The Past Six Months

So, what have I been doing for the past six months?

As many of you know, we were planning to move to England this year in order to work with The Crowded House in Sheffield. A lot has transpired since the last time I posted on this blog (October 17, 2007) and I'll try and catch you up to speed.

First, we are not moving to England. We made the decision after spending a couple of weeks in Sheffield with Steve Timmis last October. There are many factors in our not moving, but the bottom line is that it was not the Lord's will at this time. The decision to not move was not as simple as simply saying, "Alright, we're not moving so life just resumes as normal." The whole process caused us to think quite a bit about what we were doing, specifically what I was doing. The one thing that I was convinced of was that at that time I was completely overextended. I was full-time pastor, full-time coach, full-time European church planter guy, and these were just my professional roles. Part of the decision to move to the UK in the first place was that I could not continue doing things the way I was doing them. There were too many balls in the air and I was having to juggle faster and faster. Something had to give. The decision not to move meant that I needed to set some of the balls down. Based on our staying I resigned my role as Acts 29 Europe guy, resigned from the international board, resigned from the national board, took a break from all of my coaching commitments, and resigned from another board I was serving on at the time as well. It was like taking a big deep breath after you've come up from holding your breath under water for several minutes. After you come up, you kind of have to sit there for a minute and breathe in-and-out while you gather your strength.

Second, we determined that in staying I needed to focus all of my energy into our church. After a year and a half of me traveling around quite a bit, our church really needed my attention. It is funny how we say things like, "This church isn't about me, it's about Jesus," and "If I drop dead tomorrow this thing will just keep running like it always has." When, in reality, we also know that everything rises and falls on leadership. There is a fine balance and as leaders we need to be wise as we walk the wire. As an entrepreneur I had built a rocket, move it to the launch pad, pressed the button, watched it shoot through the clouds, and then walked away to build new rockets while assuming that there was a ground control and a pilot. What a dumb idea that was. From November of last year, my energy has been wrapped up in leading the vision of Providence Community, the church that I love.

Third, as a church we have been making some major structural adjustments. This has included the way we do things in our church and the way we do things outside of our church (broader kingdom-oriented ministry and partnerships). This has meant evaluating what it means for us to be missional in a, geographically speaking, very spread out city. What does church planting that is streamlined, missional, and incarnational look like in this metroplex? Furthermore, how do we connect and partner with others that are doing and thinking the same things we are doing and thinking? This has taken a ton of time and energy; time and energy that I did not have when I was earning frequent flyer miles and elite status on American Airlines.

Fourth, the elders of our church decided that it was time for us to make some changes to our primary church planting partnership. From the beginning of our church, we have been associated with the Acts 29 Network. This network is one of the finest church planting networks in the world. I have the greatest respect for the leaders and members of Acts 29, but we felt that as a church it was time for us to move in a new direction. My relationship to Steve Timmis and The Crowded House has continued to develop and we felt that it was a good time for us (Providence Community and The Crowded House) to try something new. Therefore, we have entered into a formal partnership with The Crowded House for the purpose of planting churches. The Crowded House is not just the name of a church in Sheffield, but The Crowded House is a group of church planting networks with a commitment to missional communities and household church. This partnership is defined by our shared values, which I will post on later. Currently this includes a few networks in the UK, ours in the US, and one that is emerging in Australia. We are very excited about what the future holds for us as a network committed to the mission of the gospel.

Finally, I decided to start taking better care of myself--health wise that is. In February I began an extreme workout program called P90X (yeah, you may have seen the infomercial). It is unbelievable! I have not been in this good of shape since I was in the Marine Corps and that was ten years ago. Furthermore, I have never eaten as healthy as I am eating right now--whole grains, fruits, vegetables, protein, and gallons and gallons of water.

Basically that's it. My life for the past six months.

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Comments

[Jason Reid]

Does anyone know where I can get John Piper's book for $5?

[Jonathan Dodson]

It's good to have you here, Mark. I am eager to see the influence of Providence and Crowded House expand here in Texas and the U.S. Thanks for sharing exemplary, humble, repentant submission to God and his leadership.

[Steve McCoy]

Wow, crazy days for you, but it sounds like you have clear direction and confidence. Awesome. Glad to read the story, and glad to hear some Crowded House influence is expanding through you.

[Pete Williamson]

good to hear from you again...you've been missed. one question about your new affiliation - does that mean you've dropped out of A29?