Seeing The Kingdom while in "the kingdom"

We arrived to the United Kingdom on Thursday morning from an overnight flight. Both of us ragged and tired from a lack of sleep on the flight. With an early nap we were rested and ready to see London town. Having been to London, I was very excited to show Zach around the real Magic Kingdom. So far we have spent one night dreaming together as we walked the streets of London in the middle of the night... Our bodies not quite on London time yet....there is one thing that London does for the spirit: It brings alive our deepest dreams of being in a city center that influences all cultures for The Kingdom. We can't help it...I feel like Paul when he first looked upon Corinth: so much potential.

Yesterday we made our way south to the beautiful country of Wales... Breathtaking sights layered with tales from old about wars, kingdoms, and most importantly Revival. It has been wonderful to reflect on the historic moves of God that has marked this country as a center for world-wide revival. I can't help but think that it is on God's heart to move in this region that was once filled with the power and presence of God. 

We are staying with The Wilhite family who is a wonderful family who have chosen to follow the voice of the Lord to start a movement among the youth in the area. Please pray for them as they follow the Lord. 

Pray for us; that we could continue on in where the Lord is leading us. We are seeing how the Lord is leading us to relationship with His people who are doing the work of the Gospel and making disciples of all men.      

A Return to My Refuge

Beneath is a devotion from a couple of weeks ago. I hope it blesses...

--Zach

As we return home from what has been a long ministry trip (the better part of three weeks), I see my home and it takes me a minute to adjust. With so much focus on our future dreams and living out of our car, there almost seems to be a blockage to coming home for a day of real Sabbath. What about a "forced Sabbath"? Does such a thing even exist? Sounds like a contradiction in terms to me. Bethany and I were driving home yesterday, more than weary, and we made a deal: for at least 24 hours we would not "do" any ministry. No preaching, talk of revival, nor any about missions! Just a day to hang out with God and each other.

But as I came out of my slumber this morning, or afternooon I should say, I found a number of emotions creeping. "What if key ministries don't partner with us as we walk into our ministry? Why haven't I just read my Bible with no agenda for days? What if we don't 'raise' enough money? I should probably answer emails and make intentional phone calls."

No.

What if coming home to "rest" is a really tough discipline when you've been going full speed? It feels like I am fighting to be still. Perhaps God created sabbath as sort of a constraint. I mean, I'm glad I can open my front door and it's quiet here in little ole Brunswick, GA, It's tee shirt weather. There is a beach nearby. So why can't I seem to figure out what to "do"? I have let myself become busy on the inside. Way too busy. We have been "doing Kingdom stuff" on the road for weeks, but I have no seeming "Psalm 91" for my thoughts and soul. It says the LORD is "my refuge" and I can "hide...find rest" in Him.

I know this in my head. But my experience is quite different.

Perhaps the words, "Be still and know that I AM God" are tougher than they read. Maybe God in His goodness, knows I need time for emotions and thoughts to swirl around until I wrestle enough with HIM and He can finally just pin me down in total surrender? I seem to need a good bit of refreshing before the refreshing comes.

I feel like a total mess. Why is it so hard to just "chill out"? It can be tough being a driven visionary. I have more ideas than a computer has commands. God, help me to be still. Please cover my thoughts with "the shadow of Your wings" and renew my mind. I want to live from rest, not minister and then wrestle. Teach me today, I pray. Teach me, my Father.

In Jesus',

Amen.

Starfish Serie 1.2

The Call

Many of you may have already heard but if you haven't... here it is...WE ARE MOVING!!!!  Ok... so it goes like this: 

       About six months ago a friend and spiritual mentor called us up after connecting on Facebook. He has an an incredible "launching"  ministry that sends students all over the Mediterranean.  From that point he 
encouraged us to meet this other young guy from Connecticut who was apparently shaking the evangelical world up a bit in Western Europe. His name is Shaun Rossi. We then decided after much prayer to meet Shaun and other church planters at a missions conference in Rome, Italy. So we spent a day with this "Shaun" character, and realized we had much in common. We have continued to stay in phone contact with Shaun and have become quite close to him, and recognize the blessing of God on his family, life, and ministry.

More recently, we have also made the shift into full-time traveling ministry. With preaching and worship at our core,  it has taken us everywhere from youth events to university campuses to Sunday churches. Through these opportunities the Lord has allowed us to share with our various friends (YOU!), ministry partners and their accompanying networks know that we have been led by The LORD to move to Europe! Our hope is to plant churches all over the place.

Our starting point: Helsinki, Finland. 

Helsinki is the nation's capitol city. That's right...it's cold there. It's also very hip.  We have been working and praying for sometime with Shaun and his leadership about this possibility.
Through much prayer it became very clear that these are the people we hope to partner with. 


So, in the coming months we hope to fly to Helsinki to "scout out the land" and spend time with Shaun, his wife Katja, and their family. We will become more familiar with their home church (http://ucclife.fi), where we are praying to soon become "church planters in training". We hope to enter the country as students, not missionaries. Both of us have applied to different programs at The University of Helsinki. Bethany will be working on finishing her degree as an educator in the study of History as I hope to work toward a Master's Degree in either Theological and/or Religious Studies.


 Since we hope to enter the country as students we will only be allowed to work part time, though we will eventually move toward planting our own autonomous churches in Helsinki's urban centers and on university campuses. There is also an EU Refugee Camp on one side of the city. We hope to eventually work there in some capacity and perhaps plant a church... So, sometime in the next 6 to 8 months we hope to make the leap to living and going to school in Finland! We are beyond excited about this opportunity to spread the Kingdom Message in a nation where only 1/10 even admit they are "Christian".


Revival is on the horizon in Finland and many other European countries very close to it in every direction! We are hungry to see thousands come to Jesus. Shaun has been planting a movement in Helsinki for some time now and this is the beginning of a network that can eventually span much of Europe and beyond! What started ten years ago as a college house church has turned into a city-wide movement. The possibilities are endless. Did we ever think we'd wind up doing life on a glacier? Heck no. But, then again, Abram didn't really have a map with Jerusalem on it either, did he?


So, we are writing this to ask all of you to partner with us in prayer. Of course we will need finances, so please pray for God's provision as The Spirit leads. We are so thankful for all of you and your investment in our life and ministry. We pray God blesses you and your families this week! Please click "subscribe" to this blog for weekly updates as our journey advances. May His Kingdom come...as it is in Heaven! 

Zach and Bethany

Real Revelation

This is an oldie but goodie that never got posted. It is the continuation of our journey as we spent time in Rome a few months back...

The last update was about Paul, and what may have happened when he made his way through Rome and finally appealed to Caesar. You know, a lot of scholars think Paul went to Rome twice and that the Biblical account only records his first trip and eventually Nero summoned him back, where he was then martyred. Before I lose all of you I want to tell you why this is all so interesting to me: If you visit Rome these days it's pretty hard to believe Paul could've died with ill-effect. As we know, Emperor Constantine came along a while later and forced everyone to become a "Christian".

As we walked about this epic city, and it is truly epic, it's impossible to miss the fact that Rome was once the socio-politcal and economic epicenter of the universe basically transferred into a Religious epicenter in many ways. The Pope is depicted everywhere...like a modern-day Caeser of the spiritual world. I guess other than Jerusalem and arguably Mecca, Rome must be the most religious place on earth. As we walked through all of the Vatican museums and into the Sistine Chapel we actually could not take it all in. Never, ever have I seen anything like what was next: St. Peter's Basillica and St. Peter's Square. Wow. As we entered the church I looked down and two keys are embedded into the marble as one enters,"...and I shall give you the keys to The Kingdom of Heaven". I have seen so many different out-workings and fruits of The Lord's promise to Peter. Many have since banked on St. Peter to be the very thing The Church, or transliterated "The Assembly of God's People" (The "Ecclesia of GOD") is built upon. But, the truth is that Peter was graced with a revelation, as Christ Jesus stated to him: "Blessed are you Peter, for flesh and blood have not revealed these things to you, but My Father in Heaven...". You see, it is the confessed admission of that revelation that The Kingdom is built upon. I know what some of you are thinking, "But wait, wait...Peter's name meant 'rock', and he was the first Apostle in The Early Church!!". Don't turn me off just yet dear brother. It IS very true, according to The Scriptures that our beloved Peter was really at the forefront of leading the Apostolic movement.  So in a big sense he did "hold the keys" for a time. That doesn't negate the fact that it is The LORD who founded it, builds it through His people, and continues to "make it grow" (1 Corinthians 1). If we let The Word develop our understanding, rather than our church culture or religious influences, we will see that it is upon this Great Confession that Jesus of Nazareth is Lord and Savior, God's sent Messiah, that The Kingdom continues to be built firmly upon. And you, beloved reader, are a saint. You have the keys to The Kingdom!

The Clarence Factor

The Clarence Factor

“A man is no failure who has friends.” That’s what George Bailey’s guardian angel wrote to him in the front of his favorite copy of Tom Sawyer, right after George’s baby brother Harry toasts George before the whole of Bedford Falls by saying, “To my big brother, George Bailey, the richest man in town.”

Okay okay…ya know how the movie goes, so let’s bring this back down to earth for a minute. My promise is this: what you’re about to read isn’t about angels getting their wings or Mary and Joseph or whatever.

So I’m watching “It’s a Wonderful Life” a few nights ago as my wife falls asleep next to me, and it gets to the portion of the film where George can’t seem to escape his hometown no matter the size of his dreams. Everything keeps holding him back. He is always taking the backseat to help someone else. Then there’s this scene where, out of nowhere the evil Mr. Potter offers him more money and a better career than he could’ve achieved in 5 lifetimes. During the scene Potter (for the one person in the universe who’s never seen this one, he is the really bad guy in the movie who is George’s archrival) describes George’s experience by saying, “A young man like you, early 20’s stays home from college a few years to take over his father’s failing business. Then again, a few more years to send his kid brother off to school. Before he knows it he’s 27, 28 and he gets married. Next thing you know a kiddie or two comes along and there’s not enough left in the bank to cover it all.” All of a sudden I was overwhelmed with a severe sense of insignificance. “What am I doing with my life?” and “Do I really still live in the U.S.? I’ve been saying I am gonna go travel the world for most of my life!”. “Am I doing anything of eternal impact?”. Then it hits me, “I’m lonely here.” So I got up and put on my street clothes. I got in my car and drove. George Bailey went to Martini’s Bar for whiskey…which led him to the edge of a bridge he wanted to jump off.

I went to the gas station. What was I doing? Where is everybody? I am so used to there being people. Movement. Energy. The city…aggggh! So I drove downtown. You know: where all the street lights are and one can walk around.

I spent the next 30 minutes walking our “main” street and staring at green lights. Not a single car drove by to turn one red. “God, what do you want to do here? In me and in this town?”.

I’m praying out loud. The echo of my shoe touching the ground. More green lights.

I didn’t see a single soul the whole time. Not a single vender or store open. No sound…wait, I take that back: one hooded rider on a bicycle in the distance. There was no bridge to jump off of, but there was water. Anyway, to shorten the story I eventually made it home: Zach Presten of Brunswick, GA. Thirty-one years old…you know, the dude whose ship never sailed. Who never made it. Zero Significance Man went to sleep confused and disillusioned.

But then there’s The Clarence Factor.

The Clearance Factor is simply the revelation that what’s directly in front of you is often the most eternally rich thing you have.

What I mean is that, though we must never lose or waiver in our sense of dreaming huge, places and experiences that are ‘way out there’ are always going to exist and will never really fulfill the soul. The truth is that God gave us what’s right in front of us: Himself…and each other. There is nothing richer or more fulfilling than relationship. HE is huge on it. Why else did Christ refer to Deuteronomy 6 when asked what the Greatest Commandment is? HE answered with two commands instead of one…how weird is that?! But loving GOD first with all of your energy will always naturally lead us to cherish relationships around us more that the places and experiences that are not present. For George Bailey, it took Clearance: his guardian angel. Clearance showed George what the world would be like if he’d never lived. George peered into what I’ll call “relational impact”. And once George saw what was right before him: A beautiful wife and family who really did think he could lasso the moon, more friends than a man can count, and God’s provision all around him. George Bailey was beyond significant.

A few days later I allowed myself to watch the rest of “It’s A Wonderful Life”. I saw the whole picture then. Here is the takeaway: A man should never lose his capacity to dream big with God, for if he fails to then hope is lost and despair reigns. And as the angel says in the opening scene of the movie, despair or discouragement are the greatest of diseases to the soul. But, at the same time, there is another truth. The truth is that I couldn’t have been more wrong that night when I came home all confused. God had me next to a beautiful, godly wife who would do anything for me. HE had me under a roof, nice and warm. HE has given me wonderful family and in-laws. And to top it all off HE graces me with the humility that comes with ministering His Kingdom to so many. I am thankful. I wouldn’t change my world. I’m the richest man in Brunswick, GA.

Great Video From When We Were in Haiti

I've meant to send this out for a while. A really great work that we were enabled to have a small hand in back in March. Pray for our friends and family, The Brooks Family, who are now on the ground in Gonaives, Haiti. Gonaives is exactly where this footage comes from:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=1939498523117&set=t.22619793&type=3&theater