Intervention: Spiritually Empty
- "I want to line my life up with Truth"
- Don't wish a day away... all we have is today and to make the most of it
- "What would the church look like if your vision for the church came true?"
- The day of casual Christianity is behind- we're going to do whatever God calls us to do
- Jesus Christ will move our lives farther and faster than you'll ever imagine... like being pulled by a Maserati
- The day you gave your life to Christ you signed on for full-time ministry no matter where you are.... in your businesses, your neighborhood, your school....
- "When you start focusing on the things that important in life, the things that aren't important start disappearing...." - Bruno DeJesus
No matter what you've done, no matter where you've been, you matter to God. You have been designed to live a life of purpose.
Intervention: The Intellectually Disconnected
Are you frustrated with the discourse that's out there on faith these days? Does it seem like the church has settled for sound bites rather than have an engaging, intelligent conversation?- Ever have a thought pop in your head that you never asked for?
- "I'm not sure I even believe in God"- has that thought ever been on your mind?
- Following Jesus will stretch your brain as much as it will stretch your heart
- "As I got older, the more I started reading the Bible deeper and started creating more questions.."
- Has it ever freaked you out that there are people that are happy that don't know Jesus?
- We have to find some way to engage our brains to find a life of meaning and where Jesus is leading us in our purpose
- "It's been said that you have to check your brains at the door to be a Christian, actually, it's quite the opposite- we all should be engaged in digger deeper into Truth & questions..." - Chad Meister- Bethel College
- There's some kind of "truths" that keep the universe to be together and maintained.... Like 1+1= 2
- Jesus has been described as this, "logos"- core truths that hold all things together
- We can easily forget the ridiculous intelligence and Master of all things that Jesus really is...
- Greatest commandment, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and strength" - you've seen the obnoxious Christians that beat people over the head with the Bible
- We should engage in conversations with love, understanding, and insight- not battles
- Are we becoming smart in our study or fat on TV? (in areas of faith)
- When's the last time people have said of Christians, "They are a wise, understanding people..."
- Action items: #1 Ask questions, don't be quick to shove answers down people's throats
- #2 Work hard to understand where people are coming from
- Beginning of human civilization to 2003... as much information has been created from 2003 to present- lots for us to understand
- #3 Live a life of prayer - Makes sense to tap into the greatest Intelligence
Want to reach 1.5 billion people?
For the past several months, we've stepped out into a new frontier of Online Church by offering our three services on Sunday but equally important asking the question, "how do we best serve people all over the group with an Online Church strategy that can add value to people all week long?" It's bigger than Sunday's and has a potential audience of any of the 1.5 billion people connected to the internet.
So what's the opportunity? Here are some of the many roles people can play and are currently playing on the Online Church team:
- Engage in services. Engage with people during the services, help answer questions, pray, and help people take their next step via the chat room.
- Make it viral. Are you engaged in Twitter/Facebook and online already? Spread the word by getting links about the services, opportunities, videos, and more online. This is simply being part of getting the exposure and word out. We can share links and information with you weekly to simply get out to the networks you already have!
- Web skills. Got web skills? Programming, WordPress, blogging, layout, design? If we dream it, we could do it.
- Video gurus. Or simply, you'd like to assist in making YouTube style videos, video editing, man on the street, and be part of creating web videos to get out the masses...
- Entrepreneurs. That's right, with new frontiers come opportunities to do the unique, reach a new audience, and more... Online groups? Web sites created to integrate real community change? International launches of online church? We all need a vision bigger than ourselves!
- Want more information? Have questions? Please contact me (Mark Meyer) at mmeyer@gccwired.com, Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/maximeyer, or Twitter http://twitter.com/markmeyer.
We have an incredible opportunity to love and reach people in ways that weren't possible just a few years ago, what do you say? Let's get it done!
Think Global.
I often live my life with my head conveniently buried in the sand. My reality is what's right in front of me and if I don't look past that, I turn a blind eye to the problems in the world. What's also true is that I am also turning a blind eye to the potential opportunity and purpose God is placing right before my eyes.
Rob Wegner has led the charge at Granger in expanding our vision of a global reach as a church. While we can't "save the world" we can focus on a particular place to bring "up there down here" and thanks to technology, we can actually bring "over there (India)" right here (Indiana, USA or any other part of the world).
To get a taste of this in case you missed it, watch it with others here at 12:00, 6:30, or 8:30 EST today (August 8th) or catch it on demand later this week here. A few notes:
- Every generation has the opportunity to make a historic "intervention"
- "Extreme Poverty" : 1.4 billion people live on less than $1.25 per day
- We are in a generation where we can eliminate extreme poverty- we have the means and technology to get it done
- Granger has been investing in this area of India for several years now, training leaders, drilling wells, building homes and churches
- "No longer do we think of ourselves as the people of darkness, but now view ourselves as the people of the Light"- quote from a changed life in India
- Dec 26, 2004 the deadly tsunami hit- at that point we had been there for about 3 years... we were contacted by multiple organizations to help- same force as 23,000 Hiroshima equivilent bombs
- Imagine a tsunami that when it recedes, poverty is wiped out, people have hope in Christ, and all disease is wiped out- this is the new Heaven and new Earth we get to look forward to...
- It starts with small interventions- it starts with a cup of water, a small gift, a helping hand
If you had the means to feed 10 people in your country or 50 in another, which would you choose? If the same investment of funds could grow your local church 20% or grow a movement overseas 200%, which would you choose? In God's economy, it's yes and yes. In looking at our individual purposes here on earth, we need to think global purpose with a global church carrying out God's global plan. Think Global. The world has gotten much smaller.
What’s Your Fight?? (on Robin Hood :: Soulflix Series)
This past week Rob Wegner had a fantastic message from our Soulflix: Finding God at the Movies series. A few highlights to take with you*:
(*really more of what I took away with me. Your results can vary).
Robin Hood tells a classic tale that has been shared, retold, and romanticized in the movies and literature for 700 years. In short, it boils down to an epic GOOD vs. EVIL battle. Everyone loves the good guys winning, of course. This is a big reason for the staying power of the tale of Robin Hood.
In most places in the Bible, you can just about open your Bible and finger point to some sort of a store that is telling the same kind of tale. Arguably the biggest story of Good triumphing over evil (lower case... evil does not deserve a capital E...) is found in 1 Samuel 17, with the story of David triumphing over Goliath.
In that battle, "David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him".
So.. what battle line are YOU running towards?
Picking and choosing ones battles in life is never easy. Often we lose sights of the real injustices in this world, and take up fighting battles that don't have the same level of importance in a bigger context: arguing with the spouse on what to make for dinner, when others in our cities may be eating once a week. Honking at the jerk who cuts you off in traffic, and exchanging words as you drive down the street, just to ignore the woman who ran out of gas and is stranded needing a push out of the way, or a use of your cell phone to call for help.
Admittedly, its far easier to get caught up fighting smaller battles than taking up the bigger fight causes.
As Rob said, "until you understand that war is the context of our times, you will misunderstand life". Ouch.
As a result, the two most important days of your life are the day you are born, and the day that you finally understand why.
So I ask you, what is our purpose? What is worth fighting for? Homeless vets? Hungry Children? Disease?
On a smaller and personal scale, is it the friend who is self destructing while you ignore their calls? The hurting marriage of your best friends who need to know that someone still loves both of them because they dont feel love for each other anymore? The child you see coming in that you suspect something isn't right at home, but they don't have their own voice?
We need to identify our own Giants. We need to know what our Sling is.
How can we position our jobs, our life seasons and experiences, our skills into using them as something to fight these Giants? How can we use OUR good to fight the evil that is around us?
Let us have vision to see, the strength to fight, and the wisdom to recognize the fights around us that we are called upon to battle.
So.... what's your fight?
Things to do
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