Unexpected

September 30, tomorrow, is our one year anniversary here in Culpeper, VA. One year ago we rolled into town on a Sunday afternoon in a big orange U-haul truck with our Pontiac Vibe in tow. It doesn't seem possible that one year has already passed! But here we are one year later. This has been the toughest year of my life. This has been the most amazing year of my life. The journey has taken many twists and turns. It has taken me places that I didn't expect. A year ago, I never expected to work in a place like Sears or be a Substitute Teacher or be employed by a counseling agency and working full-time in Culpeper's new high school. I truly expected Mosaic Church would be fully launched by this time, but God's timing has been different than mine. Sometimes I wish He'd do things on my schedule. Sometimes I question God's judgment. I question His decision making. Imagine that! Me, a mere mortal, questioning the infinite God. He is so patient with me. I am blessed by His grace. Right now, Mosaic church is at 25 people strong. We have grown from 7 to 25 in the last 2 months. Some of the original people who started with us in April, who I expected would be a part of our launch team, are no longer with us. God is building His church with the people He wants. I expected those who started with us to still be with us, but God had different plans. I wonder what God is doing sometimes. I'm learning to expect the unexpected with God. We have received unexpected gifts from people many times over that past year. Unexpected blessings! We've also had unexpected challenges in our personal finances. I keep trusting God. I expect Him to come through for me, His child. And He always does, but usually in unexpected ways and with unexpected people. I guess that's why this has been such a difficult yet amazing journey. I never know what to expect with God. That's what makes the journey exciting. I'm leaning not to worry, just expect something unexpected.
Duane

He wants my Heart

What makes you angry? People who cut you off in traffic? People who talk on the cell phone in a resturant? Injustices in the world? The neighbor's dog who barks at all hours of the night? Mean people? It could be anything. Have you ever thought about what makes God angry? You could probably come up with a few things. Maybe war, or parents who abuse and neglect their kids, or government officials that commit genocide, or...it could go on and on. In our study of Mark's gospel on Saturday nights, we discovered something that makes God angry. In Mark 3, Jesus, God the Son, got angry at the religious people and their "hard-nosed religion". The religious people of Jesus' day, called the Pharisees, were more interested in religion on the outside than they were about a relationship on the inside. Their hard-nosed religion defined the way they lived. They were into keeping rules and trying to impress God. And all that mattered to them was that everyone else kept the rules too. God was not impressed. He hated what they were doing. Why? Because it wasn't from their heart. In chapter 7, Jesus, speaking about the Pharisees, quoted Isaiah, "These people make a big show of saying the right thing, but their heart isn't in it. They act like they're worshiping me, but they don't mean it." God wanted their heart. All they gave God was their lip service...and it made Him angry. It's like giving someone a gift...or saying its a gift, but only doing it because you feel you have to. Its not really from the heart. Nobody wants that kind of gift. God only wants our heart. Where do we get off anyway thinking that we can do anything to impress God! We can't, but we can give Him our heart. And that's what He wants the most.
Duane

The Name

I went to my first AA meeting last night. I can hear what you're thinking. "What?!" I went not as a member but as a visitor. One of our guys here at Mosaic Church is a recovering alcoholic. He and his wife and son have been coming for about a month and a half now, every Saturday night. Pete goes to an AA meeting just about every night of the week. The last couple of weeks, Pete has asked me to go with him to one of their open meetings. I really want to be a support for him, so I told him I would go. So on Sunday night we drove to Madison, about 15 miles away to a Presbyterian Church and there I attended my first AA meeting with a group of mostly men and a few ladies. Pete introduced me to several of his friends and then we went into the church fellowship hall and found a place to sit. I kinda felt like church...since it was in a church, and we were sitting on the back row. They took an offering to cover their expenses and even prayed. A couple of things really struck me as the meeting began with a few announcements and then the introduction of the night's speaker. One was the use of the terminology of "higher power". I could tell that the speaker was very religious. He spoke about growing up here in America and about having parents from India. Yet, I'm not sure which God he was referring to. Was it "Allah", one of the many thousands of Hindu gods, or Jesus? Another thing that struck me was that the name of Jesus was never mentioned. It's amazing to me that people can talk and talk and talk about God and "whatever that is to you", yet when one brings up the name of Jesus people get offended and controversy breaks out. I'm not saying it does at AA meetings. I don't know, I've only been to one. But that's what the name of Jesus does. It divides. There's no gray area. His name either excites you or offends you. Now don't get me wrong, I think that AA is doing a great job of helping people get sober and stay sober. In fact, they're doing what the church should be doing. They are accepting, they hold each other accountable, and they welcome you back even when you mess up. Sounds like a church, but its not. AA has done a wonderful job helping my friend Pete and I'll go back with him sometime to show my support. As a church, we should model acceptance, accountability, and welcome each other with open arms even when we've blown it. But what makes Mosaic different from AA is the name of Jesus. He is the healer of our diseases. He is the comforter of broken hearts. He is the grace-giving God of mercy to those who blow it time and time again. He is the name by which we are saved. Without Him it doesn't matter if you gain your whole life but lose your soul.
Duane

Perfect

Saturday was a historic day for Mosaic Church. 20 of us celebrated our first communion as a church here in Culpeper. As we began our celebration we opened it up for anyone to share their past experiences with communion. It was very interesting to hear the different experiences people had had in the past. Some shared their experiences as children growing up in the Catholic church and on into adulthood. How mechanical and impersonal it seemed. Others talked about the different traditions that really weren't explained. Some had never participated in communion...ever. Several had no idea why we take communion or the reasons why it important to our faith. How refreshing it was to share our first communion with a group of people excited about starting a new church...a new faith community. Everyone put aside their expectations and their past experiences to enjoy something fresh and new. And that's precisely why Jesus came. He came to start something new. He put aside the old plan, the old covenant, with its limitations, its incapabilities, and brought us the new plan, the new covenant, "written in (his) blood". A plan that is capable and unlimited. It takes away all our sins... from anyone who will believe. No matter how checkered our past. No matter how scetchy our present. No matter how uncertain we feel about our future. His body was given for us. His blood was poured out for us. To do what we couldn't do...save ourselves. "Christ made a single sacrifice for sins...It was a perfect sacrifice by a perfect person to perfect some very imperfect people." (Hebrews 10:12-13 The Message) That's a perfect description of the people here at Mosaic Church in Culpeper, VA. Some very imperfect people being perfected by a perfect Savior.
Duane