You Are Here

  Every once in a while it’s good to take a look at where you’ve been and where you are now.  It gives you bearings…….clarity.  At NETChurch we are on a journey.  A journey towards Christ.  We have chosen to take this journey together, as one family.  Each person that joins in with us is pursuing the same end result that we are.  Sometimes, though, you need to stop along the way and look at the mall map to find the "You Are Here" mark.  Here’s the past history of NETChurch.

• We met the first time on March 27, 2005 at the Moody House as a group of 8 adults starting a bible study.  The group grew to around 12 during that time that met every Sunday night at 5:30pm.
• After meeting for the summer at the house we had our first worship gathering at Expresso.Com on July 17, 2005 with the thoughts that we would move to the community center on September 11th.  Our first gathering had around 30 people show up.  Lynn and Amanda Floyd were a part of our group at that time.  Lynn did most of the preaching (which was our teaching style) and Amanda helped me with the worship.  Stephen Smotherman was working with our youth at that time, also.
• In September we were still at Expresso and as the 11th came and went we found that God wanted us to stay where we were.  In around that time Brian Hampton and Luther Sanchez came to visit our little ministry.
• At the end of 2005 was our time of biggest change, but also what caused NETChurch to develop into what you see today.  Lynn and Amanda told us that he would be going to the Texas Highway Patrol training in a couple of months, so they would be leaving us.  We also found out that Stephen and Amy would be moving in June to Fort Worth.  With these moves half of our founding group would be gone, yet there were about 45 of us meeting on a regular basis.  A women’s group had started which began as a bible study but evolved into the beginnings of our first relational group.
• By late February the Floyds were gone, Brian Hampton was helping with the teaching, and Luther Sanchez was now starting to lead in worship.  Things were definitely changing and the first of our "discussion format" teachings happened. (unfortunately there wasn’t much discussion as people were just getting used to the idea.  Oh well…….)
• By May the discussion style was in full swing as the teaching style of NETChurch.  Andy Moody and Brian Hampton were leading the discussions with the whole NETChurch community joining in to discuss.  Soon Bill Wade would come in to assist with the leading and our teaching style would simply blossom.  We had baptized our first two believers on Easter Sunday in the parking lot of Expresso.Com.  Things were changing drastically.  We normally had anywhere between 40 and 60 people show up at any time.  Our youth met on Wednesdays and another 20 were showing up there.  Great and amazing things were happening with our community and people were really starting to grow, learn, and have needs met.
• In June Stephen and Amy (+3 boys) moved to Fort Worth.  This move signaled the loss of the last of our "core group" who were with us originally on day one.  That was tough, I have to admit.  Along with their move came an idea, though.  Through technology and a tremendous amount of creative thinking we started the foundations of NETChurch-Fort Worth.  This is a new gathering that will be starting (actually in Burleson, where Stephen and Amy built a new house) and will meet at the Smotherman’s every week.  Through the wonders of technology they will be able to see our group here in Portland and will also be able to offer comments to go in with the discussion.  It will be the first long distance interaction.  Though we thought we were losing someone it ended up being a new beginning for NETChurch.  We should be broadcasting the first gathering to FW within the next few weeks.

As you can see we’ve come a long way.  We’ve experienced many bumps and bruises along the way.  People that we thought would be here have opted for other things and people we never imagined have come to realize the love of Christ through this great ministry.  We’ve taken hits for our beliefs or stances that don’t necessarily line up with the traditional way of thinking, but we’ve also seen people’s lives changed in new and glorious ways.  As I said a long time ago:  We are an amazing experiment.  What becomes of this gathering of believers will be in God’s hands.  We’re just here to experience the journey and pursue Christ with truth and honesty.  Sometimes that will not sit well with those who are more comfortable with a safer type of ministry.  That’s why WE were called to do this and not them.

As Bill Wade told me one day we’ve "chosen the much more narrow path.  It’s difficult.  It will sometimes be hard to just go through each day.  But in the end the results and the rewards are greater than anyone can imagine."

Today you are here.  You are standing on the edge of the cliff ready to fall forward into the unknown.  Unlike other churches we don’t exactly know where NETChurch will go.  Only God knows that.  We don’t know how many people will be involved.  Our need is not to "attract" people.  Our calling is to build relationships and watch them grow through the process.  In 4 more years there might be 5,000 people in different locations with different ministries and all types of relational groups going on.   On the other hand there might be 50 or 60 meeting on a regular basis, but loving God all the same.

I invite you to continue the journey.  Walk with us.  Run with us.  Grow with us.  Just keep moving one step at a time.  Don’t get freaked out by the things by the side of the road.  They aren’t important.

Today you are here.

Tomorrow, who knows…….

Me for God?

I was reading something recently that fascinated me.   I believe it to be true, actually.  This writer stated that our perception of God is screwed up.  As he says  we "treat God as if He was created for us when we were created by and for HIM."  His article talks about how we look at God as "something we do that was created for us" and never grasp the reality of a true relationship where we are in awe of God.  There’s alot of truth to this line of thought.  I’ve often said that we expect God to do for us while God is just waiting for us to realize how amazing He really is!

I’m leaving this one open.  What are your thoughts?  Do you believe that this is the usual relationship we have with God?  I’m curious to hear the opinions of others.

Let the discussion begin…………………

We’re on iTunes!!

Just wanted to let everyone know that our podcast is now listed on iTunes.  That’s pretty exciting, if I might say so!  For those of you who don’t understand what a podcast does let me explain quickly.  A podcast allows a listener to sign up for a weekly download of our message that will automatically download to their computer or iPod.

If you would like to check it out just go to the iTunes store (in iTunes) and search on NETChurch or go to the podcast page under religion/christianity.  It is listed there.

You can also find it by going to www.podcast.net if you don’t have iTunes but would still like to subscribe.

Take a look and a listen.  We’ll have new messages up each week.

Andy

OK, I’m laughing……

Just read an article on CNN about fraud being found in reference to the FEMA cards handed out to help victims of Hurricane Katrina.  This is what the article reads:

WASHINGTON (CNN) — A $200 bottle of champagne from Hooters and $300 worth of "Girls Gone Wild" videos were among items bought with debit cards handed out by FEMA to help hurricane victims, auditors probing $1 billion in potential waste and fraud have found.

The cards — given to people displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita — also bought diamond jewelry and a vacation in the Dominican Republic, according to the Government Accountability Office audit.

The GAO uncovered records showing that $1,000 from a FEMA debit card went to a Houston divorce lawyer; $600 was spent in a strip club and $400 was spent on "adult erotica products," all of which auditors concluded were "not necessary to satisfy legitimate disaster needs."

Dude!  That is funny!!!  I know how important the cards were.  I know that FEMA was trying to get them out fast.  I think in a situation like that disaster you are going to have things happen that are just unexpected.  I just have this mental image of an auditor sitting at his desk trying to figure out whether lap dances and porn tapes should be accepted as legitimate disaster needs!!

"Hey, I lost all my stuff in the hurricane.  I had to replace it somehow……"

It’s a sad world we live in.

But it’s too funny……………

The Christian MySpace

Isolation is a wonderful thing.  It gives you the capability to develop your own existence without the hindrances related to touching the outside world.  As long as you don’t let anything unlike yourself come in contact with you then you will be able to control your own environment.  Case in point:

A new site called "ChristUnion.com", otherwise known as the "Christian MySpace".

Stephen told me about this site and I HAD to go check it out.  That sounds a bit rude, I know, but it’s really not.  I always hope that what I will see makes me believe in what I’m checking out.  It doesn’t always happen, but that’s my hope.  Unfortunately my fears are usually affirmed.

The basic idea behind the site is pretty good:  They wanted to give an alternative to MySpace because some of the stuff on that site has become a bit "crude", as they put it.  I don’t really see a problem with that.  It seems that the administrator basically had a good direction to go and headed there.  When you look at her profile you notice that she’s actually pretty honest about herself.  She like Ann Rice novels (Vampire Chronicles), she’s a Lord of the Rings fan (always good), even lists under "drinking" that she does occasionally.  For a christian site that’s pretty straight forward.  I actually like this lady!  (Her name is Millie, by the way…)

Then I looked at her comments.  The first thing I see is a statement from a girl that says "you sometimes drink? hmm… that’s interesting…". 

Ahhhhhh….You can just FEEL the sarcasm….

She then goes on to say that she’s not "judging" but is really offended by people who drink even occasionally.  She also says that it "kinda makes her mad" basically because it’s on a christian website.  Of course, she finishes out with "God Bless you, anyway".  Hmmmmm.

Then I checked out a guy that calls himself a "Hard Rock Pastor".  He does ministry in an area with alot of real hardcore kids.  He’s got tattoos and piercings.  Kinda goes with the life he’s lived, I suppose.  The first comment on his page is from another guy who decides to make sure that this pastor understands that he’s not in God’s will because of his tattoos and starts questioning whether the guy knows what he’s talking about or not.  One of the statements he makes is "If you REALLY knew your bible then you would know that tattoos……………….."  Nice slam.  Obviously the pastor guy doesn’t know anything because he has a different opinion.

Both of the people who made these statements had wonderful things on their page about being on fire for Christ, having the bible as the only thing worth reading, that they love everyone.  One even refers to himself as a Bible Scholar (at the wonderful age of 17.  No offense, but I’ve got a long way to go to bible scholar and I’ve eclipsed 17 a few towns back). 

There’s no contradictions here……

The bible scholar says that we shouldn’t do anything that would cause someone else to stumble & not follow Christ (referring to tattoos, though I’m not totally sure what tattoos really have to do with why someone else won’t follow Christ.  That seems to be more of an excuse than a legitimate reason).  I wonder if someone would decide not to be a Christian due to slashing comments laced with sarcasm that just seem "unChrist-like"?  Would being judgemental cause someone to think that Christianity on the whole isn’t for them?  Would that make someone stumble?

Here’s where we look back at ourselves.  The ideas behind some of our actions are pure and wonderful.  Start something alternative to give another option from things that are falling apart around us.  The person that started this thing even seems to want to be really honest as a Christian.  That’s cool!  The problem is that our isolation through groups like this where we don’t have to "touch the world" has caused us to believe in ourselves and our own capabilities as judge and jury of the world.  If you don’t fit into MY little club then not only do you not belong, but I’m going to tell you how many ways you never will.   And even within the club we find people who just don’t seem to actually get it.  How can we throw out at other people with such venom and then turn around and say "I love everyone".

No you don’t.  You love everyone who thinks like you do.

Millie, I commend you.  You are trying.  Keep trying.  As someone recently told me "You’re walking on the really narrow road".  Hopefully what you have started will not evolve into our worst fear:

Another "The World Is Going To Hell So I Don’t Want To Even See Them Christian Social Club".

I think I’ll stick to MySpace for now……

One Ends……Another Begins

I’m sad today…..

Yesterday was our last Sunday with Stephen, Amy, Jackson, Luke, & Drew Smotherman.  It was an amazing day.  We celebrated together.  We welcomed Stephen into the NETChurch ministry as a pastor, we partied, and we truly enjoyed the time that we had together.  All in all it was a wonderful day for everyone.

Today sucks.

This morning we got up, helped move the 26 foot UHaul out of my back yard, hugged everyone and said goodbye as they got ready to leave for Fort Worth and we got ready to go to work.  We know that we will see them again soon.  We know that they will be working closely with us on the development of NETChurch/ Fort Worth (more on that to come later).  We know that they are not gone forever.  This is just a change in the plans. 

Somehow that doesn’t make this any easier.

To Stephen, Amy, and the boys:

We miss you already.  We love you as much as we possibly can and then some.  We all wish that life was different and that we could just stay together in ministry and friendship right here in Corpus, but that’s not God’s plan.  Sometimes I find it really hard to follow what God has intended for us.  Why do you have to go?  Why do we have to change from our plans?  It’s hard to admit that I can’t control what’s going on around me and allow God to be "God".

My prayer is that God will bless you more than you can imagine.  I pray that your business will blossom to a point that you cannot possibly control it.  I pray that your walk will be deepened and strengthened by the relationships you have had here and by the ones that are starting as of today.  May our sorrow at this moment only be temporary as we see the greatness of God’s plan for your lives.

You are amazing.  Don’t change that.  Question.  Pursue.  Seek.  Live.  Give all of your life to being who YOU are supposed to be and don’t apologize for it.  You are exactly who you were designed to be.

With that said………………………..We all miss you so much. 

Alison and I miss you so much.

The Character of Christ or A Million Dollars: You Decide

Ok.  I really TRY to not be judgemental.  It’s an extreme flaw and I’m trying to turn my eyes as much as possible.  It’s just that sometimes you see something and go "What the heck?!?!?".  At that point you simply must comment. 

This is one of those times.

A church/international ministry in north Texas is in trouble with the Secret Service for handing out tracts that are printed to look like currency.  The tract is a 1,000,000 dollar bill (which does not exist) so they thought it wouldn’t be a problem.  Someone tried to pass it off at a bank in California, though, and now the government is ordering them to stop producing the tracts.  NOW IT GETS INTERESTING!!!!

The ministry’s head said Monday he will continue to distribute them until the government orders him to stop.  Here’s part of the statement from the pastor of the ministry:

"We’re a group that equips Christians with materials on how to share their faith," Darrel Rundus said. "One way we do it is gospel tracts. That’s what these are, gospel tracts. You’d think the Secret Service would have more to do than raid a Christian ministry."

I thought the whole thing was interesting so I went to check out the website for the ministry.  That’s when I got shocked!  The very first thing you see on the front page is a graphic of the tracts with the word "SEIZED" in big red letters.  There’s an official statement from the pastor and then a link telling you to "Get them while they last!".  You end up at the online store for this church and they are selling the tracts for $5.00 a pack.  They state that they have new ones being printed along with a special "Secret Service" edition.  Supposedly there are another 100,000 on the way AND YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS OUT ON THEM!

Oh, but it gets better……..

It seems that this tract is a big seller, but not the only "currency" issue that they have.  They also sell the "Big Money" and "Giant Money" editions.  If you look at the pages you see testimonials from people that have bought them.  Here are a few of the comments:

This tract is Fun. People get a Good kick out of it. A fun thing to say is "Now… Don’t Spend it all in one place."

Just THE most ridiculous tract livingwaters.com has to offer. That is why the unsaved love it and just wanna SCREAM for it! It’s childish and fun. Watch tiny tots fight over it, old people ask for a little too many, and teens get a kick out of it.

BIG MONEY is so cool. One time i was with a group of friends evangelizing in 3rd St. Promenade in Santa Monica and i put the BIG MONEY in all the tip jars at star bucks and gave it as a tip for the entertainers (plus i gave them a few coins to help them out). it was cool. it’s a great way to start off a conversation with people because they always want to know what it is. Glory be to God.

This is an awesome tract. I went to a "Countyfest" today and gave away the whole pack in around 20 minutes. Just holler out BIG MONEY and people will come and get them from you.

Walking advertising for Way of the Master!! Christmas is coming and they make great stocking stuffers for young and old alike.

Once we were taking a witnessing break at a local snack bar and the family of 6 next to us asked for one. The Dad proceeded to read it out loud. Very loud – the entire gospel! And the whole place heard him!!! Everyone heard the gospel that day that was there eating.

(Lord forgive me for what I’m about to say…………………..)

WHAT IN THE WORLD HAS HAPPENED TO US?!?!?!?  HAVE WE LOST OUR EVER LOVING, CHRIST-FOLLOWING MINDS?!!!? (Ok, I said it.  I feel much better now)  Has anyone ever thought about the possibility that the government wants to stop these particular tracts because THEY LOOK LIKE CURRENCY?  Does it strike anyone as being a little strange to capitalize on a situation like this and printing more to sell to people?  Does anyone find it weird that the leader of a ministry would not look at the situation, understand that this is a bit off the normal "Christlike" path, and figure the upstanding thing to do is create unity, not anarchy?

Beyond the problems that I have with a ministry somewhat "thumbing their nose" at the government officials (I guess that basically because "God" is stamped in the thing that we don’t really need to listen to the authorities.  What a great Christian example for the flock to see….), I’m a bit concerned with people who think that putting a tract in a tip jar for someone and then "dropping in a few coins to help out" is doing anything for Christ.  Why don’t we just attach these things to a fishing line, put them on the street and wait for someone to come along to pick it up.  As soon as they grab for it we can pull it away and make them chase it!  It’s fun for the whole family!  And we can do it in the name of God!  Oh, then we can video it and put it on TBN as "Funniest Christian Videos" in the hopes of winning $10,000!  Then we can glorify God AND make money at someone else’s expense.

Come on, folks.  It’s time to put down the money makers and actually read Christ’s words.  I really have a problem with believing that Christ would be doing this stuff if He were walking around right now.  It just doesn’t fit with His lifestyle.  The problem is that His lifestyle is what we’re all saying that we are pursuing.  What’s wrong with this picture?  I see more money and self righteous crud floating around this thing than anything that even REMOTELY resembles Christ.

I know.  That’s just MY rant.

WWJD?

I’m pretty sure he’d fill the guy’s tip jar instead of dropping in a bogus bill.  Maybe then some needs would get met.

If you want to check out the news article go to Feds seize church’s fake $1M bills

Or the ministry website at http://www.thegreatnews.com/

Caller Times

We were in the paper this weekend.  Front page of the Corpus Christi Caller Times.  How weird!  It’s funny:  When you don’t ask for attention, don’t advertise, don’t try to promote is when people become interested in what you’re doing. 

The article was originally about  how churches are "attracting" people and the lady writing thought we had a good draw mechanism! (Ah, how little did she know?!?!?!?)  I was really proud of how things came across in the article.  I think it was well written, well researched, and showed some interesting things about our ministry.  That doesn’t happen very often.  I was also very proud of the people that she interviewed.  It makes me feel good that some of you have really found a "home" with us.

If you would like to check out the article you can go to "Churches Seek Worshippers On The Go" and read it from the Caller Times website.

Thanks to Brandi Dean for writing it.  We weren’t expecting someone to consider us newsworthy, but we really appreciate the things you said!