A three day call of prayer and fasting in Haiti.

Despite the atheist's pre-school level of Bible knowledge he makes a good point: nobody likes a preacher shouting at them as they try to cross the street.  It also seems if you're going to be thumping the Bible on a street corner you'd want a bigger Bible.  Or at least a Bible on a rope you can throw at people and then retract back to you, ninja style.

...so good

Last weekend I attended the Verge Conference in Austin, TX.  It brought together over 2,000 people from around the country to discuss and learn about missional communities.

The main concept behind a missional community is the merger between home churches and viral marketing. 

Home churches are a small group of people studying, worshiping and fellowshipping in Christ (an attempt to imitate the church in Acts).  They can meet anywhere and anyone can start a missional community without any formal theological training. 

Viral marketing is the spreading of an idea through one's social connections (family, friends, coworkers and neighbors) and then getting your social connections to tell their social connections and so on and so forth.

The two concepts come together by one person starting a missional community (small group) and once the group has grown a few members go out and start their own group.  Then those groups spawn more groups which spawn more groups, creating exponential growth.


Missional communities have worked extremely well in oppressive communist countries like Cuba and China where religion is hated because it competes with the government for the people's loyalty.  They work so well because you don't need church buildings and can go underground with the movement.  Similar to how terrorist cells work.

I'm not sure how impactful missional communities will be in the United States, but it's cool to see people fed up with the current state of Christianity and trying to make it better.  One church, The Austin Stone, has been doing missional communities for many years and has become one of the biggest churches in Austin.  Whether that's because they use missional communties or have an awesome pastor and worship leader is difficult to determine.

My only criticism of the conference was some of the speakers, especially the founder of the movement Alan Hirsch, was a bit anti-American.  There were one too many digs at suburban life, mega churches and how backwards the "west" is compared to everyone else.   But Alan has a British accent so I can understand his frustration with not being American.


Overall the conference was a lot fun; the speakers were inspirational, the worship was full of energy and you could feel the Spirit loving everyone there.  Immediately afterward I felt full of passion for the Kingdom, ready to serve God.  But then a few days later there was a dip in my excitement and I felt a little depressed.  Since this was my first Christian conference I think I was high on emotion while I was there and then boom, I was back to normal life with normal people and normal everything.

I've perked up since and am internalizing the best way to move forward with the missional community idea and how it can impact Zetify.  At the heart of missional communities in the USA is the concept of making Jesus part of your everyday life, not just something you do for an hour on Sunday. 

Planting the Gospel among young adults using technology will play an important part in the shaping of Christianity in America in the next 50 years.  It's just a question of how and when.

For more information on missional communities check out the Verge 2010 Web site or search Twitter for #verge10.

I'm happy to announce the following set of exciting enhancements to make your Zetify.com experience faster, easier and better:

• Facebook login & sign up: You no longer have to enter a bunch of information to join Zetify.  You can login with your Facebook account in one easy click.
   
• New profile page design: We've revamped the profile pages to look cleaner.
   
• New WTFDIB design updates: We updated the welcome banner and question form to make participating easier.
   
• What Up + Church Directory: We are using a beta version of the What Up widget to show the Christian Conversation Stream for specific churches or city pages.
   
• Feedback tab: We're testing out a new way to get your opinions using a feedback tab on the left hand side of the site.
   

This is only the beginning of good things to come.  We've got some exciting new apps in development and will have big news come March.

ABC News posted an article recounting Obama's lack of a church home since the infamous fallout with his hometown church of 20 years.  Personally I don't think it's a big deal.  If the President doesn't like any of the churches in D.C. it's not his fault.  In a city of politics I wonder how many of those traditional churches are rooted in biblical faith vs being tainted by their environment.

The burden of being President isolates a man and his family from American life.  Having fellowship with other believers in a town you just moved to where everyone wants your autograph or resignation can't be easy.  How do you share true confessions of the heart in a town of snakes?

In the grand scheme of things you don't have to go to church to pray, fellowship, worship or serve.  Going to church is not a determination of one's faith, just look at Michael Corleone.  I'm sure we all want Obama to have a church while serving America, but we don't need to condemn him over it.

I pray despite all the good & bad decisions Obama makes as President he is able to keep his belief in Jesus strong and walk the narrow path of truth.  

PS - Every president since James Madison has attended a service at St. Johns Episcopal, where pew 54 is designated as "The President's Pew."

That's Job as in the Bible's Job, not job.

ESPN published a phenomenal article about Tony Dungy, the former Indianapolis Colts head coach.

Tony Dungy is a lifelong Christian and a shining role model for living the Christian life.  He has a heart for prison ministry and grace.  The article goes on and on about how many athletes and people he's touched during his tenure in football.  It's amazing what Tony has done.

Most people know the Michael Vick story and how nobody wanted to touch him with a ten foot pole.  But at the urging of Tony's wife he applied the parables, stories and proverbs in the Bible to give Vick the second chance to walk a different path.

What befuddles most people about Tony is the stereotypes he shatters forcing them to evaluate truth.  Here's a snippet:

"In the world of 21st-century sports, Dungy cuts a unique figure. He is as close to power as any individual in the game. He is being courted by the Seattle Seahawks for a key front-office position, and is on the short list of virtually every club with a major job opening. Goodell works with him in connecting to the players. Dungy is the man in the boardroom, a valuable place to be.

Yet he connects to what could be described as the antithesis of power -- young African-American men, many at-risk, many in professional sports. He is rooted in the church, and thus, so are his politics. Consistent with his Christianity, he has publicly supported marriage as being defined only as a bond between a man and a woman, but he has contributed to the Indiana Democratic Party. His success and standing have created immense financial opportunities. He is in position, connected and popular, to become both an insider and a brand. As of yet, Dungy has largely shunned the endorsement route of some of his peers, appearing only in a Motorola advertisement when he was coaching."

Clearly the author seems shocked a well educated, Christian black man can be powerful, normal and want to help thugs.  I think Tony's able to bridge the gap because he sees thugs as normal people struggling with life, not heinous criminals. 

He's not enamored with himself, money or the trappings of success; he's in love with God.  Just like Job of the Bible, Tony has been blessed with monumental success and a loving family.  And just like Job he's had to endure unimaginable hardships, the burying of his son five years ago.

I think it's important not to idolize anyone, but Tony Dungy is one of the best public Christian role models any of us could hope for.  Go Tony.

I love God loves me no matter what I do, as long as I love Him too.

I love loving people who talk different, look different, act different; do stupid things, weird things and things I don't understand.

I love living in a world with angels, demons and the holy spirit stretching the air.

I love giving my time, money and energy to all of humanity.

I love walking into church and feeling the relief of belonging, of feeling as one with everyone.

I love me.

I love you.

I love being a Christian.

More Christian article time fun, by the NY Times.

A controversial teacher in the small town of Mount Vernon, OH, challenges the school district by putting the the Bible on his desk.  One of his fellow teachers (out of all he's known in 21 years) says she had to reteach evolution to some of his students.  Here's a quote from one of the student's mothers:

"We are Christians, who practice our faith where it belongs, at church and in our home and, most importantly, outside the public classroom, where the law requires a separation of church and state."

PS - Photo on the left is from the wikipedia, with Clarence Darrow (left) and William Jennings Bryan (right) during the Scopes Monkey Trial in 1925.

PPS - Photo on the right is Ms. Garrison trying to teach evolution before having Richard Dawkins take over.