Today is the day. For nearly a month now Tracy and I have been in transition, packing up our belongings and preparing to move across country and the day is finally here. This morning we’ll load the car up one last time and make our way from Carson City, Nevada around Lake Tahoe through Sacramento through Oakland and across the Bay Bridge into our new home: San Francisco.

It’s been a long drive and one that has provided a great amount of reflection of the past and a great deal of excitement and anxiety about the future… Today is the day. Today we truly begin the next chapter of our lives and today a brand new adventure becomes blatant reality. I’m not sure what it’ll be like to drive across the Bay Bridge, what emotions and feelings I’ll undergo as the city becomes visible and we descend into it but the time is here and today is the day.

Here goes nothing… and yet here goes everything.

Last Sunday was my final Sunday at the Shorewood Campus and Community Christian Church. I must say that it was bittersweet, however I can’t imagine a better place to have served.

When I started at Community 14 months ago I was in a completely different place than I am now, fresh off a gut wrenching and soul draining experience—in short a hellish year of ministry (somehow even those words can’t quite sum it up). Tracy and I came to Community extremely wounded, limping in on our last legs and expecting the impossible from the people and staff of Community. We came in expecting them to restore our hope in the church, to restore our wounded psyche, our broken hearts, and help us on the road back to wholeness. What was unfair on our part—we didn’t tell them of these expectations.

What’s amazing about the staff at Community and in particular the people of the Shorewood Campus: they didn’t bat an eye, were completely unfazed and immediately surrounded us with an amazing presence of love, support and encouragement like we have never experienced before. It’s the same sort of love, support and encouragement that they give to everyone—yet for us it hit the spot and did more than we could have ever hoped or imagined.

Fourteen months later I am leaving with a renewed sense of hope and faith in the church, a firm belief that the church can actually be a healthy, vibrant, world changing force. This post doesn’t come close to giving Community its due for how it has shaped and impacted me over the past year, but I am far different and a far better person because of how this church pushed towards the mission every day. Thank you Community… I wouldn’t be heading to San Francisco if it hadn’t been for you.

The past few days I’ve been at the North American Christian Convention, the annual gathering of my tribe, participating in a couple of workshops and many great and exciting conversations about San Francisco! One of the sessions that I made my way into was a leadership lecture given by Bill Hybels of Willow Creek. I’ve long been intrigued by Hybels relationship with the Christian Church, especially after hiring Gene Appel and Mike Breaux both of whom hail from the brotherhood. Admittedly, Hybels doesn’t know much about us… but I think we have more in common than he realizes.

Hybels talk was entitled The Four Things I Would Tell Leaders on My Deathbed. And here are some notes I jotted down.

1) Vision –> Keep the Vision CLEAR!
There is some misunderstanding about the phrase “Where there is no vision the people perish”. The word perish actually refers not to a physical death, but a real atrophy of the church. The atrophy comes from people not doing anything, not exercising their spiritual gifts, because there is no direction and they are not sure how to proceed. There needs to be a clear vision in leadership and when there is, the local church will flourish as people jump on mission to make a difference not only in the church but in the surrounding community.

We’ve got to GET IT; COMMUNICATE IT; and DO IT!

2) Engagement –> Get the People Engaged!

Church should be an all-skate event. Everyone is involved and serving according to their gifting!

The 5 ways to get business leaders and high-capacity leaders involved
a) The Pastor must be TOTALLY committed to the future of that particular congregation. Not someone looking to move on in a couple of years— this is what short circuits many local congregations, perpetual turnover in leadership.

b) No small dreams! Low risk and tiny vision will never captivate the attention of business leaders and high capacity leaders who are continually risking a lot day-in and day-out in their jobs.

c) Personal Asks—repeatedly. You must be willing to sit down one on one with leaders and make the BIG ask. This is typically the only way they will get involved. They already have a lot on their plate and a sign-up sheet doesn’t communicate importance… a personal ask and a challenge does!

d) Feedback is the breakfast of champions! Leaders want feedback. They want to hear your thoughts, encouragements, challenges, etc.

e) A regular reminder that what is being done really matters! This goes hand in hand with feedback, but we must encourage leaders that what they are trading their lives for in pursuit of mission is totally worth it! They need to be reminded that they aren’t crazy, especially if they’re taking major risks for the Kingdom. There are people all around them that are probably telling them otherwise… therefore it’s our responsibility to make sure they know they matter and are making a difference!

3) Make your gatherings MEMORABLE!

In the book of Acts as it related to their gatherings, everyone had a sense of awe and a sense that the supernatural was taking place in their midst! People want more than a show. People want to be changed! They want to be different than when they came. We must be creating a place and space for God’s Spirit to truly work in different, mysterious and miraculous ways.

4) PACE –> Pace yourself for the long haul.

As pastors we must run for a marathon, not a mad dash. If we are not careful, when we attain a certain speed our soul will begin to wilt. It’s at these times that we must recognize that we need to reduce speed in order to restore our soul. We need to find the balance and run at an optimal level as opposed to a constant fluctuation of imbalance.

[introduction]

What is the gospel? This is the million dollar question and if we as a church are to truly begin to understand the implications of revival and bring about the possibility and atmosphere of such a world transforming experience, then answering this question must be at the front of our minds. Often times we have understood the gospel, too simply, as praying a prayer to receive forgiveness so that one may enter into heaven upon his/her death. But this does not bring about a sense of joy, or happiness to much of today’s culture. We are not occupied with the notions or implications of death in our lives, rather we’re more consumed with the thoughts of here and now—the injustice of war and poverty, the social brokenness of our families and relationships, global warming and our relationship to creation.

Our understanding of the gospel has been shortened, just as we have also shortened the term. Dallas Willard in his book Divine Conspiracy offers up a concept of the gospel that brings about a broader understanding. It is not simply “the gospel,” rather it is the “Gospel of the Kingdom of God.” It’s a gospel that is really big, different, something to be experienced and entered into in the here and now. It’s about an aspect of God’s divine life that is now, not just after death.

I like how Halter & Smay sum up our current understanding of the gospel (page 88 The Tangible Kingdom):

The gospel—that is, the huge, life-reorienting story that has had such massive drawing power to just about any spiritual seeker over the centuries—has been reduced to a pathetically simple, doctrinal Podcast that no one is interested in.

When Jesus came proclaiming his gospel, the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, he offered up that it was available now, the gospel is a present reality that we can actively participate in and that we are expected to participate in!

Until we recover a holistic understanding of the gospel as something that is not just available after death but is to be lived in and experienced now, we will not be able to enter into a type of revival that can transform the world. Until then, we will continue to be stuck in the dogmatic sort of “pray the prayer” type of religion that inspires… no one.

This recovery is an instrument of the Spirit… it is what the Spirit will use to cause an outbreak of revival, however it is in our control to move in this direction. A nice little paradox isn’t it?

The Tangible Kingdom: Creating Incarnational Community
Hugh Halter & Matt Smay

Jossey-Bass—Church Ministry | Leadership
179 pages

[part 3]

…the traditional “Come to us” attraction model of church was successful in the past. People outside the church still appreciated our values… But when our values are opposite, or even different, it is much more difficult to find a way to be together… Cultural distance (a concept shared by Alan Hirsch in The Forgotten Ways) explains why there is room for some churches to stay the same, but also why most churches will need to make radical adjustments. It all depends on who you are called to reach. If your calling is to influence those with the most similarly held values, then you can keep providing the same thing. But if you want to influence the massively growing percentage of people who are much further from the gospel, you’ll have to provide, model, and invite people into an inclusive community that welcomes people with alternative values. (Page 72)

The problem today is not that the church is broken, rather the problem is that the culture is changing at such a rapid pace around us that we have yet to catch up. We need new expressions of church and of communicating the gospel to reach out to these new expressions of the culture. It’s hard to realize sometimes while dabbling on the progressive fringe, how important the establishment (traditional church) is and how seemingly irrelevant some expressions of traditionalism are becoming. Yet, they still reach out to and speak to the modernistic paradigm and fruit is being harvested regardless of what we may think.

By looking at things from this sort of lens I think it allows for us to approach differing expressions of the church with grace and generosity, in some instances even with a sense of appreciation. This is the lens we need to begin seeing each other through, and by doing so will allow for us all to come together with a strong sense of unity amidst our diversity, and realize that we are all called to reach different segments of this growingly diverse population called America.

The Tangible Kingdom: Creating Incarnational Community
Hugh Halter & Matt Smay

Jossey-Bass—Church Ministry | Leadership
179 pages

The Kingdom of God is not the property nor the sole possession of the church (institutional or organic), rather the church is the property of the Kingdom, and it is the church’s responsibility not to exploit but to extol the Kingdom in all of its glory. Could it be that this is where the church (institutional and organic) lose the focus? That somehow we see the Kingdom as a means to our end, the purveyor of our own self-fulfillment residing completely within the church as opposed to our residence within the Kingdom that is revealed throughout the world? These are the initial questions that I am wrestling with…

At the end of chapter 1, Smay posses the question: Describe some times in your life when you’ve wanted to tap out on God and the activities of the church. Talk about a loaded question! As I thought through my time as a “professional” Christian, there are three distinct times that I have felt a strong, strong desire to simply throw my hands in the air, say “f*ck it all!” and walk away. I have not had the easiest time in ministry, however at each and every stage, through every single turn, I have found God sitting with outstretched arms simply beckoning me to “come” and rest. And I am extremely glad that I have listened, fallen into his arms and allowed him to challenge me once again to continue on in his grace (”my grace is sufficient!”). This isn’t the end of the journey, and it certainly won’t get any easier… however He will continually be there at every step, waiting.

It’s not hard to understand why so many are walking away from the church, the statistics are startling, and as Clegg & Bird state (as quoted on page 12)

The inescapable conclusion is that we must throw out any notion that God is truly at the center of the church’s heart in North America. The shift in society’s view of the church has resulted in the marginalization of the church and the secularization of society. Christianity has lost its place at the center of American life. Christians must learn how to live the gospel as a distinct people who no longer occupy the center of society. We must learn to build relational bridges.”

I love that line: “Christians must learn how to live the gospel as a distinct people who no longer occupy the center of society.” (emphasis mine) I find that absolutely fascinating, brilliant and eerily similar to St. Francis, “Preach the gospel always and if necessary use words,” the mantra of the incarnational church. Talk about the need to understand the issues of contextualization! Halter continues: “…something must change to reverse the trends. We need to start by doing some of the things we haven’t been doing, and we must stop doing some things that we have been doing. The world around us is growing increasingly disinterested in our Christian story.”

Smay asks the question for reflection: “What are some of the ways you believe we’re losing our saltiness?” Now, honestly this could be an entire blog post, but for the sake of brevity I’ll narrow it down to the issue of evangelism. I believe the way we “communicate” the gospel (skywriters scrawling “Jesus loves you” in the sky; tracks that look like money left as tips to waiters and waitresses; bullhorns on the corner shouting “You’re going to hell!”; etc.) although they are the extreme cases, they are the picture our culture has of Christians. When we boil the gospel down to a “Get-out-of-Hell Free” card it begins to lose its effectiveness as a beautiful way to live amidst the destruction, pain and horror the world has to offer. The gospel is more than eternal destination—it’s about living beautifully… it’s about shalom.

Smay then concludes his reflecting questions with this dandy: “What do you think of the increasing disinterest of the culture towards church means for the future of the church?” My instant response was “GOOD!” I think it’s a good thing that culture has become disinterested in the church for one simple reason. It should (and I believe has to an extent) force the church to eventually begin understanding and dealing with contextualization issues! I believe that this could be the beginning of a re-awakening of the church, a great revival of sorts, right here in our midst—if and only if we are attentive to and receptive of the Spirit who is working among us. I truly wonder what this re-awakening and re-emergence of the (American) church will look like, and the amazing things that God has in store! We’re in store of a re-awakening or we’ll simply go the way of the Dodo… I’m hoping for a re-awakening!

According to this month’s issue of Leadership Journal, over the past 40 years giving to benevolent needs has decreased from 0.66% of someone’s income (an extremely paltry sum) to 0.39%. This was somewhat surprising considering the prevalent mantra today in the church is, “people give to the need.” Unfortunately these statistics show quite the opposite.

Now, I understand that statistics can be interpreted to say what you want it to say, but you cannot deny the fact that people in the church simply are not giving “to the need”—if they’re even giving at all.

Two weeks ago Community Christian Church, did their very best to blow this statistic out of the water. This past Sunday we held our first ever Generosity Celebration where the entire offering taken was given completely away to one of 4 benevolent needs: Building a reproducing church in Uganda that will work to eradicate poverty, building a reproducing church in the Philippines that too will work to eradicate poverty, building a community center and campus in East Aurora that will work to eradicate poverty, and planting reproducing churches all around the world through the NewThing Networks. Together each of these initiatives will work together to help people find their way back to God and change the world!

When all was said and done the people of Community Christian Church, in one weekend, gave nearly $250,000! That’s almost 3 times more than in a normal weekend offering! I am so excited to be a part of a church that is stepping out in faith to do something so remarkable.

An amazing dream was birthed within our Romeoville campus pastor a few years ago to do something very similar to this on a weekly basis. My friend David Herrick has recently joined this team as they prepare to move to Schaumburg, Illinois and plant a reproducing church with the NewThing network called Waterfront Community Church. Every single week, Waterfront will give away every last cent of the offering taken during the weekend celebration services to meet a need or two within the community to truly make a difference. I’m extremely excited to see this dream become a reality and see what amazing things God will do in this community through the generosity of the people. Its through dreams like this and communities like Waterfront and Community that the church can once again be known for its amazing generosity!

The Tangible Kingdom: Creating Incarnational Community
Hugh Halter & Matt Smay

Jossey-Bass—Church Ministry | Leadership
179 pages

While at the Exponential Conference I stumbled across this book and was immediately captivated by the title: The Tangible Kingdom—Creating Incarnational Community: The Posture and Practice of Ancient Church Now. I had never heard of the authors, Hugh Halter and Matt Smay, but with the endorsement of Reggie McNeal (who wrote the forward) and The Leadership Network, I figured it’d be worth a shot. So, I picked it up and began reading… I haven’t been able to put it down yet! It’s an absolutely fascinating book full of exciting and thought provoking lines that have made me realize that instead of flying through the book and moving on, I need to savor it and truly spend some time reflecting on the content and questions at the end of each chapter. I truly want to learn and explore this idea of incarnational community.

So, in order to truly savor this book I’m going to blog through the book. (I’m not sure I’ve ever done this before—and if I have it’s been quite some time!) So, in order to take it slow I’ll only read 2 chapters a day (there are 21 chapters total) and spend the next two weeks posting a segment a day of my reflections of the chapters and questions at the end. I’ll post quotes and thoughts and hope that you’ll interact with me throughout. If you feel so inclined to run out and buy the book and join me that would be fantastic! I’ll be posting the first reflection on Wednesday, so join me in this journey of learning and attempting to understand a bit more about this thing called incarnational community.

Revolutionaries Syncroblog.
(Read introductory post for details and more great posts on the subject)

As I looked back over 9 years of ministry (a “professional christian” as some may say) I am amazed that I’m still at it. You could say that I’m a glutton for punishment, that I tend to find myself, more often than not, in some of the worst ministry situations imaginable each progressively worse than its predecessor. It feels as if I have been continually battered and beaten, each time progressively cutting deeper and deeper into my ravaged soul. The stories of pain, and trauma becoming more and more unbelievable with each passing season. It feels as if my spirit, my heart, and my passion have been consistently abused in an attempt to destroy the fiber of hope that lay deep within. In fact, a dear friend and mentor once made the hard observation/comparison that my relationship to the traditional/institutional church is like the woman in an abusive relationship that keeps going back determined that he is going to change… So why have I stayed?

I have found myself in some of the worst situations not because I actively seek them out, but rather, because I long to see change in the church. I desperately want the traditional/institutional church to be the fully-realized, incarnational hope of the world—the beautiful bride of Christ that she was intended to be! There is a deep desire and an everlasting sense of optimism within my soul that has never quite shriveled up no matter how tough the circumstances; this keeps pushing me to see the traditional church for what she was meant to be… the embodiment of Christ on Earth revealing the mysteries of the Kingdom.

Although this eternal optimism has driven me to stay, it’s been a few key relationships in my life that has given me the proper perspective in making it through the hard times. If my friend Gentry hadn’t been there to listen and offer his prayers, allow me a place to get away from the situation and explore my dark night of the soul; if it hadn’t been for my mentor Hank and his “kick in the pants”, the constant encouragement of my parents and the support from so many others I’m not sure I would have stayed… I’m not sure I would’ve made it. The people that I allowed in, the people that I allowed to experience these things with me have been the greatest God-send of all. If it hadn’t been for them, I wouldn’t have experienced the greatest season of healing and ministry of my life.

For nearly a year I have been at Community Christian Church being allowed to heal from the past, serve on my own terms and timetable, and prepared for a new phase of ministry… planting a reproducing church in San Francisco. My experiences here have given me a new, broader sense of hope in the church, a feeling of excitement in what is next and what is possible, and a belief that the institutional church can change the world. These are the experiences that I hope to carry with me as I continue this journey in the institutional church.

Ultimately, this is why I have stayed.

I’m writing this from the front seat of a packed out charter bus (Fung Wah—a charter bust that takes you from China Town Boston to China Town NYC) and it’s certainly an interesting experience. All around me are people of different ethnicities, speaking in different dialects and languages on their cell phones and in conversation… it’s like I’ve somehow entered into a Pentecostal worship service and everyone is speaking in tongues. It is, however, an amazing experience nonetheless to hear so many people from all over the world come together to travel the same stretch of road.

I wish this bus was more indicative of what local expressions of the church look like. I wish that we could break through the cultural and ethnic lines that keep us separated and somehow come together as one, journeying along the same road towards revealing and proclaiming the Kingdom to the world.

I think that this is a unique issue specifically for the American church at large to take on. We are (as a country) the melting-pot of the world comprised of so many different nationalities, ethnicities, and cultures, and perhaps (in my estimation) the only country in the world like this. This presents a unique opportunity for us to do something remarkable as local expressions of the body of Christ.

I’m not exactly sure how to break through these lines, but we will certainly be attempting such a feat in the very ethnically diverse city of San Francisco where to be Caucasian is no longer the majority (46% vs. 54%)—a growing trend in cities and urban centers all over the country. Times are changing, and I’m excited to see what this next move of ethnically and culturally diverse churches will bring about.

From here on till the end of the month, I’ll be traveling… and I’m really looking forward to it! It’s a trip devoted solely to learning about church-planting!

I fly out today to Seattle for a conference entitled “The Art of the Start” put on by Phil Claycomb and Nexus geared to helping church planters get up and off the ground in a healthy, positive and successful way. I’m really looking forward to it and getting out of the fog that this initial phase of “planter-dom” (pronounced and understood as: “planter-dumb”) has brought. I have found myself overwhelmed, confused, and ultimately lost in thinking through what’s next. This should help lift me out of that fog in a great way!

From Seattle, I fly home landing at midnight on Friday, only to come home grab a couple hours of shut-eye and head out to the airport again at 4:30 am to fly to Boston! Tracy will be accompanying me for a part of this trip as we’ll be spending Easter with Hank Wilson and the Reunion Christian Church team! They meet in the Back Bay of Boston and launched just a little over a year ago. They’ve already multiplied to 2 services, are averaging over 250 in attendance and have had several baptisms (6, I think). I’m looking forward to observing how they do what they do, asking a multitude of questions and taking the newfound wisdom from Seattle and Boston to pull me a little more out of my fog!

From Boston, I hope a charter bus ($15–who knew!) down to the Big Apple in the heart of Manhattan to spend the remainder of my time with Brian Moll, Caren Fog and the rest of the team at Forefront Church. I’ve never been to New York City before and I’m really looking forward to it!

Forefront has been around for a little over 3 years and are meeting in the Blender Theatre… averaging over 300… and have also had a number of baptisms throughout the course of the past year. I’m looking forward to observing how they do what they do, asking a multitude of questions and gleaning all the wisdom and insight that I possibly can especially as it relates to missiology in the urban center.

Both of these churches are a part of the NewThing Network, of which I too will be a part of in San Francisco. I’m so thankful that I get to be a part of such a successful, healthy, ground-breaking, and innovative movement of church plants in this country, and this world! (Yes, there’s a church plant in the Philippines!)

(I get back home on March 31st, at around 9pm…)

[» a culture of: encouragement, fun, trust, risk, reproduction, generosity, reproduction 2, change (idealism)]

There is an order to creating a healthy culture and I believe it all starts with encouragement. It is the lynchpin, for without a culture of encouragement nothing else will truly come about in a healthy way. I do not believe that what I have presented is a step-by-step approach to creating a healthy culture, rather I believe that this is the natural progression that takes place in a healthy culture as witnessed in the presence of Community Christian Church.

I look forward to interacting on these points even more than has already been done, and I look forward implementing them in San Francisco as we move forward towards a healthy church culture that does amazing things in the community and around the world to further the Kingdom of God.