Urban Garden (Update)

IMG_7316A couple of months ago, we started an urban garden. I want to update you on the progress and some of the spiritual lessons I have learned in the process.  We have planted basil, cilantro, spinach, parsley, thyme, carrots, lettuce, potatoes, garlic, bell peppers, and okra (can you tell we are from the south?). Our back deck is packed and our garden has spilled out on to the front balcony and the front porch.

IMG_7315We have learned a few things in the meantime.       1) Hail, diseases and bugs are detrimental to plants.  2) Not all seeds take or survive.  3) Gardens take time, work and the right mix of sun, water and fertilizer.  As I think about these lessons, I view these things through spiritual lenses.

Here is how I see these lessons applied to my life and church planting.  1) The enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy.  But so many times we forget the rest of that verse (John 10:10).  Jesus has come to give us life and life to the full.  We have an enemy but we have a Savior who is greater and gives life.  We must turn to life, not death, and be willing to live to the full of all that Jesus seeks to provide.

image2) Jesus speaks of a seed and the sower (Matthew 13:1-23).  There are four types of soil discussed in this parable and though some seed falls on every type of soil, only one produces a harvest.  We are to be spreading the seed of the gospel and allowing God to move and bring about the harvest.

3) Cultivation of relationships, gospel conversations, and making disciples take the right mix of time, prayer, communication, and God’s move in the lives of others.  We are in the midst of this working and waiting process.  The fields are being worked and we are seeking to provide all that needs to be given for growth and we know that God must bring the increase and the harvest.image_1

I pray that as our urban garden grows and produces, so will our ministry.  Pray with us to that end.

Urban Garden

We recently made the decision to use the back deck of our town home for an urban garden.  We will soon have a back 40.  Forty square feet, that is.  Our garden will be home to several different veggies and herbs.  And should provide some good food and the opportunity to bless others.  Maybe the green thumbs of my grandparents and mom will show their heritage in me.

Gardening gives so many illusions to evangelism themes to me.  There are three important categories that these themes fall into: essentials, provision, and seasons.  The essentials to crops are seeds, soil and, in our case, containers.  The provision comes in the form of sun and rain and with a little help from fertilizer.  And finally, the seasons manifest as planting, tending, and harvest.

Each of these things can parallel with an aspect of evangelism.  The essentials are the seeds of the Gospel, soil that is ready to receive the seed, and people who will act as willing vessels.  The provision takes the form of the Holy Spirit changing hearts, Jesus taking on sin and death on the cross and rising on the third day.  And the seasons of life are evident as God works to ready a heart to hear the Gospel, the mouthpiece of God speaks the Gospel and then the day of salvation brings about the harvest of God in ones life.

Luke 10:2 says, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”  We are praying that God will use us to sow the seeds of the Gospel here and that through His provision and movement in the seasons of life, God will bring the increase and the harvest.