Learning As We Go

First of all I am sorry that I haven’t posted in awhile….  I have been struggling through some things and wanted to get my thoughts as clear as possible before I wrote them down!  Which is a good thing!

I am constantly amazed as to how God teaches me things over and over again!  My life has been on an emotional roller coaster for the last 3 months.  So many things changing and many uncertainties being on the forefront of my thoughts.  Its not a place that I like to be in but find it very difficult to get out of.

On Monday my dad and I went to the car show at the IX center.  This has been a tradition for us for as far back as I can remember!  I have always loved the times we shared every year we do this.  I can’t wait to one day be able to bring my son along with us (lord willing!), and start another tradition!

If you are a guy you know that traveling in a car with other guys doesn’t always consist of conversation.  Most times we would rather just listen to music and look out the window than carry on a conversation about life or anything really.  However my father and I have used these trips to the car show to talk about many things from sports to girls and life decisions.  This year was no different.

I started the conversation with this, “I feel like I have been living in a state of anxiety for the past 3 months.”  What I mean by this is that I have had so big many changes in my life that I have a sense of insecurity.  I tend to worry about things now more than I ever have before.  My dad responded with this verse, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God.”  (Phil 4:6)  This was uplifting for me and has helped to easy my anxiety as I constantly bring it to God.  I still struggle with it from time to time but know this for sure, God has me where he wants me.  It says in Matthew 6 :26, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable then they?”  God will take care of us!

Like the title says we are all learning as we go.  Depending on God is the only way we can make it through too.  I wish that I would give a easy 1, 2, 3, as to how to depend on God but its just not that simple.  All I know is that He isn’t going to give me more than I can handle and during these times constant conversation with the Almighty is the only thing that gets me through!

I thank you for your support through this change in my life and want each of you to know that I can’t do it without your prayers!  I know it seems like a “Christian” thing to say, but its true and I hope that you feel you are apart of this mission!

In His Grip,

Jeff

Are You UnChristian?

So far this week has been very productive in many ways. Not only on with Vision but also in my personal life.

First with Vision. Yesterday, February 18th, I did a whole lot of web surfing! No…..not looking for the latest sports rumor (Cavs should have traded everyone but Lebron for Kidd) or stalking people on Facebook. (If you don’t know what Facebook is then check it out here) My web surfing consisted of looking for Audio/Video Equipment for Vision! I find this very exciting! Aaron Rae (Creative Arts Pastor) looked at me oddly when I would say, “Woo thats nice!” which got a few laughs out of us as we sat in Panera. But back to the Equipment! What I was doing was looking for the right camera’s, tripods, mixers, microphones and other sound stuff so that we can effectively impact the Cleveland area. This is an ongoing process because I want to make sure that I get the best possible equipment without over spending , so that includes checking various websites and calling various companies that carry the equipment that we need. We also began to brainstorm a little bit more about up coming events that we are going to put on to get our name out in the community.

While at Panera we constantly run into many people. Yesterday I ran into a few people that I knew form The Chapel and was able to catch up with them about my life and learn about the changes that are happening in their lives too. It was a great to connect with them and we hope to catch up more at a later time. All in all it was a good day on many levels.

Now to the personal. This also happens to bring in the title for this blog, “Are You UnChristian?” Today, February 19th, I went to Borders and purchased UnChristian. UnChristian is written by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons. David Kinnaman is the president for the Barna Group and Gabe Lyons is the founder of the Fermi Project, a broad collective of innovators, social entrepreneurs, and church and society leaders working together to make positive contributions to culture. I can’t begin to describe this book with any justice so I am going to write what is on the inner cover of the book,

” The New Testament writer Paul told the first century Christians: “You Yourselves are our letter…known and read by everybody.”

When a person “reads” your life, what does it say? What does your faith look like to outsiders?

A major new research project, unveiled for the first time in this book, describes the increasingly negative reputation of Christians, especially among young Americans.

The research shows that Christians are best known foe what they are against. They are preceived as being judgmental, antihomosexual, and to political. And young people are quick to point out they believe that Christianity is no longer as Jesus intended. It is unChristian.

It shouldn’t be this way.

What Christians believe may not be popular, but Paul also advised the first believers to “live wisely among those who are not Christians” and to “let your conversation be gracious and effective”

In This book, the authors, along with more than two dozen leading voices within Christianity unpack the major criticisms leveled against Christians. Understand why those negative images exist and how you can best represent Jesus to your friends, neighbors, and co-workers.

Your life is an open book. Is it UnChristian?

 

So far I am 3 chapters in to the book and have already started to look at things in a very different way. We are given stories from “outsiders” of why they feel the way they do about Christians, with six reoccurring themes. Christians are: Hypocritical, To Focused on Getting Converts, Antihomosexual, Sheltered, to Political, and Judgmental. I don’t want to give away to much, but I do think that this is a book that every Christian should read. For me this is important because as a church planter our church will have to deal with the image of Christianity. Not only that but each time Aaron, Scott and I come into contact with people we will have to deal with each of these perceptions.

As I go through this book I am going to reread the Gospels, and focus completely on the way that Jesus interacted with people because the only way to know the heart and desire of God is to look directly at the actions of His Son. This, I hope and pray, will help me understand, in a better way, how my contribution to the Kingdom of God and the world in which I serve Him will affect others. I encourage you to join me in this journey!

In His Grip,

Jeff

Don’t forget the Chocolate!

OK …..so I have a confession to make, and no I am not about to break out into a Foo Fighters song, the title of this post really has nothing to do with the post itself. Its just the day before Valentines day, or for the single people in the world, the day to make sure (as if you don’t already know) that you are single…. So with that, Happy Valentines Day!!

The past few days have been really crazy. We have been trying to get our website up and running and for that to happen we need to figure out what should be on it. So I have been doing alot of web surfing looking at various church websites seeing what things I liked and things I didn’t like. I realize that our website might very-well be the first impression that people have of Vision and I want it to be good. It needs to not only look good, but also have all the relative information about who we are and be easy to navigate.

Yesterday Scott and Aaron had many many meetings with various people in the Lyndhurst, South Euclid community. One that was very beneficial was with the Mayor of South Euclid. Apparently she was very helpful, trying to assist in places for our services and giving vital information about the community. Scott said that he was very impressed with her willingness and desire for us to join the community. That is very encouraging!

The progress with Vision has been going very well even though at times it so overwhelming. Scott, Aaron and myself keep looking at our list of tasks to complete and it looks never ending. We still know that regardless of what tasks need to be completed, we still need to be connecting with people and loving them just as Christ loved those he came into contact with he walked this Earth. The best way to see the heart and desire of God is to look at Jesus and follow his example, and that is our desire at Vision.

Please continue to pray for our progress and the stress that comes along with planting Vision. We can’t do this without your prayer support! Thanks for your part in this mission!

In His Grip,
Jeff

people, places, and home

This past weekend I was able to get away and go to The Ohio State University to see my cousin (he really isn’t my blood cousin, but its easier to call him that) and catch up on the many things that have been happening to both him and myself. Being down there was very good for me to see things in a way that I have never seen before. I am thankful that I was able to have good conversation and fellowship with many non-Christians, showing them that being a Christian isn’t a set of do’s and do not’s but a lifestyle, one that I choose to live and love to live.

Before I set out Saturday afternoon for Columbus, on Friday we meet with alot of people and started to make our connection within the community of Lyndhurst. Our first meeting was with the Mayor of Lyndhurst, Mayor Cicero. We took this time to get to know him and the community, asking questions that allowed him to share his plans and desires for Lyndhurst. It was a good first connection with him and resource to use to help meet the needs of the community.

The next stop for us was Chucky Cheese! No it wasn’t to play and eat pizza, although that wouldn’t have been a bad idea, it was to make contact with Tim, the manager there. The reason we did this was because we are in the process of making our first big connection in Lyndhurst. Vision is planning on partnering with Chucky Cheese to get our name out in the community. On March 22nd (the day before easter) we will be giving away free candy to the kids that come and allowing them to take pictures with Chucky (that sounds scary considering the movies). We will then be giving the family the pictures for free. This will start the process of making connections in a large scale in the Lyndhurst area. Doing this will allow us to talk and get face time with people who could possibly never step foot in a church or even come into contact with believers.

After our meeting with him we went to eat at The BoneYard on Mayfield. This place is awesome! The environment was really cool, one section of the restaurant had video games and the other had a bar/concert stage/eating area. It would be a great place to have a church service (if there was enough room) because of the non-threatening environment that it produces. While we were there, Scott who talks to everybody, meet a guy who was eating lunch by himself and invited him to join us. He accepted and we were able to have good conversation with him, learning about who he is and what he does. He in turn asked us question about who we were even asking, “What exactly is a minister?” This shocked me! I thought that everyone, be it positive or negative, knew what a minister was. This is exactly why we do what we do. We want, and crave, the opportunity to meet people who don’t know God and bring them into a relationship with him. This was a very productive lunch, even though it was only for an hour, it was a start and we hope to connect with him later.

Our final stop of the day was Beachwood Mall where we did a soft demographic survey. What this means is that we walked around and asked people questions. For example, one question was, “Would you rather dress up for church or wear jeans?” This type of question allows us to determine the culture of the community so that we can connect with them in the most effective way possible. This was very beneficial for us as we continue to shape what our “church” is going to look like.

All in all it was a great Friday! Very busy and fun! Please continue to pray for us as we try and finalize our meeting location and make connections within the community. This has and will continue to be a great adventure and I am glad that you are apart of it!

In His Grip,

Jeff