Tell a Different Story

theCity has a gathering of our group as a Missional Community, currently on Wednesday evenings.  Text/call paul @ 794-9891 to meet with us.  #RockOn  #theCityShouldBeDifferent


Our goal is not to grow a church.  Nor to grow all the churches in our community.

Nope.

Our goal is for the people who follow Jesus in our city to engage in a ground game of becoming good news to the people around them - bringing the values of the Kingdom Jesus came to usher into this world to bear wherever there sphere's of influence are.  And to connect our sphere's of influence with needs in our community, bringing the Kingdom's values with us.

For example, it's an affront to the values of the Kingdom that Jesus is King over for women and children to live in fear of violence from the man in their life.  The Oasis Battered Women's Shelter is a place for such to find a safe place to rebuild, restart.  They are doing valuable, Kingdom work - so let the people who follow Jesus bring our lives in to partner and support this good work.  (There are other examples - we will keep sharing them, so stay tuned.)

When we serve others without strings, we will be given a place of honor in people's hearts we will get a wonderful opportunity, one you couldn't get from other means, to tell why we are doing this - it's because I follow Jesus and Jesus cares about people.

When the people who follow Jesus here are living out this engaged, missional, life, the church will grow and theCityWillBeDifferent.

#theCityShouldBeDifferent (serving this weekend at Elem School; Cemetery Cleanup; Non-Profit Fundraiser)

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 28th - We will gather at Paul's House (call/text 794-9891 for easy directions) to Celebrate and Evaluate the 3 service initiatives we did this week, encourage each other, and to keep learning and stretching for what's next! #theCityShouldBeDifferent

Yes, the world is full of catchy motto's   They can sometimes be very helpful in moving us toward something meaningful.  Or they can be a words-only cliche, that never pays off on the promise the motto brings.

I like words and communication, so I toy with phrases and ways to communicate.  It seems I can't go through a day without finding a metaphors to try to explain life, reveal the Gospel and it's implications for all of life.  

#theCityShouldBeDifferent is a call to life bigger, to lean into the power that comes from God for the transformation of the place we live.  It's a mandate for the people who follow Jesus in this city, and the churches in this city to be for the peace and prosperity of our place.  To serve without strings, not hiding the truth that we wish everyone knew and followed Jesus, but to serving the city, the least because we know and follow Jesus - we will love others no matter what.

Much more to say...much more to live.

the city should be different  

ACTION UPDATES: 

TONIGHT we serve by helping put on the "Dance with Our Father" daddy-daughter dance at John F. Kennedy Elementary School in Lake Charles.  Call Paul, 794-9891, for info or to help.

TOMORROW we serve helping cleanup a neglected cemetery.  Call Paul to come help.  

AND we will be volunteering at Wheels of Hope to benefit the St. Nicholas Center for Children.  Go and ride tomorrow! http://www.stnickcenter.org/

Simple things: living life on mission is not complicated

TOMORROW's SUNDAY GATHERING NOTE: 

• We are gathering tomorrow, October 21, at Glen & Jordan's House.  Call/text paul at 794-9891 for easy directions.   
• Sunday Night we are planning to go to First Baptist Westlake for a Youth Night with a cool guy coming to share and theCityBand leading worship!
  

Simple things: living life on mission is not complicated

When we want something to change, we have this tendency to look for complex or huge ideas in order to see that change come to pass.  Usually, however, sustained growth starts and is sustained by simple things, done as a way of life.  What I mean by "way of life" is that it becomes who I really am and how I live everyday.  Not just when I go to an event or a church meeting.  And while some of the things we try or dream are big and involve more than just a couple of people (thereby making them more complex), the building blocks of growth and change are usually simple.  

Last night, some of the young men in our church (early 20's) "kidnapped" (with parent permission) a young man and took him on a little man initiation evening.  Nothing complicated.  But it communicated that the young man was a part of the movement, important and valuable.  And it was fun.  

We are on the #90dayjourney, and so much of what we are learning to practice is SO NOT COMPLICATED!  Take the simple ideas from today's exercise:

Some of the steps we are taking require coordination with others, such as the non-profits we want to work with.  That takes planning and preparation.  You can't short cut that work.  But if we just wait for someone else to do the planning and set things up, and we skip the lifestyle change that Jesus calls us to (to be oriented around being a blessing to other people, helping them see who Jesus really is by the way we live and the words we say) then we will stay pretty much in the same place.  

Don't wait!  Start right now.  Expect God to grow you and your heart for Him and others as you follow Jesus and love others, including the least of these.

A prayer for foolishness... (Meeting at Paul's house tomorrow - you r welcome!)

"And may God bless you with the foolishness to think that you can make a difference in this world, so that you will do the things which others tell you cannot be done." A Franciscan Benediction

There are plenty who say, "the problems are too big, what do you really think you can do?"

I love that question! It forces us to realize we are dependent on God, who said He is able! Putting reliance on God is quite foolish to those who have averted their gaze from His incredible grace... So keep looking up; God has given us a sign of how He works. It's a cross where trust in God was complete and an empty tomb where God's triumph over sin, death, evil, brokenness are guaranteed for all who trust.

We are to be faithful, to lean into His willingness to bring His Kingdom more more into our world.

I believe God can use His followers here to change our city!

Tomorrow is week 3 on our #90dayjour ey. The Barefoot Primer is leading us to consider God's mercy this week. We will assemble our 50 mercy kits to share with the homeless tomorrow as we gather for equipping at Paul's house, 10:45 Sunday, October 14 (text paul 794-9891 for directions). We will share a meal from the grill and watch some Cowboy football from noon-3.

Love, paul

#thecityshouldbedifferent
#postsfromtheroad

theCityChurch begins season to focus on serving the least...Day 1 of 90 Day Journey, 9-26-12 #cancelworshipservicesfor90days

SUNDAY GATHERING INFO: We will NOT meet at Stellar Beans on Sunday's, from September 30 till Christmas.  We WILL be meeting as a community on mission together to equip to serve others, including the least, or to go and serve.  Why the change? Well the video above and text below, and the last few posts will give you the picture.  THIS SUNDAY we are meeting at Paul's house from 10:45-Noon.  You are welcome to join in on the 90 Day Journey.  Need directions?  Call/text/email/tweet Paul, 337-794-9891, paul@theCityChurch.us, @paulpettefer.  

How do you feel about adventure?  It's fun to watch on movies, but in real life, it can be scarry!

As a church, we recognized something in recent days: that we were fairly equipped to having worship gatherings, but were not nearly as equipped to serve others, especially the least of these...so we are doing something to remedy the situation: From now until Christmas Day (90 days) let's focus all we do on learning, as a team, to be others oriented, that is, to learn to serve others, especially the least of these.

That means we have canceled our regular Sunday Worship Gatherings, and are spending our energies on learning to serve others.  For a pastor of a church, that, my friends, is a little scary!  We are using an incredible resource, the Barefoot Church Primer as our primary tool in walking us through the first part of this process.  It's a daily walk our whole church is doing together.  Oh, and the author of the book and the primer (a daily guide) is walking us through this with a daily blog (here is day 1, today, http://barefootprimer.wordpress.com/2012/09/22/week-1-day-1/.

Our journey using the Primer will have us gathering as a Missional Community on Day 5, which is Sunday Morning, and our first week is at Paul's house (email paul@theCityChurch.us. or text 794-9891 for directions).

Keep checking out theCityChurch's website at www.theCityShouldBeDifferent.com, or on  www.Facebook.com/theCityChurch for updates and to participate.

Join in with us anytime, or bring the 90 days to your church or group!

Because God's love is real...theCityShouldBeDifferent

paul

Baptism Party on River TOMORROW (No Gathering at Stellar Beans)

Tomorrow, we will NOT meet at Stellar Beans, but are gathering at 116 Villa Drive, Westlake (MAP) at a great house on the West Fork of the Calcasieu River for a Baptism Party!

• Worship Gathering concluding in Baptism from 10:45-Noon
• Party on the River (including pool, boatriding, jet ski's, brisket, music, friends, fun) from Noon until tired!

You are welcome - and invite a friend!  Questions or need something, call/text paul 794-9891

Something More (part 3)

Did I mention yet that change is hard?

There are a lot of hard changes.  Like the one where you discover that after banging my head on the wall time after time, getting in arguments with friends, getting bitter, chasing after things that seem indispensable but fail to pay off...that the problem is...me! This is an essential step in discovering that God's Hope is available for you and me. But it requires that we be willing to change.

Another time when change is necessary is when you want to do something different. We are planting theCityChurch because something needs to be different. Again, we're NOT against any churches - if you're for Jesus, we're for you! However, the church in America is in decline. There are lots of articles about this, here are two that were at the top of a google search: Huffington Post, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/28/trends-for-us-churches-mostly-pointing-down_n_985886.html, Ed Stetzer, Chief Missiologist at Lifeway Research, http://www.edstetzer.com/2012/06/sbc-2011-statistical-realities.html.

So, we're planting this church, and in our Rallying Cry, theCityShouldBeDifferent, there is the call for theCityChurch to be different, and for our city, Lake Charles and SWLA, to be different. But, as I just said, being different, changing, is hard to do! We naturally drift toward the things we like or are accustomed to. This reality requires us to regularly re-look at our objective, and examine how we need to adapt to stay on course.

Even new things like new churches need to do this. So, we're doing just that right now at theCityChurch.

One very helpful handle is to think of the activities of a church in these two categories:

Gathering and Scattering

What we are discovering is that we are much more accustomed to and better at the Gathering types of activities. Worship Gatherings, Community Group gatherings, Bible Study gatherings, and general party/social/hanging out gatherings.  That only makes sense, since that is what we have tended to do, historically, in church in our culture.  We're more familiar with gathering, so we're better at it.  Again, this is NOT a bad thing - Gathering it Vital, Life-Giving, Required to be the Church the Bible describes. We need to Gather!  The work church literally means, gathered people. So, we will gather and we say #RightOnToThat

What we have recognized is that saying that you want to go out and serve, setting that up as a key value and preaching about it (all of which we have done) is still leaving us with a gap to fill. We just haven't done serving and scattering very much, and aren't sure what to do, or how to do it. So, theCityChurch is going to build our skills and experience at Scattering. Specifically, focusing on serving others, making the Kingdom of God tangible to people. Serving others includes our neighbors (people like us) and serving the least of these (the poor). We will do this as a community, so it's a 2-for-1 special! 

The U.S. Marines have a motto, Improvise, Adapt and Overcome.  I heard Clint Eastwood quote that in the movie, Heartbreak Ridge, and it's stuck with me ever since.  We are going to adapt at theCityChurch to learn to train our own hearts and hands to be a community of faith that goes out on Jesus mission to serve others, making disciples as we go! 

The world, our city included, needs to see the church of Jesus learn to scatter, to go out and love and serve, to be on mission as a community of faith. Jesus said to make disciples, and serving others is a vital part of that mission - it trains us to remember that "it's not about me."  

I'm pumped! You can join in our our path of discovery, adapting and walking it out!

"And the King will say, 'I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!"  Jesus, quoted by his disciple, Matthew 25:40

Something More (Part 2)

Since we're planting a church with the motto, theCityShouldBeDifferent, it's easy to talk a lot about the things we want to see changed, in ourselves, in our church and in our city.

And that's ok.

But let's be super, crystal, look down and see the sand and shells at the sea floor in 30 foot of water clear:

Following Jesus is where it's at.

This part does not change. Ever.

Jesus said his followers were to Love God.
                                                        And love people (including each other).
                                                                  And make disciples (followers) of him.
                                                                           Repeat.

No conversation about "Something More" can skip over the foundation that the Gospel of Jesus is THE Good News that the whole world needs. That our city needs. We can never skip over the grace of God revealed to the whole world in Jesus.

No forms of church or methods are more central than following Jesus. If we have the "perfect" form and don't follow Jesus in love and make disciples who do the same, we've missing everything.

#RockOn
paul

Something More (part 1)

I'm going to ask a couple of questions, and then answer different parts of them in a series of posts over the next few weeks.  Here is the first question:

"Is church something I go to on Sundays?"

I am leader in a church.  I listen to podcasts and go to conferences where other church leaders talk about the themes of church leadership, what's working well, what's not, and how to follow Jesus with all you are.  It's easy for leaders to either keep doing what we've always done (hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it), or want to throw rocks at the church and in frustration take pride in a desire to storm out the door of "traditional" church and be more "real," or whatever.

Those discussions have a place and can be super helpful.

We live in the South, and I rarely meet people who have zero experience with church.  Most folks here have had at least a little exposure to church life somewhere along the way.  And they drive past lots of churches all throughout the city.  And those who are not now vitally connected to a church are voting with their lives that "church life" is not for them.

There are lots of possible reasons for that.  Part of what I think is missing for many people is a visible, breathing, person in their life who demonstrates church is not just a meeting you attend where you watch as leaders sing or teach.  Church is not a club you join.  Church is not an event you attend.  Church is not a set of beliefs you ascribe to.  A church is a family, a spiritual family, seeking to connect with God and each other.  A church is this spiritual family seeking to be a part of God's amazing love story where He meets messed up people right where they are, mess and all, and brings freedom.  And He uses His Church to accomplish this.

I like gathering as a church.  A lot!  We usually call this a "Church Service."  I can't remember many times I walked away from one and didn't feel blessed to be there.  I'll say it: I love church gatherings!  Going, participating, putting them on, speaking at them.  Oh yeah!

But there is something more than attending gatherings.

Anytime we face the need to change, it's scary.  And unless the change was our own idea, we usually resist.

I was just looking on my Facebook feed for a quick picture to put on this post, and I found this one from last semester.  My bro, Willie King, is a classroom mentor, and some of the kids from a class he worked with got parent permission and came and helped do a "dash for trash" at a nearby neighborhood. We made 4 trips to this neighborhood, and the kids learned some cool things about working together.  It was fun.

That picture can be a decent little metaphor for "something more".  There's a black dude arm-in-arm with a white dude. That means we must have some things in common that are greater than the things we have that separate.  We're not standing at either person's church property.  And the picture wasn't taken before or after a church gathering.  It's in a neighborhood, at a park.  And the sign we are standing in front of tells simple and compelling story:

You are the vehicle for our city to be different.  

You, church, are the means by which renewal will come. The folks who have voted with their lives not to be vitally connected to a church are not expecting us to do this.  What they are are expecting from us, well, can I say this...they are expecting us to have a lot of meetings, to invite them to our meetings once in a while, and for us to be against some things when it comes election time.

I don't hear people outside the church saying they are expecting church people to be positive, life-giving, generous, willing to sacrifice, loving, listening, humble, and serving.  They aren't usually talking bad about church people; they just aren't thinking about us much at all.

There is something more: A whole life of learning to follow Jesus in his way of love, grace and truth.  Jesus said these markers were the signs of His new Kingdom.  And when people who don't know Jesus yet see these markers, they start expecting more good news, which is exactly what Jesus brings.

#theCityShouldBeDifferent

paul, on mission for Lake Charles

P.S. We'll unpack this more as we go, but to keep us on the same page, I am NOT talking about burning out for Jesus. I'm NOT taking about being an over-the-top zealot who is constantly talking about church. I am NOT talking about bring at a Bible study or service project every night.  I am NOT talking about the church being a place for people who have overcome all their problems and are now ready to give back - NO, the church is a spiritual family EXACTLY FOR people who have huge problems and need God to provide remedy.  Jesus said his burden was easy. Let's explore this together

No Strings, No Catch...Good News! Bringing fruit to teachers in our city

The word Gospel literally means, "good news."  God knew that we needed some really Good News, so He sent Jesus.

When people see people see church people coming, they should think, "Hey, good news is on the way."  Sometimes when they see us coming, it's like knowing a telemarketer is on the way, and they are looking for a place to hide.  I don't know about you, but with the advent of caller id, the telemarketer's never get to talk to me...if it says "Out of Area" on my home phone, I let it ring.  And if I do pick up and get a script-repeating telemarketer on the phone, I can't wait to get off the line.  Never have I heard from a script-reader and thought, "Wow, this is really good news!"

We are bringing some simple good news to the teachers and staff at a couple of Elementary Schools we are fans of in the city.  We were privileged to be able to do some simple volunteering for JFK Elementary last year, and are doing so again this year.  We also have someone who is a part of theCityChurch whose son attends A.A. Nelson Elementary.

So we are fans of both of these great schools, and as a way of showing we care, we are bringing a fresh fruit basket to their teacher's lounges.  Simple ways to be Good News and to bring that good news with you wherever you go.

Believing that theCityWillBeDifferent, I remain sincerely your servant, paul