Can you answer this question in one sentence?

What

Is

The

Meaning

Of

Life?

?

?

?

?

“Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!”

That was the sound we were greeted to when we arrived at the movie theater where our church meets. During the course of our gathering, we had a bird flying through the lobby, a bird flying over the theater seats ready to drop bombs, and three baby birds drop from the ceiling onto the stage where I was preaching.

Crazy.

Somehow, these birds found a home and today, the birds revolted against the humans who dared intrude upon their space.  Fortunately, we had a seasoned pro in our midst. A first-timer in fact, who handled the baby birds and made sure they were properly removed. He immediately earned the nickname, “The Birdman.”

Again, crazy.

I’m pretty sure I was the only preacher in America who had baby birds falling around him on stage. The amazing part, after all of this craziness, three people began a relationship with Jesus during our gathering. How about that?

But that’s the way it goes in church planting, and in life.

Sometimes, it’s the crazy events that lead to something amazing.

Romans 12:2: Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Discovering your calling, that thing God has put on your heart to do, can seem elusive. But I think it’s closer than you realize. Here are some quick thoughts to help you on your journey to find your place in the Story of God.

The Must: (Do not be conformed to this world)
See the world as it is, and imagine the world as it should be. Take an honest look at the situation in your city or an issue in a faraway place, and get a burden for it.

Answer these questions: What’s wrong with this world? Where is the gospel desperately needed? What fires you up? What must change?

The Who: (Transformed by the renewal of your mind)
Knowing God was paramount to knowing my calling and it’s paramount to knowing yours too. Spend time with God so you can better see things through his eyes. Pray, read scripture, be in community, love God and others in your everyday life, and do your best where God has placed you right now. After all, if you’re faithful in the little things, you will be in greater things (Luke 16:10). When you do these things, you don’t just see what’s wrong with this world, but also what’s going on in your own heart.

Answer these questions: What sins are you tangled up in? What other gods are you bowing down to? What thought patterns need to go? Who do you need to forgive?

The Goods: (Testing & Discerning)
Take an honest assessment of your talents, strengths, and weaknesses—and let other people help you by participating in community and allowing them to share what they see in you.

Answer these questions: What do you enjoy? What are you good at? Do other people agree?

Where “The Must”, “The Who”, & “The Goods” collide, that’s often where your calling is!

GO FOR IT AND BRING OTHERS WITH YOU!

A calling is “the place where your deep gladness meets the world’s deep need.”
- Frederick Buechner

Revolutions are sparked in churches with Christ as their Cornerstone, with jacked-up people whose stories are being changed by Jesus, who are in awe of him and can’t help but love Him and others with reckless abandon, who pray to God like it matters, whose lives are guided and grounded by scripture, who are connected to one another in love, sacrifice, and service, and who are joining God in His mission in this world!

What’s God calling me to do that I’m not doing?

Where can I find more pockets of time without eliminating my margin (and sanity)?

How can I be a more proactive husband?

Should I sign with a literary agent and publish traditionally or go a different route?

If I write it, will they read it?

How can Project Church best join God in his mission in the world?

What direction should I take thismustchange.org?

What memories can I create with my kids this summer?

Who can I trust and count on?

What if every Christian embraced the reality they are ministers and missionaries of the gospel?

Should we coordinate a killer relationship & marriage event for our community?

Where does Rapid City hurt?

What am I running to for comfort, security, and identity other than God?

Am I overthinking everything?

What do I need to stop doing, keep doing, and start doing?

On Origins
“The sweetest thing in all my life has been the longing — to reach the Mountain, to find the place where all the beauty came from — my country, the place where I ought to have been born.”

On Friendship
“Friendship arises out of mere companionship when two or more of the companions discover that they have in common some insight or interest or even taste which the others do not share and which, till that moment, each believed to be his own unique treasure (or burden). The typical expression of opening Friendship would be something like, “What? You too? I thought I was the only one.”

On Being Made New
“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of — throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”

On Existence of God
“My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust?”

On Freedom
“Of course God knew what would happen if they used their freedom the wrong way: apparently He thought it worth the risk.”

On Suffering
“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

On Desire
“Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

On Action
“Enough had been thought, and said, and felt, and imagined. It was about time that something should be done.”

On God’s Supremacy
“But then again of course I know perfectly well that He can’t be used as a road. If you’re approaching Him not as the goal but as a road, not as the end but as a means, you’re not really approaching Him at all.”

On Stupid Questions
“Can a mortal ask questions which God finds unanswerable? Quite easily, I should think. All nonsense questions are unanswerable. How many hours are there in a mile? Is yellow square or round?”

Affections are a tidal wave.

They curl up into great heights of bliss and in a moment come crashing down.

This is the wave I have been riding for a while now.

How easily I forget Habakkuk 3:18, “I will take joy in the God of my salvation.”

I too often misplace my affections into fumbling hands.

Rather than resting them in the God of my salvation.

Someone had stolen my affections.

And that someone was me.

It’s time to return them to their rightful owner.

“May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships so that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression and exploitation of people so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger and war so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in the world so that you can do what others claim cannot be done to bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.”

- Believed to be a Franciscan Benediction

“People criticize what they don’t understand.”

I don’t know who made that statement but I certainly can relate.

Ever since we announced we were starting Project Church last year, we’ve had mud balls throw at us.

Not by non-churchy folks.

But by churchy folks.

I can take the heat.

I expect it.

Thankfully, we have some churches who are all for what we’re doing.

But then there are others.

I wondered why some would talk smack about some small, start-up church.

That is until someone made this comment,

“Project Church doesn’t fit neatly into one particular category.”

That’s so true.

On one hand, some would love to write us off as some heretical faction who doesn’t believe God is sovereign, the bible is true, Jesus is King, and the church has a mission.

But we do.

We’re not looking to invent, or reinvent, a religion.

Just a return to the church as found in scripture.

Theologically, we’re conservative.

Just last Sunday we talked about Jesus, the cross, atonement, propitiation, expiation, God’s wrath, God’s love, sin, and grace.

We believe in grace AND truth.

That frustrates people who want to label us as a liberal church.

On the other hand, we’re unchurchy.

When we say, “come as you are” and “belong before you believe” we mean it.

We aren’t into the whole christian subculture thing.

We don’t beat people over the head with the Bible.

We simply teach it, relate it to people’s real lives, and let Spirit of God do the rest.

We meet in a coffee house.

We’re planning an event in a bar.

One in which many of us have hung out in.

We’re not into religion.  We’re into Jesus.

That’s the kind of stuff that bothers some churchy folks.

The truth about Project Church is this:

We’re all about Jesus.

In him, God became a man, entered our messed-up story, and changed the story.

He died for us so that we might live for him.

As a result of what Jesus did (and is doing), our hope, our project, is to be the church Jesus had in mind.

Not some religious institution of self-righteous, judgmental hypocrites.

But a movement of love of jacked-up, yet growing, people who are exploring and following Jesus.

Who are taking our first steps and next steps in living the lives we are meant to live.

Who are an authentic community of grace, truth, mission, and meaning.

Our style and methods may not be typical, but make no mistake about it, Project Church is all about, all for, and all because of, Jesus.

If you want a label, we use three words to describe us:

Biblical. Missional. Relational.

If you want to read more, click here.

Whether you’re a fan or a critic of Project Church, would you pray for us?

We’re certainly not the perfect church.

Nor do we pretend to be.

We’re just trying to love God and people.

Because that’s what disciples do.

Thank you.

Grace & Truth.

God created sex.  It’s his idea.

Traditionally, churches have either been silent about sex or painted it in a bad light. But the truth is it’s really something wonderful that God’s given us.  Think about it, God didn’t have to make sex feel good.  He could have set up procreation without pleasure, but that’s not the kind of God we have.

Why is sex such a big deal?

Sex becomes an issue the same way everything in life becomes an issue.  When we turn a good thing into an ultimate thing (worship) which then makes it a bad thing.  We do this with sex, people, stuff, you name it.  Worship Christ; enjoy sex.

The fact of the matter is this: God created sex, made it good, and we need to embrace his gift to us and reject any notion that it’s somehow dirty.

Religion may say sex is dirty, but God says it’s good.  God is always better than religion.

How cool is it that included in the very Word of God is a book of beautiful, erotic poetry?  The entire book of Song of Solomon is this amazing picture of a newly married couple enjoying their sexuality and intimacy with one another. In it you’ll find everything from strip teases, to foreplay, to oral sex, to lovemaking- all to celebrate their oneness.

God gives us freedom to be passionate lovers, to do all kinds of kinky stuff, to be free with our body, while always seeking oneness in marriage.

It all goes back to the original design.

Man and Wife…Becoming One Flesh…Naked and Unashamed

Sex in marriage is the closest thing to naked and unashamed in Garden that we will experience in this lifetime.

If you’re married, chances are your sex life is too infrequent. Even in our sex-crazed culture, it’s an issue.  Isn’t interesting that the enemy will do everything he can to get you to have sex before you married and then once you’re married, do everything he can to keep you from having sex.  That should tell us something.  Yes, we’re supposed to wait until we’re married.  But once we’re married, we make up for lost time.

Married people are to have lots and lots of sex.  In fact, the only exception is a mutual exception so we can pray (spend some time alone with God).

So if you’re married, let me ask you a question: What’s keeping you from having frequent business time?

Too busy? Schedule a date night, enjoy spontaneous quickies but plan for some extended time
Lack energy? Work out and/or just do it anyway.
Kids? Set boundaries (bedtimes), use creativity (afternoon delights).
Fighting? Communicate. Reconcile. Make up sex is the best!
Stress? Finances (budget, spend less, make more), Work (change jobs if necessary)
Health? Do what you can to take care of one another

If you commit to having more frequent encounters, you will find that it actually reduces stress, decreases fighting and tension, strengthens your bond, and can even be a pretty fun workout.  Just make sure you stretch out first so you don’t pull a hamstring. 

The best sex is when each partner is seeking to fulfill the others sexual needs with selfless abandon.  It’s the most amazing masterpiece in all of creation. We have freedom in our marriages to use our imaginations. To experiment and try new things.

Again, it all goes back to the original design.

Man and Wife…Becoming One Flesh…Naked and Unashamed

Speaking of Business Time…