A Night of Firsts...

A Night of Firsts at our Redbud satellite campus this evening...

-Our first guests...
-Our first use of the Bible on a PDA
-Our first ineffective use of the Bible on a PDA
-Our first display of public nudity(thank you Will, for watering the tree in our front lawn)

Keep in mind my meeting with some pastors for lunch on Thursday. These gentlemen have expressed interest in possibly partnering with us in our mission to connect Versailles. I'm looking forward to meeting with them and seeing what possibilities lay before us.

Lots of job decisions coming up for several people.

Thanks to those of you who came to the semi-finals of the Stand-up Comedy Contest last night. The top two made it on to the Finals, and I was in the final four, but didn't advance. That's fine, since I was just doing it for fun. I appreciate those of you who came, cheered, and sat through a bunch of bad "comedy". I hope it was worth your five bucks and whatever you spent on drinks.

Remember, because of the holiday, we will not meet formally next Wednesday night. If anybody wants to hang out at the County Park's big deal, let us know, because we'll be out there. Otherwise, enjoy the time with your family and friends, and start being in prayer for who you can invite and connect with over the next two weeks!

Out.

Mosaic This Week...

An update on all things Mosaic this week....

-The first batch(bushel?) of veggies from our Community Garden has been delivered. After two days of conflicting information from the local food pantry as to whether fresh veggies are accepted, we decided to honor those who serve our community and deliver the first bag to the fire department. We didn't want these veggies to go to waste while we tried to get definitive answers from people, and it's always good to show our thanks to those who put their lives on the line for us. They were very grateful and appreciative, so the first delivery was definitely a success. This also gives us time to figure out EXACTLY will accept them from now on.

-Our Director of Technical Ministries has already developed the new website. It's found at www.mosaicversailles.blogspot.com. This will serve as a good way to deliver basic information until we get our big fancy-pants website. Eventually, we'll put times/locations on there, as well as our "history", purpose, vision, etc. It's free, and also has a link to this site, which will stay in effect. Basically, this site will be for those involved in Mosaic, as well as those who are supporting us through prayer. The new site will be for those we are inviting, as well as anyone else interested in joining us.

-Kelly and I are in the middle of Basic Training, a church planting workshop in Anderson County this weekend. We are learning some valuable information and insights, and enjoying getting to know others in the same boat. This includes Larry Blackford, pastor of the other new church start in Versailles, Glory Baptist Church. Seems as if we both have the same mission, same heart for the disconnected, and are also sharing some resistance from those who can't quite get their arms around our calling. We are not alone!!!

-Tuesday is Round Two of the stand-up comedy contest at Comedy Off Broadway. For those of you who will be attending, prepare to be offended(not by me, hopefully) and underwhelmed at the talent. I appreciate you all coming, and I hope you enjoy the evening. I assume that you'll laugh at whatever I say, whether it's good, and you're laughing WITH me, or it tanks, and you're laughing AT me. Show starts at 8, it would be good to get there at 7:30.

-Wednesday, we meet at our Redbud location. Be thinking of who you can invite!

-Thursday, I have a luncheon with Ray Van Camp of Elkhorn Association, as well as four pastors who are interested in supporting our new church. Be in prayer for this meeting, and that I would pick something healthy at Applebees instead of the Club House Grill with fries.

-A couple of weeks ago, we talked about some issues that need to be addressed as we go into Phase Two of our church's life...issues like our vision, worship, structure, etc. Instead of dealing with these on Wednesday nights, I'd like to email you my thoughts on these issues, and we can discuss it in that way. This allows these issues to be clarified, while keeping Wednesday nights the way they're intended to be. So be on the lookout for one or two of these emails later this week.

Lots going on, lots to pray for. I continue to be excited at how God is moving in us AND around us!

We're off and running....

Many years from now, when the history of our new church is written, we'll all be able to laugh at the fact that on Wednesday, June 20th, designated as our first "public" gathering, we actually DECREASED in attendance by two. Funny stuff...

What good discussion we had tonight. Working through tough issues, processing what Trent/Kristen said, and discussing how it affects as we go from here onward. I thought it was pretty helpful to take a step back and talk about these things.

A couple of things to keep in mind...
1. Be on the lookout for people who need to be connected. Build those relationships.
2. Pray that we would have wisdom when dealing with tough issues and new territories.
3. We will meet at our Redbud location next week, but will NOT meet the following week b/c of the holiday.
4. Be in prayer for those who have job issues.
5. Be in prayer for the meeting next week with prospective supporters.

Every week, my excitement builds about what God is doing in our midst. I hope you feel the same way.

Thoughts on Wednesday night...

First of all, do you like the new title of the blog?

I would love to hear your thoughts about our "focus group" from Wednesday night, Kristen and Trent. I have thoughts of my own, but I'd love to know what you took away from their comments and suggestions. I'll wait until Monday or Tuesday to add my two cents. Use the comments section to discuss what you gained from that experience.

We are.....Mosaic

We are Mosaic.

After much prayer, brainstorming, discussion, chocolate, and three rounds of voting, we realized that "Mosaic" is the name God has given to our new church.

At least, we think so.

There are still a few minor copyright issues to check on. But assuming those work out smoothly, we now have a NAME! Which means that we have something to invite people to, instead of just "the new church we're starting that meets at different houses."

Why Mosaic?

I felt there were three primary levels of meaning that make Mosaic a beautiful picture of what we are and are trying to be...

1. Each of us, as Christians, is simply a collection of broken pieces that have been put back together, through Christ, to form something beautiful and useful.
2. Our church is and will be a collection of broken pieces that have been put together, through Christ, to form something beautiful and useful.
3. The Kingdom is and will be a collection of broken pieces that have been put together, through Christ, to form something beautiful and useful.

So we're Mosaic. And our prayer is that God will begin to add broken pieces to our work in progress, to continue to mold us into something beautiful and useful.

When your "no" doesn't mean "no"

After reading my previous entry, and all the things that the new church WON'T have, I feel the need to clarify a few things. Some of you are just finding out about this blog, which to this point, has been for those in the foundational group of the new church. So I need to explain myself better about a few things from the last entry.

1. When I say we won't have Vacation Bible School, I'm not saying it isn't a worthwhile ministry to children. It's obviously been successful at getting kids to hear the gospel in a concentrated atmosphere, and has led to thousands of decisions for Christ. So it obviously has merit and value.

However, we won't have VBS(as it's been done) for a couple of reasons. One, it doesn't really flow with our calling to engage the community IN the community. It's strictly a "come and see" event, rather than a "go and tell" ministry. So if we have summer ministry programs for kids, I envision them being smaller, more numerous, and happening out in the city. Second, and more practically, we wouldn't have a place to host a big VBS anyway, so we're forced to be out in the city as opposed to holed up in a building, hoping people show up.

2. When I say we won't have Sunday School, I'm not saying we won't have small group bible studies. But they won't be called "Sunday School", because that's a term that, to the people we're trying to reach, probably has a negative connotation. It definitely isn't a positive one. Plus, the long-held format of S.S., which consists of people getting together before a worship service to hear a teacher teach a lesson and engage in limited discussion, doesn't flow with our calling, which is to engage people with God, His Word, and others.

That can't happen in the traditional S.S. format...or at least not well. The people we're trying to reach will connect more readily with a more casual format...another night of the week, in someone's home(or even at a restaurant), where the leader is a teacher, but also a facilitator, helping lead the group to engage the text and each other. Having this format also allows more time for relationship-building, prayer, and ministry. While Sunday School(in its usual form) has worked for a long time for a lot of people, it is not the most efficient way to minister to these new, disconnected generations.

We will have small groups(or life groups, or cell groups, or whatever), that will focus on bible study, prayer, ministry, and fellowship(sharing our lives with one another).

3. When I say we won't have committees, I mean that-we won't have committees. I could go on forever about committees, but here is a list of why we won't have them...

-They are usually dead weight in the church leadership structure. Many of them either don't meet at all, or meet for no apparent reason.
-They usually involve the same people, just rotated around different committees like car tires.
-People usually are on committees for one of two WRONG reasons. They either love having power and influence(which is exactly the OPPOSITE of what Jesus taught...in fact, He spoke openly against those who sought that kind of influence), or they can't say no when asked to be on a committee, so they serve grudgingly.
-They usually suck a lot of time and energy from those involved.

I envision a more streamlined structure of leadership(which, to be honest, I'm still praying/studying/reading through) that involves ministry TEAMS rather than committees. I want people to serve who WANT to serve on a team that actually DOES something and has a task. When people feel a sense of purpose, they're energized to serve. Our ministry teams will have a purpose, goal, task, etc. We'll keep things simple so that people can serve where they're passionate about serving, and won't lose precious family/community time just so they can sit stone-faced during a meeting about nothing.

So there are your clarifications. Will we have children's ministry? Absolutely. Will we have bible study? Definitely. Will we have ways for people to be involved in ministry? All the time. But we will not use structures that are either relics of days gone by, or don't flow with our calling and mission. We will stay true to the calling that God has given us.

P.S....Did anyone accidentally pick up a DVD of "Pete's Dragon" on Wednesday night? The library needs it back, and I can't renew it forever.