Influential Writers

As i've been catching up on my blogsites this morning, i came across this one identifying influential thinkers and began to reflect on mine. This will lead to "influential leadership thinkers," "influential movies," influential...yep, you guessed it, the list could go on and on. Since time is short, i will launch with the central writer/thinker of my life--Clive Staples Lewis, without a doubt. His ability to capture the imagination, to examine the larger questions, to unabashedly direct his best thinking and writing to the difficult questions of life, all the while examining life in all its complexity, inspires me to slow down and give consideration. Yet, what may be most influential was his willingness to create an immediate community around him (Inklings) that, in themselves, kind of became the "Fellowship of the Ring." Have I done this? To some extent. We all need a community.

Simplicity

Having been a follower of megachurches and keeping an eye on the ecclesiastical blogs, there appears to be a trend shifting from the complexity megachurches offer to the simplicity of a "quieter" life. Possibly this may be driven by emerging generations now being weened off the polished creations of their parents to a more raw (i.e., "real") engagement with church and God. I am not sure, however, that this solely derives from a "Christian" perspective. The shift seemingly takes place on the small screen. The continued success of AI (this acronym more known as American Idol rather than "Artificial Intelligence," --though both might be considered synonymous:)) and Survior demonstrate the wider cultural shift influencing the Christian subculture. Once again, i find we cannot so easily separate the wider movements of the "host" culture (i.e., North American culture) from the intimate shifts within Christian subculture. As much as we'd like to denounce such intimate connections, they are present (and always have been). Perhaps our failure to either admit or honestly see the relationship between the Hellenistic, Judaic, Roman host culture and the emerging church of the First Century created almost an "institutional defense mechanism" that has allowed us to put our heads in the sand.

Perhaps in a future blog, i will discuss more this relationship between the cultural shifts in our wider culture with the cultural shifts in the Christian subculture. Stay tuned.

As i re-read this post, irealize one of my intentions is only to join the ongoing dialogue taking place as we seek to better serve God and those around us. One of the greatest gifts we can present to those we serve is an honest assessment (thus, dialogue) regarding our own influencers and condition. It seems our greatest challenge can be our own blindness! I know i have blind spots. I'm reminded every day as i drive about this "truth."

Welcome to Graceformations!

Several years back, I was struck at the centrality of grace for my life. Whether it be the undeserved kindness of the driver to let me enter her lane, the cashier asking me honestly how my day was, or one of my kids coming by and just giving me a hug without asking for something--all these kinds of happenings reminded me that grace is at the heart of life. I don't know, it seems that our globe today experiences a lot of anxiety. Any person who flies knows about that anxiety. Yet, there are these outcroppings of grace continually bubbling through. It slowly dawned on me (as these kinds of things normally do with my molasses mind), if I will get out of the way, grace will have her way and my life will be transformed throughout the short days of my existence. Grace can transform and form me.

So, this website is dedicated to the transforming power of grace. Of course, one of my favorite recent stories of grace flows from the popular Broadway musical (adapted from Hugos classic), Les Miserables. The transformation of Jean Valjean through the story and the implications from his reception of grace, model the power of graceformation. So, here, at the outset of this journey of graceformation, I hope to periodically identify through the passion areas of my life this rebellion of grace. Stay tuned. Enjoy the ride!

Finally, this picture was taken about a year ago with my wonderful wife, Cristina, and my two boys, Jason and Kristofer. Every day, they are grace incarnated in my life!