Several months ago I read a book titled Joining Jesus on His Mission, by Greg Finke of Dwelling 1:14 Ministries. As I read the book, I realized that the stuff he was writing was stuff that I had always been teaching, just in a little different way. At first I had that why didn’t I write this book feeling, but after that subsided I began to see some possibilities and opportunities.
This began a several month planning session with my team at church. We all read the book and just about everyone said It can’t be that easy! But truth be told, it is just that easy. The long and short of the book is that the mission is not ours rather it belongs to Jesus. And the cool part is He just wants us to hang out with Him on His mission. Sounds a lot less scary now doesn’t it!
With some leadership buy-in, we decided to reach out to Greg and see if we could
host a training workshop at Living Word the church I am privileged to pastor. He was on the calendar and we were off to the races to make this the start of a movement in the congregation instead of a one weekend event. So we decided to launch a summer long party the day we wrapped up the training.
In the weeks leading up to the event, we had posters and fliers and even a few promo videos from members who have read the book. Then we started to look at follow-up for the event. How are we going to make this a movement and not just a one day event? Party was the answer! Everyone knows what a party is and the great thing is, party means something different to just about everyone. So we’ll help the congregation throw parties in their homes throughout the summer months in an effort to simply establish relationships with people where we live, work, and play.
Now here’s the hitch – there’s not catch to the parties. There’s no church t-shirts or bait and switch things happening here. It’s not a church party! It’s a party, gathering
of people where you happen to carry inside you all of the power of the risen Jesus. While you will not be leading a bible study or preaching anything at these parties. You will be on Jesus’ mission of redeeming and restoring the world unto himself. Pretty easy. Everyone likes food. Just about everyone likes to have fun. So why not put them together and have a little party?
It truly is that easy. Intentional missionaries strategically deployed around the community with the sole purpose of redeeming our community through relationships. Can’t get much easier than that! Want to join the fun and throw a party where you live, work, or play? Give us a shout and we’ll do what we can to help you get started!
It was big, bright, and full. I’m certainly not a guru on scientific matters, but I do remember from my childhood science class that the moon absorbs the light from the sun and reflects it back. This is why the moon shines at night. It’s more of a glow or reflection than shining its own light.
Several weeks ago a good friend of mine moved away. Not just around the corner or to a new church, but he move across the country. I have to be honest and tell you that I was not all that excited about this. But I knew that he was going where he needed to go. After making his decision to go, he packed up the family and the belongings and headed across the country for a new start. 
f you’ve ever worked around food, even if it was for your own children, you’ve undoubtedly heard of the 5 second rule. The rule says if food hits the floor it’s still usable as long as it is picked up within 5 seconds. That idea is just disgusting! And having worked in multiple restaurant chains in my life, I would like to assure you that many restaurants (even though we joke about it) don’t actually practice the 5 second rule. If it hits the floor, it doesn’t go out the serving door! 
your life referring to something called Epiphany lately. Maybe you are a little cloudy on its meaning. Don’t worry you’re definitely not alone. I would venture to guess that many followers of Jesus don’t even know what it really is all about.
t’s hard to believe that we’re nearing the end of the year, isn’t it? We’re already nearly midway through the last month of 2014. Before you know it, 2014 will be a thing of the past and we’ll be at the beginning of a new journey called 2015.
increasingly aware of a problem in our society. There are women in our world who are devalued and even mistreated just because they are women. There are women who believe that they only hold value for their bodies and the pleasure they give to men with their bodies. 
love Thanksgiving. It’s a great holiday and a wonderful chance to get together with family to give thanks for life’s many blessings. One tradition we have when my wife’s family gets together is to answer the question, What are you thankful for? 
Have you ever been caught sleeping when you were supposed to awake? Maybe it was at work and you were just exhausted, so you took a little nap only to be caught by the boss. Maybe it was in class and you just couldn’t stand the lecture so you took a little snooze. Or maybe the preacher just droned on and on, and the late night football game kept you up a little later than normal.