I was supposed to be starting a 2 week vacation today....but due to the weather, I am sitting in the office thinking about Christmas. Have been reading Adam Hamilton's books "The Journey" In the one I am looking at today he writes...
"Christmas today seems like an orgy of overindulgence. Many Americans go into debt to make sure their children have "enough" under the tree at Christmas and then watch as their kids become weary after opening so many presents. We find ourselves with a "Christmas hangover" when the credit card bills arrive. Somehow we miss out on the true message and joy of Christmas."
AMEN!
Monday, October 29, 2012
Friday, October 26, 2012
Circles are BETTER than Rows!
I have had this conviction for a long time. It is growing more and more stronger in recent years. CIRCLES ARE BETTER THAN ROWS!
That is the way Andy Stanley says it. In a podcast I listened to today, he said it again. And he went on to say this, talking about his 31,000 member church that meets in 5 locations in the Atlanta (the 2nd largest in the US)..."We are famous for our rows, but the strength of our churches is our circles."
I totally agree! The strength of any church is in it's circles. One of the goals that I and some others at Community of Joy are praying about is the development of more circles - specifically Bible Study circles. I now have a method that is tested in multi- age groups and over a long time that produces life- transformation in participants lives. I call it the 5 Q Method of Bible Study. It is powerful when used in a circle of people with a sprinkle of prayer before and after the study.
I see strong evidence of this reality every Tuesday and Thursday night. And soon I hope on other nights in other settings.
Recently I had a friend in the Thursday community Men's group that I lead who was struggling... he was at a real low point and had been away from the group for several weeks. Last week, he came back to our group and found such energy and strength that this week he was in rare form... and he is back on a path of climbing rather than spiraling downward!! Our men's group has experienced such power in this circle of Bible Study, prayer, accountability and support that we are in the process of writing a book. God has done and is doing some amazing things in the lives of the men and their families that we want to give testimony to it! So stay tuned!
At the end of the day, circles are better than rows... any day!
That is the way Andy Stanley says it. In a podcast I listened to today, he said it again. And he went on to say this, talking about his 31,000 member church that meets in 5 locations in the Atlanta (the 2nd largest in the US)..."We are famous for our rows, but the strength of our churches is our circles."
I totally agree! The strength of any church is in it's circles. One of the goals that I and some others at Community of Joy are praying about is the development of more circles - specifically Bible Study circles. I now have a method that is tested in multi- age groups and over a long time that produces life- transformation in participants lives. I call it the 5 Q Method of Bible Study. It is powerful when used in a circle of people with a sprinkle of prayer before and after the study.
I see strong evidence of this reality every Tuesday and Thursday night. And soon I hope on other nights in other settings.
Recently I had a friend in the Thursday community Men's group that I lead who was struggling... he was at a real low point and had been away from the group for several weeks. Last week, he came back to our group and found such energy and strength that this week he was in rare form... and he is back on a path of climbing rather than spiraling downward!! Our men's group has experienced such power in this circle of Bible Study, prayer, accountability and support that we are in the process of writing a book. God has done and is doing some amazing things in the lives of the men and their families that we want to give testimony to it! So stay tuned!
At the end of the day, circles are better than rows... any day!
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Legacy....
One of the things I do when I don't have someone that walks with me in the mornings at the mall is to listen to podcasts and pray. Today I was walking by myself until Sharon came (about a half an hour because the lady that I usually walk the early shift with is in England for two weeks) and I was listening to one of my favorite leadership podcasts called Catalyst. They were interviewing John Maxwell today and one of the questions and John's answers struck a chord with me. Perhaps because I am approaching 50 in 3 years and perhaps because soon our nest will be empty....
Anyways, the conversation was on Legacy. John made some powerful points that I want to share and I personally want to give some thought to!
John says, "Everybody leaves a legacy. You might not like the legacy you are leaving but everyone leaves one. The question is what kind og legacy are you leaving? We must be intentional in what kind of legacy you want to leave."
John continues... "Our purpose in life is not to be the last answer. Our purpose as leaders is to let others stand on our shoulders and stand higher and do more than I. .... If the best of the next generation doesn't exceed me, I've bankrupted them."
Then he shared a very helpful image... He said, "In a relay race, you don't hand off the batton when you are tired and fatigued. No one wins a relay race by handing the batton off when you are tired and worn out. You need to be at your top speed when you hand it off." That is one to ponder.
John concluded his time by saying... "Sometimes we do our best work by letting someone else complete our work." WOW!
I know what kind of legacy I want to leave... now it is time to begin thinking about how I am doing toward that end. What about you? What kind of legacy are you leaving?
Anyways, the conversation was on Legacy. John made some powerful points that I want to share and I personally want to give some thought to!
John says, "Everybody leaves a legacy. You might not like the legacy you are leaving but everyone leaves one. The question is what kind og legacy are you leaving? We must be intentional in what kind of legacy you want to leave."
John continues... "Our purpose in life is not to be the last answer. Our purpose as leaders is to let others stand on our shoulders and stand higher and do more than I. .... If the best of the next generation doesn't exceed me, I've bankrupted them."
Then he shared a very helpful image... He said, "In a relay race, you don't hand off the batton when you are tired and fatigued. No one wins a relay race by handing the batton off when you are tired and worn out. You need to be at your top speed when you hand it off." That is one to ponder.
John concluded his time by saying... "Sometimes we do our best work by letting someone else complete our work." WOW!
I know what kind of legacy I want to leave... now it is time to begin thinking about how I am doing toward that end. What about you? What kind of legacy are you leaving?
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Nothing except a miracle...
Been a while since I blogged about my lingering effects from Bells Palsy. Went to the eye doc on Monday and asked him about the connection between my eye closing and my lip moving and he had a name for it... Aberrant Facial Nerve Regeneration! Which is exactly what I have been saying happened... the facial nerve when it regenerated crossfired and short circuited and now it is wrongly connected. He said there was nothing to be done for it.
Today, I was at a Neurologist appointment with my father in Easton and after the visit, I asked the doc if I could ask him a totally unrelated question. I told him that it was perfectly fine with me if his answer was that I needed to go out to the front desk and make an appointment for myself before he would give me an answer. He asked what the question was. So, I told him about my bells palsy and showed him the effects of AFR (aberrant facial nerve regeneration) and asked if there was anything that could be done about it... his response was not after this long.
So, I guess I will have to live with this, unless a miracle happens!
Today, I was at a Neurologist appointment with my father in Easton and after the visit, I asked the doc if I could ask him a totally unrelated question. I told him that it was perfectly fine with me if his answer was that I needed to go out to the front desk and make an appointment for myself before he would give me an answer. He asked what the question was. So, I told him about my bells palsy and showed him the effects of AFR (aberrant facial nerve regeneration) and asked if there was anything that could be done about it... his response was not after this long.
So, I guess I will have to live with this, unless a miracle happens!
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Beauty... Pure Beauty!
"Honor and majesty surround him;
strength and beauty fill his sanctuary." Psalm 95:6
strength and beauty fill his sanctuary." Psalm 95:6
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Every Morning....
Nothing fills my soul more than an experience in God's beautiful world watching the sun rise and the woods come alive along with the colors and smells of Fall! Reminds me of the verse in Lamentations 3....
"Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”
for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”
Love sitting in the Fall woods praying! Found myself praying for family, friends, and the ministry of Community of Joy this morning! REFRESHING!
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Living our values...
At Community of Joy one of our core values is "We believe that serving others is an expression of our love for God and for God’s children." We not only believe this but seek to live it any chance we get. It was fun to see this in action yesterday as I spent the day assisting Rob Rappold serving a person in the community by taking a days vacation from work to do some badly needed home improvements for this person who was living in a very unsafe environment until the improvements were done! It not only took all of Rob's day, but it also took a good part of his evening and he will have to go back one more time to finish up. But when he is done, he will have eliminated a potential fire hazard in someone's house and all the while was actively demonstrating God's love to the person and to all who observed this act of service taking place (and that was many people!)
Way to Go Rob! Thank you for your service to Christ and his Kingdom here on earth!
Way to Go Rob! Thank you for your service to Christ and his Kingdom here on earth!
Monday, October 15, 2012
Funny but sad....
Everyday, unless something changes my early morning routine, I walk at the mall from 6:45 to 8 a.m. On Friday, the mall security handed out flyers to all of the walkers telling us that Monday through Wednesday of this week, we would have to park in a different parking lot and use another mall entrance due to construction. I was pleased with myself this morning for remembering and parking in the alternative lot. As and elderly gentleman and I stood at the alternate door waiting for security to come open it, we had an interesting exchange.
He had come to the mall to walk and as we walked in through the doors, he said to me, "the only problem with this change of entrance locations, is that now I have to walk clear over there (pointing to the food court area) to put my coat on a chair." And I said to him, "Well, you did come here to walk didn't you? It doesn't really matter if you walk this way (pointing in the direction that we always walk) or if you walk that way (pointing in the direction of the food court). As long as you are walking in any direction, you are walking!" And he responded, "But 20 years of walking in this direction (pointing in the direction we always walk) makes it hard to walk in that direction (pointing toward the food court)." And he kept on walking in the direction that he always walks, while wearing his coat.
And I recalled an incident that Jesus has with the Pharisees in Mark 7 ..."One day some Pharisees and teachers of religious law arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. 2 They noticed that some of his disciples failed to follow the Jewish ritual of hand washing before eating. 3 (The Jews, especially the Pharisees, do not eat until they have poured water over their cupped hands, as required by their ancient traditions. 4 Similarly, they don’t eat anything from the market until they immerse their handsin water. This is but one of many traditions they have clung to—such as their ceremonial washing of cups, pitchers, and kettles.)
5 So the Pharisees and teachers of religious law asked him, “Why don’t your disciples follow our age-old tradition? They eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony.”
6 Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote,
9 Then he said, “You skillfully sidestep God’s law in order to hold on to your own tradition. 10 For instance, Moses gave you this law from God: ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’[f] 11 But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’12 In this way, you let them disregard their needy parents. 13 And so you cancel the word of God in order to hand down your own tradition. And this is only one example among many others.”
14 Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “All of you listen,” he said, “and try to understand. 15 It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.”
Sometimes traditions, habits, and routines keep us from new experiences where we can meet God!
He had come to the mall to walk and as we walked in through the doors, he said to me, "the only problem with this change of entrance locations, is that now I have to walk clear over there (pointing to the food court area) to put my coat on a chair." And I said to him, "Well, you did come here to walk didn't you? It doesn't really matter if you walk this way (pointing in the direction that we always walk) or if you walk that way (pointing in the direction of the food court). As long as you are walking in any direction, you are walking!" And he responded, "But 20 years of walking in this direction (pointing in the direction we always walk) makes it hard to walk in that direction (pointing toward the food court)." And he kept on walking in the direction that he always walks, while wearing his coat.
And I recalled an incident that Jesus has with the Pharisees in Mark 7 ..."One day some Pharisees and teachers of religious law arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. 2 They noticed that some of his disciples failed to follow the Jewish ritual of hand washing before eating. 3 (The Jews, especially the Pharisees, do not eat until they have poured water over their cupped hands, as required by their ancient traditions. 4 Similarly, they don’t eat anything from the market until they immerse their handsin water. This is but one of many traditions they have clung to—such as their ceremonial washing of cups, pitchers, and kettles.)
5 So the Pharisees and teachers of religious law asked him, “Why don’t your disciples follow our age-old tradition? They eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony.”
6 Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote,
‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
7 Their worship is a farce,
for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’
but their hearts are far from me.
7 Their worship is a farce,
for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’
8 For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition.”
9 Then he said, “You skillfully sidestep God’s law in order to hold on to your own tradition. 10 For instance, Moses gave you this law from God: ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’[f] 11 But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’12 In this way, you let them disregard their needy parents. 13 And so you cancel the word of God in order to hand down your own tradition. And this is only one example among many others.”
14 Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “All of you listen,” he said, “and try to understand. 15 It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.”
Sometimes traditions, habits, and routines keep us from new experiences where we can meet God!
Sunday, October 7, 2012
What An AWESOME Group...
Leading the folks at Community of Joy Church is quite rewarding! You see they are some of the most generous and genuine Christ Followers I know! On Thursday, I put out an email concerning a need that I had become aware of in our community and they responded in ways that blow my mind!
The back story...
A few weeks ago, there was a house fire in the neighborhood around our Ministry Center and the family of 4 got out with only what was on their backs. I tried to go by the house the day I read about the fire in the house to see how we could help... but couldn't find anyone around to talk to. So, Wednesday, I got a phone call from the woman telling me someone had told her that we might be able to help. I told her that we would definitely like to help and then invited her to church, but told her that in no way was their coming to church a requirement for our helping them.
Thursday I sent out the email and almost immediately the responses began pouring in!
Today in worship we will share what we have collected so far and make arrangements to get them what we don't yet have. And we will pray a prayer of blessing on them!
God is moving in our midst in some pretty amazing ways!
The back story...
A few weeks ago, there was a house fire in the neighborhood around our Ministry Center and the family of 4 got out with only what was on their backs. I tried to go by the house the day I read about the fire in the house to see how we could help... but couldn't find anyone around to talk to. So, Wednesday, I got a phone call from the woman telling me someone had told her that we might be able to help. I told her that we would definitely like to help and then invited her to church, but told her that in no way was their coming to church a requirement for our helping them.
Thursday I sent out the email and almost immediately the responses began pouring in!
Today in worship we will share what we have collected so far and make arrangements to get them what we don't yet have. And we will pray a prayer of blessing on them!
God is moving in our midst in some pretty amazing ways!
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Cute Response....
A friend of mine brought a few friends to worship on Sunday at Community of Joy and they hung around for our Pork Roast and Fun Fest too! At the end of the day, he asked his friends how they felt about their experience with us and they said, they "really enjoyed it and they liked the picnic too!" I might add that they also said they would be back this week for worship!
It is awesome to be making connections with new people! I am praying that we will continue to deepen our connections with people from the Pork Roast and will continue to meet new people from our community. It would be wonderful to have to add a third worship time to accommodate the crowd!
It is awesome to be making connections with new people! I am praying that we will continue to deepen our connections with people from the Pork Roast and will continue to meet new people from our community. It would be wonderful to have to add a third worship time to accommodate the crowd!
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Things are turning around....
A month or so ago, I was asked by our District Executive to lead a workshop at our District Conference on the topic of Congregational Vitality. I told him then that I could not do that because I didn't have a pulpit to stand in! You see at that time, I didn't feel that our congregation was any too vital. And to lead a workshop on the topic would be disingenuous of me. So, I told him that I might have a pulpit to stand in next year...
I told him that because we were in the middle of an effort where we were asking people to do some things to help us become vital.
First, we were asking everyone to pray to the Lord of the Harvest for workers.
Second, we were asking people to discover their spiritual gifts.
Third, we were asking people - a simple question to ask and answer for themselves - "What would help you engage at a deeper level with the mission and ministry of Jesus through Community of Joy?"
Fourth, we identified 9 teams that we wanted to field in order to help us fulfill our mission as a congregation and we asked people to prayerfully consider where their gifts fit in relation to one or more of those teams.
Fifth, our leadership spent some time discerning the gifts of each person in the congregation and matched those up with where they saw their gifts.
Sixth, we asked people who were carrying many roles to consider which ones they could let go and make room for others to serve.
We are a long way from where I want us to be! But we are moving quickly in the right direction as long time participants let go of roles, thus making room for new folks to use their gifts. We are moving in the right direction as we have had a surge of people who are eager to jump in and serve Jesus through Community of Joy by using the gifts they have been given by God. We are moving in the right direction as we continue to pray for more workers and to seek God's guidance as we offer our gifts in ministry. We are moving in the right direction as we see ownership taking root in people's lives and excitement returning. We are moving in the right direction as we look for ways to engage our community and meet needs beyond our walls - turning outward. We are moving in the right direction as we seek to be a blessing to others because God has blessed us so that we can bless others! We are moving in the right direction as we focus on Jesus and allow the work of the Holy Spirit to transform us reminding ourselves that it is God's role (NOT ours) to convict people of sin in their lives... our role is to extend grace and love. We are moving in the right direction as we consider spiritual disciplines that will help us keep company with Jesus and begin to apply them to our lives.
I am very thankful to God for the renewal he is bringing to our congregation in these past months and I look forward with eager anticipation for what God will do with us in the coming months!
I told him that because we were in the middle of an effort where we were asking people to do some things to help us become vital.
First, we were asking everyone to pray to the Lord of the Harvest for workers.
Second, we were asking people to discover their spiritual gifts.
Third, we were asking people - a simple question to ask and answer for themselves - "What would help you engage at a deeper level with the mission and ministry of Jesus through Community of Joy?"
Fourth, we identified 9 teams that we wanted to field in order to help us fulfill our mission as a congregation and we asked people to prayerfully consider where their gifts fit in relation to one or more of those teams.
Fifth, our leadership spent some time discerning the gifts of each person in the congregation and matched those up with where they saw their gifts.
Sixth, we asked people who were carrying many roles to consider which ones they could let go and make room for others to serve.
We are a long way from where I want us to be! But we are moving quickly in the right direction as long time participants let go of roles, thus making room for new folks to use their gifts. We are moving in the right direction as we have had a surge of people who are eager to jump in and serve Jesus through Community of Joy by using the gifts they have been given by God. We are moving in the right direction as we continue to pray for more workers and to seek God's guidance as we offer our gifts in ministry. We are moving in the right direction as we see ownership taking root in people's lives and excitement returning. We are moving in the right direction as we look for ways to engage our community and meet needs beyond our walls - turning outward. We are moving in the right direction as we seek to be a blessing to others because God has blessed us so that we can bless others! We are moving in the right direction as we focus on Jesus and allow the work of the Holy Spirit to transform us reminding ourselves that it is God's role (NOT ours) to convict people of sin in their lives... our role is to extend grace and love. We are moving in the right direction as we consider spiritual disciplines that will help us keep company with Jesus and begin to apply them to our lives.
I am very thankful to God for the renewal he is bringing to our congregation in these past months and I look forward with eager anticipation for what God will do with us in the coming months!
Monday, October 1, 2012
The Love of My Life...
I officiated a wedding on Saturday at a local vineyard and the couple had a photo booth set up for participants to get a photo taken... Sharon and I decided to have ours taken... so here is the love of my life!
AWESOME, AWESOME, AWESOME! And that doesn't begin to describe it!
Our 6th Neighborhood Pork Roast and Fun Fest was a huge success! It was our best ever! And not just because we had so many people!
We enjoyed nice weather and had between 325 and 375 people stop by and participate in our event. I get the number by knowing how many plates we had and used.... we uesd 313 plates - a few people might have had seconds with a new plate... but several moms came and got hot dogs for several children on one plate... some babies in the crowd didn't get a plate as was true for some small kids and we gave some people take out containers instead of plates. The firemen gave out over 100 hats to the children in attendance that checked out the firetruck!
But more than the crowd or the weather... it was a success because so many in our congregation jumped in and served in all kinds of ways... from praying for the event, inviting friends and co-workers, making desserts or other food items, serving the food, making music, painting faces, watching the bounce house, greeting our guests, setting up or tearing down, giving money for the event, making the yard games.... It was so awesome to see so many of us working together using our gifts for the purpose of blessing our neighbors!
And more than that, it was a success because, while it was promoted as a "No strings attached" event which means that we didn't do any hard selling of Community of Joy, we had many people ask questions about Community of Joy and some even already joined us in worship!
Beyond that still, it was a success because of the large turnout of families from Pinehurst Elementary School - our neighborhood school that we are faith based partner for and have worked so hard to bless for the past 4 years! It was awesome to meet some of those families and to see children that we recognized from our times serving in the school! Several families really expressed their appreciation for the event!
And to top it all off, both Sharon and I had a chat with one of our city councel folk who was there with their grandchild but who has noticed all the ways we have sought to bless our community and was praising our congregation for the inspiration and brightness we bring to our neighborhood. The councel person said they were delighted we were in the neighborhood! And that was our original purpose of the Pork Roast... to make a positive impact on our neighborhood!
While I was beat at the end of the day (it was a marathon weekend with a wedding and funeral on Saturday with 150 miles traveled between the two) I was riding a mile high wave of excitement and appreciation for the ability of a small congregation to take on such a huge event with such finesse!
We enjoyed nice weather and had between 325 and 375 people stop by and participate in our event. I get the number by knowing how many plates we had and used.... we uesd 313 plates - a few people might have had seconds with a new plate... but several moms came and got hot dogs for several children on one plate... some babies in the crowd didn't get a plate as was true for some small kids and we gave some people take out containers instead of plates. The firemen gave out over 100 hats to the children in attendance that checked out the firetruck!
But more than the crowd or the weather... it was a success because so many in our congregation jumped in and served in all kinds of ways... from praying for the event, inviting friends and co-workers, making desserts or other food items, serving the food, making music, painting faces, watching the bounce house, greeting our guests, setting up or tearing down, giving money for the event, making the yard games.... It was so awesome to see so many of us working together using our gifts for the purpose of blessing our neighbors!
And more than that, it was a success because, while it was promoted as a "No strings attached" event which means that we didn't do any hard selling of Community of Joy, we had many people ask questions about Community of Joy and some even already joined us in worship!
Beyond that still, it was a success because of the large turnout of families from Pinehurst Elementary School - our neighborhood school that we are faith based partner for and have worked so hard to bless for the past 4 years! It was awesome to meet some of those families and to see children that we recognized from our times serving in the school! Several families really expressed their appreciation for the event!
And to top it all off, both Sharon and I had a chat with one of our city councel folk who was there with their grandchild but who has noticed all the ways we have sought to bless our community and was praising our congregation for the inspiration and brightness we bring to our neighborhood. The councel person said they were delighted we were in the neighborhood! And that was our original purpose of the Pork Roast... to make a positive impact on our neighborhood!
While I was beat at the end of the day (it was a marathon weekend with a wedding and funeral on Saturday with 150 miles traveled between the two) I was riding a mile high wave of excitement and appreciation for the ability of a small congregation to take on such a huge event with such finesse!
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