Monday, March 31, 2008

Blog You Must Start Reading

If you currently read my blog, then I'm sorry I haven't posted much recently. I decided to delete the paragraph that I had here because God used some circumstances to give me a little correction that was just right on, from God. I love it when He lovingly points in a different direction and tells you ways you can develop into who he wants you to be.

From now on, I will still be posting here but also posting on the new Graceology blog. This blog is going to be awesome and amazing, one of the best ways for you to understand what we are about as a staff and as a church, where we're headed, why we're doing things that we're doing, etc. It will be educational and inspirational; it will be fun and I promise it will add value to your life and your ministry.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Easter at Eola

As many of you know, Easter at Eola was absolutely an awesome and amazing experience. I received many kudos from people for the work I did organizing this thing. You can read a good assessment and a sincere thank you which I wholeheartedly second at Mike's blog. I've been talking and thinking so much about Easter over the past couple days, I at the current moment I don't feel like writing it all out, but just know that in my mind it was one of the most amazing things I've ever done, it was a milestone for me in ministry, and I believe it is a turing point for our church.

Here's the deal for me as we move forward: every weekend ought to have this much energy, care, focus, prayer, volunteerism around it. I am so proud of all the volunteers who stepped forward to help with Easter, and I believe it may be time for many of them to take their next step in serving. Not that they aren't already giving and serving already, just that for some, there is another step that God has. This is a turning point in our church--we can either all jump in and make the most of it, really get on board with where God is taking us, or we can keep doing what we're doing. Maintaining. I'd rather respond to God's all by giving our all, our very best. Thanks to all who are already doing this with us. He smiles on us when our work changes lives.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Easter at Eola Prep

Well, we're nearing the end of hump day here in holy week as we gear up for the Easter event at Lake Eola. People are getting pumped! There is a street banner on Edgewater Drive, a mailer postcard that went out to the downtown area, and posters up all over the place. The staff and I have been working on this event for a few weeks now, it's the biggest thing we've ever done, and we're coming along really well on the preparations.

I was just talking with Chad, our worship leader, and we were both realizing that we've got this odd feeling that we feel like we've gotten done most of what we need to do. It feels like most everything is in place. My last big thing was to email all the volunteers who are helping to finalize all the details for them of where they need to be and when. I've sent that out and now its about just maintenance on that, shifting people around if they need to be shifted. I hope that there is a time in the next couple days, even just a few minutes here or there, to focus on Jesus, to pray, as Brennan Manning puts it, "for a moment, listen to the Rabbi's heartbeat." What does Jesus' heart beat for? For me. For you. For the poor. For those who he wants to bring into his arms...and some of those people will find him this Sunday.

As we get closer, volunteers, lets remember that this is Holy Week, the passion of our lover, Jesus Christ. We have died and been raised with him, and we now live his life (Galatians 2:20, Romans 6). We have this great wonderful gift, this relationship with Jesus, and we can either bless others with it, or keep it to ourselves. This Sunday at Lake Eola, we are about spreading it. We are about being a pipe, not a bucket.

Just stop for a moment and put yourself in that park, among the crowd, and imagine you look over and in the crowd is Jesus. Smiling, putting a hand of reassurance on a single mom as he pats the head of her child, who is showing her the eggs he found at the egg hunt. You start walking toward him, but He walks over and grabs a bag of groceries, hands it to a man and says, "This bread will help you live today, and it's a small token of my love for you. I am the bread of life. If you come to me, you'll never go hungry, and if you believe in me, I will satisfy these thirsts in your soul that you live with day in and day out." He prays a short prayer and sends them on their way.

When you worship Jesus this weekend, remember that he is there among us, smiling, utterly worthy of all our praise. And worthy of all our work on his behalf this weekend. Holy Spirit, the presence of Christ in us, will work mightily in people's hearts this weekend as we do our jobs excellently.

Friday, March 14, 2008

So I’m in the back of my friend Dave’s new Acura SUV somewhere between Atlanta and Valdosta. Mike and Dave are in the front, we’re having discussions about church life, church growth, and how to take the next steps as a church. We all got a lot from the Unleash conference at Newspring Church outside of Greenville, S.C. In our estimation, this is one of the hottest places we’ve ever been to. Props to Perry Noble and the rest of the staff for an awesome ministry they have built. We’ve spent two nights in a hotel, two days on the road, and it has been totally worth it for the community building time as a staff and for the many good ideas we got and areas in which we were challenged specifically in our ministry areas. Perry’s heart for us was that a fire would be rekindled in us to take our next steps, and I think God accomplished it.

God has a call on our lives. Our Father doesn’t want us just going through life, getting by, trying to reduce stress to live comfortable little lives. I loved a point I heard a while back from somewhere, that seemed to come up again yesterday—Jesus had a mission from his Father, and it cost him everything he had, every ounce of energy, every thought, word and deed He did was toward His mission. He never quit. He gave his best and we have the privilege of giving Him our best. I remember where I heard it first—Bill Hybels’ message on the Acts 2 church. I highly recommend it. Here are some of the highlights from Perry’s first talk:

1. What is it that God wants to do in my church (or my life)?

Whatever he wants, it is going to require time and effort from you, nothing less than the best.
2. What are the barriers that stand in our way? Three common ones among church leaders are:

a. Refusal to change
b. Jealousy
c. Lack of understanding.

3. What do we want to celebrate?

By the way, this was all picked up out of the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15. Jesus told that story just as much about the prodigal as he did about the elder brother who thought he was in line with what God wanted. He was working very, very hard for the father but got so caught up in it that he didn’t remember what his father’s heart was for anymore. Have you lost sight of God’s heart and where you fit in that story? I encourage you to seek Him. And seeking him may not be easy, it takes time and effort, but it will be well worth it. You’re worth it. He’s worth it.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

ROAD TRIP!!

I'm pumped about tomorrow morning. Most of our staff plus a couple key volunteers are heading off on a little road trip to the little town of Anderson, S.C. I've never been to South Carolina, believe it or not, so I can add one more state to places I've been. Road trips don't happen very often in my life, and I've probably only taken a road trip with friends only two or three times in my life. So the opportunity to get in the car with friends (isn't it cool that our staff can call each other good friends?) and head out is great.

We're heading to Newspring Church for a little conference called Unleash. It should be good, just a little one day deal, a little refresher, and just an introduction to how they do it. I'm excited because what little I've seen of them, I like. And Mike and I were pumped about the title of the first lecture from Perry Noble: "One Decision Away from Breakthrough." My hope is that each of us as individuals will get something really good out of this time, and that as a group we will just really enjoy each other's company. We darn well better cause we've got three days of it... I pray God would just meet each of us in a special way, tell us exactly what he wants us to hear. I look forward to processing what we hear and see. I look forward to worshipping with the Newspring Worship team. It'll be a nice little bit of fun before the Easter craziness next week. I'm excited about the potential!

Saturday, March 8, 2008

The Bible says...

The other day I was flipping through channels and came across a very old Billy Graham crusade video on one of the Jesus channels. It was mesmerizing. I didn't end up watching the whole thing, but I did find myself flipping back to it, so I watched a good 15 minutes of it. I found out later it was at a stadium in San Francisco on Memorial day weekend, 1958, and the title of the message was "The Handwriting on the Wall."

I didn't agree with everything that was said, but I was mesmerized by his communication ability. It was like the last of the old revival preachers, the sermon was a bit of a "hellfire and brimstone" sort of sermon, and it's easy to see why thousands of people would flock down onto the lawn to "accept Jesus Christ." I think his style at that time was what was relevant, it was what fit. Today, his style would probably not come across that well to the typical 20 something, but preachers today may have something to learn from him. He kept his audience captive through his striking and passionate persona behind the pulpit.

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Two Things, One of them HUGE!

The huge thing, that I don't have time to post on a ton right now, is that Anne and I are totally excited because it seems pretty clear we are expecting a baby BOY! I am very excited, it all seems a bit surreal still, but before yesterday my mind was going down the track of a girl, and so now its on completely different tracks. I strongly encourage you to visit my wife's blog for more details, pictures, etc. I'm not writing a lot now because it's just a crazy time, but I hope to write more about my own thoughts and feelings later.

The other thing was that over valentine's day Anne made me a very cool mix CD of love songs, something she hasn't done since when we were dating. We cuddled and listened through it one night and it was a great, highly emotional time for me. I was moved by a number of the songs as I reflected on our marriage, and how good God has been to us. I also found a couple songs struck me in relation to God and in relation to ministry. This one, by one of my favorite artists ever, struck a chord with me on all levels, I think it really applies to living a life that is pleasing to God. There is so much about this song that I like. Sorry for the first 30 secs of some girl talking, the rest of the video is good.


Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Easter Will Rock

Dude. You have to check this out. My sincere hope and prayer is that our church will never be the same after Easter this year. Our whole staff is working their butts off to make this happen, and we are so pumped about what we hope God will do in and through us. For out of town readers, this park and amphitheatre is at the heart of downtown Orlando. It's on all sorts of city graphics, etc. We are putting the church, and the message of the risen Savior Jesus Christ into the heart of the community. Please pray for us, and if you're part of Grace, partner with us. Email me (jason@gogracefellowship.com) if you want to participate, and if so, what times you can help:

Saturday night 5-10PM

Sunday 6:00AM-10:30AM

Sunday 7:15AM-10:30AM

Sunday 10:30AM-1:00PM