Life Redefined: The Story So Far

In the midst of a typical night in suburbia, surrounded by sitcoms and sofas there’s a fire that lay dormant for some time.  At this moment in time my family and others like ours have embarked on a new adventure, pioneering a new work: - a church called Habitat Christian Community.

Some might ask if there’s a need for another church in the area.  Let’s face it, there are plenty of churches, both mega and mini in our communities who are doing great work both at home and abroad.  Yet all around us there’s brokenness, degradation, depression and despair.  Even in the midst of success and status symbols, there is an overwhelming sense of lack and emptiness.  It’s this need that has driven us to leave the comfort of conformity and be a part of history; a new church committed to the Gospel and what it means to our existence.

Quite simply, we believe in more.  We believe that the Bible is Truth, and it’s messed us up.  This Story, the Scriptures, is more than history, its yesterday, today and tomorrow.  Its the story of God, a good God, who has created all things in order that we might be called “His kids” and be a part of His eternal family.  This means we’re not alone, we’re not neglected, not abandoned.  When we come to the realization that this Gospel, proclaimed in Scripture is truth, we have no choice but to respond to it.  Our response includes coming to an understanding of our need for forgiveness and finding it in Jesus’ death and resurrection, our very nature changes.  We are no longer orphans and victims of the curse of sin, rather we are adopted into God’s family and shown mercy, forgiven and loved by God.  It’s this God, and this act, that we call the Gospel, that has caused us to embark on God’s dreams and desires for our world.  

We feel the best way to live this out, to make a difference in our suburban existence and the world beyond is by starting a new church.  Its a chance for families and individuals to join a community of forgiveness, a community of love and a community of hope.  Its more than a hymn and sermon: Habitat is a church made of people that have the boldness to believe that through God, and for God, we can change the world.  It’s His change that happens when men and women start finding hope.  Change happens when individuals find an identity beyond their failures and successes.  Change takes place when husbands and wives truly love and commit to one another, even when the passion may not be present.  Change occurs when moms and dads become dedicated followers of Christ and teach their kids to do the same.  Change, real change, happens when we live the Christ-centered life, person-by-person, and family-by-family.

This is what we’ve committed to.

I’m writing this to you, my friends and family, to both inform and appeal to you.  This idea of change, of a new church and all that we feel we should do is so beyond our ability and means that it would be foolish to think we can do this on our own.  So, in boldness, humility and the utmost of appreciation, I’m writing in order to ask that you would consider joining us in this venture.

As we approach our launch, Easter Sunday, April 4th, there are three ways you can be a part of history, something bigger than any of our individual dreams.  If anything that was written above is tugging at your heart, I invite you to consider one of the following courses of action.

First, pray for us.  I can’t begin to express how much this is needed.  We serve a God who is moved by our faith.  We have seen prayer accomplish much more than we ever thought possible.  I ask that you would commit some time over the next two weeks and beyond to pray for Habitat.  It doesn’t have to be big or well-recited, rather just a simple request that God would accomplish much through our time, efforts, and energy.

Second, join us.  If you live in the area, I would love to see you join us this Easter Sunday morning, 10 AM at our Prospect High School location.  You’ll be among a community of the friendliest, most genuine and imperfect people in the world.  These families and individuals make up the body of Habitat, and they’re awesome people.  You can expect to be greeted with sincerity and joy, a good cup of coffee or tea, and an environment that is much more than an empty high school on Sundays.  Rather, it’s a destination of hope.  

Finally, partner with us.  I would like to ask you to help resource us by giving.   As we have examined what it will take to successfully launch this new church we’ve arrived at $110,000.00 in order to do well during our first year.  To some that figure is overwhelming, to others, its not a very large sum of money at all.  To us, that figure represents the basic elements we need to faithfully fulfill what God has put before us this year.  It covers rent and equipment costs.  That $110,000 is not money that I or the other leadership, have earmarked for salaries or personal gain, as we all have committed to work jobs in our professions as this church is still in its young and formative years.  In fact, we don’t plan on pulling salaries as long as we can in order to not cripple the church with that amount of overhead.  I can’t begin to tell you how appreciative we, the leadership of Habitat Christian Community, are for your consideration and generosity.  We’ve already raised $25,000 and we believe the additional $85,000 for this year will be made possible through the continued support of those just like you, willing to believe that lives can be changed and people can be restored.

If you desire to partner along with us and give, there are a few ways to do so.  You can make a check out to Habitat Christian Community and send it to our way, the address will be listed below.  Another way is to go to our site and on the partner page, click the donate button which will allow you to then use a credit card through our PayPal account.  Finally, if you’d like to make a donation in kind or in resources, please contact us at life@habitatcc.com and we’d love to talk to you about your ideas.  One of the biggest items we need is a reliable 17 ft. box truck to haul our portable church set-up, so if you’ve got an extra one lying around, that would be incredible.  We’re grateful for you generosity and all gifts are tax-deductible.

Thanks for taking the time to read about our story so far.  Feel free to pass this on to other friends and family.  We believe the future of our church is HUGE, but its not to build up any of our personalities or reputations, rather we cannot wait to see men, women and generations changed because of the work we’re engaging in today.  

God’s best,

Mike Handler
Lead Pastor - Habitat Christian Community

The address to send any donations is:
Habitat Christian Community
PO Box 1755
Arlington Heights, IL
60005

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How

The following is an update on my father-in-law's surgery from my mother-in-law.  I think it sums it all up pretty well.

 

Dear God,

 

Thank you for successful quadruple bypass for Larry, yesterday, Wednesday.

Thank you for a skilled surgeon and his team.

Thank you for two wonderful daughters who were with me before the sun came up.

Thank you for a faith based hospital giving care beyond expectations.

Thank you for very special "bonus sons" who took care of kids and daily matters.

Thank you for family and friends who prayed and cared.

Thank you for sleep.

 

Amen.

 

The breathing tube just came out at 6:00 a.m.,  this morning.

 

Thank you, Lynn

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Caught up in a world of movement

It's easy to be distracted by the motion all around us.  I seem to have an attention span that rivals my four month old daughter.  Lights, motions, sounds, they all capture me.  Sometimes though, we need to simply finish what we started.  I've mentioned before that I am firestarter, but right now I need to tend to the burning and manage the flames.

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One piece of grief for a whole bowl of happiness

I'm currently sitting next to my son who is throwing an absolute fit about having to eat one piece of pasta (delicious, savory, creamy pasta) made by my beautiful wife. This one piece of rotini is small, about the size of a quarter, has become a death sentence on his high chair tray. You'd think it contains razor blades, rat poison and every other device used by evil strangers who pass out contaminated Halloween candy. One small piece of pasta that he could, and possibly would swallow whole any other time, but for some reason, and that reason is most likely because he's two, he simply refuses to eat this cursed piece of form flour and water. If he managed to somehow choke down this tiny morsel of demonic noodledom, he receive a whole bowl full of fresh cantaloup (a favorite dessert of this particular little foodie).

I may have made this worse by setting the bowl of heavenly fruit right next to me, and in front of him, while I'm typing this. Interspersed between screams of "all done" and "can'alope" are periods of silent longly over a bowl of sweet delicious fruit. However, one thing stands between this protesting toddler who's pushing the bounds of authority and a simple bowl of happiness...one, small piece of lukewarm pasta.

I wonder how many times I've delayed, or worse yet lost out on something due to my inability to deal with one, small dose of perceived discomfort. I say perceived because that is exactly what is troubling my son. He has perceived this small bit of dinner will be the death of him, yet if he only tried he would ask for more. In fact, he's eaten plates of this same dinner before, yet at this moment he can't bring himself to even give it a try. Has this happened to me? Have I miscalculated the cost of perceived suffering and avoided trying something that would have granted an amazing reward? Or has God, in His grace seen that I am, at times, a whiny little toddler and granted me what He saw fit?

As I type this Griffin is enjoying his bowl of cantaloup, indulging in the sweet juice of each piece. I have reassured him he is loved and he said "Thank you, thank you, thank you." Meanwhile there is a lone piece of rotini sitting rejected and cold on his tray.

Enough grief, enjoy the fruit.

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One piece of grief for a whole bowl of happiness

I'm currently sitting next to my son who is throwing an absolute fit about having to eat one piece of pasta (delicious, savory, creamy pasta) made by my beautiful wife. This one piece of rotini is small, about the size of a quarter, has become a death sentence on his high chair tray. You'd think it contains razor blades, rat poison and every other device used by evil strangers who pass out contaminated Halloween candy. One small piece of pasta that he could, and possibly would swallow whole any other time, but for some reason, and that reason is most likely because he's two, he simply refuses to eat this cursed piece of form flour and water. If he managed to somehow choke down this tiny morsel of demonic noodledom, he receive a whole bowl full of fresh cantaloup (a favorite dessert of this particular little foodie).

I may have made this worse by setting the bowl of heavenly fruit right next to me, and in front of him, while I'm typing this. Interspersed between screams of "all done" and "can'alope" are periods of silent longly over a bowl of sweet delicious fruit. However, one thing stands between this protesting toddler who's pushing the bounds of authority and a simple bowl of happiness...one, small piece of lukewarm pasta.

I wonder how many times I've delayed, or worse yet lost out on something due to my inability to deal with one, small dose of perceived discomfort. I say perceived because that is exactly what is troubling my son. He has perceived this small bit of dinner will be the death of him, yet if he only tried he would ask for more. In fact, he's eaten plates of this same dinner before, yet at this moment he can't bring himself to even give it a try. Has this happened to me? Have I miscalculated the cost of perceived suffering and avoided trying something that would have granted an amazing reward? Or has God, in His grace seen that I am, at times, a whiny little toddler and granted me what He saw fit?

As I type this Griffin is enjoying his bowl of cantaloup, indulging in the sweet juice of each piece. I have reassured him he is loved and he said "Thank you, thank you, thank you." Meanwhile there is a lone piece of rotini sitting rejected and cold on his tray.

Enough grief, enjoy the fruit.

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Ephesians 3 t

⁸Although I am less than the least of all God's people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, ⁹and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.

Verse 8 was the verse that solidified my call to ministry. I was at a summer camp and during the alter time at the end I remember praying and weeping and then God gave me Ephesians 3:8.  I was 13 and had never read it before, but when I did that day, it became clear that I was to be a pastor.  

Paul's language in this verse is awesome, I still don't fully grasp it, although this is what I do get:

"Although I am less than the least of all God's people," - I never have killed anyone, put anyone in jail, or for that matter even persecuted anyone for their faith, but I continually use this to humble myself.  It's easy to get a big head (for me at least) and when I need to knock myself down a few pegs, I just repeat the fact that I am less than the least of God's people.  It helps put me in my place.

"this grace was given me" - I'm not God's gift to anything, rather, it is because of God's grace, given as a gift that I am even able to be saved let alone lead a church.  His grace bought my life out of the pit of hell, from being a rebel to being His son.

"to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ" - At first I use to think this defined a part of my call, ministry to non-Jews.  However, if you read Ephesians in context, Paul's ministry is uniting peoples under the family of God.  Jews were/are the chosen ones, but Paul's role in the Kingdom is to open the doors to the Gentiles.  He's welcoming the historically unwelcomed, and that where I think it sets the stage for my call.  It is a call to redemptive influence, and a call to wholeness, found in Jesus.

What are your thoughts regarding chapter 3?

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A question from Sunday's sermon sticking with me on Wednesday

So this past Sunday I was fortunate enough to preach to Habitat, our new church, as we continued our journey through the Sermon on the Mount, a series we're calling The GodLife.  On the schedule was Matthew 5: 29-30.

If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

As you can see, a section that really isn't the hugs and handshakes of "Your Best Anything Now" Christianity.  This of course is the great part about preaching through Scripture, you cannot ignore the difficult stuff.  Without getting into everything, what was simply stated as the main point was that our attitude and action towards sin must be drastic and severe.  Sin always leads to action, it lead to man being cursed, to God sending Jesus to pay a pay our ransom through His death, as well as it will lead to the final judgement by our sinless and holy God (the only one able to judge and worthy of our worship).

However, the one thing that has challenged me this week is one simple question we can ask ourselves when identifying sin in our lives, is this act or thought contributing in the perversion or preservation of God’s original intent?

If our purpose is to worship God and be in fellowship with Him (as it was in creation and will be in eternity), then my actions and attitudes must preserve God's intent.  However if my actions and attitudes are in anyway contrary to God's original intent, even in the slightest way, then I am living in perversion to my created purpose, and the result is sin, and it must be dealt with.

As you can imagine, preparing for this sermon killed me.  I am destestable in the light of holiness, yet God's grace has made it possible for my rebellion to be forgiven and to be adopted into His family and share in the family business of reconciliation.  So as I walk through the day, my litmus test is simple, is this perversion or preservation of God's idea and original intent?

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