New Hymnbook Coming Soon

For a number of months now,

            my early morning hours have been taken up

                        with the writing of hymns and songs.

I have more than 100 of these.

Now it’s time to get them written out in good notation

            and distributed.

So I’m making a brief change in my morning routine

            to gather the music into a hymnbook.

This will be a simple three-ring binder

            of 50 to 100 hymns and songs.

It may take several weeks,

            and I’ll try to keep you updated

                        on the process here.

When completed,

            the hymnbook will be available to you at no cost.

Thanks for your interest!

charity:water

Last week’s Catalyst conference highlighted a large number of social action projects, from the Two Futures Project (nuclear disarmament) to the Tronie Project (ending slavery).

Today I want to highlight charity:water, a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations.

Its website (HERE) provides several hours of challenging reading and watching.

Scott Harrison was a self-absorbed nightclub promoter in Manhattan until 2004, when he volunteered to serve on Mercy Ships, a humanitarian organization which offers free medical care in the world's poorest nations. It was a life-changing experience.

“Faced with spiritual bankruptcy,” Scott says, “I wanted desperately to revive a lost Christian faith with action and asked the question: What would the opposite of my life look like?”

In 2006, Scott founded charity:water, which has now raised almost $20 million and funded almost 3,000 water projects in 17 countries.

Scott’s passionate testimony and persistent vision challenged me, and I’m getting on-board. I’ll be setting up a fund-raiser for charity:water sometime soon. In the meantime, you need to explore the website HERE.

Two Big Ideas from the Catalyst Conference

Last week I attended the Catalyst conference in Atlanta,

            a kind of “think tank” for church leaders,

                        especially younger ones.

                                    (I hardly qualify.)

I came away with two big ideas:

(1) “The Tension is Good.”

This was the theme of the conference:

            Tension is inevitable in life and in ministry.

                        Don’t run away from it.

Embrace it as part of God’s methodology

            to accomplish His kingdom purposes.

Deal with it to enhance your personal relationships.

            Intergenerational tension can be

                        a starting place for creativity and love.

            The tension between two good ideas

                        (great programs vs. budget constraints)

                                    can be understood

                                                and even encouraged.

(2) “Autonomy Fosters Creativity.”

Organizations benefit when

            they allow employees (or volunteers)

                        the freedom to do things their own way.

Several software companies have given employees

            one half-day per week

                        to work on projects of their own choosing,

                                    and the result has been

                                                increased productivity,

                                                            higher morale,

                                    and profitable new products and ideas.

In the 21^st century, autonomy and mastery

            trump micro-management.

More on Catalyst next time…

Canadian Thanksgiving

(Photo: Canadian troops attend a Thanksgiving service

in the bombed-out Cambrai Cathedral, in France,

October 1918)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Canada formally celebrates Thanksgiving

            on the second Monday of October.

Long before Europeans arrived in North America,

            Native Americans throughout the Americas

                        had organized harvest festivals

                                    and other celebrations of thanks.

Canadian Thanksgiving goes back to Martin Frobisher,

            the English explorer who searched

                        for a “Northern Passage”

                                    from Europe to China.

Frobisher's Thanksgiving was for homecoming

            rather than harvest.

In 1578 he arrived safely back in Newfoundland

            after a voyage of exploration,

                        and there he formally gave thanks

                                    and celebrated his crew’s survival

                                                of a long journey.

This feast was one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations

            by Europeans in North America,

                        predating the Pilgrims’ 1621 celebration.

Ten years after Frobisher's return, England gave thanks

            for deliverance from the Spanish Armada.

In her last speech to Parliament Queen Elizabeth I said,

            "We perceive your coming is to offer thanks ..."

                        and returned those thanks to her subjects.

It was in this spirit of thanksgiving –

            for being alive, protected, and appreciated –

                        that English language and culture flourished.

England was very different then –

            it was known as Merrie Englande:

                        its grown men laughed, cried,

                                    danced and loved exuberantly –

                                                like their Sovereign.

This was the context of Frobisher's 1578 Thanksgiving

            in Newfoundland. 

More HERE and HERE.

Today and every day we thank God for His protection,

            His provision, His blessing and grace.

Longleaf Church

I met Jared and Lindsey Gilstrap yesterday

at the Catalyst conference near Atlanta.

About 13,000 people attended this conference

for Christian leaders.

Many participants, like the Gilstraps,

were in their 20s and 30s.

We met at lunchtime outside the hockey arena

where the event was held.

Jared and Lindsey have been very busy recently

            as part of the launch team of Longleaf Church

                        in Warner Robins, Georgia.

Longleaf Church opened its doors to the public last month,

            after about two years of preparation.

Longleaf is a Strategic Partner

with North Point Community Church,

the multisite megachurch in the Atlanta area.

North Point was founded by Andy Stanley in 1995

and is now the third largest church in the USA

with 23.000 weekly attenders.

Andy Stanley will preach by video at Longleaf

80% of the time, with the other 20% of the sermons

preached by Longleaf’s pastor, Jeff Jeffords.

Jared and Lindsey told me that about 30 churches

are Strategic Partners with North Point Church.

Longleaf was required to raise $100,000

and build a monthly tithing base of $20,000

in order to be a North Point Strategic Partner.

Though some may object to this kind of church planting,

I see the beauty and wisdom in it.

Check out Longleaf’s website HERE,

and North Point Strategic Partners HERE.

Commonwealth of Nations

Yesterday the Commonwealth Games got underway

            in Delhi, India.

Running from October 3-14, this sporting event

            brings together 71 nations and dependencies

                        who compete in certain Olympic sports,

                                    but also lawn bowls,

                                                rugby sevens, and netball.

Competing teams include South Africa, Pakistan,

            Guyana and the Isle of Man.

The games are held every four years

 The Commonwealth of Nations

            is an intergovernmental organization 

                        of 54 independent member states.

All but two of these countries

            were formerly part of the British Empire.

The member states co-operate

            within a framework of common values and goals,

                        including democracy, human rights,

                                    the rule of law, and individual liberty.

The Commonwealth is an intergovernmental organization

            through which countries

                        with diverse social and political backgrounds

                                    are regarded as equal in status.

The symbol of the member states’ free association

            is the Head of the Commonwealth,

                        a ceremonial position currently held

                                    by Queen Elizabeth II.

Elizabeth is the monarch,

            separately and independently,

                        of 16 Commonwealth members.

Commonwealth countries are not considered

            to be "foreign" to one another. 

Reflecting this, diplomatic missions

            between Commonwealth countries

                        are designated as High Commissions

                                    rather than embassies.

Read more at http://www.thecommonwealth.org .

Waterboyz for Jesus

 I’m privileged to be part

            of a local interdenominational men’s ministry

                        called Waterboyz for Jesus.

Scene One:

Time: Friday mornings (6:00am)

Place: Mountain View Diner

Event: Waterboyz 10-Man Table

Often we’re the first customers of the day.

Fran, the waitress, pours coffee and takes breakfast orders.

We come with Bibles to begin the day in conversation,

            prayer, scripture reading and application.

On a good day we have eight men at our 10-Man Table.

I go to support Scott, our table leader,

            who exemplifies faithfulness.

And I go to connect with Jim, a friend from church.

According to the Waterboyz website (HERE)

                        there are now twenty-seven 10-Man Tables.

This means that in any given week,

            probably 150 men are involved,

                        with about 300 men

                                    identifying themselves as Waterboyz.

Scene Two:

Time: This week

Place: The Clay family townhouse

Event: Extreme Home Makeover

More than 180 men and women

            are extensively renovating the home

                        of a family in need. (see photos HERE)

A similar project last year cost over $80,000

            and hundreds of man-hours,

                        all of it donated by individuals

                                    and corporate underwriters.

Another Waterboyz ministry:

            The 100 Man Choir (see it on YouTube)