why i work at the firehouse

Yesterday I worked at the Firehouse Cafe, as I do every Monday and Tuesday. Before my shift I prayed that God would help me to see what He was already doing in people's lives, to give me the insight into how I could be a blessing to others, and for opportunities to put in a good word for Him where I could. As my shift started, a semi-regular asked me what else I do besides making coffee. I shared that I'm a pastor starting a new church. She was very intrigued, so I shared my vision for the church. I imagine I'll invite her to things in the future. Next, I reconnected w/ some new friends who are not Christians. It was slow so I sat w/ them, laughed w/ them, heard what was new w/ them, and shared again about the church and the faith. I got their info and we will hopefully have them over for a meal and more good conversation. Then I chatted w/ another regular about a Tolstoy's book "What is Given to Men" (a must read), which I've read and he was returning. It was a cool conversation about faith. I'm not sure where he at w/ Christ, but books like that allow us to talk about Jesus together. Finally as the shift was ended, I spoke again w/ the owner of the Firehouse about our walks w/ Christ as they relate to our walks w/ neighbors, friends, and family. It was a cool day, an answer to prayer, and confirmed for me why I spend time there making coffee.

feb. prayer letter

I've posted the text of our Feb. prayer letter. Check it out at the prayer link to the left.

discouragement

It was interesting this past weekend. I preached at Mosaic about discouragement and the parables of the mustard seed and the yeast. My main point was that even though we may be discouraged and wonder if God is moving, the truth is that He is moving, and in fact creating a home and a feast for His people. Having preached in the evening gathering, we went home and began winding down for bed. When I turned off the light… guess what hit me in the nose? Discouragement!

Thoughts raced in my head, of what good I did that night, what would happen if no one joined us in the church plant, what we would do if it all fell flat. My own answers I'd preached hours earlier were not helping; I couldn't shake it.

The next morning I shared it all w/ K8. We prayed together that God would draw His church in. I went for a long walk before working at the coffee shop. I was feeling better, but still had felt the aftershocks of the short night of sleep.

Then when my shift was almost over, I got a call from a friend who told me he and his wife had been talking and decided to take the plunge and join us as we start the church. What a difference a few hours makes! I had started the day in the dumps of discouragement, prayed for encouragement, and then God brought encouragement. It was so awesome to receive a specific answer to a specific prayer. Just when you think God's not moving, He reveals a bit of what He's doing, and we praise Him for it.

I continue to pray that God would bring folk to us who will be a part of the first chapter of the church, but this was a specific boost I needed for that day. Cool, eh?

update

It has been far too long since I posted something on the old blog. Since my last post Xmas and New Years has come and gone, we've made new friends, and we've refound own rhythms. That all being said, a brief update on the church plant is on order. As I've written about before, we are partnering w/ Mosaic (http://mosaicnw.com/), a church here in Bellingham. Mosaic is bursting at the seams w/ people. So this month they started a 2nd evening gathering, which will help alleviate growth (in theory). The evening gathering also serve as a place for me to be seen more in leadership, preaching, and a place where we can promote church plant stuff, in hopes of gathering a launch team. I am super stoked about it. If your in the area Mosaic meet at the Majestic on Forest St. on Sundays from 10am -12pm, and now 5pm -7pm. Come hungry!

I've also become a board member of the Happy Valley Neighborhood Association this month. My hope is that this will be a place of partnership for service projects in the hood w/ the church, and a place to make new friends. Related to this, I've applied again for an Americorp grant doing community development. Whether I get the grant or not, I'm going to "do" the project I have in mind. I'm convinced that in my populated neighborhood there a numerous people who share the same passions or concerns, but don't know each other. My idea is to survey the neighborhood for assets and concerns. Then look at the data and begin getting people together who w/ common interests and then act! I think it's a great idea for community development/organization.

Our different small groups continue to grow in depth. We have a Bible study at our home on Mondays nights, a guys pub night Wednesdays, a men's Bible study at lunch on Fridays, any random parties. I am encouraged. As I look at all these relationships, I am beginning to wonder if God is bringing His church together. I'm wondering if it is time to turn the corner, and invite people to join us to a season. It feels premature right now, but I am praying about it, and chiseling down the vision for the church.

I want the church to be a place where folks are known and can share their laughter and struggles, where we move together in our pursuit of prayer, and where folks and get their hands dirty serving their neighbors. That's what we're moving toward, and this is where we're at. We appreciate your prayers on our behalf. Let me know how i can prayer for you too!

be refreshed

Even though we may be sitting in a crowd, we can still feel alone. Even though our holiday season may be filled with parties and business, we may still feel isolated. It was interesting in our Monday night Bible study this week we looked at Acts 3. In it, the passage says a guy was placed outside the temple everyday to beg. This brought to mind that he probably saw Jesus walk by a few times, in the past months and years. But on this day he was healed by Peter. God had waited until this day to heal him. God Himself, in Jesus, saw this man, but waited to heal him until the Holy Spirit healed him that day, via Peter.

God's timing can be funny. Sometimes our seasons feel dry, and we wonder when we'll drink again. Other times He blesses us with rich times of refreshing. We had a great discussion about His timing on Monday. I was struck by God's timing to heal this man in this passage. After this healing, a crowd gathered, and Peter explained things to them. And in 3:19, with the fully restored, healed man clinging to John and Peter out of joy, Peter says "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord..." The NASB says, "...in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord..." The
Message, "Turn to face God so he can wipe away your sins, pour out showers of blessing to refresh you..." While the restored man before them, Peter speaks of allowing God to refresh them. If you've been in a desert, remember God is a God of refreshing. His timing is funny, but He is a God who WILL bring refreshing, restoration, and healing. I pray that He will bless you this week w/ at least a taste of that refreshment, and I hope that you will be be immersed in His presence and encouragement.

prayer

FYI - I've posted the December prayer letter in the prayer section of the blog. I invite you to check it out.

calgary

A couple weeks back I went to a church planting conference in Calgary. It was a week long thing, but I feel like I could have left after the first afternoon. One of my favorite authors, Michael Frost, spoke a few different times, and surprised us the first afternoon we were there. He talked about four historic elements of church: worship, community, discipleship, and mission. Each of these, in his mind, are equal, none with a lesser value. In theory they should all have equal play in the church, but he believes that is impossible b/c we are human, and will always allow one to organize the others.

#1:
Worship
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Community – Discipleship – Mission

Historically, the church has organized around worship. If you wanted to get plugged into community (small groups, etc.) you found out about it at Sunday worship. The primary vehicle of teaching the faith was the Sunday sermon. And the primary way you reach out to the “lost” was the invite them to the Sunday gathering.

#2:
Community
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Worship - Discipleship – Mission

Another option is to allow community to organize the church. Frost stated that this gets played out into a cliquish end, where a close-nit group of friends praise God, learn, and serve the community together, but the inclusion of outsiders or the “lost” is difficult. I would like to hear him explain this one more

#3:
Discipleship
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Worship – Community Mission

The next option is to allow discipleship to organize church. His critique here was that the church’s mission becomes to learn, rather than promote kingdom growth. This I found the weakest point of his argument, so again I’d like to hear more.

#4:
Mission
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Worship – Community – Discipleship

Lastly, and the one advocated by Frost, is to allow mission to organize church. He states that if the church focuses on mission (bringing and sharing the kingdom of God to the neighborhood) than the others come alive. When after spending times w/ guys at the pub, you finally see a friend open to the gospel of Christ, it causes your community to want to worship. And, if that conversation goes bad, the community is at the feet of the Father pleading again for change. When you head out on a short term mission trip, you return weeping for joy over the connection you had w/ those on the trip (the trip that focused on mission). Community is tightened. And as you confront challenging people and faith questions w/ those at the coffee shop, the community is forced to plunge into scripture together – discipleship.

I’m not saying the other models are bad, but I found the argument for a mission-organized church to be very convincing. We are young enough in are development to reinvent anything w/ the church plant. So his brief and simple presentation was very thought provoking. I am excited to dialog w/ you all about this, as we continue to articulate God’s call on our life.