OK, so this is a Guidepost story (remember that magazine?--Norman Vincent Peale's journal of miracles and angels and stuff). For my sermon on Sunday, I wanted to use Rick Warren's (at least that's where I first heard it) sermon illustration utilizing a $100 bill that I crumple up and step on to illustrate that Jesus knows our true worth, still wants us, no matter what we have been through. Simple, but effective.

BUT, I don't have a $100 bill. AND the checking account is low so I can't get a $100 bill. I'd have to skip it. As I was walking into the church Sunday morning, a woman walked up to me with a wallet that she had found in our parking lot. You've already figured it out--it had a $100 bill in it. The object lesson turned out to be very meaningful for folks.

I don't know how I feel about God being involved down to the level of the minutiae of our daily lives. But, boy, I would be a fool to say God is not!

Lately, it seems I am being asked more often about what I believe or what our church believes. Or maybe I am just noticing the question more. It is a difficult question for me, not because I do not hold strong theological beliefs, beliefs that I really enjoy discussing. It just seems the question is more often than not dogmatic in nature and I have no interest in debates of dogma. I know, I know dogma is important. It's just not my thing. I strive to live my theology. I relish discussing and even debating my ideas about God, but never in an "I'm right and you are wrong" sort of way. It probably is a result of my coming of age as a Southern Baptist during the great purge of the 1980's and 1990's.

That being said, I am realizing the importance of being able to speak to what one believes. It is what drives one and keeps one focused. The core of my theological beliefs is simply that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has the potential to transform lives and those thus transformed have the opportunity and the responsibility of participating in the Kingdom of God. My "elevator explanation" of that is that we are to love God, love one another, and serve the world.

For me this is the foundation. Everything else is detail. Everything else is subject to change. When I am 82, I will sit on my porch and figure out everything else and write a book. Until then, I work with what others are thinking that to assist in fleshing out my doctrine. Here are a couple of links to organizations whose work is helpful to me:

What Matters (I mentioned these last week. They come from my denomination, the United Church of Christ.)
The Phoenix Affirmations (I love these affirmations. They are unapolegetically Christ-centered yet theologically and socially progressive.)
The Center for Progressive Christianity (Skews a little more academic and cerebral than The Phoenix Affirmations, but very helpful)

Update: In looking at their websites, I learned that Crosswalk America (which produced the Phoenix Affirmations) and The Center for Progressive Christianity have merged. I love their stuff. It just needs to drop a foot from the head to the heart.

Last Wednesday as I was working on Sunday's sermon on the story of Jacob wrestling with God and how it relates to the power of change in our lives, a realization came into sharp focus for me. There are three of me.

There is Jason Fairbanks, the industrious, creative pastor and preacher and father. I like that Jason. And I like the responses, quite often of admiration, that Jason receives from people. But there is a second Jason. The Jason that is prideful and fearful and lustful and undisciplined. That Jason I don't like so much. I keep that Jason hidden because I'm pretty sure folks wouldn't like him quite as much. I'd like to change that Jason, and sometimes I try. But it's really, really hard.

Now, what I have described about myself is true of everyone to some extent or another, it's widely accepted psychological theory. But I've noticed that we good church folks have raised this to an art form. We have become masters at portraying what people want to see and hiding what we are struggling with. The problem with that is we never getting around to being changed. We keep the second self hidden instead of exposing it to the healing, transformative power of Christ and the support of community.

But that is just two me's, and I promised a third. After Jacob struggled with the angel of God, the angel asked Jacob his name. Jacob responded with a confession, his name which means usurper or grasper. The angel gave Jacob a new name, Israel. The third me is the me that God sees. The me that has been made new in Christ, the me fully accepted and infinitely loved by God.

I am practiced at being the Jason that everyone likes. And the second Jason is always there causing me guilt and shame. I want to spend some more time getting to know the third Jason, the one that God is so in love with. I think I'm going to like him.

My dad, an old Baptist preacher, sent me this list compiled by another old Baptist preacher--no one famous, just a conference minister in New Orleans. But man, he is right on the money with these.

I've been exploring some ways to better organize myself and increase productivity. I'm starting to realize that, at least for me, the computer isn't the best way to do that. It is good for the big things, appointments and stuff that I need to keep others updated on. But for the nitty-gritty organization of projects I need to break up and execute, digital does not seem to be best. Maybe if my dear wife would let me buy an iphone, it would work. But for now, it doesn't seem to be working for me.

In my research (yes, it WAS POSSIBLY time I could have spent doing actual work) I have found there is a whole internet subculture on productivity. There is a subculture of this subculture that strongly advocates for paper-based systems. Everything from Covey planners to 3x5 cards held together with a binder clip. Interesting stuff.

A couple of the most well-respected sites are: www.43folders.com and www.diyplanner.com.

When I tell people that I am part of the united Church of Christ I either get a quizzical look (from the many who do not know who we are) or, more often now, a startled look or raised eyebrow (from those who associate the UCC with Jeremiah Wright and his portrayal during 2008). When I get the question "Well, what does the UCC believe?" I usually either give a quick, maeanigless answer--"Oh, we're like the Methodists." Or I give a theological treatise, explaining all of what I see as the wonderful nuances of our theology and watch my listener's eyes glaze over. You see, when you are as inclusive as we are in the UCC, its hard to give a simple answer about who we are.

That's why I was happy to run across "What Matters to Us" on the UCC website. It's not a statement of beliefs, per say, but six historic emphases of our denomination and the streams that flow into it. Take a look at these. I invite you to read them, ponder them, discuss them, and then use them as you are talking about who we are with those who ask you. Let me know what you think!



We are people of God’s Extravagant Welcome
Jesus didn’t turn people away, even those often rejected by others. We don’t intend to either. We are like a “company of strangers,” made family by the grace of God. God welcomes, claims, and loves all people. God also feeds our hunger, forgives our sins, and frees us from aimless wandering.

This is no idle chatter. The UCC has been bold in extending an invitation to all. For example, our historic denominations were first to ordain an African American pastor (1785), a woman (1853), and a gay or lesbian person (1972).



We Belong to Christ
Jesus Christ is central to who we are. We know God especially in Jesus, who lived, loved, died, rose from the dead, and is present today. Because we belong to Christ, we welcome, love, pray, and serve.

The God we know in Jesus is also known by many names. We share a tradition among Christians speaking of one God as “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” We also speak of God in ways that enrich our faith—God as mother, rock, liberator, savior, friend.

We affirm historic creeds and statements of faith, not as tests for belief, but as inspired words of faithful women and men who came before us. We discover God through the Bible, through prayer, and through engaging the world.

No single statement fully expresses who God is; but where there is justice, peace, and compassion, we see the living God at work in history. To such a God, we belong.


We Are One at Baptism and the Table
God’s grace is celebrated in baptism and Holy Communion. We call these rituals sacraments.

Through the water of baptism, God embraces you—no matter who you are—and brings you into Christ’s church. Baptism reminds us of our special covenant with God. In it, you share in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. In turn, the church promises to love, support, and care for you throughout your whole life.

At Holy Communion, we hare a simple meal of bread and juice. Here, we encounter Christ’s presence. Together, around God’s welcome table, we recall God’s loving acts in Jesus, experience oneness in God, hope for a time when all will be fed, and anticipate the fullness of God’s love and justice throughout creation.



We Are a People of Covenant, a United and Uniting Church
God invites us into a special relationship called “covenant.” The bible speaks of God’s holy covenants with people, communities of faith, nations, and all of creation.

As God covenants with us, we covenant with one another. Local churches also covenant—prayerfully acting on their own, but also relating with associations, conferences, the General Synod, and national settings of the UCC. We covenant with many other Christian denominations, and pray that all may be one (John 17:21). This prayer extends beyond the unity of all churches to the reconciliation of the whole world.



We Thank God by Working for a Just and Loving World
Jesus taught about the realm of God. This realm is one of love and justice, hope and peace. We see it in the past, particularly in the life of Christ. But we also glimpse it in the present, and look for the fulfillment of it in the future. God’s promise extends even beyond death to eternal life.

God continues to break through the barriers of sin and death in the bold witness of God’s people. In gratitude to God, we seek to root out injustice, to stand in solidarity with those who are poor and oppressed; to give with inspiring generosity; to care for the earth; and even to sometimes go against the grain of conventional norms.


We Listen for the Still-speaking God
Founded in 1957, the UCC is grounded in the ancient church of the New Testament and in historic streams of Christianity in this country, dating back to the Pilgrims and German immigrants in colonial Pennsylvania. We affirm the words of our Pilgrim forbearer, John Robinson, that God has “more light and truth to break forth…” (1621)

In our generation, we seek and serve God in innovative ways. God continues to form us through new people among us, offering a multicultural mosaic that reflects all of creation. We celebrate our common ground, while honoring our differences: “In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, diversity; in all things, charity.”

Through prayer, sacraments, and worship; through the arts and sciences; through compassionate and political acts; and particularly in the voices of those who suffer, God is at work in our hearts and minds, in faith communities, and in the wider world

In my ministerial ethics class we were asked to respond to the idea of a minister or pastor claiming to "know the mind of God." It was a great discussion. We were all agreed that we could never completely know the mind of God. A few questioned whether or not we could know anything about the mind of God.

To use blatantly anthropomorphic language, I believe that God speaks to us and reveals his heart and mind to us. The discussion made me pause to remind myself why God reveals God's self to us. It is so easy to get in the habit of running to the pulpit or the computer to preach or blog about "God's latest revelation" to me. But maybe God's word is for me. Maybe God wants me to use the insight that I graciously received before I spout off about it, or (gasp!) instead of me spouting off about it.

Andy Stanley wrapped up the day with "Five Random Thoughts on Leadership." They were all wall-worthy. Actually, they are thoughts he has on his wall. He is still struggling with each of them:

1. "To reach people no one else is reaching, we must do things no one else is doing."
- Craig Groeschel (Pastor of lifechurch.tv)

2. "The Next Generation product almost never comes from the previous generation."
-Focus, Al Reis

3. Ask yourself: "What do I believe is impossible to do in my field...but if it could be done would fundamentally change my business?"
-Future Edge/The Paradigm Book, Joel Barker

4. Ask yourself: "If we got kicked out and the board brought in a new CEO, what would he do? Why shouldn't we walk out the door, come back in, and do it ourselves?"
-Only the Paranoid Survive, Andy Grove (Intel)

5. "When your memories exceed your dreams, the end is near"
-Michael Hammer

And a bonus: "Success breeds complacency, complacency breeds failure." - Andy Gove

Where else could you hear Andy Stanley, Jim Collins, Craig Groeschel, and Seth Godin (who gave us all a copy of his brand new book)?

Here are the stats:

12,400 people
5,000 churches represented
70 denominations represented

So far I haven't met anyone else from the United Church of Christ and I've been asking folks. If anyone is out there, email or tweet me.

It has been an incredible, bordering on overwhelming experience. These folks are the real thing. Even though our theology and social views are different, with some more than likely radically different. However, that is a peripheral issue. What matters is God's love as it shown through Jesus.

The labs have been a powerful experience.

The speakers I heard today get it. They have touched on so many aspects of leadership.

Dr. Tim Elmore (www.growingleaders.com) spoke about the evolution of leadership styles, advocating for leader as poet/gardner, an exciting proposition for collaborative leadership. Sally Morgenthaler, coming from a place of deep experience, spoke about care of the leader's soul, using one of my favorite authors, Thomas Moore. Reggie McNeal is as good a speaker as he is writer. He spoke about the seven life habits of effective leaders, who he describes as one who blesses others. I love that definition. Jud Wilhite, a mega-church pastor, and Mike Foster, creator of XXXchurch.com, spoke about radical grace and radical integrity, based on their book, Deadly Viper.

Looking forward to Catalyst tomorrow