A Conversation in Heaven

This last Sunday at our church, one of our staff pastors gave a wonderful message about the truth of a relationship with God. There is a lot said about Christianity, but the truth needs to be heard. About half way through his message, Pastor Paul said something to the effect "imagine with me this conversation going on between the Son of God and God himself".

The father explains what he want to happen to redeem mankind. After a long list that included things like being born in the body of a baby, growing up in poverty, being persecuted and dying on a Cross, Jesus says to his father . . ."I got a great idea, how about you going to earth and I will say here in Heaven. Whither that conversation happy or not is not the point. The point is, He came! That's why we all Celebrate Christmas . .For the simple fact that he came, he didn't stay in heave but hie came to be with us!

Thank God he did!

Have an awesome day

David

A View into our future

One of our staff pastor's were leading us in prayer for our future this last Sunday. He paused and reflected on several words spoken by David in Psalms 118. Part of that reflection included the following verse.

Psalm 118:22-23 The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD'S doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.

A comment from another of our staff pastors after the reading of this verse was somthing to the effect. . .

"I find it interesting that we are looking to move into a bulding that was built for a grocery store that never succeeded (rejected) and we are taking the corner section of the building for a church."

God is a creative God. He so often injects confidance into a church that the direction they are heading matchs the future that he see's for that church.

Have an awesome day

David

Elton John has a few things to say

This morning my web browers took me to msn.com (it should take me there because it's my home page) and what did I see? A headline that said "Religion Encourages Hatred". These words came from one of the Top their singer/song writers of our generation.

Here are some other things he had to say . . . .

"I think religion has always tried to turn hatred toward gay people," John said in the Observer newspaper's Music Monthly Magazine. "Religion promotes the hatred and spite against gays."

"From my point of view, I would ban religion completely. Organized religion doesn't seem to work. It turns people into really hateful lemmings and it's not really compassionate."

So is this all he had to say . . .well after digging a little, I discovered that the Associated Press grabbed just a few of the more juicy lines from the whole interview. Yes the three quotas above are what he said, but let me show you something else he said . . .

"From my point of view I would ban religion completely, even though there are some wonderful things about it. I love the idea of the teachings of Jesus Christ and the beautiful stories about it, which I loved in Sunday school and I collected all the little stickers and put them in my book. But the reality is that organized religion doesn't seem to work. It turns people into hateful lemmings and it's not really compassionate.

Let me say a few things . . .

First of all, it's intesting to note that John did go to some kind of "organized religion" to receive the wonderful stories of Christ. His words, "I love the idea of the teachings of Jesus Christ and the beautiful stories about it, which I loved in Sunday school . . ." So one hand, he was benefited from Organized religion.

But John doesn't stop there. He turns the table and says now organized religion doesn't seem to work. IT turns people into hateful lemmings and it's not really compassionate. Now John, do you really think that all people are lemmings walking mindlessly to a life full of hatred? I don't believe that. The same beautiful stories that you love are lived out in many wonderful people. So, John, just because you link your self to a church "organized religion" doesn't always end up in hatred.

Have an awesome day

David

Thematic Goals

One of the golden nuggets I took away from me this summer at Willow’s leadership summit was the introduction of the concept of Thematic Goals. In a nutshell a single, qualitative focus or rallying cry that is shared by the entire leadership team—and ultimately, by the entire organization-and that applies for only a specified period of time. The other important part of a Thematic Goal as it pertains to our church, is that it must go to support an excising priority of our church. The question is; why do it if it doesn’t go to help were we fell God is taking us.

We have just completed our fist thematic Goal for this year. It was decided by the leadership team to conduct a survey of our adults. The survey had questions that were directly connected to some common goals that we want to reach by 2010. The survey helped us as a team to know were we are at as a church in order to make adjustments for the future.

Here are some of the results.

Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal savior? 93 out of 94 said yes (99%)

Are you actively serving others at The Chapel? 57 out of 94 said yes 61%

Have you shared your testimony with a non-believer in the past six months? 51 out of said yes 54%

Do you read your bible? Daily - 26 (27%) Weekly - 30 (31%) Sometimes 35 (36%) Never - 6 (5%)

Have you participated in any outreach events in the past two years? 54 our of 94 said yes 57%

Even though these are some good numbers compared to other similar groups, we need to improve. Over the next few weeks, I would like to write about what this survey is saying and were we can improve in the key area’s at The Chapel.

So, until next week . . ..keep Loving God and Loving Others.

UnMasking

This week, my daughter and I will have a chance to talke to some of her classmates at college, here is just a small portion of the notes that we will be using.

How do I remove a mask?

First, you must acknowledge That You Wear Masks!

We all do it and the first person that you need to convince is your self …some times mask wearing is called for (work, when you are feeling ill and the situation calls for another attitude like sing in a concert. But first tell yourself that you do wear a mask from time to time.
People in various kinds of recovery groups would tell you that the first step to healing is to admit that you have a problem. So, it is important to be honest that you do sometimes wear masks; we all do. We need to establish this fact not to go on a guilt trip about it, but so that we can begin to remove them. So, here is the question – When, and with whom, do you wear masks? Is it with friends? A certain group/groups of friends? At school? At home? With adults?
We need to recognize those situations in our lives where we are wearing masks and doing something that doesn't reflect who we really are. Once we have the self-awareness of these particular situations we can deal with them. I think a lot of people continue to wear masks without even realizing it because they haven't really thought about the areas of their life where they wear masks.

Next you need to return to those Unmask times.

Can you remember 'back in the day' when you didn't wear masks so much? What were you like then? Many people struggle with the mask of being a follower, of doing what other people want them to do, rather than being themselves. What do you really like to do? Are there certain hobbies/sports/activities that you really like to do? Rediscover these. If you are not sure, you might want to begin experimenting with healthy and fun activities that sound interesting to you. Join a club, play a sport, volunteer for a charitable organization - all of these are great ways to meet new people, develop new interests, and rediscover who you really are.

Then follow that up by Hang-Out with people who are in the removal process just like you.

A wise friend of mine once said, "Show me your friends, and I will show you your future." Start trying to be open to more people. And remember, stop putting masks on other people – if you want to be mask-free, it is very important to stop judging other people – give lots of people a chance to be a good friend of yours. I have talked to lots of people who have labeled others inaccurately, and found out later that a person they thought to be very 'uncool' ended up being a great friend! Pray to God that he will lead you to people who will treasure you and love you as you are. Start looking for people who might be in a similar situation as you. Youth groups, youth masses and Christian people are great places to look because they are usually trying to be masks-free, too. If you need help finding a good youth group or youth Mass in your area, let me know.

And lastly, remember what Jesus did to keep the mask off?

The role model was Jesus. He was tempted in every way to put the mask on, but he didn’t. He was Himself all of the time.

When Jesus was sad, he cried. He didn't wear the masks of being a tough guy who doesn't cry. (John 11:35)

When Jesus was happy, he laughed and smiled. He went to parties, and was not afraid to have a good time. (John 2:1-11)

When Jesus was scared, He prayed. He knew He needed help, and was willing to ask His Father in heaven for help. (Matthew 26:36)

When Jesus needed others, He asked His friends for help. He knew He needed other people, too. (Matthew 26:38)

When Jesus saw people who needed a friend, He hung out with them. He wasn't afraid of what others might think. (Luke 5:29-30)

You see, Jesus never wore masks. So, He can help us to resist temptation to wear masks. So, when you struggle with masks, ask for Jesus to help you. He will. One of my regular prayers is "Jesus, make me into the person that you created me to be."