I spent a few days in San Antonio this week. I was there with Carlos Herrera – the pastor of Journey Church in Waukegan. We were attending a church planting workshop in advance of partnering to launch a Sat PM service at the Highland Park campus targeting second generation Hispanics (living mostly in Highwood). The conference was challenging, and also spiritually rich. One of the highlights was being reminded of Simon Sinek’s Why Before What TED talk.
Sinek argues most of us lock in on what and then try to justify why. We are better if we let the why shape the what. His insights led me to a wonderfully encouraging time focusing on God, eternity and other things that should be motivating me. Not sure if it will lead you down similar paths, but the link I included above is for a five minute mini-talk. I found it worthwhile.
Making Time: In last week’s sermon I struggled to define spiritual discipline – i.e., prayer, fasting, solitude, etc. As is occasionally the case, on Monday – 24 hours too late – I found what I was looking for. “A spiritual discipline is the effort to create space in which God can act.” Henri Nouwen. The quote is spot on, as Nouwen often is. So…, do you?
Quotes Worth Requoting:
- Prayer is primarily a wartime walkie-talkie for the mission of the church as it advances against the powers of darkness and unbelief. It is not surprising that prayer malfunctions when we try to make it a domestic intercom to call upstairs for more comforts in the den. God has given prayer as a wartime walkie-talkie so that we can call headquarters for everything we need as the kingdom of Christ advances in the world. John Piper
Noteworthy:
- This article from The Globe and Mail suggests that the tech backlash is coming, but that it may be too late. (And, no, it’s not lost on me that I am discussing a tech backlash while typing on a lap top. Nor that it will be sent to you via the Internet. Apparently it is too late).
- Just prior to their loss to New England, Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey guaranteed that his team would defeat the Patriots. They didn’t. Which lead Patriots defensive tackle Adam Butler to reply, “Be humble or be humbled.” Out of the mouth of… defensive tackles.
Thanks / Praise:
- Several years ago we began toying around with the idea of a Spiritual Check-In – that is, an opportunity for people to have a confidential, one hour talk with someone about the state of their soul. I made two efforts to draft the way this should go. They were panned by everyone. Last year our Director of Care, Jeanne Ley, spent her sabbatical crafting the Spiritual Check-In, and in the intervening time, she has been training others to administer it. Several other churches have now adopted what she developed. This week we heard from a mission team in East Asia that is using it for 100 of their staff. If you are attending Christ Church, you can sign up for the check-in here. If you are on staff at another church and want to see it / use it, send me an email. (It needs a bit of context).
Prayer Requests:
- Luis Palau – a long time mission’s partner who spoke at Christ Church just a few months ago – announced last week that he had stage four lung cancer. Please pray for Luis, his family and the Palau organization.
- This Sunday we kick off REACH, which is a big initiative for the church. In an effort to gather everyone together at once, we have rented the Genesee Theatre in Waukegan. People from all three sites and all nine services are supposed to convene there this Sunday. Wednesday’s dress rehearsal got me excited for this. I think it’s going to go well. But I am spending a lot of time praying to that end, and covet your prayers on this. Thanks