Live Brave

Waiting Tables - Special Guest Blogger: Eric Tilstra

A couple of weeks ago, I was telling a friend of mine that I used to work as a waiter in college. As I was sharing with this person some stories; the Lord started to give me an image of “the church”. 
    

 You see my job was to "serve" and "wait" on others. To serve and wait on people who were not from the restaurant.  I didn't have anything in common with these people necessarily. No deep bonds or relationships.  But my job was that of service.  
    

I did however have things in common with and a deeper relationships with the people I worked with everyday. The number one thing we all had in common was, we were all there to do the same thing. "Serve" and "wait" on others.  Not everyone did this in the same way though. There were many different jobs that met that same goal. From the hostess who greeted everyone and found them a place to sit; to the dishwashers and bus boys who cleaned up when our guests/customers were finished.  The cooks made sure everyone got fed. The head manager oversaw the entire place and was the decision maker. No job was more important than the other. We needed all of them to function properly. Also everyone knew the menu and could share it with anyone at anytime.  Everyone pitched in and helped everyone else, and always for the purpose of serving others. 
    

People came to the restaurant because they loved what we had to offer.  Or maybe they were coming there for the first time because, “they were told by a friend” that it was a place they just had to check out.  Our manager would tell us that the food could be out of this world; but if we weren’t working together with our “vision” and goals in mind, then people wouldn't come back. You could tell when the place wasn't firing on all cylinders. But when it was; there was no denying the results. 
    

This is what the “Church” looks like to me. Not everyone does the same job; but every one has the same goal. To serve and wait on those who need Christ in their lives. Whether for the first time, or because they are coming back to Him after a long time away.  It is our task to meet them right where they are and first ask, “how can we help your today”  Or better put, “what is there greatest point of need?”  To "BE THE CHURCH".  If there is going to be ownership of any kind at Arise Community Church, let it be in this.

Eric Tilstra is a renegade pastor living in East Long Island, NY. His ronin status occurred when he was called to shut down the church he was serving in for 10 years. He glorifies God with his life and just had his third child with his beautiful wife, Tara.

Cheers

When I was younger I can remember staying up late just to spend time with my parents while watching TV. Depending on the night, they would watch an episode of Seinfeld, The Honeymooners, or Cheers. I liked Cheers because my parents did, not because I thought it was any good. But it was an intriguing show, even for a kid. It ran for 11 years. That is pretty good. And one of the most successful spin-offs of a show ever (Frasier) lasted 9, bringing Cheers' legacy to 20 years!

What was so intriguing about the show? It was in the tagline of the theme song: "Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name. And they're always glad you came." Of course it was in a bar, and it truly spoke to so many in America about real life, belonging, relationships, escape, success, failure, and community. 

Why do I write about this? Because one of the driving factors in planting a church for me was this: There are A LOT of lost people on Long Island. And here is the real kicker: There are A LOT of lost people on Long Island, and church is one of the LAST PLACES I would want to take them to introduce them to Jesus. And it is also one of the last places that would remind you of somewhere that "everybody knows your name and they're always glad you came."

And hear this: Bars know community better than churches do. People feel like they belong in a bar WAY more often than they belong in church. There are so many reasons for this, like pride, judgmentalism, and irrelevance, but what needs to be understood is most lost people don't want to go to church because they can't imagine that they would even come close to belonging (or because they just plain think it sucks).

This is why Arise Community Church is being planted. I am sick of seeing people not come to church because think they would not belong. I am sick of seeing people who follow Christ only cater to the people who already believe, and will even quit preaching God's Word to make sure the seats are full with the people already on the team. I want to be able to take the lost people I meet to a place I know they can really meet Jesus.

I am not the only person who feels this way. I have a team of people who are PUMPED to help create an environment for the unloved, uninspired, and unchurched. They own it. They get it. And I am so proud of them.

Just thought I'd share where the push to plant a church came from. For more info (if you haven't heard this enough already) we have a website. www.ariselongisland.com

Live Brave. 

Sun Stand Still

This is my first book review on the blog, and I could not have a better book to write about in terms of relevance and personal application. Steven Furtick is the Lead Pastor of Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC, a church that he calls "a move of God." And if you know anything about him or the church, there is really no disagreeing with his assessment.

So he wrote this book from his life experiences in becoming a Christian, going to college, preaching to the lost, and planting a church. He said a lot of what made the difference was receiving vision, praying for the vision, and doing the necessary things the vision called for. When he received his vision from Jesus, he activated his faith and left the rest up to God.

The idea of the book is found in Joshua 10:12-14 where Joshua was conquering some of the first bits of the Promised Land. He was busy defeating the Amorites when he noticed that they fled and hid. Joshua knew that when the sun went down it was going to be hard to see the enemy and truly win the battle. He held on to the promise God gave him, believed that God would answer his bold prayer, and went out and marched to get the enemy as if the prayer already worked. He prayed for the sun to stand still until the battle was over. It did.

God gives us all vision. Sometimes we don't receive it. Sometimes we receive it but we don't believe it. Sometimes we believe it but we don't do anything about it. Steven Furtick calls Christians who live as if God doesn't answer prayers anymore to an audacious faith that can make miracles happen. Movements of God can happen in all types of churches, but they start in the heart of the believer!

Steven casts his vision and inspires the reader to "Ignite the Ordinary" in their lives. He references Moses and the burning bush. It was just an ordinary day. Moses was doing his every day job. It was an ordinary walk with an ordinary bush. Then something extraordinary happened. God showed up. He ignited the ordinary and gave Moses a vision (you will lead my people to freedom and the Promised Land). 

I personally wonder the conversation Moses had with his people after that moment with God and the burning bush. He didn't have pictures or video. Nobody was facebooking or tweeting what was happening. He had to tell his people and Pharaoh that He met God - and he had to believe God was going to come through.

In "Sun Stand Still" Steven uses the people of the Bible and the people in his life to connect the reader to hearing God's Word, speaking God's Word, and doing God's Word. In almost every character in the Bible, and any person who has ever made a difference in ministry, there was vision, faith, and action. Without the listening for God, the praying for the vision, and doing it as if it is already done, Steven says we are missing out on a huge part of our walk with God.

"It is not until [we] risk failure, embarrassment, and physical harm that the supernatural power of Jesus starts working on [our] behalf."

This book wrecked me. It showed me a lot about God's Word, prayer, and living my life in worship. It taught me a lot about faith and how I need to rely on His provision over my ability. God listens. A man once asked for the sun to stand still. It did. It hasn't happened since. Why not?

This type of prayer, a "Sun Stand Still" prayer, is the type movements of God are founded on. The sun may not have stood still since, but God has moved powerfully many times because of others' faith. Can God do that for you? Will you ask Him?

 

*To purchase Steven Furtick's book "Sun Stand Still" go here.

Calling/Comfort

I was doing some thinking on my last post, and my mind is still struggling over the quote "If you are comfortable you are not growing."

That is truly me. I insist on comfortable things. A lot of my life is founded upon how comfortable I can be. I make hard decisions based on how uncomfortable it may make me. I sometimes do more work trying to avoid discomfort than actually working in general.

If this is you too, I want you to think about this: Calling Over Comfort. It means to take seriously the calling you have as way more important than your comfort. Anything worth doing requires discomfort. Exercise, education, relationships, service, spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ, tests in life, and even getting good at meaningless things like beating Zelda II: The Adventures of Link (kidding, kinda).

Your calling is WAY more important than your comfort. To live a brave life, you need to step outside of the comfort zone you have created. Growth in your life and powerful things in other's lives will happen when you radically obey instead of worrying about your comfort. 

The call from Jesus is not about comfort. He said, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head" (Luke 9:58). 

Calling > Comfort

The cost of following Jesus is surrender of your comfort. Nobody elsewhere in the Bible was called to do something without first being required to lay down their comforts. So do the hard thing. Step out of that zone. Tell somebody about Jesus. Ask them why they think church sucks. Talk to you pastor and ask him what he needs help with. Go for that job. Finish school. Take such a large step of faith that it would be harder to turn around than to proceed! 

On that note, as well as a convenient plug for Arise, if you are interested in helping plant a church (and have the mature standard and passion to do so) give me a call or an email (dan2thecross@gmail.com). 

Calling Over Comfort.

Bear Mountain

Yesterday I hiked up Bear Mountain located near the Palisades in New York (very close to the New Jersey border, about 25 miles north of Nyack). The trail was interesting and quite fun. I did it all by myself in search for a few answers and to test myself. My plan was to ascend and get to the top, read Exodus (just because that is where I am in reading the Bible in 40-days), then descend and head home.

About 30 minutes in, I was exhausted. The loop I took was the Major Welch trail, which was essentially a mile and a half straight up. The incline was fierce and challenging, and I loved every minute of it. Like I said, my plan was to read God’s Word at the top, but I found myself tired and hungry looking down on the half mountain I climbed. I took out my Bible and began to read.

Right there, God spoke to me and told me that I could no longer wait for mountain top experiences to try and connect with Him. I had to realize my spirit’s hunger for His voice DURING the climb, and take time to rest and listen. When I stop to think about all the times I was closest to Him, it was when I was being obedient, so needless to say I was happy to receive a message.

 

I read in Exodus many things that seemed new to me. I reached the top of Bear Mountain and saw such a beautiful sight. I praised God for His creation, and read some more. The verse that stuck out to me was Exodus 20:22: “You have seen for yourselves that I [God] have talked with you from heaven”. Wow.

Wow.

Wow. He really does speak to us. And a lot of Christians do not believe that He does. We are told to read our Bibles, but we make it some religious rule, when really it is a time to HEAR FROM GOD!

So that is what I was hearing, that if I want to continue to hear His voice, I need to dive deep into His Word and LISTEN. Then, I need to do what He says. Pretty simple.

I got to visit Nyack College on my way home, a place I spent 4 years of my life. A great 4 years. A sorely missed 4 years. I prayed for the current students because I wanted them to receive the blessings I received from that place. I wanted them to not waste it like I did (for some part), and I wanted God to know how important that time was for me. It shaped me. I also got to meet up with my good friend, Jamila. I CANNOT WAIT to reconnect with her soon. God is doing amazing stuff in her life.

I hope you hear from God. I pray that when you do, you also do what He tells you. He might not say much else to your heart until you do.