Fire fighters and Fire lighters.

On Saturday there was a dangerous bush fire in our suburb that burned to within a mile of our house. It took a few firetrucks and two helicopters to extinguish it. I am so thankful for firefighters. They are absolute heroes.

Seeing the out of control blaze moving towards our house was a harsh reminder of the destructive power of a fire when it is in an unhealthy context. And yet fire, when it's in a healthy context is one of the most vital, beautiful and helpful gifts known to man.

Rynelle and I have been leaders in 4 different churches over the last 20 years. Although each church has had notable strengths,  I would venture to say that the overriding leadership call for us has been to help lead those churches towards health. Using the fire metaphor, this means that you are often fighting unhealthy fires more than you are lighting healthy fires. There are any number of unhealthy fires that a leader has to fight in an unhealthy church; fires of  gossip, slander, accusation, division, favoritism, mistrust, debt, lawsuits, legalism, immorality, and heresy are just a few. The beauty is that Jesus can quench those fires over time and bring a church through a season like this into a new season of unity, faith, and vision. We have seen Jesus do that so faithfully.


The problem is though,  that often as leaders we struggle to change the way we lead after those unhealthy fires have died down. We struggle to take our firefighter gear off. In fact we can become consumed with running around putting out fires that we never get round to building anything constructive in our churches.  Of course, there will always be some fires to fight, even in healthy churches, but to lead a church from health to strength, requires an intentional change of gear.
It requires that we take our firefighter gear off(we may still need to carry a fire extinguisher with us) and put our Blacksmith apron on, as it were. We are called to light fires more than we fight them. 

In Paul's second letter to Timothy, he encourages the young leader to guard the good deposit of faith handed down to Him from his grandmother, Lois, but then reminds him to, "Fan into flame the gift of God in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us not a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of self-control." By encouraging this Timothy to fan into flame his gift, Paul is lighting fires of leadership, mission and devotion.  This has become my primary metaphor as a leader. I want to be a fire lighter, as God brings the church we lead from health to strength.


How are you doing with that as a leader, parent or friend? Are you fighting fires more than you are lighting them?

Talking of lighting healthy fires, we recently announced the next step in Southlands' One Church, Multiple Communities journey. We sense that God is leading us to light a fire of mission and community in the city of Whittier in 2016. We are so excited about what God is doing in that city,
and have already begun meeting with pastors in the city to foster honoring relationships with other churches there. We will begin meeting in May to pray and train towards the planting of this community. Please contact me or kevin@southlands.net for more details if you feel led to be a part of it.

The Beauty of Baptism

We've baptized 22 people over the last two weeks at Southlands. Of course, Easter Sunday is a classic Baptism moment, but the curious thing is that it spilled over (pun intended) into the next weekend, when we baptized another 5 people. There is something contagious about the power of a bold, decisive, declaration of faith.

Firstly, a brief theology of Baptism.  I explained it to my youngest son, Levi, who was baptized at Easter, like this. In the Book of Exodus, God saved His people in two ways. Firstly, he saved them from the angel of death by the blood of a lamb on their doorposts. This foreshadows the Cross, where the blood of Jesus saves us from the penalty of our sin, which is death. Secondly, He saved them from slavery to Egypt by opening up the Red Sea, and drowning the Egyptian army while Israel escaped on dry land. This mirrors the Resurrection of Christ, which defeats our enemies, sin, satan and death. Ultimately, the Cross deals with the penalty of sin, while the Resurrection deals with the power of sin.

Jesus gave His Church two primary Sacraments to celebrate: Communion, which remembers the Cross, and Baptism by full immersion in water,  which remembers the Resurrection. Practicing these Sacraments is what makes a Church a Church. While Jesus instructed his disciples to celebrate Communion as often as you gather, Baptism was to be a decisive, definitive, one-off death to sin, in order to rise again in the newness of Christ's resurrection life. It also signifies inclusion in Christ's Body the Church, but that's for another blog. Jesus commanded us to make disciples by baptizing them and teaching them to obey Him. Baptism doesn't save us, but it empowers us to turn our back on sin and follow Jesus. It's why we call our baptismal font the coffin. I heard someone say, "I felt like I was dying as I went under the water, but I felt brand new as I came up."That's pretty much it.

We baptized a lady from Iran who has been studying here the last few months. She grew up Moslem, but on her arrival in the US, a lady in our church befriended her, began to speak to her about Jesus, and brought her to church. After a few weeks she put her faith in Jesus, and on Sunday she made a bold, public proclamation of that faith, that will no doubt come at great personal cost.  But she is unashamed of her Savior, and even insisted that we give her a certificate to prove that she is now a Christian.

We also baptized 3 people who have come through our Alpha course,  an introduction to the Christian faith. One man had never set foot in an actual church before Easter Sunday, besides a few funerals. But he became convinced of the Gospel during Alpha, and decided to make a public declaration of faith in Jesus on the spur of the moment on Sunday.Others have been more deliberate in their decisions. One lady crossed the line of faith a year ago in our church, but wanted to be sure she was counting the cost of a no turning back decision. Another man has walked with Christ for more than 10 years! Some children got baptized too, and each parent spent time making sure that they understood the Gospel, had repented and trusted Jesus for salvation, and were willing to follow Him the rest of their days. This is no less powerful!

The recent spate of Baptism show no signs of abating either. Just this week I have had conversations with people who have asked to be baptized. We will do this on the 3rd May.  I believe there are others whom God is stirring to be decisive and make a public declaration of faith in Jesus.  If that is you please reach out to me or kirk@southlands.net. Salvation belongs to the Lord.

March Madness and the Mission of God

March Madness, for those unfamiliar with basketball, is the term used to describe that period of time when the US College basketball season crescendos to a frenetic conclusion. There are so many games to watch, with such excitement, that fans are known to be glued to their tv's/tablet/smartphones, literally missing in action from normal life for the best part of March.

As a pastor here in Southern California, I've come to experience another form of March Madness. It has less to do with basketball than it has to do with a month affected by 5 phenomena. They are:
 1. Rain (we get so little of it, that when it happens people stay in doors. Southern Californians are scared of rain!)
2. Snow (when it rains on the plains it snows in the mountains and the slopes call. For the record I love skiing!)
3. Flu (understandably, it tends to wipe out whole families. Ask us!)      
4. Spring forward (who knew that a one hour time change could affect so many?)
5.  Public holidays (Spring break and Presidents Day mean people are enjoying our Golden State)

Of course, the rhythms of our culture are to be enjoyed and celebrated. However, as the people of God, living in the world but not of the world, we are called to discern when the rhythms of our culture are at odds with the Mission of God. What does it mean to guard against a seasonal scattering amongst the people of God and a loss of focus on the Mission of God?

There is a difference between sending and scattering. I'm so encouraged by the sending taking place in the church. We sent a team to serve in Los Angelicas Orphanage this weekend in Mexico. They did such great work. We sent a bunch of people away on the Alpha weekend too. It was delightful to hear of people crossing the line of faith, getting healed and encountering Jesus. There have been a record number of signups for our missions trips this year, as we travel to other nations to serve churches and orphanages and schools. I'm so thankful for so many who serve tirelessly in these God adventures.

On a similar sending note, this Wednesday Rynelle and I head to South Africa for 2 weeks of ministry. We haven't been back in 4 years, so we look forward to reconnecting with family and friends, and ministering into churches we've grown to love deeply over decades.

 The first weekend we will be with LRC Church in Johannesburg, the church that we led from 2002, before handing it over to Ed and Heidi Strong in 2007. We'll speak at their Leadership Summit and minister at their Sunday gatherings. We so look forward to reconnecting with old friends and making new ones at LRC. The next weekend we'll be with Nick and Katie Hardy who lead Red Point Church in Durban, a church of similar age and size to Southlands.  I'm sure we'll learn as much as we teach at both of these remarkable churches. Pray that we'd be a help and an encouragement to them, please.

 Over time we've developed gospel partnerships with other churches in the USA, and we're traveling with leaders from 5 of these churches to attend a conference for leaders with Advance, a movement of churches led by our friend PJ Smythe. I'll be speaking and leading worship at the conference, but primarily we are there to explore what it looks like to partner with churches for the  advance of the Gospel in the USA and beyond. We covet your prayers, for wisdom for the way forward.

All of these sending moments are like a team going on the road to try and win an away game. One of the values we've tried to preach and live out as a church is to give ourselves to winning both home and away games. The Mission of God has called us to make disciples all the way from our home town to the ends of the earth. But a team that only wins away games, never really gets very far as a team. I don't believe God has called us to choose one or the other.

So, during March, let's avoid the Madness! Let's take heed of the warning in Hebrews 10:25, "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the day approaching.'  

Jesus is absolutely committed to building His Church, and neither the gates of hell, nor March Madness, will prevail against it! 
Together, for Him,
Alan