Equipped To Serve

I had lunch with a great guy yesterday. He has been a guest in our church for a couple of months and I am enjoying getting to know him. Over Mexican food we talked about God, theology, and life in general. During our conversation he brought up Randy Pope of Perimeter Church in Atlanta. When I got back to the office I pulled one of Pope's books off the shelf. I found a marked quote that speaks to our desire to study for the sake of ministry.

Much in the way that eating creates no appetite for exercise, so too I have found that Bible study and prayer alone do not create mission-oriented Christians. But, just as exercise creates a desire for food and drink, mission-related activities create an insatiable thrist and hunger to feed on God's Word. Randy Pope

Missional in Meridian

Dr. Leake preached a message based on Matthew 7:24-27 last Sunday night. Everything was trucking along in a rather Sunday night way until he started talking about the fact that churches, like people, can be founded on sand or rock. Congregations founded on stone are the ones that hear what Jesus says and do it.

Missional Christianity is about discerning the plans of God for a given context and doing that. To quote Dr. Leake, "We need to do more of what gets us there and less of what does not." I'm with him! How 'bout you?

Snowden Family in Pensacola, Florida

Our family went to Jay, Florida recently where I was preaching a revival. While spending the day at the beach we were photographed by an AP photographer. Apparently we made it into a few papers. If you want to check out the article - google Matt Snowden Associated Press Florida.

Will McRaney on "Invest and Invite"

We are using Will McRaney's, The Art of Personal Evangelism:Sharing Jesus in a Changing Culture, in our E.T.S. ministry. He made a statement in the introduction to the book that directly spoke to the Invest > Invite > Include principles we are using in our church. McRaney said:

Eventually, some believer has to share his or her life and Christ's message with a lost person. It is even reported that Billy Graham said there is no such thing as mass evangelism. He was pointing out that for people to respond to Christ in a crusade, Christians have to invest in a relationship and invite someone to the crusade.

Wherever Christians

Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. Acts 8:4 NIV

I grew up on the NIV bible. I have not really used it in years. I switch back and forth between the KJV, NRSV, HCSB, and ESV. Whew! How 'bout them letters. We were in Florida last week because I commited to preach a revival in Jay. The pastor of the church is my good friend and I know he uses the NIV in preaching so I threw a copy in my bag. I'd planned on preaching a message about Philip so I picked up the NIV bible and read the passage from Acts 8. I think I had an experience of Baptist lectio divina. The word "wherever" jumped off the page and landed in my heart.

The early church was filled with "wherever Christians." The did not file their life in neat categories like: family, work, recreation, and God. They lived for and with God wherever they were. Let's pray that a wherever spirit will penetrate our hearts so that we will truly be - the presence of Christ in the world.

Revival

The first day of the revival @ FBC, Jay went well. Tomorrow night is youth night. I love students and believe that God is doing great things with them this year. Every student minister I've talked with has told me that this has been one of the best summers for camp experiences they have seen in years. I'm looking for great things this school year. Pray that the students are receptive tomorrow night. Thanks!

Pray for Revival in Florida!

Thanks for Your Prayers

Thank you for praying for us during our staff retreat. We believe that we have heard from God and are unified in our desire to see FBC, Meridian truly become the presence of Christ in the world.

Turn Your Ear To Heaven

The first words that came out of my radio this morning were from the David Crowder Band. They sang, "turn your ear to heaven..." That's a great way to start out staff retreat. Please pray for our church staff and David McCubbin as we seek God's will for our congregation!

Invest > Invite > Include

There have been testimonies during the last two Sunday night sermons about God using his people to draw others closer to Christ. If you look for common traits among those stories you will see that in each case someone invested in a friend, relative, associate, or neighbor. They invited them to know Christ and His community. They included them in the life of faith.

The process is simple to understand. It takes the miracle of God's grace to see it really work. Ask the Holy Spirit to empower you today to invest, invite, and include your FRANs in the life of the Gospel.

Have a great day!

F.R.A.N.S

We are connected to the world through a sphere of influence. I remember hearing Dr. Tom Wolfe from the Church on Brady teach about our bio, geo, voc, and vol connections in the 90s. I have since learned a simplier way. We are connected to FRANs -

Friends
Relatives
Associates
Neighbors

Invest in your FRANS. Invite them to know Christ. Include them in the life of faith.

Have a great day.