Christ Methodist Church Memphis
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Christ Methodist Church Memphis
Called Forth: Paul Lawler’s Next Chapter
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Following his election as a bishop in the Global Methodist Church, Paul Lawler reflects on the moment his name was called, the months of discernment that preceded it, and the bittersweet reality of leaving Christ Methodist Church. He also looks ahead to what God may do next, and back to the young man who could never have imagined where a life of following Jesus would lead.
You're listening to the podcast of Christ Methodist Church in Memphis, Tennessee. Join us for an insightful conversation where faith intersects with real life experiences and discover how God is at work in our world. And I had to take a moment back and realize it's not about me. That's
Worship Before Everything
SPEAKER_00worship. That's good, brother. We'll do this. This too is worship. It is.
Conference in Johannesburg
SPEAKER_00You got it figured out. Amen. So okay. You ready? Yeah. Okay. We're here today with Paul Lawler, the Reverend Paul Lawler. He is back from Johannesburg, where they held the General Conference for the Global Methodist Church. Welcome back, Paul. Thankful to be back. Lance, I'm through the jet lag. Delighted to be with you.
Johannesburg Conference Results
SPEAKER_00Awesome. Well, I think to set the scene a little bit, let's talk about General Conference. Let's look at a whole picture. For someone who wasn't following closely, what happened in Johannesburg? What were some of the significant decisions or developments that you think our congregation needs to know about?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. So first I just want to give a shout-out to Don Borland, Hannah Hutchinson, also my wife, Missy. She came and was a great support during these days. And the reason I give a shout-out is because a general conference is not a cakewalk. It's very demanding. You're up early in the morning, start about 8.15. Often you go till 9.30 at night, you're jet lagged, you're the demand of high concentration, intellectual savvy is you got to be on your toes because you're covering things that are going to set the polity for the church. We've had a convening conference two years ago, but we really weren't able to get into some granular matters that really matter and affect us all. So the biggest thing that happened at the general conference is in United Methodist world, and as we came into the Global Methodist Church, we inherited articles of faith that were a combination of the Methodist Episcopal Church historically and the Evangelical United Brethren Church. And that came out of the merger that took place in 1968, forming the United Methodist Church. Those articles of faith actually were a bit antiquated, not in the lens of what they affirm from an Orthodox perspective, but what they affirmed in not periphery issues that were really in language that was antiquated.
Articles of Faith
SPEAKER_01So our articles of faith, our best theologians in the church, many of our gifted thinkers, laypeople, as well as clergy, worked as a writing team to bring these together and to refine them. And I think the greatest accomplishment coming out of General Conference is the way the articles of faith were affirmed and passed and supported overwhelmingly. And so I would encourage our church family to Google Global Methodist Church Articles of Faith, read those, and just resonate with our commitment to solid Christian doctrine based upon the scripture and 2,000 years of Christianity that's operating in a transformative way all around the world. As I've said many times, I'd rather be alive right now than any time in history, Lance, because God is moving powerfully in many places in the world. So that's that would be the main thing. The other thing that I I would I would bring to the table is when you get, when you begin getting down in a granular level, there just were a lot of things that we didn't get to in Costa Rica that were cleaning up language in our polity and were refined and improved upon and delighted to share that. Beyond that, you know, there are developments in how persons are can receive education, preparing for ministry, and there are developments that improve other processes as well. But to continue to drill down into those things, I think, may not be as relevant for persons just who are part of our church family. But just it was a dynamic conference. I love the spirit in which everybody worked together as well. There was feisty
Global Growth Momentum
SPEAKER_01debate at times, but it was always Christ-centered and God-honoring,
Denomination Growth and Mission
SPEAKER_01I would say that.
SPEAKER_00We've heard and talked a lot about how the Global Methodist is rapidly growing. What was you what did you see or what experience did you have that gave you a sense of where the denomination is headed?
SPEAKER_01Aaron Powell Yeah, that's that's a wonderful question. So the way the denomination, the way God is moving through a people called Methodists in the Global Methodist Church is twofold. One is through what I would call migration, and the other one is through movement. Now let me address those. The migration continues, and that is it's not just people out of the United Methodist Church, it's people in other Wesleyan denominations all over the world that have been looking for a home. And so we continue to grow rapidly just by people seeing the solidity and the structure and the fruitfulness happening in the Global Methodist Church, and they're attracted and they want to be a part. And so we've seen this all over the world. We have emerging, new emerging annual conferences in Mozambique. I know the nation churches in Brazil. There are between three and four hundred churches that are exploring the possibility of coming into the Global Methodist Church, and that looks probable at this time. And those are symptoms of the ongoing migration to what God's is doing in this hour. But there's also movement. Now, that movement is not happening as profoundly in North America as it is in other parts of the world. We pray for movement here, and maybe we'll address that a little later in our conversation. But there are parts of Africa where they have planted brand new churches in the hundreds. That's true in the Congo. Zambia has seen a wave of new church plants, and aware that there is a donor that's interested in helping fuel church plant movement in the nation of Nigeria. And those are just three examples out of Africa that where we're seeing movement take place and multiplication
Election Day Anxiety
SPEAKER_01that's not rooted in migration out of an old former iteration or wineskin or denomination, but actually new people being reached for Jesus Christ, new churches being planted on that continent. So we're mindful, these really are exciting days that we're we're living in. God's on the move.
The Bishop Election Moment
SPEAKER_00That's wonderful. To now start moving into addressing, I guess, the elephant in the room. You went to Johannesburg knowing that there was another possibility hanging over you with the potential to be elected as a bishop. You were elected as bishop for Area 7. What was going through your mind that morning of the election?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's a great question. You know, I I I've uh shared for years that your circumstance is your classroom. And so for over five months, Missy and I have been living in this duplicity of not knowing exactly what the future holds. And most of that time, God has been very gracious and just simply given us the peace that passes understanding. Didn't mean we were going to be called into the episcopacy, but I when you ask what's going through my mind, on that day, I I did feel some anxiousness and would I would not be honest if I also would say that little spurts of adrenaline just because you don't know your future is about to be voted on. And Missy and I had said repeatedly, if God called us to stay at Christchurch, we would delight in that. Didn't trust, you know, this is God's will, we'll serve his people. And but when God, when our name was called and it was affirmed, you may have, if anyone was watching online, you would probably have noticed when other names were called, they put their head on the table and began to cry. I'm more of a processor. And so I stood up and started shaking hands. However, when I got back to the hotel room, I hugged Missy and broke down and cried. And I I think I was crying more just in the lens of, okay, God, now I know what you're what this is unto. And Lance, we did a podcast, I don't know, maybe back in it was back in March, I believe, when I had that moment in at a in a hotel conference room where for the fourth time someone had asked me to submit my name and allow my name to be put forth, and I had said no repeatedly. And then the peace of God came. And I knew the Lord was saying, release this to me. It didn't mean that I was going to be a bishop. It just I I knew that it was God. And so when you asked me what it was like, there also was this sense of, okay, Lord, here's your confirmation. I heard your voice, and there was never presumption on my part. But uh but Lance, I for the person listening right now, I I think the lesson that I hope maybe other people can see is the scripture says, My sheep,
Hearing God’s Voice
SPEAKER_01they know me, they hear my voice. And so I, you know, I hope people hear his voice through his word, his scripture, his holy scripture, but also in their own spirit at
Learning God’s Voice
SPEAKER_01times. It's not always audible, it's not audible. But that's that I think that's the great takeaway, the great lesson in all of this.
SPEAKER_00Well, that was a question I had. Was now that you've been elected, you have those three no's, do you understand those no's differently now if you look back on it? I do. That's funny.
SPEAKER_01I in fact I didn't see that question coming. I do, Lance, because if if I'm honest, every time I said no, there was a small check in my spirit. Are you do are you really doing the right thing? Are you resisting something God may be saying? But I but I also, you know, I can I will admit I can be pretty hard on myself, but I also recognize sometimes when you're discerning the will of God, having more than one witness is a way that God also confirms things. And so, you know, by the time I again it was in that hotel conference room in Orlando, Florida last March, you know, I had said no three times to three people that I
Wrestling with the Call
SPEAKER_01and actu areas of the country that I have deep respect for, the individuals and people. And the fourth time when my friend Dr. Steve Cordle challenged me, yeah, yeah, there's there's a there every time I was like, okay, I I think maybe God is speaking. And in fact, stronger than that, Lance, I knew I knew he was speaking. I didn't presume this was the outcome, but I knew the Lord was speaking.
SPEAKER_00What has in that process between the no's and the yes, and then the yes to now, what do you think God has revealed about yourself through that process?
SPEAKER_01So yeah, yeah, yeah. So I again I'm gonna be honest. I I can be thick headed, but I am capable of resisting the Holy Spirit. I'm capable of because I I've I felt that battle inside. I said this a moment ago, but I love the Christ Church family deeply. This this has felt like home to us. It has been home to us, it has genuinely. Home's always where Jesus calls you. And it it has felt like home spiritually, emotionally, and physically, and I don't want to let go of that. I love the people, I love our leaders, I love our staff, you know that. I I love the fact that we work very hard, but as we work hard, we laugh together too, and we cry together. And I don't want to let go of that. I
A Joyful Affirmation
SPEAKER_01so yeah, and sometimes that can become it can become an idol, even though it's a small one. I g I I know that's hard for people to understand, or it may be, it may not be, but good things can become idols in our lives where we're resist the voice of God. And I I look back and I I do recognize that there may have been there was some resistance in me for a
Joy, Relief, and Family
SPEAKER_01time.
SPEAKER_00When I watch the video of them revealing the votes and then seeing you it's very hard to see you in the video, but just a little glimpse of you, you have a massive smile on your face. A lot of joy in that moment. Walk me through that joy. Was it the election, the affirmation, was it just knowing that the whole process? Walk me through that smile a little bit.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So it's really twofold. One is that that on because I'm a processor, the fact that I've been called to be a bishop had not sunk in. In fact, it did not sink in until last Thursday when I was recovering, recovered from jet lag. And Lance, so part of that was relief. I'm out of the duplicity of not knowing. And then the other part of the smile is that to have your peers, you know, uh there are a thousand people in that room and only you know, around 400 are voting. But have your peers call you out and to trust that's Jesus' voice through his body, which is the way I had walked this out. That smile is just is just thanking God. That's what that is. I as I'm shaking hands, I'm honestly thinking about God's sovereignty. And this is uh I'm I'm being very vulnerable when I say this.
SPEAKER_02I thought about my mom.
SPEAKER_01My mom had told me when I was twelve years old, I was about twelve, that Jesus spoke to her when I was in her womb in the delivery room and said, Keep this boy in church. I have something special that I want him to do, and you may all not always like it. And while she was living, she didn't always like it because we started out very poor, and my family, which I honor them for this, they they don't, they didn't they believe in pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps because you learn from that. But in our church planting years, we were living well below the poverty line. You know, I you've heard my story about my car, Lazarus, and and the escapades with uh Lazarus dying and coming back to life and uh living in an unfurnished apartment with two TV trays and a mattress on the floor, just battling things out, trying to get this new church plant off
Bishop’s Sobering Weight
SPEAKER_01the ground. And things were so dysfunctional in the denomination at that time. You know, real nobody really cared that we were living that way. Uh I say nobody. I uh the church authorities at that time were kind of indifferent. And we were gutting it out, and it was hard, hard on her. But I thought about her. And I thought about the fact that she kept my brother and I in church and that perhaps she did hear the Lord.
SPEAKER_00Wow. That's powerful.
Bearing the Episcopal Weight
SPEAKER_00I want to go back to this. You mentioned it, this past Thursday is when things started to sink in. And it's I was wondering, can you tell me a little bit about that moment where you realized Bishop Paul Lawler is real now?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I when it started sinking in, and I overuse this word a lot, but it very sobering because I I recognize the intensity of the responsibility to equip, to guard our doctrine, uh to do that in love. You know, doc doc you know, doctrine won't renew the church, but I said this on the conference floor, doctrine on fire will. When doctrine's on fire, it's full of love and passion and light and life. But I I recognize the weight of that responsibility. I also recognize that when a local church or a pastor is struggling, you know, that I I I I feel the weight of that responsibility. I take that very seriously. And if the church is lukewarm or anemic in places, I I feel the weight of that. And I feel the responsibility, I'm already praying into it, but praying and battling both spiritually and in practical ways for her renewal, for her posturing for what can be. And so when it began to sink in, brother, it's it's not about the title, it's about the realness. And and this comes out of early church history, by the way. Most people don't realize in Christianity, in the first less than 100 years, we had bishops. We had Irenaeus, the first bishop who was martyred. And so this episcopas, this office is not like some
Serving Area Seven
SPEAKER_01modern invention or an anomaly in Christian history, having an overseer, persons who take responsibility for the spiritual condition of the church and labor for her revitalization, her renewal, her propagation, the advancement of the kingdom. This is steeped not only in scripture, this is steeped in Christian history very deeply, so sobering. And I reflected on Irenaeus and Polycarp and others that have been these phenomenal episcopal leaders in Christian history.
The Work Ahead
SPEAKER_00So looking at November 7th, as you cover cover Area 7, what it will your ministry actually look like in practicality?
SPEAKER_01Aaron Ross Powell Yeah. Well, you know, the the simple answer is or let me say simple, I'll say the most the immediate thing is I I I do am a part of leading annual conference uh gatherings around the world in these seven areas, which I'm told will become non-areaas very soon. But in addition to that, Lance, in in leading an annual conf annual conference gatherings, I I have no intention of only showing up for annual conference, and then I don't invest relationally with those that I'm serving. So I I intend not only to connect with what are called cabinets in what made up of presiding elders and the conference superintendents in respective regions of the world, but I want to get out front and visit the churches and encourage the people, instruct the people where I'm allowed to do so, invited to do so, and pray with people. And I, as I've said in some of my previous interviews, I want to celebrate with people the way Jesus is moving and where people are hurting, I want to cry with them, I want to hurt with them, I want to sit in the mud with them, but also want to labor together. Let's figure out how God wants us to move into a preferred future. I I have no intention, it's not in my heart to lord anything over anyone. I come in the spirit of Jesus, which is to serve and with a servant's heart. And I hope that through these next six years and beyond, that God sows seeds of renewal, not just in the Global Methodist Church. We have to remember that as a church, we need to be mindful what it's unto. And what it's unto is not only revival and awakening, but the reformation of nations. And
What Excites and Challenges
SPEAKER_01when I say reformation, you know, that when Jesus is moving and people are awakening to Jesus, it blesses nations. And you can study that in awakenings throughout history. We see that certainly in 18th century England. When awakening happened, it ushered, it ushered forth cultural renewal. France has a revolution. England experiences uh a renewal and and uh stability in her social structures. And that's it just goes back to God. Way it works and it brings blessings to a
Multiplication and Local Church
SPEAKER_01people.
SPEAKER_00This next question is a two-part question. With these soon-to-be nine areas, countries, churches that you're covering, what excites you the most about working with them and what do you feel is the most daunting aspect of it? Trevor Burrus, Jr. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I love the local church. That's what excites me. I've had the honor with God's help of planting a church in North America, planting churches in other parts of the world. And so I know what's possible because of what I've experienced. I also am pretty deep in multiplicative discipleship, and I have seen that in North America. I've seen that in different parts of the world. So that does something to you. You know what's possible. Oftentimes, people put a lid on their thinking and they lose sight of what's possible. So I pray that we can move into a realm of recognizing this is possible, this is doable for the glory of God. And so that's my greatest hope to see multiplicative discipleship and multiplicative church planting for the glory of God on a global level. Now, what's most challenging relates to that. Too many people don't believe they can do it. Too many people go, that's for somebody else. Too many people believe Jesus, even though Jesus said make disciples, and he did said that more than once, that that's for SIL Team 6 Christians or somebody with a special calling or anointing. And what I pray is that you know that that we move from the recognizing that it's not just for the ordained, it's for the ordinary. It's everybody, priesthood of all believers. And when that when that awakening happens, that too can be catalytic unto revival. We'll just see what God does. In the Wesleyan world, sometimes we think that if God sends awakening power, that takes care of everything. And while we thank God for any time we have visitations of the Holy Spirit, that certainly, glory to Jesus, puts us on fast forward. But the genius of the Wesleyan movement is that you had both moments of visitation of the Holy Spirit wed with movement, intentionality around movement. And it takes both. And it's important that we recognize that in this hour that while we pray for the palpitations of the power of the Holy Spirit, it needs to be wed with intentionality around discipleship and multiplicative discipleship. Then when you
Grieving the Farewell
SPEAKER_01have power and pattern wed together, that transforms nations. And that's what happened in 18th century England. And that's why we were mocked as being so methodological. You're a bunch of method people, you're methodists. And it wasn't, as you know, Lance, it wasn't in reference to the fact that you were methodical about your potluck dinners. It's that you were methodical around your intentionality around discipleship and class bands and society. So we we want to rekindle that flame and that wedding of moments and movement in a way that it propels the advancement of the kingdom of God for God's glory.
SPEAKER_00Aaron
Grief in Leaving Christ Church
SPEAKER_00Powell That's great. You just mentioned again about how much you love the local church, and you've said it repeatedly about how bittersweet this is because you are leaving this church that you've grown to love. So I'm just going to ask it forthright: what is the hardest part about leaving the role as senior pastor of a local church to move into this?
SPEAKER_01Aaron Powell Yeah, that's a wonderful question. So, Lance, Missy and I have been steeped in deep community in a local church for over 40 years. It's different. It's itinerant on steroids. You're we're traveling. We're and so I got we grieve that. Okay. And sometimes, as we all know, even good things that God calls you to, because you love deeply, there's grief associated with that. So we we do grieve that. We ask, please pray for us. We we we love people. We love being
Finding the Next Pastor
SPEAKER_01with people, we love serving with people. And so that that will be different. And in this chapter of our lives, uh God God put us on a fast forward here at Christchurch. We fell in love with the people here quickly, very quickly. And it's deep. It was like there was a I looked at Missy one day after we had been here, maybe six or eight months, and I said, honey, it feels like it feels like we've been here 15 years. That because the relationships have formed and they're deep and they're connected, and that's only grown in these years. So we we grieve that, Lance. And that that's a that's a wonderful question,
Searching for the Next Pastor
SPEAKER_01I appreciate. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Well, starting to move into what's next, people want to know about the search, but I feel like underneath that question is really, are we gonna be okay? We're losing our senior pastor, somebody who's come in, made a lot of great change, and in a lot of ways put the train back on the tracks. So what can you tell us about the senior pastor search, where it stands and how this process will unfold for us? Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Well, first of all, we've got a phenomenal senior pastor search team that has done remarkable homework. I would even say sophisticated homework. And the other thing that I would share with the Christchurch family to encourage us all is in the Global Methodist Church, the pool is pure. You're not whoever God calls here, it's not going to be a whiplash. Whoever God calls here, it will be a similar spirit because look, let me let me word it, let me come at it this way. When I share that we adopted articles of faith, and it was like overwhelmingly affirmed by approximately 400 delegates and a thousand people in a room applauding, that's a symptom that we're all on the same page. And that that's a part of what I'm seeking to communicate with the listener, with the Christchurch family, that the pool of pastors that are being talked with and prayed with and are considering coming and serving at Christchurch, they're all of similar mind and heart. And that's why I say it won't be a whiplash. And people, I hope that people are comforted by that because it's just true. It's not my opinion. I go back to what happened in that adoption with the articles of faith. It's because there's unity around what we believe. And there's unity around our mission in the Global Methodist Church and our vision, which is again, our vision includes multiplicative discipleship. And that, again, this is just this is the DNA that has been and is being cultivated within the Christchurch family. So I would want the Christchurch family to remain prayerful because God's God's got to touch somebody's heart, speak to them in the same way he spoke to me, perhaps. But God's got to touch somebody's heart to say, this is my call
Keep Your Eyes on Jesus
SPEAKER_01upon your life. And that's the kind of pastor you want. You want a pastor that's not only called into ministry, but God has put his hand upon them to call them here. So your prayers are vitally important. So I encourage you to keep praying, go to war in prayer, trust God for his leading in someone's life. And then the second thing is I just hope that you're comforted by the facts. And that is that there's so much like-mindedness in this denomination that you're you're going to get a godly, Christ-centered, scripture-teaching person who's going to come and serve you with vision for his glory.
Eyes on Jesus
SPEAKER_00When we last spoke w when you had accepted the nomination, before any of us knew what happened, one of the questions, I think it may have been the last question I asked, I said, what do you want the congregation to hear from your senior pastor? You immediately answered, keep your eyes on Jesus. Now we know what's happened, so I'm going to ask the question again: what do you want the people of Christ Methodist Church to hear from their senior pastor right now?
SPEAKER_01Keep your eyes on Jesus and love him, set your affection upon him, prize him, adore him, worship him. And the beauty is that what Jesus said in John 6 is not only true for you individually, it's true for the church. So so just remember, this is what he said. He said, observe the lilies of the field and look at how God has arrayed them. So let me let me m put a modern paraphrase to it. Visit the Memphis Botanical Gardens and look
Young Paul’s Calling
SPEAKER_01at the dazzling array of beauty and be mindful that your heavenly Father did all of that. And then Jesus says, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, his way of doing things. All these other things are going to take care of themselves. If you keep God first, everything else has a way of falling into place. Stay in love with Jesus. Fight for your heart, stay in love with Jesus, and everything else is going to fall into place. That's what I would encourage our faith family with.
From Conversion to Calling
SPEAKER_00As we start to close, I want to end somewhere kind of unique. I don't want to go to Johannesburg. I don't want to go to Memphis. I don't want to go to November 1st. I want to go all the way back to December 23rd in your early 20s. You've described that day as your spiritual birthday. So when you think about young Paul now, could that young Paul have ever imagined where following Jesus was going to take him?
SPEAKER_02No. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01No. On December 23rd, in the I was in my, again, my early 20s, sophomore at the University of Alabama. I had come to Christ the last thing, to be honest, I think I've said this before, maybe on a podcast. The last thing I thought I would ever do or be would be a pastor. And when the call began to stir in my heart, I fought it. I I remember I was on a tea box playing golf with my dad and wrestling with this. My dad has no idea I'm wrestling with this. And suddenly, just as if my dad and I had been in conversation. I blurted out, you know, dad, you know what, you know what God really needs? And my dad looks at me like I'm on an from an another planet because what do you mean? This is so random. And I said, God needs a fully devoted businessman. And my dad just looked at me and said, Hit the ball, son. He didn't understand the battle going on in my heart. So that that came months later and just with a lot of discernment
Lessons for His Younger Self
SPEAKER_01and a lot of people saying to me, You're supposed to be a pastor because I couldn't quit talking about Jesus. And I was asked to share a testimony. I didn't even know what a testimony was, Lance. I when somebody said, Would you share a testimony? I I thought something criminal had happened. That's the only that's my only association. And I I shared what Jesus had done in my life and God used it. There were people that there was a young person who came to Christ about 15 years old when I shared my testimony and somewhere in Georgia. And it kind of just took me over the threshold. So no, on December 23rd of that year, absolutely not. That came
Mercy Through Every Season
SPEAKER_01later.
SPEAKER_00So between December 23rd and today, all of the churches, the people, the mistakes, Missy, not not that Missy is a mistake, don't group those two together. The joys, the congregations, Christ Church, and now this call, what do you see when you look at the faithfulness of God across all of that story?
SPEAKER_01Wow. So early in my ministry, I I made a lot of mistakes. I'm aware I I have a a leadership gift, but early in my 30s in pastoring that first church, I would get so far out ahead of people that I didn't understand I needed to not microwave things, but move in tandem with people, shepherd people. So I made a lot of mistakes in my
God’s Faithful Story
SPEAKER_01early thirties. But what I take away when I look back on that is how merciful God is. How God doesn't allow you to be defined by your worst moments. I also thank God for the merciful mercy that other people demonstrated toward me. I was a young 30-year-old planting a church. We were mostly people in our 20s and 30s. There was one older man in the congregation. I remember we had a church meeting, and I had some ideas about where we were going, and I was pretty forceful about my ideas. And that older man came to me later in the week, sat in my office, visited with me a little while, then he went into this talk about how much he loves me. And he said, I I got something I need to say to you that it hurts me to say. He said, But I'm saying it because I love you. And he says, You know, our our meeting last Sunday night, I said, Yeah. He said, Paul, you were you were very defensive. And in your defensiveness, I want you to understand that you're hurting the church. He said it to me with tears in his eyes. And I knew he said it to me because he loved me and he loved the church. And that was kind of a turning point where I had more self-examination and started I could also sense the conviction of the Holy Spirit. And I thank God for his mercy. I thank God for the training ground of that church plant in those early years. Again, we most of us were in our 20s and 30s, and God, God, in his mercy, that that that little church that grew out of a storefront onto 28 acres of land, it became a little bit of a leadership factory for 20s and 30s and 40s somethings through the years. I was there 16 years. And there were a lot of people in that church family that fanned out around the city and helped plant other churches and revitalize some churches as well. And I have a lot of deep thanks for God's grace and mercy extended through those years. Christ Church Birmingham, Lance, was there 15 years. I the first two years were very hard. Hundred people left the church. But there were two out-of-town consultants who both said to our church leaders, if you're going to embrace a new vision and a new mission, you need to lose some people to go forward. And fortunately, that anchored our leadership through that storm, and God did a mighty work there. And that's a Christchurch Birmingham is a vibrant, life-giving church, and he revitalized her. He he moved in people's lives. And it was not unusual for me to walk into a restaurant or a coffee shop and see a discipleship group going on with some of our church members and refugees or with their neighbors. And my having the privilege of baptizing new Christians out of Asia or the Middle East because the priesthood of believers had learned to share their faith and disciple. And God renewed that church with inner city ministry, vision for planting new churches around the world, and intentional discipleship. But then God called us here. And the beauty of Christ Church Memphis Lance is legacy that is spiritual legacy, that is scriptural-rooted legacy, that is legacy rooted in local mission and global mission, because the life of Jesus in this congregation, I would share the best group of leaders I have ever worked with is in this church. And I and I've worked with some great leaders. And by God's grace, I think we've even developed some great leaders. But the overall the best group of leaders, best, yeah, by far. And I have loved our staff in Huntsville, loved our staff deeply in Birmingham, but I love our staff deeply here. And it's a great staff. Whoever God calls here, they they get to step into something that is very unique and very special. And this is subjective, and I'll I'll end our this question with this lance. And I've said this to Missy many times. When I pray for the people of Christ Church, there is something I sense in the Holy Spirit that's just special. There's when I pray for the church here, there's it's like there's all there's this God groove that's flowing and deepening. And whoever God's calls here, I I'm confident they're gonna sense it as they pray, as they stand before this congregation and preach, they're gonna sense. And I and Lance, I think it's unto something. It's not, it's not just for where this church is now, it's unto something. It may be revival and awakening in the city, it may be in this nation, it it may be to new things he's gonna do in the city and around the world, but it is unto something. The best is yet to come.
SPEAKER_00I would love to end on that high note, but I do have one last question for you.
A Final Word to His Younger Self
SPEAKER_00Going back to December 23rd, when your heart had been strangely warmed, if there was a time machine available for you right now today to go back and sit with your younger self, what would you tell him about the life Jesus was about to invite him into?
SPEAKER_02Wow. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I would I would have encouraged him to grow in the understanding of the fear of the Lord and don't wait until you're 35. I yeah, I cared too much about what people think thought in my early years, and it hurt people. And when I started getting free of that and really putting confidence in the gospel, confidence in the word of God, and let the word of God speak to people. I have nothing to give anybody, but the word of God's living. And and there's so much, Lance, I this is not the time for me to unpack that. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of light, to get set free from people pleasing, set free from you care about people, you want to love people, honor people, but not to be driven by people pleasing or what they think. Just just honor the audience of one and love people well. That's what I wish I had known at 23.
SPEAKER_00Well, Paul, on behalf of the congregation, thank you for four years of service. We're so thrilled. It's bittersweet, as you said. We're so thrilled for you. We're praying continually for you. Appreciate you. Thank you so much. Thank you, Lance. Always an honor to be with you.
SPEAKER_02Perfect.
SPEAKER_03Anything else?
SPEAKER_02Oh no, bro. I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_00Thanks for tuning in to another episode of the podcast for Christ Methodist Church in Memphis, Tennessee. We pray that today's message has inspired and encouraged you in your walk with Christ. To stay connected with our church community, visit us online at Christchurchmemphis.org. We hope to see you this upcoming Sunday for worship as we seek to glorify God and make disciples of Jesus Christ among all peoples.