Did the original disciples of Jesus have 'quiet times'?

I've always wondered if the fascination we modern Western Christians have with devotions and quiet times is at all Biblical or first-Century. I lean toward no, but, since I wasn't around when the disciples headed up the early Church, I guess I'll never really know. I started reading a book today written by John Ortberg called "The Life You've Always Wanted" and I'm beginning to question the way I've always measured spirituality. It's been so quarantined off in our culture that it seems like a separate function than things like career, family or recreational life. God is interested in every part of our life, not just the spiritual one. So, spirituality is in everything we do - it's all important. If that is true, then even how we work, or think or relate to each other can be part of our 'devotional' life. This is a big deal for me, a type A all the way. Maybe I can stop defending my spirituality to people who ask me. Maybe I can humbly start to live by what Jesus commanded - love the Lord with all your heart, mind, soul & spirit...

Finding the Remarkable for Church (a.k.a. The Purple Cow!)

I've been reading some marketing books lately - specifically 2 by a guy named Seth Godin (The Purple Cow and All Marketers Are Liars) and I've been impressed by the simple idea (but difficult to generate) called the 'purple cow'. Basically, if you've seen one cow, you've seen them all UNTIL you see a purple cow - now that's remarkable and worth a second look. How can a church find it's own unique 'purple cowness'? That's what I've been kicking around. When I was a teenager trying to figure out my understanding of God and church (and hair metal bands), a friend of mine took me to some Christian youth rallies (more like a church pep rally) called Purple Rallies (held in and around Portland, OR). The idea was that if, when we are baptized into Christ and become followers of Jesus, the water turned us purple, we'd sure act different. We'd be hard to miss and we'd stand out. It might even make us more careful about our language, our actions, our 'witness'. It was an intersting idea...being purple. What if local churches found their uniqueness and let the word out? Could church become so remarkable that the average person in a community would say "Wow, I've got to check this church out!"

Church Planting The Among Upwardly Mobile

One thing that I never really thought of before helping plant a church was the loss of good friends due to job changes and 'moving up' the corporate ladder. This is a tough thing to work through. With Common Ground Church being a 'parachute drop' church plant with no local congregations helping us, we really worked hard to generate a lot of good relationships with people according to the vision God had given us. Those relationships were (and ARE) a key factor in the success of the launch and now 2 years of existence. Unfortunately, because of the demographic we are (30 somethings w/ kids), and because of Maple Valley's status as a Seattle suburb for upwardly mobile workers, our church has had several great families depart for other places which is truly a heart-tugging loss. So, even if we are working hard, listening to God, and working to love the families God has given us, we must deal with the loss of good families due to nothing more than that family's desire to move on...it hurts sometimes. Lord, help us to do our best to love families for as long as You provide them...amen. I also pray that God would help me not get overly guarded with people - not letting them get too close because of the fear that they'll move away...only by Your strength, Lord.

Glass Museum - sort of weird art...

I went with my family to see the Glass Museum in Tacoma, WA and was sort of taken back by the strangeness of the artwork itself. They had some hideous instruments - horror film instruments, with strange shaped glass and even one which dangled glass orbs against a piano soundboard. People pay for this stuff? Wow. They had a 'hot' area where you could watch the long, tedious process of blowing and shaping (and reshaping) the glass...again, people dig this? And they PAY for it? Well, it was an experience. Cheers.

'Built to Last' is a great book!

I recently finished reading this book which focuses on companies that are visionary. I was intrigued by the common sense approach the book takes to reviewing how these companies built their legacies - by keeping to their core ideology and changing strategy as markets and times dictated. Great organizations have great values that remain consistent...churches are no different. Yes, all Christian churches have a common 'cornerstone' value which is the work of Jesus Christ and His Lordship, however, they can go astray when that core value gets replaced or buried with church growth strategies and programs and techniques, etc. My vision is for every local Christian church to have a unique way or culture of doing ministry while still maintaining the core Christ ideology. We'd see great things occur in the Kingdom of God when the church steps up to the plate, offers its' best workers and work and keeps on the edge of innovation while still maintaining the core values - that's visionary!

End of the Spear...heavy film!

I recently got a chance to go to the theater and check out this new film about some incredible missions work in Ecquador that began 1/2 a century ago. I didn't read much about the film before I saw it and I assumed it would focus on the Elliots, Jim (who was killed) and Elizabeth, simply because their names are so well known in Christian circles, but, I was wrong. The film brought to light the perspective of the pilot's family (who flew in the original missionaries in the mid 1950's) and that of the native tribe. Since I have a son, and since the pilot (Nate) also had a son, it was difficult to see how the young boy dealt with his father's death and then the years of anger and bitterness that eventually led to the boy (now grown up) developing a friendship with the tribesman who actually killed his father - what a story of forgiveness! I highly recommend the film, but, be aware, it is not for the faint of heart! Cheers...

LOST episode w/ bad theology!

Ok - my wife Jackie and I were watching LOST's recent episode (all about Charlie) via iTUNES (no commercials - yeah!) and I was shocked at the bad, bad theology the 'priest' gave to Claire on the meaning and purpose of baptism...did anyone else catch that? HELLO! He gave some example of how the dove descended upon Jesus after John the Baptist immersed Him signifying all Christ's sins were forgiven - who is writing this stuff? Have they ever READ Scripture? I like the show a lot, but after that little scene, I was pretty dissapointed in whoever wrote that scene. Cheers.