BLeach

Harvest Cry

Tomorrow we kick off a new series we're calling Harvest Cry.  Our goal as a church is to recommit ourselves to missional living by embracing the mission of God both locally and globally.

Tomorrow we'll start by exploring Jesus' First Commission in Matthew 10.5-16.  I hope to establish a basic theology of "lostness" as a foundation for our response during the series.  Are people really "lost" without Christ?  If so, is there any danger in being lost?  And again, if so, how does that realization impact our lives as followers of Jesus.

We'll also be commissioning our first teams of neighborhood pastors!

I really believe that mission adds meaning to our lives.  And as the church of Jesus Christ, we've got the most meaningful mission of all. 

Can't wait for the series to get started!

Neighborhood Pastors

We're experimenting with a new outreach opportunity this year.  Our goal is to commission teams of two to four volunteers in our church to serve as neighborhood pastors.  Each team will adopt up to five houses in strategic neighborhoods around Southfield Lathrup High School.  The goal is to develop personal relationships with our neighbors, share God's love with them in practical ways, and pray for them consistently. 

We'll kick it off this Saturday with an orientation.  Then each team will take two weeks to pray over their homes before any visiting takes place.  We'll be praying specifically for God to open hearts and bring strategic needs to the surface.  Then each team will visit their homes to simply introduce themselves and express a desire to serve.

After the first visit we'll do like Jesus.  We'll continue to focus on the homes that are most receptive and develop deeper relationships with them. 

So far we've got eleven people signed up!  We'll start things small, learn as we go, and hopefully expand the vision this spring. 

For what it's worth, here are the specific commitments each neighborhood pastor makes:

• A personal relationship with Jesus Christ
• Regular Sunday attendance at COTK
• A consistent, daily devotional life
• Daily prayer for their adopted neighborhood and families
• At least two visits each month to adopted families
• Monthly contact with a coach for encouragement and accountability
• Communicate appropriate neighborhood needs to prayer teams
• Commitment to the vision of COTK
• Attend neighborhood pastor orientation

Looking forward to taking Jesus to the streets!

Teacher Appreciation Weekend

This weekend we'll be honoring teachers for the contribution they make to our community.  Now that we're gathering on Sundays at Southfield Lathrup High School, we're actively looking for opportunities to connect with and serve the students and faculty at the school.

The school allowed us to place invitations in the office mailboxes of every teacher and support staff member.  That's 150 invitations!  We've also been inviting teachers throughout the city.  Can't wait to bless so many contributors on Sunday!

If you call COTK home, there's still time to invite the teachers you know.  The service will be creative, fun, and full of God's Presence!

The Cross and My Barista

One of my greatest fears as a pastor is that somehow, our church would accidentally and unintentionally make sacred things trivial.  So every time we plan to take communion, I always pray for God to make it fresh again.

Yesterday morning I was doing that at Starbucks while making some final preparations for our service.  And a question came to me as I watched the coffee being prepared.  What does the cross mean for my Barista?  I pulled out my journal and wrote something that I later shared with the church as we celebrated communion.

The cross means his life is worth something. That God himself would descend to earth and accept execution says there is some potential in him, some image, that God can see.

The cross means, that like any of us, sin could kill him. The blood and cries and horror say that sin has weight; it has a price; and it ends with violent death.

The cross means there's nothing God won't do to be certain that my Barista's sin won't win. The proof is recorded in history, because the cross says Jesus has already crossed the most extreme option off the list.

The cross means his forgiveness is precious to God. If a son is precious to a father, and if epic sacrifice for the good of others means anything, then the cross says he can be clean.

The cross means that grace is amazing for more than just preachers who come into his store for some decaf coffee on Sunday mornings. Rather, our hearts say, this is the human story; this is his story.

The cross means everything to my Barista. Because of Jesus' unusual triumph, He says to all Baristas, "Be Healed! Be Cleansed! Be Forgiven! Start Again! Be Free!"

Now, if you're reading these words and wishing you were a Barista, then you've missed the point. Please, don't miss the point!  The point, which has been boldly proclaimed for more than 2,000 years, is made to mechanics, and engineers, and athletes, and preachers, and moms, and dads, and high-schoolers, and widowers. The point is for the disappointed, the disilusioned, the hopeful.

The cross of Jesus Christ is a marvelous light, showing the place where you sin dies and real life begins.

The Power of an Invite

Like many churches, we invest money in advertising. We want people in our community to know who we are, where we are, and that our doors are wide open. This has been especially important since we've been gathering to worship in a new location the past two months. We've sent two mass mailers into the community since we've moved, and have a couple more in the works.

But these types of "saturation" techniques will never replace a good, old fashioned, word of mouth invite. The mailer is the air support. But then we need to send in the ground troops.

One of our guests on Sunday confirmed it when she shared her story with me at Guest Central. She received both of our recent postcards, and even testified to feeling unusually drawn to them (that's because we pray over them). But she didn't take the step to visit until her next door neighbor, who happens to be a man who was baptized in our church earlier this year, invited her to come with him.

From her perspective, the invite was a sign from God.

Why don't you let God use you this week? Invite a friend to church!

Rooted

I'm in the home stretch of my Master's Program right now.  I'm done attending classes, and just working my way out from under a mountain of papers! 

The educational journey has stretched my thinking in some important ways.  For example, it has given me a greater value for church history and tradition.  For as long as I can remember I've valued the first century church.  I've often dreamed of being a part of a church planting movement in which the Book of Acts was coming to life.  And I've preached more from the Book of Acts than any other book since we've started our church.

But while I've placed great value on the first 100 years of church history, I haven't thought as much about the last 1,900. Yet I know that Jesus has been actively building his church all along. 

That means that our emerging ministry models should be rooted not only in 1st century Christianity, but also in the lasting traditions that have been carved over the last 20 centuries.  I want to become a better student of church history.  I want to know the major players.  I want to study the most influential movements.  And I want to appreciate the epic legacy of which my life's work is rooted.

Leonard Sweet says that yoked foresight and hindsight yield insight.  In other words, we see further ahead when we use the rearview mirror.

After a Week of Discussing Evangelism in our Culture...

If I speak eloquently of the cultural intricacies of postmodernity, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

If I can explain the postmodern's tendency toward juxtaposition and relative truth, and understand these mysteries, but have not love, I am nothing.

If I have faith that another Jesus Movement is possible, and give away all I have in hopes of inspiring it, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends. As for philosophies, another one will probably come along eventually. And as for people, we all still have the same cravings in our souls.

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

The Cruisefest

I'm pumped for Friday!  The annual Woodward Dream Cruise (which I believe is the largest car cruise in North America) is this Saturday.  The Dream Cruise takes place about one mile from our church. 

On Friday night, the city of Berkley kicks off the weekend with the annual Berkley Cruisefest.  The Cruisefest draws thousands of people, and the cars literally drive right past our building.

Our church will be joining the excitement by throwing a party for the community.  The action starts at 5.30 with free food, a live band, tons of games, and some incredible giveaways.  Someone from our community will actually win a Wii!

This year we have five other churches joining us to sponsor the outreach.  Pretty excited to work together with some great pastors and churches to serve our city!

Send me an email if you live in Metro Detroit and would like to volunteer.  We could use the help!

A New Missionary in Pittsburgh

Yesterday I had the opportunity to team-teach with my good friend Jeff Leake at Allison Park Church.  Together we kicked off their God of this City series.  Our vision at Church of the King is very similar to the vision of APC and I felt right at home preaching there and encouraging people to live as missionaries in their city.

After the service a woman approached me.  She was crying and said, "Don't take this the wrong way, but I hated your message!"  I told her that I knew what she meant, and then listened to her story.  She wound up in Pittsburgh because her husband was relocated there.  But ever since her painful divorce she has hated Pittsburgh.  In addition to reminding her of the pain she's been through, she misses her old home in Virginia, hates the cold winters, and feels isolated and lonely at work.  Yet God has closed the doors on all of her attempts to move.

She also told me that she has had a dream for many years to be a missionary.  Yesterday Jesus released something in her as she realized that God was fulfilling her dream by calling her to love and serve a city that didn't always feel like home.

With her permission I wanted to share her story as a reminder that missionaries come in all shapes and sizes.  One of the greatest adventures in life is to learn to love and serve the community to which Jesus has sent you.

Mythbusters: Going to Church

Each week we send an email newsletter to our church.  (You can subscribe on the home page of our website).  I usually write a personal note to the church to include with the e-letter.  Just thought I'd include this week's message on the blog:

Do you ever catch yourself using certain words or phrases that don't exactly mean what you're trying to say?  I do!  In fact, here's one of the popular phrases that I'm doing my best to unlearn.

I'm going to church.

Just take a minute to think about that phrase.  It assumes something about the nature of the church.  Doesn't it?

It assumes that church is a place I occasionally visit.  It assumes that church is a place where events take place.  It assumes that church is one isolated, compartment of my life: sometimes I'm at church, and sometimes I'm not.

But don't you see the problem?  The church isn't like that at all.  It's not a place that I can drive to or leave.  That's the building that our church owns.  That's the address where we gather each week.  But that's not the church.

We are the church.  You and me, and every other disciple of Jesus Christ; we are His Church.  We are His Church on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and on Sunday.  We represent Jesus to the world twenty-four hours a day.  We live to serve the mission of God seven days a week.  And then those of us who have made a commitment to this local church, Church of the King, gather together.  But here's the beauty of it.

We don't gather at the church.

We gather as the church.

I will probably still continue to use the wrong phrase from time to time.  For me it's even more challenging because I work "at the church." Ha!  But I'm going to work harder at dropping this phrase from my vocabulary.  And here's why.

If Church of the King is only about what happens on Sunday, we will be known mostly for our advertising.  But if our church is mainly about what happens Monday through Saturday in Metro Detroit, we'll be known for our action.

Our mission is to Connect our City to Christ.  That only begins when we gather.

It climaxes when we're sent.