What an incredible week we had at Mountain View! Here’s the quick update on our “Gas Buy Down”. We dropped gas by one dollar per gallon and caused the largest traffic jam ever seen on Lee Highway. The line for gas extended over three blocks!
We had amazing coverage by the local TV news stations (several stories that I’ll try to post on the blog later). One news station was still talking about this event on Tuesday!
You can follow these links to see Mountain View stories on TV news stations in Chattanooga!
I’m so thankful that WDEF news-channel 12 has picked up our Gas Buy Down story. Here’s the link to the story www.wdef.com/news/mountain_view_church
Can’t wait to see everyone at Midnite Oil tomorrow starting at 9:30am.
Mountain View Church’s “Gas buy Down” is only two days away. We are partnering with Steve Ray at Midnite Oil to drop gas by $1 per gallon. I spoke with Steve the other day and he told me word about this event is spreading like “wild fire”. We are excited to serve our community and are praying that this event would bring great glory to our Savior!
The older I get the more convinced I am that God has designed us all to make an impact. The joy of walking with Jesus Christ is to see the unfolding drama of His plan in my life. I confess that sometimes my desires begin to wane and I can be easily be distracted by other things. The German philosopher Goethe has some sobering words, “Hell begins the day God grants you the vision to see all that you could have done, should have done, and would have done, but did not do.“
Mountain View Church had a special speaker on Sunday, Dr. Keith Richards. Keith is a professor at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga in the area of Business and Marketing. It was great to see and feel the unfolding development of Mountain View Church. Keith really hit the ball out of the park with his message titled: Mission not Tradition. I’m still praying over many of the points that Keith made!
One of the things that really got me thinking was the way the Lord has brought these people together to Mountain View who are open to a new adventure, pursuing new relationships, and inspired by a vision to make a significant impact upon the Chattanooga area. There is a dawning realization that we are giving ourselves to a mission that matters and not simply sustaining a tradition that is quickly becoming incidental to some and irrelevant to most!
I’ve challenged the people of Mountain View Church to experience a “Daniel Fast” from Sunday August 24th thru Saturday August 30th. Typically this fast goes for twenty-one days but I thought this might be a good introduction to those who have never done a “fast” before.
Fasting in the Bible usually means no food for a set amount of time and in extreme cases (e.g. Moses, Jesus, etc.) it could mean no food or water. The Daniel Fast comes from Daniel 10:2-3 “In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks. I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.”
I have not received my copy of Mark Batterson’s new book Wild Goose Chase but I’m sure it’s going to be awesome. Many of you will remember Mark’s earlier book, In the Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day. Mark is an amazing author and an even better disciple of Jesus. And by the way, he is also a graduate of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School - Got TEDS!
I’ve read some of the comments on this new book and it looks like it will be even better than the first. Turns out that the title comes from the Celtic name for the Holy Spirit (An-Geadh-Glas = the wild goose). I know it sounds a bit sacrilegious at first but let’s see where Mark takes this idea. For those who may be bored and unenthused in their relationship with Christ maybe this book will rekindle a fire! You can get the book from Amazon or go to Mark’s site for small group materials (www.evotional.com). Let’s hope Mark will also have this on podcast!
I just received word that my morning radio spot This Got Me Thinking will air on Sunny 92.3 FM on Monday between 8am-9am. Please be much in prayer that these thoughts would have an impact upon our city! (Matthew 13:1-23)
Also, a BIG THANK YOU to my friends Chery Brown and Chris Adams for all their help - God bless you guys!
I meet with a few men on Tuesday mornings and we are working through Neil Cole’s book, Search & Rescue: Becoming a disciple who makes a difference. It really fires me up to meet with men who are hungry to know Christ better and who desire to move out into the world with the implications of His message.
Tuesday’s topic still continues to resonate in my heart as we talked about the Gospel and the implications of the Gospel. Most of us can quickly objectify the Gospel, we can articulate the basic facts. In fact that is exactly what Paul does in 1 Corinthians 15:1-5) “Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you … that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to many.”