Growth

You know, I think that every church in America could be growing but the Kingdom not be. What's this preoccupation with growing our churches? Where does the Kingdom come into the picutre?

I know what some of you will say (if anybody reads this), "If my church is growing then that means people are coming into the Kingdom." I disagree. Your church can be growing and people could know nothing of the Kingdom. They are coming into your church, not the Kingdom.

I want to be about growing the Kingdom. Sure, I want The Point to grow, but I want The Point is not the destination. The Kingdom is. May we be about what Jesus was about and may we lay aside our selfishness, pride, arrogance and egos that keep the Kingdom out of and away from most of our churches. Until next time...

Prayer

I feel like a terrible pray-er. Do you ever feel like that? It seems like I get so busy with life and church work and family, that I can't seem to make time to pray. Sure I spend time with God in the mornings, but it's not the same as taking extended periods of time to just pray. I read those stories of Christians who get up at four in the morning to pray for four hours and those who spend hours and hours on their knees and all I can manage is a measly 15 minutes (if that), and I end up feeling guilty, which further distracts me and keeps me from praying.

Why am I so easily distracted? Why is it so easy to forget to pray? For those of you who don't know, I'm the lead Pastor of this team that's trying to plant a new church in Spartanburg. Planting a church requires a lot of work. This work seems to always be getting in the way of praying. It's distracting. It's keeping me from depending on God.

So here's what I did. No one was home this morning so I walked around my house, cleaned the bathrooms and talked out loud to God. It felt good. If feels good to complain to God, to tell God thank you, to ask for help, to acknowledge that things really are up to Him. Why can't I do that more often?

If you read this, I want you to come up to me or call me and ask if I've been praying lately. I'll probably be tempted to lie or make up an excuse, but hopefully I'll be able to say, "Yes." And know that this church planting thing is God's doing.

This probably made no sense whatsoever. If that's the case, I'm sorry. Until next time...

Recovery

I think I've recovered. Notice I said I think I have recovered, not that I know I have recovered.

Sunday was the launch of The Point. It was pretty cool. We had been looking forward to that day for over 3 years. And did I say it was pretty cool?

If I was a real blogger I would have written about this on Sunday afternoon. The problem is I haven't recovered enough from our big day to write until now. So here it is.

We wouldn't have been able to pull things off without the GREAT team that has decided to join us on this adventure. God has sent us some incredible people with a passion to serve and do whatever it takes to start a new church.

I don't know if anyone reads this thing, but if you do, I want to invite you to come hang out with us this Sunday. We meet at Dawkins Middle School off Blackstock Rd.. You can google the school for directions. I would love to know what you think.

Maybe I'll be more with it to write tomorrow. Until next time...

Fatih

You really shouldn't read books. They mess with your mind and cause you to think.

Don't get me wrong. I'm all into thinking, but reading books, especially books with different perspectives than my right perspective, give me what psychologists call "cognitive dissonance."

I'm reading a book right now titled "The Irresistible Revolution" by Shane Claibourne. I don't recomend this book at all because it might just give you a clearer picture of God and church and life. And really, none of us want clearer pictures of those things. We are just content to keep the picture that we have put together in our heads. That way God looks more like us than us risking who we are by beginning to look more like him.

Shane talks about actually getting to know the poor and not just throwing money their way to appease our satisfied consciousnesses. He talks about a lot of other stuff as well that you don't need to read because after all, you are already satisfied with what you know and what you believe and why go and mess up what you've thought to be right your whole life?

Yesterday I was reading and he started talking about FAITH. No not the witnessing program, but faith in God. He defines faith as loyalty. I haven't been able to get that out of my mind. We usually think of faith as belief. We don't teach this, but for most of us faith is a head knowledge. We believe that Jesus died, rose, is coming back one day. We believe the Bible is true. We believe, we know, we intellectually affirm all this stuff. The problem is we don't do anything with what we know.

I heard Andy Stanley say one time that we don't need to know more. We need to put into practice what we know. Just do it, as Nike says. That's why I love thinking of faith as loyalty. Our alegiance, our loyalty is to a Jesus way of life. To follow him is to be loyal to living as he did and taught.

I'm still chewing on this whole faith thought, but what if the whole faith think is more than we've been taught or made up? I'll have to think about this for a little bit longer.

Until next time...

And Counting

Who's idea was it to plant a church in Spartanburg? I need to give him a call.

Oh, it was God's idea.

Knowing that this adventure that we're on was God's idea sure is an encouraging thought. I love that Jesus says, "I will build my church." It's his church and he will build it. We just get to come along for the ride.

Talking about a ride...I want to invite you to join in our adventure on August 13. We're meeting at Dawkins Middle School (comment if you need directions). We've got 11 days and counting. Maybe I'll have more time to write in the coming days.

Until next time...

The Answer?

I'm not sure if this is the answer, but we're going to experiment with it.

Yesterday I said that I have struggled with how we, as The Point, can be the church. Really, what is going to keep us from slipping into another "come and see us" organization? How can we BE the church, BE the hands and feet of Jesus, BE a forceful agent for faith, hope and love in Spartanburg?

Here's what we're going to try: As some of you know, our church is going to launch/begin/start on August 13. We're meeting at Dawkings Middle School (please come!). Most churches meet every week. Actually, most churches meet multiple times a week. We're going to meet every week too, but each week we're going to have a different focus. We're calling it: Gather and Scatter. On the first and third Sundays of each month, begining in September, we are going to Gather. On the second and fourth Sundays of each month we are going to scatter.

Now let me explain what I mean by each. On our Gather Sundays we are going to meet at Dawkins Middle School to create and carve out some time (10:30-11:30) where we can connect with God. It is a place for unchurched (we really want to be a church for people who don't go to church) people to come, connect with some other people, have a cup of coffee and a donut, and explore what following Jesus is all about.

On our Scatter Sundays we are going to meet at Dawkins Middle School at 10:30 (we'll still have donuts and coffee) and then go out, Scatter out, to do communty service. Our goal is to be working with the homeless, doing free car washes, loving people with AIDS, brightening the lives of Senior citizens, partnering with the city of Spartanburg, giving out free water, the list goes on and on and on and on. The goal is for us to actually BE the hands and feet of Jesus in our community. We'll have projects that whole families (birth-death) can participate in, as well as some projects that might be best for adults only.

Is this the answer to us Being the church in Spartanburg. I'm not arrogant (at least not at the moment) enough to say that it is THE answer, but it is our attempt at the answer and we're trusting God to see what He might do.

Would you consider joining us on this adventure? I hope so. See you August 13th!!!

Until next time...

The Question

I am plagued by the questions, How can we be the church?

Here's the deal: I see a lot of churches doing church, and they are doing church well. The problem is: I don't see anyone really being the church, at least not on a grand scale.

We at The Point are going to try a little experiment to figure out how we might could "be" the church in Spartanburg.

I'll tell you what that experiment is tomorrow. Until then...

Jump

It is so cool...we've got a swimming pool in our neighborhood. I feel like I'm living in luxury. All we have to do is walk down the street, turn left, walk 160 yards, and we are in swim heaven. The pool is a great size and there's nice pool-side furniture.

None of that is why I'm writing, though. Here's why I'm writing: Have you ever seen a child when he realizes the water isn't going to eat him up, but that it's like a big interactive toy? My boys have both hit that sweet spot. My oldest did last week and my three year old did yesterday.

Last week, Nathan realized he could put his whole body under the water and float and swim around, and that it was acturally fun. Yesterday, Matthew realized he could float along with his bubble on. Next Nathan found the fun in jumping off of the side of the pool into the cool blue water. Matthew also found jumping to be worth the risk. He kept wanting to do it over and over and over and each time he jumped he had this huge smile on his face like this was the most amazing thing ever thought of. I wish you could have been there. It was pure joy for a father to watch.

Their reckless abandon got me thinking about life, our lives, and God. Really, life is all about jumping, at least the parts of life worth living. It's a jump to go to our first day of school, it's a jump when we move off to college, it's a jump when we get our first job, it's a jump to drive the car solo for the first time, it's a jump getting married, it's a jump having kids, it's a jump becoming a Christ follower, it's a jump being obedient to the voice of God.

The reason those are all jumps is because they each come with risk and the possiblity failure. They move us out of our comfort zones and into a place of uncertainty. But at the same time, I think that God loves to watch us jump.

As Matthew was flinging himself into the pool I just laughed and laughed. It was hillarious to see his excitement and abandon. I think God might look at you and me the same way when we plunge into life with the same passion and abandonment. I would write more, but my boys just woke up. My encouragement to all of us is to jump. Then listen and I think you'll hear God laugh and know that he is pleased with you. Until next time...

Carry

I just learned something that needs to be shared. You know the third of the ten commandments, right? Go ahead...quote it. Got it.

Ok, in case you've forgotten it says: Don't misuse the name of the Lord your God. When most of us think about that commandment we think of cussing using the name of Jesus or God as an expletive. "Umm, I don't think God's last name is #$%^#."

Well, the word "misuse" could also be translated "to carry in vain." Doesn't that give a vivid image to that commandment?

All of us who claim to be Christ followers carry the true God's name with us wherever we go. May we not carry His name in vain. May we carry it for His honor and glory. Until we meet again...

Ramblings

I feel like I need to go to the blog confessional: Bloggers, I have sinned. It's been 12 days since my last blog. Not that it really matters. I just would like to get in the habit of writing this thing. Why does like sometimes get in the way of everything?
Is it just me or does life, and the stuff of life, move way to fast? It's like I can't keep up. Does anyone else ever look back over the past week and wonder where Thursday, Friday and Saturday went and if anything worthwhile happened during those days?
I don't know about you, but I do know that when I take some "in my closet with the door closed" time every morning (Rd Matt. 6:5-9 for more info) that my days seem to at least begin with some meaning.
Here's what I think I know (at least in theory, if not always in practice). Life is filled with too much stuff and the choices I have to make every day deal with knowing the difference between the good and the best. I know that sometimes our struggle is between right and wrong, but I am convinced that our adversary is more satisfied when we settle for good stuff over best stuff.
Here's an example: As some of you know, I am a survivor fan. Last night I watched as Aras won a million bucks. Then I stayed up way past my bedtime (10:00, which I know is early for some of you, but is late for a weenie like me) to watch the useless interviews with the cast. Thus, today I had moments of focussing problems and tiredness that I usually don't have. Was it wrong to stay up and watch the survivor finally? I know some of you would disagree, but I don't think it was wrong. Was it the best use of my time, however? Not at all.
I seem to so easily settle for the good when the best, which might require a small sacrifice, gets left behind.
I don't want to live a good life. I want to live the best life. I think that's what Jesus was getting at when he told us that he had come so that we might have life and have it to the fullest.
Here's my challenge to myself and anyone else reading this blog: Take a life inventory and discern what good things in your life are getting in the way of the best things for your life. Until next time...

In

We are in. Thanks to so many awesome people who helped us, we are in our new house. I must give them credit (this is like the credits at the end of a movie): Hub, Stephanie, Susan, Kevin, Linwood, Sherwood, Dustin, JJ, Scott, Chris, and Jim. You all were such an enormous help. I pray God's blessing on you, and may God heal your muscles, because if you feel anything like me this morning you can barely lift your arms!

I must say, I feel a bit out of my element in this new house. It feels like it's too nice of a place for us. I have to give the Heavenly Father credit for that. Now if we could just figure out where to put everything.... Back to work I go.

AAAHHH!!!

You know, there really is nothing like a little stress in our lives to keep us agitated. In 25 hours we are supposed to close on our new house. I am pumped, excited, thrilled, etc.. But in the back of my mind, or the pit of my stomach, I have this fear that things aren't going to work out. Do my fears have any grounding? No. It's just like I've been nailed by this wave of fear that's pulled me under and I'm all disoriented and confused, half unconsious, struggling to get to the surface.

Then there's this little voice that keeps quietly asking: Do you trust me? And I know that the answer to my fear problem is the same as the answer to my sin problem. It's trust. God is inviting me, once again, to trust Him.

I wonder how often we miss out on the opportunity to see God work, to see God move, to see God show up because we give in to our fears and miss the chance to trust Him. I really don't want to miss God. I just wish it didn't have to be so hard all the time.

I keep coming back to that verse in Hebrews that says without faith it is impossible to please God. I want to please God, but more than that, I don't want to miss Him. I don't want you to miss him either.

Maybe the next post will be from our new home. Until then...

LIVE!!!

Wow. I am feeling pretty advanced, high tech, savvy, hip... I guess I'd better stop. But I am now an official "blogger." Who knew that it could be so easy. What to write about???

First, I have to say to our team that it has come to my attention that I really messed up some of your prayer lives with my talk on Sunday. I'm glad to be of service. Today I have been working on next Sunday's talk. I think it will fill in some of the gaps where you were left hanging, but I hope it will still make you uncomfortable. Jesus' words seem to leave us with an unsettled, uncomfortable feeling most of the time. And why shouldn't they?

I just want you to know how much I value your own personal relationships with Jesus. There really isn't anything in the world as important as that intimate connection with God. May God bless you with an incredible connection/experience with him this week.

On a completely non-spiritual note: We had our walk through at our new house today. What an incredible experience! The staff at Lazarus Shouse (and I did spell that correctly) went above and beyond to make the customer (that's us) happy. They did not ever make one excuse for something that needed a little work. They just fixed it.

It makes me think...how often do we make excuses. We make excuses with our family when we're in a bad mood. We make excuses at work when things don't work out. We make excuses at church when things aren't going as planned. The thing about the excuses we make is that mose of them are valid. However, that's not the point. There was a valid excuse for everything we pointed out to the Lazarus Shouse people. They, however, chose to ignore the excuse and fix the problem. What if we all started doing that. "A life without excuses." That would make a great book sometime.

Peace, love and happiness to all who read my first blog. Now the question remains, can I keep it up?