Insane Campaign . . .
Call it insanity, but our church is attempting to raise $200,000 in two
months! During the two years of our existence, The Vine has been a portable
church. Each Sunday, we set-up and tear-down for two crowded worship
services. In those two years we have experienced God-sized growth in
attendance and amazing work in the ministry of the Kingdom of God. To see
the highlights of our first two years of existence – click here
It is imperative that we move to continually provide empty seats at optimum
times so people can experience the love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ. God
provided the ideal space for this next phase of ministry through a course of
unexplained events and unimaginable timing. This new space will allow us to
experience worship with approximately 400 people at a time, and within 4
miles from our current worship facility! We began our improvements during
the week of May 18th. God has already provided us with half of the
improvement costs and our petition to you is for a contribution toward the
remaining half. It is our desire to fund 100% of the construction costs
while continually supporting local, regional, and global missions, including
Meet The Need and eradicating childhood homeliness in Maputo, Africa.
We ask that you prayerfully consider the following actions:
- Donate $10, $25, $50 or more
- Pass this email along to family, friends, facebook contacts, people in
your church, and everyone in your address book
- Pray for The Vine, our build-out, and all of the people who will hear the
Gospel in these new empty seats.
Donations can be made one of two ways:
By Paypal:
By Check:
The Vine (designate as ‘Insane Campaign’)
PO Box 244
Braselton, GA 30517
Thank you and let the insanity begin!
God has All Power and Good Intentions . . .
Check out this video which has a great story about God being All Powerful and full of Good Intentions. Steven Furtick is the pastor of Elevation Church.
Introducing Jesus . . .
Check out this video of Steve Harvey introducing Jesus . . .
By the way – if you know Jesus, then you do have the pleasure of bringing out Christ everyday. Through the way you live and the things you say. BRING CHRIST OUT!
and he is in SEMINARY? . . .
I was talking today with Ken, a great friend, who has been in ministry for about 2 years now. We were talking about many things but my brain was rocked when he shared a story about the stupidness coming from a local seminary student. Ken was at a lifeway book store and one of the workers asked him, “are you in the ministry?” . . . by the way – that is code for, can we talk about crap that doesn’t really mean anything and act like we are something we aren’t. Ken said, “yeah”. Seminary guy says, “where do you serve?” Ken says, “hall country fire, I minister to the guys at the station and the people I come into contact with as I am going out on calls.” The next statement from Mr. Seminary Guy just rocked my brain. Seminary Guy says, “wow, I have never thought about it like that before, I think you are right.”
Okay, are they not teaching those kinds of things in seminary? I hope he isn’t close to graduation. Mr. Seminary Guy is going to lead the people of God, but not teach them that they are ministers? What about being a royal priesthood, called to declare the goodness of God who has called us out of darkness and into his great light.
Chasing with a Reckless Abandon . . .
When I began this journey of trusting God through faith in Jesus, I promised to give my all . . . to go full-on for the Lord the way I had for myself before I trusted the Lord. I figured at the time, “if he is God, he did create everything, and gave his life for me then I should follow him with all I am.” That promise and his revealing of himself to be trustworthy and true has led me into a life of abandonment. Am I completely there? NO, but I long to be . . . I want to know him and to fellowship with him in such a way that I can understand him and all he longs for me and has planned for me. Paul, this amazing dude from the bible, who was radically transformed when he saw Jesus for the truth of who he really is – says it this way . . .
Philippians 3:10-14
“10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. 12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
As I pray this prayer, God continues to ruin my life . . . but it is the best kind of ruin I have ever experienced. God also continues to remind me that my life is not my own but I have been bought with a price OR is that just pretty words that church people say. If you believe you have been bought with a price and you are not your own then it is easy for you to give of yourself, it is easy for you to serve, and it is easy to sacrifice – actually it’s an honor to give self, to serve and to sacrifice.
I have come to a place where I do truly BELIEVE & TRUST and it is more than saying the right things or knowing the right answers. The Life I live is LIFE . . . I don’t do what I do for any other reason than the fact, it is LIFE!
