It’s been a remarkable week, but I’m glad to be on my way home (Due to plane and weather issues, I didn’t make it all the way home). What I’d like to offer tonight is a little synopsis of the past week that was in my life and ministry. May something here bless your journey, because you know what…Jesus loves you!
Here’s a summary of this week

1. 2 days with Suzanne Stabile from Life in the Trinity Ministries learning a whole lot about the Enneagram. Suzanne is one of the leading teachers on the Enneagram. After spending the week with her, I think she is THE leading teacher in the US on this subject. I am blessed to have had this time with her, to learn from her, and am forever thankful to call her a sister in Christ.

2.A day and a half with Tony Jones. Tony is someone who deeply loves the church, but isn’t afraid to throw a hand grenade in the middle to stir up the status quo. His passion is to challenge the church to think differently about herself then she did in 1954 and to celebrate the many ways that God is alive and active in the midst of 2013. Needless to say, I was challenged by him. And I’m thankful that I was. The Texas heat has nothing on the heat Tony Jones brings to the church!

3. A day and a half with Brian McLaren. Brian has had a significant impact on my faith journey for many years. To be able to “sit at his feet” and walk through the book of Acts together was a significantly holy time for me. Brian is a glorious gift to the church who believes very deeply that the good news of the gospel of our savior Jesus Christ is for all of God’s children. His grace filled challenge to us pastors was to not be afraid to proclaim and live the out the truth of God’s love in every way possible in our congregations.

A few take always from the week –

1. Silence is a good and holy thing and one of the most significant disciplines that children of God can seek to enter into regularly.

2. Every so often, in the midst of our silence, it’s OK to stir things up In order to affirm that we are truly focused on God’s presence in our lives and God’s work in the world.

3. And finally, all of us are called as followers of Jesus to constantly ask the question, “Who is outside?” I think this may be the most challenging question we face and one that the church needs to continually ask just as it has been asking since the first followers of the risen Jesus did so long ago. By asking this question, we too will quickly discover that nobody is outside of the loving embrace of God.

Today began with a lengthy and deep discussion about one of my favorite Spiritual Disciplines – Centering Prayer or Contemplative Prayer. if you want to learn a little more, check our Father Thomas Keating or Father Richard Rohr’s work through the Center for Contemplative Outreach.
We concluded the morning by “sitting” in a Centering Prayer group for 20 minutes. One can only say that we were filled with peace and awed in the presence of God. These times of prayer are always significant minutes for me.

Later in the day, Tony Jones entered the room. Tony is kind of like a time-bomb going off in a room that nobody was expecting in any way, shape, or form. A refreshing and shocking change of pace to the week. Maybe that’s why the entire week is called Re:Fresh. 🙂

Tony sees himself as an ecclesiologist. In his own words, “that’s like a proctologist for the church.” He’s is also a pastor at a really cool emergent congregation in Minneapolis called Solomon’s Porch. Tony challenges groups of pastor’s across the country to see the church differently. To see that many of the walls and institutions and silos and structures that Christianity has existed in for centuries are no longer effective in proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. And if we’re honest with each other, they really haven’t been working for a long time.I found one of his insights extremely interesting today. He said, “We don’t use rotary dial telephones anymore. Why do our churches still look and feel and behave like they do.”

I’m not sure I think this is true across the entire Christian church, but it is causing me to think a lot this evening about what kind of telephone, if they even exist in 20 years, the Christian church will be known for using. And how will that telephone communicate the good news of God’s grace, mercy, and love for all people.

What kind of telephone are you using?