Northview

I have to admit, God has blessed me with an incredible opportunity over the last two and a half years to work with some amazing people at an amazing church. As this staff team has come together over the last few years its been amazing to watch everyone - both the staff team and congregation - working towards the goal of reaching our community. This past weekend we added one more piece to the puzzle with the opening of our new Auditorium. With the additional seats (we doubled our seating capacity) we now have space for new people to join us ... potentially those who have never heard the message of Jesus Christ before. It was a very, very exciting weekend ... here's a small glimpse of one of the opening songs the worship team and band did live on the stage before we entered into worship!

Check us out here: www.northviewchurch.us

Picture This ::: GraceWorks

During Picture This earlier this month we honored one of our GraceGivers. He is a freshman in high school and is very committed to serving each weekend in the ministry. He and the little boy he serves have become friends and look forward to spending time together.

One of the girls at church wrote this great article about the Christopher Beltz Award that was given to Gregg. You can read it here.

You may remember that Christopher was one of the kids in our ministry, who passes away last winter ... I was excited to honor his memory this year at our dinner and am excited to continue to honor Christopher in the years to come!

A Word

"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than we ever imagined,

according to His power that is at work within us..."

Ephesians 3:20

Wordless Wednesday

Thoughts on Puke...

"help massive vomit"

Those are the exact words that came to my phone less than five minutes after sitting down in service last Saturday night! After leaving service (yes ... the only seat I could find was near the front!) I got back to the room where it had happened and well, to spare you the details I had to ask which child was sick since there were three kids covered in it.

But, here's the deal ... this was the fourth weekend in a row that I've had a situation like this! It's been a rough winter with many many cases of the stomach flu (thankfully, I haven't had it yet!) And to be honest I've gone from not able to handle it to not having a problem with cleaning it up in four weeks.

In the midst of the past few weeks I read this blog post about puke - you too can read it here! It really got me thinking about what would happen if we responded to sin the same way our body responds to being ill. When we're physically ill our body attempts to rid itself of the illness in whatever way possible. But, when we're spiritually ill we make little attempt to rid ourself of the sin.

What would your life look like if you "puked" your sin and just got rid of it?

Not that I want to puke every time I sin, I do want to react to it as if I did puke ... basically I'm saying that when I sin I want it to be a big enough deal to me that I change ... I change what I'm doing, who I'm around - whatever circumstances led me into a situation where I sinned.

Chapter 5 ::: Skeeples and Lomes

Now, did that peak your interest? Well, you're just going to have to read Think Orange to figure out just what a Skeeple and a Lome is!

Order your copy of Think Orange by clicking here.

Love Has Come

Observations on Curling ... and Life

Curling ... I can't even give you a definition or a single rule. In my mind it is something played on ice that involves human beings, a large rock, and some brooms. Yet, it intrigues me. I found myself sitting in front of the television for several hours this past week engulfed in Curling and as I sat there pondering what on earth they were doing with this large rock ... I began to ponder the things of life.

You see, I realized that curling doesn't make sense to me for one simple reason ... there's no celebration. Hours passed ... no one smiled, no one jumped up and down, horns didn't sound and lights didn't flash. I don't understand the rules of hockey either, but I do know that when they jump up and down and hug each other it is a good thing ... and over the years I've correlated that response to the fact that the little black puck is always inside the little net. Same thing with football ... when the ball lands at the end of the field in a players arms and they jump up and down ... well it must be good!

There has been no moment in Curling yet where I have watched a reaction and said ... something good just happened ... and it has left me utterly confused and unable to figure out the sport of curling.

Yet, as I watched it, I realized that for this same reason we need to celebrate the good things in life. We need to celebrate when a child makes a good choice, another year that passes, the time with friends ... for it is our celebrations that help us and others to identify what is good in our lives.

So, what are you going to celebrate today?

Wordless Wednesday

Chapter 4 ::: Both/And

From Reggie Joiner - Think Orange - Page 79...

"When it comes to entities that God has created specifically to make disciples and accomplish His mission, there is the church ... the family ... and ... nothing else"

The church can't change the next generation on its own ... the family can't change the next generation on its own ... its a both/and situation. The only way to change the next generation is a both/and approach where the church and the family work together - each realizing the others importance in ministering to the next generation.

When the church assumes that the parent knows what to do and how to do it - the process breaks down, just as it does when the parent assumes that the church knows what support they need in raising their child. As silos - the church and the family can't reach the next generation effectively, but together they can have a HUGE impact!

Chapter 3 ::: The Family

It is the smallest unit of society - the family. God created ... the family is intended to show us how God loves here on earth. You don't earn a mother or father's love ... just as you don't earn God's. Our family influences us and helps to mold who we are - yet somewhere along the way I think we lost what it truly means to be a family. In keeping up with the Jones' we've forgotten what quality family time looks like. It's not just being together, but actually interacting in a meaningful way that has a lifelong impact on a child.

God hasn't called anyone to be a perfect parent ... in fact, there is no example of a perfect parent in the Bible. But there are numerous examples of parents - living, making mistakes, acknowledging their downfalls, and interacting with their children.

The family is an integral part of a child's life ... it displays the heart of God.

From Reggie Joiner - Think Orange Page 50

"Although the concept of family has had different expressions in every generation, it has always been significant to our existence. Governments are organized, walls are build, and battles are fought for the sake of families. It is the core of civilization and a primary influence on the human condition."

Picture This

Last week we had our annual Volunteer Dinner. It's always a great time as we honor our current volunteers and take a look back over the past year of ministry!

A fun, new feature this year was the use of a remote camera that allowed guests to take their own pictures! Check it out on our Flickr Site.

Chapter 2 ::: The Light

The church - a light - yellow.

The mission of the church is to shine a light on who God is - this is what it was created for. It was not intended to shine a broad light on political issues, church politics, the unchurched, homeless, or anything else - it was solely intended to shine a light on WHO God is ... the rest are spin offs of shining that light to the community.

Reggie Joiner says it best on page 36 of Think Orange ...

"What is sacred is the mission of the church .... Our mission is not to preserve the local church as it presently exists in its various forms or models; our mission is to be the church."

So often, I feel that we get caught up in preserving the local church, or trying to make it what we want it. We argue over whether to drink coffee in the worship center, have a guitar and drums on stage, play secular songs or traditional hymns, dress-up or dress-down, and the list could go on and on and on ... there isn't a day that goes by where some church somewhere in the world loses focus of its light and wanders off course. Ultimately, what matters is someone's relationship with God ... not the things we argue over on a daily basis.

There's a lot at stake as the church shines it light, yet - if done in the proper way that illuminates WHO God is the next generation will be impacted in ways we can't even imagine - they'll grow spiritually and love others as God intended us to love them.

2010 Favorites

What were your favorite Super Bowl commercials this year?

Personally, I enjoyed McDonald's remake of the Jordan-Bird challenges...

And I have to give it to Google with an incredibly classy ad...

Wordless Wednesday

Chapter 1 ::: Orange

Red + Yellow = Orange ... OR ... Church + Family = A Stronger Influence.

Think Orange is a new way of thinking about the partnership between the church and the family, or maybe its really an old way of thinking re-found. Partnering the church and the family isn't much different than what was done in Biblical times, but its something that we've moved away from. In Think Orange the thought is to come back to that original way of thinking - to combine the two main influences in a child's life, instead of pitting them against each other.

Over the next few weeks I'll be blogging through Think Orange and hope that you'll join me in discussion, thoughts, reading, and even trying it out in your own life!

From Reggie Joiner (Chapter 1, Page 26)

"Both groups are simultaneously hard at work to build faith in children, but the problem is that they are not working in sync. Working on the same thing at the same time is not as effective as working on the same thing at the same time with the same strategy."

Music Monday

Typically, I don't post along with Music Monday ... but ... today I will!

Many of you have probably heard God of Wonders.

For me, when I hear it, I can't help but be taken back to a beach along the Indian Ocean, just outside of East London, South Africa after dark listening to the waves roll in nearly 8 years ago.

It was a night that I will never forget as we sang this song with a lone guitar and our voices, staring at the stars above. For me, it was the night that everything came together - the night I realized that God was the same on this side of the world as He is on the other side. The night I realized the world was bigger than my world and God was bigger than my view of Him. That night forever changed me.

Psalm 19:1-4

¹ The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
The skies display his craftsmanship.
² Day after day they continue to speak;
night after night they make him known.
³ They speak without a sound or word;
their voice is never heard.
⁴ Yet their message has gone throughout the earth,
and their words to all the world.

Colts

Its hard not to get sucked into Colts mania in this town! So today, I will be cheering for them in the SuperBowl - Go Colts!

A Word

¹As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. ²Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. ³Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. ⁴There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— ⁵one Lord, one faith, one baptism; ⁶one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Ephesians 4:1-5

Oh Where, Oh Where

... have I been?

Good question! February 2010 will be one of those months that I'll look back on and realize just how busy it was ... but in the midst of it I'm just getting what needs to be done, done ... lists are my best friend right now!

My taxes are done ... that's the first thing off the list - the government doesn't like you to be late :-)

Our volunteer celebration is behind us! It was a great night last Tuesday - a evening I look forward to all year, as we truly get to celebrate the previous year, have a nice evening dinner, and actually talk with the volunteers who serve the kids each weekend ... instead of just checking in with them while they work with the kids! It was a great night!

Now, the new building is here ... three more weeks and we'll be shifting service times, reorganizing volunteer schedules, and settling into a "new" routine!

What an exciting month ahead!

Happy February!!!

Wordless Wednesday

The Faith Community

"Christianity is an individual journey lived out in community"

As those words rolled from the pastor's tongue last weekend I couldn't help, but to reflect on my own journey ... its been a personal journey for me, but one that without the community around me I would never be where I am today. This statement finally put into words what I have been wanting to share on here for awhile, but just couldn't figure out what I was wanting to express ... those words above are it! Your faith is personal ... but you can't do it alone!

Last October, during my brother's wedding, this became very evident to me. I'm not real emotional, but there came a moment during the ceremony when a close friend was just behind me singing a solo and I looked up and two of the groomsmen were guys who had walked alongside my brother an I during some very difficult times - when our faith was very young ... they, along with others helped to shape us into the people we are today. As I looked up at those three men, and thought of others who weren't there that I day I was taken back to a little more than seven years ago when those were the same men attending my dad's funeral - a man they had never met, but who through their selfless actions helped us to understand what the church body truly was - a family. There are several people who have come alongside me in my journey over the last 11-12 years and who have helped me grow in my relationship with Christ - to them I am forever grateful!

My encouragement to you is to find that community - no matter how shy you are - let people love you! Our faith isn't something meant to be done on our own ... its meant to be done with others!