From the Grace Foothills website:
We’ll be taking about a six week break from 2 Corinthians this summer to study stories from the life of the Old Testament prophet, Elijah. As we walk through 1 Kings 17-19, we’ll discover inspiration, encouragement and also a challenge to move into the lives of others. Although there are vast differences between this period of ancient history and that of the apostle Paul or our own day, our prayer is that we will see the same God, the same story of salvation, hope and grace overarching it all.
To grasp a deeper understanding of Elijah and his historical context read this Introduction to 1 Kings from the ESV Study Bible: 1Kings.pdf
I was seven years old when Elvis died. I remember my Mom crying as she was listening to one of his records. She did the same thing one day in December of 1980 when John Lennon was gunned down by an out of mind fan. Music is so powerful and the musicians and artists that make music have a power that is kind of scary when you think about it.
I remember watching “Motown 25″ on a May night in 1983. I was with my Mom and my older brother, Norm. We watched in amazement at the moves of Michael Jackson. His feet barely touched the floor. We knew that night that something entirely different was coming down the pipeline. As a child of MTV, I followed Michael Jackson’s career just like every other teenager living in the 1980’s.
And then the 1990’s came and Michael started to look a little weird. I was still liking the music though. But then things got very weird. It was difficult to watch. It was kinda like watching Elvis perform in the mid-1970’s when everyone knew he must’ve been abusing not only drugs, but food as well.
Someone told me this week that Michael Jackson’s father called him “big nose” when he was a kid. Then you look at the difference between his face in the 1970’s and the late 1990’s and into the 2000’s. Something tells me that Michael was looking for his father’s approval and he never received it, even after he became the biggest pop star ever. That got me thinking about how we relate to God sometimes. How often do we strive to win the Heavenly Father’s approval by our own self efforts and self reliance. I am more like Michael Jackson in that aspect. That is the screen saver of my heart. I continually forget that I already have the Father’s approval because of what Christ has done for me. His perfect life. His sacrificial death. For me. Credited to my account. The smile of the Father is on me because of Christ. I don’t believe Michael Jackson ever knew that for himself, but I could be wrong.
Say what you may about how jacked up and messed up he was. I still watch these videos through the eyes of a 13 year old kid growing up in Charlotte and I am still amazed.
And a few covers and other clips from Michael Jackson’s influence in pop culture:
Many of the readers of this blog know that I am the Pastor of Grace Foothills, a new congregation of Grace Community Church. We’ve been at it for just over a year now (our first service in the Tryon Theater was in March 2008). It has just occurred to me that Grace Foothills is a church for the un-churched, the de-churched, and the over-churched.
When we were dreaming of planting a new church in Polk County, we wanted to plant a church where believers could bring their unbelieving friends to church and their unbelieving friends would not be freaked out or made to feel uncomfortable during the service. Grace is a “seeker-sensible” church where folks, no matter where they are on the faith spectrum, can sit and process the worship service without the distractions of confusing Christian jargon. The music and the message are relevant to our culture and the goal of the message is to encourage the believer with the gospel and to challenge the unbeliever with the gospel. Both believers and unbelievers are in need of the gospel. Thus, Grace is a church for the un-churched. Someone who has no church background can walk in and comprehend what is being said and what is being lived out.
We also wanted to plant a church for the over-churched. Many churches run on the fuel of programs. Sunday school, Sunday morning worship, Sunday night church, Wednesday night suppers, choir practice, youth groups, VBS, Christian Karate, etc. All of that wears me out. What happens when churches operate under that kind of structure is that everyone, especially the staff, gets tired and they lose sight of the mission of the church that Jesus gave the church, to be a window of grace to the community that the church is in. Grace is a place that is intentionally low on programs. There are just a few things that we do: Sunday morning worship service, Community groups during the school year, discipleship classes in eight to ten week blocks, youth group and random events (we brought U2 to the Tryon Theater this past Spring). Thus, Grace is a church for the over-churched.
In the South, the majority of folks grew up in the church in some way or another. I grew up in a non-Christian home in Charlotte, but we still attended church. There is a huge population of folks who grew up in the church, but as they grew older they left the church all together. These folks are the de-churched. Grace is a church for the de-churched. Matt Chandler, a church re-planter in Dallas, explains the de-churched in this clip from the Advance Conference which myself and a few others attended in Durham a few weeks ago:
Our hope is that Grace Foothills would be a gospel-centered church (focusing on the Person and Work of Jesus and the welcoming heart of God through Christ and the Holy Spirit) and that Grace Foothills would be a blessing to the community, whether someone is un-churched, de-churched, or over-churched.
I posted the audio a few weeks ago from the Advance Conference that me and 4 of my friends attended in Durham. Now the videos are available by clicking here.
As you walk through the doors of the Tryon Theater on a Sunday morning, you will smell good coffee and hear an eclectic mix of music. Before the service begins at 10:30, you can hear an acoustic blend of musicians who are singing about truth and beauty. Some are asking questions that only the gospel can answer. Truth and beauty can be seen all over and we are saying, “Listen, there’s Jesus, there’s the gospel in that song.” Here is a sampling of what may be heard before tomorrow’s service at Grace Foothills.
Vintage 21, an Acts 29 churchplant in downtown Raleigh, created these videos on how wrong our perceptions of Jesus really are. These videos do not make fun of Jesus, rather they make fun of how we perceive Jesus to be.
Well, day one at the Advance Conference is over. I am sitting here in our hotel room watching Conan O’brien, reflecting on all the cool things we heard today. I am here in Durham with 4 of my friends from Grace Foothills. This conference is all about God’s love for the local church and how the local church can resurge by looking at Jesus and being on mission for Jesus. The gospel is the center of what God is up to in the church and when a church has no gospel centrality, it ceases being a church and becomes a museum, country club, or a boneyard.
This Thursday I am going to a conference in Durham with five folks form Grace Foothills. I am pumped. Some of the speakers will be John Piper, Mark Driscoll, and Bryan Chapel. Click here for more info.
I don’t know if you know who Penn and Teller are, but they are famous magicians who have been around since the 1980’s. They are known for their use of humor in their shows. These guys on a regular basis make fun of and mock guys like David Copperfield. In October of 1991, I was in New York City with a group of students from ASU and a few of us went to see Penn and Teller’s off Broadway show called, “Penn and Teller Rot In Hell” (don’t really know why that was the name of the show). During the intermission, Penn and Teller came into the audience to invite a few folks to be in their next routine. I was one of the folks they chose and I along with other audience members were in a routine called “Mofo, the Psychic Gorilla”. After the show, they hung out with folks in the lobby of the theater and they signed my program (in the photo below).
Why am I telling all of this? Because Penn is an atheist and he is a very well versed atheist. Recently, a man went to their show and gave Penn a Bible and he was touched by this man’s goodness and authenticity. There are many in the church who need to follow this man’s example. Here is Penn’s response below.
“Lord, you have placed me in your church as an overseer and pastor. You see how unfit I am to administer this great and difficult office. Had I previously been without help from you, I would have ruined everything long ago. Therefore I call upon you. I gladly offer my mouth and heart to your service. I would teach the people and I would continue to learn. To this end I shall meditate diligently on your Word. Use me, dear Lord, as your instrument. Only do not forsake me; for if I were to continue alone, I would quickly ruin everything. Amen.”
Last night, I went with the Grace Foothills Youth Group to see three bands play in Greenville, SC. We had such a good time. It was four hours of the loudest and most awesome head banging I have experienced since the night me and my brother saw Huey Lewis and the News play in Charlotte in the summer of 1985. Seriously, it was more awesome than Huey Lewis. Keith and Jessi Holmes are true head bangers (trust me, I was standing behind them). The three bands were Decipher Down, Disciple, and Skillet.
Here are some photos of us all before and after the show:
They also did a Bon Jovi cover. John Cooper, the founder and lead singer of the band, explained what a “power ballad” is. And then they did this song. I started to cry. I think I was freaking Skylar out. If you can sit through this eight minute and twenty six second clip, we may have to sit down and talk about time management.
This has been a really hard week for me. After hearing the diagnosis on Luke, I kind of crawled into a hole from relationships, including Jesus. I am finding that I don’t do that well in crisis. Instead of reading my Bible and going to the Lord in prayer, I tend to channel surf. It was also a struggle to write a sermon this week. However, the passage I am preaching tomorrow is a very encouraging one (2 Cor. 5:1-5). It’s about Heaven. Always a good thing to remember. Walking with Jesus is a constant cycle of forgetting the gospel and then remembering the gospel. As of this moment (Saturday afternoon, 4:05 pm) I am feeling the love of Jesus for me. I am crawling out of my cave and I am ready to preach the gospel of grace tomorrow. This song by David Crowder has helped me get out of the cave and see Jesus a little more clearly.
We received the unfortunate news today that Luke has a very rare colon disease (the Docs don’t know what the cause is) and it’s not a matter of if, but when, his colon will have to be removed. Amy and I are very sad for Luke, but are hopeful. The Lord is refining my faith and love for Him. “Scott, do you trust Me?” “Yes, Lord, I trust you, but why?” “I can’t tell you the details right now, but please know that I love you, I love Amy, I love Jack, and I love Luke.”
Amy and I haven’t made any permanent decisions about the next steps. Do we go ahead with surgery this summer or do we wait until Luke is older to better grasp and understand the finality of removing his colon? We could really use your prayers as we look to the Lord for guidance. Thank you for praying this week for us. We are on this journey together.
We are leaving for Winston-Salem in a few minutes for a one year check-up and x-ray of Luke’s colon. Last April, he had surgery and currently has an illestomy. Please pray for us. Pray that the Lord would bring healing to his colon so that the docs could “redo Luke’s plumbing”. Thanks to the Carmona’s for giving us a free night at the Hampton Inn in Winston tonight. Luke’s appointments are tomorrow at 10:00 and 1:00. Thanks for your love for us and for your prayers.
Today as I was coming back down the mountain from Arden (I was in a presbytery meeting most of the day), I did the Ipod shuffle and it landed on some Vertical Horizon. It was just what I needed. So here is what I listened to:
Steve Mckoy, the church planter and fellow blogger who got me into church planting and blogging, has an excellent post on how art and culture should be a part of the gospel way of living. Read it by clicking here.
1. Augustine (5th century): Remember that you are a citizen of another kingdom.
2. Martin Luther (16th century): Expect politicians to be corrupt.
3. Thomas Aquinas (13th century): God has made himself known in nature.
4. John Calvin (16th century): God is sovereign over all, including our suffering.
5. Jonathan Edwards (18th century): God is beautiful, and all beauty is divine.
6. Thomas a’Kempis (15th century): Practice self-denial with a passion.
7. John Wesley (18th century): Be disciplined and make the best use of your time.
8. Fyodor Dostoevsky (19th century): God’s grace can reach anyone.
9. Dietrich Bonhoeffer (20th century): Beware of cheap grace.
10. Alvin Plantinga (21st century): Moral virtue is crucial for intellectual health.
Last night, I walked from my house to the Tryon Theater (how cool is that?) to see “Taken”. A film about the teen daughter of a retired CIA agent who is abducted, in all of the first five minutes on her holiday in Paris, by Albanian bad guys. Liam Neeson then goes on a one man war to get his daughter back. This film was so enjoyable because Liam is a normal guy. He’s no Jason Bourne. He’s no 007. He’s just a man who has a particular set of skills that will be a nightmare for the men who have taken his daughter. Of course, I see the gospel in everything. So, Jesus is pursuing us and He has wiped out the bad guys of sin, Satan, and death (the things that have “taken” my heart away from God) by HIs perfect life and His perfect sacrifice for me on the Cross.
You’ve got to listen the guys on the Filmspotting podcast review “Taken”. It is hilarious.
My Mom and Dad gave us a free night at The Hampton Inn in Asheville for Easter. It was so fun. We swam in the indoor pool for hours and Luke and Jack Especially loved the hottub. Thanks, Mom and Dad!
Thanks to Tim and Ginelle Almond and their friend Larry, who led worship at Grace Foothills this morning. As usual, I am blown away at what the Lord is up to in this little church plant in Tryon, NC. This morning, we found out that Joe Cocker’s “You Are So Beautiful” was an awesome addition to “Be Thou My Vision”. I love when modern songs take on a whole new meaning when they are sung to the Lord.
Last summer, I spent a week in the Czech Republic with over 100 Czech college students to take a deeper look at the wonder of grace. One night, they showed this short film called “Most”. Although some of the theology is a little off (see if you can spot the bad theology), the film is still very powerful. Take a few minutes on this Good Friday to reflect on the love of God for us.
This morning’s service at Grace Foothills was so awesome. My friend and brother, Chas Morris, preached and it was so good. The coolest thing about the whole service was how the music and the message all connected together with the theme of the glory of the gospel as God has revealed it in Christ. The last song we sang really struck me. It was one of those “God moments”, not just for me, but for many in the congregation as well. Here is that song:
Last night was my debut as head coach for the Polk County Bulldogs. What an awesome night. Every kid on the team got a hit, but we lost 6 to 4. Our next game is tomorrow night at Wrigley Field, I mean Harmon Field, in Tryon. Here are a few photos from our pre-game warm up.
And of course, you can’t play baseball without these three classics.
Scott Stewart, redeemed by Jesus, husband of one, father of two, brother of many, neighbor of all. I’m also a pastor/church planter of Grace Foothills that meets in Tryon, NC.
About Grace Foothills
Grace Foothills is a new congregation of Grace Community Church. We meet every Sunday in the Tryon Theater, located downtown Tryon, NC. Cafe opens at 10:00, worship begins at 10:30. Childcare and nursery provided during the service.
Last night was my debut as head coach for the Polk County Bulldogs. What an awesome night. Every kid on the team got a hit, but we lost 6 to 4. Our next game is tomorrow night at Wrigley Field, I mean Harmon Field, in Tryon. Here are a few photos from our pre-game warm up.
