It is interesting to note the impact that you have on folks lives from back in the day. It reminds me of the question that Kevin has been pondering – “What do YOU think about spiritual formation in and with groups?”
And I’m pondering… how much control do we actually have on our spiritual formation? I wonder if we have more than think we do and less than we pretend. I’ll ponder this month while I’m offline.
So, today I got an email from the guy who started it all. Um, no … not that guy. The other one – Steve Sjogren. I sent an email to a bunch of Vineyard pastors about Jun’s review of D’vine on the Queen City Mission blog. Steve replied and told me a bit of what he’s up to… Tampa, writing, etc…
I’m struck by how DNA gets transfered in churches. How the values and personalities of leaders – especially founding leaders – carries on through many generations. Steve started the Vineyard in Cincinnati 20 years ago. Now there are 25 (I think I heard) Vineyard congregations in and around the ‘Nati. Vineyard Central is one of those – we owe a lot to the work Steve and others did. We continue to carry some of that DNA with us. Sure, VC may look a lot different than the “typical Vineyard”, but we’re still in the family. Its genetic.
This leads me to 2 thoughts:
1. The sins of fathers (and mothers) are really really really hard to overcome. I’m not meaning to focus on the negative (see below), but every leader, organization, church, family has shortcomings and faults. We, the children’s children, have to recognize and deal with that. We just do. Not in a blaming or shaming way, we just have to ‘fess up and deal. Where are our corporate addictions and delusions? What sins do we want to not pass on to our children?
2. The things that influence those who influence us need to be noted. Its sorta like primary sources. Its like when we love an author and read everything they’ve written, eventually we want to read those writers who influence and shape them and their writing. So Steve gave me a link to the church he’s planting in Tampa, from which (througth magic of the internet) I found the following links:
Coastland Church
Outward Buzz – Steve’s podcast/vlog
The Day I Died
Steve Sjogren.com
Servant Evangelism
Growing Edge
Tom Peters
Never Eat Alone
Seth’s blog
The Art of the Start (blog)
I did this last year and enjoyed it very much. It was a good discipline (is it ok to enjoy a discipline? probably). So I’m going to do it again.
July – no blogging, no IM, no cellphone, no email.
a Digital Sabbatical.
a Technology Sabbath.
Here’s how I described it on my blog last year:
“I’ve mentioned it before, but from July 1-31 I’ll be taking a Digital Sabbatical/Sabbath. This means NO blogging, IMing, Cellphone for July. The main reason is because I just need a break. I have been working on computers so much these past several years that I just really would like to go through some days without staring at a screen. I think my brain needs a break!
Beyond that, it will be something of a spiritual discipline in abstinance and learning to function in the analog world again for a bit. “
I’ll probably post a few more times before July 1, but I wanted to give you, my possibly faithful readers, a heads-up (7-up).
I don’t think I talk about this much, but I get very very excited about what I see God (and his peeps) doing in Cincinnati. I am quite literally over-joyed by what I see and hear my brothers and sisters in the family of God doing all around this city. Specifically I am excited about the new, little experiements of being Church. I can see a future where there are hundreds of these 20-200 member congregations, house churches, etc… all over Cincinnati of all different traditions, emphases, styles, and charisms. Here’s a sampling of what is being seeded now…..
There are more, those I mostly just ripped off of Queen City Mission, add to that list lots of individuals like Jeremiah Griswold and Benji Sayre. I can see these smallish communities of faith transforming our city/region. One neighborhood, community, family, household, peer group, business, or social club at a time. 10 years… give us 10 years and you will be amazed. That makes me excited.
And why should you do all these things? Because there is nothing that makes people so generous, joyful, lively, bold and compassionate, so indifferent to fighting and the accumulation of objects and money. Because the best way to know the Truth or Beauty is to try to express it.
Source: If You Want to Write”
That hits me well this morning. A good reminder. Life is full and good now. I’m in Cisco training – which is hard and exhausting but interesting and rewarding. It is good to make my brain work hard. Sarah has begun a new job at Children’s Hospital, she’s training this week. I think she’s going to really like working there. July is my free-time…. no school-work. I’ll be in the basement mostly I hope – finishing the re-finishing. I’m thinking about making July another Digital Sabbatical…. I’ll let you know, it might be nice to unleash myself from the world of technology.
VC Guiding Values WWG 6-11-06.mp3
Kevin made this sweet video for our series on VC Guiding Values (audio and PPT to follow):
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlumjvV8CBM]
So today at school I was going room to room unhooking and labeling each computer (good times) so that it can all be moved, room re-carpeted, then put back in the right place. In the process I saw a poster that read:
“Stop and think
and think
and think
and think
and think
and think
before you act”
Which prompted me to think (appropriately enough I suppose) that we spend a lot of time stopping and thinking, but sometimes we never get around to actually acting. We think ourselves silly and with nothing but big heads to show for it. I think that is why I’m excited about this thing VC is going to host. Its about acting, getting out there and “doing the stuff”. Here’s the scoop:
Starving Jesus conference (see http://www.starvingjesus.com/ for more info on what it is)
w/ J.R. Mahon & Craig Gross
Vineyard Central
1757 Mills Avenue
Norwood, OH 45212
9am-Noon
$20 Registration or $10 for groups of 5 or more.
Proceeds go to Compassion Int’l. and Local Minsitries through Starving Jesus.
Participants are encouraged to fast in some capacity for 24 hours beginning at 9am.
A free juice bar will be provided at the conference.
Registration and more details TBA.
Want in? We’d like to partner with several other churches/organizations to do this thing. Holla at me about it.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Orjjuh5wykc]
