Stretching and stirring

May 3, 2010

Have you ever walked through a season in your life where you have been stretched in areas you thought you were finished being stretched?

I am finding myself in one of those times right now and it is altogether beautiful and entirely terrifying at the same time. God is stretching me in areas of faith and stirring my spirit to seek Him for a fresh experience.

Paul compares the life of the believer to an athlete (1 Cor 9:24-26 and 2 Tim 2:4-6). Just like an athlete experiences the pain of training as muscles are stretched to new boundaries, so the believer encounters similar discomfort as the spiritual muscles are taken beyond the last point they were tested. Without this component, there is no growth.

You can maintain. But you cannot grow.

Growth requires stretching. It demands it.

So stop resisting. Lean into the new challenge in front of you. Engage the contest before you knowing it is the very doorway to your growth.

Henry Blackaby said it is impossible for your faith to grow unless God takes you beyond the point your faith was last tested (paraphrase). We so often pray for God to get us through something when what we ought to pray is God grow me through this.

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Posted by Chris Lewis

Walk a mile in their shoes…

February 14, 2010

“Don’t criticize someone until you have walked a mile in their shoes.” - That’s the anonymous quote many of us have heard pretty much all of our lives.

A couple of weeks ago, my oldest daughter made an observation about me before she had an opportunity to consider the weight of her statement. In a moment of heated debate, she chose to describe me in a terribly unflattering manner. She called me “LAZY“!!!

Now, truth be told, we probably all have our special moments of laziness…that downtime when nothing “has” to be done and no one is “dominating” our time. These are the times when we steal away to that quiet place and relax without any intention of doing ANYTHING for the rest of the evening.

It was during one of these times that my daughter happened to stumble into the room and within 12 seconds, determine that I was “LAZY“.

Needless to say, I struggled with this a little!

Now…I love my little girl and want only the best for her. In almost every case, I give her the benefit of the doubt.

However, this was clearly a case where she needed a little “education“!

So……

………Tomorrow, Greenville County Schools are out – but guess who’s coming to work with Dad??? That’s right! My oldest daughter, Mary Beth, will be joining me for a day “in my shoes“! She will come to work with me and walk through the various “tasks” that have to be done during a typical day.

It’s going to be AWESOME!

She may not think so…but that is another story. For now, let’s let her enjoy a day of walking in someone else’s shoes! Maybe we all could benefit from that on occasion??

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I am running in a flippin’ sprint triathlon!

February 8, 2010

Well…I don’t guess I need to tell you how long it’s been since I blogged! Welcome to the life of a tri-vocational church planter!

First, let me offer a word of explanation. I blog when I have things interesting and (hopefully) uplifting to write about. Lately, I have not felt the urge or ability to report what is going on in my spirit. Church planting is hard! It is without a doubt the most difficult thing I have ever attempted. It’s even harder than having a strong marriage. I covet your prayers and support as my family and I eagerly and joyfully embrace the path God has us on.

I do have something interesting to report…and also something that should keep me blogging a lot more regularly. I committed myself to something the other day in an effort to engage a particular family and get them plugged in at Revolution. I have agreed to compete in a sprint triathlon in August of this year! In case you missed that last part…yes. I am suspending the baseline response I give to everyone that, should they see me running, please stop because that means someone is undoubtedly chasing me with malevolent intentions.

If you see me over the next 7 months, I will no doubt be whipping this almost 37 year old body into the shape required to attempt this challenging feat! So, with that said, I will regularly be updating the blog with my status and thoughts on what will be the most difficult endurance exercise I have ever attempted.

Through this process, I will also be sharing some things that are going on at Revolution as well as insights gleaned from this physical challenge. Thanks for reading and for your patience during this new phase of my family’s life!

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Thinking of Matt Chandler and God’s remarkable Sovereignty

December 17, 2009

I learned with the rest of the world yesterday about Matt Chandler and the pathology of his brain tumor. The doctors concluded it is malignant and they were encouraged by the positive first step of surgery, but were unable to remove all of the tumor. You can read the release from The Village Church where Matt pastors here.

From Matt’s own comments, you can see the grace with which he is facing this. In one of his Twitters yesterday he said “Path report is 2ndary at best…good report doesn’t mean much, bad report doesn’t mean anything…my days r numbered and n0t by ths report”. The video he posted prior to surgery is amazing! You can view it on the church’s blog here.

I do not know Matt personally, but I consider him to be a hero of my faith. I have only heard him live twice, yet because of technology, he serves in a pastoral role to me. As a 36 year old husband, father of three, and pastor of a church plant, I feel connected as many of you who read this will feel connected to Matt and his family.

With everything within me, my heart’s desire is that God would heal Matt of this horrid malady called cancer and that the world will have the treasure of trustworthy dispensation of the Word Matt so faithfully offers.

“Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health,
as it goes well with your soul.” – 3 John 2

My comfort and joy comes in knowing that whatever course this journey takes, God will be glorified and the gospel will be declared. That is already happening!

I was sick yesterday as I learned the results from the doctors and deeply saddened by the news. Today I reflect on the goodness of God and the beauty of His ways. Ways I do not understand. Ways I cannot understand. Yet ways I know to be best – even and especially when they don’t seem so.

“This God—his way is perfect;
the word of the LORD proves true;
he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.” – Psalm 18:30

Special Prayer

On Sunday, December 27, Revolution Church will devote a segment of time to pray specifically for Matt’s healing. We confess that Jesus is eternally the same (Heb 13:8) and with only a word he still heals today (Matt 8:8). I am inviting other pastors, church leaders, teachers, and volunteers to join us in prayer that morning at your places of worship. We have seen remarkable displays of God’s power when the Church agrees and comes together in unity and we expect nothing less here.

“Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him” – James 5:14a

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Posted by Chris Lewis

A Summer to Remember

September 2, 2009

I have been blogging a lot less this summer. I looked at my post history and it’s about half of what what it has been historically. I am surprised at the number of you who read this blog regularly so I thought I would acknowledge this and give you a little explanation.

This has been one of the best summers I have ever had! There are a couple of things that were unique about it:

First, I was a “stay at home Dad” this summer!  Our oldest daughter is old enough to watch her younger siblings for short time spans, but young enough that the daily responsibility of caring for them is unfair to her and steals her youth. So, we decided that I would become “Daddy Mama“!  I am planning on saying a lot more about that in a subsequent post…probably forever risking my masculinity…but pretty dang funny nonetheless! Stay tuned for that!

Second, this will be a season of life I will remember forever.  This will be eternally etched in my memory and the pages of eternity as the launch of Revolution Church!  I have known for several years what my ultimate purpose and calling from the Lord was.  I have prayed, hoped, planned, fretted, celebrated, and anticipated this day for a LONG time!!!  Now that it is finally here, I am blessed to walk in the plan God has purposed for me.  I hope over the next several months to share some of the pieces of that journey…and who knows…it may serve as an encouragement to some of you to take whatever step in obedience to Jesus you need to take.

My family and I have entered the most difficult phase of our schedule in our nearly 14 years together.  I love this blog as an outlet to share my thoughts and encourage others.  For this season though, I must intentionally keep my wife, my children, Revolution Church, and my job in their proper alignment. This means I will most likely continue on a reduced blogging schedule as long as I am bi-vocational.

When I do post something…it means I definitely have something to say.

Thanks for reading!

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