Brandon Thomas

I want to formally welcome my friend, Matt Anderson, to the Keystone staff!
Matt and Aneesah have been serving wholeheartedly here at Keystone for quite some time now. Their daughter, Journey, is A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!!!! Susan and I love this couple and are so excited for Matt to join my all-star team of ministers in advancing our ADDICTIVE vision: LEADING EVERYONE TO EXPERIENCE A PASSIONATE LIFE IN CHRIST!

Matt brings many, many God-given gifts to the team and I’m sure he will be approaching so many of you to jump into serving like never before. My first project for Matt is to provide leadership to our Community Groups, which are finishing an unprecedented Spring semester of life change.

While Matt is putting the finishing touches on his current job, pray for he & Aneesah as they take this giant leap of faith into this awesome Keystone vision.

Ephesians 4
11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

There was a surprising moment in the middle of my recent fast:
I began to actually ADJUST to the vegan diet!

My new staple: AVOCADOS!
My new feast: VEGETARIAN JAPANESE BR RICE BOWL, PEI WEI
My new dessert: rice cake + sunbutter (peanut butter, with sunflower seeds, not nuts) + raisins!

This made my PRIMARY SPIRITUAL TASK that much harder!
I had to focus even more on my main thrust: ‘God, take me through a journey – you have the wheel!’

This was an unusual surprise for me, and ended up developing more spiritual muscles than i would have imagined.

(it also made me healthier in the process… more on that later!)

During the 21-day DANIEL FAST, I journaled and prayed unlike recent memory.
In a way, it kick-started a new energy for these relational disciplines.

I remember one prayer time in particular. I closed my eyes, engaged my mind, and I was immediately filled with the presence of God. Usually, I have to detox from my day, the calendar, my stressors, etc.

This experience convinced me of the spiritual power of fasting. Every time I felt the pang of hunger or the emotional tug of ‘wants,’ I would go to God with it. He became my ‘filet mignon’… he became my ‘ben & jerry’s cherry garcia!’

When it came to journaling, I would often fill the pages and force myself to stop. Again, I completely owe this renewed vigor to the fast.

REMEMBER: The ‘fast’ is not magical… It is the power of sacrifice, the relational effort on my part to open my heart even more completely to God. It was awesome.

I recently finished a DANIEL FAST. Basically, I was a VEGAN for 21 days, giving my hunger and my preferences to prayer.

This was primarily a SPIRITUAL JOURNEY. It also disciplined me PHYSICALLY.

Over the next several posts, I will explore many of the large lessons God taught me on this journey.

SURPRISE #1:
I have learned as much OR MORE on the BACK END of this journey as I did during the actual fast.
It feels as though I’ve had a spiritual TUNE UP…
Ideas are flashing and flowing… vision has been jumping from seemingly out of NOWHERE…

I love this journey of following Christ!
This summer will mark my 30th year with Jesus, and I’m always experiencing him in new and surprising ways!

As I mentioned in my last post,

God is changing lives at Keystone Church. He is speaking clearly into marriages and rescuing his lost and broken children like never before.

Yet, sometimes God will surprise us! I am always challenging our staff to keep their personal walks with Jesus fresh, never relying the excuse: “I’m in ministry, that should take care of my spiritual needs.”

Eric and April Colquett, who have been with me since DAY ONE, have been led by God to provide leadership to Keystone’s very first church plant (Wellspring Church in Myrtle Beach, SC). Eric and I have prayed over this decision and I am sure that God is in this. We are both sad in ways… and we are both excited for God’s future.

This is an incredible opportunity for my friend, pastor Trey Kelly, to gain an experienced leader who has successfully helped Susan and I plant one of the greatest churches in the world (my unapologetic bias acknowledged).

Pray for Eric and April as they make this MISSIONAL MOVE to follow God in this wild adventure of life!

Change is in the air!

I love the smell of FRESHLY BAKED BREAD, the perfect pizza, pipe tobacco, and east Tennessee mornings at my Grandparent’s house.

None of those beautiful aromas can compare to the smell of LIFE CHANGE that’s in the air at Keystone Church!!!

This past weekend we held a sold-out Marriage Weekend… The response has been unbelievable:

Some memorable LIFE CHANGE quotes:
“Our marriage will never be the same”
“We had the most honest conversation in our marriage during the date night”
“He took steps toward leading me spiritually that blew me away”

I’M NOT DONE YET!!! We also launched our new series, HIGH FIDELITY this weekend.
We saw 64 people find new life in Christ and we experienced a new non-holiday attendance record!!!!

Change is in the air… I can feel it! I love it!!!

Later I will post another change that is coming…

This Valentines weekend will go down as one of the most RISK-RIDDLED weekends of your journey with Keystone!

February 13,14 We are launching our MARRIAGE WEEKEND, where tons of couples will take a RELATIONAL RISK and put it all on the line to see their marriage IGNITED… It will change lives!

February 13,14 We are also launching a new series titled, HIGH FIDELITY… hundreds of people from our city will be called to take a SPIRITUAL RISK and find God’s great plan for a lifetime commitment to marriage

FINALLY: FEBRUARY 14 WE ARE LAUNCHING OUR 4TH SERVICE!!!
This 12:45 service will accomplish 2 things… (keystone: memorize these two things!)
1. We will take a RISK and create a space for people who can’t come at our normal times and make it to Keystone… bartenders, late niters, partyers, etc., etc… LET’S TRY TO CREATE A SPACE FOR THE LATE NIGHT CROWD!
2. We are also attempting to create MO SEATS FOR YO PEEPS! 11:15 is our #1 service attended by guests. We are coming very, very close to running out of room in that hour in our kids area, our auditorium, and our parking lot. If YOU are led to attend or serve 12:45, you will be providing seats for the PEEPS who are NOT HERE YET!

PRAY ABOUT IT
GET IN ON IT
DON’T MISS IT!!!

I’m THRILLED to introduce a new team member to the Keystone staff: Jody Franke!

I have personally witnessed God’s unique work in Jody since he was very young.  The way God called him to Keystone is a wild and unpredictable ride! He has an incredible family and comes to us with a variety of talents and experiences from corporate America. As he joins my ministry team he brings special gifts that will help us move forward into the audacious vision God is giving us!

Remember Ephesians 4:11,12 -

Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.

I AM SO PUMPED to see Keystone wearing their ‘ask me’ t-shirts Christmas season!!!  Here is an example: one Keystoner wore her shirt while shopping & THIS COUPLE came up and asked her about KEYSTONE on Christmas Eve!

How cool that she wore her shirt – how on earth did she get them to take the pic?!?  So cool.

Pic up your shirt this weekend & join a small army of PASSIONATE PEOPLE inviting others to experience LIFE IN CHRIST!

In the early days of Keystone Church, I was most tense and uptight when I taught giving. I was petrified that our unchurched friends would brand me a ‘money-grubbin preacher’ and never give Jesus a chance. Yet, the more I dove into what God taught on money the bolder I became.

Now, I love talking about obeying God with our money.

As I have studied Scripture, I am struck by 3 types of giving:

The FIRST… and the 10

POCKET #1: FAITHFUL GIVING:
Often known as the tithe, this type of giving is RETURNING to God a FIRST PORTION of our income. The Old Testament refers to the 10%… In the New Testament, Jesus is quick to affirm the tithe, not as a means to get to God but as a good obedience en route to weightier matters of justice, mercy, and faith (Matthew 23:23-24). For more examples, check out Genesis 14:17-20; 28:20-22; Deuteronomy 26; Leviticus 27:30-33; 1 Corinthians 16. For a stern warning against violating this simple teaching, see Malachi 3:8-10.

The FIRST… and THEN

POCKET #2: GENEROUS GIVING:
Generosity is a thread woven throughout the Bible. We must manage our money in such a way that we are able to be generous at all times. The direct application back then was mainly directed to slaves, foreigners, widows and orphans. In our case, we must always have room to help a family member in need, a single mom, a friend who has lost their job, etc. This also includes spontaneous offerings for children in need or other great opportunities. Some samples of generosity: Deuteronomy 15:13ff; 24:19; James 1:27.

The FIRST… and the WIN

POCKET #3: SACRIFICIAL GIVING
At Keystone, we believe with all our hearts that it is God’s design for every believer to either be preparing for, participating in, or recovering from a sacrificial gift. It is in our spiritual DNA to give until it hurts. These are the types of gifts you can’t just budget… once you give it, you have to financially recover from it! For example, in the New Testament you see Barnabas sell a portion of his land as a sacrificial gift… that’s a gift you can’t replenish! That is a true sacrifice. God does not desire his children to WHINE about financial projects… if your church is constantly raising big sums of money, it means there’s a big vision driving it! That’s a GREAT CHURCH. We’re LAUNCHING a 2-year journey of sacrificial giving next weekend and WE’RE PUMPED! See Mark 10:21; Luke 19; Acts 2:42-46; 4:32; 11:29-30; Romans 15:26-27; 1 Chronicles 29:3.

It is crucial to be healthy in all three areas of giving… it’s how you’re designed! It moves you closer & closer to your God-given potential! Those Keystoners I know who give out of all three pockets are VERY, VERY happy people… they have sacrificed boats, ranch houses, new cars, and high-def plasmas to see God’s mission spread… that’s living on THE EDGE!!!