OUR VALUES
It is not down on any map; true places never are.
– Herman Melville
COMMUNITY
Grace Explorations is a space where people with names create real community and conversation based on a common purpose. We are not a place where programs with numbers create religious consumers and commentators based on a colorful personality. Community cares. Consumers critique.
REDEMPTION
We are a redemptive community. We are not a religious culture. Relationships heal. Religion hurts.
NOBILITY
We pursue original glory and heal with honor. We do not police original sin or help with hiding. Pilgrims journey. Performers judge. Ditch the treadmill. Dare the trail.
STORY
We promote stories. We do not preach sermons. Stories touch. Sermons tell.
HEALING
We perform soul surgery on patients. We do not pronounce sentence on prisoners. Guilt convicts. Shame condemns.
REAL
We care more about acceptance and becoming right. We care less about agreeing and being right. Real persuades. Right politics.
AUTHENTICITY
We welcome returning prodigals. We wound religious Pharisees. Authenticity attracts. Hypocrisy alienates.
CONVERSATION
We dialogue. We do not debate. We don’t hide & hurt behind religious curriculum. We hear & heal before real community in conversation. Grace humbles. Pride humliates.
GRACE
We end arguments with awe. We do not begin arguments that end awfully. Grace awes. Mercy accepts. Justice argues.
SIGNIFICANCE
We fail forward. We do not succeed backwards. Failure impacts. Success impresses.
CREATIVITY
We are catalytic leaders. We are not micro managers. Leaders create. Managers control.
EXPLORATION
We explore. We do not settle. Pioneers do. Settlers dream. Explorers take the arrows, name the land & bring back the map.
BROTHERHOOD
We are a Band of Brothers with names and faces. We are not a building of bodies with numbers and places. Brothers bond. Buildings break.
TRANSCENDENCE
We climb mountains to change our character. We do not curse mountains to change our circumstances. Climbers conquer. Complainers crumble.
HEART
We are a fellowship of the heart. We are not a federation of minds. Hearts feel. Heads formulate.
LINEAGE
We are beloved sons. We are not betrayed slaves. Sons belong. Slaves behave.
HONOR
We are a league of extraordinary gentlemen. We are not emasculated males. Males commit crime. Men change countries. Males are born. Men are made. We initiate males into men.
KINGDOM
We compliment the church. We do not compete with the church. Missional models multiply. Doctrinal distinctive’s divide.
TRUTH
We are a safe space for people to process a dangerous message. We are not a dangerous place for programs to promote a safe message. Truth frees. Legalism fears.
CHRIST
We are followers of Christ. We are not fans of Christ. Followers change. Fans clap.
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OUR DECLARATION OF INTERDEPENDENCE
From the ends of the earth to the edge of eternity,
Grace Explorations will climb every mountain,
march every field and sail every sea
in the relentless pursuit of our original glory
created in the image of Christ.
We will embark on a heroic quest whose only guarantee is a
changed life upon an uncertain return as God’s great secrets
are revealed when a man returns from his great search.
We will walk ancient paths into pain, power and purpose
where the future is past to find timeless truth and arrive
where we were first meant to be.
We will drown into destiny to discover the journey is the
destination to every point unknown except to God in order to
make Him known.
We will go where few dare to go to
live our deepest and truest life as a waking dream where the
weight of eternity thins time into a “thin place.”
We will touch the undiscovered country within to reach the
naked soul of man and read what a sword of words bled from
a painful pen writes as a text of tears.
We will adventure into awe further than sight can see where
weapons of wonder hurt to heal and help us find home on
the far side of a strange sea this side of heavens shore.
From the furthest shore to the final frontier, Grace
Explorations will never stop exploring God’s Amazing Grace.
Where “there be dragons” there is also grace even unto the
ends of the earth and ourselves to find a new beginning in
God that never ends.
AMEN.
