GRACE IN MOTION
A battle rages on. It’s around the corner, in the future, and in
our hearts. Life presents many
unavoidable obstacles that we simply cannot plan for. But I am finding one of my greatest challenges
to be in my heart. Because God is
committed to revealing His glory through us, He continues to cut off the junk
in our hearts that hinders His light from shining. And because God is merciful, He tends to only
cut off one nasty branch at a time. Pursuing
my dreams has revealed a nasty tendency in my heart.
It is a great and necessary
risk to pursue your dreams. At least for
a Christian. Jesus consistently challenged
His followers to this. He told us to carry
our cross, die to ourselves, and proclaim the gospel to the end of the
earth. None of this can happen apart
from people taking significant risks. Following
Jesus does not match our cultural ideals of safety and comfort. It means living a life of faith. And living by life faith requires taking
risks.
Part of the risk will
be circumstantial. We are leaving what has become our home to plant a church in
Milwaukee. Planting a church in an urban
center presents both my wife and me an opportunity to pursue our dreams. Our hearts long to invest our lives in way
that will leave a legacy for the glory God.
We long to see the gospel proclaimed to 1,000’s, to shape the next
generation, to influence the culture, and to feed and clothe the hungry and
homeless. So we are leaving much
comfort, security, and the church family that we love to pursue our dreams, and
hopefully much more.
This has revealed an
intense struggle inside of my heart - my pride.
When I dream about what God might do through us in Milwaukee, my heart can
swing between two ends of a pendulum. On
the one hand, I dream about what I would define as success. In these dreams, I would lead a church that
grows uncontrollably, plants churches like crazy, and has a significant,
positive influence on the culture in Milwaukee and even the Midwest. In these dreams, I become a hero.
But if I wait a few
minutes, my dreams will turn into nightmares.
My heart can just as easily overflow with fear and anxiety, worrying
about failing completely. What if I work
tirelessly for years without seeing fruit?
What if believers won’t get on board with the vision God has given
me? What if I simply can’t execute that
vision? What if no one comes to
Christ? In these nightmares, I become a
failure.
The common factor in
each of these scenarios is pride. The difference
is whether my pride manifests itself as dreams of success (arrogance) or
nightmares of failure (insecurity). Both
are equal but opposite versions of pride that have been pushed to the surface
of my heart by taking the risk of pursuing my dreams. So what’s the solution? How can anyone overcome this mess? At the possibility of oversimplifying a
complex problem, I believe that God provides two primary ways out.
First, instead of
pursuing a dream, we need to pursue Jesus.
We must strive to follow whatever path is causes us to experience the
most of God’s heart and His grace. Life
is not about experiencing avoiding failure or experiencing success; it’s about
experiencing the presence and power of God.
Which brings me to our second way out.
We should not define
success or failure by Western metrics. Our ultimate success is secured for us
by the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Could any of us possibly be included in any greater success? Through Christ we have been given victory
over sin and death. Because of His death
in our place on the cross, God looks on us and says – loved! Approved!
Accepted! Forever! Is there anything that any of us could ever
accomplish that could ever rival Jesus’ success?
When I pursue Jesus
instead of a dream and define success in terms of grace instead of performance,
then I am free to work. From this
perspective I can strive with all of the strength that God provides because my
desire is to glorify His name and not mine.
So striving in grace is what I shall do!
It’s been several
months since I’ve updated this blog. Now
that God is providing a support base of prayer and finances for our church
plant, I intend on updating this blog on a monthly basis. My hope is to point people to Jesus by
providing transparent updates in regards to our progress as well as my experience
in it. I will write three sections:
Grace in Motion, Planter’s Progress, and Next Steps.
I just concluded the “Grace
in Motion.” In that section I want to encourage
you toward God’s heart by letting you know what He’s doing in mine. In the “Planter’s Progress” section I will
make people aware of the steps that have been taken since the last blog and how
God has continued to show Himself faithful.
In the “Next Steps” section I will let people know…well…what our next
steps are.
PLANTER’S PROGRESS
At this point in the
planting process our primary concern is raising support. We need to raise support in three ways:
prayer, people, and finances. We have
been carried by the prayers of faithful people.
And we have been encouraged and humbled by the generosity of faithful
people. To date, God has stirred in the
hearts of people to provide 16% of the support that we need! We praise God and thank His people for their extravagant
and sacrificial provision. When we reach
40% of our support I will be able to officially invite people from our current
area to consider moving with us to Milwaukee.
Please pray that God would bring us to that milestone quickly and
increase a love for Him in the hearts of His people through their support!
NEXT STEPS
On December 28th
Kristy and I have our church planter assessment with Acts 29. This is a critical step in the affiliation process
with that church planting network.
Toward the end of January
or beginning of February we will be part of a “Vision Night” for our church
family. During the event we will tell
the story of how God has led us to plant a new church and cast the vision for what
we are believing Him for in the days to come.
The Vision Night will be the way that we are able to open the door for people
from our church family to consider partnering with us.
Finally, we will continue
to raise support. During the next phase
of building partnerships I will be returning to the place where I was given my
first exposure to life in the church; Spring Valley Wisconsin.
Thanks for your prayers
and support! May the God of all grace
supply your every need and surpass your every dream!
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