For our second book, we will be reading and discussing, Vintage Church, by Mark Driscoll.  I’m pretty excited to work through this book with each of you.

Same concept applies, however, lets work through the first 6 chapters for the first week and the second 6 chapters for the final week.  I will post a few comments with questions/thoughts on a few chapters to give a spring-board for discussion.  Feel free to do the same.

Happy reading!

My Christian life has definitely gone through seasons of growth.  Some have been monumental in growth.  Some have been dry.  Some have been exciting and full of opportunity.  Some have been lonely.  Some have been me trying to conform to a certain set of values, whether legalistic or not.  And some have been “ah ha” moments.  And as I look back over my journey as a Christ follower, there have been 3 big “ah ha” moments that have changed the way I have looked at the Christian faith and my journey with Christ altogether.

THE NON-EVANGELISTIC CHRISTIAN BUBBLE:  My first “ah ha” moment came when I moved to Boyce College in Louisville, KY.  I learned that I didn’t have to wear Christian “share wear,” as I like to call it, to be a committed Christian.  Between ages 16-18, I found myself only wearing Christian T-shirts, WWJD bracelets, hanging out with other Christians, and rocking duck-tape Bible cases for my bumper-stickered covered bibles.  I realized at some point around the age of 19 that I didn’t have to dress like a Christian, only hang with Christians, and talk like a Christian… to be a Christian. [...]

I recently had the opportunity to ask Brandon Shields a few questions about his new church plant to the great city of Indianapolis.  I had the great opportunity to learn under Brandon for a year-or-so back when I was an intern at Highview Baptist Church in Louisville, KY almost 4 years ago.  Since then, God has used Brandon mightily in my life.  He has been truly an evidence of God’s grace in my sanctification, as well as in my growth as a pastor, husband, and father.  Please pray for Brandon and his team as they are in the beginning stages of planting Soma Church.  I have no doubt that they will make a huge gospel-centered impact in this city!

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GREG:  Why Indy and why Soma?

BRANDON:  Indianapolis is a strategic city in the Midwest. With more than 1.7 million people in the metro area, Indy ranks as the 12^th largest city in the country. According to the 2010 census, Indy is also the fastest growing city in the Midwest,

Evangelical work in Indianapolis has lagged behind the city’s numerical, economic, and cultural growth. Just a century ago, Indy was dubbed “the city of churches,” with the evangelical population growing faster than the city’s overall population. Today, however is a different story – only 15% of people residing in Indianapolis consider themselves an evangelical Christian, and a recent denominational study found that the city ranked last in church planting efforts among major U.S. cities. In many ways, “Naptown” has been overlooked and underevangelized for decades. Indianapolis desperately needs a movement of the gospel.

The New Testament is filled with rich metaphors describing the countercultural community of people who have been transformed by the gospel of grace. One of the most frequent designations for this community is the Greek word Soma, which simply means “body.”

Soma Church seeks to embody the person of Jesus Christ to Indianapolis, displaying the riches of God’s grace to our great city in both word and deed. We are a young, growing church with two big ideas: 1) the gospel changes everything and 2) Indianapolis is a great city that we love and serve.

GREG:  Do you have one primary partner for your plant or are you seeking out several partners, and if so, who are they?

BRANDON:  We have a combination of individual, church, and denominational partners. Our primary partners include the North American Mission Board, Longhollow Church, Highview Baptist Church, Summit Church, and First Baptist Church of West Palm Beach.

GREG:  What are your next 3-6 months going to look like as you dive into the beginning stages of Soma?

BRANDON:  Honestly, we are spending the next several months learning. Right now, we are a small group of about 10-15 people who gather in my living room each week. We are working through our “gospel DNA” and discussing what it looks like to be disciples who love and serve our city. We plan to get out in the community regularly to listen, learn, pray, discuss, and serve our neighborhoods and networks of relationships. Our prayer is that the Holy Spirit would simply show us where he is already working to bring the Kingdom, and then just be a faithful presence in that area.

GREG:  What are some challenges you are foresee planting a church in a city like Indy? 

BRANDON:  The biggest challenge for us at this point is that I’m totally new to the city. I didn’t grow up in Indianapolis, so we kind of “parachuted” in to plant this new gospel work. Practically, that means that we have little relational, social, or spiritual capital and credibility with people in the area. It also means that it will take us longer to “incarnate” Soma’s mission in a way that is fruitful in our context. Consequently, we are devoting most of our efforts at this point to praying and listening to “people of peace” that God brings our way.

GREG:  If you could describe the mission of your church and/or your philosophy of church planting in one sentence, then what would it be?

BRANDON:  The gospel changes everything!

GREG:  How can we pray for you, your family, and your church plant?

BRANDON:  Pray for my family – I have a wife and four children, and you realize quickly that it’s not just you planting a church. Your whole family is involved in everything! Pray that we develop a deep love for our neighbors and the city. Pray that God would show us “people of peace” that can give us access into new cracks where the gospel is currently not being expressed. Pray for our launch team as we seek to disciple one another into missionaries who love and serve Jesus, one another, and our city. Pray for conversions and gospel renewal that begins with us and spills into our communities and networks.

Visit their blog at http://threemorejacobsons.blogspot.com/

This past weekend, we held a small group training at my church, Foothills Church, for up-and-coming potential small group leaders.  This training is not a normal training though, in my experience, at least.  We spent two days being intentional about training our soon-t0-be small group leaders on our discipleship strategy, the art of being a good facilitator, while also pushing them to see some of their blind spots.  This last thing often makes people feel a little uncomfortable, as we breakdown personality traits, leadership ability, and spiritual gifts, pushing them to think through hard things.  The ultimate goal of the training, however, is not to become a good small group leader.  It is, ultimately, to become more like Jesus.  During the first night of training, we take all of the potential leaders through how a regular small group would run.  From the beginning to the end, we have a small group, as if we would one in someone’s living room.  During this particular small group training, I began by telling the story of the Prodigal Son.  And what happened blew me away.

Over the past year, the story of the Prodigal Son has been a thorn in my side, of sorts.  I have told the story to small groups, to potential leaders, etc., almost 10 times over the past year.  After the story is told, the facilitator poses this question to the group:  ”What character do you find yourself relating to the most?”

I guess this question has been more of a thorn than the actual story itself though.  I go around the room and listen to everybody tell which character their life or past life most resembles.  Maybe it’s the older brother who finds himself in jealousy because of his faithfulness to his family, though his family seems to uphold and champion the immorality of the younger.  Or, maybe it’s the younger brother who goes through a time of rebellion, reflecting the Christian who back-slides, or the teenager who raises hell, instead of hearts.  Or even more, maybe it’s the father who is praying for the younger son to return home, or the heart of stone of the older child to turn to a heart redeemed by the gospel.  Either way, everybody seems to relate to one or the other.  Obviously, we all relate to the younger son, as believers, in the way the Father saves us through the blood of Jesus, restoring our relationship with him.

However, over the last year, I have racked my brain on which character I, myself, actually relate to in this story.  I don’t relate to the rebel brother, or the jealous brother, or the father.  Am I the servant?  Or the fattened calf?  It can’t be!

As I was listening to the stories of those at our training this weekend, it clicked.

I am the young son before he rebels, I thought.

I went home and thought more about it.  I am the younger son who has been given many blessings, and by the grace of God, I have not yet squandered it.  I have, however, committed my roll-a-dex of sins.  I have had my struggles throughout the years.  But it seems that my life is reflective more of the younger son that has yet to live with the swines.  As I look over my life, I see the blessings the Father has shared with me.  I have one gorgeous and faithful wife.  I have one unbelievably beautiful daughter.  I have a growing student ministry in a growing church under the title of student pastor.  I have the opportunity to take missions teams all over the world under the title of missions pastor.  I have the opportunity to write and speak and preach and make disciples.  I have an amazing immediate family and extended family, on both sides.  I have great friends who encourage, inspire, and rebuke when needed.  I have much.  I have too much.  All of which has been given to me by the grace of God, the Father, alone.  Nothing deserved.  Though never rebelled, either.

And what scares me…

All of this could be taken away at the snap of a finger, leaving me as the younger brother who lives with the swine.

I pray, on my knees, and with extended hands, that criticism would not break me, as I have seen it break so many other younger pastors — and sent them away from ministry for the pursuit of something “easier.”  I pray for a strong back-bone and tough skin.  And I pray, with a heavy and careful heart, that I would be a Godly man and pastor who would live his life above reproach… for the rest of his life.  I want accountability.  I want my wife to know all of my passwords.  I want older men and brothers in Christ always asking me the hard questions.  I want, as Billy Graham has stated, “to always have safeguards in my life against the Serpent.”

I want to look back on 50+ years of ministry and always be the younger son who never squandered his inheritance, who never left his Father’s house, and who never lived with the pigs.  And by the grace and favor of God, I pray that for you as well.

BREAD Magazine — Jan/Feb 2012 Issue

Contents Include:

So, I just read an article where the Girl Scouts of America are MASSIVE supporters of Planned Parenthood and Abortion.  No more Girl Scout Cookies for the Gibson family or for The Veritas Network in general.  Please consider this when you are thinking about buying girl scout cookies this year.  Every dollar you spend for cookies goes towards supporting abortions in our country.  This makes me sad because I love those Thin Mints!  Read the article here,

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jan/16/say-no-to-girl-scout-cookies/?page=all#pagebreak

And the following statistics are what your Girl Scout Cookie dollars are going toward:

• In 2008, approximately 1.21 million abortions took place in the U.S., down from an estimated 1.29 million in 2002, 1.31 million in 2000 and 1.36 million in 1996. From 1973 through 2008, nearly 50 million legal abortions have occurred in the U.S. (AGI).
• In 2007, the highest number of reported legal induced abortions occurred in Florida (91,954), NYC(90,870), and Texas (80,886); the fewest occurred in Wyoming (9), South Dakota (707), and North Dakota (1,235) (CDC).
• The 2007 abortion ratios by state ranged from a low of 58 abortions per 1,000 live births in Idaho andSouth Dakota (Wyoming had too few abortions for reliable tabulation) to a high of 737 abortions per 1,000 live births in NYC (CDC).
• The annual number of legal induced abortions in the United States doubled between 1973 and 1979, and peaked in 1990. There was a slow but steady decline through the 1990′s. The number of annual abortions decreased by 2% between 2000 and 2007, with a slight spike in 2006. (CDC)
• In 1998, the last year for which estimates were made, more than 23% of legal induced abortions were performed in California (CDC).
• In 2005, the abortion rate in the United States was higher than recent rates reported for Canada and Western European countries and lower than rates reported for China, Cuba, the majority of Eastern European countries, and certain Newly Independent States of the former Soviet Union (CDC).
• Nearly half of pregnancies among American women are unintended; about 4 in 10 of these are terminated by abortion. Twenty-two percent of all U.S. pregnancies end in abortion. (AGI).

Have you ever extended a hand to give a homeless man a couple of bucks?  Have you possibly extended a hand to help a family (or even family member) in a tough time?  Or have you ever traveled across the Atlantic to pass out some much-needed items to those in a third world country?  Bread?  Shoes?  Rice?  Medicine?  Or even the gospel?  Many of us have experienced this a time or two.  You have traveled across the world, or even across the street, to extend a hand to those in need.  You have gone down to the homeless shelter and have extended a hand to feed a couple of homeless guys.  This type of work seems honorable.  It seems like Christian service.  It seems like the right, Christian thing to do.  The question, however, of which hand we are extending is crucial to, what I think, true gospel-centered ministry really is.

Pity is defined as contemptuous sorrow for one in misery or distress.

Pity always deals with the unfairness of life.  Why did this happen to me?  Why did this happen to my family?  What did I do to deserve this?  Self-pity is a bad thing and so is the feeling of pity toward others.  The feeling of pity causes us to look down on someone’s station or position in life, which, in turn, ultimately causes us to look down on them.  We develop a smoky relationship at best with that person.  This makes one person the haves and the other person the have-nots.  A hierarchy forms and the relationship never develops past a welfare relationship.  It is very similar to the white knight riding in to save the day.  Here’s your hand out.  Here’s your bread.  Here’s your full better.  This creates dependency and is completely, I think, unhealthy and unbiblical.  This type of mentality, though, makes us feel good to be the hero, which creates a barrier to them knowing the real hero and lover of the soul, Jesus Christ.

Compassion, on the other hand, is a word made up of two Latin words: com — meaning to walk alongside; and passion — meaning to suffer.  The Passion of the Christ or Passion Week both mean suffering.  Compassion, unlike pity, walks with a person, creating community, friendship, understanding, and a shared journey.  When we extend a hand of compassion, we join them in their suffering.  This is what Jesus did for us.  He joined us in our journey.  He, though in the form of God, emptied himself, and became a man (Phil 2:5-6).  This is what is known as true compassion. Christ became our punishment.  He became our suffering.

When we as the church extend a hand of pity, then we are simply only giving handouts.  We are making ourselves the hero.  When we as the church come alongside someone, suffer alongside someone, and feed someone in the name of Jesus, then we are extending a hand of compassion to the least of these (Matt 25:31-46).

Do you see the difference.  It is a careful paradox; a matter of the heart, I think.  Who are you, as a follower of Jesus, extending a hand of compassion to?  Who are you suffering alongside of?

“Sociologists argue that in contemporary Western society the marketplace has become so dominant that the consumer model increasingly characterizes most relationships that historically were covenantal, including marriage.  Today we stay connected to people only as long as they are meeting our particular needs at an acceptable cost to us.  When we cease to make a profit–that is, when the relationship appears to require more love and affirmation from us than we are getting back–then we “cut our losses” and drop the relationship.  This has also been called “commodification,” a process by which social relationships are reduced to economic exchange relationships, and so the very idea of “covenant” is disappearing in our culture.  Covenant is therefore a concept that is increasingly foreign to us, and yet the Bible says it is the essence of marriage, so we must take some time to understand it.”

Tim Killer, The Meaning of Marriage.

My ministry is marked with discipleship, the desire to develop leaders, and the excitement of passing off ministry to those leaders.  That’s why at Foothills Church we pride ourselves on developing mature disciples of Christ.

In our student ministry, I have a kid named Jake.  Jake is a fellow warrior for Christ.  He hangs out with me from time to time away from church, texts me nonstop, and often blows my phone up.  Jake and I have a saying — we are creating warriors.  In fact, I let Jake preach the other night to over 100 people at our Wednesday Night Doxa service.  Did I mention he is in 8th grade?

I wake up early on Tuesdays and meet with a guy that is a few years older than me.  I HATE WAKING UP EARLY.  His name is Brian.  In fact, Brian is about 12 years older than me.  He asked me about a month ago if I would disciple him.  He started, “I know you’re really busy, but…” I stopped him right there, and I said to him, “Absolutely, I will.”  Because that’s what it’s all about.  Creating Warrior Men!

I met with a guy yesterday morning early as well.  DID I MENTION I HATE WAKING UP EARLY?  He is a Warrior Man for Christ.  He has shown faithfulness and diligence.  He has a great attitude and carries himself with optimism.  He has been in ministry for several years, and has much more experience than me; however, he is teachable.  We are passing off ministry to him.  Warrior!

My desire is to create Warrior Men who love Jesus, his church, the family, and missions.  I want to see young guys in our student ministry become Warrior Men who are called to ministry.  I want to see college students do the same.  I want to see men with families and current careers get excited about Jesus and called to ministry.

And it is happening.

Mostly in the early mornings… which I hate… but seeing men become Warriors for Jesus… now, that I love.