Departing To Plant Again

Shaun, Marci, Macayla, Clayton, Mason, August

About a year and a half ago Marci and I began to feel a tug. It wasn’t strong. It wasn’t clear, but it was there. As we felt this tug on our hearts we approached the leadership of BCC about it and asked them to engage in a season of discerning with us. We did not want to fabricate our own future (tried that before) or make any decisions that were not of the Lord. We wanted others to look into our lives with us and be prayerful and honest about what they saw. Others outside of BCC were sought after as well. We knew we could not keep these thoughts and feelings to ourselves because we might just convince ourselves of anything- that’s what happens when we isolate our thoughts and desires from the rest of Christ’s body. Instead, we wanted to hear God’s voice in some way. Throughout this long discernment process the Lord provided various confirmations that I will not go into here. Suffice it to say that the tug on our hearts ended with this message and confirmation: Move back to NH and share the Gospel there.

Outside the North Brunswick Municipal Building there is a memorial of Fred J. Hermann who was Mayor of North Brunswick, NJ for 20 years. Underneath Fred Hermann’s profile are the words, “These are my people”. Fred J. Hermann remained as Mayor of North Brunswick for 20 years in part because the people wanted him to remain as Mayor that long, but also because there was something in Fred Hermann’s heart which said, “These are my people, I must serve them”. Marci and I have loved the people of NJ for the past 9 years. I mean that completely. We have sought to give our lives for them. We have developed friendships with the church here that are as strong as an family ties can be. However, if we are honest we do not feel of NJ the same way we feel about NH. We do not feel like the people of NJ are “our people”- the people we are called to. Instead the Lord has placed on our hearts an affinity for the people of NH.

Marci and I make this decision to move to NH in January 2014 for this simple reason: We feel like the people of NH are our people and we want to be faithful to what we believe the Lord is calling us to. Annoying NJ traffic has nothing to do with it. Cost of living has nothing to do with it. Desire for change has nothing to do with it. Difficulty of ministry in NJ has nothing to do with it. Church dynamics has nothing to do with it. At the very root and base of this decision is the strong belief that the Lord has called us to be a part of planting new churches of Christ in NH much like we have been a part of in NJ. That’s all.

So what’s next for BCC then? Well again, we did not make this decision alone. The leadership of BCC has contributed to this conversation from the start- not telling us what to do but contributing. BCC is going to press on! Part of the reason Marci and I felt like now was the right time to transition was because we felt like BCC is better prepared now to handle our transition than they have been before. With the addition of Moses and Elizabeth to the leadership team we believe BCC is strong. BCC is caring for each other well. She is unified. She is focused. Though she may not be large in number she is, as I have always said, the best congregation I have ever been a part of.

So for those of you who are uneasy about the transition let me encourage you by reminding you that you are in the hands of able men of God. They love you. They have proven their love for you and they are deserving of your following- you know who these men are. But more than that; we believe God is orchestrating all of this. This is not our own making. 2 years ago Carl and Alicia Williamson left BCC to start the Gateway Church of Christ. Equal feelings of uneasiness were felt upon their departure. But 2 years later we look back and conclude that had Carl and Alicia not departed when they did, the Gateway Church of Christ would not have existed and the amazing work of God that is happening on the Jersey Shore right now would not be happening. We believe God placed Carl and Alicia and the Gateway church in Holmdel, NJ at just the right time. They could have planted a church in any other NJ city at any later time, but they didn't. Why? Because ultimately that’s where the Lord wanted them to be for such a time as this.

Through the uneasiness of this transition we press forward with the conviction that God is orchestrating it all. As a member of BCC, therefore, you are part of what God is orchestrating. You are now a part of a church who has participated in the formation of not just one new church of Christ, but 3. Praise the Lord.

Marci and I will depart NJ on January 15^th, 2014 but we are fully present in NJ until that time. We have much work to do as a church this Fall: A Fall Festival, Thanksgiving Food Delivery, Spiritual Cookouts all over town, Leaf Raking for our Elderly, Christmas Caroling at the train station, the daily work of redeeming the Marketplace for the Lord. We have numerous things happening which will put us in contact with God’s lost people whom He loves. Let’s work! Let’s press on! As Paul the Apostle said, “Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart” (Gal.6:9). Let us not let the Devil deceive us; this is God’s work. He is leading the train.

In great love for you all,

Shaun & Marci

 

Spiritual Cookouts: A Congregational Practice

I touched on this idea in an earlier post but I want to attack it again here. What would happen in our city if every family, every other night, from 7-8pm, turned off all other sources of entertainment (the TV, computer and phones), opened the Word of God together and let it speak into their homes? What would happen in one year’s time? Let’s take this concept outside of our homes and ask what would happen in our city if every time you walked into a Dunkin Donuts, or a Panera Bread, or a Starbucks you saw groups of 2-6 people sitting at a table sharing the Word of God together? Someone might begin to ask, “What is going on here? Everywhere I go I see people sharing the Word of God together?” At our congregation we are calling these gatherings of 2 or more people, Christians with non-Christians, “Spiritual Cookouts”.

When tempted in the wilderness in Matthew 4 Jesus told the Devil, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” For the Christian opening the Word of God with others is like having a cookout. It’s a feast. It is food for the soul. It is bread. It is something we should look forward to eating and sharing each day. But truth be told, in the past 2 generations we have replaced the true entertainment of the soul with bottomless boredom.

How many people go to work on Monday morning saying, “Boy I sure am glad I watched 3 hours of television last night- my soul feels full today?” I doubt that anybody feels truly full inside when they watch TV or browse the internet. For most people watching 3 hours of television or surfing the web for just as long makes us feel bad. We say to ourselves, “I just wasted 3 hours of my life and what did I really gain for it?” It does not matter what show is being watched or what new toy is being sought after on Craigslist, modern forms of entertainment are bottomless pits in comparison with the feasting that is possible when 2 or more people get together to listen to God’s Word.

It is my conviction today that unless we restore true entertainment to the soul through regular spiritual cookouts- through a regular sharing of God’s Word with others- we will not see cultural change. History has proven that the human heart follows its source of entertainment. The human heart follows its desires, and God help us if all we can find to desire in this life are the things which satisfy our flesh.

At our congregation we have been challenging each other to have regular spiritual cookouts with others. I have asked the congregation to identify non-Christian people in their lives with whom they have a cordial relationship and to invite them to join them in feasting on the Word of God. I am meeting with 2 groups of people right now for that very purpose. I am not the teacher in these cookouts. Teaching opportunities always arise but teaching is not the goal; listening is. My role is simply to invite people to the cookout and provide the food and fellowship. So on our October 9^th cookout we will we will chew on Genesis 2:4-18 and on the October 16^th cookout we will chew a few more verses. We have in the Word of God the food that truly fills. The only question is how do we get others to chew on it with us? One way we are doing it is through hosting spiritual cookouts in safe places for everyone; kitchen table, Dunkin Donuts, Panera Bread, etc.

The pre-requisite for having spiritual cookouts of course is our own personal pure enjoyment of the Word of God. If we enjoy feasting on God’s Word it will be easy and natural for us to invite others to feast with us. But if we do not enjoy feasting on God’s Word, or never do it, we cannot expect others to join us either. Just imagine if you went up to someone and asked, “Hey I am having a cookout at my house this weekend with all kinds of food I don’t like. You wanna come?” Not real persuasive is it? Let me recommend that you do not invite anyone to a spiritual cookout if you do not love cooking-out yourself.

Folks, the Word of God is sweet. It is reviving to the soul. It is true entertainment. David said, “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Ps.119: 103). He said, “My soul is consumed with longing for your laws at all times” (Ps.119:20). For David, God’s Law was his food. It was sweeter than honey. It was water from a well that never runs dry. It was true entertainment to the soul. So should it be for us.

When are you having your spiritual cookout this week and who are you inviting?