Letter from Jason

Dear Bridge Family,
First, I want to say thank you for how much you have invested in my life. You all have ministered to me and my wife and kids so much that words cannot express how much I love you all and appreciate you. We came to as damaged goods and you guys have become the most important people in our lives.
When Ben & Tim sat me down at PC and said you were going to set me outside and not help anymore (1 Cor. 5, Matt. 18) if I did not repent, I became panicked because I love you guys that much and cannot afford to lose you. You have shown what real church is and been so good to my wife & I.

Please forgive me for letting you all down with ministry. You guys invested so much in me and trusted me with so much that when it folded, I had so much shame that I couldn't deal with everything that was going on. My marriage was failing, my kids were not being parented correctly, and I lost a crucial ministry all at one time period and I was crushed. It was 7 years that looked like a total failure and waste of time. I turned to drugs instead of God and became caught in sin that almost killed me and your love has rescued me from this. I am eternally grateful.

This place (Teen Challenge) is tough, but intense. We do weekly group studies and my very first week was on "growing through failure." It was a God send for me to try again. I will spend 4 months here and 10 months in Cape (Lord willing). Within 4 months here, we will have done studies on the whole New Testament (every book!) and about 40 scripture memorization verses. We also do this amazing thing called "character qualities" where we memorize different definitions and related verses for each, such as meekness, wisdom, perseverance, gentleness, etc. It is helping me tremendously. We have to have 20 done in 4 months.

Please thank everyone there who has prayed for me or helped my family in any way. Thank you all and I love you very much.

Also, if anyone wants to write, please send it in a Bridge church address, so I can correspond. I will write again soon, and I am healing well. This week's study is on anger and personal rights -- TOUGH!

Love,
Jason

p.s. Please watch Cindy and the girls for me. Cindy has been through so much. I love her more than words can express.

Couple of Hours with Mark & Friends - 6

The past Saturday our board and staff had a retreat in Arnold mainly for the purpose of getting close to God, hearing from God. We were not doing much planning, even though there are a lot of plans to be made. You will hear more about it, but one real blessing of the time spent was that we were joined on Saturday by Mike & Lucinda Harrison. Mike is the pastor of Parkland Chapel and one of the great Bible students and teachers around. He took about 45 minutes and gave us a lesson on how to read the Bible and how to teach people to read the Bible themselves. He challenged us to read all the way through the Bible each year (takes 11.5 minutes a day, so this morning I took off and did 2 Corinthians and will read a bunch in Judges later today), AND to slow down and use some to slow down and really learn to read and study the Bible deeply (IBS, Inductive Bible Study) to really understand what the Bible is saying. This is really what we have been doing with our two hours with Mark, so I thought we might see how what he taught us can apply to our short read of Mark 2:13-17 this week. IBS is a three step process of observation, interpretation, and application. We teach around The Bridge to read, reflect, and respond - very similar.

1. Let’s start with observation. You are going to see very quickly that this process cannot be done with a large amount of Scripture. Mark 2:13-17 is the perfect size. Before you start, pray that the Holy Spirit (He is the teacher; I am just a mouth, and a big one at that) illuminate your mind. Remember, God wrote the book, so we need to ask the author for explanation. Pray with high expectations that God will minister to you and teach you. Then, as we read, we observe with these questions in mind:

A. Who wrote it? Who are the major players? Who is the author writing to?
We know this passage is written by John Mark. He is writing to primarily a Gentile audience, but many Jews (who would be targeted as the ‘religious folks’ in the story) would experience this book as well. The major players in this passage are Jesus, Levi, his scumbag friends, and the creeper Pharisees. If you are not familiar with those terms, go back and watch the sermon from Sunday at The Bridge -- http://vimeo.com/28293366.

B. What are the main events?
First, in vs. 13 Jesus walked out by the sea teaching. This seems insignificant at first glance, but you will notice that while Jesus does some teaching in the synagogue, He is always GOING OUT ON MISSION. As he acts as a missionary from heaven, as one sent, he goes OUT to the people. He does not sit and wait for them to come to him. What are the ramifications for us just if we are going to ‘incarnate’ our lives, as they become more like His? As we observe closely, we see that He is teaching the masses, not just the select few that He came train -- a public teacher for the crowds. Then, vs. 14 shows us that Jesus walked up, regenerated, saved, and called Levi in a moment, “Follow me.” The Greek word for follow here (akolouthein) leads one into a sense that he is requesting a lot and that it is the only possible response for faith (risk and cost). There was no dialogue to the call; Levi must respond solely to the authority of Jesus. Levi was sitting there doing what tax collectors do, jacking folks for their money. A study of these tax collectors shows that they were bad people, truly slimy as they betrayed the Kingdom and worked for the evil Romans. Levi would have been despised and hated. This man was not welcome in a Jewish home because his touch on that house would render it unclean.
So vs. 15-16 show us the reaction of the Jews to this apparently horrific act by Jesus. This was even more offensive than the touching of the leper because while the leper could not help his condition, the tax collector was ‘unclean’ by choice. We observe in vs. 16, that Jesus did not slow His offense, He actually metastasizes it by going to dinner at the ‘unclean home’ with more of the ‘unclean.’ An interesting observation for you at this point might be to look at the term ‘wicked’ that the Psalms allude to. These folks at Levi’s house being labeled ‘sinners’ by the religious lent itself far more to the term reprobate that we might use today. The wicked or reprobate don’t just occasionally violate the law, they LIVE AND EXIST OUTSIDE OF IT. A close observation of Jesus ‘reclining’ at the table and ‘eating and drinking.’ Jesus sent us a signal that He has solidarity with alienated, sick, and needy people. These, who are living and existing, outside the law are starving spiritually, and Jesus modeled bringing them relationship and the Gospel. We once again OBSERVE the offense taken by the religious folks to Jesus’ definition of the Kingdom. You might observe that the ‘sinners’ have invited Jesus to dinner (a party, a feast kind of like the one that the father threw for the lost younger son in Luke 15), and the Pharisees are horrified and will not join the feast (like the elder brother). Also, in observation, you might note that Jesus’ body positioning, the reclining, shows that he, not Levi, is the actual host of the party. You also might observe that while the teaching of REPENTANCE is never far from the minds of those who are listening closely to Jesus, it is not mentioned much in the book of Mark. Notice that Jesus establishes the relationship and His authority first in the minds and hearts of His followers, He build into them faith in Him, THEN, he will make sure they understand the obedient act of repentance in completely interwoven with the faith He has given. The scandal of this story to the ‘religious’ is that he does not demand moral repentance as a PRE-condition of his offer of grace, love, and acceptance. Rather, Jesus initiates eternal life changing relationship with these sinners as they currently existed. This is a fundamental observation, as the regenerated ones will not leave their life of iniquities (like Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1-10) to impress Jesus or gain his favor but rather in response because he loved them first. He told Zacchaeus, “I must stay at your house today” without invitation. He initiates the fellowship. What are the implications to our theology of salvation if that is the case? It scandalizes those who try and define the Gospel in terms of morality and causes people to think that they must ‘clean themselves up’ before a relationship with Jesus is possible. We can observe in this passage that he makes clean with His grace; then, we respond. We don’t know how many were made clean from the party because we do not see who has responded with repentance and belief, but what is important to observe is that Jesus has been the initiator of all relationship. This idea is summed up in verse 17. Notice the difference in the mission of Jesus and the mission of the scribes. They come to enlighten; He comes to redeem. Given that mission, it is as senseless for Jesus to shun the ‘sinners’ as it is for a doctor to refuse the sick. Discuss how the grace of God extends to all forms of human depravity and that in a way, the sick sinner may be more ready for Jesus to redeem than the religious zealot because the sinner are more aware of their need for the transforming grace of God. “Where sin increased, grace increased all the more.” (As I observed here, I did so with a commentary open from James Edwards. Sometimes to receive correct context of correct observation, a good outside source is necessary -- tg).

C. When was it written? Mark was probably written first of the four Gospels. Early 50’s AD. When was it received? Quickly, we believe that the other writers of Gospels had a copy of Mark as they put their works together, so John Mark recorded Simon Peter’s eye witness account and got it out quickly. When did it take place? This calling Levi in this this section happened very early in the public ministry of Jesus.

D. Why was it written? This particular passage is crucial because the selection by the Holy Spirit to have multiple authors record the selection of Levi shows us that it has significance.
Jesus is in the process of completely redefining the Kingdom of God by showing that we are to rub shoulders with the unclean (not be the unclean; we go to war with sin). This is a major theme of this section of all of the synoptic Gospels. JESUS IS FULFILLING THE LAW, not smashing it, but bringing it into focus and completing it. How has the Bible re-shaped your views in the difference between religion and the Gospel?

E. How is it done? How did it happen? How is the truth illustrated? Sometimes the answers to these questions force us to observe a parable, or a poem, or some figurative language. In our Mark 2 passage, we have straight narrative. Jesus was teaching the crowds. He regenerated and saved Levi. He called him to follow Him. Levi did. Then, the reformed thief becomes generous and throws a huge feast for his sleazy friends, so they can meet Jesus. In this case, we observe the events.

Observation includes attention to detail, so we might want to read in multiple translations. And, then re-read. We MUST focus on the immediate context. What happened before, in, and after the passage. There are items in the healing of the leper and the paralytic that affect over understanding of this account. Jesus will not allow His Kingdom to be defined by man. What about cross-references to use? We can even do a Greek or Hebrew word study which I did for you earlier.

Observation involves knowing the historical and cultural issues as well. We will discuss these in the discussion of the next passage as we finish chapter 2 and begin chapter 3. Also, observation involves meditation. “Blessed is the man whose delight is in the Law of the Lord, and on his law he MEDITATES day and night.” (Psalm 1:1) Therefore, we must have time to turn off electronic media, even put away commentaries, and reflect on the Word of God.

2. Interpretation
Interpretation is the science of discovering the author’s ORIGINAL meaning as he wrote the Scriptures under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
A. What did the passage mean to original audience? In our passage, the reaction would have been shock to the Jews and even some of the Gentiles.
B. How was this relevant to the original audience?
C. What are the key truths and/or principles?
D. Does your interpretation fit within the context of the passage?
E. Mike Harrison believes that there is only one correct interpretation, but many applications. I think I agree with him.

Does your interpretation harmonize with the whole of Scripture?
So, CORRELATION is using the whole of Scripture to illuminate, validate, confirm, and support an interpretation.
NEVER BASE DOCTRINE ON AN ISOLATED SCRIPTURE.

3. Application
This is embracing God’s truth and the “doing” of God’s Word.
A. How can you, or the church as a whole, apply to the original audience?
B. What are the similarities between them and us?
C. What are the theological principles of the passage?
APPLICATION MUST COME DIRECTLY FROM THE MEANING OF, OR PRINCIPLE(S) OF THE PASSAGE.
D. How can you, or the church as a whole, apply the scriptural truth to your life?
So, what applies to you from the calling of Levi??
-- Application is where the Spirit is most likely to do a personal work in you and through you and through you (impact others).
-- Without application, observation -- observation and interpretation are WORTHLESS.

"The List"

I have had a lot of requests for "the list" from yesterday's sermon.
Here ya go.

JESUS LOVES SINNERS.

Therefore, sinners you are welcome here at The Bridge:
So, here we go -- to the guys that want to be girls and the girls that want to be guys,
To the drunks and druggees, to the weirdos, the porn addicts, the prostitutes, the adulterers, to the sexually promiscuous racked with guilt, to the sexually promiscuous not racked with guilt, to the thieves, the liars, the angry dads, the hormonal moms, to those who make their kids idols, to those who view their kids as a curse, the gluttons, the obsessive fans of movies about werewolves or transvestites, to the men who are 28 and living in mom’s basement who don’t have a job but can smoke Madden NFL or Gears of War on the XBOX, to the idolatrous computer nerds, to the whackjobs, nutjobs, the losers, the freaks, the geeks, the rednecks who drink a case of Natural Light, spotlight, and kill deer, to Star Wars groupees, NASCAR groupees, chain smokers (cigs or weed), to women who get paid in $1 bills, to people who text and drive, to radical Democrats and Republicans, to Mormons and any other religious folks that wear strange underpants, to steroid-pumping body builders, to people who wear biking shorts, Speedos and/or thongs, to Yoga instructors, witch doctors, potheads, crackheads, methheads, meatheads, and deadheads, even to tree huggers and PETA members,


AND to religious people who are upset right now because these subjects were not on the the Waltons, Touched by an Angel, Little House on the Prairie, or in their Christian home school curriculum and don’t think that Jesus drank REAL WINE, I have good news for all of you.

YOU ARE ALL WELCOME AT THE BRIDGE!

Couple of Hours with Mark & Friends - 5

Week #5. Mark 2:1-12. Can you believe it? Kids are back in school. Does that help your ability to get these two hour study sessions in or not? Doesn’t matter -- we have to find time to prioritize the King.

A deep foreboding disturbance has crept into Mark’s description for us. We find that as Jesus ushered in the Kingdom of God that he disturbs both the irreligious and the religious. The dark clouds of venom from both sides are beginning to form.

1. Let’s start by noticing that some sections of the synoptic Gospels (Mark, Matthew, & Luke) have the same story recorded for us. Give a quick read to Matthew 9:1-8 & Luke 5:17-26 and note any differences you might see. Sometimes there is just confirmation of events, and sometimes there are marked differences. I find these slight variations to actually confirm the inerrancy of Scripture as they do not really contradict facts, but they show that these writers worked independently in putting together their eyewitness accounts. In other words, what we would expect to see from independent research and not some copycat scheme. God directed, but human organized and written.

2. Let’s stir some thought up here and talk about crowds. Coming out of Chapter 1, crowds are obviously a big deal. Mark mentions crowds 40 times before chapter 10. We need to notice though that as Jesus moves from SHOWING what the Kingdom is like (healing, feeding multitudes, etc) to TEACHING what IT is like, we start to see the difference between the visible church and the invisible church. You want to be a member of the invisible church which are the people that God has drawn to Himself, has regenerated, and they have responded with repentance, faith, and all out commitment to Jesus -- the true believers. We will start to see that as Jesus begins to teach on the cost of following him, the visible church (those that like the food and the healing, but not the sacrifice, don't love the Father, the King, the Gospel) will begin to fade away. He cannot drive the invisible church away because there no task too daunting for the true believer. To illustrate what I am talking about, give a quick read of John 6 in your group and talk out the difference in the two churches. There are about 15,000 to 20,000 in church as he feeds them with a kid’s sack lunch. Then, he begins to teach and the teaching about life with Him being one of suffering whittles the mega-church down to a cell family of 11 -- the 12 plus the phony who would betray him. The point is just because the crowds are clamoring about him does not mean that they are following and believing in him. My prayer is that most who pass in & out of the doors our church are being moved by the Holy Spirit into the invisible church. Please stop and pray the same for your cell.

3. Go ahead and talk about the four men. Do you have community with other Christians to this degree that they would do anything to get you in front of Jesus? This is a great reason to be a part of a healthy cell. A whole lot of this roof would have been baked mud. There is some serious effort to carry a long distance and to hoist onto a roof. I wonder if some members of the invisible church helped them at any point because most people were I am sure clamoring to see Jesus for themselves because he could improve their world - their story. These men are giving a little glimpse of what it means to be a part of the invisible church, where the mission of God and the well being of others supersedes our agendas. This removing of obstacles for people to be able to see the Gospel clearly is a strong indication of faith. Are you putting up obstacles (religious preferences, sin patterns or lack of holy living, no time for people) or are you removing obstacles for people to see Jesus?

4. I spent most of my time in the sermon discussing the difference between what the paralytic and his friends were probably primarily concerned about as they encounter Jesus, and what Jesus considered the priority. They wanted the man healed (and that is very natural and a neat thing), but Jesus knows that it is VASTLY more important that we be healed in our relationship with him by having our sins forgiven than it is to have a somewhat whole physical body. Discuss your thoughts as you listened to that.

5. The surprise forgiveness of sins shifts the story from the paralytic to the scribes. What began as a heart warming healing has become a tense battleground for spiritual authority. This accusation of blasphemy is no small item as by Jewish law, it would have carried the sentence of death. So, Jesus has caused a “great disturbance in the RELIGIOUS here.” These men believed that THEY carried the true word of God and they are blind to the fact that they are staring at the WORD (the Logos) Himself. Religion always creates men who believe they can save themselves by their self-righteousness. Discuss how the Gospel disturbs that as It shows that their in NO righteousness outside of the blood of Jesus. Grace alone, Jesus alone, the cross alone is what saves men and women from themselves.

6. The Gospel (Jesus) also insults the irreligious because they want to be their own Gods and do whatever they want. They hate authority and reject Christ because He is the ultimate authority. Discuss the ability of people to accept the authority and turn from sin outside of the work of the Holy Spirit. We will find out in chapter 3 that these folks want Jesus dead just as bad as the religious folks that he has insulted. The Gospel offends the religious and the irreligious.

7. I used the words astonishment and awe. Look at this definition of awe -- ‘mixture of wonder and dread: a feeling of amazement and respect mixed with fear that is often coupled with a feeling of personal insignificance or powerlessness.’ Think about and discuss your feeling with this definition when you think about the wonders that the Gospel have brought to both your soul, your mental health, your emotions, your relationships, etc. These people were completely awestruck by the magnitude of what they saw Jesus do. Do we worship like we are awestruck? Why or why not?

Couple of Hours with Mark & Friends - 4

OK. Sorry this is late. Surgery took a toll on me, but let’s dig deep for a few minutes. Mark 1:35-45

It has always astonished me that Jesus prayed. Why did He have to pray? At the same time, He is the son of God and 100% God. A little clue may be found in us. When I am at my busiest is when I am doing Christian ministry. Some days are running from deep study for a sermon, to meeting with someone about the church plant in Arnold, to meeting with a couple whose marriage is jacked and needs help, to family worship with Kelley, Justin, and Taylor. None of that is sin (like Jesus spending his day preaching, healing, exorcising demons), and it is what I have been called to do - fun neat stuff. However, none of it is just deep time spent with the Father, loving and listening, and maybe whining and praising. Jesus had throughout all eternity past had full access to the Father and the Spirit without a lot of distractions, but now he had put on one of these human tents and was distracted, even by good things. By going to a desolate place and praying, He was getting back to his favorite thing to do - hanging out with the One who is worthy to hang out with. This is more than a battery recharge; this is heading to the deepest purpose of all -- loving God one on one. This is more than duty; this is the deepest calling that the son of God had and that the children of God have.

In the last five years, this has been a great strength of mine at times, and just plain non-existent at others. I am a decent church leader, husband, and father when my prayer life is deep and not superficial. I am downright awful while when there is no time in just deep conversational prayer with a Bible in my hands (not to study and learn, but to hear from God).

So, this begs some questions for you and me:

1. How are you doing at this? Is this only for Martin Luther, or Mark Driscoll, or Jesus (Mark 2:35)? Or, is it for every follower of Christ?

2. Jesus is being a worshiper. His prayer life is vastly more about submission to the Father than a “battery charge” or a “to do” list. Are you a worshiper in your prayer life?

3. Read Romans 12:1-2. How does God say to become a worshiper?

4. Notice Paul’s urgency. “In view of God’s mercy” (NIV) or “by the mercies of God”(ESV) means that you have been regenerated. Now, he is saying, since that is true, with urgency, on a daily basis, present your bodies (which includes your minds) completely to God for His bidding. Does that sound like your prayer life? What was Jesus praying about for all of this time that the disciples were looking for Him? Probably He was talking through the Scriptures with the Father and submitting His body as a living sacrifice for the mission of God for that day and upcoming days, eventually to a cross. What would that look like for you?

5. Do you pray more to talk to God about your world or to listen to God about His? The disciple of the Lord Jesus will migrate to the latter.
Let’s practice this with the Bible.
If you are in cell, get by yourself for a few minutes. Hopefully, it is beautiful outside. Go to a desolate place (like Jesus in Mark 2:35). Open to the book of Colossians, chapter 3, and begin reading, but don’t read for understanding or study or try and figure it out. Go very slow -- you have 20 minutes here (Jesus and Luther would do this for hours). Let the Bible read you. Let God speak into you and then pray your response. Pray your confession, your admiration for Jesus, your submission to His will, your supplication for others, whatever. Praying from God’s heart makes you a humble listener first and then a responder to God’s grace. This makes you a worshiper. This will allow your prayer life to be something that God wants to talk about (inside his will and about living in His Kingdom) instead of your agenda, about your world, and your mission. You will actually be surprised that you will eventually get to what is bothering you or a personal need, but you will pray it from God’s perspective instead of a selfish one. Once again, are you a worshiper on God’s mission or trying to pack Jesus around on your mission? In Mark 2, Jesus models for us that even when we are doing things on God’s mission, we must take to time to be a submitted worshiper of God - a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing.

6. The scene with the leper starting in Mark 1:40 is just gripping. Leprosy was a sentence. A sentence of death eventually, but before that of ostracized (read Leviticus 13:45-46) isolation. This outstretched TOUCH from Jesus in vs. 41 which leads to his COMPLETE healing in vs. 42 is one of the great illustrations of the Gospel in the Bible. Discuss us being “set outside the camp” after the fall (Genesis 3) as we are now unclean. Discuss how the Gospel addresses THIS uncleanliness.

7. Jesus “sternly charged” the man not to tell anyone in vs. 43. Seems interestingly light to us that this man was was so intensely disobedient since he was SO excited about Jesus and what he had done. Jesus was serious (if you study this in the Greek, very serious) about protecting the veil of his messianic identity with this command, but it just seems so fun that the man goes and shares anyway. However, his actions imposed a burden and forced Jesus into desolate places. Can you think of anything that we do that appears to be positive for the Kingdom, but actually it gives an impression opposite of the true Gospel? I was recently with someone that was gravely and possibly terminally ill. A well meaning person came into the room and began to tell the family that because Jesus was the almighty God that he knew that God wanted to and and WOULD heal their child. He prayed fervently and expectantly in the name of Jesus that God do this for this family because he loved this family so much and God wanted ‘good’ things for this family. This was a case of a person being really excited about Jesus, but not in tune with Scripture or God’s will. I loved their excitement over Jesus, but as they talked and prayed, the focus was on what people wanted instead of what God wanted. I believe that God CAN heal this person (he is still alive and I would love to see it); God can do anything He wants. However, just because this man and this family desperately want it AND believe in the right Jesus does not mean that it is in God’s will for this healing to happen. God’s glory is always the end goal. God’s mission is always what is essential. Discuss how the best way to pray for this man would be.

8. Jesus then commands the healed leper to observe the Mosaic law (Lev. 14) and go show himself to the priest which would have been quite a tedious task because there would have been a lot of travel and time to do so. Given his track record of obedience following the healing, do you think that he did as commanded and went to the priest? There are other stories of interesting reactions after healing. Read Luke 17:11-19 and discuss if you think there was healing without regeneration for the nine healed lepers who did not return and worship Jesus. Notice that all ten are being obedient to go see the priest when the one returns to worship. Think about correlations with some of your lives where maybe in your younger years, you had an encounter with God and maybe even did what you were told and got baptized, but then became radically disobedient afterward as someone who practiced unrepentant sin. Do you see any similarities?

Have fun.

2 Hours with Mark and Friends - #3a

Mark 1:21-34

1. One of the most striking things to me in this passage is that Jesus has become so well known for his authority over the natural and the supernatural that vs. 33 says this, “And the whole city was gathered together at the door.” Now, Capernaum was probably only a city of 50-100 people, but that is still astonishing that they were so enamored with the presence of Christ that there was not a person not attracted to the authority. Is it ludicrous to think that with enough prayer and surrender to the same Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, that we could not see a whole community basically crowding the doors of our churches because his power and authority had become so famous. Jesus himself said that we would do greater things than He did after he went away. Do we believe Him? We have seen evil spirits run out of people since we started The Bridge. We have seen people physically healed. We have seen marriages that were apparently not repairable get repaired. People are off drugs, not dependent on alcohol. The Gospel has made radical changes in many people’s lives. You may be one of them. Why has this not brought the entire city to our versions of Simon Peter’s door? Discuss the power of prayer and proclamation to this analogy.

2. PRAYER In Joshua 10, Joshua was given a task to perform to make the God of the Bible famous. As God was supplying him success in this endeavor, Joshua actually prayed that Jesus make the sun stand still in the sky so that he would have enough time in the day to complete his task. God responded in vs. 13, “The sun stopped in the midst of the heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day.” What is your “sun stand still” prayer that might bring all of our community come to the door to see the Jesus that does such miraculous things? I have prayed that all churches in St. Francois County (and now Jefferson County) be such conduits of the power and authority of Christ that the entire community crowds the doors to get a peak at such things. Is that ridiculous? Why or why not?

3. PROCLAMATION I believe the second issue is proclamation. If you re-read Mark 1:21-28, something tells me that it was only a matter of minutes before the entire city had heard of the authority of Jesus’ teaching and the exorcism that took over the usually boring church meeting at the synagogue. How did that happen? PROCLAMATION. Proclamation about Jesus. Some who had been regenerated proclaimed the Gospel on a personal level. Think about (if you are doing this in private) and/or discuss (if you are in cell) how if God has performed miracles in our midst that our entire community has not heard about them. God’s authority and grace is spectacular and when proclaimed (not as fanatics, but as awe-struck worshipers) should attract the entire city to our homes and churches. What prevents this?

4. Christians are commanded to practice hospitality. Ben noted that Simon Peter’s mother-in-law began to immediately serve upon being healed because she could. Our taking care of the needs of others in love is a NATURAL outcropping of the healing of grace. Think and discuss how you feel about your service to others. Is there any? If so, does it feel obligated, like you owe somebody something, or does it feel natural and in a flow of your life in Christ. You are a new creation.

5. Read 1 Corinthians 9:5. We keep coming back to this deal about ‘radical abandonment’ and ‘take care of your family.’ I find it interesting that apparently Simon Peter’s wife must have also have abandoned all her agenda and followed Christ with her husband. Discuss how a one flesh marriage must go this way.

6. We learned that the Greek word for authority here (Mark 1:22) means, “out of the original stuff,” or “out of the origin.” This has ramifications in many different directions. Remember that through His partner in the trinity, the Holy Spirit, that Jesus wrote all Scripture. He is the author and perfecter of our faith -- the beginning and the end. This is fun. The use of this Greek word for authority also shows up at the end of the Sermon on the Mount as the scribes declared it about Him there also. Matthew 7:28-29. To finish up your 2 hours of study here, take off on the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapters 5-7 (which must have been given in a very close time proximity to the events of Mark 1). Reflect on our teachings and look closely how Jesus redefines (from authority) the Kingdom of God.

That will be more than two hours, but I have some more thoughts on this in an upcoming 3b.

Couple of Hours with Mark & Friends - 2

A bunch of you ACTUALLY did this last week, so I thought we would try it again. Don't assume this. Some of you should be writing study guides like this.

1. Vs. 1 identifies the Lord as Jesus Christ (the gospel of Jesus Christ), not just Jesus. Most of the time, the Bible calls Him Christ Jesus, Jesus Christ, or the Lord Jesus. What is the deal? What is the significance of 'the Christ'? His last name? (kidding)

2. The people, as the Holy Spirit regenerates them, What is regeneration?

3. OK. Now, read Luke 3:1-10 again along with Mark 1:4-8 as the people are regenerated by the Holy Spirit as John preaches about the Kingdom of God and repentance. How significant is it that the people then ask in Luke 3:10, “What, then, shall we do?” Share stories with your cell members of remembering that moment when you saw your dirt and God’s holiness and knew that you must respond. What did you do?

4. Jesus answered their question in vs. 15 as he shows the response necessary for redemption, for salvation. “Repent and believe the Gospel.” Discuss this statement: 'Jesus not only proclaims the gospel (the good news), He is the Gospel.' Discuss what it really means to truly believe in Jesus (obviously much more than mental ascent).

5. The word repentance means ‘to change course, to turn around, to change direction. It would be like a 180 degree turn in our holiness (we walked in selfish sin, we now walk in Christ’s righteousness as a new creation). Most people think that repentance is just confessing sin when actually there are five stages to repentance. Deeply ponder and discuss in cell how deep you go in your life of DAILY repentance in these stages.
A. Conviction -- a role of the Holy Spirit is to convict of sin (Read John 16:7-11).
B. Confession -- this is agreeing with God that we have sinned. (1 John 1:9)
C. Repentance -- empowered by the Holy Spirit, we turn from the sin -- STOP. (1 John 3:4-12)
D. Joy -- there is joy that comes from moving from darkness to light. We should celebrate.
F. Abundance -- we move from struggling so much with the sin into helping others through it.
Note: Repentance signifies something to turn from (sin); belief signifies something to turn to (Jesus).

6. I think that the average Christian that hangs around church sees himself as vastly different as the disciples who were called to Jesus’ original team in Mark 1:16-20. They were awesome (walked with Jesus, performed miracles, authored Scripture, etc), but the spirit of this call is the same to us. “Drop your agenda,” Jesus says, “and follow me.” How does this play out with you personally. What does “drop your nets” look like? What does following Jesus on His incredible mission to a dying world look like?

7. James and John leaving their father Zebedee (we know that the disciples had lots of contact with family later) in the boat should remind us of some tough Scripture that Jesus tossed out later (read Matt 10:37-39, Luke 14:26). I think looking at these Scriptures together give an idea of how Jesus views our priorities. Balance these with Ephesians 6:2 “honor your father and mother” and 1 Timothy 5:8 which is about a man’s responsibility to work and take care of his family.

8. Share some of the mission that you think the Holy Spirit may be pressing you toward as a disciple. A true disciple is always developing another disciple. Do you have someone that you are developing in the faith? Who is investing time in you?

9. Israel had a notion of God as king (Exod 15:18, 1 Sam 12:12, and Ps. 5:2). God is exalted above His creation. Jesus affirms that notion as he begins this Kingdom of God talk. He is King, and he is going to define His Kingdom. Run through the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:3-?) as a quick refresher to some of the concepts of how different his Kingdom is to what we ordinarily think.

10. The verbs in the Greek for repentance and belief are in the imperative, so they are not temporary, one-time events; they are continuous, a condition. Also, both things cannot be applied only to certain areas of life, but they lay claim to a total allegiance of believers. Belief assumes the act of repentance. Grace and faith are given by God, but these are definitely imperative verbs of response to regeneration.

Couple of Hours with Mark & Friends

Items for study and reflection this week that surround Mark:

1. This John that prepares the way for Jesus is an interesting cat. Read the Malachi prophecy about him and discuss his significance (Malachi 4:5-6). Do a little research and see if you can figure out why Malachi might refer to John as Elijah.

2. Read the Matthew account of John (Matt. 3:1-12). We get some more detail here as John boldly confronts the religious leaders and preaches strong judgments on those who do not believe in the One. Discuss the fact that this writing was focused toward a Jewish audience.

3. Read the Luke account of John (Luke 1:1-45, 57-80, 3:1-22). Why is God so meticulous in his preparation of things?? This whole ministry of John fulfills prophesy of a new Exodus -- where God's people will once again be delivered from a wilderness to the river Jordan -- really cool. (cf. Isa. 11:11–15; 40:3–11; 42:16; 43:2, 5–7, 16–19; 48:20–49:11; 51:10)

4. What does God stir in you as you consider that Jesus held John in higher esteem than any other man, but John models the lessening of himself and the elevation of Jesus (vs. 4-8)? In the Matthew account, you might recall that he said to Jesus, “I should not be baptizing you; you should be baptizing me” (tlg, paraphrase, Matt. 3:14) as he continually points us to worship Jesus, not man.

5. Do you walk around feeling as though the heavens have been torn open and the Spirit has descended upon your life, your world? If so, journal what that looks like, or tell your cell what that looks like. Our regeneration is not as big of an event in history as the baptism of Jesus (Mark 1:9-11), but the whole trinity gets involved with our salvation also, so it is pretty special. God has a plan for salvation, and then a plan for the mission of His church. Discuss the plans you feel that God has for you right now. Does it change to realize that the same Spirit that descended upon Jesus has descended upon you? How?

6. Read the Luke account of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness (Luke 4:1-13). How significant is this event that Jesus, as a man, felt every temptation that we have ever felt, but did not sin? Discuss how much easier it is to sin when we are tired and hungry. Ever notice?

Bonus Time:

Read chapters 12-15 of Acts and look at how the early church leaders function. We see the author of Mark mentioned here as a part of the missionary journeys and a church fight. It is really significant to me that Paul reconciles with John Mark (Col. 4:10, 2 Tim. 4:11, Phil. vs. 24). It is also significant to me that these disciples were made because they were willing to hang around constantly with people who could pull them along in their faith toward their mission for God. John Mark hung around with Paul and Barnabas. We also know that he spent considerable time with Simon Peter and many others (see above Scriptures) to attain the information for the writing of His Gospel. Who is teaching you the ways of the faith, digging into Scripture, rebuking you when you do something silly, praying with you, and at the same time, who are you discipling?
As we can glean from this, the Bible teaches us how to “make disciples who make disciples.” This is the prophesied mission of the church -- prophesied AND commanded by none other than Jesus Himself. Are we as centered in our mission as John? He eliminated distractions and received blessings beyond measure. What distractions need to go, so that we could be counted as one worthy?

One last point. In a day where God’s love is defined as the prosperity that we will receive upon a relationship with Him in American terms (health, stuff, etc), do you find it interesting that the person (John, not the Apostle) that Jesus has esteemed higher than any other man goes to prison as soon as his mission is complete and gets his head cut off? God defines blessings and rewards and prosperity vastly different than we do. It is time to start getting some of that figured out.

Lessons from 4,000 Miles

It is good to be home from a long vacation with Kelley, Justin, Taylor, & Randy & Connie (Kel’s brother and his wife) -- about 4000 miles of American beauty covered from Lake Tahoe, to the Tetons, to Yellowstone, to the Black Hills..

Saw many things, but had two serious lessons taught:
First, I got my patriotism stoked.
I probably need to clarify some things I said in a recent sermon. I think Christians are TOO cause oriented and spend TOO much time declaring what they are against instead of what they are for, and so I declared that disciples of the Lord Jesus are not called primarily into causes. What Christians are called into is the Great Commission which is to ‘make disciples who make disciples world-wide.” I was specific though that causes are not wrong though.
Let me be specific. I love my country -- I don’t love it more than Jesus -- but I would have been proud to defend the US from evil if called to do so at any point in my life. I remembered this at the 9 pm ceremony at Mt. Rushmore a few nights ago as they lit the faces of men who sacrificed greatly for causes. I had tears storming off of my face as they had all servicemen on the stage for the classy flag ceremony as I wished I could have pushed my father down there for that moment. The tears were partially from missing him, but also being reminded of how much I appreciate the sacrifice of many for the freedoms of my life. My dad got shot at by the Nazis for over 30 missions in the back of a B-17 as evil tried to storm the world, and I will NEVER forget that (Justin better not forget or let his grandchildren forget). I believe that true Christians who are called into a cause like that should use the opportunity to ‘make disciples who make disciples world-wide’ AS they do what is right. They simply shift mission fields as the cause does not override their commissioned purpose in this world.
We should vote as Christians, but we should not think that voting Christians into office is going to fix the world. Only Jesus, and His Gospel, is going to fix the world. Let's proclaim HIM!
We should support the American Cancer Society, but we should not think that humans are going to eradicate the curse even if He blesses us with a cure. Only Jesus, only His Gospel, is going to bring a day with no more tears and no more suffering. Let's proclaim HIM!

Second, I got reminded what a baby I can be. I was in a great, worshipful state of mind for the entire trip until the last day (I hope the others would agree with that), but we decided to wipe out the last 17 hours of the trip on that final day. So, had that gone smoothly, everything would have been fine. Sound familiar? Long story short, some 70 miles of I-29 is under the Missouri River, and what was going to be 17 hours and a 1:00 am arrival at home, became 20 hours and 4 am. Instead of having some compassion for the thousands of people affected by the flooding or realizing the detour was going to allow me to show the group my birthplace (Cameron, MO), I huffed and puffed like a baby because this inconvenience had affected the kingdom of me. Sin abounds when we are tired -- we need to stay rested. I finally did relax and enjoy a beautiful sunset, a Cardinals win, and a few more hours with my folks (even got a little nap in). But, for a minute, sin abounded. Glory to God who takes away the sin that so enslaves us.

Disciples making Disciples WORLDWIDE

OK. Thrice is no longer coincidence. Months ago, as our missional cell family studied through Radical, I had a stark realization that I (and maybe our entire faith community) were not doing enough to directly bring the Gospel to people world-wide. Within a few days, God made two potential opportunities available for me to go to India and train & encourage pastors from the persecuted church and preach the Gospel to some folks who have never heard it. I am looking forward to making that trip with Mike Harrison (the lead pastor of Parkland Chapel in Farmington that is sponsoring MAN UP in July), who is also feeling pressed to get the Gospel out to the world into populations that are growing up and dying without ever having heard the Good News of Jesus Christ. So, this was encounter number one -- OK, Tim Gray, what are YOU personally going to do to get the Gospel to some people who have never heard it? Kelley and I are going to make a very difficult and dangerous trip to India in September to see.

The second encounter (which actually may have been the first) took place in a very quiet moment at the house as I was reading a book written in 1962 that was given to me by one of the pastors at The Bridge named Lance Smith about world missions. I don’t remember the name of the book or the author, but I remember the epiphany. As I read the description of the importance of ALL Christians being concerned with getting the Gospel to the ENTIRE world, I originally reacted poorly, thinking this dude was some whack dispensationalist who was trying to put some goofy things in motion that would try and manipulate Christ into returning. I have to confess that I am overly sensitive to things like this since we have whackjobs out there trying to funnel MILLIONS of dollars to the secular nation of Israel to get all of the Jews back home there and rebuild the temple because they mistakenly believe that Christ will not return until those two things happen. This Spirit-filled author though was giving a correct analysis of Matthew 24:14 which states “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” The author’s correct premise was that there were many people groups (obviously nations here mean people groups as nations have changed borders and names thousands of times since Jesus uttered these words) in 1962 that had not heard the Good News of Jesus Christ; therefore, our lack of attention to the commission of of Christ to preach the Gospel to the entire world, to make disciples of ALL PEOPLE GROUPS, had in effect made the fulfillment of this prophecy to be delayed. Jesus is clear that He will not return until all people groups have been exposed to the preaching of the Gospel. The church has a role to fill, and it has not gotten the job done. I immediately began praying for God to reveal the role of The Bridge in this mandate.

The return of Jesus is something that we should all pray for as John did as he closed out the Bible in Revelation 22 as he prayed, “Come, Lord Jesus.” So, I was still rolling around with the ramifications of this as I started reading Platt’s Radical Together, and here came punch number three. Platt brings up Matthew 24:14 again and declares that the disciples of God (all of us) MUST be daily concerned with not only discipling our families and our neighbors -- important stuff -- but with the Gospel being preached and disciples being made in every tiny corner of the globe. ALL OF US. Then, he had the punch in the gut. As Americans, we cannot imagine there being many people who have not heard of Jesus, but all of his research points to a fact that there probably about 6,000 people groups in the world right now that have not been exposed to the Gospel. And, some of these are going to be dangerous and TOUGH. The church worldwide is going to have to develop some true amazing disciples to get the Gospel into these places, and he brings back up the point that it MUST be the concern of all of us to do so. So, I thought immediately, “Is The Bridge Community Church, the church that I have the awesome privilege to lead, making the kind of disciples that will not only pray for this effort, but become actively engaged with resources AND personal investment into this commission?” Well, are we?

It was a great honor and privilege recently being involved on mission in Joplin, MO in the aftermath of the horrible tragedy there. We are called to serve people in need and the need there is great. It is the right thing to do, and I pray that Jesus will be made famous with our efforts. Upon returning though, I had a local church member (won’t say from where) telling me how glad he was that we went and did that because we were taking care of “our own.” I had to just walk away because I was livid -- downright angry. What is “our own?” Missourians? Americans? A quarter of a million people died in the tsunami in Indonesia - maybe near that many in the earthquake in Haiti! They are OUR OWN also! In Biblical terms, were their lives less important? How about Rwanda? Millions slaughtered by evil. The aids epidemic in Africa; the death of the real church in Europe -- the list is endless. Did this person mean that the American church had less mandate to bring the love of Jesus, the good news of the Gospel, to those situations than Joplin because the God-image-bearing people of those regions were less ‘our own.’ Different skin color - different nationality, what? This statement needs to be prayed over as it is not only offensive to God, but borders on downright racism sin. Look at this passage from Acts -- “Then Peter began to speak: ‘I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.’” (Acts 10:34-35) I am glad that we are able to help in Joplin because the need is great and its proximity allows for participation by a LOT of folks, and I feel hugely blessed by living in America. However, Missouri and the US are NOT our only mandate.

What has happened since God started blowing us up about this?
1. We have partnered with a church (TVCC of Paris, TN) to help plant a church in northern Haiti. This has also led to strong relationships with two mission/church planting organizations in the Cap Haitien area of Haiti.
2. Bridge members, Michael & Melissa Goldsmith, and their two children - Emilee & Seth - are headed to Haiti for the next month to work on these projects. We are not only sending money; we are sending people.
3. We have developed a relationship in India with CV Vadavana, the author of a book called Mission Fields (http://www.truthintlusa.org/page/page/7456871.htm), to help him support, encourage, and train pastors all over that country of 1 billion people that contains hundreds of the 6,000 people groups that have not heard the Gospel. This has been initiated by a blooming relationship with Parkland Chapel in Farmington. Kelley and I will be making our trip to India with Mike Harrison, the pastor there, and CV will be in the Parkland in July.
4. We have mission teams headed to Costa Rica and Nicaragua this summer.
5. We may have a couple beginning to work toward church planting with Stan Jackson & Ernest Ehabe in Cameroon, Africa.
5. We have planted multiple missional cells (home church missional communities) in St. Francois County this year.
6. We are supporting Journey Community Church in Herculaneum, MO and The Bridge Community Church in Nixa, MO as they plant missional communities in Jefferson County and Christian County.
7. Kelley and I, along with other current Bridge members, will be moving into the Arnold area starting in August (Kel & I will go in November) to start missional communities there with the intention of planting a full Bridge campus that would meet for its first worship celebration on March 18, 2012.
8. When the tornado hit Joplin, we sent teams in immediately and continue to have people go.
These efforts mean that we are involved in taking the Gospel and compassionate works to (Acts 1:8) Jerusalem (SFC, & surrounding counties), Judea & Samaria (Herky, Arnold, Nixa, Joplin), and to the ends of the earth (Haiti, India, Cameroon, other?).

I think we are getting it!
Disciples making disciples WORLDWIDE!

I started this blog (finishing days later) almost feel guilty as I sat 16 stories up in a high rise condo complex at Pensacola Beach, FL preparing to marry my niece. I looked at hundreds of people moving about below me like ants on the beautiful sand beaches that God has provided wondering if any of them are EVER concerned about the 2 billion people on the earth who have never heard the Gospel, let alone their friends and family that they profess to love. It was a good day with God, but I long for spending more time training up His people to GO and DO what He has really called us to do.

Heroes of the Faith

Just wanted to take a second on this rainy Saturday morning as I wait for my last MAC graduation before retirement and THANK OUR HUNDREDS OF VOLUNTEERS who serve the LORD so faithfully at The Bridge. If you go over to the church this morning, the lawn has been mowed and weed-eated and looks great. The bathrooms are clean and carpets vacuumed. The Bridge Kids area is ready for hopefully 120-130 kids tomorrow. The music has been rehearsed. Lots of needy people in our community received financial support, prayer, and love this week. Cell homes were cleaned and folks prepared food to make our missional cells launching pads for the mission of God. Our teens were taught Bible and taught to go on mission by VOLUNTEERS. Tomorrow, hospitality folks will be up early to prepare food and drink for guests, our greeters will meet regulars and guests with a smile and a handshake, around 40-60 volunteers will put off an amazing morning of Bridge Kids (and we need 25 more as the children just keep pouring in), and our tech team will prepare to broadcast the magnificent Gospel of our Lord Jesus live to hundreds of people. Counters will have a very late lunch as they very professionally get God's money counted and deposited in the bank. Our prayer team will also have a late lunch as they pray over EVERY prayer request before they go home for a Mother's Day lunch. Volunteers have been to Jefferson County, the CSC, the county jail, and the Farmington to deliver Conquering Addiction and the hope of the Gospel to trapped people -- all this week. The entire building was constructed by the hands of volunteers. I could go on and on, and I know that I have missed somebody.

Happy Mother's Day!

Thank you and PRAISE GOD for you!!!

What does a local church look like?

What should we be seeing in a local church that is filling the Great Commission of Christ?? Every individual believer and every local church are commanded to go and "make disciples who make disciples," baptizing them, and teaching them to obey God's commands. How do we really do that?

These are not in any particular order, but these are things that we should be seeing.

1. The local church should be developing foreign missionaries and FULLY funding their time in the mission field. These missionaries don't spend time fund-raising; they spend their time preaching and teaching the Gospel, church planting, and training pastors in the field. Their sabbaticals back home are to rest and study, not fund-raise. This is the one that God has been hammering me with. The Great Commission to the whole world is vastly more for the local church than sending a check to a denomination. Missionaries must be cultivated, trained, supported, and sent.

2. The local church should be developing ordained campus pastors to plant new campuses and churches in the United States. If we are Biblically discipling, a new elders should be raised up. In this pool of elders, some to lead new local churches should arise.

3. The local church should assist developing churches with resources and training to become Gospel-centered and missional. The Bridge is currently doing this with churches in Leadwood, Nixa, St. James, Kansas City, and Herculaneum.

4. The local church should be developing qualified elders to oversee this entire effort. GET THE MEN! GET THE MEN! GET THE MEN! These overseas missionaries, pastors, and missional cell (community) leaders will come out of a system of developing elders from 1 Timothy and Titus. I am believing that this level of training may be the key step in fulfilling the Great Commission.

5. The local church should be developing missional cell leaders (Biblical deacons) who will plant missional cells to redeem local communities for the cause of Christ. The Bridge - Leadington should be planting about 10-20 a year in St. Francois County and surrounding areas.

6. The local church should be baptizing about 10-20 percent of the average attendance a year as new believers. The Bridge nearly reached the 20% in 2010. Strong Gospel-centered teaching in missional cells if not-yet-believers are being invited to homes will help accomplish this. Preaching Jesus and the Gospel into primarily expository preaching will be a primary catalyst for the Holy Spirit to call His people also.

7. Developing women who actively making disciples who make disciples by being obedient to Titus 2:3-5. Our Spirit-filled women also should be filling many ministry roles around the local church and our missional cells.

Lots more to say, but I believe that is a good start to what it looks like to be Gospel-centered and missional in the local church. The keys of course are to developing Jesus Freaks (people who are absolutely blown away by the person of Jesus lifting high His name), and a commitment to doing all things according to Holy Scripture, and a massive commitment to prayer for the freeing of the power of the Holy Spirit of God to accomplish all these things. This is not a matter of human effort, but of submission to a powerful God who can make the impossible seem possible. Then, when submitted, we "GO."

Thought you might like to see the responses that I put together to the directives of Jesus about what this fruit of the Spirit that is presented in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. These responses are just prayers to a Sovereign God for Him to bring us into line with his commands, so that we love instead of hammer as we use our spiritual gifts.

Love is patient. Response: Lord, make me patient with your gifts.
Love is kind. Response: Make me kind to difficult people.
Love does not envy. Response: Make me satisfied in YOU.
Love is not selfish. Response: Lord, make me a giver like YOU.
Love is not angry. Response: Keep me calm so that people will see YOU.
Love does not record wrongs. Response: Lord, help me to forgive like YOU forgave.
Love is not evil. Response: Protect me from the evil one.
Love rejoices with the truth. Response: Lord, fill me with YOUR truthful Spirit.
Love protects. Response: Help me use my gifts to protect, not destroy.
Love trusts. Response: Lord, help me to fight jealousy.
Love hopes. Response: When people see me, let them feel hope.
Love perseveres. Response: Lord, keep me at the table no matter what.

May the Lord Jesus Christ be glorified!

Missional Cell Prayer Challenge

Just sent my missional cell a prayer challenge. Thought you might like to see if you have the guts to pray it with us.

I challenge you to do something immediately. I want you to stop and pray this right now wherever you are.

"God, we desperately need You."
"Oh God, we love you and are willing to listen to Your heart's desires."
"Oh God have mercy on us, the wretched sinners that we are." "Forgive us for seeking our own way."
"We love you for your Gospel."
"Thank you for Jesus." "We love you and worship you alone, Jesus!"
"We love Jesus and will serve Jesus alone."
"Bring the power of your Holy Spirit to bear on our daily study this week."
Pray it again -- "Bring the power of your Holy Spirit to bear on our daily study this week."
"If we discover that I am being disobedient in ANY WAY, give us the the faith the power to repent and obey your commands."
"We love you."
In the magnificent name of Jesus!!!!!!!!!!!!
Amen

Did you mean it? Do you want all of His Word? All of His desires? All for His Glory. Pray for more faith. He grants every ounce of faith that you have. You don't conjure it up -- that is why we worship HIM. Pray for more mercy. Repent and believe the Gospel. Really believe. Put it into practice. Give something away today that you don't think you can live without. Stop protecting your stuff -- you don't have any stuff. Pray that he reveal His gifts to you and that you POWERFULLY put them into practice today.
Some of you want to pray about all of your problems right now. Get the focus off of you and onto the One and Only, and your problems will minimize. You can address those problems with Him later. Look at Jesus right now; not your earthly problems.
Keep praying for the POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT all week. You cannot say it too much.

Did I mention praying for the POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT?
We are weak. HE is strong. HE will give us what we need, not what we want. HE is all we need!

Aren't you glad I had some time this morning.

Love you more than you know,

tim

Time to get IT Done!

I dream of a church that is so in love with Jesus that it sacrificially gives so that the church can give away 50-75% of its budget to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, take care of the orphan and widow, AND pay a Godly competent staff (to love on broken people) what it needs to live and give at the same time. Sound radical? We are headed there.

That was my Facebook post today. I don't know where it came from. I had not been sitting around thinking about this stuff. A whole bunch of Scripture verged, I think. Now, I am in a panic because if you are going to write something like that, you better be ready to model it personally -- because each of us, individually, make up the church that would willing to do such a thing. Each part of the body must do its part to bring such Biblical things to fruition. Yikes! Gotta get to work!

There is probably a Biblical model for church that makes this look calm. This would be a good start for The Bridge though.

I think we have gone from about 5% in 2006 and have gone up about 5% each year since. And, that was in the middle of a building program. As soon as we dump this mortgage, we will be on our way. To God be the Glory for the things HE has done!

New Year's Day Testimony

The Bridge baptized a beautiful, young lady named Diana at our Christmas services. I thought you might like to kick off your 2011 with her testimony. I bet it sounds similar to many of you somewhere along the way -- sounds very familiar to me.

There's no way possible that this could be part of my plan. My heart is broken and the pain is unbearable. How can anything this horrific be part of some supposed 'beautiful plan'? That was me every time something went wrong in my life. If I knew then what I know now, I would have spent more time praising God in those 'horrific' times. Once you finally get it(and I don't mean just get it, I mean smack you square in the face kind of get it) you look back in awe. Everything finally starts to makes sense. All of the events from your past slowly start forming a huge puzzle. Sorting through each piece, you start learning the lessons and seeing the amazing beauty in each event.

I was raised in a small tight knitted congregation where almost everyone was related in one way or another. They all knew just the "need to know" stuff about each other, and were content with that. I don't remember ever hearing the weekly church gossip from the chatty elderly women. Everyone genuinely loved and cared for one another. I attended that church until I hit about 13. At that point in my life, God didn't seem as real to me than the life I was currently living. Boys started to look more interesting (and real for that matter) than Jesus did to me. Soon enough I began to dress a little differently, and before you knew it I started talking, acting and even looking different. My life started to take a turn at that point and people started noticing me. Although it may not have been in a positive manner, I still yearned for that attention. As the youngest of 4 children, you would think I would have gotten plenty of attention. I did, but it was never enough to fulfill this 'different' attention I was in search for. Eventually I would start turning to men to fulfill these needs that I had finally pushed to the surface. Those years were the hardest years of my life. At one point, I had actually named those years as some of my favorites. Today, they are no longer hard to look back on and I am blessed to be able to see the beauty in them. To my peers, I was the one almost always smiling and making people laugh, but on the inside, I was in deep pain. I kept searching for ways to fill this hole that kept getting deeper throughout my search for love from the world. Alcohol, sex and even drugs on occasion, seemed like the only way to make me think I felt good about myself. Every so often I would change my life and turn to God. I would briefly embrace God's Love and learn a little more each time He would bring me back. But it seemed that slowly my idols would creep into my life and I would run to them. I would then be right back into the lifestyle of searching for love from the world. I would think I found the love I needed in alcohol, male attention, and drugs. I see now that the pain I felt always seemed to disappear when I was on the narrow path, following God. But when I was walking down the wide path, the pain only grew deeper. The wide path was full of people wanting to help you ease your pain with a drink or a drug or in my experience, sexual attention. At the time the those idols seemed more fulfilling than trying to pray.. Those back and forth games I played with The Almighty Lord were what paved the way to my redemption. Every time I would have my 'good girl' act on I would retain more and more information that would eventually open my eyes to see what God had been doing all around me. Lately it had seemed that every time I would fall, the devil would pull me deeper each time. The last 'fall out' I had with God nearly led me right into the pits of hell. That's how I knew that God had different plans for me this time around. I was finally submissive enough to let Him completely into my heart. It didn't happen overnight though. I was given an amazing first-hand encounter with the presence of The Lord, but yet I still fell hard, once more. I still had to test it for some reason. I didn't trust in Him yet, much less trust myself completely. Slowly I started letting go and just letting Him catch me. The more I let go, the more peace, joy and love I felt in my heart. It was like I was the grinch before, and now my heart was growing. I started smiling at the little things that I had forgotten how to notice before. My relationship with my son was better than it had been in a long time. I genuinely started seeing the good in people and when I saw the bad, my heart longed to help them find this joy that I had been exposed to. My family seemed to take a whole new form right in front of my eyes. I saw how they all deeply loved me, and loved each other for that matter. Not the love where they feel obligated but the pure love that they had been given from The Lord. All these things began to flash in front of me and in an instant, I felt that Light flip back on in my heart brighter than it had ever shined. I am now aware that I am not in control of my life nor will I ever be. I know that when I fall, I need to turn to Him rather than the world. He is the only one who can save me from the darkness. Slowly but surely, I will be able to walk strong on my two feet but until then, I know that God will be delighted to carry me along beside Him. I know God has great plans for me and I can't wait to finally seal the door to my past and turn it into a window.
For a window is only for viewing and a door is to enter and exit. I know I don't want to use the door anymore. It’s time for reconstruction on my life, so that the walls in my heart are torn down and The Light can shine through. Never again do I want to hide that Light deep inside me.
Although I'm not sure where to start, I know He will pass his great carpentry skills on to me to assist me in building that window.

Diana's fiancee, James, was baptized at Christmas also. I see beautiful things on their horizon because of Jesus. I believe that they want to make Him famous. Time will tell.