Be Sure to Set Your Time Zone!
Merry Christmas online churchers! As one of the features to our new site, be sure to set which time zone you are viewing from... No matter where you're at on the globe, you can have your local time reflected. How cool is that? Currently the default is set to CST and eventually will be switched to EST. Would love to hear your feedback on the new functionality and features. Enjoy the services today!
Christmas Eve Online Style!
For those who missed it, we are going to be showing "Once Upon a Midnight Clear" online Christmas Eve at 2:00 and 6:00 EST! This is a one-hour unique story but a familiar story all the same... For the thousands that saw it live, this is a great opportunity to share it with your friends!
As a second act, join us at 11:00 EST for our Christmas Eve service online. Bring in the holiday together from all over the globe!
Merry Christmas to you all!
“American Idol (or any other)”
"When you settle for a love that's less than God's love, it's going to wreck your life."- Dr. Bob What???
OK, I admit it. I've been around church for a long time, I'm used to the cliches', and if asked I would say that I have Jesus #1 in my life. However, this hit me between the eyes...
So what are these lesser loves? The Bible uses the term "idols", a simple definition used: Something about which we would say, "If I only had that, life would be worth living..." Well I don't know about you, but I hear that phrase all around me and in my own head on a regular basis...
These idols are sneaky. They creep up on you, they ease their way into our lives and feel well- intentioned, normal, as if we're doing what everyone else around us is doing... Well, it is what virtually everyone else around us is doing- settling for lesser loves... and the human heart just keeps cranking out new idols.
Sound judgemental? Well, I'm as guilty of it as anyone... What does it look like in my life? Dr. Bob asked a second question: When you give your creative juices to your idol, are you only diminishing the ability to seek God in our lives?
- In my life, I drift to giving all my creative juices to my job, to email, to making a profit for a business, to getting the next thing done... Is this bad? When it becomes my first love it can wreck my life... Fast forward that out... 40 hour work weeks moving to 50, 55, 60 hour work weeks... Rewards that can make life about money that will only lead to thinking I need more money... Hard work is a good thing if in it's right place...
- Other idols in people's lives? Relationships, your husband, your wife, your hobby, an addiction, the Chicago Cubs, working out, a TV show(s), our kids, working for a raise..... Many of these are good things but can wreck your life if out of order....
- "Trying to be good so we can get God's love in of itself is an idol....it's the opposite of Christianity... Christianity is about Grace..." - Dr. Bob
- We get less and less satisfaction from our idols and need more and more of them to try to be satisfied
- Those who make idols become like the idols... we can have ears but do not hear... our friends are trying to tell us about a blind spot we have in our lives but we don't listen
- No woman and no man is up to handle the standard of an idol
Our idols become like an old comfortable chair...the easy chair... it's in our nature. Instead, we have an option of choosing the "tough choice chair"- the one that puts idols in the proper place, the one that gives people second chances and seldom feels comfortable. Jesus is the only Source of love worth living for...
What is God's Response to Idols? "When lesser gods attract, God withdraws, honoring our fatal flaw to ignore Him."
This is the choice of our Faith. We have an option to choose what's normal and in our nature or the option to seek Christ and put Him number one in our lives. Easy vs. Hard. Do as I please or do what God is asking of me.
Which will we choose? What has first place in your life?
See Dr. Bob's message here.
To go deeper:
- Counterfeit Gods- by Tim Keller Recommended book
Got an Empty Room at Your House?
online ministry to the next level! All that's left is to find a great place for them to stay while they serve on our team.What you need to know:
- We've made sure they're not crazy
- Timeframe would be Late September to Early October for one and early November on the other
- Period would be through June 1, 2011 (although could split into two parts if needed)
- Having them at one place would be great, different locations would be good, on the street would be bad
- Essentially they would need a roof over their head, food, laundry facilities- they would have their own transportation
- Internet access needed- high speed even better - they have their own laptops
Bonus Information:
"6 Reasons Why It Would be Great to Have Interns at Your House"
- It helps keep you young, you don't want to be one of "those" old people
- It's a great experiment to do a food budget per capita experiment with your grocery budget
- Empty Nest Syndrome can be subdued by pulling a few birdies back into the fold
- One is from Canada... and who doesn't want to learn more about Canada?
- You might like them
- You'll be able to write great blog articles on "What It's Like to have an Intern" - you could call your blog "Intern-alize" or "Intern-ational Rational"
The room in your home will help play a huge part in making a difference in hundreds and possibly thousands of people online to take steps toward Christ.... got room? 
If you have any questions or have interest in this opportunity, please email me at mmeyer@gccwired.com and I'll contact you right away!
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?
Twitter With Purpose
Got Twitter? You've got 140 characters to tell your followers and the Twitter community whatever you want whenever you want. Tweeple fill this stream with links loads of mundane information about their day, pushing products, showing pics of celebrity sightings, commenting about Lebron James, and scooping the latest news about to hit People magazine.
It's also a phenominal way we can "be" the church 24/7. In 140 characters we can:
- Encourage a friend who just got bad news
- Help someone with a nugget of financial advice we've learned over the years
- Answer questions people are asking about scores of subjects
- Connect people to others that may be able to help them
- Share a blog post relevant to someone's life
- Meet someone new and care and comment about their posts
- Repost a favorite one liner from a speaker you found to be helpful
- Post an open job position for the scores of people out of work
- Help spread the word of a local charity having a cool event
- Engage and comment with scores of people to simply let them know you're listening
- Give and help spread the word to a crisis like the Haiti earthquake disasters
- Let someone know they're funny
And... any other creative way you can think of to encourage people without being preachy and shoving unsolicited advice on people... We all have a purpose and sometimes it's only 140 characters away! This too is online church...
Here was a simple blog post I found to be cool by Elaine discovering a purpose in her daily life.
I'd love to hear your tweets, you can find me here on Twitter.
Things to do
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