Revelry

As many of you know, just before moving from Chicago to Fort Lauderdale, I was able to facilitate a semester of XEE with a great group of students at The Chapel in Grayslake, IL. Recently, Tony shared with me a story of how  he used what he learned in XEE. I hope you’re as encouraged as I am!

Two weekends ago I went on a retreat with my friend’s church and eleven other kids. There was one kid named Jon who had been going to church for many years and not yet surrendered his life to Jesus. He was one of those kids whose friends were few because most people labeled him as “annoying” and “obnoxious”, and the rest simply ignored him.  We rode in the same car on the way out to the retreat. I had a heated spiritual discussion with my best friend, who was also in the car, about: our future, misconceptions in the American church and how grateful we are that God loves us. It was a great discussion that Jon overheard. Unfortunately, at that time, I was one of those who ignored Jon despite my typical kindness to him.

After the ride there, I really felt God encouraging me to love and build a relationship with Jon. I did. We were tossing a tennis ball to each other and talking with one of the leaders for a good hour and a half. The Father revealed to me who Jon is and how beautiful and loved he is. My heart for Jon was becoming in sync with God’s. It was an unspeakable experience! As others piled into the bunks to prepare for bed, we began to talk about who God is and how He loves Jon. Jon learned a lot that night. We enjoyed a great time of prayer together.

Saturday and Sunday, I continued to build a friendship with him. Some of the other kids who went caught on and also talked to Jon. The Holy Spirit in Nick, Zack, and I had really inspired him in remarkable ways. I have never felt so Spirit-filled than when I obeyed God’s commands and actually talked to Jon. I could feel the Spirit moving mountains in me! I didn’t see it in Jon until the youth group that Monday.

He had been thinking about what we said and who God is and who he himself is, and he declared to the youth group that he would make a dramatic change in his faith… next Sunday. I imagine God’s not too big on procrastination, because that night was the most life-changing experience he had ever encountered. At youth group, Jon decided that God probably didn’t like certain aspects of his lifestyle. Out of obedience, he began making the changes.

That night Jon described as “the saddest night of my life, and the happiest night of my life! I guess God couldn’t wait till Sunday — He wanted me to change my faith that day”.

All this because I obeyed God by building a relationship with someone. I will never be the same in the way I deal with my relationships. Also I hope this may have inspired you guys to develop relationships for the glory of God. Once you do that, it seems like the Holy Spirit just takes over and fills you with fruit and speaks through you. It’s AMAZING!

I don’t think I could have gone through a more abrupt climate change during my move to Fort Lauderdale. While packing my car, there was a fourth of an inch of ice on the roads. My mom called to tell me that there was a yard sale of about 30 cars in the ditch on I-74, all within a half mile of each other. To leave praying that I wouldn’t end up in a ditch, and to arrive at the Georgia / Florida boarder wishing that my air conditioning worked was quite a shock. I still can’t believe that it’s February 3rd and it’s 70 degrees outside.

Shortly after my arrival, the work began. Monday to Wednesday, we hosted an XEE launch at Coral Ridge. What a privilege it was to serve churches from Canada, Virginia, Minnesota, Florida and Washington D.C. Several of our launch participants were former missionaries, one couple to Canada and another just home from Chad. Their ease of understanding and their fresh insights of different people groups were refreshing and challenging.

The day after the launch, Adam and I started setting up my office. It was a great test of our teamwork as we had to move, and play hide and go seek with the 6, 400 pound filing cabinets that were in my office. We’ve been getting questions about where they’ve gone, or how one of them ‘magically’ appeared in the break room. We just shrug our shoulders and inform them “it was Brian’s idea.” Childish I know, but it seems to work.

One of the highlights of the week was visiting Rio Vista Community Church on Sunday. If you recall, Rio was the team we took to Kuala Lumpur / Singapore. On Sunday we unveiled the location of this summer’s trip. The first week of August we are going to Berlin, Germany. As of right now, there is now no formal way of training German churches on how to share the gospel. From what our contact in Germany has informed us, after the wall came down, it was a free for all with the gospel. As a result, Germans were turned off from “organized religion” and Christianity. Our goal over the next several months is to create a culturally relevant version of XEE specific to the Berlin culture.

Would you join me in praying as I’m still in the process of finding a permanent place to live, a church to call home and a new (to me) car. With each day, I’m getting more and more settled, but my guess is that until these big three are settled it won’t feel like home. Thank you again for all of your support and encouragement!