2045 IS COMING!

2045. That is the big year.  29 years from now, but already impacting us, with the rise of disaffected white blue collar voters in the heartland, feeling the impending loss of the world soon to be extinct.  The administration they've elected is beholden to the interests of folks who are markedly nervous about 2045.  But this political swerve to the right will be met with a hard swerve to the left sooner than we might suspect.  It could be violent.  Sometimes we swerve hard, folks.  The shift in demographics will shape more than just the political conversation - 2045 will be the most important year in American history since 1776.

AROUND THE WORLD AND BACK

As I wrote this, I was on the last leg of an 18-day around-the-world trip.  It started with a preaching invitation in Hawaii, continued with a visit to family in Taipei.  And then, I said, "Why not come home headed west?" 

GREAT THINGS LEFT TO DO

This past summer, Time Magazine ran a story about a 68-year old Nepalese man who decided to go back to high school for his degree.  This man, Durga Kami, walks over six miles each day round trip to be a tenth grader.  Life busied Durga up with many things over the decades, but a dream persisted: to pursue education, and to get his high school degree.  And why?  Because Burga's deeper dream is to be able to become a teacher before he's finished in this life. (  http://time.com/4370257/nepal-grandfather-back-to-school/  )

CORRECTING A LITTLE MISUNDERSTANDING ABOUT WEIRD CHURCH

It has been a great year of conversations about ministry, in part related to the buzz around the new book Weird Church.  Even in rather slow-to-change places like Mississippi (where I worked this month), people report unprecedented numbers of their neighbors moving into the None and Done clubs.  Where once almost everyone was at least tangentially related to some faith group, today, more than half of Mississippians are unchurched in parts of the state.  They are talking about Fresh Expressions.  In Mississippi. Friends, it is certainly not 1996 anymore.

YOU CANNOT FAKE HOSPITALITY

Last weekend, instead of going to church, we went running - or walking as the case would be - joining a friend for a beautiful summer morning with his running club - followed by brunch.   Here is what happened. 

TEN SOUND BYTES FOR REFLECTING ON UMC GENERAL CONFERENCE

Please plagiarize freely when talking to grass roots people about the state of the UMC as a denomination.

REFLECTIONS FROM THE BOOK TOUR

Thirteen book parties into our year-long tour, we are meeting a range of great people from San Diego to Bronx, from Portland, Oregon to downtown Washington DC to London, England.

RENDEZVOUS IN A RAIN FOREST

After the second Weird Church book party in February, my whole week went weird when a guy crashed the party and stole my computer. This forced a significant change of agenda for that week, as I got a new computer, and tried to reload everything and redo my income tax.   I cancelled a five-day event and, after all the computer-related business, was left with two days of Sabbath, stuck more than three thousand miles from home. I decided to spend my 48-hour Sabbath in a temperate rain forest on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State.

THE DIFFERENCE DNA MAKES

 

This is the first time that I have given this space to a testimonial by one of the people I coach. The following paragraphs point to the power of good DNA in the life of a congregation. This is from Matt Meisenhelter, a church planter south of DC. I am proud of Matt and celebrate what God is doing at his church. - Paul Nixon