The14 Principles

Why? Because there can't be two centers of the universe. All that exists, including every human being exists because of and for purpose relating to God. God's the big deal, not you or me.

This is our "Principle 0" at Sideris and if you are unfamiliar with "Principle 0" every person and organization has one... whether they know it or not. It’s that overarching principle that all other principles must relate to if they want to stay on point. If you fail to grasp this principle you will struggle to survive in the ecosystem even if you think you've got the other principles figured out. For instance, publicly traded companies have a "Principle 0" ... maximize shareholder value. Sure, there are lots of other great slogans and principles that fold into this, but confuse or ignore this principle and see what happens.

So, at Sideris we believe the overarching and foundational truth is this: Everything revolves around the one true God. It's all about Him. This God self-reveals in Creation, the Scriptures, and most completely in the person of Jesus Christ, God the Son.

Therefore, the chief purpose of every created human life is to orbit God's glory and thus magnify it in the ways we were intentionally designed to, foremost as worshippers. This worship happens in a variety of activities, but each one begins with the self-realization that "It's not about me."

Furthermore, God's eternal plan has always included human salvation and the restoration of all creation through the person and work of Jesus Christ, God come in the flesh. As such, we have the specific privilege in all creation of lifting high this beautiful name and thus exposing God's fullest character of loving grace to the world. This can only occur when we center our lives on Christ himself by having relationship with Him, sharing His truth with others and becoming new by the Spirit of God.

To embrace and “delight in” this calling and manifold blessings of the God of grace is our chief purpose and primary means of magnifying our God.

"Principle 0" reminds us that we do indeed have meaning and purpose, but it can only be found when we surrender our own agendas at the foot of the Cross. God purchased my life and redeemed my purpose right there by giving his life for mine. Now my story is forever attached to His story, which is a cosmic, everlasting story. Accepting this as my new reality means accepting God’s recommissioning as a fellow agent, with Jesus Christ, of His grace and goodness to the world. As you can see, this better plan God has for me is of course not about me, but luckily I discover in it what true joy really is.

Is it now clear why our "Principle 0" is so foundational? None of this new life can come to pass if I continue to believe that my life is primarily about me and my happiness, my comfort, my pleasure, my autonomy, my money, my legacy, my effort and so on. It is the loving and tender voice of God who may be whispering to you right now the kindest words God could speak over you: "Dear child, stop worrying so much, it’s not about you... and that's a good thing."

If our gaze remains inward, it will infect how we experience and interpret everything around us. We live in an age that is apathetic to the transcendent — we've stopped looking up to the heavens, both literally and metaphorically. We have forgotten our unique place in the physical and moral universe, and it is eroding us from within.

How do we reverse this tide? We pause to consider the things beyond us. We contemplate the peculiar space we find ourselves in as moral beings with real agency in a world we didn't design but can only discover. We stand trembling in the face of the grandness and awesomeness of this world and the duty we inhabit.

If we dare to stand like this and deeply consider what it means and how to move forward, then we have taken a vital step back into our original design — as worshippers.

Is merely "looking up" an act of worship? Yes, because it is an admittance that we don't and can't know everything on our own. It is a gesture and posture of dependence on something greater than ourselves. It is the essence of humility to ask someone or something outside of ourselves to help us, to reveal truth to us, and to save us from ignorance, impotence, and inherent inadequacy. The simplicity and profundity of this reorienting posture serves as the unavoidable precondition to divine worship.

Q: What should the people of God do whenever they witness someone else engaging in an authentic expression of "looking up"?

A: Celebrate! Just as you would celebrate a child's first steps or first words; because even the most basic questions like "Is there more to life than this?" or "God, are you even there?" is a holy occasion for reverence and excitement.

Why? A fellow human being is becoming more human again. They are removing themself from the center of knowledge and authority (which is our default setting ever since sin entered the world) and is beginning the hard and painful work of rebooting a glitched operating system. This is cause for joy and encouragement. It is rediscovering an original breathing pattern of consideration which if reinforced by the celebration of others will be easy to repeat and just may lead to the recovery of a God-given posture of receptivity to God's revealed Truth. This Truth is beyond us and other than us, but can be received unto life if we are open to it. Without this posture, we are unable to hear from the transcendent God who is there and is very much speaking.

In addition to what to do (celebrate) there are also things to avoid at all cost. Do not scoff, criticize, or critique any true consideration. Don't be obnoxious. Don't expect for more before the time is right. Don't impatiently push the pace or breadth of discovery. Simply celebrate, help, encourage, and participate along with those stretching this new muscle of transcendent consideration. Be in awe and appreciate that you get to witness a fellow self-centered, stiff-necked creature, who is predisposed to naval gazing, breaking free from an old posture to begin the journey of spinal realignment which God always intended them to have. Practice and model this posture of receptivity to the mercy, grace, love, truth, and beauty that God wants to shower upon them.

A Note to the not-yet-Christian: If you are a brand new considerer, be optimistic! Whenever new muscles are discovered, there can be a season of struggle, false starts, and self-doubt, wondering if the effort is worth the fuss. I can assure you it is! Don't wait to start considering, and don't give up trying; it will grow on you because it is the most supernaturally natural thing you can do.. You were made for this.

A community that celebrates the ‘looking up’ at every stage, form and iteration we strengthen ourselves against two prevalent pitfalls present in our modern society. The first we will call "Willful Agnosticism." This is being perfectly content with not knowing the specifics of any transcendent matters. The second we will call "Repressive Dogmatism." This is being perfectly content with not knowing any reasons behind one's transcendent beliefs. One is more common in secular circles and the other is more common in religious circles; both are enemies of God and Truth. Peeling away the either error can begin to let the sun shine again and makes ‘looking up’ all the more enjoyable. There is an undeniable joy in a community that is bursting with sincere consideration and sincere celebration of that consideration. This joy is itself a powerful magnet tho woo those isolated by apathy and dogmatism into the glorious light of the True Truth. Let's jam!

Every journey begins with a single step, but the greatest discoveries are often found many miles from the trailhead — so too with the glory of God. The splendor and magnificence of our God is far too great a thing to be fully uncovered in a matter of months, years or lifetimes.

This is why the joy-filled process of consideration never ends. Each new bend in the road uncovers a new realization, fuller appreciation, clearer vision or experienced truth. Any truly Christian life will be marked by continuous consideration of God’s revelation in nature, ourselves, and especially the Scriptures —as they all testify about the person and work of Christ Jesus our Lord.

At those moments when you are tempted to think that you’ve arrived and pretty much figured it out, let that apathetic thought be an alarm clock in your ear, pinching yourself back into the realm of reality and driving you back into the Word and into deep consideration. You have not arrived, but instead you have been lulled to sleep by the most dangerous of lullabies. To say it another way, boredom in your faith journey is a flashing warning sign that danger is ahead. Take a cold shower and begin to examine your patterns of worship and intimacy with God. Something must be amiss, as God is never boring.

Having said that, recognize that no two seasons are identical and not every season is a mountain top. There will be valleys and deserts and mud-fields, but it will not be boring. Avoid the impulse to chase after “spiritual highs” while still hopefully lamenting spiritual lows. Like a good marriage, full knowledge of God is the aim, but never achieved. Embracing this will lead to great excitement and surprise in your relationship with Jesus Christ. God’s mercy and grace are new every morning and so too should be our consideration of them.

“We must never rest until everything inside us worships God.” - A.W. Tozer

True life is always found in the light of honesty, not the shadows of deception. Whether unconscious internal self-deception or external malicious deceitfulness, all lies lead to some form of bondage. Only honesty gives birth to the freedom we all desire. This principle works in every human relationship because every human relationship is designed to reflect our primary relationship with our Creator, God.

Moreover, in any dialogue or consideration of truth we should seek to be completely honest with ourselves, with one another, and with the world. But this will only happen if we first live honestly before God in relation to His revealed truth in the Bible. Sadly, the true freedom available to all through Jesus is often kept barricaded behind a wall of misinformation and half-truths; many times perpetuated by good-intentioned pastors, scholars, and theologians seeking to soften the blunt edges of Scripture. This niceness ends up muffling the kindness of God which is found in the harsh truth of humanity’s sin and rebellion which Scripture lovingly sets beside the loving free gift of grace available to all who desire it in Jesus Christ. The undebatable fact of Scripture is this: freedom only flows on the heels of honesty, no matter how uncomfortable or inconvenient that may be.

Now, why then it so hard to be honest? This answer is equally important and forms the basis of the second stanza. The fact is, most of us think that our salvation is determined by our truthfulness and sinlessness. All religions teach that honesty is virtue and deceit is sin. But only Christianity teaches that our salvation and right-standing with God is not dependent on anything we do or don not do. Instead, it is based only on the work of Jesus Christ on our behalf and our relationship by faith to the person and work of Jesus, the Savior.

This is why "Freedom breeds Honesty" for the follower of Jesus. When you come to understand that you were set free despite your dishonesty and sin, then can begin to be truly honesty in the ways you never thought possible and that lead to even more dimensions of freedom.

Why hide behind a mask of self-righteousness that has no bearing on your destiny or relationship with God?

And so, the cycle persists. Honesty about your need for a Savior leads to the Freedom granted by the Savior… which leads to new honesty that begets more freedom in both your vertical relationship with God and all other horizontal relationships with other human beings. Which comes first? That is a matter of perspective, but both are necessary in the quest for the freedom and honesty that is a mark of REAL LIFE!

Because yours is off. Time has a unique power over all of us. Strangely, we can have too much time on our hands one day and not enough the next. As if personified, we speak: "Time is short" or "Time waits for no one" or "Time is the wisest counselor of all" or "Time is fleeting." But for those who accept the person of Jesus as Lord and Savior we accept a completely new understanding of time as defined by him. Refusing to reset will leave us out-of-step with the ways and means of God — the Maker and Keeper of time.

Two paradoxical hallmarks present themselves when we wear this new watch.

The first is that we come to accept and "Live like creatures who will live forever." The resurrection of Jesus proves that death is not the end of existence. We are actually eternal creatures (see Daniel 12:2; Isaiah 26:19; John 5:28-29; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Corinthians 15:20; Revelation 20:11-15). This means that the present life and each moment, triumph, and tribulation is truly and extremely temporary in nature. The freedom this perspective creates for the mind and emotions of a human beings cannot be overstated. Messing this life up or any moment herein is only a blip on an eternal timeline. This unbridles my sense of risk and breathes new boldness to creatively invest my current gifts and opportunities in projects that yield eternal returns. The most I can loose is something small and temporary, that will be replenished 100-fold, and the possibility of gain is beyond comprehension. The math is forever in my favor.

Moreover, we are told that right now Jesus is preparing an eternal home for us (John 14:2) and this should compel us to press into any momentary sacrifice required for the plans and mission of God to move forward now. The hope of the new heavens and new earth and the proof of the real, bodily resurrection of Jesus release us from the paralyzing fear of death, the fear of failure and the fear of missing out (FOMO).

We should, therefore, joyfully store up our earthly time, treasures, and talents in the one thing that we know is not temporary but translates into Christ’s everlasting kingdom, namely, our relationship with Jesus and by extension our relationship with others who are also connected to him.

Now, paradoxically, while the reality of eternity creates in us a patience and freedom from time, the enormity of the possibility and promise should simultaneously create a healthy urgency in all those who are waiting.

So the second hallmark of those with a new watch is that we "Live like we are on borrowed time." When we understand who God is and what he is doing, we accept that no breath is promised and every breath is a gift of grace. Our sin and rebellion against God's rule and reign is deserving of death and yet God gifts us life instead.

This means two things. One, you are not promised tomorrow and so you should start living each moment as though it might be your last. This creates in us a heightened sensitivity to the Holy Spirit's prompting to use the time well that is on loan from God, for his specific plans and purposes, prepared before hand for you to accomplish. Two, it should create in us a gratitude for each day that equates to the receiving of a birthday present. You did nothing to deserve it except for coming into existence, which was already a gift in itself.

What is the end result of this new paradoxical watch? A life of patient urgency emerges, filled with both waiting upon the Lord to act first and thrilling anticipation which prepares you to capitalize upon every God-given opportunity as it unveils itself. Time is redeemed. It is both light and weighty. Anxiety and boredom melt away even as time remains.

The love and grace we have received in Jesus was manifest because God chose to step out of comfort into discomfort (see Philippians 2:1-11). Christ’s love should compel us to follow him into the discomforts that sin and brokenness create in the world around us—be it physical, emotional, spiritual, or relational.

For each of us this line of comfort is unique, but we know when we have crossed it. As our heart-rate increases we lean into the truth of the gospel to move us past discomfort and fear and into compassion and kindness—we do not step back.

Over time, the boundaries of discomfort stretch and new borders are drawn. But again Christ will compel us and the Spirit empower us to break new ground. By life’s end, one step at a time, we will find ourselves miles from where we began and God will be glorified by the witness of our transformed comfort zones.

Coercion is a sin and should be stricken from the Christian vocabulary. God woos, he never forces. The same for Jesus and his followers.

The responsibility of every Jesus-follower is to make the consideration of Jesus available to anyone who so desires. We are not responsible for changing anyones heart or giving them faith—God does that. This makes the ministry of presence and invitation two non-negotiable aspects of the Christian life.

How will they consider if they are not invited? How will they be invited if they have never knowingly encountered a Christian? Presence and invitation require the courage of vulnerability as you risk rejection, but they are the only God-ordained means which place you in your God-ordained office of peace-messenger between God and humans he loves.

God has created the door in Christ, but we get to make sure the reality of that door and the way to that door is noticed by as many as possible.

What if our aggressive availability helped Jesus himself become un-ignorable once again?

Jesus loudly proclaims his care for each individual when he tells us that as our Great Shepherd he would leave the ninety-nine sheep to go after the one. Since we all have this same Shepherd, how as his followers should we mimic this same concern for the individual in our midst? Do you assign the same value that God does to each individual who crosses your path? Jesus reminds us that it is the individual who suffers, who is cold, who is lonely, who is sick, and who is worthy of our kindness. When each of us engages each one, the many will be seen, comforted, cared for, and invited into the loving family of God.

Who is the “one” God is opening your eyes to today? Time to engage.

The Bible informs us that true life in God’s world always begins with great conversations initiated by God (see Genesis 1:1-3; John 1:1-5; Hebrews 1:1-2). What would happen if we believed in the power of our own conversational practices to bring life? Might it change the seriousness and intentionality with which you had conversation?

To be clear, the occasional cocktail conversation (“small talk”) is prudent and preferred. However, we contest that far too much of this reigns in our world. God’s people should hope for better conversation and when socially appropriate nudge for a higher plain.

Jesus-followers would then serve as a refreshing antidote to the lamentable conversational ethos of the present age. A rising tide lifts all boats.

Remember though, the quality of conversation won’t change over night. This takes practice, self-awareness, and Holy Spirit enabled moxie to skillfully take conversation to the next level.

The only way to consistently be salt and light in this way is by taking hold of the promise of the gospel. When we find our new identity in Christ and remember that salvation is by grace through faith in the good news of Jesus’ work, not ours, will we be imbued with the social courage and relational stamina to start, sustain, and follow-up on this kind of conversational living.

You might ask yourself where one learns how to have such types of big conversation?

Well, behind every great conversationalist there is likely a family of talkers. That is exactly what the local church should be. Within the safety of a grace-based community Christians can practice this higher plain of conversing. At Sideris we practice great conversations in Alpha, Cohorts and Cadres. During our “family talk” within the church we grow our capacity to listen with compassion, ask great questions, and share with vulnerability. Great conversation becomes normalized and we may even forget how far we’ve come until we return to a world that struggles with keeping up a real conversation.

You might just say that Jesus is urging us all to be the best conversationalist at every party we attend. (click here to watch a funny clip about parties and conversation from the movie “Wayne’s World”… FYI: the real life Alice Cooper follows Jesus)

News flash: We live in a broken world. This includes every aspect of private and public life. Every institution and organization is laced with defects of the fall — nothing untouched by the effects of sin. Therefore, we should never be surprised by confusion, controversy and conflict that erupts when human beings, in their own power, try to make sense of the world and apply fixes to the brokenness. Apart from the guidance of the Scriptures and God’s Spirit all endeavors will fall short and create competing factions.

Because the brokenness is far deeper than all of us imagine, the solution must be more God-sized than all of us admit. Timetables must be longer than any of us would like and the proper starting points difficult to discern. As such, a perfect place to start any conversation around broken realities and best strategies is LAMENT.

Lament is a uniquely biblical activity of expressing sadness and grief that is present when we see the world as it is. It is not despair or hopelessness and it is not assigning blame; it is simply crying out in the face of the reality of brokenness.

By leading with lament, we do not allow politics, cultural ideologies, or pop-morality define our connections, but lament itself. Brokenness affects us all and therefore has the opportunity to create unity around a shared experience of hardship and sorrow. Lament is the shared affirmation — simply making public — the hurt we are all experiencing.

Once we have connected over our shared awareness of the problems that got us to thinking about solutions in the first place, we can begin to offer our well-considered opinions on moving toward life and light. This is where paths may diverge, but our shared lament helps divergence not destroy oneness.

Moreover, the Gospel story implores us to consider the lengths God chose to go to provide a viable path from lament to life, so wherever possible we should strive to bring similarly God-inspired ideas into our public conversations. This will often take the form of “Longing Out Loud” for the world of equality, kindness, freedom and truth that Jesus’ death and resurrection made possible. These external and audible longings are soul-level groanings that move us along from grief to hope and allow us to share each others burdens and dreams until the day of fulfillment whenever that may come — in this life or the next.

News flash: We live in a broken world. This includes every aspect of private and public life. Every institution and organization is laced with defects of the fall — nothing untouched by the effects of sin. Therefore, we should never be surprised by confusion, controversy and conflict that erupts when human beings, in their own power, try to make sense of the world and apply fixes to the brokenness. Apart from the guidance of the Scriptures and God’s Spirit all endeavors will fall short and create competing factions.

Because the brokenness is far deeper than all of us imagine, the solution must be more God-sized than all of us admit. Timetables must be longer than any of us would like and the proper starting points difficult to discern. As such, a perfect place to start any conversation around broken realities and best strategies is LAMENT.

Lament is a uniquely biblical activity of expressing sadness and grief that is present when we see the world as it is. It is not despair or hopelessness and it is not assigning blame; it is simply crying out in the face of the reality of brokenness.

By leading with lament, we do not allow politics, cultural ideologies, or pop-morality define our connections, but lament itself. Brokenness affects us all and therefore has the opportunity to create unity around a shared experience of hardship and sorrow. Lament is the shared affirmation — simply making public — the hurt we are all experiencing.

Once we have connected over our shared awareness of the problems that got us to thinking about solutions in the first place, we can begin to offer our well-considered opinions on moving toward life and light. This is where paths may diverge, but our shared lament helps divergence not destroy oneness.

Moreover, the Gospel story implores us to consider the lengths God chose to go to provide a viable path from lament to life, so wherever possible we should strive to bring similarly God-inspired ideas into our public conversations. This will often take the form of “Longing Out Loud” for the world of equality, kindness, freedom and truth that Jesus’ death and resurrection made possible. These external and audible longings are soul-level groanings that move us along from grief to hope and allow us to share each others burdens and dreams until the day of fulfillment whenever that may come — in this life or the next.

But even when we lead with lament, and then long out loud for heaven to come to earth, we must be honest and realize the when and where that we actually live in today. This will require us to love others where they are currently at, in the state they are presently in, surrounded by a world which is still engulfed by sin and the spirit of the age. This makes us cry out for God’s help to act kindly with patience and forgiveness even though we know there is so much more a relationship, our situation, or this society could be.

Our notion of love is fundamentally distorted. Love is more than a mere feeling, sentiment, posture, or spoken words: Love is action. It is not true love if it does not move us to act. Love considers the other more important than the self and then shows them through action. Love does not stop acting when circumstances become challenging or awkward. Without sweat, tears, and (sometimes) blood there usually is no exchange of true love. That being said, we must not forget that we do not work hard to be loved or become worthy of love. Instead, we work hard in love because we were first loved by God while we were wholly undeserving of His love. Over time, this realization will recalibrate our hearts, minds, and experience of love so that our love acts more like God’s than the world’s.

Those of us following the way of Jesus should frequently inventory our expression of love by asking: “Am I really loving as much as I think I am?”

This higher love when embraced really does work! It changes world and everything in it. Grace wins.

Who is family to you? I’ll tell you… it’s the person you are most likely to call to take you to the airport at 4am. Another way to say this is: the people in your life who would do anything for you without condition and to whom you will ask for help without fear of affecting the relationship. That’s at least the best version of family we’ve known.

Unfortunately, in our endlessly fractured world very few people experience this version of family. For many if not most, familial love has been substituted for convenient love or transactional love — you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. You might hear this sentiment often: “Why bother a friend when I can just pay someone to _________.” The ease of modern technology can function replace family for most. But is it really scratching the true itch?

Interestingly, Jesus had a lot to say about love and family. He shocked the crowds when he redefined who his family really was and how that family should love one another. Though he dearly loved his mother and brothers, Jesus always referred to his closest disciples his true family (see Matthew 12:46-50)

Jesus never envisioned his followers becoming a conquering army to take the world by force, but instead, a band of spiritual brothers and sisters who model transcendent friendship for the world to emulate. God’s plan was not submission by fear, but unbreakable bonds by the shared experience of forgiveness in Christ name. For all who will receive the free gift of grace are spiritual adopted into the new forever family of God.

In fact, this familial promise has bloomed and you can be anywhere in the world and find a spiritual brother or sister ready to embrace you as true friend. Like no other time in history we are living in the fulfillment of Jesus’s promise that: “Truly I tell you, no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields…” (Mark 10:29-30).

Whether it is a ride to the airport or a warm room to stay in for the night or helping hands to move your furniture into a new apartment, the family of God’s grace is close at hand eagerly searching for tangible ways to fill the gaps left behind by the brokenness of the world. Every local church should be Christ’s presence until “no one was in need” (Acts 4:34).

Having said all this, as equally important aspect to this principle is that the gospel of God’s grace teaches the followers of Jesus “HOW TO ASK” for grace. Learning how to receive Grace — the free, I don’t have to pay you back, gift of salvation — unlocks our capacity to ask for grace from one another. This is the true indicator of a community living by grace alone. We BOTH give and request help. We give and request without hesitation and without presumption of reciprocity. We give and request without fear of affecting the relationships in the family of God.

God invites you to his family! … and btw, is anyone available to take me to the airport Friday at 6am?

In a world constantly pressuring us to become our own brand and protect our own image, the gospel reminds us what is actually special about us: God purchased us in love. Centering our self-image on the declarative work of Jesus will free us from the habit of taking ourselves too seriously. This way we can take seriously that which should actually be taken seriously — the good news of grace found in Jesus.

Don’t misunderstand, it is not that you are unimportant. Otherwise, why would God send his infinitely valuable Son to die for you? It’s just that your importance is and will always be wrapped up in your association with Jesus. When you hide yourself in Christ you become the mirror (image-bearer of God) you were always meant to be, helping the world see Jesus. That’s serious business. As one of the redeemed you get to reflect the glory of the Redeemer. That’s serious business. If you embrace this new identity you can begin untangling yourself from the anxious chains of self-promotion and self-righteousness. You can finally rest from the soul-sucking competition of our age and start living a seriously great life.

None of these principles can or should be engaged outside of prayer. Prayer is not just a thing we do sometimes, but an “at-all-times” posture we hold toward God. It is God who is powerful, not prayer. We pray because it is the means by which we connect to this personal and powerful God. We pray like it matters because we worship a God who cares as is not far off — He is simultaneously over all and in all; beyond time & space yet present in it. When we pray God listens. When we cry out, God responds. Not always in our timing or in the way we’d prefer, but God always responds. Lord of the natural and the supernatural, Christ is the mediator of both. These realities teach us that we need not filter our requests to God, but pray with unbridled expectation, believing that God will act for His glory and our eternal good in every situation. Prayer weds our hearts to our Redeemer’s. Prayer refreshes the mind and encourages the soul. So why would we wait for the “right” words or “right” time to pray? Instead, let us pray whenever and wherever the prompting occurs. Unleash these thoughts before the throne of God, like a young child does their parents. Driving down the freeway? No problem, “let’s pray now!”… Someone brings up a present struggle mid-coffee or mid-cohort, don’t wait until the end to pray; stop right then and pray. When we start to pray “right now” we create a new space for God to enter in and reshape our minds, hearts, and the conversation toward that which is most pleasing to Him... Amen!

Every century has its fair share of philosophical, ideological, and theological mudslides, avalanches and floods which threaten to sweep away the gospel-work of previous generations. Without careful, diligent, and wise gospel-workers the historic apostolic faith of any specific people-group, city, country or continent can be greatly damaged, if not swept away entirely. This is why every follower of Jesus must “do something” to “pass on” the real faith and this Christ atmosphere to the next generation which follows.

While God’s plan starts with teaching your own children it must not end there. While this passing on is always Gospel, Scriptural and Word based, the need expends beyond the simple to the creation of systems with creativity and nuance and entrepreneurial moxie.

We could think of these creative engineering needs using three metaphors.

Some of us will build or mend “bridges” that creatively traverse new and never before seen obstacles which have emerged in the new cultural moment in which we live.. Without creative engineering that never compromises the historic biblical truth, the true gospel may not be successfully bridged from one generation to the next. Studying your surroundings and being familiar with the trends in thought and behavior of the next generation inform your design as you provide understandable and trustworthy paths above the currents of doubt and temptation that threaten to wash away the faith of the spiritual traveler.

Some of us will be called and equipped to build “boats” which leave dry land altogether to search and rescue the spiritually lost and growing. Once aboard the now safe will be lovingly returned to a loving family of faith where they can grow and recover. These vessels may exist and need drivers, or new more robust vessels may need to be designed that meet the particular challenges of a historical moment. While all are called to provide a hand to someone adrift near to us, this is another calling which requires us to leave behind the shore with uncertainty of success or timeframe. Is God sending you out to sea in this way? God needs brave explorers, rescuers and gatherers.

Some of us will be called to build or mend “wells” for the establishment of sustainable sources of living waters — that is, God’s Word — for all the surrounding people to come, drink, restore, refresh and transform. This includes a time for digging new wells and a time for restoring old wells. God desires there to be daily access to His water of life, the Word of God preached and taught, in every village of the world. How is God asking you to build wells? Is God asking you to break new ground through a new church plant? Perhaps God is asking you to reinforce an existing well with your spiritual gifts and generosity so that it remains vibrant and accessible for years to come? Perhaps God is wanting you to sacrifice the comfort of your vibrant church community to reinvest in a less vibrant or struggling community of faith, so that it can return to the glory God designed to for?

Whichever type of specific project God guide you to, remember that one necessary precondition precess all successful building projects: the recollection that our own discovery of saving faith in Jesus Christ was directly connected to the faithful actions of a collection of saints who took seriously this principle to “do something to pass it on” to us.

Sacrifices were painstakingly considered, costs were counted and real steps were taken and words spoken to make sure that you were afforded the opportunity to consider God’s offer of salvation for yourself.

Will you do the same? God is hiring new architects, engineers, and craftsmen for this historical moment as well. We can’t wait to hear about the something you choose to do!