After 30 hours of travel, we arrived in Tirana, Albania.
While it was eventful - weather delays on the runway at JFK that incentivized us to race through the airport to make our connecting flight to Rome. Only to sit on the tarmac for hours waiting for 30 other flights to take off in front of us.
We made it Rome enthusiastic, then wrangled our way onto the plane for Tirana.
Our team of six will be up early to get to work helping make need repairs and improvements on the Bible School here, before heading to the city of Shkodër for the Convoy outreach event with Adopt-a-community.
Personally, I feel humbled to be here, half way around the world, to share the love of Jesus and show His compassion to a people that I have never met, and know so little about.
What do we have to offer? What difference can we really make?
My conclusion today - the love of Jesus and His gospel are universal messages of compassion and are relevant in every language, tribe, and nation. We are not here because we're Americans or because we have something better to offer them. We are here as representatives Christ, and our only mission is to make Him known.
We'll keep you updated. As of now, we'll be back up and ready to work in 5 hrs, so to bed we go.
As we begin making preparations for Hagerstown Convoy of Hope 2012, I'd like to encourage you to check at what's happening both globally and nationally through Convoy.
Check out this edition of Extreme Makeover to see how they're working together.
Now a word from Hal (President of Convoy of Hope),
Dear [Sponsors],
Last May, after an EF-5 tornado carved a deadly swath through Joplin, Mo., Convoy of Hope rushed aid to the devastated community, which is only an hour’s drive from our world distribution center in Springfield.
In the following days, weeks and months we distributed more than 2.6 million pounds of food, water and emergency supplies. Convoy of Hope work teams also logged hundreds — if not thousands — of hours helping the community recover. To this day, we still have teams on the ground bringing hope to families in need.
None of this work would be possible without you! We’re so grateful for the thousands of individuals, families, organizations, churches and businesses who trusted us to help Joplin.
I believe that surge of support was one of the main reasons Convoy of Hope caught the attention of the national media — in particular ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
This coming Friday night (January 13), we will be featured on the 200th episode of EM:HE focused on rebuilding Joplin, and I will share some exciting news with viewers about our continued work there.
Please tune in to ABC this coming Friday night at 8/7 central.
Thank you for making a difference for families in Joplin and throughout the world!
Lifehouse West has launched a new educational ministry called Community Life Institute.
This is an exciting opportunity to both be served and serve!
Check it out here and found out what's available and how YOU can get involved.
This ministry is offering tutoring to get a GED, school tutoring, Continuing Education Courses, or Community Awareness Programs. If you NEED this tutoring, then check out the website and register.
If you are WILLING to be a TUTOR! Also, go to the website or comment on this blog.
Convoy of Hope is coming to Frederick, MD. We (local churches) have partnered to bring Convoy to Hagerstown for going on 4 years now. Our first coordinator, Matt Thompson, is now on staff at a church in Frederick and has coordinated to bring Convoy to their city.
Please check out their Facebook page, and check out their website. Exciting things are coming to Frederick this weekend- we will be providing many services and opportunities for the community, and we NEED volunteers.
If you would like to volunteer, clear your schedule for Saturday from 6am until 3pm.
We will be gathering at Bethel (515 E Wilson Blvd, Hagerstown, MD) and carpooling or caravanning down from the church parking lot. We will be leaving the lot at 6:00 pm on Friday (for Volunteer Rally) and 6:00 am on Saturday. We will leave promptly!
On Saturday, you can volunteer in one of many areas- kids' fun area, food services, grocery hand-out, security, hospitality... For more info, go to their website.
The prayer focus for today (day 19) is for our missionaries and those ministries on the "front lines" of spreading the gospel to the furthest reaches of our world. Here's a brief list, pray for:
safety, generous provision to the missionaries and humanitarian workers in Haiti.
our missionaries serving everywhere from US university campuses to Belgium, Central Asia, Japan, and beyond.
other missionaries that come to mind and those that you are familiar with.
the work of these missionaries, for fruitful ministry, protection, and great impact in make disciples of all nations,
financial provision for missionaries, especially since the economy is rough and many people are pulling back in their support,
renewed strength since ministry can be very tiring and spiritually exhausting, and that they would not "grow weary in doing well".
A great passage to read and use as a guide when praying for our missionaries and church leaders on the front lines of the Kingdom: Exodus 18:8-15 especially,
"When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. 13 So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword."
We've all seen the unbelievable devastation and heartache in photos and news feed out of Haiti. Like me, your heart breaks and you wonder what you can do. On that later this week! For a moment, allow me to pour out my heart and reflections from Scripture as I've processed this great tragedy in Haiti.
First, our American perspective is so limited. There are 10's of millions of people all over the world deeply suffering, without clean water, bathrooms, food, shelter from cold or heat, no medical help, and on and on. We have it SO good, yet we complain to God over our "suffering" when we do without the most lavish of luxuries. This season of fasting reminds of how much I DON'T need!
Second, the biblical perspective on gratitude and provision. I modified my prayers with my daughters over the last few days. I always emphasize our need for GRATITUDE and GENEROSITY! We take time to thank Jesus for our food, home, stuff, and his faithful provision. However, recently, I started leading them in a prayer that went more like this,
"Jesus, thank you for your lavish blessings of food. You amaze us with your daily provisions of food to eat, water to drink, and a home to live in. Together, we are not only grateful, but also want to say that we are thankful, not because you always give us what we want or even need, but we are thankful for YOU, for salvation, and for the promise of heaven. Even if we had nothing, we would still love you and be thankful."
I'm reminded that Christians throughout history, and currently throughout the world suffer immeasurable persecution, devastation, and tragedy. While we are spared from so much of that in America, we must be mindful that we are not promised to be spared, but just the opposite,
Paul wrote to the Philippian Church, "For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him..." Philippians 1:29 Paul reminded other believers, "To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. 12 We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; 13 when we are slandered, we answer kindly." 1 Corinthians 4:11-13 And a thorough summation of many Jesus-followers pain, suffering, and willingness to endure hardship laid out in Hebrews 11: 32-40. Here's the highlight reel,
"Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. 37They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground."
These verses (and hundreds that I didn't include for sake of brevity) make it so clear that suffering, hardship, and even tragedy are not marks of a lack of faith but of true Jesus-followers.
This isn't an exhaustive statement of my thoughts as I reflect personally, and I'll try to continue to blog those for you.
Our hearts, prayers, and soon (our generosity) are with those in Haiti.
What lessons are you learning as you observe the news of the devastation in Haiti?
Let's pray BIG prayers! Prayers that scare us and shape history. Prayers that require faith and please God. Prayers that match our inability with God's omnipotence. Let's pray believing that our prayers spoke in agreement with God's Word and by faith are heard by the Creator and Master Architect of Life.
Prayer focus for Day 11 of 21 days of fasting and prayer:
Pray for:
God's favor, blessing, protection, and provision over all ministries and para-church organizations that serve the community and the needy.
strength over those who serve our neighbors and communities and for sustained passion and vision to continue to impact our communities.
boldness and focus for all ministry leaders and volunteers to serve the community and needy, not out of social justice, but to share and show the message of the Gospel, and that they would be willing to speak up and present those they serve with the great message of salvation through Jesus,
financial blessing over all these service-oriented ministries that present Christ during this challenging economic season,
NEW ministries and organizations and efforts to be initiated in 2010 with the purpose of serving people and meeting needs to show and share God's love and the message of Jesus to a world desperately in need,
Hagerstown Convoy of Hope and that we'll reach many thousands more people, have sufficient funding, and tons of volunteers to reach broken, hurting people in this surrounding region. Also, remember those in Convoy (and other organizations) serving in Haiti right now- for safety, boldness, strength, and provisions. Sign up to help on Facebook here.
A few passages of Scripture to meditate on today as we pray for the service of the Church and all Jesus-followers to SHINE in 2010:
1 Corinthians 15:58 (NIV) Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Luke 4:16-19, especially: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
1 Corinthians 12:12-31, especially: "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it."
There are elemental laws, forces, principles of nature and universe that "operate" to meticulous perfection. Mankind, especially scientists for thousands of years, has worked to discover “how” these laws work. However, they always work, whether we know or understand them. So, our goal is to not only figure out how they work, but more importantly, to cooperate with them.
All of these forces and laws are so finely "tuned" to perfection that to the objective observer, the whole of existence can be described as nothing less than the “Elegant Universe".
The force of gravity is perfect, but it didn’t have to be that way. Newton discovered and theorized gravity (the force of attraction between any 2 atoms). Gravity is usually undetectable, but with great mass can come significant gravity, i.e. on earth, which makes apples fall from trees, but also keeps the moon in orbit (9.81m/s2 or 32ft/s2).
Gravity on earth doesn’t change because the mass of earth doesn’t change, but what if it did? Exact pull keeps not only us from being thrown form earth as it spins, it keeps certain gases in our atmosphere in and others out. It keeps sea water in the ocean, and air breathable. That’s why if you go to higher elevations, it’s harder to breathe. Atmospheric pressure (based on gravity) is lower, which means fewer O2 molecules concentrated per unit of volume of air.
Newton figured out most of the formulas that we still use to this day, and he didn’t even know WHY it worked. Einstein came along and wrote theory, discovered laws of relativity, including gravity.
If you’re thinking, “I don’t get it.” That’s okay. Remember, you don’t have to understand the laws for them to work. Sometimes things do work as we think, like a bowling ball sinking in water. We certainly try to understand, more importantly cooperate with and live in harmony with these “laws”.
Then, there are times when these laws don't work as we expect. Then what do we do?
For sake of illustration, what about this 10 lbs bowling ball that floats? Not what we expect, right?
Explanation: density is the key (mass in volume). Density of water (about 1 g/cm3, or 8lbs/gal). If the density of the bowling balls are greater than the density of water, they'll sink. If less, then they'll float.
Don’t always work as we think they should, sometimes even want to fight them. We can try to resist, and become frustrated, or fight them to own misfortune and destruction.
Similarly, there are fundamental principles in human life that are always in operation, whether we know or understand them. And like the laws of nature, it is always best to live in harmony and cooperation with these principles.
However, sin messed up natural tendencies and instincts, reversed our innate understanding, more importantly to cooperate. Sin turned everything upside-down, broken.
Our sin nature is out to destroy us. Like someone with an urge to jump from high places, which everyone agrees is contrary to nature and a destructive tendencies (Psychologists would call it Masochistic/ Self-Defeating Personality Disorder).
The Bible states that sin fractured our nature, our understanding, and even messed up the whole of nature, by inserting death and sin into a perfect world.
Here's one example of how sin messed things up. When God designed creations, it was absent of death and destruction. However, through sin, death entered into our world, death led to the basic instinct of self-preservation, which leads to all sorts of evil, especially selfishness.
We are hard-wired by our fractured nature to be selfishness. Even my "perfect" daughters say things like, “I want” and "It's mine", too often. We are constantly looking out for MY needs. We want the last cookie.
This instinctive selfishness doesn’t preserve us, however, but actually destroys us and the relationships with others that we value.
When we follow our natural tendencies, it's similar to following the urge to jump from a cliff against the force of gravity. However, instead of protecting or liberating us, it destroys us and others.
Sin is always out to destroy us, and therefore, our nature is a destructive force in our life. Read John 10:10. Were not not alone, as soon as sin entered world back in Eden, mankind has been living under it’s cruel curse. Even Jesus’ disciples show the self-protecting, self-exalting cycle with all it's selfish instincts: Read John 13:3-8, 12-17.
This is a counter-intuitive model of life, that goes against everything instinctive and selfish.
Jesus came to restore our lives back to the original design, help us re-discover the basic principles of true life so that we would not live destructive lives leading to death, but so that we could truly live in cooperation with God and in harmony with His perfect plan. Now, read the full verse from John 10:10.
So, what can we learn from Jesus teaching that will help us prosper, live in harmony with God’s absolute principles of life so that we can experience true life and blessing, as Jesus promised in John 13:17?
Here's the Big Idea: To be first, be last!
No, were not in kindergarten anymore! So, we’re not pushing and shoving to get to the front of the line, well unless you're driving down the road in rush hour traffic... But Jesus wasn’t talking about trying to get to first place in line, but about posturing for fame, greatness, recognition, and self-preservation.
His completely counter-intuitive lessons challenge us to stop following our natural, sinful tendencies that lead toward the destruction of all things, and start following His way and listening to God’s Spirit inside of us, leading us toward a new way of living and thinking.
What does it mean to “be last”?
If we want to be greatest, become the servant of all. If we strive to be in charge as a master, then we must follow His example and become a servant in the most humble of circumstances.
This isn’t about looking down on yourself, or having low self-esteem or any lack of self-worth. Jesus had great self-worth and a knowledge of His value and position with the Father, as clearly stated in John 13:3-4.
Just the opposite is the case, when we’re aware of our true value and worth to God, then we stop fighting and posturing. We stop living so cut-throat, and following the self-defeating life that leads to destruction. Then, we can willing serve others, because we’re not looking out for our interests but God’s.
By trying to be first or greatest or most recognized or to be see as important, we fall into the self-defeating, destructive trap that destroy us and leave us as the least. We become a slave to sin and in bondage to the very things we seek. Money becomes a snare, fame a curse, and power a tool for destruction.
BUT when we take on the role of a servant (counter-intuitive), we reverse the forces of sin, and embrace a whole new way of true life that Jesus offers.
TO BE LAST means to serve others, rather than ruling over them. Preferring others ahead of ourselves. Wanting the best for them, as much as for ourselves. Lift others up rather than always wanting to puff ourselves up. To be humble and bend down, while others stand proud. To wash feet while others refuse to ever do the work of the slave.
Do you want to get ahead in this life? You may achieve it, only to arrive at that end, and discover that it gave you the opposite results as you expected.
Jesus’ teaching is NOT complicated. It’s just so contrary to our instinctive way of living, that it seems wrong, weak, “it’ll never work”. But we, and our world, are the ones who are broken, not this teaching.
Jesus reveals one of the most profound, yet basic principles of life. It's even taught in MBA programs, politics, business, consultation- servant leadership. 820,000 links on Google. It’s always at work, not matter whether we understand it or not, whether we agree wit it, or expect it to work as it does.
Jesus challenged His disciples, and in turn us, to live in harmony and cooperation with God’s plan for all life.
Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. John 13: 17, NIV.
As part of the "get dirty" campaign at Lifehouse and an illustration for our series Dirty Little Secrets, I came to church a few weeks ago as a HOMELESS MAN. My clothes were torn, old, and smelled of sour milk. Our resident make-up artists gave me a really bad beard, growths, scars, and dark shadows around my eyes. I walked slowly, and my right hand shook uncontrollably. After walking about a mile to the theater, I arrived before 9am, while many volunteers were still arriving and getting ready to go in for our regular prayer time. I sat outside on the curb, kept to myself, and eventually came into Lifehouse during communion. Finally, after Pastor Dave got up to preach, I interrupted him (well, not me, but the homeless man, everyone thought I was), and I began to speak.
Thought I'd share a few things I had learned while walking a mile (literally and figuratively) in the shoes of a homeless man:
A TOUCH MEANS SO MUCH! First thing that really surprised me: how many people at Lifehouse touched me. In all my prep, I honestly did not expect anyone to get close enough to me to smell me, let alone touch me. Loving hugged me, put their hands on my back, rubbed my leg, placed their hands on me and prayed. It actually meant a lot (and I was just acting).
WE'RE NOT INVISIBLE. We all notice each other, even the homeless man on the curb, it's just that we choose to care or ignore them. I didn't know what to expect at Lifehouse, but hoped that many would come up to me and give me food, love, care, whatever. I was regularly greeted, offered coffee, food (although, ENOUGH WITH THE CHEEZ-ITS), got invited into the cafe, service- multiple times. After the service, many people apologized for ignoring me. It wasn't that they didn't see me. They saw me, and chose not to stop and help. I'm not rebuking them. That's what they actually told me.
IT'S OKAY TO COME AS YOU ARE. Here's what I saw as the homeless man, when I came onto the platform (after being stopped by security, but invited by Pastor Dave):
"Thank you. Thank you for accepting me as I am. You didn't ask me to put on a tie, but invited me in just the way I am.
"Thank you for NOT making me hide my pain, my hurt, my regrets, my abuse. You told me it was okay for me to just come in and that God loves me!
"Thank you to the woman who called me 'friend', and the man who told me, 'You are special and God loves you'. Thanks for overlooking my smell, poor appearances, and troubling shake.
"I know that being on the stage is making some of you uncomfortable, but thanks for just loving and accepting me. You didn't ask me to pretend that everything is okay...
"My question to you is: WHY is it OK for me to be me at church, but not for YOU? Why did you tell me that I can just come in as I am, but you work so hard to COVER UP, to wear your masks so well, to not let anyone see your pain, hurt, and regrets?
BEST MOTIVATION IS LOVE NOT GUILT. I intentionally avoided the guilt-for-not-helping-the-homeless-man message, since I figured that's where everyone would expect me to go, and I like surprising our church. Plus, I hope we, as Christians, are more motivated to compassion out of love rather than guilt. If I motivate Jesus-followers by guilt, it won't last long (think of tithing), but if by love, it will transform their whole way of life and lead to true Christ-like living. I never got the sense that anyone helped me out of obligation, for show, or out of guilt, but because they genuinely cared and wanted to offer a helping hand.
I HAVE YOUR MONEY. A few people gave me money, and after service, I offered to give it back, but no takers. However, it was put into the regular offering. If you'd still like to get that $20 back, let me know. We weren't trying to trick anyone into giving to the church.
CHILDREN ARE SO COOL. Brian, our hospitality leader came out with coffee and food, prayed with me, and his son even talked with me. Then, his son repeatedly came out to check on me, asked if I needed anything else, and came to talk to me. So, first- parents, keep a close eye on your kids, they might NOT be taking your counsel to heart, and ARE taking to strangers :). Also, kids are so cool!
For the month of September, I've given up my car and am jogging and biking everywhere I go that I'd normally drive.
My reason: living on less to give more. I'm donating my car expense for this month to Hagerstown Convoy of Hope, and it will go to help feed those in need through Convoy.
I'm also getting in shape for a triathlon, thuse tri-ing to feed the hungry.
The main point is to live on less for myself to give more to others, and inspire everyone I can to do the same. Many feel like they can't give because they "don't have enough". But we all have so much and live with such abundance, especially in contrast to the deepest poverty in nations where people don't have clean drinking water or any food to eat.
We can make a difference by giving more and living on less.
Want to know how you can help?
Two ways: help Convoy of Hope by sponsoring me per mile and donating the proceeds through the website. I've already riden over 175miles, and expect to do about 450-500 total. You can also donate directly to Hagerstown Convoy of Hope or Convoy of Hope International by going to their websites. This is an international relief organization that brings aid and Hope to those desperately in need.
Join Lifehouse in "Getting Dirty" by serving those around you. If you live within driving range of Hagerstown, you're invited to come serve at our outreach event on September 26th. For more info, go to the website.
Imagine your meeting with the President and your cell rings. Do you answer?
Depends on who's calling, right? Here's my thought, if the President is making time for you, there's probably no one who has your cell number that should trump that meeting.
Need a more biblical example? In 586 BC, the city of Jerusalem was destroyed- walls broken down, buildings destroyed, and the Jews were exiled. Finally in 444 BC, Nehemiah led a group back to Jerusalem to help those who had already returned to rebuild the city walls and restore the strength, sovereignty, and safety of the people.
While Nehemiah was leading the people to rebuild the walls, they faced constant and strong opposition from opposing nations.
Here's a key moment in Nehemiah's leadership found in Nehemiah 6:2-4:
Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message: “Come, Nehemiah, let’s meet together in Kephirim on the plain of Ono.”But they were planning to harm me. So I sent messengers to them with this answer: “I am doing a great work, and I can’t come down. I don’t want the work to stop while I leave to meet you.” Sanballat and Geshem sent the same message to me four times, and each time I sent back the same answer. (New Century Version)
What's the point? There are times in life, when what you are doing is more important than what other people think you should be doing or are asking you to do. It's okay to say, "Sorry, I'm busy!"
Nehemiah recognized that he was carrying out a "magnum opus" (Latin for "the great work") and nothing was more important than that- no meeting, accusation, busywork, other project, attitude or frustration- nothing took precedent with the great work he was about.
If you are in a "great work" then be careful not to get sucked into petty arguments, avoid unnecessary clutter in life, cut out superfluous time-wasters, and keep focused!
Photonics is the science of or study and application of light and its particle properties. Not excited yet? Without getting into quantum optics or optoelectronics, I'll keep this simple and to the point.
What's the difference between the light that is produced by a standard 60w light bulb by the lamp in your living room and a laser? To be fair, from a scientific view-point, there are a multitude. But from a leadership perspective- few.
A light-bulb produces a diffused light and the purpose is to light a large area of space, while a laser concentrates light into a beam. A bulb is designed to spread out the light and provide some light to a lot of space. A laser focuses the light into a narrow beam so that it can be used in a vast number of fields, from industry (think DVDs), military (laser-guided missiles), medicine (think laser surgery and hair-removal), research, and entertainment.
Are your passions, gifts, and God-ordained purposes being diffused into a lot of areas OR focused?
If you're a light bulb:
you'll keep wanting to turn up the wattage to light more space (get more done),
feel inadequate for the jobs at hand,
feel guilty for not getting enough done and keep referring to the list that still needs to be completed,
compete with others who are lighting the same or nearby area and feel threatened by brighter light bulbs,
feel discouraged by the constant replacement of light bulbs around you. You've begun noticing that light bulbs are replaceable and exchangeable. What do I mean by this? It's not about doing what you love, just getting the "jobs" of ministry done, and if you can't do it, then the church sticks someone else in who can. "Punch and plug" ministry and service. You even begin to feel like maybe you should be replaced by a "light bulb" that shines brighter or is "longer-lasting",
struggle with questioning if this is really why you were created. You ask often, "is this really what I'm supposed to be doing?" and feel this inner tug toward something more purposeful and meaningful,
need as much affirmation as possible for the role you play (because you feel so insecure about your effectiveness), and want to pass the blame because you don't want to be seen as useless or unnecessary, i.e. not pulling your weight.
On the contrary, if you're a laser, you:
recognize what you are specifically called and gifted to be and do,
want to keep giving away responsibilities that you don't "love" so that others can fulfill their destiny, and so that you can stay focused on only what you should be doing and being.
enjoy being focused and doing it and passionately embrace the challenges and struggles of that responsibility,
at times, may feel overwhelmed, there's nothing you'd rather be doing,
appreciate the laser focus and unique giftedness and passion of others, and want to see them succeed as well. You can see how necessary they are to the Church and are often amazed by their unique role, and even the fact that they enjoy doing what you can't stand doing or clearly have no gift or passion for,
see the fruitfulness of serving together with others, and find that you are exponentially more effective when you work together with others who have differing gifts,
can give away the credit with joy, so that you make sure others feel valued and necessary, and take the blame because you recognize your responsibility over the situation, and feel like you can improve on that failure next time.
Are you a laser or a light bulb? What would you add from your personal experience to this list of differences?
Friday night we had a Volunteer commissioning rally for all who wanted to serve on Saturday for Convoy of Hope. It was electric. 420 Jesus-followers who showed up just to be a part of serving and giving to our community through Convoy of Hope. Probably one of the coolest experiences I ever had being a part of the excitement and passion of so many coming together as ONE.
Saturday from 6am was a marathon of serving, ministering, leading, and celebrating. Convoy of Hope was a day of compassion for all of Washington County. One Big idea- compassion in the name of Jesus, 30 churches cooperating (unheard of), 80+ different agencies, organizations, and companies, 700 volunteers, and we reached 2,300 guests. Unprecedented! Awesome! We treated EVERY guests as our guest of honor, and we enjoyed every minute of it.
Sunday at Lifehouse was more rally and celebration than church. We "did" and "were" the church on Saturday, so Sunday was just an opportunity to be a "family of friends". I love pastoring Lifehouse and leading the Church to reach this region for Jesus!
