I wrote this post before I went home yesterday.  I’m reminding myself and you…we are being defined this weekend.  Life is moving on.

I want this question to rock my world Saturday morning.

How am I loving people today God?  Jesus, how is my heart…my love…my sacrifice…growing today?

I think if I ask that line of questioning enough, people might see more of Jesus in me. 

All of this came out of our discussion this week on the blog.  Thanks folks.  I hope you are surfing off each other’s challenges and encouragements this weekend.  You make me rethink so much!

This one was a toughie.  Not that we’re shooting for best picture at the Oscars or anything, but just because I really enjoyed the discussion.

Here the line of the week, written by you on this blog.  This week’s is from my friend Dan Scott.  Sorry if it’s a paragraph, but I thought it was worth quoting:

I know that I create great programs, design my butt off, and can
communicate from the stage like the best of them. But if that is what
I’m known for, I’ve failed in ministry.

I want to be known as the guy who cared for people and went above and beyond to make sure they felt loved.

Ouch.  I picked it Dan, because your point is too close to my story.  I can be great at what I do, but suck at love.  Thanks for helping me focus on what matters.

No substitutes allowed.  Love is the real deal.  Jesus, help me love more.

Something is going to define your life and mine.  It will.  That’s what I’ve been driving at this week on the blog.  I know that when I die, my kids are going to stand around and say many things, but inevitably it will get reduced to a sentence or two that begins this way: "Dad was…."

The reason I love to think about the now is because we still are able to change and influence what our lives will be about.  The sad part is that too many people don’t think about what their life will be about.  We just kind of live it, and in the end, we hope it will be good enough.  And I know my drift (when I’m not intentional) is to make my life about things that matter less, not more.

So what’s it going to be about for you?  Who do you want to be?

We were asking that question collectively as the church this week on the blog (I hope at a minimum you read this)- what do we want to be about?  I’ve been to too many churches where in the end, the church is dying because it was about the whims, wants and preferences of the members and not enough about Jesus and the world He died for. 

Your life will be about something.  So will mine.  And our collective life will be about something too.  We all end up being about something.

i have completely dug the great comments on the blog this week.  But before we leave this…any parting thoughts on what you want all of this to be about?  Any last thoughts on what you want your next decade, four decades, six decades, to be about?  Or what you want the church you are a part of to be about?

So I’m at a garden center in Orillia yesterday to buy dirt (a sure sign of my stubborn urbanism – I buy dirt).  As I get out of the car, this kid working there sees me has a huge smile on his face. He’s about 17 and I don’t recognize him. As I walk over he comes over to shake my hand and says "You’re my pastor."

I smiled back and said "I"m not sure we’ve met." 

"No, we haven’t" he says. "I go to Connexus Orillia (pointing to the Galaxy).  Man, I love what’s going on there.  It’s so awesome!"

As I talked with him, I tried to figure out who "brings him".  No dice.  Parents don’t go.  His grandparents go to our Barrie campus.  He comes all by himself.  Except then he lays this on me:  "I usually bring 4 or 5 friends with me.  Some of them don’t go to church, and they love it."

"You’re kidding", I said.

"No, it’s just so relevant. We think it’s so great.  They’re excited about going. Thank you for what you are doing."

I had heard that groups of my-parents-don’t-go-to-church-but-now-I-do teens were showing up in Orillia (and have met some in Barrie too).  But to meet this guy and get to hear his story first hand…that was so cool.

It made me SO grateful for what God is doing in our midst.  SO grateful for our volunteers who set up environments so teenagers whose parents don’t come with them can discover and grow in Christ.  Environments that make teenagers wake up on Sunday and say "I can’t wait to explore God today." Environments that help teens realize God is not nearly as lame as they think He is.

I am so thankful to be a small part of this amazing team.  Connexus people – you rock the stadium!

So I see my Culture Club (1) did not generate a basketful of responses.  Lots of traffic on the site, but people are surfin off the last week’s posts.  Cool. 

Anyway, thanks to Bill and Allen for your comments.  Trust in Jesus and life-change seems to emerge in both posts as a major celebration/win.  Totally agree.

Here are some things I would love to see us celebrate in our culture at Connexus, in our generation:

• The number of conversations we have with people who don’t know Jesus, not just the depth of conversations with people who do.
• People with no church background feeling safe in our midst to ask their questions without fear of judgment.
• Baptism.  It just rocks the house in every category.
• Community groups that integrate issues of life and faith.
• Community groups that serve the poor, locally and far beyond.
• Families that are beginning to discuss and live out (at home) what it means to follow Jesus.
• Authenticity.  None of us has arrived yet. Admit it.
• Acceptance.  We get on each other’s nerves some times.  We screw up.  Celebrate each other anyway.  If you find the perfect church, don’t join it.  You’ll wreck it.
• Selflessness.  I want to care more about the next generation than I do about my own.

Those are just a few random thoughts.

If you had to bullet point what you want your generation to be known for, what would it be?

Make sure you check out the line of the week, posted today. I think it strikes at the heart of something I think about a lot in ministry.

So much of the transition churches are going through these days has to do with sorting out the difference between the Gospel of Jesus (what this is all about) and culture.  A lot of church culture bothers me. We so often elevate our traditions above Jesus. And it’s not just about overcoming old music and stale rituals. It’s easy to make fun of traditions we’re not part of.

Last month at Orange, Louis Giglio (founder of Passion and writer of a ton of modern worship songs) banged the nail on the head when he said relevance, worship music and cool lobbies serving lattes may be the golden calves of this generation’s churches. We all tend to elevate preferences and trends above Jesus.  I’m sure we can all rant and rave about something that bugs us. 

But all of this just gets us to here:  what are the things we are going to celebrate together in this emerging generation?  What are the real "wins" for the church in this generation? What are the things worth fighting for, living for, dying for? When it’s over for our generation, what do you want this to have been about?

I spoke a bit on this a few weeks ago, and the Line of the Week feature earlier today gets pretty close to my heart on this one, but I’d love to hear what you think is worth all of this.  What should be the marks that characterize the followers of Jesus in this generation?

A lot of great comments on the blog.  This one caught my eye though. It’s from someone who simply calls herself K who posted on Heaven, Hell, Who Cares?  Here’s what she wrote:

"I have enjoyed all your topics in the 4-5 months that my husband has been bringing me."

Let me tell you why I chose it.  I promise you it’s not because she likes the messages.  It’s the "4-5 months that my husband has been bringing me" part that made say "yes" deep inside.

One of the most exciting things for me personally in the life of Connexus so far is the number of people who have been inviting their friends and family.  I don’t believe I have met K’s husband (or K.), but it’s so good to see a man investing in his marriage and in his wife’s heart in this way.  It’s been fantastic to see so many people bring their friends and family (talked to even more people brought by friends again yesterday).  That’s just kind of how it went down in the Bible – no mass marketing, just people telling people that there’s something about Jesus they need to explore.

K. – I’m looking forward to the series this summer.  Thanks for being open to exploring Jesus together with us.  K’s husband – thanks for spiritually investing in the most important relationship in your life.

Back in my days in law school, I was amazed by some of the cases I used to read.  One famous case found a ski resort liable for allowing a thoroughly drunk dude to go tubing.  He drank himself into a bit of a stupour with his buddies and then entered the race.  He injured himself badly (he was paralyzed), and then sued the resort for allowing him to participate.  He won.  I’ve always found that a bit crazy. Didn’t he assume the risk for his actions when he got drunk?

This story caught my attention yesterday.  A man from Windsor sued Culligan water for the emotional pain, trauma and grief caused by finding a fly in his water bottle. He essentially claimed it destroyed his life. He won his lawsuit in Ontario, but the Supreme Court of Canada ruled against him yesterday. I was grateful for the ruling.

We can be a culture that blames everyone else for our problems, or we can assume responsibility for our shortcomings and move on.  I know that it’s my natural inclination to blame others when I fall short or something happens.  But I have found that it rarely fixes anything and usually makes things worse, especially relationally.

The kind of community we become is determined by the collective total of our personal character.  More and more these days, I want to own up to my part on everything.  It’s amazing how things change when I accept responsibility for my actions and responses.

Worship words are kind of crazy, if you think about it.  Think about it next time you’re at church or at a conference or something where Christians are worshiping.

Check these lyrics out:

We have all we need in You /And all we need is You /All we need is You

Rich or poor God I want You more / Than anything that glitters in this world

Or try these:

    Your grace is enough /  Heaven reaching down to us /  Your grace is enough for me

    God I see your grace is enough /  I’m covered in your love / Your grace is enough for me

Great songs…but really, who actually lives like they believe that? If God’s grace is enough, why did I buy that new car/get so frustrated that my friend is treating me this way/stay angry with God because the diagnosis didn’t go my way?

For a few years now, I’ve thought the words I sing on Sundays are deeply dangerous – they might change me if I actually lived that way.

This week started with a couple of surprises that honestly upset me.  I found myself a bit scared, somewhat discouraged and frustrated…and then I read this passage in my morning devotions about King David, one of my heroes and writer of many worship songs:

David was now in great danger because all his men were very bitter
about losing their sons and daughters, and they began to talk of
stoning him. But David found strength in the Lord his God. 1 Samuel 30.6

No one was ready to stone me (at least as far as I know), but I was disheartened. The fact that David found strength in the Lord his God when everything else in his world was collapsing hit me so hard. I was like "David, when I study your life I’m amazed that you just didn’t quit – the odds were so against you.  But you found real strength in a real God when everything else around you looked tough."

My world wasn’t nearly as dark as David’s, but I so appreciated the insight.  You know when worship words make the most sense to me? When I am pushed to the edge of my strength and have to actually rely on God’s strength.  That’s when.  That should be every day, but often it’s not.  Sadly, I’m too ‘strong’ and stubborn for that.

I was grateful for the issue I had to face, because it made me draw deeply on God (the way I ought to anyway). He came through and is coming through big time. This Sunday, I’m looking forward to better resonating with the words of whatever we’re going to sing.

What do you sing that you have difficulty believing? And are there moments when all of sudden, you believe them?  What changes to make that happen?

I have totally loved the preaching feedback this blogging community provides on message topics – both from our fantastic Connexus folks and from leaders all over.

We had our usual SPD meeting today (Service Programming Design) with my staff friends Rich Birch and Andy Walker, where we went over the message schedule for the next six months.  Your ideas are being woven into the next six months of preaching here at Connexus.  Just wanted to say thanks.

But then I threw a curve ball in. I’ve heard recently of some churches that have done a series on hell or are thinking of doing one.  I was intrigued.  I have never preached on hell actually, except to mention it in passing.  I came into the meeting with a three week surprise summer series on hell penciled in, and the team threw it around and we stretched it into a five week mid summer series on heaven and hell we’re tentatively calling "Stairway to Heaven | Highway to Hell". Not sure if that’s going to be the final title or not, but I kind of like it.

The series would debunk popular myths about heaven and hell that many of us hold, explore the tough  and real questions people have about both places.

As we wrestled down the big question (why would we do a series on heaven and hell), this is what I came up with:

     If had an accurate view of heaven and hell, would we actually live differently?

So, there it is.  What do you think? Could you stomach five weeks on heaven and hell?  Are you ready to explode some really bad cartoon myths and funeral-talk misconceptions about what either place is really like? Most of our friends who don’t follow Jesus think hell is a really bad idea.  Would an honest conversation draw them in?  What are your thoughts?  Your questions?