may the birth of the babe transform us all.
ht grant for pointing out the video.
communion @ tapestry
a short video to show what the LORD’s supper is usually like at tapestry.
reason #25,137 that i love tapestry
just in case you don’t realize this, i get to lead the coolest church on the face of the planet. i don’t mean that we are cool in the “hey look at us we’re cool cause we wear v-neck t shirts and scarves” sort of way. nope what i mean is that the threads of tapestry are simply amazing people. the two photos above are one more example of how amazing the people of tapestry are.
a few weeks ago pete (one of the members of the leadership team) thought we should do a gift exchange. he asked me what i thought. i am usually not a big fan of gift exchanges because i think they usually lead to a bunch of meaningless crap. pete’s idea was different and i really liked it. his idea was that in the spirit of advent conspiracy the gifts should cost basically nothing. whoever signed up for the gift exchange would be given a name and their goal would be to find out as much as possible about that person and then find or make a gift for next to no expense that would connect to that person. like i said before i am not usually a fan of gift exchanges but i definitely am a fan of us giving of ourselves and that’s exactly what pete’s idea sounded like to me.
tonight most of the gifts were exchanged. i was amazed at the creativity, caring, and research that went into the gifts. kate gave pam a journal that details the rules of our family car game (pam explains the car game here). what a great gift. the photos above are of the gift that kayleigh gave me. it is a journal that she made. yeah that’s right SHE MADE THE ABOVE JOURNAL. the outside cover is from a t-shirt from a service project that we worked on together and the inside has micah 6:8 on it (a verse of scripture that i love and one that she remembered me using in a sermon a few weeks ago). i love to journal and what better journal than one made by a thread?
i saw other amazing gifts that spoke of presence, time, creativity, and love. from bacon roses (mhmm … bacon) to spice rubs to afghans to mix-cd’s to scarves. all amazing gifts that cost lots of time and energy but very little money.
i don’t mean to brag but i get to lead the most amazing church around.
advent conspiracy stories
tapestry is a part of the advent conspiracy movement. as many of you know the idea of advent conspiracy is that we have been celebrating CHRISTmas in an unCHRISTian manner. we confess that far too often we have celebrated CHRISTmas in a manner that reflects the above stencil art instead of the real gospel of the kingdom of GOD. we therefore need to change. for us that means focusing on four things during the season of advent:
- worship fully
- spend less
- give more
- love all
we try to let those four phrases direct all that we do as a part advent.
recently i’ve been hearing some really cool stories of how people are giving more of themselves while spending less. unfortunately i can’t share them right now because that would give the surprise away for those receiving the gifts. i’ll share them after CHRISTmas. some of them are the most incredible gifts of presence i have ever heard of. if any of you have other stories you would like to share with me i would love to hear them. just email or call me – no need to post a comment and mess anything up.
it is a great CHRISTmas already.
what is a gift?
i am at emy j’s coffee house a large amount of time. this is why the threads jokingly refer to it as my office. in fact, i really do use it as an office. i answer emails and phone calls there. i get things done while drinking the house blend from my personal coffee cup. since i am there so much i know most of the baristas pretty well. every now and then i like to ask them questions concerning things i am thinking about or preaching about. they are wonderful people to put up with me and my questions. you see i really want to hear their thoughts on the subject because i believe it helps me to better connect the message to everyone who hears it.
anyhow, since we in tapestry are in the midst of advent conspiracy yesterday i asked mindy, the typical morning barista, if she would mind thinking about the best gift she has ever received and telling me about it today. the photo above is the front page of her response. that’s right, there are two pages to it. how awesome is that. she said that it kept her up all night because she kept wondering what really makes a gift great and to determine that she had to start by thinking about what a gift is.
here’s my favorite part of what she wrote:
the best gifts i’ve received are things that have moved me. shaped who i am, been impactful enough to remain a memory.
awesome. simply awesome.
i can think of gifts that family and friends have given to me that have actually shaped who i am. i am very thankful for people who give like that. those gifts will stay with me for much longer than they physically exist.
i am scared that far to often i put very little thought into the gifts i give. maybe we should start every thought of getting someone a gift with the question “what does “gift” mean?” if it really is the thought that counts then i’m afraid that i’ve given some pretty cheap gifts because often there was no thought behind them.
give well my friends.
SIDE NOTE – mindy obviously gave me permission to post this. emy j’s is a wonderful place that you should all go to and you should tip the baristas very well. they are swell people.
all things can work for the good
i listen to a lot of stories during my day. i listen to random people’s stories to get to know them and i also listen to stories in the media to find connects for better conveying the truth of GOD’s love to people who i believe desperately need to know of HIS love. today while listening to radiolab i heard the fascinating story of l’inconnue de la seine (the unknown woman of the seine).
she was a young woman who was found dead in the seine river in the late 1880s. it is presumed that she took her own life and drowned. the pathologist was so taken by her beauty that he made a death mask of her face, a practice that was common at that time. copies of the mask spread until eventually “the unknown woman of the seine” became a cultural phenomenon.
i am not writing about the tragic cultural use of a young woman’s death. instead i want to focus on the eventual use of the young lady’s image. it is a use in which over 300 million people have participated. while norwegian toy maker asmund laerdal was developing rescue annie doll for use in CPR training he saw a replica of the “the unknown woman of the seine” and was convinced that this should be the face of rescue annie. this young woman’s face has been the face of rescue annie ever since then.
romans 8:28 says …
and we know that in all things GOD works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
i’ve heard this verse abused on many occasions to say that everything will become good for those who love GOD. that’s not what the verse says and it’s definitely not what we see in our lives. that young woman’s death in the seine river wasn’t a good thing and never will be. still good has come in spite of the evil that happened in her life. countless lives have been saved because of the 300 million people who have been trained in CPR by practicing saving the image of “the unknown woman of the seine.” i wish someone had been there to save her on that day but now others are saved in spite of the evil that happened to her. you see GOD’s goodness is just like that. it is so great that it takes even the evil that we do and that is around us and finds ways for good to still happen. that’s the point of romans 8:28, not that GOD will erase the evil that has happened in our lives, but that HE will defeat it and cause good to happen through what was meant for evil. HE is just that good.
i don’t know what evil has happened in your life. i don’t know what evil you have done or what evil has been done to you. i do, however, know that GOD is bigger and more powerful than that evil do matter what it is. HE can twist its desire for malicious ends to instead lead to good. HE is just that good.
SIDE NOTE – if you are not presently listening to radiolab you should start now.
nobody liked caroling with yoda
prepping for advent
advent started this past sunday. for tapestry this means that we began the readings for our traditional advent lamp wreath (we aren’t allowed to use open flames in the school we gather in) and we began to focus on doing CHRISTmas within the mindset of the advent conspiracy movement (i.e. to worship fully, spend less, give more, and love all). i love advent with the threads.
starting thursday, december 1st, we will also do contemplating the birth of the messiah through the use of si smith’s wonderful advent illustrations. if you want to receive these emails please subscribe to the email list using the form below.
SIDE NOTE – i heard this song on the radio this morning. while it isn’t an advent conspiracy song it still kind of fits in. it also made me laugh.
national day of listening
did you know that story corps has called today the “national day of listening”? what a great idea for a day. i hope we all celebrate it well. someone once told me (i think it was my mom or dad but i am not sure) that since we have two ears and one mouth we should use them in that same proportion.
listen well today.