Doors - They Open & Shut

This morning was our first Sunday Morning Grace service in our new auditorium. Our church used to hold services in Bostian Hall on campus at NC State University, but now we'll meet in Withers 232A.

A few years ago, we were moved from a very cool, but a bit over sized auditorium due to renovations on campus. We moved from Nelson Hall to Bostian Hall, somewhat disappointed. But, God blessed us through the move and the location served us well. Our church and ministries grew quite a lot during that time - especially our Worship and Production ministries.

Then, just 2 -3 weeks ago, we got word that we would not be allowed to reserve the Bostian auditorium this summer. The door shut. We talked with the NCSU reservations office and even directly with the building administration. We discovered that again building renovations would make it impossible to use the room. The door still remained shut. We asked for the recently renovated Nelson auditorium. Unfortunately, no student organizations will be allowed to use the room since it's so nicely updated. This door also remained shut.

. . . What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.
- Revelation 3:7

However, God opened a new door. We were able to reserve a different auditorium in Withers Hall. This is a classroom where I used to take a computer science class. It was a dark, depressing room and the class was boring. Some people even complained of mold growing on the ceiling. I told one of our production leaders about the church using this room for the summer, and he was very disappointed. He informed me that the room had even less space in the front for our band than the Bostian auditorium. Plus, there was a very large lectern in the middle of "stage" area.

Things were not looking good - especially considering that we only had about a week left until our church was homeless for Sunday morning. So, I stopped by to check out the room. Shortly after I walked in, I had to give my friend the production leader a call. I left him a message saying that he was crazy. This was by far the best auditorium I had ever seen on campus! I wondered why we hadn't used this auditorium for the last 2 years.

One of the coolest features of the new auditorium was a nice study lounge just outside. It was the perfect spot for an improvised coffee shop, greeting area, and children's church. What an opened door.

As I walked in, I pressed a button on the wall control panel and the room lights came to life. Then I played with an array of buttons on several walls controlling an elaborate dimming system. Windows with blinds surrounded the room allowing the controlled influx of natural light. The room was freshly painted and carpeted with clean new desks. The room sloped gradually with stadium seating minus any stairs to lift our heavy production equipment over. It even provided easy access to an elevator and loading ramps near a convenient parking location. The doors opened at the rear of the auditorium providing easy, non-distracting access for latecomers.

Now, here's the amazing thing. The only "lecterns" in the room were a few movable desks scattered around the huge 15' x 30' open lecture space at the front of the room. This was perfect for our band. Not only was it not cramped, but it looked sort of like a church sanctuary. Apparently, NC State had just renovated the entire building last fall. After we draped a cloth over the white board, it felt like the university had just built us a new church auditorium - totally for free!

Several of our church staff and volunteers met Thursday afternoon in the auditorium to check things out and prepare for the weekend. We bathed the room in prayer, thanking God for the way the he blessed us and asking that the building administration would show continued favor, God's Word would go forth, and lives would be changed. Please join us in these prayers.

One of us pressed on an interesting looking touch panel sitting on a desk at the front of the room. Suddenly two large projector screens descended behind us on each side of the massive white board. Two very bright, very clear, and very expensive projectors lit up the screens. An now this was weird. I saw my hand as it operated the touch panel appear on the screens in huge detail. As I moved my hand around, it constantly refocused. I looked up to see a small hole in the ceiling concealing a document camera meant to display teaching notes. This was probably the coolest classroom I've ever seen. As if this weren't enough of a blessing, God also led us to a wonderful woman in charge of the building. She answered all of out questions with a smile and didn't mention a single restriction on our use of the room.

God opened a door that no one could shut. Thank God for being someone who can give us more than we deserve and more than we can ask or imagine. When one door closes, He's probably just making us realize realize that a better door is just down the street.

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100 Souls

If you've watched Pirates of the Caribbean II, then you're familiar with Davy Jones' demand for "100 soulza - arrr!"

That's exactly what we're asking God for - 100 souls. We'll, we're asking for a different reason than Davy Jones, though.

We're asking God to fill our new-found auditorium that seats nearly 300. Specifically, we're asking God to give us 100 new people committed to attending the Sunday service. This will bring us from an average attendance of about 180 to 280. This is a very strategic goal since this number means that our church can develop enough volunteer leaders to sustain new missions projects.

We sent out a small group of our church members on a project this past year. Plus, we send a summer team to UNC-Wilmington every year. As a church, we'd like to see new projects and new churches develop at many of the NC universities, as well as other locations in the Southeast and even oversees. We're partnered (on both the personal and church-wide level) with several other Great Commission Churches in the South East. Our Southeastern Region has set a goal of starting 40 churches in major cities during the next 40 years.

Last summer, a group of 30 recent grads and young families from our church spun off a new mission in downtown Raleigh. They decided to forgo the traditional Sunday morning service in order to reach people in the downtown area who are not comfortable in such a traditional environment. They sponsor three Home Groups which meet during the week for worship, prayer, encouragement from the Word, and communion. They also use their time during the week for local service projects, building new relationships, and taking individual time with the people they are leading to Christ.

This has been a very exciting initiative for our church. However, we noticed a few leadership voids left by the effort. That's why we need new people. That's why we need you to pray for God to send us more committed laborers. With new laborers and leaders, we'll have more ability to multiply our lives into others who do not yet know Christ - locally, as well as across the state and region. Jesus sent us to the world. Pray that we would very literally reach the world. Let's face it, if we Christians do not reach every nation with the gospel in our generation then we've left people out and failed at our commission.

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What God's Telling Me

So, I'm trying to get into the habit of blogging now. It seems like a more frequent, convenient, and culturally cool way of communicating with the hundred or more awesome people who pray for and financially support GCM's ministry here in the Raleigh area on my behalf. It's kind of informal and random, so I'm guessing it's a good way to record thoughts I want to jot down or just share a quick story without taking the time away from ministry to organize a mass mailing - which I have apparently failed miserably at.

I'm not actually going to tell people about this blog until I can establish the habit of writing in it. That way, I won't feel quite as dumb if I also fail miserably at this. :) On the internet, it's cool to use cryptic symbols to fain the semblance of real face-to-face interaction. It's also fun to use big words that make me sound smarter than I really am.

I guess I should really title this post "Things I Think God Might be Telling Me" because when you say "God told me to ..." you pretty much take out any room for someone to tell you that you're wrong. Sure, God speaks, but I can mess up the whole listening part sometimes. It's always good to leave room for a little input from people who are more mature in the Lord to tell you that you're being stupid. Plus, if you look at the people in the Old Testament who said "God told me something" and then ended up having just made it up, they got stoned to death. I like rocks a lot - when I can climb on them. But, having them thrown in my general direction sounds kinda bad.

Anyway, it's too easy to get distracted when I'm not actually writing to anyone. So, here are a few things I think God may possibly be telling me.

1) Let my time seeking the Lord in the mornings drive my schedule and my whole day. So many times I let key appointments or scheduled events drive my schedule & how diligent I decide to be on a given day. A friend told me the other day that my time with God should be the unchanging daily discipline that keeps everything else on track and productive, not some other external factor I can't control.

2) Make appointments and fill most of the "empty" or "flexible" time in my schedule so that time doesn't just "drift" away on really useful, but often not so critical things.

3) Being a responsible adult is not bad, sad, or boring. (Yes, us teen ministry people have to tell ourselves this.) If we follow Jesus Christ and His purpose for our lives, being a responsible adult isn't boring, it's valiant. It's something to inspire the students in our ministry to attain to. It should be a picture of the resolve and purpose of people like Daniel, David, Paul, and Jesus himself. That "crazy dedicated sports guy" or the "super disciplined military guy" are always much more inspiring in the movies than the "laid back but humorously friendly dude next door."

4) Nothing is too difficult for God. On this note, watch "Facing the Giants". It's super inspirational, just endure through the first part where they were still getting used to the whole acting concept. This movie gave me a practical picture of how little we expect from our selves, the people we disciple, and God. If a coach can push a student to the point of pain to be a better football player, why can't I push a student to memorize a Bible verse that will change his life? If a teacher can push a student so much that they'd stay up late to finish a project, why can't I push a student to commit an extra hour every week to help lead an evangelistic discussion where several of her friends may eventually receive Jesus into their lives? My job is partly to be a friend, but it's more to make people better.

We can do more than we think because we have God's grace. If we don't do more than the average person, we're not pushing enough and we're not trusting enough. God wants to make us successful in situations we never even thought we could get into. (Jeremiah 12:5) And, if I fail, feel bad, or get into difficult circumstances, I will still praise God.

If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out,how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?

5. I often feel like I myself am a failure whenever I fail at some specific thing or whenever I am weak. This happens because I'm so proud to think that I'm perfect and should be able to do everything perfectly. This starts with a pride that says "I'm perfect. I can't do anything wrong. I'm better than you." Then, of course, I fail and the pride says, "I'm worthless. I'm a failure. I can't do anything right." Then, my pride defends itself saying, "At least you're worse than me because you do this so badly and I do this other thing so well" Then, I get into an annoying cycle when I fail again at the next thing.

So, how can I quit being stupid and prideful like this? The apostle Paul talks about his weakness in 2 Corinthians 12:8-10.

Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Army of Dry Bones

Welcome to Army of Dry Bones. I'm Ross Thomas, a staff member at Grace Community Church in Cary, NC. We meet Sunday mornings on campus at NC State University, as well as other random places throughout Raleigh, Cary, and Fuquay during the week.

I am a field missionary with Great Commission Ministries, which is an international missions, church planting, and leadership development ministry associated with Great Commission Churches. My primary field assignment is to work with our church here in the Raleigh area to develop and grow our teen ministry. I also direct our Production Crews, which have recently done some amazing things to create worship environments with a level of excellence you may not expect from a small college-based church. Much props to the Grace Production Crew. [FYI, that's translated: "Good job production crew."] I also help out with various administrative and ad design tasks.

So, you may wonder why I called this blog "Army of Dry Bones". The name comes from an interesting occurrence in chapter 37 of the book of Ezekiel.

The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, "Son of man, can these bones live?"

Not to be melodramatic or overly negative, but the generation coming behind me reminds me a lot of this valley of dry bones. "They" say that 80% of this generation is active in church, youth group, or some churchy activity. ["They" would be the Barna Research Group.] So, this sounds like good news, right? Wrong. Apparently something is short circuited somewhere, because "they" also say that 75%-80% of those same teens will completely abandon their faith during college. Why is this churchy activity not an indication of a real, lasting connection with God? What went wrong?

"They" also say that only 4 out of every hundred teens could be even remotely considered a thriving Christian. When I go to the Cary High campus every week during lunch, I talk to a few of the students in the 4% category. I also talk to many students in the 96% category. Just imagine walking into a cafeteria filled with two or three hundred teenagers, yet knowing there are less than a dozen who are thriving Christians. Less than a dozen believe the Bible is true, let their faith play an important role in their lives, understand the Gospel, and feel a concern to share it. That means the other 288 students in the cafeteria are dying.

To say they are dying is no exaggeration. In Ephesians chapter 2, the apostle Paul basically says that these students are not living life, but they're living death. I guess if you were to consider even the slightly committed born-again believers in that cafeteria to live a life that's truly full of life, only two thirds of them would be dying.

Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.

But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)

I use the word "death" to describe the situation not because I like the shock factor, but because it's the only word that seems to fit when I read about the life Jesus promises us in the Bible. When I compare that life to the lives I see in most of the emerging generation, I see way too many inconsistencies. "They" have done some other research about what teens in this generation feel is acceptable moral behavior, and I see the research confirmed every week. About half of this generation feels it's OK to get drunk, have an abortion, or have sex outside of marriage. I hear all the time about party's, alcohol, drugs, damaging relationships, and even prostitution. About half of these students think there's nothing wrong with pornography and homosexuality. (Don't get me wrong. I'm not hating on people who are involved in these things. I'm deeply concerned for every student I see who gets trapped in any of these issues. It just breaks my heart to see the lives of some really cool people get ripped apart over the course of about 4 years.)

Plus, I haven't even talked beyond the surface issues to get into things like emotional scars, relational walls, personal insecurities, and fears that riddle these students' lives. All the time God has made it clear what these things do to their lives, but the students don't see it because they're surrounded by a culture that lies to them and encourages them to stumble away to their own deaths.

I use the word "death" again because it reminds me to do something about the situation. The words of Proverbs 24:10-12 often resonate in my mind and drive me to do something.

If you falter in times of trouble,
how small is your strength!

Rescue those being led away to death;
hold back those staggering toward slaughter.

If you say, "But we knew nothing about this,"
does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?
Does not he who guards your life know it?

When I look at this generation, I see so many individuals who need to be rescued. So many lives are drying up, becoming slaves to their own perceived independence, and quite literally dying. I see a valley of dry bones.

Can these bones live?

Did Ezekiel's bones live?

Suddenly as I spoke, there was a rattling noise all across the valley. The bones of each body came together and attached themselves as complete skeletons. Then as I watched, muscles and flesh formed over the bones. Then skin formed to cover their bodies, but they still had no breath in them. . . and breath came into their bodies. They all came to life and stood up on their feet—a great army.

Yes, these dry bones lived - because that's the kind of God we serve. Not only did these dry bones live, they formed a great army. Nothing is too difficult for my God. Nothing is too difficult for my God. (Yes, I watched "Facing the Giants".) If my God was able to do this for Ezekiel and He was able to bring back an entire nation from exile in exactly the way He promised, then He is able to breathe life into this generation. I'm seeing it. Sometimes I see it a lot. Sometimes it takes a lot of patience. But, God is undoubtedly raising up an army to rescue this generation and bring them true life and freedom.

Some of our students hold each other to expectations of reading God's Word. Some of them confront their Christian friends who know God's Word and still don't follow it. Students are repenting of sinful patterns and speaking to each other and their authorities with more respect. Students are planning ways to share the gospel with their friends, inviting them to Bible studies and just to be around their Christian friends. They're asking how to have an impact on their friends who do not know Christ. They are speaking up in class, standing up for their standards of moral purity, and staying firm in the face of ridicule. Some students are even sharing their faith with their friends and have led some of them to Christ.

I see a valley of dry bones, but I don't just keep looking at the dry bones. I'm looking at the army. I'm watching it grow by God's grace. Teens' interest in spiritual matters is ever growing, but they need people to bring them the truth. They need people to help train the army and send the army out to rescue their own generation.

The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. - Matthew 9:37-38