Wednesday, August 27, 2008

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.

Monday, August 25, 2008

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.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

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 CafĂ© 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.