Kaleidoscope of Community

A few glimpses of Community at Hopesprings...

• Giving away candy and hundreds of cups of hot chocolate to trick-or-treaters.
• Watching one of our friends die of cancer, even as we watched him live his life with eyes and heart open in his last days, clinging to Jesus and to his mission with his last breath.
• Being a part of a half-birthday party for a Latvian teenager who is a long way from home and making her feel loved...while supporting the family who took a great risk in welcoming her into their home.
• Singing with, crying with, dancing with, and partnering with friends as we take our next steps with God and people.
• Our life group partnering with Recovery Revolution, seeing stength and hope take root in lives and hearts and minds previously in the pit of addiction.
• Parties...lots of parties. Barbecues. Frisbee. Soccer. Good food.  
• Partying on a float in a halloween parade. Singing ridiculous songs and giving away cookies and smiles to neighbors in the city.
• Cutting hair for kids in the community while they get school supplies and backpacks; parents relieved that they have one less thing to worry about.
• Welcoming people who uprooted and moved halfway across the country to experience Hopesprings.  
• Performing a funeral for a neighbor of someone at Hopesprings as a result of that someone being a good neighbor.
• Watching a group of people be honest, messy, real...and seeing them stick together and grow in the midst of the mess.
• Seeing folks surround other folks taking huge steps of faith towards new life in Christ, giving them love and support along the way.

This has all happened IN THE PAST YEAR. These are the kind of things that typify the culture, the community, the family cultivated at Hopesprings in Bangor. These beautiful moments, and many, many others, are the things that get me excited about jumping out of a plane to see this kind of community take root in a new place.  

Building community can be a tricky, dangerous, wonderful thing. It takes more than you think you can give, stretching you in ways you never thought you could. It is scary. Yet it is what Jesus died to create...His people rescued. His family restored. His mission extended in and to anyone captivated by His love.  

Jesus' crew is a wild one. Zealots, tax collectors, fishermen, rich, poor...folks who would have hated each other are put together by Jesus, loved by Jesus, and turned loose by Jesus to show how powerful the grace of God can be in a community of people willing to love God and love others.  

I look around Hopesprings in Bangor, knowing the people that are gathered and scattered here, and I see a group of people who ONLY could have come together by God's astounding grace. I can't wait to see who and what He will rescue and create in Hopesprings Sioux City as we show and tell the story of God in a community of people.  

Portable Toilets and Street Cred

I am a road warrior.  
Let me clarify. I have spent a lot of time in cars on trips, both long and short. I have pulled all-nighters in blizzards and driven in some silly conditions and for silly distances. In all of this time, I have had remarkable bladder control. I have not had many roadside toileting emergencies. I have not had many instances where containers other than toilets came into play.  

Today, I must give up my Road Warrior Street Cred. (And yes, my qualification for road warrior basically consists of bladder control.)

This afternoon our "band" had a "gig".  (Those quotation marks are absolutely necessary)  It was about an hour away, outdoors, in a park. In this "band" I do all of the following (not at the same time): beat box, sing, play djembe, play guitar, kazoo, break drum sticks on trash cans, play not more than 4 notes total on keyboard, and hit cymbals more often than I should. Oh, and I also heckle my "bandmates".  

Anyway, to get through this gig we played outside, in 90 degree weather, for a couple hours, I had to hydrate. Mucho. I probably drank at least 6 water bottles to get through the various degrees of torture I inflicted upon my vocal chords and throat. You can see where this is going. We had about a 55 minute drive ahead of us.  

About 10 minutes in: "Oh, I have to go. I can probably make it."
About 30 minutes in: "There is no way I am going to make it. But maybe...too embarrassed to tell the guys I have to go."
INSERT STOP-AND-GO TRAFFIC
About 35 minutes in: "Guys we're going to have to stop. There is no way I am going to make it."
INSERT WATER NOISES AND HECKLING FROM BANDMATES.
About 55 minutes in:  

Here is the point: That moment, the one where I reach for the handle on a port-a-potty on the side of a busy highway, the moment when that door opens, IS A MOMENT OF EXTREME JOY FOR ME. Behind getting married, the birth of our children, getting to teach the Scripture, etc...you know, the real moments of joy...this was one of the happiest moments of my life. No joke.

It was exactly the right thing, at the right place, at the right time. It was, simply, perfect.  
I had an extreme need. Upholstery was at stake. (I had done the math, and the two empty water bottles were NOT going to cut it.) And there it was, right where it was needed, at the exact moment it was needed.  

What does this have to do with planting a church in Sioux City?

There have been many moments up to this point, and there will be many more ahead, where we, our team, and the people we are sent to will be in extreme need. An extreme circumstance. Where things infinitely more important than port-a-potties and upholstery are at stake. We will need more than we can muster. We will need power and energy and resources that are beyond us. We will need an intervention divine, timely, and suited to specific people, places, and times.  

It is a silly story, and I am not claiming divine intervention in a port-a-potty on the side of a highway, because, if anything, it would have been to give exasperated drivers a humorous respite from the annoying traffic. But I do know it got me laughing, and reflecting on the depth of our need and the impeccable timelines of God in our stories and in the life of this community of faith.  

Flare Request Friday: Deets and Dimes

We have been sharing some of the heart and vision for Hopesprings in Sioux City. Today I want to share some the financial information and challenge you to pray about getting involved.  

It is Flare Request Friday. (Flares are what some nerds like me call prayers)

We will be using these as guidelines for the budget for Hopesprings SUX:

Tithe/Giving: 15%

We are a generous community of faith. Money is not something that will be used to manipulate or guilt people at Hopesprings, but when we do talk about finances and giving, we will encourage people connected with Hopesprings to be generous, and we will model that generosity with our own finances. We believe God has given us everything we have, and we trust Him with our money if we trust Him at all...where we spend our money is reflective of where our heart is.  

This money will initially go exclusively towards the good of the people of Siouxland. 

It will go out on mission, towards giving away the good news in tangible, practical ways in the city. This could look like partnering with local organizations who are doing the work of God in the community, as well as finding creative ways to love and serve people in our neighborhoods.  

Later, this portion of our budget will also go towards mission internationally that is connected with the vision and mission of Hopesprings.  

Salaries:  35%

This money will initially go towards the salary of the lead pastor and will expand to include other salaries deemed an appropriate use of our resources by the leadership of Hopesprings. Salaries will be made public knowledge and will be reasonable in relation to the work being done through the ministry of Hopesprings.  

Building: 30%

In the beginning we will be meeting in homes in Sioux City, and when we need a space to accommodate our weekly gatherings, we will be looking for space in Sioux City to rent for cheap (or free as people are moved to generosity). There will be many needs in this area to set up whatever space we will be using for our gatherings. We will need to make a significant financial investment to make the space a warm place for people to connect with God and each other. If we do not have much need in this area in the early days, we will save in the hopes of securing space as we need it.  

Ministry/Admin: 20%

This will be money geared towards the functioning of any ministry associated with Hopesprings in Sioux City. Any money spent training leaders, helping community groups function, ministry to kids or students...all of that is included in this area.  

***

Hopesprings in Sioux City is accountable financially to Hopesprings Corporation, and all spending/use of resources will be reported to the leadership of Hopesprings. A working budget will be available on the blog next week. 

We are praying for people to partner with us to help fund the initial stages of Hopesprings in SIoux City. We would ask you to think, pray, and consider giving generously. As a goal, we are praying for at least 25 people to commit to giving $100 per month for one year to help with the work in Sioux City. We are also praying for people to give one-time donations and monthly contributions of any amount.  

We pray you might see any giving as an investment in the Kingdom of God and the work He is doing in Siouxland. We see great needs, and we trust a great God to move in the hearts of His people to fund His dreams for the community.    

If you are interested in giving to Hopesprings in Sioux City, please click here.
When you give, it would help us to remind and encourage you if you would send us an email letting us know your commitment.  You can email us here.

Receiving Fire

It is pretty interesting - often profound - to think of what Jesus is looking at when he is saying something. There is research suggesting, for example, that when Jesus talks about having the faith to move mountains into the sea, it is quite possible he is looking at a mountain made by the power-hungry and self-obsessed King Herod. Colors the passage a bit, right?
Today I wondered about something Jesus said:
Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it. -Luke 18.17

Normally we think of a child jumping into the arms of a loving parent. Or a child believing anything you say. They receive love and acceptance and cookies. The verse strikes me most often as a warm and inviting way of relating the trust children have implicitly in us as a model for our own trust in God, which is an incredibly meaningful understanding of those words.

But today I was thinking of how our son receives fire.

We were spending time with our life group tonight celebrating a Latvian teenager's half-birthday, because that is just something we do. When you have a party outside, s'mores make everything better, and fire helps. There was a good-sized fire going, and our almost-three-year-old, of course, immediately made a dash for it, wanted to put stuff in it, and generally wanted to be as dangerously close to it as I would let him be. Marshmallows, sadly, were lost, and sparks flew quite literally.

And Jesus' words began haunting me, like they do if you listen to them, take them into your guts, and let them fester. (In a good way, people!) Children receive things easily and completely. All things. Even (and maybe especially) dangerous things.

Asher had absolutely NO regard for the danger of the fire. For its heat. For the risks inherent to weaponizing a poker intended for mallow-roasting and flinging sparks like less-than-charming fireflies into a summer gathering of friends. He lived near the fire with total joy and a complete absence of fear.

Was Jesus sitting around a fire watching a dad hold back a three-year-old from the danger in front of him? Is this disregard for danger, an open embrace of risks barely-known (if at all), something of the kind of receiving Jesus invites us into as he calls us into his upside-down Kingdom?

Maybe.

I do know that this dream of planting Hopesprings in Sioux City is something I have referred to as "stupid". Stupid in the sense that it is risky, dangerous, and a leap into the unknown. Stupid in the eyes of some (including oftentimes myself) who want more certainty, diagrams, and an assurance that this will 'work'. It is a wild, unknown, and dangerous thing. I am thankful we have a Good Dad protecting us from the fire.

Yet he is also kindling in us a powerful vision of the kingdom of God realized in a city, in neighborhoods, in the lives of people captivated by the love of God on a dangerous mission of rescue. The mission that His son received, that killed Him, and that ultimately resulted not just in His resurrection but in mine, and the resurrection of people and communities willing to receive the good, crazy, upside-down news.

I want to receive things more like Asher does. He made me a little less afraid of the fire and a little more joyful on the journey we are on together.

The Problem of Sweat

Ninety-degree heat will do some pretty wild things.  

It will fry an egg on the hood of your car (maybe...an internet search proved inconclusive...thinking of running a test on my car this week).

It will draw a river of sweat from you, take you back to a middle school locker with the smells it will produce, and put you into extreme dehydration.

It will make you yearn for the barren snowy winter wastelands of the midwest in July.

It may, in-fact, fry your brain.  

One of the other things it should do is ruin a gathering.

Sunday morning, Hopesprings in Bangor gathers at 301 Market St. for a time celebrating who God is and what He is doing in our lives. We get together to get to know each other better, dive into the Scripture together, and invite others into the story that God is telling in and through this community of faith. It is a friendly atmosphere, and has a vibe of belonging and welcome that I have not often experienced. We try to talk about things in a way devoid of churched language, and we have a pretty diverse group of people that get together to take their next step towards God and each other. There are a lot of cool things going on there.  But there is something very uncool going on there right now.  

It is July.

There is no form of air-conditioning except an army of fans deployed throughout the space and whose impact is similar to taking an oscillating fan to the Sahara and expecting a cool breeze.

It was 92 degrees yesterday. Put people in the space and it feels like 120 (hyberbole much?)

The building is basically designed as a furnace and often it will feel hotter inside than outside the building.  

Don't worry, this is not a vent-session. (Sorry...had to do it.) The bottom line is this: we should not be able to have people come and hang out at this building in July.  

But they do.  

They come and keep coming.

They sing and sweat and engage with a message centered on the story of God.

They bring their kids.  They even invite other people to come.  

And they stay after to connect and share their lives with each other.

The building at 301 Market St. was a beautiful gift to Hopesprings. It has come with some many challenges (little parking...no air conditioning...a space that has aged and has needed updating and repair), but it is a HUGE blessing, and it is right in the middle of the community God has called Hopesprings to minister to in Bangor.  

My heat-addled brain was thinking about something yesterday. We have had so many challenges to the identity, mission and vision of Hopesprings, but all those challenges are nothing compared to God at-work in the lives of people. If you are doing the thing you are meant to do, if you are doing the thing you are called to do,  (in our case) if you are loving and serving people, creating a culture where people can experience the grace of God and find their place in His story, the temperature of the building doesn't ultimately matter.

The mission of God is not about buildings. It cannot be contained by a clever strategy. It will not be derailed by details.

This is not to say the heat didn't affect us: IT DID.  

This is not to say we don't try to address the heat: WE DO.

Yet we stay faithful to our mission to love God and love people no matter how hot it may be in July on a Sunday morning. In the heat, in the struggle, we see they are nothing when God is working in a people.

Siouxland will bring its own host of challenges...and there will be barrier after barrier and challenge after challenge in staying faithful to our mission there to love the city, to serve its people, and to demonstrate the good news of Jesus in our actions and in our words. Yet none of those things can defeat God in search of people, and a community of faith that is on a mission of rescue in a city.   

Flare Request Friday

Flare Request:  Asking people to throw up flares (prayers) for a specific need.

Here on the blog chronicling the journey of Hopesprings to plant a church in Sioux City, we want to give you regular opportunities to pray for things specifically for the city, us, and the community of faith we are seeking to cultivate in Siouxland.  

Today that request is for the city.  

Please pray for sight, for vision, for insight given to anyone who will be a part of the core group planting this church.  We want our eyes to be able to see what God sees, for our hearts to beat with the same love and compassion His own heart has for the people of Sioux City.

We would ask you to pray for the peace, the welfare, and the leaders within this city.
We woud ask you to pray for the untouchable, the unseen, the unnoticed of this city.
We would ask you to pray that Siouxland would flourish and that God's dream for this community might become a reality.  

Thank you for praying with us.  

Deep End

"Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls;"

We are in the deep end folks. Just a few things going on...
We just had a baby. Like 6 weeks ago. That is awesome. And overwhelming. And awesome. Repeat.
We are moving across the country to plant a church in three months.
There are at least 100,000 people in Siouxland unconnected with a community of faith. (by our estimates) There is a city desperate for hope and good news of a God in love and in search of people.
We will need to love and serve the people of Sioux City in meaningful, tangible ways. This will take creativity, wisdom, passion, and vision.
It will take leaders, people, financial resources, and much more to plant in Sioux City.
We are searching for a new Lead Pastor for Hopesprings in Bangor.

We are out of our depth.
This work is beyond us.

Yesterday I was feeling the weight of the need and the scope of the work ahead of us, and it felt deep. Heavy. Much too much for us to handle. And you know what? It IS too much for us to handle.

This is a good thing.

I was reflecting on Psalm 42, where the writer is in the pit; he's been crushed by the weight of life and feeling despair. He is in a horrible place. We are not in a horrible place, but I can relate to being in a deep place...a weighty place. A place where the writer feels overwhelmed. It is there, in that place, where deep calls to deep. Where he experiences love and hope, and the ability to question the weight of life that feels like a brick on his chest.

In the deep places when we are overwhelmed, when we don't have it together, when we are lost, broken, disheveled...these are the places where we meet God. In our need and desperation. There is good news for folks who find themselves in the deep end...

Jesus comes for the lost.
Jesus comes for the sick.
Jesus comes for the enslaved.
Jesus comes for the brokenhearted.
Jesus comes for the overwhelmed.

The realization that we don't have everything together creates space in our lives for God to work and for us to find resurrection in Jesus. The realization that the work is God's, that this is His Kingdom, that He is the one who will bring the resources and people to build His church, frees us up to focus instead of freak out.