One*Glory

A couple random pictures, for Luke B

2012-01-11T14:50:00.000-06:00

Most random post ever?

Just sharing a couple ideas for some Leviticus videos, in a highly-draft form. Enjoy my far-less-than-stellar artwork, blog world.

Christmas FGFW Logos

2011-11-11T16:24:00.004-06:00

Just posting these here so I can embed them into other sites... But I hope you like 'em!

Halloween, Worship, & Mission

2011-10-27T09:57:00.004-05:00

“I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world… I do not ask
that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.
They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the
truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world,
so I have sent them into the world.” (John 17:11, 15-18)

Two Sides of the Pendulum

I received an email this week from someone wanting to know if The City Church “keeps Halloween.” To be fair, I’m not 100% sure what that phrase means! But it raises a valid question as to why we’re encouraging our church family to “worship by loving our neighbors” well on the weekend of this cultural holiday.

The obvious answer, which must be noted, is that the Great Commission is to love our neighbors, and that obedience to God, and carrying out his mission, is worship. But my answer to the email, and my encouragement to you, City folks, starts with two extremes: on one side of the pendulum, as followers of Jesus, we can reject Halloween, write it off as automatically evil, and create sub-par, Christian alternatives to it, for Christian people to attend. Theologically and philosophically, this approach would be termed “sectarian”: huddling together with others “like us,” ignoring the non-believing co-workers, classmates, neighbors, and friends God puts in our lives, and being more and more “out of the world,” which directly rejects Jesus’ command to be “in it.”

Swinging to the other end, we can fully embrace Halloween, and dive into and support its admittedly-dark overtones, which echo of demons, witchcraft, ancestor worship, and other spiritually-confusing things. The big word for this approach is “syncretism”: for the sake of relevance, being nice, and “non-judgment,” we become less discerning, overly accepting, and in the biblical words, “of the world,” which equally rejects Jesus’ command not to!

Stopping in the Middle

So where does that leave us with Halloween (and for that matter, lots of other areas of life)? The answer is that we seek a balance between pretending Halloween doesn’t exist and embracing it fully; we try to stop the pendulum mid-swing. We accept the fact that it’s a cultural celebration, and if we trust God’s sovereignty and good work in literally “all things” (which God himself claims in Ephesians 1:11), then we understand Halloween to be one of the best opportunities of the year, provided – or at least allowed – by God, to meet, know, love, and bless our neighbors.

Here’s how that plays out: we host Halloween parties, because as followers of Jesus, we have the best reason to celebrate and want others to celebrate too. We take our kids to neighbors houses and meet them (maybe for the first time), and then we can follow up later and invite them into our lives. We buy and give out the best candy on the block, reflecting the generosity Jesus first gave to us. Another article suggests that you go a step further, and grill out in the front yard to provide dinner for those wandering your neighborhood, or that you even invite your neighbors to trick or treat with you and your family.

Bottom Line in our View of Halloween

To conclude, Colossians 1:20 teaches that in Jesus, God is “reconciling to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” All things means all things – even cultural holidays and celebrations! As Jesus’ followers, God “gave us the ministry of reconciliation… entrusting to us the message of reconciliation… Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:18-20). So by God’s grace and for his glory, let’s fulfill Jesus’ prayer this Halloween weekend, and be sent into the world and seek the true welfare of the people we live near, just as Jesus was first sent to us, to seek ours.

Thoughts? Responses? How will you combine Halloween, Worship, & Mission this weekend?

Coming this December...

2011-10-10T14:25:00.000-05:00

We're taking a break from Leviticus for the holidays, and will spend a few weeks dwelling with and learning from John the Baptist.

For centuries, God's people have set aside the weeks before Christmas to prepare themselves to celebrate Jesus' birth. No one in history has better modeled this idea of preparation better than Jesus' own cousin, who we call John the Baptist. This desert-dwelling, locust-eating prophet was uniquely called by God, spent his life pointing others to Jesus, and died for the sake of God's mission. As The City Church gets to know John the Baptist over the 2011-2012 holiday season, we'll join him in proclaiming to our lives and our world, "Prepare the way of the Lord!"

Join us for Leviticus?

2011-10-03T10:49:00.002-05:00

Wanna Learn Leviticus?
Sunday, October 2, The City Church started a several-month journey through the confusing, bloody, embarrassing, potentially-angering book of Leviticus. The news has apparently caused a (very minor, but very exciting!) stir: there were over 620 webviews of our first Leviticus page in the past two weeks, people in at least five states have started following our podcast specifically to get this content, and our Discussion Guide's introduction and part one .pdf's have been downloaded several times, even though we gave out hard copies to folks in The City Church.

You're Invited to Join Us Too
Whether you're in Fort Worth, Kentucky, or China, we'd love to have you walk vicariously with us over these coming months. It's very simple, but we encourage you not to do it alone - so grab a couple friends and...

Reply to this post and let us know a) where you are and b) that you're joining us - we'll do our best to check in occasionally
Listen to the podcast or watch the sermon video - both available here
Download the Discussion Guide (more on this below)
After working through the sermon and Discussion Guide, meet up and walk through each week's questions together
Be amazed by God, glory, grace, worship, your call, your ministry, and so much other amazing content we'll see in Leviticus!

What's The Point of the Discussion Guide?
Simply put, Leviticus has too much content to cover in each week's sermon - unless we want to be in Leviticus for many decades. So the Discussion Guide comes alongside sermons and fill in the gaps. Each week contains five sections:

How to Read this Passage: a breakdown of each week's verses, to help you understand how they fit together.
Issues to Note: cultural nuances, technical issues, symbolism, etc - basically, details in that weeks' passage that are lost on today's readers
Themes to Consider: this section ties themes from each week's passage to broader biblical themes, to help you see how Leviticus fits God's story
Questions to Ask: in addition to fueling late-night thinking and prompting blog posts, these questions will inform Village discussion, discipleship groups, personal reflection, etc.
Questions for Kids: our KidCity team has crafted a great curriculum for Leviticus, following the biblical themes the adults are covering. Parents and Villages alike can follow this simple, meaningful section with your kiddos.

How you stay on track? How do you make sure you're reading the right content each week? Here's the deal: we're addressing Leviticus in four "sections," or four "Parts." An Introduction and Part One are already available for download (links above), and we'll post Parts Two through Four in the coming months. On the first page of each Part, you'll see an introduction and schedule for that Part. But for your convenience, here's the schedule for Part One:

Ready? Go.
I think that covers the basics. As a summary, sermon + discussion guide = good Village discussion. But neither of those replace actually reading Leviticus. Our stuff, and everyone else's, is simply commentary. As we said on Sunday, "God's word reveals God, and Leviticus is God's word." Read it! Again, let us know what questions you have, and thanks in advance for walking virtually with us, through this great, unknown, rich part of God's Word! It's an honor.

ForTheGoodOfFortWorth.com

2011-09-28T10:20:00.002-05:00

Greetings
To the two of you(?) who actually still read this blog, thanks for sticking with me since it's been so long since I've updated it!

I'm thrilled to announce one of the many things keeping me distracted from writing of late: a new, developing organization called "For The Good of Fort Worth." We're very much in phase one, building and dreaming and pressing into God for favor in his eyes and in our city's various realms of leadership (both official and non-official). But here's the scoop:

For The Good of Fort Worth exists for a very simple purpose: "to seek the physical, social, economic, and spiritual welfare of Fort Worth, through its citizens." It's a simple ideal born out of neighbors loving neighbors and everyone engaging to do their part. It's not intended to be a movement, but intended to be a gathering point for people who want to seek the welfare of our city together.

How's It Work?
So we're staring to ask folks, of all faiths, demographics, and parts of town to start asking simple questions:

What are my hobbies? What are my passions? What are my skills? Etc.
What are things I do anyway, everyday, week after week?
How can I take those things and use them for the good of Fort Worth?

It's a reorientation of one's life and view - not adding extra things to your schedule, bud adjusting what you already do, for the purpose of God's mission.

As folks engaged with and answered these questions, here are a few examples of what emerged:

"I have a passion for ESL": so a group is working together to get a class started in a largely hispanic, largely lower-income neighborhood - that's training for the good of Fort Worth!
"I want to see men trained to love God, love their family/friends, and love their city": so we're hosting a Men's Summit, Oct 22 - that's an event for the good of Fort Worth! (a college-specific event, and a women's event, are in the pipeline for 2012)
"I like to make music": so local musicians are banding together to play concerts for charity (including our Launch on Oct 8, 4-6pm, whose proceeds go to the Day Resource Center - see the flyer below), as well as (in the future) invest in local schools and kids to teach them music - that's music for the good of Fort Worth!
And that's just the start: our hope is to invest in education, health care, homelessness, and the local arts culture, just to name a few realms of our local society.

It's exciting. It's a first step. But it's one step that we hope many folks will join us in taking, as together we seek "the good of Fort Worth"!

How Can I Get Involved/Know More?
On one level, if you have an idea, want to invest, or just want updates, contact us here.

On another level, pray. We all know we can do beneficial things, by our own power, for others. We've all done it and seen it done. But, if we want to see the best possible things occur for our city, then yes, we can invest in it, serve it, and love it well, and seek its welfare - but nothing will be as fruitful if we don't submit our city and our efforts to God. "Thursdays at Lunch" is a call for Fort Worthians to pray for, weep for, and beg God for the good of our city. Find out more, and if you want to pray with others, start a prayer meeting, here.

Finally, anyone can gather a group, create an event or volunteer their time to this purpose. If you're a writer, form a writers' group with friends and neighbors from different walks of life. If you're a baker, make cakes and cookies for your neighbors. If you're a college student, join an organization and get to know folks in it. The possibilities are endless. We set up a website to be a conduit for community as it informs and connects people from around the city who try new ideas, share best practices, cheer for each other's efforts and pray for the welfare of all.

But the idea is not to join this website, but to join your neighbors in making Fort Worth the best place on the planet to live, work and play. Find people who share your passion for art or music or volunteerism and begin to make a difference on your block, in your apartment complex or at your office.

We can't do it alone. Let us know what you want to do, and join us in seeking the welfare of our city.

And join us as we launch Music For The Good of Fort Worth!

So it's been awhile...

2011-08-03T15:47:00.005-05:00

But that's to be expected by now, right?

Just a little note to say I'm thrilled for where The City Church is headed this fall. Some have said we're crazy; some have said worse. But we're gearing up for an intense run.

"What's the plan?" you ask.

Here it is folks... And it all begins October 2:

An invite to church planters, pastors, sending org's, & more

2011-02-14T14:45:00.004-06:00

[Edited from an email I sent last week, to a couple dozen folks in various realms of church planting]

Acts29, the church-starting network I'm involved in, is hosting a conference at The Village Church in Flower Mound next month. I would encourage anyone involved in church planting to come, no matter if you've planted, sent out a plant, are considering/intrigued by/curious about/interested in planting, next month or in five years. And whether you follow Acts29's specific "bent" or not, I'd still suggest this as a "must" for you.

Based on Darrin Patrick's Church Planter, this is the first Acts29 "Boot Camp" that follows a new 2-day format. Depending on where you are in the church planting world, attending one or two days might be more beneficial for you:

One-Day
For some folks, the $25 first day (Thurs Mar 10, 1pm-8:30pm) is simply great content & a great heart check & intro for you as a potential church planter, though you may be a bit out still. Day one has great "big-time" speakers, covering great "overview" topics every church planter needs to know: Sam Storms, Matt Chandler, Matt Carter, & Bruce Wesley will talk about a pastor's character, marriage, mission, & message.

Two-Day
For others, the $100 2-day (Thur Mar 10, 1pm-8:30pm; Fri Mar 11, 8am-5:15pm) has been redesigned to serve two purposes:

Whether you would ever consider Acts29 or not, some folks are moving toward planting, have planted, or are leading in a plant, & this will be a day of tackling practical hands-on issues related to day one's overviews, & specific issues in a planter's early years, life & marriage, message, & mission.
Others folks are working on the 'sending' side of things, & I'd love to help you get a picture of what's going on in the church planting world, or at least this branch of it, as it specifically deals w/ our context & culture in DFW & Texas - great for anyone in the ministry world. It will also provide some networking & relationships across church planting boundaries.

See You There
Both days are a fantastic opportunity for church teams & others who fit any of the underlined categories above as well. I'll be there both days, & barring extra responsibilities, would be happy to head up a carpool from Fort Worth if you're local & interested. More info & registration here, & I'm happy to answer questions.

Finally, while I absolutely love our network & am grateful to God for it - & while I encourage anyone interested in planting to absolutely consider it - this isn't just specifically an Acts29 plug. It's broader than that: it's a hope that folks in all realms of church planting will consider it for various reasons, for the progress of the gospel & expansion of the kingdom in our little part of the world!

Quote & Build Progress

2011-02-11T22:10:00.003-06:00

"[In Jeremiah 29] God, through the prophets, instructs his people in a foreign city to construct houses that they will live in, to plant gardens, and to eat its harvest. It takes time to build a house. It takes time to plant and tend a garden. It seems to me that God is commanding his people to sink themselves deep into the fabric of that wicked city. To build a house is to choose to be a neighbor to people in the city."
- Darrin Patrick, Church Planter (228).

This one's a short post, & mostly for family who have asked... But thanks to iPhoto, we put together a handy-dandy 12-pic slideshow of our home's progress, from the day the dirt arrived until today. For perspective, they poured the slab the Monday before the entire state of Texas closed for snow last week - which means that the second half of the slideshow (which might be termed "the actual build") all happened this week.

Pretty amazing how fast it's moving, & really fun to watch. We're increasingly grateful for the opportunity, starting to meet neighbors, praying for our new home, & (to reference Patrick's quote above) excited to plant ourselves deeper into the city & neighborhood where God has called us to invest. Thanks for celebrating God's grace the progress so far - enjoy!

'Adopted for Life': Free Audiobook

2011-02-04T15:48:00.001-06:00

Several folks in The City Church family - & other folks around the country, have become more intrigued by the concept of adoption recently. Whether local, international, foster, or otherwise, it's a great way to live out the work God has done in us: we adopt, because we've been adopted. Personally, Jess and I considered adopting before Charlotte was born, & still plan to pursue adoption as one way of growing our family - either after or interspersed with biological children.

This entire month, christianaudio.com is giving away FREE downloads of a foundational book in the concept of adoption, Russell Moore's 'Adopted for Life.' From their website:

"But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!'" - Galatians 4:4-6 (ESV)

"Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world." - James 1:27 (NASB)

Adopted for Life by Dr. Russell Moore is the free audiobook download for February. This audiobook is much more than an instructional how-to of the adoption process. It's also a grand reminder of the theological truths in adoption and the gospel itself.

Special thanks to Crossway for partnering with christianaudio to make this free download available. Crossway is a not-for-profit Christian ministry and exists to proclaim the gospel through publishing and all other means in order, by God's grace, to glorify our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in every way.

Visit Crossway's website for more information on their ministry.

Read the print book review by Christian blogger, Tim Challies.

Watch an interview with Dr. Moore and blogger, Justin Taylor.

Full disclosure: you do have to give them your email address and a few other bits of info. But that just means you'll be notified of future free audiobooks (recent ones have been great, such as Bridges' The Pursuit of Holiness and Tozer's classic, The Pursuit of God). I downloaded 'Adopted for Life' & look forward to reading it, & strongly encourage you to as well - whether you're involved with, intrigued by, or have never considered adoption, give it a good, prayerful listen.

Download 'Adopted for Life,' FREE, here.

Andrew Sullivan: Really Good, Free, Local music

2011-02-04T00:33:00.003-06:00

Long-time friend, great singer-songwriter, & all-around good guy Andrew Sullivan is working his way into the local music scene, & has posted a few tracks on NoiseTrade, a FREE music-sharing site.

YOU SHOULD CLICK HERE, LISTEN & DOWNLOAD, & PASS ALONG TO OTHERS.

While you're there, go ahead & buy his album. It's fantastic, upbeat, & a great bang for your buck.

You won't be disappointed.

"Why Build THERE?"

2011-02-01T10:35:00.004-06:00

One of the first questions we've gotten as we build our home (which now has a foundation, and will begin framing tomorrow! Pics below, once google's weird errors get fixed today.) is, "why build in a more-run-down part of the neighborhood?" There are two levels to the answer of this question: one level is practical, and the other is theological - and the second level informs the first.

Practical answer: the price was right!
In looking for our new home, we had very specific criteria. For our home to be what we think a home should be, we needed...

Enough space for a decent-sized family: biologically or adopted, we want more kiddos!)=
A room to have people live with us: ever since taking in a poor post-college guy for a few months (like that description, David?), we very much like the idea of people living with us, whether short- or long-term - we needed a room for someone to stay with us, that was more than just a pull-out couch in the living room.
Openness, to have lots of people around: this gets into the second level (as does having people live with us), but we believe the home should be a place of ministry - so we needed space to fit many people, in one room. People tend to gather in the kitchen and living room, so we wanted most of the living space to be "non-segmented," which most of the existing homes near downtown Fort Worth (being 80+ years old), tend to be.
Something we could afford: the very few decent-sized, multiple-roomed, open homes in the area we're compelled to live were upwards of $500,000. Church planting and "professing" are the wrong jobs for those homes!

When we found out that a builder had bought 16+ lots in a more-run-down corner of a neighborhood that was halfway between TCU and downtown Fort Worth, and that the nature of that corner made a build affordable, and that we could build a house that fit all four qualifications, we jumped on it.

Theological answer #1: stewarding our home well
Too often in our culture, the home is seen as a source of rest, retreat, and respite. As Jess and I looked at moving into town from Benbrook, we developed the four qualifications above, to fight that perspective. Just like our time, our finances, our very lives, our homes are given to us by God, as gifts to use for his purposes, not our own. If we start to think our home is meant "for us," we've lost sight of mission and stewardship. And if "home" is the entity in which we find rest and retreat, then at least on some level, home has replaced Jesus, who is alone our true rest and who is alone our true retreat. In other words, our homes can become our idols. We likely don't think of it on this level, but in the same way as "beer = relief after a long day" or "ice cream = comfort in a hard time" display those items to be modern idols, "home = source of rest" displaces Jesus from one of his titles and roles in our lives.

It's been said that "your home is a house of mission." James 1:27 reminds us that God is the source of all we have; 1 Corinthians 9-10 speaks of our selflessness and generosity being based in the selflessness and generosity of Jesus. And throughout the Bible, you see homes as gathering places for those in the church (fellowship), and as places of refuge for those who aren't (hospitality). We want our home to be a place of ministry, of life, of celebration, of comfort, and of family - in every sense of those words. We want our home to be a house of mission; we want to steward our home well. Building where we are enables us to create the kind of home that will enable these things - and hopefully more! - to occur.

Theological answer #2: displaying redemption
The second theological reason for building in a more-run-down part of the city is that as believers, we're called "ministers of reconciliation." It's commonly heard that, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." But what's less common is the very next verse: "All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5:17-19, italics added). Because Jesus first reconciled us, we are to be reconcilers of the world - we are God's people, carrying out God's mission, in God's world.

Certainly God's heart in reconciliation is for people. But the Hebrew shalom (we translate it "peace," as in "blessed are the peacemakers") is more holistic - we are to seek an all-encompassing wholeness, of all things. In Jeremiah 29, God gives a glimpse of how this looks. He commands his people, exiled to Babylon for the sake of his mission, to "build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce ... multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare" (vv.5-7). Building houses and planting oneself into a mission field is part of the "ministry of reconciliation." "Seeking the welfare of your city" is part of God's mission.

To say it another way, to turn a run-down, empty, sad lot into a home that's being used for God's purposes - or to redeem the lot, if you will - is a practical, physical echo of the gospel. It's a physical display of the reconciliation God worked in us, as he turned our run-down, empty, sad lives into lives that are now used for his purposes - he redeemed us. In building in a more run-down part of Fort Worth, our hope is to seek the welfare of that area; to be a peace-maker - a bringer of shalom - to a rough spot in our town; to participate in the spirit of renewal that God first implanted in us, through Jesus.

I'd love thoughts, questions, and ways that you participate in this "ministry of reconciliation" as well - but that's why we're building in a more-run-down part of the neighborhood!

Pre-Foundation Pics:
Setting the forms and placing all the in-ground plumbing. Pics of the foundation pour and Charotte's footprints in our back porch will be in the next post.

A Theology of our New Home

2011-01-15T09:37:00.003-06:00

First admissions in my first post in over three months: yup, I'm a dork. And to start blogging in 2011 with "a theology of our new home" increases said dorkiness. I recognize this. And I'm OK with it.

That said, Jess, Charlotte, and I are now a few weeks into watching our new home take shape. There's not much actual "shape" yet, but there's more than just an empty lot, so we're getting excited. As people ask us where our new home is being built, our answer often includes that "it's in a really ghetto part of a nice neighborhood near downtown." Typically, it's amusing to watch people's responses to that statement (which is true, by the way; we're building on a lot whose value went up when they ripped down the previously-existing house! And most of the rest of the homes/lots follow suit).

As we talk with folks about our new home's location, we hear questions like, "Why build in a more-run-down part of the neighborhood?" "Are you worried about safety?" "Why are you so focused on being near downtown?" "Isn't that lot really small?" And so forth. On both a practical level and an "everything has spiritual implications" level, the reasons and bases for our answers to these question, are based on the gospel story. We want our home to be a reflection of Jesus, to ourselves, to our family, and to others. We want it to be a tool to help us seek the welfare of our city. And we want our home to help progress the mission we feel called to in Fort Worth.

So I wanted to jot down a few of the answers - not to lift ourselves up, or specifically to celebrate our new home, but (a) to answer some of these questions, (b) to help others think theologically about your homes, & (c) to maybe serve as a little bit of a model for folks who are interested in seeing urban renewal.

A quick look at where we've been:

We sold our suburban home in April 2010. The idea of living in our mission field isn't new for Jess and me. We were part of a ministry in southwest Fort Worth, so we lived in southwest Fort Worth (technically Benbrook). We loved our home. We got to re-do it just like we wanted; it was in a great, safe, quiet neighborhood; we had longhorns and a donkey among our neighbors; it was altogether a fantastic "starter home." But as we new that ministry and mission was moving us closer and closer into the center of Fort Worth, a 25-minute drive didn't seem wise at all!

So we sold our home, and spent the next seven months looking. And looking. And looking, for something that would fit the various aspects of ministry we want our home to be. We had a fantastic realtor, Jeff Anderson (which is a story that has lots of cool redemption in itself, for another day), who you should use if you need to buy or sell your home. But throughout the "search period," a good friend put us in touch with Clarity Homes, and their owner Will Bannister, a great, Jesus-loving man who believed in our vision for being near downtown, and for using our home as a place of ministry.

After months (and months!) of plans, figuring out historical district and city guidelines, figuring out MORE historical district guidelines, and talking details, we finally signed our contract in late 2010. In December, dirt was brought in (pics below) and forms went up. And just these past couple weeks, plumbing went into the ground and the foundation is nearly prepped to be poured!

First steps of the build:
Pic 1: bringing in tons o' dirt, then pic 2: leveling it off. You like our neighbors' blue casa behind ours?

And to close, a few notes from Charlotte:

As I finished writing this, Charlotte was in my lap, and she apparently had some important things to add, since she kept grabbing for the keyboard. Here are her thoughts (unedited, for grammar or content):
                    ]

'[[[]]]]
A]][EEEEEAAAAFRRREEZ                          JNM                         D.,LLL.JJJJJU
          b           c

...to be continued...

The Naked Baby Dance

2010-10-07T17:25:00.000-05:00

So, our sweet 6.5-wk-old Charlotte does her 'naked baby dance' just about every time we get ready to change her. Some have heard of it, but have never seen it; others simply need to experience the cuteness. So we put it to a fitting song, & viola! Enjoy...

Love Your Bible, But Love God More

2010-10-04T08:48:00.000-05:00

[In October 3rd's City Church gathering, we introduced our church family to the idea that we live in a culture where the Bible, and the knowledge of God, can be among our greatest idols. Knowing this is a new concept to many folks, and how weird that statement sounds, I wanted to dive further into that concept, to make sure we teach it clearly.]

We Love the Bible.
The only proper place to start is to say boldly that we love the Bible, and you should too. We wholeheartedly affirm that it is God's revelation; God's words; "sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus... breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work" (2Tim 3:14, 16). The Bible is the primary, and specific way in today's world to know of God, obedience, holiness, righteousness, sin, and other aspects of life and faith. It's "sweeter than honey to my mouth" (Psa 119:103). The Bible is the primary way by which we are "transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect" (Rom 12:2).

If you've been around our church family at all, hopefully you've seen a 'biblical saturation' in all we do: we search scripture for everything, from church and leadership structures, to training/equipping and Village discussions, from our very mission to every specific way we're living it out. Other than a few 'family talks,' we'll continually preach through books of the Bible. One line of our membership covenant is that we "submit to the Bible as the final authority on all issues, and by God’s grace, to avoid activities that the Bible deems sinful or foolish." In a word, we love the Bible.

Some of our folks don't love the Bible. You need to. It's absolutely essential for you, your relationship with God, your knowledge of life, faith, holiness, and all things godly. But some of you love the Bible too much. And that's what we were saying in our gathering.

The Bible Must Point Us To God.
Saying that the Bible is God's revelation, and God's words, carries two truths: first, among other things, the Bible tells us about God. But it also means that the Bible isn't God. Likewise, theology can teach us about God, but theology in itself isn't - and can't become - a god. This is the first way the Bible and theology can become an idol for us: some of us have the tendency to look at the Bible, to read its words, to study it, analyze it, cross-reference it, and then stop. That leads to a good knowledge of the Bible, but not a good knowledge of the God of the Bible.

Jesus addresses this issue with the Pharisees of his day: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others" (Matt 23:23). Pharisees were 'teachers of the law' - they were folks who knew their scriptures better than anyone else of their time. But in learning every tiny detail of the scriptures, they missed the point, the 'weightier matters.' Their motive wasn't a pursuit of God, but only outward 'holiness.' They learned how to follow the scriptures, but missed the God of the scriptures. So Jesus calls them "whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness" (23:27-28).

Likewise, some of us have the tendency to become so enamored with the Bible or theology, that it becomes an end itself, rather than a means to a far greater end, God. The Bible isn't just a "good guidebook" or a "roadmap" or an "instruction manual" for life. If that's all it is to you, you'll end with empty, supposedly-self-enabled rules, religious practice, and duty. In this, you're no different than the Pharisees. Truly, the Bible is the story of God, of redemption, of what God's been doing from the beginning, and of the tiny part we get to play in God's story. If we miss this truth, we strive for obedience; we try to live out the commandments; we try to 'do what the Bible says.' But the whole time, we miss the gospel. We miss the motive. We miss our only ability to be righteous or obedient or godly or holy. We stare at the windshield instead of enjoying the great view beyond it. We know the Bible, but we don't know God.

Knowledge Must Lead to Worship and Action.
The second way that scripture and theology can become an idol is that it can turn God into an intellectual construct to study and know about, rather than a living being to know, follow, dwell with, love, and trust. Knowledge of God can lead us into mere intellectual ascents to God, rather than stirred affections for God. In other words, in this 'knowledge idol,' we can know a lot about God, without ever knowing God. Without ever following God. Without ever pursuing God or carrying out his commands. In a word, we can know a ton about God without ever worshiping God, in affections and actions. And knowledge without worship or action is simply intellectual arrogance: "we know that 'all of us possess knowledge.' This 'knowledge' puffs up, but love builds up" (1Cor 8:1).

As we rightfully read, study, and dwell in the Bible, we can surely ask how it is transforming our mind. We must certainly think well about it. We must let it permeate and soak in; we must consider it well. But then, we must ask what God is calling us to do, based in the words we've just read. "How does this lead me to worship? What is this calling me to do, as my affections are stirred toward God and as I live out the faith I'm reading about?" As Jesus' own brother wrote, "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing" (James 1:23-25).

If we just "hear" (or read, or study, or whatever) the Bible, without then worshipping God more or "doing" anything, we're missing its whole point. And again, knowledge or reading or understanding theology has become a goal itself, instead of worship. And thus, knowledge or reading or understanding theology displaces God, who is our one true goal.

Love Your Bible, But Love God More.
To summarize and conclude, the Bible is essential, sweet, and good. In order to know and worship God well, we must love, know, and dwell in scripture. But the Bible can't just be a source of knowledge about God or life, or a list of rules to obey. It can't be something that merely drives us to an intellectual ascent to its Author. We must use the Bible as the rightful, God-breathed revelation that God intended it to be: in the Bible, we must pursue God, not just his words. And in the Bible, we must pursue worship and stirred affections; not just knowledge or intellectual ascent.

If we can learn these things, then we're well on our way to overcoming idolatry of Bible and idolatry of theology. But if we can't learn these things, then the very means God gave us to know and love him more, becomes the idol that replaces him and becomes our god in his place.

GCM Break-Out's Announced

2010-09-07T16:29:00.003-05:00

Today I got to speak at a NorthWood/V360 church planter roundtable lunch, about things I learned during our first year of church planting. It was fun to look back at how far we've come since our first core gathering last September 13. Later this week I'll post the thoughts I shared. But one thing that kept coming to mind as I reflected on this past year was the great training I got to experience. And as I looked around the table at new folks, filled with questions and excitement, I couldn't help but want them to experience some of the same training, from some of the same folks I got to train with.

Conveniently, many of those men are headed to Texas next month, and in addition to sharing vision from the main stage at the GCM conference, they'll be sharing hands-on, practical steps toward living as gospel communities on mission in break-out sessions. Here's the list of breakouts that will happen Oct 28-30 in Austin:

Breakout #1:

Gospel Conversations on Mission Jeff Vanderstelt
Gospel Counseling in Community Steve Timmis
Discipleship Within a Community on Mission Jonathan Dodson
What is the Gospel? David Fairchild

Breakout #2:

Practical Missional Ecclesiology Drew Goodmanson
The Story of God: Teaching through Story and Dialog Caesar Kalinowski
Starting and Multiplying Missional Communities Jonathan Dodson
GCM: Why Everyone HAS to Do It Steve Timmis
Viral Churches Ed Stetzer

Breakout #3:

Tri-Perspectival Leadership Model and Practice David Fairchild & Drew Goodmanson
Church Planting with GCM DNA Jonathan Dodson
From Missional Communities to Church Plant Caesar Kalinowski
Porterbrook Steve Timmis & Matt Adair
Preaching the Gospel & Mission in Every Message Jeff Vanderstelt

I can't emphasize my excitement for this gathering of church, organizational, & missional leaders; neither can I emphasize the benefit you'll gain from 100+ of years of collective wisdom and experience in the weekend's leaders!

Learn more here.
Register here.
See you in October here.

Go to Austin, TX, Oct 28-30!

2010-09-01T17:55:00.002-05:00

With our baby Charlotte hittin' the scene last week - pics soon, I promise - I'm not doing much traveling this fall (other than a family trip to Oregon to introduce her to her great-grandparents). But there's one weekend and one conference I definitely won't miss: The GCM Collective Conference in Austin, Oct 28-30.

Jonathan Dodson listed four reasons he's excited for this conference, here.

Steve McCoy echoed Jonathan's list with another good reason, here.

Having a little different perspective on the conference, I wanted to throw my input into the hat as well, with three more reasons why I'm absolutely thrilled to be involved with this conference - or, three reasons why you must go to Austin Oct 28-30.

First, I've gotten to sit with, talk to, and learn from five of the seven speakers - and they're legit, Jesus-loving, gospel-centered wise men. From quick emails with Steve Timmis and reading his fantastic book Total Church, to spending a full week in Tacoma with Jeff Vanderstelt and Caesar Kalinowski; from a brief roundtable with Ed Stetzer (favorite part - Ed: "I can always tell a reformed guy when I see one." Me [sarcastically]: "Why? Because we're all a little more biblical?" Ed [equally sarcastically]: "No, because you're all a little angrier."), to continual coaching and encouragement from Jonathan Dodson, these men are certainly practitioners of what they preach. But they're also prayerful, theological, wise leaders whose gospel passion, pastoral hearts, and methodological clarity will teach, inspire, and equip us well during the conference.

Second, "gospel communities on mission" are the best way for the church to live as the people of God, on the mission of God. It's the way the church existed for many years of history; it's the way the church exists in much of the world today. In recovering the biblical mandates to go make disciples (Matt 28:18-20), to seek the welfare of the city (Jer 29:4-7), to love widows and orphans (James 1:27), and to participate in the ministry of reconciliation (2Cor 5:18-20), we must learn what it means to live on the mission of God, for the glory of God. Instead of "going to church," we must learn to "be the church." That's what a gospel community on mission is; that's what this conference is going to discuss!

Finally, this conference teaches theory and practice, but also gives time to process that theory and practice in your context. So many conferences are jam-packed with material - and rightly so, since folks want to hear from as many experts, on as much material as possible. But the GCM team has done a fantastic job of balancing the schedule: on one side, there's a ton of good material, good theology, good theory, and good examples of how gospel communities can look. But on the other, they're setting up something that will be hugely beneficial: The Collective Experience. This experience is what I'm most looking forward to as I think about the conference: during the weekend and in ongoing relationships, you get a mutual 'advisory board' of folks in similar contexts as yours, who will encourage you, share ideas with you, pray for and with you. Whether you're urban or rural, megachurch or micro-, a church transitioning to the missional community model, or anything in between, you and your team get to process how to live out the conference's content, at the conference and beyond. It's a revolutionary, genius idea, and is hugely beneficial as we all strive to live as gospel communities on mission.

There's plenty of other reasons I'm excited for the weekend in October - Austin's a great city; it will be great to see folks and learn together how we can accomplish God's mission and live as God's church; I've never been to a conference that includes The Gingerman (a fantastic little pub) on the official schedule; and so on - but the ones above are three big ones, and are reasons that I hope will encourage you to join us in Austin, for the first-ever GCM Collective Conference!

Read more about the conference here.
Register for the conference here.

Drink Coffee & Support New Churches!

2010-08-31T09:16:00.004-05:00

Do you like coffee? Do you love Jesus? Do you want to see his kingdom expanded across our nation & world but have no idea how to help support that vision? It's simple: I'm honored to introduce you to 29 Coffee.

54% of Americans drink coffee every day. 25% of Americans drink coffee occasionally. Now, there's a fantastic organization that allows you to buy coffee, and to send 100% of the net proceeds directly to the church planting efforts of our Acts 29 Network! More personally, The City Church has been chosen as one of 10 churches across the nation to benefit from the proceeds of 29 Coffee sales.

Here's how it works:

Go to 29coffee.com (and look for a new, very cool website coming in the next couple weeks).
Click 'order coffee', then click the great state of Texas on the map.
Choose from the six delicious blends, each micro-roasted to order from only the finest Arabica coffee from the world’s premier growing regions, by award-winning roaster Cutter's Point.
Check out, & enjoy $3 flat rate shipping, no matter how much you buy.
Say a quick prayer of thanksgiving to God, for allowing you to donate $5 of each bag you bought directly to his work in starting new churches. [So really, you're paying $6 for premium coffee & donating $5 to kingdom work]
Wait eagerly for your coffee to arrive, once it's shipped within 24 hours of your order.
Enjoy your delicious coffee beverage!

Will you consider giving this great-tasting coffee a try? How about buying it for your office or workplace, for Christmas gifts, or for an event you have coming up? This is a very simple way to live with gospel intentionality & support the expansion of the gospel, in Fort Worth and across the world. Drink good coffee and help plant new gospel-centered churches all at the same time!

>> Click here for 29 Coffee's website
>> Click here to "Like" 29 Coffee's brand-new facebook page

Summer Vacation & Online Idolatry

2010-08-13T09:15:00.002-05:00

So to all three of you who actually read this regularly, you've likely noticed a summer sparseness, with a grand total of six entries since May, and zero for over a month. A mix of intentionality & busyness has led to this impromptu "summer vacation":

First, July & August have been "bare minimum" months, where I've scaled back any excess to make sure & cover the necessary. With Baby Connelly arriving any day now, I've spent the last several weeks preparing practically for the life-change, even though I have no idea exactly what to prepare for! I've tried to make sure everything was planned well for the fall; I've been wrapping up loose ends & to-do lists; I've been building cribs and hanging cute things; etc. So social media took a back seat.
Second, I've spent most of my writing time over the summer working on a resource for practical, everyday ways to live on mission. With many books on the philosophy of missional living, and many resources for pastors and churches on how to lead their congregations on living it out, I wanted to put together some stuff for The City Church family (& maybe others too, who have given input & asked good questions about it), with hands-on, practical, personal ways to live as a missionary, every day of our lives. It's the most comprehensive resource I've ever worked up, but it's coming together (in a VERY rough-draft sense right now!), & my goal is to wrap it up before "Tiny" arrives.
Third, & most importantly: I've taken a break from blogging & largely from twitter & facebook too, because I realized it was becoming an unhealthy thing for me - even an idol on some levels. I realized I was becoming enamored when 'google analytics' told me how many hits the blog had, or that I felt a touch of disappointment if retweets or blog readers were down. In a small, stupid, but real way, some of my identity had become wrapped up in the number of people who glanced at my words! That's unhealthy. So I decided I needed a break from it, which happened to coincide with the first two reasons to go radio silent for awhile.

I'm picking back up for the fall. I'm sure there will be baby pics up here before too long, & I'm excited to share some of the "practical, everyday mission" stuff I've been working on; and there's some cool stuff I'm getting to be a part of this fall I'm excited to post soon. But my social media "fast" taught me a few things:

I don't need to waste time with analytics or numbers - I can feel free to write without impressing folks, or caring about reposts, or whatever, so I need to avoid those.
I feel less pressure going into the fall, to post a certain number of times per week or month.
Social media can be a good tool, but it can also be a huge waste of the time I formerly spent doing things that breathed life into me.

So I'm back online for the fall - occasionally. Thanks for reading, & I'd love your thoughts, comments, & advice on my stupid social media idolatry.

AND to fill the sadness & void left by fewer posts from me (kidding!), my pretty wife, who's a far better writer & has more to say than she gives herself credit for, has started a blog too. In her words, "I have no idea how regular this will be or even what I will really talk about it - but I would guess it will have to do with thoughts on [home] projects, God, Tiny, cooking, and my random thoughts."

Check out Jess' blog here.

7/4: a great night with drunk, high, homeless, & selfless folks

2010-07-05T10:55:00.005-05:00

I always love July 4. I love fireworks; I love good food and good music; I love that bit of nostalgia and patriotism that generally only happens that one day per year. And I certainly love taking that nostalgic moment & remembering the freedoms & benefits of living in this country, which I generally and sadly take for granted the rest of the year.

But yesterday was one of the best July 4 celebrations I've ever been a part of - it was a great picture of "loving our neighbors" and "communities on mission" - and I was so incredibly proud of The City Church people, as we got to bless somewhere between 250 & 300 people, from across our city, many of whom we'd never met before. This recap isn't written to brag or lift ourselves up - I simply to celebrate God moving in our lives & show some glimpses of how folks are carrying out the mission he's given us. Here are a few of the highlights of the night, among many others:

A few folks went to the shelters and brought some homeless friends, who were loved well by our people, as they mingled, ate, played games, and celebrated with us.
Steve, Kyan, & Stevie provided us with 150 lbs. of smoked brisket, pulled pork, & hot links - their generosity & talent was a great picture of God's lavishness, as we all got to feast on Steve's 5-time Texas state championship BBQ.
Selfless Christlikeness was happening all over: Zach Hardy coordinated a team to park & keep an eye on cars, & gave many hours of his night to personally sit a block away from the party to make sure vehicles were safe. Matthew Hudson spent the entire evening inside, away from the festivities, to make sure the food was completely stocked all night long. Justin Stevens and Tyler Turner gave up their entire afternoon to make sure everything was set up. And I'm sure there was much more...
We got to meet and feed the men of Fort Worth's fire station #1, who had a rough, busy, all-day shift because of firework mishaps. And we flagged down a police cruiser, explained what we were doing, and she notified all the other officers in the area, some of whom stopped by and grabbed food in between their calls - it was an honor to get to serve some of our public servants on one of their toughest days of the year.
Andrew Sullivan, Tyler Turner, Jayde Fulkerson, and Ragan Rhodes filled our evening with good music - really cool to see folks who are in different places in their journey, and hear songs that reflect their life, faith, questions, & truth. And it was great to see a community of musicians make great music together - especially with little to no rehearsal time!
Our Samuels Ave Building sits on a dividing line: the north is a largely lower-income Hispanic neighborhood; the south is some of the nicest new construction in Fort Worth's downtown renovation. Nearby there's a halfway house for teenage girls, which deals largely with pregnancy & drug addiction. Last night, neighbors from both sides of our building came together, met each other, laughed and ate together, and started relationships for the first time.

Many races came together - a true display of our city and that neighborhood; 1-year-olds to at least 84-year-olds shared the evening; at least one millionaire spent the party talking with several homeless folks; three or four folks there were completely drunk the entire night; another few were high if not more. And our people did an absolutely fantastic job of loving them all well.

We didn't have an alter call; we didn't get names and emails from everyone who showed up; we didn't hand out City Church flyers or even play "inherently-Christian music" (if there is such a thing). But our people imitated Jesus well, through personal interaction, loving on neighbors, and starting relationships. From playing with kids to serving food; from talking with people all night to getting peoples' numbers to invite over; from initiating conversations with passers-by to sharing food and drink, the entire night was an awesome picture of truly loving neighbors, seeking the welfare of our city, being a blessing to all kinds of folks, and of displaying a tiny glimpse of the love, care, and generosity that Jesus first displayed to us.

And of course, the party was capped off with the best fireworks in the metroplex - thanks to the Fort Worth Cats and the City of Fort Worth, there was a perfect ending to a very meaningful night.

A Look Into the Future.......

2010-06-30T09:25:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I marked the one-year anniversary of announcing The City Church's development, by reflecting on what we've seen God do in & through us over the past 365 days. Today I want to give a glimpse into the next logical question, "what's coming up next?" As our now-5-month-old church begins its first school year, and looks toward our official one-year anniversary in January, what's in the works for the next 365 days? Obviously, we don't know everything that God will do over the next year... But here's a preview of some of what's in the works for the upcoming months - in the same format as yesterday's look backward:

"And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching..."

Once we finish up the book of Philippians, we'll spend a few weeks discussing the Bible's teaching on "covenant" and local church "membership." Then we'll spend several weeks walking through the Jesus's first recorded sermon (often called The Sermon on the Mount), in Matthew 5-7: as we walk step-by-step through Jesus's words, we'll be asking at every turn, "what would ______ look like if 'thy kingdom truly comes' - every day, on earth, in my life?" Fill in the blank with "marriage," "blessings," "trust," "anger," "sin" ...the list goes on. That's where City Church discussions are headed, likely into next summer.
We're starting to push our folks toward more intentional discipleship: in smaller groups than Villages, with more intentional conversation, we want to see two or three men, and two or three women, pouring into each other, studying the Bible together, 'gospeling' each other, fighting sin with each other, and pushing each other more toward Jesus, in everyday contexts & situations.

"...and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayers."

In fall 2010, we're introducing "covenant membership" for the first time - in 'devoting ourselves to the fellowship,' we'll look at the biblical concept of 'committing our lives together' to fulfill God's mission in your Village and in our church family. We'll preach on this concept for a couple weeks; let you ask questions; and it will fill your Village conversations for those weeks, as you covenant together for the following year.
We'll continue Worship+Prayer nights some Sunday nights, but in being even more intentional with these gatherings, we're spreading them across the city: beginning this fall, W+P nights will see 2-4 Villages, who are in close proximity, come together and pray for each other and for your specific shared area of Fort Worth, where your Villages are all living on mission together.
And of course, we'll continue to eat together a lot, take communion together at All-Church Gatherings, and be in each others' lives more and more...

"And awe came upon every soul, and many signs and wonders were being done through the apostles."

We obviously can't plan the various things that God will do over the next year, nor can we say exactly how we'll stand in awe of him - but we trust and pray that God will do amazing things in our lives and in our city, as we press hard into him. Please spend time praying for this!

"And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need."

In conjunction with covenant membership, and the committing of your Village's life and mission together, we're going to ask Villages to have regular "family nights" - instead of looking at specific verses that day, and instead of focusing on mission that day, we're going to ask you to focus on each other: your lives, your sin, your sanctification, your gospel intentionality, your needs. You'll pray for each other, surround each other, pour into each other, and help each other as you meet each others' needs.
One of the biggest "need" we have as a church family right now is designated leadership: over the coming year, our church family will install our first Pastor-Elders and Deacons, who will carry out their biblical functions of teaching, overseeing, & shepherding the flock (pastor-elders), and of leading different ministries & helping fulfill the needs of the church family on the macro level (deacons, who will serve in ministries like KidCity, music, Villages, logistics & A/V).

"And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God..."

In addition to weekly Villages & being in each others' lives regularly, we'll continue hosting regular Sunday gatherings, as we "equip the saints for the work of ministry": All-Church Gatherings ("gathered worship" if you will), where we'll continue to celebrate God, his word, Jesus's death and resurrection, and what God is doing in our lives & our city. And we'll continue our Sundays of "scattered worship" too: Worship+Prayer around the city, and carrying out biblical commands of worship that today's Christian culture often ignores: love your neighbors, serve proverbial widows and orphans, seek the welfare of our city, carry out the ministry of reconciliation, etc.

"...having favor with all the people."

We obviously can't say we'll find favor with everyone we meet - but we're continuing to pursue relationships with not-yet-believing business leaders, neighbors, friends, classmates, and co-workers. And our prayer is that as we regularly serve and love our city well, and seek its welfare and redemption, that God will grant us favor and open peoples' eyes to himself.
This next year will see us continuing to focus on specific areas of the city: in addition to new Villages in the Weatherford, Samuels Ave, and Hulen areas, we'll ask people to move, invest their lives, and press toward our goal to "have at least one thriving Village in each of the 12 zip codes in and around downtown Fort Worth, at least one within walking distance of every living unit in downtown and the W. 7th St. corridor, and several on university/college campuses."

"And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved."

In addition to living on mission in Fort Worth, and in addition to investing in our first international missionaries, the coming year will see us seeking somewhere we can build relationships and regularly invest our lives internationally.
We will lay the groundwork for planting our first church, with a first 'church planting resident' beginning to work through the planting process.
Salvation is of God, and building God's church is God's job. Our job is to be faithful, to love people as people not projects, and to make disciples. We'll strive be faithful on our end, the coming year and beyond, and we'll beg God to build his kingdom and his church, in Fort Worth and beyond.

How do we get there?
If these last 365 days have showed us anything, it's that we're on an amazing, exciting journey, with new twists and unexpected turns at every point. But these are some of the things that in our minds, we'll see happen in our city and our church family over the coming year... But within God's sovereignty, it's up to you! As we said in our pre-launch gathering in December 2009, the first words of these verses above are "and they devoted themselves..." The "church" - the people of God - can only accomplish these and any great things if the "church" - the people of God - are devoted to God, to the gospel and identities we have in Christ, and to the mission and family. So I'll end today's post the same way I ended yesterday's:

We still beg for your prayers: we’re young & fragile, and unexpected things await us at every turn!
We still need your support: summer months are tough on a 5-month-old church!
We still need your involvement: some of you wanted to see “if this would really work” before you jumped in: friends, it is, and it’s amazing! It feels like the church we read about in the Bible, and long for. It feels like what we’re supposed to be doing in our world. And as this first year has proven, it’s been amazing, fruitful, and ridiculously fun.

I thank God, and I thank you, for a mind-blowing first year in The City Church’s journey.

The City Church - One Year Into the Journey

2010-06-29T09:31:00.002-05:00

One year ago today, I announced that “today we publicly begin the countdown to our next great endeavor; to a mission and passion to which we see ourselves committing the rest of our lives ... I'm ecstatic to announce the development of The City Church, a new church community coming to downtown Fort Worth and to neighborhoods across the city in 2010!”

And what a year it’s been! Our church family is only officially 5 months old now, but when I think back over the past 365 days – the preparation, the “core gathering” phase, and these first few months, I’m humbled, amazed, and find much to celebrate and be thankful to God for. I want to give you a small glimpse of some of that today, and I can only think of one good way to do that.

From day one, we've been asking the question, “what would it look like if Christians in the heart of Fort Worth LIVED AS the church, instead of just GOING TO a church?” The simple answer was that it would look “different.” So from the first clear picture of the church in Acts 2, here’s some of what we’ve seen God do in and through us, as we strive to be the kind of church we see in the Bible. This is a bit of a long post, but it's because we're getting to be part of some amazing things, and since many folks haven't seen it first-hand, I wanted to give as good a snapshot as possible.

“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching…”

Beginning in September 2009, an initial core group of started looking at God’s teaching on his body, the church, in a book called, Total Church. Each week we’d read and discuss, as we laid a foundation for The City Church.
As we launched in January 2010, our church family spent six weeks grounding ourselves in the one thing that sets believers apart from anyone else, as we walked through The Gospel-Centered Life.
Since then, we’re committed to walking through books of the Bible: as of today, we’re nearly half-way through Paul’s letter to the Philippians – we’re preaching it in every-other-week All-Church Gatherings [videos here], and discussing it between Gatherings, in Villages, in one-on-one conversation, and in normal life.

“…and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayers.”

We see the church as a family, living out our faith 24/7 – we are seeing City Church folk “do life together” far more than just our “official” gatherings: we’re in each others’ homes for dinner; we’re hanging out together; we’re doing everyday things together; we’re committed to each other.
Eating together is big in our church family. That seems simple, but sharing meals, cooking together, and gathering around a table together is where life happens and relationships are built. So every Village gathering is centered around a meal. And folks eat and drink together: with believers and those who aren’t yet, on a regular basis – in their homes, at restaurants and happy hours, after All-Church Gatherings, and more.
As one friend blogged about, one of the most meaningful things we do is sharing communion together at every All-Church Gathering. We do this as “families” – we ask parents to go get their kids from KidCity, or that Villages or friends serve each other and take communion together – it’s a family meal, and is meant to be shared and taken as a family.
Every six weeks or so we’ve hosted a different type of gathering, in which we simply sing, worship, and pray together – we pray for each other, for our needs, and especially for our city. City Church folks have “prayer-walked” their neighborhoods, which is a strategy missionaries use before they start ministering to a certain area.

“And awe came upon every soul, and many signs and wonders were being done through the apostles.”

We haven’t seen apostolic ‘signs and wonders’ per se, but our leadership has certainly been in awe of God, as we’ve seen his provision, of doors he’s opened for us, of opportunities he’s given us. Some of the things that have humbled us in God’s presence are shared in other bullet points through this post.
Several musicians have found The City Church to be their home, so we have a rotation of worship leaders in our Gatherings, who teach us that worship in song & awe have less to do with one person or one style, and more to do with our heart and motivation – it’s amazing to see 1Cor 12 lived out, as our many musicians serve together in drawing us toward God, giving their gifts to the body.

“And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.”
We’ve seen these verses lived out as people have sacrificed for the good of the whole, and we’ve been both on the receiving end and on the giving end of this concept:

Over the past year, we’re grateful for the generosity of the body of Christ across the country, as we received thousands of dollars in donations and support, from over 50 individuals from outside our church family (from as far away as Alaska), and at least 7 organizations, including 3 other churches. We wouldn’t have gotten off the ground without this financial generosity!
In addition to money, we’ve received advice and training from churches in the US & UK, discounted or donated supplies from various sources like Crossway Books and the BGCT, encouragement from our Acts29 Network, and more.
On the giving end, we’ve seen our people step up and rotate through ministering in KidCity during Sunday gatherings, open their homes to homeless folks, to sleep and eat and provide for their basic needs. We collected and gave over 50 sleeping bags to a local homeless center and over 120 toys to Cook Children’s Hospital. We’ve seen folks loan each other their cars, give each other money, babysit others’ kids, feed each other, serve each other well, and live in each others’ homes.

“And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bead in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God…”

The centerpiece of City Life is Villages: over the past year, one “core Village” has multiplied, and we now find ourselves birthing our 7th & 8th Villages, with probably two more coming soon. Villages are “communities on mission” – not merely Bible Studies, support groups, or social justice groups, but the people of God, living out their faith, and living out the mission of God, 24-7 in their neighborhoods, workplaces, schools, and in everyday life. This is who the early church was, as they gathered regularly in homes across their city.
As far as “attending the temple” goes, Four Day Weekend Theater is a great, public space to meet every other Sunday, in the heart of our city. The ‘temple’ in early Christianity wasn’t a ‘church building’ – it was borrowed public space, just like our rented theater! The Four Day folks have been great and accommodating and generous, and we are honored to use their space every other Sunday at 6pm as we gather all the Villages together to praise God, and to celebrate God’s word, Jesus’ death and resurrection, and City Life.

“…having favor with all the people."

God seems to be giving us favor with folks across Fort Worth, and for that, we’re humble and grateful. We’re learning about our city through ongoing conversation with folks who God puts in our path, like the Volunteer Center of North Texas, a local fire marshal, local government and neighborhood associations, local business leaders, and folks at Cook Children’s Hospital and Day Resource Center for the homeless community - as well as favor with the homeless community itself! We’ve seen favor with neighbors, co-workers, classmates, and friends. These relationships have proven invaluable, as we engage our city and folks who don’t believe in Jesus, seeking to carry out God’s commission to make disciples.
Another downtown church showed us favor as they realized their church’s life was complete, and they donated their land and facility to us. Two months into being a church, we had a free building! It’s not exactly our desire and we’re trying to sell it, but we’re stewarding it well while it’s ours, using it for gatherings, meetings, classes, band practices, and a July 4th Fiesta - you should come!

“And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”

Just in the past five months, we’ve seen folks trust Christ, at least five baptisms (including one homeless guy!), and several conversations begun with not-yet-believers, which are producing fruit.
We’re seeing folks, from age 16 to 60+, get excited about what we’re doing and plug into church life, many of whom were far from God and far from his church, who are now growing and thriving and wanting to see Villages in their neighborhoods.
Our initial core group of 20 tentative folks sitting in Matt & Angie Hudson's loft wondering about the idea of 'being the church' has turned into 100 on our online network, living out that vision.

These are just a few glimpses of what we’ve seen God do in us over the past year. In addition to all this, we have pastor-elder and deacon candidates; we're working toward membership; we are learning a rhythm of regular discipleship, family, and mission together. It's been a full, messy, grace- and mercy-filled year for sure!

But more important than some of that, we're hearing stories and seeing lives changed: people are making disciples of co-workers and classmates; City folks are spending time with neighbors; we're investing in our parts of the city. We're getting into each others' lives; we're asking each other tough questions, pushing each other toward biblical truth and life, and seeing each other become more like Jesus. And most importantly, we're learning what it means to live our lives 100% for the gospel. Among all the things that excite me over the past 365 days; of all the stories we're getting to hear, that's the one I get most fired up about; that's the one I still beg God for, on behalf of our church family. I hope you do too.

We wouldn’t be here without many of you. Your prayers, encouragement, financial support, help, curiosity, and involvement were much needed over this past year – honestly, most of that is still much-needed!

Where Do We Go From Here?
Tomorrow I’ll post a look at a few things in the works for the next 365 days – at least, the little bit we know, as we ride this wave God has us on!

We still beg for your prayers: we’re young & fragile, and unexpected things await us at every turn!
We still need your support: summer months are tough on a 5-month-old church!
We still need your involvement: some of you wanted to see “if this would really work” before you jumped in: friends, it is, and it’s amazing! It feels like the church we read about in the Bible, and long for. It feels like what we’re supposed to be doing in our world. And as this first year has proven, it’s been amazing, fruitful, and ridiculously fun.

I thank God, and I thank you, for a mind-blowing first year in The City Church’s journey.

Tiny's Tiny Face

2010-06-28T17:28:00.001-05:00

Before today, we've had two sonograms since getting pregnant. The first was the normal "6-to-8-weeks-in" little black blob that basically says "yup, you've got something in there." At the second - the 20-week one - we learned that God was answering our prayers that Tiny will be a feisty little one, as she slyly played games with the sonographer, hiding her face at every turn. Twenty minutes & 15 picture print-outs, and no face.

So today was a big day for us: we got to see our daugher's face for the first time!

Yes, I know that most sonogram pictures look the same. Yes, I know that they're not the best quality, & sometimes look a little creepy. But this is our first kiddo; our little daughter; and some of you have asked - so here you go, world: Here's Tiny Connelly! As Jess writes, "she was quite the character for the sonogram... opened her eyes (photo 2), opened her mouth, and even had a grin (photo 4 - but you can only see part of it since her cord is in the way)." Enjoy - and if you will, please pray for Jess & Tiny during these final eight weeks or so!

Echoes of the Gospel in the Sick Bed, 2

2010-06-18T09:20:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I started listing little reminders of God's truth that he showed me, as I was wiped out sick most of last week... Here are a few more.

I’m not in charge: This is one of the continual lessons God has been keeping before me recently, likely because I like to be in control! But this sickness came on the tail end of a whirlwind month: grading TCU finals and wrapping up the spring semester, selling our home, three trips, a holiday, getting settled into our new home, plus all the normal, everyday stuff: taking care of a pregnant wife, work, and so forth. I felt like I was barely able to keep my head above water, and that nothing in my world was in control. Then BAM! I’m in bed for a week. And guess what? Nothing fell apart. Our church family didn’t dissolve. The world kept turning. Maybe you don’t struggle with being in control, but I certainly do. And this week was a good lesson for me: I don’t trust God’s control in my life, so he puts things in my life to remind me how “NOT in control I am”: it’s his job to run the universe; not my job to run my little world.
I can – and must! – rest: One of the outflows of being in charge is resting very rarely. I know “Sabbath” was instituted by God, who is in charge, and by resting and Sabbathing, I reflect my acknowledgement of his control. I’m just not good at it. Maybe it’s a ‘busyness’ idol, or maybe it’s just simply not knowing how to ‘turn off’ my brain at times. Either way I thank God for the forced rest last week, and spent time each day repenting of my lack of rest – both my physical rest and my resting in his sovereign goodness. I’m committing to find a better balance over the rest of the summer.
God is good. Not only is God sovereign; God is good. nd in his goodness, he works all things according to his will. All things. That means my minor setback. It also means this non-self-initiated rest. It also means the event I had to cancel on. It also means…. EVERYTHING! So my prayer is that no matter the circumstance is, “whatever my lot, God has taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul”
My mind does not naturally wander to “the things of God.” Since I don’t have a ton of ‘down time,’ it was convicting that when I did, my thought life didn’t naturally turn toward God. I don’t think it went anywhere inherently dark or anti-God either, but I found myself wanting mindless distractions like TV or ESPN or Twitter, rather than beneficial things that would spur my affections toward God. I realized how lazy my thought life has become, and now I have things to work on.
I have much to be thankful for: My sickness only lasted four days (give or take – even today, on day 8, my throat is killing me). I thank God for healing, for freedom, for an ability to enjoy the sun and other people, for the everyday life that I lost, ever so temporarily. So now that God has seen fit to restore me to health, what will I do to reflect my trust in him, my desire for him, my life for him?

What did I miss? What has God taught you in times when you’ve been “less than healthy?”

Echoes of the Gospel in the Sick Bed, 1

2010-06-17T10:15:00.002-05:00

In trying to “be joyful in all circumstances,” I’m continually learning - or “trying to learn” is more accurate - to look for ways that God reminds me of his gospel and his truths, no matter what I’m going through. As I crashed every mid-afternoon for four days last week with 101-103-degree fever and what ended up being “probably strep throat” according to my doctor, I tried to see different echoes of the gospel in the midst of sickness.

For the record, I know a four-day sickness is nothing compared to some folks, but I think there are things God teaches us no matter the severity of our condition. So I hope this applies across the board. Also for the record, I didn’t lay there 24/7, pondering these deeper, holier things. I also read a little, wrote some, slept a lot, whined even more, and watched all of Arrested Development, season 3. Good, less-than-appropriate show. But none of that’s nearly as pious as asking God what he’s teaching me!

So here are a few things God reminded me of. I hope this encourages you to think on the gospel, even next time you’re sick:

I’m broken: generally in good health, I realize how much I can become self-sufficient, self-reliant, and assume that I’m the king of my little universe. That’s pride. It’s beneficial and humbling to have a physical reminder of my depravity; of my inherent brokenness. To realize that as much as I think I’m good enough to rule my own world, some microscopic bug can take me out for five days straight. I’m simply, physically, spiritually, and in all ways, broken.
I can’t fix myself. Equally-destructive to my pride as the knowledge of my brokenness is the reminder that, as frustrating as it might be, I can’t fix myself. I slept a lot. I ate the obligatory chicken noodle soup. I even (ridiculously) “willed myself to be better” and left my home for lunches with folks. This did wonders for me for about 15 minutes, after which point I began fading fast and ended up back in bed an hour later, completely exhausted and with a higher fever. I’m broken and I can’t fix myself: another great reminder of a spiritual reality.
I need something outside myself to make me whole again. Is this getting too cheesy for you? Seriously though, after four days of self-attempted futility, all it took was one trip to the doctor and one case of mammoth white pills. Twenty-four hours later, I’m well on my way to recovery. If that’s not a picture of the gospel in the midst of sickness, and of my futile attempts at redemption vs. God’s ease, I don’t know what is.
Healing comes. Despite myself, and my efforts, there is restoration - a tiny glimpse of the total, full, & eternal restoration that will also come to a broken body. But instead of thanking God for that healing, I can so quickly jump back into "go mode," forgetting the grace and mercy of allowing this round of healing to come at all. One day even that ungratefulness will be healed too!

Thoughts so far? More coming tomorrow...

I Need Your "Missional" Questions...

2010-06-16T12:35:00.002-05:00

Since I’m not teaching at TCU this summer, I’m trying to use some of that time for the benefit of our church family and a few others I've recently interacted with.

Specifically, I’ve been asked several times recently what it looks like – day-to-day, hands-on, & practically – to live on mission (practices, habits, lifestyle, etc). I realize this is probably a question across the board as we try to "live on mission" and "be the church," so I’m trying to do some writing this summer to help put thoughts into a coherant, helpful answer for our body.

I need your help. To ensure the best tool for us corporately, and for you individually, I need to know how to best shape it:

What questions you have about missional living?
What would be helpful for you to see/know, as you try to live on mission to neighbors, co-workers, classmates, friends, etc?
What’s hard about this mindset/lifestyle?
Etc…..

No question/thought is off-limits; this is a largely-new concept for many of us, and I'm not sure what questions are even rolling around in your mind, which need answers. That’s why I’m trying to put this resource together! Thanks for your questions & input, & for helping make this a tool that benefits our church, your life, and God's mission!

I Like Fort Worth More than Denver

2010-05-27T23:57:00.001-05:00

I absolutely love Colorado. At least three times in my life I've considered moving to Denver. I applied to a college (maybe two?) in the Centennial State, it was one of our location options for starting a church, and for grad school I even had a class schedule set before realizing I was supposed to be in Dallas. So being up here for a few days this week was a true joy.

But, I realized something strange this week - for several reasons, I love Fort Worth more than Denver. I didn't think I'd ever say that, and in many ways it surprised me. I mean, yes, the mountains are a mere few minutes away (& I quite enjoyed an afternoon hike on Tuesday). Yes, the high was in the upper 70's and I got to work outside between conference sessions. And yes, there are very many other really cool things about Denver. But here a few things I realized this week, that remind me why I love my city more than the one I'm currently in:

In Fort Worth, it doesn't cost $12 to park downtown for an hour.
Even with the many roads currently closed, traffic is far worse in Denver.
In many parts of Denver, you can't even see the mountains - especially because of the smog.
Cost of living - whoa.
The current renewal/revitalization of Fort Worth's downtown.
REAL Mexican food (or, probably better said, REAL Tex-Mex. But still...)
The people - in general, plus family, friends, etc.
I quite enjoyed my hike this week, but the altitude got to me fairly quickly - Denver makes me feel old and sore.
Fort Worth is more laid-back & still has a small-town feel, but is still close enough to Dallas for big events, etc. if needed.
UPDATED: How could I forget the longhorns?!

But the #1 reason I love Fort Worth is because after talking with a few folks in Denver this week, Denver apparently "loses it's luster" if you live here. Folks here take the amazingness of Colorado for granted. The mountains, nature, beauty, weather, and other awesome things become commonplace. So as a friend told me a few years ago, "maybe Colorado will always be a place of retreat, rest, and fun for you, while Fort Worth will always remain your home."

So be it - I don't want Colorado to become commonplace and lose it's Colorado-ness that it currently have in my mind. Colorado will always be "that place" for me. But, as this week has shown, in several reasons on top of the ones above, I love Fort Worth. I love living there. I love the opportunity there. And I love what we're getting to see happen as our city experiences all kinds of renewal.

Most random post ever? Maybe, but I'm excited to wrap up stuff here tomorrow & jump on a plane to get back to Cowtown!

What are some reasons you love our city? Or whatever city you live in?

God + Suffering, 4: Suffering Well

2010-05-24T10:19:00.000-05:00

The previous post on suffering ended with this thought:

The Christian life isn't about being free from suffering; it's about finding God in the midst of your suffering, and allowing God to use your suffering for his purpose - to advance the gospel in your life in and in others. In fact, think about this: if through the Bible and history, folks who have the most impact for Jesus have suffered most, and if you're not suffering, what does that say about you?

In Philippians 1:12-18, Paul's suffering allows the entire imperial guard - numbering 9000 men - to know that his suffering is for Jesus. They saw how he lived, prayed, preached, and wrote. Other prisoners were encouraged. And even though some folks wanted to increase Paul's suffering, Paul responds, "What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice." Paul's suffering served to advance the gospel.

In the first post of this blog series, I mentioned the responses of Job, Joseph, and Jesus to suffering - their suffering served to advance the gospel. I also mentioned my friend Tyler who used a broken back to share the gospel, and a college student whose battle with sin was used by God to encourage a high schooler.

In 2 Corinthians 4, Paul speaks of suffering, but also of finding hope in the midst of it: "We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh."

And at a friend's party earlier this month, celebrating her one-year remission of Stage-3 cancer, one of the pages she had printed out from her journal contained this poem:

What Cancer Cannot Do:
It cannot cripple Love; it cannot shatter Hope
It cannot corrode Faith; it cannot destroy Peace
It cannot kill Friendship; it cannot suppress Memories
It cannot silence Courage; it cannot invade the Soul
It cannot steal Eternal Life

These people suffered well, and saw God work in the midst of their suffering. God is sovereign and good, and suffering is promised. And that paradox exists for his purposes, for his glory, and for our joy.

Thoughts? Comments? Post below.

More resources on suffering well:

Below is a list of really solid resources, from folks who have suffered/are suffering well, to encourage you to see how God is advancing his gospel, even in the midst of your hardest times. There are certainly more resources, but these are good ones to start with.

Suffering & the Sovereignty of God - free eBook by Justin Taylor & John Piper
John Piper on Suffering - from 25-year sermon archive
The Misery of Job & the Mercy of God - free eBook by John Piper
Suffering & Having a Christian Worldview - article by Joni Erickson Tada
Theology of Suffering - video clip by Joni Erickson Tada
How we can Image God by Suffering - article by Mark Driscoll
The Suffering Letters of C.H. Spurgeon - book by Spurgeon
The Problem of Pain - free Google Book by C.S. Lewis
A Grief Observed - book by C.S. Lewis
The Problem of Evil & Suffering - audio clip from Tim Keller
Suffering - A personal story - video clip from David Powlison
14 Weeks of Video Updates - Matt & Lauren Chandler, suffering well & encouraing others (scroll for older vids)

I pray that some of these are beneficial for you, as you suffer well and develop a strong theology of suffering, for the glory of God.

God + Suffering, 3: How do I respond to suffering?

2010-05-22T09:54:00.001-05:00

My friend Tyler took his wife on a quick ski weekend in January of this year. Tyler's an adventurous, athletic guy, and a great skier. But for whatever reason, on this trip he lost control, went headfirst into a ski lift pole, flipped, landed on his back on a huge metal breaker box, and broke his back and his collarbone. On a three-hour ambulance ride to the nearest available emergency room in El Paso, lying on his broken back over bumpy roads, with his broken arm hanging by his side, he ended up talking with the medic about his faith. And before he got out at the hospital, Tyler told the medic, "Even if I never get to walk again, it will be totally worth it because I got to share my faith with you."

Tyler, in immense pain and suffering, saw the purposes of God and responded to suffering well. In Philippians 1:12-18, the apostle Paul, who experienced immense pain and suffering throughout his life, saw the purposes of God and responded to suffering well. Many times, we don't. In fact, here are a few ways we typically respond to suffering:

You give up on God: maybe you think, “if he were sovereign & good, suffering wouldn’t exist." Then, when we suffer, we write God off and walk away from him. If this is you, I'm honored that you're reading this, but doesn't that just lead a purposeless chaos of life? If there's no God, then your suffering has no possibility of having any meaning or greater good! There's no comfort in that; only emptiness and yearning. If you believe this, you suffer for nothing.
You hang on to God, but be filled w/ bitterness/rage: maybe you still believe in God, but because of the hardship you deal with, you hate him. Or you hate other people. Friend, just because something isn't going the way you want, doesn't mean it's not the best thing for you! What if God is doing something bigger in your life, that you just don't realize yet? Are you really seeking God's purposes in your suffering, or are you too focused on yourself, your feelings, and what you think is right? I would beg you to look outside your bitter heart and ask what God's purposes might be.
You believe God is sovereign and good, but you have no idea why you're suffering: this isn't a fun place to be, but it is an OK one - the waiting itself might be part of your suffering. It might be years before God reveals his purposes to you, if he ever does. Pray and yearn and long for God to reveal his purpose for your suffering, but persevere, stand strong, trust God, and suffer well until he does.

Some folks, even deceived and deceitful folks in Christian circles, teach that if you’re "a good Christian," there will be no more suffering. In this theory, if you do the right things, go to the right place, and give the right amount of money, you'll be liberated from any pain or trail - that's a false, heretical view of Christianity! That's a "candy machine" view of God - if you put in the right amount of change, you'll get your Snickers, and if you don't, you have every right to be angry at him. If that were true, why was every apostle martyred? Why were some of the most godly men and women in early Christianity burned at the stake? Why is "suffering for Christ" mentioned in nearly every book in the New Testament?

So how do you respond well to suffering?

The Christian life isn't about being free from suffering; it's about finding God in the midst of your suffering, and allowing God to use your suffering for his purpose - to advance the gospel in your life in and in others. In fact, think about this: if through the Bible and history, folks who have the most impact for Jesus have suffered most, and if you're not suffering, what does that say about you?

Thoughts? Comments? Post below.

Next post: wrap up & resources on suffering well

God + Suffering, 2: Why Do I Suffer?

2010-05-20T09:15:00.001-05:00

In my previous post, we started looking at the relationships between God & suffering, seen in Biblical verses like Philippians 1:12-18. The Bible promises that God is both sovereign and good, and also that suffering is promised to His people. If that's true, then God has a purpose in our suffering.

Why might God allow me to suffer?

There are several reasons God might allow us to suffer - probably way more than we can ever realize or understand (Rom 11:33-34 - "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! 'For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?'..."). But here are some of the more common ways that God seems to use suffering for his purposes:

To discipline you: not "to punish you," as if you sinned one too many times, or offended God in such a great way that he responds in anger and sends calamity to your life. The wages of sin isn't suffering; it's death (Rom 3:23) - for the Christian, that debt has been paid and God doesn't "double-punish" us for our sin! But, as a loving Father, God might use pain, trial, and suffering, to discipline us, his children: in ways we might never know, he might protect us, refine us, or guide us, using suffering to lovingly direct us. That's good discipline, right parents?
To equip you for future ministry: God could use suffering to prepare you for something later in your life - specifically, he could be using your suffering to prepare you to be better used for his purposes. We don't like this thought, because well, we're selfish! We don't like that God might make US suffer, to benefit others or to benefit his kingdom! I knew a college guy who, as a child, had been molested by an older man - this produced emotional and spiritual turmoil for him, as he daily battled homosexuality and same-sex attraction. So many times he would ask me, "why?" After he graduated and began working with a church's youth group, he called me one day, nearly in tears. A high schooler he had begun working with had, as a child, been molested by an older man, and this student now battled homosexuality and same-sex attraction. After my friend heard this and was able to encourage the student, the student said "I didn't have anyone else to turn to, who understands - thank you." My friend's words to me? "I think I finally might understand why God allowed this to happen to me."
To encourage others: An equally-unpopular, equally-others-focused reason as the previous one, others might be encouraged in your suffering. But could God, in his sovereign goodness, allow you to suffer for the benefit of others? He did with Paul. Philippians 1:14 - "And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear." Even Paul's Philippian readers are encouraged as they see him suffering well, dying to himself and pursuing God's purposes in suffering. Would you suffer for the benefit of others?
To give you a platform for sharing the gospel: When we suffer well, people notice. And this might be God's way of putting opportunities in our lives to simply share the gospel. In John 9, Jesus is asked why a blind man suffers - "who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" (John 9:2). Jesus' answer shocks his listeners: "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him" (9:3) - and then Jesus healed him and proclaimed the gospel. John Piper suffered well and publicly, and people noticed and responded, and the gospel was advanced; Matt Chandler is suffering well and publicly, and people are noticing and responding, and the gospel is being advanced. Many others have done so too, and God has worked in them for his purposes.

The apostle Paul, in prison and awaiting execution, suffered well, and people noticed and responded, and the gospel was advanced: Philippians 1:12-14 - "I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear."

The key to all this, though, is our mindset, worldview, and goals - how do we respond when we see suffering in our lives? That's where the next post takes us.

Thoughts? Comments? Post below.

God + Suffering, 1

2010-05-18T09:14:00.003-05:00

Everyone suffers. We have suffered, we are suffering, we will suffer. For folks who aren't followers of Christ, you suffer simply because we live in a broken, sinful, hurting world. For folks who are Christians, we suffer because we live in a broken, sinful, hurting world, PLUS the Bible promises that we'll suffer for Christ! Our City Church family is a few weeks in, walking through Philippians - this week we hit the tough topic of suffering, in Philippians 1:12-18. The question Paul deals with in these verses is "How do you suffer well?"

God is both sovereign and good, and yet suffering is promised to His people.

Both of these promises run throughout the whole Bible: God's sovereign goodness is seen from Genesis to Revelation. And at the same time, every book in the New Testament, except for one, speaks of Christian suffering. These seemingly opposite ideas are somehow intertwined in God's great plan. Of all people, Paul - the author of Philippians - knew this paradox well: much of the doctrine we read about God's sovereign goodness was developed by Paul(!), and yet Paul arguably suffered more than any other Christian (see 2 Corinthians 4:8-11; 11:23-28; 12:7-9 for a taste of his various sufferings).

Likewise, in Genesis 30-50, Joseph suffered - but he suffered well, trusting God's sovereign goodness (Genesis 50:1 - "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good"). In the book of Job, Job suffered - but he suffered well, trusting God's sovereign goodness (Job 1:21 - "naked I came from my mother's womb; naked I shall return. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord"). And of course Jesus suffered - but he suffered well, and the glorious grace of God was displayed through his suffering (Heb 12:2 - "for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.").

Paul understood this truth, after all his suffering, while chained to a guard in prison. Why did Paul suffer? Philippians 1:12: "I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel..." (italics added). We'll look at this more in the next post, but God had a sovereign, good purpose in Paul's suffering, and he has one for our suffering too.

What do you think? What's hard about this truth? Post thoughts & comments below.

Next Posts: Why might God allow me to suffer? How do I suffer well?

The City Church Begins Meeting Every Sunday (kind of...)

2010-04-15T15:52:00.000-05:00

As The City Church walks through Paul's Letter to the Philippians beginning April 18, we are excited to let you know that we're increasing the time our entire church spends together as a larger, unified church body. BUT, we're doing so in a unique way.

From our launch date in January 2010, All-Church Gatherings have been every other Sunday evening, for two reasons:

We wanted to protect Villages in their infant days; to make sure that they become more than "Bible studies." We want our Villages to become true communities on mission in our city, where our church family lives out our gospel identities together.
We wanted to make sure our church family sees Villages as the center of "City Life," rather than centering on the Sunday gathered event.

To be candid, we don't think our body as a whole is fully grasping that dual vision for Villages yet. So to increase All-Church Gatherings would be counter-productive, and increase our chances of becoming a Sunday-event-focused church body even more.

At the same time, we realize the need to build unity, community, and vision across Village boundaries and throughout our entire church family. So as we wrap up our first spring season and enter the hot months in Texas, we've developed a schedule that will increase all-church time together, while at the same time help emphasize our gospel identities as we live them out as a family: starting April 18, we're doing something every Sunday night, but not the same thing every Sunday night! Here's the plan:

All-Church Gatherings (every other week): ACG's are “family celebrations” in The City Church: we celebrate God through song, prayer, and creed; we celebrate God’s word through preaching; we celebrate Christ’s finished work through communion; and we celebrate God’s work in our church family through sharing what he’s doing in our lives. We'll be walking through Philippians through the summer, so ACG's will essentially function in the same way you're used to.
Living Our Idneities Together (the other "every other week's"): On the Sundays between All-Church Gatherings, we're doing different things to help us realize and live our our gospel identities together: we are Worshippers, we are Family, and we are Missionaries, so our options will rotate between these identities. Here are some of the things you can expect on these evenings:
- Worship+Prayer Nights: We'll meet in various locations around town, to continually remind us of our mission: because we exist for the glory of God, we worship. And because we exist for the good of Fort Worth, we pray for different parts of our city, on prayer walks/prayer drives. For anyone who's interested, we'll eat dinner together after we wrap up.
- SERVE Weeks: SERVE Weeks have already been carved into The City Church's schedule, where we live as Missionaries to our neighborhoods and city by taking a break from our normal ACG/Village rhythm and SERVE together. We'll continue doing this throughout the spring and summer
- Love Your Neighbors: A few times over the coming months, we're simply carving time into our Sunday night schedule for you to pair up within your Village and have neighbors over for dinner. No agenda; no program; just simply have your neighbors in your home, get to know them, share good food and conversation with them, serve them, and love them.

So there's the plan! We've heard a lot of good feedback, and we encourage you to see every week's option as a vital, necessary part of living our our church's mission and identities.

>> See our calendar to make sure you know what's coming up; see you on Sunday nights!

Church Planting & Family Planting

2010-04-14T00:03:00.001-05:00

Acts29 was kind enough to publish a post I wrote on leading my family well, as part of "family month" on the network blog. Click the picture to read it on a29's website - hope you enjoy!

Philippians: Fight For Joy

2010-04-08T15:52:00.003-05:00

So I've apparently not been all that good at keeping up with regular blog posts these past few months. Hmmmm... I can say I'll try to get better, but do you believe me?! This post is a bit of an update on where we've been & where we're going in our church family.

Easter was a great day in The City Church: our first-ever morning service, at our newly-inherited-and-fixed-up Samuels Ave Building blew our minds, as so many new faces poured in - from the neighborhood and from around the city - that we had to bring in stacks of extra chairs. Three times!

And in both our morning and evening Easter gatherings, we talked about grace from Eph 2:1-10: how because of the gospel, we don't have to prove ourselves, to each other, to ourselves, or to God. We talked about grace being good news for not-yet-believers because it means we can't do anything to earn God's love (Eph 2:1-5). We talked about grace being good news for believers because it means we don't have to pay God back (Eph 2:6-7). And we talked about the good works God prepared beforehand for us to do, not paying him back for grace, but paying it forward in grateful response, showing that same grace to folks in many different circumstances (Eph 2:8-10). Videos from our Gospel-Centered Life discussions will be posted soon, but it was a great last Sunday on that theme.

But where do we go as a church family, after talking for two months about being centered on the gospel? There's one outstanding place I know, to dwell on the all-surpassing joy that results from a life that's centered on the cross: our City Church family is headed into Philippians for the next several months. From The City Church's News/Blog:

Where do you find joy? When's the last time you really experienced it? Where does true joy come from?
These are the types of questions the Apostle Paul asks, writing from the depths of prison as he reflects on his own life and looks toward his impending death. Philippians is one of the last letters written by Paul, to his friends in Philippi, and his constant message is clear, in every point of this biblical book: "friends, fight for joy."
Fight for joy, in your relationships with each other - because as we all know, relationships can sour or become broken. Fight for joy, in whatever circumstance - because we've all found ourselves in seemingly-joyless moments. Fight for joy in the day-to-day life - because it's all to easy to be caught into a joyless whirlpool of monotony. Fight for joy, even in the sure face of death - which at the time of Paul's writing, was all too real for him. In every paragraph; in every chapter; in all of life, Paul begs his readers to fight for joy.

But where do we find joy in some of these joyless circumstances? How do we fight for it when everything seems to drive us away from it? How can we push each other toward it? These are some of the questions we're asking in The City Church, in weekly Villages and every-other-weekly All-Church Gatherings, as we spend a few months walking together through Paul's letter to the Philiippians. We're pushing and exhorting each other in challenging, biblical, and practical ways, to let true, God-centered joy be the theme of our life. So that no matter what we face; no matter what chains, prison, or circumstance we find ourselves, we will know how to truly win the fight for joy.
We'd be honored if you join us Check the calendar for All-Church Gathering dates, and click here to find a Village.

Want Me To Teach Your Teens About Sex? [& other spring speaking stuff]

2010-03-12T23:30:00.003-06:00

I'm honored to be do a few speaking events during Spring 2010, and would love your prayers for them as I prepare. Of course these are in addition to The City Church's regular gatherings and Foundations class [The City Church's info here], but please pray that God uses me as his mouthpiece in these venues; to speak his words well and to glorify him and display him in meaningful ways to the various individuals in the audience.

{AMPLIFY} WEEKEND - Fri-Sat, Apr 9-10
LakeWay Baptist Church, The Colony, TX

I'll be teaching 100 teenagers about God's design for sex, all things sexual, and the biblical standard of purity. Sex is a topic that is largely ignored by the church, even though every 6th-grader knows about it. It's taboo to discuss in religious circles, but freely gossiped about in locker rooms, hallways, at sleepovers. The church needs to have frank, honest, mature conversation with students about sexual things, to share with them a God-centered, gospel-informed view of it.

The organizers are opening registration to any teens who want to go. If you have teens or know teens, this is a great weekend experience with frank, honest conversation about one of the biggest topics in their world. Sign up here, or contact the organizers with questions here.

THE ROOTED CHURCH - Sun, Apr 11
Meeting at College Avenue Baptist Church, 9am

I'm honored to serve a fellow local Acts 29 church, who also has a heart for living on mission to our great city of Fort Worth. I'm preaching at The Rooted Church's weekly service Sunday, April 11, on our true identity in Christ. Even though they're only a year ahead of The City Church, the pastors and congregation of The Rooted has been very generous and welcoming to our church family - I'd love to see you there! Map/directions here.

reCREATE - Fri, Apr 16 & C.I.A. SPRING SHOW - Sat, Apr 17
Fri - The City Church's Samuels Ave Building, 6:30pm
Sat - McLean Middle School, 7:30pm

I'm technically "emcee-ing" Friday night and reading scripture for this college dance troupe's annual show on Saturday, but mostly I'm posting these two events because they're great celebrations of culture, art, music, and response to God's goodness, which several friends and City Folk are involved with. Great times to be sure; you should be at both! reCREATE info here; C.I.A. info here.

There are a few more things coming up which I'll post soon, but thanks a ton for your prayers!

:: The Death of Well-Wasted Time? ::

2010-03-10T19:57:00.001-06:00

So, today I was sitting outside at a local burrito joint, on the best-weather day Fort Worth has seen so far in 2010, waiting on lunch with a friend. He had told me he would be late, so as I waited, I did the logical, normal thing that many of us do: pulled out my phone, checked my email, returned and deleted messages and calls; you know, the normal stuff.

But that didn't used to be normal for me. In fact, as my friend pulled in 15 minutes later, I found myself a little sad and frustrated at the way I had used my quarter-hour. I tried to console myself by reminding myself that I loathe wasted time (which I do), and to tell myself that I should be glad that I used that time well; I accomplished something. But as I tried to convince myself of those things, I found myself thinking, "before I had a phone I could check my email on, what might I have done?" Here's what I came up with:

Enjoyed being outside: seriously, it was sunny, right at 70 degrees with a little breeze, and due to the morning rain, the colors of the sky, clouds, trees, and grass were experiencing that post-drench vibrancy. Sadly, I didn't realize this until as I was leaving after lunch.
People-watching: not in a creepy way, but this was one of my favorite pre-phone activities.
Helped someone: I remember sitting in the same spot last summer, and someone was having trouble navigating a huge burrito, chips, drink, + door to get to the outdoor seating. Being a generally nice guy, I got up and helped them with the door. Today, I would have had no idea if anyone even came through that same door, because my eyes and mind were on a tiny screen.
"Be still and know that I am God": I am pretty bad at the whole "stillness" thing. But I used to look at these little moments as reminders and opportunities to stop. To rest. To pray. To breathe. To let God be God and to enjoy doing nothing but being in his presence.

Now, I'm not blaming anyone; no one forced me to converse with others via my thumbs. Maybe I'm just venting at my lack of self-discipline. But bottom line is this: there are plenty of ridiculous ways to waste time. There's a lot of life that goes down the drain in pointless, useless, completely non-redeeming ways and activities. But as much as I hate wasting time, I think there is a way to waste time well. To use those spare moments between meetings, meals, calls, and busyness as quick, revitalizing gifts throughout the day. To pause and enjoy life - or, as the botanists would remind us, to stop and smell the roses. To remind ourselves that we're not in charge, and that everything will be fine. To have tiny glimpses of Sabbath rest amidst all the stuff we always have to do.

Today I realized that I'd killed one of those moments. I'm not sure how many others I've killed - probably many - but that one died today. And given the number of heads I see bowed to technology, in cars, in restaurants, and in the place of live conversations with spouses in coffee shop booths, it certainly seems that we're collectively killing the time we formerly wasted well. What lives in its place? Emails, voicemails, tweets, texts, notes, facebook messages and wallposts and "likes," app's for that, silly games, and yes, blogs.

So stop reading this, shut down your laptop or lock your phone, and go away. Go outside. Stop, breathe, sit and enjoy life. Reflect on the goodness and greatness of God. And waste some time well today.

:: Lent & Giving Things Up, part 4 ::

2010-02-19T08:34:00.001-06:00

This week I've been posting on Lent - the last post looked at many reasons NOT to give things up for this season. So what is the right reason to give up something for Lent?

In a simple answer, when we give up (completely or partially) food, beverage, or something else we use or take part in regularly – or if we add something new (like a daily time of prayer, rising early to journal during the sunrise, etc) – it’s a shock to our system, routine, and our schedule. As with any fast, the purpose is to remove something from our lives, in a private (meaning, “between you and God”) declaration that God satisfies you more than “that thing” does; when you add something “Godward” to your life, it’s saying the same thing: my time, money, effort, etc. is better used pursuing “first the kingdom of God” than whatever else I could be doing (sleeping, watching TV, etc). By giving something up or adding something to your routine for multiple weeks, it also hopefully serves as a constant reminder of God’s sufficiency, and you can use the time, money, effort, etc. formerly devoted to the object you gave up, instead giving that time, money, effort, etc. to God and his purposes.

When we find ourselves moving toward whatever we gave up, we stop and remember that we gave it up, and symbolically, it serves to turn our hearts toward the LORD. For example, if I were to give up my favorite beverage, Diet Cherry Coke, for Lent, then at about 12:30pm on any given day I haven’t had my first DCC, I will begin to get a caffeine headache (because I confess to you an unhealthy reliance on this delicious, Nutri-sweet-filled drink!). And when I get this headache, the point is that instead of quenching it by walking to the fridge, it helps me pause and reflect on the glory of God and his sufficiency and providence (which exponentially surpasses this 12-ounce beverage!), His suffering, death, and amazing work through which He saved me from my own depravity. I pause to give thanks and praise to my LORD, for who He is and for what He has done.

Is there any “set thing” you’re supposed to do in remembrance; to which you’re supposed to give that time, money, effort, etc.? No. A prayer of thanksgiving to Christ, remembering a psalm, singing a praise, turning to Scripture, praying for those around you, giving your Starbucks money to charity or the poor, or simply stopping and looking around you on a beautiful day like today and remembering the immense goodness of God is remembrance enough. Fasting, devotion, your personal walk with God, and thus Lent, is not a legalistic, rules-based practice, so do whatever works for you.

So, to conclude: Do you have to give something up? No. But on the flip side, is there anything inherently wrong with giving something up? No. If God is working in you to give something up, then do so! Add something to your schedule; stop eating all those sweets; whatever it is – go for it! I encourage you to prayerfully consider this, but to do so with discernment and understanding of what you're doing. ONLY give something up if do it for the right reason: as you reflect on His sacrifice by being selfless in one small aspect of your life for these 40 days, allow this symbolic act to drive you to Christ, to increase your holiness, and to push you to pursue His glory not just for Lent, but for the rest of your life.

Happy Lent - I'd love thoughts/feedback/etc. below.

:: Lent & Giving Things Up, part 3 ::

2010-02-17T09:03:00.000-06:00

What is the purpose in giving things up for Lent?

First, let’s agree that there are several wrong reasons to give things up for Lent, among them being...

Tradition of a family (“my family always has”)
Empty tradition of a church/organization (rote tradition without knowing the meaning)
Personal gain (giving up sweets for the purpose of weight loss)
Pride (giving up things to “prove yourself” more holy, or to display this holiness to others)
“Just to do it” (giving up gum just to give up gum)
Because you think it will “earn you points” with God (as if you can do ANYTHING worth his love?!)
And my personal favorite: Lent is NOT a time to give stuff up "to identify with the suffering of Christ" (this is what I was taught as a kid. Seriously?! Christ didn't give up chocolate for a month; he DIED FOR US! There's no way Lent could give us even the tiniest taste of suffering!). Now to be sure, God can allow us to suffer during Lent, as reminders of his suffering for us and the sufficiency we find in him - we had a pretty rough Lent last year! In fact, God can allow us to suffer whenever God wants, for any other that fits his purposes for our lives (Gen 50:20; Rom 8:28). But what I mean is that the typical giving up of some menial habit, enjoyment, or trinket does not come even close to equating ourselves to Christ's suffering.

Not one of these are good reasons to give something up… and I would make the case that some of them might even be bordering on sin: pretending something in the name of God while having another basis for it is a dangerous line to walk!

So what IS a good reason to give things up for Lent? That's the topic of Friday's finale of this little "blog series" - have a great Ash Wednesday, all.

:: Lent & Giving Things Up, part 2 ::

2010-02-15T08:58:00.001-06:00

The best place to start a conversation on Lent is first to ask, what exactly is it? Basic, general answer: Lent is a 40-day period before Easter every year, during which some folks (traditionally Catholic and some Protestant traditions) undergo an extended fast. It was established in the 4th century, and since then, participants will eat sparingly, give up a certain food, favorite activity, etc. The basis for this is the idea of repentance (complete with sackcloth, ashes, and fasting, found in places like Esther 4, Jeremiah 6, Daniel 9, and Mathew 11), for the sake of turning from sin and seeking forgiveness, and to display devotion and focus on Christ.

On a personal level then, in preparing our hearts we realize the depth of our sin, and thus appreciate God’s sacrifice and love; we reflect upon the selflessness and necessity of the crucifixion; we celebrate the amazing redemption accomplished in the Resurrection; we rest in God as sole provider of all our needs. As Advent is meant to prepare our hearts to reflect upon and rejoice in the incarnation of God the Son at the beginning of His life, so is Lent meant to prepare our hearts to reflect upon and rejoice in His resurrection and the hope of our eternal life.

Coming next: why do people give things up? And examining the motives behind that...

:: Lent & Giving Things Up, part 1 ::

2010-02-13T14:57:00.001-06:00

As of this Wednesday, Feb 17, 2010, we’re in the season that the church’s liturgical calendar calls Lent. Several folks might have grown up in traditional & liturgical traditions of “church,” where seasons like Lent were part of the norm; others have never heard of it before; still others are confused or apathetic to such historical liturgy; while a final group might have friends who participate (and even walked around on Wednesday with an ashen cross on their foreheads), and are curious.

So over the next couple days, I’m posting a few thoughts on Lent: what it is and why people give things up (or add things, as the case may be). Check back this week for part 2: What is Lent; then parts 3 and 4: why people do, and concurrently why people should NOT, give things up.

And happy Valentines Day too...

:: Post-VERGE Thoughts ::

2010-02-08T16:48:00.005-06:00

I had the honor of joining 2000+ other folks this weekend in Austin, for the first-ever "missional community" conference to be held in the U.S. (it was labeled such by speaker and author Alan Hirsch, at least).

Twelve City Church folks were able to join the conversation over three days, seven main sessions, and several breakouts, to hear thinkers like Francis Chan, Matt Carter, Neil Cole, Jeff Vandersteldt, Ed Stetzer, Hugh Halter, and Hirsch (the conference's Yoda) share their unique take on this new, emerging (in the best, non-loaded sense of the word, dear fundamentalist reader!) way of doing life as a church. Or to say it better, they shared their take on their unique ways of returning to the church life one sees in the New Testament. Because let's be honest, living as a community on mission is not a "new, emerging" concept at all; it was the original intention and design for God's people, from 2000 years ago and even beyond that.

After a few days to reflect on the weekend and to digest the info overload (seriously, just search #verge10 on twitter & see the massive amount of content - and that's just the 140-character versions that made it to attendees' microblogs!), here are a few post-conference thoughts/prayers [if you're just skimming, please at least read #3].

1. I HAVE DEEP APPRECIATION FOR THE UNITY IN DIVERSITY
All 12+ main session speakers believe that the church should be less of the "institution" it has become and more of a family/community, carrying out God's mission in the world. Don't roll your eyes at the overused word, but they all see it as being more "organic" and outward focused, than it currently seems to be in many of its' expressions. But every one of the speakers had a unique take on exactly how this should play out:

Some of their churches gather regularly; some don't. Some come from one church of thousands; others come from dozens of churches made up of 10 people. Some have seen this happen in the U.S; some have carried it out abroad. Some were in their early 30's; George Patterson was not! And so on. But they all believe in this lifestyle, and see it as the hope for the church in the U.S. There were differences; there were things I didn't agree with; there were things other speakers didn't agree with. But they all had a heart for the gospel. And they all had a heart for God's mission. And that was beautiful to see on one stage.

2. I AM EXCITED FOR THE POTENTIAL OF THE CHURCH IN AMERICA
Seeing masses of folks from different denominations, urban/rural areas, etc. experiencing the same thing made me excited: they called the conference VERGE because it felt like we're on the VERGE of a meaningful return to church life as we saw it in the Bible. If we all go back to our homes and start to live out gospel-centered, mission-focused, disciple-making lives as a family, it makes me excited for the building of the body of Christ in cities across our country and world. BUT...

3. I HOPE & PRAY THAT FOLKS DON'T GO HOME & JUST TRY TO IMPLEMENT THIS NEW "CHURCH MODEL"...
...because that's exactly what we tried to do over the summer and fall of 2009. For the past three years, we have been experimenting with "missional communities" in a college ministry I ran. So when we began building a core team for a new church, that was our aim: to build a church on the model of the New Testament. It was only by the grace of God and getting to spend individual time with some of this weekend's speakers over the course of the fall that we were able to "course correct." Here's the point: "missional community" is not a "model" at all. It's not a church structure. If it is, then it's just another program, which it was very clear nobody wanted at the conference. If it's not a model of church, what is it? It's deeper than that: it's a lifestyle.

Living as a community on mission is not a weekly event; it's an everyday activity. It doesn't start from a pastor preaching it to his church; it starts as individuals start to live it out and others catch on. It doesn't mean that a church has to "blow up" its small group program; it means that we train our leaders what it looks like to live on everyday mission, and to see disciples being made. Then God builds his church; not us. My fear is that many folks - especially younger, second-in-charge types, or youth pastors, or easily-discontented folks - will return to their homes and churches, and will try to implement the model that shone forth in this weekend's content, laying the "new way of doing things" on top of the existing church mindset and structure. It won't work; you, your church, and everyone involved will be frustrated.

My prayer for VERGE attendees - including myself and our folks who went - is that we'll all go home; that we'll be slow; that we'll ask ourselves...

How am I living out the gospel in my life right now?
Who are the folks in my spheres of influence with whom I'm pursuing intentional relationships?
Who are the people in my community who I "do life with" as family?
How can I live this out, and who can I model this to and with, that they may model it to others?
If I see myself as a missionary to my city, how would I live

...and other questions like this: not focused on my church, but focused on my life. Because again, it's not a shift in church model; it's a shift in communal lifestyle. And that shift is deeper, harder, more intentional, and starts with you. But that's the shift that must be made: it must start with Jesus, be focused on the gospel, care more about making disciples than building your church, and spread by example. If it's not, it will be at best a blurry facade of the true change in your community you're hoping for.

If you want details/warnings/downfalls I learned early in our process of laying The City Church's foundation, and what we did to fix them, I'll be happy to share them with you; contact me here. Thank you, Stew & ASCC folks, for a great weekend. Thank you speakers, for inspiring us with not only your thoughts and presentations, but also with your lives and experience in modeling this for the rest of us. Thank you attendees, for being willing to live in a way that makes our culture look at you differently, causes you to suffer, and sacrifices yourself and maybe the number of butts in chairs on a Sunday, in order to see the great commission carried out.

:: "Missional Church Made Simple" ::

2010-02-03T08:44:00.001-06:00

Tim Chester [co-author of Total Church and leader of The Crowded House, Sheffield England] passed this video along through his generally-thought-provoking blog. It's from Brad Briscoe in Kansas City - a great, humorous, easy-to-understand picture of what a "missional church" is and why we do life as we do it. Great stuff to pass along!

Watch the video at Missional Church Network, here.

:: AIP #90 - All-Church Gathering #1 ::

2010-02-01T16:16:00.017-06:00

Sunday, January 24, saw the first official All-Church Gathering of The City Church. It was a wild, fun, exhilarating day, to be sure, and it culminated in an evening that was truly a celebration.

Honestly, it's a little hard to know what to say, even after thinking/reflecting on it for over a week. So I'll answer the questions I've gotten most in the past 7 days: how was it? What did you do? And how do you feel about it? Then, since a picture tells a thousand words, I'll post a few favorite pics from the 100+ taken by our good friend Tina Howard [who also wrote a great "first-timer" take on The City Church here], and below that is a link to the rest of her pics, and the sermon video. It's a pleasure to get to reflect on a great night - I hope the words and images give you a small glimpse of how it went!

In a small sense, it was a celebration of six+ months of prayer, fasting, work, and foundation-laying; it appropriately felt like the start of something new. But in a much larger sense, it was a celebration of God: of who he is; of his word; of Christ's death and resurrection for us; and of his work in our lives. In this sense, it was far less 'something new' and much more of a logical next step in what we've already been doing.

For curious onlookers, we started by explaining that "this event is not the church" - that WE, as God's people, are the church, and this is simply a coming together OF the church for celebration. We prayed. We sang and recited Psalm 50 together. We walked through Revelation 2:1-7 together, talking about our only true "first love" and some of the "lesser loves" that take the place of the gospel. Kids ages 0-2 learned that God Is Good, while 3- & 4-year-olds learned that God Made Everything.

Then we sent parents to get kids, and enjoyed the part of the night that was the most meaningful for many folks: we took communion together, as families and Villages surrounded the tables to serve each other bread and juice or wine, to prayed for each other, and to remember the gospel together. We gave. We sang a couple more songs. Then we prayed and went home or to dinner together.

For me, it was an incredible night - if I'm honest, I was a bit distracted by self-centered logistical concerns [which I frustrate myself with and need to trust God in; I know!], but past that, it was truly a joy to see a half-full theater full of folks - some of whom have been with us through the fall; some of whom joined us for the first time Sunday - growing in our understanding and love of God, and realizing the mission and ministry the gospel calls us to. It was a huge display of community to see so many folks chip in to "load in" the KidCity and A/V equipment. It was merciful that the last set-up item fell into place 15 minutes before "go time." It was wonderful to see responses; to know the presence of the Lord; to start our church talking about the Gospel. It was a good night.

Here are a few pics to help paint even a better picture of it [click to enlarge]:

See all of Tina's great photos on flickr here.
Finally, click the pic below for a video of our first sermon, as we jumped into "The Gospel-Centered Life":

:: Dear Anonymous... ::

2010-01-26T20:59:00.003-06:00

To whomever left the comment on my last entry -

Thank you very much for your curiosity into our first All-Church Gathering, as well as your candid way of trying to inspire me to write about it. Hope you don't mind that I removed your comment. As you might guess, the first few days following the first Gathering have been extra-packed with new folks, catch-up, tweaks, etc. Trust me, I will post a summary & thoughts on it as soon as possible. I'm waiting for a few pictures and a half hour to sit and write.

In the meantime, here's a post from a friend who was there for the first time; she had some very kind things to say.

So there you go - thanks for the patience; you'll be satisfied soon, o nameless friend.

:: Why Don't I Like Writing Anymore? ::

2010-01-17T10:03:00.002-06:00

Since the last post was Christmas Eve, that's a valid question: why don't I like writing anymore? Answer: I still do. In fact, since 2009 turned into 2010, it feels like that's all I've been doing. But it's other writing that took me away from this blog. So far in January, I've been writing

All the content for The City Church's new website, which went live over the weekend [see it HERE]
A 30+ page Village Leader weekend training handbook, which we just wrapped up and had a great time
Lists of things to buy and leader "role descriptions" as we prepare to jump into Sunday All-Church Gatherings [join us Jan 24!]
Adjusted syllabus-es/syllabi? and assignment profiles for my three sections of TCU's "Business and Professional Speaking" classes
And of course, the usual emails, e-updates, and normal everyday catch-up stuff

Whether it looks like a lot or not, it sure does feel like it! But all that's wrapped up now. Except emails - why are those never finished? : ) So I'll be back soon, but transitioning out of the "Adventures in Planting" soon, and moving back into more diverse topics that have disappeared since last April. Stay tuned, and happy 2010!

:: Merry Christmas '09 ::

2009-12-24T09:02:00.005-06:00

Giuseppe Sammartino, Nativity (A.D. 1780's)

"And the angel said to them, 'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.' And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
'Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
(Luke 2:10-14)

These are familiar verses. But in them, we find the depth, beauty, and meaning of Christmas that many of us have forgotten. Or maybe better, it's a message that has become overshadowed by busy-ness of packing to get out of town; by the half-hour wait of angry drivers in mall parking lots; by the good feeling we get when we buy a gift for someone else, or by the anxious expectation of wondering what we're getting. Or maybe it's been overshadowed by a million other things, like economic or political stresses you're facing, those end-of-the-year work frustrations, relational struggles, the constant buzzing of a BlackBerry or a cell phone, or a rough year. Maybe it's sadness. Longing. Worry.

As I read these verses this morning, however, and reflected back on the brief discussions of "Advent" we've had in our church family this season, I found myself (for the first time this Christmas season), truly embracing Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. I don't know if it's the snow falling on Christmas Eve after yesterday's "December in Texas" high in the 70's, or the quiet empty house, the smell of breakfast in the oven for Jess and I as we celebrate our own Christmas before heading out to be with her family, or the prospect of a taking off the last week of '09 after a marathon July-December [that includes this blog, by the way]. But I do know that when I look at Sammartino's 'crèche,' what strikes me most is two things.

Make the picture larger. Stare at it for a few moments. First, notice the light-dark contrast: the hope of the world; the promised Messiah; the savior is born, after 400 years of silence between God and his people. That's what God is doing. Second, look at the man on the bottom right: the earnestness with which Sammartino painted him, full-body on the ground, worshipping and clamoring to get close to the God-Child who is so very small in the painting. That's our proper response to what God is doing, isn't it?

My prayer for you - and for me - this Christmas, is that no matter what holiday stresses; no matter what great sadness; no matter what worries or anxiety or busyness or distractions, we might spend a few moments on the floor of a manger with this shepherd. That we might put aside everything else and fall on our faces, pulling ourselves desperately to worship at the feet of the Christ. That we might cling desperately to the promised fullness of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love, despite the hopelessness, chaos, sadness, and emptiness we sometimes experience. That we might be in awe of what God the Father did in sending God the son; in thanksgiving to God the Son for coming to live and die for us. And that our words might echo the angels, and that our lives might follow, that in all things, we will pursue "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased."

Merry Christmas. Celebrate well.

:: Advent Beard Devo, wk 4 ::

2009-12-24T08:41:00.003-06:00

Unveiling Our Faces (compiled from a web search at images.google.com)

[Learn about the Advent Beard, and these weekly devotionals, here; read all the devo's: wk 1, wk 2, wk 3. Enjoy.]

“But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed… And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2Cor 3:18)

The time has come, gentlemen… Let us unveil our faces. Just as creation has waited, longing for the day of its glorification and perfection (Rom 8:20-22), and just as every human groans inwardly for the redemption of our bodies; for the hope of salvation (Rom 8:23-24), so have our chins and our wives been groaning for this glorious day. A day when our beards disappear and our faces turn, fully revealed, to the Lord. A day of celebration; a day of rejoicing; a day of shaving. For upon us now is this most blessed of births; this is the end of advent and this is the incarnation of the Christ child.

The celebration of Christmas is here, and our wait is over. The long-expected Jesus has come; unto us is born this week in the city of David the savior, who is Christ the LORD. Why no more itchy beards, goatees, chinstraps, soul patches, and mutton chops? Because we no longer wait. Why do we shave? Because our time of anticipation is over. Christ is born, the newborn king! Why, according to 2 Corinthians 3 (above) do we unveil our faces? Because at Christmas, we behold the glory of the lord.

What is this glory of the LORD, which we blessedly get to celebrate and behold? The Gospel of John says it like this:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’” And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.” (John 1:1-5; 14-17)

Light. Life. Glory. Grace. Truth. These are the things of God. These are the glories of Christ we’ve so long awaited; for which Israel longed for centuries awaiting their coming Messiah. As we behold Christ this Christmas, with shorn chins and baby’s-butt-smooth cheeks, let us reflect. Let us remember the time of waiting, when the veil of prickly hair veiled our faces.

But now, the wait is over. Let us be transformed, from one degree of glory to another, into the image of Christ! Let us not hide one inch of our faces from receiving that glory! Let us reveal our faces to the world in great exultation, that our chins may breathe the fresh air of new life offered through this babe in a manger! Let our faces join the heavenly host celebrating the birth of the Christ child! Like King David at the coming of the LORD”s commandments, let our chins dance naked before the LORD, in unveiled celebration of his glory!

And as we shave; as we end our time of waiting and hair-growth, let us pray, beginning now and continuing through the new year and throughout our lives, that God will indeed transform us from one degree of glory to another, day by day, as he progressively changes us each into the same image of his Son. Happy shaving, gents, and merry Christmas.

:: AIP#89 - Starting the Countdown to 2010! ::

2009-12-16T16:01:00.005-06:00

With December 2009 disappearing quickly, The City Church is gearing up for our official church "launch" in late January 2010! In just over a month, the [now 50+] folks who have been gathering to form the core of our church family will break into five Villages, sent into different neighborhoods across our city, on mission "for the glory of God and the good of Fort Worth."

While Villages will meet various days and times throughout each week, beginning Sunday, January 24, we'll bring everyone together for All-Church Gatherings every other week through Easter. These Sunday, 6pm gatherings will take place at Four Day Weekend Theater, will offer Kid City Ministry ages birth - preK, and will be great times of celebration of God, of God's word, or Christ's work, and of what God is doing in and through our church family.

We'll be posting more details in the coming weeks, but for now, below is a video recorded at our December gathering, sharing the vision and the challenge for The City Church as we move toward our launch. Please forgive the sound quality in the video, and please consider being a part of what we're doing, in prayer, in person, or in financial support with a year-end gift. Email Ben for details; thank you!

Devotion + Where We're Going in 2010 from The City Church [Fort Worth] on Vimeo.

:: AIP#88 - Monday Missions #10 ::

2009-12-14T09:14:00.002-06:00

This is the last of several Mondays this fall, where I've posted some practical ideas o help answer the question "what does 'living on mission' look like every day?" These are just example ideas to hep you live with "gospel intentionality"; consider how you could tweak each to fit your life. As you do, I'd love your input, ideas, and creativity as well. If you have ideas for the list, email me or comment below, and I'll get them up here in the coming weeks*. Here's this week's list:

Find a widow and ask how you can best serve her.
Build a relationship with that widow and invite her into your life.
Look at cashiers’ nametags. Smile and thank them by name.
Do the same for waiters, administrative assistants, and other “generally under-thanked” folks.
Do what you normally do; just do it with other people.
For the past several weeks there have been 10 of these - for this last installment, there are only seven [technically six, but whatever]. What would you do write as the final three?
Bottom line: do things you would normally do; just do them with the gospel at the forefront of your mind!

[*Note: Some of these suggestions are original; some have been collected from others. In gratitude to them, and as an encouragement to you, I freely pass them along to copy, read, repost or otherwise use liberally. However, one reason for compiling this list is for an upcoming booklet/workbook, so I ask that you link back to this site if making any of it public, by including: "Ben Connelly, www.oneglory.org." Thanks!]

:: Advent Beard Devo, wk 3 ::

2009-12-13T08:35:00.004-06:00

Beards on the faces of six influential Christians (compiled from a web search at images.google.com, with help from wikipedia.com)

[Learn about the Advent Beard, and these weekly devotionals, here]

“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!
It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard,
on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes!
It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion!
For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.”
(Psalm 133)

Unity. It’s one of the core teachings of the Christian church. To be one in Christ; to be united; to be a band of brothers; to be of one accord; to be a team. How good is unity, according to Psalm 133? As good as oil on our beards. Now, some of us have tried soap, or maybe shampoo on our hairy faces, sure. But most of us aren’t familiar with the idea of “anointing oil” in today’s society. To fully understand the Advent Beard, and the unshaven unity therein, we must understand anointing.

To be anointed with oil in biblical times – and in some traditions today – is to be made sacred; to be declared “set apart.” To be anointed with oil was to be dedicated to serve God. So the true meaning of Psalm 133 is this: “unity is sweet” – and that unity within our faith is something that spans history, continents, and every other border that generally divides people.

What else crosses time, space, and walls of division within Christian history? The obvious answer, found in this Psalm, is the beard. In countless ceremonies anointing kings, priests, and servants of the Lord, generous amounts of oil were poured onto one’s head – and for every man united in service to God, would continue down to wet the hairs of his chin. These oil-drenched mutton chops, these dripping goatees, these soaking soul patches, have remained a symbol of devotion and service through the centuries. From the time of Aaron (Israel’s first high priest), to the time of Bro. Steve Winter[1], the beard has united men in service to God, and this trans-millennia brotherhood is the kind of unity described in the 133rd Psalm.

The founders and thinkers of great Christian movements have been unified by their love for Christ, and by their beards. Seen above, from left to right, are the beards of (1) John Calvin, author of the first systematic theology; (2) Athanasius, the Alexandrian bishop who did early work on the incarnation and defined the New Testament; (3) Augustine, one of the earliest prominent figures in developing western Christianity; (4) Charles Spurgeon, the pastor of London’s largest church; (5) Paul the Apostle, the great missionary and New Testament author; (5) Justin Martyr, the earliest Christian apologist; and (6) Jesus the Christ, the savior of God’s people who will reign for all eternity. And these six could be joined by countless unshaven others from times past, present, and future, who pursue God, minister to people, and proudly grow their beards.

We, the growers of facial hair; the non-shavers for December, have likewise devoted ourselves; dedicated ourselves; set ourselves apart. We are at least awaiting Christ’s Advent. But let our beards do more than that during this joyous season. As we see our hidden faces in the mirror; as we scrape our hands on fuzzy chins, let us be united with these centuries of bearded brethren who have gone on before. Let us be set apart. Let us be holy. Let us be one. And in our beards, dripping with oil or not, let us experience “how good an pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity”
_____
[1] “Bro.” Steve Winter is a gent with a huge beard (sans ‘stache even!). He also has a completely off-the-wall video on YouTube where he does a Bible Study on beards (no joke). Favorite quote from the portion I watched: “If you’re a preacher & you’re watching this & you teach against beards, you sir are a liar. And all liars will have their part in the lake of fire.” Hopefully it goes without saying, but the content is a little off. But to continue the satirical spirit of the Advent Beard, give it a watch here (at least check out the bush on his face!), here.

:: AIP#87 - Join us WEDNESDAY NIGHT! ::

2009-12-09T07:09:00.002-06:00

Join The City Church THIS WEDNESDAY (12.09.09), 7pm, to tour our All-Church Gathering location, hear where we're going in 2010, and more! Read on for details:

We generally gather together the first week of each month, to remind us of our mission: we worship in singing, creed, and prayer because we exist for the glory of God, and because we exist for the good of Fort Worth, we will pray for the city, for the hurting and broken people in the area, for our mission, and for each other.

This month we're doing things a little different, and a week later:

This Wednesday, December 9, we're asking everyone involved or interested in The City Church to join us at 7pm, as we not only worship & pray, but also cast vision for 2010, as we start the countdown to the "official launch" of The City Church in January!

No childcare provided, but kids are welcome to come. And of course, we invite anyone interested to join us afterward for a late-night dinner in downtown Fort Worth.

DETAILS:

7:00pm - 8:30pm Wed, December 9, 2009

Four Day Weekend Theater

312 Houston St.

Fort Worth, TX, 76102

See map: Google Maps

PARKING/GETTING AROUND:

The Four Day Weekend Theater is on Houston St, between 2nd and 3rd St. The entrance is just north of The Reata.
You may park FOR FREE in the lot on between 4th & 5th St., between Houston & Main.
You may park FOR FREE in the parking garage whose entrance is on 3rd St, between Taylor and Houston.
OR, if you want to roll high-class, the Reata offers valet parking, curbside in front of Four Day Weekend!

:: Why We Long for Stories, 3 of 3 ::

2009-12-08T09:07:00.001-06:00

My final lecture in my TCU communication class this week spoke to the human longing for "story" as one of the primary means of persuasion and communication. First, we spoke of the use of story through all of history's communication, and the return to story that's currently occurring in our post-literate society. Then we introduced the idea that story resonates because it reflects a much larger story, of which we see echoes in movies, literature, history, and our own lives. That story has four part: Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration. Today we ask, "why end the semester this way?":

Why End This Semester on this Topic?
For two reasons. First [remember, this is a communications class, and I'm speaking of story as a means of persuasion], to truly connect with people, no matter what your topic is; no matter the need you're addressing; the audience you're speaking to; or any of the other variables of your speech, if you can speak into this story - the movement of Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration - you'll find a point of connection that every human shares. If your topic can offer redemption to your audience's brokenness; it if can speak on some level to our hope of restoration; if it can move us from our current state, more toward fullness, your audience will respond. You make a connection. It enhances your speech, builds trust, and brings your audience in. We all love this story.

The second reason we end our semester this way might be more personal; it is for me. My hope is that you'll realize that each of these little glimpses; these little, repeating, continual versions of this story we see everywhere, are just echoes of the same story, but a richer, fuller, and greater version.

I submit that this story is the arc of history: this is what God is doing in the world, and this is why we love this story; long to see versions of it in movies, books, and our lives. We were created (we know that, because we're here!). Then evil, distrust, disobedience, and a fall entered the world and entered our lives as well, and we find ourselves broken, in so many ways (again, think of strained relationships, physical pain, emotional hurt, or your tears). This is where we find ourselves in the story. But if I'm right, then in the greater version of this story, there's a promise of restoration: a time at the end of history when all things will be made right again; when every bit of this brokenness we feel will be gone. And that's why we each feel this longing; this yearning; this hope - on some level, we know it can happen!

But to see this restoration, there needs to be a redemption: because of our brokenness, we can't get to act four on our own; we don't have the ability. The very idea of redemption is "being bought." That which is redeemed is passive in the process; we don't have the ability to do it ourselves. Something outside has to come in an do the redeeming. In this greater story of history, I'm submitting to you that God does this work for us: paid the price and covers our brokenness; brings us from Fall to Redemption because we can't do it ourselves. And he does that through the life, death, and resurrection of God the Son, Jesus Christ, whose birth we celebrate in the coming weeks.

A Christmas Break Consideration
You may not believe this story. And that's completely fine with me. I'm just submitting it to you as a reason why story connects with each of us. And I would ask that over the break, you might take a moment and think about it: Why is it that you connect with stories of Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration? Why in your brokenness do you have a reason to yearn - or hope - for something better? Why is it that in every culture, in all time, every human has resonated with that pattern?

Because until we grasp this greater story, we don't fully understand the full meaning of life or the full reason why story connects so well with our audiences. That's all I've got today; you're dismissed.

:: AIP#86 - Monday Missions #9 ::

2009-12-07T08:09:00.000-06:00

For several Mondays this fall, I'm posting some practical ideas o help answer the question "what does 'living on mission' look like every day?" These are just example ideas to hep you live with "gospel intentionality"; consider how you could tweak each to fit your life. As you do, I'd love your input, ideas, and creativity as well. If you have ideas for the list, email me or comment below, and I'll get them up here in the coming weeks*. Here's this week's list:

Use the “Tom’s Shoes” principle: instead of buying a $100 pair of jeans for yourself, but yourself a $50 pair and buy another $50 pair to give away. Or shirt. Or shoes. Etc.
Go meet your neighbors.
Go meet your co-workers.
Meet with a local principal: ask what some of the needs are in his/her school. Work toward meeting them.
Build relationships with homeless folks. Go spend a few hours in their community, simply asking their names, hearing their stories, and sharing yours.
Go hang out with the homeless folks regularly.
Do the same thing with the immigrant population.
Find at-risk, abandoned, or otherwise needy kids: give your time to get to know them and as they allow you, take them under your wing.
A little less “everyday,” but consider adopting a child: it’s a visual reflection of the gospel, and there are 100,000 orphans in the U.S. alone (+ millions worldwide).
Call up an old friend and rebuild a relationship that used to be there.

:: Advent Beard Devo, wk 2 ::

2009-12-07T08:03:00.005-06:00

[various artistic renderings of John the Baptist, compiled from images.google.com]

[Learn about the Advent Beard, and these weekly devotionals, here]

“Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, ’After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.’” (Mark 1:6-7)

It could be said that John the Baptist is the embodiment of the Advent season. The very role given by God to this cousin of Christ was to prepare God’s people for God’s coming Messiah. “For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight” (Matthew 3:3). This is John, who lived in the wilderness, who wore leather and camel’s hair, who ate locusts and wild honey, and who obviously had a beard.

How do we know John the desert baptizer was bearded? Well culturally, men at the time had beards. Since John was a man, we can almost certainly say John had a beard. Plus, John was a “man’s man” – he was a “dude” – he lived a nomadic life; ate grasshoppers and honey; and dressed in leather. Have you ever seen a biker-leather dude who didn’t have a massive beard – at least a goatee? And finally, nearly every artistic rendering of John the Baptist sticks a good, healthy beard on his chin (see samples above). So it was John, complete with desert-preacher lifestyle and full chinstrap, who prepared the way of the coming Lord.

If John is the embodiment of Advent, then it could also be said that John’s beard was the embodiment of the Advent Beard.

It was from that bearded face that John preached. It was from the hair-hidden mouth that he proclaimed the coming Messiah. A booming call to repentance brought his listeners to confession of sin, and water dripped from grisly whiskers as he baptized people in the river Jordan. It is John whom Isaiah prophesied; it was John who readied Judea and Jerusalem; and it was John of whom Jesus said “I tell you, among those born of women non is greater than John” (Luke 7:28).

But John the Baptist, like Isaiah and so many bearded men before him, was not the ultimate end; even this one who was the greatest of all men was not supreme. “After me comes he who is mightier than I,” said John of his cousin Jesus. John and his beard; Isaiah and his beard; and even the apostles, church fathers, early believers, and their beards afterward, existed not for themselves or for their own beards. Instead, they all pointed toward One who was coming, and who will come again; One mightier than themselves; One whose glory far surpassed their own; One who was ultimate in God’s plan. To Christ they pointed; Christ they served; and it was Christ whose mission they existed to carry out, in the world and in their lives.

From these great bearded examples of old, we learn our own place in God’s story. Like John the bearded Baptist, we point to Christ. Like John’s bristle-surrounded mouth, our voices point to the One who is most worthy of our words and our praise. And, especially during this time of preparation of the celebration of Christmas – but really all year long! – our very lives exist to point toward Jesus and to clear the path for his coming, to do his work and to accomplish his purposes in us. Thus, in both our current beards and in our continual lives, let us model ourselves after John the Baptist, as we dwell, faces covered, in the wilderness of this world, to prepare the way of the Lord this Advent season.

:: Why We Long for Stories, 2 of 3 ::

2009-12-06T10:48:00.000-06:00

My final lecture in my TCU communication class this week spoke to the human longing for "story" as one of the primary means of persuasion and communication. First, we spoke of the use of story through all of history's communication, and the return to story that's currently occurring in our post-literate society. We closed that section by asking "Why might this return be happening?" Here's the answer, & the next part of the lecture:

Why might this trend be occurring? Because as much as humans are logical, and have become accustomed to learning by logic, analysis, and literate-style thinking, research shows that as we connect best with story. And I submit that humans have always connected best to stories, because we're a "story-formed" people. What I mean by that is that on some level, we realize we're part of a greater story, a history that's far bigger than any one of us. And so in every story we hear, we get to experience echoes of that greater story we're a part of.

I submit that the story we're a part of has four basic parts; four movements; four acts: Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration.

Seeing This Story Everywhere
Think about it: we love stories of brokenness being restored; of underdogs pulling it out; of the impossible becoming possible, especially if it happens at the last second, just when it seems hopeless. We love happy endings. So consider movies we love: whether it's Braveheart, or Star Wars, or any romantic comedy, or any suspense thriller, we love this same pattern: something is good [Creation], it becomes broken, bad, hurting, or wrong [Fall], and there's an expectation that by the end, it's fixed [Redemption]; everything's resolved, settled, and made good again [Restoration]. In fact, think of movies where resolution doesn't happen: we leave feeling a yearning, a longing, a suspense, because we know what should be there, isn't. This same pattern follows the best books, short stories, plays, musicals, historical accounts, and any other expression we love.

But we don't have to look to the works of others to see this same story: we find this same pattern in our own lives and experience. Think of nature: obviously, it was created and is good, but you don't have to look far to know that it's broken, hurting, and we're kind of destroying it. Think of human relationships: we've all been in friendships, family situations, and romantic-type relationships that were good, but are now hurting, broken, and experiencing pain. Think of the world around us: physical pain, financial hurt, war, famine, disease. We know all these things were created (because they each exist), and we see ourselves living in this state of fall; of brokenness; of "this isn't what it should be." And in each of these - in nature, in relationships, in pain, famine, hurt, and disease - as a human race, we're collectively longing, hoping, yearning for it to be made better. We see creation and fall, and we're desperate for redemption and restoration.

It's in our literature. It's in our drama. It's in our history. It's in our art. It's in our very lives. This story connects. To every human; to every aspect of life; to every need. We see it over and over again, in different situations, books, and experiences. The same story repeats itself. And we love this story, and we long for its happy ending. Because each of these "little stories"; each of these repetitions; each variation of this central theme, reminds us on some level of the same story, the greater story - the main story, which being played out on a much grander scale than we often realize.

[Next up - Part 3: Why end the semester this way?]

:: Why We Long for Stories, 1 of 3 ::

2009-12-05T11:23:00.008-06:00

This week I taught the semester's final session of "Business & Professional Speaking" in my first semester at TCU. The final days of the fall are now up to my students: they're in the midst of their final presentations, and I'm sure are already studying hard for their final next week... But I wanted to share the way I wrapped up my part of the semester, because I think we all resonate with it.

Several times throughout the semester, our class has mentioned the importance of stories, in public speaking settings. We've made claims that stories back up main points; they add personal experience to statistics and facts; they paint a picture for your audience; they engage listeners (or readers); they connect; they draw people in. In fact, statistically, personal experience stories are the most meaningful, persuasive way to prove your point. Bottom line, humans like stories. So I wanted to wrap up the semester by asking "why is that?"

The Use of Story in Communication
From the earliest days of human communication, mankind has communicated through story. In pre-literate societies, oral communication was all humans had: we learned through observing, imitating, and retelling. Shared experiences and stories were the means of packaging information. So for generations - and in many cultures, for centuries - story was the primary (if not the only) means of communication. Even during the following short period of cave drawings, pictograms, and pictographs, one drawing scrawled on a rock quickly became a series of drawings, showing a progression in time, movement, or action. These pictures told stories.

As humans became literate, and as writing became more prevalent, communication changed. As print communication increased, communication moved from stories and pictures to words and ideas. Learning shifted from observing, imitating and retelling, to reading, individual studying, and analyzing. Facts, lectures, and print became the means of packaging information, and learning became more linear, based on logic and fact. This is where the west has been since the Enlightenment.

But in a twist of irony, as digital communication continues to become the newest widespread communication method, is a return to story. We're now on the cusp of a post-literate society. That doesn't mean we can't read; it just means we choose not to! Hearing, seeing, interacting, and retelling are rising again as the methods of learning - in an oversimplified example of this, picture the "retweet," or email forwards, or viral videos. Shared experiences, images, and stories are the renewed means of packaging information. Even major media outlets are turning their digital expressions into video, shortening or deleting text content, and replacing it with visual and audio stories.

Seeing the Return to Story
Here are just a few of many examples of this post-literate shift: over the past couple years CNN.com's homepage has added 3-4 bullet points at the top of each of their written articles, and embedding video links as often as they could, decreasing the need for reading the entire article. Beginning in October of this year, they even moved their headlines (which linked to text-based stories) down their page, and now features links to numerous video stories at the top of their page. YouTube is one of the most popular sites on the internet. According to a letter posted this week by facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, "more than 350 million people around the world are using Facebook to share their lives online" (italics mine). There are millions of blogs. Many universities are encouraging professors to move away from lecture as the primary means of teaching, instead focusing on interaction (shared experience) and practical examples (stories). Political candidates share not only facts and stats about a situation, but also names and experiences. And I could go on...

It's not hard to see, as a culture and society, we love story. We love heroes. We love personal experiences. We love having pictures painted for us. We're experience a shift in communication - a return to story. Why might this trend be occurring? Because as much as humans are logical, and have become accustomed to learning by logic, analysis, and literate-style thinking, research shows that as we connect best with story.

[Tomorrow - Part 2: Why do we connect with story?]

:: Support The City Church: Year-End Giving ::

2009-12-02T15:36:00.008-06:00

This has been a crazy year in the Connelly casa. But for sure the biggest new adventure of '09 is is The City Church. If you're new to this process, I invite you to click here to get to know our new church a bit. Our vision is to see people “live as the church,” rather than just “going to church,” in the heart of Fort Worth. We live in the fastest-growing city in the country, with a population that just topped 700,000 on the way to one million. 10,000 new living units are being built in downtown, and there’s a great need for a church who believes the Bible and preaches the gospel, while at the same time loves our neighbors and seeks the redemption and welfare of our city.

That’s the mission of The City Church: we exist for the glory of God and the good of Fort Worth. Forty or fifty folks have joined us already this fall, we’re excited to see the vision becoming reality, and we look forward to our launch in January!

But as with any non-profit in its early years, we’re in need of outside support. We are in a position not unlike missionaries, who instead of being sent into China, are headed into downtown Fort Worth, which has over 80,000 residents on top of the new living units currently being built. Our church budget in 2010 is just over $150,000, which is thrifty for a church but is still a significant amount of money. A portion of that is a stipend for Jess and me, so I can be a good husband and provide for my family.

We know that many of you are looking for places to give a year-end gift, and we’d like to ask you to prayerfully consider supporting our new endeavor, as we seek the redemption and good of the city we love. All donations are 100% tax-deductible, and there’s more specific information in the image below. I’d be happy to talk through any budget specifics with you. Your contribution is an amazing Christmas gift, both to us and to the growing City Church family.

If you choose to give, you may do so either online [click here for an intro and our secure giving site], or by printing out the "Budget/Need Info" image below and mailing it to the address listed there.

We can’t tell you how grateful we are for your love, prayers, and support. We hope and pray that this year ends well for you, and that God pours out his mercy and blessings in your life in 2010. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts, and wish you a very merry Christmas season!

Printable 2010 Budget/Need Info:

:: AIP#85 - Help us start Villages well! ::

2009-12-01T12:12:00.005-06:00

If you have had any involvement in The City Church's core team this fall, or have any desire to be involved as we "launch" in 2010, we need your input!

We're trying to be as wise as possible in determining the number, times, and locations of our first Villages in January, and are looking to you for help. PLEASE copy and paste this and email it back to Ben, or print out the form (click the .jpg below) and scan or send it back to us.

Here's the content of a form we produced and had folks fill out at last Sunday's Village; as we try and discern where our first spring Villages will be, your input will be a huge help. Thanks!

1. Please rank (1, 2, 3) the best three times/days for you, and for the sake of doing this digitally, please delete all those that are impossible for you:

SUNDAY ___10AM-12PM ___11AM-1PM ___12PM-2PM
MONDAY ___6PM-8PM ___7PM-9PM ___ 8PM-10PM
TUESDAY ___6PM-8PM ___7PM-9PM ___ 8PM-10PM
WEDNESDAY ___6PM-8PM ___7PM-9PM ___ 8PM-10PM
THURSDAY ___6PM-8PM ___7PM-9PM ___ 8PM-10PM
OTHER? _______________________________

2. Please write your physical address and zip below:

3. Will you need Kid City ministry at your Village? If so, please list names/ages of your kids:

4. Please check if you would be interested in ___co-leading or ___hosting a Village.

Let us know if you have any other comments; thanks for helping us!

Printable version of this form:

:: Advent Beard Devo, wk 1 ::

2009-11-30T07:44:00.003-06:00

[Learn about the Advent Beard, and these weekly devotionals, here]

“And Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king. He had [not]…trimmed his beard…from the day the king departed until the day he came back in safety…” (2 Sam 19:24).

Preparation. Anticipation. Expectation. Beards. This Advent season, brave and spiritual men shall embark on a journey that takes us back to the Old Testament times of King David: The Advent Beard. Advent, in its simplest terms, means “the coming of…” or “the arrival of…” something. Throughout Christian history, the four weeks preceding Christmas are known as the season of Advent. During Advent, the church prepares to celebrate the most blessed birth in history: the arrival of the Christ Child; the incarnation of God the Son; the birth of Jesus, born in a lowly manger to a virgin mother and a bearded earthly father. Christmas: the appearance of the promised Messiah. And no act, no object, no symbol… nothing better represents a time of waiting, as seen first on the face of Mephibosheth in 2 Samuel, than a beard.

Years of longing hope and bearded men anticipated the coming Messiah. In fact, “in ancient Assyria, Babylon, and Persia, the beard was cared for with great detail. They oiled, dressed, and curled their beards…” (bible-history.com). These were the neighbors of God’s people. And in Leviticus 19:27, God commands his own men to wear full, trimmed beards: “You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard.”

Thus, in 2 Samuel 19, we find David, the great, assumably-bearded king of Israel (and the ancestor of our LORD) returning from exile to Jerusalem, victorious in battle over Absalom, the rebellious son of Saul. On his return to Jerusalem, David makes peace with his men, meeting various surely-bearded persons he had encountered during his flight from Jerusalem. And most notable among these men is Mephibosheth, the descendent of Saul and the rightful heir to Jerusalem’s throne. But bowing beard-to-chest to the will of God, Mephibosheth denies himself and exalts David as the rightful sovereign over Israel.

Not only does Mephibosheth willingly submit to the reign of God’s chosen king; he also had eagerly anticipated David’s return! 2 Sam 19:24 (above) indicates that he neither washed his clothes nor bathed himself during the entire time of David’s exile. And most importantly, during his time of waiting; of anticipating of the coming king, Mephibosheth never “trimmed his beard!”

A fast from shaving; a statement of preparation; an outward symbol of longing grew across his face as he waited. O the joy that must have occurred in this unshaven man when David appeared! O the smile that would have been seen under the bushy hairs that covered his eager face! O the beard, the age-old symbol marking Mephibosheth’s preparation for the advent of his king!

During this season of Advent, we join with centuries of bearded, biblical men, desperately crying out for their Messiah to come. We form ranks with Mephibosheth, covering our faces with hair in a spiritual act of anticipation; of preparation; an outward symbol of the longing in our hearts. And like Mephibosheth, the object of our yearning is a King; a descendent of David whose birth we celebrate, a lowly babe so many years ago. But this same Christ will, like his ancestor to Jerusalem, return one day to his throne a triumphant King, of the earth and of our hearts.

Our beards are grown in celebration. Our beards are grown in hope. For in precious few weeks, we celebrate with joyful bearded faces, the arrival of our King, the rightful sovereign God.

:: AIP#84 - Monday Missions #8 ::

2009-11-30T07:43:00.001-06:00

Don’t build fences, or if you do, don’t build them too high.
Ask people what they think of God: literally everyone has considered it, and most folks will answer. Even though some of the answers might scare you, you’re getting to know them.
Don’t hang out with just Christian friends on a given night.
Don’t hang out with just non-Christian friends on another night.
Just hang out with friends, regardless of their faith (or “unfaith,” as the case may be).
Don’t put your kid in a “Christian preschool.” Put them in a regular preschool and get to know other parents and families.
Do an elderly neighbor's yardwork for him/her. Bring him/her dinner and eat together afterward.
Box up some of your things - the newer the better - and prepare to take them to a shelter before Christmas.
If you don't have things to box up for a shelter, call a shelter, ask about some needs, and go buy stuff.
Tutor kids at a local school for an hour or two each week. There's plenty of need for it!

:: Advent Beard '09 - Intro ::

2009-11-29T11:03:00.012-06:00

WELCOME TO THE ADVENT BEARD, 2009 EDITION
[if you're checking this out, please take a sec and read the whole post]

"The Advent Beard" started as a ridiculous little experiment which was given a test run in December 2008, by a few guys who had a few different motivations:

We needed a good excuse for our wives to let us grow beards: a four-week season plus strength in numbers provided that excuse.
We wanted to show, in a very practical way, the stupidity of "proof-texting," where someone wants to prove a concept, so they find a random verse of Scripture and build a theology around it: so we wrote "Advent Beard Devotionals."
It was just a fun, different, unique, and off-beat way to celebrate the Christmas season together.

So we introduced The Advent Beard. And over the course of a couple weeks, over 65 people, ages 18 to 65+, and from New Mexico to Nebraska to Auburn, Alabama, joined the fun. Devo's were posted, pictures were taken, comments were made, and much laughter ensued.

But over the course of the Advent Season, some unexpected things happened:

As other people saw the beards, they started making comments, asking questions, and opening the door for spiritual discussions.
A couple growers got to explain to onlookers what Advent is, what it prepares for, and more importantly, the impact of the incarnation, life, death, and resurrection!
On a personal level, several of us found our newly-grown stubble to be a reminder of Christ, every time we looked in the mirror - much like hunger pangs remind us of our need for God when we are fasting.
Some growers even found ourselves staying in contact better than before, encouraging each other and sharing in good biblical fellowship.

Who knew? What had started as a semi-humorous way to prove some points and grow some facial hair became something that pointed to Christ: for both ourselves and others, it actually became something meaningful, and helped us celebrate the season of preparation well!

So if something is good, and fun, and points to Christ, it's definitely worth repeating, no?! When I got a text from my friend Timm, "Advent beard 2009?," it was confirmed: a second round of the Advent Beard begins today, Nov 29, the first Sunday of Advent.

AND ALL MEN, YOU'RE INVITED AND ENCOURAGED TO JOIN! Each Sunday of this Advent season (this week's will come tomorrow), we'll post a new satirical Advent Beard devotional on this blog, and we'd love for you to spread the word, grow your hair, and pray that God uses even your stubble for his glory. After all, "all things are from him, through him, and to him," and "all things" includes your face. So let our beards ring out with the mountains, heavens, and voices this December, in preparation of the coming Christ and echoing the apostle Paul, "to him be the glory forever, Amen!"

[*Please post below, or email me to let me know if you're in, and where you are in the world. And if any good stories come out of this, send them my way & we'll post them. Happy growing!]

:: AIP#83 - Happy Thanksgiving(+other news) ::

2009-11-25T18:02:00.005-06:00

[from an email sent this week to The City Church - click the links below for each full article]

:: HAPPY THANKSGIVING! ::

If you're traveling, we're praying for your safety. Whether you're traveling or not, we're praying that this week is providing rest, laughter, great time with family and friends, and a good chance for you to breathe a bit and pause to remember the good things that we often take for granted.

Remembering that "every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change," I hope that you'll take a few moments as you sit down to stuff yourself, to think over everything you have, everything you are, everything that God's given you over the past year (whether you like it or not!). Know that it's from God, for his unique purpose in your life.

And because "all things are from God, through God, and to God" then as Paul rightly says, "to him be the glory forever, Amen!"

Worship God for his goodness. For his provision. For the path he's taking you on. For the big blessings in your life. For the time of refining. For the little things you take for granted. For life. Share your thanksgiving with friends and family; write it down and share it with God. Then feast, enjoying his provision, creativity, and the picture of the gospel found in enjoying a good meal with those you love.

Happy Thanksgiving, City Church - love you, praying for you, and not only this weekend, I am truly thankful for you!

See you Sunday/Monday,
Ben

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:: BRING LEFTOVERS THIS SUNDAY/MONDAY! ::

Knowing that most of us are enjoying a delicious feast this week, we're encouraging everyone to bring leftovers to Sunday's Village and Monday's Replay, as we all chip in for potluck post-Thanksgiving feast to kick off our discussions. Pack it up, drive it back to Fort Worth, and we'll reheat and enjoy it at our upcoming weekly gatherings!

Sunday, Nov 29: Sunday Village (5:30pm) - Spirituality
Monday, Nov 30: Monday Replay (7:00pm) - Discipleship/Training

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:: YOUR OPINION ON WORLD MISSION + HOLIDAY SCHEDULE ::

We need your input, as we plan well in two areas of life in City Church: read my post on missions below, or click here.

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:: JOIN US DEC 9 FOR *SECOND* WEDNESDAY W+P ::
Wed, Dec 9 - 7:00-8:30pm | Four Day Weekend Theater (map it: 312 Houston St, 76102)

Due to several scheduling conflicts, and our desire for as many people to join us for our December Worship + Prayer, we're pushing the date back to Dec 9. **WE ARE ASKING EVERYONE INVOLVED & INTERESTED IN THE CITY CHURCH TO JOIN US FOR THIS MONTH'S GATHERING!** We'll be gathering, 7pm, at Four Day Weekend Theater in downtown Fort Worth. In addition to worshiping God and praying for Fort Worth, we will be casting vision for 2010, and exciting next steps God has for us as we move toward our church family's official "launch" in January.

For details, RSVP, & the facebook event page, click here.

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:: WANT TO LEAD A VILLAGE IN 2010? GRAB A PACKET! ::
Please be in prayer for strong, godly leaders as we make preparations for an exciting 2010!

In the decentralized structure of The City Church, we value Village leaders highly as you play an important role in our church family. You carry great weight and spiritual responsibility for the folks you'll help shepherd. Because of this and because we want to "equip the saints" well, we don't have the luxury of "filling an empty leadership spot with a warm body." Nor would we want that luxury; it would allow us to slack off! For full details on our leader process, click here.

:: AIP#82 - Our "Ends of the Earth"? ::

2009-11-25T16:42:00.005-06:00

Now that both of our weekly gatherings (Sunday Village and Monday Replay) have gone through the Total Church chapter on world mission, we’re looking to our church family to help us prayerfully consider where we’re going to make a long-term investment in the world.

Here’s the scoop: we know we’ll be in Belize, and will likely be taking a quick “learning trip” there in March to get a feel for how we can most strategically be used for God’s purposes there [let Ben know if you’re interested in going].

In addition to our commitment to Belize, however, we are committing to, in the words of my friend Bob Roberts, "some hellhole of the world who desperately needs Jesus." Belize is friendly to Americans and the gospel; most folks speak English; it’s relatively safe. It’s a very in-need mission field, but there are other places in the world who have far less access to the gospel, which generally means they’re a little tougher to get to and less accepting of the gospel. Thus, they’ve been largely ignored by US Christians, missions org’s, etc.

So where are those places at “the ends of the earth,” where The City Church will, as a community, work in domains of society to show and share Christ? We’re asking your input: Is there anywhere specific you’re passionate about? Anywhere you know of a huge need, and want to commit to helping meet that need? Etc.

Post your thoughts below [or better yet, post them onour online network here.

We’ll prayerfully consider them as a church family, and our hope is to take a small group on a “learning trip” to the place(s) we feel most led to, as we continue to discern God’s place for us over the course of 2010.

We know we can’t be everywhere. We may not end up everywhere we discuss, or even everywhere we send initial trips. But we believe that in the power and will of God, we can make a difference for the gospel, somewhere he most needs us. And we’re excited to get your input and to see where those places are over the next year!

Post away!

:: AIP#81 - Monday Missions #7 ::

2009-11-19T09:24:00.000-06:00

For several Mondays this fall, I'm posting some practical ideas to help answer the question "what does 'living on mission' look like every day?" Today's is coming on Thursday, because it's got a few Thanksgiving ideas in it for next week. These are just example ideas to hep you live with "gospel intentionality"; consider how you could tweak each to fit your life. As you do, I'd love your input, ideas, and creativity as well. If you have ideas for the list, email me or comment below, and I'll get them up here in the coming weeks*. Here's this week's list:

Join organizations and clubs full of non-Christians. Build relationships there.
Quit some organizations and clubs that are full of just Christians. You’ll have eternity to spend with them.
Hang out on your front porch and in your front yard, not your back.
Listen to people: show that you care about them; hear their story; realize their hurt.
Follow up with people who share their stories and lives with you. Actually care.
At Thanksgiving Dinner this week, talk about things you're thankful for. Point back to God as the great Provider.
Invite an elderly neighbor or couple over for Thanksgiving Dinner.
Invite a poor college student over for Thanksgiving Dinner.
Take untouched Thanksgiving left-overs downtown to a shelter.
Or give them to to the the elderly neighbor or the poor college kid.

:: AIP#80 - Christmas Serve 2009 ::

2009-11-17T07:05:00.003-06:00

On Nov 15, we announced The City Church's first "Christmas Serve," which will take place between now and Dec 13, where we will gather to celebrate and give our gifts to friends at two great organizations. If you weren't there Sunday, email Ben to find out which project your group is doing. Here's the scoop:

It's been well said that the church is the most effective agent in bringing healing and wholeness to the world. This holiday season, we want to embrace our role in bringing hope to the hopeless and joy the broken by tangibly loving Fort Worth. Between Nov 15 and Dec 13, 2009, The City Church is partnering with two local organizations, collecting much-needed items and joining them in providing hope to local adults, kids, and families in need.

Sleeping Bags for the Day Resource Center

With winter approaching, one of the greatest needs of the homeless population is sleeping bags, to provide warmth, comfort, and safety for cold nights outside or empty cost in shelters. We hope to provide Fort Worth's Day Resource Center with several new or lightely-used sleeping bags this Christmas.

Infant Toys for Cook Children's Medical Center

At least half of the children staying at Cook Children's are under one year of age. Meeting the unique needs of these littlest patients, Cook Children's provides toys to the famlies, and our goal is to donate new, in-package infant toys to the folks at Cook Children's, to give to the families in the hospital this holiday season.

How Will We Accomplish This?

We're dividing our church family into groups, roughly based on the area of town you live in:
Downtown/Near Southside
TCU/University
Arlington Heights/Hulen
South Fort Worth(along the I-20 corridor)
Let Ben know if you don't fit any of these areas.
Each group will select which project you will be involved with, and will prayerfully set a goal for how many of your selected resource you aim to collect. We encourage you to inform others of our projects, and to gather as many resources from the different "domiains" you find yourself in: co-workers, classmates, friends, family, etc. Let's bless the people involved with the DRC and Cook Children's with tons of gifts this Christmas!

More info:

Email Ben for specifics and details on our projects, or find out more at www.fwdayresourcectr.org or www.cookchildrens.org. Thanks for being willing to share the love of Christ in tangible ways this Christmas!

:: AIP#79 - Monday Missions #6 ::

2009-11-16T08:17:00.001-06:00

Sit at the bar in restaurants instead of your own table or booth. Don’t do this if you’re on a date, but otherwise, strike up a conversation with the folks near you.
Choose carefully what book you’re reading on a plane: pick something that might peak your neighbor’s interest – engage in conversation.
Don’t work in an “all-Christian” environment. You spend more waking hours at work than you do at home each week, so work in a place you can have an impact.
Talk to non-Christians the same way you talk to Christians.
Allow God to be a normal part of everyday conversation: your faith is a major part of your life; don’t force it, but speak naturally about it like you would your family, hobbies, job, etc.
Go play chess at the Day Resource Center. You'll get beat. Twice, if you're like Steve Teng.
Actually go visit a prison. Do it regularly.
As you visit the prison, don’t get to know crimes; get to know people.
Join a gym. Work out with others.
Not stoked about the new video game system that just came out, but a friend is? Be stoked about your friend, see gaming as a venue into their world, and gear up.

:: AIP#78 - Ladies Night, 2 Serves in 1, Village Leaders, + The Holidays! ::

2009-11-10T11:17:00.005-06:00

[click here to view the original, much prettier version of this post]

There's a lot going on this week in The City Church!

First, this Thursday is our first "Ladies Night," a girls-only event you should attend & bring non-City friends to! Then, this Sunday is our second "SERVE" Sunday, which we finally have details for - and it's actually TWO SERVES IN ONE!

Finally, we've got applications out for Village leaders [I can email you one if you're interested], and we need your input on our first-ever City Church holiday schedule.

Details on all this is below - read; RSVP/give feedback on our online network, and have a great week!

See you all Sunday/Monday,
Ben

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:: LADIES NIGHT DETAILS [+ GUYS, MARK YOUR CAL'S] ::
While we hope that everyone in The City Church is making connections, building relationships, and getting to know each other on your own, we are trying to provide an opportunity or two each month for you to get to know each other. Our November opportunities are coming up soon, and here are the plans so far:

LADIES NIGHT (let us know you're coming here)
Thursday, Nov 12, 6:00pm (*NOTE THE EARLIER TIME*), City Church ladies (and anyone you want to bring along for a night of awesomeness!) will meet at 6pm at Brad and Heather Thompson's place (address below) and head to Arlington. We'll eat at The Cheesecake Factory, and bowl at the newly established Splitsville Lanes (.com) for the most classy bowling you've ever seen. It will be a great night, and if you feel like you haven't met many folks yet, here's your chance! Be there, and if you have questions or need more info, email Jess Connelly. Schedule:

6:00pm Meet at Heather's House (email Ben for directions or find Heather on our online network; I'm not posting her address on such a public forum) to carpool
6:30pm Dinner at Cheesecake Factory in Arlington (yum)
7:30ish Bowling at Splitsville (also in Arlington) $5/game, $4 for shoes

Let us know you're coming on our online network, here . If you're not signed up for the network, email Jess (link above), or sign up for the network here .

MAN NIGHT (let us know you're coming here)
Friday, Nov 20 is MAN NIGHT - we'll tell you the plan in an email later this week (if you want to help with details, email Ben). BUT, we can guarantee it will involve steak, and there will likely be cigars and tasty beverages involved. Full plans soon, but make plans to be there!

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:: THE CITY CHURCH "SERVE" - THIS SUNDAY :: Meet at the Hudsons' - 6436 Curzon Ave, 12pm | RSVP here

FINALLY - HERE ARE THE DETAILS FOR THIS SUNDAY: TWO SERVES IN ONE

Please forgive the delay as we got details nailed down... Here's the plan: we'll meet at noon, at the Hudsons' casa, and over a delicious lunch, we'll introduce our "City Church Christmas Serve," which will begin Sunday and wrap up Sunday, Dec 13.

From there, we'll head to Day Resource Center , which is open on Sundays for homeless community to gather, watch TV, hang out, shower and clean up a bit. We'll serve both the workers and the homeless community in the Lancaster area, hanging out and talking with them, building relationships, handing out personal items for their shower times, and doing whatever else the workers need.

We'll carpool over from the Hudsons'; wear clothes without brands on them, avoid much jewelry, and remove valuables from your car if you're planning on driving. It's generally a safe area, but we want to be respectful of the situation of those we're serving.

Let us know you're coming here, or email Ben.

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:: THE HOLIDAYS ARE COMING - GIVE YOUR INPUT! ::

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, which means Christmas, New Years, and of course, Canada's Boxing Day are right behind it! Since this is the first holiday season in The City Church's history, we need your help figuring out holiday plans. Please take a second, copy the dates below, and reply on our online network* (here ), & let me know if you'll be around on the following days. [*If you're not on the network yet, feel free to email me back or sign up for the network here]

Please write "yes" or "no" after each, to let us know if you'll be in Fort Worth for potential City Church gatherings:

Nov 26 - Thanksgiving (we might ask some folks to open their homes to folks who don't have family here)
Nov 29 - Post-Thanksgiving Feast (everyone bring leftovers to Sunday's Village)
Dec 13 - Christmas Dinner (knowing some of our college folks leave for Christmas, our last Village for this "semester" will be a celebration Christmas dinner)
Dec 20, 27, Jan 3 - we're trying to plan our Sunday gatherings well through the holiday weeks
Dec 24 - We're considering a Christmas Eve gathering if folks are in town

Thanks for your input; it helps us a ton! And even though the University Park Shopping Center beat me to it with their Christmas wreaths and lights already, let me be the first to offer you a ridiculously premature "happy holidays '09!"

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:: VILLAGE LEADERS - PREPARING FOR JANUARY ::
Please be in prayer for strong, godly leaders as we make preparations for an exciting 2010!

In the decentralized structure of The City Church, we value Village leaders highly as you play an important role in our church family. You carry great weight and spiritual responsibility for the folks you'll help shepherd. Because of this and because we want to "equip the saints" well, we don't have the luxury of "filling an empty leadership spot with a warm body." Nor would we want that luxury; it would allow us to slack off!

So in order to set up Villages well as we send you on mission into neighborhoods in January, we're praying for strong, godly leaders to step up and lead Villages. Here's how this first round of leaders will prepare for our "launch":

We have Village leader role descriptions and packets available. Email Ben if you want one, and you'll have two weeks to pray, consider, and complete them.
Later in November, leaders-in-training will begin gathering regularly for several weeks of hands-on preparation for leading your Village.
One weekend in January, our leaders will spend a final "Training Weekend" together (it won't be the entire weekend; we'll either go Fri-Sat or Sat-Sun).
Then we'll commission you together with our church family, and beginning January 24, we'll send you with your Village, as a community on mission to your neighborhoods.

We don't want to "out-plan" God and set a specific number of Villages or leaders we're looking for, but we are praying for several of you to step up and help lead our mission, for the glory of God and the good of Fort Worth. Please be in prayer for us as we work to complete this process, and pray for the folks who will emerge as leaders as we prepare for the next step in The City Church's short history!

:: AIP#77 - Why Aren't We More Missional? ::

2009-11-10T07:43:00.003-06:00

Here's a great blog series from my friend and Acts 29 coach Jonathan Dodson, who pastors Austin City Life in ATX. ACL has been focusing on mission this fall, and these are some of the thoughts Jonathan has shared with their church family over the past months. Many thanks to him for thinking well and deeply through these things and for sharing them. They're quick reads; I hope you'll read them and roll them over in your mind throughout the day!

Finally, and related, Jonathan wrote this article for Boundless webzine, which is just as intriguing as its title:

Stop Going to Church

:: AIP#76 - Monday Missions #5 ::

2009-11-09T09:12:00.003-06:00

Take classes: adult ed classes, cooking classes, fitness classes, or whatever other classes are offered in your community.
Coach a little league team – and as you do, get to know parents, other coaches, etc.
Volunteer at your kid’s school – and as you do, get to know parents, teachers, etc.
Teach lessons: if you’re good at something, share that skill, and build relationships as you go.
Throw a July 4th party for your neighborhood.
Throw a Labor Day or Memorial Day party for your neighborhood.
Throw any other holiday party for your neighborhood - even Boxing Day.
Do the same for your office or your co-workers.
Brew green beer and have folks over on St. Patrick’s Day.
If you’re really bold, explain the true meaning of St. Patrick’s Day as you all enjoy green beer together. [Do you know the real reason for the day so many folks get plastered?!]

:: AIP#75 - Weekend Happenings ::

2009-11-06T15:00:00.003-06:00

This is by no means comprehensive, but just a couple things to throw your way that we've heard about, going on in Fort Worth this weekend. Click each for more info, post below if you know more, and check 'em out as we love our city!

FRIDAY, NOV 6:

SATURDAY, NOV 7:

SUNDAY, NOV 8:

The City Church's Sunday Village (the Hudsons' casa)

AND OF COURSE, ALL WEEKEND LONG...

The Dickies 500 (Texas Motor Speedway)
"The Sounds of Music" (Bass Hall)
Plus great museums ("The Alps" is at the Sci/Hist Museum), restaurants, parks, & more

:: AIP#74 - Monday Missions #4 ::

2009-11-02T09:10:00.003-06:00

For several Mondays this fall, I'm posting some practical ideas to help answer the question "what does 'living on mission' look like every day?" These are just example ideas to hep you live with "gospel intentionality"; consider how you could tweak each to fit your life. As you do, I'd love your input, ideas, and creativity as well. If you have ideas for the list, email me or comment below, and I'll get them up here in the coming weeks*. Here's this week's list:

Join a PTA or become a “room parent” for your kids’ school.
You eat three meals a day; 21 meals a week – set a goal and eat that many meals each week with a non-believer.
Shop at locally-owned stores.
Run your business with integrity, with more of a focus on making an impact than making a profit.
Attend wine tastings, grand openings, and other society happenings in your community.
Do things within your business that contribute to the community: give things away, offer discounts, make donations, etc.
Focus your contributions on things that build up the kingdom of God.
Watch movies your parents wouldn’t approve of: movies shape culture; you need to know what other folks are watching.
Buy a dog. Take it for walks. Talk to people. That’s getting to know your neighbors.
Make sure you clean up that dog’s messes in your neighbors’ yards.

:: AIP#73 - NorthWood Church Planting ::

2009-11-01T22:41:00.003-06:00

Wanted to share a quick blog post and picture from Bob Roberts Jr, on our two-day training this week [more on this coming soon]. NorthWood Church in Keller has planted 110+ churches already, and we're honored to have their influence, coaching, and mentorship as we move forward!

Here's the post.

And as a little bonus, here's another post from Bob, from a roundtable we rode over to a couple months ago. He was very encouraging to me, even as he exhorted me where I'm weak in ministry and experience. Plus he gets to do some really cool stuff with folks of all religions across the world, and is seeing God move in really cool ways. Spend some time on his blog!

:: AIP#72 - Mission makes Jack-o-Lanterns Smile ::

2009-10-30T13:36:00.003-05:00

In case you haven't seen it yet, every Monday for the past few weeks I have been posting practical ways to live out the "everyday mission" we've been talking about (find the "Monday Missions" posts here: http://is.gd/4IlHV). On last week's post, I threw out a couple ideas of how we can engage this weekend's "holiday" - arguably the most neighborhood-oriented day of the year for many of us, ironically?! - for the gospel:

Stay in and give candy and encouragement to kids, and to parents too.
As you build relationships, create a safe place/party for kids to trick-or-treat in your neighborhood.

Here are a few more I might add:

Try to take the few seconds while kids are at your door to shake hands with the parents: find out where they live.
Then, follow up with them in a few more days and ask them over for dinner.
As you take your own kids trick-or-treating, stay in your local neighborhood, even if Mira Vista DOES have better candy options!
Throw a Halloween party for Christian AND non-Christian co-workers, neighbors, and friends, all together in one room.
Spend money on really good candy: as a reflection of all that Jesus does for you, be generous and giving with your neighbors, instead of being stingy and cheap!

What are some ideas you might add? How will you spend this day, which is community built right into our culture, for the good of the gospel and for the good of your neighborhood?

:: Leaders are Learners, 2 ::

2009-10-29T13:56:00.004-05:00

Last week, I posted the different ways I'm growing and learning. As I flew back from Tacoma, WA this week, where I spent a week with a church made up of communities on mission, I realized that this month has been packed with training. Which led me to realize that there are two other great ways I'm learning and growing. One of them I've been given in abundance this month; the other I'm just re-realizing my great need for.

Formal Training: I've posted a few reviews during the past months, of the church plant crash course I've done since May: a training roadtrip this summer; conferences, and books have been huge helps in shaping The City Church. But as luck or providence would have it, I've gotten to spend 15 of the 31 days in October doing "formal training" with some of the greatest church plant thinkers in the country (especially in the idea of "communities on mission"). I mention them by name out of deep gratitude, knowing that for me personally and for The City Church corporately, their impact has helped shape us:

Bob Roberts Jr, Omar Reyes, Brian Hook, and Bobby Vaughn of Northwood Church and Vision360, who have hosted two training sessions to bookend the month of October [where I'm currently "multitasking" to write this!].
Barry Keldie and the good folks at Providence Church, who host a monthly roundtable for planters, and Rick White at CityView Church, who was this month's guest presenter.
Ed Stetzer, missologist, author of several books, and director of LifeWay Research, then Hugh Halter and Matt Smay, authors of Tangible Kingdom and founders of Adullam and Missio, who all came to Fort Worth for dinner and conversation with a dozen or so of us.
Jeff Vanderstelt, Caesar Kalinowski, Abe Meysenberg, and many good folks at Soma Communities, for hosting a 7-day "conference" for 30 of us, letting us experience life in their unique church family and model.

Stopping and Being: In full juxtaposition to the formal training above, and even more impacting than "pressing hard into God" I mentioned in the last post, I've learned how often I need to stop.
To rest.
To dwell.
To reflect.
To be.
In God.
Period.

The difference in my mind of pressing into God and this is that everything I listed in the other post involved something I do! So much of my life is erroneously spent trying to DO, and in this month's extra-busyness, I've been reminded of my deep, deep need to stop; to be still; to rest in God. To push through all the overgrowth of service, work, and activity, to find God in a clearing, and to dwell there. Rather than do, I need to stop and be. And just as my pressing into God gives me "strength, sustenance, purpose, and identity" (from the last post), as I stop and dwell with God, I remember that all those things come from him. I am his blessed and beloved child, and I don't have to DO anything to earn them.

I need this. We all do. All of our strength, sustenance, purpose, and identity is found there too, by nothing we've done or will do.

:: AIP#71 - Monday Missions #3 ::

2009-10-26T08:07:00.001-05:00

Join a board or committee in your neighborhood, seeking its improvement.
Help your neighbor do yard work or build a fence.
Borrow tools from your neighbors; generously give of your tools to them to borrow.
Move into a part of your town with little or no gospel witness. Get to know folks there.
Walk the same route or take the same train/bus to work each day. Talk to people.
Volunteer at a charity near your home.
Be the kind of neighbor everyone wants in their neighborhood.
Tip your restaurant servers well.
Sign up for a local sports team – not a “church league” team, but one in the community, at the YMCA, etc.
And of course, the favorite example of the fall: invite your neighbors or co-workers over to watch the season premier of your favorite TV show. Or theirs.

:: AIP#70 - Share your reflections on Sunday's SERVE ::

2009-10-22T18:41:00.005-05:00

Yesterday I posted a recap of The City Church's first "SERVE," but as I reflect on the day, I continually find myself remembering that our work was to...

Display God's redemption to others ("echo the gospel")
Love our neighbors
Seek the welfare of the city

But after a few days to process, I want our church family to consider HOW we did all these things? So, even if you weren't at Nash Elementary on Sunday but especially if you were...

HOW did our work display God's redemption to others?
HOW did our serve love our neighbors?
HOW did our actions seek the welfare of the city?

I'll get us started, and I invite you to post below, or even better, join this conversation on The City Church's online network! Think. Reflect. Post. And then we grow together.

Jesus grew in wisdom & stature: pre-K through 5th-graders are in the middle of that, and we're providing a means by them to learn and grow.
The pattern of our day, which started with work (do you realize that collectively, we worked over 90 hours!) then a time of rest (eating, playing, and enjoying the beautiful day) reflected God's pattern in creation.
When we arrived, Nash's library was there , but it wasn't sufficient. When we left, we had made it into something it wasn't - we had brought it to fulfill its right purpose. In other words, something from outside had to come into the library to make it something it couldn't make itself. How is that not reflecting what Jesus does in our lives?

These are just three. There are many more. Your turn.

:: Leaders are Learners ::

2009-10-22T08:56:00.002-05:00

A question I've gotten several times over the past couple months is "what are you doing to personally continue growing?" Whether this question is asked by caring friends or someone looking for advice for themselves, I think it's healthy to continue learning and growing in several areas of life. So other than the conferences/formal training I'm doing this fall, for me growing/learning usually involves four things: pressing hard into God, reading, writing, and dialogue.

Pressing Hard into God: No other learning matters without this obvious - but often-forgotten - first step! So...

I'm in my Bible a ton, studying, pondering, meditating on verses, paragraphs, chapters, and books.
I'm turning off my car radio/CD player and spending drive time praying.
I'm keeping a moleskin with prayers in it.
And I'm trying to "unplug" a day a week and just spend time dwelling, listening, and talking with God.

Here is strength, sustenance, purpose, and identity.

Reading: I generally have about four books going at any given time - on purpose, not because of A.D.D! I read in "categories":

Personal growth: generally books by older saints that pour into my personal walk with Christ: at the moment, Tozer's The Root of the Righteous; next up, Mahaney/Harris's Humility.
Professional growth: growing in theology, philosophy, and practice within different areas of pastoring: at the moment, Frost/Hirsch's The Shaping of Things to Come; next up, TBD - probably either Belcher, Deep Church or Bosch, Transforming Mission.
Culture: I try to keep a pulse on different perspectives of the local, national, worldwide, and faith cultures surrounding me: at the moment, Keller's The Reason for God; next up, Chandler's Pilgrims of Christ on a Muslim Road.
Fun: I have always enjoyed reading, and there's a ton of great, fun reading out there - classics, hidden gems, & more: currently, Conan-Doyle's The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, vol.1; next up, Vol.2, obviously!

Writing: I learn best when I write. It forces me to develop thoughts, research, consider opposing viewpoints, etc. before I put something in print. So at the moment, I'm working on...

Village Leader Training: a 3-month curriculum to use within The City Church.
Pastor-elder/Deacon Training: a several-month process of testing and training before we install key leaders.
Acts 29 Model-Based Mentoring: helping develop a 6-month curriculum to pair new planters with a more experienced guy, for training, coaching, help, and personal/pastoral/vision development.
A short booklet on what it practically looks like to live on mission in our daily lives. We'll see what happens with it.
TCU Lesson Plans: This fall, I'm constantly developing lectures, activities, etc. for the TCU communications courses I teach.
Plus... blogs, and I've always got a couple chapters, sentences, or outlines for other random papers and projects that have been started but at the moment, are simmering for a bit.

Dialogue: I love grabbing coffee, beer, or meals with folks and having good, engaging dialogue. Whether it's The City Church's discussion of Total Church, talking with a college student about various faiths/worldviews, getting to know new folks and their stories at the Gingerman, meeting with other church planters, or just shooting the breeze with good friends, good, intelligent conversation revives me and breathes life into me.

So that's how I'm currently growing in my faith, learning to lead better, and developing as an individual. How about you? What do you do?

:: AIP#69 - Serve recap; headed to Tacoma ::

2009-10-21T09:56:00.000-05:00

Sunday morning, Oct 18, saw 25+ City folk invade Nash Elementary, in downtown Fort Worth, for our first of many "SERVE Sundays." With the understading that "religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction..." and that in Amos (chapter 4 is a good snapshot) God rejects his people's worship because they neglect to love their neighbors/the poor, we are carving Sundays into the DNA of The City Church to worship by serving others, loving our neighbors, and seeking the welfare of our city.

We had the opportunity to serve the students in the heart of our mission field by stocking and building Charles E. Nash Elementary School's library, on the northeast edge of downtown. There were hundreds of books waiting in boxes and shelves ready to be assembled, and through our work, the students now have their library at hand. Our hope is to build a strong relationship with the folks at Nash, and this is a great first step into that, showing we love them, care about them, and aren't just "serving them to convert them," but rather we're serving them because we know and love Jesus and our city.

Nash's principal and the director of libraries for Fort Worth ISD were on hand, working, laughing, and eating with us, and Ms. Day, the principal, took a few minutes to explain some of the mentoring/relational needs, laying the first steps for future involvement and relationship with this great school! Below are a few random pics from the day [thanks Dunbars] - to see the full album, log onto our online network here.

In other news, please pray for me this week as I landed in Tacoma, WA yesterday for a week of training with the good folks at Soma Communities, a fellow Acts 29 church who operates in much of the same model as The City Church. Soma brings 30 folks in a few times a year for "Soma School," and this week we're being immersed in their community to "learn by doing" church with them. Yesterday was a great first day; I'll update when I can.

:: AIP#68 - Monday Missions #2 ::

2009-10-19T09:15:00.003-05:00

Find one local coffee shop and make it “yours” – get to know the baristas and the “regulars” (the customers who are there all the time).
Even better, apply the “coffee shop concept” to a local pub or bar.
Better still, make sure you go to that coffee shop on Sunday mornings, when most church-going folks are at church. Then you know your mission field.
Do your work in a regular public place (after all, free wi-fi is everywhere), rather than by yourself in your home or office.
College football happens every Saturday in the fall. Pro football on Sundays and Monday nights. If you don’t already have one, pick a favorite team and have folks over to watch games – rivalries are always a blast!
The same principle applies to all other sports too – learn to love basketball, baseball, NASCAR, or gymnastics!
Join your neighborhood association.
Actually go to meetings and events in your neighborhood association.
Thinking about Halloween next week: stay in and give candy and encouragement to kids, and to parents too.
As you build relationships, create a safe place/party for kids to trick-or-treat in your neighborhood.

:: AIP#67 - Serve our City... Saturday AND Sunday! ::

2009-10-16T08:55:00.003-05:00

Two great options for you - one we just found out about, but it's a great way to love your city!

Saturday - Allen Avenue Clean-up
Come lend a hand in keeping the Fairmount neighborhood beautiful and help cleanup Allen Avenue. For City Church folks, meet at 7:40 am on Saturday October 17 at 1412 S. Henderson St. (Steve & Anne Teng's home) to say a quick word of prayer, and then walk over to the site just a few blocks away for the 8am start. We'll spread out along Allen to pick up trash to beautify the neighborhood. We will also cleanup Fairmount Park. Please come join us in keeping Fairmount beautiful. Contact Steve Teng through The City Church's online network, or email him.

Sunday - The City Church: SERVE
Charles E. Nash Elementary School (FWISD - http://schools.fwisd.org/nash/Pages/default.aspx) sits on the northeast edge of downtown. Built in 1927, the city and school district are doing several renovations on the old school, in preparation for the influx of families and students moving into the downtown area.

We have the opportunity to serve the students in the heart of our mission field, literally "seeking their welfare" by stocking and building their school's library. There are hundreds of books waiting in boxes and shelves ready to be assembled, and through our work, the students can have their library at hand. We'll provide lunch, and along the way, it's a great chance to get to know "City folk" as we live on mission together!

Our hope is to build a strong relationship with the folks at Nash, as well as with other schools in the area, and this is a great first step into that, showing we love them, care about them, and aren't just "serving them to convert them," but rather we're serving them because we know and love Jesus and our city.

PLEASE LET US KNOW YOU'RE COMING - REPLY ON FACEBOOK HERE OR ON OUR ONLINE NETWORK HERE [and no "maybe's"]!

NOVEMBER SERVE: working in the homeless housing programs for the Day Resource Center (http://fwdayresourcectr.org/)

:: AIP#66 - Fall Training #4: Northwood Turbo, 2 ::

2009-10-15T09:38:00.001-05:00

Northwood Church recently hosted a couple dozen church planters from across the nation for a training called "Turbo." Yesterday I posted a recap of the morning, and here's part 2, the afternoon sessions! As you read the thoughts and insights, which ones stand out to you? Thoughts?

Highlights & quotes from session four: Bob Roberts

You're not just starting a church for Fort Worth; you're starting a church for the world, based in Fort Worth.
We need to look to the west and the south to learn church planting, because that's the new world center of Christianity. But we're too individualistic and self-important to admit it.
As you go to domains, pay attention to the "gatekeepers": who has the ear of the leaders?
What's the church of the future look like? 1) reconciliation of all things; 2) collaboration of all churches; 3) convergence of all domains; 4) sending of the whole church; 5) following Jesus wherever he needs us to go.
Knock on front-doors first: find the highest-ranking people in whatever domain you're in, tell them you want to serve them, and learn to respect each others' beliefs and religions.
We need to move from "interfaith" dialog to "multifaith": interfaith minimizes differences; we need to acknowledge them and respect/love each other anyway.
We need to be able to critique our own faith, and to explain it so the world understands it.
We need to integrate our faith into our world: "live with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other."
Value every follower, of every religion: remember, God loves and created them, and his common grace provides a model for us to follow too.

Highlights and quotes from session five: Brian Hook

The past/old framework: Gospel = salvation; Society = no concern; Discipleship = member; Church = building
The missional framework: Gospel = social; Society = secular spaces; Discipleship = live among; Church = exit the building
The kingdom framework: Gospel = kingdom; Society = domains; Discipleship = Obedient subjects of the King; Church = "Ecclesia"/ambassadors of the King
Discipleship starts in the harvest: "the best core group you could ever have is a group you led to Christ"
The "UP-IN-OUT" model works on every level: individuals/disciples, teams/groups, and corporate church
What domains exist in Fort Worth? How can we best engage those?

Highlights & quotes from session six: Omar Reyes

Four closing church planting principles:

God always works through his revelation
Revelation always defines relationships
Relationships lead to collaboration
Only then does an organization come into play

:: AIP#65 - Fall Training #3: Northwood Turbo, 1 ::

2009-10-14T10:26:00.000-05:00

Northwood Church is one of The City Church's planting/sending churches, and one of the most significant ways they're pouring into us is with training and coaching. So Oct 1, I joined a couple dozen other church planters from across the nation for a training called "Turbo." It's rightfully named because it's an 8-hour day jam-packed with so much great info that my head was spinning before it was over! And as my friend Brent commented, "'Turbo Training' sounds very intense... Sounds like something a superhero would go through. Are you secretly a superhero?"

Yes Brent, I'm a superhero. But it's no secret.

Here's a recap of the morning - yes, all this was just the morning! Tomorrow I'll post insights from the afternoon. But read the bullets - which ones stand out to you? Thoughts?

Highlights & quotes from session one: Bob Roberts

Over the last decade, the # of megachurches in the US has gone from 350 to 2000, but church attendance has flat-lined or declined. =lots of transfer growth, not conversions.
If you start a church of 100, then start a new church every year that grows to 100, and each of those follows the same pattern, then after 20 years, you're engaging 1.2 million people!
Don't focus on planting churches: in the New Testament, folks lived out the gospel, then made disciples, then churches popped up as disciples formed a community.
Pastors need to pour their entire lives into their church: through good times and bad, is Jesus enough for you?
The Kingdom of God isn't a strategy; it's an action, adventure, river to ride.
We have to learn to speak about our faith without the Bible - from the philosophical, logical, and scientific realms instead - because many folks don't believe it.
Church planting isn't about the church or the preacher; it's about society and disciples: religion isn't one domain of culture; faith must exist in every domain of culture

Highlights & quotes from session two: Jordan Fowler

The "Transformed-Life" model has three directions: UP (interactive relationships with God), IN (transparent connections with others), and OUT (global and local engagement).
The gospel of God is the reconciliation of ALL things back go Christ: how do you reconcile art, music, work, food, etc. back go Christ?
In the Bible, Jesus is who builds the church; our job is to make disciples

Highlights & quotes from session three: Omar Reyes

Responses to the "Glocal" [global+local] Paradigm Shift: we can re-apply the old ways of thinking (BAD OPTION); we can try to change pieces of it & make it better (BAD OPTION); we can create a new framework for it (GOOD OPTION: "new wineskins" in the Bible).
We mobilize people through the domains God carved into society (Paul calls them "sovereign authorities"): in order to have influence, a few folks must be willing to engage each domain: Eph 2:10 - we all have good works prepared for us.
When we engage domains, we make disciples; when we make disciples; we transform cities. That's church planting.
We don't take God somewhere new; he's already working there, whether we're involved or not!
We serve not necessarily to convert, but because we've been converted.

:: AIP#64 - Total Church #4: Social Involvement (10.11.2009)

2009-10-13T09:43:00.001-05:00

[Yes, I'm actually posting this recap within the same week the gathering happened. Weird, I know...]

With the "Fall Break-sized" rainy gathering on Sunday night, breakfast for dinner was delicious, and the discussion of social involvement was one of the best we've had yet: challenging, and for many of us, I believe convicting, as we consider God's role for us as we truly love "the least of these" who live among us everyday.

Summary:
Traditionally, in reflection of the "business" mindset of the rest of the world, folks in the church likes things clean, professional, comfortable, polished, and well-run. But how does that fit with Jesus' near-constant encouragement to love the poor, the broken, the widow, the orphan, the immigrant? How does that fit with Jesus' actions of eating with sinners, letting a prostitute wash his feet, and encouraging followers not to invite rich folks to their feast, but instead to invite poor?

Without neglecting the need to engage and share Christ with wealthy folks, our discussion centered around actually loving the least of those in Fort Worth: not just waltzing into their world once a month, distributing "good things" and disappearing; not just trying to "fix" them. Instead, we talked about how the best way to love all of our neighbors is no different than last week's discussion: it happens in relationship, and it happens as we adopt a posture of learning.

It means that we cross racial, socio-economic, and other lines that society and the church typically draws and spend time with folks, not immediately meeting needs, but simply getting to know their names and their stories. Then over time, needs arise, which can be met by a friend, not just a disconnected benefactor. And these friendships and relationships can also be the context in which the greatest need of all is met, as felt needs lead to a realization of the greatest need of all, the gospel. There are marginalized people living among us. There are widows, orphans, immigrants, poor, and homeless all over our city. What if we saw them as people, not projects, and built the same community and relationships with them as we would with anyone else?

Further discussion:

The authors speak of a "reversal of socioeconomic values" that places great priority on caring for the poor. Is such a reversal possible in your life? In our church community?
The authors claim that "evangelicalism has become a largely middle-class, professional phenomenon." Do you agree? Why/why not?
The chapter quotes a woman as saying, "I know people do a lot to help me. But what I want is someone to be my friend." Are you willing to see "the least of these" as people, not projects? What makes it hard/awkward/uncomfortable?
How can you begin to build community with widows, orphans, immigrants, poor, homeless, or otherwise marginalized people? What can The City Church community do to help you?

Join the Discussion!
Comment below, or even better, jump in on this week's discussion on The City's online network [sign up for the network here; link directly to this discussion on our online network here]