There is always hope...

Interesting post today by a great blogger, The Internet Monk, on Frank Page's sobering truthful declaration that the 50% of SBC will die in the next 20 years. That is unless something drastic changes soon. As a convention on every level, we need to re-discover what it means to gather around the gospel of Jesus Christ and the mission He gave us. It is part of our history, it is still in there somewhere - it is time to dust it off and recommit to a kingdom-focused mindset in which Christ transforms, not politics, not national morality, but the lives of people who are lost.

In light of this bold prediction and wake-up call, I want to take the moment to identify Steve and myself as two of those guys who are committed to the future of the SBC - to see it reclaim a vision for being on mission that is far beyond two special guilt-relieving offerings a year (not that it is ever less than that though, so don't misunderstand that I am knocking the patron saints of the SBC, Lottie and Annie. Those are two women who GOT it.) We want to break the walls down and reconnect with a culture that has largely dismissed us as irrelevant, and maybe rightly so. It is time to become relevant again by getting back to what makes us who we are - Jesus. A Jesus who by his grace redeems us and restores us, making us family, learners, servants and missionaries. All of us. This is who we are. This is who we need to be. And we will be here, in Pittsburgh incarnating the Jesus to those who have never seen him in another. As Steve so simply put in his last post, pray for us. It is the key.

Specifically, pray that we would pray more. I know I need to. And yeah, the money helps too.

Core Value #1

At our church planting Boot Camp (hosted by some really out of place guys in the SBC), we were challenged to come up with a set of core values that would serve as the identity of our church. SR and I, being a little uuhh, off kilter, came up with an alternate list of about 40 core values that are of great importance to us. I would like to present the first. It was initially around #23, but I believe we would both agree that it deserves to be moved to the very top of the list of ones that didn't quite make the cut.

CORE VALUE #1: New Member Lemon Law

I hear the amens already...



P.S. I have learned of a grave issue that I feel must be worked out here. It has come to my attention that my friend SR, has the disturbing an un-American quality of not liking cake. I'm not sure how to deal with this, but maybe I should have seen it coming. He is Canadian after all. Sheesh.