"The Motivation Proclamation"

I spent a couple of hours in Borders today with the intention of working on Greek, but since my computer only works when it is plugged in I grabbed a book I have been wanting to read off the shelve. "The Almost True Story of Ryan Fisher" by Rob Stennett is about a struggling real estate agent who, in order to increase sales, begins to market to Christians, claiming to be a Christian realtor. He has lost of success and begins going to church in order to gain more insight into his clientèle. After a few visits, Ryan decides he and his wife should move to a small town in Oklahoma and plant their own church.

I didn't get to read the entire book, but I was struck both with concerns for the Church as a whole, and specifically for our efforts in Fargo. Ryan is clear that the purpose behind planting a church is for people to admire him and also to get money. Obviously he wasn't too aware of the fact that church planting rarely leads to yachts and vacations in Dubai (my dream), but the first motive struck me. I had to ask myself, are we moving to Fargo and planting a church for some other reason than transforming the city through the story and message of Jesus? Am I seeking to create my little Kingdom where people admire me and hold me up as if I am something great? What is my motivation?

I am not going to lie, I struggle with right motivation and pride when it comes to church planting in Fargo. Whether it be a desire to do something great and become a "church planting rockstar" (trust me we have some); or it is an attitude that I am going to be the savior of Fargo, as if I was a gift of some kind.

Ultimately I know I am called to this work and that Romans 10:9-15 is my motivation, yet Satan is crafty and knows that pride is a weakness I have. I realize that my abilities and aptitude is not up enough to be apart of God's mission in Fargo, but that God's call and the Holy Spirit's presence is more than enough to complete all He desires of us there.

My challenge to those who may be reading this is to question your motives. If you are a believer, why do you do what you do? Are you motivated by Christ's example or by desires of the flesh? Do you want people to look at you as a good Christian, or do you wish to be Jesus to someone else? Read through the sermon on the mount in Matthew 5-7 and seek out what pure, righteous motives really are.

If you are not a believer, first I apologize for the back example we Christians have been to the person and message of Jesus Christ. Some have said if Jesus came back today He would not be apart of many of the churches here. But also I ask you to consider your motivations as well. Are you motivated by greed (the desire for wealth)? Are you motivated by fame or popularity or power? Why do you do good things? We believe God created all things for His glory and fame, so we can only be satisfied in our doing good when we do it with the motivation to make him known to others. I encourage you to read the Sermon on the mount as well, and the entirety of the gospel of Matthew, you will see who the real Jesus was.

Pray for John and I and our families as we seek to be rightly motivated.

"4:30, 4:30 in the mornin, tryin to find a way to get back to sleep"

Yes yes my friends we have once again arrived at, lets say it together FRIDAY!!!!



This week has been a little different instead of going in at 8 or 10 I went in at 1 A.M. Yes my shift started at 1 so please lift your jaw back up. HAHA

This was by far the most eventful and stressful but still it is so worth it

So where else would I:

Be called "darlin", "sweetie", "hun", and "sugar" over and over and over!!!

See people sober and drunk all in the same day

Cook Pita sandwiches for dozens of inebriated young people (and a few old)

Have 2 groups of 5 guys screaming at each other about to start a fight

See a 5'0' woman go out in the middle of the crowd yelling and screaming at them to stop

While she was doing that I dial 911, because I didn't think she was going to come back alive and a cop shows up (right after the guys leave (of course))

Have two guys try to tell me they already payed for their food then call me a racist and then threaten the young lady I work with, UNTIL I yell back at them, get in their faces and grab the phone (both of them were taller and bigger and I) and they immediately back down. (and apologize. And I told them I had no problem with them whatsoever and wished them a fun and safe rest of the night.

Please tell me when would I ever be in such situations, I know I know no where that is why I am so thankful for where the Lord has placed me.

Rick and Sonda did a great job (this was Sondas and my last night to work together (so sad) Rick and I have many more to go)

Yes this was an eventful evening (schools back in session) but a lot of things learned and the best part was I got to hang out downtown from 11-1 not working and just hanging out it was great to be there in that capacity and observe people.

PS I don't care what time it says below it is 4:41 on my clock hahaha Goodnight

PPS the typos are all apart of the aura of the "4:30 4:30 in the morning post"

"tonight, tonight, tonight hold tight"

In the words of the great theologian -Hank Willians Jr- "Are you ready for some football"

College Football begins today all across the country. From the smallest of schools that many of us haven't heard of to the largest ones that we see all the time.

Look at the culture around you, where do people spend their leisure time. Are sports something they take seriously? If so that does that mean for your Fri, Sat and or Sunday nights. If you live in an area of town where everyone goes to the game, than go to the game. High School, College, Pro. Basketball, Hockey, Football, Tennis etc, look into it.

Often times it means that we curb our preferred way of rec in order to be more strategic with our lives. So with all this said where are Abby and I going to be tonight.

We will be at the

Watching the NDSU Bison take on Austin Peay, hailing from Clarksville Tennessee. Don't worry I will update you on the outcome of the game but let me assure you the Bison are a great team and should be a formidable foe for Austin Peay.

"biggie"

Who on earth would ever say you don't need to plant a Church in Fargo, look at what is happening here in Fargo with NDSU and MSUM.

Here is our sister school in Grand Forks, UND (60 miles north of Fargo)

This community is busting with activity and here are Abby and I in the middle of it looking for in roads to people and culture. Today was a plasma day for me and I got to chat it up with 6 or so people telling them about what we are doing. Exciting stuff..

Abby is meeting lots of people at the Y, at the schools she is coordinating and also her workers are sweethearts at MSUM she is treating them to coffee and breakfast regularly.

My Pita Pit co-workers and I enjoy coffee together regularly, they are great!!

"Tweet, Twedidillideet, Tweet"

Hey team check out our Twitter account, we want you guys to know what all the Lord is doing and I think you will enjoy this..

www.twitter.com/missionfargo

"Follow me, everything is alright"

I have been reading through the book of Acts for a bit and I have noticed something about Paul. As he goes around to different cities, planting churches, strengthening churches, and preaching the Gospel, he always has guys traveling with him. Titus, Timothy, Apollos... there is always someone with Paul. Why does this matter?

One of the most influential books if have read is Robert Coleman's The Master Plan of Evangelism. Coleman presents what he believes is Jesus' method of evangelism, built upon discipleship. He presents 8 elements that constitute Jesus' method of evangelism. I'll save you a long summary of the book, you should pick it up and read it. The gist of what Coleman presents is that Jesus lived life with the men he was discipling. As they traveled around, Jesus taught them theology, ministry methods, and all kinds of other things. He gave them a reproducible, relationally based model for evangelism and discipleship.

What does this have to do with Paul and his companions? Well the way I see it is that what Paul did was much like what Jesus did. He brought guys along with him as he went from town to town, teaching them, equipping them, and empowering them to continue the ministry. We can see in 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus that two of his disciples actually did continue the work he started and trained them to do.

This idea has been really challenging to me in thinking about church planting. If we want to see a movement start in Fargo we must seek out men we can train, equip, and empower to do the work. It is easy for us to build the work around ourselves, but I believe if we are to see the Church grow rapidly, we must learn from Jesus as Paul did. Whether we are planning our sermon, visiting a potential contact, sharing with a lost person, or what ever else it may be, we should seek out men who will walk beside us.

So my challenge to you who may be reading this: for those of you living as a missionary, take someone along with you, train them, equip them, and empower them; for those who are new to this missionary lifestyle, find someone you can follow and be a sponge as you follow them. Pray that God will bring about a movement as we seek to train, equip, and empower believers to live as missionaries.

"Let Us Pray, Let Us Pray" the Boys (and Girls) are Back in Town"

Well, it turns out that we don't live in an abandoned part of town. The streets are filled with students. Every inch of free side street and shoulder are taken up with students parking. Downtown was overrun with smiling friends and bummed out parents dropping their kids off for fun, adventerous, and as we all pray, safe times.

We can all remember our college years, Abby and I have had a blast sharing stories and reminiscing about our college days. I also can remember the terrible and stupid decisions I made. Abby and I have often said that we probably wouldn't have been friends because of how silly, stupid, and foolish I was my first year.

But thanks be to Christ that he held so tightly to me. I say all that to say for you to think back to those days, the decisions you made, and the things you did. For good and for ill, try to remember.

Then please join me in praying for the college kids here in Fargo. Join me in praying for their safety, friendships, course work, but most of all and infinitely more important, the impact of the Gospel on their lives. Pray that they will come to Christ and that they will flourish in Him. Below are the list of schools here in Fargo, you can check them out and read about them to better frame your prayers.

NDSU-North Dakota State University

MSUM-Minnesota State University Moorhead

Concordia College

Rasmussen College

Minnesote State Community College

University of Mary Fargo Center

"The Price You Pay"

Lately Abby and I have been weighing the price you pay to live a missional life. There are definite costs to being a missionary.

Two addendums need to be made.

One. This is not a shout out for any sort of support (but if the Lord leads you to then praise be to God)

Two. This is a not proclaiming the greatness of the Fishers, we are proclaiming the greatness of God

___________________________________________

There are certain things that have to sacrificed in a missional lifestyle. This is not exhaustive or set in stone, these are just some things we have seen.

1. Time at home

If you're like me, and you're a homebody then this will resonate with you.

Abby and I guard our time together vigorously. Something that we are missing in our quest to be missional and starting Churches through evangelism is things like meals at home, lounging in the living room. We still spend a lot of time together, but sadly it is while we are out. I love sitting in my recliner with Abby on the couch taking in a favorite show, watching a movie, or our personal favorite, sitting and talking. We make sure that we do most of the things, but for us it is a sacrifice to be out this much. We know that the Lord is great and gracious and sees fit for us to sacrifice.

2. Supply

Abby and I often experience the goodness of Christ in the way he provides for us. Of course he provides for all of us, no matter how much the richest person makes or how little the poorest person makes. Christ calls people to minister to all sort of different people, and the people he gave us a heart for are here in North Fargo. The Lord has supplied and continues to supply us with exactly what we need, exactly when we need it. But a missional life is often a call to small supply or a call to using the supply more than we would normally.

3. Relationship

We moved far far away from our friends and family. Now to live missionaly you don't have to move 18 hrs, drive time, or a $350 roundtrip plane ticket. But with us the Lord has called us to live a missional life in Fargo, ND. We hear from different people that we have made the wrong decision by moving so far away from our parents, siblings, college friends and people we have known for years. Is this a hard calling? Yeah, especially in light of the new life growing within Abby. Do we regret following Christ here to Fargo? An emphatic NO. His will for us is so obvious and we are so excited and his provision for family here in Fargo, friends here in Fargo has been overwhelming.

So what is the price that you pay to live a missional life?

Well you won't have to do all the things the way we did it. The Lord was obvious about his plan for us, so we followed but his plans are different for everyone. While the principles are the same, the way the principles are acted out are so very different.

How has the Lord been showing you he wants you to live a missional life? What do you need to sacrifice, finances, prestige, comfort etc? How you do it is so different depending on strengths, giftedness, life but the point is DO IT!

Do it and then look back together at what the Lord has done in and through you by your living a missional lifestyle.

"it's 4:30; 4:30 in the morning tryin to find a way to get back to sleep, 4:30 in mooorniiinn oohoo"

Well friends it's that time a the week again, yes yes it is bar night at the Pita Pit.

You can keep up with it on the MISSION FARGO TWITTER but I will recap.

206 Broadway N

Open Until 3 am Weekends!

Where else would I have





Been called sweetie, no sugar, no honey....... BY A MALE!





Witnessed a fight outside the front door





Hung out with the owner of Pita Pit for twelve hrs today





Talked about the deep things of life with Sonda





Seen the same group of kids I see every Friday night





Chatted it up with the security director of Dempseys





Gotten to know the Rooters security guys even better





Seen peoples need for the Gospel in person after person after person after person.

"Prepare ye the way"

It is a crazy time in the Robinson house (apartment). I have just started a few new endeavors. First off, I am doing an internship at a cool church in Franklin, TN (south of Nashville) called Ridgeview Community Church. The church is about 4 years old and has already been involved in planting 4 new churches (even one in Montana). Officially I am the Church Planting Intern, what that basically means is I am there to participate in the leadership and learn what all goes into church planting. I have been there for about 3 weeks and have already learned a few things. I foresee the Lord really doing some neat things in the next several months here at Ridgeview.

I have also recently started working with Lifeway Research. They do all kinds of cool research on all kinds of issues for pastors, lay folks, and anyone else who may be interested. It has been a pretty neat experience so far. I did some work on a this book by Brad Waggoner on spiritual formation. I actually saw a couple of interviews I did in the back of the book, which is kind neat. I have recently been working on a project with Outreach Magazine on the largest and fastest growing churches in America (by work I mean filing hundreds of emails, surveys, and other docs). I have a few thoughts from this study that I will share later on. I think I am going to really enjoy working with them.

Beyond these two ventures I am still a fulltime student at Southern and a fulltime husband to Pam and am working on getting things ready for moving to Fargo. I am excited to see what the Lord is going to do over the next year in preparing us to go. Stay tuned as we add updates and insights from our lives as church planters. Grace and Peace...