Your Life is a Mission Trip

A couple of weeks ago, we (Holly, John, Clay, Brian, Mark and I) had the opportunity to accompany Grand Parkway Baptist Church's students on a mission trip. They were serving City Church in Amarillo. Our experience taught me a lot as the week went on.

First of all, City Church loves their community. They feed thousands of kids every month. They feed the kids of people who spend food money on drugs. They take the food into the 'hoods where these kids live. What they've gained in the process is an opportunity to procalim the message of Jesus. The week we were there, the church held a three day crusade to reach out to the families of these kids. Jesus earned the right to talk to people about who He was because of the unbelievable love He lavished on people. City Church modeled this. The beauty was that these people did "church" completely different than we would have, but God used it. You know what was more important than the style of how they ministered? It was that God had told them to do it, and they said, Yes, Lord. We learned a lot - not that we need to go home and do that, but that we need to continue to be who God has created us to be in our community.

I learned something else from my Father-in-law, the Yoda of Youth Ministry. Rick told the kids in a teaching time, "Your life is a mission trip." What a concept. How could I have missed that? Why do we think we have to spend some money and go to a different place to do missions? The reality is that now people are sending missionaries to the United States to reach the pre-Christian population. We should be offended! We should be filled with holy anger! That's why God put us here - to reach our community. We are missionaries. Wherever you live, your life is a mission trip. If we lived each day as if it were a mission trip, we would see the Kingdom of God growing in our daily lives. Acts says that day by day and house by house people were being added to the Kingdom. That's an attainable goal for us or any community of Christ-followers continually devoted to pursuing the fullness of God. Let's live on mission together and pray that the Kingdom would come on earth, maybe even in San Marcos.

Move

Father,

Thank you for the priviledge of serving you. Thank you for allowing me to see that my best efforts will never bring about the movement that my heart longs for. Father, forgive me for the wasted time hobnobbing in my Christian bubble. May I continue to learn the value you place on a not-yet believing individual. May I live a life surrendered and yielded to the movement of Your Spirit. May you breathe into me that I may breathe into others. May I learn to love those different than me, may I learn to interact as You would in my surroundings. May I let go of the need to build a great church. May I learn to let You do what You said You would, and may I continually be put into my place. Increase as I decrease.

Move in San Marcos, move into San Marcos, move through San Marcos. Move through the lives of Christ-followers, move through River Stone, move through the other churches. May your Kingdom come in San Marcos. May you have opportunity to move through lives surrendered and humbled. May your will be done. We want to see You lifted up as the most famous person in our community. May we not interfere with your movement, may we not hinder what You want to do. Flow through us. Fill us. Overflow out of us. Make grace, mercy, love, and hope reality for those around us who need it.

We are your witnesses. Call upon us to testify as to what we have seen You do in our lives. Expand your Kingdom.

Amen.

Innovating

I saw an ad in a Consumer Electronics magazine recently that read, "If you're not innovating, you're just imitating."

What a profound statement that is. We live in a world of church copycats. Whatever is working somewhere, we think we can bring home, replicate it, and expect the same results. Imitating may be the most sincere form of flattery, but since when did the effectiveness of the Church have anything to do with flattery?

I have the utmost respect for Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, Ed Young, and on and on, but what makes these men great to me is their willingness to hear what the Lord has called them to do in their specific places and follow Him into their endeavors. That is the one thing we should imitate from them - their innovation.

Jesus was an innovater. He took the law, fulfilled it, demonstrated it, lived it, and equipped some guys who spent time with him to do the same. They in turn took the message of Jesus to different places in different ways and gave birth to the Church. None of the churches in the Bible were exactly the same. They were all different with different struggles, different strengths, and different people. Jesus trained them for diversity. Our churches should be diverse. They should be innovative. They should all have different strengths. They should work together to overcome weaknesses. They shouldn't waste time thinking, "Why didn't we think of that?" or "we should do that".

God has a plan and a purpose for every church. My prayer is that our church would be more focused on being innovators than imitators. Our success is not determined by the success of other churches. Our results are not dependent upon the same formulas and strategies of other churches. Our success asks, "Lord, what do you want us to be?" How can we be innovators in San Marcos? How can we compliment the churches that are already here? Are we hearing your voice for what you're calling us to be?

Lord, may you allow us to fight the temptation to be imitators. May we not compare ourselves with the "success" of other churuches. Teach us to be innovators. Teach us to be world changers. Teach us to leave a wake of Christ-followers behind us. Teach us to demonstrate Your love and law to a world that is begging to see it. Amen.

Prophecy

For the first time in a long time, I was prophesied over. When I was a kid I used to go to a church that had a healing service, and my parents took me there one night because I had been diagnosed with Juvenile Rhumetoid Arthritis. I don't remember much, but I remember a lady whispering in my ear speaking to me about the timing of my healing. What I do remember is that her prophecy was not fulfilled ... well ... actually her timing was just a little off.

Today, our team spent the day with Norman and Grace Barnes. Norman is an internation minister who speaks, ministers, and supports ministries all over the world, literally in over 50 countries. His testmiony is amazing. God has used him in tremendous ways over the past 40 or so years. For whatever reason, the Lord has seen fit to connect us with him. He loves our church, and feels called to invest in it (and in us) for the long haul.

For the first half of the day we talked church - hallmarks of Kingdom-minded, successful churches. We learned a lot, had a lot of healthy discussion, and asked a lot of questions. The day flew by, and as we were drawing near time to leave, Norman suggested we see what the Holy Ghost had to talk to us about. This is the kind of stuff you don't learn in church planting books. We had all seen him prophecy to a college student named Erik two nights before, and it was amazing. None of us had ever met Erik until that Sunday night, and his life was an open book before Norman. He saw into his life, identified his past, and gave him hope for his future. It was amazing, and we were blessed by being a part of it. However, it's different when you know in advance that you're going to be prophesied over.

So, we began to pray, and I began to get a little nervous. Fortunately, he went to Clay first and addressed him. He used a word that I had to look up later to describe Clay, and told him that he saw the likeness of one of the disciples (he was very specific, but I don't feel led to share all the details) in him - amazing! If I could have said something to Clay, it would've been that, but I hadn't thought of it. Brian was next. He identified Brian's main gift, encouraged him in it, and boldly procalimed how he should use it. Again, amazing - what I would've said, but ... yep ... hadn't thought about it yet. Christy was next, then John, then Holly and I were the only ones left. Norman proceeded to speak words from the Lord into our lives. Some things we knew, some things were brand new, but all things were from the Lord. We knew it, we were praying through these things together, and we could feel the unity of the Spirit. It was pleasing to the Spirit and to us to hear from the Lord in this way.

It's amazing to me that God can and does use those who are willing to encourage others. Norman simply listened to God, and God spoke clear as day to me. He told me what I needed to hear for my current struggles, He affirmed me, challenged me, and allowed me to see things in myself that I had not yet seen. Some of the things, I've yet to see, and they are things I don't think I'm ready for at this point.

Norman said that someone prophesied over him once, and it took 20 something years for it to come to fruition. I guess where I am is that I'm so glad that God is in control of the plan for my life and for our church. He is in control. He is in the middle of everything we're doing. He is planning this thing out far in advance, and all He's asking me to do is to trust Him and walk with Him. Thank you, Jesus that Your grace is enough, and that you are true to Your Word. You're amazing me this week, and I am honored to be Your Son. I love You, and I pray that my love for You would overflow on and in to the world around me.

Activity and Adoration

We are reading a great book as a staff entitled Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster. In this week’s chapter on worship, we ran across a great quote. “Activity is the enemy of Adoration.” Let that sink in for a minute. Say it to yourself. I think this idea has some very significant implications for us.

Jesus tells us that He came that we may not only have life, but have it to the full. I guess the question I have is … full of what? There is no question that our lives are full of stuff. Full of school, full of work demands, full of extracurricular activities, full of recreation, full of finals, full of homework, and full of dysfunctional relationships. It seems that our lives are full, but not the kind of full that Jesus was talking about. He came that our lives may be full in Him, but my fear is that we’re so full of everything else that all we give to God is the left-overs. That spinach enchilada from Los Cucos is good microwaved on the second day, but it pales in comparison to the way it tasted when it first came out. Steaming hot, fresh out of the oven, dripping with cheese, accented with beans, rice, fresh vegetables and served with chips, salsa and green sauce. When you just have the left-overs, you’re missing out on the whole experience.

We are often settling for less that what we could have. I think we need to have a priority check. Is our “full” life keeping us from church? Are we neglecting meeting together with our community of believers because we’re too busy? Activity is the enemy of adoration. You were created to worship the Lord, to adore Him, to stand in awe. If it’s been a while since you’ve been at that place of worship, I’m willing to place a bet (I can do that now that I’m not Baptist anymore) that it’s because of too much activity. If activity has kept you away from worship, away from adoration, it’s time to confess that sin to the Lord, and make it right with Him. Don’t settle for once a month with the Lord when you could have it every day. Learn to say no, learn to be Still, and invest in the Kingdom and in your church.

Recovering thoughts from Vacation

Holly and I just got back from about 10 days of being gone. We were on a cruise for 5 days, and we were in Houston for the remaining time. I learned some things while I was gone.

1st of all I was reminded of the greatness of our God. When all you see is blue in every direction, you're reminded of the hugeness of our creator. As if that wasn't statement enough (to be in the middle of the Gulf on a big boat seeing nothing but blue). It was that way for two days. After two days of trekking along at 20-25 knots, we arrived at Cozumel, then we stopped also at Playa del Carmen. In a word, the water and beaches were majestic. Pure white sand, Clear blue water. It was beautiful. We were able to sit back and enjoy the sun, swim with the fish, and experience a whole other culture. The Kingdom is so much bigger than us. It was good for me to be reminded of that.

2nd - I realized how addicted I am to our community (of Christ-followers). After 5 days, I was ready to be home. Vacation was great, rest was great, relaxation was great, but being apart from the people we've come to do life with over the past few months was difficult. We only missed one Sunday, but it felt like we were gone forever. We realized how strong of a connection we have with the people of our church. It was great to be gone, but it's greater to be home.

Finally, I was reminded of how great a team we have at River Stone. At no time did I worry about how worship was going while I was gone - I knew. I didn't even think about it until 6:15 pm on Sunday evening when I felt like I should be doing something. God has truly blessed us with a tremendous team of talented people, and I love the diversity of having interchangable people leading our church in worship. We are truly blessed.

So, as I'm still recovering from my cruise hangover (the rocking has finally stopped), I am more in tune with what I love about my life, my church, and my community.

Blessings -

Jason

The Rest of the Story

Last week as I was in Houston, the guys planned worship for this past Sunday where it was my turn to lead worship. In the context of the planning, they decided to have me sing a song I wrote last summer. I wrote it at time when I was angry, and I realized that my anger was limiting the power of the Holy Spirit in my life. So, here is my cry - I hope it blesses you.

Jason

THE REST OF THE STORY

(Jason Bollinger © 2004 River Stone Music)

If time really heals, then why do I feel, this emptiness inside me still?
It’s been a long, long, time, But my heart can’t seem to find
Anything the help me feel alive

My weeping still remains, My night won’t turn to day
I’m waiting for the sun to rise
My strength is running thin, and my mind just seems to spin
Trying to find a place just to begin

I want to know the rest of the story

I want to see Your glory, Your face shining down on me

My heart cries out for the peace I hear about

I’m tired of all this fear and doubt inside

I know that your ways are not for me to know
I know that this pain – though it hurts – I know it helps me grow
My trust is in You, when I don’t know what to do
I know that You’re faithful -- faithful and true

Rescue me and hold me close, Walk me down the narrow road
Deliver me and pull me through, My Refuge is found in You

I want to be the rest of the story,
Reflecting Your glory for the world to see
My heart still cries out, but now my lips sing and shout
Of your love that rescued me from my doubt

New to blog

Here is my first blog entry. Two days after Easter (still recovering from my Easter hangover), I find myself pondering whether or not our Easter Service was a success. On many fronts I think it was. Worship was strong, the creative elements really came together, the truth was clearly communicated, God moved. I am so humbled by the crowd that assembled to experience God through our Easter Worship Celebration, but I can't stop thinking about the masses who didn't experience anything on Easter except eggs, bunnies, and candy. I think at some level I honestly think that the masses will eventually come and check us out just because we're doing some really good God stuff. The reality is that we are here (as a church) to serve. It's time for us to serve our community - to reach out and touch the masses with encouragmnet, with the love of God in a way that allows us to connect them with that love. So, I find myself ready to do more than lead our team to organizing and leading good worship experiences, I'm ready to serve. If you're reading this, and you're a part of the River Stone Community. Pass on some creative service ideas where we can spread the love of God into the streets of San Marcos and Wimberley.

jason