tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-163858462024-03-13T02:25:58.850-04:00Broken PastorOccasional postings from a church-planting pastor whose failings pointed out his dependence of the idol of ministry success, but on whom Christ Jesus had mercy to break him, transform him and enable him to make disciples who make disciples and delight in God's glory more than anything else.Pastor Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13637699569110651843noreply@blogger.comBlogger168125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16385846.post-28199965022121652802017-12-06T18:30:00.001-05:002017-12-06T18:30:40.162-05:00Hey Crosspointsmyrna
http://bit.ly/2AXEhmK
Sincerely YoursPastor Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13637699569110651843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16385846.post-29453252940272073252013-03-12T21:34:00.000-04:002013-03-12T21:34:51.986-04:00The Next Season of Mission for CEC
Been a long time since I last posted anything on my blog. Guess FB and Twitter have surpassed it as a more useful communication tool. Skip to the end for info on this picture.
So I'm commenting on my last post 'The Best Mission Trip Ever'. I think I need to rename it the 'Best Mission Trip Yet!'
The lasting impact with the 4000 houses prayed over, 1000 doors opened and 450 prayed for has Pastor Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13637699569110651843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16385846.post-26062107763535697422012-07-22T12:18:00.000-04:002012-07-22T12:18:37.515-04:00Best Short-Term Mission Trip EVER: Stay Home and Do Mission Locally
I've gone on more than a dozen short-term mission trips and supported dozens of others. Thanks to Corbett and Fikkerts book and seminar, When Helping Hurts, now I'm not as naive about the benefits of short-term trips unless one takes into consideration the spiritual, relational AND economic impact of such trips.
So what to do? As a church planting pastor who wants to train up the church Pastor Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13637699569110651843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16385846.post-51860453720136787282012-03-31T18:54:00.000-04:002012-03-31T18:54:01.254-04:003 Crimes this week in our Smyrna Community - Reason for Us to Pray and ActUsually, when I/we hear bad news, I tend to think, “These are not ‘our problems’” and “They need to get their acts together.” I’m having a harder time thinking stuff like than this week.
Direct Connection to Students in our Church But in a week where our youth group, led by one of our students, Leo Rodriguez, a junior at Campbell HS, organized our CEC youth group to go out and prayer walk Pastor Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13637699569110651843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16385846.post-45494006005325552272011-12-05T06:14:00.001-05:002011-12-05T06:14:00.305-05:00Very Personal Life of a Church Planter: FinancesPart Two of the Very Personal Life of a Church Planter:
by Jim Moon, Jr.This is the 2nd half of a letter I sent to church planter friends in South Florida. The first half is here. ____________________________________________
About the Very Personal Financial Life of a Church PlanterThe apostle Paul notes in Ephesians 5 that most men long for respect and most women long for security. Both arePastor Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13637699569110651843noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16385846.post-58573799824798104012011-11-29T09:05:00.001-05:002011-11-29T09:20:19.869-05:00Very Personal Life of Church Planter:SexLast month my friend Rick Hunter gave me the honor of speaking to Renew South Florida, two cohorts of church planters in Miami and Fort Lauderdale, about the personal life of a church planter based on Redeemer City to City Incubator curriculum.
But what about Sex and Finances?
As I settled back home in Atlanta, It concerned me that I had not talked enough about sexuality or financial Pastor Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13637699569110651843noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16385846.post-13895810677479148192011-09-19T11:32:00.000-04:002011-09-19T11:32:48.517-04:00More of Less Activity: In Favor of Spiritual DisciplinesSilence. Solitude. Meditation. Fasting. Simplicity.
These are as strange and alien concepts to the life of Christians in the West as a business man in a tree. At best such practices are odd, optional or only for super-Christians. Or worse, they could be construed as punitive.
However our historic Christian faith grew in grace and power as everyday believers and leaders practiced spiritual Pastor Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13637699569110651843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16385846.post-28744047346791835782011-08-30T00:00:00.001-04:002011-08-30T21:10:26.087-04:00How The Help Helped Us Become (More) Bi-CulturalOn vacation in July, my wife and daughters all read The Help. and I'm man enough to say I read it too. Though all the main characters are women, it isn't 'just a chick book' but it's a rather a stimulating book about our recent past prior to and during the civil rights movement. Another pastor I respect wrote a great review I don't need to repeat.
I wanted to comment on the tag line forPastor Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13637699569110651843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16385846.post-26917551559491126522011-08-24T17:21:00.005-04:002011-08-24T17:34:26.598-04:00A Resolution about Welcoming Immigrants into Our ChurchOver the last few years as we have sought to become a truly bi-lingual and mulit-cultural church, it has come to our attention that there are few churches, in our denomination anyway, who have any official written statements that welcome Hispanics (yes, even people without documents) into their churches. There is a fertile and strategic mission field right here in our city!
I know we are Pastor Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13637699569110651843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16385846.post-77844577212028770682011-08-19T00:46:00.001-04:002011-08-19T00:49:39.148-04:00'It's All Good' Tolerance Trend in Morality
"Whatever makes you feel good."
"I'm not judging."
"It's your life and your choices. There are no absolutes."
All sound so tolerant but really aren't tolerant of anyone who disagrees or takes exception to them.
And the irony is the last quote is this: The statement about absolutes IS an absolute. Barna comments on the fifth mega-trend in current religion and Christianity: The Pastor Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13637699569110651843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16385846.post-40884501778229203872011-06-21T16:35:00.002-04:002011-06-21T23:50:42.945-04:00Word to My Church about Youth Group Going to the MoviesToday our youth group leader sent this email out to our parents about seeing X-Men First Class and it provided a great teaching opportunity. Hope it helps you.
Gene said: I know I've told quite a few people this, but just so everyone's on the same page - A couple years ago, we went as a group to see Transformers 2, only to be uncomfortably surprised by the amount of inappropriate Pastor Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13637699569110651843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16385846.post-31519886643939644752011-04-06T17:16:00.000-04:002011-04-06T17:16:51.276-04:00Carson's Solemn Vows and Those Taken Before God Between Crosspoint Encuentro and Her OfficersLast Sunday April 3, 2011, I was part of the commission to ordain and install my friend Rev. Carson Pittman (front row, 2nd from left) as Associate Pastor of Atlanta Westside Presbyterian Church.
As I read the vows on the screen behind Carson, as I heard Pastor Walter read them aloud, Carson could barely keep it together. His sincerity caused me to look into my own heart. I was struck by Pastor Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13637699569110651843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16385846.post-56951854547830861732011-03-14T08:31:00.001-04:002011-03-14T14:59:56.977-04:00Reviews: Everybody Loses if This 'Love Wins'Is Hell real?
Does it matter?
Eternal souls are at stake.
The teasers for Rob Bell's 'Love Wins' book coming out in April set the Christian social media world on fire. It was first based on speculation as to what the book PROBABLY said.
Well now reviewers have copies of the book. Two solid reviews by people who actually read the book are available and I recommend them.
If Pastor Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13637699569110651843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16385846.post-40934561724328548212011-01-24T16:13:00.000-05:002011-01-24T16:13:20.185-05:00Zoolander School of Service Training - Trend #4Serving others is great! And should be encouraged!! Yes! Finally a positive trend to discuss!
So Do Something. Do Good Stuff. Do Anything.
Really?
Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller character in the 2001 movie by the same name) takes a jab at the popular rush to Just Do Something. The life-changing realization of this 'ridiculously good-looking male model' causes him to start "The&Pastor Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13637699569110651843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16385846.post-32165167015700338312011-01-07T10:19:00.000-05:002011-01-07T10:19:17.903-05:00Easy Mac Trend Toward Insta-SpiritualityMacaroni in minutes. Just add water. A vacuum-seal package. Insta-food is normal. Speed is king.
But it's not 'simple'. It's someone else's highly-polished complexity in a serving-sized container. Someone else's hard work you ingest.
Insta-spirituality is similar. Tastes good, fills up but isn't good. Trends toward pre-packaged spirituality isn't spiritual growth at all. Barna Pastor Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13637699569110651843noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16385846.post-36030737541167443502010-12-20T09:03:00.000-05:002010-12-20T09:03:20.545-05:00The L O S T Trend in OutreachWho's on an island with a Shepherd, a bunch of Others and wants to be rescued? Wrecked, hard luck passengers from Oceanic flight 815? No.
Apparently much of the church in the US is wrecked on an island.
Outreach appears to be fading along with theological literacy. So in this second of six discussions of Barna's Megatrends in the US Church, I want to show you how the vision and mission Pastor Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13637699569110651843noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16385846.post-49593278829216445042010-12-13T11:27:00.001-05:002010-12-13T11:34:46.351-05:00Homer Simpson Trend in Theology(Thanks to Robin C in Alpharetta for this important link.)
"Doh!" appears to be the operative word in the Protestant church in the USA where theology is concerned. Barna is reporting trends I saw early as a youth pastor to Baby Busters in the 90s.
In this first of six discussions of harmful and dangerous trends in the church, I'm going to let you know how the vision and missionPastor Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13637699569110651843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16385846.post-67827288354125086492010-11-30T19:53:00.001-05:002010-11-30T20:04:11.484-05:00Why You Should NOT Buy an NIV BibleIf it is the new 2010 NIV 'version', you have an impostor in your hands!
I have been using the New International Version copyrighted in1984 since 1999 because it is an accurate and very readable translation. It is a great translation for beginning Bible readers. Several of my seminary professors worked on the original 1984 translation.
However, in my sermon prep a few weeks Pastor Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13637699569110651843noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16385846.post-58879360911412929662010-11-22T18:00:00.000-05:002010-11-22T18:00:17.633-05:00Three Reasons We Welcome Aliens1. There are at least 10 verses in Scripture that command God's people to love, care for, treat justly and remember that He defends aliens. Don't believe me? Do a search on the text of the NIV for 'aliens' or in other versions for 'sojourners' and you'll see it clearly.
There are a few other moral reasons Crosspoint/Encuentro welcomes people (especially Mexicans) regardless of their legal Pastor Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13637699569110651843noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16385846.post-18295066872214658832010-11-09T17:52:00.000-05:002010-11-09T17:52:21.941-05:00Excited about Church Planting Momentum in the Atlanta AreaCrosspoint/Encuentro is part of some significant Kingdom expansion work you would seldom see. Today I went to our monthly Church Planters Network (CPN) meeting and there were 40 church planters, coaches and visitors. This represents almost 20 church plants in Georgia, Minnesota, North Carolina, London and Bucharest. We are usually mostly white, middle-aged and Presbyterian, but today I looked Pastor Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13637699569110651843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16385846.post-14328258688271862422010-10-09T14:19:00.000-04:002010-10-09T14:19:06.193-04:00Overwhelmed! One Reason I Need PrayerAs a broken pastor, how often do I forget the army of the Lord? Often. I'm sitting here overwhelmed with some opportunities before us. Feeling alone. Man, I'm such a dope sometimes.
As a broken pastor, I need prayer. And I know it. Sometimes I even remember! Because I am broken, our elders, deacons, members and those who are yet-to believe need prayer too. Especially because I am their pastor Pastor Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13637699569110651843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16385846.post-21344640800764452252010-09-11T18:31:00.000-04:002010-09-11T18:31:56.398-04:00Parenting Wisdom ResourceMy Mom's Wise
Mom always learns and always follows Jesus. And she writes about what she has learned as a resource for the next generations.
After growing up in the 'top-secret city' of Oak Ridge TN during the war, marrying at 18 and starting a family at 20, she and my dad raised the four of us in the church and in that old-school small-town way people do in Appalachia.
In addition to the Pastor Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13637699569110651843noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16385846.post-75061581632987345802010-09-07T23:07:00.000-04:002010-09-07T23:07:55.503-04:00Pressure on Pastor Planning to Burn Qurans is Absurd and Wrong-headedWell I'm back and I'm a little ticked off. It's amazing to me that one pastor in a remote corner of Florida USA can garner so much attention over what amounts to a gimmick. It's foolishness.
This article is the #1 Top New Story on Yahoo! News on September 7th, 2010. Four more days and it's an all out assault, an enormous nation-wide and world-wide media pressure to get a pastor to stop doing Pastor Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13637699569110651843noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16385846.post-45181236634239150162010-06-21T08:59:00.000-04:002010-06-21T08:59:53.353-04:00R&R - Rest and Re-Connect with God (and Family)Not that I've ever set a blistering blogging pace, but I'm taking some time off from my weekly posting.
Just finished a preaching series about rest and reconnecting with God by taking up His yoke and learning from Jesus, so I'm going to take the Lord's command seriously. And I'm enjoying it.
I'm enjoying my 23rd wedding anniversary trip to Pigeon Forge compliments of some dear friends. EnjoyingPastor Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13637699569110651843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16385846.post-58296888167816576612010-05-30T22:22:00.001-04:002010-05-30T22:25:49.772-04:00'Jesus Never Fails' - Reviewing My Mom's BookMy mom just wrote a book. Well this one's been in the works for 35 years. It's about my parents risking everything they had to follow Jesus' call into full-time ministry with Campus Crusade back in the late 70s.
Now as an adult (and pastor) I think they were crazy! But as an 11-15 year-old I didn't know.
They were just my heroes following their Hero.
Last month I read the rough draft of mom'sPastor Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13637699569110651843noreply@blogger.com0