name above all names

A few years back I was with a good friend and mentor at a weekend retreat in the rockies and the band there was a band from a community outreach from San Francisco's tenderloin district. The lead began to tell a story of how they often do prayer walks around the city and recently they have been gathering with homeless, middle class, rich, whoever around the district and just saying the name of Jesus...at first my friend and I both looked at each other and were like "that's kinda dumb, you are just standing around saying Jesus' name" and as soon as we got that out he made the statement - "though this may seem silly we really believe that Jesus name is the most powerful name and that his name alone cast out oppression and the forces of evil". I stood amazed and convicted. I was reminded of this today, as believers we are a part of something supernatural, I know that its not practical but Jesus did not call me to be practical he called me live by faith not by sight and that is supernatural. As I live by faith I believe that Jesus name really is something incredible and it is even more incredible that he loves me enough to let me say his name.

Identity

Do you ever get tired of listening to people or reading twitter updates about the things that people want to be identified as? You know, like the 30 yr old mom who stays home and twitters all day about her kids dirty diapers, I mean, come on, nobody cares and I promise it is only cute to you or some other 30 yr old mom. There is nothing wrong with being 30 or a mom or a 30 year old stay at home mom but there is a problem if your identity is "a 30 yr old stay at home mom". Jenn and I have always worked hard to be our own people, I don't want her to be known as "Britt's wife" she is way too good for that, she is a good wife but she has a lot more to offer and should not be limited by who her husband is.

I have a family member that after 13 yrs still finds their identity in the fact that my mother passed away....I loved my mom, I miss her, but I am not defined by her death, I am challenged by her life. This family member still defines all their relationships by how they knew someone and how that someone acted to our family during mom's sickness. It bothers me to see this kinda thing happen.

I am blown away recently by how many people are defining themselves with things that are less than adaquate. There is nothing wrong with being a mom, friend, rich man, poor man, person of grief or of great satisfaction, but if your identity is in something tangible like money or kids than you have missed the grand design. Do you really think that changing diapers is God's great plan and makes you missional? When I was a teen I saw a bunch of people trying to live off of their parents faith, now as an adult I see a bunch of parents trying to "get their kid in church" like somehow a miracle will happen and because their kid is not drinking and screwing they will be in God's graces. Give me a freaking break. Somebody told me today that "I come to this Church so that my kids are in church".....

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, I forgot that Jesus bled and died and rose again, conquering hell, death, sin and he did all this so that God didn't have to kill you and let you rot in hell, b/c God loves us for some reason and wants us to be with him BUT<<<, thats not enough for you to come to church and worship and be passionate and live a life that is abandoned to him and full of love, peace and generosity so you should applaud yourself for "setting the example for your kid".....really......pat yourself on the back.....

If you are on mission, your kid may fall in, they may not, but you don't want to wait on your kid to get some mission and then follow them. If your identity is in your kids that is exactly what is happening....your hoping in their faith to carry you.

I have been studying identity lately and here is some good food for thought about where our identity in the church should be:

1 Jn 3:1,2 -- I am a child of God
Jn 15:15 -- I am Christs friend
1 Jn 4:7 -- I am born of God
Rom 8:15 00 I have been adopted by God
Rom 8:17 --I am an heir of God
Gal 4:7 I am an heir with Christ
Rom 9:8 -- I am a child of promise
2 Pet 1:4 -- I've been given promises
Eph 1:6-8 -- I'm redeemed and forgiven
Jn 5:24 -- I have eternal life
Rom 6:1-6 -- I died with Christ to the power of sin
Rom 8:1 -- I am free from condemnation
1 Cor 2:12 -- I have recieved the Spirit of God
1 Cor 6:17 -- I am one spirit with the Lord
2 Cor 5:18 -- I am a child of reconciliation
Eph 1:1 -- I am a saint. (really, I am, its hard for me to believe too.)
Phil 3:20 -- I am a citizen of heaven.
Col 3:12 -- I am chosen of God.
1 Pet 5:8 -- I am an enemy of the Devil.

thats just to name a few............................

learning

So here I am sitting in the offices of the Journey Manhattan. I am here to learn and see what God is doing in the city, I am pretty pumped. Something about this place just makes me start to think about leadership and all its faces. I am not the greatest leader in the world but I am distinct in the style in which I feel I best use what leadership gifts God has given me. I have been hanging in Nashville with Eddie at Cumberland Church, this guy is legit, I can't really get into all the details on the blog but I have rarely if ever been challenged by a leader that is so willing to listen and be humble. There is not an arrogant bone in him and I have seen his willingness to do whatever it takes and to think through whatever it takes to see God's kingdom move forward. All that to say that I have learned a great deal over the last month and am excited about serving alongside him in the coming season. What I have learned is that passive leadership is a freaking joke....let me put it this way, I used to think being humble was being passive, being positive was being Godly but from Eddie and I am pretty sure that I will see here at the Journey that being realistic is fruitful and often times comes across as negative, but most of the time "positive" people positively suck at evaluating a situation much less doing anything about it. Don't get me wrong, Eddie is probably the best I've seen in a while at taking the best from a situation but that is very different than being unrealistically positive. I am learning that 95% of being a leader is hard work, for example, I hung out with this guy Mark this morning and we drove all over new york to load granola bars into vans for a servant evangelism effort, not flashy, its just hard work, but while stacking boxes I listened to this guys heart and watched him work hard and realized that he is a guy worth following, not because of what he said or his "ministry philosophy" or witty jargon but because he worked hard. Unfortunately I have been around people who don't work hard in the last few years and at times have been guilty of that, I believe now that the only thing that is really healthy to dictate in the form of top down leadership is hard work, if the man in charge does not set the example in work ethic then the rest of the team will suffer, right? I am really in this cool leadership learning process where I am learning that sometimes I talk too much and sometimes I don't say enough, sometimes I work in vain and sometimes I dont work enough...I am sure that God is trying to teach me balance and trying to break me out of the ridiculous 80/20 rule that I heard from a guy who sits in an office all day like a fortune 500 CEO, I am not a fortune 500 CEO nor do I believe that the church should operate like one, so I am going to stop reading Seth Godin and Malcolm Gladwell for now and I am gonna start reading the Gospels again and see if I can learn how to lead like those cats did. Seth Godin and Malcolm Gladwell are great men who teach a lot we can all learn from but they are not trying to live out "thy kingdom come, thy will be done"....thats not fancy but its freaking awesome and difficult.

Thoughts?

Top Ten

Here are my top 10 flicks in the last couple years:

No Country for Old Men
Dark Knight
The Departed
Blood Diamond
Children of Men
Michael Clayton
Gone Baby Gone
Transformers
Bourne Supremacy
Live Free or Die Hard

Election 2009

So I have had a few phone calls today where people were asking what do you think about the election. I think this......its over. I have never seen all these note writing folks write notes about loving their neighbor or about reaching the unreached so I think that all this election spirituality is people trying to feel better about themselves not really being connected to the mission of Jesus. Read Driscoll's blog.....

http://www.theresurgence.com/in_god_we_do_not_trust

feel good about that.

RB