Hustle

quitter-cover

I grew up playing basketball.  I was an NBA player when I practiced alone, but I was a far cry from that body type and physical giftedness in games.  I did have one thing that kept me on the court: hustle.  The greatest compliment I ever received from a coach in my playing days was, “Give me 5 guys like that, and I will win 9 out of 10 times.”

A few years ago, I read a book called Quitter by Jon Acuff.  It was a great book about working toward your dream job, while still working hard in your current job.  I came across this book shortly after I knew that I was called to the Lowry neighborhood of Denver to plant a church and while only a few people knew what God was up to in our lives.  The chapter entitled “There will be Hustle” has impacted me in great ways.

I hustled to leave well by equipping and empowering leaders at my former church.  I hustled to find a way to learn the culture and relocate my family to Colorado and, once there, I hustled by working and participating as a church planting resident.  I applied hustle once we moved to Lowry by getting a job in a neighborhood Starbucks.

We have been in a season of hustling and see that hustle will be necessary over the next few years.  I apply hustle at Starbucks and even in getting things done that I really don’t love to do.  In this season in our lives, we know that hustle will be key in accomplishing what we are called to do, while taking care of the top priorities of a healthy marriage and a loving family.

Hustle has become part of my self-talk when work gets stacked up.  I even shared this idea with a regular customer at Starbucks and he reminded me about it today when the line was long and a co-worker did not arrive on time.  I might not be great at anything, but I am willing to hustle to make up for my weaknesses.

 

You’re not from around here, are you?

One of the biggest tasks that we face here is becoming indigenous.  Right now our car tags, driver’s license, souther drawl and cell phone numbers give us away.  But, within the next year, we hope to be seen as a family residing in Colorado.  Our goal is not to bring southern culture, spirituality, and cuisine to the west, but to become westerners for the Gospel.  We are spending time out in the community and region, learning with each trip out of the driveway.  For us, this year is just as much about learning the people as it is learning about the nuts and bolts of church planting.  Part of this learning happens in the neighborhood we will plant in, but a lot of it can happen just minutes from our house.

Speaking of learning, we had our second weekend learning intensive, Cultivate, last weekend.  This session focused on developing healthy leaders and churches.  If the leadership is not healthy, the church will not be either.  We looked at symptoms of burnout and how to avoid it, as well as talked about some practical ways to remain healthy through the stress and pressure of ministry.  So far we are sponges, soaking up the lessons coming our way, but we are also looking for areas to be wrung out so we don’t sour.

All of this learning, whether relational, experiential, or formal, will hopefully lead to us planting a healthy church that will impact the neighborhood, city, state, nation and world.  We are thankful for the opportunity to follow God as He leads.

Information Overload

What is church planting?  Why do you church plant?  How do you do church plant?  How is church planting different or the same as an established church?

Those are a few of the many questions I asked, was asked and continue to ask.  Some of them are simple to answer; others needed much research by people much smarter than I.  I will try to answer them all to the best of my ability.

What is church planting?  Church planting is not building a building and inviting people to it.  Church planting is not swapping sheep or collecting disgruntled Christians from other churches.  Church planting is, first and foremost, evangelism.  It is starting a church from a small group and working toward a self-sustaining body of Believers.

Why do you church plant?  According to Ed Stetzer in Planting Missional Churches, “Churches under 3 years of age win an average of 10 people to Christ per year for every [one] hundred church members.  Churches 3 to 15 years of age win an average of five people per year for every [one] hundred church members. Churches over 15 years of age win an average of three people per year for every [one] hundred church members.   Church planting reaches more people than the established church.  In addition to those statistics, The North American Mission Board has recently calculated these church-to-population ratios based on the statistics from the US census: in 1900, there were 28 churches for every 10,000 Americans; in 1950, there were 17 churches for every 10,000 Americans; in 2000, there were 12 churches for every 10,000 Americans; in 2004, the latest year available, there were 11 churches for every 10,000 Americans.In that same time period the number of churches has increased just over 50% while the population of the country has almost quadrupled.  The lostness in this country is growing and the Gospel needs to be delivered where it is needed most.  The planting of new churches is the most efficient method of reaching those people.

How do you do church plant?  Not to over exaggerate but there a multitude of church planting models and not everyone is best for all circumstances.  The model has to fit the church planter, the spiritual climate, and the location.  I have read many books that all tout they have the be all end all church planting model. Each situation is different and requires the planter to exegete the culture much like a missionary in a foreign country.

How is church planting different or the same as an established church?   The two are the same in principle.  Both are focused on bringing God glory in all actions, events, and programs.  The biggest difference is church DNA.  The established church has a set of rules and traditions that govern all that is done while the church plant has order but not the tradition.  The church plant starts with a clean slate when setting up tradition.  All churches have tradition, some are creating it while others are governed by it.

I hope this all helps you understand a little bit about what we are doing and going to do in the future.