Our beautiful, chaotic mess

Chatting with Dave Brown of Austin, TX, via Facebook re: Chaos vs. Order, Dave brought up a great point;that what we perceive to be chaotic and disorderly may be from our perspective and not God's. What we see as a chaotic mess, God is making into something beautiful.

What we have here in Troy NY,aka, the mission field God has sent us to, often seems like a chaotic mess. I am trusting (no, I'm convinced) that God is molding and shaping our chaotic mess into something beautiful, in His eyes that is, and in the eyes of those who are seeing from God's perspective. I guess, as Dave Brown alluded to, it's really a matter of whose lens you're looking through.

When is Church?

Having said what I said in my previous blog post, I recognize that our God is not a God of chaos and disorder, but of order and peace. His order and peace come when He is truly the God of me and the God of His Church and when we come together in the unity of the Holy Spirit. While I may be tired of church as usual, I still recognize the need to meet at a specific time and place, and that groups larger than 12-15 need more space than the average home was designed to accomodate, unless of course you live in a 10,000sq.ft. mansion. So, there is still a need and a legitimate use for the old church buildings, and even the newer ones for thatmetter. I just want to get past the mindset that church is merely a place or an event that occurs at specific times during any given day or week. We are the church collectively and individually. Church does not stop when the worship service and fellowship hour have ended, and the lights have been turned off and the facilities have been locked and secured.

If we truly are the Body of Christ and Christ is truly the head, then Church goes on 24/7; when we meet as a large group on Sunday mornings and on other days and times, as well as in small groups in homes throughout the week, or even smaller groups in a coffee shop.

When I am in my house with my family, praying together and eating meals and living life together, is that "Church" ("wherever 2 or more are gathered in My name, there I am in their midst").

When a group of of people are gathered at the church building, serving and partaking in a community meal to feed hungry children and families, is that church? We may not be gathered in the sanctuary and singing praise songs to some nicely arranged music, wearing our Sunday best, or passing the collection plate, but when I look at what the early church did, as recorded in the book of Acts,

42They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42-47)

I can't help but think that our community meal gatherings fit into this description of what the First Church at Jerusalem did when they assembled themselves together for the purposes mentioned above. We come together. We hear from the word of God, we eat together and we pray together, and we are learning how to live this life together as followers of Christ.

What if some of the people who come together for these community meals are members of other local churches and not members of my local church. Are we still the church? Are we still "having church" even though we are not assembling with our respective pastors and flocks?

The Church is not merely a "What" but a "Who."

One of the prevailing thoughts that continually permeates my heart and mind (I'd say that's what a burden is) is that of what the church is. So often, and for too long, we have bought into the idea that the church is merely a "What," an inamimate thing or entity; a building, the place we go to to worship God, aka, God's house. This concept has been culturally and socially ingrained into our minds, to the point that is difficult to separate from it. As I read through and study the the Gospels, the book of Acts and the Epistles, I see what many people see; that the church is not a place, but a people. It is not a building, but a body. It is not an organization, but a living, breathing organism. I haven't discovered anything new. Yes, I have read Purpose Driven Church at least a half dozen times, along with a host of other books about church planting, evangelism, church growth, etc. I have been to numerous church planting and missions conferences. I have heard all the arguments. But at last a Biblical framework is taking root in my heart, as well as in my mind. The Holy Spirit is compelling me to not focus too much time and energy on buildings and budgets, but on building relationships with people in the community, for the puspose of making Christ known. For the past three years my constant prayer has been that Christ would build His church in the community He has sent me to. At the same time He has been breaking me of the religious/organizational mindset that has permeated Christianity for so long. When I first started thinking like this I thought I was nuts, on the fringes, a fool. But then I met and guys like Ed Stetzer, Alan Hirsch, Frank Viola, Neil Cole and a host of others, many of whom are unknown names within the larger church planting community. What I have seen, for the most part, are many people talking about this very issue, yet very few are breaking away from that mindset; perhaps out of fear of losing denominational support, or being labled a heretic. Or, like me, too attached to what has been the norm for centuries. Who am I to break from tradition?

However, as I have been praying and fasting and spending gobs of time in the word of God and studying, meditating, soul searching, etc, etc, etc, I have come to the conclusion that I need a much more simple plan to follow; something real and authentic that consumes me and effects every part of me; heart, mind, soul and strength (and all that it implies or entails). If that is my Biblically and Spiritually induced mindset, then what is the average person in the street looking for? Well, for three years I have been trying to apply the "Church as usual", open the building and invite them in approach to church planting, while at the same time, getting outside the four walls of the church building and doing "outreach and evangelism" for the purpose of...you guessed it...inviting people to become Christians and come to our building, become members of our church, particpate in our programs, support us with their tithes and offerings, etc.

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of playing church. I'm tired of denominational politics. I'm tired of religion. I'm tired trying to sell my idea of church to some people while others living around me are going without some of the basic staples of life. I'm tired of trying to please the minority when the majority could care less about our building and budget, our programs and our polity.

I simply want to live as Christ lived, love as He loved, and serve as He served. I believe ,with every ounce of my being, that if I can truly live like that and lead others in this same focus and direction, my community and my city will be dramtically changed by the hand of God. The first century church lived like this, and they found favor with both God and man. The unchurched/ungodly people living within their community were astounded at the love and unity that flowed through this group of Christ followers (read the book of Acts).

The church is not merely a "what" but a Who. We are the people of God. Not "me" but "We."

That's what I want...nothing less, but much more than I could ever imagine or hope for (Eph.3:20-21)

Having fun being missional and incarnational

In the three years we have been in Troy, learning the ropes of church planting and urban missions from an insider's perspective, I have taken the time and opportunity to attend many conferences, both locally and nationally, in an effort to learn and grow. Additionally, I have read numerous books authored by some of the leading thinkers in the realm of church planting. The buzz words, "Missional" and "Incarnational" have sunk into my brain, but my heart is still in the "seeker sensitive" stage.

For instance, I am learning through hands on experience, that being missional and incarnational is not a program, strategy, event, or some new idea that formulated with Ed Stetzer, Alan Hirsch or even Darrell Guder, but simply means living in the community God has sent me to, as a person being transformed daily by Christ. As He lives in me and through me, I am living in such a way that I become the salt and light Jesus spoke of in his Sermon on the Mount.

For me, being "missional" and "incarnational" simply means being the person God created me to be in the place where I live, work and play. It means letting go of what I know and letting Christ truly live His life (Zoe) through me. Then I am able to love as he loved, live as he lived and serve as he served; not merely some superficial vocation that I wear on my sleeve, but a life that is surrendered to do whatever and go wherever the Holy Sprit leads.

I am learning that being missional and incarnational can be fun (it is fun), because if it simply means me being the new man God has created me to be, in the place, and among the people God has sent me to, then by taking my kids and a bunch of neighborhood kids sledding in a nearby park, and then chilling out with some hot cocoa and munchies afterward, and chatting about every day stuff like school, families, life and things that bother us...if that's being missional and incarnational...sign me up every day!

Thinking of creative ways to use an old church building for the glory of the Lord

Three years ago we came to Troy at the invitation of Rev. Perry Jones, director of the Capital City Rescue Mission, and several Conservative Baptist leaders who wanted to see the recently closed Sixth Avenue Baptist Church continue as a local church, but recontextualized for urban/inner-city ministry. For me, it meant moving back to the very neighborhood I was born and raised in. For my wife and children it was a whole new thing.

After praying about it for several weeks, we felt the Lord leading us to go to Troy. Even knowing that Sixth Avenue Baptist had closed, that we'd be taking over an empty, century old 10,000 sq.ft. church building that is showing its age, that there was very little money left in their bank account (which was pretty much gone by the end of 2005-06 winter heating season), and that the church building was located smack dab in the middle of Troy's darkest, most distressed (so they say) neighborhood, did not hinder us from making the 25 mile relocation from Schenectady to Troy.

The first year was sort of a honeymoon period. We closed down the building for a short period of time and began to assess what needed to be done to begin refitting the building for inner-city ministry. We saw the extra large kitchen, complete with a mint condition, ten burner Vulcan gas range to be an asset, and the vision of (0ne day) serving a daily community meal began to scratch its way into my brain. We gathered up a bunch of old furniture which proved to be genuine antiques and hired an auctioneer to sell them, which gave us some additional start up funds. We then began the laborious task of ripping out old, water-stained, mildew ridden carpeting, along with a rotted basement floor and wooden partitions. The basement had been divided into several smaller rooms with wooden partial walls, which had become dry rotted and permeated with the stench of mold. We began meeting weekly, as a small group, for worship and prayer. There were seven of us at that point; me and my family, and three good friends who chose to join us in those early days of ministry. In the summer of 2006 we filed DBA papers with Renssalaer County and became known as The CORE Church of Troy. It was also during this first year that my family and I moved to Troy. It was not that big of a move for me, but my young sons had been uprooted from the only home they had known and placed into a new public school with teachers and kids they didn't know. It took some time, but we all adjusted to our new mission field. Three years into this and we're all making new friends and learning what it looks like to be missionaries in our community.

Year two: we welcomed mission teams from West Lebanon, New Hampshire, who came and blessed us. They painted the sanctuary and front entry vestibule and helped us scrub this old church building from top to bottom (on the inside of course). They also helped us with some neighborhood outreach, which brought many neighborhood children into our church for the first time. Our friends from Westerlo Baptist Church, Westerlo, N.Y. joined us on many occasions for work parties, as well as our first Christmas outreach, through which we were able to give some holiday cheer to more than 200 neighborhood children. We hosted our first block party which we called "Taking it to the Streets." Donna Walsh (now Donna Munafo) and her band, 4ever1, partnered with us for this event, along with Victorious Life Christian Church and many other local pastors and churches who came and helped us serve our community.

Year three: We continued to draw more and more neighborhood children, to the point where the adults were out numbered 2-1. This was a challenge we did not anticipate. Especially challenging was the fact that many of these kids were receiving little discipline in their homes and were bringing that lack of discipline with them to church, along with hungry stomachs. We prayerfully accepted this challenge and began serving lunch every Sunday after church, along with offering children's church and CORE/kids events like movie days, crafts, outdoor events, etc.

Halfway through year three, in the summer 0f 2008, we were introduced to Rev. Willie Bacote, who had voiced his burden for doing more to make the community a better place for the kids who live here, and a Divinely appointed and anointed parthership began. The CORE Church and Missing Link Street Ministry began hosting a three day per week "Feed a Kid" ministry, providing hot, nutritious meals to neighborhood children and their families. What was originally designed to be a summer meal program began to draw large numbers; as many as 150-200. We also began to draw opposition from certain community leaders who preferred that we take the meals and related children's activities "indoors," as they were displeased with the amount of traffic and noise our outdoor ministry lot was drawing. Enduring their opposition, we continued to do the work God had commissioned us to do. As the summer heat began to fade and autumn came knocking, so did the need to continue this community meal, and we did eventually move it inside of the CORE Church building when it became too cold to serve outdoors.

The number of children and families coming to the Feed a Kid meals has not dwindled; in fact, we have been regularly seeing new families come. We connected with local caterers, Old Daley Inn, who have graciously and faithfully been cooking and delivering meals every Wednesday since we began. Mike Martin and his construction company have also given generously every other Friday with pizza and wings. Additionally, Mr. Martin donated his time and materials to repair a leak in our church roof which had been causing some serious problems. There are many other local merchants and businesses who have given of their time and/or resources to see that children in this community, and their families, so not go to bed hungry. We must not forget to thank and mention the many volunteers, who have come to every meal, ready to serve and give of their time to feed these kids. This three day a week community meal has become a labor of love and joy for all of us. What is happening to a group of Christ followers, who were strangers six months ago, is purely and totally God's design. A half year into this and we are beginning to connect with many of the families who are coming to the meals. This past Christmas we co-labored once again for our first annual kids Christmas banquet. The need and response we received proved to be too large for our church building and was moved to the Troy Boys and Girls Club. Many children were served a top quality buffet meal, along with their families. The children received gifts and their parents had the opportunity to shop for toys while their children ate and enjoyed the party, complete with live music from our friends 4ever1. We also gave out Bibles and Christmas story/puzzle books.

2008 has come and gone. 2009 is here. We will continue to live as Christ lived, by loving and serving others the way He did, and commanded His followers to do also. We will see new doors for effective ministry open to us. Ideas of expanding to a seven day per week ministry, with an afterschool club, mentoring, recovery groups, etc. And we will watch as a community of faith take shape; as God gives the increase. There is much work to be done, both inside this old church building, and outside in the community that surrounds it. We are poised to see the hand of Almighty God sweep through this community, as we remain faithful and obedient to His call to serve "the least of these."

Will you continue to pray for us? Will you also pray about helping us financially, with your best gift. Feel free to contact Pastor Dave Lewis or Pastor Willie Bacote anytime.

One of the benefits of winter in the Northeast

Sno-Fun #1: What a great way to spend Saturday afternoon!

Pastor Dave, Brenda and a great bunch of kids (including our own 2 boys) took to the hills of Knickerbacker park. We had a great time with the sleds and snowboards. Later we went back to the church for some hot chocolate, hot dogs and donuts. We met at the church building at 11:00am and proceeded up 101st St. to 7th Ave and then to Knick park with our sled brigade. The outside temp was 28 degrees with a slight breeze; excellent sledding weather. We emerged from the park two and a half hours later with a unanimous decision to return tomorrow after church. Stay tuned for more highlights!

In the new year, I'm resolving to wait upon the Lord

In my new year's day devotions I was reading and meditating on Psalm 31.

The last verse of the Psalm caught my attention, which says,

24 Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart,
All you who hope in the LORD. (Ps.31:34) NKJV

To "hope in the LORD" means to wait with a confident expectation for His favor.
In fact, most of the cross reference verses for Psalm 31:24 mention waiting on or for the Lord

Psalm 27:14
Wait for the LORD;
Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for the LORD.

Psalm 37:34
Wait on the LORD,
And keep His way,
And He shall exalt you to inherit the land;
When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it

Psalm 40:1
I waited patiently for the LORD;
And He inclined to me,
And heard my cry.

Psalm 62:5
My soul, wait silently for God alone,
For my expectation is from Him.

Psalm 130:5
I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
And in His word I do hope.

Isaiah 25:9
And it will be said in that day:
“ Behold, this is our God;
We have waited for Him, and He will save us.
This is the LORD;
We have waited for Him;
We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.”

In these verses the Psalmist speaks of;

• waiting prayerfully
• waiting faithfully
• waiting patiently
• waiting silently
• waiting expectantly

Hoping in the Lord requires us to wait expectantly, knowing that His plan and purpose unfolds in His time. He hears all of our prayers, yet it seems like He's not listening at times, or He somehow turns away from us. There are times when our own sinful nature gets the best of us, and because of sin, God must turn away. However, as we cry out to Him, as David did many times, He eventually hears us and rescues us, delivering us by His mighty power and strength.

It goes against our human nature to wait for the Lord. We want things to happen immediately, as we pray and seek God's intervention; whether it be personal prayer or on behalf of others. Many times God purposely waits to answer a prayer because He wants to teach us something about Himself, His kingdom or ourselves, perhaps all at the same time.

The truth is, we can't see everything that God sees, so when we pray, it is with faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped (prayed) for, the evidence of things unseen. So, when we pray we must leave the outcome in God's hands, knowing that He has our best interest, and that of those whom we pray for. When we wait prayerfully, faithfully, patiently, silently, and expectantly, we will be awed when God does answer our prayers. Then we will be filled with a new hope, strength and peace. And we will continue to grow in faith as we wait with joy and hope for the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

So, as 2009 begins, I resolve to wait for the Lord; prayerfully, faithfully, patiently, silently and expectantly. As I do, He will strengthen my heart and I will "be of good courage" (Ps.31:24)