As you can imagine, starting a church has a lot of details – and it’s easy to let action steps define your journey as a new pastor.

We’ve taken a different path, one that focuses on preparing our mind, [...]]]> We are so thankful for those of you that join us in prayer each Wednesday.

As you can imagine, starting a church has a lot of details – and it’s easy to let action steps define your journey as a new pastor.

We’ve taken a different path, one that focuses on preparing our mind, heart and hands for ministering to people.

And while we feel this journey will better prepare us to serve the people of New York City, we still have the same logistics to coordinate as we move closer to the city.

Today I would like to share a few of the things that are on our plate and for ask you join us in prayer as we’re forming intentional steps and moving forward.

• Transition plan and budget. Both of these revolve around what it will take to move to Manhattan this summer, get our family set up and begin ministering to people in the city. Pray for wisdom as we plan, and for God to guide our steps so we meet new people.
• Apartment. We shared this one a few weeks ago, but please continue to pray with us that God would go ahead of us and prepare a place for our family to thrive and ministry to begin.
• Relationships with people outside the Church. Ask that God would guide our steps and introduce us to people we might not meet on our own. Ask that we would be able to connect with people who need the grace and peace that Jesus offers.
• Relationships with established churches in the city. We have been incredibly blessed to already have existing relationships with some of pastors in Manhattan. Pray that these would continue to grow and that we would be able to bless them as they have blessed us.
• Funding. As many of you know, our family is supported by friends and family throughout the church. As we transition to New York City, our financial need obviously increases, and we are stepping out in faith as we continue to look to God to provide through his people for our needs. (Don’t take that as a passive-agressie way of asking for funding. We’ll stay up-front with our requests. We genuinely would like prayer here – that God would lead us to people he is leading to give to his Kingdom.)

Join us in thanking God for what he has already done.

• Our residency in Maryland has been so helpful in preparing us for this next season of ministry.
• We have a strong foundation of relationships of Christian families in the city.
• Already God has allowed us to begin forming relationships with people in New York who are either outside the Church or searching spiritually.
• We are fully funded for the rest of our time in residency, and are raising support that will go directly to our ministry in New York City.
• More than any other time in our lives, we are learning how to walk by faith. It’s exhilarating – and we ask for continued grace to do so as we move forward.

Thanks for investing your time and prayers into what God is doing in our lives – and thanks for joining what is going on in New York City.

It’s pretty amazing to think the beauty of this work of art has transcended well over 350 years of time and culture. I still find myself getting [...]]]> For the past two years on Mother’s Day our church has used this artwork of a tulip in our worship services. It was originally painted around 1637.

It’s pretty amazing to think the beauty of this work of art has transcended well over 350 years of time and culture. I still find myself getting lost in the bold colors and the story that the pedals seem to tell in their various stages of life.

Doubtful this little piece is the only work generated by the artist. Maybe it wasn’t even the work he or she spent the most time or thought on. But it’s what has lasted.

We all hope to live a legacy – but what if it’s not the stuff we’re spending tons of time and energy on that lasts?

What if the little things end up transcending?

• When you spend your break at work talking to a co-worker about his life instead of staring into your smartphone.
• When you listen to your daughter’s silly story with the same vigor you listen to everyone else.
• When you show grace to the stranger who is easy offended – even though you’ll never see him again.

Sometimes it’s the things we least expect that end up defining our story. Time and energy given to the small moments of life aren’t wasted – because those are the works that create the texture of our legacy.

I stumbled upon an article yesterday entitled, The Smuttiest Cities In America.

Researchers ranked cities based off “the number of DVDs purchased, rented, or streamed; adult entertainment stores per city; rate of porn searches; and, for fans of soft-core, percentage of Cinemax-subscribing households.”

New York City landed at number 76. But as my [...]]]>

I stumbled upon an article yesterday entitled, The Smuttiest Cities In America.

Researchers ranked cities based off “the number of DVDs purchased, rented, or streamed; adult entertainment stores per city; rate of porn searches; and, for fans of soft-core, percentage of Cinemax-subscribing households.”

New York City landed at number 76. But as my wife Emily and I talked about the implications for our city, we realized there is a darker reality lurking.

New Yorkers are, by-and-large, defined just as much by anonymity as social class. New York is also a transient city, packed with business travelers, people on holiday and young adults visiting to experience what they’ve watched on television for so long.

Because of these two things, and possibly more-so because of the later, the sex industry in New York is massive. And chances are, if you’re looking for something particular, you’ll find someone in New  York who will oblige – in person.

Those forced into sex trafficking, as well as those who have found themselves in life-cirucumstances that leave little other choice but to join the sex industry, are of critical urgency to the Church.

And as a couple moving to Manhattan to start a church, the freedom of these men and women are continually in our thoughts and prayers.

We’ve asked our friends, family and anyone we meet, to join us in prayer on Wednesdays for the city of New York. Today, we would ask you pray for individuals who are in the sex industry.

Use this infographic from Wired Magazine to guide your prayers. While it doesn’t give information regarding human trafficking, it does paint a clear picture of what life is like for so many women whose reality is sex for money.

We count every man, woman, boy and girl freed from the sex industry as a miracle – so please join us in praying for many miracles to ripple through the streets, bars, hotels and massage parlors of New York City.

“I don’t know where to start.”

Too many of us go too long without pursuing the dreams in our lives.

Don’t know where to start? Start with what you know to do.

Take one step.

Buy a journal to begin charting your dreams.

Share your dream with [...]]]>

“I don’t know where to start.”

Too many of us go too long without pursuing the dreams in our lives.

Don’t know where to start? Start with what you know to do.

Take one step.

Buy a journal to begin charting your dreams.

Share your dream with someone who could help you sort through it.

If none of those steps apply – start praying your heart out. That may be your first step.

Nehemiah knew exactly what he wanted to do and exactly and exactly what it would take when his time came. That takes planning, and prayer – long before it’s time to execute. It takes someone who is focused on their dream long before the opportunity to bring it to life is before them.

You were created with a purpose.

You were created to cultivate the dreams God has placed on your heart.

Today really could be your day to start pursuing your dream. And that by starting, you’re admitting that you are willing to travel the long journey ahead.

Prayer reminds us that it’s not just about our efforts. And that’s part of why we give it the priority we do on this journey to start a church in New York City.

Taking regular time to pray reminds us that success doesn’t ride on our shoulders.

Prayer reminds us that it’s not just about our efforts. And that’s part of why we give it the priority we do on this journey to start a church in New York City.

Taking regular time to pray reminds us that success doesn’t ride on our shoulders.

Prayer centers us away from worry – because we realize it’s all in God’s hands.

Prayer stirs something deep that changes the way we perceive and calls us to new ways of living.

Prayer connects us to something larger than ourselves.

So as we join together today in prayer for New York City, we acknowledge that no matter how badly we dream of the Kingdom coming to life on the streets of Manhattan, God dreams of it more.

If you would like specific ways to pray this week you can visit our prayer site.

We’re fresh back from the hospital, as of yesterday, and excited to have our son join us at home.

Jonas Elijah Dilla

April 22, 2012
6lbs, 13oz; 19 1/2″

We are so thankful for your prayers and support during our pregnancy, and so thankful for [...]]]>  

We’re fresh back from the hospital, as of yesterday, and excited to have our son join us at home.

Jonas Elijah Dilla

April 22, 2012
6lbs, 13oz; 19 1/2″

We are so thankful for your prayers and support during our pregnancy, and so thankful for God’s hand on our family. Everyone is healthy and we’re all adjusting to our new normal. We’re thankful to have my family in town with us this week, and Em’s is arriving next week. It’s been a huge blessing to have them with us as well.

We take some time on Wednesdays at noon to pray for New York City. In light of where we are right now, we would love to have you join us in prayer for our family and the city. 

You can probably imagine moving a family to New York City brings a massive amount of change into the mix. We are incredibly excited, but also aware of some of the things we need to begin praying for now. Below are some of the things we’ve been praying about, and would love to have you join us.

• First for Emily and I in our marriage. That God would continue to protect our relationship, that our friendship could grow and that our love and unity would deepen each year.
• That God would watch over our children. The benefits of raising kids in the city are huge, but there is also a certain amount of control you lose in a city, and your kids are right in the middle of a lot of things they aren’t ready to process. We pray that God would guide their eyes, ears and feet – and that we would have wisdom as we help them talk through their experiences.
• We are also in prayer for the right place for our family to live. We’re asking God to go ahead of us, preparing a place where we can thrive as a family, where our neighbors can become friends and we can connect with other families.

As always, we are so thankful for your prayers, and so excited for all God has for us over this next season.

And for those of you raising kids in cities (or those that want to know more about what we’re preparing for), if you haven’t heard Tim Keller’s talk It Takes A City To Raise A Child, it’s enormously helpful – and free to listen to here.

Sadly, for many people starting churches in the US, they run into apathy, or even negativity, from other pastors in their city. It’s a tragedy, but [...]]]> Every Wednesday I receive an email reminding me to join a group of pastors in NYC for prayer at noon. It’s a welcome ping in my Wednesday morning routine.

Sadly, for many people starting churches in the US, they run into apathy, or even negativity, from other pastors in their city. It’s a tragedy, but some pastors are threatened by new churches. It exposes the power consumerism has on Western churches: trapping pastors in the immature view of competition, and the resulting disconnection, that is supposed to be completely foreign to the Body of Christ.

Thankfully, our experience in Manhattan is vastly different. Pastors are connected. Praying weekly. Sharing regularly. Talking throughout the week. Praying for each other during their worship services. It is a powerful testimony to the unity of the Body.

I hope you take a few minutes at noon on Wednesdays to pray with us (you can find out more here). And if you have time today, pray for continued unity in New York City, and your city.

Pray that the Spirit ignites his Church and raises up new expressions of Christ’s Body throughout the city. Pray that we would remain united, deferring to unity and living as examples of Christ.

The picture above is a small group of pastors that gathered together a few months ago to start praying. A few weeks ago the group that met for prayer was nearly four times that size. Pastors from different denominations, practices and theological perspectives gathering to pray for their city.

Because we can’t wait for God to do something new in the lives of people in our city. For his Spirit to bring fresh wind to the streets of New York City. For Jesus to be known and the resurrection to be lived out in powerful, connected ways every day.

Unity isn’t an easy journey, but it’s worthy of our efforts.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. – Jesus (John 13:34-35)