If you want things to change (meaning improve, become more productive, families staying strong, young men full of hope and growth, etc.) then you are going to have to do some things differently... (FYI, this is NOT a political statement, but a cultural one). #BuildingLifestylesOfRestorationAndEngagement
Last year some friends, including us, launched HomeworkNight.com, starting with a Walk for Education on MLK Day. Willie King, one of my best friends, is one of the key leaders, and we had not planned on doing the walk, because a couple of reasons. A leader in the city found out about this and told Willie, "You have to the walk, you guys changed the city in one day!"
I'm given to hyperbole too, so I don't know that everything changed because of the Walk and HomeworkNight, but something changed, for sure! So, this Monday, we are Walking for Education!
We just got back from a gathering of 18-25 year olds in Atlanta called #Passion2012. 45,000 young adults in half of the Georgia Dome, singing, reading Scripture, and pointing hearts and trajectories to Jesus!
God at work!
I'll post a few pic's first and come back when I'm slightly more rested, lol.
God knew we we in a spot. Stuck in the destruction caused by sin, and unable to get ourselves out of it. So, in His love, He moved...
He actually moved into our neighborhood. He told us he was coming. For over a thousand years, (about 1,400 to 400 b.c.) God send messages telling us that He was sending One to rescue people from their sin. Here is what God told a guy named Isaiah about it:
John was a follower of Jesus, and here is how he put it (John 1:14, The Message):
The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.
We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son.
Merry Christmas!
P.S. There will be no weekend services for theCityChurch on Christmas Day. Some of us will be going to the Christmas gathering that another great church in our city, the Waters Edge, is holding at the Rosa Hart Theater on Friday night.
God's movements aren't random. He plans ahead. And He does so in line with His over-the-top love.
Christmas is a week away. We have 4 girls in our home (5 with the Princes-Wife!), so there is much joy all around!
Sometimes, though, Christmas hits us when there is no fun, or joy. Maybe your Christmas is just a reminder of the person who is not there. They died unexpectedly, leaving a hole in your heart. Or, your spouse just walked away...they don't want to be with you anymore. This might be the tightest Christmas you've had, financially. Of the idea of being around all the dysfunction in your family just sucks the air out of your lungs.
God is not caught off-guard by your circumstances, or mine. He is aware. He is prepared. He's not waiting for you to get your act together and make your way to Him. He knew that neither you nor I could make the trip.
So God got up and moved into the neighborhood, wrapped up in humility. A baby, born to be sacrificed because of the extreme love of the Father, to rescue us. God started this process in the beginning. The video below recounts a handful of the times God told us He was sending Jesus. Let's listen...
I don't know about you, but it is so encouraging to me to know that God knows just where I am at, all my weaknesses and insecurities. All my fret about the future. And He moved into my neighborhood, via the ultimate gift that kicked off this Christmas thing, Jesus.
God planned it out, in advance. Now is the time for us to look up and let Him build faith within us.
Jesus said that one of the marks that indicate that someone is a follower of His is that they value and show love for people, including the least of these.
Everyone can agree that when we give to those in need, it's not only a good thing, but it produces in the giver remarkable joy! When you give, you get.
Today, theCityChurch begins a Thanksgiving food drive to raise food for Oak Park Food Pantry and Abraham's Tent. These two organizations feed the hungry in our area. Both exist from the gifts of individuals and organizations. Both have needs for support. That's where you and I come in!
So, if you got a knock on your door, or found a flyer, we are welcoming you to support these two organizations with a donation of food (you can give money as well, if you want).
I've never been really hungry, and never worried where my next meal was coming from. But in recent years, I've become more in touch with what this might be like. God loves every person, and wants His concern for them to be felt. He told the people who follow Him to treat the least of these as they would treat the King Himself!
We are desiring that our city would be different, more like way God intended, with pain and hunger and despair wiped away by His loving hand.
the city should be different
P.S. Here are a couple of videos shot in front of each organization.
The truth is that life here on the earth can be, often is...hard.
God knows. He sees.
More importantly, He has compassion. His compassion isn't like mine or yours. It has enough power to do anything.
Like bring people back from the dead. He did that first with Jesus.
And He is able, willing and ready to bring the Risen life of Jesus to bear on anyone who puts their trust in Him.
Why is that important? Because we don't just want to try to make it through a day, hoping that, somehow, it will be enough. That tomorrow will be better. That it will all just work out.
Pipe dreams about a better tomorrow, while battling (losing the battle) against giving up real hope today, and medicating the pain, they don't bring a Thriving life.
I know that on my own, I'm not alright. I needed a rescue to bring me back from my soul death. And today, I need to walk out this new life that Jesus brings.
I had an awesome conversation yesterday with a young professional woman at a weekly coffee gathering for local professionals. She told me about some of her experiences with church - good and disappointing. She has been divorced, and tasted both the loving embrace of Jesus through His church, and a distancing, unaccepting version.
She told me how she didn't think our lead message should be that we are against things. The reason she intuitively felt this is that when we lead with what we are against, the real message, which is that God is coming to them, making a way for rescue, in Jesus, never gets to their hearts.
Right On! God took the first step, He sent in His Rescue Missionary, Jesus, when we were very much opposed to God's authority and claim over our lives. He sent in the most positive - Jesus - without us doing one thing to deserve it.
People need to see that God is For Them. That He has already moved toward them.
My children are learning more and more how to cook. My awesome wife cooks great, especially baking! She's been adding new things to our repertoire, gathering encouragement and ideas from www.thePioneerWoman.com. As our girls get more active in cooking by themselves, there are some learning spots along the way.
A couple of nights ago while baking some drop biscuits, there was something not quite right. The biscuits looked ok, but the taste was off. My brain was expecting biscuit, but there was a bitter or otherwise unusual flavor. Turns out, they used baking soda rather than baking powder.
Leaning some things takes time. And practice.
God is at work, and has a plan for every person on the planet. He wants people to experience joy and freedom that comes through His love, which He expressed in Jesus.
And, like learning to bake, some things take time.
The picture above is a baptism we did on September 25 at the North Beach in Lake Charles. Two awesome people were being baptized. Then, as we were coming up back to the shore, another person asked if I had 1 more in me today. This guy I've known for a long time. I've seen God doing things to help him see Jesus. In recent times, God has used the young leaders we are training at theCityChurch to help him see Jesus more clearly. And the results will live forever.
Here is how a Lead Church Planter (the Apostle Paul) spoke about this,
For God says,“At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.” Indeed, the “right time” is now.Today is the dayof salvation. 2 Corinthians 2:6
Some things are not easy. Most things, it seems. So we need to seek perspective along the way, ask God for clarity, to see if we are going towards Him.
This day was a reminder from God that He is at work.
Something is broken in our world. It is broken withing the hearts of men and women. Everyone is broken and rejects God. It's a blow, caused by our own sin, and it's fatal. Sin expresses itself in such destructive ways. Self-destructive, and pointed at others.
God watched as our first parents, Adam and Eve, rebelled from His authority over their lives, The results were tragic. And He intervened, preparing the way and then sending His own Son, Jesus, to pay for our sin and rebellion, and give us a new heart. To take away the death blow of sin and put Jesus inside everyone who puts their faith in Him.
Sin and the soul-death it brings compelled 19 men and their associates turn 4 passenger planes into missiles for their political and religious agenda. That decision was the product of sin's death-blow. And it caused to much pain.
The awesome news is that pain and sorrow don't get the last word.
God does. Heroism and courage were the common response in the moments after the attacks and the days that followed. 343 firefighters gave their life on that Tuesday morning to rescue many who were in those burning towers. These men and women are not forgotten.
So as you remember where you were on that ordinary morning, remember that God wants to intervene in your world, to wake you (and me) up from our drowsy state. The brokenness of this world is meant for evil. But God cannot be thawarted.
What was meant for evil, God can use for good, to help us leave fear, paralysis and apathy, and see that our plight, without Him, is hopeless. And see Jesus, who is God's missionary, sent to earth to free men from sin and death.
Look up, America. Look up, Lake Charles. JesusIsAlive
Here is the picture video we will use this morning at theCityChurch worship gathering.
Credit to Yahoo! News for these photos.
We will be ending our Worship Gathering this morning by going to the Lake Charles 911 Memorial and praying as a church for the survivors, for our leaders, for our world, for the First Responders, for our Military, for America to hear the call of God to real life in Jesus, for the churches in our city and nation to live out the mission God has given of bringing his Life and Light to a broken world.
Jesus said that one of the marks that indicate that someone is a follower of His is that they value and show love for people, including the least of these. 
I had an awesome conversation yesterday with a young professional woman at a weekly coffee gathering for local professionals. She told me about some of her experiences with church - good and disappointing. She has been divorced, and tasted both the loving embrace of Jesus through His church, and a distancing, unaccepting version. 
This weekend is our 2nd Edition of Man Church - the dudes are making our way to a camp at Toledo Bend...Oh Yeah! Want to get away?
My children are learning more and more how to cook. My awesome wife cooks great, especially baking! She's been adding new things to our repertoire, gathering encouragement and ideas from www.thePioneerWoman.com. As our girls get more active in cooking by themselves, there are some learning spots along the way. 
Something is broken in our world. It is broken withing the hearts of men and women. Everyone is broken and rejects God. It's a blow, caused by our own sin, and it's fatal. Sin expresses itself in such destructive ways. Self-destructive, and pointed at others. 
Sin and the soul-death it brings compelled 19 men and their associates turn 4 passenger planes into missiles for their political and religious agenda. That decision was the product of sin's death-blow. And it caused to much pain. 
God does. Heroism and courage were the common response in the moments after the attacks and the days that followed. 343 firefighters gave their life on that Tuesday morning to rescue many who were in those burning towers. These men and women are not forgotten. 
