Why Church Planting?

I get asked sometimes why did you want to create something new in a city full of churches? Part of my answer is why answer when the question is so good?

The real reason is that in the United states today only some 30% of our population are actually attending any kind of service on the weekend. As a matter of fact I just read in Outreach magazine the other day only 24% of Iowans are in some kind of worship experience on the weekend. That scares me to death.

My fear is that we are quickly becoming a post-Christian nation. Jesus came to change the world, and often what has happened here in the west is that we have had some change, then settled into a religious tradition of "this is what church is" or it "has to be done this way" or "you cant do it like that because its not in the rule book that." Jesus faced that same problem with the Pharisees in his day. They knew about God and knew all the rules, but had nothing on the inside to go with their knowledge.

As far as the rules go they even created new ones that they thought were almost on an equal plane with the text. These oral and written traditions became rules for sin and righteousness. Actually there were 618 of them. Many of them were absolutely ridiculous. Like a woman wasn't allowed to look in the mirror on the Sabbath because she might see a grey hair and pluck it. If she plucked it, that was considered work and you weren't allowed to work on the Sabbath. The list goes on and on.

They only held to the letter of the law and missed the spirit of the law. Jesus called them white tombs, painted and pristine on the outside but hollow and empty on the inside.

So why church planting? Because many western Christians fit that catergory. They may not have all the rules down just like the old Pharisees, but they are just a form of something that isn't real. A very religious society, but not at all really knowing who God is. That is were I find myself meeting people in the western suburbs here often. They may attend a church on a regular or semi regular basis, yet they just are kind of "clocking in" for their weekly time duty with God.

They have missed the point.

So why church planting? Because 17 out of 20 churches are either plateaued or in decline in the United States. 2 of the 3 that are growing are only growing by what is known in church circles as transfer growth. People are moving to these "happening churches" because they are bigger, and cool lights etc. So while the church is growing its not growing by fulfilling the Great Commission Jesus gave us in Matthew 28:18-20 to take the Gospel, the Good News, to all the world. It is simply moving people around.

Now that 1 of 20 church that is growing is actually growing by evangelism. They are growing by people who haven't had constant church background, or no church background at all. It is people who haven't had a real experience with Jesus. People are accepting Christ as their Lord and Savior who have never done that before. Those churches are growing quickly and by leaps and bounds. The funny thing is that those 1 or 20 churches, that 5% the majority of them (upwards of 80%) are churches that are less than 10 years old.

They are new churhes. To me it seems like a no brainer. Why do we want to act like an established church of 50 plus years when many of them aren't doing what God commands us to do.

It is our goal, that every single person in the metro would become a fully devoted follower of Christ. No matter what their background. Whether they are "churched" "unchurched" or "dechurched" (had a church experience earlier in life but for whatever reason have left the church) I believe according to God's word, it is his plan for all of them to know Him.
So why church planting? There isn't a better thing to be doing. I know its hard to be in a catergory where real growth is only happening in 5% of the churches, but no matter how hard it may be isn't it worth it in the end...

Itunes

In the upcoming weeks we will be officially podcasting on the itunes music store. You can now subscribe for the podcast via RSS, but we want to be even easier. (since I struggle with stuff like that I want it to be easy for a guy like me to make happen) In the near future there will be a link on our website that allows you to subscribe to the podcasts! Awesome.

Paul Hansen is our master techy and he is really helping advance us. I believe that we need to be redeeming technology for God's glory. We are going to be a local church with a global impact!

Amazing. In the words of Kip from Napolean Dynamite, "I love technolgy...."

Our Nursery Doesn't Stink!

Well we have made a few adjustments to our nursery environment. Starting in the next week or so we will have a beautiful motion background on the screen with our new projector. We have a lightboard and professional theater style lighting. Our service structure for the babies and toddlers is based around a toddler table. It is a unit designed to let the children sit inside the table so they can learn in one space. It is going to be awesome. It should be here the first of next week!

We also have just added a pager system that allows the parents to reciever a pager or beeper so that they can be called anytime if their child should need assitance. It is going to be great!

I am a firm beleiver in having a nursery that doesnt stink! Ours doesn't! It is a safe place for kids to learn about Jesus and have a great time doing it!

Weekend Update

This weekend was tremendous weekend.

First Andy and Chelsea Reed were with us this weekend to speak about there upcoming missionary assignment to Mexico. Soon they will be heading to the Gaudalajara area to help serve. They shared their story and their heart! Awesome. I am working on uploading their video to the blogosphere so all can see.

We also had 66 in attendance which puts us at and average for the month of 69. Our all time high. This is amazing since it shows summer growth. I am believing God to help us grow all summer.

This fall we will be celebrating our 1 year church anniversary a few weeks into September! We will be working hard to get as many people there as possible! We are starting a new sermon series called Catalyst. Finding the Catalyst to jumpstart your life in the direction in needs to be going.

I have this conviction that it is never too late to become what you might have been. Many of us have been simply existing. Its time to start living! In everyone's life there are times you want to quit and never go back in all parts of life, but once you make it you can look back and say "man I am glad I didn't quit!"

Sometimes we just need that jumpstart to get us there! The Catalyst that starts it all. Pray with us as we begin this new series in September!

My Beautiful Wife

Just thought I'd make a quick post about my beautiful wife. Weddings always make me remember our wedding day 8 years ago. I have such an amazing wife! She loves me and encourages me all the time. She is amazing.


She is considering trying out for American Idol. What do you think? Is the the total package or what? I know some of you havent really heard her sing like she really can, but trust me she can blow, really! She has some other kind of pipes. On top of that she is stunningly beautiful, huh?

Katy's Wedding

We went this evening to Katy Keese's wedding in Ames. It was beautiful. Katy was a girl in our youth group in Ames right when we got there. She marrried a wonderful man named Daniel. He has worked for me a few times on several different jobs. Pretty cool guy!

I also got my 6 foot fiberglass ladder back I loaned to the youth pastor there a year ago! Nice to have it back!

And scored a projector for the nursery. I will pick it up monday! Awesome!

Super Saturday

Today went well. It was a bit cooler than last week which was great. We didnt get an official count today but we had close to 40 people there. I am really confident that next week's will be awesome since we are going to be back at the same location as last Saturday.

It is pretty easy with hindsight to see how we can do things better. Now we really feel like we should have have done all 3 in the same location. Live and learn. The park at Willow creek (i think) is awesome and worked out a lot better than Wild rose park.

We had some of the same families that came last week back today which was pretty cool!

Sunday

Just thought I'd give a quick update on the weekend! We had 76 in attendance and had an awesome Father's Day Service.

76 is our highest attendance yet! It is great to be growing even in the summer! Typically people are out on vacation and church services are low. But we are not the typical church, so why should we expect anything less.

Remember it is God's plan that none should perish. So we are working hard to see every single person in the metro become fully devoted followers of Christ. It is happening!

Leukemia, parks and failed transmissions

Well what a week, it started off great getting my new truck. It is a wonderful truck, and I really was blessed with a slammin' deal. So no complaints about that at all. It has been great. I actually got 21 mpg on the highway this week!

Friday evening we went to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society fund raiser and it was a blast. The food was divine and Tom Arnold was funny. He is from Iowa ya know.

Well that event concluded with raising over $375,000 for leukemia and lymphoma research money! Awesome. My grandfather died just over 3 years ago from a rare form of leukemia. So the event was pretty close to my heart.

Today we had our first Super Saturday! It was awesome. I just want everyone to know we have an amazing children's pastor! The only drag today was the wind, but Pastor Lori seemed unfazed by it.

We had 71 people at the park today! WOW! More than we had in service last week! Crazy. People love their kids, and want them to learn about kindness, respect and honesty!

The one negative deal to day was that it appears the transmission went out on Dara's car today! Argggh. So we will wait and see what is really happening there.

Looking for a great Sunday Morning!

Blog page down

Wow, I have tried several times this week to blog and either blogger was down, or my internet was acting up! Crazy.

Well, I am up and running right now. We have made huge progress this week with our Super Saturdays this summer. Lori has spent a lot of time this week making this a spectacular event.

We have secured a couple full rounds of golf, a cut, color, and facial for mom, and tons of gifts for the kids, as a grand prize for the last Super Saturday.

We are going to be addressing kindness, honesty and respect. Each Saturday you come and are a part of a SS you get registered for the grand prize!

We have are work and print media coming by mid week. It will be awesome!

Didn't win a car, but maybe...

I drove the kids to Perry Iowa last night. We got a flyer in the mail with a key taped to to stating this may be the key that wins you a new car. I know that I didn't have much chance to win, but I did have a 1 in 8000 shot at it. So we drove up and as you figured it didn't work. So we took some time had a little dinner together. (Dara was doing some Arbonne and church related things). After dinner we went to a local park in Perry. Who knows maybe the park in Perry.

After we were there for a while a family with 4 kids showed up. Colin and Awnna made friends fast. The Pirtles oldest girl, Mercedes, and Awnna were "best friends" before we were through. The funny thing is that, they are from Adel, and we are from Waukee, but what a "coincidence" that we met in that park 25 miles away from both our homes... No not a coincidence.

They seem like a great family and were interested in connecting with our Moms group on Tuesdays. Holly seemed interested in checking out the church as well.

It is amazing how God aligns things, huh?

New truck for Signature Granite

Here is the new truck for the granite counter top business. I think it will really be a nice truck, and will get better fuel mileage than what I am driving right now! I still am thinking about looking for a $800 deal like Cooper found on his accord. WOW, just to tool aorund town in when gas is 2.75 a gallon.

Just if your curious, it is a 2001 Dodge Diesel 2500, long box, and 4 door. 92,000 miles. ( low for a diesel) It should be THE truck for hauling granite.

I spoke with an older farmer in Perry yesterday and he has one similiar to mine with 398,000 miles on that he only replaced the oil pump on. Crazy.

Saturday Afternoon

No Rickets in the Singleton Family today. We are sitting outside in the sunny 84 degrees just enjoying the beautiful afternoon.

I am finishing up for tomorrow's sermon on Joy. This has really been an exciting series for me personally. I am still living in the closing point from Sundays sermon "Joyful No Matter What." We looked at Pauls life in his letter to the Philippians while he was in jail awaiting execution. He has such an amazing outlook on life. What we closed with is the thought that we need to separate joy and happiness. They are two different things. Our joy as a Christ follower is based on a relationship with a God who cares for us, not just our everyday happenings. Happenings is where we get the word happiness. Our everyday happiness can vary with the happenings around us, but our joy can never be squelched because it comes from God. He gives us joy unspeakable. Amazing.

As I sit in the sun and type at this computer, I again am in awe of how majestic He really is. Do you ever forget that God created everything for his Glory. Think about it.

Mac book Mac book Pro

Well I am almost coveting a new mac... The dilemma lies between a 13 inch macbook and a 15 pro. I love the pro, but really want a smaller notebook. That is the whole reason I want a new computer....

crazy.

da Vinci code

In life group tonight we will be discussing the major points of the Da Vinci Code... Should be interesting.

The movie was pretty much a let down. Only a 6 or 7. Not at all the level of a Ron Howard and Tom Hanks caliber movie. It deviated from the book in spots as well.

Do you think many Christians have been rattled by this book/movie?

Do you think that this book is a deterrent to Christianity?

Chris John

Had lunch with a great guy today name Chris. He will be leading worship for us on the 25th of June while Jason is out on a much needed vacation.

One of the things I really like about him is that he is a visionary. He has a dream of a worship leaders network for the metro. We discussed this ministry today and we want to partner with him in helping him make this a success.

The reason I love this dream he was is becuase it alines with our vision that God wants to touch every life in the metro. I know our church cant do that alone, and this kind of ministry will help us.

Chris and his wife are a part of the New Hope E Free in Adel where they are buying a house in the next week.

Anniversary

Monday was our 8 year anniversary. It was really nice. Just a note to everyone, don't get married Memorial day weekend. Everything closes at 6....

But we still had a great time. It was nice to be out with my beautiful wife. She is so eloquent and lovely. We sat at a restaurant and just enjoyed each others company for a few hours. Marriage really is great. I don't get these guys who just want to be single and date tons of women...

I have a wonderful wife who loves me unconditionally. I really couldn't make it with out her.

I love you Baby.

Technology The Love Hate Relationship

Well I found out yesterday that we have been recording the sermons to get the podcasting going for two months now, and they havent actually been recording.

It does make me want to do violent things to the computer, but I know that won't help. So I am posing this question for anyone who is interested, "Is there a person out there who loves technology as much as Kip from Napolean who wants to really take us to the next level with podcasting?"

If you read this blog and love in the metro leave a post....

JCFC 2nd Baptism

Just thought I would post Drews Baptism from Friday. It is absolutely awesome to be a part of the Great Commission!

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Baptism

My favorite thing to do! I love the passion and commitment people have when they are getting baptized. I makes me feel connected to Jesus. Somehow my mind goes to this far gone day on the bank of the Jordan River and we under the eye of distant religious Pharisees who are watching our every move while we baptize person after person...

Tonight we baptized my friend Drew Stinson. It was awesome. He is such a kind and tender guy. I was honored to baptize him.

I love living out the great commission.

I will post the video tomorrow!

Vision

I know this is crazy, but I really think that God's plan is for every single person in the metro to experince God, to encounter Jesus, and live a life that is pleasing to him.

One church is not enough. This will require a network of churchs. Our church multi sited across the city. JCFC partnering with other church, denominations, and fellowships. But I feel in the deepest part of me that God desires to know his creation.

I also think that the local church is the vehicle to change lives.
Can you help me?
Will you follow him?
Are you ready to throw out everything you think you know about "evangelism" and really lay it on the line for God?

This isnt just a game of win or lose, but it is life and death.

Think about it, life or death.

Online giving

Ladies and gentlemen it is finally here! Online giving in a secure paypal site!

I think this is going to be fantastic! If you are away on vacation or out of town for business you can still be faithful in giving!

Check it out under online giving at www.jordancreek.org

Thursday

Wow, in the past month I have been to three different conferences in three different parts of the USA. I went to STL with my wife for her Arbonne NTC. John Maxwell spoke. Off the charts. I was in DC for a couple days at the Buzz conference with Mark Batterson and Ed Young. Ed's big line was "use your eyes to plagiarise." (just ask me about it) Then I went to San Antonio and hung out on the river walk with Herbert Cooper, Dave Crosby, Tommy Sparga, and Anthony Scoma. Four guys that poured into me for two days!

I am truly on information overload. I have really been doing some soul searching in the past weeks. There are several things we do well as church but other things we are really weak in. We are gearing up for the fall early to get a jump on the natural rise in attendance as vacations stop and school gets started.

Check out the web page in the next few days for some upcoming events. We are doing these awesome park "character" lessons this summer with some cool give always for the kids. We have yard signs coming next week! And we are looking at doing a photography day in the mall for families.

We are trying hard to create some buzz in the community!

Pray like it depends on God work like it depends on you!

Updating my profile

Well I am uploading my picture so I can get it to my profile page... I think

easter weekend

Wow. It has just flown by. I can't hardly believe that Easter has come and gone.

Everything went well, we had some out of town visitors and we had around 65 people in attendance. Some of our regular attendees headed home for their family easter celebration.

We had one really powerful video clip that didnt want to play right and that was a bit of a bummer, but over all it went great.

At least 3 people recommitted their life to Jesus this weekend. Awesome.

What a week

This week has literally flown by. My inlaws were here until Wednesday, several lunch appointments and meetings, and now getting ready to head out on a short camping trip. I will return tomorrow afternoon. We are headed to Loess Hills in western Iowa.

Of course I planned this trip 2 months ago, and wouldnt you know it a thousands things happened this week, and now it looks like a huge thunderstorm is brewing. So be it I guess!

In laws are here

I ahve been out of the blogosphere for a day or so. Sorry. I will get the sermon notes up later today from the weekend. My wifes parents are here and we have been going 90 miles an hour!

Be back soon!

Sunday Recap

This morning we had a little issue with the Day Light Savings Time agenda. A few families came in as we were packing up. I felt really bad, but I think we can blame it all on our good friend Ben Franklin. As far as I am concerned we can just stay with this time frame we are in right now!

We had 47 today and a good response to the second sermon in our fear series. The fear of failure.

Day Light Savings time is not a good thing for churches. Every ministry position I have ever been in this sunday has been a bit low, and again we fit that same bill. Next year we will do something different to make a little better splash on DLST.

Maybe we will bill it as some kind of holiday.... hmmm.

Well my son is officially a drummer. He drums on anything he can bang on! I caught him on camera the other day!

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Lost in the Woods

Well I have to admit that I have been trying to get some much needed exercise lately. I have been trying to at least once a week get outside and do something active. Yesterday Mark and I decided we would go for a light hike through the woods over at Brown Woods reserve at 63rd and Park at 3:30 in the afternoon.

Well if you live in the metro you know about the thunderstorm we had yesterday. Wasn't just a little rain dropping.... It was a down pour.

At about 4 we pulled up to the trail. It was barely sprinkling and against my wife's better judgment Mark and I headed out. Before it was all over with we were literally soaked to the skin! It was raining so hard we ended up getting all turned around and a nice one hour hike or so became well lets just say a bit more than that.

I did find some broken airplane parts laying in a pile, and some weird animal skull. It was quite the trip. Actually we had a blast, just wet and bit cold by the end.

So we got home finally and Dara just looked at me like, I told you....

My new beautiful wife

Just thought I'd let everyone in on a shot of the new glasses. Dara got them yesterday and she looks great! Really she does. Colin keeps pointing to her and saying, "Eyes, eyes."

She loves them and can really see well. Amazing.

Balaam and Balak

Well, I just think Balak was an idiot. Take a minute and read Numbers 22 today. Basically Balak commissions Balaam to curse Israel. Well each time Balaam tries he can only bless Israel. After a few times, Balak is pretty upset and says lets move to another spot and maybe God will let you curse Israel there. Pretty dense guy. Ok twice God won't curse his own people, but moving to another rock is going to make a difference?

Yeah I dont get that?

How did this guy make the Bible?

Read the chapter....

I stay, and new glasses

Well my little boy, Colin, made a huge human advancement today. He was at the Main's house for a little play time with his friends. They were all playing outside when Amy came out and said it was time to come in. He kept playing and then Amy asked him if he wanted to come in. Colin simply responded with, "No, I stay." A sentence, huge advancement. It definitely brings him up to the Paleolithic stage of communication now :)

As for the new glasses, Dara had an eye exam today and she is in need of some new glasses. The doc said her eyes are awful by any stretch, but these glasses would help if she wants them. Well they are on order now and she will be the trendy new studious looking girl!

Leaders are Thinkers

I went to a business conference with my wife last night. The speaker was tremendous. Of course what he was speaking about was all business related, but it is my custom to try to get something that I can apply to church growth and health.

One of the first things that he said was, if you are going to do amazing things you have to learn to think differently. He was telling a story of a man who had succeeded greatly in business. The man's first goal was to get a car with a driver. You might ask why? Maybe he should have paid other things off, or put some money away for retirement, but he wanted a car with a driver.

His idea was he wastes so much time looking for a place to park, and driving around doing nothing when he could be being productive. So he did get a driver and a car and he became one of the top income earners in his company.

Now maybe that is extreme or radical thinking, but an amazing approach. So often we just do ministry by memory, and expect new results. When sometimes we need to have a totally fresh idea on how we do church. Obviously why is the same, and the principles stay true, but methods can and do always change.

So my thoughts are, what are we doing that is "getting us a car and driver?"

Fear of Rejection

We are going to look at what God’s word has to say about a very common fear. The fear of rejection.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV

God has not given us a spirit of fear, but so many us of live with so many fears. Paralyzed by fear. Especially the fear of rejection. This does not come from God. Actually God’s word empowers us to over come the fear of being rejected.

I have to be honest and admit that at times I deal with this very fear. I am a pretty confident guy, and I usually don’t worry about what people think if it someone who I am not very close to. But sometimes it seems that the closer I get to people the more I sometimes worry about what people think.

You see we have to be careful to not become approval addicts. As a young minister I found myself just in that spot. I always wanted to know as soon as I was done. How was it? Did I do a good job? Was I clear, do you think others liked it?

My wife is very good at affirming me, she is honest and if I tanked she told me, but she is great at building me up. I remember a few times Dara not saying anything about the sermon for a long time. Probably just because we got busy or it didn’t come up… and all afternoon I was anxious… was it that bad she wasn’t even going to say anything… then you get to where you are even afraid to ask….

Approval junkies….

This is a very dangerous addiction. And many of you live right here…
Here is what the bible says…

Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe. Proverbs 29:25

Fear of people, man, others… it is trap or snare, but if you simply trust in God you will be made safe… awesome promise

2 Rejection Traps
1) Overly starved.
The sad thing is though when we are overly starved the very thing we desire most is the very thing we lose. We become so needy, so starved for acceptance that we lose that acceptance.

In old testament we read of a man who could have been the greatest king of all of Israel but his greatest weakness was he was always worry about being accepted. He was over come with the fear of rejection. He always wondered what are the people going to think… are they going to like me. At one point even he rejected what God thought and did his own thing, and did what the people thought… and the prophet Samuel came to him and confronted him.

This is what Saul said in I Sam 15:24‘… I have sinned. I violated the LORD’s command…I was afraid of the people and so I gave in to them.’

How often do you do that? You are afraid of what people think. So instead of doing the right thing, you give in and do what you think they would want you to do?

I know many girls who have expressed that they were saving themselves from sexual impurity until marriage only when they wanted the approval of someone and they trade their virginity for this false acceptance that only leads to more of the same….thinking sex equals love… and that is the furthest thing from intimacy that there is…

If I buy this car will you like me, if I do my hair just this way will you like me, if I go these restaurants, if I compromise my integrity in my business to be a part of this group will you then like me…

I know some people who want approval so bad they make a new relationship with someone or friendship, and they begin to get close to that person and they suck the life right out of them….

They become a human vacuum. Will you like me…. Suuuuck…

You know some one like that? Fear of man will become like a snare… become overly starved..
2 thoughts
Approval addicts have an inability to confront.
We want to be liked so we don’t confront. And until we learn biblical confrontation skills we can never have the intimacy in relationships that God wants..

Approval addicts give in, but are inwardly angry and resentful.
Ok I will do what you want, but on the inside I am getting really ticked, and it causes all kinds of grief.

Overly starved… but the next is the opposite….
2) Overly cautious.
"I have been hurt before, therefore I am never going to let anyone hurt me again… I am not going to trust, because I am dot going to let you do what someone else has already done to me…"

Blessed is the man who always fears the LORD, but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble. Proverbs 28:14

How often do we know some one with a hard heart. They hold everyone at arms length…
For some it starts when you have this sneaking suspicion that your parents favor another sibling over you, I don’t want to get hurt….

Others it on the athletic field when you don’t get picked for the team….

Don’t fit in a certain crowd, or they say they are going to be there forever… and you become overly cautious.

When you see great Christ followers who not unlike yourselves have family and friends that are unbelievers, but you are afraid to speak to them about Christ, why… because you are afraid they will reject you… t hat very thing happened in scripture..

A group of people who were Christ followers ran into this same dilemma. They were afraid of being rejected….

But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved praise from men more than praise from God. John 12:42-43

Fear of man is a trap… we become overly cautious or overly starved…

HOW TO OVERCOME THE FEAR OF REJECTION
The bible gives us two principles in dealing with rejection…by the help of God we can learn to:
1) Say “yes” to pleasing God.

In first kings there was some things stolen… and the king came to Jehoshaphat and asked what they should do, prodding him to say lets go maybe…

But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, ‘First seek the counsel of the LORD.’ 1 Kings 22:5

I love, first we seek God, not seek the advisors, or poll the people….

So when you are in a decision process, you don’t ask, what will my friends, or coworkers, or parents think… first ask what will God think…

We seek to please God in all we do…

I love the story of one of my favorite preachers. G Campbell Morgan. As a young man he was going before a credentialing body in 1888. He stood before 3 men … after he and all the men had preached and been interviewed. The there top guys made a decision as to which young preachers actually were called or not…

At the end of the day, Morgan made his way to the posted list. There he looked only to the accepted paper. He scanned down the long list only to find his name not there… he turned and walked away sad.

Some of you know that feeling.. you have worked hard for something… only to be rejected… maybe it is the approval of your parents, or job career promotion…

He sent a telegraph to his father back home with one word across the page… REJECTED…

His father telegraphed back simply and wisely..
“Rejected by men, but accepted by God.”

And that is where I want to fall. I will be rejected by people and so will you. If you intend to follow Christ you will. Isaiah said Christ would be despised and of men. How do you think you can follow Christ and not be rejected by someone…

Our first desire is to please God in all we do. That is why Jesus said this…
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33

First we say yes to pleasing God, then obviously we must
2) Say “no” to pleasing people. That doesn’t mean you can be rude…

We just cant be driven to be people pleasers.

I love how Isaiah puts this…Who are you that you fear mortal men, the sons of men, who are but grass, that you forget the LORD your Maker… Isaiah 51:12b-13a

You know what is crazy… we get driven by what people think and we forget God…

Listen to what Paul says… Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ. Galatians 1:10

You have a choice every day to either life for yourself and others, or to love for God…

If you take mans route, it is a trap… and it will surely fail, but if you try to please God… then you will be kept safe…

Are you trying to please God or man… yes to please God, no to pleasing man..

That leads us to our goal today….

Goal: LIVE FOR AN AUDIENCE OF ONE.

The one who really cares, not man who is fickle and changes his mind everyday. One day this is cool, or the thing to do. Another day that is right… but live like no one else is watching… you should experience life in such a way that it only matters what God thinks…

Jesus said this in John 5:30…
By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.I seek to please the one who sent me…

How many of you were alive in the glory days of like first or second grade when you got a hall pass…. You were chosen by the teacher to do an errend…
Hall pass, looking in at your friends…. Just waiting for teacher or custodian to ask we you were out in the hall…. I have a Hall pass!

But today we have so much more than a hall pass, we have Gods approval, we have hall pass of all hall passes. His word, grant us access right to Him… we need not worry about rejection, because he was chosen us as we have chosen him…. No matter what you think about me it doesn’t matter, God loves me and his righteousness makes me perfect in his sight, I am on over comer by his blood and my testimony… his word tells me he has plans to prosper me and bless me…

When God says you are free to go, go. When he gives you a task, and speaks to your heart, you do it…. We do not live for the approval of people… we have Gods hall pass…

Fear of men is a trap, but trust in God is safety…

I love these words…
“ Secure in God’s love, I will not surrender my self-worth to the opinions and judgments of others. When I am rejected, I will not retaliate; when I am hurt, I will allow God’s love to heal me. And knowing the pain of rejection, I will seek to love those who suffer from its anguish.” Lloyd Ogilvie

I say yes to pleasing God, not to pleasing others, and live my life with the Goal to worship God as an audience of one…
In that I find freedom from the fear of rejection….

Sunday Update

This Sunday we began our new series called "fear." Each of us deal with all kinds of fear, and Sunday we looked at what the Bible says about the fear of rejection. We had 53 people in attendance this weekend, on the last half of springbreak. Several people received some help in dealing with the fear of rejection.

The Bible says that the fear of approval of men leads to a snare or trap, but trusting in God leads to peace.

We all need to remember that it is God who gives the final approval and it is simply the best option to say "yes to God" and no to man. Our ultimate goal is the live for an audience of One. Once we can understand that God is approving of us and leading us, we can let go of our fears, especially the fear of rejection.

Remember fear doesn't come from God. II Timothy 1:7 says, The does not give us the spirit of fear, but of power, and love, and a sound mind.

Maybe we should live in that verse some more....

I thought you might enjoy the sermon trailer for the new Fear series. We are looking at what the Bible has to say about some of the most common fears we face. Many people deal with the fear of rejection, failure, intimacy, and losing control. Join us Sundays to see what God's Word teaches about fear.

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Dara's Blog

If you havce a minute try to check out Dara's blog this week. We have taken the 90 day challeneg together and she has blogged about some of the interesting things we have run across together.

Set change

Just so everyone is aware we are moving the set around tomorrow. We will be centering the drums and using small platforms for some variety on each side of the drums. It should look good.

We are working on some color washing over some fabric on each side of the screen. If any one is interested in sewing a bit... let me know.

It is Finished

I would like to introduce to you Mr and Mrs Nathan Kempers. It is official. They are married. I signed the paperwork just a while ago!

Everything went well and they are headed out to LA for the week. Pray for God's blessing in this new family!

Shanna looked beautiful and Nate just looked longingly into her eyes all the time :) It was all very special.

Being Ready to Worship

Worship is an amazing part of the Christ Followers life. Often we relegate it to Sunday morning when it should be an everyday experience, though. We need to learn to worship in every area of our lives.

I ran across some material this week I found in a storage closest, of all places, discussing worship. (You never know what you are going to find somewhere, so always be on the look out!) I thought I would pass it on to you.

For worship to stay both restful and revitalizing we must:
Get the big picture right, and do the little things right.

Psm 95:2 says, "Let us come before him with thanksgiving..."

The very first aspect of worship should be giving thanks to God. Worship has a starting line, a place that it begins and that place is with our hearts. We must begin with a thankful heart.

During the week just tell someone what you are thankful for. Really what are we thankful for? Do we ever consider that?

Psm 95:2 "Let us... Extol him with music and song."

God clearly tell us to celebrate him with music and singing. The problem is so many of us feel like we have to be quiet and solemn in church. The truth is the Hebrew people were singing loudly, playing trumpets, tambourines, and other instruments all the while dancing to God. I don't think it was quiet or still. I just don't see the "ventriloquist" version of worship happening then. (You know, you look and see someone worshipping and their lips are barely moving and you barely hear the song)

No we are to sing, and be excited because he is God! Remember this is not American Idol, Simon is not going to judge your vocal ability. You are singing directly to God! He doesn't care about your pitch, he just wants you worship!

Smile while you sing!
Close your eyes. (Sometimes we open our eyes and close our mouths. God wants us to express from our heart through our mouth what is happening on the inside)
Personalize the words you say. Change the song to fit you. Make it first person, make it you own.

Does any one deal with the "angry car ride to church" syndrome. You know, when it seems everyone is in a bad mood on the way to church. It seems like everything that can go wrong does. So then everyone is tense and upset during the ride to the church, even arguing until the door opens and you have to speak to someone. All of a sudden everything changes and you are the spiritual giant again. Anybody here with me?

Try to avoid that. Nothing kills the worship experience like an argument. Have a worship CD in the car ready to play for the Sunday drive to help get your spirit going.

Always remember worship is about God, not our circumstances. We need to be able to separate some of the junk surrounding us and engage God. He is just waiting for us to embrace Him.

sickness in the singleton house

Sorry about the past few days and the lack of blogging. We all have been a been a bit under the weather this week. I am getting ready to post a few blogs on some of the issues that have come up in my reading through of Genesis. I am well into the 90 day challenge now and loving it. I should finish Exodus tonight.

I am pleased to hear that several people have been accepting the challenge and are now on a journey to read the whole Bible cover to cover. It basically is reading 12 pages a day. You can either use your own Bible or buy one already marked. If you use your own Bible you need to find the total number of pages and divide by 90. This will give you the exact number of pages for your specific Bible.

If you would like to purchase your own Bible that is pre-set for this 90 day pattern you can either go to Barnes and Noble or Amazon to buy it.

Which ever way you choose you will be blessed!

Sunday Update

This morning was great! We had a great service in the main theater, but Lori had an amazing service in Creek Kids. She not only had 24 kids in her service, but she had 10 kids respond to Jesus.

So all total we had 69 in service this morning. We have challenged everyone to begin the 90 day challenge of reading through the Bible cover to cover.

I am finished with Genesis and beginning Exodus tonight. It has been amazing!

"Godly" Men

You know we have this idea that all the Godly men who have ever been used of God were just awesome Christ followers. We have this idea that after we come to Jesus we no longer struggle with any thing. We also often feel that God only uses those who are perfect and do not struggle with things in our life. How quickly that idea is crushed when we really dive into God's word.

Adam, the first created man sinned just by gentle encouragement of his wife.
Noah, the only righteous man on earth gets wasted just after getting off the ark.
Abraham, the father of all nations, lies to Pharaoh about his wife being his sister, and trades her for all kinds of goods...

Man, thankfully God is patient huh, and he doesn't require us to be perfect before he begins to use us.

Think about that before you cast judgment on someone else's life as they follow Christ.

Bible Study

Well today I started a new thing. I am on a 90 day encounter with God's word. I have committed to read the entire Bible cover to cover in the next 90 days. The way that it happens is by reading basically 12 pages a day.

I am still reading other things, but I have been feeling God directing me to be saturated with God's word. It is the road map of life. Now I have read every book at one point or another at least once, but I have never read straight through. So now I am on a journey.

I want to be well versed in God's thoughts. I like to know what people around me are thinking. One of my favorite things to ask is, "What are you thinking?" So I ask myself, "What is God thinking?"

The answer is right in front of me.

I journeyed from creation to Abraham and Sarah's life with Ishmael today. I love to read a great story.

Wouldn't the Bible make a great epic movie? It would be rated R though :)

The process

I was just doing my daily reading of the blogs I try to regularly read, markbatterson.com, brianzahnd.com and a few others. But go today to brians blog and read about the process. Read todays blog entry. take a minute to absorb what he is saying about the seeds verses growth. It is very well worded and I am not going to try to copy it. Just read it.

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

Doesn't that make you think of a commercial for a monster truck show at Wells Fargo.

Well. we didn't have a monster truck show, but we did have a meeting with God. Sunday went well as we finished the sermon series "God at the Billboards." Jason sang the Finger Eleven song "Traded it All" as I spoke about the parable that Jesus told about the man that found the treasure bauried in the field.

Here is the overview.

This question of cost and value, of risk and reward, applies to every aspect of life.

Like anything else, the Christian life involves costs and benefits.

“The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.” – Matthew 13:20-22


The Bible doesn’t present the Christian life as one of ease, and comfort, and pleasure.

Jesus warned his followers to count the cost before ever embarking on this journey.

“Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ’This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.” – Luke 14:25-30, 33

“Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go."
Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."” – Matthew 18:19-20

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. – Matthew 13:44

D.A. Carson, puts it, is that “The kingdom is worth infinitely more than the cost of discipleship, and those who know where the treasure lies joyfully abandon everything else to secure it.”

First thing about the treasure is that it was “hidden”.

“The disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?" He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them . . . This is why I speak to them in parables: "Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.” – Matthew 13:10-11, 13


The second thing I’d like you to note about this treasure is its immense value.

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”-jim elliot

“I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ”
– Philippians 3:8

“. . . if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward." – Matthew 10:42

No matter what the circumstances, in the end the benefits of following Christ will always be far greater than the cost of doing so.

"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. " – Matthew 5:11-12

“But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.” – Luke 6:35

Do you view the kingdom of God as a treasure?

Friday feature Video

Sorry about the real player issue. I am working on making it better. Hopefully by Friday evening it will be right.

Friday Feature

Just wanted to spark some interest for Bolivia. This "short film" is the overview of the trip I lead in February. We went to Cochabamba Bolivia and worked with Missionary Rich Farthing to help build an orphanage. We laid all the block on the second floor, interior and exterior walls. It was awesome! We are planning another trip for the fall of 07.

We are also in the process of raising $32,000 for a piece of property that they want to buy that sits right in between the orphange and the local church. It will be a safe place for the kids to play and interact.

I was discussing it with Mark Main the other day and he mentioned it as an opportunity to not just change a few kids lives, but this cna change generations of kids. It was such an awesome comment I have been using it since.

The ability to change generations. Isnt that really what it is about?

If thus clip doesnt play for you I am sorry.

Bolivia stream.rm
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Anger management

In Life Group last night we discussed anger, and the issues surrounding it. I just wanted to ask, Do you deal with anger? Do you explode or not? What do you do?

Ephesians 4:31 is pretty strong.
Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.

All rage and anger... Wow. I think that includes road rage,(ouch) anger towards our kids and spouses, and even coworkers.

It really all comes back to the great commandments. To love God with all our heart, and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

Yeah, I cant say I have those covered 100%. Do you? If you have market cornered there can we have lunch on Monday?

Blessings everyone.

I want to encourage you in all you are doing. I know that this is a vast undertaking, and I have been praying this week for each of the families in our church.

I am a firm believer in that Jesus' will is for all to know Him. Knowing Him requires repentance and turning our life over to Him. It is a big step for people. It is happening, and I am focusing new efforts to disciple those who have made commitments.

Romans 10:13 is one of my favorite texts. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved...

Awesome, simplistic, real, genuine promise from God.

It's the next verses that really shake me up. It was brought back to my attention this week, and I haven't been able to shake it.

14How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"

I don't want to be guilty of not "preaching" the Good News in its fullness. I don't want to be guilty of simply not preaching when I have the opportunity. Of course I don't mean I have to be standing on a box downtown yelling. But I do mean I want to be one who is actively seeking opportunities to share Gods story of redemption.

He is in the redeeming business you know...

Lost blogs

Man I love technology, but sometimes I have a problem. The problem is sometimes it doesn't work for me! I have posted a few blogs in the last week but they have mysteriously disappeared.

Then a few days ago I Dara went to post a new blog on her site and one of my blogs was there. So I don't know what is going on.

It does seem strange though. Apparently one of those technology gnomes is out to get me again!

Sunday recap

Sunday went well. It was week 3 of our God at the Billboards series. Jacob Cooper (commonly called Cooper, at times I have to think about what his first name really is) sang the Cold Play song "Fix You." He did a great job. I even heard rumblings after service about whether or not Chris Martin was really there. Cooper is now starting a local chapter of the Free Trade Organiztion at... never mind.

After everyone recieved their Silly Putty, I spoke from Jeremiah 18 about the how God told Jeremiah to go down to the potters shop and watch him make pottery. God is desiring to shape and mold all of our lives. The hook is that we have to be willing to let Him do so.

Are you ready to be put on the Potter's wheel?

Weekend update

Sunday was great! We completed week 2 of God at the Billboards this week. Dara sang the John Mayer song, "Something's Missing." She did a fantastic job. The band did a great job on the cover just before I spoke about the rich young ruler and his journey for something that was missing in his life.

We had 60 yesterday with several visitor! And at least 5 people gave their life to Jesus this weekend. It was awesome. This weekend epitomizes what we are trying to accomplish with our church.

Im back

Wow,

What a month. I am sorry I have been out of the loop for quite some time. I had posted a blog about being in Bolivia while I was in route at a hotel but it never posted apparently. Sorry.

I will be blogging about all the details of the trip in the next few days.

Blessings and I am glad to be back.

Giving is about trust

The Bible lays that plan out. There are 500 verses on prayer, less than 500 verses on faith, and more than 2000 verses that deal with money and possession.

Jesus talked about money in 16 of the 38 parables. That’s 42%! If we want a revolution, we’ve got to talk about money, as well.
Many of the struggles in your family have money has their root. Financial disagreements are the number one cause of divorce in America.

Money matters in all areas of our lives.
Money is a key to the revolution of life.
It takes money to do what God has called us to do.
Just as there was a plan to finance the American Revolution, there is a plan to finance this revolution and it’s found in Malachi 3.7-12. Malachi is the final book of the Old Testament. It’s a prophetic call for the people to return to God and take part in a spiritual revolution.


“Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says the LORD Almighty. "But you ask, 'How are we to return?' "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' "In tithes and offerings.
You are under a curse--the whole nation of you--because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty. "Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the LORD Almighty.”

First, I want you to notice the Purpose of the Tithe.
The tithe means the first 10% of your income. Tithe simply means a tenth. So, what’s the purpose of the tithe? The tithe was established to demonstrate our commitment to God.
Here was a country in need of a revolution and the message from God through Malachi is this: You aren’t giving your best; your giving what’s comfortable. You’re serving out of convenience, not out of commitment.
In Malachi, the people did not put God first in several areas of their lives.

1. He was not first in their sacrifice.

Look at Malachi 1.6-8, “"A son honors his father, and a
servant his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?" says the LORD Almighty. "It is you, O priests, who show contempt for my name. "But you ask, 'How have we shown contempt for your name?'
"You place defiled food on my altar. "But you ask, 'How have we defiled you?' "By saying that the Lord's table is contemptible.
When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?" says the LORD Almighty.

They aren’t giving God what’s first; they’re giving God what is leftover. Leftover commitment doesn’t stir a revolution.

1. They did not put God first in their family.

Look at Malachi 2.14-16, “You ask, "Why?" It is because the LORD is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant. Has not the LORD made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth.
"I hate divorce," says the LORD God of Israel, "and I hate a man's covering himself with violence as well as with his garment," says the LORD Almighty. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith.”
They aren’t giving God their best and it isn’t because their giving the best to their families. Their families are being broken into because of their lack of commitment. God says I hate divorce because of what it does to families. It tears them apart and shreds them to pieces.

1. They did not put God first in their money.

Malachi 3.7-9 said it clearly. They loved their money more than they loved God.

Here’s what I know: there is a relationship between your possessions and your priorities.

The tithe was established to align our priorities. That’s the purpose—demonstrate our commitment to God.
We not only need to look at the purpose—we need to look at the problem. Look with me at verses 6-9 and then 13-15:
"I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of
Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says the LORD Almighty. "But you ask, 'How are we to return?' "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' "In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse--the whole nation of you--because you are robbing me.”
Now go to verse 13, “"You have said harsh things against me," says the LORD. "Yet you ask, 'What have we said against you?' "You have said, 'It is futile to serve God. What did we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the LORD Almighty? But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly the evildoers prosper, and even those who challenge God escape.'"

The problem isn’t that they aren’t tithing—that’s a symptom of the real problem. The real problem is that they were far from God! The really big problem was that they didn’t even know it.

What happens when we stray from God?

1. We don’t know how to return. (verse 7)


2. We grow insensitive about it (verse 8)


3. We leave a tangible trail (verse 8)

The lack of tithing was the result of that tangible trail.

Giving is not a step in getting closer to God. Giving is the result of being close to God!

1. Our talk is better than our walk.

Look at Malachi 2.17, “You have wearied the Lord with your words.” Talk is cheap. I can hear the chattering talking heads on television any time I want. Monday morning quarterbacks fill the airwaves after the games. Anybody can be a critic—but are your really committed!

There is a purpose—demonstrate commitment.
There is a problem—strayed from God.

So, here is the proposal. Look at verse 10, “So bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and test me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts.”
Notice a few things here:

1. The Percentage—10% (the whole tithe)


2. The Place—The Storehouse (Temple)


3. The Purpose—So God’s program can be advanced


4. The Proposal—TEST ME!

This is the only place in Scripture where God commands us to test him. We test him in every area we shouldn’t, but often fail to test him in the one area where he instructs us to.
Why does God want us to test him?

1. He knows Money is the last thing he gets.

I’ll give him my heart. I’ll give him my time. I’ll let him use my talent. But, my money is the last thing I give him. It’s the final piece of the commitment puzzle.

1. He wants to partner with us.

My part: Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse and test
God’s faithfulness.
His part: Personally provide for my needs and personally protect my possessions. Look at verse 10.
That brings us to number four: The Partnership in the tithe. Look at verses 16-18, “Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored his name. "They will be mine," says the LORD Almighty, "in the day when I make up my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”
Let me give you five tithing truths:

1. God owns everything. People who don’t tithe think money belongs to them.


2. My giving is a true test of my commitment to God. Jesus said, “You heart will always be where your treasure is.”


3. God wants our first 10%, not the leftovers. Proverbs 3.9 says, “Honor the Lord by giving him the first part of all your income.”


4. With God..$10-$1=$10+


5. Tithing is an issue of trust, not an issue of money.

Rick Warren, the author of The Purpose Driven Life tells how he learned to trust God with his finances. He writes, “Let me tell you how God taught me how to give. The very first time was when I was at college. I had $50 in my bank account. It was about three or four weeks away from the end of the college semester. I had a $500 bill that had to be paid for the semester of college and I had $10 that I owed to a friend. I had $50 in the bank. I was reading these verses one day that said sow and reap, if you sow generously you'll reap generously, sow sparingly you'll reap sparingly.
I thought, I'm going to put God to the test. I took the $50 out of the bank, closed out my meager savings account. I wrote a check to the American Bible Society. I don't know why I chose them. I just chose a Christian organization. I said, "I'm sending you my last $50 and I'm praying that God will meet my need. Please pray." This was the very first time I ever did this.
A couple of weeks later I got invited to speak in a church in inner city Los Angeles. After it was over, the pastor got up and said, "Let's take up a love offering for this poor, struggling college student." They took up the offering and it was $565. I took $500 and paid off the college bill, $10 and paid my friend back, and the remaining $55 and gave it as a tithe back to the Lord.
I think God has blessed him a little bit since then even, don’t you. The number one best selling non-fiction book of all time. Did you know that he reversed the tithe on the profits of that book—he kept 10% and gave 90% back to the Lord!

I believe so much in the concept of being blessed by giving that if you will faithfully commit to giving your tithe to the church for 90 days that if at the end of the 90 days if you are not blessed, and your life hasn’t changed, we will return your money to you.

So you have our 90 day money back guarantee.
I want you to be blessed this put God to the test….

PS Thanks for all your help with sermon Glenn!

Weekend update

Just thought I would take a minute and recap the weekend. We had 54 in service on Sunday and wouldn't you say the band did awesome? I spoke on the third part of a Revolution, "Commitment." It takes money to fund a Revolution of life but what we found out is that the giving doesn't take money from us it actually increases the blessing from God.

You see giving isn't really a money issue, it is a trust issue. I know from personal experience that I have tried most of the time to "handle" our finances when all along God has been saying, "Why don't you trust me with your finances?"

God's blessing abound when we "test Him" in giving. It is the only thing God has ever asked people to test Him in. I love trusting God.

Sow a seed, reap a harvest, reap a harvest change the world...

My grandma

My grandmas surgery was quite a success. The doctor is confident that he got all the colon cancer, but they did find cancer in some other tissue. She starts chemo in a few weeks.

Update

Wow what a whirlwind of the last couple weeks. I am getting ready to lead a team to Bolivia next Saturday. I am pumped. We will be building an orphanage in Cochabamba! I cant wait.

Pray that all goes well! There are still a few last minute details that need to come together, but we are in good shape.

Godcasting and Fox news

Check out this link to the video spot that Fox did on NCC in DC. Amazing.

My Grandma

Her surgery went well today. They ended up taking half her colon. The doc feels really confident that he got it all. They took some biopsies of other tissue to make sure it isn't any where else. We will get the pathology report on Monday. Thanks for praying.

Caawfee

I have been at Panera now for a couple hours. We live in Central Iowa, right? And this is the place of no accents. News reporters speak like Mid Westerners. So it is nice and funny to hear some southern accents flying around my "office" this morning.

There is woman in a booth next to me that keeps referring to her caawfee, and this at thaat. (say that with two syllables and you got it.)

It is admittedly refreshing to hear. I have worked hard to correct my grammar and lose the "accent" that I have had in the past. Occasionally it will still come out. But not as often any more.

Weekend update

Welcome to weekend update.

This weekend we had a great service. If you missed it, hopefully we can have the sermon uploaded to our sight soon. I am dealing with someone now who can make that happen for us. We had 49 people this weekend and everyone really seemed to engage well.

We spoke on having a changed life from the book of Philemon.

The first step in having a changed life is to Face your problems don't deny them. It is vitally important to not run from your issues. Like Onesimus, who in light of death, faced his master whom he stole from. It is paramount in the life of a Christ Follower to deal straight on with the issue.

Second, we all need to not Focus on what once was but focus on what is to be. We each need a "pote denuni" experience. That is the Greek from where we get the phrase "formerly, but now" in Philemon 11. God doesn't live in our past so why should we. Once we yield ourselves to Christ, the past is over. He wipes it all clean and we get a fresh start.

Well, that's weekend update. I'm Tina Fey, and I'm Jimmy Fallon hoping you have great tomorrow...

Blessing

I have really been thinking about "blessing" lately. Not the noun that we so commonly refer to as "I want a blessing." "That was such a blessing." "It would be a blessing if ..." No I have really been thinking about the verb blessing. The act of blessing. Bless in one form or another occurs 463 times in the Bible. It really means to speak to someome as you envision God's plan for them as you touch them if possible.

It happened over and over in the OT. Everyone was seeking a blessing from their authority. I firmly believe that there is power in words. Words can make or break a person. I have seen kids crushed by hurtful words, and others blossom when someone speaks affirmation into their lives.

One of the most destructive things that can happen in a childs life is to be rejected by their father. On the other hand one of the most powerful thing in someones life is to be blessed continually by their parents.

The very same principle applies to everyone's life. We need to be speaking blessings not cursings to those around us. We need to be praying blessing in the lives of our family and friends. We need to live in the blessing of God.

There are many types of blessing, or prayers of blessing. I think each has a powerful place in the life of a believer. One of my favorite prayers of blessings to pray, is to pray for a couples' unborn children. I think it is great to prayer that their children will be strong, healthy, and annointed of God to be successful in life and in the call of God.

We can pray blessing financially, emotionally, physically. I am not a guy that lives with his head in the sand, to say that nothing bad every happens in the life of a believer. So I am not saying that your faith isnt enough if you have trouble, I am saying though that their is power in what we say. And a prayer of blessing and words of blessing can change not only your life, but the lives of those around you.

So be blessed, prosper, and live healthy. Live in the divine destiny that God has created for you. He has plan custom fit for your life. So rest in His blessing.

Revolution

Just thought a quick update was in order. We passed out somewhere in the neighborhood of 1200 or so invite cards. We wanted to get some more out, but ran out of time and bodies. These cards have been a great marketing tool for our church. We have had about a 5% return rate. That is pretty crazy in the marketing world.

As a side note, if you would like to pass some out we have plenty at the church office. (now a corner in my bedroom) I also have maps all ready to go if there is anyone interested in getting a little exercise.

We might try to do some next saturday if anyone is interested.

Colin vs Dad

Well last night was very interesting. I normally get up with the kids when they cry, but Dara got up when Colin started crying last night around 2. She got him some juice, and changed him. It seems like she got him all tucked in again, but by the time she got back to our room he was screaming.

All babies go through some of that, so I said just let him cry a bit and figured he will go back to sleep. He didn't. He woke Awnna up, and she was telling him loudly to go back to sleep and stop screaming. That didn't help at all.

Dad to the rescue. I went in and decided that Colin was really just throwing a fit. I tried several ways to get him back to sleep, but every time you'd lay him down, when I would walk away he would cry. If I stood there he would make a "mad face" and watch me silently out of the corner of his eye.

We have been watching these parenting DVD's by this minister who has a great outlook on raising children. The number one thing in dealing with kids is that the parent has to win. Once you start letting the kids get one over on you, watch out. So even when I didn't really want to even battle at now 2.30 or 3.00, I decided I was going to win. I sent Awnna to bed in my room. I then grabbed a blanket and a pillow so I "camp out" on the floor. (Awnna's bed is a loft, and it is funny to see me up in it. I didnt' want to deal with him from up there)

So after a few more battles, he finally understood he couldn't kick and scream, and he calmly with no tears fell asleep. I in turn slept on the floor for a while, but it was worth it to know he now understands more than ever that Dad is the final authority.

How much better would our lives be if we just let Jesus be the final authority. It is hard sometimes to just give in, though isn't it. Why are we like that? It is tough to ask for help, hard to admit when we are wrong, and difficult to just say, "OK God, I can't do this myself." But for things to be different, we have to.

Truck Update

Just thought I would bring you up to speed on our truck. The first estimate was 8500 with a new engine. Out truck wasn't worth that so I opted for a new "used" engine. I found one for 1900 plus install and thought it was the deal. After further inspection the guy I bought it from wasn't happy with it after he pulled it, and then didn't sell it to me.

I was a little put out about that at first because I was really anxious to get the truck going again. But we found another "new, used" engine today that really is great. It was a remanufactured one that just was put into a truck and then the truck rolled or something and it looks as if we are the proud new owners of a great engine. Much better than the one we had previously purchased. Funny how God works, huh?

Kirby Vaccuum salesman

Had an interesting thing happen yesterday. A very nice guy came to our house and tried to sell me a Kirby. He did a great demo and cleaned our stairs and Awnna and Colin's room. It really needed it bad!

Well, he was a very good salemans and did a great job on selling me the Kirby idea, but i just couldnt bite the money we has try to give me. I felt bad for him, but I have learned that impulse buying isn't very good for our family!

I will probably buy a Kirby someday, but I am not much of retail guy, and that makes me a hard sell for a door to door salemen.

One thing I found pretty interesting is that he said door to door sales are up do to the no call lists... Things that make you go hmmmm.

So be expecting your door bell if you have signed the no call registry.

Organic Church

Ok I am reading 3 books right now. Revolution by Barna, Blue like Jazz by Miller, and Organic Church by Neil Cole. All three are great. I started OC last night and I couldn't hardly stop. I need to finish all three before our new series starts!

I have to give you a quote from the forward by Leonard Sweet. He is setting things up by telling a story of minister walking down the street and a couple boys with a messed up bike yell and say, "Can you stop being a minister long enough to help us." The minister gladly helps and is awestruck.

Cole goes on to say that "If you want to win this world to Christ, then you are going to have to sit in the smoking section."

I am convinced that as Christ followers we have too often reclused to our little sanctuaries to just sing "Bind us Together." When the Great Commission is really about connecting with people outside of Sunday Morning in a life impacting way for the Christ follower and the seeker.

So as I reflect over my year last year and what I want to accomplish this year, my heart is broken. Because I know the past is gone and I have had missed opportunities to be "Jesus with skin" on to a lot of people. I am ready to start a Revolution. I know that comes with heartache, work, and rejection by many in the religious realm.

But as I look at Jesus, the ultimate revolutionary, he made all the religious people of his day upset. So much they killed him, but he started something that cant be reversed, even 2000 years later.

Revolution

I am researching our new sermon series this week that begins on January 15th. It is simply called Revolution. Mark Main gave me a great book that goes right along with what we are trying to accomplish, Revolution by George Barna. I would encourage any one to read this book. You might hear some overlap with the sermon if you do, though! :)

Christian School

Just a quick note to see what everyone thinks about Christian school here in the metro. My littel girl is currently enrolled at Iowa Christian Academy. We have a few concerns, and are looking to possibly make a switch to Des Moines Christian. I am not sure if we are switching mid year, or waiting until next year or not doing anything. I plan to talk with both administrations this week.

The question I am pondering is what really went down with the two schools. I wasn't in Iowa at the time and am wondering what the truth is about the situation. Also what are your thoughts on switching mid year?

The end of the year

Here we are at the end of the year. The last two weeks have been a blur. We took about a week off to do the holiday thing, and get some much needed rest. I pretty much checked out and let my brain relax. I am actually not very good at relaxing, but I tried to do it this last week.

Today is the final day of the year, and a lot has already transpired this morning. Colin was up late and then up early, and I got a call from my dad saying my grandma has colon cancer. What a way to finish the year, huh?

I am fully aware that God can do a great thing in her life, and I believe that God is here. But I have to admit it zaps you. You just dont really expect that kind of thing to happen. I saw her a week ago and she seemed fine. There are suprises in life you just cant predict. They are running more tests today to see if it has spread. The docs said she has had it for years without knowing it.

On a brighter note tonight is our New Years Eve party which will be a blast. And we are gearing up for a big year!

out of the loop

Well, I have been away from the blogosphere this week. Just to fill everyone in, our church truck blew the engine this week. It has been crazy since then. We found out for sure on Tuesday evening with the help of our resident mechanic Todd Esbeck. Technically we have a hole in piston number 6! Not good.

So that has kept me running in circles it seems. We have had estimates of up to $8500 to fix! Crazy. We wont be doing that. I am confident we can get it fixed for close to have that and be back running before the first of the year!

I will do better this week!

Sunday Update

Well again this Sunday we had a great time. Service went well, as we had a full band this weekend. Nate was a part and added a great sound with his guitar and Marshall halfstack!

We had 59 in attendance, and we spoke about Technology and the church. JCFC really values technology as a resource that we should redeem for God's glory. The Blue Prints sermon series is wrapping up this weekend with why we are passionate about children's ministries. The kids will come into "big church" as they call it, to perform a few songs, and give opportunity for our children's pastor to share her heart. Pastor Lori loves kids and is doing a great job.

We are working on a way to get her elevated just a bit so all the kids can see everything she is doing. (not really because she is vertically challenged, but the chairs have such high backs.. :)

Giving this weekend was amazing, and I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has been giving consistently. May God richly bless you for helping His work to continue!

Technology

"Man, I love technology, but not as much as you and me, always and forever. Always and forever...."

I love Napolean Dynamite. Great movie. But I really do love technology. It is amazing as I sit here at Panera and surf the net while I sip some coffee, and gather my thoughts for the morning.

God has really been pushing me in a lot of areas. I am trying to be faithful in all of them. One of them is really using technology for His Glory. As Christ followers we are quick to say He has created all things, but fail to use a medium that is touching everyones life daily. It is easy for us to pray and thank God for the wisdom he has given doctors, or say he owns the cattle on a thousand hills, (he can meet your finacial need), but when it comes to technology we red flag sometimes.

Jesus was the master illustrator. Everywhere he went he was referring to things happening around him. It just made the point that much more powerful. Like when he likened the Gospel to a sower, or sitting outside the Gate Beautiful referenced entrance to heaven. I would even guess He was near a street vendor selling bread, when he spoke of himself being the bread of life. Master communicator.

So if Jesus used all the things around him, why cant we be like him?

Why cant we use our Ipods as discipleship tools? I mean there are plenty of places to download the audio bible to it. It can be a whole bible right along side of your music. I know God is challenging me to do better at market place evangelism. Why cant we redeem technology and use it in ways it wasn't really designed for?

We do it all the time with other things. Computers weren't designed to be used as Christian tools, but we have used them all over the place. Auto makers designed cars to help us travel and make life easier, and we have used the vehicle to take the Gospel to the world. Radio is used all over the communist and Muslim world to broadcast God's love in places we can't physically get to.

So why is it that many of us hesitate to use video, or prerecorded clips, or an Ipod to share the gospel with?

So what is God asking us to do?

Office Downsizing

Just some FYI for everyone. The office on Aurora is closing. We have been borrowing an office space from First AG on Merle Hay for the past 6 months or so. They are regrouping offices and are heading back to the main campus.

So if you have anything there or would like to see the first JCFC global headquarters before we move swing by. Technically the lease if up December 31. I am going to try to have everything moved by the end of next week.

Internet

Just to let everyone know, my internet has been crazy at the house. I am getting my own dsl on Monday! No more days with out highspeed. (I have been, shall we say "using" my good neighbor Jill Swaim for her wireless high speed, but it has been acting up lately.)

We are in business soon!

Snow

Well this morning I was scheduled to head to Iowa City for a church planters meeting. Due to the snow and some vehicles not running at top speed, we didn't go. I enjoy the meetings we have but not at the expense of danger. SO.

There is a couple of inches of snow from last night on top of the 6 or so we currently had. It has been fairly windy so it is hard to say just how much we have. I do know this my little girl loves the snow and the cold. I said to her the other day, "Hurry and get in the car its freezing." She quickly replied, "No dad, its not cold, just another day. It was like 3 degrees out.

She always wants to play outside and sometimes I don't let her. It is just too cold. She doesn't really see the danger she only see the snow! We watched a Nooma last night at Life Group. (if you wanted checked out any of Rob Bell's videos you should. ) It was the one about the kickball. Amazing how sometimes we don't see God as out loving heavenly father who wants to give us good things. It is just sometimes He is holding a better thing than the one we want. We just seem to only see the snow, and how we could play in it right now.

God sees the whole picture and we only see a portion. Everyone's comments last night were great. I especially enjoyed Guy's perspective on God from the standpoint of losing his father at 15. It was an awesome picture he drew about the relationship and the importance of that relationship with our heavenly Father.

Thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks to everyone who brought food. Delicious.

Sunday Sermon Notes

Blue Prints
"Wired for Worship"

Ever done anything really silly. Just plain humiliating. Just thought afterward, what I was thinking.

I can't dance, sometimes I like to think secretly that I can, but I really can't and I have been the butt of a lot of jokes before, actually my sister has on her website that one of the things that makes her happy is watching me try to dance.

Well, I remembe7thn 7th grade once we had this teacher who was into Native American dance. And we was trying to make some point and wanted a volunteer to do a rain dance. So because I hate awkward silence I raised my hand to go. I have never even been to a pow wow so I had no idea what to do.

It wasn't pretty.

It is the fear of foolishness that really keeps us from doing a lot of things.

It is the fear of foolishness that keeps:

*You from raising your ha4thin the 4th grade when you aren't sure you know the answer
*You from asking that person out on a date, because you are afraid they may say no
*You changing your major, or changing jobs
*You from praying for a miracle, or even sharing your faith
*You from really worshipping as we could or sometimes should


It is sometimes the fear of foolishness that keeps us from becoming who we really were destined to be.

Here is the big idea:
If you are afraid to look foolish, youre foolish.


If you think about it, faith is simply the willingness to look foolish.
Noah looked foolish building an ark
Sarah looked foolish buying maternity clothes at 90
Israelites looked foolish marching around a walled city blowing trumpets
David looked foolish attacking a giant with a sling shot
Wise men looked foolish following a star
Peter looked foolish stepping out of a boat in the night
Jesus looked foolish hanging on a cross

But that is faith, risking looking foolish at the sake of doing something great.
But with all these examples the results speak for themselves
Noah, saved his family from a flood
Sarah had a baby at 90
Israelites conquers the city without any bloodshed
David killed a giant
Wise men found the savior
Peter walked on water
Jesus saved the world

One of the reasons I think that we are not killing giants, or walking on water or doing great things is because we are afraid to look foolish.

2 Samuel 6:16, 20
As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, she despised him in her heart. 20. When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, "How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!"

When you get excited about God, you can just expect some opposition.

When you step out in faith to worship God more or to become more passionate about your prayer time, or to begin a new ministry here at the church or outside of here.

When you get really passionate about God 1 of 2 things happen
1. People are challenged positively Some people are going to say, man they have something I love. I want to grow like they have grown. I want to be passionate about Jesus in that same way
2. People will be convicted Some people though are going to quickly make excuses about something else in your life; they are going to try to drag you back down.

See you are disturbing the status quo. Living outside the box.

You see David has finally gotten the Ark of the Covenant back home. It has been along process and he is just worshipping God with every fiber of his being.

David wasn't in his fruit of the loom; he took off his kingly garments, and was just able to be free. Totally uninhibited.

He was new king, and kings don't disrobe in front of people and dance.

Michal new that better than anyone, her dad was king, and she grew up in the palace. Michal was upset with David, because he wasn't acting as her father did. Saul was kingly king. I figure he probably woke up in the morning with scratches on his face, because he had slept with his crown on.


But part of it is they don't really know what is happening.

Have you ever pulled up next to someone and they are dancing like a mad man in the front seat. You know they are really getting with the music in their car. Really from the outside it looks dumb. Go ahead we can admit it, we laugh at people doing that. Have you ever caught yourself doing it! Of course.

To those hearing the music it's great.

There is an ancient proverb that sums this up
Those who hear not the music think the dancer is mad. -ancient proverb


Sometimes I lift my hands in praise, as in total surrender to God. Other times I kneel. Sometimes I move my feet back and forth to dance a but because I am excited

Maybe it seems weird to get excited, or to worship a god we can't sense with our 5 senses.

But it isn't really that foolish once you have heard Gods music so to speak.
I'm not crazy, I am just responding to what God is doing inside my heart, and it gets me going.


Jason Huffey is our worship leader and he really does a great job at helping us engage with God. I have asked him to come and just share his heart a bit about worship.

A Personal Worship Experience
1. Worship before and audience of One
2. When you draw near to God, He won't leave you hanging
3. Worship translates into a lifestyle



2 Samuel 6:21-22
David said to Michal, "It was before the LORD, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord's people Israel I will celebrate before the LORD. 22 I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor."

David is willing to show his joy and celebrate. Whether it pleased people or not. His one goal was to please God.

Worship is Simply saying Thank You to God

Hebrew word for praise is
Hallal means clamorously foolish

If you aren't willing to look foolish, you're foolish

Sunday Update

First, does anybody enjoy the Sunday update? If you like it, leave a comment. For that matter if you don't like it, leave a comment.

Well, I think this last Sunday went pretty well. We had 65 in attendance and we dedicated Sophia Toscano's boys to God. I feel like I could have done a better job with that, though. It was great to meet some of her family as well.

I really feel like the church is really becoming healthy, and starting to really solidify. Just wait until you hear the band this upcoming weekend. If you thought it was good before, we are going to the next level this weekend. Nate Kempers joined the band, and this weekend we will not only have Nate's guitar, but percussion and piano again, since Chris will be with us Sunday.

I like to see things grow, but I really love to see people grow. It is evident in the life of many Christ followers at JCFC.

Monday

Ever have one of those days where you just seem to be running from the moment you hit the floor. Yesterday was that way for me. I have to admit, I didn't even turn on my computer all day. Here we are trying hard to be technology driven church, and I didn't even step into the realm of technology all day. At least not from the computer standpoint.

Thanks for being patient.

Blue Prints

I have been studying several different things in preparation for this weekends message. We are speaking on being Wired for Worship. It is interesting for me to see how we cant "not worship."

It is just who God created us to be. Each and every person worships something or someone. Think about it.

If you get a chance read the 32nd chapter of Exodus. Be thinking about how we are built to worship. Amazing that the Israelites couldn't go 40 days without worshipping and they had to turn all the gold they had into an idol.

Crazy, but we are just like them, huh? It doesn't take long for our focus to change and we are worshipping work, money, or people and places. I am glad God is patient with me....

Internet down

Isn't it funny that my cable company's internet goes down so easy? Sorry for not being able to post since Wednesday, but I haven't had a high speed connection.

This week has been a very busy one. We are gearing up for the holiday season at the Singleton's house. Our tree is up and my family is now happy. My wife does a beautiful job decorating and we have such a cozy, warm looking Christmas house now!

You should come over and check it out!