Pouring Concrete

Planting a church, it’s very easy to let my mind wander to all the fun wizz-bangery of churchdom.  Images and thoughts can flood my mind for hours about what our meetings will look like, what kind of sound system will work, what will band sound like, how should we design the bulletins, what about signage… etc.  After all, don’t we all love to talk about that cool Christian word “Ethos,” and “environment.”  Isn’t it exciting to dream about what the experience of church is going to be like!?

Hmm.  I wonder if in my own heart I don’t have meeting-idolatry.  The dream of a future meeting is a shoddy, poor foundation upon which to build anything, especially a new church.

My dad is a contractor/land developer.  If all he thought about in the building process was where the pictures in the new house would go, and what kind of fridge to buy for it, he’d be a pretty poor builder.  Similarly, if we church planters spend most our time dreaming of how cool we’re going to look with our new face mic, lit by our new lights, cheered for by our new people, and rocking to our new band, then we are bad church planters.

Paul said, By the grace of God given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder… But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Christ Jesus. (1 Cor 3:10-11)

The day to think of wizz-bangery will come. But today is a day to lay foundations. Today is a day to pour concrete. This part is dirty, gritty, and slow. No band to rock to.  No lights.  No face mic.  Just Jesus, and the people whose hearts he wants to change.

Yes, today is a day to pour concrete.

Memorial Stones

In the book of Joshua, memorial stones were set up to commemorate a moment when God did something amazing. Then, by seeing the stones, the people of Israel were to remember what God had done.

Today, I SET DOWN SOME STONES.

In the last 36 hours I’ve walked over 14 miles, seen over a dozen properties, scoured the internet for hours, and made hundreds of phone calls. In all my work, God was working, and now WE HAVE A HOME IN BOSTON! In one of the most expensive and property-difficult cities in the USA, God gave us a bigger home than we expected in a better area than we expected for less money than we expected… reminds me of a bible verse about God blowing away our expectations.

My hope and prayer is that in this home God will work in and through us, our church plant team, volunteers, friends, and family to birth a great church in this great city. God has given us an amazing place, and we are so thankful.

To my awesome team: thank you for praying. Walking by this memorial stone, may your faith be strengthened.

Church is on Mission

It has been said that church shouldn’t be a country club for saints but a hospital for sinners.  I think that is a false, unhelpful dichotomy.

Church shouldn’t be a country club, catering to the wishes of it’s members.  Neither should it be a hospital, simply concerned with healing hurting people. Church should be more like a triage unit on the field of battle. That is, the point of a triage unit is to get soldiers patched up and back out on mission.

Mission should mark every church that truly believes the gospel.  Why?  Because God is on a mission.

I can hear some objections.  ”But Adam, shouldn’t church be about helping hurting people?  Sometimes people need to take a break to be healed and helped.” And I would say, “Yes, yes, yes.”  Absolutely.  Church should be about helping hurting people, but helping them do what?  Feel better? Have a healthy self-image? Health for health’s sake isn’t health at all, it’s idolatry. Similarly, church for church’s sake isn’t church, it’s something else… something indeed worse.

If church is a mission-focused entity, then the logical next question is, “What is our mission.”  After all, soldiers don’t usually go out to fight without orders. Builders don’t start building without a reason. The mission of the church?  That’s a great topic for our next post.

Hear my Message at Campus Harvest

This past weekend, I had the high honor of getting to speak at Campus Harvest, a gathering of over 2000 college students in Durham, NC.  I was asked to speak on the mission of God.

I hope you enjoy my brief sermon, Missionary God.

Missionary God

(If you’d like to download it, just right-click the link and select “save”.)

Fighting in Faith for this Church Plant

I always knew that church planting was hard.

Leading up to our go-date in Boston, I have found myself in a new level of fight. Perhaps it’s because I’m the lead guy on this one. Perhaps it’s due to the hostile nature of our environment. Perhaps it’s the devil. Perhaps it’s what I ate for lunch…

In any case, I’m in a fight. I’m in a fight for God’s dream for Boston. I’m in a fight for people who don’t know Jesus. I’m in a fight for wandering, aimless Christians. I’m in a fight for the advance of God’s kingdom on the earth, even as it is in Heaven. I’m in a fight for the defense of the Gospel, once for all delivered to the saints.

So, just as Paul told Timothy, so the Scriptures tell me, Fight the good fight of faith. I will pray. I will fast. I will prepare. I will raise money. I will move. I will encourage myself in the words of Jesus, who went through a much tougher fight.

I will fight the good fight of faith for the future of that great city.

Who’s with me?

Strategic New England, and How we’re Missing It

This map startled me…

See all the dots in the TOP RIGHT CORNER?  Those are Top-100 colleges and universities, and we’re barely on 10% of them.

New England is so strategic, and we’re missing the opportunity.

The good news is that we won’t be for long.  Who’s in?  Who wants to help plant some gospel-centered, Christ-exalting churches on or near these influential campuses?

I know I’m in.

See God

There is a lot I don’t see right now…

…I don’t see the money I need to plant Aletheia Church Boston

…I don’t see a full team of people and staff

…I don’t yet see hundreds coming to Christ

…I don’t see the sound system, meeting space, small groups, or welcome signs

But…

I do see God. I see His promises, His character, and His love for Boston, which is greater than mine or anyone else.  I see God, even though I don’t see anything else. I don’t see what I think I need.  But I do see Him who gives to all beyond what we can ask or think.  Do you see him?

See God, not your issues.  In the absence of immediate provision, see him who will meet your needs and give him honor for future grace.

Grace and Law

I LOVE THE GOSPEL, and yet I’m amazed at the areas of my life that it has yet to truly touch.

For instance… parenting.

Hope and I try to teach our children to obey THE VERY FIRST TIME.  We feel that, from Scripture, it is important that we teach them to obey us, as their parents because in it there is blessing, and we want them to develop a spirit of trust in their parents, that it might spill over to their walk with God. However, being smaller versions of us full-sized sinners, they don’t obey all the time.

So what do we do?

For the longest time, we have used the law of “obey your parents” to show them their sin, that they might repent and do better next time.  Nothing wrong with that, except that we stopped there. I stopped there. I was, for the longest time, teaching them to obey, and when they didn’t they would receive correction. But God in his mercy reminded me that THE LAW WAS GIVEN THAT GRACE MIGHT INCREASE. I missed the opportunity to show them that Christ was given BECAUSE they can’t obey all the time. Let me illustrate what I mean…

Me: Nora, why did I discipline you?

Nora: Because I disobeyed (in a cute, Nora voice)

Me: Yes, you did. What does the Bible say?

Nora: Childwen, obey you-uh parwents.

Me: That’s right, please obey next time.

Did you catch it.  It was okay, but missed a great gospel opportunity.  Let’s try again…

Me: Nora, why did I discipline you?

Nora: Because I disobeyed (in a cute, Nora voice)

Me: Yes, you did. What does the Bible say?

Nora: Childwen, obey you-uh parwents.

Me: Right.  You know, sometimes I disobey too, but you know what?

Nora: What?

Me: Jesus obeyed for me, even when I don’t.  He obeyed for you too, even when you don’t.  Isn’t Jesus great?

Nora: Yeah.

Me: Yeah, he is.  Now, please obey Mommy and Daddy.

IN MY PARENTING AND IN MY LIFE, I WANT THEM TO KNOW GRACE WHEN THEY BREAK THE LAW, because they simply will, and so will I, and so will you.  That’s why we need Jesus.

Six Amazing Years

Today Hope and I celebrate 6 years of marriage!

I am so thankful to God for my wife, and to celebrate the 6 years of God’s goodness to me in and through my wife, I’ve written a poem of sixes… six words, six lines, six paragraphs…

To you my wife I write
My heart, my flesh, my light
Of six years since the night
That my eyes drank in sight
Of you, veiled preciously in white
The one who’d become my wife.

Now six years it has been
Since love’s covenant would forever mend
Our two hearts and lives in
Unity which only Divinity could bend
Two lives together, not women, men
But as husband and his wife.

That One who bound us brought
Us from our home and taught
Us patience as we have fought
Ourselves, cultures, enemies, sin, and sought
To refine us as gold, not
Harm this husband and his wife.

His grace has giv’n us three
Most beautiful children, ones that we
Don’t deserve, but my, to see
You be their mother, and me
So humbled to think this free
Gift is mine, my amazing wife.

And looking forward I see still
Christ’s grace of more years filled
Up with love and life until
All life’s work is then fulfilled
And my love for you still
Burning bright, my worship-inspiring wife.

I can scarcely believe that now
Six years have passed, and how
Much has happened, Christ’s grace allows
all this!? That I should somehow
Have you, Hope, always and now
My beautiful, Godly, humble, incomparable wife.

Tim Keller on Sex, Money, and what Really Matters…

Recently, Tim Keller (Redeemer Presbyterian Church of NYC) did an interview/panel discussion on his most recent book.  If you’d like to give it a listen, you can find it here.