Nights of Justice

if you add a k to the front of my post title, it sounds like a cheesy band name…

anyway- i just wanted announce that we will be kicking off our nights of justice initiative this saturday. the idea came out of a desire to engage nccers throughout the year and expand the idea of the week of justice that we do every summer. it was our hope, that along with the a1:8 missions projects, we would be able to facilitate some more awareness raising about some of the issues that are currently plaguing our world.

this weekend, we will kick off our events with a new documentary from international justice mission called, ‘at the end of slavery.’ we will follow it up with a q&a panel.

it is important for the church to be aware of such issues- for it is our duty to loosen the chains of oppression as we follow Christ. and if the church would rise together to concentrate on the things the gospel speaks to clearly- we could overturn a lot of darkness.

*hasler

Staff Planned

the past few days have been extremely busy for ncc. we had our annual trip up to the inner harbor in baltimore, md for our staff planning retreat. it is a two day cluster of brainstorming, meetings, personal planning and prayer- all to set course and make some plans for the upcoming year.

it is truly amazing the way that the Lord has used this gathering in the past to spark ideas that really have set major initiatives into motion. every year, there are a few key ideas that are conceived there, and it is certainly no exception this time around. i won’t mention a lot here since there is a lot of fleshing out yet to be done before we unveil some of these things, but i can say that there is a ton on the horizon, and it is all really good stuff.

finally- i just have to state that i think the staff is in a really good place. i think each member of the team is going through a little bit of a personal revival in some way shape or form. i have talked one on one with so many people that are either rethinking how they do things in ministry or even life. it is a healthy sign to see people who take seriously their personal growth and put the things that they do on the altar now and again. in addition to that, i think we are in a good place as a greater staff. i feel like there is great chemistry on the team and a lot of mutual respect- which is vital for cohesion in mission.

so i’m coming out of chesapeake inlet inspired and encouraged- it’s going to be one crazy 2010…

*hasler

Daily Bread

last monday i taught about prayer at alpha and one of the things that i focused on was what is best known as, ‘the Lord’s prayer.’ it’s called that, because it is what Jesus taught his followers to pray during the sermon on the mount.

and i want to focus specifically here on one of the lines that i think is interesting- ‘give us this day our daily bread.’

now at first read, it seems like this is a pretty simple part of the structure of the prayer. it is the part where we ask God to provide for us, right? in a way yes, but i think that the implications of this can mean different things to different people in various places. let’s look at two different scenarios:

first of all, for a person in the developing world who may be in constant search for scarce resources to provide for basic nutrition- it can be a very literal prayer of, Lord, please provide for my sustenance today… and not only me, but those around me in my community. in this way, the prayer can be applied very literally.

but what about for the person who has enough? what about us, in the rich developed world? is it just a lip service prayer? i think there are two ways of applying this part of the prayer to our lives. first of all, it can be a prayer of humility. asking, even if we think that we have enough (or indeed already do have enough in our cabinets, refrigerators and pantries…) we still can pray that the Lord gives us our daily bread as a way of recognizing His provision and our reliance upon Him.

the second implication for us however, is a little more tricky. and it is a concept that i am borrowing from shane claiborne and john wilson-hartgrove from their book, ‘becoming the answer to our prayers.’ when we pray for daily bread, it can actually be a prayer of restraint. it is a check on our spirit that we do only collect that what we need for the day. much like the story of the miraculous provision of food from heaven during the exodus, the Lord instructs them to only collect for the one day and one day only. it was a test of faith.

so next time you pray the Lord’s prayer, think about what it means to some to actually have to pray for daily bread- then think about the restraint that you could show to help that happen for others. there is enough food to go around for everyone, if we would all only take what we needed…

let’s think about restraint and sharing, as we build our faith.

*hasler

Clergification

i love the term ‘clergification.’ i’m pretty sure ed stetzer made it up… but i could be wrong. either way, one of the most profound things that he said at the one day event last week in chicago was in regard to this idea.

he said that one of the more major reasons for the reformation was the rejection of the priestly caste in the catholic church. the reformers did not think that there should be a buffer zone between God and the people.

ed’s observation however, is such: “a typical protestant church today looks a lot like a catholic church before the reformation.”

wow, that is a bold statement. what he was basically saying though, was that much like the priests then, pastors today operate in a way that gives them certain privileges. a new system is created where: ‘the holy man goes and gets a message and then brings it back to the people…’

this in turn, stunts the growth and participation of the congregation in the mission of the Kingdom of God. it, in his mind, creates a dependent/co-dependent relationship between the pastor and the people. and a vicious cycle ensues. this was just a small sample of a much longer talk on how and why church leaders inhibit their people (even if unintentionally) from being actively engaged in expanding the Kingdom.

*hasler

aone:eight

we just re-launched our a1:8 missions and outreach site here at ncc.
it’s super rockin’

we are on a rotation to post stuff to the blog portion of it, and i am on for this week. so for further writing from me, you can check out the new aoneeight website.

i just posted one thought from my time at the one day conference event on church planting and the missional church with ed stetzer.

*hasler

James 1

business abounds lately and i have been a little computerless in the process, so i haven’t had much time to blog… not that i haven’t had plenty of blogworthy moments.

i’m hoping to get some catching up done this afternoon on the events of last week and the weekend.

in the meantime, i’ll leave a link to james 1. it was the text for our morning prayer and devotion at my house. we are trying to start a new tradition to help affirm and encourage each other and our community at large. we had a good start this morning, talking about being determined in action and allowing God to steer our course once we get moving. we talked about the dangers of apathy and indecision. these are both important things as we attempt to follow Christ and live in community with one another.

so, i guess you can say, we got the boat moving- and i’m excited to see where the Lord takes us.

*hasler

Off to Chitown

so i was blessed with another amazing ‘convergence’ in this discerning process on berlin. last week, the father of an ncc-er was in town visiting his daughter and had a meeting with pmark. i happened to run across the two of them in the office that day and mark introduced us. we ended up heading downstairs to ebenezers to share a coffee and talk about life and ministry- specifically the berlin project.

so it turns out that this guy is in charge of the great lakes region of a denomination and has relationship with a lot of the people that we have been talking to and working with in berlin. additionally he told me that one of the berlin church planters that we met with in august was going to be in the u.s. to attend a church-planting roundtable session with ed stetzer. he invited me to come and join them and so off i go.

i’m excited about the opportunity to talk about planting, but also to reconnect with this pastor from berlin. in the final weeks before the decision deadline, it will also good to be out of the day to day here in dc and hopefully get some clarity on the issue while back home. either way- this is a great blessing, and i’m excited about what will come of it all.

*hasler

Holy Detours

last nite at alpha i talked about prayer- what it is, why we do it and how God answers. it was the first time that i did a full on 45 minute teaching. i thought that it went well and i hope that it was meaningful for some people. the script for alpha is already pretty much written out- so it was definitely a challenge to ‘own it’ myself and put passion behind it.

one of the points that i made, was that it is good to get into the routine of making prayer the first thing that you do when you wake up. getting into the habit of making your first thoughts of the day directed toward God can really be beneficial in starting your day off right. not only is it a tangible way of ‘putting God first’ but it also sets the tone for the day. it prepares your eyes, ears and heart- that you would encounter and notice all of the things that God would have you notice.

so of course, this morning i was very mindful of taking my own advice. and well, it certainly worked. tuesday is staff meeting day and it is the one day that i absolutely need to be in the office at a very specific time. so i stood and waited for the bus, only to see that it was running late and the only way i would make it on time would be to walk (in the rain, by the way, thanks d6 line)

so i took off walking and as i got down about 3 blocks, with a rob bell podcast in my ear, i noticed a woman yelling and causing a ruckus. i popped out my headphones and looked down the street only to see a group of about 5 kids wailing on somebody, beating them up violently and others standing by. it was quite a distance away and through a lot of traffic, which impeded me from running over to intervene- not to mention, the mob was about 10 people. so instead i dailed 911, waited for the police to come and pointed them in the right direction. i took a few moments to pray and then hurried off to work.

ironically the podcast that i was listening to was on forgiveness and rob was talking about revenge- and how it always is dangerous and always escalates. and i can only imagine what the impetus for this fight was. was it revenge? a lot of violence that goes down in my neighborhood is rooted in gang and turf wars. it is this sort of ‘you did this to us, now we’re going to retaliate’ kind of thing- and rob is right- it always escalates and becomes more and more violent. it is a vicious circle. and the only true antidote to stand in and stop the process is Jesus’ teaching of turning the other cheek. it is the anti-revenge model…

i pray that these kids could find this sort of revelation-

*hasler

Alpha

this evening i get the privilege to serve the ncc community by teaching this week’s alpha course at ebenezers. every year, we run the alpha course twice- and try to incorporate some live speakers from the staff throughout the 12 week course.

this week the focus in on prayer… and while the talk’s main points are scripted, there is a lot of room to personalize it with your own stories, quotes and illustrations.

i’m looking forward to sharing with the group- and i do indeed consider it a privilege, because it is through alpha that so many people begin for the first time, or are renewing their spiritual journey.

pray for me as i talk about prayer…

*hasler

Joshua 8:5

this is for me- and it’s from monday-
i think it’s pretty noteworthy.
more on that later…

*hasler