October, 2015

...now browsing by month

 

Service

Thursday, October 29th, 2015

http://media1.razorplanet.com/share/510709-7413/resources/church_alive_rebuilt1315338843.png

Can a pastor be so stoked that he is ready to jump past several days to get to the day?  Please say “YES!!!”  Here’s why.

This Sunday, following a short message (Aaaaah yeah) and a soup,crackers, & pb sandwich lunch, close to 70 of our people will be heading out into the community to serve. We will be feeding meals to seniors in a center. Working around that same center doing gutters, flowerbeds, raking leaves, etc. We will be going elsewhere fixing a bathroom for one elderly lady and putting steps in so a man can use his walker to go up and down the steps. (They are currently too steep). We will have crews raking leaves, cleaning out gutters, gathering shrub, helping some move, giving free oil changes and a host of other odd jobs.

I AM STOKED!! Too see over 70 people volunteer to give up 3-4 hours on a Sunday afternoon to make a difference has got me wired. There is so much to do in our community we are even planning a Spring event.

There is also some silver lining when we are all done. We will be coming back to the church building for each person to build their own ice cream sundae…AND…(if they want to) give a short testimony of what they did and what they learned.

The sermon is on Choosing to Serve but I suspect the best sermon of all will be the folks who head out to put feet to their faith. I’d appreciate your prayers for our venture, for safety for all, and an impact to be made. Not for the church but for Jesus. Thanks.

Vision

Wednesday, October 28th, 2015

I interrupted my posts on OVCF’s Mission and Vision to write about my visit with my father. I had originally intended on making each item a separate post but I think it might be best to just include them together. It will give a fuller picture of where we are.

Mission: To connect people to Jesus. You can go here to see that discussion.

I tend to think capturing the same reason for Jesus being here on earth is a good mission to have. The real question is “How are we going to accomplish it?” I shared three markers with the folks this past Sunday.

1- To be passionate pursuers of Jesus. The principle which comes into play is “you cannot take people where you yourself are not.” The desire to pursue a relationship with Jesus needs to be a driving force in my own life if I want to show/help others have that same pursuit. See Paul’s words in Phil.3:7-10.

2- To be models of truth and love. We need to mix truth and love. To become too truth-oriented can lead us to becoming too judgmental. To become too love-oriented can lead to compromising the truth of the Bible. We can love, laugh, discuss and talk with those we disagree with, but it can also be done respectfully.

3- To be involved in our community. We will stay involved in our community. I can’t wait to tell you what we are doing this coming weekend for our community (next post). This community I live in may be smaller than many of yours, but it still has its needs. People are still hurting. We want to see the strongholds of alcohol, drug abuse, sexual exploitation (especially of children), the cults and other evils broken down. And with all that going on we still plan on staying involved in other mission ventures.

Those three markers encompass how we want to make our Mission a reality and see lives changed.

FatherRedux

Tuesday, October 27th, 2015

Several weeks ago I wrote a post for Faith’nFriends. Deb Wolf, the administrator, asked for writers to fill certain spots. I told her I would take the 28th. I’d like to ask you to head over there to see my latest post. Here I am calling it FatherRedux. There it is called “Father-A Look at Pain and Healing.”  Here is an exerpt:

In my previous post, I wrote about the conditional love I received from my earthly father as I grew up. When Deb said she had some open dates for posts, I volunteered to do one for today, October 28th. You see…today is my dad’s 88th birthday. But I also knew that I would be heading to Pennsylvania to visit him. There was a reason.

For the rest please use this link to head over there. Feel free to comment there or here. I’d love to hear from you. And by the way, it won’t post until 7:00 am for you early birds!

Connecting

Monday, October 26th, 2015

In my last post I mentioned the Mission of OVCF is

TO CONNECT PEOPLE TO JESUS

I also wrote about flexible goals-of not being so tied to a particular goal/number that it is set in stone. Jeff asked a good question. He says first, “A goal must be measurable.” Then he asks a question: “Is there a number you have in mind and how will you know if they are connected?” In my original post I misused the word mission and goal. I interchanged them. But his question is still a very valid one.

If we say our Mission is “to connect people to Jesus,” how do we know that is happening? I thought I would take an approach using a familiar Scripture (to some) and try to make my point. The Scripture is Matthew 28:19-20. For those familiar with the Bible it is called the Great Commission. I see four statements based on those two verses:

One. The first word is “Go.” Not “come.” We are told to “Go” into the world. We were never told to tell people to “come to a physical church building.”

Two. We are told to “make disciples.” The Greek word Jesus uses is a combination of believing and learning. It doesn’t refer to people only interested in “making a decision” for Jesus. Making a decision for Jesus is never devoid of being a follower of Jesus.

Three. The expectation of baptism. The initial act of obedience to Christ after salvation is to submit to baptism as a testimony to union with Him in His death, burial, and resurrection. Although the act of baptism has no saving benefit or power, it is commanded by Jesus of all His followers.

Fourth. “Teaching them to observe…” To lead someone to connect with Jesus and then leave them high and dry is not what we are supposed to do. Tragically, many are only interested in the “number thing” and have no desire to teach and train someone else.

One way a church (OVCF) can “check itself” on whether it is fulfilling its mission is to see how many disciples it is making and training. Numbers-attendance or baptisms or “decisions”-is not a very accurate gauge of our faithfulness to our Mission.

2000

Sunday, October 25th, 2015

Not posts. I’m way past that. (Heading toward 2500)

Miles.

Not driven miles. Ridden miles. During Friday’s ride, I crossed the 2000 mile mark for 2015.

However, that was not my goal. The goal I set on January 1 was 2500. Unless the weather can remain above 30 for the next two months with absolutely no precipitation, it is highly unlikely I will make my original goal.

That’s the thing about goals. My philosophy is what I will call flexible goals. When I set 2500 as my goal for the year, I did not count on getting a later start due to a month long February snowfall.  Well, maybe not month long, but we seemed to get a whole lot of snow that month. Road bike and snow/ice do not mix; nor was I counting on a cranky knee which would take several weeks of riding to make it even road worthy (easy rides of 12-15 miles); nor was I counting on having the rainiest June on record. Several other factors entered in as well. By July I was already a good 100-200 miles behind my norm. So I went into flexible goal mode. I adjusted my thinking and my goal. I lowered my goal to one more realistic-one which would challenge me but also be reachable. Thus the 2000 and the excitement of seeing a goal realized.

Whether a personal goal or, in my case, a professional goal (church), setting goals must never be put in concrete. (IMHO) Goals which are too high can lead to discouragement. Goals too low can lead to “settledness.” The mission (goal) of OVCF is “to connect people to Jesus.” My next three posts will be how we hope to make that a reality (reached goal). I do hope you will tune in and take part.

I inadvertently published this too early. Sorry for the inconvenience. It is now back on schedule.

Identity

Thursday, October 22nd, 2015

http://media1.razorplanet.com/share/510709-7413/resources/church_alive_rebuilt1315338843.png

I wear an ID bracelet on my wrist. Actually it is a RoadID bracelet. I also wear a FIXXID and a SportID as well. (Just go here to see what all three are). I wear them to identify myself in case of an accident on my bike and I’m unable to respond. I know that scares the heebie-jeebies out of Jo but the IDs are a safeguard just in case. The motto of RoadID is “It’s Who I Am.” Each ID gives my name, contact info (Jo), medical information and I include a saying.

My sermon Sunday is entitled “Its Who We Are.” We are celebrating our 11th anniversary as a church community and I feel it is necessary to remind ourselves who we are. That simply means restating our Mission and Vision so people (the veterans and the newbies) know who we are and why we exist.

Without vision, there is rarely direction. Without direction, there are no goals. And without goals, there is no progress.

It is going to be a big day for us. I’ll be preaching the bulk of the message and during the Vision part, Ryan will be contributing on how the youth are also involved in fulfilling the Vision.  I’d appreciate your prayers for us this week.

Stone22

Wednesday, October 21st, 2015

Without a doubt, cultures are different.  What works in one culture won’t work in another. We might hear something like, “If we would copy the New Testament church and do things the way they did we would be able to say we have ‘gone back to the Bible.'” One word: unrealistic. I know. I said it.

As Bob Dylan sang: “The times they are a changing.”

What works in one church doesn’t work in another. What worked several years ago is now passe’.

What hasn’t changed down through the years, though, has been the constant attempt (translated: sometimes forcing a guilt trip on people) trying to get people more involved. It is laudable. It is important. No, make that essential. But it appears many churches are facing or have accepted that it is a losing battle.

We are not producing worshipers in this country. Rather, we are producing a generation of spectators, religious onlookers lacking, in many cases, any memory of a true encounter with God, deprived of both the tangible sense of God’s presence and the supernatural relationship their inmost spirits crave. (Prodigal Church-p.1-3-204)

Randy would certainly agree. That is what Stone22 is about-accepting church is just an audience. I might add: a spectator sport. A body best functions when all its parts are working together, supporting each other. When riding my bike, a cranky right knee which has caused some atrophy (and loss of strength), is causing the left leg and thigh to pick up the slack.

Church is to be the same. Not a spectator sport where we all stand around while a few do the job, but an involvement where everyone pitches in.

If you attend a church, I do hope you are pitching in and “pulling your weight.”

This post is based on a series of random posts based on this book.

Product Details

Future

Tuesday, October 20th, 2015

timeclock

“Cubs win World Series. Beat Miami?”  (Scene from Back to the Future 2)

“Cubs Win! Cubs Win!” (Harry Carey after a rare Cubs win)

Oh… if only Harry Carey’s dream could come true….if you are a Cubs fan. (Which I’m not).

I guess one would have to be born under a rock to not know that October 21, 2015 is the date highlighted in the movie Back to the Future 2. One of the predictions is the Cubs finally win the World Series. ‘Course I don’t know if that will happen. They will have to get past the Mets and then either the Jays or Royals.

There are several other interesting factoids about the movie which people have focused on. Like technology featured here. Or other predictions here. It has been fun for a Back-to-the-futurite like me to see what all has come down the pike. Nike says they have power laces coming. Some companies (Tesla for one) are even touting their “breakthrough into hoverboard technology.”

After spending time with my dad this past week, the future is more of a reality than it had been. Retirement. Social (in)Security. Aging. Dementia. Creaking joints. Bulky knee. (Already lost the hair). 🙂

Truth is nobody knows the future. Spielberg et al came close on some things. But there has only been ONE who has hit it right on the money. And one day in the future He is returning when His Father says, “Now.” And He is not going to need a Delorean.

Trophies

Monday, October 19th, 2015

After reading Floyd’s post for this week, I started thinking about what used to be but is no longer important to me.  I would like to believe I have grown up some from the days when some things were so-o-o-o important to me I would “die for them.”

Back when I was in 9th grade, I started playing organized basketball. I was bad. Tall but absolutely no talent whatsoever. I was better at kicking a basketball than dribbling it. Fast forward a few years and my abilities improved. I still pretty much sat the bench as a high school senior and I could give you all sorts of “reasons” why. But that is not important. Fast forward to college where I began to put things together (except academically). By the time I was a Junior I was setting records and recording an average of 20 points and 15 rebounds/game. All as a 6’3 1/2″ center. (I am now 6’5″ but don’t ask me how that happened). Over the three years I played (I got married and decided it might be wiser to study than play as a senior), I had amassed some hardware (trophies). I lugged them around from church to church for a few years, sometimes taking them out of the box, but most often leaving them put away. They were reminders to me of what once was. What I once was. Every once in a while wondering why in the world I didn’t play my last year. I found out years later my dad had been told some scouts had come to watch me play (if the other person is to be believed and it is suspect). If true they found out what I already knew: I may have been an okay player, but no way could I have ever been a professional (the reasons are numerous).

Then one day I threw them all away. I was tired of lugging around memories of the past. Memories of what once was and would could never be again. Funny thing is I had not thought about those trophies at all until I read Floyd’s post.

Letting go of the past is hard sometimes. In my case it was a no-brainer. Too bad letting go of other bad memories is not quite so easy to do. Maybe it is time for you to let go of some past memories which are seared into your brain but only drag you down and have you longing for something better.

God does offer you something much better. Freedom. Hope. Love. Grace. And the sheer joy of moving on.

RollerCoaster

Sunday, October 18th, 2015

One of the phrases from the movie Independence Day is “Hello boys! I’m ba-a-a-a-a-ck!”

I’m not going to be quite that boisterous but after being gone for the better part of a week, it is good to be back.

Like many visits, I was on a roller coaster. I had the good time of driving about 6 hours and spending time with Jo. I listened to my music from time to time (but not too loud since she is not fond of it), but for the most part we talked. We spent the night in a hotel in order to cut short my next day’s drive and arrived early enough to change our plans that I could visit my dad in the nursing home. UP

We got to the nursing home and had to wait almost 2 hours for him to get back from the hospital (having tests) only to have him not know who I was. He also wanted to know who that lady was sitting across from him. As typical of most dementia patients, he asked the same questions over and over. We finally left after being there almost 3 hours. DOWN

We had a chance to spend time my two brothers. Rob & Joy were tremendous hosts…allowing us to stay with them. Joy played the super host even though her schedule is full. My third brother, Garry, and his wife and daughter came over to visit. We had a fun time. UP

We drove to Ohio and watched Braden practice football, spent Friday with him, and celebrated his 9th birthday on Saturday before we had to head home. UP and DOWN.

Life is a roller coaster. It is full of UPs and DOWNs. Highs and lows. What I’m glad about is God is on the mountain top and in the valley. It would be nice to live on a mountaintop but it is not practical. Nor typical.

Thanks to all who prayed for our trip. It was safe and routine (which is sometimes good).