The Economy

My wife saw this sign sitting outside a local beverage drive-thru in Cleves.  I have to say, this is one of the best signs I have ever seen to illustrate the state of our economic and spiritual lives.  After I got done laughing, I thought i would throw it out to all of you and get your thoughts.  So Here it is...What do ya think?

Opening Weekend at the Shack

Today we began the next chapter of the VWS story.  We moved into an abandoned church building in hopes that we could begin to make it our own.  In a lot of ways, this building is representative of the things that God is calling us to on the Westside.  

You see, there is a Spirit that lives on the Westside of Cincinnati that holds the people here in apathy, complacency, and mediocrity.  It uses tools like fear, failure, and condemnation to hold people in the status quo and remind them that they will never fully be who God made them to be.  This Spirit is called "Religion" and it is a very old and very strong spirit over here.

Enter Vineyard Westside...  A tribe of messy Jesus lovers who have moved into the territory of Religion to break this spiritual bondage and bring real freedom. 

 

This is not just a church, not just a tribe, not just a movement... but the beginning of a REVOLUTION.  Don't get used to seeing us sitting in these seats because God is turning our hearts outward to invade the city.  

"Greater things are yet to come, greater things are still to be done in this city."

As excited as I am to see this old run down building filled with God's people.  I am even more stoked by the idea that God is calling an army of servants together to REACH the Westside with the message of hope, purpose, and making famous the name of the only one who can break the bonds that hold this city captive... Jesus.

LOVE WINS!!!

Love Being a Dad!

So...my friend Lee came over to take some shots of me and Noah for a project that he was working on.  Noah and I didn't really know too much about that other than we got to put shaving cream on our faces and goof around for a little while.  When I look at this picture though, I realize how much I love being a Dad.  I realize that they are only placed in my care for a season and I want more moments like this with them.  God...thank you for Noah, thank you for shaving cream, and thanks for loving us like this.  You are extravagant.

Saying Goodbye to the Danbarry

Today was a bittersweet day for me.  Three years ago several of us went on an adventure to start a movement on the Westside of Cincinnati Called "Vineyard Westside.  We went public on September 18th, 2005 in the Main Theater of the Danbarry Cinemas on Glencrossing Avenue.  

While our Theater was dirty most of the time, the bathrooms smelled and we never really got the temperature right; God used this little Theater to change lives during our time there.  We may never know the accurate number of people who stumbled and staggered into the Danbarry, but God does.  He allowed us to watch as the wounded and beaten up by life were transformed by God after spending time in our Theater.  

While I am very excited about our move to a new location, I will miss this Theater that we called home over the last 3 years. Thank you God for a great run in the Dirty Danbarry.  May the prayers prayed in those seats be heard even today and may your name be famous on the Westside of Cincinnati and all over the world because of what you have done through us in the most unlikely of places.

Gift!

This morning I was given a gift.  Like anything that God gives you, you have to share it.  Therefore, I am sharing it with you.  Here is the canvas that I saw this morning.  Everyday it is new and everyday it is spectacular.  Enjoy this one that truly moved me.

Are You Reading "IT?"

One of the most remarkable things that I understand about Faith is that we go through seasons.  This has never been more true for me than in the last 6 months.  As God is awakening me from the Spirit of Apathy, Complacency, and Status Quo;  I am finding myself seeing the world differently the last 3 weeks.  He has given me His eyes for this world and I am ruined, simply wrecked!

In this season, He has placed this book in my lap and had me read it.  At first I thought it would be one of those lame books that sounds like someone is preaching to you, but I was dead wrong.  This book has honestly pegged my story, my apathy, my lack of leadership, and my status quo heart.  

I now realize that the transformation of peoples lives on the West Side of Cincinnati from a "Religious Condition" to a thriving, Authentic "God Experience" begins with my own heart and the leadership that is produced from "IT."  

I recommend this book to anyone who knows there is something wrong with what they are leading and has no idea how to put their finger on it.  This book will open your eyes to apathetic leadership and call you to something greater.  God speaks in this book.  I have found that even though I am wrecked, God is calling me to know what "IT" is, how I once had "IT", then lost "IT", given me a desire to have "IT" back and wants me to keep "IT".  

I am alive again. 

The Incredible Children's Pastor

I want to introduce you to my friend "Pastor Jim" or PJ as the people who are closest to him call him and he is amazing.  PJ has such incredible vision for how a children's ministry should work.  

On Friday night, He, Kim (his wife) and Jamison (his son) pulled off one of the greatest events ever known at Vineyard Westside.  It was called the Blast.  

I had no idea what a great event it would be, but PJ did.  We watched as over 150 kids packed into the Glenmore building on the Westside of Cincinnati with their parents as they bobbed for apples, through bugs through webs, golfed, kicked soccer balls into nets, played every other kind of game you can imagine.  Not only that, but there was hot cider, cotton candy, slushies, bar-b-que, hot chocolate, popcorn, and every kind of candy under the sun.  The most impressive part of all of this was that He did it while feeling a bit under the weather.  

Here's what i know.  He has Vision, He has an incredible heart for kids and them becoming all that God made them to be.

I love this guy!