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!
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!
What Kind of church is that . . .
When I left the last church I was at back in August – there were many who asked why? I have answered that question in another blog. After about 3 month of visiting theVine and meeting with Pastor David, it became clear my NEXT step was to join the staff as Outreach Pastor. Here is a video highlighting year 2 of theVine to answer the other question I often get. What kind of church is theVine? Watch this video and you will know exactly what kind of church . . .
Raising a Disciple . . .
Last Sunday (Easter) my family got the honor of picking up the signs for theVine. I say honor because these signs are an avenue which help people find their way to theVine. It’s not hard to pick them up or put them out, but it does take about 15 min. and has to be done within a specific time frame. As we were picking them up last week Weatherly (5 year old daughter) was hungry and ready to eat “NOW”. I took the time as we were driving to explain to her, “if we help with these signs then we are helping Pastor David connect people to God’s LOVE as they find their way to theVine.” She began to stop complaining and get excited about having a meaningful job of eternal value. This morning as we headed out early to place the signs in the proper locations, Weatherly asked, “daddy are lots of people going to see these signs and know about God’s LOVE because of them?” It hit me in that moment, she is understanding the importance of being the sign person for theVine today. Then it hit me – we should pray over these signs for all the people who will see them to know how much God LOVES them. The most powerful part of my day came as I got out of the car and my 5 year old daughter would pray out loud where I could hear her, “God, help the people who see this sign know you are real and you LOVE them.”
How do you raise a disciple . . . I don’t know, but this is what I did today.
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.
Highway to HELL . . .
A church in Anderson, SC called NewSpring opened up with the video above this past weekend. I would even encourage you to click their link and listen to Pastor Perry preach the truth. You might not agree with them opening up church service with Highway to HELL, but over 300 people put their faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior this past Sunday.
I was on a Highway to HELL and many could see that very clearly. The problem is there are many roads that lead to HELL! Not all road look like mine, and many traveling toward HELL do not even realize it. Truth is there is only ONE road that leads to SALVATION and that is Jesus Christ. If you have never full turned from yourself, the bad you do or the good things you do as an answer to why you will be allowed into heaven, then do that NOW. Ask God to forgive you of your sins through the forgiven offered by Jesus Christ. No one has ever been good enough or bad enough for God, Jesus is the only way . . . Everything else is a Highway to HELL!
Changed Life – my story in 4 min . . .
This is my story in 4 min . . . When the worship design team from theVine asked me to share my store in 4 min. I was thinking, “there is no way it will fit.” Thanks to the amazing video work of Greg Hampton (worship art’s pastor) it fit and still comes across making sense and without losing the radical power of life change. Pastor David used this on Easter as a final sermon illustration to drive home the Risen Savior’s desire to be found . . . turn and see he has been there the whole time.
Here is a link to the sermon Pastor David preached yesterday . . . one of the best presentations I have ever heard of the empty tomb and His desire to be found.
Fault of Familiarity . . .
One of the reasons I love serving and worshiping at theVine is the creative ways we come up with to help those within the walls of the building understand the message of God’s word and challenge them to take their NEXT step. Here is a video that was produced in house and just really sums up one reason many people do not share their faith . . . call it the “Fault of Familiarity”
Just think how many people do struggle with this – “Fault of Familiarity” . . . having lost the AWE factor in their relationship with God and something like this video can help them remember they need to introduce their friends to the satisfying power of God through Jesus Christ.
Do you ever find yourself suffering with the “Fault of Familiarity”?
“get off you donkey” shirts . . .
I only have few XXL shirts left . . . I have had the opportunity to preach the story of the Good Samaritan a couple of times lately and now have a few people wanting to get the “get off your donkey” shirts. 12stone has given some of these shirts out as they have been calling their church to “get off your donkey” with a recent sermon series and their “inspire – share – give” campaign. Here is my dilemma - I have make two print runs on these shirts and now contemplate doing it again, but need to know how many people are interested in buying this shirt @ $15.00.
YES – check schedule & ask wife . . .
Yesterday while having lunch a statement came out of my mouth that has taken many years to build into my life. When I was talking with Keith Arnett about an opportunity to serve . . . I said, “you don’t have to pray about opportunities when you are gifted and passionate, just check your schedule and ask your wife.” This statement has come from many years of me using the phrase many christians will use, “let me pray about it”. Really, do I need to pray about it. Actually NO! If the church of satan invites me to preach from the Holy Bible about Jesus – I don’t need to pray. It is an opportunity to do something I am passionate for and gifted at . . . so I simply need to check my schedule and ask my wife.
Here is an example: I have been asked if I might be able to preach for a church where one of my best friends is worship leader on the 21st of Feb. I would love to do it, but the schedule doesn’t work out. I am going out of town the next weekend to preach a treat in MS and I was just out of town last month for a weekend retreat. I did go ahead and ask my wife what she thought just in case she could see a way where I could see none. Even though I know I can’t go, deep down I want to take every opportunity to serve the Lord when I am asked. The answer is always YES, let me check my schedule and ask my wife.
What is your answer when an opportunity to serve comes your way?
