The Church is Like Mater from Cars

by Josh Duncan 

I'd like to suggest that within the church we've been doing things backward for quite a while, and the fix, while it isn't easy, is a necessary adjustment if we're going to truly join God in His mission. I believe the church (as we've come to know it in America) is like Mater from Cars... we'd just prefer to drive backward instead of forward. Truthfully, again like Mater, we're better at driving backward than forward. Here's what I mean...

When Jesus left us with the task of carrying on His mission, He made two statements (along with dozens others) that are important for us to understand. In Matthew 16:18, Jesus said, "He (Jesus) would build His church." Then, in Matthew 28:19, He told us to, "Make disciples." The problem is that in our efforts to seize the mission of Jesus, we try to accomplish the mission backward. We attempt to build or maintain the church and then make disciples. By the "church" I mean the focus we place on buildings, services, and the organizational structures and routines of church.

As I shared with our church this past Sunday, this backward approach is what The Overflow did in our beginning. Honestly, it's what most new and established churches do in America. Our intentions were good... we wanted to seize the mission of Jesus just as all churches say they want to do. However, we ended up trying to do that in the same way most American churches have been doing it for hundreds of years... by focusing on "church." We started backward! We thought if we modified how people think of church (meet in a school, use contemporary music, etc) we would be able to make disciples. The amazing thing is that God has still touched many lives in the process, but as we've discovered, it's time for us to move forward that right way.

I've learned that if you start out focusing on church (as described above), you'll rarely, if ever, get around to making disciples, but if you focus on making disciples, Jesus will build His church (the gathering of His people). Therefore, we began making shifts almost 5 months ago to start moving forward according to Jesus' plan. This past Sunday, I shared the next wave of shifts that are coming for us as a church. These shifts are necessary so that we can lay the proper foundation of making disciples within our church; it's a foundation that will last regardless of the latest "church trends."

We must stop doing this backward. Does your church (the people) focus more on "church" or making disciples? Seriously. Every church needs to deal with this question. Will you stop trying to accomplish the mission backward?

In June, we adjusted our format on Sundays by including connection times each Sunday. This was important for us to do because it helped us put more emphasis on caring for each other and doing life together. Additionally, we began an intentional discipleship process called Xcellerate, which about 20 people are already doing. Now, as we move forward, we're adjusting the entire atmosphere on Sunday mornings... We're no longer doing a "structured" service... at least for the time being.

By this I mean that our current flow of music, then teaching, and then connections is being adjusted so that there's no exit point during our gathering for those who don't want to connect with others. We feel it's essential for us to view our church as a team/community of people seeking to make disciples. At this point in the progression of our church, we don't need a service that merely attracts attendees. However, we invited everyone, regardless of where they are in their walk with God, to move forward with us. Our commitment is that we'll do everything in our power to personally invest into them so they can be an authentic disciple of Jesus.

What will Sundays look like? It'll be like a community of people gathering together. If you're longing for authentic community that is focused not only on each other, but is also focused on joining God in His mission, you'll love where we're headed!

-We'll begin with prayer each Sunday. We'll have prayer leaders scattered throughout the people who will casually gather people together in circles for a time of prayer. While we won't put people on the spot to pray, this prayer time will be completely led by the Spirit's promptings. You'll just have to experience this for yourself.

-Then, our prayer time will naturally flow into a time of praise and celebration as our band leads us in worship. The prayer time will prepare our hearts for everything the Spirit has for us during our gathering.

-After this time of music is over, we'll then gather into our connections for the teaching time. The teaching is now becoming even more interactive as I'll be teaching and allowing for immediate interaction and application in the connections. I may then teach more and then allow for more interaction in the connections. We may even have the connections share with each other what they've discovered and how they're planning to apply the teaching. The options for exactly how we do this are endless.

The Holy Spirit has been moving in our church unlike ever before since we made the first shifts back in June, and I know that will only increase as we move forward!

If you want the full picture of why we're doing all of this or why your church should consider going "forward" instead of backward, I'd encourage you to download the audio teaching from this past Sunday called "Faith: Moving Forward Day" by going here... http://overflowknoxville.com/media.php?pageID=5 

Questions about these changes, such as the ones listed below, are answered toward the end of the audio teaching beginning at the 49:45 mark.

-If we don't have a "service" won't people, specifically new people, be uncomfortable and turned off?
-What about all the churches who do "services?" Are they wrong?
-Are we the only church thinking this way?

You Might ONLY Be Religious If...

by Josh Duncan

Here's my challenge to you... Are you a religious person or a disciple of Jesus? Do you wake up each day longing to KNOW Him and make Him known? This perspective is not merely a calling reserved for "pastors" or the most visible people in a church. This is the calling for every follower of Jesus, and as The Overflow, our desire is to help you become an authentic disciple... a follower of Jesus who listens to God, does what He says, and teaches others to do the same. After all, this is Jesus' definition of making disciples. Check it out here in Matthew 28:19-20.

People of various ages, backgrounds, and lengths of time spent with our church have been saying the culture of The Overflow is dramatically changing in good way. I'm so encouraged by this. We are making progress, but what exactly are we trying to do?

In everything we do as a church, we're trying to be intentional about making disciples. My prayer is that each person who encounters our church (the people, not just our Sunday gatherings) will realize our passion to BE the church and not just be a group of attendees. However, we're not a perfect church and never will be, so we will all undoubtedly fall short at times.

Nevertheless, I'm taking this change personally in every way I possibly can, and I hope you will too. Please know that everything I do, prepare for, and lead our church to do is being filtered through a commitment to make disciples. In other words, the way I develop people in our church, the way we plan Sunday gatherings, what I encourage other people to do, and the focus of my time and energy spent during the week are all going toward creating a culture focused on making disciples. I spend dramatically less time in sermon preparation and planning for the "service" on Sunday, yet the Spirit seems to be moving within our church (not just on Sundays) more than ever before. I'm saddened to say it's not always been this way, but I think I'm starting to get it now!

Again, what about you? How is God moving in your life? I believe that within each follower of Jesus is the potential and capability to spark a movement of making disciples. Will you give God a chance to accomplish His plans in and through you? It'll never happen if you're only seeking to be religious.

Take the religious test below. Give some thought to these statements. Then, take the necessary steps to further surrender to Jesus as His disciple. If you need help in this or want to discuss this with someone, email me, josh@overflowknoxville.com, and I'll do everything in my power to guide you to becoming an authentic disciple of Jesus.

You might ONLY be a religious person if you...

-Live as if God would rather you be seen at church on Sundays instead of living with integrity and faithfulness to Him throughout the week.

-Have "quiet times" with God on a regular basis yet you're still a hateful, defeated, bitter, judgmental, unhappy person.

-Raise your hands in "worship" at a service on Sunday, but you only raise your fist at people who don't yet know Jesus.

-Are annoyed by people who don't yet know Jesus and you seek to shut yourself off from "those sinful people."

-Think dressing a certain way for a worship service on Sunday makes you more holy than someone else.

-Give an offering on Sunday because you feel guilty or want someone to see you drop something in the plate/box/whatever.

-Are more satisfied with showing up on Sundays than you are with following Jesus 7 days a week.

-Have little to no desire to share with others what God is doing in your life.

-Expect the church to teach your family how to follow Jesus so you can avoid having to practice what you claim to believe in front of your family.

-Faithfully attend the church "every time the doors are open" but have never made an intentional effort to listen to God personally, do what HE (Jesus, not your pastor) leads you to do, and to show others how to do that as well.

Why I Don't Like Counting Attendees on Sunday

by Josh Duncan

I get asked this question all the time... "So how many people attend your church?" Often times, people are just curious how things are going, and they know this is a normal question to ask about churches. After all, success in American church is measured by things such as how many people are attending, how much money people are giving, how many people have prayed to receive Christ, etc. These things are easy to count and easy to measure; therefore, people refer to these things when determining the success (or struggles) of a church.

I too tend to measure success (or failure) by these things. I've felt the pressure for several years in various ministry settings to measure success by what I could count. In my first two opportunities as a youth pastor, our ministries saw numerical growth in attendance, salvations, baptisms, etc. All the typical, measurable, numerical things went up. We even had some students who starting giving consistently as teenagers!

Then, God allowed me to enter the American culture of church planting. We busted out of the gates with great marks numerically. Attendance was great, and we were seeing some people make professions of faith. People were even giving at a decent rate.

However, things haven't stayed this way... partially because of the mistakes we made even before we started having services, which then continued after our launch, but also because God's been preparing us for a specific vision. Honestly, right now, we're running about 60-70 in attendance, which is actually slightly lower than where we were at this point last year. God has allowed me to experience seasons of "apparent" failure as a leader, and the devil has tried to capitalize on my selfish desires to measure success by the cultural norms as he's attacked me, frustrated me, and sought to destroy my self-esteem.

Nevertheless, through this, I'm learning the real heart of Jesus...It's people. It's making disciples. It's NOT the numbers. I've learned that God often times must take certain things away in order for us to see what matters most.


Are you doing this as an individual?
Do you find yourself counting the money in your bank account, the number of people you supervise, the square footage of your house, or the number of degrees on your wall as measurements of your success? If you're a follower of Jesus, please don't forget, we're each called to be a disciple who makes disciples. This is what truly counts. I pray God's Spirit realign our passion with His passion!


Are we doing this as The Overflow? 
I believe God has us at a point where we must sell out to what He says matters most. I do think we're moving in that direction, but honestly, only time will tell if we truly get it. Attendance may go up or down. Giving may go up or down. People may say they've prayed to receive Christ, but only if we're making disciples, will our church grow and multiply as God wants. At the end of the day, this is all I want for our church.... to see people living in the power of a relationship with Jesus and surrendered to the Holy Spirit.

Look, I've heard it all before. People say things like... "We count people because people count." Hey, I used to even say this myself. The truth is, all of the people who say things like this have plenty of people and things to count. But what about when there's not that much to count?...

You have to change or realign your scorecard. Even if you have plenty of people and things to count, you must be sure your ultimate scorecard is aligned with that of Jesus, which asks, "Are we making disciples?" As a leader, you must ask... Are we moving in a direction that will show people what it means to follow Jesus by listening to Him and obeying what He says throughout the rhythms of life? Are we urging people to then introduce others to what it means to follow Jesus? This is all Jesus cares about. Here's why...

-Hundreds or even thousands can attend our "churches" each week to hear our music and sermons, but we may not be making a single disciple.

-People may give extreme amounts of money to our churches, but their giving may simply be a substitute for having an authentic relationship with Jesus.

-Hundreds may pray to receive Christ, but only time will tell if they're true disciples who've genuinely responded to the gospel of Jesus.

I've come to realize Jesus called me into a season, a life-long journey, of learning how to make disciples, not planting churches. Actually, He's called me to come to grips with what it means to be a disciple myself. So I''m now understanding that making disciples is all that matters, and this is ultimately what we must measure.

Am I A Christian? Part 2 of 2

by Josh Duncan

I've been a little slow making part 2 of this post, so if you missed part 1, you can read it HERE.

Let's look at 2 common statements people in the south make regarding their salvation...

#1 I got saved...
Based on my upbringing and the context I've heard this phrase used, it is almost always a reference to the fact that someone has been "saved" from going to Hell. Now, before I say anything else, let me say that Jesus is the way to Heaven (and to avoid Hell); however, for someone to view salvation as purely an after death issue is to completely miss the heart of the gospel. Go back and carefully read through the New Testament. You'll notice that Jesus talked much more about life on earth than He did eternity. At the same time, it's also important to understand what Jesus meant by the Kingdom of God... this isn't just an eternal concept. The Kingdom of God is what we, as believers, have the privilege of living in right now. We are to advance His Kingdom here on this earth by joining Him in His mission. Yes, the Kingdom also has a future perspective in mind, but it must be seen as both present and future.

When you get "saved," you are to confess Jesus as Lord. You are to believe to the point of taking action. (Romans 10:9-10). This means that He is NOW your Lord... The one in control of your life. Salvation (being a Christian) isn't simply an eternal issue. Check out 2 Corinthians 5:14-21. Jesus doesn't give out fire insurance. Instead, He invites us into a relationship with Him. When you truly understand salvation, you'll realize that Heaven is merely the icing on the cake because there's much we are to experience in this life right now!

#2 I asked Jesus into my heart...
I once heard about something that happened at a local church during VBS. In their attempt to be creative in sharing the gospel with kids, they used a boat analogy. Using a real-life boat in the center of the room, they explained to the kids that when boats have leaks, the leaks need to be fixed. If the leaks aren't fixed, it can cause serious problems. They then told the kids that they (the kids) were like boats and their sin was the leaks that needed to be fixed. This was then followed-up with, "So if anyone would like a new boat, then please come forward." Needless to say, a lot of kids wanted a relationship with Jesus... a new boat. I applaud the creativity, but question whether or not the full gospel was presented. Unfortunately, presentations like this happen all too often and lead people to "ask Jesus into their heart" (give them a new boat) only to never experience true spiritual birth (salvation).

Here's my point... When someone receives the gift of salvation and surrenders their life to being a disciple of Jesus, this is a spiritual birth. It's an experience that dramatically impacts a person's life moving forward. The unfortunate thing in our culture is that many people only have a conceptual understanding of Jesus, and not a birthed relationship with Him. Many people have "intellectually" understood the concept of sin, Jesus, Heaven, church, etc, but it's never became personal and impacted how they live. They've "asked Jesus into their heart", attend church 3 times a week, and have a Jesus fish on their car. They love the concept of Jesus, but have little to no interest in truly following Him with their life. Until spiritual birth happens, this person isn't a Christian. These are Jesus' words, not mine... John 3:3-7

If I can help you better understand what it means to be a disciple of Jesus, please don't hesitate to send me an email... josh@overflowknoxville.com

My Prayer Today

By Jennifer Duncan

I need to truly believe and rest in the idea of being free in Christ. HE lived the perfect life, HE died for my sins, HE revealed himself to me, HE forgave me, HE holds my salvation.......not me! Thank you, Jesus!

I need to stop basing my relationship with Jesus on how "Christian" I feel, what I've done or not done. It is not a free pass to be lazy, but thankfully my salvation is not based on my obedience or disobedience! I want to be a better, stronger, more committed disciple. Lord, please forgive me for my laziness, my lack of discipline, my lukewarm-ness... Help me be your disciple, to abide in you all day, everyday! I need your patience, your presence, your peace. Remind me that you are there throughout the day. Urge me when I'm lazy. Calm me when I'm inpatient. Help me to be present and energetic for my kids. Help me to be encouraging and helpful to my husband. Help them see you in me.

Forgive me. I don't want to live based on emotions, good or bad. I want to rest in you and do all I can to glorify you because of the commitment I made to you. If I am out of line, call me out. When I slip, please pick me up and forgive me. Help me believe and know I am secure in you. Show me opportunities to share your love. Help me to boldly share you with others today, in my own home and wherever else I go.

Thank you for being you... For forgiving me and holding me! Be my rock today.

In Jesus name, Amen.

Am I A Christian? Part 1 of 2

by Josh Duncan

This is a question some people wrestle with more than they should. I say "more than they should" because God intends for us to KNOW His love and be confident that we are His. Consider these passages...

John 10:14
1 John 5:13

So why do people wrestle with this issue? Honestly, I believe it's because of how our culture (here in the south) has turned following Jesus into a religion built around the institution of church instead of a relationship initiated by Jesus.

I'm going to make 2 posts on this topic. In this first post, I want to deal with two common misunderstandings that have distorted salvation/following Jesus. Then, in the next post, I'll deal with the typical statements "I got saved" and "I asked Jesus into my heart".

#1 We think salvation begins with us.
Read Romans 3:10-12. Also, take a minute and read Romans 3:23-24. What do these verses say to you? Chances are you've read these passages before, but here's what they mean in regards to salvation... If it wasn't for God first loving us, we would never choose Him. Naturally, we don't want a relationship with Him. We desire to do things our way. This has been the case since Adam and Eve. Thank God that salvation begins by God first loving us and drawing us to Him! 1 John 4:19

Implications of this misunderstanding... You think it's up to you to make yourself right with God. You become confused as to who gives and keeps your salvation, which causes you to struggle with your salvation because you're basing it on your evaluation of yourself.

#2 Following Jesus means you're now to be a morally good person.
I recently talked with someone who consulted a pastor about their salvation. The pastor proceeded to tell them that if they felt guilty about the wrong things they've done, then they're most likely a Christian. Seriously? This is not grounds for determining salvation. Here's why...

Unless you have psychopathic tendencies, everyone feels emotion, including guilt and remorse. Atheists still feel bad when they do something wrong. Before I surrendered my life to Jesus, I felt bad about some of things I did. Salvation is much more than a moral issue; it's more than feeling guilty about something. Should you feel guilty about your sin? Yes, but has that guilt led you to true repentance and surrender? (I'll discuss that in the next post) Following Jesus is not primarily about attending church each Sunday, being a morally good person, gaining a college education, buying a home, getting married, and having 2.5 kids. Despite the fact that these things are what most Christians prioritize, following Jesus is much more than this.

Implications of this misunderstanding... You adhere to religious routines more than the Holy Spirit. You're constantly up and down in how you "feel" about God (or how you think God feels about you) because it's based off how good of person you are instead of the sufficiency of Jesus. You may be completely missing out on the joy of knowing Jesus.

Stay tuned for the next post when I'll discuss the misunderstandings behind the statements "I got saved" and "I asked Jesus into my heart."

Time with Our Father for Parents

by Jennifer Duncan

God Bless Parents! 

 Grocery shopping

 Before kids...                                   After kids...
                    

Dinner out

Before kids...                                     After kids...

        

Laundry

Before kids...                                    After kids...

      

Your house

Before kids...                                     After kids...

   

Juggling your career

Before kids...                               After kids...

              

Vacation

Before kids...                               After kids...

Being a parent can be a tough job, but there is truly no greater blessing! 

A lot of times we feel as if all we do goes unnoticed by our kids or spouses. Thankfully, our Father sees all we do and blesses us for our attempts to be Godly parents. We need to acknowledge that being a parent is an awesome responsibility God has blessed us with, and even when we are exhausted and our patience has ran out, we need to remember even our small, routine tasks should be done as worship to God. We tend to forget, as we've been learning, that our family and our home is the church, too. We have the opportunity, through being a parent, to show our kids and our spouse the love of Jesus. 

“Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.” Ephesians 6:7

Unfortunately, we, as parents, don't abide in God's grace enough, and we end our day stressed out, frustrated and dreading tomorrow. And the many, many times we fall short, we forget He is the one who sustains us and gives us the energy to preserver day after day. This should take a gigantic load off our shoulders and make us shout "Hallelujah!!"

“The Lord directs the steps of the godly.  He delights in every detail of their lives.  Though they may stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.”  Psalm 37:23-24

As I have discovered in my own life as a wife and mom of two small boys, if I don't begin my day totally centered on Jesus, by 9am I'm toast! Quiet, alone time with God, in prayer, study of the Scripture and listening to the Spirit is priceless as a parent. This quiet time with our Father (the best parent ever!) can be very hard to come by and may require some sacrifice and changing of priorities in our life. Maybe we need to get up earlier, or sacrifice time on the computer or watching TV, to have this one on one time with Jesus. 

Join me as I, we, strive to be more Godly parents and prioritize time with our Father everyday! I want to live in His grace and power to lead my kids in worship in our home each day!

          

Less Church Could Be Beneficial (WARNING: This is intense)

This is perhaps the most difficult post I've ever made because it confesses publicly much of what I've had to confess privately to God over the last two years. I'm sharing it not to boast in myself, but to challenge you to be who Jesus truly wants you to be.

Until two years ago, I was constantly in church. By this, I mean I was actively involved in the activities that took place at the church building. I was consistently there Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, and any other time something was going on. I was an avid churchgoer and even worked hard to get others to go to church with me.

As my life progressed, I met Jennifer, we got married, moved off to a new city, and we had to find a church to go to, which we did. Then, as I had always done, we sold out to the church... We were there for every service, every activity, and willing to invite others to come with us. I even became convinced that I could reach more people for Jesus if I pulled myself out of the normal rhythms of life and became a full-time church employee. God then allowed for this to happen. I had a full-time job working at a church, and I was now the one providing the leadership and activities for people to come, participate, and sell out to.

Before I say anything else, let me say that I'm so thankful for my past experiences. Without them, God wouldn't be moving in my life the way He is now. Nevertheless, I must be brutally honest about how God is now moving in my life...

Here's the ugly part of my church-going days and the truth I'm willing to say that most avid church-goers won't... I was a much better church-goer than I was a biblical disciple of Jesus. Honestly, being an avid church-goer was much easier than what I'm currently experiencing... easier, but not better. Let me explain.

Jesus never told me or you to go to church. He never told us to sell out to the church, be actively involved in all the services, bible studies, and activities of the church. You may ask, "Doesn't the Bible say we shouldn't forsake the assembling of ourselves together?" Yes. It does: Hebrews 10:24-25. However, the church as we've come to know it (generally speaking) is not what we're told to not forsake.

If you really want to look at this verse, it tells us what should be happening in these meetings... People encouraging one another to follow Jesus... We see this all throughout the book of Acts... People interacting with people through teaching, prayer, meeting needs, etc.

Where in Scripture do we see church described as an impersonal, mostly non-relational setting, where a few "expert professionals" spend a majority of their efforts preparing, organizing, and leading services so that the other 80-90% of people can merely consume what's being provided? Most pastors wouldn't say this because they depend on this model of church for their paycheck. I can say this because I was one of those people pushing the church agenda. I didn't realize my own selfish motives and insecurities until God exposed how many of my decisions were rooted in things other than making disciples.

Now, sermons, music, ministries, programs and some of the things we've come accustomed to aren't necessarily wrong. To some degree they can be important and helpful, but that isn't what the Bible defines as church. Our denominations and life-experiences may teach us that this is church, but Jesus doesn't. He actually says things like... Matthew 7:21-23 and Matthew 9:13. In these verses Jesus is basically saying, "I realize you did your church activities, but I never knew you personally as my disciple.

The real issue at hand is that most southern "Christians" identify more with their church than they do with Jesus. This is a major problem. Do you know what it means to follow Jesus? Can you describe what a surrendered life to Jesus looks like in terms other than being actively involved in the services and activities your church provides? Do you know how to talk to someone about Jesus without having to invite them to your church?

Why am I saying all of this? Because I reached a point where God was saying all of this to me. He was convicting me about my adherence to the church and my lack of surrender to His Spirit in my life on a daily basis. I was more focused on getting people to church than I was leading them to Jesus.

Due to the type of "church" God led us to start two years, we've had to die to the current modes of church and become much more focused on teaching people to follow Jesus throughout the rhythms of life instead of having multiple services each week, programs, and ministries for people to attend. We didn't fully get this at first, but we're making great strides now. As a result, we do one organized "church" gathering a week, where we're trying to encourage and train people to live out their faith, build relationships, and listen to the Spirit throughout the rhythms of their life. We hope their identity is found in Jesus not our church. During this time, some have said they need more church activities and have moved on. Some of this may have been our fault for not initially focusing enough on relationships and discipleship, but we haven't forced the issue with them and have graciously received their decision. For those who are experiencing Jesus with us, God's genuinely teaching us what it means to be a disciple, not a church-goer.

I wasn't a good disciple (according to how Jesus describes it), and I didn't even know how to be one when my life was consumed by "church" stuff. I'm far from having this figured out, but I'm much closer to Jesus now than I was a couple years ago even though I do far less "church" stuff. In the end, I can only blame myself for not previously taking the time to read Scripture and come to know Jesus apart from the filter of church-culture I had come to know.

As I wrap this up, I'm assuming you are thinking one of a few things...

-This makes so much sense... If this is you, what are you going to do about it? Don't just agree with what I've said. Get on your knees before God, repent, and ask Him to move you in the directed HE wants. That's what I did, and I'm growing from it and leading my family much better!

-I'm heavily involved in my church, and I follow Jesus... Good! I am too. Let's hold each other accountable that we don't elevate our church involvement over following Jesus daily. Let's make sure we're sharing our faith with people who don't yet know Jesus and not merely hanging out as a Christian social club.

-This is ridiculous... If this is you, please just ensure your opinions are not based on your preferences or what you've come to know through your church, pastor, or denomination. Instead, ensure you're opinions are supported with a systematic overview of Scripture centered on Jesus as Lord.

Praying Can Be The Wrong Thing To Do

I grew up in "church" culture. My dad was pastoring a small church when I was born, so since my conception, I've been around church. While I'm grateful for all my church experience, all this time around the church has also developed some habits that aren't biblical nor Spirit-led. Let me explain...

One of the first things I learned about in church was prayer. Obviously, we are commanded to pray in Scripture. Prayer is a vital part of following Jesus. However, I think within the church (at least what I've experienced) we tend to use prayer as an excuse to not obey.

Here's how we do this...

We pray about things we've already been commanded to do
The Bible is full of commands for us to do as followers of Jesus. You don't need to pray about what the Bible has already told you to do. When you chose to pray instead of obey, you're being disobedient. For example, the Bible tells all believers to make disciples. So when you're presented with an opportunity to make a disciple and grow in your understanding of this, you shouldn't pray about it. You just need to do it!

We offer to pray for someone instead of meeting their needs
I think this is what James was talking about in James 2:14-17. It's much easier for us to say to someone, "I'll pray that God opens up a door for you" than for us to actually meet the need someone may have. Something our church is trying to do is to start meeting needs and responding to people as soon as possible. The changes we've made to our Sunday gatherings are making this possible. Yes, there are times when prayer is needed, but most often, God has already met the need if we would just be willing to look within ourselves.

We pray instead of making a decision
Sometimes God will align all the pieces, confirm something from multiple perspectives, and then leave it up to us to finalize the decision and move forward. In these situations, we don't need to continue to pray about what God has already made clear. I've seen this happen from so many different perspectives... in my own life, as a member of a church, and even when serving on a church staff. I've seen God make it clear what needs to happen, but instead of taking action, we remain passive under the excuse "Let's just keep praying about it." I've discovered we typically use prayer as an excuse in these situations when the step God's revealed requires change and adjustment that will most likely disrupt the status quo.

Should you pray. Yes, pray often, but you must also listen and respond to the Holy Spirit who is constantly calling us to obey.

In my next post, I'll talk about how attending church less often has made me a better follower of Jesus, so be sure to stay tuned for that.

How Are Things Going?

This is a question that most of us use many times each day during informal interaction with others. It may vary to some degree, such as us saying, "How's life?" but this is a common question we ask and get asked ourselves. Typically, our replies are honestly very shallow. We say things like "Good." or "Doing great." However, if we're being truthful, we quite often answer this question with a lie. We say things are good when they are bad. We give the impression we're loving life when we're actually drowning in misery wondering if things will ever turn around.

I thought I'd challenge all of us to honestly wrestle with this question... How are things going?... Are they going well? Do you feel like life is falling apart?

I believe it's essential for us to pause regularly, reflect on the circumstances of life, and make some adjustments. As you've probably heard it said before, insanity is doing the same thing over and over but hoping for a different result. Too many of us are driving ourselves insane because we aren't reflecting and adjusting on a regular basis.

Here a few reflections I've been making over the last couple of days in regards to our church...

For the past two months, we've been casting a fresh outlook on our vision and making some significant changes to how we think and act. Our Sunday morning gatherings have a completely different feel, but this is only the first step in a foundational-shift that we are trying to make. So how are things going?

Attendance was higher in June than it was in May, but attendance isn't really the key measuring point for us.

Here's what I'm celebrating... Connections! Throughout the month of June, we've seen people connect unlike at any other point in the life of our church. People are sharing burdens and getting to know each other. We've made this a major priority via our Overflow Connections, which are now a regular/weekly part of our Sunday gatherings. People are responding to each other's needs immediately. They aren't waiting on a pastor to give them permission. They are listening to the Holy Spirit and responding as they see a need.

At the same time, preparations are being made to increase our number of Overflow Connections as the fall approaches so we can better care for the people God connects to us!

Additionally, our understanding of success has radically changed. For example... we've been consistent in doing community events as a church, but our previous idea of success was a large crowd. We'd often celebrate the hundreds who would attend an event we organized. However, we've had to come to understand that large crowds doesn't equal success. For us, the only thing that ultimately matters at community events are connections. Did the people connected to The Overflow connect with people they didn't know? Did people from The Overflow learn the names of new people? If we don't connect with the community beyond giving them free food, fun, and thanking them for coming, we're missing the point!

When I reflect on the bigger picture, the entire makeup of our church has dramatically changed. Over the past 6 months, we've went from a mostly young (under 30) crowd to a very diverse crowd with ages, backgrounds, church experiences, etc all varying dramatically. I love the diversity that God's bringing together!

Looking ahead, we must begin to see people change how they view and live as disciples Monday-Saturday. We also must begin to take steps toward launching new Overflow Communities and then see this actually happen.

So what about you? Stop today and do some reflecting! Let God examine and reveal what's really going on.

-Husbands, ask your wife what you can do to ease her burdens.
-Wives, ask your husbands how you can support and encourage them more.
-Parents, ask your kids what they'd like to do for fun with you. 

So The Heat Won The Title...

I'm still not for sure who I was pulling for in the NBA finals. I'm not really a fan of either team, but I do like and appreciate the abilities of certain players from each team. I guess the naturally-acceptable thing to do is to hate the Heat, but why all the hate? I know it's mostly because three big-time players decided to join together to pursue the title, but did we hate on previous trios such as Bird, McHale, and Parish (Celtics), Magic, Worthy, and Kareem (Lakers), or Jordan, Pippen, and Rodman (Bulls)?

So the Heat won, and here's why I'm blogging about this...

Miami (specifically Lebron) had everyone hating on them, and perhaps rightly so because of the arrogance they displayed when they decided to join forces. Nevertheless, they demonstrated what each of us has the potential to do toward our critics... Show them we can't be stopped! Show them we will overcome, and we will be victorious!

Today, maybe the devil (our biggest critic and enemy) is seeking to ruin your life. He's wants to beat you down, distract you, and leave you feeling miserable. He's calling you a failure and wanting you to believe you won't make it. He says your family isn't worth fighting for. He leads you to think your kids don't really want your attention.

Now, it's time to claim victory and rise to the occasion, but you can't do this in your own strength. It must come from your relationship with Jesus. He is your source of victory, so follow His lead, trust in His power, and claim the victory that He's made available to you because of His love, power, and grace!

Giving Birth

by Josh Duncan

Giving birth is a topic that's obviously been on my mind lately. On June 8, we were blessed with the birth of our second child, Kolton Josiah. These past few days have been full of excitement, lots of food (thanks to our amazing family and friends), and less sleep. Nevertheless, these past few days have made me once again fully aware of the process of giving birth... the anticipation, pain, adjustments, and excitement.

Anticipation comes from waiting on the baby to arrive, making plans, picking out a name (and for us that means not telling anyone and watching them suffer, ha ha), and looking forward to how your current kid will interact with the new one.

Pain comes from the pregnancy and process of giving birth. I won't even start to act like I've experienced pain through this process, but I know Jennifer has. Pregnancy and labor are both extremely painful, tiresome, and seemingly endless at times.

Adjustments are the needed changes to your life and routines you must make once the baby is born. Immediately things must and will change. They're no longer as they once were, yet they quickly feel as if they've always been this way. You have to establish new routines and let go of certain comforts you once had.

Excitement arrives as you begin to see the baby progress. You watch has he begins to open his eyes no longer being blinded by the light. Those first smiles, even though you know they aren't "real" smiles, only leaving you wanting more. You dream about their future and their potential. You're excited because you'd never go back to how it was before!

Why all this talk on giving birth?... Giving birth is also something that's been on my mind in regards to our church as well. As we've been sharing for the past couple months, our commitment moving forward is to make disciples, and because of this, the day is coming (I believe within the next year) where we will give birth as a community of believers. We're praying for and anticipating the opportunity to multiply our efforts and start a new Overflow Community.

For us, church is not about building buildings or gathering 1,000s of attendees at a weekly worship service. We want to give birth to new communities that are committed to making disciples who overflow their faith throughout the rhythms of life. When this time comes, I imagine there will be much anticipation, pain, adjustments, and excitement, but it will all be for the glory of Jesus and the advancement of His Kingdom!

Something Different Happened

by Josh Duncan

Something different happened yesterday at our Sunday gathering. We...

• Started being the church, and we stopped merely attending church. 
• Spent more time in conversations and interactions than we did singing songs or listening to a message (even though we still did both of those).
• Prioritized sitting in circles more than sitting in rows. 
• Had so many people participating in the Overflow Connections that we're already planning to add more!

One of the things I enjoyed seeing the most were the instant connections we were able to make with first-time guests. We weren't waiting on them to fill out a card or come to a table. Connections were naturally made with  first-time guests!

All of this was great, and as we move forward, I'm sure it'll only continue to get better as people come each week anticipating the opportunity to truly connect with others. However, we can't afford to miss the central focus of everything that happened yesterday... Jesus expects us to do greater works than He did (John 14:12), so what works will you accomplish this week? 

As followers of Jesus, we're expected to overflow our faith throughout the rhythms of life. This isn't up for negotiation. We must be actively listening to the Holy Spirit and responding to Him throughout our day. As someone said yesterday in the Overflow Connection I was in... Understanding what Jesus expects of us means that we no longer merely see "a person with a face" as we interact with people throughout our week; instead, we must now see "a person with present potential and an eternal future!"

God wants to accomplish a great work in and through you this week. He's equipped you with the Holy Spirit to help make this happen. Now, just listen, obey, and let's connect together again this coming Sunday to share what God's doing in our lives!

Can You Imagine What Sundays Would Be Like If...

by Josh Duncan


we spent less time looking at the back of people's heads and more time having face-to-face conversations?

we spent more time getting to know each other and praying with each other?

the pastor's message or the style of music was no longer the centerpiece of Sunday morning?

being a part of a church wasn't about attendance but about living authentically as a group of imperfect people who are being transformed by a perfect God?

everything we did reflected our desire to join Jesus in His mission to see people become followers of Him?

we measured "success" by what happens 7 days a week instead of just on Sundays?

As a church, we're trying to imagine these things. We've been casting vision for a new perspective on church, and this Sunday, we're continuing the process of making these practical changes by creating a new atmosphere and experience on Sunday mornings. For us, Sundays are no longer only about sitting in rows listening to music and preaching, but it's about doing life together as a community of people. Start the journey with us this Sunday. Connect with our community. We're praying God will multiply our efforts throughout the city so that dozens if not hundreds of authentic communities of Jesus followers will join Him in His mission rather than merely be content with attending a service on Sunday!

Honest Confessions (from someone who started planting a church 2 years ago)

by Josh Duncan

I'm not going to lie and say that the thought of pastoring the next megachurch never crossed my mind over 2 years ago when we felt God call us to start a church. Honestly, I was convinced I knew everything I needed to know and was ready to set the world on fire for Jesus. I wish I could play the humble card and say that it was always all about Jesus, and that I didn't care how many people showed up each Sunday, but that wouldn't be exactly true.

Look, these thoughts that crossed my mind were not discussed with anyone, and if you've ever pursued anything, I'm sure you've had similar thoughts about what great success would look like and you allowed that to push you forward. Here was my problem though...

1. I was completely blind to these thoughts within my own life...
Ever so casually, one seemingly small decision after another, I made decisions that reflected my hope of building the church. The issue is Jesus never told me to build the church. He told me (and all followers of Jesus) to make disciples, and that He would build the church. Somehow, in all my years of "church," I missed that. I missed that our mission isn't about preaching, worship styles, buildings, budgets, websites, meetings, etc.


2. Jesus really doesn't care how many people attend a worship service that's mostly an impersonal environment where people can show up and leave without ever truly interacting with anyone... I believed that success was found in what could easily be measured. How many people are showing up? Is our attendance increasing? Are the offerings increasing?... The truth is if you're truly making disciples, you will see an increase in all of these over time. However, I've had to realize that just because you break attendance barriers (or don't break them as fast as someone else) doesn't mean that you're succeeding or failing. You can have 1,000s (or dozens) at your weekly service and not be making a single disciple. Jesus wants disciples...people who truly surrender and begin to follow Him.

3. God knows our motives, and He will expose them...
You say you want to do this or that.... Will you let God ask you WHY?

For example, someone says they want to be a pastor or start a church... Why?

Do you like to preach? Do you hate your "secular" job?

These are absolutely the wrong reasons to be a pastor or start a church. I believe Jesus would ask, "Do you have a heart for making disciples? Are you pouring your life into your family, neighbors, and co-workers? Are you making disciples within the church you currently attend?" If you're waiting on a paycheck or "title" to do what God's called all believers to do, then your motives are self-centered and not in-tune with His Kingdom.

My challenge to you is the same challenge God has given to me... Don't be obsessed with how big your church is or isn't. (It's His church anyway) Start following Jesus more than you do your favorite pastor or author. Start loving your family with all you have. Start pouring your life and faith into the people around you. Spend time with people. Invite them into your life. Invest your spiritual journey into them. Surrender to Jesus as Lord and call the Christians around you to do the same. It's time to be the church and to quit playing church one-day a week!

Do You Care? Time Will Tell

by Josh Duncan

I was reminded of a statement I recently made that went something like this, "If you care about something, you'll make time for it." For example, here in Knoxville, UT football is only a few months away, and people all across this state will be clearing schedules and making time to watch the game each Saturday. It's safe to say that people care about UT football because they make time to give their attention to it.

When it comes to following Jesus, your family, and being a part of the church, I've often heard people say things such as, "I care about my relationship with Jesus" or "I really care about the church" (the people, not the building or the service). However, I want to challenge each of us to wrestle with the reality of our situations. We often say we care, but do we prioritize our time to the things we say we care about?

Why time? Why is time the true test? Time is the ultimate test because time is the one thing you can't get more of unlike money or resources. We all have the exact same 86,400 seconds in a day. While there are some variables for each of us related to things such as jobs, essentially, we must choose how we will spend our time. As a result, how you choose to spend your time reflects what you care about most. (I understand some people must work multiple jobs to provide for their family, so scenarios like this are not what I'm discussing here)

So, give yourself a test as a follower of Jesus...

Does Jesus get a slice of your time on a consistent basis? 
Okay, I know Jesus is with you everywhere you go, and you should be sensitive to that, but everywhere you go there's usually someone else (kids, spouse, co-workers, etc) or something else (other cars, radio, cell phone, etc). When does Jesus get QUALITY time with you?  When do you shut off everything around you, read His Word, and spend time with Him and Him alone? Jesus cared about His relationship with the Father, and this is evidenced by the fact that He gave quality time alone with the Father on a regular basis (see Luke 5:16). If Jesus did this, do we really think it's optional or excusable for us to not do the same?

Do you spend time with your family?
When was the last time you had a real conversation with your spouse? kids? I'm not talking about a discussion over who should get voted off American Idol, but a real conversation where you are discussing life. When was the last time your family had your undivided attention both physically and mentally? It's so easy to think that because you're physically present that your're giving them your time. I can speak from personal experience and say that you're not present unless you're both mentally (mind is focused on them and not everything else you need to do) and physically there. The Bible says family time is where we make disciples and teach those closest to us how to follow Jesus (see Deuteronomy 6:1-9).

Do you spend time with your church family?
I'm not talking about merely attending a service where you may very well not talk to or interact with anyone. Do you regularly converse, encourage, and pray with other believers? Scripture gives a command to obey, not an option to consider, in Hebrews 10:24-25. The Bible says we are to love one another as believers. It's hard to express that love when you don't spend quality time with the people you're supposed to care about.

So, how did you do? Honestly, I need to improve some in each area. I'm challenging you because God's challenging me. It's time that followers of Jesus stop playing games and allow God to expose the imbalances and misuse of our most precious commodity, TIME.

Challenge from Sunday

by Josh Duncan


As we closed out our "Defining Church" series, I issued a big challenge to everyone. On May 6th, we said that we're no longer defining church as a service you attend or place you go to. Instead, we said church is Jesus guiding His people who are called out as a spiritual family to pursue His mission. At the same time, Sundays are still important because we should gather together as the church, but this changes how we view that gathering on Sundays.


In connection with this, I challenged everyone who considers Overflow to be their church family, to take a step forward and share in some of the responsibilities that take place on Sundays. When the responsibilities aren't shared properly shared by each part, certain people carry too much of the weight, and they are overworked and under-cared for. Now that we're no longer viewing "church" as a service where a few people do all the work and most people merely attend, it's essential that everyone share in the work necessary for us to gather on Sundays. However, I also clarified that sharing in the responsibilities is not the end goal for you. We believe Jesus wants you to be His disciple overflowing your faith in the rhythms of life. Helping out with these responsibilities is just part of supporting the church.


Since we've decided to not pursue a permanent building (check out previous blog posts for more on this), this means we'll always have some setup and tear down to do. The trade-off is we'll have more freedom to use our resources to bless others and spread the gospel. We're reorganizing our setup and tear down process to simplify everything as much as possible. As a result, we'll have a team of 7 people who do the setup and tear down each week: Kyle, myself, the sound tech and trailer driver for the day, and 3 scheduled volunteers. The goal I issued was that if 30 people would help fill those final 3 volunteer spots, no one would have to help with setup and tear down more than 1 time every 10 weeks! Good news... people responded, and we're right at 30. But did you respond? If not, email me (josh@theoverflowknox.com) to let me know you'll be 1 of the 30. Hey, if we get 40, it's only 1 time every 3 months! Now that's sharing the responsibility!


With the changes coming on Sunday morning starting June 3rd, I also shared how it's important to ensure that our kids volunteers don't have to volunteer more than one time each month. In order for this to happen, we challenged people to share the responsibility of loving and investing into our kids. Several people stepped up to help once each month, but again, the more people who help, the more the responsibility can be shared. Email me if you're willing to help out.


Finally, I challenged everyone to examine their financial giving. Our new format on Sunday mornings will allow us to be more in tune with the needs people may have or be aware of. I'm so excited about using even more of our resources to bless the people in our church and the people we know at our work places, neighborhoods, etc who are in need. As each person faithfully responds to give as God leads them, we'll have even more resources available to meet needs. 


Perhaps you can start giving something if you haven't been giving at all. Maybe you commit to give consistently if your giving has been sporadic. Others may need to pray about tithing or increasing your giving. Giving and financial generosity is not something we want FROM you, but it's what God wants FOR you. It may seem strange, but giving is a blessing to the giver. God uses this expression of our faith to strengthen our confidence in Him. When you give, it's like you're saying to God, "I trust you as my provider."


Thank you to each person who responded on Sunday!

How Did We Get Here?

by Josh Duncan

When it comes to the direction our church is headed, it's important for each person to realize how we've arrived at this point. At first glance, you may want to assume these shifts were the result of one person's decisions or something we just randomly decided to do a month ago.

(No, I didn't receive emails or comments that have prompted this blog post. I just felt it's important for you to get a picture of the decision making process, which ultimately began more than 2 years ago...)

It begins with God and His vision for this church. Over two years ago, God began to birth a vision within Jennifer and me. We then began to share that vision with others. From the beginning, it was a vision that called us to not see church as a building or all about Sundays, but as a way to live life. We knew God was calling this church to be a movement that wasn't restricted to a specific location and consisted of small communities all over the city.

We moved forward planning and preparing to see this vision become reality. We did this assuming we could cast a unique vision of church by packaging "church" differently (by different we meant contemporary on Sundays). So, we found ourselves talking about being the church and not seeing church as a Sunday event or building, yet a large majority of our planning, strategies, resources, etc were going into Sunday morning. Before long, I realized there was a disconnect between the vision we were casting and actions we were doing. While God was still touching people's lives, we weren't being true to the vision He gave us. We were way too focused on Sunday services. (For this, I apologize to those of you who were lost in the shuffle of us doing church. I apologize that we didn't prioritize helping you become the disciple of Jesus He wants you to be.) 

The truth is, God was convicting my heart for my actions. Ultimately, I was responsible for who we were becoming, which wasn't the church God wanted us to be. I had to come to grips with the reality that contemporary churches and traditional churches often share the exact same problem.... When making disciples isn't the focus, you create a consumer driven church that fails to give people Jesus and real relationships.

As we moved into the fall last year, I began to revisit this initial vision with Kyle (our worship pastor) and the men who hold us accountable (team of men and pastors who support our church from the outside). I knew for our church to take its next steps in line with the initial vision, we'd have to make some significant shifts. During this time, God was radically transforming my life as a disciple. This was essential if I was going to lead our church to make these shifts. I had to change what I cared about, and I had to give up the way of doing church that I had come to know. 

Kyle and I then began having conversations with dozens of people in our church who had already demonstrated and communicated a desire to "be" the church and to make disciples. We began talking about the shifts we'd need to make, and we began to gauge what the Spirit was leading us to do. Unless there was a clear leading of the Holy Spirit stirring within the people, we knew the shift couldn't happen. This process was more than 6 months leading up to May 6 when we began sharing our next steps to the whole church. You can read about those shifts in these two posts...

-This Changes Everything
-What's Exactly Changing?

It's important to note there were two types of decisions made in this process.

1) General/Big Picture Changes: This took months of prayer, discernment, and conversations to sense the leading of the Spirit within the people. It became clear that God had brought together a group of people who were ready to make this shift. This decision wasn't made by Kyle and me. It was done in response to how the Spirit was moving within our people. The decision wasn't what to do, but would we respond to what had become clear for us to do. Kyle and I felt we had no other option but to lead our church to obey what God was leading.

2) Practical changes: These would be the changes to the Sunday morning environment and how this vision would practically play out throughout our church. These decisions were to ultimately be made by Kyle and myself because we had the time to wrestle through all the options and variables. We knew what the people were feeling led to do generally, so it was up to us to research and evaluate what we're doing to help make the best transition. At the same time, we still received some feedback from people who were first connected to the big picture vision of the church. We listened to those people who were committed to and invested in the big picture shifts we were making. 

What's Exactly Changing?

by Josh Duncan

Over the past two weeks we've been "Defining Church" and communicating what this means for us moving forward. You can catch up by...

Watching the last two messages
Downloading the audio
Reading the blog post, "This Changes Everything."

In this post, I want to describe a few things specifically related to these changes. First, I'll define a few terms from a biblical perspective, and then I'll answer some questions from a practical perspective.


(This will be a VERY long post because I assumed putting everything in one post would be easier than making multiple posts. So maybe read a little bit over the course of several days. At the same time, I'd encourage you to read the entire post before making assumptions about what I'm saying.)


Church: Jesus, guiding His people called out as a spiritual family, to pursue His mission on the planet.
Before I say anything else, please notice the first word in the definition. It's Jesus. Jesus is the head of the church. Jesus existed before the church. Jesus determines the mission, and He's invited the church to join Him in His mission. There is no other mission than the mission He's called us to pursue. When you misplace Jesus in your understanding of church, you'll misplace Him in your expression of church.

Okay, yes, the definition of church above is a somewhat vague definition of church. Yes, I believe the church should have pastors and leaders. Yes, I believe the church should gather on Sunday. However, when you get down to it, we must understand that church is not a weekly service or a building. When Jesus said in Matthew 16:18 that He would build His church, He wasn't thinking buildings or worship services. Take some time to study the original meaning of the Greek word behind "church" and what the early church (the people) did. They fully submitted to Christ and sought to follow Him in all areas of their life as a collective family. Yes, they gathered together, but the gathering didn't define them. Their identity was following Jesus as Lord on a daily basis and joining in His mission.

I fully realize we are living about 2000 years after Christ and "church" today in the Southeastern US looks a lot different than it did then. Honestly, everything about life looks different than it did then. However, just because everything has changed, doesn't mean the main thing of the gospel has changed. The goal has never been to "get people to church." The mission has always been to make disciples. Therefore, whatever method of "church" we use is only effective if we make disciples. 

On a side note, as you read through this, if you haven't taken time to do the study and research, then you can't really agree or disagree with what I've said already or will say below. Believe me, everything God has taught me about church and being a disciple has radically changed over the last two years. It's been a process. I've tried to ignore it, but His Spirit and His Word don't change just because I've become conditioned to see something (church) from a certain way.

This has all been hard for me to come to grips with. It's been hard to accept that my way of doing church looks radically different from His way and that I hadn't made His mission my mission. I've had to die to my flesh, which I must continue to do, repent of my impure motives, and start becoming a disciple myself. I've repented of my failure to make disciples within my own rhythms of life. I've confessed to our church my struggle with this and how I felt that at times we've been casting one vision of church with our lips yet doing something different in our actions. At the same time, I've challenged our church to take this next step forward and become who we've talked about being all along.

The problem with much of what we do as "church" in our culture is that it doesn't teach people how to follow Jesus 7 days a week within the rhythms of life (be a disciple). We've made a church-culture that basically says, some people preach, some people sing, and others attend. Therefore, let's gather together on Sunday, let the preachers preach, the singers sing, the attenders attend, and then we'll all be doing our part for God. The issue is that disciples aren't made in non-relational settings like church services. Jesus, our original example, made disciples through relationships. Worship services aren't wrong, but they can't be what "steers the church" because they don't make disciples. Unfortunately, a vast majority of most church's plans, leadership, and resources go into organizing worship services and ministries that simply aren't making disciples.

(Okay, perhaps at this point you should take a break, process through this, study the Bible, talk with God, maybe even research how the gospel is actually spreading in other places, and then come back later to read more.)

The mission: Make disciples. What's a disciple...

Disciple: Follower of Jesus, who listens to God and does what He says. (See Matthew 28:19-20 and take some time to study how the early Christians understood "Jesus as Lord.") 
Disciples are not the "elite" or most visible Christians in the church as many people in our culture think. The Bible doesn't separate Christians from disciples. If Jesus is your Lord, you are to be a disciple... someone who listens to God and does what He says. As a disciple, you are to then join Jesus in HIS mission... making disciples/bringing people to accept and follow Him as Lord. The disciples are to do this together, collectively, as the called out ones of Jesus, as the church!

Therefore, we're changing what we care about as a church. Everything we do must be fueled by the desire to join God in His mission of making disciples. There's no way to paint this picture fully through a blog, so I'll just invite you to listen to the messages or better yet, start connecting with us and experience it for yourself.

So what does this mean practically for us....

Are we stopping Sunday services?
NO. However, what we do on Sundays and the way we view Sundays is changing. We've asked people to stop seeing Sunday as the main thing that defines them as a follower of Jesus. Instead, we want them to see Sunday as a gathering of the church... the people who are living for Jesus 7 days each week.

Practically speaking, beginning June 3rd, our start time is moving back to 10:30. We'll still have a gathering time where the band plays and teaching takes place. This will be basically identical to what we've always done with the addition of more testimonies and stories from the people who are following Jesus throughout the rhythms of their life.

The big change is that this time will only last about 45-50minutes instead of 75-90minutes. Then, the remainder of the time (30-45minutes) will be used to group people together for a time of connection, care, prayer, and celebration. This means we'll be fading out "small groups" as we have them right now even though those same people may still be gathering only now it will take place on Sundays as part of our gathering time.

Doesn't this approach exclude people who don't yet follow Jesus?
I've learned that people will ultimately become what you want them to become within the church. If you want new Christians to be attendees at a service, then you focus on your service. If you want them to be volunteers, you'll focus on your volunteer ministries, etc, etc.

We want people to become disciples and follow Jesus as Lord throughout their rhythms of life because this is what Jesus wants. Therefore, we think the best way for them to get a picture of being a disciple is to do life with those who are already following Jesus. This includes inviting them to gather with the church on Sundays! So no, it doesn't exclude them. This will actually create an authentic gathering where people can ask questions and seek Christ without being judged or condemned, which is an environment we already have in place to some degree. I talk more about how we'll reach the unbelievers in the message from Sunday, May 13th if you want to hear more.

How are we making disciples?
These adjustments will help change the way we view church, but this time on Sunday alone will not make disciples. Our time on Sunday will help people better understand how to be a disciple and how others are doing that, but our intentional way of making disciples is this...

For the past 2 months or so, I've been developing a team of people to lead in the disciple-making process. This group of people will soon begin meeting in small hubs of 3-5 people (Discipleship Connections) during the week about 2-3 times each month. These hubs will be focused on helping people grow in Christ and stay accountable to a vision of...

UP (what is God saying to me)
IN (how do I need to be encouraged by other believers or what struggles do I need to confess to them)
OUT (who can I/am I sharing my faith with).

As necessary or once a hub reaches 6 people, the group will then become 2 hubs. People will be added to these hubs as disciples make disciples through the everyday rhythms of life and/or through our Sunday gatherings.

What's the big picture goal?
More than anything else, we desire to help people become the disciple of Jesus they were meant to be. Therefore, we want to begin thinking of ourselves as a COMMUNITY of disciples on mission (like a small church of 50-100 people). Eventually, as we're making disciples and developing leaders, we'll launch new communities. This one community will become 2, 3, 4, potentially dozens, or 100s of communities all across the area in the years to come. Each community will function within the social space of approximately 30-100 people. They'll be small enough to care for one-another, but big enough to make an impact. These communities will live as disciples throughout the week, gather together on Sundays, and connect in Discipleship Connections as mentioned above. They will have biblical leaders/elders and function as a small church whose primary focus is making disciples. Just as each disciple needs to make disciples, each community should launch new communities.

So, once our current community/church becomes multiple communities (2 or 3), these communities will meet individually on Sunday as small churches. However, one Sunday each month we'll bring all of the communities back together for a large celebration to share stories of how God is moving within each community. By doing this, our focus is obviously no longer to build a large weekly service where 100s or 1,000s may attend each week. Instead, we want to make disciples who make disciples who gather together as a community (50-100 people) that seeks to launch new communities within the larger picture of what we're calling Overflow Knoxville! (NOTICE THE NAME CHANGE)

Are we against mega-churches and other expressions of the church?
I can't believe I even have to answer this, but I know someone is thinking we are... We are absolutely not against either. While I believe we must be willing to wrestle with what is truly happening when large crowds gather weekly to merely "attend a service," it doesn't really matter what a church does in terms of worship services if it's intentional about making disciples. My only question to anyone would be, what's "steering the church?" Is it the service on Sunday? Dozens of ministries? or Making disciples?

I'm friends with pastors and church planters who do "church" a lot different than we will, but they are truly making disciples.This is not a big-church vs small-church debate. We are for the church (the people of God) in every expression in every location!!!!! At the end of the day, making disciples is all that matters, so let's allow that to unite us!

Questions Answered, (Final part)

by Josh Duncan

This is the final part of the "You Asked For It" blog posts. You can check out the other parts by clicking on the links below...

-WATCH the messages
-Download the AUDIO from the messages:
-Blog Part 1, Part 2, Part 3


Why is homosexuality a sin? Is it worse than others?

Like some of the other topics we've dealt with, this is yet another very controversial issue in today's culture. Especially in light of the President's recent comments about this issue, the view of the Bible is becoming less and less accepted. Nevertheless, the tides of culture can't change how we interpret Scripture, so here are some thoughts related to this question above.

The person who asked this question seems to have already concluded that homosexuality is a sin (note the wording of the question). It's a sin because sin is anything that violates God's standards. God's standard for sex is that it's expressed between a man and a woman within the context of marriage. Any form of sex outside of this standard is sin. So, in order to move forward understanding what the Bible says, here are some passages that indicate homosexuality is a violation of this standard:
Leviticus 18:20, 20:13, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Romans 1:26-28.

While the Bible says homosexuality is a sin, I get overly frustrated when homosexuality is openly condemned as some "elite" sin within the church. Yes, it's obviously a lifestyle sin, which means its impact or consequences may be a little different than a sin such as telling a lie. However, in the church, we seem to harp on homosexuality as we overlook the fact that research shows most men within the church routinely struggle with looking at porn, lustful thoughts, and masturbation. Sexual sin is dangerous, regardless of exactly what it is. Specifically, Romans 1 talks about how God will give people over to their sexual sins as they are blinded to the truth and the reality of their situation.

Homosexuality, like any other sin, needs to be removed from one's life. However, the responsibility of the church is to love all people and show them Christ, regardless of their past decisions or present situations. If you disagree with this, just look at how Jesus (our perfect and best example) dealt with the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4....

Here we find a woman, living in sexual sin (living with a man she isn't married to), and she's also been divorced multiple times. However, Jesus treats her as an individual, as a person, even though His "religious" culture said He shouldn't (research the Jewish & Samaritian tension if you don't know what I mean). At the same time, Jesus eventually shared the truth with her in a powerful way.

The lesson I learned from this... the church needs to follow Jesus' example and not allow someone's lifestyle to determine how we treat them. 


If you'd like to see more thoughts on this issue, check out the following link. I tend to agree with everything posted on this site; HOWEVER, I have NOT read each of the articles listed, so I'm not saying I agree or disagree with what is posted by referring you to this site. I'm just mentioning it as a resource... http://carm.org/homosexuality

This Changes Everything

by Josh Duncan

Have you ever played the "What if" game? You know, it's the conversations where you think through all the "what if" scenarios. I'm constantly trying to stay one-step ahead on life, so I play this game quite often. I want to have a plan A, B, and sometimes C for situation 1, 2, and 3, but I've learned this is usually a waste of time in the end.

Here's a what if question for you to wrestle with... "What if you, me, and everyone else in America could no longer go to church as you do each week? Would you know how to follow Jesus if you didn't have a building to go to, couldn't go to worship services with awesome music and teaching, participate in organized ministries, etc?" What if "church" in America came under persecution, and we were forced to live as the church in China?

I know your first thought is probably along the lines of "Who really cares about this scenario? This will probably never happen anyway." If that's your thought, then I can't argue with your initial response, but there's a deeper issue behind this question: "Do you really know what it means to follow Jesus?" This is a question God asked me about a year ago. Honestly, I didn't think God needed to ask me that question. After all, I was planting a church, so of course I knew how to follow Jesus, right? That question was only the beginning of what God was trying to show me personally.

Here in America, particularly the south, I've come to realize that we think about 90% of what it means to follow Jesus involves going to church. The problem is, this isn't what the Bible says should be the main expression of our faith in Christ. Yes, we are supposed to gather together on Sunday, and we shouldn't forsake that, but if our identity in Christ is found in church-attendance, worship songs, ministry-involvement, etc then we're greatly mistaken. When will we lose our obsession with "church" and start surrendering our lives to Jesus so that our faith is overflowing throughout the rhythms of life?

This past Sunday, we defined church from a biblical perspective, and to be honest, this definition changes everything. We must stop reading Scripture with the "song of church" that's stuck in our heads. Church isn't something we go to or an event we attend during the week. It's who we are. The word "church" is actually "Ecclesia" (Ekklesia) which is a combination of two words meaning "Called out" or the "assembling of the called  out ones." When Jesus said He would build His church in Matthew 16:18, He wasn't talking about what we've come to know as "church" today. He was talking about mobilizing a movement of people, a spiritual family, who was called out to join Him in His mission. As you come to grips that much of what we know of and do as the church isn't exactly what Jesus said He would build, you are left with two options: 1) Just settle for doing what we've always done OR 2) Do something to get on track.

For us as a church family, we're surrendering fully to this idea of being the church. I challenged our people to let this past Sunday be the last time they go to church. It's time we change what we care about and how we view Jesus, our relationship with Him, our relationships with each other, and His mission on this planet! We're allowing the words of Christ to not only impact the way we think of church, but the way we act as a church as well.

Some may say, "you're just playing with the words. Everyone knows we should be the church." Actually, no. We're not just playing with the words. For us, this is serious. We're making radical shifts in our behaviors. We are what we say (check out Matthew 12:34-35), so we're changing how we describe church and how we act as the church.

If you'd like, you can watch the message from Sunday by clicking HERE and hear about these shifts for yourself. I'll also be discussing these shifts over the next few weeks through this blog.