Evotional.com

Launch Team Meeting

We have a launch team meeting for the Gala Theatre on Tuesday, March 23 at Ebenezers Coffeehouse @ 7:30 PM. Just wanted to get it on the radar! If you're praying about the possibility of being part of the team, this meeting is for you. It's an informational meeting, but because the time line is so tight, we'll give people an opportunity to commit to the launch that night as well.

Our first service @ the Gala Theatre will be Easter Sunday @ 10:30 AM. Then we'll shift to Sunday Nights on April 11.

Prophetic Writing

I'm entering into another writing season which means early mornings. In a nutshell, writing = sleep deprivation. Part of it is my perfectionism. Part of it is my imperfections as a writer. Writing doesn't come easy for me. I literally measure every word. I can't seem to write any other. I'll spend an hour on a phrase. I'll spend a day on a paragraph. I just don't want to waste people's time.

I'm praying the same thing for my writing as I am for my preaching: I want to be more prophetic. I don't just want to speak timeless truth. I want to speak timely truth. I want to say the right thing at the right time in the right way. And there are no shortcuts to that. You've got to get up in the wee hours of the morning and try to listen to the still, small voice of the Spirit. There is no other way.

Saint Patrick

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, here is a little backstory on Saint Patrick himself.

At the age of 16, Saint Patrick was captured by Irish raiders and taken to Ireland where he became a slave to the chieftain of Ulster. One night, after six years of slavery, Saint Patrick heard a voice, "Behold, thy ship is ready." He traveled two hundred miles on foot to a place where he knew no one and had never been. He wrote in his autobiographical account, "After this I took flight, and left the man with whom I had been six years; and I came in the strength of the Lord, who directed my way for good; and I feared nothing till I arrived at the ship. And on that same day on which I arrived, the ship moved out of its place."

Patrick made his way back to Britain, found his family, and could have lived out the rest of his life in relative comfort in the land of freedom. But in 432 AD, he had another vision. He saw a man coming to him from Ireland carrying innumerable letters. "And I read the beginning of the letter containing 'The voice of the Irish.' And while I was reading aloud the beginning of the letters, I myself thought indeed in my mind that I heard the voice of those who were near the wood of Foclut, which is close by the Western Sea. And they cried out thus as if with one voice, "We entreat thee, holy youth, that thou come, and henceforth walk among us." And I was deeply moved in my heart, and could read no further; and so I woke."

Saint Patrick went back to Ireland as a missionary. No outside religion had penetrated Ireland in a thousand years. Saint Patrick founded more than 300 churches and baptized more than 120,000 people. His ministry was so influential that he came to be known as the one who "found Ireland all heathen and left it all Christian."

Happy Anniversary Ebenezers

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

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

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

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

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

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

Vote for Ebenezers!

Primal Devotional

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

The Cure All

It's so hard not to harbor bitterness. It's so hard not to hang on to unforgiveness. It's so hard to offer the same kind of grace that we've received from God. But it is the only cure, the cure all. How do you let go and let God?

I think the formula is found in Job 42:10: "And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his three friends."

Can you imagine how difficult it must have been for Job to forgive his friends. They added injury to insult as Job suffered tragedy after tragedy. He lost his family. He lost his wealth. He lost his health. And then his friends took away his dignity by attacking his integrity. That's all he had left.

I've found that when someone wrongs me I have a tough choice to make. Either I try to get even in some form or fashion. Or I have to begin praying for that person. I honestly believe that prayer is the only antidote to anger, bitterness, and unforgiveness. You can't just forgive. You've got to pray for that person. Why? Because it will change your heart. You'll find that a supernatural love for that person disarms your anger. Forgiveness will set your free. And prayer is the key.

If Job can pray for his fair-weather friends who turned on him in tragedy, then we can certainly love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.

All Church Celebration

The adrenaline is still pumping from our All Church Celebration and it was two weeks ago! I've been doing this long enough to know that ministry is hard so you better savor the moments when God pours out His blessing like He did that night.

Here are a few more pictures. Each one is worth a thousand words.

Off to Seattle

Headed out to Seattle for the Primal Tour. Speaking at New Life in Renton, WA tonight. Then I'm speaking to a gathering of youth pastors in the Northwest Ministry Network in Yakima, WA on Friday.

Always look forward to hitting the original Starbucks at Pike's Place.

Dream Factory

A few weeks ago I blogged about the church being a dream factory. Kevin Hendricks over at Church Marketing Sucks just posted a follow-up blog. Check it out.

Here is a little formula I share over there:

Doing – Dreaming = Waste of Energy
Dreaming – Doing = Disobedience
Dreaming + Doing = Exponential Kingdom Impact

We've got to make sure our doing is motivated by God-ordained dreaming. But we also need to make sure our dreams get done.

Churches That Laugh The Most

I cannot cite a verse or a study, but I honestly believe that the healthiest churches are churches that laugh the most. I'd also add cry the most to that. They are churches that feel deeply, feel freely. The gospel isn't just in their heads. It's in their hearts.

Had a great time at the University of Virginia last night. Spoke to a few hundred college students who are part of Chi Alpha. Afterward, I was talking with the campus pastor, Pete Bullette, and he commented on how much the students laughed last night. I noticed that as well. Pete mentioned something that a mutual friend, Doug Oss, told him years ago. He wasn't sure if it was based on a "study" per se, but Doug said that "growing churches are laughing churches." I found that intriguing. Can't get it out of my mind.

I've always believed that the healthiest and holiest people on the planet are people who laugh at themselves the most. And I've written about how God wants to sanctify our medial ventral prefrontal cortex, the seat of humor, in Primal. But I hadn't really thought about the corporate implications for churches.

May we laugh more. May we cry more.

I Am Watching Over My Word

I think Jeremiah 1:12 is one of the greatest promises in Scripture: "I am watching over my word to perform it." Most stress is caused by a lack of trust. We don't trust God to do His job. Why? We're control freaks. But here is the problem: we can't do what God has called us to do. Only God can do it. And He will do it. He is watching over His word to perform it.

Take a deep breath. Now let it out. That is the effect Jeremiah 1:12 has on me. Takes all the pressure off of me! I constantly remind myself that I cannot do it. And in some strange way, it helps me relax. It also keeps me in a place of raw dependence upon God. And that is the most peaceful and powerful place on the planet.

Study and Teach vs. Teach to Study

I think my preaching paradigm is shifting. I've always believed that as a preacher I'm called to study the word and teach the word, but that is changing as our congregation reads through the Bible together. My job is NOT to just study and teach the Bible. My job is to teach our congregation to study the Bible. That is a subtle yet huge difference. The prior approach leads to spiritual codependency. The latter leads to spiritual maturity.

Our journey through the Bible is called From Garden to City. And the genesis was really my rediscovery of the Bible. I read through a one-year Bible in 2009 and it changed my life. I fell in love with the word all over again. And that is our prayer for National Community Church. We want our people to love the word, delight in the word, study the word, and hunger for the word.

The longer I preach the more I realize that people don't need to hear what I have to say but they do need a word from the Lord. Sometimes that happens in a sermon via the anointing. Somewhere between words leaving my lips and hitting the ear drums of listeners, the Holy Spirit will do what the Holy Spirit does. But we also want our people to have a first-hand experience with God via His Word. I try to remind our congregation all the time: don't take my word for it, take God's Word for it. I'd rather have people hear one word from the Lord than a thousand of my sermons.

My point? Let's not just study and teach. Let's teach to study.

Cause vs. Effect

When it comes to suffering I think we tend to focus on cause instead of effect. We want to know why. And that is normal and natural. Nothing wrong with wanting to know why bad things happen, but that isn't the primary issue. The primary issue is effect. Why it happened is less important than who you are becoming as a result? You can get bitter or better. It can make you stronger or weaker. And that is up to you.

In a sense, you are not responsible for suffering but you are responsible. Let me explain what I mean. You may not have caused it, but you are response-able. You have the ability to choose your response.

Holocaust survivor, Victor Frankl, said it this way in Man's Search for Meaning: "Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms--to chose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances."

Honestly, I think the reason why so many of us have such a problem with suffering is that we're more concerned with our comfort than God's glory. Suffering is all about sanctification and glorification. If I am sanctified and God is glorified then the suffering is redeemed. God uses a bad thing to produce a good thing in us. That doesn't ease the pain or lessen the sorrow or stop the bleeding, but it does redeem it. There is spiritual gain through the pain. If our goal is to become like Christ and glorify God, we will experience some suffering along the way. A relationship with Christ is not an immunity card. But we have a High Priest who identifies with our suffering and through our suffering we identify with Christ.

Tears

Kicking off our Tears series this weekend.

Most land mammals have a lacrimation system, but humans are the only mammal to cry emotional tears. I think it's part of the image of God. We tend to think of tears in negative terms, but thank God for tear ducts. God has created us with a unique capacity to feel.

Normal tear fluid contains a variety of elements like water, mucin, lipids, immunoglobulins, glucose, sodium, and potassium. It also contains lysozyme which fights bacterial infection. That is amazing, but this is even more amazing. Tears brought on by emotions like mourning or suffering or pain have a different chemical make up. It contains a natural painkiller called leucine enkephalin.

Fearfully and wonderfully made!

A Jericho Prayer

Fourteen years ago I did a prayer walk all the way around Capitol Hill. It was inspired by Joshua 1:3: "I will give you everyplace you set your foot."

I don't think there is any "magical" about that text. And I realize that Joshua 1:3 is a promise given to Joshua in relation to The Promise Land. But I also believe there are moments when God challenges you to step out in faith and claim a Promise Land of your own. That's what I did fourteen years ago with that prayer walk. It was a Joshua 1:3 moment.

There is something about praying around something that unleashes divine intervention. I like to think of it as a Jericho prayer. And Ebenezers is a good example. We didn't just stand on the property and pray. We didn't just lay hands on the walls and pray. We did prayer walks around it Jericho style!

Now here is the beautiful thing: prayer has no expiration date. I believe God is still answering that prayer. And He answers those prayers in ways we couldn't even conceive of. Our vision is much bigger than Capitol Hill now. And we've since become a regional church via multi-site. But Capitol Hill is still the epicenter where things began. And I can't wait to see how God answers that fourteen year-old prayer over the next thirty years!

Tears

This weekend we kick off our first series that is part of our Garden to City journey thru the Bible. During Lent we're reading Job, Jeremiah, Lamentations, and the gospel of Mark. The title of this series is Tears.

Don't miss this weekend. We've got a powerful documentary profiling some NCCers. And make sure you invite a friend to come with you!