Monthly Archives: February 2009

Shooting Ourselves In the Foot

Posted by clintclifton on

shooting-yourself-in-the-footI’m doing everything I can to stick with the SBC. I want it to survive. I believe it can be valuable. I am proud of the fact that we fought off the liberals in the 80′s. I believe our best days are ahead of us.. but man..

My buddies who abandoned SBC long ago are saying, “Told you so”

A few months ago Ed Stetzer told us that everything is going down the tubes (HERE)

Then uninformed garbage like THIS keeps flowing off of the baptist press.

And it seems that while every other preacher in America is giving away it’s media we are finding more and more ways to CHARGE people to hear our sermons.

I hope we are able to pull things together.

Who’s Kingdom Will Grow?

Posted by clintclifton on

p10102091About a year ago Image Church relocated about a mile away from our current meeting location.. Now.. I know some pastors have a tendency to get bent out of shape about stuff like that but we have been really excited to see another church move into the community.

I remember about 8 years ago when I went into a community to start a new church. I set up a meeting with a local pastor to explain that God had called me there to join him in reaching his community with the Gospel of Christ. The guy was borderline hostile! He tried everything he could to convince us that we had missed God’s call and encourage us to go to another community!?! It was obvious that this guy was not interested in the growth the Kingdom of God in his community but was very interested in the Growth of his kingdom… He saw a new church as a threat to the “Success” of his church. I suppose this action grieves the heart of God.

The more I get to know Image Church and their pastor, Chris Rhodenhizer, The more thankful I am that God sent them to Dumfries. This week Chris came to Pillar, met some of the people that make up Pillar Church and shared from God’s Word. He did a great job and compelled us all to Listen closely to God.

Kids Helping Kids

Posted by clintclifton on

khk-logoMy son (who is 7) is planning a fundraiser to benefit the orphans of Bali, the Indonesian Island where we have been working. Below are the details. If you are a Northern Virginia resident please make plans to attend.

What: Costume Party & Contest
When: Saturday, March 14th, 2009 @ 11:30am
Where: SBC (2202 Jefferson Davis Hwy Stafford VA 22554)
Who: Everyone is invited!
Why: To help the orphans of Bali, Indonesia

Kids Helping Kids is a special way that the kids at Pillar Church plan to help the orphans in Bali, Indonesia. We are having a Pizza & Costume party! Come dressed in your favorite costume, have a yummy lunch and help the orphans in Bali. For more info call 703-508-9985

Costume Contest Entry Fee – $2.00
Slice of yummy Pizza – $ 2.00
Can of Soda – $1.00

Other items will be for sale at the party so bring your piggy bank!

All of the money we raise will with go us on our next trip to Bali. We will use the money to buy food, shelter and clothes for the orphans of Bali.

Don’t forget to invite a friend!

Clint’s Life – Act 4, Scene 2 (Action)

Posted by clintclifton on

photo1Doctor: It’s the male equivalent to child birth… you have a kidney stone… actually you have a lot of kidney stones but only one is the problem now.

Clint: how big is it?

Doctor: maybe four millimeters

Clint: that doesn’t sound very big!

Doctor: well the tube it has to travel through isn’t quite that big.

Clint: ohh…How far does it have to travel?

Doctor: about 14 inches.

Clint: how far has it gone?

Doctor: About 13 1/2 inches.

Clint: (optimistically) oh! good, then it should be over soon?

Doctor: Could be a day… could be a year.

(Dr exits, lights dim)

(Picture Courtney of Jennifer Clifton Photography)

The Golden Girls

Posted by clintclifton on

A Valentines Day Tribute to the Five Most Important Women In My Life

the-golden-girlsI have only genuinely loved five women in my life. The first is my mother who though she has been physically handicapped for my entire life has modeled selfless love to me. My earliest memories include her cleaning my room and packing my lunch from a walker or wheelchair. Once when I was young I got into a fight with a classmate as I was walking home from school. My mother was driving by and, when she noticed her son being pummeled, she pulled over and to defend me against my prepubescent adversary. There was not a success or failure in my formative years that she did not experience as personally as I did.
The second and third, are my sisters who with the exception of normal sibling rivalries have consistently loved and protected me as their little brother. My oldest sister, Shawn, has always inspired me to the extent that my passions and pursuits are an obvious shadow of hers from childhood to present. Then Melissa, my second sister, although nothing like me, is an easy target for my affection because of her caring and sensitive nature.
My tiny daughter Ruthe is the most recent addition to my catalogue. Only four years old she is a perfect forgery of her mother and posses every characteristic required to dissolve my maturity utter silliness.
My final lover, and by far the most unexpected of the quintuplets, was a childhood friend, Jennifer. Jennifer’s charm and character made her an unlikely match for me, nevertheless, as children we befriended, later dated and eventually married. I have known Jennifer for approximately the same amount of time that I have been able to tie my shoes yet she is new to me every day. She has that rare magic that some women have that makes ever man fell like a king just by being around her. Every moment of mature love I have ever experienced has held Jennifer as the object.

Core Beliefs About Church Planting

Posted by clintclifton on

One of my goals over the next five years is to see our church send out 20 church planters a year. I am quickly realizing that we will never reach this goal if we don’t settle on some foundational beliefs about how we will plant new churches. With that said, I have been drafting some of our core beliefs about church planting. Take a look over the first three and give some feedback.. Good, bad or ugly… I can take it.

Theology Trumps Methodology

We believe that too much training in methodology and not enough training in theology is detrimental to the church planter.  We operate with a fundamental belief that the more theologically grounded we are the better planters we are. This is not to say that methodology does not play a role in church planting but that the best church planting methodology flows from Biblical theology.


Churches Plant Churches

We think that the local church is the means by which God will expand His kingdom. Parachurch organizations are tremendous resources for the church planter and should be utilized to the extent that they are helpful. These organizations should never replace the local church as central authority in the church planting process.

Overgrowth is Undergrowth

Fidelity to Christ is the Goal of the church, not growth. We seek to plant churches that view the luring work of the Holy Spirit as the only hope for church growth. Additionally, it is best that a steady stream of equipped saints are dispersing from every local church to spread the gospel to places where Christ is not yet known.

Little Moses

Posted by clintclifton on

queen-egypt-mosesThis has been an exciting week:

  • We had our highest attendance ever at Pillar Church Sunday.
  • We just found out that my wife is expecting our fourth child in September! Thinking we are gunna name this one little Moses. Maybe we will call him little mo-mo.
  • We moved this week and are getting settled into our home.

The Garmans Have Arrived

Posted by clintclifton on

For those of you who follow the Iceland Project happenings… I got a call from Colby on Saturday about 3:45pm. They have arrived safely and are in the apartment. All is well. The travel was mostly smooth and they are settling in. Colby said that they would not have Internet for a few more days so updates may not be frequent during the first week. Colby said they could see Hallgrímskirkja out of the window and it was a beautiful sight.