Archive for the 'Random Ramblings' Category

Rejection

Published
by
Nathan Griffis
on 25 November 2009
in Random Ramblings
. 0 Comments

When I think about the Bible and the story of Jesus I immediately think about the magnetism of Jesus. I reflect on the stories of deliverance, healing, and salvation. I have often “lusted” after the manner in which he was able to attract people to the life change He modeled. I realize that some of the things that he did were pretty big attention getters like raising dead people, feeding multitudes, opening blinded eyes, etc. However, there were other times when Jesus would approach people in a one on one environment and “connect” to people in amazing ways.

Today I had a thought of how Jesus must have felt when he wasn’t successful in reaching them. I wonder if the prevailing emotion was pain, pity, anger, frustration or a mixture of all of them. As we witness to people and they reject Jesus it impacts us (or at least it should) but I didn’t leave heaven to die a cruel death for them. I can’t speak for anybody else today but “Jesus I am sorry for the times that I refused and rejected you.  I am sorry for taking for granted what you did for me on Calvary. I am sorry that I have broken your heart more than once.”

John 3:18-21 (NIV)

18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”

The Question

Published
by
Nathan Griffis
on 16 November 2009
in Random Ramblings
. 0 Comments

This week I got “the question”. This question is one that I get asked frequently and every time I wish I had a one size fits all answer… preferably a good one. But every time the circumstances surrounding “the question” are dramatically different. Combining that with varying levels of emotional ties, maturity levels, faith levels, etc. makes “the question” a challenge every time.

So maybe you have a go to response but for me I have to work through my response on a case by case basis. So this blog entry is going to be nothing more than me responding to “the question”: How can God allow (insert bad thing here)? Or another variation: How can there be a God if (insert bad thing here) is happening? Continue reading ‘The Question’

The Church of Facebook

Published
by
Nathan Griffis
on 13 November 2009
in Random Ramblings
. 2 Comments

My blogging revival continues. I am trying to stay sharp and writing a blog isn’t quite the same as writing a sermon it is a way of processing thoughts and putting them into communicable vehicles. (I have no idea if that made grammatical sense or not but “communicable” popped into my head and spell check said it was ok)

I am reading a book (because we don’t have cable LOL) entitled The Church of Facebook - How the Hyperconnected Are Redefining Community by Jesse Rice. Now I am only two chapters in so I am not ready to put my name on a recommendation. (Not that it would mean a whole lot to him.) Anyways… so far the author has written a lot so far about the importance of community and the studies that show the negative impact in not participating in community. I am assuming there will be future discussion on the fact that Facebook doesn’t reflect true relationship. Or it might talk about the value of community in the church. I am not real sure where the book is going yet but maybe I’ll write a continuation blog in a few more chapters.

My question is this: If being in community is so critical and happiness can be found there, why does nobody seem to want to do it? Why is it so hard for all of us to interact with each other? Why is it that people could seemingly care less about those around them? How as a culture did we get to be so self centered that nobody has time for anybody else?

I am not saying that I am not convicted by these questions but is anybody tired of trying to create community when it is unwanted, unappreciated, and a ludicrous thought altogether? Well if you are STOP IT! It is time that we “Christ Followers” look rejection in the face and smack it around. The world needs to be reminded how the world can be transformed by a community of believers.

The size of your community is irrelevant. You could be in a bible study of 10 or a church of 10,000. At the end of the day it is about making up your mind and impacting your “community” with the love of Christ. Since leaving the mssion field of our church plant in South Florida I have had to evaluate what the Great Commission looks like for me. What was the City of Weston,FL 6 months ago is now the office of Cuhaci & Peterson Architects.

You may say that I have lowered my expectations. No,  I just improved my odds. Let’s face it winning an entire city is highly unlikely but 86 employees? Ok so all of them is unlikely also but I have to start somewhere and considering I have 8+ hours a day 5 days a week to walk out my faith out in front of them…  I have an opportunity to interact in their day to day lives and be an influence. My prayer is that this influence would be a good one and reflect my God.

So here is the challenge: Live what you know. (I stole that from a sermon series title) We all know what Christ called us to do and showed us the impact it can have. So let’s do it!

What to Do on the Worst Day of Your Life

Published
by
Nathan Griffis
on 10 November 2009
in Random Ramblings
. 3 Comments

Have you ever done something for no apparent reason only to have God reveal to you shortly after why? For me I do most things for no apparent reason… at least that is what most people tell me. I don’t get it either how I can be a micromanager on some things and a fly by the seat of my pants sort of guy in other areas but…

So my bookworm wife brings home new books all of the time. We have a library full of books on a variety of different topics. I will be honest I am a bipolar reader and will read a whole bunch for a while and then read nothing for a while (okay that while usually lines up with football season). I like to read but it better be a good book because otherwise it winds up on the shelf with bookmark placed where I got bored reading it.

She recently brought home What to Do on the Worst Day of Your Life by Brian Zahnd. As a side note check out this blog post… it is pretty good.  Harmony usually acts as my pre-reader and after she is done she evaluates as to whether I will enjoy it or not. She said that I would so I gave it a shot.

You might ask why I chose to read this book. Did I experience the worst day of my life recently? The answer is no. I have had some disappointments lately. I thought that today I would be in a different place with different challenges. I thought that I may be involved in full time ministry somewhere. I believed that our recovery plan would be going a little differently, etc. but worst day? Certainly not.

But it was just one of those things that I just did. Even though it is a fairly short book it is good that it wasn’t the worst day of my life because it took me a week to read what to do on it. But with that said it was a fantastic book with some fantastic advice. It is a book that I would recommend to anybody going through “the worst day” of their lives or those who often times are in position to minister to those who are.

So many times we have opportunities to help people but we have a short period of time to do so. Going back to the opening question… this is exactly what happened to me this week. I am so thankful that I was able to refer this book to a friend that I may not ever have the opportunity to set down with. It was pretty cool how the whole conversation started and if it never goes any further (which I hope it does) I was able to refer them to this great book.

You can read a portion on Amazon or my five blog readers can trust me that David’s Ziklag story can help you or somebody you know everyday, even if it’s only your 232nd worst day.

The autopsy of a church planter

Published
by
Nathan Griffis
on 30 April 2009
in Church Planting, Church of God, City of Weston Florida, Health, InDependence Church, My Life, My Wife, Parenting, Random Ramblings and The Word
. 7 Comments

Somebody asked me yesterday what it was like to not have to prepare for Sunday. Well I wrote this blog a while back titled 6 days till Sunday which has been the story of my life for the past 16 months straight. Even though I recently have switched over to Facebook to spout off random thoughts, this blog still remains the behind the scenes look at the life of a husband, father, and church planter. I just have been busy with the stuff below and haven’t had time to blog much. (And outsourcing my blog didn’t work)

 

So I wanted to journal my thoughts as I close the chapter of my life at InDependence Church. As many of you know this past Sunday was my last official Sunday at InDependence. Over the next week or so I will be working on transferring over all of the other “stuff” that goes along with this job like, banking, taxes, facilities, marketing, leadership, staff info, etc. etc. etc.

 

Many of my pastoral friends have called to check up on me to see how I am doing. My wife asked me yesterday if it feels to me like we are offering our kid up for adoption after you have brought it into this world and raised it for two years… In a sense yes but God has given me incredible peace and confidence that I am doing what is best for me, my family and InDependence.

 

To not so quickly recap:

Continue reading ‘The autopsy of a church planter’

O N E T R I L L I O N D O L L A R S

Published
by
Nathan Griffis
on 3 April 2009
in Random Ramblings
. 1 Comment

All this talk about “stimulus packages” and “bailouts”…

A billion dollars…

A hundred billion dollars…

Eight hundred billion dollars…

One TRILLION dollars…

What does that look like? I mean, these various numbers are tossed around like so many doggie treats, so lets get a sense of what exactly a trillion dollars looks like.

We’ll start with a $100 dollar bill. Currently the largest U.S. denomination in general circulation. Most everyone has seen them, slightly fewer have owned them. Guaranteed to make friends wherever they go.

A packet of one hundred $100 bills is less than 1/2″ thick and contains $10,000. Fits in your pocket easily and is more than enough for week or two of shamefully decadent fun.

Believe it or not, this next little pile is $1 million dollars (100 packets of $10,000). You could stuff that into a grocery bag and walk around with it.

While a measly $1 million looked a little unimpressive, $100 million is a little more respectable. It fits neatly on a standard pallet…

And $1 BILLION dollars… now we’re really getting somewhere…

Next we’ll look at ONE TRILLION dollars. This is that number we’ve been hearing so much about. What is a trillion dollars? Well, it’s a million million. It’s a thousand billion. It’s a one followed by 12 zeros.

You ready for this?

It’s pretty surprising.

Ladies and gentlemen… I give you $1 trillion dollars…

 

Notice those pallets are double stacked.
…and remember those are $100 bills.

So the next time you hear someone toss around the phrase “trillion dollars”… that’s what they’re talking about. (notice the guy in the red shirt in the lower left corner)

Quitting Church

Published
by
Nathan Griffis
on 2 April 2009
in Church Planting, City of Weston Florida, InDependence Church and Random Ramblings
. 1 Comment

I am half way through a book titled “Quitting Church” by Julia Duin and it has made me sad. I can recognize so many of the things that she describes the church to be and not be. She talks about the types of people that once experienced Jesus but were driven away by the “church”. This is not a book about people who wer never reached by “church” but were reached and rejected or reached and turned off by what it has become. Check out this blog article with some Q&A with the author.

I am encouraged to think that InDependence Church is doing something with its’ Jeopardy Series to combat her concern of the “church” being disconnected with the questions and needs of its’ community. So far our church has reached more disgruntled than lost. In the past I have found that discouraging but today I have a little different perspective. Whether it was the world or the church that turned people away from God is irrelevant. We were still called to reach so “God give us the wisdom and the knowledge to reach those that once knew you but were driven away by the methods man used to represent you.”

Unashamed

Published
by
Nathan Griffis
on 20 March 2009
in Random Ramblings
. 0 Comments

I would so do this…

Published
by
Nathan Griffis
on 12 March 2009
in My Life and Random Ramblings
. 3 Comments

Check out this charity for cancer. If anybody is interested in finding some sponsors for me I would gladly give up my ever increasing grey and brown hair… there are a handful of locations hosting close to us between now and the end of the month. I dare you to dare me.

Somebody Needs This… (maybe even me)

Published
by
Nathan Griffis
on 11 March 2009
in Random Ramblings
. 0 Comments