Monday Run Down
1. This weekend I hung out at two different worship environments:
- Church at the Ridge in South Paulding, GA
- Vinings Lake in Mableton, GA
Visiting the Church that allowed me to come in and tear things up during my internship was a great experience. Connected with some great folks that I was privileged to serve during the summer of ’09. Pastor Steve is preaching on and praying for awakening in Church at the Ridge and in the Church globally.
Seeing one of my former youth pastors, and now good friends Pete after several years was seriously cool. Catching up a bit, making Pete and Holly feel old, and worshiping with the Vinings Lake community was fun and powerful. They’re concluding their Tough Questions series next week with an all out Q & A session, so if you want to make Pete blush, show up at one of their three oddly timed services and ask an awkward question about sex or politics or something 
. Great things are happening at Vinings Lake, so if you have a chance, you should check out their site and learn the story of the last 5 years of that church.
2. Wow. Just Wow:
3. It’s just not as fun without my wife. She left for Virginia today to surprise a couple of friends for their birthdays, and surprise her folks with a short, but needed two day visit. Don’t tell them though, cause it’s a surprise!
4. It’s so difficult to lean into the glorious Gospel with the whole person the whole time. This is primarily because of Gospel amnesia. I forget the depth and beauty of the Gospel and the glorious God, to whom the Gospel reconciles the world and King Jesus, to whom the entire Gospel and Bible point to.
As a result of this, my deep and abiding prayer for my family, friends, and self has been Ephesians 1:18. That God would enlighten the eyes of my cloudy heart to grasp, know, feel, and see the thunderous hope of my undeserved calling.
The whore in Luke 7 will never forget the Gospel because she will always be able to recall even the smell of her sin feel all over again the shame of her life before she was called out of darkness and into the light of life. Jesus said she’d never forget the Gospel because she’d never forget the magnificence of her own story. If I could only walk in the remembrance of my sin, Jesus’ cross, and my calling.
5. Tim Keller. If you haven’t read or listened to him, please do. You certainly won’t regret it. He is one of the most quoted and plagiarized leaders in church world. He’s reaching several thousand people in NYC, one of the world’s largest and influential global cities. Read, listen, learn, live. If you like Chandler, Driscoll, the PCA, or any other big hitter, they were all influenced by Dr. Keller.
6. Exciting news about my first home church, formerly the First Baptist Church of Springdale Arkansas and the Church at Pinnacle Hills. Yesterday, Dr. Ronnie Floyd unveiled the new mantra and name of their great church, now named Cross Church, with three campuses and 16 sites. This is so exciting, and this 140 year old church changing it’s name shows the kingdom-mindedness and health of the leadership culture at the church.
Much love,
B
