Isaiah 59:1 “Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save…”God’s ability to save transcends backgrounds, education, socioeconomics, and life circumstances. Several months ago, we did a cursory survey of The Village Church and found that our members are a mixed group to say the least. Some were High School drop outs, while others hold PhDs. Roughly half our congregation didn’t grow up in church. We were born all over the world and, strangely, few of us are originally from “The South”. Some were raised by caring, supportive parents while others by absent or abusive parents. Christ saved us in our childhoods and in our teens, he grabbed our hearts in college and after our 30th ...
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I have a wicked heart. I can totally relate to the line in Come Thou Fount that says “prone to wander Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love”. I want to be known, liked and exalted which makes the position I am in as pastor and preacher an extremely precarious one. I have learned over the last 20 years of ministry that if my pursuit in life (all areas of my life: marriage, children, ministry or even hobby) is anything other than knowing, experiencing, following and worshipping Jesus, things go wrong and I begin to love the transient things of this world more than Him and His glorious gospel. I am constantly guarding my heart and wrestling with my motives concerning the actions of my life. In the end what I want is Him. To behold Him and be transformed into “one ...
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I am already getting excited for our time in St. Louis. God has always been really faithful to show up and move when we gather. We will be covering several different topics but allow me to let some of my thunder out of the bag.
I love how the gospel creates a holy people—I wish more pastors understood this. People don’t stumble into godliness; they don’t wake up one day knowing Jesus deeply and pursuing the conformity that Jesus commands and the Spirit empowers. However, I am weary of giving people checklists and refuse to lay a weight on people that Jesus didn’t. I think that’s why I have been encouraged by the idea of “Grace Driven Effort” since I first read where ...
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Every summer since the beginning, The Acts 29 Church Planting Network has gathered for a week to pray, worship, consider our overall health, and dream of what God might accomplish in and through our lives and churches. This past June we gathered in Newport Beach with our wives and God was very much among us. We spent the first night in worship and prayer and I was personally challenged and blown away by the thickness of God’s presence in the room with us. The week was different than weeks in the past. Scott Thomas was no longer on staff with A29 but is serving in an A29 church and Mark Driscoll is no longer serving as President but still involved with the Executive Board. We had the opportunity to honor several men and marvel at all God has been accomplishing for HIS name and HIS ...
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by Matt Chandler, President
Be Serious about Evangelism and Conversions.
“I need to tell you about Jesus, when do you want to do that?” I was late into my sixteenth year of life when Jeff asked me that question. He was fearless on the football field and in his faith and we were standing in the locker room after practice. It took me by surprise and yet there was something irresistible about the question to me. I had no idea what the effectual call of God was but I was caught up in it like a moth in a hurricane and couldn’t have escaped if I had wanted to. A little over a year later on June 17th the Holy Spirit poured warm water on my frozen soul and I came to life.
I still haven’t recovered from that moment. I live in an almost constant amazement that He saved ...
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