So here's a a question for you: What are you getting out of the "Relational Intelligence" series? Which topic or idea has stood out to you? Why? What has been a key point? What have you tried to "do" as a result of this series? Is there anything you've tried to implement? What was it? How'd it go?

Take a second, hit "comment" and interact! I'll start it out with one of my learnings ... (hit "comment" to see).

That's a question we've been asking often in this new year.  We've been able to use it a bunch as people have walked into our community wanting to check out us out.  Some have come to Terra Nova after meeting us at a local Albertson's back in the holiday season, as we leaned into feeding needy families.  A few have gotten to know us through this website.   Others were invited by a friend at work.  Still others saw  our sign out in front.  Lot's of different factors play into checking out a church like Terra Nova for the first time, but if you come a second time, and continue to come and explore, well...there's probably a reason for that.

So...what's your reason?  What attracts you to Terra Nova?  I'd love to give a few days for you all to post, and then I'll give you what John and I continue to hear as we ask the question...

And we're adding a 3rd – 5th class and a 6th – 8th class. (Woo HOOO!)

And then we're just taking everything up a notch -- from the treats and crafts to the personal attention. Plus, for our older classes, regular off-site trips to Starbucks and "Snow-on-the-Go" (the new local shave-ice place!).

We really want Saturday Nights to be a great place to bring the family, especially for families involved in sports, but also for those who perahps just want a "family day" on Sunday.

And it all kicks off this Saturday night (the 20th) with a PIZZA PARTY for the kids! So come on out this Saturday night and give the NEW SuperNova Saturday Nights a try!

The Arbinger Institute, Leadership and Self-Deception.

Steven Covey, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis, and Annie McKee, Primal Leadership.

Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence and Social Intelligence.

Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves, Emotional Intelligence 2.0.

Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart.

Paul Meier, Don't Let Jerks Get the Best of You.

John Ortberg, Everybody's Normal Till You Get to Know Them.

Henry Cloud, Changes That Heal.

Steve Sacccone, Relational Intelligence.

Peter Senge, et al. The 5th Disclipline and The 5th Discipline Fieldbook.

But for me, the high point of this TV/sports/consummerism/America event was it's bookends.  It began for me with a commercial featuring  Tim Tebow and his mom.  Tim is a Heisman trophy winner, maybe the greatest college player of the modern era, and a serious, serious follower of Jesus.  His mom, we find, is even more courageous than Tim.  The commercial briefly tells her story of her pregnancy:  how she was informed that little Tim had serious problems in her womb, and that bringing this baby to term would be...unwise.  But it seems there was another wisdom (the wisdom that comes from above,  as told in James 3:17) that she was tapping into.  Fast forward, 21 years or so, and see the joy that is captured on both faces;  mother and son, celebrating each other, celebrating victory,  celebrating life.

And then, in the end, the whole experience is concluded with Saints QB Drew Brees,  holding his toddler son (complete with headphones to protect his little ears from the crowd noise) and crying while kissing him on the cheek over and again.  The cameras lock on to this moment, and stay there.  The producer in a production trailer  somewhere outside that staduim allowes us to watch this scene for what seems like...hours.  Perhaps because, when you cut through all the hype and selling and noise and over indulgence that puts the "super" in Super Bowl, our hearts connect with this moment:  father and son celebrating each other, celebrating victory, celebrating life.

Our hearts can lock onto many things during four hours of TV viewing:  funny things and absurd things and raunchy things and inane things.  But then "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable (from Phil 4:5)"  comes rushing in like a mountain stream.  These are the moments we live for, the moments where we connected deeply in relationship with the ones around us, the ones we love.

Do you thirst for moments like these?  In the weeks to come at Terra Nova, we'll continue to explore God's book, the Bible, for Relational Intelligence.  For it's one thing to watch and marvel as we see people caught up in the wholeness of relationships--the power and beauty of it all--but it's another things to experience it for yourself.  And why would God want any less for you?

For the past few weeks, I've had a frequently repeated question in my Facebook status: "What is relational intelligence? What does it look like? Or, for that matter, what does relational UNintelligence look like?" I've had a bunch of responses, and I'm posting some of them as the first "comment" to this entry. Click the green link below this that says "comments" to see what my Facebook friends have been saying.

But I'd love to hear your thoughts, too. So enter a comment yourself and weigh-in: "What is Relational Intelligence? What does it look like in a person?"

As we performed this ritual after this past weekend--Mug a Friend weekend, it seemed as though we had way more trash than normal.  Now please know that we seek to be responsible with our trash:  washing, re-using, and recycling things.  But whoa--that dumpster was full at the end of the day.  Which to me was another clear sign that something really cool happened here at Terra Nova over the weekend. You see where I'm going with this:  some churches measure or "keep score" by the number of people who showed up or the number of dollars given in offering or the number of cards handed in.  But the story--the real story--is in the dumpster!  The more trash I see, the more I know that real life happened together at our gatherings.  It meant kids were crafting, adults were hanging, there was drink and food and spills and accidents.  All evidences that our friends came and enjoyed life with us.  All in our  effort to connect our friends to the friendship we have found with God.

Trash is the stuff we throw away, of course.  People are not trash to God, but treasure.  God has always had this thing about people!  Out of all his creation, people are by far his chief concern.  He loves people. He loved people enough to send His only Son to bring spiritual life to us.

  He also loves it when we love people.  And he loves it when we treat people as treasure and not trash.

I'm convinced this Relational Intelligence teaching series we've begun will help is to do that a whole lot better:  to treasure people as we understand them more keenly and treat them well.  There's value in discovering God's word on how we build wonderfully intelligent relationships.  You can count on that wisdom from God, you can take it to the bank.  Or even to the dumpster...

And then that story is followed up by 3 stories that Jesus tells about "lost things" and the all-out search that happens when somebody loses something they really want (Luke 15). And the direct correllation seems to be that God really wants people. There are people who are "lost" to him -- they're not connecting with him, their not enjoying moment-by-moment connection to the Source of all Life. And God's just not ok with that. That's unacceptable to Him.

This weekend we're kicking off a new series called, "Relational Intelligence." It'll be a great series, packed full of things we could all learn. And it will in particular be a great series to invite a friend to. And we'll be giving away these "Making God's Love Famous" TerraNova mugs. Yep ... we know ... kinda' gimmicky. Already thought of that. Already over it. We don't care. If it's an excuse to bring one more person to God's table, it's worth it, I think. Plus, the mugs are cool.

So ... who are you gonna mug?

Cuz' it's one thing to "make God's love famous" with strangers -- whether those strangers are in Haiti or in my local Albertsons. It's another thing (am I right?) to make God's love famous with people who really know me, and whom I really know.

So in 2010, we're looking to move, as a community, toward being "inviting" people. People who live naturally inviting lives, contagious with love. And people who naturally open our lives and stories and opportunities for people we care about to join us in our journey toward God.

Now, we think that all of this will lead to ... something. We don't know what yet. But we'd love to hear about your experiences as they happen. The good, the bad. The successes, the frustrations. Let it out. Just click the comment button below to read others and add yours.