Headed to New Life Church (www.NewLifeChurch.org) in Colorado Springs for the annual Desperation Conference (www.DesperationOnline.com). Really looking forward to hanging with friends there. So, I'm sending out the KAMPs Missional Community update early this week.
Summer seems to be a natural season to step back, slow down and simplify. Christianity and the accompanying church life has become increasingly complicated. Jesus said that the essence of Christianity could be summed up in two inseparable commandments: Love God and Love Your Neighbor. Simple yet more powerful than we know. Living out the gospel means desiring for one's neighbor and neighbor's family that which one desires for one's self and family. Living out the gospel means bettering the quality of other people's lives spiritually, physically, socially, and emotionally as one betters one's own. This summer we are committed to learning and living out the wonders of loving God and others simply and powerfully.
Our friends at Crosstown Church have invited members from the downtown Church (Big "C") to join them for a downtown prayer journey on Tuesday, July 29th at 7pm. The group will meet and the prayer journey will begin at the Myriad Gardens.
Fusion Church ( www.FusionOKC.com ) will be hosting Servants Training Weekend July 18-20. When Jesus left the most exclusive gated community in the universe and relocated among us, He sparked a revolution: an upside-down revolution of love and justice. Join us for an introduction to a radical new way of doing justice in the inner cities of the world.
We will join Fusion Church for a combined Gathering on Sunday, July 20th at 5pm. Craig Greenfield from Servants to Asia's Urban Poor (www.ServantsAsia.org) will be sharing on "Solitude, Community & Mission". Servants to Asia's Urban Poor is an international movement: a network of Christian communities living and working amongst the urban poor in Asia's mega cities, participating with the poor to bring hope and justice through Jesus Christ. Fusion is located in the Plaza District, 1755 NW 16th Street (between Classen and Penn).
I will continue the teaching conversation through Galatians at Skyline (www.SkylineOKC.com) on Sunday, July 27th at 11am. The morning Gathering will be followed by a shared meal together. That evening we will be getting together at KAMP's to further explore what an extended spiritual family on mission together looks like.
Remember and reconsider the words of Jesus in Matthew 5. This is what he said: "You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule. You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you. You're blessed when you're content with just who you are-no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought. You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat. You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being care-full, you find yourselves cared for. You're blessed when you get your inside world-your mind and heart-put right. Then you can see God in the outside world. You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family.
Be Blessed.
Ben.
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