Borrowed Breath

Throughout Christ’s ministry when He walked this earth, people followed him from afar, watching, curious about this man and His ministry. And all around us, people are watching us from afar, curious about our faith and how it plays out in life.

Will our conduct disgust them and drive them away?
Or will it compel them to ask of the hope that lies within us?

“Perplext in faith, but pure in deeds,
     At last he beat his music out.
     There lives more faith in honest doubt,
Believe me, than in half the creeds.

He fought his doubt and gather’d strength,
     He would not make his judgment blind,
     He faced the spectres of the mind
And laid them; thus he came at length

To find a stronger faith his own.
     And Power was with him in the night,
     Which makes the darkness and the light,
And dwells not in the light alone.”

                                                         Alfred Tennyson
                                                         In Memoriam (from verse XCVI)

…is not adhering to a set of beliefs or a creed, and then getting others to do the same.
It is, at its core, following Jesus Christ and being reconciled to God through Him and inviting others to join us.

“All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (II Corin. 5.18-20 ESV).

Isn’t she beautiful?

One of the things that we emphasize at Providence is the fact that our Sunday worship service is just one aspect of what we believe God is calling us to as we follow Him. We are a visible expression of the local body of Christ. And some of Jesus’ final words to His disciples were, “…go and make disciples of all nations…” (Matt. 28:19). His instructions were not to develop a cool worship experience on Sundays, and then when people come, make disciples out of them. His instructions were to go.

And then Luke, in the beginning of Acts, recorded these words of Jesus, “…you will be my witnesses…” (Acts 1:8). An integral and vital part of making disciples is being a witness to what the Spirit of the living God is doing, not merely what He has done, but what He is doing in your life. Wherever you are, you are called to be His witness. Discipleship does not merely happen after a person has surrendered their life to Christ. It should be happening before their conversion. It should be a part of who we are.

A common misunderstanding regarding making disciples is that you need to have all of the answers. This is simply not true. In his first book, Velvet Elvis, Rob Bell wrote these words, “A Christian doesn’t avoid the questions; a Christian embraces them. In fact, to truly pursue the living God, we have to see the need for questions. Questions are not scary. What is scary is when people don’t have any. What is tragic is faith that has no room for them” (page 28-29). No one person has all of the answers. Even our pastor still has questions, and I count it a privilege to be part of his question-asking pursuit.

When Phil and Robb felt called to plant a church in West Chester, they did not immediately launch a Sunday service in the borough. They started with a lot of prayer. They developed relationships with people in the borough. And they took a group of us through a 12 week training on making disciples using the Ephesians 4:12 curriculum from Every Nation. And then they focused on forming net groups of people who were committed to carrying out Jesus’ call to make disciples. And then they launched a service.

There is a group of us who have been meeting in Downingtown for about a year now, living life together, praying together, sharing meals, participating in community events, crying together, laughing together. And now we are about to go through the same process that Providence went through before they launched a service.

This is not a theology course. I love theology. I am currently taking a class on theology. The doctrines of our faith are vital, and we don’t want to minimize their importance to our identity as followers of Christ. But this course takes away the mystique of making disciples, and focuses on practical ways to carry out our Lord’s command.

To borrow a Rob Bell’s analogy, faith is like a trampoline where each spring is like a doctrine of the Christian faith. They are there to help us jump and experience the life-changing love of God in our lives. But they are not the main point. Jesus is the main point. Rob makes this profound statement, “Doctrine is a wonderful servant and a horrible master” (page 25). He goes on and likens some peoples’ faith to a brick wall, each brick consisting of a core doctrinal truth, each built upon the other, each needing the other to hold up the wall. And some feel called to defend this wall of doctrines against the false truths that are out there. But he says, “…you rarely defend a trampoline. You invite people to jump on it with you” (page 27).

We don’t have all of the answers. We’re not defending a wall. We are merely inviting people to come and jump and experience the life-changing love of God in our lives.

If you live in or around Downingtown, and would like to learn more about making disciples, we are running a 9 week training using the same curriculum based on Ephesians 4:12. The dates of the training are March 24^th through May 19^th allowing us to finish up before Memorial Day. If you want more info, please contact me at ProvidenceDtown@gmail.com.

Lloyd Park, Downingtown, PA

This afternoon, we had a combined service at a nearby church. We sang some songs of worship and praise. And then we had an open mic for people to share what Christ is doing in their lives. These types of unscripted testimonies are some of my favorite things about following Christ.

One gentleman stood up. It was obvious that he was not a public-speaker. But he clearly spoke of the love of Christ in his life manifest through our church body. Just this past year, he surrendered his life to Christ. And he made a profound statement that bears repeating.

“I didn’t used to believe in Christ. Now He is all I believe in.”

That definitely falls into the category of good stuff.

And it’s still snowing and blowing.

The Spirit of the living God 
Is like the current of a stream, 
Transporting us within its banks, 
Sometimes raging, sometimes serene. 
His leading and guiding hand 
Can at times feel out of control; 
Yet we know He is moving us 
To a place that is best for our soul. 
Sometimes He conducts us to a pool 
Where trees overhead provide shade, 
And the calm overtakes our spirit, 
As the fears of the rapids fade. 
Then He guides us back into the current, 
And it gradually propels us along 
To stretches of stream strewn with rocks 
Where the force is fierce and strong. 
And we are bounced around like driftwood, 
Barely able to stay afloat, 
But He keeps us aloft and alive, 
With a care only God can devote. 
And as the stream moves us along, 
Each day anew we learn to trust 
In this living and leading God 
Who is faithful and true and just. 
So whether calm or rushing rapids, 
Know you are kept in His grace, 
The water you are submerged in 
Is actually His loving embrace.

…boy!

We had our 20 week ultrasound today.
Everything looks good and healthy. And we found out that we are going to have a son.

We are so excited!