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Snow Fest - Pembroke Pines

Last year The Pursuit helped the city of Pembroke Pines with their annual Snow Fest celebration.  Thousands of people come each year to celebrate the Christmas season.  It's a great event especially for children who have never experienced snow!  That's right, 45 tons of snow is manufactured for this event and kids get to play in it.

Last year, we created a booth and invited Frosty the Snowman to come so kids could get their pictures taken with him.  He was a hit.  Hundreds of kids and families lined up last year.  Word around town is Frosty is making a return visit to South Florida this year. 

To make Snow Fest even cooler (get it, cooler!), The Pursuit band has even been asked to play on the main stage.  Alex and the rest of the band is really excited about this opportunity. 

If you live in the area, swing by The Pursuit's booth at Snow Fest on Saturday, December 13.

The World is Flat

“Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great. You can be that great generation.” - Nelson Mandela

"...and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."  - Jesus from Acts 1:8

There has never been a time with more opportunity and potential for global change than the time in which we live.

Globalization is nothing new for the city of Miami.  The latest study by the U.S. Census Bureau shows that over half of the city's residents were born in another country.  Miami is a gateway to the corners of the earth. 

The Pursuit Christian Church wants to storm that gate!

That's why our next series has been dubbed, The World Is Flat.  In his book, with the same title, Thomas Friedman, foreign affairs columnist for the New York Times, looks at how globalization gives people all over the world greater opportunities economically and socially than ever before. Friedman says that the world has “shrunk and flattened” in a way that empowers individuals like never before. 

In this series, we will be challenged by the life of Jesus to see our opportunities and responsibilities to change the world in three key areas:

• Sunday, November 2 - Lonely World: "Responding to God's call to reduce loneliness in the world."
• Sunday, November 9 - Impoverished World: "Responding to God's call to reduce poverty in the world."
• Sunday, November 16 - Lost World: "Responding to God's call to help people find their way back to Him."

Sunday Blend :: October 12, 2008

I am still flying high after an amazing Sunday in the life of The Pursuit yesterday.

- The biggest highlight by far was Frank Fernandez's baptism. Words cannot explain how cool this was. On her blog, Janie does a much better job than I ever could so I'll let her explain. More baptisms are on their way.
- After seeing the past four weeks in our new warehouse venue, two services will definitely be needed in our near future! A bunch of new guests are coming (and coming back) every week.
- Our great friends, Sam and Renee Cole and their daughter Catie, came down for a visit this weekend. They are huge supporters of us and The Pursuit. I'm so glad they could see with their own eyes what God is doing. Our dog Jeter definitely misses his new pal, Catie.
- The Big Idea yesterday was: My fourth purpose in life is to serve God by serving others.
- We received a great response from people on their Connection Cards, committing to serve.
- Alex and the band (they need a good band name) rocked out to Gavin DeGraw's "I don't wanna be." Check out the video Alex downloaded below. I am glad people don't really feel the way the title reads!

I Dont Wanna Be @ The Pursuit from Alex Diaz on Vimeo.

Sunday Blend :: September 21, 2008

What a day!

Our new place is already feeling like home and the atmosphere was electric.  I am very proud of everyone who went the extra mile to make this uber fast transition possible. 

Be sure to click here and check out the slideshow to see the rest of the images.

The Pursuit's New Home

Well the e-news is out. 

The Pursuit Christian Church has a new location and we are starting this Sunday, September 21.  Much love to Floridian Ballrooms who allowed us to rent their beautiful space for the past 8 months but the new place made us an offer we couldn't refuse. 

The negotiations have been long and at times difficult but leader extraordinaire, Paul Smoot went above and beyond to secure us the best deal. 

To make a very long story short, we were approached by another church in the area who was closing its doors and the existing members were merging into another Presbyterian Church in Weston.  The leaders of Christ Church have been extremely gracious through this process and we look forward to continuing the legacy they started in this location. 

This move excites me for many reasons:

1. It's 24/7 space.
2. We will pay less per month in the 24/7 space than in the ballroom which we rented for 4 1/2 hours per week (Seriously!).
3. We will have an office where the staff can interact more frequently. 
4. This will be a place where many people will find their way back to God!
5. No more unloading and loading the trailer in the intense South Florida heat! (for now)
6. We can be more creative with our set designs for each series.
7. We are located directly across from the brand new West Broward High School (next to the track).
8. Meeting in a warehouse sounds more manly than meeting in a ballroom.
9. The church staff will finally get all of the junk out of our garages! (ok, that one's a bit self-serving)
10. We have a space that can be used to be good news to SoFlo.

Below is a slide show of the new location: (This is how it looks now.  Can't wait to Pursuit-ify this place)

Sunday Blend :: September 14, 2008

Could we pack anything else into today's Celebration Service at The Pursuit Christian Church?  I think not. 

We successfully kicked off our 40 Days of Purpose and nearly everyone committed to:

1. attending Sunday Celebration Services the next 6 weeks
2. getting involved in a Community Group
3. reading a chapter a day from the Purpose Driven Life
4. memorizing the key verse each week

We introduced Zeca and Talita to the church.  They are already well loved!  I can't wait for them to be here for good. 

We are giving a large portion of this week's offering to help a church in Haiti recover from Ike. 

Finally, we announced that this is the last week the church will meet in the Floridian Ballrooms!  That's right we are changing venues.  More to come about that later ... exciting stuff in the works!

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.

Connecting the Unconnected

Many of us have read, The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell who teaches there is a point at which the momentum for change cannot be stopped. He writes in order to cause any type of social movement three types of people are needed: Mavens, Salesmen, and Connectors.

In starting The Pursuit and building the staff, I knew I needed to surround myself with mavens and connectors because I am definitely the salesman. I believe connectors are especially vital to church planting and the more you can get on board the better. If you look up "connector" in the dictionary you will see a picture of Bob Smith.

Bob currently serves The Pursuit Christian Church as Campus Pastor of the Pembroke Pines/Miramar location but he and his wife Linda are also in the process of starting a new campus that will reach older adults so they can love, live, lead. Just read his recent post over on his blog. Read it and you'll see what kind of a connector he is. Click here for Bob's blog.

Hooked - Featuring XXXChurch.com

Pornography is America's dirty, little secret. I have seen marriages and churches ruined because a pastor or husband was hooked by this addiction. Working with High School and Middle School teens for nearly a decade, I can't tell you how many teens I counseled who were engrossed in Internet pornography.

By the age of 11, the average teen has viewed porn. The largest demographic using Internet porn is 12-17 year olds. 48% of Christian homes say pornography is a major problem in their home.

The Church cannot remain silent.

I am excited to announce Craig Gross, founder of XXXChurch.com will be at The Pursuit Christian Church on Sunday, April 20. Craig is known world-wide for bringing awareness to the dangers of pornography and the freedom God wants all of us to have from this addiction.

The entire month of April, The Pursuit will be in a series called, "Hooked." Click over to The Pursuit Christian Church website for the full details and make sure you plan to be there for all four weeks.

My Life as an Ogre

This past weekend, The Pursuit Christian Church had the honor of sponsoring Pembroke Pines' "Pines Day" festival.

Our booth was a lot of fun. Especially, when everyone's favorite ogre stopped by. Over 1,000 kids had a great time getting their picture taken with Shrek. We also invited everyone to come to our Outdoor Movie Night this Saturday night where we are showing Shrek 3. If you are in the Pembroke Pines/Miramar area, we hope you will stop by for this free event! You can go to www.thepursuit.cc for more info including times and directions!