Man it's been a while since I posted.  I have been overloaded and have had so much going on.  Well, let's see....

This post is going to be about Church & Stuff.   I remember a few years ago when I went to a conference at First Baptist Church Woodstock with Pete Hixson, who was my Sunday School teacher at the time, he encouraged me to be who God made me to be and not to try to fit in.  He reminded me that God made me with certain passions and gave me certain talents and gifts and that I needed to be that person and do what God wants me to do without worrying about what people think.  That was definitely a great word from someone I consider to be a great friend.   You see, while I was showing up to FBCW in T-shirts and jeans with a litte sag in them, most of the men I saw were wearing suits, khakis and dress pants.  Pete also knew that I was very big into listening to Christian Hip-Hop and even doin' a little spittin myself and that wasn't EVEN CLOSE to the musical style of FBCW.  Don't get me wrong - it's not about the clothes and it's not about the music.  I was just different than the norm and he wanted to make sure I did not conform because God made me that way for a reason.

Soon after, Pete left FBCW to plant and pastor a church in Mableton called Vinings Lake Church.  The Lord led us to go with him and some others to be part of the launch team.  From a handful of people over three years ago to an estimate of (my estimate) over 400 per week, God has really done a lot through VL.  My wife Jennifer and I have had the privilege of working with youth in the church and outside of the church (a Bible study at a local middle school).  I will never forget the trips to Xtreme where we got lost in the woods and the time I did my "cheese" bit.  I was even asked by one of the students to baptize him.  The worship leader, Dave Riddle, and Pete gave me some opportunities to use my gifts and talents in working with the students as well as through rapping and other creative things God used me in.  Dave really has a way of leading worship with a little more of an edge to the music without making you feel like they are putting on a show.  You are just there worshipping the saviour.

The VL family has helped us tremendously through times of need and we have tried to pour into others as much as we could for the glory of God. Last year we went on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic with the VL fam and it was great.  I just started smiling thinking of the little girl that my daughter gave her shoes to.   On two occassions, even in a village where they do not speak English, I rapped my song "That Cross" and the kids went wild.  I got to share with them through a translator what the song was about and I pray it was more than just a show, but that they were ministered to.  I was even able to share my testimony and then pray with a group of fellas who wanted to place their faith in Christ as their savior.  God is just way too good!

Anyway, God has used us, blessed us and grown us through VL.  There is something else going on...

Something burns in me and keeps me up at night.   It's something God put in me.  It's something he reminds me of every now and then, gives me a glipse of and tells me that it's coming.  It's something he says not to be anxious for.  It's something I couldn't really define but I knew I would know it when God revealed it.  I knew that my heart ached for people in the urban culture and that I wanted to be a part of what God was doing but I wasn't sure how.  Should I start something or just join in where God is working?  And if I am to join in, then where?  Then last year when Lecrae released the album Rebel, there was a song called Beautiful Feet that moved me to tears.  Yeah!  A rap song moved me to tears!  The song talks about people that may not even be from the hood planting a church in the projects.  It totally resonated with me.  But really, who in the world am I to plant a church?  Is anyone else planting a church that I can get in with?  I was still in the holding pattern but KNEW that God was working on me and preparing me for something.  Then in January I went to a preview service for Blueprint Church, a new church being planted inside the city of Atlanta.  There was a great vision cast and I left excited.  But I didn't get too excited because I wanted to be sure that this was the place God wanted my family to be...not a place I wanted to be for my own reasons.  My family and I went to the launch team meetings for Blueprint Church that started in July and it has become more obvious to me that this is where God is leading us.

I had a great conversation with Pete about this a few weeks ago and he was very understanding.  Why?  Because Pete knows that it is about the church as a whole and not just about one congregation.   God is going to use Blueprint in a different way than VL and in a different area of Atlanta than VL.   I am just looking forward to seeing all that God is going to do and I am definitely amped about being a part of it.  Don't get me wrong...I am gonna miss the VL Fam, but we will still be there until the end of the year on Sundays since Blueprint will be meeting on Saturday nights for a while.

And this is one of those Blogs that I can't figure out how to finish.  I am up and getting ready to go to VL this morning and excited about it while also excited about how God is going to use Blueprint.  Maybe I am just excited about being where God wants me to be, when he wants me there.  I think that's a good thing.

So that's what's going on and I thought I would fill everyone in.  Hit me up if you have any questions.

For His Glory.

I have heard a lot of stuff lately from people who say they are Christians.  Some say that preaching Jesus as the ONLY way to heaven is wrong.  Some say that it is wrong to tell people that Homosexuality is wrong.  Some say that you don't have to tell people they are sinners or that they need to repent and place their faith in Jesus.  What Bible are THEY reading?

Let me address these one at a time, not with my own words, but with His Word:

John 14:6    Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me..."   But some people want to say they believe in Jesus AND that there can be other ways.  If you really believe Jesus, you cannot believe that.  How can you believe two things that are completely contradictory?  It doesn't work.  If you do come to Jesus, remember what He says in Luke 9:23-24:  Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.  If you are interested in your agenda and the things you want in this world more than His, are you truly following Him?

I Corinthians 6:9-11  Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.  So if you say it is possible for a Homosexual to enter into the Kingdom of God, then those who live a life to steal, live in drunkenness, those who are greedy, crooks, live for immorality, those who glorify anything and everything above God and those who commit adultery as a part of their normal lifestyle, will also enter the Kingdom.  If you say this is possible then you deny God's Word.  It is clear that these are practices of Christians or Followers of Jesus before we were sanctified and justified and actually following him...not after.  If we don't tell people they are wrong for living in homosexuality (or any other isn), then let's not have doctor's tell people they are dying from cancer - let's not have teachers tell kids they are failing - let's not tell our children that playing with guns is wrong.  I will agree that some people get on a bandwagon about homosexuality and only talk about how wrong that sin is without ever talking about any other sin, but if we represent Christ then we must, in a loving way, share the truth with all people about all sin and His forgiveness.

Luke 13:3  I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.  Luke 13:5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.  2 Cor 7:10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.  And there are many other verses about repentance.  It is clear that repentance is necessary for salvation.  What is repentace, though?  Repentance is to change your mind, your attitude and your direction in a way that you submit your life to the Lordship of Jesus and your primary concern is to do His will.  We must be transformed daily by the renewing of our minds.

There is some crazy stuff goin' on out there and a lot of crazy stuff makin' its way into churches.  We cannot and should not accept these teachings by so-called experts as truth when they are clearly false teaching.  Remember what Paul wrote to the Church at Corinth in 2 Corinthians 11:3-6  But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. But I do not think I am in the least inferior to those "super-apostles." I may not be a trained speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way.   - So if you want the truth that is perfectly clear, read the Bible and compare what you hear with the truth instead of listening to people who will conform the Word of God to their own beliefs.

Oh - by the way - When someone says that God is a jealous God, that doesn't mean He is jealous OF you, it means He is jealous FOR you.  That means that the praise and glory and time you give to other things, He wants. 

For His Glory,

Crayzee Joe

Seriously, I would rather be in the company of the Apostles than those who claim they are kings. I'm so reminded of the huge gap between missionaries in countries where sharing their faith can get them killed and those who claim to have God on lock because the are rich and prosperous when I read I Corinthians 4. Instead of giving thanks and recognition to the God whom they received everything from, the Corinthians were boasting as though they could gain it all on their own.

I love Paul's sarcasm in verses 8-13. Just take a read:

8Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you! 9For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. 10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. 11To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, 12and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; 13when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.

Can you picture this same letter being written from a missionary on mission where he knows he could lose his life for sharing his faith to the average televangelist or “self-help” preacher who claims your best life should be now? Think about it. All these preachers who claim that believers should be rich and without problems are just like the people in the church at Corinth. Who should we really be like? Should we follow Paul's example or the example of the Corinthians? Should we be willing to be made a spectacle of and looked at as fools for Christ's sake or should we be more concerned about how comfortable WE are? Paul answers that question in verse 16 when he says, “Therefore I urge you to imitate me.”

So how willing are we to give up our comfort? How willing am I to suffer for His glory? Are we really just concerned with how much we can get away with or do we focus on what we can do to bring glory to God? We say we would suffer but when the smallest thing comes up we complain about how bad things are. “My day is so bad because I didn't get my coffee this morning.” “I didn't get to go to my friend's house today...life is so boring!” “My iPhone isn't working right.” Seriously – I am so guilty of this attitude myself sometimes. Then I read about Paul and I am reminded of how much suffering and persecution and slander and brutal treatment I could be taking and I wonder if I am missing out on something with the life I have. Am I too blessed for my own good, even through all my trials? Lord, let them call me scum for your name's sake!