why church planting?

A quick rant…

Here’s what someone recently said to me about my dream to plant several churches in the  area: “Why would you break apart churches to do this?” In other words, stay together. Don’t send people from churches because that makes them smaller and hurts them from a resource stand point. My next question was a bit upfront, “Why not plant churches to make other churches smaller so that more can multiply and reach those that aren’t being reached relationally with the Gospel?” In fact, I stared at the dude and said, “Do you think smaller churches are a waste of time?”

You see, I love small church. I grew up in one. I’ve always served in them. I love the fact that nothing works. I work hard at making stuff that’s super old look good. I like that there’s a grind to churches that are underfunded or forgotten by their denominations. Everything feels raw. It’s all unplugged. Live. Flexible. Changing. Nomadic. And sometimes you get a few talented people together to serve in them and they have a worship sense that kicks donkey…

core people

A few weeks back I saw a sign at the coast that said: Behind every successful man is a woman rolling her eyes. Sort of true though, right? At least for the Christian because our theology says that God’s the one who does the great work. So how does it work?

I really believe it’s through prayer. Who do you pray with and who prays for you? 

zoo

Been thinking about core values lately. One of those that is really important to me is the idea of transparent worship; it’s the permission to be real before God and others. And that made me think today about my time with Lillian at the zoo. 

We found ourselves staring at a brown bear.  A little girl standing next to us turned to her mom and said, “Why does he look so sad?” Her mom said, “He’s probably just sleepy.” And then her little brother turned to her and said,  “It’s because this isn’t his real home.” Minutes later while making our way to a different part of the zoo Lillian says, “Bear sad.” Thereafter, she repeated the same line with every new animal she saw: “Giraffe sad”… “hippo sad”… “zebra sad”… “elephant sad”… “monkey sad…”

whispering

love it when i learn something about myself through lillian. a couple of weeks ago i totally lost my voice. couldn’t talk at all. try giving instructions to a 2 year old with no voice; pretty rough. to add more difficulty to my situation, i had to take care of lillian on my own because cj was in detroit visiting family for a few days.

after a full day of trying to instruct lillian by pure hand motions and facial expressions, i grew tired of getting no where and resorted to the only thing i could do with my voice which was to whisper instructions to her. now the odd thing was that she responded perfectly. in fact she loved it more when i whispered to her. i found my authority had nothing to do with how loud or stern i was. instead my persuasiveness had more to do with feeling safe with me; that there’s just as much if not more motivation behind gentle/tender instruction that invites response.

it really reminded me of something that i’ve been thinking a great deal about lately; that being, a desire to be more vulnerable with others when i share truth. counsel and advice are better taken when one can feel a sense of trust with you and that usually doesn’t come naturally when one is pounding his fist and beating his chest when conveying a point. while i know there are moments when ya just gotta bring the heat to make a point stick, i think most people respond to the kind of truth that comes in the form of a whisper; the gentle nudge that makes you think and reflect internally about your own actions.

learning what it means to be a true gentleman with those i share life with each day.