What Are You Looking At?

What are you looking at, the door or the obstacles (adversaries)? 

"for a wide door for effective service has opened to me, and there are many adversaries." (1 Corinthians 16:9, NASB)

When things get tough what do we look at? People in need of Jesus or people or things getting in the way? Is our attention being drawn away from the open door in front of us by the door that seems to be closing.

What I've noticed is that closing doors make a whole lot more noise then doors that are opening in front of us. And noise gets our attention! But often open doors are quiet. Hurting lives are not always noisy, in fact, many hurting lives are tired of being noisy because, although they once drew peoples attention, there was no response so they've become quiet believing no one cares anyway.  

But the doors to their lives might not be as tightly closed as we may think, in fact, they really may be open. Maybe we've shut them because we perceive them to be too difficult; too out of reach; too hard; too adversarial; too... whatever adverb you want to place with it. But what I'm beginning to realize is that if I haven't actually heard the door close and slam shut then it is still open, even if just a crack.

Cracked doors can seem difficult, but take heart, the door is still cracked open. Cracked doors can either be seen as adversarial or as an opportunity. The cracked door is not a shut door, it is a door intentionally left open to test us as to whether we're willing to push it open. Often, cracked doors have eyes peering through them wondering if anyone even notices that the door is cracked open.

Cracked doors can often be overlooked doors. Doors that have been slammed shut are easy, we can shake the dust off our feet and move on. Open doors are easy, these doors invite us in. But cracked doors... they're more difficult to even know what to do with. It's really in our own perspective sometimes; I often make a preconceived conclusion that a cracked door is a closed door. But what we're discovering is that a cracked door is a testing door. Testing us to see if we're willing to continue to knock and push on the door. 

So, what are you looking at? The closed door or the cracked door. Cracked doors only stay open so long, If we don't push on it the door will eventually shut completely. 

What's captured our attention? The noise of the slamming door or the quietness of the partially cracked open. I'm rethinking the door cracked open. It's a more difficult door, but the door Jesus often calls us to knock on and try to push open. I'm so grateful for the open door for they encourage us as people invite us in openly. The door that's been slammed shut allows me to move on. But the door cracked open? That door requires more work, but peering from behind that door cracked open might be the eyes of a hurting life or family that's just waiting to see if someone will be willing to knock and push on their quiet noise.

Just a rambling thought on this beautiful spring day. Lord, help me not to overlook the cracked door. Help me not to miss that door that is partially open because I have become distracted by the doors being slammed shut in front of me. 

The back door is open, come on in...

Shawn 

Share Your Life and "Everything" Else Will Follow

"And all the believers met together constantly and shared everything they had." (Acts 2:44 NLT)

"All the believers were of one heart and mind... they shared everything they had." (Acts 4:32 NLT)


Sometimes it's easier to give a dollar than it is to really share everything we have. Poverty runs deeper then lack of money and resources, in fact, much of the poverty is really a lack of connectedness to others.

I'm a product of the "church," and as such I know, like some of you, that "church" can be one of the loneliest places to be. As a pastor I've tried every "gimmick" that experts said would work in closing the proverbial "back door." But I know that too often the "church"gives up on people just as they are about to share their lives with us. Maybe because we find it difficult to share our lives with them? "I don't want to think about my life before Christ, or the struggles that I've had, even as a growing Christian," we say. "They just take too much out of me" I lament to myself and to God.

I've used the same sentiments. But lately I reminded of those people who continued to share life with me, even when I wasn't the easiest to share life with. They shared their hurts and struggles; their failures and subsequent growth. That couldn't have been easy for them, but they "shared everything they had..."

Sharing life takes a lot of energy (and maybe even hurt along the way) and granted, it is easier to give a dollar here and there. But the relationships we build when we share life are eternal. Life is messy. Don't be afraid of someone else's mess, at some point someone wasn't afraid of yours. Jesus wasn't, and still isn't,

Invest your life in the lives of others. As you share life everything else seems to follow. Share your life and see how you get invited into the back doors of peoples lives.

Have a great weekend and get messy and share life!

Shawn

The Back Door is Open

We enjoy driving around Detroit, especially the old, historic neighborhoods. Nicole Curtis from the HGTV and DYI TV show Rehab Addict has projects she has either completed, or is in process of completing, and its fun to go and see those, and to take guests by to see. What I notice are beautiful front entrances, many with large porches for people to sit and talk. Having grown up in Flint I can still remember my dad sitting out on the front porch in the evening carrying on conversations with neighbors next door or across the street, all sitting on their front porches. But nobody going inside. Still today, homes with beautiful front porches and these grand front doors, but nobody going inside.

And then we moved to the suburbs to escape the city. And eventually we found ourselves in a true suburban home with an attached garage. Then the back door was really inaccessible because you had to go through the garage door to get to it, I have a friend who grew up in the city too and he thinks the attached garage may be one of the down falls of our society. The more I think about it the more I see his point.

But I also remember Paul's back door, and Charlie and Ronnie's back door, and Jeff's back door. And ours. Not very fancy, and not much of any kind of porch to sit and talk on either. Really just a step, or a stoop. But that's where we entered the house. The front door usually led into living rooms that were well kept and tidy. But back doors, they usually lead into a landing which allows you to either go up into the kitchen or down into the basement, you know, where real life happens, and the things of life are kept. Think about it, if you are invited to a close friends house how many times does the conversation end up in the kitchen? Most, if not all, if you're like us and our friends. Those landings; where muddy shoes are left, where coats are hung and groceries are brought in. Where daily life comes in and out.

Our house now has that type of back door. You walk right into a landing, and either choose to go up to the kitchen or down to the basement. Either way, the back door leads to our lives. The front door leads to a nice foyer and beautiful staircase and formal living area. But come through the back door and be careful of the shoes and coats and dogs and...

At Back Door Ministry (part of Mission: GO Detroit) we want to form relationships where we can go straight to the back door of friends homes and lives, and in turn they come through ours as well. Where we share in the daily struggles, you know; muddy shoes, coats hanging in the entry, groceries waiting to be put away... life! Kids, jobs, family, finances... Coming in and out of the back door may not always be as tidy and well kept as going through the front door into living rooms preserved for show (my mother was queen of this), or nice foyers, but it is real life.

So if you have me over I hope we're close enough to invite me through the back door. I want to do life with you and share our victories and struggles; our muddy shoes and groceries left on the counter (reminder; put your milk away!). And when you come over, just come through the gate, pet the dogs (Big Bella, Little Bella (yes there's a story to that), and Coal Miner), and come through the back door, take a right on the landing and come into the kitchen, grab a cup of coffee and come on in. That's where I think Jesus did life with people; coming through the back door into their muddy shoe area where coats were hung, into kitchens with groceries left out, into basements where people store (hide) things... Ours is open, come on in.

Church Outside of Church

DETROIT? Martial Arts? Church Planting?

God, You must have some sense of humor?!

But none the less here we find ourselves. It's another story which I'll share at another time, but for now know that less than a year ago we were content pastoring a great church with multiple campuses in Amarillo, TX. Then God! Then God stepped in and rocked our world.

So, obediently we packed our belongings and headed for Detroit believing we were to start a new "church." Little did I know that I had no idea what "church" really looked like, even though I knew all the language of "Organic," and "non-traditional," and "coffee-shop"... and other clever words to describe church outside the "Church." Now we are discovering what "Church" truly looks like outside of the church walls.

I grew up in Flint, MI. Yes, the Flint, MI of the now infamous lead water supply affecting thousands. But growing up in Flint, and now living in Detroit, I am reminded that strangers knock on the front door, but friends use the back door. I don't know that I ever used my friends front door for anything, but instead we always went to the back door, that's where friends entered the house. So, with that mind set we are building friendships so that we are welcome to come through the back door of people's lives with the Love-Life and Love-Light of Jesus.

So, I invite you to join us on our journey as we introduce Jesus through the back doors of people's lives. Our main outreach tool in doing so is Lion's Roar Extreme Martial Arts, teaching kickboxing and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, striving to reach kids and families while building lasting relationships that form community revolving around Jesus, whether they realize it or not. Is it "church?" Maybe not in the sense most understand, and some will never approve of, but the more we engage with the lives of people and build lasting relationships we are convinced it looks more like "Church" as Jesus understood it then what most will ever experience without it.

So, thanks for joining us. Check out our websites: Mission: Go Detroit and Lion's Roar Extreme Martial Arts to gain a deeper insight into our ministry.

Till next time, blessings.

Shawn