Who Cares? The Key for Real Impact

Mark 2 tells us the story of a paralyzed man and his four friends who went to great lengths to meet Jesus in Capernaum. When they heard that Jesus was in the city, the four carried the paralytic on a mat to the house where Jesus was preaching. However, when they arrived, they saw that the gathering crowd was so enormous that it spilled out of the house itself. They could not get through. But instead of leaving when they encountered this obstacle, they tried to find another way in. Who suggested the plan first? And how must the friends have reacted to an idea as insane as climbing through the roof of someone’s house? It probably seemed like the craziest plan they’d ever heard. But they persisted past this seemingly impossible idea and together, they hoisted their friend onto the roof. If we consider the passage for a moment, we also realize that these men didn’t own the house. Although it didn’t belong to them, they began to dig through the roof of somebody else’s home in order to reach Jesus. They saw the risk of the endeavor as an investment that they would have to pay later. As they lowered their friend down in front of where Jesus was speaking, the last risk presented itself. In addition to the risks of physical harm, crazy ideas, and financial disputes, they risked humiliation and failure when they brought their friend to the front of the crowd. All of these risks and obstacles were overcome, however, when Jesus saw their faith and forgave the sins of the paralyzed man. When the teachers of the law scoffed, Jesus told the man to take up his mat and go home. He did. The entire crowd was amazed and praised God, saying “We have never seen anything like this!” One of the greatest miracles that we at LINC NT saw in the last year was the healing of Luis’ physical, relational, and spiritual brokenness. We didn’t find Luis, and he didn’t find us. His cousin, Javier, was so burdened by Luis’ pain that he asked us to visit him in spite of the fact that Luis lives thirty-two miles away, far outside our current area of work. Javier had faith, and we believe that through that faith, God brought healing to Luis. Many times, we don’t have a perfect solution for a struggling friend or family member. We feel powerless and helpless. But God is strong where we are weak, and He is faithful to hear our prayers and respond to our acts of faith. In times of need, being a good friend requires us to not only believe but to risk as well, putting our love for our friend above our own desires and worries. We must risk our reputations, our finances, and our personal convenience to go out of the way to help our friends. Although it may not be comfortable or easy, we make an impact when we care enough to help others. “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:35   - by Oscar Benavides and Kristen O'neal

Summer days are here again- and almost gone

Oh summer, you are speeding by so quickly!  At LINC NT, the creative juices are flowing as we work on growing our ministry in various aspects from new curriculum to multiplying our faith communities. 

This week starts a staff chapel time.  We will spend time together in His word and in worship.  As our ministry gets more in depth and intense, this time will be critical in keeping us aligned with God's vision for the organization and for our lives.  I am very excited about this time every week to refocus on why we are here and to reflect on all the amazing things God has been doing through us.  It is humbling and comforting to know that God already sees what will happen and is preparing us for that.

As we pass the halfway point to this busy summer, I hope everyone can take some time to listen to God; let Him uplift you and remind you of your purpose.

If you feel God calling you to a new ministry, we are currently interviewing new teachers for our SALI program for the 2012-2013 school year.  Those interested can e-mail your resume to colleen@lincnt.org.  If you are wanting more information, please e-mail me as well, and I can get that to you.

How Big is the Mission Field?

In the church we talk a lot about reaching the city and transforming the community.  But just how large is that mission field, and can we really reach it with our traditional methods?  There's about 120,000 people here in Carrollton, where our offices are.  Add in Farmers Branch, and there are more than 53,000 households in the school district.  Through SALI, we are able to reach about 900 of them.  And we thought that we had an enormous impact on the community!

A quick check of the statistics shows that the average Christian church has 184 members (although half of all churches have 75 members or less).  The largest LCMS church has around 2500 in attendance every Sunday.  At this rate, it would take 652 average American Christian churches to record every person in Carrollton alone as a member.  It would take 48 of the largest LCMS church in America.  Fellowship Church in Grapevine is listed as the third-largest church by attendance in the entire USA, and they have approximately 24,000 attendees every Sunday.  That means it would take 5 Fellowships in Carrollton alone to reach the entire city!

Based on these numbers, is it even possible to reach the entire city with our current strategies?  After seeing these numbers, it's no surprise that you never find a traffic jam on a Sunday morning!  Most churches seek to grow through addition of new members, but these numbers are depressing....a church would have to grow extremely large just to meet a significant number of people in a single small city.  Jesus transformed the entire world, but he didn't seem interested in addition.  In fact, he focused on just twelve men, growing extra-close to just 3 of them.  He believed in the strategy of multiplication.

It's said that Billy Graham, were he to be holding his crusades daily today, would not even be able to keep up with the global rate of population growth.  We need to embrace a strategy of multiplication if we want to have any hope of transforming our communities, cities, and the world!

Lessons at LINC NT

There have a been a lot of lessons I've learned in time I've worked with LINC North Texas, which has been almost a whole year now.  And as this is my last blog entry before I depart for a two month journey to Guatemala to study Spanish (don't worry, I'm coming back),I thought I'd share some with you.    

In the Parent Nights, I've learned patience and kindness.   Having to organize masses of excited kids who don't always like to listen isn't always easy; and having  them work together with their parents as a team can be a challenge.  But in the end, its totally worth it. 

In projects with my peers I've learned the importance of teamwork --  that as much as I believe sometimes that I can do everything on my own, never refuse a helping hand or slap it away.  In this way, I've also learned excellence.

In our ESL program, I've learned compassion and dedication, continually fueled every week by our terrific teachers, Tamara and Sarah; every week I see their passion and interaction with the students as they give them something invaluable: not only the English language, but a piece of their own heart.

But overall, the most important lesson I think I've encountered by far is simply just 'being there' - really living in the moment wherever you find yourself and having a good attitude about things.  This can determine your entire experience.  This goes the same for life - that with an open mind and an open heart, you get the most out of the world, and in turn, the world receives you at your best.   This is an attitude I can carry with me always - throughout my community, across foreign countries, and ultimately back home.

Hope to see you all soon,

Brandon 

What is the Value of a Strong Family?

While researching scholarly journals, studies, and other organizations, I came across something interesting.  It'd be more accurate to say that I noticed a lack of something interesting.  I struggled to find a single article or report on the significance of a strong, healthy family in a strong, healthy community.  There is a great deal written on the importance of all sorts of factors, but I couldn't find much reported link between a family bond and a thriving community.

This surprises me, when we're talking about a basic structure of society that creates an environment for kids to grow up in.  Kids, also known as "our tomorrow."  Even if there aren't studies proving it, at LINC NT we believe that a strong family is the foundation of a strong community as well as the foundation of a strong church, so that's why we focus on building bridges between parents and kids through our public school programs.

We had our last Parent Night of the school year on Thursday.  It's always great to see families leaving in smiles, especially the ones that seemed to come in with bad attitudes and with walls up.  There's something powerful about playing games together, and we're glad to provide that environment.  No matter what you teach people outside the home, if it isn't being reinforced at home, it's not going to take root and grow.  When the home is safe and secure, the family will be strong, and when the family is strong, the community will thrive.

Fulfilling Potential

During our time so far teaching our new ESL classes, we've gotten to see some real change.  Not that our students are now able to speak the English language overnight, but our students' progress is noticeable.  It's awesome to see them so excited to learn.   There's this one student, Maria - a woman in her 50's with two kids.  Maria is a great student and loves learning; she's always the first one to raise her hand to answer a question in class.  We got to talking during the break one night and I asked her what was her drive behind her studious manner and positive attitude.  "I don't want to clean rooms my whole life,"  she told me.

I got to thinking about this.  It's so easy to get around if you speak the language; it's just something we take for granted.  But for others, everyday is a real struggle.  But with this struggle, there is also real drive and real hope - and that's where the best parts of people come out: the plain willpower people have to improve themselves and aim for a something higher than they are.

Maria is an exceptional student; I am sure that if she continues on this path, she will be speaking English fluently very soon.  But there's a lesson in this for us, too:  all the things we take for granted and the power inside of ourselves that we are very rarely asked to extract . . . if we were ever forced to reach higher and fulfill our the potential that God has given us, what incredible and beautiful things would we find?  What would we be capable of?  For Maria, it starts with learning English.  Where does yours begin?

Our 3rd Annual LINC NT Gala!

Prepping hard along with all our other diligent staff members for our 3rd annual 2012 LINC Gala, May 4th at 6:15 at the Irving Arts Center; with an evening planned to the 'T' and everyone dressed to the '9s,' there is so much more to offer.  So without further ado, we respectfully request the presence of your company to come and enjoy delicious gourmet foods, a silent auction of  elegant artwork and useful (and indulgent) services, mystical illusionist Rudy Reynoso, Jr., and motivational guest speaker and hip hop artist, Fred Lynch.  See you there!

Brandon