With Just a Look

A playful catch of the eye across a crowded room. A darting glance from my wife after I’ve said something I shouldn’t. A gaze to the floor after being caught red-handed. A tear barely hanging on in joyful wonderment. The eyes truly are a window to the soul. A look can say a lot even without words. 

As I take on a new leadership role with CityChurch Network, look with me at a journey God is crafting right here.

A Look Back

It was a cool fall day in New Albany, Indiana, in 2003, when I received a copy of The Church of Irresistible Influence by Robert Lewis. My wife, Tracy, and I read it together, and our hearts pounded: the church must unite, share impact in people’s lives, and be a visible presence of God’s kingdom. Within a few months, we would move our family to Little Rock to be part of what God was doing in Central Arkansas.

It took a few months to settle in. A new church, a new ministry role, and a new team to embrace. As most of you know, getting the whole Adcock tribe to “find their place” takes time. I have always said, “Little Rock is the biggest little town in America!” I’ve never known a place where more people are raised here, go to school (usually UofA), and return. Many of you have been lifelong friends, having gone to elementary school together!

Not too long into our time here, we met Ray Williams, Shelby Smith, and many others who have long championed a united Church and community impact for the Gospel. Over the past 23 years, I have met so many Kingdom warriors from so many churches and backgrounds who live every day for His glory together.

Ray asked me to help gather worship leaders in our area to serve citywide worship and prayer gatherings. As I excitedly jumped in, again and again, I learned a valuable lesson — one of the hardest things in ministry is getting churches to work together. Not hard because of a lack of desire, but because the demands and rhythms of shepherding a congregation take so much. Tending sheep is a 24/7 gig.

A Look Up

I believe that we are to be the answer to Jesus’ prayer in John 17:20-23: 

My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

Can you imagine that? The glory that God the Father gave to Jesus, he has given to us, that we might be one; restored relationship to God and to each other as fellow adoptees into God’s family. Why? So the world may know they are loved by Him. It points to an obvious truth: the world does not believe they are truly loved, especially by God. 

Dr. Karen Purvis, author, scholar, and founder of Texas Christian University’s Institute of Child Development, wrote about the building block of “felt safety” in children from hard places in her foundational work, The Connected Child: Bringing Hope and Healing to Your Adoptive Family. It is one thing to tell your child, as they lay their head on their pillow at night, that they are safe. You can say it a thousand times. But until they feel safe, they cannot fully rest.

When our adopted daughter, Hayden, was really young and new to our family, we would “walk the perimeter” together each night, checking the lock on every door and window. We would look under her bed. I would remind her that we live in a safe neighborhood. That’s part of Daddy’s role: to provide and protect. I will be on guard so she doesn’t have to be. And we have a loving, Heavenly Father “who never sleeps nor slumbers.”

It is obvious to most that people in our world do not feel safe, loved, or protected. They have good reason to believe that. Their experiences of hurt, brokenness, and unfaithfulness have taught them to guard themselves. And there is an evil one, the prince of this world, seeking to devour and thwart the redeeming work of Jesus. Dr. Purvis would say that children have been “wounded in relationship, and can only be healed through relationship.” That is the Church’s mission: to bring the world back into relationship with the Father who makes all things new.

A Look Forward

CityChurch Network is uniquely suited to strengthen and encourage the work of the Church. When I think about the future of the Church in Arkansas, I believe we are living in an exciting time. “The light always shines brightest in darkness” (John 1:15). “Where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more!” (Romans 5:20).

Here are a few ways CCN impacts the Church locally:

• Relational Connection: Encouraging and connecting leaders strengthens local congregations for the marathon of ministry
• United Prayer: Prayer is the work. Doing it together builds the Body and keeps the focus on God’s activity.
• Best practices: Navigating through the sea of options and distractions to focus on proven methods for the church to be established and effective
• Collective Impact: 70+ Churches work with a shared desire to see “God’s Kingdom come and will be done.” 

New and old expressions of the Church are emerging as people return to a first-century model of house churches and ministry led by bivocational leaders, as practiced by the apostle Paul. I’m calling on every house church leader and bivocational pastor to reach out to me ([email protected]). I want to connect and expand our reach to the unique opportunities at hand in these growing movements.

Building on the good work so many have done over the past 30 years, a united Church can help friends and neighbors experience true love, family, and truth in a community of faith. Looking ahead, as we anticipate Christ’s return, may we be found faithful, abounding in love, full of grace and truth.