On Mission this May

One of the great dangers for a church is that 'mission' has been replaced by 'protect ourselves from sin'. (Matt Chandler quote). While certainly we in NO WAY want to minimize sin (we need to put it to death for the praise of Jesus!); but we also want to recognize that this shift away from mission has actually slowed sanctification (ie. being transformed to live for Jesus) not sped it up, because we are not walking and moving with Jesus and letting him change us in the process.

To that end, on MAY 30-31st we will be hosting our 'The Church on Mission' Conference. This is an event that we want you to come to if you're passionate about focusing in on the 'why?' and 'how?' of developing biblical community within the church where everyone is an active member of the body that holistically lives out the mission of the church.

Our key note speaker will be Mike Breen who pioneered mid-sized communities on mission (called Clusters) in Sheffield, UK and with them actively engaged his church body in mission and grew the largest church in the north of England, with 80% under the age of 40. Mike is an outstanding visionary, communicator and teacher, and we are thrilled that he and others will be joining us.

Shortly we will be sending out more information for you as our plans unfold. For now, please mark this date (MAY 30-31st) as we gather as a church (and with other churches) as we network and learn together.

GAVIN and an ALL OUT SEARCH

Bev Yeaman who leads our Family/Children's Ministry here at LEFC came in broken the other day letting us know of a community close to her heart that is in a state of peril right now. Shawnigan Lake on the Island (from which Bev joined us last year) is missing one of their son's, and it also happens to be the son of some of her dearest friends. Last week Gavin, who I believe is 20 years old and has been in a place of turmoil, disappeared. And although there has been an all out search for Gavin, after a whole week there is still no sign of him.

Bev and I sat chatting this week about the story in Luke 15 where Jesus talks about the single lost sheep for which the shepherd leaves his 99 other sheep in order to go find - the point: every person matters immensily to God and when they're lost, in his love, he initiates an all out search. For a family and a community known as Shawnigan Lake, this parable is much to real right now.

I don't want to dress this blog up with some dramatic statement - we just want to cry out to God on behalf of Gavin and his family and his community that this lost son, who God desperately loves, would be found. Bring Gavin home, please God. (please be praying with us)

Shaquille O'Neal and our next STAFFING RECRUIT

So last week my beloved Phoenix Suns . . . that’s basketball just in case anyone up here in hockey-filled Canada didn't know (by the way, Go Canucks!) . . . anyways, my beloved Suns traded away one of their franchise players to get Shaquille O’Neal last week. I’m torn because I’ve never really liked him - I mean I love him in Jesus but . . . there’s just this way about how he’s been dunking on and trash-talking my teams all these years! But now he’s in Phoenix with my boy Nash, so I'm in angst as to whether this was a good move or not? Will he fill the gaps and bring the right chemistry to get the boys over the hump come June? We'll start finding out next week against the Lakers I guess - it's all speculation until then.

In the meantime, we're making some player additions of our own at the church this spring. We're looking to add a MINISTRY HUB COORDINATOR in our church office who will bring the passion and skill to help coordinate, administrate and mobilize people towards our church's mission. Someone who can handle special projects, spearhead events, manage communication (basic website and writing), and generally run the HUB (the office). If you're interested or know someone who can fill the gaps and complete our growing team, then check out the full job description at www.lefc/info/hiring and drop us a line.

And if all goes well and Shaq turns out to be the missing piece for Phoenix AND we find our recruit for the church . . . well, it'll be a happy Spring!!

Ankle deep in kids

So I'm sitting in a playroom in our church building with 8 active 'little ones' as Wendy and I help take care of them for the next 2 hours (of course I'm using the word 'help' loosely since I'm obviously typing on my computer right now - doh!).

Even though Wendy and I spend everyday taking care of our 'little ones', there's nowhere else I'd rather be than in the midst of 8 of them every monday night. That's because as we take care of these kids, their parents are gathering in two other rooms for something pretty close to our heart. In one room is a group sitting around a bunch of dinner tables grappling with how faith and life intersect (a little thing called Alpha). And in the room next to that, 13 couples are gathering at the Marriage Course to have their marriages cared for.

We made a decision personally and as a church that we would never let the love of Jesus terminate on us (I think if we do that, we've never really 'got' the gospel in the first place). So we sit here up to our ankles in kids, praying and just trying to help in the smallest way to see Jesus slam into the souls of people (in the next room) where they need Him most, and slam into marriages (in the room next to that) where they need Him most.

And when He does, we celebrate . . . like we did yesterday, when we scrapped our regularly scheduled Sunday morning service and spent the whole morning giving testimony to the grace and love of Jesus through baptisms, changed life stories and worship. Though I never 'preached' the gospel yesterday, I'm not sure we've ever had it preached more powerfully - and I don't think I've ever been a part of a more overwhelming Sunday morning.

So it keeps me coming back - knowing that we don't gather to bolster our theoretical belief, but to see Jesus slam into souls and transform lives . . . just as He said He would: 'I came that you might have LIFE, and have it to the full.'