What’s up!?!?

Many people have been asking “What’s Up!?!” since our recent ministry transition. What a crazy ride it has been! I thought it would be a good idea to update here on the old blog.

For those of you who don’t know, just a few months ago Staci and I were very comfortable leading worship at a great church in Murrieta called Chorus Church. We knew that God had called us to plant a church of our own after I finished seminary, but that was in the distant future… so we thought! Boy, does God know how to test your faith.

Over the last six months we’ve been on quite the roller-coaster ride. We’ve birthed our 4th child Noah Ryan Beeman, endured an intense C&MA church planters assessment and entertained various career opportunities, including going back into the teaching profession, jumping right into a church plant or finding a job leading worship somewhere. After much prayer and consideration, we feel very strongly that God has lead us into a unique ministry opportunity. Who would have guessed that it would all happen this way?

As a transition into developing Convergence Community Church and Youth Centers, we have connected with Ryan Sharp and the Generations Church family in Menifee. I have taken on the task of overseeing Family Ministries, and will occasionally preach and lead worship. Pastor Ryan and his dad, Monty have been making an impact in Temecula, Murrieta and Menifee for many years through Student Venture Ministries. Because of his passion for evangelism, Ryan has expressed interest in partnering with us to reach our community for Christ through church planting and the C3 Youth Centers! We’re excited about this and anticipate other churches in the area wanting to jump in as well! It’s such a blessing to see churches willing to work together to build the kingdom!

Over the next few months our primary focus will be building up various Family Ministries at Generations Church while doing the initial work of launching a Church and Youth Center in the area. This is a lot to bite off, but when you see God’s hand at work in something so clearly, what can you do? The work is not easy, but God is blessing every bit of it so far!

We are so thankful for all of the support that we have received over the last few months. Many of you have been praying for us, caring for our physical needs and some of you have even jumped on board to help with this new ministry. We can’t even begin to express our gratitude.

If you’re interested in being involved in this new ministry endeavor, there are plenty of opportunities for you to join us. We would be so blessed if you would allow us to send you a monthly update via a newsletter. You can subscribe to that by sending an email at info@c3menifee.com. We know from experience that if we don’t shower the field with prayer, the ground we till will become extremely difficult to plow. By allowing us to send you an email you’ll be telling us that you’re willing to, at the very least, pray for us as we continue to move forward with the calling that God has put on our lives. We are so excited to share with you in more detail what God is already doing in regards to this project. Next month I’ll be sharing some of the crazy opportunities that God has put within our grasp. I pray that you’ll be as excited about this project as we are.

UNLOCK LOVE IS WAR | Zion Is Here | @hillsongunited #welcomezion

I’m loving this album and I think this is one of the best songs on it.  Click below to help unlock the Music Video.

UNLOCK LOVE IS WAR | Zion Is Here | @hillsongunited #welcomezion.

women in leadership

So the topic of our study last week was women in leadership.  There is a lot of debate regarding the issue of whether or not women should be aloud to participate in the leadership of churches.  Women have traditionally been relegated to the duties of watching the children, taking care of the refreshments and if the church is really progressive they might even be allowed to lead a women’s Bible study.

Seminary’s within the last ten years have experienced a substantial increase in enrollment from women.  This clearly shows that women are aspiring to do more than bake cookies and wipe noses in the church.  While these are all very important things, but are women capable of doing more?  Does the Bible allow for more?  Is the Evangelical church ready for more from women?  I think they are.

Currently there are a number of prominent women leaders in the church.  Women like Beth Moore, Kay Arthur and Priscilla Shirer.  Are they being unbiblical by sharing the gift that God has given them with the world?  Some would say yes, some would say no.  Those that would say yes typically use this scripture to support their case.

A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness.  But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet.  For it was Adam who was first created and then Eve.  1 Timothy 2:11-13

I’ve heard so much controversy about this passage that I don’t know what to think.  The primary argument is that it was written to a specific group of individuals that were experiencing consistent disruptions in the synagogue.  Therefore it doesn’t apply to all women in the church universal.  Regardless, this is but one verse against women that we find in the midst of many verses supporting women in ministry.  Here are a few examples.

Deborah – Deborah is probably the most famous female leader in the Bible.  She was a judge of Israel.  At the time that she ruled, a judge was the highest position that anyone could hold in the nation.  It was like being the king and the high priest all wrapped into one.  (Judges 4-5)

Phoebe – Many have heard of Pheobe who was so helpful to Paul and his ministry.  Why is it that the translators decided to translate the word diakonos as “servant” instead of deacon as its translated elsewhere?  (Romans 16:1)

Anna – The prohetess Anna is mentioned in Luke 2 as one who ministered in the temple.  She was said to never leave and in fact spoke to “all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.”  (Luke 2:38).  That sounds like a pretty prominent place in leadership to me.

Let me conclude with a verse from Galatians 3:27-28?

For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Greek, their is neither slave nore free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ.  Gal. 3:27-28

This seems to be consistent with what we see in the garden of eden.  God made us in His own image, both male and female.

I’m not quite sure where I stand in all of this.  I tend to lean more toward supporting women in leadership than not, but at the same time, I believe that there are some specific roles for women in the church that I didn’t even get into here.  We’re still fleshing this out in our community group.

What do you think?

The Whole Gospel

We started a new study at my house last night. We’re using the Q Society video titled “The Whole Gospel” to kick off our conversations. I know from watching the reactions of some of the people in the room that this video caught us a bit off guard, especially the part where Tim Keel says something like…

If your definition of the gospel is that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins so that you could go to heaven… aaaannn (holds up big X), you’re wrong!
Tim Keel

Thankfully he went on to explain that while this is definitely a part of the gospel, it is just a bit short sighted. The gospel has so much more to offer! The reality is, if we stop there then we are, for lack of a better term, neutering the gospel. I believe that this is one of the biggest problems the Evangelical Church faces as we move into the 21st century. As Tim Keel puts it, our problem does not lie within our current methods of sharing the gospel, rather it lies within our incomplete definition of the gospel itself!

Here are some highlights from our discussion tonight and Tim Keel’s sermon.

• The gospel is based on 4 Biblical movements that are seen throughout scripture. Creation, Fall, Redemption & Restoration
• The gospel is the movement of Gods people from the fractured edges of society back into the center of Gods will and community.
• John’s gospel is the re-telling of the creation narrative.
• The priestly sacrifice (salvation through sacrifice) moves us from unholy to holy. While this is an important part of the gospel, why is it that Jesus seems to engage this the least in His teachings? Why do we spend so much time on it?
• Instead of asking, “If you knew you were going to die tonight, are you sure you’d go to heaven?” we should be asking, “If you knew you had 20 years to live, what kind of life would you live?”

These are subtle points, but I believe they make a huge difference in the way we engage our communities with the gospel. What are your thoughts?

Thank you, Eric!

Thank you, Eric!.

music mondays

I’ve purposed to take Mondays and dedicate them to music. Today I want to point out a fun little band that I heard about from Sarah Macintosh, a wonderful artist from my old home church, Horizon San Diego. The band is called “All Sons and Daughters.”  I think that if I were to make an album I would like it to sound something like this…  raw, creative, God-centered and about as real as it gets.

Check it out…  allsonsanddaughters.com

We’ve done this one before…

 

Letter to Chorus Church

A Letter from Pastor Eric to the Chorus Family

November 21, 2012

To the Chorus Church Family,

Ten years ago, Staci and I moved to Temecula to help start a church. It was an exciting time for us and one that required many steps of faith. The first of these was leaving our family in San Diego. We had no real promise of income and only a commitment from the Lord to always direct our steps. God proved to be faithful, providing for us every step of the way and eventually leading us to Chorus Church in 2007. Here at Chorus He has established for us a loving church family.

For the last five years, we’ve had the privilege of walking with you (Chorus Church) through some exciting times. We’ve been a part of three different locations, various outreach events, and multiple kidney stones! You as a church family have walked with us through some exciting and challenging times as well. You were there with us as we welcomed our third child Asher Ray into the world. You walked with us through our oldest son’s heartbreaking Perthe’s Disease diagnoses and treatment. You’ve cooked meals for us, prayed for us and most recently celebrated the birth of our fourth son Noah Ryan with us. I can’t tell you what a blessing it is to have a family like Chorus Church.

When Pastor Dave and I first met and talked over five years ago, we discussed the possibility that I would serve at Chorus for a period of time and then venture out into a church plant shaped around my unique gifts and calling.  In light of recent events, including a time of careful ministry assessment, further development of my own vision and ministry plan, and the financial situation of the church it is apparent that our time on staff at Chorus Church has come to an end. While the timing is not exactly what I, Pastor Dave, or any of the elders originally chose, we all agree that it is God’s timing.

We want to thank Pastor Dave and Elena for their support over the last five years. They’ve always gone above and beyond in supporting us, as have many of you in the church body. We’d also like to thank the elders of the church, who have continually led with character, integrity and the utmost respect. We’ve truly never felt more loved, encouraged and supported by a church before. It will be hard to find a family like the one God has developed here, but we know that God has greater things in store for us in the future.

We know that God has great things in store for Chorus Church as well. We will continue to pray for you regularly, please think and pray for us as well. While we’re not sure where we’re headed at this time, we are confident that God will provide for us every step of the way. If you’d like to follow our journey, I’ve purposed to begin chronicling it on my blog. You can find it at ericbeeman.com or you can follow us on twitter and Facebook.

My final Sunday with staff responsibilities will be December 9. However, the church will help facilitate this transition by graciously providing salary and health benefits through February 15.

With much love and respect,

The Beemans,

Eric, Staci, Joshua, Micah, Asher and Noah

And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:9-11 NASB)

Twenty Seven Million

In 2005 my wife and I flew to Nashville on behalf of a local radio station to cover Passion 2005.  It was a little awkward for us to sit in the luxurious box seats of the Bridgestone Arena and watch as 12,000 college students worshiped their hearts out.  Luckily we were able to sneak out and join in the worship for a couple of sessions.

What sticks in my mind about that trip however are the thousands of towels and socks that were brought to the arena by these college students.  They were responding to a request from Passion Leadership to do one simple thing…  bring towels and socks for the homeless and those in need.  It seems like a minor thing, but when I picture that mound of over 12,000 towels and socks at the entrance to the arena, I’m still blown away.  Each one of those towels represented a homeless person that was blessed in the name of Jesus that year.  And to think, this tradition has continued every year since… and this year there were over 44,000 people gathered at the Georgia Dome!!!

One of the things that originally drew me to the Passion movement was their great worship music.  Louie Giglio, Chris Tomlin, David Crowder, Charlie Hall, Matt Redman and others have undoubtedly been leading the way in the production of modern worship music for the last decade.  What many may not know however, is that this team has been subtly using their talent to draw worshipers to something more than just sing songs about God.  They’ve been calling us to action in the name of that God.  Apparently this year held nothing less for us.  Check out this clip…

Wanna join them and do something!  Here’s the link…  http://www.thea21campaign.org/home.php

Discussion piece: Should our worship music be used to do more than just focus our hearts on God?

What kind of Church are you anyway!

I’ve been reading a post over at rkweblog that has been fueling a fire that’s been burning in my heart for a while now.  As I’ve fallen away from this blog, so have I let that fire burn down, but Rich is always good at stoking a fire.

I’ve always felt that our Church culture needs to reflect who we are as a community.  That means  the music we play, the look and feel of a room, the style of teaching, the way we drop off and pick up our kids, etc, etc…  all of it should reflect who we are as a community.

That statement has some pretty big implications for us here in Temecula, Murrieta.  Here are just a few that relate to our specific Church.

“Murrieta is the 2nd safest city in the nation and we have one of the best school systems in the nation.  Our Children’s ministry should reflect that!

The Stampede has the largest country dance floor in all of Southern California.  People drive from all over to country line dance every Friday and Saturday night.  Our stage, lighting and music should reflect that!

Because of the cost of housing, Temecula and Murrieta has become a bedroom community for San Diego, Riverside and Los Angeles.  That means that most of the people in our community are commuting outside of Temecula/Murrieta for work.  Our Service times should reflect this!”

As I try to prepare our setlist for next week, I find myself second guessing every song choice with these 3 questions…

1. Is it God honoring?
2. Do we have the musicians to pull that song off?
3. Is it a song that reflects who we are as a community?

Curse you rkweblog!!!

What are you second guessing this week?

 

Homeschooling… a defensive tactic?

I’m reading a book by James Davison Hunter.  It’s called “To Change The World”.  I have to say that I don’t totally agree with everything he says, but he has managed to put into words something that I’ve struggled with for years.

Having worked with Youth in a number of environments over the last 16 years (Christian Schools, Youth Groups, Camps & Public Schools) I’ve come to form an opinion about Education.  I’ve always answered the question as to whether one should put their kids in public school, private school or home school with a bit of ambivalence.  My response usually goes something like this, “I think that they’re all good.  What really matters is what happens at home.”  But now, thanks to Mr. Davison, I think I have an even better response.

“If you want to protect your kids from society, then Home Schooling and Private Schooling are good options.  If you want them to take the world for Christ, then teach them in the way that they should go and send them as lights into the world!”

It’s just my opinion…  What do you think?