Transformation Is God's Business

2 Corinthians 3:18
And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

God is in the business of transformation. That means that those who commit themselves to transformation of people and communities are in business with God.

It is by reflecting God's glory with unveiled, vulnerable, authentic faces and fixed gazes upon Jesus Christ that the impossible is accomplished. We are trasnformed into agents of transformation. It's overhwelming wonder grows as it builds into a tsunami of ever-increasing glory!

And it all happens as the Spirit of God works in our lives with ruthless love and relentless grace.

Transformational Values from The Fellowship of Joy

• We value the holiness of the ordinary.
• We value the uniqueness of every person in the image of God.
• We value spontaneity, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
• We value the poor and wounded and seek to provide a place for them at the table.
• We value the interaction of many cultures and peoples in a fellowship of grace and acceptance where our differences are honored and our oneness is celebrated.
• We value joy, laughter, and human warmth.
• We value the insights God gives to each member of the Body individually and in groups as we gather around the scriptures and seek God together.

A Mission Statement on Transformation

Mission/Purpose:
Our mission is the transformation of individuals, families, and communities through the whole gospel of the Kingdom of God in Jesus Christ.

Real Transformation

It hit me this morning as I was preaching to the people of the Fellowship of Joy. We really are a transformational community. The pews were being warmed by people whose hearts have been warmed. They are changing. Their families and relationships are changing in the crucible of our collective fellowship and our individual relationships with God. we are hammering things out and growing and as we develop, our networks do as well.

I have no idea how much impact this is having, but I am sure that it is great.

From and To

As we think and speak of transformation of communities and communities that transform people, the key question at the center of the issue may be prepositional rather than propositional. What are we transforming from and what are we transforming to? the weight is with the destination rather than the origination of course so we focus more on the "to" than the "from."

From whence we come and from what condition is everything other than the narrow focus of Kingdom purpose to which we aspire.

Once we are found embraced and enveloped by the passion of the destination, we discover that only the entry point was narrow. The possibilities from that point on are broader and more overwhelming than anything we could have imagined prior to the moment of transformation - a moment that becomes a continuing process as those possibilities unfold.

Know the "from" and the "to," but focus on the "to."

The Old Shopping Center

Right now, I am looking longingly at some empty grocery stores and the shopping centers that are going downhill as a result. What starts as a hardship for one business and its employees becomes a cancer effecting the morale of an entire community. How can the church intervene in its neighborhoods to bring change?