The Bridge

Relationship vs. Rules

2012-02-10T10:56:00.000-08:00

Reading some critiques of the spoken word poem by Jefferson Bethke -http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1IAhDGYlpqY - and they are bringing up some issues regarding the movement in some areas of churches focusing on the relationship with Christ not the rules to live by. I have often talked about the focus of Jesus' message is a relationship with our Creator through His Son. It seems in the New Testament we see the story of the church unfolding as a group of people connecting with God despite their weaknesses and failures. A story that continues to reveal failures even of some of the leadership as the church develops (Peter rejecting gentiles, corrections by Paul of church leaders messing up, Paul admonishing Peter for pushing the gentiles to follow ceremonial laws, Paul and Barnabas separating over disagreement, abuse of the communion time together, etc.). It is also a story of a people that after connecting to God through Jesus start to find significant life change and begin a journey of following more and more of the standards laid out for Christian living - not because those standards or rules provide salvation, rather because they work to bring fulfillment and peace! Following Christ is a growing trust in our God that reveals to each of us that the rules and standards we feared and ran from really are patterns of living that provide real health - spiritual, emotional, mental, physical, relational and social health.

In the NT there were some that wanted to discard works and rules completely and they were corrected as well as the ones that wanted to discard grace. My point in saying relationship vs. rules is based on the many churches I have been involved in preaching and teaching a self righteousness based on their rule following. It seems Jesus' point in explaining we are guilty of violating the law just by our thoughts is that we can not do this - it is only in Christ we can be proclaimed righteous and be in a process of transformation into God's original intention for us. A second reason I focus on the relationship aspect is that the predominant view of the non-believer is that following Christ is all about following rules. Since scripture teaches we can not follow the rules without Christ (Romans 7) it seems very reasonable to begin with the lifesaving relationship first as our focus and watch as a person's trust in their Savior increases over time. So when I say Relationship vs. Rules I am referring to what we begin with in this journey. Did Jesus tell us to follow His commands? Absolutely! But it is also taught that we can only follow His commands by faith and we are saved by faith through grace alone.

There are groups that are moving toward a Universalist theology that all will enter heaven and be saved regardless of faith or works. Those of us that are focusing on the Relationship aspect as primary are not automatically saying our actions do not matter. At The Bridge our 3 fold mission is based on Jesus' 3 primary commandments - Love God, Love others, Disciple all. Since He said all of the Law and Prophets hang on the two greatest commandments to love God and our neighbor we should be pretty safe pursuing those two commandments. His final words to us before ascending into heaven were to disciple all nations so that would be our primary purpose of being left behind. Hopefully this clears some things up. If you find this clear as mud please respond with clarifying questions. Thank you.

update

2012-02-09T14:39:00.000-08:00

Excited about what God is doing! We are seeing peoples lives and relationships healed, families restored, new relationships with God through Jesus and many becoming disciples and disciplers! We have another Baptism on Feb. 12th at both services. We had our first meeting of people interested in the new church plant, Chain Reaction, last Sunday. In meetings with people I hear regularly about how The Bridge has helped them connect to God in a way that has brought real life change and spiritual growth. One person at a time we are helping change Genesee county for the better!

Helpful people

2012-01-23T08:44:00.000-08:00

It is interesting that when we were trying to start The Bridge we went to many traditional churches looking for help, but most I could not even get in to see the pastor. We even had a big article in the paper about us starting this new church, yet we had no one show up to encourage us or help us from other churches. Now that we have opened a tattoo shop in our building we get all kinds of people wanting to help us understand how wrong we are. Again I will say most of the comments we have received have been positive, but the negative ones I find humorous. It seems to me if the same amount of energy was put in to helping churches start we would have a revival sweeping the land - the only "help" I have gotten was to correct me rather than actually help.

We have hundreds of new christians growing in Christ that were won by us being all things to all people so we may win some. We have dozens of people that say they were Christian, but were not being discipled or growing that are now challenged regularly and are growing in Christ. We have people serving that are not even welcome in most churches - they don't look right, smell right, talk right for most churches. The people that make up The Bridge, "Bridgebuilders", know they are loved by Jesus because they have felt His love through His people and now they are loving others as Christ loved them.

Another interesting thing is about the "helpful people" that want to school us in proper churchiness. It is no wonder the church in America is in such a bad state. While I am accused of picking verses out to support what we do the naysayers literally pick one verse completely disregarding the immediately previous verse to "prove" their point. There are so many complaints about us using our building for "non-sacred" events and referring to the building as the church it is saddening. The most basic of sunday school classes teaches the church is comprised of the people which is called the body of Christ. We are sorely uneducated in the basics of biblical theology. I completely respect the people that disagree with what we are doing and how, but don't try to twist the bible to defend your emotions. One of the first questions I want to ask of those that want to criticize is what are you doing to expand the kingdom? A quote I have read is something like this "I prefer the way I am doing things to the way you are doing nothing."

I know the excitement about this most recent move at The Bridge will die down. There may be other things that happen to create excitement in the future, but we will not fall to the temptation to be sensational for publicity. I am thankful that God is moving in Genesee County, not just through The Bridge, but many churches are reaching the lost here. I am grateful to be used by Him. I am thankful for the responses of those that disagree with us and promised to pray for us. I am particularly grateful for all those that believe in what we are doing and are jumping in to make a difference.

Church

2012-01-09T19:22:00.000-08:00

I have continued to be given interview offers this week. I am excited about the opportunity to share what we are doing and talk about the relevance of the church today! The majority of negative feedback we have received, which has not been nearly as much as the positive, has been based on the mistaken notion that the building used for meetings for discipleship and worship are special. I hope to challenge that thinking and the church in America to stop wasting the resources God has given us by letting millions of sq ft of prime space sit empty all week so it is clean and available for use on Sunday. Pray that we make a positive impact on the many people that will continue to hear about what we are doing and maybe start to see the church as relevant rather than hateful.

Tattoos

2012-01-06T08:46:00.000-08:00

Wow!!! Front page article about The Bridge having a Tattoo Parlor in our building has turned into quite the media frenzy. Few things about this - We did not open Serenity Tattoo for publicity, rather to change lives beginning with the artists, their clients and apprentices and spreading from there. Many positive posts from all walks of life - love to see some "getting it." Some negative posts that fall into 3 categories - 1 being Leviticus 19:28 which says not to cut yourselves or make permanent marks - 2 being Jesus clearing the temple in Matthew and 3 being the church is a place for worship not tattoos or other stuff.

The first one is really simple - Lev 19:27 also says to not cut the hair at your temples or trim your beards and that chapter contains many cultural/ceremonial prohibitions based on what the local idolaters were doing and trying to make sure the Israelites were distinguishing themselves from them. Anyone that wants to say that one verse is a prohibition on tattoos must also condemn ear piercing, shaving, and many other currently acceptable practices. Using that verse to condemn tattooing is pure ignorance of good bible study.

The second issue of the temple cleansing is a reference to Jesus running the money changers out. Again poor bible study leads to this thought. The money changing and market place going on was people telling the worshippers that they had to exchange their money for temple money at a markup and their animal sacrifices for better animals at a markup before they could worship. This turned the temple into marketplace of thieves. We are not telling people they must give money to worship - we actually tell first time attenders to not give. Second issue on that is we have no temple, Jesus changed the covenant from the old temple covenant to a new covenant of the Holy Spirit and direct communion with God through Jesus' sacrifice. The church is not a building or location it is the body of Christ comprised of his followers/disciples.

This also addresses the third issue of the building being a place of worship. For far too long the church building has been considered sacred when Jesus made it clear by tearing the veil from top to bottom at His death on the cross there is no physical sanctuary for us to meet with God in. We now come directly to the Father through the Son. The building is just a building that God has entrusted to us to be stewards of. The church has been very poor stewards of the property God gives it by leaving it empty and unused during the week. The building should be used 24 hours a day to serve the community and bring glory to God (which occurs by loving people as well as worshipping God).

The only other real issue raised is linked to the temple cleansing thing and that is that we are in this for money. All the staff and most of the bridgebuilders laugh at this! Our per capita giving is a third of most dying churches due to the financial position of most of our attenders. My low mileage car has 168,000 miles on it, the house I live in with 6 people is 900 sq ft., none of our staff get a regular salary, we barely pay our utilities bill each month and keep the heat low except during services, we paid half down on the building because an outside donor gave us the money to do that. We live at the edge of financial brokenness because we trust God will provide and he always does. Our only debt right now is on the building we just purchased and that will be paid off within 4 years.

Hope this clears some things up. Love the attention this is getting because it is already drawing some unreached people in to check it out. God will get the glory.

lengthy messages

2011-12-12T07:21:00.000-08:00

Read an article (http://www.churchleaders.com/pastors/pastor-articles/138205-three-things-your-people-hate-to-tell-you-about-your-preaching.html) talking about things people don't like about our preaching. The one point several commenters focused on was peoples attention span not being long enough to handle more than 30 minutes (current teaching says 20 mins). The following is what I posted in response to those comments.

The normal attention span is shrinking due to our culture today. Comparing a lecture to a movie or game is really missing the point - movies have a story line that weaves through many scene changes and games have constant changes and both are presented from many angles and different people. A lecture or sermon are one person attempting to engage and hold an audience. The greats can do this for hours, but the people do not leave with a single unifying point to grow and change on. This "sitting in God's presence" stuff is again really missing it - God's presence is only at that building on Sundays? (this is a very dangerous concept - we cant be in Gods presence during the week in our everday lives)? Is the Sunday service supposed to be where people get their discipleship? Are we to teach our people that all they need to know can be learned on Sunday and that is why we must talk so long? Recognizing the people we are trying to reach will not sit for a 45 minute message we take all of our messages and break them down into series. Same information spread over several different messages. Everyone leaves each message with one concrete challenge to work on. We also train our people to be in the Word during the week as well as joining discipleship groups. Rather than teaching the people Sunday's message is the one time to pack all of your learning in, we teach a way of life that includes constant learning. These comments seem to be reflective of a common trend in churches of railing against the way people are rather than meeting them where they are. Jesus should not have had to die for us, but it was needed and He did it. People should be able to tune into a message from Gods word for more than 20 minutes, but many can't so maybe we should meet them where they are. With training we could get them to focus longer, but that will only happen with those that are plugged in long enough - what about the new person? Are we focused on the already connected or on reaching those that are lost?

Love God, Love Others, Disciple All

2011-12-12T05:23:00.000-08:00

Love God, Love Others, Disciple All - this is our purpose statement at The Bridge. We have been working through a sermon series about this. Digging into the Love God portion the first week we discovered many times when a reference in the bible is made to loving God it is accompanied somehow with a statement about loving others as the indicator, evidence or activity of loving God. To love God we must apparently love His people. Love others is nearly always referenced as an activity of meeting the needs of someone, never as an emotion. Discipleship is a process of training we go through in the discipline of following Christ. We are called to disciple all in the great commission - that means all of us are to be about training others in the discipline of following Christ. The great commission was not to go be disciples, rather to go disciple all people. This was a final instruction from Jesus and applies to all His disciples.

Knowing these are the purposes for which we exist The Bridge is focused on applying these to all of our lives. Although we offer worship services to express our love for God our primary outlet for loving God is in the action of loving others. Loving others is an activity of meeting the needs of people - social, emotional, spiritual and physical needs. Discipleship is done through our small groups, peer guide program and a constant challenge to grow by reading, listening and questioning. I am excited about what God is doing in our lives and through us in Genesee county!

Truth Project

2011-08-08T08:16:00.000-07:00

We wrapped up the series on GPS - God Positioning System. Really enjoyed this series. Starting our new one based on the Truth Project now. This past Sunday we looked into Veritology, the study of Truth. The question was What is truth? and Do we really believe what we believe is really real? Is there absolute truth out there at all or is it all relative? Jesus said He came to testify to the truth when he spoke to Pilate and throughout His ministry often spoke of truth. If that is what Jesus is all about it must be real and important. We defined truth as an accurate reflection of reality - reality as perceived by God because only He can see it perfectly. Too often today people would agree to the "accurate reflection of reality" but then add the statement that each persons reality is different. Although many people have differing views of reality, it is not a changeable thing. Reality exists no matter how we perceive it and is unchanged by our perception. The color of the wall in your room may be perceived differently by many people, but in reality it is only one color and that color is definable. Next week we will be digging into Theology, the study of God, and truth in that arena.

GPS

2011-06-24T06:29:00.000-07:00

Starting a new series on GPS - God Positioning System - in July. Love this one - we developed this at the staff retreat and really liked it. We will be using the story of Exodus to illustrate the principles laid out in this series. Starting with Who Am I? dealing with the starting point in any journey, then Who Is God? dealing with the guide we will use on the journey, to The Destination dealing with where the journey is taking us or our purpose, then Prayer dealing with our connection to the GPS and finally Listening dealing with receiving the signal from the GPS. Looking forward to this one - hope you can join us!

Father

2011-06-14T18:40:00.000-07:00

Working through a Father series this month celebrating Fathers Day. Talking about Father God, our example and perfect role model - Father Guardian, the role of the father in the family and any leaders role - Father Community, the fathers role in community - and Father Child, the fathers role with his children. We have gone through a time in our society of the male role being looked down upon despite it truly being a critical role for our society. This has nothing to do with male dominance rather everything to do with the interdependence of the genders. Hopefully we will come through this series with the fathers and men in the group feeling empowered to use the tools being given to them and all to recognize how important it is to our society to get this right.

The Adventure

2011-04-29T11:10:00.000-07:00

In our Adventure series now at The Bridge. I truly believe it has been an adventure following Christ and living out of who God says I am rather than my past or what others say about me. I have met more people and gone more places than I ever would have without being a follower. Rather than being satisfied watching shows about people changing lives and living an adventure I have been involved in real life change and a real adventure. Hope you all are finding your purpose and loving the adventure you are on!

Easter

2011-04-25T21:25:00.000-07:00

Great Easter service! Lot of new faces, new record attendance and just a great time! April was the first month we have averaged 400 in weekly attendance. We have been steadily growing all along with tremendous increases each month for the past 5 months. We are seeing God changing lives weekly. Following is from an email I sent out to our prayer partners - this tells more of the story of what is happening at The Bridge: My intern that is being prepared for church planting is now preaching our second service on Sundays and doing a great job. We are adding an early service at 9 am on Sundays in a matter of weeks. We are in the process of closing on the building, 33,000 sq ft for $275k with $130k down and interest free payments of $2417 monthly for 60 months to pay it off. We have initiated a salary for the Lead Pastor and Childrens Pastor (pastors wife) for the first time. This summer we have a program for kids during the weekdays to
serve the community by offering a type of daycare for free with an emphasis on breaking generational issues. We have over 20 community groups meeting in our building weekly with another 10 Bridge Connection groups meeting each week. Our average weekly attendance for the past 12 weeks is 321 and for the past 4 weeks 400. Our giving has been up overall, but per capita is down due to the large influx of people over the past few months that are new to church attending and are just learning the blessings of giving. Many new relationships with Christ each month and a constant trickle of baptisms to go along with that. We have our sad stories that occur as well - buried several people in the past few months that were needless deaths, but one of those was still a beautiful story and her family is still being ministered to. We continue to operate in faith knowing this is all beyond our capabilities and can only be done by God. We continue to work on fundraising to increase our abilities to help others and grow the Kingdom. Thank you for your prayers!

Gospel of John

2011-04-13T11:01:00.000-07:00

Working on a 2 part series in John. The book of John is a great place to start studying the bible as it gives a foundational view of Jesus' ministry and what He was all about. With that in mind we set up a Tuesday evening study in John for the next 8-10 weeks.

Getting real excited about Easter! Trying to bring in over 400 people to hear about the Adventure God wants us to begin by accepting Jesus and living out of who He calls us to be. Is your life mundane, boring or without purpose? Come hear about the adventure Jesus has planned for you!

Man/Woman series

2011-03-19T22:29:00.000-07:00

Working on this Men and Women are not Equal series. Love this subject, but it is hard to do it justice in a sermon series. I studied this a lot in college and after. The real question is how to find the truth that crosses all the things said in scripture. I believe God created us equivalent and there was not one in charge of the other at the beginning. I believe the curse is just that - a curse, not a command to live by. I believe Jesus meant what He said when He said "neither male nor female, jew nor greek..." etc. The gender is just another aspect of who we are no different than skin color or family background. What about Paul saying women can't speak and wives submit to husbands? Next week we will look at the submission concept at least and address the NT view of women. Chime in if you have any opinions.

Sunday's Secret

2011-02-26T13:26:00.001-08:00

For the 2 of you that read this blog I am revealing a day earlier what the big news is for Sunday.

Last week we had a video about what the church is – it is the people that claim the name of Christ. You are the church if you call yourself Christian. It is the job of the church to pay its way and reach out to the community. The Bridge is completely funded by the donations of the people in the seats. All of our operations costs are covered by those donations – this includes rent, utilities, insurance, maintenance, salaries, books, videos, equipment, etc. When we started 2 years ago we were able to raise $50,000 to cover start up costs – rent, chairs, sound equipment, utilities, books, advertising, etc. That money has long been gone, but there have been a couple donations made to boost certain ministries or to help pay for renovations. Other than that we operate on our giving by the people that consider this their spiritual home.

Due to the efforts of Bob Ellery and his connections we were able to present to several investors, that wish to remain anonymous, our plans for future ministries here at The Bridge. What we presented that we want to see occur over the next 1-3 years came to $498,000. This starts with expanding our facility, particularly for the kids in the community, but also for the whole community. The expansion we desire to do is purchasing the north end of Carman Plaza, 33,000 sq ft of empty space, and converting it to our uses.

For the children we want to have an area for the kids in the community to come to in the summer for different activities, from summer tutoring to games to leadership training to outings. We also want to offer classes for better parenting to help change the home life for kids and help parents find work or improve their work skills to find better work. There will be year round resources and activities for children and families at risk.

For the community we want to offer Life Coaching – this is a method of helping people find the next best step in their life. We have a Christian Counselor, Margaret Cullen, that will be heading this up and we have a licensed therapist we consult with. There are several people that will be receiving training and certification in Life Coaching this year as we establish this ministry for the community.

We will be working on establishing transitional housing for people that have found themselves without a place to live or need a change in life. This will be focused on teaching job skills, interpersonal skills, budgeting and life planning. The classes offered through this ministry will be available to all, but we will also have a limited amount of beds for temporary housing for those that have no other place to stay until they can get back on their feet. This will be different than a shelter – very focused on transitioning people, which will require people that are hungry and motivated to change their life. Homeless shelters in the area we already support and will continue to support.

All of this becomes possible by purchasing the building we are in with the adjacent 23,000 sq ft of empty space. The landlord has thrown a price at us of $320,000. We know it will take $40,000 to renovate the spaces. The donors that we presented this to have committed to us $300,000. We are not interested in taking this money and spending it all on the building so we are trusting God to come through again by getting the landlords to accept an offer of half that price. Lets pray that God intervene and show the people that own this building the benefits of letting this building go for cheap. This money will be going to expand our facility and kick off new ministries. The purchase of the property will save us $2000 per month on rent which will offset the increase in utilities and maintenance. There will be increased costs to cover the ministries we are starting, but as we have grown we have also seen increases in your giving. All of this is possible due to your telling others about what you have experienced here and your faithfulness in giving. There are many people that have experienced tremendous life change because of you. Thank you for your support.

Wasted life

2011-02-06T06:02:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine just passed away - actually a couple of them did. The friend that stands out is the one that was preventable. Julie was a young woman with a future before her. She struggled with addictions, but had gotten clean at times. She suffered under the consequences of her actions while under the influence, but she was growing and stopping those actions. At some point recently she decided to go out and use again. Now she is dead. I miss her and am angry at the waste of a great gift of life that God has given. I know she was connected to her Creator through Jesus Christ and walks with Him now with a healed body, mind and soul. A friend of mine says often "We have met the enemy and the enemy is us!" referring to our self destructive habits. I believe that completely and hate the consequences of it. I love Julie and look forward to one day walking with her again. My other friend died of natural causes at an older age and it does not hurt as much - the gift of life God gave Rick was not cut short nor wasted.

I am not stupid!

2011-01-29T19:14:00.000-08:00

New series for the next 3 weeks is about our financial intelligence. Most of us are not stupid, but when it comes to money we make some very stupid choices. If we are not that stupid then why are we broke, in debt and buy stuff we don't need or even want. Using biblical principles we will be addressing these questions for the next 3 weeks. Side note: Morning band is back for the 11am service!

Communion

2011-01-22T16:32:00.000-08:00

What does communion mean to you? Jesus did this ritual only once shortly before being crucified and told His disciples to do it in remembrance of Him. Many make a big deal about the type of bread and if it was wine or juice, but it appears Jesus' point was that His body and blood was life sustenance for us. He did not seem to concerned about what holiday they were observing or what type of bread or drink was available - Jesus seemed focused on the point that His body would be broken and blood shed for us and we needed to remember what He was going to do.

Later in scripture we find some more instructions regarding communion. One in particular was to not participate in the ceremony in an unworthy manner - that it was not to be taken lightly, rather as a serious time of reflection about what Jesus had done for you. It is clear that part of participating was a real relationship with God through Christ. At The Bridge we take communion seriously as a time of remembrance of what Jesus did for us. Because it is meant for the believer we do not offer communion during service times, but set up a special time each month for communion. This way the first time attenders at The Bridge that may not have a current relationship with Christ will not feel excluded during the ceremony.

When we remember what Jesus did we most often gather in a circle, share in the bread and juice and then share what Jesus did and is doing in our lives. It is a great time of bonding and fellowship. Our current schedule for communion is at 12:30 and 6:30 pm after the services the week after the Dinner at The Bridge each month. Hope you can join us some time. Let me know what Jesus did for you!

God is Bigger

2011-01-19T18:33:00.000-08:00

We continue with our theme of God is Bigger in all that we do. He surpasses all of our problems, provides beyond our asking and is greater than any dream we might have! Our new service times are Saturday at 6 pm, Sundays at 11 am and 5 pm. Continuing in our growth. God is Bigger!

Chain Reaction

2011-01-19T18:30:00.000-08:00

New name for the new church being started on the East side of Flint is Chain Reaction! Chain refers to the connection or link to our Creator made possible by Christ and the Reaction is about the movement starting in Genesee county. It is starting with a small group of people, but the Chain Reaction will explode into the community and change lives radically because of God working through His people. Tony and Traci will be great as the planting couple. It is the very beginning - the launch team is still to be found, but the word is getting out. I am excited about this next church launch and what is going to happen on the East side! We have a potential planter in the wings for the future also - more on that at a later date.

Road trip

2011-01-19T18:26:00.000-08:00

Heading out with the family for some R&R and some coaching from my church planting coach. I love the time I get to spend with leaders that have done what I am attempting. It is great to soak up some wisdom, get challenged on my thinking and grow because of it! 8 hours in the car with the family is a great bonding time as well.

wedding

2011-01-18T21:24:00.000-08:00

Did another wedding at The Bridge today. I love being a part of new beginnings - whether a new spiritual beginning or a marital beginning or kids. It is a real privilege to be a part of such a significant event in peoples lives! This couple chose to have their initials tattooed on each others ring finger as a symbol of their lifetime commitment. I like that level of commitment! Praying for them as they begin this new life together in a tough economy, tough circumstances (job and home) and a society that says honoring commitments is not as important as "feeling" good. As long as they keep trusting God in this relationship they will peace, joy and love!

Our God is bigger

2011-01-04T18:03:00.000-08:00

We sing Our God is Greater at The Bridge often. Love that song because it reminds me that God is always bigger and more capable than I believe. When I am confident He can do this much He can really do so much more. When I believe He loves me or others that much He really loves so much more. When I think He is calling me to this level of service He really is empowering me to do so much more! My God is bigger than anything that can come my way! This year I am trying to chase after God sized plans and dream - although I know I will fall short I would rather fall short of reaching the peak of Mt Everest than falling short of reaching the top of the local hill! What is your God sized dream?

2010-11-16T16:31:00.000-08:00

Had a great trip to NC for an assessment center for church planters. My wife and I went through one before we launched The Bridge. This trip was to take our first potential church planters down to see if they were right for church planting. The whole experience was great - the first time we were at one we were the assessed and learned a lot about ourselves. This time I was their to help with assessing and again learned a lot about myself. It is a very thorough process! I am excited about the future of church planting as I see the people coming through looking at getting into planting. Our candidates got a recommend for planting with some conditions to be met. They are now in training. Very excited about the next church we are starting!

2010-11-07T20:57:00.000-08:00

Doing a Relationship series now - looked at what relationships are and why we need them to start with. It was interesting researching this and taking it all the way back to the beginning. Realized in this process that we were designed as relational creatures, in the image of God, because God is a relational being. The Trinity is a revelation of God as a relational being, complete in all ways. The relationship that is described as a Father, Son and Spirit reveals a 3 person God that is eternally in relationship with Himself and is not in need of any other being for relationship. Some have said that God created man because He needed someone else to love, but this thought process is describing a deficient God. The Trinity is just one more revelation of a God that is complete unto Himself with no other needs yet still created man out of love, not need.

Anyway...I gained a better understanding of why relationships are so important and compelling for all of us. The need for relationships is designed into us and to meet that need we will often accept unhealthy relationships rather than no relationships. Any relationship in the human realm has to be between two people - a two part relationship. Looking at our model for healthy relationships we see a 3 part relationship, the Trinity. To bring health to our human relationships we need the 3rd part and that is inviting our Creator into the relationship. With God in our relationships we will start to find health and joy.

I could go on, but those are my thoughts on this for today.

2010-09-23T08:28:00.000-07:00

We are up to 3 services on Sundays now - 11 am, 4 pm and 6 pm. Developing new bands for worship, training workers for all areas, finding and growing new leaders and planning our next church launch. God is bigger has been our motto recently - many difficulties, but God overcomes them all! Excited about all the growth - growth in the number of people attending, spiritual growth and leadership growth!

2010-08-26T10:02:00.000-07:00

Been a very busy summer - lot of good stuff accomplished and plenty of troubles to wade through. God is good! The Bridge has been steadily growing and impacting lives in positive ways. New leaders are growing. Lives are being healed. Families reunited. New families begun. Marriages and funerals. The Word is going out and connecting people to their Creator. Finances are starting to get fixed. Chains of bondage are being broken. Plans for the next church launch are in process. People in the community are being loved. God's hand is being revealed. It has been a very busy summer!

Salvation according to John MacArthur

2010-07-29T12:55:00.001-07:00

I have been reading stuff by John MacArthur for a couple years now and I find it interesting that he is so condemning of people like Rick Warren and spends so much time telling everyone how to properly evangelize yet he completely disregards Jesus method of evangelism. He condemns Rick Warren for not mentioning repentance in the prayer for salvation - he only mentioned believe and receive, but left out repentance. John 1, Acts 10 and 1Timothy 1 are just a few of the many scriptures that teach the concept of believe and receive with no reference to repentance. On the cross Jesus told the criminal that today he would be in heaven with Him with no reference to repentance or, the much touted by John MacArthur, fear of God and crushing weight of sin. I guess according to John MacArthur Jesus did not tell people the correct way of salvation....

Just a little bit more!

2010-07-28T19:49:00.000-07:00

I read about a 15% principle on Seth Godin's blog - lose 15% of your business and you may have to close the doors, gain 15% and you may double your profits. Once you have reached the breakeven point the hard work is done - it took 100% to get there, but a 15% change can make or break you. Just do 15% more and find the success you desire!

I have seen so many people work hard to get to the point of breakeven then give up - whether in business or relationships. Most couples go through hell together then divorce when things begin to improve. Many people go through the hardest times then give up shortly after the worst is over. In business building the foundation is very difficult to establish and feels very unrewarding, but once it is established the rest is just following the pattern and growing the other 15%.

If things seem hopeless in any area just remember - all you need is a 15% improvement to drastically change the picture! Run after the last 15% like you did the first!

2 services

2010-06-05T18:02:00.000-07:00

We did our 2 service test drive - really looks like people will want a later service rather than an earlier service. The transitions went well. Need to get more volunteers overall, but we did have some crossover where a volunteer worked one service and attended another. It was a good experience. Pretty sure we will have to go to 2 services in the fall just to fit in the existing chairs.

Update

2010-04-19T10:18:00.000-07:00

It has been nearly a year since my last post! The past year has been full and exciting. Last year at this time we were just getting The Bridge going and in many ways I still feel like we are just getting going. I have been disappointed that we have not grown as fast I would have liked to, but I do recognize that God has grown us at the maximum rate we can handle - faster growth would probably have caused a serious implosion. God has been pruning the people that work at The Bridge and bringing the right ones in. I really see that there are people that have tremendous difficulty working in a functioning church, but may be great supporters for starting a church.

It seems we are on the edge of something great - about to explode with growth! Our people attending are great - very humble, down to earth, loving and accepting! I am humbled to serve here. Over the past year God has revealed to me so many ways I have been a hypocrite in leading church ministries. We now have several smokers in leadership positions - a few years ago I would probably have said I would never allow that. Now I see that we all have places in our lives that are strongholds - weight issues, gossip, meanness, lying, slander, smoking, drinking, sexual issues etc. Where do I draw the line? I guess for now as I am trying to figure it out the line would probably have to do with how hurtful that stronghold is to others, how it affects their ability to function and how that person is growing spiritually. Smoking is not a sin issue, it is a health issue - do we condemn the diabetic that eats wrong and exclude them from leadership? Gossip is a sin issue that destroys others. Being fat is a health issue. Lying could be a bad habit that affects few beyond the liar or destroys others.

Having a black and white rule book would sure be nice! I try my best to let love by my guide - Jesus said to love God and love others and all the rules and laws are hung on those 2 principles. I am thankful to God for bringing me into this church planting role and the humbling it has brought to my life. God is stretching and growing me in huge ways! I really do love the people He has put in my life through the Bridge!

Things that make you go hmm

2009-04-27T10:32:00.000-07:00

Things that make you go Hmm? This is the current series I am giving messages on - tough questions. So far we have done how can a loving God allow pain and suffering and is there really any right and wrong? The bottom line on the pain and suffering question is that God loved us enough to give us free will regardless of the consequences of that and the only way to eliminate all pain and suffering is to eliminate free will. On the right and wrong question we were dealing with the concept of absolutes vs relativity. Bottom line - we all have an internal moral standard and all discussion regarding right and wrong refer to a higher standard that we try to measure all other standards by. This is indicative of there being a true right and wrong, absolutes.

Our next message is on only one way to heaven. How arrogant of us to presume our "religion" is the only way (sarcasm). What makes us think our way is the only way - why our we so special? This is what we will be looking into next Sunday.

The Warrior Mom

2009-03-08T11:29:00.000-07:00

Taught on the warrior's heart that is in every man today. My wife warned me some of what I had to say may be difficult for some women to hear or believe. There was some push back on my statement that there is a time to throw a punch as well as a time to turn the cheek. After the service I had the opportunity to talk to several of the ladies. The mothers understood the concept of a warrior's heart pretty well - all mothers have a bit of the warrior's heart in them when it comes to their kids. The main question was on the drive to have a battle to fight in every man. The point in the message was that a man without a cause to fight for will fight against all the wrong things. Knowing our cause to fight for will help us to know when it is time to throw a punch or turn the cheek. What is your cause?

The Warrior

2009-03-01T16:52:00.000-08:00

We have an upcoming series that starts March 8th called The Warrior. We are very excited about this series! In every man's life, there is a cause worth fighting for and a victory worth claiming. What is yours? Discover how to not only prepare for the battles ahead, but more importantly, how to emerge victoriously. It's time to stop playing the role of the nice guy and instead live as The Warrior. Ladies, you can come and learn something about the Warrior you know and we encourage you to invite the men you know to come and hear about the Warrior that God has made him to be. Men, come hear about the Warrior's cause and how to be the Warrior God has made you to be and invite other men to check this out. As usual this will be different and powerful. This series will lead us into the Easter message Jesus the Warrior. I am looking forward to seeing you there.

Free will

2008-12-14T11:03:00.000-08:00

Why did Jesus die for us if He could have snapped His fingers and corrected our shortcomings? Jesus did not have to die to "fix" us - He has the power to change us any way He wants. Why doesn't God cause us to want to obey Him? He could!

I believe part of being made "in God's image" is free will - the ability to choose. If free will is so important to God that He sacrificed His own son rather than take it away what does that say about freedom? As Christ followers do we need to put emphasis on freedom? As we face a time that our nation is turning socialist how does freedom come into play? Socialism helps others in many ways - isn't that what Jesus wants?

update

2008-11-29T15:08:00.000-08:00

I have been horrible about keeping up on this blog. Forgive me I beg. Six months ago I was impatient to get things rolling with The Bridge, but now time is flying by and it is difficult to keep up. Things are going great - not perfect, but great. I would like to put some real nuggets of wisdom down here, but I have used them all up I think - both of them.

We are getting more interested visitors at each service. We want to draw a larger crowd at the Dec 21st preview to get the word out so that the Launch on Jan 18 draws a good group. We have had great attendance with over 110 people visiting over the first 4 previews and an average of 65 overall. If we can get over 200 different people through the doors by the launch we will have a breaking point for word of mouth to really accelerate the attendance. I am excited!

The Message

2008-09-29T11:06:00.000-07:00

The service was great! We had 24 new people show up. The music went well and I think the message was received - I am sorry for how Christians have behaved. The apology was sincere and well taken.

There were two things I wanted to get across - first was I wanted the group to know that God is interested in a relationship with them, not in finding some reason to condemn them. Second I wanted the group to look past Christian's behavior to Jesus. Jesus never condemned the "sinner", rather He was loving with them and harsh with the religious leaders.

Sept 28

2008-09-27T10:33:00.000-07:00

We had an interview with the Flint Journal and got an article in the paper. The response has been great! I look forward to meeting new people that are interested in what we are doing. I want to extend an open invitation to take you out to lunch. If you want to meet with me and hear more about what we are doing give me a call and I will set a time up to treat you to lunch or coffee.

I am excited about the weekend connection tomorrow! I believe God has good word for many people at this meeting. There is so much I want to say in the message, but I will stick to our point. I will post soon on how the meeting went.

Steve Bentley
810-217-8084

The Preview

2008-08-26T08:14:00.000-07:00

The first Preview service for The Bridge went great! We had over 20 volunteers working and over 60 people in attendance. The programs were in place for us to easily accommodate 250 or more in attendance. I, of course, hoped to have more show up, but I am very pleased with how everything went. The transitions from element to element in the connection time went flawlessly and many things went without a hitch. The changes we need to make are due to planning issues and not execution. Everything went according to plan - we will plan even better for the next one though.

The next service - Sept 28 - is getting setup. Come be a part.

The message at the first service was about what God wants from us - a relationship. That is what He truly cares about. Religion is all about rules, but God is all about relationships. I needed to extrapolate more on that in the message - about our relationships to others, but I think the point was received.

update

2008-08-23T07:12:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow is the big day! We have our first preview service at 11 am at the Carman Plaza location - they agreed to reduced rent for the first six months. We are excited! There will be video clips, a relevant talk, and a large group of volunteers. We hope the guests out number the volunteers. I will post the sermon here next week. When this is all done we start to ramp up for the next one on Sept 28. I hope we seen you there.

Affirmation

2008-07-10T06:30:00.000-07:00

I just realized I posted about our going to an assessment and never put the results up. It may have appeared the assessment did not go well since I did not talk about it again. That is far from the truth! We had a great time at the assessment - we made new friends, learned new things and got a great affirmation. We were fully and unconditionally recommended for church planting! This only happens for 10-20% of the people being assessed. Heading out there we definitely had a little voice whispering in our ear that maybe we are not qualified to do this. We have not done any testing for our ability or affinity for church planting before this, but we did do a lot of study. It really was affirming to have a group of church planters and psychologists say we were real candidates for church planting!

This official approval has given us the opportunity to meet with church planting groups that want to invest in The Bridge as a new church. We have two groups - Growing Healthy Churches and Green Lakes Church Planting - that are putting up matching funds and offering training and coaching. We will be giving back a regular percentage to these groups to "pay back" their investment and add to the original capital so more churches can be planted. We are very excited to be part of these groups! Our vision for planting more churches in the area is better equipped because of these groups, their resources, training and investment.

We just got back from a round table meeting in Green Lake sponsored by GLCP and GHC. We were able to meet with church planters at all stages - from not started yet to planting their 4th church. We also got time picking the brain of John Jackson - a church planter from Nevada that has figured some things out. God is good! He is definitely working in Genesee County. I ask that all of you continue to pray for us. God bless you!

Faith

2008-06-14T06:22:00.000-07:00

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. - Hebrews 11:1

Lets take a look at faith in this post. Faith is often illustrated with the light switch. You come into a room and flick a switch on with the full faith it will turn the light on. You may not even know how that works, but fully trust it will.

Look at Heb. 11:1b - "...certain of what we do not see." The first time someone ever uses a switch it is faith. Maybe the first month of using it is faith. At some point, rather quickly, it is no longer faith. This person has seen it work consistently every time. They have "seen" it. It is now knowledge rather than faith.

What does this mean for us? When God stretches us with something new we can respond in faith if we choose to follow Him. Tithing is a good example. Tithing is not a law that brings salvation, but a principle of God that can initially stretch us. To begin to tithe may stretch us in our faith. We can't see how this is possible to do. We may start at 1% and work our way up. What will happen over time is we will see God bless us and never miss the 10% we work up to - as long as it is cheerfully given. After a period of time tithing, we will "see" the truth of God's provision. It is no longer a faith act. Faith has become knowledge.

If we are to live a life of faith and not knowledge what do we do? This journey is not a static one. It is an adventure! Being called to faith is being called to something new - perpetually. As a follower of Christ we must be doing a new thing for God always or we are not living by faith. When the scary thing God called us to do, whether tithing or mission work, is no longer scary because we know God will provide, we must allow God to stretch us with the new thing He is calling us to do. This happens in small things - changing our attitude, smiling more or whatever He is challenging us to do - as well as the big things - go to China, sell your big house and downsize so you can give the difference to God, or whatever.

We must be doing a new thing for God to be living by faith. Are you living by faith? What is the new thing you are doing?

update

2008-06-08T19:54:00.000-07:00

Katrina and I are headed out to Wisconsin for a Growing Healthy Churches assessment. We are excited about what we will learn and the potential help they can give us. What is even more exciting is that we can become part of this group and help plant more churches. I will be presenting our first sermon at this assessment and will post it here later.

The Bridge Ministry is moving forward. Our location is still in question, but that is not our biggest concern right now. We are continuing to expand our launch team and are looking for more people that are interested in serving God in this ministry. We are focused on reaching the people that don't like going to church, come from an unchurched background or are looking for a place they can serve God. Our Sunday service will be about connecting people to our Relevant God!

The Introduction to The Bridge

2008-05-17T16:51:00.000-07:00

Just got back from our Introduction to The Bridge! This was our first public presentation of what we are doing. It went great - there were 78 people attending and good response from everyone. We found areas to improve upon at the next meeting on June 28th and look forward to more people attending at the next. We had a great group of people helping put this together. God is good!

Our focus in our weekend services will be on the new person, but not to the exclusion of being relevant to the regular attender as well. Our goal is for the regular attender to be focused on reaching the new person as well - our motto for the services for our members is "It is not about you!" Our community groups will be about the followers of Christ and their growth.

Our single biggest need right now is obtaining a location. We have an agreement for a lease for unit 17 (10,080 sq ft) in Carman Plaza on Corunna Rd @ I-75. This location meets all the criteria we have set for our desired location. We need to raise the money necessary to lock up this lease. Right now we need $11,000 to pay the deposit and rent to take us through Nov. We are trusting God to provide this through His people or provide for us in another manner.

I am excited about the future for The Bridge! Pray for us as we move forward. I want to thank God for His provision.

Truth

2008-04-29T17:41:00.000-07:00

- I have been reading a book called The Truth War. This book has some good stuff in it about truth, but makes big assumptions about churches that are doing things in a new way. Some of the info about the postmodern way of thinking was enlightening. This way of thinking is typified by relativism, truth to you is different than truth to me. The one intolerance allowed is against anyone that would say this is right and you are wrong. The authors contention is churches that are seeker sensitive are following this type of thinking - anything goes just don't be critical. I disagree on this point with the author vehemently. I have been impressed with the seeker sensitive churches I have visited and how they have been straight forward on the truth. They did not compromise one bit and neither will we. A watered down gospel is not only wrong it is ineffective. A church that will not change with the times is not sticking to the truth, rather only sticking to a time frame. Being unwilling to change is not a sign of being a truth devotee, rather it is a sign of a church that has lost sight of God's will.
- I have been reading another book called Every Man's Battle. This book addresses issues discussed in previous blogs here - the issue of men, their eyes and thoughts. I highly recommend this book to all men and women. It is vital to understanding the battle men face with their thought life and roaming eyes.

Core Values

2008-04-15T18:32:00.000-07:00

Our Core Values

We Value People

People matter to God

We believe people matter to God and therefore they matter to us. God demonstrated the high value He places on people when he gave His very best, his Son, to provide the gift of salvation. GCIC’s assignment is to get the message of this good news to the world so we can help people establish a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and equip them to become Difference Makers in the world.

(John 3:16, Romans 5:8, Luke 15:7, Luke 15:10))

We Value Application of Scripture

Teaching is for Life-Change

We believe the Bible is God’s Word to our world. Therefore, we must live and practice the life changing principles we discover. God gave us His Word in order to equip us and change us for His glory and our benefit.

(Psalm 1, James 1:22-25, Luke 6:46, Psalm 119:11)

We Value Authentic Community

Life change happens best in community groups

We believe real authenticity is best described as openness with others about our strengths and weaknesses. We will help people find their way from the large group (weekend worship) into relationally-authentic community groups.

(Acts 2:44-47, Romans 7, Colossians 4:5)

We Value Relevance

Although our methods will change, our Message will not

We believe the Bible is the most exciting book ever written, and we seek to share its’ good news in relevant environments. We will create appropriate environments for our Preschoolers, Grade school children, Middle and High school students as well as adults.

(1 Corinthians 9:22, 2 Corinthians 11:2, 1 Chronicles 12:32)

We Value Service

Every member is a minister

We believe God has equipped every Christ-Follower with gifts and passions so they can become difference makers for Jesus Christ. We will encourage everyone to use and develop their gifts and talents in service to our church, community and world.

(1 Peter 4:10, Romans 12:6-8, 1Cornithians 12:4-7, Ephesians 4:11-13)

Sin

2008-04-10T19:10:00.000-07:00

Is sin an action? We label many actions a sin, but is that an accurate definition of sin? A definition of sin I heard recently was our attempt to be independent from God. There are so many concepts of sin out there it is important for a group to be in agreement on one concept for discussion and comprehension. My contention is sin is not an action. I will use several examples for this. First, let us go back to the first sin - when Eve reached for the forbidden fruit with the intent to eat it, but had Adam blocked her, would she have not sinned? If someone attempts a murder, but is completely unsuccessful are they free of sin? An adulterous moment is prevented by witnesses, are they innocent? The answer to these questions is NO! They are not innocent. The intent was to do, the decision was made. The action is not the sin, rather the decision or intent is the sin. The actions are only a consequence of the sin in the mind or heart. We all accept (well most) that a person that loses control of a car on an icy road and runs a pedestrian down is not guilty of murder. We accept this because we recognize intent makes a difference. This is the concept of sin I use. I agree with the statement that sin is our attempt to be independent of God - when we decide to disobey God in any manner we are saying we are independent of Him. The disobedience may be murder or it may be eating fruit, but either way the disobedience is in the decision, not the action. The action stems from the decision and the action may be thwarted despite the decision, yet this does not provide innocence.
The great question to be asked after any discourse whether it be religious, political or scientific is "So what?" This concept of sin impacts many things. A great question for men is where does admiration end and lust begin? I have heard it said that lust is the mind saying "If I could get away with it, I would do it!" This is opposed to the mind (male) saying "She is very attractive (hot). Good job God!" The sin is in the choice/decision not the action. Jesus made this clear when he talked about murder and hatred being the same and adultery and lust being equal. This was not about there being some new rules, rather it was about where sin truly lies - in the mind/heart. Jesus was speaking against the Pharisees that invented rules to avoid coming close to breaking the rules, yet sinned in their hearts continually. He was not adding rules for us, but talking about where the problem really is.
I hope this has not been too confusing. Reply to this and let me know your thoughts. Coming soon - Why the forbidden fruit? Thank you.

Purpose

2008-04-06T06:22:00.000-07:00

I often use the illustration for finding our purpose here on earth as follows. What is the one thing, as a Christ follower, we can do on earth that we will not be able to do in Heaven? There is one primary thing – that is to evangelize, to lead the lost to God. Does that mean we should not spend time doing the heavenly things – worship, fellowship, personal growth, communion with God and leadership? No! What this indicates is the reason we are not swept into heaven upon becoming a follower is the work God has for us here. That work is sharing the Good News, obeying the great commission. A story goes “People on a plane are stuck on the runway due to weather and conversations start. When one woman discovered the man next to her was a minister she asked him why he did not take care of the weather. He responded to her that she was mistaken; it was not his department, but rather management’s. His department was sales.” Our department is sales. Not in the negative sense, but in the sense we can point them to the solution to their biggest problems. In the past we tried to “sell” by scaring people with their eternal destination. The eternal destination is important, but most people’s immediate problems are so big they cannot see past them. We must show them that God cares about where they are now and can give them the power and resources to overcome. This is not to be confused with the genie concept some apply to God – He is not our servant, but as it is often illustrated in the Word, He is our loving Father that wants what is best for us.

The bottom line for GCIC is we will follow God. If ever we find we are going against God or the Bible we will change. We seek to expand the Kingdom of Heaven with godly men and women. If the people of GCIC claim to be Christ followers, yet their life does not reflect that, then we will have failed. We are not interested in creating a group of people that claim the name, but do not practice the walk. There are some groups out there that do these things, but we are not one of them. Our desire is for any fellow Christian that feels we are off track to come to us and show us where. To stand on the sidelines and criticize without reaching out to offer correction or guidance in love is not a reflection on GCIC, but rather a reflection on that person’s intent. Help us to be the best we can be for God.

Discipling

2008-04-04T08:48:00.000-07:00

All the great revivals of church history began with people getting away from the accepted methods of the church and finding more relevant methods to share the unchanging gospel. GCIC is not interested in rebellion; rather we are interested in obeying Jesus’ command to disciple all nations following Paul’s principle of doing whatever is necessary to accomplish it. (1 Corinthians 9:19-23) If people are worshiping false gods we will not condemn them for that, but illustrate the need that activity exposes and how the one true God can fill that need. (Acts 17:22-24) If the people in our community are interested in fast paced music that is popular in the bars we will take those types of tunes and put God’s words to them, much as many of our hymns were developed. If our community is facing great financial difficulties we will apply the Word to those issues and show them how God can help them through this time. Does God’s Word apply to our lives today? Yes! Is it relevant? Yes!

Our society is one that is far from God, but comes from a Christian heritage. This has developed a common perception that to hear from God one must go to church on Sunday morning about 11 am. That is why GCIC uses the 11 am service as an outreach to unsaved people. The service is not about us. It is about obeying Jesus in His command to His followers to disciple all nations. Are we like the group I once heard of: gathering people around for an exciting message of how they needed God and if they were to pray right then, they would be saved - after a head count the evangelizers take off to never see the converts again? Absolutely not! GCIC uses the service for multiple purposes, but for the unsaved it is for connecting them to God and to a discipling group. Discipling is more than just converting people to Christ followers; it is also developing them into leaders/ministers in God’s kingdom. We will have regular training sessions for anyone that wants to become a member, move into a position of leadership and for ongoing development. Our community groups will be led by godly men and women in non-threatening environments with a focus on applying scripture to their lives. (Jesus ministry in fields, parties and other places comfortable to those He was ministering to) Our services will be attractive to the unchurched, but have an undiluted gospel. The primary purpose of the Sunday service at GCIC is to connect the lost with God and plug them into discipleship.

The Curtain

2008-04-03T16:47:00.000-07:00

When Jesus died on the cross the curtain in the temple was torn in half. (Mark 15:38) The holy of holies was exposed. No longer was there a priest to act as intermediary between God and man. Jesus became our intermediary and He told us we could come directly to the Father now. (Hebrews 2:17, 8:6, Ephesians 3:12) This is significant because we do not have an inner sanctum where we meet with God any longer – the auditorium that many church services are held in are treated as an inner sanctum for the saints of God to come meet with Him. This fosters a belief that the Sunday service is for the “saved” not the “unsaved”. The holy place of God is in our hearts, not in some building. (Hebrews 13:12) If unsaved people come to the “sanctuary” to meet God on Sundays then we must utilize this for sharing the good news. Our society has become one of privacy. We must earn the right to share with people. The one time we do not need to earn that right is when they show up at our Sunday service. They have come seeking something. This is the time to give them the Answer in any manner that will make sense to them. Our misguided thought that things are inherently holy often gets in the way of this. Must we have pews? Must we have music? If there is music must it be over 100 years old? (Ephesians 5:19) Are pianos the only musical instrument that is approved by God? Is King James English the only acceptable language to God? Jesus did not use it. He even used the common Greek of the day when necessary. Before the new covenant God made many instruments, places and rituals holy, but after Jesus’ death and resurrection God made people holy. (Hebrews 13:12)

2008-03-28T09:12:00.000-07:00

In Jesus’ ministry He went to where the people were, met their immediate needs, built relationships with them and told them the Good News. (Mark 1:16-20) The apostle Paul said he would be all things to all people to reach some. (1 Corinthians 9:19-23) Neither Jesus nor Paul said come to me after you have cleaned yourself up and I will tell you how awful you are – or come to me no matter how I appear to you, whether with the appearance of a Pharisee or some irrelevant religious speaker. (Matthew 11:28-30) Paul even told one group their idol, titled “the unknown god” was our God and used their wrong viewpoint to show the relevance of our God. (Acts 17:22-24) Jesus did not tell His followers they had to go to the synagogue to learn about God. He met them where they were at and drew them to God by speaking about the issues facing them. (Matthew 15:1-10 and most of the 4 gospels in general)

GCIC is looking to reach people where they are. We want to speak to their current needs and show the relevance of God. The intent is not entertainment. The saying "The mind can only stand what the butt can endure" is true, but I have found "The butt can endure as long as the mind is engaged", also to be true. The intent is to be engaging, not by the expectation that "good people" will be engaged, but by giving a presentation that is attractive enough to engage the audience. More to come...

GCIC Biblical Foundations

2008-03-27T19:01:00.000-07:00

To begin, we must start at the beginning. The story of Adam and Eve in the garden teaches us many things. A very important lesson is in the instruction to not eat the fruit of a certain tree. Did God give this instruction, but not give the power to obey or disobey? Was the instruction valid if they had no option except to disobey? Who is responsible for their sin – God, because He forced them to disobey in His uncontrollable sovereignty or Adam and Eve, because they had a real choice and opportunity to obey? God determined they were responsible and made them suffer the consequences of their choice. Therefore free will must be a reality. God in His sovereignty, controlled His sovereignty so that Man had choice. Did free will end after the fall? Again God held Cain responsible for his actions, thus indicating free will. God apparently believes in free will. (Genesis chapters 2-4)

Why does this matter? At GCIC we believe we have free will to this day and individuals must choose to respond to God’s calling to be saved. (Joshua 24:15) We recognize God’s omniscience, but do not find God’s knowledge of the past, present and future eliminates free will. Our knowledge of Abraham Lincoln being assassinated does not mean there was no other possible actions at that time – Booth could have changed his mind – our knowledge has nothing to do with what happened. Knowledge of a particular activity does not cause it, but rather measures it. God is not constrained by time as we are – He stands outside of time observing and can intervene anywhere. Just as God observes all time we observe the past. Just as God’s observation does not remove the potentialities our observation of Lincoln does not preclude there being other potentialities. This places a great burden on us to follow Jesus’ great commission to “go and make disciples of all nations”. (Matthew 28:18-20) People have free will to choose and we must present God to them as He is – relevant to their lives; living, real, loving – the best choice.

The message of the church - a religious institution!

2008-03-09T10:42:00.000-07:00

I saw 2 different church signs - one said "Reason is the greatest enemy of faith" and the other "Faith sees God - Intellect does not". I think I understand the intent behind these signs, but what is the message being received by the unchurched. Faith is unreasonable and counter to intelligence? If faith and reason can not coexist then we should not evangelize. To evangelize is to give the reason behind faith in God.

As Christ followers we unfortunately represent God to people that do not know Him. With that in mind we have to watch what we do and say. A never smiling follower sends the message God is not happy or fun. The statements on the above mentioned signs send the message we are idiots. I believe God gave us intellect and the ability to reason and it is OK to use it.

I do not want to attack the church or give that appearance. I was doing and saying these same things and feel like my eyes have been opened. If the American church was growing and making a difference in our society and culture I would not question the methods, but we have no results. No results are not due to the invalidity of God and scripture, so I must question our methods. Have we sent the message that God, scripture and the church are irrelevant?

The good, the bad and the ugly

2008-03-08T07:24:00.001-08:00

As we start a new church we must be prepared to accept the consequences of reaching unchurched people. I have said several times that most people with a background in church will not be comfortable at GCIC. It is not because we will try to make them uncomfortable, but we will focus on making the unchurched comfortable. This will be in the music, videos and stage ministry, but much more than those it will be an attitude of acceptance and love for people that are messed up and messing up others. Check out this blog http://www.garylamb.org/2008/02/02/allow-me-to-rant/ on this topic.

My desire is for a church that Christ followers can come to for real ministering opportunities and a place the unloved, unsaved, downtrodden can come. They will not change in the twinkling of an eye, but we are not about changing them. We are about loving them and introducing them to a God that can change them. How many of us can truly bring positive change to ourselves without HIS help?

GCIC Beginning

2008-03-06T20:01:00.000-08:00

Since the late 90’s my wife and I have felt a call and hunger to start a new church. We did not know when, just that we would start a new church. During the summer of 2007 we felt God telling us now is the time. No details, but definitely to get going. This led us to many questions such as where, what, how and who. God began answering these questions.

Our first thought was that God would send us somewhere else – to places we had visited and people we had begun to build relationships with. But, we realized God had been putting people in our path right here in Genesee County who were interested in planting a new church. It finally became clear that God wanted us to stay where we were.

Our observation of the churches we have served in and our personal lives was that most often the Church has been ineffective in reaching the lost in our cultures. There were some ministries we worked in or observed that were growing and impacting the community, but these had leaders of a caliber and talent I do not have (I am not Bill Hybels). If that leader was not there, it would not work. God has increased our burden for the lost and our frustration with the lack of growth. We are losing America while we sit in Sunday School satisfied with learning more stuff. I have reached the point that I am serious about the fight. A quote I read once was “A revolution is an idea with the bayonets on!” I am putting my bayonet on and charging the gates of Hell. Christianity is a fight – a fight against our own natures, a fight against Satan, a fight to save a dying people. Hell is eternal death and every day people are going there. We cannot stand for this! I will not stand for this! Satan better take notice – Genesee County is not going to hell without a fight.

In Hebrews 12:1 the Apostle Paul uses the analogy of running the race marked out for us. Unfortunately, many of the ministries I have been involved in have been on a circle track - it feels like something is going on, maybe even fast, but in the big picture there is no ground being covered no matter how fast or how well you run as long as you stay on the track. We need to get off the circle track! We need to run a race worthy of Him who has commissioned us to “Go and make disciples”!