Cumberland Church Blog

5 Nashville Sacred Church Cows I Want Cumberland To “Tip”

This is my teaching outline from yesterday's message.  Since I've had a few requests here and there...I thought I would pass it along.  Really enjoyed sharing this yesterday.  Have a great day everyone!

5 Nashville Sacred Church Cows I Want Cumberland To “Tip”

“Sacred Cow”

Function:  noun
Definition:  one that is often unreasonably immune from criticism or opposition

1. “Does Nashville really need another church?”

A sacred cow-tipper knows:
Profession doesn’t always equal Possession.  It would be a HUGE mistake to presume all the "professing" Christians in this town are in fact just that.  Christian = "Christ-within"

(Matthew 7:21-23)  "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?'  Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you’.

2.  “I’m looking for teaching that goes ‘deep’.”

A sacred cow-tipper knows:
Spiritual maturity is equally measured in someone’s heart, mouth, and hands, not just their head.

(Mark 12:30) “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”

3.  “I need a personal relationship with my pastor to grow spiritually.”

A sacred cow-tipper knows:
Certainly, your pastor can teach and inspire you; but doing life within a small group was Jesus’ model for sustained life change.

(Luke 22:28) “You are those who have stood by me in my trials.”

4.  “The church is here to watch over my kids and teach them right from wrong.”

A sacred cow-tipper knows:
Family ministry in a church should be an ongoing partnership, not a weekly one-hour program.

5.  “How many people go to your church?”

A sacred cow-tipper knows:
A church’s success should be known and celebrated by the stories of the people they’re reaching instead of those they’re keeping.

(Psalm 51:13)  “Give me a job teaching rebels your ways so the lost can find their way home.”  (The Message)

                 So…  Back To The Original Question

“Does Nashville really need another church?”

A sacred cow-tipper knows:
71% of metro Nashville must think so.  They aren’t too excited about the current options.  They’re voicing their opinions by not showing up.

"Sacred Cow Tipping" Promo

This weekend, I'll be talking about Sacred Cow Tipping - 5 reasons why Nashville needs another church.  To help create some interest and intrigue, we sent our beloved Service Programming Director, Mr. Billy McCarthy, out on the streets to interview a cow. 

Enjoy!  (Disclaimer: No animals were harmed or injured in the filming of this video.)

Special thanks to Ben Smallbone for the great video work!  Love ya Ben!

Does Nashville really need another church?

Yes. It does!

And Eddie Johnson will give you 5 reasons why. This weekend at Cumberland Church, Eddie will  explore certain attitudes and commonly held beliefs (sacred cows, if you will) about church that, we believe, need to be tipped. Join us Sunday for the message that explains how the church can often times have its eye off the ball and in doing so, render itself ineffective at accomplishing the mission that Jesus originally intended for it. Let's go tipping, shall we?  Sacred cow tipping!

Music:

Michael Olson and the guys will be leading us through the musical portion of the worship experience this weekend. Here's what's up:

God is with Us
My Glorious
Free (Todd Fields)

Have a great rest of the week and we'll see you Sunday!

I'm excited to be up this week!

Talkin' about the mission of my life and Cumberland Church this Sunday.  Two topics I'm VERY passionate and... opinionated about. ;>)  Hope you can make it!!

2 days removed

So here we are, only 2 days removed from Easter and I'm already head strong into planning the services for Sundays to come. Two days removed from the most fantastic holiday on the calendar and I find myself already focused on what's ahead of me rather than on what was done for me. This post is prompted by my counterpart, Carlos Whitaker, from Buckhead Church, who challenged himself to celebrate the resurrection the entire week leading up to Easter. Right on, my friend. Great insight into the comparisons of the time spent celebrating Christmas and that spent celebrating Easter - and beyond that - what are we actually celebrating? (Check out the post on Buckhead Blog if you get a second. Great stuff.) But what's gnawing on me this morning is what am I celebrating on March 25th? And maybe the problem is that I'd even have to ask - only 2 days removed. Wow. My prayer is that somehow I'd be able to consciously celebrate Easter each day regardless of the date it falls on my calendar.
Hey Carlos, thanks for the post, dude.

Mawae elected as new president of NFL Players Association

Our good buddy and Cumberland's biggest fan Kevin Mawae was just elected by his peers as the new president of the NFL Players Association last week.  You can check out the story from the Tennessean here and the NFL here.

Congratulations Kevin!  You certainly deserve it.  What a great honor for you! 

Speaking of Kevin... Billy, Bruce and I are headed down to Baton Rouge next month for some awesome gumbo and an exciting Men's Conference at Healing Place Church.  It's going to be an awesome conference and "road trip" with the fellas!  The line-up of speakers are pretty amazing:  Dino Rizzo (Senior Pastor at Healing Place Church), Zhenya Kasevich (pastor of Hillsong Church in Kiev, Russia), Coach Bill McCartney (former head football coach of the University of Colorado and founder of Promise Keepers. Billy is so excited about meeting Coach that I'm not sure he'll be able to contain himself!) and of course Kevin. If you're interested in going, here's some conference info.

Oh yeah... Kevin and his wife Tracy have a great family blog you should check out.  It's called "Mawae Life".  Kevin had some really cool thoughts he posted on his recent nomination. If you're a Titans or a Mawae fan like us, you gotta check it out and add it to your blogroll.   

My favorite weekend of the year!

T minus 2 hours!!!  That's right, just 2 more hours till the greatest sporting event in the world begins...the NCAA Basketball Tournanament baby!  Woo Hoo!!

I'm involved in a national "Church Planters Bracket Challenge" with a Yahoo group that I'm really excited about.  Lookin' forward to talking some trash the next couple of weeks and again proving that people from Indiana have just a little bit more basketball IQ than the rest.  Sorry, but that's just the way it works. (smile!)  But, if you would like to prove me differently and tell me about it, please join our "Bracket Challenge" and bring the shmack!  Love to have ya!

Okay, so here's my bracket (see below).  My big upsets are: 

• Louisville and Pitt in the Final Four
• Xavier beating Duke and Drake beating UConn in the Sweet 16
• Marquette and Wisconsin in the Elite 8
• Butler beating Tennessee in the Second Round
• I have Kansas winning it all by beating UCLA (72-66) in the National Championship game

Who's your Final Four?  Any big upsets to predict? 

Enjoy your weekend!  I know I will!!

Eddie

Download eddies_ncaa_bracket.jpg

Easter Sunday at Cumberland

It's hard to believe this will mark Cumberland's second Easter service and our first one before dinner! If you weren't with us last Easter, then you likely had your Easter service in the morning. Our services were still being held on Sunday evenings at the Marriott - Cool Springs. Easter was being celebrated that evening in Ballroom #5 while others were setting up for the 3rd Annual Dungeons and Dragons Cloak of Invisibility Festival next door in Ballroom #4. What a difference a year makes. Set up / tear down has been replaced with show up / turn on, and a wrong turn in a hallway used to run you into the aforementioned D&D festival where now it may take you to a hidden room full of bagels, coffee and munchkins. (Disclaimer:  If you're a D&D fanatic and take exception to the above, then...sorry...go outside and see the sunlight and you'll feel better.)

But you know, Easter's not about a building. It's about an event. Easter is the day Christians celebrate the one event that separates Christianity from every other religion - the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If Jesus hadn't risen from the dead, his teachings alone would not have been enough to set him apart from anyone else. And all of the questions people have asked about Jesus, "Who was he? Teacher? Miracle worker? Philosopher?", would be valid if not for the resurrection. Join us Sunday for Andy Stanley's Director's Cut - The Story of Jesus.

Music:

Awesome Sunday ahead! Chrystina Fincher and the Cumberland band will be leading the musical worship experience this Easter Sunday. Songs for this Sunday include (and you guessed it) but won't be limited to :

All Because of Jesus
Salvation is Here
How Great is Our God

And there'll be a few other surprises this weekend as well. Some cows...a baptism...a rocking closing song...and who knows what else?! Hope you're having a wonderful week and we look forward to seeing you this Sunday!

Billy

Friday Five - My 5 Favorite "March Madness" Moments

5. Bobby Knight - Hard to watch and hard to believe at times....but man, I sure do miss him.  What an incredible coach he was.  Indiana basketball has never been the same.

4. Bryce Drew (Valparaiso) - Buzzer beater to upset Mississippi.  Incredible shot!!

3. Larry Bird (Indiana State) - who can forget Larry Legend's season in '79.  The first NCAA tournament I remember watching as a kid.

2. Indiana's magical run to the 2002 National Championship Game (they knocked off #1 Duke to get there!)

1. Keith Smart (Indiana) - Game-winning shot in 1987 National Championship Game

The lost art in leadership of "falling on your sword"

Sad, heartbreaking story out of New York today.   From the many varying new reports, it seems the current governor of New York, Eliot Spitzer, is involved with a prostitution ring and was caught red-handed in an FBI wiretap. 

In a news conference today, Governor Spitzer made a courageous and admirable statement confessing his failures as a husband, father (uggh! the guy has 3 daughters...how sad!) and governor.  For that, he should be applauded.  I believe there is, and there should be, grace and forgiveness for ANY person who asks for it.  I believe that exists for the Governor.  However, what was noticeably missing from his statement today was his acceptance of the consequences for his actions.  If the allegations are true (which by his own admission today, they are), then Gov. Spitzer should do the the most appropriate and admirable thing in this situation and resign.  Immediately.  That's not being harsh...that's just the reality of the consequences that goes with the position he holds.  I think the people of New York (and maybe even the FBI and state government) might be FAR more forgiving and accepting of him if he would do the right thing here and do what a true leader would do in this situation and... fall on your sword.  While I won't party or find joy in Gov. Spitzer's resignation, I would encourage him to do the "right thing" for himself and his family by resigning immediately and accepting his fate as a leader. 

But, here's another reason why he should step-down, and it's not political at all.  He should step-down because that's what is best for his family.  Period.  Take them out out of the spotlight and retreat!  Protect them...don't try to protect "your job" as governor.  It isn't worth it. 

Should we forgive him?  Absolutely.  But, the question isn't should we forgive Gov. Spitzer, the question is what's the best, next decision for him concerning his family.  If you look at it in those terms, it seems to me to be a no-brainer.  It's also clear to me that it seems selfish on anyone's part (Republican or Democrat) to continue to ask him to do more or otherwise.  The guy messed up, messed up big...but there's no reason for his family and his whole life to continue to be lived out in the press over the next couple of years.  As a leader, you gotta know when to accept your fate...and for Gov, Spitzer, sadly, that day is today.

For the sake of you and your family Gov. Spitzer, do the right thing and please fall on your sword!!  You'll never regret it.  I promise.