The Next Great Work…Can you say “Monkeys”?

This Sunday, at Journey, we presented our vision that our next great work as a church is going to be family driven and family focused.  Our next great work is going to start with families working together to do a great work right where we are.  We’ve been studying Nehemiah and the great work he and the people of Jerusalem did in rebuilding the wall.

I’m more excited about this next great work than I was about John Evans because this next wave has the potential to have worldwide impact.

On Sunday I asked the families to take a brick home, pray about their next great work (as a family), write their great work on the brick (and decorate it) once the Lord revealed it to them, and then bring the brick back to church and put it on the stage.

Already, some exciting great works are emerging.  One couple is going to lead a duck hunting event at church that will reach hunters for Christ.  Another family is going to host a 5k in Greeley to raise money to help the needy.  One family is going to start a program to mentor couples.  Another family already had a garage sale to raise money for a surgical scope for a mission hospital in Guatemala.

So, last night, my family and I sat down with our brick and began praying and discussing the next great work we’re going to do as a family for the glory of God.

We don’t have clarity yet about what our work is going to be, but I wanted to share some of the ideas my kids came up with last night.

I can’t wait to see what God does next!

• Buy 10 back packs for John Evans kids and fill the backpacks with school supplies
• Dig a well in Africa
• Plant a church in Ghana
• Help our cousin Larry, who is a missionary in Germany
• Help single moms
• Start a ministry for AIDS victims in Africa
• Buy Christmas gifts for kids in need
• Help buy the surgical scope for the mission hospital in Guatemala
• Endow scholarship for kids at John Evans who want to go to college
• Hold a prom for special needs kids
• Help our friends buy a van for a paralyzed man
• Build a playground in an underdeveloped part of Greeley

And now my favorite idea from my favorite oldest son, Levi….

• Start a ministry to save the species of monkeys that are becoming extinct.

I love my kids and their heart for God, God’s people, and God’s creation.

This is going to be a great work, no matter what.

How to be Someone Anyone Would Like to Take Fishing Anytime

This weekend I heard about the fall of another minister I know. His marriage is over and he’s out of ministry. In fact, his name has been expunged from the website of the church he planted.

It makes me very sad.

Early in my ministry he was a “big deal” and the guy that everyone talked about and wanted to have speak at their conventions. Honestly, I was always afraid it wouldn’t end well. He wasn’t a bad guy; it just seemed he REALLY like being a big deal and–even worse–seemed to believe he was a big deal.

I’m sure he didn’t mean to, but he was condescending in conversation and always left me feeling like he was just too good for the rest of us small-church ministers. He wouldn’t return phone calls. He wouldn’t stop walking if you were talking to him, which was really odd and made you feel like a member of the paparazzi pursuing a fleeing star.

Very odd.

I felt guilty for how I was beginning to feel about him, so I took him to lunch one time and he talked only of himself and never once asked about me or my ministry.

That was fun and a little discouraging.

You know, there are some guys that you don’t hate but you wouldn’t want to take them fishing, especially if the fish weren’t biting.

That day, I decided he’d be no fun to fish with.

After that, I stopped trying to get to know him and avoided being around him.

If I’m being honest, the biggest reason I avoided him was because I was afraid I’d become him. I’m prone to pride. Sometimes I think I’m a big deal. Sometimes I think my time is more important than other people’s time. Sometimes I think I should be asked to speak at the big conventions, but I also know that kind of thinking is what gets your name expunged from a church website and sitting by yourself in a fishing boat in Minnesota.

So, here are some things I try to remember to keep myself humble.

It’s not my church.

I heard that the minister of whom I’ve been writing said, upon hearing that he was being fired for inappropriate behavior, “They took my church from me!” Pastors, we serve the Bride of Christ at His pleasure. It’s not our church!

It’s not about me.

It’s never been about us. The success of Christ’s Church does not depend on our cleverness, our creativity, or our cunning; it depends on Christ. If we lift him up, He will draw all people to Himself. If we lift ourselves up, we only make it easier for Satan to hit us with his fiery arrows.

No one is indispensable.

Except Jesus, and we’re not Jesus. The Church is not the Church without Jesus. If I get killed by a crazed caribou today, someone else will preach at Journey next week and–after a very fun funeral where my life is celebrated with Andrew Peterson music, with memories of the time I cussed in my sermon and rode my bike into church, and accidentally went to the bathroom while my friend’s wife washed her face in the sink right in front of me because I didn’t realize I was in the wrong bathroom and that the woman washing her face wasn’t my wife, and lots of Krispy Kreme donuts–things will quickly go on very well without me.

Everyone poops.

Except God, and we’re not God. Now, I know that some of you may be offended by this reminder but it’s true…and the most direct way I have found to remind myself that we’re all in this together. And by “this” I mean the human experience. The second we start to think that we’re a better brand of human than other humans is the day we become as dung to God.

Ok, there you go.

I hear the trout are biting up at Red Feather. I hope someone will want to go fishing with me?

Reflections from Day Four of Our Great Work–This Work is Done

Our first great work of the summer is finished.

We’ve set aside 52 days to accomplish a great work for the glory of God.

In 4 days, over 300 volunteers from Journey Christian Church, Mosaic Church, and Amanecer Cristiano joined together and painted the walls of John Evans IB Middle School.  Several other large projects were also completed during this great work, but the major accomplishment was the painting of many, many walls.

As we wrapped up yesterday, I was asked, “What were the highlights to you?”

There were so many, but let me list a few.

• Being a part of a church where I could agree to take on this great work without having to go through a bureaucratic mess.  I knew I could just respond to the moving of God and just say “yes.”
• Seeing the hand of God moving throughout this entire experience.
• Working with a leadership team who all have ginormous faith.
• The meeting with the Principal of John Evans IB Middle School and the representatives from the School District where the District officials approved this job in about 5 minutes.
• People of Journey applauding as this great work was shared with them last Sunday and they were told that we were beginning it the next day!
• Watching my team immediately join together to get this project organized.
• When Steve Dale came up after church and volunteered to take a week of vacation and paint the school for free.
• Steve Dale and Steve Horton working together to paint the halls in 1 day.

Steve Horton & Steve Dale: Lead Painters for this Great Work

• Seeing volunteers walk in the front door and hear them ask, “Where do you need me?”
• The conversation I had with Justin at the Sherwin Williams store that began when he asked me why we were painting a public school.
• Gary Hamilton cutting paper and handing it out and refusing to take a break.
• The moment when we announced the floor of the cafeteria needed to be cleaned and everyone in the room dropped to their knees and started scrubbing it.

• Families working together on this great work.
• Getting to know the Principal of John Evans and watching her work beside us every day.
• Seeing relationships begin between volunteers as they met for the 1st time and worked together.
• Watching the kids work so very hard on this project.

My sons, Levi and Sylas cleaning baseboards

• Painting Niki Quinby’s classroom.
• Working with the people of Mosaic Church and Amanecer Cristiano on Wednesday.

Me with Pastors David Flores of Amanecer Cristiano and Angel Flores of Mosaic Church

• Seeing Patrick Lightfoot lead us passionately and humbly.
• Tilling the garden and enjoying a long conversation with God about His work in Greeley.

• The volunteers who brought food to feed other volunteers each day.
• So many people praying in the halls and classrooms of the school.

• Hundreds of Scriptures being written on the walls of the school.

• Those Scriptures bleeding through the freshly painted walls.
• Knowing that those dear students and staff of John Evans will be surrounded and supported by God’s Word every day they are in that building.
• The opportunity I had to reply, when someone asked me to stop working and meet with them, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down.”
• The many Journey folks who have asked me, “What’s our next great work?”

Our next great work…stay tuned.

Reflections from Day 3 of Our Great Work

A District 6 representative just walked by me in the cafeteria. We both commented on how great the school looks and then he said, “I guess all of your writing on the walls was a waste of time, huh?”  He’s been very nice to us, so I know that he wasn’t being mean; he was just asking a question.

—

Yesterday was an exciting day because we finished painting and took off all of the paper and began to see the results of all of our hard work.

The transformation on campus is stunning.  Dark walls and halls are now bright and clean.

 Before

After

A group of volunteers also put all of the locks on the school lockers–registering each lock along the way.  This job was very tedious, but the volunteers worked at it with all of their hearts.

Another group of four people assembled tables.

 

While others painted the door frames.

 

After lunch, we scrubbed paint off of the floor of the cafeteria because we wanted to make sure that we cleaned up after ourselves and did everything with excellence.

 

Today was especially exciting because we were joined in our effort by members of Mosaic Church and Amanecer Cristiano.  Members of these churches wrote scriptures on the walls in Spanish and prayed for the school in Spanish.

Pastor David Flores of Amanecer Cristiano

We joined together, throughout the day, and prayed in the halls and in every classroom of John Evans Middle School.

 

Today was the day we painted over the last scriptures that we had written on the walls, which presented an interesting challenge because some of the scriptures could be seen–even after several coats of paint.  I can’t tell you how many times someone said today, “The scriptures are bleeding through.”

We promised to do this project with excellence so we will make sure that every scripture is covered up before we leave, but for anyone who is wondering whether or not writing scriptures on the wall was a waste of time, or not I’ll leave you with a reminder from Isaiah 55:11

So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Thanks to the mighty hand of our God, John Evans Middle School is now covered in the word of God so–even though we covered over the hundreds of Scriptures we wrote on the walls–we are expecting God to do a mighty work on that campus because His Word shall not return to Him empty.

Yes, you can try to cover them up, but the scriptures will always bleed through.

Reflections on Day 2 of Our Great Work

Some of the Scriptures that teacher, Niki Quinby asked us to paint on the wall in her classroom.

Yesterday was the 2nd day of our great work at John Evans IB Middle School.

Monday was about getting the work started, so it was very stressful and chaotic until we hit our stride and figured out exactly what needed to be done.  We accomplished so much on Monday and prepared the entire building to be sprayed with primer.

On Tuesday we hit our stride and many volunteers worked smoothly throughout the day doing final preps for the start of spraying paint on Wednesday.  We also finished painting all of the door jams and trim work, which was very tedious–but important–work.

Several side tasks were started on Tuesday, as well.

The Principal of John Evans asked if we would help fix their garden.  They have a garden that they use to grow vegetables that are given to students along with the meals we send home with them on weekends.  They had compost delivered to the garden but someone stole their tiller so the compost was in large piles in the garden and the garden had become overgrown with weeds.  Throughout the day, several of us took turns tilling the garden.  Whoa, that’s hard work! We worked all day and are only half done. We hope to finish that job today.

A team of volunteers spent the entire day just prepping the music room so that it could be painted on Wednesday.

I worked with another team to prepare and paint the classroom of the teacher whose faith birthed our connection with this school almost three and half years ago, Niki Quinby.

 Here’s a picture of Niki giving her approval of the paint job.

Niki is so very special to us at Journey.  Her simple faith that God would provide people to feed the hungry families at her school (back in early 2009) has grown to a powerful partnership with Journey Christian Church and John Evans IB Middle School to the glory of God.  God has used this humble young woman to impact the lives of hundreds of students and their families and we are so very grateful for her.

So….we asked her if we could paint her room and she excitedly replied, “Yes!”

She has a picture of a willow tree on her wall that has been there for decades…and she made it clear to us that it needed to go so, after covering her walls with her favorite scriptures, Grandmother Willow was covered up with primer.  And Niki smiled..I think, but couldn’t quite tell because she was wearing a mask.

As I reflect on yesterday, two special images come to mind.

One is of Wesley and Kelsie Williams, who came to work at the school while still on their honeymoon.  I married them just last week.  They are super young people who refreshed our spirits with just their presence yesterday.  They showed us what true love looks like.

In this picture I told Kelsie to act like she was “showing him who’s boss”

And here we both laughed because Wesley wasn’t affected at all.

And the second is of Tracey Lawrence sitting on the floor in the cafeteria reading her Bible, praying for the students of the school, and writing Scriptures on the wall.  It was a simple reminder of what God is really doing here–of the great work that is much too great for us to have ever imagined it.

Reflections on Day 1 of Our Great Work

Yesterday was a great day.

It was the first day of our Great Work–painting the interior of John Evans IB Middle School.  Wow, this is going to be a huge job!

About 150 people showed up throughout the day to prepare the building to be painted, which involved cleaning, removing things off of the walls, and lots and lots of paper, plastic, and blue painter’s tape.

We had to cover the lockers, the lights, the baseboards, the doors, the vents, and a myriad of other fixtures that we don’t want to be painted.  We finally finished covering everything about 7 pm last night so we are ready to start painting this morning.

As we prepare to get started again this morning, let me share a few of my favorite memories from the first day of our Great Work.

The kids enthusiastically cleaning all of the baseboards.

Gary Hamilton cutting paper for almost 5 hours straight and refusing to take a break.

People writing Scriptures on the walls of the school.

And my favorite memory from yesterday is of a young woman, with special needs, who worked diligently with her Assistant, to write a verse on the wall in one of the back hallways.  The Aide read the verse slowly and carefully while the other young woman carefully wrote the verse one letter at a time.  It was a beautiful thing to witness.

Journey’s Great Work–Day 1

Two things you need to know as I start this post.

First,  Journey Christian Church has been supporting a local public school for the past 3 1/2 years by feeding 50-70 families a week. Roughly 90% of the students at John Evans IB Middle School are on the food program.  Our support for John Evans has expanded from feeding families to also include an annual Christmas party for the students, sponsoring dances, volunteering at sports events, random acts of kindness for the staff and administration, providing breakfast during testing, supplying paper, and a lot more.

We have grown to deeply love the students, staff, and administration of John Evans.  The connection we feel to this school is deep.

Second, this summer we’re studying the book of Nehemiah at Journey.  After beginning this series, I felt the Lord leading us to do a great work as a church, as individuals, and as families.

In the book of Nehemiah we see the story of how God used Nehemiah and the people of Israel to do a great work–they rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem in only 52 days.  As the project was nearing completion–and after a lot of external and internal conflict–Sanballat, a local governor who was intent on harming Nehemiah and keeping the walls from being completed, requested a last-minute meeting with Nehemiah.  Nehemiah knew that Sanballat meant to do him harm and was only trying to keep the walls of Jerusalem from being completed, so he rejected Sanballat’s request by saying, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down” (Nehemiah 6:3).

As a church we’ve been praying that God would lead us to a great work we could do in our community.

Our plan was to begin the great work on July 10th and finish it 52 days later.

Following Nehemiah’s example, I began to pray and seek God’s will in this matter.

I also asked people in the church, leaders in the community, ministers in this area, and even reached out to the Principal of John Evans for ideas on what we could do as a great work in our community but she was out on bereavement leave so I ended up talking with her assistant. Nothing we discussed felt like it was the great work God we were supposed to do.

A week ago, I was invited to meet with the City Manager of Greeley to see if we could together identify a great work Journey could do for the community.  We met for a couple of hours and had a wonderful meeting, but I left there with no clarity about what Journey’s great work was supposed to be.

And then, last week, a great work walked right into our front door.

Dawn, the Principal of John Evans has started attending Journey and has been coming for several months.  She came up to me last week before our 3rd service, mentioned my phone call to her assistant, and asked what I wanted.  I explained that I was looking for a great work that Journey could do for our community and that I wondered if there was anything we could do at John Evans.

She said, “Could you guys paint our halls?”

John Evans IB Middle School is a very old school and is in need of a ton of repairs.  The school’s administration is fighting hard to secure funds from the state to build a new school but, so far, they’ve been denied.  The school is stuck in a very challenging situation.  Although it is yet to be approved, the School District is treating John Evans as if the campus will be leveled within 3-5 years and be rebuilt elsewhere, so there is a reluctance to spend money on capital improvements.  The school district’s plan is just to maintain the campus as well as possible.  But, Dawn has a growing school to run and a campus to maintain, so she’s kind of stuck in a situation that is requiring her to be creative with limited–or no–funding.

On top of it all, the campus is full of asbestos so even the most basic physical improvements to the campus are dangerous and not an option.

So, Dawn asked if we could paint all of the hallways and cafeteria of the school because they don’t have the money to and the interior of the school hasn’t been painted in over a decade.  She mentioned that painting the interior of the school would improve the atmosphere of the campus and lift the spirits of the students and staff.

I said, “Yes!”

Last Monday, our Adult Minister and I had a discussion with the Principal of John Evans and 2 representatives from the school district.  Within 5 minutes the school district officials had given us permission to paint the hallways at John Evans.

We agreed and THEN walked the hallways of John Evans with the painter (Steve Dale, who is from Journey and who is taking vacation to oversee this massive project), Dawn, and the representatives from the school district.  As we walked hallway after hallway, it began to become clear how big this job was going to be.

The tour ended in the cafeteria where we all agreed that the project would begin in one week!  That’s today…in 2 hours!

So, it’s been a busy week as we’ve seen God bring an amazing plan and team of volunteers together.

I need to head over to the school soon, so let me quickly give you some of the highlights of the past week:

–We purchased 150 gallons of paint, 100 gallons of primer, and painting supplies at a cost of about $5,000.

–Yesterday, hundreds of people from Journey signed up to work from 10-7 every day this week.

–A team of people volunteered to feed all of the volunteers at school all week.

–A mom from Journey has volunteered to organize child-care for parents of young kids who are helping with this project.

And these are my two favorite God-things:

–We have a prayer team who is going to walk the halls of the school all week-long and pray in the classrooms.

–We have a team of people who are going to write Scriptures on all of the walls before we paint them.  We’re going to cover that school, and surround those dear students, with God’s Word.

Only God could do something like this!

I see God’s hand all over this painting job at John Evans.

God has given us an incredible opportunity to minister to the students and teachers of this school and to claim that school for God.

This week is not about paint; it’s about people and…in particular, it’s about those kids and teachers and administrators at that school.

What we’re doing this week is going to echo in eternity.

Each day this week, I will post an update and share some of the highlights from our great work at John Evans Middle School.

If you’re in the area and you’d like to join us, just come on by and we’ll put you to work.

If you’re not in the area and you’d like to support our effort we’d covet your prayers.  If you’d like to financially support this great work, you can donate to the project online here: Journey’s Great Work.

Oh, and don’t try to distract us this week from what God has called us to do because, if you do, we’re going to say, “We are doing a great work and we cannot come down.”  :)

Best Worst Food To Eat In A Car On A Trip

On a long car trip a couple of years ago, my family and I found ourselves a little loopy, bored . . . and hungry, so we made up a game. The game required answering this question: Which food would be the hardest to eat in a car on a trip?

Here’s a list of what my family and I came up with (in no particular order):
-Spaghetti with meatballs
-Chinese Food eaten with chopsticks
-Corn on the Cob
-Spare Ribs
-French Onion Soup
-Fondue
-Alaskan King Crab legs
And my favorite answer (good work Rhonda): Chocolate from A Chocolate Fountain.

I know this has no spiritual value at all, but . . . if you’d like to play our game, just leave your suggestion in a comment and I’ll post it. Next Thursday (July 12, 2012) my family and I will vote on your suggestions and pick a winner. I’ll send a signed copy of my book Eats with Sinners to the person we think submitted the best worst food to eat in a car on a trip.

Rich lessons in generosity from Poor Horatio

As I was pondering the passing of Andy Griffith this morning, I recalled my favorite scene from the Andy Griffith Show.

Here it is:

Andy teaches Opie–and us–some important things about giving in this scene:

1) Generosity must be taught.

Andy took it as his responsibility to teach Opie about the important of generously helping those in need.

2) Worthy causes deserve worthy sacrifices.

Opie only gave 3 cents to the Underprivileged Children’s Drive, when he was obviously capable of giving so much more.

3) Giving is pleasurable.

4) It’s great to give without expecting anything in return.

5) Giving is joyful.

6) Those who have been given much should be the most generous.

7) Giving shows we care about others.

8) We shouldn’t squander (throw it away foolishly) our money, but should give carefully.

9) Half boys are worthy of our support…and pretty hard to forget.