Revolutionary by Carl Green
“You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.” The second is equally important: “Love your neighbor as yourself. No other commandment is greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31
These passages have had such a profound effect on my life. As I am sure they have impacted others as well. One of the ways I have been blessed to be able to pursue and live out this discipleship trait is through E3 Short-Term Mission Trips. Every year we have the opportunity to go on a number of short-term mission trips through the church. Whether you go by yourself, with your family or with your friends, these trips are a great opportunity to build relationships with others.
At E3 we believe lost people matter to God, and so we do everything we can to reach them with the good news about Jesus Christ. For the Church is not just a building, but a Revolution! A revolution of people going out into the world to be a difference!
Join the revolution this year by stepping out of your comfort zone and serving at:
- Porch de Salomon in Panajachel, Guatemala – October 1st – 8th 2016
- Much Ministries (Jubilee Clinic and school) in Gonaives, Haiti – October 8th – 15th 2016
- Good Shepherds Fold in Jinja, Uganda – June 14th – 24th 2017
We will be scheduling informational meetings soon about these upcoming trips. Please sign up for each of these through CCB.
“Awe, Wonder, and Sigur Ros” by Jonathan Divine
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Eric spoke about exploring, using physical location as an example; but personally I experience exploration more in ideas and art. In fact, I know of few greater feelings than first experiencing a movie, or picture, or song, that so overwhelms as to leave me completely, utterly, in awe.
Recently, that happened to me. It doesn’t happen often – anymore – but while working one day, I realized I had never properly listened to Sigur Ros…which, in certain company, is a travesty.
For a lot of people whose taste and music I like, Sigur Ros are one of the bands – one of those canonical acts who, even if you don’t like, you have to listen to. Hailing from Iceland in the late ‘90s, their strange blend of ethereal vocals, heavy guitars bowed like violins, and huge dynamics made them a very different version of “rock music.”
(if you’re curious, here’s their first song from their breakthrough album: click here.)
I’d listened to them a bit – a few songs on a few albums deemed essential – but that’s a very different thing than properly sitting down and taking a band in. So, while at work, I absentmindedly put on a Sigur Ros album whose very title lent it a kind of mystery: “( )”.
As far as I can remember, it was a very average, rainy day. But while working and listening to Sigur Ros’ nameless (and lyric-less) masterpiece, I found myself in one moment completely away from my desk, transported by the rain splashing the window and the sounds running through my headphones to someplace far, far away. Someplace cold, wet, and perhaps dark – but simultaneously vibrant, full, and powerful. I was, genuinely, in awe.
From a certain perspective, I glimpsed something of God while listening to that album.
That’s the power of awe and wonder – it reminds us that we are made in the image of something far beyond ourselves, something whose majesty and scope eclipses what we can even conceive. Wonder is, for me, the dull joy at comprehending how much larger everything is than you.
I’ve struggled sometimes with being a snob: usually a music snob, because I couldn’t afford to be a food, movie, or coffee snob.
But I’ve tried hard to reverse that trend in myself. I’ve wanted, as Community says, someone who “…likes liking things.” Or, to put it another way, I’ve tried to relate to people on the basis of shared likes rather than shared dislikes.
I think this is important, because “the snob” is an agent working against the force of wonder and awe in the world. The snob’s attitude is grounded in pride, and dismissal. By becoming self-appointed curators of excellence, they seek to control what yields awe.
Always be open to awe and wonder, in whatever form it presents itself. And always avoid seeking to control awe – the snob closes the world down, but the force of wonder opens it up.
Practicing What We Preach by Pastor Eric Case
Not to brag or anything, but I spent last week on the beach. My family has a summer vacation tradition, and each summer we meet in North Carolina for a week of basically hanging out and doing very, very little besides eating, reading, talking and being together. My parents, my sister and her family come down from Virginia, and we drive up from Tallahassee. North Carolina has always been our traditional meeting place because it’s almost in the middle and my mother is actually from there, so we have extended family there as well. This year was special because we’ve actually skipped the past three years due to weddings and changing schedules as our kids get older and go away to college and then enter the work force. We managed to coordinate (mostly) everyone’s schedule and come together.
I enjoyed the week also as an opportunity to put into practice some of the things we’ve been talking about on Sunday during this “Endless Summer” series. I took time to unplug from the world, and pretty much set aside my laptop all week. I went for a couple of runs while I was there, and I took regular naps. I basically focused on being present with my family, and resisted the temptation to think about the pile of work and the seemingly endless “To Do” lists that were waiting for me back in Tallahassee. And I was available for my “connection” time. We ate dinner together every night (with revolving cooking and cleaning responsibilities), and each night we took the opportunity to pray together, as well as to take some time to share what we were grateful for that day (we call this last discipline, “The Bowl of Joy”, and maybe I’ll tell you more about it sometime).
As our week came to a close (because they always do), I was struck by how peaceful and clear my mind was. This was what vacation, and *true rest* was supposed to feel like. I know that the “whirlwind” of ministry needs and organizational requirements was waiting for me when I rolled into Tallahassee and E3 (I got into town last Saturday night, and actually snuck into E3 at 5:45AM on Sunday, just to check on the “whirlwind”, even though I was technically still on vacation). The end result was, for me, that this stuff actually works. I feel rested and refueled (even if I occasionally have a sleep-deprived night or an exhausting day), and ready to run the next leg of the race. There’s a lot going on around here over the next 6 weeks or so, and I’m going to try and be at my best for it all.
Spring Changes At GSF by Cody Fox
This season has been all about the process of things growing—both in our ministries at Good Shepherds Fold in Uganda and in our personal life. The missionary kid school where I teach debated almost doubling its size next year, and Katie’s responsibilities have branched out to even diverse avenues of service. In our personal lives, we continued to construct our small home and prepare for the birth of our first child in August.
At the beginning of the spring, the teachers at the GSF missionary kid school were approached about the possibility about taking on students from the greater missionary community (up to 45 minutes away from us). There is a real need for quality Christian education in our area for many missionary families with older children, as there are few affordable alternatives to home-schooling. After months of prayer, pages of emails, and a lot of meetings, I’m excited to announce that the missionary school is growing by 7-9 students, a drastic increase for our school of 12 students. If I’m being honest, a growth of that size makes me both really excited and nervous; we already juggle a lot of different grade and ability levels (even within the same grade, students differ up to 4 grade levels in their subject proficiency), and adding 8 students is not so simple as it would be in the states. Still, we feel like God has led these students to our school, and I can’t wait to write about the relationships and ministry opportunities that He grows out of it. I have to keep reminding myself that God’s power is “perfected in my weakness.”
In Katie’s side of the ministry, both her staff and the number of kids she serves has grown. During the spring, she added Irene to our special needs program staff. Irene is super helpful, kind, and hardworking; she keeps the program facilities running/clean and fills any short-term roles that crop up on a daily basis. In addition to Irene, GSF added 1 special needs child to its toddler house. The biggest development in Katie’s ministry is that her program has become more self-sufficient, giving the space to take on additional responsibilities. She has been helping develop a remedial class for struggling students at the GSF primary school along with a Ugandan teacher. The Ugandan school is only in its 2nd (of 3) semester for its school year, but initial impressions of the program have been really positive.
The most dramatic area of growth have been in our personal life (if I can actually make the distinction given our lifestyle). Construction on our house began right before Christmas and finished June 1. Our new house will still be on campus but is much smaller (600 square feet) and gives us a little more privacy. The house we’ve lived in on campus for the past year is going to be converted for ministry use. At the closing banquet for the workers, many of the workers stood up and thanked Daniel (a fellow missionary at GSF in charge of construction) for teaching them “what it means to be a man” in the weekly bible study he led for them on authentic manhood. Absentee/abusive fathers are almost an epidemic in Uganda, and so I am ecstatic and hopeful to see how God uses this experience. Also during these bible studies, one of the Muslim workers came to know Jesus, and several more mentioned how they became more open to considering the Gospel as a result of working with Daniel on our house. The biggest personal areas of growth for Katie and myself have been as we prepare to welcome our son into the world in August. After a lot of prayer and conversations, we decided to deliver in Uganda and have been encouraged by the reactions of Ugandan staff at GSF that this choice is going to open up some new and unique opportunities for ministry.
I could talk about so much more since it’s been a busy spring, but I promised to only write 500 words, and I am currently at 607. Sometimes I feel like we measure God’s transforming work in Uganda in inches of progress (over many months); however, we’ve seen peoples’ lives (including our own) grow by feet. I feel exceptionally lucky that he chooses to use such flawed people to be a part of his work in Uganda!
Special Event Next Tuesday by Pastor Eric Case
Hey all…
Next Tuesday night, June 14, at 7PM E3 is hosting a FREE “Taste of the Summit”!
Many of you have heard us talking about the Global Leadership Summit lately-what a fantastic tool and experience it is for vision, challenge and growth-and this coming Tuesday you can have the opportunity to experience why the Summit is such a world class event for free. During this time, you will get to watch excerpts from the 2015 Summit faculty and discuss them in community, plus a full introduction to the 2016 GLS faculty.
I believe that everyone is a leader: everyone has a circle of influence, whether it is in a classroom, a business, elected office, or even a family. To that degree, we all owe it to ourselves, those we impact, and even the world in which we live to invest in our leadership, and to challenge our selves to grow our leadership as fully as we can. The GLS is simply one of the best tools out there for doing just that. Whether you are in ministry, politics, the business world or academia (as a student or teacher), please join us to find out just what the Global Leadership Summit is all about, because when a leader gets better, everyone wins: the Kingdom, our churches, our businesses, our city.
Choosing Community by Elizabeth Wilkes
This month in E3kids, we’re learning about contentment. The definition I’ve been teaching and reciting all month is: deciding to be happy with what you’ve got. Deciding to be happy… This idea of happiness being a choice has always annoyed me a little. I’m a pretty sensitive person, easily affected by people and circumstances. When I’m unhappy, it doesn’t feel like a choice to me.
I’m naturally a pretty happy, optimistic human being. For most of my life, I viewed unhappiness, or any negative emotion, as something that was imposed upon me, an innocent bystander. Why would I choose to be upset, lonely or scared? I’ve done a lot of work to try to gain some stability in this area of my life, and much to my dismay, discovered that my former way of thinking was dead wrong.
It turns out, I can choose to focus my mental, spiritual and physical energy on things that keep me stable, healthy and even happy. The irony is that for a long time, I tried really hard to control people and things around me, instead of focusing on the one thing I actually have some control over, me.
So how does this play out in my day to day life? Recently, I was feeling lonely and isolated. I started to think through all of the reasons I was feeling that way. This part is tricky. It is so easy for me to assign blame to people and things over which I have no control. Of course, I’m legitimately affected by things outside of my control, however, I can only make choices for me.
I had to make choices that helped me feel more connected and less isolated from the people and things that I love. I chose to be honest with those close to me about my feelings. I chose to commit myself to spending quality time with friends and family. I chose to participate in community life here at E3.
If you’ve been around E3 for any length of time, you’ve heard about the value of things like growth groups, service and connexity events. There are so many opportunities to get connected to biblical community. The thing is, it’s a choice. Staying connected to community can get lost in the business of life if it’s not treated as a priority.
A few weeks ago, I danced around the CGA with some of my favorite kiddos to the tunes of Tom Petty. Last Wednesday evening, I shared heartfelt conversations and laughter with the ladies of SHE3. On Saturday morning I got to see our community come together to help our beloved Pastor Dan and his family move into their new home. On Sunday afternoon, I played kickball and ate watermelon with some of those same folks.
I paused at each of those events and just looked around and absorbed the connectedness and love I feel for the people I get to do life with. I could have found reasons or made excuses as to why I didn’t have the time or energy for any one of those events. I think that much like contentment or happiness, connecting with our community is a choice. So what will you choose? I choose community.
Me, well I spent the evening with members of the E3 Worship Team and about 100 of our closest friends, playing lots and lots of good music.by a guy named Tom Petty. The night was full of highlights, but here are just a few:
1. Since Petty is local-ish (grew up in Gainesville), it was surprising to hear people come up to me and say that they went to high school with him, or knew his sister-in-law, etc., etc. It brought a pretty personal angle to the evening.
2. Guitar solos, lots and lots of guitar solos. Seriously, though: Mike Campbell (Petty’s long-time guitar player and co-writer) is just a MASTER player, and I counted it a privilege to lean into his parts a little, and just play well-crafted parts for a couple hours.
3. Seeing people I don’t recognize. One of-if not THE-primary reasons we do these evenings is so E3 folks can invite their friends to a church facility to (hopefully) hear great songs played by masterful musicians At the end of last Sunday on May 8 I said, “Hey: invite someone to Cover2Cover because we like them more than we like you …” (seriously, who gives me a microphone?) I was joking, of course, but outreach is what it’s all about. It’s not enough for us to play ONLY for members of our community: our desire for events like this is that they be accessible to the larger Tallahassee community, and that they would be “low-hanging” evangelistic fruit for E3 folks.
4. Did I mention the guitar solos?
That evening, I told people to stay tuned, that the next C2C (planned for the fall) is going to be the best one yet, and is going to take the whole project to another level. So stay tuned and keep your eyes and ears open for upcoming dates and times.
But more than that, start praying for how you might use these events as opportunities to bring people to a faith community that prides itself on being a place where people can investigate faith., whether its through music, or “insanity” classes, or Sunday worship, or cycling teams, or great coffee.
That’s what it’s about.
Don’t Pass Me By by Cody Lewis
This past Sunday in our morning worship services, I was asked to lead us through “Closer,” a song by John Mark McMillan (the “How He Loves” guy). I really love the songs McMillan writes and I’ve been chomping at the bit to do more of them in our services. That being said, I had never really heard all of the song before I learned it for the service, since my only real exposure to this song was when it used to play in the countdown video before services. When I finally heard it all, I heard just how complete its message and its prayer were.
In particular, the bridge section holds very poignant lines:
“Son of David, don’t pass me by cause I am naked I’m poor and I’m blind”
To provide some context, these lines are referencing the story of Bartimaeus from the book of Mark:
Mark 10:46-52 New International Version (NIV)
46 Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”48 Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” 50 Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. 51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.” 52 “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.
The language is very similar between the Gospel’s telling of the story and McMillan’s song. But what does this mean to us?
By calling Jesus the “Son of David,” Bartimaeus was basically calling Him the Messiah right there just from hearing that He was walking by (probably because Bartimaeus had heard stories of Jesus from passers-by on the road). One commentary I consulted pointed out that Bartimaeus was so confident in the declaration that, when Jesus asks him what he wants, he doesn’t even respond with the typical “If you can” that many of those in the gospels who ask for healing use. He simply states that, “I want to see.”
Also, blind people in first century Jerusalem were beggars; fated by the cultural interpretation of their condition to depend on the grace of others, wearing little more than a cloak and maybe one or two other garments to protect them from the elements. It is poetic, then, for this blind man to depend so wholly on the grace of a man he knew to be the Messiah. For Bartimaeus, there was no question of “If.” His Messiah was walking by and he was going to give him sight-restoration, a new life. A sentiment that McMillan’s captures and perfectly applies to his own personal cry for a real God to come closer to him and restore him. It is a staggering faith declaration that I find myself at a loss for words for which to accurately comment. I daresay that our faith is so easily shaken that we find such a declaration intimidating or impossible to fulfill. But maybe if we were as honest with ourselves and God as Bartimaeus was, then it would just seem like the obvious next step-that God will draw closer and restore us because that’s what he does.
I’d like to take a moment to thank my community for all of the love and support for the Haiti Team and for their families while they traveled last week. Your prayers were felt by everyone there, and here. I personally received several calls, texts, Facebook messages, etc. from our community just asking about the team during the week as well as checking in with my family to see if anything was needed. Many of you have heard that each of Carl’s previous trips to Haiti have been marked by tragedy of one degree or another. The love and support shown was a huge blessing and I’m excited to say that this trip broke the cycle of the ‘most unfortunately timed events during a Haiti trip’.
While the team was away, my communication with Carl was sparse, but during one conversation early in the week, I could tell that he was fighting discouragement. He had a specific agenda for his trip (some stated goals and some just in his mind) and things were not falling into place as he would have liked. It was hard for me to hear even the smallest measure of disappointment in his voice; he (and so many others) sacrifice so much for these trips. I tried to encourage him that success for this trip may very well be that everyone/everything is ‘stable’ while he’s away. These were far lower expectations than what he left with and I’m not sure he was satisfied with my attempt at encouragement.
The next day though, he texted me first thing in the morning and said very simply, “I miss you. I love you. Thank you for letting me do this.” I knew… I knew right then and there that he would be OK for the rest of the week. I knew that we would be OK here without him too. I reminded him that he was created for this. God had called him for this purpose and he had agreed to follow. How could I NOT support that! I also reminded him that God has called me into a specific purpose as well and that I get to live that out every day through ministry here at E3. Living my calling isn’t only tangibly seen for two weeks out of each year. I couldn’t ‘Go’ where God calls me to go without my partner’s continued love and support. So I thanked him for letting me do this.
They say that there are those who are called to ‘go’ to Haiti, to Guatemala, to Uganda or to ministry right here in Tallahassee, and there are those who are called to send/pray/support. What a privilege it is to be called to do both! Aren’t we ALL called to do both? To follow God wherever He leads us, taking the gifts He has given us, to do the work He has called us to do, and then to send others out with our love, prayer and support, as they do the same.
Christians love clichés. Unfortunately a lot of them are not biblical, or they are outright heresy. Take for instance “The safest place is in God’s will.” a platitude that implies physical and emotional security, a heretical expression that has turned many followersinto spiritual fatalities. This is because when the winds of adversity blow, they feel abandoned by God.
I’m not sure where this Christian axiom came from, but it stands in stark contrast to the reality of following Jesus. For over two thousand years, millions of Christians have been persecuted for their faith; the Bible is filled with accounts of Christians being stoned, whipped, and even executed for proclaiming the Gospel. Even Jesus was crucified for declaring the Good News-was Jesus no in God’s will?
On Saturday, one of our Gospel partners in Haiti posted a blog titled, “So, We Were Robbed.” This caught my attention for two reasons: one, they are friends, and we have been partnering with them since the earthquake in Haiti, and secondly, E3 had just sent down a team on the same day.
You can read Kathy’s article here:
So, We Were Robbed by Kathy Brooks
A friend described to us a time when his company was embezzled for hundreds of thousands of dollars. He said it was the “best thing that could have happened to them.” he explained, by the grace of God…we came together, formed a strong team and eventually became a wildly successful business…reaping good things all over the planet.
I’m not ready to say that. exactly. but i get it.
Tuesday night, this past week, We had unexpected company around 1 am. We were robbed. Four men made a poor decision and climbed the wall and broke into our home.We awoke to the sound of knocking on our bedroom door and our very brave, 17 year old son, crying”Pops, I need you to open the door” hands tied behind his back, gun to his head.
There was a chaos of activity as the four young men plunged into our room waving knives, yelling for money and swooping up all the electronics in their path (between the three of us we kind of had a lot of them: ipads, phones and computers!)
I really don’t know what happened in that instant … But there was an underlying peace between us…we could see each other’s faces, Which was a gift. I could see that my husband was not scared, I could see my son was steady. we were ok.
Not really sure how long they stayed in the room, plundering. ( felt like hours) We had very little money. That was disappointing to them. We opened the safe, we opened our bags, we even opened the 2ndstorygoods box, just not much cash there. They went through filing cabinets, clothes drawers flipped the mattress and even the bed frame, searched the guitar case..but didn’t damage Beaver’s guitar! Halla!
But they never got violent..no more than waving their gun and knives at us. Especially when they heard us praying or singing worship songs in Kreole. That was so interesting. There was real fear, almost terror in their eyes ..they immediately turned to threaten me and said ‘stop! stop that!
Crazy stuff. it was weirdly encouraging that it was so disturbing to the one guy with the big knife. He was clearly a believer. Maybe more than me! There wasn’t a shred of doubt that when we prayed, something was happening. he didn’t like it. I wanted to sit him down and say…He is a good good father, He knows you and knows why you are scared. Let him hold you. ( as I write this i KNOW it sounds insane)
If I let my mind go to the what “if’’s” I was terrified. and there were those moments . What if they use that knife on my husband? what if they harm my son? what if they try to take me with them? But as long as i kept my mind on what actually “Was’ and not let it drift to “What if” there was a place of peace.
That could be a good thing to remember. like always.
Being the proactive person that I am, I found myself praying for my healing before they even left the room. I began praying for our community here in the city and our sons and daughters in the states, that would hear about this incident..praying God would do some “pre-healing”. I’m not even sure that is a thing.
Finally they left, we wrapped our arms around our son, we wept.
Then we got dressed, got in the car drove to our people. (we have the BEST PEOPLE)
As soon as I had a phone in my hand I phoned Brandon our oldest son. (Oh! the place of the oldest son. Beware all you firsts out there! you might be babies this year, but you carry the family on your shoulders) I tried to gently unpack the events of the night. Our first born reached out and took it from me. He handled everything stateside from there.(everyone should have a kid or two, or six)
After hearing the news from his older brother and taking some time to process with Holy Spirit, son posted that morning: “Jesus is taking over the world. He has a really interesting way of doing that. Today I see it a little more clearly. What a loving God”What a loving God. The kingdom advances in the most sneaky sort of ways.
So this is the way we choose to frame this event. What a loving God. for all the “what if’s” that didn’t happen. What a loving God. For the men behind the masks that didn’t violate us. What a Loving God.
And we re going to Label those four men, they forced themselves into our home, I think that gives us the right. We call them called by God. We call them Sons. We call them image bearers of the Christ. We call them home. (I actually named them Matthew, Mark Luke and Joe for prayer purposes. )
At one point “Joe” the guy with the gun, reaches over and picks up the glass of water on my bedside table and hands it to me…tells me..you need to drink. I did. he then takes the glass and like a mama would, brings it to Kevs mouth to drink (being as his hands were still tied behind his back and all) then he took it across the room to Beaver.
So he, Joe, is like done. We saw his kindness. We saw his true self. We no longer call you thug. We saw behind that mask.
We have no false ideas that we are in ANYWAY able to walk through this except that the prayers of many are carrying us. you know who you are. You heard about this family and what happened and you paused and thought deeply and prayed so, so well. we are held by you. Christ in you.
And to the City of Gonaives and the country of Haiti we say. We’re not going anywhere. It is an honor to live in this place. You have loved this family well.
It is hard to imagine living through this scary scenario, a frightening experience that will forever change their family.If you know Kathy and Beaver, this righteous defiance in the face of the enemy is not surprising. They have been a light in a spiritually dark place for a long time and they have a peace that transcends all understanding.
E360blog 