Humble and Contrite

I was reading in Isaiah this morning and stumbled across a powerful statement from the mouth of God. He said in 66:2 "this is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word" O how far I want to run in the opposite direction of that statement. My longings lead me to run into comfort and pride. I want to do everything to run into a high position not a low position. That doesn't make any sense to my everyday reactions to life in the flesh. But this is the one that He esteems. The one who can bring himself to neediness and dependence on God. Tthe one who can attack raw every day thoughts and think soberly about them. The one who takes no credit and comes to the realizations that our every breath and successful exitence comes down not to our own talents but the gift of grace. The one who can literally lay prostrate and feel like it makes sense. Yikes. We have a long way to go.

Community Day

I feel good. I so much rather be the church than just have church all the time. Today I watched as Jericho Road was the body of Christ. Some were the hands, making sure that the popcorn was popped. Some were the feet, making sure the bounce house had kids smiling. Some were the heart making sure that money was being raised for a free health clinic. Some were the mouthpieces as they wandered around loving people with encouraging words. At the end of the day, Christ was the head. 647$ dollars was raised for the healing of God's people. The kingdom was loved as people were fed. Jericho Road mobilized and was a deep representation of the bride of Christ. This all happened in the community, not at a distance from the pulpit. I feel good. I feel proud to be a part of Jericho Road Church. We still have a long way to go. But I love taking a long trip with a fighting and hungry people.

Intro to Bloggage

The Truth is I don't want to blog. But I do want Jericho Road, and those following and exploring the thought of following Jesus to hear an authentic viewpoint. At least I hope it to be authentic. I will describe scripture battles, random ups and downs, the joys, and the pains that come along with planting and fighting for this church. And the truth is, it is a church! Jericho Road is a church! Yes we are planting Jericho Road in a land of other churches. Yes some churches stink. Yes some pastors are more concerned with a Rolex or committing adultery with someone in the congregation. Yes the church is dirty and ugly sometimes. But that does not keep me from shouting that we are the bride of Christ and we are stinking proud of it. We are trying to live and preach the Gospel. That's it. We have no one special headlining our movement. We don't have a great building. We don't have a children's program with a slide and pool games. We are just a bunch of characters responding to the greatest love we will ever know. Jesus Christ. Let me get fired up a little. Yes I said Jesus Christ. And yes I have a motive. I am not going to be general and "whatever God you choose and whatever path you choose", and "I certainly wont have any motives of pushing his agenda."

What? Yes I have an agenda to push his motive! This church believes that Jesus Christ is the only way, the truth, and the life(John 14:6). And we believe it with a deep love and fear to the point where we have to tell people. It is boiling inside of me. At some point the boiling tea kettle is going to whistle. We will love everyone that walks in our doors, and we love them enough to teach them the truth about the only God who claims to be God, the only God who raised from the dead, and the only God who holds the keys to life and death. before I go on a 2 hour rant...I love you..Grace and peace..more to come.