TV stinks right now. I’m having a hard time even connecting with The Office. That means it’s almost all HGTV and Food Network at our house. And, it’s never a very masculine thing when you quote Rachel Ray or Paula Deen. Less than a month until all that changes.
Just when you think you’ve had an original thought or idea Solomon destroys it throughout the book of Ecclesiastes. The sun rises, the sun sets, then it hustles back around and starts over. Seems pretty uneventful, but it’s not. It’s just that all of life has been done before. It gives me a lot of encouragement to know that every church was once a church plant. I want God to do something unique here, just not something so unique that it doesn’t fit into Solomon’s theology. That takes a lot of the pressure off.
Had lunch today with my beautiful wife and Bobby Williams at Five Guys in Turkey Creek. Bobby is a great guy and I know God is going to do great things with The Ridge. The kicker about lunch is that about 10 minutes into our meal the fire alarm went off. And it wasn’t your mama’s fire alarm. This thing was obnoxiously obnoxious, and it went on for about 20 minutes.
The dilemma was that we had just met Bobby 10 minutes before and couldn’t just leave, so we stuck around. We really wanted to spend time together. We couldn’t really talk but we didn’t want to leave (like most of the crowd did). Makes me wonder when I would actually leave a restaurant in the middle of a meal. I guess if the building as actually on fire there’d be no question.
People leave churches for lots of good and not so good reasons. I agree, we shouldn’t give them good reasons to leave, but what if our relationships were such that we were committed so strongly that we’d put up with the equivalent of a LONG fire alarm?
I’ve always thought that praying strategically meant you had a list of about 5 very specific requests to ask of the Lord. “God, I need an iphone.” “God, I’m praying for my son to sleep 8 hours and 15 minutes so I can sleep 8 and have 15 minutes to brush my teeth before and after.” (No, I don’t really brush my teeth for 7 1/2 minutes each time, but I am pretty OCD.) I still believe in specific requests, and I believe God is honored by answering them. But, He’s teaching me that it’s just as strategic to pray for Him to shape our hearts and direct our paths. The 3 requests I mentioned in the last post encompass so many of the specific things we’re asking Him for and so many of the people we’re asking Him to move in.
Tonight is the first time the group who gathered two weeks ago will meet again, and we’ll kick off the initial stages of core group formation. I have 5 years of thoughts, opinions, and ideas screaming inside my head that I want to let out tonight, but God keeps impressing on my our need to pray. Before I or anyone else rattles off too many opinions, we need to know His. So, tonight I’m asking our team to pray for three things.
First is for a greater burden. Any great vision comes from a great burden. I desire for my heart to be broken for this town and its people more and more all the time. I believe that’s the only way we’ll ever build a great church that glorifies God’s heart for people.
Second is for calling. I don’t want anyone to be a part of our team simply because I’m persuasive. We must have a clear sense of what God is calling us to. He knows who is supposed to be a part of Arrowhead.
Third is for clear mission. There are so many things that we could be doing. But, what is THIS New Testament church called by Jesus to do, and what do the details look like.
If you’re praying for us along this journey, these are things I’d like to ask you to take before the Lord.
Can’t believe it’s already here, but Saturday is the big day. We’re up to our eyeballs in boxes, packing tape, and junk we’ll never use again. I’d throw away everything and start over and Sara likes to keep old dirty paper plates and Band-aids, so we’re a good mix when it comes to moving. We never argue anyway…ha. Our new temporary address is:
3102 Lee Drive Morristown, TN 37814
This weekend I was in Ohio for a couple of days and was reminded of the greatest branding/marketing genius that I’ve ever been aware of - Tim Horton’s. I first learned about Timmy’s (as the locals refer to it) this summer in Ft. McMurray, Alberta, Canada. Day after day we watched hundreds, maybe thousands, of people stand in line or sit in a drivethru for over 30 minutes to get a morning cup of coffee and breakfast sandwich or donuts. Here’s the thing: the coffee isn’t that good! I mean, it’s good, but it ain’t that good.
But, in a yuppie Starbucks-dominated world, Tim is kicking tail and taking names all over Canada (and now Ohio). We watched oil men and other blue collar workers worship at the altar of Tim. They’ve set themselves up as the blue collar Ruth’s Chris, and they are geniuses. They know who they’re trying to reach, and they are ruthless about it.
If I’m one of the marketing guys responsible for Tim Horton’s, I’m setting my sights on all of North America. You heard it here first: remember when you see the red and white signs pop up in your town. And the town down the road. And the next. The Church has a thing or two to learn from Tim Horton’s.
Thanks to gracious friends (I have a lot of those these days) I get to spend a few days at Catalyst this week. This is a crazy time for Sara and I right now, but it feels really good to know that I get these days to be poured into from a distance from some of the greatest leaders in the world. I definitely need it.
I’m a huge sports fan and there is no better time of year than football season, even though I was too big of a wimp to play. Over the last 7 years as a student pastor, I’ve spent a lot of Friday nights at football games. Some are very high quality and some not so much. One of the great things about moving back to Morristown is that it’s a two high school town. That makes West vs. East a huge night, and tonight is the night. The paper referred to it as The Showdown in Motown. Gotta love it. West (my alma mater) has pretty much dominated the last few years, but tonight could be a different story. I expect Sara and I to feel like we’re actually at home after we spend the next few hours with 5,000 of our closest friends at Burke Toney Stadium!
As I’ve talked to people around east Tennessee over the last few months, I’ll often use the word “we” in relation to Arrowhead. From time to time, people stop me and ask who the “we” is. My response is that we = Sara and I. Two is a we! Next Tuesday is the first time we get the opportunity to gather with the people we’ve met face to face and on the phone with since July. To say we are ready would be an understatement. We are ready for the “we” to grow. If you know anyone around Morristown who you think would be interested in knowing more about what God is doing through this church plant, invite them! Tuesday night (10/7) at 7pm at Rose Center.