Saints QB Drew Brees talks about Jesus

Great testimony. Impressive guy. I’m a fan.

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A Rant.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the state of The Gathering and where we’re going and how we will get there.  I am incredibly encouraged by the spirit of the people who currently make up this Body and the excitement that is present about our future.

There is a focus on the Mission here that I have not seen over the past three years, a desire to seek God’s will and plan for us, and a hope to make a positive impact on our immediate community.  There is a unity like never before and, as a result, really much to celebrate about what God is doing.  We have developed some strong, healthy relationships/partnerships with some really great, missional sister churches in the area that I’m so excited about and grateful for.

We are getting somewhat serious about discipleship.  I think we are starting to understand that simply to gather together is not to be a church.  A church is made up of faithful, authentic followers of Christ who are committed to becoming more like Him every day and fulfilling His instructions that He gave us, including taking the Gospel to all nations.

But here’s the problem as I see it:  Though we are getting serious about taking the Gospel around the world, we are not yet serious about taking it around the block.

I am concerned because we are not yet focused on being a witness everywhere we go.  I am concerned that we are not looking for opportunities at every turn to tell people about the great news that there is hope in life, both here and for eternity, or living the kind of lives that make them hungry for something more.  We’re not there yet.

This is my prayer and my hope for us.  I am focused on my own life and my own weakness in this area and praying that God will ignite within me a hunger for taking the Gospel to the world and a repugnance for the complacency that too often defines who I am.

I look around at so many churches with an apparent focus on that which does not make a healthy church and find myself getting disgusted.  If I am honest, though, we’re all pretty disgusting.  We’re all too often focused on things that are more in keeping with kingdom-building (small “k”) rather than the Kingdom of God.  Isn’t it really just time to get over it?  Isn’t it time for us just to embrace what we believe and actually live it consistently? Isn’t it really just that simple?

When does the Truth of the Gospel define us?  I mean that in contrast to the way followers of Christ too often define the Gospel, giving off a false perception of who Christ is and what He really lived and taught while He was here; of what was and is important to Him?  Is it just me or is anybody else just sick to death of the weak, country-club, self-centered, homogenized, pasteurized, ego-centric, Westernized version of “church” that has dominated the landscape for far too long?  Is this really what we’ve become?  Is anyone else sick of the dualism that we, as Christ-followers, live – acting, thinking and speaking one way outside the walls of the church than we do inside, compartmentalizing our faith from the rest of our lives?  Just look at our Facebook posts.  How often are principles found in passages like Ephesians 5: 3-4 taken very seriously there?  Gosh, I probably shouldn’t have mentioned that…it’s so “old school,” isn’t it?  So yesterday.  We don’t worry about those kinds of things anymore.  Maybe that’s the problem.  Scripture hasn’t changed…we have.

So, my rant’s over…but my frustration isn’t.  I don’t want to sound too harsh or for it to be misunderstood that this is focused simply on others.  It’s focused on the collective us.  The Gathering has to decide to be different from the status quo.  We have to determine that we are going to be authentic and honest, focused on Jesus…period.  That’s why our slogan has simply become, “A church. Following Jesus.”  That simple. We just have to remember that “to follow” is “to become like”.  We can’t forget that.

The Gathering Fan Page

Just want to give a heads up that we have created a Fan Page for The Gathering.  It’s a great way to stay abreast of all that is going on at The Gathering.  Our main web page will always be available, but along with Twitter, Facebook is a great way to get “up-to-the-minute” updates and to build relationships among members and friends.

Vision Of You by Shane & Shane

This song served as the theme song for the Vanderbilt retreat I taught at this past weekend.  It’s a pretty powerful and great meditative song.

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How to help in Haiti

A letter to members and friends of The Gathering:

As I am sure you have been following the events of the past week related to the devastating earthquake in Haiti, you are probably feeling the same desire as I have to “do something” to help alleviate some of the suffering.  It is difficult to know what to do and to feel as though we’re doing enough.  In light of that, I would like to suggest a couple of things that you can do that will make a world of difference:

1.  Pray.  I know that you expected me to say that first, but there is truly no greater thing that you can do besides that.  As many of us are reading through the Bible in a year as a part of The Gathering One-Year Bible Challenge, we recently read through the book of Job. After all of the “friends” of Job had finished giving him their collective wisdom, God said something interesting in chapter 42:

After the Lord had spoken these words to Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite: My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.8 Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.9 So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did what the Lord had told them, and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer.

The point here is simply that God instructed these men to go to Job that he could pray for them to God.  Think about that: isn’t it a little strange sounding for God to speak to them to tell them to tell Job to talk to God on their behalf?  The important thing for us to see, though, is that there is a process that God wanted them to go through; to humble themselves before Him and have His servant petition Him on their behalf.  And God moved and accepted the prayer and brought restoration to these men.  That process is still in effect today.

When we can “do something” that will physically bring healing and relief, we must!  However, that must never take precedents over our primary responsibility, the one that has more power because of the One to which we petition, and that is prayer.  Pray without ceasing.

2.  Give.  Some of you can give hundreds of dollars and you should to help bring relief.  Others can only give ten or fifteen dollars and you should.  Scripture says for us to bring our tithes and offerings to the Lord (Deuteronomy 12 and 26).  At the Gathering, our tithes sustain the work of the church so that ongoing regular ministry can occur.  Offerings are the extras that go to meet special and/or specific needs.  One such offering is for relief for the work in Haiti.

With so many organizations working to bring relief, there are any number of avenues through which you can give support.  Some are more effective than others both in their distribution of funds received and the work they do when they get there.  We have determined to channel our funds through the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief.  Through the leadership of the Florida Baptist Convention, which has had ongoing work in Haiti for many years, the SBC Disaster Relief Teams are on the ground now doing what they do best.  We believe the best use of our funds is to provide the much-needed resources to those best equipped to serve. These teams are well-trained and experienced in going into areas of such devastation and bringing much needed relief.  Our own SBC Disaster Relief are considered among the best and most effective in the world and we can help that work in a very tangible way.  If you would like more information on the SBC Disaster Relief, please visit our website at GatheringChattanooga.com and click on the Disaster Relief banner.

As we did last week, we will be taking up a special offering for Haiti relief this Sunday.  Please consider joining with us to make a difference, both in your constant prayers and in your giving.

To the glory of God,

David Price