A week and a half later

So things continue to move ahead. Jeremy and I are headed to Nashville to go through the Covenant's church planting assessment process in two short weeks... seems like this came up out of nowhere! He's upstairs trying to capture on paper how God has transformed his life in the last 10 years and communicate his beliefs on the church and pastoral work in preparation for the assessment. I probably won't see him again until later this evening...

After my last post, Jer met with one of the Covenant's church planting leads, just to get his take on Storm, the possibilities, best practices, etc. And somehow that turned into an invitation to go through this assessment process. This is the same thing our dear friends Michelle and Rob Jacobsen went through three years ago - and now they are on the brink of launching Restoration Covenant in the Apple Valley area this fall. Not that we'll get a 'Yes - plant a church' out of this process, but at the very least, we will have more clarity into what God is calling us to. If it's not planting a church, at least we'll know that much.

I am looking forward to getting away and actually talking through all of this with Jeremy. With church, school, work and sleeping, we don't spend too much time talking in-depth about our future.

Moving Towards...

It was in that initial conversation about Storm that Paul Baudhin said something that has stuck with me. He said that when he's not sure if something is from the Lord, the best he can do is to keep 'moving towards' that thing. So an opportunity arises. Should we take it? Maybe, maybe not. But the best thing we can do is to move towards that opportunity until it is clear what He wants to do with it.

That's how I feel about the Storm Faith Community. It's not something that I can say no to, in light of all the mountains the Lord has moved to make me open to it. But I'm also still unsure of what I would be saying yes to. The best I can do in the meantime is to keep moving towards this opportunity until the Lord starts to make things clear.

And he may have done that a bit today. Jer and I had decided on a 'yes' to Storm, but that yes comes with a lot of uncertainty that needs to be made clear. And today, while I'm in Connecticut for work, I received an email from Jeremy. It was about the leadership, the direction that Storm is starting to move towards, and what sort of structure would come around it. And it all made Jeremy uneasy... but in the midst of that uneasiness, a few other conversations opened up about the church planting process. Long story short: I still feel like God is calling us into some sort of church planting future. Just whether that is with this specific Storm opportunity, I don't know.

What I do know is that I would never have come to this point of being open to something like this has Jer and I not chosen to 'move towards' the Storm conversation in the first place.

So I will continue to listen to what He is saying, and looking for where He is leading... and I promise to keep moving towards the opportunities He is providing.

Missional Church

The church that wants to partner with God on His redemptive mission in the world has a very different target: the community. In the past if a church had any resources left over after staffing Sunday School and so on, then it went to the community. In the future the church that "gets it" will staff to and spend its resources on strategies for community transformation.

- Reggie McNeal (The Present Future)

My Life Would Suck Without You

One of our favorite retreat activities is a little something we like to call 'Air Band'. All the cabins have to pick a song and perform a lip synced version of it in front of the rest of the youth group during the Saturday night session. This year the kids went over and above any expectations I could have dreamed of: Cody Harmer performed a 2 minute Michael Jackson tribute that was pretty convincing, and the senior boys did a hilarious remake of Beyonce's Single Ladies video (props to Zach, Paul and Drew!)

However, my favorite was and forever will be the song performed by my small group girls. They locked me out of the cabin on Saturday for rehearsals so I couldn't see anything until the big reveal... and then made me cry during their performance.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised, because Jer and I leaving Faith is just as hard for them as it is for us. But thank you, ladies, for reminding me why it is SO easy to love you. I am going to miss you, too. Please enjoy the love song, performed by my girls, that gives me happy tears every time I watch it (I'm the lucky one in the front row at the end of the video).

'Cause we belong together now, yeah

Forever united here somehow, yeah

You got a piece of me

And honestly,

My life would suck without you

Jer took it too...

Here's a list of what Jer came out with on the Spiritual Gifts assessment:

Discernment:

The divine gift to to distinguish truth from fallacy, and to distinguish between activity and teachings originating from God, Satan, or man.

- 1 Corinthians 12:1-12

- Hebrews 5:11-14

- Acts 5:1-5

- 1 John 4:1

Knowledge:

The divine gift to bring truth from revelation in a specific circumstance, as well as the ability to clarify Biblical passages with remarkable insight.

- 1 Corinthians 12:1-12

- Acts 10:28

Pastor:

The divine gift to care for a group of believers and lead them toward a deeper relationship with Christ. A pastor has the gifting of a shepherd who cares for, leads, and loves those he is placed over.

- 1 Peter 5:2-4

- 1 Timothy 3:1-7

- Ephesians 4:11-12

Prophet:

The divine gift to receive and communicate a message from God that encourages, corrects, or instructs the body of believers.

- Romans 12:4-8

- 1 Corinthians 12:1-12

- 1 Corinthians 12:27-31

- Ephesians 4:11-12

- Acts 13:1-5

Teacher:

The divine gift to clearly communicate the truths of the Bible in such a way that listeners understand and are able to apply the Word of God in their lives.

- Romans 12:4-8

- 1 Corinthians 12:27-31

- Ephesians 4:11-12

- Acts 13:1-5

- Hebrews 5:11-14

Spiritual Gifts

So part of the Holy Spirit class was taking a spiritual gifts assessment.

I can honestly say this is another way He is telling me to pay attention and listen to Him, especially with the two crazy options the Lord has laid before us. Here's what I came out with:

Administration:

The divine gift to coordinate and organize particular ministry through plans and procedures to meet the goals of the ministry.

- 1 Corinthians 12:27-31

- Acts 6:3

- Exodus 18:13-27

- 1 Chronicles 26:20

Apostle:

The divine gift to establish and advance new churches or ministries.

- Ephesians 4:11-12

- 1 Corinthians 1:1

- Romans 1:1-6

- Acts 13:1-5

- 1 Thessalonians 2:6-7

Faith:

The divine gift to act on God's promises with certainty and unwavering confidence that His purpose will be fulfilled.

- 1 Corinthians 12:1-12

- Acts 6:8

- Hebrews 11

- 1 Corinthians 12:7-9

Giving:

The diving gift to provide resources willingly, cheerfully and generously for the work of the Lord.

- Romans 12:4-8

- Malachi 3:10-11

- 2 Samuel 24:22-25

- Acts 4:34-37

- 1 Chronicles 29:1-5

- Luke 21:13

Leadership:

The divine gift to give vision, direction and guidance to others in the Body of Christ in such a way they will follow. The gift relates to helping individuals and groups develop and grow.

- Romans 12:4-8

- Titus 1:7-10

- Exodus 18:13-16

Wisdom:

The divine gift of understanding and applying knowledge of Biblical truth in a situation, resulting in edification or encouragement to the Body of Christ.

- 1 Corinthians 12:1-12

- 2 Chronicles 1:7-12

- James 3:13-17

Sunday Morning Classes

Two weeks before we got the news about Jeremy's job, Faith started a new series of Sunday morning adult classes. One of them was on the Holy Spirit. I decided it was time to extend beyond the walls of the youth room and participate in some of the more 'adult' offerings the church was putting into place. And so began an 8-week journey that, I think, was ultimately there to help me realize where God is in all of this... and how he has wired me to process through it.

There were around 25-30 people in the class each week; Dave Cornell lead us through a study and weekly discussions on the Holy Spirit - it was a strange, glorious experience to commit to learning about the Spirit in the midst of seeing Him unfold what was/is to come for the Berg's.

I was probably the youngest person in the class by 15 years, but that didn't really matter. It was a great reminder for me that God is never done working in, with and through someone. He continues to reveal new truths to us each day about who He is and how He loves us. We just need to be paying attention and acknowledge that He can still show up in big ways.

Friday Night Dinners

Last Friday Jer headed down to Fairbault to meet with David Brown about the STORM Faith Community church plant. We were planning to rendezvous in Burnsville at 7 for a dinner date with Mike and Bette Poukey (two of the most wonderful people at Faith) and the new Spiritual Formations pastor and his cute wife, Mike and Erica Lotzer. Running on 'Berg Time' , Jer got out of Fairbault late (big news, to be blogged about later) and headed over to visit with one of our students who had recently undergone brain surgery.

While Jer was busy doing that, I met with one of our other students who is struggling through some other stuff right now... we had a great coffee date, where I got to speak truth to and pray for this adorable student. Then I buzzed off to get gas and buy flowers for the Poukey's while chatting with another leader on the phone to keep her in the loop on prayer requests, etc. And of course, when it was time for dinner, neither Jer nor I had printed out the address or directions, and Jer left Andrew's late so I was sitting in the church parking lot waiting for him at the time we were supposed to be arriving. And I was feeling guilty (I've decided I hate being late for fun things like dinner parties... but don't mind being late for boring things like the dentist).

None of that mattered when we finally found our way, though. Bette and Mike had made yummy homemade pasta for dinner and the six of us got to just sit around the table and chat. As the evening wore on, we moved to the living room for some more conversation, coffee, and gingerbread. There was a fire roaring... with romance crystals providing some funny entertainment, too.

It was almost the perfect night to just 'be'.

I realized while we talked and Erica and Mike shared about how excited they are to start 'putting down roots' after years of moving from place to place... is that I don't get to anymore. I don't get to establish the roots that were just beginning to dig in. It's not like we had made a huge effort in the last two and a half years to create intentional community, but it happened anyway. And now I have to let it go. I'm mourning for the possibility of what could have been and what was just starting to become... no more impromptu dinner invitations in the hallway, no more visits to chat with our kids just because.

Someone else gets to do that, and it's not me. And I hate that.

A Big Bowl of Blessings

This past weekend we went on our annual Winter Retreat with the Senior Highers from Faith. This is typically one of the highlights of my year - getting away with a bunch of crazy students, playing stupid games together, bonding over the fact that we're sitting on the bus for WAY too long, staying up late together, threatening each other with pranks that never seem to happen, and watching God show up in relationships and the way we love each other. This weekend was no different than normal - we left for Camp Forest Springs on Friday with 47 students and 3 bus chaperones... 3. And Jer wasn't one of them since he 'had' to set up the sound equipment with a few other faithful leaders.
The theme for the weekend was Sacred Doors - a study on Spiritual Disciplines (talk about biting off a lot). Scott Groff joined us again as our speaker for the weekend - he was the perfect guide for leading us into a deeper journey with the Lord. We practiced some things that don't come naturally to many teenagers (and me!) like silence, spiritual breathing, confession, etc. It was a stretching, challenging weekend. I had promised Jer before we left that I was going to use the weekend to listen to what God was saying and asked him to do the same... especially since we would be going through the lessons with our kids.
So... what did God do? He kept pouring peace over me. I can't explain it - I am not wired to take a transition like the one we are going through easily. And yet - I've had this crazy sense of peace, and I continue to have this crazy sense of peace that God will provide, and we will be taken care of.

I have this neat relationship with Scott Groff, having worked under him with the students at Open Door. I saw my girls there grow under his passion for Jesus and gentle spirit that called them into a more real relationship with the Lord. I was lucky enough to help lead a trip with Scott to Mississippi following Hurricane Katrina. And I was at Open Door when the church let him go and during the transition that followed. Scott has (sort of) been in our shoes. He knows the awkward feelings that surround the sometimes hard decisions that churches make. He knows what it's like to transition out of a ministry. Granted, we have it a little easier... but it still stinks. So, when we were preparing to leave the camp and head home, wrangling the kids onto the bus, Scott came over to say goodbye and shared some thoughts with us on the upcoming months. And part of what he said sticks with me... and continues to give me peace. He said, "I don't know if this is from me or from the Lord, but I just see a big bowl of blessings being poured over you two."

It's from the Lord.