Ragtag Band Forming

Hi, this is Jonathan. Last week I was in Texas. I got a Texas belt and a Texas star buckle. I also learned you can pay $400 for a pair of cowboy boots. I didn't.

In Texas I participated in two conferences -- one was about "the Seven Mountains" and the other was the annual gathering of the larger network that the Dandelion Seed Company is connected to. A lot happened there that I think is significant for who we are and where we're headed as a network, so I'll be writing more about the experience and what I think may come out of it over the next few weeks. Here is installment one:

1. The Seven Mountains: the basic concept here is that culture is made up of seven segments or "mountains": family, religion, economy/business, arts, government, media, and education. God is calling us as Jesus' followers to live and embody the Kingdom of God in each of these arenas. There has been a tendency in the past to assume that if you were serious about God you should spend your time on the religion mountain. This isn't true. We're called to follow Jesus where he leads and that includes all areas of culture, all seven mountains.

2. Dandelion Seed Company and the larger network. After a great weekend connecting with other leaders in the GDI network I'm more convinced than ever that a key element for the DSC's health and future is relationship with and a real, deep connection with other followers of Jesus. I see this beginning to happen in organic (no pesticides added) ways already, and we will need to make it a priority in planning for the future. One shift I see from the way people have thought about following God before and how we're working at doing it now is this: before (in modernism) a lot of what brought us together was a commitment to certain ideas or theology. I believe that the focus is shifting to a commitment to certain relationships. If this is true it is an extremely high priority for us to welcome and cultivate the relationships as a network which will grow us up into Jesus. More about this later.

Love you guys. I'm excited about what God is up to in this ragtag band that's forming. I believe we're on the cusp of some major changes as a network -- we're moving into a season where we will have a much greater influence and impact on those around us, so the choices we make now are really important. God is giving us time to reassess our lives and direction so that the course we set will get us headed in a direction that will be fruitful long term. This starts with each of us personally looking at our own lives and loves and choosing again what matters most to us (and weeding out some other stuff -- the garden is only so big so what we plant in it and cultivate really does matter),

In Jesus,

Jonathan (with a bit of help from Kimberly Glick)