my little surfer girl

I haven't surfed for a long, long time . . . I haven't been able to justify the time investment/return . . . .until recently. My daughter caught the bug, got a great starter board from Costco and we've been getting in the water a bit. So fun to see her stoke. So great to get in the water again, next to her.

Last evening was awesome. Warm air, warm water, rising south swell, sun set, moon rise, family on the beach, Zeke skim boarding, Mexican food take out. Took me back to earlier days in San Clemente at Sano. . . .

Sage is getting up regularly and we are working on getting past the dragging knee.

Surely, more good times to come. . . . .

Tim Keller: On the Power of Art

The Church needs artists because without art we cannot reach the world. The simple fact is that the imagination 'gets you,' even when your reason is completely against the idea of God. "Imagination communicates," as Arthur Danto says, "indefinable but inescapable truth." Those who read a book or listen to music expose themselves to that inescapable truth. There is a sort of schizophrenia that occurs if you are listening to Bach and you hear the glory of God and yet your mind says there is no God and there is no meaning. You are committed to believing nothing means anything and yet the music comes in and takes you over with your imagination. When you listen to great music, you can't believe life is meaningless. Your heart knows what your mind is denying. We need Christian artists because we are never going to reach the world without great Christian art to go with great Christian talk.

--Tim Keller

the internet never forgets

This morning, in our men's study, we had a terrific conversation about technology and its slow encroachment on our lives. We fail to recognize how technology is affecting the shape of who we are and how we live. But it's happening to most of us. We are unknowingly conformed to the world in this area. It's alluring. It sucks us in with its obvious benefits, but we fail to see the hidden costs. Just because we can, doesn't mean we should.

I was definitely surprised in a recent staff meeting to discover I was the only one in the room who didn't have a Facebook account. Wow!

I believe that technology is both a tool to be used and a force to be resisted. We must examine our use of technology and intentionally look for ways to turn it off and tune it out and limit its influence on our lives. We must learn to ask. . .

• Is this a good use of my time?"
  
  
• Is this "redeeming the time, because days are evil"? (Ephesians 5:16)
  
  
• Is this dwelling on "whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, whatever is excellent and worthy of praise" ? (Philippians 4:8)
  
  
• What else could I be doing right now?
  
  
• Is this an investment in something that's going to outlast me?
  
  
• Is this an investment in eternity (God, God's Word and God's people)?
  

And there are other concerns and things we've got to be thinking about. . . . this article made me want to pull my cord out of the wall for sure. Give it a read and tell me it didn't freak you out a bit. . . .

The Internet Never Forgets

Manhattan Declaration Revisited

If you're a comment reader, you've discovered in the post below that a few have expressed shock and disappointment over my signing the Manhattan Declaration. Apparently, there's even some watchdog org that's jumped into the fray.

Here are a few of my thoughts by way of response:

1. I wasn't aware that there was any controversy surrounding the Manhattan Declaration (though I shouldn't be surprised!). I read the Declaration and it resonated with my own convictions, so I signed it.

2. When I was questioned about my signing, I realized I better look into this thing a bit more. I dug in to read both sides of the issue. I read some of those who expressed concerns and therefore, could not, in good conscience, sign themselves. I also read the positions of those who, in good conscience, signed.

3. The big debate surrounds the Gospel and whether its reasonable and acceptable to unite with others who may have a different understanding of the Gospel. . . i.e. Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox. Does the Manhattan Declaration compromise the Gospel or imply agreement about the Gospel among the signers?

4. I understand those issues. I myself am passionate about a clear, Biblical Gospel. . . . salvation and right relationship with God by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. I respect those who feel like the Manhattan Declaration in uniting Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox around the sanctify of life, marriage and religious freedom, compromises that clear, Biblical Gospel.

5. I respect that position, but don't personally agree with it. I don't see the Manhattan Declaration as a definition of the Gospel, but as merely referring to it in a total of 3 places. The Gospel is referred to as a "gospel of costly grace". Though that is hardly a complete definition of the gospel, I believe it is a true and accurate definition. Though others might understand the Gospel differently than I, I can still work with them and unite with them in laboring for these 3 biblical values.

6. I compare this to our partnership with others for Serve Day. On that day every year, we not only work with other churches, who may or not share our definition of the gospel, but also with other helping organizations across our community to provide care and help to needy people throughout the Central Coast. We need not agree on the gospel or other doctrinal matters to work together to meet the needs of our community. I don't think this requires or implies gospel compromise on our part.

7. Some have posited a larger, hidden ecumenical agenda behind the Manhattan Declaration. I don't buy it. I don't see it that way.

8. My own thoughts on this matter lie closely along the lines of Ligon Duncan below. . .

The Manhattan Declaration: A Statement from Ligon Duncan

Article by Ligon Duncan December 2009

The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals has received a number of requests for comment upon the Manhattan Declaration, a recent public statement on the sanctity of life, marriage and sexuality, and religious liberty, signed by a number of leaders from the evangelical, Anglican, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions.

The Alliance has not historically weighed in on social ethical issues, not because they are unimportant, nor because it is inappropriate for Christians to do so, but because of the mission of the Alliance which is "to call the twenty-first century church to reformation, according to Scripture, so that it recovers clarity and conviction about the great evangelical truths of the gospel and thus proclaims these truths powerfully in our contemporary context." Specifically, we are an alliance of confessional Protestants (and heirs of the historic Reformed Confessions) who work together to "promote the reform of the church according to Scripture, and to call the church to be faithful to the Scriptures, by embracing and practicing the teaching of Scripture concerning doctrine, life and worship."

However, a number of Alliance Council members were invited to participate in the meeting that resulted in the production of the Manhattan Declaration, and/or to sign the final document. These Council members did so as individuals, not as representatives of the Alliance.

While neither the Board nor the Council of the Alliance has taken a position on the document, some Alliance Council members subsequently decided to sign the document, while others decided not to sign. Some Council members have also offered public statements explaining why or why they did not sign the document.

Those who did not sign the document believe that it is a lamentable example of the confused sort of ecumenical theology, on display in the ECT (Evangelicals and Catholics Together) statements, and that it implicitly commits its signers to acknowledge a commonality between evangelicals, Roman Catholics and Orthodox on the gospel, who is a true Christian and what is a true church. They rightly point out that the Alliance has always been and remains unanimously critical of the presuppositions and products of ECT.

Those who did sign the document believe that it is a statement of solidarity, not of ecumenism, and that it represents the kind of principled co-belligerency advocated by, for instance, Francis Schaeffer and James Boice. These signers believe that document actually helps clarify their concerns with the whole ECT project, because the Manhattan Declaration only asks evangelicals, Catholics and Orthodox to agree on matters on which we actually agree (marriage and sexuality, the sanctity of life, and religious liberty), rather than purporting an agreement in vital matters on which we do not agree (the Gospel, what is a Christian, what is a true Church).

It should be made clear that those Council members who did not sign the document agree with what the document says about the social issues it addresses. Their concern is that the document implies an agreement between evangelicals and Catholics on the Gospel where there is in fact not an agreement. Conversely, those Council members who signed the document fully understand the agreement on the documents' statement on social issues that they share with those who didn't sign, and also fully appreciate the non-signers' concerns for Gospel clarity and fidelity. However, the Council members who signed do not believe that the document commits them to an agreement with Roman Catholics or Eastern Orthodox on the nature of the Gospel, the Church or who is a true Christian.

The issue boils down to a matter of judgment, not a disagreement in principle, between those Council members who signed and didn't sign. The non-signers believe that the content of the document and the associations of the primary authors imply an ECT-like confusion about the Gospel. The signers believe that the explicit assertions and emphasis of the documents relate only to areas of principled social-ethical agreement between evangelicals and non-evangelicals. Further, they believe that it is important for individuals from the major quadrants of the historic Christian tradition to speak on these pressing matters in solidarity.

The Council members have had good, robust discussions on these things among ourselves about this whole matter. We continue to love and respect one another, and we all want to continue to serve and work with one another. The bonds of our fellowship are unbroken. Our commitment to the mission of the Alliance is unchanged. Our unity in the Gospel, and in the great solas of the Reformation is stronger than ever.

Ligon Duncan is president of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals.

I signed . . .

The Manhattan Declaration . . . .a statement affirming life, traditional marriage, religious freedom.

I was moved, challenged, encouraged and informed as I read it. Its well written, compelling and deals thoughtfully and Biblically with issues that we've recently considered together.

(If you've been reading along for any length of time or know me at all, your aware that I have strange, but deep, convictions about the church and politics and the necessity of keeping our nationalism and our Gospel calling separate. . . . so aren't you curious to know why I'm so passionate about the Manhattan Declaration?)

So earmark 1/2 hour in your busy life and take the time to read it slowly and carefully. Read it with your spouse and your children. Join me in signing it, if you feel led.

I've included the Preamble below to prime your pump . . . it alone fired me up and reminded me of our rich Christian history and Biblical calling . . .

PREAMBLE
Christians are heirs of a 2,000-year tradition of proclaiming God's word, seeking justice in our societies, resisting tyranny, and reaching out with compassion to the poor, oppressed and suffering.

While fully acknowledging the imperfections and shortcomings of Christian institutions and communities in all ages, we claim the heritage of those Christians who defended innocent life by rescuing discarded babies from trash heaps in Roman cities and publicly denouncing the Empire's sanctioning of infanticide. We remember with reverence those believers who sacrificed their lives by remaining in Roman cities to tend the sick and dying during the plagues, and who died bravely in the coliseums rather than deny their Lord.

After the barbarian tribes overran Europe, Christian monasteries preserved not only the Bible but also the literature and art of Western culture. It was Christians who combated the evil of slavery: Papal edicts in the 16th and 17th centuries decried the practice of slavery and first excommunicated anyone involved in the slave trade; evangelical Christians in England, led by John Wesley and William Wilberforce, put an end to the slave trade in that country. Christians under Wilberforce's leadership also formed hundreds of societies for helping the poor, the imprisoned, and child laborers chained to machines.

In Europe, Christians challenged the divine claims of kings and successfully fought to establish the rule of law and balance of governmental powers, which made modern democracy possible. And in America, Christian women stood at the vanguard of the suffrage movement. The great civil rights crusades of the 1950s and 60s were led by Christians claiming the Scriptures and asserting the glory of the image of God in every human being regardless of race, religion, age or class.

This same devotion to human dignity has led Christians in the last decade to work to end the dehumanizing scourge of human trafficking and sexual slavery, bring compassionate care to AIDS sufferers in Africa, and assist in a myriad of other human rights causes – from providing clean water in developing nations to providing homes for tens of thousands of children orphaned by war, disease and gender discrimination.

Like those who have gone before us in the faith, Christians today are called to proclaim the Gospel of costly grace, to protect the intrinsic dignity of the human person and to stand for the common good. In being true to its own calling, the call to discipleship, the church through service to others can make a profound contribution to the public good.

donuts

I missed Krispy Kremes today. The fam headed to San Diego to see the cousins. They stopped on the way.

I'm going to miss them all terribly. The house is sure quiet.

40

It's not my age. I'm way beyond that. I'm 42.

No, 40 is the number of Growth Groups we are hoping for, praying for and working toward this Fall.

I had lunch with a friend today at Nois, out in Baywood. Can you believe I've never had Thai food? WOW! So, so good. I'm definitely going back, but I digress . . . .

This friend, without my prompting,out of the blue says, "That Growth Group thing is the best thing you you guys have done. Its not about the message (I didn't take it personally!), but about connecting with others midweek who share your values and are trying to live by faith in Jesus like you are."

Bingo. I really don't think I could have said it any better myself. That fired me up! So he's involved in this rockin' diverse Growth Group in Los Osos and their living life together. He's building relationships. He's processing the Gospel beyond Sunday morning. He's feeling connected and dialed in.

Are you? Don't you want to be? This is what Growth Groups are all about. Not a cold, dead, plastic rehash of the sermon, but people doing life together, trying to figure out what it means to follow Jesus in the real world.

So we don't know what God is going to do, but we're praying for, trusting Him for 40. We think the Lord would be pleased with 40, even 50 Growth Groups at GraceSLO this Fall.

We need at least 40. We had some Growth Groups that were almost 20 people. Too big. We need to break that size down to the 6-12 range.

Childcare is a challenge for many. It was a challenge for us. Last Spring several Family-Style Growth Groups began to emerge. For these Groups, kids were not a hassle to be shipped off, but a joy to be embraced. Definitely makes the group a little crazier, but it makes it so much more fun (funner!) as well. The kids in our Growth Groups loved gathering together and they were catching the idea of families doing life together.

In others words, some Growth Groups look like this. . .

16 Adults, 18 kids, 1 babysitter (not pictured, 1 adult, 1 child)

But other Growth Groups look like this . . . .

(not sure if the sermon did this to them or what?)

So, seriously, sit down with yourself or your spouse or your family and start planning now to make involvement in a Growth Group a "big rock priority" in your life this Fall.

We need more Growth Group shepherds. If you're interested in shepherding a Growth Group, get in touch with Tim Arlen at tima@graceslo.org. Are you striving to walk with the Lord? Do you want to connect with others and help others connect with Jesus? Then you're qualified to be a Growth Group Shepherd. We'll give you what you need and provide support and training along the way.

For more information about Growth Groups and why their such a HUGE priority at GraceSLO, listen to these couple of messages I preached awhile back. . .

The Priority of Growth Groups

Why Our Growth Group Model?

What I want and envision in a Growth Group

Pray for our Chech Team

5 from GraceSLO will be traveling to the Czech Republic on July 26. . . . from the left. . . Donna, Sarah, Annie, Eli and Jim. They will be partnering with a church in Litvinov and the missions organization Josiah Venture to put on an English Camp for 8 days. Here's how they describe their trip . . .

The needs are great in Czech. Still feeling the aftermath of the fall of communism, there is a tremendous need to build up churches and reach the Czech youth. Our team from Grace has a great opportunity to come alongside the local ministry of Josiah Venture (www.josiahventure.com) to help build local youth ministries and develop youth leaders to reach their country. One of the effective strategies has been to have the churches and Josiah Venture Missionaries invite students from the community and schools to English camps. At the camp they experience a youth camp environment along with 3 hours of English class. Through building relationships with the Czech students, discussion groups, evening talks, sports times, hiking, and a lot of fun, many of the students are exposed to genuine, Biblical Christianity for the first time. But the outreach doesn’t stop when camp is over. After the students return to their hometown, they are invited to the church youth group events and continue the relationships built at camp with students from the church youth group. It makes for great follow-up.

The Chech Team has set up a blog so you can follow their trip at http://czech-ers.blogspot.com/

Let's purpose to pray for them together from July 26 until their return on August 12.

Summer Reading Recommendation: Quo Vadis

What are you reading this summer? I've got a great suggestion. Read Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz.

Written more than 100 years ago and now considered a classic, Sienkiewicz won the Nobel Prize for Literature for the work.

Quo Vadis is set in Nero's Rome and tells the story of Vinicius and his conversion to Christ through the Christ-like love of Lygia. Its a great story.

First century Christianity came alive for me in reading Quo Vadis. I was so challenged by the contrast between the indulgent, sin-soaked Roman culture and the emerging, selfless, radically sacrificial, willing-to-suffer Christian community. The Christian worldview is utterly other-worldly and compelling in comparison to the empty, pleasure-focused Roman culture.

Our culture is definitely heading in the direction of Roman culture. And what about today's Christianity? Are we living otherworldly, counter-cultural lives, sacrificial lives in midst of a wicked, worldly culture. . . . or have we become conformed to it?

How can we, as those who believe the radical world changing Gospel challenge the lies of contemporary culture? How are we called to live in opposition to the cultural trends? How are we called to serve our neighbors and community in radical sacrificial ways today?

These are the questions I'm still asking after having finished Quo Vadis a couple weeks back.

Its 600 pages, but definitely worth the read! Let me know if you pick it up.

Grace Summer Beach Night

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Who are these guys?

Perhaps you've noticed some of these few new faces on the platform at GraceSLO this summer and perhaps you happened to be away on the Sundays when they were introduced. What's going on? Who are these guys?

Glad you asked.

When Pastor Steve announced his resignation to pursue other callings last spring, our Ministry Staff and Elders began to seek the Lord and discuss together how we might fill the many areas of ministry Steve oversaw and lead. As we explored options and ideas, we were surprised and delighted to see the Lord lead us in an unexpected direction.

We decided together to split the Adult Ministries Pastor position into three new part time positions to address what we perceived as current needs of our ministry. Given the continuing economic uncertainty, we established these positions as one year positions, renewable on an annual basis depending on funding and the current needs of the ministry. This gives us great financial and ministry flexibility as we move ahead.

What was even more unexpected was to see how the Lord quickly provided qualified and gifted men to fill these positions. Here are those new positions and the men (pictured above) who fill them:

Adult Ministries Director: Tim Arlen (left in pic)

With a great heart and passion for ministry, Tim A. has been a key and right hand volunteer with Pastor Steve throughout the areas of Adult Ministry for nearly the last 5 years. He has also been the lead on our Adopt-A-People team.

Beyond Grace, Tim works as an in home/in hospital teacher for laid up students unable to make to the classroom. He also serves as a missionary/teacher/trainer with BEE World international which is focused on Biblical and theological education for pastors around the world. Tim goes on 2-3 mission trips with BEE each year. Tim and his wife Tammy have 6 children.

Tim will be focusing his energy and time in the area of Growth Groups as we continue to develop this priority "big rock" ministry, but will also be helping in the areas of Adult Bible Fellowships/Sunday Morning Seminars and Missions as we move toward the adoption of an unreached people. We're excited about Tim's next step with us.


College Ministry Director: Tim Fox (middle in pic)

We've had our eye on Tim for the last year, hoping to bring him on as a College Ministry Assistant next to Pastor Steve, but felt constrained because of some financial uncertainties. When Pastor Steve resigned, we immediately looked to Tim.

After graduating from Cal Poly, Tim spent a year oversees serving with Campus Crusade and then a year as intern staff at Cal Poly. Tim currently attends Western Seminary and previously has worshiped, with his wife Marijke, just across town at CalvarySLO.

Steve has made a commitment to help Tim transition in and take the reins of our vital College Ministry. We're excited to see how the Lord is going to use and develop Tim here at GraceSLO as he moves toward full-time pastoral ministry.


Worship Ministries Assistant: Scott Head (right in pic)

As our culture continues to change and our congregation continues to broaden across the generational spectrum, we face the continual challenge of worshiping together. At GraceSLO, we're committed to worshiping together, rather then splitting and segmenting our services, because we're committed to living the Gospel together . . . considering and serving the interests and preferences of others before our own. Its not the easy way in our consumeristic "have it your way" culture, but we continue to think its the right way for us.

We want to do what we do well, with excellence, unto the Lord. We believe Scott is uniquely gifted to help us do what we do better on the contemporary front, making sure we continue to connect with and involve younger generations.

Scott and his wife Carly have attended Grace for the last 5 years as Cal Poly students and, last year, after getting married, experienced the joy and connection of a Growth Group. Scott has a background in classical music, but for the last 5 years has been a member of the Pat Little Band and also lead worship at the Campus Crusade weekly meeting. Scott works almost full time in SLO at a local computer services company called iFixIt. We think Scott and Pastor Al make a great team as we continue to move forward and grow our Worship Ministries.

So will you welcome and encourage these guys, as you have opportunity to interact with them? Its definitely a new look for our staff, but we're excited about the possibilities. Its been a great process for our leadership. We give thanks to the Lord for His faithful provision in this season of change.

Faith Laughs

After preaching on the laughter of Sarah a couple weeks back, I stumbled upon a couple of quotes related to humor as an essential quality of leaders in Oswald Sander's Spiritual Leadership.

(I'm reading and discussing Spiritual Leadership with a group of Grace men on Thursday mornings. We're having a great time and we'd love to have you join us . . . if you're a man, that is . . .)

From Helmut Thielecke . . .

Should we not see the lines of laughter about the eyes are just as much marks of faith as are the lines of care and seriousness? Is it only earnestness that is baptized? Is laughter pagan? . . . A church is in a bad way when it banishes laughter from the sanctuary and leaves it to the cabaret, the nightclub and the toastmasters.

From A.E. Norrish, a missionary to India . . .

I have never met leadership without a sense of humor; this ability to stand outside oneself and one's circumstances, to see things in perspective and laugh. It is a great safety valve! You will never lead others far without the joy of the Lord and its concomitant, a sense of humor.

Let's laugh some more.

Community Feedback

The last few years we've been able to make a gift to the SLO County Food Bank's Hunger Awareness Day. We see this as a way to live the Gospel and be a Gospel presence in our community. This year we gave almost $2300 to the project. Here are a couple of thank you notes I received in return. These are not notes to me, but to the family of Grace for your generous giving to our community. . . be encouraged and blessed today . . .

Dear Pastor Tim,

A little thank you note seems wholly inadequate to thank you & your congregation for the amazing generosity that supported Hunger Awareness Day, but it's the best I've got! Thank you so much, not just for your contributions and your on-going care & concern for so many community issues, but also for the easy "yes" you extend to us. Your ready hearts & willing generosity are powerful guides to all of us- and I know that starts at the top, Pastor.
Thank you for every bit of it

Maggie Cox
Barnet Cox & Associates


Dear Pastor Tim and all our Friends at Grace Church,

Thank you so much for your support of Hunger Awareness Day! An official receipt will follow, but I want to say what an inspiration you are to us and a great encouragement to those whom we serve with healthy food. While we fell short of our goal, we raised $70,000! Your partnership is a blessing to us

Carl
Executive Director
Food Bank Coalition of SLO County

not finished with me yet

Our family has been enjoying the music of Brandon Heath these days. I was listening this weekend and stumbled on to "Wait and See", which fit so well with our Mother's Day message yesterday from the life of Sarah. . .





I'm so glad God's not finished with me yet, aren't you? (not me, you!)

Luther on Vocation

I preached on the calling of our work last Sunday (LISTEN HERE!) as we announced that Pastor Steve has resigned from his position as Pastor of Adult Ministries to work with his wife in their business.

This doctrine of vocation (latin "vocare" = calling) is one more biblical doctrine helpfully recovered by Martin Luther, who rediscovered the transforming truth of 1 Corinthians 7:17-24.

Martin, in an age of priestcraft, truly believed that the calling of the shoemaker was equivalent to the calling of a pastor. He believed all our work was assigned to us by God and therefore could glorify God as we do it with Him and for Him. He saw work as one of our primary means of fulfilling that second commandment to love our neighbors. He believed that our work was a means by which God hid Himself and through which God Himself worked in the world.

Here's a a couple quotes. . . .

All our work in the field, in the garden, in the city, in the home, in struggle, in government-to what does it all amount before God except child's play, by means of which God is pleased to give his gifts in the field, at home, and everywhere? These are the masks of our Lord God, behind which he wants to be hidden and to do all things.

A cobbler, a smith, a farmer, each has the work and office of his trade, and yet they are all alike consecrated priests and bishops, and every one by means of his own work or office must benefit and serve every other, that in this way many kinds of work may be done for the bodily and spiritual welfare of the community, even as all the members of the body serve one another

Parable Grand Opening

Our friends over at the new San Luis Obispo Parable store are doing something neat for their grand opening, May 1st through May 8th. . . . they are offering a gift for our church. Here's how it works...

Take a Sunday Worship folder to The Parable Grand Opening Celebration and they will donate a $5 gift card to our church for every $20 you spend. The Parable's new location is 3973 South Higuera St. near Los Osos Valley Rd. in SLO between Trader Joe's and Starbucks.

They have been serving the SLO area since 1981 and they have a heart for serving our local community with life-changing products. If you have a chance, stop in and see the new store soon. It looks great.

Growth Group Reflections

I'm 4 weeks into leading our first Growth Group and here are a few reflections so far. . .

• It's challenging. I'm a pastor. What I do is talk to people and work with people. But I'm surprised how much leading a Growth Group has stretched me. It gives me great empathy for our 30 other Growth Group leaders, their commitment and vulnerability in leading. We do lots of spiritual things with each other and next to each other, but to turn toward each other and process spiritual things and our faith together . . . that's really a stretch for most of us. It's challenging for everyone to get there. It's challenging to manage the time--it goes so fast. It's challenging to host and lead.
  

• It's a commitment. Just setting aside the time each week is a commitment. One more thing in our already busy lives. Hosting is a commitment. It's impossible not to clean-up a little bit. Having 25+ people in your home each week necessitates some clean up afterward. I've been making soup each week. Others have been bringing side-dishes each week. This, too, is a commitment. We have to plan for this. We have to plan around this.
  
• 
  
• It's intimate. It's vulnerable for anyone and everyone to open up your life, struggles, faith and doubts to other people. To ask for prayer and be prayed for. This involves ongoing risk taking.
  
  
• It takes time. Our group is connecting much more naturally in week 4 than we did in week 1. There is definitely a life-cycle to these groups. Week 1 was frustrating and felt forced. But already by week 4, I feel like we know what's happening in one another's lives and are jumping right in with one another.
  
  
• It requires God working. If our group or any group is going to go, God must show up. God must work in our regular gathering. He's got to enable us to take risks and open up to one another. He's got to help us keep the commitment. He's got to lead and guide and illumine the word. He's got to help and give wisdom and discernment and spiritual freshness to Growth Group leaders. Because of the aforementioned factors, He's got to make it happen. I realize I can't make this group go or these people grow apart from Him. I have prayed hard for our group. I've prayed harder and more consistently than ever for our 30 Growth Groups and their leaders.
  
  
• It's a rhythm. It's so easy to think of our lives as shaped by events and purchases. I think rhythms and practices shape us. Rhythms and practices are more subtle and go deeper and take longer. I see our weekly Growth Group as a life-shaping practice. It's not about any one week, but about connecting and practicing gathering with God's people.
  
  
• It's so worth it. Though it's a lot of work and challenging, I look forward to our group each week. It's been so sweet sharing a meal together weekly and having kids present with us. It feels like these families are, in a small way, living life together. I expect this feeling will only grow. I'm more convinced than ever, that this is what life is about and this is how God intends for us to live. Our Growth Group is a lab where we're working in and working out and applying the Gospel.

Leading a Growth Group is one of a couple of things that has kept me away from blogging recently. That's a good thing. Less electronic and more real life.

I'd love to hear some thoughts from others of you who are in Growth Groups here at Grace this Spring. Share your experience. Share some encouragement or even a challenge. . . .

Adopt-A-People Update

As we've shared, we are slowly, but steadily moving toward focusing our missions outreach toward the adoption of an unreached people group (UPG).

An unreached people group is a people group united by a common language and culture where there is not yet a self-sustaining multiplying church.

Following our fun map project, where we gathered lots of congregational input, we sense the Lord is focusing our selection process toward Indonesia or India. In other areas, there are a plethora of unreached peoples.


Our terrific Adopt-A-People Team recently shared the following guidelines/preferences they are using to help focus our search for the appropriate UPG for Grace:

• We want hands on involvement with the people we adopt.
• We desire a long-term missionary placement (though not necessarily from Grace).
• We want to be able to send short-term teams.
• We prefer a UPG where we already have connections.
• We favor partnerships with other churches, agencies, etc.
• Prefer a people easily accessible by air travel
• The larger the people group, the better.
• Sensitive to the security of the country we will work in - prefer a "safe" environment.
• Sensitive to the religious culture of the people - prefer those peoples least likely to find the "Christian God".

I think these are excellent guidelines.

Our APG Team Leader, Tim Arlen, is right now in India with a team from Atascadero Bible Church exploring partnering opportunities with Empart. I very much wanted to go on this trip, as well, but I just couldn't pull it off.

The need is enormous in India and Tim has been sending back some incredible and heart-wrenching reports, like this one. . .

Dear Partners in the Gospel,

Believe it or not, this is the first chance I've had to e-mail. We've had long days from early morning to late at night. I do not have a laptop with me, so I must depend on the internet room at our hotel. Not very accessible or convenient. Additionally, they have asked me to preach/teach a few times, which has consumed any free time I might otherwise have had. (I did not come prepared for that, but..."be instant in season and out of season"!) All that to say I'm sorry it has taken me this long to get a message out, but I see that Tammy has forwarded you some of Tom Ferrell's e-mails. He has given you a pretty good picture of the time we have spent here thus far.

It is now early Sunday evening and we leave for Agra soon to bring some encouragement to a snake charmer caste. I'm not sure exactly what we will be doing with them, but I'm told it will be some form of a caste reconciliation program. We are getting ready to travel overnight on the train which they say is a must experience! Can't wait to fill you all in!

In the next few days I hope to spend some one-on-one time with Jossy Chacko, the head of the Empart movement. I have many questions for him in light of what I've experienced here and thinking about our potential partnership with him. Please pray that we will be able to communicate clearly and honestly with each other so that I can have accurate and complete information to evaluate prayerfully with all of you. This trip has been a different sort of experience for me as I've tried to process everything as a representative of Grace Church rather than only as Tim Arlen. Please continue to pray for me that I may be able to have the wisdom of God in understanding the "heart" of this ministry and in forming some preliminary conclusions about having a long-term relationship with them.

I hope to have the opportunity to e-mail again, but I cannot guarantee anything. My time is not my own. I will definitely look forward to giving a complete report of my observations and experiences here after I return home. In the meantime I so appreciate your prayers. I have given your greetings to all the brothers and sisters here every chance I've had. And they are greatly encouraged by the fact that a church on the central coast of California is praying for them and considering a partnership with them in the advance of the gospel throughout North India. Let us pray that God will continue to empower these believers to reach their goal of 100,00 churches by 2020!

Your Servant in Christ,

Tim Arlen

Let's pray that the Gospel will run in India and that the Lord will direct our steps! Let's uphold Tim and his team in prayer.

Monday post-Easter

I'm tuckered out from a day of preaching and family fun yesterday. Easter Services were full and rich. It was a blessing to plumb the depths of Hebrews 7:25, sort of an irregular Easter text.(listen here!)

This evening is our first Growth Group. I can tell the whole family is excited. It was fun to hear our 13 and 11 year old girls strategically planning for how to keep the little ones occupied. Chili is in the pot. Cornbread will go in at 5:00. Everyone should be here by 6:00.

I'm in a unique position as not just the facilitator of the discussion, but also the creator of the content. I'm not sure how this will go, but I really don't want to be the pastor. We'll see how it goes. . . . I'll let you know.

Since is Easter vacation for many, Growth Groups are sort of "soft starting" this week. If you missed all the sign-ups, but want to get into a group this quarter, email Pastor Steve.

Good for Piper

John Piper is taking a leave of absence from preaching, pastoring and virtually all public commitments for the rest of 2010 to focus his energy and attention on his wife and family.

Here's the blog post.

I think this is a great, bold move. I can't imagine the pressure Piper lives under and the toll it takes on his family. With all his commitments and callings, I'm sure he's missed much of his family life. There is only so much of each us to go around.

I love his vulnerability and modeling here.

The pressures of pulpit ministry are unique. Not worse than any one elses' pressures, but unique. You create this amazing ministry or you let it be created around you. The Lord is pleased to bless your ministry. But then its really, really hard to be fully engaged and present on the home front.

Nothing, but the Lord, is more important than our marriages and families. Piper recognizes this and is about to demonstrate it to his wife, Noel. I'm challenged by that.

Challenges me today to evaluate my priorities.

Lets pray for the Pipers.

reflections, 03.25.10

• It was encouraging to see so many new folks at our Spring Welcome Lunch last Sunday. Linking the Welcome Lunch to our Getting to Know Grace class has been a good move that creates a clear path into our church. GraceSLO is a dynamic place. We lose some to graduation, relocation, and dissatisfaction, but we also keep gaining some. I'm encouraged by the many of who are finding Grace and making it their home.

• We're excited about our Spring Growth Group. With 12 adults and 15 kids, its going to be interesting. We'll see how it goes. Potluck, family style. Looking forward to gathering regularly to explore and apply God's Word, pray and care for one another. Hope you're still prayerfully evaluating the rocks (priorities) of your life and considering how to wedge the big rock of Growth Groups in. It was definitely a long, challenging process for our family. I expect it will be for other families as well. Still time to sign up for the Spring.

• Thursday Men's Study (need a name, any suggestions?) wrapped up Piper's "The Pleasures of God" this morning. Its been a humbling and thought-provoking study. Next week we'll start "Why We Love the Church." Its a great time to jump in, if you're looking to connect and grow. 6:00 to 7:00 AM, in and out. Its about the rhythm of being together and keeping the Lord and His word in the center of our lives. Email me, if you want to jump in.
  

• Can't believe Easter is here already. Invite someone or lots of people to attend our services at 8, 9:30 and 11:00. Note the change-up in the service times. Easter is one Sunday when people are more open to attending church. Let's take full advantage of that.
  

• Serve Day 2010 is happening May 15. This year Pastor Steve is spearheading a multi-church, county wide effort. Its going to a great. We all want to serve and make a difference in the community. Here's an identifiable way. Let's serve the Lord and others in word and deed.

• Our search for a new Student Ministries pastor is still happening behind the scenes. Things are progressing slowly. Be in prayer for this important process.

• Our family is bracing ourselves for the reality of three kids in three sports this Spring. Not sure how we're going to pull it off, but we're going to try. Haaken is doing Kid's Love Soccer, Sage will play Futsal (indoor soccer) and Zeke is playing Rookie Baseball. I'm guessing we're not the only ones. Its a challenge to balance 4 while doing what we can to provide stimulating whole life growth opportunities. I'll let you know how it goes.

• We have a small 3 bedroom house (1200 square feet) on our property that we are looking to rent to a nice couple or small family. They will living in close proximity to our madness, but it's a great place in a beautiful rural setting in East Arroyo Grande. Our prayer is that the Lord will provide someone we know or someone who knows someone we know. Should be available by May 1 or before. Email me if you are interested or you know anyone.

fences & moats

As we continue to see a continual stream of marriages on the brink of blow up or melt down, its reminded me again of the importance of marital fences and moats. Given how committed Susie and I are to these practices, I'm surprised how few couples have them. Here's what I tell couples about my and Susie's own commitment to one another. . .

• We are committed to avoiding solo one-on-one meetings with others of the opposite sex. This means no outside lunches. This means my assistant or any of our female staff and I are not alone in the office building together. This means counseling happens on campus behind a door with a glass panel in it. This means I don't even take female babysitters home. This is real inconvenient at times.
  
  
• We are committed to total and open transparency in our schedules. We work off a shared calendar. We give one another the right to ask about our various appointments. This keeps us connected throughout the day. We know where one another is at and what we're doing.
  
  
• We are committed to total and open transparency in all things electronic. Facebook and other social networking sites offer way too much opportunity for the development of inappropriate relationships. Susie and I have ongoing access to all of the other's email accounts, passwords and web histories. We believe that our trust depends on that type of transparency, not on the fostering and fighting for privacy.
  
  
• We are committed to letting one another determine the boundaries of our virtual and real lives. This means we give one another the freedom to veto practices, behaviors, time/schedule commitments.
  
  
• We are committed to sitting down at least weekly to talk about our lives, our commitments, our schedules and our children. When necessary we schedule the time. The more consistent we can be, the more fruitful and effective. Our lives our so busy that we need to do this in order to survive and thrive.
  

I think marriage in today's world requires this kind of vigilance and transparency. We believe this is what "oneness" is all about. There is so much undermining marriage in today's world. The enemy wants to destroy marriages. We need to fight for our marriages. These measures and more are part of the fight.

And beneath all these things, the key to a vibrant, intimate, committed marriage is a lifestyle of brokenness toward one another and before the Lord. The ability to humbly come to one another and admit that we've blown it, confess our sins and shortcomings and ask for forgiveness and commit to growth.

Do you have fences and moats around your marriage? If not, build some, dig some.

Are you broken before your spouse and the Lord in your marriage? If not, humble yourself and ask the Lord to take you there.

Wise Words from Packer

Stumbled across these thought-provoking gems from J.I. Packer . . .

To pastors. . .

You have three priorities: teach, teach, teach. Evangelical churches are weaker than we realize because we don't teach the confessions and doctrine. Set new standards in teaching. Understand the word catechesis and practice that art.

To web devotees. . .

I'm amazed at the amount of time people spend on the internet. I'm not against technology, but all tools should be used to their best advantage. We should be spending our time on things that have staying power, instead of on the latest thought of the latest blogger--and then moving on quickly to the next blogger. That makes us more superficial, not more thoughtful.

I need to laugh more

On this Monday after Sunday, I'm sitting here reading Why We Love the Church by Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck and I'm literally laughing out loud. . . . all by myself. Kluck, the non-pastor lay guy, especially, cracks me up with his brutal honesty and touch of sarcasm. . .

Just had to share. . . . .

In his book, "Wide Open Spaces, author Jim Palmer explains that he has left the church in favor of a Wednesday night meeting with a friend at Starbucks. He talks of spiritual discussions on a boat with a best friend. He says of these meetings, "If one of us starts into those religious modes of thinking, or drones on in God-talk that has little correlation to our daily reality, we quickly rein things back in.

And later, "There's no person or set of persons you can point to as the ones in charge of or responsible for what happens. All of us believe that we have an equal 'calling' to know God and make him known amid ordinary life and people. Everyone is a leader and a follower, everyone is a teacher and student."

Palmer's construct of "neo-church" certainly sounds exciting, what with regular trips to Starbucks, Panera, and excursions out on his friend's boat. But being involved in these sorts of organic house churches--or for that matter even real church--for any period of time, will reveal that not everyone is a "leader" or "teacher."

Never am I more of a fan of the traditional pastor/flock relationship at our church than when the church has what they call an "unstructured service." The unstructured service is a holdover from the church's freewheeling 1970s days and involves, as you might expect, an open mic where congregants share a story, pray, or suggest a song. On paper this seems like a great idea. What kind of coldhearted meanie wouldn't be a fan of people sharing encouragement of prayer requests from their heart?

During unstructured services I usually sit and stare at my bulletin, which I've folded into a tiny pile about the size of a square inch. This is nervous energy. Nervous because of the reality that many people weren't gifted with the ability to stand in front of a group and say something that is God-centered, relevant, and brief. Out of the three, I would take brief. Maybe you've been to services like this. You often hear the sweet older lady who talks for no less than seventeen minutes about her kidney ailment. There is the well-meaning, attractive guy who shares about how all the girls in our church's college group want to get physical with him, and how difficult this is. And, if you're lucky, you might get a bad poem, because, lets' face it, almost all poems are bad. I'm left with the idea that if this is what revolutionary house church would look like on a week-to-week basis, then I'm definitely out.

To be fair, there are always good things that come out of the unstructured service, but I'm usually left feeling really thankful for our pastor and his forty-five minute expositional sermons. Though its much sexier to appear to have come up with something off the top of one's head, I'm glad he spends twenty hours each week reading, praying, and preparing linear sermons.

As a guy who prepares his own 45 minute linear sermons and feels his own nervous energy during unstructured services, this definitely struck my funny bone.

Read the book. Easy read. In the church library.

on the end of the American empire

Paul Farrell writes for marketwatch.com, a Wall Street Journal financial website. It just so happens that he lives in Arroyo Grande. His articles are always a contrarian, alarmist and terribly thought provoking. His latest is titled "Collapse of the American Empire: Swift, Silent and Certain." The title says it all, but I encourage to read his argument, nonetheless.

I read it and freaked a bit, like I usually do when I read Mr. Farrell. But then I thought about history and God's Word.

Mr. Farrell and those he references are right. . . .the American empire will fall and collapse. All empires before this one have. We are naive if we think that the United States is immune or exempt and so many of the preceding factors are already in place. The question is not "if", but "when".

In the Bible we see the rise and fall of the Israeli, the Babylonian, the Assyrian, the Greek and then the Roman Empires. Our empire is relatively young, when compared to some of these others.

If the collapse is certain and soon, where does that leave us? What should this reality do to us?

Panic is one option.

Paralysis is another.

Pessimism is another.

But I don't think any of these are real and viable options for believers, those who trust in Jesus Christ. This reality ought to drive us back to the Word and back to the Lord.

The Bible tells us . . .

1. Earthly kingdoms and empires rise and fall, but God's kingdom rules over all and endures forever.

For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, And His kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to His will in the host of heaven And among the inhabitants of earth; And no one can ward off His hand Or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’ (Daniel 4:34-45)

2. God has a plan and purpose that transcends the rise and fall of kingdoms and uses the rise and fall of kingdoms.

Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; [I am] God, and there is no one like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, ‘My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’; Calling a bird of prey from the east, The man of My purpose from a far country. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned [it, surely] I will do it. (Isaiah 46:9-11)

3. Our true citizenship is in heaven. We are sojourners here.

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself. Therefore, my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, my beloved. (Philippians 3:20-4:1)

4. We have a sure, living, eternal hope.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (I Peter 1:3-5)

Since all these things are true, what shall we do?

1. Don't despair, but hope and rejoice in the Lord.

Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:13)

2. Don't abandon our community, but serve it all the more, as salt and light, in Jesus' name.

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 5:13-16)

Your thoughts in response to Mr. Farrell or in response to my response?