Why Sold Out?

I know I haven't posted in a spell, but it has been a very busy season here of late. Recently in my life I have had to make some very difficult decisions.  I had been at a church that I loved very much.  Great relationships with the people there, the Senior Pastor had somewhat taken me under his wing, I was ordained there, and it was a place where you could tell God was working.  I learned so much through the church.  I saw what a church is supposed to look like, and how the people are supposed to stand in the gap for each other when they are hurting.  It was through this church that I was introduced to another group of churches out of state, and gained a new mentor through those churches.  I went through some training on how to pastor a church in practical application.  I am extremely grateful for that oppurtunity, because I assure you, I am a much better follower of Christ now than I was before going through this "Idiot Training."

So everything was going along very well, and then the unthinkable happened.  I was told that the church I was ordained staff at may not be able to continue, as we were having a hard time making ends meet.  Seriously?  How can this be?  Why is this happening?  We have such an amazing group of people.  What is going on?  Of course there are many variables and many possible answers for these questions.  The answers aren't important.  What was important was that my church, a multi-site location, was closing the doors and we were to return back to home base, like soldiers returning from a tour of duty.

At the same time, in the group of churches where I had been training, a Campus Pastor position had become available, and I was being seriously considered for the position.  I was told all about the location and the people.  Really a good situation to get into.  A great situation actually.  Maybe this was where God was leading me.

All the while, my Pastor, my dear friend, mentor, Brother, and fellow soldier of Christ, wanted me to come back home and regroup.  Wanted to take a little time for me to look at the future.  See what God had in store.  He had been telling me for a long time that he believed God has some great things in store.  Just let me go through a season of R&R to prepare to get back at it.  There are so many potential ministry oppurtunities in this particular church, and I had no doubt I could plug in and do God's work there, advancing His kingdom.  It really is an amazing church with amazing people and great leadership.

But here is the thing, when we announced at the church we were at that we would not be able to continue in that town, my heart broke for all the broken hearts I saw.  So much devastation.  So much hurt.  Confusion and anger, sadness and despair.  So many emotions.  I hurt for those that were hurting.  I felt like Jesus when he looked on the crowds and He had compassion on them.

I have known for many years that one day I would start a church.  God revealed it to me a long time ago.  But I didn't think it would be any time soon.  But when I found out we were closing, I started praying and asking God, "Is now the time?".  When I saw those hurting people, I knew that yes, now is the time.  Proverbs 3:27 says "Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act."  I knew what I had to do.  But I had a problem, even though I felt God was speaking to me very clearly, my pastor did not think this was the right time.  I felt more confused than ever.  Did I mishear God?  Did I need to put the other church, out of state back on the table?  Because if I misheard, I felt I needed to start back at square one.

But then the most incredible thing happened.... I had just sat down at lunch with some guys, and my phone rang.  It was my pastor.  I answered.  He told me that in his prayer time, God had revealed to him that he needed to bless what I was going to do.  So he called me to let me know that I had his full blessing.  He asked only that I do one thing. I will never forget.  "Love the people. Can you do that?  Will you love them?"  I said, "Absolutely! That is why I am doing this!"  So with my pastor's full blessing, I knew that I had heard right. I knew what I was to do.  I am like one of those soldiers that goes to war and doesn't want to come home because he believes in what he is fighting for.  Those soldiers don't want to leave the battlefield until the war is won, or they take their last breath.  I knew I would not be resting, but taking the fight to the enemy.

And with that, a church that had already been conceived, already named, was born into this world.  God had already given me the name, Sold Out Church.  Because we want to be SOLD OUT to Jesus.  And because Acts 20:28 says to be "sheperds of the church of God for it was bought with His own blood."  If something was bought, it has to have been sold.  And the church was bought at the highest price.

We sent out some invitations to some people to come to our house for a directional meeting.  And the RSVP's started pouring in.  My house was full on that Wednesday night.  I cast a vision to the people and told them what God was leading me to do.  I told them that Sold Out Church was going to be started and they were all welcome.  I asked them when they might be interested in having Sunday services, and they overwhelmingly decided that very Sunday.

So we had our first Sunday service and 41 adults were there.  We had a house full of kids!!  I preached a message from Joshua chapter 10 about the sun standing still.  Told everyone it would take that type of faith and those types of prayers to see this grow.  I let them know that even though God will show up and do His part, we will have to march all night and we will still have to fight the fight.  And I knew that we had a sun stand still task ahead of us because it was our first service and we had already outgrown our location!

By God's provision, we were offered a place that we can use to conduct services.  This past Sunday we had our first service in the new building, and our numbers were up, giving was up, and glory be to God and God alone, we saw our first salvation!!! AMEN!!!

So I guess all of this is to let you know why I haven't been blogging.  And maybe to let you know, that the devil better look out because we are going to relentlessly take the fight to him to advance the Kingdom of God.  We have a vision to make Jesus known to a hurting world and to develop SOLD OUT followers of Him.  We will fight for our vision until the war is won when Jesus comes back, or until we take our dying breath.  Please pray that God will lead us in all, because we can't fulfill our mission without Him leading!  Be blessed!

Behind the Cowl

Ever since I was a kid, I have always been intrigued by Batman.  I know, most geeks are, right?  I always thought that it was because Batman is just Bruce Wayne.  A regular guy that is highly disciplined and trained.  Sure, he has lots of money to buy and create incredible gadgets, but he is a regular, mortal, human being.  He is not from another planet.  He has more weaknesses than kryptonite.  He never received a "super-soldier serum."  No gamma radiation waves, no radioactive spiders, and no mutant genes.  He is Bruce Wayne. In a really cool costume with really cool toys.

Here recently I was talking to a friend, and I got to thinking more about the Batman mythos.  I was thinking how Bruce is a really messed up, very tormented guy just trying to better the world around him the only way he knows how.  And he knows to do so he has to represent something far greater than himself.  The Batman is able to do things that Bruce Wayne could never do.  So here is this guy, this regular, messed up guy, trying to make a difference and impact the society he lives in, but doing so not in his own name, but in the name of the Batman.  Sound familiar?

Bruce experienced a very traumatizing event in his childhood.  He watched the person that meant more to him than anyone else, his father, and his mother murdered at the hands of a common thief in an alley.  His whole world was flipped upside down.  Bruce was already tormented by nightmares of bats due to an incident earlier in his childhood where he fell into a cave and was surrounded by a flurry of bats.  Add to those nightmares the terrible reality of having witnessed first hand the murder of his parents.  Certainly, the scars run deep.

But Bruce is more than just hurt.  He sees a world around him destroying itself.  And he has compassion.  He feels like somebody has to do something.  So he undergoes the most intense training regimen ever.  He hones his body and a mind to the peak of perfection.  He studies and trains. Disciplining himself to accomplish the task at hand.  He is a man on a mission. He has a purpose.  He knows what he must do.  He knows who is must become.  Bruce gives himself over to something greater than himself.

After years of training, Bruce becomes the Batman. The Caped Crusader. The World's Greatest Detective... The Dark Knight.  He has a code  he lives by.  He is not a part of society, but he makes the Batman known in society.  He will not kill.  He is not the judge.  He just captures criminals and turns them over to those in authority.  Sound familiar yet?

For me, this a powerful allegory to the Christian Soldier.  I can relate to Batman because I am just a regular guy.  I have my own hang ups.  I am not perfect.  I have experienced hurt.  I am a messed up individual.  But I have given myself over to something FAR GREATER than myself.  I have given myself over to Christ. And I am trying to make a difference in a world that is dying all around me.  I discipline myself through prayer, fasting, and study of God's Word.  As a child of God, an indwelt believer of the Living God, I can accomplish more than I ever could on my own.  In fact, the bible says I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Batman has a cool suit, I have the armor of God. Batman has cool toys, I have the sword of the Spirit.  Batman is covered by a cape and cowl. I am covered in the blood of Christ.  Sure, Batman wears a mask, but it is only to protect his identity.  The man on the inside is the Batman.  And who I am on the inside is a soldier of God.  You could say Batman is a servant of the public.  I am a servant of God.  The cost of Bruce becoming Batman was the murder of his parents.  The cost of me becoming a Christian is the murder of my God.

After all these years, I finally understand why I am fascinated with Batman.  Because like him, I am a jacked up person trying to make a difference in a messed up world.  For Bruce Wayne it is in the name of justice. In the name of the Batman.  For me, it is in the name of redemption. In the name of Jesus Christ.

Down with the sickness

"It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Lk 5:31-32 NIV

Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed how when we are sick, our sickness permeates into everything about us?  I am not talking about when we have a little head cold, I am talking about when we are SICK.  All of our thoughts and actions revolve around the fact that we are sick.  We think of what medicine we need.  We think of what we can eat.  We think of what we cannot eat.  We think about who can and cannot be around us. We think about what to do to contain the sickness and keep it from spreading.  We sometimes feel like we are going to die, and at times relish that thought so we will no longer be sick! We can't do the things we normally would. Can't even do a lot of the things that we want to do.  And some things we normally want to do, we don't even think about doing.  When we are sick, it alters, for a time, everything about us.  All we care about is, "What must I do to get better?"

As I was laying around the house early last week, sick, I thought about all of this and how my sickness kept me from being me, at least to an extent.  And then I thought about Jesus talking about how sick people need doctors, not healthy ones, and how he did not come for the righteous, but for sinners.  I got to thinking about how Jesus compares our broken state, our sin, to a sickness.  And it made me ask this question... "What if I lived as if my sin where a sickness?"

How different would I live if my constant thought was, "What must I do to get better?" in relation to my sin?  True, my sin is paid for and I am forgiven, redeemed, and made whole because Jesus took care of it all for me 2,000 years ago.  And that helps me to understand what Paul is talking about when he mentions in Romans should we go on sinning? BY NO MEANS.  So what do I do to keep from sinning?  Maybe if I see my sin for what it is, a sickness, I can overcome it.  Because if I live as if my sin is a sickness, I will always be thinking about what to do to contain it and keep it from spreading.

Sin has a tendency to do that, to spread.  God is keenly aware of this, which is why scripture compares sin to yeast.  It only takes a little for it to spread all throughout an entire batch of dough.  So we need to isolate our sin and keep it from spreading.  If we don't, it will consume us.

So if I look at my sin as a sickness, then I will constantly be thinking of what I need to make me better.  What medicine do I need to take?  And the medicine I need is Jesus.  He didn't just pay for my sins 2,000 years ago, but He is alive today and His Spirit is inside me!  I can do all things through Him, even overcome my sin.  See, the more I think about Him, the more I set my mind on Him and the things of Him, the more I will seek Him.  I will talk with Him more.  I will walk with Him more.  I will love Him more.  I know I could always stand a little more of Him in my life.

I want to overcome the sin in my life.  I want to live a life set aside for Him.  I want to love and honor Him in all I do because He is worthy.  I want Him to permeate into everything about me.  So maybe it is time that I get down with the sickness, so that I can set my mind more on Him.

Inaugural Address

So it seems the whole world is blogging these days, and I don't want to miss any oppurtunity to make Christ known.  I have been using Twitter for a spell now, and while it is a great vessel for a brief statement or profession of faith, blogging will allow for more meaningful thoughts with greater depth. Sometimes I am quite sure that I will get a little zany, as anyone that knows me knows I am prone to be.  I don't know if I will ever declare any bold revelations, but it does give me the oppurtunity to express my thoughts on truth.

As a disclaimer, let me just say again, these are my thoughts on truth. All truth is found in God's word. This blog is merely my thoughts on His truths as I understand them.  I imagine at times I will write about my family, life, my ministries, or even football, but I would suggest the vast majority of my writings will be about Jesus. Because it is, has always been, and will always be about Jesus. And if you have been around me, then you know you can't be around me for long (usually a few minutes) without me talking about Him.

So given that I am writing tonight from my phone, which is not exactly my favorite thing, I am going to end for now with this... Get ready, because we are going for a ride.

Be blessed!
Derek