Well it's that time...

...a time to move...

...a time to change...

...from one address and name...

...to another.

It's been fun, and you can continue to follow us at The Clements Family.

10. That I have a job

9. That we have food and clothing

8. That we have a roof over our head

7. That I can see, hear, taste, touch and smell

6. For the people in my missional community that I co-shepherd. We've been at it for about a year and God has moved and brought and married and grown people in our midst. And I have seen Acts 2:42-47 come alive before my eyes. I love them and they are a blessing.

5. For the men and women at New City church that I co-shepherd with. Only God can take sinners and unite them in Jesus in order to build his church.

4. For the men who lead and shepherd me at New City. I am thankful for humble men who love Jesus and challenge me in word and deed.

3. For friends, specifically guys that have walked with me over the years through different chapters of life. That I have seen change and have watched me change. And through thick and thin, because of the gospel, we are closer than brothers.

2. For Kimberly. We just celebrated four years of marriage. I love her. Her beauty and intelligence are unrivaled. She is my teammate in this journey and I can't think of anyone else so different, yet so fit to help me. Her companionship is a gift and a challenge that drives me constantly back to my need for Jesus in order to love her. Nothing else in this world will show you the depth of your sin like marriage.

1. For Jesus. He is the same today, yesterday and forever. He is my Creator, my Savior, my righteousness, my exceeding joy. He laid aside His eternal glory in order to become a human. He grew in his mother's womb, grew as a child into a teenager, grew from a teenager into man. He lived life as a human and in all of it, he didn't sin, not once. He claimed to be God and proved it by raising people from the dead and forgiving people of their sin. He lived the life I couldn't live and died the death that I deserve. He freely gives me the perfection I need to be welcomed into the arms of God. He freely took all the sin and guilt that I had, have and will have upon Himself on a bloody cross. He subjected himself under God's wrath and fury and completely satisfied it when He died. He rose from the dead, proving that he is who says he is and ascended back to God and lives to intercede for everyone who believes and follows Him. He now actively works in my life to give me strength to obey Him and to not sin. He uses pain and suffering to discipline and change me and freely gives me good things to enjoy. He is coming back to bring me safely into His presence where I will live forever in a new body, on a new earth in fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore. Along with that, he will also inflict vengeance on those who do not turn from a life of sin and believe Him.

What are you thankful for? To whom are you thankful?

From the website:

AMBITION. Simply knowing how to plant and lead a church is not enough. Knowledge must come hand-in-hand with God-given ambition. The Apostle Paul responded to God’s call to make the gospel known among the Gentiles with zealous determination. Paul, empowered by the Holy Spirit, made it his ambition to take the gospel to those who did not have it even if it cost him everything. He proclaimed the gospel, gathered believers into churches, established elders, and discipled believers; and he did all this with zeal and passion. In the hope of this type of ambition overflowing in the Church, we would like to invite you to the Acts 29 Network Ambition Boot Camp, November 10-11, 2009, which will focus on planting and leading churches with God-given ambition.

This conference is a 'boot camp' for church planters who are interested in being assessed and plant within the Acts 29 network, but it is also open to the public. Whether you feel called to plant a church or want to gain a deeper understanding of your role in it, I hope you will take advantage of this opportunity. I'm excited for my pastor, Keith Watson, who will be sharing his testimony and speaking during one of the workshops.

In a world where sometimes it seems like God is nowhere to be found and it's impossible to see Him at work in the lives of people, or even in my own life, this song by Caedmon's Call is encouraging.

Laden With Guilt

Laden with guilt and full of fears
I fly to Thee my Lord
And not a glimpse of hope appears
But in Thy written word
The volumes of my Father's grace
Does all my griefs assuage
Here I behold my Savior's face
In every page

This is the field where hidden lies
The pearl of price unknown
That merchant is divinely wise
Who makes the pearl his own
Here consecrated water flows
To quench my thirst of sin
Here the fair tree of knowledge grows
No danger dwells within

This is the judge that ends the strife
Where wit and reason fail
My guide to everlasting life
Throughout this gloomy vale
O may Thy counsels, mighty God
My roving feet command
Nor I forsake the happy road
That leads to Thy right hand

Of old you laid the foundation of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
They will perish, but you will remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,
but you are the same, and your years have no end.
Psalm 102:25-27

Taken from the blog Of First Importance:

“The Lord reveal himself more and more to us in the face of his Son Jesus Christ and magnify the power of his grace in cherishing those beginnings of grace in the midst of our corruptions, and sanctify the consideration of our own infirmities to humble us, and of his tender mercy to encourage us.

And may he persuade us that, since he has taken us into the covenant of grace, he will not cast us off for those corruptions which, as they grieve his Spirit, so they make us vile in our own eyes.

And because Satan labors to obscure the glory of his mercy and hinder our comfort by discouragements, the Lord add this to the rest of his mercies, that we may not lose any portion of comfort that is laid up for us in Christ.

And, may he grant that the prevailing power of his Spirit in us should be an evidence of the truth of grace begun, and a pledge of final victory, at that time when he will be all in all, in all his, for all eternity. Amen.”

—Richard Sibbes, The Bruised Reed (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1998), 127-28

This weekend I'm headed to Fight Club, the first Acts 29 conference in Georgia. Going with me, will be four guys from our Missional Community that I love dearly and have enjoyed growing and living life with. God has been good. This time last year, Kimberly and I were about a month into New City Church and the MC's had not even launched yet. Now, I'm being joined by four other men who God has placed here who have a desire to grow in the grace of God and see it transform themselves, their families, their church and their cities.

I'm excited for all. The last time I went to an Acts 29 conference I came back more firmly rooted in the power of the gospel and the need to have everything we do filtered through that lens. The church needs leaders who eat, breath, and live the gospel. I also came back with greater affection for the men I serve with and who lead us. I don't think I had laughed that hard in a long time, not only at them, but at myself. It reminded me of football camps when I was in high school, but this is sweeter.

"You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." 2 Timothy 2:1-2

After grieving this weekend with my family over the loss of my cousin, my heart aches. It aches because of the sadness I've heard and felt from each member I've grieved with. It aches because of the cries of questions and pain that I heard this weekend. It aches because of the lies that some believe and the guilt that people still carry. But, Jesus is still pursuing and calling broken, miserable, sinners of whom I am the foremost. That's who he wants. He hasn't come for people who have it together, He's come for those who know they are sick and broken inside. Those who know they need a Savior who can forgive their sins and free them from themselves. That's why I love this video.

Job Chapter 37

1 At this also my heart trembles
and leaps out of its place.
2 Keep listening to the thunder of his voice
and the rumbling that comes from his mouth.
3 Under the whole heaven he lets it go,
and his lightning to the corners of the earth.
4 After it his voice roars;
he thunders with his majestic voice,
and he does not restrain the lightnings when his voice is heard.
5 God thunders wondrously with his voice;
he does great things that we cannot comprehend.
6 For to the snow he says, ‘Fall on the earth,’
likewise to the downpour, his mighty downpour.
7 He seals up the hand of every man,
that all men whom he made may know it.
8 Then the beasts go into their lairs,
and remain in their dens.
9 From its chamber comes the whirlwind,
and cold from the scattering winds.
10 By the breath of God ice is given,
and the broad waters are frozen fast.
11 He loads the thick cloud with moisture;
the clouds scatter his lightning.
12 They turn around and around by his guidance,
to accomplish all that he commands them
on the face of the habitable world.
13 Whether for correction or for his land
or for love, he causes it to happen.

Kimberly and I took a walk today. Kimberly made the comment that there is a huge contrast in our neighborhood between winter and spring. She's right. When spring comes there's a huge transformation that takes place. Bradford pears produce beautiful white pedals and dogwoods produce their various leaves of red, white and yellow. It's a beautiful picture of death and new life. It also reminded me of the the hymn I Sing the Mighty Power of God by Isaac Watts. May these lyrics serve to raise your affections of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

I sing the mighty power of God, that made the mountains rise,
That spread the flowing seas abroad, and built the lofty skies.
I sing the wisdom that ordained the sun to rule the day;
The moon shines full at God’s command, and all the stars obey.

I sing the goodness of the Lord, who filled the earth with food,
Who formed the creatures through the Word, and then pronounced them good.
Lord, how Thy wonders are displayed, where’er I turn my eye,
If I survey the ground I tread, or gaze upon the sky.

There’s not a plant or flower below, but makes Thy glories known,
And clouds arise, and tempests blow, by order from Thy throne;
While all that borrows life from Thee is ever in Thy care;
And everywhere that we can be, Thou, God art present there.

From the ESV Study Bible commentary on Romans chapter 1:

In every instance the giving up to sin is a result of idolatry, the refusal to make God the center and circumference of all existence, so that in practice the creature is exalted over the Creator. Hence, all individual sins are a consequence of the failure to prize and praise God as the giver of every good thing.

I enjoyed watching this. I thought Driscoll handled D.L.'s question of hypocrisy in the church well, ultimately pointing him and those watching to Jesus.

Bible Study Magazine and Mars Hill are giving away 20 copies of Mark Driscoll’s new book, Vintage Church. Not only that, but they are also giving away five subscriptions to Bible Study Magazine and a copy of their Bible Study Library software! Enter to win on the Bible Study Magazine Mark Driscoll page, then take a look at all the cool tools they have to take your Bible study to the next level!

This video is part of a sermon that John Piper preached on January 25th, 2009. The title of the sermon is "The Baby in My Womb Leaped for Joy." This section of the video is where he responds to a statement President Obama made on the 36th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade. The entire sermon can be found here.

I'm thankful to be apart of the Body of Christ. Not just the universal Body, but the local Body that I'm apart of. We call it a missional community. It, though, is people, the church. The last two sermons at New City have been on the church being 'One People' and the church as the body of Christ and Jesus is the Head. The dividing wall of race and culture is torn down as we come to Jesus as guilty sinners and are brought near to a holy God by the blood of Jesus, who took our sin on the cross and rose from the dead, defeating sin, Satan and death. We then are joined by His Spirit to Jesus and one another in order to be Jesus to one another and the world. As we (the body) grow in our knowledge of and faith in Jesus we grow in our love for Him and His body. We then in love speak truth to one another and serve one another so that we are all mended from our brokenness and grow up in our likeness to Jesus.

This week I was humbled to see us function as a body. It is humbling to be apart of the body of Christ. That it is Christ who does His work through us. It is Christ who through His people ministered to a brother and sister who this week have had to watch their two month old daughter hang in the balance of life and death. It is Christ who used us to speak the truth in love to one another as our MC met this past week. It is Christ who uses us to weep with each other. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21