11.10.08 - 02:26pm
In a previous post on church planting, I shared some of the reasons we struggled to see a healthy biblical community come to fruition. In light of these (if not because of them), I want to share what is next for us on the horizon as far as ministry goes.
First, Sherry (my wife) and I have a renewed sense of both passion and vision for being the church in the place and among the people God has sovereignly placed us. We know that there is no such thing as a “perfect” church this side of perfection, but we are committed to being part of biblical church, which we believe to not only be possible, but normative, for healthy Christians. While this passion and vision are not unique to us, we do desire to make them particular in our time and place through establishing a network of simple churches (gospel communities) based in Metro Detroit and as part of our command to go into all the nations.
Second, we are developing strategic biblical partnerships with a couple of local churches that are sincere in their desire to support our call to church planting. There is an apostolic pattern of being both assessed and commissioned to the work of the ministry in relational ways that best serve both the senders and the sent. I will be doing an internship at Calvary Baptist Church, in Waterford, MI and also spending additional time connecting with and serving alongside the people of Mack Ave Community Church on the east side of Detroit. These relationships will also afford us time to prayerfully renew our strategy for the establishing multiplication of simple churches, which includes the invitation for others to move into our neighborhood and join us on misison as a band of brothers and sisters.
Finally, we plan on continuing to build relationships with others in our community, identify and help meet needs through the gospel, solidify our essentials in ministry and deepen our commitment to the gospel as a family. In other words, my family and I will live ordinary life with gospel intentionality as a means of tilling the ground for planting church/disciple making right here where we are. We haven’t seen the last of our mistakes or lessons but we also haven’t seen all that God will do. 2009 should prove to be interesting indeed.
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11.09.08 - 03:30pm
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith–more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire–may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
-The First Letter of Peter to the elect exiles. (1 Peter 1:3-9)
God, thank you for granting me the faith unto eternal life. Thank you for continuing to guard such a faith to work even as you work in me. May I find inexpressable joy in you as my hope whether in trial or triumph. Amen.
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11.08.08 - 11:46am
11) Every April 1, main White House switchboard redirected to Hillary Clinton’s house between 3 and 4 a.m.
10) Rather than send out stimulus checks from Department of Treasury, they are distributed through Oprah to her studio audiences.
9) Any difficulties with White House septic tank referred immediately to Joe the Plumber.
Water boarding table removed from VP residence to make way for glorified diarama of Scranton, Pa.
7) Out of sympathy for Jon Stewart, Daily Show cameras allowed to follow Joe Biden 24/7.
6) President Obama launches new blog at www.theoval.blogspot.com, doesn’t get anything done in first 100 days.
5) Neither interns nor neo-cons screwing this president!
4) White House prayer breakfast a lot more — what’s the word — fiery.
3) The bad news: Secret Service agents assigned to the president constantly worrying about assassination threats. The good news: the ones assigned to the president’s daughters no longer have to worry about alcohol poisoning.
2) In White House cafeteria Freedom fries go back to French fries, while arugula renamed Hope salad.
1) Answer given when daughters ask if family can get a puppy: “Yes we can!”
[HT: Culture 11]
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11.07.08 - 04:30pm
Two great quotes from my daughter Anna (she’s obviously the creative one):
- “Our president has legs? I thought he was a bush?”
- “So Eve was just one big talking rib?”
Category: family | Tags: | 1 Comment »
11.06.08 - 08:10am
Our family loves the practice of “family worship.” Essentially, this means that the kids do not have separate times of worship, but do so with mom and dad. This includes our daily time together and also our corporate worship gatherings with other believers. There are several reasons why people do not like this or want this and there are several great reasons to embrace it. Here are some quick thoughts I have:
The perceived problems with family worship:
- My kid can’t sit still long enough.
- My kid gets too bored.
- Kids are a distraction to my worship or the worship of others.
While these things sound legitimate at first, they really need to be rephrased. It should read: I haven’t been successful at instilling discipline in my children, they have learned that I don’t have much passion for the worship of the living God and children are ultimately really more of a bother than a blessing. I don’t say that in a condemning tone. After all, I once held all of the above as perceived problems in church life. Obviously, more biblical training/discipline, parents who have a deep passion for worshiping God, and a healthy view of children (Matt. 19:14) will go a long way in alleviating those concerns.
The benefits of family worship:
- Helps the father lead his family well.
- Teaches children that they are valued and welcomed to fully participate.
- Creates the context for more gospel/teachable moments.
- Demonstrates the headship of Christ over his church and models this for the family.
I am sure there are more benefits and more objections. These are just some of the very real and practical experiences we’ve had in moving to a more family oriented form of corporate worship.
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