…for the rest of us

Dave and Becky Johnson, an amazing couple from Seattle have decided to move to Lawrence and be a part of our launch! From their passion for this type of church to their love of people, we couldn’t be more pumped to have them partner with us!

Even though I am in a season of longer hours at work before we ship our game, it’s comforting to see God completely in control, working in people’s lives and building this team.

Awesome.

http://www.scribblenauts.com

What the heck is that?

Actually, it’s the video game I am currently heading up at 5TH Cell in Seattle.  We are actually in our last several hard weeks of development.  But I can’t wait for the world to play it once it’s done.  It will be fun for anyone - even if you don’t really like games!

Posts may be fewer in the next several weeks.  But starting in June, the huge ramp up really begins when the Seattle EastLake Lawrence team begins meeting weekly leading up to our volunteer party in Lawrence in August!

And, stay tuned - we have more committing from ECC Seattle!

One of the things that always bugged me about the debate-for-Jesus approach that continues to invade many of our ideas of how to “evangelize” is that I never felt like those discussions/debates were really helping anyone move forward.    Sure, we were talking about pressing questions like “how do I know God is real” or “how can you believe Jesus is the only way to God,” and we will tackle these types of things at EastLake, but at the end of the discussion, even if I felt like I had “won,” I really lost, because in the end the other person just felt it was okay for me to believe it, but it “wasn’t for him.”

Modeling a memorize-and-regurgitate church culture wasn’t working.  It taught me to win, not love.  And many times, love will NOT be about “winning” a deep, theological discussion.  Everyone goes through life deciding what to believe in VERY different ways.  It would be foolish of me to continue pretending some linear track of “evangelism” could be applied to everyone.

So when I read this excerpt from “No Perfect People Allowed,” it was an “a ha” moment.

—

“I can see why it’s true for you, but it’s not true for me,” Chris rebutted.

“But Chris, you just said it all makes sense and you can see why I believe in Christ– so why wouldn’t you want to believe too?” I pushed for clarity.

His reply haunted me for years: “You know, I guess I just don’t want to be like you.”

–

Wow.  Rough.  But I get it.  Why would anyone want to believe what I do if I am nothing more than an uncaring debater - some guy who doesn’t care one bit about their needs or never attempted to show one ounce of love before engaging them in some academic routine?  Furthermore, let’s say the guy was interested, do I have a caring faith family that would be safe to bring him to, no matter where he is in life?

Knowing the message of Jesus is very important (of course) - but first creating the culture Jesus Himself modeled is absolutely critical.  It will be so fun.  And it will be messy.  I’m not perfect.  You aren’t either.  None of us are.  But I can’t wait to move forward this October and create this culture with you at EastLake!

In only three and a half months, Emily and I will be moving back along with Ryan, Tiffany and Heather (and still more in the wings.) Things around here are the good kind of crazy. My video game “Scribblenauts” I’m working on at my job is coming along amazingly, but we’re at the end of development which means the hours get a bit longer. I’m finishing up a class, a growth group, our house is about to go on the market at the end of the month and we have an exciting weekend planned here at EastLake Seattle: Worship Night on Friday and five Easter services on Sunday.

It’s awesome, but I know I really need to cherish the time with my friends here before I’m gone. And man, the time really is flying!