A Great but tiring weekend...

We spent our first official weekend with the folks at Indianapolis Church at the Crossing.  I got to hang out with 130 or so great guys at their men's retreat, and then we were part of all 4 of their weekend services.  I had said before that this would be the most difficult weekend of my life in a long time.  It's now been three Sundays since we've been at the LaGrange Church.  I'm so thankful for all the great people at CATC.  They made a difficult weekend into a blessing.  It was great to spend time with a group of guys who made me feel at home even though I'd never met 99% of them before this weekend.  I know that my time with them will be enriched by God and that I will be a better follower of Christ and leader of this new church because of the time we'll get to spend with them.  We were guests of the Broyles family (Tim is the Pastor of Outreach and Missions at CATC) last evening, which was a cool blessing as well.

If you haven't heard, we do finally get to close on our house on Tuesday.  And so begins what will be a week of renovation, cleaning, painting, appliance delivery, family wedding, another weekend at Crosspoint, and then next weekend (10th-11th) the final big move.  I have felt a little more distant from LaGrange lately, but today perhaps more than any other, I miss my friends.  Maybe it's the sad music that's playing as Carlotta watches what is probably the saddest ER Episode of all time (Last Thursday's), but I'm really fighting it tonight.  It's not so much regret about our decision to follow God in this endeavor, just the heartbreak of not being with the people I love so much.  My friends Hector and Justin stopped by to pick up some furniture we were giving Hector and his wife Kellie.  For a few moments, it was just like old times.  When they drove away, I walked up the steps and just said to Carlotta, "I miss those guys."  It was a microcosm of just how I'm feeling right now.  I knew the HS Guys were upstairs at the church.  It took every ounce of self-discipline I had to keep from going up to join them, even though I know that would have done more harm than good.

This is the night I have to remind myself, we're not dead, we're just moving.  It's only 2.5 hours away.  And some of the extra emotion is coming from fatigue.  I also have to keep in mind why we're doing this.  We're doing this for Joe.  Joe is my new next door neighbor.  We met for the first time today as he got out of his monster truck with the American flag waving from a pole on the tailgate.  I don't know his story, his life, or anything more at this moment than he has two big dogs, is taking his daughter to Colorado this week, and Bud Light is his beer of choice.  There is one thing I know though.  No matter where he is on his journey of faith, I know God has more to redeem in both his and my life than is currently done.  And so, my hope is that Joe and I can figure out life together a little bit on his front porch and kinda experience more of God's redemption because of one another.  

That's all for tonight.  I think that's about all I have left to post in this writing.  

Blessings

   

The update is...there's no update

Which I find rather frustrating.  I'm not mad at anyone, (except the person who for some reason refuses to do a property tax assessment on my new home because then I could actually move into it) it's just a matter of being patient.  I never realized how draining trying to move can be.  And I kinda haven't felt well the last few days either, so...

It's starting to sink in...slowly...I don't work here anymore!  It's odd because I still live here (in LaGrange I mean) but today I emptied my office.  I had a few tech questions to answer, and had one kinda unexpected situation last night, but all in all our lives seem to slowly be detaching from the place we've called home.  You know that "man without a country" feeling?   That's kinda where I am right now.  It's like we don't fit here anymore, but yet we can't move to our new place, and (although closing will probably happen sometime next week) because of the indefinite nature of our life right now, it's even hard to get super motivated to pack, knowing that it may be 2-3 weeks before most of our furniture makes the jump to our new house.  

I hope no one takes this post as a rant, a depressive statement, a cry for help, or anything more than just the passing on of some information.  We're okay (a little frustrated but not even close to discouraged) and we're waiting patiently for the next steps of our lives to take shape.

Shouldn't it at least feel like church...

I know that when you say the word church, the definition of what that means is different for different people.  Quite honestly, even as a minister, some of the things that get lumped together under the heading of church I have to believe make Jesus cringe.  (Cue the zealots of Westboro Baptist Church here)  But I also believe that for all her imperfections, the Church is Jesus' chosen manner of revealing Himself and His redemption to the world.  Shouldn't that experience and be at least a little different than say...I don't know...a typical prime time TV Show.

As this was our first weekend away from LaGrange FCOG, Carlotta and I attended another pretty well known church in the area.  I've been to a lot of large churches, churches with professional level music staff, tech staff, etc.  I've never been to a church where I walked out feeling like I hadn't been in a worship experience, or at least that was the church's intent.  This weekend however made me feel more like that I had stopped by at a friends house to watch Saturday Night Live, with a little Christian music playing in the background.  So here's my question, and I'm certainly open for comments here.  You will not find anyone more interested in engaging the culture with the gospel than me.  But shouldn't our worship experience with Jesus feel at least a little different than sitting down in front of the television for some overproduced entertainment?  Where is that line?  The scriptures were taught clearly and from an orthodox viewpoint, but somehow I just felt like what happened could just as easily have taken place at Jefferson Pointe Mall or rather at NBC studios at Rockafeller Center.  What do you think??? 

The "Wish it'd been that ways"

Stepping away from the "responsibilities" of my role here in LaGrange has afforded me the opportunity to do some of those "I wish I'd made it be that way before now" experiences.  Dinners with friends that I haven't shared a meal with in quite some time.  The opportunity to thank the people I've worked with out loud and in their presence instead of just kinda in smaller, out of the way manners.  The value that these last few Sunday nights have had with our high school students.  

This morning I read the passage from Luke 14 where Jesus told the story of the Great Banquet.  Here was an opportunity for honored guests to be in the presence of the King as well as to experience the blessing of friends gathered together in celebration.  And yet many of the invited guests passed on the King's invitation because they were too busy.  Busy with things that, although they had some value, in the scheme of a lifetime, could have been put off, or in one case, could have been an opportunity to bring someone along to experience the pageantry of the King's banquet.

I wonder how many times I have missed out on being in the presence of Jesus just because I didn't take the time to accept a friends offer of sharing a dinner table.  I wonder how many Sunday nights that I missed the blessing of the Lord's presence because, even though the students were at our house, I didn't see what Jesus was doing for me and in me because they were there.  I wonder how many times the Lord would have been honored if I'd taken the time to just say to the people around me what Jesus has done in me because of our shared time at work, at practice, at conferences together, or whatever.  

See, Jesus blesses us when we are in His presence.  There can be the direct blessing of just being with Him.  But there is also the indirect blessing that comes from Him through others.  And I just think that now more than ever I want to be that conduit of His blessing to others as we meet new people in our neighborhood and community.  I want to make sure that the busyness of life doesn't sabotage the meetings with the King that Jesus wants me to have with others.

And for those who we've missed those gatherings with over the years, I'm doubly sorry.  I'm sorry for the time we didn't get to spend together.  And I'm even more sorry because I know you would have been the conduit of the presence of Jesus into my life, and I didn't give you that opportunity.  

New Church name...

  One last thing, and I'd love your thoughts on this.  (For anyone who reads this I guess)  We're already needing to begin thoughts about a church name.  I've been thinking about what this church should be, what it's overriding mission in the community and the world will be.  Here is the thought that keeps spinning over and over in my mind.  We want to be a movement of people experiencing and extending God's redemption in all its facets to our community and our world.   We want to see God restore everything that is broken and disconnected from Him in people's lives.  We want them to be saved, and that their souls would be restored.  But we also want families to be restored, and finances to be restored and spiritual maturity to be cultivated and that their lives will be part of God's restoration in their friends and families and also that they'll be part of the restoration process for people all over the world.  

So, (and I want your most honest thoughts on this), what about Restoration Church?  (I've already checked and there's no one in our new area with this name.)  Post your comments and critiques and I'll review and consider every one of them.  Thanks!   You know my heart, you know now a part of what God is working in us to be and do in this community.  Our church name is such a huge part of that first impression people have. So let me know your first impressions.  Is Restoration Church (by its name and its general description above) a place where you could see yourself at least excited by its mission?

All In, Part 2

One of the things that I was reminded again this week about the all in life is that "All in" is not a one time decision.  In hold'em, the all in goes round by round.  If you make it through that hand, that doesn't mean game over.  It means you live to play on for another hand.  This week had three distinct all ins for us.  The first was our house situation.  Now we understand that there are lots of houses available in the neighborhood we are moving to.  And we understand that if God's desire was for us to live somewhere else, then He'd make that known and we'd abide by that.  But we felt like the house that we had made the offer on was one that was going to give us the best potential investment, the best use of space, and the best possible timeframe (i.e. occupancy at Closing)  We also knew that it was very likely that if we didn't get this house, we might be moving...somewhere, but most of our furniture wasn't going anywhere at least til mid-November.  So when we made our final offer on Friday of last week, and then had to wait through the holiday weekend, and then had to wait half of Tuesday morning, that built a lot of patience and trust into us.  When our realtor called and said, they rejected....my heart sunk.  But it's always important to let people finish before we freak out, because he said, they rejected the other competing offer, and the house is yours for ____ if you want it.   Needless to say, our all in faith that God would provide if it was right was affirmed once again.  

It was in those moments that I was talking with God about life and all its complexities, including what was going to happen if we didn't get the house, that God impressed a second all in on my soul.  There was a person I was supposed to call and ask about being baptized this Sunday.  Now while I have often felt compelled by the Holy Spirit to be part of the dialogue with people that leads them to take their next step in their journey of faith, I have never felt compelled to specifically call one person and specifically ask them to take this step this Sunday.  I know it was important for that person, and I sensed that God must be working in them this week as well.  But more than that, for me, this was a challenge from the Lord.  It was as if He was saying, "Look, if you can't make the ask of something this important to a close friend, how are you going to ask total strangers to join you on this new church endeavor?!"  How are you going to invite people you barely know into relationship with me if you won't do so with your closest friends?  And so....I did.  I felt so incredibly honored that God would direct me in such a way, and whatever the outcome of this encounter is, I feel like I went all in again and the cards have already come up a winner.  

I am learning to trust the Lord and be challenged by Him in these past few weeks more than I have in a long time.  And I think the encouraging words I'm hearing from people as I shared last weekend are proof that God is really working and prompting and challenging lots of other people through our experience.

God has also provided Carlotta with a job.  She interviewed Tuesday, and wowed them so much that they called to offer her the position we'd been praying and searching for on Thursday.  She will be working part-time in a school about 25 miles from home, but will only make the trip a couple days a week.  They will still pay into her teacher retirement and I think it's going to be a great ministry opportunity for her.  It always is it seems when you are seeking to live your life in all ways in the grace of God and want to extend that.