Thoughts on “The Town”
(This email is a little longer, but I ask that you stay with me until the very end; please).
Jess and I finally went to see The Town last night. The Town is definitely not date-night material when you are wining and dining your spouse, however, this is the area neighborhood we feel like God has called us to. Going into the movie I knew/know Hollywood has a way of painting things in a different light, so I did not know what to expect, other than a great plot and some great shots of our future neighborhood (and other areas of Boston).
After seeing the movie and sleeping on a few things, here are my (a not yet ‘Tunie’) thoughts on what I saw:
1. I thought Ben Affleck did a great job directing and acting. It was a great movie. There is definitely language, drugs, guns, etc. but I thought he did a great job.
2. Hollywood tells stories using real neighborhoods. Charlestown was settled before Boston and has a rich history (both good and bad). You do not encounter too many neighborhoods that have experienced half the stuff Charlestown has been through.
The idea that Charlestown is the hub for bank robbers, I cannot speak of, but Charlestown certainly has a deep history of drug use/trafficking, racial tension/violence, and the neighborhood currently houses the biggest public housing project found in the city of Boston (1,000+ units).
As is the case with other neighborhoods in Boston, Charlestown definitely has a tough history and you can still get a sense of that as you talk to people and walk the streets.
My response to my thoughts (I know…stay with me):
1. My heart was even more so sold on moving there after last night. The calling certainly flamed from within brighter than ever, and my sense of urgency continues to add fuel as people desperately need to hear the Gospel proclaimed AT LEAST ONCE and need to experience the love of Jesus AT LEAST ONCE in their lives…AT LEAST ONCE.
Paul is very clear in Romans that all men are without excuse and that God has given each of us enough to respond accordingly to God, BUT that does not nullify the call to go and the call to proclaim,…so that they can hear it from a mouth at least once that God loves them and this is how much displayed through the sacrifice of Jesus.
2. I cannot attest to the types of violence found in the movie (ie. bank robbers being raised in Charlestown) but I can attest to the sense of hopelessness found and carried with the people there, and throughout Boston.
Even if they have a sense of hope…it is a false hope.
In the movie, the sense of hopelessness tended to be displayed through the characters never being able to leave Charlestown (and criminal activity) because it is a stronghold in their lives…but also there was the constant reminder of hopelessness found in a run-down ice rink that was pictured throughout the movie. This was a place where Ben Affleck’s crime team met to discuss criminal activity, but also a place referred to throughout the movie as a place not in use because there is no money for ice, etc.
This part is true. On my last visit to Boston, I sat and had lunch with a guy who has lived in the neighborhood going on 20+ years. He has seen it all. He told me there were 47 non-profits in the neighborhood (more than any other neighborhood), but all struggle to stay above water. In this movie the Boys and Girls club was the discussed non-profit.
This tells me several things. 1. THE NEIGHBORHOOD DESPERATELY WANTS TO CHANGE. 2. THEY ARE TRYING TO CHANGE IN A TEMPORARY WAY.
The Gospel is the only thing that can bring renewal of hearts, and as a result, the renewal of an area as people are truly change in their hearts. He is the only source of true change.
BUT how can the Gospel go forth if there is no one to bring it…how are they to hear if no one is there to tell them!? (Romans 10:14-15 paraphrase).
3. This is where I hope our family comes into play (along with other future church planters). We are actively making plans and arrangements to move into the area, with people who also want to come along for the ride. My family has been called, and we carry that burden daily.
How are they to hear the Gospel if no one can tell them…how will they see it modeled if a church community is not there to help model the life of Jesus?!
Conclusion (almost done, I promise):
- I pray that we can change that, will you pray that with me as well? We NEED your prayers. The task at hand is hard, but the Gospel breaks through the hardness.
- Also, I want you to pray and see if you are supposed to come with us. God has brought others into our lives and they are praying through this very thing right now. I am serious about this. The more people to tell people the good news and the more people to model the good news, the better. Please take this request seriously.
If your circumstance is “impossible”, good…God works through the impossible to accomplish the impossible.
- Lastly, this does not happen without money/resources. We are actively seeking people who can step up and use their money God has given them in a way that advances the kingdom. So far over 40 people have in 8 different states. Though many have been faithful and continue to be faithful, we are still far short of what we need to move into this neighborhood, to bring the message of hope and start a church.
If you have not seen the movie and if your conscience allows, please see it. If anything, when you see the trailers etc. on TV, please pray for us. My response is to God’s calling on my family, but this movie has great timing as we proceed forward to move to Charlestown. God calls and God changes the heart, but this movie was a great visual reminder.
If God is not prompting you to Boston and Charlestown…then where? How are you responding to God’s commission on your life?
** My wife did a great blog at naptimediaries.com if you are interested in a woman/mom’s view of “The Town”**
Ready to Share
“So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.” (1 Thessalonians 2:8 ESV)
What a telling verse this is. If there was one verse that come sum up how Jess and I feel in this season of transition, this is it! Several things really hit me:
1. Our affections are stirring. There are people we know in Boston, people who are praying through the call to come with us, and people who we do not YET know in Boston. I am excited about all whom we know…but I get really excited to think about the people we do not know yet, but will one day!
2. Ready to Share the Gospel, but also our own selves: What a great line! There are so many people that only want to preach AT people and then there are people that only want to serve, thus they shy from sharing ANY truth. Paul puts them hand and hand here. This is our desire and it grows each day. Who can we share truth with and who can we serve as we give ourselves to the city, to serve our community as Jesus would call us to serve.
3. Becoming very dear: This transition in the South has been amazing and very needed. We needed to catch up on relationships and catch up on rest! BUT, each morning Jess and I wake up with a burden that increases with each day, to be in Boston, sharing truth and serving our people. They are becoming very dear to our thought life and prayer life for sure.
What a great verse from the Apostle Paul. I am understanding him more and more in this process, in relation to this verse.
9 Things about Charlestown
Great article from Boston.com, enjoy:
Power Through Prayer
I do not have an iPhone, but I was using my sister-in-law’s the other day (note: this is not a shameless plug to get one, but if God moves your heart I cannot control how God moves…!). On her iPhone she has a LOGOS app, also very good. As I scrolled through I found a book called POWER THROUGH PRAYER by E.M. Bounds; it is a definite game changing book for me. There are several books I try to read once a year and this has DEFINITELY made the rotation.
This is a section in Chapter four, may it bless you as much as it has me:
“There are two extreme tendencies in the ministry. The one is to shut itself out from intercourse with the people. The monk, the hermit were illustrations of this; they shut themselves out from men to be more with God. They failed, of course. Our being with God is of use only as we expend its priceless benefits on men. This age, neither with preacher nor with people, is much intent on God. Our hankering is not that way. We shut ourselves to our study, we become students, bookworms, Bible worms, sermon makers, noted for literature, thought, and sermons; but the people and God, where are they? Out of heart, out of mind. Preachers who are great thinkers, great students must be the greatest of prayers, or else they will be the greatest of backsliders,
heartless professionals, rationalistic, less than the least of preachers in God’s estimate.”
“The other tendency is to thoroughly popularize the ministry. He is no longer God’s man, but a man of affairs, of the people. He prays not, because his mission is to the people. If he can move the people, create an interest, a sensation in favor of religion, an interest in Church work — he is satisfied. His personal relation to God is no factor in his work. Prayer has little or no place in his plans. The disaster and ruin of such a ministry cannot be computed by earthly arithmetic. What the preacher is in prayer to God, for himself, for his people, so is his power for real good to men, so is his true fruitfulness, his true fidelity to God, to man, for time, for eternity.”
Two things came to mind:
#1. As a pastor this is great. I spend so much time on things! In fact I jump straight into things, without praying. This floored me this week when I spent most of my working week on a plan to present to people when asking for money…but it is a laughing matter of how much time I actually spent PRAYING, to the Giver of all things. I confessed this to Jess and woe to me if this work week looks the same. I’m a changed man…or God help me.
#2. If you are not a pastor, may it be a great filter if you are choosing a church or are presently at a church. What kind of pastor
will you be following and serving under? It is not that you are supposed to grill him and ask him how long he prays each day and then stalk him to follow up, rather, does this radiate from him as you interact…even as he preaches? God’s word is the source of life, are there signs of life. Even David through tough seasons in the Psalms radiated life in the toughest of seasons.
For my relationship with the Father, for my wife, and for my kids, I know which one I desire to be:
“The praying which makes a prayerful ministry is not a little praying put in as we put flavor to give it a pleasant smack, but the praying must be in the body, and form the blood and bones. Prayer is no petty duty, put into a corner; no piecemeal performance made out of the fragments of time which have been snatched from business and other engagements of life; but it means that the best of our time, the heart of our time and strength must be given. It does not mean the closet absorbed in the study or swallowed up in the activities of ministerial duties; but it means the closet first, the study and activities second, both study and activities freshened and made efficient by the closet. Prayer that affects one’s ministry must give tone to one’s life. The praying which gives color and bent to character is no pleasant, hurried pastime. It must enter as strongly into the heart and life as Christ’s “strong crying and tears” did; must draw out the soul into an agony of desire as Paul’s did; must be an inwrought fire and force like the “effectual, fervent prayer” of James; must be of that quality which, when put into the golden censer and incensed before God, works mighty spiritual throes and revolutions.“
* For an online copy of POWER THROUGH PRAYER, go here, http://biblebelievers.com/em_bounds/index.html The beautiful thing about the “old school dead guy” writings…most everything is free!
We’re Expecting
“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name”. (John 20:30-31 ESV)
Ok, so maybe the title was a little misleading, but it got you here and as a result you should stay and read through this.
The passage above has been on my heart a lot over the past few weeks. I am in the middle of reading through the Gospels in a “harmony” kind of way. For my first day I was in John and for the gospel of John, I always read John 20:30-31 before reading anything else, just to keep prospective of why John was writing.
With Jess and I in the middle of planting a church in Boston: transitioning from Seattle to Boston, catching up with our friends in North and South Carolina, and fund raising for the church; can be very challenging. For me, I swing back and forth from great faith to a man of little faith. I have noticed this pattern in my life and after reading John 20:30-31, have been constantly asking God to forgive me of this, and change me as I move forward.
God has done so much in and through Jess and I and He will not disappoint in the coming seasons as we plant a church. Just as Jesus did miraculous works in the presence of his disciples, we are expecting God to continue to do the same as we move forward to preach the Gospel in a city that desperately needs to hear that Jesus died in their place, for their sins so that there might be a new life, and a new city as God moves and people believe.
Just yesterday, God moved so that Gospel Community gained it’s first church partnership. After meeting with the pastor (who is planting right now, but wants to plant other churches from the beginning), I was in awe and joyful of what God had done, but more importantly, I was in awe because I knew this is only the beginning.
There was much joy from their financial support, but I was even more excited to think about the lives that will be changed through the Gospel, the people we will serve, and those who we will send out to make disciples because they believe in the power of the Gospel.
We are expecting, but only expecting that God will move in a way consistent with His Word. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us and that changed everything…it still is changing everything. We are super excited to be apart of it in any way He might have us.