BradLeach

This is moving week! On Wednesday we’ll load up the truck yet again and make the final move into Philly.

I definitely resonate with Leah’s thoughts about our move. The time we’ve had to live in Pittsburgh has been a gift from God. And now we’re ready to move into our South Philly row home!

Two other families from our team are also moving this week as well. Perhaps you’ve heard of progressive dinner parties. This is going to be more of a progressive moving party–from one house to the next. I’m sure we’ll come out of this week with some great memories.

• Squeezing the moving trucks down those narrow South Philly side streets
• Late night trips to Ikea
• Finally settling around the table of whoever happens to get to the grocery store first

Life is such a great adventure!

I saw an interesting stop sign last week while driving in Philly. It was a normal stop sign with the exception of a sticker someone added that said, “eating animals.” Someone found a creative way to preach their message–stop eating animals.

To be honest, that is a message that fails to resonate with me personally. I mean no offense to all you vegetarians out there since I know that can be a healthy dietary choice. But for me, appealing to the vegan lifestyle on moral grounds is such a distant and irrelevant thought that I struggle to even summon the mental energy to give the argument a fair hearing.

As I passed that sign it immediately occurred to me that for many people in Philly, the gospel resonates–or fails to resonate–in a similar way. For them the gospel is such a ridiculous and far-fetched concept that they can’t imagine having an intelligent conversation about it, or even remotely considering its impact on their own lives.

I recently came across an interesting article from Tim Keller in which he introduces the concept of defeater beliefs. He argues that every culture hostile to Christianity holds to a set of ‘common sense‘ consensus beliefs that automatically make Christianity seem implausible and ridiculous to people. For example, in our culture, many people believe that there can’t be just one true religion. This is a belief that is deeply held and never questioned. It is also a belief that if true, defeats Christianity. Of course, I would argue that it’s not true, but the fact that so many people take it for granted as truth without a second thought makes my job as a gospel communicator that much more challenging.

This is why I see myself more and more as a missionary to Philadelphia. Before we can plant our church we have to cultivate the soil, and part of that process is identifying each of the defeater beliefs that are deeply formed in the heart of our neighborhood. Before we can preach the gospel we have to disarm these assumptions.

If we don’t, our neighbors will simply drive by us while thinking to themselves, “There’s no way I’d ever stop eating animals.“

Leah and I got back to Pittsburgh last night–just in time to see Gabby before she went to bed. It’s amazing how much she can change in just four days!

Here’s a snapshot recap from our most recent trip to Philly.

• I attended a faculty orientation at Valley Forge Christian College to prepare for a few classes I’ll be helping to teach this fall. I wish we would have had Blackboard when I was in college!
• Stayed with our friends Jason and Dana in South Philly. They have saved our team thousands of dollars in travel expenses by transforming their home into a hotel for us the past few months.
• We had dinner Friday night with Mark and Shannen, two great people who just got engaged. They asked great questions and gave Leah and I a fun opportunity to reminisce about our own engagement.
• We made great progress with our house hunt. We are actually in the application process for a place right now.
• Yesterday I preached for Pastor John Holt at Calvary in Wyncote. I taught from Jeremiah 29–a passage that has shaped my life and theology in a profound way. That chapter may be the reason we’re moving to Philly!
• The church received an offering for The Philly Project. There’s not a shred of competition in this pastor’s heart!
• Calvary is a great church–generous and extremely diverse. One of the most colorful churches I’ve ever seen.
• We took the 20 minute drive out to Cherry Hill, NJ on Saturday night for a little exploration. It’s a suburbia wonderland! The Cheesecake Factory, Pei Wei, Chic-Fil-A–come on somebody! Leah was especially impressed by Wegmans.

This will be another great week full of opportunity and progress. I love church planting!

Leah and I just sat down at a corner coffee shop in the Italian Market–just around the corner from Pat’s and Geno’s. Love the vibe in this part of South Philly. We’ve got a quick break before our next appointment.

Last night I was a part of an adjunct faculty orientation at Valley Forge Christian College in preparation for a couple of classes I’ll be tag-team teaching this fall (along with Jeff Leake and Brian Bolt). Dr. Meyer kicked off the session with this quote.

You never have enough time to do everything, but you always have enough time to do the most important thing.

I was really encouraged by that thought. Multi-tasking is one of the themes of my life right now, but focus provides so much confidence and peace. I’m encouraged to keep working toward the most important thing today–finding a place to rent in Philly. When we find a place to live it will unlock the door to the next phase of our church planting dream in Philadelphia.

So far today we’ve seen four places, and one of them feels like a strong possibility. The actual process of looking at places is a little tiring, but really exciting. It’s fun to experience different parts of the city, meet new people, and dream about where our family will experience life over the next several months!

Do you think of yourself as a visionary person?

In Christian circles, it’s possible to begin thinking of vision as something a pastor needs to lead toward God’s preferred future for a local church. Actually, vision is extremely practical, and relevant to everyone you know.

It takes vision to receive God’s discipline. While it seems uncomfortable for the moment, God is building our endurance and character. Do you have the vision to embrace the short term pain in favor of the person you will become?

It takes vision to go to sleep when you’re buried by a project. It may be tempting to pull yet another all-nighter, but you’ll pay a bigger price in the long run as fatigue leads to loss of creativity and productivity. Do you have the vision to put down the work and rest, knowing you’ll accomplish more tomorrow because of it?

It takes vision to pursue long range goals. You’re default work mode may be to return emails all day or check as many items off your task list as possible, but it’s possible that an obsession with finishing small tasks might give you a false sense of accomplishment. Do you have the vision to dedicate your time and energy to something significant over a longer period of time?

It’s so easy for any of us to make the Esau choice. We choose to satisfy our hunger and as a result sacrifice the future. But I challenge you to attack this new week with vision. Close your eyes and let God sanctify your imagination. Where might you be in a few months if you’re more disciplined today?

I finished the Book of Job in my Bible reading plan this morning. I usually think of Job as a classic story of suffering and restoration. This time I also noticed another theme. The bulk of the Book of Job is speeches from Job, his friends, and God. Through it all we get some important reminders about the weight of our words.

At first, when Job experienced tragedy, he responded with worship. But when the weight of his loss fully hit him he began to say things he’d later regret. He cursed the day of his birth and declared his life to have no hope. He did have moments where faith broke through some of his speeches, but for the most part his words were dictated by his pain. This is human of course, and not all that unexpected, but it’s still a mistake. Our emotions during seasons of suffering and confusion can throw our perspective out of whack. These are good times to think carefully and clearly before we speak so our words don’t inadvertently add to our pain.

Secondly, Job’s “friends” are a classic illustration on how not to speak to someone who is hurting. Much of what they say is factual, and you can actually preach some pretty great sermons out of their speeches if you take verses out of context. But the problem was that their words lacked grace. They were good at saying the right thing at the wrong time and in the wrong way. It’s not helpful to theologically pick apart someone’s words when they’re in deep pain. At one point Job even cries out in desperation saying, “How long will you torment me and break me in pieces with your words (Job 19.2)?” When a friend is deeply hurting, that’s the time to simply be present, not to present a sermon.

By the end of the book I was so tired of hearing these guys speak, and relieved to finally hear God’s words break through the noise. Chapters 38 and 39, when God speaks, are two of my favorite chapters in the Bible. His list of rhetorical questions to Job immediately snap everything back into perspective. His purposes and greatness are too great to fathom. How could any of us ever hope to pin Him down or figure Him out?

By the time God finishes his speech, Job says what should have been said a long time ago.

Then Job answered the Lord and said: “Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth. I have spoken once, and I will not answer; twice, but I will proceed no further. (Job 40.3-5).”

Remember, words have tremendous weight and power–especially when suffering is involved. Here are a few takeaways from the story of Job.

• If you are in a season of deep pain, add faith to your lips as a filter. Be careful that pain prompted words don’t increase your suffering.
• If you have a friend who is suffering, don’t spend time with them sermonizing or criticizing. Instead, major on listening, encouragement, prayer and presence.
• If you fall into either of these categories, listen carefully for what God is saying. It may be a whisper, but it will almost certainly provide much needed perspective.

Add some Philly church planting inspiration to your day with this short video. We’re honored to be working toward the start of this new church, and grateful to each of you who are praying, investing, and cheering us on!

The most difficult step in pursuing a dream might be the first one. Unfortunately, we’re often embarrassed by our first steps because they seem insignificant compared to others who are further along the same path. But I think Father God loves them!

Becoming a dad has changed my perspective on this. Gabby is just now learning to walk. It’s been an exciting process over the last few weeks filled with many mis-steps and falls. But I’ll never forget the look on her face or the sheer joy exploding in my own chest as I watched her take her first few steps.

Check out this video. If a baby can teach us anything, maybe it’s this. The first few steps in a new direction are historic and gloriously adventurous!

What first steps do you need to take today?

This week on the blog is all about getting started. I think the most difficult step in pursuing a dream is the first one. But you’ll never have the opportunity to finish strong until you have the courage to start.

Visionaries are wired to see a preferred destination. What sets apart disciplined dreamers is the ability to break that long range goal into a series of short term goals.

• If you have a dream of starting a church, why not start a small group this fall?
• If you have a dream of owning a business, why not start by inviting a business owner out to lunch next week?
• If you have a dream of losing 25 pounds, why not start by losing 2 pounds next week?
• If you have a dream to read the Bible, why not start reading the first three chapters right now?
• If you have a dream of getting married, why not start by becoming the man she’s going to need?
• If you have a dream of buying a house, why not start by saving the first $100.00 this month?

You’re not going to achieve your dreams overnight. But you will get there if you have the guts to get started and the discipline to take small, incremental steps everyday.

Go ahead. Get started!

The most important step in pursuit of a goal might be the first one. So this week on the blog I’m writing about the challenge of getting started. You can read the first two posts here and here.

If you study how things start you’ll notice that almost every model organization, growing church, or world changing movement started small.

When I have the opportunity to meet a person who’s accomplished something great, my favorite question is this one. How did you get started? I love hearing the stories of offices in basements and months without income and potential without any guarantees. The story behind the start puts the success of the endeavor in perspective.

When God first called me to start churches I wasn’t at a high-energy conference or mega-church. I was actually in high school, attending one of the early core group gatherings of my Uncle Jim Palmer’s church plant in Columbus, Ohio. They were just a handful of people with the dream to start Capital City Church, but something in the atmosphere triggered my internal wiring. When I left that meeting I told my family, “I’m going to do this someday.”

I remember hearing Craig Groeschel share the story behind the start of LifeChurch.tv. Their first services were in his garage! Today they are one of the largest churches in our country, but they started in very humble surroundings.

That sounds like Jesus. He came to launch a movement that would change the world. He initiated a chain of events that has resulted in the breathtaking growth and endurance of Christianity world-wide. The Kingdom of God has proven itself to be unstoppable. But when it started–no one even noticed. There were more animals that witnessed Jesus’ birth than humans.

If you have the desire to start something but feel discouraged because the first few steps seem insignificant, be encouraged. Small things make a big difference.

Don’t despise the day of small beginnings!