Open Mike

A Happy Return From Sabbatical: C U August 5th @ LFCH

Hello friends! I'm in the last week of a 3 month sabbatical, more aware than ever of what a blessed boy I am. I want to check in, say hi, let my friends know what I've been doing, and tell you how ready I am to return to the church and work that I love. I miss you!

This sabbatical marked three major life benchmarks - the 20th anniversary of founding Lake Forest Church, our 30th wedding anniversary, and our youngest son's graduation from college, which is what kicked off our time away.

 

We scheduled our annual beach week right after graduation, and enjoyed a house full of family and many of Austin's bros from UNC at Emerald Isle NC.

The hobby and interest Angie and I have most enjoyed together over the years is travel, which defined this sabbatical. A generous childhood friend of Angie's (and her husband) gave us the entire month of June to live in their 'villa' in the northern hills of Provence, France. I know, amazing!  And yes I know, you're trying not to hate me right now (smiley face)! The house is made of traditional Provencal stone, and is surrounded by a vineyard, olive trees, and blooming lavender stalks.

We will be forever grateful for this gift.  It was a place of solitude, reading, talking, walking, swimming, writing, and a base from which to explore the cultural charms and natural beauty of the south of France. There were castles everywhere, including in the village of Le Barroux only 2 miles from the house.

 The food - excuse me, I mean 'cuisine' - in Provence is every bit as creative and delicious as you may have heard. We were thankful to happen into the tastiest meal of our lives on our 30th anniversary, gifted to us by some dear friends.  The grace of God given to me through life together with Angie is too precious for description. A marriage can never be taken for granted and must constantly receive cultivation, so we purposefully shared daily devotions in scripture and my Celtic Daily Prayer book.

After our time of rejuvenation in France, we spent five days sightseeing in London.

While in London we enjoyed the worship experience I've dreamed of ever since I first visited a cathedral in Europe - what if you mashed together a beautiful ancient stone gothic cathedral with super modern worship music and aesthetics? The answer was our experience at Holy Trinity Brompton church.

HTB is a thriving multi-service, multi-site, church planting, community-serving congregation that worships Jesus passionately (they are known for originating the famous Alpha Course on basic Christianity in the 1980's).  I was inspired to see this Spirit-filled example of a fruitful Bible teaching church in what is a thoroughly post-Christian city and country.  I am now going-to-school on what I and Lake Forest can learn from them, as we continue our quest to be as faithful and winsome as possible, following the way of Jesus together, for the sake of others.  Two other notable places I enjoyed worship while on sabbatical: a Benedictine Abbey near our house in France (we were super encouraged to see the sanctuary full of young people and young families worshiping together, although we understood nothing but the Apostle's Creed and the Lord's Prayer); and Westminster Cathedral in London (where I was inspired by this blessing to all, inscribed in their cornerstone):

Angie returned home from London, while I embarked solo on a prayerful pilgrimage to two places sacred to me.  The first was the Isle of Iona, off the west coast of Scotland.  The second was the area near Belfast (N Ireland) where St Patrick began and ended his ministry in the 400's AD.  If you really want to know about both St Patrick's ministry in Ireland, and its connection to the Isle of Iona, ask me and I'll talk your ear off. 

But here, briefly, Iona was the central site of training for godliness and mission for the Irish Celtic missionary monks (a couple of generations after St Patrick) who exploded from this wind swept speck of rock in the ocean, and re lit the flame of the gospel (and classical learning) across Europe during what's known as the Dark Ages.  The book 'How the Irish Saved Civilization' tells the story for those interested in popular history.  'The Celtic Way of Evangelism' tells it through the lens of mission, a book I assign to every seminary class I teach.

Not until our generation has the West had so high a percentage of the population who does not know and experience the love of God through Jesus Christ, as it had in the days when St Columba founded Iona and began training and sending disciples of Jesus.  I view my ministry, that of Lake Forest weekly, our church planting network, our partnership with local and foreign missions, my time with seminary students and our denomination's church planting efforts - I view it all through the hopeful, prayerful, experimental lens of 'Lord, please use me, please use us, like those adventuresome Irish Christians ages ago, to winsomely light the flame of the good news of Jesus Christ in hearts that simply need to know how much they are loved by God."  That is the essential aim behind every ounce of my labor and leadership.  Thus, my pilgrimage was to talk with the Lord about such things, inviting Him to continue sharpening me in holiness and skillfulness for His purposes, while tramping around in the places frequented by my most inspiring historical mentors.

On Iona I stayed in the Catholic House of Prayer, enjoying morning prayer and breakfast with fellow pilgrims - two older Catholic women from Ireland, and a young Episcopal pastor from the National Cathedral in Washington DC.

I did a lot of prayerful hiking around the island.  And ended each evening with worship in the great cathedral.  I also continued my sabbatical-long habit in every church building I entered - I lit a candle while praying for the people of Lake Forest Church.  Sometimes I prayed for our shared mission, sometimes I prayed for those I knew had heavy hearts.  But I always prayed for you. Here's where I prayed for LFC on Iona:

Although my pictures  are like most on social media - depicting joyful times, the sabbatical has not been all joy.  I hurt for people back home who I knew were in pain or grief.  I also was drawn to spend time in self-examination and confession, wrestling with self and the Spirit over old and new sin patterns in my life.  It wasn't fun.

The final round of this hard work, of letting God's Word and Spirit root out sin to be replaced with goodness, occurred at the end of my longest, dustiest hike on Iona.  I prayed through the labyrinth at St Columba's bay (pictured below), engaged in naming the sin and hindrances to be 'put off' while praying inward on the path, and naming the godly characteristics and abundant life practices to 'put on' as I prayed back outward.  After exiting the labyrinth, I chunked a rock into the bay (as all pilgrims do there) representing what I am leaving behind, and pocketed a second rock for what I am newly 'putting on' toward a more abundant life in Christ.  When I just wrote that was the 'final round,' I meant only regarding the sabbatical. Leaning into the Holy Spirit, with the help of Christian community, to put off sin and put on righteousness is personal work that never ends on this earth, for those seeking to live as a disciple of Jesus and be a blessing to others.

I took some time to also experience the Highlands of Scotland, by mountain biking for a day in Glencoe.  With the Psalmist, I repeated 'surely the rocks cry out and the mountains clap their hands, GLORY in everything!'

You may or may not know that my doctoral thesis was on the Missional Leadership of St Patrick.  In Ireland, I spent time revisiting the St Patrick museum and study center and at the traditional burial site of St Patrick (pictured here):

I stayed at Denvir's - the oldest pub and public house in Ireland (supposedly).  The wait staff invited me to their private party for one of the World Cup soccer games - that was a rollicking fun experience, complete with the town musician and storyteller leading us all in songs for an hour after the game.  And true to the Irish reputation for friendliness and hospitality, I didn't pay for any food or Guiness that evening.

I finished my pilgrimage with an evening of reading Patrick's writings, and prayerfully journalling in response, while in the first church he established - Saul Church.

I can't say that in these experiences I received any remarkable revelation or redirection from the Lord, which I'm now bringing back with me to trumpet to the world.  Mostly, I received the comfort and assurance of our faith in fresh ways, and a few surprising love-filled visits of the palpable presence of the Holy Spirit in my spirit. 

I also won't be returning with any specific 'incredible' new ideas or programs that will solve every problem in my life and take our church to some grand new heights. Mostly, I received strengthening and renewed desire for the paths we are already on - making more and better disciples together as a church, in particular nourishing new baby Christians and new baby churches from infancy into maturity, as we all seek to live joyfully and daily on God's mission of love to the world. My ambition is to be a humble, servant-oriented pastor leading by example, and with God's Word and God's Spirit as our hope and power.

Many of my best friends are books.  Here are some that have accompanied me these months:  The Contemplative Pastor (by Eugene Peterson - this describes who I want to be), Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (by Harari - i bought it for the updates on pre history, the author has many interesting theses though many I don't agree with), Life of St Columba (by Adomnan), Resilient Ministry: What Pastors Told Us About Surviving and Thriving (by Guthrie and others - a must read for ministers), Colonies of Heaven: Celtic Models for Today's Church (by Bradley), Money After 40 (by the Motley Fool guys), Maid: A Novel of Joan of Arc (by Cutter), The Other Woman (by Silva - latest in my favorite spy novel series), Ivanhoe and Rob Roy (by Sir Walter Scott - two classics, set in Scotland and England, that I hadn't read - fun reads), and A Year in Provence (by Mayle).

I am grateful to the elders of our church for our long standing sabbatical practice.   It is a rhythmic investment in the long term health of the ministers and of the congregation, with many proven benefits.  I wish every workplace had more kingdom-oriented values and practices such as this one, and I'm glad for me and our staff that the elders (and by proxy the congregation) value me and the rest of the staff so tangibly.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.  I am so looking forward to my first day back in worship with the people of God called 'Lake Forest Church - Huntersville' on Sunday August 5th! One reason I wrote this entry is so that for those interested, its a full account of my time away, and for those not interested, now I won't need to over-share and bore them with all this on August 5th.

I close with this blessing posted in Saul Church (previous picture) for those who come through as 'travellers.'  It is what I hope guests and regulars alike experience in our new public spaces at LFCH, because we are in fact all travellers.

Praying for Wisdom in Chile

Angie and I had the joy and privilege of traveling to Chile for discernment this week with our friends and partners in ministry, John and Maritza Hernandez.  They are the founders and directors of Children's Impact Network (CIN), our church's longest constant mission partner.  CIN exists to rescue abandoned and abused children, offering long-lasting, life-changing assistance.  Primarily through 're-familying' children with love, counseling, medical care, education, vocational training, and discipling them into God's family. The people of Lake Forest Church partner primarily by helping to build orphanages and sponsoring children (family-to-child) in several countries. www.cinonline.org

This trip began with the annual CIN board meeting in Miami, then the four of us flew overnight to Santiago, Chile.  The purpose of this trip was to spend time seeking God's will and God's future for a new opportunity to rescue children that has been given to CIN, through the donation of a 75 acre property with buildings in the northern, mountainous area (almost all of Chile is either coast or mountain - the valleys in between hold vineyards).  Because of its track record, CIN has been offered to assume existing properties and ministries in other countries. This is the first time they've said 'yes,' sensing the Lord has something special ahead this time.  I appreciate how John and Maritza say more 'no's' than 'yes's' to ministry opportunities, one of the many spiritual leadership qualities I admire in them.

 

But we didn't start at the property, we started by spending time with the church partner John and Maritza have gotten to know over a few years.  La Puente, The Bridge Church, is a thriving, large outreach- and church-planting-oriented congregation in La Cerena, a university and beach city in northern Chile.  It's the closest city to the more remote mountainous property.  The pastor is Marcello, here with his wife Carolina in La Puente's worship center.  They have formed a fast friendship with CIN and believe God is calling them to partner in a new work to rescue children in need in Chile.  Fun facts: La Puente's men's ministry grills HUGE amounts of meat monthly (ruff ruff), and they have a residential seminary to train new pastors.

This brings up another aspect of the Hernandez' leadership I admire - when going to a new country, they find people whom the Lord is already working through, trustworthy and healthy churches, and build a partnership from the ground up together.  Here's how they state their strategy on their website: 

Each Life Center (Colombia, Honduras and Bolivia Life Centers) is operated in partnership with the local community in which it exists, specifically with a partner church. Children’s Impact Network cherishes these relationships. We believe in empowering the local community to address the needs of their children. We think it is important for the children to have role models from within their own cultural communities. We value and respect our differences and will never enter a community thinking we know how to best address their issues. Friends of Children’s Impact Network often express their gratitude for creating opportunities to help abandoned and abused children through long lasting relationships.

 You can see why we trust them not only personally, but also their ministry methodology.  Here's another two of the partners, Pastor Hector and Cathy, outside of a dorm on the land.  They are the happy parents of four, and they currently oversee the property, host church retreats and training events there, while planting a church in the next town up the mountain from CIN's new property. 

The land is a STEEP drive six thousand feet up from the coast.  Nearby is copper mining, world-famous observatories (the road CIN's land is on is called 'The Way of the Stars'), vineyards, and lots of goat-herders.  Thus we had yummy queso de cabra, or goat cheese, for lunch along with local honey.

Something else I admire about the Hernandez's leadership is patience...until the Spirit speaks clearly...then GO.  This property has belonged to CIN for almost three years now.  However, they've taken their time to build local relationships, ensure clear understanding of local economics attached to the land, assess need, and pray.  Its not unlike what Lake Forest Church went through over the past 18 months to clarity our next vision, or mountain to climb together.  Elders and staff prayed and planned for almost a year, congregational leaders prayed and discerned for 3-6 months, and the congregation then prayed and discerned for 3 months, before we moved ahead with clarity and unity.

Angie and I accompanied John and Maritza in order to be helpful, prayerful eyes, ears, and hearts as options for ministry using this property are becoming more clear, and decisions are pending. There is a need for the rescue of abandoned and/or abused children here for certain. We had a delightful time visiting these little ones - left with my hair messed up, fingerprints all over my glasses, and a full heart.

 

Several possible ways of leveraging this beautiful, serene property and buildings to rescue children in need have presented themselves. Interestingly, two opportunities involve local and regional government officials who've become aware of CIN's good work elsewhere. These officials have highlighted specific areas of need for orphans in Chile, asking CIN to consider meeting these desperate needs. Each option would be true to God's long term calling on CIN, but serving a slice of distressed children we have not fully focused on before.  It's not appropriate at this point to share the different options publicly. There will be a time for that, and it will be shared by the Hernandez's as they begin to see the road ahead more clearly.

But would you join me and pray, as you read this, for wisdom for John and Maritza? They are doing a good job of "knocking, seeking, asking" as Jesus tells us. And they are widely seeking the counsel of others, as Proverbs so eloquently leads us to do for success in any endeavor. And now we simply take God's at His Word and ask for wisdom for John and Maritza, their staff and their partners.

"If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you." James 1:5

I'm grateful for their friendship.  And I'm grateful the LORD has used our partnership with CIN to help us suburban Christians at Lake Forest grasp that 'discipleship,' or being formed more into the image of Jesus, is not merely head learning.  Its also caring about the aching needs in our own community and in other parts of the world, and sacrificially serving as part of God's mission to restore people to Himself. In this way we become more like Christ.  I wear CIN's theme verse on my wrist often, as a way to 'check myself' that Lake Forest continues to be a legitimate mission-oriented tribe, and not just a self-dealing purveyor of religious goods and services for our members:

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."  James 1:27

As you pray for the Hernandez's and CIN, perhaps pray for wisdom for yourself to know what hurt or pain near you is God using/calling you to serve with the salve of the gospel?  And is this the year God is calling you to 'GO' on a cross-cultural short-term mission trip with Lake Forest, or with another church?

A Little More Like The Kingdom Today

The Book of Revelation records this beautiful tidbit of the vision St. John was granted of God's forever kingdom (the next period in cosmic history after this one):

"After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and the Lamb (aka Jesus)...They shall hunger no more neither thirst anymore... for the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." Revelation 7:9, 16, 17

Part of the Christian life is to live as an anticipatory foretaste of the coming Kingdom of God in full.  We do so by living according to the beliefs and behaviors of Jesus, which are the character and future of God put on full display in a human life. This calling isn't just for individual followers of Jesus, but for the church as well. 

Last weekend, I experienced a foretaste of the Kingdom as I witnessed our denomination becoming a bit more like God's kingdom 'from ALL tribes and peoples.'

As Moderator of the Evangelical Presbyterian denomination this year (EPC), I was honored to preach Sunday at the reception of the first Puerto Rican church to join our family of churches. My sermon was on Luke 15, the mission statement of Jesus, and my story about once visiting a chicken-less Kentucky Fried Chicken.  Iglesia Presbiteriana WestMinster EPC kept expanding my expectations all weekend. 

They are very high liturgical Presbyterian (I've never been asked to preach in my robe In a Spanish speaking church, nor for a 20 minute sermon)

 

and they are flippin' fun (after the service there was a big luncheon with live music - at the end a salsa band made up of elders and pastors played - the senior pastor Juan Rivera is lead guitar on right - and we all got up and danced to La Bamba and more).
Reportedly Sunday's service was the largest Spanish speaking Presbyterian church gathering in the Americas.  Angie and I travel a bit, and found Puerto Ricans in general to be the friendliest people we've yet encountered. This church is bursting with leadership - I met a senator, a judge, a state representative. head of a hospital, head of a school, doctors, the mayor, and more.

The caliber of leaders IN the church is attributable to the caliber of leaders OF the church. Iglesia Presbiteriana Westminster EPC has been growing in reach and depth for a few decades. First under the leadership of (now Emeritus) Pastor Juan Pérez (here he his welcoming me and Angie on Sunday).
 Today they thrive with Senior Pastor Juan Rivera and capable, joyful elders and deacons (they have male and female elders, here they are taking vows Sunday).  I just LIKE these pastors and hope we are friends for a long time.

They were led to leave their former denomination earlier this year over matters of biblical faithfulness (a denomination in which one of their ordained ministers wrote a blog post 'I Don't Believe in God' and is still a pastor of one of their churches, hmmm).  Their former denomination did not take well to their pending decision to leave, and seized the church's 12 year old sanctuary, mission-outreach buildings, and bank account (which is not legally possible in our denomination).

After their former denomination announced the seizure of their property should the congregation vote to leave, they voted to leave anyway, and sang a hymn while walking to a nearby parking lot to continue their vibrant worship.  Westminster now meets at The American School in the town of Bayamon. About ten people meet in their former building weekly for worship.

There were a few events leading up to Sunday.  They held a seminar on the Infallibility of Scripture Saturday morning, to emphasize that their new affiliation is mostly about being in a family of churches that joyfully submits to the authority of the Bible as God's infallible Word to humanity.  I adapted two Lake Forest sermons for that lecture. Saturday evening, myself and an EPC pastor and an EPC elder from Florida were interviewed on Christian radio about the EPC (sounds scintillating, I know; that's EPC Pastor Don Mason on left).

We highlighted the four identity words of the EPC:  EVANGELICAL (=gospel-focused around Jesus), REFORMED (=in theology), PRESBYTERIAN (=elder led in church government), and MISSIONAL (=outward not inward-focused, loving the world in the name of Jesus).

But what made me most happy is the original theme of today's blog post.  At Lake Forest, we seek to increasingly anticipate God's Kingdom by being in partnership with churches of different races and nationalities, even while the LORD has brought a bit more diversity to our own congregation. Our greatest move in this direction is to make our next church plant one that serves the growing Latino immigrant population in north Charlotte (I can't wait for this sister church to teach us to read the Bible through their eyes). 

A few lines of the introduction to my sermon this Sunday went something like this: "In two short days I have become one of your church's biggest fans... The EPC is delighted that our denomination looks more like the future Kingdom of God today, because a Puerto Rican church is now in our family.  Jesus said 'In my Father's mansion in heaven there are many rooms,' and I heard it on good authority that the most fun room will be the Puerto Rican one.  So I'm just hoping the rest of the EPC will now be invited to your room for the eternal fiestas."

 

 

My Favorite Summer Reading: Tales of LFC Tribe on the Missio Dei

Jesus gives us the power and command to “GO” make disciples and care for those in need. Therefore, Lake Forest Church joins the missio Dei (mission of God) by engaging in the lives of vulnerable people – homeless and homebound, orphans and widows, unreached and overlooked – sharing God’s love with our actions and words. 

 

 

Another way we say it is that 'God calls his people to GO near and far, to serve people like us and not like us, people hungry for food and people hungry for God.'

 

We do so locally throughout the year through various partnerships, and each summer members of the LFC tribe go 'on mission' as teams to various spots around the globe.  We never go on our own initiative with our own agenda, instead we go to serve under the leadership of some of our international partners in ministry, doing what they need done in the name and power of Christ.

 

We pursue multi-generational and family-based discipleship in our Missio Dei strategy by making most of our trips inclusive of children and teens, and by encouraging every parent of teenagers to take at least one trip with their son or daughter.  The Lord has led us to emphasize orphan care in our international partnerships, in response to God's Word in

 

James 1:27 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the Word."

 

Those who go on these teams report that, in addition to serving and "meeting Jesus in his distressing disguise as the poor" (Mother Teresa), the Lord often kicks their spiritual growth into hyper-speed that week. Most also report that they live more intentionally and meaningfully on-mission back at home afterward.  Our stated goal is that 100% of LFC Ministry Partners will serve on a cross-cultural Missio Dei experience, locally or internationally.

 

Something I look forward to each summer is reading the blog each of our Missio Dei teams writes while they are gone. This week, our Honduras team is in the field, partnering with Children's Impact Network to serve the orphanages we've built with them, and the surrounding communities.  Here's one of their blog entries.  At the end, click into our Missio Dei blog, look at other entries from this and other trips, and subscribe, then you'll receive these as encouraging emails like I do:

Honduras Day 2 - Food, Fun, and Familia

Morning devotions today began with a quote from Oswald Chambers - "a missionary is someone in whom the Holy Spirit has brought about this realization: You are not your own." We sat in the reality that God has a purpose for our time in Honduras and we prayed that He would reveal to each of us how He wants to use our unique gifts this week to bring Him glory. We spent the morning distributing food sacks to local villagers (beans, rice, etc - enough for ~2 weeks). Our group broke into 2 teams in order visit as many homes as possible. The local pastor provided a list of needy families ahead of time and helped arrange our visits. We met each family in their home, and spent some time to get to know them with the help of our host team translators. The food we delivered helped address an immediate physical need, but we concluded each visit by placing our hands on the members of the family and lifting a heartfelt prayer for both their physical and spiritual well being. It seemed the experience was equally impacting for the Honduran families and our team, as we all shared in the work God designed for this day.

After eating lunch at Golmania we headed to the Honduras Life Center to spend a couple of hours with the children. The afternoon was equal parts laughter, chaos, and hugs. Pockets of fun formed organically through the house with soccer on the balcony, Spanish word bingo and UNO on the center tables, tours of the bedrooms, pictures, and general catching up with the kids for those who had been to the center before. It was an amazing afternoon getting to love on the children, but we eventually needed to leave and head back to the hotel where we completed a dry run of the vacation bible school play we will perform tomorrow. We grabbed a quick dinner and then jumped on the bus to catch a lively service at a local church in Pena Blanca. John Hernandez was the guest speaker and gave an inspiring sermon which challenged us to hear and respond to Jesus when He says "Follow me." It was a powerful end to a long, but Spirit-filled day as we look forward to the adventure God has planned for the team tomorrow.

Check out and subscribe to the Lake Forest Missio Dei Blog

 

Doing Life Together, Like Jesus: A Blessing and a Curse

Like many today, we like to refer to being a Christian as 'following Jesus.'  Why? In order to emphasize its not just a belief system in our heads or a promised destination in the future - Christianity is a way of valuing life and living everyday.

We 'follow Jesus' because we have found him to be God-with-us, the Most Holy One who is also a kind and constant Friend. 'I will follow' (to borrow from early U2) because when we do so Jesus proves true to his promise - his way is where abundant life, living water, nourishing bread of heaven, rock-climbing-hand-hold-solid truth, and the light of life are found. We unabashedly want those things in our lives, the lives of family and friends, and we want to be conduits of those things into every corner of the globe. So we aspire to follow Jesus.

One of the 'ways of Jesus' we emphasize at our church is: We will journey like Jesus, doing life together.

What we mean is that just as Jesus clearly lived in consistent, committed community with 3-12 others, for the purpose of life growth and life mission, we say 'me too!'  So we structure our children's and youth ministry to evidence spiritual community.  And we encourage every adult to be part of a Community Group, Men's or Women's Group, or go make something up.  But be sure it's Christ-centered community that includes studying God's Word together in some way, as a solid center.

 This is no easy or clean life practice - just like it wasn't for Jesus and the disciples (there were political liberals and conservatives, loud talkers and introverts in Jesus' inner circle of 12).  But it is the most blessed way to live.  Because its the way of Jesus - one of his most clearly discernable and follow-able life practices.

Over Memorial Day weekend, Angie and I experienced one of the most powerful 'abundant life' blessings of being in our Community Group for a number of years now.  Some blessings we expected - friendships, people consistently praying for important things in our lives, and the richness of studying the Bible and sharing meals with other Christians.  But this blessing was unexpected.

For a bunch of years, our group goes to a mountain cabin Sunday afternoon through Monday evening of Memorial Day.  This year, it was about 20 of us (kids and all). At night the floors were packed with air mattresses and dudes sleeping on couches. One college student slept in a hammock and claims he got the best night's sleep.

We play, eat, drink, and make s'mores.  But the heart of the trip is what has grown into a ceremony of blessing.  On Sunday evening, we set up tables under an Oak Tree, eat a long leisurely meal.  Then we take turns speaking words of blessing and advice to the high school graduates that year (that's just the season of life our group has been in for a while, and will still be in for some years). Afterward we each write a version of what we said in a journal that is a gift to each graduate to take away.

The primary power of this ceremony is not the content of the words (though they bring us to tears each time).  The power lies in the specificity of each kid knowing they are 'known' - the words of blessing are specific admirations of who our adults have discovered each kid to be and to be becoming as they've matured.  Its as though we hold each of them up to the light of who God created them to be, and admire it in front of each other.  Then we call them be THAT person even more fully after high school, in fellowship with Christ and his people.  Glorious.

This is a single example of a blessing that would not be possible for these graduates and our families, without the years-long practice of 'doing life together as we follow Jesus.' 

It has been long-stated by sociologists that western culture uniquely lacks ritualistic and ceremonial rites of passage for the young.  God has gifted our group with one way of filling that void in our teenagers' lives, through this ceremony. 

The other thing we do on the trip is a Monday adventure - this year I picked out a little-used trail into a little-known wilderness area.  It was gorgeous for the first half hour.  Then more and more green plants appeared on the trail until someone shouted, 'hey, we're walking right through poison ivy.' Hoping it would diminish, and since we were already exposed, we kept going.  Until it got up to our waists some time later.  Then kids started saying, 'hey, I'm getting itchy.'  So we turned around, hiked back up, and hosed ourselves off back at the cabin.  Everyone felt fine.  Then Tuesday night at home I found a big honking tick on me.  When I texted for the group to check themselves, messages came back, 'by the way, poison ivy broke out on my legs/arms/ears/neck.' 

We've already made one decision about next year's trip.  I won't be in charge of the Monday activity.

May you follow the way of Jesus, friends, particularly by doing life together with fellow disciples of our Savior.