What can God do with your gifts?

This month at the Love Feast we are doing something new.  

When we were asking God early in the year what He wanted us to focus on in 2015, one of the primary ways we sensed Him leading us as a community is in the area of stewarding our gifts well by intentionally naming, cultivating, and using them to serve others. This is easier said than done as it takes trust and vulnerability to speak out in front of others the things that are close to our hearts and say, "I want to pursue this."  Many of us can have fears and insecurities around these gifts that God has given us, and it is tempting to just keep quiet, not really do much to grow. We can tend to stay "under the radar" so that there is no risk of somebody saying something that could potentially hurt us. And sometimes we don't want anyone else holding us accountable through encouragement and exhortation when we just want to give up.  

“we are free to explore, experiment with, and discover the ways He’s designed us to creatively bring His Kingdom to Earth”

But in our hearts, we all have desires God has put in us to use the things we know, are good at, and care about. It is part of being human and created in God's image. And we actually live into our design when we first realize that we belong to the Father and His eternal Family, we have an unchanging identity as His beloved sons and daughters, and that we are free to explore, experiment with, and discover the ways He's designed us to creatively bring His Kingdom to Earth. Every person has a unique and meaningful contribution in the Kingdom. 

The project of making the cutouts was a fun collaborative effort among interns and leaders. 

Anna, Michelle, and Elaine working on getting their gifts on the boards. 

Head-Hands-Heart

We decided that a primary goal this year in the Boiler Room community would be to very intentionally pursue creating a safe space for each person to be vulnerable with one another by naming the things gifts that we carry, whether currently active or dormant in our lives, and then dream of ways to encourage each other to cultivate those gifts and serve each other and the community. We began by doing a Head-Hands-Heart activity with our core community that meets on Sunday nights as a missional house church. Every person gets sticky notes and writes on them 2-3 gifts of the head (What do you know a lot about?), gifts of the hands (What are you good at doing?), and gifts of the heart (what are you passionate about?). We then put our sticky notes on three corresponding boards on the wall--and get to see a visual of the wealth of assets that are present in the room. It's a really powerful perspective when you begin to see all the amazing things God has put in us.

“as we sow these seeds and cultivate them in our lives, they will grow into big strong beautiful trees...”

We begin to learn about each other and think and talk about how we can encourage one another. We ask if there are any projects we could pursue that could create space for using them. Around this time, Dan, who loves running, started a running club for people who want to discover the joy of running, and every Saturday morning they get together to run one mile and then have breakfast. Caleb, who is a creative type and a doer, saw potential in creating an art studio in the basement as a possibility for the other creative types in our community and neighborhood to use to practice and create together. These are just a couple of examples of ways we begin to experiment with these gifts--and we trust that as we sow these seeds and cultivate them in our lives, they will grow into big strong beautiful trees over time and display God's glory. 

Inviting neighbors to name their gifts of the Head, Hands and Heart.

This month we are taking the same Head-Hands-Heart exercise to the wider circle of our Love Feast relationships. For four weeks we are inviting people to name their gifts, write them down to stick on the cutouts, and talk about them over dinner.  As we do this, we expect to see the Kingdom break into our community in new ways. We hope to see people come alive as they realize what they have to offer matters, and they can serve others with their gifts as an act of worship. We hope that this will be a catalyst for new initiatives born out of the people who make up this neighborhood, and we will learn a lot more about what God is already up to among us. 

“We hope to see people come alive as they realize what they have to offer matters”

Please pray that we for us to be diligent about this posture of listening--to people and to God. Please pray for the Holy Spirit to drive away fear and reluctance in us and our neighbors, and that His Kingdom would come as we pursue the treasure in one another. 

:: tim ::

How to Live Everyday Life on Mission

Mark and Hazel in the sycamore tree

Since yesterday was such beautiful day, I decided to take off an hour early to give my wife a break and take our kids for a walk to the park. It turned out that two of our interns, Jordan and Mark, had just finished a project they were working on, and decided to join us along the way. A few of neighbor kids--Vegas, Magiel, and Placedo--were out hanging around as school had just ended and decided to join us for the park adventure as well. 

There is not any playground equipment at the park in our neighborhood, so we were forced to be more creative in our play together. It is a beautiful and rare green space with several huge trees, and Mark began to climb up one of them--to the amazement of the rest of the kids. We realized pretty quickly that the tree he was climbing was a sycamore tree, and it reminded us immediately of the story of Zacchaeus, who climbed a sycamore tree in order to see and hear Jesus.

“...by the end Vegas was declaring the Gospel to us all, not even knowing it”

Vegas, Magdiel, and Placedo had never heard about Zacchaeus, so we told them about how he was a short man who lived when Jesus was on earth and was not liked by many because he cheated a lot of people out of their money. One day while Jesus was walking and teaching the people, he saw Zacchaeus up in a sycamore tree and called out to him by name saying, "Let's go to your house and have a meal together!"

We decided that we should reenact the story right there together as a one-act-play. Vegas jumped at the idea of getting to play Jesus, Magdiel and Placedo were the crowd of people, Mark played Zacchaeus since he is the only one who could get up the tree, and I narrated. We all had a blast, and by the end Vegas was declaring the Gospel to us all, not even knowing it, as she spoke Jesus' climactic words, "The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost!"  

We had so much fun, they all demanded we do another play. So we thought quickly and decided to act out the Parable of the Mustard Seed, planting a seed in the ground together and then looking up to admire the magnificent tree above us that it could one day become. The lesson they took away--every small good thing you do, God can use it to do something bigger and better than you can imagine.  

“Jesus is the One who first showed us this when He put on human flesh to live among us...”

These beautiful, unplanned opportunities to convey the message and good news of Jesus to these beloved neighbor kids are a part of the reason it is so powerful to live and intentionally be present in the places we're seeking to impact. Jesus is the One who first showed us this when He put on human flesh to live among us, pointing around to ordinary objects and experiences people inherently understood in order to teach them about Himself, His Dad, and the Kingdom Family they were breaking open into this world. 

How life-changing it is when we begin see that God has given us so much in our lives to share with others. What if we covenanted with other believers in our neighborhood to love each other like family, and to orient our shared lives together around making space to love our neighbors like family. 

Have you ever considered what it might look like for you to live like a family on mission in your neighborhood? Maybe moving to a neighborhood with some others who are seeking to live this way? 

Remember His Rescue

"...the day I might have lost my wife, had the Lord not intervened."

This is a natural time of year for reflection. And so we spent some of this last Sunday evening's discipleship gathering in reflection (individually and together) about specifically where God has shown up in our journeys over the last year. “So often in the Scriptures,” Jordan reminded us, “the Lord commands His people to remember the work He has done,"--especially the ways He has moved into rescuing action on their behalf.  I began to make a list of some of the big ways and the little ways that He has been there for me and for our community. My heart grew so warm in gratitude as I composed a list of such incredible ways Father has demonstrated His faithfulness to us in midst of drawing us into new territory, places we’ve had to lean on Him to come through because we did NOT have the capacity nor ability to come through for ourselves. My faith has indeed grown greatly this last year because of this greater dependence on Him.

“So often in the Scriptures, the Lord commands His people to remember the work He has done"

As I continued this list, I made another bullet with my pen and began to write “You’ve kept us safe…” Immediately, my mind flashed back to a vivid image from one year ago. As if I’d almost suppressed it, the memory cracked like lightning in my imagination and sent waves through every part of my emotional consciousness in this moment. I remembered that the next day (today as I write this) would be the one-year anniversary of our second miscarriage, and the day I might have lost my wife, had the Lord not intervened.

She had been hemorrhaging unexplainably for some time before I could get her to the ER. I remember standing several feet away from the hospital bed as her face turned pale and head tipped back, a few quarts low of blood and still losing. The nurse and doctor responding as the blood pressure meter on the vitals monitor dropped dangerously low. I was frozen when I realized that this situation could go one of two directions, and I felt helpless to do anything about it. They were able to get an IV in for saline to stabilize the blood pressure and eventually a blood transfusion, but she continued to bleed. After several tests, it was looking like an immediate surgery might be the best chance to stop it. So we prayed.

"...we decided together to lay hands on and command Brooke’s body to stop bleeding in Jesus' name."

I had messaged several close friends and family as I could update them throughout the afternoon. The doctors left the room and we decided together to lay hands on and command Brooke’s body to stop bleeding in Jesus' name. About that time,  we received a message from Jenn that our Boiler Room church family was gathered in the prayer garage for the evening gathering and interceding for the bleeding to stop as well. Within a half hour, the doctors came back in to check on the bleeding and decide whether to begin prepping for surgery. When checked, the bleeding had stopped, and whereas the nurse had previously declared that we’d for sure be staying the night, Brooke was released that evening because she was recovering so well—only with instructions to take it easy as she had lost “a no-joke amount of blood.”

It was found out that this had all been brought about by a miscarriage of a pregnancy we didn’t know we had. We have grieved this, and though it comes up afresh at times like these, I find myself over-filled thankful for the day my wife was rescued. I am remembering, today, the goodness of my Father and His care for me and my family. I’m grateful that His healing power can go out from even a touch of His cloak. And tonight I will hug my wife and kids a little tighter and a little longer.

:: tim ::

Baptized: Three Testimonies of Redemption (part 1)

We are absolutely thrilled that three of our neighbor-friends were baptized last month in our simple Church gathering!  Kevin, Tammy, and Eddie have been undeniably pursued and captivated by The Father, and we stand amazed at what the Spirit is doing in their lives. We were all especially surprised by the sudden turn of events following Kevin's baptism that led to Jesus welcoming Him to his eternal home. To honor and celebrate him in his passing, I want to dedicate this post to sharing Kevin's testimony. 

Kevin's Story: 

After a close call with death and encountering Jesus earlier this year, Kevin began turning his life around, committed to daily surrendering every corner of his life to Jesus. Kevin spent around 7 months in the hospital and nursing home due to reaching a dangerously low weight and blood count in late 2013. While in the hospital, Kevin explained that he actually died at one point and met Jesus. No words were exchanged, except that He pointed Kevin back to where he had come from. The look in Jesus' eyes communicated to Kevin all that he needed to know--to walk in new life when He returned. And so he did. As we visited Kevin throughout those months, Kevin requested to pray together at every visit.

When he was healthy enough to be released, he returned to the Sunday church gathering testifying that Jesus had given Him new life--a second chance, that he knew that this was his family, and that he wanted to be baptized. Jordan and I began meeting with Kevin regularly to seek God about the questions: "Who is God, what has He done, and who has He called us?" and "What does it look like to walk in surrender, forgiveness, and freedom with Jesus as Lord of every part of our lives?"  Thoughtfully and enthusiastically, he began surrendering different areas of his life to the Lord as the Spirit led him to, from  past addiction and sexuality all the way to  areas of unforgiveness, relationships, and how he treated people. He would walk out of the prayer garage declaring that he felt like he had a ton of weight lifted off of his shoulders. With the temptation of past addictions to alcohol creeping in, he came to evening prayer often and asked for prayer and accountability that he would not give in.

On October 8th, Kevin, along with two others, stood before about fifty people in the yard of the Boiler Room house, shared his testimony, and was baptized. It was a beautiful day and we all celebrated.

Exactly one week after he was baptized, on October 15th, Kevin suffered a major stroke in the early hours of the morning. We stood around him in the hospital bed with family, saying our goodbyes and thanking God for his life before he passed away that night.

We bless God for His redemption and grace over Kevin's life--and that he truly is walking in new life!

You can read another more personal post about Kevin written by my wife on our family blog here.

:: tim ::

Back to Basics: Church Family

Back in January we began to be inspired more and more, through some of our readings and conversations in our ongoing Antioch trainings, by the early church and how shared meals played such a significant role in how they gathered together, broke bread, worshiped, and fellowshipped with one another. We realized that it resonated so naturally with how God has led us to gather in our neighborhood with the Love Feast meal every Wednesday night as well as some of the potluck meals that we would share on Sunday nights with our more intimate church gatherings. 

We thought that the way we have done these simple and intimate church gatherings on Sunday nights might pair very well with the meal we share with the wider community at the Love Feast, and would be a natural way for more of our neighbors to enter into that sacred time of worship, learning from Scripture, and praying with one another. We desire for an abundance of opportunities for those we know God cares so deeply about to encounter Jesus in undeniable ways and to know the joy of surrendering ourselves to Him.

This is all to say--starting tomorrow (Oct 1st) at 5:30pm we will be having a simple church gathering just before the Love Feast in the same location (5th st Hall) at 6:30pm. Please join us if you feel so inclined. All are welcome! Also, there is no issue at all if you are unable to come to the church gathering, but still want to join us for the Love Feast meal. 

The following week, on Oct 8th, we will be baptizing three neighbors/friends/brothers/sister who have given their lives to Jesus in the last three years and are walking as committed disciples of Jesus in the family. We are so excited for them--you can join us for that if you'd like as well :)

:: tim ::