Hope Fellowship Community Church

Reading is very dangerous for me. The last few books I have read have really challenged me in how I view life and our culture.
My family recently drove 1200 miles to Indiana and then back to Florida. Crazy, right?! One of the things I did to stay awake was to listen to the book, Crazy Love, by Francis Chan. Another was to have Bev read to me. We started reading The Hole In Our Gospel and you want to talk about eye opening.

I am discovering just how unimportant "things" are in my life and how really important people should be. Bev and I have really been challenged in the way we think, the way we talk, the way we act, and the way we spend our money. We have committed to making some major changes in our lives to be able to do what it is that we feel Jesus is calling us to do.

What did Jesus say about how we should live our lives? Love God, Love people, right? He constantly modeled his love for people by doing, helping, and getting involved in peoples' lives. He was all about the business of God. He was so consumed that he couldn't help but follow through with God's purposes.

What consumes you? TV, Facebook, Work, Alcohol, Sex, Money, Knowledge, Being Good, living a good life?

We need to be consumed by nothing but God. It is a daily thing. Saying everyday, every minute, God I am yours…and then allowing him to lead us. Always looking for someway to show his love, to help someone, to share what he has given to us with someone else.

Here is a story about a man named Jimmy who was sponsored as a child. Jimmy starts sharing at 3:45.
http://vimeo.com/7072300

How many lives can you change? How many lives could you save? How much are they worth to you? How much are they worth to God? I read recently that people wonder where God is in all the sickness and disease going on, but do you ever think that God wonders where we are?

We are supposed to be his hands and feet in spreading his love and his truth.

Our church is doing something called Advent Conspiracy again this year. Putting Christ back into Christmas and really going against the mindset of consumerism and the "iNeed" mentality. Find out more about it at www.adventconspiracy.org.

Seeking God is not only about knowledge. It is not only about what we believe. It’s what we do with it once we know it. It is about the saving love of Jesus Christ.

What are you doing with what you have heard once you hear it? Once you believe it?

Wow! It has been a while since I have written something. I've been busy reading and thinking...a dangerous combination. I have been reading Good to Great by Jim Collins and The Simple Church by Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger.

Here are some of my latest thoughts...

So over the last few decades, the Christian churches have embraced something called "Seeker-Sensitive" or "Seeker-Focused" services. While I believe that we should be taking the Good News of Jesus Christ to people who do not know him(Seekers), I am not so sure that our churches should be full of people who don't know Christ. Put down the stones, I am going to try to explain myself here.

Some people will say that to have a seeker service, we need to have good music and a relevant message. Good music and a relevant message does not make something "seeker-friendly."  Music should be done well and the message should be applicable regardless of our style of service.

I think that the Church is here to disciple or teach people how to go deeper with Christ and then send them out into the world to lead other people to Jesus. I believe the Seeker Movement has made Christians lazy and indifferent about taking the Message of Jesus into the world and doing ministry. We rely on the Church to talk about Jesus. We rely on the Church to do the ministry. We need to quit expecting the Church to start a ministry before we can do the ministry. The Church should spend a lot of time training and empowering so that the people can do the work away from the church building. The Church cannot manage or fund every evangelistic program that people want to start. The Church needs to be the Church outside of the church.

Throughout the New Testament, we can see that disciples were sent out to make more disciples. Jesus in his Great Commission in Matthew 28 says that we are to make disciples by going, baptizing, and teaching.

Acts 2:42(NIV)
They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

These people were devoted to a process of making disciples and they did not sway from it. 

I am not trying to encourage an exclusive, members only social club that turns away anyone that doesn't think, act, or talk like me. I think it is alright to have people in church that don't have a relationship with Christ. I also think the Church should be doing something to help people who need help. I just think that we need to remember to train and equip the people we have to carry the Message OUTSIDE of the church walls.

Instead of being seeker-focused, we should try and be more intentional about being God-focused.