5and2

The thought that capture me today is simply this, Have I given my "5and2"? Can I honestly say that I have given all that I have to this thing we call life. This life that we live is a journey with our Creator. He, Jesus, being the King of kings and Lord of Lords. Have I honestly given all that I have? When you look at the scripture found in the 6th Chapter of The Gospel of John, you see that this little boy had 5 loves of bread and two fish (hence the phrase 5and2). This boy gives all the he has and in return the Lord blesses it and it satisfies the multitude! Scripture goes on to say that all were satisfied and there was even more left over. Does that mean when we give our "5and2" that the Lord blesses it and then those around us are satisfied and there is even some left over! If so, I pray that we all give our "5and2"

Lord hear our prayer, we have nothing but our "5and2" please take it bless it and feed the multitude!!


John 6
Bread and Fish for All
1-4After this, Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee (some call it Tiberias). A huge crowd followed him, attracted by the miracles they had seen him do among the sick. When he got to the other side, he climbed a hill and sat down, surrounded by his disciples. It was nearly time for the Feast of Passover, kept annually by the Jews.

5-6When Jesus looked out and saw that a large crowd had arrived, he said to Philip, "Where can we buy bread to feed these people?" He said this to stretch Philip's faith. He already knew what he was going to do.

7Philip answered, "Two hundred silver pieces wouldn't be enough to buy bread for each person to get a piece."

8-9One of the disciples—it was Andrew, brother to Simon Peter—said, "There's a little boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But that's a drop in the bucket for a crowd like this."

10-11Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." There was a nice carpet of green grass in this place. They sat down, about five thousand of them. Then Jesus took the bread and, having given thanks, gave it to those who were seated. He did the same with the fish. All ate as much as they wanted.

12-13When the people had eaten their fill, he said to his disciples, "Gather the leftovers so nothing is wasted." They went to work and filled twelve large baskets with leftovers from the five barley loaves.

Mentoring

As I read in the scriptures, I see a host of instances that deal with mentoring. This idea of life on life - one on one contact and influence into one's life. 1 Thessalonians 2: 11-12 says, "For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory"

Three things I see here, when we are mentoring and investing into a person's life:
1. you have got to encourage
2. you have got to comfort
3. you have got to urge them

what do people see?

We read in the scriptures in Acts 4:32 "When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note thats these men had been with Jesus"

This is a scripture that excites me yet at the same time haunts me. It is the truth that is reveled when we have been with Jesus. It is the very nature of who we are when we spend time in intimate communion with the Lord. It was said of these men, Peter and John, that they had been with Jesus. Are these the words that are spoken about me when people come into contact with me? Are these the things that are noticed about me in my daily living? Is it being said that I have been with Jesus? Lord teach me to walk in your way. I know your ways are full of loving kindness and truth. My prayer today is that people willo notice that I have been with YOU

mission statement

To live communal, think missional and worship authentically for the name and renown of Jesus Christ.

This is our current mission statement at Gateway Fellowship in Royse City, Texas. The questions that I find myself asking are simply:
- How well are we doing life together?
- Are we really missional in our thinking?
- How real are we?

My hope and desire is that these biblical principles are prevalent and practiced with due diligence in our community of believers. It is the call that the Lord has put on the church. It is the key to a balanced and biblical church. I pray that the community that we serve sees us as just that.

Holes- as given by Kerry Mackey

“identifying holes in our assimilation strategy“.

1st - don’t think like a Christ follower or church goer. You know where you are going and for the most part church goers know what to expect. Think like those who have never been to your church before.

2nd - know what you want people to know, where you want them to go, and how you want them to grow. Another words “NEXT STEPS”. Know before you start trying to communicate it to someone else.

3rd - evaluate EVERY piece of communication - oral, print, broadcast, and digital media. Brand it, message it, and unify it across campuses with a non church goer in mind. Remember, if you have to interpret it for someone it isn’t very good. They need to be able to understand it without your assistance.

4th - make sure your staff knows the plan - everyone must be on the same page and it needs to be transferable across campuses. Cross training is imperative. Multiple systems cause multiple problems so unify.

5th - get plenty of input from plenty of people - think tanks and way finding groups are very important. Gather groups for information; however, don’t gather groups for decisions. Take the information and have a smaller team decide, develop, and deliver.

6th - show up palms up - don’t go into this with predetermined agendas. Agendas don’t grow…they control. We don’t do control. We do ministry

Irresistible Revolution: living as an ordinary radical

I am reading a book called "The Irresistible Revoltion: living as an ordinary radical" written by Shane Claiborne. I have to say that after about the first 3 or 4 chapters, I needed to put the book down in an attempt to really reflect on where I am and how I am living. I love these statements that he makes;

"We can admire and worship Jesus without doing what He did. We can applaud what He preached and stood for without caring about the same things. We can adore His cross without taking up ours" - Shane Claiborne

"Jesus teaches that it is nothing extraordinary to love our friends and relatives, people who think like us. He says that even the pagans and sinners love their friends (Matt 5:46-47) But we are to be extraordinary; we are to love people who don't think and look like us, even our enemies" - Shane Claiborne

"When we look through the eyes of Jesus, we see new things in people. In the murderers, we see our own hatred. In the addicts, we see our own addictions. In the saints, we catch glimpses of our own holiness. We can see our own brokenness, our own violence, our own ability to destroy, and we can see our own sacredness, our own capacity to love and forgive. When we realize that we are both wretched and beautiful, we are freed up to see others the same way" - Shane Claiborne

the question

In our attempt to become more communal and missional in our churches, is it possible to lose sight of the One who gave us the mission and desire for community?