An Email to the Bullhorn Guy

I received an email from a bullhorn guy, asking me what I thought about his approach to "street evangelism"... and here was my reply:

Dear Bullhorn Guy,

Thank you! To be real honest I am not sure you want to hear what I have to say about the “bullhorn” style of evangelism. We met people down there in Westport that night and asked them what they thought of what you were doing (and some of the people were committed Christ-followers) and it was 100% negative feedback. And what really concerned me was that the feedback from people who need God in their lives was also negative… it was a turn off for them. Which just pushes them further away from Christ, the church and all things good.

I am sorry bro! I am just telling you what I think and what I hear from a lot of people… the street preaching stuff just isn’t my thing and honestly I do not think Jesus would be doing it. He (I think) would be IN THE BARS and CLUBS engaging in meaningful conversations with the lost just like He did when he was here on earth. Jesus NEVER forced HIS message on anyone. When Jesus spoke to people outside in large crowds the bible says THEY CAME TO HEAR HIM. He didn’t make them hear Him. I feel yelling at people on a corner is just flat ineffective and rude and wrong.

Now, on the flip side in some countries and maybe even in some areas it may work and even be a good thing… but not down in Westport!

Just my honest feedback. Take it or leave it.

Seriously I wasn’t even going to respond to your email, but I felt God prompt me that you were genuine and really love God and want God to use you to win people to Christ! I do feel you are genuine! Please always stay that way! Many blessings to you and you follow Jesus!

Not a bullhorn guy,

Timmy

Breakthrough

What a wonderful kick off for our series, ARE YOU HAPPY... REALLY? we had Sunday. Dr. Paul Fitzgerald from Breakthrough, http://www.heartconnexion.org/index.html spoke and did a wonderful job helping us understand that:

1) Hiding is a dis-ease.
2) God accepts us just as we are.
3) True healing happens when we're open and honest.

His message was taken from Matthew 9:19-21 (in Context) Matthew 9 (Whole Chapter)
Mark 5:24-26 (in Context) Mark 5 (Whole Chapter), and Luke 8:42-44 (in Context) Luke 8 (Whole Chapter).

There are many great things about our church, but one of my favorites is that at OLF you are accepted, loved and valued for who and what you are. The reality is that there's not a one of us right where God wants us (we are not perfect)... we are all on a journey of "becoming" (maturing, growing)... hopefully each of us are "becoming" all that God wants us to become!

Have a wonderful week!

Beer and the BIBLE @ FUEL

Tuesday, October 23 - 7:00pm @ FUEL

So there you go, I along with Brad Hill are hosting a Beer and the Bible at FUEL which is a very popular cool bar at 119th and Metcalf.

I met with the General Manager there, Rich May, very cool dude and he thought it would be fine, so with that we are on!

The reality is I'd like to think this is an innovative, fresh or even new idea... it's not! Maybe in Kansas it is, but this (bible discussions in bars) have been happening for a few years now actually in cities like New York, L.A., and Chicago. But I will say we may have the biggest crowd show up at a bar to have a spiritual conversation! We are shooting for 100 people!

Jesus said we should...
Mark 16: 15 ... "Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone." - NLT

Spread the word to all your friends!
It's going to be a good time!

B.Y.O.B. - Bring Your Own Beer

I have actually thought of doing a BEER and BIBLE STUDY... I may just do that for our next semester of Life Groups!

Here are two great blogs/articles on BEER! I couldn't have said it better!

www.innovationatchurch.com/ www.marshillchurch.org/content/alcohol

Authenticity

TITLE: Authenticity

MEMORY VERSE: Colossians 3:14 “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”

Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

Matthew 7:20 “…just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.”

2 Simple things in being an Authentic Christian:

1) Be who YOU really are.

2) ALLOW others that same privilege.

TEXT: Colossians 3:12-14 “Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.”

BOTTOM LINE: Live simple!

Dig Deeper Devotional

Monday
[Colossians 3:14]

How will love help you achieve unity in your life?

Tuesday
[1 Corinthians 13:4-8]

How are you doing with love?

Wednesday
[Colossians 3:12-14]

How should you clothe yourself?

Thursday
[Matthew 7:20]

What fruit are you producing?

Friday

[Galatians 5:22-23]

How would these “fruits of the spirit” benefit your life?

What is Church?

I remember as a child going to church... every service, every week virtually the same; 3 songs, a sermon and a prayer (for Catholics it's 3 songs, a sermon, communion, then a prayer)! But once a year we'd cancel the service for a church potluck picnic... and that was out-of-the-box then.

As an adult the potluck thing is always a little scary... you find yourself asking, "I wonder who made this, and did they wash their hands with anti-bacterial soap?" Okay, maybe it's just me, still it's kinda freaky!

Anyway, what is a church service supposed to look like? That is a great question for which I am seeking the answer to.

On Sunday, September 23rd we did an OUT-OF-THE-BOX service called, The Sunday Morning Show with Timmy & Brandon. We totally got the format from David Letterman, Jay Leno, and Saturday Night Live… but of course cleaned it up a bit (rated G) and ran a positive theme through the entire program.

Basically we wanted to communicate that it’s okay to have LAUGH and have FUN in church AND that a church service doesn’t always HAVE to have 3 songs, a sermon, and a prayer. You can have a service where there is a strong message, a variety of music and the prayer took place the week before… and it still is effective and people were touched.

Here is just ONE of many great emails we’ve received about our Sunday Morning Show (service).

Just wanted to let everyone who was involved in last Sunday’s service what a fantastic job you did. I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time, and never in church. You put a lot of thought and hours into that, and it showed. You all did wonderful and I wanted to let you know that.

I still have my safety guards up when it comes to church, and you are definitely making those guards come down little by little. Pretty much everything Pastor Timmy says about god, old church ways etc....are things I myself have thought to myself but never said aloud. Thank you for making me want to come to church. Thanks for all your hard work and honesty.

Thank you,

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Narrow-mindedness

Being OPEN-MINDED doesn’t mean you CHANGE your beliefs, nor does it mean you believe everything that you hear! But you are WILLING and OPEN to hear another’s beliefs while withholding judgment.

QUOTE: “An open-mind can still travel a narrow road” – Darren Tyler

The whole, “you’re wrong, I’m right; and you should repent or you’re going straight to hell.” Just isn’t the approach I see Jesus using in the Bible.

I have a memory of being in elementary school back in the late 70’s (wow, I feel old!) at least I wasn’t in High School in the 70’s. (ha)

Anyway, I remember arguing with a teacher over the whole idea of the existence of Dinosaurs. I remember being told by my pastor that Dinosaurs did not exist because there was no mention of them in the Bible. Ignorant narrowmindedness on my part!

I feel this is one of the areas that we Christians can grow in... being open-minded... being able to LISTEN rather then judge and condemn.

Here is our Dig Deeper Devotional from the message on Narrow-mindedness vs. Open-mindedness.

Monday

[Romans 8:38-39]

What does that mean to you?

Tuesday

[Luke 23:33]

Why would Jesus do that?

Wednesday

[Matthew 9:5-7]

Whose sins can Jesus forgive?

Thursday

[John 14:6-7]

What does that mean, “Jesus is the way”?

Friday

[Matthew 7]

What is this chapter say to you?

*Excerpt from Timmy's message on September 16, 2007

Judge Not - pt1

Obviously this picture is of a person who sucks!

Sunday, Sept. 9th we kicked off our series entitled, Why We Christians Suck Sometimes. The series title is simply to get people's attention! The real series title could be, Characteristics of a Great Christian, or What a Great Christian Looks Like...

4 things we will cover in this series:

1) Judgmentalism versus GRACE

2) Hypocrisy versus AUTHENTICITY

3) Narrow-mindedness versus OPEN-MINDEDNESS

4) Legalism versus Law of LOVE

TITLE: JUDGE NOT

MEMORY VERSE: Luke 6:37 “Do not judge and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”

TEXT: Matthew 7:3-4 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?”

What is wrong with judging people?

1) It’s not our JOB!

Romans 2:16 “…God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ…”

2) It says we’re BETTER then others, when we are not.

Romans 3:23 “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…”

3) It’s a turn OFF.


3 things Christians should be

1) Gracious!

2) Merciful!

3) Loving!

Proverbs 10:12 “…but love covers all sins.”

BOTTOM LINE: Don’t judge other people!

DIG DEEPER DEVOTIONAL

..................................................

[Matthew 7:1-2]


Do you liked to be judged?

…………………….…………………….

[Romans 2:1]


How does being judgmental affect us?

…………………….…………………….

[Matthew 5:44]


Who are we to love?

…………………….…………………….

[Romans 3:23]


Why should we NOT judge?

…………………….…………………….

[Galatians 6:1-3]

How should we treat someone caught in sin?

Under the Overpass

Luke 3:11 “If you have two shirts, give one to the poor. If you have food, share it with those who are hungry.”

Brandon Hollis and I just spent 24 hours in the shoes of a homeless person on September 1st, 2007. What an awesome experience!

To watch the sermon that followed that experience go to: www.olathelifefellowship.org; and click on the link "WATCH MESSAGES" and then click on Sunday, September 2nd.

Most of us are living in excess. I write my sermons with a $150 pen (it was a gift, but still...) we have MORE than enough to live and then some. Even for those of us who are tight financially, we have excess.

This became real evident to me while in the shoes of the homeless. They live on less than $300 a month (most of them)... shoot, that's my phone and electric bill! They carry a back pack with ALL that they own in it. I would take 2 of the largest U-haul trucks to hold all my stuff (not including our vehicles).

Let me just say, there is nothing wrong with being rich and having excess! I believe that is God's blessing! BUT, please make sure that your excess is not all about you HAVING MORE THINGS! And if you have children, please do not raise them that way. Teach them to give and share with others.

We, as Christ-followers, should have a portion of our increase reserved for blessing others. And if you have a home church you are a part of - do your best to give at least a tenth (10%) of all that you earn to the church so they can use the money to help others. Giving to your local church is the most imortant investment you can make!

Challenge: "Live Simply so that others may Simply Live" - Darren Tyler

Jesus was Homeless

Matthew 8:19 - 20 Then a scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go." Jesus said to him, "The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."

I never really thought of it before, but Jesus was homeless. He was a wanderer of sorts. Going from place to place.

So, for those of us who follow Jesus, I suppose we are following a man who lived a homeless life for at least several years. Interesting!

Peace!