Check out Journey Church here.
]]>I have not posted here in a long time.....If you are at all interested in my Journey lately, you can check out my new blog over here.
]]>I loved Bruce Almighty a few years ago. I thought it was very very funny, and had some really impactful and even biblical moments in it. I heard of a sequel and at first was not happy, as I often am with the ruining of movies by doing a sequel. But after looking at the trailer, it looks pretty funny.
Thought you might be interested in seeing an e-mail I sent out to a bunch of people today.
Well the first thing you might be noticing is that this isn't a cool looking professionally done e-mail. That is on purpose. I am not in a cool looking professional e-mail mood. I didn't have Sheri edit it either so, any typos I claim completely!
It has been a crazy few weeks. We have definitely been through a lot these past few weeks. It has been at times stressful but God is faithful. We have had a few bumps along the way with misunderstanding with other existing churches, but we have tried to remain faithful.
God has done some big things for us this week. In have in my possession 10 Tickle Me Elmo Xtreme dolls. They are (as of now) the biggest and hardest Christmas gift to find this holiday season. We are going to try to have some creative giveaways to let people know who we are. We are very excited about this!
I have been making a relationship with the manager of KB toys here in Lakeland. Along the way I have also been able to connect with many of her employees as well. The other night while I was talking to her, she told me that if we had any information about our church, we could give it to her and she would put one in every bag when people purchased something. I was blown away, I asked her if I could get her something for Black Friday to pass out that day and she said yes. They are so busy on that day, that they have bouncers at the front door, and can only let so many people in the door at a time because of fire codes. Read this carefully. EVERY PERSON WHO PURCHASES ANYTHING FROM THAT STORE WILL GET SOMETHING FROM JOURNEY CHURCH! Thousands of people will be getting information about our church! What an awesome opportunity for us.
On Black Friday we also have the opportunity to pass out FREE Starbucks coffee to everyone waiting in line at Sears, as well as KB toys. It is going to be a busy day since we have to be there around 4:00 am to get everything set up. But what a great opportunity to serve our community on a cold November morning. That afternoon we are also going to "cater" lunch in for all the employees at KB toy store, Sears, and Starbucks. It is going to be a stressful day for them too dealing with customers so we want to serve them as well.
If you are going to be i the area on Black Friday, we need smiling faces to help pass out coffee, Will you help?
We have another busy week coming up next week too. I am sure you do as well with traveling for Thanksgiving. Will you do me a favor? Will you take time next week to pray for Journey Church? Well scrap that, pray for us everyday til next week. We need your prayers badly, we need the power of God to be there on Black Friday to help us be a blessing to the shoppers and not just another obstacle for them to have to shop around. We need God to open doors for us to connect relationally with people so we can see how we can better serve them. We simply as I said before need God's power and presence to show up.
As I sat on my back porch this morning sipping my hot tea while Tanner (my dog) sniffed around the yard. I thought about the people in Lakeland. My heart broke for them again. I starting sobbing. There are so many people in Lakeland who need God, so many people who don't need a new mega-church but need a relationship with the Loving Father. I am broken by the broken families and broken marriages. I know only God can fix these issues, we need more people to carry his message. Today i am weeping for Lakeland. If you are doing the same, I ask you to move here and help us do something about the brokenness. If you are weeping for your community, then I ask you to do something to impact those who are hurting in your community. My heart is simple.....REACH LAKELAND FOR CHRIST. As I said before no fancy e-mails to do that. Simply love.
God please help us to LOVE the communities we are in. Make us missionaries. Let us see the needs of others and then meet them. Let us mow yards, fix meals, listen to hurting people, or do whatever it takes to love people in Your name. God thanks for my burden for Lakeland. Make it stronger. Make we weep more often. Lord break me for my community. Use me Lord, Use me!
Mark Driscoll responded to critics
here is an excerpt:
As I have re-read my blog, I can see how some may have misconstrued what I said. Because I was writing to male pastors, I spoke in such a way that was not as clear as it could have been regarding what is true of Christian marriage in general. Therefore, I hope that this post is more clarifying.
My heart remains deeply burdened for the many young pastors who either do not enter ministry with a history of sexual purity and/or are struggling to maintain it in marriage and ministry. Pastors must continually strive for loving and satisfying intimacy on all levels with our spouse and to finish our race well many miles down the road of life. If you are a young pastor or Christian leader reading this blog who knows deep down that you are not in the best of places with your spouse and fidelity to them, I would simply urge you to seek wise counsel right away. Do not settle for anything less than what God intends for your marriage because too much is at stake to take any risks.
Lastly, I want to thank my critics, especially the most vocal. They
have helped me to understand that more than just pastors are following
what I am saying. Subsequently, they are helping me to learn how to
more clearly articulate what I am trying to communicate. In that way,
they have been of great assistance to me as I seek to pastor most
effectively for Jesus. I have waited some time to post this
clarification because in times past I have gotten angry and responded
with a tone that was defensive, prideful, and not helpful. I am
learning that critics in some ways are also friends because there is
often some truth in what they are pointing out. Subsequently, God is
using my critics to teach me and is asking me to be willing to listen.
Ok....I will go ahead and call the Tennessee game. Sucks that we got beat but let me say this.
DARREN MCFADDEN IS THE BEST PLAYER IN NCAA FOOTBALL!
He seems to be a class act too, which I definintely like. After every play he is helping guys up (most times that he just ran over). Seems to be a really nice guy, and is one of the most talented backs that I have seen play against Tennessee.
Well it is getting work for Pastor Mark and Mars Hill. They are now under attack from Endfundamentalism.org. Instead of re-telling you the whole story, here is an excerpt. (all links remain as they had them, no editing by me. Quoted text is in blue)
Mark Driscoll has been promoting a brutal form of Christianity for more than 10 years. Through his church (Mars Hill) and network of churches (Acts 29), Mark has been actively preaching misogyny to an increasingly large audience in Seattle and beyond through his books, podcasts, and blog, grinding up lives like a woodchipper. (For you fundamentalists out there who are unfamiliar with the term “misogyny” having grown up captive to its influence all your lives, Wikipedia has a nice overview.)
‘Preaching’ may be too staid of a term. He has been relishing in his misogyny, rolling around in it like a feline in catnip. His latest women-bashing came in a blog post about former pastor (and former head of the Christian umbrella organization National Association of Evangelicals) Ted Haggard’s marital infidelity. As is typical with misogynists and other abusers, Mark blamed women for the terribly hard time pastors have controlling their sexual urges: “It is not uncommon to meet pastors’ wives who really let themselves go…” The post makes for an interesting read; Helen, over at Conversation at the Edge dissected it well, so I won’t rehash it here.
Mark also regularly rants against men who don’t meet his minimum testosterone bar, which seems to be a Father Knows Best, 1950s, I-Am-Man-Cook-Me-Dinner, Bear-My-Children sort of fantasy ideal. His poison, though, is woven insidiously through much of his writing and thought. (See for example how he just has to bring the hammer down in an unrelated post here.)
After standing by while Misogynist Mark beats up on women regularly, it is time for us to stand up for the oppressed. People Against Fundamentalism is sickened by the injustice preached from the Mars Hill pulpit. We are done standing by while Mark the Misogynist takes his misguided religion and hollows out the humanity, dignity, and equality of the women in our midst.
So, we’re organizing our first direct action. On Sunday, November 19, we’re going to take a physical stand against injustice outside the Mars Hill Ballard Campus in Seattle at the 11am service.
We’ve no idea if Mark the Misogynist is going to be there. We are not seeking an explosive confrontation or a shouting match. We simply want to show Mars Hill congregants and the rest of Seattle that we will no longer tolerate Driscoll’s view of women.
If you’re interested in participating, sign up at http://lists.endfundamentalism.org/listinfo.cgi/marshill-endfundamentalism.org. Info on how you can help, coordinating details, etc. will be sent to that list. We’re working on a game plan. Your ideas for slogans and placards are welcome.
If you have a story of oppression at the mouth of Mark, please share it in the comments.
Want to know my thoughts? Not sure why we can't all just get along. If we are all on the same team, wouldn't we use love in our interaction instead of hate and back-bitting.
A few weeks ago, I was reading through Phillipians which was written by the apostle Paul and I read this:
"It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains.But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice." Philippians 1:15-18.
From my understanding Paul is saying that even though he doesn't completely agree with what some are preaching. He thinks it is still all good as long as Christ is preached. I do not however find Paul organizing a lynching party.
When men (or organizations) who are supposed to be like Christ handle themselves in ways that are so obliviously not of Christ, filled with his love, or done according to His word, it does make me wonder why they do this Christianity thing at all. ummmmmph!
The bus benches for our new church are out. They actually put them out on Thursday, it just took me a few days to post about it. You can check it out below. There are 2 of these within 2 miles of where we are meeting, we might add more, who knows?
This story speaks for itself......... Lion Mutilates 42 Midgets in Cambodian Ring-Fight
You must read this story
I have been trying to explain something I have been feeling for a long time. I believe that truth begins and ends with God. That didn't completely make sense. I believe that since God is truth that anything else that is true has to come through Him.....well I am reading this incredible book called "A Christian Manifesto." It is written by Francis Schaeffer who is scary smart and writes things that I often times have to read 4 or 5 times to fully get his meaning, but he described exactly what I mean in his book. Here is an excerpt.
"It seems to me that many Christians do not mean what I mean when I say Christianity is true, or Truth. They are Christians and they believe in, let us say, the truth of creation, the truth of the virgin birth, the truth of Christ's miracles, Christ's substitutionary death, and His coming again. But they stop there with these and other individual truths."
"When I say Christianity is true I mean it is true to total reality - the total of what is, beginning with the central reality, the objective existence of the personal infinite God. Christianity is not a series of truths but Truth - Truth about all of reality. And the holding to that Truth intellectually - and then in some poor way living upon that Truth, the Truth of what is - brings forth not only certain personal results, but also governmental and legal results."
To that I say........YES Francis, YES!