outside the gate

Just a quick family update for those of you who don’t know…

Carin and I are having another baby. We found out last week we’re having a girl.

I’m stoked!

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As promised, over the next weeks I intend to unpack the vision and values Restoration church has adopted to become a healthy, Christ-centered body of believers.

The first of our five values is to be a church that is both Biblical and culturally relevant.

Let me explain what I mean by this.

The leadership of Restoration church places a high value on the Bible. We believe the Bible is essential to understanding and growing in the Christian faith. Earlier, I mentioned to you that our vision is to see people restored to God through Jesus, and to each other, by the life changing power of Christ. The best way to understand these truths is to go to the source their source…the Bible. Nothing I have told you, or will tell you, is stuff we are making up! All our vision and values are firmly rooted in the Scriptures.

The Bible is not a set of antiquated rules and regulations designed to make our lives miserable. Many of you (including myself) were taught this at some point in our lives. Rather, the Bible is a book filled with stories that show us a God who has always relentlessly loved and pursued the people of this world.

This is a story we believe needs to be told to others, which is why we also place such a high value on being relevant to the people we are communicating these truths to. As a church we are students of culture and we intend to present the truths of the Bible in such a way that all peoples, from all walks of life, can take a next step towards Jesus.

As we teach the Bible, we want people to know the Bible is a book for everyone. No one is exempted from its truths, or love. We don’t want people to see the teachings of Jesus in the Bible as academic stories disconnected from life, rather as truths which help us to learn how to love God, and the people in our lives, more deeply.

So what do you think?

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Describe for me what Restoration will look like in five years?

This question is one I have thought about a lot. In many ways it echoes some of what I wrote about in my last post. We have to know where we are going, in order to be able to get there.

There is a great deal I’d like to say about this, however it can be answered simply by this statement, “we want to be needed”.

Frequently I hear from people that they feel churches have done more consuming in their communities than they have contributing. In a culture consumed by consumerism (no pun intended) we should not be surprised that this problem has affected the local church. While not all churches are this way, we would be naïve to act like it isn’t happening and that it has driven people away from the church.

I hope, pray, and intend to labor towards creating a church that is genuinely needed in Port Orange. A church that is seen as greatly contributing to the physical, spiritual, and cultural needs of our city. I would love to see God create a community of believers who once said, “I wanted nothing to do with Jesus, and especially his church; however my time at Restoration has helped me to see that I am a part of something that is greater than myself, something bigger than myself.”

That something is slowly becoming a reality in the city of Port Orange. We are expecting, and believing, that God is going to use us to bring a piece of his Kingdom to our city.

Over the next weeks I intend to share our values with you. These values will help you to see how we intend to make the vision you have just read about a reality in Port Orange.

So, what do you think?

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It was once said that in order to get where you want to be, you must know where you are heading. Although I don’t know who said this, I am confident they were right. Any person or organization must have this nailed down if they are to stay true to who they are and the task they are trying to accomplish.

The same is true for a church, for our church, Restoration Church in Port Orange.

This week I’d like to briefly share what Restoration’s Mission Statement is: “To restore people to God and each other by making Disciples of Christ”. Simple enough to remember, but powerful enough to change lives.

Our mission statement is taken from the Great Commandments. When Jesus was asked what the most important aspect of the Hebrew Law was, he mentioned two things. The first was to love God with all that you are, and the second was to love your neighbor as yourself. He then went on to say that the whole law rests on these two truths.

As I think about Restoration Church I have some very specific hopes. I am praying and believing God is going to do some incredible things through the team He has set apart to plant the new church. The greatest of which will be to see people who are far from God begin to love God in ways they never imagined possible.

In the same way, we also pray and hope that the newfound love people have for God would radically change the way we love the people God has placed in our paths. We hope to raise a church body that is as concerned (and at times more concerned) with the needs of those around us.

I’m pretty sure you can find that in the Bible ☺.

So, what do you think?

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This whole week I have been in Atlanta at a church planting boot camp.

Basically, a boot camp is a 5 day training event used to prepare church planters for the job of planting a church. Through the boot camp God has highlighted many things about the work he is calling us to. Two items in particular have really stood out.

Here they are.

1. We have an incredible amount of work to do. To birth a new church that is truly living like Christ is going to take a great deal of intentionality, discipline, training, and hard work. What we are seeking to create in Restoration will be truly unique for the City of Port Orange and I believe the new church is worth the work it will take to get it off the ground.

2. We are not praying enough. Wow…that sounds harsh! I don’t mean that to be, but it is true. No matter how much we work, no matter how great our plan is, no matter how available resources are…without God it isn’t going to happen.

So I ask this of you all…join our core team in asking our God who is able to do all things to give us the wisdom, grace, and discipline needed to start Restoration church. Ask God to help us start a work that truly changes the people and community we live in.

In my next post I plan to tell you a bit about what Restoration will look like.

Stay tuned!

Oh…so what do you think?

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“A new year a new church.”

These days I find myself repeating that phrase a lot. 2010 marks a really important milestone in the life of our new church “Restoration”. Why you might ask. Well, this is the calendar year that, Lord willing, we plan to see a new church birthed in Port Orange, Florida.

January is a big month for us and a great deal is going on. I’d like to use this post, and the ones that follow, as an announcement board to get you up to speed on where we are and where we are heading.

So, here it goes.

1. The Core Team- The core team is what we call the team that will be working with me to start the new church. To date, we are seeing a very high commitment level from quality people. What this means for the new church is that God is really providing faithful, gifted people who are excited about the task at hand.

2. Gathering– Gathering is the term used to describe how and when the core team will meet with each other, and eventually people from our respective communities. These gatherings will be used to equip the core team for the work of the new church, and will provide opportunities to develop friendships with those who are working together to start the new church. Our first gathering event is explained under the 4^th item in this update.

3. Visibility– January also marks a significant change in how much and often we plan to cast vision about the plant before Christ Community Church (The Mother Church planting us). We hope to find and develop a second group of people for our core team. We expect to see this happen as people hear how God is working in the lives of those serving Restoration’s community.

4. A date to remember– On January 24^th, right after the second worship service, Steve Ogne (our church planting coach) will be talking to our core team about church planting. Anyone who is interested, or has questions about the new church should plan to attend this event. We’ll be providing lunch.

As always, feel free to ask any questions you have about Restoration on these posts.

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Happy Thanksgiving!

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As promised, this next post is written by a good friend of mine, Elder, and Worship leader. Pat Altes has been leading worship at Christ Community Church for just about two decades and has a wealth of insight to offer us. I am sure you’ll enjoy hearing some of his philosophy of leading worship.

Here it is…

Do you know what it feels like to step into a Hallmark store and try and find that “perfect card” for someone you care about? You want the card to reflect what you would actually say if you could….perhaps in a way that you would if you were a just little better with words. But still in a way that you would actually express it.

That’s what I think a good worship song should do. Like all metaphors, this one isn’t perfect. But I believe worship is our honest effort to express our thankfulness to God, our view of God and our feelings toward God using some work of art that someone else has crafted…but that accurately reflects our heart.

It should be in language that we fully understand, and language that we would normally use. Like all the elements of the greeting card (photo, typestyle, verbiage), it would also express something of our personality and our relationship with the recipient.  It wouldn’t make sense for me to express my love for my wife, Sharon, using Shakespearean language….there’s nothing inherently impressive in doing that, and most of all, she would know right away it wasn’t really “me” speaking honestly to her.

In an effort to bring meaningful expressions of worship to God, we need to use musical styles that reflect our corporate personality, since it is our efforts to communicate to God.  Think about it; the driving force of the Reformation itself was to bring the gospel, God’s word, and worship, into the “vernacular”….the language of the people.

That is the reason that as a worship leader I stayed away from using some of the hymns. Some really aren’t in the language of the people.  Singing “Jesus, Lover of my soul, Let me to thy bosom fly” isn’t something we would say.  At least anything I would say.

Don’t get me wrong….when it comes to worship songs, sung to Almighty God, really “content is king”. The songs of the church should sing about God’s greatness, or express our desperate need for Him, or demonstrate our relative views of Him as God, and us as being….well, not God. The words of these songs need to be faithful to the Scriptures and be theologically correct, while focusing our words and thoughts on the “recipient” of our musical greeting card, the Lord.

I would never suggest editing out the strong elements of the story we sing about, or the God we sing to.  The story of the cross…man’s sinfulness and his desperate need for forgiveness….are all radical, confrontational assaults to the human ego, and yet necessary elements in order to have good worship. That is still the story we should sing about, because our singing about this honors God.  And there should be songs about faith and love and trust, expressed directly to God in song. It’s all pretty powerful stuff.

Relating to God and His story in a manner that is “contextualized” for our culture isn’t new.  It’s an idea that goes back 2000 years. The point of Jesus’ ministry was to make God the Father accessible to his people, without special pretense or adornment, and our songs to and about God should be based on that concept of honest expression of our thoughts.

So, what do you think?

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As promised, the next post will be entitled, “Confessions from a Worship Leader”. I’ve asked a good friend of mine, Elder, and worship leader to write about his philosophy of leading worship. The post will be up on November 24th.

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Recently, I’ve noticed many of the conversations about the new church have been about Worship Style. This is an important topic worth talking about.

In the upcoming weeks, we are going to add a new dimension to the blog…guest writers. Over the years, I have been fortunate to become friends with some really talented people. In order to deepen our conversations, I am going to ask these friends to write about certain topics they have a great deal of experience in.

All this to say…in a few weeks our first guest writer will be posting on the subject of worship. More details to follow!

For today, let’s open a new door and talk a bit about worship music. Now, I am fully aware that worship is much more than the music we sing in church. Everything we do and say for Christ is an act of worship. Our words and deeds define who we are in Christ, and the love we have for his Kingdom, however this is not the type of worship we are going to talk about here. We can save lifestyle worship (Romans 12:1-2) for another post.

Today, I’d like to talk about gathered, or corporate, worship. By this I mean the time Christians spend together in a worship service singing.

Let’s lay the groundwork for this conversation…

While in Seminary, I had a great class called Worship Perspectives. Basically, the class was a study about the history and trends of worship. One particular lecture was very helpful in trying to understand why churches often have very different “styles of worship”. Dr. Sharp spoke about the substance and expression of worship to explain this. Think of worship as a coin; one side represents substance, the other expression.

All musical styles have distinct characteristics that define what type of music they are. For instance, if I played you a country music song, and a Hip-Hop song, you would easily be able to tell the difference. Each style has a certain “substance” that makes it either Country or Hip-Hop. Worship music is no different. It too has certain components or elements that make it unique. Revealing truths about God, helping us to deepen our relationship with God, adoring him, being assured of God’s grace – these are some of the elements that make worship…well worship.

On the other side of the coin we have the expression of that substance. Chances are if you walked into ten churches you would experience ten different expressions of worship. Each church would do something differently; the sound would be different, one might be very traditional, the other extremely contemporary or modern. Some churches worship with the sounds of classical music, while others use sounds that are more like modern rock. One service might be very contemplative and another extremely high energy. Are any of these expressions right or wrong? Is one better than the other?

No, as long as the substance of worship is there. It’s the substance of worship that makes worship…well…worship. Think of it like this. If worship were a piece of candy, then the expression of worship would be the wrapper around the candy. What your worship sounds like is largely dependant on the community context in which you live.

Now here is the problem. In my experience, I have found that many people assess worship based on the expression, not the substance. We pay more attention to the wrapper at the expense of the candy. This can be dangerous. It can lead us down a path that causes us to fall in love with an expression, and not the God that the expression seeks to lead us to; rendering what we call worship anything but.

So, we’ll save the…What will the worship sound like?…question for another day. For this post, I’d like to hear your thoughts on the Substance and Expression of Worship.

So, what do you think?

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