Death to My Accomplishments

So much to say. You need to hear what God is doing! Though we have to back up to get some perspective.

Jesse was feeling restless last Tuesday and left to study for his sermon at Gypsy, a local coffee place. Reading a Micah commentary there, he was approached by several ministry leaders who were meeting in the same shop. Jesse came to find that one of these men knew his father from many years ago. He spent hours talking there. One major note is that all of these men all spoke highly of a local pastor, Pastor Dean, and his church, Calvary Reformed. The name sounded familiar because Jesse had actually met with this same pastor briefly five months prior in order to talk about Jesse’s ministry with Youth for Christ. We would not think much of this encounter until later.

Now we fast forward to Saturday. CityView West Bethel got kicked out of West Bethel, straight up. Our west side ministry was spurned by the Baptists just hours before our Saturday service was to begin. It was shocklingly abrupt. I should not have been so blown away; we had actually come to find that Weems kicked a swelling group of rowdy teens out of his church around seventeen years ago. As I mentioned in a previous post, it was similarly the behavior and reputation our dozens of teens that we were bringing into the building that did us in. Though Weems had never been to any of our ministries in the building, he knew from word on the street that we were not a good fit for his building.

We prayed and prayed and prayed. To be honest, I was sad and angry. However, we knew we needed to choose a faith response. We are young and dumb; God knows what He is doing. It was in these moments that Pastor Dean’s name came into Jesse’s mind; maybe he could help. “Let’s go for it.”

This is where we jump over to Pastor Dean’s side of the story. He had been looking to reach local teens for some time. These last five months, he has kept Jesse’s business card by his computer. When he received the call from us, he was nothing short of ready to go.

Earlier today, we sat down with Pastor Dean for what turned into several hours of conversation in which we were profoundly overwhelmed by how much he shares in the vision of God for the community. We warned him about the behavior and reputation of our teens, yet he responded, “You can’t do ministry without broken windows.” He would speak in ways that I will not forget. “The mission drives the car, the relationships navigate, and structure, though it has to be there, is in the back seat… I don’t want this to just be a rented space; I want our church to embrace this.” He was excited. Behind it. Seeking God. Jesse and I are so pumped; the whole Crew is. And our lack of money is not going stop us; Pastor Dean did not want it to be a barrier. Jesse and I are still hoping and praying that we can afford to offset our costs in the building by paying rent to Pastor Dean and Calvary Reformed on some level.

One last thing. Pastor Dean spoke about a group that came into his church seventeen years ago with a similar vision ministering to a critical mass of teens. That were called the "Isaiah Project." We were all amazed to find that this was the same group that had been evicted from West Bethel! And it was actually Jesse’s dad who suggested they look to Pastor Dean for a new place to meet! Some of the teens from the Isaiah Project are still following Jesus in this neighborhood.

Sorry not sorry for the length of this post. This is whole story is God's, and it needs to be told. As with all of the good things that have happened in this ministry, it was not of us at all. I am speechless. Overwhelmed. This is better, so much better, than what we could have thought up. We do not count ourselves as wise; God, You truly know so much better. We Praise You. You get all the glory.

Proverbs 3:5-8

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;

In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.

Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the Lord and depart from evil.

It will be health to your flesh,
And strength to your bones."

I get to do a lot of leading now, and these words bring me back when I find myself hating it.

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[1] Dillon Chase, “D.T.M.A. (Death to My Accomplishments),” BDFFRNT, Die Daily, 2014, mp3.