History in the Making

Giants don't wait for you in the valley...

Love this insight from my good friend* Chuck Swindoll. It's about the epic battle between David and Goliath. Shows how our "giants" in life don't wait for us at a safe distance. They're constantly moving up, out of the valley, to attack us on our side of the hill:

Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, "Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me." ~ I Sam 17:8

So the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? ~ I Sam 17:25

Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. ~ I Sam 17:41

As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him ~ I Sam 17:48

It's giant killing time.

*I know Chuck to be a very good friend.
Chuck, on the other hand, has no idea who I am.

It's my bloggy and I can post if I want to

Move out the way

My pastoral ministry is driven by Ephesians 4:11-13, which says that my job is to equip believers for significant roles in ministry. In other words, to work myself out of a job... to get out of the way so that others can step-up. I'm privileged to see some godly guys rising to the challenge this month at RCC. I'm taking a speaking sabbatical in August to recharge my spiritual batteries and empower a few guys to preach. I'm going to be hatin' this a few weeks in, =) but really looking forward to it...

Deep Sea Fishers of Men

There are differences between the unchurched. Some of them haven't attended anywhere, but had praying grandmothers or grew up in places where Christianity was part of the fabric of the community, so they at least took their hat off during prayer before high school football games. But then there are unchurched folks who have had no connection with anything Christian, let alone evangelical. They hang crystals and spirit catchers in their front windows, drive cars with "coexist" written on their bumper stickers, and think church-goers are like militia members. "The Unchurched" cannot possibly be a universal term.

When Miracles Drag on and on

This morning, I talked about the miracles we expect from God. They're usually instantaneous, liberating, and life-saving. But most of the time, the miracle God wants to do in us... is the miracle of perseverance. That is, God wants his divine power, comfort, and glory to be revealed through our suffering... over time. Maybe even a long time.

We showed this video clip from Igniter, Ninety-Nine Balloons, which talks about one, young couple's miracle of perseverance, as their little boy's life was taken 99 days after his birth. You can read the father's uplifting blog from throughout the whole experience at http://www.ninetynineballoons.com/.

I don't think there was a dry eye in our whole congregation. I had to watch this thing several times beforehand to numb my emotions enough to speak. =)

Awesome Movie Night

Neighborhood movie night was a great success last night... in spite of the fact that [1] it rained all the way up until the minute before our start time... and [2] that someone called the cops on us. The police arrived, got one look at all the kids, and told Matt, "There's no way we can shut this thing down" and then drove off. Matt turned down the bass anyway.

Despite the challenges, it was an incredible time of meeting the neighbors. We had a great little crowd that really enjoyed themselves.

I told Ainsley today that the police have been involved with about 50% of our church's attempts at outreach... from road signs to candy hand-outs in the town center.  =) They're going to be starting a special "Church Outreach Victims Unit" just to crack down on all the kindness and free stuff we give away.

Movie Night Update

It's a little overcast tonight with T-minus 3.5 hours until the big show ~ but not worried ~ God's just dimming nature's lights for us. Matt scored some great victories today. Our movie theater is donating all the popcorn for the show! And another neighbor is donating all the ice. Awesome.

Big Neighborhood Movie Night Tonight

We're excited about the big movie extravaganza for our neighborhood in the parking lot in front of our house tonight... We licensed Over the Hedge from Swank.com and got a huge bag of left-over stuffed characters from the movie theater [where we meet on Sundays] for the kids. We're giving out oodles of Jelly Belly candy [again, left-over from past outreaches], drinks and popcorn under the stars... starting at 8:00 pm.

Missional Logos

Kent posts his top 20 church logos at Church Relevance.com, based on their versatility, scalability, and his own sophisticated taste. I'm a big advocate of missional logos... ones that don't just communicate vision, but relate to the surrounding unchurched community. When we commissioned RCC's logo, we wanted to include the Reston skyline [to highlight our location in the town center] and appeal to men [hence, the beefy look].

No one wants to follow a discouraged leader

More after-thought from yesterday's church planter assessments...

People don't want to follow a discouraged leader. They may try to motivate and encourage upward for a while, but eventually, they'll resign from the unwanted post and move on. Many moons ago, I was down in the dumps and my leadership team made a bold proposition ~ they said, "go find your calling and your joy again... or shut this thing down cause it ain't gonna work if you're hopeless." They paid for a week away and covered a Sunday morning for me so I could reclaim God's vision. If they hadn't done that, my story would've ended very differently.

Second Guessing God

I usually hate the free books I get from publishers to promote on this blog... but I've got an exception. Brian Jones' Second Guessing God was one of the most heart-wrenching books I've read in a while. Seems like every possible tragedy that can happen to someone has happened to people under Brian's pastoral care. All of these experiences make for a riveting book that tackles the question of "where is God?" when your world crumbles.

I'm using some of it in the last message of my Elevation series this Sunday ~ being in the valley.

They're not interested!

Matt and I had lunch in downtown Arlington this afternoon with a great guy in our church who wants to start an outdoor outreach... whitewater trips, camping trips, you name it. He wanted permission to step-on-our toes... to take initiative in leading-out. His driving motivation is to reach a Reston friend who doesn't know Jesus. Oh heck yeah...

We pray every morning that our people in RCC ~ our fellow ministers will take initiative in starting new ministries and small groups. Spiritual entrepreneurs! This requires going after a mission field... starting something from scratch... because the community is not knocking down our doors to hear about Jesus! They don't care. They're not coming! They're not interested...

We have to go to them.

The Best Parenting Book I've Ever Read

After finishing Dobson's Bringing up Boys, I read John Eldredge's Wild at Heart and thought to myself, hands down, the best parenting book I've ever read [although it wasn't intended for parents]. Then today, spotted on Bob Franquiz's blog that Eldredge has taken the principles of Wild at Heart... and turned them into a book for parents called You Have What it Takes. I believe fathering has a bigger impact on a child's life than anything else on the planet.

God uses frustration to shape a vision

More musings from yesterday's interviews with church planters...

In church planting, our natural response to those who are discouraged and stalled is to say, "Who sinned that this church planter isn't making it?" Maybe we don't literally say this, but we communicate it through the praise we heap upon planters who are "getting it done." Or the verbal jabs we make, such as "light yourself on fire and people will come to watch you burn," as if lacking passion was their problem.

I believe God intentionally frustrates the plans of many planters in order to get them on a different path. He gives them long periods of futility to burn-off the glamorous idealism of planting. God actually invites the discouragement. Because when you're discouraged, you get desperate. And when you get desperate... you become open to things you would've never considered before.

Not everybody can preach to the beautiful people. Somebody has to go to the down and destitute. And when these planters are finally desperate enough to accept this mission field, the work of God will be displayed in their lives.

If the restaurant is flopping, change the menu

Spent the day assessing church planters in Richmond with the SBCV. It's such a great opportunity to see the trouble-spots that are common to all planters. I learn from it every time.

Today's take-away... you're not a failure if you miss the missional "key to the city" on your first attempt. In other words, if your first go at planting is a flop, you probably didn't understand the culture and need to try other approaches. Rather than getting depressed or shutting down the church... try other approaches. Learn the culture.

Planters who are a perfect match for their communities are a rare breed... and we all know who these guys are. But most planters have to become missional by experimentation. They have to "fail forward" to figure out their local community through trial and error.

RestonBaby.com Hits the Bigtime

Our local Reston Times newspaper featured a story about the Reston Baby gals on its front page today... which is also a plug for Reston Community Church. Great story that'll grab some publicity. Funny though that Ainsley was misquoted using the Lord's name in vain in the article....

Captain's Log

• Reading Jim Cymbala's Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire again with a good friend
• Blanketed our neighborhood again this AM with flyers for our movie night this Fri
• Great phone conversation with friend and fellow church planter Jay Hardwick this afternoon
• Met Jumaine Jones over coffee today to talk about the exciting plans for his new church near DC
• Doing SBCV church planter assessments tomorrow. Love looking under the hood of other church plants...
• Wyatt is making great strides in potty training this week, but not without setbacks. Nothing like seeing your boy standing in Chipotle with p** running down his leg. =)
• Is there anything anticipated as much as a new leadership book from Andy Stanley?
• Ainsley's RestonBaby.com is now scoring more hits than my blog. I think I'll quit. =)
• Putting a lot of prayer into this Sun's mssge since it's my last before a 5-week speaking sabbatical. There's some pressure in making your last words memorable. =)
• Ains keeps bringing home these 9-inch chocolate eclairs from Wegmans. Ains, I love them, but you're killing me...

The fading glory

This past Sunday, Leah from RestonBaby.com showed me her brand new iPhone. This is the second person I know to beat me to it! And every time they do, a little piece of the novelty wears off for me. That, or I'm a sore loser. =) I'm beginning to sense that much of my love for the iPhone has been that nobody else had been saving for it, like me, for almost a year!  Ahhh... but August 21 is quickly approaching [the end of our Sprint contract]... and maybe there's a new case or something out there that will restore some of my former glory. =)

The tragic story of a tragic family

Was channel surfing last night and came across a 65-pound, emanciated Tammy Faye Bakker -- filmed on Larry King before she died on Friday. I couldn't believe my eyes at how cancer had eaten away her body. When I was a kid, my fam used to watch PTL every night before going to bed. It was our own little slice of Christian late-night. I was saddened by how their family has ended up... divorced, not talking to each other, appearing on the Surreal Life, dying at 65. How does that kind of ending happen?

The Entryway of Anonymity

We've always worked hard to be a welcoming church... the greeters, the welcome center, the pastoral grip & grin on the way out. And this has worked great with folks who are looking for community right off the bat. But our theater location has opened the door to a new kind of guest. The ones who don't want to be known. Somehow the theater makes it easier for folks to slip-in undetected, which kills me, but I'm grateful we can expand our reach. As I look out over the audience each Sunday, and these faces become more and more familiar to me... I'm just waiting for the day when they'll let themselves become known.