Jose Humphreys

Also see: Open Source Preaching Pt. 1
I had a sermon prepared for our church’s weekly gathering at the National Black Theater.  I also had a question prepared at the beginning of this sermon.  In anticipation of preaching about The Lord’s Prayer, “Our Father” in particular, I began the sermon by asking our community, “When we [...]

In a world of Pentium processing and wireless access it’s nice to have “quick and dirty” learning at my finger tips.  I gloss and glean what others have already processed and then try to make it my own.  So every day I reap the benefits of an open source society.
My approach to learning  is recently [...]

Open source is a software phenomenon that allows one developer to allow others to modify/improve upon the original design.  Mozilla Fire Fox is an example of an open source search engine that has gone through many modifications by different developers.
This term has become more widely adopted in theological circles as well, looking at theology as [...]

Church planting has some intense moments of  loneliness.  This is what I’m hearing from both seasoned planters and “rookies” alike.  I’ve experienced it  for myself as someone who is a new church planter and pastor here in East Harlem.  I’m finding more and more, loneliness is not so much about whether people around, but the [...]

David Olson, director of church planting for our denomination asked me a question over some good Korean BBQ at Ham Ji Bak Bayside Queens today.  Thanks for picking this place out Peter.  I was hesitant to try out the food because of a stomach virus the previous day.  But it was too delicious to resist…
David [...]

We’ve entered our 7th week as a church plant. God has been doing wonderful work in our growing community. There’s definitely a buzz and people are telling there friends about the church. Visitors are finding it to be a safe and welcoming place, while others are rediscovering and engaging Jesus.
The gathering [...]

Folks from my church threw me a surprise birthday party at a nearby Pizzeria Unos. This was after our final gathering for 2007. It was a nice surprise and a great end to an adventurous year.
Afterwards I caught, I am legend with my friend Jeff. Will Smith was great and the movie was awesome. The [...]

When people ask me where have I been? And how have I been doing? I respond by saying, “10035″. That’s my zip code. Ever since I’ve begun church planting this has been my reality.
I never knew how many fears and hang-ups I’ve had about unchurched/non-Christians people in NYC til I started planting. [...]

In the mean time I’ve come up for air. Here’s a pic from a banner created by children at our church plant’s back- to- school celebration on September 8th. Pic#2: I’m a big Miami Ink fan so I had to do the cheesy thing here at South Beach.

Some pics from our church launch team retreat. We had an awesome time…
1. Our space, Mount Laurel Lodge
2. Some of our people lounging
3. Saturday afternoon wagon ride.

Our team is heading out to Spruce Lakes for a retreat this weekend.  Please keep us in prayer as we pray, plan and have fun together.
We’re also preparing for our first public gathering on September 23rd at the National Black Theater in Harlem, NYC.  It’s the first of four monthly gatherings.

Some pics over the summer:
1. My boy smiling, nothing like it…
2. With Mayra at a cafe (Sette Panni)
3. Some of our launch team after our 1st barbecue at Marcus Garvey Park.

I continue my readings of They Like Jesus but not the Church.  Author Dan Kimball writes about Charles Templeton, a powerful evangelist and close friend of Billy Graham.  Templeton eventually doubt his faith and abandons it all together.  He became one of Christianity’s greatest critics too, writing a book called Farewell to God: My Reasons [...]

Some great stuff has happened the last few days. Our church, Metro Hope, had its first annual barbecue at Marcus Garvey Park. We had friends, neighbors, and relatives come down for a great time. Mayra happened to overhear some people in the park talk about the diversity of the group, which was [...]

Having relationships only with Christians made it difficult to obey the teachings of Jesus about being on a mission for him and being salt and light to the world…I started to feel convicted that I had become a part of the Christian subculture, that strange bubble which little by little sucks you into it, and [...]