Last night around 9:30pm students from Garnet Valley High School came over to Fellowship to set up all their gear for an event that will be taking place tonight at the loft. (our student auditorium)  Tonight three rock bands from the school will be performing consecutive sets.  These are local kids in our community high school that just love to play music.  The majority of them have no relationship at all with Jesus.  We are expecting to have somewhere around 200 kids here tonight.

As Ryan Geiger and I helped them get set up last night and did sound checks for them they were blown away that a church would be so cool to host this kind of event.   They saw the loft and they were in awe that a church could have a place like this with cool lights, cool stage, smoke machines etc.  They want to play shows here now.

Why are we so pumped about it?  Because we are building bridges with the community.  200 kids that have never been to Fellowship will be here tonight.  They will feel accepted.  They will be surprised that we are not offended by their hair, their music, their lifestyles, etc…we will embrace them and engage in their culture.  And although I may not care for all their music, by us doing this we are embracing them and being Jesus to them.  We are shining our light to our community.

I am so proud of Fellowship and Ryan Geiger for hosting this event!  That is redefining church!

This morning the Lord has really given me an awareness of our need for prayer as well as our need to know Him.  Not just prayer as individuals, but prayers of protection from the enemy for each other.  We are under attack!  Our vision is strong!  Our hearts are pointed in the right direction, and Satan is not happy.  Prepare yourselves for an all out attack by putting on the armor of God.

¹⁰Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. ¹⁸And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. — Gal. 6:10-18

I write this because I know that I need to be better at daily putting all of this on.  We will not stand against this season unless we do.  The enemy is actively seeking to gain ground and ownership of our minds.  It must be combated with the only thing that can fight against it.  The Word of God.   We must personally fill up on the Word that we may stand our ground.  Pray for each other!   I am committing to take time out of every day to pray for  you and the battles that you are in.  Pray for me also.

One more passage that God really spoke to me through this morning.  It is time for self examination for myself and for the rest of us.

¹ “Come, let us return to the Lord.
He has torn us to pieces;
now he will heal us.
He has injured us;
now he will bandage our wounds.
² In just a short time he will restore us,
so that we may live in his presence.
³ Oh, that we might know the Lord!
Let us press on to know him.
He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn
or the coming of rains in early spring.”

Press on my friends to know Him!

It has been a while since I have blogged. It has been a tough season that we have been going through at Fellowship no doubt about it. But through this time God has been sharpening  me and the rest of the staff. God has brought about a sharpening of the vision of Fellowship Church. God has put a “Holy Discontent” in my heart. Usually the word discontent is considered to be a negative or bad thing. In this case it is a great thing.

As I was driving in to the office yesterday morning I was conversing with God. I feel such a burden for our community, for our church, for all the souls around us. I feel convicted that I am not doing enough to tell others the good news. Jesus doesn’t want me or you to be more religious. Matter of fact, Jesus hates religion!! Don’t believe me, read through Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John in the New Testament. Jesus was never about religion. He has never been about rules. He was never about the insiders. Jesus has always been and will always be about relationships. And because Jesus is about relationships, WE are about relationships. You will hear it a lot from the leaders at Fellowship Church. We are not about RELIGION, we are about RELATIONSHIPS!!!

That’s what my conversation with God really was about. I need to do a better job building relationships with those around me and in my neighborhood. They need Jesus! But I have to reach out in relationship with them before they will reach out in relationship with HIM!

Can I be brutally honest with you? Fellowship Church will never reach it’s potential until each one of us comes together in unity of the Vision and we truly begin to build relationships with others that need Jesus. Remember, if we don’t reach out to them in relationship, they will never reach up to Him for a relationship.

I truly believe with all my heart that Greater things are yet to come. I believe that we can reach our community. I believe that we can build bridges with those around us. But it all starts with each of us stepping out of our comfort zone and reaching out.

Once we begin to build those relationships I believe we will see the “Greater Things” begin to unfold.

2 Samuel 12:16 says
“Now then, stand still and see this great thing the LORD is about to do before your eyes!