The Triple Crisis
Although this Prayer-Poem was authored recently, it summarizes a series of visions and prophetic words received months prior to the Triple-Crisis of COVID-19, unrest around the 2020 election, and the social justice reckoning around the killing of George Floyd. The Prophetess and I, in Fall before The Fall,Inner-eye seeing what landscape Spirit knows,Saw Three Things to be…
Ontario Peninsula
Written in anticipation of meeting George Bergen and his collaborators in Leamington. A Northstar showing the way to great powers,Not bright single glory, but from constellation.Stars upon stars: burning hearts, bodies shining.Who among them forever? The Morning Star!Mages far-gathering, come bearing treasures,Not gifts of men, but from the Father of Lights.Guardians and wardens of portal to promise,Received…
Eulogy for Clara
Written for Clara Cheek, my paternal grandmother. Clara, Grandma, was home for me in a special way. My mom was many amazing things, but no one would use the word “warm” to describe her. She made a home like a mission outpost. But Grandma made a home that, to the childhood me, was like a story-book cottage…
The Radical Now
Written on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the baptisms in Zurich of some early founders of The Radical Reformation. The first portions of this where developed from prayer work done at The Invitation event in partnership with Ronn DeLemos and Eli Sapp. Why would you pine for the past,Wallow in the immediacy of flesh, Or…
Transforming “SHOULD”
Lately my family and community have been talking a lot about shame and should. I define shame as a deep worthlessness because of one’s lack of power. This is differnet from guilt which is deep worthlessness because of power wrongly applied. For example, you use powerful words with someone you love and feel guilt because you see…
Take Heed
Written while praying for friends in the Radical Reformation on the morning of Summer solstice 2024. You who were called to till ground until it was goodHave become lost in the weeds yourselvesAlways slaves to the compromise you madeIn betrayal of my mission.Look among you!Where are the Sons of Issachar?Has not Zebulun acted as Cain?This is why…
Launching the Dojo
I’ve been working with grassroots community development for a while (like 25+ years). While it’s been a life-passion, it has also been my greatest challenge. One of the hardest things is navigating the first group transition (called Commitment on The Journey Map): Will we move from talking about the reality we want to actually creating it? There…
ChatGPT Gets SOF Concepts Better Than My Friends
After hearing a lot of chatter about the ChatGPT language model, I decided to try it out. To give it a real work out, I decided to talk to it about a pretty technical field I like to work in: systems thinking, specifically the field of philosophical cybernetics using the Semantic Ontology Framework. After it totally nailed…
Matt Markins: Making Child Disciples in a Secular Culture
One of our biggest initiatives coming into this year has to do with children and youth. We really feel that the timing is right to develop Missional Community for and among children. Partly, this has to do with the rate and complexity with which young people are encountering challenges in their lives. Like Harry Potter, the real…
The 4 S’s of Showing Up
I’m doing a lot of research right now into being present in parenting, specifically as a way of practicing the Presence of God. My wife and I are really torn up by our lack of Christianity when it comes to parenting. This makes parenting the perfect place to confront my always-future-looking habit of anticipation which is the…
Attachment (with God)
Lately, as part of my fasting, I’ve been listening to The Presence Project with Summer Joy Gross — a podcast that merges ancient Christian contemplative practices and modern brain science and psychology so that people can experience a life abiding in God, even if they suffer from depression and anxiety. While both those things show up in…
Gospel Movements (Part 1): District Conference Call
What is a Gospel Movement? Why did Christianity grow explosively at first, but not now? By looking at two key dynamics, the LMC District Conference Call on 11/29/21 explored how the common approach to church isn’t well aligned to discipleship and how the climate of our church is limiting how people express the DNA of the Gospel….