The Jubilee Project

so...

2008-03-30T20:10:00.000-07:00

So I am thinking that the jubilee project is either on hiatus or is in serious slumber. Though I might be wrong because I haven't heard anything from anyone, I wanted you all to know that I appreciated your hearts when I was able to spend time with you all, and I wish you all the best! I pray your intimacy and discipleship is at a constant growth, and that God's Spirit is richly moving upon all of your actions!

BROTHERS!!!!!

2007-11-14T19:08:00.000-08:00

Hey, so tis the season of giving thanks, which is sweet in its self, but i had this one recommendation; let us get together either Tues. or Weds. night next week. Let me know what works best.

Awesome Sermon on the Prodigal Son

2007-10-17T19:00:00.000-07:00

I am so blessed at the new church I've been going to. This was an incredible sermon on Luke 15, put in context so well. Hope it blesses you.

http://api.monkcms.com/Clients/download.php?sid=392&url=http://www.gracechurchsd.org/mediafiles/part-1-the-parable-of-the-two-lost-sons.mp3&mediaBID=56774

Aaron

Sorry Guys

2007-10-17T11:46:00.001-07:00

I made a major calendar blunder yesterday... I planned TJP retreat on the same weekend as I have a middle school retreat (I thought it was on the next weekend, but found out that I was wrong just yesterday). I will be unable to make it. This can mean a few different things; one, you all can continue with the retreat at the beach house (someone would just have to get the keys from me), or two we can reschedule for another weekend in November or December. Let me know what you want to do.

Prayer Request Take Three

2007-10-11T22:27:00.000-07:00

Could you guys be praying for an account I am trying to close. It is with a large national hotel chain and it could potentially mean some significant income for January and I. My VP of Sales and I will be calling them around 11AM tomorrow.

Prayer request de dos

2007-10-08T19:26:00.000-07:00

Guys, i need some prayer for my mom. Some of you know the sitch, but my mom went to the er again this last monday and almost went again friday night. The dr's still don't know what is going on and her new job isn't a good thing like she that it might be, soooooo.
1. Pray that the YHWH may heal her of her condition, either directly or through giving dr's some insight
2. that she may be encouraged to take a different route of becoming a freelance/consultant/barista. i really think that this would be great for her.
3. that the lord surrounds her with true friends that are believers in christ.
4. that she be encouraged- i think a lot of her situation is due to to the fact that she is so discouraged. she needs some real friends that are really authentic in there faith.
5. that god may just present and reveal himself to her.
i love you guys. thanks.

Prayer Request

2007-10-05T00:48:00.000-07:00

It's kind of last minute, but if you could pray for me, that would be great. I'm teaching sunday in the HS group and its coming along real slow - every time I sit down to think I get frustrated and nothing comes up or out or anything. I've been working for 7 days straight between my two jobs and I work tomorrow at church and at the brigantine tomorrow night, and Saturday the HS group is going to Magic Mountain (which I have to be at church at 5:30 am and back at 10 pm) then I am teaching on Sunday. Basically, i have 6 hours or so tomorrow to write a sermon and I've hit a wall. If you remember to, please pray for me. Thanks guys

TJP Fall Gathering

2007-09-26T14:36:00.000-07:00

Gentlemen, I would like to call our first fall gathering. How does the date(s) of Friday November 2nd and Saturday November 3rd sound? I am trying to get the beach house in Imperial Beach and we could all meet up Friday evening and stay until Saturday evening. For those who couldn't make Friday, we could just have you come on Saturday. I would also like your input regarding what the time should look like, who will facilitate what, basically what's our plan. Post your comments and I will put together what seems to be a consensus plan and we'll go from there.

New Longshot Post

2007-09-14T00:15:00.000-07:00

It's been a while, but one of Sam's comments on TJP and Dan's devotions from the OT spurred this meditation on. Here it is.

Be Thou My Vision

2007-09-06T23:43:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking a lot about some of the conversation that has followed the last TJP meeting, especially in regards each of our battles with overcoming besetting sin, temptation, fears, insecurities, and anxieties. I know that these are perplexing issues that I am definitely facing in some powerfully real ways (I would be happy to share this with you guys here, but for the sake of brevity I wont). In the midst of this God brought some encouraging thoughts to mind:

To be certain, we must do battle with these issues. But the end goal is not to overcome sin or grow in godly confidence (though God certainly wills these things for us), rather it is to know and behold Christ. This is the end goal, and the essence of our eternal life. Often I find myself on the loosing end of my own battles with insecurity, fear, and cowardice, however I do find it very encouraging that in the midst of the fight I can be "fixing my eyes on Jesus..." Inner transformation seems to be a whole lot more realistic in the radiance of His face. Be encouraged brothers, in the midst of the battle you can find strength and grace simply by looking upon Him. Do what the old hymn says:

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full on His wonderful face
And the things of this world will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.

Prayers During The Squal

2007-09-05T20:54:00.000-07:00

I'm writing this post as the first cry for the brethren's help in our movement to push eachother towards Christlikeness. As most of you know I work in a tough industry...spritually that is. I am surrounded by the feast of the world and I have all it's fixings at my finger tips. I'm getting ready to start another round of trade shows for the next two weeks and I feel the need to call in the reinforcements. Ya see, the thing is that I can not trust myself in these types of settings. Sometimes I succeed and sometimes I fail. So many times I've thought that I could handle it and then I end up with some broad.
I don't really know what else to ask of you guys but to pray for me, send me texts, or even come hang out one night and keep me in line. Whatever the Lord leads you to do than do it.
I thank you guys and I will rest in the confidence that the Lord will give me strength and deliver me from any form of evil.

Putting Some Shape to TJP

2007-08-27T16:20:00.000-07:00

Well we met last night, although not all the members were present, and it seems like we were able to bring clarity to what has been a long, meandering, and muddied discussion. I believe in my heart that this is what TJP needs to be, and that the form it will take (which I will get to in a moment) is a faithful expression of who we are and what we are to be about.

Throughout this discussion we have moved from talking about TJP being anything from a benevolent mafia, to a zine, to a church plant. Although each of those ideas had their merit, none of them seemed to capture the essence of who we are and what God was doing in us both individually and corporately. What has been manifestly clear through all these discussions is that each of us are in a sort of search mode in life, each of us on this journey called The Way are asking questions like "What is my life to be about? What is God calling me to? How do I overcome the encumberances like fears, insecurities, anxieties? How do I overcome the besetting sins in my life? What is God doing in my heart and life right now? What does it mean to follow in the Way here and now?" As a community we have not been intentional about these things in each others lives, or at least as intentional as is required given the gravity of the above questions. But there is a need, a deep and penetrating need, for us to be a community that is intentionally committed to pursuing these things together.

As Nate clearly remarked last night TJP needs to be a community intentionally committed to seeing Christ as the center. We need to be a band of disciples committed to our Master who is the center of our very lives and is Himself the Way we must tread. Just as Jesus' little band of disciples ultimately were called to go in separate directions (from India to Egypt, from Spain to Turkey), they all discovered during their time together what it is God was doing in their lives, and discovered the Christ who brought liberty, justice, and reconciliation both individually and corporately.

Some Clarifying Questions:

Question: What is The Jubilee Project's function?
Answer: The Jubilee Project exists to promote discipleship in the Way of Jesus as an integral component in kingdom life.
Question: What is the The Jubilee Project's form?
Answer: TJP's form is a quartely gathering of a community of disciples committed to following in the Way and encouraging each other as they follow in it.

Some Clarifying Values:
The Jubilee Project Values
1. Community as God's gift of companionship along the wilderness way
2. Reality, being both honesty and truth, as the only currency in which God deals and a primary means of formation in Christ
3. Grace as the center of the Gospel and the only way that reality of both ourselves and the world can be embraced.
4. Love as that which binds a community together in grace and reality.
5. Growth as essential to discipleship and the fruit of a life of love.

Where Do We Go From Here?
1. Is this something that each of us are committed to?
2. Establishing regular quarterly gatherings in which TJP form, function, and values are brought into the inner life of TJP. These would look like one weekend day every 12 weeks where we would spend time in community prayer, devotions, and Spirit-led truth talk in one anothers lives. To be sure these are not to be devoted to the consumption of beer and cigarettes, in fact I think it would be best if those things are marginalized as they can be a distraction and can impede to commitments of TJP.
3. Regular prayer for one another as we are listening to God on behalf of the others
4. Clarifying who TJP is and who it is not. This means deciding "who's in." What TJP is seems to necessitate boundaries here, not that we want to be aristocratic or cliquish, but to be committed to one another at this level would require a clear sense of who TJP is and who it is not. Right now it seems on our roster we have about nine guys (Jed, Nate, Aaron, Dan, Daniel, Josh, Justin, Jason, and myself) as well as some others. I am fine with opening it up to 2 or 3 others upon recommendation, but I can't see it being any more than that. If any of you are not willing or unable to commit now would be a good time to clarify that.
5. The blog can function as a forum in which we can post requests, emergency meetings (maybe there's a big decision and we need to pray for a member), regular quartely meetings and the details of those meetings, as well as posting things that are inspiring us or things that we would like to share with the other members.
6. Have a sort of "defining" meeting this fall where all of these things are talked through, clarified, and committed to.
7. Establish our next quarterly meeting and plan it.

Maybe God will use this to call us together to something more, or maybe He will use it to call us apart all for the sake of the kingdom. To God be the glory!

Looking forward to your responses

I Have a Dream

2007-08-24T17:31:00.000-07:00

I have a dream… of a church that knows the Living God, that loves His holy Word, that takes up its cross and joyfully serves this world which it has been called to be salt and light within. This church would bear in itself the beating heart of Christ Himself, which pours itself out for the poor and afflicted, takes up the case of the widow and the orphan, the kicked upon and marginalized, the sin-broken and needy. This church would be a place where bones broken by sin can be mended, where hungry souls can be fed, lost souls can be found, and aimless souls be given direction. This church would demand people to be who they are, not a picture of who they think they should be, so that the transformative power of the Holy Spirit may be carried out in their lives in truth. There would be no need to strut about in this church with a false sense of strength and security, because God would dwell with us as our strength in the midst of weakness and our sure hope in the face of an uncertain world. This church will not tolerate the love of riches or the pursuit thereof that consumes this culture, but will be generous with the fruit of their labor as the Lord commands, they will live by faith in the providence of a loving and almighty God, so that the world around would be perplexed by a community not consumed by the love of things but constrained by the love of Christ that calls them to be the servants of all men, and in so doing courageously takes hold of the imperishable treasure awaiting them in eternity. This church would be humble, knowing well that God’s grace alone has given them reprieve from the crushing power of sin, they will not look at their work and enlarge their hearts with pride, but they will raise their hands thankfully to heaven that they have been made worthy to serve the Living God, knowing that the perfect work of God is miraculously carried out by imperfect people. Here, in this dwelling not made with bricks and stones, or the work of any man’s hands, but made with souls made pure through the precious blood of Jesus, the glory of God’s truth will shine out for all who have eyes to see, so that they too may join the unending chorus of the redeemed from all ages past, present, and future singing the praises of our great God and King, longing with all creation for the day when Christ returns to judge in righteousness and make all things new.

However, I am weak, and my mind is limited, and my dreams cannot capture the height and depth and splendor of what God intends for His people. I need the help of His Spirit, in the fellowship of my brothers and sisters to understand that part of this dream that He has placed in them that only they can see. They can share what they have been given, what they will gladly lay down their lives in service of; so that this vision of a church would not be the work of any man’s hands, but birthed by God and given reality through the power of His Holy Spirit, so the name of Jesus would be lifted high in all the earth.

If God has indeed called us to plant a church, He will have to confirm this as we seek diligently after Him. My hope is that God would give us a dream of this church that is bathed in His presence and sustained in His strength and established by His will. So I would ask you, how is He guiding your hearts, and what is your dream?

TJP Meeting This Weekend

2007-08-23T16:04:00.000-07:00

It looks like Sunday August 26th in the late afternoon/evening will work for the most people. Is there anyone who would like to host this gathering? Do we want to do a meal? If so who's bringing what? When exactly (I'm thinking 6ish)? If you can make it, RSVP as a comment here, with if you want to do dinner and if so what you'll bring.

Interesting Developments

2007-08-20T21:51:00.000-07:00

To say that the last few months have been interesting is an understatement. A growing family, a career change, and God knows what else lies ahead. I have had a lot rattling around in my mind over the last few months (maybe even longer than that) regarding the idea of planting a church, and I have been content in having it be an item for discussion and prayer for further development far off in an undefined future.

That all changed a couple of weeks ago. On the 6th of August I was laying in bed in the early morning and heard God's call. He reaffirmed the calling He gave me when I was an 18 year old kid. It seems a bit bewildering given the struggles I have gone through in the last decade, but it was as clear as if He were speaking in my ear. I also have sensed clarification on this (which still needs more prayer and confirmation), that the ministry of the Word which God is leading me towards is in the context of church planting. Needless to say, this has been a lot for January and I to process as we contemplate next steps.

We have met with Drew Goodmanson, his wife, and David Fairchild (elder/pastors of Kaleo Church in San Diego, an Acts 29 Church) to discuss some future options (training and development). January and I have much to be praying about regarding this, and I would covet your guys prayers as well. This may very well have some profound implications for TJP in the coming years, but we will have to see where God leads. For now, I would simply ask that you all would be praying for January and I that we would hear God and discern His leading and be obedient to his call.

Piper on Church-Planting

2007-08-16T12:54:00.000-07:00

All of us should watch this, it hit me like a freight train. Mighty words from a man of God.

meeting

2007-08-10T21:58:00.000-07:00

Sam spoke of a meeting soon, so what are thus and then the available dates that we have to offer?

Good Conversations and the Cross-Centered Life

2007-08-09T09:37:00.000-07:00

In the past ten days I have had a few conversations that have been extraordinarily illuminating; one with Jed and Nate, another with just Jed, and one with Daniel. They were kind of gestalt conversations (gestalt is like those pictures where you look at it one way and it looks like an old woman, but then you are told if you look at it another way it is a young woman, and then you see her, the young woman), where I saw all those who are contributors here as a group of friends, but saw them differently... in a revelatory way. I realized that though our friendships were good, our identity as a group had stagnated. There were moments of openness, truth, encouragement, and confrontation, yet for the most part we had become a bunch of mirror's reflecting back to one another that we were OK as we were (in terms of our foolishness, coarse joking, sinful habits, etc...) and that change was not encouraged. We could have great theological, philosophical, or cultural conversation; yet as I looked into my own heart and listened to the hearts of others, personal spiritual transformation and growth in Christ were seriously atrophied. But what was even more revelatory was that, at the center, each of us were profoundly struggling: sinful habits were not changing or even worsening, fears, anxieties, and various sorts of spiritual bondage were occuring in each of us and instead of being a community living together and moving toward liberty and freedom (remembering we are The Jubilee Project "proclaiming liberty to the captives"), we were either being left alone in our entangling sin and encumberances or being confirmed in it by the foolishness of the group. Hear me though, I am not saying this is entirely true of us, but it is, never-the-less, a reality. I cannot imagine doing anything regarding ministry together if we cannot first be a group who itself is moving toward the goals it proclaims to others. If we cannot be a core community moving toward "liberty, justice, and reconciliation" than we have no business multiplying a movement into others lives.

In reflecting up on this, particularly in relation to my conversation with Daniel-bro, the Spirit led me to the cross of our Lord and Savior. It is a sign to us. The cross is not a neurotic defense from dealing with our sin (individually and communally), i.e. "we've been forgiven, our past has been dealt with, now lets move on to do things for God." But rather, it is a sign to us (both individually and communally) to give courage to enter deeply into our own "decietful and wicked hearts" and find that grace truly does come to the "chief of sinners." If we open to the Spirit, He will take us down deep into the hellish depravity of our hearts, and there at the center He will reveal the love of God in Christ. The cross tells us that all our fears, insecurities, shame, guilt, pride, self-aggrandizement, and sin ultimately are the worst kind of sedition and effectively murder the son of God. If we enter this journey together we will hear ourselves the indictment that Paul pronounced on "the rulers of this age" who did not understand the wisdom of God and thus "crucified the Lord of glory." But in entering this journey down into our our own dead hearts we will discover the life of God, the resurrection of the Christ. That though are hearts are filled with all kinds of evils, the explosive resurrection life of Christ will awaken our dead hearts and overcome those evils by that awesome power which overcame Death and Hades. This is a clarion call for this community to enter together into the journey of a lifetime, and without question it will take the lives of us all, we will all be crucified daily, and yet if we lose ourselves for His sake we shall be found, we shall live.

THE REQUEST

2007-08-06T22:53:00.000-07:00

I have been a thinking....let us set up a prayer request section on this thing. I love you all and I am willing to spend some time with the Father lifting your supplications up to Him. Please join me in this venture.

The Gospel Coalition and Where's Everyone At

2007-07-12T16:25:00.001-07:00

If we continue down a road towards church-planting... The Gospel Coalition and Drew Goodmanson has put out some great resources that could serve as a good foundation to start thinking and talking about how to stretch your theology out into your ministry.

I am also interested in hearing where everyone is at with TJP. Maybe you could all publish some personal reflections in then next few weeks so that we can get a general tenor for where we are at. I am almost finished compiling a resource for all of us to go through together and will get that out to you ASAP.

One more thing, could we all try to set up a meeting for sometime in mid - late August? Post some comments on dates in that region that might work for everyone.

Toward a Community of Formation

2007-05-22T17:05:00.000-07:00

Upon reflecting on the recent post by Jed and the sermons linked therein, a thought has risen in my heart. TJP cannot be a church for sometime, if ever, but it can be a community of formation. It can be a community committed to action, formation, reality, and grace without at this point being a church. These sermons by Mark Driscoll, and the obvious distance we all stand from the requirements of 1 Timothy 3, challenged me to reflect not only on the fact that I stood at a distance from these requirements, but also the bridge that brought me from here to there was not going to be built merely by imagining it. It would require a plan, it would require resources, and it would require action. We do not "grow up into Christ" by mere wishful thinking, but as Paul admonished Timothy "discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness." It is equally as clear that formation is not intended to occur merely as isolated ascetics buried in a cell in some barren Egyptian desert. Formation requires community. I have also been reflecting on my experiences at the Institute for Spiritual Formation, and some of the formational dynamics that have occured within that community, and I realized that there are sufficient resources for us to form this kind of community.
So like I said to bridge the character gap that exists between the requirements of godly leaders and our own banal selves we need a plan, resources, and action. This is my proposal then: I have a virtual cornucopia of resources that we could use (literary, electronic, personal), We could commit initially to meeting once a quarter for a day. In the meantime we could read certain books, listen to certain lectures, and develop prayer projects which we journal about. Then at the end of the quarter we could come together for prayer, fellowship, and food, in which we prayerfully share about our experiences over the past quarter (such as what we learned from our readings/sermons/lectures, what God was revealing to us in prayer, etc...) and reflect back to each other as the Spirit led. And perhaps in doing so "we will not 'seek health rather than sickness, wealth rather than poverty, honor rather than dishonor, a long life rather than a short one, and so on in all other matters.' Rather, we will 'desire and choose only that which is more conducive to the end for which we were created.'" ~ St. Ignatius of Loyola
There certainly could be a more "line-item" articulation of what this could be like, but as a rough sketch what do you guys think?
P.S. I would like to involve our wives in this, this would mean we would have to be aware of certain dynamics, and work so that transparency and "the real" are articulated, this may mean at quarterly meetings we could break off into guys and wives so that full transparency is possible.

A Million Miles Away

2007-05-18T00:01:00.000-07:00

I am stoked to see that the church plant concept is gaining some traction. In my heart I believe that we are making the first steps in what will become a movement. How long it takes to get to the point that we are truly ready to "do something" is another issue entirely. I want to point you guys to a couple of resources that I think are extraordinarily insightful. I have a few ideas that I will post in a little while but, for now I think it would be wise to listen to the words of a battle tested church planter. Mark Driscoll (Pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle and founder of the Acts 29 Network - a church planting organization) blew my doors off when I was listening to him. Check out his stuff:

Qualifications of a Lead Church Planter

Qualifications of an Acts 29 Church Planter

I know in my heart that I am on my way to qualification, however I am not there yet. I will go so far as to say that not many of you are qualified yet either, and I don't say that to be bagging on anyone. At this point my heart tells me that we need to confess our sins to each other, allow ourselves to be humbled, and seek repentance for the issues in our lives that we have not yielded to the Lord. If we think we can truly be used of God without that level of transparency, Satan will tear us to shreds (I have been there ). In this stage of the process I believe we are called to grow up and stand as men of God, I believe there is a call to maturity before there is a call to action.

Is The Jubilee Project a Church?

2007-05-12T11:23:00.000-07:00

Upon further discussion on Saturday Jed, in his ever so subtle way, said that he thought TJP was a church, or at least that's what he thought. During our discussions I was reflecting on what we were saying, and to me, it sounded an awful lot like we were talking about church without saying those words.

In my mind I have never concieved of TJP as this, nor has it ever been an ambition of mine. But when Jed articulated what seemed to be implicit in our discussion there was a kind of harmony I sensed internally.

What does this mean? I think it means we can open the discussion up to this, TJP need not go this way, but it could, and it is worthy of exploring. I also believe that as we come to a refined sense of Core Values, Purpose, and Vision, we may find what it is we are really wanting to do and which direction the Spirit is blowing. I am simply putting this out there as table talk... let's see where it goes.

An Old Write Up....Toward A Corporate Identity

2007-05-10T22:20:00.000-07:00

I wrote this up a couple of years ago while working for Dad, it's still helpful for me in how I approach business. Not everything here is transferable to a ministry setting, but hopefully it can help stimulate what we were talking about. D-Bro, will also have more to add on this I am sure. Beware, this is a bit long....

We are currently in the process of searching out and articulating who we are, which may well be the most important undertaking of our young company. The sages of ancient Greece placed this charge before all who would seek their wisdom – Know Thyself. In ancient times as well as today clarity of purpose and potency of mission flow from a healthy sense of self-awareness. In Built to Last, Collins and Porras poignantly state, “it is far more important to know who you are than where you are going, for where you are going will certainly change as the world about you changes.”[i] However, our identity is not merely a static understanding of the idea of “this is who we are”, but rather who we are is a dynamic reality, encompassing the notions of “this is what we value”, “this is why we exist”, “this is what we do”, and “this is where we are going.” These concepts can be broken down into three broad categories: Core Values, Purpose, and Vision, which together comprise our identity. It is important to wrestle through these concepts in order, because in answering one, the next can be approached competently and confidently.

Core Values:

Explanation:

Core values are the heartbeat of a company. These, if they are of any worth at all, are the fiercely held beliefs that pervade everything the business is and does. Collins and Porras define core values as “the organization’s essential and enduring tenets, not to be compromised for financial gain or short-term expediency.”[ii] These values are internal, to be held by the company itself, irrespective of external influence or demands. They are to be held by the company even if it were in a different industry, or even if the market were to penalize the company for holding these values. To fall short of this is to have weak, inoperative values that expose the company to all kinds of internal hypocrisy.

The values of a company are not conjured, or fabricated, they are discovered. Here are some questions that can be helpful in unearthing these values:[iii]

· What values do you bring to work that are so important to you that you would hold them even if you were not rewarded for holding them?

· What values do you bring to work that you would want to instill in your children as they move into their careers?

· Would you live your life and run your company by these values if money were not an issue?

· If circumstances penalized you for holding these values, would you hold them regardless?

· Will these values be as valid 100 years from now as they are today?

· Would you hold these values if you were in an entirely different line of business?

As these values are articulated you should notice that your beliefs that can be truly considered core occupy a short list. Somewhere between three to six core values is a good rule of thumb. To go beyond this is to include values, however good they may be, that cannot reasonably be considered “core.”

Examples:

DPR: [iv]

· Integrity – We conduct all business with the highest standards of honesty and fairness; we can be trusted.

· Enjoyment – We believe work should be fun and intrinsically satisfying; if we are not enjoying ourselves we are doing something wrong.

· Uniqueness – We must be different from and more progressive than all other construction companies; we stand for something.

· Ever Forward – We believe in continual self-initiated change, improvement, and the advancement of standards for their own sake.

EFCC: [v]

· Evangelizing the lost is God’s “heartbeat” – Therefore, we will aggressively proclaim the gospel locally and internationally.

· Spiritual maturity is God’s design for every believer – Therefore, we will strive to grow in Christlike love and care for each other, serving in our area of spiritual giftedness.

· Worship is God’s desire for His people – Therefore, we will respond to God’s presence with us in all life’s circumstances.

· The Bible is God’s Word, relevant and sufficient for every generation – Therefore, we will follow the Scriptures as our only rule of faith and practice.

· Prayer releases God’s power for ministry – Therefore, we will pray regularly for the ministry effectiveness of Emmanuel Faith Community Church.

Rationale:

Simply stated, companies, organizations, churches, and institutions will succeed or fail based on their fidelity or lack thereof to their core values. From operations to employees, vision to objectives, the core values should inform and be reflected in everything the company is and does. Conversely, anything that does not fit within the core values of the company should be expelled, no matter who or what that may be. However ironic it may seem given the most recent rash of corporate scandals, corporations that achieved and have sustained greatness rarely if ever compromised or changed their core values, rather they vigorously maintained their businesses within their tightly held beliefs and values.[vi] So the importance of values cannot be gainsaid. For the purpose of illustration Aubrey Malphurs lists nine helpful reasons as to why values are important: [vii]

· Determine [corporate] distinctives

· Dictate personal involvement

· Communicate what is important

· Embrace good change

· Influence overall behavior

· Inspire people to action

· Enhance credible leadership

· Contribute to [corporate] success

· Influence [corporate] purpose and vision

Purpose and vision cannot be properly addressed with a vague sense of values, because there is no constant anchor to steady them in a constantly changing world. It must also be emphasized that if the exercise of articulating values results in empty rhetoric, that exercise is more damaging than helpful. However, without trying to sound redundant, to discover and diligently instill our core values in the company, from top to bottom may well be one of the most important things we ever do.

Purpose:

Explanation:

Purpose answers the two soul-wrenching questions that humans have wrestled with from the individual to the corporate levels since the dawn of time: “why do we exist?” and “what do we exist to do?” Hence purpose is like a two-sided coin being both ideological and functional. What is also peculiar to purpose is that it is very concerned with direction but remarkably unconcerned with a particular destination; it is about the journey itself, not about arriving. This is not to say that the notions of destination and arrival are not crucial components to an overall corporate identity (which will be appropriately addressed in the discussion on Vision), but that they are not the emphasis of Purpose. With this in mind, a clear statement purpose is in the end the product of answering the functional (“what”) and the ideological (“why”) questions. Although these issues are inextricably related, in the process of discovering purpose it can be quite helpful to address and define the two components separately before drawing it together in the end.

Function and Purpose –

While function may seem dispassionate and somewhat mechanical, it is indispensable to purpose, and as this discussion unfolds hopefully the glorious nature that exists at the heart of function will become clear. Function is concerned with propriety, the fulfillment of (in this case) a corporation’s designated role. To hold a purpose that is incompatible with a company’s designated role leads to dysfunction and ultimately destruction. An apt, and admittedly absurd example is if a hospital adopted for itself the profoundly inspiring purpose statement held by the crew of the Starship Enterprise, “To explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.” However inspiring it’s purpose, the hospital in question would be doomed to fail both in space travel and as a hospital because it’s designated role was never that of a spaceship it was that of a health care facility. Function for a business is a multivalent proposition, encompassing many layers. Businesses function on a broad societal level, fulfilling a generalized role, as well as more specific market, industry and customer levels.

Peter Drucker was the first to assert that businesses are truly organs of society, and more specifically socio-economic organisms whose societal responsibility is the generation of wealth and economic performance.[viii] Ironically however, for Drucker the specific, functional purpose of a business is not profit maximization, he emphatically states that this “concept is worse than irrelevant: it does harm”[ix] In spite of the audacity of this iconoclastic commentary, it may very well be one of Drucker’s most insightful and ultimately useful contributions to the philosophy of business. As he notes, the profit motive informs us of nothing when it pertains to what a specific business does or what its intended function is. For example a swashbuckling CEO of a coal mining company who asserts “we’re in business to make money” propounds an empty purpose that fails to clarify whether he runs a software company or a coalmine nor does it clarify what function his business fulfills (e.g. a coalmine functions to provide combustible energy in a variety of applications). Instead Drucker insists, “There is only one valid definition of [functional] business purpose: to create a customer.”[x] Without a customer a company ceases to be a business, because it is the customer who pays for a company’s goods and services. Profits from a functional standpoint serve more as a report card than a purpose, measuring how well a business creates and maintains a customer by satisfying the customer’s demands, just as a student is in school to learn, not to obtain a report card. The report card (at least in theory) serves to measure how well that student has performed in respect to his purpose – that is, how well he has learned. Purpose for a business draws the business outside of itself to fulfill its role in society and to its customers in the same fashion that learning draws the student from his limited knowledge base to a wealth of knowledge that exists outside of himself.

As a result, to uncover its own specific function a business must determine who its customers are and what goods and services it provides to its customers and the interrelationship between the two. Most businesses goods and services are supplied to more than one customer. For example a residential roofing subcontractor has to consider the general contractor, the developer, and ultimately the homeowner (end users) of his product all to be his customer. Therefore he must consider what each of these parties as customers need and want, and how his goods and services will satisfy those needs and wants. The general contractor wants the roofer’s services to be rendered in a timely fashion. The developer/owner may want the roof to fit within his price range among other wants. The homeowner may want the roof at a certain price or to possess a certain aesthetic. Additionally the homeowner needs the roof to be of sound structural integrity, and at the most primal level the end user needs the roof to fulfill its primary function of providing safe shelter from the elements. With this in mind it would be crudely prosaic and banefully shortsighted for the roofing contractor to say his business exists to build roofs. If this is his purpose he has ignored the crucial interrelationship between the customer and his goods and services. It is this interrelationship that strikes at the heart of function. The customer does not want a roof in and of itself he wants what the roof provides, what effect that roof has on him, and how the roof benefits him – he wants to be safe and secure under that roof primarily, and secondarily he wants comfort of knowing his roof compliments his house. If after carefully considering this intricate relationship the roofer states that his business exists to “efficiently and affordably provide families safe and comfortable shelters” he will demonstrate that he understands his customers (general contractor, developer, and homeowner) and their relationship to the goods and services that his company provides. While the process of uncovering a corporation’s true functional purpose may be somewhat mechanical, the heart of function should be inspiring and even glorious. The roofer could ask himself, what would the world be like if my business didn’t exist? At the very least it would obtain its shelter way behind schedule and way overpriced, at the very worst those of us who couldn’t find caves might well die of exposure. He ought to be inspired to make sure his company runs consistent with its true purpose because its true purpose is of inherent value, benefit, and worth.

Ideology and Purpose:

The inseparability of function and ideology ought to be becoming clearer. Function’s mechanical concerns for the propriety and benefit of the effect of a business are balanced out by the ideological concerns housed in the soul of a business. From an ideological perspective a businesses purpose is in perfect harmony of the beliefs and values it holds to be sacred. The beauty of the roofer’s well examined, functional purpose statement “to efficiently and affordably provide families safe and comfortable shelters” is that it simultaneously answers both what his business does and why his business exists. Most decent roofers would feel cheapened in their soul if the reason why they existed were merely to build roofs, even though at some surface level that describes what they do. But the purpose that is provided by their thoughtful owner ought to be deeply meaningful, highly functional, and extraordinarily inspiring. If not, they are either not cut out for roofing or they are working for the wrong roofer. The reason why businesses need purpose is because they are full of humans who by nature are creatures whose souls are ever in need of purpose.

Examples:

Here are some examples of purpose (or mission statements – the terms seem interchangeable):

· DPR – DPR exists to build great things.

· Westminster Catechism (pertaining to man’s purpose) – It is the chief end of man to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

· Israel (Modern State) – Israel exists to secure a place on Earth for the Jewish people.

· Hewlett Packard – HP exists to make technical contributions for the advancement and welfare of humanity

· Merck (Pharmaceutical) – Merck exists to preserve and improve human life.

Rationale:

“Purpose…is the organization’s fundamental reason for being”[xi] A purposeless business is not akin to a ship without sails, its akin to a ship with no bow, no stern, no hull…in other words, hardly a ship. It ought to be sufficient to say that the need for an appropriate, clear and compelling core purpose is self-evident; sadly in this world there are many businesses with either no purpose or the wrong purpose. However, for those businesses that operate from a true sense of purpose, as there is much compelling evidence to indicate so, true and lasting success is far more likely than for those without purpose.

Vision:

Explanation:

Vision, the very term evokes images of gray-haired, weathered men who carried upon their shoulders the weight of their times. Their visions were of terror and grandeur, so great in fact that those who saw these visions were undone even as they saw them.[xii]These images can make the idea of vision for a company both daunting and trivial. Does a CEO receive a vision from the Heavens regarding where his business is headed? Is vision in the business world today the product of unchecked ego and an over-inflated sense of what a business really is? After all some businesses really believe that they are on an endeavor of cosmic importance…isn’t business just business? Hopefully the explanation that follows will help to clarify what vision is and how it is attained.

What is vision? The answer should seem self-evident, but more often than not it is confused. Is vision a dream? A vague, undefined hope? The answer can be comforting; visions do incorporate hopes and dreams, and the human spirit’s inherent need to aspire. Vision is “a clear and compelling goal” or as Collins and Porras have popularized, a BHAG – Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal.[xiii] In describing the BHAG they say, “Like the moon mission, a true BHAG is clear and compelling and serves as a unifying focal point of effort – often creating immense team spirit. It has a clear finish line, so an organization can know when it has achieved the goal; people like to shoot for finish lines.”[xiv] A vision can start as a dream, or an unspoken but deep-seated hope, but these things often lack definition and clarity. Vision gives these shape, they point the imagination to something tangible. An athlete envisions the finish line, he knows what it looks like, he knows how he is going to feel when it has been crossed, he knows how he is going to direct his efforts in order to ensure that he will cross it victoriously. Jack Welch, CEO of General Electric, speaks of vision as a way for a company to “define its (envisioned future) in broad but clear terms. You need an overarching message, something big, but simple and understandable.”[xv]Therefore vision doesn’t need to take an hour to articulate, it should take no more than fifteen seconds, GE’s vision which they constantly aim for is to “Become #1 or #2 in every market we serve and revolutionize this company to have the speed and agility of a small enterprise.” This is GE’s BHAG, it is simple, but it requires all of GE’s energies to see it accomplished.

Vision is attained, then through a process of directed envisioning. It may start with hopes and dreams, but it is through the process of envisioning that the vision will become the unifying focal point of effort in an organization. Here is where the legacies of Built to Last and Good to Great have been left on the business world today. Collins and Porras have, through intense research drawn conclusions on corporate ideology and vision that are difficult to refute. Companies like DPR have modeled themselves after the ideas proposed in these books, and as a result have yielded great results while attaining a reputation of being revolutionary. Vision level BHAG’s as Collins describes should be set somewhere between ten to thirty years into the corporation’s future. He says this because it forces the company to think beyond their current capacities, environmental trends, and conditions. In short it forces the company to become visionary. From the outside vision may seem to be a product of foolish machismo, but internally, within the visionary company it flows from true understanding.[xvi] Envisioning is a two-fold process of soul-searching and forward thinking; it is internal and external. A company cannot have a vision that is incompatible with its purpose or values, nor can it have a vision that does not properly account for its current state. The vision comprises a well thought out statement that captures the envisioned future. For example, our imaginary roofer, as he goes through the envisioning process, may decide that he cannot be the best commercial roofer in the world, but he can be the best at residential track-home roofing. He realizes that he is passionate about building lasting relationships with his customers and employees and those in his community, and that through measuring his profits per house roofed gives him the best economic measure of his business (each of these three items comprise the Hedgehog Concept). Then from this envisioning process he states his vision: “in thirty years Ace Residential Roofers will the largest, most respected residential roofing contractor in the south-eastern US.” This vision statement gives a tangible idea of where the company is headed. The CEO of ARR then goes on to give Vivid Descriptions[xviii] of what this vision will look like when it has been accomplished. They might read as follows:

· ARR will seek out and cultivate customers who will be fiercely loyal to our services. Our General Contractors will be more than a contracting party, they will be our friends. Those who live under our roofs will be proud to know that it was built by ARR

· Our employees will be proud to know that they belong to the ARR family. They will be the best treated, best compensated, most competent, well-trained and productive employees in the industry.

· ARR will be an active participant in each community it works in through charitable donations, and volunteer service contributed by our employees.

· ARR’s methods of attaining profits will revolutionize the industry in terms of ethics and economic ingenuity.

Examples:

The following are examples of vision statements, some include vivid descriptions:

· DPR[xix]

Vision

To be one of the most admired companies by the year 2030.

Vivid Descriptions

· Over the next 30 years our people practices will be recognized as being as progressive and influential as Hewlett Packard's were over the last 50 years.

· When it comes to quality and innovation, we will do for the Construction Industry what Toyota did for the Auto Industry.

· We will have created a brand image that is as positive and consistent as Disney's.

· Like Microsoft and Sun Microsystems, our people and company will be known for being aggressive and "Bullet Smart".

· We will be as integral and indispensable to the communities we operate in as are The Boys and Girls Clubs and The Red Cross.

· We will consistently produce truly great results and financial returns comparable to the Most Admired Companies.

· Sony [xx]

· Vision: Become the company most known for changing the worldwide image of Japanese products as being poor quality.

· Vivid Descriptions: We will create products that will become pervasive around the world…We will be the first Japanese company to go into the American market and distribute directly… We will succeed at innovations like the transistor radio that American companies have failed at… Fifty years from now our brand name will be as well know as any on Earth…and will signify innovation and quality that rivals the most innovative companies anywhere…”made in Japan” will mean something fine not shoddy.

Rationale:

Why vision? A company can survive without one that is proven by the vast numbers of companies that do in fact make from year to year without vision. However, without some sort of vision that transcends the here and now a business will struggle to do anything but maintain. Vision functions to stimulate long term forward progress. A good vision can serve to inspire and guide a corporation toward future success. Vision ought to stretch, but it also ought to be accomplished. Once it is accomplished, a new vision should arise to avoid what can be the most lethal virus in a business: complacency. The most successful companies have found ways to perpetually stimulate forward thinking and forward progress, and have found that through this stimulation they have indeed become great businesses.

[i] Jim C. Collins, Jerry I. Porras; Built to Last; p. 221 (2002; Harper Collins; New York, NY)

[ii] Built to Last; p. 73

[iii] These concepts can be found in Built to Last; pp.223-224

[iv] These stated values can be found at http://www.dprinc.com on the page titled “Our Philosophy”

[v] See Emmanuel Faith Community Church Constitution and Bylaws

[vi] Built to Last, and Good to Great present vast and compelling evidence that demonstrates this very point.

[vii] Aubrey Malphurs; Advanced Strategic Planning; p.84 (1999; Baker; Grand Rapids, MI)

[viii] Peter F. Drucker; The Essential Drucker; pp. 14-17 (2001; Harper Collins; New York, NY)

[ix] The Essential Drucker; pp. 18-20

[x] The Essential Drucker; p. 20

[xi] Built to Last; p.224

[xii] See Isaiah 6:1-6

[xiii] Built to Last; pp. 93-4

[xiv] Built to Last; p. 94

[xv] Built to Last; p. 95 – parenthesis mine

[xvi] Jim Collins; Good to Great; p. 202; (2001; Harper Collins; New York, NY)

[xviii] Built to Last; pp.232-239

[xix] These stated values can be found at http://www.dprinc.com on the page titled “Our Philosophy”

[xx] Built to Last; p. 237

On Community

2007-05-08T14:38:00.000-07:00

I walked away from Saturday's meeting and the truth stung my heart; I remembered what the original impetus for TJP was, remembered my 22 year old heart, and I was reminded what this, in the end is really all about. This is about community, a community mutually committed to action, reality, grace, and formation in Christ. That was what I had experienced in the years leading up to my 22nd year, and TJP emerged as an answer to what, in my purview had been lost. I was alone, trying to do ministry and I was bordering on a nervous breakdown, I mean what the hell did a 22 year old know about ministry other that arrogant gradiosity, myopia, and naivete regarding ideals? Life was spinning out of control and there wasn't anyone to sit down by a fire, crack open a Sam Adams, light up a smoke and get down to personal brass tacks. I longed to be together, not just to lick each others wounds, though there was that too, but also to remember that our naivete could at time be brilliant, and to be reminded by the constant jabs that I wasn't really a genius but really just an a-hole like everyone else and needed to have my eyes opened by a friend to look upon the beauty of Christ.
I remembered that TJP emerged because I was broken and needed someone to go on a pilgrimmage with me. I wanted an idea so grand, so pervasive that it could encorporate everyone I loved into one common cause. I remember early transcripts that I had written with names besides each position, all friends, all committed to action, reality, grace, and formation. There was something magical about the days at the Casa house, there emerged something magical about the days at mom and dad's, and I wanted to cement this, to channel this into something sub-creative and eternal.
What was most true, was that I was having a hard time with the loss of community, and so projected all my hopes, dreams, aspirations into one all-encompassing idea - The Jubilee Project. Maybe TJP would make me feel situated again, purposed again... I am not sure. Time has passed since then, and some things have changed. I got married, I found a faithful pilgrim to journey to the Promised Land with me. Friends whom I naively supposed would never fall out of contact have virtually disappeared. Yet there is this persistent and nagging hope that God would bring together those whom I have loved in a project committed to the values already discussed. I suppose this explains TJP's many changes over the years, it has changed with me, with others. These many forms have always aimed at fulfilling the same function. I realize there is a lot of nostalgia in me, a lot of that same kind of thing where you always look back on life to the "good ol' days." But there was something about then that is not true about now, and something about then that my heart still longs for, and something in my heart that continues to project its desires into The Jubilee Project.
This isn't meant to shape TJP but maybe it will help each of you understand where all this has come from, why there is seems to be a sort of vagueness about TJP, and why Saturday was immensely satisfying, and why regardless of child-like naivete, I still persist in hoping that something like TJP comes about.

Notes From Saturday's Meeting

2007-05-08T10:24:00.000-07:00

Aaron posted this as a comment, I've transfered it to a post, thanks for the notes Aaron!

Here are some of the thoughts and discussions from Saturday for those who were there as well as those who couldn't make it:
-Sam opened up with a word on how God has worked throughout church history and reflected on the big picture of what we are participating in.
-We briefly discussed what the project may look like in the present form, whether a thinktank, web zine, etc.
-Integrity of leaders is key to preparedness
-Identify the need for us to do something: There is a vacancy that is filled by identities, we must fill this with the hope of Christ.
-We discussed the need for underlying values that would underly all that TJP does. Discussed what we value as individuals in hopes of finding key values for TJP.
Here is a list:
proclaiming truth of Christ to people
valuing the worth of individuals
seeing the gospel fill voids,
impact people
articulate expression of the faith/accessibility
community
honesty
relationships
grace, because the constant need for it
weakness
sincerity
vulnerability
breed the infusion of grace
passion
willingness to suffer
growth
enterprise
opportunity
diligence
action to do something
courage, fortitude
love
failure leading to growth
We discussed in greater detail the value of the following, thinking they were worth further conversation and thought, but by no means the only worth more contemplation or discussion:-community is a common string-value what is real, truth, honesty, virtue-action-grace. We discussed that we are in no rush, but we need to meditate on these things and pursue one another. The hope was that the first meeting would be a catalyst to conversation through emails and on this site.

Calling All Cars, Calling All Cars!!!!

2007-05-02T16:58:00.000-07:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have officially scheduled our first meeting for this Saturday, May 5th from 1pm until whenever you have to leave. It is going to be a barbecue so BYOM, and it is going to be at my (sam) parents house, if you don't know where that is then too bad. I have sent out an evite with all other pertinent info. Pray that God would bless this time and lead us wherever His Spirit blows. I am ecstatic about the opportunity to have all our heads together to talk about what we can do to participate in the growth of the kingdom of God!

Reveling in vagueness

2007-05-01T14:51:00.000-07:00

So I've read the gist and I think I understand what were all saying,maybe. If an outsider read these posts they would be thinking, "Cool, but what the hell are they talking about?"

Personally, I don't think setting up consumer industry based companies is the best way to accomplish "Liberty, Justice and Reconciliation"- (insert Nate's old-fashioned manner of thinking). I think a ZINE is a good idea because it allows for freedom of thought, expression, and sharing without all the scrutiny that being a church ministry calls for - basically, Jed, based on our conversations recently, a ZINE will allow for us to say what we feel isn't being said or say what needs to be said while allowing ourselves to mature into godly men. With a ZINE, people are examining ideas and thoughts, not lifestyles and behaviors. Who knows, i just like writing and I think a ZINE would be fun and a good way to get our thoughts on Life out there.

I guess my main question that I want to ask is:

What in the world do we mean by "Liberty, Justice and Reconciliation" - It's vague

Assemble Your Crew

2007-03-28T09:49:00.000-07:00

I know TJP has been on a brief hiatus as we celebrate the birth of Manoah... who is the most amazing little creature. But I think it is time to start contemplating a time for all of us to get together and have a face to face dialogue of what TJP will look like and what some next steps are going to be. Let's start throwing some times out to meet within the next month or so. We can meet over at the Paschall Mechanical office in the conference room as a possible site. I know that Saturday's and Sunday afternoons work well for me, but I am flexible let me know what your schedules look like.

Some Kindred Spirits

2007-03-08T21:37:00.000-08:00

I was doing what I love to do this evening and I found a few groups that are doing some of the stuff we are contemplating. I definitely think we have a lot to learn from these groups and it would be awesome to establish some sort of dialogue with them. Check them out:

Brewing Culture

Gideon Strauss

There's another one I want to run down but it's on my work computer, I'll add it later...

Edit: Here's that other Site:

Culture.ish

Liberty, Justice, and Reconciliation

2007-03-08T09:56:00.000-08:00

"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." If the proclamation of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and its effects is the sun of the gospel of the kingdom, then the radiance of the glory of the gospel is good works. Enter our key words of liberty, justice, and reconciliation. If this is the center of our function we must seek to do works that promote liberty, justice, and reconciliation. The issue... "is this the best way to accomplish our function?" This is what I will say on this matter... I am not sure. I am not convinced that whatever we do will be the most effecient means to divert funds to works of liberty, justice, and reconciliation. Here is what I am convinced of, that we are doing something. Instead of wasting our lives, we are talking about, thinking deeply about "what can we do to fulfill our calling as believers?" I am convinced that we are a fellowship of burning hearts who care deeply about the message that has saved us and given us life. I am convinced that, despite our unbelievable capacity to be complete and total fools, God desires His Spirit to energize our bodies to accomplish His will here "on earth as it is in heaven." And with that in mind I am less concerned about what is "best" or "most effecient," because I am nearly convinced that it is not. I do not at all want to demean thinking about efficiency, because efficiency is a very important issue. But here is what I am excited about and what I believe excites all of us... That we are doing something. Doing something in faith is far better than doing nothing. With this being said I wonder what everyone's thoughts are, considering who we are (our gifts, talents, and passions), what then can we do that is consistent with who we are as a "fellowship of burning hearts." What kinds of works can we do that are consistent with our hearts and that can be "exercised in proportion to our faith (Romans 12:3)." I think here is where we might discover what is "best" or "most effecient" because we can do it with passion and joy, believing in what we are doing. And we all know we do things best and most efficiently when we believe in them, are convinced of their intrinsic goodness, and are passionate about how it is accomplished. These are my thoughts, what about you....

Form Follows Function

2007-03-05T10:59:00.000-08:00

I definitely can't take credit for the axiom of "form follows function". In fact, the concept was reiterated when my wife and I were attending the pastor's class at North Coast Church. Larry Osbourne (head pastor at NCC) explained to those of us who wanted to find out more about North Coast why North Coast looks the way it does. He broke it down simply, explaining that the reason why North Coast places such and emphasis on multiple worship venues and small groups (forms) is to create disciples in a healthy church environment (function). All of the forms that NCC has taken on follows that simple function.

How TJP looks should simply follow its function or its purpose. For example the purpose of the Starship Enterprise is "to boldly go where no man has gone before." It can accomplish this purpose beautifully with a spaceship (form) and disastrously with a race car (form). I like the idea of a Zine and I think it is valid. But I need to see what function it's going to serve. We haven't quite come to a defined purpose which is fine, but it think it is important before we go off and say we're starting a Zine or anything of the sort. When we ask "what is the Jubilee project?" We should be able to say, "TJP is ____________." We need to get to that point, and then decide if a Zine is an efficient means to accomplish our purpose.

Here's a quick example:

Shaun has a website - Ruler of Nations.
Q: What is the Ruler of Nations function?
A: The Ruler of Nations function is to afflicts the comfortable.
Q: What is the Ruler of Nations form?
A: The Ruler of Nations form is a website of collected writings that challenge prevailing thought, expose stupidity, and scrutinize reality in ways that can make the reader uncomfortable with their current way of thinking.
For example: I could think that I am really grown-up and mature now and that my single buddies are a bunch of lawless wild bandits, but Shaun has pointed out in his "drunken memoirs" that I was a wild, lawless bandit not very long ago. This might be uncomfortable for me to admit, but it serves a good purpose of remembering that even though some circumstances in my life have forced me to grow-up, I have a sordid past that requires me to remember how merciful God is and that I have no place for arrogance. Shaun's form - a website accomplished his function - afflicting the comfortable (in this case me) very efficiently. The outcome of afflicting the comfortable had a marvelous effect in helping to reinforce my need for humility (check out the relation between afflict and humble in Hebrew, they're the same word), so kudos to Shaun for doing what he does well.

Sam had alluded to the TJP in an earlier post as "an idea centered around liberty, justice, and reconciliation as functions of the Kingdom." Let's play with this idea as it pertains to form and function for a little while:

Q: What is The Jubilee Project's function?
A: The Jubilee Project promotes liberty, justice, and reconciliation as integral components of the Kingdom of God.
Q: What is The Jubilee Project's form? (Lets throw out a few examples here valid & absurd)
A1: TJP makes Christian T-Shirts
A2: TJP is a board that diverts funds to ministries that exemplify the promotion of liberty, justice, and reconciliation in the Kingdom
A3: TJP is an e-Zine that publishes content (aesthetic and written) that addresses issues of justice, liberty, and reconciliation within the Kingdom.
A4: TJP is a group of friends who are committed to carrying out the purpose of TJP through the normal course of their lives.
A5: TJP is a church
A6: TJP produces & promotes music that embodies our purpose
A7: TJP sits around drinking beer and criticizing the Church and Christians for all their downfalls and resolves to do nothing meaningful about it
A8: TJP is a winery
A9: TJP designs really cool stickers to meet the high demand of the SoCal driver that promotes our purposes
A10: TJP is surfboard manufacturer

There are certainly lots of good and bad forms to carry out TJP's function. In the function I stated above I don't intend to communicate that it should definitely be our function, it was stated for the sake of the illustration. With that said, does a Zine fit within the gist of what TJP is? I think so, but let's be sure before we dive headlong into this without contemplating the purpose and being able to articulate it clearly. So I propose a two step inquiry -

1) What is the purpose/function of The Jubilee Project?

2) What form should the Jubilee Project take?

Lets nail down 1 and then we can sufficiently answer 2.

By all means feel free to disagree with anything I have posted, I think it is important that we don't all just nod our heads in approval if there are any reservations or issues that surface during this initial dialogue.

2007-03-03T10:11:00.000-08:00

The Zine?

2007-03-02T15:47:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I really like the idea of a Zine. Its relatively easy to market, and could possibly be a simple way of generating momentum and revenue. But in our internet world having it be something that people actually would visit and care to read anything on it must have some 'hook.' You can have great content but who cares? There must be something about it that gets into peoples heads, causes them to come back. Or else we'll have a really cool, incredibly intelligent, and articulate website that nobody freaking cares about. But having it be something people care about and not comprimise our principles is also another thing to ponder. But here's some ideas about what it could be like, and what I would hate for it to become. It could be something that is a place for people to get info about what's going on in the kingdom here in our area and what also is going on around the globe. It could be somewhere where (a la Justin) reviews, commentaries, thoughts, miscellanies, editorials are published. But it could also be a place where people check out the culture scene (music, art, philosophy, nature, etc...) It could be a place where bands could get their names out, dates when they play, etc... I don't know these are just some ideas. I don't want it to turn into some myspace thing, I don't want it to feel like c28, (Shaun here's where you'd come in because you have a great crap detector). It literally could be something like The Reader or something but our own online version. Also check out Books and Culture the Christianity Today publication, it has some good stuff. Mostly I guess I just don't want it to be lame. But I don't know what the hook would be. All these might work but why would people want to come? Here's some stuff to ponder, and maybe we can start making some steps toward Jed's proposition of converting knowledge into output.

Converting Knowledge Into Output

2007-03-02T09:18:00.000-08:00

This is the body of a letter I wrote to Dad a few years back (2003 I think) that had to do with some fundamental issues for our family business to contemplate as we were in a period of trying to figure out what we should be. Unfortunately things didn't quite happen the way Dad or I had envisioned for a variety of different reasons, as is prone to happen in this world, but I think there was definitely some value in this communication as we begin to contemplate what the Jubilee Project might be:

Creation Theology, Wisdom, Redemption and the Formation of a Corporation

From the very beginning man’s high purpose and dignity is made clear – he is made in the very image of God, and endowed with a God-like role in the created realm. Man was to be a highly functional being, entrusted with a God-ordained representative kingship over the earth and its wealth (Gen. 1:28). God’s own rule was extended and carried out on earth through the rule he had given to man. The creative nature of God was then placed in man, a God-given creative impetus to make, build, and harness the resources of this world to bring it under man’s careful dominion, and ultimately to hand that dominion over to his Maker. The glory of man’s role was carried out through a harmonious relationship to the Creator.

Man’s ability to carry out his role was dependent on an abundant and crucial resource: knowledge. Knowledge was the fuel that enabled him to carry out his office with competence. The watershed issue in the creation drama was not if man would acquire knowledge, but how he would acquire it. He was not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil…God forbade it upon penalty of death. What must be noted is that there is significant textual evidence in Genesis 1-4 to indicate that this knowledge of good and evil is not to be taken in moral categories (although it’s consumption had moral implications on an eternal scale), rather on functional and cosmological scales. God harnessed His knowledge of good (function) and evil (chaos) to create and order the world from a chaotic state to a functional and harmonious state. So, essentially the created order was a manifestation of His divine wisdom (Prov. 8:22-31). This knowledge is what man needed to carry out his role as steward, he had to acquire it. He could acquire it in one of two ways, in harmonious proximity to his Lord, or through rebellious consumption of the fruit. Man could gain knowledge through revering the Lord and honoring his ultimate Kingship (Prov. 1:7), or he could steal this knowledge and become a king unto himself without acknowledging God’s supreme Lordship (Gen. 2:17).

The fall centered on how man would know, and then extend his rule. He acquired the cosmological wisdom he needed through rebellion and at great cost. In his knowledge there would be progress…great progress, but also futility and ultimately death. The kingdom of man and the Kingdom of God were thereafter sundered and at odds. Man was both wise and cursed; all his creative efforts would succeed only through great strife. This was not as it should be, man was to create in a fashion that God did in Genesis 1, competently, beautifully, and without struggle. However, in addition to condemning man to death for his sin, God in his mercy cursed the earth and its resources rather than let man exist upon it comfortably as a usurper and a rebel. Man from his knowledge made the implements of civilization as early as Genesis 4 when Cain’s sons became the fathers of human shelter, animal husbandry, music, and tools. However, even as civilization developed it did so with violence and discontent. The creative impetus in man became a liability that drove him from God into vanity, ambition and uninhibited pride (Gen 6:5-6). Man indeed could do anything he purposed to do (Gen. 11:6); he built a Tower to the Stars as a way to establish his dominion (or name in the Babel Narrative). But again God, who would not have a rival to His Kingdom or His Name, thwarted men upon the plains of Shinar by confusing and scattering them. These issues are fundamental concerns at the heart of what scholars would classify as Creation and Wisdom Theology in the discipline of biblical theology. I am inclined to take this a step further and assert that these issues are a powerful current in the flow of Redemptive History and are fundamental concerns of the Biblical metanarrative (the underlying story of the Bible).

From the fall God has been on a redemptive mission to recover His wayward stewards, to bring them back into a harmonious relationship with Him, and to restore them to His everlasting Kingdom. He has withheld nothing in this pursuit, even His own life He has surrendered to recover His beloved rebels. However, He will not surrender His glory, and He will not surrender His rule. There is but one everlasting Kingdom in His Cosmos, which is most certainly not the kingdom of men. He exerts His kingship through His Anointed King, and will utterly destroy the kings of the earth with a rod of iron and the word of His mouth (Ps. 2:8-9, Rev. 19:15). Their dominions, and their knowledge, their work will perish as His Kingdom endures in this age and all the ages to come.

What strikes me is that in my studies, the principles of business are simple, and stem from one fundamental issue: Who is in charge? The answer determines which kingdom we labor in, how we acquire knowledge and then execute it. Many of the books I have read wrestle with the question of endurance and greatness. It is bound in the heart of man to build lasting institutions, great institutions; we obsess and labor to that end so that in the end our knowledge and our efforts were not squandered. However, through the fall our aspirations were distorted, turned away from God and toward ourselves, so that all our labor in the end furthers our own interests and not His. Thus, the kingdom of man still wars against God, seeking its own greatness, longing to endure without Him.

Jim Collins and Jerry Porras state in their seminal work, Built to Last, that their book is fundamentally “about building something that is worthy of lasting – about building a company of such intrinsic excellence that the world would loose something important if that organization ceased to exist.” They speak accurately of values, vision, adaptability, and dedication as the keys to endurance and back their findings with hard data. It is probably in their concept of vision that the cosmological knowledge of Genesis is most organically related in our contemporary setting. From vision, or perception will flow the critical organization and harnessing of human, material, and capital resources toward the end of enduring greatness. It is with the modern sense of corporate vision that these companies can navigate through and utilize the cosmic principles of good (function) and evil (chaos) to create the companies that they envision – ones of lasting greatness. Sadly, even with the most accurate, compelling, and inspiring visions of these companies they cannot escape their blindness. Even if these companies were to endure to the end of the age, they wouldn’t even be an afterthought in eternity, precisely because they start with a finite and corruptible vision, and then harness finite and corrupt resources that can by their very nature never escape their finitude. The knowledge and vision of men will pass, their capital, material, and human resources will pass…none of it will last. No man will endure meaningfully in eternity unless he has been made anew in Christ. As the grass of the field we will fade and our world will fade with us.

So maybe the main issue is not only building something worthy of lasting, but also building something that is sure to last. It is so easy to become intoxicated with vision, to seek an understanding of what our business is and where it is going and then furiously go on pursuing what we are convinced our destiny is. Vision without a wholesale acknowledgment of God is one of Hell’s most potent lies and the harbinger of doom for the kingdom of men. We are simply to acknowledge and submit to God (Prov. 3: 5-6), to be wise with the resources he has given us, and allow his vision to guide us…he will make our paths straight. There is but one thing in this world that will last – the Kingdom of God, and His resources will not fade or be forgotten, and it is above all things worthy of lasting.

It seems clear to me that the opportunity in front of us is immense and compelling. We have the opportunity, in part at least to operate in a redeemed fashion as stewards of God’s resources, investing what he has given us to further and advance His Kingdom. This can be done through example by business practices that honor Him, all the way to investing our capital returns into the work of the saints around the world, and I am sure much more. What we seem most reliant on is a vision from God of where he wants this business to go, and what sort of business we are supposed to be. I don’t think that a vision, if it is God-honoring is a concoction of ambition, delusion, and pride, but rather a divinely motivated direction, in which we would be compelled to walk. As he grants you that vision, clarifies and refines that vision, I believe our efforts will be to the end of His glory, and will have a lasting impact on His Kingdom.

Edit: I guess I forgot to get to the point and ask the question... I believe that our efforts will be sourced in some sort of knowledge - we've got to know something of what the Jubilee Project is and how we are going to go about carrying out its purpose before we can actually do something with it. Knowledge has to be effective and functional for it to be of any value, hypothetical knowledge and and endless preoccupation with theories and possibilities gets nothing done, no matter how much fun it can be to talk about over a couple of beers. So the bottom line is how are we going to convert what we know into results?

Too Heavenly Minded and No Earthly Good?

2007-02-21T22:39:00.000-08:00

Where do we begin? For an idea so absurdly ambitious as The Jubilee Project this question makes me feel like I have writers block for visionaries. It is dangerously easy to write thoughts and ideas, and an altogether monumental leap to take abstractions and make them concrete. I guess that's why I am writing this, because I need your collective genius to get this idea off the ground. There are so many aspects to consider, for example because this idea is, in part, a business, we need a business plan. A strategic and concrete way of conducting ourselves in the market. We also need to know which expirement we will do first (clothing, publishing, music...?). We also need to establish a some sense of how this will progress, i.e. first x then y then z or first a then b then c... or whatever. That is why I have talked to each one of you and asked you to contribute, because each of you in your own unique way can contribute to each of these; be it the strategizing, the planning, the expirementing, or the growing parts of this Project.
It seems to me that we do need to clarify the abstract so that the abstract can be a light along our concrete sidewalk, if you pick up the metaphor. How do we do this? These are important questions because if these don't happen, this Project will belong to the colossally huge information wastebasket that is the world wide web. So my dear companions, how now shall we proceed?

A Robin Hood Complex and Band-aids Over Cancer

2007-02-20T16:29:00.000-08:00

It is not love to give someone clean water yet and fail to proclaim the gospel, "for what does a man profit if he gains the whole world yet forfeits his own soul?" We could do many good things for people, but without telling them they are dead in their transgressions, are perilously close to damnation, and that there is been provided a way out from under the wrath of God by Jesus Christ, we actually would do them a severe disservice. Who cares if their lives are better but their souls shall perish apart from the knowledge of God? To do this would be to place a band-aid over cancer. But clean water is a sign of love that points to the perfect love of God in Christ. Perhaps those who recieve the water (or whatever good work) would look along the sign to what it points to, perhaps they would cling to God and not to their water. We must consider, if ever we give what we have recieved, that all the good we could do is but a sign; for us to cling to the good we do as if it made us something is likened unto the foolish hiker who holds fast to the sign pointing to the summit of Half Dome thinking that the signpost is "really great!" and misses out on the staggering splendor of the Yosemite Valley. What is worse is if we were to gather others to "come see our sign!" How silly! All we do is but a sign pointing to the Majestic God to whom we are but the metaphor. So we must seriously ponder any good we do, and if God grants, any momentum given to this Project.

In addtion to this I feel deep in my heart an affinity for Robin Hood. The Christian story is a story that has as part of its narrative a preferential treatment for the poor. Throughout both the Old and New Covenants God admonishes His people to be mindful of those who are in need. America is an empire of emperors, and kingdom of kings, who to our great shame have hoarded our wealth in vast gilded storehouses and we have not heeded the commission given to the kings of Israel not to multiply gold and horses (see Deuteronomy 17:14-17). Here also we must heed the admonition of Wendell Berry who articulates the nature of a global economy and its damage to the earth, "The name of our present society's connection to the earth is "bad work"... All of us are responsible for bad work, not so much because we do it ourselves (though we all do it) as because we have it done for us by other people... Living as we now do in almost complete dependence on a global economy, we are put inevitably into a position of ignorance and irresponsibility. No one can know the whole globe. We can connect ourselves to the globe as a whole only by means of a global economy that, without knowing the earth, plunders it for us (Sex, Economy, Freedom & Community, pg. 36-37). Is this any way for kings to conduct themselves? Do we as Solomon expand our wealth to our shame? Or can we, in responsible, generous ways reverse the damage our society does to its world? Can we steal from their wealth and contribute to the needs of others, especially our brothers and sisters scattered among the nations? Let us remember Paul's admonition to "let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith." In so doing, it is clear, that this will bring great glory to Christ and to His gospel.

Turning Stones into Bread?

2007-02-16T09:57:00.000-08:00

So for those of you who have asked me, I will unveil to the degree that it is possible the plans for the Jubilee Project. I begin this with a relatively high degree of ambivalence, because I, in my own heart of hearts am so tempted to turn stone into bread. I am tempted to use my powers/gifts to make life happen for me, to provide for myself. I am also tempted to do this thing "for God" and so step off the pinnacle of the temple and presume there will be God's holy angels waiting to swoop me up and make this "thing for God" to work. And I am also tempted to go on a search for glory, and have power by means of this Project, and yet in attaining this power I would bow and worship the tempter and not the Beloved Son of God. Maybe some of you feel the same ambivalence, maybe some of you feel with fiery conviction that this is the thing for us to do.

The Jubilee Project began as an idea spawned from Jesus' words in Luke 4 wherein He proclaims that the Kingdom which He is ushering in is the substance which cast its shadow as the Jubilee Year (found in Leviticus 25). It is a time of reconcilliation, liberty, justice, and reparation. It is the re-ordering of the now decayed worldly order. Thus the Jubilee Project was an idea centered around liberty, justice, and reconcilliation as functions of the Kingdom.

It has morphed a number of times, and I am sure will continue to morph if God wills. But as I surveyed the group of people that sorrounded me I thought to myself, "surely this is no coincidence!" Gifted people, friends. So the idea was the The Jubilee Project would be a sort of Board of Trustees all mutually committed to the Values, Goals, and Purposes of the Project, who would in turn oversee a multiplicity of expirements. These expirements would include things like a music label/recording studio, a clothing company, a publishing company (including online and paper publications), perhaps cafes, art studios, reading rooms, etc... Each of these expirements would be overseen by a member of the Board of Trustees, and would not by name be attached to the Jubilee Project. These expirements would, if God so willed, generate profits, the profits would then be collected by the overseer and turned over to the Board of Trustees. This Board would then decide how to allocate these funds in such a way as to fulfill the values, goals, and purposes of The Jubilee Project. In other words these funds would be used to contribute toward the purposes of the Kingdom. This could be anything from supporting Sudanese Pastors and freeing women from African slave trading (yes it still happens!), to building wells for clean water in impoverished areas and supporting evangelists who work in the Muslim world. Literally anything that can be legitimately be shown to fulfill Kingdom purposes.

That is a broad brush stroke, without many details, primarily because as of this moment there are no details. What do you think the Spirit of God is doing, is this something He is leading us to do, or is this something that we may be tempted to do "for God?" I don't know, I don't have peace, but I do have a group of friends I trust, and a group of friends I trust that the same Spirit is moving within. May He whisper in our ears, "go this way." And may we follow where He leads.

First Things First

2007-01-19T11:37:00.000-08:00

We need to ponder the meaning of Plato's dictum "know thyself." The meaning wrapped within this little phrase is essentially look within to discover the answer to that primal human question "what shall I do." The Platonic worldview percieved the self as healthy or unhealthy based on whether or not it was congruent with the dictates of human nature. Being that human nature, when flourshing, was capable of "great" things, the ethic of Plato and Aristotle became to "know thyself." Once one was living consistent with his/her nature and began to flourish (i.e. each of the persons capacities began to be exercised regularly and were well-functioning) one could discover that when one exercised their capacities that they could create and do meaningful things... good things. This healthy self had particular trajectories, and the individual is to look within to discover in what particular way it flourishes within themself. Thus one may discover that they have the flourshing artistic capacity that others did not have, or at least in the same manner which they had it, and this person then, according to this flourishing capacity was to be "honest" and act according to their flourishing capacity. Thus the movement within Platonic and Aristotelian thought is to look within to discover what meaningful thing I ought to do. This is wisdom. It should sound relatively familiar to Christians, it is the wisdom of proverbs. It is basically the sow and reap principle, which for the sage was, if you sow certain acts in a certain wise manner you will reap a generally good life. This is the hoekma of our cosmos. It is the ordering principle that God used to set in order the disordered and chaotic "void" or "deep." "Get wisdom" is the admonition of the Proverbs and of Plato and Aristotle. It is not that difficult to discover what kind of life is a "good life" according to the natural law by which our cosmos was made. Yet we need to look deeply into the crown jewel of widsom literature, Ecclesiastes. This work is written in response to misappropriated "wisdom." The sage who discovers "a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands, and poverty will come upon you like a bandit" from observing a man who was a sluggard whose property had been left uncultivated, could also become the sage who works hard according to his abilities, creates a flourishing vineyard, yet does so apart from God. This sage had discovered a meaningful life by acting according to "wisdom" but the teacher says "this too is meaningless" because what this wise guy did in building his wealth will all be lost and forgotten anyway. What are we to do? Are we to do anything? I propose that the wisdom of "know thyself" is only a secondary and derivative wisdom. If one makes it first, which all cultures, cliques, societies, and civilizations do, they inevitably become an aristocracy which has aristocratic values (such as hard work, moral behavior, individualism, an entreprenurial spirit, self-reliance, to name a few American aristocratic values). Churchs can become like this, emphasizing family values, moralism, and the like and can become very aristocratic. These churchs are doing very "meaningful" and "good" things, moral things, just things etc... And these churchs (and organizations for that matter) become crystallized around these values, each parishoner mirroring back to other parishoners how "good" they are. These churchs are well on their way to becoming Plato's Republic with Christ knocking on the gate of the city pleading with them to buy salve from Him, and clothing, and asking them to recieve Him to their feasts. All cultures, societies, and civilizations are built around the wisdom of the sow and reap principle, and individuals within these structures discover a meaningful and good life by following the dictum "know thyself." To answer the question "what are we to do" one follows the wisdom of "know thyself." And wisdom it is, but secondary and derivative wisdom. Remember Paul's admonition to the Corinthians, "not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things - and the things that are not - to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him." Therefore I conclude with these final thoughts; first we tend to think of our calling in terms of what we are to do and thus often follow the wisdom of "know thyself," look within to discover who you are and then you will discover what meaningful thing you should do, but I propose we think of our calling primarily in terms of God's sovereign foreknowing call by which we come to Christ, and stand in Him, in the Beloved Son of God. We are called in the Beloved, and our whole selves are to be recollected to the truth of what it means to be "in Christ." For to the degree which we are not recollected in Christ is the degree which we will be tempted to use our knowledge of ourselves (our gifts, abilities, and talents) to create, according to Kierkegaard, a "world in which I did not live, but only held up to the view of others... [and be] left standing like a man who has rented a house and gathered all the furniture and household things together, but has not yet found the beloved with whom to share the joys and sorrows of his life." The Jubilee Project, or any other human venture of ours, if done primarily as an extension of "know thyself" will be an incredibly great expirement of human ingenuity, that will ultimately fall under the condemnation of Ecclesiastes. But, if perchance, it is done as an expression of Jesus' admonition "I am the vine, you are the branches, abide in me and you will bear much fruit; for apart from me you can do nothing." Then it will stand as the fruit of God, tested as by fire, and will have continuity with the new creation wherein we will hear, "well done good and faithful servant, you have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's joy!"

What is the Jubilee Project?

2007-01-17T12:28:00.000-08:00

Though there has been much dreaming, pondering, and a few sporadic conversation, as of this moment the Jubilee Project is an amorphous idea in need of some shaping and developing. To this point it is primarily, as a dream, an incubator for creative ideas, speculative conversation, and genuine spiritual inquiry. It may one day morph into a counsel of friends who have been given talents according to their ability and who "immediately went and traded with them, and gained... more talents." It is to us that the question of St. Anselm comes, "What shall your answer be on that day when there shall be asked of you an account of all the time of your living, how you have spent it, even to the twinkling of an eye?"

2007-01-16T15:02:00.000-08:00