Prayer Update: Permission to be Yourself

Hello friends!
I hope you enjoyed a great weekend. Here's an update on how things are going.

1. June 6th - Sending Out - Some local pastors will be present to send me, and a few of our community off to start this new church. I see this as the start of the start. It is where local pastors commission us to be a church. This is very important to me as I've said before. This gathering will be ultra simplistic and casual time together. If you are around you are welcome to come. Pray that it goes smoothly.

2. I've been encouraged recently by several of you who have written me notes of encouragement. They are appreciated and welcome. I want to briefly tell you about a couple interesting conversations I've had in the past few weeks.

First conversation:
I want to share a snapshot of a situation where someone was considering no longer being a part of our group. His comment was, "I'm not sure you know what you are doing." To which I affirmed with a smile, "I don't know what I'm doing! I've said this all a long. I've never started a church like this before." I'm not sure that was helpful to him, but it was honest.

I can see right away the pressure many people put on pastors to have it all together. this kind of behavior or need from the pastor or the person with the expectation is not healthy. It either leads the pastor to fake it, or try to please everyone.

Second conversation:
Over dinner my friend said, "The hole in the ceiling of your living room gives me hope." (Our shower in the upstairs master bath developed a leak several months ago and I gutted the bathroom, and there is a hole in our ceiling below the shower in our living room) But how can a hole in a ceiling give hope? It doesn't feel hopeful to me, and Pam is more embarrassed by it than I am. Our friend went on to talk about how it showed her we weren't perfect, and that we don't have to be. Her comment brought me hope too. That my deficiencies and inadequacies as a leader are ok to show. What my friend was giving me, was a gift most pastor's don't often receive. The gift: Permission to be myself. This is what I hope for our community as well.

Third Conversation:
My buddy and I were having lunch with Mikayla last week. I told him of this quote from the first conversation, "I don't think you know what you are doing." and he stopped. He stopped joking and got real serious and looked me in the eye and he said. "If you knew what you were doing, I'd want out. " He knows we have a plan, he knows we have very specific hopes about what the church will become, but he went on to explain to me that he was not looking for a "polished" church where everything, and everyone has it all together. He was in this to be the church, not play church. He also tells me that God gives us our weaknesses, not so we can irradicate them, but so that we need God, community and so that we can use our strengths. It is in community that we can be who we really are and the community can love and accept other who are different from us, who don't have it together, and who are learning to be committed to following Christ in this kind of messiness.

I tell you these stories because I want you to know that God is working in our group. More and more folks are getting what it means for us to be a church and are "all in" so to speak. Your prayers are a part of how God is building this church. People are being affirmed, transformed and we are greatful to God for his work in our community.

There are so many other things that I want to pass on, but don't have time...

more soon.