Sunday, September 25, 2011

Sunday Mind Dump

What a great but long day! Church, the a birthday party for my boy, then a hour with some old friends....Now a little catching up on some football...so let's dump before I get distracted!

  • Having a blast teaching out of James. Today we talked about The Double Minded Man. I think today's message was something all of us needed.
  • Getting really excited about some things. Looking forward to seeing God do his thing.
  • Praying for a few people that have some potentially serious health issues.
  • Got some really good messages coming up...only hope and pray I can do them justice.
  • Loved seeing god at work in some peoples lives this afternoon. He really is in charge, sometimes it's just hard to see it in the valley.
  • Thinking I need to pick up a guitar and play a little soon...
  • Looking forward to starting my new job tomorrow. I've been working on getting this job for a couple of years. Exciting!
  • April wants to move to Perrysburg next spring...anyone want to buy our house?
  • I better get off this thing and get to the games....I am starting to ramble!

Saturday, September 24, 2011

I'm Jacked Up

I've preached a lot of messages over the years and I try to keep myself from getting to excited about some or to down about others. One of the things I have come to realize is how little I have to do with the whole process. The harder I work on something doesn't really account for a more effective message (not that we shouldn't put time in our messages.) It's just that, God is the one who stirs the heart and so I try to teach each message the best I can knowing that some will be great and others will be duds...but the results are always up to Him.

All that said, for some reason I am really jacked up about tomorrows message....Just a general sense that someone is going to be touched by God and they will have a break through in their thought life...

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Sunday Mind Dump

Great Sunday...I love days like this...the weather is awesome, football is on, and my teams all won....that helps!!

So let's dump:
  • One of my favorite Sunday's at 242 so far. The service flowed the smoothest yet. That's one of the things I have really been trying to work on....things flowing!
  • Really enjoying this message series on the book of James. Today, we talked about growing through our problems (James 1:2-6). It's tough to bring up this stuff, but it feels so much better when we give it over to God.
  • Cori did a GREAT job with the song Blessings today! Loved it!
  • Love the fact that we are getting a Families Pastor in. John is going to do a great job and really help grow the church!
  • Just want to give a shout out to Craig, Don, and Jose'. Love you guys coming in and helping us with set up....takes so much pressure off me!
  • Looking forward to the Fish Fry....be thinking of who you can invite...good food and nice company...who can ask for more?
  • My heart breaks when I think about the pain so many of our friends at church are in.
  • Well...I better get back to football...my TV is getting jealous :)

Friday, September 16, 2011

And Then Some!

I follow several pastors through their blogging. It helps remind me of things and occasionally I find inspiration through something someone has written. Today I really enjoyed this post written by Pastor Steven Furtick....hope you enjoy it too :)

Check out his site at: www.stevenfurtick.com

Drive and motivation is the secret to success and doing anything worthwhile and significant in life. Skill and natural aptitude only takes you so far. At the end of the day, it’s your heart and the drive to go above and beyond that is going to set you apart from the masses that live in the muck of mediocrity.

From my experience, I’ve found that there are three types of people when it comes to their heart and motivation. Each person puts forth a certain kind of effort, and each person receives a corresponding reward.

The first person has a bare minimum mentality. They’re D- people. Doing enough to pass, but nothing more. They spend the bare minimum time with their spouses that it takes to appease them. They turn in work that meets the bare minimum requirements. And then they wonder why their marriage sucks, they never get a promotion, and they can never find fulfillment in life. It’s because a bare minimum mentality reaps bare minimum rewards.

The second person runs by the mantra of good enough. They’re B, maybe B+ people. They turn in good work that shows effort. They do the routine daily and weekly duties that sets you up for a good marriage. But they leave it at that. They get the ball 80 yards down the field, but because they aren’t willing to put in extra effort, they usually settle for a field goal, which is good. But they could have gotten a touchdown, which would have been great.

And then there are people with world-class drive. They’re A+ people. Good enough isn’t good enough for them when they know they have greatness in them. As a result, they generally have great jobs, great marriages, and greater fulfillment.

What sets these people apart really comes down to three simple words. And they’re words all of us can adopt as our own. These three words will make you stand out from the crowd. They’ll set you up for success in every area of your life and take you a long way.

In your marriage.
Your job.
Your relationships.
Your church.
Everywhere.

Three words:
And then some.

People with world-class drive who reap world-class rewards do what they’re supposed to do…AND THEN SOME.

They don’t just get flowers for their spouse on their anniversary. They also do it on random Wednesdays for no reason at all. They don’t just do what they’re asked at work. They find ways to go above and beyond.

Choose to live life with an “and then some” mentality. Reject mediocrity. Don’t let good enough be good enough for you when you have God in you. And therefore unlimited greatness in you.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Our Churches Should Be No Shame Zones....

Every morning I get a short devotional in my mailbox from Pastor Rick Warren. This mornings was outstanding...see below & enjoy....nice word Pastor Rick!

And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ. Ephesians 4:32 (HCSB)

Our world is broken; everything and everyone in this world is broken. In fact, there are only two kinds of people in the world: those who know they’re broken and those who are broken but don’t know it. God wants us to know that we’re broken.

That’s why our churches should be no-shame zones, places for broken people to come when they hurt.

Colossians 3:12 says, “[A]s God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” (NIV). Because we know how much God loves us, we can demonstrate compassion, kindness, humility and patience with others. And that’s exactly what the church has been called to do. It’s the place for the broken, the place for those whose lives don’t work out as they should.

The truth is that the church shouldn’t just “accept” hurting people. We should want hurting people in our midst. We’ve got to realize that every sinner has a future and every saint has a past.

Recovery ministries (like Celebrate Recovery at Saddleback) aren’t a sideline show in the church; they’re at the core of what Jesus calls the church to do and to be. We’ve all got hurts, habits and hang-ups that we need God to transform. God wants to use the church to do that.

That means since you’re the church, He wants to use you.

God wants us to be people of the second chance. But we can’t be second-chance people until we realize how much of a second chance we’ve been given. Too many Christians don’t feel forgiven — so they don’t let anyone else feel forgiven either.

When we realize how much grace God showed to us when He saved us, sharing that kind of grace with others will only be natural. The Bible says in Ephesians 4:32, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other just as God forgave you through Christ.”

Second chances aren’t just for addicts and convicts; second chances are for all of us. No matter how squeaky-clean our lives have looked on the outside, the Bible is clear that we’ve all needed a second chance at some point in our lives.

In fact, it’s when we realize how much God loves us and has forgiven us that we’re able to properly take that love to others. The people who are best able to show God’s love to others are the ones who feel God’s love the most fully.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Sunday Mind Dump

What a great day this has been. Church, football, short nap....all my favorites compacted into one day...so let's dump!
  • Great to see the place full today. Really enjoyed the full house....let's pray we are building momentum and it continues!
  • Spoke about Maturity today. I know I haven't always acted in mature ways. It's a subject we all need to hear from time to time.
  • We are going to study the book of James topically over the next few months. Next week we are talking about learning to grow through our struggles and problems. You won't want to miss this one I can tell you that much! I have a secret up my sleeve :)
  • Did have issues with sound today...by the time I figured out what the problem was it was too late to fix it....UGH!
  • Still can't believe I went to sleep on my U of M team last night. I gave up on them before the game was over...I really missed the come back!
  • Back to the games...I am out!

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Sunday Mind Dump

So, it's Sunday and that can only mean one thing. It's time for another mind dump:

  • Great message today, Craig really hit it out of the park. Now I am praying your few weeks away brings clarity of calling and vision.
  • Next week we are kicking off the back to basics series. I will be teaching through the Book of James and talking about a host of different subjects. The premise of the series is this. God saves us and molds us to be like Jesus...so then what should our lives look like if we are growing in his sons image? Granted we'll never cover it all, but we'll try and hit a few things as reminders...it's all about the basics :)
  • Have some cool things planned at church. We are starting our first Sunday school class in a month, led by Dennis and Lisa Sharninghouse.
  • Going to be having a Fish Fry at the lighthouse in Oct...so much for that message on Gluttony Craig!
  • Planning a fall fest at Kala's place for the last weekend in OCT.
  • I love having to pull out extra chairs and tables....feels great doing that...let's keep that trend up!!!
  • Going to be working on some things that will make us more productive as a church...hopefully people notice the difference!
  • I am outta here...I think that's all I have for now!

Saturday, September 3, 2011

The Relationship Tornado

I write off and on for a local newspaper (Pathways Christian Paper) that is published by some friends of ours. Tonight I wrote this article after praying for the last few weeks and seeing the pain of a friend and her family.

Affair: The Relationship Tornado

One of my favorite lines in a song is “I followed my heart, but it lies! It lies!” Over the last few weeks I’ve been praying for someone in our church who’s spouse had an affair. Affairs are like family tornados. They destroy everything, hurting the innocent, and leaving the landscape looking completely different.

In virtually every case, the spouse that enters into the affair doesn’t set out to destroy their family it just sort of happens. People allow a look to become a flirt, and a flirt to become a conversation, and a conversation to become a connection, that connection becomes a tangled web that is virtually impossible to break free from without destroying a family, and quite often more than one family. I’ve seen so much devastation over the years come from good people who made a choice to entertain the company of someone other than their spouse. It never ends well.

Pastor Rick Warren has a saying “the grass is greenest over the septic tank for a reason”. Sometimes, we forget that what looks good from a distance really smells pretty bad if you spend enough time lying in it. Don’t follow your heart, or giddy school boy or girl crush. Follow God and his word, our hearts will lie, he never will.


Friday, September 2, 2011

Just some thoughts

So I am sitting home this Friday evening and pondering a few thoughts...
  • A few weeks ago I was approached by someone (with a good heart and positive motives) asking why we don't have a more formal program to go after people who have left or are on the verge of leaving the church. This person rattled off a few names of people that are no longer at our church. It's a good question and I've been tempted to think, OK...they're right, we need a program to make sure we aren't letting people slip away. Tonight, I am questioning why would we do that? Now hear me out on this...If the people in the church know someone hasn't come to church in a while...why are the people in the church not calling on them and checking up with them? IF I were away from church for a while I would much rather a friend called me to check up than someone who did it because it was their job to do it. Not that the church shouldn't call on people that they haven't seen in a while...I am just not sure a church should have a "program" for it...my mind isn't made up on this, just saying I am questioning it.
  • I've been praying quite a bit about some directional things at 242. Excited about some things that I believe God has in store for us. Looking forward to the next six months as a church. I think we could see some big things happen. Not because we are doing anything special but because he is going to do something special. I am praying for God to move and for us to see some amazing things that defy explanation and can only be described as a miracle of God.
  • I am really looking forward to getting back to teaching at church. I have a few months worth of messages ready to go (for the most part.)