the first deep wound of sacred marriage

Have you ever been faced with a really difficult question? Is it possible that many small questions make up the sum of the one larger question?

Once again I find myself in the sacred narrative of history. Abram is confronted with a life size question in the face of desperation. He has set out on the journey to leave the country that he has known, from his father’s house to go to the land that God will show him, along the way a famine forces him to go down to Egypt. Pharaoh wants to know who the beautiful woman is that he is traveling with. Realizing that if he says it is his wife, he will be killed. He answers that she is his sister. His question is “Will I trust the promise of God or will I lean on my own means of security?

I wonder how this made Sarai feel. Did she think he cares more about his own hide than our marriage? Was this the beginning of the seed of doubt for Sarai that spurred on her rebellious spirit to try and bring about the “blessing of God” (Gen 12) by her own means?
Did she think her husband was a coward in the face of uncertainty? Did she think that their future was now up to her to provide? How old is this wound? Does this wound speak to more than just Sarai? Is this a deep wound that runs though generations of wives even today?

The ripple effect of “Sarai is my sister:”
His wife is stripped away from him possibly physically violated by Pharaoh
His is left alone to wonder if she will ever come home
His wealth on account of his lie results in the division of his family (Lot)
The Egyptian maidservants provides the temptation to further his own seed (Hagar)
The implications of this span the course of the next 12 years of Abram’s life…..

Here is the question I am asking myself: Will I take into my own hands my family’s future promise or will I trust in the promise of life from the LORD?

As a man of God, will I be tempted to make a choice in order to avoid losing my life as the first great test? Will I keep sacred the bond of marriage in the face of great disparity?
How I answer that question has huge implications for the rest of my family. Will I continue to foster the first wound of marriage or will I stand and claim “she is my wife!”

Although not what God had intended, he uses all of it to bring about redemptive history. A second chance is given. How does the story end?

living in the big dream

Does God have dreams? Does He have dreams about how the world could be? Does God even sleep? If God doesn’t sleep then He must dream awake. How would it be to be dreaming while awake? Does God dream of pain and brokenness? Does God have nightmares? When He first breathed life into the dirt of the earth, did his dream become a reality to mankind? When we lay down, do we give way to the dream of God?

I am dreaming awake, excuse me while I dream. I love exploring God’s dream with others. After spending time thinking of the Big Dream, it brings me a deep joy to explore the reality of His dream that has played out for centuries and continues to linger like a beautiful vision of healing and restoration for the heavens and the earth. Whether it is one on one or in a large group, being engaged with people in an outward discussion of what is happening on the inside is the dream in my heart. It is this dream that drives me to serve him and submit to His dream.

Sharing my all with my wife and serving others together is a day in the life of my dream.

When my wife serve others with her creative gifts,
my dream continues.
When my daughters ask questions, search for answers, and come calling on my help,
my dream continues.
When broken pieces of my family are restored,
my dream continues.

When the advancements of technology become conduits for people to be connected in the best possible sense,
my dream continues.

A blank canvas is the beginning of a new dream. When I can give creative space for others to put their hands and hearts to a blank canvas,
my dream continues.
When instruments are available for the musicians to pick up and sing the song in their hearts,
my dream continues.
When I finish working in the yard and step back to see how I have joined in ordering God’s creation,
my dream continues.

What are you dreaming? Have you been sleep? Is it at the end of the day that our dreams play out the things in our normal life that we haven’t fully processed? What if you could work through the questions during the day? What if you could go to sleep in peace resting in the solace of the night? What might Psalm 37:4 mean to you in light of delighting in God’s dream? What dreams and visions might visit you?

who are these people...

What if we actually lived out this life that Jesus proclaimed was available here and now? He seemed to have a real grasp on what people who lived in the reality of the-way-God-intended-things-to-be would look like here on earth:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5

Could this be the character shape of a new kind of people living the reality of “on earth as it is in Heaven?" This profile is so much deeper than just external appearances. Not to challenge the words of Paul in 1Timothy in regards to a leader, but to give a fuller dimension of who kingdom people are on the inside. Jesus was always talking about this idea that it is not about what you do on the outside but who you are on the inside, or its not about a list of things not to do rather it is about the kind of inner shape of your character.

The word blessed in Greek does mean happy or fulfilled, but when Rabbi Jesus spoke he would have been speaking from a Hebrew understanding of the word “blessed” which was “barak.” The hearers of this message would have immediately drawn a picture in their mind of a person “bent at the knees.” The forefathers of the faith for centuries have been a people “bent at the knee” before the LORD their God, their Maker. They understood this “bent at the knee” not as as just a physical position but as an inner spiritual submission to the Way of Life or to as they called it Torah. Living Torah was living the Word of God in our current reality. This way of living was an acknowledgement of Yahweh or to put it another way “bent at the knee” was an inner attitude of worship to Yahweh expressed outwardly throughout ones whole life.

“Bent at the knee” is the condition of the heart to enter the “on earth as it is in Heaven” reality. To enter into that reality is to bring Heaven down here, or to restate it to bring the Presence of God into our current reality through the everyday activities of life. Living this kind of lifestyle we join in the restoration revolution of people who lived in the reality of the-way-God-intended-things-to-be.

“Bent at the knee” are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Bent at the knee” are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
“Bent at the knee” are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
“Bent at the knee” are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
“Bent at the knee” are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
“Bent at the knee” are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
“Bent at the knee” are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
“Bent at the knee” are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Bent at the knee” are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.


May we be “Bent at the knee” people before the LORD, our God, our Creator, and King.

collision....point of impact

What happens in a collision? What is the most intense point of impact? It is the point at which two moving masses impact into one. I think our point of impact is Love. Collaborating in creative outward expressions of Love, we engage the shattered and broken opening the door to the Merciful One who is restoring all things, and in so doing we join the deep streams of healing that flow on earth as they are in Heaven.

When the poets and the musicians celebrate together, all of creation turns its ear to hear the divine harmony. Who can resist the melody of faith, hope, and love? We stand together putting all our trust in the Father of all families knowing that he is stretching the cords of his great tent. This invisible tent stretches across generations of yesterday, today, and tomorrow, across cultural traditions, and geographical boundaries.

The Winn Family, a people of the Real Zoo, has joined hands and hearts with the people of Crash to form one community of faith.

The project of the Real Zoo is not ours but rather is guided by the One who is the Breath of Life. The truth is mobile. It goes wherever we find ourselves. Our faith is not based on our location but rather where our hearts reside. Through what can only be explained as divine intervention our location will transition from Tallahassee to Panama City (June) and finally to the Island of Hawaii (Jan-Feb 07). I guess you could say we have made the jump, we are selling all our possessions, leaving our successful careers, in order to “go.”

The pieces are beginning to fall into place. The shape of God’s project looks like a creative community of families living under one converted warehouse roof in order to share in the incredible story of love and hope expressed locally to the people of downtown Honolulu, but still reaching far beyond the island because of the transient nature of the culture and people.

This is a new chapter in the book of Life. We are so excited just to be invited to sow into a new expression of love. May we look with eyes of faith and hear with ears of compassion to the hearts of all that might enter into the narrative of Restoration.