Montrose Or Bust!!

Some of you may know, but last week Rachel, Kip, and I flew out to east Colorado for a church planting "boot camp" and it was great! Cross stayed with Rachel's parents so we missed him a lot. After the training was over on Wednesday, Rachel and Kip flew back to Memphis and I traveled west to Montrose with a friend of mine for a few days. The drive was five hours of sheer beauty!!

Just being in Montrose for a few days was great. I had the opportunity to meet some people face to face I'd corresponded with by email and I also got to meet some others for the very first time. If you're wondering, the people of Montrose are really friendly and really down to earth. The main question I kept getting was, "Where are you from?" Obviously they think I have an accent! Sometimes you just don't blend as easy as you'd like. Ha!

One of the highlights was the Blue Mesa Reservoir. Everything was pretty much frozen and we were told that you could drive a car on top of the lake. Needless to say, we didn't try that! Here's a pic of the area we saw there at the reservoir. Yeah, I know . . . it's a tough life but somebody's got to see this!

Bottom line . . . we're excited about going to Montrose! We're excited about meeting people there and starting CHURCH180! We're excited to see how God wants to use us!

If you'd like to be a strategic prayer partner, please email me at bryan@fbcsaltillo.org and I'll forward you a daily prayer list to be praying for us. We need a lot of prayer support as we make this step of faith.

Stay tuned for the launch of the CHURCH180 website. We're working on some final things and hope to have it up in the next couple of weeks. You'll be able to read a bit more about the church, the vision and values we'll embrace, and how to get involved. Yippeeee!!

Into The "Unknown"

As many of you may know by now, our family is about to go into the “unknown.” In late 2008, God began to work in my heart and gradually direct me into something completely different in my life. After sharing this with Rachel, we began to pray and through prayer, we knew that God was calling me to be a pastor . . .  but also was calling me into missions. This didn’t make much sense but we continued to pray.

After going through the initial steps of application and interview with the IMB, it seemed that God was closing the door for us to serve as international missionaries. About the same time, we were contacted by Brad Cowger of the Uncompahgre (bet you can’t say that 5 times fast!!!) Baptist Association of Colorado concerning planting a church in Montrose, CO.

Initially we were like, “What??? Plant a church?? Us?? No way!” But God continued to work and put a calling on our lives to do this. Through several weeks and months of research, we learned that Colorado is an extremely “un-churched” state. Some have estimated that close to 80-90% of the population is not involved in an evangelical church in any way.

To be clear . . . “church” doesn’t save anyone. But Jesus does and the Church is His bride here on earth. We believe that if someone loves Jesus, they will love His wife. In human experience, the Christian Church has been a community in which people have come to know the real Jesus and by knowing Him, they have come to find genuine peace, forgiveness, healthy relationships, purpose, and most significantly eternal life.

This is our calling: to BE the church in Montrose, CO. We’re personally trying to take Jesus’ words in Luke 9:23-25 seriously:

Then he (Jesus) said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.  For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?

We look forward to starting a brand new church called CHURCH180 representing the life-giving “180” that Jesus can bring to anyone’s life. We plan to move to Montrose, CO in late May/early June this year.

In closing, we have three basic needs as we go into this. If you’re interested in helping meet the needs of this new calling and church, here they are:

1.     Strategic prayer. Without a doubt, this is the most important of all needs we have. We believe in the necessity of prayer and a total dependence on God. If you'd like a daily prayer list, we can email one to you.

2.     Funding for living expenses, church start up costs, ongoing monthly ministry expenses, etc. Checks can be made out to "CHURCH180" and sent to:

              Uncompahgre Baptist Association

                ATTN: CHURCH180

                6 Hillcrest Plaza Way

                Montrose, CO 81401

3.     Mission Teams to come and help us serve and reach out to the community of Montrose.

You can email me at bryan@fbcsaltillo.org if you have an interest or questions (new CHURCH180 website and @church180.net email address coming soon).

More to come in the days ahead. Pray for us! We need it!!

Generosity On Another Level

Like many of you, I’ve developed some life-long friendships that mean the world to me. One of those is my friend Todd Lollis. Todd and I were roommates in college and seminary. We played jokes on each other and laughed and cried together. I even came close to getting him arrested one night but that’s another story. He’s just that kind of friend. Currently he’s serving as the Executive Pastor at Freedom Church in Acworth, GA (www.freedomchurch.tv)

Freedom Church had their first service on January 27, 2008 and since then, they’ve seen hundreds of people give their lives to Jesus. Not a few . . . HUNDREDS!!! They’ve had baptisms in the HUNDREDS also. Currently, they’re averaging around 600 people on Sunday mornings and they don’t even have a “church building.” They meet in a school and do things very different than the way you and I probably grew accustomed to.

But success in the church isn’t just about seeing people saved and baptized. That may be the most important thing, but it’s not supposed to be the end of the story. That’s where the hard work of discipleship begins. One of their core beliefs is to “Put God to the test” because they believe that they can’t “outgive” God.

Just this last week, their church decided to put God to the test. Instead of taking up an offering during their worship service, Freedom Church gave away $10,000 to their church members. They divided up the money in several portions, placed different amounts in envelopes, and asked the church members to be generous by giving their new money away to bless someone else. Some got an envelop with $1,000 and some got envelopes with $10.

To get the full effect on this level of generosity, check out these links below. The first is a news story that an Atlanta TV station did on them. The second link is the actual giving stories that people posted up on their website. This is a church doing generosity crazy good!! Praise God! May we all be generous people and generous churches!

http://www.wsbtv.com/video/26783875/index.html

http://freedomchurch.tv/blessback/

Need Some Money??

Jack Whittaker won a $314 million jackpot. Since then, Whittaker has been involved in numerous gloomy incidents that included a couple of deaths, physical altercations, and court appearances. He was even knocked out by a local who stole half a million in cash from him.  He’s been sued a number of times and his last venture into court found him pleading poverty. 

This reminds us that money won’t really solve the problems of our lives. We can sing with the old 80’s group Calloway the lyrics, “I want money . . . lots and lots of money. I want the pie in the sky. I wanna be rich!” but in many cases it just brings heartache.

Here are common thoughts today about money:

1.      If I had another $1000 every month, everything would be fine.

2.      If we just had some money in the bank, things would be better with my spouse.

3.      Having more money would make me happier.

4.     If I had a nicer house (or car or clothing), I would really feel better.

After being involved in Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University for the last eight years, the biggest financial help for people is doing a monthly budget. Here’s a link to his website that calculates exactly how much you should be spending on each budget category depending on what you indicate your monthly income is. This is a GREAT TOOL!!! You won’t get spam mail for doing this either! Try it out and apply it!!

http://www.daveramsey.com/tools/budget-lite/

Do a new budget for every month. No two months have the same exact expenses. You’ll find that if you get a hold on this, money will begin to slowly appear because you won’t be blowing everything you make!

As Nike tells us . . . . “JUST DO IT!!!”

Fools

In light of all the recent violence in Egypt, a killing spree in Arizona, a shooting in a school riots in other countries, it’s obvious that people can be very dangerous when they get mad. I don’t know about you, but I don’t even want to be within 50 miles of crazy people like that!!

But Jesus didn’t choose safety. He was a "man's man" who willingly chose to come to the earth. He was ridiculed, rejected, spit on, beaten, humiliated, and crucified. But because of His love for you and me, He gave up His life so we could have a right relationship with God. “Safety” wasn’t in Jesus’ vocabulary.

The Bible also depicts two other men named Paul and Barnabas who chose obedience over safety. Many would consider them "FOOLISH." The Holy Spirit had set them apart for missionary service and off they went (Acts 13:1-3). By this time, the new Christians had already been persecuted, killed, beheaded, and everything else you can think of. Sharing the Gospel wasn’t “safe” but they went anyway.

In Cyprus, they were confronted by a sorcerer. In Pamphylia they were deserted by a close friend. In Antioch of Pisidia they preached the Gospel only to be slandered and ran out of town by an angry mob.

In Iconium they were attacked and stoned. In Lystra they were stoned again, dragged out of the town, and left for dead. Then they left for Derbe where they preached the Good News again. And just think . . . this was only the first of three missionary journeys they took (Acts 13-14).

Something about American Christianity is just too mysteriously “safe.” We avoid danger at all costs. We say things like, “We would go to that country to share the Gospel but things aren’t safe there now.” Just yesterday I talked with a man who told me, “You know, I can’t really talk about God when I’m on the job because I could get fired.”  We often tell ourselves, “I might offend them if I tell them about Jesus.”

But really? Is it just too easy to be a Christian here in “Jesus-Land”?? I just can’t believe that God has called us to safety. Regardless of our job or calling in life, God has called believers to share the Gospel (Rom. 1:16). Paul said, “Our dedication to Christ makes us look like fools . . .” (1 Cor. 4:10). Let’s be “FOOLS” for Jesus. Let’s share the Good News of Jesus no matter what the danger. True safety is found only in the center of God’s will.

Doo-Doo Prayers

            I’m guessing that you’re already thinking, “What is this dude writing about now?” I want to share about something that perhaps we just don’t understand (self included). Probably more times than not, we just “don’t get it.”

            Less than 2 minutes ago, I finished helping my oldest son Cross (he’s 23 months old) get to bed. Before we put him in bed, we always read a short Bible story from his baby Bible and then we say our prayers. Just about every time, Rachel or I are the ones saying the prayers.

            But not tonight. I asked Cross if he was ready to “say prayers” and he said “uh huh.” And with a voice that makes me melt, he began to pray. You know what he said? Here it is. It’s really profound but really great:

            “Doo – doo Jeez. Amayn.”

Now if anyone else had heard that, they’d have no idea what he said but being the parent, I knew exactly what he said. The translation is this:

“Thank You Jesus. Amen.”

            Now before I start to portray my son as the next Billy Graham, I must say that he has already shown his sinful nature on many occasions but he is learning what it means to know God. Even tonight, he reminded me of the simplicity of prayer and gratitude. Adults want to make it complicated but it’s not. Sometimes Jesus just wants a simple yet grateful “Thank You Jesus. Amen” instead of a “Dear heavenly Father, we thank You so much for all of the blessings You have so richly bestowed upon us. . . .”

           Psalm 100:4 tells us how to approach God. We’re to “enter His gates with thanksgiving.” Thanksgiving is the key that unlocks the door of fellowship with God. It’s the way into His presence but it doesn’t have to be elaborate.

            When you’re able to have food on the table, you can pray a “doo-doo” prayer.  When you remember that you have friends, it’s time to say “doo-doo.” When you remember that God loves you, it’s time to say “doo-doo.” And so it goes on and on.

            Remember your “doo-doos” and remember that God loves “doo-doos.”

Your Thoughts About The "Real" Church

Ok – So I asked for it and I got it. Below are all the comments I received from many of you about what the New Testament Church should look like. There are some really good insights below. Have fun!!

At its best they were devoted to God, to others (meeting the needs within the body) and sending out many to distant lands to share the Good News of Christ. The message then is the same today that brings lost people into the kingdom.  Christ crucified, buried and risen!!! So the essentials of worship and doing Church are vertical and horizontal. "Loving God Loving Each Other". Sunday or any day, would be set aside as a day to join other believers to hear the teaching and preaching of The Word, and praising Him in song (although I don't recall them singing, I know they must have sung some of the Psalms). Then family time ...... seeking and meeting the needs of those within the body.

-       Brenda

Things would be totally different! Like in Acts 3, the first miracle wasn't that a lot of people heard the gospel, it wasn't that a lame man was healed: the first miracle is in verse 1: Peter and John went together to pray publicly. They were polar opposites but they loved Christ and so put aside their differences for sweet fellowship. Churches don't do that now- cults, sororities, country clubs, hypocrites, and false doctrines are about as much light of the world the lost see, and real churches aren't getting the message through to them. If we all don't love each other and encourage one another, and see God more than once a week, why would any unsaved person ever want to come to our churches?

-       Bill

There are various estimates of the Christian church. Some think everything of her; some think nothing of her; and probably neither opinion is worth the breath which utters it. Neither Ritualists, who idolize their church, nor skeptics, who vilify all churches, have any such knowledge of the true spiritual church of Jesus Christ as to be entitled to give an opinion . . . . The church, again, consists of a praying people. Now prayer is that which links weakness with infinite strength. A people who can pray can never be overcome, because their reserve forces can never be exhausted.

-       Charles Spurgeon quote sent by Sue

It would be simple
It would be run out of Homes/predominantly
It would be reproducing
It would see itself as a part of Christians everywhere
It would have multiple elders
It would be built on the basics
It would be easily reproducible

-       Brad

You really give us a challenge for 2011.  Ron's Bible Fellowship class yesterday was the part of the blog that is below.  We listed 5-6 items.  They are on the board in room 221.  I can remember 3---The absence of the Holy Spirit, true Bible Study with no frills. Suggestion---do Bible Study in our homes with our neighbors.  We realize that some might not come.  Ron used the Book of Acts to talk about what a church should be.  After the preaching and bringing people to Christ, there was a time of Praise.  I had never thought about it before but scanning through the book the word praise is seen time after time. 

-       Betty 

To me the biggest thing to see in Acts is not how the church was or operated but what a Church can be when it's people are actually being salt and light at every level, being clean earthen vessels.  This is when Christians are being Christian, sold out to God, Living by Faith, hands on the plow, experiencing the miracles of forgiveness and grace that is in Jesus Christ- not ashamed of Him, His work and His WORD, with leadership, discipleship and structures all based on truth lived by humble, and obedient people... made new, with new hearts, living in the Joy of following the LORD. What made the ACTS church a model to follow?  I submit it that it was the repentant believing hearts, of its people.

-       Brian

I would like to think it would be being the "Church" weekly to our neighbors, family, co-workers, and friends.  There would be a lot of prayer, Bible study, and fellowship.  Being the "Church" as we go.  Not as we try to squeeze it in our busy schedules.   That would be our sole priority in our jobs, at school, on the road, in our homes, etc.  He should be such an important part of our lives that it pours out to everyone around us.  Then, when we gather for corporate worship we would worship collectively as one body, yes even with our youth, preschoolers, and children for an entire day being in awe before a King who gave it all.  No time limits, no busy activities, no entertainment, and no ME involved at all.  We would just be a group of sinners that are coming to worship with other sinners to praise our God for allowing us just one more day to be at His feet.  Get it...Not about ME...It's all about Him.

-       Julie  

No one wants to fully renew their mind. That's what it would take. If that was done.....if we all could completely renew our mind of what worshiping God collectively as a body of believers (church gathering), if I could view church as a clean slate and go by what you said - what would it be like for me?

• I wouldn't feel the often pressure to come up with a "snappy-great opening song" this Sunday!  (As I'm sitting in my shop now about to plan this Sunday's service!).
• The "geographical location of the epicenter of repentance" would be reformed.  We have trained church members that you can only really be close to God this morning if you come to the altar.  The altar is in our hearts, not carpeted steps.  Public confession IS GOOD ---There is too much emphasis on the location and not the act of repentance.
• the congregation would be treated (and would even ACT) as if they were actually "on the field" with the teaching pastor - not treated like they were "in the stands"....observing.  the mentality is MERCENARY MINISTRY from the congregation - "We listen to you Pastor, we pay your salary and send YOU out to do the job we should be doing".
• WE WOULD MEET DAILY!  Wow.....talk about a world-changing thought!  Acts 2:46.
• WE WOULD WANT TO MEET DAILY together!
• There would be no need for Health Insurance, Life Insurance, Car Insurance, AFLAC-duck Insurance.....if there was a need, the body would cover it.  A death, the body would help out.  A tragedy?  The church body would step in and step up financially....car keys would be laid at the feet of others - "what's mine is yours"....

Daron

I read that Paul wrote 1 Corinthians to help unite two separate churches in Corinth and unity is one lesson that we have not learned.  Most of us live divided lives.  We have our church life and church friends in one hand our work life and work friends in the other and our family lives are being juggled somewhere in between.  We have also divided as a body of Christ.  I wouldn’t attempt to list all of the different denominations of church that exist today. Instead of agreeing to disagree and parting ways we all should struggle to understand the unchanging Truth of the gospel and worship God united.  God needs to be the force that ties every aspect of our lives together and we should feel united and connected with all Christian despite what church they go to.  

-       Clay

I know we need to rethink how we do a lot of things within the church, but we are often so busy maintaining the present structures that we don't.

-       Daniel