Why Plant Churches?

I noticed this quote from a book titled "Forgotten Ways".


“Ivan Illich was once asked what did he think was the most radical way to change society; was it through violent revolution or gradual reform? He gave a careful answer. Neither. Rather, he suggested that if one wanted to change society, then one must tell an alternative story. Illich is right; we need to reframe our understandings though a different lens, an alternative story.. ” The Forgotten Ways, 190.


I sometimes look at the church landscape of Evansville and think, "Wow, am I radical!" But when I read this and think of the disruption Jesus' ministry caused in His culture, perhaps I am not radical at all. Is the story I am telling an alternative story in this culture? Is it because I am afraid I might not fit in or that I might be rejected? It is a constant temptation but I think I passed that fear 5-6 churches ago where I really tried to fit in and failed miserably. The reality is that we follow a Savior who was killed here; His reality is that He did not fit in either.

Are Reality Shows really showing reality? How can Jesus be Lord for people in this culture of Harry Potter, Food Networks, trans-gender rallies, and "Reality Shows"? We have to offer something radical in a culture of idols. Paul offered a Jesus; a man who claimed to be God, born in a room full of cow pies and animal dung, born to a virgin, who was a King and they...we killed Him. Did He really come out of that grave? Does He really care personally for me? Can Jesus possibly replace one's religion? Can He replace someone's idol?

Jesus is not an escape from reality; He is reality!

The Mountain Top prepares you for The Valley

Sometimes we forget to mention why we gather together. Maybe we just forget what we are about on Sunday mornings? We are not just a social club! We have a purpose for gathering. We believe that Sunday morning should be a mountain top experience that energizes you.
THE BATTLE
Your week has been difficult. You are working at your job or at home while being a living witness in that world, loving your families sacrificially, and no doubt, enduring abuse from people who do not work or think like you do. Yet, you are determined to follow Jesus each day and if that is your plan, you have been opposed all week. Even getting out of bed to come to worship on Sunday morning feels like misery sometimes. But you come with hope in your hearts.
HOPE FOR WHAT? Because you hope to experience what the first church experienced in the first few Sabbaths after Pentecost; the presence of God through the movement of the Holy Spirit in your soul. He promises to be with us always but sometimes we forget. The first church worshiped God and they were energized by His power for their mission to their world.
THE BIBLICAL PATTERN FOR US
However, please notice that worship did not come first. (Acts 2:42-47) Worship was the outgrowth of, and the result of hearing teaching from the Word of God combined with intimate relationships. Worship was also a response to prayer and the breaking of bread; a remembrance of Jesus' sacrifice. In keeping with that pattern, our worship comes after the teaching of the Word each Sunday; not before. Some will argue that prayer and studying the Word of God IS worship. I can accept that but still like the physical worship of Sunday morning to follow teaching.
TEACHING
As for teaching the Word, we began teaching the book of Genesis on April 1st of last year. We are currently making plans to teach Ruth and then John. Whatever we teach, teaching the scriptures will always be our plan and sometimes, but not often, we will divert from the steady teaching of a specific book of the Bible for a topical message.
PREPARATION FOR YOUR MISSION
You were designed specifically to be sent to your world in the power of Jesus Christ to a hurting world that is seeking life in all the wrong places. You were made by a loving God and redeemed by the Blood of Christ for this specific battle; to take Jesus Christ, the living water, to a dry and thirsty land. It will be the continual plan at Journey to prepare you for your mission.

Journey Calendar/Newsletter

Here is the Journey242 calendar (click here). If you like, save the (internet) address and bookmark it or even print the calendar. If you know of a church event that needs to be on the calendar, please email us at Journey242@gmail.com with the details. We will try to limit this to church and small group related events.

There is a danger in using the internet to communicate to people. As I think about this, it points to a possible confusing paradox to have most of our church information on the impersonal internet. We stress a relational focus rather than the impersonal focus of being event driven, program driven, and propositionally driven. If we do not continually and actively pursue relationships with one another as we follow Jesus, we could just become another non-relational, impersonal, propositionally driven church where legalism prevails and lives never change.

However, I (Bill) believe that the younger generations are using the internet to investigate and make decisions before they would ever darken the doors of our church or even more, before they would contact us in any way. With the internet we can be quite transparent. We can say up front who we are and what we are about. We can avoid being dogmatic and pursue open, honest communication where doubt is ok; where tough questions can be asked and hopefully answered.

I (Matt) also believe the internet forms a foundational and grounding place of many of our relationships already. We use it to find out about people, who they are, when to meet them, and alot of other simple aspects of relationships. The internet is an entry way into relationships for many, and for some it's often the only place of personal relationships.

For many young people, relationships begin on the internet and we welcome those relationships and the tough questions. Jesus did too. Jesus embraced the lonely, confused, and lost who had real questions and who were really seeking something they did not already have or understand. Jesus only attacked the hypocrites who thought they had all the answers. We want to reach the lost, the lonely, and the downtrodden.

Sometimes I (Bill) have to remind myself that we are on a Journey as we follow Jesus, walking and talking with Him as he changes us into His image. Jesus fulfills the laws by offering a relationship that by its very existence, changes our life. New friends can change our life by how they relate to us and how we relate to them. If we want to be "like Mike" we will buy Nike shoes and try to imitate Michael Jordan.

A relationship with Jesus does the same if we are following Him. To follow we have to surrender control. We have to want to be like Him. So don't let this calendar become something that replaces people or God. Let it become a planning tool that helps you find more time for living the Kingdom life now, following Jesus now, and inviting friends into that life with Jesus now.

http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=journey242%40gmail.com

For Men Only

This article came to me and I liked it. Are we really living like this or just dreaming of it?

http://thedirtyshame.blogspot.com/2007/08/world-needs-mans-heart.html

Good Books at Journey

We have a book shelf in the office behind the stage at Journey with many good books on it. Our website will have a suggested book list for you too.

Some of you have made reading suggestions. If you can give up your treasures...some books I will not give away...please make them available to others by bringing them to church. If you don't like them pitch 'em out!! There are bad ones out there.

Scooter???? or moped??? Does anybody have one an old guy could borrow or know one I could buy reasonably? Well...not reasonably but cheap? Ahhhhh Colorado...here I come.

Journey News from Bill & Stuff

Dear Fellow Sojourners,

As many of you know I have been working 55-60 hours per week in my tent selling job and have worn myself down physically. It has taken a toll on my passion and emotions. I am thankful that God loves me enough to stretch me but it brings on some confusion in my heart that needs to be cleared up at times. Kevin's message challenged me this morning as did a little reading of my own words.

I was visiting one of my old posts to our blog and was reminded of these words that motivated me more than once in recent years. They are from the book Original Intent by Wes Roberts and Glenn Marshall. In this quote, God is reminding me that I do have a vision for something quite different in a local church. I want us to be really alive! I want us to impact our world for Jesus. I do not want us to be a "normal" American church that just fits in. Please read these words and reflect upon them.

"If, like me, you want to trade in illusion for reality, if you're a pastor or church leader or hungry Christian who loves the church and longs to participate in authentic community led by people who are
more broken than confident and
more Spirit-dependent than naturally talented,
if you desire to see the church re-formed into a place where
character counts more than credentials, where life is lived in humble trust
rather than by careful method ,
where organic growth matters more than organizational growth, where
serving nudges aside controlling ,..."

then dream, work out your salvation, and follow Jesus with me. There is work to do. People are lost and we have the Word that brings life anew.I will be praying and seeking God's guidance about what this movement looks like in the next few weeks. Pray with me please.

Thank you, thank you, thank you....
I know there are many of you who are praying for us though you have never visited Journey. I am grateful for you because your prayers are being answered one by one, little by little, and in surprising ways. You are a shield about our family.

FLASH...finally
Matt and Mary Ruth's house is sold and they will be moving here in late August. Somebody wanna' help load and unload a truck??? I have done this sooooo many times... It should be a strong and convincing reminder that we have not yet arrived home.
August 12-19...Relaxin', Fishing and more with the guys in Colorado.
We have room for two more for this guys trip to the South Platte River. Some of you Texans, Indy guys, and Colorado lovers could go?

For Fathers...a challenge on Father's Day

You are on the front lines of the battle whether you know it or not. But then if you know me and trust me and believe me you now know it? Right?

One of my greatest passions; the one that drove me out of my car dealership to graduate school was my desire to see marriages survive (including my own). Now I, of all people, know that marriage can be miserable....or maybe you should ask my wife Cathy how miserable it can be. In any case, if you are in a miserable marriage the answer is not to get out! The answer is to get help. Jesus can change us! That is why He came; to set us free from the sin that messes up relationships. Your marriage can be better but it will take courage and the hardest work that any man has done in his entire life.

And then on top of all of that, it will take faith. It will take faith to believe that God does not want your marriage to be terrible either. He wants your marriage to bring glory to Him; to the God of the universe. And because He wants that, He will help you! He will mold you and change you.

But you have to want help; you have to be committed beyond what you might think you can endure. You have to want your marriage to be a miracle. You have to be a hero! You have to decide to accept what most people, even Christians refuse to accept in their marriage relationships. The fact is that your marriage was never intended to glorify you; to make you happy; or to make your life easier. Your marriage was made to glorify God and when it cracks and breaks, it will not glorify God.

So if you sense some cracks, tell somebody, be honest with good friends, and get some real help. What will not glorify God is doing nothing and letting the relationship die a slow, painful death.

Your marriage can be wonderful but not in the way you think is wonderful. Join the mysterious journey. Get out of the "slough of despond"! Go Dancing!

C'mon Dads...get in the Battle. Lead your wife to get help rather than follow.

This would be the most magnificent gift you could give; one I believe will load you up with more crowns in heaven than anything you will ever accomplish.

Get Radical! Go For It! Be a Blessing.

My Mentor's Words

My friend and mentor Wes Roberts and his friend pastor Glenn Marshall wrote a book entitled Original Intent. In the forward of this book Larry Crabb, another mentor, wrote these words that have enhanced my inspiration to see churches planted in the Evansville Metropolitan area.

"If, like me, you want to trade in illusion for reality, if you're a pastor or church leader or hungry Christian who loves the church and longs to participate in authentic community led by people who are
more broken than confident and
more Spirit-dependent than naturally talented,
if you desire to see the church re-formed into a place where
character counts more than credentials,
where life is lived in humble trust rather than by careful method,
where organic growth matters more than organizational growth, where serving nudges aside controlling,
then glance at the chapter titles of this book."

It's About Fruit -- Not Achievement.

"It's About Fruit; Not Achievement"

This statement is the heading of chapter 10 in a book by Wes Roberts entitled Reclaiming God's Original Intent for the Church. Wes is a mentor and friend who challenged me (Bill) to return to Evansville and plant a church. I tried to avoid this call for several years but it would not go away. When a seed is planted in the heart of an individual and nurtured by God, it eventually breaks soil. When a church is planted by God it will yield fruit.

What is this vision? Here is a piece of it....

Many reasons to plant a church come to mind supported by statistics, cultural studies, and personal challenges from friends. But in the end, some things have to die in order to really live.

In John 12:24 Jesus says___ "Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over."

I think some of my thoughts about church have died over the years and out of those deaths a vision has emerged. I think what died is my hope that I would see fruit in the local church. I gave up for a while and did not even attend church I have been terribly disappointed as I see churches become irrelevant having no life changing impact on their communities. Yet I know that Jesus' church cannot and will not die. That truth had to become real again and hope in seeing real life change come from within the life of the local church had to be revorn in my heart.

Just as followers of Jesus will reproduce other followers of Jesus, healthy churches will plant other healthy churches. A healthy church will reproduce. If we do not reproduce, we will become extinct. From the very beginning and for several reasons, it has been and will remain my desire for us to reproduce churches in communities nearby rather than to grow large. By virtue of their size, large churches draw people out of their personal communities and make it easy to hide. Changed lives occur in the context of a life seen clearly by God and others where the truth of scripture can become personal and relevant. We want the church to be a personal, life changing community again.

We want to plant seeds as missionaries to our neighbors in communities nearby. The mission field in America is near to us, not far.

This vision of being missionaries not to a foreign culture but to our diverse culture, requires a greater discipline, a greater call to an open, visible, personal walk with Jesus. We will be counter cultural. This call is not to just a very few in our congregation but to each member. Our lives will speak more loudly than our words and therefore, none can hide. Hiding in a big church is much easier so we will divide and plant in another community nearby before we grow large.
All of us are missionaries to our own personal communities; to our neighbors. To walk in the light is to be seen, not hidden. It is a frightening thought but if our faith in Jesus Christ has not changed us to be counter cultural, we will be irrelevant as missionaries. We want our very lives to be a witness to those nearby.

II Corinthians 6:13 paraphrased by Eugene Peterson in the Message says, "Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!"

We repeat often at journey..."It's not what you do, it's who you be". If you "be" a healthy (church) plant, fruit will come forth and seeds will develop for planting. You will not have to try harder to achieve but only to be a follower of Jesus and fruit will come forth.


We invite you, our community, to join us and help us remember our vision for being personal missionaries to our neighbors nearby each day as we Journey together.