Infuse

Podcast: The Inconvenient Kingdom

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 02:40:00 +0000

The Inconvenient Kingdom

Love Fox Valley

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 20:55:00 +0000

I haven’t experienced much church unity in my life. I don’t necessarily mean within a church, though that’s been bad at times too, but unity between local churches. The unity of the entire body of Christ in a given city or region. There are three main ways I’ve experienced the relationship between local churches:

Uninterested: When the most you know about the church on the other corner is that the sign out front says, “Ch_ _ch, what’s missing?”
Inferior: Whether it’s because of doctrine, size, building, or softball team, you know you’re better than they are. The best example of this I’ve heard is when one church asked the church across the field to play a softball game and they were asked for their docrinal statement. The other church looked at the statement and then decilined to play. (Both churches from Evangelical denominations!)
Competition: I have sat around with people from MY church bemoaining the gains of other local churches. Talking about how they’re taking “our” people. No one likes to admit this one, most of the time people won’t, but it’s real.

It’s sad really. Jesus prayed that all those who followed him would be one in the way he was one with the Father. Paul yelled at the Corinthians on paper for creating distinctions between themselves rather than focusing on their unity in Christ. We are supposed to be unified with all those who are a part of the body of Christ.

In the last year and a half I’ve had the opportunity to see what this unity is supposed to look like. It’s come in the form of a person and an organization. The person is Randy Schoof, pastor of the Warehouse Church here in Aurora. You can’t talk to Randy for more than two minutes without hearing about the importance of unity, and he devotes himself to helping it happen. (More on that in a second, because that’s the organization.) Since we moved to Aurora Randy has been one of our greatest supporters. If y0u are about following Jesus and helping others do the same then he is with you. The first time I met him he offered to let us meet in their building, told me to let him know if there was anything we needed, and introduced me to a bunch of people from other churches. He is about Christ’s Church, all of it.

Which brings me to Love Fox Valley. This is the culmination of the efforts of a number of people, including Randy, to bring unity and action to the Aurora and Fox River Valley area by the church, the whole church. It is more of a network than an organization. The whole church in the area functioning together to show and proclaim the love of Jesus Christ. We had a meeting for it last week and there were at least 30 churches and ministries represented there, maybe more. There aren’t many places where this is happening, and I’m thankful I get to be a part of it.

WCLS: Efrem Smith

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 01:42:00 +0000

Disparity exists based on race, class, and place.
Find dwelling places where the hurting people are.
The high pressure of what God wants to do is hitting the low pressure of what we'd rather do and creating racial and socio-economic storms.
There's no institution that can make the case "we only cater to people who are like each other" except the church. (And that's not okay!)
The church should lead in being socially innovative.

And a great quote: "I'm tired of grown men havin' Lil' in front of their name. Lil' Wayne. Lil' Weezy. You grown men!"

WCLS: John Burke

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 01:38:00 +0000

Making and maintaining good soil is essential if people are to grow.
1 Cor. 3:6-9 God causes the growth, we're responsible for the soil.
Are you willing to get your hands dirty by meeting people where they are?

Messy Leadership

Grace-giving Acceptance. If you find a Rembrandt covered in mud you wouldn't throw it away or even try to wipe it off. You'd take it to an expert who could clean it and make it good as new. We need to view people through God's eyes, not our own.
Authentic Confessing Community. Leaders have to lead in being authentic. We have to actually care about each other.
Stay Connected to Christ. "Apart from me you can do nothing." Stay connected, fruit happens.

WCLS: Gary Haugen

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 17:59:00 +0000

What is leadership that matters to God? It is leading in issues that matter to God. In other words, are Jesus and I interested in the same things?

2 Passions of God

The World (Jn. 3:16) How can hurting people believe God is good? The Church is the plan to make people believe that God is good.
Justice Biblical injustice is about the abuse of power to take from them the good things God has for them (i.e. life, liberty, dignity).

Leadership matters most when the cause seems hopeless, scary, and difficult.

Leadership when it seems hopeless.

Refocus on where hope comes from.
If God is passionate about getting it done than he is responsible for getting it done.

Leadership when it seems scary.

Jesus did not come to make us safe, he came to make us brave.
Too many of us are on the journey with Jesus but we're missing the adventure. We won't experience God there.

4 Leadership Choices

Choosing not to be safe.
Choosing deep spiritual health. (Not needed when it's safe and easy.)
Choose to pursue excellence.
Choose to seize the joy. (It should make us laugh that God uses people like us!)

WCLS (Willow Creek Leadership Summit): Bill Hybles

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 15:49:00 +0000

Much of the task of leadership is making decisions.
Part of what leaders must do is make tough decisions--it is not for the faint of heart.

4 Common decision making questions for Christian Leaders
1. Does the Bible speak to it?
2. What would smart advisors say?
3. What does PGE teach you? (Past Pain, Past Gains, Experiences)
4. Is the Holy Spirit prompting me?

Make trial decisions and see if they lead to peace or turmoil within.
If a decision turns out well, thank everyone who played a part in it. If it turns out poorly, blame only yourself.

Leadership Axioms: Short sayings that guide decision making and come from a synthesis of learning from the four questions above.

Some Leadership Axioms

The best way to get rid of an enemy is to turn him into a friend. (Abraham Lincoln)
Create movement for movement's sake.
Promote a clash of ideas. (Colin Powell)
Vision leaks. (Hybles)
Get the right people around the table. (Hybles)
Facts are your friends. (Hybles)
When something feels funky, engage. (Hybles)

Willow Creek Leadership Summit

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:35:00 +0000

Thanks to a new friend, Jon Peacock (pastor of Axis, the 20-something ministry of Willow), I'm at the Willow Creek Leadership Summit the next two days. I'll be posting some notes throughout these two days, much like I did when I went to Exponential. I'd love to hear any thoughts you have!

Infuse In Focus

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 13:02:00 +0000

Beginning this Sunday at 5:00 we'll be doing an in-depth three-week look at Infuse. It will include some discussion about what the terms "organic" and "missional" mean in relation to church, a look at discipleship and what it really means to follow Jesus, and some specifics about the vision and life of Infuse. Our hope is that it will serve as a solid orientation for those who are joining with Infuse and a clear picture for those who are just interested in what we're doing. I'm excited about it because it has shown me clearly how far we've come in a year. Our focus and ability to explain what we're about are far greater now than they were then.

It's an open invitation, so if you or someone you know wants to come just email us and we'll get you directions.

Welcome Denver-ites!

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:28:00 +0000

This week Ty, Meagan, and Katrina arrived from Denver. And last night we had them with us on a Sunday night for the first time. (We also had Asa with us who's visiting from KY which was great!) It was an amazing feeling to have them sitting there as tangible evidence of so many prayers answered. We have been praying for them and their potential move for about 8 months now. In the process there have been obstacles, doubts, excitement, planning--but in the end God brought them here. It was an emotional moment realizing how amazing their move here really is.

As you think of it, pray for them this week. They need to find jobs and places to live. They have left family and friends, and over the next few weeks that will really hit them. Pray that God gives them continued peace about coming here and that they're able to settle in quickly. Praise God!

This Week in Aurora

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 22:56:00 +0000

Downtown development
More new condos are being rehabed in a historic building downtown and will be complete with a Potbelly, my favorite sandwich shop, and a wine shop.

Riveredge Park
This project is somewhat controversial here, but the economic impact and beautification of the riverfront has huge potential. It's something many of us are following, as it will mean more people downtown and new ways to connect with people. It'll be a great "third space." Now the city is looking for some grant money to help make the dream more of a reality.

See the sketches here.

Fermilab
Though in Batavia, it sits on the border of Aurora. Fermilab, a Department of Energy particle accelerator with lots of smart physicists, lost funding recently and has been in danger of forced layoffs and cutbacks. The good news is that those jobs were just saved by a supplemental appropriations bill last week.

Crime in Aurora
For years Aurora has had a bad stereotype for being unsafe and crime-filled. Aurora police recently announced some good news that crime is again down, and no murders were committed in the 1st half of 2008.

Podcast: Marriage in the Upside Down Kingdom

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:17:00 +0000

What should Christian marriage be like?

Get the podcast.

Missional Mish-mash

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:09:00 +0000

Recently there has been a lot of great conversation going on about the word "missional." It is a very necessary conversation as this word continues to be watered down to the point it's like my iced tea yesterday after sitting in the sun for two hours. In our culture there are many buzzwords that are birthed with a specific meaning that are then either highjacked or broadened to the point they mean nothing and then they pass away. I credit Alan Hirsch, one of the people who has popularized this term, with realizing that this was happening to the word "missional" and trying to do something about it.

Read Alan's post on this here.

From my perspective (which is the only perspective I have) one of the biggest reasons missional has become marginalized is that it is understood as a church thing rather than a people of God thing. A church is not missional because it has an outreach program--even if it's an extensive outreach program. It seems so many churches now want to highlight the ways they're reaching out to the community and then call themselves missional. Now those programs may contribute to the mission of Christ in that church, but unless the people of God in that church have apprehended a missional mind, heart, and way of living that is exhibited throughout their life (not just when they go to volunteer at the outreach event) then the church is not missional.

Somehow we have arrived at a place in Western Christianity where discipleship is outsourced to the staff and programs of a church rather than it being a part of every Christ-follower's life. All a person has to do is show up on Sunday morning and then participate in some of what the church has going on and BAM that's discipleship. But it's not. That can be a helpful part of discipleship, but being conformed to the image of Christ is not a program or something a pastor can force on you, you have to open yourself and allow Jesus to transform you. In this transformation we will become missional because we will apprehend the heart of God for the world and will seek to join him in that mission in every moment of life. As that happens churches will be missional because the people are missional.

Here are a couple other posts you should check out on this issue.
Ryan Taylor on missional and discipleship
Cory Whitehead on Alan Hirsch

We Chose Our Adventure

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:44:00 +0000

Last night we were driving home from a trip to the local Target (we needed new water bottles since we recently pitched all the cancer causing #7 bottles) and I had a strange realization. I don't really know where it came from, but I think it is a good summary of what our life is like now.

"Michelle," I bellowed (I didn't really bellow, but that's a much cooler word than said), "I was just thinking that if we had moved here so I could take a job in a church, we probably wouldn't have any of the friends we have now. We'd be spending all our time with church people and church programs. I'm sure we'd have some friends, but they'd all be different."

If we had moved here and right away gone into a church, especially if I was a pastor there, I wouldn't be at Starbucks every morning (unless it was to meet with someone from church), Michelle wouldn't have started a playgroup (she'd have stuff for moms with church people), I wouldn't spend any evenings in local bars, we wouldn't be having cookouts for people in our neighborhood, and the list goes on. In many ways it's been very hard to find friends without going into a church, that's how we've always done it, but we're both really enjoying the relationships that are growing right now. We look forward to more forming from our neighborhood, coffee shops, bars, playgroups, and many other places in the coming months.

Reclaiming the Word "Missional"

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 21:38:00 +0000

I had the opportunity to meet Alan Hirsch a couple weeks ago, which was a great honor and, of course, included captivating, thoughtful discussion.

As part of his stop at CTI, he did an interview with Leadership journal and Out of Ur. You can find the audio here.

The short clip focuses on what "missional" really means (because everyone seems to be using the word these days), and I've included a few of my notes here:

A missionary stance toward the culture
Treat neighbors as a cross-cultural environment
Pretend you're in Papua New Guinea and have to learn all about a new culture
There are hundreds of subcultures around us (different music tastes, hobbies, dress code, political thinking, etc)

What does an attractional church do if it realizes they need to shift their posture to a more missional mindset?:

Win the battle of the imagination
Dethrone Constantine (that the Church exists beyond the institution)
Be patient because it's such a huge shift
Everyone has to take an active role and realize they're more than consumers
Know that people will be upset by this shift

Listen to the short audio clip for more context.

This Week in Aurora

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 17:41:00 +0000

Downtown Alive
This week one of my favorite things in Aurora started up for the summer: Downtown Alive. It's a great community gathering every Friday night, with live music, lots of food, and running into alot of people. I'm always excited to go a few times, and take new people with me.

Free Citywide Wifi
For the last couple years, Aurora has been working to add free wifi throughout the city, but has run into big problems with the installation and the company that was providing it. Unfortunately this week they finally pulled the plug on the project.

Waubonsee Community College
If you've been to downtown Aurora, you'll notice a huge crater on an entire city block. Over the next couple years, the local community college is going to be building a new downtown campus, which was just approved by the city board this week.

Operation Helping Hands
Yesterday, a local church, Ginger Creek Community Church, organized the annual Operation Helping Hands. Several local churches got together for a day of service. Over 400 volunteers landscaped, painted, and did other projects for the people of Aurora.

Frustrating!

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 15:53:00 +0000

Throughout our process of starting Infuse we've looked for both local churches and church networks with whom we can partner. We're thankful for the few that we've found and our affiliation with them. But it is amazing how difficult it is to find any who are willing to experiment with something like Infuse!

In almost every case church planting organizations require a building to be bought or rented within a couple years, a large number of "members" to be gathered, a worship team, certain programs to be established, etc. It's not that I'm opposed to measurement or accountability, but with a missionary venture like Infuse these measurements just don't fit! In my interaction with others pursuing missional/organic church planting this is one of the biggest frustrations. We are often unable to partner with the existing church because they set up rules or procedures that just don't fit with what we're doing. This makes me all the more thankful for those who are flexible enough to work with us!

Podcast: The Upside Down Kingdom

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 19:05:00 +0000

What does it mean to be a part of the kingdom of God?

Get the podcast.

A Great Tuesday

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Thu, 22 May 2008 18:49:00 +0000

On Tuesday Cory hosted the first neighborhood cookout in his neck of the woods. It started at 6:00, and as he, Michelle, our kids, Phil (a friend of ours) and I sat in the driveway I think we were all thinking we might be the only ones there. That was going to mean about 6 hamburgers and a bag of chips each. It was a chilly day and the clouds looked menacing, so we weren't too optimistic (I appreciate the reminder about having faith in God that's being concocted in your head right now, but we were reminding each other of God's power to answer prayer, so no need to contact us for that one).

About ten minutes after six a couple four houses down from Cory's came over. About twenty minutes later there were fifteen people in the driveway! We got to connect with a number of his neighbors and we are praying that this will be the start of some great relationships.

That same night I headed out early from Cory's cookout with the kids (Michelle was at a movie with a mom she's met through her playgroup) to a going away cookout for one of the workers I know at Starbuck's. We only got to stay for about twenty minutes, since we needed to avoid Ayla turning into a pumpkin at her bedtime, but it was great to see so many of the workers I know in a different context. I'm excited about the possibility of having them over in the near future.

So God really answered our prayers on Tuesday and we're excited about what he'll do with these reltionships!

From Steve

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Mon, 12 May 2008 19:22:00 +0000

This is the latest message from Steve, Sarah Lowrey's brother. It's a pretty powerful message. Please keep him and his whole family in your prayers.

Unfortunately, this is the question I have been asking myself as of late. I'm 32 years old, my birthday is coming up very shortly and this question of quality vs quantity of life looms over head.

Last Saturday, I took part in an amazing and powerful thing. One of the ministers in the area organized a "laying on of hands" by elders of the Christian church from all over Chicagoland. I walked into Camp LRCA (where it was held) and was blown away as to how many men where there. Men I had never met or knew, gave up their Saturday morning to come and pray over my wife and I. Many of the other ministers from the area were there as well, but by-and-large, this was an elder driven thing. I will never be able to truly express how much this meant to me. I am still completely humbled and grateful for being a part of this.

Quality vs Quantity: The elders laying on of hands, their prayers and petitions, asking God to grant me more quantity of life.The next step we were planning was to be involved with a Clinical Trial up at University of Chicago. Again, problems arose. My body is in overdrive with this cancer right now. For their studies, they were not able to administer this new drug to me until I have been off chemo for 28 days. That puts my start date at May 20th. Problem is, things have rapidly progressed downward in my body and we can no longer wait until May 20th. We are stepping away from the Clinical Trial because we need something now!!! My Dr has now found cancer in my lungs. My body is getting weaker and weaker. My Dr will be administering different doses of chemo in different forms trying to get every lat bit of quantity for Ol' Steve that he can.

It would be great if I could share some good news in these mailings, so I'm going to do so now.

My church (Impact Christian Church) is everything I have ever longed and dreamed of in a church. I love the people that go there and they truly love me. Impact has been such a huge support for me to lean on during this fight with cancer. Impact brought together so many people that are family today, but never knew each other before. Impact brought together one of my best friend's, Dan and his future wife Jen. I cannot, nor will ever, say enough how much this church has meant to me.

My family continues to lift me up. All those crazy trips back and forth to Univ. of Chic. with dad driving, making sure I'm comfortable, waiting, waiting, waiting. I could go on and on about the deeds of my mom and dad during this time, but they truly serve as Godly parents of a sick child. Candy's work has been amazing with letting her take off whenever she needs to (it has been such a help to have a nurse for a wife throughout this whole process). Jada continues to do good in school, but is starting to go through a rough patch. She sees what is going on and is trying her best to adjust to it all. Sometimes I just sit and cry because as much as this is a huge burden and weight upon me, it is and will be even more for Jada to bear.

So, Quality vs Quantity: Anyone that's ever known me has known that I live life to the hilt. When I decide to do something, I go barreling forward and figure out the details later. I looked at my wife the other day and said, "I don't think it would be fair if I only get 12 years with you, but what an amazing 12 years they have been." Have I done bad things I regret? Sure. Absolutely. But the good things I have done with my life, my family, my church, my friends, in service to my God really start to stack up those "Quality chips." This is not a letter of me giving up, in fact, I plan on fighting for tomorrow everyday of my life. This is just me letting you know, God has filled this 32 year old punk to the brim with an amazing life.

Keep up the prayers.
Love Steve

This Week in Aurora

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 04 May 2008 17:33:00 +0000

Regularly we will try to update you on some of the things (stories, events, development, etc) happening around Aurora in the previous couple weeks.

Here's the first installment:

The 4th public high school in Aurora will being construction in the next few months, but we're not sure where yet. There's some controversy over the location and it's going to mediation and maybe court.
Aurora's annual Cinco de Mayo festival is being held downtown this weekend.
Mayor Tom Weisner gave his State of the City address this week, focusing more on progress made with crime and downtown development than any announcements of any new projects.
The Beacon News featured a story on Hesed House (the homeless shelter and food pantry that Infuse donated food to this week)
A local church, Warehouse Church, held their 8th annual Motorcycle Sunday, which brought out hundreds of bikers to Phillips Park.
Last weekend was another large anti-abortion protest at the new Planned Parenthood on the city's far east side.

Food Drive--Take Two

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Thu, 01 May 2008 13:35:00 +0000

Last night we carried out part two of our meticulous two-part plan to gather food for Hesed House. Last weekend Michelle and I went around to about 20 of our neighbors' houses to invite them to a cookout and ask them to bring some non-perishable food stuff. I got home from work and with Michelle, Cory, and Megan got out the lawn chairs, some blankets, and wheeled the grill around to the front of the house. At 6:30 I started cooking, wondering if I'd be cooking for anyone but the six of us (4 plus Isaiah and Ayla). It was a nice night, but still kind of chilly, and I know meeting new people can be intimidating, especially when there's a kid with muscles like Isaiah is out front--so I didn't know if anyone would come.

I needed not fear (that's a weird sentence, but I'm leaving it). We ended up having people from six of the neighboring houses stop by, and most of them stayed to talk and consume some cooked meat. Everyone who came was very generous with their donations for Hesed House.

There were a number of highlights from the night.

A couple long-time neighborhood families (15 and 19 years) saying this was the first time something like this had happened in the neighborhood. They were so excited to be there and were talking about getting to know each other better over the summer.
Our neighbor down the street offering his 4 month old son as a "perishable good" for the food drive. (Well, I thought it was funny.)
Two of the people who were there expressed interest in hosting something for the neighborhood.
We took a huge step toward knowing our neighbors.

This morning Cory and I took the food to Hesed House (it took the use of both of our cars!). We all are praising God that the food drive went so well and that in this one step we have made some initial connections with our neighbors. God is good!

Food Drive--Take 1

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:08:00 +0000

Last night Michelle, Isaiah, Ayla, and I joined Cory to collect food in his neighborhood for the food drive. Most of the people who he asked to participate did and we got to meet a number of his neighbors. It was actually a lot of fun! Tonight we have the cookout at our house, so hopefully we'll know more people and have more food to donate. Plus, we've covenanted together to remember to take some pictures!

Exponential: Quotable!

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:10:00 +0000

Here are my favorite quotations from the week.

"Christianity started as a Jewish movement, it will end as a Muslim movement." Bob Roberts
"We use the gospels to tame our children into well-adjusted middle-class individuals. But these are revolutionary texts!" Alan Hirsch
"In the spark is the pontential of flame. In the flame is the potential of the conflagration that overtakes the forest." Alan Hirsch
"The barn has been spruced up for the last 30 years and the wheat is still not harvesting itself." Ed Stetzer
"Too many church planters plant a church in their head, not their community." Ed Stetzer
"Most churches choose their traditions over their children/communities." Ed Stetzer
"Jesus never told us to plant a church, he said to make disciples." Neil Cole
"You've learned how to lead from business leaders and you lead businesses!" Neil Cole
"See the lost as the leaders of the future." Neil Cole
"The reason God uses me is because I volunteered." Rick Warren

Exponential: Rick Warren

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:05:00 +0000

Growing a Reproducing Church
Rick Warren

How to grow a reproducing church:

Keep growing personally.
Take care of your family.
Develop a kingdom mindset.
Focus on building people, not the church.

He wants this on his tombstone, "He served God's purpose in his generation and then he died."

Let all the church planters in an incredible prayer of commitment and then prayed for God's blessing on everyone.

Exponential: Tim Keller

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:01:00 +0000

The Gospel
Tim Keller

The DNA of a reproducing church has to be the gospel.
In the Christian world, no one's really sure what the gospel is anymore.
The cross confronts and fulfills cultural longings.

The Gospel Tripod

In Jesus Christ, God emptied himself.
In Jesus Christ, God atoned for our sins.
In Jesus Christ, God will return and restore all things.

Many have focused on only one of the three, which results in an incomplete gospel.