Thoughts and Musings by Duke Lancaster

South Bay Vineyard Vision

2009-06-10T19:41:00.000-07:00

The fact is that most of us feel to some extent that there is a disconnect between the Christian church as we know it and the Jesus that the Bible portrays. While there are certainly some excellent churches there are still relatively few that are willing to get their hands dirty demonstrating the compassion of Jesus to hurting people. Far too many are using Christ's name to condemn or bring judgment rather than the mercy and forgiveness that His teachings proclaim. Or they speak of a powerful God yet they live a life that demonstrates no expectation of supernatural intervention.

I want South Bay Vineyard to be different. I want it to be a church that has in its DNA not only the desire but the expectation to see God demonstrate his power and glory through every member. That sees selfless service to those in their community as its greatest measure of success. That reaches out to every person and accepts them where they are. That dispenses grace and mercy in such abundance that the religious gatekeepers are offended. And God is going to use people like you and I to build that type of church! He so loves the people of the South Bay area that he has orchestrated people and events to bring them together for this time and purpose. There are people from all over the country that are being assembled here to bring this vision to reality. This is the cause we are committed to and it just may be part of the destiny God has put inside of you!

Courage

2009-06-10T19:38:00.000-07:00

“Courage is not limited to the battlefield. The real tests of courage are much quieter. They are the inner tests, like enduring pain when the room is empty or standing alone when you’re misunderstood.”
– Charles Swindoll

God is Love vs. God loves

2009-04-13T17:46:00.000-07:00

1 John 4:16 ( NIV )
"And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him."

We understand that God loves us but we have a harder time grasping that He IS love... it is the definition of His character. He does not have to work at loving us... He doesn't have to decide to love us... it is His very nature to love not only us but all things... His entire creation. In order to do otherwise He would have to be something other than He is!

Exegeting a Stop Sign

2009-03-10T21:06:00.000-07:00

** Found this at Mindless Meanderings **

Hermeneutics in everyday life

Suppose you're travelling to work and you see a stop sign. What do you do? That depends on how you exegete the stop sign.

1. A postmodernist deconstructs the sign (knocks it over with his car), ending forever the tyrrany of the north-south traffic over the east-west traffic.

2. Similarly, a Marxist sees a stop sign as an instrument of class conflict. He concludes that the bourgeoisie use the north-south road and obstruct the progress of the workers on the east-west road.

3. A serious and educated Catholic believes that he cannot understand the stop sign apart from its interpretive community and their tradition. Observing that the interpretive community doesn't take it too seriously, he doesn't feel obligated to take it too seriously either.

4. An average Catholic (or Orthodox or Coptic or Anglican or Methodist or Presbyterian or whatever) doesn't bother to read the sign but he'll stop if the car in front of him does.

5. A fundamentalist, taking the text very literally, stops at the stop sign and waits for it to tell him to go.

6. A preacher might look up "STOP" in his lexicons of English and discover that it can mean: 1) something which prevents motion, such as a plug for a drain, or a block of wood that prevents a door from closing; 2) a location where a train or bus lets off passengers. The main point of his sermon the following Sunday on this text is: when you see a stop sign, it is a place where traffic is naturally clogged, so it is a good place to let off passengers from your car.

7. An orthodox Jew does one of two things:
1) Take another route to work that doesn't have a stop sign so that he doesn't run the risk of disobeying the Law.
2) Stop at the stop sign, say "Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, king of the universe, who hast given us thy commandment to stop," wait 3 seconds according to his watch, and then proceed. Incidently, the Talmud has the following comments on this passage: R[abbi] Meir says: He who does not stop shall not live long. R. Hillel says: Cursed is he who does not count to three before proceeding. R. Simon ben Yudah says: Why three? Because the Holy One, blessed be He, gave us the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. R. ben Isaac says: Because of the three patriarchs. R. Yehuda says: Why bless the Lord at a stop sign? Because it says: "Be still, and know that I am God." R. Hezekiel says: When Jephthah returned from defeating the Ammonites, the Holy One, blessed be He, knew that a donkey would run out of the house and overtake his daughter; but Jephthah did not stop at the stop sign, and the donkey did not have time to come out. For this reason he saw his daughter first and lost her. Thus he was judged for his transgression at the stop sign. R. Gamaliel says: R. Hillel, when he was a baby, never spoke a word, though his parents tried to teach him by speaking and showing him the words on a scroll. One day his father was driving through town and did not stop at the sign. Young Hillel called out: "Stop, father!" In this way, he began reading and speaking at the same time. Thus it is written:
"Out of the mouth of babes." R. ben Jacob says: Where did the stop sign come from? Out of the sky, for it is written: "Forever, O Lord, your word is fixed in the heavens." R. ben Nathan says: When were stop signs created? On the fourth day, for it is written: "let them serve as signs." R. Yeshuah says: ... [continues for three more pages]

8. A Pharisee does the same thing as an orthodox Jew, except that he waits 10 seconds instead of 3. He also replaces his brake lights with 1000 watt searchlights and connects his horn so that it is activated whenever he touches the brake pedal.

9. A scholar from Jesus seminar concludes that the passage "STOP" undoubtably was never uttered by Jesus himself, but belongs entirely to stage III of the gospel tradition, when the church was first confronted by traffic in its parking lot.

10. A NT scholar notices that there is no stop sign on Mark street but there is one on Matthew and Luke streets, and concludes that the ones on Luke and Matthew streets are both copied from a sign on a completely hypothetical street called "Q". There is an excellent 300 page discussion of speculations on the origin of these stop signs and the differences between the stop signs on Matthew and Luke street in the scholar's commentary on the passage. There is an unfortunately omission in the commentary, however; the author apparently forgot to explain what the text means.

11. An OT scholar points out that there are a number of stylistic differences between the first and second half of the passage "STOP". For example, "ST" contains no enclosed areas and 5 line endings, whereas "OP" contains two enclosed areas and only one line termination. He concludes that the author for the second part is different from the author for the first part and probably lived hundreds of years later. Later scholars determine that the second half is itself actually written by two separate authors because of similar stylistic differences between the "O" and the "P".

12. Another prominent OT scholar notes in his commentary that the stop sign would fit better into the context three streets back. (Unfortunately, he neglected to explain why in his commentary.) Clearly it was moved to its present location by a later redactor. He thus exegetes the intersection as though the stop sign were not there. More Inside!!!

13. Because of the difficulties in interpretation, another OT scholar emends the text, changing "T" to "H". "SHOP" is much easier to understand in context than "STOP" because of the multiplicity of stores in the area. The textual corruption probably occured because "SHOP" is so similar to "STOP" on the sign several streets back that it is a natural mistake for a scribe to make. Thus the sign should be interpreted to announce the existence of a shopping area.

The Relevance of Power

2009-03-10T10:05:00.000-07:00

Our church has rallied around three core values and we reference and talk about them regularly. They are Service, Acceptance and Power... Serving People, Accepting them wherever they are on their journey and expecting and experiencing the Power of God. As I prepared to teach a couple of weeks ago I was struck but the significance of that last value... Power.

Serving people and accepting people are not the private domain of the church... there are many great organizations that do an excellent job of serving people and meeting needs. There are many groups who are extremely accepting and love people and receive them with little or no judgment or motive. These things are not inherently 'Christian'.

But Power... the Supernatural Power of God is different. There is nowhere else that it can be found. The church is the primary dispenser of the power of God. Jesus said that we would do the works He himself did and even greater works (Jn 14:12). What He was doing when He said that was commissioning us to be His body. Not just figuratively or allegorically... but I think literally. As Jesus was here to reflect His Father I think Jesus commissioned us to reflect Himself. And it's a hands-on assignment... go be powerful in Him!

As a church planter I have read many things on making the church relevant to its culture. I believe in that philosophy... I really do... but 'exegeting culture' and strategic planning can quickly become a substitute for simply doing the stuff Jesus did.

A church that is reflecting Jesus in words and works, doing and saying what Jesus did and said, is going to be relevant in any and every culture.

The Deception of Passion

2009-03-09T20:51:00.000-07:00

Is it just me or does there seem to be a real preoccupation with 'Passion' among Christians these days. How to maintain a 'Passion for God'. How to stir your 'Passion for God'. There are worship music series called 'Passion'. A quick look at my own song directory found 11 worship songs with 'passion' in the title and over 200 with 'passion' in the lyrics. I had a youth pastor a few weeks ago tell me that his number one objective was to stir these young people to 'Passion for God'. I watched a youth group recently as they were loudly exhorted to 'release your emotion to Jesus' and to 'show him your passion'.

I love having passion for Jesus and the things of God, but that word in our culture means little more than a stirring of emotions. And if our emotions are the thing that is driving our relationship with Christ... if our feeling are the thing on which we hinge our faith... we are doomed! My fear is that we are grooming a Christian culture that judges their spirituality by their 'goose bumps' and their emotional displays.

Yes, I know that this seems an odd position for me to take... those who know me know that I am a big proponent of 'experiencing Jesus' and 'sensing the Holy Spirit'. Like I said, I love the passion... the emotions... the 'goose bumps'... but I also know what its like to live without them and to still know that God loves you... he's with you... and he's for you.

My relationship with Marie ebbs and flows. We have been together now for over 27 years and the passion and romance is as hot as ever. But there have been seasons in those 27 years where it wasn't so hot... and the emotions were not always in line with the commitments we had made to each other on our wedding day. If feelings... if passion was the measuring stick then we probably wouldn't still be together... commitment is what carries you through the times when feelings fail... and eventually the tide returns and the passion comes back... the emotions come back in line with the commitment.

If our walk with God... our relationship with Christ is anchored only on our passion then we will feel abandoned by God as soon as the emotions go quiet. But that is exactly where faith is found... faith is the substance of something you are looking for and know is real but can't currently see or fully experience (Heb 11:1). Faith holds on when things are hard and God is hard to find. And where does this type faith come from? Faith comes by a 'word from God' (Rom 10:17)... we will never move beyond an emotionally based faith in God, which I'm not sure is really 'faith' at all, if we don't move toward a knowledge of Him as revealed in His word. That type faith is confident and secure in the knowledge of the one we serve even when the circumstances block our heart from seeing Him.

Seek passion for Jesus... desire to sense His presence and to feel His embrace. But know him through His word and let that anchor you in the times you can't feel His touch.

But songs about discipline and bible study are not nearly as much fun to sing.

The Simplicity of a Word

2009-03-01T10:04:00.000-08:00

I was at a 'Prayer and Ministry Workshop' a couple of weeks ago. There were probably a hundred people there and the speaker was modeling the Vineyard style of ministry by giving words of knowledge and inviting people to come forward for prayer. By the end almost everybody had moved to the front of the room to receive ministry. The Pastor of the church pulled me aside and pointed out a young man sitting by himself on the back row and asked me if I would go pray for him.

I went back and began to talk with the young man, Al. He was pretty closed and let me know rather quickly that he really didn't know if he believed in God and had serious doubts about what was going on up on the stage. "A lot of those 'words' could apply to half the people in here.” he said.

I was really working hard trying to find something that would touch him... a word or observation that would reach him. I tested a couple of 'sensings' I had and asked him a few questions... he just simply said "that doesn't apply to me". Marie and Chris came over and prayed and offered a couple of words that also failed to get any response. Just as I was about to give up I glanced at Al and for whatever reason his expression reminded me of somebody that I had ministered to 15 years ago... he didn't look like the guy, just the expression. I thought, "Now why would I suddenly think of that guy?" The only thing I could really remember about the guy was that he was an awesome trumpet player and bass player... so I turned back to Al and said, "Let's change the subject, you're a musician aren't you... you play bass and trumpet." Al's eyes got wide... "How do you know that?"
"I think God just told me that.” I answered.

Everything changed... Al's posture opened up... he began to talk... and the Pastor called me later and said Al had committed his life to Christ. Al explained, "It was the first time I knew for sure God knew who I was."

Here we all were trying to find the deep penetrating thing to reveal Al's heart and instead it was the simplicity of "bass and trumpet". A lesson learned... I think I try to make this too difficult.

A Boomer in the Pew

2009-02-27T11:57:00.000-08:00

Found this site -A Boomer in the Pew: Win a Calfskin Version of the ESV Study Bible!. They are giving away free ESV Study Bible in celebration of their one year blog birthday.

Yeah, I posted this for the chance to win the free ESV Study Bible. But it looks like they have an interesting blog also. You can check it out here.

The Gospel is the Antidote to Everything

2009-02-27T10:00:00.000-08:00

** I don't often post other people's material... but this is so good I wanted you to see it. from Jared Wilson, Nashville (thanks Barry) **

Once there were two brothers. You know their story, more than likely. One was wasteful, exploitative, wanton, licentious. One was rigid, moralistic, uptight, legalistic. Two brothers with two personalities and two sets of attendant sins. But their father loved them both and all that he had belonged to both of them equally.

This is how staggeringly awesome the gospel of Jesus is.

Two sisters. One is a busybody, the other kinda poky. One rarely Sabbaths; the other makes every day a Sabbath. The prescription for both is focus on Jesus.

Two Americans. One is a practicing homosexual and proud of it. The other is a practicing Baptist and proud of it. One trusts his feelings, the other trusts his actions. Both are in desperate need of Jesus for pretty much the same reason.

This is how wonderful the gospel of Jesus is. It's the skeleton key for all of humanity.

Medicine doesn't work this way. You don't treat spina bifida with drugs for leukemia. (At least, I don't think you do.) You don't give a decongestant to a kid with athlete's foot. For every condition, there is a specific treatment. Different symptoms, different fixes.

But the gospel isn't like that. It fixes everything.

We all exhibit a multitude of symptoms for our conditions, running the gamut from self-indulgent immorality to self-satisfying morality. Opposite ends of the spectrum and everywhere in between. Whatever your symptoms, the gospel is the answer.

There is no problem, pain, or perniciousness outside the universe-spanning scope of the gospel.
The gospel carries with it resurrection power.

So Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female, rich or poor, smart or dumb, well or sick, bad or good . . . the gospel is the power to save for all who believe.

The gospel is the antidote to everything.

Abstenence in Marriage

2009-01-29T14:52:00.002-08:00

I know... this is a strange post... but these are strange times. I recently spoke with a christian who passionately explained to me that sex, even within the confines of marriage, is exclusively for procreation and should never be pursued for pleasure. I have heard this position before but I thought I would write out my thoughts on the subject this time...

NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

The only conclusion to this viewpoint would be that abstinence is a valid form of birth control within marriage. This does not seem to line up with scripture.

1 Cor 7:1-5 is pretty frank regarding this matter...
"Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good for a man not to marry. But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband. The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife. Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. "

Some of you didn't know that stuff was in the Bible, did you?
Paul says that one purpose for marriage is to protect men and women from fornication. He explicitely states that abstinence is not to be long-term, and apparently only by agreement for a time of prayer. In marriage, couples are entirely free to satisfy each other. There is nothing unspiritual about sex between marriage partners... for any reason they desire.

The Old Testament guys had something to say on the matter, also...
Proverbs 5:15-19
"Drink water from your own cistern,
running water from your own well.
Should your springs overflow in the streets,
your streams of water in the public squares?
Let them be yours alone,
never to be shared with strangers.
May your fountain be blessed,
and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.
A loving doe, a graceful deer—
may her breasts satisfy you always,
may you ever be captivated by her love."

"satisfy you always"... "captivated by her love"... Reads like a Valentine card (or a romance novel)... Pretty racy stuff... there's no question that there is an element of pleasure intended in the intimate monogamous relationship between a husband and wife.

So, abstaining from sex within a marriage relationship is not only a bad idea, it is disobedient to God's Word. The Bible commands Christian couples not to withhold from one another sexually.

Facebook Frenzy

2009-01-28T20:54:00.002-08:00

My name is Duke and I am a Facebook addict...

I am pretty computer savvy but this social networking thing passed me by completely. I am sure its a generational thing... I mean... my perception was that everybody doing Facebook or MySpace was somewhere between 12 and 20 years old and discussing their latest shopping spree or video game conquest. I could not imagine myself enjoying anything about it nor could I conceive of any useful purpose for joining.

A week or so ago I wanted to show off some pictures of my son, Heath, and his girlfriend. I was at work in Mississippi, 2000 miles from home, and when I said that I didn't have a picture with me one of my coworkers, who maybe has met Heath twice, says... "He has some pix on his facebook page." "WHAT!! You watch his Facebook page??????" "Yeah, we're facebook friends."

So thus began the journey... I went out in search of pictures of Heath. That's when I discovered that I couldn't look at his pictures until I joined... so I signed up. Next I discovered that I couldn't view his pictures unless he was 'my friend'... this is my son we're talking about... and here I am humbling myself and begging his permission to grant me friend status so that I can view his pictures. This is a stressful situation... all the questions... How is my relationship with my son? Really? Have I been a sufficiently 'hip and cool' father to be allowed into the inner sanctum of his online life? Apparently the keys are not that tightly guarded if my coworkers were in...! But I was anxious anyway...

He left me hanging... sleepless nights... days passed by... and then, there in my inbox... Heath confirmed you as a friend... YES!! (fist pump) I was now on the inside of the social networking revolution!

Next day my inbox is full of friend requests... I wasn't sure who some of them were but I gave them access... it was the christian thing to do. I soon learned that there is an insidious narcissistic root that takes hold pretty quickly and manifests itself in an unspoken competition to have more friends than your friends have. I found this out when Josh said, "You've already got 100 friends and you've only been doing this a week." My heart swelled with pride...

In reality this connectivity has been very useful. I am communicating with people that I have lost touch with but more importantly I am in more constant contact with many of the people in our church and local relationship groups. I don't know for sure whether it's a positive or negative thing ultimately, but the facts are that our communication has been much better online than we were experiencing even through texting, emailing or phone calls. And beside this... its been kind of fun... except for the wall updates about shopping sprees and video game conquests... from my coworkers!

President Obama

2009-01-20T22:50:00.002-08:00

I didn't vote for him and I am anxious to see where he goes with policies regarding abortion and such... but the magnitude of this day caught me a little by surprise. I was kind of proud of our nation in spite of myself... I didn't mean to be... I'm not sure I wanted to be... but the significance of the moment settled on me somewhere in the middle of the inaugaration ceremony and I realized that this man was now MY president.... and I was okay with that. I will treat him with the same respect I would had my guy been elected... and I will pray for him in the same way.

Another note... Rick Warren's prayer was a sincere and thoughtful offering in a challenging arena. I have read christians criticizing every nuance and phrase... ridiculous... why do we pick each other apart in public... its hard enough to reach the world when we're on the same page... but when we can't agree with each other that somebody's prayer was or wasn't done right... was or wasn't good enough. If I hadn't become a Christian at a young age I can't imagine why I would have been interested in hearing about this Jesus who's followers beat each other up all the time...

State of the Union

2009-01-19T22:49:00.002-08:00

If my email inbox is an indicator I think the election results have put Christians in an absolute panic. Some express concerns that are real and reasonably presented... but most border on hysteria. I got one today that assured me that we would never again be allowed to rally against abortion... another promised Christians were going to be blacklisted by the government. One Subject line says, "Death of a Nation" Here's a quote from another, "Please join me TOMORROW in celebrating, perhaps for the last time in the history of this nation, National Sanctity of Human Life Day. With the incoming administration, and their liberal hopes and plans for this country, this will probably be the last time we will have the freedom to celebrate this day. "

Most are somewhere in between those... a pessimistic, fearful response to our current cultural and politicaly climate.

There are real concerns about what may be coming in the current administration... but there always is!!! The world is not coming to an end... God was not caught off guard... his end time plans were not set back... and God doesn't secretly love Republicans more than Democrats. The current state of our country and culture should not in any way affect what we do as Christians... we should get up every morning and ask, "What would you have me do today, Lord" Christians have been doing that for centuries... sometimes in much more pagan cultures than ours! The church has survived and often thrived under every type of governmental system... democracy, socialist, communist... don't blame the government for the church's woes.

Where sin abounds there grace much more abounds... we are sitting on a supernatural powder keg... God's grace is set to be poured out if we will have the faith to trust him in these times.

A Worthwhile Read

2008-08-26T22:45:00.001-07:00

Two books I read in the last couple of weeks worth mentioning. The Shack by William Young has been a bestseller and has received acclaim as well as criticism... but I have to say it was one of the most significant books I've read in years. You can't build your entire belief system around it but it is very special in its ability to portray the heart of God and His love for us. I highly recommend.

The other is written by James Chuang of San Diego. The book is titled True Story: A Christianity Worth Believing In. This is one of those books that may have impacted me simply because of the timing... I might not have looked at it twice 5 years ago... but right now it was very special. The author takes a very "Kingdom" approach to evangelism with a strong focus on social justice as a Kingdom principle. He also develops in the book an evangelism strategy and model that seems like it would be particularly effective with the social justice crowd... (which here in San Diego is a large part of who God is sending us). Again, a worthwhile read.

Both of these are easy reads... the kind you can knock out in a couple of nights... and both are books I will read again with a notepad in hand.

Its Official... We're a church!

2008-08-26T22:44:00.000-07:00

Wow... are we close... a little over 2 weeks to launching our new church. I got the paperwork today from Vineyard... we are signed, sealed and delivered...

Church Culture

2008-06-26T08:01:00.003-07:00

Even inside our church movement it seems we are overly focused on new emergant/emerging theories and models. We work very hard to be current (or hip).

I must admit that I believe much of our hoopla over post-modernity and emerging philosophy is a fad. Every generation has experienced some level of rejection of its parents values and has fought for a revolution of sorts. And now its targeting the church. But the church is resilient... and does change, albeit slowly. The very natural flow of things is for the church to trail culture just a bit but it is turning with culture a generation at a time. The type of church I grew up in during the 60's and 70's no longer exists (much to my parents dismay). Simply because of the evolutionary nature of the church. Church is now run by leaders who grew up in a different culture with different worldviews and mindsets than my parents did... and the leaders that follow me will also bring with them their worldviews and values. And the church will change... and adapt.

My point is, don't try so hard to be post-modern... or to be cool. Just do what you do the way you do it... do what God told you to do... and nothing more... and nothing less. There is room in the culture for the way you were made...

Culture always has a front edge and a back edge and there are people at every point in between. And they all need Jesus. You do not have to force yourself into a poorly fitting mold to be relevant... just serve the people that are drawn to you and the culture of the church will take care of itself. GOD will present her...

Counter Culture?

2008-06-26T07:49:00.002-07:00

Still thinking about the last comments about the counter-culture church. I don't actually read the gospels and see counter-culture as the theme. Jesus seemed to work from within the culture. He maintained his jewish lifestyle including temple worship. In Matthew 26 Jesus asserts that he sat in the temple courts everyday to teach. He told stories that were relevant culturally to make his point.

I think we will have more impact working from within the existing culture than establishing a counter-culture. A counter-culture movement creates a bubble that the culture can ignore as a freak show. But kingdom people salted through the existing systems can actually change culture. You can't change what you're not involved with.

Love For the Bride

2008-06-26T07:33:00.002-07:00

It seems like every book on the church that I read anymore is angry... that it perceives the church to be so broken that it just needs to be blown up and rebuilt ground up. There is an element of counter-culture and revolution in this ideology.

We have forgotten who the church is... the bride of Christ... his beloved.

I am fully aware of the faults in my wife... but I love here completely. I can talk to her and encourage her to change in some way and she will respond because she know she is loved as she is. But if somebody else is critical or points out her flaws then I am incensed and rise up to protect her.

Ephesians 5:25-27
25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26to make her holy, cleansing[b] her by the washing with water through the word, 27and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

Who does the correcting? Who washes her and cleanses her and prepares her? Christ does... he makes her blameless and without blemish... she doesn't do it on her own. And Christ is the only one who can... he's the one who loves her enough to change her gently.

If we don't love the church the way Jesus loves the church then we don't have the privelage to criticize or correct her. Fix the part you are involved in but be gentle and loving toward the body or your voice rings hollow.

Change of Plans

2008-06-26T06:50:00.004-07:00

Prov 16:9 In his heart a man plans his course,
but the LORD determines his steps.

I was talking to a local pastor who is struggling a little with how we are to let God 'build the house' and the role we play in strategizing and planning. I think I have a better answer for that than I ever have. I have been much that way in the past... a problem solver... feeling like I had to fix everything and pursue a well defined plan in order to build a church. But the truth is that I was rarely as successful as I expected to be... falling short each time of the vision God had given me. And yet feeling like we were off course if the plans got changed.

It is becoming clear to me that we are to plan and strategize everything in our power... and then pray and expect God to intervene and change our plans. To celebrate him changing them. Because if he doesn't change them we are simply limited to the best we can figure out and accomplish on our own...and I have already proven that the best I can accomplish will still have limited impact. But if he does change my plans then we are beginning to function at a supernatural level and have superceded our own abilities and talents.

This is what I moved for...

2008-06-07T22:21:00.001-07:00

This was a very special week in the life of South Bay Vineyard Church. On Saturday we had 15 people show up at the San Diego Food Bank in north county. In a little over 90 minutes we were able to assemble and pack 500 food boxes to be delivered to seniors in need throughout San Diego.

Then later that same afternoon we went to Crown Point in Mission Bay Park. There we had the pleasure of baptizing three of our friends into the body of Christ...
They also have the distinction of being the first baptisms performed by our young church making it doubly exciting. We then celebrated with food and play and great stories of what God is doing.

This week is the debut of "The Powder Room". The girls are trying to one-up the guys...

Baptism

2008-06-03T22:20:00.001-07:00

Our regular Sunday evening gathering this weekend experienced a powerful move of God.

As we began to pray for healing over one of our members the presence of God was very heavy. Pockets of ministry began to break out all over the room as people would begin to weep and others would rally around them. This continued for several hours... just as I would think we were finished it would start back up again.

Most exciting of all was that three people made public first time commitments to Christ.

We will be celebrating these decisions with baptism in Mission Bay on Saturday.

Road Trip

2008-06-03T22:02:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday morning we loaded up around 14 people and drove the 2 hour trip to the Anaheim Vineyard Church. I was hoping it would give everyone a much bigger picture and vision than what we could communicate in our little home church.

The affect was much greater than I had hoped... the sense of connection to the larger body was powerful and impacted them more than I could have imagined.

During the worship time several of our group began to weep as the Holy Spirit moved on them. The teaching itself felt like it was prepared for us... about the importance of each member of the body... and each one that we took received personal ministry during the ministry time.

When we got everybody together later that evening each one shared what they had seen and experienced. Some reported feeling weak in the knees and a 'lightness' in their body. Others talked of uncontrollable tears. One said he felt 'electricity' go through his body when he received prayer... but all came away saying "Let's do this here in San Diego."

Momentum

2008-06-03T22:00:00.000-07:00

Our infant church is enjoying a great sense of momentum here in south San Diego.

Most of the people who have been gathering with us these few weeks have little previous church background and almost all of them indicated they had never imagined themselves involved in church.

Now just 6 weeks into it those same people are complaining that its too long between Sunday's and have been the catalysts for two new mid-week discipleship groups.

We are still looking towards the Fall for a formal launch but we are in full church building mode already and seeing God do incredible things in some wonderful people.

A Community in the Making

2008-04-30T22:17:00.000-07:00

We have hit the ground running here in San Diego. The boxes are mostly unpacked and we are already seeing God move in natural and supernatural ways.

We have had two group gathering events at my home this month. Our first gathering had eleven people... a few of which had virtually no church background at all. We focused primarily on building relationships and shared a meal together. The following meeting added another person and was much more spiritual... there were a few minutes of teaching around our vision for serving people followed by a very sweet time of prayer.

One of our new friends told me following the second meeting that this was the closest thing to a family she had experienced and to count her "in".

Chris Self told the group about a couple that he had met that were going through a hard time and the group decided to put the 'serving' part of the church vision into action... so we will serve the couple next weekend by preparing them dinner. One of the neat things about this simple act of service is that a number of additional people have already heard about it and asked if they could help (including a professional 5 star chef). We are now hoping to see a significant impact beyond just the people being served.

Our plans are to add an additional midweek meeting this month and will continue to meet on Sunday evenings as a home group. We are aiming at public services by mid-September.

I want to say thank you to all of you who supported our move. Your send-off was encouraging to us all and very appreciated. And we are grateful to those of you who continue to contribute to this vision. Pray specifically over the next few weeks for favor as we look for a meeting facility.

Here We Go!

2008-02-26T22:14:00.000-08:00

We are currently busy packing the house and will be loading a moving truck this weekend. We should be in California by the end of next week!

Even though we have been looking forward to this moment for months we find ourselves with mixed emotions. The last five years have been satisfying and fruitful and the friends we are saying goodbye to in Mississippi are dear to us. But at the same time we are excited and anxious to get started on this new adventure.

I LOVE CHANGE! In my mind I see the purpose of a church as an agent of change... in individuals... and in the larger community they serve. And this is the theme that has shaped my dream of a new church in Chula Vista, California. A church that affects change by demonstrating the love of Christ through extreme acts of service, radical acceptance and supernatural power.

Many of you have asked how you can be involved. There is simply no way we can succeed in this without your help. If you want to commit to regular prayer and/or financial support for this new church let me know by email and I will add you to a 'Foundations Team' email list keeping you informed of our specific needs.
(Or, if you prefer, click on Update Profile/Email Address and add yourself to the 'Foundations Team' mailing list).

We really enjoy receiving your emails. They are such an encouragement to us!