"My division from God is healed by justification, but then there must be the "existential reality" of this, moment by moment; second, there is the psychological division of man from himself; third, there are the sociological divisions of man from other men; and last, there is the division of man from nature, and nature from nature. In all of these areas we should expect to see substantial healing. . . . On the basis of the fact that there is going to be total redemption in the future, not only of man but of all creation, the Christian who believes the Bible should be the man who with God's help and in the power of the Holy Spirit is treating nature now in the direction of the way nature will be then. It will not now be perfect, but it must be substantial, or we have missed our calling."

Restored to God

            In other words, this means being vitally connected to God in life giving relationship. For some, this may mean encountering God in His saving work for the first time. For others, this may require restoring the image that we have of God. We believe He most fully reveals Himself in Jesus Christ and the mystery of the Trinity. Restoration of man to God was accomplished once and for all in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is required that we walk in right relationship to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for us to experience God's intended restoration.

            Dallas Willard comments, "Grace is opposed to earning, not effort." We believe that grace alone ushers us and anchors us in restorative relationship with God. We can never earn this place of favor. Our performance can never be impressive enough to maintain this status. Restoration is simply a work of grace. However, both Scripture and experience teaches us that cultivating vital relationships calls for a great deal of effort.

            This reality motivates us to actively pursue practices, disciplines, and experiences that will help shape, mold, and transform our heads, hearts, and hands. This pursuit will reveal that we are engaged in a great battle for our own heart, families and communities. When we call out to God in our distress, His Spirit restores us to celebrate our victories or show up for another day in the fox hole of life. Walking in God's restoration will inspire us to be spiritual warriors, loyal friends, grateful sons, responsible fathers, better husbands, lovers of God and good neighbors in the local and global community.

Reconciled to Each Other

            We were intended to be vitally connected people. In the beginning, God made it clear that it was not good for man to be alone. Later it was communicated that a Godward life could be summed up in two directives. Love God intensely and love your neighbor as yourself. The second call to love flows out of the first. It is a call that is intentionally aimed at shaking up our social scene.

            God further reveals his relational intentions in the person of Jesus. The Father not only shows us the way of intimacy with His son, but also reveals a heart that embraces local and global communities (Matt. 28:18-20).Walking in the way of Jesus will cause us to develop an outward orientation. He challenges us to draw the circle of our relationships large. His example shows us that he developed an open posture toward all while creating unique opportunities to identify with the broken, weak, poor, and outcast. Following this path draws us out of our cultural, racial, and class comfort zones.

             Reconciliation calls us to deal with the teenage trauma of high school and the cut throat corporate world of adults. It means carving out a place of belonging for freaks, geeks, jocks, nerds, and rebels. It means setting a place at the table for people with blue collars, white collars, and no collars. It means finding out that we can influence and be influenced by those outside of our well managed inner circles. It is knowing and being known. It is a call to boldly love and pursue connectedness with those of other tribes. In other words, we should start drawing our circle at home and finish at the ends of the earth.

Reconnected to the Creation

             Recovering a sense of wonder often calls for a return to terrain more intrepid than the destinations where our day planners normally drop us. Although we are aware that God is present in our immediate locales, there is something majestically unsettling in those places of wordless awe where the ancients encountered the purging potency of holy mystery. For this reason, we like to listen for the call of out of the way places and wild corners of the world. Here the Scriptures speak:

            "The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech .There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.For since the creation of the world God's invisible attributes ­ His eternal power and divine nature are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made.For by him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on ear th, visible and invisible, whether thrones or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. From Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever!" (Ps. 19:1-3; Rom. 1:20; Col. 1:16-17; Rom. 11:36).

            Perhaps the best way to reconnect with the creation is to acknowledge the Creator. Through history, the Bible and church leaders speak of knowing God in and through His creation. Creation is a word of God. As Martin Luther wrote, "God writes the Gospel, not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars."

            Through the Apostle Paul, the Creator reminds us that "The whole creation is on tiptoe to see the wonderful sight of the sons of God coming into their own. . . . The whole of created life will be rescued from the tyranny of change and decay, and have its share in that magnificent liberty which can only belong to the children of God!" (Romans 8:19-21, PHILLIPS).

            We understand that the Kingdom of God has come in part now, but will one day be fully realized at the return of Jesus Christ. We believe that the process of becoming more like Christ is taking place in us now. We stand as witnesses before the fallen world that the good news is true and that some consequences of the fall can begin to be reversed now.