What a weekend!

Dear Brothers & Sisters:

Last week Tina was on vacation. And we had decided to take a well
needed retreat to a place we both love, Lake George. We left on
Friday morning looking forward to time together. We arrived in the
early afternoon. The director of where we were staying said the
campus was pretty full. Well that was somewhat of an understatement.
We found out at dinner that the people here belonged to a Buddhist
spin off called Gangaji. And they were in the middle of a "silent"
retreat meaning they could only speak twice that week, both times to
Gangaji. I thought it was all pretty funny after an attempt at
praying for healing for one for "deafness."

Our first night we were joined by a gay couple from the ministerial
buildings. These two women were getting their heads together after
the death of a friend. A Quaker couple also joined us. And for the
rest of the weekend we all sat together for meals, perhaps to make
sure the "spirit of silence" did not overtake us. (Little chance for
that!) My wife would tell you that I "messed" with their beliefs and
their doctrines for the whole 3 days. And they were just wonderful. I
talked about Paul ("Paul said a lot of things" one of the women
said.) and marriage (His statement of marriage being a difficult
thing though I think the Lee translation I gave was a "pain in the
neck.".) and how a marriage was a lot like a funeral because 2 must
become 1 and that means someone has to die. Needless to say that
sparked laughter and the silent ones nearby figured we were the
rebellious Gangaji. We loved these people. (They even invited us to
"sneak out" for some illegal ice cream!) They were sweet. We all
hugged when we left with plans to get together. All we did was eat
and go for long walks on the beach. My wireless internet did not work
according to the manager of the ice cream store because of the
spiritual energy. Our ride home dealt with our future and business
and church plans.

Recently we have opened our home to meetings we call Deeper
Relationships. We have been overstuffed with people(And food!) and
the meetings have been working well. As I look at the people we spent
the weekend with, I see that this is the kind of people we attract.
People seeking God and His experiences. (We are planning a retreat
for a group of people in November at the same place and only God
knows what that will bring!) They may not believe like we do, but as
they say in the commercials-"imagine the possibilities!" We are
praying for the "stickiness" of God to keep people from wanting to be
anywhere else. Meetings you do not want to miss because people love
you and you, them.

Our return to the real world has be hampered by health issues with
Tina so we covet your prayers. And I still battle for the complete
restoration of a pain free life after the month of August. And yet we
are excited by what the future holds. Our living room gets smaller as
the people come in. We are seeing a real building of relationships
between people. We are in the considerations of our next phase. Part
of my weekend is dedicated to the clarification of our NEST ministry
and what it holds. Since we opened the storefront I have seen more
and more involvement of people. It has got my hands on the pulse
again. We are simply going back to what we know best. And so changes
are probably coming faster than I think. We have been praying our
future into now and we think this is God's response.

We recently had some powerful words about Springfield and the changes
to come. Many know that Springfield has been a place of revival in
the past and that we believe it is coming again. We look over the
region and we see a lot of words that have been leveled at the region
called New England. We must be close to what is so often called
critical mass. In business, critical mass is believed to have
happened when 2% of a population is hit. That is what the books would
call the tipping point. So in a community like Springfield where
8,000 live the tipping point would be 160. The population of New
England was 13,922,517-you do the math. (In my business when I obtain
160 people in Springfield I need to move on because the momentum will
take care of itself.) What does that 160 people represent? It
represents a place where the tipping of the scales becomes apparent.
In a spiritual region it will be when you see the police logs
reflecting lesser amounts of crime. You will see school scores going
up. (Recently NCLB told of the poorness encountered in Vermont
schools. It is a statistic reflective of the spiritual climate. We
ned to see that go down.)You will see divorce rates going down and
incomes going up. We ought to look at the raw stats (And not the
media spins of both sides.) and determine how close we are to
critical mass. In a state like Vermont we would need 9,000 sold out
prayers to reach critical mass. And then jump on the scale!

Because we personally meet the wildest people-the skateboarders,
bikers, Buddhists and gays to name a few, we need to find a place to
put them. For years I said I was a fisher of men and not a cleaner of
fish. And I believed I was theologically right that the Holy Spirit
was the cleaner. And I believe the truth of that. But I also see
there is a need for the careful nurturing of believers that some
might call making disciples. Many know that not a day goes by in my
home with some helpful instruction to a young man or woman. I watch
so many marriages upside down and so many screwed up people. I
recently had to repent to the Lord for walking away from people. Now
it feels like we are seeing a shift here in Springfield. Ministries
are coming alongside and saying "call me-I will help." For a while my
response has been "there is nothing going on." We were fried. Burnt
out. And now it seems like there is a shift over here. I remember how
incensed some people were when I had invited friend with different
beliefs. I did not tell them he was not a believer, in fact he was
very eastern in his beliefs. He came to a prayer session and
meditated. Ironically the people who were there were cool with it but
not those outside. Wow! What are we thinking?

My son brings home what many might consider "interesting" people. But
we just love them. And that is all God is calling us to. LOVE! I am
not sure why gay women think we are fun to be around. I haven't
changed my beliefs about homosexuality. I am not sure why we have had
people have brought beer into our meetings. I haven't changed my
belief about being drunk. I am not sure why people feel OK smoking
around me. I haven't changed my beliefs about health. I am not sure
why people swear around me from time to time. I still think profanity
is-well...profane. I am not sure why people of different beliefs
spend so much time with me. I haven't changed anything about the
cross, the shed blood or the resurrection.

Last week the older women accused me of being a "proselytizer."
Interesting. When she said it, it sound like a 4 letter word, though
as I spell it I see it is 3-4 letter words!. I think it is because we
have not learned to do it without building a relationship, a bridge.
So, I told her "yes, I guess I am. " See people want to have their
beliefs and i respect that. It does not mean I do not think there is
higher or greater truths. But the one great truth that is often
violated is the one about loving one another. And that is my main
deal in life. I can understand that Jesus might say I gave a second
chance where He had already said "no," but I am not sure I would ever
be in trouble with Him for giving too much love.

We keep saying the church must go outside. I think the church is
outside. I think the religious structure is inside, not the church. I
think what we have perhaps been doing is stuffing our "church" into
their way of thinking and expecting a different result. Love works.
When I say they are looking for the real deal I mean it. When you
prophesy into a skateboarders life and he looks into your eyes he
will know whether love is real. Love is not necessarily home baked
cookies on a Saturday morning but it can be. Or a meal dropped off to
the parents of a sick child but it can be. I believe the power will
come when the love is released. And he love of the Lord is there and
available to those who receive it and give it away. There is
something healthy about loving one's self that you might love one
another. So many are sick and dying because they can not love
themselves or others. And that is a great place to begin...loving
one's self...and for me to end.

We thank you for your prayers and your love!

Blessings,
lee

Deeper Relationships meeting on Tuesday night at 6.

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