Snuggie Blanket's for Would-be Monks

Have you ever wanted to know where you could buy one of those wonderful robes that monks wear?  Now, as Seen on TV anyone can own one.  Snuggies come in several colors and even have arms.  

"No more blankets for me.  

This Christmas, there will be Snuggies under my tree!"

Political Fatigue and the Separation of Church and State

Lifeway, a branch of the Southern Baptist Convention is out today with an opinion poll on how political pastors should be in view of the upcoming election.  According to the poll the vast majority of people do not think it is appropriate for pastors to endorse candidates for public office during a church service.  Therefore I have elected to take a post and address the upcoming election and to discuss what I believe to be one of the most important elections of our era on my blog.
First, I do not and will not endorse a candidate for presidential office.  Any candidate fitting my approval are long gone.  However, I believe firmly that as members of a free society, we not only have a right to vote, we have a responsibility.  How dare we complain about the moral collapse of our society without lifting a finger to do anything about it.  More important than electing officials to temporary office, this election season we have a state amendment that will define marriage as the union of a man and a woman.  I believe that this issues is critical to our state and to the ability of the church to continue to teach the Bible without fear of restriction and recourse.  Already in states who have adopted same-sex marriage, we see churches being taken to court and sued for preaching against homosexuality and other sexual sins.  When the State begins to legislate morality, the church will become an opponent of the state and suffer.  I want to be clear that, I do not want to suggest that by voting one way or another that we can enforce a morality on society,  God himself has chosen to give man free will to do what he desires, however every believer must accept his/her moral obligation to stand up on this matter.  I believe that due to the lack of a true conservative candidate on the ballot for president, that many Christians will see their trip to the polls as a waste of time, but the presidential election is not the sole issue on the table in spite of what the media may think.  In most elections, only 20% of the registered voters show up to vote.  The same percentage holds true regardless of involvement in church or not.  It is my prayer that every person I know will go to the polls to vote and that their vote will not be based on the economy or what Hollywood says, but on what they feel God would have them to do.  For more information or to get involved, please visit www.supportmarriage.org 

Elevated Now What?

Last year this time we saw a very disturbing trend at Cornerstone.  Our attendance had increased from 2006 to 2007 by a whopping 1/2 a person for the month of August.  As you can imagine, as a church we were in a crisis.  We had done what is referred to in church world as plateaued.  All churches experience plateaus, but we knew that for us to stop moving forward meant that we would eventually slip back and not accomplish the mission that God has for us.  The decision was made for us to take decisive action and address the problem at hand.

One of the major steps we took was to totally change the way we do our worship services.  To this point we had been blending contemporary praise with hymns.  We moved to give people more options to worship God in a style that is most in line with their culture.  Second, we moved our early worship from 9:30 to 8:15.  Though this is a bit illogical, we had unintentionally de-emphasized our Small Group.  We moved Bible Fellowship to 9:30 and now people can worship on either side of the Small Group time.  This allowed us to continue to make Small Groups the center of church life.  Third, we introduced Saturday night worship.  This by far has been the most influential as in 9 months time this service has grown from 0-over 40 weekly.  Fourth, we stopped everything to emphasize Jesus Christ.  Chapter by chapter through the gospel of John in Church and verse by verse through the Gospel of Luke in Bible Fellowship was a bit all eggs in one basket, but the Gospel is a very capable basket.  Reminding ourselves that Jesus is first, is something every church should do regularly.

So.... Now we have come to the end on John, this Sunday concludes the Gospel of Luke, and for all intents and purposes we have to check the gauges and see what God has done.  The only thing that I can say is amazing!  Looking at our numbers from August 2007 to August 2008 we have grown by 52%.  That means that every week 57 more people are attending church, hearing God's Word, and growing in their faith.    this numerical growth is the direct result of spiritual growth in our leadership, and membership.  God is doing amazing things in our church and we want to keep the momentum going.

Now comes Fall 2008.  This Fall & Winter we will experience some of the most exciting opportunities our church has ever seen.
1. We anticipate moving from the Elementary School Lunch Room to use of the entire Four Corners Campus with the completion of Community of Faith's new church building.  Construction is well under way and by the end of the year they should move out, giving us the ability to expand from a lunch room fire rated to seat 108, into a room large enough to seat 276.  This being said, the door will be wide open for us to continue to grow right where we are planted.
2. Along with this, we will see our rent and facility related expense double.  With additional opportunity, comes added responsibility.  I say this to say, keep on giving.  I know that things are tight, but the work of God through Cornerstone is made possible by your giving.  Yes, God could have decided to provide for ministry through any number of ways but He chose to do His work through your giving.
3. Pray.  Pray that we would continue to keep our focus on the glory of God by elevating Christ, our level of service as well as our community.  Pray that God will enlarge our ministry to meet the growing needs of Four Corners.
4. Get in, sit down and buckle up! - God has some amazing things on the horizon.  As soon as we have taken the step into the new space, we will begin the process of taking Cornerstone's next step and that will be the purchase of property for a building of our own.  Right now we have over $100,000 in the bank, and are ready to make a down payment, but we will shift into high gear on identifying property and gaining a foothold. We also anticipate the ministries of Cornerstone to continue to expand as we continue to grow.  For the first time our church will be taking a missions trip together in January.  I cannot think of a better way to start a new year.  No doubt there will be some bumps along the way, but Oh what a ride!

Storms and Suffering

One fact of life is that like those in Galveston, we all will experience suffering. Storms are simply a fact of life.  The church in general tends to focus a great deal of attention on the therapy of suffering.  How do we meet the needs of those who are experiencing suffering and need help through troubling times.  Beneath the proper therapy of suffering, must reside a proper theology of suffering.  How should we as believers in a loving and all mighty God respond to suffering in our own lives, and in the lives of those around us.  This Sunday we will again turn to the Apostle Paul and his wonderful letter to the Philippians.  We will see that in the midst of great suffering, Paul was still able to live a life of joy.

  It is not rejoicing that we are suffering, but it is rejoicing that in our suffering that God is doing something great in us, and through us,  that we would know and trust love Jesus more, that other Christians would be compelled to be bold, and non Christians would come to hear the gospel, and that our suffering would not be purposeless but purposeful, that we would not waste our suffering but that we would seize the opportunity for Jesus to be made much of both in me and through me.

Celebrating Recovery

In life as in football fumbles are made.  While making one's way towards the goal, you drop the ball.  Dropping balls is never part of the strategy of any team.  In fact, you will find that most teams devote great time and energy into not dropping the ball.  Typically when the ball is dropped, there is a scramble, followed by a dog pile.  The poor soul who dropped the ball is doing his best to recover, but everyone else is piling on.  At the bottom of the pile a battle rages as the one who dropped the ball fights to regain control.  If the opponent successfully takes the ball then he will celebrate.  But often, when the player recovers his own fumble, the rest of the team shakes their head, wipes their brow, and takes a breath.  Then the fumbler will hang his head, and trot towards the sidelines.  Though this is what often happens, this is not what should happen.  Recovery of any fumble deserves to be celebrated.  Winning a battle at the bottom of the pile is no easy task.  Sure, fumbles should be avoided at all costs, but when they happen and a recovery is made, the whole team ought to storm the field in celebration.

Tonight at Cornerstone we will begin to celebrate recovery with a new breakout group for those who battle addictions.  As far as I know, there are no such groups at all in Four Corners.  Tonight, for the first time, we will get to the bottom of the pile with those fighting to regain control, and we will cheer them on, and when they emerge with a recovery we will celebrate.  Then if they fumble the ball, or stumble and fall, we will come alongside them all over again, anticipating celebrating recovery.

Celebrating Recovery
Wednesdays 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Four Corners Charter Elementary School
For information, Call 888-836-7234

No Business Being Here!

I once attended a meeting where there was no meeting.  Now before you jump to conclusions, most of those in the meeting thought that the point of the meeting was meeting.  There was no fighting over resources, there was little reporting of accomplishments, there virtually no planning for action.  Essentially, we had no business being there.  Unfortunately, churches can slip into the meeting for the sake of meeting.  Sundays come and go without the Services take place, ministries go through the motions.  One of the things I constantly have to fight against is doing things for while not considering WHY we do things.  It is too easy to get into a routine, a rut, to go through motions.  Activities, for activities' sake will kill any organization.  

Through this lens, a simple baby shower takes on purpose.  We are not getting together with friends, we are celebrating a new life with a working mother of two who works 12 hour shifts as an RN in ICU then comes to church to teach preschoolers about the love of God.

Through this lens we are not throwing a Jail House Rock party for the kids, we are sending 1000 invitations to local students and building a bridge that will transform their lives and make an eternal impact.

Through this lens we are not simply teaching theology,  but we are laying the ground work for a relatively  new believer to have a 2 hour conversation with a lost family member who is now seeking Christ.

Through this lens we are not having church, we are coming together as a believers to love and support one another through the temporary trials of this life and to provoke one another to love and good works.

The church has no business having no business.  There ought to be meetings today, where there is not enough money to accomplish the plans, there is not enough volunteers to accomplish the ministries, where there are competing groups who are passionate about reaching a common goal.

Today we had a great staff meeting.  Today, we looked again at why we do the things we do.  We cannot have church stuff for the fact that churches have stuff.  And by God's Grace, we won't!

Fantasy Football

We had our FFL draft last night and I won.  You see for the last two years I have been the very last pick and this year I wasn't the very last pick.  I moved up 3 spots to #9!  I feel like a winner already.  All the top 9 Running backs were taken so I broke the ice on QB's with Peyton Manning.  Our theme verse will be Joel 2:6 ( I think I am the only person in any fantasy football league who has a theme verse) 

Joel 2:6 (NKJV) Before them all the people writhe in pain; All faces are drained of color. 

Here is my team....

Starters:
QB - Peyton Manning (A bit of a gamble for first pick, but I have his jersey)
RB - Clinton Portis (The only Clinton I want to see in Washington)
RB - Maurice Jones-Drew (I thought only women used two last names)
WR - Torry Holt (oldie but a goody)
WR - Joey Galloway (Token Buccaneer, Plus he's older than I am)
TE - Jason Witten (Solid)
K- Adam Vinaterri (had him every year)
D - Pittsburg Steelers (Steel Curtain)

Bench:
QB - Jake Delhomme (what's a little elbow surgery between quarterbacks)
RB - Fred Taylor (His arrest will go well with our Prison Break series at church)
RB - Jarrius Norwood - (he outperformed Turner on Friday)
RB - Warrick Dunn (Cat Fancy)
WR - Jabar Gaffney (I thought my cheat sheet said Jar-Jar)
WR - Isaac Bruce (He's older than me too)
WR- Bernard Berrian (Big Toe Berrian!  Go Vikes)
TE - John Carlson (Who?)

Brother's Keeper - I Saw Heaven

Gabe you got moves!

Don't Miss Church this Sunday!

I am usually one for hype, but it has been a long time since I have been this excited about starting a new series.  This weekend we kick off a new message series on finding JOY in the middle of our struggles from the life of Paul as he wrote to the Philippians from prison.  As we will see,  Joy cannot be found in culture and religion or anywhere apart from a total surrender to Christ.   

God has been doing some amazing things at Cornerstone and we just stand in awe of how the church has grown in the last year.  To put things in perspective on the second to last Sunday of August 2007 we had 99 in attendance, last weekend we had 182!  To God be the glory!  We are gearing up for continuing this growth into the fall and internally have set a goal to get over 200 on Labor Day Weekend. (I guess it is external now)    So here is what we need you to do.  1. Don't miss for any reason,  The emergency room will make you wait anyway, so go after church!  2. Get everybody here, no runny nose excuses will be accepted. 3. Kidnapping is permitted.  Drag your neighbors and coworkers to church offer them candy, tell them we are giving away a big screen TV, (not really)  or offer to take them to lunch, but get them there!

Bigfoot Seen Fleeing as Hurricane Fay Approaches

Like it or not, our modern culture revolves around stories.  TV, movies, even the nightly news and the Olympic games revolve around the narratives we are so desperate to hear.  So what makes us believe the stories we hear?  Why do we want to believe some stories and ignore others?  This past week a story was told of a Bigfoot in the woods of northern GA.  Though most wont admit it, I believe that it was a story that people wanted to believe.  Those telling the story did a masterful job of pulling all the strings necessary to help us in our desire to believe.  Experts, testimonials, photos and the all important DNA evidence were brought before the ever discerning press.  Yet, in the end, the story now changes from the search for Sasquatch to a search for some story telling rednecks with nothing better to do who were willing to label themselves for life over a big prank.  This week, our favorite story is over the little storm that could, Fay.  Though she tried, she just did not have what it takes to make it to hurricane, but we want so bad to have a hurricane, because that makes for a great story.  No one wants to get on TV and say my home was destroyed by a tropical storm.  The guys selling T-shirts that say, "I Survived Fay" ought to pack them up right now and ship them to the orphanage in Africa.  I think we are smart enough to know now that stories are just that... stories. 
So what about the stories that matter, should we dismiss them all?  What about the story of Creation, the story of redemption?  Do we dismiss them too?  My answer is no, and this is why, at the end of the day we must take our stories and compare them to truth.  There is a vast difference between fiction and nonfiction.  We must discern what stories matter, and what stories are for entertainment purposes only. 
God said in Isaiah 1:18 "Come, Let us reason together says the Lord of Hosts."  God is a God of reason.  Therefore, His story will stand up to reason.  History is reasonable. 
Tonight we begin a new Bible Study series on God.  We will look specifically at the reasons for beilef in God.  In our study tonight we will see that belief in God makes sense because of the law of cause and effect as well as the law of order in our universe.  I would love to see every one of you there.  We are believers, but not without reasons.  Come reason with us tonight at 7:00 at the school.