Youth Specialities and Israel

The count down is on! Janny and I will be flying to Israel on June 9th and spending over a month studying at Jerusalem University College. We will be staying just off campus in married housing, which is about 1/2 block from the Wailing Wall. It has been incredible seeing this fall into place and we are pinching ourselves at this opportunity to physically walk through the Story. I will share more about this trip soon.

Also, I have found writing to be a great outlet and platform for dialog over the past couple years. I have been working with Youth Specialties over the past year on my book, which has been demanding and tedious at times, but overall a rich experience. Just this past week, I was invited to be a regular blogger on the YS webpage and a contributing author in their monthly articles(basically an online magazine). I am really grateful for this opportunity to share some stories/insight, while connecting and learning from others along the way. It has been fun and challenging to continue to try to work and live into what I am most passionate about as things are often ambiguous and culturally "unorthodox." I don't think Janny and I plan on being "normal" anytime soon:)

Sorrow, Suffering and the Story of God

This past Sunday I had the opportunity to share among our former church family at Harbor Chapel Community Church. Janny and I hadn’t been there for a service since we completed our time on staff there almost a year and half ago. It was super fun to catch up with so many people that we care so deeply about and unbelievable to have so much love showered upon us we exchanged hugs. Honestly, it was quite humbling to be so loved by such a quality group of folks.

Jim York left the topic open to whatever we (Doyle Fikes partnered with me in the teaching by sharing a powerful family story of suffering) felt led. It was clearly going to be the most painful topic in light of the events of this past year, but with Janny’s insightful suggestion, we chose the topic of Sorrow, Suffering and Grief. Having been surrounded by my students’ stories of sorrow/suffering and culminating in the loss of our first child in October, there is no other reality that is more central to our current life story. Being able to share our pain and encourage others to fully embrace theirs was a liberating and somber experience. Suffering is central to the Story of God and if we simply shrug off the sacred time of grieving for some form of cheap/fake “happy thoughts,” then we have forgotten our story as individuals and forgotten the Story of God we are to participate in today.

Friends/family at Harbor Chapel, thanks for not fast forwarding through the suffering, but instead sharing in the pain with us. Your stories were raw, painful and tragic…in is that honesty that we are caused to remember the Story…and in the midst of sobbing, experience hope.

Listen to the talk here: (Doyle Fikes starts the talk and I pick it up @ minute 17)

It Has a Name!

The publishing crew and myself have finally finalized the name for my book: Teaching Through the Art of Storytelling: Creating Fictional Stories that Illuminate the Message of Jesus

Thoughts? Because maybe by “finalized” it means I could still propose to get it changed…or maybe not, only one way to find out.

The release date has been set for July 16th, BUT it seems that the art department (which is the stage it is in right now) has had some staff transitions that could lead to pushing the release back…I know what your thinking, “Thank goodness, I was worried Jon’s book was going to cut into Rick Warren’s sales.” Yes, this book will surely shake the publishing world. Whether it is a 1.2 or a 8.0 quake depends on……..yes, you.

I will be speaking on this topic at the National Youth Workers Convention is San Diego in September: Seminar on Book Topic

Book Review: The Forgotten Ways

Alan Hirsch has been one of the most shaping authors in my exploration and challenge to embody the church. I can remember having my ecclesial (study of the church) bubble burst into pieces when I first read his and Michael Frosts work, The Shaping of Things to Come about 5 years ago. The Forgotten Ways picks up the conversation of viewing and living out the church as a missional representation of a missional God. Through the incarnation, it is clear that God is seeking his people by entering their world, not by simply standing static in waiting for his people to find him.

Throughout the book, Hirsch's primary hope is to communicate tangible ways in which the church of the West can rediscover the amazing power that lies within us as is fueled by the Holy Spirit. The mDNA(missionalDNA)that is embedded in each Christian has the potential to activate our Apostolic Genius that will transform the stactic, institutionalized church models (that began with Constantine when he adopted Christianity as the religion of the Roman Empire) into dynamic, missional movements. Looking at the examples of the Early Church and the current Chinese Church, Hirsch makes it clear that the "organic" church, established outside the boundaries of institution, is forced to unleash its Apostolic Genius and leads towards authenticity and multiplication. The missional leader is central to creating an atmosphere that allows other Christians to uncover and live out their mDNA. Hirsch describes the apostolic leader as the "custodian of Apostolic Genius and the gospel itself" as they impart and embed the mDNA in their communities(153). They do this by both pioneering new physical forms of church planting and by integrating sound theological, apostolic doctrine. Understanding that Jesus is Lord, Apostolic Genius is unleashed through disciple making, missional-incarnation impulse, apostolic environment, organic systems and communitas.

While this is a very insightful and somewhat academic look at the missional church as the face of a missional God, I find that the missional church is best articulated through practice/embodiment, not by definition and verbal explanation. In any case, that doesn't take away from the importance of this work as it is a great read and practical tool for the missional leader. It offers plenty of "nuggets" to wrestle through and to implement, whether an institutional church that is working to transition to a more missional model or a leader who is hoping to pioneer a new(or Hirsch would argue "ancient") vision of the Church.

Blog Format...For Now

I've grown to appreciate blogs that carry one or two themes throughout their content. It seems to offer continuity and movement. My blog has had anything but continuity since its conception a couple years ago. The topics/ideas have been more like paint that hits the wall after swinging the brush in a circle. Not a bad way to go I suppose, but FOR NOW I am going to focus on three themes:

1. Book Reviews and Class Reflections (on my Grad School topics of Theology & Ethics)

2. Kingdom Stories: Processing of stories that in some way illumine the Kingdom of God

3. Family Updates: With both Janny and I working in the public school, considering a move out the area for school and/or non-profit employment, our upcoming summer studying in Israel, my book being released in July and the status of our disabled little dog Harry, we have plenty to share.

Upcoming: Book reviews on The Politics of Jesus by John Yoder and The Forgotten Ways by Alan Hirsch

Stories of My Heroes

I love baseball and the San Francisco Giants...I probably give them more attention than I should. Many would consider sports stars their heroes. Based on the amount of time I have given some sports, I could be one of those folks...this of course isn't a great place to offer "hero" status based on the level of consumption, greed and abundance(in MANY areas) this supports and encourages our culture to aspire to.

With all that being said, I believe I have located my true heroes. As I have mentioned, I am currently teaching Adult Education at North County High School. My students are the ones that fell through the cracks of our educational system and have now built up the courage to try finish what they started...some of my students started their High School education almost 20 years ago. Some were just slackers through HS, but most either have been in prison, had some form of learning disability or were forced to work in the fields to help their parents make rent. A couple of their stories in the past few weeks that have broken and inspired me:

The young man who acknowledged his addiction to REALLY hard drugs and spent the last few weeks in rehab. He is now back in class, but lacking any motivation and sleeps constantly. I talked to his sobbing mom yesterday as he admitted a relapse...

The young woman whose attendance was terrible because she had to work in the fields with her father everyday. 3 months ago she found out her dad had cancer and he died a month later...she promised him she would graduate, so she is now highly motivated and only works in the fields when we don't have class

The young man who has a learning disability and parents recently died. He has somehow mustered the courage to stay in school and I just got to sign his diploma! He was just accepted into a education/work program in Utah.

The three young woman who have recently gotten pregnant and chosen to carry their babies to term and continue to work with me on finishing their HS diploma program.

I could keep on going...these are my heroes and I get to share in their story everyday.

A Few Pics From Vancouver

Olympic Fever



Scrambling to get in pic before the timer goes off and before it falls from the post it was teetering on



Our friends from Nieucommunities gave us an anniversary gift and sent us off on a ferry to Bowen Island for the day




Store front on "The Drive" near the Nieucommunities location