Restore Church

After arriving home from a great family trip to San Francisco late Friday night (I will probably share a bit about some interesting experiences in this great city in coming posts) I preached my last sermon at Grace & Truth on Sunday.  It was an emotional time as I reflect on the tremendous privilege it was to serve this church for 5 years & all that God has taught me in this time. It is now officially the beginning of a new chapter and we are VERY excited about displaying & declaring the gospel to every boy & girl, man & woman in the 48202 & 48206 zip codes of Central Detroit multiple times in multiple expressions through Restore Church!

1. Pray for the sale of our house. Once the house sells we move. I am going to take a hit financially but that’s OK as we are investing in God’s eternal economy, not the one of this age. In the meanwhile, to diminish the degree to which we eat into our savings, I am going to look for work & already have resumes out for a few manufacturing jobs (my previous post USMC profession). Hopefully the house will sell very soon & this prove will to be a moot exercise but I want to be diligent in the interim.

2. Restore Church is now my full-time job. Much, much to do. I am working on a profile package to send to the planting organizations, churches, & individuals we have had communication with regarding Restore. I am growing our contact list. We are beginning the process of raising support. We are continuing training. We are visiting Detroit in a few weeks (hopefully one last time before we move!) to continue to build new relationships & to make some decisions regarding a house we are considering renovating. There is a lot of other stuff to do as well. And of course, we are continuing to seek by the power of the Holy Spirit to advance the gospel here in Hillsboro as we await our impending move.

Here are pictures of me preaching old school last Sunday (I wrote my message on a notepad while on vacation), our possible house (the Wall Street Journal did a fascinating article on the history of the house), & really cheesy proof that not only have I been a Tigers fan a long time I also actually once had hair on my head.

We set out at 8:47 am on Monday June 7, 2010 in a 1994 Isuzu NPR diesel 4 cylinder 15″ box truck.

I remember the time because I wanted to be on the road by 9:00 am.  So goal #1 Good to Go!

My goal for the truck was to take it and a load of hubcaps to the D.

Let me introduce you to the cast of characters.  Mike Hanafee, John Johnson and of course ME.

Now if you have been following Restore you know Mike and I, but may not know John.  He is a buddy of ours who was looking at moving to be on the launch team at Restore.  Great guy who loves Jesus.  Of course he had no idea of what might be instore for him with 2 guys who sometimes have trouble controlling themselves.

We wanted to drive straight through.  So that means everybody is driving.  We made it just into Utah as dusk was upon us.  So you know what that means, the dreaded Rockies in the dead of night.

Yes, we did hit the Rockies at night, but to make matters worse as we drove through Wyoming, it rained all night.

God was good though and the truck was a real trooper as it took each mountain with the gusto of any 4 cylinder diesel loaded with hubcaps.

We made it to the Nebraska border just as the sun was coming over the horizon.   First let me say Nebraska is  a state with not much in the way of gas stations.  We almost ran the truck empty twice of diesel, but we were able after much prayer to find a fuel station.

We made it to Detroit Michigan in less than 40 hours.  We ended up getting to Detroit at 4:00 am Wednesday morning.

So we got a hotel and slept for about 5 hours and were back up for a meeting in Novi.

All in all it was a fun trip.  God was gracious as we drove.  No mechanical issues, no personality issues, and no state patrol issues.  We drove around 2400 miles and it was good.

Some things to reflect on:

1. you don’t realize how bad the cab of the truck smells till after you have been out of it for a few hours.

2. we never stopped for food, we only stopped for fuel.  (we ate snacks the whole trip)

3. cigars though enjoyable don’t help the 1st reflection get better.

4. we actually did all love each other.  we had a blast.

5. don’t sit in the middle seat, it made your butt hurt.  springs must have been gone.

6. you needed to be almost passed out for sleep to come in a box truck.  noisy and uncomfortable.

7. cheesy signs on the back of trucks garner a lot of attention.

Last Saturday night Clete, John, I (props to Clete for the tickets) attended the Tigers & Pirates interleague game. Pretty sweet – Guillen hit a laser shot into the right field stands for a 10th inning walk off homer. That was followed by the final of a singing contest (remember this is Motown) & a stunning fireworks display.
During the game we met Phillip, a vendor who has been hawking beer, hotdogs, & ice cream for 43 years. 43 years! This fun & friendly gentleman told many stories about things he had seen – like Denny McClain’s 31 win season & of course the ’84 World Series title. Imagine how many beers he has popped open, hot dogs he has sold, & ice cream bars he has served! Imagine how many times he has cried, “Get your…!”. Imagine how many steps he has walked & conversations, like ours, he has had! I was reminded of the grace & endurance we are going to need as we seek to serve all people of the 48202 & 48206 zip codes with the gospel. Many different people have said that the climate of Detroit particularly requires endurance, stamina, & perseverence for a ministry that really makes a difference. Please pray that we would be “strengthened with power through His Spirit” (Eph 3:16) that we might joyfully go all out for the ongoing gospel advance in this Acts 29 age!
Philip’s life also gives us another exhortation. In working as a vendor for the Tigers he is following in his grandfather’s footsteps. Are you leaving an example of gospel stamina & proclamation for your kids & grandkids to follow? Where are you finding your identity?
“Get your…!”

As you may of heard we covered the drive from Portland to Detroit in just under 40 hours (we put jet fuel in the box truck) arriving at 4AM Wednesday. After finding a hotel on priceline for $36 total we crashed for 5 hours before heading out to a meeting at Oakpointe Church in Novi. It was exciting to hear pastor Bob Shirock share the vision of E.A.C.H. The goal is for every person in Southeastern Michigan to see the gospel displayed & hear declared multiple times. This was yet another indication God is working to move on & in Detroit. Tuesday I will have the privilige of meeting with Bob to share the vision of Restore Church. In the afternoon we showed John the 48202 & 48206 zip codes plus looked at some houses.
Today we are meeting with Lisa Johanon of Central Detroit Christian Community Development Corporation. Lisa has served Christ for many years in Detroit & has much to share. Friday morning we meet with Ryan Kozey of Infinity Alliance who is flying in from Buffalo to walk the ground with us and offer his insight in planting churches in rustbelt cities.
For now we are chowing down at Leo’s Coney Island. That’s all for now.
Oh yeah, the verse I have thinking much of today is Jeremiah 29:7 – check it out.

As of 8:37AM Clete, John, & I are on the road headed for Detroit. (The cab seems a bit smaller than I remember it & it has only been 6 minutes of the 60 hours ahead!) Pray that this little 4 banger diesel box truck packed with hubcaps (Clete’s business) makes it over the Rockies & 2600 miles into the D. And pray that this trip is fruitful in our continuing preparations to plant Restore Church – in God’s kindess we have meetings with organizations & individuals interested in church planting scheduled every day we are in Detroit (10th-15th), starting Wednesday at 1PM. Well, this rig is shaking a bit too much to write so I better sign off. Acts 20:24!