Questions- Part One

Hey there! 

Yup, I'm alive. It's been awhile since you saw a new post here on Convergence, and I'm sorry for that. These days I'm working with a fantastic group of peeps, meeting in homes and preparing for the launch of Convergence Christian Church, or "C3" if you don't want to write it all out.

Oh, and I'm asking lots of questions.

It seems to me that ministry in general, and church planting in particular, fills my world with a constant flow of questions. Really, there's way too many for me to even give an example that would be representative. Anyway, I was just out perusing the blog world and I came across a fantastic post by blogger extraordinaire, Anne Jackson. What I liked so much about it, was that it was a question. 

Since she writes that she stole it from her "nashville-book-publisher-ceo-friend Mr. Michael Hyatt," I'm hoping she doesn't mind if I steal it from her.

Here's the question:

What would you do if you were brave?

Don't wait for further explanation; it's not coming. What is your gut answer to this question?

Jeff

Ike

Although we only have clouds right now, it looks like our area is going to get hammered in a few hours from hurricane Ike.

If you are a part of the C3 community locally and you feel that your home may not be safe, please contact me as soon as possible, and we will find a safer place for you to ride out this storm.

For our prayer partners outside of Houston- our area needs your intercession. It's likely that we will lose power/phone for a while, so don't be alarmed if you can't reach us. I'll update you on the situation as soon as I am able. This is a huge storm, but God is bigger.

In Him We Live,

Jeff

(This entry is duplicated on www.prayc3.blogspot.com)

More

I'm a guitar player, and a worship leader. And I have really appreciated the way that Christ followers have renewed an emphasis on expressions of worship over the last 2 1/2 decades.

But I wonder if you've noticed something. Maybe it's just me- where I'm at personally, but I think it's more than that. And as a somebody who loves worship, it bugs me.

We talk so much about "worship" today, but often that talk ends up centering around music. Like I said, music is a huge part of my life, and I recognize it to be a big part worship. But worship goes much further. Paul described it this way:

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship."

-Romans 12:1

If we accept that Paul knew what he was talking about, then surely worship includes, but must be more than, what we can experience in a public gathering for an hour or so once a week. It also must therefore be more than any one element that goes into it- like music.

Worship is also about our daily interaction with God. It's a constant conversation.

It's a lifestyle.

I wanted to talk a little about worship through prayer this week, and as I was updating the C3 Prayer Partners blog, I got a little carried away. So, I think I'll point you over there for the rest of this entry, because it just made sense to write about prayer on the prayer blog (I know, "Thank you, captain obvious.").

Hope you join me for the rest of my rant! www.prayc3.blogspot.com

In Him We Live,

Jeff

Internet Drought

Sorry for my absence over the last few weeks. My family and I just moved from Findlay, Ohio back to Houston, Texas. We had the internet connection turned off the last week of June, and since then I've been relying on the kindness of my friends to sneak some time when visiting them, or using the public wi-fi access at Starbucks (which is what I'm doing right now).

I am grateful for the invitation from our friends to log on at their home. But I don't quite feel right blogging while I'm over at someones house for a visit- it just seems rude. Public wi-fi is an awesome alternative as long as you have enough session time to write. I've been bumped off already while trying to check email and write this post.

However, tomorrow we are scheduled to have our phone hooked up and with it will come a new high-speed internet connection.

I have never been so excited about a phone line.

So, look for a new post soon, and thanks for continuing to check in with me!

Uh-oh, I'd better sign off- I'm just about out of session time.

In Him We Live,

Jeff