church, my personal Lord & Savior.

“It was NOT church that died on the cross for us. In fact, church is one of the very reasons Christ died on the cross. He died, as our bridegroom, that we, a broken and dirty bride might be made pure and clean – ready for His return…”

Have you accepted church as YOUR personal Lord & Savior? Has church entered your heart, and become the leader of your life? Have you allowed church to “take the wheel”, & be in the “driver’s seat?” Have you committed your life to church, and begun to share about your faith in church with your friends and family? I trust that you have invited those friends and family into a personal relationship with church so that it may transform their lives, allow them to play a part in the kingdom, and grant them eternal salvation in heaven.

(Before anyone gets upset, or defensive please know that my ABOVE use of the word “church” is directed at all different forms/models of church – mega, simple, house, attractional, incarnational, institutional, conventional, traditional, missional community, etc.)

I am attempting to illustrate how we worship our individual church, or “form” of church sometimes MORE than, or ABOVE Christ. It seems as if we have become “Dependent” upon those things rather than Jesus Christ. The above sounds, and IS heretical. However, we have not merely replaced the word “Jesus” with “church” in this blog post, but it is evedent in our actions – we are guilty of heresy in our practices. Why is Jesus not enough for us?

Be it mega-church or house church we all tend to fall into the trap of thinking it is one of those things that is the answer, and not Christ. We want to give people one of those things before Christ. We want them to find “community” and relationship in one of those things. We will talk about our “churches” sometimes with more excitement and enthusiasm than our Savior Jesus. how often do we offer church to people before we offer them Christ? Sure, our well-intentioned desire is that they might find Christ once they “join” a church or get involved there. I would submit that they need to know Jesus through YOU, and therefore become a PART of the body of Christ-the Church-as a result.

Here is a prime example of what I am referring to: I have a friend who has a pretty intense drug/addiction problem. After being “clean” for a while I learned that he had “re-lapsed”, and was not doing so well. We were riding in the car as he shared with me how he had been clean again for 3 days, started going to AA meetings again, and wanted to start going to church again (By this he meant he wanted to start attending a weekly service on Sunday mornings). I immediately asked him why he wanted to “go to church” again , and he replied, “because I want to get right with God, get close to Him”.

It hit me that we have substituted church for Jesus. At best we have made them synonymous when they are NOT. Church has become the default way to get close to God. Church has become the answer, and not Jesus. My friend is not in the wrong; he didn’t know any better. I was extremely excited for him, and his PURE desire to clean up, and “get right with God”. This is not an accusation towards him, but us, as the body of Christ. What picture have we painted for the world? Have we offered people church before Jesus? Why is that the default “solution” before Christ?

I became very convicted after the conversation with my friend. You see, I immediately began to think of the best place for him to go that would assist him in his pursuit. I named several options, one of which was one of the simple churches we had started. I am not at all saying it would be bad for him to go to one of those places. I am not even saying that he would not encounter God and be discipled in one of those places. However, why was that the solution I presented him…FIRST? Not to mention, why did I try to “pawn him off” to others when here he was sitting right in my lap practically begging to be discipled? We do not realize it is also OUR job to disciple others into a saving knowledge of Jesus-not primarily an institution or form of church. We, as the body of Christ get to evangelize others into the body. Once there, we get to disciple them as new members of that body. Yes, the body as a whole plays a part in that discipleship, but we, as the evangelizer/discipler play a huge part in that process. Bottom line: I need to disciple my friend. I need to give Him Jesus.

Whatever pursuit of BEING the Church you subscribe to I challenge you to subscribe to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior first and foremost. May that be what dictates our pursuit of BEING a part of the Body of Christ. I will be taking a personal challenge this week to make a mental note of every time I have a discussion about “church” in comparison to how many conversations I engage in about my Jesus. For it is not church that we place our faith in.

“It was NOT church that died on the cross for us. In fact, church is one of the very reasons Christ died on the cross. He died, as our bridegroom, that we, a broken and dirty bride might be made pure and clean – ready for His return. May we worship Him, and not the bride for whom He was murdered.”

This is FUNNY.

Saw this tonight, and I though I’d share it with you all…it’s worth a few minutes of your time…

I hope we can all see the humor in this, not be offended, and pursue change. It’s interesting how we can get caught up in our way of doing things sometimes…and never realize how cheezy, and far from the truth what we’re doing is…

Compound Interest…

***I promise this post is not about finances & investments!***

“If you would just set aside $100.00 each month starting NOW then you would be a millionaire by age 65!”

My mother has told me this several times since I was about 18. Many of you have probably heard something similar to this scenario as well. It is very true, though I do not personally know anyone in real life who has ever done it. Apparently, some sort of a mathematical phenomenon takes place when you make a small investment each month into various types of mutual funds/investments, which accrue a compounding interest. Basically, you earn interest on the principle amount that you invest each month, but you also begin to earn a return on the interest as well. Somewhere down the line you see an explosion, but it takes time. You can’t argue with basic math. The small investment each month WILL multiply into a LARGE sum of money in the window of about 40 years.

What I am submitting now is that there is exponential value in this particular pursuit of discipleship; what I believe to be the “way Jesus did things”. Again, we just don’t like it because it might take longer; heck, we may never even get to see the fruit from it. We will not get glory for it, or should I say we will no longer be able to rob God of the glory HE deserves. However, we can be assured that if we take the challenge to pour into just a few people at a deep level we are doing exactly what Christ called us to do, and there will be an explosion somewhere down the line. We can be assured that the disciples we are making WILL make more disciples (Otherwise we can’t say we’ve effectively discipled them in the first place).

Here’s a quick video illustrating what this might “look like” if we did it. Many of you have already seen this video, but it’s worth a re-watch.

It seems so easy doesn’t it. So why don’t we do it? I assume it is the same reason that I have never met anyone who has actually become a millionaire by investing $100 a month into a mutual fund. However, if we dared to take the challenge might we wake up in forty years to see that the Holy Spirit has swept through our land to raise up a holy army of kingdom warriors? And this, all because we found value  pouring our everything into a few people for a few years against all outside pressure from the world around us. At every turn the “world around us” screams that we are wasting our time on small/insignificant things when we could be “allowing the Lord to do great things through us”. May we not be seduced by that lie any longer. Jesus save us from ourselves, and replace what we value with what YOU value.

Where’s The Value?

This will NOT happen if we’re worried about how we will answer when asked the question, “how many churches have you started, or how big is your church?”

I am convinced that we do not value the things that Christ valued. He intentionally poured into a small number of guys who went on to change the world. Yes, there are times when He interacted with, and encountered large groups of people. However, the majority of His time was spent with these 12 guys. He took them with Him everywhere He went, constantly asked them questions, helped them reach conclusions, and prepared them to carry out a great task. Are we trying to do the task ourselves, as if it’s up to us to do? Or, are we preparing others to carry out a task that’s too great for us alone; ushering in the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven?

We say we value discipleship (As noted above-Jesus’ “model”), but our actions prove otherwise-across the board. We are trapped in a way of doing things in the west, and the expectations of man keep pulling us back into that trap. Man simply does not value individual people enough to actually disciple those individual’s. We want to do the things that “make it big”, or “bare MUCH fruit” in man’s eyes. We also tend to mysteriously do the things that can be traced back to being a result of what WE did; those things usually “make the papers”, ironically.

Pouring ourselves into the lives of a few people for a year’s time does NOT make the papers…but it’s what Jesus did.

So, what do we do? I am a big fan of seeking solutions to problems, and not just complaining about them. I am also a fan of DOING, and not merely talking. A lot of people are talking about a lot of this stuff, but few are practicing. I have made a commitment to the Lord this year. Against all outside pressure, and expectations to grow a kingdom of my own while calling it the growth of God’s kingdom I have decided to spend more time with less people. This is tough for many “Type A Leaders” with “strong personalities”. After all, hasn’t the Lord called us to be vessels through which He changes the world!? Doesn’t that mean we start, and grow HUGE churches!? (Or, start LOTS of churches…right?)

The problem is that we have lost the art of the heart of Jesus’ ministry; discipleship. This is the bottom line. We call ourselves “disciples” of Christ. I find it interesting that Jesus spent the majority of His time pouring into twelve ragamuffins, which eventually turned into eleven. The point is that Jesus was constantly bent towards individuals, or small groups of people.

I realize that in Acts the Holy Spirit fell on the people, and 3,000 came to know Jesus in one day! I simply feel that we have accidentally allowed the pendulum to swing too far towards “reaching the multitudes”, and in the midst of our efforts lost the art of relational discipleship. Which, in the “big picture”, would lead to reaching the multitudes. Once again, some of the most powerful stories we know from scripture involve Jesus showing favor to, and spending time with INDIVIDUALS. He then expected these individuals to RESPOND in such a way that illustrated their encounter with the Gospel.

Picture it; Jesus is walking through a large crowd of people, and ONE woman touched the edge of His cloak. He stopped and paid her the attention that only the God of the universe could. Later in Matthew Jesus is, once again, walking in a crowd. Again, He parts ways with a LARGE amount of people to call ONE man down from a tree. He then goes to have dinner with that man. As a result, the life of Zaccheous was transformed. Jesus meets the woman at the well. He extends grace to the woman caught in the act of adultery. Over and over again in the Bible Jesus shows His concern for individual people. He spends time with them. He blesses them. He pours into them. The result was people who were TRULY transformed by the grace of Jesus, and not just hit with a pellet of the Gospel spread thin as if exploding from the barrel of a shotgun.

Jesus poured into the twelve. He lost one, and was left with eleven. Those eleven would go on to change the world. What does that look like for us as Christ followers today? Many of us write off individuals as unimportant, or view the thought of any large amount of energy spent pouring into one person as ineffective/not a good use of time. I am beginning to believe just the opposite. I feel the Lord challenging myself, and Christ-followers in the West to spend more time with less people. I have begun this pursuit, and have discovered a new way of living. A way that only the Lord can receive recognition and Glory for the results. George Barna calls this the practices of a “revolutionary”. Will you join me in this new Revolution of what it truly means to follow Christ, and live out the Gospel of Jesus that we claim to cling to?

It’s time we stop being slaves to what man sees as valuable. It’s time we start valuing what Christ values. May we stop performing to make a name for ourselves, and our ministry/church/organization? May we start doing the things that go unnoticed, and fly below the radar trusting that our Father in heaven sees our good works? May we trust that if we TRULY make a disciple who we KNOW will make another that somewhere down the line we will begin to see exponential growth?

This will NOT happen if we’re worried about how we will answer when asked the question, “how many churches have you started, or how big is your church?”

Lonely Old Men, & Poetry…

The thoughts in this post pose some interesting questions, which are the reasons behind why I wrote it in the first place. The questions are at the end…if the story becomes boring feel free to skip down and read them. I’d love your thoughts on them as well…

“Lonely Old Men, & Poetry”
Last night our simple church decided to go to what we thought was an “open mic night” at the Coffee Bean. The Bean is right down the street, and we’re always sure to meet people who live in our neighborhood when we go there. Our purpose was to build some relationships, and a couple of us were possibly going to contribute to the “open mic”…

Much to our dismay, we had received a bit of inaccurate information about “open mic night”. Turns out it was really “Poetry Reading Night”. We thought, “What’s difference does it make? We came to build relationships. Why would that change because it’s open poetry reading, and not open mic, right?” We had also spent some time covering the evening in prayer at the house before heading up to the Coffee Bean. So, we, a bit reluctantly, joined the group of poets in the back room. It was closed off from the rest of the coffee shop, probably due to the language/content of the poetry. Not to mention they had the mic CRANKED up.

It did not take us long to realize that this was going to be a long night. What we thought was open mic night was actually poetry night. What was SUPPOSED to be poetry night should have actually been called, “Erotic, Sexual Poetry Reading by Creepy, Old, Lonely Men and Women Night.” Haha! I won’t go into detail here, but you can imagine what we were hearing. Each person had crafted their wildest sexual fantasies into a poem to share with the entire group; all included MUCH use of the “F” word. Enough said.

I am really proud of our community for being such “troopers”, not judgmental, and having true compassion in their hearts for those we spent the evening with last night. For the most part we’ve all been far removed from our previous “Christian Bubbles”, which completely sheltered us from the world, sin, and the potential to be temped. Being around “sin” doesn’t make us want to leave so we don’t get “tainted”, or hinder us from remembering our purpose. We go confidently into dark situations having faith that the LIGHT is US in far more powerful than the DARKNESS we’ve entered into; we’re also “prayed up”, and on mission together as believers. (The Bible talks a bit about this believe it or not = )

There is one very important thing that came to my mind last night as we were sitting in the back room of the Coffee Bean while creepy old men were talking about their dream girl being tied to the bed…

I could not help but think that the way we felt sitting in this room (A bit uncomfortable, uneasy, not used to the atmosphere, confused, unsure of how to act, curious, maybe a bit offended, etc.) must be what it feels like to be an UNbeliever walking into a “church” for the first time…(Please do not hear me picking on the “institution” here. This “happening” can easily take place in a simple, or house church setting as well)

Think about it: We walked into the poetry reading as “outsiders”, not knowing much about it, the people, etc. We were greeted, and found our seats quietly. The next hour was spent in the context of a completely different, and new atmosphere. The language was different, the way people spoke, the things they spoke about, the attitudes they had, the activities they participated in, the way they expressed emotion, the music they listened to, etc. Of course, not all of these things were bad, or negative by any means. However, that is all we know of poetry night at the Bean, and probably all we’ll ever know unless we intentionally pursue relationships with those people outside of poetry night. Being there that night did not make us better-equipped poets or poem readers. We will most likely not “join” the poetry-reading group based upon our experience last night.

So, could our experience last night (Believers in a dark setting with unbelievers-on THEIR turf) be very similar to the experience an UN-churched person might have when they walk into a “church”? (Unbelievers in a “bright” setting-on OUR turf). It makes me think about the times Jesus encountered sinners in the scripture, and who’s turf they were usually on. Did Christ expect the darkness to be attracted to the light, come to Him, and be changed? Or, did he take the light out into the darkness and see lives transformed?

Hopefully this will help us to all think more about our unbelieving friends, and where they’re at. We, for a brief moment last night, were “in their shoes”. We learned what it must feel like to walk into a brand new place with new people who dress differently, talk differently, sing different songs, use different language, go on different vacations, enroll their kids in special schools, listen to special radio stations, shop for music & books at special stores, etc. etc. etc.

Should our weekly services be for unbelievers, or for believers?

Should we be trying to accomplish effective discipleship & evangelism SIMULTANEOUSLY using the same weekly service? Are both not going to suffer greatly in the process?

Could two serious issues in the American church today (Weak discipleship & being “seeker sensitive”) come to an end if we stopped putting all of our eggs in the “weekly church service” basket, ceasing to attempt to be both “seeker sensitive” & solid disciple makers with this ONE tool?
(I don’t know of many churches who would admit that this is their ONLY “tool”, but there’s no denying that it is the primary tool used to attempt to achieve both of the above outcomes. If you’ve EVER spent any time on staff at a church then you know that most of the time, energy, resources, etc. are poured into the weekly worship gathering)

Just Stop It…

We have been in Texas for two weeks. It has been crazy. I have SO much to process, and write about. For now I just want to share a brief nugget from a meeting I was in last week with a brilliant man named David Watson…

Nobody knows about David. He hasn’t written a bestseller, he doesn’t pastor a large church, his name doesn’t appear in newspapers and magazines (In the states anyway). He is wise, humble, bold, and God has used him in amazing ways. As a result of David’s training and mentor-ship there have been more than 100,000 churches planted all over the world. (God gave him a vision to plant 500,000 churches before he dies=) 6 million people have come to faith in Christ through these communities of faith, and discipleship training.

My friend Osei and I had the privilege of spending about 2.5 hours with David for lunch last week in Irving, Tx. We frantically took notes as he shared wisdom from his experiences. We asked questions, and discussed dreams and visions the entire time. I’ll never forget the way he answered a particular question I asked…I don’t even remember the question, but am realizing more and more everyday that his answer is actually the answer for MANY questions that a lot of us have been asking lately.

I’m about to share with you David’s answer, and then ask for you to think of the many questions that come to your mind that this question could be the answer to…

In response to a question from me David replied, “Aaron, stop working with, and worrying about Christians. JUST STOP IT. Focus on reaching the lost. Make disciples, and watch them multiply. Watch new churches start along the way. Don’t start churches with Christians, they bring too much baggage to the table, and you spend all your energy working through that baggage and lose sight of reaching the lost. Besides, new believers are full of passion, and excitement; they do not understand, or get distracted by all these issues that we Christians find ourselves wasting our time/energy on.”

Wow. I reflected back over the past year, and thought about how that answer could have saved me a lot of stress, pain, and heartache. Not to mention, produced a lot more fruit! (Please know that this is NOT an excuse to neglect the discipleship process that must take place with those of us who are ALREADY believers. David is simply referring to reaching the lost in a powerful way. He is a FIRM believer in the discipleship process. He is submitting that those of us with apostolic roles in the kingdom MUST start BEING apostolic by seeing new works started as disciples are made. Many of us plant churches with an original desire to “reach the lost, and spread the Gospel” but find ourselves five years in, running ourselves ragged trying to please the same group of Christians that we may not have even seen come to know the Lord; they were already Christians and joined us from somewhere else in pursuit of something that would “better meet their needs”.

What are some questions that you think this answer applies to? What are some areas of stress in your life that this statement breathes peace into?

“What if…?”

Those of you reading who are my loyal Twitter, and Facebook “followers” have already been commenting on many of the “what if?” questions I have been posting over the past week. I am compiling them, and plan on posting an entire entry dedicated to the many different “what if?” questions that I come up with in the process. Please feel free to contribute your own “what if?” questions in the comments section of this post, and I will add them into the compilation. (You are also welcome to leave any thoughts about this particular “what if?” question in the form of a comment)

I felt the need to give this “what if?” question it’s own post because Twitter posts only give you 140 characters…being the detail guy that I am, I had a terribly hard time narrowing this down to 140 characters. In fact, it hurt so bad after I posted the “Tweet” that I decided I HAD to elaborate by posting this blog. Here goes…

“What if” a person’s success, worth, or value was measured by the amount of time they spend with family, friends, and other important people as opposed to how much money they make, how many people they know, the car they drive, the size of their house, how “busy” they are, etc.?

These days a person is accused of being irresponsible or lazy if they work any less than 50 hours/week, and don’t have a hefty retirement fund awaiting them. A person’s importance is weighed by the title they hold at “work”, the square footage of their house, the fanciness of their car…you get the point. Husbands and fathers begin finding their worth in these things rather than the love of their wife and kids. Somehow, in this completely screwy world we live in it is somehow a “difficult” decision for a man to wrestle with choosing between taking the higher paying job that will consume everything, or keep the less paying job so he can pour himself into his wife and kids. Oh wait, he gets the job so he can make money to be able “take care of the kids”, and send them to college, right? That seems to have worked out wonderfully in the last 50 years hasn’t it…?

So, here we are in a time in the world when the people we pledge our lives to in marriage, and the human beings that we create and bring into the world become less important to us than our status, income, retirement fund, comfort, security, and vacations. Everything in me screams out that this is wrong. Though I have VERY intentionally pursued something drastically different in my life, the world, my flesh, and those around me seem to constantly pull me into this vicious cycle of idolatrous sin. I am determined…

Side note: These things have seemingly crept into, and plagued the “church” in America. Oh, the lovely life sacrificed to “ministry”. The amazing titles, and salaries that grow with those titles. The business plans, and elaborate infrastructure. The hiring and firing. The need to perform, succeed, and maximize the “return on our investment”(ROI for you business majors. Oh, and i’m not lying: I was once told that by my “boss” while on staff at an institutional church) The husbands spending hours away from their wives and kids for the “sake of the ministry”, which somehow makes it ok. No need to keep going. Oh wait, the business models, strategies, COMPETITION for numerical growth, and fancy offices. Ok, i’m done.

So, I have made a lifelong commitment to value the TIME I spend with my wife, and children above the amount of money I make, the title/position I hold in any career, etc. I believe, and will continue to rely on the grace of Christ to model that deep relationships with REAL people are more important to me a vacation home in the mountains, TV’s in my car, or a bunch of people knowing who I am, but not KNOWING ME. I believe that I am not at all alone in this pursuit…

Won’t you join me in asking the hard, and gasped at “What if?” questions that MUST be asked…?

More Greatness From “CPM’s”

So I have some issues that I have been meaning to blog about, but keep coming across this amazing stuff in the book, “Church Planting Movements” that is so much much better than anything I have to say. Check it out, and let me know your thoughts…

On Church Leadership:

“Satan knows that if he can distort God’s teachings on the church and on church leadership, he can stop the flow of new believers into the Kingdom of God. The Bible has clear guidelines for defining church and it’s leadership. When we try to improve on these we don’t create a better church we create a church that is less than what God intended. Church Planting Movements are often derailed by well intentioned, yet inflated, definitions for a church or overwhelming requirements for church leadership.”

“In the New Testament Christ identified the church with Himself…Paul took this lesson to heart, often referring to the church as the body of Christ while identifying church members as members of His body.”

“In many older mission fields, church planters labor under the weight of years of tradition-built definitions of church and church leadership. This happens when well meaning Christians come to believe that they are not a church until they have been constituted by a national denomination, or have reached a certain congregation size, employed a seminary-trained pastor, secured church property, or constructed a building. All of these requirements exceed and encumber the biblical ideal.”

“When it came to church leadership, Jesus set the example by choosing disciples from all walks of life. He spent three years walking with them, and this became their license to lead.” p242

On Reaching The Lost:

“Conventional wisdom holds that one should always work through the local church to reach neighboring people groups. Though logical and intuitively appropriate, this approach is often not born out in reality. In too many instances the local church is the major stumbling block that is preventing the unreached from coming to Christ. Despite this fact, some missionaries have spent their entire career trying to turn the local church in the direciton of the lost. Others tied themselves so closely to the local church that they ended up sharing the church’s unsavory characteristics.”

“The best way to bring about change in a fallen expression of Christianity is by unleashing vibrant, living Christianity. Once authentic Christianity demonstrates Christlike virtues and begins drawing new converts into the fold, true Christians in the nominal churches will be attracted to the movement like moths to a flame. We have seen many instances of comatose Christianity awakened by the outbreak of a Church Planting Movement.” p246-247

On Empowering Local Believers:

“When we inject foreign elements into the church that the local believers cannot reproduce for themselves we alienate a Church Planting Movement.”

Garrison goes on to describe a story of Christian leaders in Latin America who came across a beautiful church building that had been built three decades earlier by American volunteers. The local members took great pride in the building, but had never attempted to plant any new churches, because they could not reproduce the only thing they knew. They believed that real church had to have such things, and so the moevement died before it started.

What are some things that we do in the church in America that might hinder new believers from excersizing their faith in such a way that causes new works to be birthed due to their feelings of not being able to reproduce the only thing they know about church and the Christian faith? Thoughts?

May Legitimization & Release Be The Fuel…

In Austin there are some students at UT who are committed to seeing the Gospel spread in a simple/reproducible way that brings light to darkness and life the death. They are determined to learn new, and fresh ways of living out their purpose as the ecclesia in the their city. This has been modeled for us in overseas missions for years, and it would behoove us to learn from these movements.

We must stop practicing evangelism through extraction in our attempts to fill and grow our current institutional churches. Do some people find home in these churches? Absolutely. Will these alone serve as a conduit for the Gospel to spread rapidly throughout the states, infiltrating the darkest places in our culture? Of course not. In our current mindset we are beginning to see many outwardly focused institutional faith communities, which is a beautiful thing. However, even these leave us with only one option if we actually do go into a dark place to reach that area with the Gospel. (Which is very rare for an individual believer, or group of believers to do. We are typically too busy with our “church friends & activities”, and uncomfortable with sin and darkness to do so). That option is to extract a person out of their current circles of influence in order “save them”, and then “church them”. There are many con’s to this form of practice, which I hope to dissect more in the future. So, not only does it remove the new disciple from the places in their lives that they have the most influence, but it also creates a bitterness in the minds of those who remain in that former circle. Those who remain behind are confused as to where their friend has gone, and are now resentful towards the Christian who “stole their friend”.

I am convinced that we must start equipping and empowering believers to take the Gospel into dark places, and plant Gospel roots deeply there. This means that NEW communities/church bodies must take root/birth in that place. This is much different from extracting people from one place, and giving them no outlet to grow other than an “established church”, which is far removed from their previous circles. For this to happen we must have Spiritual Fathers, current Christian leaders, and current local churches who will begin to release apostolic leaders into these cracks of society by legitimizing the birth of new communities of faith that will multiply, and flourish naturally.

The key here is that believers must be affirmed, equipped, and empowered by current “Christian leaders” through acknowledging these new communities as legitimate local churches. A freeing realization I have recently stumbled upon is the fact that in order to begin legitimizing these new communities of faith does NOT necessarily mean we need to DE-legitimize the former. (I believe that many pastors have walls built up towards organic expressions of church because those practicing simple church have sought to DE-legitimize what those pastors are doing. I am guilty of this. This makes it impossible to function healthily as the body of Christ)

May we truly begin to respect one another, and work together as the body of Christ, realizing that none of us can reach EVERYONE apart from the other. In the name of Jesus may we begin to recognize apostolic leaders, and release them to start new communities of faith in un-reached areas. I wonder what would happen if we started recognizing the apostolic call in people’s lives as much as we recognize people’s “call” to “lead worship” on a stage or “teach” an existing body of believers. The focus here is making new disciples, and not simply trying to protect or sustain the only thing we know. Young leaders: be affirmed, be released, be encouraged, and be set free to fulfill the great commission.

I am believing God to raise up Spiritual Fathers to affirm you in your pursuit. However, do not allow the lack of approval, affirmation, and legitimization from current “Christian leaders” hinder you from pursuing what God has instructed for you to do.

Weddings, MC Training, & Good Friends…

Morgan and I spent the past week in Texas; it was a beautiful trip. Our main purpose for being in Texas was to serve our best friends, Jeremiah & Keri, as they vowed their lives to one another in marriage. I got to perform the wedding! (Thank you state of Texas-haha) The wedding was in Austin, and it could not have been more perfect. The Holy Spirit of God ordained their union in every way that I, as a man, could not do. In fact, all I really did was sign a peace of paper to make them “legal” in man’s eyes. They will certainly make a wonderful couple that uses their union to bring Glory to the Father, and growth to His kingdom.

The day after the wedding, which was in Austin, we hooked up with the I.G. Ft. Worth crew for some pizza. It was wonderful to see them all again, and see what God has been doing in and through them since we have moved to Las Vegas. We shared the first few days serving Jeremiah and Keri, and then caught up with one another. This was a huge blessing to Morgan and I.

We stayed with some of our close friends in Austin, the Stewart’s. They are precious, and have poured into Morgan and I in ways they will never know. They have three beautiful children, and are a perfect example of how to raise children who will fear the Lord.

We also had the chance to connect with two other people who have become close friends of ours, the Ramirez’. We are convinced that the four of us were separated at birth. Though we live in different states, the Lord has united us for life. We will serve Christ, one another, and grow His kingdom together from different parts of the world for years to come. Jonathan and Lauren we love you guys.

The week in Texas was busy. On Saturday we also had the pleasure of spending some time with some passionate students who attend the University of Texas in Austin. They are motivated, and ready to start “missional communities” all over UT to reach the lost for Christ. More at that to come…