Blog Posts

Easter in the PARK 2012: A Perfect 10?

Believe it or not, we are less than seven weeks away from the 10th celebration of Easter in the Park!  On Sunday, April 8, 2012, at 9:00AM in the Mizner Park Amphitheatre, we will complete a decade of Easter in the Park celebrations, offered as our church’s gift to our South Florida neighbors.  That number 10 is a milestone number, and it brings to my mind the perfect score an Olympic gymnast dreams of achieving if she can only “stick” that landing.  A perfect 10!  Which raises the question—will our 10th annual Easter in the Park celebration be a “perfect 10”?

If past years are any

When is Easter this year?

When is easter this year? At the heart of the matter lies a very simple explanation. The early church fathers wished to keep the observance of Easter in correlation to the Jewish Passover. Because the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ happened after the Passover, they wanted Easter to always be celebrated subsequent to the Passover. And, since the Jewish holiday calendar is based on solar and lunar cycles, each feast day is movable, with dates shifting from year to year. Now, from here the explanation grows more complicated.

Our New Purpose

Dear Leaders (aka “Early Adopters”, aka “The 16 %”),

Happy New Year!  Now that the Thanksgiving/Advent/Christmas rush is behind us for another year, I am excited about being able to focus more attention on our new mission/purpose of “making Disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world”.  I want to let you know what we are doing so you can offer input and suggestions, and also help others begin to connect the dots as we move forward. 

We are currently working on implementing our new purpose in four areas;

1.       The New Testament Bible reading plan. We are encouraging all

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I am writing because you came forward at the Celebration Service at Olympic Heights High School, and committed yourself to help our church embrace the new vision of “Making Disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world”.  We have been referring to you – and the 200 or so others like you – the “early adopters”, or the “16%” because the “Bell Curve” I presented that day indicates it takes about 16% of any group – the “early adopters” - embracing a new direction, before that new direction can actually become reality.  

I think it’s time to quit calling you anything but what you

The Trouble with Altar Calls… 16% - And Counting

I spent a lot of time at the altar as a kid. 

It was part of our faith tradition.  We would have a guest preacher come every year for a Revival; I would go to the altar.  We would have a “Youth Activities Week” each summer; I would go to the altar.  Our family spent time at Indian Springs Camp Meeting in Jackson, Georgia every August; I would go to the altar.  Even when we were little kids, Phil, Judy and I would “play church”; Judy would sing.  Phil would preach.  I would go to the altar. 

I know what you’re thinking; “Typical preacher’s kid; always getting into trouble and needing to

Dreams for "Them"

When you think about having dreams come true, about whom are you usually thinking?  Probably for most of us, the honest answer is “ourselves and our families.”  Perhaps that’s just natural.  Perhaps it’s simply a conditioned response we have learned from the dominant culture.  Maybe we can’t help but focus on those “when my ship comes in” and those “someday my prince will come” dreams.

But what if it is God’s heart for our best dreams to be dreams, not for us, but for “them?”  The FUMC “mission-focused” task force I have been charged with leading met again last night, and some of our

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