BLeach

Angels and Jesus

I'm really enjoying teaching through the Book of Hebrews in my Wednesday night Life Group.  We're only two weeks into it but I'm loving chapter 1.

I had a thought that inspired me to break this most recent blogging drought.  Hebrews 1 is all about Jesus' divinity.  We see Him enthroned and coronated as King.  He is seated in majesty at God's right hand.  And the chapter actually closes with a picture of Jesus seated on a throne, with his feet up resting on his enemies, commanding angels to move around the earth as his servants helping people toward salvation. 

It's quite a different picture than Jesus' more human moments, like the wilderness and the garden. 

The wilderness happened at the beginning of his ministry.  He fasted 40 days until he was hungry.  Then he faced three serious bouts with tempation.  Hunger.  Temptation.  Sounds like human problems to me.

The garden happened during the stretch run of his ministry.  The cross was on his mind.  He asked God for a way out.  He actually bled in prayer.  Bleading.  Pleading.  Sounds like human problems again.

So think about this.  Who showed up in the wilderness to strengthen him?  And who showed up in the garden to help him?  Both times angels came to serve Jesus.  And now Jesus sits enthroned in heaven, commanding those same angels concerning us. 

The wilderness, the garden and the throne.  It's a vivid contrast of Jesus as the God-man.  The King who commands angels humbled himself until he needed them. 

Jesus Christ.

There's no one else like Him.

Maybe that's why the angels worship Him:)

Discovery

Tonight my imagination was awakened, and I found myself wondering how Christopher Columbus felt when he ran into land and realized what he had discovered.  Disappointment?  Exhiliration?  Fear?  Curiosity?

Possibility or predictability?  Most of us live between these two worlds.  Something new or something proven?  Asia with its previously discovered riches, or a new world where possibility rules?

Where do you fall on the spectrum between possibility and predictability?  Do you ever wake up and wonder what new discoveries might be made in a day?

Saul mounts his donkey and sets off toward Damascus.  His mind is made up about this Jesus legend.  There's a rumor spreading that He's alive.  No way.  Impossible.  He was crucified.  That rumor needs to be silenced.  But somewhere along that road Saul makes a discovery that changes his life forever.  Jesus isn't dead after all.

Questions that can't quite be answered.

Expectations that can't quite be met. 

Assumptions that can't quite be proven.

What emotions do these things stir in you?  If they make you a little nervous, or a bit tentative, it's probably safe to conclude you're human.  But are you willing to risk the unknown for the reward of some jaw-dropping, eye-opening, life-altering discovery?

I think the above uncertainties create an inevitable restlessness that can only be escaped by making a tragic decision to forfeit all sense of destiny and...

settle.

I'd rather learn to ask alot of questions.  I'd rather come to expect the unexpected.  I'd rather have courage enough to acknowledge that some of my assumptions will probably turn out to be wrong.  If none of these words make any sense to you, that's okay.  I'll try to post something else again soon:)  But if some of them echo with your thoughts consider renewing this commitment today:

I won't run from questions.

I will risk unmet expectations.

I will challenge my assumptions.

Funny thing about God.  He could tie the future in a pretty bow and present it to me in a beautiful package of predictability.  But He doesn't.  He lets some of my questions go unanswered.  He lets some of my expectations go unmet.  He lets some of my assumptions wind their way toward discoveries.

Maybe some day I'll find my journey toward Asia interrupted by a world I didn't know existed.  In the courage of this moment I kind of hope so.

Who's Calling Now?

My schedule has changed dramatically over the past 5 years of church planting.  In the fall of 2001 there were some days I would literally wake up and go to my makeshift office and wonder what I should be doing.  I started working on Church of the King 2 days after graduating from Bible College.  It was not only my first time venturing into ministry, it was my first time venturing into the real world.  None of my ministry training classes taught me what I should be doing on Monday, or Tuesday, or Wednesday.

To top that off, my cell phone was the church phone.  When we launched that September we mailed out 20,000 invitations to our launch service...20,000 invitations all with my cell phone number printed on them.  If Mark Driscoll ever asks me to write Confessions of a Reformissional Rev Part 2 I will call chapter 1 "Jesus, I'm a poor church planter who can't afford one million minutes."

Rick Warren was not giving me any awards.  I did not have a purpose driven schedule.

Here's an equation I found to be true:

I don't know what I should be doing + 20,000 strangers have my cell phone number = I do whatever they want me to do.

It only took me a few months of living like this to realize I needed a scheduling strategy.  So I started asking alot of questions.  I put together a short survey and interviewed several pastors and church planters.  The five most common categories of time investment seemed to be:

• Preaching/Teaching (including study)
• Pastoral Care (counseling, hospital visitation, etc)
• Leadership Development
• Community Interaction
• Administration

I still remember my first official weekly schedule.  I just divided it into these five areas. 

I think it's changed at least annually since then.  It didn't take me long to realize that no two pastors are the same.  No two church planters are the same.  God has made me unique.  My mission is the same but my execution of it continues to take its own shape.

I honestly believe that if a leader's schedule looks the same year after year something is wrong.  You can't grow in your understanding of your mission without changing the way you spend your time.  I don't ever want to just develop one good thing and then settle in to maintain it.  I want to continue to create. 

This fall my schedule is changing again.  At the end of September I'll launch Movements, our new one-year church planting training school.  I'll put a chunk of my time into developing our young church planters.  Church planting is so intricately woven into my ministry identity that I know I'll continue to spend more and more time building church planters and launching church plants. 

I'm also looking seriously into a new cohort opportunity that's being offered by the Center of Leadership in order to go after my Master's Degree. 

I keep coming back to these basic questions.  Who has God called me to be?  Where is He directing my time for this next stretch of ministry?  What am I currently doing that I really don't need to be doing?  What leaders do I need to raise up to enable me to make the necessary scheduling adjustments? 

We've all got 24 hours in our day.  That never changes.  How we spend it should.

Tray Tables Up; I'm Home

I've rediscovered my divine wiring.  When I went to Bible College I planned to travel full time as an itinerant evangelist.  I had an itch to travel.  It seemed glamorous. 

After spending my summer in 1999 criss-crossing the country and preaching seven to eight times a week, I realized God had designed me to build something that would transform a city.  Almost seven years later, I'm glad to call Metro Detroit home. 

The past few months have confirmed that decision.  My travel schedule has been busier this spring than at any other time during 5 years of church planting.  I have to admit that it's a bit of a relief to step into someone else's ministry as a guest speaker for a service or two.  For that moment I worry about speaking.  Someone else worries about building. 

But without something to build I'd get bored.

I enjoy traveling but I'm called to build Church of the King and launch a church planting movement in our city.  I want to be a good steward of the gifts God has given me, so I'll remain willing to walk through doors that God opens for me.  But when those opportunities are over, I'll continue to look forward to the descent into the DTW Airport. 

Churches aren't built from airport terminals or hotel rooms. 

I want to pour my life into people.  I want to pour my life into this place.  I want to pour my life into a ministry movement that will still be producing transformation long after I'm gone. 

I want to know the thrill of seeing people grow, even if getting there means I feel the agony of seeing some fail.  I want to be here in September when Church of the King turns five.  I want to be there next March when The Oaks turns one.  I want to be there when The Oaks launches their first baby and makes us a grandparent. 

I dream of longevity.  I dream of building something that will last. 

More than blowing in just to burn up and burn out, I want to burn for forty years without burning up.  If God can do it for a bush, can't He do it for a man?

My friend Jason Patterson can have my frequent flyer miles.  I want to keep driving the half-mile from my house to our church. 

Someday God will ask me to pass this dream on.  When He does I want to hand it off without regret.  I want to know that I spent myself to see Detroit renamed.  I want to be sure that I didn't waste time, take a shortcut, or run away. 

They say Jesus never traveled more than 30 miles from the place where he was born.  My church planting dream was born in and for Detroit.  I can spend the next 30 years living within a 30 mile radius of where I do now and have four million people as neighbors. 

Where else would I go?

What else could I do?

In San Diego I could golf year round.  In San Antonio I could learn Spanish.  But only in Detroit can I live out God's dream for me.  Waking up in Maui to heavenly weather may be good enough for some.  I'd rather wake up to heaven's approval, and for me, that place is right here, right now.

I'm hooked.  I'm here. 

I'm home.

Theology of Bling

Sometimes a prophetic voice rises out of the noise to offer much needed spiritual direction.  That is how I felt this morning when I came across this quote by Mary J. Blige.  She says she has found God.  You can read her testimony on msnbc.com (thanks to Todd for the link).  Here's the part that spoke to me (as spoken to Blender Magazine).

My God is a God who wants me to have things.  He wants me to bling.  He wants me to be the hottest thing on the block.  I don't know what kind of God the rest of y'all are serving, but the God I serve says, 'Mary, you need to be the hottest thing this year, and I'm gonna make sure you're doing that.'"

Maybe this is what I've been missing? 

So...maybe I need to pray for this:

And this:

And one of these:

Seriously, here's my take.  American Christianity has done okay in the material department.  Our buildings are bigger then ever.  Our savings accounts earn more interest than ever. 

Here's the catch.  Our cities are more bound then ever.

High on natural resources; low on supernatural resources.

I had lunch with a new friend yesterday.  He oversees a church planting movement in Virginia.  He asked me how the low economy in Michigan has affected our church.  Here's my response.

Finances are down.  Faith is up. 

During the last few years we've grown in attendance faster than finances.  People are giving, but the economy affects that giving.  But it's amazing how the stretching of the budget inspires the stretching of our faith.  Everytime we've stepped out of the budget comfort zone in obedience and faith God has provided the resources we've needed.  Everytime.

What if the economy collapsed tomorrow?  Would your church's ministry collapse, or stand out? 

Bling is cool.

God's blessing is indispensible.

Post Big Day Depression

I spent this morning with Chris debriefing yesterday's events.  It's always an interesting feeling the day after a big day.  We ran toward Easter both partnering for the Royal Oak launch as well as planning our own Easter Egg Hunt and services.  Many of our volunteers stepped up and worked hard to make it a great day!

Experience has taught me that picking a date in the future to work toward (usually a big event), and finishing it, feels less like crossing a finish line and more like finding myself at a new starting line.  As a result I've become quite familiar with post big day depression!

I think it's more productive to look at big days as checkpoints in the journey.  They may require more energy as they approach, but we still have to pace ourselves for the long haul.  At a checkpoint we can pause, reflect, and regroup for the next strategic push. 

I also think it's important to factor in recovery time on the other side of checkpoints.  I need to recover as a leader.  I also need to plan recovery for the leaders who serve with me.  I stink at this!  I tend to jump right into the next thing, failing to properly celebrate and evaluate the last thing.  This isn't fair or healthy to the leadership teams I serve.   

Recovery could be as simple as changing pace or changing place.  This afternoon we took our staff meeting outside.  We used bright colored poster board to take notes.  I bought everyone King Sized candy bars.  I planned a shorter, more focused agenda.  It was a small yet intentional way for us to recover as a team.

1 Kings 19 is the classic story of post-big day depression.  Elijah confronted 450 false prophets at once.  They were humilated.  He was vindicated.  I've read several reports from church leaders regarding their Easter services yesterday.  They were great reports, but I have yet to come across one where fire fell from heaven during the service.  Elijah was literally at the top of the mountain. 

After the fire fell, he outran a chariot all the way to Jezreel.  That's roughly 25 miles.  He outran a chariot 25 miles.  That's anointing.  It's also adrenaline.  Sometimes we forget that they go together.

When Elijah finally stopped running he crashed.  He realized that he still had enemies.  He realized that his work wasn't done.  If anything, it was just beginning. 

Winning always generates more work.  Winning the Super Bowl doesn't make the 2006 season easier for the Steelers.  It means 16 teams will highlight them on their schedules.

Isn't Elijah's experience a microcosm of a Pastor's Monday morning blues?  We run toward Sunday.  God's anointing comes and our adrenaline pumps.  Then we wake up Monday morning to realize that we still have enemies.  The work isn't done.  If anything, it has just begun. 

The misconception is that big days finish the work.  If anything, big days increase the work.  It's okay to celebrate the fact that your attendance sky-rocketed on Easter Sunday.  Just don't forget these two equations.

More People = More Needs

More Needs = More Work

I think that in church leadership we need to plan big days.  We need to cast vision and point our people toward big days.  But we also need to pace ourselves.  We need to plan for recovery.  And we need to expect increased spiritual warfare in response to spiritual victories.  I want my legacy to be more than "He led a few successful events."  I want it to be "He lived a lifetime of effective ministry."

Revelation Overload

You've probably heard of information overload.  Considering you live in the 21st century you've probably experienced it. 

The past two days for me have been revelation overload.  Imagine the feeling of sitting at the last session of a first class, two-day conference.  You've got a binder full of information and you still can't write fast enough to get everything down that the speaker is saying.  That's how I've felt since Monday, except the speaker has been God.  I've had my laptop on and my prayer journal open but I haven't been able to type/write fast enough to record everything He's said to me. 

I think God has to speak to us in spurts, especially when He's speaking revelation.  There's only so much we can take at a time.  This week God took me to my limit.  It's as if He's revealed to me more about His plan for my life in two days than He has in the past two years.  I'm pretty sure that's not true, but at the end of the two days it feels like it's true.

Two thoughts about the experience (since I don't have room here for 2,222 thoughts).

The revelation gifts of knowledge and prophecy (1 Corinthians 12) are for real.  After these two days I can personally prove it.  Four different people, all from different states, either got together in an elaborate conspiracy or supernaturally heard from God for me.  After what God has just done I feel so spoiled.  For two straight days He took a flourescent magic marker and wrote me messages in the sky.  I'm so thankful.

God really, really, really loves us.  He desires to speak to us.  His heart is to guide us.  He gets a kick out of proving Himself to us.  If we will put ourselves in strategic positions to hear from Him, we will.

Authority

Tonight I had the opportunity to meet Ron Johnson, pastor of Bethel Temple in Hampton, Virginia.  In addition to pastoring his church, God has brought him into relationship with hundreds of church planters all over the world.  He currently oversees a network of several hundred churches.  I asked him how it developed and was blown away by his story.  He didn't set out to develop a network of churches.  It happened naturally as young men he had committed to serve in turn sought out relationship with him. 

The thought he shared that stuck out to me was about ministry authority.  There are two kinds: political authority and spiritual authority.  Spiritual authority is given to us by God and when a leader has it, others are drawn to him naturally.  He doesn't have to seek it or fight to keep it.  Political authority is positional authority, and can only be maintained by political posturing and leveraging. 

Someone with political authority ends up abusing relationships in order to protect his position.  A leader with spiritual authority is free to serve others without fear of losing position or title, since it was never his to begin with. 

Guess which type of authority Jesus had?

Spinning Out of Control

I've continued to think about my accident yesterday.  I lost control of my Jeep when I hit a patch of ice, spun 180 degrees around, and crashed into the guardrail.  5 seconds without control of my car felt like 5 hours. 

The first person I thought of was Jesus.  I probably said his name 15 times in those 5 seconds.  It was 5 seconds of spinning and saying, "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus." 

I've seen something as a pastor.  You can't live very long without losing control of your life.  Cancer, job loss, relationship breakdowns; no one plans for them.  They sneak up on us.  They surprise us.  And they strip away any illusion of control that we thought we had.  In those moments, when 5 seconds feels like 5 hours, and you feel like your life is spinning out of control, the smartest thing you can do is think of Jesus and speak His name as often as you can.   

I think there's a correlation between losing control and depending on God.  For some reason it seems more difficult for most of us to depend on God when we feel like we have control of our lives.  When things are going as planned we can be rather self-dependent.  But when we hit a patch of ice and start spinning, all it takes is about 5 seconds for us to be reminded that we're in big trouble without God's help. 

Why I Use His Name

I had a close call this morning.  I'm still waiting for my heartbeat to return to normal. 

I was merging on the highway on my way to the office when the car behind me sped up to pass me.  I put my foot on the brake to let him by, hit an ice patch, lost control, spun 180 degrees, and crashed into the guardrail.  I've been in other accidents (like rear ending my dad last year) but none where I had time to think about what could happen before it was over.  Today I probably had a good 5 seconds after I lost control where I knew I couldn't slow down and that I was going to crash hard. 

The first person I thought of was Jesus.  Seriously.  I probably said His name 15 times in those 5 seconds.  He didn't seem far away to me.  He seemed to be the closest person on the planet.  When I got out of the car a few minutes later I called my mom.  But the first person I called was Jesus. 

The name of Jesus is used for alot of different reasons today.  Some people use it to laugh at it.  Some people use it to curse.  Others use it to express their anger.  For me, that name is my lifeline.  I wouldn't dare misuse it, because I know how much I need it. 

Sure, I'm still getting over the frustration of another $500.00 deductable.  Sure, I'm still getting over the frustration of a probable hike in my insurance premium.  But mostly I'm grateful to have walked away without any injuries. 

My mom gave me a ride back from the body shop.  Keith will fix my car.  But Jesus and his angels kept me safe.