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a December 31st, 2008

  1. Trust. . .

    December 31, 2008 by Nate

    As I looked around the Hyatt New Brunswick on December 14, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of overwhelming love and grace. I look at the journey God has brought me on and think, Is any of this really possible? It’s all very surreal. But then it dawns on me. I’m a child of God, and He’s trusting me to do His work.

    I’m anticipating being stretched beyond my self-conceived limits, but that’s the point of the ministry, isn’t it? God’s unveiling our true worth and revealing to us that we can, in fact, accomplish great things in His name. I don’t understand it, but I’m extremely humbled to think that God would choose me to take part in such a huge task.

    Jesus had a special place in His heart for children. He was constantly challenging adults to view life through the eyes of a child. “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children,” He once prayed. Truth has been revealed to children.

    At another incident, Christ scolded His followers with these words when they blocked groups of children from Him: “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”

    Every Sunday at the Hyatt Morristown I was given the distinct privilege to witness the simple faith of little ones. To think that God had chosen me and said, “I want Nate to take part in leading the children of Liquid Church to me,”. . . it blows my mind.

    And now, on the precipice of 2009, I’m embarking on yet another journey and taking another step of faith as I partner with the team of a new Liquid Church doing God’s thing in a new city for a new group of people thirsty for a new way to live.

    Father-God, who am I, that You would see fit to trust me with the souls of Your littlest children? I don’t understand it, but I trust that You knew what You were doing when You gave me this role. As Liquid Church steps out into something new, would You guide each of us in all our new roles? I know You love Your little children, and You wouldn’t trust their spiritual lives to anyone if You didn’t think that person were trustworthy. But I can’t help but ask, “Why me?” It’s such an honor, yet such a great responsibility. I know that You know me better than I know myself, but from what I know of myself, I’m not the right person to take part in such a vision. Please help me become that person. Work in me, Father-God. Turn me into the man You can trust with the hearts of your children.

    Category Church, Personal, Scripture Musings | Tags: | 1 Comment

  2. Break my heart. . .

    December 31, 2008 by Nate

    Sometimes you feel God’s presence move in the most inconvenient place. He begins to flash visions across your eyes, and you’re left shaken, overwhelmed, and completely moved.

    That just happened to me today.

    I was sitting at my computer, processing faxes from physicians’ offices when Brooke Fraser’s famous words shot through my ears (have you figured out who my favorite modern hymn writer is yet?). . .

    Break my heart for what breaks Yours
    Everything I am for Your Kingdom’s cause
    As I walk from earth into eternity

    Faces started to flash across my mind’s eye. The children freezing without coats, standing on a street corner in New Brunswick. They asked me for something to keep themselves warm. The homeless woman pushing a stroller, barely covering her shoulders with a towel that looks like it was used to wipe oil from a mechanic’s forehead. She asked me for something hot to drink. The lonely man next to me at the bar in Morristown. He asked me if anyone cared that he lost his job and that his wife is leaving him. The drunk girl who tripped on her own heels who bumped shoulders with me. She asked me if she would ever find relief from her abusive boyfriend.

    My heart is breaking, Lord. I see the problem. Where is the solution?

    * * *

    I looked in the mirror. I was the freezing children. I was the homeless woman. I was the lonely man. I was the drunk girl.

    I drove down a busy street. On the side of the road was a church with a big steeple. I pulled in, hoping to find answers to my questions. But I found none. Only the judgmental stares as I tripped on my own heels. Only the disappointed head-shaking as I searched for a way to save my family. They looked askance at me as I sought some warmth.

    And then they told me to repent. If I repent, all my questions will be answered.

    What does that even mean?

    * * *

    Back in my cubicle, I heard a voice in the back of my mind. I am the solution. You are my hands and feet. I want to go to them, but you’re not taking me. I do not exist among them unless you walk with them. I cannot touch them unless you reach out to them. They cannot find the solution unless you take it to them.

    So why are we building bigger buildings? Why are we going on more extravagant retreats? Why are we holding more fattening potlucks?

    God’s heart is breaking because His Church refuses to go. There is a broken and dying generation right at our doorstep and we think that by opening our front doors to them, we’re doing our duty.

    Newsflash! They don’t give a rat’s ass! To them, it’s a trap. To them, all we care about is adding them to our numbers. They’re intimidated by our massive auditoriums. They’re frightened by our gigantic steeples. And they’re annoyed by our constant instistence that if they just walked through these doors, all their problems will go away. Have you ever wondered why so few people are willing to set foot in a church?

    We’ve got it all backwards. Paul wrote in his first letter to the church in the city of Corinth that he would “become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.” We’ve been trying for generations to get people into the Church. What if we instead brought the Church to them?

    I think God’s heart is broken because His Bride has decided to do things her way. He’s prescribed a method of reaching people with the Gospel, and He knows that it will work. But the Church has decided that it won’t work and that she needs to find another way.

    All of the people I’ve described desperately need to meet their Savior. Let’s stop screwing around and introduce them to Him.

    Category Christianity, Church, Social Justice | Tags: | 1 Comment