“Kabbalah is a spiritual wisdom that precedes all religions. It was founded over 4000 years ago. Kabbalah is not really a religion or Jewish mysticism but a spiritual technology. Kabbalah teaches people how to attain lasting fulfillment. The tools of Kabbalah provide peace of mind, transformation, and the ability to rid ourselves of uncertainty in our lives. Kabbalah exposes the real nature of God. God is nothing more or less than a lasting energy. God is not a god that punishes us or rewards us. It is people who follow religions with a mindset of ‘God is doing this’ that are missing the real game.” Joseph Shvili told the class that the rules of the game are like natural laws. “Gravity has nothing to do with being Protestant or Catholic. It’s a principle of the universe. If you know the principles, you can play the game and win.”

The Kabbalah Centre article >

“If you have A.D.D., this is the church for you,” read San Diego Church’s advertisement. “People have commented that they do have A.D.D. and love that we do service under an hour,” said Pastor Chad Furlong. “We strive to create a relaxed environment. We all sit at round tables, dress in casual clothes, and offer food in the middle of service. Often, in the middle of service, we take a five- to eight-minute break to eat, grab coffee, and talk.”

Full article on San Diego Church >

I spoke to Father Aquino who moved here several years ago from the Philippines. “In the Philippines, the Church is more traditional and conservative. In America, there is more of a liberal belief in the Catholic Church. I think people call them Cafeteria Catholics. These people take from the Church what is good for them and if it isn’t good, they discard it,” said Aquino. “For example, the Church in the Philippines teaches respect for human life. Here, a lot of Catholics go out and get abortions.”

St. John of the Cross Article >

“The Salvation Army Church is closely affiliated with the Protestant Church, except that we have no public observations of the sacraments,” remarked Dabis about the church. Dabis said the Salvation Army believes Jesus spoke figuratively about breaking bread. “We see baptism and communion as symbolism of an inward resolve. Something that has taken place inwardly, so we don’t need to do them outwardly. This idea of communion is something we do whenever we eat.”

Full article on the San Diego Citadel Corps >

I’m going to be re-developing a site for Musolist. Musolist allows you to list free classifieds to find musicians and/or bands in your local town. In the next 30 days the site will be totally revamped for you to use and will add a lot of new features. Post your free ads today. If you are a church planter this can even help you gather musicians to your worship team.

“Almost everyone at USD already has some knowledge of Scripture and Jesus. So we can’t go around saying ‘Hey, you Catholics need to come to Christ.’ Even though there are many Catholic students who have grown up culturally Catholic but don’t know Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior,” said Scott Schimmel, when asked about the challenges of a Protestant ministry on a Catholic campus. “We are calling Catholics to faith.”

USD Intervarsity Article >

I believe the [Greek Orthodox Church] is the true church, but I’m not going to rub it in anyone’s face,” said Nazo Zakkak, an altar boy at St. Gregory of Nyssa Greek Orthodox Church. Zakkak said he believes this because the roots of the faith go back to the formation of the Christian church and the traditions remain unchanged.

“The Greek Orthodox tradition by our own view is the truest expression and most consistent expression of Christianity,” said Reverend Father Demetri Tsigas. The Greek Orthodox Church traces its roots to the day of Pentecost, when Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to the Apostles to begin the mission of the Church to the world. In 1054, the Greek Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church split into two.

Full Article >

Tall, barbed-wire fences surround R.J. Donovan Correctional Facility near the San Diego-Mexico border. Approximately 5500 inmates call the blue-and-white cement buildings home. Twice a year Kairos Prison Ministry runs a three-day weekend program for the inmates. All visitors sign in and acknowledge that in the event they are taken hostage, the authorities will not barter for their lives.

Full Article >

“The seven deadliest words in churches are, ‘It’s the way we’ve always done it’,” Pastor Ken Hensley remarked. Hensley recently returned to San Diego where he once served five years as pastor of Allied Gardens Church of Christ. Allied Gardens has since merged, becoming Zion View Church. Last year, the church decided to sell the building and fund two separate churches. Hensley returned to start one of these new churches.

Saturday, Hensley laid out a vision of this new church, LifePoint Christian Community. Fifteen people gathered in his home. Many in the room responded to online ads that targeted artists and musicians.

Full Article >

We’ll we’ve done a soft launch but there will be tons of mentioning Burnside Writers Collective in magazines, articles and the new books by Miller and others. Authors include Donald Miller, Rick McKinley, Jordan Green, Lauren F. Winner, Chris Seay. Musicians include Derek Webb and the Robbie Seay Band. Current articles include:

Arcade Fire, Funeral and The Killers, Hot Fuss
Interview: Al James of Dolorean
David Dark, The Gospel According to America

If you’d like to submit work to be included, email Jordan Green.

There will be many more tweaks to come. Email updates, ecommerce, some flash fun…but go check it out.

Galloping Horse, Soaring Eagle, Temple Badger, and Powerful Jaguar are some of the 30 graduates of the New Warrior Training Adventure. The New Warrior Training is a weekend retreat facilitated by The ManKind Project (MKP). According to its brochure, MKP “offers men the opportunity to look deeper into their lives and make healthy choices about their future.”

Full Article >

I attended a meeting for a new church that is starting in the Mission Valley area called Lifepoint. The pastor, Ken, returned to San Diego from a church he was pastoring in Georgia when his old church (here in San Diego) sold their property to plant two new churches. As I visit so many dying churches, I can only think, what would it look like if these dying churches were more active in helping new churches start? Again, without a Kingdom mentality too many people have an ‘us versus them’ mentality when it comes to church.

Last night I attended a graduation ceremony for The ManKind Project.

The ManKind Project® offers trainings which support men in developing lives of integrity, accountability, and connection to feeling. Our trainings challenge men to develop their abilities as leaders, fathers, and elders as ways of offering their deepest gifts in service to the world.

The ManKind Project’s New Warrior Training AdventureTM is an intense, transformative men’s initiation which invites men to forge a deep conscious connection between head and heart. The NWTA offers men a powerful, challenging opportunity to look at all aspects of their lives in a richly supportive environment.

The New Warrior Training AdventureTM is the gateway to the ManKind Project.

It was pretty amazing to see all these men gather and discuss the relationships and experience they had going away for a weekend (and beating a drum no less) to face their pains in life and heal through this ’spiritual’ experience. I’m interviewing four guys that went through the process for this week’s sheep.

“Nobody wants to talk about failure,” said Pastor Ryan Sharp. “As a new church, you try hard to build it and then you slap God’s name onto it, so there is a certain sense of gravity and guilt about failing.”

Twenty-eight-year-old Sharp reflected on the highs and lows of being a pastor. “I don’t know the mechanics of why failure happens. I look at it in more of a deistic experience rather than it was God’s will to grow our church and then shut it down. I attribute our failure to many things,” said Pastor Sharp.

Full Anchor Point article >

I’m helping a church re-do their website and move hosting companies. They currently use Easyspace. I was ready to transfer the domains (2) and whamo! I read the fine print:

If you are ready to transfer your domain away from us simply click “Proceed” which will take you to the secure online payment area. Please note that all domain transfers away incur an administration fee of £49.00 ex VAT.

These people are criminals.