Gary Lamb and the Big Elephant in the Room

This blog isnt about Gary Lamb, but I used his name to prove a point. I am a big fan of Gary Lambs and have been for some time now, and like most of you was sad and ticked off with the recent news of his fall.  I will continue to pray for him, but I am sure he has a “NATHAN” that put their finger in his face and said that man is you “David”, therefore he doesnt need a twittersphere full of typers to continue doing so. 

Most of you are here reading this because I strategically twittered that this blog was about @perrynoble, @garylamb, @pastormark, @stevenfurtick, etc…..I don’t have 10,000 followers on twitter, my blog doesnt have 5,000 unique visitors a day, I will not be asked to speak at Catalyst this year, Fox News will not ask me to join them in a debate like they did Mark Driscoll. Perry Noble will probably never call me to go to lunch with him, Steven Furtick doesnt follow me on twitter, Ed Stetzer has not called me to do research with him………….. and I am okay with that and all of you should be too.

I think its time that we quit chasing a church, or quit chasing a pastor, or quit chasing a trend, and start CHASING JESUS. What if this week you flip-flopped your twitter time with your devotion time.  What if you only twittered for 7 minutes 4 mornings this week and spent 6 hours a day everyday in God’s Word.  What if this week you cared less about Modern and Traditional and more about LOST or SAVED. 

What if this week you cared less about NewSpring and Anderson Sc, Elevation and Charlotte Nc, Revolution and Canton Ga, Mars Hill and Seattle WA, and you cared more about the place that God has called you to serve.  I believe twitter has become a melting pot for JEALOUS PHARISEES to post garbage and a TEMPLE FOR IDOLATRY as JEALOUS PASTORS burn with lust over another preachers success. Perry, Steven, and Mark may never say Jared that was a great sermon………. but I am working diligently so that God might say Well Done my “good and faithful servant”

Am I Baptist?

It has been way overdue that I blog again…… I want to apologize to all 4 of you who read this regularly (ie Lewko, Cory, My Wife and My Mom).   So many things have been going on and I just honestly had to put blogging on the sideline for a couple of months, but good news is I am back.

So the title asks the question Am I Baptist?  For all of my life I have been a part of a Southern Baptist Church….. In other words, long enough to grow immune to the pettiness that offends so many.  I have even seen a conservative resurgence in the North Carolina Baptist convention pioneered by my father, Greg Mathis, as he served as the President for two years.  I am a  member and employee of one of the larger and prominent Baptist churches in the Convention.  So by all means I have been a Baptist.

But most importantly I am Baptist, not in name, but in action.  I am not disgusted or fed up with the SBC, I am disgusted and fed up with myself for not being more involved.  I want to be a voice of the SBC for years to come, I want to be a part of a group of men of my generation who stand up and can proudly say that I AM BAPTIST.  A group that will spend less time boycotting Disney and debating alcohol and homosexuality on the convention floor.  There is no question that some changes have got to occur in the SBC, and honestly I believe they are already beginning (check out http://www.greatcommissionresurgence.com/ and become a part of this movement.)  I am so proud to be apart of the SBC and our efforts missionally.  I cannot wait to be apart of this exciting resurgence that is going to have an eternal impact on my generation and generations to come.  I am thankful for men like Danny Akin who recognize the need for this and compile such timely axioms for us and have the zeal to follow through on it.  I also encourage you to check out http://www.baptisttwentyone.com/ .  I appreciate this blog so much and I know that anyone who reads it consistenly will profit.

Unleash

Below is a TOP 11…….. tried to be sneaky

Post Unleash Top 10

Alright, so I did a pre-unleash top 10 and now its time for post conference top 10………. here we go.

10.  Perry Noble said balls 10x on stage

9.    Gary Lamb brought a crew of 100+ (his group of volunteers attending  the conference is larger than 98% of all churches…WNL)

8.    Perry Said SUCKS 96X on stage

7.    Steven Furtick may preach like a giant, but he is actually only 5’5′ in person….. (still love him though)

6.    Gary Lamb Bauer  and Shaun King will be the reason there will be increased security next year……. not for their protection (they are from the dirty south)……. rather for the protection of idiots during private Q&A……. HAHAHA just sayin

5.    Brad Cooper’s session should not be called a BREAKOUT it should be called a PACKEDOUT.

6.  NewSpring’s sound system hits harder than Chris Brown (what kind of guy hits a girl)

4.  Perry Noble said “Damn” on stage

3.   New Student building is best I have ever seen

2.   Unleash Conference accomplishes more in one day than most conferences do in 3 days.

1.   Too many people will care more about the 3 things Perry said listed above and less about the truth he spit out like fire………. that is why there are so many lost people that the church is not reaching.

Also, loved seeing Greg Mathis and Perry Noble meet officially……… My Father probably stuck out like a sore thumb there (he was the one guy not wearing Buckle, Affliction, or Ed Hardy)…….. but he loved the Conference, Loved Perry Noble……. and proved to me that Jesus is not confined to one style but he completes one message and its time for us to get on fire for JESUS!

Top Ten PRE-UNLEASH CONFERENCE

This blog is a list of ten things that you will probaby see or experience tomorrow if you are at The Unleash conference at Newspring Church in Anderson SC.

10. This is where all the people you see at Catalyst conference go one other day of the year.

9. Tony Morgan will have more people following him around than a hashtag.

8. It will look like The Buckle Spring Catalog photo shoot.

7. 1 in 4 attendees will have FoHawk.

6. Brad Cooper will rock your world in a break-out session (800 plus kids currently attending FUSE- WOW!)

5. Gary Lamb will show up with an entourage that would make JAY-Z jealous.

4. The whos who of twitter/blog world will be in attendence.

3. Perry Noble will say at least 4 things that will make “some people” question his Christianity and walkout (Ha!, At Least NewSpring got your 60 bucks)

2. There will be at least 600 twits/retwits of Perryisms by noon.

1. Greg Mathis, yes I said Greg Mathis (Mud Creek Church/Fox 21 TV) will make his first trip to NewSpring and I cant wait.

Hi-freakin-larious

Cheer Up

What If?

 

For each time the world school, college, university is used…. I want you to replace it with the word church. What if all churches in America finally admitted that this is a problem that we face as a church………. What if the church admitted that they are FAILING with a younger generation……. that talent is being wasted because of a system rooted in TRADITION and OLD ideas….. that it is time to use technology to re-write the rules of CHURCH…… for an older generation to learn how we learn so they can TEACH us better……. for the “CHURCH” adapt to us rather than expecting us to adapt to it………..admitting that it is time for a different kind of CHURCH……. WHAT IF??????

M.I.A.

Sorry to all the people who read my blog (translation 14 people)…… I havent blogged in forever now…….. it is a new world for me learning to be a Dad and to be honest the lack of sleep and adjustments have just about wiped me out……. I assure you that I will be back to blogging soon…… for now you can follow me on twitter @jtmathis and check out the new church blog http://www.mudcreekministries.com

Digging our own grave………….

I have no option but to admit that the majority of professing christians in America are working diligently to make sure that heaven is not crowded……… yes I said not crowded.  Whether it is a legitimate excuse or copout excuse, it is becoming more and more common for you to hear ….. “Christians are doing more to harm the name of Christ and his works that they are to make him famous.” 

“WE” are standing in the way of people being receptive to the good news of the Gospel.  Whether it is because of ignorance, or the product of deep traditional values and methods of Christians that are turning people away, or just down right hypocrisy……… it is a reality.  So in the year 2009 lets change that…………. Obama should not be the only one catapulting change……… I am going to make a statement and I want you to quote me ” I dont want my mansion in heaven, I want God to have to downsize it to make more room, I hope he has to turn my mansion into a duplex!”

Top Ten Blogs 2008

Here is a list of top ten blogs/bloggers that I followed weekly in 2008.

1. Mark H

2. Lewko

3. Cory H

4. Rhett

5. Brad C

6. Gary

7. Mark D

8. Steven Futick

9. Tony M

10. J.D. Greear