The Best Church in America!

Blessings to you and yours tonight. It has been a very good day. I wanted to share with you why today has been such a blessing...it started right. What do I mean? We began our day by attending what may be...no it is...the best church in America. Now that is a heady claim and how can one know that his or her church is the best church in America? Well you really can't make that claim but it is wonderful that you love your church so much that you make that claim.

I attend Brown's Bridge Community Church (BBCC) in Cumming, Georgia. It is a sister church to Northpoint Community Church in Alpharetta, GA. The founding and current pastor is Andy Stanley (son of Charles). I believe Andy is the most gifted communicator and leader of any church in America, perhaps the world. You could of course make this claim of many men, but for me he is the Man! Of course Andy is very humble and has no ego. He is all about growing the kingdom and growing those people he has influence over. A few reasons I think I attend the best church in America:

• The church is full of people like me. We all are marred, yet redeemed.
• The church has one purpose...to bring people into a relationship with Jesus Christ
• The Worship is unbelievable
• The messages are timely and non-threatening
• Anyone is welcome and no one feels out of place
• There is no dress code...come as you are
• People are baptized regularly (this means people come to Christ regularly)
• It is not about numbers or affiliations with any denomination
• The numbers that do attend represent families coming together willingly and eagerly to share life together.
• Small groups are the foundation of this church. You can't be a member unless you are in a small group.
• My small group members are my closest friends. We literally are sharing life together...the good, the bad and the ugly.
• I can be myself at BBCC. There is no agenda
• I have never seen an invitation to accept Christ given, but people get saved weekly?? The people are going out to their workplaces, schools etc. and sharing Christ.
• There are no business meetings...therefore no one is getting mad and leaving.
• Buildings are not important. We have nice buildings but they are used to the max

There are of course many other reasons why I think BBCC is the best church in America but I think it comes down to this. I feel this fellowship mirrors the early church in Acts. The people shared everything. They met in homes. They shared food together and they shared their hurts, fears, needs and their lives. This could be why the membership is growing rapidly and new churches and new converts are being added daily.

I would never want you to think that I am saying your church is not great. That is not my purpose here. My purpose is to say that I am blessed to be at this place for such a time as this. God has led me here, God keeps me here and I pray that I never take for granted the privilege of being a part of this great church, among great people led by the finest staff of any church anywhere. We can do so much more but we are doing much in this shattered world. To God be the glory...great things He has done.

Small Groups

This week in our small group we studied Philippians, Chapter 1. The topic seemed to be the suffering of Paul and how he handled adversity, jail, etc. It was a special time for our group. We delved into the wonder of community and sharing one another's burdens. We seemed to agree that doing life presents many challenges for each of us. We also agreed that God had brought this small group of believers together to share our hurts and challenges and that we should lean on one another. This is the way that God intended for us to face the trials we face. Man should not bear his suffering alone. This is indeed what friends and especially fellow believers should do in time of need.

One of the points made was that we are all in one of three categories. We are either in a storm, just leaving a storm or about to enter a storm. This same evening we all discovered that things were really going quite well for all of us. But we all understood that this can change at any moment.

As a grandparent I have learned that my heart truly aches for my little granddaughters. They are age 3 months to 6 years. All have blond hair and they are truly a joy. All was going well today with everyone in my family until I got a call this morning that Mary our 3 month old in Dallas had become ill. The visit to the Dr this afternoon confirmed that she has swine flu. Her temp is over 101 and as any parent knows this is a trying time as they really can't tell you how they feel, but her mom said you could see it in her little swollen eyes. I spread the word to my small group and other close friends and a wave of prayer rose up for her immediately. One close friend even emailed a prayer that was shared with other members of my small group. I ask all who might read this blog to pray a little prayer for sweet Mary...right now.

I close with a word of thanks to God for watching over little Mary. I know He has her in His hands at this very moment. Perhaps we are overly anxious for this little one...after all it is only the flu, but when a little one...so fragile is ill it breaks our hearts. I also say a word of thanks to my brothers and sisters in Christ that care enough for us to stop what they are doing and pray for our little Mary. This is why my small group is so precious to me and I thank God that He brought us together.

Wonder what President Obama thinks?

It is cool Saturday afternoon here in Georgia and in the south football is always in the air. But today a rally is being held in the nations capital. The rally is a gathering of over 1,000,000 Americans who have come together to protest change. The desired change is actually a takeover of our country. The takeover is being orchestrated by a group hiding in the shadows. The representative of this group is our President, Barrack Obama. One sixth, almost twenty percent of our economy is the first target. This target is a takeover of our health care system. I am not going to get into any details....you have already heard the arguments. A second segment of our economy under attack is energy. The President hopes to pass the cap and trade (tax) bill. This will without a doubt increase costs for all forms of energy. We are kidding ourselves if we think green energy is the answer to our energy dependence problems. Once again I will not delve into the details..you have already heard the arguments.

The reason for my writing today is my interest in what the President thinks about this huge outcry against his plan for a perfect world. The dreams he dreams are for an America that mirrors Europe and other countries with government controlled health care and fashionable windmills on every hilltop. He dreams of electric cars, bio diesel fueled autos, etc. He has dreamed of a country where all have equal incomes (socialism) and a myriad of other cockamamie ideas birthed in his liberal dreamland. Americans are rebelling against his perfect plan and his lifetime dreams. They are spoiling his plan and in his opinion they are a group of malcontents who lack social graces and education.

It appears his plan will be to ram through his ideas despite the outcry and he must be willing to settle for a one term presidency. Of course one might consider the fact that he is in a hurry to get his ideas implemented with the hope that by the time the next election comes around the simple minded detractors will have given up and he will be reelected. After watching the rally in D.C. today I don't think America will have a short memory. In fact I believe we will see the rebellion in full bloom when the midterm elections take place in 2010. I believe this President is an intelligent man but his agenda is flawed and he can't see the forest for the trees. Americans do have the will to stand up for what is right. We have not yet slipped into apathy to the point that we will stand by and watch our country come apart at the seams.

I close by referring to my last post where I wondered what God might be thinking about our squabble over health care? God knows the end at the beginning and He has a plan for us. Though our President may not realize it, God is in control. I think God does allow his people to make decisions....even bad decisions. He allowed us to select this President (though many of us did not vote for him) and we are reaping what we sowed. But in the end God does have a plan, He is in control and His will be done. I think it is high time that our President spend some quality time alone. He needs to think about what his people (our country) thinks about his plans. He needs to realize that he works for us and that he best listen very carefully to what we are saying. He needs to stop listening to his large group of advisers and start listening to his boss. It also wouldn't hurt him to spend some time alone with God and listen to what His plan is. I pray that he would open his eyes, open his ears and open his heart. He needs to do what is right.