Favorite 2009 Vintage Pics

Annabeth and I are currently downtown NOLA. The Vintage Vision Team hooked us up with some R&R to kick off the New Year. We have had a blast reflecting on 2009 and getting excited about 2010. I am so grateful to God for all that He has done and is continuing to do. Here are some of my favorite 2009 pics hanging with the Vintage Fam:

Mardi Gras Outreach



Myanmar Trip w/ Rob & Sean



Lawrence Park w/ my Bolt



Vail, CO
Acts 29 Retreat w/ Annabeth



MissionLab Summer Rap Video w/ Drew



Kidz Summer Outreach



V2K
Talking w/ Pastor Cipriano



East Bayou (Vintage Sponsor)
25 Year Celebration for Pastor Mike



Fall Baptism at Valence



Israel Trip w/ the Vintage Crew



Vintage Christmas Adopt



For more pics from the last year go to www.vintagenola.org/photo-gallery/

Join the Conspiracy

Following our ENOUGH series through the book of Colossians, the Vintage Church family is in the middle of a series called ADVENT CONSPIRACY. For 4 weeks our church is uniting together to reclaim the true meaning of Christmas. We are sacrificing the money and time that we would normally spend on ourselves in order to give to others who are in greater need. Vintage will give in two specific ways: our money & our time. We will give money to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering (supporting foreign missionaries around the world) and Matties Little Angels (supporting a daycare in our neighborhood). We will give our time by adopting over 60 kids from Matties Little Angels and hosting a Christmas party on Sunday, Dec 20th.

Here is a video summarizing what Vintage will give toward this Christmas:



Churches from all around the world have joined this conspiracy. You can find out more info about this movement at www.adventconspiracy.org.

To summarize, we want to focus upon Christ this Christmas. On November 29th, we launched this series by laying out a foundational theology as to why we celebrate Christ. Here are my notes and a link to my sermon:

WORSHIP FULLY

Philippians 2:5-11

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Why should we WORSHIP CHRIST FULLY?

Christ...

Exists As God (vs. 6)

Served As Man (vs. 7)

Obeyed As Savior (vs. 8)

Reigns As Lord (vs. 9-11)

http://vintagenola.org/podcast/2009/11/29/advent-conspiracy-112909-worship-fully.html

Pics from Israel

I had a blast with Clay Corvin and the crew from NOBTS in Israel. Thanks for some great memories. Here are some of my favorite pics from the trip. They were all taken from my iphone with the best camera app.

1st morning sunrise outside Jerusalem

Top of Masada on the Dead Sea

Hiked down this trail from Masada

Temple Mount

Western (Wailing) Wall

Via Dolorosa

Vintage Drew

Holy Church of Sepulchre

The Godfather (Dr. Butler). Lamb Kebab was incredible!

James leading us in a song in an Anglican Church on the Via Dolorosa

My friends Clay and Adam Corvin

Hanging with the Vintage/MissionLab dudes

Inside Catholic Church

Speaks for itself

Chicken Schwarma with T-money

Looking at the Southern Wall

Pastor Mel & James with a skyline of the Old City

Clay giving devo in the Garden of Gethsemane

Me and the Duke. He walked us through the Parables. Amazing!

Hoot giving Devo at Bet She'an

Morning devo overlooking the Sea of Galilee

The Duke (enough said)

The crew on the Mediterranean

Mosaic floor

Our crew walking the streets of Arco

Giving devo at Ceasarea by the Sea (Die to Live/Live to Die)

JP (enough said)

Stole this sign to put up outside Vintage

Dr. Butler giving devo near the Mt. of Beattitudes

Cool Window

"On a boat"

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)