Evotional.com

Happy Anniversary Ebenezers

2010-03-15T07:08:00.001-04:00

Can't believe Ebenezers opened four years ago! Seems like two years. Still celebrating the miracle! A little backstory. We opened on March 15 which was National Coffee Day and we didn't even know it. I felt like it was God's way of saying: you have no idea what you're doing but I'm going to bless you anyway!

5th Location

2010-03-14T10:45:00.002-04:00

After months of praying and searching, we have finally found a 5th location. Drum roll please. We're going to launch at the Gala Theatre right in the heart of Columbia Heights. We've really wanted to have a presence in this part of DC and we found tremendous favor with the Gala. Really excited about doing a Sunday Night service. Gives NCCers one more option!

Throughout this whole process we stood on Revelation 3:8-9. We believed that God would open doors and close doors. That is exactly what happened. The closed doors caused some uncertainty, but we never lost our patience or our confidence. And I've been doing this long enough to know that God loves to open doors at the very last second.

Long story short, we will launch at the Gala Theatre on Easter Sunday @ 10:30 AM. Then we'll move to Sunday Nights @ 7 PM on April 11.

In the Latter Days

2010-03-13T16:14:00.000-05:00

I keep reflecting on this little statement in Jeremiah 30:24: "In the latter days you will understand this."

I realize this has eschatological undertones, but I also think there is a general principle at play. Hindsight is 20/20. Jeremiah prophesies doom and destruction. He prophesies calamity and tragedy. And he knows that it won't make sense until the Israelites come out the other side of their Babylonian exile. I think most of us go through our own babylonian exile. They are seasons when things don't make sense and you can't see your way forward. But the Lord promises to heal the wound and restore their fortunes and rebuild that which was destroyed. But it only makes sense in retrospect.

If you can learn this lesson, it will help you navigate so much uncertainty in your life: some things cannot be understand looking forward. It is only in your latter days, when you look backward from the vantage point of eternity, that they will come into perfect perspective.

Tears

2010-03-13T15:30:00.001-05:00

We continue our Tears series this weekend. We're shooting some documentaries of NCCers sharing their stories. Props to Dave Schmidgall for this! And the courage of NCCers to share their stories is challenging all of us to be more authentic. Here's a link if you want to watch the documentary.

Bittersweet Creative

2010-03-13T15:14:00.000-05:00

Wanted to give a shout out to Kate Schmidgall and Bittersweet. 90% of our creative projects are done in house, but when we outsource a project we outsource to Bittersweet.

Love their name. Love their work. Love their people.

Check them out.

Best of DC

2010-03-12T14:11:00.003-05:00

The City Paper is doing their best of DC again. Love to see Ebenezers take home another coffeehouse title!

Vote for Ebenezers!

Primal Devotional

2010-03-12T09:28:00.002-05:00

I recently put together a six-part devotional for Primal. You can download a free copy here. I'll also try to add it to the free resources @ www.theprimalmovement.com.

Call Me Crazy

2010-03-12T08:40:00.003-05:00

One of my all-time favorite sayings is: call me crazy. I honestly don't even know where it comes from but I say it all the time. When you obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit life gets crazy. Crazy good.

So yesterday I got an email from someone who thought she was crazy for sending it, but I love what she said: "I would rather be obedient and appear crazy than to ignore the promptings of the Holy Spirit." The timing of the email was simply amazing. God began to conceive a new vision in my spirit yesterday and this email was like the other half of the jigsaw puzzle piece. It fit perfectly. And the amazing thing is that I've never met this person. That's crazy! Crazy good.

Not sure exactly what God is up too, but I can't wait to see where God takes this. All I know is this, if you obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit your life will be anything but boring!

Call me crazy!

The X Conference

2010-03-11T08:19:00.000-05:00

A few years ago we hosted our first conference--the Buzz Conference. Had a blast doing it, but it was a beast to pull off. I remember being so grateful that Ed Young and Craig Groeshel were willing to be part of our risk entering the conference arena. Good memories!

In a few months, I'll be part of a start-up conference called the X conference in Long Island, NY. Looking forward to hanging out with a few of my friends--Buddy Cremeans, Steve Pike, Todd Bishop, and Nelson Searcy.

I love well-cooked conferences that have perfected the conference art, but I also like new conferences where you get something raw. Think of it as Sushi, if you like Sushi. It's gonna be a great conference!

Check it out.

A Fire Shut Up In My Bones

2010-03-11T07:34:00.002-05:00

You can preach for two reasons: because you have to or because you have to.

The first "have to" is because you are on the schedule. The second "have to" is because you have fire shut up in your bones, you have a word from the Lord, you have something conceived by the Holy Spirit that you cannot keep inside. Nothing is worse that the first "have to." Nothing is greater than the second "have to."

Jeremiah 20:9 ought to be every preacher's mantra: "His word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot."

Bulk Discount

2010-03-10T15:22:00.005-05:00

I got 7,000 copies of Primal off the first print run and we're down to twelve cases. If you want a case, we'll hook you up with a bulk discount as long as supplies last. We'll also do a sweet deal on In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day and Wild Goose Chase.

For more info, email resources@theaterchurch.com.

5th Location

2010-03-10T09:55:00.001-05:00

We continue to prayerfully search for our fifth location. This is crazy but we're hoping to launch on Easter. We really need a breakthrough this week! Doing some recon today and our staff is fasting lunch to pray.

We've done our due diligence but I still have no idea what door God is going to open. Despite high levels of uncertainty I have high levels of peace. We're standing on Revelation 3:8-9. Honestly, I'm less concerned about our logistics than the way God is moving at NCC right now. We may not know when or where our next location will be launched, but God is on the move. That is what we need to steward.

Sure would appreciate your prayers!

Our Sanctuary is the Throne of God

2010-03-10T09:03:00.003-05:00

Jesus isn't hanging on a cross. Jesus is seated on a throne.

Please don't misinterpret what I'm trying to say. Thank God for the cross! It's the place where we find forgiveness. It's the place where we find grace. It's the place where we find love. But we don't just kneel at the foot of the cross. We also kneel before the throne of God.

Jesus was raised from the dead on the third day and he ascended to the right hand of the Father. He is seated on His throne and all authority under heaven is His. And that authority is ours because we are in Christ.

I love Jeremiah 17:12: "A glorious throne set on high from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary." Our sanctuary is the throne of God. That is where we find peace and power. That is where we find the confidence to go where God wants us to go and do what God wants us to do. The more time you spend kneeling before the throne the more peace and power you'll have. Period.

Find the City Gates

2010-03-10T08:12:00.000-05:00

Jeremiah is definitely one of the heaviest books in the Bible. But if you can handle the heavy parts, there are some amazing pictures and principles.

Jeremiah 17:19 is one example: "Go and stand in the People's Gate, by which the kings of Judah enter and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem."

We tend to read the Bible for content. We want to discover "what." But this is an example where you have to read for context. The real diamond in this passage, in my estimation, is "how." It's not just what Jeremiah says, but where he says it.

The Lord gives him a message, but also gives him specific instructions on where to deliver the message. He sends him to a place with the highest concentration of people. This is particularly meaningful to me as a church planter because I feel like it's so critical that church plants figure out where to plant. You need a message for sure. But you also need to find a city gate where people will hear it. You have to find ways to make sure the message is heard by the maximum number of people. One key to church planting is to find the "city gates" if you will. You have to find the cultural intersections. That is why we love movie theaters. They are artistic gates in our culture. That is why I love coffeehouses. They are places where the church and community can cross paths. I think night clubs and bars are city gates. If you're trying to reach young families, it makes sense to rent a school. Those are the gates that families walk in and out of every day.

I think churches need to be more intentional about making sure they position themselves in highly trafficked places. Just as the Lord positioned Jeremiah at the ancient city gates so he had a captive audience, I think the Lord wants us to find those cultural intersections where we can preach the gospel.

Jeremiah Trailer

2010-03-09T09:00:00.003-05:00

Our Garden to City experiment continues. We're reading through the Bible this year and our weekend messages correspond to our weekly readings. Props to Jeremy Sexton, our media pastor, for his animated introduction to the book of Jeremiah.

During this year-long series we're trying to leverage our creativity to help our congregation gain a deeper understanding and fall in love with the Word of God all over again.

Check out the Jeremiah Trailer.

Protege Program

2010-03-09T07:35:00.001-05:00

We are beginning to take applications for our 2010/2011 protege program. If you are interested in a year-long internship at National Community Church, you can get an overview and download an application here.

Here are a few of the departments looking for proteges:

Worship
Kids
Youth
Media
Production
Outreach

We also look to bring on a church planter in residence. If you feel called to church planting we'd love to be part of that vision becoming reality.

Praying for the next group of proteges!

Weekend Reflections

2010-03-07T22:34:00.006-05:00

Another amazing weekend at NCC. We had what we call a hybrid weekend where all of our campus pastors preach live. Continued our Tears series with the book of Jeremiah. Love the way our reading is colliding with our messages. Our media pastor, Jeremy Sexton, put together an amazing trailer for the book of Jeremiah. Our campus pastors let it rip. And I feel like so many NCCers are responding to this series on such a deep level.

Check out the reading plan @ www.fromgardentocity.com.

Last weekend we had record attendance at three of our campuses. We are busting at the seams! Praying the Lord reveals when and where our fifth location will be ASAP, but I feel such a peace. Honestly, we ought to be stressed but I've been living in the Exodus 14:14 zone since the movie theaters at Union Station closed last fall. We're not going to panic. We're going to stand still. And we're going to see God move miraculously!

Kids are part of the Vision

2010-03-07T07:56:00.005-05:00

Last weekend Lora went to the Beautiful You conference and heard Lisa Bevere speak. Someone asked Lisa about how they juggled family and ministry. She talked about how important it is for children to know that they are part of the vision God has given their parents. I don’t know why that struck me so much. Honestly, I’ve always been afraid of my kids feeling pressure to follow in my ministry footsteps. But I wonder if that is a mistake? I want my kids to know that they can do whatever it is that God calls them to and I’ll love them and be proud of them. But while they are under our roof they are part of the vision. I’m going to be more intentional by allowing them to own that. I want to take them on more speaking trips. I want them to know what I’m writing about and bounce ideas off of them. I want them to feel like shareholders in NCC. Bottom line: I want to involve them more in the vision. For example, we’re choosing music beds for my radio spot on WAVA. I want their opinion.

I think those of us in ministry feel a tension. But let’s make sure that we accept and affirm the fact that God has given us our children. He knew the vision He was giving us and I believe he chooses children correspondingly. Or maybe it’s vice versa. He knows the children He will give us and makes sure the vision corresponds. I’m not sure which way it works, but it works.

I’ve been challenged to give our kids more ownership, more involvement, more input into the vision.

From Garden to City

2010-03-07T07:42:00.003-05:00

Just posted a blog over at Garden to City. Our staff is taking turns doing daily blogs on our daily Bible readings.

I Want To Be Famous In My Home

2010-03-06T10:35:00.002-05:00

I have a new mantra: I want to be famous in my home.

I can't get that out of my head. I spent most of yesterday hanging out with Jeffery Portmann and the Northwest Ministry Network. We were talking about family and our desire to see our kids grow up to love God. He made that statement: I want to be famous in my home. And it resonated so deeply with me. I love it. I want to live it.

Resurrection Dreams

2010-03-06T10:11:00.002-05:00

Thoroughly enjoyed being part of the NW Summit this week. I love the Northwest Ministry Network. After my sessions, I felt like God gave me a word that I didn't have an opportunity to share. Here it is.

Sometimes we need to die to our dreams so that God can resurrect them. That is typically the case when we want them for the wrong reasons or we want them more than we want God. That is when the dream becomes an idol. And that is when we have to be willing to put the dream on the altar just like Abraham put Isaac on the altar.

There have been seasons in my life when I wanted the right thing for the wrong reasons. I remember when really wanted to be on the platform at conferences. When I wanted it, it didn't happen, and it didn't happen because I wanted it for the wrong reasons. I had to die to that desire so the Lord could resurrect it.

Are you willing to die to your dream so God can resurrect it?

No death = No resurrection.

Don't Say It

2010-03-05T07:48:00.000-05:00

Jeremiah 1:7 is such a powerful truth: "Don't say I am only a youth."

I love that on lots of levels. First of all, we have to challenge our kids to do great things for God. When it comes to doing something for God, you're never too old and you're never too young! Age is never an excuse. It wasn't an excuse for King Josiah at age 8. It wasn't an excuse for Caleb at age 85.

I also love the fact that God says: "don't say it." When we verbalize negative things I think they become self-fulfilling prophecies. Obviously, there are some things we need to verbalize rather than internalize. It's healthy to talk about frustrations and doubts. It helps us process them. But I think we need the discernment to know when to say: "don't say it." I'm afraid we often solidify negativity by verbalizing it.

May the Lord give us the wisdom to know what not to say!

Radio Spot

2010-03-05T06:00:00.000-05:00

I'm going to start doing a two-minute spot on WAVA in the DC area. Got some great name ideas from twitter. Here are a few of them. Probably leaning toward take two because I love a good double entendre. Any other ideas?

Take Two
Just Sayin
One God Idea
Two a Day

My Deepest Desire

2010-03-04T11:52:00.003-05:00

My blog is the way I share what is going on in my head and my heart. So here goes. As I walked through Sea-Tac Airport yesterday I was actually a little sad. Don't like being away from my family for three days. I'm rarely away for more than one night.

By the way, whenever I'm away speaking and I see kids I have this pavlovian reaction. I intensely miss my kids and want to give them a hug.

As I walked through Sea-Tac I was thinking about Parker because we were together last time I was in Seattle. I did an event with Len Sweet out on Orcas Island. And I had flashbacks of walking through the airport together. Part of the reason why I remember it so well is that we had deer antlers in our suitcase that we found on Mt. Constitution and we didn't know if they would make it through security. For what it's worth, they did. The security guy said, "That's a first."

As I thought about my kids I have overcome with such an intense desire to see them grow up to love God with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength. No other desire even compares to that desire. On one level it scares me because I can't control my kids. I can only entrust them to the Lord. And I actually have to rebuke the fear of it not happening because I don't believe that is from the Lord. All I can do is use it as a prayer prompt. But my point is this: every other desire doesn't even seem like a desire compared to my desire to see my kids grow up to love God.

From Garden to City

2010-03-04T09:00:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to extend an invitation to join us on our journey: From Garden to City. We just finished the book of Job and we begin the book of Jeremiah today. It's not too late to jump in and take the challenge.

Love the first chapter of Jeremiah. In fact, I consider it my call to ministry. When I was nineteen years old, the Lord woke me from my sleep and pointed me to that passage. That has only happened two or three times in my life. I remember kneeling next to my bed and reading Jeremiah 1. I owned it. Or more accurately, it owned me. The sense of destiny that I have is largely attributed to Jeremiah 1:5.