Where have I been?

It's been a while since my last post, but life has been continuing, surging even. I've probably got a few posts 'built up' in me now, so we'll see if I increase my 4 posts-per-year average. Much is afoot.

A few highlights from the last several months, that I hope to explore more fully in some upcoming posts:

• On a personal note, I continue to be drawn to the core of Christianity. I love keeping the main thing the main thing. That, of course, begs the question, but more on that later. Suffice it to say for now that Jesus, the kingdom he announced (and leads), the way of living he taught and modeled, the real help he offers in this world and the next--I'm still amazed and pulled by that Core. I love hearing and thinking about what he's really offering us all.
• The (12) steps are back. Well, they never totally went away; I just semi-stalled in doing them. The fact that I was largely doing them on my own may have had a bit to do with that, and the return of traveling partners is part of their resurgence. More on that later.
• Ecclesiology is also on my mind (i.e., how the heck can we be most helpful to each other? i.e., once we collectively accept a 'get Christ fully formed within' goal in place of a 'get your ticket to heaven' goal, does anything stay the same in corporate life !?!, i.e., if . . . you get the idea). Much more to come.
• Relatedly, A new book released by Frank Viola and George Barna called Pagan Christianity? is going to be shaking things up all things 'church' for a while. There's already a lot one can read about it online--it's an explosive book. Personally, I'm not as interested right now in deconstructing typical church patterns and paradigms (the goal of this book) as I am in constructing helpful ones. Regardless, this book is and will continue to be an important piece. More on that later as well.
• I've been deepening my connection to the folks at Urban Youth Impact for some time. The small church, of which I am part, that was recently born out of this 'parachurch' ministry is, right now, trying to follow Jesus into restructuring ourselves around a shared goal of maturity, of "Christ formed fully within." We're also finding some ways to pursue this without constantly leading from the top down. Very exciting.

Anyway, it'll be good for me, I think, to flesh a lot of these things out--and soon. Maybe even more helpful to get feedback. And yes, other than the Pagan Christianity bit, all the above are related.

God's love to you.