Two books I have just recently completed…you know what I have been thinking about recently.
Getting Sent, A Relational Approach to Support Raising by Pete Sommer
People Raising, A Practical GuideTo Raising Support by William P. Dillon
After the Sacred Gathering Pat and I met to talk about what God had revealed to us during the time of fasting and praying. I shared with Pat how God had laid the country of Belgium on my heart during the previous summer and how He had intensified that desire during the Sacred Gathering. For Pat and myself there were more unanswered questions than answered ones. I knew that God was not calling me to another church, I was and still am so pumped about what God is doing at LifePoint. But, I didn’t understand why he would continue to place a small West European country on my heart that I had never visited.
Pat asked me if I had shared with Amy what God was doing in my life. I told him that I had not shared with anyone what I had been walking through over the past eight (8) months. He suggested to me that it might be the right time to let her in on what God was doing. He also asked me what my next step was in this process and what I felt I needed to do. I shared with him that I was going to be faithful to keep walking , listening, journaling and reading the Word until I had a clear direction. I also thought I would begin looking for a “pocket of Belgian people” and those who would have a heart for Belgians in the Nashville area. Each time the Lord has called us (LifePoint) to serve in a particular area of the world He has placed a remnant of that group around us to minister to here in Middle TN.
Pat told me that in scripture each time the Lord revealed His work/will/plan to an individual it wasn’t just meant for that particular person alone. The message was to an individual, but for the greater body of people. When God would speak to a prophet it was so the prophet could tell the people. When God spoke to Jonah it was so Jonah could go to Nineveh and tell God’s message to the people. Pat went on to explain since I was a leader at LifePoint God had something for LifePoint in this journey and we would walk it together.
I spoke with Amy later that evening about what I was feeling and experiencing. When I first told her that God had been really impressing the country of Belgium on my heart for the last several months and it was only getting stronger she said, “You mean, like waffles, that kind of Belgium?” I said “Yes.” We talked for a while about how everything had transpired and what the Lord might be doing in our lives and in the life of the church. Amy said we should just keep praying, journaling and talking to each other about what God revealed to us. She reassured me that if God was leading in a specific direction He would make it clear in due time. It was such a relief to have let Amy in on what I felt God was doing and saying. It was also a relief to have a wife that is open to the movement of the Spirit that is completely different than what He has us doing at the moment.
Each of us committed to listen, pray, and keep our eyes open to what God was doing. We also said we would keep this personal between ourselves so we could discern the Lord’s voice and not confuse things with someone else.
The next week Amy came home from her work and told me about a lunchtime conversation she had with a teacher friend. The lady relayed to Amy how the previous evening at her church a couple had given their testimony to the church of how God had been moving in their family for several years to move to the mission field. They believed God would place them somewhere in Africa because of their love for the continent. But, God had shown them clearly they were to be in Belgium and that they were leaving in a few weeks for their preparation training. We both felt that God was confirming His plans.
Later that week I made contact with the husband and set up a lunch meeting to discuss what God was doing in their life and to talk about what God had been doing in the life of our church. We committed to pray for each other and to keep in contact as they moved forward with their preparation training. Upon completion of their eight (8) week training our families had dinner together and talked further about what they had learned and how God was moving in the country of Belgium. As they were leaving our home after dinner I commented to them that we would see them in the Spring ’09. I told them that we would travel Belgium to see them and that our church would seek out ways that God would use us in Belgium.
Continued Later…
WOW, is all I can say.
It was sometime near the end of the summer in 2007 that I first began to take notice that Belgium was crossing my radar a lot. At first it seemed like a coincidence the number of times this country kept popping up and then I remembered, “I don’t believe in coincidences.” I asked the Lord, “Are you trying to get my attention?”
There have been other times when I began to recognize God was doing something different in my life and in those times I began to journal and listen. By listening I mean that I read the Word each morning with eyes that were open more to what God might be trying to reveal. I held this stirring close and didn’t reveal it to anyone at that time. I am a person that waits, seeks, listens, and looks for confirmation before talking. I don’t mean to be closed, I just process different than others.
In October of 2007, our pastor, Pat Hood called our staff team together to tell us it was time for our local body to come together to fast and pray. The last Sacred Gathering we had at LifePoint was in March of 2004 and was a pivotal point in the life of the church. God used that time of seeking to launch the church into His global mission around the world. It was an incredible time together with around nine (9) people called to vocational mission service. When Pat told us this would be coming I continued to journal and seek wisdom from God on what He was doing in my life concerning the country of Belgium.
I really didn’t know much about Belgium…waffles, chocolate, capital of the European Union, and N.A.T.O. headquarters were located in this small country in West Europe. But as to it’s actual location I had to find a map and get my bearings straight.
In March of 2008 on the Sunday the Sacred Gathering was to begin Pat asked all the ministry staff to meet in his office to pray together before the start of the evening gathering time. As we meet Pat told us he expected great things from the Lord and that we needed to be ready for what God was going to do that week. He asked each of us to put our “Yes” on the table before the Lord. Whatever the Lord wanted of us as a body we needed to be ready to obey and as leaders of the church we needed to go first. That evening I laid my “Yes” on the altar before God and said whatever went on that week and however He spoke I was saying yes.
At the end of the three (3) days of prayer and fasting as a body God once again showed us clearly as a church that we were to be about His global plan of mission. His mission had to be the life blood of the church. It was after the Sacred Gathering that I had my first meeting with Pat to talk with Him about how God was stirring in my heart about Belgium.
It was from the end of the summer in 2007 through March of 2008 that God was molding and shaping me (not that He has stopped). It was through His Word, through prayer, and through my personal study of mission training that He made my heart more soft to His working. It seemed like each week Pat was preaching something that applied directly to what God was doing in my heart and my life. The messages weren’t centered on missions necessarily, but God used what Pat was teaching to speak very clearly to keep walking and moving in the direction He was leading.
Continued Later….
LifePoint Church is mobilizing this weekend to help our Rutherford County neighbors who were effected by the tornadoes on Friday. Here is how you can be involved:
Stay tuned to lifepointchurch.org and more eUpdates for futher information.
Five Easter Services: Saturday, April 11 at 6:00pm in the Auditorium.
Sunday, April 12 at 9:00am and 10:45am in the Auditorium and 9:00am and 10:45am in the Hub. No adult classes on campus, safe and fun programming for birth-5th grade.
I will be traveling with a team of people from LifePoint Church to work with the Totonaca people of Puebla. We will work alongside another partner of ours from Nuevo Laredo. We have partnered with a national church to meet some physical needs, dental clinic, eye clinic, exploration for a self sustaining fish farm, as well as worshiping together.
I am also taking my son, Peyton on his first cross cultural mission experience. We are excited to do this together. Well, I am probably more excited about it than he is. Pray God does a great work in the lives of the people we meet and minister to next week as well as in our hearts.
Many of you jumped in and brought reading glasses to help with the trip to Coyutla. Thanks for helping out, we have over 200 pair of reading glasses that will go to Indians in the mountains of Central Mexico. We will also set up a mobile dental/medical clinic to offer care to a people group that doesn’t have access to consistent care. Thanks for getting involved.
