Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Falling In Love with Church

When does a pastor’s heart fall in love with a congregation? For some it takes a few years of faithful presence and love, countless funerals, baby dedications, and baptisms. With Immanuel Baptist Church, the congregation I am now preparing to serve, it was love at first sight! There is an authenticity, a genuineness about them and their faith that simply drew me deeply in. For those Immanuel readers out there, keep in mind that I’m not saying you are perfect… just real. J So, what’s so real about Immanuel?

Immanuel Baptist Church is an international congregation of disciples who simply seek to love, worship, and serve the risen Christ with simple praise and sincerity. Immanuel, however, has a mission! Its mission has many foci. Foremost, Immanuel seeks to reach English speakers in the Wiesbaden area with the love and life changing message of Jesus Christ. Imagine the foreigners' struggle in Germany, living as strangers in a strange land, far away from family, friends, and their home churches. Immanuel's mission is to be a family and a worshiping home for these wonderful people.  This is an area of ministry that I began to feel called to even before encountering this congregation… funny how God does that!  

The congregation also reaches out to the many military and Department of Defense families stationed in Wiesbaden. In fact, the church was first established in 1957 specifically to minister to U.S. military forces stationed in post-war Germany. There is simply a gut wrenching need to care for those who invest themselves in serving their nation overseas.

Immanuel has a missions focus as well. Many members engage in missional opportunities in such countries as Romania, Cambodia, and Ghana. The congregation wants to strengthen its role as a missional church, and looks to the future with hopeful ambition! I cannot express how exciting it is to go to a church that recognizes that the fields are still ripe for the harvest!

Yet, as I have said to many dear friends, Immanuel is a struggling church. Mainly, she is struggling to grow beyond her current size and financial shortfalls. Through years of military downsizing in the area and some unforeseen financial losses, Immanuel has not been able to support a full time pastor for over three years! This too has taken a toll on the membership and life energy of the church. In fact, the church cannot afford to fully support a pastor even now. So, they are truly stepping out on faith, as am I. As I seek to raise a portion of my support, they are also sacrificially providing for my arrival and tenure as their shepherd. Their struggle has hooked my heart. However, it is their focus and commitment in the midst of struggle that, more than anything, has warmed my heart.   

I can hardly wait to serve in the company of such wonderful and loving disciples. They are, already, family. Please pray for me and the membership of Immanuel Baptist Church as we step out on faith together. 

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Now God, that don't make no sense!

Comfortable is, well, comfortable. We all like the familiar. What do we do, then, when God calls us out of our comfort zones? In short, we face what Henry Blackaby has often called a “crisis of belief.” We are forced to consider whether or not we trust God, as well as our ability to perceive God’s subtle voice. This is the very crisis I have faced in the past few months.

            I am quite comfortable here in Northeastern North Carolina, even more so at the First Baptist Church of Elizabeth City. My family has a home here. We are not too terribly far from family and friends. The church is loving and active. It would make sense to remain in this location as long as possible.

            God does not always ask us to do what makes sense. For the past few years God, through friends, prayer times, scriptures, media, and an inner gnawing hunger, has steadily called me to do something that may not make sense: sell much of what you own, store or give the rest away, uproot your family, leave the ones you love behind, and go to a land I will show you! He was calling me to overseas ministry. In my standard way I first replied, “Say what God?” Yet, in time I simply could not escape God. I made a commitment to God that wherever in the world he called me, I would go. Now, don’t get any wrong ideas about me here. I’m no super faith man or anything. It’s not as if I readily and easily answered God’s call. As I said, God was inescapable! I simply couldn’t shake his persistent voice.

            Within weeks of surrendering to this uncomfortable idea, I found myself connected with Immanuel Baptist Church in Wiesbaden, Germany. I’d like to tell you the story of how I fell in love with the ministry and people of Immanuel. I’d like to share with you the process that led me to know that this small mission congregation was THE place within God’s heart for me. So, I invite you to follow this little blog of mine to learn about how I got to this point. I will also continue to post and share as we prepare to move on December 30. You may also keep up with my family and I as we minister and serve in the coming years. Stay connected my friends! I love you all!