*better days through forgiveness?

What do you want for Christmas this year?

"Boxes wrapped in strings and empty things?" Or something more? Something bigger? Something more meaningful and deeper?

Can we have a better Christmas through the gift of "faith, and trust, and peace" as we strive to live a life where the world begins anew with the "one poor child who saved the world?"

And you asked me what I want this year
and I try to make this kind and clear
just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
'cause I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
and designer love and empty things
just a chance that maybe we'll find better days

So take these words and sing out loud
'cause everyone is forgiven now
'cause tonight's the night the world begins again

I need some place simple where we could live
and something only you can give
and that's faith and trust and peace while we're alive
and the one poor child who saved this world
and there's ten million more who probably could
if we all just stopped and said a prayer for them

So take these words and sing out loud
'cause everyone is forgiven now
'cause tonight's the night the world begins again

I wish everyone was loved tonight
and somehow stop this endless fight
just a chance that maybe we'll find better days

So take these words and sing out loud
'cause everyone is forgiven now
'cause tonight's the night the world begins again

'cause tonight's the night the world begins again

join the conspiracy

This Advent, River of Joy will be perpetuating a conspiracy of love and peace that began with a newborn child with no place to stay- embraced by his mother and laid to rest among the farm animals. Care to join us? Click here for more information about how to get involved.

*kingdom dwellers

Kingdom's have citizens.

citizen
1: an inhabitant of a city or town ; especially : one entitled to the rights and privileges of a freeman
2 a: a member of a state b: a native or naturalized person who owes allegiance to a government and is entitled to protection from it
3: a civilian as distinguished from a specialized servant of the state

Click here to see who these citizens are and notice that they are ALWAYS refered to in the plural and NEVER in the singular.

They are known in their nature as a community, a communion of saints, a rag tag army of forgiven, enabled, and energized people.

*kingdom talk

What does this kingdom of God that Jesus talks about look like?

Take a peek in scripture here.

playgrounds and the kingdom of God

“The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he's always doing both.”

James Michener

And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.

Mark 10:13-14



Yesterday the faith community I lead, River of Joy Lutheran Church, gathered for a community meal and a service project. We were putting together care packages to carry in our gloveboxes in order to be prepared for the next time we see someone homeless on a street corner. Click here for more on this new missional initiative.

Anyway, before we began the service project a bunch of the kids (ages 2-7) were outside playing as the adults were setting up inside. One of the mom’s who was outside supervising came in and excitedly told us that some of the children were outside on the playground car giving care packages to one another; role playing the sharing of the care packages before we had even constructed them or officially “told” them about the project. Apparently, the tagging along as the gloves, hats, socks, and granola bars were purchased and the conversations around these purchases had sunk into their precious beings before the care packages were even constructed.

Now you might think this is a cute story, and it is. But it is more than cute. Because how children play is deeply rooted and highly significant in their development. “Play is freely chosen, intrinsically motivated and personally directed. Playing has been long recognized as a critical aspect of Child development.” I am no childhood development expert, but it would seem to me that to have our children engaging in play where “human behavior is structured by very different rules” sounds a lot like living in the kingdom of God, where the rule of love expressed by Christ is markedly different than the governing rule of our world.

So let’s play!!! Let's play as communities of faith that are called to live by different rules in this world. Let's play, as children of God who have been marked by the cross and set free for goodness, life, and light. May Christ’s spirit continue to inspire us and lead us as we create environments for our children to live out a life of playful, world changing creativity.

*which link are we called to be?

The one that is closed and bound. Tempered together and unable to break free?




Or the one that is easily clicked open by Christ and reconnected to others for the sake of building up and supporting one another in the traversing of life?

Check out the end of this post (sept 6) which was sent to me today. It is a great story of the spirit of Christ clicking people together for the sake of building up and encouragement.


"So they went out of the prison and visited Lydia. And when they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them and departed."

Acts 16:40

*why do we gather?

Paul writes to his friends in Corinth, “What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.”

Can it be that simple? We come together to build each other up. In Christ. With Christ. And through Christ?

Each bringing his/her unique life story and giftedness?

provisions- God's work. Our hands.

As part of our fall worship series, God’s work. Our hands., we are journeying together with provisions; reading some of the same books, listening to some of the same music, and watching some of the same movies.





Here are the things we are traveling with this fall:

The Big Sort- examines the ‘self sorting’ of American culture and the negative impact that this practice has in a more and more diverse world.

Freedom of a Christian- is Martin Luther’s examination of our paradoxical life as those who are completely free through Christ while at the same time bound to serve others.

A Generous Orthodoxy- challenges us to a life that is Christ-centered in practice, looking beyond us/them and embracing the mystery of we.

Jim and Casper Go to Church- is a a collection of conversations between a church consultant and an atheist as they visit churches and speak with Christians.

Everything is Spiritual- is a filmed teaching of Rob Bell, a pastor who is tremendously gifted at raising awareness of the nature of things spiritual.

Pleasantville- is a film that captures the rub of modern life (and world view) with postmodern life (and worldview).

Ben Harper- is the musical artist we are listening to with a recommendation of the CD Diamonds on the Inside. Take a listen to our journey theme song above.

Grab a book or movie at worship. Give it a chance and see what you think. Don’t like it, bring it back and try another.

dancin' shoes

One of the images that really resonates with me these days is the notion of our relationship with God being like a dance. Perhaps like the first dance of a newly married couple or the dance of bride with her father, or the joyful dance of a people in worship, or a tribal dance handed down, preserved, and stylized from generation to generation.

Dancing with God to the rhythms of life. Not alone, but together. Click the photos below to see God dancing!

A few months ago, ROJ joined a family dancing with God and on their way to India. The Borde’s (Jon, Swati, and Neil) quickly became friends, co-missionaries, and dance partners. Jon and Jodie Skyberg hosted a concert in their home to lift them up and we sent them on their way with our blessing and prayers and some money to purchase shoes for kids in our global neighborhood. The shoes worn by children in India pictured above are the fruit of a concert on a backyard patio in Lakeville! Dancin' shoes indeed!

I posted about our story with the Bordes a couple of times and one of the posts was reworked into an article for a congregational newsletter and a synod publication (July).

Our transglobal dance with Jon, Swati, and Neil continues as we support them in prayer and presence from halfway around the world. Our God is an amazing dance partner who meets us and invites us to dance: in a park in Prior Lake, around a swimming pool, at picnics in north Mpls, in the creating of art and community, with children’s hands in a garden, and in the lives of children living in orphanages in India.

Big arms. A gentle lead. Graceful steps.

Feel the rhythm.

Follow the lead.

Dance-

Your

Way

Home.

one concert- 40,000 children fed

Click me.

all are welcome- Agape

Some of the ROJ community headed to north Mpls last night and enjoyed a community picnic hosted by Redeemer Lutheran Church. It was amazing to see this faith coummunity open its backyard and welcome the larger community into a time of music, play, food, and laughter.

This video is of Agape, a Christian hip hop artist who helped develop JUMP worship, a hip hop service hosted by Redeemer. Enjoy, and remember...ALL ARE WELCOME.

hunger concert on august 15th

"Music has long been a vessel of change and hope. Music speaks a language of its own and has brought cultures together for thousands of years...."

“We are not going to bring local and global hunger to a screeching halt by gathering together, inviting our friends and neighbors and hosting a concert,” said Steve Bonesho, a pastor at River of Joy Lutheran Church. “But perhaps, just maybe, as we come together we can have a lasting impact on one person’s life by providing food for a global or local neighbor. We can have an impact by being a friend, by sharing some hope and by welcoming a stranger...”

"Hunger isn’t about just easing the comfort of a grumbling tummy, Heatherlyn said. It’s giving a student the strength to study and a parent the confidence to have a good job interview. It’s giving parents a peace of mind when things aren’t going well to know others around them care, she said."

Click here to read the article from the Prior Lake American about the upcoming hunger concert.

romans 3:21

with the Law and the Prophets testifying to it-


the clarity of God’s goodness and love

glistening in living water

flowing from a savior

hanging on a cross

and meeting us

in baptism

romans 3:21

the righteousness of God has been made clear...


with spittled mud

and a touch (or two)

for us

and

through us

for

the

world

romans 3:21

but now, apart from the law…


to believe it is to die

to live it- a saint

to give it voice- an apostle

to move in it- daring to be the new creation God wills

witnessed by the prophets

sin lies dead

and so do I

Where the Hell is Matt?

I posted this video on the worship leader’s blog the other day for them to see and then read in the Minneapolis paper this morning that the singer is from Northeast. Pretty cool video that speaks volumes of hope and joy without words.

I will let the video speak for itself but wonder if this is not what the writer of Revelation has in mind when he writes that into the kingdom will be brought the glory of all the nations. Perhaps the title should not be “Where the Hell is Matt,” but rather, ‘Where in the Kingdom is Matt?”

Enjoy!

sunshine, water balloons, and black bean lasagna

Yesterday afternoon, Micah, Ben, Heatherlyn and I were sitting outside at Caribou planning the Community Hunger Concert for August 15th. Let me rephrase that, Yesterday afternoon, I had the opportunity to warm my soul beside the fire of three creative and talented people as they began to give shape and form to what should be a great evening. We were sitting in the sun until a table with an umbrella next to us became available and we decided to grab that table instead. As we did, a man sitting at another shaded table got up and took the sunny table we were leaving saying that the sunny seat looked really good to him. In the warmth of the sun and the cool of the shade, we all laughed about the musical chairs we were playing.

The sun seeking man walked by a couple of times as we were meeting, off to grab a cooler and return to the warming rays. As he shuffled by us, he smiled warmly at the shade sitting crew. Our meeting went great, with the type of energy you garner when people are engaged in things they are passionate about and expressing themselves freely and openly. (To be honest, it felt a lot like Summer Grace for those of you who were there). The conversation stayed mostly on a musical track, with an occasional diversion to the topics of swearing, trips to Africa, living the gospel, and photography (check out the pics Jason took of HL and Ben Sunday). Our conversation turned to caring for people in (and as) community, in a broken world where relationships and lives suffer. I shared my plans to meet some folks at Let’s Dish later that evening for an impromptu mission to prepare meals for a family that was off to spend their 4th of July weekend surrounding their father with love and care as he entered into his last weeks of hospice care.

As our meeting wrapped up, we said our goodbyes and headed our own ways to our next appointments. I was the last to leave the table and the sun soaking man struck up a conversation as I walked by. (As often happens, the next appointment for me was not the one I had on my calendar.) The neighbor on the patio said that the seat in the sun looked pretty good to him as he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer and had six to nine months to live. Colon, kidneys, bone. My heart dropped as I gazed into his eyes and asked how he was doing with that news. He said with a wry smile that he was still putting sunscreen on and hadn’t given up…but the sunshine sure felt good.

Another woman, who up to this point had been a silent member of the patio community, got up from her chair and walked over and joined us in the conversation. She asked the man if it would be okay if she prayed for the man. She offered him hope in God’s ability to work miracles and he gladly received her words. I told him that he could be sure that there would be a whole community of people lifting him up in prayer. (God’s personally delivered blue prayer cards are powerful, so please add this man to the prayers you lift before God). As the conversation between three strangers closed, I walked away in awe of God’s power to compel us to act in order that those whom he loves would be comforted and know that they are not alone in their struggles.

A few hours later, a handful of compelled people gathered at Let’s Dish to be hands and feet. We prepared meals, laughed, and lived a deeper life as we supported a friend in Christ and a family who needed some sunshine as death looms and lurks in their future. I thought about how food is such a vital part of life together and the tremendous blessing it is to share food and companionship around the preparing, serving, and eating of food. I thought about how many people would be sharing meals this holiday weekend, family and friends gathering at cabins, on decks, at campgrounds, in homes. And then I considered all the stories about Jesus eating and serving food and drink in the gospels…Confusing those who follow him with talk of eating his body…Giving life to those he feeds…A new life…Beyond the limitations we see at work in our lives…A new life…That even death cannot conquer!

When we finished preparing the food we walked across the parking lot to Target. Our hope was to add some items to the over sized cooler to liven the celebration of life that this ordinary yet holy cooler was destined to become a part of.

Water balloons, super soakers, freezies. Chocolate. Gifts to enjoy the sunshine.

Gifts, to enjoy the Son.

A Son who makes a promise to all of us in John chapter 10:

“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”

Sunshine.

For all of us.

Update From the Borde's

Jon, Swati, and Neil are settling in to their new life in India. We hope to be able to have a live video feed at worship sometime in the near future so they can share for themselves what God's mission looks like in their new corner of the world. Here is an update I received this week:

Hi folks

It has almost been a month since we have arrived in Pune. We are beginning to adjust to living in the “State Fair” environment. We have found a rental apartment and will be moving into our new home on July 1st. We have been staying with different relatives here. Another praise report is that our house in Minnesota rented. We had renters move in on the 15th of June. God is good and we praise him for his faithfulness.

Neil started school on the 16th of June as we had to get some formalities completed. Keep him in prayer as this is a huge adjustment for him. He is studying grade 4 curriculum in grade 2 here. Other than school he has made many new friends here and cricket is quickly becoming his favorite sport. Rickshaw rides are also pretty popular with him.

Swati and I are doing well and even though it has been busy settling in we have spent time praying and soaking in his presence as we go forth into ministry here. We have done a couple of small meetings with small groups of people in the slums where the micro enterprise groups are as well as with the children in the Pune orphanage. We get to be part of the bible school reopening this Monday and that will be fun. We will be spending 3 days at the bible school and girls orphanage. The Lord is bringing many new friends into our lives here and also opening a lot of doors for ministry here.

We will have internet access once we move into our new home as well as a home phone. We will be available to skype once we move as we do not have internet access where we are staying. We will also send you pictures in the next update as we do not have our cameras with us currently.

Thank you for your prayers, support and partnership as we do his work in India.

We do pray for all of you and miss you all.

May he continue to do exceedingly abundantly more than any of you can imagine in all aspects of your lives.

Be blessed


Your family from the other side of the world

Jon, Swati and Neil



Prayer Requests

1)Neil’s adjustment to school in India
2)We are looking for some local volunteers and workers to come alongside us for kingdom business (micro enterprise) and orphan care. Pray that God would lead the right people our way.
3)The bible school reopening
4)Our move into our new rental home

Summer Grace. Pictures

We are gathering ROJ kids and their friends from the larger community into a creative adventure for kids we are calling Summer Grace. It is an opportunity for kids of all ages to explore art, music, faith and story as a community that is created to partner in God's ongoing creation. Here are some pics from the first day.

Click here to visit the Summer Grace. website.

new website

As we have been heading into this season for the stranger, we have been working on developing a new website. Click here and check out the new site mock up. If you visit the new site, please come back and leave a comment on what you think or email me your thoughts. This will help us to determine where we need to tune the site.