BLeach

Transition Timeline

I've been writing this week about some shifting winds in my life as Leah and I respond to God's call to plant a new church.  You can catch up on the story here and here.

Another question related to our upcoming transition is, "when will it happen?"

Again, the short answer is a bit ambiguous.  We're not entirely sure!  I know, I'm just full of information this week:)

Our priority right now is to help lead a healthy transition for Church of the King.  COTK is the first baby God gave me (and quite a bit larger than the 7 pound baby he gave me in June)!  Leah and I want to give our best to help establish our leaders here so that our ministries continue to advance.  Over the next few weeks we will be determining together with our leaders what a healthy time-line looks like.  At this point we know for sure that we'll be leading the church through the end of the year.

Right now we are embracing the uncertainty in our lives as an opportunity to depend on God for guidance and provision. 

When we're daring enough to back our sailboats away from the dock, leave the harbor, and experience the deep seas, we feel both exhilaration and anxiety.  Anxiety, because the open waters aren't as safe as the harbor.  And exhilaration because it's in deep waters that we feel the wind in our sails and witness magnificent sunrises.

On the morning of September 16, 2001, we launched Church of the King.  That afternoon my parents gave me a gift to mark the occasion.  It was the picture at the top of this post.  It still hangs in my office today.  The title is "Risk."  And the sub-title continues to be the theme of our lives.

A ship in the harbor is safe, but that's not what ships were made for.

Sail on!

Shifting Winds

Over eight years ago, in May 2001, I graduated from Central Bible College and moved home to start a new church in Metro Detroit.  I was twenty-two, full of faith, and young enough to not know what I was getting myself into.  Six friends from school joined me, and we began laying the foundation for Church of the King.  On September 16, we launched the church just five days after Islamic extremists attacked the World Trade Center.

We started Church of the King because we felt God shifting spiritual winds in Metro Detroit.  Since then it's been our privilege to hoist our sails and experience an unforgettable adventure.

Leah and I have sensed God shifting the winds in our lives again, culminating in a burning bush experience that God gave to us a few weeks ago.  I'll share more of the story later, but here's the word God specifically spoke to us.

God controls the winds, and when the winds shift, God can do a new thing.  But you can't catch the next wind if you're not courageous enough to cut the chord.

This morning we cut the cord.  I shared our story with our church and announced that we feel God calling us to plant another church.  We're not sure where yet.  We feel a bit like Abraham in that regard.  But we've heard his voice so clearly.

On one hand, this has been the toughest decision we've made since being married.  It's difficult because of the deep love we have for our church family, Metro Detroit, and the significant relationships that we've developed here.  To think about change in the context of those relationships makes us very sad.

On the other hand, this has been the most simple decision we've made since being married.  It's clear, because of the confidence we have in what God has spoken to us.  As we've shared our story with family, mentors, and the leaders of our church, they've affirmed what we believe God is saying.  And the only intelligent option for us is to obey God.

I know this announcement raises a lot of questions, and I'll be processing many of them on this blog over the next several days.

I addressed a few of the big questions during my message this morning, as well as shared more extensively about what God has been doing in our hearts.  You can listen to the message here.

You can also read a letter that is being mailed this weekend to the Church of the King mailing list. You can read the letter here.

Shifting winds produce anxiety as well as exhilaration.  Leah and I feel both.  Most of all, we feel honored to joyfully obey the voice of our Commanding Officer.

Let the adventure continue...

Coming Soon

Just had the honor of spending a few hours with my friend Paul Stewart.  Paul is the lead pastor of The Gateway Church, a brand new church launching in downtown Des Moines.  He drove into Detroit late last night with 5 guys on his launch team to pick up their equipment from Portable Church.  The church will launch on September 13 with public gatherings in the Temple for Performing Arts.

It's been about three years since Paul first told me about this dream.  So cool to see it finally take shape!

I encourage you to stay in touch with Gateway and pray for them as they narrow in on their Grand Opening.

The Launch

Royal Oak Family Film Festival

Just over two years ago our church sent a core group of people to plant a new church in downtown Royal Oak.  I'm proud of the great work The Oaks has done to create a presence for the gospel in one of the most eclectic parts of Metro Detroit.

This coming weekend they'll be serving the community.  On Friday night they'll kick off the first annual Royal Oak Family Film Festival.  They're showing some great movies and making the tickets available to the community for free. 

All of the films will be shown at the Main Art Theater in Royal Oak.  This is also the theater where The Oaks gathers to worship on Sundays.  It's a great way for church plants that meet in movie theaters to connect with the community!

If you live in the Detroit area, come on out and enjoy the experience.  If not, will you pray that this will be a great opportunity to build meaningful relationships with our neighbors? 

You can find a full schedule and other detailed information here.

Portable Church Consultation

Today our team will be spending about eight hours with a consultant from Portable Church Industries.  On October 19 we will be expanding our church's weekend service into the auditorium at Southfield Lathrup High School.  Our vision is to amplify our voice in Metro Detroit this fall, and the consultant is going to help us think through some of the details.

We won't be a true portable church since we'll keep our building as a base of operations during the week (offices, small groups, prayer meetings, etc).  But we will be portable again for our weekend gathering.

Fortunately we're only about fifteen minutes away from the premier portalbe church outfitter in the country.  I'm looking forward to hanging with the consultant to dream and learn.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Fields Will Be Bought Here Again

Jeremiah 32 begins with Jeremiah in prison.  Zedekiah put him there for prophesying the destruction of Jerusalem.  While suffering for his prophesy, God told him that he was going to run into his cousin who was going to ask him to buy a piece of land, and that when he did, he should buy it.

This of course was confusing to Jeremiah.  Why invest money into property in a city that's about to be leveled?  Yet God told him to buy the land and bury the deed.  When Jeremiah asked why, God simply responded, "Fields will be bought in this land again."

Faith is the courage to invest resources into God-ventures that no one else may recognize as fruitful at the time.

My friend Norflette leads a church on the East side of Detroit in a depressed neighborhood.  Houses around his church are selling for $500.00.  No one is moving into the neighborhood.  Yet he and his family are investing their money, their dreams, and their lives into the city.  They believe people will buy property there again.

Some church planters decide where to locate by looking for the fastest growing communities.  Then there are others who are called by God to move into places that are being abandoned. 

They believe, like Jeremiah, that God's promise is more concrete than property values.

A Stirring in Amsterdam

Had a great phone conversation this morning with Sebastiaan Van Wessem. Sebastiaan planted a church in 2006 just outside of Amsterdam. He's had tremendous success and has his sights set on expanding into Amsterdam in a few years.

I've been in Amsterdam several times and have a deep burden for that city. It started in 2000 when I was there for Billy Graham's World Evangelism Conference. I stayed in a hotel just a few blocks away from the red light district. I remember walking through those streets in the evenings and praying for God to do something radical. Since then I've had a dream that at some point I could be a part of a partnership to see a church planting movement take hold in Amsterdam.

Yesterday I preached the third message in our What If series.  This week's question: What if we turned our city upside down.

We looked at the Acts 19 account of city transformation in Ephesus. Ephesus was the Amsterdam of the Roman Empire. Large, influential, difficult...Yet a core group of 12 planted a church that disrupted sinful systems and indirectly shut down businesses that profited from the occult. It's one of my favorite stories in the Bible, and my dream for Metro Detroit.

It's so encouraging to see God calling young men to give themselves to transforming the great urban centers of our world.

Name that Church

There's a new church plant in Metro Detroit that's creatively engaging our community.  They don't have a name for the church yet, and that's basically the point. 

They launched a website called namethatchurch.com, where they've invited the community to vote on the name of their church.  The website got them a great article in the local news section of the Detroit Free Press.  The paper even published a schedule of their preview services and grand opening. 

By the way, I love it when new, gospel-centered churches start in our city.  It's an answer to prayer.  It's foolish to be territorial when you're surrounded by thousands of unchurched people. 

Keep em coming!

Be a Catalyst

I met Jonathan Herron almost two years ago.  At the time he was just a few months out from launching Catalyst Church in Kent, Ohio.  He was also adopting a child at the same time.  His "out there on the edge live or die" commitment caught my attention.  Since then I've followed the story of his new church and its impact in one of the most unchurched cities in Ohio.  And it looks like God has given them some strategic opportunities this Easter.

Be a Catalyst explains some partnership opportunities.  I'd encourage you to check it out.  Church planting is the extreme sport of ministry and Catalyst is getting it done!