made to worship

       Churchy, Old Fashioned, Not Relevant, Traditional, Cheesy, Judgmental… All words too flippantly used these days. Churches even say this about each other. I am at a Basic Training Conference at the Georgia Baptist Convention Center in Tifton, GA. Doug, Jared and I were at the Worship Service tonight after dinner. We did the whole routine… we sang some pretty songs, clapped, sang some more pretty songs. Then Pastor Ben asked a few men to get up and share their testimony. He had already told them in advance so I figured it would be the usual… you know what I’m talking about. Someone standing and telling what all they’ve been through and how Jesus had changed their lives. Now… I am not saying there’s anything wrong with that. I am just trying to be honest about being judgmental, yes, even me. That WAS NOT the case. It was a church planter named Michael. He has been sitting at the table behind ours all week. He’s very quiet but every once in a while would ask a question. Honestly, I have been concerned all week at how he was going to communicate with people. I just blew it off and starting concentrating on myself again as usual… When this man got up on that stage and starting speaking I immediately felt the Holy Spirit. He had a very commanding yet very humble presence, I was almost entranced (not in a weird way). He started out by saying that everyone, even non believers have someone that they can identify with in the bible. Someone that when they hear their story, it sparks something. He went on to tell about his health problems and how the doctors told him he didn’t have a chance but how God had protected him. As Christians we have heard stories like this our whole life but the way he presented it was a little different. He said that he could identify with David. How David must have felt the night before he had to face a 10 foot giant. It’s not always about the situation whether it be open heart surgery or a 10 foot giant. It’s about putting on the Armor of God and accepting His will for your life, accepting the fact that you might die. This man had a way of communicating that made me want to join his church. Then I realized that I am a member of HIS church. I am a part of this Kingdom. Just think… the last couple of days I sat right in front of this man practically judging him because I thought he might not be relevant enough to reach people for Christ. wow… I was a little humbled to say the least. I know that there are churches out there that might not be trying. I know there are churches that think the old way is the only way. That may be the wrong attitude. God would probably not put him in front of a lot of artsy SCAD students that can’t identify. He will put him in the right place at the right time with the right audience. All I know is that when that quiet, old fashioned man opened his mouth tonight, it brought me to tears. Modern, Relevant, edgy, too loud, too secular… All words to flippantly used these days. Let’s let God decide what’s relevant according to what He is sending us to do.

cheeseburger in paradise

Trish… Mark is eating a salad at every meal except breakfast! I’m just sayin is all!

Rocket Man

I am having a great time at the Church Planters Basic Training… I must admit that at first when Doug and I walked into our room at the Georgia Baptist Convention Center and I noticed that there was NO TV & NO INTERNET. I flipped out a little. But now that I am at McDonald’s in Tifton paying $3 to use their wireless internet… I feel a lot better. I am getting a lot of reading done. And to be honest I kinda like the peacefulness of it. All that aside here are some random highlights & thoughts from the last couple of days…

1. When you are at the GBC and you have a tattoo and a blonde mohawk… they are a little curious.
2.  We are nailing down some great practices and talking about the things to come.
3. We are a GREAT team… God is bringing us closer together and equipping us for the days ahead.
4. Doug is the right Pastor at the right time in the right place.
5. Christians today are known for self righteousness. 
6. David Rogers at Crosspointe Church in Valdosta is a great communicator and I can’t wait to learn more from him.
7. We are a GREAT team.
8. God is in control and is sending us on a great journey.
9.  Did I already talk about the looks I am getting? And to answer the most common question after said look… Yes It Hurt!
10. Church planters are passionate.
11. Prayer is amazing.
12. Be confident about The Vision.
13. Doug is a great leader.  
14.  We are a GREAT team.
15.   Doug says… I Complete Him ( hehehehe )
16.  I am moving in two months.
17.  I am learning.
18.  We are a GREAT team… 

I want to give a shout out to our new friend Calvin. Thanks for the “colorful” late night talks in the lobby! I Love Passionate People!And my final thought is for Willa Mae in the cafeteria … You were right! The pecan pie was “OFF THE CHAIN”

• It’s On Now! 

Church Clothes

I’m watching old episodes of my favorite TV show “The Office” I am really upset about the writer’s strike but that’s not the reason for this blog… Anyway, Michael Scott (the boss) asked a question. Although it’s supposed to be funny it made me think a little. He said… and I quote “Is there a god? if not, then what are all these churches for? And more importantly, who is Jesus’ dad?” end quote. Yes it made me laugh a little… But when I think about non-christian’s driving down the road seeing all these churches built like monuments, I think I would wonder that too. What are we doing as Christians, are we just building churches? I know. I know… churches do a lot of great things in the community and help a lot of people… But what else? Why do we have to have a church “building” to do that?  Why can’t we just do what Jesus did? Why can’t we just help people without having conferences about ordering pews, chandeliers & alters. Are we building these buildings to help make Jesus more famous or are we building them to make our church more famous and  have a pretty place to dress up and take our family on Sunday mornings? Yes, I understand that we need a place to gather together as Christians and worship. Yes, I understand that we need to be able to fellowship with each other… But what if we did that all week long and not just at our pretty buildings on the weekends? I guess I just have a lot of questions. What I would like to see are more buildings built that are useful to the whole community that would attract non-christians and maybe we could show them a little about what Jesus is about after they get there! Why does everything we do or build have to be a part of our little club? I know I am as guilty of this as anyone, I’m just saying we should think about it a little… If we are supposed to be in the world, not of the world. then why is it called secular if it doesn’t have a steeple? To answer the question… Is there a God? Why yes there is and He lives in my heart, not in a building! And He is my Dad… and yours too if you accept His invitation. For God so loved the world… not just people inside the church. I’m sorry if I made anybody mad…well, not really…

boo!

I am watching a show on the BIO Channel about “Haunted Savannah” and well, my quiet time is probably going to be a little longer in the morning. I’m just saying is all…

Celebrate good times, come on…

I had a lot of fun this weekend at WestRidge. It was really cool getting to sing up there although I was a little spoiled with the equipment. You can hear so well when you have the right stuff! And I am trying to figure out how in the world we can build a green room in a middle school? Thanks for inviting us guys! I also enjoyed listening to all the speakers. I learned a lot about pursuing character. It’s not just something you take for granted. It’s all about who you are when no one else is looking! On a different note… It was also kinda nice having a snow day today. It takes something like that to make me stay home. I always have to be busy… I am going to start working on have a “Sabbath” day. Tim talked about that on Thursday night @ Genesis. It doesn’t have to be Sunday… (usually my busiest day of the week) It just needs to be one day a week to sit and relax with your friends or family… Thanks Tim for bringing this to my attention and also for a few other things you said this weekend. You have a way of making me think about things in a totally different way and I appreciate that! So, now that I have written a blog with 400 different subjects… I  just want to say how nice it was this weekend to hang out with the guys and help make Jesus more famous!

Fame… I’m gonna live forever!

We all have our favorite speakers. Doug has Andy, Jared has Perry and I have discovered that I like to listen to Michael Lukaszewski,(yeah…i had to copy & paste his last name) the Pastor @ Oak Leaf Church in Cartersville. I started listening to his podcasts recently. I just listened to a message today entitled “Fame”. I am not going to go into the entire thing but there are a few points that I wanted to write about. Michael talked about Bethany Hamilton, a teenage girl that is a surfer and had her arm bitten off by a shark a couple of years ago. She was asked later about the whole experience and was quoted saying that she was glad it happened because now she could tell whole world about God. WOW! A  shark bit her arm off and she is happy about it? He said that we need to channel the “fame” that we have as leaders in the church into making Jesus more famous. Even if you are not a leader in the church, there are people around you everyday that you have influence on. People that look up to you. He said that Jesus is famous inside the church but we don’t see him plastered on the cover of US Weekly or People. We need to take Jesus outside the walls of the church.  I love “The Office”. It is my favorite show. I get so excited on Thursdays to get home and watch it! Why is God not that important? Why don’t we worship Him like we do our favorite tv show, singer or actor. We crave information on celebrities… why are we not craving to learn more about the man who gave His life for us? Michael said that We need to use our fame to point to His fame! This message helped me put a few things into perspective. With all that said… I Tivo’d American idol and I really need to go watch it!

apples for apples

mac never ceases to amaze me! I just got an update for my iPhone. There are many great new features. This has been one of the best purchased I have ever made. So in my opinion it’s not just apples for apples, It’s all the fruits rolled up into one. It has it all. Hopefully Steve Jobs is not the anti christ! I’m just saying is all!

copycat

not to be out done… you can now get to this blog by going to: www.michaeledde.com. Thank you Doug!

happy birthday

Happy Birthday to my MOM! I Love You! Thanks for having me because if you didn’t. Well, I wouldn’t be here and that would be sad!