Paintball, Love it!!

This past saturday, some guys got together from the church to let out some aggression on one another and man was it fun!!!!  Nothing like shooting one another with paint balls coming at you  280 ft/sec.  Here are some pics of our time at Victory Paintball, Benton Harbor.

Jesus Loves Me

God loves me and has chosen me. "For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you." (I Thess.1:4)

New Beginnings :)

Christmas was great this year, other than the fact that I was fighting a cold :( the entire day, it was great because we were all together as a family and it was our daughter's first Christmas. She's 9 months old now and she absolutely loved all the boxes and wrapping paper, forget the toys inside !! But I sure did have a lot of fun playing with them.
I must admit, however, that it was a little different not being home (PA) and with my family and grandparents doing the normal holiday things. But I realized that this is a new beginning for us here in MI and we are blessed to be here with Casey's parents and some of her family, plus our new church family (Overflow) who we are having a blast getting to know more and more.
And so with a small case of home sickness, I was reminded by the Lord that times change and things change and that it's not always a bad thing. There are many great blessings that we need to be thankful for and for that I praise God through my missing my family back in PA. I know that as we follow Jesus, He works all things out for the good to those who love him :) That's His Word!

Righteous and Holy

My new self is righteous and holy. "Put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness." (Eph.4:24)

Predestined...

I have been predestined by God to obtain an inheritance. "To be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment - to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will..." (Eph. 1:10-11)

Complete in Christ

I have been made complete in Christ."you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority." (Col. 2:10)

Judas and Jesus

I am just about to finish an interesting read by Ray Anderson, entitled Judas and Jesus: Amazing Grace for the Wounded Soul. This book has really opened my eyes to sickness of the soul (suicide) that so many people struggle with. Coming into this book I really wasn't sure on what I beleive about suicide, I mean, I guess in the back of my mind I considered it like the unpardonable sin or something that was beyond God's grace and forgiveness.
Ray makes some really good points throughout the book and continues to point out throughout the book that Judas was an answer to Jesus' prayer (which I never really thought of it that way) and that how he not only betrayed Jesus, but his fellow disciples as well. The author drives home the point that Judas could not forgive himself and the author also depicts a story at the beginning of the book of what the conversation would have look like between Judas and Jesus if they were able to have on while on earth....just like Jesus was able to talk it over with Peter about his own betrayal, when denying Jesus.
I think one of the key points that is made in the book, is that to have betrayal there must be love because were there is true love there is trust and vulnerability for one to betray. The author get really deep in this area of love, God's love, self-love and being created in God's image. As I read through this there where points where I found myself disagreeing at first but as I read on I found that the author does an exceptional job of explaining his reasoning behind some of his thoughts.
What you think of this read, will depend on your views of grace, and perseverance of the saints (once saved always saved). I guess the thing that helps me is that Judas was God's answer to prayer and that Jesus chose him, not the other way around. And in the 3yrs they spent together there had to be good times with Judas and what about how Jesus washed his feet, just as the others, and broke bread with him, the same night it all went down...and what about the other disciple who betrayed in his own ways, Peter.
This book was a great read and I would suggest anyone to read it, to help critically think through this area of God's grace and sovereignty, along with a deep look into one's own life as to what lays within each one of us who could so easliy fall into becoming our own Judas.

JEHOVAH-JIREH "The Lord Will Provide"

God Supplies all My Needs. "And my God will meet all your needs according to his gloriuos riches in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:19)

Sealed with a promise

I have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. "And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit..." (Eph. 1:13)

New Creature in Christ

I Am a New Creature in Christ. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is new creation; the old has gone, the new has come" (IICor.3:14)

Community of Kindness

I just finished reading "Community of Kindness" by Sjogren and Lewin. This was a book that every church planter or future planter should read. Although I didn't agree with everything in the book, I did find that they had a lot of great things to say and some very practical things to do.
This was one of those books that listed about 100 lessons learned throughout the years of planting, again some I agreed with, some not so much. For instance, I'm not sure about the falling away of what they call "Scaffling people" who are there usually just to help start the church and they are not part of the perminant structure. I think this maybe the situation in some cases, but not all, and I have seen in my own experience where people who help at first begin to fade into the background as the church grows more and more, more times than not because of their leadership potiental only takes them so far. On the other hand there were some great thoughts, for instance on churches less than 200 (after opporating a number of years) should really consider closing down and starting over after a period of time to regroup and rethink it's purpose and mission. The author states this because of the tremendous pressure on the pastor of the 200 person church and his struggles to carry all the load (he calls them "Plate spinners") trying to please everyone and doing all the ministry. I was already thinking along these lines of "how would you go about replanting a church?" OR maybe the better question is "how would one go about grafting in to another church or church plant?" The author talks about the importance of when its time to restart/replant or whatever you want to call it, that you don't start with the same core people that used to run the old church, but you start fresh with new vision with new leaders. Cause when you replant an actual physical plant itself, you give it fresh new surroundings and a new environment.
I was reminded of a book called "Natural Church Development" some of you might have read it, and in it the author talks about the death of a church and that this should be a healthy process in that the church was a healthy church at one time, going through the reproduction stages and producing healthy disciples in Chirst and those sort of things....so why not? Why do we not see this more often. I really only know of one church that did this and that is Matt Chandler's church "The Village" in TX, and once they did, God showed up in some HUGE ways. Now they are reaching thousands for Christ in that area. I guess you have to lose some to gain some (or should I say many more). What do you think??

Christ Accepts

Christ Accepts Me... "Accept one another, then, just was Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God (Rom. 15:7)

Justified and Redeemed

I am justified and redeemed "This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:22-24)

Church Offices in Mall

As I was driving over here this morning to the church office, I thought to myself..."How cool is this, we have our offices in a stinking MALL!!" And then I began to think of all the opportunities to share Christ with people and that really got me going, I though "what an endless opportunity to share Christ as people pass by after a morning of shopping or walking the mall" We have a bunch of mall walkers here and I have had the opportunity to talk with a few of them, great people!
So we are blessed to have this space in the mall that we are leasing that we turned into somewhat of a make shift lounge. We have some high top tables with chairs, a sofa with a big screen TV, FREE Coffee and a play corner for the kids. It's really a nice atmosphere for people to just drop in have a cup of coffee on us or just sit in here while they wait for the local transit bus.
I am really excited about what God is doing here and how He is the grand orchestrator behind it all. When God said he would build His church He really meant it. God's people are being built up and encouraged all over this region and yet there is still such a need here for those who yet to hear or have the opportunity to grow in the lord or to have come to know the Love of Christ in a real way that speaks to their lives, right now in their life circumstances that they are in. Isn't that what Jesus did? Wasn't he the master at meeting people at their points of need and then getting to the root of it all? That's what Overflow is about, as God pours in, we pour out.

Let the Overflow begin!!!

Well, I have been waiting a long time to write this blog about the church plant that Casey and I are going to be involved with, "Overflow". We are so excited about what God is doing here with this community of believers that are coming together to follow the Lords plans for the St.Joe/Benton Harbor area. BIG PLANS. Part of the heart and vision for this region is to have a community of believers that are united as one in heart to see this region changed by God's love and grace. To see a diversity coming together for a mission and purpose larger than themselves, to purpose our hearts towards the things of God and to see His glory change a community that used to be affectionately known as the "twin cities" before the racial divide happened many years ago. For people in this region Benton Harbor is like the "Samaria" of the day and I am reminded of the scriptures in Luke 9:56-59 were the disciples, James and John wanted to call down fire from heaven to consume the city and Jesus rebuked them. But then later in the book of acts the 8th chapter John was sent by the apostles to go and see that the Samaritans had accepted the word of God too!!
So here was a town that was rejected by most religious people of its day and kind of the unforgotten city somewhat like the town of Benton Harbor, MI. And this is the exact place God has called this church into existence and has began to bring people together to be united with his purpose of ministering to the hurting, the poor and the oppressed. Benton Harbor is the poorest city in all of MI and has a illiteracy rating in the lowest bracket possible!!!
God's heart breaks and is breaking for this town and so is ours!!! God help us. Lots more to come....

Purpose/Missions/Evangelism

I started a new job last week and I have found myself being more and more excited about the bigger picture that is taking place. I must admit that I was not thrilled at first about having to do this "tent-making" thing again, but as I began to pray and ask God to show me His way and His thoughts all of the sudden things are starting to become more and more clear!!!
I have known for some time now that God has wired me a certain way for reaching people and He really has gifted me with a way of connecting with people pretty easily. I used to say that about my dad, that he could walk into a room full of people and be friends with everyone in the matter of minutes, I guess that is where I get it. Anyway I am so thankful for it and now that God has been opening my eyes to why I am where I am, I guess that just really excites me. I work in an environment that is full of young adults/professionals who are really just seeking, and I guess its just something I sense when I talk with them and so for me I can't help but think of this place as my mission field and to me that's exciting!!!