So, here's the latest. After a loonnnngggggg week of praying and
wondering... and waiting... and praying...
* I have been overwhelmed by how seriously everyone took the call back
to unifying around the Gospel last Sunday (Father's Day, June 21,
2009). I really believe that if we unite together and walk together
and work on a common goal, then we will be able to achieve more
together, collectively, than we will be able to do on our own. You can
listen to last week's sermon here, on our blog site.
* Seriously, I did not know how it would be received. I am grateful to
those of you who 1) challenged me on it, and 2) prayed and sought
God's direction. This Sundays' worship service was an incredible
moment- as we all stood and worshipped and sang and prayed together.
* I'm excited that house churches are starting back this week. Those
are going to be the primary mode of connecting to others, of building
growing relationships, and of actually putting flesh to the Christian
walk. Whereas worship services can inspire and teach and encourage,
true growth and ministry happens in much smaller settings.
* The Southtown prayer walk was incredible. We'll post a video later
this week that details what happened, etc... For now, know that there
are house churches about to start in Southtown, that there are four
households that have committed their lives to Christ, that there are
17 students in the GED class on Tuesday evenings (we need more
teachers! hint, hint!), that the environment has changed.
* I was happy to see that The Birmingham News ran an article on the
front page of Sunday's paper this week. At the same time I was
disgusted that they called the prayer walk a "march against violence"
and basically mentioned nothing of ministry and prayer and the actual
reason that we were all up there. I'm going to write a letter to the
editor later this week (a gracious one), which corrects some
misgivings about what is taking place up there. Pray they'll receive
it and run with it.
* They ran another article as well. I'm not sure they even understand
what was going on up there. But, the area is changing!
* Regardless of whether we are able to worship in the gym or not, I am
thankful that the GED classes are going so well- and that the house
churches are taking off. The church is growing in that area- and I'm
confident that we are now reaching more people there than we were with
Sunday morning worship there, even if we do not see them gathered in
the same room at the same time for one hour on Sundays. At some point,
we'll all be together- and I'm sure that we'll all be blown away by
what God is doing!
* Today I put a call out for 5,000 hangers on Twitter and Facebook. I
received many, many replies. Included was one from an old friend, a
guy with whom I went to high school. His family owns a cleaners
(Parkway Cleaners). We're going to pick up the hangers tomorrow from
them. We're still, then, making strides towards getting The Downtown
Trading Company open. This is going to be a great ministry opportunity.
* Oh... Sunday's sermon did not record! No CD, no online audio.
* Going to be studying a great deal this week- no preaching for me on
Sunday. Pastor Keith is going to be back in the saddle this weekend-
and bring it! I'll be eagerly listening from the front row- and will
be back up front on July 11th.
* More later this week!
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