Something's Coming/Tonight In Midtown

Happy Thursday!

As I told the congregation at CHURCH IN THE NOW EAST last evening, we have some direction and good news to share with you about the future of our presence in the Conyers/Covington area, which I will talk about more this coming Sunday. We really do believe that the best days of this ministry are ahead of us, and we are committed to seeing much of that unfold in the community we have invested in over the last 26 years.

By the way, if you couldn't be there last night, or weren't able to stream, you might want to get a copy of the teaching "It Seemed Good to the Holy Spirit, and to Us" (order at www.churchintenow.org). It was a continuation of the subject from the previous week about the real meaning of "binding and loosing", and there's some good stuff in there.

Tonight is our second meeting at CHURCH IN THE NOW MIDTOWN, and I am really looking forward to seeing even more new faces in the audience there. Last week's premier service exceeded expectations, but many people come to the opening night of something just because it's an event. Tonight will be another beginning of sorts, because it will show more acurately who is really interested in becoming a part of the Midtown congregation.

CITNM is currently meeting every Thursday at 7 PM in the Imperial Ballroom of the historic Biltmore House, 30 5th street NE in Atlanta (corner of W. Peachtree and 5th). There is FREE COVERED PARKING, and no childcare provided.

In light of all that's happening, I want to share today's affirmations from A Year In The Now:

SOMETHING’S COMING!

"And then God answered, ‘Write this. Write what you see. Write it out in big block letters so that it can be read on the run. This vision-message is a witness pointing to what's coming – it can hardly wait! And it doesn't lie. If it seems slow in coming, wait. It's on the way. It will come right on time.'" (Habakkuk 2:2, 3 – The Message)


Today I will live in the now! I will live in the now because I have a vision, and a vision from God doesn't lie. It lets me know that something good is on the way, and that I must make room for it in my life.

Today I will have faith in my goals and in my ability to reach them. I will write a petition, which will give my faith a focal point, and I will find a word on which to stand to make that petition come to pass.

Today I will have a positive outlook, anticipating the arrival of a long-awaited answer to a prayer. I will not be weary in well doing, knowing that I will reap in due season if I do not faint.

Today I will run with the vision, because the vision is alive and growing – mobile and evolving – and running to keep up with it will be good and healthy for me. I will abandon my comfort zone, and stretch toward the bigger and better breakthrough that is bound to become mine!

Today I will be appreciative of the little things that are a blessing to my life, as I increase my capacity for accepting even greater outpourings of God's love and affection for me. God wants me to be blessed even more than I want to be blessed, and He has written a vision on my heart to make sure that I receive all that He has in store for me!

Today I will not be moved when it looks like I am having a setback. All things are working together for my good, and God's timing will ultimately be perfect – so I will walk in the faith and patience that enables me to obtain the promises! I will not become discouraged, because I will keep my eyes on the big picture.

Today I will keep hope alive by believing for the impossible, seeing the invisible, and feeling the intangible. I will speak of the non-existent things as though they already existed, because the vision in my mind is increasing with the faith in my heart. Something's coming, and it could be here any minute — I will be ready for it today, and today I will live in the now!

Father, write Your vision on my heart today. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Just wanted to check in and tell you all that I love you, that I appreciate all of you who are in covenant with us more than you know, that I'm extremently excited about tonight, and that the best is yet to come!

CITN 26th ANNIVERSARY

Hey, bloggers...I want to invite all of you who are part of Church In The Now, including friends of CITN, and those of you who haven't worshipped with us in a while (along with members of the cyber-congregation), to come celebrate the past, present and future of this ministry on Sunday, May 22!

I founded CITN (then Word of Faith Assembly of God) on Pentecost Sunday, 1985, which fell that year on May 26. Pentecost Sunday is always observed in the Christian calendar 50 days after Easter, and for all the years since our initial Sunday we've generally celebrated the church anniversary on every Pentecost Sunday. But because Easter came late this year, Pentecost falls on Sunday, June 12, so we're going to keep the anniversary observance closer to the original date of the church's inception.

We will have a wonderful service on the 22nd (I have a powerful word to share with you), followed by what is traditionally called “dinner on the grounds” afterwards. CITN will provide paper products, so I need for all of you to please bring a meal and/or a dessert sufficient for your family plus two. And also bring your lawn chairs so that we can enjoy a CITN family picnic together.


As many of you already know, we are entering a new and exciting phase in the life of CITN as we move to multiple locations around the metropolitan Atlanta area. This has been a dream of mine for some time, and we are now ready to begin implementing it.

The Conyers location will now be known as CHURCH IN THE NOW EAST (still meeting Sundays at 10 AM and Wednesday evenings at 7), and beginning June 2, there will be a CHURCH IN THE NOW MIDTOWN, which will meet on Thursday nights at 7 in the Imperial Ballroom of the historic Biltmore House. The Atlanta Biltmore, once known as the South's supreme hotel, has served celebrities such as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Mary Pickford, Bette Davis, and Charles Lindbergh, and was the initial home of the Atlanta Historical Society and the meeting place for many of the city's civic organizations. For more than 30 years, WSB, the South's first radio station, broadcasted from its studios within the hotel and the radio tower on the hotel roof became a landmark on the city skyline.


Please mark your calendars for CITN MIDTOWN's premier service. There is free covered parking available, and there will be no childcare provided. If you look on the right side of the blog you can see a Facebook badge for both CHURCH IN THE NOW EAST and CHURCH IN THE NOW MIDTOWN. Please click on them and go to both pages and "like" them.

On the CITN EAST page you will find some great pictures of Conyers and Covington sites and events, including the Hollywood connection with both cities (the Conyers/Covington area is actually pretty cool, as it turns out).

And on the CITN MIDTOWN page you will find shots of famous Midtown landmarks, including 163 Ponce de Leon where I preached my first sermon. I hope that those of you who are Facebook-savvy will feel free to comment on the pics.















I don't think that it's any secret that CITN has faced some major challenges, especially in the last year, and that we have been in transition for some time now. In many ways, this past season has been "the best of times and the worst of times", as in A Tale of Two Cities.


But that's what makes this coming Sunday so sweet...we are going to celebrate the fact that He has brought us "from a mighty long way"

(..."hitherto hath the Lord helped us..." -
1 Samuel 7:12, KJV )



Most of you know that some of our members have gone around the corner from our current location and started another church because they believe that God told them to do so. We bless each and every one of them, because who are we to question the will of God? Besides, the Lord places people in the church "as it has pleased Him".

Unfortunately, there are still others who don't understand what we're about (and probably never will) who have reveled in what they perceive to be the demise of CITN. Some of the more hateful and mean-spirited religious blogs who have discussed me and my personal life ad infinitum over the last eight months have actually rejoiced in our hardships.

But they have rejoiced prematurely...

Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; When I fall, I will arise; When I sit in darkness, The LORD will be a light to me. (Micah 7:8 , NKJV)

...Church In The Now is not only alive and well, her best days are ahead of her!

Going to the multiple location concept is certainly a step of faith for us, but we are ready for the adventure, and look forward to establishing a CHURCH IN THE NOW NORTH and a CHURCH IN THE NOW SOUTH...and who knows where else?! We will continue to create that community of REAL PEOPLE, EXPERIENCING THE REAL GOD IN THE REAL WORLD, as we fulfill our prophetic mandate to do what has not been done before!


It really is all good.

I love you all...

See you on the 22nd!

Let's