Gathering a Crowd

Have you ever been apart of something you didn’t want to be? There was a time when the Jacksonville Jaguars were playing the Atlanta Falcons in Atlanta. There was a moment in the game where the stadium went into an up roar. With me being Jags fan I found myself celebrating with the other team. What the heck was I doing? Has there ever been a time when you did something just because you found yourself in the crowd?

The past couple of days there has been a question swirling in my brain: What if the church was the crowd? When reading the story of Jesus you will always see wherever He went there was a crowd. In one instant found in Luke 19:47,48 we read:

Every day He was teaching at the temple. But the Chief Priest, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill Him. Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on His words.

So often I think we as leaders want to keep things controlled, contained, and systemized. Yet which keeps things small, dank, quiet, and unnoticed. I really believe God intends His Church to be a sound, very large, and very noticeable.

I also think when Jesus walked the earth to redeem  His people it wasn’t to gather a crowd but it was to redeem His people. Just like Christ we need to make sure our heart stays right when it comes to the crowd. One thing noticed when reading the scripture, Jesus never made it about Himself, but all about His Father in Heaven. 

The one thing I love about this story in Luke is there were people who actually wanted to kill Jesus but they couldn’t because of all the people. It’s kinda funny as much as these people wanted to kill Jesus they really had no choice but to be a part of what was going on, because of all the people. What if the church was so big the world had no choice but to be a part? Would love to hear your thoughts on a crowd when it comes to church

What a Great Way To Make Change

Irene Ndanu Mwangangi

Birthday: February 21, 2004

Age: 4

Gender: Female

Country/Region: Kenya, Africa

Personal and Family Information:In her home, Irene helps by running errands. She lives with her grandmother. Her grandmother is sometimes employed as a laborer. There are 7 children in the family.

Singing is Irene’s favorite activity. In kindergarten her performance is average and she also regularly attends church activities.Please remember Irene in your prayers. Your love and support will help her to receive the assistance she needs to grow and develop.

Make Change Info: Thank You!! Through your giving we have been able to adopt Irene through Compassion International. What a great organization that invest into young people. Your giving has helped support my wife and I plant a Celebration Church Location in St. Augustine, Florida. We are currently on our third week with more than 100 people and approximately 40 people volunteering. We know in our hearts through Christ we are capable to Make Change. Once again Thank you, we are continually praying for you. You are greatly appreciated.

Conversation with a 6 year old…

Tonight I got the opportunity to have a conversation with a 6 year old (my nephew Austin). On the way to visit our friends at the hospital who had a baby girl this morning named Callie, we were jamming out to some Celebration music worshipping Christ. On the way back home we began a conversation about God. As we were talking he stopped and thought than continued, “I have been thinking what does God look like? Do you think he looks like the picture you always see?”

What do you think God looks like? This is my thought on what God looks like! God looks like the person embracing their dream. God looks like the person hugging a child who has been abandoned by their parents left with aids. God looks like the person digging a hole in order for a tribe to have clean water. What does God look like? I really really believe God is seen through you and I embracing our world. In a world that is hurt, broken, and lost! You and I get to be the picture of what God looks like. 

I think of a single mom who doesn’t know how she is going to support her kids and is wondering what God looks like? The man who seem to can’t get out of addiction, and is wondering what God looks like? The teenager who is stuck in life being scared of ever amounting up to anything, and is wondering what God looks like? There is a world like my nephew asking the question, “What does God look like?”

I leave with this thought from a Pastor (Shannon Kapp), ” There are people in this world who will never know Jesus unless you or I tell them. There are People in this world who will never know the love of God unless you or I show them. How will a lost and hurting world know that the head loves them unless the arms embrace them?

How Big is Your Front Door…

My Wife and I are currently planted at Celebration Church where Stovall Weems is the lead Pastor. We are so excited to be stepping into a really innovative idea. Over the years of the local church in America we have seen church go from multi-services, to doing church not in a church building, to multi-campuses, and now we at Celebration are going for multi-gatherings. Where we will record our services put them on a dvd and distribute them out to those who are willing to give a service to their friends, families, and those who basically don’t go to church. The whole idea is to not invite people to a facility but for us, the church, to go where the people are. Throughout North Florida we are believing to see 3000 people added in one day to the local church. There is going to be church services happening in theaters, coffee shops, navy ships, flea markets, nursing homes, women shelters, homeless shelters and etc…

 

As I was reading the heart of Pastor Stovall and our Associate Pastor David Branker on his blog about extension gatherings, a question arose in my mind: How big is Your Front Door? A lot of people don’t come to church because they feel it is a place they don’t fit, a place they don’t belong, and a place that just does not have anything to offer for their life. Every door is an invitation to something inside. For the exception of drive-thru’s, to get a taste of the greatest coffee in the world, you must walk in the front door of Starbucks, to get the most satisfying taste of the greatest chicken sandwich, you must walk in the front door of Chick-fil-a, to get into your home, your place of rest, you must walk in the front door. If you have ever visited L.A. or Washington you have experienced this: you can walk down the street and on one side of the street is one Star-Bucks and on the other side is another Star-Bucks, they have made the access to their front door really BIG. In the town I live in within 8-10 miles I can count up to 4 chick-fil-a’s, who also in the past couple of years made their front door BIGGER. So the question I have when it comes to the local church: How Big is our Front Door? Are we putting the local church in places where it allows people easy access into what we have to offer. 

Let’s think about that for a moment. What do we have to offer? We have a place where marriages can get rebuilt, a place people get free of drugs, a place people find lasting relationships, a place people find their future, a place where people actually make a difference in the world, and most of all we have a place where people can get in a relationship with Jesus Christ. The local church has the greatest gift this world has to offer Jesus Christ. Yet somehow more often than not we make our doors really small for people not to see what is inside. What if we as the local church could make our front door so BIG where it allows the world to come in and taste that the LORD is GOOD.

We really believe these Extension Gatherings are making our door of invitation to a GOD-FIRST life a lot bigger. 3000 in a day this is going to be awesome! Fasten your seat-belts because there is about to be a rumble in North Florida

Choices

James 1:18- He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

Have you ever thought Jesus, God, had a choice when it comes to you and me, known as us. He had a choice, if you remember when Jesus was saying his prayer found in John, he says let your will be done and not mine. I got rocked this morning as I was doing my devotions with these two words HE CHOSE. I decided to look up this word Chose and one of the meanings in greek is to desire. Jesus choices was an outcome of what the desire of his heart was.

Jesus came in order to see you and I come into a relationship with Him. Have you ever thought God desires you? The choices God makes for us don’t just revolve around the kingdom of God ruling in a dictatorship but that we would have relationship with the living God, Himself. The desire God has is in connected to the choices he make for you and I.

I noticed this morning the times I sin in my life isn’t because I had made a bad decision, but because of a desire. But what if our desire was on Jesus, what would our choices, the decisions in life be?

I really believe after this morning our choices are in direct connection with our desires.

The Win for us as Leaders

There is always one question I want to ask when with Pastors, no matter what kind: Priest, Father, Reverend, whatever they might call themselves. The question when used in a business sense would be asked like this, “How much revenue, or profit did you make this quarter?” I don’t know about you, but in the back of my mind when talking to those who are overseers in ministry this question is always in the back of my mind. In the business world depending on ones profit whether little or much, it is what would determine success. But in ministry we ask the same question, just posed a little different like this, “How many people are showing up? How many people did you serve?” But for those in ministry it seems as if that is how we determine success. The question I want to ask those in leadership, not only ministry, but even in a business sense, or even when it comes to leading relationships, family, any area of your life? What is the win for you? What determines if your marriage is going to be successful? What determines if your business is going to be successful? What determines if your relationships are going to be successful?

  What is the win for you? What is going to make you successful, no matter what you do? When I think of success, of course I think of Jesus, but I also think of the Apostle Paul. It seems no matter where he was at in life, whether in prison or out, whether in a situation of life or death, he found to be successful in life. The question I want to ask, “What is the win for you.”

  When looking at the life of Paul, especially after he came in contact with Jesus Christ, there was one common theme in the way he led his life. In Philippians 3:10 he says a statement about himself in the way he led, “I want to know Christ–Yes, to know the power of His resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.“ 

  Whether Paul was trying to go to build the church in Rome, above anything else he wanted to know Christ. If Paul was trying to invest in being a spiritual father such as with Timothy and others, above anything else he wanted to know Christ. When Paul was writing to churches around the world, above anything else he wanted to know Christ.

  With all of that said. The most important thing when leading our relationships, a ministry, a business, family, our own life is that above anything else we would know Christ. Not only is it important to lead that way, but our business’ needs us leading that way, our marriages need us leading that way, our relationships needs us leading that way. 

  Just as it was a central theme to Paul to know Christ above anything else, we should desire nothing else when it comes to life. I really believe the win for us, not only leaders, it that at the end of the day, we could say today I fell more in love with my savior Jesus Christ. The Bible says apart from him we can do nothing. 

  What are some of the things that have lacked due to the lack of knowing Christ in your life? No need for response, just a thought..

Make Change Make a Change

Since October my wife and I have been collecting change. I currently work at cheesecake factory and every night I have a little change left over from the night and we put it in a O.J. bucket, I have also accumulated some change from other people, and when we go to the store we take the change given back to us and put it in the bucket. Since October we have close to 500+ dollars.

Most people when they save there change they use it for a family vacation or are just saving it. I really believe our change can make a change in our world. The reason my wife and I are doing this is to help build a water well in Africa. A well cost approximately 1200 dollars to build. I really believe if you and I come together with our extra change we can help build a well in Africa sooner than expected. If you have any extra change please can we have it to put in our bucket? We are still praying about which organization to give it to, the two possibilities will either be Childrens Cup or Blood Water Mission.

This is such an opportunity to impact a group of people. The lack of clean water is the number one cause of death/disease in our world. I really believe if you and I come together with our change we can Make Change Make a Change. Please Consider…

Get Style…

One thing my wife and I have in common is clothes. I do not have as many as her, or the emotional attachment she has for clothes. But the thing we have in common is style. We love trying/attempt being in style. One of her favorite things to do is go to the book store to read INSTYLE, the magazine, to see what the in is right now for girls. We also have come to agree that Florida is way behind on being cool in this area, coming from California, everybody has style in some way or another. But for real some people here where I live look like they put on there pajamas to go out somewhere, not to bed, which could be a style all in itself. When looking at style you could classify and breakdown different kind of styles. Some people like the grundgy style. Some people like the dark, don’t talk to me, style. Some people like the I just got done surfing style. Some people like I just came out of Abercrombie style. Some people like the I am very successful Express style. There are all kinds of styles out there, and always will. 

The Bible says you and I were styled like Christ. We were created to look like Christ. One thing I know about Christ is he was one of the most stylish guys ever. He must of have been, look how the people flocked to him, they wanted to be around him, it had to be his style right? What did Jesus wear that made him so stylish. He wore compassion, peace, humility, patience, gentleness, righteousness, justice, and everything that would show the style of His Father.

(Colossians 3:12) Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

God who is our designer has styled us no other way, than in the image of His Son. We as the church, who is His body, should bear every attribute of our Lord Jesus. When a designer designs anything, in their minds, they already new and had a thought of what kind of person they were going to reach with their design. It is no different with our Heavenly Father, before we were ever thought of he new the style he was going to put on us.

So often I believe we as Christians Get in The Closet (see below) and yet come out with no style. The bible talks about when you go into the closet don’t leave with the same thing on, but change into a new style. Besides relationship God’s intentions for you and I getting in the closet is to see you and I represent the coolest style ever, that of Jesus. I love how Paul says it in the verse above, “Clothe yourselves” or in my words, “Get Style with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.” The next time you get in the closet look around to see what He is trying to clothe/style you with with. We as the church get to represent the coolest style ever, Jesus!

 

Get in the closet

Some of us need to get in the closet. Honestly I am in a season right now where I just need to get in the closet. What is the closet? Lets list a couple of observations about a closet:

*The closet is a place where you can throw your dirty laundry.

*The closet is where you can get dressed.

*The closet is a place that is full of choices

*The closet is where you put your shoes away.

*The closet is a place you don’t allow others to go.

*The closet is a place where you are only by yourself.

*The closet is a place you are always meant to go in and then out.

(Colossians 3:1-3) Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden (put in the closet) with Christ in God. 

In order to sustain a God-first life we often have to allow our hearts and minds go into a place where it can focus on God.

1.God has given us all place to go where we can make an exchange.

     a. The place where you can throw your dirty laundry.

     b. The place where you can put on new clothes.

2.God has given all of us a place to go where we can get all alone

     a. The place where no one else is.

     b. The place where its only you and Jesus.

 My wife and I’s favorite thing to do in the world, is to have people in our home. The one thing we do, as we anxiously await our guest arrival, is about every couple of minutes we look out of our 3rd story apartment window to see if they are pulling up. We just can’t stand it! We get so stinking excited when people come to our home, we know that when they get there we get to serve them, laugh with them, build relationship with them, and make them feel so much apart of our home. I believe it is no different with the closet, I believe it is the place God gets so excited for you to go, God anxiously awaits your arrival, God knows it is the place where he can wipe away all the dirt, and place all he desires to give you in you. God gets excited when we go to the closet. 

The closet I believe can be the most crucial part of our life and, most of all, our relationship with Christ.The closet should be the one place we as children should desire above anywhere else to go. Love ya all, and get in the closet, I know I want to after writing that.

 

Day Off..

Every monday my wife and I have off together, it is probably one of the most special things. It seems almost when we look back to some of our favorite times together it has been on monday. Today which is monday we are going to Savannah, have any of you been there? What is there to do? I heard it is a really cool town though? But we are going there also to meet with one of my really good friends. He is in South Carolina for some training, he currently lives in Washington, it will be good to see him. It ought to be really fun. Love all you and will write soon.