Even South Florida, commonly referred to as a highly unchurched area, represented half of the Florida churches listed in the largest churches category. This does not change the statistics that this one of the top five most unchurched areas in the country, but for a church planter it is encouraging to think that it is possible to reach people here.
Any time you talk about “Mega” churches there are always the people that question the methods that are used to grow churches to this size. This week I was discussing one of the individuals on the overall list and I got “checked” by a friend with this thought… “Have you ever been in one of their services to know what really goes on?” My opinion was based on interviews, edited video and audio, media, etc. In reality I had no right justification for the opinion I had.
I have attended a few of these churches but this isn’t about methods today. What I want you to consider is that every one of these thousands or tens of thousands represents one of God’s kids. The word “go” in the Great Commission doesn’t say a lot about “how” we are to make disciples. There are some specifics on baptism there, but if these churches are expanding the kingdom of God and there really are 90,220 Floridians headed to heaven because of these ministries who are we question?
For a list of Florida Churches in each category click throught to the next page…
I had the best counseling session ever at 3:52 this morning. I don’t do a lot of counseling because there are a lot of people way more qualified. My wife is trained in counseling and all I have is a degree from the school of hard knocks. It wasn’t a scheduled counseling session but when my 4 year old came in to wake me up I had to do my vary best to be Daddy/Pastor.
Before becoming a church planter life was pretty simple for us. We lived a life right out of 1960’s television. Not the “Honeymooners” but more like “Leave it to Beaver”. I was home everyday at 4:30pm and our involvement in church was limited to a Council Meeting once a month, 2 services per week, and an occasional weekend event.
Our families were close and so Owen would have weekly contact with one set of grandparents or another. We had multiple family friends including some really close friends in our immediate neighborhood. So it wasn’t unusual for random drop-ins from neighbors so Owen and their kids could play while moms chit-chatted over cookies and coffee.
All that changed with our move to South Florida and is taking its toll on a 4 year olds emotions (and some 30+ emotions too.) So I spent an hour this morning explaining some pretty significant concepts to my son. These thoughts can encourage the 4 or the 40 so I thought I would share.
A house is made up of walls floors, ceilings, doors and windows. But a home is made by a family. So even though we have moved to different houses and will hopefully be moving again in the not too distant future we will remain a family and that is what makes a home.
God is bigger than all the monsters. Hence when we have God inside of us, regardless of how small we may be, we take on the size and power of God. So when we are scared of things we just need to remember that we have God on our side.
God doesn’t always answer our prayers because He knows what is best for us. I was able to use our recent dog catastrophe to explain that even though we thought it would be a great idea to get a dog (two if you’re my wife) it wound up not being the right timing for us, given some of the other things going on in life. With a few scars to remind him he understood. So it isn’t that God doesn’t hear you or is ignoring you, it is that you may be asking for “good” but He wants to give you great!
Enjoy the “fun” moments in life instead of worrying that they are going to end. In the last week or so my son (and wife) have made some new friends and since my son has just been starving for some play time he gets all worked up because he knows that at some point he is going to have to go home. Obviously we cleared up some “home” thoughts, but he needed to realize that worrying over what is going to happen in an hour or two when play time is over was cutting into the fun that he could have right now.
To relate that to us adults… The Bible says don’t worry about tomorrow because just as God has made provisions for the birds He will make provisions for us. This is that unexplainable joy that we read about.
The joy of the Lord is to be our strength so that even when it appears that the whole world is crumbling around us we don’t have to have an emotional breakdown. We can place our faith in God and even if a rough road comes, He able to bring us through it.
God loves when we obey. Just like when Owen obeys us and we reward that, God also rewards our obedience. I explained to Owen that God asked us to leave the house that he loves in Oakland, FL and move here to plant a church. That even though we had to give up some things that made us comfortable, God was proud of us for doing it and in the end obedience pays. It may not always be in the dividends that we expect or desire but God certainly rewards obedience.
Seems like there were a few more things we discussed but in the end he just need some reinforcement. There are many things based on our current position that are in flux but there are certain things that are solid. Even though I have previously mentioned some chinks in the family armor we are fortifying that and have come a long way. So my wife and I are reinforcing that our relationship with God and our relationship with each other are things he can count on. I think we all need to know that those are things we can count on.
For those of you who don’t know I am O-H-I-O born and raised. That means that there is but one team in college football that matter and that is The Ohio State Buckeyes. I have had to take a lot of grief in recent years being that I live in Florida. In Central Florida by all of the Gators and now in South Florida by the Hurricane fans. (Who we defeated in 2002 for the National Championship)
Regardless of the recent losses in back to back championship games I still support my Bucks. Saturday night for those of you that missed it OSU played the Wisconsin Badgers. With our freshman quarterback, Terrell Pryor making his first start on the road, we found ourselves behind with about 6 minutes left in the 4th quarter.
Terrell proceeded to drive the offense down the field making some clutch throws and ultimately making a great run to get in to the end zone for the winning score. He showed some great composure under some intense pressure. The momentum of the game was against them. The crowd was against them. The fact that he had never been in this position before…
Life is full of pressure. Life is full of opposition from people and environment. There are even times when you can’t rely on your past experiences to help you through. But I believe God is looking for some clutch players in this 4th quarter; men and women who He can trust with the ball. He is looking for people who will say, “God I want to leave it all on the field for you.” Is that you?
How does history feel? During the course of my life (and I am not that old) I have seen some incredible moments in history. There have been things that surely forced people to re-write the history books. For example: Challenger, Berlin Wall, 9-11, etc. This past week was no different with Wa-Mu getting Wa-Me’d. Not to mention a potential 700 billion dollar bailout. I can’t even wrap my little brain around how much money that is. On top of that we are staring in the face of a guaranteed history making election.
Some of that history was painful but with things like the Berlin Wall you can see the positive sides of history. With all of this history making going on I began to evaluate what I am doing to make history. What can I do in my little corner of existence to leave a positive mark? Even though I don’t anticipate there actually being a reprint of a history book based on the happenings of my life, there are choices that I make that can alter the future. We have been talking a lot lately about the sphere of influence that we can have just by impacting one life. You look at what Jesus accomplished with eleven. So I am trying to be more strategic in my actions. I am looking for the opportunities to influence people for Jesus. Whether that is my son or a co-worker, what can I do right now to make a difference that can be scene for generations to come? How are you best utilizing your time right now? Are you influencing somebody for Jesus right now? Are you doing whatever you can to help change someone’s future?
Well the results are in from my little time log experience. In case you are just joining me… For the last week I have documented how I have spent my time. I didn’t get too detailed but I walked away with some pretty good data to evaluate.
This past Sunday as a part of our New Testament Challenge we discussed the Challenge of Generosity. One area that we are to be generous is with our time. We looked at the story in Luke 10 of the Good Samaritan and how he felt that the best use of his time was to help the badly injured Jew laying beside the road.
We discussed how we really don’t have any promise of time for tomorrow but we have right now so that leads to the question: “God, what is the best use of my time right now?” To be honest I have not done a great job of asking that question. So because of that I have misappropriated my time and needed to evaluate my priorities based on the actual time I was designated to them.
This thought began with the definition of radical love: (previous week’s message) Love is the choice you make based on the actions you take. So was I really showing love to my wife and my family? Well in looking at the numbers I am proud to say that this week was one of the most balanced weeks I have experienced in a while. I proved that by making some conscious decisions in certain areas I could improve some areas I was clearly lacking in.
Still have some distance to travel and some areas to improve but I feel that this exercise helped me establish a base line to work from. So check out the results:
Here is day seven. Tabulation and reason behind this exercise tomorrow.
12:01 am – 4:45 am
Sleep
4:45 am – 5:10 am
Uploaded NTC (New Testament Challenge) e-votional for the morning delivery (Want in on it… e-mail info@TheInChurch.org to be added to the mailing list)
5:10 am – 5:40 am
Cut and assembled program/response cards (I usually have a volunteer do this but I didn’t get the design completed in time)
5:40 am – 6:00 am
Power nap
6:00 am – 6:30 am
Got ready to go
6:30 am – 7:30 am
Went and picked up the trailer to meet the set-up crew
Uploaded NTC (New Testament Challenge) e-votional for the morning delivery (Want in on it… e-mail info@TheInChurch.org to be added to the mailing list)
Worked on sermon
Finished program/response card design
Printed programs & Response cards
Watched new Knight Rider Premier during printing operation (slightly cheesy but at least it didn’t have David Hasselhoff) Just to be honest if they remaid the A-Team or The Dukes of Hazzard (again) I would watch those too.
2:00 am – 7:30 am
Sleep
7:30 am – 8:30 am
Pretended to be asleep because I wasn’t ready to get up. Trying to remeber what sleeping in felt like
8:30 am – 9:00 am
Breakfast
9:00 am – 10:30 am
Can’t really remember but I think it involved Buzz Lightyear.
10:30 am – 1:30 pm
Detailed the inside of both trucks with the help of Owen
1:30 pm – 2:15 pm
Got cleaned up… first time shaving on a Saturday in a while
Gave Owen a hair cut
2:15 pm – 3:45 pm
Finished sermon
Prepared Media Shout presentation
3:45 pm – 4:30 pm
Watched a little college football
4:30 pm – 5:00 pm
Got ready for date night to celebrate our 9th anniversary
5:00 pm – 5:30 pm
Went to Publix for chocolate and flowers
5:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Dinner –a little more than anticipated
Roll of Mentos - $.89
Change from purchase of Mentos for metered parking - $.90
Stroll on the Commercial Street pier - $4
Babysitter - $40
First date night in too long - priceless
9:30 pm – 10:15 pm
Getting Owen calmed down and asleep after 4hrs with the new babysitter who “let me do whatever I wanted” (she was actually a great sitter)
Uploaded NTC (New Testament Challenge) e-votional for the morning delivery (Want in on it… e-mail info@TheInChurch.org to be added to the mailing list)
Uploaded NTC (New Testament Challenge) e-votional for the morning delivery (Want in on it… e-mail info@TheInChurch.org to be added to the mailing list)
4:20 am – 6:00 am
Designed an anniversary card and polished off the love letter for my wife (Crap…out of ink so I can’t print it)
Set up her gift and prepared to take a walk down memory lane with our photo albums (We participate in the traditional anniversary gift list and this year was willow/pottery)
6:00 am – 6:30 am
Devotion
6:30 am – 7:00 am
Got ready for work
7:00 am – 7:30 am
For the third time Harmony and I had our “us” time interrupted. As we prepared to walk down memory lane Owen woke up early and so anniversary talk quickly shifted to Woody and Buzz.
7:30 am – 8:15 am
Travel to work (Drove truck again, due to 40% chance of rain, so I was able to listen to a sermon on the way… tough to do on the bike)
8:30 am – 12:30 pm
Work
12:30 pm – 1:30 pm
Worked on sermon during lunch
1:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Work
5:30 pm – 6:15 pm
Travel home from work (listened to John Bevere – Bait of Satan… good stuff)
6:15 pm – 6:35 pm
Got the family rounded up for a trip to the mall
6:35 pm – 7:45 pm
Romantic dinner at the food court (Doing the real deal on Saturday night)
Took my wedding ring to be resized (anniversary gift)
7:45 pm – 8:45 pm
Went to Toys-R-Us to get Owen a keyboard to practice on
8:45 pm – 9:45 pm
Book time and getting Owen to bed
9:45 pm – 10:15 pm
Alone TV time while Harmony finished up some stuff… I think some of the first all week… hello Speed channel, I missed you
Nine years ago today I married the most amazing woman. Even though I had no clue how great of a package I was getting I knew that I was certainly out of my league. And yes, I still am.
As I was reflecting today on some of my favorite memories with her I was remembering the song we danced to for our first dance as husband and wife.
As I listened to the words of the song I realized one very important lesson to share. Even though you can say it without saying anything at all, don’t forget to say it also. So Harmony Dawn Griffis “I love you.” The last 9 years have been the most amazing journey and I wouldn’t trade one minute with you for the world.
Take every cheesy line from every sappy love movie (such as “you complete me, and “you make me want to be a better man”) and combine them all together and that only begins to describe the effect that you have had on my life. Well if I keep going people will begin to get nauseous but thanks for being my willow.
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