I apologize for not
getting the month 3 update out last month. So, this update will be a little
longer since I am combining month 3 and 4. The past couple of months have been
filled with much reflection. Reflection
of who God is, who we are as people, and what we are doing here.
Reflection takes time. This is not something that we do very well any more. Our
lives are so fast, so full, and so busy nowadays that reflection is impossible
to take place. Noise constantly interrupts us. There is always something to be
heard or done that much of our lives are lived in reactionary mode. We end up
living our lives as a reaction to the people and things around us. This update
is written from a place of stopping, listening, and observing life here in
Spokane. If you just want to read about what our lives actually look like in
Spokane, skip to the very last section. :) I won’t be
offended.
Who is God?
One of the basic questions
that all humans ask is, “Is there a God?” We can only answer this question in
one of three ways, “yes”, “no”, or “I’m not sure”. Now the latter of these
answers has to lean to the “yes” because if it leans to the “no” the answer is
no longer an uncertainty but a “no”. Once someone answers the question, “There
is no God” then the questions stop there. There is no reason to think about it
anymore but if a person answers, “I’m not sure” or “yes” then the natural next
question is “What is God like?” This
is a question that we have really focused on since we have been in Spokane.
Since our departure we have been reminded about the character and nature of the
Christian God. God has been faithful to provide for us. There were no
guarantees for us moving up here that anything would work out. Well, we have
been here 4 months and we are surviving. God continues to remind us of his
faithfulness, his mercy, his purpose, and his mission here in Spokane. More
than anything, we have been reminded of just how good God is. Things haven’t
gone exactly as we have planned. There are things that happen in life that are
just not fair. We learn very early on in life that life is not fair. People
spend much of their lives trying to catch up to others or they try to make life
fair for others. Life is not fair because God is not fair. But God is good. It
is not fair that some people get good things when they do not deserve them. It
is not fair that really good people die of cancer. It is not fair that a woman,
who would be a really great mom, can’t have kids while there are other women
who should never be a mom get pregnant. I could go on and on and on about how
unfair life is. This is the age-old question is “If God is good, why do bad
things happen?” The reality is we
would not know goodness if it wasn’t for the goodness of God. God’s goodness is
intertwined with his creation. I could go on and on but this is just a snippet
of what we are learning about the character and nature of this God that we
follow.
Who we are as people
I think we are always
discovering who we are as people. This process takes a lifetime. There are things
that we can do to help us speed up this process. One of them being, taking
everything you have and everything you know and moving to a place where you
know nobody and nothing all for the purpose of others. In reflecting over the
past couple of months we have realized a few things. One is that we are nothing
without Jesus, meaning our substance that makes “us” us is Jesus. We are
created in the image of the almighty God. We find our worth and value in him
alone. At the end of the day when we look at ourselves if we are doing all of
this for any other reason other than God, then we will fail.
What are we doing here?
In chapter 22 of the book
of Matthew, we here Jesus tell the people that we are to “love God” and “love
others”. Well, if you have ever attempted to actually do this you realize that
this is easier said than done. It’s actually stinking hard! But when we realize
that this only takes place when we allow God’s grace to do something in us that
we could never do on our own, we see the power of the kingdom of God at work in
us, and through us, and all around us. We begin to see what Jesus was talking
about all along but this also means a life of obedience too. We can’t accept
the heaven (the kingdom of God) without picking up our cross and following him.
What life looks like for us?
Month 3 was hard we still
miss all of you, our friends and family. Month 4 we have started to settle into
a groove. We have connected with another ministry in one of the rougher
neighborhoods in our city that focuses on the youth in that neighborhood. So we
help with the junior high kids. It is a blast because it reminds me of our
youth group days. We still meet with lots of people. We share meals with them
and get to hear their stories. Many people still can’t believe that we just
want to live life with them. They tell us that they find us intriguing. I continue to network with other pastors
here in the city. I have met with a half a dozen or so different ministry
leaders around town, sharing stories and finding ways to be the body together.
For us as a church plant,
we continue to gather on Wednesday nights to pray for our city, our neighbors,
and our new friends we have met here. We also are discussing a book that we are
reading together. It is called “Miracle Work: A down to earth guide to supernatural
ministry”. I recommend it, practical thoughts, theologically astute, and
amazing stories. We have all continued to challenge ourselves when it comes to
praying for others. We have prayed for Tanya a couple times for different
healings and she was healed. Amber prayed for one of the moms of the kids that
is in Jaicee’s class and she was healed. I (Jason) prayed for a couple of the
young men that have connected with us and have had some words and pictures that
have spoken to these young men. Kao is an evangelist machine at Target. Tanya
continues to challenge her co-workers in faith. We also meet on Sunday
mornings, worship, engage in communion, and talk about the scriptures.
Throughout the rest of the week we enjoy sharing life together. It is an
absolute blast. We have our times of frustration and pinches but so does
everybody else. The best times are when we all laugh together. I don’t think I
will ever forget the feeling of what it feels like as we laugh together as a
community. It is the stuff heaven is made of. Well, that is it for right now
there are a few things that we would love for you guys to be praying for.
Prayer Needs
Please continue to pray
for God’s power to be on all of us (Jason, Amber, Noah, Jaicee, Felicity, Kao,
Tanya) as we minister to the city of Spokane. We pray that the city would begin
to stick with us and in turn minster with us as a community. We are praying for
God to give us wisdom in building lasting relationships with our city. Please
continue to pray for my marriage and my kids. Please continue to pray for our
finances as we look for a steady income. We can’t thank all of you enough who
continue to support us financially in this season. We couldn’t do this without
you all. There have been some that have recently started supporting monthly and
some have given one-time gifts. You are all amazing and we are humbled to get
to do what we do. Blessings to you all. Please feel free to contact us any
time. We would love to hear from you.
Below are some pictures of
our beautiful city in this fall season!
All for God and His
Glorious kingdom,
Vineyard 509
Here we are, we have lived
in Spokane for a little over 5 months now and things are heating up. Not
really, it is stinking cold here. Last week when Redding hit the low 20’s over night,
our high here in Spokane was 12. Yes, 12 degrees! (Yes, I said high) Our low
was negative 5. Sorry, I have no jokes for negative 5 because negative 5 is no
joking matter. Although, Redding has had more snow for the month of December (until
today) than Spokane has. LOL. But our snow season is just starting.
