Raising Support.

Here comes the classic blog apology: I'm sorry I haven't been keeping up with this as often as I'd like to... It's true though! Once a few things happen, it becomes oppressive to consider the time it would take to input our experience into blog form. I think I need to be a snippeteer: short but sweet blogs a few times a week. How much more satisfying for the reader as well!

Here are three snippets you need to know:

Raising Support:

This has been a very personal experience for me, and I am glad for it. Part of being me has included a misconception of who I am and what people think of me. This may sound funny, but I get why people like me. I make funny jokes, I'm easy to talk to, I'll invite you to fun things, who knows, you may even find yourself introduced to your new favorite musician through me. But, if you take away what I do, you take away my felt sense of value. I feel like I've earned your friendship by being witty and fun to be around, and in that very thing I've distanced my value from my humanity, who I am. I'm a man who gets sad, needs a break, and longs for God in private. This man doesn't offer anything worthwhile, and so he must not be worthwhile. That's the feeling I find myself up against.

So, raising support has caused me to recognize this again and in new ways. Asking people to value my passions and desires for God and this community is asking them to find value in who I am rather than what I do. So it is scary, because I am asking people to value that thing in me that I find hard to value.

The truth I recognize about God is that He intimately values that piece of us more than anything else. It is in our desires, the ones we are proud of and the ones we wish to ignore, that God is truly present with us, calling us forward, calling us beloved. If it takes brushing up against my inability to get this in order to finally get it: I'm in. I'm glad in that sense for what raising support has been.

We've raised in the neighborhood of 350 dollars of committed, monthly support - with probably an additional 50 dollars a month in one time gifts. Thank you. If you've considered supporting, or would like to know more, give me a call: (831) 239-5145. This support is relational. It is about me telling you how my heart beats, and asking you if yours beats similarly. There is a piece of the truth I'm experiencing, God uses people to show us what is truly valuable: not what we do (although that is important), but who we are.


The Banyan Tree Family Tour:

This weekend, a group of musicians from Vintage Faith Church in Santa Cruz, CA rolled in to Portland and did a concert at our church. The music was great, but what truly spoke to those who came was the love they have for each other, and for what I am doing here in Portland. It was a real blessing to have a group of guys show how they care about the mission we as Christians are on all around the world. It was also great to stay up late catching up and enjoying the city, although my sleep schedule is now way off course.

J. R. Woodward and Ecclesia:

Today the staff sat down and spoke with J. R. for early four hours, sharing some of the joys and struggles of doing ministry in our contexts. He pastors a church called Kairos in West Hollywood that has flourished over the last few years: I think he mentioned that the average attendance is around 1000! For being an example of successful church planting, he was very down to earth and excited about the ministry we are about in the city of Portland.

It was great to talk about some forward thinking for our church. How can we become a church of people who engage God, community, and the world through spiritual practices? How can we become a church of people who speak into each other's lives? How can we be a church of people that can safely and positively confess to each other and hear their value? These thoughts are big, but the heart in all of it is seeing the people around us that we love experiencing live in the way of Jesus more fully. I love it, and find it hard to imagine doing anything else.