{"id":9870,"date":"2020-12-09T09:03:49","date_gmt":"2020-12-09T14:03:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/?p=9870"},"modified":"2021-01-27T14:19:25","modified_gmt":"2021-01-27T19:19:25","slug":"advent-christmas-and-counting-our-covid-catapults","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/?p=9870","title":{"rendered":"Advent, Christmas, and Counting Our COVID Catapults"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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I love Advent. It\u2019s one of my favorite times of the year. It seems healthy for my stream of the Church\u2014which sometimes assumes it\u2019s the whole river\u2014to connect with the broader body of Christ geographically and historically. The hymns<\/a> are rich. The objective is focusing. But since I hate waiting, how about an entire liturgical season focused on it! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But then, there\u2019s a lot of waiting going on these days, right? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Waiting for a vaccine.
Waiting for test results.
Waiting to hear the diagnosis or the treatment plan.
Waiting for kids to get back to school.
Waiting for an appropriate time to push ahead with fundraising.
Waiting for things to get back to normal.
Waiting for a proper funeral for a departed loved one.
Waiting to get back to your ministry assignment.
Waiting for new episodes of The Great British Bake Off \/ Baking Show.
Waiting for a Savior to get here.
Waiting for the Savior to get back here! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If all the waiting is weighing on you, I get it. I feel that way, too. But expectation, hoping for, looking forward to what\u2019s not here yet, it\u2019s part and parcel of our faith, isn\u2019t it? We come from a long line of wait-ers, at least back to Abraham, who Hebrews says<\/a>, \u201cdid not receive the things promised; [he] only saw them and welcomed them from a distance…\u201d In the meantime, there\u2019s the trite aphorism: Bloom where you\u2019re planted. Its 2020 COVID corollary could be: Sprout where you\u2019re stuck. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can COVID Catapult Us Forward?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If we\u2019re able to climb on top of our current troubles, get our feet under us and our heads on straight, what opportunities might we see? Could we say to our enemy, \u201cI see your COVID and I raise you one resurrected Jesus and the poured-out Holy Spirit\u201d? If we throw off the COVID covers, what possibilities might dawn in these days? What windows are open? What opportunities now look worthwhile? How can we move forward even as we\u2019re tempted to hunker down? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe we could crowdsource this. Could you take a minute and share on this Google doc <\/a>what fresh possibilities you\u2019re seeing in this season? What new activities does COVID require for you? What opportunities are opened up? Are there specific ministries you\u2019re mourning as you let them go? Others that make more sense now than ever? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s move forward together by sharing our COVID Catapults with each other. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are two ideas I\u2019m hoping to implement: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Develop new mobilization content. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As more churches improve their online delivery efforts, I wonder if there\u2019s a little window open for mobilizer people to supply video content. I\u2019m thinking low-tech, smiling face, single idea or nugget of good news, and maybe one next step (like pray, read, or move to Pakistan). Could you do something like this<\/a>? You have a smartphone and an internet connection, right? Also, you\u2019ve been told no before, so if your Oscar-worthy short video gets rejected, it won\u2019t be the first time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Read inspiring books\u2014together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m also wondering about gathering some diverse friends to read a book with me. My 11-year-old daughter is gobbling up Greg Livingstone\u2019s You\u2019ve Got Libya<\/a>. As an act of solidarity, I\u2019m going to read it with her. If you\u2019d like to join us, let me know. You\u2019re welcome on the journey. Got another book you\u2019d like to read with some other smart people? Reach out and make it happen. Feel free to invite me<\/a>. I\u2019ll serve as the non-smart group member! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What About You?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Maybe your COVID Catapult is a little more radical than a video or a group read. I was inspired recently by erstwhile U.S. presidential candidate Andrew Yang\u2019s move with his family to Atlanta, GA to rally voters for the upcoming Senate run-off election. I\u2019m not hoping his efforts prevail, tending personally to prefer governmental gridlock. But I do appreciate his \u201cthrow everything into it\u201d mentality. Makes me wonder what it would take for me to move the whole crew to a new zoo. How high would the stakes have to be? How timely the opportunity? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps COVID\u2019s provided you a chance to consider some new options, to reconsider some ossifying assumptions. As Grandpa Henry (Blackaby) assured us, \u201cGod is always at work.\u201d These crazy days are not the first exception to the rule! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hope we look back on this time and see, though maybe through tears, that God has launched a whole new season of purposeful effort toward the completion of his purposes.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Share your COVID Catapult ideas and read contributions from others<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I love Advent. It\u2019s one of my favorite times of the year. It seems healthy for my stream of the Church\u2014which sometimes assumes it\u2019s the whole river\u2014to connect with the broader body of Christ geographically and historically. The hymns are rich. The objective is focusing. But since I hate waiting, how about an entire liturgical … Continue reading Advent, Christmas, and Counting Our COVID Catapults<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":4515,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-practical-mobilization"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9870"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9870\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9872,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9870\/revisions\/9872"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}