God can use awkward
Today was awesome at TXC. At first I wasn't sure what to expect. I was just feeling off and for some weird reason I was nervous and that definitely came out in my message. I memorize my messages and usually every flows pretty smoothly through my wee little brain but today it was like a traffic jam of tons of different ideas colliding. Nonetheless, I made it through.
The band brought it like it was 1979 and sounded amazing. Dave is such an amazing worship leader/guitar player, and accompanied by my rockstar brother and "Tony", it was just phenomenal.
The projector was working this week which was an answer to prayer because we are pretty media heavy in what we do so not having that projector was pretty lame last week.
I also gotta say that the vibe of the theatre from the moment we show up to set up to the minute we live is just buzzing. People love being there. Tons of people are coming early to grab a Starbucks and are also practicing our 15 minute exit (staying for 15 minutes to meet some new people) I think this is one of our strengths for sure. I hate playing games and I'm terrible at wearing masks and pretending to be someone I'm not and I expect everyone in leadership and our volunteers to be the same. We just don't have time for it. So when guests compliment us on how friendly we are, I know that our "strategy" of being "normal and real" is working.
I think the highlight every week is seeing how many new people keep showing up. They don't all come back the next week but we are seeing a good section of them returning (look at me...we've had two gatherings this year so far! Haha). The thing I love is that a huge majority of our guests are either disconnected or disillusioned with church. It's not uncommon for me to talk to people who haven't been to a church for a year or so but grew up in the church. This is an answer to prayer for me because from the start I didn't want to attract people from other churches. My intention has never been to stir the part and make some other church in town fall apart because all the people are leaving. There are so many people that are disconnected from Jesus in Mission that I can't waste my time trying to appeal to other Christians. It just doesn't make sense.
One more story, and with this I close. At the end I met this guy and girl who just got engaged and struck up a conversation with them. After talking with them for a few minutes I asked them if they went to church anywhere and they both said that they used to go to the catholic church when they were kids. And then she proceeded to tell me that she was a scientologist. Now, I don't read PEOPLE magazine like my wife does so I had no clue that she was talking about Scientology, Tom Cruises' cult. I figured she was some kind of science major or scientist or something! And when I thought about it later, she said it in a way like she was expecting a negative response from me like "Ohhhhh...you're one of them" But instead she just got a blank stare.
But later as she was talking to Bek she also told her that she was a scientologist but that she was now rethinking her faith and what she actually believed! We're meeting later this week sometime to discuss (in her words) "spiritual issues". So my message wasn't a bomb afterall! But that is just a story of what God is already doing right in the middle of us. If you knew me, you'd know that I don't have any special powers. What is going to happen here will be a complete move of God. Dave and I were joking earlier today that what we are is "Awkward". We're just a bunch of wingnuts that are crazy enough to believe that God can use us to do some crazy huge things in Mission.
The band brought it like it was 1979 and sounded amazing. Dave is such an amazing worship leader/guitar player, and accompanied by my rockstar brother and "Tony", it was just phenomenal.
The projector was working this week which was an answer to prayer because we are pretty media heavy in what we do so not having that projector was pretty lame last week.
I also gotta say that the vibe of the theatre from the moment we show up to set up to the minute we live is just buzzing. People love being there. Tons of people are coming early to grab a Starbucks and are also practicing our 15 minute exit (staying for 15 minutes to meet some new people) I think this is one of our strengths for sure. I hate playing games and I'm terrible at wearing masks and pretending to be someone I'm not and I expect everyone in leadership and our volunteers to be the same. We just don't have time for it. So when guests compliment us on how friendly we are, I know that our "strategy" of being "normal and real" is working.
I think the highlight every week is seeing how many new people keep showing up. They don't all come back the next week but we are seeing a good section of them returning (look at me...we've had two gatherings this year so far! Haha). The thing I love is that a huge majority of our guests are either disconnected or disillusioned with church. It's not uncommon for me to talk to people who haven't been to a church for a year or so but grew up in the church. This is an answer to prayer for me because from the start I didn't want to attract people from other churches. My intention has never been to stir the part and make some other church in town fall apart because all the people are leaving. There are so many people that are disconnected from Jesus in Mission that I can't waste my time trying to appeal to other Christians. It just doesn't make sense.
One more story, and with this I close. At the end I met this guy and girl who just got engaged and struck up a conversation with them. After talking with them for a few minutes I asked them if they went to church anywhere and they both said that they used to go to the catholic church when they were kids. And then she proceeded to tell me that she was a scientologist. Now, I don't read PEOPLE magazine like my wife does so I had no clue that she was talking about Scientology, Tom Cruises' cult. I figured she was some kind of science major or scientist or something! And when I thought about it later, she said it in a way like she was expecting a negative response from me like "Ohhhhh...you're one of them" But instead she just got a blank stare.
But later as she was talking to Bek she also told her that she was a scientologist but that she was now rethinking her faith and what she actually believed! We're meeting later this week sometime to discuss (in her words) "spiritual issues". So my message wasn't a bomb afterall! But that is just a story of what God is already doing right in the middle of us. If you knew me, you'd know that I don't have any special powers. What is going to happen here will be a complete move of God. Dave and I were joking earlier today that what we are is "Awkward". We're just a bunch of wingnuts that are crazy enough to believe that God can use us to do some crazy huge things in Mission.
Dan, you guys were great. I jhave to tell you that hearing your talk on sin, repentance and sharing your "passion" for Jesus and the testimony was fantastic and refreshing to say the least!
bear
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