God is Sued

I laughed so loud at this story last night when I heard it on the news that I woke my youngest daughter up from a deep sleep. I hope that you find it just as humorous.

By NATE JENKINS Associated Press Writer

Article Launched: 09/17/2007 03:57:19 PM PDT

LINCOLN, Neb.—The defendant in a state senator's lawsuit is accused of causing untold death and horror and threatening to cause more still. He can be sued in Douglas County, the legislator claims, because He's everywhere.

State Sen. Ernie Chambers sued God last week. Angered by another lawsuit he considers frivolous, Chambers says he's trying to make the point that anybody can file a lawsuit against anybody.

Chambers says in his lawsuit that God has made terroristic threats against the senator and his constituents, inspired fear and caused "widespread death, destruction and terrorization of millions upon millions of the Earth's inhabitants."

The Omaha senator, who skips morning prayers during the legislative session and often criticizes Christians, also says God has caused "fearsome floods ... horrendous hurricanes, terrifying tornadoes."

He's seeking a permanent injunction against the Almighty.

I'm Official!

The ordination service on Sunday evening was a really special event and an awesome time to both celebrate and sit back and think about the immense task that God has called me to. A huge thanks goes out to all that took their Sunday evening and decided to spend it with my family and I as we celebrated the day. Aside from our youngest daughter Hope who spent the time in the nursery, our other four children sat "miraculously" for the entire time and supposedly did really well. I know the Holy Spirit was there for me and the other candidates for ordination that night, but my kids must have felt the fresh wind and fire of the Holy Spirit as well in order to sit there that well for that long. Overall, it was a great night with many great memories. I even received a brand new bible with my name printed on the cover! How awesome is that!

Voyage Win Streak!

Just to let you know, the Voyagers are now 1-0. We won our very first fantasy football game of the season. For all of you out there that have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm sorry. I'll give you the condensed version though. As the Pastor of The Voyage Church, I am representing the entire church as one of 10 other teams in a fantasy football league started by my good friend and fellow pastor, Kurt Stevens of Tallmadge Wesleyan Church. This is our chance to have a little fun with a sport that we truly love. I'll keep you posted throughout the season as to how the Voyagers are doing. And know this, we did it with absolutely no points from our quarterback Philip Rivers from San Diego!

Rediscovering Church

I've been reading Neil Cole's book titled Organic Church and wanted to share a few insights from it. In particular, Cole offers us six myth-debunking truths about the church. Here they are:

One, the Church is a living organism, not a static institution. "It is time for the Church to get her hands dirty in the soil of lost people's lives."

Two, the Church is so much more than a building. "It is important to note that the early Church did not have any buildings for the first three-hundred plus years."

Three, the Church is not to be bound to a single location. "Where you worship is nothing compared to who it is you worship."

Four, the Church is much more than a one-hour service held one day a week. "It is a twenty-four-hour a day, seven-day-a-week expression of Christ's life in us."

Five, the Kingdom of God is meant to be decentralized, but people tend to centralize. "Jesus died so that those who believe can go everywhere with the power and presence of God."

Six, we are each God's temple and together we are also his temple. "Our hope of glory is not in the buildings we use but in the Master who is building His life in us."

Screaming for Ice Cream Part 2

Last Friday, there was plenty of reason to be screaming for ice cream as The Voyage Church gave away over 300 FREE ice cream cones! I never thought giving something as cheap as a $1 ice cream cone could be so fun-but it was. In just over 2 hours we were able to connect with a lot of different families and to do so face-to-face made it that much more valuable. Our goal was twofold: To create an awareness of The Voyage Church and then also to send the message to the surrounding community that we care about them. As I mentioned in a recent article written about this event, it's so easy for us as churches to get caught up on themselves and move quickly inward. Our mission, on the otherhand, is to remain intentionally focused on making a difference in the community. I think this event captured the essence of what we want to be about as it leads into some really great discussion about the FREE grace of God.