New website

I haven't posted here in a long time. You can check out the early days in the progress of Headwaters here. But for what's up now, go to our website.

Headwaters serving news

At Headwaters we spent last Sunday doing trail work with the Prickly Pear Land Trust. Check out the story and pictures here.

What's on your plate?

I just got back from the grocery store. It was a quick trip for some basics--apples and bananas, a bunch of vegetables (the artichokes look good), and some meat. As I was paying for it, the checker says to me, "Everything you're getting is healthy."

It seems kind of pathetic for that to be noteworthy! The stores are full of all sorts of great food, but so often we're buying all sorts of processed junk full of multi-syllabic chemical ingredients that probably didn't even exist ten years ago. It is nice to eat real stuff without all of the sodium and trans-fats and corn syrup (that stuff's in everything!).

What's on your plate?

God's Love

Yesterday a number of us from Headwaters went down to God’s Love, the local homeless shelter, and made and served a meal to about 50 people. We first met at ExplorationWorks at 10 a.m. for a brief service and then headed over to serve.

A pile of onions and peppers got chopped, beef and sausage got browned, salads got prepped, and the big spaghetti meal all came together pretty quickly. Meanwhile, others got some windows washed, tables wiped down, and some serious crud cleaned off the chairs. In all, it took about 90 minutes to get everything ready for the mid afternoon meal. We were also able to get a truckload of food from Helena Food Share for the women’s shelter (which is run separately from the men’s side where we were making the meal). The second shift came in later in the afternoon to get the noodles cooked, serve the meal, and clean up.

On the weekend, God’s Love serves breakfast and then a meal at 3:30. Typically, one employee makes this all happen! We had 32 of us between the two shifts (and a few did both shifts).

It was great to bring in the food and make and serve the meal. But more than just a meal was made. People serving alongside one another got to know each other a little better. People got to meet and talk with the people who came for the meal. Hopefully we fed both body and spirit in our efforts.

Piles of food

While I don't have the final numbers, our food drive was an unqualified success. Michele from Helena Food Share hoped we'd get perhaps two palates of food. We filled almost three! With about 3200 pounds of food. So many people gave generously; it was great to see.

Collecting food donations at Safeway

This coming Sunday, Headwaters will be partnering with Helena Food Share for a food drive at Safeway in Helena. We'll be there from 9 to 5 taking donations for those who are in need in our community.

Helena Food Share has been experiencing record levels of demand over the past months. To get an idea of the need, consider what Food Share gave out on one day recently:

500 cans of fruit/vegetables
300 cans of beans
200 cans of tuna
300 prepared meals (like macaroni and cheese)
80 jars of peanut butter
80 boxes of cereal
...and much more. In one day!

So if you're going to shop this weekend, consider shopping at Safeway and making a donation. It's easy to do: notices placed throughout the store describe the kinds of products that are needed. Just purchase some needed items while you shop and drop them off as you leave the store.

And if you aren't able to donate during our food drive, fear not! Safeway always has a donation box for Food Share in their entryway, so donate anytime. Donations can also be brought to Food Share from 8 to 4, Monday through Friday. They're located at 1616 Lewis. Questions? Call them at 443-3663.

On Tuesday after the food drive we'll be sorting the donations at Food Share. If you would like to be involved with this, leave a comment.

Almost home

Dateline: Denver International Airport. I'm almost home from the Covenant Midwinter Conference in Chicago. I was supposed to fly home this morning at 9, but my flight got canceled. So instead of getting home at 2 or so, I'll be home closer to midnight.

But by being bumped, I got to hear the Friday morning speaker, Gary Haugen, from the International Justice Mission. He was not only a great speaker with great delivery, he was inspiring! Hopefully more later, but now I'm getting on a plane.

Church Planting Connection in Chicago

Today I'm in Chicago meeting with other people starting Covenant churches. It's cool to see what other people are doing and get new ideas. We're all in some ways doing very similar things, yet all a bit differently, and encountering different challenges. If I get any brilliant insights I'll let you know.

One thing I love about the Covenant church is that they always welcome people from outside our denomination to come to these kinds of things. Every time I've been to a church planting training event (3 times) there have been people who aren't Covenant pastors who have come to learn and see if they want to either plant a Covenant church or have their existing independent church join the Covenant.

This time is no exception. I was talking with a friend from Helena who is in seminary in Chicago when a guy I've known for quite a long time walked up to say hi. He's from another denomination and been working for a Christian organization for a long time (both of which I better not mention) but is here checking out church planting with the Covenant. It was great to catch up and talk about what the Covenant is like. And I was surprised to see him, to say the least!

Friday night at Headwaters

Last Friday night we had a great time at Headwaters as we focused on how we can serve the Helena community. We came up with great ideas, made good connections, and had lots of great food. Tabouli, empanadas, bruschetta, guacamole, chicken satay, dal, really spicy soup, cheese and more. It was a good spread.

Check out what we came up with at the Headwaters blog.

We'll do this kind of thing again. It will be great. And we'll have more great food.

Let it melt...

Well, happy new year. The snow is melting like a flood in Helena and I'm really glad it didn't freeze last night. We would've had a skating rink around our house!
The last time we had a worship service we were dealing with freezing pipes and a failing water heater at our house. Hopefully this weekend will be a little less eventful! We're back at ExplorationWorks this Sunday. Refreshments at 9:30, service at 10. I'm headed over there today to see what the new exhibits look like--since we'll have to make sure we can move them for our worship space!

Catching up

Kinda fell off the blog wagon for a while. Life's been eventful and blogging energy has been low.

We had our Preview service last Sunday, the 14th. We woke up to -15 degree temperatures and frozen pipes. But the pipes didn't burst, the service went well, and the water heater pressure release valve that also failed that day got fixed. We even had 20 adult visitors at our service, which was great.

So then it was time to fight the crud. Still on that fight. Parents are supposed to arrive from Seattle today. We'll see if their flight can get out of snowbound Sea-Tac.

Kids are on break and very happy about that. Our cat has learned how to use the toilet, which boggles my mind, but which is very good, since she's been spending more time inside due to the sub-zero temps. We bought a minivan. Meanwhile, the other car is frozen and won't start. The presents are wrapped, the house is clean, and it's time to get ready for Christmas Eve.

We'll be back at ExplorationWorks for a low-key service of candles, carols, and the Christmas story. 5:30 pm. We'll have childcare for little kids (3 and under).

And now this stream of consciousness is at an end.

Troubles, opportunities, and the Trinity

I had a conversation yesterday that reminded me once again that so much of what we learn in life comes during the difficult times. It's when things are falling apart that we take stock of what matters most. It's when challenges come that opportunities arise. And it's when life is difficult that we can actually work up the resolve to risk and take an opportunity.

When things are good, there is little impetus to change. When everything is fine, we tend to slip into cruise control. I don't think this is rocket science; I think most of us get this. And yet how easy it is to try to avoid at all costs anything that might make us uncomfortable.

Do you see difficulties and crises as times of opportunity? Or things to be avoided like the plague? Troubles will come. And along with them, opportunities. But we'll miss the opportunities if we see troubles simply as things to be fixed so that we can get back to the status quo.

Here's something to think about: God isn't interested in us just maintaining the status quo. God is calling us to grow and develop, to become people of strength and courage and conviction and integrity and compassion and grace... people like Jesus. God isn't interested in the status quo. He's calling us to press on through the difficulties to a future of opportunity.

Now this might seem like a leap, but this is one place that I find the doctrine of the Trinity so astonishingly practical and helpful. God the Father loves us as a loving father--more so than any earthly father. God the Son is interceding for us before the Father. He's praying for us. (I think too many Christians miss this part. It's easy to think of God sitting around in heaven waiting for us to get our act together. And yet Jesus--the Son of God, seated at the right hand of the Father--is ever interceding for us.) And God the Spirit dwells in us, ever pointing our attention to Jesus.

So when troubles come, I know that I am not on my own. God the Father isn't sitting around in heaven hoping things work out for me. He's overseeing things--even the troubles--and working things out for good. Jesus--God the Son--is interceding for me; he's more concerned with my troubles than I am! And God the Spirit is within me so that I may become the person God created me to be.

Don't get me wrong. I don't like troubles. I don't relationship troubles, parenting troubles, financial troubles, car troubles, or any troubles you can think of. They're not fun. But when I look to Jesus and press on through the difficulty, then I find the opportunity in the trouble.

"Let it snow"--and it did!

The snow seemed to fall endlessly in Helena. The first snow since October, the snow all the hunters wish had come earlier to drive their prey down from the hills. Instead, the snow came and drove helpless drivers into something like 40 accidents, including rollovers on I-15 and an 11 car chain reaction in downtown.

All this on the night of our cookie decorating party. But we were undaunted and a number of people came and enjoyed great cookies, cider, and coffee at the Vanilla Bean.

I did hear from people, though, who were planning to come or even on their way and had to abandon their plans. The traffic reports were more appropriate for Seattle: pervasive gridlock, cars creeping along Montana Ave. at 5 miles per hour, cars sliding down hills, cars in the ditch, cars abandoned as people gave up and walked.

Even so, the cookies were tasty and the conversation was great. My younger daughter, Carolyn, found the perfect way to angle for more cookie action: she "helped" the younger children with their decorating efforts.

Got a craving for cookies?

Our cookie decorating party is coming up next week. Check out the details here.

Becoming apprentices

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

On a certain Sabbath in the synagogue in Nazareth, Jesus quoted this passage from Isaiah and declared that he was fulfilling this prophecy, that this is what he was going to be about. He was setting his agenda for his ministry.

And his agenda is our agenda. This is what we want to be about at Headwaters.

Jesus’ whole deal was that he chose twelve guys to follow him around and learn to do the things he did. And he told them to do the same: make disciples. The idea is that Jesus trained people to be like him, who would train others to be like him, and so on, and so on, and so on.

The world used to work like this—you had a master craftsman and a bunch of apprentices learning to be like the master. You had fathers teaching sons the family business. And this is exactly what being a disciple is about. Christians talk a lot about Jesus being “Lord.” Lord just means master. And not just “boss” in the sense of someone who tells you what to do. No, we’re talking about master in the sense of someone you emulate, someone you learn to be like.

Probably where we see this in our culture most readily is in…yes…Star Wars. Jedi Masters with their apprentices following them around learning to be like them. Learning how to use a light saber and the ways of the force and how to do Jedi mind tricks on the weak willed…

So when Jesus says he’s about proclaiming good news to the poor, we better get on board with that. He’s the master. If the master is about proclaiming good news to the poor, we as a church better be about that, too. If we think that Christianity is just believing in Jesus so that we can go to heaven when we die, we’re missing a big part of what Jesus is all about. When Jesus says he’s about setting prisoners free and releasing the oppressed, we better be about that as well. Christianity can’t be just about Bible studies and fellowship and fun. It’s about working for justice, showing compassion, offering mercy. Jesus’ agenda is our agenda. He’s the master and we’re learning to be like him, learning to care about what he cares about, learning to prioritize what he prioritizes.

Check out pictures from our preview worship over at our Headwaters blog.

Encountering the Great Physician

Encountering Jesus can be painful. So often we think of an encounter with God as this wonderful, warm, fulfilling experience. We forget that most people who encountered God in the Bible--or even just an angel--were terrified.

Yesterday I had to go to the foot doctor to get a plantar wart removed that had gotten infected, had a nasty abscess, and was giving me a lot of pain. The doctor was this easy-going guy. He liked to make small talk and tell stories. But he also had to cut this thing out of my foot. And it hurt. And I'm still having trouble walking.

It was very, very good to get the bad stuff out of my foot. But it involved pain. It was inconvenient. It took a while to heal. But there was no way around it. I could have had it frozen—-much less pain doing that. But I’d tried that before and it kept coming back, and now it was all infected. I needed to look my doctor in the eye and ask him to go in there and take it out. Knowing that it would hurt. (My apologies to you who think this is gross. And my apologies to those of you who’ve had to undergo much more serious pain in order to be made well…)

Encountering Jesus can be painful. Sometimes in the church people call him “The Great Physician.” And it sounds so wonderful and comforting. But maybe “The Great Surgeon” would be more to the point. I knew a pastor that called him “the great surgeon of the heart.” Jesus exposes people’s hearts so that he can heal them.

I really wish the foot doctor could have vaporized the bad tissue in my foot and healed me with no pain whatsoever. That's how it works in Star Trek. But not in real life. And certainly not when it comes to matters of the heart.

Jesus is the Great Physician. And he loves us and desires our well being. But he is also skilled with the knife and unafraid to use it on our calloused, stony hearts.

Psalm 139:23-24 says:
"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

Here's my prayer: that I would be willing to submit to Jesus' surgery, that I would not shy away from it. That I would not be satisfied with painkillers to numb the pain and in so doing ignore the root of the problem. That I would make David's prayer in Psalm 139 my prayer.

New blog

Just what the world needs. Another blog.



We're working on developing an actual website for Headwaters, but until then, I wanted to have a web presence that actually had our name in it. So go to http://headwaterscc.blogspot.com/ to see what's new. I've started out by posting some info on our values, vision, as well as some practical details.

Art Walk

I hope you can make time for the Art Walk on Friday. Plan for temps in the 40s, but hopefully no rain. Here are some samples of Tiffany Bushilla's photography that we'll be showing at the old taproom.





So come check out the rest of her stuff and have some yummy food. At our dessert benefit for Food Share we had fabulous sweets. This time we'll focus on savory treats!

Big weekend coming up

This will be a big weekend for Headwaters. On Friday night we'll be participating in the Fall Art Walk downtown. Come see us at the old Blackfoot River Brewery Co. taproom at 54 S. Park Ave. next to Miller's Crossing. We'll have food, drink, and the photography of Tiffany Bushilla.

On Sunday, we're back at ExplorationWorks for our November worship service. Doors open at 9:30 a.m. for coffee, tea, and refreshments and the service begins at 10:00.

At our previous worship gathering in October, we learned a few things about using the space at ExplorationWorks. So this time we'll be setting up the room a little bit differently. We'll have a more extensive program for children during the service. And we'll also be celebrating communion during our time together. My message will be taken from Luke 4:16-30 which tells of Jesus preaching in his hometown. This is where Jesus sets the agenda for his ministry--an appropriate place for us to start. Join us!

Sweet details

So what happened at our Sweet Time benefit for Food Share?

Michele Hill gave a great presentation about what Food Share does and what the need is like in Helena...

A number of people talked to her about volunteer opportunities...

Michele discussed how the increased demand for their services has resulted in people needing to wait outside in the cold. One of the people who attended last night may be able to help Food Share with a creative solution to the problem...

Some folks have offered to donate the meat from their deer hunting...

We raised around $900 (and the money is still coming in!)...

And people enjoyed a lot of great desserts!

It's exciting to see people make donations, get involved, and come up with creative ways to help out this great cause. Thanks again to all who came, all who helped put this on, and all who gave. I'm already looking forward to doing it again!