Praying To Stay In The Gospel

For the past several weeks I've had the chance to attend a local church here in Macon and hear the Gospel preached through the book of Colossians. It has been very refreshing as well as good for my soul. Colossians is beautiful as it points to the work of Christ and reminds us how the gospel is sufficient to save us.

As the church wrapped its time in Colossians this weekend I couldn't help but meditate on Paul's last piece of instruction to the church in chapter 4:2-4.

"Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison—that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak." Colossians 4:2-4 ESV

Continue Steadfastly in Prayer

Paul has dealt with enough church people to know that no matter how many times he teaches the greatness of this Gospel people will always slip back into finding their salvation in other things besides Christ (good deeds, giving, rule keeping...). So he encourages us to be persistent in the place of prayer. Why?

Be watchful in it with thanksgiving

Because many times we take for granted what all the Gospel has done for us. When we do that, we actually don't believe it to be as powerful as it really is. When that happens we look to other things to maintain our salvation or standing before God. Paul encourages us to continue in prayer, watching what our hearts lean on for assurance of salvation (God's grace or our works?).

When we see the Gospel for how good and great it is we will always be thankful, our hearts will be overwhelmed with the goodness of God. Pray that you don't lose sight of the anchor of your soul.

Keeping it simple

Paul wraps up his encouragement by saying while you're keeping this great Gospel before you, pray that we will have opportunities to preach this Gospel.

What stood out to me the most here was the part where he says "..that i may make it[the gospel] clear, which is how i ought to speak". How many times have you heard people making salvation complicated? Shouldn't it be very simple? We make it difficult for ourselves to find grace, I can only imagine how hard we make it for other people to find grace. Paul himself says that making the gospel clear to understand is how we ought to speak to people about it.

Staying in the Gospel

When i think about praying, I think about praying for a seamless day, for marriages to not crumble, or for restoration of friendships. I don't often think about praying to stay in the Gospel, to remember that my righteousness is in Christ and him alone. I look at those problems though and realize that they are problems that mostly stem from the fact we don't know the Gospel or have trusted in other things that are insufficient to save us. Maybe if I prayed for myself to remember the Gospel and prayed for those around me to hear and be reminded of the Gospel these problems could be resolved.

The Fight

This goes to show you that the greatest fight we have is to remain in the gospel, or to remember the Gospel. Every day our hearts deceive us into thinking other things gain us favor and blessing before God. We strive to attain perfection in our life, at times agonizing over our imperfection, when simply God calls us to rest in Christ's perfection and trust in the work he has done in us. Only when we rest in that can HE work in us.

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Children and The Church: A year without children's ministry

So for the last year or so we have lived as the church with a small group of people. While we do hope for our community to grow and flourish, for now we live our lives as a family that loves each other. We have no worship team, no greeters, no ushers and the biggest thing NO CHILDREN'S MINISTRY! 

Yes you heard that right, no children's ministry. While I am not against children's ministry, I have definitely learned many things from not having children's ministry. There have been many meetings where I have taught and had children crying loudly, fall asleep, run wildly, not pay attention, get sick, whatever could happen has happened. I even had a child poop on me as a meeting was about to start in my home. 

I have come to find that while I have tried and prayed to be an influence in the lives of the children in our church, I have come to find they have influenced me more. So here are my thoughts. 

I take myself too seriously...

"Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” And he laid his hands on them and went away."    (Matthew 19:13-15 ESV) 

I can only imagine what the disciples were saying during this interaction. My impression was they thought Jesus was doing something too serious for these children. They probably thought they needed to be doing something separate, like children's church.  Again I have no problems with children's ministry, but many times I find that our dealings with children in the church is us trying to make them act like adults when actually the gospel calls us to be more like children. My children, not literally mine, teach me to have more fun!

I have become more patient...

In the beginning of my church planting journey, I was convinced that good and correct teaching would save this city and mature our church. While I do believe there is a place for strong teaching, it should never be at the cost of being unloving towards our younger members, our children.

"Stop, hush, be still, we are talking about a loving, and patient God. You're getting on my last nerve."

Talk about living the word (sarcasm intended)!

I look at these children and cant help seeing myself before I was saved, and even myself now. I see from God's perspective, I see how an eternal God is trying to communicate the truth about himself to me, a mere babe. I get bored, distracted, and poop on things (figuratively of course.). And during it all He abounds in love, grace, mercy, and patience. The best thing we can do is live the word in front of our children. We should strive to be patient with them, teach them graciously, and love them dearly!

I see the real need for discipleship...

Our church planting journey started on the premise that we were not coming to start a service but rather to make disciples. Many times we want the church to disciple our kids for us, but honestly that job falls on parents. As leaders in the church we should be equipping people to make disciples. Not just equip people to reach their neighbors, coworkers and the barista at the coffee shop, but also our children. I look at these kids and realize that one day it will be my job to help reveal Christ to my own little child, to pray for them in hopes that they will grow up to put their faith in Christ and in turn make disciples too. I pray that as a church we would press on parents more that they are called to disciple their children and not to rely on staff and programs. They should look to those things to aid them not replace them.

Are we at a disadvantage?

I don't see ourselves at a disadvantage for not having a children's program. I firmly believe that our children have a unique place in our churches to help disciple and strengthen us. While we have not had a children's ministry, my hope is that we have ministered to children. I pray we focus more on equipping parents to disciple and lead their children. They have just as much to teach us, if not more, as we have to teach them. 

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Simple Church

Many of you know that over a year ago my wife and I moved to Macon, Georgia to plant a new church. We gathered a group of people around us that wanted to help see this come to pass and it has become somewhat of an experiment to explore faith in a new way. 

What most people know about church centers around a single Sunday worship service and possibly a mid week service or bible study. Now let me be the first to say that there is nothing wrong with practicing your faith this way, but we were eager for something more.

When we came to Macon our vision hinged on this text from Matthew 28

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20 ESV)

It was our conviction to create environments where people's lives intersected in order to have true discipleship and community. We believed that we could not create a church to make disciples but rather if we made disciples we would get the church.

So you're probably asking, What does that look like? Well we meet in homes every week, share a meal together, share our lives with each other and someone teaches from the scriptures allowing for others to share, add to or ask questions. But it doesn't end there for us. We care for each other, walk through good times and difficult times. 

For us church is not an event we attend but rather the way we live our lives. Our hope is to help create more families of believers that live life in the same manner so that we can become not a church but rather a church of churches and a family of families(this phrase is borrowed, i can not take credit for it, but perfectly describes what we hope for).

Why do this though?

Ever since the early days of my salvation I have always had a desire for the church to be much simpler and at the same time deeper. I personally believe that in the next several years you will see movements such as this taking place across our country, not because this is the right way to practice our faith but rather changes in our society will force us to adapt and change. 

Where churches have been large or even small organizations with its own unique branding, I believe will shift to focus on being a cohesive family where the focus is caring for others and equipping and encouraging people to reach others. I believe that true apostolic ministry will arise where leaders will help lead and develop networks of churches within a city. 

What does that mean for today?

I'm not sure, that's why they call it an adventure. In the words of my father-in-law Vaughn Clark "Its a brave new world!"

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And When They Had Prayed.....

I have a friend who is committed to working out and eating right. He lets nothing get in the way of the time he has set aside to work out. When I was driving home the other day and saw him walking to the gym, I thought to myself, "Wow, If i could just be as dedicated to prayer as he is to working out." I thought to myself though, What drives him to do it? It was then I remembered that the answer came straight out of his mouth recently. He said it was because of the results!

Prayer is the same way, I know that when I pray, I see results and it pushes me to pray more, why? Because God's faithfulness to answer my prayers increases my faith and stirs my zeal.

"And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness." Acts 4:31 ESV 

We could walk through the book of Acts and see endless correlations between the prayers of the Church and God moving in power. The key to the place being shaken, people being filled with the Spirit, and speaking with boldness came "When they had prayed". 

My friend's results in the gym did not come from half-hearted efforts, but rather a die hard commitment to doing something. When we, as the church, commit to truly praying we too can see Kingdom results. We will see marriages healed, sick made well, souls saved, disciples made, and churches established. 

If I worked out i might have abs, If I worked out i might be healthier......

Now ask this question

If we had prayed..... you fill in that blank.....

This is not to condemn but to challenge ourselves. If you are not okay with the status quo than I would challenge you to pray, because it is when we pray things happen. 

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In Him Was Life!

"In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. "John 1:4-5 ESV

Since the end of last year, as a church, we have been walking through the book of John. It has been refreshing to simply look at John's gospel and look at the life of Jesus. I have always been a fan of John 1, but since the first of this year the above text from John 1:4-5 has haunted me wherever i go.

See people were drawn to Jesus. People crowded the streets to see him, they pushed through crowds to touch him, they stormed into dinner parties to anoint him.  They wanted to know this man who was full of mercy, forgiveness, patience, and love.

When I drive around my city I constantly hear this scripture ringing in my ears and it pushes me to pray. My prayer for this year is "Lord i don't want to be a people with the right answers, but a people of your presence.". Because I find everything I need in His presence. 

I Want His Presence 

For so long I think we have been satisfied with having the right answers, but have we contended for his presence? Don't get me wrong I believe the the Lord is always with me because of his grace, I believe that I have his spirit living inside me, but I want to contend for the intimacy with the Lord that causes people to feel him when I am near.  

That itself makes you rethink your church planting strategy. It puts into focus your priorities when trying to reach a city. What use are strategies if we do not have his presence! Lets talk about investing. While we can invest in different tools and marketing materials, nothing beats time invested in prayer and worship. 

"But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” (Acts 3:6 ESV)

When I tell people that we have come to plant a church, I see the response in their eyes, "Oh another one....". I do not want to come before these people empty handed.

Darkness will not be pushed back with great messages, music or even the right answers. It will only be pushed back by light, and that light is the life that is found in Jesus!

In Christ is life, and that life is the light of the world!

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