BLeach

Asleep in Strange Places

We're traveling to Michigan later today for ministry this weekend. Looking forward to preaching the morning services at Freedom Christian on Sunday. I'll also have the opportunity to share the vision of the Philly Project!

Yesterday afternoon God gave me a message I'm calling Asleep in Strange Places. Daniel had every reason to be stressed out. He was a political refugee. His co-workers hated him. And once Darius signed the decree they suggested, he faced an impossible choice to either continue praying toward Jerusalem, or face certain death. Yet the contrast in Daniel 6 between Darius and Daniel is amazing. 

While Darius is pacing in the palace, Daniel is sleeping in the lion's den. Counter-intuitive indeed.

Contrary to popular opinion, peace is not the absence of trouble. Rather, it's a deep, abiding trust in the grace of God, experienced in the Presence of God. That's why the Bible is full of stories of people sleeping in strange places.

Daniel sleeps with lions.

Peter sleeps in prison (Acts 12.6).

Jesus sleeps in a boat during a violent storm (Mark 4).

If stress affects our bodies negatively so that we can't eat or sleep, supernatural peace sets things right. No matter what you're experiencing today--stop pacing, start praying, and sleep like a baby!

The Things You Set in Motion

One of the reasons I plant churches is because I believe our success is not only measured by what we accomplish, but also by the events we set in motion. 

Who knows what history changing chain of events you might launch through your life today!

I saw this commercial on Sunday during the final round of the Masters. What might be happening 30 years from now because of what's happening through your life right now?

Another Weekend in Philadelphia

Leah and I enjoyed three terrific days in Philadelphia this past weekend. Here are some random reflections.

• Several of our team members joined us for this trip. So good to introduce them to the five neighborhoods we've been focusing on.
• Leah designed a fun, interactive competition to help us tour the neighborhoods. It lasted Thursday and Friday and included trivia, neighborhood history, demographic info, and other random games. 
• I love my wife's creativity!
• After walking through each neighborhood, we'd gather on a street corner to share observations and pray.
• I can't even describe how helpful it was to get input from our team. I'm still processing much of what we experienced, but I think two or three of the neighborhoods emerged as our likely target.
• While we work to narrow our focus toward a launch neighborhood, we're simultaneously broadening our focus to see the city as a whole. One of the driving factors for our decision is to find a place from which we can launch our future church plants.
• In other words, we want to strategically position ourselves for continued multiplication.
• During this trip Philadelphia actually started feeling more like home. The weather was great, the city looked beautiful, and Leah and I talked a lot about what it will feel like to raise our family there.
• I'm also finding my way around the city much better.
• Being with some of our team members felt like being with family. This is a huge answer to prayer, since Leah and I are moving to a city without a pre-existing network of relationships.
• Philly has great food. I'm serious. Really, really good.
• I'm concerned about blowing up to 300 pounds.
• This trip was also the most exhausting so far. We started every day early and ended late. But spiritually and emotionally it was an invigorating three days!
• There is one thing that all five of our focus neighborhoods have in common--people! There are thousands of people everywhere!
• When Leah and I felt God calling us away from COTK, we decided it wouldn't be the size of an organization or ministry that would attract us, but the size of the opportunity. The more time I spend in Philadelphia the more my faith explodes. Planting churches throughout this city really is the opportunity of a lifetime!

There's a lot that will be developing with The Philly Project over the next few weeks. Stay tuned to the blog and our website to continue experiencing the adventure as it unfolds!

Missionaries Like Jesus

We're driving to Philadelphia today to spend the weekend with several members of our team. Most of them are moving to Philly from various parts of the country. We're all missionaries. And our task has me thinking more and more about Jesus, who happened to be the greatest missionary of all time.

Jesus moved into a very different, sinful culture. Heaven to earth--that's a big move! There has never been a missionary who experienced a bigger cultural transition than Jesus.

Second, Jesus immersed himself in that culture. Jesus didn't learn about sinners from a distance. He shared life with them. He ate with them. He learned their language by attending their parties. He befriended real people.

Third, Jesus was able to truly befriend people without ever sinning a single time. He never condoned sin or participated in it. He didn't lose his flavor or blend in. He taught the Scripture and modeled the Kingdom of God in a radically counter-cultural way.

And then, before he finished his missionary assignment, he sent his disciples to do the same type of missionary work. As the father has sent me, even so I am sending you (John 20.21). 

I feel honored to move to Philadelphia to be a missionary like Jesus!

What about you? In the context God has called you to, are you a resident or a missionary?

Some Philly Project Updates

We continue to push ahead in our work to launch a church planting network in the city of Philadelphia! Here are a few random updates.

• We're still living in Pittsburgh for another few months, working with our supporting church and laying the groundwork for the church plant.
• I'm enjoying my time at Allison Park Church. They have great momentum right now. This was an exciting update from Jeff--our godfather of church planting!
• This weekend we'll be traveling to Philly for three days. Excited about several of our team members joining us.
• Thursday afternoon and Friday will be full of touring our five target neighborhoods. It will be good to get some input and feedback from some others on our team.
• Some of the people on our team don't even know each other yet, so we'll do some fun, relational building activities this weekend as well.
• More than anything, I'm looking forward to some time to pray together as a team.
• I desperately want prayer to be the foundation for our church planting efforts.
• Speaking of prayer, would you consider signing up for our prayer team if you haven't already?
• You can sign up here.
• Our dream is to build a prayer team of 500 people praying five minutes a week for the Philly Project. We're currently approaching 400! Will you help us get to our goal?
• If you sign up for the prayer team you'll begin receiving the Philly Five, a weekly email with five strategic prayer points.
• Looking forward to adding some more interactive elements to phillyproject.com in a few weeks.
• I have enjoyed meeting many pastors and church planters throughout the city of Philadelphia. God is already doing great things in our city!
• I'm disappointed by the Mcnabb trade. I've always liked Donavan Mcnabb, and hate that he's leaving now that I'm coming.
• My personal opinion is that this is a mistake by the Eagles.
• We're doing as much research as we can right now about the city. If you come across an interesting article or link connected to life in Philadelphia, I'd love for you to email it to me.

Certain Uncertainty

To be certain of God is to be uncertain in all your ways.

I've always loved reading that quote from Oswald Chambers. But I don't always like living it. Yet it seems like uncertainty has been the recent theme of my life.

• When Leah and I resigned from Church of the King to follow God in planting a new church, we didn't know where we would go.
• When God called us to Philadelphia, I had never been there in my life.
• When God called us to Philadelphia, I didn't know anyone there and wondered where our team would come from.
• We still don't know how we're going to sell our house in Michigan.
• We still don't know where we'll live in Philly.
• We still don't know which neighborhood our church will be launched from in Philly

We're certain that God has called us to do this. But that's about it!

Meanwhile, God has really been encouraging me this weekend to embrace these uncertainties as opportunities to trust him. 

In Luke 9, a man who was apparently impressed with Jesus' ministry made a big statement. I'll follow you wherever you go. Jesus' response was brilliant. You know, the whole "foxes have holes but I don't have a place to stay response."

First, it encourages me as I wonder where we're going to live in Philly to know that Jesus himself was homeless!

Second, when this guy expresses a desire to follow Jesus, the invitation is to a life of uncertainty. Sure! You can follow me. But I can't tell you where we're going to stay tonight or what we're going to eat tomorrow.

When Jesus calls us, He doesn't always tell us where the provision is going to come from. In fact, I think our ability to accomplish something great for God is directly related to the amount of uncertainty we're able to bear. If you demand that resources are readily available and outcomes are easily predictable before responding to God, then you'll most likely miss the opportunity.

We don't always think of Easter Sunday as a day of uncertainty, but originally the disciples had no idea how they're futures were going to play out. All of their plans were buried with Jesus. The three days between Good Friday and Easter Sunday were packed with uncertainty.

Yet this verse is stunning! Go ahead, read it again. These women, after visiting the tomb of Jesus, go home on the Sabbath and rest. Did you catch that? Suffering from uncertainty, sandwiched between the cross and the empty tomb, they go home on the Sabbath and rest.

When we face uncertainty we want answers. But God wants our trust!

Additionally, the resurrection reminds us that any uncertainty we feel related to the plan and call of God is only apparent uncertainty. The outcome is not undecided. God knows what is around the corner. Our responsibility is not to share his knowledge, but to trust His leading.

Good For Us, Not For Him

I'm looking forward to preaching the Good Friday services at Allison Park Church this week. It's an honor to inspire people to remember the cross, and lead them in communion.

It's always been interesting to me that we call it "Good Friday." I guess we do because we know the end of the story. We have the benefit of hindsight and know what happened three days later. But for those who loved Jesus, in the moment, there was nothing good about it.

I also wonder if I call it good because my default position is to evaluate something based on what it does for me. It was good for me, but not for Jesus.

To flip it, the reason I'm free to live for God today, is because Jesus was willing to surrender to something that was bad for him, yet good for me.

So here's my challenge to you. This week, to honor the memory of "Good Friday," what is one thing you can do for someone else that's good for them, but not for you. 

Good for your wife, but maybe painful for you. Good for your parents, but maybe inconvenient for you. Good for a friend, but costly for you.

This is, after all, the attitude of our Savior. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others (Philippians 2.4).

Becoming My Own Grandfather

Yesterday I had the opportunity to preach at The Oaks. They're about to celebrate their four year anniversary. It was a rewarding day.

Five years ago God put a dream in my heart of launching a church plant in downtown Royal Oak. It was my privilege to lead Church of the King in sending a core group and partnering with Chris and Nicki Bradshaw as they established a creative church in one of the most unique mission fields of Metro Detroit.

Yesterday they blessed us with an offering for The Philly Project. Leah joked that it was as if I had become my own grandfather. We parented The Oaks, and now they're helping us get launched with the new church plant God has put on our hearts. I love the reproducing spirit!

It was a joy to see the growth that's happening at The Oaks. So many new families, babies and kids. The people are great--and really diverse spiritually, socially, generationally and racially. Their worship team has a very unique flavor, and the whole gathering was setup with excellence.

Leah and I even got to grab lunch with Chris and Nicki afterward. Other than Gabs throwing up all over the floor it was great fellowship! So proud of the entire team at The Oaks!

Living Your Passion

I'm currently reading a short, inspiring book by Gary Vaynerchuk called Crush It. He's transforming the way business is done by sticking to three simple rules.

• Love your family
• Work superhard
• Live your passion

Church planting is tough work, but there's nothing else I'd rather be doing. In Gary's words, here's why.

Live your passion. What does that mean, anyway? It means that when you get up for work every morning, every single morning, you are pumped because you get to talk about or work with or do the thing that interests you the most in the world. You don't live for vacations because you don't need a break from what you're doing--working, playing, and relaxing are one and the same. You don't even pay attention to how many hours you're working because to you, it's not really work. You're making money, but you'd do whatever it is you're doing for free.

I love Gary's passion, and love what I do. But for the record, I do still look forward to vacation!

Suffering and the Father

On Tuesday night I gave a talk to Apex, APC's young adult group, on the question, "How could a good God allow suffering?" Intimidating topic for sure!

It's a tough question because it's a personal question. Many of our God questions are philosophical in nature. The suffering question has philosophical implications as well, but the intensity of the question comes from the heart, not the head. It comes out of our own intense circumstances.

Since it's a personal question, I wanted to remind the group that God made it personal as well. We're about to start Passion week, which is an opportune time for Christians to reflect on the pain Jesus endured at the cross, and His eventual triumph and resurrection. God doesn't ignore our suffering. He experiences it Himself. The cross doesn't necessarily give a pretty answer to the question of suffering, but as Tim Keller argues in The Reason for God, it does show us what the answer isn't. The answer isn't that God doesn't love us, and it isn't that God doesn't care.

A personal question also demands a personal response. One reason God rarely answers the "why" question may be because more than anything, He wants us to trust Him. In this way, our suffering becomes an opportunity to experience His love in a greater way.

Gabby has not been herself the past few days, so yesterday Leah took her to the doctor, who diagnosed her with a double ear infection (an infection in both ears). For the record, I absolutely hate seeing my little girl suffer. It's awful. And I just wish there was some magical way for me to take it away.

But if there is a redeeming thread, it is that the ear infection made Gabby very mellow. Typically she is all over the place, crawling and wiggling and never sitting still. But last night she sat on my lap the entire night. I've never spent more time cuddling with her. I hate that she is sick, but I love the way her sickness drives her to daddy.

God doesn't enjoy seeing us suffer. This isn't the world He intended. But when we leverage our suffering to press into Him; that must please Him.

On a funnier note, I posted a note to Twitter about Gabby's ear infection. One friend added this comment on Facebook: "I think as long as it's not a triple it shouldn't be too serious."

The moral of the story--things could always be worse. She could have three ears :)