4.29.2010

Our Next Series

I'm excited about our new series at Captivate that begins this week. I'm really praying that our people see the need to surrender their earthly treasures for the sake of a heavenly one. This series won't be about money, it'll be about motives. God wants us to surrender to Him but instead so often times we surrender to the 'pirates' of our pride, our fear, our past and our greed. Check out the bumper below and the description of our next series.




song credit: Surrender by Blake Lewis

For years, tourists in beach areas around the country have seen the moniker “Surrender the Booty” emblazoned on flags, beach towels and bandanas. This pirate-themed saying harkens to a day when pirates on the open seas would capture cargo ships and steal their valuables. Even today at auction houses around the country you may find remnants of old pirate ships, treasure chests or cannons from these days gone by.

The Bible talks repeatedly about a similar hijacking taking place in the minds and hearts of people across the globe. God, in His great love for us, desires to give us an abundant life found in His Son, Jesus Christ. Life, however, is filled with various "pirates" who steal this true treasure and sink our proverbial ships as we sail the seas of life.

At Captivate Church, we will discuss the treasure of an abundant life and all of those pirates in life trying to steal what can be yours in Christ. We invite you to grab your eye-patch, wooden peg leg and a fake mustache as we explore a new series called “Surrender the Booty”.

4.19.2010

Captivate Update


I've been silent on the blog for about a month. If you've read before you know that I've been keeping up the blog since 2003 when blogging wasn't 'in' yet. Over those years I've learned that I have to take a break from time to time to ensure I'm not addicted to posting or keeping myself 'out there' for the world to see.

I've had more than a few friends give me a hard time about not updating everyone as to the happenings here in Baltimore at Captivate Church so I figured I'd oblige.

- Captivate is doing very well. We had an amazing Sunday this week with another salvation. That makes 43 people in 6 months who've professed Jesus as Savior during a Captivate worship experience.

- My doctor found some skin cancer. I had a spot removed just above my eyebrow. It's Basal Carcinoma. It should be just fine but it was news that certainly makes you think about your mortality. It's healthy to do that from time to time.

- We've started radio ads and they're paying big dividends. We've seen many families come since our move to the movie theater and several have stayed. Out of the gate we were much younger than we anticipated. We've seemed to begin to diversify our demographic and we're excited about that.

- We're seeing some Christians come through the doors for the first time since we launched.
Most of the people who came to Captivate initially were not 'churched'. Now we're beginning to see Christians who are attracted to our mission. That's exciting. We've been blessed so far to only see Christians with good attitudes come through the doors. We don't have time to fight with disgruntled believers. It has been great however to see God bring partners in ministry.

- We have great partner churches.
I can't tell you how great it's been to work with our friends around the country who are helping us get healthy. They are all led by spiritual giants in my book. I'm so humbled and honored to know these churches. If Captivate becomes half as healthy as these churches we will indeed be a great witness to our city.

- I'm certain I have the joy to work with some of the most amazing people on the planet. They work so hard with so little compensation and demands. God is using them to bring people to himself and God uses them regularly to lift me up and allow me to be most effective doing what only I can do. I'm thankful for our staff and volunteers!

- Baltimore has some great Pastors who've come along in the last few years. I get the joy of working with BaltimoreChurchPlanting.com and the churches connected to our local association. Additionally my friend John is now in the area doing a phenomenal job bringing new life to a church that wasn't sure about it's future. He's started a blog to document his journey at RevitalizeChurch.com You'd be wise to check it out.