Echo

Bridging The Gap

I was talking to my friend Jade the other day. We went to grad school together and he's now ministering in Lower Price Hill, working predominantly with the inner-city poor. We were talking shop he mentioned that there still isn't a viable ministry model getting the urban poor and the urban affluent to worship along-side each other. It's a difficult gap to bridge. The impoverished can feel like outsiders, as if they're not truly viewed as equals. And, as Jade put it, while the affluent appreciate the concept of worshipping with the poor, it doesn't always carry over pragmatically; there is a fear factor involved as they sometimes can't handle the baggage, even the smells, that accompany poverty.

I agree with him, albeit reluctantly. My secret dream is for Echo to be a church that breaks down these barriers.

With that conversation still fresh in my mind, we had our largest showing of poor folk at Echo this week in a long time. And interestingly enough, they each brought with them their own smell- whether body odor, cigarettes, or alcohol. I'm not sure how they felt in our midst, as they were all seeking out something from the church. But I was inspired to observe that our people engaged them, introduced themselves, and tried to make them feel at home.

Sure it's just a blip on the radar, but it makes me think that creating an urban community where Jesus breaks down those barriers is actually possible.

I know we haven't arrived yet, but we working on building a better community. And it's going to mean learning how  to reach out to folk all across different spectra, not looking down on anyone, but embracing people as equals.

Fingernails On The Blackboard

Echo's relationship with the church from which we rent has been a blessing. We can store our equipment on site which means our set-up time is minimal. The building is in great shape, with fully operational heating and cooling. The rent is dirt cheap, which definitely helps our overall budget. All in all, things are awesome. But allow me to express the one thing that annoys me about our rental space.

A choir meets there the second Sunday night each month; it should be noted that no one from their church is actually part of this choir. It's a community choir, comprised of people from all over the greater Cincinnati area. They meet in the church's fellowship hall and usually have a pot-luck dinner afterward. They don't bother us too much except that they take up almost all the parking in the lot when they gather. Repeated attempts to claim our fair use of parking have proven unsuccessful. My only hope was that their choir would eventually dwindle until there is no one left.

I might not be that lucky.

Kelly directed me to a Time Magazine article devoted to Sacred Harp singing, the kind of music this choir performs [actually, they never actually "perform." They only practice. Still not sure about that]. Sacred Harp is a bizarre harmonic, shaped-note singing of old Christian hymns. It dates back to the Civil War but I had never heard of it until we started Echo. I listened to some of the music online from a PBS special on Sacred Harp but, even when done at a professional level, it doesn't sound very appealing.

So the article says that Sacred Harp is the new, hipster activity to do. Even though they sing Christian hymns, it has broad appeal; it's popular among people from various religious backgrounds. And now that Time has covered it, I bet more locals will come out for the sing-sing in the fellowship hall. In short, parking is going to be impossible to get at Echo on February 10th.

And, long-term, I guess the choir won't be going anywhere soon.

Suck.

Of course, if that's the worst thing we have to deal with the amazing space we have the opportunity to use, then I have nothing to complain about.

iWork

A couple of weeks ago I neglected to observe an anniversary as I completed two years of full-time employment at Echo Church. I took no salary the first few months we started the church and transitioned to a somewhat pro-rated salary our first full year. So I'm now in year three of employment here, somewhat giddy, because by the end of the year I will have surpassed my longest tenure of employment at any one place since leaving college. Ironically, while I recycle jobs every couple of years, Kelly has stayed at the same place for almost ten years now. The good news is I have no plans of leaving Echo ever. I have found my dream job. Honestly, despite the financial uncertainties associated with starting a new church, I have never been happier anywhere else. I sometimes feel that I should be apologetic about this, as not everyone is as fortunate to have a job they love. But reading this article today makes me feel a little better bragging about my contentment.

Why would I feel guilty about this? I could attribute part of it to growing up the child of workaholics. My parents operated as such, not to amass great wealth, but because it was a value intrinsic to their upbringings; they were taught that hard work was a godly trait. As a result, however, I've always struggled with feelings of guilt about how hard I work. It's tough to compare the stress and exhaustion I feel while working to that of my father and brother who spend the majority of their time in physical labor exposed to the elements. While my mind is fried while contemplating logistics issues, their skin is fried from sunburn. While I'm numb pondering an unsolvable ministry situation, their extremities are literally numb with frostbite. Sure, I work hard, but it's a different kind of work.

The transition to starting a church has made this even more difficult. For the first time in my life, I really don't have a boss [well, um, except God?] and I have to be self-motivated. Working at home would seem to make this even more difficult, and the addition of both a work-at-home wife and precious daughter should make it impossible. But, as a truly evaluate the situation, I think it has worked out extremely well.

That said, I don't work 9am to 5pm. I don't have a separate office area in the house where I get work done [thank God for laptop computers]. I don't detail my to-do list to make sure I'm on track. These are all things you're supposed to do when you work out of the home, and I basically neglect them.

But I thrive in an opportunity where I can be free to be creative in my own time. Sometimes that means waking up at 5am to go to a coffee shop to get some work done. Sometimes it's 2am and I can't get that week's Scripture text out of my mind. While I rarely ever "take a day off," I make sure to work hard when I need to and unwind so as not to go crazy. Kelly and I have said it before but, honestly, Echo is our second child. I'm totally committed to our church and what God is going to do in this city and it doesn't package nicely into a job description.

In case you doubt, believe it: I love my job.

By the by, I don't fight that workaholic guilt as much anymore. I've come to grips with it. There's always going to be someone who wants to lament that you have a cake job and make you feel bad about yourself. I don't give a rip. It's my life and I'm doing the best I can with what I have. And my family has been more supportive than I could ever have imagined. From their workaholic perspective, I'm doing alright.

And that's alright with me.

*Seth Godin expresses some thoughts on workaholism on his blog. It's good stuff.

Stop Me If You've Heard This Before . . .

. . . but I love our church. God has definitely blessed us with some wonderful people to partner with at Echo. Tonight I had a great time teaching from Samuel, trying a different approach to get things going, and everyone stuck with me. Throughout the message people were really into the text we were breaking down. Additionally, the stage was full of gifts for our adopted family. We asked for more than twice as much this year and the church responded generously.

Plus, we have some incredibly faithful people who do all of our tear down so that I can have some pastoral time. I never have to worry about everything getting put away.

I've had a great couple of days really appreciating what God has done with Echo so far. And I'm feeling really great about 2008. This was almost like a getaway weekend, as many in our church are transient and won't be back until after Christmas and . . . honestly, I'm going to miss people.

[insert smile emoticon here]

Old School

I don't usually hype what we're doing on Sunday nights at Echo because I look forward to every week, but tomorrow night will be very cool. Daesik, a native South Korean who is enrolled at the Conservatory of Music in a PhD program, will be playing the organ and piano. Our "hip, emerging" church will be singing from hymnals as we focus on the concept Future|Past.

It always takes a little more planning on my end when we do these kind of services but I'm really excited about how this will turn out.

So if you're not busy tomorrow night, we'd love to have you join us at 6:30.

Two

[UPDATE: the podcast of the entire service is now available at iTunes]

Last night we celebrated the completion of the second year of year of ministry here in Walnut Hills. Our actual start date was October 16 in 2005, but it was in September that we started our core gatherings. There was a good crowd of our "regulars" in addition to guests who came to celebrate with us. I was excited that Kelly's parents were able to come up and my parents even took a night off from their church to come and worship with us.

The worship gathering was pretty cool as we had a lot of people involved. Daesik, a native of Korea and a PhD student at UC's Conservatory of Music, opened up by playing the organ. It was rather cool to hear pieces of music over 500 years old as a prelude to our worship. Then Tye led worship assisted by his wife Andrea, along with Derek and Rachel. Derek, too is a student at the conservatory and played a jazz sax that was phenomenal. The four of them humbly led is in praising God.

One of the goals of Echo from our inception was to be a church that started churches in the city. While we haven't met that goal yet, we want to contribute as much as possible to urban churches in Cincinnati. This past year Abe and Joni Brandyberry started Covenant Church in Northside and they've been doing some amazing work there. Last night we had them with us to discuss their ministry and gave them a love offering so they can continue to make a difference in their community. I can't wait to see what God is going to do in this city because of Covenant Church.

But I guess the part I enjoyed the most was seeing all the people God has blessed us with. Echo was started when Aaron and Dorota Burgess joined Kelly and I to embark on this journey. And only Tim and Dale remain from our week one attendees [well, maybe Emily will come back from London someday to join us again]. But God has continued to bring us some incredibly talented people who share our passion for this city and His kingdom.

This is a good place to be.

We Fail

I've been on the edge today and it's not a post-vacation slump. I've yelled at Kelly numerous times today [sorry, babe]. I tried a little humor in the previous post to see if I could laugh myself out of a funk; it hasn't quite worked. I even cursed at a printer; it still refused to respond. I'm still wrestling with some emotions.Another Christian friend of mine is in trouble. This time it was self-induced. This time they did what they're accused of. And I never saw it coming.

It's crazy that, despite thinking I can read people well, I get blindsided by something they do.

Here's the deal, friends of faith: it's all about where your beliefs lie. If you trust in Christian leaders more than God, you'll be disappointed eventually. I want to be a good pastor and model Jesus perfectly. But despite my best efforts, I fail. That doesn't mean I give up on trying, but the people I minister to need a greater example than I could ever be.

And they have one in Jesus. And that's why He's the focus of all we teach: we fail, He doesn't.

I Love Our Church

We're coming up on two years into this grand experiment. Although progress has been incremental, it's been a blessing to see how things work when they develop gradually. Tonight we had another pot-luck-type-get-together after church and I didn't lock up the building till 10pm. Everyone who attended the worship gathering stayed for the fellowship time. I guess it's not just me: our people like people. Additionally, I usually feel the pressure to connect with everyone; I worry about "working the room" so all feel included. After taking care of some essential tear down issues after the gathering, I entered the room to discover everyone conversing. I even tried to enter a table conversation, asked one little question, and instantly became irrelevant to the new discussion.

That's how I like things to work. I put a lot of pressure on myself to create connections among our people, so when it happens naturally, it makes me smile.

I love our church. I love our people. I love our mission field.

God is good.

Website Redux

Matt with Factor 1 Studios did some awesome work with the Echo Church website last year. We get a lot of good comments about it; a few churches liked it so much that they had Factor 1 do their own site. Since it's been a little over a year now with that look, it was time for a tweak. It should be going full-speed on Thursday so you might want to give the revamped look a look. I will brag that it's almost all my photography. There is a picture of the Walnut Hills Church from the 1960's that I didn't take. My personal favorite change to the site: an ode to The Simpson's Movie with the Spider Pig theme. It is most excellent.

Up and Down

A strange couple of days here have left me scratching my head. Saturday we were looking forward to getting together with my mom's side of the family out at my brother's place in Indiana. It's about a forty-minute drive out there and we were having a great time until Kaelyn just went a little crazy; she had a few weird days where she's barely slept. So we left after a couple of hours, spending almost as much time in the car as visiting. Not so good.

That night I was invited to a party hosted by a guy on my soccer team. It was cool to meet some of his friends but it ended up being a classic frat party with keg-stands and liquor luges. It was a great venue in which to start a conversation with, "So, yeah, I'm a minister." But I was actually able to have some meaningful discussions with people who were only slightly inebriated. So, all in all, pretty good.

Then yesterday I was speaking out at the Bethel Church of Christ. They have two services: a traditional and contemporary. In the traditional service, median age 68, I might have delivered the worst sermon I've given in a few years. I did, however, get in the line "baptize them in beer" which actually received laughs. I was a little better in their second service, but still not great. Again, not good.

But we had a chance to go to lunch at Rob and Alicia Gee's house out there. Rob and Alicia are some great people who drive a half hour each week to come to Echo. Their kids Henry and Sydney are wonderful to Kaelyn and Alecia's food was restaurant worthy. So things were getting better.

At church last night Derek and Rachel Brown filled in for Tye and told about their mission trip to Guatemala. They did awesome. But I followed that up with another egg, rounding out an overall bad day of preaching. I thought I could put the weekend behind me and woke up early this morning to work out at Xavier. I get in the Explorer and it refuses to start. It's at this point that I wish I had my own liquor luge.

But before I fret, I call my buddy Micah. We were on staff at Mason together. He's a mechanic and knows my car from three years of working on it. He and his wife Missy just welcomed their fourth child, Levi, into the world and he was glad to give me advice. He reminded me that it was a similar problem that I had with it four years ago [the idle air control for you auto-clubbers] and all I really needed to do was disconnect it, tap it with a hammer, and reattach it. Sure enough, I did that and the car started right up. Excellent.

Honestly, I'll forget about this weird weekend in a few days but I was really down last night; I even went to bed a couple of hours early. But that's what I like about the new week: it can all turn around today.

About Keith

So I was up at 5:45 when the garbage truck stopped by. Couldn't get back to sleep so I decided I'd go to ye old Panera to get some work done. Ah, the beauty of free wi-fi is like a crisp spring day . . . or just freakin' awesome. The guy I knew the best from my brief employment still works there. Keith is 21, grew up in the area, and works about 50 hours a week at the store. He's my only real connection from when I worked here. Keith is rough around the edges, plays in a hardcore metal band, and peppers his conversations with a flurry of F-bombs [this might sound sadistic, but I actually enjoy being with regular people who aren't afraid to cuss around a minister]. But he's really a quality guy. Anytime I come in to the store he refuses to charge me for my food. About a month or so ago I took him out to dinner to catch up on things. Our conversation led to the topic of spirituality [his doing, not mine] and I had a chance to share my view of Christianity. He's said he wants to stop by and visit Echo, but hasn't quite made it yet.

I still wonder why God led me to work at this Panera for those few months in our transition to Echo. It really makes little sense in retrospect. Sure, I now appreciate the opportunity to get paid soley for doing ministry but I didn't make tons of local contacts that joined our church. I learned how to make a good cappuccino, but it hasn't come in handy in reaching the community for Jesus.

But I did meet Keith. And maybe that's enough.

Fast

Besides tricking people into becoming Christians, one of the things we do at Echo is study books of the Bible chapter-by-chapter. This approach to teaching means that you deal with the text as it comes to you; there's no hand-picking certain topics while avoiding others. Case in point was this week as we worked through Zechariah and the subject of fasting presented itself. If I had it my way, I'd avoid the subject altogether because I'm not much for fasting. But I had to wrestle with it last week and came to the conclusion that I should really be doing it more. Actually, we all should do it more.

I suspect that we Americans tend not to fast because it's the most inconvenient spiritual discipline. We're bombarded with messages telling us to fulfill our bodies' every desires without holding back. In 1756 England called for a national day of fasting to prevent a war against the French. Can't really imagine a message like that going over that well today.

I pointed out last night that fasting isn't exclusive to Judeo-Christianity [Buddhists, Muslims, and Hindus all fast]. That said, the Scriptures are clear [Zechariah 7] that fasting should be done in obedience to God above everything else. The text is testifying that when we observe spiritual disciplines that don't confirm to the Lord's guidance that they're actually meaningless. In fasting we're forced to examine what really controls us. I had someone remark to me last night that they don't like fasting because of that very fact: it causes them to come face-to-face with actual condition. But when we're exposed in such a way, we have to come to grips with our spiritual condition.

I encouraged our people to perhaps try some sort off fasting this week. I realize that some people are unable to for health reasons, but there are always opportunities for experimentation. You can observe a Lenten-like period where you abstain from a certain food or activity. And when you're without, and the urges begin to seize you, you remember why you're doing what you're doing and devote yourself to prayer. It sounds tougher than it is. Maybe you should give it a try as well.

The teaching [entitled, The Fast and The Furious: Babylonian Drift] will be up this week on iTunes for download if you're interested in more on the topic.

Ain't Even Done With The Night

A story: So tonight my teaching was entitled, "Pocket Change." I taught from Matthew 22, touching on the issue of paying taxes to Caesar and the previous parable about the wedding banquet. While the question was about pocket change, the parable encouraged people to make an full transformation for God, not limiting our discipleship to changing mere pockets of our lives. See, what I did there? I used it as a double-entendre.

Sidenote: I'm so proud of myself for using the the term "double-entendre." Kelly had to help me with the spelling, though.

Anyway, during my introduction, I had people empty their pockets. I wanted to get people thinking about pockets. I then proceeded to talk about the evolution of the pocket, how it was used to hold valuables. Then I made the transition into the sermon. I swear, it was quite witty. You should've been there. We'll have the mp3 up soon on iTunes.

Why do I tell you all this? Well, about 15 minutes into my message the batteries in my wireless headset died. I asked The Dale at the soundboard if we had any more batteries. Inexplicably, we had none. It just so happened that Everett Brewer, a local minister who's known me most of my life, visited church tonight. He asked if the mic took double-A batteries. It does. He just so happened to have two of them with him . . . in his pocket. I swear, it was like we planned it.

All this to say that I had a great night. There are so many things that have happened with Echo that aren't at all planned, but are purely providential. Sure this little battery thing isn't much at all, but I think it's indicative of how things have unfolded throughout this process.

God is to move in our church. He's bringing us people who are continually trying to figure out their faith. We're a community hungry for more. And we're just getting warmed up.

House Cleaning

Quick hits:

  • No Tuesday's With Kaelyn video this week [again]. Between all of us being ill the past few weeks, we've wrapped up filming for now. I'm thinking it'll be at least another week before I try again. Fortunately, my new digital camera takes camcorder quality recording, so production quality/diversity should increase throughout the spring and summer
  • If you're interested in what we're doing at Echo, be sure to check out our podcasts. This link takes you to iTunes where you can download the mp3. I find it interesting that, among the people who download our podcast, this is what else they listen to:

-Willow Creek in Chicago: Bill Hybles and me = peas and carrots. -Catalyst Conference: for young, hip Jesus people. -Imago Dei Church in Oregon: Rick McKinley can throw down. -Mars Hill Church in Seattle: Driscoll rocks.

-And finally, people who download Echo messages also download Strong Bad Emails. Who is Strong Bad, you ask? You must find out. Click here.

  • Speaking of Echo, you can check out the slide backgrounds I make for our Powerpoint here.
  • Today Kaelyn and I watched some Sesame Street for the first time. I better watch how addicted she gets to that show. Elmo makes me want to punch a wall.

That's all.

Lessons From A Sunday Night

Just a week ago I wrote about how awesome the Sunday experience was. Of course, I had to open up my big mouth as that was followed by one of those not so great nights this week. All in all, I'm sure everything went well [props to Scott Duebber for being awesome and filling in while Tye was gone]. I had a message I was excited about and was just ready to hit the home stretch when a guy came in off the street.

Readers note: Whenever I refer to said "guy came in off the street," I define it as an individual who is merely looking to for money. Before I proceed I should also explain that this may come off as calloused to some of you; and it might actually be.

In the past year plus I have yet to encounter someone requesting funds from us who have honestly been in severe need. In Walnut Hills there are not many homeless people. It is an area where many of the needy are on various of forms of government assistance and live in Section 8 type housing. So if someone is able to get money from you, it's an icing on the cake type deal.

This being said, we have yet to refuse someone a first time asker; we believe that if you're willing to lie to Jesus' church just to get some cash then it's on you. That doesn't disqualify our need to be benevolent. And since the majority of monetary requests are accompanied by an offer for remittance, we usually never see the people ever again.

Sorry about the sidebar. Back to the story.

So guy from the street comes in about two thirds of the way through my message I notice something happening behind me. The sanctuary at Walnut Hills is set up that there's a hallway at stage left that leads to the back entrance. This guy is now standing in the doorway just checking out what's happening. I stop speaking and ask, "can I help you" and he says something about he's just waiting to ask for help. I'm a tad annoyed that he thought a doorway at the front of the church was a good place to wait, but Tim Tucker went out to talk to the guy. Tim tells him he'd have to wait until after church and that he's more than welcome to stay. The guy agrees and comes in to have a seat. Fine.

As I'm talking about the virginity of Mary, guy from the street thinks it's a good time for Q&A and stops me to ask a question. I'm not too thrown off about it because it's not the first time that this has happened while at Echo; it has, however, been long enough that it broke my flow and I struggled through the rest of the message. No biggie there, except that I'm disappointed that I didn't recover well; the minute you start letting the little distractions affect you, you're Kramer yelling racial slurs into the audience.

After the service I go over to talk to Kevin [he did have a name] and find out his story. It's the same as most stories: ambiguity concerning every facet of his life except that he needs funds. I decided in advance that he'd get some cash [he did help me preach my sermon] but he insists on finishing his spiel.

This is the point in the conversation that many guys from the street go for the gold: they try to assure me that I was helping a Christian guy out so that talk about faith or the Bible. I always laugh at this, as if it makes a difference to me whether you're a believer or not. But it happens very frequently that someone asking for money will try to convince me that they're incredibly spiritual.

Kevin tries to accomplish this by asking me a theological question. He just stopped at a church up the street to ask them for money [admitting to me that he's working all the neighborhood churches but he has cash in hand so he's feeling pretty good now so he hits the gas] and he met the pastor there. He looks at me straight-faced and says, "It was a WOMAN pastor," as if I should be shocked. Kevin then proceeds to tell me of the trend in the city of black women pastors and can't comprehend how these woman have the gall to go against Scripture and try to preach. He now wants to know my perspective on the matter.

Now perhaps you don't fully appreciate this but I wanted to laugh out loud. Here's a guy who obviously grew up in church and had a decent knowledge of church-ese. And instead of wanting to discuss the ways that he could correct his own life he wants to rant about how unBiblical churches with women pastors are. Classic.

I told Kevin that perhaps these ladies are in communities where the men haven't stepped up to lead in the way that Scripture commands and that these ladies have recognized that if they don't step up, no one will. I was subtly trying to suggest that he should be part of the solution. At this point, Kevin was no longer interested in playing hack theologian. What's more ironic is that very subject he talked about was part of my message; but Kevin, instead, decided to ask a question about Mary's virginity.

So trying to deconstruct last night, I have a few thoughts this morning I want to write down. In no particular order:

Dialogue preaching is dumb. It's now cool and hip to interact with people during your sermon time. This is derived from the understanding that everyone in your worship gathering has something applicable to add to conversation. While it sounds like a good idea I just can't buy it and last night was the perfect example why.

I've been called to be a pastor. I've spent the past week [or even longer] struggling through a text or an issue to teach on a Sunday. And I've dedicated years of my life in study and preparation to lead a church and teach Scripture. Why, then, are you just as qualified as me to give your two cents? Preaching, as seen in the Bible, is authoritative.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying I know everything, nor am I saying that I'm perfect by any means. And I'm not implying that other opinions aren't important. But when it comes to teaching, this is what I've been called to do. And my butt's on the line if I screw it up. So I'm perfectly fine with being the guy who does all the talking.

Your lifestyle should reflect your theology. Before we feel fit to criticize other issues such as female pastors, perhaps we should make sure the rest of our beliefs are in line. This was the whole plank and sawdust issue Jesus addressed in his sermon on the mount. Kevin felt empowered to critique the way someone else was practicing their faith but he is part of the problem contributing to it. If we're going to be critical, we should critically examine ourselves first. It's a good reminder to me to "chiggity check myself before I 'reck myself."

There's always next week. I do my best not to live for Sundays; it's how I keep my sanity. This last week didn't turn out the way I planned it, but there are now six days until we do it all over again. Every day is a new day. That's why I was up at 5:30 this morning to get a jump on things.

Never a dull moment at Echo.

Echo Rocks

I enjoy our church. We're having the time of our lives. We had five more first-time visitors tonight. And our core group rocks, working incredibly hard to get things set up and running smoothly. Slowly but surely we're getting there. For some reason Kaelyn shines on Sunday nights. She constantly smiles at everyone and loves to sing along while Tye leads worship. She's still not getting the words right though.

And then there's me and my mastery of the English language. Tonight, in the midst teaching on some of the sexual melees in Jesus' family tree, I transitioned to the life of Rahab the prostitute. Trying to tell where it was located in the Bible, I misspoke and said, "Joshua tapped it, too" instead of "Joshua chapter 2." I guess Jericho was a happening place.

Good times.

Safe

We're in a haze today at the news that two Cincinnati Christian University students were assaulted late last night on the Purple People Bridge. The woman was then kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and later dropped off at campus. This afternoon they have the suspect in custody. This is an incredibly unfortunate situation. I can't imagine what effect this will have on the students there, as well as what it will mean to the future of students being out in the community.

Just last week I talked to David Faust, President of CCU, about how encouraging it was that many students are now out and about in the city. Instead of sequestering themselves on campus, they are active in ministries throughout urban Cincinnati. Instead of being afraid of the city, they desired to be out in it.

And then this. When something as horrible as this happens, it can change everything.

I'm praying for this couple, the students at CCU, and the faculty and staff during this time and ask you to do the same. I pray that despite this tragedy, that the view of the mission won't be sacrificed.

Just yesterday I wrote a profile about Echo that is supposed to be featured in a future CCU publication. I made sure to emphasize that we desperately need to focus some church planting efforts toward the city. If anything, this confirms how desperately our city needs Jesus. Incidents like this can make people fearful of the city and drive us further towards suburbia or rural areas to feel safe.

But we're never going to truly be safe, are we? It's a daily reality I face with bringing my family here. I will admit that each night I pray that God watches over my wife and my child. But we can't let the fear of what could happen keep us doing God's work here. The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 10:14,

"How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?"

Hear This

Bear with me as I self-promote. We have a couple of new offerings up at echochurch.org. First, there's the Fall 2006 newsletter. It can be found in the "News" area.

And there's also the mp3 from this past week's message from Matthew 10:1-20. It's called "The Viral Gospel," a concept the I'm really starting to groove with. I'm most proud that I was able to mention both Kirk Cameron and Jay-Z in the same message. Allow me to drop the latter reference on you here.

From Matthew 10:14:

"So while Jay-Z, also known as Hova, would say 'You got to get that dirt off your shoulder,' JC, also known as Jehovah, said 'You got to shake that dust of your feet.'"

I'm so gangsta'.

Hallowed Eve

Memo to Satan: we're taking back this holiday. I'm a huge believer in cultural reclamation; when at all possible, we need to redeem culture to use for Christ. Halloween is one of those things. Unfortunately many churches feel that it's the devil's holiday so they develop alternative Halloween opportunities for their Christian kids, separating them from normal society while [unintentionally?] condemning people who let their kids trick or treat. Plus, they miss out on a golden opportunity to get to know the people in their community. So at Echo, we use Halloween for all it's worth and set up a trunk 'n' treat type area right at the Walnut Hills Christian Church parking lot. It was a good experience.

First, our people brought the good candy [no pennies or Bible tracts] and engaged all the kids and adults who came by. Second, as I told our people Sunday night, God promised me it wouldn't rain tonight, even though the weathermen called for it all week [I could be a prophet]. Third, I got the chance to meet a few more people who live in the neighborhood. I was able to introduce myself as the pastor of Echo and learn a little bit about them. And also, I was able to hang out with friends who are sharing this journey with us and have our mission to this city reinforced.

But the thing that made me smile the most is that this is our church's first tradition. It's fun to be able to say, "remember last year when . . ." It reminds me that we've made it this long- that we survived a year. And we even had a few people stop by that remembered that we did this last year. Slowly we're planting roots in this community.

Tonight was very cool.