Marc's Musings

I just received the May update from the En-Gedi Resource Center:

In just a few days, both Christians and Jews will be remembering the ancient festival of Shavuot (Pentecost). At sunset on May 28, Jews will begin their celebration of Shavuot, remembering the giving of the Torah to seal God’s covenant on Mt. Sinai. On Sunday, May 31, Christians will celebrate the giving of the Spirit at the Temple to seal the new covenant of Christ’s atonement for sin. Jews will have all-night parties to study the Torah together to rejoice that God has given them his Word. As Christians, why not celebrate in a similar way? How can Pentecost be a special time to study the words of Christ?

I love learning about the Jewish tradition about the giving of the Torah on Sinai happening on Pentecost. Dwight Pryor has some incredibly accessible teaching on this. I find it very exciting that the God who wanted to write the Torah on our hearts choose this very festival to pour out His Spirit!

The Torah on tablets to the Torah on our hearts reminds me of a Joyce Meyer teaching I heard years ago, for believers the 10 commandments become 10 promises. Instead of a threatening “thou shalt not” command, they become grace filled assurances. “Relax, you won’t have any God besides me.” “Rest assured, you won’t covet any more.”

So studying this weekend seems particularly appropriate. After all, as my college advisor Dr. Marvin Wilson taught us: study is the highest form of worship.

Here are some suggestions for your studies:

• Consider reading Exodus 19, God’s giving the Torah on Sinai.
• Or reading the traditional Pentecost story from the Christian scriptures, Acts 2. Consider how Acts 2:2 could well parallel Exodus 19:16 -19.
• Perhaps reflecting on the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7 is more your speed.
• Finally, you could read the Book of Ruth. As it says on the Wikipedia article on Shavout:
  

  “The Book of Ruth corresponds to the holiday of Shavuot both in its descriptions of the barley and wheat harvest seasons and Ruth’s desire to become a member of the Jewish people, who are defined by their acceptance of the Torah. Moreover, the lineage described at the end of the Book lists King David as Ruth’s great-grandson. According to tradition, David was born and died on Shavuot (Sha’arei Teshuvah to Orach Hayyim, 494).”

As I learned from Dwight Pryor, in the faith of Jesus, redemption isn’t enough. Freedom from slavery is necessary and wonderful, but becoming a people is the goal. Having a new identity, belonging to the One who created us, becoming a member of God’s people, that is the story of Pentecost.

Happy Pentecost!

This is an insightful video that hits a bit too close to home for anyone that’s planted a church. And I’m sure for many others too!

Grab a cup of joe, hit the play button, and enjoy.

And remember: J.O.Y. is Java, Others, and You.

In the past couple weeks, I’ve realized that I haven’t let everyone know “where I’m at” with the Vineyard Church of Waterville. So I’m long overdue with an update! In the words of the great Inigo Montoya: “Let me ‘splain…No, there is too much. Let me sum up.”

(Although this journey is very much a shared partnership with my wife, I’m going to only speak for my experience, not ours. It’s safer that way. Emily and I are very much in agreement with where we are but I’m incredibly poor at speaking for her! She does a much better job speaking for herself! Our kids have been a very active part of this processing too. But again, I’ll speak for myself!)

Back in May, I closed the church plant I’d been pastoring in Waterville, Maine. I thought we were shutting down version 1.0 in order to take a break and then launch VCW 2.0 by Easter 2009. Our board and sending pastor were really gracious. They wanted me to rest over the summer. My only homework was to ponder questions like: What would my perfect life look like? and Where in the last 6 months had I felt truly alive? Great coaching questions like that. (Emily was asked those too.)

It’s humbling being part of a church planting movement that really values people over programs. Usually, I’d hear organizations say they valued people but they wanted to be sure the lights stayed on in the building. But the Vineyard East folks were willing to have the lights go out rather than have a pastoral couple burnout.

Well, resting was hard. I am used to working 2-3 jobs. Plus, there was the institutional life of the church that kept on going: board meetings, processing donations, etc. (Yep, people still tithed even though we weren’t meeting!) And, even though I knew closing the church wasn’t a bad thing, I did go through times of mourning, tears, and second-guessing. Still do even now. One of my games to help me through hardest part of this season was creating an “OH, that’s why the church closed” list of things I did. Like brewing my own beer. Or going to a movie. Or taking the kids to a pub for dinner. Or enjoying quoting The Life of Brian.

As I prayed about the next steps, and worked on the questions, it became pretty apparent that I didn’t want to be the lead pastor in a VCW 2.0.

I enjoyed the regular group of people that called VCW their home. We’d been through a lot in the last 3-4 years! I loved the teaching and people told me my teaching helped them in their relationship to Jesus. I really got good at organizing servant evangelism outreaches. Over the years, I’ve consistently exhibited a gifting in helping a small group of people produce an extraordinary amount of results. (In about 3 1/2 years, our little group of 25-30 touched over 5,000 individuals in our communities with practical ways of showing God’s love!)

But effectively starting a church really requires a gift-mix that includes an ability to draw a crowd. Close in four years of church planting, and more than 20 years of being a Christian, this is a gift I’ve never exhibited.

So, in September, I resigned as pastor of the Vineyard Church of Waterville. It is incredibly gratifying to know that the Lewiston Vineyard (our sending church) still wants a Vineyard up here and that the Waterville folks still want a Vineyard up here! It’s good to know the church will restart, even though I won’t be part of it.

I really miss the privilege of being an active part in people’s spiritual growth. And it’s sad to know that I won’t be part of that. Having the former pastor in a congregation only works in very special circumstances. People keep looking to the former pastor for cues about how the new one is doing. Most often, it confuses people and undermines the new pastor’s authority and leadership.

Please join me in praying that VCW gets a pastor or pastoral couple with a different gift mix than I had. The folks that live up here really deserve the best!

As for me, I’m trusting God to lead me as my family and I move forward. I still think church planting is in my future at some point. But taking a rest is nice. I’ve actually had more time to enjoy my family and just “be” with them than ever before.

Finding a church was odd. We went to the Lewiston Vineyard and the Portland Vineyard for the summer and fall. But that wasn’t sustainable: we weren’t able to plug into small groups or develop relationships with people in either location. So we’ve recently started attending a United Methodist church 5 minutes from our house. What a treat! They even did a Vineyard song on our first Sunday.

And I’m really grateful for a terrific job and that people continue to buy my fundraising book and invite me to give fundraising seminars.

Waterville, Maine is a neat place to live. If you’re ever in the area, let me know. I’d love share a taste of my latest brew!

Today has been a l-o-n-g day. Really long.

But my best friend (my wife) encouraged me to grab a beer and go out on the patio to read. So with a Smithwick’s and a copy of C.S. Lewis’ Prince Caspian, I came across this quote:

“Lucy went first, biting her lip and trying not to say all the things she thought of saying to Susan. But she forgot them when she fixed her eyes on Aslan.”

And I was undone.

I needed to be reminded of that.

Even though I’m 36, I was really born 22 years ago yesterday.

It’s hard to word that. I wanted to say, “I became a Christian” or “I started my journey with Jesus.”

Words fall short.

I’d been reading the Bible and doing “Christian” things for years before August 17, 1986. In the early ’80s, my parents had led me in the “sinner’s prayer.” And at some other point, I’d responded to a call from a former Red Sox baseball player when he led a group in the “sinner’s prayer.”

But it took root on August 17, 1986 at a place called Camp Fairhaven.

I was full of Bible knowledge and strong opinions. But hearing a speaker tell of the intense, grueling experience of crucifixion, something in me broke. All I’d done up to that point was built on my own effort. My work. My learning.

But the cross was the boldest statement that all I had done wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough.

I remember sitting in that meeting and thinking, Jesus could’ve blurted out “I didn’t mean it!” or “Hey guys, I was just kidding!” at any point during the humiliation and incredible pain of the process.

But he didn’t.

So maybe he really meant all that he said. That he was the way, the truth, the light (ie. John 8). Maybe no one does come to the Father but by him (ie. John 6:44).

And I remember so clearing wondering if all the other teens in the room would think I were a freak for being moved by this. It just didn’t make sense. God became man? I’d be forgiven without having to earn it? God would be so restrictive as to have only one way? Come on. That’s just not right.

But, in the end, I realized I didn’t want to risk it. I decided to throw my lot in with Jesus. If it weren’t true, then I’d be no worse off at death. If it were true, then I’d have eternal life. So I timidly raised my hand and was led out back to pray.

Now, 22 years later, I know a couple things about that day. One, it was the best decision I’ve ever made in my life. Two, that I don’t even get credit for making that decision; God had been pursuing me and my family even before I was born.

I still don’t have all the answers. And stuff Jesus said still makes me uncomfortable. I also know that this life with Jesus is more than a one-time “(born again” experience and more about becoming life-long students or “disciples.”

But with the freedom and growth I’ve experienced in the last couple decades, I’m more convinced than ever that this journey with Jesus is the way we were all created to live.

So Happy Birthday to me. And Soli Deo Gloria–to God alone be the glory!

A woman at work got a “tract” in a copy of “Diabetes for Dummies” she bought last night. Four of them in fact. She was happy to give one to me. (Fortunately she was trying to be nice, thinking I’d like it.)

It was ghastly. It looked like a $100 bill. On it was written “This is counterfeit but Jesus is the real thing” and “Jesus loves you.”

I tried to explaining it to my son today. I wanted to be generous in my explanation but I think he understood what I thought of it as I was told him about “people being afraid of actually living like Jesus in front of people so they hide behind pieces of paper that try to trick people into thinking about Jesus.”

I guess I didn’t hide my feelings on this one.

His comment said it all, “Dad, lying isn’t a good way to share Jesus…”

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

And I fervently hope this foolishness ceases. I have a hard time thinking of Jesus saying, “They shall know you’re my disciples by your…tricks.”

I was inspired by Mark Batterson’s In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day: How to Survive and Thrive When Opportunity Roars, so I’m thrilled to be getting an advance copy of his next book, Wild Goose Chase: Reclaim the Adventure of Pursuing God.

I just love that he names the book with the wonderfully quirky name the Celtic Christians gave the Holy Spirit. Apparently he uses this to write about seeing our lives as an adventure. How cool would it be to really see our lives as an adventure? That stirs something deep down inside of me.

I’m fairly certain, Mark will give legs…or…errr…”wings” to this concept. I can’t wait to read his book!

In the meantime, I’m going to check out Marks’ 10 Steps to Setting Life Goals. That’s no surprise, is it?

I just love that the Vineyard Church of Lewiston starts every worship service by praying for a another local church. Thanking God for them and their faithfulness. Praying He’d bless them and prosper them.

It’s a great reminder that the Body of Christ is so much bigger than our little tribe.

It’s been my habit for the past few years to ask God to bless the church I’m driving by. That His Kingdom would pour out through them. That they’d come to know Him more and more.

But today, praying for a local church, I realized that it stopped there. I haven’t been exactly blessing in my conversations. It’s as though my prayers were really more along the lines of “bless them to be as cool as I think my tribe is.”

I’m not proud of that.

It’s especially humbling to realize that these other churches are still around; whereas my congregation has closed.

As of today, I want my “bless them” prayers to be more along the lines of “bless them to be what You want them to be.”

Great article in today’s MorningSentinel about keeping down gas prices by shopping locally. In the article, one person is quoted:

“The whole point of this is to make people stop and think,” Edgerton said. “One Sunday evening, I needed one item that was $4. I live in Bowdoin, and if I drove down to Topsham it would have, for me, been equivalent to a tank of gas. Or I could go to our little local general store and pay $1 more for the item, and my gas would cost about 75 cents.”

Exactly!

When we did our “gas pay down.” the gas station owner said people were driving huge SUV’s from other communities to get the gas thinking they were getting a bargain. 25 cents off was a big deal, but not if you get 10-12 mpg and drive 20-30 miles one way to get it!

The kicker? When they found out the gas was gone, they drove away without filling up. Cost of entire 40 mile round trip at 10 mpg on that day? About $15.20.

It’ll be a huge change for us in Maine to start thinking less regionally and more locally. But it will be great for our communities!

One final quote from the article:

Chain stores return very little of what their stores take in back to the communities where they operate, she said. A recent study in Maine by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance found that only 14 cents of a dollar spent at a so-called “big box” store remains in the state’s economy.

In contrast, the study found that independent retailers spend more than half their revenue locally. They bank at local banks, hire local accountants, advertise in local media and require many other local services that chains do not.

I firmly believe God talks. And that dreams are one of the ways He talks. But apparently I can’t understand the language yet.

I few weeks ago, I woke from a dream specifically remembering “47:20″…I think it was a time in the dream. But when I woke, I knew it must refer to Scripture.

Do you know how inconvenient it is to find what books have 47 chapters and then of those which ones have 20 or more verses? Oy.

So today, I decided to BibleGateway.com it. Very easy!

Here are the results for the only 2 47:20′s in the Bible:

Genesis: So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. The Egyptians, one and all, sold their fields, because the famine was too severe for them. The land became Pharaoh’s,

Ezekiel: “On the west side, the Mediterranean Sea will be the boundary to a point opposite Lebo Hamath. This will be the western boundary.

Clear as mud, huh?

Wish I’d checked this earlier. I might have remembered the context of the dream!

(The one from Genesis is, for me, one of the saddest passages in the Bible. The next verse says that Joseph made all of Egypt slaves to Pharoah. How ironic that a few centuries later, the descendants of Joseph become the slaves, isn’t it?)