Goofy, fun, scary…a tad bit true…getabsorbed…n

http://www.ministrybestpractices.com/

You know when my wife and I moved here ten years ago, we were deathly afraid of downtown Indianapolis. We purposely lived on the outskirts simply so we wouldn’t have to navigate the city that loomed before us like a concrete giant. Its busy streets, peculiar culture and well just bigness scared us into retreat.

Far too many churches live in this state of continuous retreat. Fear of the unknown and existing comfort levels push us further into ourselves and further from the people that live around us. This should not be!

What thoughts come to your mind when you think about the city or town that you live in? Did you know that God has called the church the pillar and foundation of truth for YOUR local community? If you don’t currently have God’s heart for your city or town, here are a couple of things that might get your heart rate up:

Pray—-EVERYTHING rises and falls on this! Too many of our hearts bleed simply for us. The bible says that through the blessing of the upright, a city is exalted. God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. When you pray, you are warring in the heavenlies, asking light to disperse the darkness and cultivating the spiritual soil of your city. This is great preparation for the seeds of truth

Change your perspective—Jesus left His throne in heaven and experienced the greatest perspective shifts so he could feel what we feel. When’s the last time you walked the streets of your town? Find out what makes your city tick. Remember you’ve already tilled up the soil with prayer; now your eyes are ready to be open to the culture of your city. What art, what music and what message is going to effectively reach the people you are within earshot of. Getting a change of perspective will go a long way to getting God’s heart for your city.

Partner with those in your city—Find out the people who are already doing a good work and join them. Begin associating yourselves with churches that preach Christ have a heart to reach the lost. Find other organizations that may be doing humanitarian work and offer to volunteer. Government isn’t going away anytime soon. Find the plan that your city officials have and find ways that the church can come along and support. Government provides the structural piece but can’t provide the spiritual component. That’s where the church plays a huge role

My prayer is that you’ll understand God’s heart for your city. Through prayer change in perspective and partnering with your city you’ll begin to realize the promises that God has for the place you live…getabsorbed…n

Uprightness and right standing with God (moral and spiritual rectitude in every area and relation) elevate a nation… (Proverbs 14:34)

City Community Church

“the heartbeat of God in the heart of the City”

(COMING MARCH 1st DOWNTOWN INDIANAPOLIS)

Ok…there are moments when I feel so ridiculously blessed by God.  Today is one of those moments.

No, i’m not in any danger.  Sorta:)  Without boring you with the details, it’s been a rather wild and wooly 08 and my gracious wife suggested her hubby get away for a few days.  She’s amazing.  I love you angel!  Sooo…some incredible people gave me the privilege of chilling out in their mountain chalet for the past few days.

Highlands, NC is situated just south of the Smoky Mountains and in November is simply breathtaking.  I traversed Whiteside Mountain on my first day here knowing full good and well I wanted a strategic place to worship my King before the sun rose over the mountains.  After getting the lay of the land, I got up around 430 am and begain the trek up with flashlight, Bible, journey (nathan for journal) plenty of clothes and ipod ready to roll.  I praised God loudly on the way up, partly because I’m deeply in love with Him, partly because I figured it would scare any bears away:)  I’m nuts but I ain’t stupid…

There’s something about a sunrise.  I know a ton of people into sunsets but they honestly depress me.  Ok it’s not that bad but things like “don’t let the sun go down on your anger” let me know that days can be filled with disappointments and misunderstandings.  When the sun drops below the horizon it’s like the day is over with no chance of going back.  (wow…depressing even to type…yes I know it could be viewed totally different…like “the day has wrapped up and come to a gentle close.”  hey. it’s my blog alright?:)

A sunrise, on the other hand, signals a fresh start, a new beginning, a chance to let dreams of what might be arise in your heart.  The rays of the sun race across the planet, illuminating everything in its path, warming all with it’s heat.  With shooting stars before sunrise (hello!  bonus!) and a glorious display of God’s majesty with the awaking of dawn, my heart is filled with awe.  I snapped a shot with my Centro.  More to come!  …getabsorbed…n

A city is exalted…a nation is elevated…a world is changed.

That city could be Indianapolis, that nation could be the United States of America, that world could be waiting…

By the blessing of the influence of the upright and God’s favor [because of them] the city is exalted…(Proverbs 11:11)

Uprightness and right standing with God (moral and spiritual rectitude in every area and relation) elevate a nation… (Proverbs 14:34)

“I see…

A large, growing, Bible-based church that interacts with Indianapolis and influences the global Body of Christ. A church that rekindles the imagination of a city through the hope of Jesus Christ.  A church brimming with such creativity that it inspires the city to draw close to God.  A church that encourages people to create space for the pursuit of life-giving relationships.  A church so passionate about the world that its natural outflow is to make a difference in everything that it touches.  A church that represents the heartbeat of God in the heart of the city.

I see City Community Church.”

wanna know more?…getabsorbed…n

(Every once in a while I get the opportunity to preview books through Multnomah, a division of Random House.  Ton a fun and your chance to receive a free book. Read on!)

Here’s an idea just in time for the holidays.

Normally I’m not a big fan of these types of journaling books.  As an avid “journey” writer (Nathan for journal) I feel as though my thoughts and experiences are well chronicled on the lined pages of my Foray notebook.  Another book that asks me to participate in it by writing out detailed explanations honestly struck me as a chore, until…

I realized that was just ONE way of viewing Me, Myself and I AM from Matthew Peters and Elisa Stanford.  If it’s just for Me and Myself I’m not a big fan.  But if I see it as a tool for learning about OTHERS, giving them a chance to explore the I AM and allowing them a peek into my reality, it’s a whole different ballgame.  I can see this as great discussion for families around Thanksgiving or as a fun way to entertain guests around the Christmas season.

A new experience of God comes one question at a time in this fun and provocative journal. Made up entirely of insightful, profound, and occasionally ridiculous questions, Me, Myself, and I AM invites you to open to any page, open yourself to God, and be the author of your own story.

Questions range from spiritually intriguing—

You overhear God talking about you. What do hear him saying?

to thought-provoking—

You are on a long car trip with a close friend who is not a Christian and the conversation turns to faith. What is your biggest fear about what your friend will ask or say?

to challenging—

Do you believe that all of Jesus’s followers have a responsibility to tell others about him?

to just plain fun—

If your life before you became a Christian were a movie, its title would be:

Animal House

As Good as It Gets

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

It’s a Wonderful Life

Me, Myself, and I AM will entertain, inspire, and get you thinking about your spiritual life from brand new angles. Whether you use Me, Myself, and I AM as a reflective tool, a way to start conversations with friends and family, or as a spiritual time capsule to look back on years later, their own words will create a powerful journey of self-discovery.

(I’ve got a free one for the first person who emails me at nathan@lakeviewworship.com Good luck!) getabsorbed…n

www.Amazon.com

www.ChristianBook.com

www.FamilyChristian.com

OK…sooooo many more details to come! but I wanted to get this posted so here tis:)

Erik Cooper and I are leading a team that will be launching a brand new church in DOWNTOWN INDIANAPOLIS on March 1, 2009. For the last month we have been researching locations…everything from theaters, to hotel convention centers, to warehouses. We’d like to get the word out to all our friends to help in widening the knowledge-base of our search. If you know of any venues or have any connections that might help us secure an impacting location in the cultural center of downtown Indy, please let us know.

Specifically, we’re looking for the following:
(Spoon pic:)
1. 500 seats (plus or minus)

2. “Plug and Play” - equipped with seats, stage (potentially even video/lighting/etc.)

3. Downtown Indianapolis:
NORTH Boundary: I-65
SOUTH Boundary: I-70
EAST Boundary: I-65/70
WEST Boundary: White River
Interactive Map: http://www.indydt.com/interactivemap.cfm

4. Rent Preferred (we’re not looking to purchase or own a facility at this time)

game on…it’s starting to get interesting…we’re gettinabsorbed…n

This is her.  This is the one.

I’ve known this amazing lady for 18 years and each day she encourages me even more.  She invites me to dream, dares me to risk and at present is yelling her head off at our children about dirty dishes.  Man I love my life!

Tomorrow she celebrates a birthday; a moment in time that we pause to celebrate the fact that when God laid out the timelines of the universe, He decided to make it brighter, more interesting and more beautiful by including my wife.  I’m forever grateful.  The world has never been the same since that day in 1971that she danced into the world.  Happy Birthday Angel….love me

Profound reminder to guard against becoming the “they” of tomorrow.
The Anointing by R.T. Kendall : “The greatest opposition to what God is doing today comes from those who were on the cutting edge of what God was doing yesterday…getabsorbed…n

I only wish I had gotten this sooner!

It’s not that I agree with every viewpoint or even share some of the conclusions found inside; it’s that I like having a very accessible and systematic way of walking through what is often murky waters…

Politics.

There are those of you out there that have immediately stopped reading this simply because it IS about politics and you’re so sick of the bombardment that you just can’t take anymore.  There are also those of you who are so adamant about what you believe (often without knowing why) that it takes more than a book addressing issues from a Christian perspective to stir you to think.

Then there are those of you who are curious.  I believe the church is the hope of the world.  Might be good to actually know what’s happening in the world we are called to serve:) Ahhh…that’s where How Would Jesus Vote? makes the biggest impact.  In our data saturated culture, it’s tough to sift through what’s relevant and what’s garbage.  How Would Jesus Vote? can help.

The 2008 election is shaping up to be one of the most important political contests in American history. In fact, Dr. D. James Kennedy believes it will be a watershed moment that could impact our very survival as a nation under God.

Values voters-people whose political views and votes are based on their faith in God-are being targeted as never before. As the campaign season moves forward, the significant players will debate terrorism, radical Islam, nuclear threats, global warming, social issues, gay marriage, immigration, education, health care, and many other essential issues that can create sharp ideological divisions.

Into this overwhelmingly complex political situation, Dr. Kennedy and Jerry Newcombe bring a clear, compelling, and nonpartisan exploration of what God’s Word has to say on these critical matters. How Would Jesus Vote? isn’t intended to tell readers which candidates to support; rather it offers a Christ-centered understanding of the world to help readers draw their own political conclusions.

Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1400074061

If you’ve read this far, I want to ship this book to you!  I have ONE How Would Jesus Vote? hardback book for the first person who emails me nathan@lakeviewworship.com…getabsorbed…n

Jerry Newcombe is senior producer for Coral Ridge Ministries television and has produced or coproduced more than fifty documentaries. The host of two weekly radio shows, he has also been a guest on numerous television and radio talk shows. He is the author or coauthor of more than fifteen books.

Dr. D. James Kennedy is one of the most trusted and recognized Christian leaders of our time. The senior minister of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, he is the featured preacher on television’s “The Coral Ridge Hour” and radio’s “Truths That Transform”, syndicated on over one thousand stations throughout the U.S. The founder and president of Evangelism Explosion International and chancellor of Knox Theological Seminary, he is the author of more than sixty books, including the bestselling What If Jesus Had Never Been Born?

It’s so easy to get caught in the rhythms of normalcy that pull me toward the safe, the comfortable, the known.  I just can’t help but think that a creative God, One that designed the cosmos, has so much more up His proverbial sleeve than what you and I call normal.

Seriously.  If YOU were the Creator of all things known and unknown, had limitless power and capability and actually stood outside of the boundries of time and space and were GOOD…wouldn’t YOU totally mix it up?  I mean get creatively crazy with how this whole thing called humanity plays out?  Sure we’re not pawns without free will but gheez….if there was a guy over here in Nevada and a guy over there in India and they both needed each other to accomplish YOUR intended purpose and they were both asking YOU (remember YOU’RE diety in this game…and this game only:)for help, wouldn’t ya answer them?

Sometimes I feel like God has this grand adventure for me to live but I’ve settled for something else.  In the words of C.S. Lewis..”We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

Adventure awaits…getabsorbed…n