“Ultimately, man must recognize that it is he who is asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible.”
-Victor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning
When I had the pleasure of sitting in a small group discussion at Halcyon on Fourth Street led Donald Miller, I refrained from saying the two things I’ve always thought about saying to him: 1) Something mushy like, “Thank you for writing the book that captured a generation and changed my life,” or 2)”You jerk! Blue Like Jazz was the book I always wanted to write!” But seriously, I ‘m just really thankful for Don’s words, honesty, and now his story.
In A Million Miles in a Thousand Years Don branches out from reflective essays, to telling the story of him learning to tell stories. A life worth living is much like a story, where a character wants something, and has to overcome some difficulty to obtain it. He tells about people who he’s met that live great stories, and his own attempts-including a hike through the Andes, launching a non-profit, and a failed engagement- at writing a story of his own life.
In a dark but hopeful scene after Don’s breakup, where he looks out over a campfire, and realizes that although he’s trying to write a great story out of his life, it’s just the story of a tree in the story of a forest. You don’t have to be the center of the universe to have a great story. A tree never ceasing trying to be the best tree it possibly can, but it is only one small part of the forest.
It reminds me a bit of the great cloud of witnesses in Hebrews 11. The heroes of the faith, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, leaders like Moses, prostitutes like Rahab, and the prophets will be there. The author of Hebrews then talks about Jewish martyrs who stood up to pagan empires who are also a part of the cloud. Who from the Christian story will be there? Heroes like Polycarp and Wycliffe? Peacemakers like St. Francis? Revolutionaries like Dr. King? There will be an untold number of others who you wouldn’t expect. Each a tree, combining to make up the story of the forest of God and his people.
A Million Miles has inspired me to edit my life, stop trying to make it all about me, and join the others in the forest.
According to Vince Antonucci, only about 2.2 percent of churches grow by conversion growth. So your big, comfy megachurch, your cozy little house church or you nice traditional denominational church are either shrinking, or stealing people from other Churches.
In his hilarious I Became A Christian and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt, Vince tells how he came to Christ in college, having never met a single Christian in his life. This led him to plant Forefront in Virginia beach, where they have grown a dynamic church, almost totally from non-believers. Recently, Vince got the crazy idea to move to the Las Vegas strip and do it again.
Verve has an incredible vision and proven experienced leadership. They have spent the better part of a year researching and reaching out in Vegas, which has led them to lease a property right off the strip, which will be home to a non-profit they’re launching, church services and more. On Wednesday, Vince announced this on his site:
Shepherd of the Hills church let me know that they will match any donations given in December to our Verve Venture Capitalists campaign!! We are trying to raise $50,000 for the build-out costs of getting the warehouse turned into a space where we can do church services (and more). Our hope has been to have 500 people give $100 each, all in 100 days.
So far we’re about half way there, but with only 29 days left. So Shepherd of the Hills said to help us reach our goal, they will match your donations given in December, all the way up to $25,000! So, if you can PLEASE give, you can know that your gift will be doubled!! You can learn more, and give online, at www.verveventure.org.
Imagine the impact you could have by helping out this phenomenal ministry! There’s only a few days left for the matching gifts, and only only a few left for those who need to give in 2009. Please prayerfully consider how you can help the strippers.
One of my twelve goals for 2010 is to read 40 books. It’s kind of ridiculous, because I’m a pretty slow reader. But I’m operating on the same principle of my half marathon, if I make a plan and a schedule, I can do a lot of things.
I need a little help picking my 40 books. There are a lot of good books out there, but I want to focus on reading that helps me work toward my goals in church planting, ministry, and leadership. About half of them need to be on audiobook. At least one or two classics, a few biographies, and a handful of mindless novels.
Suggestions?
Roy H. Williams of Austin’s Wizard Academy surprised me when he posted that he never makes any goals. William’s premise was that instead of making goals, we need plans. Goals, like the New Years resolutions we’ll be making and breaking in January, are so abstract that we don’t have to feel bad when they aren’t accomplished.
So, this year, I want to make specific plans that have the power to change my life, your life, and maybe even the whole world. Here’s what we’ll do:
Step 1) Prayerfully make a list of things you need to change in your life or what you’ve always dreamed of doing. Go to God and ask him what changes he wants to see in your life. Be sure to include all of the aspects of your life, including spiritual, physical, personal, relational, financial, educational, etc.
Step 2) From your list, pick twelve actionable items you want to accomplish in 2010. Be specific. Don’t say “get healthy,” say “lose 182 pounds in six days.”
Step 3) Assign a date that you want to complete your plan by. If your plan requires more than one step, assign those steps dates as well.
Step 4) Post your plans here on this website or on your own. Leave a comment or send me an email @ chrismorton82@gmail.com.
Step 5) Check in on each other. Use this blog, Facebook and whatever means necessary to hold yourself accountable.
I’ll be working on making my twelve plans this week. Below are a few that I’m playing with. I’d appreciate your suggestions.
-Visit one place I’ve never been
-Get back in Graduate School
-Run a marathon
-Read 40 books
I can’t wait to hear what your plans are!
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