The Strange Twist To Following ALL The Rules

In the previous post I talked about being a rules follower. If you haven't read it, check it out! In it I talked about why, over the course of my life, I always tend to follow the rules. But there's the strange twist to my life story. Though I always followed the rules, I never liked being just another face in the crowd. I relished the idea of going upstream while everyone else went downstream. If a movie was a huge hit, then I refused to watch it.

While I may follow the rules, I have an urge to question, just a little, and go against the grain. I have the urge to, dare I say it, rebel. If everyone in a room likes to go to a certain seat when entering, then I would steal someone else's seat just stir things up.

It's funny how I can easily go from being a conformist to a non-conformist. Maybe it has something to do with my desire to stand out, even though I don't like the spotlight. There have been times when I'm more like the younger brother in the story of the prodigal son. I go completely against the grain of conventional wisdom. I can say that I haven't really caused any trouble in this, so I guess I'm just minor offender in this area.

The younger brother went completely against the grain of his family and society. How dare he ask for his inheritance early! How dare he treat his father as if he were dead!

Well, not so fast. Maybe, just maybe, it was a good thing for him to go against the grain. We wouldn't have many of the inventions we have today, much less the technology, if people weren't going against the grain. The person that readily pops into my mind is Magellan. Conventional wisdom said the world was flat. Magellan spit in the face of conventional wisdom and proved that the earth was round.

If the younger son never went against grain of his culture, then he never would've gotten the chance to learn a valuable life lesson. He learned that no matter what he did or could ever do, the father will still love him unconditionally. There's nothing that can be done to separate him from the love of his father.

Could the younger son have learned that lesson another way? Maybe...but we'll never find out. He learned the way Jesus tells us he learned it. Going against the grain can lead to amazing results.

What about you? When was a time you went against conventional wisdom? What was the result? What did you learn?

Just Follow ALL The Rules

WOW!! It's been a while since my last "real" post. It seems I've been too busy to make this blog a much higher priority. Earlier this year I decided that I would at least post a few times a week because there was enough material, albeit in my head, to support such a push. A rule wasn't put into affect, per se. However, there was a feeling that it would be in my best interest to follow through since I had gone "on record" in cyberspace to post frequently. Well, as you can see, I started out with a bang but ended with barely even a fizzle. So here's my attempt to recapture that spark.

Speaking of rules, @ Crossroads Vineyard (CRV) we're taking an in depth look at Jesus' story commonly known as the parable of the prodigal son. It's been a great ride for us at CRV. I have really enjoyed the Life Group discussion about the older brother. You know the religious, rule-following, morally good, self-righteous older brother. I think I may have used too many adjectives but hopefully it gets you in the right frame of mind for the rest of the post.

The older brother followed the rules, not because he wanted to, but because he had a sense that it would earn him good favor with his father. He was the good son because he thought he could subtly get his father's money without really loving his father. In other words, he thought it was the right thing to do to get the reward. His plan to his father's money led him to a lost of self. He wanted freedom but ended up becoming a slave. He was a slave to his religious, morally good behavior.

Why do I follow the rules? I have always been a compliant child. If there was a rule, then I would follow it. As a fifth grader, I read the school handbook. I know, I know, I'm probably in the smallest percentage of kids that would've done such a thing. My enthusiasm for rules ended up getting me into a fight because I loved to share my new found knowledge with the other kids at the bus stop.

I follow the rules because I think it's in my nature to do so. You could probably say that I follow the rules because I feel like its in my best interest to do so. Obviously, the rules are there for a reason, most likely to keep me or others from some kind of harm.

I also follow the rules because it's the easiest way to get through life. My goal during my US Navy bootcamp experience was to make it through without getting into any trouble. I didn't want my Company Commanders, now called Recruit Division Commanders, to even know my name. Well, to my credit, if you want to call it that, I only got in trouble once. YAAAY! ME!

Early in my spiritual journey I had the same idea as the older brother. The way to earn a blessing is to follow all the rules. Yes...ALL means ALL! Even now I slip back into that thinking. Sometimes I think, "If I just pray a little more, then my children will get good grades. Or my marriage will workout better (or in my favor). If I just read my Bible more, then the things outside of my control will work in my favor." Following the rules can quickly become a means to try to control the uncontrollable, namely God. Following the rules, in my mind, can give me the false sense of being in control of the things outside of my control.

The past few months have been extremely freeing for my rule following, need for control behavior. As we were launching this in depth study, my mindset has been changed from one of praying to get psuedocontrol (I just made that word up) to praying to talk AND listen to God. This has opened a whole wide world of possibilities when it comes to rule following. Following the rules is not about trying to gain control. Instead it's about listening and doing because it's in my best interest to do so. I believe that God has my best interest in mind. He doesn't give a list a rules, instead He gives us suggestions that will be helpful for our lives, if we choose to listen and do. He's not going to make us listen and do. It's our choice to listen and do. After all, it's in our best interest to listen and do.

So, how about you? Why do you follow the rules? How has your reason for following the rules played out in your life?

The Prodigal God Prayer List

As you fast, please pray for the following:

Throughout the series people encounter living God

Lives are changed through improved relationship with God and others

We are a community that is a safe place for the people who have been beaten, battered, and bruised by life

We are a community that accepts those who are rough around the edges

Everyone feels welcome and accepted in our community of faith

Launch Prodigal God with 165 people in attendance

Average 125 people in attendance for the remainder of the series

Get 100% participation in our Life Groups

Seamlessly and quickly move people into Life Groups

Seamlessly and quickly move people into the life of the church

A generous return on the various forms of outreach/marketing that are planned

Money to fund the outreach/marketing

Anniversary picnic celebration

Use the following verses while you pray (don’t limit yourself to these verses; these are the verses I felt the Lord gave me while prayer walking in the community)

Eph. 5:14
For it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: 
   "Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."

Ps. 127:1 
Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. 

Amos 4:13
He who forms the mountains, creates the wind, and reveals his thoughts to man, he who turns dawn to darkness, and treads the high places of the earth— the LORD God Almighty is his name.

Haggai 2:7-9
I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,' says the LORD Almighty. 'The silver is mine and the gold is mine,' declares the LORD Almighty. 'The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,' says the LORD Almighty. 'And in this place I will grant peace,' declares the LORD Almighty."

Philippians 3:13-14
But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. 

Hosea 2:7, 23
She will chase after her lovers but not catch them; she will look for them but not find them. Then she will say, 'I will go back to my husband as at first, for then I was better off than now.' 
I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show my love to the one I called 'Not my loved one.' I will say to those called 'Not my people,' 'You are my people'; and they will say, 'You are my God.' "

Looking For God In Unexpected Ways

Mountain top experiences can be exhilarating and inspiring. They set a fire in our souls and we leave the mountain ready to tackle the world. Unfortunately, mountain top experiences don't happen every day and they fade quickly. All of us allow life to take over our every day lives. When life happens we tend to miss out on the little things that God may be doing or saying in our lives.

The prophet Elijah was running for his life and found himself on Mt. Horeb. The Lord asked him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He wasn't where the Lord wanted him to be. The Lord also chose to speak to Elijah in an unexpected way. Apparently, Elijah was used to hearing from God in big, miraculous ways such as the wind, earthquake, and fire. But the Lord wasn't in any of those ways this time. This time He chose to speak to Elijah through a still, small voice.

Instead of waiting for the few mountain top experiences, allow God to speak to you in that still, small voice. Look for God to speak in unexpected ways. Running has always been a spiritual experience for me. Today I ran and the Lord spoke to me about evangelism and the church I lead. Most of us expect God to speak to us early in the morning while everyone else is still asleep or during a worship service or during a conference. These are good place to hear from God but what about the unexpected ways in which he speaks.

If you're really yearning to hear from your heavenly Father, then look for him to speak to you in unexpected ways. Expect him to speak to you in unexpected ways.

What are some of the unexpected ways God has spoken to you?

The Decision

It's amazing that NBA can get more attention during it's off-season than baseball. All of this attention was because of one man, LeBron James. Regardless of your opinion about the news circus that followed his decision or the 'special' TV show put on by ESPN, there is a redeeming quality to this story.

James had tons of people grabbing at him. Every team, city, and fan wanted him to come to their city. Around 5 or 6 different teams courted James like they were looking for their future mate. Most commentators felt sorry for the people of Cleveland, OH the city where James was drafted and the state where the child prodigy was born and raised. Everyone in that state of Ohio wanted their beloved first son to stay home and bring them a championship.

Instead of folding and doing what everyone else wanted to do, James did what he wanted to do. He didn't allow people to make his decision for him. He could've easily crumbled under the pressure of trying to please everyone else. But he didn't. He made the decision that was best for him, his family, and his career.

People pleasing leads us to nowhere. People pleasing causes us to waste energy doing things that don't matter. It also affects our identity that we can only find in our heavenly Father. In people pleasing we lose ourselves and try to conform to everyone else's image of who they think we should be. In trying to please everyone, we end up pleasing no one. It's impossible to please everyone at all times.

If God has given you a task or an idea, then go out and complete that task or see that idea become a reality. It may not be the popular thing to do but go against the grain when you know that its God calling you to the task or its a God breathed idea. Decide to fear God more than you fear man. Don't fold under the pressure of doing what everyone else wants you to do. Don't fold under the pressure of doing what everyone else thinks you should be doing.

Excerpt from Greater Boston Vineyard's 40 Days of Faith - Fasting

You might have noticed that when people really wanted something from God in the Bible, they almost always fasted.What does fasting do? Fasting tells God and our own spirits that we really are desperate for God to meet some need or hope that we have.
Though fasting—in any fashion (and we’ll talk about some options in a minute)—is, by definition, hard, it’s actually meant to be a joyous opportunity. Suddenly we’re really serious about something with God; we’re really expecting him to come through; we aren’t just playing around. That can often be exhilarating!

What are options for fasting?
Well, first off, fasting often involves abstention from food in some way. In shorter fasts, that can be a total abstention from food. These are usually called “water fasts,” because water is the only thing going into us. For the most part, I don’t recommend these at any length beyond a week’s time, because after that, health problems can ensue. (Clearly God can speak and call you into anything—but I’d just be aware of the risks if you water fast for more than a week, and be in good touch with a doctor. You can also feel free to call our church office for more suggestions about fasting.)
Also, I do not recommend water fasts if you’ve ever suffered from an eating disorder. Those in our midst who’ve suffered from eating disorders historically have a difficult time separating this sort of fasting from the very motivation that drove them to the disorder, and thereby risk serious health problems. There are other great fasts that will do you a lot of good, if you’ve been in this situation, and can I ask that you’d pursue those?

Other food-abstention fasts involve imposing some sort of conditions on our eating over a period of time. (Some folks prefer not to call these “fasts”—reserving that title for water fasts—but prefer to call things like I’ll suggest here “consecrations.” Choose whatever terminology works for you!) This can involve anything from giving up some beloved food item for a time (desserts or sugar or caffeine being popular favorites) to something more challenging, like the so-called “Daniel fast,” which involves abstaining from everything but vegetables.

For longer fasts, I’ve sometimes done a “one meal a day” fast. It’s pretty much what it sounds like. The key is to actually eat a smaller meal than you normally would at the time, and to make that “it” for the day. If you ever know I’m on a “one meal a day” fast and it looks after awhile as if I haven’t lost an ounce, have a little talk with me.
People often pursue “juice fasts.” Again, this would customarily apply to shorter fasts, but it’s just like a water fast, except you’re allowed to drink juice, which will keep your blood sugar up and actually allow you to function at near-normal capacity.
Are there any non-food-related options?

You bet! Fasting from television is a popular choice for folks who aren’t fasting from food. Or computer games. Or catalogues. Or whatever you’d notice. These can really involve, under God’s direction, doing without anything that feels costly to give up for a season.

I’ve heard about fasts (or, again, “consecrations”) from criticism! The point of fasting is that, under God’s direction, we’re feeling desperate for something and we direct that desperation towards God. It’s just hard to truly be desperate for God and what he might do for us when our bellies are full and all our needs are abundantly provided for.
What does it mean to fast “for” something?

If you fast, I’d encourage you to let God know, frequently, what it is you’re fasting for which, I’d think, would at least tie into the “what do you want Jesus to do for you during a specific time period?” category. So, for instance, during one long fast I realized in, like, Day 3 that I didn’t really have a specific focus for my fast, and I asked God. He seemed to tell me that it was a fast primarily on behalf of a close friend of mine who was really far from God. Not long thereafter, that friend plunged himself into a life of pursuing Jesus for the first time in his life.

Does fasting help us lose weight (and I know you’re asking that on behalf of a friend)?
Isn’t this one of life’s colossal bummers? The answer, from all reputable sources, is, “No, not really.” There are 2 problems that keep this from being, for most people, about weight loss. First, once we’ve fasted (from food) for awhile, our metabolism slows way down (a good thing if we were ever to face famine!). Second, sadly, it seems to be human nature that, whatever weight we lose in fasting, we quickly put back on once we resume our previous diet. One national level leader who’s known for his frequent long fasts actually seems to have gotten significantly more overweight as the years have rolled on.
Now, the upside of this truism is that we really can let God know that we’re doing this because we want deeper desperation for and connection with him. This really is about more than body image.

Conference Junkie

I love going to conferences. I went to my first conference in 2000 and absolutely loved it. That first conference was a Men's Conference and God did a real work in my life. Ever since then I have thoroughly enjoyed attending church planting, leadership, denominational, and children's ministry conferences. I love the experience of learning from others in a large group setting. I consider myself a lifetime student. So, learning from others is something that I will always do.

This past week we attended the Vineyard Eastern Region conference. As usual it was a blast. I even got a few songs for us to sing in church. But more importantly God did his work in me. That's what makes going to a conference so special for me. I get to experience God in a different setting, outside of my church. Changing settings to encounter God can be extremely refreshing. Receiving prayer by from other pastors is one of the best experiences at the Vineyard conferences. Something really happens in the spiritual realm when someone who can relate to your situation prays for you.

One of the biggest works God did in me was during the last session. John Elmer, Syracuse Vineyard Church, spoke on connecting people to Jesus. The church is in the business of connecting people to Jesus. AMEN! God was already working on me in this area before the conference. He has already been working on some of the people in our church. Yesterday was the culmination of his work over the past few months. So, now it's time for the rubber to meet the road. One part of my calling as a pastor is to see people grow closer to God, this includes people who don't know him. It's time to refocus on connecting people to Jesus.

We have set a goal to have 50 people connect to Jesus over the next year. It's time to accomplish that goal! Please pray for us to reach this goal as a church.

Why We Exist

Earlier this year I read an excellent book about simplifying the way we do church. The book is titled Simple Church. That's an appropriate title for the content. One of my major takeaways was condensing our mission and vision statements into one simple statement. I doubt very many people, if any, in our church could recite either statement. Since changing the statement, it's hard for me to recite either of them.

After discussing with some of our key leadership, we decided on the new statement. CRV exists as a multicultural community that encounters God, connects with others, and serves our neighbor. If anyone wants to know what our church is about then there are only three words to remember: Encounter, Connect, and Serve. That's what we want to do as a church. We want to encounter God through our weekly worship service. We want to connect with others through our Life Groups. We want to serve our neighbors. We want to do all of this in a multicultural environment.

The feedback I have received from this statement has been very positive. I like the statement and will start making this statement a natural part of everything we do as a church. This statement will affect our weekly announcements. Now only the things that highlight the statement will be announced. All other announcements will be handled through ministries, Life Group, and other methods of communication. This statement is currently being used to formulate our goals for the next year. I'm going to teach on the statement in the January.

In short, this new statement has caused more excitement in me. It's helped me to be more focused. It has made planning and budgeting FUN! That's something I never thought I would say. I plan and budget out of necessity, not because its fun. But now its fun because I plan and budget according to making our vision become a reality.

Building the BIG MO'

A few years ago I hear Dave Ramsey give a formula building momentum. Here's his momentum theorem: Fi/T(G) = M (Focused intensity, over time, multiplied by God, equals unstoppable momentum). This theorem can be applied to a wide variety of situations such as church, small groups, money management, school, etc. It has become my hallmark and calling card for this summer. I have always been the type of person to work hard and play hard. I give my all to anything I do. My library can attest to that statement.

As a church we will do two sermon series FAQ and Now Playing to help build some of this momentum. (see previous post for a brief explanation of these two series) These two series will help us to launch into a church-wide series based on Tim Keller's sermons and book The Prodigal God. We're going to pass out door hangers for all of these series. Our hope is that these door hangers will get the momentum rolling for the summer and last into the fall.

We've already seen some results of our work. This past Sunday we had a young man come to church by himself as a result of the door hangers. He is 18 years old and just graduated high school last week. Here's the cool part. He's going to join the Navy in a few weeks. He wanted to get some answers to his questions about God. He saw the door hanger and came to the service. During the service he got his questions answered. He's looking forward to checking out the rest of the series as we continue to ask and answer questions. Here's the best part for me. I get to hang out with him before he leaves. Imagine the impact he can have on his bootcamp company with a relationship with Jesus Christ in hand. Young believers are a force in and of themselves. I can't wait to hook up with him.

He's only one spark of momentum I'm envisioning for our immediate future. God is already working in the lives of our leaders. I'll tell you about that in another post.

What do you think about the momentum theorem? Is there something you would add? Is there something you would take away? How do you plan on building momentum for your organization, life, finances, or family?

CRV Prayer Newsletter

Hello Prayer Partners,
It’s Summertime! The weather is H-O-T...HOT in Virginia Beach. I don’t ever remembering it being this hot, this early. The kiddos are out of school and I’m still enjoying the weather though. We celebrated the graduation of our 5th graders a week or so ago. It was great to see them moving on up to middle school! There was a Holy Spirit buzz in the air. I’m so proud of all of them, especially my son, Alex! The celebration was great but now this leaves a small void in our 226 Street ministry. The cupboard is bare. Time to refill it!

I was told by a friend yesterday that I’m already getting darker. I guess that’s what happens when you spend a lot of time at the local park and hanging door hangers.

Speaking of door hangers. We have a goal of 10K door hangers for the Summer. So far we’ve gotten about 3K passed out...only 7K more to go. Our door hangers are used for inviting the community to our Summer teaching series. We’re doing a series about questions we ask God (FAQ) and a Summer movie series (Now Playing). In the Fall, we’ll launch a church-wide campaign called Prodigal God. It’s using the story of the prodigal son to show us how we’re supposed to respond to God. We’ll pass out 5K door hangers for the Fall series.
Our two Summer series are designed to build momentum for the Prodigal God series. The Fall campaign will include all Life Groups studying the same curriculum. We believe there is immense spiritual power when a church moves in one, focused direction. These are exciting times for me as a church leader. We’ve already had a young man (18 year old...graduated high school last week) check out our FAQ series. It was great. The series has already answered some of his questions. He’s going into the Navy in August but I’m going to try and spend some time with him before he leaves. WOW! He’s the perfect example of why I do what I do!

We’re also looking at different outreaches for the summer. This will help us to connect with people who don’t go to church as well.

Over the past month I have been rolling out our Purpose/Vision statement. You can see our new/revamped purpose/vision at the top. It focuses on four words: Multicultural, Encounter, Connect, and Serve. That’s what our church is all about. This simplified statement will be the driving force behind everything we do from here on out!
Most people think the Summer is a time to relax and get rest. I think we can rest but it’s also a time to make a BIG push for the Fall. That’s what we’re doing as a church. We’re making a BIG push for the Fall because the church exists to love and serve our community. If I have to sacrifice some rest to serve our community then so be it. But don’t get it twisted. As a family we’re still going to take vacations and do some mini-trips. I’m just going to work my butt off when I’m not on vacation!

That’s about it for now! Thank you for your faithfulness!

So please continue to pray for the following requests:
-Protection for our family (immediate and extended)
-Isaiah wants his pinkie to be healed
-Katherine has an intense 5 week class starting (6/28)
-André wants to have tons of fun and enjoy his time with family
-Ideas for attracting more families with children
-Implement ideas for attracting the families above
-For God to show us where he’s working in the neighborhoods and for them to get invited
-Continue to grow 226 Street volunteers (children’s ministry)
-100% of adults and youth in a Life Group for the Prodigal God
-Open doors in Salem and Green Run for the gospel
-Finances for outreaches and operating budget; giving has slowed down … pray that it picks back up
-Ideas for outreaches
-My (André) personal growth and reading plan
-Goals are formed for the next ministry...so we need prayer for plans to execute these goals
-Our #1 priority: Evangelism (telling people about Jesus)
-Our #1 priority: Discipleship (learning from Jesus)
-We’d like to have creative ideas for an intermediate step for people to check out the church without coming to a service
-Implement these creative ideas
-Build momentum during the Summer months
-FAQ series
-Now Playing series
-The Prodigal God series

See you in a few months!
The Jenkins Family

Just Like Jesus

I am determined to emulate the ministry of Christ.
-John Jackson

A noble goal for any Christ follower is to model your life and ministry after the life and ministry of Jesus. Personally, I want to live a life that screams of Jesus. I also want to lead and minister in the same ways as Jesus. I'm finding that leading and ministering like Jesus is easy in some areas but difficult in other.

It's easy to lead like Jesus when the people are coming to me. However, going out to get or find them is a totally different story. Especially, when it comes to mentoring leaders. I really want to mentor in a way that's natural, life giving, and above all experiential. Experience is the best teacher.

Jesus' mentoring 'program' was experiential. He gathered his tiny band of followers one by one or two by two. He told them to follow and they did. His mentoring included eating together, traveling together, sleeping together, teaching together, healing together, baptizing together, etc. etc. etc. By now I hope you get my point. They did everything together. Jesus' mentoring was come, follow me, and do the things that I do. As a leader, I want to mentor in this simple way too.

I'm fortunate enough to write this post from London while on a trip with one of my mentors. So far we've eaten together, taught together, and traveled together. We sleep in the same general vicinity but I hesitate to say we sleep together. I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea. But if they do, then they do. He has decided to model his mentoring after Jesus' mentoring. After all, isn't his way to mentor the best way to mentor?

Who are you mentoring? Who has mentored you? Why is come, follow me, and to what I do the best way to mentor others? What can you do to mentor more like Jesus? What can you do to get mentored like the disciples?

Building A Multiethnic Community

We're going to have our first Building A Multiethnic Community Roundtable this Friday. I'm getting amped about this already. My goal is to have this seminar once a year. During this seminar we'll talk about culture, race, and ethnicity from a biblical perspective.

I'm not really going to teach this seminar. I'm going to facilitate it. It's not really a seminar. I consider this to be a town hall meeting or a round table meeting. I want to get people from different ethnicities together to talk about our differences and learn more about each other. The meeting will have scripture, videos, stories, stats, and more.

My goal is stated in Ephesians 2:14 "For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility." It's time for us to let Jesus break down the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility.

Please pray for our first of many roundtables. Pray that everyone gets at least one thing from the roundtable. Pray that the Holy Spirit is there and that we allow him to do his thing.

CRV Prayer Newsletter

Hello Prayer Partners,

It’s that time again. I can’t believe it’s so humid in Virginia Beach already. I’m hoping this isn’t a sign of things to come for the rest of Spring and Summer. Oh well! At least the heat makes people come outside, especially after a very cold Winter.

We had a really good series after Easter. You may have been praying for The Cross but I changed it on you. I can never settle on one title until it’s in print. The series was called The Icon. It was pretty good series for us as a church and people received a lot of prayer. Our goal is for people (churched, unchurched, and dechurched) to have an encounter with God every week during our service. I really believe that happened during this series. I’m looking forward to Mother’s Day, a series on Pride & Humility, and a series I’m calling Generations. We are seeing a few new people each week, which is always uplifting. There were a few weeks where no one new came in. However, that’s just a part of church life. It is what it is and we just keeping rolling with it.

Our outreaches have gone well. I delivered 15 Easter lilies to different businesses and organizations in the Salem area. This was very cool! Everyone was very surprised by the gesture. Our annual Easter Egg Hunt was amazing. We had close to 300 people come out. It was truly a good time. We’re ramping up to do more outreaches. I would like to do at least one outreach a month. Pray that we can reach that goal.

God really blessed our family recently. We haven’t had a dryer since late November. Our dryer broke and I couldn’t fix it. So for the past 6 months I have spent about two hours each week washing and drying clothes. A few weeks back our neighbor asked if anyone in the church could use a dryer. I immediately said, “Yes!...Us!” So we got a free dryer. It’s not new but it dries clothes. That’s the only thing that really matters. Praise God for his provision.

That’s about it for now! Thank you for your faithfulness!

So please continue to pray for the following requests:
~Protection for our family (immediate and extended)
~Attract families with children to the church
~New people to come in our doors and we retain them.
~Continue to grow 226 Street volunteers (children’s ministry)
~Implement our church wide communications strategy
~Growth in our Life Groups and identify the next Life Group leaders
~Open doors in Salem and Green Run for the gospel
~Finances for outreaches and operating budget; giving has slowed down … pray that it picks back up
~Ideas for outreaches
~My (André) personal growth and reading plan
~Implement some of the things I’m learning
~The discernment to know which things to implement as a part of our strategy

See you in a few months!
The Jenkins Family

Making A Difference

Yesterday I was invited to a dinner celebration for the Virginia Beach City Public Schools. It was a time to hang out with other volunteers and school administrative staffs. Our church won an award for being a Model Partnership with Salem Elementary School. It was great to receive this award on behalf of our church. I didn't win the award, our church won the award. I just happened to be the talking head that cast the vision and made the challenge. That was the easy part! The rest of the church stepped up and made the real sacrifices. Being in a poor economy makes this award more special to me. I also learned a few things last night.

I learned that there are tons of people who tirelessly give their time to help school administrations, teachers, and students. They devote tons of hours without batting an eye. This realization confirmed to me that people are starving to make a difference. They want to make an impact in their community. They don't complain and they work hard. What if the church provided the same opportunity? I think we do but we don't cast the vision for making a difference. Instead we cast a vision for needing help or needing a warm body to 'babysit' or make coffee. In order to capture people's hearts and passions we have to show them how much their contribution of time will impact their community.

I also learned that we need more guys to step up their games. I was overjoyed to see guys get awards for volunteering in schools. However, we probably only made 2-5% of the overall school volunteer force. So guys, STEP UP YOUR GAME! One or two or even three guys is great but we still need more. The children need more. They need to see men who give them a solid example of what being a man is all about. Who knows...you may be the only godly male influence in their lives.

The celebration was closed with a short video of a 13 year old African-American kid who is volunteering his time at an Elementary School. I had to hold back the tears because at thirteen he has already learned the two things that I learned last night. That kid got the message.

What are your thoughts about volunteering in the community? How about your church? Do you volunteer in your faith community? How can church leaders get better at recruiting people into service?

Laying It Down

This past Sunday really excited me. We discussed being weary and burdened down by life and religion. We contrasted the way of religion and the way of relationship. Of course Matthew 11:28-30 was our teaching passage. Jesus was contrasting the way of religion and the way of relationship. He was contrasting the religious leader's form of discipleship and his form of discipleship. His audience needed a new vision for life. They needed a new vision for their religion. One that was less burdensome.

We need a new vision for life. We need a new vision for our religion.

At the end of the message we wrote our burdens down on an index card. Then we laid the index cards at the foot of the cross. It was a very powerful moment. As I walked up to lay down my card, I felt the Holy Spirit moving me to tears. Yes...I get all misty eyed during our service. Not all the time...just sometimes. This past Sunday we all encountered the living God. I love encountering God!

What gets you excited during your services? When was the last time you encountered God during your service? What will you do this week to encounter God?

Afterglow: The After Easter Reflection

Ever since our first Easter Service in 2008 I have spent the following Monday reflecting on the weekend's festivities. This is the main reason why I decided to always work on Monday instead of taking it off as a sabbath day. Just in case you're wondering, I take Saturday off.

Our Easter Egg Hunt went really well. We had tons of people come out and join us. There were people everywhere. I also took the opportunity to do a community survey. My survey was a way to find out how our church can be more effective in helping the community. I got an amazing response. 33% of the adults present filled out the survey. 55% of those surveyed don't attend a church or are looking for a church. This was great for someone looking to reach people who don't currently attend a church.

Our Easter service went well too. We tried something a little different. We had the bulk of our music at the end of the message. I know some pastors who already do this but we don't. This was huge for us because we don't want to be tied to one way of doing our services. If the Holy Spirit says music at the end then we want to be obedient to His prompting.

Here's where the afterglow really kicks in. I went to Wal-Mart after the service to buy food for our Easter dinner with friends. I saw tons of people in Wal-Mart. There were people everywhere. I wondered out loud, "How many of these people attended an Easter service that morning?"

I know you can't tell if they went to service by their dress but I didn't see very many people dressed up. I think there were way too many people in Wal-Mart for them to have gone to an Easter service that morning. So then I wondered if people really go to church just because its Easter Sunday. As an unchurched person, I never thought twice about going to church just because its Easter. I wonder if church leaders are operating out of a false assumption that people will come to their church just because its Easter. I know I didn't! I guess now I need to come up with a survey that will capture this data next. I think that people are more likely to come to church on Easter when invited by a friend. However, just showing up because its Easter, I'm not too sure about that anymore.

What do you think about my reflection? Where did you go after your Easter service? Did you think a lot of the people attended a service that morning? Do you think unchurched people really come to church just because its Easter?

A Shift In My Thinking

Well, that time of the year is upon us. It's the Easter season and many church leaders are expecting lots of people to check out their churches. Many of us are spending a ton of money to put on a huge production. Will you reach our goals? Are you going to be effective?

Yesterday, I read a blog by Tony Morgan that talked about reaching people at Easter. He pondered whether we're really reaching the unchurched. I've served in the church for over ten years now. During that time, I have never thought about this question. Are we really reaching the unchurched? I just assumed that we were reaching people who don't go to church because our auditorium was full.

Morgan maintains that we are probably reaching the churched and people who are already connected to our churches. I will have to pay more attention this Easter. I want to see if we're really reaching people who don't go to church. I don't want to be the kind of church leader who assumes that we're being effective because we have full auditorium. In my mind we're ineffective if we have a room full of people from other churches. Jesus didn't call us to recycle, he called us to disciple.

What do you think about Morgan's blog? Is he accurate in his assessment? How will you pay more attention to people who show up this Easter?

You Play To Win The Game

"You play to win the game!" is now a legendary soundbite in the sports world. Then NY Jets coach, Herman Edwards, went on a tirade about playing and winning football games. These words echoed in my mind as I traveled home on Sunday after church.

Our male youth leader, Michael Coffin, preached on Sunday and did an excellent job of preparing people for our prayer ministry part of our service. All of our prayer teams were busy praying for people. We had people who haven't come up in a long time. We even had a few people who were 1st timers that got prayer. The song the band sang coupled with the message made our ministry an encounter with God.

Here's the tie in! We don't do Sunday service just to do Sunday service. We used to do that but not anymore. Our Sunday service has a purpose. We want people to encounter God every Sunday through music, the arts, multimedia, and a biblical message. All the elements in our service are designed to lead people into the ministry time. The ministry time is the high point of our service because this is everyone's opportunity to respond to their encounter with God. We 'win' when there are people responding by coming up to receive prayer. The 'win' tells us when we're successful. Everyone wants to be on a winning team!

Sunday was a win for the CRV corporate worship service. We play to win the game!

If you're a pastor or church leader, what's the purpose of your corporate gathering? How do you know when you're successful? If you're in the business world, how do you know when you're successful in meetings? Do your meetings have a purpose? Do you spend a lot of time wondering why your in a meeting?

Leading With 20/20 Vision

I really enjoy hearing someone else clearly articulate my thoughts. I just finished listening to some audio from the Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast. The talk was about communicating your vision convincingly. Two of the three points I already incorporate into my leading with vision.





The three points were:

Define the problem you vision will solve (CHECK)

State your vision as the solution (CHECK)

Answer the questions: Why us? & Why now? (NEEDS IMPROVEMENT)

By nature I'm a problem solver, a troubleshooter. You can call me crazy, but I get a natural high from solving problems. So the first two points come naturally. Unfortunately, I never think about asking those last two questions. People have to see why they need to be part of the solution and why the problem needs to be solved now. It's important to get them to feel the burden of the problem. This is one of the few times when feeling a burden for something is a good thing. Bill Hybels calls it holy discontent; which at its simplest level is no more than having a burden to fix a problem. Of course, the assumption is that your burden is God-driven and not man-driven or just plain ol' bellyaching.

When I followed the first two points, I saw amazing results. The last time I remember doing this well, is when we launched our first membership class last year. I did a message about church membership.

Problem: It's not good for man to be alone

Solution: God has adopted us into his family

Needless to this was our highest attended membership class. It also helped that it was our first but the point was made.

Recently, we placed more emphasis on our prayer ministry time at the end of our service. I don't think I stated the problem or the solution well enough. It's something that I will need to work on. I'm also looking at some changes in our Life Group structure. Its time to put into practice the things I have learned.

Casting vision has a lot to do with change. People don't like change and rarely see a need to changed. This is why communicating your vision is so important.

Are you a problem solver or a goal setter? (According to Bob Biehl most leaders fit into one of these two categories.) How do you cast vision convincingly? What tips would you give someone who is about to cast their vision?

Lights, Camera, Action!!!!!

Yesterday I got the opportunity to do a camera interview for the Virginia Beach City Public School system. The interview was related to our work with Salem Elementary School. Last year because of our work with Salem we were asked to become a Partner In Education. We humbly accepted even this invitation. Our invite marked a second step in our ever growing relationship with Salem.

The purpose of the interview was for us to tell what we do for Salem, why we do it, and tell others about getting involved. We do work for Salem because we want to be active in our community. It's important for us meet the needs of our community. We meet these needs spiritually, physically, and emotionally. We decided before we can meet needs spiritually and emotionally, we need to meet physical needs. Meeting physical needs helps to build our relationships and it builds trust. Jesus modeled this wherever he went. He didn't only meet spiritual and emotional needs, he met physical needs as well.

Our philosophy is pretty simple. If you want to really impact a community for the long haul, then reach out towards the children and youth. They have their whole lives ahead of them. It's like brand new candle versus a candle that only has 1/2" of wax left. You can guess which one is the child and which one is the adult. Our aim is to put life back into our community by impacting our community's children and youth. Help us to make this impact.

What is your long term plan to put life back into your community? Who are you intentionally trying to reach and meet their physical needs?

Doing Life

One of the biggest reasons why we place a high priority on Life Groups in Crossroads Vineyard is because we know the power of community. God said early in the Bible, "It's not good for man to be alone." This was the first time He said something wasn't good.

In our groups you get the opportunity to read the Bible, learn about the essentials of the Christian faith, and grow deeper relationships with people in the church. Many times people come to a group not knowing what to expect but they leave feeling connected to others.

There's a connection through like thought or like experiences or even like attitudes or like upbringing. You simply can't duplicate this on Sunday mornings. Don't get me wrong...Sundays are important to the life of the church but it's limited. It's hard to go deeper on Sunday. But during the week we can go deeper. We can get our relational needs met. We can get others to pray for our seemingly bleak situations.

I will always advocate being in a small group of people to share my life with!

Cluster Group...What's That?

Last year I read a book called The Big Idea by Dave Ferguson, Jon Ferguson, Eric Bramlett. It wast a very good book, I highly recommend to it to church leaders. After reading the book, I found that we already do a lot of the stuff in the book. This was a huge sigh of relief. Then I began to ponder the idea of going full steam with the Big Idea concept. Then I ran across a guest contributor to the book Hank Brooks of Coastal Community Church. I was overjoyed that he was in Virginia Beach as well.

I met with him and began to discuss the concept of the Big Idea. After some time he invited me to check out a cluster group for church planters. I couldn't have been more excited to accept such an invitation. Last week I went to the cluster group and thoroughly enjoyed it. For me it was an answer to prayer. I was already praying for some kind of coaching/mentorship. God used the Big Idea to lead me to this group.

I know your wondering, "What exactly is a cluster group?" I got the same question when I posted on Facebook that I was at a cluster group. Here's what the group is in a nutshell. It's a group of pastors, church planters and established churches, who come together once a month for teaching, lunch, accountability, idea sharing, and coaching. The teaching is based on the homework, a book, from the previous month.

In our first meeting we had the teaching and then we did introductions. Our homework is reading Effectiveness By The Numbers by William Hoyt. This has been an excellent read. I can't wait to discuss this book later this month. MAN!! This is a serious answer to prayer!!

The accountability consists of four questions:

How are you doing as a person?

How is your relationship with Jesus going?

How is your ministry going?

How is your marriage doing?

This is a closed, confidential group and what gets said there, stays there!! As a man, it can be hard to share this kind of things out fear of being seen as weak. The confidentiality is important.

Thank you Lord for this blessing in my life. You continue to give me what I need, when I need it!

As a leader in the church or marketplace, how are you doing in those four areas above? You don't have to share here but at least begin to think about these questions. Where do you look for mentorship/coaching and accountability in your life?

Moving Into The Next Chapter

We finally had our first formal leadership meeting. We've had launch team meetings and Life Group leaders meetings but never a leadership meeting. This first meeting served as an opportunity for us to let people know what leadership means to us and how we see leadership in our church context.

We base our leadership on the following three (3) principles:

Leadership is a stewardship

Leadership is temporary

We are accountable to God for how we lead


Anyone familiar with Andy Stanley knows these are the principles he teaches for leadership. These three principles break leadership down to its simplest form. Leadership opportunities and authority are given to us from God. He establishes leadership and authority in our world. He uses this leadership and authority to perform his will in our world. Since, leadership is given to us, it can be taken from us. He gives and takes away! Additionally, we move on to other things while this leadership journey. Its imperative that we never leave leadership voids in our ministries. We should look for our replacement from day 1! Finally, since leadership is given to us by God we're held accountable for the way we lead. In everything we do in this life, we're going to be held accountable to God and the gift of leading others is no different.

What leadership principles guide your life? How is God using your leadership gift to impact his Kingdom? What are some characteristics you look for in leaders?

In God We Trust

I really wish this were true. You may think that I'm going to talk about the state of our society in America in reference to this statement. You may think I'm going to talk about keeping this statement on our coins. However, I'm not going to talk about either of these things. Instead of looking outward on this statement let's look inward.

Let's start by changing the statement to 'In God I Trust.' Then let's ask the following question: Is this REALLY true in my life? When I take away the lip service and the cool (not really that cool), catchy (not really that catchy) but highly overused (this is definitely true) Christian slogans, what is left? Are the slogans merely something that's printed on the front of my T-shirt? Or is it actually a part of my life? Are the slogans merely words to play Buzz Word Bingo so I can impress my friends at church? Or do I really living these slogans out?

I love asking myself questions like these. Questions like these, when answered honestly, can help me to grow by leaps and bounds. Answering them dishonestly really limits my opportunity for growth. I have come to the conclusion that I don't trust God very much. This is evident by my actions, not my words. I may sing songs about trusting God and talk to my friends about trusting God but the true evidence is found in my actions.

Over the past few years, my trust in the Lord has been tested by the fires of starting a new church. About 6 months after going to weekly services in September '08, I lost my 'other' job. This was the job that helped to pay the bills and take care of my family. It allowed the church to have 0 on the payroll. This job represented my way to take care of myself and my family. That's not a bad thing unless I begin to rely on myself and not God. After losing my job, I felt like I was placing too much trust in myself and not enough in God. This job also helped us to build up some savings. Now, I find it a little hard to touch those savings. Recently, I discussed this with God and got that feeling that I'm back to relying on the savings instead of Him.

So, it seems that I need to start taking risks again. NO RISK...NO REWARD!! (This is better slogan!)Its time to start placing my trust in the ONE and not myself. Risks always require faith. More importantly, risks always require trust. My trust won't grow unless I take more risks.

What are your thoughts about the questions above? How do you measure up on the trusttest? In what ways are you being asked to trust more? In what areas of your life do you need to build up more trust?

Immovable Objects

Are we willing to move when God says move? Church planting is an endeavor where you really find out what people are made of. Personally, I think it shows how much we're willing to be obedient to God and the call he has to reach people who don't have a personal relationship with him. There's the planter and their family (if they have one) that is given the call. Then of course there is the team of people that the planter tries to gather. Everyone involved has to have a heart totally set on God.

A heart set on God lives in tents not houses. The writer of Hebrews says in the "Hall of Faith" chapter that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all lived in tents. The casual reader would pass over this statement without thinking twice about what this means. The patriarchs of our faith lived in tents. A tent can be torn down just as quickly as it can be set up. Let's call it tent-living. Tent-living means we set up shop where God tells us to. But when he tells us to move, then we can move. Tent-living means that we can uproot ourselves when God calls us to move on. This is one of the reasons why I hold folks who are willing to move across the country to start a church in such high regard. I admire their team members even more. I'm usually their biggest cheerleaders, pom-poms and all!

Tent-living is only metaphorical. Does that mean we shouldn't buy houses? ... NO! We should buy houses. We should attempt to root ourselves in our community. However, we don't get so firmly rooted that we're unwilling to move when God calls us to move. By the way, this includes leaving one church to start another one. In my opinion, this is one of the only few reasons someone should leave their church.

What are your thoughts about tent-living? Are you REALLY willing to move when God says move?

How Goes The War?

So, how goes the war? This is a common question I want to ask fellow church planters and pastors. Unfortunately, I don't ask it because I feel that it may be taken out of context and I will have to explain what I mean by the question. So here's what I mean by that question.

The Bible is pretty clear that we're in a war. This war has been going on since sin entered our world. God said that there would be conflict between the woman's and serpent's offspring. Scholars also consider the ten plagues against the Egyptians to be God's attack on their false gods. Job experienced an attack on his faith. The angel Michael reported that he was being held up by the 'dark side.' Jesus entered our world and did battle with disease, sin, death, and demons. Paul talks about spiritual battles. John in Revelation speaks of a final war. There seems to be an overarching theme of war in the Bible.

By asking, how goes the war? I'm asking, are you winning or are you losing spiritual war that is going on around us all the time? Are you advancing the kingdom of God into the dark places of your city and community? Are you pushing back the gates of hell in your city? Are people experiencing life change through meeting corporately on Sunday and throughout the week in Life Group? Are you seeing people healed spiritually, physically, and emotionally?

Let's get personal. Are you winning the war with your mind (pornography and other sexually explicit material)? Are you winning the war with your mouth? (or are you letting your words fly without much thought about the consequences.)

So, how goes the war? Are you winning or losing? If you feel like you losing then remember that you're on the winning team. Don't ever forget this! Also...let me know how I can pray for you!! We're in this war together. I GOT YOUR BACK!!

It's Complicated!!

Question: Are you in a relationship? Answer: It's complicated! That seems to be the popular response nowadays amongst people who are in relationships. I'm not sure when, where, or even why this answer was used but I find it pretty interesting.

We were created for relationships (friendships, dating, & marriage) with each other. I wonder if we are complicating our relationships. Are we making our relationships, especially dating relationships, more complicated than they need to be? I think we are.

I wasn't raised in church. Therefore, I wasn't taught that sex is more than a physical encounter. I wasn't taught that sex was more than an activity. As I look back on my life one question comes to mind. Has my life been easier or more complicated as a result of premarital sex? Of course, my answer would be the latter and not the former.

Truthfully, we don't need to believe that the Bible is true to know that premarital or extra marital sex doesn't make our lives easier. All you have to do is look at your life and ask the same question. All you have to do is look at our society and ask if it's making marriages last longer. There's a whole list of questions that can be asked about our society. I doubt very many of them would be answered positively.

When we reflect on our current culture we can easily see that our sex has made our lives more complicated. Tiger Woods would be a prime example. One of the world's most adored athlete's life was brought down in flames because of extra marital sex. If Woods were to answer our question, what do you think he would say? I doubt he would say that his life is easier. If this causes the break up of his family then this will affect him in the later stages of his life.

The Woods story is just one of many that have surfaced over the years. Unfortunately, we don't see that sex before marriage doesn't make our lives more complicated now. In most cases it affects us in later stages of our lives. What we do or did in our teens, twenties, and thirties can come back to haunt us in twenties, thirties, forties, fifties, and even sixties.

Sex within God's design can be truly amazing. His design was for us to enjoy sex within the context of a committed relationship called marriage. God's design for sex was not for the context of a complicated relationship called dating or friend with benefits. His idea for sex was show how a man and a woman can create an intimate connection through a physical activity. The act of sex begins with the physical connection and then it extends to a spiritual, emotional, and mental connection. It's the deepest connection we can make with the opposite sex.

Life gets complicated when we make these connections with many different people. It's very hard to break these connections or bonds once they are formed. We carry this bonds into our future relationships. We call this relational baggage. Hurts or pain from past relationships is the reason we guard ourselves in new relationships. Each connection we make outside of marriage causes our intimacy factor for our spouse to become lower and lower and lower. If you're married and are struggling with an intimate connection with your spouse, then premarital sex may be the reason. Again, our lives were affected in a different stage of our lives. Unfortunately, it is affecting the marriage stage of our lives.

At least this has been my experience in life. What has been your experience? Has sex before marriage made your life easier or more complicated?

So....I Was Reading 'Blogging for Dummies'

The "(Fill in the Blank) for Dummies" books are all the rave. Only can a book legitimately call us dummies and we still pay money for it. I figured reading this book would help me with this whole blogging thing. My main problem with blogging isn't topics or content. I mean...God is doing so much in my life that I have tons of things to talk about. My main problem is being a full time student.

Please...allow me to explain. I'm no longer in college but taking online classes for has had a major impact on how I write on the Net. Online classes require you to make posts and respond to other student's posts. Usually, I had to respond to at least two other people. I also had to respond to the people who responded to me. Furthermore, I had to add quotes from the textbook or outside sources. Of course this also meant adding footnotes in the MLA or Turabian style. I love schooling!! I'm one of the biggest proponents of education. Unfortunately, though...my experience with online classes has seeped into my blogosphere world.

My problem is spending too much proofing the blog. Checking and double checking my references. Sometimes I even want to add footnotes. I know this may be a little overboard but let's face it. I'm a knowledge hound...I'm the kind of guy that hated to be sick because I would miss a day of school. This side of me has made blogging very difficult because I spend too much on them. I don't had have the bandwidth to spend a lot of time writing a blog.

Recently, I heard a friend quote her husband as saying, "If I can't write a blog in 15 minutes then I'm not going to do it!" Now I must fight the urge to annotate my quote!! :-)

That being said...it's time to take his philosophy for blogging. If it takes too long then I won't do it! I simply don't have the time. However, if I really keep it to a certain time limit then this can be a great experience for me and hopefully for you!! Therefore, some blogs won't be grammatically accurate. Some will have misspellings but I will make every effort to clean all that up before I post. Until next time!!