J.R. Lee

Blogging is going to take a backseat over the next couple of days.   Going to try and disengage a little bit this week. I am not very good at this and I need to get better.  With that in mind, I leave you with the Almost Midweek Review…

• I am proud of the 30+ families who are taking the 90 Day Challenge.
• Basketball season is in full swing.  Let’s go Duke!
• Going to run a 5K on Thanksgiving Day. Makes me feel a little better about the food I will eat that day.
• I can’t wait until Thrive next Monday night!  Big announcement coming for those who partner with us every week.
• Generosity is contagious.
• Join me in praying for some huge things over the next 8 weeks.
• Bikes or Bust is just around the corner.  We are going to give away hundreds of bikes to kids who wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to receive one this Christmas.
• Two Christmas Eve Services this year at 3 and 5PM.  You aren’t going to want to miss this…  A new holiday tradition begins!
• Have a great Thanksgiving!  We really are Blessed beyond belief.
• See you Sunday!  It’s going to be a great day.

Lexi is terrified of fire.  I think a fireman scared her to death when he did a presentation at her school.
London is terrified of our fireplace.  Not because of the fire, but because she thinks there is a mouse living inside.
Devin is unusually terrified of birds.  One tried to build a nest in her hair or something like that when she was at a magic show as a child.

When I was a little kid, I use to be scared that my parents were going to drive off without me when we stopped at a gas station. I have no idea why.  It was an irrational fear that made no sense whatsoever – and I am very glad that I grew out of that one.

We all had them, so what was your most irrational fear?

My hands are still frozen from sitting at the game that Miami forgot to show up at last night. Here are a couple quick thoughts from the game…

• GT ran all over the Canes.  Our defense was terrible and our offense….well it was just as bad.
• Freshman U will be back!  This group will win a Championship (not just the conference kind for all the SEC fans out there – the real championship – and the only one that matters).
• It was cold and very windy.  Not a great combination – especially when you are losing.
• The guy sitting beside me was huge.  Probably 6-8 and at least 350.  I was nice to him.
• GT fans need a lesson from UGA.  The “white out” was a bust.
• I am pumped about Sunday!  I had to throw that in the mix.
• This was Devin’s first college football game. She said she had fun, but I think she was being less than honest
• Let’s go Canes!

Todd and I went to Virginia several weeks ago for a meeting that I needed to attend.  In one of the meetings, a church planter made the comment that he hated talking to other church planters.  He said that they were arrogant and had nothing to offer him.  Really?

I think that might have been one of the most “arrogant” statements I have heard in a very long time.  Actually, my experience has been completely different.  I talk with church planters every single day (some who have been doing this for years and others who have yet to officially begin) because they understand the insanity.  There’s no way that I could do what I do without the relationships that I have with great leaders across the country who have traveled the same journey that I am right now.

It’s the greatest journey on the planet – but only if you can experience it with other people.

Long, but good quote from Millard Erickson in Christian Theology (P. 1077)

“The church must be versatile and flexible in adjusting its methods and procedures to the changing situations in the world. It must go where needy persons are found, even if that means a geographical or cultural change. It must not cling to all its old ways. As the world to which it is trying to minister changes, the church will have to adapt its ministry accordingly, but without altering its basic direction. As the church adapts, it will be emulating its Lord, who did not hesitate to come to earth to redeem humanity. In doing so, he took on the condidtions of the human race (Phil. 2:5-8). In similar fashion, the body of Christ will preserve the basic message with which it has been entrusted, and conintue to fulfill the major functions of its task, but will make all legitimate changes necessary to carry out its Lord’s purposes. The stereotypical church-a rural congregation headed by but one minister and consisting of a group of nuclear families who meet at 11AM on Sunday morning in a small white building with a steeple – still exists in some places. But it is the exception. Circumstances are now very different in most parts of the world. If the church has a sense of mission like that of its Lord, however, it will find ways to reach people wherever they are.’