Church News December 2020

2 Timothy 4:2 "preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine."

2 Timothy 4:2 was the verse inscribed on a cake at my ordination. Now, 15 years later, I ask for your prayers that I follow/trust/heed/obey/reflect this verse with even more zeal than I did as a newly called minister.

Please pray for our neighborhood and the church building. As many of you know, we are located right between downtown Minneapolis and the site of the George Floyd memorial. Many businesses around us are still boarded up and crime continues to spike in South Minneapolis. We have had several incidents of vandalism on and near the church building. I wondered if some of the crime was directed at the church, and therefore, that we were a detriment to the area ("Lord, please tell me if we are the reason people are vandalizing the block"). Then, while praying, it struck me that my prayer ought to be, "Lord, may our presence be the reason why people DO NOT commit crime on our block." Please pray for safety, protection, and peace.

On Tuesday December 8 at 3PM CST, we have our annual boiler inspection at the church building. Please pray for everything to go well. Normally, these inspections are done in the summer but this year everything has been pushed back. So, we have to shut it down and drain it during cold weather. Which is all the more reason we need things to go well, otherwise we would not have heat until a repair or replacement is completed (Also, a replacement would be between 13 and 18 thousand dollars, yipes!). Please pray for the boiler and inspection.

During the COVID 19 season we have been relegated to online only services. During this time, God has grown our online audience to over 500,000 people (one of the largest for any church in the world). Most of our followers are in Indonesia, Brazil, and the Philippines. This is all the more reason I ask for prayers for my preaching. Please pray that God would use this technology to reach lost souls and that God would bless the sermons I preach.

God bless you all as we look focus on the birth of our Blessed Savior, Jesus Christ!

News Hope Weekly 4/1/2020

Here is our prayer list for April 2020:

Pray that God would bless the worldwide efforts to slow and stop the corona virus.

Pray that God's people would proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ during these trying times.

Pray for God's comfort upon all the children in the world today.

Pray that we would remember God's provision and protection for His people during difficult times. May this truth give us hope today.

Pray for people to know the answer to the question, "Where is God?" is that He is right where He has always been... earnestly desiring that none should perish and that all peoples would come to salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ.

News Hope Weekly 3/4/2020

Here is our prayer list for March 2020:

Praise God for answered prayers! We are nearing 300,000 followers online with thousands of people watching our services and Bible Studies each week.

Pray for our messages and studies to honor God and support His mission to save lost souls.

Pray for an end to coronavirus.

Pray for peace in our city.

Pray for God's blessing on our church property, budget, members, and missions.

News Hope Weekly 2/5/2020

Here is our prayer list for February 2020:

Please pray that God would use me to preach His Word in a way that leads people closer to Jesus Christ.

Pray for the love of God would be shown through His people in the world today and everyday.

Pray for our church to be salt and light in Minneapolis.

Praise God for blessing us with growth onsite and online.

Pray that God would hold our church in His hands; the building, the people, and the budget.

News Hope Weekly 1/22/20

^{2 Timothy4:2} preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. ³ For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; ⁴ and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. ⁵ But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.

There is little doubt we are experiencing this passage in churches today (why wouldn't we; it is the Bible after all). Yes, there are many who have turned to (and are drawn to) watered down preaching that may or may not have anything to with the Bible. But we must remember the hope found in verse 5.... the end result of the "work of an evangelist" is a harvest of souls for Jesus Christ!

Our great God call us to His great work. Not in vain but to bear fruit for His Kingdom and glory. I think too often we have pictured the opening passage of 2 Timothy 4 as a dismal scene. Where a lone man of God, stands there holding on to the pulpit for dear life as droves of people flee from the words he is preaching... But folks, that's not how God works. When we preach Christ crucified, when we lift Him up, when we preach the Way, the Truth, and the Life, people will hear and they will be saved.

On a personal note, over that past year I have seen more people coming to our church because of the preaching than any other time in the 15 years I have been a preacher. In fact, let's put it bluntly- the Minneapolis Metal Church is growing  despite our choice in music not because of it.

Preachers, I guarantee you there is an audience for solid Biblical doctrine. Church folk, encourage your preachers to preach the Word!

2 Timothy 4:2 was the inscription on my ordination cake 15 years ago. I wish I could say I always stuck to it... but I can't. However, I am overwhelmed by the grace of our God to give me chance after chance to prove His Word. I will leave the pop culture references, water cooler topics, and anecdotes to the other guys... As for me, I am going to keep preaching the Bible, the whole Bible and nothing but the Bible.

Lord, may I never preach anything but Your Word.... no matter what. Amen.

News Hope Weekly 1/15/2020

"That's the great thing about America, everybody's got an opinion...  the other thing is that you don't have to listen to them, and that's the great part." - Coach Dennis Green

Admittedly, I am a frequent user of social media (our church Facebook page has 250,000 followers, in addition to my personal profiles). One thing that is certain to be ascertained by even a casual browsing of any given social media site is that people have a multitude of opinions when it comes to Scripture.  In fact, posts containing the most fundamental concepts in the Bible can launch hundreds of comments containing opinions more varied than one could possibly imagine. Why? because all of us have heard, read, consumed, and generated opinions about God and His Holy Word. As a result, we stand by and defend these opinions, often without regard or due diligence to confirm their Biblical accuracy.

What a shame it is to consider that we are more apt to listen (and settle for) what someone else tells us the Bible means rather than go to His word and ask God Himself. Think about the many children of God (including His only begotten Son) who sacrificed everything so that you and I would be able to hold the Bible in our own hands.

I implore everyone to read the Bible for yourself. Of course we need church (when you read the Bible this fact is evident) but I think we would do well to set aside devotional, commentaries, and the like and just study God's Word on a daily basis.

In this regard, I do practice what I preach. I started a personal study time on the Gospel according to John and on the first day I discovered something new about this blessed text (it would be contradictory to wholly reveal it in light of the context of this newsletter but I will say the headline of John Chapter 1 could be "Meet Your Maker: Introducing Jesus Christ as the Creator of You and Me").

When we seek the Lord through His Word, eternal truths will be revealed. By these truths, we will grow closer to God and to each other.

Be blessed my friends- God is good!

News Hope Weekly 1/8/2020

Here are our prayer requests for January 2020:

Praise God for a new year. Pray for a magnificent harvest of souls in our city.

Pray that I would rightly divide the Word. Preach with passion and power. And grow in my personal knowledge and revelation of Jesus Christ.

Pray for peace on earth, goodwill towards men.

Pray for God's blessings upon our church property, budget, and ministries.

Praise God for the 245,000 online followers we have (one of the largest and fastest growing of all churches). May God use this technology to bring people the Good News of Jesus Christ.