Stairway To Heaven

I was driving around Savannah today taking in all the beautiful sights. It was one of the prettiest days since I moved here, hovering around 80 degrees with the sun shining bright. Not too hot not too cold. I was downtown looking at all the beautiful trees with the spanish moss hanging, all the huge houses on Victory Drive, all the tourists that drive slow and have no idea where they’re going… I rode by a church, one of the old beautiful buildings with columns and a steeple. As I was taking in it’s beauty I noticed a man sleeping on the top step. He looked as if he was homeless. I’m sure that the church didn’t know he was there, so I am not saying that they were just leaving him out there. Although, I’m not sure how they would react if they knew… I was just wondering why he picked that spot to take a nap. Did he even knock on the door? And if he had, what would happen? I know that a big part of Canvas is going to be reaching out to the community. A city full of government housing and a large homeless population. Maybe we can help people find open doors and not hard concrete steps. But that community also includes middle class suburbanites and families that are put off by the church, the people that are searching for something that’s missing in their life, the people that are frustrated by churches that aren’t loving people as they love themselves. The ones that might see a homeless man sleeping under a steeple and not anything else. I want to show them that You might just have to get a little uncomfortable sometimes but God will always open the door when you ask. You just have to ask…

Nehemiah Episode 3

All I have left to say about Nehemiah is that he was a hard worker. He practiced what he preached. He didn’t just go out to the people, lay out the plans, assign jobs and sit up on a pedestal drinking sweet tea. He was working. In-fact it talks about in chapter 6 the opposition he encountered from the bad guys who didn’t like that he was rebuilding Jerusalem back to it’s glory. They were sending him letters to come and meet with them about false issues so that they could ambush him and the work would stop.  He replied… I am doing a great work and cannot come down. So, dude was up on a ladder hammering a nail or painting or laying bricks or whatever you do to build a wall. (I’m not good with construction). 

 

Is that where we are as a church? No… most of us (including me) are sitting on our behinds (Christian word for butt) while the rest of the so called “secular” community is working! I’m just saying, why don’t we try to be a little bit more like Nehemiah… Get up on a ladder and when things start trying to sway your attention from the task at hand just say… I am doing a great work and cannot come down! 

 

There’s a song I like that I sing at PGBC sometimes called “He Is”. It talks about the different ways God uses people. And when it talks about Nehemiah the line says… In Nehemiah He’s the rebuilder of broken walls and live…     He Is. 

 

And as A Christ Follower, God can use you that way as well. All you have to do is seek Him and He will make it known what He wants for your life. After that he’ll make you comfortable with things you never would’ve imagined you would do… 

what if?

What if?

•  we come down here to make Jesus more famous and it actually happened?
•  we create an environment that anti church people will embrace?
•  people hear about Jesus in a different way than they have ever experienced and begin to experience Him?
•  people realize it’s not about going to church, but being the church and showing the Love that Jesus showed?
•  people realize that real Christ followers aren’t about being judgmental?
•  people see Christ followers practicing what they preach?
•  God uses CaNVaS church to transform a city?
•  God transforms lives?

One of my friends told me about a Chris Tomlin song today. It’s called “God Of This City” I listened to it tonight and thought it was very appropriate for what God has in mind for His church, not just CaNVaS church.  The end of the song repeats this… Greater things are yet to come, greater things are still to be done in this city… We believe!

Nehemiah The Sequal

When I left off… Nehemiah had decided to go plant a church Sorry! I mean rebuild a wall… He had asked the King to let him leave his job testing the food so that he may go back to his home and not only rebuild a wall but help transform a city. Well, not only did the king let him go he started getting him resources to do the job, First the king sent letters to some governors to let Nehemiah travel safely through their territories, then he also sent a letter to the manager of his forest instructing him to give timber to help complete the job. Not only did he do all this he also sent army officers and horsemen to protect him. Nehemiah was seeking God’s will and He was making it known Loud & Clear! 

 

 I know that when Doug first felt the urge to not sit still any longer and push forward with this adventure, there were many unanswered questions. Many doubts as to where we would be, how would we do it, what would it look like… etc…  Kinda like when Nehemiah first started talking to the king about it. But you see what happened with him. Now Nehemiah is on his way to the city with timber, guards and letters. He is prepared and ready to go. 

 

There are so many things we can learn from Nehemiah’s memoirs of his great work in Jerusalem that if I were to write them all here I would run out of space. But in Chapter 3 he starts to tell about the rebuilding. The whole chapter is about all the people that helped. I started reading it and was almost overwhelmed with emotion, overwhelmed reading a chapter with a bunch of names. A chapter Nehemiah wrote and didn’t leave a single volunteers name out of. He wanted to recognize the people who gave their time and in some cases money. There were just normal people who saw a great work and couldn’t help but HELP! He even talks about priests from surrounding regions coming and working. I hope that Canvas can be that way. I like to think of us as coming into a city where there is already a great work going on by the pastors who are here. Hopefully we can all work together and tell people about Jesus. Maybe they will see the real reason for the church, the reason for which it was intended.

 

Stay tuned for the third installment. Yes, it’s a trilogy!  

 

 

 

Nehemiah Part 1

                  I have been reading Nehemiah lately. I love this book and have just now taken the time to sit down and read it in it’s entirety. My next few blogs are going to be about what I have learned.

                  Nehemiah was working as a cup bearer for the king. He’s the guy that would taste test all the food to see if it was poisoned, if he got sick or died then the King would not eat the food. His brother came by for a visit. He asked him about the jews who had returned from captivity and how things were going in Jerusalem.  He explained to him how things were not going well at all and that the wall of Jerusalem had been torn down ( That’s when God planted the seed). Nehemiah was so burdened for the city that he sat down and wept, and for days mourned, fasted and prayed. Then the first thing Nehemiah did after realizing that he needed to go help this hurting city was pray. He asked God to make him favorable to the King so that he would grant his wish to leave and go to Jerusalem. Then it says that he appeared sad before the king. And I don’t know about you but I haven’t heard of many kings that would ask one of their servants why they were sad.( Well, maybe if you’re the guy that tests the food) Anyway, He told the king why he was sad and then it says Nehemiah was terrified… I guess he was waiting to see if the king really cared or if he was just making sure he wasn’t sick.And the king replied: How can I help you?            

 

                   As a new church plant we are burdened about resources, we know God is sending us to do a great work in the city of Savannah but in the back of my mind I still seem to doubt that He will take care of us. I just have to remember what Nehemiah did FIRST! The first thing he said in his prayer was: O Lord, God Of Heaven, the great awesome God who keeps His covenant of unfailing love with those who Love Him and obey His commands. Well, God… We are obeying your commands and I for one am going to stop worrying how we are going to get by, I am going to trust in You, the great awesome God, and remember that in the last couple of months every time we have told someone about our burden for this city they have simply replied… How can I help you?  

why georgia?

I have been in Savannah for the last couple of days at my new apartment. It’s not home yet… but the more I unpack the closer it gets. Yesterday was great. I went to a Pastor’s meeting at Bull St. Baptist where I met some great people and formed a friendship with some local pastors. I hope we can work together to help make Jesus more famous in Savannah. It’s different being down here away from everybody and everything. I can’t wait for the rest of the team to get here so we can get to work.  So… my days here are a little different from up in Atlanta.. Today I’ve just been hanging out and relaxing. I went to the beach earlier for a walk and now I’m going to read and watch the storm come in. One of my favorite lines is from a John Mayer song called 1983…”It’s like my life is like a sequel to a movie where the actors names have changed” yep… that kinda sums it up.