Much to share…

Sorry for the delay in updating this thing… I keep saying that! 

There is so much to share about what’s happening in my life and those around me.  It’s been a surreal last few weeks for my family, staff and ministry.  Case in point – one of my staffers was punched out at a local gas station last Sunday night after our services.  FBC is in our Transform Your World season.  This is a time where the church really ramps up its efforts to impact the local community.  Our global efforts are year-round, but we make a special effort to reach out beyond normal ministry to our region in April.  This stretch is usually referred to “Go and Be.”

We had t-shirts made this year that read “Don’t go to church” on the front, but on the back they read “be the church!”  Well some ignorant soul thought he was doing God and the church a favor by assaulting my staffer and decked him for what the shirt said.  My team member ended up waking up, picking himself up off the concrete and driving the 15 minutes to his house.  As he stumbled into his own home, that was when his wife took him to the 24hr clinic for attention.  He hasn’t pressed charges, and from what we know there weren’t any witnesses.  Long story there, but he felt that pressing charges wouldn’t really accomplish anything in the grand scheme of life. 

Bottom line is that this nut had some real issues and was probably used to getting his way and abusing others.  The t-shirt simply provided a trigger to beat on someone new.  Never-the-less, the shirt sparked a manifestation of this guy’s world view of God and church… and that my folks is why it is so important to engage culture.  We have to put to death this mindset that we have to answer the opposition to the Kingdom by various acts of social, relational and even physical toxicity.  We can get on our soap boxes and shout, scream,  wave our arms to get the unbelieving world’s attention and figuratively punch them in face with the “Gospel” or we can love them and share the real and literal truth of God’s forgiveness and grace. 

So much more to talk about… maybe I can get to that later in the days ahead.

Grounds of Hope

Some time ago I referenced a desire for us at Water’s Edge to work toward opening a coffee shop that would also host our worship gatherings weekly.  That plan has morphed over the last 6 months, but the Grounds of Hope project is still perculating.   This whole concept has gone viral.  Our Facebook group has eclipsed the 1,000 member mark and there is certainly a buzz around Water’s Edge and FBC. 

Please take a moment and check out the website link to the right and investigate for yourself the scope of this dream.   Pray about it.   You may want to contribute to the movement somehow.   As a teaser, here is Jon Glidden giving us some glimpse of the Grounds of Hope impact during his trip to Malawi in January.

Homosexuality and the church

Just typing that should make me nervous, but I am not sure why.   A while back I stumbled across a pastor’s blog from the Charlotte area.   He is the pastor of Lake Forest Church (EPC) in the Charlotte area.   The EPC is the more ‘conservative’ arm of the Presbyterian denomination.  They have had a great evangelical track record and have been starting churches all across this country in recent years.  Great stuff.  

Mike Moses, the pastor of LFC, has a blog titled Purple Pastor.  It has been an engaging read over the last few months.  A recent post about homosexuality and its impact upon his church and denomination is worth reading.  I would agree with much of what he says.  

Click here to read the comments by Mike Moses.

New link

I have created a new link off to the right under “MISSIONAL.” Jon Glidden, Jr. told me about World of Good today over lunch. In researching it tonight, I thought it was an ingenius tool for those in modern countries to do their part in assisting those in developing countries. You can purchase crafts, coffee/tea, jewerly, etc. Check it out.

Dr. Dean in Chengdu

One of our beloved members at North is in China assisting with surgery needs.  He is 71 and really struggled with whether or not he should go due to his age, money, and the health of his back.  Fortunately God made it clear to him that he should go through a few different episodes.  One was his lovely wife… she practically forced him out of the house!!   The others came in the form of answered prayers in that his back is holding up and of that money was given on his behalf.  There is a lot more to this story, and we are anxious to hear his report upon his return. 

Here is the latest update from Dr. Fitzgerald through his wife Dona. 

Dean called Wednesday afternoon and said that he had been seeing lots of patients.  However, the folks he has be working with will only be there through tomorrow.  Therefore, we need to pray that the Lord will open the doors if there are others that Dean could help.

Thanks so much for your prayers.