Hey guys. With all my sermon prep, etc. I think I got a little aggressive by asking you to read so many chapters in Mark. Actually, reading is not that big a deal, commenting on it is. Here's chapters 1-3. I'll do chapters 4-6 about mid-week.

The Gospel of Mark

I love this Gospel the most. Let me give you a couple reasons why…

(1) Jesus is the most human in this Gospel. Jesus is both God and man but while the other Gospels really focus on Jesus’ divinity, John Mark focuses on His humanity. The reason I like that is because I can identify him the most in Mark’s Gospel. An example would be when Jesus (out of anger – a human emotion) turns out the money changes in the Temple. I get angry occasionally.

(2) Mark’s Gospel is written to Gentiles. Just in case you don’t know what that means, to the Jews (the people of God) there are two groups of people: The Jews and then everyone else. Everyone else is Gentiles. Here’s why I like that fact. Mark is written to non-religious people. It’s written to people who don’t know Jewish customs and so Mark gives us a kind of “stripped down” picture of Jesus. Hope that makes sense.

Let me give you some fast facts about Mark’s Gospel:
1. Mark was written by a man named John Mark. He was a close friend of Peter. His Gospel is a collection of Peter’s sermons.

2. The Gospels are passion narratives that answer the questions, “Who is that man hanging on the cross?” When you read the Gospels think that way. At the end of Mark’s Gospel, Jesus will be identified as the Savior. Everything that comes before that is a description of Who the Savior is.

3. Here’s something important about Mark’s Gospel unlike the other three. There is what theologians call “The Messianic Secret” in Mark. Remember when Jesus cast out the demons in the man in the synagogue in Mark 1. The demons said, “We know who You are.” And Jesus said, “Be quiet. Don’t tell anyone.” And that happens a number of times in Mark. The reason is that Jesus is not an exorcist per se; He is not a healer per se. He is a Savior. And you don’t really know who He is until you see Him hanging on the cross.

4. Keep this in mind as you read Mark. Jesus is called the “suffering Servant” in Mark. When Mark’s Gospel was discovered the church was under Nero’s persecution. Literally Nero was dipping Christians in lighter fluid and burning them alive – as lights – at his garden party’s. The church was suffering. This book encouraged God’s people by helping us realize that although we too suffer in life, we have a Savior (and Lord) Who understands our hurts because He too suffered.

My thoughts on chapters 1-9…

Mark1:1-15
The “new” Exodus has begun. Except this time it is not the Hebrews escaping from Egyptian slavery, it is all of humanity escaping from the slavery of sin. Jesus is seen as the second coming of Moses. He is the complete picture of everything God has been trying to say to human beings for thousands of years.

Jesus is baptized. He is then tested in the desert. Once He passed the test Him ministry begins – the call to faith and repentance.

Mark 1:16-45
The disciples spend this section in the background of Jesus’ ministry. They are amazed that Jesus has such compassion on people – regular people. I suppose they expected Him to be like the other religious leaders who didn’t really like people. At least they showed very little compassion for people. Jesus spent time with them. He loved them. He healed them. He took care of them. He turned “religion upside down.

Mark 2 – 3:6
Jesus made the religious leaders look bad. They were also jealous that for so long people only listened to them because they had to. NOW, people are standing in line to see Jesus. They love Him! The religious leaders also hate the fact that Jesus doesn’t keep up their protocols. He eats with sinners. He breaks the Sabbath laws.

Don’t miss that in 3:6 both religion and politics join together to plot Jesus’ demise. Normally, these two groups would have never gotten together. It’s the old “The enemy of my enemy is my friend” thing.

Mark 3:31-35
This is the story where Jesus asks, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” Re-read this part. Jesus is really turning things upside down. Mark has already said that “all of Judea” is coming out to see Jesus. He’d become like a rock star in Palestine. Everybody wanted to be with him. In the past, the families of religious leaders received special privileges, as did the leaders. Jesus is saying that in His Kingdom there is no special privilege and perks. Everyone is equal. Everyone is important. Pedigree doesn’t matter.

Email me your questions and thoughts at jimmy@rockyriverchurch.com

I just got back from our Rocky River Men's Retreat in Myrtle Beach. IT WAS SO INCREDIBLE! This is the first time we've ever done anything like this before at R2C2 - it's the first time I've ever done anything like this with a group of guys, period. We ate some good food, played 36 holes at World Tour (as fine a golf course as you'll play anywhere). We weren't sure how everything was going to turn out as far as the weather. And even though we had some rain - a lot of rain on Thursday - it cleared up and we really did everything we had planned to do.

We ate good food, laughed and talked smack for hours, grew spiritually and just had a great time. Here's a breakdown of the golf and fishing.

Thursday golf winners: Brian Bush, James Britt (my dad), Bob Givens (my dads golf partner) and Jimmy Britt. We broke Brandon, Travis, Greg and Brian Honeycutt's hearts on the last hole on the Open side at World Tour. Sorry guys :).

Friday golf winners: Greg Kesterson, Brian Honeycutt, James Britt (who played from the Senior tees because technically he is a senior) and Bob Givens (who is also old). They had a combined score of -9.

Friday golf, 2nd place: Brian Bush, Jimmy Britt, Rich Straight and Tim Gromis. We had a combined score of -7.

Friday golf, 3rd place: Brandon Whedbee, Travis Bush and Brian Walters. (They rotated shots to compensate for the 4th man). They had a combined score of -3.

Friday fishing highlights: Wilton Pait, Steve Hatcher and Joe Bagley slept late, fished for about 2 hours and drove from Surfside Beach to North Myrtle Beach to eat at Hamburger Joes. Then they took a nap. :)

Friday water volleyball match (5 games). Winning team: Brandon "smiling at you while I'm whoopin' you" Whedbee, Travis "the Hit Man" Bush, Steve "the Hatch" Hatcher, Greg "aging like a fine wine" Kesterson and Rich "pretty boy" Straight.

Runners up: Brian Honeycutt, Brian Walters, Brian Bush, Tim Gromis, and Jimmy Britt. We played like champions. :)

BTW, let me give honorable mention to Wilton "the Cooter" Pait and Joe "point me to a cot" Bagley for cheering us on...

Just in case our wives are reading this, we did devotions every night, we prayed together for our families and the spiritually lost in our community. We had some very powerful moments together. It was indescribable. I can hardly wait to do it again next year. Heck, we may do it in the Spring.

Tim, Greg, Brian H., Brian W., Brian B., Wilton, Joe, Steve, Brandon, and Travis... thank you for a couple days with men - men of God - that I will never forget. Thank you for letting me be myself and for having the courtesy of doing the same.

I can hardly wait until Sunday. The music is going to be OUT OF THIS WORLD! The message is BUSTING out of me. I'm going to preach it to the guys on our men's retreat about 100 times over the next couple days! Nah, just kidding about that...kinda.

Anyway, we are expecting our biggest crowds ever. Our people are inviting their people and we've been praying for spiritually lost people in our area for weeks. There just seems to be this rumbling under the surface of our area that is about to explode. The rumble is revival that is coming to our area. And I think it is going to erupt on Sunday morning at Pitts Elementary School.

I hope you are making plans to be a part of what God is going to do this week. Come early (the 9:30 service if possible). Bring a friend with you. Expect God to change your life this week. Let me say that again. EXPECT GOD TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE THIS WEEK! And enjoy the ride!

I'm going out of town for a men's retreat tomorrow morning. We're going to play some golf, do a little fishing and a lot of praying for God to change our community through us. Here why I'm doing this retreat (and it is not just because of the golf ☺). It's because I'm going to challenge our men to be leaders - in their homes, at work, at play and ESPECIALLY the church.

Sally Field (I loved her in Smokey and the Bandit and that is about it) was wrong when she made a fool of herself at the Emmys. She thinks the world would be better off with less fighting and more moms/women leading it. Now girls (those of you who are reading my blog - like my mom, several aunts, etc.), I have seen women lead and do great things and I give you mad props for what you do. The fact is that woman have had to take the lead in this country - and in the church - because too many men won't pull up their pants and lead. And the many of the men that are leading are too sissified to lead like men - Godly men - like we're supposed to.

We've stood back, drank our beer, got hooked on Sports Center, porn and Xbox and left our women to do a man's job. I'm a little bit ticked off about this because we men have surrendered our manhood. We've gotten high on stupidity and immaturity and the result of it is that our nation and our children and our families are going to hell.

It's time to man-up! I'll say more about this later, but MEN, MAN-UP and bring your family to God's house this Sunday. Your wife is waiting on you to be a leader in your home. She's tired of doing your job.

DANG! I don't know where that came from...

Anyway, this Sunday is going to be awesome at R2C2!

I am so pumped about this Sunday at Rocky River Community Church. We have so much momentum and there is an incredible buzz about R2C2.

This Sunday's message is a "pre series" message to our Baggage series that begins on September 23 (a week from this Sunday). Some of you have asked what the "baggage" series is all about. So here goes. All of us carry some kind of “baggage” in life. Baggage is the stuff from your past that you carry around your soul. It’s the words people have said and the things they did that weigh you down and limit your potential. God is more than willing to take your baggage away if you are willing to let it go. Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matt. 11:28) During this series we're going to go to the Bible and learn what God says about how we can pack up the pain and hurt, find release from generational curses and even addictions. God is going to take the load of guilt, fear, and regret off your back. I'm tell you now, this is going to be a series for the ages.

Oh yeah, it is communion Sunday at R2C2 and that is always special.

Really, you do not want to miss being at R2C2 this week! God has something incredible for you and your family. Don't miss out on the blessings!

I can hardly wait until Sunday at Rocky River Community Church! And that is a great feeling. There is just so much excitement about what God is doing. People are literally coming up to me in the community to say, “HEY! I’m coming to Rocky River this weekend!” There’s a buzz out there. We have such great momentum. I want to ask you to help us keep the MOMENTUM going. Here’s how…
1. Invite the people you know – who don’t go to church, are spiritually lost, and/or have given up on “church as usual” – to come to R2C2.
2. If possible, please attend the 9:30 service. We are slammed in the 11:00 service and need those premium seats for those who don’t know Jesus. We are already looking for ways to add chairs and make strategic changes so that we accommodate our growing church. HOW EXCITING IS THAT!?!?!
3. Get there early! This weekend’s services are going to be “straight off the charts” powerful from the very first moments. Make sure you have enough time to get your kids signed in, have a cup of coffee in the hospitality area, and then get a good seat.
4. If you are volunteering in one of our ministries, be sure to attend the service opposite of the one where you are serving. This will enhance your worship experience for the weekend. And while serving is VERY important, so is your own worship.
5. If you are not serving then jump in and help. It doesn’t matter where you serve because we have openings in every ministry. What matters is that you jump in and participate. Two perfect places to connect and make a difference RIGHT NOW are our setup/breakdown team and the parking team. For the parking team email Jamie at jalmond@cmpd.org and for the setup/breakdown team email Lonnie at lrbatema@gmail.com. Lonnie can also help you get connected in any ministry area.
6. Pray! If you are a Follower of Christ pray for our staff, our volunteer teams, ministry team leaders, the lost people in our community that God is working on to bring to R2C2, and all of our resources. And by all means, be praying for the spiritually lost people you know.

I have said it so many times lately but I can’t help but say it again, GOD IS DOING SOMETHING SPECIAL at Rocky River. I’m so thrilled to get to be a part of with you! Don’t forget to have a good time. Keep talking us up in the community. Keep giving. And keep following Jesus Christ!

"MOE" is short for MOMENTUM! We got momentum bigtime at Rocky River Community Church. Oh man today was another AWESOME day at Rocky River! I'm serious - it was off the CHAIN - or as Brandon says, "Off the meat rack". We were packed. The offering was God-sized and the band was ROCKIN! The message was so so :). It was the best Sunday I can ever remember at Rocky River.

MAJOR PROPS to our volunteers. The guys that came in this morning at 6AM are just freaks - that's it - plain and simple. I love you guys. Kids stuff rocked! Lots of kids with smiling faces at R2C2. Last Sunday our Middle School/High School ministry (Project 252) broke an attendance record. Today...they broke that record! Whew!

R2C2 - strap in because it is on. God's doing something BIG!

I talk southern slang when I'm excited. And right now I'm listening to the band practice and working on my message for Sunday and I'M EXCITED! And ya'll ain't gonna believe "it" this Sunday...! Holy smokes it is going to be off the hook! You're gonna be glad you waited until after lunch on Sunday at the go to the lake. This may be the most meaningful weekend of services we've ever experienced. Seriously...

I just wanted to send a shout out to this week's R2C2 Freaks - our Parking Team and Greeting Team!!! I have had people tell me all week about how awesome the greeting and parking went this weekend. Jamie Almond (Parking) and Tami Sherrill (Hospitality)are great leaders. Your work, along with your teams, created the buzz around the church before the services ever even began. Take a bow gang - you've created quite a buzz!

We had an awesome day today at R2C2! I can’t believe what we (God) have done with our new setup and the look of our church. Here are some of the thoughts I had…

- Our volunteers are all AWESOME! My buddy Gary Lamb picks a “freak of the week” at his church; someone to highlight for doing an exceptional job that week. If we had a “freak of the week” I would have to pick every sing person who volunteered yesterday and today to pull of our services this weekend. All of our volunteers are the “freak(s) of the week”! WAY TO GO!

- The pipes and drapes made the place feel intimate, even though we had the second largest non-holiday crowd ever at R2C2. That’s with no signs (yet) and no promotion! It just felt good in the room.

- Brandon, Steve, Mark and Jeff did a great job working through our sound gear and figuring out what our needs are and putting the right equipment into place. The sound was off the hook today.

- Tami! What can I say? The hospitality table and greeting team were great. I had a come in today and tell me that at least 8 people said “hello” and asked if they could help him get where he was going. That is the way to greet people right there!

- To our regulars: We are going to reserve the front parking lots for first-time guests, expectant moms, and senior citizens. We’re going to put up a banner to let first-time guests, expectant moms and seniors know to turn on their headlights so we can get them parked. Our parking team did a great job getting people in and out. Jamie I knew the parking team would do a good job but you guys really had a great plan. I was beyond impressed!

- The Rocky River Kids area was so cool today that I wanted to be in Middle School again! And that is saying a lot.

- Our kid’s stuff is just awesome right now. We have a couple things to add in the nursery but they have done a great job. And I heard that a Preschooler today actually cried because he had to leave? Way to go Johanna, Dan and team! That’s great!!!!

- I’m not going to mention any more names because if I get into that I’ll miss someone important. Let me just say that all of our leaders, staff and volunteers did a GREAT job! Ya’ll are truly the best.

- Did I mention that Project 252 had their highest number of students EVER?! They literally had to add chairs!

- We have some bugs to work out still. We have to make some adjustments on the lights and a few other things. But all in all today was a great success! I’ve very proud of our church today!

See ya’ll again next Sunday!

I CAN'T WAIT FOR SUNDAY! SERIOUSLY! It is going to be awesome in our new school - Pitts School Road Elementary School. And let me say this: You don't want to be late - whether you attend the 9:30 or the 11:00 service - the band is going to come out swinging for the fence with the first song. It's just going to be an exciting day - historical event.

This past week I took a few days to pray and plan for the next few weeks and months. I'm working on a series around Halloween that is going to be the funnest (is that the right way to say it? I'm terrible with grammar) series we've ever done. I'm going to talk about scary things in October like - Hell (is it real?), ghosts, and some other stuff too that people often ask me about. I'm taking four whole weeks to deal with these topics from the Bible. It's going to be a lot of fun. Anyway, just something to look forward to...