splash...

have you noticed the great amount of movement that's occurring everywhere? i'm not sure if it's the price of gas, the recession that 'we are not in,' conflicts in the middle east, or just the amount of people coming and going these days. the world truly has become a smaller place; because of it, i think i notice the motion, transition, and constant change that we as a people, we as a culture, we as a country, and we as individuals are always in. 

it's so easy to get caught up in the movement mistaking it for accomplishment. if there is one thing that i know, busyness doesn't = accomplishment. busyness = busyness. sometimes things get done, sometimes i go backwards. 

so i was thinking about the idea of movement and where God seems to be moving my city (miami) as a whole. always transition. always multi lingual, multi cultural, multi faceted - moving in multi-ple directions. it is what it is. but what will i make of it and what kind impact can be made in such a fluid culture. 

when you think of your home town  and you consider the way it's moving and where it's going - what can you see being the greatest area that needs to be addressed in the ever-moving culture, people, and society? 

i figure, once you pick a direction to move in, you'll make the biggest splash and impact there.

where are you moving? what are you doing to cause a splash? 

connected in community

where are you connecting for community? where can you let your 'hair down' and just be you?

cool thing about tuesday nights is the way that a bunch of different kinds of people connect, have coffee, pray, eat sandwiches, study the bible, laugh, and stay connected. it's cool because people can just be people. 

as i was hanging out with adriana, a couple of thoughts came to mind - especially as i was thinking of community and how we do it today and how it was done in the book of acts. 

that first group of leaders and original group of emerging leaders had no idea that what they were doing would change the world. they were simply 'being' and 'doing' instead of being so technical or precise. 

so a couple of things from these 1st generation leaders and groups:

-they spent time together (lots of time)

-they spent time eating together (lots of time)

-they spent time not in a church building, rather among the 'normal' people (lots of time)

-they prayed (lots of prayer)

-they devoted themselves to the things that were most important (do we?)

so...i wonder if we over complicate things. do we distort and over kill the simplicity of simply doing life with others? is there something more needed than a bible, people, a cup of coffee and God?

what do you think? 

what can we learn from the 1st gen. leaders and groups? 

in your opinion, what do you think we should be most devoted to doing?

journey...

as we finished zeal this evening, i was thinking about how all that we experience at zeal happens. just wanted to extend my thanks to the whole team that makes these gatherings possible. from everyone on stage to the folks that you never see -- the people who do everything that no one else wants to do, THANKS!

regarding tonight, i think it went really well. as i was reading some the 'next steps' that some of us need to take, it made me smile - God is actively at work in our of lives as we're traveling through this journey. i know that the future is unknown, but what about your very next step?

so...what is your next step? what do you sense God is asking you to do? where do you sense He's leading you to go? what's the next step you need to take?

let me know how God is working in your journey - let's journey together. 

fyi, tonight's podcast will be up soon at www.zealmiami.com

next week at 6.30 -- homeless feeding, be there!