Invade the City

The vision for Awaken Church in 2013 is for us to be further invested in our community than ever before. As a church, we got right to work on that by partnering with Hope Pregnancy Center in January and February for a diaper drive, where we collected over 6,000 diapers in just a few weeks! In March, we threw a giant Easter party for the city and saw 14 people come to faith in Christ (many of which I’ve baptized since then!)! Later this year, we’ll be partnering with a few other local churches to host The Uprising – a city-wide evangelistic outreach geared at those who don’t normally step foot in a church. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

This summer, for the first time ever, after 7 months in the making, we’re excited to introduce…

Invade The City is a hands-on way to mobilize the church to meet the needs of others. On July 13-21, Awaken will be partnering with 8 different groups and organizations for 13 unique ways to reach into our city. We never want to forget about the community we’re a part of, and our prayer is that what happens within the walls of Awaken spills out into the streets of Clarksville and beyond!

Swing by awakenchurch.org/invade to read about some of the outreaches we’ll be a part of as we partner with these organizations in July. Signups begins online and at Awaken this weekend, July 22/23!

This is a call to action for the church. Buckle up. Let’s invade the city!

what haunts me

According to the CIA, the worldwide mortality rate is staggering. On average, somewhere around the world (some on different continents, others in our neighborhood), 107 people die every minute. That comes out to 1.8 deaths per second. That means that in the 20 minutes it takes me to post this blog, 2,140 more people will be dead…and their eternity will be decided.

I know that’s not a real upbeat way to start this blog, but those numbers haunt me. Especially when I preach. I wonder how many of the 154,080 people who will die in the next 24 hours didn’t take time to make sure their eternal destination was secure. And even worse, how many had many, many opportunities to give their lives to Jesus, and said, “I’ll do it tomorrow,” but tomorrow never rolled around. And did any of those people who will die this week hear me preach on Sunday and not respond to the invitation for salvation? I hope not.

Yesterday I taught the second-to-last message in our verse-by-verse study through Revelation called The Reckoning. It may have been the most important (and definitely the most urgent) message of the whole series. All throughout our text in Revelation 22, God reminded us that He told us about the events of the end of the world because they will “shortly take place,” and “the time is at hand.” And to really drive the point home, Jesus said multiple times, “Behold, I am coming quickly.”

The message is clear: the end is near. We must act now.

If you’ve never given your life to Jesus, you need to. Today.

If you have given your life to Jesus, I hope your life is defined by urgency and expectancy. Jesus is coming and our time to share the news of eternity is running short.

Make sure to watch or listen to Sunday’s message HERE and pass it on to a friend that needs Jesus. It could change their life!

And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. - Romans 13:11

BIG NEWS for AQUA College Ministry

Reblogged from :

A little over 3 years ago, my wife and I were eating pizza with Ron and Cheryl Edmondson in Louisville, KY. They shared their heart, and God's call on Grace Community Church to launch a college ministry with GCC on the campus of Austin Peay State University. That fall, we launched a brand new college ministry at Grace Community Church, where we prayed and worked toward connecting college students with a local church that would lead them to a growing relationship with Jesus.

Read more… 308 more words

Stoked to team up with Brandon Reed and the team from Grace Community Church that runs AQUA College Ministry! They'll be meeting weekly at Awaken on Thursday nights beginning Thurs, Sept 6. If you're college-age, and don't have Thursday night plans, don't miss out on this great time of ministry and fellowship! Read more on Brandon's blog...

Nine Reasons Why I Preach Expositionally

Reblogged from dannyslavich.com:

I am absolutely convinced that expository preaching is the best way to approach the most sacred task of pastoral ministry. The best definition of expository preaching I have heard came from Mark Dever, "The point of the passage is the point of the message." Since I started at Pembroke, I have done what my preaching professor, Hershael York, at SBTS said to do: I have made it my "bread and butter." I have preached through books of the Bible section by section, sequentially and consistently.  

Read more… 750 more words

I love this blog from a fellow expositional preacher. I feel that churches across America are filled with too many pep talks and not enough Gospel. Preaching expositionally allows God's Word to be God's Word. Make sure to reach Danny's thoughts on why he has chosen to preach verse-by-verse...

AWAKENED: Joe & Haley Morrone

As we geared up for our  2-year birthday, one thing we really wanted to highlight were some of the many ways God has changed lives at Awaken Church. For the last couple months, people have submitted their stories, and we were able to get together with a few of them to film.

One thing I love about Joe & Haley is their appetite for serving and learning. They’re constantly looking for more ways to be hand-on with ministry at Awaken. To me, they also stand as a great reminder of some of the people God has enabled us to reach out to. In fact, I invited a guy at Guitar Center to church the other day. He had long, black rocker hair, a bullring in his nose, tattoos, and other piercings. He was surprised to get an invite to the church because he said most Christians look down on him for the way he looks. I apologized to him on the behalf of Christianity, and I told him that not only does that not represent the way Jesus thinks of him, but he also won’t get treated like that at Awaken. Using Haley as my example, I even told him that if he came to the church, the person who greets him at the door and hands him a bulletin may have a bullring and tattoos as well!

I love that about my church!

Watch below to see how God has impacted Joe & Haley’s lives…

Satanology

Sa-tan-ol-o-gy - [seyt-n-ol-uh-jee] – n. – the study or doctrine of Satan

I grew up playing baseball, and part of the strategy was knowing who you were up against. Part of the coach’s job was to acquaint his players with the opponents’ strengths and weaknesses. The goal, of course, was to use our strengths to play to their weaknesses. If their infield was strong, but their outfield was weak, we wanted to hit to the outfielders, and vice versa.

Satan is our opponent, and he is very acquainted with our strengths and weaknesses as well. He and his demons study us. Their goal is to hit us where it hurts – in our weaknesses.

This is where Satanology comes in. It’s a real branch of theology, stemming from Angelology – the study of angels (since Satan is a fallen angel, after all). It’s our job to know how to resist the enemy. We need to know how he functions, what his strategies are, and how we can be prepared for his attacks.

Tomorrow at Awaken begins a small 3-week study in Satanology that we’re calling “Speak of the Devil.” We’re going to look at the 3 times in Scripture that Satan spoke. He didn’t say much, but he said enough. Although his words are few, they’re enough to give us plenty of insight into who he is and what he’s all about. We need to be prepared for battle, and this is one way to do so.

A few quick tips as you prepare for battle…

1. Don’t try  to reason with Satan.

He’s tricky and full of lies. Eve tried it and it didn’t work so well for her or the rest of humanity (Genesis 3). Instead of reasoning with him when facing temptation, GET THE HECK OUT OF THERE!

2. Focus more on God than on Satan.

While it is healthy to study Satan, don’t become so obsessed with him that you lose sight of the One who created him. God is far more powerful and deserving of our worship.

3. Gear up.

This is war. The Bible says Satan is out to devour you, deceive you, accuse you, and destroy you. To do so, he’ll lie, tempt, and torture you in some very painful and creative ways. Don’t mess around. Put on the Armor of God (listed in Ephesians 6) and get ready to fight. Daily.

4. Don’t fight alone.

No soldier runs into battle alone. Lock arms with some other Christians who are ready to go to battle and walk beside them – you need them just as much as they need you.

I hope you’ll join us on Sundays at 10am at Awaken for this short 3-week look at Satan, the defeated foe.

Worship

I had no idea years ago that when I married my beautiful wife, I was marrying the worship leader of the future Awaken Church. I LOVE that we get to do ministry together! She’s extremely talented and I love hearing her sing. That being said, I love listening to this worship team sing too, but for a much different reason. Enjoy.

PREMEDITATED

Easter is probably my favorite day of the entire year.

As a Christian, there’s no better day to celebrate. Our God is alive! I always love the Good Friday service and the Easter sunrise service. I enjoy the family time and most of all the reflection on what Jesus did for us. How profound that the High and Lifted up One, Jesus, would become low and humbled and die the lowest most inhumane form of death possible.

As I thought and pondered and prayed about what I’d teach on this year – my first Good Friday and Easter actually getting to preach – I kept thinking of two verses in John.

John 10:17-18 – “Therefore My Father ​loves Me, ​​because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I ​have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”

Jesus’ death was no accident. It was premeditated. Normally, the word “premeditated” fits into the context of a murderer planning out the murder before actually pulling it off. That certainly happened with Jesus – all throughout the Gospels you can read about the Jews planning to kill Jesus. Judas also had it all planned out – down to the kiss. Those parts are interesting, but there’s something even more intriguing to me. It’s the fact that God the Father and Jesus, His Son, also had it all planned out – it didn’t take them by surprise like a normal murder would.

The animal that had to die in Genesis 3 so that God could make a tunic of skin to cover their nakedness – that sacrifice pointed to Christ.

Abraham almost sacrificing his only son, Isaac – that pointed to God giving His only Son.

The book of Leviticus – a gory, gruesome book focused on bloodshed and slaughter pointed toward Christ and His death.

The prophets told of Him.

The Psalmists wrote of Him.

The angels even announced Him as the Savior. He was born to die.

As sinful and deceitful as Jesus’ enemies were in betraying Him and killing Him, they were all just a part of God’s master plan! Jesus’ death was the sacrifice of all sacrifices. There would never again need to be a lamb that was slain, a bull burnt, or a goat that was sacrificed. Jesus took it all for us…BECAUSE HE WANTED TO! Incredible!

Over the next 4 weeks leading into Good Friday and Easter, I’m going to be teaching 5 messages that go with this theme: the PREMEDITATED death of Jesus Christ and the resulting salvation that’s available for all mankind.

Jesus’ death wasn’t an an accident. He died for me and He died for you…because He wanted to. I pray you’ll bring some friends over these next few weeks as we dive into this amazing topic. We’ll be discussing events that were life-changing and world-shaking when they took place and my prayer is that they will be eternity-changing as we re-live them once again.

Saturday, March 13 – 6:30pm at Awaken

Saturday, March 20 – 6:30pm at Awaken

Saturday, March 27 – 6:30pm at Awaken

Good Friday, April 2 – noon at Awaken

Easter Sunday, April 4 – 7:30am – location TBA

Hope to see you and some friends there!

BUSiness As Usual

This week, I call it quits as a bus driver. I didn’t even last a full school year. It’s not because I didn’t like it, it’s simply because my new employment arrangement will just work better. I’ll scale back from being quadri-vocational to tri-vocational and I’ll get more hours in at Lasaters Coffee. It will be nice.

I’ve really enjoyed bus driving and it was bittersweet to say goodbye, but it’s for the best. I’ve enjoyed seeing God use me to impact lives there and it was great seeing some of my fellow bus drivers come to church. I enjoyed being called “the Preacher” every once in a while and getting to share why I moved to Clarksville. Most of all, however, I loved the many opportunities I had to share the Gospel with people.

Another thing that was a perk of bus driving was quite a few productive study days while on the job. I spent a couple productive days studying while on stand-by in the drivers’ lounge. Most recently, I had a very productive hour and a half study sesh on a bus, on stand-by. I used the steering wheel as a desk and it worked out quite well, surprisingly.

Here are a few pros and cons to studying on a bus (if you ever find yourself in a similar position):

PROS:

- bus yards are pretty quiet

- the seat was soft and had “air ride” capabilities – I pumped that bad boy up to the perfect spot for comfortable studying

- I swung open those big doors and a cool breeze joined me

- since I had my computer with me, I had some great study jams playing in the background (Copeland, I believe)

- the steering wheel made for a nice, sturdy desk

- there’s one armrest on the left for the driver to rest their arm on while driving – it also worked great for resting my arm on while writing

CONS:

- no wifi – when there’s wifi on board a bus, I may go there instead of a coffee shop

- no way to plug in (thankfully my battery was fully charged, so I had a few hours if needed)

- I was on stand-by, so I had to keep the CB radio on to listen for my name to be called to take another route – it was a bit annoying, but not too bad

- no coffee – that’s a benefit for going to a coffee shop for sure

So, that comes out to 6 PROS and 4 CONS, which means that over all, the bus worked out to be a great place to study. Instead of driving home that day with a headache, I came home challenged and encouraged after spending a solid 90 minutes getting rocked by the chapter 4 of Philippians!

For all you bi- and tri-vocational people in ministry out there, I’d encourage you to take full advantage of every study situation you get. Always arrive prepared to study or read – you don’t want to get caught in a situation where you could have been studying, but you weren’t prepared. God honors that time that we put in to studying, so be diligent with it and PREACH THE WORD!

1-800-CALLGOD

I recently had to call Dish Network because a debt collector said I owed them a $55 installation fee from 1997. What was I doing in 1997 installing Dish Network, you ask? Good question. I was 14 and in 8th grade then. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t installing Dish. I’m pretty sure it would’ve taken me about a month of saving my allowance to pay for the install fee.

So, I called Dish and I got the automated, pretend-to-be-a-human-but-do-a-terrible-job-of-it computer voice. She assured me she could understand complete sentences, so she said I should just tell her what I needed. So I said, “Debt Collection.” She replied, “Your TV screen is black, blue, or snowy. Is this correct?”

Apparently, in addition to being able to understand full sentences, she’s also been programmed to lie.

Anyway, after a confusing and frustrating time trying to weave my way through that audio maze, I finally connected with a real human being to get the situation resolved.

That whole scenario gave me an even bigger appreciation for prayer. Prayer is our direct 1-800 number for God. It rings right to His throne.

No angels. No robotic voices. No saints. No Mary.

Just God Himself – you know, the Creator and Sustainer of everything we have including the air we breathe – yeah, Him! He has created a way for us to talk directly to Him, and yet, prayer is so easily overlooked.

As individuals, what should we do about that problem? The best thing I can come up with is:

PRAY MORE!

Hebrews 4:16 – Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Every day throughout the day we have limitless chances to tap into God’s resources through prayer. He’s listening and He’s never too busy. He doesn’t “answer calls in the order they were received” – He listens to them all at the same time whenever we call!

Not only should we pray more as individuals, but also corporately as a church. I’m excited to implement this opportunity beginning tonight (Sat, March 6) and each Saturday from then on. It’s very simple. Nothing extravagant. No candles or incense or ambiance, just a kids classroom and 30 minutes before service to focus on asking God to move. You should join us. Every Saturday from 5:45-6:15pm, meet one of us pastors back in the back classroom as we lay our hearts before God. Let’s ask Him to move in our city, in our church, and in our individual lives.

God is listening and ready to answer.