Now Playing in My iPod: All of the Above

Last week I picked up the lastest CD All of the Above from Hillsong United. Best Worship CD I’ve bought in years. The song that’s impacted me the most so far is Found. The entire CD is powerful and moving. Here’s a sample…Solution

Christians are Weird

Last week, Kathy and I attended a Stephen Curtis Chapman concert with some friends in Grand Rapids. The opening band, Sanctus Real, was rocking out and we heard what sounded like a tambourine. We thought “That’s odd, I don’t see anyone playing a tambourine and it didn’t go with the band’s sound at all.” A few minutes later we noticed someone in the crowd had actually bought a tambourine to the concert and was playing along with the band. All I could think of was the “More Cowbell” skit from SNL. Sometimes Christians are just plain weird. Fortunately security told him to stop playing, because people came to hear the band.

Super Cool Volunteer of the Week: Denise Hillbom

If you could summarize Denise in one word, it would be Passion. Passion for Christ. Passion for God’s Church. Passion for God’s Word. As Spiritual Growth Director, her desire is to help each person at Epic grow into a deeper relationship with Christ. This includes everything from Fusion Groups, Retreats, Classes and One on One equipping.

Denise brings a depth of wisdom every time she cracks open the Bible and expounds on God’s word. She is a gifted teacher and inspiring leader. This summer she co-led “Becoming a Fully Devoted Follower.” The class helped equip each person to take specific and lasting steps in their journey with Christ. On November 10th, Denise is bringing in gifted Christian speaker and author Dan Webster to lead a spiritual growth retreat called “The Unexpected Journey” (www.authenticleadershipinc.com). Don’t miss it!

Chasing Daylight: Door Hangers. Ripples. Eternity.

“One of the wonderful results of seizing your divine moment is that it pulls so many others into their. Not everyone moves at the same pace. Some people move at the speed of light, but for some people the light never seems to turn green. What you may never see is the number of people who are pulled into God’s purpose for their lives through the wind shear of your obedience.” p. 216

As I was hanging the Epic invitation door-hangers last night in the community, I was overwhelmed by the thoughts of the people in each home. What is the story of their life? What are their struggles? What are their dreams? Have they discovered the adventure of God’s plan for their lives? Or have they settled for the status quo? I prayed in this next year that each home would experience Christ in a real and personal way.I prayed that Epic could be a place that they could discover who Christ is and the joy of following Him.

New Series@Epic: Losing My Religion

Everyone is looking for something real. In this four week series, we’ll unpack the words of Jesus and uncover the difference between religion and a relationship with God. One leads to irrelevance; the other leads to life change. One leads to rules; the other leads to love. or a change? Transformation Begins September 23

Everyone Invited

Jesus gave the disciples a challenge to “go” into all the world and make disciples of all nations. These 11 guys had only been with Jesus for three years and had never been out of Israel. But these “not so ready for prime time players” with the power of God and his strength of His presense, took the message out and the world has never been the same. We are in a relationship with God today, because they said “yes” to the challenge 2000 years ago.

Now is our turn…This Saturday, Sept 15 @ 10-12 AND Wed. Sept. 19 @ 6:30-8, We will be hanging door hangers in all the Rochester and Shelby neighborhoods around Hart Middle School. No knocking. No talking. Just walking and hanging door hangers. There are people in these homes that desperately need Christ. Pick a date that fits with your schedule. Will end with Ice Cream @ Dairy Queen. I’m buying. Meet @ Hart Parking Lot.

We can do this. We will do this. Not for us…but for the glory of God.

Epic @ Arts & Apples

What an incredible weekend at Arts and Apples Festival on Friday through Sunday in Rochester. We came together as a church and were able to make a

Super Cool Volunteer of the Week: Brandon Kennedy

Brandon heads up TeamOutreach who’s mission is to encourage both seekers and those turned off by church to find a relevant and engaging place to experience God. His desire is to train and motivate every single person at Epic to become “walk across the room” kinds of people who take risks to share our faith with others.

Three words describe Brandon: commitment, passion and a “whatever it takes” attitude. Ok, that’s seven words, but Brandon goes above and beyond week after week to help us reach an ever increasing number of people: EpicConnect events, outreach training, servant evangelism, community events, brochures, lobby banners, signage, mailings, invite cards, website, e newsletter, door hangers, just to name a few. Everything we’re doing this weekend at the Arts and Apples Festival comes from TeamOutreach. If your not already signed up to help, stop by the Rochester Park Friday through Sunday and get involved in reaching out..

Talk to Brandon for a few minutes and you walk away “fired up” about Christ and using your life for God. Brandon selflessly uses the creative energy, marketing skills and problem solving capability which God has given him to see one more person in heaven. His example challenges all of us to examine our life and ask, “How am I using my gifts so more and more people can meet Jesus? How am I leveraging my skills and abilities for the kingdom of God, instead of just my own career and my own benefit?”

Two years ago he wasn’t going to church and now God is using Him in an incredible way. Thank you Brandon for listening to God and leading Epic forward to become a “walk across the room” church. Thank you for living out 2 Timothy 4:5 Don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at telling others the Good News, and fully carry out the ministry God has given you.

Fall@Epic

Defying Gravity

A couple weeks ago, our family took a trip to Chicago to see the the play “Wicked.” What an incredible production! Sometimes you experience a song, movie or a play that moves you on a deep level and motivates you let go of all the things that hold you back from becoming the person that you long to be. That was Wicked for me.

Wicked is the back story of the so called “good” and “wicked”witches in Oz before Dorothy shows up. One is popular and the other is misunderstood, labeled and slandered all because she was different than everyone else. The story really hit home on a personal level for me. All of my life, I have felt that I didn’t quite fit into the society’s mold. Ever felt like that? Ever feel like you don’t fit in? Ever feel like people don’t understand you? Every had people talk about you behind your back because you were different? Ever had people try to pull you down?

Society has a way of ostracizing those that are different. Instead of embracing people as a person created and loved by God, people are labeled, categorized and gossiped about. And unfortunately the place where I see it most of all is in the church. Not at Epic, but in conversations with Christians who are more into criticizing than Christ and more into judging than Jesus. And somewhere along the way, Christianity got confused with conformity.

Let me be clear, I’m not minimizing what the Bible says about who God is or what is sin, but I am talking about maximizing love and following the example of Christ in the way He noticed, accepted and cared for people. Maybe Christ cared so much about outsiders, because He didn’t fit into the mold of society. The one place He should have fit in, He didn’t…in the religious community. It’s was the church leaders that labeled him “different,” slandered the way He did ministry, and ultimately worked behind the scenes to pull him down and crucify Him.

As Christ followers, never, never let someones limited view of you…limit your view of yourself. Never let their words, even as hurtful as they are, hold you back from living God’s vision for your life. Never let them pull you down. Never let them stop you from following Christ in what He’s called you to do.

Defy Gravity!