Flipped Lives

God has been doing an incredible work in the lives of many at Greenbrier Church!  More and more people are trusting Christ here!  Marriages are being rescued.  Lives are being flipped. Just a few weeks ago, we baptized 15, and we already have more that are needing to be baptized! God is moving among us, and this is just the beginning!

This Sunday will be a very special time at Greenbrier Church as we conclude our “DOMINATE“ series! You will want to be a part of this! As well, i cannot encourage you enough to keep praying for the “three” God has put on your heart to INVOLVE – INVEST – INVITE!  Wouldn’t it be amazing for you to see them be a part of our next “Dive-In”…and be baptized…because YOU were God’s instrument in their lives…in them trusting Christ as Savior!  It can happen!  It WILL happen…if you take the risk!

“When Marriage Stinks” (www.whenmarriagestinks.com) launches NEXT Week (Oct. 11th)!  Over four months in the development, i believe it will be one incredible series for our married and single body, and an excellent tool…an AWESOME opportunity for you to leverage as you INVITE disconnected friends!

Ok, I am excited!!…and going on an on!
Dudes, i am pumped about My Jesus and His work in this Church!
…and i want you and i to be there…bringing as many to Jesus as we can!
I love you in my Jesus and Praise God i get to be your pastor!
-Live reckless for my Jesus!

Pre-School & “DRAG YOU TO HELL”

What does a movie title “Drag You To Hell!” and Pre-school children have in common?

It is INCREDIBLE being a church meeting in a Movie Theater!  I love that God allows Greenbrier Church to intersect with culture and Connect the Disconnected in such a cool place!  In that, it was too stinking funny a few Sunday mornings back as i was walking through the Theater halls to meet and pray with our “Brier Patch CREW” (pre-school servant team). Right before i entered the “Brier Patch” environment, i noticed the theaters on both sides of the halls had marquis promoting the movie being shown inside. One side of the hall: “Angels & Demons”; the other side of the hall; “Drag you to Hell”.  It get’s even better:  The marqui outside theater we use for our 3 & 4 yr olds; “Land Of The Lost”.  Dudes, i was laughing my head off…and praying at the same time…for all the parents we have dropping off their precious cargo. Can you imagine being a “Guest”, walking down the hall to drop off your precious baby for the first time, being given directions by “Host Team;” “Glad you are here!  Just take your child past “Drag you to Hell” and “Angels & Demons” and drop them off in “Land Of The Lost”!  So glad you are trusting your child in our care! (He he he he/snicker/snicker).”  Ha!  Fortunately, our awesome Host Team escorts guests to their environments and are great at laughing off those awkward moments.

The two HUGE messages that God hit me square in the face with:

1. Those Movie titles and themes are a real, “In your face” subliminal message of what the world holds…Without Christ! (John 3:18-19)

2. Even more, what awesome HOPE My Jesus offers through this church – Greenbrier, through HIS Church, to the parents and the children  …at this same Movie Theater!   How cool is that!! (John 3:16-17)

We must leverage all we have to lead this world to the only true hope there is…to Connect the Disconnected with JESUS!( Romans 10:9-10,13-14)

-Live reckless for my Jesus!

Brain Fried Monday

Pastoring the incredible Greenbrier Church can be a challenge (just being real), but more often that not, it is HUGE adrenaline rush and blessing!  I would not want to be anywhere else doing anything else (Thanks God!)!  That said, what happened yesterday…Once again, God showed off!

-Our band led in some incredible worship!  The texts, personal comments and phone calls about it have rolled in!

-Shane (our Student & Community Pastor) laid out a powerful message of what God has called us to reflect!  (JESUS!)  Look out when we grab hold of that truth!

-NewPassion Church launched and God blessed in some great ways!  I snuck over there during second service, and was pumped with what God was doing with Nick Carnes and company!

-15 adults, students and children were baptized at the lake yesterday evening!!  Praise God!!  HUGE!  It was one celebration!

-Churchwide Picnic – we had 30 RSVP, yet over 100 came out and celebrated those being baptized!  What a party!

Folks, what God is doing now could and should only be the beginning!   Jesus, with all the authority of God, called us to “GO” and make disciples (Matthew 28). Let’s do this thing and watch Him draw people to His fame!

One “BAD” Set-Up Team

CHURCH PLANTERS…

We all have an element of pride in our troops…those who serve Jesus Christ in our church!  If you are portable, i’m pretty certain you value them even more!  At Greenbrier Church, all of our incredible servant volunteers are called “CREW”, but we count the “Set-Up & Break-down” CREW as our warriors.  All of our CREW are awesome, but these guys arrive before the sun is up,  set-up our church campus (items packed in a 24′ trailer, a 24′ U-Haul box truck and a 14′ box truck) in one hour or less.  After services are over, they break-down the entire campus (staging in two environments, lighting, pipe-n-drape, Krispy Kreme boxes..wait – that’s where they are disappearing to!)…the ENTIRE Church Campus and load it back in our vehicles in…30 minutes..or Less!  Since we meet in a Movie Theater, our time rental window is small, and our warriors make sure we honorGod & our contract.  HUGE!

This past Sunday, what i believed about this CREW was confirmed.  We have one BAD Set-Up/Break-Down Team!  I would put them up against ANY Church CREW out there!

Why?

1. They do not move any equipment in or out of the Theater without praying together! Almost as much as me, they own the vision and want to see Greenbrier Church be a part of  “Connecting The Disconnected with Jesus”!

2. Reasons listed above: setting up enough equipment in a Theater to fill a huge house…then loading it back up in less than 30 minutes. Whew!!  …And most of them do this weekly.

3. Did i mention they are falling in love with Jesus and have servant hearts!

4. They catch and tackle wife abusers. Yep, this past Sunday after campus was set-up and the band was rehearsing, Set-Up CREW headed out for a quick breakfast together. In a parking lot across from the Evans 14 Cinemas, a woman was on the ground and her husband was on top of her, beating her up.  Our warriors, who had just unloaded ALL of our equipment, raced over to the scene.  As i have been told, the man (excuse me…) the “WIMP” who was beating his wife took off running.  Our guys chased him about 200 yards and caught him.  This man is alive and did not have his face beat in only because: 1.) our MEN (in a truer sense of the word) love Jesus and will not waste the God given skin on their knuckles on someone like this 2.) the wimp cried like a baby when he was caught  3.) Jesus loves him even still and will hopefully save his wimpy soul (Dudes, do not judge me. If i were there, juiced on caffeine and running on Jesus adrenaline prepped to preach twice as i was, he may have been dragged on stage as a sermon illustration: “This is a pummeled face…only God could love”.)

The police arrived…and the action was over. Though i heard the wife did not want to press charges, hopefully she wakes up from her “spouse abuse” mentality and gets away from him until he gets help.

Yes…these dudes are BAD!  In fact, this morning, i found myself reading in 2 Samuel 23:8-39 – David & His Mighty Men. Whatever David put in front of them, they did every bit of it… and more…to serve their king.  Our Greenbrier warriors, over and over, whatever has been put in front of them (as with all our CREW), they do it…and more…to serve the King Of Kings – My Jesus Christ!

Dudes i am blessed as a pastor, and even more so as a servant of Jesus among some awesome, BAD, Jesus freaks servants. Every last one of them goes to battle with me weekly!  I’m proud of ‘em…and i’ll put them up against your team any day.  Bring It On!

…and live reckless for my Jesus!

LOST!

I used to follow “LOST” weekly…but then i got lost with the plot.  Then again, was there ever…or …ummmm…is there…or…uhhh… will there ever be a plot?!?  (…i am so lost with the time travel component of LOST.)

Face it, time travel would help make sense of all the junk in life. Yeah, right!   Actually, i’m realizing that getting older and learning to abandon all to Jesus Christ is what works ( i have sooo far to go!), but time travel just sounds cool…and so much easier!  I think of the “stock” i would NOT have bought; the vacation i WOULD have taken with my family; the call(s) i COULD have made…before “it” happened; the marriage(s) that SHOULD have been saved…if only i had _____; the people that WOULD know the power of Jesus Christ in my life if i had just responded differently.

Instead, i have held back, i have walked through some key battles licking my wounds, i have been rejected (see The “No!” Box) and felt like it is more important to vent to anyone/everyone, rather than trust God with my future.  Yep!  Even planting a church…being a pastor of one incredible body called Greenbrier, it happens.  The hurtful and hateful things people have said and done (often unintentional…but it is easier to hold a grudge if you think them spiteful) has given me “opportunity” to reflect a perfect Savior! A Savior who would endure brutal beating and, dying on a cross, say; “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34) ; of those who had butchered Him.  It makes me sick to know that when God gives me a shot, i do not always honor that divine opportunity to display His power!

In John 9, Jesus pulls a seemingly random blind beggar (blind from birth) into the spotlight, and makes a powerful statement: “”but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life“.  That simple statement has gotten under my skin! This man could have been born with sight, but God allowed this to happen so that at this moment in time, THE WORK OF GOD MIGHT BE DISPLAYED IN HIS LIFE.  Like a LOST finale, for me God has been unraveling some layers of trials past and exposing my futile need to make sense of it all at the time.  Whether hurt or rejected or simply having things go completely opposite of how “I” think they should go (God forbid), …it is ALL to display the Work of  God!   My response to every trial, every rejection, every great and stinking situation is an opportunity…that the work of God might be displayed in (my) life!

I have a long ways to go, but i am learning (Uhg!).  How about you?

-That this world may know we have an incredible Savior, it’s time to cut loose from our LOSTness, our excuses, our need to have all the answers NOW… and boldly display the Work of God in my/your life!

-Live reckless for my Jesus!