Between Sowing and Reaping, You Nurture...

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Buddies watching the spring rain in the morning.

Dear Friends and Prayer Warriors,

          I'm thankful that the Lord has given us so many agricultural analogies for our Christian walk in the Scripture.  Honestly, most of them didn't mean much to me until I started gardening. Today, they add a richness and helpful perspective to my walk with the Lord.  Since it's springtime, I've been reflecting a lot on the principle of sowing and reaping, which is taught in many places in Scripture, but summarize in Galatians 6.  "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap."  Between the period of sowing seed and reaping fruit, there is a large chunk of time. During that time the farmer nurtures his crop. He works to provide optimum growing conditions. This is true whether a person is nurturing their sin by hiding it, or nurturing their gospel witness by guarding their integrity.  Six months into the pastorate at West Hills, we are in the nurturing phase. We've been planting the truth of the gospel and reminding the church about why we exist...to declare to a lost world the opportunity to know Christ, to be forgiven of our wrongdoings through faith demonstrated by repentance. That's it. That's why we're here. We bring glory to God by enjoying his presence and inviting others to do the same! We don't bring glory to God by enjoying his presence and ignoring those around us who don't know it's possible know Him!

           I've taught our people about the forms and functions of the church.  Forms are the part of how we do church that are not revealed in Scripture, and they change with time and culture. These are typically things churches fight and split over.  They are things like language and music style and bible versions and orders of service and whether or not we should pass the offering plate on Sunday morning. The functions of the church are timeless and never change, regardless of culture.  These are worship, bible study, prayer, fellowship, evangelism, and participating in baptism and the Lord's Supper.

Tomatoes in transition...

         Forms are important because they help us present the gospel in a way that the lost people living in the culture around us can understand. The message of the gospel never changes, but how we present the message changes a lot depending on our audience.  For example, if I'm sharing the gospel with someone who grew up in church in East Tennessee and has a somewhat Christian understanding of the word "god", I might tell them that God loves them and has a wonderful plan for their life, but their sin has separated them from him.  If I'm sharing with someone who has never been in church and who understands "god" as some sort of spiritual force present in all of us, I'm going to start by telling them about creation, and how they were made to know their Creator, but their wrongdoings have separated them from him.  Same exact message, but very different language.  Church forms often serve the church culture from the time the church was planted. Over time, the culture around the church changes, but the church doesn't change its forms to make sure that the gospel message stays clear. Changing forms can be very difficult, and trying to do so often gets pastors fired or people get upset and leave the church.  Why? Check out the tomato picture.  We're in the nurturing phase.  My tomatoes were started indoors about six weeks ago.  They've been growing inside in our bathroom where it's 75 degrees, full sun in the afternoon, and no wind. Perfect for seedlings. However, they've maxed out. Leave them there and they will die in a couple of weeks.  In order to continue to grow, they have to have more direct sun. That means change and transition. It means setting them outside in the sunshine and wind for a few hours a day, gradually increasing the amount of sun slowly over a week or two until they can tolerate the full sun. If you transition them outside too fast by leaving them out in the sun too long, like I did earlier this week, you can kill them, just like I killed the plant on the left. Changing forms in the church is much the same.  It absolutely has to happen for the church to go on and thrive and ultimately bear fruit. But if you transition too quickly, rather than gradually, you can kill the church.

         Right now, West Hills is in that transition period.  We've started changing the music. We've started changing the Sunday morning service. We now have a time in the middle of the service where we highlight and pray for missionaries instead of passing the offering place.  We are now using drop boxes to collect our offerings.  Since January I've been teaching through our church constitution and bylaws on Sunday nights, and on April 24th we will vote on an updated set of bylaws that alters our church government to allow for a plurality of elders along with deacons and deaconesses. These are big changes that I believe will improve our ability to minister well in this community over time.

Next month, we're going to plant almost the entire front lawn in sunflowers!

More change is on the horizon...
            We've approved the construction of a community garden as a primary form of outreach.  Next month, we will plow up the front yard and plant about an acre and a half of sunflowers. We are going to be building a demonstration garden right in front of our front doors, which will showcase what next year's garden in the back will look like.  Dirt work on the hill behind the church is scheduled to begin mid-May!

This is the site where the Garden of Hope will be built behind the church.

         Trip opportunities...
If you'd like to bring your family/church/youth group to come and serve for a few days to a week this summer, please let me know!  We've got two trips in the planning stages, but there is lots of work to be done!  For groups, the church has classrooms where you can sleep, a fellowship hall where you can cook, and shower trailer with hot showers.  For families, you're welcome to stay with us.

The Storehouse...
The Storehouse seems to be flourishing in its new location.

In April, we served a record 101 families at our food distribution.

We are not responsible for damages if you drop this recliner on your way home.

While sister is busy doing schoolwork, Hosea gets to ride along in the big truck with daddy some days!

Our Family...
Lily is doing great in homeschool, though both she and Meredith are counting down the days until summer.  Her math is ridiculous. Her handwriting is getting much better. She's starting to read on her own, and beginning to really enjoy stories. Her favorite activities are coloring and reading.

Hosea is a wild man. He runs everywhere, gets into everything, and only slows down to sleep.  His current favorite activities include playing with Princess Eloise, playing with tractors, and driving the Jeep.

Meredith and I will be celebrating 9 years of marriage next month, and we're planning a little getaway to celebrate God's faithfulness before the full schedule of summer sets in.  We're super excited about it.

This is our little wild man and his "yes I did it" smile.

So big...

Speaking of so big...Princess Eloise has grown from 7.5 pounds to 25 pounds in the last 2 months.

She helps Hosea play tractors!

And she helps Lily with her sight words!

She gives plenty of encouragement for a job well done!

Fact: Our dog is more spoiled than either of our children.

We couldn't be here without you. Please continue to pray for....
1. Pray that the Lord to raise up a handful of local families to join us at West Hills as we seek to move the kingdom forward.
2. Pray for West Hills in this time of transition, that God would let me guide us at an appropriate pace and not move too fast and kill the church.
3. Please pray for the Storehouse ministry as we begin to move towards transitioning it over to Calvary Chapel Greeneville.

Lily thinks worms are neat! She helped set up our new worm bins.

He loves to play in the water.

And, since you've read all the way to the bottom, you're probably ready for a nap, like Eloise.