When The Stakes Are High

My church leadership retreat last month was themed "All In." There was image of a poker table; two hands pushed poker chips, a cell phone, and credit card to the center of the table. Wait - gambling as a theme for a church leadership retreat? Hey, it was just a metaphor. (Side note: One of my high school youth retreats was centered entirely on the movie "Zoolander." I'll be the first to admit that church themes can be ridiculous!)

Think about it like this: are you "all in"? Are you committed to the work of God - or just letting life pass you by? God wants all us of - not just the leftovers. It's like privacy settings on Facebook: God doesn't want to see your "limited profile," he wants to see EVERYTHING, even those pictures we're not proud of, or those not-so-glorifying wall posts. We need to hand over our time, money, and talent to worship him.

Some of my key takeaways:

• More than anything, God wants us to humble ourselves.
• Community is messy.
• We were born to take risks.
• Mess is inherent with spiritual growth.
• Whose mat do I carry? Who carries me? 
• In everything we do, we must ask: is it for the glory of God?

I felt blessed to be in a room of 270 small group leaders at National Community Church, and we're growing. (Did you know Pastor Mark's vision is to have 20 locations by 2020?!) I love the leadership team at NCC - they're passionate, creative and DRIVEN. I feel blessed to be a part of it all.

Alpha: Life's Questions

I'll be the first to admit that I always have questions. I wonder about God, and question grace and the meaning of life. It's completely normal, in fact. But most of the time, I don't think we allow ourselves the chance to really ask the questions - and hash it out in a safe environment.

Join me on Monday night at 7 pm for the kick-off to the Alpha Course at Ebenezer's Coffeehouse.

It's free to join, and you get dinner (eh? eh?).

To learn more about Alpha, visit the NCC website, which includes a short promo video.

NCC also has a strong deaf community. The video below features Kari Olney, a prolific blogger and former protege at National Community Church. Below is her promotional video for the Alpha Course.

Got questions? Come to the table and ask.

Alpha_more to life? from National Community Church on Vimeo.

Baptism By The Bay

I didn’t fully understand the term “cloud of witnesses” until three weeks ago. I found myself wading in the Chesapeake Bay in front of a crowd of a few hundred explaining myself. Not because I had to, but because I wanted to -- and that is what made all the difference.

I truly believe this was a divine moment. I believe God had brought together a series of events, all colliding and crashing to intersect at that one moment when I could rejoice with my church family: I love Jesus. Could God’s orchestrations be any more beautiful? I’m sure I have only the faintest idea.

If you’ve known me for most of my life, you know that I grew up Catholic. So to respond to your first statement (“But you’ve already been baptized!”), I will say this: I have been baptized, First-Communion-ed and Confirmed. But what is most important is the journey, not the checklist. Getting re-baptized was a re-affirmation of my devotion – of my recognition of how broken I am. That is all.

But what is a spiritual journey? I think it means wading through the questions, and realizing there are still more questions – more than can possibly be answered. For me, choosing to (re)baptized meant talking the talking – since I was already walking the walk! That said, being baptized does not make me any holier than the next person.

My decision to be baptized was a long-awaited decision. God had been nudging me to make this public declaration ever since I came to Christ in 2006. But my college years made me a church vagabond – splitting time between campus ministries or bible studies, hopping in and among the Greek life community and life as a Resident Assistant.

But after getting plugged into National Community Church last fall, I couldn’t have been more blessed to know that I would soon return to the capital (no, not the Capitol) just 4 months later.

So Baptism By the Bay was my opportunity to profess to my friends, to myself and to God … the cloud of witnesses – my friends, mentors and church family - looked on as I waded through the water. The water had reached past my waist when Pastor Mark held my shoulder (and I plugged my nose) and dunked me. The awesome media team captured every moment (thanks, guys!).

How great is love the father has lavished upon us that we should be called the sons and the daughters of God?

I mean, really?

By the way, Stephen Elliot is an excellent photographer and deserves oodles of credit for documenting more than 25 baptisms that day!

FIghting Crime With (My) Words

In three weeks, I will be a Butler University graduate.

In four weeks, I will be sitting at a desk.

That desk will be in an office located just blocks from the White House in Washington, D.C.

It’s pretty amazing how it all unfolded. Here it is, in a nutshell.

I visited D.C. over spring break in hopes that I could score a few job interviews (success!). During that week, I had a really great experience with an organization called Fight Crime: Invest in Kids. I interviewed with them twice that week, and quickly learned that the people there are passionate and energetic. Bingo.

There are countless non-profits that have headquarters in Washington.That said, there isn’t a single non-profit job in D.C. can be explained in less than a paragraph. Here’s my paragraph:

Fight Crime: Invest in Kids is a national organization that uses the voice of law enforcement (sheriffs, police officers, etc.) to encourage policymaking and funding for early learning programs, like HeadStart. The parent organization, Council for a Strong America, also works with branches that involve pastors, retired military officials and business leaders. The people at CSA and Fight Crime truly care about the mission. They care about kids.

So what do I get to do? Communicate! (Big surprise there, huh?) I will assist in writing press releases, organizing press conferences, writing op-eds and creating video content, and – perhaps – enhancing their social media strategy. Yes, they have a Twitter account.

Pastor Mark Batterson at National Community Church (in D.C.), recently wrote on his blog about Ephesians 2:10, which states: “We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works prepared for us in advance.” Whoa. I didn't see this one coming, clearly. I have to keep that in mind as I move forward. I don’t think I’ve comprehended everything that’s happened to me in the last month, but through it all I know, that God has a plan (why wouldn’t he? He’s a pretty organized guy, even if I don’t understand his methods sometimes).

I’m blessed to have a church there, an amazing group of friends (not to replace the ones I have a Butler, just new ones!), a great network of Butler alumni and an excellent understanding of the metro system. When combined, I think it’s going to mean a great start to my grown up life in the nation’s capital.

Guess that means my D.C. blog won’t be dying anytime soon.

Church Facades, In Pictures

The above photo appears to be a Werth's department store. But in fact, it is a church. (There is a small, white sign that indicates it is the First Baptist Church of Hammond - in Indiana.)

Photographer Camilo Jose Vergara captured church facades - like the one above - in a recently published essay ("How the Other Half Worships") and exhibit at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C.

Many of the photos on display featured run-down churches in city settings. But I took my time through the exhibit to read the captions. If you read carefully enough, you'd find fun nuggets of humor, like this quote about a Kentucky - Fried - Chicken - turned - Hispanic - Pentecostal - church.

Church pastor Hector Rodriguez said, "When it was selling fried chicken, it went bankrupt. Now that we praise God, it is more popular."

Some observations about the collection of photos:

• Many churches boarded up doors and windows when not occupied.

• The names of churches took on phrases and sentences, such as the America Come Back to God Evangelistic Church. But Publishers Weekly praised photographer Vergara (literally) on his storytelling method, saying: "Rather than holding forth about [the churches'] unusual names, he lets the clergy explain the origins and import of these names."

• Painted murals of Jesus are colorful and common

• At Traveler's Rest Missionary Baptist (on Racine Ave. in Chicago) hangs a neon sign about the altar: "Jesus Never Fails." How about that for a blunt message?

The photographer is a Chilean-born photo essayist, writer and documentarian who lives in New York City.

The church I've been attending has its own unique story.

Ebenezer's Coffeehouse used to be a crack house just east of Union Station. It was renovated several years back and is now a full-service coffee shop (free Wi-Fi, too!). Church offices are upstairs, and weekend services are held in the basement, which has an edgy-urban warehouse look to it.

How's that for an interesting facade?

Catacombs

Today's theme, in word: catacombs.

Not sure what "catacombs" are? (From Dictionary.com): 1. Usually, catacombs. an underground cemetery, esp. one consisting of tunnels and rooms with recesses dug out for coffins and tombs. 2. the Catacombs, the subterranean burial chambers of the early Christians in and near Rome, Italy. 3. an underground passageway, esp. one full of twists and turns.

The Holy Land of America

About midday I took a field trip to the Franciscan Monastery, in northeast Washington, D.C. It's called the Holy Land of America, because the grounds represent a smaller version of the Vatican in Rome.

The monastery took me by surprise. I've seen several different cathedrals - stateside and abroa

d - but this monastery had pretty extensive and well-kept grounds. A Rosary Portico surrounded the main church. There were gardens for St. Francis, Saint Anne. There was a tomb for Mary and a grotto of Gethsemane.

The coolest part of the tour was the walk through the underground catacombs, also a representation of Rome's (nearly 90) miles of tunnels. (Note: This monastery does not have 90 miles of catacombs. I'd have gotten lost!)

The Spiritual Catacombs
I revisited the idea of catacombs in a more abstract way this evening. National Community Church held a Catacombs Service - a reflective evening of worship followed by the baptism of 18 NCC members. My friend Jess was baptized - Pastor Mark submersed her in a pool right in the worship space at Ebenezer's Coffeehouse.

I'm not entirely sure why the evening was called 'Catacombs' but if we use the definition "a passageway full of twists and turns" then that's a pretty accurate depiction. Worship is an intimate experience - a time to reflect on where I've been and where I'm going to.

"We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." (Romans 6:4)