Multiplication Tables

Sunday evening was different from our normal table, but a very exciting evening in that it represents the imminent multiplication of our neighborhood tables. We had 22 people at our house with new families who are wanting to get involved. It was really too many for people to be able to connect, but everyone understood and went with it. From our original group of 4 families from 3 adjacent neighborhoods, we are now clearly ready to launch at least one new group exclusively in Brittany Lakes. So this week we reviewed why neighborhood life, place-based community and the table are so important to us. It was very encouraging to hear people in the group talk about how it has changed their lives. Here are a few highlights from our gathering:

• Bev brought her parents, who were in town to visit. This is the first small group experience I've ever been in where families will bring their relatives to the group instead of cancelling on the group because relatives were visiting. This is the 3rd or 4th time this has happened with the group, and I love it.


• Bev's parents talked about their experience living in military housing, and the sense of community and mutual caring that existed on base among the families. It was a difficult transition to move into a civilian neighborhood in their retirement years, because "no one comes to the door." Wow, what an indictment and challenge. We are determined to transform our community into a place where people come to the door, help with the kids, share coffee, play together, and take care of each other. Perhaps we need a visit to a military base to learn how neighbors should treat each other!


• Two families are actually moving into new homes soon in order to reduce the fragmentation currently in their relational worlds and maximize their ability to connect with people. Their stories are like so many others: working in one town, living in another, going to church in another, kids spread out all over the place. Neighbors wouldn't attend their church because it was too far away; church friends would only see each other at church events; kids didn't go to school with church friends; living in the car, running from place to place. Their decisions to simplify this pattern so that the worlds of church, neighborhood, school, and friends all begin to converge will be life-altering for them.

If that picture of fragmentation mirrors your life, there is help and hope! We'll be getting practical about how God is leading us to change our way of living this Sunday--join us at 10 AM at the Perry Family YMCA for "Life In The Margins." Better yet, contact us for info on a neighborhood table near you and see it for yourself!

Lord, Save Us...

My wife picked up a book yesterday and I haven't been able to put it down. It's called Lord, Save Us From Your Followers, and it's also been made into a compelling documentary film. The author/producer, Dan Merchant, is a follower of Christ who set out to discover why Christians and non-Christians seem so hostile to each other in the public square; why those who don't profess to follow Christ feel like Christians hate them or view them as the enemy, and why Christians feel so threatened by those who don't share their belief system. What he discovered is both compelling and entertaining, heart-warming and unsettling. You can find out more for yourself at http://lordsaveusthemovie.com/.

Dan Merchant's concern over the current state of religious dialogue in America (or lack thereof), and his response, represent a groundswell of new thinking in Christian circles around the country. Many Christians are re-thinking their relationship with the larger culture, and figuring out how to join the dialogue about religious faith in some other way than by what Merchant calls the "bumper sticker culture." As a person who wants to have great conversations about faith with people in my community who believe very different things than I do, I think this is very important stuff.

There will be more to come as I finish the book and watch the movie, but the 10-minute trailer was enough to captivate me. One particular segment was hard to forget, as Merchant set up a confession booth at a gay pride event and confessed his own lack of compassion as a Christian to individuals who attended there. His confessions and their reactions are hard to forget. How does that strike you? Are people who have a distaste for evangelical Christianity winsome or repulsive to you? Are participants in evangelical Christianity winsome or repulsive to you? There aren't easy answers, but it's more than worth the time to struggle with them.

The Springs Cup

In honor of the beginning of the Masters golf tournament today, I'd like to introduce you to one of golf's most sought-after trophies. The Springs Cup ranks right up there with the Green Jacket and the Claret Jug on the list of prizes any golfer would love to claim as his own. Since I am currently the possessor of the Springs Cup, and since I'll never wear the green jacket or hold the claret jug, I pretty much have to say that.

The Springs Cup is a hand-decorated cup supporter made of high-impact plastic, ensuring that it will be around for a long, long time. Brad Gartman (surprise) created the Cup in 2007 and held it in his own possession for the entire summer and fall of that year. This is important to note, as the Springs Cup is awarded to the loser of any Church @ the Springs sanctioned golf competition, rather than the winner. Said loser is required to carry this dubious award in his or her golf bag until such time as another loser takes possession of it. Inevitably it falls out of the bag when said loser is playing golf with people who aren't familiar with the cup's significance. Humiliation, after all, is the point of the Cup's existence. How do you explain that you have a cup supporter in your golf bag?

I have fallen into a slump this year and have come into possession of the Springs Cup. I also got busted for removing the cup from my bag before an out-of-town golf outing. It just seems to stick with you. It's like a bad slice--no matter what you do to try to shake it, it just won't go away. But I received some much-needed advice on my swing from my good friend Donnie St. Germain, and I think I'll be able to unload the cup at my next opportunity. I mention Donnie's name primarily so there will be someone else to blame if things don't go well.

One day, the Springs Cup will be awarded at an annual charity tournament in our community, which will support a worthy work and provide an opportunity for friends and neighbors to play together. I can't wait for that day. Until then, I have the only golf trophy Tiger Woods will never have on his mantel!

Springs Letters Close to 1,000th visitor

As of the writing of this post, around 950 people have visited the Springs Letters blog. Plans are currently under way for a huge Blog Party when we reach 1,000 which should be by the end of this week! It will be a celebration you won't want to miss. Help us get to 1,000 by referring your friends to the Springs Letters Blog, and check back often this week--you may just be visitor #1,000.

Let the Little Ones Come and Throw Water Baloons

I didn't originally intend to give a table group report every week, but it has become unavoidable. Every time our group gathers, things happen that are so significant I can't help but write about them. And when it involves your kids...well, I can't resist the urge!

When we seek out relationships, we often look for things in common: common age or stage of life, common interests, common background, etc. Beneath this tactic is the assumption that sameness is a key to good relationships. Commonality makes us comfortable, gives us something to talk about or common activity to engage in. That's not completely bad, but it does have a dark side. For instance, it might also ensure that we don't learn from the different experiences of others, that we don't gain from the wisdom of older people or share any of that wisdom with younger people. It might just mean that we don't come in contact with people we need to serve.

Our neighborhood tables are organized almost exclusively by location. We're pursuing relationships with people who live near us, regardless of age, stage, color, background, belief, common interest or anything else. This means that adults, students, and kids are all mixing it up together at our table. When you do this, you realize how little the generations interact with each other. Most students, for example, rarely talk with adults other than their parents or children other than their siblings, and this reaps bitter fruit in their lives as they move into adulthood and haven't learned how to communicate with anyone except their peers. On the other hand, adults rarely listen to students or children (even our own). This was definitely the case when our table began several months ago, and we still have a long way to go, but each week there are signs that things are changing. Here's just one from this week.

Sunday afternoon was a beautiful, warm, summer-is-coming kind of day. My kids don't spend days like that indoors. Knowing that our table was gathering Sunday afternoon, our 14-year old, Jacob, decided to plan a little surprise for all the kids coming over (I think 10 kids and youth). He set up the slip-and-slide in the back yard, and filled up our ice chest with water balloons. Then he asked Mom to call all the families and have them secretly bring their kids' swimsuits over to the house. After sharing our meal and talking about our week, Jacob surprised all the kids with water fun in the backyard. They stayed out there until the sun went down, and still didn't want to quit, even though they were wet and shivering. One little girl, who came to our table Sunday for the first time, came up to me before she left and said, "your house is awesome!" What she meant was that a 14-year old had done something pretty uncharacteristic for his age: he had taken it upon himself to plan an afternoon of fun for a bunch of little kids. 14-year olds are supposed to have disdain for all kids, right? It was a proud moment for me.

Students don't ignore the world and play video games all the time by God's design. Neither do adults only interact with each other. I've met several kids over the years who dreaded their parents' involvement in small groups or Bible studies, because the kids had no part in it and were shooed away so the parents could "go deep." There is a place for that, but there is also a place for young and old, male and female, rich and poor, black and brown and white, married and single and divorced, to know each other, communicate with each other, even love each other. "There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." -Galatians 3:28 TNIV.

Core Practice #5: Biblical Community
Creed: I fellowship with other Christ-followers to accomplish God’s purposes in my life, others’ lives and in the world.
Text: Acts 2:42-47 - "All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."