Message From Leadership Team Member Damian Marta...

Element community - To kick off our series of blog posts on what God has done in our midst in the Element community, here's a post from Leadership Team member Damian Marta...We hope you're having a great week!
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I have been part of the element community basically since the doors opened. I have seen this community comprised of different faces at different times. However, some things have always remained consistent. The values have never changed. The desire to help bring people closer to God has never weakened. And that is why I knew that element was the place for me.

Over the years, some of my greatest friendships were fostered in the element community. People who I consider to be like brothers and sisters (family away from home) have come to be a part of my life through this community. Years ago, I would've never considered the possibility of my pastor also being one of my best friends. I have seen all of these people pour into each other at various times for various reasons. I remember when I was preparing for my trip to Germany to undergo treatment for my Muscular Dystrophy. This community rallied around me in my time of need and supported me in many ways. The most powerful of which was prayer.

As the people of this community transition to new seasons in their lives, my prayers are also with them. I pray that they focus on what is truly important in this life. It's all about our lord and savior Jesus Christ. It is all about what he did for us by wiping away our sins for all eternity. It's all about the gift he gave us. It's a gift that can't be taken away by anyone. It is a gift that will last for eternity. Literally! How powerful is that?! How life-changing is that?! It's something that we can hang our hat on! :-)

- Damian Marta

A little recap of the past few months...

Well, Element community, much has happened since the last update to the blog...We found some incredibly important ideas to talk about, brought to life by some powerful visuals through the films of the Big Picture series...We explored a complete (and radical) new way of thinking through the SHIFT series in the book of Philippians...We explored some of the many reasons people resist the the truths of God in the "I Believe in God, But..." series...We dove headfirst into maybe the most foundational book of them all, the book of Romans, and read some words that really should change how we approach everything. We took on the Advent Conspiracy, where we looked at three key ideas: Worship Fully, Spend Less/Give More, and what it means to Love All. We've gotten to partner with the wonderful people of the Steele Creek YMCA, and be the recipients of their kind hospitality. We spend time celebrating together, talking about our incredible God and what he's done in each of our lives, and we've prayed about some difficult decisions. We've face obstacles, and we've seen God overcome them. We've shared a lot of laughs together, and even a few tears. We've had some extraordinary times of worship, both musical and otherwise...And when all is said and done, we've grown closer together and learned a little bit more about our extravagant, loving God. And I, for one, will cherish every moment spent together. And though we're not an everyday Sunday morning kind of thing anymore, I look forward to continuing to deepening my friendship with each one of you, and sharing in the triumphs in life, and encouraging each other in the not-so-triumphant parts. You all mean an incredible amount to me - To think that God has allowed me to be involved in your lives to the extent I have gotten to be is really humbling, and I know I'll never be the same. 

I know that I'll be particularly grateful to those of you who made it your mission to be supportive in difficult times, who saw the good in any given situation, who showed me what it really means to trust in the goodness of God, and painted pictures of Jesus by your actions in loving both me and the Element community. You are truly valued - I know God has huge plans for you wherever you go. People who choose to put in the work when others won't, believe the best when others fear the worst, have each other's backs, and throw down in prayer for each other are a rare commodity in life, and I thank God that I've met more than my share of you in the journey of the past few years. I thank God as well for those people who gave up on me or the church when the going got tough - Through those times, I've learned to appreciate the loyalty and love of true friends more than ever, I've learned the power of forgiveness, and I've grown to recognize and love people whose default mode is mercy and grace. As a mess of a human being, I realize how ludicrous it is that God would use someone like me for any of his purposes, and I deeply thank each of you who have made me feel like God might not have made a mistake in using me the way he has ;) 

I pray that your Christmas season has been full of love and hope...That you're excited about the possibilities of the new year ahead...And that you're eager to uncover more and more of the beauty of the risen Christ. Religion and church tradition can be powerful things, but a vibrant relationship with the living God Himself is where life takes on a meaning that our very best efforts can never attain...God bless you all, and I invite you to continue to build relationships with the community you've been a part of, founded on trust, mutual encouragement, and above all, love. I look forward to hearing from you...Keep an eye on this blog space and the Facebook page in the coming weeks for some further thoughts , both from myself and some of the other people that have been an integral part of the Element community! 

With much love,

Brian Doell

Solomon Islands Blog, part 2...

Crazy things happen when you spend about 30 hours on various airplanes to get somewhere...Aside from the swollen ankles, conversations with complete strangers, and a readiness to eat food that you’d normally spurn,  that is...You can usually expect something to go very wrong with a team of multiple people over 2 days of travel, but in this case, God spared us from anything weirder than having to sit, eat, and sleep mere centimeters away from people we’d never seen before...
 
We got to the Island of Malaita on Thursday, the 21st of April, and after two and a half hours of negotiating approximately 3.2 million deep potholes in the bed of a pickup with about thirty other people, countless boxes and bags, and a very irritated chicken, we arrived at our first destination, a little village called Gounahilli. The idea was to join them for their Easter Convention, which would go from Thursday through Sunday, and ultimately consist of 7 church meetings lasting a total of almost 24 hours of worshiping together (5.5 hours for the Easter morning service by itself). 
 
I’ve always been a big fan of the idea of easing into something...You know, taking time to adjust and acclimate, and then when you feel ready to take on the challenge, dive in...That’s not really how this played out, though, and as it turned out, I wouldn’t have had it any other way. We only had a couple of short hours before we had to turn around and participate in the first service. About 30 minutes before it was supposed to start, I heard something across the village - some of the most incredible singing I think I’ve ever heard. I asked one of the guys with us what it was, and he told me it was what they call a “singing band”, a group of women who were going to come over to the house we were staying in and escort us across the village to the church. It was dark already, so I couldn’t see any of them, I could just hear then getting warmed up some distance away. Talk about building anticipation for something...The adrenaline’s already flowing, you’re in a place you’ve never been, you’re getting ready to take part in something that the locals had praying about for TWO YEARS, and you find out that the otherworldly voices you hear in the darkness are for you...Unreal. Even more so when it actually happened, let me tell you. They showed up outside the door, about 30 of them in all, all dressed in white...Swaying in time to the music, holding a stick in one hand (called a bit-bit), that they drummed with on their other hand as they sang. They opened up a pathway in their midst, and we walked across the village, flanked by these amazing women and their voices. I get chills just reliving the moment in my mind...
 
The combination of intricate harmonies, rhythmic pounding of the sticks, and subtle dancing as they marched would make anyone sit up and take notice, musician or not...This wasn’t just inspiring because it was different...It was inspiring because it was phenomenal. These women were doing something at the highest level of creativity and ability. Kind of sobering, really, since it was happening as we were getting ready to speak to these people ourselves. Who wants to follow that kind of opening act? I found out later that the idea of a band like this has deep roots in the Solomons.  When Christianity first came to the Islands,  bands like this formed as part of the evangelism effort. When groups would go to neighboring villages to share the gospel, the women would go in first, marching and singing; essentially, getting the villagers ready to hear a life-changing message. It’s easy to see why that was an effective game plan - That level of passion and beauty has a singular way of completely disarming a person. They don’t do this anymore, apparently. The bands now are just for entertainment purposes, or so they say. I’m not sure I completely buy that, though. The way these women approach their task suggests pretty strongly that they know they’re not singing just to give someone a pleasant diversion for a minute or two. I watched them a few days later as they prepared to sing for us again, on our last night in that village. To say they prayed together would be a huge understatement...These women simply threw down. They pleaded with God. They got on their knees. They raised their hands. They raised their voices. They fought a battle, for themselves, and for everyone they would soon be singing for. They understood the stakes, and they dedicated themselves more fully to their task than anyone I’ve ever seen.
 
And this is something I just can’t shake. See, I feel like I’m a person who puts a lot into what I do, and yet being with these people was a huge revelation to me in this area. Who prays everyday for an event for two years before it’s scheduled? Who builds their guests a brand-new house, rather than simply sharing a room? They even built us a western-style outhouse, complete with flush toilet, right in the middle of a jungle village, because they knew that would be more comfortable for us (granted, they put the lock on the outside of the door so it was completely useless, but hey, A for effort). Who pours themselves out in prayer for hours for a few minutes of singing? They gave the very best of what they had for us...Complete strangers, and yet to them, this is not a negotiable thing. You do it as unto Christ Himself, or you don’t do it. I have to admit, this shook me up, and pretty continually. I’m used to watching people around me shuffle through life and responsibility half-heartedly much of the time. And like I said, though I feel like a person who works hard and takes my tasks seriously, I know that in those moments where I dare to be honest with myself, I have to include myself in that group, at least some of the time. How many of us can say, in all honesty, that we throw ourselves with abandon into everything we do? How many of us would have to admit that we approach certain tasks, relationships, and moments as things to simply be endured until something better and more exciting comes along? Maybe most importantly, how many of us hold others to a standard of conduct and dedication to which we’re unwilling to hold ourselves?
 
I’ve been chewing on this for over a month now, and the only conclusion I can come to is that this needs to be a non-negotiable for me as well. I can’t be okay with the idea that I just coasted through something, or that I expected someone else to pick up the slack for me, or that someone or something wasn’t worth my full effort. It seems to me that it took a pretty thorough dedication to commit to dying on a cross for a group of people that were, at best, mostly apathetic. And it seems that Christ demands the very best from us as well, in what I do in public and in private, and in how I approach my own life and my relationships with others. I know the people of the Solomon Islands aren’t perfect in this respect, but they lived this out perfectly for one particular guy I can point to. Perfectly, because they both demonstrated the standard, and lived it out. Now it’s up to me to do the same. Let’s do this...
 
Peace.

A Spiritual Travelogue (Intro)

Question for you: What do 37 people in line for an approximately 2.5 square foot bathroom, watching movie after movie until your eyes start twitching uncontrollably, a strange interpretation of breakfast, and a high concentration of talkative Australians have in common? Actually, now that I think about it, the answer could legitimately be “any youth hostel in Western Europe”, but the answer I was looking for was “LA to Brisbane, via Qantas Airlines.” I would also accept “the longest 13.5 hours of your life.” Actually, since I really like flying, it wasn’t too bad, but I suspect that assessment wasn’t shared by any non-Aussie on that flight. Aussies, of course, have an innate ability to enjoy themselves no matter what the situation. This may be due to Australia having the highest concentration of lethal animals, insects, and reptiles on the planet - When you could croak at any moment, you might as well appreciate the present...Of course, it could also be that God just decided to put a whole bunch of friendly, good-humored people all together in one country, just to prove to France that it’s possible.
 
In mid-April, I took off with a team of three other people for the Solomon Islands, which explains the trip Down Under. You can’t get to the Solomons quickly or easily...If you live in Charlotte, NC, like I do, it’s like trying to head east on I-485 through the Pineville area at about 5pm, but not quite as frustrating. I flew from Charlotte to Cincinnati, then Cincy to LA, then LA to Brisbane, then Brisbane to Honiara in the Solomons, deep in the South Pacific ocean. Almost 30 hours of just flight time, but with layovers (and crossing the date line), three days of travel, airports, and the inexpressible joy of customs officers...In other words, you’ve really got to want to go there. And I did...
 
I was invited by my brother-in-law, Mike Anthony (the founder of an organization called Godfactor) to partner with him and a few others to head down there for a few weeks and invest some time in teaching and partnering with the South Seas Evangelical Church. I’d been there before, in 2004, and fell in love with the Islands and the people, so I was pretty excited to go back. I felt like God had a bunch of great things in store for this trip - For the Islanders, the churches in their villages, for our team, and for me and the church I’m blessed to pastor in Charlotte (Element). And it turns out that what I was anticipating didn’t even really scratch the surface of what actually happened. It’s rare in life, I think, that the reality of a given situation meets or exceeds the  level of anticipation we take with us, but in this case, that was certainly true. And I’m still trying, almost two weeks after returning, to figure out how to put some of it into words. To say that God worked in my life would be a good candidate for understatement of the year. I would say that I’ve never experienced the movement of God in my thought process to that extent really ever. It was truly amazing, and I’m still stunned and grateful that I got to be a part of it. Time will tell how God shifts and moves in me in the aftermath, but I feel like two things have become clear to me: 1. I feel like I know God much more intimately than ever before, and 2. I feel like I know how to explain Him less than ever before. Risky thing to admit as a pastor, maybe, that I can’t encapsulate God in easy human terms, but it’s true. And particularly for someone like me, who usually feels pretty confident about my ability to get an idea across effectively.
 
And so I thought I might work some of this stuff out via this blog...Rather than mercilessly bend the Element community’s collective ear with endless stories, I think I’ll take the next few weeks and write a lot of it down. My hope and prayer is that God will bring much of what He showed me to life even more...That the Element community would be strengthened, challenged and encouraged...And that anyone else reading along would find some value in this journey as well. I’d love to hear your thoughts as we go, either here in the comments section, or privately if you’d rather. To me, there are few things in life better than learning from and being sharpened by each other, and I’d love to see that happen here. Please forgive my limitations as we go - I don’t claim to have any special insight or extraordinary ability, but as the pastor of a community, and as someone who takes the responsibility seriously of helping to be a catalyst for spiritual growth, I think it might lead to some valuable discussion. Feel free to point others toward this blog as well, and I’m looking forward to it! Look for part 1 to post in a day or two...God bless you all!
Peace,
Brian

The truth about being good at things...

Over the last few days, I’ve come face to face with a strange phenomenon. No, not the curious success of Jersey Shore, although that just might possibly be a sign of the impending Apocalypse. You thought Paris Hilton was a little lacking in the cognitive development area? The cast of Jersey Shore has the collective IQ of a fruit bat, and worse hair. No, this is one I’ve encountered before, many times, but it really just hit me what was going on this time. See, I got sick a few days ago. I rarely get sick. I don’t get those 24 hour things that most normal people get, or wake up with a headache, take it a little easier than normal, and by morning I’m right as rain. No, though I rarely get sick, when I do, it’s for real. It’s not going a couple of rounds with the Common Cold and calling it good. It’s getting smacked in the face by some unpronounceable name that may or may not involve wearing a gown for a while that doesn’t fully close in the back, but almost certainly involves several doctors conferring, and usually a variation of the following question. “Mr. Doell, have you spent any time in Sub-Saharan Africa recently? And/Or eaten large quantities of lead?” I had a spinal issue misdiagnosed by no fewer than 4 doctors in a row several ago...I contracted a flesh-eating bacteria in Belgium that took all the skin off my feet...Two summers ago, I became possibly the first person in recorded history to get Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever in my own front yard (which is, strangely, not within a thousand miles of the the Rocky Mountains).

But the phenomenon is not the incredibly good luck I’ve had with strange diseases. Rather, it’s the fact that at the precise moment I’m too sick to do a certain thing, that thing is all I want do. Currently, my throat is inflamed to the extent that the act of swallowing a simple cup of tea looks suspiciously like I’m having a seizure...Needless to say, talking’s not a breeze right now. Yet, curiously, I am enjoying a burning desire to sing the likes of which I’ve never experienced, and cannot in any way act on.  I never have a burning desire to sing. I sing just well enough to sometimes successfully convey the intended melody to other sentient beings. But now that I can’t do it at all, it’s all I want to do. Strangely, this is combined with a near-constant desire to be working out. Fat chance of that, since I’m out of breath after typing a two-syllable word right now, but wouldn’t you know it - in this moment where I can’t do anything physically productive, all I can think about is lifting heavy things.

The bottom line is that the desires just aren’t matching up with the ability, and it happens to me every time I get sick. But it’s a phenomenon not limited to me, and certainly not restricted to sickness. I find myself around people all the time that really, really want to do certain things, but aren’t necessarily (to put it as politely as I can) gifted with a commensurate amount of ability, or even potential. I’ve certainly been there myself. And this is a tough topic, believe me. Because, so the thinking goes, who are we to judge whether or not someone can do something or not? And I guess that’s true in one sense.  If you love to sing, but you know you can’t carry a tune in a bucket, then warble away, sister. To thine own self be true. Apologize to no one, and let the shower be your adoring audience. And, as a quick aside, I’m not talking about worship services here...You’re not singing for the person next to you, so who cares if you’re pleasing to his ear? You’re pleasing to God’s ear, and that’s what matters. The problem comes when this manifests itself in what we spend our time and energy pursuing; in how we view ourselves, which translates into the roles we try to play in the greater community. I KNOW how much you want to act, but the director has every right not to cast you if you’re, objectively speaking, not good at conveying different kinds of emotion, or can’t remember your lines. Similarly, playing quarterback for your favorite team is a great dream, but there are objective measures for fulfilling that dream. Can you throw the ball better than the average guy or not? It’s nothing personal, it’s just the truth.

And though most of us would agree up to this point, interestingly, one of the places this can sometimes all fall apart is the Church. For some reason, we’ve allowed an idea to creep into the community of Christ that says this - If I want to do something, you have to let me, even if I show no gifting for it. Because to not let me is to stifle the Holy Spirit in me, and you don’t want to do that. The problem with that is that it’s not Scriptural at all. There are several places in the Bible that list different spiritual gifts, and it’s made pretty clear that not everybody’s getting all the same gifts. We know this instinctively, anyway. We just know when someone without the requisite ability to do X tries to hang their hat on doing X. The American Idol audition episodes have  been a great example of that...And it’s not mean-spirited, short-sighted, or harsh for us to acknowledge that, though some people would have you believe otherwise. God has created us all very uniquely, with very distinct combinations of gifts, and has great plans for you in the use of those gifts! And each of those gifts is undeniably important to God’s plan for you and to be the kind of person he’s asking you to be to the people around you. Don’t get caught in the trap that says your gifts aren’t as good and necessary as the next person’s!

But neither should we buy into the misguided notion that says that nobody can, or should speak into your life and the effective use of your gifts...We are, by nature, people who have difficulty objectively assessing ourselves. Part of the Church’s function is to help lend gracious perspective to each of us where we have difficulty seeing things well. The Church flourishes when we all operate the way God created us to (and by flourishes, I mean that people are loved and supported and taught and led and served, and it all comes together in a truly beautiful expression of humble community). Because nobody knows what He created you for better than God Himself, the potential for what can  happen when you’re thriving and coming alongside others who are gifted in different ways is absolutely monumental. But we have to get rid of this absurd notion that says that the loving thing to do is to exercise no discernment and let anyone do anything they want to, at everyone’s expense. Sometimes the most loving thing we can do is gently help someone redirect their energies into the areas God made them good at. And sometimes, to simply affirm that it’s a great thing to be good at what you’re good at! Think of the amazing possibilities within the Church community if we could stop wishing we were someone we’re not, and revel in being the person God created us to be...

A New Year, A Book, and a Different Life...

So here we are on the brink of 2011, and that always causes people to think. Unfortunately, for some people, this is about the only time they take to think throughout the year, but that's a topic for another day ;) For most of us, though, it usually causes some evaluation of the previous year, and some degree of wonder about the upcoming one...What's going to happen? How will things play out? When I look back on 2011, will I like what took place in my life, or will I not? Looking back at 2010, you can no doubt see where you went wrong, whether in thought or action. You can also see where things were good, and hopefully you have a bunch of those moments to celebrate!

I wanted to take a moment here to champion something that I think could make a major difference in life this year. One of our major focal points in the Element community this year is a deeper understanding of the Bible...Makes sense for a church to say that, I know, but here's the deal. As people who consider our journeys with God to be critically important parts of our lives, our interactions with the Bible itself can sometimes be pretty limited. What I mean by that is this: There are a great many people whose knowledge of what the Bible says is gained almost exclusively by what other people tell them. In other words, there's little personal study of the Bible going on, and for a number of reasons. Some people find it just too difficult to figure out what it means, some people find it pretty tough to find the time, and still others have never really considered themselves a reader at all, let alone a reader of an ancient text!

There's something else I mean by "limited", as well, and this one applies even to people who consider themselves to be avid readers of the Bible, maybe even students of the Bible. In this case, our understanding of the Bible can be  limited to interpreting things in light of how we feel  about a given topic. We all have a way of seeing the world and a set of beliefs that we bring with us when we read the Bible, and it's very common to come to conclusions that simply support what we want the Bible to say. We would never say that we do that, of course, but the truth is that we do. 

Here's why I bring this up...As the written word of God, we have been given no greater tool than this for more fully and deeply understanding God and his plan for our lives! This certainly doesn't minimize the importance of prayer and community, but the reality is that we are not usually people who passionately pursue Bible study as much as we pursue other avenues of getting close to God. 

With that in mind, I want to challenge you to make this a year in which you embrace the Bible like you never have before. I know that sounds about as fun as a root canal to some of you, but I believe wholeheartedly that it'll change your life! That goes for those of you who already read it regularly, as well. And you don't have to be brilliant or have some sort of special gift, either. If you have trouble knowing where to start, or how to start, let me know. I'd love to help you! If you have trouble figuring out what certain things mean or how they apply, I'd love to help you with that, as well. In recent years, I've recommended and made good use of some great resources to help with the journey, and  I want to pass one in particular along to you. It doesn't matter what your level of familiarity is with the Bible, this book will help with just about any issue you might have in personally studying it. I know it can be tempting for some to say that you don't need rudimentary help like this...Let me put this as kindly as I can: That's garbage :-) I know seminary professors who still learn from resources like this. 

This particular one is called "How To Read The Bible For All Its Worth", by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart. I recommend it so highly because it helps to turn the average reader, of average intelligence and average motivation (in other words, me ;), into someone with a very solid understanding of hermeneutics (which simply means how we interpret things the way we do) and exegesis (which simply means breaking things down to what they mean). In other words, turning the Bible from a daunting task into something of great value in your life, and it does it in layperson's terms, and in very relevant language. I'd love to get your feedback on other resources you find helpful as well! Just don't buy what some people will tell you, which is that you're somehow doing something wrong if you look at other resources, both people and books, to help you understand the Bible better. No solid Bible scholar ever has embraced that attitude - Don't buy into it. As Isaiah 55 says: "Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen, and you will find life..." In other words, be humble and teachable, making use of all of the resources God has given you, including the Bible, and you will find the life God intends for you. 

I'm looking forward to the conversations about what you're reading, and about what God teaches you! I pray that we can humbly share in the journey together, learn with and from each other, and in the end, be sharpened by each other. God bless you in the New Year - I'll be praying for you, and I'd love for you to pray for me! Let's do this...

Are you a Legend?

I thought I'd pass along a post from a guy I read periodically named Karl Verkade, who's a guitarist and worship leader, who manages the difficult task of being both funny and meaningful at the same time. I forgive him for his U2 obsession. This post is about that weird moment at family gatherings where people try to one-up each other in the "I'm so important" game. It's worth it just for the last couple of lines. Enjoy...

Peace,

Brian

http://www.guitarforworship.com/?p=3049