Okay here is my take on other people's view of Grace. They can't figure us out? We somehow are big, and don't fit in the box of megachurch models. We are real, not flashy; approachable, not cliquey; the list goes on. The one statement that always makes me chuckle, is that we water down the truth at Grace. Better yet, it is often said that we shy away from sin, hell, and deep Bible truths. Or at least we must be doing so with all that traffic over there. I have come to realize that some people just feel better about themselves, when they can tear down The Bride of Christ, even if they do not have all the details. Oh by the way, imagine Jesus' perspective, as he listens to someone bash his bride. Imagine if you heard someone talking bad, about your wife/bride.
I read a blog entry last night of a fellow pastor railing against us, because of our plasma TVs. And that somehow we could use that money to feed the starving people in the world. If he only knew the large amount of resources we do allot every week of the year to rescue people. I had to chuckle on that one too. And then another fellow pastor, through a comment on his blog, refer to me as the Mega church guy, who suggested a book he read, that covered why we don't share resources. Oh if he only knew the truth. The fact is this, I chuckled again and felt sorry for these guys... because there is no way God blesses these kind of gestures at his bride.
So the above picture just blesses me, to know that people are digging in, and taking notes on a shallow,one-inch deep, theological subject of eschatology. oh yeah we have been accused of being very shallow too. And by the way, we did talk about the Devil,sin, and hell, all in one message!
I love my church, and would put my disciples up against any, in a contest of determining who is on mission, and changing our world. You know we might not understand sublapsarianism, but we fully understand how to reach the world for Jesus! Chuckling on, and feeling sorry for what is coming to these individuals who feel the need to bash the bride of Christ.
9 comments:
James 3:13-18, James 4:1-12,
1 Peter 3:8-12, 1 John 2:15-17,
1 Cor 2:6-16, 1 Cor 1;10-31,
Matt 22:34-40,
I am praying for you Jim. You have been a friend and mentor to me since you came to Indiana. I read your blog alost every day. My family and I have been going to Grace full time since January of this year; prior to that we were apart of another church but we did visit Grace periodically. I guess I feel blessed that I have known you and your family since you came to Indiana and I have seen you and your family grow both in Jesus and well... grow older. I feel blessed to have watched our sons and daughter grow up together -- to play baseball, basketball, to pray and keep each other accountable for the Jesus... I have seen the work God has done in your life first hand for the past 12-years. And through all but 5-months, I was never apart of Grace Community Church -- but I was and am apart of the body of Christ of believers and I was and am a friend of yours because of Jesus.
As I ponder what "Anonymous" has said, I think back to what another person once told me -- he said "you know something, Thomas of Aquinas once said 'go out and preach the Gospel to the world and speak if neccessary'; we need to let our actions speak for the glory of Christ". I believe this and having known you Jim, I know your actions speak God's truth and your words and your life speak Jesus. Anyone who knows you, knows this! And anyone who knows you and has gone to Grace Community Church knows this as well.
I was asked by a paster of another church what draws people to Grace Community Church? My answer was this "Plain and simple, what draws people to Grace Community Church is JESUS and the fact that the people of Grace Community accepts people where they are at in in there walk with JESUS." We accept people where they are at, we don't judge them, we don't shun them away because of the sin in their lives or what they have done, we love them & let Jesus do the changing of their hearts.
I know Grace has plasma TV's for the worship services -- I kinda think this is good for us that can't see very well. I know we put alot of emphasis on reaching the community of Goshen for Jesus and reaching the lost both here and overseas and we literally support missionaries and 2 orphanages in Asia. Grace Community does alot for the Kingdom of God. We are carrying out the Great Commission.
I am not ashamed of who I am and who I will become. I am not ashamed to know you Jim and to go to Church at Grace Community Church. I am not ashamed of "Anonymous" and I am not anyonymous -- I am a child of God and my name is Kevin Noble.
God Bless you Jim and keep doing what you are doing no matter what!
I used to be one of those people that assumed this was a church that simply appealed to the masses with a watered down message and lots of fun.
Our daughter was drawn to the youth group, and when I asked her what she liked about it - mostly she just talked about the fun.
However, when we found ourselves needing to look for another church, we did take the time to check Grace out for ourselves. What I found was anything but a watered down message. I found myself agreeing with the "I might get myself in trouble for this..." and "you might not hear this from other pastors..." and blessed to be hearing it all.
I sat under some great teaching where I went before. But the person delivering the message had the spirit of pride that he would not allow to be broken. That was one of the red flags that I was looking for while listening/watching Pastor Jim preach. I can understand how someone might mistake some of what you see as pride - but that is not what I see in Pastor Jim.
I believe that only the Spirit of God can allow humans to accept people where they are and yet EXPECT them to move forward in their walk with Jesus.
And the youth group - my daughter still talks about the fun, but I know they are served meat, and lots of it. She hears it - and I praise God for that.
A wise Godly man said to me one time, if you are not doing anything great for God than you are not getting any criticism, but if you begin to do something great with God you will get all kinds of criticism. marching on with Jesus, and thanking him for letting me be a small part of what he is doing at Grace. all praise goes to Jesus for any good thing that comes out of Grace.
Wow that is totally hilarious. Being from another town I don't often here people's persepctives on GCC. I would never in a million years put the name Jim Brown in the same sentence with 'watering down of the bible' lol. My family loves sermons at Grace because of your passion, Jim, and you tell it like it is. No politics or being afraid to tick members off(aka 'the money') like I have witnessed a lot of churches doing now a days. Just the word of God without any smoke and mirrors- Preach it white boy preach it!!!
Well heres my take on this. They CAN'T fiqure us out. We ARE big and getting Bigger. WHY? Because we ARE real! We ARE approchable! We are down to earth. Maybe instead of passing judgement...they should look at all the things Grace does for our community. But its easy to pass judgement when you can't fiqure out why OUR church is growing by leaps and bounds. Well maybe it is that watered down version that people are flocking to. If putting the bible in a modern day version of how to apply it to your life is watered down... then turn on the sprinklers.. cause thats exactlly what Pastor Jim Brown does. He puts it in Lehman terms. Everyone understands how to apply the bible to todays everyday life.
Jim Brown touched my heart and continues to touch my heart every day. He truely believes in reaching everyone, everywhere, all the time. IF he didn't... then we wouldn't have those fancy plasma tv's that appeals to a certain group. Or the band that appeals to another group. Or the link that appeals to another group... Or all the ministries that appeal to all the other groups. If he didn't... then we would be like all those other churches that had nothing else better to do than dogging out a guy or church thats on the move.
Do yourself a favor and worry about what YOUR not doing in YOUR church. Not what we are doing. Just no this... if you took all those stones that you stone throwers are throwing and used them to build a church built with compassion and love.... you would be at Grace Community Church!!!!!
Pastor Jim,
We LOVE Grace!! You can witness my "mini-testimony" in my post @ www.lindsaymaust.blogspot.com as far as what Grace has done to me and my husband's lives. (I feel honored to have also been your picture model for this blog too:))
I don't know what else to say except thank you for all you do!!!!
Lindsay & Brock Maust
Way to go Lindsay! I loved that picture of you with your Bible open and all marked up!
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