Part 2 of Spanish classes begin April 15th, after breaking for Easter Sunday.

AllPoints is a place where God has been working out each member’s “stuff” over the last several years. Every person here, just like you, has their stuff. Stuff can be bad experiences at previous churches, bad life decisions that still reverberate, old ways of thinking and doing things that didn’t  work very well in the first place, lousy upbringing, even worldly success… you name it, and somebody has it. Every person has their “stuff.” AllPoints is a place where stuff can be discovered, faced, unpacked, put away, or as it happens quite frequently, redeemed and transformed. (That’s when it is really clear Jesus and the Holy Spirit was in the middle of it all.)

That’s because there is only one real answer to our “stuff,” and that is Jesus, working in our lives through the Holy Spirit. More to the point, our relationship with Jesus is what allows Jesus to deal with our stuff. Sometimes he just handles it, and it’s over. Other times, perhaps most of the time, we walk it out with him as he uses that bit of stuff to draw us closer to him and to take us deeper into the relationship he wants to have with us. (Relationship problems with God are always problems on our end, never his. He’s done all that ever needed to be done to establish an open connection on his end…)

So we are not a place where you have to show up all cleaned up, buttoned-down and in control with your smiley face on—not by a long shot. We are a place where you show up no matter what you might have going on. Look, if you can’t hide it from Jesus, why try to waste time hiding it from us, or even your own self?

Consequently, we are a group of people who do what it takes to live together, as students of grace sitting under Jesus.  “Disciples” is the Bible word for that.  Disciples were students who aspired to become like their teacher.  Not to merely learn what the teacher had to offer which is our modern understanding of student, but additionally and more importantly to become like the teacher in action, thought, and disposition.  At AllPoints we have learned this means we hang together and learn from Jesus and each other, no matter what comes along.  Here, we are in this together, and together we have found a connectedness that more and more frequently approaches what we think being a part—a member—of the “Body of Christ” is all about.  It is not easy work and sometimes it is downright painful work, but oftentimes it is absolutely exhilarating work that beats anything else going!  It takes perseverance, forgiveness, and grace, but it is worth every minute.

Back in 2004 heading up the new church start called AllPoints, my only desire was to facilitate AllPoints being the kind of church God had in mind.  After all, it was his idea, and never mine—I never desired to start a new church!  But I soon discovered all of my prior experience—first as a kid in church, then as a rebel who at age 12 started not attending church for the next 20 years, and as a seminary-educated ordained minister for 12 years in a “mainline” denomination where I ministered in churches from 6 members to 6000 members—had deeply conditioned my expectations and anticipations of what God was up to at AllPoints. In a lot of ways I kept my hand on the steering wheel, and made up my own directions, even after hearing from God.  We don’t realize how much our behavior is like breathing—we just do it.

So God put me on a painful and uncertainly path of “unlearning” for at least three or four years (with occasional courses of “continuing uneducation units” still being thrown my way!)

Bottom line, that unlearning taught me a lot of what we call “church” has absolutely nothing to do with the Kingdom of God, or of being light in a dark world.  You see, it’s all about Kingdom, really. Look it up yourself. In all of the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), Jesus mentions “church” in only two places in Matthew’s gospel.  But just in Matthew’s gospel alone, he mentions Kingdom over fifty times, and in all the gospels he said the word Kingdom over 115 times. You would think we’d get a clue, huh?

Part of being busy “unlearning” meant God had me on a diet when it came to reading the latest and greatest church leader/church critic books.  But lately, he’s had me poking around and reading a few things, mostly I think as his way of confirming to me the things he has taught me in my unlearning. A few buzzwords from the last few years are “missional,” “organic,” “convergent,” “transformational,” and “emergent.”  In a lot of ways, the Spirit led us into these things in the process of unlearning the old ways.  We’ve gone to Africa and we’ve gone to the homeless on the corner… we’ve learned that relationship building is just as important than getting the doctrine “just right”… we’ve been led by the Spirit into holding outreach, in-reach, liturgy , tradition, and moving with the Spirit in power and wholeness together and not just collapsing into one or the other… we’ve learned like Jesus to meet people where they are, but never to leave them there, for the gospel is not so much a word of affirmation as it is always a word of transformation…  we have learned that God may do things in ways we have not seen before, but at the same time, he will not violate the integrity of who he is in the process nor allow us to violate our own integrity as we follow him.

Very importantly, I have learned that unlearning “old ways” never sacrifices or jettisons eternal truths about life with God just for the sake of being new, or trending, or cutting edge, or “cool.”  The filter is really unlearning “church” and learning “Kingdom.”  The acid test is always love of God and love of neighbor, for love first does no harm…

So we are a place concerned about others, in particular concerned about those outside the Kingdom who need to come inside.  We are a place where authenticity before God is important, even vital, and so we have learned to seek the Holy Spirit.  We are a place where our relationship with God through Jesus is eternally important, as we strive to know him and to follow him.  We are a place where we have learned and know that obedience to the leading of the Lord is critical, and all too easy to subvert with our own ideas about what God really wants from us…

If you’ve given up on church, that’s okay.  We understand.  (Believe me, I’ve been tempted to revert to “unchurched” on more than one occasion since I’ve been a minister!)  If you’ve choked on rote liturgy, or rote routine if you’ve defined yourself as “non-liturgical,” we understand.  If you’ve given up on “Charismanics,” that’s okay, too… we understand.  If you’ve burned out on the evangelical that constantly tries to “get people saved” but then has no way or plan or even desire to help them become students of grace (disciples) or put down deep roots in the Kingdom , that’s okay, we understand.  Because all of that is who we once were, too, and all too often, are still shocked to realize we still are in the nooks and crannies of our walk with the Lord.

But now, we are people who seek the Lord in Spirit and in Truth, who desire to please the Father, who seek to know and be like the Son, and who are learning to be authentically led by the Spirit. We don’t want to limit God, nor compartmentalize God. We want to be a people who walk with him no matter what’s going on in the culture, or politics, or the economy. At the end of the day, even on the Last Day, walking with him is all that matters…   and is all that will get us Home.

If I haven’t run you off or bored you to tears by this point, drop on in. Please understand my desire for you is to be a part of AllPoints if that is what the Spirit wants for you and for us. My greatest desire, though, is for you to be part of the Kingdom—a member of God’s family—no matter where that might place you in what the Apostle Paul called the Body of Christ. At the end of the day, my desire for you is to be on the inside, to be sinking deep roots in the Lord, and to be able to stand with your head high no matter what the world is throwing your way.  God bless you, and Godspeed in all you do!

Mark your calendar for April 23 – 26, 2012 and commit to attend Exponential 2012.   Here are just a few reasons why…

• Over 4,500 Church Planting Leaders
• Over 100 National Speakers (including Bill Hybels and Wayne Cordeiro)
• 15 Pre-Conference Intensives
• Over 100 Workshops
• Special Discounts for Spouses
• Inspiring, Encouraging, Equipping & Challenging leaders
• Group options to Customize your Experience
• Over 50 National Sponsors help make it Affordable
• Sunny Orlando, Florida

Mark your calendar now and plan to attend!   The super early bird rate of $149 for the planter and $79 for the spouse is good until December 2, 2011.   Visit www.exponentialconference.com to learn more and to register.