Tis the Season - to ReThink the Season

Earlier this week I was checking out the Advent Conspiracy after hearing much about it and knowing almost nothing. The concept was nothing new, but some of the numbers were incredible... a solemn reminder of the consumerism of my culture - and of my own consumerism.

The Advent Conspiracy is about Christmas - and Christmas spending, but we are actually in the midst of a pre-Christmas holiday right now - Halloween. While Halloween numbers fall far short of Christmas numbers, a Time Magazine article estimates Halloween spending to be 6 BILLION dollars this year. Add to that the dollars spent on enormous Fall Festivals sponsored by churches and quite frankly the numbers are sickening.

Watch this video from the Advent Conspiracy and tell me what you think...

So, as you enjoy a Fall Festival or purchase Christmas gifts,

remember that just $10 Billion could potentially change the world.

in the beginning...

I was asked to contribute to a piece that is being written for the FPD Alumni News. The article will feature comments from several FPD grads who are very involved in downtown and will describe why we love downtown and are so involved. Thinking about what to write reminded me of those first days downtown - and how we got here. Below is one of my first posts on this blog:

so as I was dreaming of

WHERE I might plant a church - downtown kept

coming to mind. A lot

of work and $ is going into rehabbingdowntown Macon. New facades on old buildings, a new Sports Hall of Fame and Music Hall of fame, new stores, pubs, and sandwich shops. Caleb, our student minister and I went to lunch. I decided I would take a look around downtown and introduce Caleb to some areas of Macon he might not know. We had lunch at the Rookery - great burgers and walked around downtown.

It made my heart BEAT.

There was LIFE.

People walking and talking, having lunch at tables along the street.

There was the occasional homeless/street person, the hospital worker, the starched-shirted businessmen, and the whole spectrum of human colors.

That was the place.

That is the place.

Continued Growth in a Bad Economy

Economic slump doesn’t stop growth in downtown Macon - Local & State - Macon.com

Source: www.macon.com

During one of the toughest economic downturns, several new small businesses have opened in downtown Macon during the past year or so, helping bring jobs and people to the citys center.

Help Wanted - SERIOUSLY

Wanted:

Church Planters

New City Church is a church plant - we started new and with little more than a small core of people, a great desire to see the gospel transform the city, and an overwhelming sense that THIS is what God was calling us to do. New City Church is a member of the Acts 29 church planting network. We are a church planting church - meaning, we believe that the best way to reach new people is through planting new churches.

New City Church is located in downtown Macon. We have Missional Communities in or near, Forsyth, Milledgeville, and Warner Robins and we are considering planting in those cities.

If you are a church planter, in agreement with Acts 29 doctrine, and Middle Georgia is where you feel God leading you to plant - we would love to talk to you.

Must be an Ox (listen here)

New City, You Have Favor With All The People

Yesterday afternoon New Town Macon held its annual meeting. The meeting is an opportunity for New Town to give a yearly review as well as talk about what is on the horizon. Bruce Green from the Georgia Department of Economic Development also spoke.

Towards the end of the meeting New Town presented its "Partners in Progress Awards." Some of the award winners were Talmadge Stuckey for 'Growing Jobs,' College Hill Corridor received the '360 Degrees Award,' and Cox Communications received the 'Creating a Sense of Place Award.' Some of the other award winners were County Commission Chairman Sam Hart, Mayor Robert Reichert, and NEW CITY CHURCH.

The award reads, "Emerging Leader," but the accolades given went well beyond any one person and spoke very clearly of a church making a difference in its city. It was amazing to hear all of the reasons the award was presented to me, especially hearing them from people not associated with New City Church. Some of the things mentioned:

starting a church in downtown Macon

a growing congregation

involvement in downtown events

a recognized presence working for downtown

volunteers serving regularly at downtown events

New City people moving to the city

financial support in the city (even quoting our Live, Work, and Play downtown)

the start of City Watch and our strong support of it

Honestly, there may have been more said. The moment was incredibly surreal and the presenter seemed to go on and on with really great things to say... it was a little overwhelming. It is still a little overwhelming.

So - New City - your work in the city, your love of the city, and your hope for the city has not gone unnoticed, and as a result it seems you have favor with all the people (Acts 2:47).

Macon Telegraph Story

567 Interview

Greg Wood recently interviewed me regarding the 567. The following is a portion of that interview found on Greg's blog:

New City Church downtown (NCCd), of which I am a member, states that “we exist to see the gospel transform everything within our reach… ourselves, our church, our city, and the world.” In April of 2008, the 567 Café became a very public expression of this mission. Located at 567 Cherry St., Macon, Georgia, the café provides a venue for musicians and artists to present their work on Friday and Saturday nights while providing coffee and other refreshments to the patrons.

In an interview on August 1, 2009, Keith Watson, pastor of NCCd said to me the following when asked what the goal of the 567 Café is.

The ultimate goal of the 567 is the same as the mission of our church: to see the gospel transform everything within our reach. The 567 is a tool that, primarily through the relationships we develop there, the gospel can go forward. Our goal primarily is gospel-transformation in people who work, live, or play in downtown Macon

Another benefit that has been observed by the church in having the 567 Café is that the members can form new relationships with people whom they would not contact otherwise. The setting is an easy place to have conversations that lead to discussing the church, the gospel, and Jesus. Secular artists, musicians, and patrons often ask questions about why a church would provide such a venue in the downtown area. In short, the café serves to help people live missional lives.

New City Church downtown is committed to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. NCCd also holds that faith in Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation. The church is a theologically conservative evangelical church which believes in the authority, inerrancy, and infallibility of Scripture. A more complete list of theological beliefs can be found at the church’s website: www.newcitydowntown.org/about_new_city.

Part of the reason NCCd gathers in downtown Macon (and thus the 567 Café is in downtown Macon) is that other churches have left the area, and most of the churches who are still there are not engaging the culture with the gospel. Thus, the 567 Café seeks to be for the good of the city, and the advancement of the kingdom and the gospel.

In addition, downtown Macon has a fairly rich music history and a music scene that seems to be reviving. Keith expounded on how the 567 Café took on its current form.

As a part of the revitalization efforts of downtown, NCCd wanted to involve the visual arts and music. In talking with musicians and others who were downtown, NCCd found that the only places to listen to music were bars. There were no listening rooms. It was just loud bars filled with smoke. We could meet a need in that musicians are looking for a place to play. Macon needed its own residents to see good things happening downtown. The space just fit all of that. It fit our needs and the
needs of the city. That’s contextualizing what we do.

I asked Pastor Keith how he sees the 567 serving to establish a counter-culture rather than a sub-culture. Here is how he answered:

Our hope and goal is to celebrate good things that God has created. God created us to be creative people like he is creative. I believe that’s a part of being created in his image. So we celebrate the creativity of the people in our city. We do so in an environment that is generally clean and safe for family and where we can come with our wife and children. It’s an environment that is good for the musicians as well.

What we do at the 567 is counter-cultural in two ways. It’s counter-cultural in the secular world because we’re a place that celebrates the artists and their creativity. This is very counter-cultural because in the other venues that those artists play, it’s not about the artists or their art; [rather] it’s about them bringing money to the facility. So we’re counter-cultural there in that we truly celebrate them and the gifts that God’s
given to them.

The 567 is also counter-cultural in church culture because we’re not running from our community and our culture. We’re engaging it and celebrating what is good.

When asked to share some of the things that have shown him that God’s hand is really involved in this ministry, Keith shared the following.

Many people have been skeptical of the church being downtown and us doing this cafe thing for music. There have been a number of people who have been sitting back and watching to see whether we were real and genuine. I had a conversation at Bragg Jam last week with a female musician whose lyrics indicates that she’s got Christian background, but you can also hear in her lyrics that something has happened that really hurt her. She walked away from the church several years ago. Well she’s played at the 567 Cafe several times. We have developed a relationship through talking with her about her music and about her playing at the cafe and through serving her while she’s at the Cafe (by helping her get set up and torn down). That developed that relationship so that when we were at Bragg Jam, she and I sat down while one of the musicians was playing and had a thirty minute conversation about religion, church, and the gospel. We’re supposed to meet again for coffee just to talk more. But she was obviously very excited. She said she has not found anyone in the last several years who she felt that she could talk openly and honestly to about her hurts in the church and
religion. So there’s one.

This was I think the tenth year of the Bragg Jam music festival. This was our [the 567’s] second year as a venue and this year we were the only non-alcohol-serving venue at Bragg Jam. We had rave reviews from a lot of the people who played there and who visited there for music. After Bragg Jam, because of the 567 and because our people serve at Bragg Jam, there were some conversations as they were planning for next year’s Bragg Jam. [We talked about NCCd] providing help to them, create a couple
of more venues that were family-friendly, and even having Christian music. One of the ideas was to maybe do some gospel music to bring black and white together-maybe even to bring a couple of the church choirs together as one of the acts. So all of that, to me, is a hint of redemption that is coming through Bragg Jam, which was a pub crawl only two years ago. The only way that that conversation was taking place was because of the 567 and our people serving in the city. So that is a huge success.

City Watch [a Neighborhood Watch for a sixteen block area surrounding the 567 Café] is a result of the 567 because people saw that we were serious about our city and loved our city and wanted to be a part of revitalizing our city. That led to conversations about what we could do about security and other issues downtown. That led to City Watch, which pays a part of Patrick’s monthly income. So that was a big thing directly connected to the 567.

There have been tons of gospel conversations with unbelievers… and on and on.

New City’s efforts have been met with some skepticism from those outside the body. The common misunderstanding was that it would be a “church café” for “church people” with “church bands.” It was thought that the 567 Café would simply be against the things that go on in the city.” The Church in downtown Macon has not generally celebrated with the culture. It has been completely isolated in its own world, following more of Niebuhr’s “Christ Against Culture” model. So, the apprehension was brought about because people expected the 567 Café to be the same.

In, For, On - a Changing Season

Fall is in the air... at least hints of Fall. Fall is probably my favorite season - football, cool mornings, the bright colors of changing leaves... good stuff!

This Fall brings another change for me. I have been hard at work for 2 years IN New City Church and FOR New City Church - now I have to shift and work more ON New City Church. Let me explain:

IN - Working IN New City Church means I spend time IN the church and IN the activities of the church. Working IN the church includes things like counseling, set up and tear down, study and sermon prep, even concessions and sound at the 567 - the in-house things that you would think of most when you think of a pastor.

FOR - Working FOR the church means that I am working on behalf of the church. This would include attending local meetings outside of the church, working with a group talking and considering a 'Day Shelter' for the homeless, working with New Town Macon and others downtown. These are things that I often do for the good of New City Church. I represent you (New City) in our community and beyond.

Both of these I am very accustomed to as a pastor. All pastors work IN and FOR their churches to some degree, though I will admit that New City's commitment to our city has caused much more work FOR than I ever anticipated. What is very new to me, at least to the sizable degree that we face as a church plant, is working ON New City Church.

ON - Working ON New City means that I will be focussing on things like SYSTEMS (ex. how do we evaluate and train future church planters, elders, deacons..., membership?), PROGRAMS (ex. what do we need in place to ensure that our current and future leadership is well trained, what needs exist for children...), POLICIES (in writing), HIRING, FIRING, BUDGETING... and the list goes on!

The truth is that for the most part, things have been so busy since we started that I haven't had time or energy to work ON while also working IN and doing so much work FOR. I believe that now we have established ourselves well downtown, so I can ease off on some of the FOR work. And hopefully some of our people will take up my slack and continue a lot of the great work that remains to be done. I also believe that getting a bit more work done ON the church will free me up to continue to be more involved IN the church - especially in developing the leadership IN the church.

So it is a season of change. Coming soon in 2010 we should see New City's version of church membership - something we are choosing to call PARTNERSHIP. With that we will add a 5 or 6 week class that I am writing now. We are also looking at training that we would open up to the entire church but that is aimed at developing current and future leadership - classes like How to Study Your Bible, An Old Testament Overview with the Gospel in mind, New Testament Overview, Theology Basics, Biblical Counseling, and more (remember, we are a worshipping community of missional THEOLOGIANS)

On top of that I and other church leadership continue to ponder the possibilities of a move and a more permanent 7 day a week home for New City. We are looking for a strong finish to 2009 as God continues to do amazing things in and through New City - and already the season is changing and 2010 is looking amazing!

Baptists, Gays, and A-29 - What a Day!

Yesterday was quite the full day! I had two major appointments - The Georgia Baptist Convention North of Atlanta for what turned out to be a round table discussion with 8 church planters from the state and several leaders from the GBC, followed by a panel discussion at Mercer University on the subject of Gays and Religion. Thanks for all of the prayers and questions about how things went - for those who want to know - here's the rundown...

GBC and A-29

GBC will continue to welcome churches who desire to be both A-29 and Georgia Baptists.

Churches who desire to receive funding from the GBC or SBC (Southern Bapt Convention) will sign a statement saying that they do not drink alcohol and hold a position of abstinence. The possibility exists that an A-29 church plant who agrees with the abstinence policy of the GBC/SBC and agrees with the ecclesiology statement of the GBC/SBC and who desires to be Southern Baptist MAY (as in - maybe, might, possibly) be eligible for GBC/SBC funding as any other GBC/SBC church plant would be.

Also

I had a great discussion with Butch Butcher the GBC head of church planting about the fact that each Acts 29 church is independent and not all Acts 29 churches are the same. So each church should not be judged based on Mars Hill or Mark Driscoll. Likewise just because some Acts 29 churches take a moderation approach to alcohol, doesn't mean that all do - many take an abstinence approach. Therefore churches should be considered individually when partnering with the GBC and should not be automatically viewed in a negative light because they are Acts 29.

There seems to have been good, honest dialog and there is a mutual respect for one another even though there are differences on secondary issues (though alcohol remains a primary issue for most in the SBC/GBC).

J Robert White, the GBC Executive Director stated that he would like very much to meet again and continue the dialogs. A couple of guys from the GBC church planting team said they would like to come and visit me and New City soon.

Gays and God

(I think that is what the evening was called)

I was a late invite to the table, but gladly accepted the invitation. The panel was made of 8 - 4 Conservative / 4 Liberal

Conservatives: Myself, Eric Ashley (Associate Pastor at First Pres Macon), Chris Fuller (Bapt College Ministry leader at Mercer), Dominique Johnson (local word of faith preacher/minister)

Liberals: Camile Hegg (Rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church), Dennis Meredith (Pastor of Tabernacle Bapt in ATL), Chris (Prof of History at Mercer), a Mercer student who is gay

questions:

What is your church's faith tradition and how has it historically viewed homosexuality?

How does your church view membership of homosexuals and their full participation in the church?

How will your church address / respond to the growing acceptance of gay marriage - especially if Gay marriage were to become legalized in GA?

Each panelist answered the question and then other panelists may add to, comment, or question those responses.

I am very thankful to have had an opportunity to participate in the discussion - I learned a great deal. There were a couple of tense moments, but all remained civil and no one yelled - a good night on such a difficult subject. So here are a few observations:

1) The 4 conservatives relied on Scripture - because Scripture holds such a high value to us. We all quoted Scripture and repeatedly expressed that our opinions were not based on feelings, or fears, but on what the Bible says.

All 4 liberals relied on feelings, psychology, and opinion. They gave no Scriptural references and stated that the Bible is important but should not be taken as literal. It is best to take the teachings of the Bible along with modern psychology and a good understanding of culture. Rector Hegg said that we should understand that the Bible is really just stories of people from long ago trying to make sense of life and understand how God was a loving God. (What the #@!!% are you talking about!!!!!?????? - sorry, mental flashback on my part)

2) The most humble people speaking were the conservatives (maybe excluding myself - I wasn't always humble). The liberals in the room were at times arrogant making statements like: the conservative reactions come from fear - homophobia. That statement was made multiple times - I reacted on the 1st occasion by raising my hand and stating - I am NOT a homophobe. I am not afraid of those of you who are gay. The second time I said that the Rector was making gross misstatements of me and other conservatives by saying that we react in fear. The truth is that our position is held based on our theology and based on the teachings of Scripture. Another statement - the problem with them (looking at the conservatives on the panel) is that they are unwilling to look at the findings of doctors, sociologists, and psychologists. There were other statements as well. The conservatives over and over and over presented themselves as broken and dependent on Jesus.

3) I never heard the gospel - in any form - from the liberals. Every answer and discussion by conservatives went back to the gospel - our common need for a redeemer - and Jesus being that redeemer.

4) Without a common view of Scripture - there will never be agreement between liberals and conservatives.

Most outrageous statements of the night:

1) You are not broken or sinful - you are good, just like you are - you are the image of God.

(Who needs to know what the Bible says about you???? Just ask Prof. Chris!)

2) God created me in his image. I am gay. Therefore a part of God must be gay as well.

3) The statement above by the Rector - that the Bible is really just stories of people from long ago trying to make sense of life and understand how God was a loving God.

All in all, a great night - much learned - Jesus was highly exalted. I probably don't have many new gay friends - but that wasn't the hope of the night - sharing the gospel with boldness in love and kindness was... I think that happened.

Broken

Tomorrow night I will participate as a member of a panel at Mercer University. The Homosexuality & Religion panel discussion is comprised of Mercer religious gay students and local religious leaders. The discussion will address the individual's religious tradition and how they have personally or traditionally placed/viewed gays and lesbians. Also to be discussed: what will your tradition do to address homosexuality in light of the six states that currently legalize gay marriage.

I am excited and maybe a little nervous about the opportunity.

Nervous because I am a theologically conservative Christian who believes the Bible - which teaches homosexuality to be a sin.

Excited because this is a Gospel issue. In Jesus we have Redemption and Restoration. Sin has rendered us Broken - but Jesus has come to fix all that is broken! I'll leave it there for now and post more after the discussion.

Pray that I will boldly proclaim the gospel - with all kindness, compassion, and love... pray that it would be heard.

On a side note - My shoulder is also Broken! I just found out today 10 days after my motocross crash. The shoulder bone is broken where the rotator cuff is connected. Moving my arm causes the bone to be pulled away and makes the break worse. I am in a sling that keeps me from moving it. The doc will x-ray it again in 2 weeks to see if it is healing... if so, I will avoid surgery. Pray for that!

Need Prayer

For whatever reason, it seems that God is providing some pretty cool opportunities to speak to different groups. In light of that I ask that you remember me when you pray... as Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:19 pray for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel...

Sept 28th - I spoke at Mulberry Methodist's business luncheon - it was a joy and a great opportunity to share New City's vision for reaching the city and to challenge others in joining God's mission of redemption and restoration

October 4 - This Sunday - I will preach at Macon Community Bible Church's 14th Anniversary

October 7 - I am joining Jason Martin at the Georgia Baptist Convention to talk with GBC leadership (including J. Robert White) about Acts 29 and being Southern Baptist.

November 10-12 - Amy and I will head to Acts 29 Boot Camp in Louisville. The line up for this Boot Camp is incredible! I am humbled to have been asked to lead a break out session for church planters on Mission and Vision - Great Church, Great City. I will also have the opportunity to share a brief testimony in one of the main sessions on Decoding Your City.

January 22-23 - New City Church will host an Acts 29 Regional Event - Plant and RePlant. We are anticipating church planters and re-planters from all over the Southeast. We will have Tyler Jones and Jonathan McIntosh as our main speakers with myself and others, like Matt Adair, Jason Martin, and Jeremy Carr leading break outs.

Almost Every Sunday - It is a great privilege to proclaim Christ week in and week out at New City Church downtown!

Please pray for me, that in every opportunity I will with boldness proclaim the truth and beauty of the gospel!

UPDATE on a New Location

I just returned from a "Pre-development Meeting" with Planning and Zoning concerning our potential use of the old Burgess Carpet Building on Spring Street. The meeting went great! The questions raised were the questions that I anticipated - limited parking, fire safety with no sprinklers in the building. What was amazing to me was the overall support from a room filled with city officials (Macon Water Authority, Fire Department, P&Z, Inspection and Fees, and more!). There was agreement from everyone present that the plans would be a compliment to the city and to the immediate neighbors. And on the question of parking and safety, both departments offered alternative solutions and said that they would help us work through those issues. That is the GOOD NEWS.

Now for the OTHER NEWS. I intentionally said "OTHER NEWS" because I really do not see this as BAD News. I received a call yesterday from the Real Estate agent who has the property listed. The property is now under contract with someone attempting to purchase. That means that if they continue and are able to close, the building will not be available to us.

Bummed? Not in the least! We are currently meeting in a great spot - the Capitol Theater and we have another great spot in the 567. We have no immediate need for another space.

If we have no immediate need and we have 2 great spots, why even look?

Great question! Thanks for asking.

Here are some of the reasons why we are looking - in no particular order:

1) Stewardship - We lease the theater on Sunday mornings for only a few hours, and we lease the cafe 24/7. Initially we had no income and certainly not a 'steady' and 'stable' income from giving. We also had no money in the bank. So, leasing the theater made a lot of sense. We used their chairs, tables, sound equipment, projector...

Now, we have many of those items and our giving is somewhat stable and steady. So, it may be that we would be better stewards if we invested God's money in a building that we could use more than a few hours once a week.

2) Roots - It seems (intuitively) that it is time for us to begin sinking our roots a little deeper into the city. It is difficult to establish those roots without a true home. A home of our own on a more permanent basis communicates that we are here and we are here to stay!

3) God's Leading - Yes that is very subjective, I know. But there is something stirring deep inside that says it is time. I believe that is God stirring - pray with me that it isn't just the Buffalo Chicken sandwich I had for lunch! Pray for wisdom and clarity.

One of the great side notes on this potential move is that several in our city have expressed a great, great concern with our potential move. They fear that we will leave - not be a presence in the city-center. They are trying to help us find a location that will keep us right in the middle of things. It is rare that a church have such favor from non-church people.

The adventure continues!