Jump: Into a Life of Further and Higher

What people are saying about …

"From one of the most important voices of the next evangelicalism comes this practical, accessible, and important guide to the Christian spiritual life. Drawing upon humorous illustrations and real-life examples from his years of ministry experience, Efrem provides a challenge and a hope for many of us who have been afraid to jump. In addition, Efrem’s willingness to share personal stories yields a sensitive and authentic insight into the dynamics of race and cross-cultural ministry in the American church. Jump confirms Efrem Smith’s role as one of the most important evangelical voices for the twenty-first century."

Soong-Chan Rah, Milton B. Engebretson associate professor of church growth and evangelism, North Park Theological Seminary, and author of The Next Evangelicalism and Many Colors

"Pastor Efrem is a gifted communicator, and that God-given talent has come through very well in print. After reading this piece, the one word that rings strongest in my spirit is inspiring! Pastor Efrem has captured a powerful image through his illustrations and storytelling—a missing key that will help unlock and free many people who are bound up in life by their fears and the lies the Enemy has fed them. I believe Efrem’s transparency about his spiritual journey with its tests and triumphs will be inspiring and liberating to readers from many walks of life."

Danté Upshaw, national director of African American Ministries, Evangelical Free Church of America

Efrem Smith takes the reader on a journey from personal transformation to community transformation in this new book. He helps us see possibilities beyond barriers and stumbling blocks. Then he guides us into practical ways we can experience new life in Christ personally and in the richness of a multicultural experience of community that God intends for His people. Anyone who reads this book will gain a new perspective on the breadth and depth of God’s grace applied to our daily experiences.

Dr. Glenn A. Barth, president of GoodCities and author of The Good City: Transformed Lives, Transforming Communities

"Pastor Efrem Smith is one of God’s chosen leaders for a new generation of Christ followers. As I read Jump, he had me literally on the edge of my seat with both excitement and newfound understanding of God and the beloved community. I highly recommend this book—it can transform our lives, and the life of the church."

Michael O. Emerson, codirector of the Institute for Urban Research and coauthor of Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America

JUMP

Published by David C Cook

4050 Lee Vance View

Colorado Springs, CO 80918 U.S.A.

David C Cook Distribution Canada

55 Woodslee Avenue, Paris, Ontario, Canada N3L 3E5

David C Cook U.K., Kingsway Communications

Eastbourne, East Sussex BN23 6NT, England

David C Cook and the graphic circle C logo

are registered trademarks of David C Cook.

All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for review purposes,

no part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form

without written permission from the publisher.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © Copyright. 1960, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

LCCN 2010930461

ISBN 978-1-4347-6457-7

eISBN 978-1-4347-0253-1

© 2010 Efrem Smith

Published in association with the Eames Literary Services.llc, Nashville, TN.

The Team: John Blase, Amy Kiechlin, Jack Campbell, Karen Athen

Cover Design: JuiceBox Design, Jay Smith

First Edition 2010

I dedicate this book to the Sanctuary Covenant Church and Community Development Corporation. It was such a joy to serve as senior pastor and CDC president of this evangelical, multiethnic, missional, and urban ministry.

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1: The Impala

Chapter 2: Connection

Chapter 3: Beloved

Chapter 4: Heaven

Chapter 5: Reconciliation

Chapter 6: Engage

Chapter 7: The City

Chapter 8: Marriage

Bonus excerpt from You Are God’s Plan A

Acknowledgments

There are so many people I would like to acknowledge who were helpful in this book’s coming together.

I’m thankful to Don Pape at David C. Cook for believing in my ability to continue my writing and take it to another level. The editing and suggestions of John Blase are also something I’m very thankful for.

I consider many people mentors in the shaping of my theology and practical ministry outlooks: Brenda Salter-McNeil, Dave Olson, Curtiss DeYoung, Gerald Joiner, Gary Walter, Don Davenport, Pete Scazerro, Daryl Griffin, Henry Greenidge, Tom Paige, Keith Johnson, Sherwood Carthen, John Perkins, and Greg Boyd, to name a few. Reading their works and listening to them have had a tremendous impact on me.

I want to acknowledge the staff of the Sanctuary Covenant Church with whom I’ve had the opportunity to share so much of my ministry passion and life. I have much love for all of you. I’m grateful to the staff and pastors of the Pacific Southwest Conference who have embraced me and welcomed me as their new servant-leader.

Finally, I want to thank the three beautiful and wonderful ladies in my life—my wife, Donecia, and my daughters, Jaeda and Mireya. My love for you is beyond what I could ever effectively communicate.

Introduction

As I prepared to write a book on faith jumping, I never thought I would be making one of my own before the book was even released. After serving for seven and a half years as the senior pastor of the Sanctuary Covenant Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, I was presented the opportunity to serve as the next superintendent of the Pacific Southwest Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church. In this role I will oversee the churches and other ministry initiatives of the Evangelical Covenant Church in California, Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, and Utah. I’m so humbled and honored to have been elected to serve in this position. I will start, full steam ahead, at the same time that this book is released.

This was not an easy decision for me to make. I have enjoyed so much serving as the senior pastor of the Sanctuary Covenant Church. I’m also the founding pastor of this church, which was planted to be intentionally evangelical, multiethnic, and urban. Add to that, Minneapolis is also the place where I was born and raised. As I prayed about going through the process to be considered for the superintendent role, I thought about the opportunity to see on a broader scale the ministry fruit I have experienced at Sanctuary. I continue to have a passion to see the Kingdom of God advanced in an ever-increasing multiethnic and multicultural world. I also yearn to see a stronger connection between evangelism, discipleship, compassion, mercy, and justice. Making this connection is about embracing the whole mission of God. The region of the Evangelical Covenant Church presents the opportunity to see this connection thrive in mighty ways. The West Coast is a powerful expression of diversity and also a platform for further Kingdom advancement and transformation. My passion and this opportunity of servant-leadership is what led me to the jump into a new calling and season of ministry.

Taking the jump into a new Kingdom opportunity is not always easy. I cannot even begin to express how tough it was to share the news of my departure to a congregation and community that I love so much. If a pastor can easily leave a church he has served, he has neither a love for the people nor a true understanding of what it means to be a pastor. It’s difficult making various jumps in life, even those that have been prayed through. Yet God is in the business at times of giving us the invitation to jump into opportunities that call for a trusting of Him in new ways. I’m excited, as well as nervous and overwhelmed, to take on this new role. These feelings are all good if they lead to trusting God in a deeper way. God doesn’t want us to just jump for jumping’s sake. We shouldn’t live a life that says, Look at what a great and holy jumper I am!

Our jumps should be based on God’s speaking to us; they should be jumps of obedience. Also these jumps ought to increase our dependence on and trust of God. All of this leads to the deepening of our intimacy with God, a clearer identity in Christ, and a stronger sense of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The big issue to embrace here is that we don’t jump alone. We jump with God and empowered by God. God is the spring in the jump, and God should also be in control of our landing. We can’t always clearly see the landing point, but God sees it all. There are parts of the landing out west that I can see. I experience times of excitement as I look in anticipation at these landing points. I see a gifted and diverse staff that I get to work with. I see a Hispanic theological school. I see a cool Kingdom initiative called Journey to Mosaic that equips people to become Kingdom laborers in an age of increasing diversity. I see camps and conference centers. I see eager church planters. Okay, let me just put it out there, I see ministry trips to Hawaii! But for a Minnesotan like me, Phoenix and San Diego are awesome trips.

There are also times when we will sense strongly that scary feeling of being still in the air. That’s how I’m feeling as I write this. I’m not yet in California, I haven’t yet bought a new home, and I don’t know where my daughters will be going to school. Neither I nor Sanctuary knows who the next senior pastor will be. All of this up-in-the-air time drives me to my loving Father. Jumping brings me closer to my Daddy in heaven. Oh, the scary joy of jumping!

Where is God calling you to take jumps of faith in your life? I hope this book ministers to you as you ponder the jumps God is calling you into. Maybe you find it hard to give yourself over to letting God get you off the ground. I can relate. As I thought about the jump to serve as a superintendent within a denomination, there were many things going through my head that could have kept me grounded. One, I was concerned about what the folks at Sanctuary would think of me. Would they be mad at me? Would people feel abandoned by me? I wondered what other pastors would think of me. Would they think I was crazy for taking this jump?

It’s important for us to remember that we have good company. What did people think of Peter when he took the jump to leave his business and follow Jesus? What did people think of Jeremiah when he took the jump to be God’s prophetic voice to a disobedient nation? What did people think of Esther when she decided not to be a passive queen simply serving the will of the king? Her jump saved the lives of an entire people. Our jumps may not turn out to be that big, but God is in all of them just the