A very good friend of mine, really more like brother, has begun an amazing personal challenge that he needs our help with. I say our, because in order to truly make a difference in his challenge he will need us to encourage him, pray for him, give to the causes he is supporting & lastly he needs us to see that THISMUSTCHANGE!

Folks, I will be honest with you, we spend way too much time talking about change, what we would do and not do, how we would fix this or that if given a chance, yada yada yada, but here is someone who has search his heart and believes God has given his a chance to become more fit/healthy and to BE the change. It doesnt get any better than this!!

So with that said, I need you to go to THISMUSTCHANGE right now, yes now, click the freaking link, and donate a $1, $2, heck give more, & then SPREAD THE WORD!!! Please, of course…

But if im not compelling enough or you dont believe me, his words follow mine below… check it out!

THISMUSTCHANGE! is a challenge to see how many people will donate $1 for each pound I lose in the 3 months for 6 life-giving causes.

My goal is to lose 40-50 pounds during the next 3 months through regular exercise (cardio and weights) and a healthy eating plan. I’ll be sharing more about the specific workout/nutrition plans as time goes on.  It begins on Monday, August 17, 2009 and the final weigh-in will be Monday, November 16, 2009.  All donations are done directly through the websites of the organizations and no money go through my hands.

I’m asking folks to do 2 simple things:

1) Commit to give a buck a pound to one of these great causes during the next 3 months. (Can be donated weekly or all at the very end)
2) Spread the word and let others know how they can be a part of this.

I will chronicle the journey on THISMUSTCHANGE.org and share more about these amazing causes.  I will also have weekly weigh in’s and will be as honest as I can about the up-beats and beat-downs that are bound to come when trying to get back in shape.

My hope and prayer is get get hundreds, if not thousands, of people to join me in this.  But I need your help to spread the word.

Can you imagine the impact if loads of people donated a buck a pound?

Let’s say I lose 40 pounds.

100 people x 40 lbs = $4,000

500 people x 40 lbs = $20,000

1,000 people x 40 lbs = $40,000

2500 x 40 lbs = $100,000

You get the idea.

That’s less hungry people. More clean water and less disease. Shelter and care for battered women. More feet without blisters, sores, and infections. More doctors without borders. Less children sold into the sex slave industry. These are serious issues and I seriously need to help.

GOT YOUR ATTENTION… GOOD!

Listen, let us be honest with ourselves, we are losing a battle that is bigger than anything we have ever fought. Look around you right now, where you live, work and play. Someone you know and love, a stranger at the coffee shop, a co-worker who cries themselves to sleep every night is hurting, dying on the inside and ultimately is going to spend eternity in HELL because of you, me, we wont… we just wont do enough about it!

This is not a “church” bashing post, but this is a cry, a plea, an urgent message that i believe we all need to hear. If you are offended, good. If you think I have no room to talk, then stop thinking and do something. I don’t care! We are sitting by arguing with each other while we tell our friends, family and others to: GO TO HELL!!, by not BEING the CHURCH!!!

MY HEART BLEEDS…

my heart concerning the Kingdom of God. These are the things I believe He has sent me to teach a group of people that He has set aside for a peculiarplace. That’s what I believe and nothing can change that. Church growth strategies, marketing, and all the other “church planter” stuff is great, and honestly a must have to some degree, but if we believe God IS, and not was, if we believe in the depths of our heart that He is ALL powerful and has created us in His image, if we believe that like Abraham, Paul and others that He has created a place for us, if we believe that He is the one who moves on the hearts of people as He did Pharaoh, then what is the fuss about? What are we debating theology, doctrine and church “styles” for? I mean really! People are dying and going to Hell, not because we don’t have the latest and greatest, but because we are SILENT! Because our lifestyles don’t match our perfectly coordinated/programmed services, because our words are not the Father’s Words, because our prayers are so self-centered, because we don’t GIVE without looking to receive, because we don’t die daily to sin, because we make excuses about sharing the greatest gift ever given, because we stop falling on our faces to confess and repent, because we choose a “private” savior over a PUBLIC LORD, because we hide behind past hurts and pains and assume vulnerability is from hell, because we have tolerated and not LOVED… I could go on forever and I am just as guilty as anyone else as being caught up in these issues! I am NOT PERFECT, nor do I LIVE the PERFECT life and I will never pretend to be! What I know is that the way we LIVE, LOVE & GIVE can and WILL change the world, or at least the parts of the world assigned to us .

I am simply looking for people who agree to come along side of peculiarplace and get their freaking hands dirty!! Looking for people of all races, backgrounds, experiences and cultures to DO SOMETHING instead of all this FREAKING TALKING! LETS BE THE CHANGE!!

Interested?

Ive been pondering this post for some time now and finally have had it up to here with the frilly, hippie, tender to a fault image of Jesus that has been being portrayed for some time now!! He was not a PUNK! He was not and IS NOT some soft, daisy picking, kiss blowing chump!!!

HE ROSE WITH ALL POWER IN HIS HAND! HE DEFEATED DEATH, HELL AND THE GRAVE IN ONE FAIL SWOOP! HE TOOK ON ALL SIN, ALL SIN IN CASE YOU DIDNT READ THAT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME, SO THAT YOU AND I COULD PARTAKE IN THE GIFT OF EVERLASTING LIFE AND BE COUNTED AS COHEIRS TO THE THRONE WITH HIM. HE LOOKED SICKNESS DISEASE IN THE EYE AND HEALED THOSE WHO BELIEVED. HE GAVE US A COMMANDMENT TO LOVE HIS FATHER WITH ALL OUR HEARTS, SOUL AND MIND AND TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER, AND THESE TWO COMMANDMENTS ARE THE ROD THAT THE CURTAIN OF “THE LAW” HANG ON!!!!

So why in the hell do we sing songs of “praise” and songs of “worship” like he is our boyfriend? Or He is this hippie who is hanging out on the campus of Berkeley smoking weed and throwing up the peace sign to any and everyone, where free love reigns? Why do “WE” the church allow this REVOLUTIONARY LORD to be seen as a FREAKING PANSIE?

What man do you know who wants their LORD, their MASTER, their COMMANDER IN CHIEF, their COACH, their MOST TRUSTED FRIEND, their DEFENDER, their SHIELD, their REFUGE, their VICTORIOUS PROVIDER and KING to be a frail, soft PUNK?

CHURCH, MAN UP!!! GRAB YOUR SACK and GROW A PAIR!!!

HE WAS NOT A PUNK, HE WAS A MAN! He is love, He is a great listener, He is compassionate, He is a friend, He is truth, He is victory, I could go on forever, but one thing He is not or ever was is a PUNK. And we wonder why MEN dont want anything to do with Him? COME ON!!!!

Look, He never wore a haltertop, a dress or frilly flowers in His hair… so can we PLEASE paint a true picture of VICTORY and the ALL POWERFUL MAN WHO SITS ON THE RIGHT HAND OF THE FATHER!

CAN WE, PLEASE?

peculiarplace has decided that we are going to make Him famous through the way we LOVE.

Not the crap we see on television, that “out the side of your neck love” that most of us have experienced in our lives that have left us broken, searching, insecure, hiding, lonely and afraid to be vulnerable, but the LOVE that only He can share through us with anyone and everyone willing to receive it!

What’s the difference? I believe today we have dressed tolerance up in drag and called him love, hoping to fool those on the receiving end into thinking we actually would go to the ends of the earth for them. Hoping that they never see through our facade as we move across the room from them or ignore their plea for help. TOLERANCE IS NOT LOVE!

We are creating a place, a gathering, a community of “the church” for anyone and everyone who is curious, frustrated, broken, at their wits end, wanting more out of life, wanting to change their life, wanting to encounter face to face the God of truth, love and life, anyone who just is fed up with what they have and where they are and a place where LOVE truly RULES.

A place where all decisions are made in love, where we are treated with love and CORRECTED with love.

We are creating this place, this gathering, this community of “the church” in Old Fourth Ward, a historic and beautiful community in the heart of Atlanta!

We would love for you to be a part, whether physically, through prayer or giving (it takes money to do His work and if it were to fall from the sky… it would be counterfeit). Think about it, pray about… I would love to hear from you either way send emails to lowens@peculiarlove.com.

What if ….

This is it, nothing else but a commision, mission and call to go and make disciples

There was no healing or money

There was stoning and killing any and everyone who professed His name

There were counties and cities and states that denied you access or made it very clear that eminent danger was a result of visiting them

You lost everything; money, house, cars, cell phones, clothes, famly and friends because you decided to follow Him

You were asked to go to some places that didnt like the color of your skin, or the fact you have tattoos

You were to lose your sons, daughters, wife and most of your friends

Would you still serve Him?

Jesus calls us to deny ourselves, and pick up our cross and follow Him.

Are you merely serving and following to get “something “, or are you following because you love Him?