missio

Most people see that Acts 17 is the epitome of culture-church interaction in the story of the early church. Paul walks into Athens and declares that their “unknown God” is the one, True, God of Jesus Christ. A few believed, and followed Paul, instantly beginning a church in Athens. But this is the kicker: Paul wasn’t intentionally on mission to Athens. He was in transit to Corinth; where a major part of his ministry took place. But Acts 17:16 is one my favorite verses, reading: “Now while Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was provoked within them as he saw that the city was full of idols.” That said, here’s the news:

An opportunity has come up for me to plant a church in Greenville, NC here where I am, while I’m in waiting to go to DC to plant Harmony Church.

The details are still being worked out, and I know to a lot of you it seems like a flip-flop decision, but it really isn’t. I’ve basically been sitting on my hands lately, wondering when I’m going to be called off the bench. I’ve been taking the swings in the cages, fielding the balls during practice, reading the playbooks, but I haven’t gotten to play yet. Coach Christ just called my number, and I plan to knock it out of the park.

I’ve lived here for a large part of my life, I’m very familiar with the area, the culture, and the people, and because of that, we are looking to launch relatively soon (Easter ‘08). We’ve thrown a couple of names for the church around, and I have a basic core group, but that’s as far as we are right now. I will be planting it as a daughter church of my current church, Faith Assembly of God (link). They will be providing the personnel and resources until we are mature enough to self-support. The Assemblies of God has an incredible church-planting initiative which has not been fulfilled at all in eastern North Carolina. Faith Assembly has grasped the vision of church planting, and we want to saturate Eastern NC with church plants.

Let me clarify something: I am still called to DC. I’m just in transit right now to my Corinth. I can’t just sit in Athens and watch people go to hell. I want to plant this church, raise up leaders within it, and, like Paul, move on to Corinth (Washington, DC).

Please pray.

Big post coming on Thursday! Stay tuned!