Sorry for the break in blog action this week. Jana and I are blessed to have her parents in town and some Bridgers helping us paint.
Our house (aka “my office”) will also be without internet until next Tuesday.
Jun
29
Moving day for the Howertons! In less than 14 hrs Jana and I will officially own our first house. God has been so faithful to us this year in teaching us a tiny, tiny bit of what Jesus meant when he called us to “leave houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields” for His sake. Looking forward to sharing some of what he taught us during a year of being “homeless”.
For now, here’s a pic of the unfinished version of the Howerton ranch…
Jun
28
For the last two weeks, our worship gatherings have been… well, incredible. One person I talked to afterwards today said, “That was almost like a party.” And it seriously was. So many evidences of God’s grace in our midst right now. Here are some thoughts from today…
- Our passage was 1 John 3:11-18 about sacrificially loving God’s family. If we take it seriously, we may have to rearrange our entire lives… but it would be worth it.
- I know I believe The Bible, but does my heart REALLY believe Jesus’ statement that “It is better to give than to receive”?
- I’m completely geeked, amped, pumped, excited (whatever word you want to use) about our Vintage Church kickoff. To keep non-Bridgers in the loop, we’re canceling our worship gathering at Chapman’s Retreat and meeting in House Churches across Spring Hill on July 12th to remind ourselves what “church” is really about. If it was good enough for the first 300 years of church history, it’s good enough for us. Oh, and the church-wide picnic at Evans Park afterwards won’t be too shabby either. Here’s the video teaser from this morning…
- If it ever becomes true that when people hear “The Bridge”, they think “those are the people that adopt orphans” or “those are the people that feed the hungry” then Jesus will be so famous we’ll NEVER have enough seats for people to sit in to hear the gospel no matter what building we’re in.
- Check out how far we’ve come on the building. Bottom floor: done!
- We never want it to be about our band… but they absolutely rock. I’ve had that “Hosanna” song stuck in my head for three hours.
- Our Kids’ Ministry rocks and our Kids’ Minister (who may or may not be my wife
) is hot. It will be sad when we can’t start our worship gatherings with the kids in there with us anymore. - Team USA just blew a 2-0 lead to Brazil. If I hadn’t had an incredible morning, this would really bother me right now.
- I LOVE my church!
Jun
24
We’re showing this video we’ve been shooting this week and finally laying out what’s going down on July 12th to kick off the Vintage Church series. No one has any idea how excited I am for July 12th to get here.
Here’s an early goodie for the blog readers…
PS – If you’re reading this on facebook and wondering why you can’t see the videos posted, it’s because this is imported from www.bridgesh.wordpress.com. You can see videos there.
Jun
23
I just got back from spending a few hours up at the new building and there were over 20 guys up there working tonight. By golly, this is getting downright fun! Here are some pics from construction this week…
And just for fun, here’s a little something special to brighten your day. This is an outtake with Dave Hall (Bridge Member and General Contractor) from the Vintage Church series promo video I’ve been shooting this week. WARNING: you may not sleep well after seeing this video…
I have no words.
Jun
22
This conversation between three VERY different but VERY godly guys about leading worship in the church fascinated me this weekend…
SIDE NOTE: As a speaker/preacher I’m always a little jealous of worship leaders because they’re always cooler than me. I need to get over that… everyone is cooler than me!
One phrase spoken by Harold Best (guy in the middle) especially has me thinking…
“A mature Christian is easily edified.”
For anyone that doesn’t speak Christianeze, “edified” means “spiritually instructed”. I spent the rest of my weekend trying to honestly finish the sentence, “I am easily _______.” If I’m honest I think most of the time I’m…
- easily angered
- easily annoyed
- easily impatient
- easily offended
- easily arrogant
- easily distracted
I’m SO far off but I really want the people that know me the best to be able to say, “Man, it’s hard to offend Josh but it’s so easy to edify him.”
The funny thing is that in my experience the people that need the most correction are the least willing to receive it and the people that need the least correction are the most willing to receive it. Why is that!?
Jun
22
This was just “tweeted” (yes, that’s a word now) from Alan and Shivonne Hood, some of Jana’s and my closest friends and Bridge leadership staff members…
@shivonnehood: We’re having a baby, my baby and me!!!!! My God is amazing and so good!!!
Woo Hoo!!!
Jun
18
This is the post from our Fargo Mission Team yesterday. You gotta read this.
Jun
17
OK, need your help today.
We’re frantically working toward our relocation (probably sometime in the next 8 weeks!) and want to maximize the impact that we’ll have as we move into the business condos on Port Royal Rd. One of the things we’re doing is launching a basic site just for people that hear about The Bridge to explain who we are and where we’re moving. EVERYONE visits a church’s website before they visit the church now.
We want to pick a web address that you could tell someone in the grocery store that they would remember when they got home to their computer. REMEMBER, the question isn’t “which one do you like the best?”, the question is “which is the easiest to remember?”…
Keep in mind, we may not use any of them. We’re searching…
Jun
16
I spent last week suffering for the name of Christ in Panama City, FL preaching a youth camp for the church I went to in college. Yes, sarcasm intended. It was an AWESOME week, as you can see…
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- Thumb-wrestling ring
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- “Big D”
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- “King James”… but something’s different about him that I can’t put my finger on
Lessons learned during the week (these may come out very random)…
- When we’re doing ministry, God is the one ministering to us. We always get more than we give.
- Hungry Howie’s Pizza is vastly underrated.
- The simple gospel of Jesus’ death at the cross on our behalf is more powerful than any combination of humor, wisdom, or speaking ability.
- Teenagers are hurting. At least 10 students at this camp had parents currently going through divorce or some life-altering marital problem.
- The Burger King mascot is stinkin’ creepy.
- You’re never too old for student ministry. The most beloved youth worker there (Big D) was in his 60’s.
- Never underestimate the entertainment value of thumb-wrestling.
- If I were to lose everything – my house, my car, my financial stability, my wife, my reputation, my life – and gain God’s Kingdom, I would’ve made out on the good end of the deal.
PLEASE humor me with this for fun today. What is your favorite memory from summer camp?
