i promise

seriously…someday i will figure out how to regularly post something on my blog.

real

after the Israelites took out the land of Canaan they moved on to a much smaller city called Ai.  being that they had just destroyed mighty Canaan they felt is wasn’t necessary to send their entire army to take out this much smaller adversary.  so…only three-thousand Israelite warriors were sent into Ai.  the Bible tells us that the men of Ai chased down the three-thousand Israelite warriors and killed thirty-six of them in the process.  “how did this happen?” they asked themselves.  as the Israelites mourned at their loss and worried that GOD was no longer blessing them the LORD spoke to Joshua and said that the reason they had lost the battle was because someone among the Israelites pillaged some items from Canaan; which the Israelites were specifically instructed by GOD not to take.  after weeding out and ultimately destroying the disobedient indvidual from among the hundreds of thousands of Israelites, Joshua led them to victory against Ai.

i presented this story from Joshua chapter seven to the NewCity Akron team a couple weeks ago.  i explained that how just one individual can cause the the entire team to fail.  i stressed that when one of us is struggling with an issue or a sin we must be open and honest with the rest of the team in order to resolve the issue before there are terrible consequences.  before we can go out into a community and present this message of the Gospel we must live the Gospel in our own lives.  if one of us falls, we have all failed.  our team must set the example for those we are ministering to.  communication is key.  is someone within the group afraid to admit a problem because they fear being judged?  if so, shame on all of us.  there is no room for that sort of treatment and attitude among the body of Christ.  we must be able to be real with one another in order to grow as individuals and communities.

are you a member of a group or team?  are you dealing with an issue that no one on your team knows about?  are you going to be responsible for a major setback or failure because your too afraid to speak up?  are you an individual who does not have a community to share your struggle with?  are you beating yourself up everyday because there’s no one to help you?  there are people out there who can help.  find them.  talk to them.  none of us is better than another.  none of us has it all together.  it takes a loving community to enjoy all the blessing this life has to offer.  be real…

new life…new church…NewCity…

it seems that the time lapses between posts is growing shorter.  hopefully, by the end of the year, i’ll be entering something at least once a week.

as i described in the last post GOD is moving in Akron.  about a month ago sixteen people met in our home to break bread and hear the vision GOD had placed in our hearts for our city.  since then, we’ve had a consistent group of about ten showing up on monday nights to fellowship, break bread, and discuss how we plan to reach this community.  right now…the meetings are just a method to get everyone on the same page and a to have the ability to tell others what we will be doing.  i’ve informed the group that i am watching and listening to all who attend in order to pick out those whom i will be able to depend upon most as leaders and servants to the community.

not only have we been meeting with the group on monday nights, but we’ve also been attending other new local churchplants such as Generation Akron and The Movement Church.  our mission is to collaborate with these other ministries to help one another in whatever way we can.  we’re not out to build some mega-church or fancy organization.  we’re here to build the Kingdom of GOD.  in addition to checking out other local ministries, we’re attending local block watch meetings to make our presence known in the community and find out where and what the needs are.

anyway, that’s just an update of what’s been going down.

City Reaching Movement

yes, i’m still reading Jesus for President…  and this morning i stumbled across an excerpt that i absolutely must share.  these few short paragraphs speak volumes about the work we are performing at NewCity Church on Cleveland’s West Side, and are soon to be performing right here in A-K Rowdy (Akron).  if you read this and something is sparked deep within your heart…PLEASE contact me:

C.S. Lewis understood hell not as a place where God locks people out of heaven but as a dungeon that we lock ourselves into.  So we hold the keys to liberation from our own captivity.  With this perspective, we gain a new insight when we look at the parable of Lazarus or hear the brilliant words with which Jesus reassured Peter that “the gates of hell will not prevail against you.”  As adolescents, we understood that to mean that the demons and fiery darts of the Devil will not hit us.  But lately we’ve done a little more thinking and praying, and we have a bit more insight on gates.  Gates are not offensive weapons.  Gates are defensive-walls and fences we build to keep people out.  God is not saying the gates of hell will not prevail as they come at us.  God is saying that we are in the business of storming the gates of hell, and the gates will not prevail as we crash through them with grace.

People sometimes ask if we are scared of the inner city.  We say that we are more scared of the suburbs.  Our Jesus warns that we can fear those things which can hurt our bodies or those things which can destroy our souls, but we should be far more fearful of the latter.  Those are the subtle demons of suburbia.  As Shane’s mother says, “Perhaps there is no more dangerous place for a Christian to be than in safety and comfort, detached from the suffering of others.”  We’re scared of apathy and complacency, of detaching ourselves from the suffering.  It’s hard to see until our 20/20 hindsight hits us, but every time we lock someone out, we lock ourselves in.  Just as we are building walls to keep people out of our comfortable , insulated existence, we are trapping ourselves in a hell of isolation, loneliness, and fear.  We have “gated communities” where rich folks live.  We put up picket fences around our suburban homes.  We place barbed wire and razor wire around our buildins and churches.  We put bars on our windows in the ghettos of fear.  We build up walls-Berlin, Jerusalem, Jericho.  And the more walls and gates and fences we have, the closer we are to hell.  We, like the rich man, find ourselves locked into our gated homes and far from the tears of Lazarus outside, far from the tears of God.

our mission at NewCity is to tear down the walls of the cities and destroy the hells of people’s lives with the love and grace of Jesus.  pastor dave has quote that goes something like this, “as goes the cities, so goes the world.”  planting church organizations on every corner of the suburbs won’t do jack !#$@.  if christians really want to make a difference, we need to be the church organism that empowers inner-city communities to live as God intended; with love, respect, and responsibility for our neighbors.  our mission isn’t to be a place where people go to get a handout and continue living off of others, but a people who can teach, encouraged, and empower those who are struggling to be responsible.  in doing so we know in our hearts that worlds will be changed; and as those individual worlds change, so will go the world as a whole.

purpose driven turmoil

so i have this daily calendar on my desk at work.  each day i tear off a new sheet to reveal a quote from Rick Warren‘s Purpose Driven Life.  i love this calendar.  i own the book, but have never read the entire thing.  each day this little calendar has been very helpful to me.  the past few days though have sparked something inside of me that just isn’t sitting quite right…

the excerpts that have struck this chord in me talk about how the struggles and hard times we go through in life are all part of God’s plan to build us up and strengthen our character.  now there’s no doubt that “what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.”  i am a firm believer that a person’s wisdom only amounts to the sum of their experiences, and some of the wisest people are those who have made the most mistakes.  but to say that our hard times and struggles are things that God has planned for us seems a little obsurd to me.

God doesn’t intend on us going through hard times and struggles.  those are brought on by our poor choices and mistakes in life.  in Dueteronomy, God tells the Israelites:

Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.  It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”  Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”  No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction.  For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow dow to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed.  You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.  Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him.  For the Lord is your life, and He will give you many years in the land He swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. -Deuteronomy 30:11-19[NIV]

God’s plan for the Israelites was to bless them with long fruitful lives in the promised land as long as they loved Him and displayed that love by doing as He asked.  if they failed to do so they would fall into the troubles and struggles of the world.  this choice of life and death, blessing and cursing did not begin with the Israelites.  it goes back to the beginning:

And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.  And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” -Genesis 2:15-17[KJV]

now we all know what happened there…  we made the wrong choice.

God’s plan for us all along is to live joyous lives in communion with Him.  when we make poor choices and pull away from God to lean on our own strength or understanding, we fall into circumstances that bring us sorrow and heartache.  it’s not like these choices surprise God.  He knows we are going to make them.  they’re not part of His plan, but He knows how to handle those situations and provides us with every opportunity to repent and turn back to Him…to turn back to life.  God does not bring us pain.  He has provided us with every avenue to avoid it.

at one point in history God even came to earth as a man named Jesus in order to show us how we may live the glorious life He intended.  Jesus provided us with a real visible example of the Way to God’s plan:

“I am the Gate for the sheep.  All those others are up to no good-sheep stealers, every one of them.  I am the Gate.  Anyone who goes through me will be cared for-will freely go in and out, and find pasture.  A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy.  I came so they can have real and eternal life, more better life than they ever dreamed of.” -words spoken by Jesus recorded in John 10:6-10[MSG]

i may be crossing some terrible theological line when i say the following, but i don’t believe God has every part of our lives planned out for us.  i feel that God knows exactly what we’re going to do and the choices we’re going to make and He knows exactly what to provide us with so that we make the correct choices and get back to His glorious intended life for us.

here’s one last simple excerpt from Scripture that may really blow a few minds:

He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord. -Proverbs 11:27[NIV]

i’ve heard it said many times that “I’m waiting for that special person God has out there for me.”  that may be true for all of us, but the above passage says that you have find that person, or that person has to find you.  again, a choice.  and when you make that choice to find someone, and you do, whether they’re made for you by God or not, you will be blessed.  it doesn’t say, “He who finds the wife God has planned for them will be blessed.”  you have to make the choice to find someone.  you have to choose to love that person.  they, in turn, have to choose to love you.  when this happens, you will be blessed…

when you choose to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, you will be living the life God has planned for you.  and it will be the most blessed thing one could ever experience.

“why so serious?”

The Dark Knight = best movie ever!!!

you should go see it, again, and again, and again, and again…

i need me some church

sooo…i missed NewCity last week because i attended a friend’s wedding.  this week is cancelled due to the holiday and i’m gonna miss next week because i’m going to WV to ride dirt bikes.  i’m literally depressed over this…  i think i may hit up NewHope on sunday.  i need some good community time with a good community.