Well, on Friday I was in the Octagon doin’ my best Royce Gracie impression when I got caught in an ankle lock that I refused to submit to …

I mean I rescued someone from a burning building by carrying them out to the window and leaping from their 2nd floor apartment …

Actually, it was tandem skydiving that went terribly wrong …

Ok, ok, the real story is that I was playing squash on Friday afternoon, and with a sudden forward push-off of my right foot I heard a *snap*.  Ever had those times when you just knew that something
bad had happened?
Yeah, this was one of them.  I’d partially ruptured my achilles tendon.

So now I’m gimpy.  Hobbling in a hemi-cast with crutches and the prospect of 4 weeks of sports med physio, and even then the possibility of surgery.  Well, at least I have a valid excuse on the golf course now …

Humana 2.0 is done … for now. An awesome experience being in a room of transformative leaders, visionaries, mystics, seers, and heroes.

I don’t know if I’ll get around to posting all of my notes, but here are my big impact moments at a glance:

- first off, props to Jettison Never (these guys rocked the house with their sets of original songs, and covers of U2 and Steve Miller Band) and the Urban Poets (this is what dance is all about)
[from Alex McManus]
- have you ever wondered if the characters in Scripture were psychologically balanced (seeing visions, interpreting dreams, hearing voices)?
- people don’t change simultaneously in a synchronized way
- whether or not the Jewish believers liked what Peter did with Cornelius, the story was moving on (without them)
[from Gerardo Marti]
- the bureaucratization of the sacred homogenizes the human experience
- have we packaged things so well that we don’t need spontaneous interpersonal relationships?
- reread Lk 10 … those sent out were dependent on strangers being willing to welcome them into their houses
- how inconvenienced are you willing to be in order to build relationships?
[from David Arcos]
- the first thing God allowed man to do (ie. name the animals) was what he was designed to do … be creative
- art is a matter of life and death to our non-Christian friends
[from Erwin McManus]
- we’ve stopped speaking to humans and trained ourselves to speak only to Christians
- maybe imagination is there for an infinite God to commune with a finite being
- the reason that Jesus had to go off to lonely places was probably not because of the crowds but because of the 12!
- we all need to re-embrace our status as seekers
- how do I position myself so that non-Christians might believe me vs. so that Christians might like me?
- the key measurable at Mosaic … are they serving others with others?
[from the Makers of Fire]
- learn from the lobster … has an exoskeleton, but when it grows large enough, it breaks out of the exoskeleton, consumes it for nutrients, bloats itself with water, grows a new exoskeleton and then shrinks - ready to grow again
- job descriptions not only describe what we do do, but also delimit what we won’t do … we want to create a culture where anyone would do anything
- can we create a culture that values failure because it would be an indicator that we are pursuing risks?

It was awesome to intersect with Sam, Gabe and Vanessa from Jacksonville, Lisa from Titusville, Greg and Jim from New Orleans, and Lorenzo and Daria from Montreal.

Thanks to the IMN for coordinating everything.  It was worth the flights to Orlando.  Looking forward to IMN Montreal!

Well, after an absolutely hectic Dec-Jan and battling that experience of depletion (read:  the tank is empty!), I’m looking forward to filling up courtesy of a visit to Florida and the Humana 2.0 conference this week.  I’ve never seen Erwin McManus live and in person, which should be a blast.  I met Alex McManus in Montreal earlier this year, and he really engaged me at the head, heart and spirit level with his challenges to lead a meaningful charge into the society 21st century … a charge that provides no guarantees of safe return.

For now, I’ve got to get ready to root on my ever-lovin’ Chicago Bears to victory.  I’m calling it Bears by 6 - but however it shakes out, I’m really anticipating it to be a good game.

Vaya con Dios, everybody!

Ever get the feeling that you just weren’t meant to be mobile?  Back in the early spring, my car - a 1990 Mazda Protege - started to unravel at the seams.  First it was the heater core going. Then a deterioration of the catalytic converter.  Next a signifcant crack in the windshield.  It all culminated in my battery dying completely.  It came time to retire the blue blazer, and so we did it with style … check it out here.

 Moving on from the Protege, I had a couple of summer months during which I could ride my motorcycle, a 1985 Honda Nighthawk S.  It’s a great machine, and has treated me extraordinarily well.  Until a rainy September evening, when the clutch started slipping, eventually eliminating all traction to my rear wheel.  It’s still sitting in my garage awaiting me to open up the clutch cover and check out the damage.

I finally managed to rustle up a replacement covered vehicle - a 1990 Civic Si.  Price was right, sporty enough for me.  And for two months has been running like a charm.  So today on my way to an oil change, the car quits while travelling on the highway.  It’s on the hoist at my local garage as I type. 

I know that everyone has vehicle woes … I just wanted to add my grrr to the global chorus!

Right now most of my compadres from our Trinity Community are down south in Alpharetta, GA at the DRIVE Conference, hosted by North Point Community Church.   And while I was searching around for a blog that might be covering what’s been happening there the last two days, I happened to find yet another gathering that looks pretty sweet.  It’s with Rob Bell et al. at Mars Hill Bible Chapel, and the conference is called Isn’t She Beautiful?  I’ve been gripped by the NOOMA resources, and was genuinely intrigued by Rob’s work in Velvet Elvis.  While it wasn’t practical or feasible to check out the Everything Is Spiritual tour, I might consider making the 7 hour trek to Grand Rapids to hear Rob speak 4 times in two days.

 And then follow that up with the road trip to Orlando for Humana?!  I’d better stop before I become a junkie.

Hey - well, I’ve officially registered for Humana 2.0 in February.  Over the last little while, I’ve really been inspired and provoked to thought and action by the McManus bros.  Somehow my perceptions of what it means to pray “your kingdom come” have just spun in directions that I’d never anticipated (at least not 6 years ago).  I’m genuinely amp’d about the prospect of hanging out with people who have a hunger for making inroads for Jesus in the post-modern, post-Christian and post-human (I hope to eventually figure out what that means) era.

Let me know if you’re on the same journey too …

Well, I thought that I’d better post something before someone suspects this as being an inactive, fraudulent blog!

I’ve just (40 min ago) finished delivering one of the talks for our church community’s ALPHA course - the subject was “Why and How Should I Pray” - and let me tell you, this was the craziest series of ‘technical difficulties’ that I think I’ve ever encountered. Wireless mic spazzing with static (new batteries even); wireless mouse ineffective (again, even with new batteries); laptop freezing; music stand flopping over (ok, that’s not so technical, but added to an already frustrating sequence of events); power surges through the sound system … you get the drift.   And that was all added to the fact that earlier in the evening I at some coconut
that was skilfully masked by chocolate … and I have an allergic reaction to coconut.  If you’ve ever thought that spiritual forces run interference during something with potentially life-changing results, then you know what I’m thinking.

Anyway, survived it none the worse for wear. I hope that our ALPHA course guests are doing just as well. It’s such a great course, and despite the minor distractions, we’re having a grand ol’ time. And I believe that God is goin’ to work through it. Cheers!

Hi everybody,

This is my first incursion into techno-civilization. I’m excited about exploring the connections as a new vox in the community! Thanks for inviting me to belong. I hope that in some small way I can help bring fuel to your own personal journeys as you seek beauty and truth.