the Journey

This morning, we-revisted the site of one of the 2009 prayer walks- Abyssnia Baptist Church in Ensley, under the leadership of Pastor "Doc" Patterson (you can read more about that walk, this past Fall, here). Here are a few thoughts:

* Pastor Patterson is a humble man with a gentle spirit and incredible faith.

* If the "thing" that struck me about Pastor Whitsey's church last week was the unity and the harmony in that body of believers, the "big thing" that hit me about Patterson's flock was their faith. He models it; they follow. He gives sacrificially; they give sacrificially. He believes they can be a light in Ensley; they believe they can be a light in Ensley. Both are great churches- and I'm learning much from each of them.

* I am still struck by the grace of the pastors of the previous two churches we visited. This week, Pastor Patterson asked me to share with his church more about what we were doing at The Village- and in downtown in general. As I finished, he encouraged me to share about The Birmingham Bible project, as well... offering that I talk more and share more. Such trust shows me that he is striving to not only serve his church, but also to serve the kingdom- and to do anything that honors Jesus and spreads HIs fame. This has been true at both of the last two churches I have visited... I have much to learn from them.

* I have learned that I love "the black church." I do grow antsy at the long services, sometimes, but a I never grow tired of the patience & love & sharing life together that they seem to exhibit so effortlessly. They have learned the art of hospitality and inclusiveness. They have learned the balance of holy reverence with the fact that there is outright joy in the presence of the Lord!

* Pastor Patterson did not know I was coming. When I walked into the church parlor, he asked me to share a word with the congregation, to share about my relationship with him (more in a moment), and pray. He had better "titles" for each of these assignments, and when I mentioned, "Translate that from black church vernacular to white church vernacular for me... because you have reverence and honor and respect... and so much that I am in awe with... and I will do whatever you want me to do..." he simply told me, "You just be you and be here at home... all will be fine." So true; so tender; so like the heart of God.

* My relationship with Patterson... Pastor Ron (who pastors The Village men) was preaching in Pastor Patterson's pulpit today because several of our men have spent time doing some repairs & renovations for him- after our relationship began at the prayer walk this Fall. After spending hours there leading those men, he asked Pastor Ron to share one Sunday as a celebration of what had been accomplished.

* Pastor Ron was on fire this morning- and brought a good word in season for that congregation. The Lord was mighty through him!

* Incredible. This is another relationship with another church that was birthed through prayer. We are so blessed to have been a part- and to continuing being a part- of their family.

Here's the video for "The Birmingham Bible" project. For more info on it, click the tab/search on this blog for "The Birmingham Bible," or go here or here. 

This morning, Cristy & I loaded the kids into the Suburban to visit Pastor Raymond Whitsey at Mount Calvary Baptist Church in West End. His church is merely two miles from our building at 300 24th Street South- yet it took prayer (and both of our involvement in Prayer Force United) to bring us together. 

Here are a few reflections from the morning:

* This is a gracious church. Every man in the building- every one- shook my hand when we walked in. They went out of their way to do so. It wasn't odd, overwhelming... anything... they are good men.

* About seven of those men gathered at the altar to pray before the service. And, though the service is loud and expressive, these men were, at that time, quiet & reverent. As well, everyone in the church was reverent while they prayed in a unified, dignified (though there is a time for exuberant prayer) way.

* The men lead. They lead with humble authority- in a way that actually frees the women (many of whom led from the stage in many ways) to live out their calling & express their gifts. There is a safety and a peace in that his men stand at the forefront.

* The church is generous. When the offering / giving time came, they all gave. They brought gifts to the front, hugging and greeting and laughing and smiling as they did. Giving was a joy, an honor...

* Everyone wants to be there. The service lasted 3 hours. They didn't worry about starting on time (they were a bit late) or ending by a certain time (after 2 hours & 15 minutes, Pastor Whitsey handed me the microphone- he did not even know I was coming- and said, "Tell everyone here about your ministry... and share whatever you want to share.") Even after I finished we were there 20 more minutes or so...

* They have found a balance between quiet reverence and loud shouting/ cheering/ emotion. A  young lady belted-out "His Eye is on the Sparrow" at the beginning of the service- to much shout and cheer and expression (as Whitsey receives when he preaches). But, when the time came for communion, those serving wore white gloves and their was a calm holiness to the moment.

* The church is based on the Word. When it came time to preach, Pastor stayed anchored to the text. Sure, he applied it- and illustrated it... but... it was the Word proclaimed, rightly divided.

* The people there love people. A minute ago, I mentioned every man shook my hand and greeted me. As well, most of the men greeted my wife- and all of the women hugged her neck. About 90% of them even hugged mine.

* The church is about the kingdom- not about that church. Pastor gave me the microphone, allowed me to share... then invited me to preach at a New Year's Eve celebration service (a "watch" service, he called it). And, he kept referring his people to me to line them up to serve, give, etc., for The Downtown Trading Company and even other ministry opportunities. 

* Something like Heaven: Whitsey is a black man in his 50s. I am a white male in my 30s. We do not listen to the same music; we preach in two entirely different ways. In the inner city, in Birmingham, there has been a history of strife and division between our races. It is humbling that a black man older than I has welcome me with open arms, has mentored me in many areas, and has embraced me as his own... and that extends to the way in which his wife extends herself to my entire family... and the way they have received my own wife and children, too. Jesus is good and is showing me a glimpse, through my relationship with the Whitseys- and many others- what Revelation 5:11-13 will look like when we get there.

A big thanks to those who came to the first to "look and see" meeting regarding the possibility of this project. I logged 17 of us- all from different backgrounds and groups that came together and were, amazingly, in so much agreement. And, at such a short notice. We were praying for 10, which would have been massive so quickly. With all the emails and calls of those who are "in" but could not make it, we're easily four times the size group we prayed to be at this point.

(If you need a quick catch-up, go to the first blog post I wrote on this, by the way).

At the end of the meeting, we broke up into small groups to pray together, in groups of 2 and 3. It was good for me to hear the words of Pastor Tom Cannon (Red Mountain Church) when he prayed, "Lord, I ask you to make this happen... it is not a doctrinal issue or anything that should divide and be argued about... it's the Word of God- and we can all come together on that." 

Words well prayed. And, "Amen" to his prayer.

During the meeting, here is what we decided:

1) We will meet on January 7, 2009 (the first Thursday of the new year). Tentatively, too, how about looking at the first Thursday of each month for us to get together to pray, talk, share ideas? Some of the pastors in the downtown area have been doing this regularly over the past several months and it has been a great joy. We can enlarge our table and expand our reach.

2) We will pray over the holidays. As we celebrate the Word becoming flesh, we will celebrate what to do with this Word and how to give it an incarnational feel in our great city. 

3) We will invite anyone we feel may be interested to the next meeting. Feel free to forward off my contact info, pass on these emails, or point people to the blog where I"ll post updates in addition to emails (www.TheJourney.org). You all know people that I do not know that can carry much of the vision for this. If we know they're coming, it will help us provide lunch for them, by the way.

4) We will bring our ideas to the table- I"ll have a giant white board, or computer screen, or some way to exchange info... already, I have heard you say:

* Do the entire Bible!

* Put more testimonials in (great decision; stories of changed lives help change lives).

* Provide a list of resources, churches, ministries, where people can go get help when they read the Word and want change.

* Create a card, a phone number, and some way for follow-up.

* Have a map for distribution, as well as Bibles "in stock" to use at ongoing prayer walks, jail ministry, etc.

* Network with business leaders in the city- as well as go for city money, too.

* Use other ministry networks we all already have in place to work through, as well.

* Let's get more people to the table!

That's all for now. As soon as I have the pdf document in hand that out-lines the leadership team plan I will forward it to all of you. And, I will be posting the video online in the next few days.

You have no idea how much it blessed me to see all of you- black, white, young, old, formal worship, jeans and guitar worship- together on the same page so quickly and eagerly.

I will see you Thursday, January 7, 2009- you can start eating at 11:45 am that day (The Village will provide lunch). We'll dismiss our meeting at 1:00, for those who need to get back to the office. But, you can stay as long as you would like- I will leave an open schedule for at least an hour after that, on purpose.

By the way, here is a link to the Pittsburg project.

Grace to you this holiday season.

Quick update to those of you who have been praying for the meetings I had this week, which I asked you to cover...



1. "The Birmingham Bible" meeting was incredible. We were praying for 10 to show- we had 18. The team that came together, many of them meeting for the 1st time, actually "expanded" the project (rather than shirking back from the goal of 100,000 Bibles for Birmingham) in several ways. Will post more later.



2. Pastor Short-Tee and I met at Pizza Hut today. Grumps, though good, has gotten old- and I had the kids in tow. Very quickly, we were able to lay out a plan, with dates & times, for some downtown hip-hop out-into-the-streets ministry for 2010- leading through the Spring.



More on both later. Keep praying.

Haven't had time to update over the past few days... so, instead of thinking and writing while in the office tomorrow, I'm going to see if Sasha will let us do this.

Social media- here to stay? Changing the way we communicate...?

Here's a quick video sent from one of the guys in our church, @AndyGreenfield. Sent through Pastor @RodneyCalfee... sent to me... showing you how some of word of mouth ideas spread. Take a quick look- it has strong implications for how we communicate- and what we communicate.

Here's a quick shot of the Thanksgiving Feast at Southtown- in the gym, Tuesday afternoon. Thanks to all of you who came and served, those of you who donated food & drinks... and those of you who kept making trips back and forth to our warehouse to pick up more tables and chairs in The Turtle when the crowd kept getting larger & larger.



We've been asked about Christmas (by Southtown & T.R. McCoy), as well as some other ministry opportunities which will open up more doors in North Birmingham, Collegeville, etc... all areas w/in a quick radius of our warehouse.



Keep praying. And acting. You are doing great work.

The Birmingham Bible- a project I need some help with

A few months ago, an Exec from The International Bible Society (IBS), now known as Biblica, contacted me about a project they wanted to create: dubbed unofficially as "The Birmingham Bible." This project is bigger than something I can pull off- and I'm not sure how, why, and what prompted them to contact me as the potential point-person. But, I believe we should do it...

I need your help...

The IBS is the group that prints many of the paperback Bibles that are given away at various ministry venues. They are cheap, cost-efficient, and last. We have dozens at our church building.

The concept of "The Birmingham Bible" is simple:

* Produce a Bible that has images and pictures of Birmingham- like the collage I posted above, which would be a potential mock-up of a cover. I snapped this on the iPhone from a local coffee shop.

* Have testimonials in the Bible from people who's lives have been changed by the power of God who live in Birmingham.

* Have a list of resources- of ministries, churches, and other relief services that are available in the city.

* The Bible would be given away FREE to those who need it. This would provide a tool for the church in the center of the city, ministering in the collage of colors and sounds and people that it is.

This is an inner-city effort, in large part- and I need your help. And, this is something they have done quite well in other cities.

December 3rd, 2009, 3:00 pm, at The Downtown Church (300 24th Street South, 35233) we're having a small informational meeting to lay out time-lines, needs, etc... and I'm inviting you into the conversation. Rather than meeting with them one-on-one again, I'm networking those who are interested, knowing that we'll expand our efforts to include more as the project prayerfully progresses. 

Here's what I'm praying for:

* 10 different groups to be represented at that meeting (to grow to 100 by the time the effort is complete).

* Insightful questions, wisdom, and the resources to make this happen quickly.

Want in? Email me. 

Today, you can host the Thanksgiving Feast in Southtown... if not, pray for...

Today, you have an opportunity to host a Thanksgiving Feast in Southtown- at the community center/ gym. We're feeding the (mainly) elderly residents in the neighborhood at 4:00 pm. This will not effect the GED classes- which we will continue doing as normal (6:30 pm). Come laugh with, hug, and reach out to the neighbors. We are planning a long-term presence in this area.

If you can't come, pray. Pray for...

1) The time we will share there.

2) For the City of Birmingham to grant our request for an apartment on site. This will allow us and other ministries/ churches we are working with to have an ongoing presence to provide services at times the community center is not open- with far more flexibility and connectivity.

3) For continued wisdom on which open doors to walk thru in this area.