A year or so ago I heard of the Verge conference while perusing twitter. I started paying attention and heard some new things. Things about being “missional” and “missional communities” and some really good speakers. I listened to some of it live stream while I was painting the bonus room.

But this coming February, Verge 2012 is back in Austin and I’m really wanting to go. For the past few months I’ve been chewing on and digesting what it means to live “on mission”. The Verge Network‘s website has been a steady stream of information from some of the top thinkers in this field. You may remember the video from Soma Communities I posted about recently. I’m continually intrigued by this way of life. It seems so fresh, yet is not really anything new.

A couple of months back there was a GCM Conference (The Gospel/Community/Mission Collective) in Huntsville. I was hoping to be a part until a wedding conflicted with the timing. Now I hope to be able to make it to Austin this Spring again. When I read this following description, it makes me wonder what is possible within my own church:

VERGE is a four-day experience for anyone pursuing the mission of God, in community, whatever the context, for the sake of the Gospel – everyday leaders, students, entrepreneurs, artists, urban innovators, business leaders, community development specialists, non-profit leaders, church planters and church leaders.

Verge will resource you to make disciples who make disciples in every sphere and domain of society, advocate for the poor and oppressed, mobilize urban and global mission leaders, and champion movements of gospel-centered missional communities.

I want to be able to know more, to experience more, and to be able to cast the vision of what it means to live on mission in all areas of our lives. I want to see The Orchard be infused with the gospel and the realization that each of us is a missionary, each of us is called to bear witness to greatness of who God is. And I know that I need help in figuring out how to practically lead our current community group ministries into understanding the heart of Missional Communities. I think I get the end goal, but how to get from where we are to where we end up isn’t always that clear.

Here is a short video that fills you in just a little bit more:

Is anyone else going? Has anyone else been before?

But the subject of the video is beautiful as well. It moves me. Now this sort of missional community really IS desirable. Sure, it takes effort and intention and vulnerability. But hearing about it. Watching it. Something deep within me resonates with it as well. Is it just me?

Take a watch and then answer me two questions:
1. Would you be willing to engage life with others in this sort of community?
2. What would be your biggest hesitations about being a part of a missional community like Soma?

It was four days of deep teaching, powerful worship, meaningful conversations, relationship building, and lots of walking. It wasn’t much in the way of getting much sleep though. Our hotel rooms were pretty suite too (pun intended) but it was a hassle to check in and check out of them. I saw lots of people I knew from different times in my life. I even saw people that were in my youth group as middle schoolers now actually leading college groups. Maybe that should make me feel old, but it doesn’t!

It was a fantastic experience to hear teaching from Andy Stanley, Louie Giglio, Beth Moore, Francis Chan, and John Piper. But it was almost too much to ingest in a short four day period. I plan to spend some time over the next week or so digesting it all. And in the mean time I’ll post some thoughts and reflections on them. But it seems that after I got back I got a little head cold that has zapped me of any/all energy. I’m almost over it now and on the upswing. So all is (almost) well.

]]> http://blakethompson.net/2011/01/07/back-to-life-back-to-reality/feed/ 0 http://blakethompson.net/2010/12/31/passion-2011/ http://blakethompson.net/2010/12/31/passion-2011/#comments Fri, 31 Dec 2010 14:33:03 +0000 Blake http://blakethompson.net/?p=1519

Back in 1996 my girlfriend asked me if I wanted to go to a college conference with her campus ministry. It was over in Austin, TX and was called Passion. Some guy named Louie Giglio had put it together and Dave Busby was going to be speaking. So was John Piper. I had no idea who these guys were. But I did see that a band named Caedmon’s Call was going to be playing. So I said, “Sure, why not.” and signed up.

Those four days really shaped my life. I was just starting my first full time ministry job in January of 1997 and this trip was January 1-4. And I’ve been a huge respecter of Louie Giglio and his ministries ever since. Beverly and I went to the first three Passion conferences (97, 98, 99) and to OneDay 2000. While in Clinton I carried a group to Nashville for Passion 2006 and tomorrow we leave with a group of college students headed to Atlanta for Passion 2011.

If you’re not that familiar with Passion or Louie Giglio, then you should be. Louie is one of my favorite communicators of God’s truths. He does it in a casual way, but will sometimes punch you right in the gut (or face) with exactly what you needed to hear. His heart beats most for college aged people to see how much they mean to God and the ways He can move through them to make a difference in the world.

I plan to tweet and blog a little while in Atlanta about Passion and our time there. We’ll get to listen to Louie Giglio, Francis Chan, Beth Moore, John Piper, Davie Crowder, Chris Tomlin, Kristian Stanfill, Matt Redmon, Charlie Hall, Christie Nockles, and more. But I hope that our group really catches fire for seeing God’s glory made known back here in Oxford and beyond. Pray for us while we’re away.

Anyone else going to be at Passion?

I’m thinking of creating a page for Work (Church), Side Projects (MST), and then Home. I’ll try that and see how it smooths things out. The company that makes Backpack, 37Signals, also has Basecamp that might be worth checking in on. It’s more of a project management application, but looks like it could be useful as well.

We ended up having over 100 kids here (not including adults and the band). And the band was rocking quite well too. Josh Brister and his merry band led us in 4 or 5 songs and did a great job. I could tell Josh fed off the crowd’s energy too. Then I spoke on “Whatever” for a bit. Basically taking Phil 4:8-9 and Col 3:17 and saying that God doesn’t always care what you do, but how you do what you do and why you do it and who you do it for.

I have to admit that I was a little surprised w/ the crowd. And very pleased. VERY pleased. But we had a nice crowed when school started last year too, and I learned w/o proper “investment” into them, that it can dwindle easily.

So my prayer is to pour into them. POUR into them and see them grow in Him.

So now everyone is back from Costa Rica and the kids are back in school. It feels weird to think that just earlier this week we were down in Central America working, sweating, painting, mixing concrete, and dancing to a rap group from Honduras.

I think about a third of our group got sick down there. Most of those even got shots. I’d have to be pretty bad off to get a shot down there I think. But I thought some were maybe over reacting. But after not feeling bad while down there, I come home and start feeling puny. I ran a fever one night (had chills and everything) and a cough that didn’t want me to talk. Now I’m good except for a runny nose.

It was awesome to have The Wife down there w/ me. She’d heard a lot about C.Rica from me, but wanted to be able to experience it herself. She misses it now. Wants to go back…and I mean before next summer. Sure, it’s a cool place. And it’s beautiful and breathtaking some of the things you get to see. But it’s the people themselves you really fall in love with. To be able to go to church w/ them, eat w/ them, work and sweat along side of them, and see the genuine care and love in their eyes when they talk with you (whether you understand them or not). You really want to take some of them home with you…or go live with them!

Bomitada Fest happened again. When I get all the pictures from it I’ll give a more detailed description. But it was Utah, Becca, and me again this year and we more than doubled our fund raising from last year! And there was some more drama and excitement w/ the contest as well. More to come later (I promise!)

But then we’ll go to ATL, wait there for a while, eat a brunch of sorts and see people flying to all parts of the country/world. Then the last flight of the day takes us straight into Liberia!

I’m looking forward to many things.

• I’m looking forward to seeing old friends that I made last year on the same trip.
• I’m looking forward to eating some of the fantastic food the senoritas make there at the church.
• I’m looking forward to brushing up on my spanish on the plane to make me bi-lingual.
• I’m looking forward to going on the trip with my wife and sharing the experience with her. Should be quite awesome.
• But I’m looking forward to seeing God move through our team and through me.

So as sit at the computer with no sleep and none in sight, I ask for your prayers as we embark on the journey!

My back has been troubling me just a bit. I’ve realized my “core” or trunk of my body is lacking in strength and flexibility, so I took Pilates for the first time today. Wasn’t too bad. But I will be a bit sore tomorrow. But I need to do something now or be in a bad way years from now.

So pray for our trip to Costa Rica, pray for my core, and pray for my wife as we leave the girls in the States while we travel to Costa Rica.

One even went so far as to say that any success they had during their mission trip would be partly because of our service to them.  Wow. How amazing was that? And the last morning, when we were leaving, the Kenya team actual asked us to sit in a circle while they washed our feet as an act of service to us. Very humbling.

I think a lot of the Clinton students were semi envious. Not jealous, but when they’re seeing these guys and girls, young men and women not any different from them getting the opportunity to travel abroad to serve God’s people in a special way…there is a “Man, I wish I was going” feeling that wells up. But the truth is that there is just as much need and hurt and emptiness in our own neighborhoods and communities. And that fact hit hard today.

After being gone to BigStuf for 5 days and then being home for about 3 before heading to the Training Camp for 6, I was ready to kick back and not worry about too much today. So I cleaned the UHaul trailer out, sprayed it off and returned it. But I also found out that a 15 year old girl took her own life last night here in town. That makes the 2nd student from that grade to take their own life in the last 6 or 7 months. It’s obvious that there are hurts and pain and confusion even in our own little suburbia.

So although it wasn’t a plane ride to the other side of the world. It was a drive back to Mississippi w/ a stop off at Six Flags. But there is much, much ministry to be done right here in our own back yard.

So if you think of it, please pray for the Mosley family. And also pray for Clinton, MS as a whole. It, and we, need lots and lots of prayer.

We arrived here in Gainseville Thursday afternoon. After seeing where we sleep, I was amazed. It’s like a huge green Army tent that was about 189 degrees inside. Wood chips on the ground w/ a bit of a tarp to rest our heads on. Good stuff. So we get situated and then throw the frisbee for a while. The actual mission teams aren’t supposed to come til the next day, so we were able to kick back a bit.

Then we took a trip to CiCi’s Pizza. Arguably one of the best pizza buffets around, IMHO. Then a Target run for another frisbee and other necessities (the other one had already broken). Worship that night w/ the team leaders was different but good. But there were some experiential worship stations and some accoustic worship.

Following that was bed time. And we guys were in the big tent that was now cooled off a bit. There actually was a big fan in there, but it seemed to move hot air around. But it was night and cooler so it was bearable. But we had some fun. We call it…Shadow Puppett Theater. We made shadow puppets on the ceiling of the tent for at least 45 minutes. Classic. Then we went to sleep. And we woke up FREEZING. Don’t know why it was so cold. But it was. I mean unbearablly freezing.

Most of the Mississippi team goes to the airport while 3 guys stay behind w/ me and we mow/weedeat/patch tents/shuck corn/fill Tiki torches, fill water, wash dishes, etc. Then missionaries start to arrive. Again,  this is a training camp for them before they go out to Kenya, Russia, or Peru. So they’re being trained, we’re serving them a bit and being trained a bit. But it’s a good mix of folks. Basically aged 15-22.

I’ll try to get some pics of where we’re staying and how everything is laid out soon. Camera was out of batteries, but got some new ones.  It’s hot. There’s no AC, and I’m going minimal on the showers. Life is good!

I should pull out of town tomorrow morning to go to Gainesville, GA to participate in an Adventures in Mission training camp. When AIM sends missionaries to diff parts of the country and world, they come for training first. Well, we’re going to be serving the missionaries. Serving food and cleaning after them and various stuff like that. But out group will get to participate in the Mission Trainging as well. So it’s a good deal for us. We get to give AND get!

One thing about Gainesville is that it is 37 miles from Northpoint Community Church. I’ve always wanted to check it out. Never been to a mega church before. And I really dig Andy Stanley. Not saying a megachurch is my thing. But dunno. Never been there.

But we’ll be sleeping in tents, using “home made” showers, and roughing it. Probably a contrast from BigStuf last week. But I should have net access of some sort, so I hope to have some updates and photos!

The trip started off w/ a bang…literally. It was only about 30 miles down the road before we had a blowout. But after a fairly quick tire change at a local tire store along the way, we were back on track.

Louie Giglio, Stuart Hall, and Jared Herd were the speakers for the week. Stuart was good, but had a few things in his talk that some of my kids thought were distracting. Some little jokes that probably keep middle school students on track were bumping some of my high school students off track it seemed. And a comment or two was taken wrong. In no way do I think that Stuart’s heart or intent was anything but pure, but it was something worth mentioning.

Jared Herd I’d heard before. In that time I thought he was almost a “Louie-lite” meaning he gave a message very similar to one I’d heard Louie give before and seemed to have a lot of the same mannerism and all. Not that that was a bad thing, but it seemed to be not his own stuff. This time I came away really enjoying Jared’s messages.

And of course Louie was speaking w/ impact again. Talked about being Wired for Worship and being Wired for This World. Pretty convicting stuff when he talked about how we all have responisibilities as Christians to minister to and support and help those in our world who seem hopeless.

Worship was as great as always. Started a little slower for some reason, but as the week went on, it seemed to grab me more. It deff was a production. More on that later, but they can really create an environment that is packed w/ the “Wow factor”.

All in all, it was a fantastic trip. There were no squabbles or fights that I know of between our students. And some funny stories as well. Maybe I’ll get the volleyball tourney story in or the motorcycle gang story up soon. Some are funny at the time, some are funny to look back on.

So as the Buzz gets going this weekend, I hope to be able to keep up w/ it through blogs and maybe, just maybe get some cd’s or mp3′s after the conference.

But a couple of days ago Tony Morgan had this post where he was talking about DRIVE THE CAR. He likened our lives to a car and someone who loves his car and tinkers with it and puts time into trying to get it just right, but never taking it out of the garage. Never getting it on the open road. Sometimes I think that’s me.

So now that I’ve been slapped around in the face with it a little lately…what am I going to do with it?

Looking forward to the hot days, hard work, hot nights, great fellowship, interesting church services, and feeling exhausted knowing you did some work for God.

This is me and Pastor Carlos of the church where we work, eat, and sleep pretty much all day. Outstanding man of God.

For more pictures of our trip last year to Costa Rica you can check out this Flickr Set.

We took a seat and began to look at the bulletin. Hmmm. This Taize’ service isnt’ like a regular service.

Taizé, pronounced (Teh-ZAY) is an ecumenical, peaceful way to pray, using (easy to learn) musical chants, silent meditation, and scripture readings… a meditative, common prayer. Gathered in the presence of Christ we sing uncomplicated repetitive short songs like breath prayers, uncluttered by too many words, allowing the mystery of God to become tangible through the beauty of the Spirit in its simplicity. A few words sung over and over again (mantra) reinforce the meditative quality of prayer. They express a basic reality of faith that can quickly be grasped by the intellect, and will gradually penetrate the whole being.

After scripture and repeatedly singing “Remember me when You come into Your Kingdom” there was time for silent and reflective prayer. It lasted quite a while, then an invitation to light a candle and place it in a mini-sandbox of sorts as a sign of repentance and then to pray at the alter. If you desired to be anointed w/ oil and one of the pastors to pray over you, you’d cup your hands as a signal.

I told Addie I was going to go down and she was quite insistent that she knew how to do it. That she could light a candle. But I told her to wait and we’d explain everything at a later time. So I went up and prayed and was annoited and returned. And she still was saying she could do it.

I told her that people were doing it as a sign of turning from wrong living and telling God they wanted to live completely for Him. She nodded. And she wanted to go ahead.After explaining again that we’d talk about it later, she seemed to be okay w/ waiting. But then I began to think. Even if she, in her four year old head, doesn’t understand it completely, should that keep her from wanting to go down and pray? Heck, how many of the adults that go down understand it completely? Probably NONE. So we went.

She lit a candle, set it in the sand. And then we went to kneel. I prayed for her, and could her her whispering a prayer at the same time. I don’t know if it was one of her own, or if she was repeating mine. And then Davis, our Associate Pastor prayed over her for God to give her wisdom and understanding of Him as she grows and annointed her with oil.

It was quite special.

MissSportsTalk.com:  My little hobby that started on a whim back in 2002 has grown. It has grown to the point that I need to start putting some extra effort into it and putting in place some ways for it to be self supporting. My first hosting bill was a $15/year plan that was perfect for a while. But my needs grew. And they’ve continued to grow. So much that I think I’m in need of a Virtual Private Server that is a good bit more per month than I’m paying (all out of my pocket) right now.

But I think I have a few possibilities as to how I’m going to do it. It’s going to take an upgrade in the software, which will mean an update in the skin. But then I’ll most likely use phpAdsNew. But I look to get some Mississippi advertisers to place a few ads on there to be able to support the server cost and maybe put a little extra $$ in my pocket if possible.

Running/Exercising: Yeah, yeah. There is always no time like the present to start a new exercise routine, huh? But I think I’ve found a new running partner. My wife would always be ahead of me on the ability scale, so her pace was always quicker than mine. But my 4 year old is my new running partner. Today we ran around the outside loop of our neighborhood. That’s about a mile. She did the whole thing w/o stopping. Then she hopped in the stoller and we did it a 2nd time…but it was The Wife pushing. Not me.

But I think that now is the time for a real exercise plan. There have been days that I’ve more than recognized I needed to watch what I eat and spend some time on the road or in the gym. And there have been days I’ve thought I could stand to lose a few pounds. But this past weekend, I actually began to think I was fat. It was depressing.

Talk Series: I’m planning on starting two new series at youth before school lets out. One will be called The Amazing Race and talk about our journey with God. I’m thinking it will be split up like Preparing For The Race, Running The Race, and Finishing The Race. Might try to get a few teams of students together to actually do a mini-amazing-race like the television show. I want a video camera with each team and put together a cool video of it all as well.
The other one will be on dating or relationships. But I want to have some questions to ask a handful of couples in our church, video their answers, and then edit it together to show. This would be a 2 or 3 part series. I’ve been playing with some demos of video editing packages. Looking to get one in the next month or so.
But I think series talks are good. They bring some continuity together, and you can plan for it, and people can know what to expect as well. Last night we talked about Samson some, and will be looking at him again next week. But I got a text message today from a student that said last night was good and they enjoy learning about OT people.