Three Memories from Coeur D’alene

I took my first trip to Idaho. (The list of states I’ve not been to is getting smaller and smaller.) Less than 24 hours total… it was like an appetizer for that beautiful state. 

2 quick thoughts about the trip itself

1. In my mind, Coeur D’alene was a lot closer to Seattle. But someone put a desert in the middle of Washington. They should do something about that. 
2. It was fun to hang with Lars Rood. We did a mini-roadie where we caught up on life, drank way too much coffee, and had a few middle school moments.

3 Memories from Coerd D’alene

1. Really impressed at Coerd D’alene Bible Church. First, it was awesome to meet Tim & Emily face-to-face. I’ve known Tim from blogs and stuff for a while and gotten to know Emily a tiny bit because we follow one another on Instagram. When you visit a lot of churches you start to look for telltale signs of health. Do people linger? Do people come to things just because the door is open and it’s their community? Do you bump into people from church in town? All of those were true at CDA Bible. But one telltale sign that things are going pretty well among the staff, particularly in non-megachurch contexts, is… does the staff show up to one another’s stuff? It was awesome that the whole team including the lead pastor, Kurt, came to a parent seminar– I am pretty sure his kids are adults, but he hung out, sat near the front and was engaged, and at the same time was happy to let Tim lead our time. I loved seeing all that. That’s a place where Tim & Emily’s ministry can flourish. 
2. Reconnecting with Becky. On our way to CDA we took a pitstop in Spokane to pop in on a former student, Becky, who is currently a student at Moody’s Spokane Campus. Becky is a part of a great family from our church in Romeo, mom and dad love Jesus and had vibrant faith. But, for whatever reason, faith just didn’t stick with their kids. By her own admission, Becky was pretty “meh” about youth group. Though her parents tried really hard to get her to be “un-meh” and while she was certainly around for a lot of stuff, she just wasn’t into it. After some wandering and stumbling through high school Becky took a year off, volunteering in an orphanage in Ecuador. (Her mom grew up there as a missionary kid.) It was there that God dramatically got a hold of Becky’s life. Sitting at a hipster coffee shop, reconnecting with her, was really like meeting her for the first time. 5 years in youth group with Becky— we’d driven thousands of miles together on mission trips and youth group outings— and I feel like I just met her for the first time. That was really affirming to me. I think a lot of folks in youth ministry forget that their job is to cast a lot of seed because you never know what’s going to grow. Becky’s faith didn’t really grow in high school. But here she is in her early 20’s, studying to go into full-time ministry. Never give up hope.
3. Kroc Center Coeur D’alene. I’m so glad Lars and I got a chance to visit the CDA Kroc. For about the past year I’ve heard that of all the Kroc Centers, CDA was the one doing the best. The Kroc Centers are a movement of very large and beautiful community centers built by an endowment left by Ray & June Kroc to the Salvation Army. Putting words in their mouths, what they don’t want is to become the YMCA. What they do want is to become a resource which holistically encourages the community in their walk with Christ, regardless of where you get connected for church. We hung out with Bill, Kip, and Chris… core parts of the ministry team there… asked lots of questions about how they are doing things, and of course saw the facility. With 14,000 paying members and tons of community involvement, our time there gave us a beautiful glimpse for what the church “could be.” Sure, tons of people probably see the Kroc Center as a place to work out or play with their kids. But it’s also a place where tons of people are getting connected to Jesus. It’s that mix of ministry and practical help which I’d label “Good news to the neighborhood.” Totally beautiful.

For some reason 2013 is turning into a year of travel. I’ve already traveled 40,000 miles this year by air and been gone 37 days. What’s scary is that the first half of the year is traditionally when I don’t travel much, this fall is downright scary.

And while that’s just way too much travel for my own liking, I’m doing my best to make sense of the travel by connecting to what God is doing everywhere I go.

In sharing these 3 memories I’m locking in 3 lessons learned by my brief trip to CDA

1. The church is better where titles don’t matter.
2. Statistics pale in comparison to the power of the Holy Spirit in someone’s life.
3. A churches ministry doesn’t have to be structured around Sunday.