What the Church Can Learn from Jimmy Fallon – I’m a huge Jimmy Fallon. There’s something we can learn from him. 3 Ways NOT to Share Jesus – Great words for anyone trying to share Christ with young adults. Who is ISIS? A quick recap of the current conflict in Iraq. What Would Jesus Say to Robin Williams? – Great words! 7 Easy Ways to Put a Not Welcome Sign on Your Church – So true! Read more
Our church staff made this short video to introduce the concept of underdogs that we’re currently preaching through on Sundays. Watch this video and ask yourself: How am I an underdog? https://vimeo.com/103335300 Read more
2 Chronicles 16:9 says, “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” But how can we know the condition of our hearts? This short video looks at three diagnostics that Jesus gives us: https://vimeo.com/103274809 Read more
We all lost someone yesterday, a comedic genius that captured the hearts of generations. Appearing in over sixty films, all Americans feel like they knew and loved Robin Williams. For the vast majority of us, his death (apparent suicide) came as an extreme shock. Why would somebody so funny, so full of life, want to take his own life? It seems surreal, especially for someone to throw away what many of us spend our entire lives pursuing. Here are a... Read more
Years ago I worked at a church that wanted to work on its outreach, so we brought in an outside consultant. We weren’t having a lot of first-time guests register each week, so we weren’t sure if any were actually coming. Our consultant came in for a “secret shopper” visit one Sunday (where someone comes to your church undercover to evaluate your services) and told us afterwards he had met six first-time guests. I was floored. I’d worked at the... Read more
Here’s the first sermon in our new “Underdogs” series: https://vimeo.com/102534379 Read more
Here are a few articles to keep you learning through the weekend: 8 Ways the Enemy Attacks Church – true words of wisdom from Thom Rainer. Learning From Young Atheists: What Turned Them Off Christianity – great perspective! Marco Rubio: Intolerance in the Name of Tolerance is Hypocrisy – grateful for a politician to stand up and say this. Don’t Overthink It: The Power of an Invitation – if we truly ‘got’ this truth, our churches would never... Read more
I am a movie fanatic. If there’s a great story playing on the big screen (or at least a decent story with a lot of things blowing up), then I’m there. Here are a few of my favorites: Gladiator – coolest ways to die in this movie Braveheart – “Freedom!” Dumb and Dumber – I have way too much of this movie memorized Karate Kid – I’m not talking about the 2010 Jayden Smith nonsense. I’m talking old school, 1984... Read more
Here’s something scary you can do the next time you’re at church: look around. Take some time during the service and look at those sitting around you. Pretend you’re stretching your neck muscles or something. Look at the older couple sitting two rows up. You can’t remember their names but you see them every week. There’s the weird guy that seems way too happy to be at church. There’s the family with teenagers where the son has been playing games... Read more
The church I pastor is technically Mt Vernon Baptist Church, but on all of our letterhead, signs and communications we’re just Mt Vernon Church. We drop the Baptist for a reason. We’re not ashamed of our heritage nor are we planning on leaving the Southern Baptist Convention. The main reason we do it is because of the people we’re trying to reach. Our target audience is the dechurched, those who have had some type of religious experience growing up but... Read more
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