Posted by Chris on Sep 3, 2010 in
Church 
“I think Austin might just be the US city furthest along the missional road.” Alan Hirsch, author of The Forgotten Ways
If my rantings about TV, Church and growing up aren’t enough for you, don’t worry, there’s other places to find me on the web.
I’ve been given the privilege of helping out the guys over at PlantR. PlantR is an Austin-Area church planting network, made up of great guys risking everything to create new missional communities. On the blog, you’ll hear about opportunities to live missionally and show Christ’s love to Austin.
Check out the blog at www.plantr.org, or follow on Twitter @austinplantr. Keep your eyes peeled for the first ever PlantR podcast later this month.
Tags: Austin, church planting, plantr
Posted by Chris on Sep 2, 2010 in
Life 
“You don’t get old and stop running, you get old because you stop running.”
The adage shapes much of the story and science in Christopher McDougall’s Born to Run. I first came across the story of the hidden tribe of the Tarahumara and the idea of barefoot running in McDougall’s Men’s Health article in 2005. It’s always stuck with me, so I was thrilled to see a more detailed explanation of how 50 year old Native Americans can run ultramarathons in their sandals.
The book is part sports biography, part memoir, and part science textbook. McDougall is a washed up marathoner, to injured to ever run again, who travels to the Copper Canyons of Mexico in search of a lost tribe, that apparently eats corn, drinks beer, and never gets injured. Much of the book is made up of his stories of navigating drug country and foreign cultures. Beyond that, he tells stories of the American cult of ultrarunning, seemingly superhumans with the ability to run over a hundred miles a day.
One main thesis of the book is that human beings are natural born runners. From an evolutionary standpoint, we’ve got the ability to outrun any prey. Our only hindrance is running shoes, which allow our feet to atrophy and our heels to unnaturally strike. If we ran correctly, we could go for days, and never get injured.
The book is enthralling, addicting and will inspire you to put on your gym shorts, ditch your Nikes and hit the trail.
Tags: barefoot running, Born to Run, Christopher McDougall, marathon, Men's Health, run, running, Tarahumara, ultramarathon
Posted by Chris on Sep 1, 2010 in
Life At the beginning of each month I’m sharing about some plans I’ve made, with the hope it will hold me accountable. What are your plans this year?
1. Read the whole Bible. Now stalled out in 2nd Kings. Got a lot of work to do.
2. Run a full marathon. Running has been put on hold since my current means of transport is bike. Enough exercise…believe me.
3. Climb a 14,000′ Mountain. Although I hate to give up on any of my plans this year, I don’t see this as a financial possibility in 2010. 
4. Visit somewhere I’ve never been. I’m going to count my week in the mountains of California towards this one.
5. Find a full-time job. Check! Finally. Praise God.
6. Take at least one graduate course. I was just admitted into Fuller’s MAGL! I’ll be starting my first class later this month.
7. Read 40 books. Just devoured Born to Run. Delicious.
8. Volunteer at least 1 time a month. Looks like I failed at this, other than my regular responsibilities at my church.
9. Pay off all debt, except school loans. COMPLETED! I am free of all non-school debts!
10. Share my faith regularly. Some cool stories are coming together. Hope to share them soon.
11. Begin leading and/or hosting a regular gathering for skeptics and Christians to study the Bible. See #11.
12. Write daily, including journaling, blogging and working on a book. I haven’t done to well at that this month. However, be on the lookout for a new project you’ll see links for soon.
Tags: 12 Plans for 2010, 40 Books in 2010
Posted by Chris on Aug 26, 2010 in
Church 
Recently, I took part in a corporate training event for new hires. The intentionality of the process got me thinking about the desperate need churches have for passing on their culture.
The systems that most churches use seem outdated at best and confused at worst. Some churches practice a confirmation system while others have a new members class. You might learn the creeds, the denominational history, the leadership structure and sign a covenant that says you will be in a small group.
In other words, these systems might give you some new information, but they do little to inspire new members to embrace the new way of life unique to that community.
Try this on for a process of onboarding:
1. Make it hard to come. You can’t teach culture in a few hours on Sunday afternoon. How about a retreat, maybe you should even charge. You want people to take this seriously.
2. Make it exciting! Your church should be like nowhere else, and have the ability to change the world. People should be pumped up by that.
3. Tell the great stories of your church. How was it founded? What are some landmark moments? These should become the stuff of legend.
4. Teach a new way of being together and living in the world. Save the big theology and ecclesiology for Sunday. Teach about what makes the Christian way of life completely different from anything they’ve ever experienced. How do Christians approach money, sex, conflict and violence? How do we love each other and our neighbors?
5. Leave with a new set of tools. Having become a part of your church, they should now have methods for growing closer to God, serving with their church and loving their neighbors. It may seem regimented to teach people how to read their Bible or how to speak kindly. However, Christians are to live differently, which doesn’t come naturally. Equip for that.
6. Follow up. Each person should leave with a mentor they will be hearing from soon. Each established member in your church should know it’s their job to follow up, too.
What do you think? How would an intentional onboarding process change your church?
Tags: membership classes, onboarding
Posted by Chris on Aug 23, 2010 in
Life 
The world’s greatest comic book character, Batman, is going through a bit of a reboot. DC claims that the story of Bruce Wayne has reached an end, and now the cape and cowl fall to the original Robin, Dick Grayson.
The new Adventures of Batman and Robin has the punchy-ness of a 1970s cartoon, with all the grit of a post-911 world. Much of the story revolves around the development of Grayson, trying to figure out who he is, and what it means to be Batman. This is the same “Holy Gee, Batman!” Robin, the former circus performer whose big mouth could sometimes be as much trouble as The Penguin.
He struggles to get used to wearing a cape, and can’t make the groveled Batman voice. He’s also charged with taking care of the new Robin, Damian Wayne, the product of a tryst between Bruce Wayne of Talia al’Ghul. Damian was raised without a father by the league of assassins, knows no respect and no mercy.
The story ends with Grayson deciding it’s okay for him to smile under the mask. The only way he can do his job, is to find his own way of being a man.
It’s a story simple enough for a comic book, but so true that everyone must face it. We all grow up with expectations of our parents, heroes we wish to emulate, and social rules we learned as children. While these are all helpful, they can also trap us. We become a hallow imitation of others, or are driven by goals that do not fit our souls. At some point, we all have to decide what kind of Batman we’re going to be.
Tags: Batman, Bruce Wayne, comic books, Damian Wayne, DC, DC Comics, Dick Grayson, Robin
