vineyardtim's Xanga

MANIFEST SONS OF GOD

Mon, 11 May 2009 13:31:48 GMT

This is the blog post I promised. I mentioned this controversy during the sermon on May 3^rd. I decided to recap my sermon comments here. If there is interest in this, I’ll write more. So, please comment if you have questions or thoughts.

The Controversy:

(Rom 8:18-19) ¹⁸For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. ¹⁹For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. (KJV)

The KJV translation of these verses gives the title to a view known as “Manifest Sons of God”. This teaching emerges from the Latter Rain Movement and from postmillennialism, a particular view of the end times. The Latter Rain Movement sprang from post WWII Pentecostalism and deviates from Biblical teaching.

People ask me questions about this every now and then because some of our church members also participate in the International House of Prayer (IHOP). Mike Bickle, the leader of IHOP, is often accused of promoting Latter Rain and Manifest Sons of God teaching.

According to this view, certain Christians will be identified (manifested) as sons of God—an elite group of Christians who attain never-before-seen holiness through spiritual disciplines, particularly prayer and fasting. They will expand God’s Kingdom on earth and prepare the way for Christ’s return.

Points from the sermon:

1) This teaching advocates elitism. Whenever we encounter Biblical teaching that promotes certain Christians over others or a kind of super-holiness, we should run. That teaching isn’t Biblical. We don’t find Christians and Super-Christians in the New Testament—just Christians.

2) This teaching misses the point of the passage. The apostle Paul is not referring to Super-Christians that will usher in Christ’s return. He is referring to Christ’s return, all of Christ’s followers being ushered into glory, and the final perfection of our bodies for which all Christians hope.

3) In the 80’s and 90’s, Mike Bickel associated with a group that seemed to advance the “Manifest Sons of God” view. While Bickel is a postmillennialist, he doesn’t seem to advocate “Manifest Sons of God” or Latter Rain teaching as far as I can tell.

CHURCH AND STATE

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 17:48:43 GMT

It has been way too long since I posted anything here. I have only the building project as an excuse. Now that we are in the building, though, I hope to post more regularly.

As my first return-post, I am linking to an article by Cal Thomas.

So that everyone is aware, Cal Thomas is a politically conservative journalist. In his article, he references Pulpit Freedom Sunday—an event that took place this past Sunday, September 28, in which 28 pastors in 20 states told their churches for whom the pastors thought church members should vote in the upcoming presidential election.

Normally, I wouldn’t post something like this. I agree, however, with Thomas’ conclusion. Personally, as a pastor, I do not believe it is my responsibility to tell people for whom I think they should vote. Though I am secure in my own political views, I believe serious-thinking, devout Christians can disagree with me and, therefore, vote differently.

Those who attended our Sunday Worship Gathering know I was not one of the participants in Pulpit Freedom Sunday.

For me, my role as a pastor works out differently. Instead of telling church members how they should vote, I prefer to teach on how we should process political issues. I am not as concerned with whom you vote for as how you make your decision. I am most concerned that people in our church think Christianly. Put simply, are your faith and understanding of God’s kingdom leading your decision?

As Christians, I believe we are called to be Christians first, Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, Greens, or Independents second.

Four years ago, I did a sermon series entitled God’s Take on Politics. In that series, I argued that God is neither a conservative Republican nor a liberal Democrat. In fact, God isn’t even American! That is still my view.

I believe good Christians can vote Republican or Democrat. As a pastor, I just want them to do so as Christians, not as Republicans or Democrats. The Christian whose faith leads him or her to vote for the candidate who backs pro-life legislation has my support. The person whose faith leads him or her to vote for the candidate that backs government programs to help the poor and downcast has my support. For me, the key is that one’s faith leads to political ideology (or no ideology).

As November 4 approaches, I hope we will all prayerfully consider our vote and let faith lead us in the ballot box, not propaganda and certainly not a pastor’s viewpoint (even if it’s mine). As Christians, each of us should prayerfully make our choice. We don’t get to pass on this by depending on the thoughts and decisions of others.

Here is the link to Thomas’ article: http://townhall.com/columnists/CalThomas/2008/09/30/pulpit_bullies

WELCOMING PEOPLE THE CHURCH REJECTS PART 2

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 21:28:07 GMT

Last week, I started writing about the biblical practice of hospitality, the views of other Americans toward those of us who are Christians, and how the practice of hospitality could help alter those views. Hospitality begins as attitude and passion. We can see this in the attitude of the father in Jesus’ parable of the prodigal. The father waited, watched, hoped, and longed for his son’s return. Hospitality begins as we develop that attitude of waiting, watching, hoping, and longing.

Hospitality, however, is sustained by passion.

(Luke 11:5-10) ⁵Then he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, ⁶because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.' ⁷"Then the one inside answers, 'Don't bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can't get up and give you anything.'

⁸I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man's boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

⁹"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ¹⁰For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”

Jesus tells the above parable to encourage his disciples to pray. The context, however, is hospitality. The friend who arrives at the man’s house has a right to hospitality according to the customs of the day. The man takes his friend’s claim so seriously that he wakes up another friend asking to borrow some bread for the traveler. When the friend refuses, the man continues to bug him until he finally relents. The word the NIV translates as boldness could also be translated persistence, shameless persistence. This man is willing to be rude, even disrespectful of his other friend, to show proper hospitality to the traveler.

I think this parable offers a great example of the kind of passion needed to sustain hospitality. The man is relentless and shameless in his desire to care for his friend. He is even willing to strain his other friendship to offer hospitality. In other words, this man is willing to experience personal injury or suffering in order to care for his friend. What boldness! What passion!

Passion takes us above and beyond our responsibilities.

We can see this in Jesus’ story about The Good Samaritan. Looking past the audacity of the Samaritan’s care for the Jewish man (Samaritans and Jews hated each other), the Samaritan went above the normal requirements of hospitality. Treating the man’s wounds and providing him a place to recover for a few days would have been enough. The Samaritan, however, promised to do more when he returned. The Samaritan went above and beyond his responsibility. His passionate concern for the beaten man led him to do more.

Back to Jesus’ story in Luke 11:

Jesus places us in the parable. He begins with “Suppose one of you has a friend…” Jesus wanted his disciples, and by extension wants us, to put ourselves in that man’s place. What would we do? Would we be so impertinent? Would we continue to bug one friend to care for another? Jesus encourages us to pray. From the Good Samaritan, though, we also see the need to offer hospitality. This is part of the great commandment to love our neighbors. Do we care enough? Are we passionate enough to offer care to those we meet?

Two or three years ago, we had a lady attend our church for a short time. One Sunday, she told a few of us that her cousin had been in an accident. She was in a coma with severe brain trauma. Two of our members asked me if I thought it would be okay for them to go to the hospital and pray for this lady’s cousin. They didn’t know the lady very well and didn’t know her cousin at all. When I called to get the hospital room number, I was told a group from our church had already visited and prayed for the lady and the family. I didn’t need to drop by. A couple of days later, I called again. I found out that people from our church had returned and continued to pray for them. Thank God, the cousin eventually recovered with limited consequences.

This is a wonderful example of our church offering hospitality to others—a lady who only attended our church briefly and her cousin who, to my knowledge, has never attended one of our gatherings. It’s a wonderful example of how attitude (watching, waiting, hoping, and longing for the opportunity to care) and passion (the willingness to go above and beyond) blended in our church and resulted in biblical hospitality.

My prayer is that God will continue to develop this attitude and passion within us. I pray he will continue to encourage and inspire us to care for others and offer to them the welcome of the Kingdom. Where our enthusiasm has waned, I pray he will rekindle within us the passion of hospitality.

WELCOMING PEOPLE THE CHURCH REJECTS*

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:04:28 GMT

In recent history, American churches have neglected becoming the welcoming communities described in the bible. We failed to live up to the extravagant love expressed in Jesus’ parables, The Good Samaritan and The Prodigal Son. I wonder how often we pray for those who cannot care for themselves. In Jesus’ day, strangers (transients and immigrants), orphans, and widows could not sustain themselves. In our day, single mothers, the homeless, those struggling with mental illness, and so many more cannot provide for themselves. How often do we pray for them, much less watch out for them or care for them?

Lately, I have pondered the practice of hospitality and how desperately our world needs us to practice it. The biblical word translated hospitality literally means welcome for the stranger. While hospitality may begin (and for those who attend our church gatherings should begin) with a greeting at the door on Sunday morning, it is so much more than that. The biblical practice of hospitality goes far deeper than any program.

Hospitality is an expression of the heart.

Hospitality begins as attitude and passion. As an attitude, hospitality asks, “Who can I pray for today, meet today, bless today, or care for today?”

The father in Jesus’ prodigal son parable offers a great image of this. He waits for his lost, reckless son to come home. Jesus does not describe passive waiting, but active. The father looks for his son. We get the impression that day in and day out he stands and waits or sits and waits, watching for his son’s silhouette at the bottom of the hill, the beginning of the pathway home. How many days did he pace back and forth on his front porch hoping he would see his son? At the end of how many days did his heart break because there was no prodigal to welcome home?

His son had become a stranger, an outsider. He had offended his father, his family, his community, and his people. Leaving home, he had committed atrocities no self-respecting Jewish son would ever commit. He was far away. That doesn’t mean he was in a distant land. It means he had walked away from God and family.

Any normal Jewish father would have disowned his son, but not this father. He waited, he watched, he longed, he hoped for his son’s return. When finally his son’s shadow could be seen cast against the rocks of the hilly path, the father cast off his shoes, jumped off his porch, and ran to greet his son. He kissed him, hugged him, welcomed him, and restored him. On returning, the prodigal experienced hospitality. His father welcomed him, the stranger, home.

We Christians are defined by what we oppose rather than promote.

A recent book, unChristian, written by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons, reports that non-Christians ages 16-29 believe Christians in America are, among other things, judgmental, anti-homosexual, too political, and hypocritical.

Unfortunately, they have had good reasons to think that way. Christian leaders claiming to represent us seemed to lose the capacity to disagree without being disagreeable, to love and accept people regardless of what they do without condoning what they do. They specialized in rejecting instead of welcoming.

In unhealthy ways, politics blended with faith until the two seemed one. I half expected the evangelistic question, “If you died tonight, do you know where you would spend eternity?” to be replaced with “Who did you vote for in the last presidential election?”

Christian leaders seemed to be developing a Nixonian list of enemies—people to be defeated and marginalized instead of embraced and convinced of God’s love and compassion for them. They even turned on other Christians.

I was shocked when a group of national leaders demanded the dismissal of an executive of the National Association of Evangelicals because of his desire to address global warming. I understand the political, economical, and potential environmental consequences of global warming science. I respect those, Christian or not, on both sides of the issue. I fail, however, to see how global warming affects our expression of faith. We are called to care for creation whether or not the earth is warming.

These and other positions only encourage others to define Christians by what we oppose rather than what we promote. We are characterized by anger and dissent rather than our love and acceptance. We who have received immeasurable grace and forgiveness are seen as those who dole out judgment and hatred.

Personally, I think we’re coming around. Even those who claim to lead us seem to be coming around. But, we have a long way to go before our image changes.

Adopting an attitude of hospitality:

Several weeks ago, a guy in our church approached me. He’s been attending our worship gatherings for a while. He even helps out some weeks. During our brief conversation, he told me he isn’t a Christian. He said he used to be anti-Christian but is changing. He wants to get closer to God and experience Jesus. We talked about how he could do that. I was inspired by the way he has been welcomed into our midst even before believing. We are showing him hospitality.

A few of my questions: How can we continue to develop the attitude we see in Jesus’ father? How can we improve in offering the welcome of the father, the offer of hospitality? How can we intensify our watching, waiting, longing, and hoping for those immersed in sinful practice to come home? How can we run to them, embrace them, and restore them? What more can we do?

These are thoughts I have been pondering for some time. I’ll share more next week when I look at hospitality as passion.

------------------------------------

*Subtitle of Rich Nathan's book, Who Is My Enemy

Giving Is Spiritual

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 08:38:15 GMT

With yesterday’s sermon on giving, I finished a series from the Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament entitled Money Matters. I cut yesterday's sermon a bit shorter than I expected, leaving out some of the practical suggestions I intended to offer. So, I am going to include them here.

Preliminaries: 1) If you would like to listen to the sermon, you can download it here: http://www.springfieldvineyard.org/sermons.asp. It should be posted in a few days. I think it will provide an important context for the rest of this post. 2) In the sermon, I shared statistics regarding the giving habits of American Christians and basic needs of the world’s poorest inhabitants. You can find the information I referenced in Ronald J. Sider’s book, The Scandal Of The Evangelical Conscience.

That said, how do we implement the spiritual practice of giving in our lives? Where do we begin? The following suggestions aren’t original. In fact, I am embarrassingly unoriginal here. Still, I think they offer a good start to embracing the spiritual practice of giving and beginning to make a difference in our world.

First suggestion: Give first. Following is one of the scriptures we looked at yesterday morning:

(Prov 3:9-10) ⁹Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; ¹⁰then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.

The author says to honor God with the firstfruits of your wealth. I think there is great wisdom here. For the Hebrews, the tithe wasn’t just to come from any portion of their harvest or livestock, but from the first ten percent—the firstfruits. That way, they could resist the temptation to give the leftovers, that part of the crop that wasn’t as good or cattle that wasn’t as healthy.

The only way I have been able to stay consistent in my giving is by following this principle. Our tithe check is the first one we write. Actually, we now automate our tithe. It’s built in discipline. That way, we organize the rest of our life around our giving rather than trying to fit it in with all of our other obligations. As someone who has struggled with finances and giving in the past, this has been a crucial discipline for me. If I don’t give first, I don’t give. I think this is why we see this principle, this wisdom, offered in scripture. It helps us honor God and make a difference in our world. This is part of what I mean by “give first.”

Our family gives 10% of our income to the church. Giving to other ministries or causes is above and beyond the 10%. There might be precedent for this in the Hebrew Scriptures. There, Israelites were told to bring the tithe into the storehouse (the temple). After that, they could give other offerings above and beyond the tithe. Years ago, I heard Larry Burkett, a Christian financial advisor, address this practice. Basically, he said the theology worked if the church acted like a storehouse, which provided for the priests and Levites (those who served in the temple and led the people in worship) and for the poor. On hearing his words, I determined to lead a church that would focus on and be generous toward the poor. As a church, I am thankful that we do just that.

Second suggestion: Promote justice. Here’s a passage I didn’t get to in the sermon:

(Prov 31:6-9) ⁶Give beer to those who are perishing, wine to those who are in anguish; ⁷let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more. ⁸"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. ⁹Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy."

We show compassion by giving to the poor, by helping them meet their needs. We promote justice when we speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, when we defend the rights of the poor and needy. Compassion meets needs. Justice addresses the origins of those needs. When we address the causes of suffering and poverty, we promote justice.

Hunger is a big problem. It’s hard to address other issues when basic sustenance is missing. I think we begin to promote justice when we provide food for the poorest in the world. Participating in advocacy groups is another way to make our voices heard and promote justice. By getting involved with the One Project, Make Poverty History, and similar organizations, we can add our voices, votes, and finances to address some of the larger justice issues in our world. Our involvement in Big Brothers/Big Sisters, job-training programs, and other associations can also promote justice locally.

I’d also love to hear from you on this. What thoughts do you have on how we as a church and as individuals can start promoting justice? How can we speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves? Please post comments with your thoughts.

Rob Bell Quote

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 05:15:43 GMT

In Sunday's sermon, I read a quote from Rob Bell. I think it is significant for the way we are called to live as a church. For that reason, I'm posting the quote here. That way, you can have it or return to it when you would like. You can read the entire interview with Rob Bell in this month's addition of Relevant Magazine.

Rob Bell:

The central metaphor Jesus uses (for the church) is the Eucharist. His body is broken and his blood is poured out to the healing of the world. God is looking for a body of people who will break themselves open and pour themselves out for the healing of the world… I think the problem is that when people say "church," many mean religious goods and services where you come and there's a nice inspiring talk, good coffee in the back, snappy music and everything ends up fine. Jesus speaks of his people who are willing to suffer and die so that the world can be healed-that's an entirely different proposition.

For us (at Mars Hill), if you can resolve the sermon in the course of the church service, then the sermon has failed. If you can resolve what's being talked about just by listening to it, then something's seriously wrong. The only way to resolve the church service you just experienced, and specifically the sermon, is that you're going to have to go and wrestle with it and then live it out. Our interest is not in providing goods and services that will leave you with a well-packaged religious experience. We understand the Gospel to be how you are going to break yourself open and pour yourself out for the healing of the world.

Renewal

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 15:51:58 GMT

When I started this blog, my greatest fear was that I would go for long periods of time between entries. My fear has been realized. I’m sorry it has been a while since I wrote anything here. Honestly, I didn’t feel like I had a lot to share.

I know a blog is simply a web journal. As such, each can become whatever its author wants it to be. Still, three things tend to happen in blogs that cause me to lose interest. 1) They become simple updates on the person’s life or the life of the organization he/she is blogging about—calendar type stuff (went to work/hate my job, went to store/hate Wal-Mart, etc.). 2) They become rambling sessions with no clear purpose or meaning. 3) As indicated in number one, they become rants against anything that is upsetting the blogger at the time.

From the beginning, I wanted to avoid those three directions. Todd and Heidi would never forgive me for rambling. I’m not that angry of a person, so ranting is out. And, I haven’t wanted to include calendar-like information about me or the church on my blog. I hope for something more here. Through the middle of November, however, I experienced a kind of spiritual dryness. Everything I had to give, I was giving in the sermon each week. I didn’t think I had any more. And, it seemed hypocritical to act like I had something of spiritual substance to offer in a blog. So, I stopped writing.

On Sunday, a lady in the Vineyard said she had a word for me. Now, this isn’t someone who normally uses that kind of language, so she had my attention. She said the word was “renewal.” She said I seemed to have an “aura of joy” during the worship service. She was right on! I experienced intense joy during yesterday’s worship gathering. And, I can’t think of a better word than renewal to describe the past two months.

Since November, three experiences have led to this renewal. First, I started a sermon series through Philippians. I waited almost five years to preach that series. For me, the timing was perfect. Philippians is all about Jesus. He is the beginner and finisher of our faith. He is our life. He is our example of how to live this life. He is the prize, the finish line, the only goal worth anything in this race of life. He is our joy. And, he is our contentment. As I prepared the sermons and studied through Philippians, I met Jesus in fresh ways. I rediscovered aspects of him and my relationship with him that had been dormant. Anytime I encounter Jesus (even when he convicts me or during times of suffering), spiritual vibrancy follows.

Secondly, I went to a conference hosted by the Vineyard in Evanston, Illinois. The conference was great. It was even better that Heidi and Sam went with me. Talking and praying with Steve Nicholson put it over the top. Steve is the senior pastor of the Evanston Vineyard and head of church planting for Vineyard USA. He is also one of the best leaders and most prophetically gifted people I know. Since I began pastoring the Vineyard here, he has been a consistent source of encouragement for me. On the last night of the conference, I asked Steve to pray for me because I felt like I had hit a wall spiritually and pastorally. During our conversation and prayer, he confirmed every major word I think God has spoken to me over the past four years. In many cases, he used the exact same language I thought God used. Needless to say, this was a major spiritual jolt.

Finally, I just returned from Mexico. I was there for nine days. It was a great trip! We saw people turn to Christ for the first time. Others renewed their pursuit of him. Some were healed. In pretty much every way, the trip was a success. Still, I missed home. I missed Heidi and Sam. I missed the people in the Vineyard. Whenever I’m away from church life, I can hardly stand it, not because I love the work (though I do) but because I love the people. The Springfield Vineyard are my people. To use Post Modern language, the Vineyard is my tribe. I belong. That’s why I was so full of joy yesterday. I was with the people I love. Sometimes I have to step away from everyday life to see what I really have—what God has given me. Not surprisingly, it is good.

Well, there you have it. I don’t think anybody can call this entry a rant. It probably is a bit too rambling, especially for the purely efficient personalities of Heidi and Todd (hopefully they’ll forgive me ). I hope it is more than calendar-like information—maybe even a glimpse into what God has been doing in me lately.

Neglected Aspect of the Gospel

Wed, 04 Jul 2007 00:44:10 GMT

I have been processing Ephesians 2 for almost four years now. As a kid, I memorized Ephesians 2:8-10 because those verses explain how to be saved.

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

We come to Jesus through faith and he saves us by his grace. I am thankful that salvation is unmerited. It isn't based on what we do, but what Jesus does for us. That's grace: Jesus doing for us what we cannot do for ourselves.

Still, I feel like we often emphasize the how at the expense of the what. We spend a lot of time focusing on how we receive salvation and very little time talking about what it means to be saved. Interestingly, the Apostle Paul spends more space in this chapter describing salvation than how to achieve it. The rest of the chapter spells out a part of the gospel that is often forgotten.

I was raised to believe salvation was the forgiveness of sins. That's it. We sin. We need forgiveness. We turn to Jesus. He forgives us. That is part of salvation, a necessary part. If we only emphasize forgiveness, however, we get a gospel that fits our individualistic, American culture rather well. It doesn't do much for the greater issues of our day, though. And that gospel fails to meet some of our other, deep needs.

For Paul, salvation was more than God forgiving an individual for his or her sins. At the cross, Jesus destroyed invisible walls of hostility that can separate people.

14 For he (Christ) himself is our peace, who has made the two (Jew and Gentile) one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in this one body (the church) to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

According to Paul, salvation is inclusion. Jesus made a way for people to come together who would otherwise never connect. Jesus provided the alienated and excluded a path to experience community in a deeper, more significant way than they could on their own. He provided a path for us to unite across ethnic, gender, economical, and generational lines. This is the gospel.

Then, Jesus breathes on us, his united people, and makes us a temple.

19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

Jesus makes us his presence in this world. We are traveling temples that offer to others the grace and mercy of God, the experience of community, and hope. Together, we serve as a sign of things to come, evidence that the Kingdom of God is expanding throughout the earth, that God will put the world to right and one day heal the hurts of those who suffer. As people restored to relationship with those we once considered our enemies, we are evidence of the restoring, renewing work of God throughout our planet.

This is the gospel that leads me to ask difficult questions of myself. Do my relationships serve as examples of what Jesus can accomplish? Am I reconciling with those I have harmed? Am I forgiving those who have harmed me? Am I reaching out to the outsider, alienated, strange, and hurting? Am I allowing Jesus to unite me with those very different from who I am? Am I leading others into this often neglected aspect of proclaiming the gospel?

Friday, June 22, 2007

Fri, 22 Jun 2007 03:46:17 GMT

I can't pray for God to send people into our church. Well, I could pray that. I just get this feeling that God doesn't want me to pray for him to send people to us. He wants me to pray that he will send us to people.

I am thankful for those who have recently started attending the Vineyard. I hope they meet God in our small groups and Sunday gatherings. I am amazed at how he continues to bless us.

Still, I think he is sending us out. When I pray, I seem to hear God emphasizing this: We are to be a sent community. We are moving out of a building we've been in for eight years. I think this move is more than just a transfer of physical locations. I think God is indicating a new way of doing ministry. He doesn't want us to wait for people to come or try to get people to come to us. He wants us to go to people. We're to get outside of the walls of our building, both in where we meet and in the way we think about ministry.

Another Vineyard recently changed the way they communicate their vision. Now, their vision is to be a church that does not exist for themselves but for Christ and others. Wow! I love that! That's where my heart is. I want to be a leader in a church that exists for Christ and others.

Church Update

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 02:28:07 GMT

For those who are reading this, I want to let you know how things are going with the building search for the church. We looked at three possible buildings last week: Pipkin Middle School, Central High School, and The Dive In Theater. We hope to look at a few more this week. If you have a building you think we should look at, let us know. You can email the church office at info@springfieldvineyard.org. I hope that we can make a decision about a building in the next week or so. Please be praying that God will open up the right opportunity and guide us the whole way on this.