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This morning on my visit to Starbucks for my morning pick me up something different happened.  For starters the store has been turned into a Christmas wonderland.  A sea of red, the noisy steaming of eggnog, the baristas new t-shirts, custom gift cards and more.  As I ordered my quad venti, sugar free vanilla, non-fat, caramel machittio I was handed a card.

Pass the Cheer:  Hold the elevator door for a stranger.  Carry packages for a friend.  When you do something nice for somone this holiday season, hand them this Cheer Pass and ask them to pass it along.  Maybe you’ll help inspire a chain of cheer that last all season long.   Share Your Story.  Note your Cheer Pass number and visit www.itsredagain.com to share your story of cheer.  Check back often to see the chain of cheer you helped create.

Now…  couple this with what I read this morning from an atheist (Jim and Casper Go to Church)  “Hope changes everything?  What does that mean?  Hope changes nithing except your own feelings. Action changes everything.”  A page later… “If I did believe in God, and that I was going to be granted eternal life in heaven, I would want to do something significant here on Earth, to live as much of my life as I could following the example set by Jesus when he was there on Earth -do unto others as you would have them do unto you-I don’t know, maybe I don’t know the real story of Jesus…”

Wow!  So, I have a quote on quote “non-Christian” company doing the very thing that God calls us to do.  GOOD WORKS.  And a person who Jesus misses most, and atheist.   Maybe I will let you draw your own conclusion.

I will leave with these few, simple thoughts:

• Why is it just pray the prayer and you are “in”?
• How is more placed on the prayer than the action in a Christian’s life?
• Does one think that talking a good talk will actually change the world?
• The words ringing in my ears are,  “Why is the church not being called to action every time we are gathered?”

Pass the Cheer!

Not sitting in a church building but I just saw the act of a disciple.  It wasn’t a bible reading, a prayer, a committee meeting, a youth retreat.  I was sitting in my “office” and looking out the window and just witnessed a beautiful expression of the church, of a disciple.

I learned that a friend’s sibling just found out they have cancer.

A hug.  A simple gesture saying that, I am here.  I care.  I am sorry.  It was without words.  If there were words I couldn’t hear it as I was inside.

That is a part of a church which I desire to be a part of.  One of compassion and willingness to walk though life together.  The good things and the bad things.

What about you?   How did you see the church today?

I just came across this and thought I would share it with all of you.

All you have to do is type in your zip code and see opportunities to serve in your own community.

http://www.volunteermatch.org/

It was a long day.  Off The Map Live was challenging yet again!  This isn’t your normal SBC conference.  It wasn’t bad just different.  I have been exposed again to different thinking.  The different thinking isn’t bad or wrong I would say but just different.   The way I would explain it is this….

Remember a time when I sat down with you and tried to explain this “new” thing, or new way of doing something.  You looked at me with that blank stare and thought to yourself, “is he serious?  There is no way that 1) it will work, and 2) that what he is saying is right.

Well that is where I am.  Here is an example….

The Bridge - this church is a little nuts but, I think they are on to something that is so good here.  I think that their work is being run and rerun on the highlight reel in heaven.  They are connecting with people that I am not connecting with.

The Refuge - this church was shaped by a guy, Carl Wheeler.  He was involved with Dare2Share.  This church too, from the sound of it, reaches those I am not reaching in the burbs.

I look forward to the last day of the conference.

At night we traveled to the island just off of Seattle.  Now that was really cool.  The only thing that could have made that better was if I had my family with me.

Actually seeing my breath was really awesome! This morning as we left the hotel the air was so crisp and cool that for the first time in a long time I saw my breath.

The boys and I traveled to the original Starbucks at Pikes Place this morning. Then something really crappy happened. Yes, I said crappy. As we were walking back to the car from the SBux somehow I was able to step into some doggy doo. Not your normal amount either. It was HUGE! 1) I can’t believe that I didn’t see it. 2) I have never been able to track the whole shabamm into the car before. At first we thought Sean was letting some bad gas go. I kept yelling at him saying, “DUDE, THAT IS BAD. COME ON JUST CLAIM IT”. I then noticed I has some leaves attached to my shoe so I pulled the leaf off and whalla! I officially placed my hand into poop.

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This is what I am wondering about…

Is the Kingdom of God bigger that what I think? Maybe I will unpack that or you can comment and let me know what you think.

Good times.

We all a little tired. A full day of travel. The best part was I took a direct flight from Tucson to Seattle. Left at 11:30 and got here at 2:30. The other three guys left their houses at 5:30a and arrived in Seattle at 1:30p but had to hang around the SeaTac airport for me. How sweet huh?

After the OTM Live event the boys and I went for a drive to a cool local joint. I think it was in the Fremont area.

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The conference was good… Here are some random gleanings from last night….

When being right means more than being kind.

I know I am a baptist but how do I know that I am a follower of Jesus. I know I am “in” the SBC world but how do I know that I am “in” in the Kingdom?

No Christian ever made a mistake acting out of love.

When the chips are down the buffalo is empty

Why if we are all about love, community and acceptance are we so segregated?

Lets see what Seattle hold for us tomorrow.

The flight was good getting here. I flew by myself and that was surprisingly great! I was able to compose over 20 emails to various friends and partners.

Upon my arrival stepping off the plane I was shocked by feeling sub 50 degree weather. Seattle is a wonderful area. When the 4 of us traveled to our hotel in downtown Seattle we drove by Pike Place Market and saw the first, yes the FIRST Starbucks. It was a spiritual experience. I hope to visit it tomorrow.

I am here in Seattle for the next three days attending a conference called Off the Map . I am hoping to learn some new thoughts about connecting when those Jesus misses most.

I hope to share some thoughts here with you so stay tuned….