I'm teaching a seminar today (noon, est) on "Leading Others to Serve" at a church in DC... didn't have a lot of time to prepare, as I thought I'd be teaching on another topic. I'll be teaching the session twice... so, at least the second group will benefit! ;-)
Thanks for your prayers.
D Plum
Last week, I met a wonderful couple, Evers and Carmen Santos, not too far from where we live... they run a convenient store that they just took over a few months ago. It was a pleasure getting to know them! They are believers and pray everyday for the community their store is in.
We found out that we have a point of commonality, too (besides Jesus): Two of our band members run a local music/worship institute, and the Santos' son, Franklin, is a student (bass player) there. In fact, Franklin jammed with us a few months back (his picture is on our website)! I never cease to be amazed at how God brings people across each others' paths!
On the 10th and 17th of this month, we're saturating the community with our new promo cards (which I wanted to show you a picture of... they're great... but Blogger doesn't upload PDF files). I'm hoping to have 50 people (at least) on each of those Saturdays! We'll be getting some help from some other churches and friends, so we should get a HUGE number of cards distributed. If you're free, and want to help out, shoot me an email...
We're taking College Park by storm, baby!
Also... this Sunday at MOSAIC, we're starting a new message series on prayer... Vertical... can't wait... God's gonna blow some minds! See you Sunday!
The fires continue to burn in Southern California... it's a very sad and dangerous situation. Yesterday, I received an email from a friend at Outreach Marketing with an urgent request to pray about the situation. Almost immediately after I had sent out a mass email request, my friend Goodie emailed back just how bad it was: he had been trapped in San Diego for 2 days, and now the fires had made their way to LA (where he lives).
Please be in much prayer for the residents there! Our God is mighty, He's strong enough to quench the fires... let's flood His throne with urgent appeals for Him to act today! And pray for the well-being of the people... homes are lost, families are displaced... it is very tragic indeed. But God is the God of tomorrow, as well as today! He alone can bring hope to the hopeless, and healing to the hurting... and give out brand new tomorrows!
"Father, only You know why You've allowed the fires to spread as they have... and only You have the power to bring it to an immediate end. Show Yourself strong, and act on behalf of your people... show mercy to those who don't know You, so that they may have another day to come to You. Touch the hearts of Your people there, and give them wisdom to know what to do. Move them with a heart of compassion to show tangible expressions of Your love and grace. May there be many who put their faith in You as a result of all this... only You can do that. What a wonderful and awesome God You are!!"
Remembered that I never gave an update on Nelson Searcy's son, Alexander...
Last Friday's surgery went well, and Alexander was able to go home with Nelson and Kelley on Sunday evening. He'll still be recovering over the next couple of weeks, so please continue to keep him and his parents lifted in prayer.
For those of you unfamiliar with Nelson, he's a church planter in New York City... and has become a huge advocate of and catalyst/coach for church planting and church planters all over the country.
Your THEOLOGY will directly affect your KNEEOLOGY! What you believe about God will determine how often... and how confidently... you approach Him in prayer.
Something just to make you stop and say, "Hmmm..." ;-)
Many of you are familiar with NELSON SEARCY, LEAD PASTOR OF JOURNEY CHURCH in NYC... please keep him and his family in prayer, as his 15 month old son, Alexander, undergoes surgery tomorrow on his right kidney. So far, everything is going along well - God opened the door for them to have the #1 pediatric urologist in the country - but pray for wisdom for the surgeon(s).
As soon as I have an update from them, I'll post the news.
Thanks!
Scales are the foundation for anyone who wants to be a good musician. I had been playing the piano since I was 3 years old when I auditioned for the Univ. of MD's piano department out of high school... and the the very first thing they wanted to hear from me was scales. As a music performance major there, I was expected to practice at least 40 hours a week, and at least 10 of those hours were expected to be spent practicing my scales. The great Polish concert pianist Paderewski once said, "If I skip one day of practicing scales, I notice it in my playing. If I skip two days, my coach notices. If I skip three days, the world notices it."
For Christ-followers, spending quality, uninterrupted time with the Lord is like playing scales... it is foundational to living a productive and purposeful life. It doesn't matter whether you've been a believer for a month, a year, or 20 years... having an alone time with Jesus is crucial. Doesn't matter whether who you are or what you do... you can't miss out on your daily quiet time.
You can skip one day, and maybe nobody will notice but you. You skip two days, and maybe only those closest to you will notice. But when it becomes a habit to skip out on your quiet time... we all notice. Because it's foundational to your life... to MY life. Jesus said, "Without Me, you can do nothing."
Patience grows thin...
Vision becomes less clear...
Anger rises more often...
Temptation is given into more consistently...
Don't skip out on your daily alone time with Jesus... play your scales!
We often think of downpours in our lives as something negative... you know, "when it rains, it pours"... and, really, that is sometimes true (I have a great Dr. Seuss poem to back that up). Trials and hard times often "pop up" at the most inopportune times... and many times they come in "bunches", too. But, you know, that's also the case for God's blessings! It's the lie of the enemy that when God gives, He only gives "just enough"... enough for us "to get by"... enough for us "just to make it." He duped Eve with that... and he's still using that same ol' tired "trick play."
Beginning September 9, Mosaic Church will be meeting at the College Park United Methodist Church... which is right around the corner (on Rhode Island Ave) from where we presently meet. God has been gracious to us, as our meeting place is BIGGER and COSTS LESS!!
We'll update the website soon with all the pertinent info... thanks for your prayers!
* Last night's service was good... STILL getting newcomers out (3 more yesterday)! Had our 2nd Communion Service yesterday... 4th Sundays are quickly becoming my favorite! ;-)
* Spoke yesterday from John 6 (Jesus, the Bread of Life) - God had been speaking to me about my own lack of hunger for Him... isn't it amazing how much we prioritize other things (or people) over God? It's like the title of the game "Trivial Pursuit" (hey, that'll preach!), everything is really miniscule in comparison to chasing after God. Our soul craves after God, be we try to satisfy it with other stuff. I like the way the prophet Isaiah says it here.
*My sons and I watched some kung-fu together this afternoon... Crippled Avengers... if there are any martial arts buffs out there, this is a good one to get! ;-)
*Dr. David Anderson just released his new book, Gracism: The Art of Inclusion... look for me to do a review on it soon! David pastors Bridgeway Community Church in Columbia, MD, and has had a mega-impact on how I view ministry... especially his passion for multicultural ministry and racial reconciliation. My good friend Marc gave me a copy of the book today... THANKS, MARC!! ;-)
* Had a great date night with Keda tonight... amazing, that after almost 12 years of marriage (not to mention dating for over 4 years!), she still puts up with me. She's my #1 supporter in ministry and life... can't thank her enough for all she's sacrificed so that I can be where I am today. THANKS, BABE!! :-)
* This Sunday kicks off a 2-week series on purity entitled Summer Lovin'... can't wait! This is a SERIOUS topic... especially during this season... and I expect major warfare from the evil one this week as I prepare. So, please remember to pray for me! And Mosaic-ites: INVITE EVERYONE YOU CAN!! I'm expecting God to seriously touch some hearts over these next couple of weeks!
Lowest attendance total tonight...
Lowest offering total tonight...
Team members MIA...
God still showed up!
But, MAN! It was kinda rough... If I didn't know better, I'd think God has forsaken us...
But I know better...
It's in times like these that He shows up BEST!
It's in times like these that He gets the most glory!
It's in times like these that He separates the "men from the boys" and uses those who are willing to do great things for Him!
It's gonna take some real commitment... now's not the time for fakers... and God doesn't want to use them anyway... see here.
It's gonna take some real courage... warfare is not for the faint of heart... see here.
And it's gonna take some real faith... God is looking for people who unceasingly and unswervingly trust Him... see here.
So, I'm up for the challenge... and I'm lookin' forward to kickin' a little devil butt!
Well, whaddya know...
The dream's alive! Funny how, even when things look dim, God has a way of blowing our minds! After working through some miscommunication, I'll be headed up to South Haven next week after all!
SIDEBAR: Important Leadership Lesson - "Some dudes" have your back, even when it seems like they don't. ;-)
But... South Haven, here I come!
When I look back at the past 12 hours, I see that I had a choice of "life and death" before me. "Death" was getting bent out of shape, and losing my temper - because I couldn't for the LIFE of me (no pun intended) see why this had to be a closed door. "Life" was choosing God's way of humility and submission, and accepting - although I didn't understand - His answer. Had I chosen the anger route, which I really wanted to choose (I kept trying to fit this under "righteous indignation", but God wouldn't let me get away with it), I might have unnecesarily caused irreparable damage to some relationships. By choosing submission, when it came time for the issue to be pressed - for the envelope to be pushed - there was no tension to wade through and dialogue could take place in a God-honoring way.
Yes... there was a time when I would've ranted and raved, because of being treated "unfairly." But I'm learning that it always pays to remember this ... and this.
Somebody out there needs to take heed: "Chill... and be still."
