In my last post, I mentioned that I would be slowly and intentionally sharing some of my foundational assumptions about the Church and our church. If you are a part of the Columbia Ridge family in any way, you deserve to know what goes on in my head and my heart. You deserve to know the foundation from which we move forward. You deserve to know so that you are given an opportunity to speak into what happens in your church family, to be part of what we share of the grace we have been given, which begins with the life we’ve received, the salvation we are offered, and the ongoing favor we enjoy in walking through life with Christ together.

As I shared at The Gathering that occurred last month (everyone is always invited to one of these quarterly events!) there are several convictions I have about the mission we are called to embark on together. I will share these in this post, will share where I believe they will ultimately lead in the next post, and will share what happens in-between – how we get from here to there – in my final post on this topic.

So what convictions does this follower of Christ have?

First, I believe that the call of Christ to us is not simply to make converts to a church but rather disciples of Jesus, his reflections, fully devoted to him (Matthew 28:18-20). As such it is not enough to stop at ushering people into the grace of Christ (we must do this, but can’t stop there), we must help them become fully formed as his disciples over their lifetime. If this happens, the people we have the privilege of introducing to Christ will become more accurate reflections of him day-by-day. Such an occurrence would be a true gift of God to that individual and to everyone they cross paths with! One essential note is that we can only fulfill this call well as we move like Christ (Matthew 22:37-39; Mark 10:45) and that it is exceedingly difficult to help someone become like Christ unless we ourselves are becoming like Christ along the way!

Second, I believe that growing into a follower of Jesus, becoming a disciple and reflecting him, requires a transformation of the heart, mind and soul (Ezekiel 11:19-20; Romans 12:1-2; cp. Matthew 15:18-20). This is not something we can do on our own or even together under our own power. Rather, a transformation of the heart, mind and soul is a gift and typically occurs slowly, over time, through the tool of spiritual disciplines (e.g., fellowship, prayer, solitude, metabolizing God’s word, ministries of service, etc.) as we rely on grace and learn to walk with the Spirit (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12; 2 Corinthians 3:16-18; Galatians 5:22-26).

Third, we could grow to be a very large church and fail to reflect Christ and make disciples; we could remain a small church and effectively produce disciples (and vice-versa). The key is being true to our call to abide in Christ first and as such let God handle the growth of the Body as he sees fit (John 15:5). I have a hunch, however, that growth of the body numerically will follow growth of the body in discipleship and that numerical growth is essential to reach some of the long-range goals that we can work toward together (again, I’ll be writing on these in my next post).

Finally, as I’ve continued to grow in my role in this church family (which has nothing to do with some title and much to do my with what gifts God has may have given me to offer as our church family sees fit), this has become my personal goal: To, like Paul and his companions, “…proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.” Colossians 1:28 (NIV) It is to this end I desire to be used, as he enables and empowers.

At the end of my life I hope to hear a “well done” for the work of presenting those in my sphere of influence as mature in Christ (this includes those in my family, those in my business, and those in our congregation and community) and for being just one of many who help our church family become all that God would intend. I pray that you would join me in this same hope!

Afloat in grace,
Reed

Funny the thoughts you think on a plane.

It had been a great day yesterday. The weather was warm and sunny and the work our team did in San Jose was very well-received. It felt good to have been given the opportunity to begin to assist one of the largest companies in the world in this particular industry, and to do so with excellence. I am so enthused about moving forward for the benefit of those we met yesterday. Plain and simple, it just doesn't get any better than that with regard to my business. 

Reveling in all of this got me thinking about more important matters. Somewhere around 35,000', it struck me that like our team, there was One long ago who traveled a great distance to offer help.

He was like us, but not just like us.

He was like us in the traveling, but unlike us in that

• he was shunned, while we were welcomed;
• his trip cost him greatly - it cost him his life - while our trip "cost us" a single day (and offered us new business);
• his goal was to change our lives and the world, while ours was to help improve one key initiative in one company.

Pretty substantial and humbling differences. The work we do is important and makes a difference, but it is nothing compared to the work of Jesus. 

Funny the thoughts you think on a plane.

Suddenly my reveling moved from what had been done yesterday in San Jose to the mission (not work) I share with the people of Columbia Ridge. Together we share in the call to reflect Christ in our world, even when it costs us greatly and even when it hurts, so that the lives of those around us - and indeed our community and our world - might be changed, redeemed. It just doesn't get any better than that!

This Friday evening (November 18th) from 6:30-8:00pm at our offices I'll be sharing as clearly as I know how the steps we need to take to move forward in this great mission and why I believe we need to do such things. Please attend if you can and if not, please pray for the success of this gathering.

I've been doing a considerable amount of thinking lately about the church, leadership in general, and my leadership. Some of this thinking has come about because of internal pressures that I'm feeling. Things like...

• desiring to lead better and in areas of my own gifting (rather than outside of them),
• wanting to equip others better in their areas of gifting and to release them to create for the Kingdom, and, 
• to do it all while balancing my business and loving my family better. 

I don't necessarily think I'm doing any of that well right now; hence the internal pressure.

There's also some external pressure as well, which is all well and good. External pressure can come from things that exert force on our church that are beyond our control (e.g., the economy and what it does in drawing off available resources, changing culture around us), things in our limited control (timelines for projects are at least partially in our control), and the pressure of a community of diversity that is Columbia Ridge (folks with different opinions on how different things should be done). Again this is all well and good as long as we can move forward together in openness and mutual care and love in Christ.

Because of that desire to move forward in mutuality, I wanted to open up and share this because I think it is important for the Columbia Ridge family to know that such thinking isn't bad at all. In fact, it gives us an opportunity to move forward in different ways, to enter into deeper trust in Christ, and to move forward together as he leads us.

At present, the Board has advocated, and I wholeheartedly agree, that a staffing and leadership group be formed in order to discern how we might move forward in a new and different manner in those regards. It has and has begun its work. I'll be reporting on it as "discovery" comes together.

Additionally, I've revisited and will be writing on some foundational assumptions, activities and hopes with regard to our congregational life together. I felt it was a good practice for me to get such things out of my head and into the world in a formulated manner. I hope you'll agree as pieces of that appear in this blog.

Finally, in some of the reading I've been doing on church leadership, the following passage from a church consultant's essay on leadership in the church (link) struck me profoundly, emphasizing our need to think and pray about our leadership structure and philosophy going forward:

"Even though congregations resemble other institutions -- with physical assets, human resources, budgets, markets and products -- the interplay of a transforming God and a change-resistant constituency, a Savior who suffered and died and constituents who avoid suffering and fear death, and a Spirit who is making all things new even as Christians are grounding themselves in tradition, makes for a complex organization... A church community draws people close to their deepest yearnings, their most vivid fears, their wounds and their triumphs, their doubts about everything, including themselves, and their native optimism or hope that life can be better... walking with God can be a discomfiting and humbling journey. The effective church leader accepts this complexity, tries to understand it, works within it, and exercises both patience and determination in trying to help people get beyond their flaws. That is demanding and often confusing work. Little in the rest of life, except the challenge of living in a family and raising children, prepares one for the challenge."

I am thankful to be part of the Community of Christ that is Columbia Ridge. I believe that we have people here that love the Lord and each other deeply and are engaging, even right now, in how we can move forward together in honor of the One who gave his life for us. Whether or not you are part of a team, a leadership group, or the staffing/leadership discovery group, you can participate in our journey forward through your prayers for the health of our congregation and the fulfillment of the mission God has given us. Please considering offering them up to the Lord regularly! Furthermore, I am open to hearing your thoughts via this blog or email. Feel free to speak up anytime.

Afloat in His Grace,
Pastor Reed

After three weeks off the platform I find I'm really excited to get back up and preach this weekend. Finally... I get my shot in our Verses {that change lives} series. My verse this week is Philippians 1:27 and I chose it because it, more than any other, shaped my earliest moments as a disciple of Christ.

As I've been preparing, I've been keeping this (intimidating) quote in mind:

...sermons are supposed to be “audible sacraments.” They are not simply for the conveying of information, though that is important in a world increasingly ignorant of some of the most basic biblical and theological information. They are not simply for exhortation, still less for entertainment. They are supposed to be one of the moments in regular Christian living when heaven and earth meet. Speaker and hearers alike are called to be people in whom, by the work of the Spirit, God’s word is once again audible to the heart as well as to the ears. Preaching is one key way in which God’s personal authority, vested in scripture and operative through the work of the Spirit, is played out in the life of the church.  N. T. Wright, Scripture and the Authority of God: How to Read the Bible Today (p. 139).

The truth is that preaching still makes me nervous.

Every. Single. Week.

Over the years that nervousness has changed, though. Gone are the intense "I think I'm about to throw up" nerves that were my constant companion over my first decade of preaching. In their place now are more subtle, yet still present, butterflies in my stomach (still, ever single weekend). I kind of wish that they would just go away!

But what I don't wish would go away, and what I actually hope keeps increasing over time, is my sense of awe (and the associated spiritual and emotional fear) that comes as I realize just how miraculous the moment of preaching really can be. My hope and prayer every Sunday is to let God's word shine through in the moments when I'm speaking. I know I don't always do that, but that is my desire and it's a desire that arises from my own experience: God's word, his voice to me, changed my life forever. I desire that for anyone who happens to gather on a Sunday when I'm preaching and I promise to keep being nervous as I stand in awe at the fact that God has give me the opportunity to share.

While I can't bring heaven and earth together I do know God can as he speaks to us through scripture and as we open our hearts to be receptive to his voice.

Wherever you are and whatever your role as you gather for worship this week, let's be receptive together!

I’ve been reading a lot lately on the issue of human trafficking in our world. It is rampant. I want to help. I want our church to help, too.

But how?

Is it just to be a Good Samaritan when I come across someone in my path? Or is it, as I seems it should be, a chance to be involved in a deeper way, like the late John Stott seems to indicate:

Good Samaritans will always be needed to succor those who are assaulted and robbed; yet it would be even better to rid the Jerusalem-Jericho road of brigands… Just so Christian philanthropy in terms of relief and aid is necessary, but long-term development is better, and we cannot evade our political responsibility to share in changing the structures that inhibit development. Christians cannot regard with equanimity the injustices that spoil God’s world and demean his creatures. John Stott in The Cross of Christ via

I love his sentiment. I believe it and want to engage.

I get compassion. I get long-term development. I seek to participate in both already. But in the end I’m at a loss to figure out a way to engage the power structures in our world without also being caught up in the quagmire of the culture wars that defined the political activity of a previous generation of Christian leaders.

Yesterday on my twitter account I sent out a message about how great it felt to be on the Harlow property together as a church (in fact, it was so nice that Psalm 118:24 kept running through my mind)! It was exciting for me to imagine our congregation meeting there, serving there, worshipping there in the future. But until then, I'll simply soak in a truth that was driven home to me as I looked out at everyone during the welcome. That truth is that the church was there even though the building that will one day be used as a ministry tool by the church wasn't yet there.

It was also a great day for another reason: we inched toward the goals of The Infrastructure Project! As we have been hearing over the past two months, The Infrastructure Project has the aim of helping us to lay our hearts before the Lord once again, and as we do to see them shaped by the one who created them! I believe that happened. I believe that individuals and families took time to listen to the Lord's lead as they considered whether or not to pledge (and how much if they were led to pledge). Regardless of how he led you in this decision, listening for and responding to His voice is exactly what needed to happen for you to journey toward the "building what matters from the inside out" goal.

As for the "building what matters from the ground up" goals of bringing clean water to Mhlosheni and of bringing required infrastructure to the Harlow property we are inching toward them as well. I'm growing more and more excited to share the outcome of yesterday's service this coming Sunday (so be sure to be there). If you weren't able to make it to the service yesterday but still feel led to pledge toward the project, please let me know before this Saturday so that your pledge can be included in the total announced when we gather together again.

It is a joy to take this journey with you all!

At the close of the service this past Sunday, I challenged the congregation with two next steps. 

First, to join with others in prayer for Columbia Ridge, Mhlosheni, and The Infrastructure Project. You have responded! We had so many sign up to pray throughout the week. Additionally, I want to remind you that we are opening the Ministry Center (map) for drop-in, guided prayer during the hours of 6-9am on Wednesday morning and 6-9pm on Thursday evening. If you are able, please stop by, go downstairs, pick up a prayer sheet, and spend a few minutes praying. Remember, The Infrastructure Project first and foremost is about building what matters from the inside out and from the ground up. What matters inside is our heart and times of prayer begin to shape our heart more than anything else. Not only that, but times of prayer make a real difference in the material world, too, as such they will provide a foundation for the "ground up" infrastructure in Mhlosheni and on our church property.

Second, I asked for your questions about The Infrastructure Project or about the church in general and promised to respond to them via my blog. However, I only received one this week and it was one that comes about as a result of a failure on my part to communicate completely about my brother. If you were there on Sunday, you know that my brother Bruce entered hospice early in May. You also know that the doctors told us that he likely had less than two weeks to live. However, he is still alive and enjoying his time with his wife and four children! Additionally, his pain has been controlled well of late, which is a great blessing. Thank you for your interest in his condition and your prayers for Bruce and his family.

Tomorrow I'll write on some questions about The Infrastructure Project that came in from life group gatherings. In those gatherings, people had a chance to share what they appreciate about Columbia Ridge and also what concerns they had. There were many, many positive comments and several well thought out concerns and questions. I'll begin a conversation about those concerns in my next blog update. 

Traveling with you...

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ... Philippians 3:20, ESV 

The Romans had a vision that they held to. They believed Rome, and more specifically Roman culture, to be a beacon of light to the world. They believed that the whole world would be better off if Rome took over and forced its way into the other cultures. They did this through military conquest and subsequent colonization.

Take for example, Philippi, which was a Roman colony. Though far away from Rome itself, Philippi was meant to be a reflection of Rome. To make this happen, Rome would send its citizens to Philippi to share the culture and values of Rome with the people in that region. As such, the people who colonized this Roman outpost enjoyed  all the rights of those who were citizens of Rome. Not only that, they also shared in the responsibilities of Rome. It was in this way that the ways of Rome, the ideals of Rome, were spread throughout the world.

First conquest. Then colonization. Citizenship in Rome, while in Philippi, was the plan.

Against this backdrop Paul writes to the Christians in Philippi, saying, “our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

As people who lived in a Roman colony and were charged with the task of bringing Roman culture into a place that didn’t have it, they would have immediately understood what Paul was getting at. 

Paul was implying that those who were Christians were to move about in such a way that they brought the culture of heaven to the place in which they found themselves. For the people that Paul was writing to, that place was Philippi.

Citizenship in heaven, while here on earth, is God’s plan for us. It was then and it is now. And unlike what Rome did, heaven doesn’t take ground by military conquest; instead, heaven expands the kingdom through sacrifice for the good of others, most notably in and through the sacrifice of Christ.

All this talk about revolution and renovation, about God’s dream and his kingdom essentially comes down to this. We are the means through which the culture of heaven can break into this broken world, bringing justice and mercy into the fray simply by our faithful witness to Christ and of his love. As citizens of heaven God is calling us to live out the values of heaven, which are values that speak to grace and acceptance, to healing and hope, to sacrifice and forgiveness.

Quite simply, God’s plan is to reveal what heaven is all about through his people - through you and me, through us. It is not to keep us held together in a safe little enclave, but to send us out into the world so that other hearts can discover the King and his kingdom just as we have.

Let’s lean into the role God has given us. Let’s be an outpost of heaven here on earth, struggling together, sacrificing together, to embody the culture heaven, for we are it’s citizens. As we seek to do this, empowered by Christ moving through our renovated hearts, let’s pray that a revolution begins in our church, in our community, and in Mhlosheni!

Response
Spend some time journaling about how the truth that you are a citizen of heaven impacts your thinking about your mission here on earth. In what ways might you be encouraged to bring the culture of heaven into your family life? In what ways might you be encouraged to bring it to work or school? To friendships? To strangers? To Mhlosheni, Troutdale, and places in between? 

Traveling with you,
Pastor Reed

 

Yesterday and the day before we considered the primary way our hearts are transformed: through a relationship with Jesus Christ. In the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “we are bid to come and die” but in so doing we are given new life and find much gain. Our hearts are renewed and we are alive to God’s dream for our lives and for his world in a brand new way.

As Jesus says, we trade up from a life for ourselves to a life about him and his kingdom.

The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it. Matthew 13:45-46, ESV 

The kingdom of heaven can be a confusing phrase, but it doesn’t have to be. 

Consider the kingdom of Swaziland for example. Within the boundaries of that small country the citizens of that land live within the rule of their king. Some don’t, of course, but by and large we have found that the people of Swaziland honor and revere their king. He is the one they look to for leadership, even protection. He is the one they celebrate when they are in their country and when they are abroad. 

While this is the case for Swazis, it is not the case for citizens of other countries. They live under the rule of the Swazi king. They may not and probably don’t think much of him. They certainly don’t look to him for guidance or protection because the boundary of the Kingdom of Swaziland is the end of the effective range of his rule.

The kingdom of which Jesus talks of here - the kingdom of heaven - is similar. Those who have entered this kingdom (a kingdom where everyone who wants to be is welcomed) honor and revere the King himself, our Heavenly Father. Not only that, but they seek to carry out his will and even positivey represent him as they go about their business. So the kingdom of heaven, like an earthly kingdom, has citizens who carry out the will and enjoy the protection of their King. Also, like an earthly kingdom, it has boundaries, only its boundaries are the range of God’s will as freely lived out in our hearts and in our world, instead of lines drawn on a map. He doesn’t force us to enter the kingdom or live it out, but when we do, its boundaries expand.

Now that this is cleared up, we should notice just how valuable the kingdom, or God’s presence and rule in our lives, is. Just as the most valuable pearl in the world would be worth everything to a pearl dealer, entering into the kingdom of heaven is the most valuable thing a human soul can ever have. So valuable, in fact, that it would be worth giving up everything just to have citizenship in it.

We may not see it that way, but the one who sees perfectly, Jesus himself, certainly does. He says you would be a fool not to trade what is worth less (having our own way, own comforts, own treasures, own acclaim, own dreams, etc.) to obtain that which is worth infinitely more. Put bluntly, there is nothing in this life that you could possibly find that would be worth more than entering God’s dream for your life. Not one thing.

Together, we are being invited as a congregation to move deeper into God’s kingdom, deeper into his desire to renovate our hearts and redeem his world. We are being invited to invest in God’s kingdom, in God’s dream. 

Will this cost us? Of course it will. There will be an investment, just like the pearl merchant invested everything he had to obtain that pearl of greatest worth. 

So yes, we will need to invest. But remember, it is an investment of less for more! We will sacrifice with regard to time and treasure, but we will gain the joy of being led in this life by our faithful, kind, and loving Lord!

Response
Spend at least ten minutes in prayer. Ask the Lord to guide you in the investment strategy for your life. Ask him to reveal the things that he, as your King, would want you to invest both your time and your treasure in. Because he will move differently in your life than others, ask him to help you balance your investments of these things among the needs, issues, and relationships he points out. Finally, ask him to help you follow through on what he reveals to you. 

Listening with you,
Pastor Reed 

 

The call to come and die isn’t an end in itself, it is a means to an end, both of revolution and renovation. 

When my father had open heart surgery the surgeons stopped his heart in order to work on it. They had to. If it was still beating they could not have worked with the precision needed to complete their lifesaving task effectively. Quite simply, my father is alive today because they stopped his heart for a time.

While all analogies break down, I find this one helpful in thinking about why Jesus might call his followers to take up their cross and die to themselves. He does this so that he might do in their hearts what must be done to make them function correctly.

In giving our hearts to him he gives a new, restructured heart back. This new heart is one that beats to the rhythm of his Spirit. This heart is one that lives on his power. In a very real sense, we die to self and we are given new life in return; we die and are resurrected by Christ. He lives in us (“Christ... lives in me”) and we can live a new life now on that basis (“the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God”). 

This is good news, for without his presence in my heart, my heart isn’t ready to move forward into his dream. Without his work of renovation in my heart, I’m not ready for revolution.

This is THE hope we have for our dream of enjoying and living out God’s dream for the world and for our lives. 

Our hope is not that we would somehow do the work necessary to improve ourselves. Our hope is not that we can, by our own power, do the surgery necessary to repair our heart, our soul. Our hope for ourselves is never ourselves. 

Our hope for our world is never in us and what we can do. Both hopes are found only in Jesus! In fact, all hope is found in Jesus!

What does this mean for us? It means that our hope for our future as a church and our hope for those we love is in Christ and Christ alone. To personalize it, your hope is Christ living in you, moving through you, carrying you through life and empowering you to do his will. To globalize it, the world’s hope is that you would allow your heart to be transformed by Christ so that he lives through you every day, unveiling his grace and love through you.

The call to come and die is a means to the hope that we will truly live! It is a call beyond death and into all that is new -all that is resurrected - for ourselves and for the world!

Response
If you have never entrusted your life to Christ, today is the day! Let him know that you desire to follow him, that you desire to take up your cross and all that means and find new life in him. Let him know that you entrust yourself in his care, your Savior, Friend, and Lord. You can do this by communicating with him in a simple prayer or even by writing to him in your journal. 

If you have already entrusted your life to Jesus, make today a day when you refrain from trying to make some difference on your own power. Instead, ask the Lord to move through, to guide your steps as you listen to his still small voice in your renovated heart. Ask him to empower you to share his love and hope with those he brings across your path today. Ask him to speak to you about your role in the revolution of his kingdom both today and as we move forward together in our life as a church.

Traveling in his grace with you,
Pastor Reed