We’ve Moved…

As we get closer to Renew Communities launch we’re getting things organized behind the scenes.  Part of that is moving my blog onto the Renew Communities website.

andrewsikora.com will forward you to the blogs new address or you can just click on over to www.andrewsikora.renewcommunities.com.  Once there you can subscribe to the new RSS Feed.

Hope to see you over at the new place.

The History of Hip Hop

http://widget.nbc.com/videos/nbcshort_at.swf?CXNID=1000004.10045NXC&widID=4727a250e66f9723&clipID=1252017&showID=243

(update…  I honestly have no idea why I can’t get this video to embed on my blog but it’s SOOO worth the click!)

Will You?

There was a day last summer where I was sitting in a room with thousands of other pastors and leaders listening to master communicators share some of their wisdom with us so that we could communicate the Gospel in better and more effective ways.

As i sat there I began to evaluate who I was and what I was doing. About five years before that day Meri and I had packed up everyone and left our first home, first real jobs and tons of great friends behind and moved to Cleveland so that I could work as a community pastor for a large young adult ministry. Very quickly the course that I had set out on took some very dramatic left turns and in a little over a year I had become the leader of that young adult ministry.

The next couple of years were some of the hardest years of my life. There was heart ache, loss, break down, threats, doubt, pain, confusion, anger and along with that a little fun. I believe in all of that God was working things together for His (and by default) my good.

As I sat in that room last summer I came to the conclusion that I wasn’t living the life I was meant to live and I wasn’t the man I was called to be. Looking at the list of things that we had walked through you might guess that I had some pretty good excuses as to why that was – and over the years I had used all of them – but for some reason that day I came to the realization that most of that was my own fault.

In that moment – apart from everything else that was happening in that room – I understood why.

I was just letting life happen.

I was letting things happen to me.
I was acting in response to what was going on around me.
I was leading in the way that I assumed were required based on circumstances.

Don’t get me wrong, I had a good job and was doing good things at that job but I was just letting life happen and if I wanted to live the life I was made to live and be the man I was called to be I was going to have to take action.

It seems to me that most of us know life isn’t going how we had hoped or in the direction we thought it would many of us are disappointed in who we’ve become and how we are living but for whatever reason we just assume that’s how things have to be.

That’s a lie.
That’s a ploy of the enemy.

You don’t have to just let life happen. You can be who you were called to be. Jesus Christ rose from the dead and the same Spirit that did that is at work in you.

It’s a battle I have to fight every day – but I have already overcome.

I will live the life I was made to live and I will be the man I was called to be.

Will you?

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This post was inspired by this video and this website

Church Planting – Day 1

Today I began a new adventure.

Today I became a full time church planter.  After five years of being on staff at sevenoseven today I started something new.  By new I don’t just mean new for me – I mean completely new.  There is nothing yet (we do have about 20 people connected to a launch team, but you know what I mean).

There are all sorts of feelings that bounced around my head and heart today but I just want to share about this afternoon.  After sharing some great time with Dan Kopps through the morning and early afternoon I headed home to get ready for tonight’s Launch Team meeting.  As I was getting everything set up and reviewing my notes I had an overwhelming feeling of “WHAT IN THE WORLD AM I DOING!?!?!  IS THIS THE WORST IDEA I’VE HAD?”

I tried to fight through it.  I tried to reason with myself.  I tried to play it cool.  The feeling remained.

It got to the point where I felt like thinly option I had was to lay on my face in our living room and pray.

I’d like to say that as soon as I prayed the feelings subsided but they didn’t really but I have to say I’m glad they didn’t.  I hope they continue to drive me into prayer and that through my fears I am pressed deeper and deeper into trusting God to be my hope and security.

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You can follow our church planting adventures at RenewCommunites.com.  If you would like to help support us financially you can get more info here!

Anonymity

Sometimes ministry is no fun.

I’m not one to complain (publicly) about the frustrating aspects of ministry but this week a few things have come up and as I’ve wrestled with the impact on me personally I thought I’d put some thoughts out there.

This week I received a “comment card” about a message that I gave about a month ago.  The commenter was a bit upset with the fact that I used some lyrics from a secular song to illustrate the idea that everyone, whether they know Christ or not, longs for the world that will be after God restores His creation.  The commenter made two insinuations that I had allowed Satan to twist God’s word through the sermon I had written.

While I am a tad bit frustrated with the fact that because they don’t agree with my sermon or the use of a certain song’s lyrics within it I must clearly be aligned with Satan – a pastor gets used to those kinds of accusations – my real issue is with the anonymity that this person chose to hide behind.  When you chose to withhold your name you guarantee that you have a chance to say what you want to say without ever having to talk through the issue you have or even give the person you’re criticizing a chance to respond. In most walks of life this kind of thing would be considered a cheap shot but somehow in church people assume they have the right to say these things without any other conversation.

If I were reading this post I would think “that guy’s just mad because someone accused him of being in partnership with Satan,” but honestly it’s more than that.  In reality I see church as a community (maybe even a family) and the only way that community stands the test of time is if we speak the truth to each other in love and that’s just not possible with anonymous notes.

So do the body of Christ a favor and be honest and open with everyone so that we can represent Christ as we’re called to do – together.

Over My Head

Last night we had an the final informational meeting for Renew Communities before we form our Launch Team.  Throughout the evening we talked vision and ultimately spent time talking about what it might mean for us to be a missional church.

At some point during the evening Curtis Carnes said “I love this vision because it’s bigger than this church.”

Curtis’ statement did two things in me.  First it affirmed what I’ve ben hoping and dreaming about for the last year and really what God’s been forming in my heart for about five years.  It’s good to know that as it’s coming into reality (and let’s be honest, there’s a LONG way to go before we could call it reality) that other people are seeing that this is more than just about a single church.

The second thing that it did in me is scare me.  Every step along this journey is brand new territory for all of those involved.  I am very aware of this in my own life.  Everything we do in our lives is new to us at some point but it seems like the older we get the less likely we are to do things that we aren’t confident we can already do well.  There are aspects of this church plant thing that I know I’m already able to do well but for the most part it’s all new to me.  That fear (and I believe it’s a healthy thing) is something I must press into as we move forward.  I’m confident that this is what God has called us to (very confident – but that’s another post) and as we move forward he will continue to form me into the kind of leader I need to be.

This is my prayer:: God keep reminding us that we’re in over our heads and the only way we can be the church in the way you’ve called us to is to fully rely on you.

Believe & Achieve

I came across this video today on one of the sports blogs I read daily.  It has nothing to do with sports but everything to do with achieving your life’s purpose.  If you’ve been going through a rough stage or wonder how you’ll ever do all that you dream of doing please take three minutes to watch this video. You will not be disappointed.

I can’t get the video to embed for some reason so you’re going to have to follow the link.  It’s fully worth it!  Please don’t miss the chance to be inspired!

I laughed so hard I almost cried…