Update...

     I haven't written anything lately, so I wanted to add a little something to keep my "fans" (you know who you are!) satisfied.  Right now I am sitting in a cafe in Ocoee, FL while BJ is in an "interview" for an administrative assistant job.  I hate this!  It's driving me nuts.  I woke up this morning with the overwhelming feeling that the next few days are going to dictate our future direction here in Central Florida.  We are unemployed, penniless, WAYYYY behind on bills, and close to eviction... how much pressure does that put on a simple interview!?  I also have a job interview tomorrow evening to do the web, graphic, and print design for a church in Orlando.  I know I can do it, but I am so stinking nervous that I'm afraid I'm gonna bomb the interview.  I feel like Lenny with the baby rabbits.  I don't want this opportunity to slip by, so I choke it to death!  Please pray for us.  We need work.  We have about $400 in monthly sponsorship which we are very thankful for, but is sadly not enough to even meet our basic needs.  I know, I know.  I'm whining.  

     On a posotive note, The Roots Community had another great community collision this weekend.  On Black Friday we gathered in the parking lot of our local retail park (at 3 a.m.!) and handed out coffee and donuts to people waiting in line at the stores.  We wound up staying until about 8:30 and handed out around 300 + cups of coffee and an innumerable amount of little donuts.  We had a great response from people, entered in a few good conversations, and made some really great inroads with the management of the JcPenny.  We are currently brainstorming different ways to continue a good relationshp with them.  Our next community endeavor is to offer a candelight gathering in our neighborhood for Christmas.  More on that as it shapes up.

    Overall, things are moving along nicely.  Please pray for our employment and financial situation as well as for transformed lives as the result of intentional collisions with our community.  We know God is continuing to work in and through us in every situation, good or bad.

One Year Ago...

One year ago today my life was changed forever...

One year ago today:

     I was unjustly fired...

     I was treated worse than an enemy...

    I encountered pain like never before...

     I fully understood betrayal...

     I knew what it was like to hate...

     I fell into a deep, dark place...

     A bitter root was formed...

    A hard lesson was taugh... 

    A new path was set...

     A tough journey began...

    A family was forever changed...

    A vision was seeded...

    A passion was ignited...

     A new man was formed...

    An old way died...

One year ago my life was changed forever...

I was set free.

Lord, it has been so very difficult to bear the burden placed on my shoulders this past year.  There were many times when I did not respond well to the situation in which I found myself.  There were also times when, through Your grace and power I was able to rise above anger and bitterness to see Your glory and to serve Your Kingdom.  As you know, I still struggle every day with what happened to me, how I was treated, and how Your church was torn apart because of the selfish motives of individuals.  Nevertheless, I thank You for Your wisdom, grace, mercy, provision, direction, and power.  I am Your man, set free to live for You, and not the whims of men.  I pray I live well, and give You glory as I seek to do Your bidding.  Please continue to guide me with Your hand, and to give me a heart to follow after You.

Reach-out, Reach-in, or Walk with?

            I can’t believe it’s Tuesday and I am just now writing about it, but this past Friday (Oct. 31) the Roots Community had it’s first major “collision” event (a collision event is one designed to allow dissimilar lives to collide in a way that they normally wouldn’t.  Sounds violent, but sometimes we have to crash into each other before we will take notice of our neighbors… watch the movie Crash and you may get it).  We hosted a Trunk or Treat for the Davenport and Haines City communities.  If you don’t know what I’m talking about, it is basically a “safe” form of trick-or-treating where people line their cars up, open their trunks or tailgates, decorate them and hand out candy.  Some of you may think that this is silly, and normally I would agree accept that this type of event is very needed in this community.  Why?  Because the majority of neighborhoods in the area of Davenport are either half empty or they are made up of mostly vacation homes, which would mean a lot of disappointed kids.  Now, our little rag-tag group consists of about 17 adults with a few children.  We couldn’t use all of our vehicles because we needed to run the event so we had to rely on family and friends to come to our neck of the woods and use their cars for our event.  I believe we had about 30+ cars.  Not a whole lot, but just the right amount.  In the end the event was very successful.  Jesse, our leader, estimates 1,000+ people showed up (I think it was more like 500+, but…) and we had 60 people express interest in our community (read: church).   Here are some pics from the event:

    

To see all the pics you can go here: http://s130.photobucket.com/albums/p243/kslique/TrunkorTreat08/?albumview=slideshow

 

            So why do we (churches) do these types of events?  Why do we offer something to the entire community during this time of year?  As I would drive around the area looking for work (please continue praying about that) I saw churches with signs advertising Fall Festivals, Trunk or Treats, and even a Safe House.  I wondered what they were trying to accomplish.  I could probably guess what their reasoning was since I have been a part of many of these events.  Most pastors and church members would say that they are a great “outreach” event.  Shoot, that’s the party line I would produce in defense of the amount of time and money needed to do such an event well.  The problem I have with that is semantic in nature, but really fleshed-out in practice.  The term “outreach” creates an immediate separation.  It suggests some form of compartmentalization wherein the church has closed itself off from the rest of society.  I once saw it represented as the church creating a fortress to protect its members from the very people to whom they are supposed to be reaching and ministering.  Perhaps the term should be changed to “reach-out”, but even then there is a suggestion of leaving one area and entering another… to reach out of our churches in an effort to touch and draw those who are not on the inside.  That’s not a bad thing, reaching out, but what happens when the “outreach” event is over?  As in our event, most churches will either require personal information for participation or they will ask for personal information to be volunteered (That’s what we did.  We asked.  We weren’t candy Nazi’s).  In just about EVERY church I have been in the cards are used for 1) creating a somewhat realistic event attendance; 2) generating a new spam mail list, and/or 3) populating a warm-lead list for mid-week visitation.  Problem?  They are usually waved in front of the congregation on the Sunday after the event and then placed on the pastor’s desk and quickly forgotten as the “regular” business of the church takes more and more importance.  One month later someone will ask for the cards because they are getting ready to mail out the newsletter and the pastor can’t find them because they got thrown away with all the junk mail that was piled on top of them.  A bit cynical I know, but this is how it usually plays out.  Outreach events tend to do exactly what their names suggest:  reach out of our fortresses into the danger zone to collect and gather as many people as possible for a short amount of exposure and then retreat back inside and hope a few stragglers follow us in.  I used to push against this in our staff and leadership meetings.  I would use the example of putting a pie in the window to cool.  We, as churches, are good at putting the pie in the window and enticing people to come in and have a piece.  What we are called to do is take the pie to the people and sit down and eat it with them in their homes.  There is a big difference between the two.  In church-planting circles this distinction is labeled Attractional vs. Missional. 

            The Roots Community has taken this distinction and decided to be both attractional as well as missional. Last Friday I believe we took a big step towards accomplishing that goal.  We were missional in that we provided a much-needed service to our community (as part of the community), and we were attractional because we did it well, and without manipulative fact-gathering tactics.  People were asking about us, who we were, what we were all about, etc.   That is the result of attractional, which was the result of being missional (or Incarnational).  We didn’t reach into, or reach out of.  Rather we co-existed with our neighbors and allowed a few lives to run headlong into one another.  Just like in a real collision, some information was exchanged, and follow-up will happen.  Perhaps we provided an opportunity for neighbors to finally talk to one another.  Perhaps we provided the opportunity for a single mom to let her kids run wild in a safe, controlled environment.  Or perhaps we provided a glimpse of the grace and joy of knowing Jesus that someone has been desperately seeking.  Either way, our hope and prayer is for transformed lives.

            Lord, I pray that you help us to always see our role in Your kingdom as creating opportunities for people to come into contact with the love and grace that You offer.  Help us as we pour over the information provided from individuals.  Help us to see them as real people with real lives and real problems.  Continue to provide for our needs in a miraculous way.  We lean on You alone for provision, and know that it will be a catalyst for lives changed.

The Christian-Church Conundrum

     Yesterday I had an interesting thing happen to me.  I found myself trying to explain my "situation" to people who were completely unchurched.  Now, they understood the idea of me being in ministry and even the idea of me helping start a new church, but I could tell they didn't fully understand the concept of "professional/career Christian" or all the intricacies of church politics that could result in the termination of said professional/career Christian without any provocation or simply on personal proclivities.  Let me back up a little bit.  A couple of weeks ago I was clicking around on Craig's List when I came across an ad for a guy wanting someone to do some graphic design for cheap.  He is a man in Lakeland who is writing a book and needs someone to design his book cover.  He doesn't have much to pay, but I don't have much of anything coming in, so I answered the ad.  He liked my work and even the quick proof I did for him so he "hired" me for the gig.  Yesterday we met at The Pub to sign a contract, pay me a deposit, and just get to know each other.  He spent a while telling me his story, the idea behind the book (it's a health "how-to" for 40+ adults), and some ideas for marketing.  He then asked me about my family, and his friend (who came along) asked me about ministry.  She wondered about whether it was a "career choice" or a calling.  I explained that it was definitely a calling, and that anyone who made it a "career choice" would eventually burn out or have a serious moral failure.  She looked a bit puzzled, but seemed to accept what I was saying.  Further investigation led to the situation of my termination.  

     Now, I will admit that there is still a great deal of anger and bitterness that I harbor about the whole situation.  I am not fully over it, and it does shape my disposition towards most established churches and the systems that create these churches.  I battle it daily, and covet your prayers as I do so.  Anyway, I did not want to exhibit my anger and bitterness to these people, but I also desired to 

be honest and transparent with them.  What I found myself doing was having to explain the intricacies of church polity to people who had absolutely no knowledge or understanding of church culture.  I might as well have been reading them a technical manual on Cellular Array Processors (I don't know, don't ask).  Anyway, in the middle of my "explanation"  it occurred to me that the very thing that has taken up 1/3 of my life holds little to no significance or consequence to the world outside of Christian culture (the "real" world as some have called it).  I found myself wondering how something could hold such sway over my emotions and destroy families, but not even register on the radar of importance for the rest of society.

     This conversation has caused me to seriously ponder what we do inside our churches.  I have always found much of what we do under the name of "The Lord's work" to be suspect, but trying to explain the inner workings of church without painting a very, very bad picture became an extremely difficult thing to do.  Here we had people who were genuinely good people (read: "nice") who have a pre-conceived notion about churches.  Why?  Because we have spent so much time making sure the people inside the church are happy and entertained, that we don't really even try to maintain any form of connection or even relevance to the very world to which we are called to minister.  I lament that I might have made their picture of churches a bit worse, but hopefully their view of Christ-followers is a little better as is their understanding of what it means to live as God intended.  I'm sure it will take a while to fully help them understand the difference between Christians (people who give themselves that moniker) and followers of Christ (people who are called Christians by others because they are diligently trying to live like Jesus Christ did), but I am glad to have the opportunity.

Re-connect...

Just a short report to keep you all up to speed.  This Friday the Hendrix family disconnected and took an overnight camping trip.  We went to a state park that was only about 20 minutes from where we live, so it wasn't a big chore to get everything together and head out.  This was the first time we had been camping as a family, and the first real camping trip the kids had ever been on.  That is a sad statement considering my family used to go camping all the time when I was growing up.  I guess we have been so caught up in "doing" ministry over the years that we haven't taken the time to re-connect with God's creation.  Anyway, it was really great to get away from everything that has become a distraction to us.  I was able to see my kids re-connect with their imaginations; I was able to re-connect with God's beauty; I was able to re-connect with what it means to be a great dad; and I was able to re-connect myself with the truth of God's grace and providence.

    

     Now that we are back home and re-connected to the "regular" life that we have, I now feel ready to re-connect with the purpose and vision that brought us here in the first place.  I hope to be able to take more time throughout the week to disconnect a little in an effort to re-connect with what is really important.

    

Hope you all have a great week!

Disconnect... please!

I'm still trying to figure out how it takes me so long to make an entry on this.  It's not like I have this overwhelming schedule or anything.  Well... ok, I did last week.  Jesse and I attended Basic Training, a boot camp of sorts put on by the Florida Baptist Convention.  It was brutal!  10 hours of sitting in a room listening to people talk at us while we filled in the blanks in our workbooks... EVERY DAY FOR 4 DAYS!  It wasn't a good week at my house.  BJ was stretched from being a single mom, and I was stretched from the boot camp.  By the time the tension in our lives met head on, we didn't have our normal filters or emotional buffers, so we just let each other have it.  Don't look at me like that, you know it happens to you.  We've made up and are happy with each other again, but it just showed me another area where the enemy likes to sneak past our defenses.  Another thing that was made apparent to me was the fact that I need time away.  I'm not crying for a vacation.  What I mean is time away from my environment where my mind can be free, my eyes can soak in the beauty of God's creation, my hands can hold my wife's hand and play with my kids, and my feet can travel new paths.  Not having an office to go to or a separate place for me to "do work" causes my home to lessen it's  appeal.  I feel like I never leave work (even though I don't have a job) and I am always "on."

So, this week I am going to pursue the opportunities to disconnect.  Even if it is for a little while, it will allow my mind to re-orient itself.  If you live in Central Florida and know about places to do this, please let me know.  I'm gonna stop writing now so I can look for ways to disconnect.  You go do the same!

Live, and live well...

           I had a great weekend!  Despite ushering me past the 35 year mark, this weekend showed me, once again, how much God loves us and how right it is for us to be here in Davenport.  It all started Friday as the majority of our team met at Karen and Warren Brooks’ home to discuss creative planning.  Going into the meeting, I knew certain things needed to be addressed before we could effectively discuss creative planning, but I was content to see how things played out… and play out they did.  The conversation ultimately led to issues of individual purpose and how to cope with the fact that whatever role we may have played in past churches, we must be willing and able to re-invent ourselves for the sake of the gospel in Four Corners.  This is very tough for many people on our team because past experiences allowed for niche-style ministry while church-planting calls for the niches and pigeon-holes to be abandoned.  Growth isn’t easy, and personal growth is often a painful process.  What made the evening so enjoyable for me was the sense of community that was had in the group.  We were very comfortable with each other, even while discussing a very uncomfortable and personal issue.  For those of you who intercede for us, please include this issue in your prayer time for The Roots Community.

            The next part of the great weekend was Saturday morning.  Jesse is the coach of his youngest son’s soccer team, so I took my kids to the game.  It was so much fun!  There’s nothing like watching 5 year-olds chase a soccer ball around the field, colliding with each other, sitting in the grass, and generally having fun being outside.  I was able to take a lot of pictures in my quest to become a bona fide photographer (you can see them all here: 

http://s130.photobucket.com/albums/p243/kslique/KobeElisSoccerGame10408/?albumview=grid ).

While I was enjoying the games and just simply being outside on a beautiful day, what struck me was the fact that this was the first time I had truly experienced any sense of community in this “community” we had moved to.  People had gathered together in one place for one unified purpose: to watch their kids play soccer.  It was very interesting.  It made me ponder what our response, as the church, should be to this.  There doesn’t seem to be many opportunities for people to connect with each other in our community.  We have the Pub, but that’s about it.  Even there you are able to disconnect from everyone around you.  How can we provide opportunities for the people in our community to actually commune with others?  How do we create points of “collision” where people who normally wouldn’t come in contact with each other collide in a good way?  This is a question I feel we need to effectively answer with “my” church plant… not theoretically, but realistically and practically.  Saturday night was another good night at “church” as we talked about networking.  Jesse was very pointed about the fact that this IS our job right now.  Despite what we may have done in the past, and what our skills/gifts are, we need to be about the business of making connections with our community (starting to see the trend here?).  It was good stuff.

            Sunday arrived with blurry-eyed acceptance of my 36 years of existence on this blue ball called Earth.  I have officially entered the early stages of middle-agedom.  Abi made me a birthday crown which I was instructed to wear all day… sorry, no pics.  Birthdays are usually pretty good, but they tend to be quite narcissistic (hence the crown).  What made this birthday so great was that I was treated to a surprise party.  I’ve never had a surprise party (that I can remember, at least).  Jesse and Chuck took me out to the movies and when we got back to the house I was greeted with a large group of people holding masks made from pictures of my face and yelling “Happy Birthday!”  It was awesome!  What was so great about it, though wasn’t that all these people had come to the house to celebrate my existence, it was that all these people had come together.  I stood in my kitchen and just soaked it all in.  Our new neighbors were chatting with people from Roots, Andrew was playing video games with his “church friends” and some kids from the neighborhood, and people were simply enjoying each other’s presence.  What a great gift!

            This weekend I was encouraged and challenged by the fact that my intuition was correct about this community.  In order to effectively insert and administer the gospel in the Four Corners region, we must intentionally create points of collision for our lives to intersect with the lives of those in our communities.  In the book of Jeremiah, chapter 29, we see God instructing the captive Israelites: 4 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. 6 Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. 7 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”  He is telling them to become a part of the community; to live, and live well… to live lives of influence.  I believe this is what we are called to do as church planters more than to create another experience for people to choose to attend.  The name of our plant is The Roots Community.  Here’s what Jesse said about the name: In a community that is so transient and less than 10 years old, many find it difficult to connect and develop any sense of rooted-ness for themselves and their families.  The obvious reason most families are moving to this area is for a "better life", but often times that is simply economic in nature.  A "better life" without any sense of roots or community is not a better life in any way.  As The Roots Community we desire to transform this area with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As we launch a movement of church planting in this area we seek to establish roots in the physical and spiritual sense.  Transformation as a result of the gospel should impact our daily lives, thus giving us a "better life"... our ultimate "ROOTS" should be in the kingdom of God...where the Best Life is found.”  Isn’t this similar to Jeremiah 29?  Is it our job to create just another church experience, or is it to settle where we have been sent, establish roots, and influence the community from the inside out?

            Lord, thank You so much for a church family that loves me and my little family.  Thank you so much for sending us here… thank you for “exiling” us to a foreign land and foreign experience.  Please help us as we learn how to simply live and live well without having to be “professional Christians.”    

Much Love

     I know I haven't written in over a week, but sometimes it is difficult to write when you feel like you will be repeating yourself.  I don't have any long pontifications or even witty insights for you this week.  All I have is an expression of love.  I woke up this morning, like most other mornings, wanting to stay in bed.  Getting up at 6:30-7:00 is not fun.  I made sure Andrew was in the shower and then I rambled around the house trying to wake up.  It was during this time that, for whatever reason I was filled with a great sense of love for my new church family.  I don't know what triggered it, but I came to a realization that for the first time in a loooong time I actually feel strongly connected to the people in my faith community.  Granted, there are only about 25 of us, but we seem to have made a great connection in such a short time.  You see, my family was the only one that came up on it's own.  The only people we knew were Jesse and Anitra, and honestly, we didn't know them all that well.  Now, BJ has actual friends that she feels she can relate to as well as confide in (local ones, that is.  She has some great friends out-of-state).  That is something I have prayed about for her.  I have men I can hang out with and just be a guy (men who understand me and my situation).  Andrew has friends that are both older and younger than he, which he loves because it fills the space left by his best friend John, and it offers him the opportunity to be the older one for once.  Abi finally has a friend her age that is into EVERYTHING she is (which is a rare find).  She lights up like Christmas at the mere sound of Lauren's name.  And Coco has a whole new set of toes to sniff and people to rub her fat belly.

     About two months ago or more, as part of our staff meeting, Jesse had each of us go off and spend time with God to seek what He wants for our group and our church.  The word "Unity"  came up on more than one occasion.  We talked about this for a while along with a few other things. We all realized that we needed to make sure we maintained a sense of unity, especially since we were combining groups of people into one.  To be honest, I don't think we've really done anything as a group about this since that day.  Somehow, though God has really allowed my family (at least) to connect with our new friends in a meaningful way.  I like to call that "grace."  I hope and pray that these relationships would continue to grow and deepen as we entrench ourselves in the mission of reaching Central Florida.

     So I just want to thank everybody in The Roots Community for showing us the amount of love, acceptance, and grace that we so desperately needed.  It means the world to us.  Yes, we still have other needs.  We need to be able to pay rent, keep our utilities on, buy food, put gas in our cars, and more.  But the love that we have been shown helps us face these things with the knowledge that even in our darkest hour, God loves us and has supplied us with the love and support of good friends and a supportive church family; and even if that is all we can cling to, it is at least a really big knot at the end of the rope.  We love you guys so much, please know that; and we love everyone who has helped us walk through this journey so far.

Random Thoughts...

         They say you should never shop for groceries when you are hungry. It’s probably true that you should never blog when you are depressed. Well, I’m not depressed, but I’m not pooting rainbows either. I should be very happy because BJ and I were finally able to get our family newsletter and support letters printed and mailed out. I also was able to get the PayPal donation button to work (see sidebar). But… I wake up this morning to news that our nation’s finances are even worse than when I went to bed (and I went late… go Beavers!). I’m not normally that concerned about Wall Street because I don’t have money anyway (my Roth is so under-funded that I may have to pay when it comes to retirement), but this news is a real punch in the gut. Why? Because I just mailed and emailed support letters asking people I know and love to commit to sending us money. Our nation is on the brink of bankruptcy and I am asking people for money! I brought this up to my beautiful bride and she told me to pump my brakes (well, not really, but you get the idea). She reinforced the truth of God’s faithfulness to us. If He called us to this, then He will provide. He has made it very obvious to us that we are not supposed to rely solely on a job for our provision (can’t even get an interview). We should trust in our calling and trust that God has already prepared people to give. I’m so thankful God put us together. She’s a perfect fit for me. So, I will breathe a heavy sigh of resignation as I look at an empty bank account (literally) and wait patiently and prayerfully for what is coming next…

          I have been intending to write something much sooner, but we have been quite busy, and by the time I was able to write I was too tired to produce a coherent thought. Last week we attended a church-planting leadership conference called Blossom. Our worship team participated in the patchwork band that led worship for the conference, which was pretty fun, but quite tiring (emotionally as well as physically). Overall the conference was pretty good, but the highlight was Alex McManus. He spoke on the “radical” idea of Christians becoming human again. It was awesome! Everything he touched on was something that has been a part of my internal and external conversations for the past three years. He peeled back the façade of what we consider true Christianity to be. He exposed the church’s disconnect with the real world, and how followers of Christ went from being called “Christians” (little-Christ’s) to calling themselves Christian. I don’t have the time or space to go into all of this, but I will touch on many of the things he presented in the weeks to come. Right now I will say that his “conversation” settled in my heart and mind that my convictions are not just the longings of a disgruntled ex-pastor, but rather they are the longings of a heart that desires to truly re-connect with a world that I had been trained to fortify myself against (oddly enough in an effort to reach them… I know, you figure that one out).
          Yesterday BJ and I were talking about how I have always said that I never felt like I was able or meant to be a senior pastor because I don’t really see myself as a Shepherd/Pastoral type. I’m much too blunt and impatient with whiny Christians. She said I was selling myself short, but I don’t see it that way. I know that I would not work out as a traditional pastor in a traditionally structured church. I am a teacher, but the kind that doesn’t have much patience with forced learning. If you don’t want to hear it or learn about it, then ok, but don’t waste everyone else’s time. Mean, I know. Some people would say that my desire as a teacher should be to teach those “whiny” Christians the error of their thinking and direct them toward appropriate and productive thinking and living. They’re right, and I do desire that. It’s the whole stroking issue that I cannot stand. I would much rather spend my time at the pub helping someone cry in their beer than coddle the hurt feelings of a busy-body housewife who was passed over for the VBS planning committee. What a waste of energy and passion! Don’t get me started! This is why I believe God has me in church planting. I couldn’t come in and take the pastorate of an established, traditionally structured church. I wouldn’t last a month! I have a high-school friend who is doing that right now, and I applaud his faith and perseverance. It seems he is having to fight so many petty and insignificant skirmishes that he is not able to lead his people into the real battle for the restoration of broken lives. They have forgotten what it means to be human and exchanged it for being “Christian.” Jesus came to be human among us so that we may be able to see how it is supposed to be done, not so we would create a new way of living that runs counter-intuitive to the rest of humanity.
          In the end, I am very excited about the prospects laid out before me for connection and ministry with this community. We hope to be able to move forward with some radically different ideas and models of church-planting in an effort to re-gain status and respect within the local culture in an effort to show and teach them the redemptive, restorative power of Jesus Christ. I hope each of you will join us in prayer as we seek God’s guidance and provision. Oh, I am preaching this Sunday at a church in Bartow, FL so remember that during your prayers as well!
          Lord, You are so very gracious and merciful to even include me in Your plans. Thank You so much for the blessings You have bestowed upon my family. We desperately need Your constant hand of provision to under gird our efforts and support our lives physically, financially, emotionally, and spiritually. You have called us, and we have answered. Please continue to show us the path we must take, and quickly shut the doors of opportunity that we are not supposed to go through. Your word tells us that you hold us and will never let us go, so we trust and rely on that truth. Please touch the hearts of those you have prepared to support us financially. Help them see that You alone provide what they have, and that You alone can sustain it. You have prepared each of us for this time, and this moment, so help us to live according to Your plan. Thank You, thank You, Thank You!

Tired, but happy...

            I woke up today feeling like a truck had hit me.  I worked out yesterday and now I’m very stiff and tired.  To make matters worse, an old knee problem showed up again making my mobility a bit more cumbersome.  Want to hear more whining?  Remember the flat tires I’ve been having lately due to faulty valve stems?  Well, we finally had our last tire go flat so I had to spend an hour sitting in Tire Kingdom waiting for them to fix their problem.  Other than that, my day was pretty good…

            Isn’t it funny how no matter what is going on we tend to focus on the negative?  I had a really good weekend and a few minor irritants are overshadowing it.  Saturday night we had a great time of worship and Jesse really challenged us in the area of evangelism.  We had almost 17 people visit our little rag-tag group.  Most were from the church whose building we were using, but a few had somehow found out about us (we don’t advertise, yet) and showed up.  I think Jesse did a great job of bringing everyone up to speed with who we are and what we are all about.  I hope a number of them return, one couple in particular.  After church, Jesse met a guy at The Pub whom we had met last week at a birthday party at Jesse’s house.  He is new to the area and he and his wife are hungry for relationships.  We spent a couple of hours hanging out, getting to know each other, and laughing at the hypnotist that the pub had out that night.  A great foundational relationship was created; one that we hope to be able to build upon in an effort to minister to this family.  On Sunday we visited a church in the area that a number of our group have been attending.  It was pretty good.  They meet in a hotel conference center and really do a good job of creating an atmosphere of intimacy and connection.  It was a little more “polished” than I like, but that’s just my preference.  I like worship to feel more visceral and organic.  The “normal” preacher wasn’t there, and I don’t know whom it was who was preaching, but he did a good job.  He committed a pet peeve of mine, though… he based a key theological point of his message on a word that only shows up in a particular translation.  That’s a big no-no in my book, especially considering the version he used for the verse was more of a paraphrase than a word-for-word translation.  There I go again… being negative.  Anyway, it was a good weekend.

            This week BJ and I are trying to finalize everything to be able to send out our newsletter.  We hope those of you who get it will be able and willing to become ministry partners with us.  We may have to send it out in waves because it just costs too much to send out over a hundred pieces of mail all at once.  Please pray for us as we seek people to become supporters of this ministry.  I have presented a proposal for consultation to a local Lutheran church.  I may have mentioned it before, but they are interested in having me be a consultant for them as they develop their new contemporary worship service.  I hope they accept my proposal because that would be some much-needed money.  Speaking of worship, I am helping lead worship at a local church planting conference called Blossom this week, and our church’s band is leading worship for Four Corners Baptist Church on Sunday morning, and a few of our band (me included) are helping comprise a larger band for a worship event in Lakeland.  I have been very busy doing this type of thing since moving up here.  I enjoy it, and hopefully I will make some really good contacts for future opportunities.  Oh, our band is also leading worship on the 28^th for another church, and I will be preaching that morning as well. 

            Busy, busy, busy.  I am very excited about what God is doing here in the Four Corners area.  He is preparing the ground for some major growth, and we need to be ready for the work that it will bring.  Please continue praying for us as we diligently seek people and groups to partner with us, and for the people whose lives we will connect with the love of Jesus.  It’s not about us, but all about Him.

Should Church Be Encouraging?

            It has been way too long since my last entry.  It’s funny how busy your life can seem when you don’t have a regular schedule or job.  This house is feeling like a cage, but all I seem to do is pace back and forth like a lion wanting to break free and run.  Today BJ and I went out to the Florida Mall just to have something to do.  It was fun, but we couldn’t spend any money so we walked around and window-shopped.  I think one of the hardest parts of this journey is waiting on God.  I am not a very patient person, and I need to have a project or something to keep me busy.  Recently my projects have been to create a website about our church planting journey (www.hendrixjourney.com) and a companion newsletter.  I’ve done a great deal of work on them, but now I am waiting to be able to get some good photographs of the family in order to finish things off.  If you wish to receive the newsletter, please let me know.  Some of you may be wondering about my fitness endeavors… not so good (he says while sipping on a home-made jamocha shake).  It seems not having a schedule messes with me in that area as well.  I plan on getting back on the wagon, though so wait a bit before scolding me.

            Things have been going well with the Roots Community.  We have been discussing the DNA of a successful church plant (see previous post) and how we are going to flesh out each aspect.  It has been really good, but also very challenging.  Jesse is bringing up things that some people are finding difficult to swallow.  Another “problem” (if you can call it that) is that there seems to be a bit of disagreement or misunderstanding on what a “successful” church plant is and how to go about achieving that goal.  One of the major “fears” or concerns is that we may be discouraging “outsiders” or the unchurched from visiting or attending because we are using our “church time” to discuss how to “do church” instead of simply “doing church.”  I can see the point being made, but I also believe that this assumption is operating under another assumption, namely that unchurched individuals have either an understanding or opinion about what “doing church” should look like.  This is a conversation that I have been involved in for some time now with many different people in just as many different styles and faith communities or congregations.  In almost all cases people assume that since “church” has been done a certain way for so long that everyone who steps through the doors is going to know what to expect and will be highly irritated if their experience doesn’t match their expectations.  What is usually the case is that the people themselves will be highly irritated and therefore they assume their perception is on par with everyone else’s.  Now I’m not talking about style of worship.  I’m referring to things like staging, order of service, location, time, topic, methods, etc.  One thing that really gets me is this idea that you are supposed to leave a church service encouraged.  I’m not sure why, but so many people believe we (pastors) are to be encouraging and that the worship should be uplifting, and that everyone should paste on a smile because, after all, Jesus Loves Me!  I guess they think this way because secular marketing has so saturated our existence that we assume it is the “holy” way 

(that and the fact that Joel Osteen has the biggest church in America).  The goal of marketing is to bring you in and then build in a return visit.  I’m guessing people believe that if we are all happy and the preacher lifts our spirits then we will leave wanting more and will return next week (possibly with a “tip” in our pocket).  I’m not really sure this was Jesus’ method.  Yeah, He did miracles, but He also scolded people for only wanting to see a show and not really wanting to hear the Word.  The Bible isn’t always encouraging.  The gospel is very divisive and foolish to the world.  Of course for those who have been regenerated it is the most encouraging and glorious message ever heard.  If we focus only on encouraging people then when do we talk about the issue of sin?  How encouraging is the wrath of God against the wicked?  For me it is very encouraging, but for those mired in sin and death… not so much. So do we “encourage” them to get saved?  Is that biblical?  Now, I’m not a legalistic fundamentalist, but I don’t deny sin and hell either.  There are certain realities of Scripture that cannot be ignored, and cannot be “explained away” without compromising the integrity of all scripture.  They must be dealt with and taught, especially sin.  Sure we can talk about God’s love for us, and how this love is shown to us through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.  We can talk about how God is gracious and merciful and that is why Jesus came to be our Lord and Savior… but if we don’t mention sin and hell are we presenting the whole gospel?  If someone isn’t convicted of sin then can he/she repent?  Is there salvation without repentance?  I know I’m treading on broken glass here, but I believe these issues are easily overlooked.  We cannot assume that people will simply understand sin intuitively.  We must address it, even if it isn’t all that attractive.

            Among church planters there has been a discussion about Incarnational (missional) versus Attractional.  One group believes the church should stress attractional elements (music, lights, big events, etc.) while the other believes the church should stress the missional or incarnational elements (evangelism, community service, social justice, etc.).  Jesse (as well as many others) has been trying to teach that the two are not mutually exclusive; that they can and do co-exist.  I agree and would even say that incarnational ministry is in itself attractional.  In the end, I guess how you “do” church depends on your soteriology (theology of salvation).  If faith is man’s part of the equation (his gift to God) then you had better cast a wide, attractional net and give as many people as possible the opportunity to “respond in faith.”  If all of salvation (even faith) is from God, then you had better teach all aspects of the gospel so that those whom God has brought to you will be able to respond in humble contrition and thankful acceptance.  Or should we do both?  Can we do both?

The DNA of a Plant

     Yesterday I met with Jesse (our pastor) and Doug the teaching pastor-guy at a Dunkin Donuts… don’t worry, I didn’t give in.  Seriously, go ahead and ask them.  And yes, I did workout this morning.  Anyway, we talked about the church planting assessment that Jesse and Anitra had returned from as well as the First Steps conference they attended.  Jesse said his eyes had been opened about a lot of things, but one thing that struck me in particular was the conversation about the DNA of the church.  Jesse said he was told (and rightly so I might add) that you should start a church with the end game in mind.  This is just good coaching and managing from a sports angle, but also in business and other long-range planning efforts.  In other words, what is the finished product?  What do you expect the church to look like when you are done with it?  Now, you may never intend to leave a work, but if you do, what will it look like?  How will you leave it?  Once you have that picture clear in your mind, then you need to determine the necessary components to make the picture a reality.  More specifically, what type of people do you need to have in place to make it happen?  (Getting the right people on the bus and all that corporate leadership stuff)  Once that is figured out, then you work backwards until you get what some people may call your irreducible ecclesiastical minimum (hey, I paid a lot of money for that so lay off!).  To put it plainly, what is the basic minimum necessary for you to begin the church that will eventually become what you envisioned in the end?  This is the basic DNA of your church… the building blocks of church life so-to-speak.  Well, if you have been following the story of the Roots Community you will know that we’ve kinda worked backwards according to this principle.  Jesse assembled a killer team and then we have been trying to collectively move forward without a real end game in mind.  Oh well.  Doesn’t mean we can’t backtrack a little.  Besides, we all know God called us to be a part of this so that means He intended for us to be integral parts of the DNA of Roots Community.  Now to what struck me most about this conversation:

     While discussing basic elements necessary in the DNA of every church plant, Jesse said he realized we were missing a key element:  an evangelist.  No, I don’t mean Robert Tilton, Benny Hinn, or any other corrupt or corny televangelist.  I mean someone who truly has the gift of evangelism.  Someone who cannot help but share the love of Christ with just about everyone they meet; someone who lives with the everyday intention to reach as many people for Jesus as possible.  Now I know that many of us cringe at the mere thought of encountering one of these people.  We tend to consider them to be annoying, alienating, out-of-touch, and generally a nuisance to regular society and a hindrance to “real” ministry.  I agree on some levels, but not on others.  What really punched me in the gut was the fact that I used to “score” high on the evangelism meter.  No, I never had a charis-mullet (although I’m getting close now) nor did I shout through a bullhorn at people and hand out Chic Tracks.  What I did do was make sure I was intentional in my living in such a way as to allow the gospel to invade every aspect of my actions, conversations, and relationships.  Most people who knew me (in the church at least) would consider me to be very evangelistic.  I regularly taught and encouraged my students to be about the work of evangelism.  I was even the evangelism speaker at a youth mission camp.  Discipleship and evangelism were the cornerstones of my ministry for 10 years.  So what happened?  Why is it no longer evident?  I know Jesse hasn’t known me for very long and we haven’t spent a lot of time together, but that aspect of my character should have come out enough for him to be able to say, “Yeah, Kevin has the gift of evangelism.” (or something like that)  Now I am not upset with Jesse for not noticing me or anything… I am upset with myself for neglecting that to the point that it is not discernable by others.  Well, I plan on doing something about that.  I won’t force anything, I will just begin praying for God to bring me back to where I was.  It is His Spirit alone that draws people and He uses us as tools for accomplishing that so I will place myself in His hands to shape me and mold me to be the man once was and the man God still wants me to be.

            Before I take off I have a really great praise to offer up for everybody… we have our first financial supporters!  BJ and I are going to be raising support and we have been a bit behind on getting our list and letters together, but we have been building into relationships, and one of the couples we have been friends with for years have decided to join us in God’s work by giving us monthly support.  Praise God!  The best part… they aren’t rich.  They have decided to act generously and sacrificially to help further the work of the Gospel in the Four Corners area of Central Florida.  My prayer is that others will see the value of the work that is so desperately needed in this area and God will prompt them to join us as well.

            God you are awesome and I cannot believe that you would choose me to serve you in this capacity!  Thank you so much for your provision and for your passion for people.  Please re-kindle this passion in my heart.  Create in me the desire to truly connect people with You.  Help me live with such intention that others are drawn to the power, grace, and mercy that You give.  You alone give us life and You alone can save us.  My prayer is that I would not miss out on the joy of serving and suffering for Your name’s sake.

Treadmills and Deep-fried Twinkies

It is 12:00 (noon) and I am sitting at the kitchen table feeling pretty good about myself.  You see, I decided to start “working out” again this morning.  Last week I organized the garage and set up the treadmill and made room for the Total Gym (I know some of you may be snickering at the idea of using a gimmicky machine peddled by Walker Texas Ranger, but when you’re fat like I am, lifting 25-35% of my weight is more substantial than for you skinny people.  Besides, it works so shut it!).  I realize it took me a week to actually use the equipment, but that is part of my plan.  I have to know a week in advance that I am going to start exercising or else I will keep putting it off and never get around to doing it.  Setting a day in the future tricks my mind into thinking it is procrastinating when in actuality it is staying on schedule.  This is just one of the ways I have to get around the mental landmines created by ADD and laziness (Laugh if you will, but it works).  So anyway, I did some exercising and it felt really great.  I’ll keep you up to date on my progress and you all can help keep me accountable. If I stop mentioning it, then I have stopped doing it.

After my workout I sat down and read some in Piper’s Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ.  He wrote about the invincible life of Jesus… about His resurrection.  Simply stated, Piper highlighted the fact that Scripture tells us that Jesus’ resurrection was not simply a cool magic trick or a grand finale in His miraculous career; rather it is demonstrating His power over death and assuring for us all the promises of God.  In Romans we are told that since we, as followers have “died” with Christ, then just as He resurrected, so shall we be resurrected (6:5).  Paul also tells us in Romans that the very same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is the Spirit that offers us life in our mortal (flawed and impermanent) bodies (8:11).  I love that Piper highlighted this aspect of the resurrection.  What it shows us is the greatest truth of the gospel:  without Christ, we are nothing.  We are in desperate need of the power of Christ and His Spirit to truly live life.  There is a prevailing idea within mainline churches that morality (proper behavior) is equal to redemption.  In other words, if you act the part, then you get the part.  Our churches have created some sort of unreal notion of what the perfect, biblical Christian looks like and then wrongly enforces an unattainable goal for which everyone must strive.  If you have to strive to get something, then you have to strive to keep it.  This is why guilt, not joy is the prevailing emotion experienced by the majority of church members and attendees.  The bible clearly states that we are powerless in our imperfect and depraved state to attain righteousness on our own.  It is by the resurrecting power of the Spirit of Christ that we are even able to consider living according to Jesus’ standard much less actually do it.  I thank God every day that I am given the ability to live as His child with the righteousness of Christ to sustain my capacity for righteous living that reflects the glory and joy of Jesus rather than the condemnation and self-righteousness of Christian piety.

As BJ and I are part of a church-planting movement in the Orlando area, we want to be constantly aware of this issue within established churches.  We desire to present the biblical notion that Jesus changes our hearts and lives, and not our own self-awareness or self-reliance.  Many established churches have fallen prey to the worldly, sinful notion that Jesus helps those who help themselves.  This type of self-actualization and self-reliance undermines the teaching that we are totally incapable outside of the power and work of Jesus Christ (John 15:4-5) to help or change our condition.  Yes, there are things that we can and must do to change our lifestyles in an effort to de-rail our self-destructiveness; but we cannot sustain these on our own.  I can plan to workout every day in an effort to turn the fat train around, but if I continue 

to eat like a slob, then I will continue to be a fat guy who works out a lot.  The formula is incomplete.  Trying to be a good and righteous person without the power of the resurrected Christ is like running on a treadmill while eating a deep-fried Twinkie… it doesn’t work.  The power of Christ always precedes the benefits of living in Christ.  This morning I also read some in the book of John about a few of the miracles that Jesus performed in His ministry.  One miracle that stood out to me was in chapter 5 where Jesus healed the invalid in Jerusalem.  There was an invalid man who was beside the pool of Bethesda.  Jesus asked the man “don’t you want to be healed?”  To the man, this question carried the weight of condemnation that many people who visit our churches feel. You see, the pool was believed to have healing properties whenever an angel disturbed the water, but only to the first person that enters the water.  His answer to Jesus was, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” (v. 7) Basically, “yes, of course I want to be healed, but I am not able to do it on my own and nobody will help me.”  Jesus told him that he was healed and to get up and go home.  Later Jesus caught up with the man, rejoiced in his health and then told him to sin no more.  Jesus’ power preceded the ability and benefit of living a life of righteousness. We are called to introduce people to the love and power of Jesus Christ, and to help them begin their journey with Him.  We cannot save people, and we cannot change them.  That is the work of the Spirit of Christ.  I pray that as we progress with the Roots Community and with our future plant that everyone involved would embrace the power of the resurrected Christ as the ONLY means for true transformation, in our lives and in our community.  

            Lord help me to continually know that You alone appoint us for salvation, and that my job is to be Your tool for bringing people to the knowledge of who You are and who the Son is.  Help me to live in the resurrected power of Your Spirit and not in the impotence of my strife and self-righteousness.  Help us as a community of believers to offer everyone the grace and mercy You have given us so that we may be able to show them the love and hope that you offer the loveless and the hopeless.  I pray for those of us who are still in need of a job, that You would provide in Your time and Your power.  I pray for those who will be and have been asked to support us financially.  I pray that You would prepare their hearts for sacrificial generosity.  And, Lord I pray that we would always live in the awareness that we, too are invalids in need of Your help.

Sigh...

       Sigh (n.) – a long, deep, audible exhalation expressing sadness, relief, tiredness or a similar feeling. I have been sighing a lot lately. As any of you who have been following this blog may know, I haven’t written anything for almost a month. We have been very busy moving into our new home, but it has also been tough for me to sit down and write for some reason. I guess it is difficult because I have always had a place (Exodus Coffee) to go to read and write and I haven’t found that type of place here, yet. Today I am sitting in a Joe Muggs Coffee Café in the local Books A Million, but it’s just not the same. Oh well. Back to the sighs… I have been sighing a lot lately; sighs of tiredness from moving, sighs of relief from bits of good news and monetary gifts from faithful friends, sighs of sadness from feeling a bit stuck and not sure what God wants us to do, and sighs of exasperation from what seems to be a chronic joblessness. I swear, I feel like I have a disease or something. I have grown to strongly dislike the whole online application process. It’s like I am the proverbial needle in the haystack and employers are looking for hay. It may not be the case, but I feel like anyone who looks at my resume or application simply says, “Pastor? Next!” This exasperation bleeds over into my enthusiasm for the task that God has called us here to do. I know that I am distracted from the call because I am worried about our finances, but I can’t seem to shake it. I am not alone in this as a number of our core leadership are dealing with the same issue. Please, please join us in prayer for God to help us trust Him more, and for Him to do miraculous works in our lives and situations so that we will not be distracted and discouraged by the enemy.
     Things seem to be going well for the Roots Community. We are still working on things like logo, website, preview services and other logistics. We recently had a meeting with Hal Haller, the Reproducing Churches “coach” for our church and he did a good job helping us all with the process of contextualization and seeing our community through a missional lens. A few of us also have been attending meetings with Vision 360 and Reproducing Churches to help with things like vision and values and networking. I am excited, but I also see where we have been given a number of distractions to deal with. I’m not sure if they are from Satan or if they are tests from God. Either way, my discernment senses have been tingling and it makes me nervous. Well, I guess that is enough whining for now.
     Lord, please show us Your providence. We wait on You and desire to see You work in our lives and the lives of others. Continue to give us opportunities to create connections with the community and with people. Give us jobs that would create these connections as well as help us pay our bills. We pray that you would be glorified in all that we do and in all that we say. May we always give You glory and honor and may we treasure You above all things.

Movin' On Up!

            Wow!  A lot has happened since my last entry.  I apologize for not keeping everything up to date, but my head has been spinning.  In fact, today's entry is going to be relatively short because we have a lot of work to do.  Ok, so here's the skinny:  We finally have a place to live and are moving up on the first.  BJ and I prayed for God to show us where to live and He did.  It is not the original place we were looking at.  I'm not even sure how we came about this place, but it is in the same neighborhood as Jesse (the pastor) and is owned by a very charismatic Caribbean named Emily who is a believer and carries her little white dog around with her.  She told me she bought the house to provide funding for building a church in Poinciana and prayed that it would be used to glorify God.  She also told me she had a couple from Ohio wanting to move into the house that were willing to pay more than us, but once she heard I was a pastor she told them ”no” and wanted us to move in.  We were very excited, but also a bit apprehensive because we still did not have all the money necessary to move in.  Last Tuesday I sent a letter out to about 13 different families that I know have always supported BJ and I asking them to consider giving us some support in our move.  We received two responses that have been very helpful in getting us moved up, and we are extremely thankful, but we are also a bit perplexed that we haven’t heard anything from the others.  I’m not real sure what to make of it, but I will commit it to prayer.  I have been doing a lot of praying lately… that’s a good thing.  Right now our prayer is that we will be able to get everything packed, moved, and paid for.  We also need to find additional jobs once we get up there, so please continue praying for us in these areas.

            As far as the church goes… we have a name!  The Roots Community.  It is a great name reflecting the needs of the culture in Davenport.  There are so many people living there whose roots are established elsewhere.  Our church will endeavor to create a community for people to be able to create new roots and a new life in Christ.  Jesse does a better job of explaining it because it is his vision.  I’m sure we will hear it plenty of times so I will be able to better describe it in the future.  Also, this Sunday we will be meeting in our new location at Four Corners Baptist.  This location will allow our worship team a better opportunity to develop into what God has for the church as well as provide a few more amenities for small groups and fellowship.  Things are looking up! 

            Lord, we beg of You to continue to keep our footing solid.  We are desperate for You always and know that without You we are devastated.  Thank You so very much for Your providence, grace, and mercy.  Shield and protect us from the Enemy as he is hard at work trying to discourage and prevent us from doing the work of the Gospel.  We have committed our lives into Your hands and look to You alone for guidance and wisdom.  May we always treasure You above all, and may You always be glorified in our delight of You.