wake before dawn

An Emerging (Non)Vision Pt 6

indypstr@mac.com — 2009-09-23T20:40:38-04:00

Continuing my series on the emerging (non)vision for The Heights. Here are parts one, two, three, four, and five.

As I mentioned previously, The Heights core purpose statement functions as an outline of our ministry strategy:

to gather, equip, and empower people to fully participate in God’s kingdom work.

Equip highlights one of the key leadership functions described in the New Testament:

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ (Eph. 4:11–12 ESV).

We believe that God has given every follower of Christ spiritual gifts to use in building for the kingdom of God. A major responsibility of those who lead in the church is to equip people to use their gifts in meaningful ministry for the kingdom. At The Heights, leaders engage in this equipping ministry in a number of ways.

Equipping includes the ministry of preaching. The gospel transforms lives, bringing healing and hope to a broken world. One of the key ways that we equip people at The Heights is by preaching God's word, with a focus on helping people pursue Jesus' mission and embrace his values in their own lives.

Equipping also takes place in the context of small groups. Small groups give people the opportunity to learn in community, participate together in missional service, and discover and strengthen their ministry skills.

Equipping also includes leadership training and development. This is a key part of The Heights vision, as we work toward planting a network of new churches. We will identify, train, and equip people to serve as Christ-centered leaders, multiplying the ministry of The Heights.

Every follower of Christ is gifted for meaningful ministry. At The Heights, we will focus on equipping people to use their gifts in fulfilling their unique role in God's story.

An Emerging (Non)Vision Pt 5

indypstr@mac.com — 2009-08-26T19:07:27-04:00

Continuing my series on the emerging (non)vision for The Heights. Here are parts one, two, three, and four.

The Heights core purpose statement also functions as an outline of our ministry strategy:

to gather, equip, and empower people to fully participate in God’s kingdom work.

Gather in this statement is an active verb. We are sent by God to gather people for his kingdom work.

Gathering involves outreach. We do this through being involved in the community, serving others, and finding or creating opportunities to hang out with people who don’t yet know Jesus, drawing them into the fellowship of believers.

Gathering involves community. While people come to The Heights as individuals, they do not participate in isolation. They experience the welcome, encouragement, support, and challenge of genuine Christian community.

Gathering involves worship. Worship at The Heights is not a performance or show for people to sit and watch. It is not to be admired for its technical and production value. Instead, it is an opportunity to come together in a relaxed atmosphere, focus on Jesus and his kingdom, and hear from his word. It’s what we do together because we are his people.

The ultimate goal of all of this “gathering” is that people’s lives would be transformed by God’s mercy and grace so that they too will join in God’s kingdom work, each according to the gifts and abilities they’ve received.

An Emerging (Non)Vision Pt 4

indypstr@mac.com — 2009-08-18T19:20:01-04:00

Continuing my series on the emerging (non)vision for the Heights. In case you missed them, here are parts One, Two, and Three.

OK, I’m going to just pretend it hasn’t been a month since my last blog post and invite you to do the same. Deal? OK.

God calls people to follow him, not in isolation, but by living and serving in community with other Christ followers.

At The Heights, we want to grow and cultivate a true community in Christ, where people authentically love one another, encourage one another, challenge one another, care for one another, provide for one another’s needs.

True community is not manufactured by participating in artificial “community-building” exercises or activities. Genuine community is developed as we serve alongside one another in the mission of our King.

At The Heights, we will cultivate community primarily through ChristCare small groups. Each ChristCare group participates in four activities:

Prayer and Worship
Community Building and Care
Biblical Equipping
Missional Service

ChristCare groups are led by trained, supervised group leaders, who help groups stay true to The Heights beliefs, mission, and values. They are a fantastic way to connect with other Christ followers who are learning to embrace Jesus’ mission and values.

ChristCare groups will begin forming in the early part of 2010.

NAFWB

indypstr@mac.com — 2009-07-21T01:12:34-04:00

I’m with my family in Cincinnati, Ohio, this week for the National Association of Free Will Baptists.

My series on the emerging (non)vision for The Heights will continue later this week.

Apollo 11

indypstr@mac.com — 2009-07-16T12:46:11-04:00

Today is the anniversary of the lift-off of Apollo 11, the first mission to the moon.

It reminds me that a great vision or mission transcends its leader—in this case, JFK, who died several years before it was accomplished.

“There is no strife, no prejudice, no national conflict in outer space as yet. Its hazards are hostile to us all. Its conquest deserves the best of all mankind, and its opportunity for peaceful cooperation many never come again. But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas?

“We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”

–John F. Kennedy

Organic Church by Neil Cole Pt 1

indypstr@mac.com — 2009-07-15T20:10:51-04:00

I eagerly anticipated reading Organic Church: Growing Faith Where Life Happens by Neil Cole, because I had heard great comments about it. Not only did I read it with an open mind; I wanted to like it. And I did like approximately 40 percent of it.

In this book, Neil Cole attempts to deconstruct the “institutional church,” by which he seems to mean churches that have buildings and paid staff, and replace it with a new model of church which is more, well, organic.

Today, I want to cover the problems I see with this book. Next time, I’ll look at the positive contributions. Admittedly, I’m painting with broad brush strokes in my critique.

1. Cole too often deals in straw men. In his critique of what he calls the institutional church, Cole consistently caricatures the worst of the modern church. For example, some of the “myths” he addresses are that the church is meant to be a static institution, that it’s only a building, that it’s bound to a single location, that it’s only a one-hour-a-week deal. Do you know anybody that actually believes these “myths”? I don’t. So his critique falls flat for me, because he’s not dealing with reality.

2. Cole too often deals in extremes. For Cole, it’s either dead institutionalism or radical decentralization. There is no middle ground. It’s either command-and-control leadership or no human leadership. He seems to see nothing in between.

3. Cole too often makes unwarranted leaps of logic. For example, Scripture says that God does not dwell in buildings made by hands, therefore, Cole argues, churches would be better off not meeting in their own buildings. The conclusion doesn’t necessarily follow.

4. Cole too often diminishes the importance of discipleship. He argues that, for example, new converts can immediately serve as pastors. I wonder if he’s fully dealt with the fact that Jesus himself spent three years training his disciples before sending them out on their own.

5. Cole fails to adequately address what Scripture says about the Church. For example, his reduction of the role of the pastor doesn’t square with what we read in the Pastoral Epistles. Cole simply doesn’t give serious attention to the New Testament passages about church structure and leadership.

All that being said, once Neil Cole moves beyond his attack on the modern church with its buildings and paid pastors to sharing his church planting principles and methodology, he is very, very good. The funny thing is, most of his principles can just as well be implemented by churches with pastors and buildings as it can by those without.

Too summarize, Cole is unconvincing in his attempt to bury the “institutional church.” He just doesn’t bring the goods. I wouldn’t look to Neil Cole for a solid, dependable ecclesiology. But despite my critique above, I still like this book for what it does offer. More on that next time.

An Emerging (Non)Vision Pt 3

indypstr@mac.com — 2009-07-13T17:55:15-04:00

Continuing my series on the emerging (non)vision for the Heights. If you missed them, here are Part One and Part Two.

Our desire is for The Heights to be a kingdom-focused church. This is similar to saying that the church is Jesus-focused or gospel-focused. But in my mind, kingdom-focused is more specific.

Jesus’ mission was to establish the kingdom of God—a community of people who submit to Jesus as King and Lord of all. The kingdom is here and now, but it is not yet perfect and complete.

When Jesus returns, he will bring his kingdom work to completion. As the Apostle Paul says, God revealed to us “the mystery of his will, according to His purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth” (Eph. 1:9–10 ESV).

Our role, as the church, is to visibly represent God’s kingdom on earth. The Heights intends to fulfill our role in the kingdom by:

1. preaching the gospel that Jesus is Lord and that through his sacrifice on the cross, he has made it possible for us to find redemption and to participate fully in his kingdom,

2. calling people to repent of their rebellion and failure to recognize Jesus as the Lord of their lives,

3. living in community with one another, demonstrating the truth of the gospel in our daily lives and relationships,

4. equipping and empowering one another to fully participate in the work that God wants to do through our community of believers, and

5. striving for holiness in our own lives and for mercy and justice in our community.

We hope that God will use us, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to establish genuine pockets of his kingdom throughout Noblesville and Hamilton County.

Next week: What it means for The Heights to live in community.

Worship With Us at The Heights

indypstr@mac.com — 2009-07-08T22:43:56-04:00

Looking for a place to worship on your way to the National Association of Free Will Baptists in Cincinnati?

You’re invited to worship with The Heights at Forest Park Inn in Noblesville, Indiana, on Sunday, July 19, at 11 a.m. We are approximately two hours northwest of Cincinnati.

Contact us for more detailed directions or just to let us know that you plan to worship with us. We’d love to have you join us.