Big Week

It was a very big week for Connections.  Monday we received word our Church Multiplication Network (CMN) funding request was approved by the by the Executive Leadership of the Assemblies of God.  Thursday we completed an application for a sizable federal grant from the Department of Health and Human Services.

The CMN approval will provide much needed funding and equally important, it marks the final launch hurdle.  We are now clear for our August grand opening.  It also marks the end of one chapter and the beginning of a new one.  I have been a "pastor in training" for a long time and I still questions whether I am ready for the big leagues.  However, I am comforted by the distance God has already brought me.  Somehow, against long odds He has refined me and equipped me for service.  My confidence is in Him, not my own abilities.

Our Federal grant application is a testament to God's greatness.  The amount of bureaucracy and minutia applicants are require to navigate to apply for a Federal grant leaves Satan plenty of room to work.  If Connections Church is awarded the grant it will provide funds to pay staff, lease space, and provide for the basic needs of those we serve.  The grant was offered at the end of June and the application deadline was Thursday.

After reading the grant details at the beginning of July I felt defeated by its bestselling novel length.  My head could not even comprehend the amount of work which laid ahead but God encouraged us forward.  It was God who created the outline.  It was God who named the project.  It was God who shaped the narrative through the gifts of our leadership team.  By Thursday morning, after one last push, the application was ready.

The final battle came two hours before the deadline.  The process to electronically file a Federal grant is equally mind-numbing.  I thought I had completed the process weeks earlier until I entered my password and hit send.  It turns out I had only completed half the process and needed yet another account and password.  I felt Satan sneering with satisfaction, but God was not done.  Despite our stress, fear, and frustration God helped Deniz navigate the last steps and thwarted the enemy by clearing the last bureaucratic bariers in record time.    

Regardless of whether we receive grant, victory has been won.  Connection's ability to collaborate, willingness to trust, and faith in God was tested.  Our confidence in God has grown.  Nothing is too hard for the Lord, not even government bureaucracy.        

Finding Balance

Forgive me, it has been a few weeks since I posted our progress.  God is rearranging furniture, moving me from outreach worker to pastor, and sometimes difficult for me to find my balance.  I've been tempted to return to my old routines; meeting basic needs and touching lives where I can. However, our mission isn't to continue doing outreach the old way, God has something new in store.  My role has changed.  Outreach worker, preacher, and executive director are all time consuming jobs.  How can I do them all?  The short answer, I can't, but when I fall instep with God's plan I find balance.

Thursday was a good example.  I have continued my rounds at the Apalachee Drop-in Center from 9:00 - 12:00 on Thursdays, there was less people than usual but I remained the full three hours putting pieces together for a grant for homeless fathers.  I headed across town at noon because I was scheduled to meet Tommy, a young guy who I helped find housing, at 1:30.  Not wanting to waste time, I decided to call Tommy to see if I could visit earlier.  As I scanned my contact, I had several listings for Tommy.  I called the first listing, phone disconnected.  The next listing simply said "Tommy", I called, different Tommy.  I was trying to reach Tommy C. and I found Tommy S.

Tommy S. is in his mid-fifties and has lived on the road for twenty years.  I took an immediate liking to Tommy when I met him last year.  There was a time, when Tommy camped nearby my office, I began most of my days with him.  We would talk about his adventures, his struggles, and about God.  I saw Tommy's life begin to transform.  Unfortunately, Tommy's progress got derailed and he disappeared for several months.  Last month he returned but our relationship had changed, Tommy wasn't interested in talking about God anymore and as happens often with people running from God, he avoided me.

My Thursday plan, 9-12 Drop-in, 1:30 Tommy C, 2:00 shuttle six folks needing clothing to Calvary Methodist, 3-6:30 work on fatherhood grant, 6:30 prayer meeting followed by business meeting.  God's Thursday plan, something different.  As I spoke to Tommy S. on the phone, I realized God had created a new pathway.  My phone was transformed from a nuisance device to a ministry tool.  Tommy and I chatted only for a few minutes, but I felt God creating a new connection.  I sat in the Chevron station just South of Tommy C's apartment and called several others; not long conversations simply, "I was thinking about you just now...".

I got a call from Tommy S. around 5:00.  He said, "I don't get many calls and it can get pretty lonely, I really appreciated you calling me today."  

How often do we plow through our days moving from one task to another, completely oblivious to God's plan?  When we forget our mission and reduce it to a schedule, stress and fatigue can easily knock us off our stride.  Thankfully, God is faithful and patient.  If we are willing to keep an eye out for Him, even in the smallest of ways, He can adjust our trajectory.  Imagine what God could accomplish through us if our focus remained on Him completely.

God, thank you for growth and adventure.  My life is not stagnant.  I surrender my ways for your ways.  Accomplish in me and through me what needs to be done to bring glory and honor to you.  Help me to be attentive to your plan and overcome the stresses and strains this world invents.  Thank you Lord for wrong numbers which turn to right numbers, draw Tommy near, may my words be your words.  Amen.

Matthew 6:33 (NIV)

³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Isaiah 55:8 (NIV)

⁸ “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways,”

declares the Lord.