Doing Life Together

Read the full breakdown of Offering #4 at crazylovecampaign.com and give online now!

Here are a few more clips from our team’s visit to Uganda…

The next phase of our Crazy Love Campaign is to build two orphanages in Uganda. Below is a clip of some new friends in Uganda Long Hollow will be partnering with.

My husband is always going around saying “Get fired up!”  I thought I would take this opportunity to tell you about a few things at Long Hollow that get me fired up!

• This past weekend was amazing!  If you weren’t a part of Midnight Train or one of our services then you missed out, I am sad to say.  It was truly a blessing to end the time of leader training with a prayer time for our leaders and their different areas.  I can’t think of a better way to start a new church year!! Also, we started Saturday night services at 5:30 and we had a fellowship time afterward.  It is so much fun to worship together and then visit with one another!  All the services surprised us with the “Uncool Video LIVE!!” The Lord has blessed us with so many talented people!  We had a sermon that was by some tall, lanky guy and it was pretty good I guess (LOL).  Actually I was challenged not to be an “almost giver”.  I want to be known as one who is generous in my giving and not one that has good intentions of almost giving. The services ended with a song about leaving a legacy and we got to see the names and faces of the children in our orphanage in Haiti.  What a blessing to see what legacy the church is leaving for these children by providing housing and food and making known the love of Jesus.  God is working through us here at 3031 Long Hollow Pike to make a difference in children’s lives!   I am fired up to belong to a praying church that loves children and is willing to sacrifice for them!!

• I am excited that as I speak my husband is in Uganda.  It is a long, hard trip to make in one week and be back for Saturday services, so I know he would appreciate your prayers.  However, it is exciting that we are beginning to see more opportunities of how we can be the “hands and feet” of Jesus in other places as well as around here and in Haiti.  God is too good to us here by allowing us to partner with Him in Africa!  Wow, that is something to get fired up about!  We serve a God that is not limited to one country, race, etc… He has work going on everywhere.  I am fired up that He allows us to be a part of it!!

• All women – Put the date September 2 on your calendar and plan on being at Long Hollow.  Donna Gaines, pastor’s wife at Bellevue Baptist in Memphis is our guest speaker.  She loves the Lord and His Word and you don’t want to miss out!!!  She has around 700 or more in Bible study weekly.  She is a terrific teacher and has written a book, “Gotta Have More.”  Supper is provided on this night so it will be a fun time of hearing a wonderful speaker and getting to visit with everyone!  Also, if that is not enough, we get to see what is planned for women at Long Hollow for the year!  Don’t miss this preview night!   I am fired up about the women at Long Hollow and we have one of the greatest women’s ministry leaders anywhere!  By the way, don’t tell, but she has a birthday this Thursday and I hear it is a pretty significant one.  I guess I won’t say anymore about that even though I really want to, but I won’t.  Well, I really love Julie Woodruff and I am fired up about her leadership with our women and the year that is ahead!

• We are blessed as a church family, and I am in awe of our God!  I am fired up to be your pastor’s wife, so it is easy for me to rejoice.  I hope you will rejoice with me by getting involved in God’s work around here and abroad.  We serve a loving, awesome, faithful, mighty and amazing God!  That is something to get fired up about!!

Blessings to you all!

Jennifer

I read some powerful statements by David Platt this morning in his new book “Radical” that challenged me on the importance of Long Hollow continuing to have a heart for the nations. See what you think…

• The message of biblical Christianity is not “God loves me, period,” as if we were the object of our own faith. The message of biblical Christianity is “God loves me so that I might make him – his ways, his salvation, his glory, and his greatness – known among all nations.” Now God is the object of our faith, and Christianity centers around him. We are not the end of the gospel; God is.

• We have received salvation so that his name will be proclaimed in all nations. God loves us for his sake in the world.

• We must guard against misunderstanding here. The Bible is not saying that God does not love us deeply. On the contrary, we have seen in Scripture a God of unusual, surprising, intimate passion for his people. But that passion does not ultimately center on his people. It centers on his greatness, his goodness, and his glory being made known globally among all peoples. And to disconnect God’s blessing from God’s global purpose is to spiral downward into an unbiblical, self-saturated Christianity that misses the point of God’s grace.

• It’s a foundational truth: God creates, blesses, and saves each of us for a radically global purpose.

This reminds me of something David Nasser said in a sermon he preached at Long Hollow last year. Check out the video clip below:

May God help us to never forget the lost!  I’m praying God will grow the heart of Long Hollow for the nations for His glory and renown!