Again I am reading more of Mark Driscoll’s book, Death by Love. It has been a super good read thus far. Focused on Jesus whole heartedly and it has been good to catch this side of Driscoll. He is very pastoral and compassionate, yet leading with Jesus and calling people to Jesus. Good Stuff. We are almost to Plano Texas. We will be staying there for a day or so then home to Tucson.
It was cool to check out Epic Church online today until their feed went down. I am excited for the near future of Epic Church. There is a lot of work to be done but one thing is for sure, we cannot loose sight of Jesus or the power of the cross. We must all be willing to submit to God’s authority and repent of our sin and wickedness in order to be conformed more to the image of Jesus.
“I’m all for dialogue. But as a replacement for preaching? This is a strange idea and could only come from a low view of Scripture” -Chandler
I was listening to a streaming event this afternoon about preaching. It was from the Acts29 BootCamp. And this quote came across my Twitter feed. It is making me think a lot.
As I create my thoughts around it, what are yours?
Leave a comment here on my blog. Or go to the Epic Church website HERE and leave a message in the forums. Twitter me HERE or email me at: jake@epicchurchonline.org
Sitting in the Starbucks tonight studying for class and working on my sermon for Epic Church two weeks from now, titled: Growing a Movement. This picture came to mind as I see the people coming and going.
The church used to be the focal point of any community, the tallest building and the soul of the city. Only 50 years ago, it was the place where neighbors and near neighbors came together at least once a week. Today churches can be difficult to find in the city where the skyline is dominated by banks and business buildings. Still, the search for purpose goes on and the hunger for spiritual wellbeing is as great as ever. As it says in Jeremiah 29:7 – “But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”
It begs me wonder, what am I doing to on Jesus’ behalf for the welfare of the city? And what I am doing, is it enough? Maybe it is enough but could I be doing it better? And who could be doing it with me? Our communities have real problems, real hurts, real needs and as cliche as it sounds, Jesus is the answer. The question is though, how am I being Jesus to my community?
I came across this article on the FoxNews.com website today. It caught my eye because it was talking about my gender, male, faking an orgasm. I thought I needed to read the article. It was a good read and I share it here because this information is sure to be included in the next EpicSEX series this fall at Epic Church.
Open communication within marriage is essential. Not only in the area of large decisions like which home to buy but also in the bedroom. For a healthy marriage to exist their must be open and healthy communication.
At Epic Church we desire to make our city a better place because of the Gospel. We deeply desire to see men and women marry and make babies. And it is a dream of mine to one day celebrate as a community hundreds and thousands of 50, 60, 70 year marriage anniversaries. Communication in all areas including the bedroom is 100% necessary. Maybe if you are a couple reading this article it would spur on some conversations about this area of your marriage.
Blessings!
The article:
Faking orgasm is almost always chalked up as a woman’s white lie. But a man can be just as guilty.
The Orgasm Survey, conducted by economist Hugo Mialon, found that 24 percent — nearly 1 in 4 men — fake the “Big O.”
What’s perplexing is that society doesn’t acknowledge this issue enough. It’s supposedly only “her” problem. So what’s going on with him? And are there ways to have him trigger-happy in the saddle again?
When I was interviewing men for my first book, “The Hot Guide to Safer Sex,” I learned that players and committed men both fake it. Their reasons:
— He feels pressure to perform, including within a set amount of time. READ MORE
Posted by Jake Rasmussen | Posted in Books, Quote | Posted on 04-02-2009
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I received a book a couple of days ago from Amazon and I can’t seem to put it down. Today I came across a quote that made me go, “hummmm”
The set up…
At times communicators try so hard to keep everything right in their head and desire so badly to deliver the product with perfection. A master communicator and pastor Andy Stanley had this to say to a fellow communicator right before he was to walk on to the platform to give his message he was working so hard to keep straight.
“How would you communicate the message if your eighteen-year-old son had made up his mind to walk away from everything you have taught him, morally, ethically, and theologically, unless he had a compelling reason not to? What wold you say this morning if you knew that was at stake? Because for somebody’s son out there this may be his last chance. Now quit worrying about your outline. Go out there and plead your case like your owns son’s future was at stake.”
This has captivated my thoughts since these words passed though my eyes and came to rest on my brain.
Check out Kristin McGee, the musical worship leader at Epic Church. She wrote a short story for a tshirt contest and she won! They invited her to help create a video about her story and this is it.
Jedidiah is an amazing company that I have personally invested my money into to help see their vision become a reality. I hope you enjoy the video and will check out: http://www.jedidiahusa.com
We at Epic Church are very proud of Kristin and her acomplishments. We are thrilled to have her lead the musical worship time at the weekend Epic Gathering. She is a hard worker who loves Jesus and those around her. We are excited for this acomplishment and continue to look for great things to come. Feel free to send her a word of encouragement at: kristin(AT)epicchurchonline.org
I am super, super, super stoked that Starbucks Coffee Company is partnering with (Red) and giving a portion of every holiday drink sold to the Global Fund with a vision to “Make Poverty History”. Buy Starbucks holiday drinks with confidence that they are giving back.
Because I am a partner at Starbucks I am excited this is happening but also because I am a Follower of Jesus, I am excited to see this happen. Jesus Followers care about the “least of these” and we (together) can make a difference. As excited I am for a huge mega company, Starbucks, to be partnering to help make our world a better place; I can’t help but to think if the Church, which is, Followers of Jesus would just be doing what that are “supposed” to be doing… would we even need something like (RED) or ONE or the Global Fund?
What part does Epic Church need to play in making our community, city and world a better place?
On my trip to Ohio I snagged one of my favorite magazines, Wired. There is always a plethora of information in each issue regarding our culture in relation to technology.
The theme of one article is that the blog is so 1994, and we are in 2008… HELLO! Twitter. Facebook. Ning.
These are taking over. They may be taking over but as I was sitting in the airport, I started asking the people around me, “What do you know about Twitter?”
Now for those of you who know me really well can actually picture me talking to complete strangers sitting trapped waiting for their flight. Funny picture huh?
Besides the one women that thought I was trying to get fresh with her…. No one had a clue what Twitter was.
Either I am on the cutting edge of technology as a clergyman, aka wide whale cords, or I am totally stupid.
So, keep reading my blog here or better yet join Twitter and add me: jake_rasmussen and epicchurch
I am super, super, super stoked that 
