Worship Space

I had lunch with Jerry Beck, the pastor of Park UMC on High Street. It was a very encouraging time. Jerry has been a pastor for twenty-five years so I got to hear some of his “war stories.” Before I could ask Jerry if we could use Park as worship space he actually offered it first. Jerry said we could use it for services, dinners, and whatever else we wanted. It is awesome to see God open doors!

As You Go...

We often think of the Great Commission as something that is to be accomplished in a land foreign to our own. The past few years I have been challenged to think that the Great Commission can be fulfilled as we go throughout our day, that as we go we can “make disciples.” The United States has become the third largest mission field in North America. Theologian Philip Jenkins claims that the present reality is that most Westerners cannot see beyond themselves. Prior to writing The Next Christendom Jenkins notes that in celebration of the millennium there was a historical review of the high and low points of the past thousand years. Jenkins was shocked that religious events were not as highlighted as major secular trends. Because the focus of Christianity over the past few hundred years was on North America, Westerner Christians are failing to recognize that Christianity is expanding in Africa, Asia, and Latin America more than anywhere else. It is stunning to hear the predicted statistics of those who will embrace the Christian Faith in those regions by the year 2025 where half the Christians on the earth will be populated on Africa and Latin America. Jenkins notes face of Christianity will change forever as it moves to these regions and becomes immersed in their cultures. One of the exciting advantages to such an expansion is that as the Pentecostal movement has spread in these regions there has been a focus on scriptural authority, specifically the areas of spiritual gifts and warfare. Jenkins believes that the idea of a “New Christendom” will in some fashion mimic Western Christendom in the Middle Ages as Africa and Latin America will Christianity’s two main centers.

The major difference in Africa and Latin America is the birthing of churches, almost on a daily basis. So what about the United States? . Missiologist Win Arn and his team researched the state of the Church in the U.S. This was their finding: “Today, of the approximately 350,000 churches in America, four out of the five are either plateau or declining.” “80-85% of the churches in America are on the down-side of the growth cycle. Further, of the 15 percent that are growing, 14 percent are growing as the result of transfer rather than conversion growth.” If American churches continue on this downward spiral, we will have more churches closing their doors. The key is to reach new people with the Gospel and plant new churches!

As I was leaving my apartment last week I noticed a guy mowing my grass. Doug introduced himself to me and said I looked familiar. We finally realized that we had recognized each other from the gym. Doug and I chatted outside my apartment for an hour. We exchanged phone numbers and are going to train together in the gym a few times a week. Doug was sharing his story with me about hitting rock bottom due to alcoholism. Doug is slowly gaining his life back and wants to learn more about God. Talk about divine appointments! Doug and I connected right away. I believe this will be a fruitful relationship.

Later that day I went to my new house to check it out. I went by twice to show a few different people. The guy that is preparing my house lives next door. His name is jimmy. Jimmy is about 50 years old and said he is exited about the coffee shop that we are opening up. Jimmy is thankful that good people who will make a positive difference are moving into the neighborhood. Jimmy warned me about all the parities that take place on the street. I smiled really big, he asked me why I was smiling so big and I told him it was exactly where I wanted to be. Jimmy and I talked for about 45 minutes. He is excited about the Friday night dinners and wants to hang with us. God is up to something!

Prayer Answered: A New Place!

The whole reason for leaving my old house I was living in was to move into the area I am trying to reach for Christ. When I moved into my apartment in December I thought that I was going to be there a full year because that was the terms of the lease What I didn’t know was that we were going to pack out my little one bedroom apartment during our community dinners on Friday evenings. I know that this is a good problem to have, but at the same time it is not conducive to issues of space and proximity. About a month ago I began praying that God would give me a home to move our dinners to. When we pray and ask God for big things deep down in our hearts there may be a little doubt that it can happen. I prayed that prayer numerous times since and just put it in the back of my mind.

About two weeks ago we had a bad rainstorm. The severe storm resulted in my apartment flooding since I am in the basement. I was so frustrated that there were a few inches of standing water in my living room! I called my landlord and she was conveniently in Florida. The water lasted for four days until in went away. I got some fans going and left my windows/doors opened. The smell finally went away but during that time the whole neighborhood could hear Rocky (my boxer pup) crying for me when I would leave the house. The landlord called and left a message notifying me that Rocky needed a muzzle. Before I called her back I prayed that she would let me out of my lease and that I can find a new place. Before I could get that out she told me that she was putting the house on the market the following week. She said it would be no problem at all to get out of my lease! I felt like God finally softened the heart of Pharaoh letting me go☺

The door was now open to look for new housing. I started the discernment process and began praying about buying a house. The process lasted a few days and the Lord led me not to even look at buying a house. I knew I wanted to be in an area closer to Chevy chase/Woodland Park so I began looking for apartments. All the apartments I was looking at didn’t accept dogs. I was faced with a dilemma. Do I give up a pet I love in order to be in the area I want to reach? I was ready to do it if that’s what I was being called to do. A few hours later I talked with my friend bill Hughes, director of UK’s Wesley Foundation. Once again this partnership opened another door. The door opened was renting from the same man, Mr. McGinnis who owns the corner store that we are renting to start a coffee shop. Today I went and spoke with Mr. McGinnis who cut me a great deal on a whole house to rent! Not only is it a whole house for dinners but also it has a fenced in backyard for Rocky. The Lord gives us what we need.

Pondering Wesley's Model For Today

There is resurgence in our day for human beings to no longer be totally individualistic but we are seeing more people yearning for community. Today our cities and suburbs are full of lonely people who long for a sense of community those once rural neighborhoods, towns and cities their reputations. There needs to be a return to the Wesleyan model for Christian community, which is something that has been based totally from Scripture. Since Creation it is made clear that humans are made for relationships. The church is described in Scripture as having both an identity and relationship as the people of God not just a gathering of individuals who come together out of their own motives.

When Jesus called people he called people to be with him so they could be like him. He not only calls people to be with him but he calls people together to be with him. When he called the disciples he called them as a group or community. One cannot talk about spiritual transformation without talking about community, which is about the mission of Jesus. This is seen in early Methodist where Christianity was not an individualistic idea but something, which was carried out in societies, bands, and classes. The practice of community should be seen as an integral part of the Church as something that belongs to Christ with the eschatological reality that is here on earth. The community of faith is something that is a reality on earth because of the power of the Holy Spirit. The ascension of Christ does not leave the church powerless or with a loss of identity but empowered by the Holy Spirit waiting with expectation for the bridegroom to come back for her. In the mean time Christians are to pursue entire sanctification as a community of faith.

A question I have been pondering lately has been how would Wesley succeed in establishing Methodism in today’s context. Without a doubt England witnessed an unprecedented revival that lasted over fifty years. What separated Wesley from other leaders was his dedications to seeing people grow in their faith. Many of Wesley’s contemporaries believed that evangelist George Whitefield was a stronger preacher than Wesley who had many converts to show for it. The one thing Whitefield lamented over was his lack of organization compared to Wesley small group model. Whitefield said his followers were scattered like ropes of sand. Wesley refused to preach in a town if he could not set up his small group model (bands and classes). How would Wesley introduce his “high commitment discipleship model” to an individualistic society who thinks they have everything, wants to be entertained, and is scared of commitment? More specifically I am asking what does it look like in our church plant context?

Equipping Youth

I love teaching the youth group. During my prayer time God kept telling me to share my story with the youth. I shared the unedited version and tried to be as real as possible with them. Our newest youth, Jake, who is from Liberia blew me away. When we got into our small group I could tell Jake is totally on fire for God, he lives down the road from me in the Heritage apartments. While in small group Burto and I asked the guys if they were Christians. Jose, one of our youth, who is from the Congo said that he was not a Christian but wanted to become one. We gathered around and prayed for Jose. I asked Jake to lead him in the sinner’s prayer. Jake is in ninth or tenth grade and knew exactly what he was doing. So there in the basement of the church one youth leads another youth to Christ. Praise God! I think Jake could play a role in planting our church.

Unlikely Friendhships

When I moved into Mentelle Park I was expecting to have divine appointments right away and that everything was going to work out right off the bat. Then I met my upstairs neighbor Don who pretty much mumbled at me when I introduced myself to him the first time. I kept greeting Don every time I saw him even though he did not reciprocate. This went on for a few months and then the other day he decided to chew me about because he thought I was not picking up my dog poop. I told him that he was wrong and asked him what was in the bag that I was carrying (Rocky’s poop). I did not back down from him. I have to be honest it actually frustrated me. A few days went by and he asked me for some spare change. I gave him what I had which totaled up to fifty cents. I knew that was not enough for any kind of liquor. Don said he would remember that jester. Today, Don saw me taking my trash out and asked for a ride to the launder mat. Don said to me he was disabled and it was difficult for him to carry anything. I told him I would help him out. While in the car he told me about his drinking. I asked him how often he drank and he said everyday. I then proceeded to tell him I was a Methodist pastor and I was starting a church. I had built some rapport with him because I had helped him out in the past and we were both Marines. Don is moving down the road tomorrow and I ask him if I could visit him sometime. Don was grateful that I wanted to stay in touch with him.

Church Luncheon

Sunday after church we had a church plant luncheon. Everything came together quite well. Melissa McDonald did a great job preparing the food for us! Jeni made some gumbo that went over well too. There were about 20-25 people there who were in attendance. It was a brief lunch and talk just because I hate long meetings. I think if you can’t say what you want to say under an hour than your wasting everybody’s time. Anyway, when I looked around the fellowship hall I said that this could be a great start to a church. We are asking for a few different things from the people of the Rock/La Roca UMC. The first is to willingly be sent out as missionaries for the church plant. There are service opportunities in the following areas: being apart of the launch team, Wednesday night Bible study at the Wesley Foundation, Friday Night dinners, and starting small groups for new believers. We also need folks who would be willing to cook and go out to help conduct our community surveys we will be starting in a few weeks.

Aaron and Dillard think it would probably be a great idea to have more of these luncheons and start by targeting specific individuals. We need the Rock to step up, especially our first service presence.