Aid

Brant and I are driving to Tallahasee tomorrow morning with a few truckloads of relief supplies for Katrina victims as a part of the Convoy of Hope. After going through two "mild" hurricanes last year, I can only imagine what these millions of people are going through. Anyway, give what you can...you never know when one of these storms is going to hit again.

Supposedly the car Brant and I will be driving is his station's new promo-mobile. It has life sized photos of smiling Christians with slogans like "Encouraging" and "Up-lifting" written all over it. Hopefully, I'll get some photos:)

Money

I'm usually not one to broach controversial subjects on this blog, but I feel that this topic is important enough and creates enough problems within faith communities like ours that it needs to be addressed - Money.  You might think I'm talking about the whole tithing issue or how common money is distributed, which is a worthy topic, but not what this post is about.  No, this deals with the impact the shift from more traditional church practices to simple or organic church has had on personal finances.
 
If you read around enough on the blogosphere, it is obvious that not many practitioners of simple church have disposable income.  In fact, most are paycheck to paycheck working all manner of jobs (in some cases multiple jobs) to provide for their families.  One of the most dramatic effects of the shift away from traditional church is the loss of a stable salary that a larger church with a professional staff might provide.  Many people I know have invested their early working career entirely in ministry positions that they subsequently left to discover another way of being church.  The loss of those positions and salary can be devastating to someone whose only work experience is within church or para-church organizations.  Then there is the issue of education.  I know just as many people who have gotten Bible degrees or other ministry training at a bible college or seminary that are now struggling to find adequate work to make ends meet.  In some cases, this struggle provides a unique opportunity to be in contact with the "real world" rather than life in the bubble of a church staff.  However, it doesn't make the struggle any easier on the individual or their family.
 
Thankfully, I was a less-than-zealous teenager who followed his big brother into engineering school rather than going to a bible college.  It was only until after college that I began to have thoughts of going into "full-time ministry" and planting a church.  Eventually, after about five years of working as an engineer, I quit to join a church staff part-time.  It was my full intention to never work as an engineer again.  Amber started a small business teaching music to preschoolers and I began to help her in my spare time.  When we moved to South Florida, we raised partial support for our first year.  But when we hit year two and we were relying totally on Amber's business, reality began to hit home.  Living in Jupiter is expensive.  We were having kids which increased our monthly expenses.  After a few unexpected bills that went to credit cards, I approached Amber's mom and dad and (half jokingly) asked if they needed any help at their business, a consulting engineering firm.  They did and I began to work about 30 hours a week.  That was almost three years ago.
 
I feel very fortunate to have this job in light of what others I know have to deal with.  But as great as the job is, I still am making sacrifices to have the lifestyle we think is important.  It's a small company that is just getting traction in the market so my salary is well below the industry standard.  Amber has continued to operate her small business, but with three kids her time is limited and can only teach two mornings a week.  We could get another job at night or on the weekends, but that would have too negative of an impact on our kids.  That's where we have discovered the beauty of residual income.
 
Residual income is sort of a buzz-word right now.  I haven't read much on the subject, but I know there are a whole host of books out there by snake-oil salesmen telling you how you can make a million bucks sitting in your pajamas.  My reasons for pursuing multiple income streams are far less motivated by a hunger for wealth or comfortable working conditions.  To me, it is a lifestyle question.  I could go out and get a higher-paying engineering job at a large company and bring home an adequate salary.  I would also be working 60-70 hours a week in a large office...and large offices give me the creeps.  No, I want to be free to pursue anything God puts in front of me with the time he provides along with caring for my family.  This requires some calculated risk and a willingness to explore opportunities most people ignore in favor of watching another episode of the Family Guy. 
 
The first obvious "stream" is real estate.  We fortunately were able to buy a home down here before the market really exploded, so that has given us the opportunity to purchase a nice pre-construction townhome that we close on in two weeks.  That townhome went up in value so fast, we were able to put money down on a larger townhome that will close on next year.  We will then rent out the first one and hopefully be able to keep it as a rental property for a few years. 
 
The second "stream" is not so obvious.  In the Spring of this year, our good friend Kim Freeman (T's wife) started working with an international health and wellness company.  This company's products are all natural, botanically based, not tested on animals, and free from all of the toxic substances most skin care and cosmetics companies put in their products to save money. 
 
The company is exploding in popularity in our area and in other parts of the nation.  They chose to sell its products through network marketing and are quickly becoming the most successful business of its kind in the country.  Now before you say, "Awww Mike, don't tell me about network marketing.  Those are all scams that your friends end up hating you because you won't leave them alone about buying your stuff."  Well, that's been my experience as well with network marketing.  The beauty of the company, however, is the product sells itself.  I've been using the men's products for the last month or so and love it.  Amber's mom has had people stop her in the street and ask, "What are you using on your face?"  They really do make excellent products that play into our generations' sensibilities - non-toxic, organic, respectful to animals, and effective.
 
Amber started working towards the end of June.  Her organization (now almost thirty women in two months time) has done over $30,000 in sales this past month.  In October she will more than likely receive a check that is larger than my monthly salary.  This is not to toot our horn on how great business people we are...we are far from that.  Amber started the company as a means to improve her personal skills for her music business.  It is now taking on a life of its own, so much so I'm not quite sure how to react.  The different little kingdom things that have popped up along the way have been very interesting as well.  Don't make me tell any stories - this post is already too long.
 
Now, I'm not suggesting that everyone should go out and invest in real estate or do network marketing.  My point is, we as people within simple church structures need to begin to think outside of the by-the-hour employment paradigm as a means for supporting our families and financing kingdom activities that God calls us into.  This is not a prosperity message - it is a message to be alive to the possibilities around that God may be preparing for his purposes.
 
If anyone is interested in the business as a potential part-time business or to purchase the products, send myself or Amber a note and we can talk more.

What big church has taught me about running a business.

When I say big church, I mean Sunday centric, up-front preaching, 5 song worship set type of church gathering. I actually got amazing training at our sending church at how to be a leader and how to lead people. It wasn't until we left to plant down here that I realized that I never really lead people, the way my heart always wanted to. I was up front and I asked people to do things and I helped plan events and asked more people to do things. I hardly ever talked one on one with people primarily about their faith journey and all of the things that God had been teaching them. I usually got a call when all hell had broken loose and someone needed prayer and I was usually busy with some other church task and really wasn't able to truly be with them in that hard stuff anyway.

I am only realizing this years later but the fact remains that I did learn and had the opportunity to learn a ton of GREAT things on how to run a really successful business. Realize that when I was busy doing "church business" it was out of all sincerity, hoping and praying that my task would truly help people in their discipleship to Jesus. At this point I know the church is not a business and God is not the boss and numbers are not success and that you really can't lead people into following Jesus. People have to want to do it on their own, and you can join them and that is really all the leading that is necessary. I think our job is more like pointing...pointing each other back to the person of Jesus and his kingdom and everything else gets worked out in the wash. That being said...I am thankful everyday for my training in "big church" because I will say I do know how to run a business.

I was talking to one of my Moms about my studio and her possibly working with me or starting her own. She used to be "in ministry" at a local Methodist church and burned the candle at both ends and now has a 1 year old and is all done with that and they usually stay home on Sunday so they can be with each other. She is learning that church is not where we go but who we are and I am really blessed to be a part of her life. Anyway, I said to her, running a studio is really doing everything you used to do in church but now you do it to make money instead of filling up programs. We both kind of chuckled but she knew what I meant. I work really hard at building community and providing spaces for people to connect with me and each other and plan events and parties and parent education nights and all sorts of things to help people slow down and take time to connect, and maybe through that they will hear the voice of God calling them. The other great thing is...I am with non churched people all the time doing the "business" I used to do at church out in the real world, making a living and being able to enter into what God is doing in all sorts of ways.

Maybe if the top leaders in all of our main-line churches would hang a sign on the door saying "Gone Fishing" and really force people to go to Jesus and not them for answers and they all started little business' out in the real world, evangelism would take off here in the west. Anyway..that's my two cents for the month.

The Great Reversal

So our oldest, Jackson, turned four this weekend. For his party we decided to go to Peanut Island, which is a public park in the middle of the Intracostal near Palm Beach Inlet. Obviously, the only way there is by boat so our family and a few friends converged there via an assortment of watercraft.

The party was great - hotdogs, hamburgers, squirt guns for the kids, dads trying to get charcoal lit, moms passing around Baby Hudson like he was a football. An interesting realization hit me about halfway through the party as I was flipping burgers. No one there with the exception of myself, Amber, and her parents were "church people". I'm looking at these friends celebrating Jackson's birthday and thinking to myself, "How did this happen?" Five years ago, our life revolved almost exclusively around church people. At that point in my life, I was clueless how to relate to anyone outside of that context, almost to the extent of being fearful and avoiding social situations where unchurched people would be present. I now know that the fear was not fear of having to talk about God or reveal I was a Christian. The fear was having to explain and reconcile my life and activities within church. It was, quite literally, a seperate world and I was a seperate person. How do you explain to someone that you spend four or five nights a week away from home each week - small group, worship practice, leadership meeting, facility work day, men's meeting, etc. etc. etc? I might as well have been carrying a big sign around my neck that read, "I don't have time for you."

Time. Isn't it wonderful to have time to just be with people? Time is what enables us to grasp the enormity of God calling a person into relationship and into his family. Without time, every person we encounter is either a project or a resource.

I still struggle with learning my place in God's great mission to the world as an agent of reconciliation. How do I fit in with what he is doing? It's a hard question sometimes. But at least now my life is becoming more of a seamless whole (for better or worse, because I can be a real jerk sometimes) and I no longer fear social situations with unchurched people. In fact, I kind of like them now.

Note to all you local church friends, I love spending time with all of you as well, of course. In fact, I think this "reversal" allows me to actually be with you in a more real way. You don't get the "church Mike" anymore. You get Mike, again - for better or worse:)

Totally ripped this off of Arlen!

A Parable
I took a little child's hand in mine. We were to walk together for awhile. I was to lead him to the Father. It was a task that overcame me, so awful was the responsibility. And so I talked to the child only of the Father. I pointed to the sternness of his face were the child to displease him. I spoke of the child's goodness as something that would appease the Father's wrath. We walked under the tall trees. I said that the Father had the power to bring them crashing down with his thunderbolts. We walked in the sunshine. I told him of the greatness of the Father who made the burning, blazing sun. And one twilight we met the Father. The child hid behind me. He was afraid. He would not take the Father's hand. I was between the child and the Father. I wondered. I had been so conscientious, so serious.
************
I took a little child's hand in mine. I was to lead him to the Father. I felt burdened with the multiplicity of things I had to teach him. We did not ramble. We hastened from spot to spot. At one moment we compared the leaves of different trees. In the next moment we were examining a bird's nest. While the child questioned me about it, I hurried away to chase a butterfly. Did he chance to fall asleep, I wakened him, lest he miss something I wished him to see. We spoke of the Father. Oh yes, often and rapidly, I poured into his ears all the stories I thought he ought to know. But we were often interrupted by the wind blowing, of which we must trace its source. And then in the twilight we met the Father. The child merely glanced at him and then his gaze wandered in a dozen directions. The Father stretched out his hand. The child was not interested enough to take it. Feverish spots burned in his cheeks. He dropped exhausted to the ground and fell asleep. Again I was between the child and the Father. I wondered. I had taught him so many things.
************
I took a little child's hand to lead him to the Father. My heart was full of gratitude for the glad privilege. We walked slowly. I suited my steps to the short ones of the child. We spoke of many things that the child noticed as we went along. Sometimes we picked the Father's flowers and stroked their soft petals and loved their bright colors. Sometimes we watched one of the Father's birds. We watched it build its nest and lay its eggs. We wondered at the care it gave its young. Often we told stories of the Father. I told them to the child and the child told them again to me. We told them, the child and I, over and over again. Sometimes we stopped to rest, leaning against one of the Father's trees and letting his cool breeze cool our brows, never speaking. And then in the twilight we met the Father. The child's eyes shone. He looked lovingly, trustingly into the Father's face. He put his hand into the Father's hand. I was for the moment forgotten. I was content.From Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, author unknown.

What is This Thing All About?

This morning I shared the following with our community. It was an attempt to draw attention to things that have been happening the last few months and flesh out what I think God is doing. I hope it made sense to everyone. There were some way-cool stories preceding this that confirmed (at least to me) again how God's kingdom is indeed among us.

The Vineyard – What Is This All About?

My observations…

Simply Put: A network of people who follow Jesus and seek his Kingdom

· Why network? Because network implies relationship, and relationship is key. The language of “church” can be confusing.

· This “network” is bigger than the people who show up to worship together on Sunday mornings. It includes anyone who we are in contact with that is a kingdom-seeker. Since “We don’t just go to church, we are the Church,” we can and should think a lot bigger than the people with whom we worship.

· A network can be centralized or decentralized, closed or open. Ours is certainly open and decentralized. No one is telling you who to hang out with or be friends with or even that these people are to be your primary group of friends. Go develop community and influence people for the kingdom of God wherever you want. However, remember that authentic Christian community comes about when we look at each other in light of what Jesus has done for each of us. And when that happens, it’s special and should be cherished.

· This network should be as unorganized and as unstructured as possible. Before all the organized and structured people go berserk, let me explain. Relationships must be allowed to freely form in order for the Good News of God’s kingdom to infiltrate our neighborhoods, work-places, schools, and families. Structures are to serve us, not us serve them. Here’s a helpful way to think about this. Most churches or Christian organizations operate as umbrella organizations. Everything is fine and dandy as long as what you are doing fits under the umbrella. Imagine our network as an upside-down umbrella. The network exists to support from underneath and therefore can bless a wide-range of people and kingdom activities.

· The closest-knit elements of the network will be little groups like ours who remain interconnected and interdependent. Soon we will naturally have to spawn another group because of size concerns. But don’t think in terms of the group splitting or replicating – think budding. Imagine a rose bush and how it launches out another branch that will eventually form leaves, buds, and flowers. People will emerge to start a new group and the process of budding will begin. As the group goes out and begins its own journey together, each group will continue to nourish the other through common relationships, resources, and shared experience.

· Beyond faith communities who worship together, the network will support a few other structures to serve people who are following Jesus and pursuing the kingdom:

1. Missional Structures – Can be big or small, organized or unorganized, local or international. The primary missionary activity for most of us occurs within our families and through the course of our natural, daily lives. However, often God calls us into more specific (and often risky) ventures aimed at subverting the status quo and demonstrating the reality of God’s reign on earth. It’s important to remember – it’s his mission, not ours. We discover it and join in where he leads. We must be intent on becoming the kind of people who are free enough to hear and follow God into mission when he calls. One more thing: Mission always happens in the context of community.

2. Learning Structures – As followers of Jesus, we must choose to become his apprentices and learn from him. This does not happen simply by sitting and listening to someone teach once a week. Teaching happens, but learning is the goal...and learning is a collective effort. For example, if there is something you want to learn about the Bible, find a few other people and learn together. If you get stuck, ask others for help to point you to the right resources. Find people who just naturally teach – T and I call them “sofa preachers” – and hang out with them. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. “We grow by asking the right questions, not by getting answers.” – Gordon Cosby. There are countless ways to learn in order to grow as disciples of Jesus, we just need each others help to figure it all out.

3. Support Structures – People’s lives all around us are in a constant state of disaster. There is no shortage of people who just need a safe place to deal with themselves and God. Many Christians are just as bad off as non-Christians when it comes to things like depression, anger, guilt, broken relationships, and lack of authentic community. The kingdom of God presents an unparalleled opportunity to invite any and all broken people into a setting where God’s grace, love, mercy, and provision reign supreme.

· Obviously, all of these structures interrelate and overlap. We are supported in our life as disciples of Jesus at many points. No one point is more important than another and we can all equally participate.

· The Vineyard as a network of people is primarily about love, service, and becoming a blessing to the whole Church. But don’t think for a second that we are just a benign little group of people with a “spiritual hobby”. It is the witness of the Old and New Testaments, culminating in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and the formation of God’s people, the Church – that the world is being turned upside down. We carry a deeply subversive message. There is nothing in the world more revolutionary and life-altering than the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

It's been awhile!

Thanks to our babysitting fairy! Your gift(s) are very thoughtful. On another note, I took the older kids to see The March of the Peguins, thinking that they would enjoy the film. Firstly, advertising can make things look better than they are (Duh!) and secondly, family friendly reviews aren't always a good take on a given film. The kids enjoyed the part we stayed for. It was just a little too long for them to really enjoy. It was fun starting to do more with them than change dirty diapers and put them to bed at 6:30. It is like a whole new world. I am giddy with the thought of what we can do together in another few years. Well, the summer is almost over. I hope everyone has enjoyed it as much as we have!