The Conclusion
From the Series—Journey
August 2, 2003This evotional concludes our Journey series. We’ve explored four dimensions of discipleship: seeking, learning, influencing, and investing. This evotional tells the stories of how some NCCers have put it into practice.
Steps
A few weeks ago, twenty-four NCCers went public with their faith. There was a common thread that emerged as they shared their stories. “Getting involved at NCC is one of the steps I am taking to continue growing in my faith. I feel that being baptized is another step in my walk with God. It is a public announcement and demonstration of my faith in him.” Someone else said, “This will be a very important step for me, but I believe this is only the beginning of my journey to seek God.” One person said baptism was a “stepping stone.” Someone else said they wanted to take their relationship with Christ “one step further.”
Webster defines “step” as “an advance made by raising the foot and bringing it down elsewhere.” Doesn’t sound real spiritual, but that is what spiritual growth is all about--raising your foot and putting it down somewhere else! You’ve got to be ready and willing to take the next step. That’s what this series of evotionals has been all about: taking the next step in your spiritual journey. Oliver Wendel Holmes said, “The great thing in this world is not so much where we are but in what direction we are moving.” All of us are at different places in our spiritual journey, but we need to raise our foot and move it in the right direction.
Deuteronomy 1:6 says, “The Lord our God said to us at Horeb, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. Break camp and take your journey.” Each evotional in this series has presented you with some ideas and opportunities to “break camp” and “take your journey.” And it’s been exciting to see the way NCCers are walking the talk.
Seeking 101
During our seeking week we explored six pathways of seeking: repenting, retreating, worshipping, praying, fasting, and serving. One of our community groups decided to put it into practice by praying and fasting for one of their group members.
“We decided to fast and pray for a full day and despite my attempts to divert the group to a different direction, they chose to pray that God would open up doors for me in my attempt to get a job. I have been trying without any luck to land a political job for about 8 or 9 months now. I faithfully send my resume and cover letter to every lead that is forwarded to me via friends, but not much comes of it.”
The group fasted and here’s what happened. “The day of the fast I was at work and having this conversation with God that went something like, “Ok God, so here we are fasting and praying for my job prospects. You don’t HAVE to do anything today or any other day. It is not like we are expecting you to jump through hoops. If you WANT to do it, go for it, but if not, it’s ok.”
“About 10 minutes later, while having a random conversation with a sales rep at my work, somehow the conversation was steered to a sales rep in another city that I used to work with and this coworker of mine reminded me that a certain election campaign was recently signed on as a client and she said, ‘Why don’t you try to apply to the campaign?’ I knew this campaign was a client a few years before while I worked with the rep that signed them on, but I completely forgot about it until I had this random conversation. Well, I tried to call the sales rep, but she was on vacation until August. I put on my sleuthing hat and tracked down her private cell number (that she ferociously guards), and called her. She was driving somewhere in the desserts of Arizona, and just happened to be in the signal range. She told me the contact information she had for the campaign and told me to use her as a reference.”
“So, I contacted the campaign guy, and ridiculously-long-story-cut-down-a-little, the guy forwarded my info to certain divisions of the campaign that were ‘hiring soon.’ Now I am not sure what will come of this lead (if anything) but this whole experience was God’s way of telling me not to sell Him so short --that He has my back --that He remains faithful even when we don’t. And my whole small group got to experience this lesson with me.”
All I can say is this: there are lots of people who would give anything for a group of friends that love them and believe in them enough to fast and pray for them! I don’t think I would have ever thought of this idea: fasting and praying for job prospects. But what an awesome way to put the spiritual discipline of fasting into practice!
Learning 101
During our learning week we focused on studying, meditating, and experimenting. Here is how one group practiced meditating.
“As a group exercise this week, we’re going to try out one of the
meditation exercises that I found in Celebration of Discipline. It’s
called Palm Down, Palm Up. Cheesy, yes. Oddly effective, yes. It’s similar to the Quaker practice that Pastor Mark has done with us as a church a couple times. Find a quiet place. Sit in a comfortable, non-distracting position. Put your palms down. Tell the Lord all the things that you are releasing to Him. Be as specific as possible. All the stuff that is cluttering your mind and weighing you down. Turn your palms up. Accept from Him the remedy to all of the things you released to Him--peace and restoration in a relationship you’re struggling with, hope for the future that you’re worried about, etc. Then just be quiet and listen and be with Him for at least 5-10 minutes. See what happens.”
Influencing 101
During the influencing week we talked about seeing and seizing opportunities to influence. I’ve heard about some amazing divine appointments. I’ve also heard awesome stories about NCCers doing prayer walks and service projects. A few weeks ago some NCCers pulled off a While You Were Out project. They surprised someone by fixing up their house.
But I think the greatest outcome of that message was a heightened awareness. NCCers are looking for opportunities to influence. The Baptism by the Bay was a great example. I can’t think of a better place to go public with your faith than a public beach. One of the NCCers who got baptized emailed me this week. Here is what she wrote.
“It was a wonderful weekend and an AWESOME experience being baptized along with my godchildren & god sister on Sunday. But the greatest thing about Sunday was so many people were coming up to us and other church members asking about our church.
I overheard one young woman proclaim “I Love This Church Already!” Another woman who asked me about the church, wanted to know if we were a traveling church that worships at different movie theaters in different areas because she lives in Baltimore and wanted to know if we are coming to that area anytime soon.”
Let’s keep being salt and light.
Investing 101
The fourth dimension of discipleship was investing. Before I even preached that message an NCCer gave a $1,000 check with a note attached.
“Pastor Mark, I have wanted to take an active step of faith to invest in this launch. With this we have one down! Now just 99 more to go and we will reach our goal of $100,000. I wanted to make a personal commitment to the dream. I wanted to do something difficult as a tangible reminder that this launch will be hard but that God will reward. I am so blessed to be able to be part of something so much bigger than myself.”
I was overwhelmed during the investing week with how many NCCers said thanks for the financial challenge! We talked about the law of measures and the law of treasures. And we gave NCCers several investment opportunities. Fifty NCCers committed to tithing--the spiritual discipline of giving 10% of their income back to God. And we’re more than halfway to our goal of investing $100,000 in launching our next location. God has already started blessing those financial steps of faith.
“I get a little nervous in telling stories such as this because I don’t want to perpetuate any myth that God is a slot machine. We should give out of obedience and because it all belongs to God anyway. But it is true, and He proves it time and time again-- you just can’t outgive God. I live in DC and don’t plan to be a regular Ballston attender, but I knew I wanted to make an investment in what we are doing there. As I prayed about it, I really felt impressed to give a one-time gift of $1,000 to the effort. When I made that commitment, I wasn’t sure where the money would come from and just assumed I would need to dip into my savings account. But I also knew the Ballston Launch was one of the best investments I could make, and I just purposed in my heart that I would give that amount.
The very next week, my chief of staff called me into his office. He said they were giving me a $2,000 bonus for a piece of legislation that I had moved over 6 months ago! I never expected a bonus from that—I was just doing my job. But I also can’t believe it is mere coincidence that I made a pledge to invest, and only hours later I received DOUBLE what I pledged. It’s a little unnerving because I would like to be able to say I made a “sacrifice” for Ballston, but God has more resources to bless us than we can contain.”
Here’s one more.
“As you know, we’ve been saving to buy a house trying to scrape together every cent we can spare for a down payment. We’ve always been pretty faithful tithers, and most of the time I’m a really ‘cheerful giver,’ but there are some weeks it simply becomes an issue of obedience. Thinking of the scripture telling us obedience is better than sacrifice, sometimes I think when you tithe you get to offer God both at the same time.”
“A few weeks ago I hesitated as I wrote our check, knowing how nice this would be to keep for the down payment, but was reminded of my commitment to trust God in all things and to be faithful in tithing. So I guess this is one of those stories where an awesome blessing comes through. This week, Fannie Mae called me to tell me I’d won their 2003 Essay Award. I’d submitted a short, 500-word essay on ‘What Owning a Home Means to Me.’ The prize, awarded at today’s Home-Buying Fair at the new Washington Convention Center, is $2000 towards the closing of our first home. My feet haven’t yet hit the ground. Spiritually, I don’t think of this as a ‘magic’ formula or deal we make with God. I just know that when I trust Him in all things--and even when I don’t--- He is capable of amazing things to take care of His children.”
Lifestyle
In I Chronicles 29, the Israelites invest in the building of the Temple. It is a miraculous outpouring of generosity. It says the people gave freely and wholeheartedly. And after they give their gifts David prays for them. This is his prayer. “Keep this desire in the hearts of your people forever.”
Discipleship is about a lot more than one series or one message. It’s a lifestyle. My “closing” prayer is the same as King David. “Keep this desire in the hearts of your people forever.” Let’s keep seeking, learning, influencing, and investing.