Oct 2009
Quotable
10/13/09 07:02 AM
"The greatest sorrow and burden you can lay on the Father, the greatest unkindness you can do to Him, is not to believe that He loves you." John Owen
- Galatians 4:1-7
- Galatians 4:1-7
Youth Center
10/10/09 08:36 AM
Check out the new landscaping at our youth center! It was actually a project sponsored by Lowes to benefit the Boys and Girls Club Teen Center which uses our gym and youth center each afternoon during the week. The project is called Lowes Heroes, and is a volunteer program in which employees adopt a project with a local non-profit organization to help improve the communities where we work and live.
Besides the landscaping, the team from Lowes also re-painted all the floors throughout center, constructed new computer workstations in two of the rooms, and donated two large cabinets and a brand new stove for the kitchen. It was a very generous project!
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Besides the landscaping, the team from Lowes also re-painted all the floors throughout center, constructed new computer workstations in two of the rooms, and donated two large cabinets and a brand new stove for the kitchen. It was a very generous project!
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A Deadly Digression
10/08/09 03:47 PM
One of the things that I love and appreciate most about our church is the fact that UNITY is valued so highly. I realize there are no perfect churches, but there are definitely healthy and unhealthy ones. And among the factors that determine whether the relational climate of a church is healthy or toxic, is how seriously (or not) we are willing to pursue those things which lead to peace (Rom. 14:19).
Practically applied, that means that we've got to continually walk in love and be willing to pursue reconciliation and forgiveness whenever it is needed. It also means that we take church discipline seriously. Some of the strongest disciplinary language found anywhere in the New Testament is directed toward to those who cause division within the flock.
So unity is to be both pursued and protected. When either of these responsibilities are neglected, the outcome is never positive.
I'll never forget the time I heard Gayle Erwin make the insightful point that there are three key words involved in church discipline: Restoration – Removal – Reconciiation. In other words, the Scriptures tell us to restore the sinner; remove a divisive person; and throughout the New Testament we are commanded to reconcile with believers that we don't get along with. Read More...
Practically applied, that means that we've got to continually walk in love and be willing to pursue reconciliation and forgiveness whenever it is needed. It also means that we take church discipline seriously. Some of the strongest disciplinary language found anywhere in the New Testament is directed toward to those who cause division within the flock.
So unity is to be both pursued and protected. When either of these responsibilities are neglected, the outcome is never positive.
I'll never forget the time I heard Gayle Erwin make the insightful point that there are three key words involved in church discipline: Restoration – Removal – Reconciiation. In other words, the Scriptures tell us to restore the sinner; remove a divisive person; and throughout the New Testament we are commanded to reconcile with believers that we don't get along with. Read More...
The Daisy Cutter Doctrine
10/02/09 08:34 AM
A couple of weeks ago Tim and I got together to watch a free leadership webinar called THE NINES. It was a one-day event held on 9/9/09. The wonderful folks from Leadership Network asked over 75 leaders, "If you had just nine minutes to share with church leaders, what would you tell them."
We didn't have the time to catch all the speakers (the event lasted for 11 straight hours). But of the ones I did catch, most of them had some really worthwhile insights to share. But out of all them, the one that spoke to me the most, was the message by Skye Jethani. He challenged us to remember that our legitimacy as servants of Christ does not come from the impact of our ministry. Our legitimacy comes from the fact that we are a child of God, holy and dearly loved.
It was especially convicting (and encouraging!) to be reminded that the outcomes of ministry do not belong to us – they belong to the Father. We're called to abandon the outcomes to the Lord. Our calling is to deeply commune with Jesus – to experience His love, forgiveness, grace and power in our lives – and then to obedienty do what He's calling us to do, while abandoning the outcomes to Him. Wow! Amen! (If you're reading this in an RSS reader, you'll need to click this link to see the video).
We didn't have the time to catch all the speakers (the event lasted for 11 straight hours). But of the ones I did catch, most of them had some really worthwhile insights to share. But out of all them, the one that spoke to me the most, was the message by Skye Jethani. He challenged us to remember that our legitimacy as servants of Christ does not come from the impact of our ministry. Our legitimacy comes from the fact that we are a child of God, holy and dearly loved.
It was especially convicting (and encouraging!) to be reminded that the outcomes of ministry do not belong to us – they belong to the Father. We're called to abandon the outcomes to the Lord. Our calling is to deeply commune with Jesus – to experience His love, forgiveness, grace and power in our lives – and then to obedienty do what He's calling us to do, while abandoning the outcomes to Him. Wow! Amen! (If you're reading this in an RSS reader, you'll need to click this link to see the video).
