Conference Training Day...

So I was invited by my state office of the Southern Baptists to participate in a two day training to help lead conferences and do individual consultations to help smaller churches in Michigan. Here is what I learned....

So much of what was said could be simplified by looking at the 5 purposes of the church (Fellowship, Ministry, Worship, Discipleship, and Evangelism) and at the 5 potential audiences we face (Communit all the way to Core) and developing a Strategy to implement transition into each growth step to through the purposes...I don;t want to labor on describing what I am talking about--Just know that PDYM is so simple...

FloodCafe Show last night

It was awesome. I have never seen so many peoiple in the Flood Room (Over 200!) The band Shooster (picture below) played their first show as a band here and Action Packed Heroes had a HUGE crowd. The other bands did a fantastic job as well! Nights like these get me excited that we got so many people in the door of a church! I hope to see some people check out the Flood as a result. I know a couple have in the past, and that adds so much to a simple "fundraiser" when outreach happens too!

Who Is God...

This week we Begin our new series called God:101. Tonight we discussed the question "Who is God." Just to sum up, here is the basics...

Common Misconceptions about God:

God is The Terminator. Better put, God is out to get you. All the bad things that happen in life we can blame on God. When things aren't going my way, I get mad at God becasue He is causing them.

God is Santa Clause. Happy grayhaired man just waiting to dole out everything you've ever wanted. Need an "A" on that History test...just ask God. Need a win for your basketball team...just ask God. And when it doesn't work, I must have done something wrong.

God is Unknowable. OK, so he is the ultimate High being, creator of the universe, and sustainer of life. Obviously I can't know or understand Him so why bother trying. Or maybe you just don't believe His Word or His Church and so you feel that there is really no avenue to really get to know Him

Well, Here is the Truth:

God is Love. Plainly speaking, when we experience love, we experience a piece of God. God went so far as to demonstrate His love to us that even when we were His enemies, He sent Jesus Christ, His only Son for us to take our place and to offer us a connection with Him. See 1 John 4:8-9

God is Just. As we read in the Psalms, the foundation for God's throne is Righteousness and Justice. Righteousness means Holiness o perfection. Justice means setting the bar at Righteousness. Therefore, if we sin even once, we are no longer righteous and deserve eternal seperation from God according to His Justice. He can't just bend the rules and say, "Never mind, everyone is OK!" He has to follow Justice. He did so by sending His Son (see a pattern) to take our place as the offering for our Sins. Now we can stand perfect and Holy before God through Jesus Christ by giving over our lives to Him. Just as we read in Romans 3:25

God is Personal. Even though God is the creator, sustainer, and provider for all, He wants to know us personally. He made this available by sending Jesus...ahh that again. John 1:14 explains to us how Christ came down to Earth and made his dwelling, his home, here with us. He felt what we feel. He was tempted with what tempts us. He went through what we go through so that we can always know that He knows us. Pretty cool.

God wants to connect with us, through Jesus Christ. Simply asking Christ to come into our lives and make us a new person will allow us to get to know God. His Spirit will invade our lives, and reveal God to us every day, if we allow Him to.

If God came as the Terminator

I guess some people have a misconception about God being the Terminator!