GO FALCONS!

I got a pretty awesome opportunity to go to the Falcon's game yesterday afternoon with my father-in-law (later referred to as FIL). To be completely honest, after getting off the MARTA train, I was saying to myself, "there is no way in hell I am coming to another game." I felt like I was being herded with the other cattle on the ranch as they blocked off certain sidewalks so that EVERYONE had to walk one way.

Eventually we got to our seats and sat down. I am not really one to get into NFL games. I don't jump up and hollar on 3rd down "DEEEEEE-FEEEENCE!!!" That's just not what I like to do. I am usually the one at home on the couch with an ice cold Dr. Pepper in the reclining position. But, nevertheless, we were there, and I was truly looking forward to it.

About half way through the first quarter, an older man sat down next to my FIL. I never caught his name, but man was he excited! If anything happened, he was up and yelling, then slapping fives with us. He made the experience worth while.

As I was sitting there in the dome I started thinking. If Jesus was down on that field, I bet I would be up screaming at the top of my lungs for Him. But what about the other 60,000 people in that place...would they be doing the same?

I truly believe that if Christians started living like Christians, this world would become a drastically different place. WE ARE ALL IN NEED OF THE MERCY OF CHRIST! We need to be about Jesus' business of changing lives for HIM!

I continue to pray that 2009 will be a huge year for Jesus. I pray that he would use us as His agents of change in a world shot to crap. What are you going to let Christ do through YOU for OTHERS??

We Are So Blessed

We are so blessed, and I am so guilty for taking that for granted. This afternoon, about 20 of us traveled downtown to give out sack lunches to those less fortunate than us. It was about 48 degrees and raining. As I walked through Hurt Park (interesting name...) I realized that there is absolutely NO way I could live in such cold, wet circumstances. I am such a spoiled brat! Just when I though I was bad, I saw that there were some people that had broken down across the park from us. Brad and I went over and asked the MAN if he needed any help and HE said, "No, we got someone coming to change the tire for us." So he got back in his Lexus to wait. WOW...

What is wrong with us that are blessed in America? There are so many hurting people out there and we could care less. Yeah, I guess you could say they did it to themselves, but how about this one-

Patricia was telling me that her and her husband (Russell) had moved down here after Russell was offered a job. Well, that job fell through, and so they had to sell their truck and now are homeless because they can't find work. Oh yeah, he is a freakin VETERAN! I felt sick after hearing that! It was sad enough that he got screwed out of a job, but how about that he is a veteran? No veteran, in my opinion obviously, should go without being taken care of! We live in a sick, sick world. Praise Christ that He loves me in spite of my selfish ambitions. I have a freakin "limo" as Erik would say compared to what these people had. God help us!

Clarity

It's been a while since I have logged on, so there are probably like two people who will read this.

This past week we wrapped up another "practice" for our church plant Velocity. It has been an interesting learning experience. Setting up, tearing down, "what goes where, how many of these do we need, what exactly do these things do?" So many questions, and sometimes I just want to crawl in a hole in the ground.

This coming week is our last practice before our official launch. It seemed like only yesterday I moved back to Georgia looking for a place to get involved, and now we are about to launch. I am excited to see what God is going to do through this little plant. I look to the future to see other churches planted in the Villa Rica and Dallas areas.

I don't know how or why, but sometimes we get so caught up in the "ins and outs" of church that we lose sight of Jesus and HIS mission. I pray that the pastors on staff here can keep Jesus lifted high and ourselves as low as possible.

A couple of things I am really looking forward to:

- Georgia vs. South Carolina this weekend

- Worship this Sunday

- The official launch of Velocity Church

- CATALYST!!! (It's going to be AWESOME!)

"don't knock it till you rock it!"

The Power of God

I was amazed yesterday as I watched for about an hour the devastation that was taking place in New Orleans. Obviously it was not as bad as Katrina in '05, but it was still amazing! This morning, out of curiosity, I checked the weather.com site to see what was going on with it. This is what I saw:

there are THREE more storms headed our way. The one closest to Africa looks pretty big, and it's only just formed.

I am just so amazed at God's power and wonder. It is hard at times to believe that God controls all of the storms, all the rain, all the wind, the earth's rotation, the atmosphere, EVERYTHING, He holds it all together. Then, he still reaches out His hand to help me in the times I am about to give up. He sends His Son, Jesus, to die a horrifying death on a freakin cross for me. That is amazing!

PACK it UP!

Saturday, we all met up to pack a rental truck full of our crap to transport to the school. It was a pretty crazy experience. The funny thing is, the staff had come up with a "teams list" that we were going to use to keep the chaos to a minimum. Well, that didn't work. I am sure that it could have been a whole lot worse, but God was totally in control.

It took a whole heck of a lot longer than we thought it would to set up the sound and staging. By the time we were ready to start the sound check, we had to leave. We only had from 1pm-4pm. That wasn't long enough! I know, that sounds pretty crazy! 

The awesome thing was that on Sunday morning, we all gathered together and Christ was praised. No other name was lifted high this past weekend but Christ Jesus! That is the way it is always going to be.

This week should be much more smooth. We know what goes where now, so we are pumped about getting back to it.

PRAISE CHRIST!

I don't have a title

Velocity Church is moving forward pretty quickly. It is a pretty scary time, but exhilarating! 

- We have confirmed our location which is awesome

- We have nailed down our logo design

- We have some events coming up that give us a chance to serve this community

- We have started praying over our new meeting place weekly

- I am still in the search process for band members (not an easy task!)

I read a blog the other day about a key verse for worship leaders-  John 15:1-11. It's kinda long, so I won't post it here, but it's so true! I pray that I can stick close to this verse and truly run after what God wants, not what I want. 

Velocity Church is committed to Christ and the power that He and He alone possesses. We will not back down from the gospel of Jesus Christ in this church!

What Have You Been Planting?

Many times I ask myself this question...What am I planting? There are so many lost souls in our midst everyday and it's amazing how we just walk right by them as if they do not even exist.

How many friends do you have that don't KNOW Christ? I can think of several of my friends who I had some great times with that I never witnessed to. The amazing thing about Christianity is this: our "religion," if you want to call it that, was founded based on a day in history, not by what we just think happened. Can you show me another religion like that?

Let me ask you another question - if we KNOW something happened, and no one can disprove it, why the heck are we sitting on it and not sharing it with our FRIENDS?!

Look at Matthew 25:31-46. Here, Jesus talks about separating the sheep from the goats. He is going to say to the sheep, "Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink...."(it goes on...please read!) Then Jesus looks at the goats and says, "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels..."(ESV)

When we are separated from the goats on that day...what are you going to say to your friend when he looks at you straight in the eye and says, "why didn't you tell me?" At that point, we can never reach out lost friends...it's all over.

"We will never speak to another lost person again after we die. What are we waiting for?"
-Sean Sears

Picture This:

I was reminded this morning about the first Christian Martyr, Stephen. the scriptures reference is Acts chapter 7. Stephen gives this HUGE speech and after the religious leaders heard it they were pissed! If you look towards the end of Stephen's speech (v 51), he is basically rebuking them and letting them know how "stiff-necked" they were and how they resisted the Holy Spirit. So they were pretty upset, upset enough to be grinding (gnashing) their teeth at him. But Stephen was so filled up with the Holy Spirit that he looked up and saw the glory of God and JESUS standing at the right hand of God. So he said out loud to these men, "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." At this the religious dudes freaked out and starting yelling and charged him, took him out of the city and began stoning him. As they were killing Stephen by throwing freakin rocks at him, he cried out, "Lord receive my spirit." He fell to his knees, and this is what is so amazing. "And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, 'Lord, do not hold this sin against them.'" (v 60) The dude fell asleep after this....

Now you are probably curious why I think this is so interesting. Look at Romans 12:14. "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them." First of all, think about the grace God gave to him (Stephen). This guy saw the glory of God before he died. If we saw that, we could care less if people wanted to throw rocks at us...we see Jesus!! But then he asks God to FORGIVE these men stoning him...not to hold this sin against them. How awesome!

We should really live our lives out this way; blessing those who persecute us and loving them anyway!

What Was Used 1/20/2008

Set list for this week:

All Because Of Jesus- Fee
Lord Reign In Me- I don't know who wrote this one
Not To Us- Tomlin
Here I Am To Worship- Tim Hughes
prayer
Here I Am To Worship conclusion
message
Wholly Yours- Crowder

ARE YOU SERIOUS!?

I saw some videos today that I thought were great! Check them out:

Worship =

Worship = nothing counts; nothing matters except Jesus!

Many churches get caught up in style, production, schedules, music genres, ages, tattoos (read Revelation 19:16 if you want to get legalistic about tats), piercings, crazy hair, and many more shallow things. REALITY CHECK- when the Holy Spirit comes in, all this crap goes out the window!

Worship = continuously outpouring to God!

When we come into the church house on Sunday, we should be preparing our hearts for an out pour. Our worship (whether we are raising our hands, shouting to God, singing, dancing, etc.) should be a reflection of what the Holy Spirit is doing in us. If we are just there to put on a show for the rest of the congregation, WE ARE SINNING! We need to repent! If we raise our hands to look "worshipful" but are not actually worshipful, we idolize mortal opinion over God's. We need to abandon all for the one who gave it ALL! Jesus GAVE His life. (John 10:17-18)

When Jesus says, in verse 18, "No one takes it from me (speaking of His life), but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again..." I get chills. How can we fathom the awesome wonder of Jesus? He is the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords...WOW!!

This week, let us ask God to break our hearts for what breaks His. I challenge you to spend time with God, worshiping and pleading with Him to break you. None of us are perfect, or will we ever be...God will always be consuming our junk with His fire. The closer we get to God, the more He is going to cut away (John 15:1-7).

GLORY TO JESUS CHRIST our LORD!

When The Music Fades

This morning at Shore Fellowship we did an acoustic music set. I was a little worried that it would not come off well, but I was pleasantly surprised. I incorporated "Heart Of Worship" by Redman, but before hand we prayed for a minute; it was nice to slow down and be still before God. I suggest this for any congregation to try out at least once. We have done this once before, and it always helps the congregation to really start lifting up their songs and voices to God rather than just singing for the heck of it.

It's past Christmas and almost the new year. This next year is going to be an interesting one. God has really been challenging me and I am pumped for what He has in store!

A scripture I challenge you to contemplate is Romans 12:1-2-

"(1)Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. (2)And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."

God bless your new year!

-cg

The Cross::Our Mission

Death on a Roman cross, buried in a tomb, resurrected three days later. Plain and simple. Is this offensive to you? I love what one man says about the cross, "The cross is offensive, but in an attractive way." (Driscoll)

It's been said many theologians are beginning to believe in a pluralistic theology, meaning there are many ways to God/heaven, and Jesus is just one of those ways. Correct me if I am wrong, "I am THE way, THE truth, THE life, no one comes to the father except through ME." (John 14:6) This is Jesus speaking. How can theologians, who say they believe in what the bible says, but come to conclusions of whether or not Jesus is the only way, the virgin birth was real, if Jesus was 100% man and 100% God, and so on? It's imperative that we not lose sight of these pertinent details. A man whom I revere, Mark Driscoll, said this in a great way. He stated that some biblical teachers are starting to look at Christianity like a brick wall. If we take out one brick, let's say the virgin birth, we don't really lose anything (the wall doesn't fall). Well, correction, if you lose the virgin birth, YOU LOSE JESUS! There is a Christiological purpose to every book in the bible, which points to Jesus! If you lose Jesus, you lose Christianity.

Preach the cross, preach Jesus!

to live-
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