There will be refreshments after the service along with an optional Q&A session.

Parking is available in front of the theater and the adjoining buildings, across the street, and also in front of the neighboring buildings.  Directions to the theater are here.

Facebook event here.

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Here’s just a few stats to give you a framework for the current state of men:

• Half of American males between the ages of 18 to 34 play video games every day—for almost 3 hours.
• The average video game buyer is 35 years old.
• Every second, $3,075.64 is being spent on pornography, 28,258 Internet users view pornography, and 372 Internet users type adult search terms into search engines.
• To no one’s surprise, men make up nearly 75% of Internet pornography traffic.

Its alarming that the majority of our men spend more time with video games and porn than leading their family, reading their bible, or leading other men.

A recent article talks about the Omega Male.  What’s an Omega Male?  Think Peter Griffin, Homer Simpson, Al Bundy, and countless other “Dads” on TV.  Yes, they are caricatures, but does not their passivity, cowardice, and absenteeism (at least spiritually, emotionally, and relationally) remind you of your dad, husband, brother, neighbor, friend, or even you?

Many of us did not have a model of a godly father who led his family well.  At The Paradox Church we want to confront, challenge, and train men in the gospel – they will be raised up and instructed to love and lead their wives and family (Eph 5:25-29), lead their church (1 Tim 3), lead and teach other men (2 Tim 2:2), fight the good fight of faith (1 Tim 6:12), and build a paradox culture within the city.

Here are some alarming stats specific to Fort Worth:

• 1 out of every 6 males and 1 in every 4 females in Fort Worth are sexually abused before the age of 18. There are 5,000 registered sexual abusers in Tarrant County.
• 40% of boys in Fort Worth go to bed without a daddy.
• There are at least 17 strip clubs in Fort Worth, employing hundreds of women in the sex industry.

The common denominator within these statistics (and there are more) is the lack of strong male leadership.  In our vision to train men with the Gospel we are, by no means, disregarding women and children.  On the contrary, we believe strongly that the best way to love and serve our wives, moms, sisters, and children is by raising up godly, Jesus-centered, husbands, fathers, and brothers.

We need good men to fight with us.  We need men who desire to grow in the Gospel.  And then those men must lead other men.  The Alpha Male is not the answer to the Omega Male – Jesus is.

Join us on August 31st at Ole South Pancake House at 6:30am for the first of four men’s breakfast.  We will teach on the three false gods that all men struggle with – sex, money, and power.

more info here

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1. We will park in the Bass Hall parking garage on Calhoun and 3rd.

2. Then pray together as a group in front.

3. Then split off and walk Sundance Square praying for the city, its people, that God would be worshiped mightily in it, that God would use us – The Paradox Church – to bring the Gospel to it; that lives would be transformed; marriages restored; single moms are taking care of; young men discipled; homeless, poor, and refugees would be served and loved; and that we would be a church – a people – humble, courageous, and willing to be His agents to Fort Worth.

4. Then we will all meet at 8.0 at 8:00 to hang out for awhile.

Will you pray that God moves in us and through us?

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this morning i was compelled to confess instead of attending my water aerobics class.

over the last couple of weeks i’ve been dealing with fear, insecurity, and worry.  just in the last two days it’s seemed to be centered around fetal movement. is my baby moving enough? she hasn’t been moving as much today as she was yesterday. what if…

i know that fear is normal for women to go through. everyone is speaking of kick counts; you’ve heard heart wrenching stories of others…but i know that God is not okay with this being my “normal.” i know that i could justify these average fears and insecurities as normal and dismiss them. but if i’m honest they are ruling my thoughts and robbing me of complete peace…

Check the rest out here.

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As missionaries to Fort Worth we must do the work of a missionary.  We must know our city – its culture, its people, its history.

Culture

Knowing the culture of Fort Worth just means knowing the values of Fort Worthians, what they do, what they create, what they consume, etc.  Here are some practical ways.

1.  Read Local Blogs. Fort Worthology is one of the best for local culture.  Also Hello Panther is a local podcast that is hilarious and talks about local happenings and news.  Join the Fort Worth Architecture forum.  Read up on updated news on the future Fort Worth Streetcar.  Read our independent weekly publication Fort Worth Weekly.  Follow Fort Worth organizations on Twitter.

2.  Participate in the Arts. Fort Worth has a world class arts culture and great local music.  Check out the Cultural District and all it offers.  Go see the great local bands, perhaps at Lola’s or 8.0.

People

The best way to know the people of Fort Worth is to just hang with them and ask questions.  Invite people along into the regular rhythms of your life.  Eat with them, hobby together, invite people into your home, work out with someone, go see live music, get your kids together to play, etc.  And then just ask questions.  Here are three questions I try to ask:

1.  What is God doing in Fort Worth?
2.  What are the needs of the people in Fort Worth?
3.  What would a church look like that meets those needs?

Come up with your own questions or use these and begin to understand the people that God has called you to.

History

Fort Worth has a great history but every city’s history can you tell you a lot about what is ingrained in the city, what the values are, and what it may resist.  Read up on Fort Worth’s history.  Specifically, see how religious moralism (which is anti-Gospel and anti-bible) and good ole’ fashion sinfulness have always run hand-in-hand together in Fort Worth.

“For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.” (Hebrews 13:14)

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You can hear the sermon here.

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I am grateful for the elders at City View Church in allowing me to preach there.  They have been so gracious and helpful to The Paradox Church as we ramp up for our launch in January.

This Sunday (7/4) I am preaching at The Rooted Church for my friend Nick Ostermann.  I love Nick and his wife Tessa and their people and I am very excited and humbled to share his pulpit.  Be sure to join us if you can.  The service starts at 9am.

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City View is located at 4001 Summerfields Blvd, Fort Worth, TX 76137.  Click here for the map.

You can contact us for directions to Ron and Laura’s house or follow the group over there after the 11am service.

Hope to see you there.

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City Groups will not be bible studies; they will be gospel communities on mission in a particular neighborhood/district of Fort Worth.  They will be the life-blood of The Paradox Church – where ministry and mission happens.  Our vision is that there will be hundreds of City Groups meeting in neighborhoods around the city seeing lives transformed and the city transformed for the Glory of God.

One of the main aspects of our City Groups is that each one will adopt a non-profit, service organization in Fort Worth.  The idea is that once every 4-6 weeks each City Group is giving of their time, money, energy, and resources towards an organization that serves our city well.  We have served at the Fort Worth Pregnancy Center and with the Refugee Services of Texas.  We also have met with the Cornerstone Assistance Network with the hopes of partnering with them as well.  With each group serving the city well, The Paradox Church can begin to fulfill its mission of seeing the city of Fort Worth transformed with the Gospel for the glory of God.

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Since becoming a part of the beginnings of what will become The Paradox Church the Lord has been beating on my spirit about certain things.  The strongest conviction was my increasing awareness of what many of us our becoming: Monday morning quarterbacks.  We love home groups, we love bible studies and retreats and “doing life” together.  We can sit around and talk and reflect and eat cookies in each other’s living rooms twice a week and feel better.  Most of us don’t like to get out of our chairs though or go outside where it’s not safe to do such things.  I began to loathe this academia type of “all theory no practice” approach to following Christ.  It bubbled over at one home group a few weeks back and I got riled up over the topic.  I wasn’t mad at the guys in my group; I was pissed at myself for being what I loathed. The conviction the Lord had given me was not a grandiose indictment of a lazy Christian generation; it was an indictment of me.

The very next day I was on the phone with a peppy TCU girl named Ashley that Jim and I had met for lunch a week or so back to discuss service opportunities for our new church.  She works with political refugees that are new to the country.  A refugee is classified as someone who cannot continue to live in their homeland due to persecution based on something inherent to them.  Usually they are on the wrong side of a war or genocide and have to abandon everything they know in order to live.  I told Ashley that I wanted in.

I was at a training a week later and met the Paravaisam family from Sri Lanka three days later.  Their story is amazing.  Four years ago during a mini-civil war between rival ethnicities the father, Subash, was awaken by the police and escorted outside.  He was told that because of his “involvement” with rebel factions he was to be executed.  As he would put it, “I was so afraid that I pushed the gun away and ran – into the jungle.”  He hid in the jungle for a month, leaving behind his wife and three children.  He eventually reunited with his family in Thailand where they were arrested for being illegal immigrants and jailed for 6 months – he and his three children, the youngest is 6 years old.  By the Lord’s providence they knew a bishop in the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka who was able to help them receive political asylum as refugees in America.  They were given airfare and 3 months of support upon their arrival by Ashley’s organization.  Three months is nothing for someone from a third world country coming to America.  It’s the equivalent of you and me being sent to the moon.  They know nothing of our world and how it works.

My role with Subash and his family is wonderful.  I’m their friend and mentor.  I’ve driven him to job interviews, procured his daughter a computer for school, and eaten Sri Lankan food with them.  I’ve known them for three weeks and I could fill out pages with interesting tidbits, but here’s a few:

• Subash has a degree in accounting from a Sri Lankan University.  His goal is to get a “office job” once his English is good enough and he is, in his words, a “full American.”
• Their daughter Kisha is an amazing artist.  She has paintings on her wall she drew in Thailand while in prison
• Until Tuesday Kisha had the family convinced that we still had slaves in the south.
• Subash waited 5 hours in a little room to interview for a $8/hr job and when he got it he kept the letter they sent him for his hiring.

In the same vein here is what I have learned from them:

• I’ve quit complaining.  I’ve also noticed how much others complain.  Stop it, all of you.
• The Lord has me here for a purpose. They are Hindu, but I know one day we will have a discussion about Christ
• Pride is not inherently evil.  Subash and his family have a type of pride that I believe to be righteous
• Sri Lanka food is hot as hell, don’t eat anything with red sauce on it.

My challenge to anyone still reading this is stop sitting around and talking and do what Jesus did.  There is value in groups and “doing life together”; that is what Jesus did.  But Jesus also walked among the needy and common, and interacted and did life with them.  If you want to be like Jesus and follow him, do everything He did – not just the parts you like or want to.  You’ll be as surprised as I was that by being missional and serving you will grow closer to Christ in ways that sitting in a chair will never take you to.

Much Love, Matt

:: For more on The Paradox Church and our vision, join us tonight at Matt’s house.  Contact us for address and details.

To mentor a refugee family please email Ashley ( ashley.rst [at] sbcglobal.net )

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