We are changing the name of our blog from London Church Planting to King Ministry. As you well know, God has changed the trajectory of our ministry away from London and toward the Northwest, specifically Seattle. If you want to read more on how God has been guiding this process of change you can read here. The blog itself will not change, at least not the overall content. It will continue to be a place where I get to think through tough ministry situations, difficult theological issues, and the joys of helping new churches rise from within contexts of unbelief.
I am very excited about what God is doing and what he plans to do in our final year in Nashville. We have big dreams for our remaining time and know that God is doing immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine. We ask that you pray for this work. Pray hard and pray often. We do not write e-mails, newsletters and blog posts to simply pass on information regarding our work. We are providing a window into our struggles, joys, victories, defeats. They are blueprints for the hours of praying we spend on behalf of God's people. They are pieces of a larger image that God is painting and bringing together. We often do not see every stroke of God's masterpiece, but there are moments when God allows us to catch a glimpse of his work. And when those moments come, and we are allowed to see the beauty and majesty of his sovereign plan, we can't help but share it with the world. God is powerful and he is active. I pray that you too will get to see the majesty of his work, both here in Nashville and in Seattle. And that is why I blog.
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
The Hard Work of Being Still: Part 3
What a journey this has been. I've been honored (and not a little scared) to have had the opportunity to share with you some of our most deeply personal and spiritual moments in this three post series about Being Still. I am so stoked to finally be writing the portion where we get to share some of the results from nearly a year of intense journeying.
What we know is that God had beautiful plans for this world, and He still works to usher in his kingdom on earth. We cannot help but to desire wholeheartedly to be a part of His kingdom work. Because what he desires for us are lives of power and beauty made radiant in relationship with Him. My new favorite image from scripture of God's hand upon the earth is from Psalm 85: "Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other..." He has not only the power, but the deepest of desires to bring restoration to broken lives and a broken world to make this image a beautiful reality in our cities and homes.
This is our drive. Through a phase of humbling ourselves we came to focus on this vision, solely on God's work in and for the world, allowing our role in that work to become hazy and unfocused on the edges. From this we've had a change in trajectory from European missions, which has been on our hearts for so long, to domestic missions. We are on a path to head back to the Northwest, probably the Seattle area, to begin a church plant (after another year or so in Nashville). Six months ago if presented with the opportunity to plant a church in the NW I would have said (OK, notwould have, I actually did say) "Nope!" I'm not even sure if I could explain why I felt that way. But through a beautiful, and seemingly impossible, process God has closed doors to London and opened them to Seattle. The impossibility of it all, based upon where we were several months ago, is that we are both ecstatic about it. And the beauty of it is how our path to London was the perfect path to prepare us for work in Seattle. So much of our preparation for London fits not only well, but better.
There are, of course, a million different odd and ends about this process that have led to this decision, but I'm not going to get into specifics. We obviously spent a long time (nearly a year!) heavily discerning whether what we were facing was a holy discontent from God or an attack by Satan through which we needed to persevere. We struggled through the emotions of what a change in direction would mean and the lies Satan took the opportunity to whisper to us: "This is just taking the easy way out" or "You are a failure." By God's grace we were able to cling to His words and promises in order to drown out the doubts from Satan. And now those accusations seem so absurd! First, making the decision to go to Seattle instead of London was definitely not the easy path. Believe me, it would have been much easier to stick with our European trajectory. And second, our brief venture into and away from London is honestly the most powerful and radiant part of our story. It's propelled us forward in ways nothing else could have. We are happy (and indeed eager) to have further conversations with any of you who want to know more, but this is all I want to leave you with for now. We can't wait to share more about our small role in God's kingdom work.
Oh, and you'll definitely not want to miss my next post in which I will hopefully be introducing our son to you! There won't be any of this heavy stuff, only really cute pictures that will make you want to snuggle something sweet and tiny.
What we know is that God had beautiful plans for this world, and He still works to usher in his kingdom on earth. We cannot help but to desire wholeheartedly to be a part of His kingdom work. Because what he desires for us are lives of power and beauty made radiant in relationship with Him. My new favorite image from scripture of God's hand upon the earth is from Psalm 85: "Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other..." He has not only the power, but the deepest of desires to bring restoration to broken lives and a broken world to make this image a beautiful reality in our cities and homes.
This is our drive. Through a phase of humbling ourselves we came to focus on this vision, solely on God's work in and for the world, allowing our role in that work to become hazy and unfocused on the edges. From this we've had a change in trajectory from European missions, which has been on our hearts for so long, to domestic missions. We are on a path to head back to the Northwest, probably the Seattle area, to begin a church plant (after another year or so in Nashville). Six months ago if presented with the opportunity to plant a church in the NW I would have said (OK, notwould have, I actually did say) "Nope!" I'm not even sure if I could explain why I felt that way. But through a beautiful, and seemingly impossible, process God has closed doors to London and opened them to Seattle. The impossibility of it all, based upon where we were several months ago, is that we are both ecstatic about it. And the beauty of it is how our path to London was the perfect path to prepare us for work in Seattle. So much of our preparation for London fits not only well, but better.
There are, of course, a million different odd and ends about this process that have led to this decision, but I'm not going to get into specifics. We obviously spent a long time (nearly a year!) heavily discerning whether what we were facing was a holy discontent from God or an attack by Satan through which we needed to persevere. We struggled through the emotions of what a change in direction would mean and the lies Satan took the opportunity to whisper to us: "This is just taking the easy way out" or "You are a failure." By God's grace we were able to cling to His words and promises in order to drown out the doubts from Satan. And now those accusations seem so absurd! First, making the decision to go to Seattle instead of London was definitely not the easy path. Believe me, it would have been much easier to stick with our European trajectory. And second, our brief venture into and away from London is honestly the most powerful and radiant part of our story. It's propelled us forward in ways nothing else could have. We are happy (and indeed eager) to have further conversations with any of you who want to know more, but this is all I want to leave you with for now. We can't wait to share more about our small role in God's kingdom work.
Oh, and you'll definitely not want to miss my next post in which I will hopefully be introducing our son to you! There won't be any of this heavy stuff, only really cute pictures that will make you want to snuggle something sweet and tiny.
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Living in Community
There are moments in my life that I truly envy the talents and gifts I see in the people around me. I especially envy their gifts when I do not possess them myself. This is all too true when it comes to blogging. My wife just posted a blog that goes far and above any blog that I could write. And the thing that really gets me is, she wrote the blog in like 2 hours....while I was at the gym. Ok, ok. I didn't want to admit it, but I was only at the gym for like an hour. And see, that makes it even worse because she pumped out that blog in an hour.
But I have to admit that I am actually more proud of her than I am anything else. I am proud, and glad, that we do not excel at all the same things. How boring our lives would be if everyone around us was passionate, gifted, and talented in all the same areas. If this were true for me then the world would be full of people who enjoyed sports, Superman and had an unhealthy fascination with cleaning. However, thankfully, this is far from reality. Especially in my marriage. Certainly Laura enjoys sports, Superman and cleaning (I have obviously undersold the vast array of my passions, gifts and talents for the purposes of creating a moderately humorous analogy) but these things do not move her to action. As mentioned above, she has a wonderful writing gift that I adore and am deeply proud of. It is not the similarities in our passions, gifts and talents that define us and help us move forward. Rather, it is our ability to utilize and lift up our differences that help create the building blocks for a powerful and active life together.
It is amazing to me how often people try to "go it alone" on their life journey. And certainly this rings true for many Christians. We have an unhealthy belief that our faith is our own and so our journey must be done on our own as well. There were moments when I actually convinced myself that I had all the answers to my own walk with Christ. I didn't need other people telling me how to walk my faith journey. It was mine after all.
Have you seen the movie "The Way?" It is a story of a man who loses his son on the Camino de Santiago (The Way of St. James). He goes to France to pick up his son's remains and ends up walking the Camino in his son's honor. He is filled with grief and pain as he begins his journey but along the way he meets three other "pilgrims" who become his pilgrimage community. Everyone in this four member pilgrim community has separate reasons for walking the Camino de Santiago and all are content to remain allusive as to the truth behind the journey. As the movie progresses we see each member dealing internally and externally with the reality that walking the journey alone will simply not cut it. It is as they begin to discover each other's personal story, passions, gifts, and talents, that they see the truth that the journey is better done in community.
I have become increasingly more convinced of something that I should not have had to be convinced of. And this is simply that following Christ is so much better when done in community. And I am talking about more than simply doing small groups in church to help foster community interaction. I am talking about a holistic community approach.
If you live in the Western world then you live in the reality of individualism. In our culture we cling to our individual rights and abilities to pursue what most drives us, personally. And this individualism has seeped into our understanding of a relationship with Jesus and his church. So often we "go it alone." Certainly we will talk as if we believe community is important. We write books about community, preach on it, study it, and do everything we can do to discuss it without having to live it out. We have personal Bible studies. We pray to our personal Lord and savior. We sing along to Christian radio stations when no one is around.
Now don't hear me say the things mentioned above are bad. They are quite the opposite actually. These are vital components to our spiritual journey with Jesus. However, if this is all we seek on our journey then we will be met with constant frustration and doubt.
Jesus consistently sought the solitude and silence of God's presence for spiritual nourishment. However, he was constantly in community with his disciples as he sought to go deeper into his relationship with his Father. Throughout scripture we see that our faith journey was meant to be done in community. Even when Jesus was at his lowest point and needed the solitude and silence of God's presence, he invited his disciples to join him in the garden for a time of prayer. Paul often discussed living our faith out in community. In 1 Corinthians 12 he tells the church that not everyone should have the same gifts. The spirit gives different gifts for the glory and majesty of God to be declared. And all the gifts, talents and passions are used in harmony by God to fulfill his divine prerogative.
I have to admit that as a minister there are times when this is difficult to follow. It is sometimes easier to do things on my own and execute them for a group of people. But I have come to believe that this cheapens the journey for those I am leading. I am short changing them of the power of community by ministering in this way. And so a change has been taking place in me as I view ministry in God's Kingdom in a community driven way. It is my job to develop a community of people who are committed to walking their faith journey together....with me right along side them.
This changes the way we approach leading ministry at our church. First, we preach out of community. This means that our content, study and preparation for preaching to a community is done in community. Second, we teach our House Church leaders to surface the passions, gifts and talents of their community and from that to form their vision and mission for their group. Third, we teach people to give up their individualism and embrace living as God's family. There are many more ways we try to connect people to each other in community but these should help to understand some of what we do.
The House Church we attend is led by two of our closest friends here in Nashville. This couple has a divine gift to create a community of love and acceptance with anyone and everyone they meet. They have a heart for their friends and family and for the people living in their neighborhood. Recently their neighbor's daughter was baptized at Ethos. The House Church they lead is far from perfect. And that is the point. The Boyd's have created a community where people are allowed to be who they were created to be by God. And together, in community, we navigate our faith journey, highlighting our different passions, gifts and talents so that we can increase our impact in God's Kingdom!
Life lived in community is exciting, fun, difficult, and sometimes painful. But it is the way that God intended his church to live. I cannot imagine what my life would be without my family. I cannot imagine what my relationship with Jesus would be without God's family that has walked with me as I learn how to dive deeper into the love, majesty, mystery, and character of God.
But I have to admit that I am actually more proud of her than I am anything else. I am proud, and glad, that we do not excel at all the same things. How boring our lives would be if everyone around us was passionate, gifted, and talented in all the same areas. If this were true for me then the world would be full of people who enjoyed sports, Superman and had an unhealthy fascination with cleaning. However, thankfully, this is far from reality. Especially in my marriage. Certainly Laura enjoys sports, Superman and cleaning (I have obviously undersold the vast array of my passions, gifts and talents for the purposes of creating a moderately humorous analogy) but these things do not move her to action. As mentioned above, she has a wonderful writing gift that I adore and am deeply proud of. It is not the similarities in our passions, gifts and talents that define us and help us move forward. Rather, it is our ability to utilize and lift up our differences that help create the building blocks for a powerful and active life together.
It is amazing to me how often people try to "go it alone" on their life journey. And certainly this rings true for many Christians. We have an unhealthy belief that our faith is our own and so our journey must be done on our own as well. There were moments when I actually convinced myself that I had all the answers to my own walk with Christ. I didn't need other people telling me how to walk my faith journey. It was mine after all.
Have you seen the movie "The Way?" It is a story of a man who loses his son on the Camino de Santiago (The Way of St. James). He goes to France to pick up his son's remains and ends up walking the Camino in his son's honor. He is filled with grief and pain as he begins his journey but along the way he meets three other "pilgrims" who become his pilgrimage community. Everyone in this four member pilgrim community has separate reasons for walking the Camino de Santiago and all are content to remain allusive as to the truth behind the journey. As the movie progresses we see each member dealing internally and externally with the reality that walking the journey alone will simply not cut it. It is as they begin to discover each other's personal story, passions, gifts, and talents, that they see the truth that the journey is better done in community. I have become increasingly more convinced of something that I should not have had to be convinced of. And this is simply that following Christ is so much better when done in community. And I am talking about more than simply doing small groups in church to help foster community interaction. I am talking about a holistic community approach.
If you live in the Western world then you live in the reality of individualism. In our culture we cling to our individual rights and abilities to pursue what most drives us, personally. And this individualism has seeped into our understanding of a relationship with Jesus and his church. So often we "go it alone." Certainly we will talk as if we believe community is important. We write books about community, preach on it, study it, and do everything we can do to discuss it without having to live it out. We have personal Bible studies. We pray to our personal Lord and savior. We sing along to Christian radio stations when no one is around.
Now don't hear me say the things mentioned above are bad. They are quite the opposite actually. These are vital components to our spiritual journey with Jesus. However, if this is all we seek on our journey then we will be met with constant frustration and doubt.
Jesus consistently sought the solitude and silence of God's presence for spiritual nourishment. However, he was constantly in community with his disciples as he sought to go deeper into his relationship with his Father. Throughout scripture we see that our faith journey was meant to be done in community. Even when Jesus was at his lowest point and needed the solitude and silence of God's presence, he invited his disciples to join him in the garden for a time of prayer. Paul often discussed living our faith out in community. In 1 Corinthians 12 he tells the church that not everyone should have the same gifts. The spirit gives different gifts for the glory and majesty of God to be declared. And all the gifts, talents and passions are used in harmony by God to fulfill his divine prerogative.
I have to admit that as a minister there are times when this is difficult to follow. It is sometimes easier to do things on my own and execute them for a group of people. But I have come to believe that this cheapens the journey for those I am leading. I am short changing them of the power of community by ministering in this way. And so a change has been taking place in me as I view ministry in God's Kingdom in a community driven way. It is my job to develop a community of people who are committed to walking their faith journey together....with me right along side them.
This changes the way we approach leading ministry at our church. First, we preach out of community. This means that our content, study and preparation for preaching to a community is done in community. Second, we teach our House Church leaders to surface the passions, gifts and talents of their community and from that to form their vision and mission for their group. Third, we teach people to give up their individualism and embrace living as God's family. There are many more ways we try to connect people to each other in community but these should help to understand some of what we do.
The House Church we attend is led by two of our closest friends here in Nashville. This couple has a divine gift to create a community of love and acceptance with anyone and everyone they meet. They have a heart for their friends and family and for the people living in their neighborhood. Recently their neighbor's daughter was baptized at Ethos. The House Church they lead is far from perfect. And that is the point. The Boyd's have created a community where people are allowed to be who they were created to be by God. And together, in community, we navigate our faith journey, highlighting our different passions, gifts and talents so that we can increase our impact in God's Kingdom!
Life lived in community is exciting, fun, difficult, and sometimes painful. But it is the way that God intended his church to live. I cannot imagine what my life would be without my family. I cannot imagine what my relationship with Jesus would be without God's family that has walked with me as I learn how to dive deeper into the love, majesty, mystery, and character of God.
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Raleigh Community Church
This past weekend Laura and I had the opportunity to attend a marriage retreat with the Raleigh Community Church in Memphis. We had a wonderful time spent relaxing, playing games, hanging out with friends, and most important, no kids. We love our girls a great deal but sometimes it is important to break away without them just so we can spend time alone. And this weekend provided us that opportunity.
It also provided me with the opportunity to preach, something I am finding I really enjoy doing. But the thing that I most enjoyed about this weekend away was to once again be encouraged by a wonderful group of people that I have come to truly love and respect.
As I look back over the last few years of our life it is easy to see the hand of God moving and directing us to move into places and contexts which have transformed us in different ways. Each place we have lived has provided us a new and unique opportunity for growth. And our time in Memphis certainly provided many of those growth opportunities.
Laura and I anticipated spending our time in Memphis in formal education. We were naive enough to believe that all we needed to be highly effective workers in God's kingdom was a "formal" education to accompany the vast (recognize the sarcasm) experience we had in practical ministry. We quickly learned that Memphis would be much more than just formal education. We saw where we wanted to be as Kingdom workers and where we were upon moving to Memphis. And the distance between those two seemed insurmountable. So we began our journey of creating spaces where growth could occur.
We sought out ways to grow in our formal education, ability to connect to people around the city, ability to communicate and cast vision, love for people, ministry skills, and a general understanding of what it takes to build a church. We started a business which connected us to a wide range of people and provided us the opportunity to develop communication and vision casting skills. HST gave us the space to explore a formal education. But it was the Raleigh Community Church that provided us the opportunity to dive into our creativity and stretch our abilities and understanding of Kingdom work. And through their grace and patience we learned how to cross cultural barriers, develop ministry plans, create new ministries, reach into the heart of communities with grace and the gospel in hand, communicate Jesus to people who knew him but did not walk with him, connect people together to form community, and network with people from the city at large under a unifying vision of God's Kingdom work.
If you ask someone from the Raleigh Community Church what they feel like they offered Laura and I as young apprentices in Kingdom work you will probably get a wide range of responses. But I am certain that none will know fully the impact they have had on us in a pivotal moment in our lives. Certainly there were bumps and bruises along the way. But this church offered several important lessons that have become a foundation for our future. First, love and accept people because they are God's creation. Do not ignore cultural differences, but also do not allow them to hinder our ability to love and accept people as children of God. Second, provide space for people to grow. What we needed from Memphis had less to do with formal education and more to do with space to grow. This involved our formal education. But it was so much more than that. Raleigh helped provide that space where we could explore, create and be transformed by God's Kingdom. Third, we learned how to keep going. At times life can be a complete mess. This was certainly what we felt in Memphis. Laura and I were both pursuing M.A. degrees, started a business, worked as Apprentices at Raleigh Community Church, worked part time for a non-profit, had a baby and a 2 year old...all at the same time. You have to be completely insane to do this or have a community of people surrounding you that is providing what is needed to help you through. We went with community over insanity (although at times it felt like insanity). Raleigh was a big part of that community that surrounded us so we could accomplish what we did.
This past weekend was important for Laura and I because we were able to be near some of the people that made our time in Memphis so valuable, so great. We are so grateful for the Raleigh Community Church and the people who lead and serve there. They will forever have an imprint on our hearts. We are who we are in part because of their willingness to walk with us on our journey. Thanks Raleigh Community Church!
It also provided me with the opportunity to preach, something I am finding I really enjoy doing. But the thing that I most enjoyed about this weekend away was to once again be encouraged by a wonderful group of people that I have come to truly love and respect.
As I look back over the last few years of our life it is easy to see the hand of God moving and directing us to move into places and contexts which have transformed us in different ways. Each place we have lived has provided us a new and unique opportunity for growth. And our time in Memphis certainly provided many of those growth opportunities.
Laura and I anticipated spending our time in Memphis in formal education. We were naive enough to believe that all we needed to be highly effective workers in God's kingdom was a "formal" education to accompany the vast (recognize the sarcasm) experience we had in practical ministry. We quickly learned that Memphis would be much more than just formal education. We saw where we wanted to be as Kingdom workers and where we were upon moving to Memphis. And the distance between those two seemed insurmountable. So we began our journey of creating spaces where growth could occur.
We sought out ways to grow in our formal education, ability to connect to people around the city, ability to communicate and cast vision, love for people, ministry skills, and a general understanding of what it takes to build a church. We started a business which connected us to a wide range of people and provided us the opportunity to develop communication and vision casting skills. HST gave us the space to explore a formal education. But it was the Raleigh Community Church that provided us the opportunity to dive into our creativity and stretch our abilities and understanding of Kingdom work. And through their grace and patience we learned how to cross cultural barriers, develop ministry plans, create new ministries, reach into the heart of communities with grace and the gospel in hand, communicate Jesus to people who knew him but did not walk with him, connect people together to form community, and network with people from the city at large under a unifying vision of God's Kingdom work.
If you ask someone from the Raleigh Community Church what they feel like they offered Laura and I as young apprentices in Kingdom work you will probably get a wide range of responses. But I am certain that none will know fully the impact they have had on us in a pivotal moment in our lives. Certainly there were bumps and bruises along the way. But this church offered several important lessons that have become a foundation for our future. First, love and accept people because they are God's creation. Do not ignore cultural differences, but also do not allow them to hinder our ability to love and accept people as children of God. Second, provide space for people to grow. What we needed from Memphis had less to do with formal education and more to do with space to grow. This involved our formal education. But it was so much more than that. Raleigh helped provide that space where we could explore, create and be transformed by God's Kingdom. Third, we learned how to keep going. At times life can be a complete mess. This was certainly what we felt in Memphis. Laura and I were both pursuing M.A. degrees, started a business, worked as Apprentices at Raleigh Community Church, worked part time for a non-profit, had a baby and a 2 year old...all at the same time. You have to be completely insane to do this or have a community of people surrounding you that is providing what is needed to help you through. We went with community over insanity (although at times it felt like insanity). Raleigh was a big part of that community that surrounded us so we could accomplish what we did.
This past weekend was important for Laura and I because we were able to be near some of the people that made our time in Memphis so valuable, so great. We are so grateful for the Raleigh Community Church and the people who lead and serve there. They will forever have an imprint on our hearts. We are who we are in part because of their willingness to walk with us on our journey. Thanks Raleigh Community Church!
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Ethos 5th Birthday
Ethos 5th Birthday
November 3rd marks a special day for the Ethos Church. We will celebrate our fifth birthday by worshiping together in Allen Arena on Lipscomb's campus. This is going to be an awesome celebration as we look back at the ways God has worked in and through us to reach every corner of Nashville. I can't wait to finally see everyone together in one place. Laura and I have been in Nashville for 1 year and have never had the opportunity to worship with our entire church family altogether. We eagerly await the moment we will look across a sea of faces, many we do not know, some who have become dear friends, all of whom are on a journey of faith in some way. Whether a person is there for the first time or hundredth time does not matter. Journeying with Jesus means making a decision to be curious about the wonder of God and surrendering to his work on and in us. Every Sunday we get the opportunity to worship alongside people who are curious and learning how to surrender. This doesn't mean we all are at the same mile marker along the way. It does, however, mean that God is alive and is working on the hearts of his people. November 3rd will be great because we will get to be together with our entire church family for the first time since we have been in Nashville. I think it is going to be a lot of fun!
November 3rd marks a special day for the Ethos Church. We will celebrate our fifth birthday by worshiping together in Allen Arena on Lipscomb's campus. This is going to be an awesome celebration as we look back at the ways God has worked in and through us to reach every corner of Nashville. I can't wait to finally see everyone together in one place. Laura and I have been in Nashville for 1 year and have never had the opportunity to worship with our entire church family altogether. We eagerly await the moment we will look across a sea of faces, many we do not know, some who have become dear friends, all of whom are on a journey of faith in some way. Whether a person is there for the first time or hundredth time does not matter. Journeying with Jesus means making a decision to be curious about the wonder of God and surrendering to his work on and in us. Every Sunday we get the opportunity to worship alongside people who are curious and learning how to surrender. This doesn't mean we all are at the same mile marker along the way. It does, however, mean that God is alive and is working on the hearts of his people. November 3rd will be great because we will get to be together with our entire church family for the first time since we have been in Nashville. I think it is going to be a lot of fun!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)