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If you're interested, our friends at 9Marks picked up on an article I wrote for theresurgence.com called "Should Evangelical Churches Do Social Ministry" and have been debating it. Their debate on it is here.
This is very important to our church's understanding of our mission to our city, and your insight is welcomed, whether here or on their site.
In case you haven't figured out, the Summit Church offices have been AWOL this week. We were having some major internet server adjustments that required us to take the whole site down. And, to boot, we had to move our phone system.
Be patient, it will all be back up shortly. Hopefully this afternoon.
Between that and the flu this week, I've not been able to mind the blog as I would want. Thanks for you patience, if you've given it to me. If you're angry, then may 1000 pop-up ads make their way through your spam filter to teach you patience.
But, since I get sympathy from you for being sick, hopefully you can indulge a few shots of my wife and girls. These are from a new friend Kimberly Naranjo at the church. She has an absolutely incredible story about how Jesus saved her, and an amazing photography business/ministry called "evolve studios." These are from her blog.
Don't forget we start The Great Experiment this Sunday. One month where we as a church covenant to "test God" together... to see if God (Malachi 3:10) and see if He won't bless us and take care of us when we put Him first. This is not primarily about money, it is about our trust in God and our putting Him first. If you've never done so, I'm asking you in this one month to try it... take God at His word and give Him a chance to demonstrate His goodness to you!
For you Summit Church members, this is the week we are moving our offices down to our Brier Creek facility, 2335-114 Presidential Drive, Durham, NC 27703. These offices are adjacent to our Sunday Brier Creek worship facility.
Part of the chaos means that EVERYTHING is down. Internet, phones... even our server. I don't know how it all works, but our normal church website is not functional. Hopefully will be up tomorrow.
Thanks for your patience. What did we do before blogs?
Most of the staff will be able to check email tomorrow. Don't have any emergencies until then.
Here's a testimony that we shared at RENEW, one of the stories we received about Life Change. If you have one or know of another, submit it here. As you read it, I hope you never forget that people like this sit beside you each Sunday. You never know what is going on in their lives, and what a friendly gesture to them might mean. P.S. I'm at home in bed right now with the flu, so don't expect much out of the blog this week. :(
This is not a story that I tell most people because I used to be ashamed of my past actions, but I've discovered in not sharing, God does not receive the glory He deserves. My journey towards the Lord started here: As an eighteen year old I came to crossroads of my life where I decided that my life wasn?t worth living anymore. I was broken down, lonely, and feeling a sense of worthlessness. I remember going downstairs one night and stealing a kitchen knife and storing it in my nightstand for many nights to come. Every night I would pull it out and just mediate whether or not I could actually kill myself. I brainstormed other ideas such as overdosing, or jumping out of a window. But alas, I came to the same conclusion each time, I was afraid that none of the above would actually kill me and that I would just be more shamed and embarrassed when I was discovered attempting suicide. I had begun to acknowledge that something in my soul was dying, and perhaps the only reason I never took my life was the hope that something bigger and better was worth living for. Thus, I took my depressed self, packed up, and moved to college hoping for a new beginning, but was only left to find more heartache and despair after just one year of college.
I still remember the first day I walked into Summit in July of 2005, almost as if it were yesterday. I sat in the very last row of Riverside hoping to go unnoticed by all. Each week, I came, I listened, and I left immediately. But a far greater moment than that would be in December of that year when I finally laid my life down at the feet of Jesus and accepted Him as my Savior. My life was still in pieces but I rested in better hands. From that very moment on, I have been blown away by Summit. In my whole life, I had never met people quite like the attendees of this church. I have been so blessed by people who have gone out of their way to help me out, to families who have opened their doors to me, and to friends who have been there through thick and thin. I have never once experienced fellowship and family as deep and loving as I do here at Summit.
Now to say that in the last two years that God has used Summit to change my life would be a gross understatement. When we are asked on Sunday mornings to mediate on where we would be had God not interrupted our lives, the first image that always comes to mind is a graveyard because I know that my life was heading in that direction. Though Jesus saved my soul, I believe in so many ways that God has used the Summit church to save my life. If I had never stepped foot into the Summit church, I may have not lived to see my next birthday, but I will never know that for sure. What I do know is that I have watched for the past two years as people have come around me and poured endlessly into my life even when I undeserving of it and I will stand forever changed as a result. I have been both overwhelmed and humbled by the generosity and self-sacrificing attitudes of the people I encounter here each week. Two years ago, I was a shy and lonely girl who hid in the back of the church going home each week wondering if life was really worth living, and now, I fight my way to the front trying to be as close as possible. I don?t believe that life is now magically easier, but I have learned that no matter how many times I fall that this church continues to pray for me, hold me accountable, and care for me in ways I never imagined possible. I could never ever say thank you enough for the experiences God has graciously placed in my life via the Summit church over these past few years. I have stood in awe of those who have willing gave up their time to disciple me, lead me in bible study, pray with me, and encourage me daily. And every Sunday I know without a doubt in my mind that I will walk into a building that radiates wall to wall with God?s love because of the community of believers who sits in it, and for that, I am eternally grateful!
RENEW: How great was RENEW? How awesome is it for me to lead a church so full of faith and willingness to be used by God for His glory here! We had a great turnout. We got some Holy Spirit goals together. Awesome prayer time. Great fellowship. We had some vintage Summit humor. Worship team and Chandelier Swinging Pentecostal Gospel choir absolutely killed it.
I love being a part of a church that is focused not on itself but on completing Jesus' purposes on earth (at least, trying to...). In Mark 11, Jesus drove a lot of the clergy out of the temple with whips. The reason-- they had turned the house of God into a house of personal profit. Most scholars believe that these money changers were in the "Court of the Gentiles," meaning they had taken over the area that God had intended be reserved for access by other nations. Rather than making the salvation of the Gentiles their mission, the temple guardians had commandeered the temple for their own personal profit.
How many churches are there where most of the ministries are focused only on the benefit and preferences of the church itself, instead of being focused on the "Gentiles" outside? How many churches are engineered around the profit and personal promotion of the Pastor, and not on the people and places in the world most in need of Jesus? Wouldn't Jesus feel the same about our churches today, if we build them up for our own "profit" and not with a radical focus on those outside?
The Boar's Nest: Another wing of our Brier Creek facility as well as our Brier Creek offices will be opening this week. We have a huge new room that can seat about 300 we'll be opening. We're trying to come up with a name for it... it's where we'll do baptism, overflow seating, and smaller events like DSL. What do you think? Help us name it. My favorite suggestion so far is "The Boar's Nest," that place that J.D. Hogg hung out in "The Dukes of Hazzard." That name has a lot of nostalgic value for me...
Later this weekend I'll be posting some great stories that we shared on Friday night...
Sometimes I go through periods where it feels like I'm hearing directly from Jesus every day. He seems to clearly be lighting my path, I feel Him moving in my heart, and I can see His handiwork all through my life. Sometimes these periods last a few days, sometimes they last several months.
Other times it feels like I'm in a desert. Even when I press in and plead with God, I can't feel anything. I don't see how God is answering any of my prayers. It feels like God wrote the Bible and then simply turned me loose to obey it on my own. Temptations I struggle with get more intense and even more difficult to shake. My heart yearns after idols. I get lazier and more self-centered. I get short with people. I watch TV more. I care less. Life feels bitter. And then I get physically depressed at how little progress I seem to have made in Christian growth and maturity. So I seek God, I press in... and God seems to be silent. Nothing. Like He's gone on writer's strike and all I can do is watch lame reruns of things He did in my life last year. And so I don't know exactly what to do.
Anybody else like that? Why is God like that? What are you supposed to do during the "dry" times?
I don't know if I have the answer, but here's what I have discovered:
1. Read the Psalms. Encourage yourself with the thought that this is the common experience of the greatest believers in history.
2. Preach the Gospel to yourself. I am not loved or accepted by Christ because of how I feel, how much victory I have over temptation, or how well I'm doing. God's love for me never wavers or changes, even in the dry times. My faith is not in my feelings, but in the unchangeable facts of the Gospel.
3. Press on in obedience. I believe that part of the "faith journey" is actually learning to obey when you can't see or sense God. Sometimes we have to simply believe "that He's there" and that He really is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Endure and press on. Faith is acting when you have nothing else to go on but God's promises. And you can't feel those. You believe them.
4. Think about Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. There, He tried to meet with His Father for motivation and consolation before going to the cross. He found nothing, but obeyed anyway. Because of that obedience, I am never really alone and I never have to fear God's displeasure of me. He endured all that in my place.
I'm looking forward this week to starting our mini-series, Scarred, about the last days of Jesus before the cross. My prayer is that we will learn to really love and be amazed by Him. You can pray for me.
Come to RENEW this Friday. It's a big deal. It's going to be a revival.
I'm always questioning what I can most be doing for the Kingdom of God. I'm 34 and already feeling like life is way too short... there are so many ways I want to see God glorified here on earth, so many "battles" to win in Jesus' name, so many places I want to take Jesus' healing power. The 6 billion people alive right now have only one set of Christians who can put God on display for them and win them to Jesus. I continually ask God to use and multiply every part of me.
So, naturally I ask myself a lot what my role as a Pastor should be to give maximum return for God's Kingdom. It seems that pastors fit into 3 categories:
1. Chaplain: This type of pastor simply takes care of the flock. He is a local Christian community's spiritual advisor and is focused on meeting their needs. Care of the believers is the "purpose" and the "endgame" of the chaplain.
2. Missionary: This type of pastor sees his pulpit as the place from which he does ministry. He needs other believers in his church to provide a base crowd for him, to invite people to hear him, and to pay and pray for his ministry. Reaching the lost is the "purpose" of this pastor. He is the one who reaches them and and he "uses" other believers to that end.
3. Equipper: This type of pastor sees his role as equipping believers to be missionaries to the people in the community who don't know Jesus. He is not concerned simply with his own fruitfulness or leadership abilities, but wants to see his people become fruitful leaders themselves. Reaching the lost is the "purpose" of this pastor, but he does so by equipping believers to do it.
I think there's some truth in all three of these, and I want our pastoral team to be all 3.
Per #1, I do think we have a responsibility to pastor and guide our people. We ought to be shepherds like Jesus was.
Per #2, I do think God has given me a prophetic gift that I am supposed to use each Sunday morning. I want to partner with our people in reaching others... meaning they invest in others and invite them to church where I can raise and answer some questions they can follow up on.
But I most want to be the 3rd kind of Pastor. I don't simply want to be the chaplain, nor do I want to be "the evangelist." Per Eph 4:11-12, a Pastor is to be primarily the Equipper for Ministry. With God's help I want to multiply myself 2400 times over in our congregation.
So, for that reason... we have our RENEW: Night of Vision and Prayer this Friday night, Feb 22. This is the time to hear about what God has done in us and where He is taking us. It's the "locker room" talk (minus most of what you dudes think of when I say "locker room talk"). We're going to hear some great stories, establish some great goals, and pray our butts off. It starts at 6 with free Chick-fil-A in the lobby (otherwise known as "Christian fast food.") There are even after parties. Don't miss it.
We also have daily devotionals every day this week to help get us ready for the night. You can access them here.
Guest Blog :: Brad O'Brien
Working for the Weekend... When this
classy anti-work anthem was released by the rock band “Loverboy” in the greatest decade of music ever, I was a three
year-old. Now I am pushing 30, but nothing has changed in the way most people
view work. Dolly Parton made it clear that she was only working from “9 to 5”,
but something tells me it would have at least taken that long to do her hair
and make-up. If you aren’t careful living a life of unfulfilled work in cubicleville
can make you want to lead your co-workers in a chorus of “take this job and shove
it”.
What is it
that makes so many people dissatisfied with their jobs? Work was around before
the fall, but many people think that work was a result of the fall. In Genesis
2:15 scripture says “The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden
to work it and keep it.” (ESV) God intended for us to work prior to the fall
and it was a way that we would worship Him. After the fall of man, God sent
Adam and Eve out of the garden and they were to work, but now the task would
prove to be difficult. God’s desire is for us to work in such a way that it
glorifies Him. It doesn’t matter what your “job” is. We are all in ministry
together. The only way to fight dissatisfaction with your job is to work on
connecting your job to the Kingdom.
One of our
friends and an amazing pastor, Mark Driscoll, preached a message on this topic
back in September. Just the other night while I was logging my 30 minutes of
cardio on the stationary bike at the gym (gyms are another result of the fall),
I listened to Mark’s message. You can find the audio and video to that message here.
Pastor J.D.
and I have both recently been presented with a new model for doing community
development. This model has been created and put into practice at Northwood Church in Keller, TX. Pastor Bob and Omar are new friends to us and we are grateful for our
relationship with them. The model that they have created identifies several
domains within society. Their premise is that the “gates of hell” have
prevailed in all of those domains. (Medical, Educational, Family, Governance,
Justice, Economics, Art & Communication, Science & Technology, and
Agriculture) If we are going to engage our society in a way that brings about
transformation and development, we have to permeate each domain with the power
of the Gospel. This is where it really gets exciting.
On any given
Sunday morning there are well over 2,000 people worshiping at one of our
campuses. Each and every one of those 2,000+ people fit into one of these
domains. Now... the question is: how can you use your vocation/passion to permeate
your domain with the Gospel here locally and globally? I am currently working on
different ways for us to encourage and equip you to “do the work of the
ministry” in each of these domains, but I am a pastor... what do I know about
work? I would love to have your help with this effort.
Action
Steps:
1) If you are passionate about connecting with other people in your domain at
the Summit and assisting us in mobilizing your
domain for community development here in Durham and around the world, please let me know by posting a comment to this blog.
2) If you
are a business owner and you would be interested in partnering with us to be a
blessing to your office then we need you to post a comment to this blog and we
will work together on finding ways to encourage and equip you to begin the
process of permeating your workplace with the Gospel.
If you
thought that the most exciting times to be at the Summit were in the past then I am going to challenge you to think again. Please continue to pray for your pastors as God is doing some amazing things and has some amazing new adventures on our horizon!
Psalm 33: Read this yesterday from Psalm 33 and it really pumped me up:
16 The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength. 17 The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue. 18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, 19 that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine. 20 Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. 21 For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. 22 Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you.
It is not the size of our army or the speed of our horse that gives us success. If having a large army and a fast horse doesn't guarantee success, then the absence of those things doesn't guarantee failure, either. When I look to the future, I don't put my hope in the acumen of our skill, the prowess of our staff, or the amount of our resources. My hope is in something much more dependable: the STEADFAST love of the Lord. The one thing I can always bank on is God's compassion for people and His commitment to glorify His name. It glorifies Him when I am fruitful. It glorifies Him when I do my work with excellence. It glorifies Him when I prosper. And when I glorify Him people fall in love with Him, and when they fall in love Him they are saved. Whether or not I have a sufficient army or a fast enough horse is irrelevant. I have the steadfast, unchangeable love of the Lord to draw on. It is a well I can never plumb the depths of. I don't measure the task against the size of my resources, I measure the task against the size of His love.
PLEASE COME AT 9:00: If you come to the Brier Creek campus, please come to the 9:00 service. This is a time of year when we have a lot of new guests, and they usually come to the 10:45 service. By coming at 9:00, you can free up space for them. If they don't have a comfortable experience because of overcrowding, they may not come back. So, if you don't have commitments (like working with our children, etc) that demand you come at 10:45, you could do a real service to us by coming at 9:00. Thanks!
For those of you that may be interested, we've put together a growing resource page that discusses the philosophy behind different ministries here at the Summit. You'll find links to articles and blogs we've written. It is here.
Here's how my day is going
: (Have I told you I love living in a house with 4 girls? A friend of mine told me that having boys makes you a father, but having little girls makes you a DADDY.)
