Slightly more than a year ago we moved down to Decatur so that we could get to know the city for a few months before launching our church service. We moved down here based on the support of West Ridge Church, several other churches, and the promise of support from an individual offering to give us $800 a month for rent, a promise that was later raised to $1000 a month. All of the support came in the first month, then in the second month, the “benevolent” individual didn’t pay. We were to only get one more check from her, which left me trying to start a church, and pay rent for the house that we had moved into based on her promise of support. Obviously this was a huge concern and I started working a lot more hours trying to pick up work doing web design so that we could survive financially.

We held our first community outreach in event in August of ’08 followed one month later by our public launch. The services were going ok, but early on our team started to fade for various reasons. As the team faded our attendance did as well, and about six weeks into it we were spending 6 hours a Sunday to set up and tear down for a service that only volunteers and a few guests invited from outside Decatur would attend. At that point our money was also running out because of the aforementioned financial problem. So, because of this, I felt the need to pull the plug on the service and regroup.

The regrouping came in the form of re-visioning, and God brought us to the vision that I am personally very excited about, but that our core team didn’t ultimately take to. The vision is to create a church of House Churches. One large body that is composed of genuine, fully functioning House Churches that will meet occasionally as a large body to stay on the same page, to be pushed to move forward and to be able to do some of the larger services that a large church can do for it’s community.

During this time I started struggling with some depression and our financial situation got continually worse (along with the economy I guess). I took a job working as a long term substitute teacher, while still working on the church and working on websites, a combination that almost killed me and definitely made me miserable to live with. This was the darkest time in my life.

Fortunately during this time God saw fit to put us in touch with a House Church in Lawrenceville where we have been attending the last few months. Their fellowship has helped us to walk out of a lot of the darkness that we have been dealing with as well as helping us to understand the dynamics of House Church which would have been otherwise foreign to us.

During our time with the House Church we have let them know our intense financial need and two months ago one of the church members offered to let us come and live in their basement for a time to get back on our feet financially. At the time I dismissed the idea because I knew that God had called us to Decatur and I had no intention of leaving. However, over the last two months of praying and thinking about our situation I have not been able to get this offer off my mind.

Finally, three weeks ago, after another week of working at least 60 hours I broke down and told my wife that in the current situation I could only provide one of two things; either for my family’s physical needs in terms of making us the money we need, or our spiritual and emotional needs, but there was no way for me to do both. This led to a lot more prayer and discussion finally culminating in our decision to take up that family on their offer and move to Lawrenceville.

We have done this because it will alleviate our financial situation by reducing our expenses significantly per month. This will allow me to pay off all of our debt in a little more than one year while allowing me to finally work a normal (45 hour) work week. This move will help us spiritually because we will be in deep community with the people in our church fellowship and will be challenged continually to grow in Christ. And, this will help my marriage because we will finally have a little extra money so that I can date my wife again, something that I have not been able to do in about 3 years.

During the next year, I will be working a few days a week in the City of Decatur School system as a Substitute teacher, and I hope that this will put me in the a position so that next year I will be able to work as a full time teacher, if that is where God is leading. I will also be working a few days a week at my web design business and continuing to grow that. We still intend to stay very connected to the City of Decatur and to the people that we have come to know and love there. But, for the moment, I feel very strongly that for God to bless anything that we will do from this point forward the first step in that process is to become heathy so that we can move forward from a place of strength, not a place of frustration and defeat.

I can tell you, this last six months has been the toughest of my life, and I am thankful to have survived it. I can also tell you that even through the despair of great failure that I am extremely excited about the vision that God has given us to accomplish and I have no doubt that He can still do a great work even through a broken vessel like me. I am thankful for the lessons that I have learned in this process, for the pride that has been stripped from me, and for my family and friends that have stood by me.

I truly believe that God intentionally led us through this dark time to bring us to the vision and purpose that we have today, and for that I am incredibly thankful. My path has been paved with more mistakes than I care to admit, but at the same time I recognize that without them, I wouldn’t be where I am, and I am happier now, with this vision, than ever before.

So this begins a new chapter in the life of the Walker family, one of healing, growing, and deep community. My hope is that this will also drive me to more writing, as I have missed it this past year. I hope to write about communal living and some of the dynamics of that we are sure to experience. I hope that you (the reader) will stay tuned into this blog to read about spiritual life in the context of deep community, it should be interesting.

Thank you.

I’m thinking this is likely what Aaron was feeling in Numbers 17 when the people were rebelling against authority. Previously they had questioned his actions, his ability to lead, and his call from God. I’ve been there, and in many ways am still there, fighting to lead people into the place that God has called us to go.

Its during these times that I have a tendency to look for a sign, for some kind of reassurance that everything is going to be ok and that I will still be able to feed my family and stand up strait when all is said and done. I don’t think the need for reassurance is bad or that it is testing God. Its just who we are and how we operate.

Well, Aaron got his sign. God told Moses to take the staff of the head of every family (twelve) and to put them in the tent of meeting, and the staff that sprouted would be the chosen spiritual leader. The next day when Moses went in, Aaron’s staff had sprouted, blossomed, and produced ripe almonds.

Maybe God got carried away on this miracle. Or, maybe there was great purpose in this. God could have just made Aaron’s staff spout with little flower buds and nothing more, but instead God chose to make it sprout, blossom, and produce food. There was no room for doubt, Aaron was God’s choice.

I have had many seasons like Aaron’s when I will doubt, and God will answer my prayers in a huge way, far above what I could ever hope or imagine. In the last year my cane has blossomed more times than I can count and I am constantly thankful for God’s little reminders of my calling all along the way. Here are a few of the things that He has blessed us with since we accepted His leading to plant a church.

• A free mini-van to drive
• A condo to live in rent free
• Various forms of financial help amounting to around $1,400
• A free computer (not new, but still a lot nicer than the one I had)
• My membership to a gym in Decatur paid for
• My web design business is growing, very slowly, but growing

I am continually thankful for these sprouts of blessing that we have had all along the way. And, I’m sure that many of you have similar stories. Please share them…

They were on the edge of stepping into the greatest promise and blessing of their generation, but they shrunk back because of the rebellion of their hearts and their fear of men.

I’m sorry to say that I know how they feel. That’s very much where I find myself today, tempted to be selfish and to fear. We are planting a church. It is something that God has called us to do, something we are excited about, and something that is simultaneously thrilling and terrifying.

Throughout the last few months I have had several gut checks, times when my heart wanted to rebel against God and selfishly choose another path. There has also been fear. Fear that I won’t be able to provide for my family, fear that we will fail, fear that I am not strong enough, and most of all a fear that we will put our hearts and family on the line just to be crushed. Like I said, terrifying.

But, then I look at Israel, their selfishness, their lack of confidence in the promise of God, and their fear of men (because of their lack of confidence in God). Do you know what happened to them in Numbers 14? After they rebelled and turned from God, God told Moses what their punishment would be. Then, like a toddler with chocolate all over his mouth trying to convince mommy that he didn’t eat the cookie, they tried to reclaim God’s promise to give them the land.

Too little, too late.

They muster up the army and actually think that after their rebellion they can just walk into the promise land and take it over. Moses’ response to this gives me chills. Moses says, “Do not go up, for the Lord is not among you, lest you be struck down before your enemies.” God had removed His blessing, and taken away their ability to take the land.

Fortunately, you and I can learn from this tragic error. God has called me to plant this church. Its an unusual church, even for a church plant. But, God’s vision for the church is very clear, and His call to move into the land is very clear, and we are committed to walk in it, in spite of all the hardship and heartache.

We will not be selfish, and we will not fear anyone or anything but God. Over and over again I am seeing that when God calls you, He also provides for you. He has and will continue to provide for us.

So, let me encourage you. If God is calling you to do something great and bold for Him, don’t shrink back. Don’t be selfish or fear. Boldly step forward, follow His leading, and trust that He will take care of every need. Because He will.

 To begin with, Adam did not ask me to post the following. These are my own thoughts and Adam nor askingY.com should be deleted from your feeds after you read this. I am going to hit on one of our greatest shrines..our wallets/purses/piggy-banks and suggest a way to dethrone and oust those green faces we love to possess. It is in these sacred shrines that we intoxicatingly place some of our objects of worship. We all do it. Some of us more than others, but at some point we all trust in the cotton paper that encourages us to remember that it is “In God We Trust”. I will suggest one way to sever the root of fear, greed and pseudo-peace…give. Let us invest into eternal things. Let us use the currency of today to store up treasures in Heaven by getting behind Christ honoring churches, ministries, and families. Most of us received a letter this week letting us know that our checks were in the mail. The economy will be stimulated and we will get fatter, slower, deeper in debt and more busy. Don’t be consumed by our consumer culture. Let us stimulate each other towards love and good deeds.

As a support raiser I have wondered if God would lead some to give towards my ministry as I think about ways to spend the money that is coming. This post, however, is not about my ministry but Adam’s and a band of believers desiring to reach Decatur for Christ by being His body in the city. Please consider giving towards The Gathering Church’s financial needs. Let’s plant a church in the city for Christ’s name sake. Let’s do together what Adam and the core group can not do alone, let’s give of our money and worship God as we do. I firmly believe that as we reach culture creating cities with the Gospel, disciples will desireously go out into all the world equipped to replicate a lifestyle of worship as they trust in Jesus alone. Let us taste the joy of the Spirit singing in our hearts as we invest eternally. And yes, as we do this, I do believe that the economy will also be stimulated…but that is another blog for someone smarter than me to write titled, The Effects of Christ Honoring Citzens on the Economy.

Ask Adam how you can help to assist The Gathering Church.

Giving is a giant lever positioned on the fulcrum of this world, allowing us to move mountains in the next world. Because we give, eternity will be different–for others and for us. The Treasure Principle: Discovering the Secret of Joyful Giving Randy Alcorn

• We have been able to live in a free condo for several months now so that we could afford to live on my intern salary.
• We got an excellent renter to live in our house, a lady that we know and trust.
• We have had several close friends support us financially without ever even asking them to, which is awesome!
• Last month we were very tight on paying the bills and got an anonymous money order in the mail for $500, I still have no idea who sent it.
• And now, today, I got a call from someone who leads teaching trips to Israel and asked me to accept a scholarship to go on his next trip for free! Which means that this May I will be able to spend nine days in Israel for almost nothing.

I have to say, there is significant risk in what we are doing, it has taken a great deal of sacrifice already, but the blessings are crazy awesome!

From Shawn Lovejoy’s talk:

• Healthy leaders produce healthy churches and unhealthy leaders produce unhealthy churches.
• It take DISCIPLINE to be healthy.
• A lack of physical discipline will spill over into every area of your life.
• Being a disciplined leader gives the leader authority to lead.

From Steven Furtick’s talk:

•  From the promise to the payoff there is always a costly process.
• Courageous leadership is not a product of cut and paste, it must come from the inside out.
• You can’t mimic someone else’s miracle.
• The difference between a day dream and a burning vision is the audacity to act.

From Darin Patrick’s talk:

• The first point of Luther’s 95 thesis was “all of life is repentance”.
• Pastors are often the worst repentors.

From Mark Batterson’s talk:

• Don’t play the comparison game, its just pointless.
•  Success isn’t numbers, King Saul got hung up on that and it got him nowhere.
• Celebrate your failures because you learn a great deal from them.

The conference was very good, and possibly the best part was just networking and being encouraged by other church planters.

And so, we that teach are at a cross roads, do we make our teaching lighter and more palatable to the general public, or do we go for the gold and teach hardcore theology and doctrine? My answer is yes. We do both. We hold the hands of those taking their first steps into understanding the Bible, but we also ask them to take great and difficult steps on their own along the way. We want people to have to struggle through the difficult teaching of Jesus so that they can own it and live it. I’m more convinced than ever that this is the only way to turn the increasing tidal wave of shallow, self-centered churches.

Any thoughts?

I think connecting with people is going beyond merely reaching them, it is stepping into relationship with them. I think the term “reaching people” gives the idea that people are coming to us and that its a one sided relationship where they are something of a commodity. But, connecting with people is a two way street, where we are both making effort and coming to the table.

I know this is just a change in terminology, but I think it illustrates a subtle but important difference in thinking. One of the key roles we play as followers of Jesus is a responsibility to genuinely connect with people for their own benefit rather than ours.

I’m excited about what God is doing. I’m excited that our church is forming in it’s own unique way. I’m excited that even though the climb ahead often looks insurmountable, God will be there to do the impossible and will show Himself to be great.

2008 is going to be a great year, I hope you will stay tuned to see the crazy things that God is doing in our midst.

In the church we are planting, we want people to:

Walk into the marketplace to share.
What good is it to have the greatest gift in the history of the world but no one to give it to?

Walking implies going somewhere with intention. We must live intentionally for Jesus.

We want to cultivate a people that will live as messenger/missionaries within their spheres of influence. We want people to connect with others at the grocery store, the park, the mall, the museum, etc. and build real relationships. We want to love others for the sheer joy of showing Jesus’ love without any agenda. After all, His love is life changing on its own merit.

We want people to move out of the comfort of the Christian subculture and share our lives with regular people that haven’t experienced the irregular love of Christ.

We want people to be like Paul in Acts 17:22-34, where Paul goes into one of the most unbelieving areas of one of the most unbelieving cities in one of the most unbelieving countries in the world and shares the good news of Jesus using their own cultural imagery.

We must go outside of the church so that we can live as the church.