Egg The Homeless - BIG WIN!

It has taken me a couple days to recover and gain clarity on all that God did for us over this past Easter weekend.

Here is a quick overview of the weekend:

(You can check out some pics here)

ELEVATE (Good Friday Gathering in Uptown & Metairie)
Each campus gathered to "reflect upon the cross" through song & prayer.

GIVE (Concert Benefit @ Tipitina's for NO Mission)
During the day, I joined 20 volunteers to lead the NO Mission in a worship gathering and serve lunch. Later that night around 250 people partied with The Jake Smith Band and Chee-Weez. We were able to raise money and provide some equipment that will be helpful to the NO Mission.

GATHER (Easter Gathering @ Tulane's Dixon Auditorium)
Around 300 people gathered to worship our risen Jesus. We saw 7 baptized and multiple responses to the Gospel call that we are following up with this week.

As our Executive Leadership Team met yesterday. We thanked God so much for allowing us to experience His movement this past weekend.

Here are a few HUGE takeaways from the weekend:

1) VINTAGE IS BECOMING A MOVEMENT. Movements begin when things happen that are out of man's control. This weekend I saw barriers to the Gospel break down in people's lives, I saw volunteers go above and beyond the call of duty displaying initiative and willingness, I saw people bringing their entire family to hear the Gospel, I saw sacrifice and hardwork, I saw a passion for who we are and what we represent in New Orleans...I could go on and on.

2) BOTH/&. This weekend I preached out of 2 Corinthians 5&6 about how the Gospel is not EITHER/OR, it is BOTH/&. You can listen to it online here. God has given us a vision of being a BOTH/& church for the glory of God. I can't wait to unpack this some more in the future. This weekend was a great confirmation of the "new wineskin" that God is preparing for our future.

3) ATTEMPTING SOMETHING BIG. Don't be scared of big. I know that "big" isn't that cool anymore, but its okay to put down your organic food and hippie clothes every now and then in order to attempt something big. Probably the greatest lesson that I learned through everything was that I love being desperate before God. I didn't enjoy the sleepless nights, the stress, the tough meetings, etc. I did however enjoy how it forced me to my knees in desperation before God. I can only do so much, but throughout this time God filled in the gap and more. If life is boring and monotonous, attempt something big for God. Watch not only how he will sustain you and show up, but also watch how much you grow. Vintage grew up a lot this past weekend and I'm extremely thankful.

The best is yet to come!

Pastor Rob Update & Invitation

Dear Vintage Family,

Thank you so much for your prayers and support over the last few days. We have been on quite a ride over the last week.

Here is the basic timeline:

* Wednesday 16th - Mack has a fever and we go to the doc. Nothing serious. Simple medicine given.
* Wed-Sat - Mack starts getting worse.
* Saturday 19th - We take Mack to the Urgent Care because he is pale and not responding. They take tests and say there is no real problem outside of a simple cold. They check his iron and hemoglobin and find out that it is really low.
* Monday 21st - 3am Mack is now gasping for air and is really pale and his lips are blue. We rush him to the ER. They admit him into the hospital immediately and put him on a breathing machine. They diagnose him with RSV. He has a treatment done for 4 hours and then they are forced to give him a blood transfusion because his low iron and hemoglobin couldn't fight off this condition.
* Since Monday, Mack has gradually gotten better although he is really weak.
* Wednesday 23rd - Mack is now off the breathing support, he is smiling again, and will possibly check out on Thursday.

Before


After


Please also pray for Birk as he also has RSV. We are keeping a close eye on him. Bolt has a cough, but is the same "house destroying" Bolt.

Over the past few days, God has really spoken to me about the importance of community, obedience, and prayer. We are changing some things around this weekend and I will be back preaching the Word. I am so excited to share with you from my heart through the Word of God.

Special invitation this weekend:

Vintage will be on Fox News on Friday Night @ 10pm. A couple of weeks ago, they came and shot a story about our church family. This is going to be a great opportunity for us in New Orleans. You can go to www.fox8live.com to find the story once it is broadcast. Help us spread the word.

As a result of this news story, let's anticipate some new people at our gatherings this weekend. Let's pray for God to open up some incredible doors for us to share the Gospel. I love how my pastor friend in our city compels his church family to share the Gospel. He calls it FRANgelism (Friends, Relatives, Associates, & Neighbors). Go "Live the Gospel. Love the City. Be the Church." by inviting these people to give their lives to Jesus and visit one of our gatherings over the weekend.

Pastor Rob

We Are United

I want you to check out a song and video that our Vintage Creative Arts Team has put together. I think that Travis and Jake are two of the most talented guys that I know. Jake's song and Travis' video share the heartbeat of God's vision for our city through art. Thanks guys for this gift!

We Are United from Vintage Church on Vimeo.

As we have journeyed through 1 Corinthians, God has really been challenging our church family in the area of unity. I believe that this message from Pastor Paul is not only a plea for unity "within the church" but also "among the churches". As the Word has challenged us, God called us to promote unity among the churches in New Orleans. By no means do we believe that this first step is the answer to division. In order for unity and togetherness to happen we are going to have to pursue Gospel partnership daily. However, we are really excited about this first step and will be praying for many other churches in our city to link arms in proclaiming the Gospel.

Over the next three weeks I have invited some of my pastor friends to preach to our Vintage family. I am so thankful for each of these pastors, their family, and their church family. Each of these men inspire me to keep fighting the good fight. I feel blessed to serve alongside them in our city. Please pray with us over the next three weeks as we "punch Satan in the throat" by throwing away territorialism and embracing unity.

Week 1:
James Welch
Harbor Community Church (harbornola.com)
Uptown Campus (4523 Mag St.)
Feb 12 @ 6pm
Feb 13 @ 10:30am

Matt Tipton
Hope Church (hopenola.com)
Metairie Campus (3927 Rayne St.)
Feb 13 @ 9am

Week 2:
Richard Johnson
Desire Fellowship (desirefellowship.org)
Uptown Campus (4523 Mag St.)
Feb 19 @ 6pm
Feb 20 @ 10:30am

Mike Miller
FBC Kenner (fbckenner.org)
Metairie Campus (3927 Rayne St.)
Feb 20 @ 9am

Week 3:
Michael Carney
Calvary Baptist Church (calvarynewolreans.com)
Uptown Campus (4523 Mag St.)
Feb 26 @ 6pm
Feb 27 @ 10:30am

Ty Waivers
Grace Faith Family Fellowship (gracefaith.org)
Metairie Campus (3927 Rayne St.)
Feb 27 @ 9am

Justified by Burnout???

Burnout is a psychological term for the experience of long-term physical and emotional exhaustion.

My family and I are going to take a little break in the month of February. I'm gonna go to a couple of conferences and retreat to the mountains for a couple of weeks. Why? Because I refuse to burnout. I'm not even close right now and I honestly don't ever want to experience it.

Over the past three years as we have planted Vintage Church in New Orleans, I have heard so many in the church planting world share about how in the first 5 years of their church plant they worked themselves to a place of full exhaustion. Some couldn't get out of bed for weeks, some got really sick and almost died, some ended up cheating on their wives or vice versa, and unfortunately some killed themselves.

I am a little concerned by the discussion that I find in most church planter circles. It seems like a lot of church planters are in pursuit of burning out because somehow that will justify their ministry. Who are they trying to impress? Are they cooler because they got unhealthy? Will this help them sell more books in the future (as if that is the ultimate goal of ministry). Burnout is not the key to a successful church plant and it isn't the way by which we are justified before God.

Now, please know that I'm not saying that we shouldn't work hard as ministers of the Gospel. Please also know that I'm not saying that we should spend the majority of our ministry on vacation. What I am saying is that we are called to be faithful to God first, our family second, and then our church. How useful can you be as a church planter paralyzed by exhaustion, in the hospital, in divorce court, or in the grave?

Take a break and get some rest. If you are afraid that your church will fall apart when you leave then you might need to reconsider whose kingdom you are really trying to build?

Inspired

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZLvSnr6s50

Happy MLK Day!

2011 Prayer: Give Me Faith

Right now I am at Ma’agan on the Sea of Galilee and God has really presented an incredible challenge in my life. I believe that He is loving me by calling me out on my lack of faith and compelling me to place more faith in Him.

This is my 4th trip to Israel and I have prayed specifically in two ways. Lord, give me a refreshing love and passion for Your Word and challenge me toward Your Vision for the future. Dr. Warren is walking us through the book of Acts this week and he presented some great truth from Acts 1 tonight. He explained how he didn’t necessarily like the fact that the disciples were casting lots for the 12th disciple replacement for Judas. However, he also explained that their method isn’t the most important thing in this text. In the previous verses after Christ ascended into Heaven, the disciples gathered to pray and prepare for this great mission. Dr. Warren went on to say that our methods are useless unless our lives are prepared to respond to God and His work.

With this being said, we drove from Mt. Carmel (where Elijah and the prophets of Baal battled it out) and I listened to one of my favorite new songs (Give Me Faith - Elevation Worship). Here is a video of this song led by my buddy Chris Brown.



This wasn’t by chance, this was orchestrated by God. I was anticipating for God to speak to me clearly and He chose to bring this up on my new ipod shuffle. For those who don’t have one of these, you basically can put up to 250 songs on it and then it just randomly shuffles songs when you hit play. I couldn’t have chosen it myself.

Here I am sitting on the Sea of Galilee and God asks me to “Give Him Faith”. I mean how stinkin awesome is this! There are too many to cover on this blog, but consider the encounters people had with Jesus about their faith in the book of Mark.

To the paralytic who was carried through a roof by four friends near Capernaum:
Mark 2:5 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

To the disciples on the Sea of Galilee:
Mark 4:40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”

To the woman who touched Jesus’ garment by the Sea of Galilee:
Mark 5:34 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

2010 was an amazing year. There were definitely some major ups and major downs. In regards to family, we went through quite a roller coaster ride with the pregnancy but by God’s grace we welcomed Mack and Birk into our lives in July. Annabeth and I are so thankful for them and our Bolt. In regards to school, I am almost done. I never thought that would happen. This has been a slow process but I am thankful to learn and grow. In regards to ministry, I am amazed by the evidences of God’s grace with Vintage and MissionLab despite my failures and inabilities. I am so thankful that Jesus has set me free from the burden of trying to do anything, He has simply called me to surrender to Him and follow Him. I wish everything was great this year but I also went through some intensely difficult times. I am hoping to one day share these journeys as God has shaped and molded me through pain. I’ll be completing my 6th year leading MLab and have been thankful for every minute of this growing ministry. Vintage is at an incredible place where truth, love, and community is being multiplied through individuals, community groups, and gatherings.

With all that said, God is challenging me on my level of faith. He is reminded me through His Word that He has even greater things in store. Things that I can’t even imagine. No matter what I face in 2011, I am praying that God would give me a faith that anticipates His glory continuing to shine in my personal life, my family life, and my ministry life. Thank you Jesus for loving me by the Sea of Galilee.

Please Lord, Give Me Faith.

Fall 2010 Reflections: First Chapter Down!

This past fall we started a journey in I Corinthians called "In the City. For the City." We took a few breaks but we spent 13 weeks walking through the first chapter of this great book. You can go to www.vintagenola.org/inthecity/ to catch up with our journey. I've joked around with our Vintage family by stating that we might be hanging in this book for the next 40 years...that might be true.

Here are some reflections from our journey so far:

> THE GOSPEL - A lot of people dive into this book because of the craziness of Corinth or the controversial issues that Paul addresses. Above all things presented in the book, the Gospel is major anthem that is proclaimed. Paul's desperate plea with this young church plant was our memory verse for the first chapter which is an incredible proclamation of the Gospel:
And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord." 1 Cor 1:30-31

> THE CITY - The more I study, the more similarities I find between the city of Corinth and the city of New Orleans. The other day at one of our Community Group Leader meetings, a CG Leader stated that he was amazed at how similar his group is to the struggles found in Corinth. This book is a timely book for our church family. Paul loved this crazy city and he believed in the great potential impact in the world if Corinth was reached by the Gospel. I believe that God is going to teach us so much about how to be in New Orleans for New Orleans and the glory of God.

> CELEBRATING STORIES - Some of my favorite moments this fall have been hearing and witnessing the many different stories of our Vintage family being the church in our city. I could fill a book with all the incredible stories. You can watch some of the stories at www.vimeo.com/vintage. Thank you Jesus for moving through us in our city!

> LIFECHANGE - The Gospel is transforming people in the city of New Orleans. I am blown away by His grace. We have had so much fun witnessing people being saved and baptized. Join us in praying that God would save every soul in our city for His glory. Here some pics from our baptism gathering in September.





> UNITY - Most of the first chapter is Paul's plea in the Gospel against the division that was leaking into this young church plant. God really humbled me throughout this first chapter and helped me get past sin in order to remain focused on the main thing. I have loved witnessing our church family grow stronger over the fall. We are currently gathering around 200 people on the weekend but our unity isn't found when we gather, our unity is found as we scatter. We have around 250+ gathering in homes all over our city. These community groups are living out "truth, love, and community" and I am crazy in love with them.

Vintage Family, let's stay humble and focused upon the Gospel. I can't wait to launch back into I Corinthians in the Spring.