Hugh’s Musings

Hugh’s mostly weekly blog. If you want to receive the Adullam newsletter, click the sign-up block to the right.

November 7, ‘07

Last Sunday at the Gathering, some really cool stuff happened. If you weren’t there, we sat everyone at round tables and Kevin and Ryan led us through some dialogue regarding “intentional community”. In fine Adullam form, I noticed that after I dismissed everyone, no one left. In fact it was about 60 minutes later that the discussion finally ended at the tables. This week, two people emailed me thanking us for “forcing” the issue and shared that the people at their table seemed to be hand picked to start new villages.

Last night I had the chance to meet with three people that are new to Adullam. As usual I shared the vision, the story and all those dumb diagrams I usually draw to try to explain what’s unique about Adullam. One dude said that his parents are a little concerned that they are going to Adullam, referencing the word “cult”. I’m not suprised; Matt and I get this all the time.

I think, I’ve finally figured out why people think we’re weird. Two things only… one, we enjoy beer; two, we put as much emphasis on relationships together as we do about our relationship with God. Although, I think this is simply a mirror of what we see in the early faith communities, apparently it’s quite strange for white-bread americans. Some even think it’s of the underworld.

As I think about our intentionality towards the Adullam ways, I am starting to see that we’re not for everyone. We’re not for people that just want a sermon and donut, we’re not just for people that would rather watch CSI than go be with people or help people. Besides that, we don’t seem to connect well with people from Nebraska, Iowa, the Dakotas, and some suburbs of Texas! Just kidding on all that.

Seriously though, the communal ways of the ancient faith communities go against our natural selfish, insecure ways like a salmon swimming upstream to spawn. We can get there, but it’s going to be a fight!! Would it be easier to just do church, and leave everyone alone. Yep. But deep down, our communal buy-in to struggle against the grain of our lives and our culture will produce a new story that real God seekers are looking for.

As we continue to move toward Ahava, take time to be silent and reflect upon what God is calling us all to. Be honest, be together, and be changed with us!

Can’t wait to see you all and continue our dialogue Sunday.

October 12, ‘07

This week we begin a very special tradition for Adullam (our first one!) On November 28th we’ll be holding our inaugural “Ahava Fest”. Ahava was a river that Ezra led his people to as they were re-establishing God’s temple on earth. As he gathered the people for a fast, they sought how to humble themselves and what do do with their children and all their possessions. It was a time of great communal intentionality towards God’s ways.

As we are going through 2 Corinthians, we’re challenging our level of maturity and seeking God for what He would do with the Adullam community here in Denver and around the world. Ahava Fest will be our way of going together into greater mission. Beginning this Sunday, we’ll walk through six weeks of spiritual preparation and focus towards this night of celebration and consecration. Over  this time, each person will be given the opportunity to look ahead to 2008 and make intentional decisions about how to live in light of this great call together.

Mark Wednesday, November 28th on your calendar! It will be an incredible night of celebration, food, wine, music, and friendship.

I look forward to filling you in on the details this Sunday.

Love y’all. Hugh

October 4, ‘07

Greetings everyone! We're going to try something a little different to get some more help with our children under 4 on Sundays. If you haven’t wandered back to the nursery lately, then you probably didn’t notice we’ve had a baby boom over the last 2 years, and now are averaging 15-20 kids in the nursery each week. If every kid under 4 on our list came on the same Sunday - we would be pushing 40 kids. The good news is that we now have a plan and will be adding a person to the Adullam staff to coordinate and organize the volunteers.

First step, we are going to expand our recruiting base beyond just moms, to include newly married and single gals. This isn’t just another way to get volunteers, but was an idea brought up by one of our moms with older kids as an opportunity for some mentoring relationships to be formed. So, even if you've never changed a diaper, you can now serve in the nursery and have some good conversations at the same time.

In order to make this a pleasurable experience with minimal commitment, our goal is to get a list of 12 moms partnered with 12 gals (without kids) to serve in the nursery on a rotating basis - the more volunteers we get the less often each person will be scheduled. So, the near term goal is to get a rotation going for one Sunday every third month (12 weeks), and we think we have the potential to do this right away - we just need 24 volunteers.

Second step, decrease the number of kids in the nursery by graduating the 2-4 year olds to a Toddler Class. The toddler class will be for the 2-4 year olds in the large dance room (near the gym). We are going to ask dads and any able body guys to sign up to play with the toddlers on Sunday morning (the key word is play/have fun - we even have a padded floor). We may show some videos, do some fun Bible lessons down the road - but the first step is getting the kids familiar with the new arrangement. The volunteer goal is similar to that of the nursery (1 week every 3 months), so sign yourself up and someone else too! Again, we're looking for 24 volunteers (2 per week), which will mean you'll only need to serve 4 times per year.

If you would be willing to serve in the nursery or toddler room - email Matt or call 303.885.9059.

There will also be sign-up sheets on the table in the back each Sunday in October. We also ask everyone that is interested to please fill out a simple background check so we can continue to provide a safe environment for our children!

Thanks and Blessings, The Adullam Leadership

You won’t want to miss this Sunday!! I’ve got my best Friend Phil Graf coming from Amsterdam to speak to us. This is the dude that not only gave me my Harley, but has been one of the most influential people in my life. You’ll be glad you came! Also, another buddy from LA named Eric that will be giving Jason a break.

Much love, hugh

September 27, ‘07

Hi Friends,

A couple days ago, I got an email from someone who just moved to town. She heard about Adullam and shot me an email asking what was unique about us. I wasn't sure how to respond, but eventually I wrote, "Well, outside of being committed to Christ, we party alot... in fact party is sacrament to us. I'm not sure if we'll see her, but I've often said, the best thing about Adullam is how much we do together outside of a main church service. Often these times are at weddings, going to hear Jason, Sam and Amanda play live music at local pubs or restraunts, park gatherings and time in our villages. Writing to her spurred on an idea that we've decided to now make our "first" Adullam tradition. 

On Wednesday, November 28th we're going to have our first annual "Adullam Gala Event." I looked up the word "GALA" this morning and it means "To make merry, to have pleasure, to celebrate. Good enough for me!

So, mark your calendar and get ready to celebrate what God has done in Adullam this last year. (Live music with Braddigan, great wine, wonderful gifts, vision for the new year, tons of food, maybe even line dancing) In the coming weeks we'll fill you in on the details.

This Friday Night @ 6:30 "Welcome to Adullam" gig at my home. If you're new to Adullam, please come and get to know a bunch of other rookies, hear more about Adullam, and let us get to know you.

I'll throw some soup and bread together.

Mapquest 9859 S. Field Way, Littleton 80127

Much love, hugh

September 20, ‘07

This week I thought I'd give you a few words from the book Matt and I have been working on. In this section we're talking about how important our posture is in influencing the hearts of people.

Posture is important because it can either obscure the message of truth or it can enhance and pave the way for a clear rendering of the truth. In North America, people don't have any sense of the true Christian message anymore because the face of that message looks so unlike the founder. Christianity is now almost impossible to explain, not because the concepts aren't intelligible, but because the living, moving, speaking examples of our faith don't line up with the message. Our poor posture overshadows the most beautiful story and reality the world has ever known.

Sometimes I wonder how we got to this point. Why did pagan onlookers hold the early church in such high respect, but today's non-Christians view the modern day church with such disdain? I think one of the main culprits has been our paradigm of evangelism. In the name of "getting someone saved," we have primarily focused on communicating a message of truth to the world. There's nothing wrong with that, except that we've prioritized the verbals over the non-verbals, the message over the method or the proclamation over the posture.

We assume that if we can just get the idea across, then it will be up to the person to respond, whether we do it correctly or not. Maybe we also think that in order to get God's approving glance, it's our duty share "truth" even if our modus operandi is "Obnoxious for Jesus . . . and loving it."

Focusing on what we say without regard to how we say it doesn't work in marriage, with our kids, in politics, or in any other social arrangement. So why do we think it would work with God? Do we actually think he is happy with us for alienating his world?

The idea of posture helps us realize that truth is important, but according to scripture, truth is not the only thing, or the most important thing. The most important thing is whether or not people are attracted to the truth; drawn into the truth, and able to understand and receive the truth.

Consider God's instruction to us through the book of Proverbs "A gentle answer turns away wrath" (Proverbs 15:1). That must mean that God cares quite a bit that we be concerned with the "how" of what we say, not just the "what."

Paul shares his insights on posture in 1 Thessalonians 2:7-8: with those who were coming to faith "But we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. We love you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us." An expanded paraphrase might be, "because we found ourselves emotionally attached to you all, we couldn't just preach at you. We knew you needed time to process your faith and the only way to help you understand the big picture was to stay with you longer. We knew the message would make more sense if you saw it lived out in our lives."

When we focus on the message only, what are we saying to people? Maybe, that they really aren't dear to us? Is it possible that to share four great truths about God without giving them a part of our lives might actually communicate the wrong thing? Paul knew that a message without an attractive tangible person embodying and delivering it would fall on deaf ears or be lost amid all the other faiths of that time. What makes the Gospel good news isn't the concept, but the real life person in front of them that have been changed by it.

Peter also speaks of posture when in 1 Peter 3:15 he says, "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect." These early Christians actually expected that if they embodied the message, they wouldn't have to target people or go after them. They enjoyed the alternative of waiting for people to approach them with curiosity and interest because of what they saw these early Christians being and doing.

In our Adullam Network, we specifically ask people not to try to be "evangelistic." We suggest to them that if people aren't asking about their lives, then we haven't postured our faith well enough or long enough. We're observing that every story of conversion and transformation happened without anyone being approached with a message. The message certainly has gotten out, not as our main priority but as our gentle response to their curiosity.

When posture is wrong, you'll always be perceived to be an enemy or judge. When your posture is correct, you'll actually be perceived to be an advocate, a person who supports and speaks in favor of or pleads for another.

September 12, ‘07

Hopefully you were with us this last Sunday at the Gathering. We were blessed to have Brad Corrigan sharing the story of his concert in Madison Square Garden this last month. He gave us a glimpse into many incredible moments that clearly witnessed of Christ's presence in the world. One of the most tangible was when the entire 20,000 person crowd turned toward the stage and lifted their hands in solidarity towards the people in Zimbawbwe. It was a sea of hands, outstretched and lifted towards the heavens with the intent of blessing, with the hope of change and restoration for a war torn country.

Most involved probably had no idea what they were a part of, but after Brad shared the story with me, we recognized it as the hand of God. You see, several weeks before the event, I called Brad and told him that I was woken at 2:12am with a vivid dream . (I don't normally get weird dreams unless I ate too much pizza the night before) I had a clear picture of people raising their hands and recieving and extending a blessing at the concert. That's all I saw, and that's all I knew.

To then hear that this scene actually happened taught me a few lessons. First, that God is deeply embedded in the midst of the world and that wherever his people are, He desires to show His power and love. Secondly, that Christians aren't the only people that bless the world. I'm sure most of the money that was raised by the concert for the relief effort in Zimbawbwe came from those that don't know Christ. Ecclesiastes says the God has put eternity in the hearts of every person. That means, God creates people to want to bless people. Everyone wants to feel that they have a higher purpose for life.

Those of us who know Christ should understand what a privelage we have to know the One who has created us and given us all good things, but also rejoice anytime, anyone extends a hand of tangible blessing to the world. God hates pain, suffering, and war, He despises unjustice, greed, and poverty. The kingdom is more than just getting to heaven, it's being heaven to people here on earth.

May Adullam be a people of extreme blessing and may we continue to deeply embed our lives into the dark cracks and crevices of this world.

September 5, ‘07

Hi Friends,

As we head into this new fall, I wanted to update you on some changes we're going to have to make due to our growth. The summer was casual, but we added another 40 people to our network and as the fall calms down, we will need to make some adjustments.

First, we want to stay where we’re at as long as we can. The rent is cheap and we want to remain true to our value of not spending a bunch of money on facilities.

To do this, we’re going to need to provide nursery and elementary age children’s church for the whole gathering time. As we've talked to parents, it seems to be a win/win as the kids will have more fun and time for learning and we'll be able to get up to 200 adults in the big room.

We’d like to begin this as soon as possible, but we’ll need to solidify a new crew for the nursery as well as more helpers for our kids up through 5th grade.

We specifically need someone who would like to head up the nursery. This would include scheduling workers, and keeping tabs on the supplies with some minor email communications. Please email Hugh if you’re interested.

We’ll also be asking all new moms who have to be in the nursery anyway, to commit to one Sunday a month to help out. Both Julie and Julia, who work with our kids need to add 6-8 new helpers to work with the younger kids. Please contact me again if you can commit to one Sunday a month.

Thanks for all your help!!

Hugh

MOPS: Jen Lenzen would like all new moms to know about a local MOPS group for mothers of preschoolers that she’s involved with. If you’re interested email Jen, at sjlenzen@msn.com

August 23, ‘07

As I reflect on this last Sunday, I simply can’t get past the incredible privilege we all had to be together and experience the witness of baptism. We had 9 planned “dunks” and one spontaneous baptism. Here’s a list of some of the signifcant moments.

• People being baptized by normal folks instead of the paid pros. Ryan was able to dip Paul and Jessica, Greg was able to dip Troy and Julie, Laur and KC dipped Kim, and a Lou and Sean got to help with Tim. Each represented a depth of community and influence on their stories.
• I loved how open our experience was to onlookers. Jet skiers slowed down to watch and we have some great photos of strangers smiling as they watched you.
• At the end, simple communion, and spontaneous swimming and eating. What could be better. May God grant us this privelage each year!!

August 10, ‘07

SORRY FOR THE CHANGE

Due to some schedule difficulties with some of our folks who are getting baptized, we have to move the Baptism/Park Gathering to August 19th. That's the Sunday after this next one. So please mark your calendar and be with us for our most important gathering of the year. 

Please email Hugh if you're considering being baptized.

We'll also be moving the time forward and enjoying a “Brunch” together instead of Lunch.  So please note the changes below.

• 8:30-8:45: Enter the Park (Chatfield State Park)
• Bring $6.00 to get your car in.
• 8:45-9:45: Brunch: We'll provide flapjacks and bacon & coffee. You all bring fruit, pastries, juice,or any other breakfast items (Gene, bring the breakfast burritos!!)
• 9:45-10:30 Baptism time in the lake
• After Baptism: Hang time/volleyball, horseshoes, etc. 
• Done at Noon!!

Chatfield State Park is just south of C470 off Wadsworth. Once inside the park go Left at main road and follow until you see "Massey Draw" Turn right into parking lot.  (This is a different location that we were at last time!!)

Things to bring

Sun lotion, lawnchairs, volleyball stuff, sunglasses, bug spray, whatever else sounds fun to you. Swimsuits. We're on a great beach so the everyone can take a dip this time!!!

August 9, ‘07

I wanted to recap this last week for those of you who may not have been at our “Bunko Party” on Sunday. We used the Gathering to play a game that helped us work through some issues of “individualism”. As we’ve been listening to your survey comments on Adullam, we realize that the main reason people seem to be drawn to our network is our “fight” for a different experience of community.

We've been talking through three things that make up “tangible kingdom” and they are Community/Communion/Mission. When ever a group of people share these three aspects of life, we usually see God's life begin to cut through our mundane reality. His kingdom shows up and our faith grows, our influence on the world grows, and all of a sudden our lives make sense.

As we talked about the “community” sphere we realized that although we all may want this, we also have a huge barrier of individualism that gets in our way. Individiualism means that we view our individual lives as the main thing. Collectivism on the other hand says that the group is the main thing. Individualism says, I am the source of success or failure, whereas Collectivism says, we are the source of success or failure. Individualism says, nothing is worth me giving up my life for and Collectivism says, the benefit of the greater good is worth me giving my life for.

Christianity is the story of radical collectivism. This is why we see people selling their possessions, taking care of every need and even giving their lives for the greater cause of Christ.

If you love only those who love you, what good is that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that.”
Matthew 5:46-47

American Evangelicalism is radical individualism. We have our personal relationship with God, we go to church to get something for ourselves, we only give $$$ if we think God will give more back to us, we don’t want to commit to community because it may infringe on our personal calendar and individual desires.

In other words, our American faith doesn’t deliver the Kingdom. Only frustration, guilt, pressure and the absence of God’s real life.

SOOOOO, what do we do? How do we move beyond our individual faith to a collective faith? How do we re-orient our lives so that God's full experience can be ours?

That's the question we're fighting for. The Villages are not the answer, but they at least allow us a place to grow in these areas.

September we restart a truck load of new villages.

Please keep these Dates in mind if you’ll be restarting a village or if you’re considering it.

Sunday Evenings August 19 & 26

These meetings will be held at the gathering location and will have child care available so if you’re feeling the pull to help facilitate community for others, please join us both nights.

Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means that we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles, and refuse to let the world corrupt us.”
James 1:28

August 2, ‘07

A few nights ago, I had a conversation with Lou Braun. Lou’s been with Adullam for about a year. He came to Denver to play lacrosse for the Denver Outlaws, but quickly realized that God had larger plans for him in regards to full-time ministry, not to mention meeting his fiancee Kim. His change of focus also fit the reality that Lou wasn't getting to play in all the games. Unlike professional basketball where you can get an ankle injury or be endicted for domestic abuse, and still get paid, in pro lacrosse, if you don’t play, you just get a free hotdog and a few tickets for your buddies.

Well, this last Saturday in New York, Lou was asked to start and took all face offs. He said, he was doing okay, but as the game wore on, the other team scored with about a minute to go. All they had to do was win the last face off and stall and they win. Lou lined up and not only won the face off, but he kept control, ran all the way down the field, and scored unassisted to tie the game. The Outlaws won in overtime!

I thought this was a great reminder of how quickly things can change, simply by "hanging around" and being willing to play. One minute you feel like nothing's going on, and the next minute something of signifcance occurs.

Most of life tests our faith that God will use us for anything. We work, go to school, keep the yard up, and try to pay off our Visas. The mundane is something we can all count on, yet we always have this hope of significance and impact in the world.
The scriptures are honest with this paradox. On one hand, I Thessalonians 4:11 says, “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands.” And on the other hand we see normal people doing the very works of Christ and changing the legacy of families and nations.

The lesson in Lou's story and the story of our faith, screams to just “be in the right spot”, and God will in His timing surprise you with moments of brilliance. Keep folding the laundry, driving the kids to practice; study hard, work with diligence and integrity at work ,and open your life and home to friends. Then expect that God will use your simple life to “win the respect of those outside our faith”.