Summer time is “story time”.   At the beach, around the campfire, on the deck with cold drinks and friends, while sitting around the pool at night, summer is a great time to share stories.

During the month of July we’ll be sharing some of our favorite stories from scripture.  I’m excited about that.  There are so many great stories to chose from.  Something struck me this morning though, as I was reading Psalm 145.

 ⁴ Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts;
      let them proclaim your power.
 ⁵ I will meditate on your majestic, glorious splendor
      and your wonderful miracles.
 ⁶ Your awe-inspiring deeds will be on every tongue;
      I will proclaim your greatness.
 ⁷ Everyone will share the story of your wonderful goodness;
      they will sing with joy about your righteousness.

Psalm 145:4-7

These words made me stop and think.  What stories are we part of TODAY that show God’s amazing power?  It’s great to talk about the miracles and “mighty acts” or God from King Davids time, but what “awe-inspiring deeds” will we tell our children about?

As followers of Christ should we be about TELLING a story…or BEING PART OF a story?   I think the life of King David told in scripture shows us we should do BOTH.

Maybe we should think of ourselves not only as storytellers…but as actors in a play that has been running since the beginning of time…characters not narrators.

What part of the story will you play?

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  I have always thought of Pixar as sort of an “overnight success” as a company.  I remember when their first (and “THE FIRST”) computer animated film,Toy Story came out in 95, it became the highest grossing film of the year.  Not a bad first attempt for a “new company”.  They took a new technology and completely revolutionized the filmaking industry.

 Here’s something I didn’t know about Pixar.  Toy Story came out NINE YEARS after their initial start up.  Until Toy Story,  they never made a profit.  In fact, for five years, one of their most notable early investors; Steve Jobs, LOST over one million dollars A YEAR keeping the dream of Pixar films alive. 

The team at Pixar had the right idea.  They set out to do something no one else had ever seen. They had a vision to tell timeless stories with a new technology.   They persevered and sacrificed in even the most discouraging times, until technology and culture “caught up” with their vision.  Their refusal to quit made them an “overnight success”.

There’s something really inspiring about that…something that makes me more certain than ever that the best days are yet to come for actionchurch.  Now, I just wonder if Steve Jobs would be interested… 

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One of my favorite television shows right now is “Pawn Stars”, the unlikely adventures of a family owned pawn shop in Las Vegas.  Check em out Here on Hulu.

I love the interaction between the Grandfather “Old Man”, Rick  (owner), and son ”Big Hoss”.  I love watching perhaps the WORST employee in the history of small business-”Chumlee”.    

I’ve learned quite a bit from the show…seriously.  Somewhere in the middle of learning how to spot a fake Rolex, and why not to buy a boat-”Bring Out Another Thousand”,  I learned something from the opener that I never want to forget when it comes to actionchurch on Sunday mornings.

At the beginning of each episode the owner Rick Harrison, says these words:

“This is my Pawnshop, Everything in here has a story…and a price.  One thing I’ve learned after 21 years, you never know what is going to come through that door.” 

I never want to forget that everyone who walks through the doors of actionchurch has a story. They are “bought with a price.”   They have Value.  They Matter.  Unlike the guys on Pawn Stars, when we spot a “fake” or a “phony” we don’t turn them away.  Everyone is welcome and excepted.

The reason why I want every week to be powerful at actionchurch is because, as Rick says,  “You never know what is going to come through that door”!

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⁶ “Let’s go across to the outpost of those pagans,” Jonathan said to his armor bearer. “Perhaps the Lord will help us, for nothing can hinder the Lord. He can win a battle whether he has many warriors or only a few!”

Prince Jonathon decided to climb up a cliff and attack an opposing army with only one other fighter because  he thought “PERHAPS the Lord will help us”. His bravery and faith (along with a little bit of “crazy”) started a chain of events that completely turned the course of the battle.  (Read the story here)

I love “perhaps” faith.  I believe that God can “win a battle whether he has many warriors or few”.   I think so many times we miss out on amazing things because no one is willing to take action on “Perhaps”.    It’s easy to move forward if you KNOW God will reward you with success…completely different if your best chances are only “perhaps”.

Can I tell you something?  I think most of the future of actionchurch depend on “perhaps”.   “Perhaps God will bless us with a new venue(s)  that we could not have even imagined two years ago.”  “Perhaps God is blessing us with the opportunity to start other actionchurch “franchises” around our area and in other cities”.  “Perhaps God will use something started by ’amatuers’ to speak to thousands of people who would never consider ’attending church’”.     Perhaps.

  You know what else I think?   If we are prayerful, obedient, and a little crazy, I think “perhaps” is pretty good odds…

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This flyer is-

Clever.

Amusing.

Useless.

…but not pointless.

It frustrates me.  It motivates me.  It makes me want to find better ways to communicate the Good News of Jesus.  I’m not even sure I can fully explain why…

Thank you, Mr. Sarcastic Flyer Guy

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This week we celebrated Communion together for the first time.  As I said Sunday, I’m still not sure a church service is the best way to celebrate this tradition.  I think the original intent was for followers of Jesus to remember Jesus’ sacrifice as they gathered around a meal together.  It’s so easy for a remembrance to become a ritual…a poignant reminder to become routine.  We need to be reminded though, that everything we strive for and look forward to as followers of Christ is because of Jesus’ sacrifice.  I’m undecided how we will celebrate communion together in the future (I’d love to hear your impressions from Sunday) but I do think Jesus was honored as we remembered together.

I also think the pink luau shot glasses from the dollar store, and panera sour dough was a very “actionchurch” way to do communion. 

We had SO MANY new kidz on Sunday.  The actionkidz crew is doing such a great job…but they really need more space and more help!  The club was pretty crowded out front…but it was crazy full of little ones! 

I am so thankful for the reminder this week that when Jesus asks us to do something, he also prepares EVERYTHING we need in advance!  

 ⁹“Where do you want us to prepare for it?” they asked.  ¹⁰He replied, “As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, ¹¹and say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ ¹²He will show you a large upper room, all furnished. Make preparations there.” ¹³They left and found things just as Jesus had told them…  Luke 22:9-13

I’m clinging to this scripture and believing that as we grow and attempt so many ” greater things than these” Jesus will provide in advance everything we need just as he did for he did for his disciples at passover.  If you are a fan of what actionchurch is doing in York County please pray and act with me!

Big Thanks! to the guys from Calling out Closer.  They played Sunday’s service like they had been coming to actionchurch since day one.  Great Songs…great sound…and I can’t imagine a band doing a better job of playing a communion service in a nightclub. 

Busy, crazy, hectic week!   I think Tyler was working up until two minutes before 11.  I can’t think of a harder working, more determined group of folks than the crew on Sunday Mornings.  Everyone of you are action-heroes!

Seriously BLOWN away with all of the “actionistas” stepping up to help sponsor the Survivor/caretaker banquet at Relay for Life.  It’s humbling and a bit scary to think that we will be feeding 600 people on June 18th as they celebrate surviving another year of living!   This is going to be something we will never forget…no one should miss the opportunity to be a part of it! 

Every week I hear great stories of people Loving God, Loving People, and Taking action…that’s why we meet on Sunday mornings.   “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” Hebrews 10:24.

I also announced Sunday that we will be taking FREE family pictures at before and after the Sunday service every Sunday in May!  I’ll post about this later this week…this is a great opportunity to invite families you know, make Mom happy on Mother’s day, get a current family portrait…and during a recession, FREE is a pretty great price!

Thanks to all the folks each week who chose to invite, invest, and get involved at actionchurch…you are making an impact on York County!

Lots more great Garrettsnyder original photos of sunday (here)

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Yesterday I posted about the people of Noah’s time.  The people that made God so unhappy with humanity that he decided to “wad up the entire earth and throw it across the room” by destroying everything with a flood.  They were completely self-absorbed in their own lifes and oblivious to how corrupt, violent, and sinful their society had become.  They lived the ultimate “do not do” list.

So what should we do to please God?  What is God’s ultimate “to do” list for us?  If you ask religious folks, be prepared to get LOTS of different answers.  Be prepared for your list to contain everything from how to wear your hair, what to wear, what to drink, and  what songs you should listen to on your cassette walkman.  (I’m pretty sure there is a religious type somewhere that finds ipods to be sinful). 

It’s confusing.  Everyone seems to have a different idea of what pleases God…what to put on your “to do list”.  Even people who look to the Bible as the authority on how to live, find it difficult to agree on exactly what it is that pleases God.

I think there’s room for loving disagreement.  There are many things not specifically addressed in the Bible.  I think there is room to follow your conscience and decide to abstain from an activity that “seems” sinful to you, without judging and berating other followers of Jesus who don’t  feel the same way.

I also think it’s probably simpler than we try to make it. At actionchurch our ”list” is to  Love God.  Love People. Take action.  Personally, I try(and fail) to live by this verse.

No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good,
      and this is what he requires of you:
   to do what is right, to love mercy,
      and to walk humbly with your God.

Micah 6:8

What’s on your “to do” list?

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This Sunday we announced that “Love God. Love People. Take action.”  would be our new creed/motto/tag line for actionchurch.   Obviously, the “Love God. People.” part comes from these verses that we talked about every Sunday in the month of February. 

 ³⁷ Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  ⁴⁰ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”  Matthew 22:37

So where did the “Take action.” part come from?  Is it just a clever tie-in to our church name?   Not exactly.   The name “actionchurch” started out as a joke…a reference to a heated rant about church that I once delivered to my wife after a particularly frustrating elders meeting.  Long before I even considered starting a church or being a pastor, I said “if I ever ran a church it would be called action church, and we would actually DO THINGS instead of just having meetings about them.”   My wife reminded me of those words when we were thinking about what to call our new church start up.  Be careful what you say in anger, because to this day whenever I am tempted to just “talk” about what the Bible says instead of doing something, the word actionchurch reminds me of my words.  

  More importantly though, Jesus taught in the parable of the Good Samaritan  that being religious, knowing the scriptures, even being a religious leader like the priest and the temple assistant is NOT ENOUGH to fulfill Gods commands to “love God with all your heart-and your neighbor as yourself.”  The only person in the parable who actually pleased God was the hated Samaritan.  He was the one who took action…the one who stopped to help the injured man…the one who took it upon himself to insert himself into a “messy”  situation. 

If we Love God and Love people…Jesus taught that the only way to PROVE IT is by taking action.   

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Sunday I announced that our new “tag line” for actionchurch was changing from “church for people who don’t like church” to “Love God. Love People. Take action.”.  All future advertising, invitation cards, wearables, etc will be tagged with the new line.

How it all started:  Two years ago when actionchurch launched at Fat Daddys Nightclub, I struggled to find ways to describe what our little “church in a bar/nightclub” would be like.  Some of our early taglines were original (re-think happy hour, No cover charge-no dress code-no joke,) and were funny and/or lame attempts to describe what was going to happen at Fat Daddys on Sunday morning.   “Church for people who do not like church” was not original (numerous other churches have used it) and not part of our initial launch.  After moving from Fat Daddys to Club 19  in October 2008 we begin to us the “church for people…” tag line exclusively because none of our “bar-related” tag lines seemed relevant to our currently non-alcoholic venue.

Why make the change?:  Several months ago our creative team (currently Jerry, Josiah, and myself) met to talk about how we could let more people know that a place like actionchurch exists here in York, PA.  Since then we have been working on finding new ways to “explain” and remind people both inside and outside of actionchurch why we exist.  Being a “church for people who don’t like church” may describe some elements of our Sunday morning “style/flavor” but it simply does not describe who we are as a church.  We needed a new descriptive tag line.

Is this a new direction?:  Nope.   actionchurch began because we Love God, Love people, and took action when we realized that there was not a place where some of our friends would be accepted, loved, and pointed to Jesus in our area. Because a place like actionchurch didn’t exist we took action.   It’s why our great volunteer crew work so hard to prepare for Sunday mornings.  Because we Love God and Love People we take action when students in our schools need coats, a family needs a fresh start, people suffering with cancer need our help, etc. etc.  Loving God, Loving People, and taking action are in our DNA, in our history, in our name…and in our future.  I can’t think of a better way to discribe what we do, who we are, and where we want to “go” as a church!

Tommorow:  The ”scoop” about how the name actionchurch came to be. 

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Have you ever heard someone say “Don’t sweat the small stuff”?  It sounds like good advice.  Don’t get upset over the “little” annoyances and troubles of life.  Don’t “major on the minors”. Concentrate on the “big” things.

Here’s the problem; It’s easy to be confused about what the “big stuff” is, and what the “small stuff” isn’t.   It’s easy to become religious and think that the “big stuff” of Christianity is church attendance, Bible study, personal growth, etc. and think that not loving your neighbor as yourself is a relatively unimportant oversight.  In fact, sometimes the “busier” we become being “Christians”, the easier it is to ignore and neglect others…

Loving God and Loving people is the “Big stuff”.  In fact, Jesus said it’s the BIGGEST stuff…the single most important thing that you can do in life.  EVERYTHING ELSE is the “small stuff”.  …not sure why that is so hard for us (me especially) to remember.

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