The Kingdom of God

I had the privilege to attend the 2008 Goodwill Awards Dinner tonight. All the regional Goodwill stores, employees, and clients converged on the Marriott in Coralville. There were 560 people there. One of the honorees invited me, so I got a great seat at his table right up in the front.

Remember that story in the Bible of the banquet the guy has. None of the dignitaries show up, so he invites the poor, the oppressed, the grieving, the marginalized. This was that party. I saw the Kingdom of God tonight. It was amazing. The love, the grace, the joy. I can't even tell you with words some of the sights and sounds I saw. But I know this. God was there. I was reminded that the meek, those that mourn, the peacemakers, the people at the end of their ropes... These are the ones that are blessed. Have you seen the Kingdom of God recently. It's all around us.

Cohort on hold

I'm sorry to report, but because of a general lack of interest, participation and focus, the Eastern Iowa Emergent Cohort is on indefinite hiatus. No meetings or regular blog postings are planned, though we'll keep the lights on for you in case those with permissions want to post something from time to time (and the comments section is open to anyone who wants to post).

Take heart, however, those who have come to this site looking to connect with others in the Emergent movement. I've gotten a number of emails recently from people who attended the Brian McLaren "Everything Must Change" book tour, most notably in the Quad Cities, and they seem excited to explore emergent/missional church in their areas. I have a couple of their emails and would be happy to forward your name to them if you'd like.

So while the Iowa City group isn't doing much right now, there may well "emerge" a conversation group elsewhere in Iowa. I hope so; it would be nice to keep this going in some fashion.

Peace.