© Fellowship at Cross Creek

Looking Backward to See Forward: Coincidence or Inspiration? Parts II and III

J. Cross

9/8/11

Part II (Evidences: 16-24)…Chase’s Successful Surgery; Church of “Diss-ed” Bridgebuilders; Discovering Passions; Building a Prize-Winning Float and Serving the Community.

16) Disappointingly, Chase P’s brain tumor has begun to grow again, but, once again, amazingly, it is successful removed. (Aug.-Sept. 2010).

17) Beginning with elders, and eventually moving on to the Body, in a series of Fellowship Fall Family Meetings, Joe asks, “Do you still believe in Fellowship? Is Fellowship still relevant? And if so, explain our Disconnect with our own Community.” The Answer is an overwhelming, “Yes, Fellowship is relevant. It has changed my life.” (Aug.-Nov. 2010).

18) What comes of these meetings is that Fellowship’s role has emerged, as coined by Kevin H., as THE church to the “Dissed” (the dissatisfied, disenchanted, disgusted, disappointed) in SW Missouri.

19) Much like the Taneycomo Bridge makeover, Joe begins to asks, How do we makeover our spiritual bridge decking, while at the same time, still retaining the vital supporting arches of Fellowship’s Form Follows Function approach to ministry?

20) From these discussions, Sheila T. develops a revised Fellowship mission strategy, and in so doing, begins to reveal her passion for using her own gifts for God’s glory.

• Updated Mission Strategy:

“Fellowship seeks to ‘build bridges’ to those who are dissatisfied, disenchanted, disgusted and/or disappointed with “church,” but still desire a relationship with God.

We will use our individual, God-given gifts to work together, with passion and purpose, to more effectively reveal Fellowship’s “treasure” to other members of our community.

By continuing to foster an environment for learning, worship and spiritual growth, we will develop even more “bridge-builders” who are then able to help accomplish the mission.

21) One night, as the group seemingly hits a wall as to where to go next, Mickey P., based on a recent classroom assignment, asks, “What is your/our passion?” With the hope that God will reveal his next passion for Fellowship through the Body’s many passions, everyone in the church is asked to answer–What is your passion?

22) Also, based on a class from his discipleship program, Mickey P. momentarily rejuvenates the Youth class by beginning a study based on the book, 30 Days to Understanding the Bible. (Nov-2011).

23) Inspired by LC Coordinator B. Huddleston’s passion, N. Sharpe’s Home Church builds and enters a prize-winning Christmas float in the annual Adoration Parade. Proceeds from the award begin to fund the long-delayed completion of the youth room (Late Oct-Mar. 2011);

24) Also at the same time, despite personal hardships, Hortencia M. perseveres in using her extraordinary administrative gifts to pursue her passion in coordinating several Fellowship ministry outreaches to financially-challenged families (Dec-March 2011).

Part III (Evidences: 25-30)…The First Pentecost; A Think Tank and an “Accountable Love” Refresher Course?

25) From August 2010 thru August 2011, Joe continues the Sunday morning series which he began before Easter 2010. Moving beyond Jesus’ counter-intuitive bridge-building techniques in the Gospels, in Acts 1-9, Joe begins to examine just how the apostles, with the Spirit’s help, were able to follow through with Jesus’ Great Commission.

26) At Pentecost, the disciples continue preaching Jesus’ message of repentance–a repentance in light of Judah’s rejection of Jesus as their Messiah. Soon, despite increasing religious opposition, with the Spirit’s inspiration, the church explodes, growing from several hundred to as many as 40,000 new believers worshipping in Jerusalem, including women and children.

27) One deacon, full of the Spirit and knowledgeable in the OT, Stephen, rises to great prominence within the church. But Stephen is martyred when he stands up to religious opposition. With his martyrdom, a great persecution breaks out against the church, causing many to flee Jerusalem. Paradoxically it is through the church’s suffering that the Spirit begins to fulfill Christ’s Great Commission.

28) One of the great lessons drawn from the early church’s experiences is its willingness to suffer for what is right or one’s faith. Today, can we risk uncomfortability with, or rejection by, others by simply asking, “How is your relationship with Christ?” For Saul (later Paul), who initially caused great harm to the church, but was later captured by Christ, this question means everything.

(2011)

29) While reaping great benefits from Fellowship’s Fall Family meetings, Joe also discovers that the more concrete planner/doers don’t really enjoy the initial abstract thinking often required before the planning or doing. Again, inspired by Gen. Moore’s Just One More Thing, Joe creates a temporary Think Tank of more abstract thinkers to advise him as to what to do with the Fellowship Toolbox?

30) In one of the Think Tank meetings, Sheila W. suggests, Perhaps we could all use a refresher course in Accountable Love…that is, if we are to advise you as to what to you are to do with it? (Spring 2011).

(Up Next: Part IV (Evidences: 31-43)…Infusing Worship with a Few Missing Ingredients; Joe Takes a Much-needed Teaching Sabbatical; Dave English Exposes Fellowship to New Look at Grace; God’s Provision Once Again; a New Name for Accountable Love; Increasing Momentum; Yet Another Schedule Surgery for Chase.)

© Fellowship at Cross Creek

Looking Backward to See Forward: Coincidence or Inspiration? Part I…

J. Cross

9/8/11

Beginning in January, 2010, and continuing on through the Fall of 2011, here are, but 43 of, the many possible evidences of God’s providential inspiration in bringing Joe and Fellowship to a special place of purpose: teaching others how to Sustainably Love.

Part I (Evidences: 1-15)…A Spiritual Toolbox; a Granddaughter’s smile; Pure Joy; the Easter Season; Counter-intuitive Bridge-building; Just One More Thing; Is God the God of our City?; an 18-month Renewal of Commitment; the incredible Moravian Pentecost and God’s Provision.

1) As Joe encourages his former college friend Jan C. to write her story of her breast cancer survival, she asks, What have you been writing? (Jan-Feb. 2010).

2) So Joe begins putting together a partial summary of what he has been teaching these past 25 years at Fellowship. Ultimately, this reflecting morphs and expands into more than just Accountable Love skills, but also skills involving finding and experiencing true joy, truth, community, change and influence–a Spiritual Survivor’s Toolbox, so to speak, containing 150 proven biblical skills, or tools, required for successful spiritual living.

3) In the midst of a difficult business year, Mike J. awakens one morning to his granddaughter’s beautiful smile and thinks, “Pure Joy.” Later that day, he connects his reaction to her smile with James’ admonition of how we are to view our all various trials…with “pure joy” (James 1). He emails this insight to Joe. (March 2010).

4) Inspired by what Mike J. has shared with him, in preparation for the 2010 Easter season, Joe decides to begin a study of Christ’s life, beginning with his repeated counter-intuitive prayer in the Garden before his arrest, trial and crucifixion: “Father, not my will, but yours be done.”

5) In order to demonstrate how this and other passages (including Christ’s commissioning of his disciples to take his story of redemption and forgiveness into all the world) practically applies to our lives, Joe employs the metaphor of bridge building. He then develops the art of building or converting scripture passages into step-by-step tools or bridges to successful Christian living.

6) Employing the survival leadership principle, Just One More Thing, from the life of Gen. Hal Moore (the inspiration for the popular book and movie, We Were Soldiers Once and Young, starring Mel Gibson), Joe begins to religiously use this principle himself, as well as, exhorting the Body to simplify their crisis decision-making, by simply making a series of “Just One More Thing” decisions.

7) While on her 11-month around the world missions adventure, Jeanne Bensch uploads a video of her group taking over a bar in Phuket, Thailand, so they can sing praise songs. This mirrors the experience of Aaron Boyd, composer of the popular praise song, God of this City (May).

8) Along with another video of a 24/7 prayer ministry to the island tourist community of Ibiza, Spain, Joe is led to explore the origins of both: 1) the phrase the Great Commission (Matt. 28) and 2) the 24/7 prayer movement. In addition, 3) Joe asks, is God the God of our City? And if so, 4) How do we build a counter-intuitive bridge back to our community?

9) Joe then stumbles across an article which suggests that a 1600s repentant prodigal royalty, turned-early counter-intuitive solo Protestant missionary to South America, named Baron von Welz, is the first to describe Jesus’ evangelistic exhortation to his disciples to take his story to the ends of the planet as… the Great Commission. Like many of Christ’s apostles, von Welz pays the ultimate price when after two years of service in Suriname, he is never heard from again.

10) This leads to another article, describing the early history of Protestant missions. Indeed, coming out of the corrupt Catholic church at the time, Protestant Reformers were not much interested in missions (as the Catholics, through their religious orders, were), but rather assumed God or the king would evangelize the heathen.

11) This also leads to the discovery of the founders of the 24/7 prayer movement—a small community of Christians living together in eastern Germany in the 1700s, called the Moravians. Their leader was the charismatic and spiritually-pietistic Count N. von Zinzendorf. As an act of spiritual warfare in order to protect a recent indwelling by God’s Spirit, called the Moravian Pentecost, this small village of Christians dedicates itself to praying around the clock in shifts. Their 24/7 prayer vigil will last for over a hundred years.

12) Empowered by prayer, this small village of Christians will sacrificially end up supplying half of all the world’s Protestant missionaries for the next century and half.

13) Falling, further and further behind in pay, and perhaps, fearing this might be the end of his almost 25-year tenure at Fellowship, Joe takes a page from Gen. Moore’s “Just One More Thing” playbook and: 1) pens a full rough draft of Accountable Love. (May 2010).

14) Then: 2) feeling led by and trusting God, a) Joe forgives his unpaid back pay, b) cuts his salary significantly, c) makes a 18-month commitment to Fellowship, d) asks only to be paid, if and when the funds are there, e) though in smaller weekly checks and f) asks not to know the past week’s giving until the next Sunday in the Ministry Notes. If Fellowship gets in a financial bind, g) Cindy B. is to let the other elders know. Joe does not want any knowledge of Fellowship’s giving to compromise his joy of serving or his 18-month commitment to Fellowship (June 2010).

15) Amazingly, through several unpredictable sources, including Fellowship, God provides for both Joe and Fellowship. (July 2010).

(Up Next: Part II (Evidences: 16-24)…A Successful Surgery; The Church of “Diss-ed” Bridgebuilders; Discovering Passions; Building a Float and Serving the Community.)