The importance of Living

We learn…
10% of what we read
20% of what we hear
30% of what we see
50% of what we see and hear
70% of what we say
90% of what we say and do.

The Gospel is not about being informed, but experiencing a transformed life. We often talk about witnessing to people (verb) and the scriptures talk about being witnesses (noun) to the risen Savior. If we have heard something and we talk about what we've heard, we better get to living it or hypocrisy sits crouching, waiting to destroy. Please don't mishear me, I am all for being a people who share the good news with people, but we must partner it with action.

Giddy Up
Wallace D.

Dizzy

I was reading through the last 5 years of my journal and I got a little dizzy trying to keep up with my ramblings. It's been an adventurous 5 years, there is no doubt about that. My journal started in California, which lasted three months, then Sarah and I sailed off to Michigan, and into Grand Haven for our next refining. A little over three years with Watermark, as well as serving as a consultant to 1st Reformed, so they could retool their youth ministry. I also worked at Panera Bread as both a prepper and then a shift manager. Out of the three jobs I was paid the most by the Reformed church, yet put in the least amount of hours with them (which was actually more than they originally intended me to serve!) The good Ole Reformed church taking care of the finances. Watermark and Panera taught me much and was great training for the next phase in life of becoming a dad, as well as partnering up with the Paterson family to plant a new church in Muskegon, Michigan (The deep).

Almost two years ago, Sawyer Dale Harrison blessed Sarah and I with his leap into the world, and he's been leaping, running and being all sorts of wild ever since. The boy is pure joy and has changed everything for us. Having Sawyer has forced me to grow up and show up as a leader. I feel as if I am getting better and better at being a dad, yet I feel like I have slipped as a husband (sorry Sarah, I've pinpointed it and am now working on that too).

The deep merged with another church, the merge was nothing short of insanity, and it gifted us a handful of amazing people. We also lost much more than a handful of people who wanted something far different than what we felt God was calling the church to be. We lost one staff member at the beginning of the merge, gained two more within the merge, then lost one of them seven months into the merge due to financial uncertainties. Rob, Bethany and Christopher Paterson along with Kimi, Roy and Caleb Zimmerman have become nothing short of family and those that make up the leadership of ecclesia. We have landed in the Nims neighborhood of Muskegon, Michigan, which is full of all sorts of diversity. Ecclesia, our new name, is what I call a beautiful mess. It is a people full of all kinds of beauty while swimming through a swampy mess that is our lives. We have homeless people, recovering addicts, those living in deep poverty, and families that are shattered into the smallest of pieces, all of which make up this amazing, faith community. Our denomination has dropped our financing and has asked us to step out in faith to be self sustaining. I have never felt more uncomfortable in my life, yet I have never felt more at home in God. I have to rely on the Father for everything, and although terrifying, I wouldn't want for anything less. My selfish, stubborn, and greedy ways rage against me nearly every day, yet God seems to be forever patient with me.

It's early Tuesday morning, I'm sitting in my office with a soft drizzle massaging the outside window and I'm dreaming of what might happen next. I wrote a book about growing up without a dad and the parallel it travels in me finding the Father God. Our church is a miracle and is on the brink of exploding into a wild movement. They both are in need of help. Neither will see the next step without God providing in ways that only He can. The book needs a publisher, which is nothing short of a miracle, and the church needs huge financial help.

To have nothing leaves us with nothing to manipulate God with. So here we kneel, stretching out our open and empty hands. Please God, send help.
Wallace D.

Exponential Conference

Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend the Exponential Conference in Orlando, Florida, and it was such a refreshing, mind renewing time. It included one of my favorite speakers, Erwin McManus, and a new favorite in Franchis Chan, as well as many FREE books and resources. I got to run around Disney World's Epcot Center for free and eat at a few very tasty restaraunts, again for free. But beyond all that, the two things that really sat with me was time away with the ecclesia staff and listening to speaker after speaker talk passionately about relying on God to grow the church up OUT of the culture, rather than dropping a church into the culture. I was encouraged that it will NOT be OUR hard work, although important, that will grow ecclesia, but it will be our dependance on the Holy Spirit to move and lead us.

GOD IS GOOD, HE WILL PROVIDE AND WILL CONTINUE TO FATHER US TO MATURITY
Wallace D.

Catching up

Life is on the hop and I feel like I'm getting some decent momentum heading into spring time. We at ecclesia have had a great time moving into our facility and making it home. We had a great neighborhood chili cook off and an awesome time of worship and celebration at Easter. Kids' Street is growing and the need for people who love seeing kids connect with God grows with it. Our youth, the Garage, have had a good year of growth and I love where we are heading to wrap up the school year. This summer and fall look to be a huge opportunity for all kinds of growth, and I'm looking forward to hanging with some of our students who desire to take things up a notch.

Sarah has wrapped up her Master's degree in counseling and her heart's ambition within that continues to beat louder and louder. Her desire to see people grow towards wholeness and health is beautiful and I'm excited to see the ways in which God is going to use her. Sawyer is a little man and his little happy feet are always on the go! He keeps us VERY entertained and always on our toes, which brings an incredible amount of joy to our lives. He's got a little basketball hoop where he will grab a ball and say, "Mommy, daddy, otch (that's "watch" in Sawyer)." He'll shoot, turn around and yell "hoop, hoop!" Funny little man.

I've really enjoyed some good books recently and have had some solid progress with my own writing, which is exciting. I would highly recommend Andy Stanley's "The Principle of the Path" and Kary Oberrunner's "The Fine Line." I'm in the midst of "The Blue Parakeet" and "Fixing Abraham," both of which I'm enjoying quite a bit. Within the Bible, I've really enjoyed studying through the birth of Kingship and watching leadership change hands and shape Israel's future, as well as walking through the early church in the New Testament.

I would say, for the first time in my life, there isn't a box around my life and opportunity abounds. Possibility seems prevalent and I'm excited for what is around the corner.

Grateful
Wallace D.

What's next?

So what do you think should be some next steps in your life?

To get to where I need to be I'm sure there are some tweaks and adjustments to be made, so maybe your next steps will inspire or prepare me.

Wallace D.

Change

It's not easy! I'm ready for change to stop changing so much.

But change is changing me
Wallace D.

Relevance

Snippet from 'The Fine Line: Re-envisioning the Gap Between Christ and Culture' that really sat with me.

"Relevance is a tricky thing. We can't self-profess our way into it; we have to earn it. Relevance is something others believe about us, not what we believe about ourselves.

"Putting "relevant" on a banner or business card is a trendy thing to do these days. But it's nothing more than a slogan until others grant us this attribute. A church can say it is relevant and even believe it's relevant. But unless the surrounding community believes this, that church isn't relevant."

I'm six chapters in and I'm enjoying the read quite a bit, very fluid and concise.
Wallace D.