Sunday, March 29, 2009

Silent Influence

The Masters Tournament is just around the corner. Over the next couple of weeks, I might post a few golf-related devotionals that I've written in the past.

Clifford Roberts and the Masters Tournament are synonymous. Roberts’ influence in Augusta was equaled only by Bobby Jones. Roberts ruled Augusta and, for one week each year, was the brains behind the greatest golf tournament in the world.

During the rest of the year, however, Clifford Roberts lived in obscurity. He was a Wall Street investment banker and president of Reynolds and Company, which later became Dean Witter Reynolds. He was the chief financial advisor and campaign finance director for President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Yet, even though he sat in high influential places, the New York Times had to call the Augusta Chronicle to get information for his obituary.

How can a man be so influential yet live in such obscurity? This is what Jesus did. He was born in a stable in an obscure town to a young unknown couple. He never held an office. He never wrote a book. He was not wealthy. He never hosted a sporting event. But his influence changed the world. Jesus simply lived his life in complete obedience to his father.

When we are focused on our relationship with God, he molds our character and personalities in such a way that we become influencers of his love and grace. We can be quiet influencers for Christ too. We don’t have to be a household name. We don’t have to be affluent. We don’t have to be powerful. We only need an intimate and authentic relationship with God.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

You are Rich!!


I posted this several years ago but thought in these difficult economic days it would serve as a good reminder to us all of just how wealthy we Americans are:

Go to this link. It will take you less than 10 seconds to see how incredibly blessed we are in this country.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Chase Bank Bailed Me Out

The bank bailouts have made the news over the past few months. We, taxpayers, are quite upset that our tax dollars are being used to make up for the banks' poor judgement. Therefore, our nation's banks are taking a beating in the press lately. While I don't agree with the move to bailout the banks with our tax dollars, I am grateful that Chase bank bailed me out of trouble last week.

Seems someone used a forged credit card with my account number a couple of weeks ago and had a party in Florida and the Atlanta area. They racked up a pretty nice chunk of change on my account, all without us knowing about it. We received a call last week inquiring about our recent shopping spree. The fraud division of Chase bank noticed some inconsistent action on our Mastercard and wanted to verify if we had made the purchases. They were quick to act and negate the bogus transactions. They cancelled the card. Mailed us new cards within a few days and assigned us to a specific fraud investigator to help settle the sketchy transactions on our account.

I am really thankful for Andre, our fraud investigator, and the quick action Chase took regarding this. I might have had a heart attack if I had seen the transactions posted on my account when I received my statement in the mail. But the great response by Chase made it incredibly easy. I've had this Mastercard account for a long time. I'll probably keep it even longer now, knowing how Chase handled the identity thieves.

So chalk one up for Chase!

Saturday, March 21, 2009

A Few Takes on Twitter

A couple of weeks ago, I admitted that I joined Twitter. I'm still not completely sure what I'm doing and why but I have determined that there are some things that I will try NOT to do. For example, I've noticed that some friends of mine in the ministry are using it to justify what they do all day. Be honest. A lot of people wonder what in the world ministers do all week. After all, we only work on Sunday mornings, right?

I will not post my daily schedule, meetings, appointments, and things to do list to indicate to my followers that I am busy. I don't feel the need to justify my position on a church staff. If you wonder what I do in a typical week. Come and see.

I will also try not to post meaningless drivel. While part of the twitter phenomenon is to be informed on the activities and thoughts of your friends, I really don't think people really care if I can't make up my mind between the grilled chicken salad or the #1 combo while I'm standing in line at Chick-Fil-A.

I will try to post thought-provoking notes, quotes, and quips, links to informative websites and articles, and update you on my latest projects in the works. (More on that later...)

If you want to follow me on Twitter, go to www.twitter.com/genejennings

I'll try to make it worth your while.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Dream On - TNC Style

At TrueNorth Church, we are in the 3rd week of a message series called Supernatural - A Dream Series. It's about the life of Moses and how he followed God's dreams for his life. Steve Davis, our Lead Pastor, has done an excellent job inspiring us to pursue our dreams. At the end of last Sunday's service, Cliff, my son and one of our worship leaders, wrapped up the service with our own version of the classic Aerosmith song, Dream On.


Get Your Own Free Hypster.com Playlist.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Unleash 09



The TNC staff attended the Unleash Conference at NewSpring Church in Anderson, SC yesterday. It was a great day to get away with staff and leaders and refocus on the dream of making the Church everything God wants it to be. Perry Noble is the founding pastor of NewSpring. He just tells it like it is in a Biblical, and often, hilarious way. If he ever needed to find another career, he could be a stand-up comedian. He plays hardball and speaks the truth that causes a gasp one minute, then he mixes in a hilarious quip or story that will have his audience ROTFL.

Unfortunately, I didn't take notes from his first message. I intend to go back and watch it again. You can see both of his messages from yesterday here. Below are some notes/quotes/questions from Perry's talk. Not everything is verbatim but basically what he said that stuck with me.

  • The average pastor stays at a church 22 months.
  • Satan doesn't want to split the church as much as he wants to split the staff.
  • A pastor can't lead publicly without spending time with God privately.
  • Pastor, are you a prophet or a prostitute? A prostitute provides a service that makes people feel good.
  • Am I placing limits on me that God hasn't placed on me?
  • You can have attendance without repentance.
  • Three things should be happening on Sunday mornings: conviction, forgiveness, and repentance.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

The Twitter Train


I guess hell froze yesterday. I broke down and got a Twitter account. After months of mocking twits who twitter, I decided to see what it's all about. I read a lot about writing, marketing, and, of course, church growth stuff. You can't avoid Twitter. Along with Facebook, it has become a superpower among social networking applications.

I've heard it said that you never want to be the first one in a fad or the last one out so I decided to jump on the Twitter express to see how it might make life more fun - or complicated. We'll see.

The slogan on Twitter.com says, "Find people. Follow them." It sounds a little strange. Shouldn't they name it Stalker instead?

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

U2 - Magnificent (Live - Night 2 - Letterman)

U2 had church on Letterman last week. The lyrics to this song read like a Psalm. The lyrics are below:

Magnificent
Magnificent

I was born
I was born to be with you
In this space and time
After that and ever after I haven't had a clue
Only to break rhyme
This foolishness can leave a heart black and blue

Only love, only love can leave such a mark
But only love, only love can heal such a scar

I was born
I was born to sing for you
I didn't have a choice but to lift you up
And sing whatever song you wanted me to
I give you back my voice
From the womb my first cry, it was a joyful noise...

Only love, only love can leave such a mark
But only love, only love can heal such a scar

Justified till we die, you and I will magnify
The Magnificent
Magnificent

Only love, only love can leave such a mark
But only love, only love unites our hearts

Justified till we die, you and I will magnify
The Magnificent
Magnificent
Magnificent

Sunday, March 08, 2009

Book Giveaway Winner Announcement!

Sign ups for the giveaway for the book The Echo Within were over last Friday night. I put all of the entries in a hat and picked out the winner.

And the winner is..........................

drumroll

more drumroll

even more drumroll

a little more drumroll

grand finale drumroll

Karin Soderstrom!!!!

Friday, March 06, 2009

Blog Tour: Dinner with a Perfect Stranger



The mysterious envelope arrives on Nick Cominsky’s desk amid a stack of credit card applications and business-related junk mail. Although his seventy-hour workweek has already eaten into his limited family time, Nick can’t pass up the opportunity to see what kind of plot his colleagues have hatched.

The normally confident, cynical Nick soon finds himself thrown off-balance, drawn into an intriguing conversation with a baffling man who appears to be more than comfortable discussing everything from world religions to the existence of heaven and hell. And this man who calls himself Jesus also seems to know a disturbing amount about Nick’s personal life.

…………..

"You’re bored, Nick. You were made for more than this. You’re worried about God stealing your fun, but you’ve got it backwards.… There’s no adventure like being joined to the Creator of the universe." He leaned back off the table. "And your first mission would be to let him guide you out of the mess you’re in at work."
………….

As the evening progresses, their conversation touches on life, God, meaning, pain, faith, and doubt–and it seems that having Dinner with a Perfect Stranger may change Nick’s life forever.


About the Author:

David Gregory is the author of the best-selling books Dinner with a Perfect Stranger and A Day with a Perfect Stranger, and coauthor of two nonfiction books. After a ten-year business career, he returned to school to study religion and communications, earning graduate degrees from The University of North Texas and Dallas Theological Seminary. A native Texan, David now devotes himself to writing full time.