We can’t. God can.
We are coming up to a very pivotal time in the life of Living Hope. We've discussed this nebulous concept of "launching" for some time now, but we have yet to see it come about. That's going to change in the next few months. I'll be filling everyone in on the details this Sunday.
For now, here's what you need to know: we can't. I don't want to sound cheesy by any means, much less cliche, but we simply can't do it. There are a hundred things that need to be done and need to be ready to make for a good launch according to all the experts. Don't get me wrong, I don't disparage the wisdom of those who have done this many times over. I want us to be as successful as we can be and need to be in the realm of pragmatics and methods so that we can be as efficient as possible in terms of being eternally successful by reaching the lost with the glorious hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That being said:
We can't grow our church beyond 50. But God can.
We can't find a building to hold more people adequately. But God can.
We can't find a person who loves children and wants to pour themselves out for them by leading our children's ministry and nursery. But God can.
We can't find a person who has the heart and experience to do this youth group thing in such a way that it is close enough to what both students and parents expect yet different enough from that to be impacting upon a student's life. But God can.
We can't find a worship leader who is not only greatly gifted, but greatly rooted in Scripture and transformed by grace—and is available. But God can.
We can't afford to pay for my salary, support staff, or any bills and/or ministry expenses above what we currently have and operate with. But God can.
We don't have enough men to lead their families in such a way that changes an entire city and shapes its culture. But God does.
We don't have the wisdom to make this thing last more than a few short, fiery months before it fizzles out into nothing more than a faded memory. But God does.
We don't have the power to change people's minds from the "elementary principles of this world" that are inherent in the religious presumptions that our city and its people have at their core. But God does.
We can't make the gospel beautiful to those who are blind. But God can.
Time and time again, without fail, we are lacking. But God isn't.
More often than not I am faithless. But God isn't.
I am weak. God isn't.
And with all of these things in mind, we simply can't. But God can. And he has promised He will.
It's time for us to pray like it, to work like it, and to trust like it is in fact the case. Would you join me? Our city needs hope. We can't put it in their hearts and we can't make them see it. But God can. Therefore we go.
God’s Faithfulness: In Job Loss – Part 2
Since my wife lost her job, God has been doing some amazing things. We had to cut expenses big time and God provided all of the solutions.
I sold my car and got a free car in exchange! Paij also sold her car and got a car in great condition for a great price! Our friends in the church bought food for us, gave us their own money, helped pay off our debts, and were incredibly supportive through the entire process. It has been nothing short of miraculous.
I'm writing this because we are still in prayer for Paij's new job. Nothing has been finalized. But while we've been waiting, God provided a mysterious check for over $1500 that will more than get us through this waiting period.
If you had prayers for us, thank you. God has answered them. Be encouraged, fellow Hoper's, God is faithful.
Remember God Together
This past week we began a short new series entitled Remember. The first installment was regarding God, remember who he is, his holiness, his kingship, and his bigness. The passage that we looked at was the first portion of Isaiah 6 in which the prophet Isaiah has a grand vision of God when he goes to the temple. Part of that vision was the seeing of the seraphim who stand above God and worship him continually as they cry out, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts!" As far as we can tell, these massive beings are created and engineered solely for the purpose of worshiping YHWH.
Anobservation that I didn't get time to comment on this past week, however, is that there are two of them. There isn't just one. Perhaps this seems too obvious to comment on, but I do think it has implications. We can certainly worship God by ourselves. Indeed, we ought to. Being alone is no excuse to not worship. However, corporate worship is always sweeter. Having another being who is tapping into the reality of who God is, who is worshiping him as a result, and who, in themselves, reflects God's glory in a unique and profound way adds to our affections in very real and significant ways.
Adam was made to worship through his stewardship in the Garden. He was made to worship by bearing God's image in the created order. Yet God deemed it inappropriate for him to do it alone. It couldn't be done! Again, it's not that Adam couldn't and shouldn't worship by himself if he happened to take a stroll through the Garden or was on a search for a lost monkey. Rather, it's an issue of the primary mode of worship. The primary mode of worship, where we see worship done at its best in Scripture, is corporate in nature. From Genesis to Revelation, God desires a people for worship, not a person here and a person there.
Jonathan Edwards makes some great points about worship in general regarding our affections expressing themselves through bodily things such as a lively voice, a lifted hand, and other such acts of worship. He says that to stifle the physical manifestations of inner affections puts out the flame of the affections themselves, much like trying to cover a flame robs it of the oxygen it needs to continue burning. He goes further to say that corporate affections are stifled by our individual stifling. If I decide to thwart my affections from showing themselves bodily, I not only quench my own flame but also that of my brother who is beside me. Conversely, for him to see my heart come out in my worship is to fan the flames of his own affections which would then necessarily give rise to his bodily expression thereof. You can see how this quickly becomes a domino effect for the glory of God. Here's some quotes from a selected reading (you can read the larger part here):
Now there is an indissoluble, unavoidable association, in the minds of the most rational and spiritual, between things spiritual and things bodily. Thus when we are joyful and express our joy, 'tis natural to do it with a lively voice; and when we express sorrow, to do it with what we call a mournful voice...
Therefore if, when we come to praise God or confess our sins, we resolved not in any measure to alter our manner of expression for sorrow or joy, we must restrain that which is strongly associated with the joy and sorrow; and thereby shall unavoidably, in some measure, forever restrain the spiritual affections themselves, till we quite dissolve the association...
Thereby there grows a strong association, so that if one be restrained the other will unavoidably be restrained too. So that some bodily worship is necessary to give liberty to our own devotion; yea though in secret, so more when with others. For we having associated the idea of reverence and other habitudes of mind to such and such gestures of body, it would restrain our notion or apprehension of another's reverence, etc., if we should see those gestures which we have associated to contrary dispositions; so that our own devotion would not be so much assisted by theirs but restrained, and the communion in the duty in some measure destroyed...
'Tis necessary that there should be something bodily and visible in the worship of a congregation; otherwise, there can be no communion at all.
So, let's worship like we mean it, like we truly serve this God who is high and lifted up. It should naturally overflow and then should spill over to one another as we beckon each other to enjoy our great God, calling to each other like the seraphim: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts!"
God’s Faithfulness: In Job Loss
This past month I decided to finally pick up and read Desiring God by John Piper and it changed my life. It's a great book because of the magnifying glass it brings to Scripture; it's life-changing because of when God put it in my life.
The book summed up in a sentence is this: God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. The pursuit of joy in God is an absolute must in a Christian's life, but so often we exchange true, boundless joy in God's promises for paper-thin, fading pleasures of the here and now. I couldn't see how much I was doing this until my wife lost her job.
Paij was bringing home a substantial paycheck before her company dissolved. We lived comfortably, tithed comfortably, and worshipped comfortably. Though we lived against the "American Dream," we still enjoyed the "Christian American Dream." God graciously decided that we needed to be fixed.
Though we lost the job race, we were absolutely victorious in the pursuit of joy. God used his people through prayer to bless us, to help us, take care of us, literally and spiritually feed us, and show love to us in ways that we have never experienced. We have less shiny material things now, but the shiny invaluable gems that it birthed in our souls will render us eternally thankful to God for his mercy and kindness, and to his people for obeying his command to weep with those who weep.
I'm telling you of this victory to remind you of God's promises. I want you to see that joy isn't found in the things that fade away, but that "at [his] right hand are pleasures forevermore," (Ps. 16:11). I like the way that C.S. Lewis puts it:
We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.
Give up the slums for eternal joy in the presence of the Master, it's quite the victory indeed.
- Joel
Victories
Hey all,
This is less of an actual post and more of a heads up. We are going to start really trying to use the blog again for teaching, encouragement and celebration. We now use the City to make announcements, promote events, coordinate ministries and all that jazz, thus the blog isn't needed for such things any more. So, we're putting it to a new (and better!) use.
What you'll be seeing a lot more of is celebration of various sorts. If work and time are being put into the blog, then of course I'd love for you to check it out regularly so that it has value. But, considering this particular use, I strongly encourage you to take advantage of it. Not only do I encourage you to, I'm asking you to for the sake of your own faith and godliness.
The reason being is that we will begin posting more about victories. Things that God is doing in our church and in the lives of our people. Our faith is always dependent upon and rooted in the prior faithfulness of God. That's why I say this is "for the sake of your own faith." If you don't ponder God's goodness to you, to your brothers and sisters in Christ, and to your church, then wherein lies your faith? The second something or someone comes along questioning it you'll fall prey to questions as well because of a lack of rock solid answers that you have experienced personally and seen in the lives of others.
So, to that end we will be sharing stories of hope, of triumph and of God's faithfulness. He deserves the glory. You need the joy of seeing Him work. Therefore we'll blog about God's goodness to his people. Check regularly. If you're tech savvy then use an RSS reader to stay constantly connected. Check out the Facebook page regularly in the Notes section to see our posts. Do whatever you need to to not miss out on sharing the joy of tasting and seeing that the Lord is good.
What Next?
For those who were with us last night, we continued on our series in Stewardship by dealing with arguably the most important thing we steward: wealth. The reason it is so important isn't because of intrinsic value of dyed paper, pressed metals, etc., but because of how indicative our wealth is of where our treasure is and thus where our heart is.
If you missed it, then please make sure to check out the podcast and catch up. I really can't stress how important last week's message was for us as a church and for all of us as individual believers.
One of the things that I unfortunately couldn't get to (there were a lot of things, actually) was the what happens next. We've discussed a lot of the biblical underpinnings regarding stewarding our money well, but what do I do now? After seeing some of these truths in Scripture, what steps should I take to help foster a lifestyle of good stewardship? That's exactly what this blog post is about.
For Starters
The first place to start, probably, is to simply get these things we discussed deep into your heart. If an emotional response causes you to give above and beyond for a night, a week, or a month, then really nothing has happened of any value. The reason Scripture talks about money as it does and the reason we discussed it like we did last night wasn't so that our giving box would be overflowing (funny side note, we had the lowest giving we've had in months last night), but so that your heart would be in the proper place when it does give.
So, make certain you understand the why of giving. Giving naturally flows out of gratitude; it is a bi-product of grace. So the first real question isn't "how much do you give" but "how much have you been given?" If you don't get that far you won't go anywhere near being truly generous.
Big Hearts Can Start Small
Again, we don't want an overreaction that is based on emotions. You can let your heart swell big and large from reflections on what God has given you and still start off small with your giving. Whatever your current giving is, just step it up a little bit. If you give sporadically, start making it a priority to give weekly (or bi-monthly, monthly, etc., whatever works best in relation to your pay days). If you give 5% regularly, shoot for 8-10%. If you're already giving 10%, then that's great, but as we spoke of last night, the tithe is no more biblical for the Christian than is the slaughtering of a ram to atone for you sins. It's simply not a proper response for someone rescued from the law by grace. So, if you can afford to give more than 10% then it's time to push forward beyond the tithe.
The Ground Matters
Giving of your wealth is compared to sowing seed (see 2 Cor. 9). As such, you can't just throw it anywhere and expect it to sprout and bring fruit. To do so would be to be a big giver and a big failure at stewarding all at the same time. You need to know where you're putting this stuff. Perhaps it seems partial, but this would be, in my estimation, a great template to go by or at least start with: aim to work up to 10% going to your local church since, after all, you probably are there because it's worth sowing your life into and as such will provide a great plot to plant your monetary seeds as well. As you work to give beyond the tithe, branch out prayerfully. Adopt a kid in Uganda or sponsor a child through agencies like Compassion International or World Vision. Have a 'free fund' that allows you to distribute $xx.xx every month to random people. It could be a person at Starbucks that runs out of money after ordering, a friend's meal after church, paying for gas for someone at the gas station 'just because', etc. Supporting ministries that you are receiving much help from is another great place to give since they, unlike churches, don't have regular membership or attendees (e.g., Desiring God Ministries if you listen to lots of their podcasts, get their online books for free, etc).
But, all of this is just a template. It's actually a template from my own life. We give 10% to Living Hope and then on top of that support several children, give to Desiring God, and try to bless people throughout our days wherever and however we feel led. The point is that you need to pray through your giving. Don't just squander your seed. At the same time, don't make this an overly spiritual thing. Don't get me wrong, the way you spend your money is more spiritual than you or I normally realize; it is nothing less than worship! However, it is spiritual and worshipful to do an everyday thing like take a friend to lunch. Don't limit yourself to whatever your idea of spiritual and extravagant may be.
Transparency Triumphs
Finally, all of this is pointless if you have no one that you are accountable to. We love our money. It is one of the most obvious effects of the fall; so much so, in fact, that money is the thing that Jesus pits against God in matters of receiving our worship (Lk. 16). If left to ourselves, even the best plans and most prayerful intentions will go awry before very long. We will forget, we will forge, we will compromise, we will fail. That's all there is to it.
Families, be transparent with one another. Husbands and wives need to know the finances backwards and forwards, both spouses being a part of the process of praying and deciding on things. Fathers, share with your children what's going on and why; teach your children how to be generous and you'll leave a legacy few men in the world have. If you're a single person, grab a friend and work through things together. You don't have to share every detail, every debt, every income or anything like that, but make sure that they know they have the right to pry into your life in this very sensitive area. Don't keep guards up against them asking and poking into your life. Invite them and encourage them to do so. What you need to guard is not your friends but your heart from the deceitfulness of riches (Mk. 4.19).
True Treasure
The last word is that Jesus is our only true Treasure. He is the only one that is worth us spending our lives to have. He is the only one that is fit for us, actually. We are eternal beings and thus are in need of having a Treasure that will outlast this lifetime. Anything less will only leave us wanting. Jesus, on the other hand, will be a Treasure that we can never exhaust throughout all the ages of eternity to come.
Are you ready to live for true riches?
Why?
Postmodernity at its core
The above picture shows the essence of postmodern thought and ideology. This type of thinking is the air we breathe. But as it shows the essence of postmodernity, so too it shows the fundamentally self-destructive nature of it. Postmodernity simply can't stand on its own terms.
If it says question everything, it falls under its own scrutiny. If it says that nothing is absolutely true, then it absolutely negates its own claim in literally the same breath. Postmodernity cannot find a way to say anything regarding its essential shape and nature without refuting it simultaneously. It is nothing less than self-destructive.
As such, it should be no surprise to us that it is destroying the minds of a generation, the morals of a culture, and the standards of even the most prestigious academicians. It is a virus introduced in order to cure the ailments of naivety brought about by modernity but has now done its own seemingly irrevocable damage to our minds and souls.
Why question everything? Because much of it has been tainted by postmodernity.
Close to Home
We find ourselves in between two very disastrous realities. Below us we have 210,000 gallons per day of oiling being pumped into the Gulf of Mexico. Above a city is figuring out what to do after what has been called a "500-year flood" swept away lives and livelihoods in a matter of a few hours.
But why should we care and what does it really have to do with us as Christians? Both are natural disasters in their own way. Both effect the environmental state of things heavily. Both bring suffering into the lives of people, both believers and non-believers. Both have the potential for shutting down industries as we know them, at the very least for a season. As such, both bring furthering ripples of suffering into the lives of many.
Homes devastated by flood waters
Nashville
The list of reasons could go on, but hopefully that's more than enough to start moving people into at least considering action. The human element of suffering is enough in itself to sale the case. Nashville is a days trip from us. While people there try to figure out what part of their lives to throw away and what parts to attempt salvaging, we could be a force of help and hope by simply giving a weekend of our time. Organizations like Samaritan's Purse allow smaller groups like ours to show up and hit the ground running with minimal to no expenses incurred on our part. So, the question continues to change from "why should we help?" to "why shouldn't we?" The obstacles of finances, finals, school, logistics and most everything else is out of the way, meaning we're faced simply with the substance and content of our hearts.
My hope is that we can send multiple teams throughout the summer for a few days at a time to help rip out houses, disinfect for mold, minister the gospel, hand out water, and do anything and everything else that the hurting people of Nashville and the surrounding areas need after a disaster of this sort turns things upside down for them.
The Gulf
Oil in our Gulf threatens the environment as well as the livelihood of many on the Gulf Coast
The oil spill is a bit different, initially that is. It will eventually, if things go as predicted at this point, hammer hard our coast's job market, tourism, and the likes. For now, however, the main concern is environmental. Dr. Russell Moore has a great article concerning evangelicals truly being conservative and evangelical in such a matter (check it out here) so I won't bother repeating it all. Simply, if God is the Creator of this world, if he set man in it to have dominion over it and thus bear his image, and if we claim to be in Christ's new humanity instead of the old Adamic line (which forfeited, in many ways, the role of having dominion via sin) yet we associate anything regarding the environment and the stewardship thereof as a liberal agenda pushed by celebrity politicians such as Al Gore we are not nearly as conservative as we claim nor as evangelical as we'd like to think; in fact, we're downright liars or hypocrites. God's eye is said to be on the sparrow; the earth is the Lord's; you shall have dominion over the birds of the air and the fish of the sea. The pile of verses that hold us accountable to do something could go on and on.
So, for these reasons and others we will be organizing teams to help bring hope in the midst of such crisis and despair. Sending two of our people to Uganda is simply not enough for a people who have been redeemed by the one who is about new creation, claiming to "make all things new." We will send, but we will also go.
We will be joining him this summer on these two fronts to do just that.
Changes are a Comin’
This post is to reiterate in bullet point fashion—as opposed to a 50 lecture—what I shared with everyone this previous Sunday evening. We are a church plant that desires to plant churches composed of disciples who are discipling others. As such, we have to make changes practically to allow for a capacity in which the Lord would be gracious to work within.
2 Kings 4.1-7 details Elisha helping a widow and her son in the midst of a severe famine. She and her son were near the point of death, about to have their last meal, when God's prophet arrived on the scene. I'd suggest reading the verses for more details. For our purposes the point is that God provided greatly as long as there was a capacity, empty vessels to pour into. Without ripping the story completely out of context and jeopardizing the Spirit's intent in the inspiration of that passage, the principle applies at least somewhat loosely to where we are at. We're not dead. We're not almost dead. But we're skinny, so to speak. What these practical things are doing, or at least what we hope they will do, is provide empty logistical vessels that enable more opportunity for the outpouring of God. This will not replace empty vessels as represented by people willing to go on mission with the Lord (see Isaiah 6; cf. 2 Tim. 2.20-21).
Alright, on to the bullets.
Things we're needing, changing, and working towards in the next few months:
- Sunday morning service
- this will allow more people to have a chance to hear about Jesus at Living Hope because we are meeting them where they are at culturally, namely in the "Church should be on Sunday morning" paradigm that is a cultural phenomena in our country
- I will announce in the coming weeks what the actual launch date will be after everything has been nailed down, but for now we're looking to late June at the earliest and early August as the latest
- Kids' Hope
- we launched Kids' Hope 3 weeks ago and have already been able to minister to several children, which is a great blessing
- this is allowing more people to serve in our church body
- 55% of people above the age of 15 are married, 28% of Mobile's population is Millenials (ages 9-28), 27% are Survivors (ages 29-49), 62% of households with children are married, 32% of households with children are single mothers.
- simply, when you do the math with the above figures, there is a great need for holistic family ministry in our city, whether a nuclear family or otherwise
- as such, we need more volunteers, either from within or new people joining us from outside, more funding, more room to grow our children's ministry, and last but definitely not least a director to head up this operation
- Gospel Communities
- we want to see GCs reproduce themselves naturally
- this means the burden of growing them falls on every individual within them as disciple making followers of Christ
- we are nearly ready to overflow into 3 groups; the goal for the next 6 months is to have 4-6
- Building space
- with the above things moving forward and growth (numbers-wise) being more possible, we will run into issues with fitting our new Living Hope family members in our current space
- we intend to grow backwards first to save money and use the space we have as efficiently as possible
- we will need to start renting another suite (the third one from our far end) to provide office space, bathrooms, a storage area, and a meeting place for things like the womens' book study
- we can fit 125-150 (MAX!) semi-comfortably in our current space, at which point we will either need to move, go multi-service, or get another suite in our current building (provided one of the other tenants moves between now and then).
- Ministries
- during growth and alongside it we want to see growth in ways that we reach our city
- Hope for the Homeless has been very successful and we're humble to have a part in serving justice and love downtown to our friends
- more grassroots startups like H4H are to be desired
- two particularly needy areas in our community are: single mothers and the Hispanic/Latino community (fastest growing ethnic population in Mobile currently)
All of these things are goals. All of these things are prayer requests. All of these things are both. We are not just working towards things, we're praying for God's mercies, wisdom, guidance, grace, provision, and power in all of them. Neither are we only praying, we are doing all that we can, working with all of God's power within us to see these things come to pass for the fame of Jesus and joy of our city and the nations.
Be in prayer with me and the elders. Join hands in prayer for these things in your GCs; join and link arms with each other to march forward to these ends. God has a plan far bigger than what we can imagine. These are small things, pale in light of his wise and glorious vision for Living Hope. We are an army going to war against a spiritual enemy that has held our city in captivity for far too long, but we are an army that marches forward on our knees.
Join me.
To God be the glory.
Shut the Doors
Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain!
Malachi 1.10
Wow. Really? This is God speaking to the prophet Malachi. The force of his words should jar us. The God of the universe is wishing and longing for the old testament template (the church as it were) to shut the doors, to go ahead and close shop. Even though this place is where his people meet with him to worship him, even though it is a light to the nations of the one true God, Yahweh desires that someone would shut the doors.
Why? The context shows the detailed version of the answer, but here in this verse we see the results of those detailed things which is in fact that ultimate reason: "that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain!" There were two issues that I think played into this vanity of the Jews' worship. The definition of the word chinnam in the original helps clue us to what those things are. The word can mean: freely, for nothing, without cause, for no purpose, in vain, et. al.
The first issue was an economic one. There was drought and pestilence in the land. As a result, the first thing that God's people drew back on in their spending was in regards to their sacrifices to God. They'd offer blind, sick and lame animals when there would be a perfectly good firstborn in the pen. And notice, it wasn't that they didn't have any food, it was just that things were tight. They could have still sacrificed what was required of them and had the blind animal for dinner.
So, when it came down to it, the issue was really not a matter of living but a matter of luxury.
Secondly, their was an issue of orthodoxy. The word orthodox simply means "right practice." Israel during this time was orthodox...almost. They weren't outright idolaters like many of their forefathers. Malachi's issue at hand wasn't the kind of pagan idolatry that many prophets before him had to deal with. Rather, the issue was a guise of orthodoxy. It's not that they weren't worshiping Yahweh, it was a matter of worshiping him wrongly. It wasn't that they weren't giving, it's that they were giving incorrectly. It wasn't that they were sacrificing to other gods, it's that they were sacrificing to Jehovah in vain. Their orthodoxy—doing the things they knew they were to do—was the issue.
But really it wasn't true orthodoxy. It was faux because although they had the right practices they weren't doing them rightly. In other words, they were whitewashed tombs, practicing a hollow shell of a religion that should have been filled with the powerful presence of the living God.
Do you see where this is going yet? We have much of these two issues in our modern day church life. People refuse to give up luxury for the cause of Christ. They know where to go, how to dress, when to stand and what to sing, yet there is no authenticity in any of it. And in response to such a religious state God wishes one would simply close the doors.
He has done far too much for us in his electing love for such a response to exist (see Mal 1.1-5). And for the people of God to respond to his fatherly love in such a way is something that will bring great judgment at the end of days. Thus, God's wish for such judgment to be avoided is yet another gracious and loving act on his part.
May we never find ourselves in such a position.