The Darkness

Part of my sermon from Sunday Dec 16. It was a very dark world when Mary was told by an angel that she would be with child. God had not spoken in over 400 years, he had not even sent a message through an angel or one of his prophets. It must have been pretty tough to live in this world. Israel was a part of the Roman empire. They were not there own. Darkness can be defined as the absence of light. And this is just what every Israelite was experiencing. One thing that is important to know is that light transforms darkness. Even something as small as a candle in the darkest of rooms spreads a lot of light. Have you ever walked into a dark room, one with very little light. It is hard to see, almost impossible. But the longer you are in the room your eyes begin to adjust to the darkness. This is how it is with sin. When you first walk into it you might not be able to see or even recognize it. But the longer you are in the dark you are able know what it looks like, know it by name and even choose to fight the temptation. However the more accustom with it, sometimes you can become use to being a part of it and partaking it. John 1:9 says, “The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.” When the light enters the dark space it transforms the darkness. As Jesus comes into every situation he will bring light onto each situation. Jesus can and will show you the sin in your life. The Light reveals Glory. It will show his magnificence and splendor. It will take you by storm and show you the awesome power of God. The Light reveals Grace. Romans 5:20-21 says “The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” Grace is an amazing thing. It does not matter how much darkness/sin we have in our lives. Jesus will come into our lives to transform the darkness to light. I love this verse because it shows that the more sin you have in your life, there is more forgiveness. But we are not to take advantage of that grace and continue to live in the dark. Most of you know I have an 8 month old named Tedy. Every now and then Tedy will make a face and his whole body will tense up. You know exactly where I am going and what I will have to do. I will have to change a dirty diaper. When Tedy does this, Daddy steps in removes the diaper and cleans his crap-covered bum. I give him grace because this is all he knows and I will continue to come into his life and give him grace by changing his diaper. Just as Christ comes into our lives and removes the darkness. But if Tedy comes to me at 8 years old and tells me he needs his diaper changed we have missed something. We have not taught him what he needs to know. He has not grown and his life has not been transformed by the grace we have shown him The Light also reveals Truth. God comes in and shows us what we need to know, how we should live, and how to follow him. He reveals this through scripture. John 3:21 says, “But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.” We need to continue to live in the light to help us see the truth. The best thing Christians can do is to reveal the light. The light will reveal his glory, grace and truth.

small town life

Recently Jenny, Tedy and I packed our bags for a new journey in La Porte City, IA as the Pastor at Heartland Community Church. We have been here now almost 5 months. I have enjoyed transitioning to small town life again. I was born in a small town, and there is something simple about small town life. This is also my second season of ministry in a small town. Small town ministry is a little different than being in a city or suburb. 1. Small town's have a of pride. They enjoy living in a small town. Most of the people have always lived in La Porte City or another small town. Most would not want to live anywhere else. 2. Small town's have a lot of community. Since most people have lived here for years, they know everyone else. When there is an event like a high school football game or a town fair everyone comes out in support. 3. Small town's know how to serve. Small towns do not have a lot of federal or state grant's to support their town. Small town's have a volunteer fire department and when they see a need they do everything they are able to fulfill the need. Small towns have some advantages. I am able to walk anywhere in La Porte City in 10 minutes or less. I cover my town on foot every two days as I jog for exercise. La Port City has exceptional schools and it will be good to have a low teacher to student ratio. What do you notice about your town? How does it affect your ministry? How does this allow you to be a better pastor or citizen? I would love to know what you think.

Building Inroads to the Community

September 9, 2012 will hopefully go down as a day to remember in the life of Heartland Community Church. It was a brisk and cool morning as volunteers started arriving before 7am to set up some last minute things to prepare for our big celebration. The music equipment took a little over an hour to set up on the flat bed truck. As people drove by slowly peering out their windows to try and see what was going on, we were setting up chairs for the outdoor worship experience in the parking lot just outside the walls where we normally worshiped as a community. The sun was bright and as I looked over the congregation saw most holding up the bulletin to block the sun. But the smiles of joy were evident. The worship team kicked off with some of our favorites; My Redeemer lives and Days of Elijah were among them. I gave the message looking at the history of the church from Acts 3 and 4, focusing on the idea that we cannot stop the message of Jesus from being shared even tying in the history of Heartland. We concluded the experience with the 90 in attendance hand in hand, in a big united circle. Things were far from over. After this we set up all the lawn games including bags, ladder golf, and some minute to win it games. We had a table set up for crafts and face painting. The best part is the countless number of children and adults that took part. We had a bunch of tables for people to eat the gigantic amount of food from the cookout, hotdogs, hamburgers, potato salad, beans and an endless supply of desserts. Inside the church building we had two projectors displaying the Bears vs Colts. Many people came, many faces I did not know but were having fun with the people who invited them. I met more people in a five-hour period than in the weeks previous. There were even people stopping by from other congregations in the community to have some fun. Pastor Mike even came by from the nearby United Methodist congregation. Over the 2 months I have been Pastor at Heartland we have had an amazing presence of God with us. Uniting the congregation together, building the morale of each one. But it seemed like it was something that was building up in us to be more a part of the community that we lived in. It was already seen in our midweek ministries to families, but knew that God had bigger plans. This is just the first part of building inroads to our community, as we build their trust and share the message of the Gospel.

I AM the road

This Sunday I preached from John 14:1-14. Jesus had just told his disciples in the upper room that Judas would betray him, Peter would deny him and that he was leaving them, but not to be troubled. This was someone the disciples had left everything for, had followed for the last 3 years yet he was going to leave them. They had to be shaken up, this was turning their world upside down. Jesus had not done what they thought he had come to do. He did not take over the kingdom. The Romans still had control. Jesus then said he would come back to get them to take them to where he was going, and that they would know they way. Thomas is the disciple I relate to most. He always had a question or a statement because he quite did not understand everything going on. Remember he has the name Doubting Thomas for a reason. He wanted to see Jesus nail scarred hands in order to believe. I do not think it was just his doubt that mad him want to see Jesus hands. His world had been rocked, Jesus just died in front of him and he was pretty dismayed. I think he longed to be reunited with Christ, to see him because he missed him. Coming back to John 14, Thomas replied, "How can we know the way, we do not know where you are going?" This response led Jesus to say one of the most known/talked about scriptures ever. "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one shall go to see the Father but through me." Thomas did not understand that he did not need to know where Jesus was going, because all he had to do was follow him. Exactly what he had been doing for the last three years. Jesus was trying to say it is not about going a specific direction or even an eventual destination. As long as you follow me, you will be fine. The way can be translated to "the road." Being a disciple of Jesus means to continue to follow him along the road. The road is the right direction and will get you to an eventual destination, but it is still not about the direction or destination. Anyone that has been on a road trip knows what I am talking about. The drive/journey along the road can be just as much fun as what happens at the eventual destination. Relationships are strengthened, stories are told, laughter is shared, games are played. Guards come down, trust is built, bonds are made that would have never happened otherwise. Heartland is now on the road. We are following Jesus along the way. We are building disciples. We might be like Thomas and do not know where we are going yet but we know we are following Jesus and that is the most important thing.

The Journey of Heartland Community Church

July 1st we started our ministry here with high morale and an amazing unity of the church. People were in great spirit and excited to have a new pastor. Jenny and I were happy to have a new place to minister and a blessing of a new baby and ready to start in on the journey at Heartland. I had a message that I had preached once before and turned it into a series. I was wondering how it would go over and seems to been received well. Know, Grow, Show as I have prepared each week has been encouraging, challenging and empowering to me. I think God is using this series to start Heartland on a new journey to be, not only Christians, but Disciples, to not only Love God as Savior but as Lord, To Love our neighbor as well as enemies. God is taking us on a wild adventure where we will be more visible in the community. We will serve the poor, the widowed, and the elderly. We will meet their physical and spiritual needs. We will help them with their lawn or repair a roof, while we pray with and tell them about the reason behind our serving them. We will have experiences that will build inroads to the community. We will be known as the church that enjoys having fun. We will be all inclusive that not only welcomes people to our church but also brings them into our family. We will provide a safe place for people to belong and help them find their purpose. We will also take care of our body as we love and disciple the children and youth in our church. They are vital to our ministry as they provide an amazing energy and zeal. We will help them to know God, how to grow and show Christ in a hurting world, and we will learn from them as they will help provide creative ways to bring Christ to their world. We will help build the home by pouring into the marriages, and relationships between parent and child. We will come along side of people and give hope to those who thought their marriages were over. We will provide grace, mercy and compassion to those who have been hurt or have hurt others within their own family. We will provide encouragement to those who have lost others. We will give hope to the hopeless, joy to the depressed and love to those who feel unloved. We will help people experience freedom from the bondage of sin. We will help them see true freedom is in Christ and a relationship with him. God is not a distant God who has no part of us but one who come alongside us as a friend to show us the Way. We will continue to be a house of worship and prayer. We will love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. We will love our neighbor and be willing to lay aside self for our preferences. We will be sacrificial as we carry our cross daily. We will be fully committed followers of Christ, because this is what disciples do. Join us on this amazing journey, because it is not just about the destination but also the experiences along the way as we bring the kingdom of heaven to earth. We have a lot to do so we better get started. John 10:10b “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” -Jesus

Road of Discipleship

The last few months have been a whirlwind. Since my last post we have quit our jobs and moved to La Porte City, IA to be the Pastor of Heartland Community Church. We took a two week vacation to Indiana and Maine to introduce Tedy to family and have a breather before we started our ministry. I started officially on July 1st and it has been an amazing road. In the month of July we had a series on what I saw was the important elements of discipleship in any church. you might have seen #knowgrowshow. It was adapted a few years ago when I read Simple Church by Thom Rainer when I was writing my project for my MA at Wesley Seminary. I enjoyed the simple element of Worship +2, which explaining in short, every disciple should have a time of Worship in a local body accompanied by a time of growth with a small group, and a place of service in the church and/or community. However was not really adapted by the church that I was working at during the time. The church wanted a more structured discipleship plan that you could almost graduate from and have different degrees for all the "post-grad" work. I went along but still could not get Simple Church and know, grow, show out of my head. Now that I am in a different ministry I decided to go back to this know, grow, show model. I started it as a series but it really has in a way developed into more of a vision of discipleship that has taken on a life of it's own. So I wanted to explain this discipleship process to you. 1. Know- There is a stage where each one of us meets God. The start of any relationship can be an amazing time of wonder and exploration. You start to understand that Jesus died for you as savior. You worship him because of who he is and what he has done in your life. The know stage is a great stage of development and curiosity. Just like when I met Jenny at IWU, I wanted to spend a lot of time with her to know who she was. But just like any relationship you do not stay in the know stage forever. It starts to become uncomfortable because this in a way is a very surface level relationship. You must go deeper in order for the relationship to continue to move further and deeper. 85% of Christians never leave this stage of Christianity therefore never become disciples. 2. Grow- This stage is a place where we are growing and taking root in the faith. We become involved in small groups, youth group, Bible Studies because we enjoy taking our faith to another level. We learn about who we are and God's purpose for our life. When Jenny and I started dating we went out in groups, but we also went out on dates together. It was fun and our relationship grew in ways that would not happen if we did not intentionally take these opportunities to grow with each other. Growing is a great place to be but if we always pour into ourselves then we start to become focused on ourselves and become selfish. If I were to always eat but never exercise I would get fat and be very unhealthy. This is not a good place for an individual but also a horrible place for the church. The church needs to learn to be focused on the people outside of the church as much if not more than those inside the church. So we must learn to be selfless and sacrificial. This is when we start to recognize Jesus as more than Savior but also Lord. So this leads us to show. 3. Show- We learn to think of others before ourselves. In order to do this we must be willing to serve. Teaching a growth class for others, praying for needs in the church. This is where the rubber hits the road and our faith becomes action. Leading youth group, serving a neighbor, taking part in the meals to wheel, serving the homeless, helping a widow. But also sharing Christ as the reason behind your love for people. When Jenny and I started to become more serious in our relationship I took her home to meet the family and she reluctantly introduced me to hers. Eventually we stood in front of about 200 friends and family members and committed to this love and each other for a lifetime. I showed my love for Jenny. It is vital in our relationship with God that we show him to the world as the reason. This might be sharing your God story with a co-worker, or sharing it in the worship experience. This might involve becoming baptized or becoming a member of the church. There are a number of ways that God can use your passion and purpose in revealing him in the world we live. We are not meant to graduate from any of these group. And we never arrive at a destination. We more or less add them to each other as we continue to become disciples. We need to continue to come back to worship and get to know him in fresh ways. We must never stop growing as we will never arrive at the "perfect disciple" And we must continue to show him to our world so our world can also know, grow and show.

The newest Richardson

We first met Tedy James Matthew Richardson on March 28th. Jenny received a call from Amy Jennings our social worker at Bethany Christian Services. She said the birth mother had the baby at 3pm. We were in Iowa City by 5pm. He was 7 lbs and 5 oz and 20 inches tall. We were ecstatic but still unsure because still no official adoption plan had been made yet. Little did we know the journey that the next few weeks would bring nor the back story of the birth parents that would make this journey of adoption a little different than most... Tedy was put into interim foster care with a great family in North Liberty. They took great care of him and were very flexible allowing us to come to the house and be with our potential son. They did not want to call him "baby" so they called him Matthew, which is now his second middle name. Each visit we grew closer and closer with Tedy. We were able to feed him and change his diapers. As time went on Tedy became more aware of what was going on. He started to smile, and stuck out his tongue often. He would even chuckle when I would stick out my tongue as well. Grandma and Grandpa Steiner visited him shortly after Easter, and Grammie and Grampie Richardson met him a week later. But still no adoption plan had been made

The birth mom eventually signed the release of parental rights, and told the social workers that she would convince the birth father to sign as well. Days became weeks. Jenny and I would visit as regularly as we could. It became harder to visit without growing attached to him. Finally on May 23 at 9 weeks old the birth Father signed the papers. While it has been a hard journey for us, I cannot imagine what it was like for the birth parents. I cannot fathom doing the same. So while it was a hard 9 weeks for us. I am sure it was harder for them. Today we are not upset about the time we missed with him but celebrate the coming years that we will be able to be a Father and Mother.

the road of infertility

When I was a child there was a rumor that Mountain Dew lowered sperm counts. Maybe you heard the same rumor as well. I am not sure how this rumor was started but there was at least a short period of my life that I did not drink Mountain Dew. Obviously this stigma created an idea of in my head that I should stay away. Today I rarely drink soda but when I do, I drink the Dew. Fast forward to September of 2010, Jenny and I were sitting in a Doctor's office and were told that I was infertile and the chance of ever having biological children would be virtually impossible. It was something that deep down we already knew was a possibility. 3.5 years previously we decided had decided that we would attempt to have children but went with a "no rush, but it will happen when it happens." During this time I was also in Seminary so it did not seem that we needed to rush anything. But after that period of time we needed some answers. Was it me, was it her? What was the reason? Today we are in the process of adoption and have been on the waiting list for 7 months. This is something we feel strongly about and did not even attempt the other possibilities of fertility treatments, the doctor believed the chances were slim the treatments would work. Yesterday, I was scrolling through facebook statuses and noticed that this is infertility awareness week. Jenny and I receive a newsletter from Stepping Stones a ministry of Bethany Christian Services the agency we are adopting from. Infertility is rarely talked about. The American Pregnancy Association says 2,000,000 couples face infertility in one way or the other. People feel shame because of "the situation" they find themselves in. I am not saying that I am ecstatic about this but I have learned to cope because of the community I am in. If I were to hold this to myself it would eat me up inside. Do not feel ashamed, you are not alone.

"winning" on the road

maybe you watched the super bowl last night. in the world's eyes there was one winner and one loser. only one team can win... right?

i find it funny to hear all these kids on sports teams now not keeping score. they are being taught that all are winners. and no matter how they play they win. but the kids no which team is better. they knew who really won.

i remember my first year in little league we won 2 games out of 15 games. that by any standard is not good, but i found out what defeat felt like. but i learned that year that did not need to be upset about losing. the other team was obviously better. i learned to be a good loser.

but just because you stink doesnt mean you cant develop, grow and train to become better. the next two years we improved and by the time our team was together 4 years we were winning every game, not just winning but absolutely destroying the other teams, usually by the mercy rule. one thing though, we knew what defeat felt like so we did not rub it in on the other team, we went through the line and said good game. we learned to be good grace filled winners.

this past year has been a rough one for jenny and i, with the loss of my job. it was pretty rough. we struggled and at times still struggle with what happened. today marks 7 months since it happened.

i found a job pretty quickly working with people who have mental illness with a big percentage who struggle with substance abuse. the large majority have been homeless and without our organization and the funding of taxpayers would not have housing now. our goal is to help them transition into living a successful life.

the people come from all walks of life. some were very successful had great lives and had a bad stretch in which they are still trying to rebound from. they have spent a good portion of their life winning and now are on the losing side.

others have had history of abuse, going from foster home to group home to being kicked out of the system at 18. in many ways they have spent their life losing. i have learned a lot from each and every one of them.

winning for some of them comes one day at a time. we have celebrated a couple people being sober for 18 months. while others we have been ecstatic when they are able to go a week. for others we are ecstatic when someone cleans their apartment without being prompted. while other we are excited that they get out of bed for more than 4 hours that day. each person is in their own place in learning to be successful. last week someone road to bus for the first time in 2 years. it was an exciting day for me.

a couple weeks ago i went to a seminar that discussed strength based growth. you grow by focusing on what you are good at. when you win at this, it builds up your confidence. it shows you are able to grow and be successful at one thing or the other. when you master one thing then you start building another.

so last night when i, a big fan of the Patriots saw them lose a heart breaking, gut wrenching game and my friends saw that i was pretty calm and not upset, they asked me. "i thought you were a big fan. why arent you more upset." i paused and smiled its only a game... and unless you are a true sincere Giants fan, my team did a lot better than your team. :)

Superbowl thoughts and predictions

The Patriots are in there fifth Superbowl in eleven years and I am excited. Even more excited then the previous four games. Maybe it is because we have cable for the first time in these five games and I am able to take in more of the interviews and different stories that are on. I love hearing the stories of the individual athletes and where they have come from to overcome adversity.

A few years ago they announced the Superbowl was going to be hosted by Indy. We were living there at the time. Everybody knew that Indy and New England is always one of the funnest games of the year because of the competitive nature between the two teams and the two best quarterbacks in the league. (Brady/Pats have won 9 of the 14 games) and one of the Pats losses was when Brady tore his ACL with Matt Cassel playing QB. But even back then I thought it would be awesome for the Pats to win the Superbowl in Indy, and that hope has a chance to come to fruition this Sunday.

I have heard that Las Vegas favors New England by three points, and that Las Vegas is usually correct, the house always wins. All the commentators are picking the Giants. They say the matchups favor the Giants. The two factors that the Patriots have are Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. They have won more than any other quarterback/ coach combo than any in history. The Patriots game plays change from game to game and I would like to add from quarter to quarter. They react better than any other team out there.

Commentators talk a lot about the week 9 loss to the Giants, but what they do not mention is that was the last loss the Patriots experienced this season.

Commentators talk a lot about the Patriots being 31st in yards allowed on defense but they forget to mention that they only allow 21.4 pts a game which puts them 15th on the team list. Does not make them seem near as bad a defense does it. The Patriots have an excellent red zone defense that makes teams settle for field goals.

The Patriots have come a long way as a team. They have come through most of their injuries the offensive line is finally healthy for the first time since half way through the regular season. Benjarvus is a stud who has never fumbled (knock on wood). The secondary has made some amazing plays including the game winning swipe from a receiver in the end zone in the closing minute of the AFC championship. They have been building their confidence. Gronk will play and have an amazing game. Their will be surprises like the Patriots always have.

This will be a close game, and people from our small group will probably see a new side of me as I yell at the tv and pig out on wings and pigs in a blanket. We will laugh at some commercials and question what is that advertising with others. The food will be good, the company will be fun and The Patriots will win this game 24-21.