One of the most promising yet dangerous things about new churches is that they are often formed by people who are dissatisfied with the churches they see around them.  I remember watching one of Rob Bell’s Nooma videos called “Sunday” in which he said that at times he would look around the church and say, “Is this really what God had in mind?”  Church planters are often people of extraordinary vision who see the great potential in a church that would commit itself to the purposes of God, and are discontented with how they see existing churches falling short of that ideal and settling into safe and predictable routines.  There are few things more exciting in the kingdom of God than a new church that is really stepping out in faith in the pursuit of God.

But there is a definite danger to this mindset as well.  Read more »

This Sunday at NewLife, we’re going to be celebrating what God has done in the life of our church over the past sixteen years as we dedicate the new building to which he has led us and cast vision for the future into which He is leading us.  In preparation for this Sunday, I wanted to share briefly some of the story behind why NewLife even exists, as well as what was the original God-given purpose and vision as laid out by the founders of our church.  Over the next few weeks, I hope to continue to share some of the history of our church, so that we might celebrate what God has done as well as learn from some of the hard lessons He has taught us.
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I’m not sure when it was that an adult first gave me that all-important “responsibility” – maybe it was in kindergarten when I had to pass out the chocolate milk cartons to the other kids, or in first grade when I got to be line leader and lead the class down to gym.  And I’m not sure when it was in my Christian walk that I first had to exercise a similar responsibility – maybe when I was first asked to teach a workshop at Musicon, or do the announcements at our college InterVarsity meetings.  But I know that part of the reason I am where I am today as a pastor is because of leaders who understood the importance of delegation, and knew how to give meaningful but doable responsibilities away and help others be successful with those responsibilities.

The Old and the New Testament both have great stories that illustrate the importance of delegation.  Read more »

I just spent some time looking over our church’s Prayer Walls from 2008 in order to get a sense for how we prayed and how God moved over this last year.  Certainly the most regular prayers tended to be for God to heal those who were sick or hurting, to comfort those who were grieving, and to provide for those who needed a job.  Along with those prayers, we prayed every week for a different ministry, for our elders, and for me and my family.  For those of you who engaged in those prayers for my family regularly, THANK YOU.  Most of you have no idea what kind of spiritual warfare goes on in our lives (especially on Sunday mornings), and I know there is no more important ministry to me and my family.  There were also two bigger prayer items that dominated the year – our mission trip to Honduras, and our search for a new meeting space followed by our subsequent move to 131 Griswold St.  And we praise God for how He answered those prayers this past year.

As I reflect on our prayer life as a church and look forward to 2009, I feel God calling us to get both smaller and deeper.  Read more »