I recently taught a course on Women, Leadership and the Church at NLF. It was great for me to do the in-depth exegesis, hermeneutics and theology around the issue. It was fantastic for the 100+ people in attendance – male and female. The 5 hour course can be found on-line at NLF. Enjoy the videos below:
While in Malaysia, Geri and I spent two wonderful days at Mt. Kinabalu National Park in the midst of the Borneo rainforest, the oldest rainforest in the world. Enroe was our “ranger guide,” leading us in our hikes during those two days. We learned a lot from Enroe. He grew up in the rainforest and never saw a city until he was sixteen (He is now thirty). He told us about his mother using particular leaves and plants to stop bleeding or ease fevers. He talked with us about his village, their rhythms, their foods and their culture. He talked about his first visit to a big city at the age 16 and how overwhelming it was. (His city visits even now can only last an hour). We learned a lot from Enroe as he slowly and thoughtfully answered our questions and tried to digest the complexity of our lives in New York City.. Read more.
Geri and I recently returned from a 15 day trip to Malaysia and Singapore. We went to offer emotionally healthy spirituality, but we received, perhaps, more than we gave. The following are a few gifts we received: 1. The equipping of marketplace leaders is a critical kingdom strategy for the 21st century. The real fruit of our work in the church, I believe, is how our people serve Christ at work, school, and in their communities. My vision was stretched in profound ways on this trip. Edward Ong, builder of the Sutera Hotel and Resort in Sabah, has 2000 employees. He initiates business in response to the voice of God, hires intercessors to pray for his guests and staff, and models integrity. Take a look at this trailer: 2. The growth of the church in Asia is a powerful, rising tide. I have read, for years, how the growth of the church globally is. Read more.
I shared this devotional with our NLF staff team yesterday at our spring retreat. Jesus models for us what it means to be true to ourselves rather than follow the voices and demands of those around us (see Mark 1:35-38). May Sarton’s poem provides a unique medium to wrestle with that process. Be sure to take some time with the questions that follow. Now I Become Myself (by May Sarton) Now I become myself. It’s taken Time, many years and places;I have been dissolved and shaken,Worn other people’s faces,Run madly, as if Time were there,Terribly old, crying a warning,‘Hurry, you will be dead before-‘(What? Before you reach the morning?Or the end of the poem is clear?Or love safe in the walled city?)Now to stand still, to be here,Feel my own weight and density!The black shadow on the paperIs my hand; the shadow of a wordAs thought shapes the shaperFalls heavy on the page, is. Read more.
Lauren Winner, herself an author of a book on Sabbath, says that in spite of a bumper crop of books on Sabbath observances in the last ten years or so, “it’s unclear . . . that many people are implementing them.” A Jewish young-adult organization called Reboot launched a “Sabbath manifesto” offers us the following ten recommendations that I appreciate: 1. Avoid technology. 2. Connect with loved ones. 3. Nurture your health. 4. Get outside. 5. Avoid commerce. 6. Light candles. 7. Drink wine. 8. Eat bread. 9. Find silence. 10. Give back. I think Abraham Heschel had it right: He who wants to enter the holiness of the day must first lay down the profanity of clattering commerce, of being yoked to toil. He must go away from the screech of dissonant days, from the nervousness and fury of acquisitiveness and the betrayal in embezzling his own life. He must say farewell to. Read more.
At our Annual Vision Meeting on June 3rd, 2012, I announced my transition and a very exciting new beginning for New Life Fellowship Church. It was a key moment in a four and a half year process that will culminate in September of 2013. The process and day reflected many of the riches of emotional healthy spirituality applied to a local church. It was a beautiful meeting that left many of us in awe! The video includes my commentary on the letter I released to the congregation. Pastor Pete reads his Letter to New Life New Beginnings A Letter from Pastor Pete June 3, 2012 This year is a special one for New Life Fellowship Church. In September we will celebrate and reflect on twenty-‐five years of bearing fruit for Christ in New York City. In addition, we are entering a new beginning that will deepen and expand our life together. Prophetic New Life. Read more.
