Dust of the Ground

Produced Church

2010-07-29T07:26:00.003-04:00

The life-saving station

2010-07-26T12:38:00.006-04:00

On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occur there was once a crude little life-saving station. The building was just a hut, and there was only one boat but the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea, and with no thought for themselves went out day and night tirelessly searching for the lost. Some of those who were saved, and various others in the surrounding area, wanted to become associated with the station and give of their time and money and effort for the support of its work. New boats were bought and new crews trained. The little life-saving station grew.

Some of the members of the life-saving station were unhappy that the building was so crude and poorly equipped. They felt that a more comfortable place should be provided as the first refuge of those saved from the sea. They replaced the emergency cots with beds and put better furniture in the enlarged building. Now, the life-saving station became a popular gathering place for its members, and they decorated it beautifully and furnished it exquisitely, because they used it as a sort of club.

Fewer members were now interested in going to sea on lifesaving missions, so they hired life-boat crews to do this work. The life-saving motif still prevailed in this club's decoration, and there was a symbolic life-boat in the room where the club initiations were held.

About this time a large ship was wrecked off the coast, and the hired crews brought in boat loads of cold, wet and half-drowned people. They were dirty and sick and some of them had black skin and some had yellow skin. The beautiful new club was in chaos. So the property committee immediately had a shower house built outside the club where victims of shipwreck could be cleaned up before coming inside.

At the next meeting, there was a split in the club membership. Most of the members wanted to stop the club's life-saving activities as being unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal social life of the club. Some members insisted upon life-saving as their primary purpose and pointed out that they were still called a life-saving station. But they were finally voted down and told that if they wanted to save lives of all the various kinds of people who were shipwrecked in those waters, they could begin their own life-saving station down the coast. They did.

As the years went by, the new station experienced the same changes that had occurred in the old. It evolved into a club, and yet another life-saving station was founded. History continued to repeat itself, and if you visit that sea coast today, you will find a number of exclusive clubs along that shore.

Shipwrecks are still frequent in those waters, but most of the people just drown because the exclusive clubs no longer do rescue work.

That's a pretty graphic tale of some folks who forgot what they were supposed to be about. Are we - the church and "modern" Christians" like those folks. Sometimes I wonder if we think Jesus was just kidding around when he said, "Go fish." Jesus called his disciples to do two things: (1) Follow him. (2) Go fish. We are quick to hear the first part, but not the second. "

Not freaked out!

2010-07-22T14:57:00.005-04:00

It's not that God doesn't care about your issue, He's just not freaked out about your issue.

Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows ~ Luke 12:7

Facebook customization for your church

2010-07-15T15:14:00.007-04:00

Some churches have really done a great job
customizing their Facebook landing pages.

Check out these two sites and then check out
the last link to see how they went about it.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Crossway/67712732119?v=app_6009294086

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pvcckids?v=app_4949752878&ref=ts

http://stevefogg.typepad.com/blog/2010/07/how-to-create-a-facebook-landing-page-for-your-church.html

I fall down. I get up….and believe

2010-07-13T14:24:00.007-04:00

This is so worth the read! It is long but it will speak to you!

I fall down. I get up….and believe. Over and over again. That’s as good as it gets in this world. This life of faith, is a battle full of weakness and brokenness.

http://www.internetmonk.com/archive/from-the-imonk-archives-when-i-am-weak-why-we-must-embrace-our-brokenness-and-never-be-good-christians

Would Jesus recognize His Church?

2010-07-12T10:40:00.001-04:00

I visited a church recently by myself kind of scoping out a place, I was kind of troubled though because other than the building having a steeple, I was not so sure I was actually in a Christian Church in fact, the whole time I was there I literally heard the name of "Jesus" once only once including the music and sermon. Before you think I may have visited a church that was out of the mainstream this place was actually recommended to me and was known to be a Evangelical Christan church but it did not seem that way to me. It made me think would Jesus recognize the places that we call church today?

"Bring The Rain"

2010-06-25T00:42:00.002-04:00

I can count a million times
People asking me how I
Can praise You with all that I've gone through
The question just amazes me
Can circumstances possibly
Change who I forever am in You
Maybe since my life was changed
Long before these rainy days
It's never really ever crossed my mind
To turn my back on you, oh Lord
My only shelter from the storm
But instead I draw closer through these times
So I pray

Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that brings You glory
And I know there'll be days
When this life brings me pain
But if that's what it takes to praise You
Jesus, bring the rain

I am Yours regardless of
The dark clouds that may loom above
Because You are much greater than my pain
You who made a way for me
By suffering Your destiny
So tell me what's a little rain
So I pray

Holy, holy, holy
Is the Lord God Almighty

A Father's Day video

2010-06-15T16:45:00.001-04:00

Check out United Love 2010

2010-05-29T01:08:00.003-04:00

Check out United Love 2010 here...

http://www.unitedlove2010.com/

Todd Fields-LET ME SING

2010-05-22T04:54:00.002-04:00

Book review: Plan B by Pete Wilson

2010-05-22T04:30:00.003-04:00

I just finished the book "Plan B" by Pastor Pete Wilson. To me it is amazing the timing that this book has landed within my hands. In going through a very difficult time or season within my life I have found this book extremely helpful and insightful. The subtitle of the book is "What do you do when God doesn't show up the way you thought He would?" When dealing with life changing situations of all kinds be it financial, terminal illness, divorce or any number of the things that can happen in life, Pete shares from real life stories of how people went through the pain and the possible ways that it could be dealt with and also shares how these people triumphed through it by "not running" or realizing we are not really in control of anything in our lives and shows us how God may work within our own Plan B situations. Pete goes on to share with us how those that are considered great within the Bible and how they often times had similar fears and behaved in similar ways that we do..David gives up on God and runs from Saul.

Pete explains how those that were able to triumph did not do this on their own. Joshua was trained for years in the Word and in prayer before the Lord, way before God brought him to the Jordan river. Pete points out how Joseph was able to overcome so many Plan B situations by showing that "The Lord was with Him" and I thought this was a great statement "Joseph isn't confident that the Lord is with him because things are going great. It's the other way around. Things are going well for Joseph because he believes the Lord is with him."

Pete at no time claims to have all the answers and this book does not set out to tell you any step by step process "When people ask me how they can know God's will for their lives, I tell them the best first step is to know God. Beyond that I really don't have any steps." also he goes on to dispel some false statements that people have when going through Plan B situations such as "God will never give you more than you can handle..." Pete then says "The problem is nothing could be further from the truth. Where in the world did we get such a whacked theology? Where's that verse in the Bible? Hallucinations 4:32 maybe?"

Some other great thoughts or statements that I found to be helpful are:

Constant contact with the creator is essential for transformation living.

Our fears establish the limits of our life.

When you respond in your current circumstances as if you were confident that God is there, you will see God in the circumstances.

"Someone told me years ago you can only be loved to the extent that you are known. There is so much truth in that. It doesn't matter how many times you tell me you care about me. As long as I have hidden stuff from you, my heart is going to reject your offer of love and friendship. I'll keep thinking, if you knew the real me, you wouldn't say that."

I highly recommend this book if you are going through a "Plan B" situation or you know of friends or family going through one. I have already handed out copies of this book to friends struggling in life situations and I plan to continue doing so. I know God is going to use this book that Pete Wilson has written in amazing ways.

Learn more or purchase the book at http://www.planbbook.com/ Thomas Nelson has provided me with a complimentary advanced copy of this book to review.

PlanB Promo from Cross Point Church on Vimeo.

Lessons learned from a volunteer leader

2010-05-11T15:43:00.009-04:00

Just some random thoughts and lessons learned from a volunteer leader when we moved from a church building to being a portable church.

You will lose volunteers just because it is a big change no other reason. People don’t like change.

Seats in venue don’t equal parking spaces and sometimes don’t even come close.

Just because you pay to use a location does not mean that everyone at that particular venue is OK with it, it is not a function hall.

Communication is key through all channels.

Need to have roles with expectations of those roles defined and assigned before moving and especially before live launch.

Signage is really important inside and out. Find out what the signage by-laws are for that town or city and particular location.

Inside signage may not be allowed as well depending on the location whether it is a school or theatre or community center.

Whatever you had for a volunteer base at church building you should build up so that it is at least double prior to launching and triple if needed.

Leaders will need to cast vision constantly to keep volunteers onboard so they can get the vision as well . ~ Vision leaks

Not all volunteers are cut-out to do heavy lifting and most do not like to do it every week.

The larger the volunteer pool the more likely to make mistakes on scheduling volunteers.

When moving from a church building to a larger portable church venue you will inevitably find that people will fall through the cracks because you don’t see them coming through the same doors every week..

Take in to account your elderly and handicapped and those that have ailments such as asthma and those that you may not be even aware have physical problems until you decide to move the location to another floor level, is there an elevator available? Is there access for handicapped people i.e. ramps and seating area’s for people in wheelchairs that they can sit with friends and family.

Consider the cleanliness of the location, if using a Gym or Cafeteria for Children’s ministry how clean are those floors and will the be clean once Sunday rolls around.

What happens when there are other functions scheduled for same location what will you do what is your backup plan?

What if there is a snow storm more often than not the venue governs the snowplowing contract and whether or not they open not you as the renter.

Storage will there be on-site storage or off-site storage make sure you think this through don’t assume you can use that location for storing anything and just because one person says it is OK you better check right up the ladder.

Check to see when the AC comes on in the summer and when the Heat goes on in the winter.

Study the demographics what type of area are you moving in to?

Will your new neighbors mind you using their facilities i.e. School, YMCA etc on weekends.

What are the policies for this location such as smoking and people bringing their own coffee or soda etc in to the venue.

Make sure your volunteer teams are on a rotating schedule as much as possible. – Don’t burn them out…

I am sure I am missing things if so let me know…

Everything Changed

2010-04-09T20:03:00.003-04:00

Easter 2010 from Renaissance Church on Vimeo.

Dreads nothing but PRAYER!!!

2010-04-07T17:01:00.004-04:00

“Satan dreads nothing but prayer. The church that lost its Christ was full of good works. Activities are multiplied that meditation may be ousted, and organizations are increased that prayer may have no chance. Souls may be lost in good works, as surely as in evil ways. The one concern of the devil is to keep the saints from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks our wisdom, but trembles when we pray.” (S. Chadwick)

Living with Confidence in a Chaotic World

2010-04-07T10:41:00.006-04:00

I have finally finished getting around to finishing this book Living with Confidence in a Chaotic World by David Jeremiah, I actually had a hard time staying focused on it I would pick it up and read some of it then I would leave it for a while and then revisit it. At times I was able to get something of interest or perhaps a statistic here and there that might be of interest to me but honestly I did not think there was much in this read that I have not picked up from other similar types of books. The author did a great job in using scripture to support his findings. This quote which I have heard part of before certainly rings true in my life right now and that is:

"Have you stopped and considered that the real purpose of your struggles, at a given moment, might be the heart of compassion God is building within you? Smooth sailing doesn't develop such a thing, you know. Trials develop our humility, and humility opens our eyes to the needs of others. If we look to do His service during tough times, we will come out better rather than bitter."

Honestly normally it would not be a book I would finish through its entirety but because I was provided the book from Thomas Nelson to review I felt I should finish it.

Why!

2010-04-04T11:34:00.000-04:00

Next Level Church Egg Drop

2010-03-19T22:49:00.004-04:00

Check out this event! Saturday April 3rd

Next Level Church is having a huge egg drop!

http://www.2010eggdrop.com/2010_Egg_Drop/Home.html

Quote from "The Prodigal God"

2010-03-18T13:20:00.001-04:00

“Jesus’s teaching consistently attracted the irreligious while offending the Bible-believing, religious people of his day. However, in the main, our churches today do not have this effect. The kind of outsiders Jesus attracted are not attracted to contemporary churches, even our most avant-garde ones. We tend to draw conservative, buttoned-down, moralistic people. The licentious and liberated or the broken and marginal avoid church. That can only mean one thing. If the preaching of our ministers and the practice of our parishioners do not have the same effect on people that Jesus had, then we must not be declaring the same message that Jesus did.” - Timothy Keller

The Prodigal God

Quote on Matthew 25 "The Hole in our Gospel"

2010-03-14T13:16:00.002-04:00

“For I was hungry, while you had all you need. I was thirsty, but you drank bottled water. I was a stranger, and you wanted me deported. I needed clothes, but you needed more clothes. I was sick, and you pointed out the behaviors that led to my sickness. I was in prison, and you said I was getting what I deserved.”

by Richard Stearns book "The hole in our Gospel" Richard is the president of World Vision U.S.

Original video from Northway Church!

2010-03-11T06:50:00.000-05:00

Ready Music Video from Northway Church on Vimeo.

Choices Recycling our Pain - February 28th at Granite United

2010-02-28T16:25:00.011-05:00

Notes from message on February 28th at Granite United.

God - Why me?

Why do people suffer - Why when it rains does it feel like it pours?

Final choice - Everyone has hurts and issues. We need to take our hurts and issues more and realize they may be more about others than about us.

There comes a time when we turn everything over to God, He recycles it and then helps us to help others.

God has given us the power of choice. God could have made us like robots, not having any choices. ~ We would not have love or generosity.

We make awful choices ~ it's not Gods fault.

Deuteronomy 30:19

Our choices affect our descendants, our family and friends.

We have the choice to bless others.

God lets us have pain to get our attention.

2 Corinthians 7:9

When God gets our attention it becomes less about us and more about God.

Pain sometimes is just a caution.

Pain teaches us to depend on Him.

2 Corinthians 12:9

You are not God, you are not in charge, we need to depend on Him. We are given grace so that we can extend it to others.

God gives grace abundantly.

Everyone has junk - if we didn't have it we wouldn't have to depend on God.

Pain becomes the pathway that you will serve others.

Pain makes us sympathetic - pain makes us realize we are human - Pain has purpose.

We have a choice to do what we will with our pain.

Pain opens up possibilities to be able to talk about Gods grace.

2 Corinthians 1:4

No one is perfect

How can you recycle your pain!
- By serving
- By sharing your story
- By turning over your pain
- Make a pathway to serving

Genesis 50:20

God knows how to use you the best!

1 Peter 2:24

Reading and God's Word

2010-02-19T18:48:00.012-05:00

People say I read a lot and I will be the first to admit I do read a lot. I am also noticing I am starting to branch out from just Christian non-fiction to lately starting to read business and customer service type books as well. However with reading much I still need to be mindful to not allow the reading of regular books to take the place of reading the Word of God! I believe it is a trap to think just because you may read a devotion or Christian based book that this may take the place of the Word of God and that everything is all good! The problem with neglecting the Word of God is that there is no power in reading a novel or business book or Christian "living" book.

God said in Isaiah 55:11

11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

There is power in the Word of God so I may read much I need to stay grounded in His word as well. I am currently reading through the book of Luke in my Bible.

This week I am reading the following books:

A great book that is just kicking my butt in so many area's is "The Hole in our Gospel" by Richard Stearns

Also reading "Red Letters" by Tom Davis this too is a very convicting book and is a call to all of us who call ourselves Christ Followers.

Book I just started today which is more of a business based book is "Focus like a laser beam" by Lisa Haneberg. So far so good!

Nothing wrong with reading books as long we don't neglect The Book!

Psalm 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

God of the impossible!

2010-02-15T21:11:00.000-05:00

Psalm 22

2010-02-10T21:56:00.001-05:00

This is my church!

2010-02-07T17:00:00.002-05:00