Starting something

The Halloween party is history and what a night. Let me thank Carjacklovers for rocking the house. Also, thanks to all those people who came. It was an awesome night. I pray it is the start of a movement.

In life we are always moving. We either move towards truth and light or towards darkness. It seems to me we also move towards peace or towards chaos. We find peace when we are enveloped by the grace and comfort of the light, the Word of God. Chaos is the cold, blank darkness of being separated for God's truth.

Last night I spoke about the lies of the enemy. For centuries the devil tried to destroy the church. But of late he has chosen a much keener strategy. Now he knows that he doesn’t have to destroy the church. Instead, all he must do is make church completely irrelevant to this generation. He whispers that it doesn’t offer anything to us. It isn’t fun. It is for old people. Church becomes nothing but quilting ladies and fancy dress up for snobbish people. He makes it a place that is boring. There is no fun allowed and there is nothing to do but sit and read old creeds and old hymns that mean nothing to you. And sadly, it seems that people are listening to him. Often our churches move more and more towards that image. They are filled with elderly ladies and the snobbish, while the young and disenfranchised move away... move towards the darkness. And the devil wins.

But that isn’t the church. The church, Paul’s church in the book of ACTS, is vibrant and alive. It is a place for like-minded believers to get together and feast and share stories and support each other and give hugs and share wealth and just enjoy the wonderful gift the LIFE that Jesus Christ so freely offers us. Christ offers us abundant life. He offers us fullness and happiness and overflowing joy. He offers it to more than just quilting ladies. He offers it to 15 year old skateboarders and twenty year old college kids and thirty year old guys with guitars. He wants us to live life to the fullest… to suck the marrow from the bone.

You see, the devil has tricked us into thinking that Jesus is locked in this box, this church-shaped box. There is churchy stuff here, and outside that box is all the fun stuff that we do in our normal lives. But that isn’t Jesus. It was through Him that all things were made. This is His work of art. His truth, His logic, His word was there in the beginning and is the matrix by which all things came into being. Nothing can separate us from his truth if we live in Him, if we embrace Him and walk with Him. Christ’s love is everywhere. In all of those things in our ‘real life’ Christ is there. He is there offering us not just salvation, but He offers us fullness and joy and abundant life.

I have never been as happy as I have been in church. Church saved my life. It made me whole. It resuscitated a dying man. I remember golden moments in my life in church. I have taken communion at Church of Hope and felt Christ’s presence so strong that I could have fallen prone on the ground. I have been in a Missionary Baptist church in West Virginia and leaped for joy. I have heard messages that touched my heart in ways I didn’t know existed. But also I am at church when I hang with my brothers and sisters in Christ and enjoy His creation. We toss the Frisbee. We feast on pizza. We sing songs and laugh and goof off. That is our church. We celebrate the gift of abundant life and we do it richly.

Friends, I want to share the joy of the Lord with you. We are moving towards the light. We are rocking for Christ. We rebuke the devil and his lies. Church isn’t boring. Church isn’t just for little old ladies. It’s our place. It’s our time. We reject that notion that Jesus is locked up in a box. Jesus is love. He is the joy of living. I will raise my hands and live for Him. I will enjoy life while praising Him. I will jump and shout how He has set me free. I will bang on my guitar and scream that He is not irrelevant, but no, He is unstoppable, undeniable. He is essential. And He is free. He is here for you today.

November 5th we are back at the Barn for our first Sunday service. It will be an acoustic, candlelight sing along service. I think it will be a crowd pleaser. Come join us sing and worship together... your music, your way.

Let’s move together.