June 29, 2008 – We finished loading up our belongings in a moving truck and made the trip to our new apartment in Burnsville, MN. Upon our arrival, many members of Sovereign Grace Fellowship met us and helped us quickly unload our belongings. The leasing office later told us that many of the tenants made comments to the office staff that they had never seen anything like that. They described it as "a bunch of ants in formation"! Following the unload, we all enjoyed pizza and root beer while enjoying fellowship on the apartment lawn. What a huge blessing.
September 1, 2008 – Roger accepted an offer to be the General Manager of a Vision World store (optical retail chain in the upper midwest) in the metro area. This job allows Roger to have flexibility in scheduling his work around ministry opportunities at SGF. In the weeks that followed we officially became members of SGF, joined a small group led by Aaron and Jenna Cottrell, began teaching a children's ministry class on Sundays for 2nd-4th graders, and Roger began serving as a drummer on the worship team rotation. Roger also began meeting with two different groups of men led by Pastor Gamache. One group is designed to equip potential small group leaders for ministry. The other group is designed to help evaluate and assess a man's call to the vocational pastorate.
February 20, 2009 – An appraisal was conducted on our house (rental property) in Wausau. We continue to pray and trust God for his provision in this sale. We have also been made aware of tremendous blessing for our renters - they will receive significant financial assistance in relocating (once that day comes) due to the imminent domain proceedings.
I've said this numerous times to friends and family...I feel like we're on a winding road, driving in the fog, and we're not sure how fast or slow to go to avoid hitting something. But amidst all of the uncertainty, I (and we) have no doubt in God's sovereignty. Chris Rice has a song that says, "You [God] have an exclamation point for ever question mark". Amen. If you have any doubts about trusting my gracious, sovereign Lord, may I suggest that you humbly resign your fears and submit your life to His care and direction.
“O Lord GOD, you have only begun to show your servant your greatness and your mighty hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as yours?” (Deuteronomy 3:24 ESV)
April 6-8, 2009 – We were richly blessed this past few weeks by our small group (led by Aaron Cottrell) who counseled us to attend the SGM Pastor's conference in Maryland. We had enough money for me to attend. They pitched in and paid Heather's way, feeling that it was something we should experience together. There is such wisdom in God's counsel! Additionally, our good friends the Quirings offered to watch the girls for the entire length of the trip...at no cost to us. Our group's selfless sacrifices would pay rich dividends during this conference. We were blessed by many incredible messages and a wonderful time of fellowship with several SGF families, especially Jon and Tanya Hansel. The highlight of the trip was having Dave Harvey stoke the church-planting fire that God has been building within me/us. Following the trip Jon was kind enough to bring a loving observation to me regarding my lack of leadership in my marriage which he observed on the trip. I so needed to hear this!
July 17, 2009 – The sale of our Wausau house was finalized, but not without incident. As a reminder, the City, County, and UW had decided to buy all of the homes on our block to make room for their campus expansion. Although we had been living in Minneapolis since June of 2008, we had a few belongings and furnishings left in the house while renters lived there. Just before we were to fully vacate the premises, we rented a moving truck and arrived with several friends from our former Wausau church. As a way of saying "goodbye" to our first single family home and to "decommission" its use for the gospel (before its demolition), we asked these friends to join us in writing Scripture on the interior walls of the house as a testimony to God's faithfulness and his purpose to bring ultimate glory to HImself. About 30 verses were scribed onto the walls, and our house number (517) was removed (as a keepsake) and replaced with "2 Corinthians 5:17".
It was a powerful, Spirit-led and God-honoring experience. We photographed and video-taped the house before leaving, anticipating that we would never see the house standing again. Things were about to change.What took place nextwas at first alarming, then concerning, but eventually amazing. Just after our final departure, the city informed us that it was changing its mind regarding the demolition of the house and was considering selling the house and moving it for the buyer. They had one small problem with the condition of the house...the "Bible graffiti". An anonymous Wausau family called the city and offered to repaint the entire inside of the house on our behalf. After deliberating for awhile, and leading us to believe that we were in some sort of trouble, the city finally decided not to move the house and not demolish it. Apparently the construction contractor in charge of building the new college building (on the north side of our house) was needing a construction office and wanted to commandeer the house for their purposes...and that's exactly what they did.
So, they brought in all of their blueprints, drafting tables, and whatever else you need in such an office...and parked it all next to the tapestries of truth. We recently stopped by the house and peeked in the window (pictured). Nothing had been painted over!
Even John 14:6 marks the front door of the house. It reads, ("Jesus said to him, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Pretty cool, huh? This reminds me of these verses:
"All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever." (1 Peter 1:23-25)
Reminding us of where we believe God is leading us, the graphics on the side of the U-haul gave us a chuckle, yet proved to be a faith-builder (see the picture and notice "Where wlll you go next...Maryland" (the location of the SGM Pastor's College).
August 14, 2009 – My 20-year high school reunion took place tonight. It was a blast revisiting my old stomping grounds, touring my remodeled high school, and meeting up with the adult versions of my old friends who haven't been seen or heard from in 20 years. My purpose for attending this event was mainly motivated by a sense that I needed to redeem this opportunity to share the gospel to some of those I'd neglected while in high school.
In fact, up until this time, I had never felt any gospel-motivated desire to set foot back in Rochester since departing in the fall of 1989. God gave me the opportunity to share the gospel with 5 of my friends. I have kept in touch with a few of them since the reunion. Could this have just been another coincidence? Unlikely!
December 2, 2009 – A few notes from Jon Bloom's "Equipping Night" for our Worship Team: "What the Gospel does is make camels go through the eyes of needles. Don't be afraid to pray 'whatever it takes' prayers. Fear reveals that we don't believe he can give the joy that He has made abundantly clear He wants to (and can...and does) give!"
January - April, 2010 – We have been SO blessed to attend the parenting seminars offered by our church and led by Rick and Steve. We have much to learn and apply. We keep coming back to the big idea which is, "The heart is the target", and what the heart needs most of all is to be shown its sin and have the gospel brought to bear upon it.
February 10, 2010 – I had a meeting with Matthew Wassink regarding my growing burden for evangelism equipping and also a gospel tract that God has been laying on my heart to write entitled, "The Deadliest Disease and the Only Cure". Matthew strongly encouraged me to finish this tract and saw great potential for its use. In the days following this meeting I prayed earnestly for help and direction for this tract. Then, about a week later, I was just finishing my devotional time (asking God to help me think of a visual logo or graphic to serve as the cover of the tract) when God brought to mind the international symbol of medicine. It is a pole with two snakes intertwined upon it. After getting really excited about the amazing biblical metaphors relating to this imagery, I did some internet research and confirmed that this symbol can be traced back to Moses and the serpant/pole in the wilderness.
As I continued to think about the disease/cure tract, I asked God to make clear how and where He wanted this tract to be used. He then brought the city of Rochester, MN to mind. This is the city where I grew up. There is no other place or city (that I'm aware of) that is more characterized by a "disease and cure" culture due to the Mayo Clinic and its associated hospitals. This city of about 85,000 residents acts like a magnet for people of all languages and cultures, including national and international heads of state. I remember driving through downtown Rochester and seeing virtually every state's license plate represented by the those visiting the Clinic for treatment. I also remember meeting scores of people at church who were visiting while undergoing treatment. Then I began to get really excited as I envisioned immense gospel opportunities for Rochester residents and those who enter this "medical slingshot". You see, people drawn to Rochester by their need for medical treatment could be launched back to their homes to spread the gospel that ministered to them during their stay. Might God be preparing a SGM church-plant in Rochester to bring a fresh gospel voice to the commu
nity, neighboring states, and to serve as a seed for future church SGM church plants throughout the world?
April 15-17, 2010 – Heather and I enjoyed a wonderful time attending the MACHE (Minnesota Association of Christian Home Educators) conference. We're preparing to school Kara this fall, so we needed resources to assist in the process. While driving to Rochester I began to pray more about the whole "disease/cure" idea and whether or not God would be leading us to eventually plant a church there. As I approached town, I considered the fact that this was the second trip within a year that I was making to Rochester. During the trip I shared my blossoming vision for Rochester with a few SGF friends who were also attending this conference. Up until this time I had kept these thoughts to myself. As we drove through town following the conference I wanted to pray with Heather about God's clear leading. Unfortunately, we got into a heated "discussion" while the girls slept and we didn't resolve it until we pulled into our apartment's parking lot 1.5 hours later (due to my stubborn and proud heart). Both Heather and I commented how this had been an especially difficult discussion to resolved, and how we both felt under attack from the enemy. Then it hit me...my sinful attitudes and actions were the result of a spiritual battle that was being waged as we drove through Rochester, attempting to distract us from the most needful thing...prayer with and to God. We began to pray more diligently, recognizing that the enemy seems to step up His attacks when we're encroaching on his perceived turf.
Check out the following picture of the conference location (the Mayo Civic Center) and notice the sculpture in the middle of the picture. What does it remind you of?
April 30, 2010 – Many of you who are not members of our Wausau or Minneapolis churches (nor privy to earlier blog postings) have inquired as to why I stepped out of the pastorate and took a position with a secular company (Vision World). In a nutshell, we moved to Minneapolis to be evaluated (slowly and thoroughly) for a role within a SGM church. This process exists to biblically identify, equip, and commission men whom God has called into pastoral ministry. While this process is not typical within evangelical circles, SGM is interested in a biblical model of "summoning" men within the context of a local church...by the local church...for the local church. This means that they are less interested in resume's, phone references, and brief candidacy weekends. If and when our church senses my call, and when it is ready to mobilize us me/us, we would likely be sent to the SGM Pastor's College (in Maryland) for 10 months before being prepared to lead a church plant effort.
In the meantime, God has provided an amazing job for me at Vision World (Uptown) which is helping me grow in my leadership and administrative abilities. My boss, fellow General Managers, and my terrific staff serve as daily reminders that I have much to learn, much pride to kill, and even more for which to be thankful. God's sense of timing, placement, care, and humor (considering that my only optical experience was wearing glasses since age 5) are increasingly evident in His choice of my current employer.
While many details are uncertain, one detail is not: The gospel is the center of our life and we cannot imagine devoting ourselves to any other pursuit. While this MAY lead to an official "position", it WILL lead to God's glory through our growth and joyful fulfillment as his children. To the praise of His glorious grace!
This week we had to make an important decision regarding our housing as our apartment lease is up for renewal, and we had to let them know by Friday, April 30th what we planned to do. We have been talking over the past months about finding something with less rent, more space, a yard of some sort for our girls to play in, a place for them to ride their bikes safely, closer to Uptown where Roger works, etc. Truthfully, we wondered if God would bless us with such a place at this stage of our journey. It turns out He was about to do just that.
On 4/28/10 we received info from good friends in our small group that some of their former small group members at Bethlehem Baptist would be needing some short-term renters for their house in Richfield. This family just received word of a temporary job assignment in Lincoln, NE and needed someone to rent their house for 6-12 months while they're gone. On Thursday evening (4/29) we looked at 3 condos/townhouses for purchase and also looked at this rental house. Through God's sovereign leading, He gave us no peace about purchasing a home at this time and led us to rent out this family's house for 6-12 months and care for their home, yard, etc.
We are truly amazed at how God did this! This 3 bedroom house will cost us less rent, is more space than we currently have, has a fenced in back yard with 2 playgrounds down the street, a sidewalk for bike riding, is 15 minutes closer to Uptown, and even has a perennial garden (something Heather has missed caring for since we moved from our house in Wisconsin!). This family will need to be in Lincoln around June 15 and our lease ends on June 30th . . . perfect timing! There are even more little things that make this house an amazing opportunity for us . . . too many to name! God really cares about the little details, and we don't deserve such lovingkindness! This week a friend shared with us a verse out of Isaiah 30:21 which says,
"And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left."
May 9, 2010 – Last Friday night (5/7/10) my computer suddenly stopped working...it just wouldn't startup. I asked a question that many of us ask at times like this. "Why, God?" He didn't make His answer to this question clear until tonight. I'll need to take you back a couple of days to explain.
To help explain matters a bit, you need to know that God is convicting me and overhauling my prayer life. He's been addressing me regarding this topic/discipline on a number of fronts...through Sunday sermons (by Rick, Steve, and Matthew), Worship Team "Equipping Nights" (led by Jon Bloom), and through reading the book "A Praying Life" (by Paul Miller) along with my small group (led by Josh Bielinski). Basically, I've acted faithlessly and sporadically in my prayer life (or lack thereof). He is changing me.
So, if my computer would have crashed a year or two ago, I would have probably Googled the perfect solution, then gone out and impulsively dropped some cash to fix the problem. Not this time. It wouldn't have allowed God to speak to me, work in me, see me wait upon His provision, and see my faith grow. So, I told Heather that we needed to pray more, and we did. Then, after our Celebration meeting (church service) on Sunday, Heather was talking to Steve Bice (one of our pastors) and asked him to join us in praying about this. He then asked Heather a few questions which led to the discovery that he had the same type of computer and had recently experienced the exact same crash symptoms...and had purchased a software utility to remedy the situation. Later in the afternoon Heather began to relay the content of her conversation with Steve and mentioned that he might be able to help us out. So, I drove over to his house to pick up the disk and give it a try.
During a brief conversation with Steve on his front doorstep, God began to fan the flame of my faith and encourage me regarding the gospel, my calling, and His glorious purposes for our service while on this earth. I asked Steve if a church plant in Rochester had ever been discussed and he indicated that he wasn't aware of any such plans.
With disk in tow, I got back in the car and noticed that a teaching session by Mike Bullmore was playing. I had not chosen this audio file before getting out of the vehicle at Steve's place. Nonetheless, Mike was speaking on the topic of effectively preparing to preach...which is an area I have great need to grow in if I'm to ever lead a church plant. Finding this a bit curious, I turned off the audio and just began to specifically pray to God, asking that He give me some indication or sense of where He might be leading us in the future. This is when it started to get really interesting!
As I drove down Lyndale Avenue I noticed the Kinkos (FedEx Office) that I sat in when I first came to town alone, looking for work. It was my temporary (and expensive) office while I tweaked and printed scores of resume's (none of which would ever land me a job). Anyway, tonight I noticed that next to this store is a Zantigo's mexican restaurant. I've never seen or eaten at a Zantigo's since living in...Rochester. Interesting. Then I needed to pull into the Walgreen's at 98th Street, which is a part of "Oxboro" shops. Oxboro just kept ringing in my mind. Where have I heard "Oxboro" before, and why did it catch my attention? Then it hit me...it begins with (and sounds like) "Oxbo" which is the name of a small zoo in...Rochester. As I parked in Walgreens lot, I got out of my car and realized it was facing a building with big "Clinic" letters across the street (reminding me of the Mayo Clinic in...Rochester). Maybe I was just imagining things...or not. I finished my business at Walgreens and got back into my car. Sensing that my faith was needing to stretch, I got out a notepad and decided to write down these little "coincidences" in case God later connected some dots in His unfolding scheme of things. Then, right in front of me, hanging in the window of Walgreens was a red and white sign announcing that "We welcome all Snyder Drug Store customers". Apparently these Snyders stores are closing. What's really interesting is that I haven't seen a Snyder's drug store since living in...Rochester. Oh, and I worked at one for a couple of years. As I drove down the road further, I felt like His voice was getting louder. Then I suddenly began to put the pieces together. I was seeing these particular names after praying a very specific prayer after stopping by a certain pastor's house who had a disk that might repair my computer problem. Could it be that my computer crash had nothing to do with my computer and everything to do with me listening for His voice while I waited for Him to fix my computer?
As I drove home there was a sign advertising "South Winds" apartments (possibly a reference to the Holy Spirit blowing us south) and then a huge billboard on I-35 with the words "What's Your Dream?" I instantly thought of a question that Rick (our Senior Pastor) has occasionally asked me and the others in our calling evaluation group; "So, what do you dream about? Has God given you a particular burden for a specific area of ministry or area of the country?" Up until this time I was only able to say that I sensed a strong calling to church planing, but I never had a specific burden regarding a location. It felt like God was beginning to change all of that. Then, I arrived back to my apartment, anxious to share all of this with Heather and get her take on it. That's when my phone rang. It was Brian Thomas, my best friend and church buddy from my childhood in...Rochester. I haven't talked to him in months. This was unbelievable. Abandoning the typical courtesies, I quickly asked him what had prompted him to call me tonight. He said that my sister (who currently lives in Iowa) had been in Rochester today, had seen his mom, and his mom later spoke with him because it was mother's day.
Do you see how amazingly specific God works to bring about His purposes. I'm certain that it's like this all of the time, but I typically haven't had the eyes of faith (or a Spirit-fueled pursuit for God) to see His signposts.
As I shared the events of the event with Brian, along with a synopsis of the "disease/cure" tract thing, he intimated that this conversation had a divine origin. You see, Brian had met with two people recently with hopes of sharing the gospel with them. One of his friend's wives had just received a diagnosis of stage 3 colon cancer...and Brian struggled a bit with how to transition from her disease to the gospel. Bingo. Brian indicated that he's also been feeling a pull back to Rochester, feeling a new tug to return there for the sake of the gospel. Unbelievable. Make that "BELIEVABLE".
After reviewing all of this with Heather, she too got very excited and agreed that I needed to write all of this down so that we don't forget all that God has been and is doing. It sort of feels like the adrenaline-filled months leading up to our Wausau departure and our arrival in Minneapolis. God hasn't stopped being amazing...I just stopped taking notice. Forgive me, Father, for my lack of prayerful dependence upon you. I should always trust in you with ALL of my heart and NEVER lean on my own understanding. In ALL my ways I will seek to acknowledge you and enjoy You as you direct my path.
Oh, in case you're not yet convinced that God's fingerprints are all over this Rochester thing, check this out. On Saturday (5/8) Heather gets a call from a mutual friend of ours (Tami Deedrick) who, you guessed it, grew up attending my church in Rochester. Heather shared a bit of our growing burden for Rochester and our prayers regarding a church plant possibility. Tami then reveals that her younger brother (Steve...who also grew up with us in Rochester) just got accepted into Harvest Bible Fellowship's "Training Center" which is somewhat like the SGM Pastor's College. His goal, upon exiting this program, is to plant a church in...Rochester.
Guess what? I just realized that seven people that were apart of my Rochester church requested to be my "friend" on Facebook this week. What are you up to, God? Consider these two passages:
“The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them.” (Psalms 145:18-19)
“My heart overflows with a pleasing theme; I address my verses to the king; my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.”
(Psalms 45:1)
Will you pray with us? We are praising God for His past provision and trusting him for the following:
- Wisdom in discerning these "signs" from God
- Wisdom, affirmation, finances, and timing regarding the possibility of attending the SG Pastor’s College in Maryland (at some time in the future)
- Faithfulness in serving my fellow-church members and my employees at Vision World
- A God-enabled block of time to finish the tract and a means of getting it printed
- Time and funds to revamp our "Life Traits" project, refocusing on the heart and the gospel's role in reshaping it
- Patience while we wait for God to supply
Treasuring Jesus,
Roger
