Is God involved?

I was thinking about churches moving forward into projects, outreaches, Bible studies, etc. without talking to God before diving in. Reminds me of the boyfriend who doesn’t ask permission from the girl’s father before proposing to the girl! The only thing worse than this would be asking the father for permission, not getting an answer, and still proposing to the girl. Do we do this in our churches? I think it happens more than we would think!

Prayer is huge in ministry! Asking God or even better the Holy Spirit to be involved in our decision making is a must. At the same time, we have to be careful not only to pray; but also be listening for an answer. Now I must say, there are times where we say “Let’s pray about this” and then never do anything about it. This is dangerous! Sometimes the reason the opportunity is right in front of us is because God placed it there and if we don’t act upon it, we miss it. This is    why a continued prayer life is so important because when those opportunities come up; we are ready. Also if we feel God saying do it and we choose to say we will “pray about it” we are sinning against God after the told us to do it. 

The take aways: 1. Work on a continual personal prayer life. If you are part of a ministry team work on a continual team prayer life. 2. Ask the Holy Spirit to be involved and then wait and listen. 3. If you know God is telling you to do something; then do it and ask Him to help you along the way

The good ole days or the good new days?

We have heard it before, talk of the good ole days! In fact, the older you get; you have probably have done it quite a bit. I believe there is nothing wrong with looking back on those days. They tell us how we became who we are and where we came from. I have done this a lot in my life. My problem is when we get stuck and focused on reliving the good ole days.

Problem number one with reliving the ole days is that we don't move forward. We get stuck! Problem number two, which is bigger than problem number one, is that we focus on what God did in the past that we miss jumping on board with what God is doing in the present! It sort of reminds me of a passage of Scripture in Ezra: 

“When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the Lord, as prescribed by David king of Israel. With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord: “He is good; his love toward Israel endures forever.” And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away.” Ezra 3:10-13

During Ezra's time, God's temple was being rebuilt! God's people had gone a long time without a place to worship. When the foundation was built, it brought many emotions into play. The older generation that had seen the original temple, they wept. Some might say that they wept from joy; but in all reality once a foundation is laid, one would know what the end picture will look like. This temple was not going to come close to magnificance of the the temple that King Solomon had built. They wept because they were recalling the good ole days. The younger generation emotions were opposite of the older generation and they were shouting for joy! They had grew up hearing about the temple and how it was a place to go for the forgiveness of sins and to worship God. They didn't care what the structure looked like, they were excited to be able to come and worship God.

My Titus 2 Principle would work here! What if the older generation took the younger generation under their wing? Told them the wonders of King Solomon's temple. Talked about God's people falling into sin, being overtaken by their enemies, and the temple was destroyed. But God didn't forget about His people! God rescued us and brought us back here. Now we are rebuilding His temple with the focus to worship God and live for him. Wow, that would be powerful! 

Let's go the other way. What if the younger generation searched to understand more of how they got there and sat under the wisdom of the older generation? What they learned from the older generation could save them from making the same mistakes and falling back into sin! It could teach them that worship and the forgiveness of sins is important! The younger generation would have been equipped to move forward! 

This pumps me up! What would have happened back then, well yeah; but what would happen today if this would be happening on a day to day basis?!?! 

Let me handle one speed bump. The good ole days of the church, God's church; is not the ole days you know! I don't think there are very many Christians that would want to live in the good ole days of the church! Why? For one, they didn't have air conditioners! It's funny, the people that have problems with adding technology and new things to the church; probably didn't think about at one time there was no air conditioning! Should we go back to those ole days? How about your chair or pew seat? The early church stood for the entire service and if they sat down it was on the ground! Should we go back to those ole days? How about persecution? I am not talking about someone saying something mean to you because you love Jesus; I am talking about losing your life for loving Jesus! Could we honestly say we want to live in the good ole days? 

To be completely honest, the good ole days of the church you grew up in, those churches made decisions to change and adapt to their culture. Churches in their days were condemned for singing hymns; especially hymns accomplied with instruments. The piano, air condition, the projector, the tv screens, pews or chairs; all were new at one time and caused controversity in the church. Granted, we don't have problems with these things today! Well; unless the piano is out of tune, the air condition isn't adjusted to our comfort or we are not singing the music we want...then many times we have controversity in our churches.

For the good ole days, it propels me into the good new days. I am excited to see what God is doing today and tomorrow! I do love seeing what He did in the past as well, but I never want to be so focused on the past that I am no good for the future. God is going to do big things in His church, He will continue to have us change and adapt to our culture to be relevant, and He wants you and me to be part of this. Change is good! As long as it doesn't conflict with God's character, His will, His direction for you, and His truth - the Bible! Are you willing to take what you learned from the ole days and be ready for the best to come in the good new days to come? The choice is up to you

Sharing Churches

I could blog on this issue all day! Churches sharing resources has been a big passion of mine for a long time. I love these big mega churches that people seem to hate on (my suspicion is that jealousy is one of the main components of this). The reason I love them is because after they are done using their creative sermons, series, kid movies, etc. they give them to other churches. New Spring Church in South Carolina and Life Church in Oklahoma are two that have done so much sharing resources and the best part is their resources are free.

While I am on my soap box, I have heard many Christians get onto Rick Warren and Saddleback church. My first thought is: How do you know the stuff you're saying? aka what blog have you been reading...My second thought is: Why haven't you flown out to California and talked with Mr. Warren about these things? After all, that's Biblical and you're gossiping if you haven't talked with the person. Third thought is: Do you know how much Rick Warren has done for the church of America? the resources that he has given...One last thought: Did you know that Rick Warren said that he would let you take 100 of the best people of your church and set them up against "any" 100 people of Saddleback? Wow, that is a bold statement! Make sure you hear the truth and not some things here and there; and then talk bad about a man of God and God's church! You're hurting God's church when you make negative comments about another church and you have not even been there!

With that said, I really want to focus in on sharing resources. I have done this a lot with my current church in Green Bay. Many times, the church hasn't even known. This summer we partnered with 2 churches to help them with their VBS decorations. Valley Baptist in Appleton partnered with us by helping to make VBS decorations. We then made our own decorations, added Valley's and when we were done Valley used them at their church! I also ran into a youth pastor from another church. He talked about getting ready for their VBS program and talked about the theme. A carnival theme; perfect I thought to myself; we have decorations from 3 years ago! We allowed them to borrow our ferris wheel, turnstiles, and character cutouts. Today, Pastor Rick and I picked them back up. The report of how it added to their program and how happy they were to be able to use them was priceless.

Really that is how all churches should be; no matter the denomination! My goal is to continue to partner with churches, partner with people, partner with ministries; we need to share resources!

Persistence is Key

Summer Blast is this weekend already; boy, has the summer flown! We are excited to be celebrating the 5th Annual Summer Blast. Who knew when we started Snow Blast 5 years ago; we would be celebrating the 5th year for both events! They sure have been a hit with the kids.

Glen and I were talking about what games we would like to do this year. Always looking for new games and using the best games from years past. "Go Big or Go Home Philosophy!" I decided to do kickball with inflatable pools as bases. Yes, this way of playing the game has gotten pretty big with the sharing of the Facebook video! We won't have the slip n slides for this event; but we wanted four kiddie pools for the bases.

Glen stopped by four stores and reported back to me that he couldn't find any and that the stores had put the seasonal away! I should have figured; after all, don't stores start putting Christmas items out at this time? We needed the pools so I drove all over Green Bay going to every store I could think of. SEVENTEEN STORES LATER...I found baby inflatable pools! They were $13 originally and marked down for $5. Deal!

Sometimes one would have just given up; but when something is worth it, we strive to finish it. This adventure of looking for kiddie pools reminds me of a story in my past:

Ever feel like a Scrat?

Yeah, like a Scrat (the squirrel from Iceage). I mean where something or someone gets you so frustrated and aggravated. Then you start making noises or start screaming or just start losing it. This happened to me days before Christmas. See I wanted to get my Dad a Scrat for Christmas. My Dad loves the little guy. So, figuring it would be a breeze; I started to search for him. I searched for him in Lynchburg, Va; then Gettysburg and York, Pa (where I live); and then finally Harrisburg, Pa. I went to 4 Walmarts, 3 Targets, 4 Toys R Us, K-mart, 2 Kb Toys, JcPennies, Sears, and the list goes on. When I added it up it was like 32 stores that I went to. Oh, and I'd have to mention I did search in the Disney store. Granted, I should have known that Iceage is not a Disney movie; but a Century Fox movie. Anyways, I found one in Harrisburg, Pa. An hour away from my house in the fourth Toys R Us that I went to. He is lifesize and when you push his nose he makes Scrat type noises. Yeah, so for three days of searching for a Scrat; I now can relate to how Scrat feels in Iceage. Scrat and I have a connection. (written December 26, 2006)

I don't think this time, I was willing to drive to 30 plus stores over three states for inflatable pools...but when I have a vision and something worth it: I tend to go big or go home! Persistence is the key to seeing your vision through!

Giving Blood for the First Time

I hate needles! Let me repeat that; "I really hate needles!" There is something about a foreign object under my skin that is not supposed to be there. Side note: I also hate splinters and ticks for this same reason! With that said; I have never went and gave blood, that is willing. Sure I have had my fingers pricked, my blood tested, and I'll never forget all those allergy tests. Shots in the arms, fingers, shoulders, and the butt.

In pregnancy, you have to be careful with blood types of the father and mother. Antigens, Antibodies and Attacking Blood Fights are quite interesting. So you have to make sure that the mom's blood doesn't have conflict with the babies blood. Amber found out hers with all the blood testing and mine I was unsure of. I spent time trying to find paperwork that showed my blood type and came to the conclusion that I was going to have to have it tested. Without knowing the father's blood type, Amber was destined to get a shot.

How can you find out your blood type? Give blood! So that is what I did, I went to the Red Cross and I gave blood. The experience alone was worth it for a future story. I passed the written test, the blood pressure test and even the dreaded finger prick! The next thing was going to be the challenge; the 10-15 minutes of sitting on the table and giving the blood. I survived, ate my pretzels, drank my cranberry juice, and signed up for another appointment to give blood.

I wasn't sure if we would find out the information in time; Amber was scheduled to get her shot soon. I downloaded the Red Cross Donor app and the day Amber was to get her shot; my records were displayed and my blood type revealed! I am O Negative. This developed into good news and bad news. The good news was Amber did not have to get a shot! The bad news is that my blood type is rare; seven percent of Americans have it. Which means if I ever get into a life threatening situation where I need blood; I might be in trouble! I guess my saving three lives with one blood donation, finding out my blood type and saving Amber a shot really wasn't a bad thing...I am planning to man up, face my fear of needles and continue donating blood.