"Breathless Expectation"

I picked up a book at the Evolve conference last week by Mark Batterson titled, In A Pit With A Lion On a Snowy Day. I've been using it as a devotional book each morning. If you haven't read this book you need to get it! Chapter 5 is called "Guaranteed Uncertainty" and the Holy Spirit really worked on me through the words Mark wrote. He starts the chapter with a quote from Oswald Chambers, "To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways; we do not know what a day may bring forth. This is generally said with a sigh of sadness; it should rather be an expression of breathless expectation." That really made me think...am I really certain of God...so certain of God even though I don't know what will come about by the end of the day? And, is that a sad feeling or feeling of incredible anticipation for what God will do? Life should be lived in "breathless expectation" of God. I should be so certain of God that I live in anticipation, like the song says by Steven Curtis Chapman, "This is the great adventure." But, if you're like me, you don't always live that way. Even though I say I'm certain of God I tend to live not in breathless expectation but more in acute anxiety. But God in His grace keeps teaching me to trust Him and He continues to remind me that He loves me even when I'm not living in "breathless expectation". But that is where I want to live. I started out this day not living in breathless expectation. I really felt down for some reason. You ever have those days when you just can't seem to get going? Then God's grace showed up and reminded me that I can be certain of Him. I had to go to the Alltel store to get a replacement phone for my daughter. I thought I was going to have to pay $165 bucks but ended up getting one for free. Then our realtor called and said she had 4 calls today about our house. She said that she hadn't had four calls about any house recently and that the prospects for renting it looked good. God is in the business of pulling off what seems impossible...He keeps graciously reminding me. So, why not just live in "breathless expectation"? I'm learning that's the way to really live.

Duane

How Big Is My God?

The road trip was definitely a "God thing". God did so many amazing things in my life and in the group of guys I went with...I'll brag on God. There have been moments in my journey where I could undoubtably sense the presence of the Holy Spirit in a place. On Monday afternoon, sitting in the worship center of Mountain Lake Church, I had that sense...that God was truly there in our presence...that the Holy Spirit was speaking to me through a young pastor from Charlotte, NC, named Steve Furtick. It was a powerful moment. Steve challenged me with two statements. (1) "Courageous leadership is not the result of cut and paste. It must be born from the inside out." (2) "The difference between a daydream and a burning vision is the audacity to act." The first statement has to do with how some in the church planting world tend to copy what others are doing instead of following the moving of the Holy Spirit in their own life. The second statement has to do with "How big is my God?" Is my God so big that He can do anything? If I really believe that, then I will have the audacity to act in faith. God can do the impossible. He wants to do something so big in my life and in the life of Mosaic Church that can only be explained as it was God. It will be said, "There's no other way it could have happened except for God". Father knew what I needed to be reminded of. I needed to remember that this journey I'm on...this thing called church planting...this vision of Mosaic Church in Culpeper, VA, is so big that when I look back I can only say that it was God and God alone who pulled if off. How big is your God?

Duane

Road Trip!

A couple of months ago a fellow church planter, Clint Clifton, of Pillar Church in Dumfries, asked me to go to a conference in Atlanta called Evolve. He said it would be free, so, being the intelligent guy that I am, I said "yes". What he didn't tell me was that I'd be travelling with 7 other guys in an RV! I haven't been this close to a group of guys I think since high school. I bet the smells won't be any better either. You know, come to think of it, Jesus travelled around with a group of guys for 3 years. Well, not in a RV, of course. But, nevertheless, he became pretty tight with his disciples. They did life together day in and day out. Imagine that! They ate, drank, walked, slept, laughed, cried, prayed, and played together. These guys hung out with the Creator of the Universe...God in the flesh. It's almost inconceivable that God would care about us so much that He would come and live with us. He emptied Himself and wrapped Himself in flesh and hung out with us...lived life with us. Amazing isn't it that God would care about our mundane day-to-day stuff. But, He does. He proved it by living life with those guys for 3 years. Then in their hour of grief, as His disciples were confused, discouraged, and brokenhearted, Jesus shows up again to walk with them. "Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus...Jesus himself came up and walked along with them" Luke 24:13,15. He came to walk with them and heal their broken hearts. That's what He wants to do with all of us. But not just to walk with us, but to live in us. You can't get any closer than that! Have you ever thought, "I can't live this Christ-life." Well, that's right, you can't. But He can and will as He lives in and through us. What a trip this is Jesus!

Duane

Where Did Jesus Go?

A certain Bible verse seemed to jump off the page to me this morning as I listened to a pastor give his sermon. The verse is in Luke 19 and the story is about Jesus entering the city of Jericho where He meets a man named Zacchaeus. Word spreads in the town that Jesus has arrived and Zacchaeus really wants to see Him. But, as you probably already know, Zacchaeus was a short man, and, not able to see over the crowd, runs ahead and climbs up a Sycamore tree and waits for Jesus to pass by. Now verse 5 is what struck me this morning. It reads, "When Jesus reached the spot, he stopped and looked up and said to him, 'Zacchaeus come down immediately, I MUST STAY AT YOUR HOUSE TODAY.'" The thing that really struck me was the fact that Jesus goes to where the lost are. He doesn't wait for them to come to Him. He goes to where they live, where they hang out. He goes to their turf. He doesn't ask them to come to His. He meets people where they are. As I think about this, I am also reminded that Jesus now lives in me by His Spirit. Paul said in Galatians 2:20, "I am crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but CHRIST LIVES IN ME..." Christ lives in me and through me. Christ is my life (Colossians 3:4). If Jesus' passion is to meet people where they are, how does He do that today? Through me. Through you. We can't sit back and wait for the lost world to come to us. We have to go where they are...their turf...where they hang out. Where would that be today? Maybe the bars, coffee shops, parks, bowling allies, parties, wherever people hang out. "Wait a minute", someone might say, "Christians shouldn't go in bars." Well, Jesus went to those places (maybe not the bowlings allies) and He was criticized too. Verse 7 says, "All the people saw this and began to mutter, 'He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.'" He sure did. He went to be the guest of a sinner, because that's why He came. Verse 10, "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." Most churches I've been a part of sit and wait for the lost to come to them. Mosaic Church will be a place where we prepare the people to go to the lost.

Duane

Setting Our Sights

I used to be an avid hunter. During our years living in Michigan I would go deer hunting with several guys from my church. One of my best friends, Bryce, whom our son is named after, taught me a great deal about hunting. Bryce hunted and trapped almost year round. He even travelled out west to hunt big game like Elk. One of the things he taught me was how to set the sight on my gun. Every year before deer season opened we would take our rifles, mount them on stands and set our sights. We would look through the scope, put the cross hairs on the target and fire. After looking at the target to see where we hit it, we would then make adjustments to our scope until the bullet was hitting the bullseye each time we fired. One of my concerns since we came to Culpeper was who was going to be our "target". Who were we going to focus on reaching? Not that we don't want to reach everyone. But every church seems to have a target whether they say it or not. Every church seems to do well at reaching certain age groups or types of people. Every church has a purpose. Who will be our target? As we set our sights the target is getting clearer. God is using people He has put in my life to help bring us into focus on who He wants us to reach. As I have prayed for God to show me and guide me He has begun to bring people in my life who are helping us narrow our focus. One of the real needs it seems in this community is for ministry to 20 somethings. There are lots of churches with great ministries to families and children and older adults, but there's not a lot going on to reach the 20 somethings...young adults who have graduated and are going to college or beginning a career. All of what God has put in our hearts...the vision...the dream for Mosaic seems to be ideal for reaching these young adults. The casual, come as you are atmosphere will do well to attract and reach them with the life-changing truth of the gospel. Pray for us as we continue to seek God's guidance and narrow our focus and set our sights.

Duane