need for true companion, companions...

being away from everyone in my life these past few days has been good. as somewhat of an introvert, i'm definitely recharged by these times alone.

and yet it definitely brings to bear the God-given need in me for others. i miss keri! she is my best friend, my confidant, my lover, my true companion (little shout out to marc cohn -- love that song). something very supernatural about the bond between us. the mystery of marriage. wow. such a tangible, powerful connection. and that translates to a very real need right now, 4 days from seeing her.

thank You, Master, for the gift of a true companion.

i'm also keenly aware of my need for companions...male companions in this journey. it's hard. and i'm so broken. i yearn to fulfill the purposes and plans He has for me, and i find so much of how He spurs me on, humbles me, lifts me up, and transforms me is through some fellas...just a few fellas in my life.

thank You, Master, for the gifts of great companions in my life.

in this hard but extremely exciting season of life, i'm aware of the need to prioritize time with keri -- intentional time -- and time with a few close friends -- intentional time.

i want to serve, to lead well. i want to give sacrificially and generously. i want to obey radically.

and to do these things, to honor Christ in these things, i know a necessary component is intentionality with these amazing companions.

thank You, Master, for speaking to me in this way in the midst of my personal, solo retreat...
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please let us be this kind of church

i recently received a note from a friend. worth sharing as we plant this church...

Loren,

I just had a very heavy but encouraging lunch with a friend. Apparently my friend's daughter recently became pregnant; she is fresh out of high school. She is having a really tough time because she doesn't feel like she can return to the church she was attending for fear of facing harsh judgment. As this guy was pouring his heart out concerning his daugher, my own heart was breaking because I knew her well and I know she's a believer. While we were discussing his daughter's now-interrupted future plans, he leaned over and said to me "She won't go back to that church but do you think we could send her over to you?" By "you," he of course means Ecclesia Clear Lake. My heart really began to swell and I responded positively at his delight. I have her cell # so my fiancee and I will meet up with her as soon as we can call her.

Praise God Loren! This is why we are here, to love the broken down and those who feel like they don't belong in church. Praise God for the church of losers, drop-outs, pregnant teens and sinners! Feel free to share this with the other people involved in this mission because it's truly a blessing.

Master, make us this kind church...

too long between posts

wow. just when i was getting proud of myself for being all 21st-century savvy with a blog and all....i go silent....

well to catch up quickly, i found out baby #3 due in december is a girl (yeah -- that's girl #3 -- you know how to pray for me). i mourned the discovery for about 10 days...now i'm celebrating. if she gets under my skin half as much as abbi and emily, oh boy....





i do have a unique arrangement with keri, one that i'm a little sheepish to admit. i've got "exclusive naming rights" on this one. keri really wanted to find out the gender, i really didn't want to, so i came up with a proposal -- she gets to find out and i get to name baby #3. so now i'm throwing every random name i can think of at keri. i'm definitely looking forward to introducing our new daughter to keri at the hospital. i can just see it now: "keri, meet paris."

i've enjoyed teaching at ecclesia houston a couple times in the last four weeks. i was surprised to have been nervous the first time, i guess because i didn't know a whole lot of folks there. spoken so many times the last few years, often to bigger crowds, but.... maybe a healthy anxiety -- keeps me sharp, i guess. regardless, i felt great about 'em both. i'm really excited to teach more, as God has affirmed that gifting in me (and clarified some other areas where i'm weak!). nothing like getting to lean into your strengths, a value i'm embracing more and more!

good segue to mention a gift from above in elizabeth owen as our new part time administrator at ecclesia clear lake! i'm confident she is going to be especially strong where i am weak and therefore allow me to thrive in the use of my gifts and strengths. (thank You, Master!) if you know her or if you're just excited about God using her big time in the formation of ecclesia clear lake, drop her a note at elizabeth@ecclesiaclearlake.org. i'm so grateful and excited!

here she is with her way cool rocket scientist husband, jeremy
(they've got a fun blog)


here elizabeth is helping organize a 400-kid
dodgeball tourney -- see, she can organize and have fun!

also very excited to have a good friend diving into this church plant journey -- nate messarra. i've loved knowing him since he was a sophomore in high school. watched his heart for the Master only grow these last 6-7 years (is he 21 now?!). he's been in scotland for the past year, among other things serving as a part of regarding hope, an emerging missional church in glasgow. i'd be pumped for him to lead and help shape our new church regardless, but i'm even more jazzed as his box to put church in, however big it was before, has been expanded.

here's nate, 3rd from the left, "mentoring"

some high school kids last year

he's a good friend, a passionate lover of Jesus, and a dreamer. three great reasons for me to love him being in the thick of it with me/us. (check out his blog)

right now i'm on a 3-day getaway to focus on preparing to teach this fall. some generous fcc friends (mike & debbie hickey) are allowing me to stay at their suhweeeet lake house on lake mcqueeny (near seguin and new braunfels). wow. it's nicer than my house! it's good to have generous, affluent friends, especially those like the hickeys who love Jesus and see their stuff for what it is. things here have gone well. i've been able to do a ton of reading and praying. only now beginning to do much writing, but i'm very excited about diving into the gospel of luke as a new church. i feel an extra weight as the teaching in this first season of a new church speaks so loudly for who we are and who we want to be. pray for me, as well as for jack wisdom and chris seay who will be teaching with me.

18 days till this little church plant endeavor becomes a reality. i'm soooooo fired up! God only knows what He's got planned to do in and through us....

grace fleshed out

last week was an amazing, humbling experience. finally responded to jason's cry for some love and attention. enjoyed some food (tex mex @ gringo's -- doesn't get much better) and a movie (die hard 4 -- unrealistic and oh so fun). mustered up the courage to ask him to forgive me for being such a bad friend to him lately, and he quickly said, "oh, i forgive you -- i don't hold grudges!"

the simple, pure heart of a child....he calls me maybe 50 times in the last 6 weeks, texts and emails me incessantly....with no reply from me, spiritual giant that i am (right?).

here's his email to me late last week. if this doesn't personify God's grace, i don't know what does:

hay whats up i had a grate time at the moves that movie was alsome i yester day was the best day of my life well talk to later to u later

jason

amazing.

heart check

wow.

this week has included a pretty tangible word for me from the Master.

i'm so excited about what He's calling me to -- the big picture of His Kingdom coming here, now, and how He's inviting us, His Church, to extend His reign... "big picture." that's all i seem to be thinking about now. vision. community. movement. changing the world.

and jason keeps calling me.

i've known jason for almost 7 years now. he was born of a crack-addicted mother and is now an 8-year-old boy trapped in a 22-year-old body.



sweet as can be....and boy does he love to call me...and email me....and text me....and call me some more.

how can i dream of living more and more the Way of Jesus and still struggle so mightily with my own self-absorption? how can God's beautiful, helpless, hurting children be nothing more than interruptions to me?!

i trust that You, Master, are speaking to me in this....i'm listening! i trust that You are guiding me as well as i prepare to teach this sunday....

can you be tired but fueled?

mondays are always a little hard, but i'm flat worn out today! the getaway with several families was really good -- incredibly exhausting, but very good. we're in that season of life with the little ones that makes traveling very challenging. we spent about 10 hours in the car over the weekend, and i'm pretty sure emily, our 20-month-old, cried/screamed for about 5 of 'em. (she's gotta be teething -- no idea what led to all that. i'm fairly confident her head completely spun around when we weren't looking.)

the better half of our road trip...


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but, having said all that, i'm really glad we were able to get away with everyone. eating together and just having conversation was rich, and saturday night hearing "life stories" from 6 different folks was the highlight of the weekend. i'm so thankful that our new church community has people like these familes, Jesus-followers with a big heart for each other and for the brokenness around them.

Master, thank You for calling us to community! thank You for making us for You and for each other, wired for connection. the greatest joy i ever experience is always in the context of relationship, despite my sporadic attempts to hole up alone. i am overwhelmed that Your call on my life to lead this new community includes being surrounded by such a great body of people...Your Body......praise You, Great Provider.....

we went together to worship sunday morning at a local community church (in austin), and i'm sooooo glad we did. it was enjoyable for sure. but then i was able to go to the 530pm ecclesia gathering, and the contrast was stark! my spirit came alive at ecclesia -- the contemplative, reflective worship....the smaller community (250ish vs. 1000+)....the lack of production....the simple, challenging word to love people like Jesus loves.... ecclesia is far from perfect, but the Lord used sunday to remind me so vividly what He's calling us to shape in His Name. i don't want to get into the "different strokes" discussion when it comes to church style, methodology, etc. i guess i'm just saying, "i'm stoked!" about the kind of local church He is forming through us!

eric bryant spoke sunday at ecclesia. he leads a great church out in los angeles (mosaic), and my story certainly includes the way God spoke clearly to me about planting a church while out in l.a. last spring ('06) at their conference. it was good to see eric and even briefly tell him that. mosaic will continue to impact me as a leader, i'm sure.

my buddy, nate messarra, is back from scotland after being gone for 10 months. saw him yesterday for the first time since christmas -- good times! he's diving in with his passion and gifts to the formation of ecclesia clear lake while finishing up his last couple of years of college, and i'm so eager to partner with him!

ok....i've gotta end this little rant.

i'm so worn out....and yet my wheels are spinning a million miles an hour!

(i look totally fine, right?)

old friends and new

tomorrow keri and i are getting away for the weekend with 6-7 other families. we're going to a lake house on lake travis near austin. with our kids (almost 4 and 2) and keri's pregnancy (now...17 weeks along?), it's going to be a little bit of an adventure, especially with 20+ folks in one big house! might be closer to a bad reality t.v. show than healthy community, but...

this is definitely a big part of our journey right now. we've been blessed with the most amazing friends, several of whom we've been doing life with right here in our community these last few years. and yet now God is inviting us, calling us to begin new relationships with a new church family right here in the same corner of the universe. we barely know most of the folks we're getting away with, and i'm counting on us barely knowing most of the many people who journey with us and ecclesia clear lake....and yet i'm so excited!

definitely not "out with the old, in with the new!" i'm anticipating the joy of maintaining rich friendships with several folks and enjoying many rich, new friendships in this new season.

regardless....God is good and is clearly calling me and my family into this new season....this new community....this new movement of people.

and i'm excited!

(pictures and/or stories to follow after the weekend...)