From the website:

AMBITION. Simply knowing how to plant and lead a church is not enough. Knowledge must come hand-in-hand with God-given ambition. The Apostle Paul responded to God’s call to make the gospel known among the Gentiles with zealous determination. Paul, empowered by the Holy Spirit, made it his ambition to take the gospel to those who did not have it even if it cost him everything. He proclaimed the gospel, gathered believers into churches, established elders, and discipled believers; and he did all this with zeal and passion. In the hope of this type of ambition overflowing in the Church, we would like to invite you to the Acts 29 Network Ambition Boot Camp, November 10-11, 2009, which will focus on planting and leading churches with God-given ambition.

This conference is a 'boot camp' for church planters who are interested in being assessed and plant within the Acts 29 network, but it is also open to the public. Whether you feel called to plant a church or want to gain a deeper understanding of your role in it, I hope you will take advantage of this opportunity. I'm excited for my pastor, Keith Watson, who will be sharing his testimony and speaking during one of the workshops.

In a world where sometimes it seems like God is nowhere to be found and it's impossible to see Him at work in the lives of people, or even in my own life, this song by Caedmon's Call is encouraging.

Laden With Guilt

Laden with guilt and full of fears
I fly to Thee my Lord
And not a glimpse of hope appears
But in Thy written word
The volumes of my Father's grace
Does all my griefs assuage
Here I behold my Savior's face
In every page

This is the field where hidden lies
The pearl of price unknown
That merchant is divinely wise
Who makes the pearl his own
Here consecrated water flows
To quench my thirst of sin
Here the fair tree of knowledge grows
No danger dwells within

This is the judge that ends the strife
Where wit and reason fail
My guide to everlasting life
Throughout this gloomy vale
O may Thy counsels, mighty God
My roving feet command
Nor I forsake the happy road
That leads to Thy right hand

Of old you laid the foundation of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
They will perish, but you will remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,
but you are the same, and your years have no end.
Psalm 102:25-27

Taken from the blog Of First Importance:

“The Lord reveal himself more and more to us in the face of his Son Jesus Christ and magnify the power of his grace in cherishing those beginnings of grace in the midst of our corruptions, and sanctify the consideration of our own infirmities to humble us, and of his tender mercy to encourage us.

And may he persuade us that, since he has taken us into the covenant of grace, he will not cast us off for those corruptions which, as they grieve his Spirit, so they make us vile in our own eyes.

And because Satan labors to obscure the glory of his mercy and hinder our comfort by discouragements, the Lord add this to the rest of his mercies, that we may not lose any portion of comfort that is laid up for us in Christ.

And, may he grant that the prevailing power of his Spirit in us should be an evidence of the truth of grace begun, and a pledge of final victory, at that time when he will be all in all, in all his, for all eternity. Amen.”

—Richard Sibbes, The Bruised Reed (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1998), 127-28

This weekend I'm headed to Fight Club, the first Acts 29 conference in Georgia. Going with me, will be four guys from our Missional Community that I love dearly and have enjoyed growing and living life with. God has been good. This time last year, Kimberly and I were about a month into New City Church and the MC's had not even launched yet. Now, I'm being joined by four other men who God has placed here who have a desire to grow in the grace of God and see it transform themselves, their families, their church and their cities.

I'm excited for all. The last time I went to an Acts 29 conference I came back more firmly rooted in the power of the gospel and the need to have everything we do filtered through that lens. The church needs leaders who eat, breath, and live the gospel. I also came back with greater affection for the men I serve with and who lead us. I don't think I had laughed that hard in a long time, not only at them, but at myself. It reminded me of football camps when I was in high school, but this is sweeter.

"You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." 2 Timothy 2:1-2

After grieving this weekend with my family over the loss of my cousin, my heart aches. It aches because of the sadness I've heard and felt from each member I've grieved with. It aches because of the cries of questions and pain that I heard this weekend. It aches because of the lies that some believe and the guilt that people still carry. But, Jesus is still pursuing and calling broken, miserable, sinners of whom I am the foremost. That's who he wants. He hasn't come for people who have it together, He's come for those who know they are sick and broken inside. Those who know they need a Savior who can forgive their sins and free them from themselves. That's why I love this video.

Job Chapter 37

1 At this also my heart trembles
and leaps out of its place.
2 Keep listening to the thunder of his voice
and the rumbling that comes from his mouth.
3 Under the whole heaven he lets it go,
and his lightning to the corners of the earth.
4 After it his voice roars;
he thunders with his majestic voice,
and he does not restrain the lightnings when his voice is heard.
5 God thunders wondrously with his voice;
he does great things that we cannot comprehend.
6 For to the snow he says, ‘Fall on the earth,’
likewise to the downpour, his mighty downpour.
7 He seals up the hand of every man,
that all men whom he made may know it.
8 Then the beasts go into their lairs,
and remain in their dens.
9 From its chamber comes the whirlwind,
and cold from the scattering winds.
10 By the breath of God ice is given,
and the broad waters are frozen fast.
11 He loads the thick cloud with moisture;
the clouds scatter his lightning.
12 They turn around and around by his guidance,
to accomplish all that he commands them
on the face of the habitable world.
13 Whether for correction or for his land
or for love, he causes it to happen.