Signed My First Autograph

I got a funny story from the True Love Waits Conference, my wife and I spoke at. One active New England Patriot, David Thomas and one retired New England Patriot, Grant Williams spoke as well. After the first day, we were on stage, and kids came up to get autographs from the players. They started signing. So I said, in 6th grade I got MVP for Defensive Line in football. I signed TWO autographs for that!!!

Overall the conference was off the hook...I did an impromptu session on Myspace and Facebook and its effects on dating...One of the highlights of the conference was to hear David and Cassidy Thomas share their story...They began going out when they were in 8th grade, stayed together through High School, then went to Texas Tech together were David played college ball. They then got married virgins. They committed their relationship to purity. Now David is the tight end for the New England Patriots...What a story of commitment and dedication...

True Love Waits Conference

Liz and I have the privilege of being on a team of conference speakers this weekend led by Paul and Virgina Freisen...The conference is called: True Love Waits...It is a time for parents and children to get together and talk about sex in a non-threatening environment...If a father doesn't talk to his son or a mother her daughter, they will learn about some where...and that some where is probably in the locker room or bathroom and the content is not going to be Biblically based but worldly focused...Don't leave it up to your kids to ask you parents, but ask them first....Liz and I are doing a workshop called, "Its Never Too Late To Do the Right Thing." This is going to be a great conference and not just because we are speaking!!!! But because two players and their wives from the New England Patriots will speaking as well....David and Kassidy Thomas & Grant and Emily Williams...Check out the True Love Waits website for more information if you are interested in coming...If you can't come, here is a link to Liz and my talk on "Its never too late to do the right thing."

Witch Pastor

I met a real live, walking talking WITCH Pastor...I guess you can call him that, He did...He is a pastor in Salem, MA...The witch capital of America....His church is called, "The Gathering"...His church actually meets in "The Vault"...an old bank...The place is right on a main street in Salem...He said, The Gathering, his church, exists to bless the witches and neo-pagans not just in Salem, MA but all over the world...His ministry reaches to the UK...The churches website is very informative....I will be meeting with him some time in the future to talk witchcraft and paganism...This might possibly the beginning of a potential location for Garden City Church's second location..Stay tuned for that Blog.

Beverly Church Plant Update

Today we did it! We nailed down (for now) Garden City Churches 7 core values over a cup of Starbucks coffee! I think that was the secret to our most profitable meeting yet!!!

1. A Caring Community
2. Biblical, Practical Teaching
3. Strong Family's
4. Discover Your Purpose
5. Passionate Spirituality
6. Less is More
7. A Creative Edge

Everything we do as a church will be filtered through these core values...This gives us the freedom to say NO to things that can potentially side track us from fulfilling out mission. These core values are our guiding principles...They shape the way we do things...They also hold us accountable...The hardest part is that the leadership team must be constantly aware of these values in their own personal life....because as a church the leaders must embody these core values so that they turn into the values of those who come to the church!

Church & Culture

I don't think any class has influenced me more than a class I am presently in called, "Church & Culture." The professor has opened my eyes to a culture that constantly exerts pressure on you and me. We are being influenced from every angle. The cultural influencers (Apple, Playboy, Reality TV, MYSPACE, Hollywood, etc.) want us to be so busy that we don't think or reflect on what we are doing, we just react and consume.

Think about TV. With each show you watch, whether you like it or not, you are being instructed on how to live, what to buy, what the good life is, what to look like, etc. We are given "unspoken permission" or you can say, "an unconscious, yes," to do exactly what you are watching. It is called behavior modification. They are training us to respond in life from those experiences. Why do you think people want HDTV's or I-Phones, or you fill in the blank with that thing on your list? Or the person you want to look like. It is a fact, most people who get cosmetic surgery do so to look like a celebrity!

The bottom line is that we must exert pressure on the culture or we will conform. If you consume culture without thinking about it, you will become a product of the culture. For the class, we have to write an essay on a question that is impossible to answer. He says, there are not right or wrong answers, but better or worse. These essays will get you to think about the world we live in through a different lens. They have been the most challenging essays, I ever wrote and they are short! Take a stab at them...not me!!

Sex: The American Top Idol

Is Culture Dead?

The Great Divorce

The Resurrected Matrix: The Kingdom Of God

Re-Thinking Church Growth Strategies

Beverely Church Planting Update

(1) Last week, the lead pastor and I got to go and meet with the woman who is in charge of renting out the school, we have applied to lease. Great, hopeful conversation! We did see an auditorium that is not being used in this old middle school the town turned into the school systems office. Maybe a space for a second location, maybe not!!!

(2) Last week, we also had probably one of the most important discussions on our mission (what do we want to do or you can say, what is our goal). The churches mission statement is "To Lead People To Become Fully Devoted Followers of Christ." That is our method. But our goal, Jesus states in the Sermon on the Mount. It is actually his thesis statement. (1) We are to be "salt" and "light." Salt makes things flourish, it makes things better. Not table salt, but salt used in an agricultural setting. The SALT Jesus compared fully devoted followers of Christ was a form of fertilizer. It made thing grow better. It made compose piles decompose. In essence, Jesus was saying, we need to be engaged in and with the culture so that when we show up things are better and those people's lives around us are better. It also accelerates growth so if salt loses it distinctness it is in effective. (2) We are to be "light." Fully devoted followers are Christ are to be beacons of goodness and a catalyst for human flourishing. We are a like a light house. A light house distributes light. You are there, you cannot be ignored, you are broad casting a message on the hill and the hill is whatever your sphere of influence God called you. The Bible says, let your light shine before men so that they can see your good deeds. It is dynamic and it is self revelatory. You are and it happens. You are light that shines before men. There is an emphasis of being. The very nature of who you are speaks volumes, not just what you do. It is the embodied presence of you period that makes the difference. Those around you see self evident goodness. They see the deeds that you do that explain the message that is in you. Since it is a positive and good message, people know that you are genuine goodness.

Ask yourself, Are you Salt and Light? Does your purist of God influence those around you? Does your life make other people’s lives better? Is your walk with God inspiring anybody to be more like Jesus and does it causes non-believers to wonder why? Do you have enough of Jesus that your life overflows and spills into others? I have been asking myself these questions lately. Sometimes just asking the right questions makes all the difference!

Sexual Cosmos: Bringing Order to the Untouched Areas of Spirituality

As some of you know, I feel just as called to writing books as I do to pasturing and teaching. I have almost completed a book on SEX. It is basically a perspective on sex, dating and marriage that you will not find on TV or in the moves. It is based on God's word. God created the universe from nothing, bringing order from chaos and He can do the same thing with our sex lives. So I got an editor!! One of my best friends who is a missionary in Africa at the moment is going to edit the book. He is a GODSEND and a genius! The Introduction Chapter is pretty much done. Check it out. Here is a LINK to it. It will give you all the details, but remember it is geared towards Teen Challenge students in which myself and the editor are graduates of Teen Challenge, but I am confident it will speak to you and give you a perspective you can share with your friends, family, etc. Let me know what you think about it. Email any comments, questions and suggestions to sexualcosmos@gmail.com Happy Reading!

Beverly Church Plant Update

The lead pastor, on Tuesday, sat down and had lunch with a guy in the church he works at that is planting us, who works with non-profit organizations like churches who lease from schools, among other things. He gave us the run down on what to do and not do, what to expect and not expect. We learned a lots of good things like the school or whoever you rent from, are not like your typical landlord. You need to take the initiative and let them know what rooms, bathrooms, etc you need, don't expect them to communicate because they probably won't. We learned to make sure the lines of communication are open and that the person on staff, the janitor, knows exactly what bathrooms we need, etc. so that they are ready to go come church time. Just thought you like to know, about a churches bathroom situation!!!!!!!!!!!

How to ELIMINATE Divorce!

I figured it out. What you are about to read will save millions of dollars worldwide and infinite pain and suferring. It is an easy formula. Albert Einstein invented "E = MC2" and I have thought of how to be "Married-4-Ever." Are you ready for it? If you read it, you must tell someone and do it!!
Marriage is not so much an issue of love as it is an issue of obedience to God. Obedience to God must supersede love. The command to all Christians married or not is to “love their neighbors.” Well, for married people, their closest neighbor is their spouse (even if they don’t sleep in the same bed!). Jesus also commands us to “love our enemies” and “do good to those who hate you.” The word, love, agape, is the same word in both places. It means unconditional and sacrificial. So guess what, your spouse will always fit somewhere between your best neighbor and your worst enemy, and guess, what we are commanded to love them both. But God does not leave us hanging. He would never command us to do something we are not capable to do. God will give you both the strength to love each other regardless of how you feel. In the very moments when you don’t feel like loving, just obey God and do it anyway. If you do this, divorce will never be an option, only staying married-4-ever!

Let me know, how it works out!!

UPDATE: Beverly Church Plant

I feel like I do not have time to think! So busy, but here is the BREAKING NEWS. We have "The Go" or as some like to say "The Green Light" to begin meeting with our core group (those are people who want to be part of the church before we are officially a church). And we even have a time table. Are you ready for this, it is after Easter! Some of the hardest things in church planting is putting together a Schedule, a time table of when and how things are suppose to unfold. We are there. We have the beginning of a time table!! That is actually very exciting. Stay tuned for more Breaking News!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sex: The American Top Idol

SEX: The American Top Idol

We live in a sex crazed culture where sex can sell just about anything from beer to car insurance. Today sex is nothing more than one of the many desires Americans satisfy without much thought like our appetite for food. When we are hungry, we eat, if the urge to have sex arises, look for the closest friend and benefit! The truth of the matter is that sex has escaped its residence in marriage and been placed on a pedestal for all to idolize. As brief as it might be, appeasing the sex idol emotionally satisfies, security, one of the deepest human needs. The sex idol is both unconsciously and consciously worshiped by millions of Americans daily via Internet sites, movies, magazines and TV shows. Promiscuous living is promoted, at the expense of martial fidelity, as part of the American dream. In order to tear down the sex idol, the original purpose of sex must be resurrected and the Biblical precedence for marriage must be re -instituted.

Marriage is more than sex!
The resurrection of God’s plan for sex will raise the marital climate in America. Sex is just one cylinder in an eight cylinder marriage. God created sex for a purpose and designed marriage as the one and only relationship that purpose is to be experienced so that the marriage relationship can be a reflection of the relationship between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit to the world. The uniting of married couples in the sanctity of the marriage bed mirrors the unity the Godhead. What if sex in marriage was more about God than about an orgasm? The words sex and God are almost never used in the same sentence, but have multiple intersecting points. Mainly, oneness, which is the idea of multiple units operating in harmony regardless of their distinct differences. Sex is an intersecting point married couples must experience oneness or sexual frustration and dysfunction will breed division.

Marriage will make couples holy before it will make them happy. When the goal of marriage is not sexual euphoria, like Soap Operas, romantic novels and movies promote, but maturity, marriages will go the distance. The goal of marriage is not to please yourself or your spouse, but to please God. A couple’s marital climate directly correlates with their spiritual climate. That is why, the apostle Peter says, “Husbands . . . be considerate as you live with your wives . . . so that nothing will hinder your prayers.” Sometimes the most spiritual thing to do is have a good marriage and in doing so both partners will feel secure.

Marriage is a kingdom partnership, not a combination of one night stands. Couples who have a kingdom purpose interwoven in their marriage understand that their marriage stands for something more than sexual intimacy. A marriage couple whose goal is to partner with Jesus’ Church and his apprentices on earth understand King Solomon who said, “Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” Solomon knew that a team dynamic with God in the center can do more than a one man show. If God is reflected in marriages, then marriages will reflect God to the world. Marriage couples have an opportunity to be a conduit of the love of God to an unloved, insecure world.

Sex is more than marriage!
When marriage is more than sex, then sex is more than marriage, not vice versa. The re-instituting of God’s design for marriage will lower the promiscuity climate in America. Sex with a purpose is the best sex. Sex to satisfy just to satisfy an urge misses the mark of the poetry of sex. Sex activates the marriage covenant, but does not determine marital longevity. A home run does not have to be hit everyday to have sex. The reality is most marriages strike out more than they get on base, but the need of security is still met. If couples are going to feel continually secure in themselves and their marriages, then sex must not be like a trend that fads away, but an ongoing game. Even though sex is just one component of sexual intimacy, it is probably one of the most important. Sex is the only thing you can do with your spouse; you cannot do with someone else. Once sex is taken off the pedestal, it becomes one of the many venues couples experience marital intimacy.

Sex renews the marriage covenant. Just as Christ followers participate in the sacrament, Holy Communion, as a time to reflect and renew the covenant Jesus’ death instituted, married couples renew their covenant when they participate in the act of marriage. Sex is sacred. It unites couples spiritually. Soul ties are either strengthened or weakened by a couples sex life or lack there of. Sometimes the most spiritual thing to do with your spouse is to have sex. Sexual intimacy is marriage is the highway all other areas of intimacy travel on. Although sex is not an end in marriage, it is a non-negotiable means to an end.

Sex leaves a legacy. The whole world is watching marriage couples. They are just waiting to hear about the latest affair. What effects does each affair and divorce have on the generation to follow? Each generation that grows up in today’s divorce culture has been given the unconscious permission to have an affair and divorce. One of the best ways not to have sex with someone else’s spouse is to have sex with your own spouse. Sex is the protecting shield that guards a man or women’s heart from being stolen by someone who wants to meet the needs of your spouse when you do not. I heard at a marriage conference, “If you don’t date want to date your spouse, there are many who do." It is going to take couples who are willing to look out for the best interest of the present and future generations, not themselves to turn the tide and leave a Godly marriage legacy.

In conclusion, if sex finds its way back in the master bedroom and off the TV screens, Americans will experience a revolution in their homes and churches. The American Top Idol can only be worshipped if broken marriages produce broken families that in turn release broken children with no purpose to marry broken spouses. Our problem is systemic. It begins with married couples. Dad’s and mom’s who tear down the sex idol at home will create an environment conducive for their children to later marry well. Premarital sex can destroy a future marriage like no bodies business, but children who marry, according to God’s plan and purposes will experience sex in the creative order, not before but after marriage. These children, who have married well, will have children who marry well and on and on it goes. If families take the initiative to meet, their children’s need of security, then the boy down the street or girl up the block will not have a chance and the advertising agencies, which thrive on the principle, sex sells, will not be able to sell the sex idol, because it has been torn down!

Call to Customer Service

I don't know if you heard, but Howard Schultz, the founder and CEO of Starbucks shut down Starbucks nation wide for 3 hours to challenge his partners (as he calls his employees) to be more passionate about serving customers. A call to customer service is essentially a call to love your neighbor. Maybe you never looked at the message of the Gospel before like this but it is a call to customer service. Loving your neighbors, although fundamental, is eternally beneficial to humanity. Each human being was created to be loved by one another. Two thumbs up to Howard Schultz for calling his partners back to passionate service. It has inspired me to better serve the people in my life. Great to be challenged spiritually by a non-spiritual things.