by Shaun King of Courageous Church:


Yesterday I received emails from two total strangers about our church.
The first email was pretty harsh and proclaimed that I was “shortchanging the Gospel” by making church and Christianity “sound fun.” The author ended her email by stating, “I am obviously not your target audience.”
The second email was the polar opposite. Here’s an excerpt:
“I’ve been reading about your church. I am not really sure where my religious views fall, I really just mix a lot of ideas up, but I am not a Christian. I do however find your church to be an amazing example of what I feel church of any religion should be. You inspire me to give church another chance.”
Here’s the thing…the first email was a blistering critique from a seasoned, lifelong Christian. I could get bent out of shape by what she thought, but to her own admission, she is not who we are trying to reach.
The second email was from a person that is on the fence with God and the church and made a total heart connection with our style and strategies. This person epitomizes our target audience.
At the end of the day you have to know who you are and you aren’t. In some ways, I actually saw the critique of our church as a compliment because it confirmed that we are successfully projecting ourselves just the way we planned. When you know who you are(n’t) you can take a lickin’ and keep on tickin’

Not that I thought you guys needed to hear about a couple of emails from Courageous Church, but I would like everyone to hear that this project (ultimately, Revolution Church) will eat, sleep and breathe this mentality. People of the Ohio Valley that are far from God, but yet know that there is more to life than what they are experiencing, will be of utmost importance to us! We are about people that do not know Jesus. Wanna be part of an Ohio Valley Revolution?

Just wanted to say that God is so wonderfully faithful!

We discussed some "areas of uncertainty" the other night (not "obstacles", since He's bigger than anything we call an "obstacle"). And by yesterday, the paths were made straight and the answers weren't just clear, but they were really, really good solutions!

And I love it that our team was thrilled, but not surprised! After all, we operate out of the certainty that this is God's vision for a church, not ours.

Glory to God- It's an honor to do Your work!

FOOLS FOR CHRIST by Mark Batterson:

PERFECT!

It seems like the people that God uses the most are the people who are willing to climb trees like Zaccheus or get out of boats in the middle of the lake like Peter or follow stars like the Wise Men or chase lions like Benaiah! Translation: they are willing to look foolish.

I Corinthians 1:27 reveals God’s modus operandi: God deliberately chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise.

Nothing has changed. God still uses fools.

Faith is the willingness to look foolish. And the reason some of us have never experienced a miracle is because we're not willing to look foolish. If you aren't willing to look foolish God can't use you. Why? Because God uses the foolish things. So let me say it like it is: if you aren't willing to look foolish you're foolish.

Don’t tell me Noah didn’t feel a little foolish building an ark when rain wasn’t in the forecast for another 120 years! Don’t tell me David didn’t feel a little foolish going to war with a slingshot. Don’t tell me Benaiah didn’t feel a little foolish chasing the king of the beasts. Don’t tell me the Wise Men didn’t feel a little foolish when Jewish border agents asked them the reason for their visit. Don’t tell me a professional fisherman named Peter didn’t feel a little foolish stepping out of the boat in the middle of the lake. And don’t tell me Jesus didn’t feel a little foolish hanging half-naked on the cross in front of him family and friends.

But faith is the willingness to look foolish. And the results speak for themselves. Noah was saved from the flood. David defeated Goliath. Benaiah killed a lion in a pit on a snowy day. The Wise Men found the Messiah. Peter walked on water. And Jesus was raised from the dead.

So I was doing dishes today, listening to the new Elevation Worship CD (which is wonderful), and thinking about some conversations that I'd had recently.

That's when it hit me.

It really, really hit me.

"We're starting a church with no money, no pastor, no denomination, and no building."

In the Ohio Valley.

No wonder some people look at us like we're crazy! What are we thinking???

And then it hit me. "We ARE crazy! We're really, really crazy!"

Crazy about the fact that there are people in the Ohio Valley who have yet to find a church where they fit.
Crazy about the fact that there are people going through life, just doing the best they can, trying to be a good person, all in their own effort, without the hope or help of Jesus.
Crazy about the fact that too many people are ok with God, but have lost faith in the church.
Crazy about the fact that a church that does things that have never been done before has a wonderful opportunity to reach people that it has never reached before.
Crazy about the fact that it doesn't have to be this way!
Crazy enough to care enough to want to make a difference!

We ARE crazy! And I love it!

We are doing something SO CRAZY that if God doesn't bless it, it will be impossible!

We're making it all about Him, and we're trusting that He will provide what we need to make it happen for Him and His glory.

And we'll do whatever it takes to see that happen.

From PerryNoble:

#1 - Am I loving “social networking” more than Jesus?
#2 - Am I loving my particular brand of theology more than Jesus?
#3 - Am I loving my particular worship style more than Jesus?
#4 - Am I loving my platform more than Jesus?
#5 - Am I loving attention more than Jesus?
#6 - Am I loving facilities more than Jesus?
#7 - Am I loving opportunities more than Jesus?
#8 - Am I loving ritual more than Jesus?
#9 - Am I loving success more than Jesus?
#10 - Am I loving the ministry more than Jesus?
Basically…am I loving ANYONE or ANYTHING more than Jesus!

Jesus has got to be the at the center of all we are trying to accomplish! Whether it is a life-changing revolutionary church, or the relationships in our life-at home or work. What areas of our life do we need to re-adjust to put Him first?

James, a disciple of Jesus, wrote “faith without deeds is useless” (James 2:20). He explains that people brag about their faith, but if that faith does not lead them to action, it is worthless. Many pastors and theologians try to claim that there is disagreement between James and the Apostle Paul, claiming that Paul says that salvation is by faith alone and that James teaches that a person needs to have works to be saved. Actually, Paul and James teach the exact same thing. Paul writes

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:8-10).
Both men teach clearly that salvation is through faith, but that faith naturally leads to obeying God and producing good works.

The importance of this is illustrated by the story of the Israelites refusing to go and take the Promised Land (Numbers 13-14). Moses sent 12 spies into the land to see what it was like. All of the spies said the land was great, but ten of them said that they could not take it. They refused to believe God. Joshua and Caleb admitted that the other nations were strong, but they believed that God would give them the victory. The whole nation of Israel chose to agree with the ten spies, choosing not to go into the Promised Land. Their lack of faith in God caused them to choose not to go into the Land. If they had believed, then that belief would have led them to take action and that would have taken over the Promised Land. Even if they did not believe that they were strong enough, they could have trusted God and gone up to take the Land even if they were wetting their pants all the way.

The point of the story is this:
You can say that you believe God all you want, but if it does not move you to action, it means nothing.

This is a little blurb from a Shane Duffey tweet. I loved it!

“Jesus leadership example = saw a great need which produced a broken heart which ignited passion which worked itself out through sacrifice.” Shane Duffey

Wanna be part of an Ohio Valley Revolution?