Well if you have been reading Wild Goose Chase by Mark Batterson, then maybe pages 90-91 caught your eye as it did mine.

On the edge of medieval maps, cartographers used to inscribe the Latin phrase terra incongnita Naysayers and doomsdayers believed that if you ventured too far into unknown territory, you would either fall off the edge of the flat earth or run into two-headed dragons.  But that didn’t keep a few brave souls from venturing into unchartered waters.

Columbus was actually trying to find a westward route to the Indies, something many experts assumed was impossible.  But Columbus challenged the assumption and embarked on a Wild Goose chase.  Columbus was no saint.  In his own diary, he confessed: “I am the most unworthy sinner.”  But Columbus also stated that it wasn’t intelligence, mathematics, or maps that made his voyage a success.  Columbus credited the Holy Spirit with the idea.  “It was the Lord who put it into my mind, (I could feel his hand upon me), the fact that it would would be possible to sail from here to the Indies.  All who heard of my project rejected it with laughter riduculing me.  There is no question that the inspiration  was from the Holy Spirit, because he comforted me with rays of marvelous inspiration from the Holy Scriptures.” (Peter Marshall and David Manuel, The Light of Glory p.17)

Here is what impresses me the most about Columbus’s voyage: not one crew member had ever been more than three hundred miles offshore! 

In the words of Andre` Gide, “People cannot discover new lands until they have the courage to lose sight of the shore.”

Do these words affect you?  Join the conversation!

East End Ecclesia:

Greetings from the home of the 2009 super bowl champs the “sixburgh” Steelers!! Ok I just had to throw that in. These past couple of months has been a combination of a lot of work, a lot of struggle, and a lot of confirmation that we are exactly where God wants us to be. Pittsburgh receives the least number of sunny days of any major city in the US, with winter being the coldest darkest part of the year. Spending the past few months meeting church leaders, community leaders, and walking the streets, I’ve come to realize that the cold dark winter seems to be a good representation of the spiritual state of this city. Over and over again I’ve heard local pastors tell me the same thing “It’s awesome you are planting a church here, but this is a hard place to minister.” More than once I’ve heard ministers reference Pittsburgh as having a “dark spiritual cloud” over it, and I’m definitely realizing what they are talking about. Pittsburgh is a very religious city, but not necessarily very Christian (evangelicals make up only 4% of the population, a little lower than Jewish and just above Hindu.) During the past couple of months I’ve had opportunities to share the gospel with multiple people (from homeless on the street to an agnostic grad student at a local coffee shop), connect with many local leaders, network with multiple local ministries, but have struggled to find many potential ministry leaders. The fact that there are so few evangelical Christians in this area shows that a new vibrant church is very needed, but also in a place where there are almost as many Hindu as evangelicals, strong leaders to join our team are few and far between. In the midst of frustration, I read Matthew 9: 36-38, in which Jesus scanned the city and called the disciples to pray for laborers to come into the harvest field. As I read that passage I felt a conviction within me, the harvest in Pittsburgh truly is plentiful but the laborers are also so few, so we need to focus a time of prayer, asking God to send some laborers to join us in this harvest. There is a lot of potential in this city and I’ve received a lot of interest in our new church from people up here, but it is critical that we first develop a core team of mature leaders before we can begin to impact the immense need in this city. I’m more convinced than ever that God is preparing a great work in this city and He has called us here to be a part of what He is about to do in this city. I’m also more convinced than ever that no strategy, program, or self effort will be able to break through the hardness in this city. So if we are going to be able to reach this city it will only be by the power of God. In light of this, God has led us to ask our church family to join us in a focused 40 days of prayer. I have written up a daily prayer guide that will address a specific need in our city every day for 40 days. We are seeking individuals who will be willing to commit to pray through the prayer guide every day for 40 days. If you are willing to join us in praying for East End Ecclesia and the City of Pittsburgh please e-mail me at eric@eastendecclesia.org so that I can send you a prayer guide.

Thank you all so much for your prayers and continued support. My family and I miss you all so very much.

Eric Phillips