Song Writing Interview:Todd Bagley & Michael Bynum at the WH (YouTube)

Christmas Day 2010 at Jim and Patsy's home

We Are Taking A Day Off After The Snow Day

Christmas Day Snow 2010 In Gadsden

Freezing night temps with ice forming. So we decided the safest thing to do was take the day off and not try driving into town. Gravel trucks came by seven times during the day and night. Wind slamming frozen limbs against the house. This is the South. Meaning this kind of weather doesn't come this way often and we lose all of our wisdom concerning autos on black ice patches. No live streams today.

A Little Saturday Morning Christian Discussion Over Coffee

Discussion with Wayne Findley, Lane Smith, Bobby Sparks. Jim mans the Nano
cam.

Talking About Priorities

I thought I would go and look over our priorities from the 2010 perspective. I was told by the God to “start a church” back on January 16, 1983. It took two years to wander around with this mandate and by January 1985 we had a checkbook with our name on it: Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Gadsden. That’s our real name registered with the IRS. AVC-USA got concerned that the Vineyard movement would lose the “service mark” of the name “Vineyard”(It’s like if you and I say “Coke” when we mean any soft drink then the word “Coke” would go into general use and no longer be a “trademark”). Anyway, AVC asked the Vineyard churches in the USA to change our names and stop calling ourselves “Vineyards” but call ourselves the name of the city (or something), then Vineyard (like the Baptist, etc. - the name of the association or domination), then the word church. So ten years into this change I heard many Vineyards refused to change their name. (I sound so obedient to authority, don’t I?) Michael Bynum was telling me one pastor’s story that he refused to use the word “church” because he said the word “fellowship” had a greater connection for him. He said “fellowship” communicated better the value of “church life” being about “a spiritual family that fellowships together”.

So why are you writing about this you ask? Because WORDS are a way to communicate IDEAS, and STORIES do an even better job of it. The old saying is so true: “A picture is worth a 1000 words.” Sometimes even 1000 words can’t do it justice. My conflict inside over the word CHURCH versus FELLOWSHIP continues. I’m sure you have some ideas that would be communicated better if you could just find better words to use.

An example of someone who can write with such clean thinking would be C. S. Lewis. Go and read any of his 54 books for a few minutes and your mind will become clean and your thinking level.

Or read anywhere in the Gospels. After a few minutes you will find that the air clears, you start to get in touch with who you are, who God is, and everything starts to come into focus.

K & L > Z

This time next week K & L will be on their way to the Far East to get Z! What a long and exciting countdown it has been.

There’s a calendar that Father is keeping and He has circled the Wedding Feast of His Son. All of creation is counting down. Hope you know (yada) Him. Get in touch with me and we’ll get you on His list!

Eye has not seen and ear has not hear what God our Father has in store for us, for YOU!

Blessings from Gadsden, Alabama, USA  - jim 

OUR PRIORITIES

Introduction

   Priorities describe how we spend our time, energy, and money. They are the things we do. Priorities grow out of the things we value and believe in. Our priorities are based on the Bible, the Word of God, that is the standard for all that we do at the Vineyard. In other words, nothing that we do should ever be opposed to the Bible’s teaching. We aim to do all that the Bible teaches. We have a particular approach to the Bible. We think that it was given not only to give us insight and understanding but also to equip us to do God’s work. Thus, we emphasize training that is doing the truth in addition to knowing the truth. Because we stress doing, our teaching and preaching are intended to be practical and relevant. We aim, through expository preaching and topical messages and modeling the Christian lifestyle, to call people to follow every part of the Christian life as revealed in the Scriptures.

1. Exalting God’s Presence (Worship): The highest priority of God’s people is to worship Him, that is, to give to God the worth that He ought to have in our lives. In the Bible, one meaning of worship is to draw near. Thus, in worship we give ourselves to God in love and He comes to us in the fullness of His Spirit. We believe that an intimate relationship with God is the basis of all that we do as Christians.

2. Expressing God’s Love (Ministry): Ministry at the Vineyard flows from two basic assumptions. First, it is based on the compassion and mercy of God. Jesus was the embodiment of God’s compassion and mercy toward those in need. Thus, through the imitation of Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit, we seek to minister out of hearts which are filled with Christ’s mercy and compassion.

   Second, Jesus Christ as the Messiah came to establish the Kingdom of God, that is, God’s right to rule in the world (Matt. 9:35-10:10). This kingdom rule and reign of God is extended through the world in, among other things, the following ways:

 Preaching the Gospel with the aim of making disciples

 Praying for the healing of the sick

 Teaching believers to follow Christ

 Feeding the poor

 Counseling those in need of God’s wisdom

 Giving to the work of Christ

 Building up families

 Social action

3. Enfolding God’s Family (Fellowship): Vineyard exists to care for and to build up people, not programs. Fellowship begins with our relationship with Jesus. It also involves our commitment to Christ’s body.

   We believe that this commitment to Christ’s body can best be expressed by being involved in small groups (i.e. kinships, home fellowship groups, special interest groups). We must know one another in order to love one another and to share one another’s burdens. Small groups are the basic structure in the Vineyard for comfort and counsel, service to one another, intimate relationships, healing and prayer. In these groups, we stress such things as honesty, integrity, reality, acceptance, and love.

4. Edifying God’s People (Discipleship): The New Testament calls Christians to a radical commitment. We believe that we are called to an unconditional surrender of our whole lives to Christ. We do not do this in a legalistic way or to impress or judge one another. Instead, our surrender to God springs from a response of love and thanksgiving to God who loved us and gave Himself for us.

   As a church we stimulate one another to discipleship. One meaning of disciple is pupil or learner. It involves binding oneself to another so that the disciple does what the master does. In Christian discipleship our aim is to be bound to Christ and to imitate Him. We believe we are to imitate Jesus in all He did—preaching, healing, praying, delivering the demonized, caring for the poor, etc.

5. Evangelizing God’s World (Evangelism, Church Planting & World Missions): Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners (I Tim. 1:15). He accomplishes that salvation through the witness of His people accompanied by signs and wonders (Mk. 16:20). There are almost 150 million unchurched Americans in the post World War II generation. That means that an enormous missions field exists for churches like the Vineyard here in the United States. The large urban centers of this country are ripe for the harvest. There are also tens of millions of unreached peoples around the world whom we are called to reach (Matt. 28:18-20).

   Studies in missions, evangelism, and theology show that a chief way  to evangelize nations and peoples is to plant churches. Therefore, local, regional, and global church planting is a Vineyard priority.

©1997, 2010 Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Gadsden – Revised 12-1-2010

Interview with Jordan Magee about Prophetic Dance

Jordan Magee is a singer, songwriter, dancer, and
now a dance drama playwright and choreographer.
It's also exciting to see how others got involved with the
dance drama.

Living Like The Future Is Now

In The E-Myth Revisited, Michael Gerber relates a story he had heard about what Tom Watson, the founder of IBM, had said concerning the success of IBM. It is said that Tom answered his questioner as follows:

IBM is what it is today for three reasons. The first reason is that, at the beginning, I had a very clear picture of what the company would look like when it was finally done. I had a model in my mind of what it would look like when the dream—my vision—was in place.

     The second reason was that once I had that picture, I then asked myself how a company, which looked like that, would have to act. I then created a picture of how IBM would act when it was finally done.

     The third reason IBM has been so successful was that once I had a picture of how IBM would look when the dream was in place and how such a company would have to act, I then realized that, unless we began to act that was from the very beginning, we would never get there.

     In other words, I realized that for IBM to become a great company it would have to act like a great company long before it ever became one.

     From the very outset, IBM was fashioned after the template of my vision. And each and every day we attempted to model the company after that template. At the end of each day, we asked ourselves how well we did, discovered the disparity between where we were and where we had committed ourselves to be, and, at the start of the following day, set out to make up for the difference.

     Every day at IBM was a day devoted to business development, not doing business. We didn’t do business at IBM; we built one.

(emphasis mine)

From The E-Myth Revisited, pages 69-70, 1995

CHRIST IN US, THE HOPE OF GLORY. "God willed to make known among the nations the riches of the glory of this mystery which has been hidden from ages and generations but now has been revealed to his saints. It is Christ in you the hope of glory" (Col 1:26-27).

The IBM vision of Tom Watson is a good illustration of this 

passage. If we live today as if we really are seated in Christ 

what would our everyday lives look like? It just might be that 

living like we were already mature would cause us to mature 

more quickly. Imagine that you and I are the adopted sons 

and daughters of God Most High. Wait a minute, WE ARE 

ADOPTED SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF GOD MOST HIGH!!!

How To Run The Great Hall Sound Board

David, Nathan and A. J. Talk About Healing

Liz Wood Interview On Song Writing

Our Values (The Ones We Know)

OUR VALUES

Introduction

   Every house is built upon a foundation. Gadsden Vineyard Church, GVC, is built upon the foundation of conservative, evangelical Christian theology (see GVC's Statement of Faith). We actively stress certain ideas and attitudes that govern our choices about how we use our time, energy and resources. These are our values.

                   

   Our primary value can be stated in one word - RELATIONSHIP. We are committed to growth in intimacy with God and with our brothers and sisters in the body of Christ and to growing His Family - extending His kingdom throughout our community and the world. We want to know God and our fellow brothers and sisters better! We believe our relationship with God and each other is the primary value from which everything else in our fellowship flows. (Matthew 22:37-39) Therefore, God and His children are not to be used to meet our own personal ambitions. We prefer rather to learn to relate to Him and to them in a way that will bring wholeness to our lives. From this basic value come all the other things that we value.

     A. We value the PURSUIT OF GOD. We are hungry to know God’s presence, to hear His voice, and to follow hard after Him. (Psalm 63:1-3)

     B. We value CHRISTLIKENESS. We desire that, through the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ love, mercy, grace, truth, purity, power, and integrity would shine through all that we do. (Ephesians 5:1-2)

     C. We value BEING SPIRIT-LED. We honor Jesus as our head and the Holy Spirit as our counselor-teacher. We seek to be responsive to the Holy Spirit in life and ministry. (Galatians 5:22-25)

     D. We value PRAYER essentially because it is our primary means of communing with God and because it is God’s primary means of accomplishing His purposes in the world. We expect God to answer prayer and often experience healing and restoration in people’s lives.

     E. We value DISCIPLESHIP and aim first to grow as disciples of Jesus ourselves and then to make disciples of others. To enable people to learn more quickly and with greater awareness, we use a clinic model of teaching and demonstrating in everything we do. (Philemon 6; Matthew 28:18-20)

     F. We value THE KINGDOM OF GOD. We believe that when we meet the unconverted and serve them, that God will back up our message with signs and wonders - Power Evangelism. As we love 

them, God will meet their needs through our actions and prayers, and we will see God heal and work wonders through His mighty presence and His Spirit’s gifts to all. (Mark 1:14-15)

     G. We value the MERCY OF GOD. We believe that mercy is fundamental to all that God does in salvation.Therefore, we aim to extend mercy to one another and to all to whom we minister. (Colossians 3:12-13)

     H. We value INTEGRITY. We seek to speak truthfully, deal honestly, and live uprightly with God, with each other, and with ourselves. (Ephesians 4:14-15)

     I. We value SERVANT LEADERSHIP. We believe that Christ has put significant leadership authority in the hands of the senior pastor and leadership team. We aim to exercise that authority with humility, selflessness, grace, care for the sheep and a sincere desire to build up the Body of Christ. (II Timothy 2:24-25; John 10:11b)

     J. We value the INDIVIDUAL, single or married, adult or child. We believe that all people will someday stand before God and have their life examined to disclose the degree of stewardship they have exercised in their lives and work. We want everyone we know to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things, enter the joy of your master.” (Matthew 25:21)

We plan to help one another strive to do all we are called to do in our generation. We believe everyone can and should minister; therefore, equipping the body is a goal in all of our actions.
     K. We value UNITY. We are convinced that all who belong to Christ are one in His Body, the Church. We aim to maintain unity by honoring all who call on Jesus’ name and by seeking reconciliation with all parts of His church. (John 17:21-23)

     L. We value COMMUNITY, a “sense of belonging.” We are honored by every person whom God adds to the Gadsden Vineyard Church and desire that he or she participate in a small group where he or she can live and grow in a community of love and acceptance. In small groups people learn to love one another and to share in the ministry of reaching the unchurched. (I Corinthians 13:4-7; Colossians 3:12-14)

     M. We value REALITY. We aim to walk in the Spirit and expect to see real supernatural works of God. We aim also to function on the natural plane based on God’s leading and excellent, rational thinking. (James 1:5) We strive to hear the Holy Spirit and walk by faith. We also believe that the Spirit’s promptings will go hand in hand with realistic, rational thinking.

     N. We value SIMPLICITY. We desire to do nothing for religious effect but rather to operate in a natural low-key, unpretentious manner. We want every expression of ours—whether our speech, our music, our behaviors, and our physical environment to be non-hyped and reality based. We enjoy showmanship and stage presence but value it only as good theater and entertaining. (Philippians 4:4-8)

     O. We value BEING CULTURE CURRENT. We aim to develop an atmosphere of ease and to speak, act, and dress in ways to which our culture can respond positively. We want to use music, terminology, and technology to stay in touch with our communities and meet their needs. (I Corinthians 9:19-23)

     P. We value DUTY. We believe that as Christians we have moral obligations to perform regardless of what our emotions dictate. (Hebrews 10:25)

     Q. We value LOYALTY that is an ever enduring, steadfast, faithful, patient, persevering attitude and action toward other Christians. (John 15:13; Proverbs 17:17; Ecclesiastes 4:9-11; I Corinthians 13:4-7)

     R. We value EFFICIENCY. We want to get as many people involved in the ministry as is possible. (Current research shows that only fifteen to twenty percent is involved in ministry in the average traditional church setting.) We strive to discover one another's spiritual gifts and calling to encourage each other to grow in Kingdom ministry.


     S. We value EVANGELISM and want to PERMEATE OUR CITY and OUR REGION with Kingdom ideals. We want to take the Christian lifestyle out into the lives of the people in our area by meeting in homes and other places. We don’t want to wait until people find their way into a church service. We believe friendship, worship and service evangelism will build relational bridges to the unchurched lives.


     T. We value being part of a MOVEMENT. We believe God is going to change the activities and behaviors of current Christianity into a more biblically functional form in this generation. We believe the small group movement is a plan of the Holy Spirit to reach different people groups all over the earth. We value the accountability and exchange with others that being in a movement brings. We believe that existing permanently, as an independent church, can be dangerous and with time could allow a church to drift away from orthodox Christianity.

     U. We value being BUILDING (FACILITIES) CONSCIENTIOUS. We will use any space necessary to get the job done to equip our people. We believe the main work of the church takes place in small groups. We have no desire to build a fancy building for attracting people or to prove we have arrived; we prefer our “form to follow the function” when it comes to the spaces we rent or purchase. We work at establishing Kingdom authority over facilities for which we are responsible. We also aim at making our environs as aesthetically pleasing as is reasonable.

     V. We value ACCOUNTABILITY. Small group meetings commonly focus on a Biblical teaching related to a life problem. Because one cannot hide in a small group, there is a natural relational accountability in this environment. We believe the leaders and members stay spiritually healthy through close accountability and transparent relationships.

     W. We value GENEROSITY. We are committed to freely give away all that we have freely received from God.
     
     X. We value HUMILITY. We know that humility and thankfulness leads to being healthy, mature Christians who aren’t judgmental but lead by the love of Christ.

     Y. We value OUR CHURCH CULTURE. We love who we are and our evolving unique church culture.

We have a list of about 25 values. Of course, there are move than 25 that go unstated in our local church culture.