O.K. I have been seriously slacking on my blog posting but I am going to recommit to the blog world for 2011 and try to do a better job of blogging. So please forgive me blogging world for my blogging neglect. LOL!!
Recently I was on vacation and had the thrill of riding a very fast roller coaster called Rockin Roller Coaster in Disney world; Oh and by the way, did I mention that I really love roller coasters. This particular coaster starts out launching you from 0-60 in just under 4 seconds then proceeds to twist, dip, dive, and toss one upside down while being in complete darkness for about 3 minutes. The object being to scare an individual half to death worrying about where the coaster is going and whats it's going to do next being that you cannot see. It's really a lot of fun however, if you just learn to embrace the unknown and enjoy the ride.
We can learn a lot from the roller coaster, because roller coasters are a lot like life. Life does a really good job of twisting, jerking, dipping, diving, and taking us to the brink of crazy but we must always remember that there is one (Jesus) who holds us on the rail. Yes things may get crazy, and seem to spin out of control but to me the beauty of the Christmas story is that Jesus came to save my life that was spinning out of control without Him.
I want to encourage you during this season and throughout your life to hold onto Jesus even during the out of control, crazy moments of life. Christmas can be a busy time, or it can be a time to enjoy family, friends, and take up the spirit of giving to others less fortunate than yourself. However, many times our perspective on things depends upon our perspective of God, the bigger God is to you the smaller your problems become. The Bible declares that God is the Bright and Morning Star, and He is able to shine brighter than any darkness you will ever go through.
Wishing you and yours a very merry CHRISTmas,
Jake
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Monday, August 2, 2010
Dream the Impossible Dream
7/1/2008 is a day that I will never forget, not only was it the day we moved here but it was also the day that I began to realize that this dream God had placed in my heart to plant a church in Memphis,TN was what many people may call an impossible dream. Impossible that is with men however, I am so grateful every moment of my life that I serve a God that makes all things possible.
In July of 2008 we held our first small group introduction meeting at our house with 5 people in attendance. Two of which were me and my wife, the journey has been full of it's ups and downs but most of all it has been amazing. Amazing to step back and watch God do His thing. God is always faithful, He is always True.
We have now completely outgrown our small facility and have been given an incredible opportunity to move into an awesome new 12,500 sq ft facility that will give us room to grow and do so many of the things that God has placed in all of our hearts, we have set a goal to move in and hold our fist Sunday morning service there on 9/5/2010. I have had so much fun these past several years being able to meet so many new people and form so many new relationships, Eagle Heights is full of some of the greatest people I know.
Great things are happening in our church God is on the move, love is in the house and house is packed so much that we leave the back door cracked (Literally) It has always been my firm opinion that Church should be made up of three major components:
1. Gods presence is felt
2. Gods Love is demonstrated
3. Gods people are challenged
In my opinion if we major on these three things we can't go wrong, and if God be for us than who can be against us. So I ask of you if you are reading this right now, to believe God with me for even greater things to come, Lets dream the impossible dream together and then step back and watch God make the impossible possible.
Just His,
Jake
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
A bath a day keeps the devil away
Once when I was a teenager, my youth pastor told me that "a bath a day would keep the devil away" I remember thinking to myself this guy has lost his mind. But then as he began to explain himself I began to realize what he was talking about. I suppose that as I have become older that quote has become even more real to me.
Recently I had to give my dog Vinnie a bath, he is an English Bulldog and I have to bathe him quite frequently because of his sensitive skin and large skin folds that will accumulate dirt and cause skin diseases if left unchecked. Vinnie doesn't particularly care for the baths, he fights me all the way to the shower, and honestly I don't really care to bathe him either because of the mess it makes. However, as his master I know that he must be bathed or else he could grow very sick.
As Christians we can easily find ourselves in the same shape as Vinnie if we aren't careful. It is so easy just to take our salvation for granted and simply go about with our busy lives leaving Jesus behind. Someone has said that Jesus has become like a spare tire to many people, they use Jesus when they are out of options and flat in life, but as soon as things get better they replace Jesus with something else and put Jesus back in the trunk of their lives so speak, only to bring Him back out when they need Him again.
The reality is without Jesus at the forefront our lives we are destined for breakdown, we become sick with the filth that we have picked up from the world, and sooner or later if we continue down this path the world will literally choke away our relationship with God. I want to challenge you today not to allow the cares,concerns,and attitudes of this world pollute your mind and relationship with God.
Keep God first in all that you do, spend time with him in prayer and through the reading of His word, listen to his voice for He desires to speak to you. Remember that God has you here for a reason, stay tuned into Him and get ready to be launched into your destiny.
Just His,
Jake
Recently I had to give my dog Vinnie a bath, he is an English Bulldog and I have to bathe him quite frequently because of his sensitive skin and large skin folds that will accumulate dirt and cause skin diseases if left unchecked. Vinnie doesn't particularly care for the baths, he fights me all the way to the shower, and honestly I don't really care to bathe him either because of the mess it makes. However, as his master I know that he must be bathed or else he could grow very sick.
As Christians we can easily find ourselves in the same shape as Vinnie if we aren't careful. It is so easy just to take our salvation for granted and simply go about with our busy lives leaving Jesus behind. Someone has said that Jesus has become like a spare tire to many people, they use Jesus when they are out of options and flat in life, but as soon as things get better they replace Jesus with something else and put Jesus back in the trunk of their lives so speak, only to bring Him back out when they need Him again.
The reality is without Jesus at the forefront our lives we are destined for breakdown, we become sick with the filth that we have picked up from the world, and sooner or later if we continue down this path the world will literally choke away our relationship with God. I want to challenge you today not to allow the cares,concerns,and attitudes of this world pollute your mind and relationship with God.
Keep God first in all that you do, spend time with him in prayer and through the reading of His word, listen to his voice for He desires to speak to you. Remember that God has you here for a reason, stay tuned into Him and get ready to be launched into your destiny.
Just His,
Jake
Monday, April 26, 2010
Into The Deep
This morning I was meditating on Luke 5:4 - And when He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, "Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a Catch" Of course, you know the rest of the story. On that night they caught a catch like they had never caught before to the point that their nets were breaking due to the massive weight of all the fish. They even had to call over their friends in other boats because they ran out of room in their own vessel. Now most of you know that I love to fish so naturally passages like this in the Bible tend to grab my attention, recently I was bass fishing at a local lake and we were really having a banner day however, we began to notice a pattern that when we fished in the shallow waters we tended to only catch the smaller fish, but when we could find the deep channels and deep underwater creeks we seemed to catch larger fish. When I was reading over the Luke 5:4 passage this morning God spoke to me and said don't settle for being a shallow water Christian, but dare to dive deeper, love greater, dream bigger, and give more. As I reflected on this I began to realize that Jesus was teaching the disciples a far greater lesson than just about where to fish. He was more importantly trying to teach them to stay out in the deep things of God, to dive deeply into His word and discover the depth of God's Greatness and love. I encourage and challenge you today to not settle for being a shallow water Christian, but dare to dive deeper with God. Yes sometimes the deeper you go the stronger the current, but remember that those who swim in the fast current are those that become stronger because of it. Be willing to launch out into the deep and get ready for God to blow your mind.
Your Friend,
Jake
Your Friend,
Jake
Monday, April 5, 2010
Clash of The Titans
I am really pumped about the upcoming sermon series that I am going to be starting this week called -Clash of The Titans-. You will want to make sure and be here for this one, as we will be exploring the different clashes and struggles that so many are facing in the current day and age. We will also be taking an interesting look into the Word of God to see what it has to say about this topic. Make sure and dont miss this weeks introduction message to the series, I look forward to seeing you there.
On another note this Sunday was another historical Sunday for our church as we have had another record breaking attendance at an estimated 130-140 people (this is counting men, women, and children). Great things are happening as new folks are visiting every Sunday and many are making a commitment to follow Christ either for the first time in thier lives or in a recommitment to follow God. We have had over 25 decisions to follow Christ since January 1, 2010 and we have doubled in size as a church since October 2009. God is so awesome!!! I can't wait to see what God has in store for us in the coming months.
Just His,
Jake
Saturday, February 27, 2010
1 Year Old and Still Rockin
Wow!! I am so pumped as of late. So much is happening at Eagle Heights lately, we recently celebrated our one year anniversary and I stood in amazement in all that God has done over the past year. This time last year we had just moved into our current facility and we had an average of about 25 people in attendance on a good Sunday. For the past month we have averaged over 100 people in attendance and it is growing every Sunday. New people are coming, and coming back. Kids are everywhere, young people abound, young couples, young families, middle aged folks, and even a WWII veteran. We are now in the process of building a new auditorium that will accomodate 225 people, and we will be turning our current auditorium/childrens building into a first class childrens/youth facility.
We launched our connection groups (Small groups meeting in homes) on Feb 15th with almost 70% of the church in attendance. We have been active in supporting missions in all three areas of local, national, and international missions, and we have served our community through several community service projects.
I could go on and on, but I simply want to say thank you. Thank You God for your faithfulness, thank You to every member of Eagle Heights for giving, serving, and believing in the vision that God has placed in our hearts. God has done so much this past year, but I assure you that the best is yet to come, I know that this year God will once again blow our minds with His greatness. No one could fathom, no mind can imagine, no man could comprehend His wonder, He is the master of all creation and we are His masterpiece. That should make you feel great, you are the awesome creation of Gods hands.
Just His,
Jake
We launched our connection groups (Small groups meeting in homes) on Feb 15th with almost 70% of the church in attendance. We have been active in supporting missions in all three areas of local, national, and international missions, and we have served our community through several community service projects.
I could go on and on, but I simply want to say thank you. Thank You God for your faithfulness, thank You to every member of Eagle Heights for giving, serving, and believing in the vision that God has placed in our hearts. God has done so much this past year, but I assure you that the best is yet to come, I know that this year God will once again blow our minds with His greatness. No one could fathom, no mind can imagine, no man could comprehend His wonder, He is the master of all creation and we are His masterpiece. That should make you feel great, you are the awesome creation of Gods hands.
Just His,
Jake
Monday, January 11, 2010
The Fathers Business
I am really pumped about 2010. I know that God is going to do some amazing things in our church and also in my life. I have vowed to go to another level in God this year. To dig deeper in His word, be stronger in prayer, be more compassionate in my approach to others and more diligent in my quest to have a heart like His. One of the things that I am doing this year is breaking away from my traditional devotion plan and really devoting much of my time to studying the life of Jesus.
Recently, I have been meditating on the early life of Jesus. Particularly on the passage of scripture in Luke 2:41-50 the story tells us of a time when Joseph and Mary brought Jesus along on thier annual trip to Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover. However, this trip would become somewhat of a blemish to Joseph and Mary's parenting skills as they found themselves a days journey having left Jerusalem and on the way back to Nazareth without Jesus anywhere in sight. I have often found myself asking the question, how does anyone loose the only begotten Son of God, The Lord of Glory, The King of Kings, The Prince of Peace, and what was it that The Son of God was doing that was so important that he would'nt try to reunite with his parents? But the answer reveals itself when Mary posed the question "Son, why have you done this to us? Look your father and I have sought you anxiously." The reply of Jesus is one that we should never forget "Why did you seek me? Did you not know that I must be about my fathers business?" In one sentence Jesus officialy blew His parents mind, and in one sentence He officially taught all of His followers then and now that our number one priority should always be to be about our Fathers business . I have learned that it is the business of the Father that really matters, it is the business of the Father that really counts for something in the end, and I am determined to make the Fathers business my business this year. I challenge you to go deeper in God this year, allow Him to do surgery on those areas that need healing, to comfort in areas that need comforting, and to convict in those areas that need convicting.
God has great things in store for you, no matter where you are in life He has a plan, a purpose and a destiny for you. In the words of the song - Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so, little ones to him belong we are week but He is strong-
Just His,
Jake
Recently, I have been meditating on the early life of Jesus. Particularly on the passage of scripture in Luke 2:41-50 the story tells us of a time when Joseph and Mary brought Jesus along on thier annual trip to Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover. However, this trip would become somewhat of a blemish to Joseph and Mary's parenting skills as they found themselves a days journey having left Jerusalem and on the way back to Nazareth without Jesus anywhere in sight. I have often found myself asking the question, how does anyone loose the only begotten Son of God, The Lord of Glory, The King of Kings, The Prince of Peace, and what was it that The Son of God was doing that was so important that he would'nt try to reunite with his parents? But the answer reveals itself when Mary posed the question "Son, why have you done this to us? Look your father and I have sought you anxiously." The reply of Jesus is one that we should never forget "Why did you seek me? Did you not know that I must be about my fathers business?" In one sentence Jesus officialy blew His parents mind, and in one sentence He officially taught all of His followers then and now that our number one priority should always be to be about our Fathers business . I have learned that it is the business of the Father that really matters, it is the business of the Father that really counts for something in the end, and I am determined to make the Fathers business my business this year. I challenge you to go deeper in God this year, allow Him to do surgery on those areas that need healing, to comfort in areas that need comforting, and to convict in those areas that need convicting.
God has great things in store for you, no matter where you are in life He has a plan, a purpose and a destiny for you. In the words of the song - Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so, little ones to him belong we are week but He is strong-
Just His,
Jake
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