discovering passions

What are you passionate about? Hopefully, we are all on a journey of discovering outrageous passion for God and for people. In addition, we are hopefully discovering unique passions that God has placed within each of us that He will use to grow His Kingdom on earth.

Our group in Dallas was discussing how we might help people discover and name their passions. I know for me, it's been helpful to think about passions by considering all of the places and positions I've been in over the years of my life. What have I found myself pursuing no matter where I've lived or what job I've had? For me, the common threads have been 1. Engaging people in service in their communities and globally and 2. connecting to God's beauty in Creation.

In 1990, Mike and I lived in Guam for two years, and I taught fifth graders in the public school system there. Outside of my school days, Mike and I were having a blast exploring the island with friends...Guam is full of amazing hikes, waterfalls, caves, and vistas. What I soon began to discover is that a lot of my fifth graders had never been to many of these places on their island. Many had never traveled to the southern part of the island, and Guam is only 28 miles long! When I asked the kids what they spent their time doing, I learned that much of their time was in front of the tv, either watching cable or playing video games. So, I began to take 3-4 students with me on weekend hikes and field trips. This was so fun! We also entered an environmental contest (we cleaned up a really trashy area on Guam, and raised public awareness about the harm done by littering.) The contest award was a trip for our class on a submarine sightseeing tour off the coast of Guam, an amazing experience. Our school was in the north near the humane society of Guam, so I began to serve there once a week with one of my students, Rex, who was one of my challenging students in regards to behavior. I grew to love Rex as we served side by side washing out kennels and feeding dogs and cats.

When I think back on other seasons of my life, I find that no matter what it is, I find myself connecting people through service. At college in Ames, I invited my roommate to a nursing home each week where we'd visit Agnes and Genevieve, two elderly residents who didn't get visits from family. When I taught fifth grade at Hansen Elementary, our class helped raise money and wrote letters to friends in an orphanage on the island of St. Croix, where two good friends of mine were serving as missionaries there. I also helped create the partnership between
Hansen Elementary and Sartori Hospital that is still going strong almost 20 years later. Nature is also a passion for me. In college, I spent a summer on Texas ranch living outdoors with students and helping them connect with God in nature. I led a group of high schoolers through the mountains of Colorado backpacking for a week. I love to be on the nature trails by myself or with my family.

Whether it be in my youth ministry years or in my years of raising our own children, I find myself connecting people into service, and I enjoy connecting with the outdoors somehow. Both energize me tremendously and are pathways for me to draw near to God.

What about you? No matter where you've lived or what job you've had, what do you find yourself seeking out? What makes you come alive and energizes you?

missional church

A quote from McNeal's latest book, Missional Renaissance:

"Missional church is not about "doing church" better- at least, not the way we've "done church" in North America. It is not church growth in a new dress. It is not adding a smoke machine for the worship center or hiring a new band. It is not about church renewal, which generally means trying to find some new way to revitalize the troops to do church better with the hope of poofing up the numbers as the end result. Missional church is not a fad, the next big thing. Missional thinking and living change the game completely. The missional renaissance is altering both the character and the expression of the church in the world.

Ours is an age that celebrates in fresh ways the potential of people to make a difference, just as the original Renaissance reawakened the human spirit to noble pursuits. This outpouring of good and hope in the face of so many daunting challenges, together with people's desire to grow and to experience genuine spiritual vitality, represents the spiritual awakening of our times."

connecting to resources

You'll find 2008's top urban ministry speakers, websites, and blogs at

www.urbanministry.org/top2008

I've heard several of the speakers at the CCDA conferences I've been to, and I'll vouch that they are highly inspirational and challenging speakers! You can hear a lot of them free on-line. (in all our spare time, right?)

believe, belong, bless

Eric Swanson (you can see his blog at www.ericjswanson.com) authored The Externally Focused Church and helped lead the MRLC this past week. He drew a cool picture of a celtic knot and talked about how we are all alike in that all people are made to believe....to belong....to bless. God made us to know Him, to live in community, and to make a contribution of positive significance in the world. How can we structure our lives and our outreach so that we are tapping into these needs and desires and helping people discover the truth and beauty in these three B's?

stories and learnings

Last month I told you that I spent time writing a missional narrative for a leadership retreat. It was an excellent exercise, as it helped to clarify learnings, values, and vision along the missional way.

We've been talking about the value of debriefing and conversation, so if my learnings can help you in anyway, then I invite you to download the missional narrative at the link below.

Download missional narrative file

I'd also encourage you to comment and let this reading community know if you share any of the same learnings or have had other insights that might help the rest of us as we journey in missional community.

the debrief

One concept explored at the Missional Renaissance Learning Community (MRLC) is that in order to make discoveries about our lives and our world, we need to debrief our experiences....process them in conversation, reflect upon them by way of thought-provoking questions that require us to not only observe or evaluate the experience externally, but to also examine what happens inside of us. Jesus did a lot of deploying followed by debriefing with his disciples.

In my own life, I am somewhat of a debriefing type. I journal, and I'm generally a thinker, a processor. I also learn a great deal from conversations with friends as I hear their perspectives and insights regarding their experiences or shared experiences. As I think back, all of this has helped me greatly on the path toward discovery and growth.

Naming the importance of the debrief has really gotten me to consider how key this is and how we need to intentionally build in debriefing time as we serve together.

We're often so busy moving from one thing to the next that we don't stop to debrief, and we often don't see the value in debriefing because it doesn't "seem productive." We're more often geared toward action than reflection, and we're not often aware of what even drives our actions. We therefore need to get real intentional about debriefing.

The following things will be important to include as we move toward missional living:
- Building in time for debriefing into the experiences we offer. Asking good questions and helping people to process their experiences will be critical for the journey.
- Coaching people to include what the MRLC calls "white space" in their lives. Space and practices that allow for time to listen to God, listen to others, and listen to our lives.

Do you have any thoughts about debriefing that have helped you?

Reggie McNeal and Missional Renaissance

You can check out Reggie McNeal and an interview about his new book Missional Renaissance at the following link: http://www.pursuantgroup.com/leadnet/advance/feb09s2.htm