Archives For Mt Vernon

Asking God to Sell Some Cattle

February 20, 2013 — Leave a comment

2.20.13Have you ever taken God at his word and asked him for a strange yet direct request? That’s what Mt Vernon Church is doing. Even if you don’t attend our church, we’d love for you to say a short prayer with us today.

Here’s the backstory: several years ago, Mt Vernon moved forward with a vision (called the Imagine Campaign) to change the way it did church to reach the next generation for Christ. Part of that vision was renovating and upgrading its preschool facilities so that young families would have a quality environment to bring their kids. A new building was built, and the vision has been fulfilled. If you’ve been to Mt Vernon recently, we’re crawling with young families, literally! Every week new families come and join our church. One of their most consistent praises is the high quality of our preschool and children’s environments.

In fact, the vision has been filled almost too well. We’re running out of space. The past several weeks we’ve been at max capacity in our preschool environment. And with fourteen moms (that we know of) that are currently pregnant, we won’t be slowing down anytime soon. Space problems are a great problem to have.

Here’s a bad problem to have: we still owe $1.3 million debt on the preschool building. We need to pay that debt off, soon. We’re beginning to max out of our current facilities, but we can’t expand anymore until we pay off what we’ve already built. That’s why Mt Vernon is going through the Imagine 40 Day Prayer Challenge.

I believe in a big God who can do big things. So, we’re taking God at his word and asking him boldly to provide the resources to pay off the Imagine debt. Every day, we claim a promise in Scripture and apply that in faith towards our debt.

Here’s today’s Scripture and prayer. Wherever you are, whenever you read this, I’d love for you to pray this on our behalf:

“For every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine” (Psalm 50:10-11). Since God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, ask Him if He would sell a few and put those resources towards our Imagine debt.

 

In Biblical Truth, What I'm Teaching , , ,
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Catfish: Untangling the Lies We Believe About God

January 25, 2013 — 1 Comment

1.25.13By now you’ve heard of the term “catfish” being thrown around by the media these past few weeks, although you might not know exactly what it means. Urban Dictionary defines catfish as “someone who pretends to be someone they’re not using Facebook or other social media to create false identities, particularly to pursue deceptive online romances.”

Falling for a catfish is believing a hoax. Manti Te’o of Notre Dame is the most notable example. Yet everyone who believed in the myth of Lance Armstrong also bought into a hoax. Believing a hoax can be more than embarrassing. In the case of Lance Armstrong, it can destroy the lives of people around you. Early detractors of Armstrong were bullied and intimidated, sometimes out of the sport entirely, just to keep the hoax alive.

As a pastor, there’s incredible spiritual application here. Are there hoaxes that we believe about God? When it comes to our view of God, have be been the victim of a catfish? Starting this Sunday at Mt Vernon Church, we’re starting a five-week series called Catfish: Untangling the Lies We Believe About God.

Here are the myths we’ll be tackling:

Myth: God is fed up with me. If you have that sneaking suspicion that God is always mad at you, that you’re always in trouble with him, then you’ve been catfished.

Myth: What matters most to God is whether or not I’m a good person. Think God just wants to you be a good person and be nice to others? Think again.

Myth: God’s chief aim is to make me happy in life. Do you treat God like a spiritual vending machine or the giant therapist in the sky? Don’t be fooled.

Myth: God is not good. If God was a good God, then why would he allow bad things to happen in the world? We’ll be tackling the problem of evil to conclude the series.

If for some reason you can’t make the services, you can always watch online here, Sundays at 10:30 am (CST).

In Biblical Truth, Food for Thought, What I'm Teaching , , , ,
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What Never Ever Ever Gets Old For Me

January 22, 2013 — Leave a comment

1.22.13It’s got to be the way I’m wired, because I know that many people just aren’t this way. But this is how God made me, so I embrace it. What never ever ever gets old for me is meeting new people at church. Mt Vernon is a thriving, growing congregation of several hundred people. In the fourteen months since I’ve been here, I’ve met hundreds of families, many of whom are good friends now.

Every single week, without fail, God brings new families to Mt Vernon. And I love to meet them all! It never gets old. I love to hear about their stories, their spiritual journeys, and how God is working in their lives. It continually blows me away to watch God working in so many different lives, bringing them together at one place.

 

In the past few Sundays I’ve met:

  • a family who hugged the back row like it was going out of style. The mom told me later that they had attended Mt Vernon before but haven’t been in a few years. She was getting her hair cut by someone on the other side of town and her hair stylist kept going on and on about Mt Vernon. They’ve been the past two weeks and have told me they’re coming back for good.
  • a young lady and her new husband. She was a friend of one of my former youth at a previous church. She’s attending a local college in town for the next year and a half and came to check us out. She found out that we work with the Dominican Republic (she’s been there four times), and now she’s in love.
  • an Air Force couple who have attended for a few months, completed our membership class, and are ready to get plugged in and serve.
  • a mom who’s been several times before. This past Sunday she brought her three teenagers, who haven’t been to church in years. She said they really enjoyed it but were anxious to get out of there before they actually had to talk to anyone. I promised her we wouldn’t bite and I look forward to meeting them next time.

These are literally the first four families that come to mind. All different walks of life. All on a journey with God. All at Mt Vernon. I absolutely love what I do!

image courtesy of http://www.freedigitalphotos.net

In Ministry in the Trenches, What I'm Learning , , ,
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Why I’m an Unashamed Facebook Stalker

December 18, 2012 — 1 Comment

12.18.12At a recent church function, a new church family came up and gave me a nice compliment. They were impressed that I knew their names and their children’s names. They know that Mt Vernon isn’t a small church. There were several hundred that called Mt Vernon home when I got here, and in 2012, several hundred more have visited. This couple had visited and gotten plugged in within the last few months. They haven’t gotten plugged into a Life Group yet, so they don’t know a lot of people. Yet I know them and their family. They said, “You must have a gift when it comes to names and faces.”

Here’s the secret: I work really, really hard at getting to know names and faces. That’s why I’m an unashamed Facebook stalker. If you’re on Facebook, game over. Our church database (F1) has the ability to add pics next to names in our directory. I’ve personally spent hours and hours adding over 300 new pictures from Facebook to recently attended guests. Why? Because once you know someone’s name, they’re no longer a stranger. They’re family.

Regular attenders expect you to know them, guests don’t. Here’s the easiest way to help a guest become a regular attender. Learn their name. Call them by name the next time they come to church. Once you know their name, they’ll no longer feel like a stranger. They’ll feel like they belong. Game over.

The truth is I’m not a natural with names. If I meet someone face-to-face and learn their name, nine times out of ten I’ll forget it. So I have to work at it. Constantly. My “Mt Vernon Faces” album on iPhoto currently has 513 pictures in it. I’ve got about 85% of those faces locked in. That’s 436 men, women and children I can call by name when they show up at Mt Vernon. That’s a lot of work, but it’s well worth it. Every name you know is another soul you can impact for eternity. Work hard at names and faces. It will always pay off.

Image courtesy of http://www.freedigitalphotos.net

In Ministry in the Trenches, What I'm Living , , , ,
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