What's love got to do with it?

I was doing my daily reading yesterday in the New Century Version and i came across this verse.

Colossians2:2 I want them to be strengthened and joined together with love so that they may be rich in their understanding. This leads to their knowing fully God's secret, that is, Christ himself.

This verse is really telling us that if we want to fully know Christ then we need to be strengthened and joined together in love. That in loving each other we would be rich in understanding that would lead us to know Christ. I don't know about you but I want to know Christ more and in order for me to do that I will have to lay aside some of my attitudes and just love people the way Jesus did.

I'm up for it, how about you?

We Love Dunnville!

Hey all! I would really appreciate your prayers and participation in the upcoming event that we are doing in Dunnville. We are joining with other churches in Dunnville to show the people in our town that Jesus loves them in practical ways. We will be doing a free store, a carnival, free haircuts, renovations, barbecues and a free feast at the end of the day, and we are going to pray that God will bless what we do for His Kingdom. I am so pleased to call Pastor Peter (First Baptist) Pastor Dan (Maple Creek) Pastor Jon (Calvary Pentecostal) and Pastor John (Grace Christian Reformed) my friends and I am also pleased that we can work together at this project.

Please put this date on your calendar and start praying and fasting for that day!

Refreshed?

I am so excited about what God is doing in all of our lives this week! I t has been fun watching different people respond at different times to what God is saying to them, and it is also great to see a resurrection of the passion that many of you once carried! God is definitely good!

Building Relationships? Part 4

What an amazing call that God has given us, to Build Relationships that Build the Kingdom of God. This is another question that I ask myself on a regular basis, "If everyone was exactly like me and brought the same level of energy to the table about this mission, would that be a good thing or a bad thing?"

I want to be the kind of person that will lead by example so everyday I ask God to help me keep the mission in mind and I purposefully crank up the intensity level, so that I will become that kind of person.

What about you? Are you the kind of person that we should all be like or do you, like me, need to keep the mission in mind and ask God to help you to crank up the intensity so that we all can fulfill this great mission that God has called us to?

In about six weeks we are going to be starting a series called Crank it Up and I am looking forward to seeing God do great things through that! Have a great day!

Building Relationships 3

2Ki 4:5 So she left him and closed the door behind her and her children. The children kept bringing containers to her, and she kept pouring.
2Ki 4:6 When the containers were full, she told her son, "Bring me another container." He told her, "There are no more containers." So the olive oil stopped flowing.

I think that God has given us the call as His people to pour His Spirit into empty vessels. He has called us to the poor and the weak and the spiritually lost and has called us to keep pouring out into their lives continually, as He continually is filling us with His Spirit. The problem is that many times we stop pouring, we stop looking for empty vessels to pour the oil of the presence and the love of God into and when we do the oil stops.

We sometimes find ourselves, as Christ followers, dried up and feeling desperate for God, and there is a good chance that, that is because we stopped pouring, we stopped giving, we stopped being generous. I don't know about you but I need the presence of God in my life, I need His love flowing through me, so I am looking forward to hunting down some empty vessels to pour His Spirit into Today.

It is all about "Building Relationships that Build the Kingdom of God"

Building Relationships? Part deux

I guess I ask myself this question on almost a daily basis, is my heart really committed to the forward progress of the Gospel? What I am really asking myself is, am I intentionally going out into my world to share the love of God, through relationship, to the people that God has brought into my life.

It is so important for us to live with a sense of mission, a sense that there is something more at play here then just what is happening in my life, or your life. There is a grand battle going on for the souls of mankind, a David and Goliath type of confrontation taking place. I think about David, when preparing to take on Goliath, he first of all had to take on his brother and his attitude. to which David responded "Is there not a cause?"

Do you live life everyday with the realization that there is a cause that you live for and that God has invited you into? If not then I encourage you to really latch on to the Heart of God for a lost and dying world and ask Him to allow you to see what He sees.

Building Relationships?

"Building relationships that build the Kingdom of God". That is our vision and mission at Jubilee. I really believe that we can make a difference in the region that God has called us to, because knowing Jesus makes a big difference in everyone's life.

Here is the thing though, it sounds good on paper, it is easy to remember, and it does capture the dream that God has about us in a few simple words, but they are just words until they become incarnate. Until they actually have flesh and blood behind them, they are quite two dimensional. That is where you and I come in, we are the ones that bring life to this statement, and we do that one person at a time.

This week I am going to be talking about how we can all get involved in God's mission for our region.

Building Tour

I just wanted to let you all know that we will be doing a tour of the building on Sunday after church so that everyone can get an up close look at what is happening in the building. I am hoping to have a bit more rugged version of Cafe Sunday at the school also at that time. Have a great day!

Building Updates

Hi all! I am pretty excited this week, we are seeing some real progress on our future site. This week the walls are coming down! Here are a few pics

I love being part of this church! I love what God is doing in us and through us! I can't wait to see what He is going to do next! I know that none of that has anything to do with tearing out walls but I am feeling a great sense of the Holy Spirit in my life and in the house right now and I am stoked! Don't come alone on Sunday, I believe that God is going to do great things!

Building Update

I'll tell you what Bob and the crew are machines. They got a whole lot more done this week. Here are a few more pics. This view is from the front wall of the school toward the back.
Here you can see where the wall was removed so that we could make more room for a foyer/ Youth Room The two holes you see in the far wall are the two doors going into the kitchen, that's right a kitchen big enough for two doors.
This view is from the hall looking toward the front of the building.

Things are progressing well and it looks like we can probably do a tour next week Sunday. I will keep you posted. Here is the thing though, we are making a large welcoming foyer to serve guest better so keep inviting people that you know that don't go to church. See you tomorrow!

Life Principles (Part 3)

The third principle that I live by and work hard at passing down to my children is found in James 4:6 where it says, God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. I don't know about you but pride is a huge struggle for me. I have to carefully and strategically work at keeping pride out of my life and staying humble.

Have you ever had moments in your life when you felt a separation from God and wondered why? For me most of the time when that happens it is because I have allowed pride to separate me form God, I have taken something on with a, don't worry about me God, I have got this covered, attitude. As long as I stay reliant on Jesus and the work He is doing in me I can keep humble. So I try to stay really close.

Tomorrow is Sunday so try to bring someone with you and don't forget to pray that God will do something great as we gather together.

New Week!

Had a great day yesterday! What a fantastic day at church. I felt the power of the Holy Spirit in the service in a great way. One person decided to leave the old life behind and follow Jesus (That is what we do it all for) Many decided to live a life that is more connected to Jesus and to follow Him with Passion. As I said it was a great day!

I don't know about you but I really feel that God is pushing hard on the whole relationship with Him thing and the more I respond to it the more I feel Him calling me. Sort of like The "Final Battle" ( Last book of the Chronicles of Narnia") farther up and farther in. My question to you is will you respond to God? Will you make Jesus the main thing in your life?

One Prayer

I am pretty excited to let all of you know that once again this year we are participating in the One Prayer Series. Last year over 1700 churches partnered together for a month to pray, fast share and give toward answering the prayer of Jesus "That they would be one". This year the theme is God Is _____. We will be hearing from some great pastors from around the world sharing with us during our Sunday morning worship time. for more info check out the One Prayer website.

Remember that we Have Mark Davy with us this Sunday so invite anyone that you know that needs a miracle. Mark is an excellent communicator, a Missionary/ Evangelist and has a great healing ministry so I am looking forward to this weekend. Please Pray that god would bring people that need to know Him and that they will experience His love through the service. Have a great day!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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.