There’s no doubt that sports captures our attention, if not our hearts. Drew Brees has been featured hugging Oprah, teaching Ellen to hold a football, throwing a pass to David Letterman and headlining a Disney parade. The NBA just held their all-star game at Texas stadium in front of the largest crowd to ever see a basketball game. College basketball is heating up in preparation for March Madness. Hockey is preparing for their Olympic break - which brings us to the Winter Olympics, an epic that occurs every four years. And we’re waiting to see when Tiger comes back. Sports are huge in our culture.

I grew up playing football among other sports and have coached my kids in several sports. I’ve watched my sons play baseball, lacrosse, basketball and football. And we just got back from one of my daughter’s volleyball tournaments. That’s why the cover story in the current issue (February 2010) of Christianity Today has bothered me. The author, Shirl James Hoffman, an athlete and coach himself sees the current paradigm of sports incompatible with Christian living. He said:

“There are simply no easy, straight-faced, intellectually respectable answers for how evangelicals can model the Christian narrative – with its emphasis on servanthood, generosity, and self-subordination – while immersed in a culture that thrives on cut-throat competition, partisanship, and Darwinian struggle.”

I agree there are abuses in sports but is it really incompatible for Christian living? Is there an approach we could take to sports – short of side-to-side competitions like swimming and track – that would honor Jesus?

“…let the wise listen and add to their learning...” -Proverbs 1:5

As an acoustic ecologist, Gordon Hempton has spent most of his adult life listening. In fact, that’s what he gets paid to do (sounds like a sweet gig). Mr. Hempton looks for the places that are void of any humanly manufactured sounds. In a Newsweek videoclip  he noted that in the past 25 years the number of places with a noise free interval of 15 minutes or more in Washington State had dropped from 21 to 3. Maybe it is getting harder to find noise free zones but we can still be intentional about spending time in the Silent Spaces. Spending time in places where we can hear the whisper of God is vital to our relationship with Him. “One of the greatest achievements in life is not a seeing mind but a hearing heart” (Len Sweet).

We decided we needed a Silent Space at our offices to escape the clamor and clutter of day-to-day activities. Our hope was that this would become not just a place of escape but also a place of engagement with God. We carved out a small place that we call “The Chapel” with a faceted glass window and places to sit or kneel. There is a Bible and a simple cross as well as other devotional books. And if you’re in there when someone calls for you, you will not be disturbed. I use this space often and when I do I imagine putting a barricade against the past and the future to carve out a period of time where I just try to listen.

Are we missing opportunities to create Silent Spaces in our churches? Typically, when churches develop facilities the tendency is to focus on the public places like worship centers, assembly halls and classrooms. The balance of the square footage is then relegated to the minimal amount needed for support and circulation. When that happens, we forfeit the chance to be intentional about Silent Spaces – the places where the emphasis is on listening in silence.

"Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.”
(Isaiah 55:2b)

Seth Godin commented recently that we use too much data and too many facts when we’re trying to make our case. He wrote, “The skeptic will always find a reason, even if it's one the rest of us don't think is a good one.” That reminded me of a classic study done by Stanford University 30 years ago, which has been replicated several times since. The original project gave scientific studies to a group of 48 people - 24 proponents of the death penalty and 24 opponents. Some of the studies supported one position and some studies supported the other. What was interesting was that, instead of becoming more sympathetic to the other position, each side became more entrenched in their original opinions. They were strengthened by the studies that supported their view while finding reasons – however illogical – to refute the other studies.

It’s a good principle to remember when you’re trying to sway an opinion. Without an emotional connection it is unlikely you will do anything more than deepen the conviction of the person you’re trying to sway. Instead, make an emotional connection. Why do people make needed changes to their diet and exercise after a major health event? It wasn’t additional data or more facts, it was an event that charged their emotions. My guess is that when you donated for relief in Haiti it wasn’t because you considered the logic of a disaster in the poorest country in this hemisphere. It was because the pictures and stories of the devastation to individual human beings gripped your heart.

When you need to communicate, make it personal for them in a way that makes them feel, then they will be ready to think. As Seth Godin said:

“Relying too much on proof distracts you from the real mission--which is emotional connection.”

Dan Buettner, an explorer and National Geographic contributor , was featured in a TED podcast entitled, “How to Live to be 100+”. He travelled the globe to find “Blue Zones” - population pockets where people live an average of 10 years longer without the levels of cancer and heart disease we seemed to be plagued with. Once they identified these areas they synthesized what they learned from the lifestyles and came up with a list of “secrets to a longer, healthier life” they called the Power9. As you might expect, a few were related to diet and exercise. Eat more of a plant-based diet. Drink wine in moderation. Eat less (the 80% Rule says stop eating when you’re 80% full). And keep moving.

What I didn’t expect was that more than half the “secrets” would deal with social constructs. For instance, the people in the Blue Zones had a strong purpose for life. One group had a specific word for that purpose, yet no word for retirement. The groups averaged at least six close friends that one zone referred to as their Moai. (In the US, the average number of close friends has dropped over the last 15 years from three to one and a half). They took time to shut down daily to relax even if it was for only 15 minutes. At least one group observed a strict 24 hour Sabbath where they focused on God with prayer, shared meals and nature walks. And all of them focused on all generations of their family as well as their tribe.

It’s probably still too close to New Year’s resolutions to ask you about your diet and exercise. But what about your purpose?
- Do you have an “ikigai”?
- Do you have a time where you daily shut everything off to reflect and refresh?
- Do you have a strong network of friends at various levels?
- Is your family a priority?
- Do you have a strong faith?

The author says that we have very little chance to live to 100. But he does believe we can influence the length and quality of our lives by following the Power9. I think he’s right. What do you think?

I was reading  last week and noticed it mentioned a couple of missional communities in Pittsburgh, PA. My wife and I were going to be in Pittsburgh the following week to pick up my Christmas present.  It was an order from Recreational Equipment Inc. - some men love Home Depot; I love so we decided to check them out.

Our first stop was at In The Blood, a tattoo parlor in an eclectic part of the city. We were privileged to meet Justun, the owner, who had begun to work at the tattoo parlor when it was owned by a woman that practiced dominatrix. At one point they asked her if they could use the place for a Bible Study on Monday nights. Remarkably, she agreed and an incarnational ministry began. Later Justun was able to buy the place from her and now it is a business with an incarnational approach to connecting lost people with God. The basement that once witnessed evil now hosts works of God.

Not far down the road we found Hot Metal Bridge, a faith community born out of a kingdom mindset. We met Justin Keough and Jim Walker, one of the pastors who explained the church began as a partnership of two different denominations and exists to make a difference in their local community. They purchased a bar that they have converted for services and several people from the church rent the rooms above as living space. A major part of their weekend gatherings is when everyone from the homeless to those with six-figure incomes enjoy a communion meal together. The meal affords the time for the kind of genuine fellowship and celebration that creates community.

I was excited to experience these places and talk with people who are making a difference for Christ in neglected places. There is a significant percentage who will not be reached by the traditional expression of the church. We need more missional communities located where they serve people in love and engage people in conversation about the Lord. What does an incarnational expression look like in your world?

I was reading through the “Ten Breakthrough Ideas for 2010” in the current issue of the Harvard Business Review when #9 caught my eye. The author acknowledged that the change-averse nature of established authorities, the accumulated layers of bureaucracy and the comforts of tradition made change cumbersome, if not impossible. So the thought was to create a separate skunkworks project that could nimbly operate on the side until it began to transform the organization. The idea, entitled “Creating More Hong Kongs”, was specifically to create charter cities to transform nations. Even though Hong Kong was created through unusual historical circumstances, it’s impact on China is readily apparent. Now imagine, say, Canada and Cuba setting up a joint venture to develop part of Cuba.

Historically, the church has also been slow to change - and that’s not been all bad. The change-averse nature of the church has protected her from heretical avenues of thought that would have led in the wrong direction. But it could also be argued that the business of the US church and some of the organizational facets have been too slow to adapt for meaningful ministry. It’s difficult to hold unwaveringly to the unchanging foundations of faith and, at the same time, remain flexible in approach and structure. The two become so intertwined that it can be difficult to know where one ends and the other begins. That makes needed changes tough to make in any reasonable period of time.

If you could make any change to help your church better carry out the cause of Christ, what would you do? Is God is calling you to make that change? Remember that change always begins with you but could a skunkworks projects be the answer?

Recently Dan Kimball posted a message on the “Out of Ur” blog entitled “I Was Wrong About Church Buildings”. It’s a thoughtful reflection on how his attitude has changed since he’s been in a building. If you follow the discussion you’ll find a response from Ken Eastburn of the Well. It’s an interesting discussion about the necessity or convenience of buildings for churches. Below you will find my response to Ken. Feel free to share your thoughts too.

Dear Ken,

I’m not sure what the 1st point “being missional involves more than just being nice to people” has to do with buildings but the 2nd point is certainly germane to buildings (and any other ministry tool). The challenge is whose definition do we use for “convenience” and “necessity”? If Compassion International can feed 50% more children because of the conveniences of the building, I would call that building a necessity. But who makes that call? Would you consider the house you meet in a convenience or necessity and what criteria should we use for making the decision. If a house is a necessity, at what size does the house become a convenience? 2,000 sq ft? 4,000 sq ft? 10,000 sq ft?

I definitely agree that, in general, we have far more church owned facilities than we need to be the church (and many are ill-suited for ministry anyway). And that needs to change because far too many resources are going into consumer-style Christianity. However, we don’t make decisions “in general”; we make them for specific cases. That brings your 3rd point into play. Buildings may be preventing churches from doing what God really wants them to do. The issue for me is not whether it’s called a 2,000 sq ft house, a 4,000 sq ft house, a 10,000 sq ft house, a church-owned facility, a community building, a YMCA, a synagogue, a coffee shop, a theater, a bar, a blues club, or other. The issue is, “Where is God at work in your world and where does he want you to join him and what facility do you need/would work best to accomplish that mission?” Buildings are benign (until they’re occupied), to be used as needed.

I really appreciated your respectful tone. Too often we vilify people with whom we don’t agree. The solution does not reside in any one person; it’s found in the clash and collaboration of ideas and perspectives. I trust you’ll receive my comments above as the next step in a process of working toward an understanding together.

I was on a stair machine at the “Y” a few of weeks ago finishing up some cardio. My mind was wandering until I noticed and elderly couple getting off the elevator. Now, it’s not unusual to see people in their 80’s working out there. In fact, they’re my heroes and I hope to emulate them as I grow older. But this couple caught my attention because of their slow, deliberate pace. She was shuffling behind a walker and he was in front of her with his hands on the same walker gently guiding her as he stepped backwards. They finally stopped at a machine that would allow her to sit while she rotated her arms by turning the handles like cranks. With great care he adjusted the seat and the settings until it was just right and she began her workout.

What struck me about the scene that played out before me was that you could sense a genuine love between the two. The way they looked and acted toward each other revealed an intimacy deeper than any you could find in the most ideal newlyweds. This was a love that was forged over the years through the trials and triumphs of life.

A couple of days ago I saw them again and decided I had to thank them for their example. I found out their names were Bob and Virginia and that they had been married for 62 years. Bob went on to tell me that Virginia suffered “dementia”. Though he despised the disease that had stolen the expressions of fellowship they had known for so many years, it was clear he had not lost his love for her. He was honored to serve her even though she could not give back and, for the most part, couldn’t even acknowledge his efforts. I kept the conversation brief and thanked them for their example so I could move on and try to contain the emotions I could feel welling up inside me. I had witnessed a great love in an ordinary place. May each of us be found guilty of loving that well.

I recently attended the banquet for our high school football team. The banquets are a time to celebrate team and individual successes and honor the seniors, most of which have probably played their last organized football game. There was a lot of emotion surrounding the entire evening but the highlight came when the coach had the guys stand and he asked them, “What time is it?” They answered loudly, “Game Time.” He asked a second time and they answered louder, “Game Time!” The crescendo built as he asked a third time and they shouted, “GAME TIME!” You could feel your spine tingle and I was reminded:

We were built for passion.

God designed us to be fueled by passion yet we spend most of our life seeking a security that is benign and lifeless. I think that’s why God was repulsed by the church in Laodicea as John describes it in Revelation 3. Their lukewarm, self-sufficiency made God vomit. We are designed to live life to the full and living any other way seems to be loathsome to God.

Are you fueled by a passion for something great? Are you excited by a cause something bigger than yourself? Are your dreams greater than your memories? This Christmas season I encourage you to pursue a God-given passion because I am convinced he wants to fill you. Celebrate Jesus. Seek Jesus. And recognize Jesus is asking,

“What time is it?”

I was on a plane last week travelling from Denver to Jackson Hole when I noticed former Vice-President, Dick Cheney, sitting in the row directly behind me. Before we took off I sent a tweet about my travelling companion. Here are a couple of the replies I received when I arrived:
- “You’re in good shape as long as you're not on one side or the other while quail hunting with him.”
- “And it is hunting season...you lucked out!!!”
- “Duck!”

Interesting what people become known for, isn’t it? If I had commented that I was traveling with you, what would people say? Habit #2 from Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People reminds us to begin with the end in mind. Picture being at the end of your life and turning around to reflect on your journey. What would you want people to say about you? How close is that to what people would say now? If you’re like me you’ve got some work to do by God’s grace and in his strength. Let’s encourage each other to be all God has created us to be and share grace in the process.

What will you be known for?

BTW – I shook his hand and thanked him for his service. The same honor I would give almost anyone who has served our country, regardless of the political affiliation.