brent(inWorship)

What does it mean to you to go deeper?

As a team leader?

As  a song leader?

As a spokes person for the church and Christianity?

As a person of faith?

go…

When our family decided to participate in Lent, I did not foresee the strong opinions on both sides to being a part of this activity. I’ve watched people in the social media world bash Lent and others champion this season as if it is a duty. I don’t see either of these things as appropriate.

Lent is a practice that was put into play by the Catholic Church. With even the mention of the Catholic Church, many will turn their back. I personally know people who have had flourishing Christian lives in the Catholic Church and I know many that have been badly beaten up and spit out by the same churches. For me, its not a Catholic of anti-Catholic thing.

Let’s stop for a minute and determine if there are valuable times in our life to sacrifice. If we are honest, every day is an opportunity to sacrifice. Our family has chosen to take this season to sacrifice. We love to eat out, but we know that it can be very unhealthy, both physically as well as financially. It’s a time to eat together around a table. Purposefully.

I do not champion Lent. And I do not champion religious practices of the church. Catholic or non-denominational. I champion sacrifice. I champion the act of removing our desires and allowing God to replace them with His desires for our lives.

So, what is the intent of Lent? Who knows. The practice itself has been around for a long time and I believe that practices like this, often lose their original intent over time. They become about ritual and not about heart. But, the reason we are choosing to “fast” from something during this Lent season is all about intent. We desire to draw closer to Him. If simply changing my eating habits can help in this process, then we are in! It’s not about how much, or how long. Its about intent. Its about the heart.

So, celebrate Lent, or don’t. But, I challenge you to sacrifice and surrender this season…and all year round.

The last two weeks were an amazing time for Tammy and I. We had the opportunity to vacation in Nashville with some Amazing Friends! Attended the cre:ate conference. And then finished in Southern California, where we had the opportunity to talk about passion in marriage at a valentines event. Thanks to Scott and Shannon for hosting us there.

While we were in Nashville, we got to hang out With Justin and Trish. I fell in love with these two people. Justin is a Campus Pastor for Crosspoint.tv and we had the honor of walking through their future church site. Tammy and I got to hang out with Trish all week at the conference and we laughed till we cried. Justin and Trish have an amazing testimony. It was humbling to listen to them share their story with us and also to see them today, healthy and well.

Tammy and I are honored to guest post on their blog today. This week, Justin wanted to focus on things we wish we had known before we got married. We are in good company and honored to personally know all the guest posters. Please take a moment and head over to Justin’s blog. You can read our post today. Then go back through and read the others. There is some amazing wisdom and proof of God’s grace in all of us.

I grew up in conservative Baptist churches. One of the things that was missing from my upbringing was liturgical worship. It wasn’t until late into high school that I started to notice and experience other forms of worship. Worship that was God centered and righteous and yet different than anything I knew.

I’ve read some great posts the last couple of days describing Lent and what it is and what it means. I am not going to take time to try and explain the history or religious ideas of what Lent is. But it is a time of year that I’ve never participated in. Easter is amazing. What a blessed time of year we choose to celebrate the death and resurrection of our Savior. I oftenI find myself getting to Easter and wondering why it went by so fast. I don’t stop long enough to savor this time and in doing so, I believe that I personally lose many opportunities to listen.

So, during Lent, it is common practice to forego something in your life. To cease a habit or practice and then replace it with something that will allow us to meditate or focus better on the Easter season. Some choose fasting. Some choose to not watch TV or stop drinking coffee.

This year, Tammy and the family and I have decided to join in Lent. We have decided that there will be no eating out for the entire period of Lent(40 days, including the Sunday’s). Instead, we will choose to be focused at home in our eating together and will even be going through a little study together. Now, many of you following us on Twitter and Facebook, will be able to monitor our journey. You can hold us accountable if you see something out of line. We will still be enjoying coffee. We will also be enjoying an opportunity to grab a snack or treat with the family. If we are running around the mall, we may go to the pretzel place. But, we will not be purposefully eating any of our main meals at a fast food or sit down restaurant. Tammy and I also enjoy going out for an evening drink sometimes and that will continue. I love our date nights. Also, if we are invited to dinner by someone, we will instead, see if they wish to come to our house and fellowship there. One more thing. I received a very generous gift card at Christmas. it is for an excellent local restaurant and I will be taking tammy to this restaurant and using this gift card at some point during Lent. So that’s a freebie

So, why are we doing this? It’s about discipline and sacrifice. Eating out is fun. but eating out takes it’s toll physically and financially. Eating out also takes us from an intimate table and places us in a place that too often allows for no personal connection with each other. but most important, it is allowing us a chance to recapture an area of our life and replace it with something more appropriate. This season is about Jesus, His death and resurrection and His amazing gift of life. I want to worship him by giving areas of my life back to Him that I control, and I want to allow Him to do amazing things through this time.

So, here we go…

Does it exist? Is it real? Can truth be absolute? Is there truth at all?

I say…yes.

I think a large movement in “spirituality” today, is to allow for the thoughts and feelings of others. No matter what you believe, or what you think you know, no one has a lock on truth. Absolute truth does not exist.

But, I don’t agree with this. Absolute truth does exist.

Im writing this post from a little coffee shop in Nashville, Tn. Tammy and I are here this week to join with others at re:create. An amazing gathering of artists, musicians and leaders, looking to connect with God and each other in a deeper way. Yesterday, we had the opportunity to join friends at Crosspoint.tv. Pastor Blake spoke. He made a statement. “Truth is not a what, truth is a who“.

I believe that this is the key to the argument of absolute truth. Yes, we will have philosophical differences. Yes, we will disagree on motive or reason. Yes, we will have moments where we can’t see eye to eye. But when we start with truth being a who…there can be no discussion. You either believe in Jesus, as the bible says He is, or you don’t. But it doesn’t change the truth of who He is. It is absolute. Jesus is who He said He was. He is alive. And He is coming again.

So, all that stuff in between, really is not the issue. And I believe that the fight for or against “absolute truth” is held in that arena, way too often. We should not be fighting over the non-essentials, because they do not hold truth.

Only Jesus does…

“Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me”
-John 14:6

“On January 13, 2010 the strongest earthquake since 1770 struck the impoverished island nation of Haiti bringing with it a wave of natural and human devastation. As the impact of what has been described as a catastrophe of biblical proportions has unfolded the leadership of Table Rock Fellowship has sought to formulate a corporate response to this crisis. The initial outpouring of humanitarian aid from around the world has been encouraging. The world is racing to help the people of Haiti who find themselves in an unimaginable crisis and as individuals we should be encouraged to contribute to these efforts as God directs. But what should be the response of the local church as a corporate body of believers? How can we, as a body of Christ, best serve the cause of Christ and meet the needs of Christian brothers and sisters who find themselves in the midst of this tragedy?”

-Pastor Tom

This weekend we will be taking time as a church to answer these questions. Please join us this weekend at Table Rock Fellowship as we take time in all our services to see how we, as a local church, can be a part of helping the corporate church in Haiti. There are a couple things we would like you to think about before arriving this weekend.

#1 Invite friends and family to be a part of the services this weekend. You will not want to miss this. Call, email and contact everyone you know that is an attendee of Table Rock Fellowship and encourage them to be here this weekend!

#2 Arrive on time. We will be starting each service promptly at 6 pm on Saturday, and 8, 9:45 & 11:30 am on Sunday. We would appreciate people in their seats and ready to participate at these times. Also, those with children, be aware that we will be displaying some graphic video content that may need parental discretion.

#3 Come prepared for how we, as a church family, can be involved in this crisis. We will be challenged as a body to look beyond our community and into Haiti. We will also be challenged to step up financially as well.

“This is a step of faith for us as a church as well as an opportunity for us to come along side the family of God in Haiti. Let us… ’Whenever we have the opportunity…do good to everyone…especially to those in the family of faith’….we have the opportunity…..it is now our time to do good!”
- Pastor Tom