intervention

February 27th, 2008 by Nate

Over the last few weeks we have been franticly preparing to make the move to KC. There are so many details to take care of and I am trying to be diligent. I know that when we pull into town on Friday, we will soon be enveloped in the excitement of helping launch a new church on Sunday. As we prepared one of the things on our list, was to price refrigerators. We are renting a place in KC and we are getting a great deal. Part of that great deal is because we have to provide a fridge. Well, the Restore team got wind of this news and decided to lend a hand. They told us that they were getting a refrigerator and that they were going to stock it with food! What a huge blessing. It is one less detail that we have to take care of and spend money on. But that isn’t the whole story.

You may remember that yesterday I talked about how we all have points of contention in our faith journey. My discovery was that ours was a financial struggle. We are learning to trust God with our finances. We want a plan, a guaranteed income, and maybe even some retirement. But, the faith journey that God is calling us on is one of complete trust in his plan and not ours.

Over the weekend we were noticing some strange noises coming from both of our vehicles. We prepared ourselves for the worst as we dropped the first car off. Today, two days later, I found my self writing a very sizable check for the total. I mean this one really hurt. But, as I was driving to my last day on the job in a now quiet car, I had a revelation. God completely provided. We would have spent around the same amount of money on a new refrigerator as we did on the cars! God totally met our needs through an unconventional way, and I almost missed it. My plan would be to get an anonymous check in the mail with “God’s provision” in the memo. But how boring would that be? It is so much more exciting to see God wow us with his plan of provision.

But, if you really feel like you need to send an anonymous check… we will take it!

February 26th, 2008 by Nate

At few weeks ago one of the Senior Pastors, Scott Chapman, shared about Risk. I even reported here what he said, because it spoke to me so much. One of the things that he said was that opposition is the companion of risk. He encouraged everyone to anticipate opposition, so that when it came we would be ready. It has been nearly 6 weeks since we announced out descion to pack up, again, and move to Kansas City. Everyone around us has been very supportive. But it also seems that every step of the way we have faced some form of opposition. This opposition hasn’t been some random point of contention. It is seemingly carefully calculated.

Last summer when we were embarking on this journey and beginning to raise support, the point of contention was the raising monthly support. In fact finances has always been a point of contention and a challenge to trust in this area. We have always strived to practice stewardship. But the sticking point of stepping out in faith for us has always been pertaining to finances. I think everyones faith journey looks the different, because everyone struggles to have faith in different areas. You point of contention for having faith might be trusting God as your father, and another person’s point of contention might be coming to terms that God is really there. Ours is control. We want guaranteed control over our finances. We want financial security and there isnt any in Church planting. Even Jesus’ disciples faced opposition:

Matthew 22:31-32

31 “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

isn’t it interesting that Jesus wasn’t willing to stop this opposition? Instead he prays that Simon’s faith doesn’t fail. Maybe it is because Simon was on his own faith journey. Sheltering him from opposition wouldn’t reveal a new found faith, it would merely delay that discovery. This month we have faced countless opposition that I believe is just a tool of the enemy. He has chosen to hit us where we are weakest as we step out in obedience, in total trust of God’s provision. It goes back to control and we have a plan that doesn’t often line up with God’s greater plan. That is where the enemy steps in and casts doubt. Because he knows that we are on a Faith journey that will reveal a greater faith, and he doesn’t want that. What is your point of contention when it comes to Faith? I can almost garruntee that as you follow Christ, he leading you into it rather than away from it.

Pray for us this week as pursue what God has put in our hearts and prepare to move on Friday!

February 20th, 2008 by Nate

So we started out this year asking the question, “why intervention?” It is the title of this blog but since I’m not a recovering alcoholic, then what is the deal? Well, we took a look at the journey of discovering that biblical community is one of intervention. We looked at the story of Nehemiah and how he joined in what God’s plan already in progress. He rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, by mobilizing a community of cohorts. It started with one person who interfered with the order of things. When he heard the news that the city of Jerusalem was in shambles, it had a profound effect on him. He could have gone about his business but it effected him so much he had to do something. That is really the heart of intervention.

We have decisions to make everyday to join God in what He is already up to. The incredible thing is that we were never meant to do it alone. Throughout the Bible we see all kinds of communities banding together joining God’s mission as His cohorts, interfering with how things because of what could be. For the first time in a long time we as the church are beginning to agree that part of the problem with the world is not just that people need to be in relationship with their creator, but that there are other complex problems that God cares about. These are problems that shouldn’t be and we have the abiltiy to join God’s mission as His cohorts, and we can actually begin to change things through the power of God.  The idea here is not to go and make a sizable donation to the one campaign and go back to shopping for that perfect item on ebay.

The idea of intervention is presented in a question, “what is Holy Spirit prompting you to do?” That is really where it starts. Where do you find your self spending your time and effort? What is the one thing that energizes you and motivates you to take action? You may be the only person that you know who is passionate about that one thing, but that doesn’t mean you are alone. Sometimes it is making your voice heard like or stating the obvious like Nehemiah. He looked at the damage and called his fellow countrymen to action. Do you really think that those people who had been left to live in the rubble of Jerusalem had never thought of rebuilding? It took one man who absolutely had to take action. So what mission of Jesus is compelling you? Most of the time it is outrageous and ridiculous… that is how we know that God is inviting us to join Him. There is often risk involved.

Let me share my “because I have to” story. Many have already heard this and Jill blogged about it not to long ago. Over the last year we have been wrestling with joining a team, to plant a church in KC. Our attitude was, “Lets see if we can raise the monthly support and then we will go”. Last fall we came to the end of our employment at the time and our support was less than adequate. At the same time we were presented with an opportunity to go and serve at a church in Chicago. We wrestled with what the right thing to do was. Eventually we decided that we couldn’t turn our back on God’s provision, we moved to Chicago and began serving at the Chapel. This was an incredibly difficult decision, but we felt it was the right one. Throughout the fall we struggled to turn the corner on the dream of planting a church in KC. This had little to do with the chapel. It became an issue of our hearts and what we were meant to do. The Chapel really provided and environment for us to explore who God has called us to be. When the dust settled, we began to realize that we needed to do whatever it took to get to Kansas City. This was a completely different attitude than what we had in the summer. We weren’t going to wait for the resources to fall into place this time. We felt compelled to take action and to move our family without jobs or support. We went public with this news last month at the chapel, and the people that I work with couldn’t have been more supportive. I really have to credit my boss, Lisa Stueckaman, she helped me journey through these issues of calling. She may be the most gifted leader I have ever worked under. Scott Chapman and his talk on risk might have had something to do with it to. So, a week from Thursday we pack up all we have, again, and move to sunny Kansas City. Why? because we have to…

We desperately need your prayers and support through what is the most radical transition of our lives. If you are interested in partnering with us financially and helping people find their way back to God in KC, then click the contact button at the top and send me a message. Join the intervention…

February 15th, 2008 by Nate

Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah

Here is the video that I have shown for the last 3 fridays… thanks for noticing.

February 14th, 2008 by Nate

Among all of the lessons I learned in 2007, the one that stands out the most is…

I am not…

It isn’t my story.

I am not the main character.

I am not running the show.

My character is merely a supporting one.

Last week I was in a team meeting with the communications team, where my Boss was sharing this scripture from the message:

9-10Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.

She went on to share her thoughts on the rest of the passage. It was a great discussion that we all had about pride, recognition, and retaliation. But my thoughts stayed with the beginning of the passage. What does it look like to practice second fiddle? I may just now be at a place in my life where I am ready to explore that. Lets spend some time together working through this idea. Interested?

February 10th, 2008 by Nate

A few weeks ago we were talking with Troy and Janet over coffee. Janet shared something that was so profound I am still thinking about it. She was saying that as she was leading an addiction recovery group at CCC years ago, she came to a decision. She had to transition from leading out of her expertise to leading from her experience. The story that followed was an amazing one of how when she found common ground with people who had hardcore issues and how she was changed from it. But, long after that conversation Janet’s confession stayed with me. It resonated with me so much, because she verbalized what I have never been able to.

I have been involved in ministry most of my life, but until a few years ago I have always struggled to lead. This is my confession now. For years even after Bible College I felt like I needed to be an expert. I’m not sure why, but I felt the weight of my own expectations to be an expert. An expert on what? Well, I guess I felt I need to be an expert on whatever you needed me to be. Whatever it was, I just didn’t want to let you down. Here is the problem with that… I am deficient in the area of expertise. I am still young and when I tried to lead out of my expertise I failed miserably. I came off as fake, prideful, or idiotic. (or all of the above)

But, when I started using different pronouns like us or we, that is when I found my voice as a leader. When I stopped being an expert on everything and started joining in community and contributing my experiences I discovered a better way to lead. When I speak from experience I get to show you just how imperfect I am and at the same time it is an opportunity for me to speak into your life. I get to share my shortcomings all while leading the way. It all changed when I stopped separating myself from people because of my title and started learning what it meant to be in community. It all began with a shift from expertise, which I didn’t have, to sharing my experiences. Do you lead out of your expertise or your experiences? Im not saying that one is wrong and the other is right, because I’m not an expert. I’m saying that it is worth looking at for yourself.

Thanks Troy and Janet for the coffee and for helping me verbalize what I never could…until now.

February 9th, 2008 by Nate

One of my favorite bands… from my favorite album of 2007… my favorite song on the album… Live in an elevator…

February 8th, 2008 by Nate

So, last month we wrapped on the Greatness small group curriculem. This month we are actually in the 8 week weekend series of greatness. The cool thing about doing the curriculum is that I got hang out with Scott Chapman. Scott is one of the founding pastors of the chapel and he truly a high capacity leader. It was great getting to hear first hand, his thoughts on greatness. As I edited the 8 weeks of small group curriculum the thing that stuck with me was his talk on risk. Last week in staff he recapped this teaching and he delved a little deeper here are the two things that stood out.

1. The Price of Greatness is Risk- Think about anything great that you have accomplished or someone else has accomplished. I bet there was some sort of risk involved up front. This goes back to chasing the lion. There is a risk but the possibilities of what could be far out weigh the risk. The greatest risk is not to risk but to stay nice and safe where you are at.

2. The Companion of Greatness is Opposition- If you are going to do the right thing, you will alway face opposition. Because of the choices that he has made over the years Scott shared his realization of this idea, “I will never know another day in my life without opposition.” Think about it John the baptist, the one who Jesus declared as the greatest was polarizing. Jesus was polarizing. They were both executed for the greatness that lived out. Scott shares something very practical in this area. If we are living risking and following where Jesus leads we should come to expect opposition. In fact we should plan on it… literally. We should be asking a couple of question regularly.

- What opposition are we likely to face?

- What things are going to go wrong?

- How can we prepare for this?

He closed posing a question to the whole staff, “What position do we need to be in to follow God? What ships do you need to burn? Scott shared his story of how he felt the call to be a pastor while he was in med school. Instead of not coming back at the end of the semester, he turned in all of his final exams blank. He flunked out of med school so that he couldn’t ever look back. Scott’s courageous leadership is one of the many things that I love about the Chapel. He challenges me to look ahead to what God is up to.

February 8th, 2008 by Nate

Its that time again. This is the third part of our you tube friday series. So we did this video as a part of the blink series. We wanted to convey the feeling of chaos in the world and how it feels out of control Sarah McLachlan provided the song without permission of course. Check it out and tell me what you think.

February 7th, 2008 by Nate

Jill and I have been doing weight watchers this year. For the most part we have done okay. But, when the office is closed due to snow all bets are off. There was much snacking going on. I couldnt just let the land cruiser sit in the driveway untested in a real blizzard. So, I hopped in and went and got us chinese. So from now on I declare on snow days… sno diet!