The Lausanne Movement is currently hosting an international conference of younger leaders from 110 countries in order to advance the cause of global evangelization. This meeting started on 9/24 and will finish on 10/1.

Here is a snapshot from one day of the conference.

Personal devotions were followed by breakfast with a South African, American, New Zealander and an Australian. Afterwards, our small group (Australian, American, Tanzanian, Nigerian, German) met for the third time to share our “life lines” and reflect on God’s calling on our lives. The executive director of CCC of Tanzania shared his story–one of early persecution, falling mute, attending an open air evangelistic event attended by 30,000 people, where healing was proclaimed and he was healed without touch. He returned home, put on a tape player, and sang to a large gathering, where people embraced Jesus as Lord. He later received the gift of healing and would walk into hospitals and heal children with burns, lame women, and people near death. This brother is incredibly humble, pursuing his entire country for the gospel and glory of Christ.

This meeting was followed by a workshop on “Building Teams,” led by an OMF churchplanter and missions strategist, which proved very helpful for our preparation for churchplanting. After that, I had lunch with another international table and connected with a like-minded Presbyterian pastor, who has been influenced by Keller and is theologically oriented. After that, I went to a meeting to discuss the Lausanne III meeting in 2010, which will hopefully meet Beijing. It was very interesting. Some people want to re-write the Lausanne Covenant (probably not for the best reasons). Doug Birdsall handled the metting with grace and skill, holding the line on the historic 74 document as a basis for evangelical, theological and missiologial unity.

This was followed by a N. America meeting where we discussed what we wanted out of Lausanne and how we would evaluate our experience at Lausanne for success. I connected with more people and had the opportunity to give some input and debate some concepts.

After dinner, we worshipped from 110 tongues and prayed for all the nations for half an hour. This was motivated by a compelling missions presentation by Jason Mandryk, co-author of Operation World. God is at work. During this time God broke my heart not only for the nations, but also for America. So often, the U.S. is overlooked in these conferences. We might be evangelized but there are many that have not received Christ. In many respects, we are an undiscipled nation.

With you taking the whole gospel to the whole world…

Houghton Mifflin and Harper Colins have announced the release of a previously unpublished tale by Tolkien called The Children of Hurin, due out next Spring.

According to the AP, Christopher Tolkien has spent the past 30 years working on “The Children of Hurin,” an epic tale his father began in 1918 and later abandoned. Excerpts of “The Children of Hurin,” which includes the elves and dwarves of Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” and other works.

I am in historic Cambridge, England today, visiting some good friends, Stephen and Emma Witmer. This picture is taken in front of Trinity College.

Yesterday we roamed the city of Austin looking for a home. If you’ve ever looked to purchase a home, you know that the initial buzz of becoming a homeowner quickly wears off when faced with the number-crunching and tricks of the real estate trade. Starting at 9:30 AM and ending the day at 7:30 PM, we were weary by the time we made it to our friend’s house, where we are staying…and this morning we will do it all over again!

When will we move? Fall, Spring, never? Where will we move? East, South, North, Central Austin? Somewhere else? As we continue to walk by faith in our journey towards churchplanting in Austin, I am poignantly reminded that our home is nowhere to be found, or at least the form of our home.

If home is where the heart is, then we will have to wait until the end of the age to kick up our feet. Abraham’s life is a parable of this reality. He left his family, home, and culture to obey a call from God which was pretty unclear–“go to a land I will show you.” Of course, as with everything with the eternally faithful and covenantal God, it wasn’t without a promise: “And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; 3 And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” If Abraham obeyed, God would thrill his heart by making it a conduit of divine blessing…for the whole world. In short, Abraham was promised everything, the universe, if he would follow God.

Our search for a home is no different. The world we walk is our inheritance, but in rare form. God in Christ is redeeming it, peoples and cultures, through the Spirit in partnership with the people of Abraham. The heavenly blessings promised to Abraham are breaking into this curse-ridden world, transforming families, homes, cultures and cities. This is the gospel. This is the promise to Abraham and to my family. It is his promise to you, wherever you go. You are insufficient, but have been called to go and collect on an inheritance purchased by the death of Jesus. Ready this world for the world that is come, his Kingdom, by denying your sufficiency and the satisfaction of home with four walls. Accept the sufficiency of Christ to give you a multi-dimensional home, a new heavens and earth, where the world will be your couch and the universe your ottoman…and until then long for home, home with Christ and his new creation.