I've often titled blogs like this When it Rains, it Pours, so I thought I would be a little different today.
Taking into account that it is before Easter, I can understand why we are experiencing the things we are experiencing.
It started three weeks ago when Greg got sick.
Then the belt on our big mower came off.
Then I got sick.
Then Friday we lost our trailer's license plate in Modesto. I know where we lost it. The Modesto PD was too busy to look for it, so Greg went back up after work and couldn't find it. We did a missing plate report on our way to Tracy yesterday and as I write, Greg is standing in line at the DMV to get a replacement plate.
Then yesterday the same belt came off, along with a large spring, and the drive belt. A spool holding the blade belt was bent. No mower for 24 hours or more. We were very fortunate to be able to drive the mower from where it broke to the trailer and up onto the trailer.
We're also trying to figure out why our taxes are higher this year and are combing through income reports trying to find overstatements. This is a pain and a hassle.
All this while trying to plan for Easter and VBS, landscape the backyard for graduation, and keeping our discipleship and counseling appointments.
It's a little busy, but God is sufficient for all our needs. We're not irritable. We're looking at this time as part of the territory of Pastoring.
I don't mean to whine, just sharing. The Bible tells us to share one another's burdens as well as joys. I don't mind sharing either. What I do mind is when people are unwilling to share the difficult situations. It really robs the body of opportunities to minister and intercede for one another, which promotes spiritual growth.
Thanks for reading. Have a blessed cloudy Tuesday.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Updates!
Something strange happened. I hit 500 blog posts and I had no desire to post. It was like coming to a stoplight and the light never turned green. There I sat with nothing to say. Well, now it's time to update everyone on all kinds of stuff.
EQUIP Update:
1. We had 4 kids accept Christ in our worship service a month ago. Yesterday some kids from Turlock Christian joined us to deliver 450 flyers to neighboring houses on the westside, inviting them to our Vacation Bible School April 7-9. Today we had 6 new kids come to church, and got 7 registrations, 6 of which came from one of the kids!
2. Greg and I reconnected with 2 families we've helped in the past. It was great seeing them again and helping them out.
3. Still praying for a building of our own.
4. We had 23 kids in church today. We may have to switch rooms with them soon. They're outnumbering our adults!
5. We've got a baby dedication planned for Easter. We also have 2 people in our church with birthdays on Easter this year!
Personal Update:
1. I'm back working with Greg 3 days a week and feel very good. The arms are good, the shoulder is almost fixed. I was told last week that I'm 'on the other side', meaning that there is no impingement, but we just have to keep stretching it for the next month to get full range of motion back. It doesn't hurt anymore, just an ache here and there, especially after work.
2. Easter is almost here. The busiest day of the year for churches, which we are one, and the busiest day of the year for landscapers of churches, which we have three. We're in a double crunch but doing well and on track. Greg is feeling a little scrunched this week, preparing his Easter sermon, getting all our customers done, going to see my mom on Saturday, and we have 2 meetings this week at night.
3. Mark is planning a 6 week missions trip to Turkey in June/July with Monument. (Monte Vista Chapel's college group via Campus Crusade for Christ). He is raising $3500, so if you'd like to help, send a check with his name on it to Monte Vista Chapel. He's a junior at CSUS taking 15 units and working 2 part-time jobs, as well as being on Monument's worship team playing keyboard.
4. Kristen is a senior at Turlock Christian, working hard on her senior project, which is called "Whether or not Dads are important in a child's life". She has to present both sides with multiple references. Pretty involved. Powerpoint, oral presentation, written report, etc. She's also working on her part in a drama which will be at Sunrise Church April 23-25, 30 and May 1-2. She plays a church secretary of a dysfunctional church. It's a high comedy. I can't wait! She also plays drums for our church on Sunday mornings.
5. We're hoping to get our backyard done before Kristen's graduation. Fence, sprinkler system, sod, plants, fruit trees, shade trees, etc. Our taxes were more than expected so this and a few smaller things are waiting for that first.
Now you're caught up! I hope to blog more after Easter. Blessings on this gorgeous Sunday evening.
EQUIP Update:
1. We had 4 kids accept Christ in our worship service a month ago. Yesterday some kids from Turlock Christian joined us to deliver 450 flyers to neighboring houses on the westside, inviting them to our Vacation Bible School April 7-9. Today we had 6 new kids come to church, and got 7 registrations, 6 of which came from one of the kids!
2. Greg and I reconnected with 2 families we've helped in the past. It was great seeing them again and helping them out.
3. Still praying for a building of our own.
4. We had 23 kids in church today. We may have to switch rooms with them soon. They're outnumbering our adults!
5. We've got a baby dedication planned for Easter. We also have 2 people in our church with birthdays on Easter this year!
Personal Update:
1. I'm back working with Greg 3 days a week and feel very good. The arms are good, the shoulder is almost fixed. I was told last week that I'm 'on the other side', meaning that there is no impingement, but we just have to keep stretching it for the next month to get full range of motion back. It doesn't hurt anymore, just an ache here and there, especially after work.
2. Easter is almost here. The busiest day of the year for churches, which we are one, and the busiest day of the year for landscapers of churches, which we have three. We're in a double crunch but doing well and on track. Greg is feeling a little scrunched this week, preparing his Easter sermon, getting all our customers done, going to see my mom on Saturday, and we have 2 meetings this week at night.
3. Mark is planning a 6 week missions trip to Turkey in June/July with Monument. (Monte Vista Chapel's college group via Campus Crusade for Christ). He is raising $3500, so if you'd like to help, send a check with his name on it to Monte Vista Chapel. He's a junior at CSUS taking 15 units and working 2 part-time jobs, as well as being on Monument's worship team playing keyboard.
4. Kristen is a senior at Turlock Christian, working hard on her senior project, which is called "Whether or not Dads are important in a child's life". She has to present both sides with multiple references. Pretty involved. Powerpoint, oral presentation, written report, etc. She's also working on her part in a drama which will be at Sunrise Church April 23-25, 30 and May 1-2. She plays a church secretary of a dysfunctional church. It's a high comedy. I can't wait! She also plays drums for our church on Sunday mornings.
5. We're hoping to get our backyard done before Kristen's graduation. Fence, sprinkler system, sod, plants, fruit trees, shade trees, etc. Our taxes were more than expected so this and a few smaller things are waiting for that first.
Now you're caught up! I hope to blog more after Easter. Blessings on this gorgeous Sunday evening.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
You See Bones, I See an Army (cont,)
I'm on a roll. Continuing with Discipleship Defined by Floyd McClung.
Discipleship is not telling other people what to do, nor is it a rigid set of rules and practices for spiritual growth. Nor is it a way of relating for "moderns" that does not apply to "postmoderns."
While discipleship involves helping each other grow in Christ, it doesn't mean we take responsibility for each other's decisions.
People grow the most when they learn to hear God's voice for themselves. The aim of making disicples is to point people to Jesus. There is no greater joy for people than when they discover God's will for themselves. As much as we may be tempted to give people the answers or "fix" them, God alone can transform the human heart.
Making disicples is not an option, it's a command.
Jesus said, "Teach tme to observe all things I have commanded you." Obedient disciples make disciples. It's the heart of what we do. There is nothing more important than investing our lives in other people. There is no more crucial role for leaders in the church. When leaders invest their lives in other leaders, it's discipleship at its best. Why? Because only those who live with apostolic intent can create a leadership culture conductive to attracting and releasing more leaders. When a leader develops other leaders, the impact of one life is multiplied many times over. It produces more fruit for the kingdom of God.
Making disciples is personal in nature but global in scope.
Making disciples begins with building relationships with people who don't know Jesus.
Making disciples is another way of describing church planting.
Making disciples is God's way of transforming cities and nations.
Sadly, many leaders are getting people to make decisions about Jesus, but they are not making disciples for Jesus.
Discipling someone means intentionally identifying with God's interests in that person's life.
There are churches and movements today that produce these kinds of disciples, while others don't come close. The reason some churches and movements produce these kinds of disciples is because the leaders have been captured by a vision of laying down their lives for the purposes of God. If the people who lead have this kind of passion and vision, it will be passed on to others. unless we make disciple-making our main agenda, all our visions are fantasy. It's the difference between dreaming and doing. And to do the job really well, we have to make our main business making disciples who make disciples.
Personal discipleship helps create the truest form of trust between people. Not just the kind of trust that believes a person is reliable, but trust that is based on knowing that other people have our best interests in mind. It's the trust that comes from people baring their hearts to one another. It's the trust that results from dealing with conflict in healthy, loving ways. It's the trust that says, "I want input from you, even if it means significant adjustment to my character or plans."
Trust takes time, hard work, connecting from the heart, humility, and lots of transparency. Trust is the assurance that you can rely on people to tell you the truth, knowing that they believe in you. Trust creates safety and assures others they can open their hearts to one another without fear of retribution. Without a strong sense of trust, people build walls, lift the drawbridge to their heart, and live behind barriers of suspicion and cynicism. Amazingly, we can pull down walls of mistrust through being vulnerable to another person. Discipleship embodies this way of relating.
Disciples make disciples. There is no shortcut and there is no other way for a church or movement to reproduce itself.
That concludes the book! The appendix gives five core practices to start and multiply simple church communities. They are:
1. Pray
2. Meet
3. Disciple
4. Gather
5. Multiply
This has been a fascinating and motivating book. I have heard people say that reading Christian books isn't good because it's not the Bible. I disagree. If God can inspire people to write the Bible, he can inspire people today to write good Christian books that motivate and explain in today's language the message and purpose of the Bible. They are no substitue for the Bible or my daily reading and time with God, but they pour into me the same way sitting across the table from someone giving me wisdom about the Bible does. It's like listening to a good sermon.
My kids have a video game called Sonic that has this little critter running really fast down roadways. Every so often he hits a patch and is propelled even faster. You want to hit those patches because you are racing against time. It's the same with my Christian walk. I'm racing against time. The days are evil. We are running a race to expand the Kingdom of God. These Christian books motivate me and encourage me to disciple others and help me keep in mind the whole reason I was placed on this earth: to give God glory and pleasure and win souls. They spur me on a little faster.
Have a blessed Thursday!
Discipleship is not telling other people what to do, nor is it a rigid set of rules and practices for spiritual growth. Nor is it a way of relating for "moderns" that does not apply to "postmoderns."
While discipleship involves helping each other grow in Christ, it doesn't mean we take responsibility for each other's decisions.
People grow the most when they learn to hear God's voice for themselves. The aim of making disicples is to point people to Jesus. There is no greater joy for people than when they discover God's will for themselves. As much as we may be tempted to give people the answers or "fix" them, God alone can transform the human heart.
Making disicples is not an option, it's a command.
Jesus said, "Teach tme to observe all things I have commanded you." Obedient disciples make disciples. It's the heart of what we do. There is nothing more important than investing our lives in other people. There is no more crucial role for leaders in the church. When leaders invest their lives in other leaders, it's discipleship at its best. Why? Because only those who live with apostolic intent can create a leadership culture conductive to attracting and releasing more leaders. When a leader develops other leaders, the impact of one life is multiplied many times over. It produces more fruit for the kingdom of God.
Making disciples is personal in nature but global in scope.
Making disciples begins with building relationships with people who don't know Jesus.
Making disciples is another way of describing church planting.
Making disciples is God's way of transforming cities and nations.
Sadly, many leaders are getting people to make decisions about Jesus, but they are not making disciples for Jesus.
Discipling someone means intentionally identifying with God's interests in that person's life.
There are churches and movements today that produce these kinds of disciples, while others don't come close. The reason some churches and movements produce these kinds of disciples is because the leaders have been captured by a vision of laying down their lives for the purposes of God. If the people who lead have this kind of passion and vision, it will be passed on to others. unless we make disciple-making our main agenda, all our visions are fantasy. It's the difference between dreaming and doing. And to do the job really well, we have to make our main business making disciples who make disciples.
Personal discipleship helps create the truest form of trust between people. Not just the kind of trust that believes a person is reliable, but trust that is based on knowing that other people have our best interests in mind. It's the trust that comes from people baring their hearts to one another. It's the trust that results from dealing with conflict in healthy, loving ways. It's the trust that says, "I want input from you, even if it means significant adjustment to my character or plans."
Trust takes time, hard work, connecting from the heart, humility, and lots of transparency. Trust is the assurance that you can rely on people to tell you the truth, knowing that they believe in you. Trust creates safety and assures others they can open their hearts to one another without fear of retribution. Without a strong sense of trust, people build walls, lift the drawbridge to their heart, and live behind barriers of suspicion and cynicism. Amazingly, we can pull down walls of mistrust through being vulnerable to another person. Discipleship embodies this way of relating.
Disciples make disciples. There is no shortcut and there is no other way for a church or movement to reproduce itself.
That concludes the book! The appendix gives five core practices to start and multiply simple church communities. They are:
1. Pray
2. Meet
3. Disciple
4. Gather
5. Multiply
This has been a fascinating and motivating book. I have heard people say that reading Christian books isn't good because it's not the Bible. I disagree. If God can inspire people to write the Bible, he can inspire people today to write good Christian books that motivate and explain in today's language the message and purpose of the Bible. They are no substitue for the Bible or my daily reading and time with God, but they pour into me the same way sitting across the table from someone giving me wisdom about the Bible does. It's like listening to a good sermon.
My kids have a video game called Sonic that has this little critter running really fast down roadways. Every so often he hits a patch and is propelled even faster. You want to hit those patches because you are racing against time. It's the same with my Christian walk. I'm racing against time. The days are evil. We are running a race to expand the Kingdom of God. These Christian books motivate me and encourage me to disciple others and help me keep in mind the whole reason I was placed on this earth: to give God glory and pleasure and win souls. They spur me on a little faster.
Have a blessed Thursday!
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
You See Bones, I See an Army (cont,)
Down to the wire on this book by Floyd McClung. Continuing with the last post on The Heart of Everything.
Passion and purpose come at no less a price than Jesus and his disciples paid to possess them.
"I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, let him follow me."
Jesus is the grain that fell to the ground and died. Those who have loved and obeyed him down through the centuries are the disciples of Jesus, the new grain that his seed produces. But notice the qualifier: these disciples of Jesus are people who have lost their lives. They have died to the cares of the world. They have taken up their cross, followed Jesus, and are devoted to obeying him with singleness of mind and heart. They are faithfully and fiercely focused on obeying Jesus' command to make disciples.
Jesus chose personal investment in people's lives as the primary way he did church. The Sunday-centric model of church will not change the world. Some think the church started on the day of Pentecost, but I disagree. Jesus led the first New Testament church. He modeled for us how to do church by the way he gathered and invested in the lives of a few men and women. He modeled a new way of doing church. He gathered, equipped, and mobilized faithful men and women into a movement of devoted followers. This kind of one-on-one intentional relationship is the key to helping people get freed from their brokenness and turned on to serving Jesus. Discipleship isn't a school or program, but a lifestyle of passion and purpose passed on through personal investment and involvement in one another's lives.
Discipleship is helping another person to know, love, and obey Jesus.
This same pattern is repeated throughout church history. One amazing example is a Sunday school teacher named Edward Kimball back in the 1880's. Kimball began to strike up a friendship with a few young men in his Sunday school class. Kimball was particularly committed to a fellow classmate fresh from the farmlands who had begun working in a nearby shoe shop. One day Kimball decided to visit his new friend at work. He entered the shop, found him in the back room, and struck up a conversation. Later he led his friend to a personal relationship with Jesus.
When describing this young man years later, Kimball said, "I have met few friends whose minds were spiritually darker, or who seemed more unlikely ever to become a Christian." But Kimball's faith in his new friend and his investment of time and personal mentoring made a huge impact. His new friend was D.L. Moody, who went on to become an evangelist who led tens of thousands to Jesus. Eventually Moody invested in the life of a man he met in England, named F.B. Meyer. Meyer was a pastor who resisted Moody's evangelistic zeal and fiery preaching style, but responded when Moody invited him to the States to spend time together. Meyer was deeply impacted by Mood's personal life, more so than his preaching.
Meyer in turn influenced a man named J. Wilber Chapman who decided, as a result of his friendship with Meyer, to go into full-time evangelistic ministry. One of Chapman's disciples was a man named Billy Sunday. Sunday in turn spent time discipling a group of businessmen in North Carolina. After years of praying together, these men were prompted by God to invite an evangelist named Mordecai Ham to speak to a citywide gathering in Charlotte, North Carolina. During one of the meetings conducted by Ham, a young teenager came forward and gave his life to the Lord. His name was Billy Graham.
Edward Kimball started a chain reaction in 1880 that eventually reached the world's most influential evangelist, Billy Graham. By investing in a few people's lives, these men passed on to each other what had been given to them. They followed the example begun by Jesus when he spent time with a few young men many years before, pouring himself into their lives.
You can have that kind of impact on people. Start with who you know. Who can you influence today? Call them up and invite them to coffee. It's that easy. It's that simple. God can use you if you avail yourself to Him. Hop on the chain. If you don't see the benefits of your investment in this lifetime, you will when you get to heaven.
Blessings on this rainy Wednesday.
Passion and purpose come at no less a price than Jesus and his disciples paid to possess them.
"I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, let him follow me."
Jesus is the grain that fell to the ground and died. Those who have loved and obeyed him down through the centuries are the disciples of Jesus, the new grain that his seed produces. But notice the qualifier: these disciples of Jesus are people who have lost their lives. They have died to the cares of the world. They have taken up their cross, followed Jesus, and are devoted to obeying him with singleness of mind and heart. They are faithfully and fiercely focused on obeying Jesus' command to make disciples.
Jesus chose personal investment in people's lives as the primary way he did church. The Sunday-centric model of church will not change the world. Some think the church started on the day of Pentecost, but I disagree. Jesus led the first New Testament church. He modeled for us how to do church by the way he gathered and invested in the lives of a few men and women. He modeled a new way of doing church. He gathered, equipped, and mobilized faithful men and women into a movement of devoted followers. This kind of one-on-one intentional relationship is the key to helping people get freed from their brokenness and turned on to serving Jesus. Discipleship isn't a school or program, but a lifestyle of passion and purpose passed on through personal investment and involvement in one another's lives.
Discipleship is helping another person to know, love, and obey Jesus.
This same pattern is repeated throughout church history. One amazing example is a Sunday school teacher named Edward Kimball back in the 1880's. Kimball began to strike up a friendship with a few young men in his Sunday school class. Kimball was particularly committed to a fellow classmate fresh from the farmlands who had begun working in a nearby shoe shop. One day Kimball decided to visit his new friend at work. He entered the shop, found him in the back room, and struck up a conversation. Later he led his friend to a personal relationship with Jesus.
When describing this young man years later, Kimball said, "I have met few friends whose minds were spiritually darker, or who seemed more unlikely ever to become a Christian." But Kimball's faith in his new friend and his investment of time and personal mentoring made a huge impact. His new friend was D.L. Moody, who went on to become an evangelist who led tens of thousands to Jesus. Eventually Moody invested in the life of a man he met in England, named F.B. Meyer. Meyer was a pastor who resisted Moody's evangelistic zeal and fiery preaching style, but responded when Moody invited him to the States to spend time together. Meyer was deeply impacted by Mood's personal life, more so than his preaching.
Meyer in turn influenced a man named J. Wilber Chapman who decided, as a result of his friendship with Meyer, to go into full-time evangelistic ministry. One of Chapman's disciples was a man named Billy Sunday. Sunday in turn spent time discipling a group of businessmen in North Carolina. After years of praying together, these men were prompted by God to invite an evangelist named Mordecai Ham to speak to a citywide gathering in Charlotte, North Carolina. During one of the meetings conducted by Ham, a young teenager came forward and gave his life to the Lord. His name was Billy Graham.
Edward Kimball started a chain reaction in 1880 that eventually reached the world's most influential evangelist, Billy Graham. By investing in a few people's lives, these men passed on to each other what had been given to them. They followed the example begun by Jesus when he spent time with a few young men many years before, pouring himself into their lives.
You can have that kind of impact on people. Start with who you know. Who can you influence today? Call them up and invite them to coffee. It's that easy. It's that simple. God can use you if you avail yourself to Him. Hop on the chain. If you don't see the benefits of your investment in this lifetime, you will when you get to heaven.
Blessings on this rainy Wednesday.
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