TPC LeaderNet | 01.21.05 |

WEDNESDAY EVENINGS @ TPC!
Need a break in the week for worship and time with God? The TPC LeadTeam is meeting on Wednesday evenings at 7pm for Praise and Prayer at the Ministry Center. Pastor Jay will share some brief thoughts each week to focus us as a community in prayer time.

Date: Each Wednesday Evening
Time: 7pm - 8:15pm.
Location: TPC Ministry CEnter


CHAMBER OF COMMERCE RIBBON CUTTING
Businesses new to the Chamber of Commerce are able to schedule "ribbon-cuttings" which signal the opening of new business or not-for-profits. We will have our "ribbon-cutting" this coming Friday at 10am. Join us for refreshments, coffee, and a fun time as we cut the ribbon on the Ministry Center!


WEST AREA DISCIPLES FELLOWSHIP AND WORSHIP EVENT
Join other Christians from all over West Tennessee for a Fellowship and Worship Event with guest speaker, Congressman John Tanner. Congressman Tanner will speak on "Being A Person of Faith in Political World" sharing his experiences on how someone in government serves the public interest while maintaining their passion for Jesus Christ.

Worship (led by the TPC Worship Team) will be followed by a potluck dinner. Guests are WELCOME!

Date: Sunday, January 30
Time: 5pm -7pm
Location: TPC Ministry Center


FINANCIAL PEACE UNIVERSITY
We have around 30 signed up for Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University meeting on Tuesday evenings at 7pm. The program is a 13wk video course on money management and debt reduction. We are now full! Because of the overwhelming response to FPU, we will schedule another FPU class for our Summer PromiseGroup Semester.


TPC PRAISE TEAM
Praise and Worship Pastor, Dale Dodd, is gathering a group of talented musicians together weekly on Thursday evenings at 6pm for prayer and practice as we approach our Feb. 13 launch! If you are musically gifted and would like to assist in leading worship, you can get in touch with Dale at dale@promisechurch.info


GETTING THE WORD OUT!
Our billboards are up all over Jackson with the "What's in a Promise Teaser" and they look great. Beginning in Feb. we'll also have a large billboard on the HWY 45 Bypass across from the ministry center.

The TV Commercial looks GREAT! It will begin airing in two weeks on WBBJ.
A Direct Mail piece was mailed this week to 8000 Jackson households featuring our January 30th Worship Event and our launch. We've already received a number of calls in response to our mailout.

We will have a sticker promotion on copies of the Jackson Sun the weekend PRIOR to our worship launch. The sticker will announce our launch date and web address. According to one statistic, 80% of people living in Madison County read the Jackson Sun regularly.


DIVORCECARE
Are you or do you know someone who is going through Divorce? Divorce Care is Dr. Neil Clark Warren's 13 week video-course on making the right decisions as you travel through the difficult trauma of a marriage break-up. The course covers topics ranging from how one deals with the painful emotions involved to how to work with children of divorce. The best thing about Divorce Care is the opportunity to learn and share with others who are on the same difficult road.

Start Date: Thursday, Feburary 3rd.
Time: 7pm - 9pm.
Location: TPC Ministry Center

Childcare will be available upon prior request.

REFLECTIONS: What's a Life-Giving Church?

I get asked a lot about what kind of church we are. And it's a perfectly reasonable question. People want to know what kind of community you are and who you're associated with.

But what I find most interesting is the NEXT question, I get. What do you believe?

Hmmm…

We believe in Jesus. We believe in God. We believe in the power of the Spirit.

No, no, they say. What do you believe?!?

That God became a human being in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. That Jesus preached, ministered, and was killed on a cross for who we was, what he said, and what he did. Three days later, God's power was revealed as Jesus was resurrected from the dead demonstrating God's awesome life-giving power over death's power to destroy and annihilate. The spirit of God lives on in those who follow Jesus - and it's the same spirit that offers life in the midst of death that we see demonstrated in the resurrection.

That's what we believe.

No, no, they say. WE believe that! What else do you believe?

And that's the point where the conversation ends - as if any of the human-made doctrinal "stuff" that some religious organizations proclaim as "essential" has any power to define who people are "in" Christ.

But there's new life among churches. Followers of Jesus are beginning to awaken to God's power as it is given increase through obedience and subjection to Him. Churches are beginning to proclaim God's immense LOVE for us as experienced in COMMUNITY. And in that love, we are changed, transformed, radically re-created and re-newed. Churches are proclaiming the simple "abudant life" way (John 10:10) instead of a legalistic, iconoclastic rule and belief defining way.

Life-giving churches have moved beyond the need to define themselves by a "What We Believe" statement and instead speak of "Who We Are." Life-giving churches would much rather speak of the fruits of the spirit revealed in the life of a congregation (Galatians 5:22-26). They prefer to tell stories of lives that have been resurrected from darkness to lives of simple life and love. They prefer to speak of joy and obedience and love over condemnation, judgment and "hellfire" (which usually only follow a statement of someone's religious preferences!).

Honestly? People in this world feel condemned already. They know what behaviors deal death. They know what breaks up relationships and families. They know what causes stress, anxiety, and despair. They aren't looking for new knowledge. They are looking for a new way of BEING in life. Indeed, they are looking for life itself. More "head knowledge" isn't going to help.

What's a life-giving church? It's a church that lives out the inexpressible joy of Jesus. It praises. It prays. It lives confidently! It doesn't apologize at all for what God is doing in its midst. It serves selflessly because it has experienced something very powerful. It has experienced the wonderful power of God's saving, life-giving hand at a time when its people only knew despair and brokenness. And that's an experience that warrants proclamation, joy-filled praise, and humble spirit-filled giving to others!

REFLECTIONS: Jesus Centered Evangelism

Christian evangelism has been getting a bad rap recently. The media has reported numerous stories of missionaries overseas who have been arrested for proselytizing people of other faiths. Even closer to home, mention the word "evangelism" to someone who is not a professed Christian and you are sure to see someone's eyes glaze over as they begin looking for a polite way to exit the conversation.

The fact is, Christianity in modernity is reeling from evangelism abuse. Evangelism, for many, is getting the "doctrine right" before they even consider getting the "relationship right."

There, I said it.

Not that evangelism is a bad thing. In fact, if you go to the New Testament and do a word study on the Greek word euangelion you'll discover that the word evangelism itself is a transliteration of the greek. Look closely at euangelion and what do you see? The prefix "eu" which comes before such words as "eu-phoria," "eu-charist," and "eu-genics" (from the Greek "well-born" names the practice of breeding animals!), simply means "good." In the second part of the word -anggelion we recognize "angel" or messenger. Evangelism is nothing more than the telling of some good news. An "evangelist" is not someone who has big hair and a strong southern accent, but someone who speaks good news!

In the New Testament, the good news is not just any good news, but news about God having lived as Jesus of Nazareth. There's more to that, of course. The good news that Jesus defied death by being resurrected after a cruel crucifixion. The good news that with the "incarnation" (literally "in-flesh) of God in Jesus, the kingdom of God that had been promised for centuries was now at hand. To people who were persecuted, dominated, hopeless, and despairing, this was good news. God was in charge. Human systems of governance and control were not the final answer. The end of the story was and is that… God wins!

Good news, right? Consider that after Jesus lived, his followers scattered all over Palestine, were persecuted and marginalized for their faith and should have - by all accounts - been wiped out. The Jesus movement should have ended in the first century. But it didn't.

And that's good news. Christians with the power of God's Spirit banded together in small life-giving communities. They remembered and told stories about Jesus. They witnessed healing. They were given hope. And rather than being wiped out, the movement that came together after Jesus's death curiously began to grow in numbers, influence, and spiritual strength. There was something TO this Jesus movement, people began to recognize. Lives were changed. Salvation bestowed. Forgiveness imparted. Hope restored. Brokenness healed. Spiritual gifts poured out.

That was the early church. The teacher, Paul, described it best in the second chapter of his letter to the first Corinthians. "

1Co 2:1 When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power."

A demonstration of the Spirit's power. God's power! With that, the Corinth church was birthed.

Evangelism does not depend on one's ability to be persuasive or to convince one intellectually of the "truth" of Christianity. Efforts to do so will not lead to a heart change but only to a temporary "affirmation." Evangelism also isn't about how well you can quote scripture or how many evangelism training programs you've attended. Evangelism isn't about being better than everyone else and "having it all together." Evangelism has nothing to do with these "externals."

The good news radiates from Christian lives like a brightly shining light. So much so, that friends, loved ones - the whole community - will want to know - by what power do these people live? It's then that we evangelize, or tell the "good news." We tell of Jesus's love when we felt no love at all. We tell of healing when all we thought all we'd ever know again was brokenness. We tell of eternal salvation, when we were struck by the possibility that our lives might make no sense whatsoever in the grand scheme of things. When we were down and out, God lifted us up and gave us life to the full! (John 10:10) And we tell of grace - the same grace that empowered Jesus to live among the poor, the outcast, the diseased and downtrodden (he rebuked those who maintained outward appearances with the "right theology" and "worship" of the day!) and proclaim to them the loving and compassionate embrace of God.

And that's good news!

TPC LeaderNet | 01.13.05 |

FINANCIAL PEACE UNIVERSITY
We have around 20 signed up for Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University meeting on Tuesday evenings at 7pm. The program is a 13wk video course on money management and debt reduction. There is still room for additional people if you'd like to sign up.

TPC PRAISE TEAM
Praise and Worship Pastor, Dale Dodd, is gathering a group of talented musicians together weekly on Thursday evenings at 7pm for prayer and practice as we approach our Feb. 13 launch! If you are musically gifted and would like to assist in leading worship, you can get in touch with Dale at dale@promisechurch.info

THE JESUS PLAN FOR A PURPOSEFUL LIFE
Ever felt like church didn't quite measure up to the kind of community we read about in the New Testament?

This week will conclude our study on the Jesus Plan for a Purpose Life. In addition to time of praise and prayer, Pastor Jay Hutchens will share some thoughts on the Jesus Plan for Authentic Community basing his talk on what he says is the "Magna Carta" for Christ-centered churches - Acts, chapter 2.

Date: Wedesday, January 19 @ 7pm
Location: TPC Ministry Center.

WEST AREA DISCIPLES FELLOWSHIP AND WORSHIP EVENT
Join other Christians from all over West Tennessee for a Fellowship and Worship Event with guest speaker, Congressman John Tanner. Congressman Tanner will speak on "Being A Person of Faith in Political World" sharing his experiences on how someone in government serves the public interest while maintaining their passion for Jesus Christ.

Worship (led by the TPC Worship Team) will be followed by a potluck dinner. Guests are WELCOME!

Date: Sunday, January 30
Time: 5pm -7pm
Location: TPC Ministry Center

GETTING THE WORD OUT!
Our billboards are up all over Jackson with the "What's in a Promise Teaser" and they look great.
We shot our commercial at WBBJ this past Tuesday. The commercial will begin airing two weeks prior to our Feb. 13 launch.
We received some wonderful television coverage last week when WBBJ showed up at the Ministry Center to interview Pastor Jay about Financial Peace University. The lengthy spot ran on Monday evening and again on Monday morning.
A Direct Mail piece is being mailed this week to 8000 Jackson households featuring our January 30th Worship Event and our launch.

DIVORCECARE
Are you or do you know someone who is going through Divorce? Divorce Care is Dr. Neil Clark Warren's 13 week video-course on making the right decisions as you travel through the difficult trauma of a marriage break-up. The course covers topics ranging from how one deals with the painful emotions involved to how to work with children of divorce. The best thing about Divorce Care is the opportunity to learn and share with others who are on the same difficult road.

Start Date: Thursday, Feburary 3rd.
Time: 7pm - 9pm.
Location: TPC Ministry Center

Childcare will be available upon prior request.

TPC LeaderNet | 01.06.05 |

MINISTRY CENTER
The Ministry Center is open for business - or, er, um, MINISTRY! We had the first Bible Study of the New Year in our facility this past Wednesday evening. We are hoping that our church chairs will be shipped this next week and we are currently on the lookout for coffee-house style furnishings. If anyone has any good furniture leads, let us know.

DAVE RAMSEY CLASS
We have over 25 registrations for Financial Peace University with many voicing interest in the church plant as well. Someone asked if Dave Ramsey would be teaching the class himself! Sadly, Dave won't be here this semester, but who knows what the future might hold.

PROMISE JACKSON!
Pastor Jay is researching TPC's not-for-profit mission project known as Promise Jackson! We hope to have papers filled out and turned in by the end of January at which point we will begin writing a grant for an arts education ministry for disadvantaged children. We hope to soon be able to expand this into a weekday literacy ministry at one of our local elementary schools.

BAND REHEARSALS
Praise and Worship Pastor, Dale Dodd, has begun holding band rehearsals on Thursday evenings at 6pm. Please contact Dale at dale@promisechurch.info if you are gifted musically and are willing to put in a couple of hours a week rehearsing our worship music.

THE JESUS PLAN FOR A PURPOSEFUL LIFE
We will meet this week at the Ministry Center. This week's theme is "The Jesus Plan for Healing." Scripture focus: Matthew 5:24-34

GETTING THE WORD OUT!
The "What's in a Promise" Teaser Billboard are out and about in the Jackson area. Let us know if you spot one!
We shoot our TV commercial on Tuesday.
Another Direct Mail piece will go out in two weeks to 8000 households advertising our January 30th West TN DOC event as well as the worship launch.

WEST AREA DOC WORSHIP AND FELLWOSHIP EVENT
Congressman John Tanner will be the featured speaker at our Sunday, January 30th Praise and Fellowship event at TPC at 5pm. He'll speak on "Being a person of faith in a political world." Worship will be led by the TPC Worship Team. We'll enjoy a potluck dinner following worship.

REFLECTIONS: Why, God?

Ernie Ward was describing to me an article he had read recently in the Memphis Commercial Appeal where a columnist asked the question post-tsunami - "Why, God?" It sparked an interesting conversation on an ancient theme dating back to as ancient a source as the book of Job - Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?

To ask the question presumes a couple of things. First, it presumes that whatever answer we might receive we would be capable of understanding. Second, it presumes that there is reason and purpose, perhaps even design behind human suffering. To ask the question, "Why" is to seek an underlying structure or interconnectedness that isn't readily apparent.

Some of the "design" theology of suffering comes naturally to Christians. We read about it in scripture. Why did God rain down fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah? Scripture tells us that it was as a punishment for the extreme wickedness of these two cities. (Gen. 18:20-21, 19:29) Why was the blind man in John 9 born blind? Jesus says that it wasn't because of anything he or his parents did (thus refuting an assumption of his disciples that bad things must be the result of previous evil actions) but "this happened that the work of God might be displayed in his life."

The writer of Hebrews 12 comments that hardship experienced could be an act of God's "disciplining" us as his followers - "for," the author notes, "what son is not disciplined by his father?" (Hebrews 12:7, NIV). The idea that persecution faced by the early Christians might be viewed as God's disciplining rather than simply the result of earthly power or even randomness was intended to be encouraging! (Heb 12:5)

And then there is Job. Philosophizing with three friends as he sits in sackcloth and ashes, Job despairs and cries out, "Oh, that I had someone to hear me! I sign now my defense - let the Almighty answer me; let my accuser put his indictment in writing," virtually challenging God to answer for Job's suffering. To which God replies out of the whirlwind in Job 38:2, "Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge. Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you will answer me." And then God gives his famous reply in verse 4, "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand."

None of this makes for comforting pastoral counseling scripture and none of this satisfies the human urge to find meaning in the design or structure of our suffering. None of this would or should be viewed as an adequate response - by itself - to tsunami victims, victims of the Holocaust, cancer patients, people dying of AIDS, women who have suffered rape - anyone who has ever experienced being radically violated by forces out of one's control.

There is something about the Job passage though that strikes a chord if you allow yourself to "sit with it" for a bit. It's the mystery. The unanswerability of the question that makes the most "sense." After all, "who am I" to understand life in all of its complexities and intricate detail. And yet, life's complexities and intricate detail and inner-workings often result in pain and suffering for human beings - pain and suffering to which we believe there can be spoken, indeed there MUST be spoken some good news.

In his book, The Crucified God, German theologian Jurgen Moltmann, retells the story of Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel as told in Wiesel's Night Trilogy. Wiesel wrote of a work crew in a Jewish concentration camp coming back coming back from their daily detail only to witness the hangman's gallows with a young boy hanging at the end of the noose - having been executed for some petty crime. As the crowd looks on in stunned silence, someone whispered so that others could hear, "Where is God?" The reply came from elsewhere in the crowd, "There he is. He is hanging in the gallows." Moltmann observed that at the heart of Christian theology is the idea that in human suffering and persecution human beings do not stand alone, but have alongside us a God who has experienced with us the hardship of crucifixion, rejection, humiliation, and radical violation of person. This, God has done in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.

It's a mystery, to be sure. We cannot really know if human suffering fulfills some "divine plan." We won't know until we see "face to face" (1 Corinthians 13:12) We can't hope to comprehend, really, how it is that the creator of the universe stands alongside us in our suffering. But it brings comfort nevertheless to know that God is with us in ALL of our suffering and despair. He is with us "hanging in the gallows" as we experience anxiety, separation, and the death of loved ones.

We find comfort, not in comprehending the design of suffering (which there may not be), but rather in acknowledging its mystery or unknowability - that somehow, some way, the work of God continues after the disaster - after the violation. And that work is the work of love and mercy and forgiveness and salvation for all of creation. Perhaps, that is the divine plan. Suffering as an end in itself is pointless. Suffering that ultimately leads to love and deep community can be (with God's help) redemptive.

With God, the story doesn't end with the suffering. There is always another chapter to be told. And that's the chapter of hope.