On Monday night I had the awesome privilege of worshiping and celebrating what God has done with some folks from the college and young adults group at my former church.

Check out the video below to get a feel for how the Lord is using that group and then read on.

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I still cry every time I watch that video. We all watched it Monday night and it was a sobering reminder of just how awesome God is and how faithful He is to those that truly seek to follow after Him no matter what the cost. The folks at The Bridge (now called Fuse) abandoned the normal pew-warming, Bible-ignoring mess called Sub-Cultural-Christianity and with wreck-less abandon of the things of this world they have counted the cost to serve and love Jesus and love the lost and love each other in ways that are remarkable to the reachable and inspiring to the impassioned and convicting to the complacent.

But Monday night was not about a pat on the back, it was about change for the sake of the body of believers that call that ministry home and change that will radically impact how they see their role in the global Church and especially in their community.

Instead of meeting together every Monday as they have been doing for the past 5 years they are going to meet for an hour before the Sunday night service at their church talking and praying through various topics, attend the service together and spend the week serving and loving each other and their community. What use to be Small Groups that meet on Wednesday Nights will now be Missions Groups that will serve their community once a month as a group and will gather for corporate times of worship and reflection once a month as well. Rather than doing Small Groups the way it’s always been done, their Pastor Greg (from the video) has clearly seen the need for his flock to not merely be hearers of the word but doers as well. Pastor Greg wants to set them up to succeed at doing that, but involves changing the way things have been done and the way people have thought for the past 5 years.

Bringing about change in the flock is no easy task for one who has been called to shepherd God’s people. It involves lots and lots of prayer, Godly council from those older and wiser as well as the strength and fortitude to stand their ground when it comes to their conviction about the change being both Biblical and necessary to better serve The Master. Pastor Greg’s heart is unquestionably one that seeks after God and seeks after the well-being of those that have been entrusted to his care. Everyone at Fuse has seen his heart and so it is very evident that the changes being made are not being taken lightly nor or are they being done from some sort of selfish motive.

What is most remarkable about this change is the manner in which it was communicated to the flock. I can honestly say I’ve seen many Pastors at churches large and small fail to communicate change in a meaningful and understandable way but my brother Greg did not fail. Not only was it meaningful by arranging for people to share about their past experiences with the group, but even visitors that had never attended before understood that it was time for this flock to take their next step in their journey of faith. Pastor Greg was gentle in answering the questions that people had but he was firm in his Biblical teaching about why the change was not just necessary, but something that God desired for the group through the lens of scripture.

Today it’s easy to find good communicators with a low view of scripture or bad communicators with a high view of scripture. It is very rare in the American Church today to find someone that not only has a high view of scripture, but can communicate it in a way that contextualizes the message for their flock while still contending for the most important theological points. Pastor Greg is man that has truly been blessed by God since he first started leading Fuse 5 years ago.

All that being said, keep Fuse in your prayers as they navigate these changes over the next few weeks and months. Pray that God will calm the hearts of those that have a hard time with change and that He would enable those that are already on board with the changes to encourage those that are still struggling. Most of all pray that Fuse will continue to be a place where God’s Word is not only heard, but is lived out in the life of it’s people on a daily basis.

[22] But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. [23] For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. [24] For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. [25] But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
-James 1:22-25 ESV

[58] Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
-1 Corinthians 15:58 ESV

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Love this song and keeping the words close to my heart right now… She sings the first and last verse but I’ve included them all because they are powerful.

Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim; its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.

Not a brief glance I beg, a passing word;
But as Thou dwell’st with Thy disciples, Lord,
Familiar, condescending, patient, free.
Come not to sojourn, but abide with me.

Come not in terrors, as the King of kings,
But kind and good, with healing in Thy wings,
Tears for all woes, a heart for every plea—
Come, Friend of sinners, and thus bide with me.

Thou on my head in early youth didst smile;
And, though rebellious and perverse meanwhile,
Thou hast not left me, oft as I left Thee,
On to the close, O Lord, abide with me.

I need Thy presence every passing hour.
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s power?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.

I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.

Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

I’d love for you to download these clips and make them available to people that are currently fighting cancer as well as cancer survivors and to families that have lost loved ones. I hope that my Mom’s story will inspire us not because of her strength, but from the strength she found in her Savior Jesus Christ.

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Click here to view the embedded video.

Enjoy!

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Dravn Training

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A Day On The Lake

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Today I’m on set all day doing green-screen work. I’m the DP for this project which is super cool and a whole lot of fun. This project is a product of our Video Production 2 class however I am not the director. Last semester we each were the director for our own project. This semester we all have to work as a team, each of us with our own responsibilities. We have a great crew in this class which is a relief. Last semester the class had a lot of first-timers and so I had to make sure I grabbed the more experienced people first. This semester the pressure is different but it’s still there. This time, if I screw up, someone else is screwed up too.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.