Tag Archives: Renovatus

…and God is still good.

By Posted in authenticity, experience, hope, leadership, platform Tagged , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Has life ever felt like one brand new experience after another, some experiences you have asked for and some that you haven’t?

Personally, I think that we are often prepared only for those enterprises in life that are familiar and rote.  Rarely are we prepared for those experiences and times that hurt, that would offer us growth as a person.

A recent example is an outdoor adventure involving refugee kids from a local community here in Charlotte.  Our church partnered with Camp Canaan to bus in about 50 kids to experience a sand island in the Catawba River, complete with hiking, soccer and a zip-line.

Camp Canaan, Refugees, Birchcroft, Renovatus

As I approached this zip-line with its platform approaching the lower canopy of leaves, I already began to feel a little shaky.  The wooden planks forming this veranda in the sky seemed to me to be a bit too small.  Yet, what better motivation for a new adventure than watching 6 year olds scale this ladder of wood and bark, leaving only their fear behind to taunt me upward too.

I was the adult there.  As in, I have responsibilities like…breathing and…my legs…but that didn’t stop me (or my pride rather) from tracing the steps of many brave souls gone before.  Maybe the platform was about 30 feet up but then again, it could have been 100 feet up.  It didn’t matter because I was there and people are watching and I may not ever be here again.

So I climbed…

…and God is still good.  But what makes Him good isn’t my understanding of the word “good” because I often ascribe a definition of goodness that would benefit my current state of being, or doing or thinking…

…and I climbed…

…because you see I have a rather small definition of goodness.  This definition of God’s goodness generally revolves around me getting something positive or feeling a certain way.  The inverse of this small definition, or rather, the risk of this small definition is that if things aren’t going my way or if don’t feel a certain way then perhaps God isn’t quite as good as I think He should be…

…and I stood on the edge of that platform…

…realizing that the problem for me isn’t that the Lord is good but that I often put Him in a box of ‘goodness’ that is just too small…kind of like the platform I was standing on.

“God, you are good while I’m here on the ground.  You are good while gravity is my friend and while I’m looking up instead of looking down.  God, you are good when I have a bed to sleep in, clothes to wear, family and friends to love.”

There’s only one way off this platform that allows me to keep my dignity.  Of course that’s just my pride talking because I can climb back down.  The deeper issue is that there is only one way off this platform that lets me leave all the questions behind…questions like, ‘what if I had just jumped’ or ‘what does it feel like to fly’?

Shaking, nervous, scared, unknown…God is still good.  There’s only way to know that goodness and leave the questions behind: to trust Him and jump.  The Lord was good way down there on the ground, safe and comforted.  Up here…my definition of goodness has to expand.

There’s only way to know that God is still good despite the hurt, pain, confusion or anger and that is to trust His goodness in spite of it.  There’s only one way off this platform that redeems every aching, scary step up to it and that is to let go and jump.

“God, you are good while I am way up here on this platform.  You are good while gravity is vengeful and while I’m looking down instead of looking up.  God, you are good when I don’t have a bed to sleep in, naked and ashamed having lost all family or friends.”

God, you are good and we leap…

…and we laugh, breath taken, loving deeply this wind in our hair and this view so magnificent and we laugh…

…because You are still good, so very good to us.  Not because we jumped but because that’s just who You are.  A different experience, another stretch, a bigger definition and the box I’ve kept You and my heart in is slowly crumbling.

Hey, look back there…do you see that?  That platform isn’t quite as high anymore.

Camp Canaan, Refugees, Birchcroft, Renovatus

A Birchcroft kid coming down after the long zip!

the quickest way to lose your influence.

By Posted in kidmin, leadership, platform, success Tagged , , , 1 Comment

If you are in any position of leadership, you are in a position of influence.  The longevity of your influence is a direct result of your gratefulness for those you influence.  Klout can’t measure this.  Whether your followers are continents away, hidden behind a computer screen or invited into your living room on a weekly basis, they need to know you’re grateful.

The quickest way to lose your influence is to be ungrateful.

I lead a team of volunteers every single week in the care of children for our faith community.  There’s absolutely no way I could ever watch 150 kids, aged 0-10, by myself.  I need a team to do it.  If I could give each of them a salary, I would.  What I can give them, however, is specific, heartfelt thanks. Continue reading →

don’t touch the signs.

By Posted in kidmin, leadership, mission, relationships Tagged , , , , 2 Comments

Every Sunday morning at The Broadcast Group, a group of liars, dreamers and misfits gather to set up sacred spaces for adults and children alike.  This process is sometimes easy, sometimes draining but always worth it.  We descend upon the former seat of Jim Bakker‘s empire and transform it into a place of hope and redemption.

Creating a space where children will feel welcome and comfortable is certainly a challenge where they weren’t thought of to begin with.  The architects of this building probably never imagined that moms and dads would navigate behind curtains, through hallways and around corners hoisting a diaper bag, infant and car seat.

For that same reason, we set up signs and banners every Sunday to help guide families for the journey of parking lot to seat. Every week, these signs travel a different course with a different destination depending on whose hands carry them.  Every week, I manage to touch and move them whether that’s two inches or two feet.  I’ll straighten them up or swivel them to face a certain door.  I just can’t keep my hands off of them.

Even yesterday, while sitting in my seat and listening to the sermon, the banner to my immediate left wouldn’t stop calling my name, begging me to “touch it”.  Previously, I’ve already betrayed my obsession with perfectionism.  I’m like the store manager before the store opens, rotating every can of food to face out, smoothing out the wrinkled shirts and straightening the books.

For about 9 months now, ever since we began the Ft. Mill campus, I’ve touched those signs and banners.

Yesterday was different.

Yesterday, I decided I would let those same liars, dreamers and misfits put the signs where they thought they should go.  I decided I wouldn’t touch the signs.  For some personality types, this probably seems incredibly trivial.  In fact, I wouldn’t even argue that point.

However, for type-A, OCD folks like myself this isn’t easy.  You see, it’s easier to manipulate a sign than to love a person.  Sometimes, it’s easier to rotate a banner or lock a door or hide behind a computer than to simply listen and embrace another.  An inanimate object will always bend to my illusion of control.  If my (or your) frustration stems from that illusion, it’s time to step back.

Can I do both?  Can I love people well and adjust signs at the same time?  Yes, of course I can.  Will I adjust those signs next week?  I probably will.  The difference is that I won’t let them adjust me.  I won’t let the misplacement of a sign, a banner, a toy or a rug misplace my affections for a people hungry for righteousness.

OK, I’m ready for next week.  Bring on the signs.

why I love those Renovatus parents.

By Posted in hope, life, love Tagged , , , 1 Comment

This past weekend at Renovatus was an exceptional one for me.  It’s quite an exceptional church to begin with.  However, after spending time with families and parents, planning for activities and watching life happen, I came to the conclusion that I want to be more like the members of this particular community.

You see, I don’t have any children yet but when I do, I hope to emulate the love of those Renovatus parents.  Here’s why:

They love their God well.  I recently heard a pastor say that he loves his wife and children best when he loves his Lord first.  I’ve seen this time and again in those who choose to love their families well.  Renovatus parents create and cherish sacred spaces to hear the voice of the Lord.  They abide in Him and He in them.  They are captivated by the love of one Father, who in turn shows them what it means to love their children.  They love their God well.

They love their spouses well.  Not every parent is married and not every child has two parents living with them.  Fortunately, because of the above point, there remains grace enough for the journey of parenthood.  For those who are married, I see a consistent tenacity to make their marriage a foundation for parenthood.  In about a week, well over 50 members of our community will be on a marriage retreat.  They do this for love, hope and strength.  They love their spouses well.

They love their children well.  Renovatus parents love their children in word and in deed.  They love them in truth and in discipline.  They bring them to church.  They pray Hannah prayers.  Listening to their hearts at a parenting workshop, I heard some goals.  Their goal isn’t perfection, it’s honesty.  It’s trusting and obeying.  It’s seeking, weeping and believing on behalf of the gift that God has granted.  Through labors of love, the wonder and sheer entertainment of children, God shows Himself faithful in their innocence.  Renovatus parents speak into a future they cannot see.  Renovatus parents love their children well.

They love each other well.  Sitting at that same parenting workshop, I listened as parents shared their wins and failures with each other.  In an age where individuality has become the hallmark of spirituality, Renovatus parents lean into and upon their community.  They reach out to each other for support, including watching someone else’s children at church or at home.   Phone calls are made, letters are sent, food is prepared and clothes are donated all in the name of love for another.  They love each other well.

Finally, listen to the words of 1 John 4:7-12 as Eugene Peterson phrases it in The Message: My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can’t know him if you don’t love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God.  My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other. No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us—perfect love!