Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” Jesus, John 11:25-26.

Yes, dear Lord.  We believe this.

Resting on the promises of our faithful Saviour, who is the resurrection and the life.

RD

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep … I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep … For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord …” Jesus.

I wish I could be with you all to preach this passage this Sunday, but my family needs me.  This 4th Outrageous Claim of Jesus has touched new depths for me and Rhonda over the past 4 days.  You are all in my heart and in my prayers.

Rhonda and I rest in the knowledge that we are ‘known’ by the Good Shepherd.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

John 10 ESV.

Ephesians 3 – Of this gospel I was made a minister… to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

My church planting meetings this month include:

April 14th – ANiC House of Bishops and Archdeacons in Vancouver to present the ANiC church planting policy.  It is a 20 page high-level document that gathers all of the work we have done over the past 2 years in building a framework around God’s church planting movement here in Canada.

April 19th-22nd – The Exponential Church Planting Conference in Orlando.  I am going representing Canada as a leader in the North American Anglican 1000 movement.  Yes, I will be suffering for the Lord in Orlando, but I will neither bring my golf clubs nor will I have a chance to say ‘hi’ to Mickey.

April 20th – Teleconference into the ANiC Board of Directors meeting back in Toronto to present the ANiC CP policy and to move it’s adoption as THE policy.

April 26th-27th – Greenhouse Church Planting Session in Ambridge Pennsylvania.  I have been invited to Trinity Episcopal Seminary to address the students on church planting.  Don’t tell anyone, but this is also a recruiting trip for me.  Pray that the Lord will send laborers to the Canadian harvest field from Pennsylvania.  I am also meeting with the Dean to work on a model for the training of Canadian Anglican postulants.

Why do I do this stuff?  First of all because Jesus has called me to do it and I have a very supportive family, as well as church, who see the big picture and kingdom value.  Secondly, because church planting is not about planting churches.  It is about God’s glory.  Ephesians 3 tells us that the manifold wisdom of God is made known through the church.  So the launching of gospel preaching local churches is all about giving expression to the manifold wisdom of God.

The manifold wisdom of God is the gospel (see Eph 3 again).  New gospel preaching churches ought to cause the world around them to ask, ‘What kind of God demonstrates His wisdom by saving sinners?’

Indeed, church planting is not about planting churches.  It is about God’s glory through the gospel at work in and through His people in local churches.

That’s why I am ok with spending so much of my time this month on church planting.

Pray for our nation.

Pray for your city.

Pray for the harvest.

Pray for the ANiC.

Pray for your local church.

And please pray for me.

Circus clowns please crowds by juggling many balls.  How many will he be able to keep in the air at the same time?  Men, women and children stare at the clown like some kind of spectacle; an oddity.  And yet, this same circus clown is the picture of so many of our lives.  We juggle too many things.  And so we live our lives like circus clowns.  Crowds gather, family and friends watch eager to see how many projects we can juggle before one drops and they all cascade to the ground.

You and I are slaves to so many balls.

One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. King David, Psalm 27

What is your ‘one thing’?

I set out to articulate my ‘one thing’ in January.  I prayed and prayed; thought and prayed some more.  I sought counsel from friends and trusted colleagues.  I discovered that I am not nearly the man King David was (no surprise …).  I could not get to one thing.

But, here are my 5 things:

1)   Love Jesus

2)   Be a good husband to Rhonda

3)   Be a good dad to Matthew

4)   Make disciples at St. G’s

5)   Plant churches in Canada

I then printed these out and taped them to the keyboard of my MacBook; a regular reminder of the things I ask of the Lord and the things I do.

Here is the invitation; take notice of how many balls you have in the air.  Pray.  Ask God to show you your ‘one thing’.