Update on Chuckatuck Property: Some Good News with a Challenge

Here is the latest news on the progress on purchasing the property in Chuckatuck.

Our Conditional Use Permit application went before the city officials’ internal meeting this past Tuesday.  According to our engineer what we proposed as a site plan for the property met all the criteria the city codes dictate.  We proposed a 15,000 square foot building with a parking lot that could fit up to 400 people.  The city requires us to put in left and right hand turning lanes, sidewalk, curb, gutter, and of course the sewage system.  Like I said, we have met all these requirements and most likely would have been forwarded to the Planning Commission if not for one snag.

The owner of the property has the land under an “Open Land Use” contract with the city.  This is a ruling on the land that it cannot be built on or developed.  It is often used for farmland and farmers apply for it because it has a reduced tax rate on the property.

According to the city, the owner has a contract on this land as “Open Land” until 2014. This means our application was rejected because you cannot build on the land until 2014.   In order for us to continue with the CUP the owner must go before the Real Estate Assessor’s office and file for the property to be taken off this declaration.  However, he would be responsible to pay all back taxes on the property at the normal rate through 2014.  His proposal would go before an advisory board and then go before the Planning Commission for approval.  After this we can resubmit our CUP proposal and have the city officials look at it again, then the proposal go before the Planning Commission and then the City Council.  So this is putting us back 1-2 months in the process.

Please pray that the owner will be cooperative and handle this matter judiciously.

Also, as part of the loan process we have to be incorporated.  Part of the incorporation requires us to reapply for our non-profit status.  The incorporation part is easy, but the non-profit status could take 3-4 months to complete.  Please be in prayer for JoAnne Handyside, our treasurer, as she guides us through this process.

As a final note I would like to say how excited I am about God giving us a home because I see the incredible potential ministry that can take place there.  I see free medical care, community gardens, a place for kids to be after school, Bible studies, worship, people’s lives being transformed by Jesus, addiction recovery, and more.  I hope you don’t see a building.  I hope you see people being transformed by the love and truth of Jesus Christ in the building.

Entertainment is Scaring Me

I actually laughed when I saw the ad for the new Adam Sandler movie coming out around Father’s Day.  If you haven’t heard of it it’s called, Thats My Boy.  The trailer for it came on during a basketball game and I just watched it.  I’m not a big Adam Sandler fan (but Happy Gilmore had some funny spots) and I thought of the movie itself as a waste of time.

But I laughed.  Later on I learned the premise involves the main character becoming a father in Junior High School when he has an affair with one of his teachers.  He then tries later as an immature adult to have a relationship with his son.  Let the hilarity begin, but here is the horrifying thought: the premise sits on statutory rape- ouch!  That is not funny.  I know irreverent humor is the in thing now (Family Guy and Tosh.O to name a couple) but once this premise was pointed out to me I was offended more than humored.  If the genders were reversed there would be outrage.  I find it hard to swallow that movie makers believed our culture would not be phased by this premise.  Entertainment and laughter in the name of child sex is wrong.

What is Hollywood thinking?  But I laughed!  I wasn’t thinking.  Maybe that’s what Hollywood is thinking.  When it comes to our entertainment many times we don’t think.  We just consume.

This past February Sports Illustrated put out its annual swimsuit edition and made a big deal about who was on the cover, Kate Upton.  I don’t have to tell that it’s hard to call this edition a swimsuit issue, since there is very little swimsuit to be had!  The bigger problem though is she is only 19 years old.  I know at 18 she is an adult but putting up a 19 year old on the cover of the SI swimsuit issue (or in it) I find a little  upsetting.  Maybe since I am the father of an 18 year old it’s really hitting home.  Where’s her dad?

It’s now been cancelled, but MTV aired a show called Skins.  It had actual teen actors doing nude scenes and sexual acts on camera.  It caused a lot of controversy (which MTV wanted) but the show failed to gain viewership.  What is this fascination of using under age boys and girls for material such as this?  When will it be considered that we have torn the edge of the envelope?

It scares me to see this trend.

But I laughed.

It scares me how easily and casually I just consumed that media.  I have always worked at being a critical thinker and I didn’t in this case, and it’s worrisome how easily I took this path.

What scares me more is the amount of people, Christians included, that don’t have any kind of critical filter when it comes to their media.  They watch, play, and listen to some of the craziest (and sinful) stuff you can think of, and everyone says it’s just fantasy.  Really?  Then why is  a computer generated image of child porn a federal crime?  Why do advertisers spend billions of dollars a year on marketing their products?

Why we may not actually act on the media we watch, we do have to admit it hurts the soul.  Just look at all the pain in our culture.

As a serious Christ follower I need to understand that I am to be a critical thinker of the thoughts and images I consume.  2 Corinthians 10:5 says, “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”  Making every thought captive to Christ is an act of critical thinking.  When it comes to media we have to think critically.

Again the Bible says, “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.”  Colossians 2:8.  I was taken captive and didn’t even know it.

It scares me in how children and young adults are being exploited for profit and fame.  It’s a line some may argue we crossed a long time ago.  It scares me because as a minister I have seen firsthand the carnage, emotional turmoil, and pain it has caused in so many people’s lives, men and women.  I have prayed and wept with them.  Child exploitation (sexually, violently, and even verbally) has become way too common in our culture.  There are too many police reports of the abuse (and one is too many).  They say  elementary schools are the last sacred place in our culture.  You are not allowed to open adult establishments near them and the like.  With the rate our “fantasies” our going could this be the final rip of the envelope?  It scares me.  Adam Sandler’s movie starts out at a Junior High School.  Are elementary school’s the next fodder ground for this kind of humor?

This isn’t an article about boycotting such movies and the like (I’ll leave that between you and the Lord).  This is a plea for all Christians out there to be more discerning and critical of the media they watch.  It is a plea for Christ followers to not merely consume the world around it, but to be consumed by the Word instead.  It’s an appeal to see media as not just something to take pleasure in, but something to let Christ take hold of.  It’s an invitation to parents to be aware of what your children are playing, watching, and thinking.  And finally, it is an invitation for all of us to pray for the makers of all forms of media that they will make wise choices when it comes to our children.  Children are not to be consumed, but delighted in.

We Are Made Stronger Through Tough Times. Really?

You may remember Mandisa.  She was on American Idol a few years ago and made it into the final 12 contestants.  She had a rocket voice that the judges and America admired.  She seems to always have a smile on her face and had a great attitude.  One of the traits that set her apart from the other contestants was her devout Christian faith.  She wasn’t shy about sharing how her faith affected her music choices and lifestyle.

After the show Mandisa went on to have a successful career as a Christian music artist.  Recently, she had a hit song on Christian radio called Stronger.  It reflected a popular sentiment from the Christian world.  Here are the words of the chorus:

When the waves are taking you under

Hold on just a little bit longer

He knows that this is gonna make you stronger, stronger

The pain ain’t gonna last forever

And things can only get better

Believe me

This is gonna make you stronger

Gonna make you stronger, stronger, stronger

Believe me, this is gonna make you …

The popular sentiment is tough times will make you stronger.  I always went along with this idea as being Christian until I learned that this idea may not come from the Bible, but from a famous German atheist philosopher.  It was Nietzsche who said, “That which does not kill you will only make you stronger.”

When I learned the source it made me wonder if this idea is Biblical.  Is it Biblical tough times will make us stronger?  We’ve accepted the idea so much I feel funny even questioning it.  Surely it’s a Biblical idea, and if it isn’t it should be!  I see the truth of it in my life and in others.  We just simply make that assumption.

Well, certainly the Bible talks about tough times quite a bit.  In the Old Testament you can hardly open a Psalm that isn’t expressing the frustration of hard times.  In the New Testament there is passage after passage that concerns how to deal with the persecution that was being dealt to the early believers.  And Jesus himself promised us that in this world we will have trouble.  So the Bible gets it.  We will go through hard times while we live in this sin stained world.

What advice does the Bible give to people going through the hard times?  Does the Bible ever say, “Don’t worry about this tough time, it will make you stronger?”  Hardly, its encouragement to us is a little different.

Let’s look in the Psalms.  Take Psalm 30:2.  It reads, “O Lord, I called to you for help and you healed me.”  So David, the writer, says I was having such a tough time it hurt me and I needed help.  I cried out to God and God said, “It will make you stronger.”  God sis not say that.  God healed him.  You can find example after example of this in scripture.  The tough time did not make them stronger.  In fact, the weakness was used to display God’s power!

Look at Jesus words in John 16:33.  Jesus is speaking of the coming trouble the disciples will have during the crucifixion.  He gives them this promise, “In this world you will have trouble.”  This is a promise of God.  Notice how Jesus followed up that phrase, “But take heart!  You will be stronger for it!”  He did not say that.  He said, “But take heart, I have overcome the world.”  Again, the focus is not in us being stronger, but in God’s strength being displayed in us.  This is a huge difference!

Or take the teachings of the early church.  Paul, the man who wrote the majority of the New Testament, pleaded with God to remove a thorn from his life.  We do not know what the “thorn” was.  All we know it was deeply troubling Paul and he wanted God to remove it.  God’s reply was not this will make you stronger, struggle through it.  Rather, God said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  Again, the focus in on God’s power being demonstrated in our weakness.  In fact Paul wrote of his situation, “Therefore, I will boast all the gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.”  In our weakness Christ’s power flows.

Some may quote Philippians 4 that says “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” as a proof text for this stronger premise. True, Christ strengthens us, but again, the focus in on Christ’s power through you, not you being strong.  The idea that we simply become stronger just because we go through a tough time is wrong.  In fact, you probably know a few people that went through a tough time that did not get better.  They just got bitter and angry.  It didn’t make them stronger.  It just made them harder to get along with.

In my Christian ministry I have gone through some tough times.  I have cried out to God on many occasions for myself, my family, and for my church family.  I recall the tough times of Taylor’s surgery when she was just months old.  I remember when a man attacked my sister and how that affected my whole family.  I remember when a church was at odds with each other.  I remember being so stressed out, freaked out.  And in those times when I felt so weak, so helpless, I saw the hand of God move.  I saw his power work.  I saw His miracle taking place.  From those times I did not learn to be stronger.  I learned to be more dependent on God.  I learned that his ways are the best ways.  I learned his power shows up in my weakness.

So don’t be fooled by the idea that just because you go through a tough time you will be made stronger.  The truth is when you go through a tough time you can see God’s power working through you, and that certainly is amazing.

By the way, Mandisa’s song reflects this idea in the bridge of the song.  She sings:

‘Cause if He started this work in your life

He will be faithful to complete it

If only you believe it

He knows how much it hurts

And I’m sure that He’s gonna help you get through this.

Amen.

The Story of Donna

Yesterday I briefly told you about Donna, a lady we baptized on Easter Sunday. Let me tell you a little bit more about her story.

When she arrived at our church, about an hour before service, she had been homeless for a week. She had traveled here from Maryland to live with her sister. Shortly after arriving Donna’s sister was arrested and Donna out of a home. She had no where to go. She had no other family or friends in the area. So she ended up wandering the streets of Suffolk getting by as best as she could. She slept in the hospital one night. She barely ate.

She went to three different churches for help. Two churches just gave her the number of the women’s shelter downtown, and a third merely dropped her off at the doors of the building. The problem was this shelter has been closed for at least 6 months now. No one bothered to know if it was even open.

After all this hardship she wandered into our doors. Lost, lonely, and desperate for a helping hand. Our church kicked in on Easter. We accepted her, loved on her, and we sought to help her. She was so moved by the generosity and the worship service that she decided to give her life to the Lord, and we baptized her. She may not appreciate it fully yet, but we helped her with more than some shelter and food. We showed her the pathway to Jesus, who saved her soul! Praise God! I loved what she said when she came up out of the water, “I can feel it!”

After Sunday Angie took her to the store and Donna ran into one of ministers that merely gave her an address. He asked her if he found the place and she said she did. Donna also said the place was closed. The minister just walked away.

Angie bought her some food, and the church put her up in a hotel for a couple days. Then she decided to go back to Maryland so we bought her a bus ticket home. We gave her a Celebration T-shirt to be baptized in and she wore it home. It had become a special treasure to her. She doesn’t know it but she is a special treasure me. For one day I will see her in heaven, and that is the greatest treasure of all!

Another Update on Chuckatuck

Another update on the process of purchasing the land in Chuckatuck.

I met with our engineer, Chris Parker, and he went over the many details of going through the CUP process.  He showed a potential layout of the land.  Here are two options we looked at:

Layout #1

Layout #2

This isn’t final.  We are looking at building a 15,000 sq ft building (We are currently using about 10,000 sq ft. in the Y) with (hopefully) 4 classrooms, multiple use space, a kitchen, and bathrooms.  We are looking at increasing to 250 people when we enter the building.  That’s about 110 more people than we’re averaging now.

We also discussed the how we would handle the rainwater off of the parking lot.  There area lot of regulations here.  In the past ponds were used as a filter for the water runoff.  This is being discouraged by the EPA now.  They are now looking at doing bio retention centers which filter the water before it enters the ground.  Turns out our property is well suited for such a project.

After the CUP process and the loan closing the next step will be to develop a site plan with drawings from an architect on how the building will look.  THat reminds me, we also need an elevation of the building we desire to present to the city as part of the CUP process.

Finally, Ive been thinking how we can introduce our ministry to he people of Chuckatuck.    Here are some ideas I thought about:

• Have a worship? service at the Jimmy’s Bar on a slow night.
• Do a live nativity on the grounds
• Host an interactive Christmas experience with props, animals, and the like for the entire community.  We could do this at Easter too.
• Have concerts on the lawn
• Sponsor a open gym night at Oakland Elementary
• Host a big barbeque in conjuction with the local firehouse or the Ruritans.

These are some of the ideas roaming in my head.  What about you?  How can we let the people of Chuckatuck know we are here to serve them in Jesus’ name?

Kirk

Chuckatuck Update, 3.30.12

Great News!  We have been approved for a loan from Church Financial Resources and the Elders have agreed to go with this offer.  The loan is for $90,000 after we place $80,000.  It is a standard loan at a fixed 5.5% rate, which is really good for a land loan.  Usually it is around 7-8% currently.  It is a five year term with an amortization of 15 years.  This makes our payment $735.38.

Church Financial Resources is out of Florida and they deal exclusively with church loans.  They have had a strong record of success.  You can invest with them if you like.  They are currently offering 4% which is a lot better than your savings!

Although we have a loan commitment letter from them we have not finished the process of the loan.  We need to be incorporated, an appraisal must be done, and the closing must be completed per the cup approval.  So we still have work to do here.  We are in the process of hiring a lawyer to help take care of the details.

Today (3/30) we also told our engineer to go ahead and start the CUP process.  This is a process that will require approximately 6 months to accomplish.  When the time comes there is a great way for you to help the CUP process be successful.  Simply show up at the City Council meeting when we present it to them.  This show of support will help it be successful.  The best way to help is to pray.  Keep praying earnestly and persistently.

One thing that I have done is starting to scope out the community of Chuckatuck; doing simple things like eating lunch at Jimmy’s, driving through and praying, making note of community events and such.  In the future I plan on visiting businesses and other church leaders to see about the community and what needs they may have.  Most of all I’m praying right now for God to open up a great ministry.

That is the update for now.  I’ll keep you posted as we go.  God has been so good!

Chuckatuck Update

Here is the latest on the Chuckatuck property this week.  There are three updates:

1)      The contract negotiations for the property with the owner have been completed!  Yea!  This means the property is now officially off the market while we pursue the CUP and financing!  One big part of the negotiation was the end date.  We were seeking enough time to do the CUP and so wanted a due date in November with closing being secured by December 31.  The owner has agreed to these dates so now on to the next part of the process.

2)      Financing. We are going to secure the financing before we pursue the CUP.  After speaking with several companies we have decided to pursue the loan either with BB&T Bank or Christian Financial Resources.  Of course, you are familiar with BB&T.  Church Financial Resources is a company based out of Florida and their sole purpose is to finance churches in capital projects.  They have existed for 32 years and have helped churches in Virginia.  Malcolm Puckett, who many of you may know as the associate minister at Avalon Church of Christ is their representative.  Please be in prayer as we pursue a loan with either of these two companies.

3)      Fundraising.  Now for us to be able to build there we are going to have to raise money.  If we have the goal of having a home there then we are going to have to underwrite it.  I already have had a couple fundraisers contact me about how to do this.  I’ll be honest.  I wish we didn’t have to go through this process. I understand that this can be a time of incredible growth numerically and spiritually for our church, and for me. I wish God would just dump the money in our lap! I will pray for just that!

Concerning fundraising I have a dream.  Wouldn’t it be awesome  that we raised so much money over what we needed that the interest off of it would pay for the administrative part of our budget completely (salaries, utilities, etc.)?  That way 100% of the offering would go to ministry and benefit the community?  I think that would be incredibly awesome.

On Becoming a Diverse Church, cont….

We’re continuing our look at “Building a Healthy Multi-Ethnic Church” by examining the first commitment out seven a church need to dedicate itself to in order to have victory in this area.

Commitment #1: Embrace Dependence…

Embrace dependence as in leaning on God to make it happen.  Embrace dependence as in praying for it unceasingly.  Embrace dependence as in this is God’s dream and we cannot do this on our own.

When it comes to achieving a goal though we Americans have not been taught dependence, we have been taught individualism.  A study was done on American values and these are the ones the study identifies as American core values:

1. Personal control over environment.
2. Time and its control.
3. Individualism and privacy.
4.  Self-help control
5. Competition and free enterprise
6. Action and work orientation
7. Practicality and efficiency

In short we like to be independent.  This flies in the face of actually depending on God.  We like to achieve, set goals, and feel victorious.  We like the idea of being dependent, but to actually be dependent confronts the values we have been taught by our culture.

Dependence must not be a nice idea.  It must be an imminent mindset.  So the first step in becoming a diverse church is to simple begin depending on God to make it happen.  Pray and ask him to bring about.  Pray unceasingly.    Persistent prayer reaps many rewards.

The Bible says, “You do not have because you do not ask.”

The first step is for us to be persistent in asking God to help us become a diverse church.  We know it’s his desire and the more we pray about it the more he will make it become a reality in our church family.

Chuckatuck Update and Making the Sun Stand Still

Good news today!  One of the snags in the contract negotiations was the owner wanted confirmation from a bank that we were a worthy organization to loan too.  We were able to get that letter from BB&T and the owner accepted the letter and signed the contract with a few stipulations for us to consider.  These are minor and they should be easily worked out.  On other words, we have a signed contract on the property!

Now we have to do our due diligence and insure that we can build on the land.  This will require the Conditional Use Permit (see earlier posts) and seeking out proper financing.  Regarding the financing I learned to day that we have to be incorporated in the state of Virginia in order to gain a loan.  This is done by the court system and is a 30-60 day process.  It’s another plate to spin!

Anyway, the contract should be signed this week and off we go!  I’ll keep you posted on the progress.

Also, I thoroughly enjoyed our 10^th anniversary.  Frank did an incredible job with his message and his challenge to pray BIG prayers and it was exciting to see everyone standing in support of the mission of our church.  I was also proud that y’all knew the mission of our church- raising 10,000 disciples of Christ.

Also, I praised God how he has used the people of this church to minister to each other and to change their lives.  He is truly incredible.  I don’t know about you but I am humbled by all God has done.

 

Then Sunday night was awesome!  Worship was great and Paul did a wonderful job talking the past, present, and future of our church.  I hope we all can feel as Paul does, Celebration is where he belongs.

In the next 10 years our church is going to change.  We are going to grow, build, and reach out in ne and inventive ways.  I don’t know about you but I don’t want to be part of a “traditional” church that has programs to simply build itself up.  I want to be a church that is more about making a difference in the community.  For example, for many churches the dream os to build their own school, I’d rather our church be in the schools.  Some churches like to have a family meal on Wednesday nights, why not feed the homeless or take meals to people that need it on Wednesday nights?  Some people envision having a place for us to play basketball or volleyball.  Why not have a rec center that the community uses to benefit families.

 

God has not called us to be a political church.  We are not a traditional church.  We are not family church.

God has called our church to serve.  If we are going to take stand it will be by stooping low to wash someone’s feet.  If we are to be traditional then it will be in the tradition of service as act of love.  If we are to going to be a family church then we will encourage each other to serve.  Recently, I heard a story about a young couple at a restaurant that was watching an older couple come in through the doors of the eatery.  The lady was in one of those automated chairs and her husband walked beside her.  When they came to their booth the husband gently came beside her, whispered something in her ear that made her smile, then he helped her into the seat.  She couldn’t move her legs well at all so with strength he settled her into her seat, situated her legs, and placed her feet just right.  Then he sat in his seat across from her and smiled, with joy.

The man watching the event said everyone that saw what happened in that room was taken back with the gentleness and generosity in how this precious older man served his wife.  He noted, “It’s as if his greatest joy was to serve her.”

What if our church was like that?  What if our greatest joy as a church family was to serve the community we are in, in the neighborhood where we stay, in the home where we live?  What if that was our greatest joy?  My prayer is that it will be.  After all, Jesus said, “I did not come to be served, but to serve.”

On Psalm 42:6-7

Your Dose of Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul?  And why are you so disquieted within me?  Put your trust in God; for I will give thanks to him, who is the help of my countenance, and my God.”

Heaviness and disquietude last only a short time.  They should not take possession of my soul.  Speak to your own soul; do not allow it to torment you and cause you grief.  Say to it: Put your trust in God!  Do not put your trust in sudden good fortune, but trust in God.  Jesus Christ, who is God’s countenance, will certainly be my helper, and I will surely thank him for it.

“Triune God, make my heart firm and let it be grounded only upon you and your help.  Then I will be helped indeed, and I will thank you forever.  Amen.”