Corum Dei

In the spirit of I cannot love everyone. We can love everyone. Kim and I are inviting our friends to explore the Broken Heart Manifesto in community.

Most of this will take shape based on the culture of the community, so there aren’t many particulars yet. But there are a few things which we intend to allow to shape us from without:

• Love God. Love Others. Follow Christ.

  This is our goal. It’s kind of like a dangling carrot, because we will never fully achieve this goal, but Lord willing, this will keep us constantly moving towards the realization of God’s Kingdom.

• The Broken Heart Manifesto

  There is nothing magical about this text. It certainly pales in comparison to the Gospels. But it helps us with two things. First, it helps us focus on what we are for rather than what we are against. Second, it helps us focus on what we do more so than what we think.

  When we read the manifesto, the first thing that comes to mind is, “Oh My GOD! How in the world are we ever supposed to do that?!?” and then we remember that God has already done this for us, Jesus has already shown us how to love, the Holy Spirit already moves in us and gives us the ability to pour out God’s love on others. And, lest we forget any of this, we have books and letters and poems and stories to remind us, all in one nice volume! The Bible is our textbook, the manifesto is just the syllabus.

  We also recognize that many churches put a worship service at the center, and hope people get involved in other ministries on the side. We’re cool with that. But we want to put Jesus’ invitation to “Come, follow me” at the center. (And we guarantee, there will be a lot of worshiping and celebrating along the way.)

• Meals

  We don’t know why, but there is just something about sharing meals together. We don’t have a Theology of Supper, it just makes sense to eat together.

• Prayer

  Although we intended to first consider how we can be an answer to prayer, we recognize we are incapable of any good on our own, and there are so, so, so many things we are just flat-out incapable of. We want to make prayer a discipline–something we do whether we feel like it or not–and allow it to shape us. We use Celtic Daily Prayer, and will gradually adapt it to reflect the thoughts and context of our community.

• Community

  We are not alone in this journey. We are a part of something much larger. Jesus said, “when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I’ll be there.” (Matthew 18) This puts us in the company of all the saints throughout all time–past, present, and future. It’s a messy bunch in need of as much love as anyone.

  In particular, we are connected with another group of Jesus followers in Seattle, WA, called the Church of the Apostles. We think of them as extended family, and hope to stay in touch as such. They are also kind of like a big sister to us. They’ve been through things we have not yet even considered, and we look to them for guidance and wisdom.

If you live in the TwinCities, and are interested in journeying with us, please visit Corum Dei.