http://tr.im/CRtrw

In Leviticus and Deuteronomy we read all these laws and commands that speak to all of life serving One God. It deals with what you throw away, how you plant fields, how you style your hair and all - and while much of that was for a specific time and people (I think), the concept that all of life is under God did not go away. I've wanted to submit to God the way I throw things away...

So, if people haven't figured out yet, I love going on the green journey. In my particular walk, it's about respecting God. While Guatemala is a very green country in terms of electricity use, water use, etc., there is room to grow in this area. Still, there are tons of garbage thrown out each day. I live in the US now (Jace) but I still want to practice what I practiced in Guatemala - creative recycling.

Who defines what garbage is? Is it stuff that no longer is fit for its original use, or is it useless stuff? I hope that garbage can be repurposed to good use again. One way we can repurpose things is to make planters out of things like tin cans, styrofoam cups or take out boxes, cardboard, etc...

Check out our small urban gardens that include green beans, lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, etc. started in garbage. :D http://tr.im/CRtrw Here's a link to the photo album we have on shapevine for our creative recycling stuff. We also have some compost and rain water collection stuff (sounds all professional, but it isn't at all).
-----------
We may be posting later on some different repurposing things like furniture made from stiff cardboard rolls (an Estuardo idea)....we'll see, though.
-----------

But the real reason behind it all is a quite redemptive message. God repurposes us. He recycles us through Jesus' death, burial, resurrection. I'm so thankful that God does not dismiss me as garbage, but rathers sees something to love and turn into something beautiful - full of purpose and life. What a great God we have!

The Industrial Revolution is often championed as the beginning of a golden age of civilization. Yet, it tore apart society. The Luddites rebelled, but their voices were quelled. (The Luddites were a sort of anti-technology group. Maybe a more famous neo-Luddite is Ted Kaczynsky - the Unabomber). We all just accept the effects of this revolution as if it were something we just have to adapt to - we're separated from each other because of it.

Men started working in factories, away from their family farms or businesses. And maybe I'm just being one of those people who likes to say that "this problem started with this era" - but the problem is still the same: Now it's 8+ hours a day away from your family. Your wife is at home or working the same hours away. Your children, if in a school are away hours a day. We live so much of our lives away from the people who matter most. I'm sick of swallowing it.

My wife and I are looking to start out own business so we can be with each other more, cuz we don't want to sit back and let society or life tell us what to do - we want to have a holy rebellion. We're saving up to buy some supply and start selling gifts...anyways, that's beside the point. We're done acting like this passive world does.

One thing that has come to the forefront is planning for the future in business. We have a vision of hiring married couples together, so they can be together, or hiring them to work from their home. We have a vision of giving people some paid time to do good things in the community. We have a vision of a people devoted to God in their work. (some businesses already do these things, I know)

Anyways, it's a journey we're on. Anyone else have something to say about doing business? Anything is welcome!

I recently heard a sermon from Steve Chalke, the founder of Stop the Traffik. His crusade is against human trafficking and slavery in the world.

He issued a challenge for us to rebel against the corporate empires that support slavery by eating only fair-trade chocolate. It's an immense challenge. 42% of all cocoa comes from Cote D'Ivoire in Africa says he. He goes on to say that this chocolate is most certainly harvested and produced by slaves.

It seems vague and unreal and all, but I decided to try it. I bought a bar for $3.50! Yikes. I felt God's pleasure in it. The next day though, I forgot completely about it as I bought some Oreo Cakesters. Gosh, that was a short-lived fight.

I want to do better in this area. I think that it is a pleasing endeavor toward God to support fair-trade, so I'll do what I can. I know I'm going to make mistakes, but I don't want to get to the end of my life having never rebelled in small ways against the apathetic masses who consume without thinking.

I'll share some sites for buying good fair trade stuff:

http://divine.serrv.org/crs/cart.php?m=product_list&c=3
http://www.clothingmatters.net/Mission.html
http://store.gxonlinestore.org/
http://www.puravidacoffeeshop.com/index.html

Daniel is a guy I met on a trip to Haiti. He's been on Oprah for his freegan lifestyle. You should check out some of his ideas.

This is a pretty extreme reaction to the waste our country creates. Daniel chooses to dumpster dive in order to conserve resources so that he can be more generous. He is a talented opthamologist who could just be making money, but instead he uses his excess to help others out, such as the homeless. He lives in a neighborhood that is in an impoverished section of his city. He's trying to love the poor like Jesus did. This is a revolutionary act.

http://theburts.wordpress.com/

Give. Be gracious as you were given so much.

I've been asking a few people about creative ways to give cash to strangers. Hiding change in laundromats, coffee shops. Putting coins in coke machines and not buying the coke. Handing dollar bills out on the street. Putting money in balloons and giving them out.

The big kicker is one called "Jubilee", borrowing from the Levitical idea of countrywide debt forgiveness. A group  (The Simply Way - Shane Claiborne)  held a celebration on Wall Street one day where they dressed in cognito, and carrying a ton of change, dollars, etc. they chunked in all after a short speech and celebrated in the street with sidewalk chalk and bubbles. People caught on and starting giving to each other in the street. Pretty awesome.

So, think and act in utter generosity. Give me advice or tell me about your experiment in this area.

As I was reading in Leviticus 4:13-15, there is a concept of communal sin that I don't understand. The community sins and the elders take responsibility for the sin. As it was playing out, I felt the Spirit saying that I needed to pay attention to this and confess and repent for my family and declare a new mission for the family.

So, my wife and I listed all of the family sins and we confessed them. Then we erased each sin and wrote a good work/principle in its place. For instance - Racism we erased and instead put "Reconciliation". As head of the home I declared the cycle of sins broken by the authority of Jesus Christ and declared the good ways we would pass on instead. I think the ceremonial aspect was important.

It's important that a family admits its evils, so they can turn away from them and turn to good, godly ways. The same needs to happen with our businesses and our churches. Communal sin is real, powerful and can go on for generations until someone listens to God, takes responsibility and repents communally with others in the organization.

We must bring intention and direction to our families, churches, businesses.. or else they are simply letting life happen to them. Remember that we must be leading life (of course with and by God or else it's worthless), not simply responding to what life brings.

Guatemala City is home to a lot of people who want to act like Americans and Europeans. The urban areas of Latin America are turning into little enclaves of 1st world western culture. We have the new and old American tribes down there - the emos, punks, skaters, techno crowd, hippies, Rastafarians, etc.

One place brings it all together - 4 Grados Norte (4 degrees north in English). Not only does it have a vibrant club scene, but it is home to a couple of art galleries, a couple of fashion boutiques, a hookah bar, an animation and effects studio that worked on the Chronicles of Narnia, a wine bar, a middle and high school, a language school, bookstore, library and cultural center of Spain. Drunkenness is prohibited in the zone and guards are posted throughout the area to keep order.

One little bar is quite colorful - SUAE. It indulges idolatry to spirits and powers. It worships art and fashion. It shows movies and art shows frequently. The people are friendly. I find it to be one of the greatest places to be. Outside there are artists with spraypainted canvases and wire sculptures next to a tarot card dealer and a table filled with free drinks to celebrate the new moon. It's a very spiritual space. The middle class ideological outcastes frequent the place.

And yet, Christians scream witchcraft and paganism. They run away because they don't want to be tempted to party or drink. They are scared of their faith dying in the face of something that isn't Christian but might be attractive to them. It's really frustrating. The Christians who do happen to go there really don't want to interact; they want to conquer. I can't say that I haven't thought that way when I was there. Imagine a redeemed SUAE. Imagine a redeemed 4 Grados Norte, though. Celebrating that God has taken them through another moon... celebrating that God is alive... celebrating that God creates beauty and enjoyment... because let's face it - they are spiritual people. They are looking for a completion to their experiment. And Jesus has it.

My dream is that Christians of Guatemala and all of Latin America would interact with these new fringe cultures as they would a newfound tribe, having respect for their customs and seeking only to introduce Jesus who will complete them. I hope that with an open mind we can answer the questions they are asking of life. I hope that we can turn their hearts and customs to something vibrant and beautiful - even if it scares some Christians.
-------
Guate es el hogar de muchas personas que querian actuar como los Norteamericanos y los Europeos. Las areas urbanas de Centro y Sur America estan volviendo ser tribus de la cultura del oest. Tenemos las tribus viejas y nuevas aqui - los emos, punks, skaters, los hippis, los Rastafarianos, el grupo de techno, et cetera.

Un lugar compone todo los elementos - 4 Grados Norte. Tiene una escena vibrante de club sino tambien tiene un par de galerias de arte, un par de tiendas de ropa y estilo, un bar hooka, un estudio de animacion y efectos que trabajo' en The Chronicles of Narnia, un bar de vino, una escuela y colegio internacional y un academia de idiomas, una libreria, una biblioteca y un centro de cultura de Espana. Emborracharse es prohibido en la zona y los guardias estan puestos por todos lados que mantienen la orden.

Un barcito en particular es muy distintivo - SUAE. Se consienta a la idolatria de los espiritus y los poderes. Adora al arte y la moda. Ensenan peliculas y exhibiciones de arte muy frecuentamente. La gente es genial. Me encuentra como una de las mejores lugares de estar. Afuera hay artistas que pintar con spray y una que tiene sculturas de hilo a la par de un lector de tarjetas tarot y una mesita llena de bebidas gratis para celebrar la nueva luna. Es un sector muy espiritual. La gente de la clase media que son diferentes en ideologia de otros frecuenta el lugar.

Todavia, los cristianos claman "brujeria" y "paganismo". Corren de alli porque no quieren que podrian encontrar las tentaciones de beber y parrandar. Tienen miedo que su fe podria morir en la cara de algo que no es cristiano pero pueda ser atractivo. Me frustre mucho! Los cristianos que visitan alli no quieren mesclar con la gente y la cultura; solo quieren conquistar. No puedo decir que no he pensado la misma cuando estaba alli....pero...

Imagina un SUAE redimido. Imagina un 4 Grados Norte redimido. que celebre que Dios los ha llevado a otra nueva luna.. que celebre que Dios es vivo... que celebre que Dios crea la belleza y disfrutar... porque - nos confronte - es una gente espiritual. Buscan algo que completa su experimento. Y JesuCristo lo tiene.

Mi sueno es que los cristianos de Guate y de toda LatinAmerica interactuen con esas nuevas culturas de las margenes como que han encontrado un nuevo tribu, con respeto para sus costumbres y que se los introduzquen a JesuCristo - quien va a completarlos. Espero que podemos dar respuestas que quieren saber de la vida con una mente abierta. Espero que podemos manejar sus corazones y costumbres a algo vibrante y magnifico - aun si da miedo a algunos cristianos.

Reading and reading and reading and researching and going out and calling and emailing and twittering and blogging and thinking and talking about nothing but missions - it's something that can destroy my marriage. What happens if I am so engrossed in all of this that I cannot relate to anyone who doesn't think only of mission? What if I can't even talk to my wife or have fun with her without mentioning missions?

Missions as an entity can become so much more than a career; it can become my wife. If I don't seriously scale back my enthusiasm, I will burn out myself and my marriage. God never meant for us to be all work all the time. My Sabbaths are hard to keep because I can't steer my thoughts back to the here and now with my friends and family. It's a good thing God is waking me up.

Life is more than just sacrifice. There is laughter and enjoyment. There is beauty. There is my wonderful wife.

Examine yourself, enjoy life, don't obsess. :D

So, I assume that most of us here are readers of Frost and Hirsch. We all get the movement to decentralize Christian hierarchy and to stop relying so much on paid workers and university trained pastors....we really hate it when people call themselves by big titles like Bishop, Pastor, Apostle, etc.

The last denomination I was a part of was the Church of Christ (the fundamentalists). They make a point to not call "pastor-types" anything but "preacher" or "brother". I guess it's a good practice since we love hating hierarchy... but we do run the risk of anti-title titles!

Example: "I have no theological training (with the feeling of - "I'm better than a university grad because I don't have a formal education or title"). I don't have a denomination; I follow Jesus. I don't go to a church because I'm against so much of what Christendom stands for. We don't have hierarchy in my church. Etc.."

It's NOT WRONG to have no training, not attend a building service, not have a denomination or to take pride in only following Jesus. But I think we could get a little prideful thinking we are the elites of Christianity, the only true followers, especially just because we don't wear titles.

Watch yourself. Boast in Jesus, not in your lack of titles and hierarchy.

The Holy Spirit sure has been rough on me in His latest round of disciplining me. He's showing me that I can turn the concept of missions into my own little idol. I have been dealing with this, especially in my relationships. I'm so obsessed with it that I take away from meaningful relationships in my life...so I'd like to share a little on that.

I studied and detested paternalism in missions when I was in college, so whenever I went on missions, I was decided to never become the center of the mission/church/movement that I started. I thought I was doing pretty good. I had formed things that did not depend on me and had a life of their own. Good, right?

Well, I still was treating those who I had worked with as my "replacements" and only saw people's worth inasmuch as they would join the thing I had started. I would measure my success or failure upon if my specific vision was followed - holism, evangelism to adults focus, radicalism, art, etc...

But recently, I realized I had to let go of ownership - let go of my child. The vision of a foreign missionary is just for starting up and giving form and focus to the daily life of a missionary. The vision of the locals that comes after - that's the real vision that is for building the movement. God convicted me that talking about the workers as my replacements was disrespectful. They are partners. They are equals. Keeping control of finances, websites, communications, ministry names is wrong to do - give it up to others. It's not yours; it's God's. Just like our children really aren't ours - they are God's. Deciding to act on behalf of your vision and not submitting to the vision of the Christian locals - it's just as wrong. Obviously we can influence others, but don't forget to let others influence you, inasmuchas they follow Christ.

Give yourself a moment to think about that. I had a very hard time dealing with it, because my identity is wrapped up in my ministry, not in the living God. God is alive and He is the Father. I'm not the Father. I'm not the originator of vision. I'm not living forever on this Earth, and therefore I should not be looking to leave a legacy for my namesake...

Anyone else been convicted of making missions your little child?