This past Sunday morning my family and I headed out of our condo in St. Augustine and made our way to Ocala to worship at The Church of Hope (www.hopeinocala.com). The church was launched only months ago with a core group of Christ followers who were hungry for more than “church as usual.”  Led by by mentor, Mark Cummins, this body of Christ followers has already established healthy spiritual DNA, rooted in dymanic worship, powerful and practical teaching and preaching of God’s word, healthy and authentic community, and a desire to engage their community and world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was refreshing to worship with them and Sunday and I was even more exicted to see my friend Mark… “being Mark.” As many who read my blog know, God has had him on a unique and challenging growth path since leaving Zion in 2005.  It is true that a leader is known by his fruit…but fruit takes time and patience! Now, with a church family that has a genuine desire to go forward and grow in their own faith and influence in the world, healthy spiritual fruit will be evident! For those who are part The Church of Hope…hang on tight and watch God work in you and through you for generations to come!

This summer we are encouraging all of our LIFE GROUPS to live On Mission in our community.  Here are some of the ways we are challenging our Body to live out the mission of God to “GO!”: 

Summer Fest 2009, June 29th – July 1st at ZPV. Help ZPV host their first Summer Fest. Contact: Pastor Joe, joe@zionlife.com

 4th of July Fireworks, Friday, July 3rd at the Clarion University stadium. Hand out poppers and invitations to the Summer Block Party. Contact: Michael Cooper, m_the_red@yahoo.com

 Jesus Pantry, Mondays, July 13th and August 10th at ZCC. Distribute boxes of food to needy families in our community. Contact: Betsy Cooper, jbcoop111@yahoo.com

 PA Cares for Kids Triathlon, Saturday, July 18th in Jefferson county. ZJC is a co-sponsor of the event. On-mission opportunities include pre-race registration, staffing aid stations, handing out drinks along the course, shuttling walkers, set-up and teardown. The race begins at 9:30 a.m., volunteers are needed from 8:00 until 3:00. Work all or part of the day. Contact: Sharon Doolittle, doolittle12@alltel.net

 Block Party Canvassing, Sunday, July 26th in Clarion. Go door to door in Clarion and surrounding communities inviting families to the Summer Block Party. Packs of invitations are available at Guest Services. Contact: Michael Cooper, m_the_red@yahoo.com

 Summer Block Party 2009, Saturday, August 1st, 11:00 to 3:00 at Clarion Memorial Park. On-mission opportunities include serving lunch, staffing the bounce house and climbing wall, set-up and teardown. Contact: Pastor Brandon, brandon@zionlife.com

 Clarion University Freshmen Move-in Day, Friday, August 28th at Clarion University. Assist incoming students move into their dorm rooms. Contact: david.hartley9568@gmail.com

One book I have planned to read while I am on vacation is Tullian Tchividjian’s book Unfashionable: Making a Difference in the World by Being Different. The book was just released. Check out a few of these reviews:

D. A. Carson: “It is not easy to stand and thwart the tides of the culture and challenge them without sounding either terribly prissy or hopelessly out of date. How can a thoughtful Christian be genuinely contemporary while never succumbing to the merely faddish and temporary? The challenges are enormous – but they are also tied to the most elementary tenets of Christian faithfulness. Tullian Tchividjian is a helpful and engaging guide through these troubled waters.”

J. I. Packer: “Plainly, powerfully, and pastorally, Unfashionable gives a birds-eye view of the real Christian life – Christ-centered, church-committed, kingdom-contoured, future-focused, and counter-cultural all the way. It makes for a truly nutritious read.”

Kevin DeYoung: “As Christians continue to chase relevance like a dog chasing its own tail, the world around us is quietly looking for something more–something deeper, something less self-aware, something unfashionable. With clear, crisp writing, Unfashionable challenges us to stop imitating the world and start working to renew her. Tullian makes it once again ‘cool’ to be uncool.”

Here’s an excerpt from the book:

“When Christians try to eliminate the counter-cultural, unfashionable features of the biblical message because those features are unpopular in the wider culture–for example, when we reduce sin to a lack of self-esteem, deny the exclusivity of Christ, or downplay the reality of knowable absolute truth–we’ve moved from contextualization to compromise. When we accommodate our culture by jettisoning key themes of the gospel, such as suffering, humility, persecution, service, and self-sacrifice, we actually do our world more harm than good. For love’s sake, compromise is to be avoided at all costs.”

In addition,  Ed Stetzer interviewed Tullian on his blog. CLICK HERE to read it. The thing I appreciate is the fact that it is being endorsed by respected men from a variety of viewpoints. The issue of  “contextualizing without compromise” is a hot button topic today, and one that I am personally very passionate about.

Mark Driscoll answers this question at the ADVANCE 09 conference. Visit www.theresurgence.com/advance_conference_2009  for the other messages from the conference. I recommend Chandler on “Preaching the Gospel to the De-Churched”, Stetzer on “Keys to Understanding the Church and Kingdom and Driscoll on “Ministry Idolatry”…They are the ones I have heard

Our Student Missions Team arrived safely in Jamaica. Follow their week by visiting www.wonbyonetojamaica.com.

This message from Mark Driscoll has gotten a lot of buzz over the last couple of months. I took time watch it in it’s entirety today. It is phenomenal! Every man would benefit from watching and learning from this message and every woman would be blessed if their man took time to watch it! REQUEST: Watch the entire message…it’s about 70 minutes long! WARNING: It will bring conviction that prayerfully will lead to repentance in your life! EVERY MAN NEEDS THIS MESSAGE!
 

What we believe matters. It governs our attitudes and guides our actions. What we believe has consequences. Unfortunately we live in a culture that teaches us that whatever you believe is just fine. You have your belief…I have my belief, and as long as what I believe doesn’t interfere with what you believe, we can live together in “perfect harmony”… NOT! Not all beliefs are valid.

Not all beliefs hold up to the scrutiny of logic and reason. Not all beliefs carry the same amount of weight.

As Christ followers, what we believe matters. It governs our attitudes and guides our actions…Well, at least it should. But what is our belief system rooted in? Our own thoughts and opinions? Our personal experiences and convictions? Today, many Christ followers are not very “grounded” in the fundamentals of what they believe, or what they should believe. Because of that, they are easily tossed about by every wind of “supposed” truth that comes their way. (Ephesians 4:14)

What would happen if we really knew what we believed and, more importantly, why we believe it? Would it affect our daily lives? This summer we are going to spend 8 weeks looking at the very core of what we as followers of Jesus Christ should believe. We are going to examine core theological truths and learn how they should govern our attitudes and guide our actions in our day to day lives.

We can believe that gravity doesn’t exist…but that doesn’t change the reality that it does. We can try and ignore and/or defy the laws of gravity but there are always consequences to that choice. (We have all seen youtube videos to prove it ) Likewise, as believers we can discount theology and ignore it’s implications in our life, but when we do…well, there are consequences. Gravity keeps us grounded…it keeps us from floating aimlessly (literally) through life. In the same way, what we believe keeps us grounded and allows us to go through life with confidence and conviction.

As a church Body, we are defined by what we believe, not by the name that hangs on the sign on our marquee. Zion, we are going to spend this summer reminding ourselves of what we believe and why it matters. As we do, I believe it will have a profound impact on how we live.

When I was in Africa in 2007 I met and became friends with Raymond Gobum, a Nigerian national leader. (CLICK HERE for my tribute to Raymond while I was still in Africa). Since that time I have tried to get Raymond to America to speak to our church family and discuss a possible partnership with him to make a difference in his nation. After some failed attempts to get a visa in the past, Raymond called me today to tell me that he was granted a visa to come to America this August. I am excited about reuniting with him and having him share his heart for his nation with our church family.

Here is a great blog post from one of our pastors… CHECK IT OUT