UPDATES FROM TEXAS

Baby Update
Just a quick update to let everybody know Melinda and I are still waiting patiently for the rest of our lives to begin as parents. As a result of this continued wait I am getting on a plane in a few hours to head for Seattle. I will be at church on Sunday morning.

Sunday~Don't miss it.
I hate it when people I've met at church just fade away. I'm troubled by the lack of understanding about who God is in the local church. I've met too many people who are de-churched. What about you? Feel the same way as me? Good, just feeling uneasy about those kinds of circumstance are great indicators that you and I care about these people!

This final message on IFIT is going to bring it all together, what it means to make disciples, what it really means to be a part of a church. There will always be those veteran Christians, who only go to church on Sunday and refuse to be a part of any "system," but I am venturing to guess there many more people at The Rock who are eager to make disciples.

IFIT...I am The Rock Church. John 17, what are the implications of Jesus' prayer, "That they be one as you and I are one." People need to matter to us and not just our own. In the modern church with all this technology, gifting, passions and focus there is absolutely no reason why someone should stand alone in Life! Yet, many are strolling in and out of the American church with a little more than a bulletin and a handshake. It's time to enlist ourselves in the most important endeavor in the world-making disciples. I believe you'll be motivated on Sunday to carve out a little more for making a difference. See ya there!

A Quick Highlight for Sunday
Discipleship is the most noble cause we can give ourselves to. I know there are a lot of good things to contribute to, but not all of them are eternal. Discipleship is eternal. When you help a person navigate life with a perspective of following Christ you've done something amazing.

While down in El Paso this week we've been staying with some new friends (tell the whole story later). Melinda has dubbed Bunny, our new friend, The Queen of Discipleship. Bunny makes herself available to her church as a volunteer during the week to help with whatever. In addition she meets with dozens of women for the sole purpose of building them into Christ followers. She goes through a specific book with each person one on one.

I thought to myself, what would it be like to have a dozen people who freely gave their time to meet with a dozen others for the sole purpose of making disciples? 12 times 12 is 144, and then at some point those 144 disciple a dozen others...and on..and on.

Jesus spent 90% of His time with 12 people and because of it you and I have a relationship with Him. Do not miss this Sunday...