Boxes of early shipment of Community is Messy

I can’t escape the mess. Twenty years ago, I hauled around boxes of sampler bottles from Ben Hur Research Farm so I could run chemical analyses and determine biokinetic properties of the reactions in the swine farm treatment lagoon.  Today, I’m hauling around boxes filled with a different kind of mess– my new book from InterVarsity Press, Community is Messy.

Biological Engineering might have been the best possible academic background for a discipleship pastor because it’s all about cultivating environments where growth is possible. When I look at small groups, I sometimes see a swine farm treatment lagoon. Other times I see an experiment with Instron machines to determine the modulus of elasticity. And every now and then, I remember the fish slaughter of 1996 and hope I don’t neglect my small group members in the same way. Yep…this is all applicable to group life and spiritual growth.  What we discover is that mess may not be a hindrance to community; rather, it may be a very potent catalyst towards the community and transformation that we pray for.

I’ll be blogging more about the ideas in the book in the coming weeks. You can get your own copy through Amazon, Christian Book Distributors, or directly from InterVarsity Press.