I went to a funeral yesterday. The man who died had been in the hospital for almost 2 years, struggling to recover from complications from a car accident that left him paralyzed.
During the open sharing time at the funeral, one of the hospital staff members spoke with tears in her eyes about how patient, encouraging, and humorous this man had been, even in the midst of great pain and suffering. His joy caused her to reflect on her lack of joy. She said, “I have nothing to complain about; and I complain a lot. He had plenty to complain about; and yet I never heard him complain. He was always more interested in me than in himself.”
This is what we mean when we talk about being a church that is “a city within the city,” living all of life Coram Deo (before the face of God). The gospel changes everything… so followers of Jesus do everything differently. The way we live, the way we work, the way we rest, the way we raise kids, the ways we handle sex and money and authority, and even the way we grieve and die is markedly different from the rest of the world. “We do not grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope” (1 Thess. 4:13). All of life is a testimony to the fact that we love Jesus and serve Jesus live for the glory of Jesus. And when we live this way, the gospel becomes attractive in much deeper and fuller ways. It’s one thing to share a gospel tract with a hospital nurse. It’s another thing to live the gospel before her as you die.
May we be a people who live and die to the glory of God. Thanks, Paul Gardner Sr., for showing us how.
The purpose of this post is to put out the call to Lincoln residents: if you are interested in helping to plant a new church, we need your help!
For most of the past 3 years, Coram Deo has been praying about helping to plant new churches in the capital city. Many Coram Deo folks have friends and family in Lincoln, and in fact we have had Lincoln residents drive to Omaha every Sunday to be part of our church gathering. Though there are some good churches in Lincoln, many more are needed.
So it was clearly an answer to prayer last spring when I got a random email from a guy who said, “I think God is calling me to plant an Acts 29 church in Lincoln.” That random guy has become a good friend, and it has been a privilege to assist him in processing God’s call to church planting. Todd Bumgarner is currently attending Covenant Seminary in St. Louis and will move to Lincoln at the end of this year to start 2 Pillars Church. He has passed the rigorous Acts 29 church planter assessment process and is currently progressing through a church planting internship at Summit Community Church in STL (in addition to his day job designing guided missiles at Boeing).
We made brief mention of this Lincoln church plant on the blog last year. Now, it’s time to start gathering resources – people, money, contacts, friends, and ideas.
If you live in Lincoln and have even a passing interest in helping to start a new church, we want to talk to you. If you already belong to a good church but would be willing to pray and encourage a new gospel-centered church plant, we want to talk to you. If you enjoy giving financially and would like to see if this effort is worth your investment, we want to talk to you. If you are a Coram Deo member and you want to move to Lincoln to help Todd and Meghan launch this church, we want to talk to you.
You can contact Todd directly via the new 2 Pillars Blog. You’ll be impressed with his engineer-like precision – if you have a question, he’ll answer it, trust me. We are praying for a launch team of 50-100 people, plus some significant financial donors to help get this thing off the ground.
You could keep going to the church you currently attend. And God may want you to. But if it’s a well-established church, chances are they’ll keep right on going without you. On the other hand, your impact in helping to launch a new church will be immediate and significant. So don’t jump on board if God isn’t calling you. But do consider whether this might be the best investment of your time, talent, and gifts for the glory of God and the good of Lincoln.
Oh, and if you’re reading this and you know someone in Lincoln… send them to this blog!
Below is an artist’s rendering of what the Etemenanki ziggurat looked like in its day. The ruin of the temple-tower Etemenanki was discovered by a European archaeology team in 1917 near the Euphrates River in modern-day Iraq.
Hebrew University Pentateuch scholar Udo Cassuto writes: “There can be no doubt that the biblical story refers specifically to the city of Babylon and to the ziggurant Etemenanki … now that the remains have been excavated, all agree that this was the tower referred to by Scripture” (Udo Cassuto, A Commentary on the Book of Genesis (Jerusalem: Hebrew University Press, 1974)). Cassuto may be overstating the unanimity of scholars on this matter, but it’s a fact that archaeology confirms the biblical narrative of Genesis 11.
It’s a sad day for unborn babies around the world as President Obama today chose to reinstate federal funding for international groups that perform abortions, reversing the “Mexico City policy” first enacted under Ronald Reagan.
The most grievous thing about this decision is the political rhetoric that refuses to acknowledge the tragedy of abortion and the humanity of unborn babies. Hilary Clinton lauded Obama’s support of “reproductive health services,” while the head of the UN Population Fund praised Obama’s “leadership in promoting and protecting women’s reproductive health and rights worldwide.”
Whether you consider yourself a fan or a foe of Obama, I would love to hear your thoughts on this action. How do you feel about it?
Austin church planter and friend Jonathan Dodson has been keeping up with the Theology of the City series and sent me an e-mail with links to some of his own thoughtful writing. Dodson has mad skilz in theological integration and he is a thoughtful and reflective leader.
If you are sitting in a cubicle reading this… or if you are pissed off at a co-worker right now… or if you missed a chance to talk with someone about Jesus yesterday… you will see yourself in these articles. Read them.
We started a new preaching series this past Sunday titled A Theology of the City. For the next few weeks we’re going to be looking at what the Bible has to say about the city. We want to let God speak to us through Scripture about what it means to be a Christian and a Church that is living in and for our city. Throughout the next few weeks we are praying that God’s glory would be made known and that His Kingdom would come to Omaha [earth] as it is in Heaven. We long for a New Reality, which has already [but not yet] come.
Each week during this series we will be looking at a new theme that Scripture speaks to about God’s dealings with the city. To go along with each theme, we will be showing a video that highlights some aspect of our city through the stories of people seeking to live in this New Reality. Here is the first video:
Sports fans witnessed a great football game today as Kurt Warner quarterbacked the Arizona Cardinals past the Eagles and into a berth in Super Bowl 43. Warner already made history once as the unlikely rags-to-riches star who catapulted the St. Louis Rams to a storybook season and a victory in Super Bowl 34. You probably know that Warner is an outspoken Christian. What you may not know is that his legacy also extends to the work of church planting in Omaha.
Todd Doxzon was a standout quarterback at Millard North High School in the pre-Eric-Crouch days. He went on to start for 4 years at Iowa State and decided to make a go of it in the NFL. Assigned to NFL Europe, he ended up sharing a room with Warner, whose faith in Christ was vibrant and demonstrable. As Warner both spoke the gospel and lived it, Doxzon was impacted. He became a Christian.
Later on, Warner would find NFL stardom, while Doxzon would retire from football and return to his hometown to follow God’s call into church planting. In the spring of 2008 Todd planted Calvary Chapel West Omaha, a young church we are proud to partner with as we seek to see Jesus glorified throughout the city.
We’re thankful to call Todd a friend in the work of church planting, and we’re thankful to root for a Super Bowl quarterback whose life is about something more than personal fame and glory.
As we are about to embark on our upcoming “Theology of the City” series, I have been reflecting on all the things we do in the context of the city: live, study, rest, raise families, make friends, and especially work. We deeply desire for every Christian in our church community to have an integrated, worshipful, God-centered view of work.
A couple of years ago, Walker and I were working on some writing projects together. My contribution was a 6-page essay titled “A Theology of Work.” It’s on our Resource page, and has been for years… but that doesn’t mean you’ve read it. So now seems like an appropriate time to mention it once again. After all, employment is one of the primary reasons you live in the city. So as we think about what it means to be a Christian in the city, work is one very natural place of gospel application.
in Lincoln.” That random guy has become a good friend, and it has been a privilege to assist him in processing God’s call to church planting. Todd Bumgarner is currently attending Covenant Seminary in St. Louis and will move to Lincoln at the end of this year to start 2 Pillars Church. He has passed the rigorous 
Sports fans witnessed a great football game today as Kurt Warner quarterbacked the Arizona Cardinals past the Eagles and into a berth in Super Bowl 43. Warner already made history once as the unlikely rags-to-riches star who catapulted the St. Louis Rams to a storybook season and a victory in Super Bowl 34. You probably know that Warner is an outspoken Christian. What you may not know is that his legacy also extends to the work of church planting in Omaha.