Only Jesus

At the beginning of this journey all that I really knew was that it seemed to me that it would take us until the Fall of 2014 before we would be able to actually, publically, be meeting regularly as a gathering and worshipping group in a dedicated space to call home.  I had no idea what that meant or what it would look like.  The only strategy that I felt confident in was to, in the model of Jesus recorded in John chapter 1, "move into the neighborhood" (see The Message version). So move we did and began, along with a dozen others, to meet and pray and meet and eat and meet and serve in this Seattle neighborhood known as South Lake Union. 
Its been a long and winding road.  Friends have come and friends have gone.  Leads have appeared and disappeared.  Promising space to gather seemed always to be just out of reach.  For those who have just begun to follow or those who have lost track over the months, good news came to us just as Summer was ending.  A home materialized through a relationship born from a years worth of "in the neighborhood" and we have a place to gather in a space that belongs to a wonderful non-profit known as Redeeming Soles.  I don't know about you, but it seems like a bit of Jesus playfulness on words that a church, ultimately concerned about redeemed people (souls), would be welcomed by an organization dedicated to serving people through redeemed shoes (soles). 
So here we stand now, at the dawning of another November, and only 3 Sundays until we hold our first truly public gathering.  There is so much left to do in the 21 days left, and to be sure we may not be the 100% ready that our human nature causes us to think that we need to be ... but ready or not, we will be there.  Between now and then we will be heads up and following the only one who could have led us to this point and the only one who matters in all of this.

Risk management and the adventure of following

There is an interesting passage in the book of John that, in my opinion, is a pretty good insight into a challenging application for those who claim a desire to be committed followers of Jesus.  Towards the end of chapter 6 we get to witness a watershed moment in his earthly ministry.  We often focus so much on the abandonment of the twelve at his arrest that we overlook this greater abandonment occurring much earlier on, separating them from the "convenience" crowd.  The passage begins with Jesus and the miraculous outdoor fish dinner for 5000.  Not surprising is the reaction of the crowd who, upon thinking that they've found a source of a perpetual labor-less catering service, is more than willing to follow him ... as long as the needs are met.  In a moment of spiritually "diving deep", which by the way is what most who claim the name of Christian will tell you is a priority in their faith journey, Jesus offers teaching and a level of commitment which quickly divides the proverbial sheep from the goats.  He is quick to point out, in his annoying Jesus way, that what they think that they desire is fleeting and time bound.  What he is offering is not only eternal, but attainable.  However, it is going to take something far too costly than most will be willing to invest.  It is uncomfortable, to the point of being offensive.  If you read closely you can see that the deep allegorical teaching is hard to grasp for those seeking a comfortable and consumer oriented faith.  What they want is getting in the way of what they need.  The twelve, on the other hand, reveal their allegiance and commitment to the rest of the journey by the simple recognition that within this difficult, elusive and somewhat offensive teaching are contained the "words of life".  The crowd decides that the "risk" needs to be managed and is ultimately deemed too high to pursue.
It is not so much different for us today.  The number of those who would desire to be considered followers of Jesus exists in the same tension as those so long ago.  All claim to want to "dive deep" yet are still divided along the lines of the crowd and the committed.  It is hard now, as it was then, to identify by appearance alone.  It becomes readily apparent though when comfort is eliminated and the element of risk is introduced.
Planting a church can indeed be an exercise in risk taking for the one called to plant it.  However, I would like to recognize those of you who take a much greater risk than anyone who has planted a church, myself included.  I would like to recognize those of you who join a church being planted in its earliest form.  There is little comfort.  There is little convenience.  There is little certainty.  There is plenty of risk.  There is certainly Jesus.  Thank you for weighing it and finding it all worth it.  You and the kingdom will be forever changed.

Arriving and high anxiety

So many emotions, conversations real and imagined, relational in's and out's, and second guessing has transpired over these past several months.  All of them, for good or bad, have combined to place us at this moment in time.  We  find ourselves at the end of Summer, leaning expectantly into the promise of Fall.  The question pressing on me right this moment, at a cafe in Madrona, is whether or not we are in a better place than we were earlier in this journey.  As the year began, it was apparent that we were entering in to the 9 month birthing process that would lead us to the Fall emergence that had been pressed on our hearts from the beginning.  Usually, in the birth process, it takes 9 months for a life to strengthen and prepare itself for life outside of the womb.  Ironically, as the time draws near, there is a tendency to feel more protective of and less secure about the life contained within.  There is also a tendency to just want the process over and the life to arrive.  I used to not appreciate the "birth" terminology in the context of beginning a new church.  This experience has changed me...in ways I am sure that I have still not realized and may not be aware of.  I have to admit that I have found these birth parallels in the process of "birthing" a church to be painfully true.
So I worry.  I worry about the fragility of something that could be gone like a vapor.  I worry about the people who are part of this ... For the sacrifices that they make, for the expectations that may or not be met, for being willing to follow a vision without necessarily having the first hand encounter with it. (Think Noah's wife).  I worry about people who have wandered off, and I worry about whether we can encourage more to join us.  Will we be strong enough without them... The numbers I mean, at least the numbers that I feel we must have for a "healthy" delivery.  I look out about 6 weeks and I worry that we are not strong enough for the rest of the journey...but then I remember, so do all who have parented before me.  There is nothing left to do now but trust in the one who has led us here to this point.  There is nothing left to do now but pray for and through these last few weeks.

desperate awareness of need

Last week, during my reading of our study passage dealing with the sisters Mary and Martha, I was struck by the reality that Jesus is the whole point.  Probably not a great deal of wisdom coming from someone of my profession, but its worth noting all the same.  I have always thought that we as humanity have always made things more complicated than they needed to be.  We always strive for more than we need.  We constantly look for the next best thing.  Even within the realm of Christian community, it would be blasphemy for us to get rid of programs and instead simply invite people to take the time that they would have invested in setting up, pulling off, and soaking in these programs and just simply use it to "be" with Jesus.  Even the story of the fall of mankind is centered on not having enough of what God provided (a relational arrangement), and the felt need to have the next best thing (knowledge of good and evil). 
These few verses in Luke that look in on an otherwise less than interesting vignette of Jesus ministry are so profound though because its the one thing that we can't seem to get a grasp on ... simply time with Jesus.  That's why we began this Summer working on the disciplines of solitude and also the practice of Lectio Divina.  I would argue that these are the most difficult of all the disciplines.  I'd much rather fast than be silent and still for an extended period...and that's saying a great deal.  That's also why we will continue to focus on those two for as long as it takes for us to develop some sense of what I'll call "the desperate awareness of need".  When we long for these times to simply sit at the feet of Jesus, to soak it in, to dump our "to do" list of church stuff, only then will we really be ready for the journey.

Summer

Let's face it ... Summer is absolutely the most difficult time to encourage people to go to church.  It can be a monumental challenge to an established place of ministry with a building, an address, and a pastor waiting to proclaim Gods word to the masses.
Fortunately for us, we are not trying to encourage people to "go to church".  We have neither an address or a building for them to go to.   What we do have, regardless of the season, is the ability to "be the church"... to take Jesus where the people are.  Sharing Jesus, being Jesus, doesn't need a location or a season.  Need doesn't take a break for the Summer.  Brokenness doesn't wait for a more suitable season and neither should the church.

Here are a few opportunities that I believe we can take advantage of that are specific to Summer:

Loving God .... Enjoying some outdoor time in prayer/contemplation/silence
Living Well .... Celebrating with friends at a festival, a local park BBQ, the beach, a hike
Doing Good .... Yard work for a neighbor in need, feeding those who are hungry, a yard sale, a race, or a walk to benefit a local non-profit

Let's not wait until we have an address to invite someone to ... Let's just go and live as we were called

Why Church?

Recently, upon reading through Henry Nouwen's great book "Making All Things New", it was reinforced to me just how critical the idea of "gathering together" is to developing a spiritual life.  In fact, his claim is that it is the combination of the disciplines of solitude and community that makes space for the Spirit of God to work in and through the lives of Jesus followers.  Our culture seems to think that it has the idea of solitude down, if by solitude you mean that there is no need to join together as a "church" in order to really follow Jesus.  As our group has wandered through the discipline of solitude and understood the tremendous difficulty in trying to pry that into our oversaturated lives, I have begun to see the idea of disciplining ourselves for community to be at least as much or possibly even more daunting a task. 
Don't believe me? ... Try establishing a new gathering of people who are already following Jesus during a Seattle Summer and you'll understand a bit more of what I'm referring to.  Here's the thing that we're hitting up against, and by "we" I mean the universal "we" of the Western world version of the Christian faith .... we've not gone about this idea of gathering together as a spiritual discipline.  We've not seen it as ultimately strengthening our movement forward along a path that leads ever closer to Christ.  We see it more as a task, an option, an "if nothing better comes along" event.  Within that framework, just about anything that comes along can be seen as "better"
I will offer that I believe a decent amount of this mentality arrived as a consumer culture collided with the lost mission of too many churches.  Right about the time that it became more about being "right" than offering good news to those who really needed to hear some, people who had consistently gathered began to become inconsistent and then cease altogether.  
We've lost our way ... and this could be seen as totally tragic, except that losing ones way implies that there was once a way that was considered "the way" ... and we could once again be heading that way.   I will insert some pastoral honesty here ... for most of my 20+ years leading churches I would have attributed the inconsistency of my people in their gathering together as their own personal spiritual lacking.  In recent years, with some painful self awareness and evaluation, I have come to the conclusion that I, and others like me, need to own a decent amount of this lacking.  I, as a leader of a gathering of Jesus followers, at this point in the history of the church, have to believe that a decent piece of this just may come from my failure to excite people about the real mission that God has invited us to which can only be accomplished through the gathering known as the church.  We can be on mission with the God of all creativity, and yet we are infected with infighting about how creativity can be expressed.  We can be on mission with the God who owns everything, and yet we sit wringing our hands lamenting how little resources we have.  Is there a wonder that, even among those already trying to follow Jesus that there are always "better" things going on?
We, as these gatherings, have been tasked as well as enabled, to turn our piece of the world, our cities and all of our represented neighborhoods, upside down.   Instead of cowering in the corner of comfort until we have "figured it out", we could run into the wake of the God who has already been there and be filled with the awe and wonder that the Old Testament prophets were able to experience and we have resigned ourselves to merely reading about.  What could be "better" than that?

Does it matter

Yesterday we had the privilege of "Doing Good" along side a local non-profit that we have chosen to partner with.  The group is called "Free Food For All" and literally, their name says it all.  I will tell you considerably more about them along the course of our journey, but for now I will leave you with the simple truth that they are one of the most unassuming, unseen, and yet remarkable groups that I have encountered in over 20 years of pastoral artistry ... and they are right here, in our neighborhood.  Unseen yet literally immeasurable in their care of innumerable people (especially school children) in need in the city of Seattle.
As we prepared lunches for city school children and other food for a neighborhood food bank, I was struck by the enormity of their influence and the passion.  They do so much with so little while operating far out of the mainstream and spotlight.  They struggle, as do so many other groups, connecting people to the idea of "doing good".  In 20 years of leading established churches, and for these past 8 months leading a new church, I know the struggle too well.  In fact, if I could offer a moment of honesty and vulnerability, I would say that there is nothing as crushing to me as apathy to the cause of "doing good" especially when it comes to doing it in the name of Jesus.  If anything would cause me to quit this life and go do something else, it would be an inability to inspire, lead, and help engage people in caring enough about the living out of their own faith proclamation that the natural outflow would be to give a rip about the world that they've been called to live into.  
Last week we began a discussion about spiritual disciplines ... beginning with solitude.  We will continue to learn about and live into these.  They may be tough to master, but oh so worth it.  This week I was reminded that there is a discipline to "doing good".   There is an illusion about the "social consciousness" of Seattle... that we are all out for a cause ... that volunteering is our second language.  Sadly, and it may not be a popular opinion, but I fear it is just that ... its a language.  It's a great deal more talking than walking.  The bright side of this, for the church, especially a new one, is that we could, with discipline, rise far above the crowd and demonstrate once and for all the truth of Jesus 2nd response to the question of "the greatest commandment" ... loving your neighbor as yourself.  It's our message to own and live ... but it is going to take discipline.  It is going to have to be a priority. 
Last night, I looked long and hard at the reality of a relatively small, in numbers, presence.  I witnessed the passion of a group flying somewhat under the radar.  I considered that great cause that we were partnered in, and I asked myself "does it matter"?  Then I watched as a 3 1/2 year old enthusiastically packed lunches for over and hour to be given to hungry children while she repeatedly exclaimed how much they would "just love the yummy fruit".... and I knew that yes, it does in fact matter a great deal.

The good news of discipline

In recent years I seem to have found myself surrounded by people who feel compelled to run.  Nearly every week, if one wanted to, one could sign up to run in a 5K, 10K, half marathon, marathons, Iron Man, Iron Women, Iron Infant, or (insert your group here) type of run.  Occasionally I will secretly want to just sign up and run.  A certain breeze, the temperature, even the feel of my faux running shoes being laced up can burst upon my senses and all of a sudden my legs feel like they were 18 again. I would just know that I was missing out on something wonderful.   Then my brain kicks in and kicks my senses around a bit and asks "what's the matter with you?".  "There's been no training, no build up, no discipline to your body that would even get you through the first city block, what's the matter with you?".
  I used to view various spiritual "disciplines" as those practices mastered by a select few saints throughout the ages who happened to hold abnormally close relationships to God.  I told myself this as an excuse to avoid the futility of pursuing these at all costs.  To be perfectly honest, my evangelical influences didn't do a great deal to discourage this thought process.  Faith, after all, was to be excercised, which, in the Western world, means go, go, go.  As I got older, like so many others of my kind, I began to feel like I was missing out.  There must be something more to this life.  And I would look longingly at these giants of the faith and want to just jump in and "be spiritual"...you know, all Nike "just do it" like.  Soon after, within a spiritual "city block" I'd give up, frustrated and convinced even more that these relationships were not for mere mortals like me.  In all of this I felt deep in my heart that I was missing something ... and I am beginning to understand that I was right.  But it wasn't what I thought.  It was hidden right in front of me.  It's actually contained in the phrase "Spiritual Disciplines".  Did you catch it?  Discipline.  It implies there will be work involved ... training, practice, growth, strengthening, stamina building work.
In our current call to build community and relationships in a city that lives and breathe the go, go, going of "successful and fulfilled" lives, I can't believe that good news for them is the additional go, go, going that we frequently connect to a church community.  That only leads to exhaustion of the worst kind...exhaustion of the soul.  This week our group begins the journey of exploring various spiritual practices and the discipline to develop them and move towards a refreshing, life giving, and life giving away faith in Christ that truly is good news to people on the treadmill.  Let me repeat that it's a journey ... It's not a class, a workshop, a sermon ... It's a journey.  This week we begin by exploring the practice and discipline of solitude.  Watch this page for exercises, reminders and best practices as we journey together.

Do Over

In my opinion, from personal experience, the greatest news of that which we know to be the "Good News" of Jesus is that we all, every one of us, gets what we in common language know as "do overs".  The good news of Jesus is that we get a new opportunity for a reconnected relationship with God, beyond our own meager efforts.  We have, despite our failed attempts and brokenness, the ability to get back up and walk again with the savior who stoops down to lift us from our falls.  The beauty of the church is that we find our falls not to be such lonely and isolated incidents as our adversary would have us believe.  We find common ground from which to stand and we find others to cheer us on as we dust ourselves off and continue on our journey.  If you missed our Common Table gathering this past Sunday, you didn't miss "church".  You missed dinner together where we sat together, laughed together, reflected together and identified with stories different, yet not so different from our own.  You missed learning together, smaller groups within a larger whole, who didn't simply "listen" to a passage from the bible but entered in to the passage sharing stories, journey's, and reflections on the timelessness of God's word for those who seek to follow.  You missed our discovery of the difference between a prescribed "this is how you do church" method and what the bible identified as a descriptive "this is how faith is reflected" expression of people who have joined in God's mission.  You missed the realization and reaffirmation that "church" was not a Sunday, one day, expression of a love for Jesus and people.  It is an organic, ever present and fluid movement of God's people, any day and every way.  You missed the resulting call and response to action. 
You may have missed this past week, but the good news is that you, like the rest of us, have a "do ever" -  another chance to join us around the "Common Table" of Jesus and our desire to love him and love like him in the context of the city. 

See you Sunday? or Friday or any other day for that matter.

It's time for Lent

The season of Lent is upon us.  It's traditionally a season of remembrance and observation of the 40 days that Jesus spent in the desert before beginning his public ministry.  By nature it is a time that demands a measure of discipline.  It is a time when a good practice of various spiritual disciplines, like scripture reading, prayer and fasting may take place.  It is made that much more difficult in the frantic pace that most of live in.  That also makes it that much more rewarding when we get to dig in to the practices that serve to draw us closer to Christ. 
To help facilitate your own observation and offer you a time of peace and direction, this blog will offer a number of references that we hope you will take advantage of.  They are gleaned from a great many sources and although those sources are public, the originators of them will be acknowledged when possible. 

Enjoy the season ... soak it in....let these resources guide you.  The first ones are for the entire season of Lent ... a Bible reading plan through the Gospels in 40 days as well as a guided prayer source.

• The Bible plan is courtesy of Grace Avenue United Methodist Church in Frisco, TX
• The prayer guide is compliments of the Irish Jesuits

moving ahead ... the party continues

So the party this past Sunday was a great "launch" to the work of planting a new church community here in South Lake Union.  It was a great collection of friends, both old and new from here in the neighborhood and throughout Seattle.  The food was excellent and plentiful, like any good party should have.  The conversations were connecting and hopefully, a vision for the future was planted in the hearts of those who were there.  So, as I'm particularly fond of asking after coming to a point like this, now what?  Where do we go?  How do we move forward?  Just what, exactly is the next step?
I'm glad you asked ... it is simply this, connection.  Common Table is a relational expression of the church, upward towards God, inwards towards each other, and then outwards to our community and beyond.  In order for relationships to work, grow, thrive, and be expressed, they need to be connected.
The opportunities are many and varied...below are listed the beginnings of them:

• Tuesday evening  Study group at the Jacobs in Stack House apts, 2 Tuesdays each month beginning March 4th ... email Dan for details
• Saturday March 8th ... bowling party @ West Seattle Bowl ... rsvp here
• Sunday March 23rd "Launch party #2" at the lounge at Stack House apts 5pm ... bring someone who hasn't been
• April 13th  Dinner and worship 5pm ... watch for details
• April 20th ... Easter lunch BBQ in the park ... watch for details
• May 17th ... Lake Union Sweep neighborhood service event 8am-1pm

Anyone and everyone is welcome ... lets stay connected

Now it's a party

We are having a party!!!  In 1 week and a day, Sunday February 23rd we will hit the ground running here in the South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle, by literally throwing a party.  We felt it only fitting that, since Jesus uses some party imagery when it comes to the kingdom, we should present the gathering of people seeking to follow him as a party.  Let's be honest, that's about as far from stereotype as we can get.  Not long after the guest of honor left for a better party 2000 + years ago! people of our faith and following have, by and large, lost the ability to feel comfortable at parties, let alone throw them.  We would like to invoke the right to "do over" as given by Jesus himself and begin this presence centered around the value of a good party.  There will be food ... Of course ... And something even better, a chance to connect with other party goers.  Of course since it will be the first gathering of this sort for us, we will also point people towards future parties, worship gatherings, and opportunities to connect in the city and grow the party larger.  Everyone is welcome ... It's being held in a great place to hold a party, the lounge at Stackhouse apartments, from 5 until 6:30 or whenever people decide to wander off.  You are invited ... Bring a friend ... Bring two... Sunday February 23rd, the party starts.

The real issue

For any of you who are under the illusion that I really know what I'm doing in this recently chosen path of church planting in Seattle, let me give you a bit of insight into the inner workings of my spirit.  Most days I have no idea what I am doing it or why I was chosen to do it.  Far be it from me to put myself into the life of one of our heroes of faith, but if I could, then I guess I could compare it a bit to God's discussion with Abram ... "Go the land that I will show you".  That about sums it up.  I didn't and continually don't have much more direction than that.  Let me break it down a bit:  "Go" is indicative of the timing, as in right now.  And "to the land I will show you" gives an indication of direction/location.  The problem is there is not much in the way of "How".  If you read through the rest of the story, you'll spend most of your time thinking "he did what?" when it comes to Abram, soon to be Abraham's actions over the course of the rest of his journey to follow the "Go " part. 
I will be honest that sometimes, in the dark quiet of the morning, when I have my time alone with the one who said "Go", that my fears poured out all center around those who will ultimately play armchair quarterback when looking upon the details and logistics of my journey to "the land I will show you".  What will they think?  How will I be remembered?  How will I justify this, that, or any other decision that I make?  In times of confidence I realize that just as Abram was called to "go", so was I the one who was called to "go".  I have little to no right to look upon his story with anything other than amazement that God could use the broken wanderings of a follower to accomplish anything.  In the same way I take confidence that neither does anyone have that right in watching my own journey.  Now don't get me wrong, this isn't meant to imply that I'm immune to correction or advice.  It just means that I don't have to wonder what others who haven't walked in my shoes might think about the steps that I take in those shoes.
This morning I was reading a blog post from someone I have come to greatly appreciate over the last few years.  It was a great example of what ultimately could be seen as either a tragedy or a victory for the local church.  It all depends on how you look at it.  I decided to share it with my friends in Facebook land to get their response.  I was hoping to create a constructive and thought provoking dialogue.  Instead it got mired down in the same timeless arguments that have come to symbolize much of what's been criticized about our kind.  I, being in a city like Seattle, and desperately trying to love and value every individual as bearers of God's image, read this post about a church not all that far from here through very different lenses.  I will be honest, I was terrified of what I read.  Please take a moment to go back and read the post and then you may understand where I am coming from.  It doesn't end well.  Don't make the mistake of getting caught up in the issue as, lets be honest, the issue in question could be, and has been, exchanged for any number of issues over the years.  The longer I walk this path, the more I have peace in my heart that the only issue that should ever be at stake within a worshipping body of Jesus followers is Jesus himself.  The only question that I, as a pastoral artist, should be aiming at a heart is "Who is Jesus to you?".  The beauty of my calling, if I allow it, is simply to introduce people to Jesus.  I am not a healer, I cannot offer penance even though I have Catholic roots.  People need to see Jesus in me and I need to see people to Jesus.  He can do whatever heavy lifting that he see's necessary.  He certainly did it and continues to do it with me.
Some who are reading this will now undoubtedly begin to discount me as being surface, soft, a universalist, whatever.  I certainly have theological and doctrinal opinions.  I have a graduate degree to demonstrate that I have had to put some decent thought and money into acquiring them.   But lets be honest, despite anyone's theological and doctrinal convictions, this story that I am talking about did not turn out well... or at least it didn't appear to.  A vibrant ministry is now gone as a result of one of the same disputes that we as Jesus people have regularly day in and day out.  Good people of faith on each side were at an impasse.  You may not agree, but I can see life from both sides.  Each was between a rock and a hard place.  My decision, had it been mine to make, would have angered some. Fortunately it wasn't mine to make ... at least not yet.  Before anyone gets critical of the "issue", try to look into the hearts of the people involved.  It's a lonely place to be, but one that we are sometimes called to be.  I was reminded by my son in a conversation today about this piece.  He said "Dad, you always taught us to stand up for what is right, even if you're standing alone".  I am OK with that I guess...mostly because I am confident that ultimately I won't be alone.

We are having a baby !!!

 

No really, we are.  Our due date is September 7th ... No really, it is.  Ironically, or not, it also happens to be my birthday.  While a physical birth in the case of Joanne and I might have as much of a chance of happening as it did for Zechariah and Elizabeth, we are certainly in the midst of a spiritual birth process.  As the calendar turned to 2014 a few weeks back, on contemplating the timeline of 9 months before the official birth of Common Table, Joanne commented that this was going to be much like having a baby.  I will take her word on this as one having experienced it first hand.
As we have talked through this analogy, it has become so much clearer for my "guy" brain to see how this absolutely fits.  See if you can follow me on this:

• Anxiously questioning  "what are we doing?" "How did we get here?" "How can we afford to do this?"
• Settling in to the reality that "we are doing this and this is the arrival date"
• Sharing the news with those who hold emotions everywhere from "that's amazing" to "what were they thinking?"
• Morning sickness ... Those days when I wake up and want to cash it in and give up
• Realizing that giving up is not an option and that "this too shall pass"
• 2nd trimester
• Feeling completely inadequate for the task and responsibility
• Preparation mode ... Where will this baby live
• Enlisting ... "Help!!!"  (Think showers and gifts)
• Announcements ... The where and when of the blessed event
• 3rd trimester
• Bigger and more uncomfortable
• It's time
• Oh my!
• Now what?

And to be honest, sometimes it all takes place in our minds on the same day.  It's a crazy ride with so much eternity in the balance.  Fortunately, as is the case in so many birth processes, we don't do this alone.  In fact we weren't meant to do it alone.  We have friends, we have family, we have well wishers and others who are anxiously awaiting the birth.  There are even those who, at present, have no idea that their lives are about to be touched by a new birth.  They have no idea that their story is about to collide with ours and be introduced to the larger story that God is writing.  So many possibilities locked into the promise of a new birth.

But here's the thing...as is the case with so many births that take place across the world every day, this does not occur in a vacuum.  It happens in the presence of others.  It happens through the presence of others.   I can tell you from experience that it is a wonderful thing to be supporting the birth of a new church.  Joanne and I have lived this in recent years through our support of churches in El Paso and Buffalo.  I can tell you from experience that it is not merely "giving money". It is literally watching something transform from dream, God's dream, to reality.  We have watched, with a measure of pride and satisfaction as both of these churches took their first steps, knowing that we had a small part in it.  I used to think that it was a small part taking part in this way.  I have since learned that there are no small parts in this process.  God uses every gift and individual in profound ways.  We have found ourselves changed by the process.

For the next 9 months we will be actively part of this birth narrative here in Seattle.  We will be faithful to it and we will bring others along who can, in the end, say that "I was part of new life". Many have contributed to the earliest days of this journey, but we would love to bring more along. We would love to have more experience the joy of a new life, one that ultimately leads to eternal life.  Would you consider joining us for this nine month countdown to arrival...join us in prayer and join us financially, either with a special one time gift or a 9 month commitment.  It's very easy to do and it's a very powerful spiritual journey that you can embark on.  Just go to this link for all the details on giving to the birth of Common Table.  Then enjoy the journey ... you'll be brought along for a very incredible ride ... and just like us, you'll never be the same.

(if you choose to give a gift, be sure to note it for "Common Table")