beaten

Got a call yesterday from a guy who felt he needed to call a few people that he thinks were instrumental in his life. I felt very honored that he called me. He felt that I and a couple other guys were the reason he started going to church again. It felt good to get that call, but, what really got me was the the story he told me about a guy he works with.

He's been building a friendship with this guy at work who isn't a follower of Jesus, but, his wife is. It's not that he doesn't believe in God, it's that he doesn't know if he believes Jesus is the son of God. "Maybe he's a prophet or something like that", which is a common belief in this day and age. Anyway this couple had been going to one of the large churches in town and one of the pastors was moving into a new home and needed help. So, this guy, probably at the prompting of his wife, helped with the move. The house they were moving into was so elaborate that it totally turned this guy off. I guess he just didn't get why a pastor needed to live in a million dollar house. It made him feel like the pastor was only about money. So, he stopped going with his wife to the church.

Well after working with my friend for a while, he thought maybe he had judged a little to quick and decided to join his wife one Sunday and returned to the church. When he got there the pastor he helped move came over and started hammering him about not attending church anymore and about living the way he was. At one point, he said to the pastor, "You know, I work with this guy who is a Christian and he's never critical about what's going on in my life." The pastor replied, "that's because he's not walking right."

Here this guys wife is probably praying all the time that he'll become a believer and God sends a guy to work with him to show him what a follower of Jesus looks like and probably between the two of them and God, his curiosity about Jesus is peaked again. So, he goes to church to try and figure it all out and a pastor beats him and his friend over the head with "the cold hard truth". Like Vince Antonucci was saying in his blog I reposted here a couple days ago, "Christians offended will just go to another church, but non-christians that are offended will just never attend church again." I hope this guy gets over his church experience and finds a place where he can explore the life of Jesus without condemnation.

When we move to Miami, to start a church for people that don't like church, we're going to speak the truth in love, but, most of all, we're going to love, because that's what Jesus does.

Vince Antonucci: Living In The Tension: Christians vs. Non-Christi...

Vince Antonucci: Living In The Tension: Christians vs. Non-Christi...: "When you do church for people who don't like church, joining Jesus on His mission of helping people who are far from God get close to Him, ..."

sighting

Well, it was inevitable, our man on the street, Neo, was captured on this hidden surveillance camera at a bus stop in Miami. Apparently trying to work the soda machine to no avail, giving the authorities a full view of his slightly pasty northern face. 

Be careful out there Mr. Anderson.

un-like

In the cyber-age, apparently there is a new clinical teen ailment, it's called "Facebook Depression", It's caused by seeing all your social media friends posting pictures of places they are going, parties they are having and awesome boyfriend/girlfriend relationships, all while you're sitting at home, in your pj's at 3:30pm finishing off a bag of old corn chips. Now if you happen to find yourself with this new ailment, you can go to a psychiatrist and be diagnosed and receive some happy pills that will numb you out of your state of depression and you can continue life as "normal" not feeling the effects of being bored and lonely.

In the alternative, I'd like to offer a different solution. It's a lot cheaper and you don't have to listen to elevator music in the shrinks waiting room. I know I risk sounding like the dad of 7 kids, but, here goes- "Get off your butt, go outside and make new friends, REAL friends...GO PLAY!" The best thing we can do to curb boredom and depression is get active. Now of course many of you are vigorously agreeing with my remedy, but, think about it for a minute. What about you? Are you constantly searching out new stories and information about people that are going places, doing things and living life? All while you do the "9 to 5, shopping, cooking and cleaning - rinse and repeat thing"?

John Wimber (the guy that started the Vineyard movement) is quoted often, after getting to a point early in his Christian walk he asked, "when do we get to do the stuff?" His pastor asked "what stuff?" to which he replied "the stuff Jesus did". It's a question I think most of us when we kind of realize that nobody's doing the stuff. Here we are, follower's of a man who's life affected the world so much it split time in two b.c./a.d. Who healed the sick, raised the dead and set the captives free and we settle into life as "normal" and become somewhat content to sit on the sidelines and read great stories about people that are doing the stuff.

Vince Antonucci wrote a book that has fast become one of may top ten all time favorite books. It's called "I became a Christian and all I got was this lousy T-shirt". It addresses the problem of Christians not living the Christian life to the fullest. He says it's like your family planning the most awesome vacation ever and it gets down to the time to leave and you get left behind. When they get back, all they bring you is a t-shirt. You missed out, but, you get the shirt.

Anyway.....if you have not read the book "I became a Christian and all I got was this lousy T-shirt" you should. I highly recommend it and it's required reading for anyone wanting to join the Operation: "Miami" team.

not yet

Remember that old Heins ketchup commercial? You know that one where a little kid is waiting so patiently for his ketchup to ooze out of the bottle with Carly Simon singing "An-ti-cip-a-a-tion, is makin me wait" in the background. That was back before plastic packaging when everything came in a bottle. Now, if you want some ketchup, you just squeeze the bottle and instantly it squirts onto your food. It was a time when patience was still a virtue. Or, maybe people weren't as patient back then as they let on, 'cause that was the same time period that microwaves and jiffy-pop popcorn came out. Hmmmm.

You know, I think impatience actually spans all time and affects all generations. It's the desire of the "not yet" that drives people. We just want to get where we're going, and so we drive like crazy to get there. That's why there are speed limit signs and not speed minimal signs.

Maybe that's why Jesus taught his disciples to pray "..may your kingdom come and your will be done.." because God's will is not yet fully in force on this earth. His kingdom has not yet expanded to every heart. So, in anticipation of that happening, maybe we should pray for it. The Bible says "we have not, because we ask not". A lot of people have turned that into some great big prosperity message about gaining stuff on earth, but, I think it applies so much more to the things of God. So, what if we started asking God to use us more in peoples lives? What if we asked him to use us as his hands and feet?

Waiting to get to Miami is really hard for us right now. We just want to get there and start working on getting the church going. While we're waiting, please pray with us and for us that God's kingdom will come and his will be done in Miami as it is in heaven.

she was lost

You may have noticed through out my postings a peppering of the word "verve" and wondered what it was. Well, Verve is a church that was started almost a year and a half ago in Las Vegas, NV right off the strip. It's a church for people that don't like "church", a church for those who you would think would be the most uncomfortable in church, and the thing is, they are reaching the furthest people from Jesus, right in the heart of "sin city". It's also a Church that Operation: Miami is watching, emulating and learning from, because they have essentially the same mission that we have, just in a different city.

Please read this short posting on Vince Anotonucci's blog and help if you can. This is where the rubber meets the road. We can talk all day about being the body of Christ, but, if action isn't taken when needed, then we need to find a different label.

twisted

"My office is totally gone. Probably for two to three blocks, it's just leveled," he said. "The building that my office was in was not flimsy. It was 30 years old and two layers of brick. It was very sturdy and well built."

So said an unnamed survivor of the tornado that ripped a gash in Joplin, Missouri, killing at least 90 people this last Sunday, May 22nd. As we sat glued to the weather radar on tv, that was experiencing intermittent rain fade, there were no less than 2 tornado warnings and 5 watches in the mid-Missouri area at one time. When lightning struck the tv station and knocked it off line for about 10 minutes we were flipping back and forth between two other inferior channels. I sat there and reveled at how out-of-control we are. We can build and struggle and fight and labor to create our own destiny and no matter how well we build it, it can all be wiped away in an instant.

In an instant we can realize what's really important and what is secondary. Psalms 127:1 says "Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain". Many things can rip apart relationships, marriages and churches, but, if those things are established by God, nothing can tear them apart. Hardships can come and bad things happen, but, God is constant, God is love.

My heart goes out to those who suffered loss on Sunday and I pray they find all the survivors and I pray that God will comfort them and restore them.

undercover

I wont name names, but, I will say that we visited a new church yesterday. What drew me to this church was a front page news paper article that quoted one of the church planters as saying "it’s a come as you are church" and that "it’s a church for people that don’t like church." Of course I thought it strange they would describe themselves like that. So, a little anxious about what we would find, we dressed up in our finest t-shirts, shorts and flip-flops and visited, not revealing who we were or what God has us up to.

This was only the second meeting this church had held. They are holding one meeting a month until September when they will start holding weekly meetings. We arrived at the movie theater about 5 min early and as soon as we walked in the door, we were smothered by greeters. We were encouraged to pick up papers and cards from a table, offered donuts and coffee, given a gift bag with a little candy in a glass cup and more cards in it. We were about to make our way to the auditorium and a guy with a secret service ear piece stopped us and said, "were having sound problems this morning, it’ll be just a minute folks". So we found a corner to stand in as other guests were received. While in the corner, a lady saw her opportunity and came told us all about how she loved babies so, so very much. I normally would think it strange, but, was a little relieved when the guy with ear piece came back and said "alright folks, we’re ready for you" and escorted us into the auditorium. When we sat down in the theater, there was no music, no slide show, no band doing sound checks. It was oh so awkwardly quiet. Then, after a few minutes, a girl with an acoustic guitar got up and sang three songs. I only knew one of them, no words on the HUGE movie screen to sing along with. Then they passed buckets around to collect money. Then the pastor stood up and gave a sermon about God’s laws being written on our hearts and quoted Leviticus and Genesis then asked us to raise our hands if we did not have a relationship with Jesus. Then he said a blessing over us and left the auditorium. Not one personal story or a statement of who they were. No explanation of why they were planting a church here. However, we were informed they would be having a bar-b-q at the park in a couple weeks. We were on our way home in 55 minutes.

Well, what we found was not what we were expecting. However, we are encouraged that there are people that are drawn to the idea of a church for people that don’t like church. There are people that are hungry for God and have little interest in churchy, religious programs. There are a lot of churches that are ready to receive people that have been going to church for a long time. There are NOT many churches that are creating comfortable atmospheres for people far from Jesus and allowing them to belong even before they believe.

cheeeeeze

So, this is really weird, early this morning I was dreaming. I was dreaming that I was making grilled cheese sandwiches (I told you this was weird) and these sandwiches were the best grilled cheese sandwiches on the planet. I was eagerly awaiting 6:30 because apparently that is the optimal time to flip the worlds greatest weird dream grilled cheese sandwiches. The seconds were counting down, click, click click..... suddenly I woke up and I jumped out of bed and looked at my alarm clock and it was 6:29am.

I'm no interpreter of dreams, but, I'd say that had some really deep meaning, somewhere.

The good news is, I still have both my pillows, unlike the time I dreamt I ate a giant marshmallow.

Have a great day!

terminated

You may have heard that the world is scheduled to start ending tomorrow. I hope you are prepared, I also hope it doesn't interrupt the Nascar race. It would figure that my favorite driver, home town boy Carl Edwards, is leading in the points and won't be crowned champion because the world is going to end. He has really done well this year and I've enjoyed routing him on.

This might surprise you, but, we're in a race too. The apostle Paul, who wrote much of the New Testament, encourages us to run a good race and stay focused on the prize. I guess he knew there would be many distractions along the way that would steal our attention and slow us down, possibly knocking us off track altogether. The thing is, we aren't racing each other, we're racing ourselves, and it's not a quick race, but, a race of duration, more like a marathon. However, we will never know when the race will end until it's over. We have an allotment of time and only God knows how long that is, so, it's important to run a good race.

When we move to Miami to start a church for people that don't like church (presumably after the world ends) I hope to be focused on the prize and not let distractions knock us off course.

recon





Two months ago, before Wendy and I had really broke the news about moving to Miami to start a church for people that don't like church, we prayed for confirmation. One Saturday afternoon, I was on facebook and sent a "how are you" message to a friend who had left me a voice mail to give him a call, which I had not done yet. Wendy walked by and saw the message and said "wow, Joel?" I replied, yeah, wouldn't it be great to see him in Miami? She said, if there was anyone, it would be Joel that would be most likely to show up there."

I was surprised to see he responded quickly, so, I sent back another message saying were were leaving the house and to give me a call. My phone rang before I even left the house. When in the car, I asked, "so, what's going on with you?" To my absolute shock and amazement, he said, "well, I know this is weird, but, I feel like God wants me to move to Miami." "WHAT?", I replied. He said, "yeah, I feel like I'm supposed to go help with a church there and I don't even know which one, but, I feel like I'm supposed to do it. So, I'm selling everything I have to get my car fixed and then I'm moving to Miami." About 4 weeks later someone bought him a plane ticket.

So, Mr. Anderson, code name "NEO" is our agent on the street. He's in the Miami matrix, right now, gathering intel for the operation. Periodically, I'll be posting pic's he's taking.

YOUR MISSION: Pray for his safety and provision, pray for the individuals he comes in contact with.

 



Homeless guy riding the bus circuit
with all his can foods and belongings.





Our Father's House Soup Kitchen



up the hill

For the last 17 years I’ve been working the same old job, doing the same old thing. The patterns formed in my life over these years "in the wilderness" have become so ingrained they can hardly be called habits. I’ve become very comfortable in my daily routine.... so comfortable, it’s hard to even think about getting out of it.

So one of the things I’ve been doing the last couple months to intentionally break out of my rut is to ride a bike to work. Not every day, just the nice ones. About two times a week I jump on the bike and ride it almost two miles to work After the first couple of times I did it, I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO DIE!!! When I was 20, I ran two miles in 12 minutes flat, it took me 13 minutes on the bike! But, after lots of encouragement from friends and family, I’ve kept it up. I can now ride to work in about 7 - 8 minutes.

My biggest complaint about biking is they seem to make the bicycle seats much much smaller that I remember. I do, however, feel so much better than I did just a couple months ago, so, I’ve decided to get one of those fancy new biking suits...

All kidding aside, in order to dump old bad habits, it’s good to replace them with healthy new habits. Like instead of eating donuts for breakfast eat some fruit. Or instead of watching tv after dinner go for a walk.

When we move to Miami to start a church for people that don’t like church, we’re going to encourage good spiritual habits to replace old bad habits.

That’s one thing I love about Verve, which is a church for people that don’t like church, that was started in Las Vegas about a year ago. Vince Antonucci, the lead pastor at Verve, started a bible reading plan where they are going through the New Testament and Psalms and Proverbs in the course of a year. One small section a day. It's not to overwhelming and they are all doing it  together.....kinda like workout buddies or running partners.

Do you think you need some good habits in your life? If you’re not currently reading the bible daily, you should join us and check this reading plan out.

truth be told ~

I wonder who came up with the idea that God doesn't hear our prayers when we've sinned?

I’d like to get a-hold of that guy (by the neck) and wring out the reasoning behind that idea. Really now, does sin render God deaf? Is he really unable to hear because of sin? Adam and Eve sinned and God heard them just fine. In fact, he not only heard them, he went looking for them. Though sin definitely changed their lives, God still went after them, calling for them and he found them, naked and hiding in fear.

So what did he do when he found them? Did he smoke ‘em? No, he talked with them and clothed them and sent them out of the paradise he made for them and into the world. He also started in motion the plan of mankind’s redemption. That’s how much he loved them, that’s how much he loves us.

Jesus said, "who of you, having 100 sheep, after losing one wouldn’t leave the other 99 and go find that one lost sheep?" Not only do I think it’s a lie that God does not hear our prayers when we sin, I think it’s the opposite of what God wants from us. I think he is waiting eagerly for us to pray when we have sinned. I mean, how much faster would you find that lost sheep if it was calling out to you?

When we move to Miami to start a church for people that don’t like church, we are going to encourage people to pray where ever they are. If they are "close" to God or very very far from God. I think God is eagerly waiting to hear from them. I think God is eagerly waiting to hear from you too.

no perfect people allowed

One of our favorite pastors and authors, John Burke, is going to be at Vault this October. He pastors Gateway Church in Austin, Tx and wrote the book "No Perfect People Allowed". Which is a book that spoke to Wendy and I when we first started getting into leadership. It kind of emphasized the idea that we don’t need to get cleaned up to have a relationship with God, we need a relationship with God to get cleaned up. This has been one of the founding principles of any group, organization or team that we have started. Allowing those who have a curiosity about God, but are very far from him, to come in and check it out without having to hide who they are.

If you have not read "No Perfect People Allowed" then you need to, it’s a great book and is required reading to join the Operation Miami team.

I don’t know how we’re going to do it, but, I would love to be able to go to Vault again this year. With the move to Miami quickly approaching, our options are slimming. Perhaps my Dad will still be in Phoenix in October and we can drop the 5 kids off for a couple of days? Hmmm...

all in

I love playing Texas hold 'em poker. Wendy says I'm a little obsessed with it. I'm a pretty conservative player for the most part. I love to watch and learn as people show signs of bluffing or when they have a winning hand. If I have a pretty good hand, I'll lay low waiting for someone to bluff then I'll push the chips all-in.

One of my favorite accolades comes from poker, it's -

 "Go all in or don't go in at all".

With moving the family to Miami to start a church for people who don't like church, it's ALL IN!

We can't do this half way, we can't put a little in here and a little in there and hopefully something good will happen. We're putting it "all-in pre-flop". Thing is, with God it's not that big of a gamble. He's dealing the cards.

changing stripes

(I wonder if anyone will notice I'm really a dog)

Wendy and I were sitting in McDonalds last night, letting the 3 younger kids terrorize the playplace, while we were waiting for the two older ones who were at the dance studio. They had CNN on the TV and Pierce was interviewing Chaz Bono. For those of you who don't know, Chaz Bono is Sonny and Cher's daughter, who recently came out with a new book called "Transition - How I became a man". Yep, she was a woman and went through a sex change procedure and is now a man. The one thing that really stuck out to me was after spending all that time and money changing her body, she said, "this is who God made me".

Chaz Bono's mentality seems so unusual, but think about it, is it really? How often do we try to be something we are not? "In America, you can be anything you want to be." There is always a trade off though, it will cost you something.

We try to be skinny and work really hard at it, but, the truth is, if we stop working at it, we will not be skinny. We trade time and leisure for a work out schedule and a diet plan.

We try to be rich, so we work 60 to 70 hours a week to be the career person we know God wants us to be. We trade our family, our friends and our lives for financial freedom.

As followers of Jesus, we try to be perfect. When we fail at perfection (which is always) we plaster on a smile and we're always "doing good" when asked, trying to hide the imperfect lives we live. The further we hide the imperfections the harder it is to be honest about them. We trade living free for living a lie that makes us look like we are living free.

BUT-  God loves us for who we are. Nothing we do will cause him to love us any more than he loves us right now. Nothing we do will cause him to love us any less. When we try to transition into what we are not, we take control away from God. When we try to live a lie it only causes pain in our lives and the lives around us. Living honest, open and authentic with God and people gets us out of the way of what God really wants us to be.

When we move to Miami, to start a church for people that don't like church, we're going to be gracefully honest with where we are in life. Allowing others to be honest with where they are without fear of rejection or condemnation. Then with us out of the way, God can do awesome things!

compassion



Mother Teresa's gnarled feet from always
wearing the wrong size shoe after giving
all the good shoes away.

 Today we read Romans 13 in the Verve Reading Plan. Verve's commentary on today's reading is pretty good too. It got me thinking that we have a tendency to search after knowledge, which is good, but the lack of knowledge can become an excuse for inaction. So often I've heard things from Christians like "I go to church to learn about God" and "I don't really share my faith at work because I don't know enough about God to sound like I know what I'm talking about" and "I wish there were a program or a ministry that I could get involved in, if only I had some training".

So my questions are this:

How much knowledge must you have to -

        feed someone?

        serve someone?

        love someone?

knowledge is great, but, wisdom is greater (so say the proverbs) if we look past our deficiencies we can usually find someone who needs love and you don't need to be qualified or certified to love them either.

Why don't you take just a minute and ask God to give you true compassion for others, but, be careful, 'cause it might just change your life.

beach-ski bums

In my never ending quest for information on Miami, I've discoverd that Miami Beach is home to one of the largest SNOW skiing clubs in the United States.

I'm joining!

What else can I say?

what if we were firemen?

Last week in the post "flying pigs" I talked about Paul challenging the religious types to look outside their box with the words "what if" and I have to say it's really got me thinking. When I think of "the church down on the corner" the first thing I imagine is an old stoic stone building that looks more like a museum. I was in Hamburg, Germany in the late 80's and was walking along with a friend and we passed this old church. On the cornerstone it said 992, I asked my German friend, "is that the address?" He said, "No, that's the year it was built." Whoah! That Church sat there for almost 1000 years! I just couldn't believe it.

In the 90's Wendy and I had become a little anti- "organized religion" and refused to go to church because all we saw were these great big buildings with awesome new parking lots that seemed to be very self absorbed, cold and inward focused. While down the street, a little closer to the "bad side of town" people were hungry, homeless and suffering. Now, I'm not saying this was the actual case, it was just how we saw things at the time. Little did I know it, but, we would soon be given the vision that would change our lives.

In 1999 we went to El Paso, Tx to visit my sister Tami and her family. They were going to a Vineyard church and had recently left that church to start working at this "coffee house" with one of the pastors from that same Vineyard church. It was all a little confusing to me at the time, all I knew is it sounded kinda churchy. Tami had a hard time explaining to me what it was they were doing, I just couldn't grasp it. So, after a few disclaimers from Tami, we went to visit around 7pm that night. They drove us to an average grocery store strip mall and I became a little curious as we drove to the back of the building and parked. We got out and started walking down the back alley towards a group of street kids standing around smoking, I was then a little concerned as Wendy grabbed my hand and held one of the kids a little tighter. Thumping from some muffled music was coming through the walls of the grocery store as we came up to a back door in the alley.

A few glaring gang members stammered out of the path of the door as my brother-in-law, Tommy, started reaching for the handle. It was at that point, I started feeling a little strange. I couldn't speak clearly, I couldn't hear clearly, I just felt the thumping pulse of music and saw in sepia tones as if it were an old movie. What I saw will stay with me for the rest of my life. We walked in and there was a stage and there was a band playing and there were small groups of people milling around and mingling. There were couches, a pool table, a foosball table, a coffee bar all in a night club type atmosphere and there were people, strange people, normal people, worshiping people, sitting people and crying people. There were gang members being prayed for by a couple homeless guys. There were hugs and high fives and a guy talking on the stage, I don't know what he was saying, but, the words were like the searing of a hot branding iron put into a bucket of water.

Then the vision came, I saw a pit of fire and there were people in it and they were desperately trying to get out, but, were stuck and these other people were reaching down into the flames and pulling one person out at a time. I sat back and thought "now this is church".

They were planting a church. A church that was in the heart of gang land. A church that was a lot more like a fire dept. then a church.

If the church were made up of firemen, it might look a lot like this. We'd be rushing off to the fire saving those stuck in the flames.

No Way! Really?

Why Miami? Has been the question we've gotten quite a bit lately.

  

Well, about 20-22 years ago, when Wendy and I first got married, I was sleeping and had a dream. It was of an old motel with palm trees that Wendy and I were operating as a ministry to help people. I didn't understand the dream totally, but, it was very vivid and impressed me quite a bit, as I don't usually remember my dreams.

The next day we were driving along and I started explaining it to Wendy. She was in shock! I asked her what was wrong and she said, "I had that same vision a couple years ago! I know where that is! It's in Miami!" Well we reveled in that for quite a while. At the time we were living/traveling with a ministry group and the dream came up in our conversation quite a bit and we felt like we needed to act on it. However the leader of the ministry felt it was a bit of a distraction for us and told us we needed to just forget the vision at that time and that God would bring it about in his timing. So, that's what we did, we totally buried the vision.

Fast forward 20 plus years to about six months ago, I had the dream again. So we started praying about it and all signs point to Miami. The difference this time is we're a bit more equipped. For the past 3 to 4 years we have known God was going to have us start a church, we just didn't know when and we didn't know where.

Of course we've been praying for confirmation on this decision, I asked God to bring Miami up every day in other peoples conversations in our ear shot. The most dramatic was within a week, Wendy was loading groceries into the mini van at Walmart and a car stopped right behind her and a lady jumped out and ran up to her and said "I thought you were going to Florida today!" Wendy turned around and looked at her and said, "do we know each other?" The lady, a little embarrassed said, "Ooops,  I thought you were someone else" and got back into her car and left.

...... nough said

cujo

Back around 1997 we had this little Jack Russel Terrier, Georgie, who was the bane of Wendy's existence. She would not listen for anything and house breaking her took a decade. She was absolutely great around our kids though. Very protective, you would have thought she was a 180 lb. pit bull the way she acted around strangers. This came as a problem one afternoon when she nipped the heel of the neighbor boy, Kyle, who lived across the street. I guess he and Jeremy and Jason, who were all around 7 or 8 years old, were wrestling and she took offence to Kyle. After smoothing things over with his parents, we moved shortly thereafter.

Little did I know how much offence Kyle took to being bit. About 5 years later, I was coaching 8th grade football and Kyle showed up on my team. The first thing he said was, "Hi Coach! Do you still have the evil-wicked little dog?"   Georgie had left quite an impression on Kyle at an early age. When something bad happens to kids, especially by someone they like, look up to and trust, it can scar them for years.

The same can be said about young Christians. If they are offended early in their walk, especially by someone they look up to and trust, it can scar them for years and even drive them away from the church.

That's one reason we want to build an environment of love in the church we are starting in Miami. A place where non-believers and people that have walked away from the church because they might have been hurt, can come check out Jesus without a bunch of pressure. A no strings attached, come as you are kind of environment.

the "E" word

The first time I heard the term "servant evangelism" I scratched my head and thought "this guy is speaking gibberish" yet, it seemed so clear, "Love people to Jesus".

Okay, maybe that doesn't make a lot of sense, maybe i was flash-backing to old vitamin A days.The gist is to do unusual unexpected acts of service for people to show and share God's love in a practical way. There are two great books on servant evangelism. Conspiracy of Kindness by Steve Sjogren and Guerrilla Lovers by Vince Antonucci, I highly recommend them.

We have been training our kids to be servant evangelists. You can never start to early. We took them to Sturgeon, Mo to help demo the Ellingtons' house.

Here is a picture of Sam, pulling nails. He is wearing a hood for protection, because, earlier Jacob called him into the house and when he walked in the front door, Jacob dumped a pile of dirt and insulation on his head from the upstairs.

Later on, this is what Jacob looked like after Sam hit him in the head with a shovel. Accident? I think not.

We will probably start working on loving one another soon. Any ideas?

Today I'm headed back up there to do some more framing. A tub is being delivered and after it gets there we'll be setting the new bathroom/hallway wall. Also, working on the ceiling in the kitchen and building another closet in the hallway. All I can say is, it's gonna be nice when it's done!

flying pigs

Now I've read the bible several times, studied it for years, however, in reading Romans 9 today I came across a statement that I never realized existed in the bible. What is that statement? Well, it's two words..."what if".

Paul, who wrote the book of Romans and was an attorney, was presenting an argument to the Jews. They were getting all bent out of shape because the gentiles (non-Jews) were becoming believers of Jesus and this cramped their style because they were the "chosen ones" the "holy people". They believed that they had cornered the market on God and nobody else was allowed in the club. In fact, they believed God created gentiles to destroy them. That they were un-clean, whoring, drunken sinners of whom their great big angry God was going to turn into a smoking hole in the ground.

"What if" Paul is challenging them to think outside their religious box?

In Romans 9: 22-25 Paul is telling his fellow Jews that God's love for us is more powerful than his anger. To back this wild idea up, he Quoted the old testament prophet, Hosea, who said:

 "I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people; and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one" and, "In the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘children of the living God.’ "

What if .... we thought outside our religious box?

What if .... church, was built for sinners?

What if ....

i'm on fire!

HELP ME BABY JESUS! I'M ON FIRE!

I was sleeping last night, well, not really sleeping, I was semi-lucid. My mind was drifting from here to there, thinking about the struggles we face today and about this task of moving the family 1300 miles away to a strange city to start a church and to serve the poor. It all became very overwhelming. I just could not wrap my mind around how we were going to pull it all off. I always seem to see small issues as these great big giant obstacles. I laid there and prayed "God, the whole world seems to be against us here." A calm voice said "Psalms 12" after that I drifted off to sleep.
This morning I read Psalms 12 and it started off with "Help God!" and went on to say how God would protect those who were being hammered by the world. I then read Romans 8, which is part of the Verve reading plan, where Paul discusses hope. Hope is for what we don't see yet, but, we know is coming.



I'm amazed how God helps us put in perspective how small, maybe even imaginary, the obstacles in our lives are, compared to his plan. Needless to say, I was very encouraged today.

Today is the National Day of Pray and my prayer is simply this-  "HELP! God, please help!"

Jeff's new groove

So, in looking forward to making the big move, I’ve googled the top things Miami locals like to do and came across a surprising list. It’s the "Top 10 weird things people find attractive" by Harmony Stalter.

This result didn’t quite meet my search parameters, but, with starting a new church, in a new area ........ehhh, okay, I want to know what might draw people in and I thought it was interesting and naturally thought you would think so too.

Keep in mind, I didn’t write any of this, so, here you go:

Top 10 weird things people find attractive
1. Imperfect Teeth

Normally, someone would be attracted to another person’s smile. But, the attraction is to a smile with the perfect straight teeth you see in the toothpaste commercials. There are those people that think imperfect teeth are cute or sexy. There are some actresses and musicians that have this quality, such as Kirsten Dunst, Patricia Arquette and Jewel.

2. Vegetarianism

If the person looking for the date is a vegetarian, then they will only date someone that has the same trait as them. They will find this an attractive quality to have in their potential mate. To them a omnivore, which is what most people are, will not be the person for them no matter how attractive looking they may be.

3. Accents

For some people this is a very attractive quality. If someone is from a country other than your own, then you may find it attractive. Whether it is a British, Australian, Italian, French or an American accent it can be a turn on for some people.

4. Submissiveness

This trait is normally attractive to the more dominant personality. They think that a person who will submit to their every whim is attractive to them. They can tell if the person they find physically attractive is submissive by their body language. They will then pursue that person for their own personal needs.

5. Faith

Can someone’s devout faith really bring two people together? To some people it can. There are people that go to church looking for love and they will find it. Sometimes, having a little faith can bring you the love that you are looking for.

6. Education

Some people find the intelligence of a well educated person attractive. Sometimes, the higher the degree the more attractive you become. The brain can be very attractive to the right person.

7. Feet

The feet are not something that you would normally find attractive, but to some people they are. If a person has nice feet, then they will find them attractive. If a girl wears open toed shoes and she has nicely manicured toes, there are guys that find that extremely attractive.

8. Quirky/Uniqueness

If you are different from the "normal" people in the world then you can find love too. Everyone has a quirk or something unique about them. That little thing that is different from everyone else can be very attractive to another person. It can be considered cute or have an endearing quality to it that makes you who you are.

9. Sarcasm

A witty banter between two lovers can be attractive. If you can find someone with the same sense of sarcastic humor as you have, then they can be attractive to you. "Busting chops" all in good fun can be a form of foreplay for the two people involved.

10. Hair

Whether it is body hair or the hair on your head, it can all be attractive to someone else. You can have a gorgeous head of hair and can be attractive to the other person. You can have a little or a lot of body hair and that can be attractive to another person.



Jeff's new groove

I don't know how any of this is going to help draw lost people into a new chuch, but, I might dress up like Austin Powers every once in a while just to see.

reaching out

When you lie down, you will not be afraid;

when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.

Have no fear of sudden disaster

or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked,

for the LORD will be at your side

and will keep your foot from being snared.

~ Proverbs 3: 24-26

How often do we worry about the cares of this world? The cost of gas, the chance of loosing our jobs, the threat of violence? It seems that everywhere we turn there is uncertainty and real fear is starting to creep into peoples minds.

One of the tourist attractions in Miami, Fl is the Holocaust memorial, which includes an aggrieved hand reaching up to heaven for help. It seems very appropriate where it stands as Miami has one of the largest homeless populations in the country. A condition that seems to echo the hopelessness of millions lost.

Not to sound like a broken record, but, when we move to Miami, we won't assume to be the cure to the homelessness problem.  There are many broken, hurting, HOPE-less people in Miami that are hungry for a God that cares. We want to be used as the hands of Jesus, feeding not only the physically hungry, but, helping feed the hungry souls as well.

As the hands and feet of Jesus,
we can be the hope in a hopeless world.
As the hands and feet of Jesus,
YOU can be the hope in a hopeless world.

Jesus freaks

Last night we learned that US forces had found and eliminated Usama bin Laden, who ten years ago was setting in motion the single largest terrorist attack on US soil that killed nearly 3000 people. There seemed to be a joy in the reporters voices as they were breaking the story. Reports of celebrations breaking out in Washington D.C. and at ground zero have been coming in.

Yet with all this euphoria, I can't help but think of what it says in Proverbs 24:17. It says "Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice." SAY WHAT? - This seems to go contrary to the classic "good vs. evil" scenario. I mean when the good guys finally win, after an epic Hollywood struggle, there is always celebration in the streets.That's the normal way we react when our enemy falls and we re-live it every super bowl, every world series and every NBA championship. Shoot, I get excited when I win a chess game!

In studying the life of Jesus, I've seen how he is so different than the status quo. At one point he said "the law says 'an eye for an eye', but, I say love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you." How amazing and strangely bazaar! He also said, "if a soldier makes you carry his pack a mile, carry it two". I guess that was a huge problem back then with soldiers. He also said "don't return evil for evil".

All of these statements from Jesus were reiterations of living a life of Love. However, he didn't just preach it, he lived it. The apostle Paul, wrote in Romans 5 that hardly will another die for a righteous man; and it's rare that one would lay down their life for a good man, however when we were still sinners (the enemies of God), Jesus died for us.

It's this kind of love that's turning the world upside down. It's this kind of love that is going to turn Miami upside down. It's this kind of love that will turn your life upside down.