merry christmas

i am resting from blogging this week!

I said that

Here are some things I never thought that I would say and I could have said before I became a church planter.

-Almost everyone at Whataburger knows me by name (and give me a discount).
-I have worked at Starbucks for over a year.
-I have had three people tell me that I am an incredible pastor and that they are behind me 100%, who later said that I was terrible and the worst pastor ever.
-I have to walk on egg shells around the custodians at Antioch elementary school.
-I have 240 - 400 bottles of water in my car at any time.
-I love the feeling of being overwhelmed and watching things come together.
-I have four people who serve under my leadership that "work for food."
-I guess they're right, senior citizens although slow and dangerous behind the wheel, can still serve a purpose.

well done

I constantly struggle with what God views as success and what man views as success.

When I worked in the mortgage industry what I needed to do was clear, whatever made me the most money.
When I played competitive sports what I needed to do was clear, whatever caused me to have the best chance to win!

I know that God has called me to pastor for a reason. I know that He wants me to help lead people to be more like Him and for them to lead others to be more like Him. (Ephesians)

For those of you who do not know, I didn't plan to plant a church. I didn't dream of it for years and years. I didn't even know much about church planting. It just happened ( which has been cool and not cool in many ways, lol).

I believe that it was God's plan. I believe that I was obedient to His call on my life. I believe that He is using us to do incredible things.

Our church is growing numerically, but I don't just want to have bigger numbers.
People are getting excited, but I don't just want our church to be cool.
We are doing things, but I don't just want to do a lot of stuff.

I want God to be pleased with me. I want to be in His will. I want people to be transformed through what we are doing.

I see a lot of guys who are pastors or want to be pastors who (regardless of what they say or what I will say about them) want man's recognition for what they do.

I do not want to be that guy; I can't be that guy even when I try.

I don't want to be successful, I want to be a servant. For even the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve.

Love is not a victory march,it's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah - Leonard Cohen

what is your motivation?

Just over four years ago I served as a summer intern under John Cross at South Biscayne Church. I did not grow up in church all my life and I had never actually "worked" for a church until that summer so I had no idea what to expect. When I got there, what I found was that it was hard work. In addition to the fact that we as interns had submitted ourselves to serve in whatever way they needed, it was also a transition time in the church and there were a lot of staff issues and people issues going on. We had one day off a week (every once in a while and I usually didn't get home until 9) It was tiring, stressful, aggravating, painful, etc, etc, etc. To be honest at some moments I felt like breaking my 3 month commitment and going home.

But then I took part in a service at the beach where 67 people showed their commitment to Christ and how He had changed their life through being baptized. As I stood there in the water helping people to and from the Pastor; the cleaning bathrooms, walking to homes in 100 degree weather, and daily hard work became worth it! So, I continued to work hard, I continued to do things that I wasn't excited about doing, I continued to do whatever it takes because I was playing a part in the Church reaching real people.

Some people will work harder if you pay them more, if you give them some fancy title, or if they get recognized by others. God wants to work hard because of the need. In Luke 10, Jesus said that the Harvest is great but the workers are few.

I know as staff and as volunteers at mosaic (and other churches with a similar vision) we do a lot, but people's lives being changed is worth it!

open

Last night, I decided to drop in on our life group entitled open. Open is a group that meets at Starbucks every Sunday night. They usually start by discussing the topic of that day's sermon and then whatever is going on in someones life. The idea behind this group is to be a small step for someone to make to get more plugged into our church.

WOW!

I was absolutely amazed at the openness between people who had not met each other before that day. I was amazed at the willingness for new people to share what is going on in their life. I was encouraged by this small groups success in doing what we believe God has it there for.

If you are not seeing guests/regular attenders become more invovled in the body, then be creative. Start service based groups, interst groups, use different nights of the week, go to public locations, and do whatever it takes!

What works for us may or may not work for you, but is part of our call as Pastors and leaders of the church to do something to try and equip people (eph 4) and we have to figure out steps that people can take to move them along on their walk with Christ!

30-45 minutes of my day

I usually try to listen to one sermon each day. Who I listen to changes, but here is who I listen to right now.

Monday - me
Tuesday- Eric Partin, Shoreline Church
Wednesday- Andy Stanley, North Point Community Church
Thursday- John Cross, South Biscayne Church
Friday-various (Francis Chan, David Hughes, Troy Gramling, Ed Young)

parenting

this Sunday i am talking about parenting. If you have any good qoutes or illustrations, comment on my blog or send me an e-mail (james@mosaiccrestview.com).

BJ Head

Yes that is his real name.

I thought that is was very fitting to conclude this five part blog series with BJ. BJ first attended mosaic about five months ago. He and his girlfriend at the time chose mosaic because they wanted to go to a church that was not all about tradition and where they knew they would not be judged (they actually heard about us from visiting shoreline). Since then BJ has surrendered his life to Christ and been baptized. He is also serving every week with our greeting/parking team and is faithful in participating in many things that we do as a church family.

This week I got a call from BJ asking for some advice on a commentary to help him understand the Word more as he reads. This is a point that many life-long "Christians" haven't gotten to in their walk.

I am so encouraged by BJ and his hunger for Christ to be in control of every aspect of his life. I am thankful to be a witness to what God is doing.

BJ is why we started mosaic church.

Nathan Barrow

Nathan shows up at 8:00 every Sunday morning and helps with sound or media, or really whatever role is needed. Nathan is not a guy that is really needy or that wants a lot of attention. Nathan is just a guy who does what is needed and that you can rely on to give it is all faithfully. I often wonder what Nathan thinks about things because he is so laid back. ( however, Nathan can definitely step into action at any minute so do not think that you can take advantage of him). Nathan is young but yet has the discipline of someone who has been around the block.

I doubt that Nathan will ever receive crowds of praise or awards for leading many, but I am confident that Nathan pleases our Father more than just about anyone.

I look up to this guy that is a couple of years younger than me and so should you.

I am very thankful for the privilege of serving with Nathan and for being able to call him my friend.

Kinetta Johnson

Today is Thanksgiving and we had the privelege of hosting some of my family for this time of hanging out and food. I asked Christie if she wanted to take this on and she went above and beyond to provide a great meal for everyone.

Kinetta goes above and beyond with anything you ask her to do. She is one of those people that is going to make sure that every t is crossed and every i is dotted. She is going to give people specific instructions and she is going to make sure what needs to get done, gets done.

Kinetta is also one of those people who is going to give you her honest opinion if you ask for it. However, she does not just give feedback to hear herself talk, she gives feedback so that things can improve. She desires that people give their all in everything because that is what God deserves.

Kinetta is not a person that just does things, she also hungers for the Word and is one of the most passionate learners of the Bible that I know.

If you are not sure of yourself and why you are doing something, Kinetta is going to make you feel uncomfortable as a leader. If you are called by God, Kinetta is going to be an incredible asset to your ministry.

I am thankful that she is a part of mosaic.

Kevin Clark

As my wife and I balance preparing for this week's message, caring for our son, and getting the house ready for our guests; I am reminded of Kevin. Kevin, is a true servant in every fashion. Kevin has continued to amaze me by his willingness to do whatever is needed. Kevin's heart is that the Church fulfills its mission.

In most situations you find people who serve one area of the Church and have some agenda in doing so. Kevin serves in any area and with the big picture in mind. In fact Kevin randomly calls me to remind me to follow the vision that God has given me and to not worry about man's opinion.

Kevin is the kind of guy that I hear most pastors wish they had in their church. I am so thankful to have that guy serving at mosaic and partnering with me to make an impact in our community and world!

As a partner of mosaic we are asked to commit to serve selflessly, if you ever question what that means, hang out with Kevin Clark.

Bill Zuhlke

Bill is one of the seven original partners of mosaic church. We actually had our first two months of Bible study at Bill and Debbie's house. Bill is also the "church adminstrator" and really handles all of the finances (along with the finance team) and records for the Church. In addition to this roll, Bill and his wife have done/are doing numerous things for our church. He pulls the trailer every Sunday mornings, they print the bulletins every week, they help greet, and I could go on and on.

Bill is also not afraid to respectfully question decisions that I make as the leader of our church and hold me accountable to the vision that God has given me.

I know that Bill has a true desire to see mosaic church grow and reach out to our community and world. Bill does not do all of these things for recognition, he does them for the eternal reward of seeing people's lives changed!

It is a blessing to have someone like Bill working alongside me and for all that he does, I am truly thankful!

Thanksgiving

In honor of thanksgiving week, I will be posting about five different people that are a part of mosaic over the next five days. I am of course thankful for everyone who is involved with our church, but I wanted to take the time to recognize these five people. I pray that every pastor has one of these five people in their life.

where is the feedback?

I was wondering why a lot of people say they read my blog, but no one comments on it. Maybe my readers are just not good with words, maybe their too lazy to comment, or maybe they just don't get technology. Then I was advised by a friend of mine that I had to change the settings because it was currently set to only let registered blogspot users have a say. What a simple thing I was doing to disconnect people from my blog.

I think this sums up most churches today.

They have a great message, but no one is responding to it. They figure out all the reasons in the world why people are not getting into what they are doing; a liberal culture shift, young people's attention spans, money, etc. They are completely unaware of the fact that they have shut the world out and are only interacting with those "inside". It takes some simple adjustments to change from being a gathering of people focused on self to being a living body that reaches out to a world in need. The message they have is compelling, it is what people are born to hear.

The questions is whether or not the Church is ready to respond to the world's response to the Gospel.

As a blogger I am now ready for your comments. As a follower of Christ, I am ready to see you respond to the message of Christ.

what is the problem?

John Maxwell says that "everything rises and falls on leadership."

So, when you have a challenge with a staff of your church, when people aren't getting the vision, when leaders are not stepping up, when people aren't giving, when the word is getting out of the four walls; there is one place that you need to look...................................at the leadership.

If you are at an established Church, it may be a deacon board or some lady who has been at the church for 40 years who is the actual leader of the church.

But, in a church plant......it is you. You have got to be the one God uses to bring about results.

What are you doing to see that God's call on your life is being carried out. How are you equipping people to carry our their role, how are sharing the vision, how are leading people to step up to the plate, how generous are you and how are you explaining why people should be, how are you spreading the word and how are you pushing people in that direction?

EVERYTHING rises on falls on the leader.

IN THE HOUSE!!!

On October 29th of this year, my life changed. My wife and I (more so my wife) gave birth to our first child, Cameron Daniel Ross. As most parents would agree, words cannot describe how incredible it feels to hold your child (something that you created) in your hands.

I am filled with excitement because this young man has so much ahead of him and at this point in his life anything is possible. I am nervous because I don't want to screw him up too bad to stop him from being able to follow His dreams. By the grace of God, I think that I will be alright in this.

As the definition of my family has taken a drastic change, I cannot help but think of the many families that are struggling right now with financial stress, divorce, and many other things. It is a great time of uncertainty in our country and in our churches.

So, for the next five weeks we are going to look into the foundation of our country, the homes across America. I invite you to mosaic church's worship gathering as we go IN THE HOUSE and I ask you to keep your heart opened that God may cause a drastic redefinition of priorities, marriage, parenting, communication, and serving one another in your family.

I believe God is going to do some incredible things in our lives if we allow Him!

to be baptist or not to be baptist?

I did not grow up in church. I fell in love with God while attending a small pentacostal church which did some big stuff to reach students. At age 16 my father became a Christian and we started going to a church, a baptist one. God did a lot of things in the baptist church, I watched it grow from 350 people to over 1,000 people in just a couple of years. I witnessed many peoples live being changed. So when I finally started to get serious about my faith as a college student I attended a Baptist church. Then when I responded to the call to Pastor and decided to pursue a degree in Biblical Studies, I chose a Baptist college.

But, as I got involved in ministry in a Baptist Church and then transitioned to Pastoring a church plant that is affiliated with the Baptist Convention, I began to get discouraged about the future of "Baptists". Many people will not attend a church that has Baptist in the name because of the feeling that it invokes. I have seen a failure of Baptist leaders to reach out to younger generations because of their traditions. I have seen money spent on "fellowships" and "buildings" over reaching people. I have seen churches that are a political democracy rather than a pastored theocracy. I HAVE BEEN DISGUSTED!

However, I have not abandoned the Baptist Convention. They have a history of reaching many lives that is unmatched. They have established hospitals and houses of hope across our nation. They have come together to send many people into foreign lands. So, I have continued to hope that the old way of doing things would become a preference and the new lives that can be reached would become the priority!

Well this past week, a young guy who Lord-willing has many years ahead of him of leading people to increase God's kingdom was given another reason to have hope. In a surprising and unconventional move the Florida Baptist Convention elected John Cross to serve as president. John (who is my mentor and good friend) wants to engage young leaders so that churches coming together through the Baptist Convention can renew their efforts to lead people to Christ. He wants to learn from organizations like ARC and Acts 29. He wants to utilize people like Ed Young, Perry Noble, and Troy Gramling who are leading people to share the Gospel boldly. He wants things to change!

So a guy who loves Jesus and just wants others to see how great HE is; will hope and trust that this is a sign that things will get better, that Baptist will become relevant to a culture that has abandoned God, and that affiliating with them will contribute effectively to lives being changed!

YJC, I am praying for you and behind you.

celebration

There are a lot words that can be used to describe what I experienced this past Sunday night. It was one of the most incredible things that I have ever been a part of and most certainly was a marker in the journey that our church family is on.

We began the night by baptizing three people. All three of them were people who did not grow up in church and haven't lived the cookie cutter do good life. They were people who were living but have now become ALIVE!

Later, we celebrated and prayed for Tripp Battle ( our pastoral intern) and his wife Joy as they confirmed to our church that they feel called to serve God vocationally. Our desire is to be able to equip and send them to plant a life-giving church wherever God leads them.

The night ended with us worshiping God through communion. The life that Jesus Christ lived and gave up for us, was a great ending note.


It is incredible to see God use a guy who believes that Christ is THE WAY and doesn't really know what he is doing in leading the church!

Mosaic, let's celebrate and keep reaching out to those who are in need of Salvation!

why?

Someone recently asked me what the point was in starting mosaic church. They said that they didn't really see a need for our church or other church plants.

I have several things that I could say, but I will just say one:

lives are being changed.

money

The most common thing that Christians refuse to give to God is their money. People say that they love God with everything they have, but refuse to obey Him and sacrifice finances. They blame pastors, churches, situations, and who knows what else.

But the reality is that God doesn't hold us accountable for others actions, He holds us accountable for our devotion to Him. According to the Bible, we are robbing God by not sacrificially giving to the Church as an act of worship.

"Tithing" has changed my character. It can change yours.

Don't rob yourself of the joy of trusting God financially.

PS: Don't blame God for you financial situation if you haven't put it in His hands.

baseball and staff meeting

Last night I watched the Rays destroy the Red Sox. It was cool to see them so "in the game" after being defeated at home in game 1.

Every week, our paid staff (me, tripp, eric) meets to see how we can better lead the church. Our agenda is simple and as follows:

-Last week- victories and areas of improvement
-People of our church and their needs/what needs to be done
-Various items that concern the life of our church
-This week: Leaving the past behind, while learning from it. Moving forward towards the vision that God has given us!

We start with our past and what we can learn from it. We finish by focusing on the future and how we can be used by God.

I think that this is a great model for our relationship with God. It is great to celebrate our victories and repent over our losses, but we must always press on to the fact that God has given us tomorrow. While He desires our realization of how we may have struck out, He is more focused on our intention to step up to the plate for Him again!

Defeat does not discourage great leaders, it becomes a catalyst towards a higher level of intensity during the next at bat!

awkward

A huge part of church planting is raising financial support. My least favorite part is asking a church or person if they are longer able to make their commitment. One of our supporters has not contributed over two months and I have to make that call. But, it usually is an appreciated call that leads to their support continuation. But if you are raising support for church planting or missions, be prepared for those awkward situations!

true religion

I think it is really funny how people throw the word religion around. "Oh, that person has found religion." "Yeah, they are a really religious family." "I am looking for religion in my life." "I think that you need religion to get everything under control in your life."

Most people in the south are looking to have religion that is approved by God of the Bible. They do different things to seek after what is pleasing and perfect to God, they try to pattern their lives to that Heaven is their inheritance when they leave this earth.

So, this brings up the questions: "what is real religion?".

The answer is found in James 1:27. "Pure and faultless religion in the sight of God our father is this; to look after widows and orphans in their distress and to keep oneself unspotted from the world."

So, God fully/100 % accepts religion that is focused on looking after widows and orphans and that keeps self from being stained by this world.

The orphans and the widows are the helpless! God's heart is that his followers do everything that they can to meet the needs of those who cannot meet their own. If we sing, and pray, and teach, and give......but do not look after the helpless then we have a blemished religion.

read Isaiah 1:10-17 if you still have a problem with this.

But, we have become spotted by the world. We have become focused on self. We have become focused on having bigger/better, just like our culture preaches. We sell a God that is good because we have.

God wants us to realize that Godliness with contentment is great gain! God wants us to love him regardless of whether or not He gives or takes away!

Let's not go through motions, but lets have true, giving our all, meeting needs, following Christ religion!

imagine what we as the children of God could do for His kingdom, if we were debt free

GUEST BLOG: Tripp Battle (Pastoral Intern)

The focus of this past Sunday's message is that "the borrower is slave to the lender." This can be found in Proverbs 22:7.

Here are some alarming statistics I came across about the American cultures issues with debt...

• If you go to cardweb.com, you will see that the Avg. American family with at least one credit card is $9,200 in debt
• The avg. cardholder has 2.7 bank credit cards, 3.8 retail credit cards, and 1.1 debit cards. That’s 7.6 cards per cardholder!!!
• 43% of American families spend more than they earn each year.
• In the past 10 years, bankruptcies have gone up by 100%.
• In 1929, 2% of American homes had a mortgage, In 1962, 98% of American homes had a mortgage.

The point is… We have a problem!!!!!!!!!!! The good news is… there is some pretty cool principles in the Bible that can help lead us out of this debt that we have gotten ourselves in.

I would encourage you to read 2 Kings 4:1-7.
This is the story of a widow whose husband left her with some serious financial debt. It was so bad that the creditors were going to take her sons into slavery as payment. She approached the prophet Elisha and told him that she literally had nothing except a little oil. He then told her to collect as many jars as she could from her neighbors. When she had done this she waas to pour the little oil that she did have into all of these jars. She ended up filling up all of the jars and had enough money to pay off her debts plus some to live off of in addition to that.

You and I might look at this situation and say that it was crazy that the prophet told her to go out and collect all of these jars from her neighbors. After all... she had NOTHING!!! Plus... thnk of how this must have hurt this woman's pride to have to ask her neighbors for these empty jars.
The worse off you are financially, the crazier the things you might have to do to get out of this "Money Pit" we call debt. Cut your cable; get rid of your WiFi; stop eating out at places you can’t afford; start cutting out coupons and shop for bargains; forget that vacation you’ve been saving up for and pay off your credit cards; etc, etc, etc… Even if you don't totally get rid of something like your cable... you can at least down size in the amount of channels you have. It's OK not to have 5,000,000 channels-4,999,980 0f which you'll never even watch!!! After all, do you really need ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN News, ESPN Alternate, ESPN Plus, ESPN U, etc... ???

So... with all of this in mind... Is there such a thing as a good debt??? YES!!!

Romans 13:8 says not to let any debt remain outstanding, but to be in debt to one another in love. So we are not to let any debt remain outstanding, but we are to have a continuing debt to love one another. I believe that outstanding financial debt that you and I have can sometimes keep our focus off of the debt that we are supposed to have… and that is the debt to love one another!!! So if you remember any of this blog... remember this!!!
THE ONLY DEBT THAT’S PLEASING TO GOD IS THE DEBT TO LOVE OTHERS!!!

passing the plate

This past Sunday we passed the plate for the first time in the history of mosaic church crestview.

However, we gave out money instead of taking it in. The challenge was to use this money for an act of kindness towards someone who needed it outside the church.

I have heard a couple cool stories of how they used their money.

Please comment with how you used yours.

lives of luxury

We look at the wealthiest and see the things they have, the places they go, and the way they do things. We see how much money is blown on extra homes, really nice cars, traveling the world, and being extravagant. We see what their money could do for the rest of the world.

1% of people in the world contain %90 of the world's wealth and if they gave up 90% of their income they would still live above the average income in the U.S. and there would not be a person in need.

Not all of us are rich, but still many of us pattern our lives in the same way. I am going to spend my abundance on me.

If you are not a follower of God or another religion that promotes charity, then there is not a reason to question your spending.

However, there are many "followers" of Christ who make selfish decisions with their money every day:

a nicer car instead of feeding 50 orphans in india for a year - $20,000
a small remodeling project instead of building a well for a village in africa - $3,000
an extra home instead of financing a new church start - $150,000 - $200,000
a lavish vacation instead of paying for several to do foreign missions - $12,000

I could go on and on and I have personally made some of these same decisions.

For a long time, I have avoided calling people out on spending and I don't plan to tell you where you should spend your money. But you have to realize that you are choosing to spend it on self instead of others when you get anything that you do not need!

We would tell a person that is getting hammered every friday night and then faithfully worshiping on Sunday to stop being a hypocrite. So what about the person who spends, spends, spends and then gives to God on Sunday?

I am not sure where the line is, but I know that as a church we crossed it a while back.

it's not about you

This is one of the most popular phrases in contemporary christian culture. "It's not about you" is the opening line in Rick Warren's best selling book, The Purpose Driven Life.

Since Warren wrote this book, it has been the desire of many Christians to get non-believers to come to the personal realization that "it's not about you." So you should stop living for yourself and join other believers in worship of the one true God!

Then, this person decides to check out a local church (maybe even an accepting, cutting edge, "seeker sensitive" church) and decides to stick around for a while. They give their life to Christ, they show others their new found faith, they start to get involved and grow closer to some of those who invited them for many years.

Then as they get to know these people they come to a new realization that is shocking, confusing, challenging, hypocritical, etc, etc! For those believers faith and church actually is all about you!

Now, instead of being part of mainstream society and involved with people they naturally click with more; They put aside their living for self and now attend a church with people (they don't even like that much) who are completely living for self.

Worship is all about the songs that they like. They sermon is all about whether or not it was deep enough (whatever that means). Giving is all about making sure their money is used the way they think it should be. Serving is all about the their personal agenda. Church is all about themselves!

I wonder why many people leave the church within their first year of conversion. Let's just keep blaming it on their salvation not being real - that way we don't have to change anything about ourselves.

I realize that their are some great people of the faith that love Jesus with all their heart. I serve at mosaic church of crestview alongside some incredible examples of this.

the naked principle

Job had it all. He had prosperity, stature, and family.

Then in one day it was all taken from him.

Imagine that. You are doing life as normal and then everything on this earth that means a lot to you is gone. You say that God is your all, but yet how do you feel without the ability to have great things, without the respect of people, and without your loved ones?

Job said that he came into this world naked, and that he is leaving this world naked; so may the name of the Lord be praised!

Job realized that God is the one in control, God is His everything, and that He would continue to live for Him. Job's faith and relationship with God was not contingent upon "blessings" of this world, but hope for the next!

Where is your satisfaction found?

dude......i really, really love Jesus!

that's all i need to say today!

five needs

Since we are a church plant which has only been "launched" for 5 months, I get asked what the great concerns/needs that we have are often. Here are the top five...............

1. Musicians
2. Teachers and workers for our children's ministry/nursery
3. Improving upon our strategy of moving first time guests to committed members
4. Finances
5. Bettering our focus on first time guest

These are things that our church does not "have together". But Paul said, God's power is made perfect in our weaknesses. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ's power may rest on me.

our theme is God

Reading that statement probably makes you want to say the same thing a sixth grader recently said to me when I said that I was starting to feel the fall air.............duh!

But it is surprising how easy it is for the focus to be taken off of God and put onto people, programs, preferences, problems, and plenty more.

things are stirring at mosaic church, as leaders we must continually direct the attention to the one who is doing the stirring. This has been the recurring conversation that my wife, our worship leader, and I have been having.

God; when people are looking at us as leaders or as a church, make us invisible so that they can see all that YOU are doing! -Eric Melvin

a root of all kinds of evil

We have fallen into a trap. As we pressed on towards the American dream we slowly walked into a giant and seemingly impossible pit. We cannot continue to move forward because it is to steep to climb out, but we have to go back and go around this trap! We have to fix the problem, which is the fact that we got ourselves into this because of our blind ambition. and the church...............................................oh the church.

where God's children should be the example of sacrifice we lead the way in selfishness!

We have to begin to rethink the way we spend. We have to provide needs for our children instead of wants. We have to love our spouses instead of lavishing them with gifts. We have to stop ignoring the broken, poor, helpless and meet needs! We have to invest time in our spiritual growth instead of spending all of our time working to have a second car payment and a bigger home.

Money is not bad. The love of money is. Are you managing your money or is your money managing you?

his gain, our gain

Beginning this Sunday, my good friend is going to be serving at our church.

Tripp has felt a burden on his life to plant baytown chuch, a church that is focused on reaching unchurched young families. He believes that this church's birth is almost two years away. Because of this call on his life he has left a secure position as the student minister at an established church.
He has not sought after another position that is extremely secure and that pays the bills. He has prayed and followed God to use his time doing what will best prepare him for the call on his life, and allow him to be used to build God's kingdom during that preparation phase. AT THE FOUNDATION OF BAYTOWN CHURCH IS A DECISION BY IT'S LEADERS (tripp and his wife joy) TO SACRIFICE SO THAT THEY CAN BE AS BEST PREPARED AS POSSIBLE TO REACH AND STRENGTHEN PEOPLE. Their dependence on God and their denying of themselves to follow God is an example to all. It is easy to head in a direction that makes sense, in a way that all the details are planned out. It takes faith to go down a path that you have seen God lead you down but not know exactly how you are going to get to your final destination.

When we feel a calling on our life that is not immediate, we should begin to head in that direction and serve God faithfully on the road to His timing. We should not just serve where we are comfortable and where the t's are crossed and the i's dotted but we should devote our entire life to that promise that God has planned for us. When we arrive at the point that we are looking forward to, we realize that the call did in fact begin two years ago and we can look back and see how God has strengthened and used us in many ways, just because we were following Him!

do i have to go to church?

People say that it is not a sin to "go to church." They are right. If you live your life under the law then it doesn't really matter if you "go to church".

Paul said in Galatians 2:21 that if righteousness comes by the law, then Christ died in vain. Christ died so that we could be freed from the law and live in the grace of God. So now God desires that we follow his heart (or righteousness). Jesus lived a life without sin because he followed the heart of God and continually sought God's will in his life.

According to Hebrews 10:24-25 - It is God's desire that believers meet together as did the church in acts. So if you are a follower of Christ then assembling with other believers is a fruit of your life.

We don't HAVE to "go to church" but God wants us to so that we can stir up love and good works.

So you choose to live under the law or to live according to the heart of God!

This applies to many other issues as well.

the last two sunday nights....

have been absolutely incredible.

On the 24th we met together to read Acts 2 and evaluate as a group how we were doing in trying to follow the pattern that the church at antioch set for our church that meets at antioch elementary. After we reflected on what God had done, focused on what we need to work on, and prayed together; we took communion and there was such a sincerity of gladness of heart with which we broke bread together. This increased my desire for people in our community to experience the fellowship that we have with each other and the incredible fellowship that we have with God because of Jesus sacrifice for us.

This past Sunday night we met as a group again to celebrate two lives that have been transformed. It was a incredible time of worship as Travis and Aly were baptized. Travis is an 11 year old who has no doubt about his relationship with Jesus who he called "the one true way". Aly is an amazing young woman who God brought into our fellowship a couple of months ago and has been drawn to his amazing love!

Thank you God for allowing me to be a part of these past two Sunday nights and for allowing me to be a part of such an amazing body of believers! Let's keep calling to Him to do things beyond our imagination - Jeremiah 33:3.

how do i grow?

Regardless of where you are in the spiritual growth process there is probably some worry/anxiety about being able to get the place you desire to be.

I remember when I wanted to begin to grow in my walk and even had a feeling that I was called to serve God in some capacity vocationally, I had no idea how in the world I would ever get to the point where I could lead people to Him.

2 Peter 1:3
His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

It is by His power that we are equipped with everything we need for life and for living like Him. We are not the ones who make life change possible, it is Him!

He does this through our knowledge of Him. That word knowledge is actually a greek word which literally means - recognition -.

So God's divine power gives us everything we need for life and for carrying out His will simply by our recognition of who He is!

Amazing!

you should be careful around them, they............

It is really interesting to me how people try to convince others on their opinion of someone. We make a lot of judgments of people purely based on someone else's opinion of them without taking the time to truly get to know them. If we make friends or get along with that new person then the person who told us about them tends to get upset or feel betrayed. Why is this?

INSECURITY!

I think that we when we meet someone new and don't know any of the things that they have done wrong in the past towards others we are almost able to see people as God sees them. He looks at the heart of that person and who they are striving to be now, without holding their past mistakes against them (even though He can see them clearly).

We must also be willing to look past people's shortcomings and the way they have hurt us and give them second, third, fourth, and so on chances. We must show each other the kindness/grace that God shows to us!

Usually we judge like this because we are insecure about ourselves!

lyrics to surely we can change

And the problem is this, We were bought with a kiss
But the cheek still turned, Even when it wasn't hit

And I don't know, What to do with a love like that
And I don't know, How to be a love like that

When all the love in the world, Is right here among us
And hatred too, And so we must choose
What our hands will do

Where there is pain, Let there be grace
Where there is suffering, Bring serenity
For those afraid, Help them be brave
Where there is misery, Bring expectancy
And surely we can change, Surely we can change Something

And the problem it seems, Is with you and me
Not the Love Who came, To repair everything

Where there is pain, Let us bring grace
Where there is suffering, Bring serenity
For those afraid, Let us be brave
Where there is misery, Let us bring them relief
And surely we can change Oh, surely we can change Something
Oh, the world's about to change
The whole world's about to change

you can check out this song and more at www.davidcrowderband.com

good stuff

self-control

Without boundaries it is easy to get hurt.

It is ridiculous how we live our life as if there are no boundaries for anything. We eat as much as we want, drink as much as we want, have sex with whomover we want, buy whatever we want, and so on and so on.

God says that when we do not have self control we are setting ourselves up for destruction. (Proverbs 25:28).

As Christians we have to realize that God's boudaries for our life are to protect us. When I was young we had several dogs and we urged them to not cross the road. However there were things that they desired across the road and even though they had it good, they had to go for what they wanted. The result of them living their life in a way that constantly crossed the boundaries ended up being harmful and sometimes fatal.

We become like animals when we lose self control. When we live our lives in this way the result is harmful and somtimes fatal.

but the fruit of the spirit is..................self control

faithfulness

Beginning this week I will put follow up thoughts on the message from the previous Sunday.

We tend to wonder why things in our life are the way they are or how we got ourselves into this mess. The bible clearly teaches that we reap what we sow (Gal 6:7). The reason that we see our selves in financial, marital, work trouble is usually because of the things that we have planted in our life; selfishness, pride, laziness, etc. WE ALWAYS REAP WHAT WE SOW.

But what about when it seems like people are living their life the way they want and there is no consequences? It also seems like i try to do right and then things bad happen. Farmers don't plant seeds and expect to see vegetables come up that day. When you plant seeds (good or bad) the results come later. I got my life right, I quit my job, moved to bible college, got engaged to an amazing girl, and then.................found out I had some debt. I had to pay that debt off at a time that I was planning to get married and money was tight. That was not cool! My first inclination, was to question God why He would let that happen and then I was slapped back into the reality that I was just having to deal with a consequence from something that I had done in my life. WE ALWAYS REAP LATER THAN WE SOW.

I will admit that it sometimes seem that "punishments are harsher than the crime." But I also see God do way more than I deserve when I try to do something for Him. When we give God the best portion of our crop, he takes that and plants seeds from it in our lives which reap an amazing blessing. WE ALWAYS REAP MORE THAN WE SOW.

everyone has to follow their own morals?

If there is no common moral authority then many people can justify outrageous behaviors.

I trust in God

I hear people say this statement a lot. However, I wonder how many of those people truly trust God.

I know it is an overused analogy but someone who says they have faith that a chair will not break but is not willing to sit in it, does not really have faith in it.

If you trust in God financially but do not sacrifice finances for his sake; you don't actually trust in him financially.
If you trust in him with your finding the right person but will not look for the criteria he sets for your spouse; you don't actually trust him to give you the right person.
If you trust in his direction but will not follow unless everything makes sense; you don't actually trust in his direction.
If you trust in him for eternal life but do not give your life to him; you don't actually trust in him for eternal life.
If you don't trust in him......etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc.......................................................................

Let's stop praying - God take all I have and do what you will - and start giving all we have so that He can do as he wills!

normal week

It has been a pretty normal week. I have been training at Starbucks and I have been preparing for Sunday.

I am really excited about this Sunday. There is no special reason for this Sunday to stand out. I am just excited about being part of a church that honestly is trying to pursue Jesus.

He has really melted my heart a lot this week and I am excited to share how great Phil 4:4-7 is with others!

responding to criticism

When someone begins to criticise me or a an issue arises in a relationship, there is a simple process that I follow in order to make things right.

Step 1: I evaluate my life. I check to see if there is something related to the issue that I need to get in line with God. Usually there is.

Step 2: I evaluate (not judge) the other person and see if there is any black/white issue that shows they are clearly not following God.

Step 3: I ask someone that I trust about the issue. They usually point out something I can work on as well.

Step 4: I pray about resolving the issue.

Step 5: I attempt to resolve the issue. Start with you heart! Tell them where you desire the relationship to be.

This has been very helpful to me over the past year. I encourage you to follow this or come up with a process to handle relationship issues in your life.

Who are you preaching to?

This is a blog of pastor Steven Furtick. Steven is a guy who God is using to make a huge impact for His kingdom.

Who are you preaching to?
July 22nd, 2008

When I’m preparing my messages, I have a specific audience in mind.It’s a guy who is coming to Elevation for the first time this week. In fact, this will be his first time in church in years, and he’s far from God. His friend kept inviting him until, one Sunday-this coming Sunday as a matter of fact-he’s decided to give it a try. Of course, there are hundreds of people who resemble this description who attend Elevation every week-men, women, boys and girls…and when I stand to preach, I narrow down my audience, picture this person in my mind, and let it fly.
Yes, it’s my responsibility to edify those who already know Christ through my preaching, and to feed and disciple the flock of God. But I’ll always tilt the playing field toward the guy or gal who is far from God. Eternity hangs in the balance for them.That’s why I’m so basic sometimes, rather than parsing Greek and demonstrating exegetical competency ad infinitum.That’s why I scream loudly and look like I’m on the verge of exploding at random points in my sermon every single week, every single service.
For those that serve at Elevation, picture that guy this coming Sunday as you do what you do. It puts it all in perspective.

you can check out Steven's blogs at stevenfurtick.com

a lack of communication leads to a lot of speculation

Communication is so important. Many experts agree that communication issues are the #1 reason for divorce. Organizations have crumbled because of people not getting important information. Wars have begun because of miscommunication.

We must do our part to clearly communicate in whatever capacity we are in, professionally or personally.

If we do not communicate what we are feeling, why we did something, or what we are about to do; our spouse, co-workers, friends, will begin to speculate as to what is going on.

PS: Believers need to communicate that they are imperfect people in love with a perfect God or people will begin to speculate. This is a communication issue that carries an eternal significance!

camp swampy rat...

...was amazing. I met some great students, several of whose life was changed eternally this week. I enjoyed hanging out with one of my good friends and mentors.

I love who God is shaping me to be, even though I am so unworthy of it!

excellence

I have the privelege of hanging out at a camp in Branford, (5 miles south of the middle of nowhere) Florida with the middle schoolers of South Biscayne Church.

The level of excellence that the staff and volunteers do everything at is incredible. From the music and planning to cleaning and small details, everything that they do, is on a "whole nutha level".

This is very refreshing it tends to be hard to find people to serve without a lot of selfishness and attitude of "but I want to do it this way".

Let's serve God and the people he puts in leadership with all of our heart!

vacation

Even though I love my job, my vacation went by really, really fast. I cannot imagine what it would be like dreading to go back to work.

Many people hate what they spend most of their time doing. I cannot imagine that being what God desires for our lives.

Is your life fulfilling? If not, what is holding you back?

We all tend to blame people and situations for our unhappiness when God usually has given us control of our own lives.

i may not be happy but at least i have joy?

I have heard a lot of people make statements similar to this one, "Things are very difficult right now and even though I may not be happy, at least I have joy."

But I wonder if that is really how joy works. I know that circumstance aren't always great and that things that happen to us may give us great reason to be unhappy, but......................

doesn't the fact that today was created by God give us reason to rejoice?
Joy is defined as "an excessive delight or happiness in something that is exceedingly great."

So shouldn't we still be happy if we have joy. Obviously times of pain are difficult and it is reasonable that we all lose focus of what life is really about. But should we as people with an overwhelming hope in Christ's return ever have reason to not be optimistic?

Shouldn't our phrase be : Even though these difficulties give me reason to be unhappy, I am happy because I have joy!

Tell me what you think!

a new air conditioner

My wife and I have been with out air conditioning in our home for 12 days and it has been really, really hot here. Did I mention that my wife is five months pregnant?
After much time was spent on the phone and waiting for technicians (plural) to examine the problem, we found out that our compressor had burnt out since it is the original unit on a 15 year old house.
We could save money and fix the problem or we could spend three times that amount and get a whole new system. We went with the new system.

How many people live their walk with Christ in this way? How many people fix a problem and put an improved part of their life into an old and warn out soul; only to face another major problem in 1-2 years, when they should be transformed into a new creation?

"It may cost a lot more but its definitely worth it in the long run." - Tony the AC guy

(by the way our a/c should be fixed on friday)

the toughest part of my job

Do you ever wish someone could just see what your heart is feeling and understand how much you care for them?

When you make decisions that affect people, they sometimes are not very happy about those decisions. This is understandable because when we are in the wrong it is very difficult to see what is right.

I have heard that what separates those who achieve greatness and those who do not is their willingness to respond and grow from criticism and set-backs.

It is just very difficult when you are the one who is used to separate those people.

the real deal

I am learner. I like to hear people's opinions, experiences, etc. I believe that you can learn from anyone regardless of their background or beliefs. This desire to learn has benefited me a lot in my short adult life.

So when I began to start a Church, of course I had a great desire to learn from others who were willing to help me. I knew I could find some guys who had been there and done that and might take the opportunity to impart their wisdom upon and care for a "young buck" like myself that had a huge heart to make an impact. Boy was I in for a surprise..................

I know that there are great church leaders with great hearts to help young leaers out there. But for me it was very difficult to find a couple, yet any, who really cared at all.

In fact I was at a session with some church planters about two months ago sharing we are in our journey. I was lectured on the importance of having some experienced Church planters mentor me through this experience. When the lecturing (felt like blasting) was over, I kindly went to about four or five guys who were pastors of "successful" church plants and asked for their contact information. I contacted all of them...............................

no response.

I realized at this point that it was just our inexperienced Church and God. He is enough, but we would love for Him to use someone to guide us.

Then, I met Eric...
Eric is a chuch planter on the other end of our county ( if anyone would be hesitant to help me, this would be him). I met Eric with the intention of one lunch where I would ask him a lot of questions and I had very low expecations based upon my previous experiences. I brought my friend a long who has a heart to plant a church also.

Since that meeting...
Eric has made a commitment to meet with me once a month, his church instantly began helping us financially, and I continually get a "what can we do to help you". He also is providing opportunities for my friend to learn.

Eric is the real deal.

He will probably never read this but his believing in my vision, is giving this 25 year old the confidence that God can use Him to make a significant impact in Crestview and the world.


You can check out Eric's church at www.shorelinechurch.net

it starts

I have recently started Mosaic Church of Crestview with several other amazing people. Our goal is to live beyond ourselves and come together for the big picture.

I believe that God is going to do some amazing things. I believe there will be some amazing stories.

For those who care to know my thoughts on what is going on in our church, the world, and my life - this blog is for you.

If you don't care, don't read.