Winning Friends and Influencing People

I'm trying to keep a running lists of things that have been going on the past few months…oh yeah, my parents are divorced, I've had chest pains, an infection in my cornea, broke my glasses, had my life threatened, tired deflated, and bike stolen.  As the opposition has continued to grow so have the blessings as humorous as that sounds.  It's been an interesting few months to say the least but during this time I have seen 5 people I have been talking to for over a year start attending Embrace after several invitations.

The attacks and persecution we have undergone has been tremendous.  I imagine if we laid low and did not care about sharing the love of Christ with others we would be off the radar.  I've told the people of Embrace that if they hang out with me they will get a target on their back too.  The people of Embrace have been some of the most courageous people I have ever met, first to let me be their pastor!  Secondly, and more importantly the way they are living the Christian life.  I haven't seen people this serious about the Christian life in a long time.  They have been open to being servants and actually learning to live/love in community together.  Community has been something that we have all worked for with many people coming and going because expectations aren't meant in one way or another. We are not a perfect community but we are certainly a redeemed community; a community that has continued to be refined and sanctified by the Spirit.

James

The word is starting to get out that my office is at the corner of Ashland and High Street, which might not mean anything to people outside of Lexington, but if you live close to Chevy Chase you know it's one of the epicenters of the community.  Starbucks has become the place were I have my meetings, prepare my sermons, and share my faith.  It's also been the location where I have met several people.  I'm convinced people do not come into Starbucks because of the $3 drinks but they come for the experience and simply to be around people.  I see lonely people everyday, lonely people hiding behind their laptops, iPods, books, and newspapers. While others are chatting away and enjoying someone else's company these lonely people isolate themselves no matter the differences.  Some of the lonely people I have met are property owners, real-estate agents, lawyers, and doctors.  Other lonely people I have met are a bit awkward, might be different for a number of reasons.  The reasons are too overwhelming for some of the people they meet, which often results in hurt, rejection, and more loneliness.  Ever since I can remember, even in my pagan days, I had a heart for the people who went under the radar.  When I came to faith in Christ I finally realized it was God who gave me the ability to see and love people.  Now I understand it as my desire to see God's kingdom continuing to come to earth.
   

I have come to see that the lonelier or more rejected a person is by society the more their hearts are open to the Gospel.  When Jesus came to proclaim the Good News it was to people who were not the religious dignitaries or the elite but were the poor, lower class, and those who were unbelielievably burdened. 
Recently, God has taught me more about the kingdom of God through James, a special needs man I met at Starbucks, than I ever learned in a seminary class.  James is a bit awkward, my shake your hand to hard, my hold it too long, but his heart is one that is after God.  After my first time talking with James I invited him to come to my house for dinner on Friday in which he came.  James told me that nobody has ever been so nice to him before and than he told me something that caught me off guard, "I Love you."  When I heard that I immediately thought of Jesus.  I thought something so trivial and mundane to some people but I was blown away to think that Jesus loves James.  Jesus loves me.  And Jesus loves everybody. 


James came to church with me this past Sunday.  I knew he was nervous to meet new people so we went to Woodland Park and prayed that he wouldn't be nervous to come to church.  I was really proud of Nick, Aaron, and Mark who sat with their new friend and made him feel right at home.  Near the end of the service we took communion.  The Dillards were serving us communion and James and I came up toward the end of the line.  I had one of the most intimate times of participating in communion in my life. I put my hand on James' shoulder and explained what exactly we were taking into our bodies and as we ingested the bread and juice.

James enjoyed church and came out to lunch with us after.  The thing that frightened me the most is that James has lived in the Chevy Chase area his entire life and what if he has never been told about the Good News before in his 38 year old life?  This is exactly what drives me, this is what won't let me quit, the thought that Lexington is full of people like James fills my bones with fire.

St Patrick: The Church Planter

Before St. Patrick's Day was about drinking green beer and brawling Irishmen it was in celebration for a pioneer of the Christian faith. I have come to appreciate St. Patrick because of the book that my team and I have read, George Hunter's Celtic Way of Evangelism. Patrick grew up in what is now northeast England in the late fourth/early fifth century. When Patrick was 16 he was taken into slavery. However while in slavery he became a devout Christian who reached his captors. After his traumatic experience Patrick trained for the priesthood. England became the setting were he served the parish faithfully for many years. One night, Patrick experienced a dream that would change his life. At age forty-eight Patrick interpreted his dream as a calling to spread the Gospel to the Celtic peoples of Ireland. Pope Celestine commissioned Patrick as history's first missionary bishop. In 432 A.D. tradition tells us he arrived in Ireland with an entourage of Christian workers to help him in this task. What was the big deal about Irish Celtics? Well the biggest obstacle was the way they were perceived. They were thought of as "barbarians." The issue for many was it is impossible to "civilize" a people such as the Irish Celtics. However Patrick didn't look to evangelize a people simply to civilize them. Prior to Patrick the Church viewed these Celtic peoples as impossible to reach. The reason why Romans thought of the Celtic peoples as "barbarians" was because they thought highly of themselves. Anybody who wasn't Roman was considered a "barbarian!" History tells us that 700 churches were planted from Patrick's mission, and he ordained 1000 priests.

I believe today Christianity is a hard "sale" to somebody who thinks they have it all. It is difficult for people to find a true faith in a nation that is plenteous with all sorts of resources. Despite the difficulty we must trust that God is working in the hearts and lives of his people before we even arrive on the scene. Just because the task is difficult doesn't mean we should stop trying to do the very thing Jesus called us to do. My verse as of late has been Joshua 1:9, "This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." If we trust that God is with us and goes before us then we must not view reaching certain people as impossible. I ask myself, "has anybody ever given up on me?" I have come to the realization that we can't give up on others because we might not be able to see the work God is doing in a person.

Community Garden Update

Charlie Smith, the VP of the Columbia Heights Neighborhood Associate who came to one of our dinners during the summer have been plotting about a community garden.  Since I live in the neighborhood we wanted to get people from the neighborhood and Embrace church to participate in this garden.  We met with the neighborhood association and they approved it.  Our next step was this past Monday were we made a proposal to the University of Kentucky to give us the land.  They approved it and were delighted that they didn't have to mow it anymore ☺ We will be getting a Fusion group together to volunteer and help us till the land.  We don't know exactly what to expect from all of this but we do know that we will get a better opportunity to meet new people and share fresh vegetables with people in the community.  We start tilling the land on April 26th.  Jason Dillard had the idea of inaugurating the new land with some prayer before we start the project.

Contra

After our Friday night community dinners a bunch of our friends have been going Contra dancing.  The only way I can explain it in my own words is it's like folk dancing on crack!  You get tired, sweaty, and dizzy if you are not looking directly into your partner's eyes.  It makes for a lot of fun especially if you like meeting new people.  We have been going just to have fun but have had the opportunity to invite people to Embrace.  Our friend Sarah is someone we met at Contra and has been hanging out with us at Embrace.  It has been cool to see how God has been linking us to people wherever we go.  Many of the Contra regulars have asked us where we are coming from since we are "rolling" with such a large posse.  We tell them we all go to church together and then invite them over for our Friday dinners.  I have really enjoyed seeing how the growth in the people at Embrace has been translating to their excitement for God and wanting to share that with others.

John VaDelinde

One evening around the beginning of January Andrew and I went to Common Grounds.  It was a low-key night with not many people there.  We were actually there to get a drink and not stay long.  As we were conversing we met John VanDelinde.  John is from the Rochester Institute of Technology doing an internship at Lexmark in mechanical engineering.  It was truly a divine appointment because I'm from around the Rochester area, and Andrew is a mechanical engineer who did his internship at Lexmark.  We exchanged numbers and invited him to our launch service January 18th.  John came and we were excited to see someone we invited actually show up.  Even though John was only going to do his internship for a few more months he quickly jumped into discipleship and fellowship at Embrace.  I saw a dramatic growth in John in his short time in Lexington. A few weeks ago, John stood up before Embrace and shared his testimony.  By the end of his time with us we didn't want to see him leave and he even wanted to stay!  On his last Sunday we prayed for John as a congregation and commissioned him as a missionary back to his school.  John will be returning to Lexington for his second internship at Lexmark toward the end of May.  We are truly thankful for his life and the time we shared with him.