Hannah and Lucy

My daughter Hannah is five. Over the last few months, she has begun watching Narnia. She loves it. We were talking about it the other day and she told me that she really likes Lucy and wants to be like her. The pastor in me can't resist these moments. She and I had a great talk about Lucy and exactly how Hannah can be just like her. There is something beautiful about a little girl being the hero of another little girl. But Lucy is one of my heroes too. My Hannah has a heart that won't quit. She cares deeply about people, about those who are suffering. We've tried to teach her that she can do something about the suffering in the world. When she...

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LOST

Ok, seriously, can anyone tell me what the heck is going on? This new season of LOST is unbelievable. We're starting to get some answers, but it seems like the answers only add to the confusion. For instance, when is all of this island stuff and the flashes taking place? Is it in the immediate days after the six got off the island? Didn't the flashes start right after Sawyer swam back up on shore? In that case, then why is Desmond suddenly getting the "memory" from Faraday when it appears he has been off the island for 3 years (he has a two year old son for instance). So are we to assume the flashes and all of the mess happening on the island keeps happening for three years until the six are finally going to come back and make it all right?Breathe deeply. It will be ok. 4 8 15 16 23 ...

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Skype

I'm thanking God today for technology. Seriously. What a cool time we live in where we can talk to people face to face over a computer, even though we may be separated by thousands of miles. Last night we ushered my mom into the world of skype. Living on opposite coasts has been tough on all of us, so this is a much welcomed addition to our lives. Is it weird to thank God for Skype? Which gets me thinking, what other technologies are out there that make you thankful?By the way, if you have Skype and would like to connect, you can always add me at jandkcopela...

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A Dream

I've lived in a little town most of my life. And for the most part it has been a largely white town. Almost six months ago now, my family and I moved to Durham, NC where whites and blacks pretty much split the demographic. I can't tell you what perspective I've gained in these few short months about the significance of our nation's first African-American president. Politics aside, and I realize that's a big difficult step for many people, this is one of the most important moments of our nation's history. I know that many people didn't vote for Obama. There were many whites and blacks that voted for McCain and others. But seriously, setting aside all of that - this moment is huge. Just before Obama was sworn in today, a couple of black girls from our neighborhood came over to our house. They...

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The Story I Believe In

So we watched this video at New Hope church here in Durham today. It's about 10 minutes in length, and powerful. As I dream about not only telling the Story of Jesus, but living out what it means and co-writing with him the next chapter - this is what I me...

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More on Story

I continue to wrestle with the idea of Story. I haven't written an official document yet for our church that describes everything we mean and entail when we say "Story Church." Part of the reason for that is that I feel like the idea continues to grow in my mind, and I'm not ready to commit to one idea yet. But let me go ahead and think a bit here in this format about one aspect of story that I've been thinking about lately.First off let me give one assumption from which I work. The Story that we find in Scripture, and that we see unfolding around us all the time is dynamic, it's happening. It hasn't just happened. The Story continues onward. This is really an important point. If I understand that the Story is still being told, that it isn't over yet, then my part in that Story suddenly becomes...

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Responding to Injustice

I had a great discussion last night with Story Church about the Christian's response to injustice. We were studying Matthew 5:38-42. In this passage, Jesus teaches that the old way of dealing with injustice was "eye for eye" and "tooth for tooth". This served a couple of purposes, I'm sure. One was to provide a very practical and easy to understand system of justice. You kill my goat, your goat gets killed as well. You take from me, you get taken from in equal measure. I'm sure it made people think twice about doing something when they knew that the punishment for their crime would be exactly the same thing they are doing to someone else. The other benefit of this system was probably to avoid what many people today call "the Myth of Redemptive Violence." That is, it kept things from escalating....

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2009

Ten years ago, people were frantically getting ready for the end of the world, also known as Y2K. People were stocking up on gold (maybe that's why we see all these commercials now about sending your gold away in an envelope - seriously, who does that?), non-perishables, water, guns and propane. I must admit, that this year feels pretty weighty to me. It is pregnant with possibility and the unknown. I feel like I should be stocking up on something, preparing for something. 2009 will be a year that will change me. It will be a year that I am stretched in new ways. It will be a year where I learn to lead in ways that I have never experienced before. This is the year that Story Church will or will not get off the ground. It's the year that my baby girl will start school. And it's the year that...

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