Friday, April 22, 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Stories that Matter
As we celebrate the launch of Rock City, and people celebrate this church, I want to share with you just one story that is worth celebrating 1,000 more times over.
As I began reading through the hundreds of Connect Cards on Sunday night, one in particular caught my attention, and quite honestly, brought me to tears. I was overwhelmed at what I read. Overwhelmed at the power and love of God at work.
On the top of the card, under Prayer Requests, it read: "I wrote this before your service: I pray that I find God. I live in fear and worry and I want faith to guide me in the right direction. I haven't been to a church in over 15 years."
On the bottom of the card, under Questions/Comments, it read: "It was a blessing I came today. Awesome! I love it. A great experience. I can't wait to come back. Thank You."
To top it off, she made a first-time commitment to follow Jesus!
As I read that, I couldn't help but cry. That is the power of our God. And it was as if God so purposefully gave us that specific day's message just for this one. Jeremiah 29:11, Matthew 6:25-31, Proverbs 3:5-6, John 14:6 - all direct answers to this woman's prayers!
Here's the email I received on Monday evening:
"I heard about Rock City Church through a post card I received in the mail last Friday. I read it, put it back down on the counter, read it a few more times and told myself, 'This is it...I'm going to church.' Sunday morning came and I was lying in bed, looked at the clock and said, 'If you're going to go to church, then get up!' I don't know what it was but something was calling me to that post card.
I'm a fairly shy person and by me coming to church by myself was a big accomplishment. I wanted to thank you for making it such a great experience for me. I loved it. I was telling one of my friends about it and she wants to come with me on Sunday."
Thank you, you know who you are, for allowing me to share your story. This is why we do what we do. This is why we are here. This is what happens when people get on their mark with God - follow Jesus - and love people!
And this is just the beginning!!!
Monday, February 14, 2011
Life Giving Church
Once again I've encountered a life-giving Church.
How can you tell if you're in a life-giving church? Thanks for asking. You know you're in a life-giving church because a life-giving church gives life.
A life-giving church GIVES.
I've been fortunate to experience a few life-giving churches this past year and a half. And to be honest, before having experienced one, I wouldn't have believed they existed. After all, I've grown up in the church. I've worked in the church. And like most, I'm a bit jaded. Thank God, He has allowed me to not only experience a life-giving church, but be a part of a growing network of life-giving churches -
Churches that aren't in it for themselves. Churches that genuinely want to see us and others succeed. Churches that have secure leaders. Churches that genuinely love people. Church that give their resources away, for FREE. Churches that share. Churches that give life.
That network is ARC - The Association of Related Churches. I've met dozens of ARC church planters and ARC pastors, and still have not found one that was unwilling to lend a helping hand or give generously of their time and energy and resources.
This past weekend I took a team to benchmark iTown Church in Indianapolis. What a great church. What a great team. What a great leader they have.
Life-giving churches give. They are selfless. They aren't in it for themselves. They want to see you and me and others succeed. They serve rather than wait to be served.
God, please, continue to lead us in your way. Help us to be the kind of church that gives life. Help us to be the kind of church that genuinely loves and cares and gives. Help me to lead selflessly. Give me the courage and confidence to surround myself with better and stronger leaders than myself. May we know your life-giving Spirit. And may we be a church that gives life.
How can you tell if you're in a life-giving church? Thanks for asking. You know you're in a life-giving church because a life-giving church gives life.
A life-giving church GIVES.
I've been fortunate to experience a few life-giving churches this past year and a half. And to be honest, before having experienced one, I wouldn't have believed they existed. After all, I've grown up in the church. I've worked in the church. And like most, I'm a bit jaded. Thank God, He has allowed me to not only experience a life-giving church, but be a part of a growing network of life-giving churches -
Churches that aren't in it for themselves. Churches that genuinely want to see us and others succeed. Churches that have secure leaders. Churches that genuinely love people. Church that give their resources away, for FREE. Churches that share. Churches that give life.
That network is ARC - The Association of Related Churches. I've met dozens of ARC church planters and ARC pastors, and still have not found one that was unwilling to lend a helping hand or give generously of their time and energy and resources.
This past weekend I took a team to benchmark iTown Church in Indianapolis. What a great church. What a great team. What a great leader they have.
Life-giving churches give. They are selfless. They aren't in it for themselves. They want to see you and me and others succeed. They serve rather than wait to be served.
God, please, continue to lead us in your way. Help us to be the kind of church that gives life. Help us to be the kind of church that genuinely loves and cares and gives. Help me to lead selflessly. Give me the courage and confidence to surround myself with better and stronger leaders than myself. May we know your life-giving Spirit. And may we be a church that gives life.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Rock City has a home, after 61 Days of Fasting...
Okay, so just in case you're wondering, it wasn't 61 days in a row. But it was 61 days nonetheless! Saturday night, as I was getting ready for bed and looking forward to waking up on Sunday morning for two reasons - ONE, I got to spend time with our launch team and meet several new faces - and TWO, I got to break a 21 day fast - Both were exciting - It hit me.
You know how God sometimes just pokes at you or whispers something so quietly in your ear but it hits you like a ton of bricks? Saturday night that kind of thing happened to me.
As I began to think about the 21 day fast that was ending, and the BIG announcement I was preparing to share the next morning, I was reminded of the last time I was led to fast, just a few years ago. That time it was a 40 day fast. And here's what I wrote down at the start of that monumental fast...
"In order for me to take you to a place you've never been before, you must first begin to do what you've never done before." -God
It wasn't like God showed up and spoke that to me in a loud voice, but I knew that's what He was saying - to me in particular. Looking back, I remember rounding the corner of day 41. I literally hadn't eaten ANY food for 40 days. I lived on juice and water. I lost 40 pounds. Physically it took a toll on my body. Spiritually, I'll be honest, I didn't really feel that much closer to God. I was a bit surprised. Nothing extraordinary happened. So I thought.
Having been far removed from that time in my life, I've often looked back and shared that that season of my life marked a significant milestone. Clearly, as that 40 day fast ended, circumstances and events took shape in my life that would, in less than a year's time, take me from a secure ministry position in a church I thought I'd live and die in, to a desert road experience that made absolutely no sense, to a hotel conference room on the night of January 1, 2010 gathering with a core group of people consecrating ourselves before God and to each other with a commitment to plant a church in Columbus, Ohio.
Clearly, God made good on His word. I did something I had never done before - fasted, 40 days nonetheless. And the result was that we were literally transported to exactly the place that God intended for us to be. Columbus, Ohio.
And sure, I'm making it sound so easy and simple. It wasn't really. Actually, it was painful. It hurt. We got a lot of sand in our teeth and our feet blistered from the long journey, but the result was the same. When God leads, it's not always easy. But He'll get you there. He'll get you to where He wants you. Whatever it takes!
What struck me Saturday night was that the same exact thing has resulted in this 21 day fast. I was astonished. We've been trying to secure a location to launch Rock City for months. Several plans had fallen through at the last minute. We were honestly beginning to feel a bit desperate. We had put in an offer to the AMC Lennox a month earlier and hadn't heard back. I'd followed up regularly, but the answer was always the same. There was no answer. Then, I think around the 18th day of our fast, we got the news. They had accepted our proposal. And on the 20th day, I was sitting in the middle of Theater 13 at the AMC Lennox, filming the video I've posted below.
This isn't to say there's some magic formula to fasting. It's a purely spiritual thing. But one thing I know is this, these last 61 days of fasting have produced a whole lot more than spiritual blessing in our lives. I can clearly see the how the hand of God has literally and physically moved us, not a day early and not a day late, right to the place where He can use us. For us, that's Columbus, Ohio. For Rock City Church, that's the AMC at Lennox Town Center, where we'll be launching on April 3, 2011!
You know how God sometimes just pokes at you or whispers something so quietly in your ear but it hits you like a ton of bricks? Saturday night that kind of thing happened to me.
As I began to think about the 21 day fast that was ending, and the BIG announcement I was preparing to share the next morning, I was reminded of the last time I was led to fast, just a few years ago. That time it was a 40 day fast. And here's what I wrote down at the start of that monumental fast...
"In order for me to take you to a place you've never been before, you must first begin to do what you've never done before." -God
It wasn't like God showed up and spoke that to me in a loud voice, but I knew that's what He was saying - to me in particular. Looking back, I remember rounding the corner of day 41. I literally hadn't eaten ANY food for 40 days. I lived on juice and water. I lost 40 pounds. Physically it took a toll on my body. Spiritually, I'll be honest, I didn't really feel that much closer to God. I was a bit surprised. Nothing extraordinary happened. So I thought.
Having been far removed from that time in my life, I've often looked back and shared that that season of my life marked a significant milestone. Clearly, as that 40 day fast ended, circumstances and events took shape in my life that would, in less than a year's time, take me from a secure ministry position in a church I thought I'd live and die in, to a desert road experience that made absolutely no sense, to a hotel conference room on the night of January 1, 2010 gathering with a core group of people consecrating ourselves before God and to each other with a commitment to plant a church in Columbus, Ohio.
Clearly, God made good on His word. I did something I had never done before - fasted, 40 days nonetheless. And the result was that we were literally transported to exactly the place that God intended for us to be. Columbus, Ohio.
And sure, I'm making it sound so easy and simple. It wasn't really. Actually, it was painful. It hurt. We got a lot of sand in our teeth and our feet blistered from the long journey, but the result was the same. When God leads, it's not always easy. But He'll get you there. He'll get you to where He wants you. Whatever it takes!
What struck me Saturday night was that the same exact thing has resulted in this 21 day fast. I was astonished. We've been trying to secure a location to launch Rock City for months. Several plans had fallen through at the last minute. We were honestly beginning to feel a bit desperate. We had put in an offer to the AMC Lennox a month earlier and hadn't heard back. I'd followed up regularly, but the answer was always the same. There was no answer. Then, I think around the 18th day of our fast, we got the news. They had accepted our proposal. And on the 20th day, I was sitting in the middle of Theater 13 at the AMC Lennox, filming the video I've posted below.
This isn't to say there's some magic formula to fasting. It's a purely spiritual thing. But one thing I know is this, these last 61 days of fasting have produced a whole lot more than spiritual blessing in our lives. I can clearly see the how the hand of God has literally and physically moved us, not a day early and not a day late, right to the place where He can use us. For us, that's Columbus, Ohio. For Rock City Church, that's the AMC at Lennox Town Center, where we'll be launching on April 3, 2011!
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Where's the Salt?
In Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus says, "You [we] are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trodden under foot by men. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."
I was reading a book called The Message of the Sermon on the Mount by John Stott and was completely halted upon reading the following statement:
"When society does go bad, we Christians tend to throw up our hands in pious horror and reproach the non-Christian world; but should we not rather reproach ourselves? One can hardly blame unsalted meat for going bad. It cannot do anything else. The real question to ask is: Where is the salt?"
Take a minute and reflect on that.
I was reading a book called The Message of the Sermon on the Mount by John Stott and was completely halted upon reading the following statement:
"When society does go bad, we Christians tend to throw up our hands in pious horror and reproach the non-Christian world; but should we not rather reproach ourselves? One can hardly blame unsalted meat for going bad. It cannot do anything else. The real question to ask is: Where is the salt?"
Take a minute and reflect on that.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Quit Hijacking Christmas
Last week I read the status update of a friend of mine. It said, "Jesus was born in a smelly stable, which could be a picture of when Jesus comes into our hearts - it's like that stable, smelly and dirty."
It got me thinking. Isn't it amazing that the God of the universe, perfect in every way, spotless and pure beyond imagination, would choose to be born, to indwell in each of our hearts - us, being dirty, sinful and undeserving in every way - Jesus, choosing to offer his unmerited love and grace and mercy unconditionally to absolutely any man, woman or child who asks...
I think we too often forget that. It's like we've separated ourselves from everyone else. We wear labels like chosen, saved, Christian, righteous...and we label the world as unsaved, unChristian, unrighteous, unholy...It's as if we've hijacked the Christmas story - hijacked Jesus' intention for ever coming to this dirty, sinful, messed up world.
Luke 19:10 says that "the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost."
Rather than focus on our pithy Christian labels, perhaps if we, as undeserving, unrighteous, smelly and dirty and shameful focus on this great God, this amazing Christ who loves us nonetheless, who has offered to us his unmerited love and forgiveness - perhaps then, we will begin to view the world, not through the lense of self righteousness, but through the lense of grace and mercy. And we'll be compelled to go and seek and save that which is lost.
After all, God so demonstrated his love for us, in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Rom 5:8 NIV).
It got me thinking. Isn't it amazing that the God of the universe, perfect in every way, spotless and pure beyond imagination, would choose to be born, to indwell in each of our hearts - us, being dirty, sinful and undeserving in every way - Jesus, choosing to offer his unmerited love and grace and mercy unconditionally to absolutely any man, woman or child who asks...
I think we too often forget that. It's like we've separated ourselves from everyone else. We wear labels like chosen, saved, Christian, righteous...and we label the world as unsaved, unChristian, unrighteous, unholy...It's as if we've hijacked the Christmas story - hijacked Jesus' intention for ever coming to this dirty, sinful, messed up world.
Luke 19:10 says that "the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost."
Rather than focus on our pithy Christian labels, perhaps if we, as undeserving, unrighteous, smelly and dirty and shameful focus on this great God, this amazing Christ who loves us nonetheless, who has offered to us his unmerited love and forgiveness - perhaps then, we will begin to view the world, not through the lense of self righteousness, but through the lense of grace and mercy. And we'll be compelled to go and seek and save that which is lost.
After all, God so demonstrated his love for us, in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Rom 5:8 NIV).
Thursday, December 2, 2010
It's a Beautiful Thing
These last 6 weeks have been full to say the least. If you've been following Rock City at all, you'll know that we ended THIRTYinTHIRTY with a win. We met our financial goal. Grew our launch team. Received a ton of traffic on Vimeo and the Rock City Blog. It'd be worth it to take a look back at some of our posts, as every day we added something new, including 12 new videos. After THIRTYinTHIRTY, we hosted our biggest launch team night yet, Katie and I spent Thanksgiving in Sandusky with our families, then she and I spent the last week in Washington D.C. with my grandparents. They had the time of their lives.
After blogging every day for 30 days, I guess I needed the last couple of weeks to just unwind and let loose a bit. God is good and Rock City Church is on its way. It's a beautiful thing.
After blogging every day for 30 days, I guess I needed the last couple of weeks to just unwind and let loose a bit. God is good and Rock City Church is on its way. It's a beautiful thing.
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