Okay, we have moved back to the USA in preparation for our new mission assignment, and normal life patterns are emerging. It has been a crazy, harrowing, happy, sad, up, and down 3 weeks, so let me be brief but to the point.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR PRAYERS AND SUPPORT THROUGH THIS TRANSITION. Hope and I have been blown away at the kindness of God extended to us through his people, our friends, our partners, and even strangers as we prepare to plant a new church in Boston.
Secondly, PRAY FOR GOD TO MOVE IN BOSTON. Already we are feeling the wind at our backs as we walk into our next mission assignment. Please pray for God to do something amazing in Boston.
Werre back. Praise God. Now its time to get to work…
Almost 6 years ago, God spoke to Hope and I and told us to stop what we were doing, and to move to Scotland to help plant a church. So, we did. I cannot believe that the time has come for us to leave this place. But again, God has told us to go, and we are.
I thank God for this place, and our time here. I thank God for the pain. I thank God for the joy. I thank God for the costly nature of it. I thank God for the way it has changed me. I thank God for the people. I thank God for, well, all of it.
I know that we have obeyed him. We have borne fruit. We have won lost souls to Jesus. We have been faithful, and I know that Scotland is better because of the people we’re leaving behind. I know, too, that I’m better because of Scotland, and her people.
Now, six years on, we are saying goodbye to the place that we once only dreamed of. We’re looking back on memories that we once only imagined we’d have. We thankful for experiences that we never thought we’d get. We stand at the end of this moment, and, turning back to gaze upon it one final time, we smile.
One of my favorite Lewis quotes, brought to mind from re-reading Desiring God…
If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.
I am filled with excitement, fear, faith, sadness, happiness, and host of other emotions. ONE THING I AM NOT, HOWEVER, IS CONCERNED. I do not lie awake at night wondering, “will they do okay without me?” Certainly not. In fact, I’m convinced that if I were, I would be both an IDOLATER and a BAD LEADER.
I would be an idolater because I would be implying that this church were somehow built by me. Rubbish. This church, and every other church, is built by Jesus Christ who said I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not overcome it. I am not Jesus. I don’t build churches. To believe that I do would make me an idolater and a fool.
I would be a bad leader because I would have illustrated exactly what I didn’t do: make disciples. I’m going to steal a riff from Steve Murrell here, WE MAKE DISCIPLES, JESUS BUILDS THE CHURCH. If I were concerned about this church, I’d simply be showing off how for 5 years I didn’t make a good disciple.
But… by God’s grace, I have made a few disciples, and Jesus continues to be the builder of his church. I’ve preached the gospel, and I’ve done my best to lay foundations in people. So, this is my assurance; I HAVE BEEN FAITHFUL to try and make disciples, and I BELIEVE JESUS WILL BE FAITHFUL TO BUILD HIS CHURCH in Edinburgh, in Boston, and all over the world.
Some of you know that I proudly wear the label REFORMED CHARISMATIC.
I was having a discussion with a pastor the other day about this very topic, and something occurred to me. To be Reformed is, among other things, to believe that God is monergistic in the way he saves people. We don’t help God save us, He simply does it, on his own, by his power. Therefore, the person and work of the Holy Spirit is CRUCIAL for people to be saved and changed. To be Charismatic is, among other things, to believe in the “charis”-”mata” or, “grace gifts.” We Charismatics believe that the Holy Spirit is alive and well and gives gifts of grace to the church, even some that seem weird to us. These “grace gifts” are CRUCIAL for us to have the power to tell people the gospel.
So, as you can see, these two camps are worlds apart. I mean one believes the Holy Spirit is very important, while the other believe He’s very… um… Well, wait a minute…
Sad HOW DIVIDED WE BECOME OVER NOTHING. To be sure there are MASSIVE cultural differences between the Reformed world and the Charismatic world. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a see-through podiums in a Reformed church, and I guarantee that no one in the Charismatic church is wasting their time arguing over infra vs. supra lapsarianism.
But, you show me a man who understands God’s sovereignty and deeply feels his dependence on the Holy Spirit for ministry, and I’ll show you a world-changer.
If we can get the BEAUTIFUL TENSION of pursuing the KNOWLEDGE OF GOD and the PRESENCE OF GOD then I believe we’ll start bringing real GLORY TO GOD.
CAN YOU HELP US BRIDGE THIS LAST 25% GAP to take us to our next mission field? We have been blown away by the level of support and selfless generosity of you all. We know that God will get us past this last little hurdle.
I promise my blog isn’t turning into a shameless fund-raising portal. But, I did want to say THANK YOU SO MUCH for all of your generous faith and prayers. Here’s where we are with A WEEK LEFT TO GO…
As you may know, Hope and I are being forced to leave the UK early. The great thing about that is that we’re being moved on to plant Aletheia Church Boston sooner than we thought. The tough part is that we didn’t have nearly enough time needed to save the $20k it costs to move a family of five from one continent to another.
Here’s the GOOD NEWS: we’ve already raised over half of that amount! The BAD NEWS is WE STILL NEED $8,000 to pay for our moving expenses. We need this in the NEXT 14 DAYS so that we can pay our moving company. That’s where you come in…
For Aletheia Church Boston to start, the simple fact is we have to be there. Would you consider giving whatever you can to HELP US MOVE BACK TO THE USA SO THAT A GREAT CHURCH CAN BE PLANTED IN BOSTON?
So, THAT’S $8,000 IN 14 DAYS. God is big, and I know that He can do it!
Thanks for your help and support!
(Note: You can give via electronic check or credit card. Please feel free to email me with questions.)
