From Ministry to Mission

Depending on the circles that you run in, you probably hear or say the word ministry fairly often. But what does it mean? Look up the word...go ahead, go look it up. Dictionary.com is a great place to go...just open a new window in your internet browser and look it up. I'll wait...

Almost every definition speaks of professionalism, the formal office of clergy. But that isn't how we use it. We use it with the definition of service. I hear fellow pastors talking about "my ministry." I hear people talking about serving as a nursery worker, Sunday school teacher, or usher as their "ministry." Ministry in itself is great. It is great to follow the call of God to serve those around us. But it becomes a problem when "ministry" is what defines the church. For a long time ministry has been the running of programs at a church for the benefit of its members and with the attempt to reach outsiders. So we put on programs. We have have children's "ministry" and youth "ministry" and senior adult "ministry." The music "ministry" puts on Easter and Christmas programs.

Is this really the ministry that God has called the church to? It that it? Pay your dues in the nursery and you are doing your part in the body of Christ? Greet people at the door on Sunday mornings with a crisp bulletin and a forced smile and you are fulling the call of God on your life? The problem stems from our wrong view of the church. Even those of us who proudly proclaim that the church is people not a building have a tendency to fall into the trap of thinking that what we do on a Sunday morning for an hour is church. We begin to believe that singing songs, hearing a sermon and maybe even serving in a "ministry" is doing church. Until we change our vocabulary, we may never climb out of this trap.

God has given us one ministry. It is much more general and a lot less specific than we might hope. 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 says,

"All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ..."

Our ministry is Missio Dei, the sending of God. Our ministry is mission. Our mission is the Gospel. Until we show people the Gospel, that God has done what it takes to reconcile them to Himself, until we model for people the Gospel, until we teach people how to apply the Gospel to every aspect of their lives, we aren't being the church. The church is the the collective group of sent ones of God. How can we be called the "sent ones" when we only "do church" in the four walls of a building designated for Holy things? We are called to be set apart in lifestyle not in location. We are called to be like yeast, infiltrating the world and slowly changing it from the inside out. We can't do that by empowering people to do ministry...we have to empower people to be on mission.


Ministry means once a week.
Mission means every moment of every day.

Ministry compartmentalizes life.
Mission encompasses life.

Ministry tells you to serve.
Mission fills you with passion to serve.

Ministry speaks the Gospel.
Mission is the Gospel.

If people begin to understand the Gospel...that a Holy God has made a way for sinful people to know Him, experience Him and enjoy Him forever...and that we are called to live this out, tell others about it, and let that fact transform the way we exist...ministry will happen. People will begin to serve out of love and not obligation. People will serve because it is the natural reaction to a Gospel-transformed life. Ministry isn't bad...it's just not enough. It isn't the call God has on our lives...it is the overflow of missional living.

I pray that God would make us missional. That is would be a lifestyle and not just a catch phrase. I pray that our churches would be transformed by the Gospel and in turn, we would serve.

December Update

Merry Christmas from The Oldhams

Rest and Refocus...

With the craziness of the past month and the Thanksgiving/Christmas season, we got a little behind in the area of updates. For those of you, who have been watching the mailbox or email inbox, waiting eagerly to see how things progressing, we’re sorry to keep you waiting. For those of you who read our blog (noahandheatheroldham.blogspot.com) we will try and keep you more up to date once December is through.

The past month and a half has proved to be a very demanding time. With the internship, the process of planting, school and the holidays, things can get pretty hectic pretty quick. But we were able to take a couple days after Thanksgiving and get away to a remote place in Southern Illinois to rest and refocus for the months and steps ahead. A couple of friends let us borrow their cabin and we had an amazing time of sleeping, studying, napping and spending time with each other. It was our first vacation since June of 2006 and it was much needed

Merry Christmas and other news...

We are so excited for Christmas! We love the opportunity to spend time with family and Christmas provides for that. But even more so, I love Christmas because of Advent. I feel like in America we have a tendency to take the focus off of Jesus…and many of you I’m sure would agree. But a couple years ago I read a book on the Jewishness of Jesus and the intertestamental period. This book really connected awakened my mind to the Incarnation. A lot of time we focus on “baby Jesus” because Christmas is His birthday. But we have to realize the amazing event that took place that night. Jesus, the eternal God, broke into human history by taking on flesh. This was the moment that all of history was leading up to. It was the beginning of the end. It was everything that a culture had waiting for but had little idea it was happening because it didn’t look like they expected. We pray that this Christmas the presents, the decorations, even your family would take a back seat to worshipping Jesus, the Messiah, the King, the atonement, the propitiation, the risen Lord. And I pray that this season would only spark the desire in your heart to look forward even more to his second advent…when He will come and redemption will be finalized…Hallelujah!

In other news…two years ago when Noah shared his heart to church plant with a couple, he expressed the desire to further his education so he could more properly lead and teach. Because of the generosity of that couple we are pleased to announce that Noah just completed his Masters of Arts in Religion degree. Though this is a huge milestone, its only half finished. In January I will begin the second half of the program towards the Master of Divinity degree. We want to say thank you to all of our supports. Through your generosity we have been allowed to walk in obedience to Christ. We are so grateful and thank God for people like you in our lives.

Vision Vision Vision...

During our weekend at the cabin I feel like God wanted to call me back to the vision for planting a church. Over the past several months I have been putting together the “who’s” and “what’s.” I have been creating systems and doctrine, core values and job descriptions, trying to find a location and trying to raise money. All of that is good and is very necessary to the planting of a new church here in St. Louis. But I feel like God challenged me to look back to two years ago when He first birthed this vision in my heart and ask myself the “why’s” again. So I want to share with you, maybe for the 5^th or 6^th time if we are close, why God has called me to plant a church.

1. The Church in America is Losing Ground.

Upon first hearing that, we can have the tendency to get defensive. I know that many if not most of you reading this go to churches that aren’t failing. I am not necessarily talking about individual local bodies; I am talking about the collective group of Christians that live in the United States. Christians aren’t living like Christians. The problem with America isn’t that 50% of marriages are ending in divorce, its that 51% of Christian marriages are ending in divorce. The problem isn’t JUST that babies are being aborted, its that Christian teenagers are having abortions. The problem isn’t that people are going hungry; it’s that Christians don’t want the government to expand welfare yet we don’t want to help the poor with our own checkbooks. Ten years ago, 85% of nonbelievers thought positively about Christians. Today, less than 50% think of Christians in a positive light. Sure, Jesus said the world would hate us, but because of our love and stand for truth, not because of our negligence and hypocrisy.

2. The Church is Becoming Irrelevant

The Church gathering should have two major roles. First it should be the collective body of believers getting together to worship the Lord, study His instructions, and be empowered to walk out into the world as missionaries in their own contexts. Secondly, it should be a place where nonbelievers can enquire about God, hear His instructions, be drawn in, convicted, and called to repentance by the Holy Spirit and be discipled in the faith. But more and more, people are avoiding the doors of our churches. Young adults, my generation hates church. Why?: “Irrelevant messages” and “lousy music.” Two of the main elements of every worship service are worship by song and teaching of Scripture. If people aren’t connecting here, does any of the rest of it matter?

3. The Church is Becoming Polarized.

Half of the Church is becoming soft. Sin is no longer preached and messages centered on Dr. Phil-esque psycho-babble about how we can better self-esteem. Biblical doctrine is being laid down and best-selling books are being picked up. Gay pastors are coming in and the Scriptures are being thrown out. That’s half the church.

The other half is hard on sinners and soft on saints. Pastors will get up in pulpits and preach against homosexuality while the congregation erupts into cheers and standing ovations. Obviously the wrong message is being preached. Maybe if the pastor would call out lust, gluttony, gossip, judgment and pride the people would begin to examine their own sin, repent and see that the Gospel is redemption not retaliation. Jesus came to save sinners not just point out the obvious fact that sinners are bound for Hell (which we all were at one point).

4. Our Society is Eroding

Every moral underpinning that once constrained our leaders has been cut away. Our culture-makers have no fear of the Lord and because we as a society no longer have a foundation of God’s ethics to stand upon, we are like a house built on sand. Things are progressively getting worse. And while it will be the job of some to deal with the consequences of all of this, it is the job of some to go to the source and effect change. We’ve experienced the death of a generation of Christian leaders. This should serve to remind us that a new generation of leaders should be trained up to lead, love, and speak truth.

5. God Saves Sinners

The Gospel. Missio Dei. God’s mission from the beginning is this. Everything that God is orchestrating, everything that God wills, allows and elects it for the purpose of the Gospel. God has called every Christian, as a member of the body of Christ to submit to the head of the body, Jesus Himself, and live a life full of the Gospel. We should be teaching the Gospel, preaching the Gospel, singing the Gospel, and demonstrating the Gospel. The world needs to see that the Gospel works…that God saves sinners. They will see that when they see us living it in word and in deed.

Support Church Planting When you Shop this Christmas

If you have been wondering how you can play a part in supporting the work God is doing in our life, yet feel strapped in this crazy economy, now you can. A supporter of ours generously provided us with a website through “shop to earn.” Shop to Earn is an internet web portal that has connected with hundreds of retailers, many of whom we all use on a weekly basis, to pass savings on to consumers.

During this Christmas season, if you purchase your gifts online instead of the store, Shop to Earn will pass up to 20% of your purchases along to us. This money, in turn, goes on to fund the church planting process. We understand that not everyone can give financial so we are excited to be able to provide a way for you to support our ministry with the purchases that you make everyday. Please go to the link in the top right corner or go to shoptoearn.net/oldham, choose the retailer you would like to shop through and it will take you to their website and you can purchase the items like you normally would. If you have any questions on how this works or how you can contribute in this way please feel free to call or email us.

WHY PLANT?

Why would anyone want to plant a church in the city?

The city is full of hookers and robbers...

liars and addicts...

drug dealers and perverts...

Exactly.

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Tonight we are going to begin decorating for Christmas. Yeah yeah...I know. Its early. I was talking to a friend this past week about how much I love Christmas. Its not because of the presents. Its not even the decorations, music, food, or cultural traditions that we attach to the Holiday.

I love Christmas so much for a few reasons.

1. Life slows down. The nights are longer and the days are short and gray. Its either raining or snowing and cold all the time. Thus, people don't run around at such a fast pace. (except for inside the malls) I feel that when we slow down, we are able to see life around us, experience our relationships, and actually take time to look at our lives and ask questions.

2. People are exponentially nicer. Maybe its the feeling of the season. Maybe its because they think Santa sees them when they are sleeping (funny... if you rearrange the letters in Santa you get Satan...coincidence?...I think not). But people do the Thanksgiving thing and for at least once in the year are counting their blessings. Also, we all know we are going to be around family. Some of our families are awesome...some may be lunatics. Either way, we are prepared to be nice to them in the spirit of the season.

3. I'm a big "Jewishness of Jesus" guy. I believe that we can't fully understand the implications of the incarnation, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus unless we learn the Jewish background that comes along with the story. I always picture myself at the turn of history... living in a crazy political climate...yearning for a Messiah...praying for a Deliverer. Singing songs, reading Psalms, quoting Scripture that rings of the promise. And then, almost out of nowhere, since the prophetic utterances that became OT Scripture had ceased for 450 years, Jesus, the eternal God takes on flesh...Can we every truly understand what happened? The plan that has existed since before the world began was being fulfilled. The God of the universe was coming to man, becoming a man, to save man...His beloved creation. Oh the mystery of what we call Christmas!!!

I want to live my life pursuing that mystery but most of all pursuing the God that became man to save me from my sins, turn away the wrath that was due me, and bring me into intimate fellowship with Himself.

I pray that as you walk these next couple months out, you would be in awe of that God. That you would know, deep down in your being, that life is more than all of this... school...work...relationships with others...eating...planning...saving...investing...creating a life for ourselves. Our life is a gift of a gracious God who wants us to use it finding Him.

Let's find Him.

The Grand Weaver

I have begun to re-read the book The Grand Weaver by Ravi Zacharias. First of all if you haven't read this book I strongly encourage you to do so, I first read The Grand Weaver after Christmas last year. I had no idea what the book was about when I walked into the Christan book store and asked the sales associate for a recommendation. Without even thinking he told me I had to read this book because it has changed his view of God and life. Intrigued I obliged to get the book and try to complete it. I am not much of a reader but this book gripped my heart and spoke to me where I was at in that season of life. Fast forward, I decided that it was time to give this book another read through. I started reading the introduction and on page 11 Ravi says

"To allow God to be God we must follow him for who he is and what he intends, and not for what we want or what we prefer."

This hit me hard. I have been struggling with this lately. I know that God is sovereign and that he wants what is best for his children, but often I do not understand his plan. I have been struggling a lot lately with our in ability to have children. It is my hearts deepest desire and I know that the Lord knows that. But ultimately He is enough. It is in this season that he is allowing me to see the depths of who he is. To allow me to feel the depths of his love in a way that I would not otherwise have ever experienced. I know that he could in an instant allow us to have children... I have never ceased to believe that. However, it is in this season of waiting and longing that he allows me to see him as sovereign even when it means that I don't "get" what I want right now. It is in this valley the he is chipping away the things of me that are not of him... the things that when removed will make me a better wife, a better partner in ministry, a better friend, a better daughter and hopefully one day a better mother.

I am thankful for the wait. It is not everyday that I believe that but ultimately it is true.

So think about that quote and rest in the fact that to allow God to truly be God we must follow him for who HE is and what HE intends, and not what we want or would prefer.

"Suffering is a Beautiful Hermeneutic"

I heard this quote by John Piper this past week at a conference in the city. No, all you young, hip Calvinists that are running to your collection of Piper books to look it up won't find it. It is a quote from a lunch conversation that was had with one of our conference speakers. According to the story, Piper had just found out he had cancer, but no one else knew. The man at lunch with him had just gone through cancer. Piper asked him what he learned and his reply was that besides God and his wife, cancer was the best thing that ever happened to him. At that, Piper, who hadn't smiled or barely talked all meal, dropped his fork and looked up with the Piper smile and whispered, "Suffering...is a beautiful...hermeneutic."

The funny thing is, I feel like I am experiencing both right now. I am finishing my last class of the year and ironically enough its hermeneutics. Hermeneutics refers to the process, both art and science, of interpreting, exegeting, and "rightly dividing" Scripture. There are all kinds of methodologies out there when it comes to hermeneutics. People have presuppositions and preunderstanding that causes them to approach Scripture with a bias. Bias isn't wrong, its inevitable. All of us approach the Word of God with our experiences, culture, doctrinal and theological slants and desires all in front of our faces. Because of these factors we all view Scripture in certain lights. So what do I think Piper meant?

I think he meant that when we suffer, when we experience the consequences of the fall in full force, we are then given the opportunity to see God for who He is and read His word to us in a correct light. Its amazing to me that all over the world Christianity is flourishing. People in areas of China are hiding a page of the Bible at a time in the ground for fear of being found with it. Only the the Western world are we tearing the Word apart, calling it literary criticism. Only in the Western world are there churches that call themselves churches yet don't believe that the Bible is God's Word. Everywhere else people trust it, love it, live by it and thrive by it. What is the difference?

Everywhere else people are suffering. What do we know about suffering in America? Honestly, our scale really isn't even comparable to that of Christians in Asia or the Middle East, but we experience suffering nonetheless. We suffer because though we are "rich and in need of nothing" nothing escapes from the consequences of the fall: the pain, the tears, the disorder of a creation rebelling against its Creator.

So we suffer. For some its financially. With the economy the way it is, some are losing houses, jobs, investments for the future and even their minds. Some are experiencing sicknesses like cancer, kidney failure, diabetes, and heart disease. Some are struggling to have babies.

As we experience and walk through this suffering we have an amazing opportunity to see God. We have an amazing opportunity to see God for who He is. Sovereign, gracious, loving, redeeming, powerful, trustworthy, faithful, merciful, and gracious. We have the chance to see a loving Heavenly Father who carries us through the suffering of life. Sometimes all that suffering does is lead us to a great knowledge of who He is. And I would say...that is enough.

So as you suffer, suffer well. Understand that in God's sovereignty, He knows and allows all. Maybe its time reap the benefits that suffering brings: a greater knowledge of God and His perfect character.

Pumpkins and Caramel Apples

Noah and me before the madness begins...

This weekend I thought it would be fun to carve pumpkins and make caramel apples...

The boys like to act like they thought I was nuts but deep down they loved it










Noah carving his masterpiece with a knife.

















The Finished product...I forgot what Noah named
him but I will update you when I ask him :)











Kimmel and I had bought another pumpkin so she brought over some real pumpkin carving tools and we made the most beautiful pumpkin I have ever seen... Go Gators!We decided to make caramel apples to really celebrate fall...


And here was the finished product. I never realized how hard it is to eat a caramel apple.

October Update

Catching up...
October has been a pretty amazing month. We had the opportunity to see family as we made our way back to Eldorado for a few days. Spending time with family is always good for our hearts. Noah spent a couple days in Atlanta going through Power Plant coordinator training. Power Plant is a ministry of the North American Mission Board that connects church youth groups with church plants in cities across the US and Canada. The students spend a week learning about church planting and evangelism and the church planters get a week of free labor. Noah was asked to be the St. Louis ministry coordinator, recruiting church planters and teaching for the week. Directly after getting of the plane from Atlanta we rushed downtown STL to attend the second half of the “LEAD for the city” conference. At this conference we went through our final couples’ assessment with the Acts 29 Network. It went extremely well and we are even more excited about what God is doing and how He is orchestrating everything.

Harvest the City...

We get a lot of questions about the name “August Gate.” And rightly so; because that is exactly what we wanted when we came up with it in the spring of ’07. We want this new church to be about three things: loving God, loving people, and restoring the city. To do so, we believe that we must be a church that prepares people to be missionaries in their own daily context. Ephesians 4:11-16 explains that God gives the leaders of the Church to just this; to train people with the Gospel so they may live and speak the Gospel. Matthew 9: 35-38 explains that as Jesus looked upon the crowds of the cities He was moved with compassion for them because they were lost and without hope. We believe that God is moved with this same heart of compassion when He looks upon our cities today. Jesus’ next words are crucial for all of us, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.” We believe that we are just a few of those workers that God is sending out into the fields for the harvest. He has sent us to St. Louis, Missouri to harvest the city that is knows as “the gateway to the west.” Where are you called to? Where is God (literally) “thrusting” you?

We need your prayers. We don’t want to be ignorant of the tremendous amount of spiritual warfare that is going to begin and is already going on because we are walking in obedience to God’s call. We are planting in the area of St. Louis that holds one of the largest Mardi Gras celebrations in the world (2^nd only to New Orleans itself). We are going to a city with a high crime rate and low number of evangelical churches. But we are confident in what the Lord has in mind, for just this week I heard “the light is much brighter where the darkness is much darker.” We want to gather a group of people who will commit to daily and weekly prayer for us as a church and as individuals. If you are such a person, please contact us and we will tell you more.

There is a ton more going on in our lives... we will keep you updated :)

Thanks for taking the time to read our blog. We would like to know your questions, comments, thoughts and prayers. Feel free to leave us a comment.

Sift Me Like Wheat...

These last several weeks the Lord has really captivated my heart through the image of the threshing floor. As most of you know the first several years of Noah and my marriage have not been easy. I feel that we have been put through the fire and often selfishly feel we have walked this road too many times. I will not get into the specific circumstances of which have captivated our hearts, minds, and beings but trust me when I say that I wish these circumstances on no other person.

At Mathias’ Lot we have been studying Luke since Noah and I have moved here. A few weeks ago, Marc, the pastor, was speaking on Luke 22:31-38… I would encourage you to read it for yourself but for the sake of keeping the flow I am going to focus on the first 2 verses of this passage.

31 Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat 32 But I have pleaded in prayer for you Simon that your faith would not fail.

Chew on that for a moment. When we were reading this passage in the service a couple Wednesday nights ago it hit me square in the stomach. My mind was immediately taken back to the night that Noah and I were engaged. If you have not heard the full story of the man prophesying over us ask me about it and I would love to fill you in… but for the sake of staying on point I will talk about a very specific point of that night.

As my mind was taken back to the beach in Ft Lauderdale FL around midnight with sand in my toes and the waves crashing behind me I vividly remember this man who told my future husband and me that anything that Satan would try to bring against us would have to go through God and He would have to allow it. I couldn’t fathom what that meant that night, I had no idea what the future had in store.

So back to the passage… two things stood out to me 1. Satan had to ask God permission and 2. Satan asked to sift him like wheat. Here became my obsession … what does it mean to be sifted like wheat? What is a threshing floor?

To give a very simple description a threshing floor is a place away from the town often on a high hill exposed to the wind so it can aid the workers. It is here where the wheat and the chaff are separated. The chaff, which is useless, blows away in the wind because of how light it is. The grain is heavier so it falls to the ground and is gathered for the harvest. I cannot tell you how many times God has brought this image to me in the midst of feeling "threshed" in order to remind me that He is the one who does the sorting in my life.

This brings me to one of my favorite passages in scripture 1 Ch. 21:18-28 (Please Read)

It is in this passage that King David goes to Ornan to buy a threshing floor from him, to build an alter to worship the Lord. When he gets there Ornan offers it to him free of charge. David insists on paying full price for the threshing floor and he says in verse 24 I will not offer a burnt offering to the Lord that cost me nothing. David grasps what true worship looks like, he grasps that true worship is a sacrifice of our lives, our wants, and selfish desires for His.

So what does David do next? He pays Ornan 600 pieces of Gold for the threshing floor then goes and builds an alter to worship the Lord.

How beautiful is that picture? The question then is...

How can I truly worship the Lord with my life and my whole heart if it has cost me nothing? Also when we do feel the sifting shouldn't we consider it a joyful experience?

I so often find myself crying out to the Lord begging Him to tell me specifically what my offering should be, when He tells me I have to then ask for the strength to be faithful and give it away. This is ultimately my hearts deepest desire.

Now my prayer is to be found faithful.

Mathias Picnic

This past weekend was the annual Mathias/ 2 Rivers picnic. I wanted to post our most recent family pic. This is Noah and me getting ready to represent on the fields. Noah played football and I played on the coed softball team. Even though the football team lost we ended up winning in volleyball and softball so Mathias took home the trophy again.

our team

i want to take a minute hear to introduce you all to our team.

first, let me introduce you to josh and kim jones...

i met josh my freshmen year in college through football and campus ministries. from the beginning of our relationship we clicked and quickly became the best of friends... mushy, i know. we were roommates for the last three years of college and got to know each other way too well.

josh is one of the dearest friends i have ever known. he is a man that stands as close to friends as he does family. he has walked with me through some of the toughest times in life lending strength and support.

josh is also amazingly talented. not only is josh a gifted speaker, writer, and entertainer...if you know him, you know what i mean...he is also the greatest worship leader that i have ever known. josh isn't just a guitar player or a song leader, josh is a pastor at heart that knows how to teach people the Gospel as he leads them in song. i experienced this for 3 years as we traveled around the midwest leading worship together.

even though josh is so amazingly talented, it is still a mystery to all of us as to how he ended up with kim. kim, formerly bright, jones is the perfect addition to josh's life. i met kim in college. she was a bubbly, loving, kind girl who was an instant friend. kim is well educated, amazing at everything she does, and is the perfect help-mate to her husband. kim has a knack for hospitality and has a very keen sense of style and art. kim loves to take care of people as is evident in her marriage, friendships and personal business that she has started.

josh and kim are a-teamers. no, i don't mean that they resemble mr. t in any way. i mean that these guys could go pretty much anywhere they wanted and be successful. we are so incredibly humbled that God would call them to be with us.

next, let me introduce you to todd genteman.

wow! where do i even start? i met todd in college through josh. for as long as i have known todd, he has amazed me. from fca, to lifeway camps, to churches to starbucks todd is proclaiming the Gospel with his life.

todd graduated siue with a degree in medical biology. genius, i know. but todd decided against dental school to be in ministry. todd has always followed God's call since i have known him. a talented communicator, leader, athlete, facebooker, latte maker and percussionist, todd is also one of the most talented dudes i know. on top of all this, he is the funniest person i know.

todd's faith amazes me. i called him on a wednesday and challenged him to move back from texas to plant with us (and live with us) and he was packed that weekend. todd could go anywhere he wanted and fill any position in a church. i know this because he gets offers all the time. every day i spend time with him and every day i am more and more thankful that God has brought him into my life.

finally, the person who rounds this team out and makes it the most amazing group of people ever is my very own wife, heather...
heather is the most amazing woman God ever created. not only is she extremely beautiful (come on! check out that smile!) but she is so so so so extremely talented. most people don't ever get a chance to see all the talent because she hasn't even begun to tap into most of it.

for instance, since moving heather has gotten into photography. most people start out slow, but some of her stuff is already amazing! heather is such a hard worker as she proved last year by working horendous hours in an extremely competitive and fast paced environment.

she is an amazing cook, decorator, dresser, wife, sister, friend, user of photoshop, hostess and player of uno. even more competitive than me in a few instances, she has a tenacity that is matched by very few.

contrary to what opinions may be out there, heather is the brains of the operation. she is as much of a dreamer as i am. and what is more, my wife's faith is on the same level of that of my mother's. that isn't a flippant statement as most who knew mom would describe her as a modern day female job. heather is the driving force that keeps me going when i have one of those elijah "just-let-me-die-i'm-so-worthless" moments with God. any time that doubt over the call sets in, heather is the first to uncover it and rebuke it. i don't say it enough, but i am truly the luckiest dude ever! i mean seriously...i really married up a few levels.

trusting God gets easier and easier as i look around and see the caliber of people He has put around me.

here's the challenge for you though... is God calling you to come be a part of this team? would you abandon comfort, hometowns, and perfectly planned lives to be a part of a movement of God to reach the city of st. louis? are you even asking? the challenge is to ask...and you may be surprised, God may call you to join this amazing group of crazy people to turn the stl upside down!

Pictures from around the Interchange

Inside The Jesus Church in Soulard










Another View From the Balcony


























I loved the exposed brick...








The Houses in Lafayette Square

September Update...

Loving God...

i can’t even begin to tell you all that we are learning during our time here in st. charles at matthias’ lot. this past month has been a whirlwind. our weeks have been

filled with both plugging in and serving the matthias’ lot congregation while at the same time spending hours and days down in the city asking God for vision and clarity over a location to plant.

for the past three sundays we have been leading matthias’ version of a small group called a “lot family” in our home. there is nothing like celebrating the sabbath like it looks in the books of acts. we each lunch together, spend time in fellowship and then spend time in God’s word and prayer. it is a beautiful thing as we have seen God transform our sundays into a day of rest, remembering Him as creator and that we are slaves no more because of His redemption.

two weeks ago we began to host “the truth project” for a group of 17 college students that range from strong believers going into ministry to wanderers with questions. it has been amazing to watch the Holy Spirit convict, challenge, and open doors for conversation.

i have been playing a role in every worship gathering since we got here. one week i may open with a challenge and call to worship, the next i may give announcements and lead in a responsive reading. marc has been training me more thoroughly in video editing and i feel like i am growing in that each and every week. the greatest part of my week here is being involved in teaching. though i won’t teach on a wednesday night until december, i am involved in the teaching every week. every thursday and monday the staff gathers to study the scripture that will be presented that week. though i am not the one presenting, it is great to be a part of the preparation process, see how what God is showing me is brought into the message.

God is so good. heather and i have been wrestling through some very huge personal prayer issues and God is holding us through it all. it is amazing to see God’s provision not only financially but also emotionally, socially, and spiritually. we are sure that He is and will hold us through it all.

my studies are going very well. i was a little worried with having so many things going on that my grades would begin to slip. but, glory to God, things are going well. my class on the gospel of john is “rocking my face off” as i learn more and more about Jesus, his plan, and his call on my life. each and every day God is growing a deeper passion for truth in my heart.

Loving People...

lot families is just one way that we are able to connect with people. on the second saturday of each month, we as a church go out into the community to serve the poor, the marginalized or the widowed. this month we worked for a woman named phyllis, a mother of many and a grandmother of even more who lives in a house that has been in her family for generations yet is very run down and dilapidated. as a group we spent the morning cleaning, hauling out old furniture and appliances and loving on the family.

this month i have had the opportunity to get back into the leading worship. i spent a weekend playing bass for a youth retreat and will begin to help during our wednesday night gatherings.

everyone here is so amazed at how quickly and how well heather has plugged in…in everything. she’s involved in a woman’s bible study, wednesday nights, hosts our lot family (which is a bigger task than actually teaching at it) and is mentoring a handful of college-age women.

in all of our activities we are rubbing shoulders and elbows with people but are we really loving them? we’ve learned to love people better over these past two months. i’ve learned to listen to people’s hearts, not just what they are saying or doing. i’ve learned while truth, community, accountability and discipleship are necessary components to being the church, love is primary. without love we have no permission to speak truth, engage in community, require accountability or disciple anyone.

we’ve learned all this not from a class or reading a book, but by doing it; by choosing to reach out to people, to engage people, to ask questions and be ready to love, no matter the cost. it’s a beautiful thing.

Restoring The City...

i want to thank each and every one of you who prayed for us after our last newsletter. in that newsletter, we stated that our biggest prayer need was location. well God is faithful! after a few months of wrestling in prayer and exploring the city, we feel like God is opening doors for the location that we are to plant.

we have been fortunate to be able to network with some amazing guys in the st. louis region. two of these guys are darren casper from the metro baptist association and tim cowen, the pastor of rock hill baptist church. as we sought God for direction on where to plant, these men stepped in and have played a huge part in encouragement and wisdom.

just south of downtown st. louis are several neighborhoods. marked by their culture and diversity, both racially and economically, beautiful parks, and the restoration projects that are happening, soulard, benton park, layfayette square, the gate district, and downtown south are some of the most unchurched areas in st. louis. a historically catholic area, the architecture still stands, but the Church is no where to be found.

five years ago God burned Isaiah 58 on my heart. and today, we are watching as that vision is coming into existence. it is the belief of our team that God is calling us to reach what we are calling “the interchange” (where highways 55 and 44 meet and the 1.5 mile radius surrounding it). we believe that God has a heart for the city of st. louis and has placed that love in our hearts. we desire to see the name of Jesus lifted high, coming worshipfully form the lips of those who have be bought back from a life of hopelessness, despair, chaos, and blindness.

right now we see a couple of opportunities on the horizon that we need prayer over. currently rock hill baptist has ownership of the famous “jesus church” building in soulard. their may be a possibility of us partnering with them to share the building and ministry in the city as they send a team down to lead a service on sunday nights. also, there is an african american church just across the highway in the lafayette square baptist church building that is struggling to reach the increasingly growing white community. we are asking God for favor with these leaders and for His direction as we pursue relationships and share vision.

please keep praying for us. ask God how you could play a part in this work. whether it be through prayer, financial giving or even God calling you to move to st. louis to join us in this effort, please plead to the Lord on our behalf. also, pray for our team as they raise funds and situate life to prepare themselves for this work. we love you all!