A Must Read

If you have never read God's Lavish Grace by Terry Virgo, you must. Recently a friend of mine who is reading the book said that it's helped to realize that he doesn't have to be paralyzed by guilt because it's not about following the rules, but a relationship. Terry has a unique way of making this truth clear.

You can request a copy through the office (office@jubileechurch-stl.org) or order it through Amazon.

Feedback from the Community

One of the service projects we engaged in last week was helping the Czech Educational Center. They recently sent us a letter of appreciation. To view it, follow this link.

My Top 4 Messages

One of the real strengths of Jubilee Church is the team of teachers we have. But since you already have access to those, I wanted to give you my personal top 4 messages not given at Jubilee Church (in no particular order):

"Doing Missions When Dying is Gain" by John Piper - If you want to listen to a message that will stir your passion to get out there and do something for God, this is the message. You can listen to this message by following this link.

"The Five Things I Know About People" by John Maxwell - I listen to this about 4 times a year. It's that good. You can purchase this CD by following this link.

"Reigning in Life" by Terry Virgo - If you have never heard Terry preach on grace, you need to listen to this message today! To receive a copy, contact the office at office@jubileechurch-stl.org.

"The Cross" by CJ Mahaney - He is simply the best at communicating this central message of Christianity. To receive a copy, contact the office at office@jubileechurch-stl.org.

What an Unbelievable Church!

I have had the privilege to witness some of the most phenomenial servant hearts and teamwork I had ever seen during this Oneblaze week. So many Jubileeits gave all they had in time and energy as a living sacrifice of worship that was a huge blessing to this community and the Oneblazers that were here. Even more, it was a high stress environment due to the magnitude of the responisibility, but all I ever saw were A+ attitudes and lots of team work.

I am so thrilled and privileged to be a part of such a giving community.

Experience Can Ruin Your Perspective

The other day I asked my 2 year old daughter, "Do you know what daddy does for work?" She thought intently for a moment and then with a 'eureka-type' expression blurted, "You go to the church building!"(she loves the church building because of the toys in the nursery) "That's right" I said. "And what does daddy do there?" She replied, "You play!"

I was devastated. All my daughter thinks I do all day is play. But then it occured to me that in her world, that's what the church building is all about - playing. There's no corporate worship, there is no preaching of the gospel, there is no fellowship, there is no counseling, no administration, no serving, no prayer - there's only playing. Why else would you go to the church building? And then it occured to me that her experience had completely shaped her perspective. And her perspective shaped her view of me and the Church.

I wonder what your perspective is of the Church? How has your experience shaped that perspective? Is Church a once a week gathering or a vibrant 24/7 community? Is it irrelevant to daily life or is it the hope of the world?

I have found that our experience can ruin our perspective and can be very dangerous to how we live in the present and hope for the future. You see, experience is often contradictory to the Word of God. For example, we can receive prayer for our sickness and not get healed and have that experience shape our view on whether or not God heals. Or we can look at the Church and see where it has let people down and has let you down and that experience can ruin your perspective of the Church. The Bible says that the Church is the precious bride of Christ. The Bible says that the Church is God's one and only plan to administer and proclaim the message of salvation. God has high hopes for the Church. How can we disregard the Church knowing God feels that way? Well, we've had some bad experiences. But my prayer is that we don't allow our experience to fog our view of truth. May we learn through the power of the Holy Spirit to allow God's word to shape our perspective more than our experiences.

Prayer

I hope you didn't miss John Lanferman's message two weeks ago on prayer. It was the clearest explanation on how to pray that I've ever heard. For the sake of your own prayer life and our prayer life together please follow this link to download that teaching.

Get Out Into the Rain

It has not rained much year. It has been difficult to keep plants alive and I have noticed where my lawn was turning brown. For those that want to keep things green, last week’s downpours were a welcomed change. My parched plants in the backyard got their much-needed drink and my grass is looking a little greener. I did notice, however, that our plants hanging underneath the front porch were still looking haggard and dried up. You see since these plants were sheltered from the rain, they didn’t get watered and as far as they are concerned, it was as if it didn't rain at all.

This got me thinking about spiritual matters and my own life and your life. Without the continue shower of God’s presence, our lives can shrivel up and lose spiritual vitality. The good news is that God presence is always raining. We just need to get out there and enjoy it and receive the benefit of doing so. However, sometimes we stay underneath shelter while God’s presence is pouring. The result is we begin to lose life like the plants on my front porch. At those times, it seems as though God is not really available. And we grow cynical and hard and callus. What we need is to be reminded that God is raining down his presence all the time. It is just a matter of us getting outside from underneath our shelters to receive from and experience him.