A Tribute to Mike

I have been in vocational ministry for most of my life. As most of you know, I have served churches in Illinois, California, Wisconsin and Nevada, as well as in Chile and now Costa Rica. Pam and I have enjoyed a rich and meaningful life. We thank God every day for the privilege of living a life dedicated to the advancement of the cause of Christ.

However, long before I became a Jesus-follower, I wanted to become an attorney. I had this vision because I sincerely wanted to make the world a better place. I reasoned that becoming an attorney might lead to politics, and that would, perhaps, offer a platform to help make the world a better place.

Given today’s political vitriol, that dream from so many years ago seems almost fantasy. Instead of meaningful political discourse, most of what goes on today is diatribe and mud-slinging. (That’s putting it politely.)

Once I fell in love with Jesus, I chose to serve in ministry because I reasoned that the world will not change until hearts are changed. And only Jesus can change a human heart from selfish to selfless. I do not regret the decision to serve in ministry. Ever.

However, what many of you may not know is that my older brother, Michael, chose to become an attorney. I don’t know all of the reasons he chose that path, but I suspect that Mike, deep-down, also wanted to make the world a better place. He spent his career defending innocent clients and helping people. I’ve never asked Mike, but I seriously doubt if he ever defended a client, “just for the money,” if he knew the person was guilty. Mike is a better man than that.

Since retiring, Mike has kept his mind sharp by writing a blog that I would like to recommend to you. I’ve said for decades that Mike is the brilliant one in the Bond family. I got good grades and excelled mostly because I worked hard and studied hard. But Mike has a mind that causes mine to spin with admiration with his incisive and well-documented insights. He is truly brilliant.

I want to warn you that I don’t necessarily agree with everything Mike writes. But I guarantee he will cause you to think, especially about current political events. I hope many of you will take the time to click on the link below and read Mike’s recent blog posts. I’m quite sure they will be of interest to many of you.

Please by in prayer for Pam. She is in California this week for follow-up testing from her breast cancer. She had an unexpected unfavorable health report recently. Follow up tests in Costa Rica ruled out any recurrence. But we have sent Pam to CA for further evaluation just to make sure it’s nothing to be concerned about. Thanks in advance.

www.mikebond.substack.com

The Adventure Continues

Our week began by saying farewell to our oldest grandson, Peyton Denney. He spent several days with us in Costa Rica as a high school graduation gift. Pam and I had fun taking Peyton zip-lining, snorkeling and golfing. He’s a wonderful young man!

Tuesday and Thursday I walked down “memory-lane.” I was invited to speak for the chapel service at the Spanish language school that Pam and I attended 43 years ago on our way to Chile. Never in a million years did I ever dream that we would be back in Costa Rica. And never in a million years did I ever imagine I’d be back on the campus where Pam and I struggled to grasp Spanish pronouns and the subjunctive tense.

I was flooded with memories and filled with gratitude. God knew ahead of time what Pam and I would do in the years ahead. Knowing Spanish not only allowed us to serve in Chile, we also used Spanish often in our ministries in the US and continue to use it now that we’re back in Costa Rica. In God’s grace, Spanish has been a wonderful lifelong gift!

Tuesday evening, we hosted a Connection Group for 16 people from ECF. We’ve discovered that making friends is one of the greatest needs among internationals. However, the heavy slow-moving traffic between 5:00-7:30 PM is a formidable obstacle for people to commit to weekly meetings.  As a result, we’ve discovered that monthly potlucks geographically spread out around the Central Valley can be one venue to help people connect. They have been tons of fun!

Our Tuesday group was an example of the vast diversity in our international church community. We had people from Canada, Mexico, Honduras, Venezuela, the US and the Philippians. Our two common bonds are English and Jesus. It continues to be fascinating to hear the stories from this wide array of human experience.

Wednesday, I was abruptly made aware that ECF will need to relocate from the Hilton Garden Inn. In full disclosure, we had already been looking. We’ve been averaging 130+ on Sunday and this is pushing the hotel’s limits, especially with kids ministry.

However, it wasn’t until my meeting on Wednesday with the hotel leadership that I realized we needed to move as soon as possible. Please keep this in prayer. We have a couple of intriguing options. But this will be the fourth location for our church since Pam and I arrived. Pray for wisdom as we make this crucial decision.

Initially, I was surprised by this new development. But once I calmed down, I realized (again) that nothing ever catches God off-guard. One of my favorite verses is Ephesians 2:10. “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

This not only reminds us that we are God’s love-poem (the meaning behind “handiwork”), but also that he’s always working upstream to prepare good works for us to do.

In my case, this means God already has the next place for ECF to meet. But what does it mean in your case? What is God preparing for you to do? When we move in the direction that God points, it generally takes a step of faith. But it’s always an adventure!

Passing the Baton

Pam and I are the parents of four adult children who live in various locations throughout the United States. Since we don’t live near one another, it is a challenge to stay connected. Pam and I have attempted to mitigate this by coordinating an annual gathering of the “Bond clan.”

Once a year, we try to gather our four adult children and their families together in one location for a few days of fun, food and fellowship. As the grandkids have grown older, this has become more difficult due to summer sports, part-time work and other activities.

Some years Pam and I have rented a large cabin for the reunion. But not this year. This year we gathered at Jennifer’s home in San Juan Capistrano, CA. Our treasured annual “Bond clan” event took place last week. Everyone joined us except Rachel and her girls.

Jennifer’s husband, Ryan, is quite a chef. So, we ate like kings. The grandkids talked and hung out. Pam organized silly games that kept everyone laughing and having fun. Along the way, we also had a few meaningful and cherished conversations.

But my personal favorite moment took place one evening in the kitchen after dinner. You may or may not know this, but I have been the chief dish-washer in my family for my entire life. For reasons that I do not know, I enjoy washing dishes. Consequently, for as long as I can remember, whenever there is a gathering of people involving food, I inevitably end up in the kitchen after the meal washing the dishes.

But on this particular night, Tommy made it to the kitchen before I did. And he began working like a whirling-dervish washing the pots and pans and loading the dishwasher. Keep in mind, there were 14 of us for dinner, and Ryan is a chef who uses LOTS of dishes while he cooks. I arrived about fifteen minutes after Tommy had begun.

I started to pass him the dishes that needed washing, while drying the ones that were clean. In the dish-washing world, I took the role as the assistant. I was number-two while Tommy was number-one. We worked together quietly and efficiently. It took almost an hour to complete the task, but, in the end, the kitchen was spic and span.

As I thought about that experience later, I realized that what happened was a “passing of the baton.” I’m not sure that Tommy realized it, but he had assumed the lead role in a deeply ingrained Bond family ritual. And it felt good.

There were many treasured moments from this year’s “Bond-clan” gathering. But that was my favorite.

The Greatest Challenges

Last week, I wrote about the profound blessings that I’ve experienced as a Lead Pastor. This week, I will share the greatest challenges. I am aware that these are not unique to me. Most Lead Pastors also face similar challenges. By sharing my experiences, I hope you might better understand some of the angst that your Lead Pastor faces.

Difficult Personnel Decisions

One of the greatest challenges I’ve faced as Lead Pastor deals with personnel. On several occasions, I’ve had to make tough decisions to remove people from my ministry teams or dramatically change their roles. This has never been easy because ministry teams are more than “headcount” (like a business). These are friends and colleagues. We have prayed together, worked together, wept together and done spiritual battle together.

But as a church grows, it changes and so does the needs for its ministry personnel. Larry Osborne from North Coast Church says that every time a church doubles in attendance, it become an entirely new church. It is not simply a larger version of the church it once was. It becomes an entirely new church. I have experienced this.

Summit was at least three completely different churches during my 23-years as Lead Pastor.  And we needed three completely different ministry teams for each season. From launch to 1,000 we had one team. From 1,000 to 2,000 we had an entirely different team. And from 2,000+ we had another team altogether.  

As a church grows, it changes. Consequently, the make-up of its staff must also change.  Someone once put it like this: “What got us here, will not get us there.” As a Lead Pastor, this has required making difficult personnel decisions.  This has never been easy.

 The Weight of Money

Another challenge is what I call “the weight of money.” As a Lead Pastor, I have been the primary spokesperson for the vision of the churches I’ve served. And to accomplish God’s vision almost always requires money. This weight is relentless.

As a result, over the years, I have asked and asked and asked people to invest in the cause of Christ through the churches I’ve served. At points, this has grown weary for me, and I’m sure for the people in my congregations. But the vision of reaching more for Christ and growing them into fully devoted disciples is too important. So, I have pressed on.  

Leading capital campaigns has been especially draining. I led through five major capital campaigns at Summit, and four smaller “Next Step” campaigns. Prior to that, I led through a major campaign in Wisconsin. Each of these required enormous time, effort, and spiritual and emotional energy. Billy Graham once said that his New York crusade in 1957 drained him so much that he never regained the same strength again. In a similar way, I’ve wondered if each capital campaign I led took a small piece of my soul.  The weight on a Lead Pastor to raise money to fuel ministry is relentless.

 Living in a Fishbowl

It has also been a challenge to “live in a fishbowl.” Because of my role as Lead Pastor, my family (especially my four children) endured more scrutiny and criticism than if I had sold insurance or worked in a bank. I recognize that “living in a fishbowl” is part of the cost of being in senior leadership. But it has never been something that Pam and I enjoyed. Our kids enjoyed it even less.

 The Burden of Leadership

I don’t think I’m alone when I confess that I think constantly about the church I’m leading. I suspect this is true for most senior leaders, whether it’s in business, finance, medicine, sports, government, or media.

I wake up early with new ideas. I think about how to improve things when I’m driving. I pray constantly for God’s direction. As a Lead Pastor, I am always leading. I may travel two-thousand miles away for vacation, but the burden of leadership still simmers in private corners of my heart and mind.

 People Leaving the Church

It doesn’t matter if the church has 50 people of 5,000 people, it always hurts when someone leaves to go to another church across town. At some level, it feels like a personal rejection, like I wasn’t good enough, or like my church wasn’t good enough.

When a church grows larger, it can be less noticeable when people leave. But I almost always know. It’s curious how the same people tend to sit in the same place week after week. So, when a longtime attender suddenly disappears, I notice. I used to try to reach out. But a long string of unanswered emails ended most of my attempts. People make choices and when they choose to leave “my” church, it hurts. The closer the person is connected to me relationally, the more it hurts.

 Spiritual Target on My Back

One final challenge of senior leadership is the spiritual target I’ve had on my back. Satan is real and he is a devious adversary. Satan knows if he can take me down as a Lead Pastor, it will cause great harm to those in my congregation. So, he is constantly at work to discourage, to tempt, to provoke conflict at home and to distract.

With that long list of challenges, it’s a fair question to ask, “Why would anyone ever want to be a Lead Pastor?” The best answer I have is that this is what God has called me to be. Despite the challenges, I love what I do. God has wired me for this. Like Eric Liddell (the great Scottish Olympian and missionary) said about running, when I serve as Lead Pastor, I feel God’s pleasure. 

That said, I hope you will cut your Lead Pastor some slack the next time he takes a misstep. Pray for him. Don’t speak disparagingly about him. Cheer him on. And if the time comes when God calls you to leave, do so quietly and respectfully. After all, the church is still the Bride of Christ.

What I Have Enjoyed Most

I was team leader with our mission organization in Chile and have served as Lead Pastor with three different local churches (KMEFC, Summit and ECF). Recently, Pam and I were discussing the unique joys and challenges of senior leadership. Every ministry role has its own set of nuances.

However, since I’ve spent most of my life in the “first chair,” this is what I’m most familiar with. With this in mind, in this blog, I would like to share what I’ve most enjoyed in my role as a senior leader. In my next blog, I’ll share the greatest challenges that I’ve faced.

Without doubt, what I have most enjoyed as a senior leader has been seeing God’s vision for what could be in the future and then marshalling people and resources to accomplish that vision. By God’s grace, this happened in Chile and it’s happened in the three churches I have served. It’s a source of profound joy for me to visualize life-changing ministry that currently does not exist and then lead God’s people forward to create that ministry.

I am thoroughly enjoying this, again, as Lead Pastor at English Christian Fellowship. The initial months of our ministry in Costa Rica were not promising. When we began in August, 2021, the handful of faithful church members were discouraged and tired. Even Pam and I were not certain what the future would hold.

However, as time passed, we became increasingly aware that there were tens of thousands of English speakers in our area. As people began to trickle through our doors, we saw a clear trend. Most of our guests were English-speaking formerly active Christ followers who had been distanced from church and Christian community for many years. And they were hungry to make healthy new friends and yearned for a grace-filled, Jesus-centered fellowship.

Eventually, God made clear to us that he genuinely desired ECF to become a thriving healthy fellowship. I’m not sure if God’s plan is for ECF to become a church of thousands, but I am very certain that it’s his plan for ECF to become a church of many hundreds. I can see that vision as clear as my hand in front of me. And it’s my current joy to cast that vision to ECF’s leadership and congregation. 

Dreams and visions are my wheelhouse. Having dreams and visions about what could become realities, and then leading people to accomplish those dreams, is what I most enjoy about being a senior leader.

A close second would be creating culture. Another way to say this is that I have enjoyed setting the DNA of the organizations I’ve launched (or relaunched in ECF’s case). Over time (right, wrong, or indifferent) a ministry will begin to reflect the values and heartbeat of the senior leader. To me, this is both humbling and inspiring. This is humbling because I know all to well my own brokenness.

But it’s also inspiring for me. In the organizations I’ve had the honor to build from the ground up, we have had mostly healthy teams, that mostly loved well, that mostly cared deeply for people and that mostly were grace-filled. I chose to insert “mostly” in each of those statements because no faith organization is perfect. And the ministries that I’ve led have not been perfect either.  But, for the most part, they have been healthy, humble and Jesus-centered. This has been rewarding for me as a senior leader. I have thoroughly enjoyed setting the DNA for the ministries I’ve launched.

A third thing that has been life-giving for me as a senior leader has been the opportunity to call people into vocational ministry. Throughout the years in my role as a “first chair” leader, I’ve been able to identify gifts and talents in people that could be leveraged for the cause of Christ and, then, open doors for those individuals to step into full-time ministry. 15 people come to mind quickly. Many of them are still serving faithfully in Chile and in various locations throughout the USA.

It has also been a joy to see the ripple affect continue long after I stepped aside as senior leader. When we arrived “wet behind the ears” in Chile in May, 1982, we had no idea that forty-one years later a thriving national church would still be lifting high the banner for Jesus. It’s been almost two years since we stepped down at Summit and, by God’s grace, the church is enjoying its most fruitful season ever of ministry.

Last but not least, as a senior leader, it has also been a blessing to know that I have made a small difference for the cause of Christ. Long before I was a Jesus-follower, I was captivated by the song “Impossible Dream.” As an adolescent, when I was alone where no one could hear me, I would sing in my “outside voice” about “marching into hell for a heavenly cause.” Eventually, I fell in love with Jesus and better understood what that meant.

As a senior leader for most of my ministry career, it has been an honor to try to live this out. I realize that the world is still filled with hate, injustice and pain. But in a tiny way, in a few neighborhoods here and there around the world, as a senior leader, I think I have made a difference. And that is supremely rewarding.

In next week’s blog I will share the greatest challenges.

How We Get There Matters

One of the final steps to complete my Doctor of Ministry was “the defense” for my dissertation. I had spent the better part of a year writing the project. It was over 250 pages in length. My focus was leadership within the local church.

To “defend” my project, I traveled from Reno to Boston to meet with a review committee at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Since I am a perfectionist, I was appropriately confident that the committee would have abundant accolades for my carefully-written and well-researched efforts. It had been decades since I received anything less than an A in school. So, I assumed my Doctor of Ministry project would also be graded appropriately.

Imagine my surprise when the committee shredded my project from top to bottom. Throughout the document, I had quoted leadership experts from every imaginable background. I had done my due diligence. I am a bit of a “leadership fanatic.” Before I gave away my library to move to Costa Rica, I owned more books on leadership than any other topic. My strongest spiritual gift is “leadership.” For me, this is an area of vocation and avocation.

But the review committee was not impressed. As I mentioned, I had quoted dozens of leadership experts in the project. I had footnotes upon footnotes. But the committee asked two haunting questions to summarize their dismantling of my dissertation. “Steve, is leadership within the church (or any other ministry) the same as leadership elsewhere? Isn’t there something unique about God’s vision for ministry leadership?”

Those two questions resulted in me spending an entire year re-writing my project. Why? Because the review committee was correct!

Despite all my previous research and reflection, I had missed the one indispensable ingredient to biblical leadership. I had overlooked the essential key that separates ministry leadership from every other kind of leadership.  What is that key? LOVE.

Biblical leadership is not simply about moving the ball downfield. It’s more than marshalling resources to accomplish goals. Biblical leadership is more than goal-setting and then coordinating a team to reach those goals. If I understand Jesus correctly, doing leadership his way means that HOW we achieve goals is as important (and maybe even more important) than actually achieving those goals.

Jesus put it like this: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35)

As a consummate goal setter, this rocks my world. This means if ECF grows to be 5,000 people, but our team does it by cajoling people or pushing people or using people instead of loving them, then we have not succeeded in God’s eyes. The metric that matters most to Jesus is not how large a ministry grows, but how well we love people. 

This week we are holding an offsite for ECF’s ministry team leaders. Our goal is to plan, pray and strategize about reaching the next level as a church. I have taken part in dozens of these kinds of retreats over the years. But this is my first at ECF. And one of the most important messages I will bring is this: How we get there matters.

Love is not an optional feature in church leadership…like leather upholstery might be in a car. Love is essential. Jesus made this very clear.

This is a game changer. This affects how we speak to one another, how we think the best about one another, how we pray for one another, how we encourage one another, how we hurt for one another, how we serve one another, how we submit to one another, how we value one another, how we correct one another, and so much more.

Love is not unique within the church. Love may also be present in business teams or sports teams and in many other types of teams. But it’s not optional in a Jesus-honoring ministry team. And I don’t want it to be optional at ECF either.

Setting ministry goals is important, no doubt. But how we get there is even more important.

What Are You Sloshing?

How do you respond when things do not go as you expected? I’ve been pondering this lately. In the past few weeks, a string of things happened that were not what I expected.

·       I had to unexpectedly wait five-hours for an appointment to show up.

·       A person I admire responded in a way that I did not expect.

·       A leadership decision I made had unexpectedly negative results.

·     My tax refund did not arrive as expected. (Still waiting on this one.)

I have been reflecting on my reactions to these events. There have been other things as well, but these will give you the idea. Life rarely goes how we plan. Things happen.

However, to be honest, I have not navigated these recent events in a way that I’m proud of. I have too-often been irritable, cranky and short with Pam and others. I have certainly not been living the “more and better life” that Jesus offers in John 10:10.

Thus, my question: Why is it that sometimes I react so poorly to intrusions in my carefully laid plans? Yet other times, when I’m the best version of myself, these unexpected disappointments hardly become a blip on the radar?

For me, the answer begins with the condition of my soul. When I first became a Jesus-follower, my college group Sunday School teacher was Pat Merold, wife of the preacher, Ben Merold. She once said, “When you carry a bucket of water and it gets knocked, what’s inside will come sloshing out. The same is true with us. When we get knocked unexpectedly, whatever is on the inside will also come sloshing out.”

The truth is, what has been sloshing out of Steve Bond in recent weeks has not been pretty. And, mostly, it’s because I’ve been pushing too hard and neglecting my soul-care. If I’m sloshing muck onto the people around me, it’s because I’m carrying muck inside of me.

It’s tempting to blame my mucky reactions on the person who made me wait five hours, or on the US government for taking too long with my tax return. But the truth is, my reactions are a reflection on me alone, not on anyone else or even my circumstances.

We see this beautifully illustrated in Acts 16. Merely because they were talking about Jesus, Paul and Silas had their backs flayed open with a “severe flogging” and they were held in chains with their feet in stocks. Not exactly a night at the Hilton. Yet, at midnight, they are joyfully praying and singing hymns.

This is not fiction. It’s not fantasy. This is a true story.

Do you know what was happening? When Paul and Silas were knocked, and they were knocked hard, the joy of the Lord sloshed out of them. Why? Because they were filled with the grace and love of Jesus.

The is the same with me. And you, too.

When my soul is full. When I’ve taken care to be close to Jesus. Hear his voice. Sense his love. Quietly receive his comfort and affirmation. Then, I don’t mind getting knocked because what sloshes out is kind and understanding and gentle.

So, I have my homework cut out for me. I need to slow down and pause long enough to refuel my soul with the love of Jesus, his Words, his warm and gentle presence. When my soul-tank is full, I almost always slosh out the fragrance of Jesus.

That’s what I want. Don’t you?  

Ripples

In 2011, Pam took a small group of women from Summit Church to Southern California to attend the Women’s Encounter at Shepherd Church in Porter Ranch, CA. That small nucleus of women formed the beginning of a team of servant-leaders that would lead two Women’s Encounters every year for the ensuing six years. The Encounters proved to be one of the most transformational ministries we’ve ever experienced.

The enduring relationships Pam established with her “encounter ladies” was her favorite part of the ministry. Pulling together two Encounters each year was a Herculean task. The “servers” invested an enormous amount of time and effort. And they forged a precious bond-of-faith that continues today these many years later.

This weekend, four of Pam’s “encounter ladies” have come to Costa Rica at their own expense to speak at an ECF-sponsored Women’s Conference. Each woman has a story of great pain and great victory. Each had their speaking and leadership gifts honed as they served with the Women’s Encounter. Each one will be a tremendous blessing to those who attend the one-day conference.

We never know the ripples that follow when we step out in faith. Pam had no idea that her trip to SoCal would lead to years of fruitful ministry in Nevada, and, then, 12 years later, to continue to bear fruit in Costa Rica. The nature of faith is believing that God is at work, stepping out in obedience, and trusting him with the results…both seen and unseen.

I hope you have experienced a spiritual wake from the impact of your steps of faith. One of my favorite stories in the Bible is when Joshua leads the Israelites into the Promise Land. They are standing at the Jordan River at flood stage. The river forms an impassable barrier to cross for the 2+ million Israelites. God tells the priests who are leading that they must step into the water before the river would stop flowing.

Humanly speaking this meant they would look “silly” to the Israelites looking on. (Faith-steps often look foolish to those watching on the sidelines.) The Jordan River was at its highest stage of the year. I’ve seen where this took place. In that era, the water was 30+ feet deep and at least a quarter of a mile wide. For God to stop the water would be a mind-boggling miracle akin to the parting of the Red Sea.  And it wouldn’t happen until AFTER the priests stepped into the water as an act of faith.

Have you ever done that? Have you stepped out in radical, almost crazy-looking faith? Have you done it recently?

When we do, and when God acts according to his great faithfulness, the ripples we make can impact the cause of Christ for years to come. ECF is experiencing it this weekend.

The Women’s Conference is called Living Beyond. Heather Steward, Nicki Miller, Lisa Buchanan, and Annie Hoon will share their personal journey of choosing to walk by faith “living beyond” personal tragedy, pain, illness and heartache. I know each of their stories. It takes my breath away when I see them still standing in Christ, let alone smiling and experiencing joy.  It is a tremendous honor to have them share with us in Costa Rica.

I want my life to make ripples for Christ. I hope you do, too. But we can’t do that by staying safely in the boat. To quote John Ortberg, “If you want to walk on water, you have to get out of the boat.” Pam is doing that. Heather, Nicki, Lisa, and Annie are doing that. 

Are you?

The "Ding" of Christian Community

WhatsApp is a communication app that is widely used around the world. It offers clear no-cost internet-based communication. Nearly every person and every business in Costa Rica uses WhatsApp. One widely used feature is the ability to create group chats. This has proven to be an amazing tool for fostering community within English Christian Fellowship.

Pam and I are currently part of two ECF small groups. We host a Rooted discipleship group in our home on Saturday morning and we are part of Tuesday evening Belonging Group. Both of these use WhatsApp group chats to stay connected.

A few weeks ago, our Rooted chat “blew up” with the news that a member of our group had lost his job. Once he shared what he was facing, the chat was deluged with heartfelt prayers and genuine concern. My chat is not on “silent mode,” so every time someone responded, I heard a “ding.” All afternoon, my phone went ding, ding, ding and, then, ding again.

What was happening was incredibly beautiful. Someone was facing a legitimate crisis, but they were not facing it alone. They were blanketed by messages of concern and prayers from a family of believers who genuinely cared. It was amazing.

One of the great tragedies of today’s society is that far too many people go through life alone. Yet, God designed us to thrive best in community. He created us to need other people in our lives. This is one reason God wants us to be fully engaged in a local church. We need other people around us and others need us in their lives, too.

The need for friends may be enhanced even more living in a foreign country. Many people speak English in Costa Rica, but not everybody does. And when life gets tough (as it does for all of us at some point), it is incredibly helpful to have friends to cheer us on and to lift up our arms.

Just ask the guy who lost his job in my Rooted group. He was blown away by the love, care, support and prayers he received.

Pam and I hope that you are connected to Christian community through a local church. At ECF, I am fond of saying that we are Bible-Centered, Love-Saturated and Outreach-Focused. We are intentional with all three core values.

However, being “love-saturated” means we take seriously Jesus’ challenge: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35) If we miss experiencing this love, we miss the guts of the community that Jesus came to establish.

Whether or not you use WhatsApp, I hope the next time you face a personal crisis that you hear “ding, ding, ding” from people reaching out to surround you with love and prayer.  We cannot thrive by isolating ourselves from others. We need love. We need other people in our lives. We need to be connected in healthy Christian community.

BTW:Pam and I hope to lead another trip to Israel early this December. If you are interested, click here.

Deep Gladness Meets Deep Need

As part of an ECF small group, Pam and I are exploring John Ortberg’s challenging and humorous book, If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat. Last week, I came across this insightful quote from Frederich Buechner. God’s calling is “the place where your deep gladness meets the world’s deep need.”

This has certainly proven true in our lives. Our deepest gladness comes from using the gifts, talents, and opportunities God has provided to advance his purposes. Years ago, in the film Chariots of Fire, Eric Liddell tells his sister, “When I run, I feel God’s pleasure.”  God had gifted Eric with an incredible ability to run fast. And when Eric ran, he felt God’s pleasure because he was using the gifts that God had given him.

In a similar way, Pam and I feel God’s pleasure when we use the gifts that he’s given us. Using Buechner’s terminology, this is our “deep gladness.”

As far as the world’s deep need, this never changes. The world needs hope. The world needs justice. The world needs change. The world needs kindness. In sum, the world needs Jesus.

As a teenager, I remember hearing over the airwaves an arresting song by Dionne Warwick called “What the world needs now is love, sweet love.” Some of you will remember its beautiful melody and heart-felt lyrics. This was long before I had a faith experience. But the song resonated with the ache in my soul even as a teenager. Then, and now, the world has been filled with hate, acrimony, selfishness and evil. What the world needs now, is love, sweet love. And his name is Jesus.

God’s calling is “the place where your deep gladness meets the world’s deep need.” We are experiencing this in new ways in Costa Rica. ECF is now cresting over 100 people in our Sunday services on a regular basis. Seeing God’s purposes prevail brings us deep gladness. We’ve seen this in Chile, in Wisconsin, in Nevada and now in Costa Rica.

In our last blog, we commented about how much energy was required for our recent mission trip to Chile. I mentioned that we felt like we lived an entire month crammed into one week while in Chile. It was exhausting to the max. Morning, noon and night pouring ourselves out. A vacation it was not!

But we’re glad we went. We’re glad that neither fear nor the need for comfort held us back. And we’re also glad we came to Costa Rica. It’s not been a vacation. We’ve still not made it to Europe to see castles and cathedrals. But we’re fulfilled.

God’s calling is “the place where your deep gladness meets the world’s deep need.” That doesn’t mean it will be easy. Later in his book, John Ortberg comments, “Everyone in Scripture who said yes to their calling had to pay a high price. So will you and I.”

That said, I wonder if you have allowed your life to be put on cruise-control. Lately, I’ve been repeating this phrase with some regularity: “Don’t die until you are dead.” Is there another challenge that you’ve been avoiding that would allow your “deep gladness to meet the world’s deep need?” What’s keeping you from launching out?