Highlights of the weekend:
- Golfed in some serious wind on Friday. That will change your game!
- Watched girls volleyball at 8 am on Saturday morning. Those schedulers should be beaten.
- Finally went out and bought some clothes that fit – I’ve lost 25 pounds since the Fall and needed some new duds.
- Took the family to see Shrek on Saturday afternoon. Funny movie. 3D movies kill the budget.
- Took Zac and Ragan to a community event Saturday evening. GP hosted a “Minute to Win It” booth. Fun time.
- Played some board games Saturday night and enjoyed some hang time with the fam.
- Sunday was another positive day at GP.
- The Sunday weather was about 65 degrees! Is this really Las Vegas?
- Our Q & A series is really sparking a lot of discussion.
- We continue to see a lot of new faces each week.
- The issues I tackled today included:
How should we understand the Trinity?
What does the Bible say about cremation?
When was the Bible completed?
What happens to my money when I give to Grace Point?
and Can you be gay and be a Christian?
- I spent about half the message on the last question because it is so relevant for our culture. I would say that most every person in our church under 40 (which is a large percentage) know someone who is gay and probably knows someone who confesses to be gay and a Christian. This topic is one of the most relevant for ministry in our culture. I tried to handle this topic with grace and sensitivity. I believe the Scripture forces us into this tension that every person matters to God and can be forgiven through the cross & the reality that the Bible speaks against homosexual sex. My challenge for GP is that we need to provide a place where strugglers can struggle. We want to be known as a place that emphasizes grace and allows God to work in the lives of individuals. Let’s be honest: the church for the most part has done an inadequate job in facing and dealing with this issue. We live in the dynamic of proclaiming the truth of God while loving those who are far from God or struggling in their humanness. I am not sure I have the answer on how to deal with this issue in a way that honors both but I do want to trust God to do his sanctifying work in a person’s life. I don’t have the time or space to write everything we talked about yesterday. I will try and post an article later on this subject. I would say that we need to be reminded that grace is messy because we are so messed up. And we will be a church that emphasizes, believes in, and practices grace.
- Obviously there was a lot of feedback from yesterday’s message – a lot of positive.
- I am so thankful to lead a church where we can talk openly and honestly about subjects such as this one.
- I confess that I have not always handled this issue properly. Do you know why? I don’t struggle with it. Our tendency is to harp against those things with which we do not struggle. God is teaching me differently.
- The Sunday afternoon nap was refreshing.
- I watched the Lost finale with a few friends. I am a logical / black-white answers kind of guy so I have to say I was a bit disappointed that we did not get clear cut answers. I had ZERO expectation that we would get answers but I was hoping that maybe we would get something. I get the gist of the direction the writers were headed but they simply left too many unanswered questions for me. I think they should have thought more thoroughly through the end before they introduces so many different story lines. So overall, I was disappointed but Lost as a whole has been a great ride.
- Let’s hope 24 ends better than Lost.
My last birthday that starts with a 3 is this week! Crazy!