can make a significant difference and sometimes even change the entire course of someone's day, week, or world.

So the challenge coming out of last week's pub time is to look 5 people in the eye and in some meaningful way communicate the message that you matter, you're worth it, you're valuable because...

A cliché impersonal "Jesus loves you" is most lamo, because Jesus loves everyone, right? The real challenge is to put skin on Jesus, BE the incarnation, and in a most customized way speak some life through a creative variation of “you really matter and I value you because...”

The barista, the mechanic, the co-worker, the spouse, child, the parent, roommate, grocery store clerk, school crossing guard, the homeless guy pushing the shopping cart full of belongings, the cop, the bank teller, the janitor, etc. etc. 

Just like you, they are all dying to know that they matter.

Want to join us in this challenge? 5 people this week starting today. Go!

Displacement

Feeling displaced?

"The paradox of the Christian community is that people are gathered together in voluntary displacement. The togetherness of those who form a Christian community is a being-gathered-in-displacement. According to Webster's dictionary, displacement means 'to move or to shift from the ordinary or proper place.' This becomes a telling definition when we realize the extent to which we are preoccupied with adapting ourselves to the prevalent norms and values of our milieu..."