A Conversation

I would like to invite you to the first official "conversation" of the Emergent Village - Vilnius Cohort.

The theme will be:

“The Mission of the Church: ways of expressing the missional calling of the church”

The location will be in Vilnius at “Katpėdėlė“ on P. Lukšio g. 34 (Across from Hyper-Rimi in Žirmūnai. The restaurant is located on the east side of the Senukai parking lot) on Saturday, March 3, 2007 from 10:00 to 12:00. You can stay longer if you like and talk but I want you to know that there is a beginning and an ending time. We will be eating breakfast or drinking coffee(s).

I hope to see you there!

David

Core Values

I have a question for readers of my blog: Should a church's core values be placed on their website? If so, why? If not, why not?

I see both sides of the issue. On the one hand, interested people should be able to know what the church sees as its core values. After all, these values have been written down to serve as a public resource for the church's general direction.

On the other hand, isn't that just marketing to church people? Who reads these core values anyway? Shouldn't core values be an internal document for the church and its leadership to use when making decisions?

Talk to me!

Five Streams of the Emerging Church

I just posted a lengthy comment on the Emergent Village- Vilnius Cohort blog. Check it out if you like.

My New Motto

Oharaville wrote in his blog about Today at the Mission, a blog about "Daily Life in a Homeless Shelter." The author is an incredible writer and has some insights that are pretty humbling. For example, his "Following Jesus Manifesto" is a tall order and the "Irreducible Minimum" is something that I will use over and over.

"Love God. Love each other - everything else is culture." I have changed my header to reflect this new motto. I think it really catches the essence of the change that is necessary in my life and ministry. It is what I have been trying to say for some time now. It is the Jesus Creed. Perfect!

What significant thoughts! I am speechless over the manifesto, and the Irreducible Minimum is something that goes beyond the typical definitions and gets to the heart of the matter. It reveals what is fluff and what is core! We need more core at Kelyje!

I Did It!

I figured out, finally! the puzzle! You know, when you figure it out, it really isn't that complicated. I guess it is that way with a lot of things in life. Things that seem hard at first seem simple once you are on the other side and have a different perspective. It is all about perspective then isn't it.

Life, and what we do with it depends a lot on our perspective. It affects our understanding of the world around us. Every individual has his own perspective or lens through which he views life. The more varied the person's life experiences the large one's perspective. That is one of the reasons I am glad I have raised my daughters in a foreign country. They have a different perspective than the average American.

This whole idea of perspective also applies to the various trials we have in life. It seems that we can look at our problems or difficulties straight on and say, "Wow this is really hard!" Or, we can think about our difficulty with the thought in mind that, "Hey, there is a different way of looking at this." Perhaps we can take some kind of inspiration from this idea of trying to see things from a different perspective.

When I saw the puzzle from a different perspective, everything about it changed.

Keeping New Years Resolutions

I have made some New Years Resolutions, as I am sure most of the world has. I have decided to call them commitments. Does anyone have suggestions for ways that I might be more successful at fulfilling them?

Su Naujais Metais!

I want to wish all of you a Happy New Year! We stayed up really late last night. I finally went to bed at 5:30 a.m.! I didn't get up until 2:30. That is the latest I have slept in for a long time. Of course that is going to throw off tonight's sleeping schedule. Oh well, it is a holiday.

We have spent the day playing games and eating. Now we are watching the last 4 hours of 24 (which Eliza hasn't seen but the rest of us have) so that is kind of interesting. I can do things while watching it and still catch the good parts. Jack rocks!