Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas all! What a great night we had last night, being together with our church family and all the visitors was an awesome way to kick off the holidays. I want to say a special thanks to the creative team, who spent untold hours preparing for our Christmas service. You are awesome! Also thanks to all the others who made last night a great night for people to experience the love of Jesus in a practical way!

By the way, Monica is back at home and feeling well, thanks for praying for her.

Kristine and I want to wish you all a Christmas full of the love of God, family, friends and great food! We love you all and we feel blessed that God has called us to share life with you. Have a great one!

Thoughts on 2009

I have been spending a lot of time thinking about and praying about 2009, and I am pretty excited about what I think God is about to do. I spent a couple hours on the phone with a pastor friend of mine in Toronto and we were sharing some of the things that God is doing. we also talked for a while about what we believe God is going to do in 2009!

I just feel that there is a hunger for God right now in our nation, and that God wants to fill that hunger through His church. The thing is though that we need to do our part in reaching out to these hungry people. As I have said before that it is going to take us stepping out of our comfort zone and actually telling people about Jesus and also inviting them to be a part of His church.

Please spend some time praying and fasting over this next couple of weeks, and ask God to give you wisdom about how to reach the people in your sphere of influence. Take a few minutes in the next few days and invite some people to the Christmas service on the 23rd, and also pray for the people that will be coming to that service, that they will experience the love of God.

There are a couple of things that I need to address about Sunday services:

1. Please try to come on time, it makes it seem that church is unimportant if people can't even show up on time. Also it is quite distracting when people walk in late.
2. I have had a few people complain to me that people are talking a lot while the speaking is going on , to the point that they are having a hard time listening to the message, so please be considerate of the people around you and save your conversation for the way home.

I really believe that God wants to do great things, but we need to do our best as well. I love this church and I am so thankful that we get to do life together!

The Divine Mentor

Hey, I have been reading a book called "The Divine Mentor" by Wayne Cordeiro and I have been loving it! I have believed in reading for a long time and also in allowing myself to be mentored through the persons writings, but Wayne takes it to a whole new level. Here are a couple things that I have learned so far:

1. Life has given us to very effective teachers, one is Wisdom and the other is Consequences.
2. If we choose Wisdom we can learn how to avoid problems and thereby learn by other people's knowledge and experience.
3. If we choose Consequences then the personal cost will be sky high and we will learn by our own experience and mistakes.
4. Just as we have two teachers, we have two pains. They are the pain of Discipline and the pain of Regret.
5. If we want to learn from some amazing Mentors then open the pages of the Bible and we can find people in all walks and situations of life, that are waiting to mentor you through the situation that you are in.

Don't forget to pray for the weekend service and ask God who you can bring with you. Have a great one

Read this!

Here is a great post by Steven Furtick take a few minutes to think about that, and ask God how high He would like to throw you.

Have a great day!

Compelling Quote

I picked up this quote on Perry Noble's blog which he quoted from a book called "Crazy Love" and it really verbalizes a lot of what God has been speaking to me lately.

“Our greatest fear as individuals and as a church should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.”

1. What are you giving a ton of energy to, that in reality does not matter?
2. What are you giving to something insignificant that should be reserved for the Kingdom and the glory of God?
3. What has stolen your heart and taken your focus off of Jesus?

I think that we need to really evaluate what is important to us and make sure it lines up with what is important to God. Have a great time wrestling with that :)

Automatic doors and other random thoughts.

I guess that I am really asking God right now for wisdom. I realize the great desire that God has to reach out to share His love with those who don't yet know Him, and that He has called us to get involved with His mission on the earth. I have been losing a lot of sleep over this for a while and it, quite honestly, consumes me. I don't even want to pretend to have the answers on how to do this but I wake up each day, and ask God to help me reach someone that day.

I realize that we are not perfect as a church and that we don't always get it right, but this is my dream as a pastor, and each time I walk into a department store I am reminded of my dream. I dream of being a church that in nature would be like the automatic doors at a store. That we would be open to anyone, no matter how short or tall, how fat or slim, no matter what colour, no matter how many problems, no matter how rich or poor, and no matter what we think or don't think. I dream of being a church where "whosoever will may come". This is the dream that I have and I pray that it is your dream also. Let's try really hard to show the love of God to people as we come in contact with them.


John 3:16-17

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

Me or Jesus?

This has been an incredible year of growth for me, and I am so thankful to God for the things He has taught me. I guess the big question that I have had to come to grips with is the "Me or Jesus" question. I have let this question seep into every part of my life. Here are a few examples:

1. When I am evaluating whether or not I can do something, I have to bring Jesus into the question in a few ways, such as, motive (Am I doing this with Kingdom purpose?) ability (Do I have the gift mix to accomplish this and with the power of the Holy Spirit do I have the horse power), and priority (is this part of God's call on my life).
2. When I am raising my sons I have to ask if am I am trying to shape them into mini Me's or am I forming them into Christ's image?
3. When I am walking out my marriage I have to ask am I just living for my pleasure or are we displaying God's glory through our relationship.
4. and the list goes on........

How about you, how much do you allow Jesus to be a part of your everyday life? What changes do you need to make? Who do you need to invite to church on Sunday?(Sorry I had to throw that in ;) )

Things to be thinking about.

I am stoked! I am so excited about what God is doing and I know that it is just the beginning. We went out this morning and raked leaves for people just to show them God's love with no strings attached. I am praying that the seeds sown this morning will be effective in leading some people to Christ but also that those who participated would also feel as though they had drawn closer.

People, we are living in a world that is desperately in need of Jesus, and we have been given the responsibility, and privilege of helping them find Him. I am praying that God will give us wisdom on how we can do a better job of that. Here are a few things you could pray about.

1. Pray about who you should be inviting to church over this next few weeks as we tackle the subject of marriage, dating and sex.
2. We are getting ready for our Christmas service, so pray about who you could invite for that. That service will be totally geared to reaching lost people, because Christmas is a time that people that don't go to church will go, so don't miss the opportunity!
3. This week I am hoping to get away on Tuesday and Wednesday to pray and set the direction for o9 so please pray that God will give me wisdom and that I will be able to connect with His heart for the coming year.
4. Next week I am going to be dealing with the subject of sex, and it is going to be tense so pray that God will give me the courage to say what God wants me to say about the subject.

Thanks for all you do!

Three Questions I am Asking Myself.

It is my goal to honour God in all that I do, and one of the things I have found that helps me stay on track is asking myself good questions. Here are a few of the questions I have been asking myself lately.

1. Is my relationship with God close and growing? I don't know about you but I can really get distracted by all kinds of good things, while missing out on God's things. You might think it is easier for a pastor to stay connected to God in relationship, but the truth is that I am always doing things that seem Godly, but often times I am doing them for others and not for God. I study like crazy for Sunday morning and for youth, but I need to spend time with God just because I love Him. One of the key indicators for me that my relationship with Him is going off the rails is when I stop enjoying ministry, and that reminds me to connect with the reason I do ministry. How is your relationship with God going?
2. How am I spending my time? I am one of those people that has two gears, full throttle or asleep. and many times as life gets busy I start to lose track of how I am investing my time (That's right, investing) of all the things that we have, time is one area of life where we can't get a do-over. Once time is spent we can never get it back and once spent we must give an account for it. again we can spend our time on good things and miss out on the God things. You might be thinking that I am saying that you can never relax but that is not at all what I am saying. What I am saying is that I need to make sure that I take time with Kristine, to just shut down ministry for a while and enjoy our relationship. I need to spend time with my sons, (it seems like yesterday that they were babies and now they are almost men) to connect with them and share my values and my heart with them. I need to stop wasting time doing good things and invest time doing God things. How about you how are you spending your time?
3. Who are the people God has put in my life, and am I connecting with them enough? I strongly believe that we all need three types of people in our lives, those whom we are helping up, those who are peers and those who are helping us up. I need to ask myself, who am I helping? That list can keep me pretty busy at times and I really enjoy these relationships. I also need people that are my friends, those people that I can just kick back and relax with. people that I can go to a movie with or have coffee with or just hang out and do nothing with. I also need people that can help me. People that have been where I am and have moved to new levels, people that can let me no that it is going to be OK and that I will survive to see tomorrow. people that will help me survive through the trial so I can see the victory! Who are the people in your life, and are you connecting with them?

Have a great one!

Pastor Appreciation!

It is Pastor appreciation month in October and I just want to thank the people in my life that have been pastoring me and pouring into my life.

1. Pastor Paul thank you so much for challenging me and helping me to become who God has called me to be. Thank you for believing in me even when I wasn't sure that I believed in myself, you and Elaine are a blessing to Kristine and I and we wouldn't want to do life without you.
2. Pastor Steve and Beth, thank you for all the advice and encouragement that you have given to us. Thanks for asking us good questions about our personal lives and ministry. Thank you for sharing your time and your life with us. thanks for taking care of us at conferences, and for giving us the opportunity to connect with amazing leaders. Thanks for caring about us and our sons.

I am so thankful for all the other people that mentor me and I just want to say thanks to Pastor Peter Dempsey, Pastor Ted Yuke, Len Zoeteman, and Kevin and Sheila Gerald for all you do for me. You are all awesome leaders in God's Kingdom!

Empty Chair

Tonight I get to hang out with our young people for our Thursday night meeting and I am pretty excited about what God is doing. When I was at the Creative Church Conference on Monday in Albany, Ed Young said something that rang so true to me, especially after our Sunday service. He said "Our church is all about the empty chair". what he was saying was, that everything that they plan, everything that they say is with the passion to reach one more person for Christ. this is so important, I think that if we are going to fulfill the great Commission and the call we have as a church then we also must learn to plan around the empty chair.

So who has God put on your heart lately? who are you reaching out to, and trying to lead to Christ? How important is it to you to reach the people that Jesus died for? Think about where you sit in church on Sunday, is there an empty seat near you? Will you take the responsibility of filling that seat this week? Pray and ask God who you can invite, and let's expect God to do great things this weekend!

Sunday Night in Albany

Well we just arrived in Albany New York after a six hour drive. Well what a great day! We have such a great bunch of team leaders at Jubilee and it has been a fun day of travelling with them. We are here for the Creative Church Conference put in by Ed Young of Fellowship Church inn Grapevine Texas. I am pretty excited about what God is doing at Jubilee right now and really enjoyed being in the house this morning. There was a hum in the foyer and a feeling of excitement in the foyer. Here are some things that are exciting me right now.

1. I feel like we are all begining to believe that God is doing something good, and that we are all willing to do our part in the goals we have set.
2. The new look, First Impressions team is really awesome and they are creating the environment of excitement and welcome that we have been working toward. Good job team!
3. we have been having quite a few visitors start to settle in and make Jubilee their home church, and I just want to give all of you a warm welcome to the family!
4. I was relieved to share the things that God has put in my heart as far as future vision and it also feels good to be officially working on transitioning to our new site.
5. Please, please, please start asking God who you should invite to church next week, I believe that God wants to touch people but He wants to work through us.

Well we have five guys in our room and most of them want to go to sleep now so I will keep you posted on the conference later this week. Have a great one!

Thanksgiving!

Wow! It is already Thanksgiving weekend, where did the year go? Well what are you thankful for? I think one of the main characteristics of a Christ follower should be a thankful heart with words to express it! so why don't you take a few minutes just to stop and give thanks to God for all that He has given to you. Here are a few things that I am thankful for.

1. I am thankful for a loving God who made a way for me to be forgiven and set free from sin, and Jesus His son who followed through on His plan of redemption, and the Holy Spirit that empowers me to live for God and to share His love with others!
2. I am thankful for the amazing woman that He gave me to do life with, and for her love and passion for the kingdom of God, our family and for me. I love you so much Kristine!
3. I am thankful for my sons, Levi and Logan, they are my greatest treasures and they make me so proud of them. I can see Jesus in them and I love them so much!
4. I am thankful for my parents, because the taught me to live my dreams and to never settle just because my dreams seem impossible!
5. I am thankful for Kristine's parents because they are so good to us and their love for Jesus is a great heritage for my sons.
6. I am thankful for all my brothers and sisters (Natural and In laws) because God has given me a great gift of friendship through them.
7. I am thankful for all the awesome people that I get to do life with at Jubilee, because most of them are like family to me, and because we are going to rock this community for Jesus together.
8. I am thankful that I have no lack and that I get to bless others from time to time.
9. I am thankful that I am healthy
10. I can keep going forever but you get the idea.

Tomorrow is going to be an amazing day at Jubilee so pray, invite someone, and come expecting God to do something good!

Thanksgiving!

Live a Legacy!

Hey dads! I was preparing for my "Wild at Heart" Life Group yesterday and while doing that there was a lot of questions about what your father was like. This was an interesting topic for me so I got pretty absorbed in the moment. I had a great father and mostly my memories of him are nothing but good so the experience really stirred up some great memories. I wrote a letter to myself on the day my father passed out of this world to the next, so that I could capture my feelings about him before they started to fade. I thought I would like to share some of the things I wrote that day with you and make a couple of points, so here goes.

Today my father died.... I feel very blessed to have been the son of such a great man of God. He taught me to live a life of passion, to live from my heart. He taught me to love God with all my heart, soul, and strength. He taught me to love a woman forever. He taught me to laugh and to cry. I grew up in a home where my father loved us and cared for us, his children, more than he did his own life. It is my prayer and my life's mission to become as great a man as my dad......... as I look back on on his life I am so encouraged to see how one humble man can change so many lives, one life at a time. He touched so many lives so deeply, especially mine.
(Written December 31st in Monterrey International Airport)

Here is a few of the take aways for me.

1. Your kids will not always remember what you said, but they will remember how you lived.
2. When you are generous with your life, your children will be left with a legacy, and not just a memory.
3. Being others centered rather than self centered will have eternal consequences.
4. Loving your wife passionately in front of your family will give your children the courage to do the same.
5. Living for a cause will give you the octane to overcome every obstacle.

My dad was no saint, but I have never known anyone who loved Jesus more than he did. Now that I am a pastor and father I understand the incredible challenge of balancing life in such a way that would inspire your child to feel the way I feel about my dad.

My challenge to you, men, is that you live for God with passion, that you love your wife forever, that you love your children more than you love your own self. Last but not least, I challenge you to live a sacrificial life that would make Jesus attractive to the world around you. I know that this is a tall order, but I believe in you, and more than that God believes in you!

Sunday Night Reflections!

What a great day today! I am so excited about what God is doing, I feel so blessed to be a part of it! Here are some of the great things that happened today!

1. I got news about Jeremiah today. He is doing great on his tour and Is really sensing that people are praying for him. By the way don't stop praying for him, he is on a mission for our country but also on a mission to reach lost people. So pray!
2. Heard some great reports of restored lives today. Couples getting back together, families coming back from crisis to have a stronger family. It is awesome to see that God is working in the marriages in the house and building something lasting and strong.
3. I have had a ton of comments from our men, about how they have been challenged through our "Why" series, and I am expecting a great service next week as we wrap it up with "Why Give"! I love the guys in our church, they love to be challenged.
4. Excellent worship this morning! I am so thankful for our worship team. I could really feel the presence of Jesus as we worshipped Him.
5. Pastor Bob showed the servant heart of our leaders, as He launched our parking team this morning! You are awesome Bob, thanks.
6. God is bringing new people to the church every week, and I am so excited about the new people He is bringing our way!
7. I love Jubilee and I feel so honoured that God has called me to pastor here,

Have a great night all!

Life Groups

Last week we kicked off our first week of Life groups for the fall, and it was a great week from what I have heard. If you want to get more connected with people in the church, or if you are looking for a way to introduce a friend to Jesus, then Life Groups are the place to connect. Even though we had sign up Sunday last week, you will have the opportunity to sign up in the entrance of the church this week. I encourage all of you to get involved!

Tomorrow we are continuing with the "Why" series and I believe that God has done great things in our lives so far, but He isn't done yet. Please pray for the service tomorrow and ask God to allow us to lead many to Him. I also want to encourage you to make a phone call tonight and invite someone with you. Have a great night!

Knowing Christ!

I have been a Christian for a long time, and have served Him in the local church for more than thirty years. I have been through great times and I have been through horrible times. There have been times when I have felt very close to God, and times when I have felt very disconnected from Him. Through all of this I have learned one very important fact, being a Christian is about having a living and vibrant relationship with Christ. This is what the Bible says:

Ephesians 3:16-19 I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit--not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength- that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you'll be able to take in with all Christians the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.

If you have been trying to act like a Christian and be a Christian, but you have not really built a relationship with Christ, then you are missing out on God's best for you! When we were children we used to sing "Jesus loves me, this I know. For the Bible tells me so" and that was very good. The truth is though God doesn't just want us to sing about it, He wants us to experience it!

I want to challenge you today to turn away from a dead religious ritual and gaze upon the face of God through relationship with our loving Saviour Jesus! He is waiting for you to connect with Him so you can experience a full life in the fullness of God!

Monday Morning Recap

Hi everyone! I am sorry it has been a while since I wrote on here but last week, I just needed to slow things down and get some time with God. I am excited to be back at it. Yesterday was a great day and I am so thankful to God that I get to pastor this church. so here are a few of the highlights of Sunday.

1. The worship was absolutely awesome! We have been working out a few glitches with sound and opening and things like that and yesterday it all came together. I am so happy with that.
2. I really sensed the presence of the Lord in the service and I know that lives were touched.
3. The Life group sign ups went great, we had a lot of people sign up and we are looking forward to a great Life Group session. If you have not yet signed up then get involved soon.
4. The videos and creative work done for Life Groups was amazing, and I want to thank Sylvie and Mike for all their work on Life Groups.
5. We had a bunch of visitors in the service and were thankful that we got the opportunity to serve them.

Have a great day!

Yard Sale Success!

What a great day! We probably had about two to three hundred people come through the Yard Sale today, and they got served very well. we were able to shine the love of Jesus in our community in a big way! Thanks to every one that helped out, the people were blown away by your generosity and your desire to serve them. Let's keep making the name of Jesus famous. I believe that there are a ton of visitors coming tomorrow so here are a few things you can do.

1. Pray that they will experience the love and the power of Jesus in the service, and that if they don't know Him yet that they will make a next step toward Him.
2. Come on time and really try to be in the auditorium when the service starts.
3. Take the time to welcome our guests and make them feel at home.

Kristine and I were pretty excited, because last week some of the people we have been inviting turned up in the service, and were really moved by the message. Keep inviting people, it is really important, maybe even go a step further than inviting and bring someone to church with you!

Thursday Night Reflections

Great night tonight! I just want to say thanks to our teens, they are really inviting a lot of people out to youth on Thursday's. Steve did a great job teaching tonight and made a really great point about carrying our Christian lives forward. He used the analogy of a football player carrying the ball forward toward the goal line and using the five yard markers as goals or steps along the way. Here are a few of my takeaways from his talk.

• The best defense is a great offense. We should always be moving our Christian lives forward, never live defensively.
• Christian life is a series of next steps and it is important to keep making the next step.
• Have your heart set on the goal but take it one step at a time.
• Living for God will give you a few bumps along the way but keep pushing on toward the goal. This is how Paul said it:

Philipians 3:13-15 Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward--to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back. So let's keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision--you'll see it yet!

Twenty five there tonight and we had four visitors. God was glorified and we had fun so great night. Good job Steve!

Dave approved debt ;)

Romans 1:14 I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the foreigners, both to the wise and to the unwise.

This verse is burning in my heart and has been for a long time, because this is, I believe, God's call to the church. We can never repay the debt that God paid for us, but I believe that because God has given us the Good News, it is now our "debt" to tell others and help them experience the goodness of God!

Questions

I think that answering questions is a great way to grow as a Christian, so here are a few questions.

1. What are you doing that you should stop doing?
2. What are you thinking about doing but you are to afraid to start?
3. Who is there in your life that you need to help connect to Jesus?
4. What are you doing to help them?
5. Have you ever felt closer to God then you feel now? How have you moved?
6. Is there a recurring sin that you need to deal with? when will you deal with it?

Have fun!

How Intense are you?

I have been going through this time of awakening in my life like I have never experienced before, and I am so thankful to God for it. We just finished Youth Camp last week and we are working really hard to prepare for the Community Yard sale next week, so the intensity level is pretty high for me right now. I know this may sound strange, but this is what God has been teaching me through it. If my intensity goes up to finish a project or prepare for an event I can accomplish a lot in a short period of time. So if I would put the same intensity into reaching out to people what could happen? This is what Jeremiah had to say:

Jeremiah 20:9 Sometimes I tell myself not to think about you, LORD, or even mention your name. But your message burns in my heart and bones, and I cannot keep silent.

Here is what I think it takes to turn up the intensity till it becomes like a fire in your belly, or your bones.

1. We need to have a vibrant and connected relationship with the person Jesus (This comes through time spent with Him)
2. We must care about the things that He cares about, and the people that He died to save.
3. We must realize that Jesus doesn't really want you to be safe, He wants you to be dangerous.
4. We must deal with your selfishness with extreme prejudice.
5. We must live for Him like it is all that matters, because it is.

I really believe that God is calling us to a new level of intensity so that it will become hard to get to hell from this region. this is our responsibility and it is what we will have to give an account for.

Nathan I love this verse
Hebrews 9:12 Then Christ went once for all into the most holy place and freed us from sin forever.

Jesus died and once and for all time He freed us!

I believe that Jeremiah is now at his destination so remember to pray for him!

III'MMM BAAACK

Man I am getting old(er) and I still hate winter. I used to be able to stay awake for the whole weekend of youth camp and be set to go on Monday morning, but I have got to say between lack of sleep and freezing certain parts of my anatomy off, it has taken me a few days to recover. One thing that hasn't changed though is the boost I get out of seeing God work in peoples lives, especially young people. It was so fun seeing God challenging them in their thought and life patterns to make a step or two toward Him!

Which sort of brings me to my point today, and that is, How is it going with your next steps with God? Are you staying comfortable or are you allowing Him to push you out of your comfort zone. Are you living for Him 100% or are you still holding back from asking the question "What do I still lack?" I promise you I am going to stay on you about this issue because there is a world out there waiting for you to become dangerous and live for God with some intensity. Steven Furtick posted about changing the world a couple days ago I think it says a lot!

Please keep Sunday in prayer, we are starting the WHY series and I am believing God for many to come to know Him. Also think about who you can invite, it should be a moving service!

Have a great one

Sunday Night Reflections

Wow! I am so tired, seven hours of sleep all weekend. What a great time we had up at camp with our young people! Here are a few Highlights of the weekend.

1. The youth worship team did an awesome job at leading us into the presence of God!
2. I could tell people were praying, because right from the first few minutes of our Friday night service the teens were responding and I felt like they had really open hearts, and were really wanting to meet with God on the weekend.
3. Kathryn Fleming was amazing! She was honest, transparent, challenging and inspiring (also pretty cool :)
4. We have an amazing group of young men and women in our church and they make me feel very positive about our future!
5. We have some really funny, and creative guys in our youth group and I want to thank them for make me laugh all weekend.
6. Nathan is working on a video of the camp experience so hopefully you will get a closer look soon!
7. Several young people made some serious steps forward in their relationship with God and I am so thankful and amazed that God has given me the opportunity to serve these amazing people again after a three year absence.
8. God is absolutely amazing and I am thankful that whenever we take the time to seek Him He always does great things!
9. A big thank you to Pastor Paul Yuke for speaking in the morning service at Jubilee, I have only talked to a couple of people, but I heard that you all had a fantastic morning also!

Here are a couple of things for all of you to think about.

1. What would you attempt if you knew that you could not fail?
2. What is God asking you to do that is making you feel uncomfortable?
3. What are you doing to keep your love for Jesus white hot?

Have a great night!

What a great weekend!

What a great weekend! I really enjoyed the beautiful weather and got a lot done. I was really happy with the way everything went in our service. On the weekend someone told me that it is getting harder and harder to just sit around in our church because the message is pushing people to get involved. Someone else called and told us that they had been really moved by the messages to start being as outreach minded as they were when they first gave their heart to the Lord! those two comments made my weekend because I believe that this is what God has really been doing in my life and I believe He wants to do in the life of the Church. Here are a few things that we could all keep in our prayers.

1. Youth Camp is this weekend and I really want to see our young people experience a fresh connection with God, and also that they would see how valuable they are to us as a church and to God's Kingdom. That they would know that they have a part to play in reaching our community for Christ.
2. Pray for the community yard sale, that many would come and that we would be a blessing and encouragement to our community through it.
3. Ask God about what He thinks your part in reaching our Community for Christ.
4. Pray for our Life Groups, that we will be able to reach out to the community through them! We have eleven groups this time so that is the most ever!
5. Pray for Jeremiah as he is away over seas serving our military.
6. Pray for the weekend service, that God would lead people to it and that their lives would be changed by it.

Don't forget to invite someone to church this weekend!

What a bonus!

What a great day today! Today I went with some of the board to have a look at a Southridge Community Church in St. Catharines, to see how they had renovated a school into a functioning church building and to get some thoughts on how to renovate our school. We got some good ideas and insights and we are continuing to move ahead with plans to prepare our new site. The bonus that we got today was that Pastor Jeff took an hour or so to talk to us about their vision and strategies for building their church into what God is calling them to be. I would have to say, that I have been to some great seminars but the info we got today was as helpful as anything else I have learned about building God's Kingdom. It was a great afternoon and I would like to say a big thank you to Pastor Jeff!

Holy Spirit Empowerment!

I was reading in Acts this morning and sort of had a couple of verses just light up for me. I guess that I have probably read Acts hundreds of times, especially the first few chapters but I have never seen it this way before. This was right after the Holy Spirit baptised the Church and they hit the streets.

Acts 2:9-11 Parthians, Medes, and Elamites; Visitors from Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene; Immigrants from Rome, both Jews and proselytes; Even Cretans and Arabs! "They're speaking our languages, describing God's mighty works!"

It seems that the Holy Spirit empowered the church to speak to people within their culture and context, so that they could understand the goodness of God and His mighty works! I know that He has given us that same empowerment for our culture, to communicate in a language that they can understand, the goodness of God and His great love for them. My prayer is that we will not let this gift go to waste but that through the boldness that the Holy Spirit gives we will tell the world!

What about Bob?

As I have been saying, I think it is really important to invite people to church and maybe even go a step further and bring them. Check out this post by Perry Noble. I think it says it all. Who is the Bob in your life and what are you going to do about Bob?

Have a good one!

Sunday Night Reflections (A little late)

Of this one thing I am sure, God wants us to reach lost people. There is a fire inside of me right now that just keeps getting bigger all the time, and sometimes I feel like it will consume, and that fire is for lost people. I am at the point that I can't tolerate another moment of the same old same old and I hope you all feel the same way.

1. I think that yesterday was an amazing day.
2. One man who has been coming to our church for a long time put up his hand to receive Christ.
3. One of our young men renewed his commitment to live for Jesus as a 100% Christ follower. This may seem small and insignificant but I believe that it is Huge. Because that is what God is calling each of us to do right now, to commit to live as 100% Christ followers. He got it and I hope you did to!
4. I felt the presence of God in the house and when I was asking the question "What do I still lack?" God was moving in peoples hearts in a big way (People were wiping tears all over the room)
5. Someone told me yesterday that "I had to make a believer out of them" and when I asked them what they meant by that, they said "I have a hard time believing that we can baptize 100 people in this next eleven months". Here is what I asked him and what I want to ask anyone else who is struggling with that. Do you think that Jesus would want us to accomplish that? (the answer to that question would be yes) and secondly, would you be willing to work along with us at this goal? (The answer to this question should also be yes). So if it is God's will and we will get involved why wouldn't we be allowed to accomplish that. Besides don't you want to set a goal that you can only reach if God helps?
6. Great time was had by all at Jeremiahs farewell party!

Live life beyond the boundaries of what you think is possible and live within God's limitless boundaries! Have a great day!

Saturday Night at Jubilee

I am stoked! Tomorrow is going to be an awesome day and I just know God wants to do good things through it! I am closing out the series with the story of the rich young ruler and I am feeling God in the house as I am preparing and praying.

I am really excited about a few things right now the first of which is that I feel like a new man, like I have been born again again, because of the way God is moving in my life right now. It seems like every time I open the Bible it is like I have never read the verse before and it all seems new and exciting. I am also really excited because some of our young people have stepped up and used their creative gifts for Jesus and made an advertising video for Youth Camp (Thanks Nathan, Garrett, Jonny, and Dylan) which you will all get to see tomorrow. I am also really excited about our youth camp which is in two weeks (Please pray that our kids will really encounter Jesus on that weekend, so that their lives will be forever changed.)

Nathan, I am sorry I didn't post earlier but I was reading Hebrews 8 with you and I thought this part was really cool!

Hebrews 8:10-12 This new plan I'm making with Israel isn't going to be written on paper, isn't going to be chiseled in stone; This time I'm writing out the plan in them, carving it on the lining of their hearts. I'll be their God, they'll be my people. They won't go to school to learn about me, or buy a book called God in Five Easy Lessons. They'll all get to know me firsthand, the little and the big, the small and the great. They'll get to know me by being kindly forgiven, with the slate of their sins forever wiped clean.

God wants us to live from our hearts and serve Him because we love Him. I'm in!

It is not to late to invite someone for the morning service, especially someone who does not know Christ yet. Come expecting and on time in the morning, because the way you approach the service does make a difference!

Me or Jesus?

I am sitting here preparing for Sunday and we are going to be finishing our series "Me or Jesus?" This series has seriously messed me up. I am so convinced that God wants to do something great through us as a church, but right now He is calling us to Himself. He is calling us to a deep and vibrant relationship with Him. It is all about Jesus, he saved us from an eternity that was hell, but He also gave us a life to live here that is full of purpose and meaning.

When was the last time that you just took your Bible in Your hands and went to a place where you could have some quiet and asked Jesus to speak to you through His word? God wants to connect with us, He wants to have a relationship with us but we need to stop, quiet ourselves, and talk to Him with the expectancy that He will talk to us. I challenge you to take a few minutes today to do just that, spend some time with the one who loves you more than anyone else could.


Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God! MKJV
Psalm 46:10 "Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at me, your High God. MSG

Leadership

I am so thankful to God for the call He has placed on my life, and with that the responsibilities. I think that one of the most important things we can do as leaders is to ask ourselves some thought provoking questions. Here are some of the questions I am asking myself at this point.

1. Is my personal relationship with Jesus growing and vibrant?
2. Am I leading to build a kingdom for myself, or am I really concerned about lost people?
3. Am I willing to take risks in order to advance God's kingdom, or am I to interested in being comfortable?
4. Am I willing to do what God asks me to do even though it will make some people upset with me?
5. Is my butt really on the line for anything significant, or am I just doing what is expected?
6. Am I balancing God, family and work properly?
7. Am I talking about the changes I would like to see or am I taking action to make things change?

I love being part of this House and I take very seriously the responsibility of it, and I will always do my best as a leader to grow and develop so that we can grow and develop. Have a great one!

Monday, Monday....

I just have to get this off my chest. I am really believing God to do great things through us as a church, but the truth is I am wondering if we have enough interest in this as a church to see it through. Here is the deal, we start church at 10 am on Sunday mornings and you could shoot a cannon through the place and not hit anyone, but ten minutes later the place is fairly full. This is a problem on so many levels.

1. I just wonder what it says to God, about the value we place on being in His house?
2. I wonder what it says to our kids when most of us will turn up early to watch a movie but when it comes to going to church we can show up whenever.
3. I wonder what it says to unbelievers who come to Jubilee looking for something that will help them and they see that we don't put any value on the experience ourselves.
4. I wonder what it says to all the people who have prepared and prayed and are trying to create an atmosphere where God can move and people walk in and disturb the whole thing because they couldn't get here on time.

People I am a good natured guy and I am pretty relaxed most of the time but this has got to change. We are talking about saving people from hell here and this one thing does make a huge difference! Please step up to the plate in this area, I am begging you!

Thursday Night Reflections

What a great night! Levi started youth tonight (I am now officially old) so I am really excited about that! I am praying that God will really touch him and that he will encounter God as a young man, and that from that encounter he would become a die hard Christ follower. Here are a few of my thoughts on the night.

1. We have two great couples giving their lives and time investing in the next generation and I want to thank them publicly Thank you Steve, Sarah, Steve and Melinda. You are my heroes!
2. God is working in our young people and they are responding with a big YES! I am really excited about what I see God doing in their hearts and I think that they could possibly be some of the greatest kids I know.
3. I still can't get calmed down about that whole nine out of ten people not knowing God and I am committed to raising up a church that will change those stats for our region, a church that really does care about the things God cares about.
4. I think that we are having an AHA moment as a church.
5. I am so excited to be leading our young people right now, I just love being around young, passionate people who don't understand the words "It can't be done"

I would really appreciate your prayers as we head into our youth camp in three weeks. I am asking the Lord to really touch the heart of our kids. I am also praying that they will understand how significant they are in God's plan to reach the world. So please pray for them and also for Kathryn Fleming as she prepares to speak. Dream big dreams and pray prayers that are so big only God can answer them!

Camel's needles and other random thoughts.

Matthew 19:24 I repeat: it is much harder for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle."

I don't know about you but I have always thought that God was maybe putting rich people at a bit of a disadvantage in this verse. Did you know that most people in Canada would rank in the top 10% income earners in the world, and that because of that Jesus is talking directly to us in this verse? You thought He was just talking to the guy in the Porshe eh?

Well we all know that God has made a way so that all people can enter His kingdom so He could not have possibly meant that they actually had to go through the eye of a sewing needle. This is what Bible scholars believed that Jesus was talking about. coming into Jerusalem there were two gates that were referred to as the eye of the needle, and if you wanted to take a camel through those gates you would have to unload the camel, carry the stuff through the gate and then the camel would have to go on it's knees and crawl through the gate where it would then be reloaded.

So for us, as the rich of this world, to enter God's kingdom (His way of doing things) we have to be

1. Willing to unload our stuff,
2. Send it all into the Kingdom first and
3. With humility in our hearts get on our knees in submission to God enter His kingdom.

Are you willing to give God your stuff and trust Him to reload you in the kingdom? I'm just asking.

God Time...

This morning I was reading in Nehemiah in my God time, and I am always amazed at the new things you can learn each time you read God's Word. Here are a few of the things I noticed in Chapter one and two.

1. Nehemiah always prayed before he acted on something. 1:4-11, 2:4,
2. Nehemiah obviously had a close relationship with the king, because the king noticed that Nehemiah was not himself and wanted to do something to help him feel better. This proves the fact that relationships have the ability to win people over. 2:2-4
3. Nehemiah was prepared before he told everyone what was going on. This shows the importance of leaders having a plan and knowing the cost before telling everyone about their plans. 2:11-16

I would encourage you to spend some time with God today and see what He has to say to you . Also start thinking about who you can invite to church this weekend, maybe you can even invite them for lunch. Please pray that God will make a way for the people who are being invited to come, and that God will touch their lives and yours during the service. Last but not least prepare yourself to serve God in the service, whether that is on a team or just by being fully engaged in the service.

One other thing I want to tell you all about is that this weekend we are going to be giving you an opportunity to get involved on a team, so that you can become more of a part of what God is doing at Jubilee.

Inspired to believe God for the impossible!

Man am I stoked this morning! I am so thankful to God about what he is doing in people's lives and also in my own! I have had a few conversations with people about the message yesterday and as I have been praying that He would do, He is messing people up. I know that we often look around us and we judge who God can use and who we think He can't use, and maybe today you are thinking that God couldn't possibly use you, but that is the farthest from the truth! God is using me and that is a miracle so God can use anybody.
Yesterday I challenged you all to believe God with me that we could baptize 100 people in the next eleven and a half months, and I want to call on all the crazy radical people out there that God is honoured when we set goals that we can't do without Him. Let's walk this thing out, let's not let go of it, let's carry it through to completion. Here is a little bit of something to rattle your cage Baptism
Hopefully that will inspire you to!

Sunday Night Reflections

Oh man, am I tired. The three hour time change has fully taken hold not to mention the mental toll of all the info we took in this week. Anyway here are my thoughts on the day.

1. I don't think that I have ever spent more time preparing for a message then I did for the one I preached today, nor have I ever felt as confident that God would use what I said to work in the hearts of His people as I felt today.
2. I really felt that the service was effective as a whole and that we were all made to feel a little uncomfortable with the status quo.
3. I am begging God that we would all be impacted to really live our lives with a passion to reach out to lost people.
4. I got to spend time with some of our volunteer staff tonight and I am so blessed to get to build a great house along side of a bunch of people that I really love to be with.
5. I just want to remind you all that church is first a person you meet before it is a place you go. So be the kind of people that would attract others to Jesus and to the church!

Ready to make a difference!

I am so stoked! As I was cutting my grass today I was thinking about the incredible love of God and how thankful I am that He loves me(personally). Sometimes I can be such a bone head and sometimes I can be so judgemental and opinionated but God looks past that and loves me any way. I don't think He wants me to remain the same but His grace is always shown whenever I ask Him to forgive me and honestly turn toward Him! I just want to tell the world!

This has been an incredible week of growth and challenge and once again I thank God for the people in my life. I am really looking forward to the service tomorrow and I really believe that it is an important moment for us as a church. Please remember to pray and come expecting God to do great things! Don't forget it is Cafe Sunday so don't rush out after the service instead take some time to be with us!

Wednesday at Team Church

Hi everyone! It has been an amazing week, and God has really been good to Kristine and I. First of all we have been hanging out with Steve and Beth Fleming (they are amazing friends and mentors to us) all week and have learned so much from them. Kevin and Sheila Gerald are an amazing couple and they have been so kind to us, and have helped us so much to understand our roles better. Sheila spent some time talking to Kristine tonight and showed that she genuinely cares about us and the house that God has called us to build. I also have been able to spend some time with Paul Scanlon (The pastor from England that preached the message on others) and I feel very blessed to have had that opportunity. We have met so many great pastors here from all over the world and I just know that God is giving us these great connections so that we can build His kingdom. I thank God for this amazing experience and feel that what He has been speaking to me for the past couple months was confirmed and clarified this week.

I do life with some of the greatest people in the world and I am looking forward to getting home and seeing you all again. I am so excited about what God is doing in all of our lives right now. We had nine visitors in church again on Sunday! I ask you all to believe with me and work together to see 100 baptisms in the next eleven and a half months. I know that seems like a lot but I believe that God would be glorified by it and that His kingdom would be advanced.

I will catch up on some of the conference highlights later this week but today I want to remind you to start praying for the weekend service. Also I want you to start thinking who you could invite I have a few people I am going to talk to. Also come to the service prayed up and ready to serve, with an attitude of expectancy! I am so happy that I get to do life with you!

Monday at Team Church

Man, I prayed in the morning service a couple weeks ago that God would give us an encounter like Isaiah Had where in Chapter 6 He said woe is me I am undone. God is messing me up, I am undone. As I have been writing on this blog, God has been really stirring something in my heart that I think is huge, and that something is a deep passion and concern for those that have not yet connected with Jesus. well this week is not helping me shake that stirring, in fact it is stirring it up even more. I am sitting here and I just can't wait to see what God is going to do through us to help these people meet Jesus. Anyway, here are a few highlights of tonight.

1. Kevin Gerald opened with this, God touched our lives and said, tag your it, and left us to pass on the good news to others. Who have you touched with your life? Who are you going to touch?
2. Craig Groeshel was up next and He went right at it with a challenge to all of us to believe God for great things. some of the major points were as follows.
3. We all dream positive dreams, but without some sort of action and a plan, we will never achieve the dreams we have. Without a vision people perish.
4. From Acts 20:21- 24 he taught 4 things we could expect in walking into God's vision for our life. First Spirit's Prompting in verse 21 it says that Paul was compelled by the spirit. Secondly we would encounter Certain Uncertainty in verse 22b it says that Paul was going, not knowing what would happen. The third thing that we would encounter was Predictable Resistance it says in verse 23 that prison and hardship awaited Paul. so first we would sense the Spirit prompting us to do something then as we stepped out to do it we will have that feeling of uncertainty followed by resistance and if we would persevere then God would give us Uncommon Clarity.
5. He closed with this prayer that was prayed by Sir Francis Drake in 1577

Disturb us Lord

When when we are to well pleased with ourselves.

When our dreams come true

Because we have dreamed to little

When we arrived safely

Because we sailed to closely to shore.

It is my prayer that as a church we will dream, dreams so big that only God can accomplish them. That we would pray prayers that would make God smile because we need Him or we have no hope. That our hearts would break for the things that break the heart of God. i pray that we would be a church that makes a difference.

Sunday Night Reflections

Just had dinner with the Flemings, the Geralds, and the Scanlons. I feel like it was the best Christmas ever and it is only August. I am so amazed at the blessing of God in my life and I just feel that His hand is upon us as a church. The people that He has brought into my life are just amazing. We got to Hang out with Steve and Beth all day (They are such a God send to Kristine and I) then tonight I was sitting beside Paul Scanlon at dinner and right across from Kevin Gerald. I think I am going to faint. Any way here are some of my thoughts for today.

1. God is really in love with People and we should be to.
2. The question is not, can God love people who sin? It is, can we love them?
3. The church should exist for those who are not yet reached.
4. Including all people in our circle of love as a church will mess with our routine
5. Our routine needs to be messed with.
6. God is really in love with people and we should be to.
7. And last but not least, God is in love with people and we should be to. (did I say that already?)

Here are some questions I am asking myself.

1. How do we become a church that is inclusive for all?
2. How serious are we, really about reaching the unchurched?
3. What price am I willing to pay to see God's dreams fulfilled?
4. Who else is there that is willing to pay the price with us?
5. God do you still make dreams come true?

I am so excited about what God is doing in my heart and life right now and I just know that as a church we are standing at the edge of something great. Please pray that Kristine and I will learn what we need to learn to go to the next level in our life and leadership.

Team Church Conference

Good Morning! We arrived in Seattle safely last night just in time to take in the evening service here with Paul Scanlon. Wow, when God gets on you about something He just keeps going at it, doesn't He? Here are a few of the highlights. He was teaching out of these verses.

Mat 21:28 "Tell me what you think of this story: A man had two sons. He went up to the first and said, 'Son, go out for the day and work in the vineyard.'
Mat 21:29 "The son answered, 'I don't want to.' Later on he thought better of it and went.
Mat 21:30 "The father gave the same command to the second son. He answered, 'Sure, glad to.' But he never went.
Mat 21:31 "Which of the two sons did what the father asked?" They said, "The first." Jesus said, "Yes, and I tell you that crooks and whores are going to precede you into God's kingdom. MSG

1. Some people seem to be saying a big Yes to God and end up saying No.
2. Some people seem to be saying a big No to God and end up saying Yes.
3. Everyone should get the opportunity to give God a big Yes or a big No.
4. Some of the people that you have been spending so much time getting to say yes (They seem like the kind of people that would say yes) will end up saying no. Some of the people that you would never ask (They seem like they don't need , don't want, or don't deserve God) will end up saying a huge YES to God (most of us know someone like this that did)
5. Invite everyone!
6. Be a likable person (get rid of your nastiness, or arrogance) it gives a person a better chance of accepting your message.
7. Be compassion driven, rather than comfort driven (we generally want to reach out to people that are like us ) God wants us to reach everyone!
8. The church is a person you meet before it is a place you go.

I will post as much as I can through this week and I will finish my "Thinking Big" post soon also. We are praying that God is doing great things at Jubilee this morning!

Thinking Big Part 2

OK so here is the deal. It is easier to give in to mediocrity but that would really disappoint the Heart of God. It says in 2 Peter 3:9 that God is even holding back the end of time to the point that it might seem to some that He might not even be true to his promises, because it is His desire that all should be saved. I read this great post today Perry's Post from Perry Noble's blog that I think speaks to a lot of what we often think as Christians. We need to really change the way we think if we are going to make a huge impact on this world, and especially our area for God.

I don't know about you but I can't live with the fact that statistics tell us that only 5% of our nation has a personal relationship with Jesus. I don't think that God can really live with that either. 95% of the people that we walk past everyday are going to be separated from God for eternity in a place called hell and that breaks the heart of God, and it should break our hearts too. I will continue with this tomorrow but here are a few things that I want you to think about:

1. Who do you know that really needs to come to Jesus?

2.What are you doing personally to help them find Him?

Please start praying for the weekend service, I am believing that God is about to do something awesome!

Think about who you can invite, and then....invite them ;)

Come expectant and on time Sunday!

Thinking Big?

Have you ever been at the door way of opportunity before? Well I feel like that is where we are standing right now as a church. I feel this urgency inside right now that makes me feel uncomfortable all the time. I know that God is saying to us as a church that it is time to step out into the promise, but at the same time I know that God is asking us for more than He has ever asked us for. I have been really wrestling with God on this whole deal, because I don't know exactly how to express what is going on in my heart right now, but I think it is huge.

Here is the honest truth (I guess that I shouldn't have to say that as a pastor) It would be a lot easier for me to settle with where we are as a church right now then to really press on into what I believe is coming. Truthfully though it would border on insanity for me to want to do that, because I have been following God's lead up to this point and, I believe, having been preaching, teaching and leading into this moment for the past three and a half years. I have a million excuse why I shouldn't or wouldn't press through, such as, we live in a small town, we've said all this before and haven't seen it happen, and we live in Canada.

All of these thoughts and ideas are, in my opinion, are putting limitations on the ability and power of God, and also providing a comfortable out for you and for me. Let me ask you this question, why can't we do something really great for God? (I can hear some of you right now. We are doing great things for God aren't we?) to be continued..........

Jesus!

I just have to say that I am incredibly in love with Jesus and I am so thankful that I get to be part of what He is doing! There I said it and now I feel better. Have a great one.

Sunday Night Reflections

• I am really excited about what God is doing in my life. He is really pushing me to develop in a lot of areas right now and it has been challenging but inspiring. I think that so many times we get bogged down in what we think we can't do that we miss out on the amazing things God wants to do through us. Let's stop thinking we can't accomplish our dreams and let's move ahead with boldness and do everything that God has put in our hearts to do!
• Great service this morning. I want to encourage you all again that God has given us an amazing gift and He is off the hook when it comes to generosity, so let's be like Christ and model generosity in every area of our lives! Five new people showed up and I am believing to see this on a regular basis.
• Had a great time at the beach today, and was really excited to realize again how great of a church we are building, and that I am doing life and church with a bunch of amazing and dedicated Christ followers. Also realized that I am glad God called me to pastor and not throw a football for a living, because I am really bad at that.
• Looking forward to the Team Church Conference coming up later this month.
• Live life like it matters! (It does)

Friday Night

Had a great day wrestling with my lawn tractor today (and right after I wrote about storms), I was cutting my lawn this morning and the thing just died, I have no idea why but boy I was bugged. Then I remembered what I had written in my last post, about finding flaws in our character through storms.Well that got my mind working a bit and I realized that I have a little issue with patience in my life. I want it done and I want it done yesterday. So, I guess that it is back to the classroom for me.

Any way before I was so rudely interrupted by my tractor problems I was thinking about this weekend and just wanted to drop you a note to remind you that God has good plans for the service on Sunday and He wants you to get involved. Last Sunday was awesome and I was blown away by the goodness of God! thirteen first time visitors and two people decided to commit their lives to Christ (It's time to paarrttyyyy! I know heaven is!) I believe though that God wants to call people to Himself everyday, so here are a few things we can all do to prepare for Sunday.

1. We need to pray that God would have His way in peoples hearts and lives this weekend.
2. We need to ask God who we should invite to come along with us to church, and once He tells us then we should make a point of inviting them.
3. We need to come with expectant hearts, and believe that God will do great things and that people would give their hearts to Him!

I am so thankful that I get to do life with some of the greatest people in the world, and I believe that together we can make the name of Jesus famous in this world! don't forget about the baptismal service and church picnic on the beach Sunday!

Storms

Wow what a day I had! I just finished Sunday's message (it is 1:17 am) and that took a lot more time then I thought it would! I spent the good part of my day (Again) in the basement, at the church, because these nasty rain storms have revealed a serious flaw in our basement wall. Whenever that driving rain shows up this week, we have a bit of water to clean up, in the basement. As I was vacuuming up the water I was praying, and God taught me a little something about storms.

1. Storms reveal the weak places in the structure of a building, just as life's storms show us the weaknesses in our character.
2. When a storm hits, we have to make one of two choices. Are we going to whine and complain that nothing good ever happens to me, or are we going to use the 411 that we discover, from the storm, to do a bit of reno, and repair on our character.
3. Storms aren't biased, the rain falls on the evil, and on the just. So don't think that just because you are in a storm, that God is mad at you, instead take the time as a learning, and growing experience, so that you can become stronger.
4. Storms don't last forever.

Have a great night.

Fathers

I have been thinking a lot about the love of God the Father toward me this week. What an amazing Father we have, and how amazing He is! Any way as I was putting my boys to bed last night it really hit me. As I was praying for them before they went down to sleep in their blanket fortress (our basement looks like a dessert tribe has set up their tent village down there) it hit me how much I love them, and how much was in my heart for their future. At the same time the responsibility that God had given me to take care of them weighed heavily on me. it was one of those intense moments where you just know that God is speaking to you.

As I was processing that moment after the boys went to their tent village, here is what I believe that God showed me

1. Always remember that they belong to God, and that it is my responsibility to lead them to Christ through my relationship with them as their father.
2. Pray every day that they will have a relationship with God that is meaningful and relevant. Never take for granted that they will automatically serve God just because they are my boys.
3. Live a life with God that is passionate and meaningful in front of them so that they can see a working example of relationship with God.
4. Be understanding and caring toward them.

I am so looking forward to this weekend and I am so excited to see what God will do. Last week two people decided to follow Christ in the morning service, and I just know that this is just the beginning of what God wants to do at Jubilee!

I would really appreciate if you would all start to pray for the service on Sunday, also start thinking about who you can invite and also really come on time and with an expectant heart.

New Week!

It is great to be home! A couple years ago we did "Building a House to Belong to" as our theme for the year and for Father's Day we gave out baseball caps with that phrase printed on. Well today as I was sitting, thinking and asking God about how we can reach out in our world, He reminded me about that theme. When we were away last week on holidays it really occurred to me how important Jubilee is to me and my family, and how important the relationships that we have here our. I also believe that God wants other people to find a home and strong realationships here also. He wants to do that through us and he wants to do it one person at a time. So many times we are looking for the big event, but the truth is that it is through relationships that God touches lives. This is what the Bible says:

Psalm 68:6 He gives the lonely a home to live in.

If we are really going to "Build a house to belong to" I think there are a few things that we need to do:

1. We have to love Jesus with all our hearts
2. We need to understand how much He loves the people of this world, and care for them in the same way.
3. We need to take practical steps to make Jubilee a home for the lonely, such as talk to people that come to the building, and by inviting people into our homes and our lives.

I believe that with God's help we can become a place that people can feel like they have found home, but the only way we can do that is if we all commit to changing our community , one person at a time.

Sunday Night Reflections

Today was an amazing day! I am so excited to see what God is doing at Jubilee!

1. This mornings service was awesome, it was so good to back at home in our church with the people that we get to do life with. I love Jubilee and the people that we serve and I never feel that great about missing a Sunday.
2. It was exciting to see so many visitors this morning (13 first timers). If you were one of them we were so happy to have you join with us!
3. Even though I got to preach the message I was really convicted by it and I am working out what it will mean to me.
4. I am so stirred in my heart to believe and trust God that we can baptize 100 people in the next twelve months, not so we can look good but so that we can make the name of Jesus famous here in the area that God has called us to.
5. I am praying and trusting God that we will never be satisfied with where we are at but that we will continue to live big for Him!

Have a great night!

Gone Fishing!

Yesterday I spent the day out on Lake Mindemoya on beautiful Manitoulin Island. Our main objective was to catch fish, any way that we possibly could. What a day of thinking and adjusting our methods of catching fish. We started out casting for pickerel with worms, then we tried trolling for a while with lures and worm harnesses, then we shifted to moving from place to place, to try and catch bass with the simple old reliable hook and bait method. We were unsuccessful most of the day until we found the perfect spot with the perfect bait. Within minutes I had pulled in a six pound bass (And that is no fish tale either) and within a few more hours we had pulled in several large bass and were enjoying them for our supper meal.

This morning as I was spending time reading through the Book of John, I came across the story of Jesus calling His disciples. Some He called and they simply followed, others He attracted in other ways, by miracles or even by telling them things that He had no way of knowing about themselves. He too was using different methods of calling people to himself in order that they could become disciples. As I was praying and thinking about what I had just read I realized that if we are truly to become fishers of men as Christ has called us to be we are going to have to do a few things.

1. We are going to need to learn to be persistent. A good fisherman never gives up trying to catch what he is after. so many times we give a halfhearted shot at trying to "catch" someone for Christ, but what God wants us to do is to keep trying different things to win that person that He loves!
2. We need to be creative. When we are out fishing we tried all kinds of different lures and bait before we ever landed the first fish in the boat. How are you using your God given creativity to reach people for Christ do you just try to thump them with the gospel or are you willing to explore different ways to build relationships with people so that they will open their hearts to you and the Christ that lives in you?
3. We need to pray! After being in the boat fishing for many hours with no success I began to pray that we could catch a fish. In so many ways we try to live our lives without a deep and intimate relationship with God, but the truth is that new life can only be birthed out of intimacy. so pray, or more simply put, talk to God so you can build relationship with Him.

Tomorrow is going to be an amazing day at Jubilee and I believe that as all of you gather together with a sense of expectancy that God will meet with you and do amazing things. So pray for the service in the morning, invite someone with you (It is not to late), and come with expectant hearts! Kristine and I will be praying that God will touch your lives! See you soon!

Sunday Night Reflections

What a great day! I just feel so excited about what God is doing and what He is going to do.

• This morning's worship was awesome, I could really feel the presence of the Lord in the House
• I feel so blessed that I get to do life with some of the most awesome people in the world!!!
• I really believe that God is asking us to really step out in faith as a church and believe that in the next twelve months that we can see 100 people follow the Lord in the waters of baptism. One of the things we are going to need to be in order to accomplish that is to be courageous and really start to go for the ask. We need to ask people questions that would move them toward Christ. We need to ask God who we need to reach out to. We need to ask people to come with us to church. I believe that God wants to impact our community but He needs some people to work through.
• I am begging God that He would help us bring people to Himself because I know that He has placed us here for a reason in this community, and it wasn't just to keep up the building and have club meetings.
• The message from Mark Beeson was absolutely challenging. I have a Sycamore tree in my front yard and now whenever I walk past it I am asking God who He wants me to share His love with, and I will never look at Kick the Can the same again. Who is there that is crying out to be free that you can share Jesus with.
• I am feeling so challenged by God to dig deeper during this time, because I really believe that He wants to do something great where we live. So let's bring up there, down here so our friends, loved ones, co-workers- and neighbors can experience a little bit of heaven on earth.

I want to encourage each of you to start praying for next weekends service. The message is going to be on healing and I am believing God for miracles in the House. Also start thinking about who you can invite (It is Cafe Sunday), and last, but definitely not least come with an expectant heart.

Have a great week all, I am praying for you!

How Much Is Enough

Have you ever asked yourself that Question? How far does God really expect me to go with following Jesus? These are questions that all of us have asked at one time or another, and the truth is that we usually ask them inside of ourselves, inaudibly for fear that God might hear us, and answer.

I guess the better question to ask ourselves would be, what don't you want to give to, or for God, and why don't you want to give it? Here is what the Bible says:

Mark 8 :34-36
And calling near the crowd with His disciples, He said to them, Whoever will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.
For whoever will save his life shall lose it; but whoever shall lose his life for My sake and the gospel's, he shall save it.
For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?

God wants all of us and He wants us to give it to Him willingly with a heart of love and Gratitude for Him. In order to really be a true Christ follower we must go 100 % for Him. 95% is still 5% short of everything. So today ask yourself, what is it that God has been dealing with that I need to give to Him? When you identify it then give it to Him.

Remember to pray for the service tomorrow and it is still not to late to invite someone. Come expecting God to show up in your life!

What's Happening?

How's your week going? Are you still giving it full throttle for God or are you letting things slip? One of the things that I have found really helps me stay focused is when I ask myself hard questions. As Kevin Gerald, the Pastor of Champion Centre in Seattle says, there is only one degree of difference between water that is useful for a nice cup of tea and water that can power a locomotive across the country. So what would it take for me to bring the temperature up in my relationship with God? What baggage do I need to leave behind? What does He want that I have been unwilling to give?

When I am feeling really brave I ask God the same question that King David did in the Psalms.

Psalm 139:23,24 Investigate my life, O God, find out everything about me; Cross-examine and test me, get a clear picture of what I'm about; See for yourself whether I've done anything wrong-- then guide me on the road to eternal life. Message Bible

So what are you waiting for ? Ask God to be as much a part of your Friday as he is your Sundays. Remember to pray for the weekend service and bring someone with you!

Feeling Amazed

I can't believe how privileged I am! Tonight I got to hang out with some of the greatest young people that I know, I got to participate in some really passionate worship, and I got to share from my heart about how much God wants to connect with each of us. I feel such a sense of excitement right now and I am not even sure why, but I really think that God is at work in our church and I can't wait to see what He is up to! God is so amazing and it is a privilege to serve Him!

Just thinking.

I know that most Christians believe that telling others about Christ is important, but it also seems that even though we think that, we still don't do it. I am often fearful about telling people about Christ even though in my heart I am very passionate about Him. What does it really take to become a passionate sharer of the truth? I believe there are a couple things that will help.

1. We need to experience the power of a transformed life for ourselves by becoming intimate with God. We can only do this by striking up a relationship with Him, by consuming the Bible (not literally but by making it part of our lives we consume it) by talking to God (prayer) and lastly by practically living out our faith.
2. We need to believe there is a real hell (I know it is not popular but the Bible teaches us that without a relationship with God that we will spend eternity separated from Him in a place called Hell) to shun and a real heaven to gain. I think that if we really believe in both of these places it would up the urgency level in our lives and that we would have a hard time letting a friend or neighbor walk past us without telling them the Good News.

I am really excited about our service this weekend and I believe that if as a church we will do a couple of things to prepare for it that peoples lives would be impacted. First we all need to pray that God would speak to us and that those that don't know Him yet would come to know Him. when God's people pray, great things happen. Second, we need to invite people. who have you been hoping would show up in church some day? Well give them call and offer to pick them up, offer to take them out for lunch after the service, or whatever it takes, just get them here. third come with an expectation that God will be in the House!

Check out this story http://www.perrynoble.com/2008/02/25/newspringers-and-pastors-please-read/