Living in Community

Our vision for New City is much more than the Sunday Service. Sunday worship will be the time when all of our New City people gather together for a time of corporate worship. Our desire is to have great God exalting, Chist centered music and preaching - it will be a time of celebration together. But Sunday gathering will not be "church." Church will happen at various times of the week as New City people gaher in small groups and enjoy a place of community, discipleship, service and worship. The small group gatherings will ultimately be the place where church happens.
It was interesting to read a post from Drew Goodmanson as Kaleo heads in this same direction. Here's a portion of his post:

I spent the morning with Eugene, who heads up our missional communities at Kaleo. One of the challenges we've faced as a church centers on discipling people and seeing leaders emerge to give their life to be on mission. The following idea struck me from our conversation:
We often need structures to overcome our lack of community.
How can any person's life be changed by attending weekly programs? Isn't this just a portion of what Willow Creek 'Revealed' in their failure to create meaningful disciples? And they were THE model for the typical evangelical church. Kaleo is diving headlong deeper into life-on-life mission to San Diego.
(more)

NCCd - We are a group of missionaries, a family of believers, a population of diverse individuals united by, striving for, and growing in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Dangerous Waters

Our first three services have been great. We have had a lot of people present and we have had a lot of people sign up to help with future services. This presents a great, great danger! The danger is that we get so caught up in the "success" of the Sunday event that we lose sight of why we really exist - our mission - to see the Gospel transform everything within our reach - ourselves, our church, our city, and the world. That mission involves each of us. Each of us shares in living out the Gospel and in sharing the Gospel.

Take a word of caution from one of our Acts 29 brothers, Pastor Jon Needham of Coram Deo:

Our Church went though a similar season, though we didn't grow as quickly. What I learned was that the 175 people showing up was just that...showing up. I was happy to see them and their butts in seats did wonders for my ego and pride. Over time, the vast majority of them left. The result was that we spent a year thinking we were doing something when in fact, we weren't doing crap.

I think the potential danger of growing in this way (primarily through attraction) is that you get a crowd together (which makes you feel good) but there's most likely no missional dna in that group. That crowd will reproduce itself including it's lack of missional dna. The effect is that the group gets excited about the group, but not about the mission. You end up creating more work for yourself because now instead of trying to lead a small group on mission, you have a large group that will be almost impossible to lead and/or change.

When you try to establish mission in the group, you'll find that many will leave and you will have lost time, lost funding (people and their money will go which may force you to make hard decisions) and lost momentum. I say this because its exactly what happened to us. We grew, thought we were doing something, ended up loosing over 2/3rds of our people and starting all over again at square one.

This was both extremely painful, and yet a great blessing as it taught me a ton. In the end, I realized the problem wasn't ultimately my people, but me. I had to repent and now, by God's grace, our church is headed in a much more healthy direction, but I created more work for myself by starting in a direction that was unhealthy. I had to back it up before we could put it back into drive.

That's my story. Hope it helps

I pray that God would continue to bring people to New City Church downtown, but I pray as well that we who are NCCd would understand the mission that is ours, that we would never lose site of it and that we would know that in order to be a true church, we must live out the mission He has given us. Fight with me for the mission - fight with me to be more than a Sunday gathering!

For more on who New City Church is check out the labels "Theology/Ecclesiology/Missiology and more" as well as "Who Is NCCd?". For a specific post see Church is Not Church Without The Mission.

The not so quiet quiet...

Not much posting right now, so it may seem like things are quiet - NOT SO!
Much, much, much is going on as we prepare for December and then weekly services in January.
We are talking with the Capitol Theater about weekly rental costs as opposed to monthly (pray that we get a good rate!),
we are talking about future plans and needs as we seek to make some lasting connections and become a regular presence downtown (that translates into - we are looking for additional space that would allow us access 7 days a week, 24 hours a day),
we are getting some invite cards ready for our December service to make it easy for our NCCd people to invite friends to the January service,
we are working on our next big mailer - set to go out Jan 2nd,
the Acts 29 guys asked me to get the rest of my stuff together so they could go ahead and move us to full membership, so I am working on that as well,
finishing up some info for potential financial partners,
working on Dec's message ideas as well as January's
Add to that
Amy's dad still being in the hospital (but getting better praise God)
Robby has surgery scheduled for next Tuesday in ATL to remove the rods in his femur (Motocross crash for those who might not know)
Christmas
and more...
Sooooooo, its not quiet at all. It is WIDE OPEN! And I am loving it. I am at peace right now with where we are headed with NCCd, at peace about the income questions that linger, at peace with all the stuff going on - just at peace! and excited... I am incredibly excited about the future that lies right around the corner. I cannot wait to see what else God is going to do in our midst when we go weekly. I am excited about the possibilities at New City - I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas!

Sermons Online

We now have the ability to record services and make them available online. Check out the "Media" tab at www.NewCitydowntown.org . Our November message on communion is now available. We'll add some music in the future.

Next Steps

Quite a few steps have been taken since I first thought about the possibility of planting a church. Each monthly service serves as another visible step. Behind the scenes there are all sorts of "unseen" steps being taken - lining up volunteers, work within the band, work in the community... As we are nearing an end to the 2007 year we are also preparing to close out a season of New City's life. We are closing out our monthly gatherings and taking our next steps toward being a real church. January 6th is a HUGE next step - it will be the launch of our weekly services! The visible step is obvious - we'll start meeting weekly! The unseen steps that are a part of this BIG step are really the crucial steps - and the unknowns.
Some of the questions:
Will we have enough workers for our children? Will we have enough tear down and set-up folks to carry us weekly? Can our band adapt to weekly services? Will we have enough giving to cover weekly rental as opposed to monthly rental? Will our people take hold of our mission - Gospel transformation?
I believe in every way God will lead us, empower us, and give us all we need for our next steps! I am excited about December's service - closing out a season. I eagerly anticipate January and with all of the "unknowns" I cannot wait to see what God is going to do in our midst!

Get ready New City, to be a part of Attempting Great Things For God, and Seeing Great Things From God!

Steps of faith remembered...

Tonight was probably my last Missions meeting at Mabel White. We have a really good missions team in place and they have been great to work with. As we concluded our meeting one of the team members said, Keith I remember a year ago when you started planning all of these trips with us - 5 trips to Mexico, 2 to NY, and several others to Mississippi. We thought there was no way. And when you said you wanted the missions fund to pay transportation we really thought there was no way. And here we are planning another year! We did it and we still have money left over at the end of the year. She was crying.
I don't know why I am amazed - but I am. I am amazed at what God does when we step out by faith trusting Him. I am amazed at the truth of His Word - we reap as we sow. We have sown by faith in missions - trusting that God would provide for His work, and He has - abundantly! 2 years ago I started our missions year with no trips planned and $0. We close out 2007 having set all kinds of Mabel White missions records - most given to Lottie Moon in church history, most raised at our annual missions fund raiser, most participants leaving the state on missions trips (87), 1st ever medical mission trips (3 this year), partnerships with NY, MS, and Mexico. And after the most full year in the church's missions history we will carry $25,000 into our 2008 missions year! That's why she was crying! God has been so good. I am thankful to have been a part of His work at Mabel White. I am blessed to have the privilege of leading a missions team to such steps of faith. Thanks again, God.

Happy Sunday!

PRE-Service
Up at 6am - trailer hooked up, the Xterra loaded - mostly from Saturday night (and I do mean LOADED), pulling in for ice at 8:00am, coolers loaded with ice and water, pulled up in front of the Capitol Theater at 8:20 to start unloading and setting up. 9:40 - A great time of prayer with the band. 9:45 - 10:30 Last minute stuff and lots of greetings.
POST-service
Load the trailer with the help of many. Do a final walk thru at the theater - final farewells and thank yous. 1:00 head to lunch with family. After lunch - head home with trailer in tow, unhook, unload the car, and at 2:25 sit down!
WHEW!
A great day.
Today's service was incredible. The music was awesome as usual - thanks to the band.
The coffee was great - thanks Hasel, Jolynn and crew!
Communion was so sweet - thinking of all that God has done for us in Christ and seeing a church share in such a beautiful thing for the first time was very overwhelming for me.
A number folks commented on how great it was to learn about communion and its tie to Passover.
Great fun to end the service with several very (VERY) upbeat celebrate Jesus songs.
Amazingly, our #s went up over last month - that's a good thing - thanks to everyone for getting the word out!
All in all - a Beautiful - Happy Sunday!
Thanks Jesus!

Closing A Door

Last night I taught my last discipleship class as a member of Mabel White Baptist Church's staff. As always, emotions are mixed. I have greatly enjoyed my role as Discipleship Pastor and the great opportunities that I have had to led the body of Christ in His Word. The last night of teaching reminds me that most likely I will never teach most of these fellow believers ever again. There are some great, great people that I will miss much. On the other hand, I am excited in knowing that as this door is closing, the NCCd door is opening wider and wider. I anxiously anticipate the days to come and the additional time that will be available for this new body.

On Communion

A Note About Communion…
This Sunday we will take communion together, our first time as church. So here's the short on our view of communion.
We believe that one of the most precious things followers of Christ can do together is to take of communion. New City Church practices “open communion.” “Open communion” means that we invite not only members of NCCd, but all believers to receive communion (also called the Eucharist or Lord’s Supper). We believe that the Gospel unites all believers in Jesus Christ and communion can be shared by all true believers in Him. NCCd further believes that the elements of the Lord's Supper are not to be viewed as means by which God communicates grace to the faithful, but as signs by which the faithful recall the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and declare that they have received grace and belong to the body of the faithful. Communion is essentially a community profession of faith, a celebrative thanksgiving in which the church declares its gratitude and faithfulness to God for all He has done for us in Christ.

Missions of Mercy - Holiday Gospel Project

Help for the Holidays!

Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays are right around the corner - add cold weather to the mix and local missions of mercy like the Salvation Army quickly run short!

You can help!

Bring canned goods to the November 18 and December 16th Services. We'll take them to the Salvation Army to help meet the growing needs!

Joe Thorn's 6 Rules of Cultural Engagement

In part NCCd's vision reads...

It is our dream that New City church downtown be a people engaging its culture at work, at play, and in worship.

We dream of a church that shapes culture, not runs from it or chases after it.

Below is a really great post from Joe Thorn about "cultural engagement." Its a little long, but well worth the read!

October 23rd, 2007
Six Rules of Cultural Engagement
What do people mean when they say “cultural engagement?” That phrase is often spurned as if it means thoughtless syncretism between the church and culture. In my reading it rarely means that. It is certainly not what I mean. I am a fan of that three-fold approach to engaging culture: reject what is evil, receive what is good, and redeem what is broken/lost. I think this is a healthy way of thinking about how we should respond to our culture, because our culture(s) is not one thing. It is made up of hundreds of things, bad and good, that demand our attention. I recently spent some time going over this three-fold approach with the folks at Redeemer, but wanted to emphasize that agreeing that we will need to respond by rejecting, receiving, and redeeming actually requires a lot of us. Before I get to that, let me summarize my take on the three responses.

Rejecting what is evil means that we object to all forms of injustice, immorality and idolatry. But rejecting things like genocide, abortion, and materialism is not enough. Part of our rejecting things in our culture means pointing to the way things ought to be, and even how the gospel points to such things. Think, the restoration of all things via the established kingdom of God at the return of Jesus Christ. Pointing out what is wrong is not enough. We must also point to God’s plan for righteousness to reign.

Receiving what is good seems to be more problematic for many Christians. People often think that we can only find good in something when it is all good. The problem of course is that nothing is all good this side of the resurrection, but many things still reflect the law written on the hearts of sinful man. The imago dei is still visible, and people often create or do things that reflect what is true, beautiful, noble, excellent. Receiving what is good means that there are times when the Christian, or the church, can walk beside the world and affirm the goodness of a communal value or cultural artifact. When our community decides it will take environmental care, the education of our children, or the health of the sick seriously we can say “amen.” But even then we have to show them that such goodness is not socially constructed, but reflects the truth and the plan of God.

Redeeming what is broken/lost is the direct application of the gospel to the culture in which we live. It answers the questions, “What does the gospel say to our broken marriages and homes; our selfishness and materialism, our prejudice and racism? What does the gospel say to the emptiness of personal religion and the bland spirituality held by the masses?” When we begin to answer this question, not in theory, but directly as it relates to our communities, we are seeing God in Christ redeem what is broken and lost.

I like this model a lot, and agreeing that it is best puts most of us in a position to do better than we have in the past in relating to our culture. Yet, it requires much more of us. In fact, if we believe that cultural engagement should essentially look like what we see above, then it requires at least 6 things of us.

6 Rules of Cultural Engagement
1. Be present.It sounds easy enough, but being present in the world these days is made difficult because of the Christian sub-culture the church has created around itself. Being present means being a part of the community God has sent you to, not just the community he wants you to help create. Do you know the people, the local issues and struggles, the values, practices and interests of your neighbors? There will be no cultural engagement unless you are there, hanging out, interacting with the world outside of the church. Need a place to start? Introduce yourself to your neighbors and invite them over for dinner, read the local paper, participate in local events, let your voice be heard when appropriate, be a regular at local establishments.

2. Practice discernment.You must be thoughtful in your engaging. Is [fill in the blank] something to reject outright (nothing good in it), something to receive as it points to truth or beauty, or is this an opportunity to point to the redemption we, and all things, have in Jesus? It is not always time to be the culture warrior, nor does Jesus call us to be spiritual pacifists. Sometimes we must fight, sometimes we share things in common, but we are always looking to heal.

3. Develop your theology.You cannot be a culture engager if you are not a theologian. You will be unsuccessful in “redeeming culture” if you are unsuccessful as a student of theology. I am not suggesting that everyone needs to be a resurrected Turretin, Owen or Edwards, nor am I suggesting that God cannot overcome our theological inadequacies. But to speak to the culture of sin, the gospel and the character of God requires that we understand these things. Where to start? Read good books that focus on theology and its application to life and community. Dialog with others about this very task who share a growing passion for both the gathered church and the sent church.

4. Find courage.Engaging the culture in this way demands great personal conviction. Like Jesus and the apostles, preaching the gospel in word and deed will both lead to you being favored as a helper, and hated as a meddler. It just depends on the issue. Everyone who labors in such work will encounter fear. Comfort and courage will only come from God who has promised that the we are blessed when persecuted, and the gates of hell will not prevail against his church.

5. Speak clearly.To properly engage your culture, whether rejecting what is evil, or receiving what is good, you must speak the language of the culture. For most this should be easier than imagined. You probably understand the language of your community, but you may not speak it - particularly when it comes to explaining the gospel to people. It is not enough to say the murder of the innocent is an abomination, or that all men are dead in sin and need to be regenerated and justified. We must explain ourselves - even better, the gospel - in words they can understand. Many of us need to learn to rely less on talking points and canned presentations that are connecting less and less to the post-Christian culture, and begin developing an earnest, dialogical method of engaging with our words. There’s no easy how-to for this beyond simply doing it, failing, and trying again.

6. Love.This is perhaps the most important rule of engaging culture, because most of the time you will not only be engaging ideas, but people; people made in God’s image, people who feel, people Christ calls us to love and serve. It is not appropriate to claim we love our neighbors without a real demonstration of that love. Whether we are rejecting, receiving or redeeming love for God and others must be what moves us to speak and act.

A Question to Ponder...

I am teaching First Timothy verse by verse on Wed. nights at Mabel White. The study of First Timothy has led to revisiting passages on Elders. When I say Elders, I include the position of "Pastor" or "Senior Pastor" as biblically, those positions outside of the context of a plurality of Elders do not exist. The "Pastor" / "Senior Pastor" IS an elder.
The question:
Is the POSITION (of Pastor) to be honored, or the MAN?

Here is one of the passages I have been chewing on...

17The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. 18For the Scripture says, "YOU SHALL NOT MUZZLE THE OX WHILE HE IS THRESHING," and "The laborer is worthy of his wages." 19Do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses. 20Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also will be fearful of sinning. 21I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of His chosen angels, to maintain these principles without bias, doing nothing in a spirit of partiality. 22Do not lay hands upon anyone too hastily and thereby share responsibility for the sins of others; keep yourself free from sin.

Here's where I am tonight - The position of elder is a position of honor. I Timothy 3:1 says, "It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do." It is something that a man "aspires to." It is a position that requires a great deal of character and a life that is "above reproach." (Above reproach does not mean perfect or without error, or any fault. It refers to a character that is known to be good, godly, and 'generally' above reproach.)
HOWEVER
The POSITION is not honored above the MAN. The man is to be due "double honor" if he rules well, and especially if he works hard at preaching and teaching. So there is a qualification for the degree of honor given to the man. It is also interesting to note that while the position (and the man who has qualified for it) calls for special considerations when an accusation is made against an elder, it is also true that provision is made for how to handle accusations (5:19-20). A single accusation is probably not sufficient for discipline. HOWEVER, when there are numerous people who share in an accusation, then neither the man nor the position should be elevated to "untouchable" status. The man is to be approached. If he continues in the sin he is accused of, the he is to be rebuked before the congregation. Certainly his sins should not be covered up nor should they be excused because of his position. The man is not excused because of his position.
Here's my conclusion:
A pastor is not OWED honor or respect because he holds a position. He should hold the position because he is honorable and respectable. When he is no longer honorable and respectable, he is no longer fit to be an elder and should be dealt with in a biblical manor.

edited 11/19/07

Working for Two of My Heroes

This week I have learned a lot about laying tile! We have just finished my last Mission trip as a Mabel White pastor. Working for Missionaries in Nuevo Progresso, Mexico we laid about 1000 square feet of ceramic tile. I have hauled tiles, and bags of grout and cement. I have swept, filled buckets of water, mixed who knows how much cement and grout, busted cement floor by hand, cut tiles, and cleaned floors with dry rags by hand. My thumb developed a nice bloody blister and tile chips flying off of a saw blade bloodied up a perfectly good work shirt... and it was great! I don't have a lot of Heroes - that's wrong, I do have a lot of heroes, just not like a lot of people. Missionaries are my heroes. And what was great about this week was hearing and seeing the joy of 2 of my heroes when they saw our work at the end of the week! After years of people promising to get the medical clinic floor tiled, Judy was thrilled to actually see it happen. And What a joy to see Rea admiring the somewhat intricate cuts that were made in the tile floor where it joined some of the wood work in the clinic. Their smiles, and the smiles of the 2 men, Jose and Antonio, who we worked with made this week worth it!
Missionaries are my heroes - all missionaries... men and women, boys and girls - Jesus lovers who have been transformed by the gospel and are willing to do what it takes to see the gospel go forward and transform the lives of others! What a joy to talk with Rea and Judy about their vision and desire to see the gospel transform the culture in which God has placed them - and to share their vision. Though our cultural contexts are vastly different, our drive, and desires and passions are the same, seeing the gospel transform everything within our reach.
I look forward to being home - seeing my wife and children, and digging in to help New City Church be a church that is more than a building, an organization, a man, or a service - helping the NCCd people be a group of missionaries living out Gospel transformation, and seeing that same Gospel transform everything within our reach!