Uffizi Mission Project

I wonder how my generation will be remembered?

I ponder it because I am going to Russia this week, and one of the things I will be teaching on  is “The Promised Land is Everywhere.”  I am have been reading about two faithful spies in the midst of a fearful generation.  I find both clearly evident in Santa Barbara.

My declaration to the church in Santa Barbara has been that God is giving us land - every place we have landed, God had given us favor.  We have not come in like warriors, but have chosen the posture of servants.   We have done nothing exceptionally well, except believe God is love and show up.  We cannot be naive - we need the power of the Holy Spirit to survive and see transformation - but we make every attempt to stay close to the earth as Jesus did and still does today.

Others started the movement before me, and now more are joining… but there should be more.  The beautiful, graceful Kingdom of God does not rest, it builds and builds and blossoms.  I sense it coming like the music that arises before the hero appears.  The music calls me to enter the drama with God, almost carrying me forward effortlessly.

This is not a church growth movement - this is the very creation of a new culture.  We no longer respond, but we create.  This is proactive grace, for we have received “grace upon grace,” and it is time to return the favor.

But I still fear for my generation.  The promise of God was clear to the Israelites, and He took them all the way there only to have them fear and retreat.  Two faithful spies believed and they alone carried the DNA into the next generation.  But one group of men and women did not receive the promise and were doomed to wander.

And so I proclaim that God has said that for us, everywhere is the promised land.  There is no darkness that subdues His light, so why do we fear?  Why do we cloister together like circling the wagons, while we know the places in our city that need light?  Can it be that we don’t care?  Would that be remembered of our generation?

Come spies, go with us where God calls.  Jesus is redeeming all creation.  Let us believe as some of the Hebrews before us, that there are two kinds of Holy - the Holy and the not yet Holy.  All space is being redeemed - Jesus is already there, we just need to join Him.

Check out the State Street Movement and the West Side Movement Pages - there are new opportunities, as God is giving real estate to His lovers, so that we would love the people He misses.

The Mountain or The Mess?

If you read Isaiah 2, you find a beautiful picture - almost a dreamlike fantasy we all share - about the Kingdom of God and Peace.  In the spiritual snapshot, we are all invited to the mountain to worship and learn from the Lord, and the fruits of it are weapons tamed into gardening shears.

It makes sense then, that in Mark 9, when we find Jesus transfiguring himself before Peter on the mountain, that Peter responds with wanting to tabernacle Jesus, Moses, and Elijah.  After all, isn’t this what was supposed to happen - the law and the prophets point us to the mountain where Jesus will rule in peace in harmony again. 

But Jesus does not allow this to be so - even after God pronounces, “that this is my beloved son, listen to Him,” Jesus marches them down the mountain and into a very gruesome situation - a demon possessed boy.  The disciples have been unable to cast the demon out, and Jesus comes back to free the child, and teach the disciples again and the surrounding community.

We cannot argue that the church has valued safety and security, often at the expense of bringing light to the mess.  Often we would rather gather together as sons and daughters of light in the tabernacle, then live in the darkness of our own nearby communities.  But we are not given the option - as Jesus leads them, He leads us.  The promise is that the light appeared in the darkness, and that it overcame the night.

The law and the prophets point us to Jesus, who points us to bringing the Kingdom of God now.  We cannot escape into tabernacles with spiritual teachers - we must in fact follow the pattern of Jesus.  Can we not have spiritual teachers on the road with us?  Was not the greatest sermon known, the sermon on the mount, taught within the overall idea of “movement.”

The best plan is “both/and” - let’s figure a way to gather in the building to strengthen the down the mountain mentality.  We can have all the real estate in the city - that is the promise of Jesus.  “All authority on heaven and earth has been given to me, so go and make disciples, everywhere…”

Join the movement - on the West Side, at Pershing, on State Street - or where you are - perhaps there are new movments I have no idea about - please let me know.  Leave comments by clicking on the comment space!