The Armadillo Cafe' Fundraiser!

Sunday November 16, 2008 @ 1:30 pm at the Armadillo Cafe'
located at Living to go Church Rivergate Parkway Goodlettsville, Tn
Cowboy Chili Supper with spicy cornbread, sweet tea and hot off the fire cobbler!
Cost: $7.00 adults
$5.00 kids 5-11
free for kids under 5!
Kid's meal includes Prairie Dogs and Sodbuster Taters. (hot dogs)
Come get a taste of the trail and assist in the Lift Nashville Fall fundraiser.
Must purchase tickets by November 13. All proceeds will go toward the purchase of equipment for the church plant. For additional info, call Pastor Jory at 615-859-4408. Thank you for your support!

Espresso Christians in a decaf world

A Pastor friend of mine did a series on coffee a few months back that delved into the more spiritual aspects of this godly nectar. For the sake of time, I will not get in to many of his finer points, but I do want to ask us a question. It is this... How have we lost our ability to wake up the world? Social change has continually forced us to fit in to their mold, and has told us to "water down" our message and approach to living as a Christian. Many believers have become "decaf" christians and have no affect on the people around them. We are hot, brewed and smell good, but we have no bite. Espresso is a lethal dose of coffee and caffene that has intense flavor in a small package. Drink one, and you are good to go.
My prayer is that the church will "wake up" and smell the coffee! Be espresso! We must once again be salt and light to a dark world. Our approach should be bold. We should live life in such a way that everyone knows what we are about. Until then, we might as well call ourselves "decaf christians". That's all for now.... Got to go get more coffee. Jory

Bold Initiative

I went to the park today to have a picnic with two of my kids. It was a great day weather wise, and a wonderful chance to unwind. As they played, I decided to go out on to the bridge that connects to an island in the lake and feed the ducks. As soon as I approached, ducks and geese had a feeling that I had something they wanted and started swimming like mad toward the bridge. As they scurried about fighting for the morsels I threw over the side, a funny thing happened. A lone duck took initiative and walked up on the bridge right beside me. It wanted more than just to fight for little morsels and act like the other ducks. It wanted a big blessing. It did not wait for the bread to land on the water, it went directly to the source of the bread. You can believe that he (or she) got all it needed!
That is how we should approach God.
There was a story from the bible about a blind man making a huge scene trying to get Jesus' attention. He screamed so loud that people were embarassed, and wanted him to keep quiet. But being blind he was unable to compete with the crowd. His initiative and boldness got Jesus' attention. Because of that, he left healed! We do not have to yell or scream today to get God's attention. He wants to bless us. The perscription for getting His attention is that we seek Him first, and humble ourselves. When we take the initiative and praise our way in to God's heart and seek him with our whole heart, He will supply abundantly. It took a duck to remind me of how a humble approach without trying to please or act like all of the other ducks, gets things done. Jory

Now That's Dedication!

This past week was the college game of the season. Here in Nashville, it was 4-0 Vanderbilt(yea!) fighting for a historical victory over Auburn. If they won this one, it would be a 5-0 record that Vandy had not seen since the fourties (from my understanding of it.) I could not believe my eyes as I drove downtown around noon and saw all of the dedicated fans from both universities lining up to get in at five that evening. Black and gold outfits and bright orange were everywhere. I saw grown men who would probably not be caught dead in say a pink button down with a tie wear orange jumpsuits, with faces painted and carrying 9 foot tall AU flags. They were dedicated! I will not even get in to how much they spent on tickets or their driving time!
Imagine with me if you will this type of dedication, enthusiasm, and loyalty being channeled in to your spiritual lives. What would you see happen in your life, how deeper could you go and how would God be able to use you? Be careful though, because the same people that would have no problem with you having your face painted up like a tiger in public might just call you a religious freak or zealot if you have that kind of passion for the God who created you! They will have to get over it though, because I am going to passionatly pursue God with all I have. I hope that you do the same. It's like the old joke about chicken and pig sitting around in the barnyard, and chicken says to pig.. " you know, the farmer has been really good for us, lets make him a bacon and egg breakfast." Pig says to chicken.. "that's easy for you to say, all you have to do is contribute, I have to be committed." My parting questions to you are these....Where would you be in Christ if you started showing this kind of enthusiasm or passion in your life for God? Are the people around you just waiting for someone like you to ramp it up and really live deeper for God before they themselves change? Just something to ponder. Jory
p.s. Vandy won!