ministry hizzle

ok, so here are some pics of the house we checked out the other day... it's right above a pizza joint called dino's gourmet pizza which automatically makes it the sweetest place EVER... it's a 5 bedroom apartment with a porch, a bathroom, a living room and dining room, and a big parking lot just for us! and the price is right!
before we even set foot inside, natalie and i both had a feeling this place was going to be perfect... and it was.
sorry some of these pictures are super dark... we just snapped a bunch right before we left and most of the lights were off...
as we were walking through the apartment... i began asking God again to send us the people that are supposed to be living with us in the ministry home... and we need like 5 or 6 to make it happen... by the end of the day we had one guy ricky 100% committed to the house! and 3-4 other people expressing interest! as of today we have 2 people that are right on the fence... about 90% sure that God is leading them to live with us!


God is delivering quickly on this one!

please keep praying for us! we need it now more than ever!

enjoy the pics!

snow

can someone tell me why i am waking up to snow when it's almost may? this makes no sense to me... eh... oh well, it'll probably all be gone by noon. ha...

so a number of you have asked me to keep you posted on how things are coming with the missional/ministry house... consider this your post (:

ok, so since i've returned from my wonderful trip to chicago... i've been discussing the idea of the house with a co-worker/friend natalie... she's been pretty passionate about this house for the last year and has been wanting to get it started for quite some time now... and as we spoke and dreamed out loud, it seemed very clear that God had put this passion in both our hearts... and so we met with seth (the emerging generation pastor)and the rest of our ministry team at resonate and we thought up a rough game plan... for the first year, we're planning to find a house to rent from... ideally we want 5-6 people in the house, and these people would make up the core group of the house ministry... we'll live together for this first year and begin to practice the lifestyle that we're feeling God call us to and also begin to form and shape the logistics of everyday life within the house... each person living in the house will be asked to not work more than 30 hours a week so that we can have enough time with each other, the neighborhood, and the rest of the resonate crew. the idea would be to start more homes after the first year, and the core group would disperse to these homes to live & lead there.

which left us with two things holding us back from getting started...

1. who is going to live in this first house?

and

2. where is this so called house?!

ha... so yesterday natalie and i went house hunting and i think we found a place that would be perfect... 5 bedrooms, a bathroom, dining room, living room and kitchen... i think... we're gonna go look inside later today... and once we found this place... we both looked at each other and knew that we were going to have to start asking around to see who would be interested in joining us in this house! so i started asking God to send us people that He really wants to be a part of this... and i believe he is doing that right now. a number of people have already expressed interest!

you guys... this is really happening...

God help us.

resonate

so as some of you know i work at woodland hills as a creative arts resident for the emerging generation... our 16-22 year old ministry is called resonate and we have a blog site that i'll be posting on weekly now along with the rest of my co-ministers... so i thought i'd toss the link your way... between the 7 of us there are usually some pretty cool posts. check it out yo.

a letter to pilar

so i just wrote to my friend pilar and i thought i'd post part of it here to give y'all some more insight on what's going through my mind...

"this changes everything...

ok... so it's officially late... like 2:40am late... and i should go to bed... but i'm totally buzzing with excitement and anticipation right now!!!

pilar... i'm feeling God speak to me so clearly right now... it's unreal...

this ministry/missional house idea... i'm gonna do it.. i have to... ha... God has made it so clear to me! and i'm just feeling so overwhelmed with different emotions... mostly good ones! ha... ok... so where to start?

ok, well this whole past week has been probably one of the most eye-opening/influential weeks of my life. the conference was incredible... i don't know... i feel like God breathed new life in me while i was in chicago... like all of a sudden i woke up from a deep sleep or something... i think the parts of the weekend that hit me the hardest was THE WHOLE FIRST DAY! ha... all the speakers impacted me in a huge way... but i think shane did it for me... especially since i've been reading his first book, the irresistible revolution... it goes into depth about his life and how he got into ministry... and it talks a lot about the community he lives in with the simple way... and then to hear him speak at bethel and in chicago... i don't know... it just helped me to connect even more with that ministry... living in intentional community and becoming invested in your neghborhood... searching for opportunities to get involved helping the poor, sick and desperate people that are just around the corner...
and then when trevor shared everything thursday night... that was a really powerful night too... like i felt something happen in our group that night... specifically our house group...
tonight at resonate... as seth was covering everything that we experienced in chicago, i was becoming very emotional... especially towards the end when we played the shane claiborne video... i just began to weep and continued to do so all through worship...
and then i went over to joey's to watch american idol and it was idol gives back week! ha... so there was a 2 1/2 hour special where tons of celebrities rally together and raise/donate money towards all kinds of different causes... aids, malaria, education, katrina, poverty, etc... and so of course through the whole show my brother and i sat down in his basement sobbing like a couple of saps... ha...

PILAR!!! i can literally feel God giving me his heart for the poor and broken people in the world! and it feels incredible!"

shift

so this week i took a trip to chicago with my leadership team at resonate. we were checkin out a leadership conference called "shift" which was being held at willow creek church. this conference was life changing to say the least. there was so much that happened, and i don't think i'm going to be able to adequately explain everything, but i'll do my best. the conference consisted of 3 days packed with speakers, worship and other cool experiences. the first day had 3 main sessions, each led by a different speaker. in between each speaker we would worship God.

the first main session was led by author, speaker & pastor brian mclaren. brian is a networker among innovative christian leaders whose teaching is stirring people all over the world to think in fresh ways about christian life and faith. during his session, he talked a lot about our societal system and how jacked up it is. his session was titled "everything must change". he talked about how our goals are prosperity, security and equity... and he illustrated a picture of a goldfish in a bowl and how if the goldfish continues to take in all the resources and only produces waste then there will be less and less room for the waste to go because the fish is continually growing larger and larger... eventually the fish dies from it's own toxicity. i probably butchered that... but it definitely raised some questions that i haven't really thought through before...

every worship session was led by charlie hall and his band. wow... this was some amazing worship people... charlie definitely has a gift... his connection with people was so real and he wasn't showing off at any point... he came in humbly with a heart to worship. so so good! you all need to go out and pick up some of his worship cd's. cool?

mark yaconelli was our speaker for the second main session. this guy was a stud. he's the co-founder and director of the Youth Ministry and Spirituality Project, and has spent the past 15 years working with students in local church, camp, and conference settings. this session was titled "failure, frustration & loss: the youth worker's path to holiness". he talked a lot about brokeness.... how youth ministry is designed to break the youth leader & how God is aking all of us to be broken. the questions he raised were pretty awesome... do i have an accurate understanding of what success is? or blessing? because if we look at the life of jesus... and we ask ourselves "was he successful?"... and if our answer is yes... then what does that look like for us if we're trying to be more like him? yaconelli also talked about being weary of the tendency to pretend... which is something i'm all too familiar with lately... the invitation was to become real... to hold suffering... and to carry the broken heart of jesus.

our last speaker for session 3 was none other than shane claiborne. this guy was incredibly inspiring! shane is one of the founders of the simple way, a philadelphia-based community of faith that spends much of their time feeding hungry folks, serving neighborhood children, running a community store, and pursuing peace and justice amongst the poor. shane is also the author of jesus for president, and the irresistible revolution. before i took off for this conference i was able to pick up his books and i started reading the irresistible revolution... it goes into depth about his story and how he got into ministry... and as i was reading i felt myself becoming more and more excited... like wow... this is it. this is what i want to do! and then hearing him speak at this conference really stirred up some dreams. within our community at resonate, we've been discussing the idea of starting a ministry house in st. paul... and at first i was very hesitant about being involved... the unknown can be pretty intimidating... but over the course of the last few weeks i've been feeling God leading me down a path that has a ton of potential to land me smack dab (no pun intended) in the middle of a ministry house!

and last but certainly not least... switchfoot was able to come do a Q&A for the conference... followed by an unplugged set by the band's front man... jon foreman. he recently started a solo project with the support of his band and he's released 3 of the 4 EP's so far... fall, winter and spring... the fourth one will be released this summer... ha.. can you guess what it will be called? jon's performance was incredible... it made my top 3 live performances list...

so yeah... needless to say... this conference was SO GOOD!

response yo

so i wanted to take time to reply to all of your wonderful comments on my last post. so this is my thank you post for those of you that took time to write your thoughts (:

Terri said...
i've said this before, but i honestly admire you danny. i'm very proud of the way you dig into your life with God. bless you sweetie.

-thanks momma... you raised me right! take some credit! (:

Dean said...
OK, OK, I'm feeling convicted enough already ;)
You really do dig deep and that honesty challenges me to take another hard look at where I'm at and what I'm painting over and covering up.
You go, wild man!

-thank you dean. ha... sorry to bring the conviction! it's very humbling knowing that my struggles are making people take a look into their own lives (:

Marcia Erickson said...
wow d...you are amazing...God is amazing...thank you for sharing what God is doing in you...i'm blessed...
ps...God is the Master artist!

-thank you shasha... YOU are amazing! ha... love you!

Pentimento said...
Danny - you GOT and explained the concept of Pentimento much better than I have!
When I think of the ripped and torn picture, the first thing that I saw was, of course, a mystery, and an adventure! Which immediately intrigues me. I once acquired an old torn up, faded hundred year old picture, and carefully and after much patience and the gentlest work, discovered a treasure that explained so much. I can't wait to see what appears on your canvas.

-thank you marcell! i never really understood what pentimento meant until di sent me the link to your post about it! i was completely blown away! it's pretty much the exact same idea! how cool is God?! thank you so much for sharing!

angie fabulous said...
good stuff, danno.
i'm reminded of the elevator music song we were listening to last night...
more of you, and less of me; more of you, and less of me, and more of you, more of you, Jesus.
:)
ps. definitely not "more of you, jeremy" either. :) :) :)

-thank you angie! SUCH a good song! ha... and i actually kind of liked jeremy's version... ha

di said...
i sure am sensing a unity of the spirit between your insights danny and this artist's
rendering. your canvas certainly is made of quality dna and comes from a noble bloodline that truly reflects the glory of Imago Dei. you are beautiful man.

-thank you so much di! this link you gave me was so cool! (:

Sarah said...
What a beautiful image, bro. I love it, and all your detail here makes it stand out even more. I love the honesty here, your truth-telling in the midst of this process. I can't wait to see what God does with it all.

-thank you sarah... i really liked this image too... i was like, "wow... thanks God..." ha... yes, i can't wait to see what He does... i'll keep you posted though (:

dave said...
nice!
don't ever loose that tender openness with what god is doing with you danny.
I find it fascinating how we constantly fill our lives with our stuff. stuff we think will make us happy because, after all we're the experts on ourselves. only to find out our "floor plans" are seriously flawed and we go back to the master builder to have him show us whats good and pure descent.
david had some phenomenal insight on this stuff. "CREATE in me a clean heart oh god. RENEW in me a right spirit"
creating. renewing. god is so cool. amazing grace saved a wretch like me . . .

-thank you poppa... your words here really touched me... i like how you shifted from God as the painter to God as the builder... He's really a master of all trades huh? love you poppa!

kirsten said...
danny, you are so ahead of the game bro. there are men & women of faith who die old & wrinkled without really getting this: that being stripped of ourselves hurts, it means letting go of what we know & lean most heavily upon. it even means letting go of our ideas of what is good & right sometimes. this is necessary so jesus can fill us with himself. he can't fill us if we aren't empty. gosh, that HURTS. but jesus did it (phil. 2). it makes sense that we need to also.
your momma & poppa have every reason to be proud of you. i'm just proud to know you.
you've painted a beautiful word picture here, one that inspires me to return to the foot of the cross, lay myself down, spread my arms and my hands wide open.
love you, bro.
*hugs*

-thank you ksissy! gosh i love you! ha.. "he can't fill us if we aren't empty"... so good... thank you so much for sharing your thoughts kirsten. you are wonderful!

Meli said...
beautiful.
really.
it makes me less mad at you.
:) j/k. j/k.
love.

-thanks meli... glad you're feeling less mad (:

di said...
thought of you danny as i was reading today's daily manna...looked up the Message version for this
a different kind of canvas
2 Corinthians 5
1-5For instance, we know that when these bodies of ours are taken down like tents and folded away, they will be replaced by resurrection bodies in heaven—God-made, not handmade—and we'll never have to relocate our "tents" again. Sometimes we can hardly wait to move—and so we cry out in frustration. Compared to what's coming, living conditions around here seem like a stopover in an unfurnished shack, and we're tired of it! We've been given a glimpse of the real thing, our true home, our resurrection bodies! The Spirit of God whets our appetite by giving us a taste of what's ahead. He puts a little of heaven in our hearts so that we'll never settle for less.

-thank you AGAIN di! (: this is super powerful and really hit home! it meets me exactly where i'm at...

Christianne said...
dude, danny. i totally feel you on all this, bro. God be with you, as he is also with me.

-thanks chrissy! i like your prayer at the end there... (:

Nathan said...
A friend of mine often says this, "Nathan, I feel like I'm being ripped out of the frame." I thought of that as I read your post.
Lot's of great insight there Danny. Emptiness is hard (I'm still there), but I also know that refilling is mind blowing . . . mos def worth it.
Thanks for another glimpse into your journey. It helps frame mine, so to speak and keep it in perspective.

-thank you nathan... i like that quote you slipped in here... being ripped out of the frame... that's a really cool way of putting it... and i really appreciate your feedback!

again... a big thank you to this community for the love and support!

so i got you these flowers

hey you. listen... i know lately things have been a little rocky between us. you've called and left messages that i haven't returned... and maybe you're feeling a little bit neglected. like this is a one sided conversation... but as shania twain put it, "you're still the one i run to, the one that i belong to"
so let's not let one post of unanswered comments come between us... i think we have something really beautiful going on here. don't throw it all away... can't you find it in your heart to accept these flowers and my apology?

ha... ok, for real though gang... sorry i've been absent the past week! i was hanging out with angie fab last night and she was like, "you suck at blogging" ha... things have been a bit busy lately, but i wanted you all to know that i really appreciate this community. you are all wonderful friends and you mean the world to me! thanks for being patient! (:

more posts to come... sooner than later ang