You may be a part of a great church, but I just have to tell you… My family and are blessed to serve in an amazing church. Nearly 11 years ago, Christie and I moved to Chicago and planted Westbrook from scratch. It has been a wonderful, life –changing experience. Sure it has been filled with the normal ups and downs but overall- I wouldn’t change a thing. Without a doubt we are blessed. To top it off, to show appreciation and gratitude for our work over the years, Westbrook blessed Christie and I again with a Mediterranean Cruise for Westbrook’s 10th Anniversary. Can you believe that? We are so honored. We are so excited. This cruise is just a few days away, therefore it will be a few days until I post again. It’s our turn to see a part of the world that we have dreamed of visiting.

Thanks Westbrook~ I love being your Pastor!

One of the key bible verses that backs up the theology for multi-cultural ministry is the passage where Jesus taught his followers to pray. Matthew 6:9-ff is one of the places in the Gospels where we see Jesus giving His followers a pattern for our prayers. We call it the Lord’s Prayer. In these few brief verses Jesus tells us to praise God, to pray for His work in the world, to pray for our daily needs and to pray for help in our daily struggles. But there is another little insight that drives my thinking and it has to do with that which will take place in the future. That which will take place in eternity. Jesus said it like this… Our father who are in heaven hallowed be your name… your kingdom come, your will be done… on earth as it is in heaven”… I am quite intrigued by the phrase: “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

The Bible Knowledge commentary says that the words: “Your Kingdom come” – is based on the assurance that God will fulfill all His covenant promises to His people. However our prayer is also to include that “His will be accomplished today on earth as it is being accomplished in heaven.” I’m open for someone to debate me~ but I guess I just can’t help but think that this little thought is tied to Christ’s prayer that we all be One in John 17. Remember Christ’s lengthy pray in chapter 17? Look up verses 20-23. This is what you’ll see~ this was Christ’s prayer also! …

“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 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. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

I think that Christ was saying that as His kingdom was coming, and as we were doing our part to do His will…we would then do whatever we had to - so that we may be ONE in Christ.
This thought leads me to a couple of questions. Are we ONE? As His kingdom comes are we doing His will? Are we doing our part here on earth in fulfilling His will as it will be completed in heaven?
As it relates to multi-racial and multi cultural ministry… If the Kingdom of Heaven is NOT going to be segregated then why on earth is the church? Tell me what you think!

Meet one of my greatest Ministry friends – Bernard Kendrick. Bernard (I call him ~ “Bishop”) is the Sr. Pastor of Glad Tidings Apostolic Assembly Church. The church is located here in the same town where Westbrook is and their Ministry Center is just literally down the street from us. We have been ministry friends from the day that we moved to this area to plant Westbrook. Bernard is quite a few years older than I am. Bernard’s been in the game for a lot longer than I have (he even was bi-vocational for about 25 years, Pastoring and working a day job at Fed Ex). And he also has me in the WISDOM column. What’s even more cool~ is that he is from a different cultural background as well as a different spiritual background. Even still we have become best of friends. Bernard is often the first one I look up when I am down. He is the one who makes me laugh when I want to cry. Bernard has many times been the first one to my prayer rescue when I wanted to give up. And to top it all off, he doesn’t look like me. He has a darker skin hue and he is our greatest supporter when it comes to building a multi-cultural church. Glad Tidings is primarily African –American in attendance but Bernard is blessed beyond measure at our intentional approach to being multi-cultural. I am always honored and welcomed when I speak at Glad Tidings church and the same can be said about him.

Here’s what I’ve learned in this quest: If you want to have a multi-cultural church you have to cultivate friendships with people who don’t look like you. Are you intentional about that? Have you/Are you willing to cross racial lines to become friends with the people that you want to reach? It’s not going to happen until you start there!

Westbrook is filled with the nations and Westbrook is blessed to go to the nations. We have a vision to do a ministry work, support a missionary and do a short term mission trip to every country that is represented in our church. Just a few days ago we returned from a weeklong trip to Tijuana, Mexico. Working with Amor Ministries, 58 people from our ministry had their lives blessed beyond measure. While we typically build houses for needy Mexican families (we’ve built 27 in the last 10 years), this year Amor asked us to build a Fire Station for the Rosarito Beach Fire Dept. I am planning on getting some pics uploaded for you to see what this trip was all about. Be watching for that. The change in plans mandated some adjustments to our routine, but all in all it was an awesome experience.

Summer is cruising by and the entire family has been busy. Tyler (our oldest) spent three weeks in Europe with People to People Student Ambassadors. If you see him at Westbrook ask him to tell you some of his stories. We certainly feel blessed to have him experience this cross-cultural opportunity. Reid (our middle son) and I spent the week in Mexico. A few days after I returned, I had the chance to hang out with the guys at orchard Group Church Planting in New York, NY. Manhattan is an amazing place and I absolutely love it. All summer long I have been challenging my boys and our church staff to encounter each day with their “eyes wide open.” How well do you do with that?

A multi-cultural church, a multi-cultural staff, multi-cultural experiences, a multi-cultural blog. Let me introduce you to our newest multi-cultural family member. Truett Keith Hunter Bentsen. My brother in law and sister in law recently adopted their first son. He’s awesome and my boy’s can’t wait to teach him how to play soccer. Christie is thrilled to say the least. She will for sure be his favorite aunt. (no offense Marcy, Ann Elise, Gretchen and Kiersten).

Why the passion? What’s the big deal? This passion for diversity in churches~ where did it come from? I guess the easiest and shortest answer is that it was birthed in me through my parents and developed in me through their ministry. Pete and Pat Mitchell are my parents and they taught me to love people. All PEOPLE. They have for 58 years been serving Christ in churches across the Midwest. Growing up, we were like the Christian Partridge family. Singing in churches and helping lead revivals. Night after night and week after week I was exposed to people~ their needs, their uniqueness and their idiosyncrasies. In addition, my wonderful folks exposed me to the world through International Missions. I can’t even begin to name the mission teams, missionaries and mission works that we were connected to. What I do know is that their lives and their stories have rocked my world. Maybe it’s just me, but sometimes I think we just go through the motions of life. So much so, that we really don’t know how to live. My mom and dad made us turn off the TV in the family room and sit in the living room and listen to the incredible life stories and adventures of people from across the globe. I’m convinced that’s where I started living.