I’m curious, what book are you currently reading or is next on your list?

I’m reading a chapter a week of The Cross Of Christ for Theology Club and Strengths Based Leadership for with the Restore Staff.

My high school friend, Josh Riebock sent me his new book, My Generation. That’s the next book that I’m diving into and looking forward to it.

You probably heard that a teenage girl was pulled from the rubble after 15 days. I can’t believe it when I see people continuing to be pulled out alive after days without food and water.

It made me think about what a life-changing event that must be and what so many of our lives are about and not about. I asked myself the question, what would my life look like if I was “presumed dead” for over 2 weeks but was back to life again? We live too often with the assumption that tomorrow is coming and that there is enough time ahead of us to make an impact…

…but what if there wasn’t? If you were presumed dead for 2 weeks and given back your life, what changes would you make?

Christ Lifted Up from Restore Community Church on Vimeo.

Why is this so hard to watch?

My friends at CCC came to KC and shot this video of the Wegers. It’s a great story and a must watch.

Finding Your Way Back to God Story- David & Debby from Restore Community Church on Vimeo.

We start our winter term of small groups this week at Restore. Mine kicked off last night and we have a great group. Being the beginning of a new term we started with some basic “get to know you” questions. One of the questions was asking what led people to small group. Here’s some of the responses we had:

• I want to connect with new people
• We hope to strengthen our marriage through small group
• I love the community that I experience in small group
• It provides me with a group of people that I can call on in tough times
• I want to learn more about God and the Bible
• Small group is where I can take next steps with God

I love it! Whether you call it small group, life group, life transformation group, or whatever, God works in us when we connect with others in authentic community. You can’t help but see God change you, and others through you, when we gather to discuss God’s word and how it applies to our lives.

If you’re at Restore or any church and you’re on the fence about getting connected, you have to give it a try. You won’t regret it!

My friend Jacob invited me to see The Swell Season last week.  The Swell Season is a musical duo formed by Irish musician Glen Hansard and Czech singer and pianist Markéta Irglová. They made a name for themselves when they starred in and performed the soundtrack for the independent film, Once.

Anyway, the concert was possibly the most moving musical experience of my life. It trascended music and became more about life and the power of a story. Glen Hansard is a captivating showmen who kept my interest the whole time.

At first, Glen & Marketa came out, sat front & center on the stage, lowered the microphone and sang a beautiful tune. Then his former band, The Frames came out and joined them. Songs went from mellow, melodic pieces to driving rock songs with Glen screaming at the top of his lungs.

The best moment was when Glen told the story of an older woman he met in an elevator. The woman had lost her son in the 9/11 tragedy and hadn’t left her house in years. I won’t share the story, but Glen went on right a song about that encounter. He unplugged his guitar, step away from the mic and walked to the front of the stage. He began to sing and without amplification, his voice filled the auditorium. When he finished, the place was silent and I could sense that the hairs we’re standing up on everyone’s neck and not just mine.

The reason for my writing this, whether you’ve heard of them or not, is to tell you to go see them in your city. You won’t forget it. And don’t say that you’re too old for it… there were more grey hairs in there than any other shade, which surprised me.

Scott Hodge of The Orchard in Aurora, IL wrote a great review of the show here.

In Christian culture we love relating our lives to cups and to being filled and poured out… and I’m jumping on that bandwagon.

I was talking with a friend this morning who is a new Christ follower and he was asking “What’s next?” & “Why don’t I feel like I should be feeling?”. I had a cup of coffee in my hand so of course I had to put it to use:

The pursuit of the American Dream has seeped into the church and Christianity. It’s cozy and comfortable as long as your cup is filled; job is secure, family is healthy, bank accounts are stable, church is feeding me, etc. then life is good. But your life isn’t radical.

The Bible speaks often as God being our portion, for example, “Psalm 16:5 – The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup;
you hold my lot.” He’s all we need, and in fact, He’s so much more.

The question is, how much are you allowing God to be your portion? Does your life even require the need for God?

So I asked my friend, now that your eternal life is “saved”, how can you start living in a way that allows God to truly be your portion? It’s different for everyone, but where is there a need for God if we don’t live radical lives? Pour and pour and pour and pour out your life in radical ways and God will truly overflow your cup and be your portion.

(and now my cheezy cup analogy is done)

My 10 month old has been showing us a love for drums or at least beating the snot out of things to a specific rhythm. We’ve upgraded him from plastic sticks to the real deal. Check it out:

Tristan Drumming @ 10 months from Tommy Bowman on Vimeo.

Much of what has happened in the last 12 months at Restore has revolved around reproduction; it was the theme of our last 12 months. We’ve reproduced:

• contributors
• leaders
• small groups
• celebration services
• and now a new church Liberty

A culture of reproduction is in place at Restore, it’s embedded deep and I love that. We, as a First Team believe that this next year be about TRANSFORMATION. We have the 3 C’s at Restore: Celebrate, Connect, & Contribute. What if in the next year all 3 of these experiences could be taken deeper? What if…

• we didn’t just celebrate together on Sunday but we all heard from God daily thru prayer and reading the Bible
• we didn’t just connect in the social space of small group but began intimate relationships of accountability and transformation
• we didn’t just contribute our time and money but were transformed into people of generosity, recognizing that all we have comes from God

Much of what I’ve posted this past year has to do with mission and movement. It’s our culture, it’s what we do, and will continue to do. Now I see my focus and the focus of Restore turning more towards the heart and it’s transformation…

Where do you want to see transformation this year in you and in your church?

We’re continuing to journey through our Testament series at Restore and it’s been great. (You may have caught one of my previous posts on this series, here & here)

As we sat in our Big Idea meeting a couple months back and we reflected on this week, my own story kept coming to mind. I decided that if we couldn’t come up with the right person, I would nominate my story which I was hestitant to do.

If I wanted someone to walk away with 2 lessons from my story, it’s:

1. Don’t become so arrogant in your faith that you neglect to live my faith
2. You can’t outrun God’s love

Here it is on video:

Testament: Dysfunction from Restore Community Church on Vimeo.