Angry Birds and Trains

It's amazing what an eight minute train ride can bring.

I was on my way home from the school of congregational development when I met Jonathan. I was looking forward to get home from a long day of workshops. I left the Sheraton hotel in Dallas only to see the blue line pass me, headed north to Garland without me on it. I shrugged it off knowing that another one would be coming by soon. When I looked at the schedule, I realized I had a 30 minute wait until the next train. So much for getting home early. I made a couple of phone calls and had a couple of interesting conversations about the old Dallas High School building at the Pearl Street station. 

Finally, the train pulled up. I boarded the train and sat down next to a gentleman who looked like he was sleeping against the window. I pulled out my iPad and started to play Angry Birds to pass the time on my way home to Garland. The gentleman woke up and was completely fixated on my game. I could smell the alcohol on his breath as he asked me what I was doing. I told him I was playing this silly game to entertain myself on my way home. He asked if he could watch and I said no problem.

What he said next blew me away. "I'm sorry, but I'm drunk." I assured him that he wasn't bothering me and invited him to continue to watch as I explained the purpose of the silly game. He then looked at me and said, "I'm not a bad person." I encouraged him and said, “I'm sure you aren't”. 

It was sad to see the look of desperation in his eyes as he searched for affirmation from a total stranger playing a silly game on a train. Then I took the leap. I said, “I'm a pastor.” His eyes lit up, but then the despair returned quickly. “I’m a drunk and I shoot up." He showed me the scars on his arms.  "Do you think God could forgive me?" I fought back tears, as I looked at him and said, “Of course God will forgive you. That is why he sent Jesus to earth. So all of us can be forgiven and set free from those things that hold us captive.” I gave him my name, and shook his hand and he told me his name was Jonathan. 

He was getting off at the next stop, so I asked if I could pray for him. He gave me the honor of saying a prayer as the train started to slow down at the Mockingbird Station.
I prayed for Jonathan and sent him on his way to his next destination. I watched him leave the train, with a glimpse of hope in his step, and I pray that through my encounter with him, he had an opportunity to feel Christ’s love for him, and it would encourage him to clean up and start a new journey free from the bondage of drugs and alcohol.

It’s amazing how God will place situations in our lives to make us fully aware of what we are to be doing. After a long day of seminars and meetings, it could have been easy (and honestly preferred) to put my headphones on and ignore the world around me. But that isn’t what the Christian life is about. When we say “yes” to the Gospel of Christ, we are saying that we will walk with all people. It doesn’t matter if it is a longtime friendship, or a short 8-minute ride on a DART train. The church is asked to make a difference and transform the world with the love of Jesus Christ. 

First Newsletter Article for First Rowlett

Here is my first Newsletter Article for First Rowlett. It was included in a newsletter sent out to the members called the Summer of New.



“Jesus traveled among all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues,
announcing the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every
sickness. Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they
were troubled and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” Matthew 9:35-36 CEB


I am looking forward to beginning my appointment at First Rowlett and getting to know
all of you. I am even more excited about being IN MINISTRY with you! As July 1 rolls
around, we will be partnering together as we start a new church in the southeast Wylie
/ north Rowlett community. Starting this new church will continue the rich tradition
here at First Rowlett of inviting people to Live, Learn and Love... but we will be doing
this through a different perspective.


As we partner together to launch this new church, let’s follow the example Christ gives
us in the scripture above. The passage starts out by saying that Jesus traveled among all
the cities and villages… He went to where the people were to minister to them. We see
that Jesus went out into the "community" to meet those who lived there face to face,
meeting them on their turf, to walk with them in their pain, distress and need.


The communities of southeast Wylie and north Rowlett are poised for tremendous
growth. In a recent meeting with the Wylie ISD, I learned that the current student
population stands at 12,000 students, with projections reaching upwards of 25,000
students within 5-7 years. Already, Wylie ISD has purchased land for new elementary,
intermediate, junior and senior high schools. They are preparing for the growth they
know is coming.


As a church we could plan for this growth by posting signs, sending out fliers or bulk
emails to invite them to come to us. However, if we truly want to follow the example of
Christ, we too must go out into this new community and share the transforming words
of Christ with them.


You may be wondering how you can help in this new ministry. 1 John 5:14 says, “This
is the confidence that we have in our relationship with God: If we ask for anything in
agreement with his will, he listens to us.” First and foremost, I ask for your prayers.
This task will not be easy… but I have seen amazing things happen when God’s people
pray. Second, I would love to get to know you. Let’s sit down for a cup of coffee, or just
drop by for a visit to hear more about the new church start. Please feel free to call or
email me (or just stop me in the halls of First Rowlett after July 1), and I will be more
than happy to talk to you about what God is doing through First Rowlett as we reach out
to new places and new people.


Be God’s
Chris

Meeting with Wylie ISD

Yesterday, I meet Susan Dacus and Marcia Coker who work for the Wylie ISD. I wanted to just introduce myself and ask some preliminary questions.

As we sat down we started to talk about the ISD. There are over 50 languages spoken in the ISD. Languages from English and Spanish, to different Asian and Middle Eastern dialects. Interesting to note, that most of these non-English speaking segments of the ISD, most of them refuse ESL classes. From the website, here is an ethnic breakdown of the ISD. Gender: 51% Male; 49% Female. Race: 57% Caucasian, 20% Hispanic, 15% African American, 7% Asian, 1% Native American. Economically disadvantaged - 28.74%. Average student to teacher ratio 14.7:1  (Includes all classes such as Special Education and Title 1).

The ISD currently has 10 elementary schools, 3 intermediate schools, 3 jr. high schools and 2 high schools. Land has been purchased for a third high school and fourth intermediate and jr. high school.


Looking at growth, for right now, most of the growth is happening west of HWY 78. With the completion of the George Bush turnpike close at hand, the district is looking at growth occurring in the southeast portion of Wylie. Current growth has slowed down from 14% a couple of years ago to basically one elementary school a year. It is predicted that Wylie ISD will grow up to 25,000 students when all is said and done.


Looking ahead, our conversation moved from the make up of the ISD to renting policy. I received a large packet with policies and regulations for those renting school building for other activities. While I won't go into pricing (because I was told that it would change), I did receive some terms for renting. They rent on a two year term, with a possible additional 3 years if the church has proof that they are purchasing land or need time making other arrangements. The other stipulation deals with membership.  The new church must have 100 attendees with 80% of those attendees living within the Wylie ISD.


So with this information, I go back to focusing on prayer. Making sure that where the church goes, and what I do, I am listening and am in tune with God's will for me and my family and for this new faith community in Wylie/Rowlett.

Testing

I have a new device. It's an IPad 2. I am writing this blog on my new iPad as I wait to meet with a member of the Wylie Isd to get more information... Population trends, growth in ESL programs etc.
I am looking forward to this meeting and praying that God will guide me as I listen, pray and talk to this new contact.

The Haircut

One of the things I failed to do this weekend was to ask Tracy to cut my hair before I went to the conference office to record my three minute message for annual conference.  So this morning, I took it upon myself to drive up to Wylie to find a new place to get a haircut.  I knew that "barber shops" are a good place to talk to people and I wanted to use this moment to talk about the new church start and also just to get to know more people in the Wylie area.


I pulled up to the Great Clips at FM 544 and 78 and walked into an empty store wondering where the employees were.  From the back room in the store, a short middle aged Asian woman walks in and invites me to sit in her barber chair and she quickly went to work with her razor with the number 2 guard on it.


The conversation was slow at first, just some pleasantries, talking about the massive amount of rain, hail, thunder and lightening that just went through the area. To how long have you been cutting hair, etc., etc. 


Then the question came. She asked, "What do you do?" I took the opportunity to share that I was moving into the area to start a new church either in south Wylie or north Rowlett, starting in July of this year. She talked about attending First Baptist Garland and was genuinely excited about a new church coming to the area.  I asked questions about what she liked about church and listened as she finished up the hair cut and took the apron off of me.


We walked over to the cash register and I put down my credit card for her to swipe. When the receipt was handed to me, I scribbled down a $5.00 tip for her as a thank you for the wonderful job and great conversation we had.  She looked at me and told me to ignore the $5.00 tip because she wanted me to place that $5.00 in the offering plate when I held the first worship service at the new church.


I know that every conversation I will have about the new church start won't end as positive as this one, however, it was nice to have a moment where I was encouraged by a stranger as I started this journey of faith.


I'm looking forward to that Sunday, where I can take the five dollars I received today and use that gift to help grow a church that will connect people to the living Christ so they can share Christ's love with others.

Video Recording for Annual Conference

Bishop Bledsoe and members of the North Texas Annual Conference, it is a blessing to be standing here today as I prepare to be ordained as an Elder in full connection in this Annual Conference. Eleven years ago, I started on this journey toward ordained ministry at Perkins School of Theology with the hope and dream of this moment. Over those eleven years, the congregations of First United Methodist Church in Gainesville and Grace United Methodist Church in Sherman have helped me develop as a student, candidate and provisional member of the Annual Conference. With their participation and the strong leadership of colleagues like Joe Pool, Roy Spore, Mary Beth Hardesty-Crouch, Mike Haynes, Keith Head and Tommy Brumett, I have learned valuable lessons in ministry, some of which include how to present a creative and clear presentation of the Gospel, how to live out a ministry with integrity, and how to partner with laity to reach out to the local community and the world. Each lesson built and solidified my hope and dream of becoming an elder.

Of course, I am extremely thankful for the love and support I have received from my family, especially my wife Tracy and our children Deborah, Timothy and Jacob. You have stood beside me in both joyous and difficult times and you have always game me daily encouragement. I love you all.

As I complete this chapter in my journey, I know that the work God has before me and this annual conference is far from over.  With the dream of ordination coming to fruition, more hopes and dreams take its place as I continue on this journey of faith.

First, as we continue to figure out how we can best equip clergy and laity for the task of Making Disciples for the transformation of the world, my hope is that we don’t surrender our devotion to our First Love, Jesus Christ. While we continue to seek to be an effective witness to the Gospel, we must continue to seek the will and way of Jesus Christ even when that way is difficult and filled with trials.  We must always seek the guidance of Christ.

Second, I hope that as we continue to align ourselves to the four areas of focus set out by our Bishops, let us grasp hold of the promise that God gave Joshua shortly after he took leadership of the nation of Israel as they prepared to march into the promise land. Joshua 1:9 says, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” As Joshua was called to lead the Israelites into an unfamiliar land, God called on him to be strong and courageous and to know that God was before God’s people as they moved into this new land.

Members of the North Texas conference, God is calling us as Christ’s church to move forward, with strength and courage as we continue to explore new ministries, developing new leaders, while ministering to the poor, sick and marginalized.  When we do this, we have that same assurance from God, that God will be with us, wherever we go. May we move ahead in faith, knowing that God moves before us as we reach out to share a living Christ with a hurt and broken world. Thank you.

Intercessory Prayer Team

I just finished reading a book by Jim Griffith and Bill Easum titled Ten Most Common Mistakes made by New Church Starts. This book was given to me by Jim Ozier who is the Director of the North Texas Conference's New Church Development Center.


As I read through this book, I took a lot of great notes and have already started to implement some of the suggestions supplied by Griffith and Easum.  One of the most important implementations had to do with prayer.  When I first met with Jim, I started to do prayer drives. Almost every morning on my way to Sherman, I drive through the mission field praying for the community. This is what the community looks like.

As of right now, the target area is located at 544 and Alanis Dr. in Wylie, Tx. (top marker). First Rowlett has also identified a place that is in the Waterview area. (bottom marker). I have been driving, praying and talking to people in this area and I'm already feeling a connection to this location.

The second implementation started to take shape today.  Griffith and Easum talked about Spiritual Warfare. Because this is a church plant that will connect people with Jesus Christ, Satan will be working hard against it. They write, "You'll find yourself confronted on every level -- culturally, spiritually, theologically, and politically." Then they make this distinction. " The opposition isn't about you the planter -- it's about the Kingdom. you must never blink! Remember, 'Perfect love drives out fear' (1 John 4:18). Your role is to prepare for it so it doesn't take you by surprise." (Griffith and Easum page 18-19 italics mine)

Their recommendation is to set up an intercessory prayer team. I am already impressed that First Rowlett takes prayer seriously and I am doing my part to make sure prayer is an important aspect of this plant.  They stress that the intercessory prayer team shouldn't be connected to the church plant so I can share my heart and concerns openly with this team.  I have identified four people (for now) for this prayer team and I have had confirmation from three of them.  Here is the story.

I had a woman from Grace UMC already in mind when I went to church this morning. I tried to talk to her between services and was interrupted by another member and told her I would talk to her following late service.  After the late service I walked up to her and she was standing next to another woman who I knew believed in the power of prayer.  I asked both of them if they would like to be a part of my intercessory prayer team.  They both said yes and I asked them to go ahead and start praying, their answer... We already have been praying for you.  As we were wrapping up our conversation, I saw another woman who is a prayer warrior and I asked her if she would be on my prayer team.  Without hesitation, she said yes with tears running down her cheeks because I asked her to be a part of this special ministry.  Once again I asked her to start praying for me... her answer... I already have been praying for you.  I don't think I could have asked for more perfect people to be a part of this special ministry. 

I have absolutely felt God's hand as I drive around the mission area and as I set up this prayer team. I know that God has great things in store for this church plant and I'm looking forward to this great adventure.

Thanks be to God!