Everything Must Change....and oh, boy, is it changing...

Last weekend, while most everyone else in the greater Seattle area was paying attention to the visit of the Dalai Lama at the Seeds of Compassion event, Brian McLaren snuck quietly into First Free Methodist church in Seattle to present the Everything Must Change tour, in concert with DeepShift, an organization that provides counseling and coaching for churches. Anyone who is anti-emergent or anti-interfaith gathering would have had a heyday. I’m just waiting for some well-known Evangelical Christian leaders to start questioning why Seattle didn’t burn down (again), or fall into the ocean.

My wonderful wife and I have had tickets to the Everything Must Change tour since right after Off-The-Map in November of last year. I was glad to hear that some of my friends from OTM were able to go to the Seed of Compassion event, but was disappointed that I didn’t get to see any of them at the EMC event.

This Brian McLaren event was excellent. I have heard for years that he will not discuss topics about atonement, or the natural exclusivity of Christianity, and will lean toward Universalism at every bent. Boy, that wasn’t the case this time. He talked about Christ. He talked about the gospel. He talked about what his detractors often say, and gracefully said what he truly believes. These topics, however, were secondary to the EMC tour.
If you’ve read “Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of Hope”, much of this was a reiteration of the content of the book. However, it’s different to hear it spoken, see slides, and hear solid real-life examples that weren’t explored in the book. It’s different to be able to ask questions, and receive answers.

I had an opportunity to talk with Brian on Friday night about some things going on in my life. For instance, my wife and I are starting a community of faith in our home for people who have been “burned” by the church, but still want to talk about faith issues. He was engaging, asked great questions, then said, “This is exactly what I was telling the students at Mars Hill Grad School earlier today that they need to be doing, and you’re doing it, Brad! Can you give me your contact information so I can keep tabs on this, and I’d like to give it to someone at Mars Hill so they can maybe have you come and talk?” WOW, I hadn’t considered going to MHGS to talk about a group that we are starting that doesn’t actually start until NEXT week!!!! Brian immediately “got” what we are trying to do, and said that as long as it leads people to the gospel, even experientially, then it’s right. He and I then got into a conversation about the Saturday morning 7:29am session discussing “new” communities of faith and church plants. We went out of our way to make sure we could attend that on Saturday.

One thing Friday night that had a huge impact on me was a “visit” from an old friend. Attending the event was Heidi, whom I had grown up with. Her dad had been the pastor of the church in which I grew up. I haven’t seen her in 23 years. That’s right. TWENTY-THREE years!!!! I didn’t recognize her. However, her youngest sister was there, and she had been in the college age Sunday School class I was teaching several years ago. She pointed me out and said, “You know that guy.”

Saturday was equally as good as Friday, and the resources we received, and the seminars we attended really did show us that Everything Must Change. Conference successful.

So, what else is changing?

I have accepted an offer from a “large software company on the East side of Lake Washington” (Rhymes with ShmicroShmoft) to take on the position of Sr. Technical Product Manager. This was a difficult decision, but there were some key reasons I took the job. First, they came to me. Second, the hiring manager met with me multiple times to make sure I was the right fit. Third, they offered to make serious changes to my “equity crisis”, my “prosperity crisis” and effectively make me more “secure”. (If you haven’t read Everything Must Change…..you won’t get this…..GO READ THE BOOK!!!!) I am taking some vacation time right now to prepare myself to discuss with my current employer that I’m leaving. I should make it clear that this is not my first time working for the company I’m going to. I spent 5 years of my career there, so I’m going back. It’s weird, exciting, and just an all around good thing.

What I’m learning is that I’m not in charge. God is. Everything must change; and it is. I’m also learning, that for once in my career as I transition, I have the respect of my peers, and a company that doesn’t want to see me go, and another that wants to see me come to work!!!

This blog is not meant to be anything about my job, so don’t expect to read anything about new products, conferences I’m speaking at or attending, technical information, etc. But, when there are things that affect me, I will blog about it. For my technical blog, you will want to look elsewhere….it doesn’t exist, yet. But, I have yet to see a Prod Manager at the Empire who doesn’t have a technical blog.