So, grab a version for your phone and iPad and tell a friend! 

Happy Fall! 

The London riots reveal much about human nature. Perhaps this footage captures it best of all. A young man who's been beaten, sitting in his own blood is helped to his feet by supposed "good Samaritans" only to be robbed as soon as he gets up. 

The avarice of western culture stoops to a new low as we show ourselves to regard "things" above people. 

The BBC article is here.

[Warning: Explicit language in raw footage shot by onlookers]

What you can expect
We’ll be doing a mixture of Q/A Forums and preaching, depending on the venue. The Forums give readers a chance to ask questions following a host-facilitated interview. We recently did this with our friends at Plywood People and it was a great time.

If you’re a church and you’d like to have us come share at your Sunday service we’ll be doing that as well. If you’re interested in having us come for a visit contact us here.

We’ll be meeting at: Churches, Cafes, College Campuses and even House Parties. Do you have a creative idea for a gathering then contact us and tell us all about it.

See you on the road!

Tentative Schedule:

Aug/Sept
- Atlanta, GA
- Lititz, PA
- Lancaster, PA
- Portland, OR
- Cleveland, OH
- Columbus, OH

Oct/Nov
- Atlanta, GA
- Sioux Falls, SD

Cheers,
Tim and Jason
 

In the wake of progressing Christian culture new studies have emerged giving us societal projections on the future of North American Christian culture. The studies aggregated research from The Pew Foundation, The Marcus Buckingham Fan Club, The Barna Facebook Group and a random sampling of 14 power Tweeters. This new intelligence is creating quite a stir in elite Christian circles as the old-guard clamor to stay ahead of the cultural curve, keeping their ministries and their nonprofit startups on the bleeding edge of culture.

According to the research, here are some projections of what it will look like to be a Christian in the West in the not too distant future. Be sure to bookmark and share with your leadership group.

The future post-Christian hipster (FPCH):

- has agreed with Rob Bell’s thesis that hell is not a real place but instead a swinging door for pagans. With this news, a new sect of Christianity emerges claiming the “real hell” as reading Carlos Whittaker’s blog.

- has embraced TOMS Homes ever since Blake Mycoskie scaled his operation to benefit homeless. For every uncomfortable TOMS house you buy Blake will build and give one, even more uncomfortable, house away to a homeless person.

-have abandon historical “salvation prayer” to ask Jesus in to their hearts and instead opt for controversial new method of standing in front of a mirror and saying “Beetlejuice” three times in a row.

- has rejected Wendell Berry ever since the Coen Brothers adapted Frank Peretti’s This Present Darkness into an Academy Award winning movie. Wendell Berry out. Frank Peretti in.

- has rejected social media technology and now must send 140 character letters via US Postal Service.

- have created a film adaptation of Mere Christianity. The film has not done well because some FPCH’s have rejected it as too-cool. Instead, Sun Stand Still is the new Mere Christianity.

- have finally unionized and formerly voted James Dobson out of Christianity, as well as any other Christian leader who has a haircut that they deem “unhip.”

-secretly reads James Dobson’s parenting books

- abandon satellite churches in favor of the much hipper hologram services. Thanks to advance technology (and $13.95/month) you can have Andy Stanley preaching in your living room or leading your small group. (hologram services are pre-recorded)

- must memorize John C. Maxwell’s 21 Irrefutable Laws because science confirms that 19 of the 21 Laws are, in fact, irrefutable.

Of Note:

With clean water no longer an issue in third world countries Christians new cause-related issue is water safety courses around wells in third world countries.

Donald Miller sets record by speaking at every Christian conference possible, twice. He also stars in a movie about a movie about a book about a movie being written about himself. Working title: Adaptation 2.

Although 85% of Christians remain unemployed since quitting their day job, Stuff Christians Like is still popular but no one remembers why.

In an attempt to corner the evangelical leadership market the Catalyst Conference expands its one-day events to every day of the year, calling it Catalyst 365. The new event causes a massive spike in the sales of Diesel jeans. Diesel soon becomes the world’s richest company.

Francis Chan finally emerges after 20 years of seclusion in India with 20 orphans and throws the Christian world in a spin claiming that he is no longer retired, but “semi-retired.” Sales of “semi-retired” leather belts go through the roof as Christians clamor to own one.

John Piper begins a new discipleship program centered on Twitter etiquette.

Hawaii rejects their own shirts after Rick Warren refuses to stop wearing them.

Due to prohibition, bars are forced to meet in churches.

Authors Tim and Jason are just having a bit of fun and have something to sell you and thought that since provocation seems to be the only thing that sells books, they'd give it a whirl. Order their book Veneer: Living Deeply In A Surface Society here ... The book is not funny.

Multi-site Churches, Christianity Today

You may not be able to sit on the bank of a raging river like this, but today make your movement be exclusively toward Him. Just be. Find a place, even for a moment, and whisper a prayer, sing a Psalm and re-center.

Sometimes, especially on Mondays, we need to run to the waters of God's voice, throwing ourselves before Him, aching for His presence, bathing in His glory. 

For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. (2 Chronicles 16:9)

Byron Babione of the Alliance Defense Fund, a coalition of Christian lawyers, attributed the April ruling to a “political movement afoot to undermine and destroy marriage.” Baptist Press, the publications arm of the Southern Baptist Convention,ran an article that quoted Babione as saying the ruling reflected “a campaign to place adult wants and desires over the best interests of children."

On one hand, these comments aren’t surprising. Conservative evangelicals have decried “the anti-family gay agenda” for decades. On the other, they underscore the way many Christians denounce a social problem that they have no plan for solving.

Read more ... 

Looking at a veneered person is like looking through a windshield during a downpour. The wipers can’t keep up with the amount of rain and everything looks exaggerated and blurry. What is real? What is part of the blur? What we see does not represent the reality of the landscape—distortion prevails.

Now imagine being that veneered person. When we veneer ourselves we become like the distorted landscape except the rains never cease. We are trapped in the blur.

In our culture perception equals reality and most of us find nothing inherently wrong with a little false perception as long as it's cloaked in savvy marketing language or makes us relevant or makes us accepted or draws traffic to our site or inflates our platform or elevates our reputation or shows our neighbors we have it all together or hides the hurt we keep lugging around. 

We find comfort in the blur.

But living in a blurry reality diminishes more than our true selves, it diminishes our representation of God and attacks the meaning and purpose with which He made us. When God used language to create the heavens and the earth and humankind he communicated more than our current physical reality, he communicated himself.

Augustine says that God does not speak with man through the medium of matter but “He speaks by means of the truth itself.”

Theologian J.I. Packer in Knowing God says truth is a quality of God. It's not that God holds truth or procures it from another source; He is truth. The Psalmist says, “Your words are truth.” When we have God we have truth, absolute—our point of origin. And we do have Him: we all of us have Him, though our relationship to him was distorted by the Fall. 

Truth then resides in humankind as part of our being—it is a trace element of God we carry from creation.

Through Christ's blood of redemption we can know truth, not in a fragmented way, but in an unfolding way throughout our lives as we grow into Him and His love. But mankind thinks he can, like he does with everything else, create his own truth by way of veneer—inflating a society with things that appear to represent reality but actually perpetuate a culture of lies.

Man does not realize, however, that he is annihilating himself as a created being. For he, as God’s created wonder, is a truth bearer. By ignoring God and creating his own truth mankind essentially destroys the very thing that separates him from the animals—a soul.

Why do we insist on living a life that rips itself away from its Source? This is what veneer does to us as people and as a society. Though it covers over and hides, it also tears away at our core—our essence. Humanity cannot be diminished like this without serious ramifications. A veneer society—a half-truth society, a society that glories in self, a society that celebrates the violent—is no society at all. It is, rather, a languid gathering of humans who have no bearing; who are adrift of purpose.

Renowned journalist Malcolm Muggeridge writes:

… It has become abundantly clear in the second half of the twentieth century that Western Man has decided to abolish himself. Having wearied of the struggle to be himself, he has created his own boredom out of his affluence, his own impotence out of his own erotomania, his own vulnerability out of his own strength; himself blowing the trumpet that brings the walls of his own city tumbling down … (Christ and The Media)

Here in the 21st century we read these words and realize Muggeridge still speaks into our context. But we have erected more than city’s for ourselves. We have erected a tower not unlike Babel. And it is starting to tumble.

Today presents us with a new opportunity though. It's the opportunity to pull ourselves from the blur and to live unafraid and unmasked. It's the opportunity to live truthfully in the Truth.

 Step out from the blur.

1. Be A Risk Taker 

Most of us sit in small groups and wait for someone else to break the ice and get to the grit of life. Your small group will remain a stagnant and awkward discussion of acquaintances if you do not take a risk and share. Take a risk and be that person to break the ice. Read number two to get some advice on what to share. 

2. Be Honest, Not Annoying

The only thing worse than awkward silence in a small group is the guy or gal who does not know what "TMI" means. Use discernment. You don't have to share you deepest darkest secrets with complete strangers. Share what you've been learning in your personal bible study. Share a victory you had this week: at work, in your spiritual life, in your family relationships. Share some thoughts you have regarding this weeks sermon. The idea is to just be you ... be honest but try to use baby steps with how much you unload. 

3. Be Gracious

Maybe someone else took the risk plunge. Great! Support their honesty and vulnerability with gracious follow up comments or questions . If the situation warrants it, offer to lead in prayer. If you can relate, say so and share. Maybe the group got off on a tangental conversation. Cool! Don't be Mr. or Mrs. Spiritual-hardcore. Go with it. Allow the group conversation to ebb and flow. How would you participate in a conversation at the restaurant or pub? Do that! Natural conversation in a group helps build trust among members and reveals personal affinities, which will ultimately be connection points later on. 

It seems like after we all left the playground we forgot how to be and make friends. Maybe its time to get back to the tether-ball line and take some notes on how to connect with each other. But even if you don't have a tether-ball pad in your small group, we hope these tips help. 

Looking for some good discussion fodder for your small group? Stay tuned for our Group Discussion Study Guide coming soon. Sign up on our mailing list to be notified about its release. 

Cheers,

Tim and Jason

The boys navigated the trail at their own hyper-pace. Always a “hey, slow down” away from the rest of us they jumped—more like skipped-hopped-leaped—from boulder to rock to boulder. Each section of the path was a new adventure, a new discovery. To them, we were deep in the wilderness fighting for survival. 

“WHOA! Look, over here. What’s this plant, Dad? Is it poisonous? I’m like Bear Grylls, Dad. I can climb up this rock then straddle down the crack. ”

My family and I were enjoying a hike in Yosemite National Park. Five days earlier we  entered on California route 140, through the Big Oak Flat entrance, and snaked our way through the mountains that lead to the valley floor, the most visited section of the park. Each turn in the road uncovered a new view of the surrounding mountains and the meadows below, each vista more majestic and grand than the one before.

The drive down the mountain, and anywhere in the park, feels like a tease; as if God is saying, “Oh yeah, you think that is amazing? Well, wait until you drive around the bend and see what I did over there.”

CA-140 eventually winds itself down and, almost out of nowhere, you see the breathtaking El Capitan, the largest granite monolith in the world. The giant slab looks like his name implies; a mighty general—a Stonewall Jackson sort of character—posing for his portrait after a hard-fought battle.

Before you can catch your breath you notice, off to the east, Half Dome, a massive mountain-hook stretching high into the air to snag the clouds that brush over its tip. This goliath dome seems untouchable as it reaches an elevation of 8,800 feet. Together, the two mountains stand on either side of the valley floor as if keeping guard over the wildflowers that sprinkle the meadow.

If you think you know something about God visit Yosemite, then think again. The immensity and awe-inspiring wonder of the park annihilates any preconceived ideas you might have about majesty or beauty or creativity.

“Baby bear, baby bear, baby bear.”

Her made up song echoed in my ear as we made our way up the trail to Vernal Fall, a 300-foot waterfall that flows off the Merced River. At our final stop on the trail a wooden bridge crossed a section of the falls. The boys continued on to chase squirrels and explore. Mom took baby girl for a snack and I took the Kelty off to give my barking back a break.

As I stood by myself on the bridge, gaping at the mountainscape, I tried to process the whole trip and everything I had seen in the park. Standing there, suspended among the majesty, it was hard not to feel like a tiny speck of nothingness on a microcosm of a vast, endless, infinitely undiscoverable universe.

I wondered how God could remember me, Jason. With all of creation—with all these grand mountains surrounding me—how could he care for and love and keep a tight hold of something as comparatively insignificant as little me.

As the sobering thought bounced around my mind the water below crashed against a rock and a mist brushed against my face. For a second, the cool, refreshing mist felt like God had reached down and gently kissed me on the cheek.

And there, on a bridge guarded by the granite captain himself I was reminded that I may be a tiny dot in the middle of infinite wonder, but he knows me by name. He knows the hairs on my head and the moles on my back and the scars of my heart. I was reminded by that mist-kiss that no matter how big the cosmos may be, he is with me.