About two months ago, I believe God called me out of my current church in order to begin teaching and discipling new believers right in my community. My mission field was not to be the world, the country, or even the DC metro area. My mission field was to be my community – my neighbors, local shop owners, and schools. At first, I thought I would be ministering in Oakton, Virginia – but with a sudden, abrupt move to South Riding, Virginia last month, I have a new community to immerse myself into and reach.

My wife and I have been trying to find a church home within or near South Riding. A month later, we’re still floundering alone in the community. And that’s taking a toll on me spiritually.

I don’t have lofty expectations for our new church home. I only want three things… 1) that the church teach correct doctrine (i.e., Reformed theology), 2) the church have a passion for reaching the South Riding community, and 3) there be clear opportunity for me to teach in some capacity (e.g., small groups, evangelism training, etc.). I don’t think these are impossible or even outrageous goals. Surely, I can find one church in the South Riding area that meets these requirements. But I have not.

We’ve visited three Reformed churches in the area – each one with their pluses and minuses. If we can’t find another Reformed church, we’ll have to choose between imperfect options. But maybe we’re supposed to learn that no church is perfect, and that we need to be able to tolerate an imperfect situation.

But where should w compromise? Which of my requirements is expendable?

I’ve spent a decade going to a church that I believe taught imperfect doctrine. Why make the switch now?

I’ve been doing evangelism ministry independent of my home church for over a year, so what difference does it make if the church is focused on South Riding (as I am) or not?

And as for teaching, I can certainly go out and find new believers to join a small group at my home – all on my own. Why do I need to tie my teaching with a church?

I guess the answer to all these questions is… Because I’m tired.

I’m tired of trying to do everything on my own. I’m tired of having to plan all the logistics of my ministry. I want to be a part of a church that has the same calling as me – a church that can take some of the burden off my shoulders and work with me in ministry.

I don’t want to do everything. I don’t want the glory. I want to work with a church and other believers who are similarly called, so I can finally take a back seat and let other people shine.

Lord, help us to find a church in South Riding.

Churches have combined Sunday worship with evangelism – attempting to kill two birds with one stone – not knowing that by doing so, they’ve become less effective at both.

Sabbath or Sunday worship was established for the benefit of God’s people. It was a time for them to worship God, fellowship with other believers, and learn more about our Creator through the Scriptures. Though we are told that there will always be “tares” (read: unbelievers) among the “wheat” inside our churches – and that we shouldn’t bother trying to root them out (Matt. 13:29) – we are never encouraged to actively invite tares into our churches. “What fellowship can light have with darkness? … What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?” (2 Cor. 6:14-15)

A “seeker” is someone churches think is actively pursuing God, but just hasn’t found Him yet, or hasn’t been intellectually convinced that Christ is the Messiah. However, the Bible makes it clear that there is no such person. In fact, the Bible states that natural man is at enmity with God (Rom 8:7), and there is none who seek after God (Rom 3:11). Only after being born again (i.e., spiritually regenerated) can a person even see the Kingdom of God (John 3:3).

The Apostle Paul states in 1 Cor. 2:14, “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

R.C. Sproul rightly describes the so-called seeker as “…not seeking after God, but seeking the benefits that only God can give him, while at the same time fleeing as fast as he can from the immediate presence of God.”

The doctrine of man’s spiritual depravity is crucial to our understanding of the “seeker” issue. I won’t go into all the conclusions this doctrine ultimately leads to (i.e., the whole of Reformed theology), but it’s enough to say that the Bible makes it clear there are no such things as “seekers,” and the Church should not busy itself with trying to cater to this non-existent demographic.

The speaker insinuated that we could attain righteousness through our own efforts. That through training and discipline, we could become righteous and live lives full of joy and peace.

Whatever this ideal life is, it’s certainly clear that people like the Apostle Paul never attained it. Paul clearly wrestled with his fallen nature and never suggested anyone could live a righteous life through their own power.

For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

- Romans 7:18-20

Today’s speaker didn’t mention anything about the limitations of our fallen natures and our total reliance on Christ to sanctify and redeem our lives to prepare us for good works. Want to be righteous? There are no tips and tricks. Ask God to make you righteous. All of your unrighteous living is due to an unrighteous heart and your fallen nature. There’s nothing you can do to change those. You need God to do it for you.

So, instead of telling people that they can affect their righteousness through behavior-modification, you should be driving people to their knees, asking God to make them more Christ-like by changing their hearts, and thus enabling them to do good works and live “righteous” lives. Instead of depending on ourselves, we should be depending on God.

And you shouldn’t set the expectation that people can attain totally righteous lives in a fallen body and a fallen world. That’s not possible. We won’t be capable of that until Christ returns and we have new, righteous bodies.

Like Paul, we should expect to fight a constant battle between our desires to serve God and the desires of our flesh. We will never overcome this until Heaven.

Thank God our righteousness is not based on our own behavior, but is solely based on Christ’s behavior. His perfect righteousness is ours by faith alone. When you find yourself sinning and in the midst of guilt, just have faith in Christ’s righteousness and be grateful that you will always be considered righteous in God’s eyes, because of what Christ did for you.

The problem with singles groups is that whatever the group hopes to accomplish, the ultimate reason most people are there is to meet someone to date/marry. Whatever spiritual, outward-focused goals the group may have, the members have an overriding selfish goal for being there.

If the attendees were truly there for worship, then they would go to the normal church service. But they’re there to meet potential mates.

I noticed that the dynamics are different for the men and women who attend. The women, while still inwardly competing with one another, find strength in numbers. They huddle and form strong friendships with the other single women. This makes them a large pack and actually less approachable — which is ironic, because I assume they want to be approached.

The men, on the other hand, view all the other men as competition and want nothing to do with building close friendships with any of them. Depending on how desperate they are, they may give a token pleasantry to the other guys if cornered into a conversation, but some will be downright rude to you, if they see you as worthy competition.

Social times at these meetings closely resemble a situation in wildlife, where the lions (men) cirlce a pack of gazelles (women), in search of their prey. Since the women have formed these tight packs, it’s harder for the men to find a target. But when a gazelle breaks away from the pack, then several lions immediately descend on her.

I met several guys this weekend, who attend this group, and with one notable exception (a very friendly guy named Leo), most of the men seemed very reluctant to make my acquaintance. Instead of being greeted with a warm handshake, I was metaphorically peed upon by the “dominant” males.

Now I’m the last person to compete over a woman, and when I find myself in those situations, I’m totally content to walk away and wait to cross paths with another person not wrapped up in such dynamics. But I’m still fascinated to see such primitive behavior on display within modern day interactions.

I’ve concluded this weekend that it’s good that I’m not involved in this group and will stop going to their social functions.

It’s not that I’m not looking to meet my own potential mate. I would just like to do so while serving God in ministry. I don’t want to go to a meeting/event solely designed for the purpose of meeting someone. I want to meet someone through service — someone who shares my calling for evangelism and communication through new media. The only way I’m going to meet someone like that is by doing those things and seeing who I meet in the process.

I don’t know if it was the weather, the time of day, or the Silver Spring location, but everyone we came across was very friendly and receptive of the fliers we were handing out. …Well, very receptive of the fliers Megan was handing out. I was having about the same amount of success as my two previous attempts. Where I stumbled on my words, Megan seemed to flourish in her fearlessness at approaching every person she came across. After a while, I simply relied on her to do the approaching, while I assisted her with following up with further questions.

We eventually got into a rhythm… She would approach, hand them the flier with vague description. Then I would follow up with specifics, like how the event was at the Round House Theater just around the corner next to the AFI Silver Theater. We used this system over and over and over again, until it became second nature.

Next to Megan, I became less confident in my ability to approach the strangers that we passed. Whereas, Megan’s confidence issue involved answering the questions these strangers had about The After Party. When people had questions, Megan looked to me to answer them. I was very confident in that role, so we ended up making the perfect team — each with a part to play.

We had a few notable encounters…

Megan was so bold in her approaches, that she often went up to cars stopped at stop lights to hand out fliers. She often went to typical “cool” guys in their “cool” cars, who would feel proud of the fact that an attractive girl took interest in them. When these guys reciprocated interest and looked to extend the encounter or invite Megan to stay with them, I would always step in and give them a wave and a smile and make it clear that the two of us were together.

That was also the case when she approached groups of guys on the street. One group wanted her to join them for lunch, so I had to turn around and make my presence known.

As we cruised up and down the streets of downtown Silver Spring, we also ran into a Christian woman, who was looking for a local church. We told her about the Frontline campus in Silver Spring, and she said she looked forward to checking it out.

One of the worst/best interactions came near one of the parking garages. We handed a flier to an older guy (in his 40s), who asked us if he should bring his wife. We said yes, slightly puzzled why he would think otherwise. He then inquired more, finally admitting he thought this was some sort of “swingers” event. I don’t think Megan understood what he meant, until we talked about it much later.

Finally, my favorite moment of the day came when Megan approached an older woman (seriously, Megan was approaching people way outside the typical Frontline audience). The older woman asked us specifically what the event was about. We told her it was a church event, discussing what happens after you die. She pressed us further, asking us what we thought happened when we die. Megan looked to me to give an answer, so I went straight into the 1-minute gospel message. This wasn’t hard, because I had just produced a video, which explained the Gospel in a nutshell.

I told the woman that I believe there is a God and a place called Heaven. But this Heaven requires absolute perfection to enter. Since we — the three of us — aren’t perfect, there’s no way we could get into Heaven, unless something outside of us interceded. Thankfully, God loved us so much that He sent his Son, Jesus, to come to Earth, live a perfect life, then die on a cross to pay for all of our mistakes (since the penalty for sin/mistakes is death). Once Jesus did that — died, paid for our sins, then rose again — anyone who has faith in that sacrifice for salvation will be seen as perfect in the eyes of God. And thus, will be admitted into Heaven.

I didn’t say all of that, but rather boiled it down to… I believe there’s a Heaven, but you have to be perfect to get in. Since none of us are perfect, we wouldn’t be able to get in. But thankfully, God sent his son Jesus to die and pay for our sins, so that we can get into Heaven. (You see, the woman never stopped walking, so I had to tell her this in the span of one block.)

When I was through summarizing the Gospel, the woman stopped, turned to us, and said, “That is the best summary of the Gospel I’ve ever heard. Short and to the point.” I thanked her, and she was on her way.

Megan thought that it was a wonderful compliment, and I was certainly glad to have received it.

After handing out fliers for about 3 hours, we finally gave out the very last flier in my stack. It was 6:30 PM, and we were beat. We sat on a sidewalk bench for a while, reflecting on the successes of the day. We then talked about other ways we could work together on other ministry projects. I was very happy to have finally found someone who I could partner with in ministry.

A fourth guy showed up, so I gave him half of my card stack. I didn’t really see any of the guys after that. Since they seemed to be staying close to the Metro, I decided to hit the streets.

I found that walking down the streets and handing cards to the individuals I passed had a better reception rate than handing cards out to the clusters gathered at the Metro. I believe this is because when people think you’re genuinely interested in them as individuals, they are much more likely to be open with you. (This actually helps prove a hypothesis I have about the drawbacks of “mass” communication, but I’ll save that for another blog post.)

I wasn’t familiar with walking the Ballston streets, but I just kept going — and when I felt lost, I just asked people how to get to the Metro.

Because I had plenty of time between “sets,” I was able to completely reset after each attempted interaction. I had time to analyze the successful attempts and overcome the unsuccessful ones.

Other than people taking the cards and thanking me, I had several notable interactions. I talked with one girl, who inquired about the organization behind The After Party. I used my typical opener, “I’d like to invite you to an event my church is having this weekend.” Her response was, “That depends on what kind of church it is.” I told her it was a nondenominational Protestant church in McLean. She was unfamiliar with McLean Bible Church, but did say she was skeptical of nondenominational churches in general. “Some of them can be pretty crazy,” she said, then admitted that she had recently moved to the area and was looking for a Baptist church in Arlington. I assured her MBC taught sound doctrine and invited her to check out Frontline Arlington. In retrospect, I probably should have suggested she check out Cherrydale Baptist as well.

I found one young Asian man sitting on a bench under a tree and handed him a card. He took it, even though he said he already received one at the West Falls Church metro (yep, we had a team over there, too).

Another Asian student I came across was very friendly and receptive of the card. Not to be stereotypical, but I don’t recall any Asians refusing the card.

After a while, I started focusing on people who looked unfriendly. I never approached anyone who was talking on their phone or had earphones in. But there were some very serious-looking, no-nonsense people who I made an effort to approach. Unfortunately, true to their appearance, they almost always refused the card.

Eventually, I only approached young women — using some of the old pickup skills within my social arsenal.

One particular situation involved me standing back, waiting at an intersection. I waited for an attractive girl to pass by and make solid eye contact. When one finally did, I gave her a smile. She smiled shyly, dropped eye contact, then reestablished eye contact before passing by completely. I waited. After about a minute, I hurried to catch up with her. She was two blocks down the street before I finally caught up with her. I ran the last few steps toward her — to feign being out of breath. I called to her, then said I really wanted to invite her to this event my church was having. She was visibly pleased that I had stopped her, but then quite confused that all I wanted was to hand her a flier. I back-stepped away with a smile, said I hoped to see her there, and left her with an experience to ponder for the rest of the day.

That was probably my favorite experience of the day. In a past life, I probably would have asked the girl out right then and there. But these days, I’m more interested in introducing women to Christ. I guess you could say I’m Jesus’ wingman.

I wasn’t sure who of the four of us had prior experience doing cold approaches to people on the street, so I figured I should make the first approach. A tip I learned from my pickup days is to purposefully get some “rejections” under your belt as soon as possible. So, expecting to be rejected, I stopped two young girls walking past us, handed them a couple of fliers, and simply said, “We’re having a party this weekend. You’re invited.” And that was it. They very willingly accepted the fliers, said “cool,” and continued walking.

One of the members of my small group flat-out said he didn’t feel good about walking up to some hot chicks and inviting them to a party — without explaining what it was all about. I disagree. Not only did I consider the approach “practice,” but even such vague invitation attempts can be a valid way of witnessing, should the girls go home, check out the website, and consider what The After Party is all about.

Our group of four split into two groups. Two guys went over to Barnes & Noble, where they had several interesting encounters (including one Hindu yelling at them and accusing them of “false advertising”). My small group leader and myself walked in the opposite direction towards La Madeline. I had seen two girls sitting outside there during our walk over from RTC, so I wanted to go speak with them.

On the way over, my partner approached some folks standing outside of a hair salon (who accepted the cards graciously and thanked us), as well as an older gentleman standing outside La Madeline (who accepted out of politeness only). We bought a couple of drinks inside, then sat at a table outside, near the two girls. We weren’t close enough to talk with the girls from our table, so we chatted a bit ourselves, then got up, and on the way out, did a double-take (another pickup trick) to say, “Oh, you girls might be interested in this…”

I pulled out two cards and told them they were invited to an event our church was putting on. The first girl surprisingly admitted that she already had two of those fliers. Apparently, she had been invited to the event by her small group leader (she was in a non-Frontline small group). The other girl said she didn’t have a flier, so I handed her one. We made some additional small talk, then departed.

We handed cards out to more folks on the way back to Barnes & Noble… A surfer-type dude, a punk rock girl sitting at an outdoor table, and possibly another. I can’t remember.

After reuniting with the others, we headed back to RTC. On the way, we handed out more fliers. I started to understand that it’s much easier to hand these things out while on the move, rather than standing in one place, targeting passersby.

We spent some time at one of our small group member’s condo (he lives in RTC), then on the way back to our cars a few hours later, I ran into an improv buddy of mine, Matt, and his gal pal. He was actually the one who spotted, then called out to me. I have a feeling he totally knew what I was doing there (thanks to my Facebook status), so after making small talk, he specifically asked what it was we were handing out (what a kind fellow!). We told him about The After Party, and handed him and his friend a card. Matt exclaimed that he would be there, but he’s always generous with his words. His friend, on the other hand, seemed very reluctant about the whole thing.

Leaving Reston Town Center, I felt like the whole task of handing out fliers was a piece of cake. Once you get over the fear of rejection and become immune to actual rejection, it’s a walk in the park.

A short video I created for the Frontline video contest. The story is a metaphor for salvation through Jesus Christ. I filmed this with two of my friends, Megan Beckwith and Heidi West, in one of the offices at McLean Bible Church. For more information on the upcoming After Party series at Frontline, please visit www.afterpartydc.com.

Behind the scenes photos…

That being said, I’ve always felt there’s been too much emphasis on the “production value” of its services. Sure, the church has been blessed with lots of money from its charitable members — and it certainly shows in the state-of-the-art equipment throughout the church building.

The Sunday night worship service has slowly gotten more and more elaborate, incorporating complex lighting, stage graphics, and even a smoke machine.

These things, in and of themselves, are not bad. But if anything in my church gives me some uneasiness, it’s this. I come to church to worship, and instead I sometimes feel like I’m being entertained by a show.

Even the worship band can get carried away during the songs — breaking off into improvised vocals and guitar solos. In these cases, they cease to be leading corporate worship and instead become performers. Instead of the focus being on God, they pull the focus down onto themselves.

I’m not judging their motives — this is just how it appears to me.

I’m grateful for being at a church that wants to do all things with excellence. But we should always remember that everything involved in the production of the services is there to help facilitate worship of God. Not to be the focus themselves.

There’s a difference between putting on a performance and helping facilitate worship. I just hope someone over there knows the difference and isn’t just concerned with finding new ways to distract the congregation.

Personally speaking, I’ve participated in many styles of church worship, and regardless of the environment or musical style, it was always the state of my own heart that made the difference in its “effectiveness.” One church in particular had no musical accompaniment at all — just hymnals and voices — and it was one of the best worship experiences.

Besides, isn’t the point of a worship service to worship God? Not be focused on our own personal mood and feelings? The success of a worship service is not in how well it makes us feel, but in how well it helps us understand our place before a holy God.

Churches just need to get out of the mindset that we have to make worship (or the preaching of the Gospel) more attractive in order to appeal to people. Our efforts are worthless compared to the power of God and the Gospel itself. We should just be concerned with helping introduce others to Him. And He’ll take care of the rest.

Because I wasn’t able to make it to church this evening for the Frontline service, I decided to log into the Frontline Internet Campus to check out & sample the online version of the weekly Frontline service.

Unfortunately, I missed the worship band at the beginning. But I did catch the majority of Todd Phillips’ message.

I loved how smooth and clear the video stream was. I also appreciated having the presentation slides appearing in real-time next to the video stream. There was even a box to type your notes during the sermon (which you could later copy & paste, or print directly from the application browser).

When the service was over, an online chatroom (dubbed “The Lobby”) became activated, and there were about 20 people chatting on it. My only gripe about the chatroom is that it didn’t seem to foster a variety of discussions. Instead, we were all lumped into the same chat, so it seemed like we had to stick to the topic at hand, rather than raise up new topics or discussions.

All in all, the Frontline Internet Campus is a good option, if you aren’t able to attend the service in person on a given week. However, it’s not a total substitute, since 1) you can’t participate in the worship, or 2) meet actual people you can get to know and hang out with. Fellowship is a big part of the Christian life, and the Internet Campus barely fills that need. But, if all you’re interested in is the sermon, this online application is absolutely incredible. I only wish you could access these full-featured presentations for archived messages (not just the live ones).

If you’d like to check it out for yourself, visit the Frontline Internet Campus on Sunday nights at 5:30 PM EST. Let me know what you think!

It must have been providence, because before leaving for church, I planned to create my financial budget when I returned home (now that I have all the exact numbers of income and expenses). The sermon was on finances and hit home in almost every category. Todd even mentioned the iPhone—which was burning a hole in my pocket as he spoke. He talked about how few of us are satisfied with how much money we’re making and always want more.

I wouldn’t say that I’m a hoarder of money. I do give a lot to ministry. And I’ve sold off a great deal of my possessions. I don’t own a lot of stuff, but what I do own is of the highest caliber. In that way, I’m quite materialistic.

Todd said possessions will never satisfy. Everyone thinks that if only they had this or that, that they would finally be satisfied. Two things immediately popped into my mind—HDTV and Apple MacBook. Once I buy those, I’ll be totally set and can start saving my money. Maybe.

And only a day prior I spent my entire month’s tithe on the Apple iPhone. Now, how telling is that?

Your heart is where your treasure is.

I need to make damn certain my heart is accurately represented by my new budget. I may postpone my budget creation until after Todd’s follow-up message on finances next Sunday.

Last night, I was awe-struck by how providential my return to Frontline was. The timing couldn’t be more perfect.

Note: You can listen to Todd’s message online here.

I agree with Ryan. Measuring the reaction of the community to our marketing efforts is going to be really difficult (and not really worthwhile). It’s not our creative marketing that changes people’s souls, but God’s good pleasure. If we’re going to measure anything, it should be stuff that we can actually control. Like participation.

It’s not our job to make society think highly of the church. Or for us to be popular with any demographic. If anything, I gather from the Bible that, if the world loves the church, then something’s wrong with the church.

If we concentrate on simply doing what God tells us to do: sharing the Gospel, helping others in the community, and individually living holy lives, then we’re doing what we’re supposed to do, regardless of what effect it has on our society.

We can’t control effect. Only God can influence the hearts of fallen men.

As a marketing group for Frontline, I think we should use media to 1) communicate the Gospel, 2) cover Frontline-related acts of service in the community, and 3) provide an “insider’s” look at what it means to live a holy life (e.g., from a personal perspective, like a blog)—struggles and all.

Some ideas that just popped into my head are…

Make sure we recruit at least one person on each Global Impact trip to write a daily blog on what they’re doing over there. As a natural skeptic, I myself wonder whether my money is going to send a bunch of folks on vacation.

Get other insiders to provide their thoughts on their respective ministry. Like a Frontline Athletics blog, an Evangelism team blog, etc. And unite all of these bloggers into one community—Pulse.

I’m personally interested in writing a “how to” blog on Evangelism. It would provide actual training on how to talk to complete strangers, as well as an insider’s look at actual evangelism outreaches (Christ on the Mall, etc.).

Basically, I think we should feature the work of the Frontline community. And the only measurement that would actually be useful is how much involvement we have from our own community. Then we can know if Frontline is doing a good job of training and equipping Frontliners to be doers of the Word and not hearers only.

The reaction of the community is beyond our control, and we really shouldn’t be worried about making us or God seem more attractive to them. We can’t convince people to turn to God. We can only show them the way.

I was impressed with the church. The sanctuary is about a fifth of the size of McLean Bible Church’s. It provided an intimate, yet modern, worship environment.

The event was called “Conversations,” and it was a mix of drama skits, testimonies, and live music. In all honesty, I thought it was the best bit of evangelism I’ve ever witnessed. Each of the five acts targeted different segments of people—a few of which really pinpointed where my friend E is right now. At parts, it sounded as if they were talking specifically about mine & E’s relationship and year-long dialog on Christianity.

After the performance, the pastor spoke for a bit, explaining the role that Jesus plays in the big picture of salvation. He communicated it very well—making it clear and simple. I think E was impressed with the evening’s message, and M seemed to gradually become less and less hostile (judging from her body language throughout the performance).

Once the lights came on & we started to exit the sanctuary, I got caught up in some conversations with other audience members. I recognized one girl from Campus Crusade at GMU (ten years ago). I’ve also seen her at Frontline before. She told me she was just talking about me earlier today with P (the former leader of GMU’s Campus Crusade for Christ), with whom she works. Apparently, he popped in my “Heroine” CD and asked her if she knew what ever became of me. I told her to tell him I’m now the captain of a church kickball team. I also tried to recruit her for my team (even though I don’t have any spots left). She said her friends had wanted to join, but she wasn’t into it. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective), she has just gotten married, and she and her husband are “shopping” for a church to go to on Sunday mornings. I told her—in all seriousness—that I was going to start going to Reston Bible Church on Sunday mornings (or Saturday nights), in addition to going to Frontline. I want to attend a church that’s more intimate and traditional than MBC. Then keep Frontline as something additional and separate—a place where I can do more serving than being served.

Anyway, I was really impressed with Reston Bible Church. They have a great facility, the pastor is terrific, the worship music is really good, and there seemed to be a lot of cool, young adults in attendance. Plus, I already know a few people there. I’m going to try and make it back there this weekend.

I HIGHLY recommend their “Conversations” performance. It’s playing for two more nights (Thursday, Friday). If you get a chance to go, you really should. It’s a really great presentation. They really know what they’re doing over there. Bring your friends.

I’m hoping E will have a lot of questions for me tomorrow.

How do you want God to use you this year in the Athletics Ministry?

Here is my answer…

God is already using me in the Athletics Ministry to tell my already-established friends and contacts in the Vienna kickball division about Frontline, its ministry, and my personal faith.

I played kickball last fall and became friends with many of my teammates, including the president of the division and one of the founding members of WAKA (World Adult Kickball Association). We hung out and had a good time before and after games, as well as socially on the weekends, etc. I built a rapport with these folks, establishing myself as a decent and fun friend of the group.

Now that I’m captaining the new Frontline team in the Vienna division, my friends/former teammates ask me why I left their team, what Frontline is, etc. Since I’m on the Vienna division Board, everyone in leadership positions is aware that I am a Christian and that Frontline is a team made up of Christians from McLean Bible Church. So, the Frontline kickball team has taken on a mantle of being “the Christians” in the division. It’s a heavy mantle to carry, because our actions & words will be viewed by the other teams as an example of Christianity. It is my goal this year to honor God by playing kickball, and by leading a team of Christians by example and exhortation to play hard, while always honoring God with our actions on and off the field.

Not only is it my goal to represent Christ well to those around us, but to also minister to the team. Many Frontliners joined the team in hopes of meeting other Christians. That is not an unworthy goal, and it is my duty as the captain to foster an environment suitable for meeting these needs. Someone new to Frontline, who has joined the kickball team, will instantly have 25 new Christian friends. The team provides an instant social circle for Christians, in which we can hang out and have fun, as well as bare each other’s burdens.

The spring season is just the first step. My goal is to equip 3 or 4 members of my team with the skills & desire to become captains of new kickball teams in other divisions in the fall (Reston, Arlington, D.C., etc.). There are many Frontliners interested in kickball, but none who have prior experience playing or leading a team. If we could raise up leaders, it will allow more Frontliners to participate in this ministry—and hence more people will be exposed to Christianity. I anticipate the spring season being so successful (in terms of enjoyment), that word will spread and interest in kickball at Frontline will grow rapidly. Kickball offers the perfect opportunity for athletic ministry. It’s a low-skill sport with a high-social/fun factor.

I believe God will use me to jumpstart the Frontline kickball league this year. I will lead it, promote it, and eventually hand it off to a team of captains, who will take it to every division in the metro-D.C. area.

I think I’ve decided to go back to McLean on Sunday nights. My conscience has been eating away at me ever since I stopped going to church at all on Sundays. The dilemma used to be which church I would go to—Chantilly Presbyterian on Sunday mornings, or McLean Bible on Sunday nights. Both have their pros and cons. But now my dilemma is not going to church at all. …Hopefully that has now changed. I figure—if I can get up early on Sundays for tennis class—then there’s no excuse why I can’t put forth the effort to go to church.

What’s more important than church anyway? What takes precedence for a Christian on Sundays? Sleep? TV? Work? Money? The answer should be… Nothing.

All in all, the Village Church in New York City is my favorite church in the world. If I lived in New York, I would certainly be a member and would be involved with as many aspects of its ministry as I possibly could. Alas, I live in northern Virginia and must make due with what I have. I go to Chantilly Presbyterian on Sunday mornings (occasionally, when I haven’t stayed out late the night before) to get my weekly dose of Reformed teaching. I go to McLean Bible on Sunday nights to get my weekly dose of same-age Christian fellowship and an enjoyable time of song worship. What I still lack is the traditional sense of worship that Cherrydale Bible offered, as well as the welcoming environment of involvement that smaller, less glossy churches foster.

As a child, I was surrounded by Christian doctrine in my home, school, and extended family life. My brother, sister, and cousins were all of similar age, and we were brought into Christ’s flock at relatively the same time. Having others to keep me in line and warn me when I wasn’t being “like a Christian” was wonderful for my early conduct and developing lifestyle. Natural sibling rivalry caused us kids to compete in all aspects of life, including physical achievements, academics, and Christianity. Each of us wanted to memorize more verses than the rest. Through this childish competition, God shaped my thinking and my knowledge of good and acceptable behavior. In my childhood, the foundation of a healthy and godly life was laid.

There were many years (5th grade to 11th grade), during which my faith was stagnant. I don’t know if I was saved. I certainly had head knowledge of God and the Gospel, but whether I was regenerate and, at heart, a Christian, I do not know.

In the 11th grade, I discovered the teaching ministry of R.C. Sproul. I found one of his audiotape series in my dad’s bedroom. It was entitled Building Christian Character, and it changed my view of Christianity completely. I realized that being Christian was not simply being in a certain social class, a member of some divine fan club, or simply a title bestowed upon us by the elders of the church—for vanity only and devoid of meaning. Christianity was a way of living. I learned that you can tell a tree by its fruit. It was a complete shock to know there were people in this world, who call themselves Christians, but were really not. That such a deceit could be taking place in this world was terrifying to me. It was at that moment; I took on a seemingly God-authorized crusade to expose such deceivers in the Christian church. I studied reformed apologetics vehemently, and unfortunately used doctrines, like predestination, aggressively and maliciously in my church, youth group, and amongst Christian friends. I wielded biblical truth clumsily, like an oversized broad sword, smashing all that came into my way. I lacked the wisdom, tact, and skill to use the truth in a loving, Godly manner, and I certainly paid the price. All of my Christian friends resented me for my theological aggressiveness, and I was left friendless for the remainder of high school.

Though my vigor faded over time, I continued to learn from R.C. Sproul and to build up my knowledge of reformed theology. On December 31, 1994, during my freshman year in college, I sat in my room, contemplating the meaning of my life. I concluded that my life had no meaning, in-and-of-itself. There was no accomplishment that I could achieve that would make my life successful. My life was unsalvageable. There was nothing I could do to give it any meaning. That’s when I gave my life to Christ, to do with as He pleased. Only through Him, could I find significance and value. On December 31, 1994, I knew I was saved.

It’s been four years since then. In all honesty, I’ve been floundering ever since. My spiritual life has been mediocre, at best; I haven’t had consistent devotions or Bible study; and my social life has been nil. I have been keeping busy with church life and personal ministries. I was a member of New Hope Presbyterian Church in Fairfax for a while, but later joined Chantilly Presbyterian Church during my senior year of college.

I involved myself in a variety of ministries and personal media projects that were meant to minister to college students. I eventually knew for certain that I was called to reach out to young adults in college and those most influenced by today’s secular media. As I’ve already stated, I would like to help bring the national media under the lordship of Christ, and to present the Gospel message in the new communication formats introduced to us by today’s ever-changing technology. I hope that, if I just keep busy and continue to serve God, that He will eventually draw me closer to Him and provide me with someone to share my life, my love, and my Lord with.