Friday, October 30th, 2009
Coming this Sunday…
1. Set your clocks BACK one hour Saturday night. Yes, this week you can trick or treat as long as you like and still get one more blessed hour of sleep before actionchurch!
2. Failure to Excel on Stage. If you’ve seen them…I’ve already said enough. If not, like I said before, set your hello kitty alarm clocks for Sunday morning.
3. Really God, Really!?! Sunday kicks off the new series about trusting God…even when it seems dangerous, insane, or fattening. Have you ever questioned whether following the God of the Bible “makes sense”? You are not alone…
4. Take action! This Sunday we will be unveiling our Holiday project to meet an overwhelming need in our city. Last year we worked together to change the lives of one family forever. This year we continue our “long standing tradition” 
of giving the gifts to OTHERS during the holidays at actionchurch.
Share on Facebook
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009
So here’s my seasonal rant about Halloween. Now that everyone has gathered, (please imagine me sitting behind dozens of microphones) :-) let the pontificating begin.
1. People that don’t celebrate halloween for reasons of conscience- Cool, don’t celebrate. Obey your conscience. The bible is pretty clear that if something is “sin to you” you shouldn’t do it. But the scriptures don’t say anything about trying to get everyone else to be like you. Quietly enjoy the time with your family. Do something generous for others. Keep your porch light off…no welcoming trick-or-treaters with a sermon about the evils of Halloween. For God’s sake…and I mean this…please don’t give out religious tracts instead of candy.
2. people who enjoy celebrating Halloween. Cool, have fun. If you are a follower of Jesus, Halloween is a great opportunity to show generosity to your neighbors…a great time to get to know the people in your neighborhood. Be generous. If you’re giving away candy make sure its great…and lot’s of it. Consider doing something for the adults that trudge along with their little princesses and transformers each year. At our house we give away hot chocolate and candy. People gather in our driveway and take a break from their candy-quest. Be generous. Be creative.
3. People who enjoy Halloween a “little too much”. ( I include in this catagory dudes who EVERY YEAR seem to use Halloween as an opportunity to dress up in fishnets and fake boobs…people who fill their entire yard with coffins and fake corpses…and of course anyone who decides that jumping out from behind a bush dressed as the Texas Chainsaw killer to scare parents of four year old trick-or-treaters is a good idea) To all of you I say…enjoy Halloween…just maybe a little less (because you scare me a little). And sorry about punching you in the face.
Thanks to Steve Grow for carving the awesome cog-o-lantern. All opinions expressed in this rant are mine alone and probably don’t represent the opinions of anyone else in the world. Happy Halloween!
Share on Facebook
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009
Here’s an update of all the new developments in the “actionchurch is moving but we don’t know where” Saga…
Two months ago if you would have told me we would be looking for a new venue for actionchurch I would have laughed at you. Club 19 where we currently meet is with a few exceptions perfectly suited for our church. It’s clean. It’s well-built and looks cool. Except for being sort of crowded some Sunday mornings and desperately needing more space for little kids it couldn’t be better. It’s even painted all the colors of our logo. If I could build an actionchurch venue it would simply be a larger version of club 19.
As I announced 4 weeks ago Club 19 is going through changes. They are planning on expanding and remodeling the club into a lounge/bar. Because of those changes we were unable to renew our lease. Our lease ran out on 10/11/09 but we were fortunately given the opportunity to rent week to week with originally an eight week limit. We were later told the eight weeks were not “set in stone” but our schedule to find a new actionchurch venue was still very tight!
Sometimes the worst news turns out to be the best news in the long run. As we began to search for a new venue, a couple of things became clear. It was going to be difficult to find the “perfect” fit for our Sunday mornings… BUT due to the economic downturn, there is commercial and retail real estate available now at prices that would have been IMPOSSIBLE to find this time last year. Jerry (our rock-n-roll czar and a/c representative) has already brought two amazing deals to the table to own or lease space that I would have never even have had the guts to ask for. I believe with all my heart that the next venue for actionchurch is going to be better than we could ever “ask for or think of” if we don’t “settle” for something less in the meantime. The problem was that we were running out of time… We needed time to find the right building…even more time to renovate it and furnish it.
I got an email last week that changed all of that. We’ve been given a great gift. Several great gifts…but the biggest one is the gift of time. I met with Steve the owner of the club on Saturday and was offered:
1. To meet at Club 19 on an ongoing basis while we continue to look for our next venue and they remodel for the lounge/bar. Thank you Steve…thank you God! We don’t have to sign a lease and “miss” the great deal I believe we can find on our next venue…but we also don’t have to wonder where we are going to meet in the mean time.
2. There is a perfect spot downstairs from the club (who knew there was a downstairs) where we can set up a nursery/ little ones room. We went down there during the music Sunday and it suitably quiet for kidz! Unbelievable.
3. Lower rent. Yeah..you read that right. Our rent had gone up significantly because we were renting week to week. It is now lower than before. Even with the addition of the new childrens space it will not be much higher than our previous lease. Wow.
We did not ASK for these things. They were all generously offered. I believe in the power of God and the generosity of people. It’s real.
So stay tuned as we keep you updated on any developments as we continue to look for a new venue…quite probably one that will be “ours” seven days a week instead of just on Sunday mornings. We plan to begin searching in earnest again after the holidays as many seasonal closings happen then… Thanks to the great gift we have been given we will turn our attention between now and the Christmas break to blessing others in the community…just as we have been blessed. See ya Sunday at club 19…I can’t wait to tell you whats coming next!
Share on Facebook
