Too Many Plates - 

As I was thinking through what God has placed in my life, I quickly realized that to have time to love my city and my neighbors I needed to allow a couple plates to be set aside until some margins were opened in my life. If I were not to do this, then I believe many more plates would have been broken between now and when God forced me to stop doing something. Between working 20 hours a week for Trade-Mark R Productions, planting Redemption Hill, helping to cast vision and leading Gospel Alliance New England and 3 conferences in the next 10 months (The Calling, The Rooted Conference and Lead 2012), a writing project that has opened up and not to mention the opportunities that God has given me to build some amazing relationships with new friends, this was the only option.

When I measured the effectiveness of what I was doing and what was most needed for the Kingdom, I realized that the blog was not high on the list, for now.

From Here - 

So the plan is that I will be taking the next few months off, or slowing down, from posting here on the blog. My hope is to post a couple times a month, either with helpful links or to other things I have been writing – I do plan to do some writing, but most of it will be for other blogs (Gospel Alliance, Rooted Conference to name a few) and a couple other projects I am working on.

So, thanks for reading, and being part of my life here on the blog, I love the community God has on here for me. I would encourage you to hang around, as I will return to blog more, once God opens up the time in my life to do so and I believe it will be much much better, because it will be empowered by God, not Josh, which is good for everyone.

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it would fit to post now.]

The last two days I have been blessed to preach in a small church in an area in the South of Quito, Ecuador. Saturday night I taught the youth, and Sunday night I taught the whole church. The time together was sweet, and it reminded me of Acts 2.42-ff. They meet in the pastor’s home with plastic lawn chairs. There is no sound system, no smoke machines, no lights, not much of anything other than 25 Spanish Bibles, which our group was able to provide. It is simply, yet it is lovely. Each day I have worked on my message in the pastor’s bedroom in a small kitchen table style chair. There is no desk, no wifi (I know, because I scanned for a network to jump on), and no resources but my notebook, my Bible, and the Holy Spirit. During my time of preparation, which is being put off to about an hour or two before I teach due to a very busy schedule, there are woman of the church cooking a meal, which we will partake of together after the message.

The Living Room/Gathering Space!

Also each day there have been kids taking a nap on the bed beside me. Actually the baby, a one month old, just woke up. I tried to rock it (actually not sure if it is a boy or a girl, I hate neutral colored clothing on babies) back to sleep, but I think it wants something I cannot give it. Have no fear, mom just came in and all is good. Anyways, the point of the post is that many times those things we think we need, we really don’t. The different products we must buy to stay current with church trends, are simply only that, a trend, not something that is of necessity.

I wonder what would happen if more churches cut their budget of the fat that they think are necessities, and cut it back to simply preaching about Jesus and allowing the saints to do the ministry. How much more time would those who attend have to pour into their neighborhood, their work or their home? How much more money would we have to plant churches, do world missions, give to those in need when our budget can be cut in half? I guess if nothing else maybe this post will challenge me and my church plant, Redemption Hill, to do more with less. Maybe we can go back to being like the early church. Maybe we can actually be a change agent in our comunity and culture with our time, energy, and money, not just simply do things because they seem good and tend to only impress other believers.

The idea of community so permeates the Scriptures that Jesus even sent two disciples to go fetch a donkey. Really?

     Luke 19.29-30 – When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here.

Was this simply because they could not do so alone? Hardly. These men were fishermen, surely they could get a donkey alone. No, the simple truth taught here is that Jesus knows we are in need of community, even in the mundane of life. Maybe I am looking at this and overthinking it, or maybe I am not. I think there is something there, something simple yet profound.

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So think about it, and pray about it. Maybe this year, God will rock your world. Maybe He won’t, but that is not up to us. It is only by and through His grace and mercy either way. So trust deeper in Jesus and stop trying so hard.