Looking Back @ 2010

This year has done a lot for me in terms of clearing my head and seeing missions, as well as church, in a new light. I must say that as a muzungu (white man in Africa) the issue has become about cautious, prayerful intervention.  Our desire, as humans, to feel important, sometimes gets mixed up with the indwelling purpose God has wired within us. It is much more ego-rewarding to go off somewhere and come back and talk about our "experiences" and get people all teary-eyed and even have them thank us for going. Cynical, I know. But I have a real desire to change how I personally do ministry and I can't go back to mission tourism, ever. Maybe it has its place for a time but for our own sakes we have to wean ourselves off the need for that high and learn how to live the principle of ministry in every moment we have left on earth.

For example, I loved traveling all over the world for the past 7 years. I love that my daughter was exposed to missions and other cultures at a young age. I love how God knit in me, a servant heart that was humbled continually on every trip. I also saw my misplaced idea of helping, and how we create dependency on the muzungus of the world and to some extent allow dissatisfaction to creep into their world when they realize what they could have, never knowing anything else existed before we came. And most of all I see how neglected and hurting our own culture is and how little we "mission" them because there is no glory in that. If we ministered with as much enthusiasm here we would change the world because the whole world is here, or wants to be here.

My other epiphany is that God will bring me ministry and not through organized programs or because I work in a ministry. I am living out my purpose which is the same purpose every Christian has, to be a light in the darkness. If we carefully listen to God's voice in guiding us to our vocations we will realize He is also guiding us to our ministry. Sometimes that is being the best mom and raising godly kids. Sometimes it is taking the job that pays less than you are worth because your spiritual gifts in that position are the more valuable asset. 

As far as the pilgrimage...I went to a church about a month ago and for the first time I sat and felt like I didn't need to stand if I didn't want to; I could be an observer or participater. I just disconnected from the world around me and connected with God in His sanctuary. Worship was plentiful and spirit-lead. This is huge. I feel refreshed spiritually with a renewed perspective (hopefully a bit more objective). I no longer feel the pretense of all the pomp and circumstance laid on me by the institutionalized church. It is what it is and always will be but for me I have made peace with that and can see that it is important for me to be a part of a body. Most importantly I know I have the freedom to go or not go each week and for a well trained Baptist that is huge :)

This is Sunday's Pilgrim signing off. 
"Three things cannot be hidden the sun, the moon, and the truth." -Confucious
"Seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you." - Matthew 7:7

Disillusioned

I sat at my piano a long time this morning and apart from fiddling around with “Prelude in C” I was staring at the photos on the wall. There are three above the Kimball upright, all from Africa. One I purchased from a friend who was selling them to raise money for a well in Zimbabwe. The other two I took myself a year ago, in Rwanda. What got me thinking about Africa this morning was one of my former students who is currently on a team raising money to leave on a trip in October. The “prayer card” is on my fridge. It is a nice glossy 4x8 cad with four pictures on the front, all of this girl and her cute personality.

So there I sat looking at the Africa pictures, thinking about my students’ upcoming trip and even my own trips in the past.  I just felt, well, disillusioned about the whole way missions is being done. I’m frustrated inside at the commercialized level at which the “business” of missions has risen. Churches and mission organizations and youth groups and spiritual leaders behind pulpits of glass have pounded into our heads to GO fulfill the great commission. Is that the heart of God? I don’t mean it in a blasphemous way but in the way we, as spiritual leaders are touting being missional, is that really how God intended us to hear that passage? And even more importantly, are we deceived into a missional experience only to check it off a list of spiritual to-dos and move on to the next task on our way to enlightenment?

Human beings are driven by the need to be in control. We value formulas that garner high potential for repeated success. We quantify our outcomes so they can be graphed and sold to the masses to prove our formula works. It is big business. No one wants to invest in a plan that is based on faith alone. Faith has uncertain outcomes and isn’t marketable until after the outcomes. Then the stories of faith become inspirational to us and profitable. I would have to say that the great women and men of faith did not feel “supported” going in and probably don’t care that their bandwagon is full on the other side. When we mass-produce missions we rob our missionaries of the experience Christ intended them to have as part of an on-going journey of faith. Instead it becomes purely experiential and a part of our personal history.

This past year I have taken a break from church and in large part from “missions.” After eight years of intense ministry my spirit was heavy and sad. What I heard from the pulpit saddened me, the urgency from administration, to get a mission trip going seemed all wrong. It all seemed so mechanical and scheduled and contrived. I longed for the authentic fellowship and goals of true missional living. On a side note, once you have tasted true missional life, however small the portion, it becomes your spiritual benchmark. Experience in and of itself is no longer enough.

I had a pretty outlandish plan I always wanted to try out when I was a mission director. It would serve as a kind of barometer to measure the true heart of a person who felt called to go on a mission trip.  I got the idea from the book of Acts when the new church converts were willing to sell all they had to give to one another to promote the cause of Christ.  The plan went something like this: pick a local location in genuine physical need but do not reveal the destination to anyone. Then create a team of qualified Christians that could meet that need, and allow anyone who felt called to be part of the team. Now lay out the cost, the dates. Begin a Bible study in Acts 2 and outline the basic principles of “the churches” philosophy on missions. Which by the way they were really successful at doing, …and hundreds were added to their numbers daily, Acts 2:45.

You can probably see where I am going with this…they get on a bus after months of planning, passports in order, shots done, highly anticipating their oversees journey, only to be dropped off in the inner-city of their very own city. Imagine the mixed reactions. How many of these missionaries would call a taxi and leave in anger, how many would do the task they were trained to do but with disappointed spirits, and how many would not blink an eye and get right to work?

Or change the scenario just a little and in the middle of your planning announce the team is going to (fill in a international location) but that only 6 of the 20 people will actually board a plane. All twenty people are asked to continue the fundraising efforts, the publicity, the spiritual preparations but the week before you are scheduled to leave you all meet together and pray for whom God chooses to send and the die is cast. What is the fallout of that decision? How many left behind would become prayer warriors and activists in support of those who leave?

The truth is that none of us are as altruistic as we would like to think we are. And who can blame us? There isn’t a lot of modeling of true missional living in our American culture or from our American pulpits. The ministry I was a part of for eight years, only one administrator or pastor has been on a mission trip local or otherwise, in the last 6 years besides myself, and only one of them gives a monthly message to the homeless as a form of local missions. The truth is I think we just want to check it off our list so we can say we are a mission-minded church so we hire someone to make us look good. As long as the congregation gets a taste, sees some pictures, hears some stories, sponsors a kid or two to go on a mission trip our epistemological Christian conscience is clear. Shame on us if that is even a little bit true.

Sometimes I actually get nauseous thinking about the times I have been a party to the same philosophy or have allowed it to happen so my job would be secure or so that my superiors would be happy. I can name the trips on one hand that have had legitimate reasons to happen, with pure motives, and genuine outcomes of missional experiences for its participants. The rest sit on an ever-increasing crap heap of good intentions; wood and hay.

I think that a mission is not marketable and if it is then it ceases to be missional in the truest sense of the word. Missions is personal, deeply, deeply, personal. It is likened unto your prayer closet, and the deeds your left hand does not know the right hand did. We are each responsible to reach those around us with the good news of the gospel. We are to help our neighbors, and sell our belongings to do so if necessary. It requires selfless living. It requires you to cease to care about yourself or your needs. It requires faith that God will provide if you will just go.

This is where we stand today. We are on the rooftop and we are the rich young rulers and we ask Christ what we must do to enter the kingdom of heaven but the majority of the Americanized world do not think the answer Christ gives applies to them. “Sell all you have and follow me.”

Church at the Dollar Tree

My daughter is in high school right now and having a big youth group is really important to her. There is one particular youth group I have steered her away from though and as discriminatory as it sounds, it is simply because it is a mega church. We went to this church the first year we moved to Vegas. It was a good transitional church. The eight years that followed have been in medium to small churches with small youth groups doing ministry stuff. My daughter has been doing ministry for years. She has been on no less than two mission trips a year since she was eight. This includes a 14 month long stint as missionaries in Canada. The long and the short of it is she needs this anonymity of a big group right now. She is transitioning in her faith with Christ and this is part of finding out what her relationship with God will be. I am confident that she has the philosophical depth to handle religious discussion far beyond her years but I desire her heart to cling to Truth because she understands the pure necessity of it to her life not because I have taught her how to understand it well.

OK long story short, too late I know, but it brings me to this last Sunday. I dread going to this church. But I have conceded for her. I dread the worship/concert time at the beginning most of all. I am literally queasy as I sit there watching a thousand people standing and swaying and sometimes clapping. Very few of them are singing themselves, I imagine either because they don’t know the songs and/or it wouldn’t matter because you cannot hear your own voice let alone each other’s voices among the electric guitar, bass, vocals, and drums of the band on stage. It isn’t my thing. I desire to worship and to invite God into this time and to prepare my heart for the message not be provoked to highjack the sound booth and hit mute on every channel. The pastor is pretty good. I like his messages but I can listen to him on pod cast.

So this last Sunday I take my daughter to this church. I head over to their Starbucks and grab a coffee and browse through the books in the bookstore. I fully intended to go into the service as soon as the big screen TV indicated the band was finished and the message was starting. I fond this book though “My Year Living Like Jesus” by Ed Dobson. It struck a chord with me because so much of this year has been an internal battle of that thought in my own life. So I found a chair and a good excuse to skip the service entirely.

I am discontent with the church as a whole. Not particular churches, all churches. I dislike that “the church” is synonymous with American ideals and rituals with capitalism and racism. I just think we are so far from what Christ intended the church to be. I’m not sure we can ever go back. I can’t go back. I can’t do church like I used to: It’s a lie. I think the organization of “church” is a name, a label that has been redefined so completely it shouldn’t be labeled church. In fact, if I look “church” up in my dictionary I imagine I would find current churches as an alternative definition:

Church            the body of believers who lived selflessly in order to proclaim Christ’s message at all costs and at all times. See Acts 2 (alter. def.  Modern day organizations with altruistic agendas appealing to the masses)

This has been so heavy on my heart this year. I remembered times of pure ministry where I sat with a homeless women and prayed God would provide for her, or watched Holy Spirit worship in Mexico, or took somebody grocery shopping just because God told me to. Most of the divine appointments dearest to my heart are the ones I was open to and responded to in every day situations through the prompting of the Holy Spirit. They were not always a part of a scheduled ministry outreach. I realize I have pretty much dumped it all, baby and bathwater, because of my definition of church and my disillusionment of ministry.

As I thumbed through the book by Dobson I read about some of his ministry opportunities in every day situations because he was just living like Jesus. And that is what he would tell people and conversations would ensue. I have had so many similar situations over the years that I had forgotten. And yet those were pure moments. I sat there and asked God how did I get so far from the pure ministry I longed for? I genuinely ache for that. It was a good church service there in that armchair, me soul-searching, thinking, and praying.

Today was the practical application of my Sunday. The last two weeks have been incredibly hard financially. I mean college days, count-the-pennies-for-a-Taco Bell-burrito, kind of situation. Today I had a little breathing room, finally. I had money in the bank and $30 in my wallet. I was almost finished picking up some items at the Dollar Tree when I turned down an aisle that a man was hurrying up. He stopped me and asked if I could help him. He asked if I knew where a Mormon or Catholic Church was located (interesting he did not ask for a Christian church, or if I was a Christian - but more on that later).  He went on to explain that he and his family were on their way from Utah and they had broken down and he needed $18.37 to buy the part to fix the car (AutoZone was next door). He was almost in tears, the desperation oozing out of every gesture. I just reached in my wallet and gave him a twenty and said God bless you.  He seemed surprised and thanked me profusely I glanced as he was at the end of the aisle and he raised his hands to heaven and lifted his head and mouthed the words “thank you.”

I knew intimately what desperation that man was feeling. I didn’t even hesitate because I knew already before he was done speaking, that God wanted me to help this person if I could. I knew my experiences were probably nothing compared to his though. And I was amazed that of all the aisles he picked mine at that exact moment and for some reason God ordained it. As I was checking out the lady behind me with only 3 items had to wait. I apologized and said I would have let her go first if I hadn’t already started. She was in her seventies and just waived it off saying she was in no hurry. When I got loaded in the car the same woman was getting into her car next to me and again had to wait to open her car door as I pulled out. I told her sorry she had to wait for me again and she smiled and said she was in no hurry she was just a servant of the Lord. I smiled and said I was too and she replied, “I know. I could see it on your face.”

Wow, that was a seriously transforming moment for me. I have to be honest here. I have been impatient and cranky with the human race for quite a few months so this was a rare moment. But maybe something is beginning to happen. I am beginning to crack and I hope begin to have a rebirth of sorts. Whatever it was, it was a significant sign from God that He is not done with my heart or my hands in His ministry. For that I am grateful and encouraged.

This brings me back to the concept of church. Church transformation is deeply personal. In the long run it is ONLY what I do for Christ that counts. I am personally responsible to follow Christ’s heart and His vision for the lost, for community, for fellowship. I am the church. If we get this concept and follow the precepts set out by Christ there would be no need for “organized religion” at all; fellowship and accountability would flow naturally. Is that what “Christian churches” are afraid of?

Think about it in terms of a career. You decide what you want to major in, you go to school, get a degree, get hired, sit in training meetings to tell you how to follow all the protocols of your job, then you practice with somebody, then finally you go solo. You follow all the training so you get good results and favorable evaluations. Isn’t that the same formula most churches use?

Now think about what most committed Christians do aside from their institutional training. Are they really visibly different than their peers in every-day life? Behind closed doors are they living transformed lives? Do they know their neighbors?

I had this radical idea once (actually it happens a lot). Here it is: What if every Christian, in every church, in the Vegas valley committed to one thing; learn the name of every person on their block? Then if they prayed for each person on their block every day for a year, what could happen if our hearts were inclined to those around us in that way? I think revival is what would happen. What if pastors preached that as the only directive from the pulpit? You wouldn’t need to be a Bible scholar, you wouldn’t have to order tracts or memorize the plan of salvation. If each person let the Holy Spirit lead through prayer and a life of visible love what a changed world we would live in. 

Appetizer Worship

I was reading a couple of articles on Worship this morning in conjunction with my recent “mega church” experience. I realized that my whole life, and maybe for you too, I have always seen worship as the appetizer and the sermon as the main course but maybe it isn’t that way. See, I can listen to Podcasts and probably glean more information than when I am in a service. I have ADD tendencies so listening while I am washing dishes or folding clothes or driving my car actually helps me internalize the message. But worship is different.

There is something special and irreplaceable about corporate worship. I used to think I liked the worship best because I am a musical person but the more I think about it I believe it is because I am a spiritual creature that desires the language of heaven to rain down on me. I don’t hear a lot about God preaching sermons in heaven but I do know that the worship is on-going so it must be super important. This makes me angry, angry because we are being ripped off by commercialism and consumerism when it comes to worship in churches.

I was reading an article this morning by a pastor, Trevin Wax, and in it he talks about the importance of worship leading us into study. He also says that you can measure the temperature of a pastor’s teaching style by the kind of worship that proceeds it; casual worship=casual message. He goes on to say, “Christians need to sense the weight of God’s glory, the truths of God’s word, the reality of coming judgment, and the gloriousness of God’s grace. Trying to package the bigness of God into most casual worship services is like trying to eat steak on a paper plate. You can do it for a while but at some point people will start saying, ‘I want a dish.’”

Well I want a dish. To me this is becoming the key ingredient in my fragile belief I still need to belong to a “church.” It is why I cannot forsake the gathering together. I cannot get what corporate worship gives any other way. Singing to a Christian CD while I am alone is a kind of worship but there is something about the voices of saints singing in one accord that has power. Have you ever been to a Chris Tomlin concert? They are pretty worshipful to begin with but at some point in the concert, as a particular song builds to climatic worship, he cuts the instruments, drops his mike, and the stadium sings out in one beautiful voice. It is a moment that, even now, brings tears to my eyes.

The importance and richness of worship is summed up well by another pastor, Tullian Tchivijian,  in his article, This Is The Way It Ought To Be, he says, “We, too, ought to experience God with the totality of our being in worship. Worship services ought to inform the mind intellectually, engage the heart emotionally, and bend the will volitionally. God wants thoughtful worshippers who believe, emotional worshippers who behold, and obedient worshippers who behave. God-centered worship produces people who think deeply about God, feel passionately for God, and live urgently in response to God. Therefore, when we meet God in worship, we should expect a combination of gravity and gladness, depth and delight, doctrine and devotion, precept and passion, truth and love.”

I think I would like to find a church that just did worship and prayer and that was it. I would like to see the pastor leading worship and prayer. I would love to hear the Holy Spirit speak through him as it is impressed upon him to speak. Or maybe interspersing expository, verse by verse teaching nested within the worship. I would leave that kind of service rejuvenated and charged, with a glowing countenance and desire to live like Christ in a more real way. I would imagine feeling more authentically bonded to my fellow worshipers through the shared experience than I would through greeting time or small group functions. This kind of church would be way less about the programming or the pastor and his style of teaching and so much more about his surrendered spirit as the mouthpiece of God.

I know that is way extreme and probably just indicative of where I am right now. I didn’t  research the theology of that concept or anything, after all, Jesus did do a lot of speaking with no worship. I’m just saying we have allowed the “church” to become a quantitative creature and have measured our success on sociological benchmarks and changed our approach as we deem necessary to enable the corporation to run in the black. In the process worship has become a marketing tool to entertain and impress us. It has become the appetizer when God intended it to be much more like the main dish and the sermon the dessert: something short and sweet and that wraps it all up.

Big River Evangelical Free

I first attended BREF church in the summer of 2003. A small town church with a big heart. When I started most of the outreach was done by the pastor and a handful of people. It was a go to church on Sunday kind of crowd but not a lot of other stuff going on throughout the week.

A couple of years later the pastor and his wife took a new church and left Big River. The search for a pastor began. And it went on for a really long time…three years later God brought the perfect match for the little church. But it wasn’t the same church at all. During the hiatus with no pastor the congregation learned what it meant to be a church. Ministries were started, community outreach grew, interim pastors stepped forward to preach, and the body of Christ was strengthened.

This summer when my daughter and I couldn't afford to go to Canada for our annual trip to work at the kids camp in Big River our church family raised the money for us to come. It is such a blessing to be a part of a family of believers like that.

BREF is a very different church now. It is a group of believers who have affected their community for Christ. 

The Fix

The Fix is a satellite campus of Green Valley Community Church. It meets at Club Madrid in Sunset station @ 11:00AM each Sunday.

I really had no idea what to expect. Some friends of mine told us about it. It was a lot like the Verve in it's crowd and style but not nearly as established or independent. It was small church atmosphere and friendly. We were given welcome packets (including a Starbucks card), welcome cards, and greeted several times and not just by people at the front door. People actually got out of their seats and said hello even though it wasn't greeting time.

The whole service was very chill and you pretty much felt at home even though it was out of the box. The band really rocked a couple of numbers. They really weren't sing along songs but the words were great and the musicians were awesome to listen to. There is a site pastor and he does the intro and the announcements, the closing, etc. The preaching comes from the main campus and is projected on the screen.

I have never actually been to a campus that preaches via a satellite feed or is pre-recorded, so it was a novelty for me, and actually I really enjoyed it. One of the pastors, Kevin, did the preaching and he was great. Both my teenage daughter and myself really loved the way he presented the message. He used lots of scripture, told great stories, sang a funny song, and made really good points. At one point in the middle of his sermon he stopped when he said we have to be "open to Christ" and decided we should stop and pray right then because he felt some people needed to make a commitment to Christ in their heart right then. You should know me by now, I love it when pastors authentically follow the urgings of the Holy Spirit over the script in front of them. Big points for pastor Kevin.

It would be easy to come in late and leave early and never get plugged in and at the same time there were so many things you could get involved in in the bigger ministry at Green Valley's main campus. It is small church feel with the deep pockets of a big, well-established church.

After the message they had worship. I have really been embracing this idea lately; I love to do worship after the message. My daughter agrees. There is something I like about getting down to business and then having time to reflect and apply it durning a worship time after. It is like a big satisfying sigh.

Overall we liked the low key, untraditional feel. We loved the message. We loved the lack of political agenda and forced scripting. We enjoyed the uniqueness of the music. We felt fed when we left and would definitely go back. A great environment to bring friends who don't like "church" but who are curious about God.

Easter 2010

As the Easter season approached this year I noticed all the fliers from all the churches around town and I began to calculate, in my head, how many thousands of goody-filled eggs were going to be dropped on parks all over town as a bait to draw people into the celebration of the corner-stone event of our Christian faith and it made me a little queasy. Traditionally, churches see Christmas and Easter as the time to take advantage of the wave of guilt-ridden/obligatory visitors that flood our churches two times a year. And I have always been a big fan of that, however, this year I have paused to think about it in a deeper way. Just like regular Sundays, these holidays can be done right and they can be done wrong...in my opinion.

It is the Holy Spirit that draws a man to Christ. We plant the seeds another waters and another reaps. In my experience, here and on the mission field, the most passionate conversions (not all but most) have been a process of people being  poured into by the church before they ever stepped foot in the door. I think the difference between the churches that provide a carnival with fun activities and emotional responses to the gospel that melt away as fast as the easter candy and the churches that see genuine growth in their church after such an event is the church that is already vested in their community. I think we forget sometimes that it isn't a contest. It isn't about who does it biggest it is about who does it with the heart of Christ.

So I did go to one Easter Egg Hunt sponsored by one of the churches I visited earlier this year, Encounter Community Church. It was held on Saturday instead of Sunday (loved this). It was in a park that drew on the demographic this church already ministers to and has been for a year (and they are in their community for real). There was an egg hunt, blow up thingy, face painting, etc. Toward the end of the event the drama team performed an awesome and spiritually moving production. It was set to a secular song mix and talked about all the things in life that pull us down and yet the hope within us searches for more. It wasn't "Eastery" it was relevant. The crowd was mesmerized and touched, to their core. Big tough guys and moms from the projects with 5 kids and teens all stopped to watch, some raising their hands for prayer or for salvation. And the church was there moving through the crowd with their hand on a shoulder or sitting beside and praying and talking with those in need.

I was standing off to the side taking pictures and I noticed two teenage girls watching the drama. The blonde one was in a huff and stomped off. The one with dark hair didn't budge and I noticed she had shyly been half raising her hand as the pastor spoke. I edged closer (you know how God says, "Yeah, that one over there. Go talk to them.") So we began to talk and she said to pray for her friend because she was an Atheist and then she went on to say how she had never seen a drama quite like that one and how it really touched her. She took a Bible and information on the youth group and talked with the youth pastor. I noticed 20 minutes after the drama was over people were still talking and praying together.

One more cool thing (perhaps the coolest thing of all), the next day there was regular church. There was an immediate opportunity to take new commitments to a place of worship the very next day. Secondly, the "church" would be able to come together, on this sacred occasion of Easter, and worship and honor the sacrifice of our Lord without the distraction of being the entertainment. I really like that idea. There is a time to serve and a time to be fed.

My faith in church-sponsored Easter Egg hunts was restored a little that day :)

Passover Seder

This Easter the Church at Lake Mead hosted a Passover Seder on good Friday. The guest pastor, Richard Hill, pastors a Messianic congregation called Beth Yeshua in Las Vegas. He and his wife have been missionaries here for 10 years. Their purpose is to reach the Jewish people for Christ and to share the rich meaning of Jewish traditions for all believers.

Passover was amazing. Each part of the seder was explained showing the significance to the OT Hebrews and today's believers. We said the prayers in Hebrew together and we remembered God's promise of deliverance. We ate and fellowshipped.

It was significant to me because I kept thinking about the last supper and how the disciples sat around for hours with Christ that night and missed all the symbolism that was going to happen in just a few days. It must have been bitter sweet for Christ as he thought about all the times He had rescued his people throughout history and now He was getting ready to physically deliver through his own sacrifice and yet it meant leaving the fellowship of those he loved and enduring pain and rejection from His father. Things would never be the same. Thank you, Jesus!

Empowered Life Church

I just got home from church. I visited Empowered Life Church in Henderson today. They are a new church (1 year) and have about 50 members. They are an extremely warm, friendly, and inviting congregation. They are culturally diverse with most of the members being over 30. A good group of kids K-5^th and a few teens.

Today the pastor finished up a series on families. The topic was educating our children. He had many good points, mainly focused on obedience to parents and educating them so they can be better off and more prosperous than their parent’s generation: obedience=blessing. I would have liked to hear more about raising our kids to have a passionate love for God and His Word because from that passion obedience flows and yes, blessings too but not always in ways our culture measures as success. In God’s economy success is a sold out heart for Him to go anywhere and do anything...all for the glory of Him, regardless of earthly rewards. 

Verve Kick Off

Before I talk about Verve specifically I wanted to talk about the pilgrimage. It has been a couple of months now and so I took some time this week to reflect on what I have been experiencing so far. Have you ever done one of those cleanse routines where you take a couple of weeks, drink lots of vitamin stuff and water? Somewhere during the middle of the first week your senses become heightened. Smells, flavors, everything is just sharper. Well that is how it feels to me right now. It feels like some of the things I've always feasted on where clogging the system (excuse the mental picture) and some of the things I didn't even realize are now sharp and poignant. In conjunction with that new-found alertness I also had to deal with my internal evaluation system of church. I must be honest and say it was a lot about me and what I was experiencing. Which is not all bad but never-the-less not very objective.

So with those two things realized this is how it is playing out in the pilgrimage: 1) When the Holy Spirit fills a place it is undeniable. It evokes emotions with no music or spoken word. You just know. But equally striking are the times when His presence is absent, which is also undeniable, and sad. And 2) It has become less about how I am treated as a first timer and more about how a church treats each other. Are their faces open and searching out a chance to be approached. Are they family or a group of people?

Now on to Verve and the long anticipated opening of this new church. As a seasoned Christian still seeking growth and depth I may not find it here from the pulpit but I would get a fresh perspective on everything I have ever been taught. I would find a ton of opportunities to minister to others, not through organized programs (and I got the impression that is exactly what is expected of me) but I could easily turn to someone and have a conversation about God and feel I had the right to do that. There was this unspoken permission to reach out to whomever God speaks to me to reach out to, whether I am a trained member of the "leadership team" or not.

Cool, trendy atmosphere, laid back staff all over, very inviting but not canned or polished. And apparently pretention was not a word in anybody's vocabulary at Verve, from the pastor, each member of the band, to the greeters. They really like each other and they really believe in the mission God has called them to be a part of. Music was pumping, a mixture of acceptable secular and alternative Christian. I liked the drama presentation and use of media to interact with the audience. The parable told with flash cards at the front while the band sangs was very moving.

The one thing I did miss about today was interactive worship. The band was great and I thought the songs they picked had a powerful message. You could sing along but it was definitely more of a concert feel than a worship service. In the context of what they are trying to do I had to ask myself, "If I had never set foot in a church before or this whole church thing was fairly new, would I want to stand and lip synch songs I didn't know to a God I wasn't sure was really there or would I want to sit and read words on a screen while listening to talented musicians?" I seriously was OK with it because their heart is to reach the lost and unchurched lost at that. Then that got me to thinking we have institutionalized worship just like we have institutionalized church. Who said worship is three songs, everyone knows, sung fast to slow. Familiarity breeds contempt right? I have to admit I did focus a lot more on the words than usual. Again it isn't about me.

Vince Antonucci is great. He is funny, he loves God, he is dedicated to sharing the message of Christ to those on the fringe. Biggest thing, he is dedicated to doing this mission no holds bar. How many pastors do you know would leave their successful ministry and move across the country, live and work in a community for a year, then start a church already having its own building, and plan 3 weekly services off the bat? They are the most together church plant I have ever seen. And wisely so. Who, in the business of Las Vegas, has the patience to try out "church" and then trudge through mediocrity in search of a truth they are not even sure exists? It makes sense to do it the "Casino" way; open with a bang and make sure everyone knows you are committed to the customer.

The message was very clear; Jesus loves us and wants more than anything to have us turn to him. I enjoyed hearing Vince's personal story and illustrations. But my favorite part of today, and a huge testimony to the critics who say he will compromise truth to drawn in the lost, was communion. Vince took the time to explain communion in a very real way and I thought it was gutsy and beautiful.

Pray for this ministry. It definitely is not a church for the traditionalist...well maybe it would be good for some traditionalists to go to this church a couple of times. It is what it bills itself as, "A church for those people who don't like church." Paul says, I have become all things to all people so that I may win some. Pray that God blesses and guides and strengthens this ministry to those on the fringe searching for hope.

The Church of Mocha Joes

I went to church today. Met with two amazing godly people who I feel so fortunate to now call friends. It was a two and half hour service talking about the goodness and faithfulness of our Father. There was laughter and tears and joy and sorrow. We talked about truth and men and women of God that have gone before us. We speculated on the "church" and what that really means. We were transparent, vulnerable, real and the Spirit of God was there. There in the local coffee shop run by a well meaning Buddhist guy we have all grown to love and really want to introduce to Christ. I love that he came to church today not because I invited him but because the church came to him, whether he knew it or not (but I think he was listening a little bit).

Let me clarify...

I just wanted to restate something in my bio on my blog: My comments are completely biased but honest in terms of my own personal journey. I am not setting out to find things that are intentionally wrong (subjective) neither is my goal to be critical. I do believe however, that discernement is often discounted as criticism. I think motivation is a big factor in something being discerning or critical in nature. The Bible is my final authority and I try to measure my opinions and convictions against that above anything else. I also know that it makes some people uncomfortable that I review a church after only one visit. However, the old adage, "you never get a second chance to make a first impression" is a key one for churches. Again, the question I ask myself is what is real, authentic, seeking God's involvement kind of worship that is happening in our valley?

With all that said I will continue to write what I feel God would have me write whether in the end it was for my personal journey or because it needed to be said period. As for what I am seeking, I don't know if that is it. It is really more about the journey and I find that each week spiritual fellowship with my Lord is more clear. Not because of the church I attended but because preconceptions and convention is being cleared away in my own life. When I step into a church I am not looking for an experience I am looking for the presence of God in that holy place.

This brings up the anonymity of last week's church. I did not name the church on purpose because I do not wish to hurt anyone who might go there and because it is more about the A-typical mega church trappings than it is about this particular church. All churches have achilles heels, mini or mega, I merely was pointing out a tendency that, if not carefully kept in check, can easily override the purpose of the church. And though it was an anonymous mega church this week I by no means think mega=unspiritual.

Final thought: As you read these statistics, released last month*, think about the importance of being "Christ Centered" in every way we do church. The time is short, we have much work left to do. Weed out what is not up to the standard of God. And pray a lot!

• In America, 3500 – 4000 churches close their doors each year
• Half of all churches last year did not add one new member through conversion growth
• Churches lose an estimated 2,765,000 people each year to nominalism and secularism
• 1,400 pastors in America leave the ministry monthly.
• Only 15% of churches in the United States are growing and just 2.2% of those are growing by conversion growth.
• 10,000 churches in America disappeared in a five-year period.

 

*Book: American Church in Crisis by David Olson

*http://religions.pewforum.org/ (religious survey website)

A Mega Church (shall remain anonymous)

Hebrews 10:24,25 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. 


The writer exhorts the Christians to not forsaking the gathering together. I have always taken that verse to mean you need to go to church. That really isn't the thing that is most important though. I can go sit in a room with other Christians and never fulfill that verses' mandate; stir up one another for love and good works. Exhibit A - Yesterday: enter church property, greeted by three official greeters, enter main sanctuary, find a seat in the middle somewhere, no eye contact with anyone, no contact with each other. The only words spoken to us were to ask us to move down two seats because they had other people coming. Everyone is respectful of the silence, each moving into his or her row. The countdown is on the screen. Everyone waits, silently, alone together. The countdown dwindles to 0 the first waves of acoustic strums fill the air, a beat, lights up on the stage, and suddenly, as if an electrical charge was sent through each chair people are on their feet clapping their hands, smiling. It was bizarre. Like "Stepford Wives" bizarre.

We sing, we sit, we watch an intro video, the pastor comes to preach. He is good. I mean great sermon! I would definitely listen to his podcasts. Then we do communion (fastest drive-through sacrament process ever) and more worship. As the last notes of the last song are still hanging in the air the worship leader says, "Thanks for coming. Have a great day." The shutters close on all the faces, each person turns and moves to the isle. In less than 30 seconds every chair in the whole place (800-1000) was empty and each body dutifully trudged up the isle, in relative silence, and out the door. We sat. We were amazed. Less than three minutes later we were the only people still sitting.

Seriously the most efficiently trained staff and I dare say congregation/audience. They are so efficient that apparently there is no need for God to attend their church. I know I will get hate blogs for this but I am being brutally honest. There were three of us visiting yesterday and we all just sat there with our jaws open after the service.

And I know that most churches this size believe that intimacy and relationship building come in the "small groups." Ironically you have to find your way to the groups, not through relationships, but on your own. If relationships are what God values and we, the church being the hands and feet of the relationship, sit and wait for them to come to us, how is that fulfilling our job? And how many of those in the teeming throng of this church actually participate?

If efficiency is what enables us to "puppy mill" our constituents through our doors in three services without a hitch to our timeline should we be praised or pitied? Who is shepherding the flock when the flock has become a throng of Christian zombies?

Do not forsake the gathering together. Gather, not for the sake of a crowd but for the sake of transparent, accountability, and genuine love for one another. Find some other name besides church for your gatherings if they do not exemplify or invite Christ. At the beginning of Hebrews 10 the writer tells us why it is important to get this right, for your congregation to get it. If we don't understand salvation and sanctification then we just keep coming back week after week for absolution not understanding we are joyfully forgiven already. Changed lives, when they encounter God, are easily distinguishable and contagious.

VERVE

I really am going to talk about Verve but stay with me for a bit while I lay some groundwork...

I moved to Las Vegas in July of 2002. We lived in these cheesy apartments on Arville and Twain. I remember one day when I was sitting in the Jacuzzi (which looking back on now was probably a health hazard) I asked God why in the world he would bring me here to this god forsaken place. I hated it! And then almost simultaneously I could feel my spirit quicken with God's response, "People need the Lord here too." That was a pivotal, though not permanent, paradigm shift for me.

The next seven years was a journey in the wilderness for me. There have been ignition experiences of passionate purpose and sputtering wipeouts when my ministry purpose was a complete mystery. The lost of this city, the hopelessness that surrounds especially the strip, has always squeezed my heart a little more poignantly than the suburbs. I remember a time when I had a group of teenagers who committed a year of their lives to go to the strip every Saturday night and minister to people working on one block of the boulevard. One night when we were sitting on the wall at the MGM, staring at the golden idol, I said to them, "Do you believe it is possible that God could plant a church in every casino on the strip? Wouldn't that be amazing? What if one day Sin City became Saved City like Nineveh?" They all said there was no way that would ever happen. But why not?

In fact, this morning I remembered that event because I went to church in a casino. A dark little theatre in the little known casino, Greek Isles. There were a handful of people there, some food in the back, a bed sheet clipped to the black stage curtains for a screen. The pastor, Vince Antonucci,  is also a professional stand-up comedian and entrepreneur. His idea of a church plant is like very few others I have heard about. This is not his first church plant. He had a big church in Virginia Beach before coming here.

So I meet Vince's wife, Jen and she introduces me to Vince. He is genuinely the most kick-back, down to earth, unpretentious person I have ever met.  In my experience, most lead pastors have an air about them. You are pretty sure who is king before you even meet them, and your a little nervous about starting a conversation. Vince is real, he is smart, he is driven, and he is fearless.

So let me see if I can encapsulate today's gathering. The group of people that met today are the core people of this church plant. The building they will meet in is being finished. The kick-off will be March 14th. Their building will be called The Venue and it will house the two Sunday and one Monday night services for the church. During the week and weekend The Venue will be available for groups to rent out for concerts, comedy shows, etc. That seems like such great outreach and great stewardship all in one.

After Vince gave the announcements and updates on the progress of the building and the kick-off day we went to worship. Dude (yes I said, dude) it was awesome. Two guitars and a jambe it was like MTV unplugged quality stuff. It wasn't long enough though, only two songs. They are learning songs together before the church kicks off. I had only heard the songs a couple of times myself but I liked the words and  the untraditionalness of their approach.

Then we had a message. Let me see if I can give you a synopsis cuz it was a message we need to hear Christian:
Christians tend to find ways to have safe worship experiences away from the world. 
Christ did not design us for isolation but for infiltration. 
What got you into Christianity in the first place was "faith" which is "risk" but then we try and find "safe" so we don't have to risk anymore.


Heb 11:6 without faith it is impossible to please God. God wants us to continue to risk for His kingdom. In Matthew there is the story of the stewards that are given money to steward while the master is gone. The one who plays it safe is called a fool.


In Acts the first pastors, Peter and John were chosen because they had risked their lives for the gospel.


The main idea is this: Potential Return is what will help us overcome our fear - it determines what we will risk. Will I go into a burning house to save a goldfish? Probably not but I will if my child is in there. The potential return is a much bigger motivator than my own personal safety. We don't fully understand the blessings and future we have in Christ so we do not risk.

I believe God is going to use this ministry in mighty ways to reach the unreached of Las Vegas. They may be unconventional (I don't even like that word - it's so subjective) What is "convention" anyway? Another word for playing safely inside the box? I am praying God will direct and provide and use them.

So I left and was driving down the strip and I remembered the conversation I had with my youth a few years back and I had the vision of a match being dropped onto kindling in the middle of a dry, brittle city. The conditions are ripe for a big fire and one spark can change our Nineveh. With God all things are possible!

Verve

New church, new perspective. Going to the Launch Meeting this Sunday to hear more. Sunday services begin March 14th. I encourage you to visit their website, www.vivalaverve.org. This is real folks - reaching the demographic of the vegas strip in the way Jesus would; building relationships and putting faith into action.

Grace Point

Don't you love Sunday mornings when you are rushing here and there, and getting everywhere you need to be 15 minutes later than you wanted? So that is how our day started. And yet God is still in each moment, still in control - I just thought I was.

Grace Point Church is about 4 years old. Hope church in Henderson partnered with them for the first year. It meets in north Vegas. Actually north of north Vegas. It meets at Legacy High School. We got there late, as I might have mentioned earlier, and went into the theatre where the main service is held (missed worship-bummer). It was really dark and the stage was set up very "mega church" with themed props and lighting. It was very clear by the decorative signs hanging at various heights, each one with a word in various languages,  that the topic was "love'.

The pastor was very engaging, funny and informative. He did a great job of setting up the passage we would be reading. For the believer who has read this verse numerous times or the new believer overwhelmed by what the Bible says, it was good to breakdown key ideas before the verse was ever introduced. For me, I want to be able to break out of the old box of preconceived ideas about the meaning of a verse and to see it from a different perspective. This gives me a chance to create relevancy in a meaningful new ways.  For believers, we allow the Bible verses we have heard over and over to become stagnant in our minds, like the commercial we have seen hundreds of times. We forget what it is really saying or what we thought we understood already.

So we looked at why we don't deserve love, cannot get love by anything we do in advance, and how God loves us anyway, in spite of ourselves. Romans 8 is where we camped most of the time. Then we shared in Communion,Valentines day and after reading Romans 8.

The church service was very pastor focused and because of the theater style, you felt more like an audience than a congregation. It was really easy to sneak in and sneak out. There were plenty of greeters outside which kept you from being invisible but other than that you could probably be fairly anonymous. On the other hand the atmosphere was conducive to individual worship since it really blocked out everyone else around you.

We went to lunch with friends who go to Grace Point. They are a really grounded couple who take church loyalty very seriously. They looked for a church for about 4 months before God laid it on their hearts to come here. They drive 40 minutes each way 2 times a week to come to Grace Point. They love the church for its focused identity, the expository teaching, and community outreach. Grace Point focuses on doing three things well, small groups, discipleship, and community outreach. If they don't offer it as a program then they encourage people to use other programs in neighboring churches but they are focused on what God has laid on their heart to do. They have a great program for kids on Sunday mornings and offer youth groups during the week.

This part of Vegas is booming and Grace Point is already there preparing the way to reach this community for Christ in big ways. It is a mega "baby" church which in a few short years will be huge.

Questioning Experience

I have been sitting here reading "Real Church" by Larry Crabb and this morning's chapters disturbed me. You know that kind of disturbance like, uh oh, I thought I had it right but maybe I am wrong, moment? I think a lot of my motivation to begin this pilgrimage stemmed form my desire to "experience" real church and the presence of God. I want to invest in "real" not in "playing church." I think my motives are right but may be misguided.  Crabb suggests that the experiences of church can be deceiving to the point that any experience is equated with God even demonic experiences masquerading as light. Do I see experience as the  characteristic of "real church"? Do I work really hard to find that happy, connected place? If so, isn't that more about me and less about just praising Him and thanking Him regardless of what I get back? I think I have been guilty of that. I have been measuring authenticity by experience.

"I don't want to go to a church that values our experience of God over our hope in God." Can I praise God in the storm (Casting Crowns song) even if I never feel His presence? How about church? Can I seek after Him as I dig deep into His word even if I never feel His presence? What if life here on earth is about knowing Him the most we can and experiencing Him is what heaven is all about? Yes, God allows us to experience Him at times but what we are living for is not the experience but the manifestation of Him through our lives regardless of the feelings. (1 Corin. 15:19) Hope and anticipation of eternity with Him, that drives me into His arms.

"Hungry people chase after food. Filled people rub their tummies and burp. I wonder how much hand-waiving singing that we call worship is really tummy rubbing and smelly burping." Hungry churches study the Bible. They seek the source rather than the blessing. So I guess what I know at this point is that I am hungry.

Epic Church

Epicchurchlv.org
Durango/Warm Springs

We went to Epic church this morning. The main reason we went was to hear Craig Gross. I Twitter the XXXChurch in Las Vegas and Craig is the Pastor of that ministry. So I researched Epic and looked at their website and pastor before we went. Fairly young church (4 years since new pastor, new name, new location) Biblical Statement of Faith.

Their church is in an industrial building right off Warm Springs. It is warm and inviting just like the people. We walked in and it felt like we had been there before. My daughter and I hung out and drank coffee at one of the tables in the lobby. Matt, one of the worship guys, stopped by and introduced himself and then found the youth pastor and brought him to meet us. They both spent some time talking about their ministry and asking questions. It wasn't one of those "sales pitch" conversations either. It was more like talking to friends.

The service was pretty straight forward, 3 worship songs, offering, message, invitation, prayer at the alter at the end. It was nice, comfortable. A mixed congregation, both age and race. Love the comfortable atmosphere in the sanctuary; scattered tables amidst the chairs, a couch in the back. The environment was inviting and relaxing. No one else really talked to us but we didn't feel out of place.

Pastor Jason just did the introduction of Craig Gross so we may want to come back so we can hear him preach. Craig kicked off the marriage series with 6 Ways to Kill Your Marriage.

1. Don't Communicate
2. Forget Your Commitment
3. Be Selfish
4. Ruin the Finances
5. Don't have Sex
6. Don't Work at It

He wrapped into it many of the things his ministry does at XXXChurch.com that help people whose marriage is affected by sexual addiction.

Overall a nice message but not a lot of scripture tied into each point. The Bible was not the central resource and was just used for the opening passage in Ephesians 5 and a supporting passage about sex. Great concepts and accurate but the power of the Holy Spirit is a necessary ingredient to succeeding in any of the areas. Without that you are left to your own devices and self-discipline which leaves our need for God out of the picture. So even though there was time for prayer and for committing yourself to new beginnings it still seemed void of pastoral direction to draw on the strength of God and His power. Implied maybe but not implicitly.

What I Learned From Mr. Crabb

I am reading the book Real Church by Larry Crabb and it has been so encouraging and pointed. This pilgrimage was begun kind of out of a avid curiosity to find "real church" but I couldn't really put into words exactly what that felt like in my spirit. This is what I read this morning:

"...we must be clear what the more  is that makes a gathering into a church, and what that moreis designed to accomplish in people's lives. If that is clear, we'll know what we're praying for and we'll recognize revival when it comes."

"...we must be convinced - and this will not come easily - that the required more can only be provided by the Spirit of God. We can arrange for a religious gathering, even a Christian gathering that does good things, but only God can make a church.

"The more I pray for revival, the more obvious truth is becoming obvious. Unless the Spirit shows us what most delights (and offends) the Father when we get together, we will come up with all sorts of ideas and hopes and ways of doing things like worship and preaching and small groups that will have one devilish thing in common, one devilish thing that we will regard as angelic; manageability. We will pull it off, we'll make something happen, and we'll call it church."

"Unbroken people set their sights on things they can manage. With the right talent and enough charisma, any gathering can stir people's emotions, create the illusion of transcendence, generate an experience that we'd swear was worship, and help us feel better. Add in practical instruction for managing negative emotions and doable strategies for communicating more effectively as spouses, parents, friends, and colleagues, and people will not only feel better but also live better. We'll live happier more successful lives, without really needing God, certainly not the cross of Christ or the power of His Spirit."

There you have it - enough said!

Week 2 Update

So last week I visited to church of "H & R Block." Felt a little guilty, it being the second week of this pilgrimage and all, but since Jesus hung with lots of tax collectors I figured it was cool this one time.

I would like to recommend a Podcast for you to listen to this week. Mark Chandler of Village Church in Texas is an awesome, spirit lead pastor. I would say pretty authentic in his words and actions. He began a series on Colossians. The first part of the podcast explains his philosophy for his church in Texas (great philosophy) and then he proceeds to give an amazing history lesson on the background of Rome. I think you will enjoy him and this new series. I urge you to subscribe to his podcasts.

Next week we will be visiting the Epic Church in southwest Vegas. Looking forward to it. Craig Gross from the XXXChurch ministry will be speaking. Should be very interesting.

encounter

We walked into the elementary school lunch room/church sanctuary. It was dark, the worship band was wrapping up their warm up time. We were greeted by Laurie and given the bulletin and visitor's card. My daughter, 14, walked to lunch benches used as pews and chose our seat. Then the lights went out! I mean the electricity went out in the whole neighborhood. There was no light. In hind sight this was kind of a symbolic foreshadowing of what was to come for us.

As people began calling the power company the pastor/worship leader, Zach, called those who wanted to to come down front and to begin to pray. People lined the altar and started praying, out loud, all at once. At first I felt kind of voyeuristic like I was invading a private moment. My daughter squirmed uncomfortably but watched it all. During this time people were coming in and out, talking, eating food in the back, and then some were up front praying. Kind of ADD atmosphere and no one seemed to mind. In, fact it was kind of like that during other parts of the service but it wasn't distracting it just was what it was. If you were hungry you got up to eat. If someone needed to be greeted you went to greet them. They prayed for 10 minutes, not just about the lights but about coming into today with surrendered hearts and about forgiveness. Then just as Pastor Zach said "amen" the lights came on (can you hear the Twighlight Zone theme music?).

That was the prelude for worship. It was interwoven with meditation, prayer, words form the Lord, meaningful lyrics...it felt like pure worship. Not even once was it about me or any performer on the stage. It was an offering to God. I kept looking over at my daughter and silently prayed God would soften her heart for Him and that she wouldn't completely freak out when we were on our way home. I was pretty sure she was a bit out of her comfort zone.

Rochelle, the pastor's wife, spoke during worship and reminded the worshipers that our first ministry is to the Lord. Is our worship enough? It was beautiful worship and you could not help being drawn in by the Holy Spirit. Being a spectator was no longer an option.

An hour later we stopped even though it only felt like a few minutes. We were challenged by Mark 4:21 from one of the guys in the band. He remarked on how Andrew and Peter were out doing their job, their life-purpose, being fishermen, that when Christ called them and they dropped everything "at once." What is Christ calling us to do "at once" but often we respond that we will do it as soon as _________ (you fill in the blank with your agenda item).

Pastor Zach preached for the last part. He emphasized the Spirit being the motivator, the guide, the inspiration for everything else we do. The Word without the Spirit just makes us more religious. We are busy creating worship programs/church but don't invite the Holy Spirit to come in and lead. We plan and set vision and all the while He is at the door of every church saying, "Let me lead. I have a great plan."

The cause of Christ is the churches' vision; to see like Jesus, to be compelled by love toward unity. Love is the passion for oneness. Luke 4:18,19. And fittingly, the service ended with prayer at the altar, laying on of hands, ministry to individuals, and thanks to God.

We left church 3 hours after we got there and I didn't even mind. But between you and me I was not looking forward to the "teenage fallout" when we got in the car. The one thing my daughter asked when we decided to do this pilgrimage was that we didn't pick churches with 3 hour services (Ha, God is a funny guy). So she gets in the car and she looks at me and says, "This is where I want to go. You don't understand. I don't want to go anywhere else." She proceeded to share her thoughts and experience (she was sitting up front with a friend). I hope she shares them as a comment on the blog today. Amazing first day of the pilgrimage.

We encountered God at Encounter. Can't wait to see what else God is doing in Vegas.

Who Knew?

I guess I would have to say I have been surprised by the response to my little journey. I wasn't sure anyone would find it very interesting. What I found was a lot of people are interested because they are having the same thoughts. I was surprised to find out that some of the people I invited to join my blog, whom I consider awesome Christian people, do not have a church home. I think we seasoned Christians are just tired and ruined for the ordinary and are dying for the extraordinary. I am excited to be the maverick to head out on the trail this week. I hope some of you will show up and join me one of these Sundays. Lori Gibson, glad you are going with me this week.

Excited about Encounter this Sunday!

My Home Church

Church @ Lake Mead
540 E. Lake Mead Pkwy
Henderson, NV
www.churchatlakemead.org

Pastor: Eddie McGath

Series: Not a Fan

Phillippians 1: 6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. The plans and the process are being worked out in us, even when we don’t think it is happening. God is bigger, smarter, and in control so even if I am being stupid he can work it out. Even if someone else made a choice that affects my life, He can work it out. The only way I can screw up my purpose is to choose to do nothing.

If God gave me trials that I could handle I wouldn’t need Him. Romans 8:28 doesn’t mean all things have happy endings but rather that God has the ability to weave together the events of our life so that the outcome IS His purpose.

“Not a fan” means that if I am a follower I am an active participant in my purpose. When I am a “fan” God has to move me, which is painful but necessary. A fan chases excitement and entertainment. A follower chases the deepness of the things of God.

That was a timely word for me. I am encouraged by Phil. 1:6 because this passage really gives me liberty. I can step out in faith and just “do.” I don’t have to worry about getting it perfect. I have struggled with my upcoming pilgrimage, wanting to be sure I was not running away but rather toward something better in my relationship with Christ. I don’t really know exactly what I am searching for but I will know it when I see it. God began this work and He will be the one who completes it. My role is to step out in faith and walk with my God, seeking a purer truth for my heart.