Last Saturday morning, after finally securing a moving truck (don’t use Budget, always call to confirm the day before you move, lesson learned), we had a ton of help loading all our earthly possessions into a 26′ truck. It turns our that we have exactly 26′ plus the trunk space of 3 cars worth of possessions. Monday morning, with the help of several guys from Harbor that we had never met, we unloaded the truck in our new home in San Diego. We now have a great place to live with plenty of room and a yard that Ezra and our dog are enjoying to the fullest. I also have sore muscles that I didn’t even know existed.

We have already met our neighbors across the street, who have a baby 1 day older than Ezra. Ashley and I are committing to making a concerted effort to learn the names of everyone on our street, and develop relationships with many of our neighbors. To this end, we decided to have a BBQ on Friday, 4th of July. We probably won’t be unpacked by then, but we have decided that if we wait until our lives are in order before we start developing relationships, we’ll die very lonely people. Apparently we will be able to see fireworks from our backyard, so that’s a bonus.

Our fundraising effort continues…we mailed out support letters last week and some responses are starting to roll in. I try to convince myself that fundraising isn’t just a necessary evil, that it is an important part of discerning and confirming God’s call on our lives. But, if I’m honest, I hate fundraising. I know I need to start making follow up calls with people to whom we have mailed letters, but I don’t really want to call people to talk about money. At this point we’re about half way to our fundraising goal, so I guess I need to check my pride at the door (again) and get on the phone.

That’s it for now. Thanks for sticking around, faithful reader blog checker. I’m planning to post a more reflective post this afternoon, but we are currently living without internet access at home (which is only possible because I have a BlackBerry) so it’s possible that could be delayed. We’ll see.

Secularists are wrong when they ask believers to leave their religion at the door before entering into the public square. Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, William Jennings Bryan, Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King – indeed, the majority of great reformers in American history – were not only motivated by faith but repeatedly used religious language to argue for their cause. To say that men and women should not inject their ‘personal morality’ into public policy debates is a practical absurdity. Our law is by definition a codification of morality, much of it grounded in the Judeo-Christian tradition.

#2: Do you agree?

Wright argues in Surprised By Hope that the “mission of the church is nothing more or less than the outworking, in the power of the Spirit, of Jesus’ bodily resurrection. It is the anticipation of the time when God will fill the earth with his glory, transform the old heavens and earth into the new, and raise his children from the dead to populate and rule over the redeemed world he has made.”

I believe in Science Almighty. I believe in the power of human reason disciplined by the scientific method to understand, control, and change our world.

I believe in Technology and a Rational Society, its only begotten Sons which have the power to renew our world.

I believe in the spirit of Progress. I believe that a science based technology and a rationally organized society will enable me to realize my ultimate goals - freedom, happiness and the comforts of material abundance.

I believe in economism. I believe that the abundance of consumer goods and experiences and the leisure time and freedom to consume them will make me happy. To this I commit myself with all my money, time, energy and resources. Amen.

Notice their response: “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.’” (Daniel 3:16-18)

It’s easy to worship the living and true God when things are going well. As a pastor, my perception of my own holiness is far too closely linked to my performance. Last Sunday I preached reasonably well (an act of God in and of itself, but of course I take the credit), and I have been coasting through the week on the high that comes as a result.

Today was the day when I got taken down a notch. Or 50.

I’m in a period of transition now, looking to see what God has in store for my future. For the last couple of weeks I’ve been waiting to hear about a ministry opportunity. It seemed like a good fit, and I’ve been waiting to hear about the when and where, thinking it was more or less a done deal. Today that opportunity was taken completely off the table.

To say I was stunned would be an understatement. That was my fall-back plan, and it just fell through. I’m 55 days away from my final pay check, and–at the moment–I have no real options.

I’m tempted to be angry, thinking I deserve better. I’m tempted to panic. I’m tempted to call everyone I know and try to scare up a few opportunities; it would make me feel better to at least have some options on the table. My impulse is to try to make something happen.

But my mind is drawn–clearly by the Holy Spirit, since I’m incapable of getting myself to this state at present–to the words of Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego, facing death in a fiery furnace: God is able to provide for me, but even if he doesn’t, I will trust in no one else.”

This is what the gospel calls us to. Sometimes we sing triumphantly–”Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me“–other times we defeatedly whimper–”Lord, to whom [else] shall we go? You [alone] have the words of eternal life”. Either way, it is God’s presence with us, not our performance–or lack thereof–that is essential.

The difficult times are crucial, because they force me to come to question what I am truly holding on to. Do I want God because he is true and perfect and merciful? Or do I just want him to fix my life for me and then leave me alone? If things never get any better–if I have to get a job a Starbucks–do I still want God, or am I only content when I can be doing something “significant” for him?

It occurs to me that in my wedding vows–as in yours, presumably–I promised to be faithful “from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, ’til death do us part.” I made that promise on what was probably the happiest day of my life, and yet it was an acknowledgement that life would likely get worse. Yet Ashley’s presence with me in the hard times is far better than being alone in the good times, so we have pledged ourselves to each other.

I would not think of forsaking that promise should I still be in need of employment 2 months from now. Why then does my faith in the one whose grip on me cannot be loosened even by death waver?

Clearly I have not forgotten the depth of love God has shown me in Christ. When the option was his people and death on the cross or his own comfort, he chose us. Even when there are no options open to me, there are no better offers on the table than his presence with me.

May God grant me the faith of Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego, to know that God is able of providing for me, but even if he doesn’t, it is far better to be with him despite the cost than to be safe and alone.

So in order to work on this, I’m creating a month-long gospel project for myself (I had meant to start at the beginning of the month, but it came and went without my permission). Every day for a month I’m going to write a short (or maybe long) “thing” about the gospel. I’m not really sure what form this will take. It will probably include many different approaches, from explaining a passage of Scripture to a more apologetic approach. But the goal in every case is to connect the gospel with the heart-issues of broken people like myself.

I have no idea if I’ll be able to pull this off. And I have no ideas waiting in the wings to start of with. So we’ll see how it goes. This is really a project to stretch and develop my preaching, and I suppose failing at it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.

So, with that in mind, The Gospel Project begins tomorrow…

Update March 8:Ok, so I’m clearly not going to be able to keep up with this everyday posting thing, but I’m going to keep working on this project. My new goal is to post every other day.

There is something which unites magic and applied science while separating both from the “wisdom” of earlier ages. For the wise men of old the cardinal problem had been how to conform the soul to reality, and the solution had been knowledge, self-discipline, and virtue. For magic and applied science alike the problem is how to subdue reality to the wishes of men: the solution is a technique; and both, in the practice of this technique, are ready to do things hitherto regarded as disgusting and impious… — C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man, quoted in Tim Keller, The Reason for God.

“Christianity is the religion of over two thousand different language groups in the world. More peple pray and worship in more languages that in any other religion in the world…. Obviously these facts of cultural and linguistic pioneering conflict with the reputation of Christianity as one colossal act of cultural intolerance.This has produced a deep Christendom guilt complex, against which all evidence seems unavailing. It is important, however, to get people to budge, because the default Christianity they now practice is a worn-out cultural fragment of something much greater and fresher.” Lamin Sanneh, Whose Religion is Christianity?, pp. 69-70.

Three things I find particularly interesting: 1) the study shows that Protestants no longer possess a majority status, and 2) a significant portion of the population have changed their religious affiliation at least once in their lives, and 3) many who have changed religions, and over a quarter of 18-29 years olds claim no religious affiliation.

Taken together, these three facts show that the church must radically alter its approach to mission. Simply trying to attract people who are already members of our tribe was never biblical; now it’s not even practical. However, people’s openness to change religious affiliation–combined with results of another study which found that “78 percent of [people] said they would be willing to listen to someone who wanted to talk about their Christian beliefs” (”The number rose to 89 percent among adults 18-29 years of age”)–should present a tremendous opportunity. Mission and evangelism will have to be much more relational and organic than the way we have typically approached it.