Rick has been warning me for a couple weeks that he "had something for me" on December 21st.  Rick is a faithful brother at the church who's been a serving part of our community for years.  So after our worship gathering yesterday he comes up to me with a priority mail box labeled with my name (Rick works at the post office).

"Should I open it now or later?" 

"Well I guess I'd like to have you open it in front of me so I can see your face when you open it."  I wrapped up some conversations with people and a little while later I grab the box and move over by Rick calling my wife over as well. 

I tear into the box and pull it open and inside I see a huge 3-ring binder.  The front is labeled Football Collectors Album and it is heavy.  I open to the first page and there he is--pound for pound the greatest player of all time, one of very few bright spots in the history of the NFL franchise I cheer for, the most elusive and entertaining running back to ever play the game:  Barry Sanders!

And Barry is not just on the first page.  His cards fill every page, page after page, 40 or more pages of just about every football card ever made for Barry Sanders.

"I collected them at card shows and shops over the years."  Over the years.  Rick has been collecting this amazing Barrylection "over the years".  "I thought to myself one day, 'Pastor Kevin would appreciate this more than me'".  So he gave it to me for Christmas.  (By the way, there is a bonus section of my favorite receiver in Lion history, Herman Moore, in the back of the album.) 

I think this is the essence of a true Christmas gift:

• It has great personal worth both for the giver and the receiver
• Its high actual value can't be easily calculated
• It bears a lot of personal effort and cost
• It can't be reciprocated--I can't give Rick a gift that could match what he has given me

I think this is the most valuable Christmas gift I've ever received.  A gift that in some way is a shadow of the gift of Jesus.  This gift proves God's Christmas Value:  it is better to receive.

This past Sunday we celebrated our first baptisms at New Life Tri-Taylor since we opened two months ago.

Six ladies wearing blue t-shirts that read "I found a New Life" gave brief but powerful testimonies before a packed auditorium.  The church erupted in worship and celebration as Pastor Danny baptized these women in Jesus name. The tears and the joy on their faces were reminders of the life changing power of God. With limited time, but energized by the baptisms I had just witnessed I preached from Colossians chapter four. At the end of the message I felt prompted in my spirit to call out anyone else who needed to get baptized that day.  Four more people came forward for a spontaneous baptism. With no extra change of cloths, but courage and determination to obey two men and two more women stepped into the waters of baptism. What a powerful moment. It touched me to see Kevin Dweyer step up to the baptistery and help baptize his wife Terry who responded to the impromptu call that morning.

After witnessing 10 baptisms I left Tri-Taylor grateful to be a part of a community of faith that is seeing so many lives transformed in Jesus name.

I am a fan of NFL football and a fan of good design.  So I looked with interest at a 6 page photo spread of the New York Jets incredible brand new training facility in Florham Park, New Jersey.  The designs on this facility would seem to set a new mark for "thinking of everything".

The question was, "can architecture lead to better football?"  It would seem the preliminary answer is "yes".  The facility was one of the reasons Brett Favre chose the Jets.  And the team is a strong playoff contender.

The way the architects designed every element of the facility to keep the experience of winning football in everyone's face is remarkable. 

Examples?  Executive offices have a glass wall (like a luxury box) that overlooks the indoor practice field "to remind the suits of their shared mission".  The entrances to the building simulate the tunnel that players walk through to go onto the playing field--i.e. every employee enters their playing field as they go into the practice/office facility.  The weight room is glass-walled to overlook the outdoor practice field--"I'm lifting these weights now so I can go out there and more effectively smash people." 

Now this is a leap, but stay with me.  Galilee Baptist Church, when it was designed and built in 1951, was constructed very purposefully to keep the experience of quality children's Sunday school in everyone's face.  And they did a great job--Galilee was one of the largest in Chicago in the 50's and 60's. 

However, its not the most effectively designed building if Sunday school is not the definition of the win for the church. 

Now, Galilee's design is something we work around at New Life Lakeview.  Sunday morning children's ministry is important, but it is not the mission.  We've retrofitted the space to make it work for our purposes which are expressed better in small groups and worship gatherings with most of our real "work" as a church accomplished outside the church building.  And its that last part--most of our work being outside the building--that compells me to wonder how I would redesign a church building to best express the church's real mission. 

One thing I'd do--I'd somehow put the offices of the staff in proximity to people, where the mission lies.  And maybe that's why I'm sitting in a cafe while I write this.

Thursday mornings are good.  6:15am comes and I'm in the Lincoln Park building reception area sipping coffee with 14 or 15 other men who are eager to become better men.  We receive a crock-potted message from an experienced pastor (Robert Lewis) pointing us toward the path of authentic authentic manhood and then we break up in smaller groups to discuss and implement.  Winning combo.

This morning we were taking a look at the heart wound men are born with that often leads us to:

• avoid or retreat from domestic/family responsibility
• rule harshly over women and children
• get lost in our careers and personal pursuits (detached) and ignore God's greater purpose for our lives

These tendencies were by agreement in our group, easy to fall into for each of us.  We also talked about the fact that married men with this problem are given a gift from God:  a wife.  Wives tend to see these tendencies clearly and to open our eyes to them as we manifest them in our home. 

But there's a problem--we men are a fragile group.  We often find silly reasons for dismissing the truth our wives are speaking which could be there to coach us out of our detachment, harshness or neglect and put us back on track. 

The determining factor between being coached or being angered is simply a question of our operational mode.  If we are working from Operational Humility, we hear and respond.  If we are functioning with Operational Defensiveness we will argue, snipe, yell, retreat, leave, quit, whine or brood.

Humility is only a virtue when it is presently in operation.  Operational humility.  Defensiveness may be a tendency but it is only a problem when it is in operation.  Operational defensiveness.

God, grant us operational humility--like Jesus.

Colossians 3:22-24 from the passage that we worked through yesterday is a great section contributing to a theology of work.  Theology of work is the idea that God has a big worship purpose in the everyday working life of everyday people.  The point is--your work is not separate from your spiritual life; your work is your spiritual life. 

There are two ways I see that a follower of Jesus can approach their work:

1. Work as "Eye-service":  you offer your work to your boss to convince him of your worth.  Result:  better paycheck.
2. Work as "God-service":  you offer your work to God to convince God of His worth to you.  Result:  better, fuller, deeper worship of Jesus.

Work as "God-service" is a powerful expression of worship.  And the powerful point of it is, if you offer your work to God, you send it ahead into kingdom as worship.  "...Work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward." 

That's kingdom speak.  It means your work becomes a tool for filling the eternal kingdom with blessing.  It means your work takes on eternal value.  Think about it--your approach to data entry, teaching, hammering nails, filing, consulting, programming, litigating...  all of it has the potential to be a chorus of worship that reverberates eternally.

Happy Monday!

Misha Beverly was recently baptized at our Lincoln Park location.  She is a newcomer to Chicago and to New Life.  A Columbia Chronicle reporter recently caught her in the act--in the act of working hard and excelling in fashion design while following Jesus.  What a well-dressed combination.

You can read about it for yourself...