Archive for September, 2008
Tuesday, September 30th, 2008
Yesterday I had a chance to watch a little “cable news”. I’ve been studying the Book of Acts for the “Rock Band” series and I couldn’t help but think about what the response of the church…actionchurch in particular…should be to the economic uncertainty we face as a nation.
I’m not sure what the “fix” is for our nations finances…besides actual responsibility which is way too “unpopular” to happen… I do know that the church needs to be able to react to the financial needs that will certainly “trickle down” to our community. The question is “how”? Typical church thinking is to start a “benevolence fund” where people give donations and then the money is given to people who need it… The problem is a “few” people have to decide if the needy person is actually “worthy” of receiving the rest of the churches money… I’m desperately trying not to be political here but that system is not working out too well for us as a nation…I’m not thinking it will work great for the church…
How could we help those around us in a “decentralized” fashion… Where people who have needs could let them be known in a “non-embarrassing” way. Where people who have the ability(whether it be extra stuff, skills, or cash) could help others in need. After Church Sunday, Jared and Melissa told me about a “need it- have it” type bulletin board that they saw another church and the idea makes a lot of sense! I’m thinking about ways to make that concept work at actionchurch…both on Sunday mornings, and on line. Any Thoughts?
Other related stuff: I’m thinking that it is no “accident” that we are moving to a larger place that dramatically cuts our operating budget…God has a great sense of timing. The first series (Starting Oct. 19th) at Club 19 will be called “In God we Trust” where we will discuss (in this time of uncertainty- financial, political-cultural) what we can actually “TRUST” God to do. We are going to open up the screens for “txt messaged” questions from the crowd again…and really try to discover what God said he would do… Stay tuned.
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Monday, September 29th, 2008
‘Anybody elso out there watching Kitchen Nightmares? Even though each week the “plot” is highly predictable…I love watching the show.
If you’ve missed it, each week goes “a little something like this”… A failing restaurant invites Chef Gordon Ramsey to “makeover” their greasy spoon… Even though they are obviously failing they still think that they are “pretty much doing everything right”. They blame the customers for not eating at their lousy restaurant. Enter Gordon Ramsey… Chef Ramsey tastes the food and rules it disgusting. He pokes around in their filthy kitchens and freezers and generally hurls (censored for tv) curses at them for being such “filthy pigs”. The owners and staff resist at first but finally come to the realization that however painful the truth is…if they do not face it and accept Chef Ramsey’s profanity laden help…they will fail. Humility ensues…changes are made…Kitchens and cupboards are opened and cleaned…the restaurant is “made over” and relaunched…in the end the grateful owners and chefs end up hugging Ramsey and thanking him for saving their restaurant…and their lives.
I think God works a lot like Chef Ramsey…minus the profanity?! We cry out to him from our filthy messed up lives…we resist his truth at first because it’s painful…it’s shocking when he reveals our “filthy kitchens” and our “disgusting freezers”. It’s much easier to blame others for our sins… In the end we make a choice. We chose to either send the “Almighty Chef” away…and continue to struggle on our own. Or, we invite him in…make the changes in our lives he suggests…allow him to help us clean up the filth we have accumulated in our lives. We end up thanking him for coming and saving us… That’s what undeserved Grace is all about.
So that’s what I “learned” from Kitchen Nightmares….that…and to NEVER eat in a restaurant again…
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Sunday, September 28th, 2008
Today was week three of the Rock Band sermon series. We talked about things that bands (and churches) argue about…and the things that are not worth arguing about… Grace is a non-negotiable function of the church. It’s messy…it’s difficult…it causes arguments (as in Acts 15) but in the end we must extend undeserved grace to others…because it has been given to us. We didn’t “accept Jesus”…he accepted us…when we did not deserve it!
The Highlights:
- Thanks to our opening (Rock band) act…Garrett did a great job “preparing the crowd” to experience the musical genius that is “Napalm”
- I “heart” the Gulls…I like their spirit…I like the way they love Jesus and don’t take themselves too seriously…I love the Deftones cover (Minerva) they did at the end of service…What a great and original band! Thanks Guys.
- Ever heard the statement “you can’t win em all”? Today absolutely proved that to be true! Some weeks are just going to be “Off”….
- I forgot to prepare 3 things…that I have Done EVERY week since we launched 7 months ago…like I said…sometimes things are just OFF!
- We have been having great attendance all through summer…Ironically on the first weekend of fall…after we announced that we are moving to a larger club…attendance was the lowest it has been since May…Wha?? (Come to think of it…this should probably be expected. Whenever we announced in the past that we were committed to doing something for the community that would be a real leap of faith financially…offerings would be immediately down. The good news is that we don’t move forward based on “reports” (either attendance or offering)…we operate on faith… I can’t wait to pack the new place out in October!)
- Today was a “tough” sermon to preach…I really actually struggled to get it all in the time allotted…and I am usually done “early”. I am not a “long winded” dude…but there was so much more I would have liked to say!
- I am going to miss Fat Daddy’s… but we spent some time after church over at Club 19 planning preparing for the Grand Opening over there on October 19…and it is going to ROCK…I am really starting to get stoked about the possibilities!
- A little over a month ago I preached about God saying to Gideon “Go in the Strength that you have”(even though he had no Idea that he already had everything he needed to rescue his nation)…that is exactly what is happening at actionchurch. We are seeing so many people step up to use their talents and skills to take our impact on York county to the next level…truly amazing! I had no idea how many talented and gifted folks we are blessed with.
- Even though we were low on attendance today it seemed like more people than ever stayed to help tear down…strange…but really appreciated!
Even after a tough week…I am really excited to see what God is up to at actionchurch…
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Yesterday I had a chance to watch a little “cable news”. I’ve been studying the Book of Acts for the “Rock Band” series and I couldn’t help but think about what the response of the church…actionchurch in particular…should be to the economic uncertainty we face as a nation.
