Writing...Again.

Among her top fifteen reasons for why most writers don’t make it out there in the world (or in general), number two reads, “They [writers] will ‘invest’ eons of time deciding their niche. Rather than writing their way to the niche.”

Lipika Sahu, ma’am, that stung.

Yet, she’s absolutely right in her fifteen point assessment. I have been wanting to return to the blinking cursor for several months now. There have been countless times when I’m with my wife at some cool, hip distillery in central Texas and I look over at her to ask (for the 1000th time), “Do you think I should start writing again.” Personally, I think she orders another round not because the bourbon is so good (although it is), but because she’s tired of hearing me wonder about the possibilities as opposed to seeing me to work out the cobwebs.

Therefore, here I am. I have been sent, on my own accord, however. Or was I?

I haven’t posted anything on this website in a little over two years, but I’ve thought about posting regularly. And it’s not procrastination that I’m hung up on, but pondering. Only, I think it’s enough.

I want to say that I’ll be creative and cunning, but I haven’t even been consistent and consistent. To be honest, I feel like I have so much to write about without having the words to say it. And yet just when I think that I’ve laid my heart on the table with you, Sahu strikes again with point number nine, “they will hide behind the cloak of ‘learning.’ Acing the theories but flunking the practicals.”

Madam, please, stop.

She’s right…again.

Fine.

From here on forward, I will not provide you with a sense of clear, creative, content that is consistent, but rather I will say that I hope to invite you into the mundane mess of the miraculous which is a stunning way of saying that I’ll write something at some point.

Could I give you hint?

I haven’t stopped reading. Nay, it was the great Harry Truman who said, “Not all readers become leaders, but all leaders must be readers.” I say this because I think a good introductory post (apart from this attempt) will be in the form of what I’ve been reading and I hope that it brings encouragement and entertainment.

In the end, Sahu is right, and I’m thankful for her article. So, with conviction settled on my wings and the uncertainty of tomorrow, I look forward to seeing you here again.

Recommended Reading
1. 15 Reasons Why 99% of New Writers Will Never Make It (Ouch!) by Lipika Sahu

The Antioch Institute

I feel as though all I’m doing is letting my readers know about all of the things happening at Storehouse McAllen as opposed to me actually writing about confessional theology and mestizo culture. But in reality, that is actually all that I’m doing and part of the reason is that we have crazy busy working on and releasing so many new things. It’s definitely been an exciting time, but I’m ready to write about confessional jazz.

Nevertheless, by letting you know of all that’s going on, I’m able to stay fairly consistent in my blog posts. Well, this month we launched the start of The Antioch Institute which will serve as the equipping arm of our church and the aim of The Antioch Institute is to mature and multiply disciples of Christ in the context of everyday ministry. When the Apostle Paul writes to the Ephesian church, he tells them that the role of the leadership is to equip the saints for the work of ministry (Ephesians 4:11-13). Personally, I believe that the church serves as the primary hub for discipleship, theological development, and spiritual formation.

Over the last several months, we have seen a growing need to provide a variety of classes, programs, and workshops geared toward educating and challenging the members of our congregation in their theology. The purpose of this is so that they would be equipped for the work of ministry in the context of their everyday life whether that’s at home, the workplace, in the community, or as they are discerning a call toward ministry.

For the Spring semester, we will have started at least four avenues of development and formation. But first, I think it’s important to note how we have broken down The Antioch Institute.

AVENUES OF DISCIPLESHIP

Workshops
Workshops are short classes where we teach how to apply our theology. The Bible never separates theology from practice so neither should we, but often Christians need help in exercising what they believe in the context of parenting, marriage, finances, and many other areas. These workshops or classes serve as practical teaching opportunities to come alongside Christians as they are working through the regular rhythms of life.

Bible Studies
Bible Studies are smaller gatherings of men and women centered around Scripture. It sounds pretty basic, but these smaller gatherings are almost like intensives with teaching and discussion around God’s Word. They’re not too topical and the aim here is to teach Christians how to read their Bibles, study their Bibles, and grow in their walk with the Lord together.

Theological Development
While one could argue that all of these sections are focused on some sort of theological development, in this section we are diving deep into things such as covenant or systematic theology and the courses can be as short as a few weeks or as long as a year. Participants will sometimes have to apply for the classes or programs because some of these courses will consume a great deal of their time and maturity is critical here.

Residencies and Internships
There have been and are individuals who are discerning a call from the Lord into formal vocational ministry. For some, it may be pastoral ministry, church planting, or serving on a staff team at Storehouse McAllen or elsewhere. Our residencies and internships are about 12-24 months long and our goal is to come alongside men and women and equip them in the varying areas of ministry as they discern their call to ministry.

I’m really excited about The Antioch Institute. It’s been something that we have been working on for several months now and interestingly enough, it was birthed after reading the pulse of our church and surrounding culture in the midst of the pandemic so I’m thankful to God for that time. By His grace, it has been off to a fruitful start!

Here’s a video that we put together where I unpack The Antioch Institute a little more. Feel free to share it and as usual, I’d love to hear what you have going on at your church and in your context!

Weekly Staff Meeting

Over the years, I have been asked, “so what do y’all do during the week?” and in part, I think that comes from this misconception that my staff and I only work on Sunday or one other day of the week. So, I figured I would provide you with a little insight at what happens during the week when we gather as a staff. For us, the best day to meet and work through an overview of Sunday and weekly responsibilities is Tuesday morning.

Personally, this works best for me not because I take Monday’s off, but simply because I’m not at my best on Monday. I still work by addressing administrative responsibilities and getting started on the next sermon, but I’m not in the best condition to have meetings on Mondays. Additionally, my staff is either part-time or a volunteer so they have other work responsibilities that call their attention on Monday.

Once we get together on Tuesday and brew all of the coffee, we have a “launching pad” system that we work through. I say “launching pad” because we don’t always stick to it. On occasion, other things come up or our meetings may be much more brief depending on what our week looks like.

DEVOTION

The first thing we do is have a staff devotion and this is led by someone on the team. It’s usually based on whatever it is they’re reading in Scripture and if it’s their turn to lead our devotion, they come prepared with a few short questions and we engage the Word through discussion, encouragement, and prayer for one another. This is always a beneficial and fruitful time because it helps us draw closer to one another as we draw closer to Christ through His word.

SUNDAY OVERVIEW

The next part of our time together is walking and working through everything that went well and not so well on Sunday mornings. We will work through logistics within our team communication and liturgy. For instance, the last several months has consisted of a discussion centered around our Sunday morning liturgy, led by Eric, and we worked through purpose, planning, and execution for the Sunday gathering. And, in other areas, logistics regarding our communication with volunteer teams is always something we’re trying to improve or the experience parents receive upon checking their kids in for Storehouse Kids. All of these elements to the Sunday gathering are discussed, torn apart, and worked through each week.

MAKING IT HAPPEN

This portion of our time has everything to do with follow up or follow through. In other words, if there are work responsibilities that involve everyone and we need to put our heads together or simply and collectively work through classes, communication, or other areas of ministry that need attention, we hammer it out in this section. It’s all about taking ownership of your area of ministry and creating follow up with teams and volunteers or following through with whatever you need to get done.

CELEBRATION AND CALENDAR REVIEW

I must admit, we do a terrible job of celebrating and demonstrating thanksgiving when it comes to slowing down and praising God for His work and faithfulness in and through the life of our church. So, we take time to work through and praise God for all that He is doing or has done in specific areas of our church. Shortly after this time of praise, we look at our calendar and remind everyone of what we have coming up over the next 4-6 weeks. This keeps us all on the same page.

CLOSING PRAYER

Once we’re done working through everything, have our responsibilities for the week, and jump on the same page we break up into different areas of the office and get to work in our individual ministries, working together regularly while at the same time maximizing the time together. Our staff meeting lasts about an hour and a half, but we’re at the office all day for the most part.

As I mentioned, since the majority of the staff team is either part-time or a volunteer, we have all dedicated ourselves to Tuesday to be together, have a bunch of laughs, and also work in our areas of ministry. For some, Tuesday may be the only day (apart from Sunday) that they can put forth this kind of time due to their other job responsibilities.

We have worked through so many different forms of staff meetings in the last four years and it takes time to find a schedule that works for everyone along with a team rhythm and dynamic. When we first replanted the church, our staff team met on Saturday mornings, then we moved to Tuesday evenings, and then we tried Sunday afternoons, and finally after all of the changes we were able to land and commit to Tuesday mornings and that’s where we’ve been for the last year and a half.

I’d love to hear what you and your team do. And if there are any follow up questions or comments, I’d love to hear them. I’m always interested in what other churches are working through with their teams.

The Native Citizens Podcast

Last year, a few of us got together and started the Native Citizens podcast at Storehouse McAllen and this morning, we officially launched season two of our podcast. It’s been a really fun and fruitful time of discussion, especially with the number of topics we have covered over the last few months.

We began this podcast for our church for a few reasons. First, before COVID shut everything down, we were already beginning to consider how to release and make more free resources available for our church. We had been (and still do) writing content for our groups for a few years now and that has been going well, but we wanted to expand the content as well as the participation so we began doing daily devotionals which eventually became weekly devotional videos led by several members in our church during the 2020 season. All of this to say, we started having a discussion around starting a podcast in the fall based on feedback we were receiving from church members and we learned that we had all the equipment at our disposal to make it happen. All we needed to do was make time for the podcast recordings. So, in short, we had the resources available to get this going.

Secondly, we are not aware of any other podcast within the context of ministry in the RGV talking about theology and culture so we saw this as a great opportunity to equip our church for discipleship and mission in our city and community. When you listen to the podcast, we incorporate, certainly our personalities, but also a lot of Valley culture—good or bad—for the sake of working through it as we filter them through the lens of the gospel.

Finally, this podcast was an easy way for our church to hear from more than just me on a variety of topics. Every season, we rotate hosts so our church and listeners are able to hear from a variety of speakers. For instance, last year we began with LC, who, at the time, was our ministry intern; Eric who is our liturgy director; and myself. For season two, I return to the podcast with LC, who is now our Kids Director, and Jay who is a covenant member and leads a few of our teams on Sunday mornings. Then during the summer, there will be a completely new set of voices.

WHY NATIVE CITIZENS?

One of the questions, we received most as we started to prepare for this podcast was, “Why Native Citizens?” And I don’t actually think we ever addressed it apart from sporadic conversations. But I’ll answer it with clarity on here. We went with Native Citizens for two reasons. The first is because all of us are Natives of the Rio Grande Valley or what is considered South Texas so it is important to understand the nature and culture of the RGV as we dive into a variety of topics that are rooted in Mexican-American tradition, history, and overall Valley philosophy. However, you don’t have to be of Mexican-American heritage to understand the Valley. If you are from the Valley, but not a Hispanic, then we’d call you a “Valley Hispanic.” The culture and rhythms of the Rio Grande Valley are all ingrained in you, therefore, making you just as qualified to speak on RGV culture and tradition.

Second, the term citizens comes from our heavenly citizenship (Philippians 3:20). As much as we love our Rio Grande Valley, at the end of the day our primary identity is that we belong to Christ and our hope and home is not here, but in heaven. So, as we discuss the culture of our beloved RGV, we are doing so primarily through the lens of the gospel.

All of this to say, it’s been a wonderful time and I have loved the recording process. I have received a few questions from many on how to begin a podcast so I may write about that at a later day. If you or your church has started a podcast, I’d love to hear what you have going on. Until then, check out the Native Citizens (link below) and I hope you enjoy some laughs, Valley culture, and theological discussion.

RECOMMENDED LISTENING

1. Native Citizens Podcast

New Series...That Started A Few Weeks Ago

A few weeks ago, we began a new series on Colossians at Storehouse McAllen and it has been incredibly fruitful for our congregation. Our goal through Colossians is to showcase the supremacy of Christ in all things and as a result of this, we can be assured of his sufficiency.

In Colossians, we are reminded that salvation is found in and through Christ alone and that our walk with Christ directly affects and impacts our ethics, our relationships, our vocation, and ultimately our daily lives. The Apostle Paul always does a fantastic work of making sure we understand that theology is never separate from practice.

Colossians has sparked great late-night conversations with my wife and I and our Missional Community on the topics of thanksgiving as worship and how we perceive the risen Christ—do we perceive Him in a way that is incomplete or like the Apostle Paul in Colossians 1:15-20?

Further, Colossians is timely for our young church (this year, we celebrate FOUR years!) and many of the things Paul writes to them about we share as a congregation; things such as spiritual growth, maturity, engaging false teaching, and most significantly a high view of Christology.

We’ll work through Colossians all the way through May, but we’ll be taking a break for Holy Week which fits perfectly with the theme of Christ’s supremacy so I’m excited about that.

Check out the sermon series HERE and as usual, if you’re looking for some book recommendations, I’ve hooked you up below.

RECOMMENDED READING

1. Praying with Paul: A Call to Spiritual Reformation by D.A. Carson

2. Enjoying God: Experience the Power and Love of God in Everyday Life

3. Redemption Accomplished and Applied by John Murray