Dear Congregation,
At the beginning of our ‘Extreme Makeover’ series I asked the question – “What are you willing to die for?” I talked about the plaque hanging on a wall in my home that reads, “You’ve given your life to become the person you are today………… Was it worth it?”
Two quick stories: Maurico felt bad about the way he had left things with a friend of his. At the prompting of the Spirit he called to make an apology and to make things right. His friend was glad to get things straightened out so the conversation didn’t take long. Just before they hung up, Maurico’s friend said, would you talk with this guy who is here with me right now? He is going through a rough patch…. It turns out this friend had been a youth pastor, but being in the reserves he was sent to Iraq and became disillusioned with God. Maurico had a great conversation, they agreed to meet and talk more about the path back to God. Maurico was just doing the ‘next right thing’ by calling his friend to apologize. God uses this kind of obedience to love his kids back into truly living.
One more, Jeff Beatty has a friend who managed to lose his job. He did have an accident but there were things he had done that lead up to getting fired. After hearing about it Jeff felt like he had to go and ask for mercy for his friend. It wasn’t that he hadn’t deserved to lose his job; it was just this nagging ‘ask’ in the back of his mind. So last Friday he went and talked to the boss, after explaining who he was and why he was there he made his request. The fact Jeff was there asking, prompted this man to ask him why? Why did he care what happened to this kid? Jeff talked to him about Jesus, the Waterboyz for Jesus, and his growing understanding that we all need mercy and to be loved. The boss said he would think about rehiring the kid and that he might be at the 10MEN table next Thursday morning. Even if he doesn’t come he still has the seeds of eternity planted in his heart.
The only answer to the question “What are you willing to die for” that will do on your death bed is “One More for Jesus!” If you are living your life in such a risky, crazy, Spirit-led way that lifts Jesus up and draws men to Him, you will reach the end of your life with no regrets only joy.
The next week Rajendra asked us what the most dangerous item was in our house. I guessed the bible and I would probably want to debate that this was the right answer, but Rajendra made a strong case for the Lazy Boy recliner chair. In our North American society of affluence and ease the pull is always to our own comfort. This of course is just nuts considering that we are in a war – there are principalities and powers that are waging war and we are the spoils of war. Are we ready to choose to put ourselves in harms way? Are we ready to be inconvenienced and challenged? This past Saturday dozens of our youth and several of the Waterboyz went down to the mean streets of Baltimore to throw a party for Jesus. Drugs, abuse, brokenness and pain had painted a very harsh picture. 600-700 meals were served, prayers were prayed in the ‘healing tent’, songs were song, Jesus was lifted up and 10 people crossed the line from death to life. This event was done in partnership with Pastor Marshall’s church so these baby Christians will have someone to shepherd them. The Kingdom was advanced, because a lot of kids and adults cared enough to get out of the Lazy Boy and take the battle to the streets. Well done – James Nixon, Roger Record, CT Gordon, and all your teams! Well done!
Finally this past Sunday Rajendra talked to us about the ultimate invitation. It is the invitation to what Jesus wants to do in your life and how He wants you to live. Rajendra pointed out that the invitation is for every single person, no matter where they’ve been or who they are. They are loved by a sovereign God who wants to come to their house and eat with them. If the heartbeat of Damascus Road Community church is love one more for Jesus into the Kingdom then we can be sure that ‘the best is yet to come!’.
Your brother on the Journey
Paul
Head Elder
Here are some important dates to put on your prayer list and calendars:
- October 31st: This is our last congregation prayer time on the land for now (maybe). I know its Halloween. We are seeking confirmation and God’s face for the challenges we are facing as a congregation 1) We have a shortfall of $2 million dollars on the building as designed 2) How do we get more radically in the battle of winning one more for Jesus.
- Nov 2nd/3rd: The elders and trustees are meeting for an all night prayer time. There are deadlines dictated by the building process that requires us to have a clear sense of leading by the beginning of November. So the elders, trustees, and staff have been on a forty day journey of seeking to align with God’s will for our Body. We have grown to love each of you more! We have discovered things in our lives that we needed to hand over to God. We are not the same as we were when this all started. Pray in each of your own prayer closets over this stretch of time that God will clearly show up and that the unity of the Body will be protected.
- Nov 4th: We are starting our two week celebration of our 10th anniversary as a church. God has done SO many miraculous things, brought SO many awesome Spirit-filled people, and changed SO many lives over our 10 year run. Come and join us to look back at all the ways God has led us to this point.
- Nov 11th: We will be looking into the future to dream together about what plans God has for us – Damascus Road Community Church – “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”
