mattmehaffey

Lesson from Le Tub

Monday night, Janie and I ate at the world famous Le Tub restaurant in Hollywood, FL.  A few years ago they jumped into the spotlight when "The Oprah" declared them to have the best burger in the U.S.

It definitely is worth checking out if you are in the area (the ambiance alone is a unique dining experience).  A brief paragraph in the handwritten menu caught my attention.  

"We are a small restaurant.  We do not serve fast food.  We do regret that we may not be able to accommodate you as quickly as you'd like.  But we will not let the wildly increasing demand affect the quality of our cooking. Please enjoy yourselves."

A great reminder from an unexpected place that staying on mission is crucial to The Pursuit's future.  Perhaps I'll scribble the following in our menu/programs from here on out.

"The Pursuit helps people find their way back to God.  We are not here to make Christians feel comfortable.  Sorry, we will not scratch your itch to 'go deeper' (if you had the depth you claimed to have you would be focused on helping people find their way back to God too).  There are way too many people far from God in South Florida and we aren't guaranteed another breath so get busy being the Good News of Jesus."

Skype-ing Brazil

Monday was an absolute blast for me. I had the opportunity to talk via Skype with my friends Zeca and Gabia who live in Brazil. What was even better was getting to "meet" two of their three delightful daughters, Talita and Larissa (I still have yet to have the privilege of meeting Melissa). Brent Foulke also joined us on the call.

As I've said before, Zeca and his family are passionate about starting new churches that are good news to the city and helping people find their way back to God. They've been doing that together in Brazil for years. But it appears God is leading them to a new location.

After meeting them in May, while they were in the States, we felt an instant bond with them. We shared the same values and vision. There are thousands of Brazilians who have relocated to South Florida, which is already one of the most unchurched regions in U.S. There is a great need for leaders, like Zeca, who are willing to take a risk and do whatever it takes to start more and more Jesus-loving, Jesus-centered churches in SoFlo.

Here's the news: The Pursuit, Zeca and his family are "pursuing" the possibility of them joining our team. Zeca, would officially become a Campus Pastor at the Pembroke Pines / Miramar campus for a period of time but then he would start another campus of The Pursuit in another area of South Florida (where there is a high Brazilian demographic). Our hope is we can begin working together in early 2009. There are obviously several hurdles we have to climb before this becomes a reality. Support raising and the visa process are the two biggest.

We would appreciate keeping this entire process in your prayers.

Sunday in the Bag

Yesterday, was a hard but very good day. Feeling like I was about to puke my guts out while unloading the trailer was my first sign. Luckily, I was able to hold it together.

Sunday's celebration service at The Pursuit we looked at the true marks of a godly leader. We looked at 1 Corinthians 4:1-5 and you can find the audio here. The Big Idea for yesterday was "We become good news to South Florida when we lead as we serve like Jesus."

This was a difficult message for me to preach because I talked about a couple of men who I considered godly leaders (I am where I am today because they pointed me to Jesus) but they hit the eject button on the church, one abandoned his wife and kids for another woman. Paul says, it's not enough to aspire to be a leader but to be a faithful leader.

I found a prayer journal I kept while I was at Cincinnati Christian University where I wrote the names of 20 of my peers who were studying to become leaders in the church. I committed to pray for these guys for a time. While many are still growing and persevering almost half have dropped off the map.

I think what consumed my thoughts yesterday was how fragile all leaders (and all churches) really are. There is something deep inside all of us that loves to put people up on pedestals and when that leader proves what we should have known all along ... they're human and scarred by sin ... we realize too much of our faith was anchored to them instead of Jesus.

Highlights of the day:

1. We saw a beautiful display of grace take place during communion. Good place for it!
2. Kids City is rocking and rolling. Recent first time guests are coming back because their kids had such a blast.
3. We looked briefly into the future to when The Pursuit will transition from the current management team to a local eldership. I said, "If there are men who aspire to this position you need to know and live 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9." While saying that, I saw a bunch of people writing down those verses to study later. Love that!
4. We now have three chefs at The Pursuit ... thank you Jesus!
5. A great summer crowd showed up.

The Disabled Gospel

I am sure many great ideas occur when time is spent in the bathroom. I wonder how many take place when walking into the bathroom?

The church that I used to work at rented office space in an industrial park during it's relocation process. The church offices were on the second floor.

While I had always noticed before that the bathroom was handicap accessible, it struck me one day for the first time how inaccessible the church offices were to people with disabilities. Really. There was no elevator or ramp that led to the second story of the office building. The closest thing to it was a lift that was used to carry heavy objects like copiers and office furniture up the staircase through the service entrance. Not exactly the most welcoming sight for someone who uses a wheelchair.

Seriously, how ironic is this? We had a bathroom for the disabled but there's no way for them to get there. The designers had made access next to impossible.

Obviously, this is wrong. Fortunately, the church staff is now in their snazzy new offices (all on the first floor).

But this got me thinking...

Often times, I get more than a little annoyed by Christians. (By Christians I mean people who love and try to follow Jesus, not those who think saying they are Christian is the equivalent of saying, "I'm American.") To be fair, my annoyance is also pointed at myself, as I am one of those who loves Jesus and tries to be more like him.

The root of the annoyance? We have Jesus. Others need Jesus. We've made Jesus nearly inaccesible to them.

Let me prove my point...

Jesus ordered us to go into the world and tell others how much he loves them (Matt 28:19). Instead of going into the world, we've created our own. We've got our own music. Our own bookstores filled with our own books. Our own Yellow Pages but ours are blue! Our own movies (Left Behind, End of the Spear). Our own nightclubs. Our own schools/home schools. Our own video games. Our own myspace. Our own clothing. Our own Halloween, er, I mean Fall Festival parties.

Is this what Jesus meant when he sent us to be his witnesses to all people groups? It seems to me all of these things are more for Christians than for those who don't know Jesus. Some how I doubt he is pleased with the way we have run from the world so we could be content with our second rate entertainment and safe environments. We create our little Christian culture and expect non-Christians to see it as relevant instead of taking Jesus, WHO IS RELEVANT, into culture.

I have become more and more impressed with artists like C.S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Bono, and Johnny Cash. They understand (or understood for those who are no longer with us) that Jesus is indeed relevant here and now in this age. They have gone into popular culture and point others to the way of Jesus. How many millions of people have seen and heard clear portrayls of the love of Christ because of their works?

We have a God who is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is always relevant. We have been called to "contend for the faith that has been entrusted to us (jude 3)." The word contend sounds to me like a call to get into culture, mix it up, take risks and show the relevance of Jesus to a culture that needs him and his followers more than ever.