Life Change

Those of you who have followed The Pathway from the beginning know that our prayer for the people of Tacoma from the very beginning is that God would bring about "life change" at the very core of who they are. The parable of the soils has become more applicable in my life on almost a daily basis. Those in whom the gospel is planted but does not take root are ineffective at best and are not believers at worst. We don't just want "butts in the seats." That's not our prayer at all. We have been praying, continue to pray for and want to plead with you to pray for genuine, deep-rooted life change in Tacoma. Here are a few stories of how that is happening and a few stories where it is not yet happening. Please pray for all of these and remember to be planting the life-changing seeds of the gospel in your own families, neighborhoods and cities!

Antwon Grodon: Most of you have heard me talk about Antwon. He was one of the first people I became friends with here in Tacoma and after a time of questioning and refusal to believe that Jesus would take him just as he was, he became a follower of Jesus. Antwon is devoted to becoming a passionate follower of Jesus. He changed his work schedule so he could be a part of a Community Group. The CG had to change their meeting night and Antwon works at 5pm on Sunday's (worship service is at 4pm). However, he is so hungry for the word that he reads the passage on his own and comes to worship from 4pm-4:50 every single Sunday.

Jamaal Lee: Jamaal was homeless when our intern Cris met him and he is still homeless. However, by the grace of God he has put his faith completely in Jesus, humbled himself to the point of taking a job at McDonald's (he was formerly a chef in some nice establishments), and is so hungry for God's word that he meets with one of our guys on a weekly basis just to study God's word more (he also attends worship and Community Group).

Rodney: We connected with Rodney through the boldness of our mission team from FBCUC. They knocked on a lot of doors and came across Rodney, homeless at the time, and desperate for help. They prayed with Rodney and the next day he found a place to live. He immediately began to seek God out and became our most consistent Community Group member. However, Rodney has since fallen into deep struggles with depression. He is 65 years old and disabled and can't understand that Jesus still has a purpose for his life. Many of our church still call him, check on him and he'll show up at worship from time to time, but so far his roots are not deep. He needs that deep-rotted life change.

Susan Haunhorst: We met Susan because her daughter Heather is a part of our youth group. Susan recently lost her job and struggles with many things that have a hold on her life. She has spent time with our family several times over dinner and has come to one of our Community Group meetings. She knows the gospel and understands that Jesus wants her but so far she has not experienced the life-changing power of new life in Jesus.

Monica Hansen: We met Monica because our church spent a year loving on the people of a transitional housing community in Tacoma. By God's grace I was connected with Monica's son Andres just a couple of weeks before they moved out into their own place. Through that relationship Kelli was able to get to know Monica and she has surrendered her life to Jesus. Monica's life is hard. She recently lost her job due to cutbacks and is raising 3 boys on her own. However, she is still pursuing Jesus because he has changed her life. She is choosing to put her hope in him instead of losing faith due to her situation.

True life change is a powerful and undeniable thing. It does not mean we won't have bad and faith-less days, but it does mean we will continually walk toward Jesus despite our circumstances because who we are has been changed. We need to see more life change in Tacoma and in our world.

Prayer for boldness

Yesterday at our worship service our former pastor from Lifepointe in Snoqualmie came down and preached through Acts 4:23-37. For anyone who is a pastor... and this is new for me... it is a great blessing when you get to be taught the word of God from another perspective. It is a good thing. It is a healthy thing. It is an introspective thing that must be expressed outwardly in a changed life in the same way that I call our people to on a regular basis.

Long story short I want to ask you to pray for some specific people. Chris preached on boldness for Christ from a unique urgency as a result of the reminder of the fragility of life that came from Friday's double tragedy in Japan (earthquake and hurricane). I read an email from another pastor that said less than one half of one percent of the people in Japan have a relationship with Jesus. That makes for a triple tragedy.

The message Jesus preached through Chis was powerful throughout but one of his main focuses was where we are to start in the process of preaching the word of God with boldness. The starting point is prayer. At the end of Acts 4 we see that the believers gathered together in prayer and the Holy Spirit was so powerfully present that the place where they gathered together was shaken. Did you know that's not just a beautiful word picture? That actually happened. Have you or I ever prayed with a boldness and a faith worthy of God shaking the entire place in which we sit. Wow. I want to pray that way.

Well, at the end of the message I was reminded of a Scripture that rocked my world this week in 2 Corinthians 5:14 that says, "The love of Christ controls us." I have to ask myself if his love really does control me on a day to day, moment by moment basis. Instead of continuing on with a time of singing we allowed the Spirit to move, by the grace of Jesus, and we split up into groups of 3 or 4 and prayed individually for the people God has been calling us to share Jesus with boldly. We went one at a time in our groups and prayed for boldness this week. We also told the unbelievers in the group that they would need to be bold and admit that they don't yet believe, and we would pray for them (if there were any unbelievers in the group).

I want to ask you to pray for some specific people that God is calling us to be bold with.

John-- our next door neighbor who comes from a family of Lutheran pastors, experiences deep depression, yet sees no need for "religion." Pray that I would be bold in telling John I agree with him, I just believe he needs a relationship with God through Jesus!

Micah-- This is a friend of ours who claims Christ but does not live for him at all. Pray for his wife whom Kelli is getting to invest in and who is actually seeking Jesus right now.

Keanna-- This is a woman that Kelli has been investing in who we don't believe knows Jesus. Pray for Kelli to have patience and know how to pour out the love of Jesus on her.

Monica & Maria-- These two women are followers of Christ but are very new to their relationship with Jesus. Pray for Kelli to be bold in love with them about what it means to live for Jesus.

Who is God calling you to be bold with. Pray for them but pray also for boldness in you so his Kingdom would grow!

Filled with the Spirit

This weekend our Leadership Team went to a conference in Tacoma hosted by the church of a pastor friend of mine, Bo Noonan. The church is New Communities and was planted in Tacoma 4-5 years ago as a part of the New Frontiers family of churches. The conference was called "Reformed, Charismatic, Missional..." an intriguing title to say the least. We attended for two reasons; One, I always try and take our leadership team to at least one conference a year to challenge us, develop unity and spawn creativity. Second, I didn't want to take everyone to a conference where we already agreed with and knew everything that was talked about. To be honest, as a Southern Baptist born and raised, the "Charismatic" in the title scared me and intrigued me the most. I knew it would step on our toes a bit and force us to look at Scripture. Boy did it ever?

Terry Virgo is the founder of New Frontiers and he was charged with speaking biblically on the filling of the Holy Spirit. He did the most amazing job of taking a biblical look at what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit. He began in Acts and walked through several different examples. Beginning of course with Acts 1:8 he pointed out that the believers were filled with the Holy Spirit in a unique way that day. He noted that, "prior to the day of Pentecost, Jesus told his followers to "wait" on the Holy Spirit. After Pentecost, no one was ever told to wait again." In other words, as believers we all have free access to the Holy Spirit's indwelling power. But, the question is do we all receive the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation, as I have always believed and taught?

That led Mr. Virgo to take us to Acts 19:2. Paul asked the "believers" at Ephesus, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" "And they said no, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." That is a very interesting response to focus in on for someone like me, who has always believed that the Holy Spirit comes at salvation. How could these believers, recognized as believers, not have the Holy Spirit?

Mr. Virgo also walked us through several other passages. Acts 9 for instances shows us that Paul was "saved" during the famous supernatural experience he had with Jesus on the road to Damascus, but it was not until several days later that he received the Holy Spirit.

However, Mr. Virgo also pointed out another passaged that showed another way in which the Holy Spirit came on believers. In Acts 10:44 we see that as Peter is preaching the word to the Gentiles that the Holy Spirit came upon them. In this particular passage the Holy Spirit came as the the people were hearing the message. However, that is clearly not always the case.

So the question remains-- are we "filled with the Holy Spirit" at the moment of salvation or is that something that happens later? The answer... I haven't figured it out yet!!!

Based on the Scripture I've looked at so far it seems that there is not one way or moment that the Holy Spirit comes but it is very possible that a person can be saved without being filled with the Holy Spirit. However, the Scripture also seems very clear that there is no reason not to be filled with the Holy Spirit. All we have to do is ask and believe. Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 1 that it is his responsibility to fan into flame the gift that he has been given. Mr. Virgo contends that this gift is obviously the gift of the Holy Spirit. However, many would contend this gift refers to specific spiritual gifts. If this does refer to the gift of the Spirit then it would lead me to believe we can have the Spirit but we can quench the gift through a refusal to use the power of the Spirit. I also notice in the beginning of Acts that Peter is filled with the Spirit at Pentecost but then again in Acts 4:8 he is "filled with the Spirit" before he speaks to the court of the High Priest. Does this show we can be filled with the Spirit multiple times? Tough questions that need to be asked but are obviously not easy to answer.

All this and we haven't even gotten into speaking in tongues, a topic most of us think of immediately when we hear the word charismatic. One thing I will say is that when we read of conversion experiences in the book of Acts they are not always followed with speaking in tongues, but it is undeniable that they are "often" followed with speaking in tongues. It's something that as a Southern Baptist I can't ignore. I don't want to be content with being faithful to my Southern Baptist roots... of which I am very grateful... but I want to be faithful to Jesus through my faithfulness to the Word of God. There is absolutely a charismatic... Holy Spirit filled... element to the Christian life that far too many of us have ignored for far too long.

I don't have it figured out but I'm not ignoring it anymore. I believe in the Holy Spirit and the power that he brings. God promised him to us for so many reasons and I want to use his power and filling to the fullest measure for God's glory. Ask yourself this question: have I ever looked objectively into what Scripture says about the filling and purpose of the Holy Spirit or has my opinion been shaped by those who have gone before me? I've been challenged to seek the Scriptures for answers. Will you do the same?

Living intentionally takes time...

Anyone who has ever read something I've written or talked to me knows that I'm a firm believer in intentional living. I believe everything we do as followers of Jesus should have a purpose behind it... that purpose is to give God glory and to spark an opportunity to be able to verbally share his love and grace with other people. The great thing about living intentionally is that there are no rules that come with it. You just bring that purpose to whatever you do with your daily life.

If your a mom, you intentionally spend time with other moms. If you're a college student, you intentionally sit next to someone you don't know in class. If you're a high school student, you intentionally sit with people at lunch who do not go to your church. If you're a business professional, you intentionally spend time with your employees and co-workers outside the office and during lunch so you get to share life with each other. If you're unemployed, you intentionally work on resumes and contacting potential employers while using the free Wifi at Starbucks instead of at home alone. When you live this way, the pressure is off because you just look for who God brings across your path and you start to get to know them. You may share the gospel the first time you interact... it may take longer... but if you live intentionally, God will respond.

This last week I was encouraged in an area of intentionality that has been somewhat discouraging for me. For most of the time that I've lived in Tacoma I've played basketball on Tuesday and/or Thursday afternoons for two reasons: First, I love to play basketball and it's a fun way to stay in shape. Second, I knew it would be a great way to get to know guys in my city and hang out with them over and over again... week in and week out. Well, there are a variety of ways God has used this to open some doors but for the most part I haven't seen the "results" I've been looking for. However, this past Thursday I went to work on some stuff at a coffee shop in town called The Mandolin. When I walked in I saw Chris, a guy I've been playing ball with for a year. We got to chatting and I found out that he used to go to church and hasn't in a while because he bar tends at a hotel down town on Saturday nights and simply doesn't want to get up Sunday mornings. I was able to invite him to our worship service... Sunday's at 4pm. We'll see what comes of that, but I was encouraged to know that God is faithful and he is working behind the scenes in ways we see as well as ways we don't see. My prayer is not just that Chris would come to worship, but that I would continue to get to know him and take the opportunity to share the gospel with him. Then he will crave going to a worship service! Keep living intentionally and sharing Jesus every chance you get. Be bold. God will respond.

Tiffany

Most of you who have been following the Higginbotham's and The Pathway for any amount of time know about Tiffany. Tiff came to live and be a part of our family about a year ago now. She left us in December after multiple times of intentionally deceiving our family and refusing to stop. Several months before she left us we found out she was pregnant. It was a very emotional ride because we were so excited about the new life but so sad about how it came about and the reality that this child would not know her father.

A couple weeks ago Tiff called my cell phone just to check on us... interesting. Then we found out she attended one of our churches Community Groups with Becca (who had also become like family to Tiff). She then spent an entire afternoon at the house with Kelli. We didn't really know what to think. Our hearts are very guarded after being hurt by Tiff so badly but we also love her so much and want her to know the love of Jesus.

The baby was due on Valentine's day but Tiff's water finally broke this Saturday night. She had told us that she wanted us there when the baby was born but things were still very awkward and it is just so hard to know how to love her. Kelli visited her in the hospital immediately and I went up to see her on Sunday with the kids. When it became apparent that the baby was coming on Sunday night Kelli went back up to just "be there." Kelli texted me about 1:00am that Tiff had asked her Grandma and Becca to be with her in the room during the birth. Kelli was in the waiting room... hurt but also supportive and full of grace... the way Kelli always is for those of you who know her personally.

My heart broke for Kelli because I know how hard it is to have someone you love continually push you away. I rolled over in bed and prayed. I said, "God, I love you no matter what. Even though I don't understand why this is happening and why we have to keep getting hurt, I love you. But Lord, please give Kelli something by your grace. Please give her something to be encouraged by."

A couple minutes later Becca called me and told me that Tiff had asked for Kelli to be with her during the birth of her daughter. I was near tears as I lay in bed. I told God that I honestly did not believe he would do that. I thanked him so much for his grace and at 2:00am Pacific time, Payton Marie Clifton was born into this world. She is beautiful. She is healthy. She has a lot working against her already in life. But the grace of God is working for her and I believe that grace is sufficient.

Please pray that Tiffany would surrender her life to Jesus. Pray that Kelli and I would continue to be granted wisdom to know how to love her and pray that Payton would grow to love Jesus as well.

Thank you all.

Breaking the Cycle

We have to break the cycle. There is so much sin in our world and it is birthed from a cycle of sin by people who are ignorant of the reality of grace and the true impact it can have on them and their families.

This "sin" cycle is impossible to overcome... without the intervention of the Holy Spirit. Entire families have been believing the lies of Satan for so long that it just becomes natural for the next generation to believe it as well. All the time I'm meeting people who feel so guilty for their immorality that they find it unbelievable that God or the church could want them and welcome them. We have to break that cycle. We're all sinners and until the Holy Spirit breaks the cycle of guilt, generations upon generations of families will live in hopelessness and end up in hell.

Porn. Porn is a cycle of sin that is crushing men, young and old, in Tacoma. It affects their relationship with Jesus, it affects their ability to lead their families and it affects their ability to lead the church. It leads to other sin and it is a cycle that was passed onto them by men they looked up to and it's a cycle they will pass on to those that look up to them. Porn has become normal in our culture. I was listening to local sports radio the other day and the hosts were talking about the quarterback of the Seahawks, Matt Hasselbeck, who is promoting software for computers that holds men accountable to the websites they look at. They weren't bashing him, they just couldn't fathom why he would care if a man looked at porn. They didn't understand why that would be bad at all. I talked to one man whose addiction is so deep that he finds porn on cell phones at the cell phone store. I talked to another man who gets it at the library. My heart breaks. We have to break the cycle.

This weekend Kelli and I took the kids and the pup for a walk and 4 houses down from us we saw a couple arguing outside their car. We saw the man hit the woman and throw her into the car. I sent Kelli down another street with the kids and Addie and told her to call the police. As I approached the car I saw the woman inside the vehicle hitting the man. There was a toddler in the back seat and another adult in the front seat. As I yelled for them to stop the other adult said, "It's okay, they're married." That's seriously the view people have. The couple beats each other and people think that is okay. That's normal. We have to break the cycle.

I could go on and on but I think you see my point. Sin and therefore Satan is winning the battle. We know he won't win the war, but he is winning the battle. Even in our most clean-cut families in our "best" churches we know there is often sexual abuse at home or fraud at work. How do we break this cycle? Honestly, I know of nothing else that will work outside the reigning down of the Holy Spirit. I believe we will only see the Spirit come in power through pointed prayer by the church. Will you pray? Will I pray? Lets pray that the Holy Spirit would reign down in Tacoma, and in your city, and that this sin cycle would be broken and whole families would follow Jesus! It starts with prayer... and we have to allow the Spirit to break the cycle of sin that has been handed down to us. We must look at our own lives!

[14] if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

(2 Chronicles 7:14 ESV)

Superbowl Sunday

When God put it on our hearts to begin meeting weekly for Community Groups and worship services, I overlooked the fact that our first worship service would be Superbowl Sunday. Normally that would not be a huge issue except that our worship service starts at 4pm... 30 minutes after the 3:30pm kick-off time. Ahhhhhh!

To be honest, in a normal situation we would have just had a super bowl party and gone back to normal worship services the next week. However, we had not had a service in 3 weeks, we had told everyone we would have one on the 6th, and frankly we were all excited about a time of gathering to worship Jesus!

Well, my attitude was not good. It's not like we have a massive amount of people to begin with and the thought of Superbowl Sunday had me envisioning maybe 6-8 people in attendance. Well, I was dreading it, doubting God and even a little frustrated to prepare for 6 people. What a sinner I am! Thank goodness for God's grace. Several days before the service God got a hold of my heart. By his grace I realized that I should practice what I preach. Our worship service is not a show for our people, it's an opportunity to bring praise and worship to Jesus in unity. God softened my heart, I repented, and became excited just to worship the Father. I also prayed that God would do more than I could imagine... which in this case wasn't very much.

Well, Sunday came and we had more people than we've ever had for a worship service!!! One of our newest guys had DVR'd the game and invited us over to watch it at his apartment afterwards. I told him we would probably have 10 people there. Well, after a fantastic time of worship, teaching and prayer we brought about 20 people to the apartment. We had a blast and no one ruined the score for us. God is so good and worshipping with his people is so amazing.

Thank you Jesus for teaching me to be satisfied in you while not remaining content with the lostness that's all around us.