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LEADERSHIP LETTER
A MONTHLY READING
FOR ALL ARC LEADERS
The Upcoming ARC Annual Conference
We’ve been preaching through Genesis for the past year or so at Christ Community Church. It has been a rich season especially for those of us who have had to mine these chapters and reveal the treasures. Last week I opened Genesis 32 – Jacob wrestling with God at Peniel. God was “getting down to the bottom” of Jacob—for his benefit. But wrestling is never a gentle exercise—every muscle strains to overcome the opponent. But God only appears to be an opponent; really, He’s Jacob’s greatest ally and He aims to get down to the core of Jacob’s self confidence and shift it more clearly to God Himself.
But I am quite sure that God is seeking to “get down to the bottom” of all of us—the place where we place our deepest trust and where our fragile hopes reside. And God is not so widely perceived when you get that far down. So, as with Jacob, he arranges a wrestling match to get us one-on-one with Himself and disabuse us of all false confidences.
Which brings up our annual conference this year in Mansfield, Ohio. David Bryant has been wrestled down to his core over the past 35 years and he is divinely compelled to share a rock bottom message—Christ Is All! The centrality of Christ is of pre-eminent importance if we are to be faithful witnesses in an increasingly Christ-ignoring culture. Consequently I want to urge you to come with an expectation of some holy wrestling to occur so that each of us is re-founded on the only Rock that will endure. When Paul was seeking to correct the wayward Colossians on this matter, he put it this way:
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven” (Col. 1:15-20 NASB).
In the days prior to the conference we have the Assembly of Senior Pastors and ARC Associates, and Friday afternoon we have a meeting for church elders and wives for which I’ve invited Jonathan Reuel to speak. Sue and I met Jonathan and his wife Christa last September in Virginia with Doug Fike and his group. We were impressed with the grace that is on their young lives and the heart they have to see deeper understanding and collaboration between the generations. Most churches are encountering a discouraging struggle to sustain fruitful relationships with their younger adults. So on Friday Jonathan will share his perspective with us. I think the elders will love this guy and his wife. But to sweeten the pot even more I’ve asked our own Mike Sares (Scum of the Earth, Denver) to also share from his years of experience working with young adults on the margins. I think there is some prophetic input that may help us repent where needed and seek God afresh for a fresh impartation of the love He bears for these disenfranchised younger adults. Believe me, I’m pointing no fingers anywhere—I just want to get better here for the sake of Jesus. So, please, pray for this time.
I’m always charged up for our time together. I love the church and the ARC and the mission that God has entrusted to us. Bring as many folk to the conference as you can and let’s pray together for the work of His Holy Spirit among us.
In the love of Jesus, Ned
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