one step out...

you know that scene in indiana jones and the last crusade when harrison ford while navigating the traps of the cave reaches a gap in his path, an uncrossable gorge, which he must traverse to retrieve the holy grail in order to save his mortally wounded father? following his clues he realizes that he must take a leap of faith into what appears to be a nearly bottomless chasm. well, it is at that same type of juncture that i find myself this week, as i embark upon an adventure that could lead to the foundation of the table.

in march, as a result of some of the relationships that i had been building with coworkers and some of the resulting conversations, i began to think about forming a group. call it a gathering, a conversation, a round table, or whatever you will, i wanted to create a time, a space, a community for those conversations, instead of piecemealing them together between refilling teas and running food. after rolling it around in my head for a few weeks, i mentioned it to renee as something i would like to do over the summer. well the summer has almost slipped by and i had yet to put any serious traction to this idea, as i am sometimes wont to do. well this past week renee called me to the carpet asking me what i had done to inaugurate this gathering. that conversation alone would have been enough to press the wheels into motion, but little did i know that they would be kicked into top gear the very next day.

merely 20 something hours later my brother-in-law, michael, asked me, "so, what's next for your ministry?" to which i responded, "i have in mind starting a group with a few of my coworkers from my jobs." he followed with the question, "what would that look like?" i explained how i would like to start a group that would meet and discuss spiritual matters that could progress into a study and on into a core group that would eventually be the foundation of the table. he responded with, "what's holding you back from starting that this week or next?" i hemmed and hawed a bit, before realizing that i had no good answer except that i hadn't asked anyone to join me. with that out of the way, we talked about trying it out the following week.

and so this week--wednesday at 11pm to be precise--i am going to host the first gathering at a local taproom, with michael generously subsidizing the tab with this weekend's poker winnings. imagine that, beer and gambling being used to further the kingdom of God?! i have invited or will invite 8-12 friends to join me in an open conversation on spirituality. of those i have asked all have either expressed interest in or outright committed to coming. as a wannabe pastor, i want to know and plan on asking (though, i reserve the right to change, rephrase, amend, or add to these questions as the Lord leads):

1. where they have come from?
2. where are they now?
   
3. how have they gotten here?
   
4. what hangups do they have with God, Jesus, the Bible, Christianity, and the Church?

i want a sense of where people are so that i can understand and reach out to them, meeting them in their situation. to that end this group is truly a mixed bag (with several disavowed christians, several Christ-followers of varying maturities, a fairly devout catholic, a few that are seeking, and several agnostic/atheists) and should give me a broad cross-section of austin's culture. i could add further distinctions that will likely prove interesting in the context of the conversation, but may not necessarily be helpful to illuminate within the context of this blog.

i anticipate lively and revealing conversation and hope that it will spark within each individual a desire for community and truth, such that they keep coming back in the following weeks. i desire that they will not only bond together in community, but they bring friends as well. i hope that we meet so frequently and grow to the extent that i have to find other means of sub"suds"izing the gatherings beyond even a year's worth of michael's poker winnings. i envision that one day this gathering will move from discussion of the general and superficial spiritual hangups that i initially anticipate, to a deeper discussion and study of biblical issues (such as the person of Christ, his work on the Cross, and his resurrection), to a core group that would be the foundation of the table. but of all the hopes and dreams that i harbor for this gathering, i desire, first and foremost, that each individual comes face to face with the life-changing reality of Jesus Christ and find their lives inescapably changed.

it is upon this adventure that i enjoin you. i need and covet your prayers, not only yours but those of Christ-followers in this great state, across this country, and around the world. if you find this compelling, i ask you to forward it on to anyone who you think might be equally moved. i would also welcome any comments or encouragements that you have, for i have never felt so much trepidation and at the same moment anticipation for anything in my life. it is truly thrilling. and so it is with you that i take my one step out...

first things...

where do i begin? this blogging thing has been on my mind for a while and yet it is a discipline of which i am not entirely sure. will i be consistent? will it be interesting? to these questions and many others i don't honestly know the answers. still, this nagging in my brain won't let me go to sleep, despite the late hour, until i get this experiment under way.

so hang with me. if you find my story compelling then share it and enjoin others on the journey that i have, with God and my family, begun. the crazy part is that many of you will know bits and pieces of my story and yet you might not have the grand scope. i write this as an attempt to consolidate my story and get all of you on board with where i have come from and where i am going.

so where do i begin? well let's jump in media res (in the middle of things). while attending the university of texas at austin, i had my crisis of faith, so to speak. for the first time, i was making my own decisions of who to hang out with, what to do, and whether or not to go to church. i had to choose to make my faith my own. during this time, i attended three churches in the austin area. the first church was too far to continue going regularly when i no longer had a ride. the second went through a hard change of senior and college pastors right around the same time many of my friends left and so did i. the final church was my church home until i left austin, first evangelical free church of austin, with whom i hope to partner in starting my church.

following college i ended up in dallas, where i married my wife reneé and tried to figure out what God had in store for me. i began to feel God’s tug on me toward going into full-time christian ministry, so i enrolled at dallas theological seminary, not knowing what i was going to do when i finished. during my time in seminary and as a result of a public shift toward being outwardly focused at our church, irving bible church, i began to develop a heart for the lost and spreading God’s kingdom.

reneé and i got involved with apartment life, an apartment ministry. i also got involved with the alpha program at our church and eventually interned with the externally focused ministries at irving bible. all the while i began to think about planting a church. at the same time, my heart was again drawn toward austin and particularly the downtown area. so there it is, an extremely short version of how I got here.

well i guess that is as good a place as any to begin and we'll see where this grand adventure takes us. Lord willing, it will take us to austin and through the foundation of a small expression of Christ's church.