Author’s note: This article was first published in the summer of 2003. Shortly thereafter, my church employer and I…uh… parted company. It was God’s way of getting me off my rear and into the church plant that I am now leading, but at the time it was a little scary. To their credit, the church, in letting me go took good care of my family and did their best to put a positive spin on things (both of which I am very grateful for). But the bottom line is that in this era of charged political debate, the evangelical church in America seems to have come down on the side of those who say dissent is somehow unpatriotic and that to be a Good Christian also means being a Good American. This is especially true in time of war— when the danger is that we might be tempted to believe that to disagree with a policy is not to support the troops. I again offer this article in the hopes that those who have planned a good ol’ patriotic Fourth of July Service will think twice… and perhaps instead of singing the Star Spangled Banner, will spend time praying for victims of war and terrorism alike, for our enemies and for peace in our world.

Our call to worship that 4th of July weekend was This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land. After the Color Guard presented the flag, we stood, said the Pledge of Allegiance and then sang The Star-Spangled Banner. Our worship set included The Battle Hymn of the Republic, My Country ‘Tis of Thee, America the Beautiful and God Bless America. We even finished the service by asking the congregation to sing along with Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the USA (“I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free…”).

And through the whole thing I couldn’t help but think how moving it was with flags draped from the ceiling, how well-done the music sounded with the drums beating a military cadence throughout… and how incredibly wrong that we were doing any of it.

Who Are You?

The word that the New Testament uses to describe those of us who belong to God’s Kingdom, yet still reside here on earth is ”strangers.” The idea is that our citizenship has shifted to another country, that we have become aliens- people who reside in one country, but whose allegiance, heart and destiny lie with another. The writer of Hebrews says it this way: “For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come. ” (Heb. 13:14, NASB). He praised those who were able to recognize their status here: “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.”

Strangers, citizens of another Kingdom, those whose heart is set on another place. Yes—we are to pray for our leaders and seek the peace and welfare of the area where God has placed us, but we need to be exceedingly careful of becoming attached to this temporary residence of ours- even when it comes to its finer qualities.

So You Wanna Go Back To Egypt?

As I read the Old Testament accounts of exile, particularly the story of the children of Israel in Egypt, I’m struck by the picture that God was drawing: His people, under oppression in a country not their own, longing for the one who would come and lead them out to the promised land. I have no doubt, and we can see from their complaints in the desert that the region of Goshen where they resided was nice, relatively plague-free, perhaps less wicked than the areas of Egypt that surrounded, but it was still Egypt nonetheless. Can you imagine if the Israelites had become so enamored of Goshen that after almost 400 years there, they had begun to write songs about Goshen, pledge their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to Goshen, and had begun to think of Goshen as being the greatest land on the face of the earth (“God Bless Goshen!”, “And I’m proud to be a Goshenite, where at least I’m still plague-free!”). I think an objective observer would have rightly asked, “You foolish people! Are you forgetting that this is not your home?”

While we can appreciate the ways that God has blessed us here in America, to lose sight of our status as aliens, to become enamored of this land in which we live, to forget that someday One will come and lead us out would be nothing less than foolish.

More than just foolish, I think some of the ways in which we celebrate our “Godly American Heritage” in the context of a worship service may even be directly contrary to the Gospel. Jesus said, quoting Isaiah, “My House will be called a house of prayer for all nations…” as He rebuked the temple authorities for falling down on the “house of prayer” part. I wonder if, by allowing nationalistic displays into our corporate worship time, into God’s temple the Church, we are falling down on the “for all nations part.”

No, there’s nothing wrong with patriotism in the sense of rooting for your team and appreciating your country. But when it becomes more than that…For C.S. Lewis patriotism could be dangerous in that it could serve as a means to wrest man’s focus from where it belongs toward something very temporal indeed.

“Let him begin by treating Patriotism… as a part of his religion. Then let him, under the influence of partisan spirit, come to regard it as the most important part. Then quietly and gradually nurse him on to the stage at which the religion becomes merely part of the cause, in which Christianity is valued chiefly because of the excellent arguments in can produce…”

“A man may have to die for our country: but no man must, in any exclusive sense, live for his country. He who surrenders himself without reservation to the temporal claims of a nation, or a party, or a class is rendering to Caesar that which, of all things, most emphatically belongs to God: himself.”

And there it is…What was bothering me so much during that 4th of July service wasn’t so much that we were celebrating America (believe it or not, I actually do have some warm feelings for my country). It wasn’t so much what we were doing, as what we weren’t. We had taken a time that belonged to the worship of God and turned it towards the appreciation of a country, a political system, a flag. We said that we were worshiping God through the singing of those patriotic songs, the saying of the Pledge of Allegiance and the rest, but in fact, by the true definition of worship- recognizing worth- we were worshiping America.

The End of America

It’s not wrong to love our country. We can be proud of our humanitarian efforts throughout the world. No one gives more money and other types of aid to developing nations than the USA. We can be proud that we are slowly coming to live out our creed: All men are created equal.

But even in our more patriotic moments, we shouldn’t forget some of the painful aspects of our history such as our treatment of Native Americans, the damaging effects of which can still be seen today. We shouldn’t whitewash our history of slavery and our support of dictators around the world when it served our purposes. And most of all, we mustn’t forget what America really is. In Adventures In Missing The Point, Tony Campolo puts it this way: “America may be the best Babylon the world has, but it is still Babylon nonetheless.”

We live in Babylon, folks. It’s a world system that transcends borders, is dominated by American-style consumerism and exploitation, and is fundamentally opposed to the Kingdom of God. More than that, it’s a system which will someday be brought to a terrifying and glorious end by the coming of God’s Anointed One. Yes, someday Jesus Himself will sweep America, along with all the other babelistic towers we have built, into the dustbin of history.

And, the Bible says, at this the people of God will rejoice. (Revelation 18:20-19:4)

So if we know that someday we as the Church will cheer the fall of America and the rest of the nations of the world, what should be our attitude now?

How Should We Then Celebrate?

We need to make sure that the message of our worship environment (the message people intuit when they walk into our building or sanctuary or gathering space) is consistent with our doctrine: Our allegiance belongs to Christ alone, we are citizens of another country, and we are looking not to the country in which we live, but to a heavenly one. Probably the best way to do this in the context of the 4th of July would be to honor God and worship Him as the one who brings freedom of all kinds, not the least of which may be freedom from tyranny.

We can thank God for His blessings, ask His forgiveness for our national sins and offer the freedom of Christ to all who are there, American or not.

Expatriate or Ex-Patriot?

I lived for two years in the Netherlands as an “expatriate”- someone who lives as a non-citizen in a country not their own. I learned a lot of things, but most of all, through the homesickness I sometimes felt, even in the midst of loving my experience of living abroad, I learned an excellent model for our time here on earth. We are, all of us who know Christ, expatriates- living for a time in a foreign country. We can enjoy it, but if we ever stop feeling homesick, we are in trouble.

So, next Fourth of July, go ahead and light off some fireworks, thank God for the freedoms you have, enjoy a nice parade or picnic… but maybe leave the Star-Spangled Banner out of the worship set, okay?
—
Bob Hyatt is a contributing editor for Next-Wave and is the leader of Evergreen Community in Portland, Oregon. This article was first published on Next-Wave in 2003 and then again several times over the years. It’s sentiment is worth thinking about.

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Last Sunday I preached my final sermon for the next little while. And, coming as it did after a long night of sweating out a fever of almost 103, it felt a bit more like limping over the finish line than anything else. But regardless, what was wonderful was being prayed for, blessed and “sent” in a sense, by the community.

This week, after 7 years with few breaks (I don’t think there’s been a year where I actually used all of my vacation) I’m setting it down, stepping away and taking a deep breath.

To tell you the truth, it couldn’t come at a better time. Even though I have felt some sense of recovery these last few months, I still feel pretty crispy around the edges, pretty low on reserves… And already, I can feel certain brain cells waking up again- just taking the weight of ministry off (not the responsibility to care, but the responsibility to do something about it) is opening up bandwidth. I feel like I’m having the emotional and mental equivalent of nasal passages opening after taking a hit of nose spray. Words, ideas… feelings. Ahh, there they are. It’s good.

Some have lovingly questioned my desire not to disappear completely but to remain somewhat connected to the community through being around on Sundays. I’ll admit, there’s some risk there, but here’s my thinking.

When we first started Evergreen, one of my desires was to help build and pastor in a community where I felt like I could take a vacation WITH the people I was in community with, not FROM them. I had been in plenty of situations where the second was true… but never really the first.

And for the first 3, 3 1/2 years or so, I think that’s exactly what I had.

But over the last few years, something has changed- the dynamic flipped, and to be honest, I want to push back against that feeling. Yes, there are times to get away, to be alone or be with family or friends who aren’t part of our community. But if I can’t just be a part of things, can’t be friends, can’t worship with, can’t recreate with, can’t do life with these folks- if this is just a position or a job for me, from which I need to take regular and extended breaks, well… that may be okay for others, but it’s never what I envisioned and it’s not what I want now.

So I’m going to try it and see. Can I just show up and worship with my family at Evergreen? Can I be a part of our community without having to run things, adjust things (and as Dustin warned me this week) have the last word on Sunday? Can I just be an Evergreener?

I want to be, I know that. We’ll visit some other places, I’m sure- just to see what God is up to here in PDX. But, in the past when we’ve done that, I’ve always left feeling very grateful for our little community with the knowledge that there’s no other place I’d like to be, worship, fellowship, live and love.

This season will be my chance to do that in a new way- and maybe my only chance for a long, long time.

I’m looking forward to it.

—

Bob Hyatt is a contributing editor for Next-Wave and is the leader of Evergreen Community in Portland, Oregon.

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However.

I’ve noticed in the last few years a real bandwagon of anti-leadership sentiment in some circles. I think it started as a push-back to the “CEO” model/mentality in some, and as such, I’m sympathetic. But from there, it’s very much progressed straight down the road paved by hurt and abuse perpetrated by poor leaders to where we have many arguing that in the church, any concept of leadership at all should be avoided.

I get where that’s coming from and certainly am in favor of flattening things as much as is possible- but the truth is, there always has been leadership in the church and there always will be- at least in biblical models of the church. There will always be the community as a whole and from that community certain men and women who serve by exercising the role of (depending on how you translate) presbyter, overseer or elder.

And inherent in the concept is a sense of both serving AND leading.

We’ll get to that in a second- Fitch’s five reasons were as follows:

1.) THE WORD “LEADER” ITSELF IS GENERALLY AVOIDED IN THE NT

2.) WHENEVER THE WORD “LEADER” IS USED IN THE NT – IT IS SUBVERTED BY THE CHURCH

3.) JESUS HIMSELF SUBVERTED THE TERM “LEADERSHIP.”

4.) CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP IS DEFINED BY THE POSTURE OF SUBMISSION- TO THE WORLD THIS IS NOT LEADERSHIP

5.) THE BUSINESS MODELS OF LEADERSHIP WILL HANDICAP US FROM LEADING INTO MISSION.

I’ll let you read Fitch’s specific arguments over at his blog. For now, I’ll just answer with a few of my own points.

1. The word “leader” is found and used in the New Testament.

Fitch cops to the “notable exceptions” of Heb 13: 17 &24 (forgetting vs 7, though!)… but then says that other than that, leadership is about diakonia, or service/servants in the NT. No argument that a biblical model of leadership includes servanthood, but it goes beyond that. Much beyond.

Fitch says “The NT on this reading appears to carefully avoid the models of authority available in surrounding society for defining leadership in the church.” However, this isn’t necessarily true. One of the most common words for leader in the NT, “presbuteros”, often translated “elder” could and did refer to: 1. members of the great council or Sanhedrin 2.of those who in separate cities managed public affairs and administered justice and 3. among the Christians, those who presided over the assemblies (or churches). The NT uses the term bishop, elders, and presbyters interchangeably. (here)

It’s clear that when describingleadership in the Church, the most common terms were also used of leaders in Judaism (both nationally and in the synagogues) as well as the culture around them.

Further, the command was to “appoint elders (presbuteros) in every city (ie, every church community).” (Titus 1:5) Why? That they might help lead and decide the affairs of the church- 1 Timothy 5:17 — “Let the elders [PRESBUTEROS] who rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially those who labour in the word and doctrine.”

Another common phrase which carried connotations of leadership in the NT was “episkopos”, often translated “bishop.” What were the “episkopos” to do? Among other things “Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God which he obtained with the blood of his own Son.”- Acts 20:28

It may be true that the word “leader” is found in only a few places in the NT in relationship to the Church- But when you take the weight and context/usage of the words “presbuteros” and episkopos” along with passages like Heb 13:7, 17, 24 and Gal 2:2, it’s clear- There were leaders in the church, and though they may have exercised a leadership that felt different than the “lord it over you” kind Jesus warned us of, it wasn’t completely different than leadership outside the church. There were still people appointed to responsibility, they still discerned and decided (Gal 2:2-3) and helped lead the church (Acts 15:22).
2. Fitch’s second point is that whenever the term “leader” or “leadership” is used in the NT, it is subverted by the church. He makes the point that leadership in the church has less to do with hierarchy and has more to do with age, wisdom and maturity, that it is something that is never “above the congregation” but always in submission to the body. And while I would agree with the general principle of mutual submission, and that church leadership should be about wisdom and maturity (I don’t know about age- seems like that’s something that actually IS subverted in biblical leadership-1 Tim 4:12), it’s also something that IS, biblically, unilaterally (and carefully, prayerfully, considerately) decided by those already in leadership. How else are we to read verses like Titus 1:5 (“The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.”)
Seems like there’s a whole lot of leadership gettin’ exercised there.
I won’t deal with Fitch’s last three points except in summary…
I agree with Fitch that the “Pastor as CEO” model is broken- and that to look first to Jack Welch and Co before Jesus for instructions as to how to lead in the church is wrong- but within the context of Christ-like and Christ-honoring leadership, in balance with biblical principles of servant leadership, I just have to ask- are there NO universal principles of good leadership we can learn from good leaders in the secular world? How to take care of those who are serving with and even “under” us? How to lead thru hard decisions/change? How to get the right people on the bus??? (I kid, I kid). What happened to “Truth is truth no matter where you find it”?
I love Fitch and his rhetorical hand-grenades I just see the issue of leadership in the church as one where we are severely prone to a babies and bathwater scenario. I recognize that many have been hurt by the exercising of poor or abusive leadership in the church. But to me, to use that as an excuse to question the whole concept of leadership (which is where I think many will take Fitch on this, even if it’s not where he himself was intending to end up) is like questioning the whole concept of fatherhood because you had a crappy dad.

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Today’s newspaper contained some great news. Nearly $9million of federal stimulus money is flowing to Portland in the form of a grant to open a health care clinic in the middle of downtown for the poor. And the best part (at least in my mind)? It’s taking an old, abandoned Burger King and transforming it into a one-stop medical center helping Portland’s poor, homeless and mentally ill.

I love the idea of using a place that once dispensed artery-clogging Whoppers and french fries, sugar drinks and all manner of other greasy, deep fried anti-nutrition (don’t get me wrong- I LOVE all of that stuff- too much, in fact), and turning it into a place that does exactly the opposite- dispenses health, medicine… help.

No doubt, when you look at the building, you’ll still be able to tell it was a Burger King because of its very distinctive design. And yet- a whole different kind of impact with its presence.

And all that made me think of Christmas.

How?

I’m remembering when I first became aware of the “pagan” origins of Christian celebrations like Christmas and Easter. Discovering that early Christians had co-opted existing pagan celebrations was a bit of a shock. No Virginia, Santa Claus, much less Christmas celebrations isn’t in the Bible.

But… those who look at that fact and decide that the responsible thing is to eschew celebrating Christmas altogether or just humbug about it (especially all the non-Jesusy parts) all season long really miss the point.

Certainly- nearly all cultures and even religions have holidays around this time of year, mostly started to somehow celebrate the turn from shorter and shorter days to longer and longer ones. The move from darkness to light.

And when the early Christians looked at that, it seems they had a really good idea…

There’s no reason to think that Jesus was born on December 25th. We all know that. He was most likely born in the Spring sometime, because the shepherds were out in the fields keeping watch over their flocks- a Spring activity. But even though there’s no reason to believe He was born then, there are great reasons to celebrate then.

Whenever we bring the Gospel into a culture, we have a responsibility to contextualize it- to use the language, the symbols and the existing social structure (where it doesn’t overtly contradict the Gospel) to explain the great Good News that God Himself has come to rescue and renew all of creation through the work of Jesus Christ on our behalf.

So what to do when your culture has celebration hard-wired in? Fight that? Talk about humbug.

But… A celebration where we focus on the coming of light into the world after a time of darkness? Hmmm… Sounds familiar.

Sounds perfect, in fact.

Custom made for re-interpretation in light of the narrative of the Gospel and Jesus. Custom made to explain the coming of the Son of Righteousness into our darkness.

Those early followers of Jesus who gave us things like Christmas, far from retreating from their culture simply repurposed some of the best parts of it. Like the solstice celebrations. And like I said- I love the irony of taking something meant to point to one thing and making it point to a better thing.

“‘The Christians stole it,’ said Marie Elena Castle of Minneapolis, the 82-year-old founder of Atheists for Human Rights and an atheist activist for two decades.”

Exactly. 

We took something that pointed at the sun and pointed it in a different direction. Towards the One who made the seasons, the sun and the moon, the one who came to give them real reason to celebrate. Jesus.

So if you don’t want to celebrate, that’s fine. Your choice! But you’re not just taking yourself out of a very Christian tradition, but a very human one as well.

And don’t tell me celebrating Advent isn’t a great way to tell the Gospel story in a hundred different ways- to our kids in our Advent readings, to our neighbors in our hospitality and gift-giving (at a time when they are more open to that than any other time in the year), and especially to ourselves- maybe the ones who need most to hear “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people…Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord.”

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I knew my time at the Big Church was coming to an end, but I had no idea of what came next. The relevant data facts were- 1. We had just bought a house 2. We had just gotten pregnant 3. I was pretty sure I wouldn’t “fit” in most mainstream churches anymore.

So when I was told we’d be making a “transition” in terms of my job at the Big Church, I knew something had to happen- I just didn’t know what. I had a friend who had a job for me as a children’s pastor- No… definitely not me (especially since at the time our child was -7 months old). A lot of churches were “interested”… but none were pulling the trigger, and even if they did, I was highly ambivalent about their style/paradigm of doing church.

God was definitely telling me that He wanted me back in pastoral ministry, but He sure wasn’t making it easy.

So that day, throughout various conversations with friends named Bj, Jim, Stephen, Johnny, Bernard, and Tim, it became clear: Time to put feet to faith and actually DO all the “new” church stuff I’d been talking about for a couple of years.

They asked: So where are you going to plant this thing? I said, “Well, we live in the Murray Scholls area- maybe there’s a school or something there…”

Tim just shook his head and said, “No. No. No… The Lucky Lab in Multnomah Village.”

I thought about it for 10 seconds or so and said, “Yes. that’s it.”

And you know the rest of the story.

Seven years.

Seven years of hoping God will move and seeing Him do just that, of trusting the process and rarely being disappointed, of learning hard lessons about the difference between what I/we think we have figured out and what we actually do.

This last year has probably been the toughest- I feel like I’ve made more leadership/strategy mistakes in the last 10 months than in the 6 years previous. But in all of that I am simply reminded of both how much I need Jesus in this church endeavor and how much He shows up and perfects His grace in my weakness.

Thank you God and thank you Evergreen for seven years of amazing adventure. I’m grateful today for people who love God more than church and so love the church God is building/using more than most other things. I’m thankful for people who say “Whether the car turns right or left, we’re staying in it.” I’m thankful for people who care enough to disagree without disengaging, for people who love others unselfishly and sacrificially, and for people who work hard to make a welcoming community. I’m especially thankful for those who have found and re-found and are finding and re-finding Jesus in and through our community. What a gift.

And I’m thankful that it has never gotten easy.

Because that would be boring, and if there’s one thing this deal is not, it’s rarely boring.

Grace on our part looks like trying not to be upset that He’s still got a ways to go.

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Ahoy!

Ahh… where do I start?

Church Pirates - June 2008 Cover - Next-Wave

I get what Ed is saying. I’m in no way in favor of people being divisive, leading a group of people away from a church community against the wishes of the rest of the community and/or the elders.

Arrrh.

---

Bob Hyatt is the lead pastor of the evergreen community, an emerging church community in Portland, OR. More importantly he is the husband of Amy and the father of Jack and Jane. He was also the editor of Next Wave.

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The list is:

1. Get on your knees and fight like a man.

2. Team-work makes the dream work.

3. Location, location, location

4. Determine your target audience.

5. It takes big money to plant a church.

6. If you build it they still might not come.

7. Clarify the “win”.

8. Set yourself up for success.

9. Focus on life-giving ministry

10. You get what you expect.

So… in order.

1. Get on your knees and fight like a man.

Aside from the inherent sexism in the way the statement is made, this is a great, great place to start. “Unless the Lord build a house…”

2. Team-work makes the dream work.

Yes. It’s important not to do this thing alone.

3. Location, location, location

Yeah, okay. I hear you. I think our outside-the-box meeting space has done huge things for us (we meet in a pub). But…

I want to differentiate between planting a service and actually planting a community. Planting a service is easy. You just need a bunch of dough, a few people willing to work themselves to death and voila’… and yes, that’s all about the location.

Planting a community, however, is a bit more ephemeral… a bit harder to quantify into easy-to-follow steps. It’s a partnership between the Spirit and desperate people trying hard to listen to that Spirit. It usually results in a Sunday morning (or other time) gathering, and often people are told about it/invited to it… but that’s not the heart of a true community is it?

4. Determine your target audience.

I guess on this one I would just say- Look in the mirror. Expect that the people who will be part of your community will largely look like you. Expect that, but pray for different.

And quit targeting people. I think it freaks them out.

5. It takes big money to plant a church.

Okay…

If you’ll excuse my language, that’s a load of shite. And a dangerous lie to tell to church planters. I wish to God (literally) that people would stop saying this. Is it easier to plant with “big money”? In some ways… And I’m really glad for churches that are able to start with a lot of support. Seriously. The fact that someone is willing to put up that kind of money on a venture that statistically has an 80% or more chance of failure is amazing in the best sense of the word. A lot of people are putting their wallets where their mouths are to plant churches.

But.

It’s not necessary. You don’t have to have “big money” to plant a church… In fact, you might be better off without it.

We had $700 a month committed when we planted our community.

That’s it.

But we have kept overhead low, we have made do for the past two years with $600 worth of sound system, my associate pastor worked a full time job until this very month… somehow, we managed to launch a vibrant, growing community without big money.

In fact, I’ve seen churches struggle because of that damned big money.

They “launch” with a full contingent of paid ministry professionals, the whole Kid’s Ministry In A Box™ that they bought at some convention somewhere, and the people show up to see the show.

And two years later, when their initial bankroll from momma church or daddy church-planting organization runs out, they fold because they have ministry jacked up to artificially high levels, that is, they have more programs and staff and equipment needs than their people can conceivably give for and support… and when that gap between actual giving and budget needs hits, they need to start laying off staff. And that’s a spiral that the heavy-initial-investment, programmatic church model can’t handle. When the staff starts going, that equates to a cut in services, and the people soon start edging out the back door for some place down the road with something new and exciting (and better funded!) going on…

Grim? Yeah…

Does it happen to everyone who starts with a big wad of cash? Of course not.

Could it? Oh yeah…

So why not start simple? Let it grow organically…

Different approach, different challenges (for sure)…

But do you need “big money” to plant?

No, no, no. A thousand times no! And you just might be better off with a different approach.

Sorry… got worked up there. I apologize if I stepped on your toes. This one is a serious button for me…

6. If you build it they still might not come.

Amen, brother. So… focus less on building and more on being. Be the kind of community (whether you are 10 people or 100) that others will find loving and welcoming, where they can find God and themselves be found. People will show up for that. You can figure out the bells and whistles later. I say, quit being a builder. Try being a gardener…

7. Clarify the “win”.

Yeeeeahhh… got no idea what this means. I know about setting quantifiable goals and all that. But we’re talking people’s souls, not numbers. We’re talking about community, not benchmarks.

Do your people love God?

Win!

Do they love each other?

Win!

Do they love others outside of your little thing?

Win!

Are you together figuring out how that all works together in community? What that looks like for you as a unique group of Christ followers? Are you feeding people who need food, clothing people who need clothes and generally being Jesus to those God brings in contact with you/your community?

Win, win, win!

Don’t have your five-year plan together? No mission statement? No idea what comes next?

Join the club.

And don’t sweat it.

Do the things Jesus is telling your community to do, love people and trust God to build His church and…

You’ll know the win when you see it.

8. Set yourself up for success.

Can’t argue with that!

9. Focus on life-giving ministry

Or that!

10. You get what you expect.

And hopefully… a whole lot more.

Amen?

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