Momentum, Challenges, Excitement, Opportunity

Momentum: I blogged about momentum a while back.  It's a tricky thing you know?  Its very essence demands that there be seasons of experiencing the opposite of momentum.  I guess that would be stagnation and/or struggle.  By the grace of God I believe we are experiencing momentum right now.  Thank you for all of your prayers.  I truly believe prayer is the crucial ingredient.  Most of you know that congregational prayer is THE emphasis for The Pathway this year.  We've been gathering monthly for concerts of prayer and asking God to bring spiritual healing to our city.  

As always, God has been gracious.  Easter and everything that went with it (Sponsoring a 5k, Murder Mystery, Good Friday Gathering, pancake breakfast, baptisms and more) has sparked new momentum for our church.  The arrival of our new Associate Pastor and his family coupled with the grace with which our former worship leader has teamed with him has brought momentum.  I shared several blogs ago that I have been asking God to help us eclipse the 100 people barrier in our worship gatherings and this month we averaged 97... he knows what he is doing.  We've launched 3 new groups and one more launches this week.  God is good.

Challenges:  Of course when the Spirit brings momentum challenges ALWAYS arise.  In recent days we have learned that 2 couples who are key leaders in our church are moving on.  They both lead Intentional Communities, they have both been with our church for extended periods of time... they are both incredible.  My first reaction to the news was fear.  After all, I'm always blogging about how we need more leaders.  But God has reminded me, in a very clear and loving way, that when Jesus is your leader, you need not be afraid.  He is going to provide new leaders and even greater opportunities for our church and more importantly for his Kingdom going forward.

Excitement: This perspective has moved me from fear to excitement.  After all, these couples are missionaries.  They truly are.  Now they are going to new cities in different states to saturate their new communities with the gospel.  This is what we prayed for from the beginning of The Pathway.  It's in our vision statement... We want to be a church with beautiful feet... sending missionaries.  We want to pray for them, celebrate what God is doing in them and support them as they go.  There are not many things more exciting than sending missionaries!

Opportunity: With every wave of momentum, with every challenge and with every exciting new venture comes a swell of opportunity.  I would ask you all to pray for new leaders to rise up, new leaders to embrace God's call on their lives and new disciples to lead new Intentional Communities.  There is tremendous spiritual opportunity in Tacoma.  God has been working, is working and will continue to work.  Please join us in praying for the spiritual healing of the people in Tacoma.  We are desperate for it.  We are broken for these people.  We believe the opportunity is endless and we are asking God to continue to provide workers for this incredible mission field!

[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

The Heart of Jesus

Marybeth Coker was a semester intern with The Pathway and decided to stay on as a volunteer staff member.  During staff meeting yesterday she told a powerful story of love demonstrated to her on Mother's Day.  I asked her to share the full story so you could get a glimpse into what I believe is the heart of Jesus displayed through Marybeth and The Pathway church.

His name is Jack.

Here I was, a 20 year old girl in Tacoma Washington standing in line waiting to order at McDonald's. I had nothing but food on my mind when an older homeless man asked me if I had any cash. I had been to this McDonald's a lot, and one thing I had noticed was the amount of homeless people always hanging out right by the front doors. “I only have my card, but I’ll buy you dinner if you sit with me.” I said.

He seemed hesitant at first, but then he agreed.

Now I have never really had the best memory but this man's style won’t let you easily forget him. I had seen him before at this very McDonald's. He is in his early 60’s with the skinniest legs you ever did see. He had on skinny jeans with a white jacket that was lined with fur, three or more hats tied around his neck and curly peppered hair.

“One double quarter pounder, a large fry, and one large Coke.” he went on to order.
 We got our food then went to sit down at a table. “What’s your name?” I asked. “Jack” He answered “My name is Jack, I’m from Nebraska. I played football all through high school and college.” He kept talking and I kept listening. He told me he had been in the military, and that he hadn’t seen his wife and kids in many years. He told me he was addicted to cocaine and that he wasn’t going to give it up for anything.   But one thing I will always remember from that day is. I have never seen someone put as much salt on their fries as he did. HA!  

I went on to tell him that I was from Texas, and I told him about my family, about how I missed them and how much they mean to me. Our meal had finished and I was getting up to leave. He put his hand out for me to shake and I pulled him in for a hug. He kissed me on my cheek before we left and said “Thank you for talking to me”.  I don’t know if he knew I needed someone to talk to just as much as he needed to talk to someone. 

A few weeks had gone by and I hadn’t seen Jack anywhere. I went to the McDonald's every few day to see if he was there, but no luck. Then one Saturday night as I was getting food I heard someone call my name, and there sitting in a booth by himself was Jack. I was so excited! I had been looking for him and there he was! AND he remembered my name! I went up to him and said hello. He started by asking if I had any money. I dug into my wallet and pulled out a 5 dollar bill. “5 dollars?” he laughed. “What am I going to do with 5 dollars?”  

The whole time I was sitting with him he kept looking off talking to something. I knew that whatever he was battling had gotten a hold of him this night. He then told me more stories, but this time they were darker than the one he had told me before. This time I didn’t leave with a happy feeling, I left with a grieving heart. Why was I so sad? This is the second time I had every talked to him.  Why did I feel this way already? As I was getting ready to leave he asked what I was doing the next day. I told him I would be with my church and that he should stop by if he could make it. 

Now I knew this was a long shot but he gave me his word that he would come.
The next morning I got to Franklin Elementary where The Pathway gathers for worship around the same time I always do and started setting up. Once things were all ready to go we sat down to pray before everyone else arrived. Someone asked if we had any prayer requests and I asked if they would pray for my friend Jack, that he would come to our gathering and just for his life in general.

We prayed and went on with our Sunday morning routine. The gathering had already started and I was leading the middle school class back to where we normally meet when grumpy old Jack came walking in the building. I won’t lie, I didn’t think he would come the first time I asked him to come.  I didn’t even know the next time I would see him so seeing that old man's face that morning brought joy to my heart.

Jack has been coming to our worship gathering for 6 months now.
He walks right in, every week, with a bag of chips, and a 2 liter of Dr.Pepper.
He’s here every Sunday, almost as early as the set-up crew.

I love this old man.

I love that he brings me my things when I leave them lying around.
I love how he acts like a grumpy old fart but truly has the sweetest heart.
I love when I see him talking with other people in the church.
But most of all, I love that my church love’s my friend.

This past Sunday was Mother’s day. I felt it again, I missed my family. It’s funny how God works, he always seems to send me a little gift of joy when I need it.
I was sitting down, waiting for the service to start when Jack came up to me. “Here” he said, handing me something. It was a plastic grocery bag. Inside were two bags of chocolate and a card.  I laughed when I read “Happy Mother’s day to you!” on the front of the card (seeing that I’m not a mother I thought it was funny). As I opened the card to read the inside, 4 crinkled up dollar bills fell out. 

Sometimes I feel like the little things in life don’t matter. That if I don't stop and say hello to the checker at the store it won't make a difference. If I don’t hold a door open for someone they’ll live. But these things do matter. If I would have told Jack that day at McDonald's that I didn’t have any money that would have been it. I would have never sat and talked to him, never been so frustrated with him because he was being rude to other people, and never seen the love of a Mother’s day card with 4 dollars in it. 

I loved that gift so much, but the thing I love most is I don’t just see jack as my friend, but Jack sees me as his friend too.  
Like I said before, I find it funny how God works.  On this particular day he gave me joy.  God gave me a gift.

His name is Jack.

Easter Update

I want to thank you all for praying for our church and all the ways we have been trying to bring the gospel to our community before, during and after Easter.  As usual, God has been leaving us amazed... absolutely amazed!  Easter Sunday was incredible.  We had 117 people Easter morning which was exciting and fun beyond description.  What an honor to get to share the story of the resurrection with people who understand its power as well as those who do not... yet.  I was worshiping Jesus simply for his grace to empower so many of our people to invite their lost and unchurched friends and family members.  The people of The Pathway stepped up boldly and invited folks in their circles of influence and I could not be more thankful!

Most of you know we were praying that Easter would not just be one high attendance Sunday.  We have been praying that God would maximize the season for his glory.  This past Sunday we had 85 people gather.  My heart is a bit torn.  The months leading up to Easter we have been averaging around 70... so to have 85 is tremendous growth.  But I want you all to know that I've been asking God to move our worship gathering beyond 100 people this year.  I still believe he can do that and I would ask that you pray that this Easter spark turns into a flame of worship & kingdom growth.

We also launched 3 new groups Easter week.  One new Intentional Community and 2 new connect groups... groups that will hopefully be a first step into Intentional Community.  Again, mixed emotions.  We've had people embrace all 3 groups, but not as many new people as we had hoped... yet!  That being said, we've already seen new people join groups this week.  Sometimes I think it just takes time and schedule adjustments for people to get involved.  Please pray that these groups lead people into authentic, messy, beautiful, missional and effective Intentional Community.  That's where disciples are made.  That's where the church gathers and scatters.  There is so much potential right now I am just asking God to help me stay out of his way!

117 people on Easter Sunday.  From 5 Intentional Communities to 6.  From 0 connect groups to 2.  We baptized 3 on Sunday evening... what a party!!!  There are changes for us on the horizon.  We need more leaders... please pray for more leaders.  Kelli and I went on a walk last night and just talked about how much we love where God has placed us.  Is it hard at times?  Absolutely.  But we love what God is doing in Tacoma.  We can't wait to see what the future holds!

A Hug from Jesus

Warning!  This post may be a little sappy.

This post is not going to be very long, mainly because it's 10:26pm and my wife told me to get to bed!  Many of you who follow this blog know that the last several months have been a struggle for me personally.  There's not just one reason for it (at least I don't think there is), but I've been somewhat discouraged.

Well, God's grace sure is sweet.  Quite a few months back, before the hard times were rolling, Pastor Duane from First Baptist Charlotte called and asked me to preach their revival services in April.  I jumped at the opportunity.  But then he and the church invited my whole family to come along.  And to make things better, their Director of Missions (Frio River Association) connected us with a FREE little cabin on the Frio River for 4 days.

I'm not gonna lie, back when all this was set-up I did not know the how much I was going to need the trip.  But now, I realize the entire experience was a BIG bear hug from my Lord, Savior and best friend King Jesus.  Just a few of the highlights of the hug...

-Day #1 I went to sleep at 7:45pm (thank you wife).  I did not wake up until 8:30am the next morning.  Did I mention I followed that up with 2 naps that day!

-Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday... just our family of four.  God has given us a love and a passion to surround ourselves with people.  A few days with just the four of us was a hug from Jesus I didn't know I needed.

-Our families bent over backward to give us rest and went out of their way to come and visit with us for a few sweet hours.  Thank you family.

-First Baptist Charlotte.   I cannot even begin to express how Jesus used this precious church to touch our souls and refresh our hearts.  The hospitality of Pastor Duane and his wife Sharon was exactly what we needed to experience.  The willingness of a church that is filled with folks old enough to be my grand parents were gracious to allow this passionate young preacher to share my heart and the Word of God with them.  The tender love and words of wisdom from Mr. and Mrs. Thomson, the 87 year old couple who modeled for us the kind of people we want to be when we're, well, 87.  And the list could go on and on.

Thanks Jesus for the hug.  And thank you all for your prayers.

The stars at night are big and bright...

The alarm clock in the Higg house is set for 3:30am as we begin our journey south... deep in the heart of Texas!  I was honored to be asked by one of our long-time partner churches, FBC Charlotte, to preach their upcoming revival services.  They were also incredibly gracious to invite my beautiful bride and kiddos along and allow us to come 5 days early so we could get some much needed R&R before the revival services kick off on Sunday.  We're thankful to be spending 4 nights and 5 days at Alto Frio Baptist encampment.  This is a place near and dear to my heart as I grew up going to camp there as a pre-teen and teenager.  I'm sure I'll get in a lot less trouble on this trip than I did back in those days.

Rest is something I must confess I tend to sin in.  I know some of us tend to wear our exhaustion as a badge of honor.  We proudly proclaim how many hours a week we work and how many extra-curricular activities we are able to juggle.  But for me, a lack of rest is nothing to brag about.  It's a direct result of my lack of faith in the God of the universe to handle things in my world while I take a breather.  It's really ridiculous when you say it out loud.  Resting is something God modeled for us in the creation account.  Resting is something God commanded when he gave the law to Moses.  Resting is something Jesus modeled unapologetically.

So why is it so hard for so many of us?

Again, I know that for me it's simply a lack of faith.  It's something I have to be on my guard against and it's something I have to repent from when I fall short.  All that to say, I'm so thankful for our upcoming rest and I am asking God to grant us a peaceful vacation.

Preaching these revival services is a new for me too.  I told Pastor Duane at FBC Charlotte that the "old guys" are a lot more intense than us younger dudes.  They consistently prepare 2-3 messages a week while I pour my heart and soul into preparing one... and find myself spent every time.  Now that I've been called on to preach 5 messages in 4 days I know that it is something that can only be done through the supernatural indwelling and outpouring of the Holy Spirit!  I'm excited to see what God does.  I don't want this to be another week.  I'm praying that God would do something in Charlotte Texas that none of us could ever imagine!

I was also reminded in an email from my mom this morning of the awesome, life changing power that can come from revival services.  It was on the final night of a 6 day revival service back in 1990 that an 8 year old little red-head gave his life to Jesus!  Thank God for any and every opportunity for the gospel to be preached and the Holy Spirit to move in people's lives.

Humbled & South Africa

My last post was entitled discouraged.  It has been a pretty tough season of life and ministry and I really just wanted to do what I've always done with this blog... paint a real picture for you of life and church planting.  Well, the result of the post 2 weeks ago was incredibly humbling and all I can do is say thank you.  Thank you for reading this blog.  Thank you for caring about me, my family, The Pathway and the city of Tacoma.  Thank you for all the kind and encouraging words, texts, Facebook messages, e-mails and even snail mail cards you have lavished on me the last couple of weeks.  I'm humbled by your care.  I'm humbled by your encouragement.  I'm humbled by your love.

I'm also encouraged.  I know that God has called me and my family to love this city.  We don't ever plan on leaving this city.  We hope to see our kids graduate high school in this city.  We hope and pray that God's Spirit will transform and awaken out city in a unique and powerful way.  God has given so much encouragement to me, by his grace, since last week.  My son Jagen was sick with a pretty high temperature on the night that my Intentional Community gathers.  I texted our IC to cancel and one of our ladies texted back and said, "Why don't we just meet at my house and I'll lead?"  So encouraged that while we were at home with our kids, our IC still gathered and grew together with Jesus.

I'm encouraged by lives moving toward Jesus.  A friend that I've been meeting with who had not yet confessed Jesus as Lord had a break through last week.  Glory to God!  Another friend I've been spending time with texted me and asked if he could gather with my IC.  What?  Awesome!  God has just been lavishing his love on me, my family and my church the last couple weeks and for that I am incredibly thankful.  I know it is a result of your prayers.  I'm encouraged.

I'm also in awe of what God is doing in our midst.  Many of you were praying for our first ever global mission team.  We got to see the beauty of the body of Christ working together as another local church invited us to go with them to serve Jesus in South Africa.  While there, our three missionaries worked with a pastor and his church to serve people for over a week in a small, struggling township in South Africa.  Below is a video that paints a picture of all that the team did, the people they were able to love on and minister to, and the glory that was given to God in the process.

I love you all.  Just as Paul said, I thank God every time I remember you!

Discouraged.

When Kelli and I felt called to help plant churches in the Seattle area we had no idea what to expect.  We had dreams, we had hopes, we had lots of questions, but in reality we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.  I could literally write a book on all the ups, downs and in between feelings that we have felt and experienced over the last 6 years both in Snoqualmie and Tacoma.  Church planting, like many things in life, is a spiritual and emotional roller coaster.  The best approach is to avoid letting the good times get you too high or the bad times get you too low.  But come on, we're human right?  That's way easier said than done.

I remember the first thing Kelli and I tried to do as a part of the church plant in Snoqualmie was a Bible study for new and not-yet believers.  We were hosting it in the club house of our apartment complex and we had invited quite a few people.  Our hopes were high but again, in reality, we didn't really know what to expect.  We showed up, set-up and waited.  We waited.  And waited and waited some more.  Finally, after a lot of waiting... we accepted the reality that no one was going to show up!  It was hard, frustrating and discouraging.

Over the last 4+ years we have experienced many of the same emotions.  I remember when we first started a Community Group in our home.  I would literally have to call and remind people up until the last minute and then I would have to go and pick them up just to ensure that they would come.  There were many days when almost no one came.  It was awkward, hard and discouraging.

Then The Pathway began having weekly worship gatherings.  I remember spending Saturday evenings and Sunday mornings on the phone and on Facebook trying to keep fresh in people's minds that we were in fact gathering for worship.  I knew that if they didn't come... it might be family worship time... as in, just my family!  These days were hard, exhausting, uncertain and often discouraging.

But through it all, God gave us the strength and courage to persevere.  We kept going and I remember reaching a point where I was no longer afraid that no one would show up at our house for our Intentional Community gathering.  I remember getting to a point where I knew that we would have people at our gathering every week.  It was a drastic change for me.  It actually left me with a feeling of relief instead of satisfaction.  I was relieved that we were no longer alone, but I was not satisfied because I knew, as I still know today, that God has not called us to simply gather.  He's called us to scatter and multiply.  He's called us to keep growing!

As time goes by and momentum begins to wane, memories of those discouraging times are still very fresh and real in my mind.  I do not want to go backward.  I do not want to stop reaching people for Jesus.  I do not want to stop seeing lives changed by the gospel, watching people gain a hunger for worshiping Jesus come on Sunday and celebrate what God has done.  I don't want to stop seeing community birthed, grown and multiplied intentionally.

Here's where I am today.  I'm a little more than a little discouraged.  But I'm definitely not ready to jump off the Tacoma Narrows Bridge =-)!  September, October and November were great months for The Pathway.  We saw numbers go up on Sundays and most importantly in our Intentional Community (IC) gatherings!  We baptized 5 people in November and you could feel the excitement growing in our congregation.  Then December hit and it felt like we slammed into a brick wall.  Our worship numbers went way down but I was still encouraged because our IC numbers remained consistent.  For a newer church, in the holiday season, that's a big deal!  It showed me that our people still understood the importance of community, even if they weren't able to make it on Sunday morning.

January was honestly confusing for me.  Our worship attendance was back up but our IC attendance was back down.  I don't really know why.  It's the exact opposite of what happened in December.  Then came February, our worship numbers plummeted to the point of awkward on some Sundays.  I haven't seen our IC numbers but it appears they too have declined.  Again, I'm not sure why.

So what's the point in saying all this?  Is The Pathway becoming more concerned with numbers than spiritual growth?  I hope not.  I would say absolutely not.  But I can't help but notice in the midst of all the numbers, in the midst of the inconsistency, that we haven't seen anyone place their faith in Jesus.  We have one person awaiting baptism (praise Jesus for that!!!), but we've been praying big prayers.  We've been asking God to multiply us, to use us to reach our friends, family, co-workers and neighbors for Jesus.  But that doesn't happen by accident.  That only happens through commitment, demonstrated by consistency which always takes sacrifice.  It will only happen if we make the choice to re-arrange our lives around the gospel.

We MUST be praying for life change.  We desperately need you to be praying with us.  And we must remember the most foundational passage of Scripture for The Pathway found in Romans 10:13-15... Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.  How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed?  How will they believe in him of whom they have not heard?  And how will they hear without a preacher?  How will they preach unless they are sent?  How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news?

I'm a little discouraged.  But by the grace of God I have a lot of hope.  I believe that the people of The Pathway who have a relationship with Jesus desire others to know Jesus too.  I believe that the Holy Spirit is uber powerful (that's right... I said uber), and I believe he has not stopped working in the hearts and lives of people all around us.  I'm praying that I will daily remember that people are not going to hear the gospel if I don't share it with them.  Preaching a sermon on Sunday is not enough.  I must go and engage the lost in my neighborhood and share with them the hope I have in Christ.

Then, I pray, by God's grace, we will see the waters of baptism full to overflowing.  We will see lives being radically changed.  We will see not only consistency, but growth in community and in our worship gathering.  But most importantly, God will be glorified by the obedience of his people and the growth of his kingdom!

In this moment I am truly ENCOURAGED!