Blogs and Articles

Convergence. It’s always been the case that God asks His people to trust Him above and beyond their present circumstances. Convergence is a way to describe how God weaves our circumstances into the fabric of His divine plans. Scripture’s narratives repeatedly underscore how trusting God is the only thing that ultimately makes sense because in these narratives, and in the narratives of our lives, God converges His ultimate, determinative Reality with our limited, contingent reality. Interestingly, God never says that our “little r” realities aren’t real or consequential, but rather that His “big R” Reality will always and unfailingly prevail.

I get mixed responses when I mention that I oversee “missional living” at Fellowship. They usually fall into three categories. Sometimes I can read the response immediately in someone’s expression of confused curiosity that seems to say “What on earth is missional living?” Understandable since missional has been defined in so many ways. Or a smile that communicates resonance with the idea of living ‘on mission’ – and I’m guessing they might have read some recent blog posts or books or listened to a podcast that’s defined it in a palatable way.

I felt a tug at my pant leg and the familiar voice of one of my sons asking me a question. Since I didn’t actually hear the whole question, I had to ask him to repeat it. That’s when my wife, Heidi, calmly chimed in with “Honey, he’s been trying to get your attention for 2 minutes.” Ouch. Guilty.

I’d been looking at my phone doing something I’m sure I thought was important at the time – and totally missed my son. Actually, I was missing my whole family – as I was either reading a news article, responding to an email or posting something on Twitter. All my son saw was that I thought my phone was more important than him.

Here are a few things I’ve been surprised to learn about Abraham: For one thing, he wasn’t perfect. For example, he asked his wife to lie to the Egyptians and Pharaoh about not being his wife (out of fear of being killed). Much later, but less than three months after God had promised that Sarah would bear him a son, he gave his wife to Abimelech—a Philistine king! He fled to Egypt during the drought right after being told his descendants would be given the land. Then there is the episode where he allowed Sarai to take charge of the family planning. So faith does not mean perfection (thank goodness).

I want to walk by “SIGHT”… I’m not proud of that fact. It’s uncomfortable to say it to others. Yet every now and then when I feel a knotted-up tension deep inside of myself, I know that’s what’s causing it. I want to SEE that the number in my bank account is sufficient for what’s ahead. I want to SEE that my hard work will be rewarded. I want to SEE that things are going to work out well in my kid’s stories. I want to SEE that several friends I am praying for will find healing, salvation, and reconciliation.

Joining Jesus on His mission doesn’t have to be complicated – it really just means living intentionally, with the heart of a missionary – and with the Gospel at the center of all that we do. A common fear and misconception is that missional means “additional”… Additional activities, appointments, responsibilities, serving opportunities… Filling up the calendar with more stuff. That perspective can easily start to feel like a heavy burden of duty that induces guilt, rather than a Gospel-centered lifestyle that results in purpose and joy.

Recently I was playing golf with a friend and as we were finishing the 14th hole, one of us (me) miss hit our approach shot to the green. The cart path went to the left of the green yet my ball was to the right, so we drove that way and discovered what appeared to be a shortcut around the green. We finished the hole, took the shortcut, and were proudly on our way.

My wife Janet and I have a pretty incredible story (if I do say so myself!) of how we met, dated, courted and eventually got married. I’m still amazed at how God, in His providence, brought us together in a unique way where we both saw His good hand guiding our paths and circumstances to the place where we found ourselves committing to each other for a lifetime. In some ways, the story of how Janet and I originally connected back in college is a great illustration of the process each of us go through in our connection journey to just about anything of value. But more on that later…

Earlier this year I started what I called “Connection Conversations” with various leaders at Fellowship to introduce some new concepts to make it easier to connect at Fellowship. Some of these concepts are foundational biblical concepts and some are cultural concepts. Below is an introduction to one of the cultural concepts that we think will make Fellowship an easier place to connect. I’d like to extend this conversation to you. So, after reading this let me know what you think about this concept.

My father led me to faith in Christ when I was 8 years old. I believed that I had sinned and that I could not do enough good things to make myself right before a Holy God. The Bible says that the wages of my sin was death (Romans 6:23). I was spiritually separated from God. I understood that Christ came to earth to live the perfect life that I could not live and to die in my place. I placed my faith in the fact that He died for me and that He rose from the dead. I remember the freedom that I felt in knowing that my sins were forgiven.