Central Baptist Church

Something that we value at Mosaic is involvement.  We desire to see everyone get plugged into the vision of our church.  This should be something that we have in common with every church, but unfortunately it is not.  

I believe that Central Baptist is a church where you can get involved.  There is a lot of changes going on right now and their leadership has a renewed desire to see new people get involved in the ministries of the Church.  Most people look at Central's impressive facilities and think that they are packed with people and that it will be hard to connect.  This is far from the truth.  Central has suffered many years of decline and stagnation and they are now a small church with big potential.  

Pastor Scott Dennis comes from an unchurched background and has a desire to see people who are far from God come to know him.  Pastor Scott has one of the biggest hearts of anyone that I have ever met.  He truly is passionate about seeing people experience what God has for their life.  I think he is a great fit for Central and that we are going to see some great things happen with that congregation under his leadership.  

Not everyone is o.k. with ridiculous videos and John Mayer songs to open up the service.  A lot of people want a blend of modernity with tradition.  Central is a good to church to try out if you are this type of person.  

We may not all share the same preference for style but we should have the same passion for salvations! 

First Assembly

You can not drive through Crestview without noticing our town's First Assembly of God.  If I were looking for a Church, First Assembly would definitely be one of the churches that I would consider checking out.

First Assembly has the most impressive church (or of any kind) facilities in Crestview.  Their buildings are extremely cool and seemingly offer a lot of options for families.  

The church also seems to have a wide variety of ministries.  From a motorcycle group, to a skate park, several youth drama teams, and a passionate women's ministry.   

While it does not take a lot to notice that the church has been blessed with finances, something a lot of people may not know is that they spend a lot of money on Missions.  They have personally invested great sums into spreading the Gospel throughout the world.  I also know that during the middle of their building (which is when churches "need" $$ the most) they gave another church in Crestview $10,000 to help with their building.  That is definitely something that is rare in churches.

I don't know Pastor Mark English personally, but he has been extremely successful in getting many people to sacrifice great amounts of their time and money to help accomplish the vision that God has given him.  He has also inspired passion for spreading the love of Christ to many people. These are signs of a great leader.

So, if you are looking for a place to go to church in Crestview.  Check out First Assembly, I would.

www.crestviewag.org

Emmanuel Baptist Church

One of the churches that I would consider being a part of if I were not at mosaic, would be Emmanuel Baptist or EBC as their "members" call it.   Here is why:

Pastor Mark Seagle is a great guy.  He has a huge heart to develop leaders and a passion to help the helpless.  He is in tune with culture, which is unique for a pastor in Crestview.  

(No offense to the other guys doing their thing.  Keep following Jesus and lead how you think you should.)

Their music is modern (but a lot less loud than mosaic's.)

Their children's ministry is the largest in Crestview.  They have amazing crowds of little kids on Sunday and Wednesday nights.  There seems to be a great opportunity for your child to have fun while learning about Christ. 

Their student ministry is so solid.  Led by Ian (an unbelievably passionate dude) and several strong student leaders.  Ian thinks they can change the world and I believe they are working to do so.  

Sure, EBC has weaknesses and so does Mosaic and every other church.  If I were "church shopping" I would realize that the perfect church I dream of only exists in Heaven. 

So if Mosaic isn't your thing, check out EBC.

http://www.ebccrestview.com

where to go to church?

I ask myself all the time where I would go to church if I just moved to Crestview.  Just recently, I started believing the answer would be...... Mosaic.  

But, for some people Mosaic is too "edgy", too "laid back", too "loud", or too "young".  

This week I will blog about a few other churches in Crestview (in no particular order) that would be on my short list of churches to attend.

Maybe this will be helpful to those of you that are still searching for a place to plug in.

top 5 blogs (part 2 of 5)

where is the feedback?                  11/21/08

 

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 question 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!

i'm a good liar

I've become excellent at not being transparent but appearing to be so.

It is an art. 

It is taught at Pastors conference (maybe not directly, but it is).

It is the best way to become a successful pastor, leader, employee, spouse, parent.

Contemporary Churches have become environments where this is rewarded.  We love to hear some one's confession of  sin, some one's story of growth.  We don't actually want to investigate how they are doing today.  We don't want to look someone in the eye and sincerely ask them about sin.  It may involve more time, prayer, friendship.

We like the label of "authentic" without the work that comes with sincere authenticity.  

-will I truly be accepted if people know ____.  

-what will people think of the fact that I ____.

-I really don't want people to use ____ against me.

Let's what call it what it IS.

We are a culture of liars and typically we are a church of liars.

Dangerous Churches: Craig Groeschel

check out this blog from Pastor Craig Groeschel, someone I hold in high esteem.

I was talking to a guy on a plane about God. When I asked him if he went to church, he explained politely that he wasn’t interested. I asked him why he wasn’t and he said matter of factly, “Because I’ve already been and nothing happened.”

Maybe he went to a “safe” church.
In a safe church:
The message makes you feel better.
You’re never confronted about your sin.
No one rocks the boat.
You don’t have to change.
You may never truly encounter our Holy and Life-giving God.

When I read about the New Testament Church, it was filled with people with a dangerous faith. While we certainly should make our environments welcoming, our message should remain dangerous.
We’re called to leave everything to follow Christ.
We’re invited to believe God for the impossible.
We’re told to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.
We’re told that to find our life we have to lose it first.

There is nothing safe about that message. May our churches become a safe place to encounter a dangerous message.

What are some of the ways you offer a welcoming environment while presenting a dangerous message?

who is going to take care of that?

YOU.

YOU really can make a difference in people's lives.  The Bible is just screaming with promises of God to take YOUR effort, YOUR time and use YOU to make a significant impact in the life of someone.  

There is so much pain in the world, some much hurt, and so many problems that we stand back and look at it and become overwhelmed.  We almost give up because we cannot do it all.  It is like we are a perfectionist that will  not even try if we aren't going to be able to cure all things that are sick.  But we can do something.  If you have no idea where to start, go to your pastor or a leader in your church.  See what you can do.  

You don't have to be the person who preaches/teaches, you don't have to be the one that leads the mission to africa/asia, you don't have to be in control; you just need to be the person who fills whatever role is needed.  

The world doesn't need another savior, but it does need servants!

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!

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

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.

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!

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!