Next week we will begin gathering with couples and families who have been led by the Spirit to join in the work He's calling us to do in Paramus. What an exciting time this is! We will begin meeting every other Thursday at our home to begin the process of seeing God build His local church. It is a surreal feeling to be at this point in the journey where we have finished our year residency at Emergence and are now looking ahead at planting in the next 6 months to a year!
Two incredible stories I must share at how God in his perfect providence organizes and plans for His purposes to be accomplished (yet should I be surprised when it's from the hand of the sovereign King of the universe?) Now, I could write pages upon pages sharing unbelievable God-stories, ways he is bringing people together, stirring in hearts, and transforming the area of Paramus for His glory before we have even officially "arrived" to launch the church plant. However, these 2 recent stories have reminded me and testified to the truth that God is in the business of building His church as He promised and will do that on His own.
A couple weeks ago I had the privilege of speaking at Montclair State University. I spoke from Philippians chapter 3, encouraging and challenging students to spend their life with the one great aim of knowing Jesus. When I finished, I hung around after talking to a good number of them about their life, their story, some of them their conversion, and how the Lord brought Kristin and I to the northeast. One girl in particular came over, we began to dialogue, and after she gave some very encouraging words, she went on and on about how her family drives almost an hour to attend a church south of East Rutherford, and how they have been praying for over 2 years that God would birth a God-centered, passionate church where she lives. She then told me how much she treasured God's speaking through me that evening, and that she would love to know where we planned on planting the church. Before I could answer her she said, "I live in a town called...(yep you guessed it) Paramus, will it be anywhere close to there?" What a gift! This 20 year old girl had been praying for over 2 years with her family that God would revive the very town He has called us to go to, what a privilege! She was beside herself when I continued to tell her of our plans to see God birth a local church in that very place. The passion and excitement she exuded fueled in me a passion for why we are here. To see God glorified through the making of many disciples through the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The second story just happened this past Sunday night, after I finished preaching at Emergence continuing our walk through the book of 1 Corinthians. The text we were at was 1 Corinthians 9:19-27 where I taught on Paul's aim to forsake his liberties and freedoms for the sake of love to win as many as possible to Jesus. We saw how love limited Paul's liberty, and what were once legal restraints in his life became love restraints. The love that drove Him to see men and women reconciled to God was staggering. After the sermon I was standing off to the left of the stage and a man approached me, 62 years old, with tears in his eyes. He went on to share with me how he retired just two days prior on Friday, owned a volvo dealership for over 40 years in bergen county new jersey (where Paramus is located), stumbled into Emergence as he was looking for a church that preached the word, planned on buying a retirement home and enjoying the remainder of his life. With tear-filled eyes he said to me "Mike, I was so convicted, compelled, and inspired by God's Word through you, that I don't want to waste the remainder of my life. I don't want to buy a retirement home. I don't want to coast through the finish line. I don't want to settle for temporary worldly pleasures. I want to exhaust myself for the kingdom to see as many souls as possible won for eternity in the town of Paramus with you where I've grown up and spent most of my life."
God is so meticulously sovereign, that before the foundation of the world he planned for Bill to retire at the age of 62 on October 5, 2012, two days later wander into Emergence on Sunday October 7 to hear a sermon on 1 Corinthians 9, the exact text he needed to hear, from a pastor who had been convinced by God to leave Virginia and plant a church near his home town in Paramus NJ, be shaken by God to forsake his retirement dreams of picking up sea shells for the remainder of his life and die to his dreams and his own pursuits and redirect his joys, pleasures and loves for the sake of the glory of God in Paramus New Jersey!!!!
Are you kidding?
