Update...

It has been about two months since my last post, "Recap". Let me bring you up to speed.

Access Church is still moving forward, albiet in a slightly different direction (by degrees) than it was a few months ago. As I told you in the Recap, we have altered our Strategy from 'launching' an attractional BIG EVENT weekly service on April 4. But what have we altered it to? Well that's a little difficult to explain...

First, we will NOT be 'Launching' on April 4. I am terribly sorry if that's a big disappointment to you. It was, in fact, a big disappointment to me at first. It seemed that our Launch was what we were working toward, what we were working for even. And if our Launch didn't happen, well then what is this all about? Should we simply cancel and fold? Still, for the reasons I stated in the last post, it didn't seem like Launching was really what God had on our hearts.

Because our church planting has to be about more than the Launch (despite what Nelson Searcy might say). First of all, it has to be about Jesus and His glory. Secondly, it's gotta be about the people in Aldergrove (not in New York). It has to be about building community - Gospel Community. So if we fail to launch but we see Jesus' glory and the Gospel being lived out in community, then we've achieved what we're aiming for. Funny, then, that I felt like such a failure for pulling the plug on launching. Just goes to show where my idolatries lie.

So we've canceled the Launch. Now what? Well, it's going back to developing community. What does that mean? It's interesting that since we've put the Launch to death, seeds of new things have started sprouting. One thing that happened is that at work (I work at Dead Frog Brewery) I asked for more shifts, more hours, more responsibility (more pay). As I was working one night, one of the guys asked me to tell him about Christianity. I asked, 'what do you want to know?' and he asked some questions, but as the hours went by he simply said, 'tell me anything you want to tell me about your religion'.

Now, you've got to understand, I was thrown for a loop by this request. This is the type of openness that I've mocked Christians for believing someone would one day present to them. Just short of "what must I do to be saved", this is the opportunity every XN with a little bit of an evangelist's heart waits and yearns for. And I had nothing! Well, not really... I have the Holy Spirit and I prayed and asked God to fill me with His inspiration. So we talked about hope, that which Jesus offers to the world. We talked about the purpose of life and the glory of God, about salvation and hell and heaven and new creation, about God's love and justice, mercy and holiness. Mostly we talked about hope. I told him that I was meeting with a few guys to discuss the Bible at a local Bar and Grill, and he said he'd love to join us. That's happening this Tuesday.

The guys I'm meeting with are two guys I feel called to 'disciple'. One is my buddy Dan. We were friends in high school, lost touch for 10 years, and then through facebook reconnected just before he asked his girlfriend to marry him. I got to officiate the ceremony, which means that I got to meet together with Dan and Monica over the next year and a half for premarital prep. Over that time, Taralyn and I presented the Gospel to them. When we were planning to plant this church I told them what we were about and they were thrilled to 'help get it going'. Unfortunately, Monica has had to work each Sunday but Dan has been at almost each 'prelaunch service'. I've carefully explained the Gospel at these, and laid out how we might receive Jesus' salvation ourselves. Later, I asked Dan where he's at, and he confirmed he's a believer and a Christian! Clearly, God is directing me to disciple this good friend of mine.

The other guy is Lucas. He's been a Christian for years. In fact, Lucas was on the missions trip that was so foundational to my own journey and desire to plant churches 14 years ago. Then, he was a teenager. Now, he's grown up and married with a son, but not really connected to a discipling church. We haven't connected deeply yet, but I feel a deep compulsion to disciple him.

I'm looking forward to getting together with these guys and others at what we're calling "Beer and Bible" on Tuesday nights. I'm also looking forward to connecting with them and their wives, seeing our families interact, and building Gospel Community with them together. THAT'S my focus right now.

There are others in this town who God has called me to bring together, people who are Christians looking for community. We're getting together tonight for a social time of games and snacks, and we'll see where it goes from there. My vision now is to build this Gospel Community, and to inspire the others to do the same. As we move forward, we'll call these Communities together and form something of a structure for discipleship and worship, outreach, and connecting (Faith, Mission, Community). Maybe at that time we can start our Access Gatherings again, but gathering together communities rather than individuals.

That's the way it looks right now. We're living in the midst of it, we can't really see the forest with our nose up against the bark, but we're trusting Divine guidance! Thanks for your prayers, support and encouragement!