In lieu of a December update on Crossroads Church Kansas City, we’re praying that all our friends will enjoy the haunting beauty, stark reality, and startling joy of Christmas.

C.S. Lewis called the life of Jesus, “true myth,” meaning that the birth, life death, resurrection, and glorification of Jesus has the power to shape and transform all our lives at a depth that we, at the height of our materialism, merrymaking, medicating, and good intentions, will never scrape.

When God became man, Heaven came to earth.
When Jesus lived here, his kingdom took root.
When he was murdered, our sin and darkness died with him.
When he resurrected, he killed death and crushed sin’s power.
When he returns, all earth will be transformed.

So wherever we find ourselves in late December 2009, we are freed to celebrate the stable, shepherds, and infant Savior in light of Jesus’ full life, which includes a chapter still coming. That’s the day when “baby Jesus” returns to earth as a resplendent, triumphant, divine hero and all his people join the party.

In C.S. Lewis’ words, that will be when, “The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is morning.”

Merry Christmas!

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Today is a good day for this blog. A good day for this blog to be alive. A good day for this blog to be in existence, even though it is still hosted on blogspot.com and is therefore limited in its upward mobility.

Today is the day I sit down and write a post.

The last year of my life has been spent fund raising, team building, strategizing, praying, honing vision, buying a house, demolishing & remodeling said house, developing connections in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, chasing our three boys, ranting at pigheadedness wherever I find it, leaving my coffee addiction for an espresso addiction, laying awake at night, and, in short, working to get an urban church plant off the ground in Kansas City.

Things are going well. I can't complain.

However, this blog is one thing that has definitely been lost in the shuffle. Other things are my polished mid-range hoops game, my reading list, and, strangely enough, a favorite hat.

But as my family transitions into the holiday season, we're deliberately scaling back our Frenetic Activity Level to something closer to a 7/10. Doing some blogging is going to be part of my job description for the next several weeks, and, if things go well, who knows what could happen in 2010.

Lately I've been thinking about the short list of important things that act as health indicators in my life and how several of them are MIA. Here's what I've come up with as I tried to answer the question, What regular rhythms lead to health and wellness (spiritual, emotional, physical) in my life? In some ways I'm jumping the gun on New Year's Resolutions, but who has time to write a blog post on New Year's?

I used to know, the way you know in your frostbitten fingers and achy knees that Spring will come, that there was a place for a short-but-very-tough, sharp-shooting, almost-dunking white guy in the NBA.

For all five of you who have continued to track this blog even though I haven shamefully abandoned it, what are rhythms that act as health indicators in your life? Let me just preemptively say that these should be rhythms other than eating, sleeping, breathing, etc., so save it for comedy hour, smart a**. Since small children have been known to read this blog, I'm also taking rhythms of another, specific type out of play. Today we will faithfully maintain our PG rating. Ok, then.

Here are my top three:

1. Reading without an agenda. I like to read and I've spent a lot of my time reading, more time than I've spent watching TV (yes it's true). Therefore, if I can so say modestly, I'm very good at it. When I sit down to READ I can, you know, plow through a lot of reading. I can read an entire historical fiction novel in about five minutes. A book on philosophy or advanced physics takes me about ten. (Anything off Oprah's book list hits the mat in three min or less.)

Not really, but I frequently find myself reading merely for information these days. Reading with an agenda. As a guy who is convinced that the best books capture and stir our imaginations, it becomes painfully obvious that reading this way short-circuits the main point. I need to read slowly and reflectively. And not only commentaries and strategy books, but fiction, poetry, and the Bible.

2. Playing basketball and reawakening my lifetime dream to play in the NBA. I used to know, the way you know in your frostbitten fingers and achy knees that Spring will come, that there was a place for a short-but-very-tough, sharp-shooting, almost-dunking white guy in the NBA. Maybe starting as a back-up for the Clippers, then getting traded to the Mavs, and eventually playing a lot of minutes for the Celtics.

How did I know this? It simply became obvious as I played a lot of pick-up ball, taught defenses to fear the second coming of White Chocolate, and developed a hoops motor that could run for hours and defend taller players. I need to play more ball. I need to almost-dunk again. I need to recapture the dream. Pickup basketball was welded into my DNA and I'm blaming God for that. When I get to play ball every so often, I wear my other hats with a cavalier joy (except for the missing one).

3. Writing because I want to and can. This one is similar to my first rhythm. Sending off barrages of emails to not count. Updating my Twitter does not count. Texting a friend does not count. What I have in mind is writing in a purer form, a form that will not become obsolete even when Twitter becomes obsolete because, hey, 140 characters is almost an entire novel.

I enjoy making off-the-cuff decisions and crafting quick strategies as much as any other guy who grew up with a lot of siblings playing Risk and aiming for World Domination. But that kind of thinking doesn't replenish me. For me, the best kind of thinking happens when I slow down, stop hurrying, and put pragmatism in my back pocket. Writing my thoughts down, journaling, has been invaluable for me in the past and I need to return to it.

There's a kind of agile, strategic thinking that gets you through the day and, in the bigger picture, ensures the gears of commerce and finance keep on grinding. But behind this buck-stopping and call-making is the vision and steady spiritual intent that guides every last-second decision and, in fact, makes the daily triumphs and gaffes worthwhile. For me, writing, while simultaneously listening for God's voice, is how this deeper, wiser, vital thought takes place.

There you have it. Three rhythms that have been missing in my life for awhile. Three rhythms that I would like to see return. We'll see what 2010 holds. Any rhythms of your own?

X-posted on arieljvan.com.

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KU is 10 deep and wins early-season games by 40 while making it look effortless. And as if you needed more proof that the best part of the year has arrived, Bracketology 101 is offering early bracket predictions for the 2010 NCAA tournament.

A few highlights: Notice that the Kansas Jayhawks are the overall #1 seed, with another very dangerous Big 12 team (Texas) representing as well as two KU arch-rivals, Kentucky (John Calimari, er, Calipari) and Michigan State (knocked KU out of the NCAAs in 2009).

In this bracket, Oklahoma, Kansas State, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M make the tourney from the Big 12 as well.

Bracket below. Go to Bracketology 101 for a more detailed breakdown and tournament predictions rationale. I'm looking forward to talking more tourney picks as the season develops.

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I’m running way behind here. “Timely Communication. I knew him once, Horatio.” However, I still aspire to keeping folks up to speed on what’s going on with Crossroads Church Kansas City. An October update is in the works. In the meantime, I’d be remiss if I didn’t post the ad that we had published in the Pitch’s monthly gallery guide. We’ll be running this through December, as much to just identify with our community as to promote the upcoming services.



Things will continue to be grassroots for the foreseeable future. From day one, our intent has been to invest and serve downtown, volunteer our time to meet genuine needs, and let relationships develop on the way. We may do some other low-key promotional stuff, but we have no intention of switching up our baseline strategy. It just makes sense…the day we send out glossy direct mailers hyping the Next Big Thing In Church is the day I take a sledge hammer to our church structure.

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Time to give a nod to another book that, from where I'm sitting, looks can't-miss.

Ever since reading a blurb about a new title by Derek Tidball, I was interested in cracking this book and exploring his premise. From the intro of the disarmingly titled Ministry by the Book:

This book seeks to open the imagination about ministry, not to close a discussion down. It seeks to sketch several models of ministry, all of which have their origins in the New Testament, and challenge the stunted understanding of ministry that so often characterizes our churches today. I hope it provides a number of "models of permission" that enable a freer approach to ministry and the way it is conducted, and provides encouragement for those who don't fit the "McDonaldized" version of ministry so common today.

It became obvious fairly early in my life that I wasn't going to grow into one of the soft-spoken, bleeding-heart pastor-counselors I saw in churches around me. I wished I could, and speculated about whether I could pump up enough tender, gentle qualities to qualify for ministry.

When I entered seminary, I once again felt the bite of square peg/round hole syndrome, as I struggled through classes that tried to groom me for a suit-and-tie-wearing, Sunday school-class organizing, business meeting-driven model of church leadership. This also was not happening, and at times it made me wonder what the heck I was doing.

During these years, I began to realize that leadership and ministry was not homogeneous in the New Testament, shouldn't be homogeneous today, and that I didn't need to fit myself into various homogeneous existing models of ministry. So I stopped trying, continued to read the Bible carefully, and did my best to figure out Jesus' vision for my gifts and ministry instead of taking my cues from various church cultures.

Now, as I start through Derek Tidball's Ministry by the Book, I'm thinking, This one would have saved me a lot of angst, confusion, and wasted time if it had existed 5 years sooner and, say, been required reading at my seminary. Hopefully it will prove as eye-opening and liberating for readers today as it would have for me back when I was trying to change myself into a soft-spoken, tie-wearing, pastor-counselor. (Who I'm not, but who of course have a place in the church.)

X-posted on arieljvan.com.

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Life slows down
When your eyelids weigh 40 pounds,
And you don’t say the profound things,
The witty things,
That are on the tip of your tongue,
Because all your concentration goes
Into keeping your eyelids
From crashing into your cheekbones
And leaving those bruised-black circles
Under your eyes.
But soon you will look like
A night watchman at noon
Or like Bill Clinton
During the Lewinsky era.
Fatigue: It’s just a matter of time.

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The full title of Eugene Peterson’s classic on spiritual formation is a small book review in itself, and sheds some light on his thesis—namely that to doggedly follow Jesus is to defy the conventions of our society. Check out the complete tagline:

A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society

You just scan the book’s spine, and Peterson is already up in your face, softly but sternly suggesting, You’re probably going about this “spirituality” thing in the wrong way. You smile pleasantly and nod. Then you get past the introduction, and feel his fingers on your jugular. If you’re serious about this, some things will need to change; otherwise, just shut the book, ok?

Admittedly, I’m overstating the polemical tone of Peterson’s writing, but I’m doing so to mirror the book’s fundamental message: Slow down, forget religion-in-a-box (1.5 hours, once a week), and start plodding. Excellence is never quick and dirty.

Sometimes you read a book so needed, so deliciously counter-cultural, it makes you want to jettison everything else on the topic in your library—is there really anything left to say? For anyone consumed by doing everything yesterday—including learning how to act like Jesus, which I should have mastered last year—this may well be one of those books.

Peterson paints a picture of what Jesus-discipleship could really look like, and the travelogue is enough to make an explorer out of you. He fleshes out the panorama with contemplative writings on the “Songs of Ascents” (Psalms 120-134 in the Bible), which form a handbook for life on the road, the road toward Jesus.

The spirituality Peterson espouses is dynamic, straightforward and refreshingly “un-produced.” Combine this direct approach with a highly perceptive mind and you have a classic. Initially rejected by 17 publishers, this was Peterson’s first published work: a bracing discipleship text I would recommend to anyone.

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The internet has a strange reciprocity all its own.

Every month or two I cave in and binge on my favorite coffee website, CoffeeGeek. As I related on this blog a couple years ago, I used to think I was well-versed in all things coffee until I stumbled onto CoffeeGeek. Now it's obvious to me that in coffee, as in most other pursuits, I'll remain a life-time learner. I have a few things down cold (marriage, parenting, humility) but coffee isn't one of them. Ha ha.

So as I am reading articles late last night, learning about E61 brew groups and espresso pressure valves, what do I see but a sidebar article on Jars of Clay, one of the few "Christian" bands I can't help but listen to.

Turns out the Jars are java devotees, even though it sounds like they buy too much Starbucks bean. And this mention of the Jars in turn reminds me of The Long Fall Back to Earth, their independently-released record that dropped a couple months ago.

And I thought, Just as noteworthy as the fact that the Jars are coffee geeks is the fact that The Long Fall Back to Earth is an excellent album deserving of accolades. And oh yeah, I was going to write a post about this album a long time ago.

So here I am, trying to make up for lost time and expired good intentions. The Long Fall Back to Earth seems like a lock for my Top 10 list this year, as the Jars capitalize on their large fan base and renewed creative freedom. The resulting record is lyrically-savvy, catchy indie pop with staying power.

Prior to their bluesy/folk album, Who We Are Instead, Jars of Clay admitted to listening to a lot of Johnny Cash. My guess is that prior to this one, Death Cab for Cutie got a lot of play time. However, the Jars remain their own animal. Dan Haseltine's lyrical abilities seem to only get better over the years.

I am taking this moment to whole-heartedly recommend both The Long Fall Back to Earth and...coffee.

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Over the last several years, I developed a habit of extracting a few favorite quotes from every (quotable) book I read. Some books don't contain a single quotable line...and some of those make best seller lists.

I sorted the quotes topically and collected them in a searchable Word document, which steadily grew until it contained thousands of incisive, inspiring pieces of wordsmithery.

When a half-forgotten phrase came to mind this morning, I opened my Quotes document to track it down, and realized I haven't made any new entries for months. Life has been a whirlwind lately, and some healthy habits of thought and reflection have fallen by the wayside.

I need to get 'em back. So here I am, documenting my intention to slow down and enjoy the benefits of an examined life, with the help of the Holy Ghost. I leave you with a bit from a great book I discovered a couple years ago, Telford Work's volume on prayer. This one definitely pertains to Kansas City church planting:

A minuscule seed in a field, a pinch of yeast, a treasure chest in a field, one pearl, a net in the sea—none of these impresses except by its smallness. Yet each is powerful—in some cases more powerful than the thing it inhabits… As a little signature unleashes vast executive power and a tiny key opens enormous gates, so symbolic actions here lead to momentous actions elsewhere. - Telford Work, Ain’t Too Proud to Beg

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