The Phoenix Project

ReCreate

2006-08-10T11:16:00.000-07:00

something new and magical and amazing is stirring and coming. be prepared.

March 31st

2006-03-28T11:44:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to remind everyone about Friday night. We’ll be gathering again at 7:00 pm. We’ll have your typical coffee and snacks. And this week, we’ll order some pizza and whoever wants in on it can just pitch in some money.

So if you think you’ll want pizza, just email me back and let me know so I’ll know how much to order.

I know our last conversation got a little off topic. Consequently, we ended up spending time in conversation that may not have been as fruitful as it could have been. We also moved away from a conversation that is centered on movement, on how our faith engages and compels us to move forward faithfully. I take full responsibility for not steering our talk and keeping it focused on the topic at hand. I’m ADD and am also very opinionated. Thrown in with other strong opinions and a room full of coffee cups and Dance, Dance Revolution adrenaline, you can see how we got off into a heated discussion that was situated in left field. So this week I promise not to let the conversation get so “heady”, academic, or heated. But please come ready to discuss and share your thoughts.

So this week, I’m going to try and take more of an active role in keeping our talk focused. We’re also going to keep our conversation on the topic to an hour and a half tops. So we’ll be done at 8:30 at the latest. I don’t know about everybody else, but 2.5 hours is a bit much for me. And this week, everyone is welcome to stay afterwards where we can do whatever our moods should fancy.

I really appreciate everyone opening up and sharing last week though. And good news for those of you who are tired of the “talk-a-lot-ers”, we’re thinking about putting a time limit on those of us who can’t shut up.

So read Movement Three in Velvet Elvis. And we’ll see you Friday night. Remember to let us know if you want pizza.

Here are some pictures from our last gathering. We're geeks with the DDR, I know.

Friday Night

2006-03-14T07:19:00.000-08:00

Heyheyhey! I just wanted to remind everyone about Friday night. We’ll be gathering at our house at 7:00 pm. Please try to be as prompt as you can so that we can finish at a decent time for those who have kids or need to get back home to save a babysitter. We’ll be having coffee, hot chocolate, and possibly some small desserts. So either eat beforehand or hold on until afterwards, when we’ll make a Waffle House run.

This week we’re going to be discussing Chapter 2 of Velvet Elvis. And we’re going to try something a little different this week. And I know some people aren’t comfortable in talking with loud groups (cough, cough . . . Casey) so they can be exempt if it’s absolutely necessary. But I’d like everyone to come prepared to share at least one thing that you found helpful and relevant to your life and then about how that helps you “move” in a more faithful direction with God. In any good conversation, there needs to be multiple partners, perspectives, and voices. So please come prepared to share your thoughts on the chapter that we’ve read. Unless of course you’re scared of people. Then you can just watch. : )

See you guys on Friday. Email me if you have any questions. And don’t forget to bring a friend if you think they would enjoy a conversation like this.

It’s St. Patrick’s Day too so if anybody wants to bring some green beer then that would be fine with me!

Schedule Changes

2006-03-08T08:08:00.000-08:00

Good and bad news guys.

Due to a lack of planning and communication, we are going to cancel the Phoenix Project for this Friday night.

The good news is though is that we have a tentative schedule (below) for our next 5 gatherings. For the next 2 weeks, we are going to meet at our house at 7:00. And after that, we will more than likely go back to rotating between our home and the Thompson’s. Unless of course any of you would like to host a night.

March 17th – Browns @ 7:00 pm

March 31st - Browns @ 7:00 pm

April 14th

April 28th

May 12th

I’m sorry this is so last minute. But hopefully these dates will allow us all to plan ahead and to make it to our gatherings a fruitful and beneficial time. Please let me know if you have any questions, and I’ll send out an email at the first of next week reminding everyone about the 17th and any other details.

Follow Up

2006-02-28T08:20:00.000-08:00

We had a great time last Friday night reading and discussing the first "chapter" of Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell. Anna made some delicious desserts that Leslie mistook for "fish and loaves" because of their ever replenishing nature. And then Casey and I went into our little XBox world and didn't come out for a while. And we capped it off with Waffle House, although the group was only down to 4 by this time.

I just wanted to let everyone know I'm working up a tentative schedule for the next 3 or 4 months. Of dates, locations, and food. And I'll design something nifty and pass it out next time we get together on March 10th (location undetermined).

I also passed out a "message" by Doug Pagitt. If I forgot to give you a copy, you can download it here or I'll give you one the next time I see you.

Movement Three This Friday Night

2006-02-20T06:27:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to remind everyone about this Friday night. We’ll be meeting at our house (I’ll email directions out later in the week) at 7:00 pm. Everybody will be on there on for dinner, but we will have coffee, hot chocolate, etc. And if you’re really adventurous, some of us may give IHOP or Waffle House a late night run when we finish up around 9 or so.

Remember to go out and purchase Velvet Elvis and read chapter one for discussion. As you’re reading, if you have a question about something or something makes you “uncomfortable”, just write it down we can discuss Friday. Or if something totally resonates with you, write that down as well and we can talk about that too. If you have any questions, feel free to call or email me. See you guys Friday!

Overview of Friday Night

2006-02-12T14:09:00.000-08:00

Below is kind of a rough draft of some of the notes that I sketched out for our conversation. Feel free to add your thoughts from the discussion in a comment or email me and I'll be more than happy to add you to the administrative list so you can add your own thoughts. There are also some pictures attached below.

“We live in a pornographic culture.” – Eugene Peterson
Meaning we tend to objectify people. View people in terms of their content.

This objectifying of people, we turn people into the content of their actions or thoughts instead of their relational being.

In our culture, “content” dominates. In our churches, “content” dominate. So when disagreements arise, there is an inevitable clash. And at the expense of the relationship.

In the biblical texts, and especially with Jesus, the emphasis is on the relationship instead of the “content” or issue”. Whereas, we are terribly occupied with the “issue” at the expense of the relationship.

STORY OF THE PRODIGAL SON
The Father wasn’t concerned with the issue but with the relationship (Luke 15: 20-24)
The brother wasn’t concerned with the relationship but with the issue (Luke 15:25-30)

Both had to do with a lack of listening. I think that is where we really begin to understand and embrace the other in love. Hearing intently. More time should be focused on the character and interchanges of the relationship than on the disagreement on the issue.

“There can be no doctrinal orthodoxy without first being a good friends.” – Pope Something

And what we need in most issues of conflict is not a doctrinal statement but a relational statement. We have to realize that the other person is larger than the issue or the culture they symbolize. Even more so with our enemies.

As we negotiate these relationships we must do so with HEALING as the ultimate aim. Anything that doesn’t take into account this ministry of healing is missing it.

New Date

2006-01-30T07:17:00.000-08:00

Thank you guys for being so patient and understanding with our having to reschedule last Friday night. It was a huge encouragement to the family to be able to have their friends around them over the weekend. So thanks for allowing us that space to go and minister.

The good news is we’ve rescheduled. Our next gathering is going to be 2 weeks from now. The time and place are below.

Tad and Kimberly Thompson’s
February 10th
7:00 pm

On that night we’ll give you guys the dates/locations for next few months so that you can more properly plan for these nights. And hopefully, it will allow us to get a little momentum. This thing is still really alive and fresh in mine and Anna’s heart. And as we continue to talk to our friends around us, we are getting more and more excited about what this could be and turn into. But just know that we hate not being able to get together as much as you do. But our vision for this ministry is growing sharper and clearer by the day. And we look forward to 2 weeks from now so that we can share about all the things that God is doing and doors that he’s opening up.

So dream big. Email or call us if you have any questions. And keep hope that there is a “higher” way of doing, thinking, living, and being.

Postponing

2006-01-25T13:38:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to let everyone know that we are going to be postponing our gathering on Friday night. Art Nelson, passed away early this morning from a heart attack. Art is married to Marilynn and have 2 sons, Matt and Ross and is a pastor at North Lanier. Matt and his wife Renee and son Trevor are members of Cross Pointe and are in Kathy and Howard and Tad and Kimberly's class. So please remember them in your prayers in the coming days.

We will be in touch in the next couple of days to let you know when we will reschedule. Thanks for your patience and understanding.

Movement Two

2006-01-25T13:37:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to remind everyone about this Friday night. We’re going to meet at 7:00 and we’ve changed our location for this week. We’ll be gathering at Tad and Kimberly Thompson’s house. Directions are attached.

I’m also attaching a 1 page excerpt from the book that I mentioned previously. If you would please take the time to read over this (its only one page) before we get together that would be huge. This will be our first “official” gathering so it’s going to look like whatever we, as a collective, want it to look like. The night will be driven by our thoughts and conversations regarding the topic. So please come prepared to discuss and think and share.

We’re going to be discussing the idea of belonging before believing and how that was a central aspect of Jesus’ ministry and how we can move towards that same perspective. We’ll also talk a little about how important it is to maintain a generous and loving spirit when disagreements do arise within those who differ from us.

So just be thinking along those lines and come prepared to share whatever thoughts, struggles, hope, frustrations, or fears you have about that topic. If you have any questions or need better directions, call me or Anna at 404.376.5068.

Below is the article that I sent out in the email. If you're not getting the emails and you want to, please let me know.

______________________________________________________________________
Excerpts were taken from The Celtic Way of Evangelism by George G. Hunter III

Excerpted from pages 53-44
Bluntly stated, the Roman model for reaching people (who are “civilized” enough) is: (1) Present the Christian message; (2) Invite them to decide to believe in Christ and become Christians; and (3) If they decide positively, welcome them into the church and its fellowship. The Roman model seems very logical to us because most American evangelicals are scripted by it! We explain the gospel, they accept Christ, we welcome them into the church! Presentation, Decision, Assimilation. What could be more logical than that?

But you already know enough to infer the (contrasting) Celtic model for reaching people: (1) You first establish community with people, or bring them into the fellowship of your community of faith. (2) Within fellowship, you engage in conversation, ministry, prayer, and worship. (3) In time, as they discover that they now believe, you invite them to commit.

We can contrast the two models on a chart:

Roman Model
Presentation
Decision
Fellowship

Celtic Model
Fellowship
Ministry and Conversations
Belief, Invitation to Commitment

The Celtic model reflects the adage that, for most people, “Christianity is more caught than taught!” For most people, “belonging comes before believing.”

Excerpted from page 97
* Hunter is making the point that those who are on the outside of a particular culture are often thought of as barbaric, in the same way that those outside of Roman civilization and culture were considered to be barbaric. His point is not that those who aren’t “churched” are barbaric but that the church often treats this group that way because they don’t fit the walls of our current church culture.

Most churches assume (though this is seldom verbalized) that the postmodern “New Barbarians”* are unreachable, because they are not “civilized” enough to become “real” Christians. Remarkably, most churches assume this in a time when the “New Barbarians” are often the most receptive people in our communities; many are searching “in all the wrong places” for the kind of life they yearn for. The typical church ignores two populations, year after year: the people who aren’t “refined” enough to feel comfortable with us, and the people who are too “out of control” for us to feel comfortable with them!

movement two: towards hope

2006-01-16T13:07:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to issue you guys another invitation. We’re going to be gathering again Friday, January 27th at 7:00 pm. Tad and Kimberly Thompson have graciously offered us their home for the evening. They live between the Mall of Georgia and Lawrenceville on Hwy. 20. I’ll email directions out next week.

We’ve also bumped the time back about 30 minutes to allow everyone time to get home from work and to make that transition. And we’ve added another wrinkle to the food situation. Instead of doing a full-fledged dinner, we’re going to do some “heavy” appetizers, like cheese sticks or something along those lines. And we’ll still have coffee and hot chocolate.

For this gathering, we’re going to be discussing movement two: towards hope. This conversation will have a couple of aspects. The first will be on how do we engage with those that disagree with us. On what levels should we engage? How should we engage? Why should we engage? As we discuss this, we’ll take a look at the idea of “belonging before believing” and how that differs from the philosophy of many churches and Christians where their mantra is believe “rightly” before you belong.

The second side of our conversation will focus on what happens when our engagement with those that are different than us begins to turn to opposition or disagreement. We’ll ask ourselves the question of how should we remain positive in the midst of negativity.

So hopefully, that should get your thoughts going. I’m probably going to send out a 2 or 3 page excerpt from the book, The Celtic Way of Evangelism, by George Hunter, in the next couple of days. This excerpt should give you a little bit of background about what we mean when we say “belong before you believe”. And hopefully, it will spark some thoughts and conversation next Friday.

And as always, invite any one who you think might be interested in a conversation like this. And if you have any questions, give me a call, email, or post a comment. Look forward to hearing from you.

Kavod.

Next Gathering

2006-01-14T08:45:00.000-08:00

I'm going to send out more information Monday. But I wanted to go ahead and let you know that our next gathering will be Friday, January 27th at Tad and Kimberly Thompson's house.

We're still trying to decide on a time and whether or not we will do dinner or just dessert. But I'll update you on Monday.

Plotting Kindness (I stole that from Brian McLaren and liked it so there),
Josh

An Invitation

2006-01-09T07:10:00.000-08:00

Thank you guys so much for coming and listening to our hearts Friday night. I think we had between 25 and 30 of our closest friends around us as we shared with you our dream of what a new kind of faith community can and should look like. I'll be sending out an email later in the week with an update on where our next gathering will be and what the topic of discussion will be. So stay tuned to the blog.

Also the name of the book that I recommended was Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell. Borders has been carrying them for a while. But Amazon is a little cheaper.

Below is kind of a recap of what I shared from our heart on Friday night to the best of my recollection. I hope you enjoyed it and pass it on to anyone who you think might be interested.

This is how it started for us, everything that had been on our hearts as we had been sharing during our engagement and all the things that were opening up to us as we creatively dreamed, kind of started taking shape for us on our honeymoon. We met a great couple from Wisconsin, Mike & Jill, (hey Schwenzen’s if you’re reading). And while on our honeymoon of all places, we began to have some really stimulating and inspiring conversations with total strangers, about life, marriage, God, culture, church, Packers football. As we walked away from that week with our new friends, we began to realize that what we had just experienced was something along the lines of authentic community. And what saddened me and Anna was that it was one of the few times that we had ever experienced something so genuine and deep. Something that transcended normal modes and levels of relationship.

On top of that, I had recently had an experience with a couple of dental hygienists. When they found out what church I went to and that I was a Christian, they told me a story about a member of our church who had come in there and made them feel really uncomfortable. This member went in there and attacked them and made them feel condemned. So their conversation with me was how they were surprised that I would go to a church with people like that, and secondly, they were surprised that I was “normal”. I then proceeded to have a great conversation with them about God and how despite how some Christians and churches can come off at times, does not mean that God is all bad or can automatically be equated with Christians, who at times mess up.

As I left, I began to realize that there was no way that these two hygienists would ever come with me to my church. And on top of that, I realized that Mike and Jill, and me and Anna would never be able to have the types of conversations we had were we in a typical church setting.

So we had that aspect of things kind of stirring in us. And then we had this personal side to the story, where naturally for us, this things is really, really personal. Because we’re always serving or because of various other reasons, Anna and I very rarely have a chance to get encouraged and hang out with “normal” Christians (oxymoron I know). On top of that there is no forum that gives us the space to think and rethink about what it means to be a Christian in our current context.

Over the last few months, we had been having these same types of conversations with friends. With Nick and Leslie, we met another young couple who was wrestling and dealing with the same types of tension that we were. With Tad and Kimberly, we would sit in a Krispy Kreme parking lot, freezing in the cold, just to dream and talk. With Ashley and Kelly, we sat in front of the fireplace talking about homosexuality and how to define and embrace those who are different than us.

After all of these conversations we left feeling hopeful, encouraged, and inspired. Three emotions that Anna and I very rarely felt in our current context. So we decided to do something about it. To no longer not feel those things. But to experience them in the midst of authentic community, or at least our best attempt at it.

We wanted a place where we could be real and honest. We wanted a place where we could engage with deeper questions instead of sugar coated points. And we wanted a place where we cared more about being good, faithful, and kind than being right.

So we’re starting this thing for 2 reasons: for the people who aren’t “connected” with God like we “think” they should be and who would never step foot in most churches. And secondly, for ourselves.

So as we started thinking about how best to do this, I ran across 3 questions that a church in Michigan continually is asking itself.

Three Questions

1.) Who is Jesus among us?
- What does His “flesh among us” look like? When people think of Jesus, what pictures comes to mind?

2.) Why did He come to town?
- What is His agenda for our context, for our lives, for our money, for our time?

3.) How do we organize ourselves in response?

In response to QUESTION ONE, we realized that the “Jesus” among us, is oftentimes a highly distorted picture of the real Jesus. The church and Christians have said Jesus is condemning, judgmental, Republican, hates gays, enjoys sending people to hell, likes to say no, etc. This distorted picture leads them to see church as irrelevant or even worse. They may believe in God or are spiritual, but they just don’t see how church fits into the equation.

So to counteract those negative pictures of Jesus, we want this environment to be one that creates a “Jesus” among us that is hopeful, encouraging, loving, patient, serving, etc.

In response to QUESTION TWO, Christians usually think that Jesus came to town in order to promote politics, individualism, consumerism, a lack of justice, to “evangelize”, etc. And like a snowman that has to much dirt and straw and leaves in it to be able to be a true snowman, we now have a gospel that is getting pretty close to be completely foreign to the message of Jesus. That’s a big statement that really needs to be considered.

Anna and I have decided that this year we will have a faith that is characterized by risk and revolution. Too often we feel safe, like we’re just going through the motions. Never really do anything that is upside-down, or paradigm shifting. We feel more like we’re a part of a country club than a counter-cultural, life changing movement.

This is born out of a calling for us. Not out of pragmatics. Again, it’s highly personal. And tonight we simply wanted to get some of our closest friends together, who we think might be going through some of the same types of frustrations that we are. And we wanted to invite you to be a part of our calling.

Everything gets framed with hope. Nick’s blog alluded to this the other day. We’re not starting something for the sake of starting something. We’re creating something that better helps us translate God to the world, something that helps us better reflect. That helps us give a more accurate picture. And to find a faith that we can feel authentic with. Like we’re not selling out and becoming and condoning things we are not comfortable becoming or condoning.

So this my friends is your invitation.

Friday Night

2006-01-03T13:09:00.000-08:00

(click on images to make them bigger and half-way readable)

Hey guys. I hate to bother you again but I wanted to remind you all about this Friday night.

Anna and I are somewhat impatiently anticipating the first Phoenix Project, and we're eager to get together. We’ve been talking to a lot of people and it’s really cool to see what is stirring in all of our hearts. And to see how we’re all finding ourselves on the same page.

We really hope you can all still make it, as well as any guests, friends, neighbors, or people on the street you'd like to invite. We thought it best to send out a little "reminder" e-mail. Attached is a set of directions to our house. Its going to be a really tight fit (from what we hear) for our small house, so we’re asking that you discover (or rediscover as the case may be) some of your redneck roots and bring a camp chair or a folding chair. You can even bring a recliner if you want. We don’t care.

We’re meeting around 6:30 for dessert and then we’ll have some conversation centered around movement one: dream.

So please bring a chair and either a dessert or a drink. We’ll provide the coffee, the cramped space, and the white board (oh yeah, we’re having a white board).

Call us if you need better directions than the ones attached. Better yet, call Anna. I tend to screen calls. Anna's cell is 404.376.5068.

As It Relates to New Things

2005-12-20T06:59:00.000-08:00

I think if you asked us what the purpose of The Phoenix Project was, I hope we would respond with a two-fold answer.

1) That it is an environment where we can all come and be challenged, encouraged, and become more faithful to the way of Jesus. This is not to say that our current churches and small groups are not doing these things. However, it is to say that we all need to be a part of a community that seeks to provide answers to the questions we are asking (challenging environment). It is to say we all need to be a part of a community that inspires us, refreshes us, and leaves us better off than we were before (encouraging environment).

Again, it’s not saying our current churches and/or small groups are unable to do these things for us. However, many of us are small group leaders, or worship leaders, or volunteers. We spend so much time giving and pouring our lives into others, that we rarely have a chance in our current environments to be challenged, encouraged, and inspired to become more faithful to the way of Jesus.

2) That it is an environment where we can feel safe and comfortable bringing friends and family who have questions about God and Christianity. There is a large group of people who will never walk through the door of a church. No matter how nice the buildings are. No matter how great the music is. No matter how good the message is.

There are a growing number of people who simply do not see how the church can help them in their spiritual lives. The Phoenix Project will attempt to provide a safe space where people can “belong” to a faith community before they necessarily “believe” everything that we think they should. This is the opposite of the way most faith communities operate today, where you have to believe rightly before you belong.

So it’s a two-fold purpose. It’s for the sake of our own spiritual journey and it’s for the sake of our friends’ spiritual journey.

We are not against our local churches. We are not against the traditional types of small groups. We are not against our pastors. We are not against those who are immersed fully in church world, those who are still challenged and encouraged by their local church and small groups.

I’m pretty emphatic about that.

This is not an “us versus them” thing.

We will not be critical.

We will not be judgmental.

We will not be prideful.

We will not act like those who are not “with us” are “against us”.

And if we come to The Phoenix Project with this type of spirit, with that approach, I think we’re missing it. And missing it big.

Humility, learning, authentic community, exploring what it a new kind of Christian looks like . . . these are our goals.

We are not separating ourselves from our local churches . . . we are still active participants. We are a part of the local church. We are just creating an extension from it, another platform to challenge us, encourage us, and to help us become more faithful to the way of Jesus. And to create a context out of which we can “do life” with our friends and family who would never walk through the door of a church.

Beginnings . . .

2005-12-13T08:34:00.000-08:00

Most people don’t have a problem with God, they have a problem with Christians and the church. Gandhi even said something like that once, “I like your Christ, but I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”

That cuts. Deep down we know it’s true. Deep down we feel irrelevant. We feel like what we do is pointless. A rat race. Running around in circles, going through the motions. It’s a heavy load to carry. Kind of the opposite of when Jesus said, “My yoke (way) is easy.”

We know something is wrong, things are not as they could or should be.

The problem comes when we refuse to do anything about it. Or don’t think there are any alternatives. It’s either Republican or Democrat, left or right, conservative or liberal. And I think the way of Jesus is a way that transcends stereotypical polarizations. He takes things to another level, a higher plane. And gives us a third way. That’s the way that I began to discover about 3 years ago and continue to discover.

However, it was an extremely frustrating and disillusioning experience at first. As you transition from one paradigm to the next, there is this stage of disembedding, and in a larger sense a deconstructing of what you’ve always known. Which leaves you feeling torn, like you’ve all of a sudden become some sort of a heretic. And so you’re torn between the way that is giving you a glimmer of hope and if you stay with it, you feel like a heretic to what you’ve always believed and done and it scares the hell out of you. The other option is to give up hope, slip into the flow of the norm, and quit being true to yourself and become like everyone else but you. So there is this tension. A very real tension. And this process for me took about 2 years. It was long and painful and I felt like I was being torn in a million different directions. And I’m just now coming out on the other side of it. And as I do, I really fill like one of the children of Narnia running out into a wide open space with rolling hills, free to run and experience God in a much more real and satisfying way.

I think it took me 2 years, because I didn’t have any one to walk with me on the journey. So I was by myself. I didn’t have any forums or outlets to question, think, dream. Every time I would bring something up that I was thinking, I was quickly given the evil eye. You can only imagine what that looks like working for 2 Southern Baptist churches during this period. But God was faithful. I kept moving forward. I kept praying “Open my eyes to the reality of it all”. And I’ve come through that narrow tunnel of disembedding from the old way to becoming a part of God’s new way.

This type of transition is not unprecedented. I can’t help but think that Martin Luther probably felt the same way. And went through some of the same type of tensions, between feeling hope and life and authenticity to feeling like a heretic. In fact, its hard to believe that any great movement, any great hinge of history, didn’t go through this same type of awkward transition.

All I’m saying is that you’re not alone. It’s ok to feel what you feel. It’s ok to be frustrated with what you’re frustrated at. It’s ok to not be satisfied, to not be content, to just eek through life, in the words of my friends from Dumb and Dumber.

We’re not satisfied for a reason. We’re discontent for a reason. It’s not just because we like to cause problems. And it’s not because we want to start a revolution. But it’s because we want to get closer to God. We want to be more faithful to the way of Jesus. And if that is our starting point . . . then I think we might be in much better shape than we might think.

The Phoenix as Symbol and Icon

2005-12-06T07:57:00.000-08:00

I wrote this back on October 30 of 2002. I put it back on my personal blog back then. And I thought I would just give a little picture of where the name came from.
_________________________________________________________

The phoenix was a bird from ancient Egyptian mythology that flew so close to the sun that it was consumed by fire and fell to the ground, only to rise later, to fly again, reborn out of the ashes.

The phoenix symbolizes us on our journey with God. As time has gone on, we have flown so close to the flames of this world that we have been consumed by it so much that we have lost our ability to fly. Now as followers of Jesus, we lay in the ashes, broken, beaten, and barely breathing. A far cry from our ultimate purpose that we were created for. So now its time for us to rise up again. Time to be renewed again with a passion for our Creator and for our world. A time to be intimate with our maker and relevant in our context.

It is time for the church to rise out of the ashes and become a thriving social and spiritual capital once again. It is time for the church to quit flying so close to the flames of politics, religion, and tradition. Its time to fly again. Renewed. Reformed. Revived. Risen. Refreshed. Reprogrammed. Its time for the church to be church.

A Rough Sketch

2005-11-29T10:17:00.000-08:00

I'm not going to lie. This is personal for me. As simply and as honestly as I can say this . . . I’m really tired of doing Christianity the way it’s been done. And that may be the understatement of the year. I'm not mad. I'm not angry. I was those things at one time. I'm just tired.

I’m tired of a Christianity that focuses more on my life after death than on life as I live. I’m tired of a Christianity that is so detached from the praxis of everyday living that “right thinking” has become more important than “right living”.

I’m tired of a Christianity that has been built on the back of “us” versus “them”, “in” and “out” labels. I’m tired of a Christianity that is exclusive of those that are different and inclusive of those that are apathetic and boring.

I’m tired of a Christianity that has become so embedded with white, suburban, upper middle class, Republican agendas that there is no more room for the “other”. I’m tired of a Christianity that spends more time focused on getting the Ten Commandments on courtroom walls than dealing with the “planks in my own eyes”.

I’m tired of a Christianity that cares more about God blessing their local church and their own individual lives than God blessing those who live in third world nations who have nothing.

I’m tired of a Christianity that is no longer good news for the world, but good news for those who agree with me. I’m tired of a Christianity that is mechanistic and lifeless instead of relational and an adventure.

I’m tired of a Christianity that views the Bible as an “Idiot Guide’s to Life” complete with self-help and alliterated points void of anything that is helpful for life change. Instead of a narrative that is an invitation to enter into the story myself, become a part of the story myself.

I’m tired of a Christianity that I don’t think Jesus would be very happy with. I’m tired of being unfaithful to what I feel to be true.

And three months ago, I got tired of being tired. I got tired of being something that I wasn’t. Tired of saying stuff I didn’t mean. Tired of flying under the radar so as not to rock the boat. Tired of never getting challenged, never getting sharpened, never getting encouraged.

And here’s where this lands. Through my conversations with many of you, I have the suspicion that many of you are in the same place that I am. Hungry, eager, passionate about doing something worth remembering. Living for something worth living for.

For me . . . this frustration . . . this uneasiness inside of me was so strong that I had to act on it. I realized if I didn’t do something with it, I would be violating something, or someone.

So I’m doing something. I want to be around friends who allow me to think, who challenge me, and who encourage me. So I’m inviting anyone and everyone who wants to discover God, to live life richly and fully, to wrestle with our faith in an authentic way, to belong to a community that is marked by grace, acceptance, exploration, relevance (I could go on and on) . . . to be a part of our conversation about God, life, faith, meaning, culture. To “do” life with some people who are in the same place as you.

Ultimately, that’s all the Phoenix Project* is . . . simply a group of friends who want to be faithful to God, in the way of Jesus. A group of friends who want to explore what a "new kind of christian" can look like. What could and should be. Sort of an interactive collective.

Again, its personal. Hopefully, it can serve as some type of small group for me, some type of intentional community. I spend all my time pouring and giving to other people, that I'm in desparate need of people who can come alongside me. Necessary, in more ways than one, is a word that comes to mind.

We’re going to tentatively meet once or twice a month for dinner, conversation, and encouragement. Our first gathering is January 6th at 6:30 pm. And you’re invited.

* I’m calling it a project because I want to see if this type of community will actually inspire us in ways that we haven’t been inspired in lately. If it will actually challenge us in ways we haven’t been challenged in a while. If it will actually help us to become more faithful to our individual callings as people. I have a hunch that it will.