It is an exciting time as we welcome Pastor Dan to the RELOVUTIONARY church blog.
What follows is the story of how Daniel met Jonny, in the wider context of the Schwamm family journey, and into this new unfolding movement.
Enjoy!
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By Pastor Dan
After finishing our studies at Moody Bible Institute in May 2015, my then Fiancee, Lizy, and I were sure that God was leading us to serve Him in New Zealand for the immediate future. With the intention of getting married straight-away we had submitted Lizy’s visa application and had begun wedding planning. However, in the sovereignty of God, it wouldn’t be until the third application and third wedding date that our marriage and new life together in New Zealand would actually begin. In the meantime, our journey became one of trusting God’s timing as we navigated our relationship across the vast spatial distance between New Zealand and Turkey, and the real-time decline of two visa applications and two hopeful yet not-to-be wedding dates.
During the time between my arrival home and Lizy’s eventual visa acceptance in May 2016, I went about seeking the Lord as to which church He was calling us to fellowship at and serve in. I was new to Palmerston North and actually knew nobody here except my family. I met with a friend who’d had a significant role in my journey to Moody and asked him if there were any churches he’d recommend, or people that I should get in contact with.
He pointed me in the direction of Church on Vogel [COV], and put me in contact with the Pastor there. In God’s providence, when we first spoke he was away for a few weeks, but he made me aware of another church in the city that was currently looking for a new Pastor—Christ Sanctuary. He suggested I go along and see if perhaps the Lord was calling me to this specific role. Though I wasn’t sure it was the right role for me at the time, I went along and trusted the Lord to show me either way. I was blessed to attend the church for around one month and made a good connection with the Pastor who was stepping back from his role. During this period it also became clear that the Lord had already called the right person to step into this role. Little did I know, Jonny was an Elder at Christ Sanctuary at that time yet for some reason—one which Jonny and I still cannot understand to this day—our paths never crossed. We didn’t meet each other while I was there, nor did we even see each other the entire time. Upon reflection we recognise this as God’s sovereignty as well, as this wouldn’t have been the right time for us to connect.
With that, I ended up going to COV and after the first service I had the Lord’s peace that this was where I was supposed to be. The Lord knitted me into the community and I went along each week looking for opportunities to serve and invest. At the end of 2015, I was blessed with my first opportunity to share the word of God with my brothers and sisters at COV, and this began the journey of outworking my gifting in this area within our fellowship. In mid-2016, Lizy and I were married in Turkey and with her approved visa in hand, we returned to Palmerston North and began our new life together with our church family here.
In early 2017, the Lord brought the King family to COV, and for the first time I met Jonny. I was told before meeting him that we’d get along because we’d both completed theological training, and someone also suggested I might be interested in talking with him about the book he was writing. As predicted, we got along like a house on fire. We had many great conversations after Sunday services, however, our relationship didn’t develop beyond this point at that time.
An outworking of my preaching within our church fellowship was that I was blessed with the opportunity in June-July 2017 to teach a 6-week Winter Bible School on ‘Knowing God.’ This was a great privilege to put together and teach. Jonny and his son, Jesse, were in attendance. This allowed for more interaction than just a typical Sunday morning. And in the fullness of God’s time in our relationship, whilst I was preparing for one of the Trinity sessions—I came across an important debate that I wanted to make sure I understood correctly. When considering who to discuss with, I knew there weren’t many people, if any, who’d actually know about the debate—so I had to be specific. So I prayed. I sought the Lord regarding who I could contact to get greater clarity. It seemed the Lord brought to my attention two particular brothers I could reach out to about this—one of them was Jonny.
Their interaction aided me in preparation. Yet, this experience had opened my eyes to the reality that I was in a situation where it’d be possible to teach something incorrect unintentionally in areas that most people around me knew little, if anything, about. This concerned me as I am well aware of my need to continue to grow and be sharpened in community. As a result, I knew I had to begin walking closely with another brother in Christ in my area, rather than just my connections in Chicago. I knew that whoever it was, they’d have to able to meet up regularly, and they’d also need to have significant depth of understanding of God’s word in order to be the right person for me to walk with and grow in my journey at this time.
On the basis of this concern, an important connection with Jonny developed; Jonny became this brother. Initially, I spent the weeks telling him what I believed doctrinally and he mainly listened and asked good questions. I was struggling because in my personal study it appeared I was coming to conclusions doctrinally that were contrary to my current church family. I knew it wouldn’t be right to say nothing about it, nor would it be right under these circumstances for me to serve in a more formal capacity if the opportunity did arise. Thus, I began to seriously seek the Lord about whether He was leading me to move on at this time. Earnest prayers were coupled with intense personal study to test the foundations of the doctrinal position it appeared I was gravitating toward.
All of this happened just prior to Lizy and I going away for a month. I knew that I’ d have this particular time to seek the Lord and make a decision. Jonny lent me two books for the trip. In a major turn of events, God used one of these books to get me digging deeply into His word, and as a result of it He completely changed my understanding—and my life! I now knew that I lined up with my church family doctrinally, and so I could faithfully remain there and serve wholeheartedly. This change also equated to a new level of relational depth with Jonny—and so our friendship in the Lord blossomed. God used Jonny powerfully as a support, someone to discuss in-depth life matters with, doctrine, the outworking of the gospel into life, and even blessed our whole family through the wisdom imparted with regard to being a husband and a father.
This brings us to the current day, when around two months ago Jonny asked me to pray for him and his family as 2019 was going to be a year of significant change for them as they obeyed God’s call to plant a church. I told him I’d pray, however, from the moment he mentioned his prayer request I had a burning question I knew I had to present to the Lord myself: ‘Lord, is there any role you want me to have in this?’ So, in that moment, I shared with Jonny that I’d also be lifting this question up to the Lord, and that I did so knowing that His answer might be no, yes, maybe, or whatever else He pleased.
This question coming to me so strongly in that moment is a further confirmation to the Lord’s working throughout our whole journey, and it’s a testament to the organic nature with which God brought all of this about. I can say this is also true for Jonny. The Lord has definitely been at work according to His own purposes in a way that neither of us could have anticipated. It is indeed true, as Scripture attests: “The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps” (Proverbs 16:9).
This began the period of Lizy and I seeking the Lord as to whether or not we’re meant to be a part of this church plant. The more I prayed and sought the Lord personally, and also the more Lizy and I sought the Lord and discussed together, we only became more certain that God does indeed have a role for us in this plant. One particular Tuesday, a day of family worship and rest for us, as we were continuing to seek the Lord about this, He cemented in our hearts and minds that this is indeed the step He’s calling us to take with Him in the new year.
It was also an amazing blessing when around 24 hours later, at a regular weekly meeting I attend, a brother shared a word that he believed the Lord was giving him for me regarding my future. In a nutshell, he shared that the Lord wanted me to know that I am to have no concerns for my future — I just need to trust Him. God has it figured out, and He’s going to give me understanding so that I know what I am to do, when I am to do it, etc. This was a powerful seal, in my estimation, for what the Lord had already confirmed to us just 24 hours earlier; especially in light of the fact that He was the only One who knew the process we’d been going through in seeking Him the past few weeks.
This leads to our fresh step of faith and obedience in this new RELOVUTIONARY church plant. As with each previous faith-step in our journey with the Lord, this isn’t particularly ‘safe’ or ‘comfortable.’ Again, it’s a call to leave behind the seen for the unseen. It’s a call to leave behind the safety and comfortability of the known, to instead walk into the seemingly unknown — knowing only the Good Shepherd who’s leading us there. As I write and reflect, these words from C. S. Lewis come to mind, when Susan’s speaking with Mr. Beaver about Aslan after finding out that he’s a lion and not a man as she had expected; she asks: ‘Is he safe?’, to which Mr. Beaver replies: “Safe? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King.”
These words seem applicable to me in our present situation as we consider again this truth that walking with our Lord Jesus, that following Him, isn’t something safe. Jesus’ journey wasn’t safe — He was crucified. The Apostles’ journeys weren’t safe — they were beaten, whipped, imprisoned, beheaded, boiled in oil, crucified, and so on. Right throughout church history, and down to this very day, the paths on which we follow our Saviour are anything but safe. I’m not suggesting these exact same scenarios will necessarily happen in our context, however, as our brothers and sisters before us we walk under no beguilement that our Lord calls us to follow Him on paths that are safe or comfortable nor that they line up with our Western cultural fairytale. Rather, we recognise that our Lord calls us to forsake all to follow Him. To trust Him wholeheartedly. And to suffer for His name’s sake. The Christian’s journey is one of perseverance and endurance. It’s a marathon, and not a sprint. But it’s the pathway of true and lasting joy; it’s the pathway of fullness of life!
We don’t rest on the ease of the journey, nor only confess Christ as Lord if He does things according to the script we like. No! We rest in the fact that He is good! That He is the King! And when He says “jump”, we don’t want to say, “how high” — we want to be airborne.
It’s from this airspace that I write these words today, and share with you our journey in the Lord.
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Stay tuned for much more from Pastor Dan, and other members of the RELOVUTIONARY team.
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