Categories
God Movies

Church At The Box Office

I’m gonna go see a movie tomorrow afternoon after work as a cool way to kick-off my 111-hour holiday weekend, and I’m gonna go to our very own Flagship Cinemas 14 here in Homestead to do so.

During the final 9 months of 2006 (the year that the movie theatre opened for business) I saw 13 movies there. 

Exactly one year ago this weekend the movie theatre became the place where I go to church – or rather – the place where I meet my church every Sunday morning. I don’t actually ‘go to church’. I am the church. We are the church. A church is not a building with a slanted roof and a cross high atop it. A church is a living breathing spiritual body. We simply meet corporately in a public gathering place, and that place just happens to be our local movie theatre.

Since I’ve been meeting my church there I’ve only actually seen 4 movies there over the course of the entire year that was 2007. So that’s 13 movies in 9 months before I met my church there, and only 4 movies in 12 months since then.

Now that I’ve finally figured it all out and realized that the movie theatre itself is not the church that I go to but simply a cool meeting place for the church that I am a member of I feel that I can comfortably go to the movies again to be entertained, and to also support the movie theatre itself (which appears to be struggling for survival).

There’s a bunch of cool movies out there that I want to see, and that’s what I will start to do again on a more frequent basis. I’ll be there tomorrow afternoon, and then I’ll be there again bright and early this Sunday morning to celebrate my one-year-anniversary with my church. As our Pastor states – we do not go to church or leave from the church because we need to be the church – no matter where we meet and where we go.

Categories
God

The Fortune Cookie Message Of The Week Club

SPECIAL TWO-FOR-ONE SALE !

1.  Keep your face to the sunshine and you will never see the shadows.
This may be the wisest fortune cookie message I have ever received. This is a ‘Chasing Daylight‘ fortune here. Look forward. Proceed. Move forward. Don’t look back at the darkness. Look ahead at the light. Seize every moment in time.

2.  Avoid senseless contradictions with others.
This seems like it’s straight out of the Scriptures. Don’t put on a show. Don’t be one person on Sunday morning at church and then a totally different person at all other times. If you are following God on this fantastic journey then you should be doing so 24-7. You are the hands and feet of Him on His Earth. You are a Disciple of Him. Be the Disciple that you are all of the time. Everyone is watching, but most importantly He is always watching.

Categories
God

Life Pointe Church Sunday Morning Tossed Salad

1.  Anne J. was back in business on this glorious Sunday morning. All of us on the Setup and Hospitality crew welcomed her back with open arms, and she proceeded to slide right back into her urgent role as our leader. We love to serve each other and the Lord with Anne in charge !

2.  It was also great to welcome back Mark and Terry after an extended hiatus. Mark brought about 25 servings of Cuban Colada and his muscular strength, and Terry brought her mad Information & Sales Desk skills and her smiles.

3.  Pastor Paul‘s laptop was back in action at the Information Booth, and ‘the small screen’ was rockin’ hard – so hard that it was too loud for Anne to concentrate. After arguing discussing with Anne that it was not loud enough he tried to show me how to turn the volume down slightly. I reminded Paul that I know how to use a computer, but that I was scared to touch his for fear that it would explode. He told me that it was fine for me to touch it. Paul turned down the volume a little bit, and then after he walked away I turned it down a little bit more. That made Anne happy.

4.  The main lobby was as packed as I’ve ever seen it in-between the two services this morning. I think that Flagship Cinemas would dream of a crowd like ours during the week when they are in the business of selling movie tickets, popcorn, candy, and sodas.

5.  The 10:30 AM service was as jam-packed-full as it could possibly be. I think that we may have exceeded the 300 mark again in attendees for the two services combined. The state of our church is strong and healthy ! 

6.  Pastor Travis did his teaching on Fear, Risk, Love, Loving God, and Loving Man. How does it all fit together ?  The biggest risk that we face is the fear of loving people. Love requires risk, and we are called to the Greatest Commandment – to love God and our neighbor.

Mark 12:28-31 (New Living Translation – 2ND Edition):

28  One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the debate. He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
29  Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The LORD our God is the one and only LORD.
30  And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’
31  The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”

Categories
God Life Music

My Fantastic Journey: It’s In The Lyrics

When I first heard the following song on the radio I thought that it was really cool sounding. It’s got a retro-1980s Duran Duran feel to it. When I started to really listen to it and study the lyrics I got the chills. It’s further proof that God is guiding me on this fantastic journey and keeping me intrigued via the music of my Life:

“Fighting For Your Heart (Let It Go)” – After Edmund

Someone tore apart your heart.
Someone let you down – down on the ground.
Someone ripped away your faith.
Someone let you bleed – forgot what you need.

It’s not easy movin’ on.
No it’s not easy movin’ on.

Oh. Let it go. Say goodbye. Call this an emergency.
That’s fighting for your heart to be free.
Don’t waste another tear of sorrow here on yesterday’s emergency.
That’s fighting for your heart to be free.

Someone held you from your dreams.
Someone pushed you out – out of the crowd.
Somebody stole away your hope.
Someone ran off with your heart – you’re alone in the dark.

It’s not easy movin’ on.
No it’s not easy movin’ on.

Oh. Let it go. Say goodbye. Call this an emergency.
That’s fighting for your heart to be free.
Don’t waste another tear of sorrow here on yesterday’s emergency.
That’s fighting for your heart to be free.

{REPEAT / FADE}

(You can hear the entire song on their MySpace site.)