THE JOURNEY SO FAR

Today our family got together for a last meal (and family photo) together before our two youngest daughters head for college in New York and Chicago. Ruth and I will drive Laura to Wheaton and Emilie to Minnesota where she'll spend a few days getting ready for her term in Manhattan. Anna and Matthew begin school this coming week as well.

Pray for us as we learn how to be parents all over again, this time learning to trust God with our adult children. So glad we have a faithful God.

Durand

The Leadership Summit is over, but my thoughts haven't really settled down yet. There were some amazing folks teaching through the two and a half days. Some of the stuff was relevant to ministry decisions ahead for GEM. Others simply encouraged us in the Lord to keep focused on the point of all this... seeing God restoring lives for eternity.

But one interview I'll not soon forget was one done between Bill Hybels (founder of Willow Creek near Chicago) and Bono of the band U2.

I'm not bringing this up because he's a big star, or because he's devoted his life to Christ (which was evident in the interview) but because he helped me understand a little more about myself and my responsibility to my world.

Part of the reason so many people can't believe God loves them is that they don't see God's children loving them. (I ranted a bit about that in a comment on "Meet the Neighbors" a couple days ago.)

Our neighborhood is enormous as a New Testament church in the 21st century. What we do in the US or Europe often has a direct effect on people around the world. We see images of starving children, war, and people dying of AIDS on the television but immediately grab for the remote. It's too much. I feel powerless to help. Or I think "It's not my problem."

Back to Bono. He's part of a world-wide initiative to help eliminate poverty called The One Campaign. Those involved in the effort are from every walk of life, including many that make me uncomfortable as a Christian. (Did I mention, I'm trying to be transparent here?) One cause of senseless poverty is the AIDS pandemic in Africa. 8000 people a day perish (that's an Asian Tsunami every day) creating 11,000 new orphans EVERY DAY.

Deep in the recesses of my heart, AIDS has been in the "not my problem" category. After all, much of the disease has been spread through sexual misconduct. A simple case of cause and effect, my mind assures me.

Bono asked the Christians to consider what God's response for them would be if they'd come upon a horrific traffic accident. Jumping out of the car to help one of the drivers lying on the pavement in need of immediate medical assistance, you lean down and notice the strong smell of alcohol. What should be your response? Leave him there to die because it was his own fault for the trouble he was in? Or one of extending mercy to help the injured person, regardless of whose fault it was.

The story of the Good Samaritain was a response to the question, who is my neighbor? If anyone should know how to extend grace to the poor, the blind the afflicted, the unjustly treated, it would be those to whom infinite mercy has already been extended.

I still feel overwhelmed knowing the world's problems are just too much for me. There are great spiritual, physical, social and emotional needs all around us. But at least, I think I understand the answer Jesus gave about who my neighbor is. I can't say, "that's not my problem." Part of being in God's family is understanding the Father's heart and responding the way he would. And in doing so, we give the world a glimpse of God, who so loved the world, (You know the rest.)

Friday, Ruth was supposed to fly to Heathrow on her way to GEM's annual conference. Fortunately we were able to find out she'd be at least 8 hours late coming in with no chance of a connecting flight until sometime on Saturday. It was a tough decision, but Ruth decided not to go. Those working with her in research that are at the conference are helping cover for the responsibilities she'd prepared for.

We will leave on Tuesday (Laura, Emilie, Ruth and myself) for Wheaton, Illinois and St. Paul, Minnesota, with visits of friends and partners along the way. Pray for a safe trip and for God's grace as we "empty" the nest. While it is unfortunate that Ruth won't be at conference, we are thankful for the extra days together we'll have as a family before school begins.

Durand

Andy Stanley was asked to address the issue of ministry focus during the Willow Creek Association's Leadership Summit yesterday. There he suggested that our love for progress and achievement in ministry combined with fear of failure caused by an over-inflated view of our own importance in the process of ministry drives many of us to cheat our families, thrusting them into God's hands as we head out the door, pleading with him to fill in the gap in our absence.

At one point early in ministry Stanley had to admit there simply weren't enough hours in the day for him to succeed in building up the church and meeting the needs of his family. He went on to explain that the most important ministry decision he has ever made was to clarify his roles in those two spheres of responsibility.

As Stanley understood Jesus' promise that HE would build the church (Matt. 16:18) while in Eph. 5:25 that Andy's responsibility was to love his wife as Christ loved the church, he realized he'd reversed the roles. And so he made the hard decision early in ministry to limit his involvement to 45 hours a week at the church, trusting God to "fill in the gap" he had already promised to fulfill. This freed him up to assume the responsibility only he was commanded to assume, learning to love his wife (and children) with the same selfless love Christ has for the church.

I think Stanley's point is valid, but I think he's missed an even more far-reaching benefit to recognizing God's role to build His church.

Jesus actually sums up the most important of God's commands to us by charging us to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (and to) love your neighbor as yourself.' Matt 22:37,39

We're not only too busy in church matters to be part of our family. We neglect our neighbors as well. Who couldn't stand to profit from more time to share life with those living around us, being salt and light in today's society. By learning to limit our hours in "working at the church" (or our business for that matter) and re-engaging in the life of our home and neighborhood we will find that the church's mandate; the Great Commission, will find fulfillment.

Many of you have heard about Imagin'Air, the children's VBS I created over the past couple of years. You may also know that a central part of the program is a series of videos for children we created that share the Gospel in ways that make sense to children, even ones that have no experience with Jesus or the church.

But most of you have never seen them.

This week I put up a temporary place where you can watch these videos or at least let your children watch them. You'll need a fast internet connection and Quicktime for your computer (see the first post on the Imagin'Air Media page by clicking here.) I'd love to get your feedback on these videos.

Over the coming months with One Way Street and Group Publishing, I'm hoping for a chance to see a partnership develop that will allow me to create even more programming for children. (I actually have 4 other Imagin'Air programs sketched out that could be done to start with.)

Please, watch them, pray for their use around Europe, and tell your friends about the link. Perhaps it will spark interest in other churches to come be a part of reaching children through the Imagin'Air clubs we do in Europe. Your little part in sending them an email could be the start of something that could change kids' lives for eternity.

Thanks.

(To watch the videos, click here)

I'm not sure whether visiting Group Publishing was a good thing or a bad thing for me. It's truly amazing to see the development of this ministry/business from the early 70's as a one man effort to probably the largest publisher in the US that focuses on resources for churches.

350+ employees, with specialty groups working in everything from their "Genesis" group (my personal preference) concentrating on new ideas and products to graphic designers, video folks, educational specialists, an army of people doing sales, tech support, customer helplines, and shipping.

There are many publishing companies in the US. But these guys really do on a big scale what CreativeWorks aspires to. Excellent media production and curricula for VBS clubs. Service trips to get church small groups involved in missions. Regional training events to give instruction to church voluteers tryng to make a difference.

My heart goes out to Europe. Companies like Group can grow in the US because there are churches here to pay enough for their materials that Group can invest to create even more. They'll send out thousands of VBS kits each summer. (I thought I was dreaming big to try and produce 200 Imagin'Air kits to be used by teams over the next 3-5 years!)

But Europe, with it's approximately 1% of evangelical believers is too big a risk for companies like Group to develop materials for. It's just not financially feasible right now.

Still, CreativeWorks needs the support of great ministries like Group. We have so much to learn. And I think we have a lot to share with them about ways for them to make a difference in Europe. That's why I'm meeting with people there. I want to explore partnerships that would help provide the needed resources for healthy ministry in Europe without reinventing the wheel.

Our next meeting together is in September.