Yesterday our church had the privilege of having Vince Antonucci as a guest speaker. Apparently he has spoken at Gateway several other times. I didn’t know much about Vince Antonucci until just last week and even as I spoke with him yesterday, I started to put two and two together. Vince wrote the book, “I Became a Christian and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt.” I haven’t read it yet, but I’ve heard great things about it. Now after hearing Vince speak, I’ll definitely read it. Vince also just announced last week that he is leaving his church in Virginia Beach and will be starting a church on the Las Vegas Strip. Amazing!

Yesterday he spoke on being uncivilized.

He referenced how throughout the Bible, men of God were uncivilized. God worked through men and women in the Bible in very uncivilized ways. He called his people to do uncivilized. Read through the prophets and see all the crazy and unexpected things he had them do. Look at Hosea… talk about crazy! Jesus didn’t follow the rules either. His first miracle was to turn water into wine at a party. He picked totally unqualified men to follow him as his closest disciples. He hung out with the misfits.

Vince’s challenge was for us to look at our own lives. Typically we have become civilized. Our lives look very little like the lives of those in the Bible. We stop taking risks and live comfortable Christian lives.

Vince spoke from his experience. He came to Christ during college without the help of any particular church or person. He began reading the Bible and after seeing what it was all about, he decided to follow Jesus. However, when he first went to church and met Christians, he saw a stark difference between the lives of comfortable Christianity and the life God calls us to live.

It was a good message, not condescending in any way. A good challenge we all needed to hear.

You can find Vince’s blog here.

Vince’s announcement to go to Las Vegas here.

Vince’s announcement to his church here (video).

Vince’s book: I Became a Christian and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt: Replacing Souvenir Religion with Authentic Spiritual Passion