Laugh. Love. Learn.

Creative Chaos. I have to give props to Gregg Hampton, because he has made some awesome videos at The Vine. However, this is my favorite so far. We saw an idea similar to this at the Innovate conference at Granger, but we wanted to remake it, tailored to our message (on faith like a child) and using children from our congregation. I think it’s phenomenal. What do you think?

confession: i don’t like mess.
my laminated label-maker and i are having a large time with all this fun organization, but it’s taking way longer than i wish it was. soon enough, order will surface, and we’ll find a rhythm. as though she knew i needed something beautiful to remind me of the hope of things to come, sweet Tammie brought us flowers. a beautiful thing, in the middle of chaos. i guess that’s what we’re supposed to be as image-bearers of Jesus in a chaotic world…

God rocked my world with an unexpected opportunity to be on staff at The Vine.
I was so excited I almost couldn’t breathe.

Today, we moved less than three miles from The Vine to serve the people of Braselton.
And I’m so excited I almost can’t breathe.

Not to us, O LORD, not to us
but to your name be the glory,
because of your love and faithfulness.
Psalm 115:1

I hadn’t ever thought of this before until a couple of years ago when I read this book, but I’ve been thinking about it again lately… What are all of the attributes of God, and how are those attributes displayed throughout creation, including nature, the actions of people, personalities, passions, etc.?

Obviously God is loving and compassionate and merciful and holy, but He’s also fierce and strong and jealous and just…and gentle and quiet and comforting and consistent…and powerful and fierce and victorious and sovereign… I think you get the point.

As image-bearers we (hopefully) display His attributes through our personalities and actions, which is what that book talks about: the attributes of God that are displayed uniquely through women. But if we’re cognizant of the different attributes of God, and how people respond to and connect with those in different ways, what does it mean for our behavior? Our interactions with others? What does it mean for the way we structure and/or plan worship services? environments? small groups? I know we can’t try to act a specific way because that’s striving and authenticity = just being, but if we’re being intentional about connecting people with Christ, how much do we attempt to convey attributes they track with most naturally? And that’s going to be different for different people, so does it require doing things that aren’t most natural for us?

Ha ha. There’s some randomness to start your work week. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

i love this.

Ever since Easter I’ve had this feeling like I should share my story. I mean, I already did when we launched, but I wanted to share it with the 5 faithful readers of my blog. Some interesting conversation has ensued. On Easter Sunday this year we talked about Overcoming the Past. We sang Overcome by Desperation Band, which refers to a story in Revelation where Satan (the accuser) has been cast out of heaven, and the author, speaking of the Christ-followers, says, “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.” (12:11)

As DW taught on Easter (check out the podcast), there are numerous examples of people in the Bible who had checkered pasts. Mary Magdalene, for example, and Peter. Mark even singles Peter out by saying, “go and tell the disciples and Peter…” Peter had to live knowing that he’d denied Jesus 3 times, but when he heard that Jesus was risen and his history and his past had been wiped away, and he ran to the tomb and saw for himself that Jesus was alive, his whole story changed. Peter’s story was no longer about how he denied Jesus; it was about how Jesus is alive! Soon after, Peter shared his testimony with a crowd, and 3,000 people accepted Jesus that day!!!

So as I watched my story again yesterday, I began to understand the importance of a testimony. You know why? Because the REDEMPTION prevails. My identity used to be wrapped up in my past, just like Peter’s was. My worth was directly tied to all the bad choices I had made. It was just who I was. But now, when I watch that video, it seems like it’s a story about another person. Because I’m not who I was. And it doesn’t define me. And it’s as though, because I shared it, it’s over. That chapter is closed. It doesn’t hold me back anymore. It’s been overcome.

As my favorite preacher put it, “It’s only when you come and you experience (redemption) that you have a testimony to share with other people. Your history has been overcome by the work of God in Jesus Christ. When we live in the power of that we’re not afraid of our past anymore, because when we have experienced it for ourselves, placing faith in Jesus Christ as the forgiver of our sins and the leader of our lives, we can walk victoriously in knowing that whatever we have experienced in the past, it’s overcome, and we can look forward to a future that not only begins now but extends for all of eternity where we have the assurance of being with God in heaven forever. When you experience it for yourself…it’s going to completely transform your life.”

Your story?

it seems like i shared this forever ago…
but it still amazes me that my story was redeemable. is redeemable. continues to be redeemed.

the context of the story was a message called “Stolen,” and we talked about how God wants to Redeem all of the things that have been stolen from us by the world, by Satan, by our bad choices…etc. [we used “Stolen” by Dashboard Confessional for the offertory.]

from a worship design perspective this video was way too long…even though it was shown in two segments, now that we’re older and wiser (ha ha) we would have probably edited it to around 5-6 minutes (as is, it’s 9.) we used this on the day we launched: April 8, 2007.

it’s crazy to look back on the last 12 months and see how incredibly the Lord has blessed our family since the launch of The Vine and since Tanner was born….it’s completely amazing. i don’t have adequate words to describe the amazingness, except to give Glory to Him!

What’s your story?

lessons learned from the back row —
theRomans8LIFE: Week 5

“if life is a game, you either win it or you lose it, right?”
“not only are we going to win this game of life, we’re going to win it DECISIVELY.”

apparently DW is SERIOUS about some Candy Land.
he’s also serious about Braveheart and the whole paint-your-face-blue-and-wear-a-kilt manly shin-dig that goes on in said movie.

“you were created to be in fellowship with God. that’s the point. nothing more and nothing less.”

“don’t just write it down on a piece of paper, write it down on your heart: God is FOR you.”

We made this fun. 25-second video to remind people what it’s like to choose teams…

who would you want on YOUR team?!? We are in a rare position, because of God’s love for us, that we’ve been given the freedom to choose! Are you willing to take inventory of all the competitors and say, I choose God?

It’s not really a matter of “If God is for you who can be against you”…it’s a matter of, “If YOU are for God, AND God is for you, who can be against you?”

What does it mean to be “justified” in Christ?
“it’s JUST as IF You’ve never sinned.” (thanks, GG)

“what is your LOVE cause? who are you willing to fight for?” guys, lemme tell ya, there’s not much a wife won’t do when she knows her man will FIGHT for her and she’s his priority. wow.

“what is your LIFE cause?” what is your full potential that can only be found in Jesus Christ? how were you created to serve?!? what is your life’s mission? what’s your calling?

did you know that there are 38,000 people in a 5 mile radius of The Vine who are unchurched or dechurched?

and, finally, you can check out the podcast here.

My sweet friend Morgana is headed to Guatemala today. I would love it if you would pray for her safety with me, and for the effectiveness of the team of missionaries with whom she’s going. She doesn’t know any of the people she’s going with, so you can also pray that awkwardness is minimalized….that’s just like Morgan, though: She doesn’t think twice about hoping on a plane with total strangers if it means she has a chance to tell people about Jesus.

Speaking of Jesus, I am so thankful to Him for Morgan’s friendship. Morgan is quite possibly the most selfless, consistent, authentic, loving, faithful person I know. She’s the kind of person who every parent wants their child to become friends with…which is probably why she has a gazillion friends. She’s always helping somebody make a cake, keeping someone’s kid, helping mentor high school girls, throwing baby & wedding showers, writing scripts for The Vine…she’s the kind of friend who volunteers to hand-wash every piece of china you own when you move into a new house. But my favorite thing about Morgan is her passion for Jesus and for His Word. She is truly burdened for people who don’t live in relationship with Him and she genuinely wants to know His specific plan & calling for her life. She might end up in Africa, or she might end up in a bakery somewhere, but wherever she is she’ll be chasing hard after Jesus and whatever He wants her to do for the Kingdom.

Thank you for praying for Morgan this week.

p.s. If my wildest dreams come true and I happen upon a million dollars, Morgan and I will have the most kick-tail bakery ever. We’d make cakes all day, and get crazy-excited about things like high quality vanilla and new tips for our decorator icing kits. We’d feed hungry people with the profits and hire all of our friends, just like Duff did on Charm City Cakes. It’d be so incredibly rockstar…. Anyone know of any grants for bakery ministry start-ups?

Creative Chaos // 9

So I’m late because last week owned me, but I wanted to share an amazing illustration we used last Sunday. We’re in a series called theRomans8LIFE, and here are some of the things we were discussing:

- When we sign on to JC, we’re saying we’ll be obligated to God instead of obligated to the flesh.
- We should choose to be obligated to God because He chose us first. We’re not Plan B — We’re Plan A. And He wants us to have all of the rights and privileges and obligations that come with being HIS.

To illustrate the way God chooses us, we flew Gregg to Illinois to interview a couple he knows who are in the process of adopting…this is SO cool; check it out.
It’s 6 minutes. 6 very worthy minutes.

“We are not God’s fall back plan….before the foundations of the world; we were chosen to be adopted!”