Belong Before Believe

“He’s a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!”

That’s what religious leaders said about Jesus (Mt 11:19, Lk 7:34, NLT). “Just look at the people he keeps company with!” they accused. It’s not that Jesus didn’t have an affect on others. On the contrary, a few minutes with Jesus could turn someone’s life upside down. But people who seemed “far from God” stayed close to Jesus. He was so patient with his disciples. How many times did they doubt him?

Everyday Church people represent such a variety of spiritual postures. Some are faith-filled believers while others are unconvinced. Some are curious while others are skeptical but open-minded. Some seem to have it all together while others are picking up the pieces. Regardless, most people need to belong before they’ll believe.

Why would we expect anything different? Jesus said, “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples” (John 13:35, NLT).

Your love for one another will prove it.

An Interview with Chris Travis

FaithStreet, a blog that discusses NYC churches, recently asked me some questions about ministry in the city.

Here’s a quote from the article about Everyday Church:
“Our approach is intensely relational. At the moment, we do not meet to worship, in the typical sense, every Sunday. We meet in Home Groups, where we share life, a meal, communion, discussion about the Bible, and prayers for one another. We currently meet to worship once per month and we are planning to increase that to every other week in January. As we read the Bible, relationships are so critical to God’s plan for our renewal that as leaders, we feel a burden to shepherd people into strong, loving, faith-based circles of relationships, where we can practice the Bible and live all the “one anothers” we find in Scripture.”

Read the full interview here:

Leaders Speak: Pastor Chris Travis of Everyday Christian Church.

The Not-So Virgin Birth

I got a text this morning from a friend asking me to pray for her. Christmas is coming, and she’s so lonely she aches. Meanwhile, my wife and I are frazzled and stressed because this year has been a doozy and of course, instead of relaxing, we’re running around buying gifts. Why do we idealize Christmas-time? Why do we accept sanitized versions of it? Is this time of year ever truly peaceful?

A Sneak Peek at inSignificant

Kevin Deyoung highlighted inSignificant as a book to watch in 2012!

Check it out here: A Sneak Peek at 2012.

I’m back!

I just sent in the manuscript for inSignificant. I just hit the “send” button. Just now. I hit send. And so, I sent it in. Finished.

(sorry… just trying to convince myself this moment actually happened!)

I’m so excited for this book. I think those of you who have tracked along with me here throughout my experience teaching in Harlem will particularly appreciate it. But more on that later.

For now, here’s what this means: I’m back! I will actually start posting again. I know I’ve been away for a while– thanks for being patient. I have really needed to focus all the time I have for writing on this book. I’m glad I did, because I’m really happy with it.

Right now I’m going to go take a break from words and punctuation and letters and typing and editing and second-guessing myself and wondering if there’s a better way to write things and wondering how C. S. Lewis would write it and wishing I was a better writer so I could do it justice and writing and writing and writing…

Just a little break. I’ll post again soon, I promise. Stay tuned.

Good bye, for now…

Okay, I just blew the dust off my last post and grimaced at the date. In the photo, I’m carrying a Christmas tree. In real life, there is an Easter bunny dangling from the wreath-hook on our apartment door. Somehow I’ve become a Christmas-and-Easter blogger. I think it’s time to call a bunny a bunny, and admit that I’ve stepped away from this thing for a while.

Which is what I need to do. Right now, I’m a bit overloaded with important things to work on (please see below), and I need to do some pruning in my life. I can’t give this blog the attention it deserves.

And honestly, my blog is going through something of an identity crisis. It started out as a Chris-has-moved-to-NYC-share-his-adventures Blog, took one look at the full moon over Manhattan and, screaming in torment, writhed into a inner-city-teaching-is-something-of-a-living-hell Rant and Lamentation. Then, by degrees, even I was surprised to see words forming of the screen like, “It’s working!” and  “You’re making a difference!” And then I wrote a book, and the blog felt kind of neglected, like the new baby was cuter and getting more attention, and only reluctantly acquiesced to including a page about Unnamed. And then I stopped teaching and started church planting and my blog just threw up its hands and howled, “What am I?!”

In short, this blog needs to go on a long road trip, eat a lot of Taco Bell and fill up the back seat with empty Mountain Dew bottles, find itself, and come back a man.

When it returns, I suspect it will have a bit more focused on writing, because I’m writing another book. Yeah, pretty cool. That’s important thing #1 that I need to focus on. I will be sure to come back and post later when I have something better to say about that. For now, please pray for me as I try to craft this thing. I’ve got some really important things to communicate– pray that I’d write well.

Important thing #2: I am part of a team to plant a new church in NYC called Everyday Christian Church. We’ve just recently got a rough draft of our website up and running. Check it out: www.everydaycc.com

I am no longer teaching for NYC public, but I haven’t told all of that story yet. I think I’m going to work a number of those experiences into this next book. When this blog does find itself, I expect I’ll change it around quite a bit. In meantime, it’s here, available for view, providing you don’t mind wiping the dust away.

How about leaving one last comment (nor now)? Wish my blog a farewell. Tell it you believe in it and life won’t always be so confusing– it’ll come back knowing who it is and what it’s about. Give it advice like, “Don’t trust bologna from truck stops,” and “Keep away from the women in the big cities.”

I heard somewhere that “Good bye” is a contraction for “God be with you.” Supposedly, over time, it went something like this:

God be with you. God be with ye. God be wi’ye. God b’ye. Good bye.

I’m choosing to believe that. So truly, Good bye…

for now…

Christmas in NYC

It was bound to happen sooner or later. Lindsay and I have so much travel scheduled over the next few months, that we just couldn’t swing it. For the first time in our lives, we did not go “home” for Christmas. And while this was our third Christmas in the city, it was our first Christmas in the city.

We decided to get a tree. Like, a real one. Here it is strapped to our car.

O wait, that’s not a car. That would be my person. For like, ten blocks.

Why. How.

Why

Believe it or not, I actually began to miss my students. I waited through September and October and then I just had to go back. I know, I know… I don’t have a temperature and I haven’t been smoking anything. Forty hours a week with them might have been a little too much of a good thing. But absence makes the heart grow fonder, right?

I had no idea.

What is Unnamed About?

A number of people have typed this question into their search engine and landed here at my blog, probably to be disappointed by the vague synopsis I have thus far offered. Here’s a brief account of how the idea developed in my mind. I hope it helps!

Unnamed takes a look at several important but unnamed figures in the Bible. It fascinates me that God included in the Scripture accounts of various men, women, and children, but did not include their names.

#5!!!

I’m speechless.

Evangelical Christian Publisher’s Association.