I hope and pray that you all had a wonderful Lenten season and Easter Sunday celebration of the powerful impact of the Resurrection on our lives and in our churches. One of my favorite books in the Bible is Acts, with it's great recounting of how the resurrection changed the whole trajectory, mission, and orientation of the disciples. Acts begins in the same way that the book of Matthew ends: A commission is given to the disciples who are going to be witnesses to every region and to every person in the world.  I can imagine the disciples who heard the words of Jesus were likely excited about the possibilities, and perhaps overwhelmed at the enormity of the task. I know if I had been a disciple in that room I would have asked, "Ok Jesus, so what is the next step I need to take?"... Read More

I remember John Ortberg making this simple, intuitive, yet very important statement at one of our first ECO gatherings.  It has stuck with me since then as I continue to repeat it time and time again when asked to speak about our covenantal accountability.  One of the major premises behind ECO's Pastoral Covenant Groups (PCG) and Mission Affinity Groups (MAG) is the idea of promoting a sense of health among our leaders.  We encourage PCGs to consider six areas of health when they connect together: Spiritual, Relational, Emotional, Vocational, Congregational and Physical. These areas of health offer excellent points of thought and reflection for all of our leaders in ECO. Read More

Earlier this spring I called together a group of mission leaders in Franklin, TN, to collaborate and connect about how to further strengthen ECO's Global Engagement. At the conclusion of our two-day consultation, I was overwhelmed by how energizing and productive our time had been. We had discerned priorities and mission practices together and generated ideas for what we could do in partnership that we could not accomplish as individual congregations or organizations. The synergy was tangible! And beyond the ideas and action steps we generated, we all were energized by the relationships that had formed and deepened during our conversations over ideas and around tables at meals.  Read More

There are two words for "time" in the New Testament:

chronos - the time on your watch, and kairos -  when God's time intersects the regular course of events, infused with His holiness and purposes. On behalf of all of us at ECPC Waco, we are thankful that God came near in a true ' kairos moment' during the Presbytery of Texas meeting this past January.

This expression of God's kairos time resulted in His kingdom's advance in multiple ways. When the "business" of the presbytery is truly God's business, there is structure and order but also a Spirit-led flexibility.  Read More

What is the vision for RiverCross?

The vision of RiverCross is to make relationships with Jesus real. We want to see everyone changed and impacted by finding or deepening their relationship with Jesus. We say that this means everyone must step into relationships with Jesus.

  - For people just now getting to know Jesus, we hope         they step into that relationship.

  - For people who already have relationships with Jesus,     we want to see them step further into those                       relationships.

This idea of "stepping in" is important to RiverCross because that's how we see God began the church, and it's how we see God continuing to move us. Our story is tied to the Bible's story about Joshua, specifically when he was leading God's people into that destination they had dreamed of for decades. Standing on the far banks of the Jordan River, they were poised to enter and yet at the same time wondered how it was possible. Looking at an overflowing river, it seemed impossible to take those last steps that would help them realize God's promise. But God called them to step in and cross the river anyway. When they stepped, God moved. Our church planting team agreed that God was calling us to step in, and when we did, God formed RiverCross Church.  Read More