Where is that damn narrow gate?

When Jesus said: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” I don't think he meant that we should try to disciple everyone...

After Jesus had healed the demon possessed man in the region of the Gerasenes, sending the demons into a herd of pigs (a much more dramatic conversion story than that of the apostles) the once possessed man wasn't even invited to follow Jesus. “The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.” Luke 8:38- 39. For one reason or another this man was not disciple material. Luke even tells this story following the parable of the sower in which Jesus tells us that there is good and bad soil. I have found that Luke is very intentional in how he crafts his writings, so I don't think this combination is a coincidence.

This teaching difficult to adopt in our current “more is better” culture. Jesus clearly tells us that more is indeed not better. And yet we are consumed in our 'evangelism' efforts with numbers. The amount of people we baptize or have in service on Sunday mornings defines our success. It has become an extremely daunting task to develop a culture of quality in our church family. It is a discussion we have weekly, something like: “we need to set a goal of 200 souls saved by October of next year!” While I appreciate the ambition and passion that accompanies this statement, I am not sold it is what Jesus asked us to do.

Pleas don't misunderstand this to mean that I will not Goodnews anyone I come into contact with, but not everyone will find that mysterious narrow gate. I feel the biggest problem with our discipleship efforts is that we get constipated on evangelism. The Gospel is not something we should take time out of our busy day to do, it is our purpose for our busy day. The business is our ministry, and until we understand that 12 people completely sold out for Jesus are far more dangerous than 200 people who are not, we are swimming up a waterfall trying to accomplish the incredibly large mission Jesus gave us.

I am thankful Yahweh is big enough that the mission can be completed some day, but we better follow Jesus.

And by the way...

the reason we didn't move back to Portland is because our pillar of cloud/fire is still here in Redmond. I am confident that Yahweh will lead us back eventually, but we will only move when he says “GO!” and it won't be only to be with our friends and family again, but to plant a church in SE Portland. Until then we will wonder in the wilderness.

To Redmond, or not to Redmond

So we took a trip to Portland a few weeks ago and came home aching to move back to Portland. We almost did it, really, almost. Our time in Redmond has been bittersweet. There are parts of this place that we would miss greatly, and there are things that I would love to forget. My vision is to someday plant a church in SE Portland, it is my favorite part of the city, and the neighborhood that I grew up going to church in. I kind of feel being in Redmond is part of my Pauline journey. Most of my Bible hero's spent time growing in the desert before they were ready for their ministries. Jesus, Paul, and Moses all spent time in the desert maturing into the leaders we know them to be. I feel like that is what we are doing.

Some really good things are happening:

• I have a fantastic job - T-mobile treats their employees very well, my benefits are better than what Sarah would have as a teacher, I am promoting fast, and I have an opportunity to win a trip to Las Vegas for 4 days based on my performance!
• We spend good quality time with Sarah's Mom and Step dad - we have not had as many opportunities of late, but every time I hang out with Herald we have discussions about spirituality. *please pray for Herald and Jean (and kids Hayley and Hunter), Herald is in a very serious level of alcoholism, at this point in his life if he were to stop drinking he would die of shock to his system, only hospitalized treatment will cure him, but he is not willing.
• We are working on a church plant with some friends who went to Columbia College and Southwest. We are three families strong now and praying for opportunities to grow. This process is bursting with pain. I have taken more of a backseat/observer/follower role to the more wise and experienced leaders in our group. However I think we are going about his thing the wrong way, it has been a great experience for us, and we really love our new family.

We really miss Portland and more importantly our dear family and friends there, we will come home sometime, just not yet.

Healing Power

By request, I post again:
Act 3:1One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer–at three in the afternoon.
Act 3:2 Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts.
Act 3:3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money.
Act 3:4 Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!”
Act 3:5 So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.
Act 3:6 Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”
Act 3:7 Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong.
Act 3:8 He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.
Act 3:9 When all the people saw him walking and praising God,
Act 3:10 they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

As we work on panting a Church here in Central Oregon, I can't help but think that healing people is the key to ministry with Jesus. I have not yet discovered how to physically heal people, I think it takes more faith than I have. But I think we have a different ailment now than was in New Testament times. Physical hurting in most cases can be fixed with treatment from doctors. Our ailment is false sense of self. We struggle with understanding how we fit in with those around us. We all desire to be cool, and yet we make it so hard for others to feel accepted. I believe the gospel calls us to heal people, and I think that comes in the form of relationships. I don't have enough resources to feed all the hungry people in Redmond, nor do I think a meal will solve the true problems for those who are hungry. Being a friend and letting that person know that God cares about them, and I care about them is really what most people are hungry for. Even those who stuff themselves at every meal. So at our Church I am trying to convince people that they have the power to heal. Well, actually that Jesus has the power to heal, and we just need to get out of the way.