Celebrating 7 Months

Refuge Church recently celebrated seven months of what God has, is, and continues to do through this new church plant that He led in starting.

Like children, a seven month old church is not as developed as a seven year old or 70 year old church.  No church is perfect, this most of us are painfully aware (though one day she will be perfect). There are things that must definitely be strengthened and issues to resolve. There are weaknesses to be addressed, issues that need resolving, and greater ways to accomplish the mission.

With that reality can come the danger of focusing so much on where the church is not yet that we fail to celebrate or we lose sight of what God has done and is doing. I am grateful for the directional leadership team choosing to host a celebration Sunday to reflect on what God has done, remember what is His mission, and recommit ourselves again to what He is and will do.

As part of the celebration I invited individuals to submit questions about Refuge Church that we would spotlight here. This week I begin with the first question.

In 2014, are there any possibilities of overseas mission trips to minister to orphans?

We are making plans for a trip of this nature, as well as other opportunities in 2014.

God's mission is to call people out of the kingdom of this world into the kingdom of His Son Jesus Christ in order that individuals would become worshipping followers of Him. Jesus' followers have been given the privilege of joining Him in this work of the gospel.

Our mission at Refuge Church is that we want to display and declare the good news of Christ's kingdom to individuals near and far. Therefore, we desire to be displaying and declaring the good news of Jesus Christ where we are and live everyday, as well as making intentional and strategic efforts to display and declare the gospel to those around the globe.

We are planning mission endeavors both locally, in North America and internationally.  In the local setting, we want to encourage Life Groups to continue and advance in engaging in fulfilling our mission through partnerships in our city (including pregnancy support services, foster care of Wake County, etc.). Additionally, we are seeking to host additional Refuge Outreach Fun Days and mobilize the people of Refuge in strategic invite times and everyday life.

We have North America partnership opportunities with church plants in Baltimore, MD and San Francisco, CA. We tentatively hope to have a team partnership with the Journey Church in San Francisco and the ministries they support in the summer of 2014.

A vision team will be heading to the country of Haiti at the first of 2014 in preparation to establish a trip to serve with orphans through Audio Adrenaline's Hands and Feet Project in the Spring of 2014. A tentative trip in the Fall of 2014 to India is being planned that will focus on teaching the Bible and potentially serving with at an orphanage in the state of Rajasthan.

The primary way God builds His kingdom is by His Church whom He has given the privilege and responsibility to display and declare the good news. You can be part of His mission today by using your normal routines, your workplace, and your relationships to display and declare the gospel. I also ask that you consider and pray about being part of going in 2014.

Refuge Launch

You may be arriving here to read the latest on our family.  After all, there are so many things I could write and share by way of our newest son's arrival, our next child's arrival in March, Micah's health, or you name it.

Today, however, I'm talking about the Refuge Church launch. In January of this year when it became clear that the work of the church I pastored would be changing greatly, God led in a most interesting way. It became abundantly clear that God would have a new work to start and He led Sarah and our family to launch out in that direction. 

A lot of work ensued from the end of January to the vision meeting the first of March. Then, on March 31, Refuge Church met for the first worship gathering time as part of something we called pre-launch. In business terms, the last few months have been our "soft" opening as we prepared, did some rethinking, ironed out wrinkles, set best practices into place, and more. Everything isn't perfect and never will be. But now it is time for the "grand opening."

Our official launch is September 8 at 10:30 AM preceded the day before by a fun day for all. You can find that information here.

As we are heading toward Sunday, I've compiled a Top 10 Ways to Have a Great Launch.  Enjoy!

1.         Be Present. Sounds simple, but you won't experience our official launch and the celebration of that day if you aren't present. Prepare for anything and everything to come your way to discourage, distract, or prevent you from coming.

2.         Come Expecting. All right. To come with the expectation that we are worshiping the Most High God who alone has the power to radically transform our lives is an essential of every Sunday. But especially on a day when we want, pray, and expect God to do a great work, we need to come expecting.

3.         Pray. Pray for God to work. Pray for God to prepare your heart. Ask our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to send many who don't know they matter to God. Ask for Jesus to transform lives by the gospel.

4.         Invite. Invite at least one. Invite neighbors, family, friends, coworkers, teammates, hairdressers, store clerks, etc.

5.         Arrive Early. Get up late, leave late, show up late, run into the worship gathering late and you're likely to have a negative view of the launch because you're stressed and flustered. Don't plan to be on time. Plan to be early.

6.         Greet. It is the need of every person at Refuge to make a great first impression upon guests. Don't talk to them and they won't come back. Walk past them like they aren't there and they'll think they don't really matter to us. Greet guests. Make Sundays about new friends, not huddling in long conversations with old friends.

7.         Volunteer. Yes. I'll beat this drum until it ruptures. Volunteers are the backbone of our work at Refuge. Even now, we need volunteers to insure set-up occurs well and on-time; tear down happens quickly and on-time; kids receive great care, parents have great comfort with the care of their kids, and the gospel is unhindered by a frantic child or a worrisome parent; guests receive a first impression that leaves a positive, lasting impression. Where can you volunteer at least ONE Sunday each month?

8.         Celebrate. Celebrate that the God who is perfect has grabbed out from the kingdom of this world and made you a son or daughter in the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Celebrate the good news that you have new life. Celebrate with freedom. You can lift your hands, sing out, laugh, cry, stand, sit, bow, or respond as you sense is appropriate before God.

9.         Respond. Hearing God's Word is not enough. We must do what it says. Come expecting that God will ask you to respond to Him in a specific way.

10.       Repeat. So this isn't a "launch" tip. But Sunday, September 8 is the first Sunday of many more worship times to come. Every other Sunday doesn’t have to be second-class to the official launch. God can do an extraordinary work to transform lives by the good news of His kingdom every time we gather. 

Prepare the House

When you have guests coming over to your home, do you prepare? I know that's a dumb question. You don't invite people over and leave the garbage overflowing in the kitchen with a sink full of dishes.  Laundry isn't spilling out of the laundry room into the hallway.  An inch of dust doesn't line every surface in the den.  You prepare.

When your guests arrive, do you greet them warmly and welcome them into your home?  I know that's a dumb question too.  You don't leave them standing at the door waiting for several minutes before someone to comes to answer the door.  When you open the door, you don't say to them, "Oh. It's you."  Nor do you refuse to invite them into your home and make them feel welcome.

While guests are at your home, do you simply sit back and bark out orders for them to serve themselves or serve you? I don't need to say it again. That's crazy. You serve them because they are not some unwanted "visitor."  They are a treasured "guest." You invited them and expected them to come. You want to insure their time in your home communicates your love for them. 

We can think of Refuge Church in similar terms.  Here's the points I'm making:

1.  People most often come by invitation. At Refuge Church, if we want people to come, we must invite them.  "If you build it, they will come," typically only works in Field of Dreams.

2.  You prepare for what you expect. If you expect guests are coming to your house, you prepare for them. Are we inviting, praying, and expecting guests to come. Will the presence of guests catch us off guard as though we didn't expect them to come?

3. Guests are wanted while visitors are often considered intrusions. You'll constantly hear me call non-regular attendees by the name"guest." They are treasures we want and expect. We intend for them to return. They are not leeches on our time or resources or intrusions into our group. 

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4.  Guests are our responsibility. They didn't come to serve us.  We are there to serve them. They don't know where everything is located or how everything operates. Therefore, we are responsible to explain and show. We take them where they are going instead of point and send them off alone. We don't make them retell their information in every handoff.  Those we serve are just as important as the ones who serve.

5. We all can remove the roadblocks. Our mission is to display and declare the good news (gospel) of Jesus Christ to individuals near and far in order that they will encounter and be transformed by Jesus Christ.  Churches are often cluttered with numerous roadblocks to the gospel. On Sunday mornings, we want the only thing that offends to be the gospel.  It is offensive, but it's the only thing that should be offensive. In a real sense, all of us are either creating or removing roadblocks.

SEPTEMBER 8 is the official launch. How are you preparing? Invite, pray, expect, value, serve, and remove any and all roadblocks.

Who God Wants

The people God wants are true worshippers.

John Piper says missions exists because worship does not. Not all people worship God who made them by His hands, in His image, for His glory and fame. So missions exists to reconcile alienated humans with God, who alone is worthy of worship.

Worship is more than words. More than music (traditional or modern). More than preaching. More than one specific time each week. And certainly more than a building. 

All of these things--music and singing, teaching and preaching, a building and specific time--aid in or can be essential parts to worship. But to define worship as preaching or to relegate worship to music and singing is a grave mistake.  

One of the most beautiful examples of worship, extravagant worship, comes in a passage in Luke 7. Here we read of no music, no singing, no preaching, no temple/church building, no worship service, no words spoken.

Jesus accepted a dinner invitation at the home of Simon the Pharisee.  While the dinner was in progress, a woman entered who had quite the scandalous reputation. This woman was likely a prostitute whose insidious acts gave her a sordid reputation. She’s lived this hard and lonely life.  She’s been used, if not abused.  True love eludes her grasp. Guilt covers her like a heavy robe. Any purpose in life is veiled from her eyes.  Her life has failed to fulfill the deepest longing of her soul. She has accumulated an astronomical sin debt that’s left her spiritually bankrupt.

Regardless of the scandalous life she has lived, God’s grace and mercy trumped it. Nothing she had done was greater than God’s power to save her and bring healing into her life. Jesus declared to her that her sins were forgiven because her faith had saved her.

She, whose debt had been cancelled, worshipped Jesus with extravagance. She didn't speak any words.  No verse of a song was sung. There was no preacher who gave a moving sermon. A formal invitation wasn't given. She worshipped from an overflowing heart of gratitude where Jesus was exalted above all others.

Jesus is looking for people who will worship Him in spirit and in truth. He desires those who will exalt Him above all others, focusing on Him more than any other, giving whatever it costs to engage in love and worship to Him. 

He isn't looking for those who can sing best or loudest. His goal isn't those who raise hands or dance around. Worshipping one day for one hour doesn't hit the bull's eye of God's target for our lives. These may all be expressions of worship at times, but they do not guarantee that true worship or even extravagant worship is taking place.

God wants a people who worship in spirit and truth as a lifestyle; a people who don't rationalize away extravagant worship for fear of the cost or how others will react. He is our focus of worship and on Him alone we fix our eyes.

To read the account of this woman's extravagant act of worship, take time to read Luke 7:36-50.

Shadrach the Bird

I had an African Grey bird when I was in college.  His name was Shadrach and his stay with me was short-lived (that's another story). But he stayed long enough that I learned what the word repeat really means.

African Greys are  medium-sized parrots from the rain forests of West and Central Africa.  The African-Grey is regarded by many experts as one of the most intelligent birds in the world. 

Shadrach's mimicry amazed me. He would repeat the words I said over and over to him with precision of both the words and the tone of my voice.  At other times, he would seek to mimic the tone of others including my sister-in-law.

It wasn't until I had spoken the word or phrase to him numerous times that he finally picked it up.

Richard Nixon had a good quote.  No, not the "I am not a crook" quote.  He said, "You know, when I'm tired of hearing it, I know my staff has gotten it. And when my staff is tired of hearing it, I know the press corps has gotten it. And when the press corps is tired of hearing it, I know the nation has gotten it."

As we put in place foundational pieces upon which the life and ministry of Refuge Church will be built, there are foundational truths that will be repeated over and over again. That isn't an apology but a promise.  For I, like most, can easily become distracted and lose focus of not just the what, but, more importantly, the why.

One of the most important statements I will repeat is our vision/mission statement.  This statement encapsulates not only why I believe Christ led us to begin this new work, but also how we desire to do this. 

We want to be a church that displays and declares the good news of Christ's kingdom to individuals near and far.

Refuge Church is the work of God to display and declare the good news of His kingdom to those of every tribe and nation, beginning where we are, for His ultimate glory.

We desire to accomplish this vision by leading individuals to connect in a relationship with Jesus Christ, belong in community with other Christ followers, and serve the world by displaying the gospel in action and declaring the gospel in word.

This is our focus and 'why' Refuge Church began.  This is our mission and purpose in God's redemptive plan.  This will be repeated a lot, along with a number of other key principles and truths for Refuge Church. When we are tired of hearing it, then we may have only begun to accomplish it.

Flow

The Encounter Series at Refuge Church continues to look at the lives of regular, ordinary people like us coming face-to-face in a life-changing encounter with an extraordinary, all-surpassing God.  

In the latest message from Isaiah 6, we looked at how Isaiah saw God high and lifted up.  His majesty filled the temple.  His glory floods the earth. His power shakes the foundations and his character is pure and holy.  

When Isaiah encountered the majestic, glorious, all-surpassing, transcendent King, his response was appropriate.  "Woe is me!" Compared to the devil, I'm great. Compared to others, I'm good.  Compared to God, I'm ruined.

Isaiah declared the woe of seeing himself in light of who God is.  Encountering God for who He really is allows us to see ourselves for who we really are. We see His holiness and our wretchedness.  We see His transcendence and our lowliness.  

Seeing himself for who he really was led Isaiah to recognize what he deserved.  "Woe is me, for I am ruined."  I'd paraphrase it this way, "Woe, I'm going to die."  Isaiah's sin in the presence of God's holiness led to a reality check that death was deserved.  There was no reason to try to hide and definitely no reason to try to make himself appear better than he was.

What comes next is just breathtaking! God doesn't recite the list of Isaiah's sin.  God doesn't lecture him for hours about his shortcomings.  Isaiah is already fully aware of his gross disobedience and his deserved death.  Instead, God cleanses him with a coal from the sacrificial altar and declares to him: "Your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven."

The one who deserved death, received life. The one who had committed offenses had them removed.  The one who had failed to meet the standard of God's holiness was forgiven. 

This is powerful but it is the story of the gospel. Christ was sent by the Father, wrapped in human flesh to die the death I deserved. Instead, I who deserved death received life.  And not just any life, but the life of the One who died my death--abundant, eternal, joyful, full life.  My iniquity was taken away and my sin forgiven because Jesus Christ died and rose again in my place.  "This is mercy, this is grace, Jesus in my place."

Immediately God asks: "Whom shall I send and who will go for Us?"  Enter Isaiah, a redeemed man, forgiven of sin and extended life instead of death.  His hand thrusts into the air and he volunteers before he even knows what God is asking, what it will cost.  "Here am I. Send me!"  With passion and eagerness, Isaiah surrenders to go wherever God wants, to do whatever God wills, to whoever God plans because he has received so abundantly and graciously.

We were never meant to be reservoirs. We were meant to be conduits.  We who have received much should give much. We who experience the blessing of God's mercy, grace, and love should then be the means of that mercy, grace, and love flowing out into the lives of others.

When I was speaking to students once, I mentioned this very truth.  Where are the grateful people of God who remember what they used to be and how God's mercy and grace altered their lives?  Where are those who have received so freely from Christ who are so freely giving and pouring out into the lives of others?  Then I said, "Too many Christians have become reservoirs instead of conduits. I'm praying if that is us, God will bust some holes in our dam so that we spring some leaks."

My prayer for Refuge Church today and always: "Here are we. Send us!"  May we display and declare the good news of Christ's kingdom to others near and far until the day we see Jesus face to face.

Who's Your One

Forbes Magazine recently ranked the Raleigh Metro Area the fastest growing city in America.  The growth in the Raleigh-Durham and surrounding areas continues to explode. In the North Raleigh and Wake Forest area, significant growth and development have occurred in the last ten years.  The expectation for future growth remains optimistic, with the anticipated growth occurring north and east of Capital Boulevard in North Raleigh.

When Sarah and I, along with a small team, began praying through and discussing the planting of a new church, God used this realization of the population growth coupled with the great spiritual need to confirm His leading to begin Refuge Church.

The desire to begin Refuge Church was birthed from a desire to display and declare the good news of Christ's kingdom to individuals near and far in order that lives would be transformed for the glory of God.  A new church planting movement across North America and around the world is, encouragingly so, motivated by this heart.

Therefore, we must collectively and individually be constantly asking how we are displaying and declaring the gospel.  We cannot afford to lull ourselves into a place of thinking we  enough people or we are financially stable enough.  

For Refuge Church, we know that in our immediate target area there are 70,000 people who are unchurched. (Yes. Our target is the world. That's 6.9 billion.)

Who's your one?  

It is easy to see large numbers and be overwhelmed.  It isn't surprising that faceless numbers never become a passion.  But the face of a friend, neighbor, family member, hair-stylist, car mechanic, landscaper, etc. can help us to see the need not as a number, but as people who need the gospel.

Think of one.  I'm thinking too.  

You may not have to think long.  You may think of ten.

But who is your one. And let's set out to display and declare the good news (and it really is good news) to that one.  How can you serve them?  How can you love them?  How can you share with them?  Who is your one?

Ten Awkward Minutes

Last week we looked at the Ten Most Important Minutes for a guest at church. Today we talk about another ten very important minutes for a guest in many churches--the Awkward Minutes.

The Ten Most Awkward Minutes for a guest at a new church are the five minutes before the service begins and the five minutes after the service ends.

Before the service begins, guests make their way into the worship center, find their seat and sit down.  As they wait for the service to start, in many churches, no one speaks to them.  It is awkward. Often they sense others looking at them and trying to figure out who they are, what their connect might be to the church, and if they have visited another Sunday previously. Yet the guests are simply there and no one speaks.

When the service ends, these same guests collect their belongings and make their way to the exit and often find no one speaking to them on the back end of the service either.  

In the days of traditional buildings and traditional practice (like the church of 66 in regular attendance I spent the first 14 years of my life in), the service would close with one last song, long enough for the pastor (and his wife) to walk down the center aisle to the back doors (or are they the front doors), where they would greet everyone (but rarely a guest cause guests were rare) on the way out.

Don't get me wrong.  The pastor should have a personality better than shoe leather.  He should show care and compassion, be neighborly and kind.  But the pastor alone doesn't create an inviting environment and neither do a select few.  Rather, the people as a whole must prioritize making an inviting environment.  This means making a great first impression in a guest's first ten minutes and eliminating the awkward ten minutes when a guest wonders why everyone was so friendly when they arrived but seemed to drop them like they were hot once in the facility.

Next time you happen to be a first time guest at a new church, take notice of those Ten Most Important Minutes and Ten Most Awkward Minutes, while vowing to never lose the guest mentality.