You can come on over: www.vintagefaith.typepad.com.

Thanks.

As Christians, we are to submit to Jesus, to one another, and to the leaders God has placed as overseers. The church is not a place where you can continue to be autonomous and self-sufficient, willy-nilly doing whatever you want. You are a part of something bigger than yourself, and partnership helps to remind people that we are in this together, that each part of the body is dependent upon and accountable to each other part. This flies in the face of American individualism and autonomy, two sins that we must call one another to repent of regularly.

You can download the new manual here, and learn more about the class here.

Recently, Mark Driscoll, lead pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle and head of the Acts 29 Church Planting Network (of which Vintage is connected), gave a talk identifying the different streams of emerging church theology & practice.

Mark does a great job identifying not only what is being said in the different streams, but also looking carefully at the influences in these streams and where the streams are heading if they stay on their current course.  If you want a good summary of all this, keeping the focus on Jesus and the Gospel, give it a listen.  At the end, Mark sums up what it means to remain faithful to the Gospel and engage the Culture with strength, humility, and the love of Jesus.

He ends by saying, "There are times where we must make a stand... where must preserve the doctrinal integrity of the church and it is my attempt to do that tonight.  But the vast majority of our time should be spent making converts - seeing people meet Jesus."  If that isn't happening, then we are wasting our time in dialog and conversation and doing nothing for the kingdom - and that is the sad state of much of what is happening in the church in America today.

You can download or listen to the talk here. 

As we round the corner to the second half of the Gospel, we see Peter finally get the right answer: "You are the Christ."  While that is the right answer in name, Peter still has no idea what kind of a Messiah Jesus has come to be.  So the second half of hte Gospel gives content to that name.  Jesus is a suffering Messiah, a King on a Cross, and he has come to be "a ransom for many."

The study guide for chapters 9-11, which will take us up to Thanksgiving week, is available now here.  It is in booklet form, so you'll have to fold it.  If you'd like a non-booklet form copy, email me (steve@vintagefc.com).

The booklet is designed to help you read, study, and be gripped by the Gospel.  We're going to spend a lot of time repenting together!

Right now I am writing commentary on the power-packed verse in Mark 10.46, "For even the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many," both exploring the discipleship implications and the substitutionary atonement implications.   As to the first, Edwards says,

"The implications of diakonons and doulos for the Twelve, as well as for ministers and leaders in the church of every generation, are inexhaustible.  The Christian fellowship does not exist for their sake, but they for it.  Nor is the apostle or Christian leader above the congregation, but a part of it.  The congregation does not belong to him; rather, he belongs to it" (Edwards, 326).

And to the second:

"The death of the Son of Man on behalf of "the many" is a sacrifice of obedience to God's will, a full expression of his love, and a full satisfaction of God's justice" (Edwards, 328).

And here is what I love about these 2 quotes: in the second quote is the power to live into the first quote.  May pastors and leaders in the church today come to find the power to serve faithfully and selflessly in the knowledge and experience of Jesus' death - an obedient, loving, and justice-satisfying ransom.

Lately, I have had some great workouts, not so much because I enjoy working out, but because of what I do while I am riding the stationary bike:

First, I turn the TV to Ultimate Fighting - often a PRIDEFC fight or World Combat League on Versus.

Then, I turn my iPod Nano to preaching - this past week it has been C.J. Mahaney, and a fabulous talk on Trinitarian Pastoral Leadership.  I don't know that I had ever heard him preach, but I was convicted before he was done reading the text on this one, and it was only one verse!  All of the Sovereign Grace mp3s are now free.

Preaching is a precious gift that God has given to his Church, and that applies especially to the preacher. I am charged with the task (among many others!) of delving into God's Word, meditating and reflecting in order to get it into my head and my heart. And there is nothing better for learning God's Word at a heart level than having to teach it. It forces me to deal with Jesus and His Word in repentance, humility, and prayer. While I am all too aware of just how easy it is to let the whole preaching process by-pass my heart - just study, organize, deliver! - I also realize that the discipline of preaching weekly is one way that God has ordained to keep his preachers humble.

Over the last few weeks, I have felt a real freedom and joy in preaching, unlike what I have been experiencing up to this point. And I am so grateful for the way in which the Spirit of God applies the Word of God the people of God. While it seems that most of this new joy is simply a gift from God, there have been a few helpful things for me lately:

I am writing the commentary and study guide for Mark chapters 9-16. If you think of it, pray for me as I study, write, and continue to learn how to preach.

First, I wouldn't simply assume that the best way to be on mission is to start a worship service. I spent the summer with the core group dreaming about what it looks like to be on mission, and there were some great conversations and ideas that came out of that time. Unfortunately, the focus on starting a service in some was distracted us from those original dreams! We got busy planning the event, and the focus on living as missionaries in our city slipped away from us. Only now, 3 years later, are we really beginning to engage with those dreams again.

Second, I would have planted pregnant. Now that I think about it, my wife was pregnant then... but that's not what I'm talking about. I would have started with an additional core group and planter already dreaming about and planning to launch another church somewhere else in our city. Our goal has never been to start a new church but to be a part of a church planting movement in our city. Again, 3 years later, we are just revisiting and wrestling with how to think like a movement instead of like a church. A warning to those who want to plant a church: please, please, please think beyond your Sunday event!

Third, I would have insisted that our small group leaders be leaders of mission in our city. I would have helped them to own a people group or neighborhood and then encouraged them to gather others around them to be on mission together. It is so easy to become all about community, hoping that somehow, if people have more bible study and fellowship, they will eventually transition into missional living. At this point, I am pretty convinced that it doesn't happen that way. We are now working hard now to train missional leaders, coach our group leaders into mission, and equip all of our people for missional and incarnational living in our city.

But here is the great part: the people of Vintage Faith are Jesus-loving, Gospel-minded, Spirit-led people. Together we are responding to Jesus and letting him pastor his church into mission. Last night, as we celebrated our re-launch (not an anniversary... anniversary makes me think of a bunch of people sitting around talking about "the good old days" of Vintage), I was so thankful to be in this with them. I am thankful for those who have been around for 3 years and for those who were there for the first time last night. And I trust that Jesus knows what he is doing!

(Our Re-Launch Sermon can be found here)

Developing leaders is not an optional part of kingdom work.  In many ways it IS kingdom work - what else could "make disciples" mean?  It is not a matter of making converts; rather, church leadership has the responsibility to "equip the saints for the work of the ministry."  Unfortunately, we church leaders seem to think that means "equip the saints to work at the sunday service."  I hardly think that is what Paul had in mind!

The bottom line question for a church on mission is this: "Are we equipping God's people to speak and act the gospel in the world, using their God-given influence to advance his kingdom in their daily lives?"  And the follow-up question is this: "Are they using that influence in kingdom ways?"  The Servant Leader is not pre-occupied with his or her leadership development!  Rather, the kind of leader that Jesus calls us to be is the kind that selflessly gives himself for the good of others.  The questions of the Servant Leader are these: "Are the people whom I influence growing in wisdom, grace, knowledge, winsomeness, and love?  Are they becoming more like Jesus?  Are they flourishing as gospel-driven people?"  If the answer is "Yes!" then you are practicing servant leadership!

After 2 days together, I drove into town and brought out the kids and my in-laws for another night at the cabin all together. What a blessing to have in-laws who love us and our kids so much! And to the saint who let us use her cabin - thank you!!

We are ready, I think, to jump into fall. The church has actually grown over the summer, even though there has been less people on Sunday nights. God is bringing people who share our heart for Spokane who are ready to run with us this fall as we press in to what God is doing with us. We will be re-launching our church plant on September 9th, remembering together God's faithfulness over the past 3 years and looking into the future of what it means to be on mission with Jesus as he seeks and saves the lost in our city. I hope that Vintage never stops thinking of itself as a church plant, never gets content trying to maintain church, and stays on the edge of the advancing kingdom of God. And I hope that as we look into the future we begin to envision ourselves as a movement, not just a church plant... Vintage is just one of many new churches that need to be planted in our city, and part of our hopes for this 4th year is that God would lead us into launching new churches, ministries, services, and mission opportunities.

As we look towards fall, I am in the process of writing the next study guide for our continuing sermon series in the Gospel of Mark. We started Mark last Easter, and we are right on schedule to finish it on Easter Sunday 2008. That's officially the longest study we have ever done! And it has been good, convicting, challenging, and stretching for us. The second half of Mark's Gospel focuses on the cost of true discipleship, and as I write the study guide I am hoping it becomes a tool to push us more into mission in our city. I want us to study the gospel deeply, repenting of our selfishness & self-absorption, so that we can stop just talking about the amazing grace of the gospel and actually live it out in a way that spreads the grace of God to our neighbors, our coworkers, and our city.

And as God does that in our midst, we continue to hope that Acts 8.8 would be fulfilled in Spokane: "So there was much joy in that city."

First, Jesus must have had a powerful voice that cut through the noise. I don't have such a voice, so when the planes come over head, the kids go riding by on their bikes, or there is any other park noise, my voice dissappears. I think Spurgeon called this "Slender Apparatus," and talked about how someone with such a voice probably isn't called to preach. Thankfully, we live in a day of amplification, so us "slender apparatus" guys can still be preachers. But Jesus must have been able to command a crowd with his voice, particularly when you realize he often spoke to crowds numbering in the thousands!

Second, Jesus must have spoken with dramatic flare. I think most of us have a picture of Jesus sitting on a rock dispensing spiritual truths in the form of quaint little agricultural stories. But preaching outside to large crowds would have been difficult sitting down, and certainly, if the people in the back are going to hear and understand what you are saying, there has to be at least some acting it out. Preaching outside has made me realize how important it is to use your body in preaching - not just moving around, but acting out the story so everyone is drawn in and their attention is held. I like to think of Jesus in this animated way, moving about the crowd, pretending to scatter seed or dig for treasure or plant a mustard seed.

Church in the park may become a regular summer plan!

When we began planting Vintage 3 years ago, we wrestled deeply with issues of mission and church, particularly discussing the ways in which the church is unlike the mission of Jesus. We dreamed of being a movement that had a real and measurable impact on our neighborhoods and our city. By studying Scripture, we discovered God’s heart for his church to be the living expression of Himself for our city. We discovered that God loves Spokane, and that he wants us to not only share his heart but also be his hands for our city. We learned that God had been long at work in our city, and that our city needed a “city within the city,” which would express his intentions for all of a creation. This City Within would live the logic of the kingdom, sacrificially and consistently being a blessing to one another and extending God’s blessing into the brokenness of Spokane by tangibly meeting the needs all around us. We envisioned gathering together in our homes to encourage one another as we sought to bring joy to our city through this selfless service. And we believed that through this God would change our hearts, grow his family, and advance his kingdom.

Somehow, in the last 3 years, I feel like we have drifted from this original call. I have been leading us to plant a church, not to be a part of a kingdom movement. And as I listened to Jeff, I was stirred. I don't have any concrete ideas about how to move forward from here, and I am certainly not saying that we have done everything wrong and not been on mission at all. What I am saying is that I sense God's Spirit sending us again, moving us, leading us to be missionaries to our city in ways that we have not yet considered. We have laid a good foundation, and it is time to build upon it. But the building, I believe, will involve some repentance, some loss of control, some willingness to step out in faith without any security except Jesus himself... And really, what else could we need?

You can hear more about what Soma is doing here, or listen on the A29 webpage to Jeff's talks on Biblical Missiology.

how is it that my 6 year old has a nicer computer than me?! well, brittan is the national winner of the pbs kids author/illustrator contest for her age group. shortly, her story will be published online for the world to read here. i am so proud of her, and her teacher (that's my wife!), and so excited that she is getting her first mac!

for those of you entrusted with the challenging and rewarding task of raising daughters, i'd like to suggest a book. "What a Daughter Needs from Her Dad" by Michael Farris is an excellent resource (so far - i am about half way through it). he doesn't pull any punches, particularly in the first section where he talks about the typical kinds of fathers in our world and in our churches:

strong words of challenge and encouragement to us daddys! to get the book, go here.

jamie and i were deeply grateful to be amongst such men and women of faith, courage, and humility. one part that was especially encouraging was the fact that the conference portion of the retreat began with a session on building your marriage and your family.  acts 29 network stresses the importance of pastors loving their wives and kids well, and repeatedly puts that as a priority over the work of planting.  i am grateful to be a part of a network that so values spiritual vitality in the home.

another encouraging part (amongst many) was the last session in which mark driscoll spoke on the need for us as a network to remain humble and close to jesus.  he readily admitted that he's not led the network in that direction in the past and is committed to helping us maintain a posture of being learners, humbly gleaning wisdom from our brothers and sisters who may differ theologically and methodologically from us.  particularly, he stressed this working out on the local level as we form networks and partnerships with other churches, maintaining the unity of the faith in front of a watching world.

as i studied the passage again in preparation for speaking to that question, i was convicted and challenged by the way we have misread that passage.  as christians we quickly place ourselves in the position of the pharisees, wondering why jesus is hanging with such low-life sinners like levi and his tax collector and prostitute friends. if you read the passage from the view of the pharisees, then you ask this question about becoming more like jesus and less like the pharisees.  but here is the rub: are we more like the pharisees or more like levi?  isn't the whole point of the story that jesus has come to rescue sinners like levi, and therefore, like us?

of course!

so let's ask the question again: who are the tax collectors?  who are the moral outsiders?  who are the ones who cannot measure up to the religious system of the day?  answer: you and me!  that is why we cling to jesus, because we cannot measure up!  so how should we treat tax collectors in our day?

we take a posture of humility, because we are no better than anyone else, and probably worse!

we take a posture of service, because we recognize that jesus came to serve us and love us and that we have done nothing but respond to his actions!

we take a posture of boldness, because we are convinced that jesus is the solution to all our problems and we hope for others to experience joy in him!

whitworth college, my alma mater, is in the beginning phases of offering a masters in theology program. it looks like the program will launch in the summer of 2008, if everything goes as planned. tonight i am heading up to whitworth to hear more. if you are interested in such a thing, contact dr. jerry sittser at gsittser@whitworth.edu.

    it is really important to us to work in one day each week for relaxing and refreshing. i work sunday through thursday on planting a church. as a family, we work on fridays running errands, cleaning house, working in the yard, etc. saturday is our day to stop.

but i have this problem: my mind is always on the church. and the church in my mind never rests. there is always work to do, dreams to pursue, issues to resolve, and plans to make. so i have a hard time being present with my family and really resting.

i think this sucks.

jamie and i are in a very busy season of life, one in which every moment of our days and weeks are scheduled and intentional. i tried to explain that to my mom - she thinks it's a nice excuse. i tried to tell her that i don't have time to send out regular updates on the church and ministry let alone try to come up with interesting things to say on the blog. she was not satisfied with my excuses.

so, mom, here is an update, the second one this week, just for you. think of it as an early mother's day present.

one of our interns preached last sunday - he is a senior theology major at whitworth. he did great (you can listen here). i am trying to convince him that he should stick around for a while after graduation, be on staff with vintage, and then launch out to plant a church. he's warming to the idea slowly...

last saturday was our men's basic training, a whole day of biblical & theological training regarding masculinity, sexuality, and the gospel. a great and helpful resource is drew goodmanson's blog entry on "preaching the gospel to yourself" - the idea that our sin is always a result of a lack of belief in the sufficiency and supremacy of the gospel. in addition to the basic godly man discussions, we also covered how to brew your own beer, a seminar given by pastor dave at the porch.

finally, one of our primary values as a community is active social justice. this week's sermon text is mark 1.35-45, the story of jesus healing the leper. the compassion that jesus shows this outcast is costly - when he touches the man, jesus not only risks infection, but also religious and social rejection. in those days you just didn't touch a leper, ever, under any circumstances. compassion is costly to jesus: by the end of the story the leper is no longer an outcast but jesus has taken his place as an outsider, unable to enter the towns because the no-longer-a-leper has stirred up such a fuss. as we engage in the redemptive work of social justice, i am learning that you can't be compassionate from a distance; it must be costly if it is to reflect the compassion of jesus. the good news, of course, is that jesus is healing me, a leper in my own right, that i might see and embrace the pain and brokenness of others, and walk in costly compassion.

A good friend from college is a pastor in the Bay Area and is a gospel-centered dude who reads more books than I could ever dream.  Check him out here.

Another great read is Jeremy Huggins, though he blogs less frequently than the world would like.  He was a part of our community for about a year as he finished his Master's at Eastern - I think it was his third of fourth degree in something.

Finally, the blog at The Resurgence is always interesting in terms of how the gospel intersects with culture, especially in the context of church planting.  There are some great resources on this page as well.

In the course of my day I wear many hats - web developer, graphic designer, bulletin maker, sermon writer, counselor, social worker, babysitter, teacher - and this doesn't include my responsibilities at home. The list is long and varied and, needless to say, keeps me more than busy.

But of all the things I do, one that I am most passionate about is challenging men to follow hard after Jesus, to take their masculine responsibilities seriously, and to step joyfully into God-glorifying obedience. I am deeply grieved by the lack of masculine men in the church these days, and feel a great burden to see Christian men take initiative to turn the tide in the church and culture.

This Saturday, 9-5, the men of Vintage are gathering to drink deeply from the Word of God in order to be formed by the Spirit of God into the image and likeness of the Man of God. I desire a church full of gospel pacesetters, men who know how to own their sin and to repent of it and walk in the freedom given to us in the perfect record of Jesus. I have a vision of redeemed manhood, where churches and communities are led by strong, compassionate, Christ-like men who actively and intentionally give their lives for kingdom.

So Saturday is about training dudes to be men. And I love it. And here is a great quote to get us started:

"Life is a football game, with the men battling it out on the gridiron, while the minister is in the stands, explaining it to the ladies."

I hate that quote. Here is a better one:

"The popular image of the man of God as a smiling, congenial, asexual religious mascot whose handshake is always soft and whose head is always bobbing in the perpetual Yes of universal acquiescence is not the image found in the Scriptures of truth."

That one is from A.W. Tozer, and I like it much better.

we are currently studying the gospel of mark, and i have benefited greatly from the series that tim keller, pastor of redeemer presbyterian church (pca) in new york, has done in mark. i do all my prep work on the passage that i am preaching for the week, and then i listen to his sermon, and usually end up borrowing more than a little. he has a way of presenting the gospel week after week that not only convicts me but also makes me more convinced of both the truth and the power of the gospel. i think that is a great sign of a trully gospel-centered pulpit ministry - the christians are challenged and encouraged to believe the gospel more fully and at the same time leave thinking how much they wish their non-christian friends could hear what they just heard. keller preaches to christians and non-christians with the same unchanging gospel, the radical call to center your life - all of it - on the grace given to us in the life, death, and resurrection of jesus. you can download his sermons here.