IJM's Global Prayer Gathering

I'm currently watching International Justice Mission's Global Prayer Gathering.  My wife, Erica, is there in Washington D.C. right now.  I want to write some thoughts here as I'm logged on to this conference.  

First of all, this makes me miss my wife, but I'm thankful for the technology that is allowing me to experience this with her hundreds of miles away!  It's not the same as being with her, but it's good to experience what God is teaching her.  I don't like it when I learn from God apart from her and then have to try to convey it to her at a later point...same with her learning apart from me and trying to pass it to me.

As many share from the field, I'm confronted with what I'm doing to bring oppressors to justice.  How am I protecting the poor and vulnerable in my world?  Yes, the broken justice systems need to be restored and rebuilt, but what am I personally doing?  

Here are a few quotes from this morning’s sessions.  Blair Burns said, "Broken public justice systems CAN be transformed. And so we will pray. Until it is finished we will pray." Patrick Stayton shared, "The good news is: systems are made up of people, and the hearts and minds of people can be changed." Jesse Rudy shared a story that exemplified Psalm 30:11.  

The Jesus Blueprint is coming...

I can't tell you how excited I am for this book to come out!  Dave Buehring, a mentor to me, is putting the finishing touches on "The Jesus Blueprint: Rediscovering His Original Plan for Changing the World" and is hoping to have it in our hands by July 31, 2012!  

Dave says, "The Jesus Blueprint is being written to help every follower of Jesus to actively engage in His disciple-making mandate (Mt.28:18-20)."


You'll be seeing more about this book, especially if you're in an Ironmen Group at North Way!

Spiritual Warfare...

Today I heard my Lead Pastor, Scott Stevens, say something that resonated deep with my experience as we built up to the Easter weekend.  He said, "I've never felt the weight of spiritual warfare like I did in the ten days leading up to Easter!"

In my new role, I had never really felt the weight of Easter like I did this past weekend.  All kinds of crazy stuff was happening the couple weeks before Easter.  Staff members were distracted by many things and were getting on each other's nerves.  Sickness in my house a few days before I had to preach Good Friday services.  Disagreements that blew up into full fledge arguments.  Team members taking conversations the wrong way and out of context.

If you think about it, Satan would not be doing his job if he didn't try to wreak havoc in the lives of those that were planning Easter services.  Steal.  Kill.  Destroy.  Divide.  His job description is to make Christian's lives miserable, and he will stop at nothing to hinder a person from hearing the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  It only makes sense that we (the Church) would experience such spiritual warfare right before the most important day to our faith.

I expected the attack.  It doesn't make it easy, but it helps when I can recognize it ahead of time.  I was prepared this year.  One of the ways I prepared was to have a faithful time in God's word through a reading plan throughout Lent provided by YouVersion.  It was extremely helpful to have a focused plan that reminded me exactly what I was preparing for as I came towards Easter.

This kind of reading plan made me recognize that I should constantly be ready.  Ephesians 6:11-13 says, "¹¹ Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand."

post-Easter exhaustion...

Easter weekend was amazing!  The North Way teams work so hard to pull off Good Friday and Easter services!  Over the last three days, we have had sixteen services across four campuses!  To say the least, I'm exhausted.  I only preached twice on Good Friday, but I was in some sort of leadership role at all four Wexford Campus Easter services.  I can't even begin to tell you how amazing each service was!

I was amazed at the hundreds of volunteers that joined together in Hospitality, Kidz, Production, Worship and much more to make the Easter weekend possible.  I was blown away at their effort to come together for such an incredible serving opportunity.  This was a beautiful display of the church using their gifts and talents.  This was also an awesome sight to see so many people just jumping in to volunteer where needed!

I was so proud of our Wexford Campus staff as well!  Countless hours go into a weekend like this, and our staff worked tons of "overtime" to make this happen.  They served our guests with great dignity, and I am so blessed to be part of such a magnificent team.

Personally, I'm looking forward to a couple days off!  I need these days with my family.  When you're a pastor, Easter services take you away from family on a day when most families are brought together.  I will be spending the next two days focusing on my family...bike riding, special lunches and much more.

Easter was amazing!  I'm exhausted, but I'm excited to see what God will do with what came out of this weekend!

waves of loss...

Over the last 4 weeks, I have been a part of 5 memorial services!  A young woman, 25 years old.  My Uncle Bud.  My Chippewa Indians football coach.  A faithful servant leader.  A 57-year old pillar of faith and one of the founders of North Way Christian Community.

This has been an emotional month!  Our church family and my extended family has had quite the roller coaster of emotions to work through.  I personally have had some crazy ups and downs over these last 4 weeks...like speaking with a family about their loved one's memorial service one hour and then baptizing 46 people the next hour!  In this last month, I'm discovering the highs and lows of ministry in a new way.

I'm now preparing to preach on Good Friday.  These family's losses of their loved ones would probably feel similar to the wave of loss that the disciples of Jesus experienced when He was crucified before their very eyes.  They watched Him die.  They didn't understand what was going on and why it had to be this way.  I can only begin to imagine what they were feeling...the pain, the emptiness, the heartbreak, the questions, the doubt.

This Friday, I'm praying that I can fully capture and preach the wave of loss that is Good Friday.  I'm hoping to convey the weight of loss that all the world and heaven felt that day when Jesus died.  There has never been a greater loss.

Equally, there has never been more anticipation (Matthew 26-27)...

Baptism Memories...

Last night, I had the privilege to baptize 23 people out of the 46 people that were baptized!  It may go down as one of the most amazing church services I've ever been a part of.

10 of the 46 were a part of Harvest Bible Chapel, and it was a blast to have Pastor Jeff Miller in the other tub to baptize people from the church he leads!  Jeff's new church plant meets in a school auditorium, so he called North Way to see if he could borrow our baptism tub and a room to do baptisms.  Over coffee, I invited him to join us in our baptisms at our All Worship Night.  A friendship was born, and our two churches joined as one.

Each baptism was truly outstanding, but two will stick with me forever.  Carolyn's and Rachel's.

Carolyn had a tough time getting in the tub, and she made me promise to get her three men to ensure her safety.  As she sat in the tub as her story was read, she simply wept and whispered what I think was a prayer.  I don't know what she was praying, but as she came up out of the water, she threw both fists in the air as she continued to weep.  It was a beautiful picture of the length of God's reach regardless of age.

Rachel was wheeled out in her chair beside the baptism tub.  All in attendance prayed for God to heal her from the ravaging affects of cancer in her brain.  As we prayed, she agreed by crying out to Jesus to heal her.  Pastor Scott Stevens then took a clear glass of water and poured it over her beautiful face.  I watched as the water trickled down, and I simply couldn't contain myself any longer, and I turned away.  I wept.

There are many more memories I could share from last night's worship and baptism service.  Like Jane's hearing being restored as she worshipped.  Like Rob taking a huge leap of faith as an Ironman.  Like a father and son being baptized together.  Like a dad baptizing his two sons.  It was an amazing night that I will hopefully never forget!

Tassy Fils-aime and Ian Rosenberger

Haiti was ravaged by an earthquake in 2010.  Ian Rosenberger of "Survivor: Palau" was changed forever when he heard God tell him to go do what he could to help. When he got to Haiti, he made and kept an incredible promise to Tassy Fils-aime, a young Haitian man: To bring him to Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh for a life-saving surgery that would treat a cancerous tumor on his jaw. With this incredible life-altering event, Ian says, "I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life, now I do."

I'm excited for April 21/22, 2012 at North Way Christian Community, when Ian and Tassy will tell their story of how God changed their lives forever.  For more information on Ian Rosenberger and Tassy Fils-aime, please visit Team Tassy and watch this clip from WTAE Channel 4 news.