We Need More Power, Captain!

My good buddy Duke Lancaster, pastor and church planter, has been saying some great things at his blog Thought & Musings. I really like this one.

Our church has rallied around three core values and we reference and talk about them regularly. They are Service, Acceptance and Power... Serving People, Accepting them wherever they are on their journey and expecting and experiencing the Power of God. As I prepared to teach a couple of weeks ago I was struck but the significance of that last value... Power.

Serving people and accepting people are not the private domain of the church... there are many great organizations that do an excellent job of serving people and meeting needs. There are many groups who are extremely accepting and love people and receive them with little or no judgment or motive. These things are not inherently 'Christian'.

But Power... the Supernatural Power of God is different. There is nowhere else that it can be found. The church is the primary dispenser of the power of God. Jesus said that we would do the works He himself did and even greater works (Jn 14:12). What He was doing when He said that was commissioning us to be His body. Not just figuratively or allegorically... but I think literally. As Jesus was here to reflect His Father I think Jesus commissioned us to reflect Himself. And it's a hands-on assignment... go be powerful in Him!

As a church planter I have read many things on making the church relevant to its culture. I believe in that philosophy... I really do... but 'exegeting culture' and strategic planning can quickly become a substitute for simply doing the stuff Jesus did.

A church that is reflecting Jesus in words and works, doing and saying what Jesus did and said, is going to be relevant in any and every culture.

I linked to a post earlier this week by Tullian Tchividjian that talked about the "exegesis of culture." I agree with what Tullian said, but also agree with what Duke said above. Good preaching, and ministry in general, does require an understanding of the culture in which we are communicating. But all that understanding is practically useless if not accompanied by the power of the Spirit - and demonstrations of that power.

God Was Not Caught Off Guard

In the midst of the recent and current political paranoia of some Christians (believers aught to know better), here are some wise words from my friend Duke:

There are real concerns about what may be coming in the current administration... but there always is!!! The world is not coming to an end... God was not caught off guard... his end time plans were not set back... and God doesn't secretly love Republicans more than Democrats. The current state of our country and culture should not in any way affect what we do as Christians... we should get up every morning and ask, "What would you have me do today, Lord" Christians have been doing that for centuries... sometimes in much more pagan cultures than ours! The church has survived and often thrived under every type of governmental system... democracy, socialist, communist... don't blame the government for the church's woes.

Where sin abounds there grace much more abounds... we are sitting on a supernatural powder keg... God's grace is set to be poured out if we will have the faith to trust him in these times.

From: Thoughts and Musings by Duke Lancaster: January 2009

Another Healing Testimony

Here's the latest report from our church plant in California - a healing testimony from my good friend Chris Self. Chris is assisting Duke Lancaster in planting Southbay Vineyard Church in San Diego. That's him and Jan, his lovely wife, in the picture. Here is Chris's praise report.

On the afternoon of October 28 I suddenly began to feel really disoriented and very sick. Shortly after arriving home I began passing a lot of blood. I mean A LOT OF BLOOD!! We called the paramedics who rushed me to the hospital, amazed I was still conscious because of the amount of blood I lost.

A colonoscopy revealed that I had an enlarged prostate on my left side. We were told that it wasn't common to have just one side enlarged and that "when that happens - the chances are better than 90% that the patient is dealing with a cancerous condition". Needless to say, that really frightened us. Someone had tossed the "C" word at us.

On top of that, it wasn't the cause of the bleeding...we still didn't know why I bled so much. I passed blood more than 30 times over the next two days. One of my nurses even said "you shouldn't have lived through that much blood loss".

Well, we got a diagnosis of Diverticulitis for the bleeding issue. Diverticulitis is fairly common and treatable with a change in eating habits and exercise routine.

But we had some time to wait for the results of my PSA test to come back and confirm the cancer. Well during that few weeks, we did what we always do---begged for prayer from you guys.

We got the results back last Thursday and I'll end this by saying that God doesn't place as much value on percentages as we do!!! The doctor said that not only did my test fall well withing "normal" range - he couldn't even find any swelling in my prostate at all!! I asked him what the chances of that were. He said a prostate just doesn't decide to swell up and then swell back down again without some medication at least. Then he asked me if I was a praying man. Of course, I told him I absolutely was.

Interestingly enough, if I had not bled the way I did - I would have never stumbled on to this issue with my prostate. The doctor's conclusion about the bleeding was "maybe that was God getting you to me so he could heal your prostate".

Cool perspective huh?

Amen, Brother - Really cool.

South Bay Vineyard - A Month of Progress

Last month the new church plant in SanDiego, CA, led by my friends the Lancasters and the Selfs had their first service. South Bay Vineyard is up and running, and doing fine. They started with 47 people and have had visitors every week since. Here's what their newsletter had to say:

With the launch behind us we have begun the work of building a community of believers that impact the larger community around them.

We are building on the three values of Service, Acceptance and Power. It is becoming more evident every week that these reflect the basic needs of this culture.

There is so much need and people are willing and ready to serve others and help meet those needs if you just point them to something concrete to do. People want to make a difference but they aren't sure how... and they usually want to do it in the context of community... with like-minded friends. So we serve through the local food bank and other practical activities that impact people.

And I'm finding that the most basic desire is to be accepted and loved for who you are. More and more I see the young people here open up to the simplest act of love. I continue to be amazed at this 'fatherless' generation and how much they desire to simply be accepted and to be embraced.

And then there is the desire to see God move in supernatural power. Our heart cries out for it... we want to believe that He has the power to change lives... our life... but our faith is weak because we haven't seen it. But when somebody experiences God in a supernatural way they are different... their faith is increased... and they begin to think, "maybe there is hope for me."

That hope is our goal... God is for us and I believe that San Diego is ready to believe it.

Church Plant Update- Launch Time!

Praying this week for my friends Duke & Marie Lancaster as their new church plant in California has their public launch this coming Sunday. You Go, Guys!

Duke and Marie, their son, another couple (the Selfs) and a single young woman (miss ya La La) all moved from Mississippi to California earlier this year to plant this church. We miss them a lot, but rejoice in what God is doing in and through them.

You can read about SouthBay Vineyard at their website.

Update on San Diego Church Plant

Below is an excerpt from an e-mail from our friends the Lancasters who are planting a church in San Diego, CA. Duke and Marie Lancaster and their son Heath moved to California in March. along with another couple and a single women from our church in Mississippi. They plan to launch Sunday meetings for their new church plant, to be called SouthBay Vineyard, in September.

Worship Teams, Prayer Teams, Children's Ministries and much more must be finalized and resourced. Leaders must be identified and coaching must proceed in earnest.

It would be easy to get overwhelmed except for the fact that God keeps bringing just the right people at just the right time into our circle of relationships.

It has been obvious right from the start that he is moving heaven and earth to orchestrate something fantastic here. I meet people almost every week who have moved here from all over the country and feel like God has them in San Diego for some purpose that they are just coming to understand. This week I spoke with a lady who moved here from Georgia, a man who moved here from Louisiana and another from Florida... all with ministry backgrounds and sensing God's call on their lives.

We will make our plans, but it is God who orders our steps. Keep praying with us that we see God's Kingdom come to San Diego... and that His glory is seen here.

I love Duke's vision for SouthBay Vineyard:

I want SouthBay Vineyard to be different. I want it to be a church that has in its DNA not only the desire but the expectation to see God demonstrate his power and glory through every member. That sees selfless service to those in their community as its greatest measure of success. That reaches out to every person and accepts them where they are. That dispenses grace and mercy in such abundance that the religious gatekeepers are offended.

And God is going to use people like you and I to build that type of church! He so loves the people of the South Bay area that he has orchestrated people and events to bring them together for this time and purpose. There are people from all over the country that are being assembled here to bring this vision to reality. This is the cause we are committed to and it just may be part of the destiny God has put inside of you!

To Be Cool or Just Be You

From the blog of my friend ( and church planter) Duke Lancaster at Thoughts and Musings

My point is, don't try so hard to be post-modern... or to be cool. Just do what you do the way you do it... do what God told you to do... and nothing more... and nothing less. There is room in the culture for the way you were made...

Culture always has a front edge and a back edge and there are people at every point in between. And they all need Jesus. You do not have to force yourself into a poorly fitting mold to be relevant... just serve the people that are drawn to you and the culture of the church will take care of itself. GOD will present her...

Glad to see you're back to blogging again, Brother!

Church Plant Stories

My good friends Duke and Marie Lancaster moved from Mississippi to California last March to begin a new church plant in the San Diego area. They just celebrated their first baptisms -don't they all look full of joy! That's Duke on the right and my friend Chris Self on the left. You go, Guys!

More great stories about the new South Bay Vineyard can be found at Duke's blog site here.