Mike Rusch
Follower, husband, father, orphan advocate, in need of grace, wanna be farmer, not great at small talk, trying to be a person of no reputation, and restoring with Cobblestone Project
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11 posts tagged Church
Just finished “You Lost Me” by David Kinnaman & I would highly recommend for everyone from faith/movement leaders to families.
Great insights that can help guide discussions of faith in a culture that is seeking answers.
“I think the reason the church is not good at telling stories is because we’ve not taught people that they have a powerful story to tell.”
Practitioner #4
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
Acts 2:42-48
I had an opportunity to spend some time in Oklahoma City this month talking about the orphan care and church.
“Mike Rusch talks about adoption and the church’s role in the continuum.”
Special thanks to Ben Nockels of Skyline Church for inviting me to be a part of the work they are doing. These conversations will continue in February at Idea Camp Orphan Care - hope you can make it.
Great post on QIdeas.com from Charles Lee on Collaboration.
Follow along with Charles at his blog, !deation Conference and The !dea Camp
“The local church is plan A to end the orphan crisis. There is no plan B”
“A church that lives within its four walls is no church at all”
Morgan Chilulu, African Pastor
The Idea Camp reflections
Had the chance to attend The Idea Camp in DC, and maybe the place to start is with a short behind the scenes video of the event…
It was an incredible few days to spend with friends (both old and new), and really use the time in a way that pushes everyone’s ideas, thoughts and perspectives forward in the name of helping our communities (and our world).
My biggest take-away? A new hero.
I don’t have many, but Greg Russinger (founder of Just One) was a huge inspiration to me either because his words spoke to where I am in life, or because he lives what he speaks (maybe both). Using the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10: 30-37), he developed the theme of “presence” in three themes of “presence as reaction, risk and return”.
As a Reaction…will we have presence to enter into suffering? Allowing their suffering to become mine? (Luke 10: 30-33)
As Risk…justice and the desire to be just, requires time (presence). Presence is costly and messy. It requires giving up of control. (Luke 10: 34)
As Return…returning will always cost us more. Presence as an element of return decides if what we are doing will last or end. Are we going to be a people who commits to return? We will see it through? (Luke 10: 35)
Why does this all matter?
It matters because as we move and act within brokenness both as individuals and as communities in the hope of caring for he poor and the oppressed, it will be our ability to be present that will ultimately determine if we will succeed or fail.
The questions in front of me know: how do I react to brokenness, will I allow the risk of brokenness and can I continue to return to brokenness? If I can, I belong. If I can’t, it’s time to step aside.
Would love to continue to explore these concepts with anyone, but just too much to capture with words right now. But, I found a new hero nonetheless.
In fact, felt like it was time to update the title of my blog to reflect this concept “…pursuing presence”.
I’d encourage you to spend a little time on their website (http://www.theideacamp.com), to get a feel for the types of topics that were discussed. I had ten pages worth of notes from the different forums and workshops. Happy to share if you’re interested…just shoot me an email.
Next Idea Camp is in Portland Nov 11th and 12th around the theme of “Being Present in the City”. Love that as it applies to our work with Cobblestone Project. Going to try and make the schedule work so that Corrie and I can both attend.
“Most people use the city to build a great church; why don’t you use your church to build a great city”
Ray Bakke to Tim Keller
We are all in this together…by Hillsong United
Love this video…so powerful
