Ray Hughes - The Symphony of Heaven

This is one of the most amazing sermons that I have heard on worship. I love this brother's voice! He reminds me of Johnny Cash! It lasts about an hour and ten minutes. Be blessed!

Here Is A Good Example Of What Church Is Supposed To Be

From an article on the Presidential Prayer Team website...

Leadership can be lonely. When you're the mayor, people who talk to you very often want something from you. That's why Portland, Oregon, Mayor Tom Potter was so surprised when one citizen - a prominent international figure - asked what he and his network of local leaders and activists could do for the mayor and the city.

"In all my years of public service," says Potter, "I rarely have people ask what they can do for me - and for our city. My answer, of course, was immediate - please help us solve the problem of homelessness."

The outcome two years later has been substantial. Over 25,000 volunteers have mobilized to tackle not only the area's homelessness but also medical needs, hunger, poverty, school cleanup and more. Their "Season of Service" (www.portlandcityfest.com/season_of_service) includes a dizzying array of projects to connect needy people with those who can help.

Luis Palau (www.portlandcityfest.com/luis_palau), the international Christian speaker who approached Potter, and his team have helped organize local churches to volunteer for the public good. Partnering with government and business leaders, the church coalition is producing impressive results.

Read more...

This is what I am talking about! The church being the hands, feet, and mouth of God here on earth. VERY COOL.

What Is Church?

We need to rethink our definition of “church.” When we come to “church” as an individual who is primarily a consumer we begin to view church as an “event” where we can consume spirituality or religion to meet our own personal needs. The alternative here is to move from church as event to church as family. When we approach “church” as individuals in a community where we are cooperating together for a common goal its almost impossible to think of church as an event. Instead a better metaphor for church, as we have talked about at The Well a lot recently, is “family.” A family cooperating together to care together for the individual needs, all for a common goal.

- Todd Hiestand pastor of The Well (From the Provocative Church blog)

Regarding Preaching

Sunday is about preaching the Word of God without compromise and leading believers into a time of worship. We are not seeker-sensitive…we don’t pull out all of the stops for guests. Sunday wasn’t Scripturally meant for them…it was mainly intended for the believer. Don’t get me wrong…we know that guests come to Compass Point on Sundays…and we want them to feel welcomed. We have greeters, Starbucks coffee and decent signage. We explain what each element of the service is so we don’t throw people off. However, when the preaching begins…that’s where “guest friendly” stops. Other church planters always ask me how we keep reaching people that are so far from God…it’s because we couldn’t give a rip about coddling them. People far from God…that venture into Compass Point…are already being engaged by the Holy Spirit. They aren’t looking for budget plans for their finances, their purpose in life or how to have better sex…they are looking for a Savior. If they want “self help” fluff they can get a Tony Robbins video or buy a “Marriage For Dummies” book at Barnes & Noble. If they come to Compass Point…it’s because they want to hear the Word of God…unfiltered. My job on Sunday is not to baby sit consumers…my job is to confront sin…for believers and unbelievers…through the uncompromised preaching of God’s Word.

- Chris Elrod (from his blog, Chris Elrod Dot Com)

Havin' Church

Tonight we had our second installment of the Church Incognito. It was so pleasant. We had my sister's family, two other couples, and myself.

The night started with supper. It was pretty good too. I made shepherd's pie, Penny made an awesome salad, and Sara made chocolate chip cookies with a hint of orange. My sister provided the sweet tea!

After we had cleaned up from supper we got some coffee and headed to the living room where we sang a couple songs and then we talked about the passage in 1 Corinthians 14:26-33. I would love to say that I was better prepared, but I hadn't looked at the passage today. Justin really did a great job talking about this passage and had some really great insights to share.

One of the things that Justin talked about was a book that he read in college about spiritual disciplines. (I need to get the title from him, because it sounded like one I would like to read.) But as he was talking about the book it became clear to me that I have been lacking in the area of meditation and listening to God.

Lately I have been so harried by my situation and by all of the things going on around me that it has been hard for me to pray or hear God at all. I have to be able to come back to my base and hear what God is saying to me and bask in the peace of His presence. I have spent far too much time lately quite literally raging in the storm. The Word tells us that rage is a fruit of the flesh. If I am producing fleshly fruit, I must have gotten detached from the correct vine.

From a practical perspective I have to say that the singing section and the Word section were a little bumpier than I would have liked, but still it went OK. A little more preparation and some prayer towards this meeting should make things go a lot better. And as you can see from what I wrote in the paragraph above, there was fruit from this time.

By far my favorite time of the night was when we gathered together to pray. What a sweet time. We went for close to an hour and the presence of God was so tangible. It helped me to realize just how far I had been from His presence lately. God is so good to meet us, broken as we are.

Anyway, it was a great meeting and I will look forward to seeing how things continue to go. What will God do with our little group? I have no idea, but I am certainly looking forward to finding out!