Jonathan Herron

Endure Anything

Drywalling has begun as part of the125project - renovations of CATALYST's new downtown Kent ministry center.  I am SO pumped about this progress - - wandering the newly created halls, I can easily imagine the faces of people from all over north-east Ohio who will be impacted by engaging children's ministry, community art shows, late-night college nights, and more...


This reminds me of what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 9.12.  As a visible servant-leader in the church, Paul could have sat back and rested on his laurels. 

Instead he wrote, "...But we ENDURE ANYTHING rather than put an obstacle in the way of the Gospel of Christ."

Paul chose mission over comfort everytime.  That's the heartbeat of the volunteers sacrificing time and money for the125project.  We'll endure anything to reach more people far from God!

Next Drywalling Dates: 

Wed, April 16, 2008, 5:30-8:30pm

Sat, April 19, 2008, 9am-3pm

Cool True Story

It began with a CATALYST Invite Card hung up at an area Post Office last year.

Jamie saw it.  He eventually made his way to CATALYST.  And made it his church home.

2 weeks ago, he took the risk and invited his friend Steve to CATALYST.

Steve came.  And received Christ.

Steve is a recovering alcoholic.  Steve was sprinkled as an infant in the Catholic Church.

This coming Sunday, Steve is choosing to be baptized as a 52-year-old new believer in Christ.

The moral of this story?  Three-fold:

1)  Invite Cards can be a tremendous yet simple tool for reaching people far from God.

2)  Personal invites to church more often than not are accepted.

3)  You are never too old to be baptized as a believer. Interested in being part of this coming weekend's baptisms?...

Multigenerational

When I look at the early church in the book of Acts, I see a radical, growing movement of people rallying around one Person.

That's become my dream for CATALYST.  Yes, our flavor is unapologetically 20-something male.  But I'm learning that a true movement of God transcends age and race.

Which made this email from an elderly couple that much sweeter.  Having visited CATALYST once a few months ago, they ventured back to The Kent Stage on Easter.  Here's the email I discovered this week:

We both thought your Easter Sermon was excellent.  Enjoyed the music too. Your music director does a fine job too. (It wasn't quite as loud as our first time there, which we appreciated).    We knew all the songs but one and were able to sing His praises joyfully.

For being "old fogies" who like the old style church services...we are liking your church a lot.  Hmmm. Maybe one can teach an old dog new tricks?

I love it.  Yes, they are coming from a super-traditional church background.  But it's Jesus and His vision for CATALYST that is bringing them on board our church plant.  Inspiring.

Random Vacation Observations

Immediately after CATALYST on Easter, we were off to Myrtle Beach for the week:

3 observations I made during the
13 hour drive back and forth:

1)  There are a LOT of United Methodist churches in South Carolina.  Like, one on every street corner. 
A few were across the street from one another.  What the heck?

2)  One of them has the unfortunate name of
"Pee Dee Church."  Seriously, you can't make this stuff up.

3)  Best iPod Driving Mix:  Lee McDerment and Jason Bonham.  And old school Vanilla Ice to boot.

Easter//Rewind

Myrtle Beach

Catch up with ya this weekend...

Good Friday

“On the same day, in the same place, and in the same way two other men died, one on Jesus’ left and one on his right.  Despite the similarities, we do not know the names of these men, and billions of people do not worship them as God.  Why?  Because they remained dead and Jesus alone rose from death and ascended into heaven, leaving the Christian church in his wake.” - from Vintage Jesus

This Changes Everything.

Easter Weekend

Tonight our LifeGroup spent some time praying over this weekend.

Praying for specific people who are far from God and are coming to CATALYST this Sunday.

Praying for the Gospel to penetrate hearts.

Praying for the approaching weather system to clear up at 11am on Saturday morning.

Driving home in the dark, Amber & I drove past many EASTERinKENT.com road signs.

We're eating up tons of bandwidth online this week with people hitting the site. 

My email box greeted me with a bunch of Egg Drop inquiries at 10pm tonight.

Easter weekend, here we come...

Egg Drop in the News

One of the few times you'll see me addressed as "Rev..."

Sin & Easter

USA Today on Sin and Easter (HT: Ed Stetzer):   

Two pastors serving youthful congregations in big cities, long the statistical capitals of secular culture, say they must talk about sin to be true to their calling. They just have to use 21st-century lingo...

When (Tim) Keller, author of The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism, speaks about "sin" to his audiences, which are 70% single and younger than 40, "I use it with lots and lots of explanation, because the word is essentially obsolete.

"They do get the idea of branding, of taking a word or term and filling it with your own content, so I have to rebrand the word 'sin,' " Keller says.

"Around here it means self-centeredness, the acorn from which it all grows. Individually, that means 'I live for myself, for my own glory and happiness, and I'll work for your happiness if it helps me.' Communally, self-centeredness is destroying peace and justice in the world, tearing the net of interwovenness, the fabric of humanity."

Mark Driscoll says a little talk of hellfire, so out of fashion these days, would do the world good.

Driscoll founded Mars Hill Church in Seattle, a non-denominational megachurch with 7,000 in Sunday attendance, chiefly singles in their 20s.

He defines sin as "anything contrary to God's will. People assume the way they are is normal, not that something has gone terribly wrong, and this world is abnormal."

Although his primary audience is newbie Christians, Driscoll is sharply clear: "Without an idea of sin, Easter is meaningless."