Travis Johnson

likeus.tv - week 1 - audio and video

This message series through Hebrews 11 may be one of the best we've put together.  Invite your friends for this coming Sunday as we profile Enoch's life and talk about seeking God.  This week's video features Victor Lopez sharing his story about how he went after God in the middle of 3 years of physical trauma.  Truly remarkable people.

Here is this past Sunday's audio and video.

Abel - Giving Your Best (audio)

Dan Bard's story about how he first began tithing:

Amazing People

We are about half way through filming. I'm humbled to be associated with these guys.  Insanely human, yet full of faith.

people like us

 
they were mere mortals like us.

A new series coming around the corner

Thank Jesse for the hint.  The website will be live soon.

I haven't had sex since 1983

We sent out some sexy postcards and phone calls today for our Sexual Revolution series.  I wish we would would have laid down a Barry White soundtrack on our phone calls.  That would have been awesome.  Oh well.

I know the postcards began hitting mailboxes today when we got a call from someone upset that we were talking about sexuality in church.  She kind of chewed us out pretty well, really well actually.  Then, she declared that she hadn't had sex since 1983.  I believe her.

Why Should the Church Talk about Sex?!

10. Becuase the divorce rate in the church is the same as outside the church.  It seems like everyone is talking about sex BUT THE CHURCH!
9. Because 36% of marriages that have experienced an affair end in divorce.
8. Because of those marriages that stay together, only 78% describe the marriages as happy.
7. Because only 22% of people who have "casual sex" walk away feeling empowered or good about themselves.
6. Because 49% of high school students have had sex.
5. Because parents are more likely to think about divorce than non-parents.
4. Because all first marriages have an average duration of 8.3 years.
3. Because the net worth for married individuals near retirement is $420,000 while divorced individuals is $132,000.
2. Because 47% of fathers and 30% of mothers stop visiting their kids at least annually after a divorce.
1. Because the Bible is full of God-breathed wisdom on sex and we need a Sexual Revolution!

It is coming...

We are days away.  It is coming.

The Jesus of Suburbia - The Jonses Do Announcements

Keep up with the Jonses

They're here...in the theater...the Jonses, stars of "The Jesus of Suburbia."  Sunday 10 AM.

Hittin' the Sauce: God on Alcohol

Since the east Homestead power grid went down during our worship set yesterday, there is no podcast.  I wish I could fire up the audio from yesterday's message on "Christians and Beer."  Instead, I uploaded some notes for you to peruse.  Download it here.

Resource List on Gender Roles and Sexuality

Last Sunday, I taught "His and Hers Sauce: God on Gender Roles."  We looked at the Corinthians and some of their questions to Paul about sex and gender.  Some Scriptural absolutes we found in the Scriptures were:

• If you are married, you should make love to your spouse (and only your spouse) as often as possible. (1 Corinthians 7:3)
• If you are single, keep your pants on. (1 Corinthians 6:13,18)
• Heterosexuality within the confines of marriage or celibacy outside of marriage are the only legitimate expressions of sexuality found in the Scriptures. (Romans 1:24-27)
• Husbands and wives should kick their parents out of their marriage. (Genesis 2:24)
• All of us should follow Christ well.  In doing so, we should feel compelled to righteously embrace our sexuality. (1 Corinthians 7:35)

There were also a lot of requests for the gender and sexuality resource list on Connection Cards.  Download it here.

The Jesus of Suburbia

We have a new series coming up (Aug. 19).  While I'm loving Hot Sauce, I am very much looking forward to this topic.  I enjoyed a couple books earlier this year, one by Mike Erre and another by Eric Sandras.  This series will be based loosely on their thoughts and will challenge our desires of bigger, better, more, and seclusion.  I can already tell you, this is going to be a heck of a lot of fun.

Holy Hot Sauce Video

If Peter Popoff, Master Prophet E. Bernard Jordan, or Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda were broadcasting from Life Pointe and were hocking bottles of Miracle Hot Sauce from the Ancient City of Tabascus, this is what it would look like.

Holy Hot Sauce!

OK.  If you really, really dig TBN, you might not want to come to church Sunday.  Our video lead-in for our Holy Hot Sauce message may be slightly offensive, especially if you have ever sent in for a green prosperity handkerchief, Peter Popoff's Miracle Spring Water, or some other similar product from a televangelist/huckster.

Still, its going to be sweet...can't wait.

Hot Sauce Video

More "HOT SAUCE" info.

Hot Sauce

Creating a Culture of Christ

On any given Sunday at Life Pointe, you may find over 30 different nationalities, even more cultural backgrounds, and cultural norms.  It is an impossibility to bring that many different kinds of people together and satisfy everyone...unless, there is a singular uniting factor. 

That factor at Life Pointe is creating a culture of Christ that supersedes the cultures of our ancestors.  While our Life Groups are on summer break, we are meeting together at 1100 Old Dixie Hwy in our ministry center from 7-8:15 pm.  We'll be going through the book of Nehemiah, the greatest leadership book ever written to grow as leaders of a counter-cultural movement.  Our goal is to develop you as architects who will in turn help in developing the culture of Christ in our community.

Message Preparation with a Real Bible

For the last 6 years, I have studied for Sundays using a slew of online and software Bible resources.  That was until 5 weeks ago.  I ditched my computer, touch the leather, turn the pages of my Bible, and manually make notes.  The process is a little slower.  But, my mind and heart are more focused.  It has become much more personal.  I feel like I'm sitting in God's presence as opposed to sitting in the middle of an information super highway. 

I've found some really great spots to study: a park by my house, a Barnes and Noble, inside a church sanctuary, and at my dining room table.  Months ago, I quit studying for Sundays in the office.  That is one of the best decisions I've ever made.  There were too many other things to do, distractions, calls, busy work to handle. One of the great side effects of studying at home is that my girls love to see me with my Bible.  When I am sitting with it for extended periods, they want to do the same.

Equipping the church is the most important thing I do all week as a pastor.  I feel like this adjustment has helped me to better honor God and has increased my focus on the Scriptures.

An Invitation to Study James with Me

I've started a blog to Study the Book of James.  If you'd like to join in studying the Scriptures with me between Sundays, check out the new space here.

Losing My Religion

On Easter, we start our new series, Losing My Religion.  It is the longest message series I've ever done on a Sunday morning.  And, I cannot wait.  We'll be walking through the Book of James.  Below are the topics we'll cover:

4.08 - Joy in the Junk of Life

4.15 - Kicking Temptation in the Teeth

4.22 - On Pride and Prejudice

4.29 - Faith Without Works Sucks

5.06 - Shut Your Freakin' Mouth

5.13 - WWII on Two Kinds of Wisdom

5.20 - Self Contained - Self Sufficient

5.27 - Proud of My Humility

6.03 - Stealing God's Thunder

6.10 - The Poverty of Wealth

6.17 - A Beauty in Suffering

6.24 - Healing, Confessions, and Community

 

During these twelve weeks, we'll take the realities of what religion has become and throw them under the bus!  How?  By walking through the Book of James.  James has the most practical insight on faith.  He tosses out the theory and swings for the fences, telling you how you can live as a follower of Christ.  He's got tools and a challenge for you to break with religious thought and live out faith in practical ways.

I think we are all about fed up with dry, dead, and hypocritical religion (even if it means we are fed up with ourselves).  During Losing My Religion, we'll share why you feel fed up and some thoughts on how you can do something about it.

Knights and Maidens Is in the Can

Today, we finished Knights and Maidens (profiles in Biblical Masculinity and Femininity).  You can listen to the entire series here, subscribe to our podcast here, or catch the last message on Deborah which addressed a woman's role in ministry here.  I really enjoyed this series. 

Know What You Believe

In two weeks, we start our James series, "Losing My Religion" (and finding faith that works).  I can't wait to kick this off on Easter.  We'll have a little U2 and REM to open things up.  I dig it.  But, what I most look forward to is this book from James.

Religion in Miami can mean just about anything from Santeria and Voodoo to cultural Catholicism and "super-spiritual there's a demon behind every bush" kind of stuff.  I mean, we even have one cat up the road from me who preached that he was Jesus Christ reincarnate.  Now, he claims to be the anti-christ and his parishioners have had "666" tattooed on their hands and heads.  Of course, the most prominent faith is in material stuff.  We have one of the lowest levels of disposable income per capita of any other city.  But, we have to be one of the most materialistic!

It never surprises me when I hear some freaked out, personalized doctrine or life systems being touted by some knuckle headed, fly-by-night spiritual guru that has landed at Life Pointe.  During the James series we'll get super practical concerning faith in Jesus and talk through some of this stuff together.  In the meantime, if someone within the church is telling you some cracked up, jacked up garbage, tell them to put the crack pipe down and lovingly kick them in the tail pipe.

So, two weeks out what can you do to maximize the kickoff of this series?!

1. Invite your friends. Reason?  Faith without works is dead.  A gift without someone to share it with is dull and not much of a gift.  Changed lives, change lives.
2. Read the Book of James. It is totally straight-forward and has little more than 2,300 words.
3. Pray.  Pray that during this series, God would continue to transform our church and community.

I know that you guys are going to come through BIG with your friends on Easter.  Make sure you've done your prep work and are ready to grow as well...can't wait.

Esther- woman as beauty

Tomorrow is week 3 of the Knights and Maidens series and we are profiling "Esther-Woman as Beauty".  The book is 10 chapters long, has about 5,400 words and takes about 30 minutes to read.  I can't wait.  Take the time to read up first so you can track along with me in the morning.  Bring some friends and we'll look at Scripture in our typical down to earth, straight-forward way.

If you missed the messages on David and Jonathan, check them out here.

Audible: I'm On for Sunday

This week has been crazy hectic (in a good way).  We've fully executed our logo change, pulled off most of our theater setup upgrade, and wrestled with a couple property transactions.  I knew this week was going to be tight, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to give Omar Lagudali (our newest staffer) his first shot at teaching at Life Pointe since he has been on board with us.

Unfortunately, he called me today and sounded like someone punched him in the throat.  So, I'm on for Sunday.  All week, I was glad that Omar was teaching.  But, I kept finding myself thinking about how I wanted to challenge our men on this last half of their portion of Knights and Maidens.  Jonathan is such an intriguing person.  He was in line to be King.  Yet, he knew that God had another plan.  He deferred to David and demonstrated gutsy friendship.

I really can't wait.  This last minute change will throw me into a spot where I will not sleep for the next two days.  But, it will mostly be out of excitement and anticipation for what God is going to do in this service and in the lives of our people.

Knights and Maidens

With the conclusion of "Invincible: Reaching for the Impossible" (mp3 - subscribe), God at the Box Office is in the can.  We are now heading into a new series, "Knights and Maidens."  We are profiling biblical masculinity and femininity.  It is going to be fun.  At the same time, everything precious to our respective genders is fair game.  We will be equal opportunity "toe steppers."  We'll laugh at our own stereo types.  We'll take a look at four incredibly human people who accomplished great things in life and in relationship with the Creator.

John Smulo - Christus II - Present Tense Jesus

John Smulo came in this weekend to speak on Present Tense Jesus (mp3) at Life Pointe. You can subscribe to the LPC podcast here.  I had a great time giving him the $2 tour of Miami.  The side effects are that I haven't had any sleep this week.  But, sleep is optional.  Enjoy a couple pics from the boat.  The first pic is my "little mama."  The second is Dr. Smulo in the flesh. 

Jesus...

This Sunday in Christus, we are looking at "Mere Man, Absolute God."  I thought I'd make a few observations about His humanity.

• Jesus had to have his diaper changed.
• Jesus cried before John 11:35.
• Jesus played like the rest of the kids in the neighborhood.
• Jesus' voice changed when He hit puberty.
• Jesus went to school and had homework.
• Jesus got left behind.
• Jesus did not have blow dryed hair.
• Jesus did not have a halo.
• Jesus was tempted.
• Jesus was sarcastic and had a sense of humor.
• Jesus was concerned for the welfare of His mom.
• Jesus was not a hippy protester.
• Jesus had a temper.
• Jesus had a sense of dramatic timing.
• Jesus experienced anxiety.
• Jesus bled, anticipated the sting of every lash, was pinned to the cross, and writhed in agony as he staved off affixiation.
• The body of Jesus rotted and decomposed in a grave for three days.

Jesus was human, experiencing a full range of emotion, pain, friendship, love, loss, and all 5 senses.

Church 2.0 - Connected

Here is the first message in our Church 2.0 message series on Connection.  You can check out all of our messages here as well as the recently uploaded slides, outlines, and bulletin templates for the Clash series on Malachi.

Clash Series Resources

The Clash Series on Malachi is over at Life Pointe.  All audio, slides, outlines, and videos used are here.  Use them freely.

Let's Talk about Community

We finish up the Clash Series next Sunday and go into Church 2.0, a short message series on connectedness and community.  I am going to target the majority of my posts over the next week or so during the run-up to that series to sharing various values, side effects, and hopes of community in bite size snippets.

I invite you to join the discussion in these upcoming threads and to share your story on the Church 2.0 blog (www.shareyourstory.net).  Some in our church community like Mayra, Ela, and Dave have already shared some really personally stories of transformation.  I've received a few emails from people asking me to post their stories as well.  All of the stories have been very personal, transparent, and honest.  They are also inspiring.  Share your story as well and take the first step in enjoying the community of Church 2.0.

Participate in the Church 2.0 series

Web 2.0.  Whether you are familiar with the term or not, you are familiar with the concept.  You've uploaded and viewed vids at YouTube, pics at Flickr, interacted via MySpace, tagged at Technorati (or at least had your searches optimized as a result).

Church 2.0.  You should be familiar with this concept as well.  It is one of the highest callings of the church.  Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the Castle Church door at Wittenberg over these Reformation concepts.  Church 2.0 is about total interactivity, community, and sharing.  It is vertical, horizontal, and immediate.  We've setup a blog for the Church 2.0 series we will be starting November 11th.  Check it out.  As you do, take a moment to share with the whole world your story of transformation.  It is unrestricted.  So, share on.  Share your story.  Share your pictures.  Feel free to "add a friend."  Live.  Interact.  Lets do this series together long before we actually officially start in November.

tagged: web 2.0 - "church 2.0"

Sex Update

We are doing a Love and Sex series right now at Life Pointe.  Some of the things I said in week one definitely created conversation.  It is typical for me to be slightly off the cuff with some comments.  But, week one had me charting new lands.

Today, we had an incredible crowd, especially for labor day weekend!  With so many new people, I felt I was appropriately off color while still getting the point across.  I know that there were several people who made decisions to honor God with their sexuality and with their lives.  That really fires me up.  I will also say thank you to a great faith community for opening up and being honest about life.  You guys give me the freedom to openly confront real issues in our community without acting like a bunch of starched-collered Pharisees.

Next Sunday, we strike gold with the kicker message, "Great Sex."  I believe that most sex lives are dysfunctional.  The best sex lives ought to be those had by God's people.  A lot of relational foundations need to be poured and repoured.  This will be a day that can do that very thing for a lot of people.  So, this is a super-critical Sunday to invite friends.  You may not want to invite your parents though...definitely, think that one through first. 

Now, we had planned to start podcasting these messages a couple months ago.  But, I felt like this should be an in-house conversation.  So, we've decided to keep a lid on things until our next series and make the CDs available through the church.  We'll start regularly podcasting on October 1st.

It was great to have Jason Hitte from Discover Life Church in Melbourne, FL at LPC today.  Jason is leaving the staff of his brother Ken's church to be a lead guy soon.  I know he is going to do very well.  It was great to catch up and share over lunch today.

Series Title for the Book of Malachi

We are gearing up for a Message Series on the Book of Malachi, specifically the six disputes between God and the people He loved.  I need some ideas on a theme to tie it all together.  Thoughts, please...serious brain freeze for the last couple weeks on this.  And, Life Pointeeeeees, read the book and give me your input here.  If you aren't familiar with this really straight-edge book, go to the Gospel of Matthew and turn left to find it.  Or, you can click here.

Top 10 Reasons Why Chicks Don't Dig Some Dudes

I'm inspired.  First, the recent Johnson Family Feud and overwhelming support from some real men around the world.  Second, the upcoming God-Love-Sex message series at LPC. In the thread over on my wife's blog some well meaning female suggested that men should sit...Ladies and gentlemen, you are witnessing the chickification of HuMANity.

I must now do my best to impart some wisdom into the vest wearing mama's boys that may read my blog.

Top 10 Reasons Why Chicks Don't Dig Some Dudes

10. Because some dudes will lie and say they believe anything to get the chick.
9. Because some dudes wear sweater vests and act like pansies.
8. Because some dudes have got bad moves and are creepy.
7. Because some chicks are psycho.
6. Because some dudes are too much of a nice guy and they think being stepped on is the way to a chick's  heart.
5. Because some dudes want some chicks to like them too much.
4. Because some dudes share how they feel too soon.
3. Because some dudes think you have to have great looks and cash to get a good chick.
2. Because some dudes think they are God's gift to chicks.
1. Because some dudes watch Christopher Lowell instead John Wayne.

the Disciplines

 Tomorrow, we face the concept of the Disciplines in our Origins series.  It is not a popular message.  We like the concept.  But, the application of the concept of disciplining our minds and bodies is challenging.  We find that "the flesh is willing but the spirit is weak."  Prayer, fasting, stewardship, bringing our bodies and minds into subjection to the nature of Christ challenges even the most mature believer.

But, peace in our walk with Christ cannot truly be experienced until we choose to be disciplined and to discipline ourselves to walk in the Way of the Master.  Converting to Christ without following Him is like being born and refusing to breathe. The new birth takes place but death follows.  In my opinion based on my understanding of Scripture, Christians who choose not to proceed beyond new birth are neither dead to themselves nor are they alive to Christ.  Marc Vandersluys frames it up well when he said:

Examination of our ultimate desires and intentions, reflected in the specific responses and choices that make up our lives, can show whether there are things we hold more important than being like him.  If there are, then we are not yet his disciples.  Being unwilling to follow him, our claim of trusting him must ring hollow.

Prayer, fasting, self-control, stewardship, and the taming of habits which run in rebellion to Christ must be made as integral to life as the receiving of grace, foriveness, healing, restoration, and prosperity- all gifts we actively seek and freely receive.

Technorati Tags: stewardship - prayer - fasting - discipleship

Intersections: God - Love - Sex

 

A Look Forward

The Origins Series lasts three more weeks.  "Sacraments" is going to be awesome as people "go public" with their faith being baptized at Biscayne Bay.  After Origins, we will have "Backpack 2 School," a Sunday to bless our kids ages 5-12.  We will be giving away 100 backpacks stuffed with loot in that service.

Then, we are starting a PG-13 series called, "God-Love-Sex."  It will be a candid, honest, and sometimes blunt look at the topic.  I'm guessing this will be one of our best series.  We will also most likely begin our podcast with this series.