We have 2 unique opportunities that will help people and help CQM move forward.  We looking for:

A tenant to share small office space at the Quaker 4 plex where our Certificate students are living.  It is zoned for dual use, and one unit in particular will work well for small business space for someone who needs a quiet space in a very cool location.

Also- we have a space for new residents in a unit that can help offset the cost of officing there for CQM.  Its a chance for folks in their 20s who want to live in community, not expensive, and have access to great places to serve.

Folks in the Quaker House don’t have to be in our program- they just live as renters in this very cool place. This will allow us to house students, and access some good meeting space for 20s to gather, hang out, talk life direction.

No strings- just wanting good folks to be renters.

Its in an awesome spot- about 200 yards from Jason’s Deli right by 15th and Peoria (Cherry St). The owners want to support CQ Missional by being generous in offering their place up to us to fill it up with young people who love God, love people, and want to make the world a better place.   Its got a little pool and great deck in the back, close to Cherry St, Downtown, and River Activities- as well as beautiful opportunities to serve (the church 2 doors down serves free meals to the tulsa urban population every Friday).
Units are 2 bedroom (small) and there are washer/dryer hookups.

CQM people there as well as the owner of the property have a hospitable heart and will welcome new renters or residents.   This should be a great place to be this year. the address is 1430 S Quaker, Tulsa.

If you’re needing office space- it will be a good quite space to share with our leaders, making phone calls, working online, and having the occasional meeting.  If you need living space, this is a place where CQ Missional will gather in their 20s, and it will be a safe and warm place to live.

Let me know if you’re interested, and please shoot this to any friends who may benefit.   We hope to rent (and help the owners) space as soon as possible, and start basing operations here.

Questions?  Call Chris at 918-557-6128.

I love my sons with my all, and I could easily spend a serious chunk of time creating a list of the many things I love about them!  Recently my wife and I were talking about how awesome it is to learn from and with your children, and as an adult, I find myself re-experiencing media from my youth in a new and richer way.

This really started when our boys first found their love for Dr. Seuss.  (Don’t get me started on the Seuss and what I believe to be the great wisdom and challenge embedded in his work!)  However, we are now on a HUGE Star Wars kick at our house.  The Myers boys are all about it, and by that, I’m not just talking about the great fun and excitement that comes from watching the movies and playing with the figures.  No, they are deeply passionate about understanding everything they possibly can about the story.  They want to know everything there is to know about Star Wars!

“Try not.  Do or do not, there is no try.”  –  Yoda in Empire Strikes Back

In this ongoing reunion with the story of the Force and the Dark Side, I find myself experiencing the teachings of Yoda with new ears.  I am well equipped in the area of thinking and speaking, and often times these two things colloborate with the intention of leading to right, Godly action.  However, I frequently find myself frozen in this quest for “trying” instead of “doing.” 

The disciplines of meditation, prayer, and study are important in developing a complete inner life with God that can aid in His transformative works in our lives, no doubt.  With that, I also believe that throughout the Bible we see clearly God’s desire for us to live relationally within the context of healthy community.  However, some of us have gotten sidetracked with the busyness of thinking and talking “Christian” instead of being a follower of Christ with our whole life!  Talk is cheap at times with my sons because what they’re really interested in is follow-through.  They’re expecting action!

What is one thing you have been thinking and/or talking about doing in your pursuit of Jesus that needs to transition into doing?

For some, doing may not so much be the challenge but rather simply being and abiding in Christ daily is the seemingly insurmountable obstacle .

Either way, by the power of the Holy Spirit, may you breathe in the gift of life in Christ and be what you were created to be!

“Most good things have been said far too many times and just need to be lived.”  –  Shane Claiborne in Irresistable Revolution

Last week I was in a terrible car accident.  I hit black ice and spun my way down the highway for an incredibly long time.  Once I regained control of the car and was coming to a stop, I was rear-ended by another car that had lost traction also.  I did another complete circle before hitting the divider wall.  Another “forever” being out of control.  When I thought it was finally over a police car, coming to help, hit the same ice and spun out of control.  It stopped just feet short of hitting us again.  Still huge trucks and other cars were racing past us.  Each a projectile that could lose control and kill us all.

So, my question is, “If God could save us from death and injury, why didn’t He go ahead and keep our car from damage all together?”

I can’t believe that God was not involved in saving our lives.  There were a two dozen different ways we could have been killed.  So, … yes, I’m grateful.  BUT, it seems to me that after all the hard work of keeping us alive, it wouldn’t have taken much effort at all to protect us all together.  After all, the vast majority of cars traveling that section of highway did not lose control at all.

I have this same question about my sanctification.  After having sanctified and set me free from some besetting sins, why doesn’t He sanctify me entirely?  Why not completely save?

My conclusion: I will trust Him.  I will hold on to the questions loosely; knowing my brain is too small to embrace the answers even if He were to sit down face-to-face and explain them to me.  And, that’s a good answer for me.  It lets me leave the heavy burdens at His feet and move on to embracing whatever comes next.

I witnessed such an amazing event that I have to share it with you.  Two sisters (one and a half and two and a half years old) were recently adopted by my friends.  To celebrate the occasion a “shower” was held.  When I arrived the adults were stocking the cookie and drinks, organizing the gift table, and greeting each other.  My daughter and I filtered back to a game room where the two teenage sons were watching over their new sisters.  Each of the sisters had a helium balloon that they repeatedly released.  The girls would say “Uh-oh” and one of the boys would reach the string and return the balloon.  My daughter got in on the game by lifting first one girl then the other so they could grasp their balloon’s string.  The game went on for what I thought was an impossibly long ten minutes or so.  None of the youth seemed too eager or at all resentful of the constant dance.

As the little girls gained confidence they took the game to a new level.  First the older, then the younger little girl ventured into the big room.  Each would seem to indiscrimently choose an adult, walk up to them, release their balloon, and say “Uh-oh”.

I watched in fascination as one adult after another took turns retrieving the balloons.  This dance continued, with short interruptions, for at least another forty minutes before until the shower came to a close.

I remembered the dynamic experienced so often by those who foster or adopt children a little older than these little sisters.  Without conscious intent, a newly fostered or adopted youngster will almost always test their new invironment to see how they will be accepted and/or cared for.  The older (extroverted) children will either act out in some very dramatic fashion ,whereas the older (introverted) children will become seriously ill.  In this manner they will quickly discover how accepted and/or cared for they will be.

As these two little sisters released their balloons again, and again, and again, and again, I realized that very unintentionally they were testing their new environment.  What a wonderful and amazing event to witness as again, and again, and again the little sisters were given calm reassurances that they were safe and cared for by this community.  It was as if the brothers had set an example that the whole community followed.  We became a “counseling community”; providing a context for healing and growth in two brave little girls.  What a beautiful moment!

Dear Jesus, as I call on you today I realise that I often come asking for favours.
Today I’d like just to be in your presence.
Let my heart respond to Your Love.

This was part of my morning devo from Sacred Space today.  It informed my morning of finishing up a new double zipline for Camp Luther in Northern Wisconsin, and in my afternoon buying of souvenirs for the fam  in nearby Eagle River.

What did it mean to “be in your presence” today?  Well for me, it had to do with understanding my context regardless of my location.  A discussion we’re having about Honeyrock, a camp where CQ is doing training next week, is the idea of Honeyrock being a place, or an experience that can happen in many places.  Well, the answer not withstanding, to be in God’s presence is an experience that happens” all the time, everywhere.” (from Most Amazing Grace in the World, off the Whitebread Album)

This morning, in a beautiful northwoods pine forest on a sunny 60 degree day, I knew I was not alone.  I am never alone.  In fact, I am always a part of a conversation going on between myself and my creator.  Sometimes I listen, sometimes I speak, sometimes (usually) I am unaware of what is actually going on and I ignore the voice of the one who loves me most.

Since I’ve been traveling lately, my conversations with home have been interesting, and sometimes mundane- but last night Kristin and I hit on an idea that has big implications for me and for you, and if we don’t tend to it- we’ll miss it.

I said- “I just miss being around for the normal stuff.”  We agreed that its the everyday with the people who mean most to you that defines our relationships.  Just going to ballgames, and watching band concerts and the Biggest Loser together.  Eating food we made a home, and tending to the new (somewhat) garden, and shooting hoops in the driveway- this is what I miss when I’m gone.  And…this is what I forget about when I’m home.

May we remember what it means to live in one’s presence, and to connect that idea on a supernatural level to understanding our place in the context of God’s presence.

Lord, let me live in your presence today.  Friends, let me be present when I am with you- may I be a listener- and be thankful for the existence of the best relationships.  God, may we see you and hear you today- in the northwoods, in Broken Arrow, at New Life Ranch, and in East Tulsa or in Uganda.

We are in His presence- do you listen to His words?  What does He say?  Is it in the Bible, the creation around you that you hear Him best?  Is it through People,  or a challenging circumstance?  What is the conversation like when you choose to be “in the house?”  What do you imagine it is when you are “out of it”?

Feedback!!!??  Cmon friends- shoot me some thoughts!!

Keep reading and look for our new certificate programs coming this next fall…

ck