No Longer Homeless:

As of this past Tuesday October 28^th Trinity is no longer homeless!! You have seen the news articles in the paper, on the internet and even on TV… and it is finally done. Now, the real work begins. We will meet for our last Sunday at Grace Bible Church this Sunday, November 9^th.  Grace has lived up to their name - they have been so good to us as a sister church!  The frustrating thing to me about being in the Bible belt has always been the competitive nature of churches in general. It is not consistent with the gospel message, and it leaves the world somewhat confused as to what it is we really do. So, a big thank you to the Grace Bible family!  You have been a wonderful picture of grace in action. 

We now have nothing more than a nice tool; a building was never our goal but it is a tool.   Now we must choose to use that tool to give us security and fellowship within our walls, or we can use it to reach an area with the Gospel of Christ. I honestly believe those who are at Trinity don’t just want a building to come hear preaching, or a building with white columns with our church name on it… God has done such a work in our fellowship that our focus is no longer inward but outward, looking at the fields. While this vision will continue to take shape as we go, there is certainly something big going on in our Trinity family. Some of these moves will involve doing things we have never done, and frankly things that go against our grain in general.  The exciting thing is, we are doing something that isn’t about us, it is about HIM! To see the lost come to Christ is a very exciting thing, and I am honored to be a part of this journey. I can blog, talk, journal and text about this move all day, but I want to use the remainder of this time to just give you some important dates and even an explanation of the “why?”

Our first official Sunday in our building will be Sunday, November 16^th.  The only thing that will be ready will be the Worship Center and very nice temporary nursery.  This “temporary nursery” (probably until January) is located in what will eventually be our office area (probably appropriate knowing our staff!) as it is already in good shape with clean carpeting and fresh paint.  This will be while the children’s area is being renovated.  Once the children’s wing is in better shape, the nursery will move there and the offices will be renovated for office use.   We believe the children’s area will be ready for us to use by January although the decoration will be done by World Of Wow in the April-May time frame.   If you have not seen their work, check out their website. They will be working in our student and all of our children’s areas. http://www.worldsofwow.com/?gclid=CO_GkNze1MECFaE-MgodQnoAXg

We will continue to worship at 9 am simply to keep things somewhat sane during the holiday time. November 16^th will simply be a “soft opening” so we can get our feet under us. AWANA will continue to take place at Hope Sullivan until January. Our current plans are that the first Sunday in January we will move back to regular service times: 9am-BFG, 10:30—Worship Service and 5:30- AWANA.    On Wednesday, 4:45-6 Mid-Week supper (we may not be able to begin this in January – it will depend on the construction schedule) and 6:15 we will begin a full midweek (Sunday evening style) service.  

On January 25^th  we will have our full Grand Opening. We should have all our Greeter Teams, Parking Teams and everyone else set and running smoothly, and we will be able to receive and minister to a much larger group. Obviously, this doesn’t mean we don’t reach out and invite right now! It has been amazing that during this crazy transition we have had visitors and people join. I have never been more excited to be a Pastor, and never had anything in my life that I was filled with more anticipation for. Make these dates a priority on your schedule and in your prayer life. God is really at work in our fellowship and I am so thankful to be a part of this!

Disagreeing Biblically

We have read Why Church Buildings Matter, by Tim Cool. We have even brought him in as a consultant. This blog does such a good job of concisely explaining the importance of having strong convictions but understanding that those "3rd tier" issues that fall into "personal convictions" should not be a reason to divide under any circumstance.   Hope you enjoy.

http://coolconversationslive.com/i-disagree/

I DISAGREE!

Cool Conversations Live>>Toolbox>>Blog>>I Disagree!

If you have been on this earth for any length of time, you have…or will…find yourself in a situation where someone has an opinion about a topic that is diametrically different than yours.  It may be a moral or legal issue…and those tend to be a little bit more black and white and the “correct” answer is usually obvious.

But what about the areas that are not so cut and dry? What about those issues that are left to a person’s own interpretation based on their personal preferences, background and paradigm? What about those items that really have no wrong answer and yet you find yourself an opposite ends of the equation with another person who is equally as passionate about the matter…yet views the item through a different lens ?

Our (or maybe I should just say “my”) tendency is to bow up and dig our heels in.  We quickly develop rationale to make our point and to possibly discredit the other opinion.  We will then seek to rally support for our stance from those that are either part of our tribe or that we know will support our conviction.

After living in a pastor’s home and then serving the church world for almost my entire life, I have seen this far too often in the church. Some of the most divisive I have been witness to have been:

• Should we allow people to eat in the basement of the church?  
• Should we build or not?
• Should we relocate?
• Do we add modern music to our worship?
• Should the choir still wear robes?
• Is it acceptable to preach from a translation other than the King James?
• Is it wrong to smoke, drink or chew…or date girls who do? (could not resist)

As I look at that list…all I see are personal preferences and convictions. I am convinced that we could find some scripture somewhere to justify either side of these arguments. We could pontificate for hours on the righteousness of either side.  And yet, in the scope of eternity, does it really matter.  The key for me, is which side furthers the Kingdom of God and serves that local church…the body of believers…the best as they fulfill the vision they believe God has called them to.  THAT…is the real issue. On most of these types of issues, I am not even sure God would have a preference…and I am convinced he would not waste a breathe dealing with such.

I was recently reading a passage written by John Maxwell were he references Romans 14and how Paul addressed this exact thing with the Church in Rome. In this chapter, Paul speaks  not of eternal issues or absolute truths, but about “gray areas”—subjects that are questionable and maybe even fuzzy similar to the list above. Christians can differ on these issues and still be part of the same organization. On these issues, no scripture declares an unequivocal right or wrong.

Mr. Maxwell went on to provide a list of ways that Paul gave as a guide from which to address these issues:

1. Be open, not condescending (vv. 1–3).
2. Remember that everyone answers to the Lord, not to you (v. 4).
3. Cling to your own convictions (v. 5).
4. Whatever your values, your motive should be to please God (vv. 6–9).
5. You are ultimately accountable to the Lord (vv. 10–12).
6. Do not cause anyone to stumble (v. 13).
7. Don’t let others impose their values on you, and vice versa (v. 14).
8. Make love your highest aim (v. 15).
9. Major on the majors and minor on the minors (vv. 16–18).
10. Pursue peace and adding value to people (v. 19).
11. Don’t destroy anyone by imposing your values on them (vv. 20–22).
12. Anything is wrong that is not done out of personal faith (v. 23).

Good stuff…I have a long way to go!