Austin

Andrea and I are in a real time of transition right now. We actually just gave notice here at our current place of ministry at Central Christian Church in order to pursue what we believe God is calling us to right now: CHURCH PLANTING in AUSTIN, TX.

About two years ago we received a packet from a church in Austin that advertised a student ministry pastor position. We weren't interested in that because I felt like I was doing more ministry here (in terms of what I feel God has called me to and gifted me for) and that ultimately I wanted to be a teaching or senior pastor, but the packet was amazingly well done and included a DVD by the senior pastor about the city of Austin and their vision for it. He described the city and what was going on in terms of growth and development and gave his vision for how they could reach every man woman and child in the greater Austin area with the life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ.

While we were not interested in the church and the position they offered, the city and the vision to reach it somehow struck a cord with us and Andrea and I started thinking about Austin. It kept coming up...
Austin is an amazing city of 1.4 million people. Some researchers suggest that this city will be growing by 1 million people over the next 10 years. The vibe is young, creative, and somewhat unconventional. The city is only 17 percent churched, and most of the people there are really turned off to religion. Sociologists are saying that this city just overtook San Francisco as the most creative city in the nation. There is a new trend out that describes how society and culture will be shaped over the next couple of decades. They are calling it the creative revolution (think industrial revolution) or the rise of the creative class. The theory goes something like this, there are certain creative centers in the world were creative and innovative people gather (the top five are Austin, San Francisco, Seattle, Raleigh, Washington/Baltimore) these people bounce ideas of each other and innovate which affects the way we live and view the world. Sociologists suggest that our world will be shaped by these urban creative centers. Anyways, there is a lot more to this, suffice it to say that I want to be a part of reaching these places…

A little while later we started looking at churches we were attracted to because they seemed amazingly effective at reaching the lost and advancing the kingdom. Northpoint or Mars Hill Seattle for example. Every church I was attracted to and did research on had started as a church-plant. So I started looking into church-planting. The more we looked into church-planting the more it seemed that in terms of evangelism and life-change church-planting was the most effective method of furthering the kingdom of God. I started reading about it, listening to people talk about it and praying about it. I even talked with our elders and our senior and executive pastors about this growing desire to be involved in church-planting.

We kept in touch with that church in Austin ( www.hcbc.com )through internet, listening to sermons, vision, business meetings, etc. They have an amazing vision church planting vision and actually have a 12 months residency program that helps potential church planters plant a church in Austin. This church has actually strategically mapped dozens of locations throughout the greater Austin area and has an aggressive God-sized vision of reaching every man woman and child in the greater Austin area with the life-changing reality of Jesus Christ. If you're reading this you have to listen to the vision for this (well - you don't have to but you could...) you can find it at http://sermons.myhcbc.com/index.html "Leadership Community Meeting" from fall 2006. We talked with them, went through a series of interviews and prayed a lot.
In June we were contacted by a ministry out of Houston called New Church Initiatives(they were hired by the church in Austin to assess potential church-planters and make recommendations as to who should come to Austin to plant)who invited us to be assessed as potential church-planters. Since we didn't know if we "had what it takes" we agreed to fly to Austin to be assessed. The process was grueling, but I really enjoyed it. It took place at the same church and the executive pastor, senior pastor and his wife took part as assessors.

Since then Andrea and I have been praying hard as to what God is doing in our lives and He has little by little given us direction and peace to give up everything we hold so dear here(our thriving ministry – we are out of room in our morning service at over 200 people every week and still run a large night service as well, our many close friends, salary, influence, position, house, yard, pool, etc.); all very unspiritual things but we were counting the cost and the sacrifice. It will be a costly move, and we will have to raise some support, but we are willing to make that sacrifice in order to be missionaries to the city of Austin!

Amazing Father

This morning in my bible reading a familiar verse sort of leaped off the page in a new way. I was reading through the minor prophet Zephaniah and chapter 3 verse 17 became real to me in a new way.

"The LORD your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness;
He will quiet you by His love;
He will exult over you with loud singing."

While meditating on these truths the following became newly real to me:

1. God is not only eternal, He is the ever-present I AM. He is in the midst of his people - He is not far off, but He is right here with us.

2. God is mighty - His power is limitless and His strength beyond measure.

3. God will save - He will take up our cause and will use His limitless might on our behalf.

4. The Father rejoices over us, His children - we aren't simply a nuisance or annoyance to God - He loves us deeply!

5. The Father comforts His children and quiets our unrest, fear and angst.

6. The Father sings over His children, because he has genuine delight in them.

WOW! What an amazing Father we have, immeasurably big and yet personal and approachable, intimately concerned and involved in the very details of our lives while at the same time holding the measurless universe in the palm of his hand...

Faith & Fear

In my reading of the Bible I have come once again to the book of Hebrews and I was struck with a verse I've read many times but I've never truly seen.
In chapter 11 the author outlines heroes of the faith. Amazingly he specifically names 15 individual from Abel, Enoch and Abraham to the prophets of the kingdom years; implies three very specifically, namely Moses' parents and Joshua; and points to a score of others less directly.

However, two statements struck me as I was reading through the text; verse 23 states that Moses' parents were "not afraid of the king's edict" and verse 27 states of Moses as "not being afraid of the anger of the king".

Both of these seem to be untrue according to my definition of fear. The parents were clearly afraid of the king otherwise they wouldn't have first hidden the child and then set him adrift in a reed-boat on the Nile. And if Moses was so unafraid, why did he pick up his princely robe and high-tailed it out of Egypt and into the obscurity of the Arabian wilderness?

While these statements of apparent fearlessness seem contradictory to the reality shown in the Old Testament stories I believe firmly in the inerrancy and infallibility of the Bible! So... there's got to be more to it.

Moses' parents knew the consequences for being caught with a brand new baby boy, those consequences had to be terrifying, and yet that fear did not cause them to hand the child over to be killed. Despite their fear they did what was right in that circumstance.
Likewise, Moses was certainly aware of the wrath of Pharaoh that was about to come down on him and this terrifying prospect caused him to flee to Midian. As a matter of fact Exodus 2:14 states that Moses was "afraid". However despite fear and a clear understanding of the extent of pharaoh's power Moses returned to lead out the people of God years later.

In both cases, fear is a real part of the experience. Real difficulties and real dangers are being faced despite fear not in the absence of it. The love for God, the regard for His commands and the concern for His glory and renown are more compelling than the fear of circumstances or consequences.

New Church Initiatives: ENTREPRENEURS AND FEAR

VISION - FOCUS - CHARACTER

There have been a number of questions I have been desperate to answer during the past couple of months. How can I be a leader that God can use for His glory? How can I be a leader who is worth following! How can I be a leader, who knows where he is going and who is able to clearly communicate this direction with those who are under his care? How do I lead effectively? What are the areas that are crucial to success, not as the World defines it, but as God defines it?
There are three areas of Leadership I have been meditating about; and I am convinced that these will make or break the effectiveness of me as a leader.

First, Vision – why you may wonder is it so important to have vision? People need a goal to pursue, an obstacle to conquer, a destination to reach. Men and women throughout the ages have achieved greatness in virtually every field of achievement; science, literature, engineering, technology, as well as physical challenges. They have written poetry, discovered and explained the laws of nature, invented virtually every type of machine and gadget conceivable, have climbed the highest mountains, explored the deepest sees and stretched their hand into the depth of space, all because they believed it could be. And more than that it could be but that ultimately it should be! In this there are certainly those who have seen opportunity, those who have looked and understood what could and should be done. But merely seeing where to go isn’t good enough. It takes a man or a woman who not only sees opportunity but who seizes opportunity! That takes courage.
Andy Stanley, Pastor of the North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, Georgia that is attended weekly by over 16,000 states: “Vision is a preferred future. A destination. Vision always stands in contrast to the world as it is. Vision demands change. It implies movement. But a vision requires someone to champion the cause.”
Moses didn’t just bring the Israelites out of Egypt to wander around the desert in circles. He had a vision to reach the Land flowing with milk and honey that God had promised. David didn’t retrieve the Ark of the Covenant by chance, he believed in what should be. The glory of God present in Israel! Nehemiah wasn’t just hoping for something better for Israel, he saw a problem and was convinced of what should be, the walls ought to be rebuilt. The condition of Jerusalem was of great concern to Nehemiah, but he also was driven by a vision of what he believed could and should be. Paul was convinced that the Gospel ought to be preached to all men. This vision propelled him through shipwrecks, bandits, floggings, and persecutions!
Whether it is a more fuel efficient car, outer space or doing great things for God, each of these endeavors starts with a vision of what could and should be! You may not know how to get to where you feel you need to be, but you know where you want to be and what you believe should be.

Second, Focus – how do we ensure that we get to where we want to be going? To fulfill the vision for your life demands focus, and to be a leader who is effective demands to cut down on the amount of things you are doing! What is it that no one else can do? What is it that God has uniquely gifted you to do? What are the things that are good but have nothing to do with where you are going? What are you doing that has absolutely no correlation with the vision you supposedly pursue? The answer is that you can no longer do just anything that comes up. You need to learn to say no! If we desire to follow the vision God has given us and reach the goal He has placed before us we can no longer allow the good to triumph over the best. We may no longer act indiscriminately upon every and any good idea or request, but we have to focus our energy, talent, time, resources and passion on the pursuit of the vision God has placed before us. The apostles knew of this principle all to well.
“In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word."
This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.
So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.”
Acts 6:1-7
Upon realizing that they were operating outside the realm God had intended for them to operate in they quickly remedied the way things were done and as a result the church grew, and a large number of priests became believers.
The question now remains what are the areas where I am not as focused as I should be. One of the guys on my last leadership team, Garrett, kept me on my toes in this regard. I would often tell him about some new scheme I was working on and his question inevitably was; “what does this have to do with our vision at Real Life (my last church)? Are you sure this is the best use of your time?”

Third, Character – what is the importance of the hidden life of the leader? What is it that makes him worth following? As a leader you can undoubtedly rely on Charisma, on talent, on intelligence and knowledge to influence others. What I am trying to say is that character is optional for leadership. This may come as a bit of a shock to some, but it is true. Character is unnecessary for leadership a fact demonstrated as recently as the Clinton White House. Character isn’t required to influence people. People without character may very well be charismatic. People without Ethics may very well be able to influence others! As a matter of fact they may be very attractive leaders to follow, because they make decisions that work. They are unbound by ethical requirements, unhindered by following the rules, uninhibited by people’s feelings and wellbeing from achieving their goals. The goals sanctify the means is the old adage and it is easy to see its popularity among the greedy and the ambitious.
Undoubtedly, if you call loud enough some will follow. However leading from intelligence and worldly wisdom will only get you so far. Leading out of a charismatic personality will carry you and those who follow for a while, but will eventually be sunk by the iceberg that is life.
The Titanic looked great on the outside, it had charm and charisma, it was considered to be unsinkable, and tragically the first lifeboats were launched filled to only a fraction of their capacity. 1595 passengers were lost on that day in April of 1912. The newspapers in the aftermath were full of accounts of those who had continued to play cards refusing to pay attention to what was happening under the surface, as the band played on the first victims were drowning beneath them in the depth of the ocean liner, as the Arctic waters were beginning to fill the ship. Mortally wounded the ship began to tilt, first unnoticeable, then the truth became more and more obvious sending the ship’s passengers into a panic that would make an organized approach to evacuation and rescue even more impossible.
Often Christian leaders are like the Titanic, looking good on the outside, and yet because of their own neglect mortally wounded beneath the surface. Only those who are shaped by the Holy Spirit and have taken the time to be properly equipped for their walk and for the leadership journey are going to survive the icy seas of life. Unless we are under the direction of the Holy Spirit unless we are formed by Him and unless our character is steeled through the Spiritual Disciplines we may very well suffer shipwreck in our Christian journey.
Many might lead with Charisma, many might draw a following, but few are worth following! That which makes a leader worth following is not simply his vision, not only his focus but that which lies beneath the surface, his character.
How is character built, how is it established? Are the spiritual disciplines spirituality in and of themselves? Are we spiritual just because we sit down and observe some ritual? Is it our doing a certain thing that makes us into leaders of character? The answer is: Absolutely not!
The spiritual disciplines such as prayer, fasting, solitude, Bible reading, memorization, meditation, journaling, etc. are not spirituality in and of themselves, they are merely vehicles for the Holy Spirit to transform our lives and mold us into the image of Christ!
As leaders and as Christians we are called to be disciple-makers, but how can we accomplish this without first becoming disciples ourselves? The shepherd is called to lead the sheep to fresh water and green pastures, but how is he going to accomplish that without having first climbed the peaks and crossed the valleys finding these places of refreshing nourishment?

Theological Worldview Quizz

You scored as Reformed Evangelical,You are a Reformed Evangelical. You take the Bible very seriously because it is God's Word. You most likely hold to TULIP and are sceptical about the possibilities of universal atonement or resistible grace. The most important thing the Church can do is make sure people hear how they can go to heaven when they die.

What's your theological worldview?
created with QuizFarm.com

Reformed Evangelical		86%
Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan		75%
Neo orthodox		61%
Fundamentalist		57%
Emergent/Postmodern		54%
Charismatic/Pentecostal		46%
Classical Liberal		43%
Roman Catholic		14%
Modern Liberal		11%

What's your theological worldview?
created with QuizFarm.com

Continual Improvement: The Mark of Excellence

After World War II there were two countries whose economies had been completely destroyed and whose products had been branded with the letters MADE IN GERMANY, and MADE IN JAPAN. These brands were designed to deter people the world over from buying these products, and in the case of Japan were quickly synonymous with poor quality.

While Germany received help through the Marshall plan, Japan received help, when General MacArthur brought in a quality control expert by the name of Dr. Edward Demming.

Dr. Demming came in and suggested to the fledgling economy that they had to make a simple choice, namely to improve something about themselves and their product every day. However small this improvement might be, the challenge was to find something to improve upon on a constant basis; the promise was that their economy would be revived within 10 years.

The people of Japan believed him and over the next 10 years their economy revived, as a matter of fact it turned completely around and within 30 years Japan became on of the world’s leading economic powers. They took the Swiss watch and improved upon it, they took western electronics and improved them, and they took the American and European automobile and improved it, sometimes small changes, minute improvements, yet enough to edge out their competition and to soar to new heights of excellence and economic prowess. What was once a label for poor quality had become a signet of excellence: Made in Japan!

What about us? Are we willing to constantly reevaluate our lives? Are we willing to be teachable? Are we humble enough to be learners and to allow others to show us a better more effective way?

1 Thessalonians 4:1 states; “Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.”

As we can see the issue is not that they are not at all doing the right things, Paul is affirming them; yes you are in fact living this way already, you are walking according to the calling by which you have been called (cf. Eph. 4:1). The point Paul is making is that they ought to constantly improve, to do this more and more. To improve, to learn, to grow, to be a little more loving and a little more concerned, to display moral excellence and a character that is consistent with Jesus’ call upon our lives, to walk out our salvation more fully, that is what Paul is exhorting his readers to. To put it into different words, he is saying ‘Know Jesus better and Love Him more’!

Principles

There is an old saying that goes something like this; “Rules are many, Principles are few! Rules always change, principles never do!”

This saying has proven true for generations, and it holds true to this day. As times change, so does society, culture and necessarily the church. In that process new rules are being established. Rules for communication, rules for church-life, and for interpersonal relations all have changed and will continue to change. More importantly depending on your culture, upbringing and social circles different behavior is acceptable or frowned upon in various settings. That is true of different churches as well.

Webster’s Dictionary defines principles as “A basic truth, law, or assumption”. As we live our lives, the rules we are confronted with will constantly change, however the principles we base our live and our behavior upon will never change, they are the timeless truths of God's Word that ultimately must govern life in all eras of the history of humanity.

We have a choice to live by every new rule, idea or fad that comes along or establish principles that we live our lives by. A rule, for example is not to watch R-rated movies; however, the corresponding principle is to keep our eyes, thoughts, minds and hearts pure and undefiled. A rule is to give a certain percentage of our income; the corresponding principles are to live our life in a spirit of generosity, to worship through giving, and to refuse to trust in wealth to be our security!

Alcohol and Christianity

Recently I received an anonymous note after one of my messages at church. Our topic that night was actually living wisely and we talked about some of Andy Stanley's material out of his book titled "The Best Question Ever". The question he poses is, "In light of your past experience, your present circumstances and your future hopes and dreams, what is the wise thing to do?"
A great question, but sometimes a difficult one to answer.
I asked a number of hypothetical and some not so hypothetical questions regarding various real life situations, some must have struck a nerve, because I received an anonymous note that read as follows:
Matthias, is it wise to drink alcohol with your life group? Is it wise to drink alcohol as a parent? Is it wise to drink as a pastor?
Now if someone would have signed this note I might have taken it as a legitimate question that needs honest answering, however since it was anonymous I initially took it as some sort of cowardly insinuation and attack on how I live my life. Hmmm... (this situation with the anonymous note has now been cleared up, however the question remains what do we as Christians do with the topic of drinking alcohol?)

Now I can honestly say I have never drank with my small group, at least not during small group time... But I think the question raised is bigger than just an insinuation of irresponsibility. So let me answer the questions.

Biblically speaking drinking alcohol is never the issue, but the issue is drunkenness and being mastered by anything. Drunkenness is sin! (Matthew 24:29; Luke 12:45; 21:34; Romans 13:13; 1 Corinthians 5:11, 6:10; Ephesians 5:18; 1 Peter 4:3)
Jesus made wine and presumably drank it (see last supper), this at least seems to suggest that wine/alcohol is not the primary issue, unless of course his first miracle was a terrible mistake. I think not!
I believe also that there is a responsibility that comes with being in a place of high visibility such as being a pastor/teacher that goes beyond that of the regular Joe. Which might explain why I never drink any alcohol if I still have to drive, do not drink around people I do not know which for me also rules out drinking in public settings.
My position on alcohol is pretty much as follows: Do not get drunk, do not drink and drive, do not cause another person to stumble, and obey the laws of the land (Rom. 13 - which in the United States rules out anybody under 21).
Acts 29 (a nationwide network of church-planters) has taken the following helpful position on this topic,
"we believe that many horrendous sins are affiliated with drunkenness. Therefore, getting drunk is a sin that can lead to other sins, such as incest (Genesis 19:32-35), violence (Proverbs 4:17), adultery (Revelation 17:2), mockery and brawling (Proverbs 20:1), poverty (Proverbs 21:17), late night and early morning drinking (Isaiah 5:11-12), hallucinations (Isaiah 28:7), foolish behavior (Isaiah 5:22; Jeremiah 51:39), murder (2 Samuel 11:13), vomiting (Jeremiah 25:27; 48:26; Isaiah 19:14), staggering (Jeremiah 25:27; Psalm 107:27; Job 12:25), madness (Jeremiah 51:7), shameful nakedness (Habakkuk 2:15; Lamentations 4:21), sloth (Joel 1:5), escapism (Hosea 4:11), and depression (Luke 21:34). In summary, sin leads to death and the sin of drunkenness produces only death and misery.
Thirdly, we believe that Christian leaders are to live their lives in such a way as to set a positive example of holiness for others to emulate (Hebrews 13:7). This includes elders, the male senior leaders in the church, who are not to be drunkards (1 Timothy 3:3; Titus 1:7).
Fourthly, we do believe that all Christians must at varying times and in varying ways give up some of their Christian liberties in order to love people of weaker conscience. Christians must make every effort to not lead them into sin by exercising freedoms in their presence (Romans 14:21; 1 Corinthians 10:31-32).
In conclusion, there are different views on alcohol in our network and even on our board. We recognize that this is an issue where Christians can and do disagree, so we have no position on alcohol other than that people should have their conscience captive to the word of God, submit to the leadership of their church or denomination, and do everything for God's glory."