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."

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)

The Pursuit Podcast

Here's the link to this week's podcast.  You can also subcribe via iTunes here. 

Sunday Blend :: August 10, 2008

We Love SoFlo, The Pursuit's 10-week summer series is officially a wrap.  This has been my favorite series so far.  It strikes at the core of who we want to be as a church.  The series may be over but we are just beginning to show our love for the region.

Yesterday's celebration was called "Superpowers" and The Big Idea was, "We become good news to South Florida when we discover and use the power God gives us to build his church."  I'll post the link to the podcast when it's up.  There are many in our young church who are using the abilities and skills God gave them, but there are also still many who have not yet taken the step to contribute.

Highlights

• Several 1st & 2nd time guests
• One of our largest offerings to date
• The band's acoustic rendition of "My Hero" by the Foo Fighters. (Love that song!) 
• I discovered my gift of prophecy.  While loading up the trailer after the service, I made the comment, "Do you guys, realize in 7 months of loading and unloading this trailer we have not once been caught in the rain?"  Two minutes later, the skies opened up and we were drenched. 
• We had 16 in Kids City which is the largest crowd we've ever had!  Quoting Erin Diaz, "God is teaching me how to deal with controlled chaos."   

Next week is The Pursuit's first ever Child Dedication Sunday.  We have several families signed up to commit publicly their desire to raise their children in the way of God.  Erin and her team are preparing a great Celebration Service next Sunday.  I am really looking forward to it.

School Supply Success

The Pursuit received a really nice email from Family Central today for the school supplies we donated.  This note made my day. 

"I just came back from lunch and was bowled over at your success! I have to tell you honestly, that with the economy, gas prices and inflation we have received fewer "Back to School" donations than in past years.  Several of the Family Central staff and departments have donated their own money (and supplies) to help out families. Your big donation, will REALLY TRULY go long ways to help...!  You guys are heroes, really!"

Again, I am very proud of the people that make up our church.  Great job!

Sunday Blend

The venue The Pursuit Christian Church rents from has three ballrooms (Royal, Crystal and Signature).  Kids City meets in the Signature Ballroom and ever since we launched The Pursuit six months ago the Celebration Service has met in the Royal Ballroom.  This week we officially made the move to the Crystal.  It's smaller but it fits us nicely (especially our budget). 

The synergy in the crowd was amazing.  By meeting in a space more conducive to our size made the entire service better.  The music was electric and I love teaching in this room.  Except for the fact, there is a wall 'o mirror in the back and so we have to stare at our mugs from the stage area.  Luckily, I was able to position myself so the pillar in the middle of the room blocked my reflection. 

I taught on The Lord's Supper.  You can listen to it here.  After the message, we continued worshiping through a very powerful time of Communion.

It was nice to have a relaxing afternoon and evening after the service.  Janie and I wrapped the last two episodes of Season 4 of West Wing.  Quite possibly two of the best hours of television I have ever watched.  I love this show.  I still can't believe I never watched a single episode when it was on.

I also caught the last two innings of the Yankees win over the Angels.  14-9.  A pitcher's duel it was not, but it made for great entertainment.  Yankees GM Brian Cashman is a thief.  He stole Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte from Pittsburgh.  Of course, new Tiger, Kyle Farnsworth is still finding ways of ruining everything by giving up 2 runs in the 8th to allow the pesky Rays to win again.

Now it's dinner time.  Pot Roast is on the menu. 

Serving South Florida

I am proud of the people that make up The Pursuit Christian Church.  The way they rally around a specific need gets me going.  This past Friday, we were allowed to setup post outside both entrances of the local Wal-mart where we encouraged people going into shop to pick up a few additional items to donate to our School Supply Drive.  Thanks to the shoppers who really stepped up. One guy we met, named Jim, (far left in the group picture) saw what we were doing, grabbed some flyers and served for four hours!

A few days ago, I posted about an article that found the city of Miami to be the least generous city in the United States.  I believe there is a direct correlation between that statistic and the fact it is one of the most unchurched areas in the U.S.  The way of Jesus teaches it's better to be generous than to horde stuff and live life like everything revolves around us.  The need is great for Jesus-loving churches in SoFlo full of Christ-followers who are willing to serve others and be good news to the community. 

We haven't arrived, but we're off to a good start.   

The Pursuit Goes Back to School

As a kid, one of my favorite times each year was going to the Target store in Richmond, IN and picking out my school supplies.  I still remember the smell of my brand new Trapper Keeper!  But nothing topped my Pac-Man lunch box and thermos. 

The Pursuit is teaming up with Family Central to help show our love for South Florida.  This week we are helping collect much-needed school supplies for families in the area. 

Tonight, a group from the church is going on a neighborhood walk to help distribute flyers informing people about the collection and on Friday we will be stationed outside of a local Wal-mart collecting the supplies.

Interested in helping?  Click here for more info.

No Love for SoFlo

My friend, Aaron Monts, who is starting a new church in San Francisco, just sent me this article.  The city of Miami once again sits a top a list no city wants to be a part of.  More proof, the We Love SoFlo attitude The Pursuit is trying to live out is exactly what this region needs to see more of. 

G.K. Chesteron wrote this about the greatness of the city of Rome in his book Orthodoxy, "Men didn't love Rome because she was great.  She was great because they loved her."

Have you shown your love for SoFlo today?

Red, White and The Pursuit

This picture looks like the cover of the worst gangsta rap album, EVER.  Doesn't it? 

Actually it's Paul Smoot, aka Uncle Sam and me (before my transformation into Santa Claus) at a 4th of July celebration put on my Broward Outreach.  I'll play Santa in the South Florida heat any day over playing the role of Uncle Sam in the midst our country's economic woes.  I was afraid riots might erupt as Paul walked through the crowd.  Several people hollered out, "GET THE TAX MAN!"

The Pursuit loves being a church that is good news to the community.  Check out WeLoveSoFlo.com for more proof. I am so proud of our people. On a holiday, we had 20 people show up ready to serve the homeless in South Florida.  I think we had more people than Broward Outreach had assignments.  But that didn't stop some from serving. 

This was the first time I have ever donned the Santa suit.  My costume was ridiculous.  I looked nothing like the jolly ol' elf.  I spent most of my time trying to make sure the beard didn't fall off.  But that didn't matter when I walked outside.  The smiles on kids faces was priceless.  One sweet girl named Maria said, "All I want for Christmas is for my family to be together."  I thought kids only said that in the movies.  That's good stuff. 

Janie also got into the holiday spirit and dressed up as Mrs. Claus.  It may not have been the best idea.  Homeless men were hitting on her.  I don't blame them.  She's a hottie!  But still, be careful how you talk to my wife.  Don't make Santa pull out his bag of goodies ... I have no idea what that meant.  It sounded tough in my mind.