Last Sunday we had a short service so our congregation could, well, go be the church!

Below are a couple of videos from that experience that we used in our service today.

Click here to see some pictures from the Faith In Action Sunday.

Here are some pics from our Celebration Sunday today. We had a blast at Chick-Fil-A!

A "Pro" To Listen To

This is an exciting week to be a Jaguars fan. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get tickets to the upcoming Monday Night Football game, but I can't wait to see the Jags take on the Colts.

I've been reading all I can about the team this week. This morning I read an article on www.ultimatejaguars.com that both surprised and challenged me. I knew we had a lot of Christians on our local NFL team, but it is always nice to here them talk about it.

Rashean Mathis just went to his first pro-bowl last year. When asked about why we don't see many stories about him in the papers he answered,

Two years ago I dedicated my life to Christ so all the clubbing and all that has stopped. Other than my house, and Titus Harvest Dome Spectrum [church] there aren't too many other places you'll find me other than here in this locker room.

In a day where we here so many negatives about professional athletes it was refreshing to read this article. Mathis shares much more about his faith in the article. He is a true 'pro' in many ways in his life.

I recommend checking it out by click here.

I Love My Church!

Any time you get a group of imperfect people together you will have moments in which you struggle. That is a fact of interpersonal dynamics.

Ideas will clash. Personalities won't match. There will be too many leaders sometimes and no leaders at other times.

Sometimes it feels like the "squeaky wheel" gets the attention while the "flat tire" works hard by itself to just keep rolling.

We have all experienced situations like that. If you haven't, then it is time to get out of your house!

What makes some groups thrive and others wither is how they handle those times.

I love the staff I serve with at Christ's Church. We are not a perfect group, but a passionate group with a God size desire to see people come to know Christ and grow in their relationship with him.

Sometimes we need to be reminded of that. That reminder came for me last week as we all put our programs, schedules, and to do list's aside to serve a family in our community of believers in a real and tangible way.

It has been called "Extreme Home Makeover: Christ's Church Edition!" Our staff took Thursday to gut out their home...which was in great need of some TLC...and then fix it up. Several of us went back on Friday and others went on Saturday. Basically we have had staff at this home everyday for the last week working on it to make sure it all gets done!

Here is a video we showed our church on Sunday morning about this event. We are doing a series called "Faith In Action."




Take a look at the video from my friend Daniel Decker. It is a "behind the scenes" look at our work on Thursday.

A Heartfelt Prayer Request

My good friend and one of the ministers at our church, Arron Chambers, posted on his blog about a friend of his in Myanmar.

Judah came with Arron and his wife, Rhonda, to one of our flag football games last March when he was visiting them. I remember watching him play flag football with the kids, even though he didn't really know much about the game. It was fun to watch.

I don't know Judah, but my heart breaks for the circumstance he, and so many other believers, find themselves in right now.

Please take time to read the story Arron placed in his website and then commit to pray for Judah.

Are You Up For A Challenge?

OK...I've been struggling with something that I know a lot of others struggle with. Especially if you have ever been on a mission trip.

How do you keep the same excitement and closeness to God in your everyday life that you have on a mission trip or camp or (you fill in the blank for a time you were closest to God)?

As I have been praying, reading, and talking to others about this, I've come up with several principles you can put into practice. After all, this blog was started on the mindset of "running straight to the goal with purpose in every step." These are steps we must purposefully take to reach that goal.

1. This is not just a cliche. You have to pray. Think about this. On my recent trip to Honduras I spent hours in prayer leading up to the trip asking God to make me a servant, to keep the team safe, to help me lead, to open our eyes to what He wants us to see. Our team had hundreds of people around the world praying for us. On the trip, we began every morning with prayer and devotion time together as a team. What would my life look like if I approached every week of my life with that much intense and purposeful prayer?



2. "The civilized Christian has a routine; the barbarian disciple has a mission." (From The Barbarian Way by Erwin McManus...a must read for every believer!) Every successful organization clearly understands their mission. They place it in front of them at all times. Every decision they make is held up against that mission to see if it falls in line or not. They are evaluating their results to see if they match the mission. Are you getting the point? What is your mission? My mission was clear on my trip. I knew I was there to serve and love people the way God would. I had no routine to get in the way.



3. "May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and receive power that comes from God." Ephesians 3:16, NLT On my recent trip I was truly filled with the fullness of life. I don't always feel that in my everyday life. The difference is that I do not always seek to experience the love of Christ. On this trip I expected to experience the love of Christ...was that my first thought when I woke up this morning? Unfortunately not. I started thinking through my day and how much rain we had last night (12 inches in 24 hours!) So, ask yourself, "How can I experience the love of Christ?" I've learned it comes from serving and spending time with God and other Christians who are in love with God.

Pray on purpose. Live on mission. Love always.

They don't sound so difficult. Will you accept the challenge to follow these steps and see how they change your life?