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LifePoint Church recently released a music project called “Illuminate, Children of Light“. I encourage you to purchase the CD for yourself and then get another on for a friend.

Micah Huebner, one of the worship leaders at LifePoint Church, explains the backstory for the song “I See The Poor” in the following video. Thanks to all the folks who made the project a reality and to those who are purchasing the CD. Half of all the proceeds from the sell of the Illuminate CD are going to send mission teams around the world. Purchase more CDs right now…all of you.

‘I See the Poor’ Song Story from LifePoint Church on Vimeo.

Brussels is listed as #11 on The Global Cities Index 2010.

from the article:

So what makes a Global City? Not size alone, that’s for sure; many of the world’s largest megalopolises, such as Karachi (60), Lagos (59), and Kolkata (63), barely make the list. Instead, the index aims to measure how much sway a city has over what happens beyond its own borders — its influence on and integration with global markets, culture, and innovation. To create this year’s rankings, we analyzed 65 cities with more than 1 million people across every region of the globe, using definitive sources to tally everything from a city’s business activity, human capital, and information exchange to its cultural experience and political engagement. Data ranged from how many Fortune Global 500 company headquarters were in a city to the size of its capital markets and the flow of goods through its airports and ports, as well as factors such as the number of embassies, think tanks, political organizations, and museums. Taken together, a city’s performance on this slate of indicators tells us how worldly — or provincial — it really is.

Yesterday, I introduced you to Michael Carpenter and Matthew’s Table. Here is the completion of our interview.

What role does Java Joe’s play in your ministry?

Most churches these days have some kind of café. Anywhere from a coffee pot in the fellowship hall to full blown coffee shops. We are not a coffee shop in a church. Our church is a coffee shop and our coffee shop is our church. In effect, Java Joe’s serves as a missional space. Alan Hirsch says that a missional space involves the creation of a third place where Christians and not-yet Christians can interact meaningfully with each other.

Church planting rests in the engagement of people in a meaningful dialogue around Jesus and spirituality in organic ways (i.e., evangelism). Java Joe’s, therefore, is a natural space for people to organically engage in discussions of meaning, spirituality, etc.  In a way, people are allowed to “belong” to our church community by becoming a regular at Java Joe’s before they believe. By “belonging” I am simply referring to giving all people, wherever they are in their life’s journey, the opportunity to find love and community so that they can encounter the transformative power of Jesus and become like him.

What has been the biggest lesson you have learned through the birth of the Matthew’s Table?

First and foremost, SLOW DOWN. We were so eager to get things moving that in a lot of ways we took on too much before we had the structure in place to facilitate discipleship and we ended up loosing some people in the process. We want our structure to be more open source rather than complex and rigid – sort of like a stake supporting a tomato plant. What I mean is, even an organic tomato plant needs the support of a stake or the fruit laying on the ground would rot. Therefore, even this organic expression of a New Testament church needs “stakes.” But, we do not want the structure to be so rigid that we are not creating space for leaders to emerge.

Secondly, church planting is HARD. I think it is easy to get all these delusions of grandeur about planting a new church, but church planting is a constant source of frustration, disappointment, and letdown. Yet at the same time it is the most rewarding thing I have ever pursued in my life.

What are you reading that is challenging you the most?

First is Michael Green’s, Evangelism in the Early Church. In this book, he seeks to appraise some the aspects of evangelism in antiquity in light of recent study. He accomplishes this by looking at evangelism theologically. Without much effort one discovers that most theologians are not concerned with evangelism and most evangelists do not concern themselves with theology. So Green sticks closely to a theological study of evangelism to help the reader understand afresh the gospel the early Christians preached, the methods they employed, the character they displayed, and the extent to which they were prepared to think their message through in light of contemporary thought patterns so that the church today may be recalled to her primary task.

Second, is David Platt’s, Radical. I am currently teaching through this book on Sundays and we are reading it together as a church. Platt’s book messes with our American assumptions about who Jesus is, what he accomplished, what he expects of his followers, and what he has sent us to do.

How did you decide to launch the Protégé Program?

I borrowed the idea from Erwin McManus and Mosaic Church in LA because for us, it wasn’t and couldn’t be about just starting one church that got bigger and bigger- it had to be a church that would plant churches that would continue to plant churches, that would continue to plant churches. And to do that we needed someway to train and send leaders of these churches. The Protégé Program is what fills this need.

We currently have one protégé serving with us – Casey Turner. Casey will be finishing up her degree in Christian Ministries at Belmont and is doing a line of one-on-one study with me on the missional nature of the church. She is currently serving as a barista at Java Joe’s where she is responsible for not only serving coffee, but building redemptive relationships with our customer base. Also, Casey will be engaging students at Cumberland University with the goal of starting a Bible study on campus this fall.

How can people get involved in Matthew’s Table and Java Joe’s?

First and foremost prayer. We need those spiritual warriors who will commit to pray for us daily. Secondly, we could use some committed followers of Jesus who could come in, embrace our vision, and serve as marketplace missionaries in our city. Third, we need financial support. While, the TBC and Nashville Association have been generous in funding our efforts, none of our pastors, including myself, receive a salary and that can make things difficult for us and anyone else who may want to join us. Furthermore, my the house we had been living in has been sold out from under us, so we had to move about 6 weeks ago and start paying rent which always takes some “creative” efforts to make each month. Lastly, a personal request. I am in desperate need of some dental work, but I have no insurance. So if someone reading this is a dentist or knows a dentist who would do some pro bono work it would be greatly appreciated.

Five or six years ago we made an intentional decision as a staff team to move our high school students (9-12 grade) to a serving role on Sunday morning. We had read about the nationwide trend among new college freshman who were leaving their home church’s youth ministries to attend college and not getting involved in a local church near their universities. We wanted to change this trend and see LifePoint students committed and plugged in to the local church during their college days. We believed  serving in a local church ministry was key to keeping students and families plugged in and committed.We spent time studying and learning from other churches who had made the move we were embarking on with our  students. We saw the difference it was making in their churches and in the lives of the students who were involved. As a staff team we decided the risk of upsetting the “apple cart” was worth it.  This new ministry would be called Max Impact.

The move was not fully accepted at first, probably due to our team not communicating effectively. Some people didn’t want their high schooler involved in serving and there were students who didn’t want to serve so we provided one (1) Bible study class for those who needed a place to be on Sunday mornings. This class revolved around God’s call to serve, sacrifice and understand how we were S.H.A.P.E.d to serve.

Fast forward to today, the difficulties of the early days are gone and people are settled into the new normal of Max Impact. Yesterday, I watched as kids lead out in our stage crew. In fact, there were 4-5 students whose parents are vitally involved the Production and Worship Arts area currently. Students were leading in worship in Student Ministry and now students are training other students to lead also. It is a blast to see the culture of raising leaders firmly being passed on to another generation of Christ Followers.

Thank you LifePoint Church for being willing to take the risk and for creating a culture were serving is valued. If your High School student is not serving on Sundays please see David McCaman and he will help them get plugged in to ministry.

I previously wrote about raising our children to be global Christians. Here is the completion of my article.

In addition to her suggestions we implemented some ideas of our own that have made a tremendous impact on our family. These suggestions have influenced our thinking about being a global Christian rather than just a North American Christian.

1. We looked for people who were serving Christ in our community and around the world and hosted them in our home so our kids could meet them. We wanted our kids to hear God-sized stories about serving God in a context different than our own.
2. As a family we would get involved with local outreach ministry opportunities that would expose them to living a missional life. My wife and I wanted our children to understand that ministry was more than Sunday morning.
3. Our family has tried to make friends with people from other cultures living in the United States. When we lived in Houston, we lived on a cul-de-sac that was home to a Filipino family, a Chinese family, a Jewish single lady, and a Buddhist family. Our children learned early on that people worship differently than our family did. We would explain to our kids that the gospel was for all people, all nations, all races and tribes.
4. We led our children to be involved in mission education in our local church. The experiences they received in our home were undergirded by the mission education they received through our children’s ministry in the local church.
5. We made a commitment to give an annual gift to our church-wide mission offering that was taken up each Christmas. We explained that our offering was a gift that would help international missionaries accomplish the work God had called them to do. Our offering was equal to or greater than the most expensive gift(s) we would exchange during the Christmas season. This made a huge impression on our kids and us.
6. Lastly, we made a commitment as parents to take our kids on an international mission trip before each one moved into middle school. We felt it was important to expose them to other global Christians and to expose them to what living on mission internationally was like for other followers of Christ. Our trips together have been so beneficial for our children and our family. The decision has meant much sacrifice for our family but we have never regretted our decision.

All of these activities and decisions have had a cumulative effect on our kids. There is no way for me to narrow down the list and say “this one thing” made all the difference. Keeping our children consistently exposed to global Christianity has made me a better and more well rounded follower of Christ. He has changed my thinking, living and serving in the process of leading my family. We are not perfect nor do we have raising global Christ followers figured out. I am thankful for people like the Piper’s who exposed us and mentored us to having a higher vision for raising and growing our children into global followers of Christ.

There have been families throughout the years that my wife and I have tried to watch from afar and let them mentor us in what it means to be a Christian family. We looked for and found a family to help us develop our children into “global followers of Christ.”  When I speak about being a “global follower of Christ,” I am referring to someone who has a bigger vision and idea of what it means to follow Christ outside of the context in which they live.

One of the families that has mentored us in developing a global Christian mindset is John and Noel Piper. Noel Piper has written an article that influenced my wife and me tremendously concerning developing our children to think as a global Christian.Some of the ideas she listed in her article included subscribing to National Geographic magazine, reading missionary biographies together, putting missionary family pictures around for the family to see and pray for and teaching your children that America is not the only God-made country in the world.

What strategies are you utilizing to raise your kids to enlarge their view of global Christianity?

Part 2 tomorrow.

Joseph Biden, the Vice President of the United States of America, made some pretty remarkable statements recently when he addressed the European Parliament.

“As you probably know, some American politicians and American journalists refer to Washington, D.C. as the ‘capital of the free world,’” Biden said. “But it seems to me that in this great city, which boasts 1,000 years of history and which serves as the capital of Belgium, the home of the European Union, and the headquarters for NATO, this city has its own legitimate claim to that title.”

I knew God was calling us to a city that was influential and strategic but “the capitol of the free world.”

What do you have to say about this?

Read the whole article here.

A few weeks ago I asked you to send me any women’s issues books from a Christian perspective.  LifePoint Church partners with a local ministry in our church that ministers weekly in a women’s prison in Nashville. This ministry is faithful each week to go in and be the hands and feet of Christ. They have been in need of books that address the Christian life for women and there specific needs.

You have responded in great ways. I personally received around 100 books that have been given to the director of the ministry. She is in the process of sorting the books and getting them into the library at the prison and into the hands of the ladies she knows. There have been others of you who have given books to the director personally, thank you. I recently received a phone call from my sister in Texas telling me she had a box of books that her church had collected for this outreach. Thank you so much for getting involved. It’s not too late if you still want to jump in on the good things happening.

Here’s a great idea…..

I would love to help you reduce clutter on your bookshelves, in your closets and on your desk.

I have a way to help you reuse some books that are specifically targeted towards women issues.

I want to ask you to recycle the books you have already read.

I am looking for used (and new) books by Beth Moore, Priscilla Shirer, Kay Arthur, Sheila Walsh, Elizabeth George, Nancy Leigh DeMoss and others.

There is a ministry that our church is involved with that works in the women’s prison  in middle Tennessee and they are in need of books that help women address issues form a biblical perspective. We can help make a difference by putting the books we have used back into circulation.

If you can help please bring your used books to the church office at LifePoint Church. If you live in another city or state mail your book to LifePoint Church, attn. Kyle Goen, 506 Legacy Dr., Smyrna, TN, 37167.

Thanks for your help.

Over the next 10 days I will ask a lot of questions to a lot of different people.  I have heard someone before, “If you ask the right people the right questions you will get the right answers.”  Sounds good, but I don’t know how practical it is all the time. Anyway, I am attempting to be a learner in a new land  for the next several days. The team of folks I am leading to explore Brussels will meet with many different people from various organizations and seek to gain as much info as we possibly can gather so we can prepare for the move to a new country in a few months. We are going as learners to a new country seeking input into how people live, think bout life, family and faith issues. It is only by asking questions, listening to answers, dialoguing with nationals and listening to the Holy Spirit that we will begin to understand the country, the culture and the people of Belgium.

Speaking of questions…what are some questions you might have about the country of Belgium? What questions would you want to make sure got answered if you were moving there with your family.