i believe in a thing called love

The following is a quote from the book “The Art Of Dramatic Writing by: Lajos Egri”

“The blowing of the wind is action, even if it is only a breeze. And rain is action, even to it’s name. The verb and the noun are one.

There is no action under the sun which is the origin and the result in one. EVERYTHING results from SOMETHING else; action cannot come of itself.” 

         I read this today and it immediately had my attention. As I have been a christian all my life I have been acting as I thought I should. I thought I was supposed to just go to church and be a good person. Once I realized that there was something more to following Christ, it was one of those moments when you can’t help but to act in a different way. The word act became both a noun and a verb…

        I went to Selah last night and listened to my new friend Jeremy speak about church and why it exists. He spoke about the word Ekklesia which means: a gathering of the called out ones… called out to help restore the world. He said that we need to let our communion affect our community.  I could blog about what he talked about for a long time but at the end he pulled everything together by saying… As Christ Followers we have accepted the invitation to be called out and we need to take that seriously.                   Thanks to Jeremy for that great study. 

        I have been “called out” and I am taking that seriously by showing people the love of Jesus and pouring into the community what Christ is pouring into me…

Everything results from something else; action cannot come of itself…

 

tiny bubbles

It seems that most churches these days are too caught up in their little bubbles. I do it sometimes too… You know, we have our own radio stations, book stores, clubs, t-shirts etc…. We all need to step outside that bubble a little bit to see that the rest of the world is out there and they don’t feel like they can belong to our little click. There are people so turned off by us that they are not even interested in Jesus. And I don’t blame them. Guys… It’s time for us to get out of our bubbles and SHOW non believers what we are really about!

If this hurts your feelings then use that anger to motivate yourself to get out in your community and show people the love of our Saviour! He created us for worship. If you think the only suitable worship is by singing a “christian” song then you need to realize that God is a lot bigger than that! Worship is more than a thought, it is an Action! He didn’t create an entire world so that we could only worship Him one way. 

He’s got the WHOLE world in His hands, not just the “religious” parts…

OK there’s my rant! I am stepping off the soapbox now.

pump up the volume

I have the pleasure of hosting a few members of our core group this weekend, Shane, Erin, Taylor, Kendal & Justin. It has been great hanging out with these guys. You get to know people a lot better when you are sharing a bathroom. Anyway, We went to a few local churches on Sunday.  Although these churches are great, Savannah definitely has not seen the likes of us yet.

I am confident that we will be bringing something a little different to the table. We will fill a spot that had been void until now. I am really pumped (doug word) to get things going down here. I hope we can partner with these fellow believers to help make Jesus more famous.

I stand amazed

I went out to dinner last night with some of my new friends here in Savannah. Jeremy is the College Pastor at Bible Baptist Church and leads a group called Selah.  After we had an amazing meal we were walking back to our car and we passed a homeless man. A couple of guys gave him some loose change and then proceeded to have a conversation, asking how he was doing and if he had food and a place to sleep. You know the regular stuff… What was so surprising was what the homeless guy said as we were walking away… 

He said “ You guys aren’t from Savannah are you?” 

wow… that hit me like a ton of bricks. Just the fact that he thought we were tourists because we were being nice to him. What’s up with that?

Now, I am not saying there are no nice people in this city or that the ones who are here aren’t getting the job done. These new friends that God has put in my life are genuine, they have a heart for this city. Infact, we ( Shane, Erin, Kendal, Justin and I) went to Forsyth Park with them to give out free food on Saturday. I am just saying that God used that man and these new friends to help me understand the need here. It’s not that there are not enough able bodied people to transform this city, it’s that they haven’t been challenged to do so yet.

 

That’s Right…  I said yet! Canvas Church will be a church to stir the hearts of people in Savannah, Georgia to ACT. 

To my fellow Canvasians…

God has opened some amazing doors for us lately, doors that I haven’t even see behind yet. I am walking through those doors guys and I need your help!

with hope

It seems that the youngest daughter of Steven Curtis Chapman was killed today. Her older brother was backing the SUV out and accidentally  ran over her. I can’t imagine the hurt they are feeling. Especially the his son that was driving. Please keep the Chapman family in your prayers. Her name was Maria, she was 5 years old.

Free Bird

 

I wanted to let everyone know about something neat going on this week. Now through Sunday my buddy Josh is giving away his “Grace Changes Everything EP” totally free. All anyone has to do is send him an email at this address (bayne.josh@gmail.com) with the subject “FREE CD” and he’ll send you an MP3 download of the complete album. No catch. No strings attached…

www.joshbayne.com

Make sure you tell him where you found out about it…

 

such great heights

This weekend I have had the privilege of hosting some of the guys from my small group at Westridge. They drove down Friday night and went back home this afternoon. I have missed seeing them every week and it was great to get to hang out. There are six of them and my friends Will & Courtney were visiting as well so it was very cramped quarters to say the least. But we have had a great time walking around this beautiful city and hanging out at the beach getting sunburned. And of course, there was Starbucks!

Here is a photo of the guys…

Will & Courtney…

The name of our small group is “Roof Crashers” It comes from the scripture: Mark 2:4 talking about a group of guys trying to get their paralyzed friend into a house to see Jesus. The house was so crowded that they had to cut a hole in the roof and lower him in. These men had so much faith that they knew if they could just get this guy to jesus, He could heal him. I love my friends and know for a fact that if I ever had a problem they would be there for me. I know that they would crash through a roof if they had too! Part of my journey to Savannah was influenced by these guys. I mean, they didn’t come out and just tell me to go. But I saw a group of guys that wanted to study the word of God and apply it to their lives. I want to help make that kind of group available in Savannah.

One of the things that Canvas Church will focus on is this Journey. Not just the destination. We are blessed to have Mark to help cultivate the way we will do this. God has provided us with a great team and an awesome leader!

P.S. Has anyone sold their house yet?

people get ready

I have been so anxious to get things started down here that I didn’t see they were already happening. I have some great friends, shout out to Brad & D!. I met some really awesome people today that gave me even more confirmation we are doing the right thing. It’s funny how you just click with people sometimes. We couldn’t stop talking and sharing our hearts about what needs to happen in Savannah. I even talked to another local pastor yesterday that told me Canvas Church was an answer to prayer.

With all that said, I am ready to get to work. I have no doubt that God is not only going to use us to transform lives, but also as a catalyst to help ignite the body of believers who are already here to transform this city.

Canvasians… We have a lot of work ahead of us. We need to keep praying audacious prayers, God will make the sun stand still and pierce the darkness over this city but we have to be willing to march all night long!

And for you locals… You’d better get ready. Canvas is not the kind of church for a place to go on Sunday morning because you’re supposed too, there are strings attached…

 

 

 

hungry eyes

We had a great core group meeting last night. After a month long fast from a few different things (everyone chose a different vice) and an all day fast from food yesterday, we all feasted together last night. But first, Doug talked a little bit about one of our core values ” The Journey” then Mark, Jared and I shared a little bit about what roles we will be fulfilling as the church moves forward.

We had a great extended prayer time. I was so hungry that I thought I might fall over but as we started praying I couldn’t help but think of the hunger that the people of Savannah might have. Not just physical hunger but a spiritual hunger. A hunger that they can’t seem to fill. I hope we can help the other Churches in filling that need.

Please continue to pray that everyone can sell their house soon. I can’t wait to get started!

miss you much

Sunday is Mother’s Day. I am leaving tomorrow to go home to Atlanta to see my friends and hang out with my Canvasians but most importantly to see my MOM. She has put up with a lot from me over the years, but I think she and my Dad did a pretty good job raising me… well, along with my grandmother, aunt Claudia and cousins Kerrie & Kristie… LOL!

I wanted to give a little insight into the complex person everyone gets to call Janet Sue but only I get to call Mom…

 

• stubborn
• moody
• emotional
• doesn’t like change
• beautiful
• loving
• did I mention stubborn yet?
• forgiving
• passionate
• resilient
• God fearing
• Christ follower
• stands up for her family no matter what

 

She is the kind of parent that stays in the background and lets you do your thing but the first time she sees you going over the edge or making the bad decision she is quick to step in with a little guidance. She has always been there for me even when we disagree. No matter how many times she gets knocked down, will always stand back up. I love you and I miss you so much.

son