Brian's Blog

Livestock founders Jill and Alex Hass on KEYC

brian@trvc.org — Fri, 28 May 2010 14:06:25 GMT

Things are really starting to ramp up for the June 5th Livestock event. On Wednesday, KATO-FM and KXLP-FM had our headline musician, Jason Gray on air for live interviews, and then yesterday Livestock founders Jill and Alex Hass were on KEYC-TV. Here's the link to the video: http://www.keyc.tv/node/37799

Brother Lawrence and the practice of the presence of God

brian@trvc.org — Sun, 02 May 2010 13:01:51 GMT

This weekend and next, Andrea and I are pulling a few thoughts from the 17th century classic "The Practice of the Presence of God" - thoughts and insights that are attributed to an obscure man named Brother Lawrence. Although I have been familiar with the book and its basic themes for years, I finally read it recently. What a gem! I found a public domain copy and post a link here for you to enjoy as well.

The Practice of the Presence of God

Instructions and background on celebrating a Christian version of the Passover Seder

brian@trvc.org — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 18:43:48 GMT

Here's a couple of links that we've found helpful in celebrating a Christian version of the Passover Seder. We are excited to do this again this coming week with our kids and a few friends... looking at the deep history and connection of what Jesus did for us, and the fulfillment of centuries of tradition. Enjoy!

Overview: http://www.crivoice.org/seder.html

Actual details for doing a seder: http://www.crivoice.org/haggadah.html

Vineyard USA - Justice Response

brian@trvc.org — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 21:11:04 GMT

Vineyard USA Launches Justice Response Website, Targets Human Trafficking

January 18, 2010— Vineyard USA: A Community of Churches (www.vineyardusa.org) proudly announces the launch of “Justice Response,” a new website designed to equip pastors and lay leaders to address international and domestic human trafficking, www.vineyardusa.org/justice-response. The website launch couldn’t be more timely as this month inaugurates the first National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. Developed by the Vineyard Anti-Slavery Team (VAST), the website provides an approachable introduction to the complex dimensions of human trafficking, along with practical resources pastors can use to engage their congregations. The “Justice Response” website provides an overview of human trafficking, from child soldiers to sex slaves to bonded labor. Specific resources include sermon ideas, small group resources, guides to mapping hotspots for human trafficking in your community, and guides to fair-trade products. The site will expand in the future to include a variety of resources for worship leaders and Christian workers overseas.

Comprised of over 500 churches in the United States, and hundreds more worldwide, the Vineyard movement has a consistent history of its members caring for the poor and the marginalized. In the wake of the growing movement among many Christian communities to reclaim a legacy of abolitionism, VAST aims to link the Vineyard into the existing stream of modern-day abolitionists and anti-slavery organizations. VAST member Cheryl Pittluck hopes that “future generations will be able look back and say that when the Christian Church saw the need, she rose to the cause in the fight to end Human Trafficking....That the Vineyard took seriously the command to fight for justice on behalf of those who cannot fight for themselves. This website will hopefully be a valuable tool in arming and preparing our churches for that fight."

Many Vineyard churches have already begun the work of uncovering human trafficking within their own cities. VAST member Steven Hamilton, assistant pastor at the Central Maryland Vineyard, encountered the issue of human trafficking in the Ukraine. With horror, they discovered that girls from the Ukrainian orphanages their church supported were being trafficked directly into Baltimore. They began to understand that trafficking was not just an international phenomenon that happened “out there” somewhere. The church is a founding member of the Maryland Human Trafficking Taskforce and provides awareness and local assistance to law enforcement with anti-trafficking raids. “My hope is that the vision and resources of Justice Response will empower and equip Vineyard churches to join what God is doing to fight against modern-day slavery all over the world and in our own backyards,” Hamilton shares.

Love146 U.S. Advocacy Director Kathy Maskell hails the website as a milestone in the anti-slavery movement. “Sharing resources and creating bridges between faith communities and activist communities is exactly the kind of collaborative spirit that will enable us to end modern-day slavery in our lifetime.” The website officially launches today and is accessible to all at www.vineyardusa.org/justice-response.

Advent Blog

brian@trvc.org — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:58:28 GMT

A Vineyard colleague of mine, Brian Housman, is doing a blog for Advent. Brian is a super thoughtful guy, and always has interesting insights and questions. If you are looking for a short ditty to read devotionally during the Advent season, check out his blog at http://adventbibleblog.wordpress.com/

Bring the sick

brian@trvc.org — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:34:17 GMT

Our friend Brenda Gatlin wrote an article recently for the Vineyard USA website. The Vineyard church in Duluth has been seeing some great things happen over the past few years, where signficant numbers of people are finding healing and hope in Jesus. Take a peek at the article and read a bit about what motivates their church in this mission.

http://www.vineyardusa.org/site/about/article/bring-sick

Bono "preaches" about loving/serving the poor

brian@trvc.org — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:57:46 GMT

A friend recently posted this video on Facebook. It's of Bono - lead singer of U2, speaking at an awards ceremony for the NAACP. In his short speech, Bono moves from some simple comments abou the NAACP, into some passionate "preaching" about loving the poor around the world. Thought this was a fitting bookend to our World Vision Sunday we had yesterday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5JxULAX9P4

FailUsNot.com

brian@trvc.org — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:39:43 GMT

In the middle of talking with a friend this morning, a song kept running through my head - the new song "Fail Us Not" by the band 1000 Generations. The song is a prayer to God - a gut honest prayer that deals with the real hurt, real failures, and real dissapointments of life. And yet, in the middle of all those raw emotions, the prayer is one of hope and trust, looking to God to be bigger than the battles that we face in life. As I was looking online for the lyrics of the song, I ran across an awesome website that 1000 Generations put together. www.failusnot.com Not only is there a music video of the song (which was great to send to my friend), but there are also a number of videos that the band and others have posted, where they talk about how they found hope and healing in God, even in the midst of or after very difficult events. I think you'll be encouraged by hearing these people's stories.

November TRVC Newsletter

brian@trvc.org — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:01:30 GMT

Here's a link to our the latest edition of "The Source" our monthly newsletter.

The Source - November 2009

The cure for resignation and cynicism

brian@trvc.org — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:37:31 GMT

I read a great little post today on the Not Religious blog that I thought was worth sharing some about. Guest blogger Otto Von Wachter gave some great thoughts on finding a cure for resignation and cynicism. Here's one snippet:

Full-gospel church, now with 30% more Jesus!

I ran into an old acquaintance at the Vineyard in Cambridge when I was there for the Culture Center Summit. I asked her how life was going and whether she was involved at church. I thought to myself that, being in another city, if only I was at a cool church like this one then I would be really involved. She seemed kind of blah as I waited for her response, there was little enthusiasm there. She said something like "I'm not sure this is the right church for me". I forgot exactly her words, but basically she felt that the church was kind of shallow, didn't have much depth to it. She said, "I need something meatier, some place where they study and talk more about the Bible". On the one hand, I got what she meant, she felt she needed to go on to the next level in her learning of the Bible. But on the other hand I thought to myself "No, what you really need to do is to get out and DO something with your faith". I felt like I was struck by a flash of insight. I felt like I got something about the story of the rich young ruler in gospels, which Dave S. had mentioned in a blog post just a few days earlier (and I remember scratching my head and not quite getting the reference to it).

It seems to me that in a way, in our affluent society we are all a little like that rich young ruler, searching for significance, looking for the right guru or mentor to give us the answer to the meaning of life. I bet Jesus knew the heart of this man, and he knew that what would give meaning to his life and what would light him up would be to give away his possessions and to love the poor through the huge generosity of giving away his riches. But the rich young man wasn't in touch with his own need for being loving, and he didn't see the connection. He didn't see how all his possessions were actually isolating him, from God and from others. He probably walked away thinking "This guy isn't very deep, what kind of an answer is that?" What I got from my conversation with that acquaintance at church was how much I was the same as her, how I searched for the "right church" as a consumer, looking for a church that has all the right qualities so I could experience being fulfilled. I was looking for that church with authentic flavor, one with 30% more Jesus.

Otto goes on to pose the question: is there a difference between being "in the game" and "watching/analyzing" from the stands? He thinks that there is a real difference between the two... a difference that tends to significantly shape our experience of faith and life. I think I've found that to be true as well. Just a week or so ago, I found myself feeling a bit down, wading through a number of questions for my own life and inside our church. After awhile of sorting through that stuff, I just felt more discouraged. The next day, I ended up spending some time thinking about how to go make a difference in our community by helping people connect with Jesus. I only got to some planning stages, but even that seemed to lift me. I wasn't stuck just thinking about myself and my challenges. Somehow, as I thought about how to help others connect with the real power and truth of Jesus, I was finding myself being encouraged and full of more joy. It was a good lesson for me, and one I'm trying to live each day.

You can read Otto's full post here.