Statement to Congregation from Staff Committee of Southwood
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
The following is the text of the statement made by RE Todd Gandy on behalf of the Staff Committee following my announcement on Sunday morning. These words were a blessing and a great encouragement to me and I hope they will be to you:
On behalf of the personnel committee I would like to share this statement with you. It is was great sorrow that the Session and Board of Deacons of Southwood Presbyterian Church learned this morning prior to the worship service of our Senior Pastor’s decision to resign. It is only because we have an enduring hope in Jesus our Savoior that we were able to recieve his resignation albeit with heavy hearts. We rejoice greatly that he will remain with us for a brief period of time through the Advent and Christmas seasons and that he and his family will continue to be a part of our community even though the nature of the relationship will have changed.
Further, we would like to publicly commend Jean for his time here, his willingness to allow the
Jean Larroux Resignation and Transition
Sunday, November 09, 2014
On Sunday, November 9th I informed the officers and members of Southwood Presbyterian Church that I will resign as their Senior Pastor. My last Sunday in the pulpit will be December 28, 2014. After months of prayer and counsel I have determined to ask the Presbytery to allow me to labor out of bounds and seek employment outside of the vocational ministry. After years of ministry I’ve become convinced that my emotional focus must no longer be on my church family, but primarily on my immediate family.Getting this information by letter or blog is not the ideal way for anyone to receive this news. I wish I could have spent hours at a kitchen table drinking coffee and told everyone I love personally. I should tell you that there is no back-story—I’m not above some scandal or addiction, but those aren’t the type of things driving this decision. This is a decision made for the good of my family. It is one of the most difficult decisions of my life but it is one that I had
We’re not crazy!
Tuesday, October 07, 2014
A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to speak to a group of men at Coral Ridge Presbtyerian Church for their annual Men’s weekend. I recounted to them an experience that Brock Warner and I shared when we atteneded the Liberate (www.liberate.org) conference for the first time a few years ago.
Tullian Tchividjian was preaching on Friday night of the conference and his message centered around the need of grace and the preaching of the Gospel as vital in the lives of Christians. The message was moving, helpful and delivered with great passion. When he was done we sat in the pew follwing worship soaking in the reality of the Gospel. Brock turned to me and said, “We’re not crazy are we?” I said, “Well, we might be crazy, but we are not wrong…”
I had two emotions when Brock said that to me. The first was offense. I was offended. What did he mean, ‘we’re not wrong, are we?’ How dare he insinuate that what I had been preaching was wrong. “WHAT A JERK!” said
How To Love A Jerk
Monday, June 09, 2014
The sermon from June 8, 2014 included an illustration to help us understand How To Love A Jerk. The following video includes the slides from the sermon along with the audio recording.
HowToLoveAJerk from Southwood on Vimeo.
Uncommon Sense: Ten things Graduates (and the rest of us) need to remember about faith and life
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Common sense is uncommon. Common sense informed by timeless truth is even more rare. The ten thoughts below intended to help us keep “Uncommon Sense” from becoming extinct.
Your parents were right.
If you are asking, “about what?” then the answer is EVERYTHING. In the next 4 years the people to whom you had to explain Instagram will transform into very wise beings. They didn’t change. You did. When in doubt, trust your parent’s instincts. At some point in the future, use that cell phone they are paying for and call them to thank them. It won’t seem like much to you, but it will be huge to them. P.S. Parents aren’t infallible, you’ll learn that too. Parents need to be forgiven as much as they need to be respected.
You tend to marry the people you date.
This seems obvious, but follow the logic. You tend to marry the people you date. You tend to date the people you hang out with. You tend to hang out with people who live with, room with, study with, laugh with,
Jean's Tweets
Recommended Reading
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“Jesus + Nothing = Everything will remind you of the ancient yet ever-fresh truth that everything we need is found in the perfections of Christ—not in ourselves, not in our reputation, our relationships or wealth or accomplishments—in Christ alone. If you’ve never rested in the finished work of Christ this book is for you. If you’ve rested in it for decades like I have, this book is for you, too. Why? Because we forget; And, although we love Jesus, we’re blind to the ways in which his work connects to our daily lives and we wonder why joy and zeal are foreign concepts to us.” -Elyse Fitzpatrick
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Get ready to be bothered by the Gospel. Steve Brown teaches grace in a way that gets under your skin—- Reading Brown is like having a gospel hair in your mouth of your conscience. The more it bothers you the more beautiful the pearl produced will be
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From the publisher: “It is a deep and rich biblical study of sanctification - how Christians grow in holiness and become more like Jesus. In a day when Christians are very prone to pursue self-help methods to grow in obedience to Christ, Walter Marshall lays out the biblical way of growth: obedience comes as Christians live by grace, in union with Christ, by faith.” This book influenced me PROFOUNDLY on the topic of sanctification. The Modern-English re-write makes this a TOP PICK for 2011!
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I ‘accidentally’ picked up this book simply for the title alone. I grew to hate it quickly. It hit a little ‘too close to home.’ Fischer’s book plunges the scalpel of self-awareness and need for deep repentance deep into the hard hearts of Pharisees like ME!
Recommended Listening
- Redeemer Presbyterian Church
Ricky JonesRicky Jones is the pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He is a trophy of grace. If you want to listen to bold preaching by a man who knows his sin, knows his weaknesses and trusts only Jesus to take what he says and use it to God’s glory then you are heading in the right direction. The preaching is bold, the preacher is humble and you will be blessed.
- Key Life Ministries
Steve BrownSteve Brown is not the most subtle guy you will ever meet. If I were to write an S.A.T. question about Steve this is how it would go: Steve Brown is to legalism what a child hopped-up on cake and ice cream is to an pinata! I love this guy. Check out his website and fair warning: you are not heading to a ‘SAFE’ little Christian site!
- Coral Ridge Presbyterian
Tullian TchividjianAs one comment on iTunes said: “Tullian preaches the Gospel in an unadulterated and undomesitcated way…The way it should be preached!”
Recommended Links
- Mockingbird Blog
David ZahlMockingbird is a ministry that seeks to connect the Christian faith with the realities of everyday life in as fresh and down-to-earth a way possible.
- White Horse Inn
MIchael HortonWhite Horse Inn is a multimedia catalyst for reformation. We believe that each generation must rediscover and apply the gospel to their own time. We long to see a second reformation take hold of our churches and return them to the God-honoring, Christ-centered, Spirit-wrought places of worship they should be.
- On Earth as it is in Heaven
Tullian TchividjianWilliam Graham Tullian Tchividjian (pronounced cha-vi-jin) is a Florida native, the pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, a visiting professor of theology at Reformed Theological Seminary, and a grandson of Billy and Ruth Graham.
- Heavenward
Scotty SmithSmith is the founding Pastor of Christ Community Church in Franklin, TN, avid writer, prolific blogger and tweeter. His nuggets of Gospel wisdom are seasoned by years of service to the Bride. He is gentle and very purposed in his every comment.