Just putting up a post because it has been over a year. Planning to use this for some of our bible study content in the future. Been a lot going on in the past year - fine tuning some things, planning for others and ongoing ministries. Launching some new things soon that I will post here as well. Thanks for reading!
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
Sunday, February 15, 2015
The Body
The Body. Today we have the technology to keep a hand alive hooked up to machines for a long period of time. The body that gives up that hand is less than it could be but that hand is functionally useless and barely alive. When we try to exist as a follower of Christ, part of the Body, without being strongly connected to that Body we are like a hand cut off, sustained artificially. Technically alive yet barely functional. The Body is certainly less without us and missing opportunities to be effective but we are next to useless.
There are some people that have called the Bridge their home church, their Body, that do not attend anymore. Some have found other local Bodies to be a part of, but some are cutoff and can't find a place that is right for them. If you are one of those I challenge you to look at why you struggle with coming home. Did another part of the Body offend you? Is the music not exactly how you want it? Did the pastor say something that bothered you? Did something happen that made you decide you would not be a part of the Body anymore? How is that working out for you being a hand with no Body?
As I get older more and more of my body parts disagree with me and do not function as they should, but none of them have left me (except my appendix and he died). The Body, the family of God, has people in it so we will never be perfect and will say and do things that will hurt or offend at times and if you stay plugged in long enough you will hurt or offend someone else eventually. That is no reason to stay cutoff and unplugged. The Bridge, this local Body of Christ, is less without you and I contend you are completely missing out on the role God has planned for you if you keep yourself cutoff and unplugged.
If you have called the Bridge your home church but have not been here and plugged in for some time - if you have tried other churches and can't find a place that feels right - have been cutoff from any Body living an artificial life - then I challenge you, encourage you, to come back home and rejoin this Body that needs you. You need us as well and together we can be so much more! Let's make a difference to our community together!
There are some people that have called the Bridge their home church, their Body, that do not attend anymore. Some have found other local Bodies to be a part of, but some are cutoff and can't find a place that is right for them. If you are one of those I challenge you to look at why you struggle with coming home. Did another part of the Body offend you? Is the music not exactly how you want it? Did the pastor say something that bothered you? Did something happen that made you decide you would not be a part of the Body anymore? How is that working out for you being a hand with no Body?
As I get older more and more of my body parts disagree with me and do not function as they should, but none of them have left me (except my appendix and he died). The Body, the family of God, has people in it so we will never be perfect and will say and do things that will hurt or offend at times and if you stay plugged in long enough you will hurt or offend someone else eventually. That is no reason to stay cutoff and unplugged. The Bridge, this local Body of Christ, is less without you and I contend you are completely missing out on the role God has planned for you if you keep yourself cutoff and unplugged.
If you have called the Bridge your home church but have not been here and plugged in for some time - if you have tried other churches and can't find a place that feels right - have been cutoff from any Body living an artificial life - then I challenge you, encourage you, to come back home and rejoin this Body that needs you. You need us as well and together we can be so much more! Let's make a difference to our community together!
Saturday, August 2, 2014
Unmasked
Wrapped up our Unmasked series. Messages were on wearing masks, our focus (on God or us), and the 3 gifts of Grace - Love, Repentance and Forgiveness. It is Grace that allows us to remove our masks trusting in what God says about us and receiving and giving Love, Repentance and Forgiveness! We so often want to wear masks because we know all of our deepest and darkest secrets and with that we find it hard to believe that anyone, especially God, could be ok with us. When we start to trust what God says about us and that He accepts us we can begin to remove our masks and develop a community of grace. Knowing our own sins and God's Grace and Mercy we can accept others just as they are so that they can remove their masks and for the first time stand naked and unashamed before God and others. I hope this series is taken to heart by many and influences many masks being removed. We desire to be a community of authentic people following Christ.
Saturday, May 3, 2014
Transformed
Working on this powerful series on being transformed by God in 7 areas of our life taken from Rick Warren. As I am developing each message the thought keeps occurring to me that this message series could seriously change lives, but only if people will apply it to themselves. As we go through our year with all of our messages every message comes with "homework". If we don't take up the message and actively apply it to ourselves we will not reap the benefits. I guess this is pretty basic, but I see it occur so often.
I hear from some people that they need to be fed spiritually, but no matter how often the food is placed right in front of them they won't eat! There is a part we play in being "fed" and a part we play in being transformed. We have to do our part! Get into the groups and dig deeper! Pray actively about what the message is about! Take it seriously! The message is not for entertainment, it is for life change! It may be presented in an entertaining way (hopefully) but remember this is serious business. When we grow and improve and are transformed God uses us in powerful ways to affect our communities! Be an agent for change!
When you die and move on into eternity will your passing matter? Will you leave an empty space behind because of what you gave to your community? When God uses you there is a noticeable gap when you are gone!
I hear from some people that they need to be fed spiritually, but no matter how often the food is placed right in front of them they won't eat! There is a part we play in being "fed" and a part we play in being transformed. We have to do our part! Get into the groups and dig deeper! Pray actively about what the message is about! Take it seriously! The message is not for entertainment, it is for life change! It may be presented in an entertaining way (hopefully) but remember this is serious business. When we grow and improve and are transformed God uses us in powerful ways to affect our communities! Be an agent for change!
When you die and move on into eternity will your passing matter? Will you leave an empty space behind because of what you gave to your community? When God uses you there is a noticeable gap when you are gone!
Saturday, April 26, 2014
Update
Easter was a great time! Here is what happened at The Bridge on Easter -
Good Friday Communion – 38
Good Friday Communion – 38
Easter Egg Hunt - 120
Saturday PM Service - 70
Sunday 8AM Service - 56
Sunday 11Am Service - 224
Sunday PM Service - 15
Total Attendance Easter Weekend - 523
Total Attendance at Services - 403
We were able to make a connection with over 500 people. 2 years ago we were averaging that many people at our weekend services and today we are averaging half that - 250. With all the setbacks from being shut down and relocating for 7 months we are doing well regrowing. We have been back in our facility for just over a year now and have grown from 150 in attendance to 250.
Through all of the transitions we have seen people's lives changing from a new saving relationship with God through the Son to relational healing to freedom from addiction issues. God has been good to us and through us. We are praying that God will glorify Himself through us. Looking forward to whatever is next!
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Noah
I want to get my 2 cents in on this Noah movie. Have not seen it yet but will as soon as I can. My issue has nothing to do with the movie. I expected some type of back lash from the church community over this movie. I was not disappointed. There have been several "Christian" reviewers I have read and they range in their reviews from liking it to attributing it to a work of Satan. I think the reviewers that say something to the effect "while it does not adhere to the biblical account it can be a great conversation starter and has some powerful biblical points that can be drawn out" are the ones that have a healthy response to the non-christian world digging into the biblical text for entertainment. Why does the "church" have to respond like this? So negative and attacking and derisive of the unchurched or non christian people using the bible as a source for entertainment?
I remember shortly before becoming a Christian as a young adult a movie came out called the Last Temptation of Christ that had such a tremendous outpouring of hatred and anger come at it from the "church". This movie was not appealing to me and I never watched it until after becoming a Christian and hearing vague criticisms of it from people that had never watched it. Upon watching it I found 2 things. One was that it really was not that horrible and had some very valid positive messages in it despite some very non biblical content. Two was that people in the church attacked me as a Christian for daring to watch it. I could not believe that as a follower of the Christ that is the way, truth and the life, the one that promised that those that seek the truth will find it, I was being told that just watching a movie that may have non biblical content regarding a biblical story was dangerous.
What it appears to me is that the "church" is fearful and believes Jesus' followers are weak minded. So scared of some story or movie - so scared of "magic" and false religions - so scared of so much! The early church and particularly Jesus were not scared of anything. Paul pointed to the idol made out to the unknown god and proclaimed it as the one true God! If we did that today the rest of the church would cry heresy. Paul did not fear the false gods and false religions because he was confident in Jesus and His teachings. A confident follower of Christ would be able to take a movie that was put out by the "heathen" about a biblical story and point out how correct it is in the areas that they get right. Why do we feel compelled to attack in these situations? Why can't we find the common ground and build from there?
My little rant for today! Thank you.
I remember shortly before becoming a Christian as a young adult a movie came out called the Last Temptation of Christ that had such a tremendous outpouring of hatred and anger come at it from the "church". This movie was not appealing to me and I never watched it until after becoming a Christian and hearing vague criticisms of it from people that had never watched it. Upon watching it I found 2 things. One was that it really was not that horrible and had some very valid positive messages in it despite some very non biblical content. Two was that people in the church attacked me as a Christian for daring to watch it. I could not believe that as a follower of the Christ that is the way, truth and the life, the one that promised that those that seek the truth will find it, I was being told that just watching a movie that may have non biblical content regarding a biblical story was dangerous.
What it appears to me is that the "church" is fearful and believes Jesus' followers are weak minded. So scared of some story or movie - so scared of "magic" and false religions - so scared of so much! The early church and particularly Jesus were not scared of anything. Paul pointed to the idol made out to the unknown god and proclaimed it as the one true God! If we did that today the rest of the church would cry heresy. Paul did not fear the false gods and false religions because he was confident in Jesus and His teachings. A confident follower of Christ would be able to take a movie that was put out by the "heathen" about a biblical story and point out how correct it is in the areas that they get right. Why do we feel compelled to attack in these situations? Why can't we find the common ground and build from there?
My little rant for today! Thank you.
Friday, March 7, 2014
Bold
Doing a new series on Boldness - Bold Witness, Bold Prayer, Bold Speech and Bold Obedience.
2 Timothy 1:7 (NLT)
2 Timothy 1:7 (NLT)
7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power,
love, and self-discipline.
We are called to Boldness. Boldness leads us to great actions! Bold Actions come from Bold Prayer and Bold Obedience. God will provide you with the courage you need to do the great things He has planned for you!
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Freedom – again
I
have been questioned on why I believe freedom is so important. Why do I focus on personal freedom and
free will in my thinking theologically?
Especially when we are called to be slaves of Christ and are reminded we
were bought at a price (Christ on the Cross) in the bible. My thinking on this really boils down
to some simple things.
If
we do not have free will then nothing matters. What we do we do because either God makes us or the
deterministic qualities of the laws of physics make us. Either way nothing matters because we
have no say in it. Without free
will this writing is determined to be done outside of my control. Without free
will there is neither evil nor good.
All is neutral. There is no
choice.
Biblically
we see choice as one of the first gifts God gives to His creation called
Man. Everything we see in the
bible points to God creating us to be in relationship with Him. He could create all the creatures He
wanted that had no choice except to love and worship Him, but a real
relationship requires the ability to choose. There is great risk with the ability to choose, but this is also
the only way to get the reward of relationship.
When
I look at the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross, sinless man dying to redeem
sinful man, I have often wondered “Wasn’t there another way?” As a Sovereign God He could have ended
sin simply by taking away free will.
With no freedom to choose we can not choose to sin. When I look at the other options this
is all I see in regards to salvation of Man and the restoration of the
relationship (which is another big conversation).
A
question asked is “Is salvation based on God’s sovereign will or is it
dependent upon Man’s freedom to choose God?” I would say both.
God’s sovereign will is to grant free will to Man not imposing His will
upon Man, rather allowing the freedom of choice. Man must choose to receive what God is offering through His
Son on the cross. The key point in
this is that Salvation is not based upon Man’s actions; it is based upon Jesus’
action on the cross and through His resurrection. The only point of influence that Man has upon Salvation is
that of choosing to receive it or not.
Final
thought on this is regarding being asked why it is such a big deal to me that
free will be upheld in my thinking theologically. It seems to me that free will is the biggest crux of the
whole story of the Bible. It is
the gift that sets us apart from the rest of creation. It is the abuse of that gift that has
led to all of our problems. It is
the submission of that gift to God’s will that leads us out of our problems and
it is the use of that gift to receive what Christ did for us that we find
Salvation! If God’s goal was
sinless Man then the removal of free will was the way to go, but God chose the
more difficult path of redemption in order to maintain the gift of free will He
started us off with for the sake of having a real relationship with Man. On top of all that the repercussions of
a lack of free will are unthinkable – it truly means no personal
responsibility. Anything goes!
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
First Fruits
We have been going through a series called First Fruits. This has been all about priorities. What do we do with the first and the best of our time, talents, materials, for our family and with our honor? We so often offer up our leftovers to the most important things in our lives and give our very best to that which is not so important. The only way to do this is by being intentional about what we do with the first and best in our lives. In order to not live a life of regret we need to live a life of priority!
Monday, August 19, 2013
Last Year
Phew! I have made it through my 40th year! Got to say that was one of the roughest years I have had since I was 13. No real health issues this last year - on my 30th I got to go to the emergency room and get my appendix removed. Many things went awry this last year, unfortunately mostly due to me. That has only made it rougher.
Here is what I know: God is bigger - bigger even than a bad year! Never, never, never, never, never give up! This too shall pass.
I am looking forward to this next year - God has sustained us and we have reorganized so that we are better prepared for the blessings God is going to pour out. This next year will be a banner year for ministries at The Bridge.
Love the people we minister to. Pray for those that hate us. Trusting God through it all.
Here is what I know: God is bigger - bigger even than a bad year! Never, never, never, never, never give up! This too shall pass.
I am looking forward to this next year - God has sustained us and we have reorganized so that we are better prepared for the blessings God is going to pour out. This next year will be a banner year for ministries at The Bridge.
Love the people we minister to. Pray for those that hate us. Trusting God through it all.
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Freedom
Interesting article on Personal Sovereignty. http://www.huna.org/html/perssov.html As we celebrate this 4th of July it is good to remember what it is all about. The colonies were finding that they were being treated by the King as servants with no inherent rights. Whatever the sovereign King said they had to do. At this point in history there had developed a lot of theory and discussion about free will/personal sovereignty and how to best govern in light of that. As the colonies suffered under varying oppressions they protested but the government/King made it clear even protesting was no longer ok.
As the leaders of the colonies met to discuss this and develop a new government, personal sovereignty was forefront in their discussion. How to govern yet respect the rights of individual sovereigns was a delicate procedure. Essentially what was developed in our constitution was a government of the people, by the people and for the people that recognized individual sovereigns have complete freedom of life and being to the extent it did not infringe upon the freedom of life and being of other individuals. Basically my rights end where yours begin.
These concepts were tremendous for this time in history. Primarily through out the history of society governmental structure was designed around royal sovereigns and non-sovereigns(serfs, peasants, peons, servants, slaves). Although this was pioneering work in self will/ free will and was history making the people involved were still human and subject to self delusion. What is interesting is that the documents that were developed eventually led to freedom for even those that the founders left in a state of slavery. The statements made in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution are so self evidently true they have stood the test of time and created the oldest existing government to this day.
A quick religious note regarding free will: I am very attached to free will and freedom from a spiritual, biblical perspective. Looking into free will in the bible we only have to go back to the very beginning and then forward to the very end. Adam and Eve were granted free will in the garden and this is amazing because it means the rolling back of God's complete sovereignty to allow humans to thwart His will. This is a significant gift! Move forward to Jesus on the cross and we see that rather than take away free will that we so clearly demonstrated we can't handle Jesus died on the cross to pay the price for all of our sins - past, present and future. The removal of free will/ personal sovereignty would have eliminated sin and the need for Jesus' death on the cross. Redemption is only needed for those that can fall - those with the freedom to fall. If freedom is that important for God to maintain in our lives it seems we should fight to maintain freedom as much as possible keeping the primary mission of sharing Jesus' redemption with others in mind. Greatest use of free will is seen when we are told to use it in every way to reach others with the Gospel - not forced to rather asked to freely choose to do for the good of all.
Enemies of freedom: Any philosophy that would remove personal sovereignty. From the victim claim of the christian claiming a sovereign God chooses their every action to a governmental form that enforces by threat of harm or imprisonment the sharing of gains from personal endeavors. I have heard many times from christians that socialism as a governmental structure should be the goal of all christians because we see it practiced in the early church. There is a huge difference between the early church people freely sharing of all they had so that none were in need and a government or church forcing the sharing of all we have against our free will. Another interesting phenomenon seen in Acts and any time in history socialism or communism are used is that eventually productivity drops to dangerous levels. The early church addressed this when the churches were instructed that if you don't work you don't eat unless the inability to work was clearly demonstrated. Russia was a classic illustration of the demise that enforced sharing brings to a people. Enemies of freedom are any group that would take away a persons freedom to choose their own path in life and freely make their own choices so long as they do not prevent others from exercising that same freedom.
This Independence Day celebrate the freedom that you have to celebrate! Take an honest look at the direction of our country and decide if you will stand for freedom or the promises of a free ride that ultimately can't be kept!
As the leaders of the colonies met to discuss this and develop a new government, personal sovereignty was forefront in their discussion. How to govern yet respect the rights of individual sovereigns was a delicate procedure. Essentially what was developed in our constitution was a government of the people, by the people and for the people that recognized individual sovereigns have complete freedom of life and being to the extent it did not infringe upon the freedom of life and being of other individuals. Basically my rights end where yours begin.
These concepts were tremendous for this time in history. Primarily through out the history of society governmental structure was designed around royal sovereigns and non-sovereigns(serfs, peasants, peons, servants, slaves). Although this was pioneering work in self will/ free will and was history making the people involved were still human and subject to self delusion. What is interesting is that the documents that were developed eventually led to freedom for even those that the founders left in a state of slavery. The statements made in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution are so self evidently true they have stood the test of time and created the oldest existing government to this day.
A quick religious note regarding free will: I am very attached to free will and freedom from a spiritual, biblical perspective. Looking into free will in the bible we only have to go back to the very beginning and then forward to the very end. Adam and Eve were granted free will in the garden and this is amazing because it means the rolling back of God's complete sovereignty to allow humans to thwart His will. This is a significant gift! Move forward to Jesus on the cross and we see that rather than take away free will that we so clearly demonstrated we can't handle Jesus died on the cross to pay the price for all of our sins - past, present and future. The removal of free will/ personal sovereignty would have eliminated sin and the need for Jesus' death on the cross. Redemption is only needed for those that can fall - those with the freedom to fall. If freedom is that important for God to maintain in our lives it seems we should fight to maintain freedom as much as possible keeping the primary mission of sharing Jesus' redemption with others in mind. Greatest use of free will is seen when we are told to use it in every way to reach others with the Gospel - not forced to rather asked to freely choose to do for the good of all.
Enemies of freedom: Any philosophy that would remove personal sovereignty. From the victim claim of the christian claiming a sovereign God chooses their every action to a governmental form that enforces by threat of harm or imprisonment the sharing of gains from personal endeavors. I have heard many times from christians that socialism as a governmental structure should be the goal of all christians because we see it practiced in the early church. There is a huge difference between the early church people freely sharing of all they had so that none were in need and a government or church forcing the sharing of all we have against our free will. Another interesting phenomenon seen in Acts and any time in history socialism or communism are used is that eventually productivity drops to dangerous levels. The early church addressed this when the churches were instructed that if you don't work you don't eat unless the inability to work was clearly demonstrated. Russia was a classic illustration of the demise that enforced sharing brings to a people. Enemies of freedom are any group that would take away a persons freedom to choose their own path in life and freely make their own choices so long as they do not prevent others from exercising that same freedom.
This Independence Day celebrate the freedom that you have to celebrate! Take an honest look at the direction of our country and decide if you will stand for freedom or the promises of a free ride that ultimately can't be kept!
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Maintenance vs. missional
In a talk on being missional and avoiding the slide into maintenance as a church at a GHC conference I had several thoughts:
We just came out of a very difficult time with our building and finances - really still coming out of that time. Recognizing the desperation of the situation many have said that we need to focus on ourselves right now and nothing else - that is maintaining ourselves. We also had people telling us to be maintenance focused even when things were going great because we were young and needed to keep that growth going. Although that is a reasonable and expected view point regarding our situation it forces us to ask the question of when is it ok to be maintenance focused? When we first start up? Anytime we get into a desperate situation? Until we reach a certain level? The contention at this talk was that we have to be missional focused at the very beginning, during every trial and through to the end. It is especially important in the beginning because you are creating your DNA for the church. If it is started with a maintenance focus saying when we reach a certain level then we will be missional then the maintenance focus will become the DNA of the church and it won't matter what level you reach - it won't change.
I was told early on by some of my coaches that for the first 5 years your church is the mission and put everything there. I have come to realize that doing that will establish a DNA we don't want. If the right thing as a church is tithing to missions outside your ministry then it does not matter how old your church plant is or how stable - right is right. If serving other ministries with your resources is the right thing to do as a church then it is right from birth to death. The concept of tithing is trusting that God provides and He will honor our trust in Him by providing enough to be able to tithe. Is that not true in the baby church?
None of this is to say either/or. It is a battle against the natural slide toward maintenance - not to avoid doing maintenance all together, rather to stay on track being missional. Maintenance can not be avoided - we have to feed ourselves, shelter, pay our bills etc. Just like personal tithing of time and money though we have to plan intentionally to be mission focused or naturally our focus will become totally on self. To maintain or grow a healthy church we must take a portion of our resources and time to be outward focused, missional - giving to something that has no way of giving back to us in any tangible way. As we are approaching our 4th birthday at The Bridge we must continue to be missional and even increase that effort. From planting other churches to tithing to our partner GHC to starting inner city ministries we must do more than we are capable of doing - that is when we see God show up. He does not need to show up when we are doing what we are capable of - it is only when we are beyond our capabilities that God steps in and works miracles. Scary? Yes! Faith based? Absolutely!
We just came out of a very difficult time with our building and finances - really still coming out of that time. Recognizing the desperation of the situation many have said that we need to focus on ourselves right now and nothing else - that is maintaining ourselves. We also had people telling us to be maintenance focused even when things were going great because we were young and needed to keep that growth going. Although that is a reasonable and expected view point regarding our situation it forces us to ask the question of when is it ok to be maintenance focused? When we first start up? Anytime we get into a desperate situation? Until we reach a certain level? The contention at this talk was that we have to be missional focused at the very beginning, during every trial and through to the end. It is especially important in the beginning because you are creating your DNA for the church. If it is started with a maintenance focus saying when we reach a certain level then we will be missional then the maintenance focus will become the DNA of the church and it won't matter what level you reach - it won't change.
I was told early on by some of my coaches that for the first 5 years your church is the mission and put everything there. I have come to realize that doing that will establish a DNA we don't want. If the right thing as a church is tithing to missions outside your ministry then it does not matter how old your church plant is or how stable - right is right. If serving other ministries with your resources is the right thing to do as a church then it is right from birth to death. The concept of tithing is trusting that God provides and He will honor our trust in Him by providing enough to be able to tithe. Is that not true in the baby church?
None of this is to say either/or. It is a battle against the natural slide toward maintenance - not to avoid doing maintenance all together, rather to stay on track being missional. Maintenance can not be avoided - we have to feed ourselves, shelter, pay our bills etc. Just like personal tithing of time and money though we have to plan intentionally to be mission focused or naturally our focus will become totally on self. To maintain or grow a healthy church we must take a portion of our resources and time to be outward focused, missional - giving to something that has no way of giving back to us in any tangible way. As we are approaching our 4th birthday at The Bridge we must continue to be missional and even increase that effort. From planting other churches to tithing to our partner GHC to starting inner city ministries we must do more than we are capable of doing - that is when we see God show up. He does not need to show up when we are doing what we are capable of - it is only when we are beyond our capabilities that God steps in and works miracles. Scary? Yes! Faith based? Absolutely!
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Some thoughts...
The "church" is so often known today for what it is against - much like the religious leaders of Jesus' day. Although biblically there are things we are "against" or definitely don't condone or support it seems that Jesus' focus was more on what He was for. Jesus seemed to make it pretty clear when He summed up all the law and the prophets with the 2 commands to Love God and Love Others as Yourself what His focus is, what He is "for". All the other laws, rules, regulations and standards are for the purpose of fulfilling those 2 commands.
With that in mind at The Bridge we focus on what God is for - loving Him and loving others. What does that look like? We accept people right where they are - physically, emotionally, spiritually and otherwise. We try to show that acceptance by removing some of the subtle messages sent like wearing suits to church meetings sending the message you have to dress in nice expensive clothes to be accepted. We also challenge our prejudices - how do we treat a heterosexual couple that are living together and sexually active, but then how do we treat a homosexual couple that are in the same situation? Is God more ok with the sins we are ok with and not ok with the sins we are uncomfortable with or even hate? Do we only use the most highly educated and well spoken people to welcome and speak from the stage sending a subtle message to many people they are not good enough?
The great difficulty in all this is how do we help people move forward and grow while still showing acceptance? It is not easy! How do we say "God loves you right where you are, but He wants you to change"? We try by one key difference in that statement - "God loves you right where you are and He wants you to change" and that statement continues with "for the better by His strength bringing out the best in you according to the way you were originally designed!" Our society today has made this difficult because in the church culture and American culture we are starting to think that if you are for me then you are ok with everything I do and if you are against anything I do you are against me. This thought process forces all of us in society to wear masks to try to show we do care - we pretend we accept everything everyone does to prove we accept them. This fakeness is taking a toll on us. It is ok to not accept what someone does yet still accept them. If that is not true then there is no way to train a child up without hating the child until it is in perfect compliance. Unfortunately some people act that way with their kids.
The bible says Heaven's road is straight and narrow and we often take that to mean strictness in obeying rules. At The Bridge we have found it is a straight narrow path that we balance on of following true and accurate biblical theology, teaching the same yet loving and accepting people right where they are. There are several great examples of this done by Jesus in the bible. When He runs into the woman at the well that was living with a boyfriend and had 5 previous husbands He shows what His focus is. He loved her, wanted to help her and was also clear about knowing what the wrong was in her life. Jesus offered to her freely the water of life without compromising the truth of the bible. That is our goal at The Bridge - to lead people to the water of life found in Jesus not by hiding the truth, rather by showing the truth in love.
Will you be better known by what you are against or by what you are for? What subtle messages do you send to people in your life by`what you do? Do people leave a conversation with you knowing you know there is "sin" in their life but still go get others to talk to you because they knew you loved them and had truth in your words?
With that in mind at The Bridge we focus on what God is for - loving Him and loving others. What does that look like? We accept people right where they are - physically, emotionally, spiritually and otherwise. We try to show that acceptance by removing some of the subtle messages sent like wearing suits to church meetings sending the message you have to dress in nice expensive clothes to be accepted. We also challenge our prejudices - how do we treat a heterosexual couple that are living together and sexually active, but then how do we treat a homosexual couple that are in the same situation? Is God more ok with the sins we are ok with and not ok with the sins we are uncomfortable with or even hate? Do we only use the most highly educated and well spoken people to welcome and speak from the stage sending a subtle message to many people they are not good enough?
The great difficulty in all this is how do we help people move forward and grow while still showing acceptance? It is not easy! How do we say "God loves you right where you are, but He wants you to change"? We try by one key difference in that statement - "God loves you right where you are and He wants you to change" and that statement continues with "for the better by His strength bringing out the best in you according to the way you were originally designed!" Our society today has made this difficult because in the church culture and American culture we are starting to think that if you are for me then you are ok with everything I do and if you are against anything I do you are against me. This thought process forces all of us in society to wear masks to try to show we do care - we pretend we accept everything everyone does to prove we accept them. This fakeness is taking a toll on us. It is ok to not accept what someone does yet still accept them. If that is not true then there is no way to train a child up without hating the child until it is in perfect compliance. Unfortunately some people act that way with their kids.
The bible says Heaven's road is straight and narrow and we often take that to mean strictness in obeying rules. At The Bridge we have found it is a straight narrow path that we balance on of following true and accurate biblical theology, teaching the same yet loving and accepting people right where they are. There are several great examples of this done by Jesus in the bible. When He runs into the woman at the well that was living with a boyfriend and had 5 previous husbands He shows what His focus is. He loved her, wanted to help her and was also clear about knowing what the wrong was in her life. Jesus offered to her freely the water of life without compromising the truth of the bible. That is our goal at The Bridge - to lead people to the water of life found in Jesus not by hiding the truth, rather by showing the truth in love.
Will you be better known by what you are against or by what you are for? What subtle messages do you send to people in your life by`what you do? Do people leave a conversation with you knowing you know there is "sin" in their life but still go get others to talk to you because they knew you loved them and had truth in your words?
Friday, May 10, 2013
The Return
We have permanent occupancy of our building on Corunna Rd now! We still have the building on University Ave also. Our Corunna Rd campus is open for use for the northern half of the building - 16,000 sq ft. We are excited to be back! God has opened doors for us that we could not have. It cost us over $60,000 to get back in and that was all raised from outside donors. Our regular tithes and offerings have continued to go for the regular bills of the church - utilities, mortgage, insurance, consumables, etc. Our attendance is less than half of what it was before our building got closed down and offerings are also less than half. As we rebuild our ministries that were done out of this building we are confident that more people will be reached and our offerings will increase to the point we can cover all the costs of the ministry we do. God has been good to us and we know He has a plan to use The Bridge to reach our community. Many thanks to so many volunteers that put in over $40,000 worth of labor to help us get the renovations done - the contractors that gave some of their labor for free - the stores that donated materials - all those that have prayed for us and the few donors that gave us the money to pay for the rest!
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Easter
Just an update: We had a great service at The Bridge for Easter! The township allowed us in the building for Easter only and will allow us to return when we replace a $5000 check valve in our sprinkler system. We had 306 people for service with over 100 of them there for breakfast also. Music was great! Band did 2 extra songs. Many familiar faces there as well as many guests. During a time of prayer we had over 20 people come down to pray. We are excited about what God is doing!
Monday, February 18, 2013
One way or another?
One way:
You have sinned and therefore you are condemned to eternity in the lake of fire to suffer alone forever! If you do not fall on your knees and beg Christ for forgiveness and repent of your ways you are doomed! God will punish you for your sins with eternal fire! You should fear for your soul! Your only hope is in Jesus dying a horrible death on the cross for you!
Or another:
God created you to love you and has a plan for you. It is only in following that plan/design that you will find peace, joy and fulfillment. Although you fail and have done bad things God offers you redemption and restoration through Jesus. If you will surrender to Him and follow a process of discipleship He will lead you into a life greater than you imagined and that life will only get greater when you move into eternity!
Both are accurate to a point. Both are truthful. Both have scriptures that can back them up. One focuses almost exclusively on the after life and the other on this life with how it leads into the after life. Both call for change - one through fear and one through love. One was used as the primary focus of outreach until Jesus came and used the other nearly exclusively.
Some say change that is not driven by fear is not lasting. The bible says perfect love casts out fear. We see people conquer fears and encourage that very thing all the time. For love of family, country, freedom, etc. we will move past our fears to do what we want or think we need to do. Fear will only motivate change for a short period of time - until we find something else more motivating. Sin can be very enticing and will easily conquer fear. Love changes for a lifetime and is not easily conquered by selfish sin.
What will your focus be in your life? Fear or love? What about in how you reach out to others? Whether in business or evangelism what will you use?
You have sinned and therefore you are condemned to eternity in the lake of fire to suffer alone forever! If you do not fall on your knees and beg Christ for forgiveness and repent of your ways you are doomed! God will punish you for your sins with eternal fire! You should fear for your soul! Your only hope is in Jesus dying a horrible death on the cross for you!
Or another:
God created you to love you and has a plan for you. It is only in following that plan/design that you will find peace, joy and fulfillment. Although you fail and have done bad things God offers you redemption and restoration through Jesus. If you will surrender to Him and follow a process of discipleship He will lead you into a life greater than you imagined and that life will only get greater when you move into eternity!
Both are accurate to a point. Both are truthful. Both have scriptures that can back them up. One focuses almost exclusively on the after life and the other on this life with how it leads into the after life. Both call for change - one through fear and one through love. One was used as the primary focus of outreach until Jesus came and used the other nearly exclusively.
Some say change that is not driven by fear is not lasting. The bible says perfect love casts out fear. We see people conquer fears and encourage that very thing all the time. For love of family, country, freedom, etc. we will move past our fears to do what we want or think we need to do. Fear will only motivate change for a short period of time - until we find something else more motivating. Sin can be very enticing and will easily conquer fear. Love changes for a lifetime and is not easily conquered by selfish sin.
What will your focus be in your life? Fear or love? What about in how you reach out to others? Whether in business or evangelism what will you use?
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Have to...
Read an interesting book today that had a lot of great principles in it. Through out the book the authors say Christianity is about relationships not religion. I enjoyed the content of the book. I was very surprised to get to the end and find in the final chapter some interesting references. In a chapter on "have to" vs "want to" or "need to" we should recognize that in our relationship with God there are things that are 'have to's". I completely agree with this - there are many things that over time in our growing relationship with the Father we come to realize are "have to's". In referencing this concept an illustration is made regarding churches seeking "want to" people or developing "want to" people for going to church and in that illustration clearly references activities The Bridge has done in the past. Referring to "some" churches the authors say these churches are putting in Tattoo parlors and hosting MMA fights to attract crowds and then preach a feel good message saying that God loves everyone so no one has any responsibilities. I would like to address this assertion being made pretty clearly about The Bridge and what we do. First I want to say I know one of these authors and have met with him several times seeking his guidance, help and input. I admire the ministry he does and believe in him and the difference he has made. I find it disturbing that in all the times I have talked to him he has never had any negative comments about our outreach ministries - it was only in a book that it comes out he thinks our ministry lies about what the Bible says. My thoughts...
In this chapter on the "have to's" it almost sounds like the authors are contending that church attendance is a "have to" and should be taught that way - that it is compulsory. I believe, as the bible says, we are not to forsake the gathering together of the believers and that we "have to" be a part of that for our own good. As a believer if we do forsake the body it will not be long before we drift and then forsake God even - it is only when we gather with the body that we are pointed toward God and together live out the purpose God has laid out for us. My understanding of what Jesus did in His ministry here on Earth was to not impose, as the Law had done, a list of "have to's" - rather it appeared that He would draw crowds to Himself with miracles, food and association with the unwanted and through their "wanting" to be there rather than "having" to be there He would build relationships. In time many of the people began to realize that not only did they "want to" follow Him they "had to" follow Him because anything else would lead to destruction.
Much like Jesus' and Paul's ministry we try to be all things to all people that by all means we might win some. In the assertion that we have a Tattoo parlor and MMA fights to draw the crowds so we can tell them they have no responsibility to do anything because God loves them there is some serious fact checking that should have been done. We have never hosted any MMA fights although we have had people use a part of our building for martial arts, self defense and MMA training. This was not done to draw crowds to hear preaching either - this training was not done on days we were preaching. The reason we allowed the building to be used for this was to meet a need for some people needing a location to train in and to build relationships with them. The Tattoo parlor was not opened to draw crowds either nor was it near our auditorium that we used for services. It was in our office space and it was opened to meet the need of a young man that came to us as an atheist drug addict and found Christ. He was a tattoo artist by trade and wanted to create a safe environment in which to practice and for people to come to that wanted tattoos without all the sin themed decorations. As we were building this relationship with the artist and found him in need we felt it was the right thing to do to offer him some office space we were not using anyway so he could follow the leading of God. Although the news made a big deal of this and did not report everything accurately it was a very powerful way we reached into our community and many new people were exposed to the Gospel because of this. If the authors had taken the time to contact me and ask a couple questions about this they could have found these truths out and realized we were not attempting to do what they accused us of.
One thing that the authors did get right was we are seeking "want to" people and developing "want to" people as far as attending the church services goes. Our ultimate goal is to help these "want to" people see that they "need to" attend and even realize they "have to" for it is only in Christ that they will find the words of life. We have seen this happen to many people under our ministry. I believe the authors have seen this transition in people at their churches as well.
I wanted to post this because of their inaccurate attack on our ministry. I am really disappointed that someone I have looked up to and sought advice from would so blatantly attack our ministry and portray it as a "feel good" ministry that calls for no change in people's lives. This same author has had attacks and false accusations made against him for the non traditional activities he has done so it surprises me that he would make such accusations without fact checking or even have the guts to say something directly to me in the several meetings we have had where I was looking for advice and help. Anyone that has questions regarding what we do and why can feel free to contact me. Everything we do is biblically based and if I am shown where we are in error on anything we will change it immediately.
In this chapter on the "have to's" it almost sounds like the authors are contending that church attendance is a "have to" and should be taught that way - that it is compulsory. I believe, as the bible says, we are not to forsake the gathering together of the believers and that we "have to" be a part of that for our own good. As a believer if we do forsake the body it will not be long before we drift and then forsake God even - it is only when we gather with the body that we are pointed toward God and together live out the purpose God has laid out for us. My understanding of what Jesus did in His ministry here on Earth was to not impose, as the Law had done, a list of "have to's" - rather it appeared that He would draw crowds to Himself with miracles, food and association with the unwanted and through their "wanting" to be there rather than "having" to be there He would build relationships. In time many of the people began to realize that not only did they "want to" follow Him they "had to" follow Him because anything else would lead to destruction.
Much like Jesus' and Paul's ministry we try to be all things to all people that by all means we might win some. In the assertion that we have a Tattoo parlor and MMA fights to draw the crowds so we can tell them they have no responsibility to do anything because God loves them there is some serious fact checking that should have been done. We have never hosted any MMA fights although we have had people use a part of our building for martial arts, self defense and MMA training. This was not done to draw crowds to hear preaching either - this training was not done on days we were preaching. The reason we allowed the building to be used for this was to meet a need for some people needing a location to train in and to build relationships with them. The Tattoo parlor was not opened to draw crowds either nor was it near our auditorium that we used for services. It was in our office space and it was opened to meet the need of a young man that came to us as an atheist drug addict and found Christ. He was a tattoo artist by trade and wanted to create a safe environment in which to practice and for people to come to that wanted tattoos without all the sin themed decorations. As we were building this relationship with the artist and found him in need we felt it was the right thing to do to offer him some office space we were not using anyway so he could follow the leading of God. Although the news made a big deal of this and did not report everything accurately it was a very powerful way we reached into our community and many new people were exposed to the Gospel because of this. If the authors had taken the time to contact me and ask a couple questions about this they could have found these truths out and realized we were not attempting to do what they accused us of.
One thing that the authors did get right was we are seeking "want to" people and developing "want to" people as far as attending the church services goes. Our ultimate goal is to help these "want to" people see that they "need to" attend and even realize they "have to" for it is only in Christ that they will find the words of life. We have seen this happen to many people under our ministry. I believe the authors have seen this transition in people at their churches as well.
I wanted to post this because of their inaccurate attack on our ministry. I am really disappointed that someone I have looked up to and sought advice from would so blatantly attack our ministry and portray it as a "feel good" ministry that calls for no change in people's lives. This same author has had attacks and false accusations made against him for the non traditional activities he has done so it surprises me that he would make such accusations without fact checking or even have the guts to say something directly to me in the several meetings we have had where I was looking for advice and help. Anyone that has questions regarding what we do and why can feel free to contact me. Everything we do is biblically based and if I am shown where we are in error on anything we will change it immediately.
Friday, February 8, 2013
Everything happens for a reason
For the last 6 months I have gone through some very difficult times, I have caused serious pain in others lives and damaged relationships. It would be so nice and easy to say it all happened for a reason, like God wanted this to happen so the good things that are happening now could come to fruition. I cry foul - I can directly link most of the bad things that have occurred over the last 6 months to decisions I have made. Some of those decisions were terrifyingly stupid and bad, some were the best decision I could make at that time with the information I had. Regardless, I refuse to lay the blame at God's feet for my poor choices. The flippant "everything happens for a reason" answer does not satisfy, is not accurate in its implications and prevents learning from our mistakes. What I will lay at His feet is the credit for bringing good out of disaster, for healing people and relationships and for restoration. That all happens for a reason too - because He loves me and you!
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Offering
We debated when we were starting The Bridge as to whether we would have an official offering time during service. Looking at scripture there did not seem to be any precedent or demand for it to be done there. With that in mind we looked into what offerings and tithes were all about - is it only about getting the support for the church? If that is all then maybe having drop boxes for people is all we needed. As we dug into it though it seemed that offerings were so often much more than just supporting the ministry. It was an act of worship and trust in God. As we meet in corporate worship at our weekend connections we are singing songs to God and about God stating our love and trust of Him and hearing a message from His Word to apply to our lives. Where better to put action to our words and show our love, trust and buy-in to His ministry than during the service. Our concern was that in our community churches are looked at as some money making scheme so we did not want to talk about money much. What we found was that by not addressing the concept of 10% giving, first fruit giving and giving cheerfully we would be stunting peoples spiritual growth. We decided to include an offering time during the services and to make it clear that their giving was between them and God - to only give as they felt led and to do it cheerfully. We have a standing 90 day challenge for givers that want to step up to the Tithing plate - giving 10% of their income trusting that God will provide enough that they can make it on the other 90%. This challenge is to try it for 90 days straight and if you can't see God working in your life and providing enough just tell us to give you your money back. We will give you back you full tithe that you gave over that 90 days with no problems. We trust that God will work such miracles in your life that you will be excited to drop that offering in the basket each week. We believe we can not out give God and told us to test Him in this. My God is bigger!
Monday, February 27, 2012
Apology Series
Kicking off an Apology Series - I'm a Christian and I'm Sorry... This will be to apologize for the way the church has treated people, twisted the Gospel and been hypocritical. Hope you can join us for these messages and bring someone that has been hurt by the church.
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