What Battles are You Facing?

August 24, 2009 — 1 Comment
397621743_fc701db610<Image courtesy of army.mil>

So much of life seems like it involves ‘battle.’  Think of how we describe much of what we endure in a single day:

At the beginning of the day: we fight to get out of bed.
During the day: we fight to maintain attention.
Sometime in the afternoon: we fight cravings.
Once things wind down: we fight to keep our eyes open.

And that’s just the normal kind of day; this is to say nothing about the different ‘corporate battles’ people face, those who find themselves ‘battling cancer,’ those trying to fight the battle of the bulge, fighting to keep the skeletons in our closets at bay, the couple in a rough patch who are fighting for their marriage (even though it appears they may be fighting each other).  Then on top of that (or perhaps related to many of the things just listed), Scripture reminds us, like-it-or-not, believe-it-or-not, we are entrenched in a spuiritual battle where we have a very real enemy and there’s a great war occurring we usually can’t see.

Battles come every day.  But how can you and I be ready when they come our way?  How can we be sure that we are prepared to the extent that we don’t just ‘live to fight another day’ but find victory and hope in the midst of our circumstance?

I’m not trying to make you depressed, but take some time and think of the different battles you face.  Go ahead, think.  What battles are you facing?

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Did you think of some?

In Joshua 4 & 5, we find the people of Israel, having crossed the Jordan River, now poised for battle.  In fact, this is what is recorded for us:

Josh 4:

12 The men of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over, ready for battle, in front of the Israelites, as Moses had directed them. 13 About forty thousand armed for battle crossed over before the LORD to the plains of Jericho for war.

They were ‘ready for battle’ and armed.  The time to fight was coming.  But, before they went to fight the battle before them, they were given instructions to remember some important truths… and those same instructions help us to fight our own battles in such a way that victory can be won.   Over the next few “Joshua” entries here, we’ll discuss what the lessons the people of Israel were reminded of and how we can learn to face the battles of life, love and ministry.  In the meantime, it just might be a good idea to reflect on what you’re facing this week and be reminded of our simple need to rely the only One who holds the promise of genuine victory

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CPAC, Day Three

August 21, 2009 — 2 Comments

I know this is ‘the day after day three,’ but to keep with the pattern of my previous posts, this will focus on what happened our last day at the Assessment Center.  I’ll write an entry or two on overall reflections soon.

Our final day began with the presentation of our group project.  As we had been preparing the project for presentation to the assessors, they were meeting in order to draft our written assessments following their reviews/scores (and subsequent votes) on what kind of ‘light’ each couple had received.  The project opened up the opportunity for the potential planters to interact with each other and get a little bit of insight into the process of understanding a community and a small part of the detail of planting a church.  That process was one of the significant ‘takeaways’ for me from the week’s events and helped instill an even greater excitement about the potential of being a planter myself.

Following the project presentation, there was varied interaction with the assessors about the project and some of their insights.  Then came the moment we had been waiting for: when we would meet with our individual assessors (the person who had done all of our one-on-one interviews) to receive our results and gain insight into how the assessors had reached their conclusions.  I’m happy to report that all three of the couples were ‘green-lighted’ to pursue with church planting!

Everyone then regrouped to have a Q&A—this time with the planting couples asking questions of the assessment team.  There was discussion about ‘next steps’ (especially the need for training) and some practical helps which included a number of resources being given out.  The ‘official’ day ended with lunch, but the folks from WPA stayed longer to debrief and continue building relationship.

Each of the three couples who completed the assessment now have the joy of praying through what will happen next in their journey.  But, as it stands today, there are three planters preparing to partner with God’s Spirit in touching communities with the most effective tool we have for reaching those who don’t know Christ—planting new churches.  And, if you ask me, it doesn’t get much more exciting than that!

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This entry is also posted at theydidweill.blogspot.com, the blog for the M3 emphasis of the Western PA District of the Wesleyan Church

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CPAC, Day Two

August 20, 2009 — Leave a comment

It’s just about 2:30AM, and I’m getting ready to call it a night.

After a full, rich day of interviews, interviews, and more interviews (including one session with a Christian counselor), we had time for a quick seminar and some exercises, which included a pretty hefty group project.  I’m just finishing with my portion of that project, and while I won’t go into too much detail (because, after all, it is 2:30 in the morning), I can say the whole experience thus far has been well worth our time investment and, I believe well worth the financial investment of the district.  The self-discovery and opportunity to be connected with passionate, missional-minded people which are available in this setting are not things to be taken for granted–no matter what kind of ‘red-light,’ yellow-light,’ ‘green light’ evaluation we get tomorrow, Sarah and I will have counted it a great privilege to be here.

Even at this late hour, I can genuinely say that if you have ever considered that church planting may be where God will lead you in your journey, attendance at an Assessment event like this one is a must… I believe it will be a high-water mark in your life.
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This entry is also posted at theydidwewill.blogspot.com, the blog of the Church Multiplication Task Force of the WPA District of the Wesleyan Church.

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CPAC, Day One

August 18, 2009 — 1 Comment

36963900_4106e91ed1<Image courtesy of Clearly Ambiguous>

Today was a great ‘introduction’ day—the three couples here for Assessment got a chance to get to know each other, and we were given a glimpse of the process involved in CPAC before jumping in headlong.  Before we go any further, though, it’s worth noting that it was communicated time and time again that this process is much more about discovering who God has created us to be and to find the best ministry fit than it is about any kind of pass-or-fail scenario.  The advice given to us: have fun and enjoy the incredible gift of having three days full of people taking the time to help us understand who we are and how God may be leading us.  Sounds like very wise advice to me.

We began with each potential planter delivering two messages: five minutes to a ‘room of unchurched people’ on why they should consider Jesus, and five minutes attempting to convince someone to join you in a ministry endeavor.  Following their ‘talks,’ each couple had a few minutes answering questions in front of the group.

That led to our first interview time—each couple was assigned an assessor and was privately interviewed for about two and half hours (there will be more interviewing tomorrow).  The ‘interview’ was a lot like filling out a verbal questionnaire about past experiences.  What is likely to be is best found by what has already been; in other words, how someone will act/react/perform can be pretty well predicted by how they’ve acted/reacted/performed in the past; so the assessors use questions that help identify themes and constants throughout the life of the potential planter.  The times of interview, so far at least, haven’t been overly uncomfortable or super invasive, but very conversational in tone.

After our interview sessions, everybody regrouped for supper (us ‘assessees’ all sat together to enjoy some more get-to-know-you time and conversation—it’s amazing to spend time with people who are so passionate about what God not only can do but desires to do in our world.

But now it’s time to get some rest—tomorrow will be a long, full day.  All of us are excited to see how God uses this time to prepare our ‘next steps.’  But before I head to bed, I would like to make a request of those who may happen to be reading this—all of our talk today has been focused on being used by God to advance his Kingdom and the glory of his Great Name, and I’m reminded of one of Jesus’ commands in terms of what we should pray for.

Matthew 9:

35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.“

So, my request is that you would ask the Lord of harvest to send out workers into his field.  A bit of warning before you do that, though: you just might find yourself being sent into that very field… across the street or across the globe.  And maybe part of that journey for you is taking part in an assessment much like this one…

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This entry is also posted at theydidwewill.blogspot.com, the blog of the Church Multiplication Task Force of the WPA District of the Wesleyan Church.

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My Prayer for Today…

August 18, 2009 — Leave a comment

Lately at the beginning of (and often throughout) each day, I’ve been praying something like this:

God, make me a fool so You can shame the wise.
Father, please make me weak, so as to shame the strong.
Make me lowly and despised, as we watch You shine above the created order.
Help me to boast only in You—because You and Your righteousness are the only good in me; may I be mindful of who I was when You called me: unwise, influencing nothing, and of humble birth.
All I have and all I am is in You.  Through me and my life, please proclaim the crucifixion and make known Your great love, power, and righteousness.

Thank You for making me Yours.

Now, I just hope I have courage and steadfastness as it is answered.

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