Immanuel

For the past couple of weeks I've been reflecting on the Christmas Story (not the movie with the goofy kid and the creepy leg lamp - the actual story found in the Bible). A lot of times as Christians we don't give much thought to the story of Jesus' birth until we get to this time of year. We talk a lot about the cross and the resurrection, the teachings and the miracles of Jesus, the work of the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts and lots of other very important parts of Scripture, and rightly so, as those things are key to our faith.

However, I think that sometimes causes us to lose site of the amazing miracle that is the Christmas Story. God, the same God who created the Universe, became a human being and came to live among us. When the angel appeared to Joseph he said that the people would call Jesus "Immanuel" meaning "God with us." The divine ruler of all Creation came to be with humanity, with you and with me. He came to experience what we experience - temptation and grief, loneliness and rejection, pain and anguish, love and joy, forgiveness and triumph.

The ongoing miracle of Christmas is that Jesus is still "God with us." He is not some god who is far off and distant, mocking us in our struggles and weaknesses. Instead, he sympathizes with our situation. His last words to his disciples were that he is with us always to the very end. Sometimes I go through periods when it feels like God is a million miles away. When I do I just remind myself that Jesus is still Immanuel.

How about you? How has Jesus been Immanuel to you lately?

Bethany World Prayer Center

I just returned from a couple of days at Bethany World Prayer Center, hanging out and spending some time with Joel Stockstill and Pastor Larry Stockstill. The trip was great and the two of them gave me some wonderful ideas for how to move LifeGate forward to the next level.

I got to sit in on a couple of their staff meetings. I was most impressed with their youth leadership meeting. Their youth and college ministry, 220, meets in discipleship groups all across Baton Rouge. Last week they had over 5,000 kids participate in a cell and over 700 give their lives to Christ. Their ability to think strategically for the kingdom of God is inspiring. I'm praying for some of that heavenly strategy for here in Lexington.

New York Bound

So summer's finally over, and with the end of summer comes the end of my long blogging drought. We had a good summer at LifeGate. Several of my church planting mentors and friends, guys who have built significant churches, told me that if we could survive through our first summer we could survive through anything. There were some Sunday's when our crowd was pretty spartan, but we made it through and now we're headed into what I believe is going to be a great time of growth and changing people's lives for eternity.

Our new fall series "Touchdown09" kicks off this coming Sunday. We're going to have a big tailgate party after church (weather permitting) with a Noah's Ark Bounce House for the kids and great free food. Throughout the six week series we'll be doing cool things around our football theme. If your looking for a church then you definitely need to come check us out over the next few weeks. It's going to be great.

Tonight I'm wrapping things up at the office (aka - my basement) and getting ready to head out to New York in the morning. A lot of people wonder what I do for my day job. Well, I work for a ministry called The Center for Spiritual Renewal, which doesn't tell people a lot. But we promote unity among evangelical and charismatic/Pentecostal believers, facilitate high level leadership retreats, and encourage people in the body of Christ to pray. I'm going to New York this week to do all of the above as part of our Cry Out America prayer initiative. On 9/11 we'll have prayer gatherings in over 730 counties around the nation. I'll be praying for America with other Christian leaders at Ground Zero. If you're in Lexington and want to be involved in Cry Out America, just go to the courthouse on Limestone at noon. You'll see a group of people there during the lunch hour praying for an Awakening in our nation. If you want more detail about what we're doing nationally, check it out at www.awakeningamerica.us

Reflections on a Great Sunday

We had a great mother's day at LifeGate.  I shared a message from John 4 about the woman at the well as part of our "Looking for Hope" series.  God did some great stuff at the end of the message.  People were moved to tears as God worked on putting their broken hearts back together.  It was cool.  Kudos to Alea and the worship team for being obedient and really pressing in at the end of service.  

We also had some great Mother's Day gifts for everybody.  Hand crafted jewelry for every mother in the church, made by Bethany Boggan.  It was special.  My wife loved it.

This coming Sunday we'll be wrapping up our Looking for Hope series as we talk about looking for hope when life throws you a curveball.  Because of the LCA baccalaureate service, we'll be meeting in the LCA preschool cafeteria this Sunday.  It should be cool.  The school has assured me that we'll have adult size chairs for everyone to sit it:-)

One other thing.  I had promised to post a link to an unbelievable testimony from Shaun King, a native of Lexington who just launched Courageous Church in Atlanta.  Take a minute to check out this amazing miracle here.  It'll make your day. 

When You're Down To Your Last Dime

We've gone through some tough financial times as a nation over the last few months.  Tough times are nothing new as we live in a world that sees financial ups and downs all the time.  The Bible is full of stories of God's provision in tough times.  This past Sunday we talked about the widow who was down to her last pack of Ramen noodles (ok, it was actually flour and oil, but I'm trying to be culturally relevant).  God came through in a big way for her, when others around her were being ruined.

We also looked at 7 financial principles which we can use to order our financial house that can be found in the Word of God.  Allow me to share them with you.

1. Remember that God is Our Source:  Deut 8:18 tells us that God gives us the power to obtain wealth.  God is the source of all of our talents, abilities and opportunities.  All that we have comes from him.
2. Put God First:  From the beginning of Genesis through the New Testament, God requires those who follow Him to put Him first.  This is a principle that should apply to every area of our life, including finances.  Proverbs 3:9-10 tells us that when we honor God with our wealth our storehouses will overflow.  In my life, this means that the first check that I write after getting paid is my tithe check.
3. Be a Steward:  God has entrusted you with the money that you have.  He expects you to manage it well.  When you are trustworthy over a little bit, you can be trusted with more.  Luke 16
4. Have Integrity:  Pay your bills and meet your obligations, even when it hurts.
5. Get Out and Stay Out of Debt:  Proverbs tells us that the borrower is slave to the lender.  If you've ever been buried in credit card debt, you know exactly what the Bible is talking about.  Quit working for MasterCard and Visa and get out of the slavery that is debt.
6. Save:  Proverbs 21:20 - "A foolish man devours all he has"  How many of us live from paycheck to paycheck without ever putting anything aside.  The Bible says that is a foolish way to live.  Put money aside so that when something unexpected happens you can handle it without going into debt.
7. Be Generous:  God is a giver.  He gave the best thing that he had:  His Son.  We should be generous because God has changed our hearts.  And as we bless others, we ourselves will be blessed.

Stay tuned, because sometime over the next few months we'll be tackling financial issues in greater depths at LifeGate Church.

Looking for Hope

We had a great day @ LifeGate yesterday.  I shared the second installment of our "Looking for Hope" message series, "Looking for Hope When You've Fallen and You Can't Get Up."  It was awesome for a couple of reasons.  First, I got to use the 1987 LifeLine commercial as an intro to the message.  I thought it was hilarious.  If you are too young to remember it, or have never seen it before, you can check it out on youtube here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQlpDiXPZHQ  Second, I believe that God really touched some people and gave them hope that they can get back up again.  

Coming up this Sunday we'll be talking about Looking for Hope When You're Down to Your Last Dime.  If you are a college student living off Ramen Noodles or just a regular person that is trying to make ends meet in a down economy, then you need to be there.

One other thing.  I'm trying to figure out if it is worth the effort to start twittering.  I think I may be too verbose to twitter.  On the other hand, it might help me refine my communication skills.  I want to know if you are twittering.  Drop me a line or post a comment and tell me what you think. 

My Life Would Suck Without Jesus

So the lead team for LifeGate Church was sitting around the other day trying to think of some ways to reach new people for Jesus and attract people to LifeGate for Easter.  During the middle of the discussion my wife chimed up and said "Did anyone here see American Idol last week?"  She started telling us all about Kelly Clarkson's appearance on the show and about her new hit "My Life Would Suck Without You" (FYI...Jamie is a huge AI fan and a super huge Kelly Clarkson fan)

One thing led to another in the conversation and somebody made the comment that life would really suck without Jesus.  Immediately, we knew we had an idea.  So we decided to issue a challenge to people to share with us why their life would suck without Jesus.  We started a facebook group called "My Life Would Suck Without Jesus" and are inviting people to post a 2 minute video about why their life would be different without Him.  We're also asking folks to e-mail us and vote for which video they like the best.  The maker of the winning video will get $100 to spend at Best Buy.

I've been overwhelmed by the response to this little project so far.  In a week we've had 400 people join the group.  We've gotten inquiries from people whose lives suck right now and who want to know more about Jesus.  It's been great.  

We are already planning on doing this contest again next year, but on a bigger scale.  

If you get a chance, drop by facebook and check out the group http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=147713390197  

Lift-Off: Reflections on the LifeGate Launch

This past Sunday we launched LifeGate Church with a bang.  Everything went smoothly.  For those of you who weren't able to be there, here are a few highlights of the day:

• 129 People in attendance
• 24 Children in our LG Kids program
• 32 Connection Cards
• 3 Brand New People who've already signed up for the Dream Team
• Most Importantly, 1 person who decided to follow Jesus and Enter a Whole New Way of Life.

It was amazing to witness a dream that I have had for 8 years unfold before my eyes.  All of the Dream Team performed at a top level.  LG Kids was a big hit with their "Rated Aaargh" pirate themed series.  It was great to see kids running around the hallways after church with their pirate eye patches.  Alea and the worship team rocked.  I got a ton of compliments on how great they sounded.  And our hospitality and usher teams were phenomenal.  

For pictures of the launch, visit the LifeGate facebook group page @ http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=65739340832

Now we get to do it all over again in 5 days.  I am so excited to see what God has in store for us.

Missionary Heroes

For those of you who don't know, one of my major fields of study in college was missions.  Since I was called to the ministry as a teenager I've felt like doing mission work was part of my calling.  For a while I thought that meant I would be living in a slum in India or some grass hut in the bush of Africa.  People who do overseas missions are some of my heroes.  Very few people have the guts to leave behind everything, immerse themselves in a strange new culture and invest their lives so that people from half a world away can know about Jesus.

My sister Sara, her husband Shaun and their daughter Abi are three heroes.  Tomorrow morning they'll be boarding an airplane in Atlanta to travel to Paraguay (for those of you who don't know, that's in South America between Bolivia, Brazil and Argentina) where they'll be managing an orphanage for the next couple of years.  I'm proud of them and excited about the work that they'll be doing.  If you want to find out more about their work you can check out their awesome blog at www.mortonmissions.blogspot.com.  

I've come to realize that all of us are called to be missionaries.  Most of us will never take the plunge and move overseas, but we can share the life-giving power of Jesus with the co-worker in the cubicle next to us.  

At LifeGate we are totally focused on the mission of Jesus to "Seek and Save What Was Lost" both here in Lexington and around the world.   We plan on sending teams across the planet to share the gospel of Jesus, sending financial support to missionaries in other nations, planting churches in the United States and encouraging you to step around the cubicle and introduce someone to the greatest news the world has ever heard.