Running with Perseverance towards the Turbulence: why we're still training leaders and planting churches 20 years on.

The first time Rynelle and I visited Southlands it was 1999. We were in our mid-twenties and our first-born son Asher, was just ten days old. Some people told us we were crazy to take him when he was that young, but in retrospect, we're glad we didn’t listen to them! The rookie parents and their son survived the trip. Asher loves the fact that his first visit from the hospital was to go and get his passport photo taken. The nations are in his heart and travel is in his blood. One day, a few years later when he was old enough to speak, he was buckled up in his car seat and I drove over a big speed bump. "Dad, we got turbulence!" was the seasoned little globe-trotters response from the back of the car. That trip set us on a trajectory to the nations that we will never regret.

But I digress. That first trip to Southlands in 1999 was for a Leaders Training Conference that emphasized the importance of churches planting churches. The atmosphere was intoxicating. Passionate worship, uncompromising preaching and a resolute call for churches to make healthy disciples by planting healthy churches. What we may have lacked in wisdom, we made up for in faith and sacrifice.  There was much good about those days.

But much has changed since '99. Our world has become more connected, less communal and more volatile. Western culture has become more fascinated with the spiritual yet more hostile to the gospel. The Western Church has become comfortable and nominal, in stark contrast to our culture's radical commitment to seek political and social change. We still have turbulence, Dad! I wonder whether we will run towards it or away from it?

Southlands has changed too. We moved from Diamond Bar to Brea in 2009. There was a leadership transition in 2010. We now gather in four cities and are part of a different church planting network. We've worked hard to preach the timeless gospel in timely ways to our changing culture.  We've not only wanted to win away games by planting churches in other cities and nations. We've also wanted to win home games by building healthy communities on mission that aim to make radical disciples of Jesus in Southern California. We've not arrived by any means. We feel completely inept at times, yet humbly grateful for every inch of ground that the Lord has given us. We feel thankful for the heroes who have gone before us, but we're trying to discern the times and respond to what the Spirit is saying in our day.

But the essence of those heady days of '99 remains the same. We are still passionate about making disciples of Jesus in  the nations of the world, amidst the turbulence. We still believe the Lord has called us, in the midst of 'the nations that rage,' to 'ask of me and I will give you the nations as your inheritance." (Psalm 2) We  remain committed to training leaders and planting churches for the sake of the Great Commission. Perhaps we're looking for a more sustainable pace and approach, but we never want wisdom to equal playing it safe. And so, we are hosting another leadership conference almost 20 years later. The theme is, "Leaders that Last." I don't think it's coincidence that I find myself speaking on Building a Culture of Lasting Multiplication. I'm believing that what happens will help many to press on with faithful endurance. I'm also trusting that it so captivates other young leaders like myself back in '99, that it shapes the trajectory of their next 20 years.

It was amazing to kick things off  this past Sunday with my friend Tom Tapping speaking, who by the way, was in that conference back in '99! Tom and Una have been married 40 years, have two children who are both leading churches and have planted 3 churches on three continents. They epitomize the phrase, 'leaders that last!' I'd also love it if you would  consider joining the other 230 leaders who have flown in from around the nation and beyond next week from 24th-26th October. The Thursday night is free and open to all. 

Southlands, it's time to run towards the turbulence. 

Our Longing for a Thin place.

 I’m not sure if you’ve ever heard of the term Thin Place? It sounds to me like a health club serving kale smoothies or a beach where skinny people hangout, but it’s not. The Celtic Christians had an ancient saying that, “Heaven and earth are only three feet apart but in thin places they are even closer together.” They spoke of remote, wind swept regions like the Isle of Iona as Thin Places. They were sacred spaces where the presence of God seemed nearer and they felt like they had come home. Have you ever been in a place like that? You might feel like Yosemite or the Santiago Trails or the Himalayas are thin places.  Perhaps it's somewhere closer to home like the Fullerton Trails or San Onofre Beach. For some mysterious reason the veil between heaven and earth seems more flimsy in these places. Until other tourists discover what we've discovered, that is, and then we have to find a new thin place. Perhaps at the heart of our wanderlust is our yearning for a thin place.

More than a place per se, we are hard wired with longing for the presence of God, which makes us restless creatures. It is not enough for us that God is generally present in the world. We want God to show up in His special presence. Augustine, the 1st Century Church father prayed, "Almighty God, you have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in You." The presence of God is our greatest need. It is the need beneath our felt needs. More than a better job, a bigger house, a healthier marriage or a fitter body, we need the presence of God. We yearn to walk with God in the cool of the day like our first parents did in Eden. 

The problem about our yearning is that our first parents were banished from the presence of God after the fall. 'He drove out the man, and at the East of the Garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.” (Gen 3:24) As sons and daughters of Adam and Eve we find ourselves East of Eden, exiled from the presence of God, restlessly trying to find our way back home. John Steinbeck who wrote the book East of Eden, often explored this theme of exile."As humans we have an incurable virus of restlessness, the urge to be Some Place Else."

This is why I love the building of the Tabernacle in the book of Exodus. The word tabernacle means dwelling place. God had redeemed and rescued His people out of Egypt. He'd given them his Law at Mount Sinai. But now He was coming to dwell with them in a ram skin tent. "Let them make me a tabernacle that I may dwell in their midst."(25:8) The God of Passover blood, Red Sea rescue and Mt. Sinai fire came to dwell with His people in the tent of meeting.  

The Tabernacle became Israel's thin place. After it was set up a cloud rested upon it that was visible to all of Israel.  At night the cloud had a fire within it. Whenever the fiery cloud moved on, Israel would break camp and follow it. Their thin place was not in one place.  God's presence dwelt with them and they moved wherever it led them. 

When Jesus came to earth, John's gospel proclaims, "The Word became flesh  and tabernacled among us." (Jn 1:1) God took up a tent, not of ram skin and purple yarn, but of flesh and blood, of bone and beard. He came to dwell among us, sharing in our weakness, temptations, limitations and grief. His body torn on the cross tore the curtain between the holy place and the holy of holies, so that everyone might come in to the presence of God. Jesus is our new sacrifice, our priest and our tabernacle, making the old ways obsolete. 

Because of Jesus, we will never again be exiled from the presence of God. But we will be sent with the presence of God. J.T. English said that the mission of God is the presence of God in all of creation. God wants his people to make thin places whenever they gather and wherever they go; places where the veil between heaven and earth is flimsy. Can Southlands be such a place and such a people? God is Re-Edening his world with his presence through us. "Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations...and surely I will be with you to the very end of the age."

If you missed Sunday's message on the Tabernacle you can click below to view it.

"Where can I find the presence of God?"

Jacob, Esau and Acting like Men.

There's a true story about two brothers in the book of Genesis. The older brother was an Alpha male. He was a hunter with a big appetite for food and the outdoors. He was hairy.  He was his Dad's favorite son because he kept the pantry well stocked with game. His name was Esau. The younger brother was a more sensitive soul. His skin was smooth and he preferred hanging out with his Mama to hunting out in the fields. His Mama loved him because he was great in the kitchen. He was the proverbial metro-man. His name was Jacob and he was scary smart. 

One day Jacob was cooking when Esau came in famished after a day of hunting. He begged his younger brother for some of the stew he was cooking, and knowing that his older brother would get the whole family inheritance, Jacob decided to make an outrageous proposal. "Swear to me that you'll give me your inheritance for this bowl of stew." Esau was too starving to think straight, so he made a short-sighted promise and wolfed down the stew. Scary smart meets crazy stupid.  

Jacob never forgot that promise. Like a sleazy lawyer hanging around car crashes to build a business, he waited for his opportune time to cash in. His time came when he heard his father was on his death bed. Dressing himself in skins so that he felt and smelt like Esau, he brought in his father's his death bed meal, pretended to be Esau and stole his brother's birthright. What's more outrageous is that God verified the blessing. Isaac received Jacob's blessing and Esau's birthright from Isaac and ultimately became one of Israel's patriarchs.

Now if we were applying a purely cultural template here, we'd be forgiven for thinking this is the Biblical version of Revenge of the Nerds. Esau the strong, brave, dumb jock gets outsmarted by his weak, smart, nerd brother. Brains triumphs over brawn. Bill Gates wins and O.J. Simpson loses. 

At least that's how an older friend of mine sees things going down in American culture when it comes to masculinity. "Our culture has been feminized. We're raising weak, man-scaped, lisp-talking men who don't know how to work a jack hammer, shoot a gun or grow a beard. There's no place for  real men these days." I think he may have a point, but when I raise this with another younger friend who loves books, pour-over coffee, jazz and wears skinny jeans, he insists, "The playing field of power still slants towards classic definitions of masculinity. To be a man in our culture still means to be a jock and my generation is kicking against that narrow definition." 

So where do we go from here in our quest to act like men?

I suppose we start by admitting that the Jacob and Esau story is not firstly about becoming God's man. It's firstly about knowing God's grace. God sovereignly chose social outcasts to be in Jesus' lineage to  demonstrate that He came for the poor in spirit. God chose pagans, adulterers, prostitutes and immigrants to be in the lineage of His Son. Not to mention domesticated Mama's boys. His grace is not just for the the first born with the birthright. It's for the runt of the litter in this world. 

That said, I think we can learn something about masculinity from Jacob and Esau. We can learn that God's vision of manhood is not as narrow as ours. Esau's hunting skills and hairiness weren't enough to get him chosen. Jacob's lack of those qualities weren't enough to get him un-chosen. But each man had his own unique strengths with corresponding temptations, and part of acting like a man means that we need to be aware of these in ourselves. 

Esau was brave, strong, passionate and short-sighted. He sold his whole birthright for one meal. And it wasn't even meat stew! It was a bowl of lentils! Hebrews 12 warns us of the sin of Esau as sexual temptation. Some of us will be tempted to swap everything we have for one fleeting moment of pleasure. This is not limited to hunters and jocks, but if we have an Esau appetite we need to beware as men. Being an Esau kind of man is to celebrate having a strong, visceral approach to life, but to realize we could lose our inheritance because of it.

Jacob was too shrewd to fall into Esau's temptation. His temptation was relying on his own shrewdness to get ahead. His name meant trickster. And there was a moment when God dealt with his temptation. Jacob wrestled with God, who put his hip out of joint and gave him a limp. God changed his name from trickster to one who wrestles with God. Jacob didn't lose his street smarts. But he learned to lean on God like he leaned on his cane.   

Perhaps that's what we can learn from Jacob and Esau. God has made us men with resident strengths and corresponding temptations. All men are in common in this regard. Becoming aware of these strengths and corresponding temptations in order to resist them,  may be what it means to act like men by God's grace.  

*Southlands men go away on a retreat this coming weak to explore what it means to Act Like Men.