I read a passage out of Nehemiah recently and thought it was a good description of how Jack Bauer might lead God’s people. 

Just a little background on the passage first.  Nehemiah had just returned to Jerusalem for the second time and upon returning, he found the wall standing as strong as ever, but the people in moral, social, and spiritual ruin.

So he took action. Extreme action.

He describes his response in Nehemiah 13, but two particular sentences especially stand out to me. Check this out: “I rebuked them and called curses down on them.  I beat some of the men and pulled out their hair.” Nehemiah 13:25 (NIV) 

I’d say someone was passionate about God, wouldn’t you?

I’m assuming you understand why Nehemiah reminds me of Jack Bauer now.

I mean, isn’t that the kind of move we would expect Jack Bauer to make if he happened to be the guy in charge at this time in history? Doesn’t that have his name written all over it? 

I’m not sure I’m recommending that anybody go out and apply this to their current context, but I do think a case can be made that the church needs more leaders who are passionate about God’s vision and bold enough to take action to protect it and advance it. 

Francis Chan is the Senior Pastor of Cornerstone Community Church in Simi Valley, Callifornina.  He is an amazing communicator and passionate about calling the next generation to have a deeper love for Jesus.   

Here are some of the nuggets from his teaching today:

• Sometimes as a church we try to slow down or calm down people who are fired up and institutionalize their faith.
• I don’t like the Book of Acts because I never read it and say, “Wow, that’s just like us!”
• We have the power of the Holy Spirit yet we lack boldness to walk across the street and share Christ with our neighbors.
• Let’s not stifle and compartmentalize fired up people any more than we already do.
• People say you’re a radical and then you read the Word and you realize you’re not even close.
• It seems like we’re talking people out of living the kind of life Jesus calls us to live.
• What I’m doing is so stupid if there’s no Heaven.
• We never look more like Christ than when we’re rescuing!
• We’ve got to start praying for more boldness.  Aren’t there things God has called you to do and you’ve just been scared?

A few things from this past weekend services:

·         Each Easter we have a third service due to the large attendance, however this year we decided on a Saturday Night service as a service option…had no real idea how it would work…

o   LARGEST attended service of the weekend!

o   We were PACKED OUT!

o   The band was kicking, the place was alive and life change happened.

·         Sunday Morning services went well because of the ARMY of volunteers we had on hand.

o   You saw them…the 300+ people in Red Shirts…did an amazing job

o   Thank you to each person that spent the weekend with us serving…it was a blast.

·         FYI – Largest Attendance ever at Southside this past weekend…over 4,000.

·         FYI – We had over 400 more people this Easter than last year.

·         At the end of each service we had people raise their hand if they wanted to accept Christ and begin a new life…we got a quick count of over 60 people this weekend walked out of our church a new person, new hope, new purpose and have become connected with Jesus.

·         We ended our 21 Days of Reflection (online church devotional) on Easter.  This was a great time for our people to be in the “word” together…You know what they say – “takes 21 days for a habit to start.”

·         Before the third service started, I saw 3 guys talking to each other – one wearing a suit; one had shorts & tee-shirt on while another had about 5 piercing in his ears/lips.  I thought how interesting those 3 highly diverse men would all feel welcome coming to the same church and fellowshipping…Let us never forget that the heart is what matters.

o   For the record it was too nice to wear a suit that morning and I think getting anything pierced on me would result in passing out so I’m liking the idea of shorts during the spring time.

For those of you who might be wondering, I’m pleased to announce that our church is once again off to a fantastic start of a new year. In fact, for the first three months of 2009, we’ve seen…

• 143 people decide to make Southside their church home.
• 60 individuals give their lives to Christ.
• 49 new Christians follow the Lord in believer’s baptism.

I hope that you’ll not only celebrate these decisions with us, but that you’ll also help us make the next three months even better, by investing in the lives of people you know and inviting them to Southside.

If you haven’t heard, over the next 21 days we are challenging everyone connected with our church to begin a time of serious self-examination as Good Friday and Easter approach.

Our prayer is that you would read a chapter of John each day for the next 21 days, read the corresponding devotional on our southsidereflections.com, and respond with your thoughts on what you just read.

We would love for you to check out this new blog every day for the next 21 days!

A few things I saw/heard this morning:

·         Had an amazing weekend at Southside with our Men’s Conference, then of course this morning.

·         Big thanks to Matt for posting conference notes on the blog.

·          This Sunday was the first time in my ministry career that I have ever handed out little brown bags with the bulletin…got some interesting comments… “Is the service going to make me sick? etc…” - no shortage of comedians in Warner Robins.

·         We announced our Easter service times: Saturday 6pm, Sunday 9am & 10:45am.

·         I had a visiting pastor tell me this weekend “This is the most amazing church I’ve ever been to”….I told him he needs to get out more J…he then looked me in the eye and said “I’m serious, you guys have changed the way I do ministry and I love you for that” – how awesome to be able to minister in a place that is being a blessing to others.

·         An ongoing debate in the church world has to do with a non-believer playing in a worship band at church.  Most churches hold to the theory of NO – because they are “worshippers” on stage and represent your church.  You can’t have a lost people participle in worship.  Well, our worship leader Mark had a lost friend that was highly talented in music.  Mark had a spot open in his band, so he asked him to play.  So, a lost 23-year-old was playing in a worship band at Southside.  After a few intentional conversations and lots of people caring about him, he became a Christ-Follower this past week.  It’s funny how “perceived standards” are totally washed away when eternity is on the line….welcome to the family Josh!

·         Amber rocked the house this morning with a song called “Hosanna.” 

·         A few sermon points from one of our favorite missionaries, Jim Horn:

o   Christianity is summed up in one word – Sacrifice.

o   The need for sacrifice makes us confront our limitations to see His possibilities.

o   Sacrifice identifies us with Jesus.

o   Sacrifice for the advancement of God’s kingdom leads to multiplied blessings.

·         Start tomorrow reading your church devotional online www.southsidereflections.com

·         FYI – Jars of Clay tickets are going REALLY fast…don’t be left out.