plant and run
great quote on being ambassadors
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Right now our explore core group (those exploring becoming part of our initial core group for the new church) is reading a workbook called Sent: Living the Missional Nature of the Church, by Ed Stetzer.
Here is a great quote from the second chapter on being an ambassador…
I have often wondered why Jesus would choose such a flawed, messed-up group to represent Him to the world. You would think the opposite would be true. After all, in an earthly political system, a king, president, or ruler carefully chooses an ambassador based on character and loyalty. The person in charge would want to make sure any representative would offer an accurate picture of the ruler, acting always in accordance with the ruler’s wishes…
But perhaps part of why Christ chose the church to represent Him is because we are flawed. As messed-up people, we are uniquely equipped to testify to the mercy, grace, and love of God. As we struggle through the same pains, temptations, and hardships as those around us, we have the ability to remind them there is hope and purpose in life.
Right now, we are really grappling with what is looks like to become Ambassadors of Reconciliation to New Orleans. This is what it’s all about…
the marathon is here
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It’s finally here.
The Little Rock Marathon is Sunday.
I’m stoked.
I ran Cross Country in high school, in more recent spurts here and there, but honestly haven’t run consistently since my Freshman year of college [1995].
So in January of last year, knowing I was about to launch into church planting and be in Little Rock for 10 months, I decided NOW was the time.
Now is the time to run a marathon.
It’s funny. We have these “bucket lists,” right? We say things like, “man, wouldn’t it be cool to do _________? I need to do that sometime. That would be awesome.”
Mostly we say it to ourselves. It’s like we are scared to even say it out loud because we know that we’ll never do it.
What is stopping us?
26 miles just sounds impossible.
How about 1 mile…tomorrow?
As I reflect back over the past 14 months or so, it’s really hasn’t been as difficult as I thought it would be to get here. It’s sounds so cliche, but it’s really just a matter of running one mile at a time.
The lives we live…is this the way it’s supposed to be?
I read through that ancient story that opens the pages of Genesis. The universe is a blank canvas and God creatively fills it…stars…planets…sun…moon..oceans…plants…animals.
Then he creates us…in his image.
We were given all of that…and this is how we live?
So go run a mile today. It won’t be long before your running marathons.
But don’t stop there.
Oh, I got one more on my list. I’ll say this one out loud.
“Man, wouldn’t it be cool to transform a city? We need to do that sometime. That would be awesome.“
Tomorrow we can start by planting a church.
a morning of hope
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This is a morning chock full of emotions for New Orleanians. Many are sipping their coffee in disbelief, still reeling over what they witnessed last night.
The Saints are going to the Super Bowl.
My head hit the pillow pondering what the moment means to our city. I dreamt about it. I work up with it still on my mind, and it was all I could think about while I ran this morning.
It is a surreal moment that is forty-three years in the making. Forty-three or four and a half…depending on how you count.
We’ve had it rough, haven’t we? Decades of losing has seemingly spilled beyond the football field and into our lives.
Our economy and education go down the tubes. Crime and corruption steadily rise. The close-knit bonds that kept our community together slowly unravel as more and more relocate.
And then there was Katrina.
It felt like the final body blow that put us down for the count. Observers from around the country shook their heads and turned to walk away.
But we kept breathing. We shook the stars out of our head and staggered to our feet. We refused to give in.
For many of us, this feels like a morning of triumph. We have finally achieved the victory that has eluded us all these years.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the cold, hard truth is that we can’t relax, we must keep swinging.
Reality is less like the trophy ceremony and more like the tie score at halftime.
I feel less like Sharper holding up the trophy and more like Reggie right after the fumble. “It ain’t over. I think I still got another TD in my bones.”
We have been winning some battles lately, but the war isn’t over.
So as I reflect on things this morning, I believe that this is a morning of hope. We have faith. We see the future that can be ours. It is within our grasp.
If the Saints can actually make it to the Super Bowl [admit it, you didn't think it was really possible, did you?], then our city can be transformed.
The question is, are we willing to work for it?
The reason we are planting a church in New Orleans is because we believe that she can be restored one neighborhood at a time.
We’ve seen the power of the church unleashed upon our city, haven’t we? Wave after wave of churches have come into our town and lovingly helped us rebuild.
The next wave will be New Orleanians banding together and fighting together, becoming Jesus’ Hands as He rebuilds our lives, our souls and our city.
That’s really what the church is supposed to be, right? It’s a team. A rally. A brotherhood. It is the Kingdom on Earth as it is in heaven. It’s light in a dark world. It is love in the midst of hate. It is hope in the midst of tragedy.
New Orleans needs more than a new mayor. It needs a new movement of God.
We believe.
Are you with us?
Chase Oaks Trip
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So I’m down in bayou country for the weekend. I just finished a 10 mile race [Middendorf's Manchac Race. Ran a 1:18:07] and just showered up at my Mom’s house in Algiers.
Boy, has it been a good weekend. I wanted to take a couple of minutes and fill you in on what’s going on.
There is a group of 21 people from Chase Oaks Church in Plano down. This is their…I don’t know…seventh or eight Katrina mission trip. Lots of familiar faces and old friends.
But this trip is different. The energy and excitement is palpable.
Chase Oaks sees it.
This crazy idea to plant a church and turn short-term mission work into long-term church work is something that they understand and they are ready and willing to fight for it.
Over the past couple of months, we have been humbled as we have watched this church pick us up and carry us on their broad shoulders. Yes, they are supporting us financially, we are thankful for that, but they refuse to merely mail a check. They are spilling their blood in this city.
Over the past couple of days, they have been divided into three teams…
The first team has been at Alf’s House. They have caulked and painted the exterior, installed the hardwood floor and basically put all of the finishing touches on 4910 Arts St. They will help to move-in the Nelson family today. Mike Martin [one of the team members] said last night in our meeting that he is a little dumbfounded with how much work they completed in 48 hours. He said, “I don’t know. It just flowed.”
What I see is a group of people that understand the sacrifice that Alf and Aly have made to return to New Orleans. They are thrilled to play a crucial role in getting the Nelsons into their house and empowering them to focus their attention on entrenching themselves into the Gentilly community. That passion is fueling some serious sweat power.
The second team has focused on helping one of our partners: Crossroads Missions. In fact, Chase Oaks is the reason we are partnered with Crossroads [one of the staff, a guy named Bruce, is related to a Chase Oaks member]. Crossroads has focused them on helping at St. Roch Community Church. [If you recall, I blogged a couple of months back about St. Roch.] The team has focused on preparing St. Roch’s church facility for today’s visit with some key partners from Florida [in town for some football game].
What I see is a group of people who are strengthening some relationships that are important to us as a church plant. We absolutely love what both Crossroads and St. Roch are doing in the city! We want to support and partner with both as much as we can.
The final team as been doing street ministry with Lawrence. Lawrence has taken 5-6 team members down into the French Quarter each day armed with McD’s hamburgers. God has blessed and they have come home with some awe-inspiring stories of doors blown open to minister in a significant way to the homeless population of New Orleans. Oh, and it doesn’t stop there: they might be taking two individuals back to Dallas with them to connect them into rehab programs at Union Gospel Mission.
I see a group of people who share our passion for the homeless population of New Orleans and seek to provide holistic ministry that meets the physical, emotional and spiritual needs that exist in their lives.
In short, Chase Oaks is literally part of the team that is planting a church in Gentilly. We couldn’t be happier.
This is not ya momma’s church plant. This is post-Katrina New Orleans where you can not only partner through prayer and financial support, but you can come down and join the team. This is a movement of God’s Spirit that extends beyond the borders of New Orleans and into churches all over the US.
We need Chase Oaks. And we need you. We can’t do this alone.
the NOLA Church Plant logo explained
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So perhaps you’ve noticed that we unveiled our “logo” for the church plant. I’m really happy about it. It was designed by our friend Samantha Carr. She did a great job.
Just to be clear, this is not the new church logo. In fact, we haven’t even determined the name of the new church. Part of this church planting process is the gathering of a core group of people who will help to start this new church. We want that group to have a hand in the selection of a name and the inspiration of a logo.
So the purpose of this logo is to help us communicate the vision and dreams of this church plant. We need a movement of people, both in New Orleans and around the country, who will rally around us to support, pray and encourage this new church. This logo is one of the tools God can use to help spark that movement.
The logo is inspired by the Crescent City Connection Bridge that spans the Mississippi River in New Orleans. For us, it is a great symbol that represents a number of things…
First of all, we our moving ministry “across the River.” Berean Bible Church is on the Westbank of the Mississippi and the new church plant will be on the Eastbank. For four years, we have sent short-term mission teams over that bridge to help people rebuild [the Westbank didn't flood].
Secondly, we want to be a church that “builds bridges” into our neighborhoods. Frankly, we are sick and tired of church being defined by merely coming together for a Sunday morning worship service. We want church to also be defined by going together into the darkest parts of our world to bring the Kingdom of God to bear upon the needs we find there. It’s time to stop standing around waiting for the needs to come to us. It’s time to cross over the gulfs in our lives that prevent us from going to the other side.
Thirdly, we love our city! This bridge is a symbol that defines our town and we want to embrace and love it!
tell me about your team [part two - punt]
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I still remember the first foreign mission trip that I lead as a youth pastor. We drove down into the mountains of central Mexico to work on a youth camp that was being built by our Missionaries friends Brock and Heather Hower. It was a great trip.
Whenever we took trips outside of the US, we would open up our Youth trip to adults in the church. Lawrence “Punt” Sisung, an elder and financial investment banker, decided to come. I knew Lawrence fairly well at the time, but I had no idea what kinda “entertainment” would be waiting for us across the border.
For some reason, I think work related, Lawrence was unable to drive down with us to Mexico. He flew in the day after we arrived. So by the time he showed up, we were already getting acclimated and comfortable.
Lawrence showed up decked out for the wilderness: brand new camping jacket, sleeping bag, sleeping mat, multiple new flashlights, handheld GPS and satellite phone. Apparently he had gone to the local camping store with a map of Mexico, pointed to a spot and said, “I’m going here. What do I need?” All of the teenage boys smiled and eyed all of these camping toys that they could tinker around with for the next two weeks.
Sometime in the middle of the Lawrence’s first night, the whole camp awoke to sound of yelling outside. The boys rushed out in their boxers to find Lawrence being chased back from the outhouse by a “wolf”… the camp dog he hadn’t met yet.
Oh, we still won’t let him live that one down.
It was a great trip. As a youth pastor, I was really grateful to see this white-collar investment banker get dirty in many ways. Of course, he worked his tail off to help build the camp. More important than that, though, was the relationships I watched him build with teenage boys. By the end of the trip, he knew those boys…and I’ve watched him continue to reach out and mentor them.
By the way, we took that trip in August of 2005. Less than a month later, our hometown was under water.
And we thought building a camp in Mexico was hard work…
It quickly became apparent to the leadership at Berean that the two men would would have the time, ability and passion to lead Hurricane Recovery ministries would be Doug and Lawrence.
So we dove in together, and we have absolutely loved it. Lawrence has challenged my faith in so many ways. I think our students probably got tired of hearing me use “Lawrence illustrations” in my talks on Sunday nights. I have to admit that I have honestly never known anyone who ruthlessly trusts God quite in the way that Lawrence does. He prays a ton and then he steps out in faith. I love spending a day with him because inevitably I’ll (1) pray more than I ever would on my own and (2) be thrown into an uncomfortable and unbelievable ministry opportunity that I would never have taken.
On the other hand, Lawrence would say that he could never have survived the past four years of ministry without me by his side. He would say that many of the ministry opportunities would never have happened if I hadn’t provided the structure around him to give him the freedom to follow God’s Spirit. He would say that God has used me to challenge him.
So when the opportunity arose to plant a church. I knew that I wanted Lawrence alongside of me…I knew that I needed Lawrence alongside of me. It took Lawrence a long time to process and gain clarity on whether or not his ministry should shift to the church plant. Just recently Lawrence felt tugged to finally join our team.
So that makes three of us as full-time co-pastors/co-planters: Alf, Lawrence and I. I have to admit, I think we might quite the formidable team. The idea of planting a church together brings to us a sense of confidence that never would be there otherwise. We have all talked about what the image of a “church planter” looks like in our minds. It intimidates us. As Alf likes to say, the expectation is that a church planter is “Jesus with a red cape.” We are asking God to use our three sets of complementary gifts, passions and backgrounds together to make an impact for the Kingdom.
Furthermore, we are all friends. We love spending time together. It is difficult right now for me to be in Little Rock while Alf and Lawrence are in New Orleans. We have decided to spend every Wednesday morning on a conference call together so that God can continue to bind us together over this period of separation.
Our team, though, extends way beyond the three of us. In fact, we believe that God is calling us to weave to concept of team into every little detail of how this new church operates.
Perhaps you are supposed to be part of our team too?
the biggest mistake in the history of Fellowship Bible Church
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It has been interesting to hear more and more about the history of Fellowship Bible Church Little Rock from the perspective of lots of different people involved. Like any organization, they have had their share of successes and failures over the past 30 years.
While there has been tons of variation in the story depending on who you talk to, one observation that all seem to be united about is what was their biggest mistake.
Back in the late 80s, FBCLR had grown into one of the larger churches in Little Rock and was exploring what that meant. They felt an obligation to do something big for the Kingdom in a way that could make a cultural impact on their city.
They decided to pour major reasources into a mass-media campaign they created called “Stand Up for Decency.” They created TV commercials, radio spots, bumper stickers, etc. that were themed around the idea of standing up for family values. The campaign squarely engaged issues like Abortion and Homosexuality. In fact, one of their TV ads one a national award. It sounds like it somehow alluded to the Holocaust and compared it to Abortion in the US.
Then the response came. Mainly in the form of a counter-campaign called “Stand Up for Liberty.” They quickly realized that all their campaign had done was flare up hostility toward them throughout the city they were trying to reach. They became known as that church. The one who was mad and hateful. In fact, when the later changed their tune and began partnering with other churches to do community ministry, some thought they were a cult.
A couple of weeks ago I ran on a Saturday morning with a guy named Bill. We chatted for the last 4 miles of our run about life, culture and religion. Bill is an atheist. Of course, this came out in response to my statement, “I’m a pastor and in the Church Planting residency program at Fellowship Bible Church.” We talked a lot about New Orleans, and it was very clear that Bill valued people, the community and making the world better. He did not have one negative thing to say about Fellowship Bible Church. In fact, his only comment about them was noting that they were heavily involved in ShareFest.
I have to admit, I’m dumbfounded at the shift that has occurred in less than 20 years. Rather than shouting from an isolated island, Fellowship is truly impacting and changing their entire city.
What happened? Instead of chilling on their isolated island, they began building bridges to the mainland and walking across. They stopped shouting about what is wrong with their culture and instead did something about it. They mentored in inner-city schools, they weatherized the homes of the elderly, they painted classrooms, they adopted orphans.
And all of the sudden, they had a voice. They haven’t changed their theology. They still hold the same basic worldview. They just share it in a way where they just might actually get someone to listen. They earn the right to be heard through love.
It’s crazy how much this story parallels that of Katrina in New Orleans. The same about-face has occurred in New Orleans in regards to Evangelical Christianity. Unfortunately, it has by and large been achieved by short-term mission teams rather than long-term missionaries (i.e.- every Christian that lives in New Orleans).
For me, part of planting a church is transforming short-term missionary work into long-term ministry. New Orleans needs churches like Fellowship Bible Church Little Rock that will live out the “mission trip” mentality every day.
We don’t want to create an institution, we want to create a missions outpost. We want to create a church that isn’t known for what happens on Sunday mornings in a building, but what happens the rest of the week throughout the city.
Will you step off of the island with us?
[p.s.- I just found a fairly recent article in the "Arksansas Times" about FBCLR. It references the transformation I described above really well.]
tell me about your team [part one - alf]
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[This post is about Alf Nelson. One of my team-mates who will be one of the co-pastors of the church. I hope to write posts about other members of the team soon. Alf just moved back to New Orleans and is renovating a house in Gentilly to live in. He was just interviewed by one of local news stations as part of a report on the rebuilding of Gentilly. You can watch the interview here.]
Do you remember being in high school or college and saying to some of your friends, “wouldn’t it be awesome if we could go out and do ________ together one day?” I do. There are certain people in my life that I am bound to in a unique way. We are fastened together by common values, experiences and passions. We have fought, laughed and bled together.
For me, one of those guys is Alf Nelson. I first met Alf when I was a young high schooler. He was a new kid in my youth group, an upperclassman who seemed to fit right into the group right away. Alf quickly made many friends in our youth group.
I still remember the day that Alf left for college. I remember getting emotional. I remember crying in the foyer at church. I remember being caught off guard with how saddened I was. We were friends, but not best friends. As I reflect back on it now, I think there was something unique about our connection that I wouldn’t have been able to put into words at that time.
We had a lot in common: backgrounds in broken homes, a craving to grow and lead in our faith and [the best part] a biting, sarcastic sense of humor. Alongside of many of our peers, we were thrown into amazing ministry situations in our church, in the Projects and on mission trips around the country. Youth Group was formative for both of us. Through the experiences we had there, we both felt called to full-time ministry. Alf was a couple of years older than me, and I think in him I saw someone walking the same path a couple of steps ahead of me.
Over the next couple of years, Alf and I experienced college and seminary together. We grappled over theological puzzles and dreamed about what the church could be. We both fell in love and got married. Our wives became best friends. By the time we graduated and entered full-time ministry, we could have completed each other’s sentences. We knew each other so well and we had been influenced by so many common mentors and models.
But God did not keep us together. In fact, when it came time to take jobs in churches, our callings couldn’t have been much more different. I felt called to come home. I wanted to be in New Orleans for the rest of my days. Alf, on the other hand, needed some distance between himself and New Orleans. He needed to start fresh somewhere else. So I ended up at our home church and Alf was in the hills of Tennessee.
Then Katrina hit. It was a turning point for the life of every native New Orleanian, whether you still lived in New Orleans or not. I became one of the coordiatators of Hurricane Recovery efforts at Berean. Alf became the point man in his church’s efforts to help from a distance. God reconnected us as Alf took trips down to the city to bring down supplies, resources and people to assist in Recovery efforts [in fact here is a post on the old Katrina blog where you can see some pics of some of the initial equipment donated by Alf's church to get our ministry up and running.]
God used Katrina to woo Alf home. He found himself drawn to somehow be part of ministry down here full-time. He didn’t know what that looked like. He actually dreamed about planting a church. So when God opened the door to church plant through Fellowship Associates, both Alf and I knew what it meant. We were supposed to do this together.
God was allowing our paths to intersect again.
In fact, maybe all of that prior history was orchestrated for this moment…
tell me about Gentilly
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Okay, so I’m here in Little Rock and my residency officially starts on Monday. That means that [finally] I will be devoted full-time to the church plant. I plan on posting on here a lot more over the next couple of days. I know that there are a ton of questions to be answered about this whole church plant thing. If you follow my blog for the next couple of weeks, hopefully you will come away pretty informed about this whole crazy dream. By the way,
we do have an official website…although it has no content yet. Hopefully I can help contribute to that too in the coming weeks.
So, to start off…
WHERE ARE WE PLANTING THIS CHURCH?
Yes, my friend. That is a great question. We are planting in an area called Gentilly. Gentilly is a neighborhood smack dab in the middle of New Orleans that was flooded by Katrina. You can find a lot of info on Gentilly in this wikipedia article and this Times-Picayune article. [I like this T-P graphic too.]
Some notable things about Gentilly:
-For whatever reason, a lot of the mission teams we have sent from Berean Bible Church ended up helping people in Gentilly. We weren’t strategic at all. It just worked out that way. Maybe God has something to do with that.
-My elementary school [Jean Gordon] and my high school [Ben Franklin] are both in Gentilly. Unfortunately Jean Gordon was never rebuilt. I don’t think it ever will be. Sad. It was a good school. My time there as a kid helped to build into me a love for the community. We had so many families there that cared about their neighborhoods and wanted to make them better.
Franklin, on the other hand, is thriving. They are still one of the top academic schools in the nation. For whatever reason, God allowed us to play a key role in the initial rebuilding of Franklin. We sent about 100 Cedarville University students into the school to do the majority of their gutting. [I was able to scare up a vintage video from Cedarville's website.]
-My Dad lives in Gentilly and is rebuilding. Many of you guys who have come down have helped ol’ Buddy.
-Pam Wang, a member at Berean and a life-long friend of my family, lives in Gentilly. She also was helped by tons of work teams. We usually visit her house on our levee break tour that we take teams on.
-Milne Playground is another spot in Gentilly where tons of our work teams have helped to rebuild. In fact, there are some pics on the city website of our volunteers from Faith Bible Church in the Woodlands.
-Gentilly is a very diverse area in many ways…racially diverse…socio-economically diverse…we love that about it. We want to be in a community that reflects the beautiful diversity of New Orleans.
-Alf [another of the co-planters of the new church] has already purchased a home in Gentilly. He is in the midst of rebuilding it as I type. Crystal and I hope to relocate into Gentilly when we finish the residency program here in Little Rock next May. Right now we have other team members who are praying about relocating to Gentillly. Perhaps YOU are one of them?!
So, what is God doing in Gentilly? It seems that all signs have led to Gentilly for us. We believe that a new church in Gentilly is something that can supercharge the physical, emotional and spiritual rebuilding of this community. We are so freaking pumped to see what will happen over the next couple of years!
the Chase Oaks Church [street ministry]
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So sometime today a couple of the guys from Chase Oaks Church in Plano, TX [I think it's Mike Martin, Mike Brookshire and Dennis Elenburg] should be rolling into NOLA. It is very cool to see what God is doing in them and through them. Figured I would take a moment and tell you their story.
Alf and I both interned at Chase Oaks will in seminary. The long and short of it is that we heard amazing things about this church [then called "Fellowship Bible Church North] and their pastor. We heard that it was a really healthy church. It was successful (at the time the congregation was prob about 3000) and had done it the right way. We were both very impacted by our time there.
Flash forward to Katrina. Chase Oaks becomes one of the hundreds of churches that wants to help in NOLA and desires to do so through Berean because of our personal connection. They have been down here…I think…5 times. Each time, they dive deeper and deeper into ministry here in NOLA. [Coincidentally, God has called Chase Oaks to dive deeper and deeper into their community back home in Plano. See the connection?]
During their last trip in the Spring, God allowed them the privilege to watch Him work in a humoungous way in the lives of some that we minister to from the streets.
[I will avoid using names due to the nature of the information.]
They met T who had recently come off of the streets and was beginning to integrate into our body. This man’s discipleship is marked by men and women from Chase Oaks Church. He is now living with a family from Berean and winning the battle with his past.
They met J who detoxed off of heroin right before their eyes in a ratty motel room. She did amazing for a couple of months and recently has lapsed. We have no clue where she is right now.
They met S who perhaps had the most amazing transformation of all right before their eyes. He has turned his life around and desires to be in ministry. When they met him, he was a drunk ex-con who came to the streets to die. He has also had his own struggles and now finds himself back in jail and prepared to serve an extended sentence for old charges from before he turned his life around. His prayer is that prison will provide a place for him to grow in his faith.
All three of the above individuals, by the way, have been in Plano over the past couple of months. Trips that were impactful in their lives as the people of Chase Oaks loved them and sought to bring further growth in their lives. Chase Oaks isn’t willing to leave this ministry totally in our hands thankfully. They have had these guys in their homes, they have surrounded them with prayer in their small groups, they have sacificed their time and money to see that this work continues.
So pray for my brothers from Plano this weekend as they are here in NOLA to encourage T, visit S in prison and perhaps find J on the streets. May God continue to use them in the ways that He has over the past couple of months in countless ways.
This is what it should look like to partner with us in our ministry here in NOLA. I understand that not all can do this. We covet your prayers. We can only survive with your financial support. But what we want more than anything is to lock arms with you and see God use you firsthand to minister to the people of New Orleans.
