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/