A Call To ReWire

See, I am doing a new thing! 

Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? 

I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. 

Isaiah 43:19

A New Season For Creekside and Me

Dear Creeksiders 

It is with a combination of deep sadness and wonderful excitement for the future of Creekside and myself that I let you know about a new calling. After an extended time of discernment which began this past summer, Kelly and I believe that God is calling us to a deeper role of ministry among the poor and launching other missionaries among the poor. In obedience to that call I will be moving into a full-time role as a missionary with ReWire which equips and mobilizes the Church to create missionaries to the poor. (Below is an outline of my new role with ReWire.)

I suspect that while this likely comes as a surprise, you will see that it is consistent with the mission of Creekside as a missional church and a sending church. While this  presents an initial challenge for me and for Creekside, this move comes at a time where we are all uniquely postured to move more fully into the future that God has designed for us. God is good all the time; he will continue to bless us as we continue to be faithful to him and his call for us to his church here in our corner of Redmond. 

The Leadership Team and I have been working on a transition plan as we move towards the end of the year. We will keep you informed as information develops. Kelly and I will be staying in the area. Our last Sunday at Creekside will be December 27th, 2015 but we will be back on January 10th, 2016 for a special time of commissioning, sending us out as Creekside missionaries.

I look forward to upcoming conversations with you all. 

Peace, hope and love

Doug Humphreys,  

Lead Pastor

Doug Humphreys’ Call to CRM ReWire

A Call to full-time ReWire Leadership. 

A Call to be a missionary among the poor. 

A Call to launch others into ministry among the poor.

Church Resource Ministries’ (CRM) Mission is to create movements of committed followers of Jesus by pioneering new ground among the unreached and unchurched, bringing lasting transformation among the poor, and mobilizing the Church for mission. 

ReWire is a missionary order within CRM. ReWire exists to empower the body of Christ to live as missionary people. Our mission is to serve as a catalyst for mission momentum in the local church.

• Primary Role:

• increase the broader Church's missional momentum
• develop self-sustaining missionary training schools (these schools use a process called Missional Spiritual Formation and are dedicated to reproduce missional leaders)
• help churches with church-wide mission endeavors
• train new forms of missional communities called mission groups through a 1-year internship process
• coach churches on the ongoing implementation of these programs as well as other church systems issues as the local church transitions to a more missional model
• seek opportunities and partnership with ministries committed to the marginalized
• run solitude retreats for missional leaders
• develop all ReWire curriculum

• Secondary Purpose of Role:

• involved in a place of direct service to the poor
• networking and other public relations marketing roles
• telling the story of ReWire through various media; books, web, social, speaking, etc.
• facilitate creation of new website platform
• facilitate production of journals and teaching materials
• develop younger leaders
• run programs as needed

A Biblical Posture Toward Gay Marriage Decision

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. Revelation 3:20 

This week a lot of people are reacting to a Supreme Court decision by quoting the Bible, and what it purports to say about certain behaviors. This is not the venue that I choose to explore these scriptures and how they apply to our culture (in the Church or outside of it). That said, I do want to make the argument that as Christians we need to be careful lest we end up wearing our biblical clothing inside out.

What I mean by that is simply that the Bible was never intended to be behavior manual. Instead it is a story of relationship, transformation, restoration and grace. While it does speak about behavior, it does so in a way places those admonitions not at the first thing, but at the second thing, not as the cause but as the effect, not as a to do, but as a will do.  

The message of the Gospel is that the God who created everything that has been created and sustains all that he created (including you and me), loves the people he created so much that even when we rejected him, he pursued us, moved into our neighborhood, walked with us and then paid the ultimate price to restore relationship with us. Jesus described eternal life in relational terms, as “knowing the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” John 17:3. 

You see, it is about relationship first with behaviors flowing from relationship. Jesus even called those who carefully kept every behavior but lacked relationship and love, “whitewashed tombs,” clean looking on the outside but reeking of death just under the surface. Similarly, the apostle Paul wrote, “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13:1–3) My question to those who want to protest or speak out about behavior on Facebook, in conversations or protests is “do you love the people whose behavior you are speaking out against’? If not, then Bible says stop it. It’s not that difficult of an exegetical exercise to get to the root of the meaning of the word “nothing.” 

So, how do you love people you don’t know? (I think you can answer that question, if you can’t the answer is get to know them). I remember being moved and convicted by a sermon Francis Chan gave when California was preparing to vote on Proposition 9 (The California Marriage Act). He told his congregation, “regardless of their position on the issue, if you are a Christian and you have a “Yes on Prop 9” sign up in your yard, you should take it down.” Do you know anybody who is gay?” “Are you in relationship with anybody who does not believe like you do?” If you don’t than every person who is gay that sees your sign does not see “Yes on 9,” they see “go to hell.”  That is clearly not the message of Jesus.