Rocks In The Water

I wore flip flops today with blue jeans…out in public.  Now, I know by writing that I immediately revealed how lame I really am, given the fashion trend.  That’s especially true among church planters.  I’ve seen them wear them everywhere…to meetings, to preach in, etc.  I actually didn’t mind it too much.  I may have even liked it.  However I do live in rural Alabama so the guys with the muddy work boots and hats with the infamous red “A’s” on them may have thought……oh well, never mind.

Things and how we do them always change.  There’s nothing we can do to control that.  One of the reasons that most churches are irrelevant to today’s world is that they continue to do things the way they always have.  One of my big mantras has been that the message never changes but the methods do.  Flip flops and jeans…definitely method.

As much as we like to change our methods, there are still things that are unchangeable.  There is a great story from the Bible that you can read in Joshua 4:1-9.  In Joshua chapter 3 the Children of Israel came across the Jordan River in a really miraculous way.  Immediately after this passage (chapter 4), Joshua instructs them to take twelve rocks and place them in the water at the place they passed over. 

The reasoning is simple and genius all at the same time.  Out of sight, out of mind is nothing new, it’s just human nature.  We tend to forget things that are not in front of us often.  A good example is looking at an old photograph and thinking…wow, I didn’t know I looked that weird back then.  We also tend to remember things in a better light than they really happened, hence the term the “good old days.”  Really?  They were that good?

Times changed.  People changed, but the simple, ordinary rocks stayed in the water.  They never changed.  In years to come there were even better and simpler ways to cross rivers.  But the rocks remind us of something.  They are not a testimony of how well people did in crossing the river, but they show what God had to do in order to bring them over.  They are a testimony of a supernatural, “God moment.”  It is a time where God intervened in people’s lives in an incredibly miraculous way.

Methods have changed, but ways of accessing the presence of God haven’t changed.  Things such as fasting, praying, seeking God, devotion and servanthood are things that, no matter how much time goes by, never change.

As Acts 2 describes the early church, there is one portion of a verse that has always stood out to me.  Acts 2:43 “And fear came upon every soul” (KJV).  The NASB and NLT call it a “sense of awe.”  What is that?  Those are the rocks in the water.  That is the part of the church that is beyond description.  It is the part of the atmosphere that only the Holy Spirit can create.  We can have great, modern methods, but we all must have that “sense of awe” to what we do.  That sense is one of those things that never has and never will change.

An appropriate question for me today in my blue jeans and flip flops with an iPad open nearby, could be that of all the “contemporary” things that I am doing today, what is one thing that I must do that has been done by great men of God before me and has still never changed?

When The Wind Gets Knocked Out Of You

We are planting a church that is opening this September.  It is really the hardest thing we have ever done.

The middle of April this year, we had made some changes in an effort to increase our momentum and get some new families on board with our mission.  Our website had just came out, we were putting the finishing touches on some great new commercials and we were getting ready to move into a much needed fund raising campaign.  In addition, our spirits were high after a recent conference sponsored by our planting organization (ARC: Association of Related Churches).

Everything was going great then April 27th happened.

It began a little after 6am that morning.  I was working night shift at the hospital as a Critical Care Nurse while my wife was home with our five children.  We had heard all week that Alabama was to expect severe weather that Wednesday...and, yes, we do hear that alot here in Alabama.  That early morning, a strong cell was moving into our area.  I had called my wife about 6am to let her know that our school system was on a three hour delay that morning due to weather.  The idea was that her and the kids could sleep in for a little while longer.  We were watching radar at the hospital and I phoned back a few minutes later to let her know that a strong cell was about 10-15 minutes away from our city.

A few minutes later I received a very frantic and disturbing call from my wife.  She was crying and hysterical, letting me know that something had happened at home.  A tornado had touched down in our neighborhood.

The day did not get any better.  Multiple tornadoes continued to strike Alabama throughout the day Wednesday.  As it stands today, 238 people have died and damage estimates are upwards of $5.5 billion.  Hundreds of homes are destroyed.  Five people we knew died.  Areas that I have known since my childhood were destroyed.  It is hard to travel to any part of Northern Alabama and not see damaged areas.  It is tragic, breath taking and amazing all in one.

We were the lucky ones.  Everyone was unhurt.  That morning, I drove home through alot of damage.  The closest I could get to my home was 3 miles.  I walked the rest of the way through trees, power lines and such. The next few days were very different.  No power and sometimes no water.  Cell phone service was limited at times.  We ate lunch in a food line one day.

Today we have power, phone and internet.  Our home is very livable.  We have about $20,000 worth of damage and have spent alot of time cleaning up and helping others.

Yes, I am a man of faith and confidence...but I have to confess.  I feel like the wind has been knocked out of me.  I don't think it's self pity, but it could be.  It's all just a little overwhelming.  The other day, I watched a few of the hundreds of tornado videos that were shot that day...that was amazing and very difficult both at the same time.  There remain questions about how this is going to affect alot of things.

The fact is this.  Sometimes no matter how well you play and how hard you go at it, the the wind can sometimes just get knocked out of you.  It is by no means a game ending injury...it just sure is uncomfortable for a few minutes.  The treatment....pause for a moment, make sure you are okay otherwise, then get right back in the game.

See life is not about whether or not you get hit (because you will), it is about recovering from those hits.  That's what makes you victorious..not getting hit, but getting over them.