Today I spent some time at the park at Lake Fayetteville working on my sermon for the July 9 worship gathering of Vintage Fellowship. The sun was bright, the sky was blue, and the bugs were few, so it was an enjoyable time.I spent some time watching a couple trying to fly a kite. They were probably college students who were on a date. They had a kite that had two strings, one on each tip of its wings. At first the guy tried getting the kite up, but he couldn't get it to go. They the girl tried it. And she couldn't get it to go.
They tried with a lot of slack on the string.
They tried with a little slack on the string.
They tried when the wind blew hard.
They tried when the wind died down.
They tried standing still.
They tried running.
Each time, the kite got up a little bit and then did a nose-dive into the dirt. Eventually they laughed it off and headed back to their car. Their kite never soared.
I have been feeling a lot of pressure lately about Vintage getting off the ground. My phone coach with the Purpose Driven network told me that 78% of church plants don't make it. I am sure those planters worked as hard as that couple did to get them off the ground but they just nose-dived instead. That scares me a lot.
There is a phrase that keeps running through my head when I think of where we are at with Vintage. Vanessa says it's one that doesn't make a lot of sense to her, but it's a sports cliche, so it resonates with me. It's this: Leave it all on the field.
I have got to work as hard as I possibly can. I have got to sacrifice as much as I have to. I have to be as creative and effective and skillful as I possibly can. And with the right gust of wind, this kite might just head skyward.
3 comments:
Dude, you seem obsessed with the 78% figure. "Let It Go"
Remember the people at the PD church planting conference? Remember looking around the room and fully realizing WHY 78% of them fail? We're not them.
Vintage is alreay off the ground. Not that we're out of the woods, or it is a done deal, but dude, we've caught the breeze. We've done everything as best as it can be done. We'll keep doing so. People came. People will come again. Word of mouth is working.
We're not just going to be in the 22% that makes it, we're going to be in the 1% that thrives like crazy. I'm just sure of it.
This is the thing for which we were made.
Cue "Kite" from "All That You Can't Leave Behind" by U2.
And besides that, the church is the hope of the world, and Vintage is the hope of NWA!
Cue "Where is the Hope" by SCC.
I like what A said a lot. Its like Being in a tornado..DUDE>>>THE COWS ARE ALREADY FLYING BY!!
TRUE statement: vintage is already OFF the ground.
Yah I know you aren't a "say it and claim it" kind of church...but You are ALREADY doing it!!
Believe it. It's already happened.
It IS HAPPENING NOW!!
and don't be surprised.
This is what all the sacrifices have been for...to get busted by mall security, to BE on Mainstream TV twice, to make people think about what HOPE is.
"That He that hath begun a good work in you will perform it"....
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