unMediocre

Tuesday night Annette and I were finally able to attend our first River Church Core Team gathering.

It exceeded our hopes and expectations.

We are on for the ride of our life together…God is doing something incredibly unique here.

We launch 3 January, 2010 in West Ashley, Charleston, South Carolina. There were 16 folks at the gathering who make up most of our “Core.”

They are not ordinary.

They are extraordinary.

I’m serious…each and every one of these men and women is high-calibre.

I’m amazed.

We talked through Matthew 28:18-20, and took a look at this article which explains the relationship of the Talmidim and his Rabbi. It was a good illustration of our goal at River Church to lead by fostering true community and discipleship. Intentionally, specifically, and strategically. Just as Jesus invested his greatest effort in Peter, James and John to leverage the cornerstones of the Church, we can only expand the Kingdom of God in West Ashley by focusing on roughly 3 folks over a long period of time who then focus on discipling roughly 3 folks…and so on.

Here’s the hard-hitting quote of the night:

If your disciples are not discipling, then YOU are not discipling, and you may very well not be a disciple yourself.

So, stick with me here: If the effectiveness of our church’s leadership [micro] is equal to our disciples’ effectiveness, and if the role of the Church is to make disciples of all nations, then the overall [macro] health of River Church can be easily gauged by how engaged our people are with making disciples themselves.

Simply put, if years from now we are seeing the number of intentional and effective disciples increase exponentially, then we are leading a healthy church.

That’s a tall cup of tea to swallow. A daunting task.

But Christ has told us that we are able and that we can rely on His help.

Novelty will fade and we will move from launch mode to [hopefully] gaining in maturity. Through it all, if River Church is multiplying disciples exponentially, all over the globe, then we are successful.

If our reality shows otherwise, then we have missed our calling.

Is it really that simple? Am I oversimplifying? Way off base? I’m a veteran of the Church, but am a newby in leading a church. Is this thought too idealistic!

I guess the reason I’m so uncertain is I don’t see too many church plants out there who are operating in a way that effectively cultivates this kind of community.

Are we ready to lead so intentionally and intensely that we would only have the bandwidth to disciple three men or women? Can our pride handle putting so many of our eggs in that basket?

One night on the Sea of Galilee, Peter didn’t doubt Christ’s ability to find firm footing in water…he doubted his OWN ability.

If our clothes are dusty from walking behind Jesus, we are able…because our efforts are powered by the Spirit of God.

Again, is it this simple? Disciples leading disciples who are leading disciples? Is this a thorough enough summary of the Great Commission?

Big changes are underway here in the Parris household. Yesterday marked my final day of serving as the Program Director at West Ridge Church…and today marks Day 1 of an adventure in Church Planting! Annette and I will soon be packing up our lives and moving to Charleston, SC, to join some friends who are planting River Church in the West Ashley community. I will serve as Arts + Innovation Pastor.

I’ll write about how all this came to be in great detail very soon, but for now you can check it all out on our new family blog, parrisfam.com.

You know, I think we’ve all known this is coming. But this is probably the first we’ve seen of it look practical and cost-enabling. Sit back and watch 9 minutes of “wow.”

I hope Steve Jobs is already negotiating licensing with this kid.

Caught this on John’s blog: One Step Closer to ‘Minority Report’ – ChurchCrunch.

This is hilariously true, and speaks for itself. Enjoy.

For a higher quality version, click here.

Lots of folks have been asking me how Jack’s big sisters have taken to him… Well, this should give you an idea. (Let’s just hope Caia doesn’t have a communicable disease right now.)

Caia Lovin’ on Jack “Baby Cry” from stephen parris on Vimeo.

Since our boy was born on the 14th, we have been blessed by visits from some of the most gracious, kind people at West Ridge.

They have brought us delicious & plentiful homecooked meals: WIN

These meals have kept Annette and I from having to make huge grocery store trips, and from having to cook dinner while things begin to settle down: WIN

Several have also brought a dessert with the meal: WIN

These desserts have been very large: DRAW

We’ve eaten too much of them and they’re making me gain weight: FAIL

But this is not a request for stopping the dessert deliveries.

We are so thankful. [for the love and effort you've shown...not just for the desserts]

Jack and Annette are both doing great… Thanks for checking in on us and for taking care of us.

But can we maybe extend the meals delivery into May or June? We should be adjusted to our new, mega-crazy life by then.

Right?

Now if this ain’t the sweetest thing.

I think I’ll keep him.

We’re finally home. Tired. But tired at home is better than tired anywhere else. The girls are on their way home from grandma’s right now. Chaos may ensue. But that’s our life now, I reckon.

He’s here and he’s healthy!

Jackson Thomas Parris arrived at 2:17pm. 6lbs 12.5oz. 17.5-inches long. (We’ll probably call him JT or Jack Thomas.)

He appears to be perfectly healthy!

The “Single Umbilical Artery” was confirmed, but the one artery was bigger than normal and was able to carry the load of the two that should have been there. Much ado about nothing! That’s an answer to prayer!

And the risk posed by the “Liver disease” disappeared the moment his umbilical cord was cut. An answer to prayer.

And Annette only labored for 8 hours. With Caia, it was 18. With McKenna, it was 24. Another answer to prayer.

Sooooo, thanks for praying. A great beginning for a life that we expect to do amazing things for God.

Well, after some unexpected delays last night, we finally got the call from Kennestone at 3:30am that they were ready for us to come in to deliver Jackson. We got here a little before 5. Annette is hooked up to all her monitors and ready to go. They started the Pitocin drip at 6:15am or so. We have no clue how long it will take to make progress, so we’re going to TRY to get some sleep and see how that goes. As long as things don’t get too crazy too fast, I’ll update as we get closer to time.