Give Recognition to Such Men: Gifts of Refreshing in the Buckling Over Times.

I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have made up for your absence, for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. Give recognition to such men.
1Corinthians 16:17-8

Yesterday I had two wonderful "hang in there's" from God. One was expected (not the refreshing, but the meeting), the other was a surprise. I desperately needed both. I was weighed down after a weary Christmas, and sorely needed refreshing.

The first one came in the morning as I met with an old friend and Board member. He is a man of wisdom, a Jesus-follower with great integrity and godly influence. He is a Barnabas to me. Over breakfast, we talked of the many rigors and frustrations of church planting in New England, battling discouragement and financial pressure, dealing with meager returns despite great effort, and the need for discernment in the face of great challenge. His willingness to listen in support, and offer generous words of refreshing lifted my spirit. He made a difference.

Later in the afternoon as I was at my office working, I received a surprise call from another old friend and Church Planter. He was in the parking lot and had come to Northampton on an unrelated errand. He thought maybe we could catch up for a minute or two. He is a bona fide Jesus-follower, and another man of full of wisdom and grace. He has been an encourager and counselor to me from the beginning. We also talked of many things around what it is like to plant churches in New England. In the process, he refreshed me with gracious insight, laced with his signature wit. When he left I was lifted further.

Men such as these brothers (women too, of course), are inestimable gifts sent by God at such times of desolation and spiritual fatigue. They are like ministering angels, responding to a prompt from God to bring refreshment. In their presence it feels as if God is saying, " I know what you are bearing up under. I know your shoulders are bent, your knees hurt, and your back is weary. But take heart. You are in the company of friends who love you. And I love you. Don't give in or turn back. It is but a little while until I will bless you for trusting me and making the sacrifice to bring the Kingdom to a people wandering in darkness and death."

I so needed what they gave and God gave through me them.

Thanks guys. Thank you, Jesus.

May you receive such unexpected refreshing in your times of buckling over, even this day.

NOTICE . . .

Keep your eyes wide open and your heart soft toward God and people today. Don't get numbed by the sturm und drang of the last minute Christmas shopping/preparation frenzy all about you. God's invites you and me this fresh day to:

Notice His whispers (sometimes shouts) of grace all around you, his gifts to open your life in him.

Notice the subtle trace of his image in the faces of people around you, those you know and those you will pass by.

Notice his invitation to be unselfish and meet a need that will bring Christmas into someone's life even if unawares.

Notice God's laughter in the unexpected, (thanks, Jen).

Notice the weariness and stress of those near you so you might be a bringer of light and rest, even for just a moment.

Notice how God desires to free you from self-absorption today; lift up your head . . . listen.

Notice how his love for you can be wrapped in the simple, unadorned and unlikely.

Notice his invitation to smile and pray and sing in your heart.

Notice Jesus, adore him in your own way.

Merry Christmas!

Following Jesus the Liberator Is Our Primary Identity.

Last Sunday I was set to give the message for imagine/Northampton's Very First Christmas Celebration. But due to the threat of the heavy snow we were supposed to get (which turned out to be only a dusting even though the radar showed it snowing over Northampton for 24 hours), we canceled Sunday's celebration on Saturday. Oh well.

Anyway, I thought I would share briefly what I was going to say.

Some background, first (I know this is not a complete sentence, by the way). Over the last
several months due to my reading of Ken Bailey, N.T. Wright, and John Howard Yoder, as well as Shane Claiborne and Jim Wallis earlier, I am being changed in how I view what Jesus came to do and how the Kingdom of God is to operate in my life and the lives of others. Almost 100% of my ministry before coming to Northampton was to Christians, teaching them to hear God and helping them heal. It was about liberation, but the focus was on people who already acknowledge Christ. All of it good stuff.

My change has come in two forms.

First, I realize increasingly Christ's liberating revolution was as much about overthrowing and neutralizing the universal Powers (Satanic rebellion, sin-infected cultural institutions, social conventions and traditions) that crush people, lull them into trifles, or destroy their lives as much as it is about my personal salvation as a sinner in need of the liberation of the cross. I have zero doubts I need Jesus's substitutionary atoning for me. But it isn't merely about my personal need as desperate as that is. I am just one tiny part of an astounding Creation-freeing Story, the likes of which is beyond our imagining in its scope and import.

So the collective witness and work of Christians demonstrates that the stranglehold of the Powers can be defused without violence or anarchic rebellion. We can live differently and demonstrate a freedom from oppression no matter how enticing. Our Holy Spirit infused values can transform what the Powers commandeered:

Love undermines fear.

Sacrificial service subverts pride.

Grace deflates hatred.

Generosity shames selfishness.

Jesus's revolution seeded at his birth, created at the cross, launched at the Resurrection and spread at Pentecost irrevocably severed the root of "the sickness unto death" in the universe. It is finished at the heart. It is the Story of all stories without which would make all of life "sound and fury; the tale told by a fool, signifying nothing." Jesus liberated the universe and his revolution is well underway.

Secondly, the Church, you and me, has been given the divine mandate to spread this subversive liberation. We are to head out all the time and work patiently to make disciples. We are to love and serve the world, witnessing to the transforming power of Jesus to free the captive and overturn the Powers. By our ordinary and simple lives we gain a foothold and establish life in midst of death.

Your primary (first order) identity as a Jesus-follower is that of a liberator and revolutionary. What? I know that might sound over-blown, but is it? What other primary identity could possibly trump it for the Christian: being an American or other nationality, your profession, the local church you go to, who you voted for in the national election, your ethnicity, financial or social status, what town or neighborhood you live in, or whether you are a Yankees or Red Sox fan? Jesus makes it clear in Matthew 25:31-40 that our primary identity centers on incarnating the his life-giving love to the least of our brethren. and anyone else he puts in our path. We are to spend the rest of our days so doing. We are servants (actually bond-servants, if you will). Nothing we do or can do is more important. Matters of eternity command our closest attention and our deepest daily loyalty, do they not?

Jesus liberated and sanctioned us to go about every last one of our days bringing the kingdom into the lives of people we meet, care for, work with and live around. Each day affords us the opportunity to unlock someone with a word, gesture or act of service that opens them just a little to the Gospel. How we do so does not have to be spectacular or clever. It will be merely the expression of a person who has been undone by the loving liberation of Jesus, and desires the same for everyone else who will listen and see.

Do you see yourself this way? Are you paying attention? Are you holding back? Is it your primary identity truth be told?

I have a long way to go in being really useful to his revolution, but I want to be.

I ask him to sovereignly make it so. I am more of a mess than I like to admit or show publicly, but history testifies he uses messes like me way beyond what they could have imagined.

May what he started in me years ago in Boston be completed such that his revolution is more and more my way of living and that of the McDermott household.

Witnessing History Being Made

There are times in every person's life where if we are paying attention at all, we will realize we are witness to something monumental unfolding in history. It can happen on the world stage or it can happen in our own "backyard."

I and 6 other members of the imagine Team were privy on Wednesday to an extraordinary event with far-reaching implications we all can merely glimpse now. We were invited by Stan Mattson, Founder and Chairman of the C.S. Lewis Foundation to attend the Press Release, Reception and Dinner celebrating the launch of the first C.S Lewis College in history right here in New England. The Foundation with the help of Hobby Lobby, a large retail chain of stores in the Midwest, was able to purchase the lovely Northfield-Mt. Hermon Academy, a school D.L Moody founded to train and send young men and women to be missionaries all over the world.

We spent a good part of the day there mingling with old friends and others gathered for the auspicious occasion. All of us there were struck, I think, by the importance of what was happening, that God was doing something which would have far-reaching consequences for the Kingdom, not only in New England, but beyond. Remarkable too was the amount of prayer that had gone into making it all happen. People have been praying for revival in Western New England for decades, including Christians in Korea. There is a persistent longing among Christians in these parts to see God move in the Pioneer Valley as he did when Jonathan Edwards was here.

We have been told that imagine/Northampton has a part to play in all of what God seems to be doing these days as well. It is no coincidence that we are here. It's hard to see it now because we are so small and just finding our way, but oh that we might play a role in bringing the Kingdom along with our brothers and sisters who have labored here for many years.

The day ended with a lovely dinner together at the home of the Woods who live on campus. The conversation (especially being able to chat with a wonderful Korean Pastor named Chung Ha who has been dedicated to revival here for many years), and food were wonderful. The night ended with a mini-concert by Michael Kelly Blanchard, an old friend, and I got to play a tune with him we had recorded many years ago. It was utterly unexpected!

We finished the evening with Stan telling us of the incredible journey of faith it has been for him and the team to finally arrive at this point. God was glorified in his telling. I was heartened and inspired to hear it because of the challenge it has been to work in Northampton.

I am grateful to have witnessed what transpired on Wednesday and hope it is just the first days of Kingdom marvels to come!

When a Simple Conversation Freshens the Journey.

Yesterday I had a phone conversation with a friend and someone I have had the privilege of being a Spiritual Director to over the years. I have watched her grow in depth of faith, and love for Jesus and his Kingdom. She has come far in her journey with him.

The phone call was one of those check-in-with-one-another varieties. In the course of so doing our friend began to talk about how what she was doing was "wrecking her" with regard to the way she has been living the Christian life. Jesus is "radicalizing" her understanding of what it means to follow him wholeheartedly She related her life will never be the same. She knows she can't go back to the old ways of being Christian. This awareness both scares and inspires her. Indeed.

In the course of the conversation she also related how what we are doing in Northampton through imagine has been pulling at her of late. She has followed our journey here since its inception and now God seems to be whispering to her about more than following from afar. It is still a whisper to be sure, but clearly something is up.

After our exchange, I noticed I was pleasantly bouyed and refreshed for a bit. The day had been what I referred to on Twitter as "crazy-quilt" with all sorts of interruptions from every which way, and no real sense of momentum materializing. I was a little unnerved at times. And frustrated.

What I realized when I thought about it was how refreshed and motivated I become when talking about imagine/Northampton with someone who is getting it: the dream, the vision, the struggle and challenge of trying to plant it in this tough town. When I get to do so the enterprise feels real and substantial. When others respond with interest more than "Wow! That's cool," I get excited because perhaps they are going to get into the fray, and help shoulder forward the mission. Now we're getting somewhere.

I am also heartened when I see God percolating in them the same desire he percolated in me and Tricia, Jim, Karin, Matt and Karen back in Simsbury a few years ago. He is at work behind the scenes birthing this mission. Such awareness braces me.

So thank you, Father, and thank you, Ms. Smith, for the conversation.

May it be a piece of the gloriously redemptive Kingdom of God taking deeper hold in us, and in Northampton, Massachusetts!

Maranatha for real!

What Writing Seven Blogs in Seven Days Taught Me.

Most people who write consistently recognize that doing so gets words on the page: the more you write . . . the more you write. It's a truism. Writing solely from inspiration or waiting for "the magic the to happen" slows the writing process. That's what I was doing prior to the Seven Days initiative.

Last week I noticed a particular dynamic at work. Writing daily opened me to paying more attention to how an ordinary day is packed with intriguing stuff to write about. Every day is full of interesting ideas, encounters with people, creative opportunities lying in wait for expressing, natural wonders and weird confluences of events, thoughts and experiences just showing up.

In the process, I also realized my "noticing apparatus" was dulled and needed tuning.

It became clear to me that when you have to write to be read, you start to look for what might be interesting. You become more mindful of the treasures lying camouflaged in the mundane and ordinary. I realized this noticing is similar to the way visual artists see light and shadow. They look at a scene and notice what is there in a nuanced way well beyond what the untrained eye sees. Similarly, musicians hear sounds and rhythms in daily life the untrained ear never notices. It is a matter of paying attention and learning what to notice.

I started to notice more because I had to. It was stimulating and refreshing.

Secondly. I am becoming more in touch with my writing "voice," more at home with it. I am noticing I have something to say and a way to say it. I like watching the words unfold on the page in a design that says something. I notice how I use words and structure ideas. I love being surprised when I stumble into a turn of phrase or way of thinking about something fresh to me. I love the creativity of it: empty page, then full page. And seeing my patterns of thought centers me. Having ADD, I need such focussing.

Lastly, I am always heartened when someone reads what I wrote, connects, is challenged or encouraged. Connecting and making an impact which moves people beyond where they are is how I am wired. It is deeply fulfilling when my words mingle beneficially with another person's life experience. Man . . .

So I am going to keep writing frequently and let the discipline shape me. May Jesus guide the process. May Jesus shape me for his use in it.

There Are Times When the Kingdom Just Needs to Kick Your Butt.

I have been reading Ken Bailey's Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes. I am slowly being changed by the book. Bailey does a bang-up job giving the reader a birds-eye view of the religious and political culture in which Jesus inaugurated his Father's redemptive Kingdom.

Most impacting is how his examination of the ministry of Jesus has opened me afresh to the confrontive nature of his brief 3 years of ministry, and the how the Kingdom is designed actually to operate in the world. Jesus and the Kingdom are far more gritty and demanding than I think many churches teach.

Redemption is not nice or polite. It is a flesh and blood confrontation of life against death in all its insidious manifestations. It is not pretty, or politically correct. It fiercely crosses boundaries, exposes sacred cows and vigorously upends dead traditions. It flies in the face of prejudices and undermines cherished conventions that insulate people from getting into the mess of making things right in people's lives.

And it confronts leaders who help people stay in soul-smothering safety and security.

So, I'm having my butt kicked by the Jesus I am seeing in the book. It has been revealing that the cross he fitted for me to carry often stays in the closet, out of sight and less threatening. Bonhoeffer's dictum that Jesus and the cross bid "a man (and woman), to come and die has never translated into radical steadfastness in my life. For me, it have been more like, " I'll really pick it up one of these days. And I'll know where to find it."

I hedge. I procrastinate.

I distract. I get fascinated with trifles.

I hesitate and hide: "Tomorrow, Lord . . . no, really, tomorrow. Yup."

Through Bailey's keen cultural examination of the life and words of Jesus I am continually exposed and confronted with how much fear and wanting to be likable infect me. I'm a proud son of a gun. But sadly, I am of little use to God if I will not be graciously (not politely) bold and assertive in confronting the death and blindness enslaving so many in Northampton and in the world. Merely going about and being nice just sucks. Ugh!

You see there is an "in your face" urgency to the ministry of Jesus, Peter and Paul. What crushed/stole life from the poor, defenseless, voiceless and powerless required truth-telling which offended the Roman occupying Empire, and religious establishment of the Pharisees and Sanhedrin. It wasn't about being obnoxious or rude. It was not full of fleshly pride or lust for dominance. It was about the Kingdom truth that looses chains and leads people toward forgiveness and freedom. It was about confronting the powers that be and throwing them down. The virile, loving truth they all lived subverted and overturned the dominion of death, and began the Reign of God through the Church . . . then and now.

Last night, I caught the last half hour of CNN's special Homegrown Terror. While deeply troubling on a number of levels, I was struck by the depth of dedication - maniacal and evil though it is - of the young men (some only teenagers), willing to give everything for their beliefs: single-minded dedication, even fanaticism. They follow their leaders as if these men are speaking the very words of God. They know the teachings under which they have been indoctrinated, and are completely about the business of violently changing the world according to them.

Their misguided example summoned me to think: "Shouldn't the Kingdom of God and the example and teaching of Jesus compel me(us) to the same degree of loyalty?" Isn't the urgency of the hour worth me speaking boldly with people about the truth no matter? Shouldn't my love be uncompromising and changing the world on my heart all the time? Shouldn't fearless serving be what I spend most my days doing, especially toward people far from the Kingdom, even antagonistic to it? Shouldn't I be willing to suffer whenever asked by my Lord for this most precious Treasure?

YES!

It is the normal, biblical Christian life. Anything less is counterfeit ersatz, and pointless no matter how good it feels or important it appears. Jesus-followers are to be about just this: constantly following Jesus, incarnating his values and example as he continues his redemptive work through you and me in our neighborhoods, workplaces, homes, towns, and cities.

I more and more want it to be so in me, and in the life of imagine/Northampton. Anything less is bilge-water compromise in my opinion.

So if you think about it when you finish this, pray for yourself and then pray that I would begin today to bold in Northampton. No compromise; only following.

Jesus give me the grace to should my cross with joy and affection. Let my life be characterized by love for you so strong that the cost does not matter. Grace me with single-hearted devotion to you, and for your Kingdom. Fill me with the joy set before me that I might endure whatever lies ahead in your service. Let people see you in me because I am emptied of me. Give a boldness that changes lives, gives sight to the blind, frees the captives and proclaims the Year of the Lord's favor in Northampton.

I have no idea how many days I have left, but make them be the most redemptively fruitful they have ever been.

Make it so as you desire.

Soli Deo Gloria!

And, oh, yeah . . . Maranatha!