Ben, Andre, and I are going to be ordained on December 6. Interesting stuff considering I have never considered myself very pastoral. I found this article that says a pastor's life is only worth $250 to a Hindu extremist. Click Here --
$250
Are you frightened that I think like Francis Chan? I stole these quotes from Chan's book Crazy Love off of Perry Noble's blog. By the way, if you don't know who Francis Chan or Perry Noble are, you are watching too much TV. Turn it off and check out our recommended blogroll on The Bridge website. Do some reading.
Here we go:
-- “His perfect holiness, by definition, assures us that our words cannot contain Him. Isn’t it a comfort to worship a God we cannot exaggerate?” (DANG!!!)
-- “Could it be your arrogance that makes you think God owes you an explanation?”
-- “I quickly found that the American church is a difficult place to fit in if you want to live out New Testament Christianity. The goals of American Christianity are often a nice marriage, children who don’t swear, and good church attendance. Taking the words of Christ literally and seriously is rarely considered.”
-- “Jesus’ call to commitment is clear: He wants all or nothing. The thought of a person calling himself a “Christian” without being a devoted follower of Christ is absurd.”
-- “Our greatest fear as individuals and as a church should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.” (DANG!!!)
-- “But we need to realize that how we spend our time, what our money goes towards, and where we will invest our energy is equivalent to choosing God or rejecting Him.”
-- “…you have to stop loving and pursuing Christ in order to sin.”
-- “Having faith often means doing what others see as crazy. Something is wrong when our lives make sense to other believers.”
-- “We like finding refuge in what we already have rather than in what we hope God will provide.”
-- “If a guy were dating my daughter but didn’t want to spend the gas money to come and pick her up or refused to buy her dinner because it cost too much, I would question whether he were really in love with her. In the same way, I question whether many American churchgoers are really in love with God because they are so hesitant to do anything for Him.”
I think that people think that there are requirements of the heart for Francis Chan, or Craig Groeschel, or Tim Gray and a different set of requirements for your heart in terms of your commitment for Christ. I am afraid that the Bible does not allow for such a thing. Our personlities and callings may look different (Praise God for you), but the commitment of the heart is no different. I hope that makes you uncomfortable. I hope that I look crazy to you.
By the way, if you are married Perry just posted some great sex suggestions on his blog.
God tells us in His Word (Isaiah 55) that His Word never comes back void. What does that mean? That means that when IT is read and / or correctly interpreted, IT will produce a change of in the hearts of the listeners. That is an amazing phenom. We saw it today. Lot's of Bible -- lot's of movement among the listeners.
People are being pursued by Christ because He loves them so much. I love this!
Last Sunday I mentioned how missional our church is in SENDing IT. I thought you might like to see a list of the mission SENDing IT the people of The Bridge have done. This is AMAZING!
Melissa James -- twice a missionary to China and also to Chacocente, Nicagaragua.
Jon Bird -- Currently in Honduras (his 12th trip there) on a medical mission for Christ, also has served in Indonesia after the Tsunami, in Chacocente, Nicaragua, the Darfur region of Sudan, in Uganda, in El Salvador, & Kenya
Lisa Bird -- leaves for the Congo on Thursday; Chacocente, Nicaragua; Uganda; El Salvador; Kenya; 5 times to Honduras
Duane Rosener – Chacocente, Nicaragua
David Werning-Board Member of Latino Life Ministries-served in Mexico several times & built a church in Colosio, Mexico. Helping to build the sprung for The Bridge.
Lisa Werning-Board Member of Latino Life-built church in Colosio and continues to serve in Mexico (planning a trip this winter to oversee some work on the church). Worked in an orphanage in Nicaragua, World Changers in Canada, served as a Bible study teacher in State Women's prison (Memphis, TN) for 6 years, Table leader for Conquering Addiction class.
Heather Nozea – Full-time missionary in Haiti
Brian & Natalie Hurst -- currently foster parents for a Bridge attender as she allows Christ to focus her life; preparing to go back and serve an orphanage in Mexico; Chacocente, Nicaragua
Juanita Gray -- served in Mexico; currently taking care of many widows and orphans as Biblically commanded; co-founded GAP.
Ben Durbin -- served in Chacocente and Honduras; co-founded GAP
Cheryl Guthrie - prepares food for the hungry at a moment's notice.
Chris Guthrie -- set his business aside for a month to supervise the building of The Bridge.
Meg Reiner -- helped to set up the Walk to Emmaus program in Kenya; helped to build fresh water wells in El Salvador; Chacocente, Nicaragua; co-founded GAP; board member of Project Sunshine
Sarah Winch – Chacocente, Nicaragua
Roger Durbin – Did mission work in 21 states from a traveling bus.
Lance Smith -- ordained pastor, member of The Bridge -- preparing to plant a church in Bangkok Thailand, this will be his second church plant in that country.
Andre Ong -- ordained pastor, member of The Bridge -- preparing to be sent into mission as a US Army chaplain. Takes care of dozens of needs with free Biblical counseling.
Angela Ong – takes care of dozens of needs with free Biblical counseling.
Jerry Weems -- does Prison Ministry worship services at the Farmington prison.
Kathie Nelson -- formed Maple Street ministry; Chacocente, Nicaragua
George Vessell – on-line ministry site that gets hits from all over the world
Stephanie Jenkins -- Ontario, Canada; Pine Bluff, AR; Desloge, WC Coordinator; Steeleville, MO
Chris Holmes – Chacocente, Nicaragua; Ukraine
Judy Schubert – Chacocente, Nicaragua; PPRC in St. Francois Co.
Marcia Buckley – Honduras
Tammy Durbin – has met hundreds of “least of these” needs thru the St. Francois Co. Partnership; co-founded GAP; joined Roger in that bus.
Joe & Tina Hogan – started a food drive ministry
Julie McDowell – Chacocente, Nicaragua
Mike & Tammy Bracken – mission work to the Farmington Children’s Home
Tammy Holmes – PPRC
Tracy Upchurch -- Chacocente, GAP
Lana Wickham – Haiti, Ministry that collects shoes and clothes for overseas missions
Peggy Lee Porter – Haiti
Barb Sharp – Mexico
Kelley Gray -- Chacocente, Nicaragua
Tim Gray -- Chacocente, Nicaragua
What am I thinking?
-- Building a building is tough. Some of our neighbors don't like us much. In a way, I don't blame them. They had a nature preserve with beautiful deer and wild turkey coming up and eating in their yards. I hope that they will have a realization that we are a positive factor for our community and for the Kingdom of God. We need to pray that God heals hearts there. We did not try to hurt these folks, but they are feeling that way right now. We need to keep reaching out to them. Keep loving them. Christ's love will prevail.
-- Two major stumbling blocks to completion. We must run 3-phase electricity to the facility. That is a difficult (possibly expensive) process. Please pray. Also, the heating and cooling has been a difficult matter. Looks like we are close to a solution there. Please pray.
-- Now on to stuff that matters. One reason that completion of the building is so crucial is that there must have been 100 children under 10 years old in the two services today. And they were VERY well behaved. I did not notice them at all as I preached. But it is time for them to have their own space so that they can develop their relationship with God.
-- More stuff that really matters. God has been unbelievably clear with His teachings through this study of Luke. He is teaching us the true Gospel -- the Gospel that takes our heart by storm. I hope that our people are really hopeful because that is what the tough teaching from Scripture really provides -- HOPE. I think that some of the sugar-coating that goes on out there provides some false hope. The Word is amazing because I am seeing people who look more like Jesus all the time. I can't wait to hear from Ben on Luke 15.
-- I had fun today. I feel comfortable that I am not a Pharisee. My heart cries out for all of the folks who are living some moralistic outer shell "Christian" experience, but it is just plain fun to watch God truly change hearts
-- I love Jesus. I love leading in His Kingdom. I want to follow Him.
