Travis Johnson

Sad News about Polly Zinn

This morning has been a little bit rough for the Life Pointe Church family.  It really breaks my heart to share the news that this morning at about 6 am, Polly Zinn passed away at Jackson Memorial Hospital - South.

Polly died unexpectedly in the hospital after going to the emergency room by ambulance after having flu-like symptoms.  She was 43.  As a single mom, she left behind four beautiful children, Dereck (17), Gordy (16), Jennalyn (12), and Stephanie (8). Early this morning when I got to the hospital, Jenna was wearing a t-shirt that said "My Mom rocks!"  That was tough.

Polly loved Jesus and was really growing in faith.  She had a beautiful heart that loved to serve other people.  She was on our hospitality team and children's ministry. She was also involved in a life group.  In the short five or six months that she has been a part of our church, she, along with the kids, and her brother Jimmy had so interwoven their lives with ours, it seems that they have actually been a part of us for years.

Some people come to the Church and to Jesus and look to be perpetually served.  Polly came to the Church and Jesus and immediately showed her heart and thankfulness to God by serving others.  In fact, I was reading Anne Hollifield's blog a few days ago and saw this expressed in this paragraph:

One last thing, just want to say a big thank you and may God richly bless you, to all those who helped in our Kids Life groups this past Sunday during both services! You are awesome!  A special thank you to Polly Zinn and her family who, at the last minute, came in to help with 2 year olds, and did an excellent job! God is smiling.

God is indeed smiling as she now stands before a perfect Jesus. Every tear from everything she faced has been wiped away (Rev. 21:1-5).

If you would like to financially bless this family as they deal with these unexpected expenses, please do so by sending a check to (please write "for Polly Zinn's family" in the FOR line):

    Life Pointe Church
    1100 Old Dixie Hwy
    Homestead, FL 33030
    305.247.0889

Once funeral arrangements have been made, I will post it here and send out an email.  Thank you for being a such a wonderful extended family.  The power of the Church is really seen and felt in times like this.

Christ has no hands here but yours

Christ has no body now on earth but yours,
     no hands but yours, no feet but yours,
Yours are the eyes through which to look out
     Christ's compassion to the world
Yours are the feet with which he is to go about
     doing good;
Yours are the hands with which he is to bless men now.

These are the words of Teresa of Avila.  They hang in our hallway on Sunday mornings.  Some people try to do, love, give, abstain, or serve just enough to get by.  I guess you can live life that way.  But, there is another way...a better way.

There is a way that gives more than it takes, that loves more than it is loved, and that experiences Christ in such a way that it cannot help but to extend itself practically so that people may actually catch a real glimpse of Christ by looking at us.  That's the way I want to live.  When I arrive at the end of my life, I pray that I have spent myself in a mission that is worth more than my comfort or self interests.  Those are convicting words and a great challenge.  I hope to live up to them.

Why do I obsess over Life Pointe?

Like Dave, I too am consumed with the ministry of Life Pointe Church.   I'll share why and invite you to be obsessed with me.  I am obsessed with the ministry of Christ at Life Pointe because...

• God uses the Church to share Christ, the greatest hope for Homestead.
• I see daily stories of transformation and know that I know that I know that HUGE spiritual shifts are taking place one life at a time.
• it is a physical expression of a spiritual family born out of the Grace of God.
• it has the capacity to change the nations (around 32 nationalities represented on any given Sunday).
• it is a place where my broken, dysfunctional humanity can express practical service which blesses people and Christ. (never underestimate the value of service as worship to God).
• I love this church family.
• Because I can cut through the religious bull and speak the truth of the Scriptures.  People that can't handle that don't stay long.  The result is that I don't feel pressure to contort and twist myself around to keep a few pharisees happy all the time.
• I have a mission to advance the Kingdom of God.  God has place me in this family.  And, I will do everything I can to love God and man, even with a reckless abandon.

I refuse to grow complacent, to be distracted, to let up, slow down, to stop praying, or to give up.  I will see God's Kingdom come here.  He's promised it.  He will provide for it.  He will bring the increase.  I am as confident in that as anything in my life. 

My confidence comes not from my ability.  It comes because this is God's Church.  He will build it.  And, the gates of hell won't prevail against it.  That's why I obsess.  That is why Satan should tremble.  If God be for us, who can be against us?!

Sunday Wrap-up

Great Sunday!  Here it is:

• The lobby rocks: the vibe, the noise, the design, the clean lines.  It simply rocks...heck of a volunteer team there.
• I love walking out following service and seeing that place packed with people crowding around the info booth, asking questions about the fall semester of Life Groups before they pull the trigger on their decision.
• I thought our crowd would be down because of Labor Day weekend.  Nope.  Full theater.  Our move to 2 services on Sept. 16th (9 & 10:30 AM) is right on time.
• 1773 rocked the house. 
• We added ellipticals shooting from the back of the auditorium.  We only installed half of them...killer lighting. 
• Again, the videos are bangin'.  Mr. Jones, the polly pocket washing a Hummer.  Perfect compliment to the message.  Props to Jesse.
• The Life Group video was incredible.  I saw it on Thursday and was humbled. GUYS, THIS IS WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO!!  Barbaro, Richard, and Chris, you three men are exceptional!
• Paul had such a fun topic today and he brought it home.
• He also pulled a first today.  He cursed everyone out in Spanish without knowing it.  It was one of the biggest laughers in Life Pointe history.  A lot of things have been said from that stage that wouldn't go over in most places.  This might have been the best.  I may have to post the video later.  It was almost as good as this.
• I absolutely loved the vibe of the whole day.  Did I already say that?
• I've really enjoyed sharing the teaching responsibilities.  This is setting us up for something big.
• This is such an awesome time to be serving at Life Pointe!
• One last thing, we have to shave 15 minutes off the service before Sept 16th.  Paul couldn't pull it off last week.  He didn't do it this week.  I'll have to show the guy how its done! 

Ministry Opportunities @ Life Pointe

We've got some really great ministry leaders/servants.  We're looking to move more of you guys on up the leadership ladder.  Following are some available ministry positions:

• Kids Life team captain - a Sunday morning team leader - ages 5-12 (twice per month...MUST HAVE A LOVE FOR KIDS)
• Children's venue setup crew member (twice per month)
• Volunteer Office Assistant (Mondays or Fridays)
• Parking Team Members (serve twice per month)
• Web Genius (to manage our internet strategy)
• Graphic Designers and Video Editors (to work with Jesse on projects)
• Bloggers (to share your Life Pointe experiences)
• Hospitality (especially if you have good breath)

Things are really moving forward.  Its an exciting time to be serving and investing in the development of people at Life Pointe!  If you see an open position that excites you, email Paul (paul@life-pointe.com).

Sunday Sunday Sunday

We had our best setup ever.  The vibe in the theater this morning was "chill" to quote one of our setup guys.  Why?  Because the whole thing was completed last night.  The guys and girls on the production team were really excellent. 

Now, as good as things pulled together, they didn't stay that way.  About 15 minutes into the service, our power grid went down (the surrounding 14 blocks).  We improvised and had a great time.

Without a doubt, this was the most commented, most questioned, most emailed message we've done so far.  When you ask the question, "Can you be a Christian and drink a cold beer?", expect a high level of interest and some very interesting comments (like as opposed to a warm beer?).

Since there was no podcast, I'll post my notes tomorrow.

Sunday Wrap-up

Letting go of control is a scary process.  I hear that when your daughter goes on her first date, that's tough...not there yet.  But, I let go of Sunday mornings and it seemed like a big deal to me.  This morning, I was calm underneath but, I was dying on the inside because I didn't have anyone or anything to manage.  I can direct resources pretty quickly and efficiently.  But, it isn't the best use of my time and there are actually some better equipped people here to be thinking about how things are working on Sunday AM's. 

With that said, here's how Sunday went:

• Auditorium setup was finished on Saturday night.  When I came in this morning, everything was together and there was a low level of stress on the production crew.
• We changed over from Song Show Plus to Media Shout today.  That didn't go so well.  We struggled with our two videos and my slides.  We're all good for next week though.  Either, we'll be back to SSP or the Media Shout bugs are going to be worked out.
• With those bugs, our flow was unique.  I don't really know how to describe it other than this morning's service seemed like a conversation and a sarcastic one at that.  I was able to get some things off my chest and share the Scriptures with our church family.
• It was great to see Chris and Denise Elrod come through the doors this morning.  Chris didn't disappoint.  He was sporting a lovely man bag that pleasantly matched his entire ensemble.  I have to say that I really appreciate Chris as a friend.  He's genuine...the real deal.  I thank God for men like Chris in my life.
• Benny Salas and his fiancee from Freedom Culture, a church plant here in Miami were great to hang with.  It looks like we have something in the works where he's going to be hanging with us over the next few weeks.  I am excited for Benny and the city of Miami.  Expect great things from Freedom Culture.
• We said goodbye see you later to a friend, Isabel Dalama, our Kids Life Director.  She and Brittany are moving to North Carolina and will actually be involved at a great church there.
• Finally, with the Media Shout bug, we were unable to show this video.  Check it out.

Good News from our Theater

The meeting I referenced here just happened.  It went very well.  To go to two services, we have to get setup done more quickly.  We just got the go ahead to do setup on Saturday nights after the last show.  We have one other key piece to take care of to make the theater work for two services but, I think it is going to work out as well.  Big win!

Sunday Wrap-up

• Today was Paul's first Sunday on staff.
• As a result, today was my last Sunday being responsible for anything other than the message and the relational aspects of Sunday.
• "Fix You" by ColdPlay was a sweet play today...loved it.
• We opened "Hot Sauce" with the message "Clash on Cash: God on Money."  I came home to an email that said: "By the way I don’t know why people get their noses out of joint when a preacher talks about money. I know I need to hear it, and it doesn’t offend me, in fact I’d like to see a 12 week (step) series on it. Be bold bro’."
• Part of our growth and maturity as followers of Christ is becoming stake holders/investors in the mission.  When we commit our finances to God, we are drawing a huge line in the sand and making a massive statement about our lives.
• After church, we hit the park by my house and I got to play "Iron Chef."  I make a killer hot dog.
• Terry had his golf cart out and was cruising around like a kid.  I asked if I could take it for a spin.  Yep, I was flyin'.
• In about 10 minutes, Paul and I go to meet with one of the great guys from Flagship corporate.  I think some really good things are going to be coming out of this.
• I'm really glad to have such an awesome church family.

Party by My House Tomorrow

After church, we're having a party in the park next to my house.  I'll have directions at church tomorrow.  I've got the food.  You bring the sodas.  I've got the football.  You bring the frisbees, soccer balls, and dominoes.