In Christ and His Word

Reflection from Israel:

I want to praise God for His answered prayer. In my previous post, I shared three prayer requests for my trip: refreshment from Christ, feeding on the Word, and vision for Vintage. He answered all three. My time with the Lord through His Word was incredible. There is something about reading a passage like Mark 4:35-41 (Jesus calming the storm) when you are on a boat on that same Sea of Galilee. There is something about reading about the suffering of Christ in a pit where Christ actually suffered. While He was speaking to me in these places through His Word, He gave me a very simple vision for Vintage.

Stay in Him and follow His Word.

Listen to the words of Jesus in John 6.
"I am the bread of life....Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you....For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink....It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life."

Being in Israel again was another confirmation that we serve and follow an extremely real and powerful God. He came in flesh, walked this earth, loved people, voluntarily sacrificed His life, conquered the evil one, ascended into heaven, and remains with us through the Spirit.

His command to us is to "make disciples". How do we do this? In Him.

It might seem simple, but I think it is extremely freeing and powerful. Those whom Christ has saved are empowered by Him and are called to follow His Word. As a new church planter, I am swarmed by so many church growth tips & strategies online, in books, from other pastors, and conferences. All of this is good, but if staying in Christ and His Word isn't the priority it will ultimately be ineffective. May God forgive us for trying to lead His church outside of Him and His Word. He is our Senior Pastor and His Word is our strategy book.

Thank you Jesus for this reminder. Give us your strength as Vintage Church to stay focused upon YOU AND YOUR WORD.

I'll post some of my favorite pics in my next post.

Back to Israel

I am on my 3rd hour sitting at the Newark Airport waiting to board a plane for my 3rd trip to Israel. To be perfectly honest, this is really only my 2nd trip that will have any spiritual significance. My first trip was when I was a in high school and let's just say that I was more interested in the girls on the trip than the historical sites.

We will be traveling with our friends from NOBTS. Clay Corvin, Dr. Dukes, and Dr. Warren will be hosting/leading the trip and Dr. Dukes will be teaching on the parables. I am really looking to seeing these parables come alive as we dive into the text in the locations where they were taught.

I will certainly post a reflection blog of the trip, but I wanted to share a few prayer requests:

1. Refreshment with Jesus. I have really been bustin it this fall. Everything that I do I love to do, but I have definitely gotten tired. When I get tired it seems like my priorities get out of whack. My family life, school life, devotional life, friendships, fitness, Vintage, etc. Can anyone relate to this statement? Sometimes you can work so hard for Christ that you forget about Christ. I need to be with Jesus because it is only through Jesus that I can ever accomplish all the things above. Please pray that my time in Israel will be a time of refreshment with Him.
2. Feeding from Scripture. I am so pumped about Dr. Dukes teachings on the parables. I am really asking for Christ to smack me around with His Word. I am praying for Christ to ignite a burning passion within my soul to study and live out His Word.
3. Vision for Vintage. After spending time with Christ and His Word, I am praying for God to reveal His direction for Vintage Church. I am always overwhelmed by the task that God has called me to in NOLA. The weight and responsibility of being a pastor is extremely intense. I absolutely love it. My only fear is that I would lead outside of the will of God. I am so thankful for our church. I can't believe we just celebrated 1 year. Join with me in praying for God to reveal His good, pleasing, and perfect plans for Vintage as we journey into the future.

Thanks for praying.

Prayer Is Where The Action Is

Right now I am sitting at my favorite bfast place in NOLA, Slim Goodies. I absolutely love the workers, the music, and especially the food. I am sitting at my favorite window booth watching the Magazine St. world pass by. You would think that life would be good right now, but I am currently overwhelmed.

Without going into any details, I just returned from the hospital trying to visit someone. This person is struggling hardcore and is contemplating ending their life. I tried my best to convince the doctors to let me seen him, but they said that he didn't want to talk to anyone. I want so desperately to let my friend know that Christ loves him, I love him, and our church loves him. This and many other experiences over the last month have brought me to a place of desperation before God.

So what is my response to the great need for Christ in my city? Prayer.

This past Sunday, we continued our journey in Colossians looking at "Your Prayers". You can listen to the sermon online at www.vintagenola.org/podcast. Our media team created this video as a lead into this message:



Unfortunately, prayer isn't always my first reaction. Lately, God has really convicted me about my prayer life. Planting a church in NOLA will do that to you. There are so many needs, so many people who need the love of Christ.

God call your people to prayer. May we be broken on our knees before you in intercession for these incredible people in NOLA and around the world.

“Prayer is where the action is." John Wesley

ENOUGH is ENOUGH

Enough Series from Vintage Church on Vimeo.

This past Sunday was an amazing day. We launched a second gathering at our Valence Campus, had a great block party called V2K, and began a journey through the Book of Colossians called ENOUGH. We are going to learn through preaching and Community Group study that Christ is enough for our authority, identity, community and mobility.

You can subscribe to the Vintage Podcast and listen to the first sermon in our series:

www.vintagenola.org/podcast

Here is our journey this fall:

Christ is Enough from Vintage Church on Vimeo.

Wk 1/Aug 23 - Authority: Your Call (Col 1:1-2)
Wk 2/Aug 30 - Authority: Your Prayers (Col 1:3-12)
Wk 3/Sep 6 - Authority: Your Position (Col 1:13-18)
Wk 4/Sep 13 - Authority: Your Need (Col 1:19-23)
Wk 5/Sep 20 - Identity: Your Suffering (Col 1:24-29)
Wk 6/Sep 27 - Identity: Your Wisdom (Col 2:1-7)
Wk 7/Oct 4 - Identity: Your Sins (Col 2:8-15)
Wk 8/Oct 11 - Identity: Your Death (Col 2:16-23)
Wk 9/Oct 18 - Community: Your Life (Col 3:1-4)
Wk 10/Oct 25 - Community: Your Actions (Col 3:5-17)
Wk 11/Nov 1 - Community: Your Relationships (Col 3:18-4:1)
Wk 12/Nov 8 - Mobility: Your Speech (Col 4:2-6)
Wk 13/Nov 15 - Mobility: Your Mercy (Col 4:7-15)
Wk 14/Nov 22 - Mobility: Your Endurance (Col 4:16-18)

I am really excited to launch our Community Groups this fall. We have changed from 11 LIFEgroups to over 20 Community Groups. The biggest change is simple. We aren't encouraging people to have a Bible study once a week. We are encouraging people to "do life" together. Acts 2:47 says that "the Lord added to their number DAY BY DAY those who were being saved". That means they weren't just meeting on Sundays and Wednesdays. They were always on mission...being the church. As our CGs live out the Gospel, we have equipped them with a study that is parallel to our journey in Colossians.

This study is intended to facilitate an opportunity to learn and apply the truths that are preached on Sundays. Each week’s study takes the central themes to higher level of understanding and application. The central theme will be based on the weekly Colossians passage, but will focus upon a parallel text.

In preparation for our study this fall, we will provide the following to our church family:

• Sermon Notes & Podcast Download
• Vintage Kidz Bible Study Notes and Guide
• Weekly Community Group Study Guide (includes worksheet overview and full study)

The Journey Ends and Keeps Going

Yesterday we wrapped up our journey through the Psalms of Ascents. We called our series RISE. The goal of our series was to journey upward towards God as we looked at different spiritual disciplines that were brought out of each Psalm. The journey included Repentance, Providence, Worship, Service, Help, Security, Joy, Work, Happiness, Perseverance, Hope, Humility, Obedience, Community, and Blessing. I reminded Vintage that we were on a marathon, not a sprint. Whether it is joy, hope, community...take it one step at a time. I know most churches live and judge as though they are perfect people, but no one is perfect. So what does this mean? Our summer journey through these Psalms might have ended, but it keeps going.

Here is a basic summary of these Songs:

PSALM OF ASCENTS (Psalm 120-134)
• Songs sung by Hebrew Pilgrims on their journey to Jerusalem (Temple of God).
• Faithful Hebrews would not only participate in daily God-following but also attend events like the Feast of Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles and would also take 3 trips to Jerusalem each year.
• Literal Ascent – Jerusalem was the highest city in Palestine.
• Metaphoric Ascent – Life as a faith-journey lived UPWARD TOWARD GOD

We also journeyed through Eugene Peterson's book, A Long Obedience In The Same Direction. I highly recommend reading this book as you journey through these Psalms. Here are some of my favorite quotes from this book:

• “It is a rejection that is also an acceptance, a leaving that develops into an arriving, a no to the world that is a yes to God.”
• “Every skeptical thought, every disappointing venture, every pain, every despair that we can face is lived through and integrated into a personal, saving relationship with God – a relationship that also has in it acts of praise, blessing, peace, security, trust, and love.”
• “God wants us to sing like this! Christians are not fussy moralists who cluck their tongues over a world going to hell; Christians are people who praise the God who is on their side. Christians are not pious pretenders in the midst of a decadent culture; Christians are robust witnesses to the God who is our help. Christians are not fatigued outcasts who carry righteousness as a burden in a world where the wicked flourish; Christians are people who sing “Oh, blessed be God!...He didn’t abandon us defenseless.”
• “We want a Christian faith that has stability but is not petrified, that has vision but is not hallucinatory. How do we get both the sense of stability and the spirit of adventure, the ballast of good health and the zest of true sanity? How we get the adult maturity to keep our feet on the ground and retain the childlike innocence to make the leap of faith?”

Another great part about our journey was hearing from some of our other leadership. I praise God for the quality leadership that has surrounded me at Vintage. I am extremely blessed to be linked with these studs. Thx Drew, Brick, John, Luke, Gavin, and Matt for faithfully preaching the Word. You can listen to all of the messages from this series at our podcast (http://www.vintagenola.org/podcast).

Concluding Thoughts:
I am going to conclude my thoughts as Eugene Peterson did in his book. All of life is about one thing, glorifying God. Peterson brings up the first question in the Westminster Shorter Catchism is "What is the chief end of man?". The answer is "To glorify God and enjoy him forever." Yesterday I preached on Psalm 134 about "Blessing". Ultimate blessing is found in God. That is it. Our goal on this journey isn't to gain more knowledge, become more spiritual, receive health and wealth...our goal is God. Our carnal mind doesn't allow us to understand the blessing that we will receive when we get to heaven. We will worship God. We won't think about our status, our location...we will be united with Christ.

Lord, keep your church focused throughout our journey in this world on YOU!

FOLLOW THE RULES!!!

MissionLab 2009 Week 7 from MissionLab New Orleans on Vimeo.

I can't believe that we have just wrapped up another MissionLab Summer. Over 3000 people poured into NOLA to share the love of Christ. I am so thankful to Christ for the privilege of journeying with this mission over the last 4 years. We had an incredible summer staff that served Christ with everything. We raised tons of money to help our friend Hannah Sterling stay in Africa. We loved people all over the city of New Orleans. We saw people come to know Christ at camp and in the city. If they'll keep us, the AOB and Rob show will keep it going for another summer.

To all my friends out there that came to NOLA...I love ya and thanks for coming. Keep "BEING THE CHURCH". God has called you to a great mission.

For your enjoyment, I have uploaded the rules video that my boy Dan and Brett put together. Mike and Travis did a great job making this probably the most amazing rap video ever. As you will notice (and in my defense), I didn't have my lines memorized. Started looking like a Bruce Lee movie towards the end. By the way, that isn't Fat Joe rapping next to me, it's Andrew Ogea.

MissionLab 2009 Follow The Rules Rap from MissionLab New Orleans on Vimeo.

MissionLab Summer #4

I can't believe I am about to launch into my fourth summer with the MissionLab program. Right after Katrina I received a phone call to come back to NOLA and help revive this great ministry. That first summer we saw close to 600 students flock to our city. This summer we have close to 3000 students coming! God is amazing.

Why stick around with MissionLab for so long? #1 God has called me. Enough said. #2 I love it. Seriously, I have a blast. #3 The impact. Each summer I get to preach to hundreds of church groups that have poured into my city to "love God and love people". I could talk for days about the stories of impact for Jesus Christ in NOLA.

Summer #1 our theme was IGNITE MISSION. Summer #2 - LIVE LOUDER. Summer #3 - REBIRTH. This summer our theme is BE THE CHURCH. We will be taking a journey through the book of Acts. I can't wait.

Here are a couple of videos that highlight our mission in NOLA. The second is a video that the groups watch as preparation for their week.

MissionLab Youth Camps from MissionLab New Orleans on Vimeo.

Preparing for your New Orleans Mission Trip from MissionLab New Orleans on Vimeo.

Tonight the 2009 Summer MLab Journey Begins!