JeremyHigdon.com

Rough week for some churches and close friends...

Some random thoughts from our conference and current events...

There are two churches in Florida that have been (and are being) put through some serious trials and dangers over the past few weeks. This is something that is affecting me, even from a long distance away. It is a grim reminder that the stakes are incredibly high and that Satan will stop at NOTHING to distract people from following Jesus and will do whatever it takes to RUIN and DISHONOR the name of Jesus.

When it comes to sin and church leaders and members, I think we need to be reminded that we hurt each other personally, we hurt each other's church ministries, but most importantly, we hurt the name of Jesus in our communities (which is the opposite of the reason our churches exist...period!). While it would be easy to point out the sins of others (and something that needs to be done as church leaders...actually practice church discipline out of love for our Christian brothers and for Jesus), these kind of things must push us to our knees...our own sins need to be repented of, our own sicknesses require the Doctor to heal us, we constantly confess our sins and He is faithful to forgive us. 

Let's be a people who pursue humility and chase grace and constantly remember, we exist to worship, honor the name of Jesus...He is our Lord and Savior!

This song was sung in worship yesterday...what a great reminder that I needed to hear...

1.Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt!
Yonder on Calvary's mount outpoured,
there where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.

Refrain:
Grace, grace, God's grace,
grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
grace, grace, God's grace,
grace that is greater than all our sin!

2.Sin and despair, like the sea waves cold,
threaten the soul with infinite loss;
grace that is greater, yes, grace untold,
points to the refuge, the mighty cross.

3.Dark is the stain that we cannot hide.
What can avail to wash it away?
Look! There is flowing a crimson tide,
brighter than snow you may be today. 

4.Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace,
freely bestowed on all who believe!
You that are longing to see his face,
will you this moment his grace receive?

About ready to leave...

I am sitting here in Newnan, Ga and we are getting ready to head to the ATL airport and fly to Dallas Texas. We (Jeanine and I) will be there for the next few days going through a "boot camp" and assessment for church planters and church planter wives with the Acts 29 network (I love that chapter!). We will be leaving the kids here with family...this is our first time away from Ryan and only the second or third from Zachary. We will miss them very much but are excited to get away and spend a few days together...

The good news is Zachary already told us he won't cry because "I love Pia and Bubba very much"...they are his cousins...although I think Ryan will have a tougher time understanding what is going on...at this stage of his life, he is very much a daddy's boy and I am loving playing that role with him...

Oh, and on top of all this, I discovered that there is not a single rental car available at the Dallas/Fort Worth airport...really? Has this ever happened to anybody else??

So, please pray for us as we are separated for a time...we will back in Atlanta on Friday and then on Saturday, I am headed to SoFLa for the weekend!

I'm Back Baby!!

As I wrote earlier, this has been an INCREDIBLY busy few weeks and I have not been able to blog as much as I would have liked. Well, this week will also be busy but I am committing to update jeremyhigdon.com faithfully over for the rest of the year. So, I need you to hold me to it and email me or comment if I get a little behind.

As I write this, I am sitting in my sister-in-laws house about twenty minutes outside of the ATL. We arrived here in Friday and were able to celebrate Pia and Travis (niece and nephew twins) birthday with the whole family. On Tuesday, Jeanine and I will be traveling to Dallas for three days for a boot camp and church planter assessment. On Friday we will fly back to Atlanta and then on Saturday I will fly to South Florida for the weekend... I am looking forward to seeing my parents and teaching at Oasis Church!

So, I have a lot to write about and communicate...I promise to keep blogging...help me stick to it!

Road Trip!

I have been away the last few days with some fellas on the launch team for Oasis Church North Florida. We came here to Lynchburg, Va for a free conference being held at Liberty University. It has been great to listen and learn some more tips and tools for planting a church. One of the things we want to do is "launch large" and we learned some more things that will help us do the best we can to start this way.

I will update more later about the trip. I was also able to meet up with some old college buddies while I was here and we are going to be going to a church plant in Charlotte, NC tomorrow on the way home...so pray for us as we travel back to Jacksonville!

Busy Week Coming Up

This week, there is alot going on as we are about six weeks from our first preview service... make sure you stay up to date by staying tuned into www.oasisnfl.org!

Here is a glimpse of this week...

-last night had our first launch team meeting...what a great time we had with the ten adults, one teen, and three kids three and under at our house for dinner...

-have a hour and a half phone interview later this week with the Acts 29 network, a group of church planting churches we are seeking to partner with

-meeting with the Jacksonville association tomorrow about joining them as an official Southern Baptist (shhh don't tell anybody...we are undercover!) church plant...you do know Oasis Church is SBC right?

-trying to meet with another church planter and some potential worship leaders this week...will let you know more!

-heading to Lynchburg, Va this weekend for a free (that helps the budget!) church planting conference with Jonathan Higdon and Donald Haneline...road trip!

-going to be in Melbourne a week from today for a sermon planning retreat with Guy, Pat, and the rest of the Oasis Church teaching team...excited to see them and plan some series that we share together over the coming year...

Gonna be busy but I am ready for it!! Hey, now that the election will be over, I will have lots of free time! Ha!

The Jax Air Show

Last Saturday, Zachary and I went to the Naval Air Station here in Jax for the Air Show. Even though the weather was pretty cool and overcast, we had a great time checking out the planes on the ground and watching them go flying by...or in some cases, SCREAMING by! Wow, some of those jets are amazing! We have been able to see lots of military jets flying by in our neighborhood but to see them that close was very cool...remember TOP GUN?? That movie came out 22 years ago...are you kidding me?? 

I was able to get some pics but my camera didn't do the show justice...feel free to browse the pics...

It is events like this that remind me how many people (men and women) are serving TODAY in our armed forces and the sacrifice that they go through (along with their families) to preserve freedom in our country and all around the world...on this election eve, we are free...to vote, to disagree, to campaign, to be fellow citizens...let's not take freedom for granted and let's remember that freedom costs something and requires us to handle it in a responsible way!