Looking to be used

I was standing in Casey's yesterday talking to one of the members in our church when a gentlemen came in with no shirt, shoes and socks. He was buying some cigarettes and you could tell he was pretty distraught. He went on to say that he just got out of jail and was told he had to walk home with no shoes. (His home was about 20 miles away.) I told him that I was a pastor of the church right across the street that I could find him a shirt. I was able to take him to the church, find a shirt that was exactly his size but no shoes. I then called Virgil Scott who is in charge of our food bank and clothing shelter and he happened to be home and said he had some shoes his size as well. What was the best part of all was I was able to pray for this gentlemen and then invite him to our Celebrate Recovery ministry. I don't know if he will come or not, but I was able to plant the seed.

What do you think?

This has been passed on to me by several people in our church and I wondered if anyone had thoughts on it.
National ID Cards/REAL ID Act & Prophecy in the News
"A few weeks ago I heard something from a televised Christian news channel that sent me reeling. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, so I spent a few minutes one morning verifying the information. My husband shook his head at me when I told him about my findings… he had known about it for some time. Where have I been? Hmmm, have you been in the dark with me?The House and the Senate are debating immigration bills that include provisions broadening the uses of REAL ID cards and licenses, which do not exist yet. Both bills create a national employment eligibility verification system, which would use REAL ID cards for identification and eligibility. The Senate bill forbids the use of non REAL ID cards in the verification system after 2013. Both bills permit the DHS Secretary to prohibit the use of certain documents for employment verification. This would give the DHS Secretary the power to mandate the use of national ID card,such as REAL ID card, as the sole acceptable document for employment eligibility in the US. The US Congress has passed the REAL ID Act of 2005 which mandates federal requirements for driver’s licenses and state compliance by May 2008. If the Department of Homeland Security Secretary doesn’t grant a state an extension to meet the certification requirements, then by May 11, 2008 if your state hasn’t met the requirements—you will not be entering a courthouse, onto a plane, receiving federal benefits such as SS or Medicare. Do you get the idea of where this may be heading? DHS contemplates using the REAL ID system as part of its Federal border security program and would like to know how States could incorporate long-range radio frequency identification (RFID) technology into the REAL ID card so that it could be used as part of the Western HemisphereTravel Initiative. What does the next 5 years hold? Will we be “chipped” or have some sort of bar-code for a scanner to “read us” just to have the liberty to hold a job or drive a car? What else? Come quickly Lord, Jesus!

We know what the Bible says about end times and that everyone will be forced to take the mark on the head or arm. Could this be the mark the Bible prophecy's about? We do know for sure that Jesus is going to return soon. All the signs are here so let's be prepared.

Sunday

Another Sunday in the books! We had more in the early service then the second service which was different from most Sundays. I think everybody wanted to get to the races. I finished our series today on the "Sickness Within". I finished by talking about envy. Envy is one of those things we don't talk about much yet we deal with it all the time. At least I know I do. I've really had to search my own heart this week as there are times that I can become envious of other pastors or churches. It is easy to look at others and play the compare game or the what if game. God has shown me in the Word to learn to be content with "Who I am" and "What He has given me." Along with celebrating the successes of others that I envy, I believe that envy can loose its grip on our hearts. I hope this series has been a help to all to clear our hearts of some of the junk that clogs it up so quickly.

Indy Cars

Friday I took Caleb to the track in Newton to see the Indy Cars. Thanks to the Bushong family for the tickets and Victor for showing us around. I was amazed on how loud those cars can get. I think Caleb thought it was pretty cool but possibly a little too loud for him. I should have brought him some ear plugs. The top speed while we were there was 182 miles an hour. I can't imagine going that fast! Probaby the best part was we were able to go down to where the cars have their pit stop. It was pretty cool to see the cars up close. I've never been a racing fan it was awesome to see the look on Caleb's face as he got to see some real racing cars for the first time. It was good day all and all.

Scary Thought

I've been thinking about a post from my friend Glenn Reynold's blog; here is what he says'
"Most Christians are a major tragedy away from giving up on their faith. I think it's true. Here's an even scarier thought--Many Christians are a minor inconvenience away from giving up their faith, or at least their church. If something goes wrong in a relationship, if the worship music isn't right, if someone doesn't call them back then they can easily give up church altogether. How do we build more commitment into the hearts of people?"

Good thought! It seems that some people tend to give up on their faith or church because of simple inconveniences. I think Satan sometimes works in the small ways more then the big ways. He knows that if he can get a person offended, busy, or away from the Word and prayer, he has a great advantage of getting people to slip from their faith. As a pastor, I've seen this far too many times. As my friend Glenn said in his blog, "How do we build more commitment in the hearts of people?"

Van Ministry

Today we start our new van ministry to the community. We will start out by offering rides from Monte to Grinnell for those who may need rides for medical appointments once month. This has been a need in our community as many people here do not have the transportation to get to a larger city. We are praying that God will use this to touch people by meeting their physical needs. If you take a look at scripture, you will notice that this is how Jesus often ministered. Jesus often met the needs physically before He met the needs spiritually. For example, Jesus healed the sick, turned water into wine and fed the 5,000. Jesus understood that if you want to touch the heart you must meet the outside physical needs first. As a body, let's look for ways to meet the physical needs of the people around us and as we do this, we will pray that their hearts will be open to the spiritual need as well.

Happy Fathers Day

Yesterday was Father's Day so the family and I went to IA City to celebrate by eating lunch at the Olive Garden and going to the mall. My kids got me a shirt that says coolest dad on it, pretty cool! All in all it was a great day to spend with the family. I hope all you dads out there had a great day as well.

The sickness of Greed

Continuing our series on the sickness within, and my message Sunday was on Greed. We often don't think of greed as being a sickness but Jesus identified it as an issue of the heart. In fact, Jesus taught more about money and possessions then He did faith. I often wonder why people get upset when you talk about money in church when Jesus sure talked about it a whole bunch. Money and possessions can easily consume us. So what is the cure for greed? Naturally it should be giving. Sunday I used the illustration of the cantaloupe. God has given us all cantaloupe. (Some large piles, some medium, and some small.) The pile of cantaloupe doesn't matter, what matters is what you are doing with it. God says to give a portion of your cantaloupe back to Him. Scripture calls it the tithe. (10% of the increase.) God is always a God of firsts in the Bible. (Firstborn, First fruits, etc.) God says give to Him first. In other words don't eat the cantaloupe which is rightfully His. Adam and Eve ran into this problem in the Garden of Eden. They ate of the fruit that God said was His. Because of their sin, Adam and Eve were cursed. When we eat of the fruit that God has given us, we are throwing away the seeds of blessing that God wants to pour out on our lives. When we decide to give God our firsts, we are scattering seeds of blessings on our lives. Time and time again, the Bible promises us that if we give, God will take care of us. Malachi tells us that we will not have enough room to receive the blessings that God has if we give to Him first. So the question for all of us is, what are we doing with the cantaloupe that God has given us. Are we being greedy and holding it dear to our hearts, or our we giving back a portion that is rightfully Gods? When we give, greed's grip lets go and we set ourselves up for the blessings of God.

Church Planting

We had our church planting meeting once again in Iowa City today. Pastor Keaton got to be there for the first time which I was really excited about. Today we talked about Self-Awareness leadership. This was really good for me as we talked about how God can you a crisis in our ministry and use it to shape us and our church. To be honest, I'm not to fond of crisis' and I especially hate conflict. (I usually run from it.) What is amazing though is through a crisis situation, we grow closer to God and rely on Him more. Isn't that what God wants from us as leaders? I'm amazed that it is usually a crisis situation that ministry emerges and God births something new if I'm relying on Him and not myself. So instead of running, I need to embrace and let God do what He needs to do. This only happens through prayer and servanthood. It is through this process that God usually works on our character and shapes us to be more like Him. This is the ultimate goal of every leader.

Caleb turns 6

Wow, I can't believe my buddy boy is turning six today. Time seems to fly. I will never forget the moment the doctor told us that we had a boy. A lot of emotions that day. First of all, Caleb's middle name is Donald after my dad. My dad wouldn't be more prouder of having a Jones boy. I was the last one in the family to carry on the name. ( I know that sounds weird since there are so many Jones' but in my family blood line, I was the last one.) Now we have Caleb and Ethan! Tonight we will be having a birthday party with lots of Disney Cars stuff. It will be a lot of fun!

Celebrate Recovery

It's almost been a year that God birthed Celebrate Recovery in our church. I will have to say, it's been a roller coaster since we started. I will never forget the conversation I had with the leader of the Celebrate Recovery leader in Des Moines when he told me that it was going to be a spiritual battle. Boy was he right! I was encouraged last night not by the numbers but by the Spirit. There always seems to be a sweet Spirit in Celebrate Recovery. Props goes to Fawnda Roberts for sharing her experiences this week. It was really encouraging. Who knows what God is going to do in the following months with CR, but I know God is not finished.

New Look

Our bulletin will be getting a new look in the upcoming weeks. The ones we had have currently run out and it has been two years since the first design. The colors on this is wrong but will be our normal blue and white. My friend Rich Greene designed the cover for us and I think it looks awesome. I love the different generations on the cover, really fits us well.

Sickness Within

Started a new sermon series last week called "The sickness within." I'm really excited about dealing with some of the issues that come from the heart. Proverbs tells us to guard our hearts with all diligence because out of it flows the issues of life." Last week I talked about guilt and how guilt says, "I owe you." The only way we can heal guilt is through confession. Not only are we to confess to God, but also the person that we owe. Our relationship with God hinges on our relationships with others. I think we tend to forget that at times. Over the next few weeks I will be dealing with anger, greed and jealousy. Looking forward to cleaning our hearts out for the next few weeks!

Back from Disney

We are back from seven straight days at Disney World. It was truly a incredible time. Jen or I had never been there so it was neat to experience the whole thing together and with the two oldest. What I find amazing about Disney is there care for the customer. When Jen and I arrived at the airport, Disney actually took our bags straight to the hotel so we didn't have to carry them. They transported us everywhere from park to park and when it was time to leave we checked our baggage in the motel and they gave us our bordering passes right there so we didn't have to do it at the airport. Pretty cool! My short time there got me thinking about the church as well. What if the church showed this kind of hospitality? What if the church showed this kind of kindness to strangers when they showed up on a Sunday? The Bible is full of commands for us to show hospitality to those outside and inside the church. As God's people, the church should be known as a place where people can come and feel welcomed. I know the church isn't Disney World, but I believe it should have the same reputation of caring and taking care of those that come inside.

Headed to Disney World

I'm going to be taking a blogging vacation for the next week as I will be taking my family to Florida to Disney World. I can't wait to spend some time with kids this week. Please pray for us as we are gone!

Simons Building

Today we voted on the purchased of the Simon's building right next to ours. I am amazed with the unity of this church week in and week out. The church voted 72-0 on purchasing the building. The building is the exact same size that we currently have so it doubles our space plus we can finally have adequate space for youth and Sunday School. God is definitely awesome and moving here in Montezuma!

Two Services

Well we officially kicked off our two services this past Sunday. I would have to say that things went smoother then I thought. The transition between Sunday School and first service wasn't so bad. Our numbers were a little low yesterday. This past weekend was prom for our Montezuma kids so I'm not for sure if that had anything to do with it. God was still good as Daren Mathes gave his testimony on how his faith has stayed strong this past year even through many trials. I think Daren is a good example of someone like Job in the Bible. Daren has been through a lot yet he has never cursed God through it all.

Daren's testimony made me think that we need to hear more testimonies in our church. Testimonies build us up and strengthen us as the body of Christ. If you have a testimony sometime, don't be afraid to share it. God may use you to help someone us out when they are in need.

Easter Weekend

What fabulous weekend we had this Easter. Even in the freezing cold, our Easter Egg Hunt was a huge success. Over 190 children attended our Egg Hunt this year. Way to go Pastor Keaton for all your hard work. I expect to get some pictures up soon on the website so everyone can see.

Easter services were a huge blessing as well as had 169 people attend between our two services. Pray that seeds were planted in people's heart this weekend as the Word of God came forth. Thanks to everyone who volunteered and made this weekend a great one!

http://www.archive.org/download/CommunityHopeEvangelism101/Evangelism101m.mpg

Here is the video we did Sunday on how not to do evangelism. Hope you enjoy for those that missed.

Easter is coming

Gearing up for Easter weekend and I'm really excited to see what God is going to do. We are trying several things to reach more people this year.

- Every person in Montezuma will get an invite card in the mail to our Easter Services
- Easter Egg Hunt will be held this Saturday. We are hiding over 8,000 eggs!
- Two week newspaper ad plus local tv spots.
- We put a banner outside the church about Easter as people drive by Highway 63 everyday.

Let's pray and believe God for a great harvest this Easter!

We are gearing up for our 2nd Egg Hunt for the community. We are wanting to hide 8000 eggs this year at the School field and as you know 8000 eggs means lots of candy. One of the businesses in town gave me a call yesterday and said that they wanted to donate not just some of the candy but ALL OF THE CANDY! Isn't God awesome! We can now use the money that we would have used for candy for prizes. God amazes me every day.

Walk across the room

I am reading a book right now by Bill Hybels called, "Walk across the room." It is a book on sharing your faith in simple ways. It is amazing if we just ask the Holy Spirit to use us, how He will. There are tons of opportunities for us to share our faith or God's love to someone if we are just open and listening to His voice. God has given me the opportunity this week to share God's love with my own family. As many of you know my cousin lost her husband on Saturday to a car accident. He was in his late twenties and has left behind four little children. My family is not Christian and through this tragic event, God gave has given me the opportunity to share my testimony and faith. Even though I don't believe it was God's will for my cousins husband to die so young, I do believe that God uses every opportunity to draw people to Him. I pray for God's wisdom as I conduct the services this Friday and that people will be drawn to Him.

Church Planting

I spent all my day last Thursday in Iowa City with the church planters in Iowa. My friend Rich Greene is looking at doing something out of the box which I'm really excited about. They are looking at purchasing a building in North Liberty and converting it to a box theater where bands can come and play. There is currently a larger theater in Iowa City that holds 1000 people but some bands can't fill the space. So the idea is to build something smaller. The space would have a coffee house and an auditorium that would seat 300 or so. The church would own the theater and be able to have church there on Sunday's. Jesus did something similar in the New Testament. If you read the scriptures you will find that Jesus spent most of His time in the marketplace not in the synagogues. Instead of trying to get people to go to church, the church needs to go to them. Rich is doing exactly that by this idea. People from all over the city would walk through their doors that normally would not go to church. Absolutely awesome!

THE NAME

It was great to be back in gear on Sunday and have church once again. You seem to be missing something during the week without it. Yesterday we continued our series on temptation and how to defeat the enemy. We cannot forget that one of the tools that God has given us is the power of the Name. Jesus' Name is the only name that is above everything in heaven and earth. Jesus gave us the "power of attorney" to use that name before He went back to heaven. the power of attorney simply gives a person the right to act on someones behalf. This is exactly what Jesus did. Jesus said that in my Name, you will cast out demons, heal the sick and even be protected if deadly things come upon you. Peter and John understood the power in Acts 3 when the crippled man was healed. It was by the Name of Jesus that the man stood up and walked for the first time. Let us remember that when we are faced with temptation and attacks from the enemy, that Jesus has given us the right to use His Name. His Name has the power over anything that may be thrown at us.

Icy Weekend

What can I say but this has been a crazy weekend. We lost power on Saturday around 10:30 a.m. and we are yet to have power. I am currently staying at the church with my family because there is heat and power there. (I love my job but this gives living at the church a whole new meaning.) One of things I hated most about this weekend is canceling church. This is twice this year that we've had to cancel. I hate missing the presence of God and the people of God the most. For now its just me and the family hanging out and playing monopoly. Hoping to get the power on soon so we can get back to normal life!

Happy Reunion

The last few weeks have pretty crazy. As many of you know Josh came home Saturday night to do a free concert at his old high school in Martensdale. Nashville Star got a hold of my sister and said they wanted to do a reunion with him and his mom. All I can say is God is good as we got to see Josh for the first time in a long time. I was thankful to the Nashville Star staff as they were very gracious to us and giving us time to spend with Josh. You can see some of the footage Thursday Night at 9 p.m. on the USA Network. God is good and I'm especially happy for my sister.

http://www.archive.org/download/CommunityHopePauseWars/Pause_Wars.mpg

For those that missed the video on Sunday I decided to post in on the blog. Hope you enjoy and may the force be with you.

Leading

I was reading Craig Groschell's blog the other day about why some churches make it and some don't. Here is what it said:

Some church plants make it. Some don’t.
Some ministries grow and reach people for Christ. Some slowly die.
Some student ministries explode. Others implode.
I’ve often wondered why. What’s the difference? While only God can sort out the details, I’ve noticed one phrase that leaders of struggling ministries often repeat. If a leader says this phrase too many times, worse yet, believes it, the ministry or organization will likely struggle or fade away. I call it the “phrase of death.” What is this deadly combination of words?
“The people won’t…”
Here is what someone might say:
“The people won’t bring their lost friends.”
“The people won’t tithe?”
“The people won’t get into small groups.”
“The people won’t serve.”
“The people don’t care about the poor.”
“The people won’t come to the prayer meeting.”
“The people won’t do what I want them to do.”

There’s a fine line between asking someone to do something and leading them to do something. If we just ask a crowd of people to do something, they probably won’t. But if we lead them, chances are much better they will.

8 Responses to “The People Won't

Perhaps we should concentrate of or better yet begin to state these words “I will…”
• I will go• I will give• I will create a small group• I will serve that small group• I will care about the poor• I will pray for all• I will do what others won’t do

Perhaps the answer lies in what each of us “Will Do” not so much in what we say … the scripture does teach that we are to let our light so shine that they see our “good works” and glorify our father which is in heaven.

Crazy Ride and Nashville Star

Well just an update on what is happening with my nephew Josh and Nashville Star. My sister got a call last night from someone from the show and Josh wants to see her. He is coming in this weekend and he is going to do a free concert in Martensdale High School on Saturday night. They want the whole family there for a sort of reunion and its all going to be taped. It will be a late night on Saturday and then get up to preach on Sunday but I want to be there for my sister. My prayer is that this will be a new beginning and fresh start for my sister who hasn't seen her son in over fifteen or so years.

Yesterday our ladies wrapped over 80 valentine plates full of cookies and cupcakes for absentees and prospects for our church. I was amazed by all the plates that were made! I had the chance to deliver a few of them last night and I know everyone was truly grateful. It's amazing what a little plate of cookies can do. We prayed before we delivered the plates that when the people take a bite of cookies they would be reminded of God's love for them.

For those that watched Nashville Star last night, you heard Josh's song that was written for his mom which is my sister. Lots of emotions running last night since it's been ten years or more since I've seen Josh. I know Josh has been hurt by a lot of things in the past and it's really too bad. Divorce can be an ugly thing and Josh does not know the entire story. I know his mom dearly loves him and would like nothing more to connect with him. None of our family has known for years where he has been until all of a sudden he shows up on t.v. This really reminds me of the power of forgiveness and the words of Jesus. We all make mistakes and none of us are perfect and so I'm glad for the forgiveness of Jesus and I'm glad that I can then offer that forgiveness to others. My prayer is that someday Josh will come around and really want to connect with his true mom. I know that our side of the family would want nothing more then to accept him back no matter if he is a Nashville Star or not.

Turning 30

This Saturday I officially turn 30. I remember when I was kid 30 seemed really old but now since I'm turning 30 it doesn't seem so bad. I guess my twenty-something years are over and for awhile I had a hard time with that but now I'm coming to grips with it. Jesus was thirty when He started His official ministry and David was thirty when he became king. My prayer is that the next few years will be a year of getting to know God more, growing more in wisdom and faith and being used by God in a great more powerful way!

This Sunday we are starting a new series called "Pause." We will be dealing with how to fight temptation and the devil. Sometimes I think we take the devil and temptation too lightly. Jesus has called us to defeat temptation and He has showed how we can stand over the devil. Over the next four weeks we will be learning how to do just that and learn to pause before we give into temptation and the devil. Make sure you plan to attend church the next four weeks!

Celebrating 3 Years

We had a great service Sunday. I can't believe it has been three years since Community Hope started as an official church. Gary Smith started out talking about how it doesn't matter how we start the race but how we finish! I am thankful for Gary and his family for starting Community Hope. Cary Vankampen spoke next about the first days of him coming as the launch pastor. Cary told how the Lord spoke to his heart that Community Hope would be unlike any other church but to let God lead and for him to get out of the way. Cary and I spoke on the same scripture verse in the book of Matthew. Cary and I had not spoke to each other about what we are going to say. God's Spirit was trying to tell all of us the same things.

1. Jesus went to the people/ To be the church, we must go to the people!
2. Jesus had compassion/ Jesus had compassion for the sick and hurting
3. Jesus told us to pray for laborers into the harvest/ Word in the verse is send out which means eject. We need to eject out of our comfort zones and go spread the message of the kingdom.

I am so thankful for Mike and Ann Emheiser who was there to lead us in worship Sunday. Ann gave her testimony of how she had not played the piano since they left. It was very moving and powerful way to end the service. I am thankful for three years of ministry at Community Hope, but I am even more thankful the years and the things to come!

Prodigal Sticky Notes

Sunday I talked about the importance of being a prodigal friendly church. It is important that to remain kingdom focused, we must be about seeing the prodigals come home. In the story of the prodigal son we see the spirit of the elder brother who did not accept his brothers homecoming. It is important that we do not allow the spirit of the elder brother to come into our church. I was deeply moved to see all the names on the sticky notes that are stuck all along the steps on the stage. We will be praying for those names on Thursday Night at 7 p.m. My prayer is that we will see many of those prodigals come home and be welcomed back to the family of God.

Membership Classes

Just a reminder that tonight and Saturday is our first membership classes. This is an exciting time for CommunityHope because in July we will be officially a soverign church and no longer under District supervision as a church plant. We will be discussing what it means to be a part of the local church in the membership class. Make plans to attend one or the other.

ACMR Report

Every year the Assemblies of God has you fill out a ministries report of your average attendance in various ministries. Here are the numbers for 2006:

Average Attendance- 116 (previous year was 90)
Sunday School- 60
Sunday Nights with Celebrate Recovery and Youth is a combined 37.

To God be the glory for all He has done!

SNOW DAY

I love snow days, EXCEPT ON CHURCH DAYS! I hate making the decision to cancel church. It could of went either way but the DOT was saying not to travel on the roads. I love church, I love the people and I love the Spirit of getting together and worshipping. When we don't have that, it just seems like something is missing during the week. I guess that means I will just be twice as pumped next Sunday.

Sectional Meeting

Thursday we had our pastors sectional meeting here in Montezuma. The pastors in our section were here to check out the church and all that is going on. They had a lot of questions about the church and what has happened here the last three years. I give God total credit for what has happened here in Monte. It is truly incredible to see the growth and God's awesome power displayed. This last Sunday was a great example of that. God's spirit was strong during our time of worship that I was just in awe of Him. Let us continue to keep God at the focus of everything we do and as long as we do that, I believe God will continue to bless.

Proactive with the Kingdom

I was listening to a church planter in Illinois this week that started a church over five years ago. One of the things he said was that when they started the church, they decided to be proactive instead of reactive. In other words, they decided to be on the offensive instead of the defensive. He said that when they started two services, it wasn't so much that the sanctuary was totally full but they had decided as a church that if they were going to reach more people, that was a way to do it. This church has also started multi-site ministries in other towns as well. They did this to be on the offense. The more I look at the Kingdom of God, the more I see that Jesus talked about being proactive with the kingdom. Jesus told Peter that He would build His church and that the gates of hell would not prevail. The church is not in a defensive stance against the gates of hell but we are rather on the offensive battling against the gates of hell. What would happen if the church took an offensive stance this year and actively pursued the kingdom of God? I believe that great things could happen!

Nashville Stars

What an incredible day its been. I got a call from my neice about my nephew Josh being on Nashville Stars tonight. I havn't seen my nephew for ten years due to some unfortunate circumstances. Anyways, she told me to check out an article on the Des Moines Register. I couldn't believe it. I'm trying to get in touch with Josh just to let him know that we support him. You can check him out tonight on the USA Network at 9 p.m. And oh yeah, give him a vote as well!

Kingdom Focused

I am really excited about our new sermon series called "The Kings Kingdom". I really believe that there is a move of God that is happening in pockets around the world. This revival of sorts is something that we may not recognize because this revival is unlike any revivals from the past. This revival is a Kingdom revival. Over a year ago, I heard the Lord speak to me about Community Hope being a "Kingdom Focused" church. At the time I wasn't for sure what that meant but over the year I have studied what it means to be about the Kingdom. Jesus talked a lot about the kingdom of God and what it means to be kingdom people. Jesus even said that we should pray "His Kingdom come, His will be done on earth as it is in heaven." What does the kingdom on earth look like? For the next few weeks we will be discovering more about the Kings Kingdom at CH, don't miss it!

2007 is here!

Just want to wish everybody a Happy New Year! I am excited to see what the New Year is going to bring. God always goes beyond our expectations. I believe that a good way to start your New Year right is through prayer. Let us all be on our knees for the New Year and praying that God will begin to do a New Thing in our midst. Remember that we have prayer on Thursday Nights at the church. All revivals of the past have come through men and women on their knees. God moves when His people pray!

I love Christmas but what I don't like is cleaning up after it is all said and done. I think I broke down over 100 boxes this weekend. All and all it was a great time of celebration. I feel our Christmas Eve services went really well. I love the feel of a Christmas Eve night services. I love the candles and the carols. It was a little different this year as we had candles representing each person in the Christmas story. We blew out all the candles except for Jesus and lit our candles through His. The point was that Christ's light lives within each of us as we carry His light to others.

Our kids had a great Christmas as well as Ethan was really cute trying to open the presents for the first time. Olivia and Caleb were fun as well. I had a blast putting together toys and it gives me an excuse to be a kid. I hope everyone else had a great Christmas as well and I'm looking forward to the New Year and all that God has in store.

Angel Tree Presents

All day yesterday we had families coming into the church to receive their angel tree presents. What a blessing it was to see their faces as they saw all the presents that were given. One family had five kids and the mother was very thankful for the help. I was reading in Philippians 2 yesterday that says, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests but also to the the interests of others." Christmas can easily become about our own interests but Paul says look to the interests of others. In other words, when you see someone in need, help them out. Because of so many people in our church that looked to the interests of others, 13 children will have a good Christmas this year. That's what it is all about!

Salvation Army Update

Just heard word this morning that we took in over $1000 on Saturday for Salvation Army. Praise God! Thanks to everyone who volunteered their time. For those that do not know, the Salvation Army gives back the money that was donated to our Ministers Asscoation for the community. The monies are used to help needy people in our area.

This years Kids Christmas play is all finished! The kids did a wonderful job singing and Pastor Keaton did a great job preparing them this year. Pastor Keaton did a great job on his message as well teaching us that we all need to become like little children. The coolest thing of all was we got to eat happy birthday Jesus cake!

Salvation Army

This past Saturday the church rang the bell for Salvation Army. Our kids had a great time ringing the bell. Olivia decided to sing most of the time while we there and it was amazing how many people got her attention. One man stopped and sang with her for about ten minutes. The coolest thing of all was as we were about to leave a lady stopped Olivia and told her that she made her day by her singing and then she pulled out a Barbie doll that she bought just for her. That truly made Olivia's day. Lesson learned was that God blesses us back when we serve Him with joy.

Tis the Season

Looking forward to the coming two Sunday as we focus in on the birth of Christ. This Sunday the children will be doing their musical. I know Pastor Keaton has been working hard with kids and last Sunday they sounded great as you could hear them practicing through the wall. I'm also looking forward to our Christmas Eve services. We are having one at 9 a.m. and the other at 5 p.m. They will be two different services as the first will be a short worship service and the second will be carols and candles. This is a great time to invest in those that normally do not go to church. Take this opportunity to invite someone you know to one of these services. We have people today that attend Community Hope because they attended a Christmas service last year. People's hearts are open to the message of God's love this time of year.

Prayer and Planning

Spent the day yesterday with Keaton as we geared up for 2007. It was a good day of prayer, vision casting and calendar planning. Thanks to Pastor Glen at Christian Life in Des Moines for the use of his facility. I was reminded once again of the importance of staying focused. I believe that God has called the church to four non-negotiable purposes:

Include-We must find ways to bridge people from the community to the church.
Instruct- Jesus told us to go make disciples. The Word of God is our foundation!
Involve- Every member is a minister. Every person has a ministry!
Invest- We must invest our lives to evangelism and reaching the lost.

As we plan the year, we must remember these purposes for the church. Many churches can become busy but not focused. We must remain focused on what God has called us to do. We are in the business of building the kingdom. Every program, ministry and activity must fulfill those purposes. If we do this, I believe we are headed in the right direction.

Got done reading Mark Batterson's book "In a pit with a Lion on a snowy day." (I know it's a long title but a great read.) I got the chance to meet Batterson at his "Buzz Conference" in Washington DC last May. What an incredible time it was. Mark is on the creative edge when it comes to ministry.

My favorite chapter in the book is the chapter on "The importance of looking foolish." Jesus says to enter the kingdom of God, you must become like a little child. As adults we can learn a lot from children. Children are willing to just be themselves and they are not concerned about what others think. This past Sunday I looked pretty foolish as I was talking about Christmas I kept referring to it as Dec. 24th. I looked pretty foolish as the pastor of the church doesn't even know when Christmas is. Oh well! My wife was the one who had to tell me it was December 25th. Anyways, my point is it is good to laugh at yourself and look foolish at times. When was the last time you looked foolish?

Church Planters

Just got back from IA City from another church planters meeting. I'm always encouraged to hear the stories of what is going on around the state as regards to church planting. I blogged a couple weeks ago about Rich Greene from IA City who is giving away bikes to the elementary school there in IA City. God has granted him great favor as already the city newspaper did a feature article on the giveaway and the television stations will be coming out this Saturday to record the actual giveaway. Just the past two weeks the principal of the school has been attending his church. Praise God! Keep Life Church in your prayers this Saturday for them to touch many children and families through this awesome outreach.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Sunday was one of those days! I'm really not for sure what got into me but I let it all go this past week. Talked about the Grinch of busyness. Busyness is a thing that we have come to accept as a society. We think we have to be busy. But what we don't realize is busyness will rob us from the things that are important to us. I really believe that busyness is a tool of the enemy to steal our faith, family and friends. God specifically designed us for these three things yet we don't have the time anymore to really invest in all three. God says slow down and take a Sabbath. The Sabbath is a wonderful thing. God thought the Sabbath was so important that He put it in the Ten Commandments. It was a time to invest in God and invest in others! I want to continue to challenge us to do those two things. Don't let busyness rob you from the things that are most precious in life. Take a breath and slow down.

Computer Crash

Just wanted to let everyone know that my computer crashed on Sunday right after church. Not for sure whats going on exactly. I hope to be up and running by the end of this week as my computer is in the shop. Technology is a weird thing. You really don't know how much you depend on it until its gone.

Christmas Shopping

I had a funny thing happen to me this past weekend as Jen and I went shopping the day after Thanksgiving. We went into the Olive Garden for lunch and the waitor came up to us and said that I was the first man he had waited on all day. I looked around and he was right, I was surrounded by women. Later that day Jen overheard a conversation an older man had with probably his daughter. He said "The only thing I can compare you girls shopping on a crazy day like this is the first day of feasant hunting." Good Comparison! In fact I found a statistic that I will share this Sunday that says that women spend an average of 288 hours of shopping before Christmas. Wow, that's a whole lot of shopping!

Grinch of Stress

We started our new message series yesterday on the Grinch's of Christmas. I love the Grinch story! It was just a couple weeks ago that I was watching it with my kids that I noticed how much meaning is behind just a simple story. The next few weeks we will be talking about the Grinch's that try to steal Christmas away from us.

This past week we talked about the Grinch of Stress. Isn't true that Christmas is a stressful time for some. Just go to the malls and you can see stress written all over people's faces. God wants to teach us a few things about stress.

1. God wants us to see His purpose in stress- When we are stressed, things can get ugly. I remember working at Toys R Us at Christmas time and seeing how mean people get. Maybe God wants to teach us about our character when we are stressed. What do I become when I get stressed. Am I irritable, angry, emotional? Don't ask God why am I going through this stress but ask God, "What do you want to teach me?"

2. God wants us to see His presence in stress- Psalms 23 is a great example of how David when to God in his stress. David said things like, "The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want, He makes me lie down in green pastures and leads me beside still waters, yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you are with me." How could David say such a thing? David has the presence of God in his life. We have a choice in our stress. Will I draw near to God's presence or away from God's presence? It is our choice entirely.

God is not the author of stress, but God may want to work in our stress for an eternal glory. Remember that next time you get stressed out!

Happy Thanksgiving

I will be taking off today and headed to Des Moines for Thanksgiving. I hope everyone has a great weekend and remember to be thankful for all the blessings that God has poured out on your life.

Turkey Sunday

Turkey Sunday was a great success and thanks to everyone who invited people to church. We gave away sixteen turkeys and had 154 in attendance. This is the most for one Sunday besides Easter. God is definately awesome! It is amazing how God can use a turkey to bring people to a life changing experience with Jesus Christ. I am reminded of the words of Paul in 1 Cor 1:27, "For God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty."

Hope it's not a bill!

My son Caleb sometimes says the craziest things. Just yesterday he got a Thanksgiving card in the mail from Jen's parents. Jennifer told Caleb he had some mail and out of the blue Caleb says with all seriousness, "I sure hope it's not a bill!" Where did that come from? I didn't know four year olds had to worry about bills. I guess he may have heard that out of our mouths one time or another.

Thou shall not judge

We wrapped up our dirty laundry series this past week. I hope it was encouraging to all and a good reminder to think before we speak. Sunday we talked about judging. Two things to remember about judging:

1. God holds me accountable when I judge- Romans 2 and Matthew 7:1 tells us that the measure we judge will be the measure that comes back to us. OUCH!

2. When I am tempted to judge, I will show mercy instead of judgment- The women caught in adultery is a great example. The Pharisees were ready to stone her on the spot but Jesus stopped them in their tracks by telling them if any one of them were without sin to go ahead and cast the first stone. Problem was, no one could do it. Mercy had been showed to them and now it was their turn to show mercy.

One more thought: Why is it that Christians easily put people on a pedestal but when someone messes up, we easily throw them down and allow them to be run over by a bus? Shouldn't our first response be mercy and forgiveness? I'm so glad that God has shown me mercy time and time again. Jesus Christ came to give us mercy. I'm not excusing sin by no means but by God's standards, we all have sinned. Over the years we have ranked some sins higher then others but in God's eyes it is all sin. Let us leave the judging to God and let our response be prayer and mercy.

Youth Convention

It was another full weekend as the kids headed to Youth Convention Friday and Saturday. It was exciting to hear their testimonies on Sunday morning on how God touched them. The main speaker talked about the need for change and how this generation is looking for change. What the world wants to see is not religion but they want to see people living out what they believe. I know it challenged many of our teens and they came back excited to see change in their own lives and in their schools.

It was at a Youth Convention that I was called to the ministry at the age of 16. I will never forget being at the altar and having a deep passion and burden to do anything I could for God. I wasn't for sure what it was going to be at the time but I knew that I had to surrender my life completely to Him and do whatever He wanted. Camps and Youth Conventions are so important and I want to encourage everybody to support our camps and Youth Conventions. If you have kids, do whatever you can to send them. There is something about getting away and allowing God to speak into your life. Thanks to Pastor Keaton and all our great leaders that took our teens this past weekend. YOUR ARE AWESOME!

Unexpected Phone Call

So I was sitting in my office this week working away when the phone calls rings and I hear this familiar voice on the other end. It was Pastor Dennis Niles, my former pastor at Glad Tidings who is now leading Trinity Bible College in North Dakota. Pastor Niles wanted to know if he could come speak to us the week of District Council. (April 22nd) Many of you may not know but Pastor Niles was the Pastor in New Sharon before he was my pastor in Des Moines. It was Pastor Niles' vision to plant a church in Montezuma years ago. I even believe the New Sharon church voted on it but it was turned down. It is amazing how God works. Here we are fifteen years or so later, a church has been planted in Montezuma and I am the pastor of it. God has a sense a humor doesn't he? Who would of thought that the young teen that was in Pastor Niles church in Des Moines was going to be a part of the vision that he had years ago. I am reminded of the verse that says in 1 Cor 3:66," I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase." (NKJV) God always has a way of seeing His plans accomplished. It may not be in our time and our ways but God will see that it gets done. I thank God for Pastor Niles' vision and I 'm looking forward to having him come April 22nd.

I am really excited about November 19th and our Turkey Giveaway Sunday. It is a great chance to invite those that you know to come to church and experience what a loving Christ-like community is really like. That Sunday we will be talking about "Living in the Dash." I know it maybe a little confusing but the dash represents our lives. On our tombstone we will have a birth date and the date that we died. The dash is what we did in-between. So many people waste their lives and live their lives with no purpose. God's plan is filled with purpose for each of us.

Please pick up your invite cards this week and start handing them out. Jen and I already have four families that we know that we are going to invite and give cards too. It is a great tool and a good reminder for everyone plus they get a free turkey. You can't beat that! GOBBLE, GOBBLE!

Don't forget to Vote!

Just a reminder for everyone to go out and vote today. Remember what a privilege it is that we can vote here in America. As Christians, it is important that we vote for the those that we know will make good moral judgments in the Senate Seat and in the governor race. We need godly leaders in office. Our country was based on godly principles and there are some out there that would like to see that totally gone. Make sure before you vote that you know what each candidate stands for on moral issues. Also, make sure you pray for our leaders. Pray that God would give them the wisdom they need as they lead our country and state.

Youth Impact<

Last night we kicked off our first Youth Impact Night at Fun Valley. I was totally shocked that we had 56 kids our first night. Pastor Keaton did a great job organizing the event and the teens really got behind it inviting their friends. It shows that there is a true hunger for the spiritual in this community among the teens. I'm looking forward to seeing what God is going to do with this ministry in the future!

Iowa City

I spent all day yesterday in Iowa City with Pastor Rich Greene who is the pastor of the new church plant, Life Church. Rich is an incredible guy and someone with a lot of courage. Iowa City is one of the largest unchurched areas in Iowa. Rich was telling me of an outreach that they are doing with one of the public schools in their lower income areas. They are going to the school and handing out bikes to every (yes I said every) student in the elementary department. He is building a bridge between the community and the church. Isn't that what the church is suppossed to do? The church was never called to be isolated on some island. Jesus was out in the middle of the marketplace ministering to the tax collectors, prostitutes and the sick. The church's job is to build those bridges to the community. Way to go Life Church!

20 Somethings

I got the chance this Tuesday night to go and speak at Grinnell College for their campus ministry. It was exciting to see the students there worshipping and wanting to grow closer to God. As many of you know, I was a young adult pastor for two years. I have a passion to see college students come to know the Lord and grow deeper with Him. Sadly to say, the church is loosing the battle when it comes to 20-somethings. Here is the blog from Catalystspace.com:

"A Barna study finds most 20-somethings disengage from active participation in the Christian faith during their young adult years despite 61% being involved in a church as a teen. 50% of teens attend a church-related service or activity in a typical week and more than three-quarters discuss matters of faith with peers. However, only 20% of 20-somethings have maintained a level of spiritual activity consistent with their high school experiences. Just 33% of 20-somethings who are parents regularly take their kids to church, vs. 40% of parents in their 30s and 50% who are 40 or older. Most 20-somethings maintain outward allegiance to Christianity: 78% say they are Christians, vs. 83% of teens. 20-somethings are 70% more likely than older adults to strongly assert if they “cannot find a local church that will help them become more like Christ, they will find people and groups that will, and connect with them instead of a local church.” They are also less likely to believe “a person’s faith in God is meant to be developed by involvement in a local church.” Much of the activity of young adults takes place outside congregations. "

One of the core values of this church is to reach every generation. This includes children, youth and young adults. The church must be a place where young adults can come, feel accepted and be able to express their questions about God and spiritual things. I was once again reminded of this while I was at Grinnell. Young adults are spiritual hungry, but we as a church must provide a place where they can be fed.

Tame the Tongue

Started our Dirty Laundry series on Sunday and felt it was a good start to an exciting three weeks of learning about the dirt of our words. Our first week was about taming the tongue. James says that we have no problem taming animals just as birds, fish, or even horses, yet we have a hard time taming a two ounce mucous membrane. Three things from Sunday's message:

1. The tongue is petite yet powerful! ( Very small yet with it, we have the power to build up or destroy!)

2. Valuable yet venomous-The tongue can poison others-Things like gossip, slander and secrets are all venom that we must avoid!

3. With the tongue we praise God yet curse men- We can't praise God and yet curse people at the same time. When we curse people, we are really saying, "God made junk!" We know that this is a false statement.

I hope this message series will be valuable to everyone as we discover the dirty laundry of our words.

I am currently reading Craig Groeschel's book "Confessions of a Pastor." This a great read for anyone involved in ministry. Craig's honesty is so refreshing in this book. One of my favorite chapters so far is the confession of feeling inadequate. Craig tells the story of his first funeral. It was a grave site service and the people involved asked if they could sing Amazing Grace. Craig didn't know that it was going to be a solo. As Craig was trying to get through the song, a fly flew into his mouth while he was singing. At that point, he had a choice to make. Spit the fly out in the middle of the song or swallow. He chose to swallow! He goes on to say as he closed the service he went to quote the scripture, "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust." The only problem was he forgot the rest. So to close the scripture he said, "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, hope this coffin doesn't rust."

I know there have been times that I have felt totally inadequate to be a pastor myself. I never went to Bible school like most pastors and my training of being a lead pastor is zip. I'm glad that in my times of inadequacy, God gives me the power. I look at those in the Bible that were in adequate yet God chose them anyways. God chose David, Gideon and Moses even though they were failures in the world's eyes. Jesus even chose the twelve disciples that were unlearned and untrained fisherman. This is good news because if God can use them, He can use me as well. Maybe there are times that you feel inadequate, know that God can use you as well. All God is looking for is a willing heart.

Dirty Laundry

I am getting ready for our new sermon series called "Dirty Laundry". We are going to be exposing the dirt of our Words the next three weeks. Our words are very powerful. We have the choice of speaking life with our words or death. Here are the three sermon titles for this series.

Week One-Tongue Tamer
Week Two- Contain the Complain
Week Three-Thou shall not Judge

I think everyone has had a problem with their words one time or another. I hope this series help us all to realize what our words can do.

Same Spirit

I was reading from Numbers 11 this morning on how Moses was overburdened by the people of Israel. Moses was leading them through the wilderness and all the people did was complain. God's answer to Moses' prayer was giving him seventy men of Israel that would have the same spirit as him so that they would help him carry the burden. In verse 28 and 29, Joshua had overheard some men prophesying other then Moses. Joshua went to Moses and asked him to forbid them from prophesying. Moses response was, "Are you zealous for my sake? Oh that all the Lord's people were prophets and the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!" This a true sign of a leader. Moses' prayer was not that he would get all the glory but that others would carry the burden with him and have the same Spirit as him. It is so important as a church that we carry the burdens together and be unified with the same Spirit. I have been a part of too many churches that didn't have the same Spirit, instead every person had their own idea of what they thought should happen. God's plan has never been this way. My prayer for CH is that we carry the burden and the vision together. What is that vision?

1. Kingdom Focused
2. Relevant Ministry
3. Missions Minded
4. Finding needs and filling them
5. Finding hurts and healing them
6. Serving every generation

Let us carry the vision and the burden together to reach our community and world!

What fabulous weekend we had for missions. Jeff and Bev Diltz were absolutely incredible. Jeff shared his testimony about how he lost his teen age son in a boating accident. The dream that his son had was to have the best sidewalk Sunday School program in the west. Jeff and Bev have carried on the dream as they minister in the LA area doing Sidewalk Sunday School out of a firetruck. (please see pics below.) I don't believe there was a dry eye in the building yesterday. Our missions giving yesterday was over $700.00. Praise God! Jeff and Bev have inspired me to do more and reach more at any means possible.

Olivia is turning seven

Seems like we just got done with one birthday and now we are on to the next. Olivia is turning seven on Saturday. Today we are having a surprise birthday party with all the family. I think she will be surprised when she comes home from school today. Olivia is truly a blessing and definitely our prayer warrior in the family. I love to hear her pray right before bed as she prays truly from her heart. Just the other night she prayed, "Jesus thank you for mommy and daddy not just because they are a good mommy and daddy but most of all because they love You." Wow! She is truly incredible. (Sorry, I like to brag on my kids!) Jen and I are no where near perfect parents but as long as they love God and put others first, we feel that we are doing a somewhat decent job.

Missions Weekend

I'm really pumped about this coming Sunday and our missions emphasis. Sunday morning we will be having Jeff and Bev Diltz from from the LA Dream Center come share with us. Jeff and Bev are in charge of the Sidewalk Sunday School program in LA. They are very unique as they go out into the streets of LA and teach kids from a firetruck. Every week they literally touch thousands of children. Here are a few pics of their ministry.

Unusual Blessing

Just finished up the unusual sermon series. I feel that the past six weeks have been beneficial as we have covered a lot of unusual topics. This past Sunday I talked about probably the hardest subject for any preacher to talk about, "Giving". The fact of the matter is, Jesus talked more about money then He did heaven or hell. The reason was Jesus knew that money is an issue of the heart. The challenge this week is unusual giving leads to unusual blessing. God has promised to always meet our needs when we put Him first. I have seen it time and time again in my own life. I don't know how God does it, but He always provides when I give and put Him first in my finances. I guess that's what makes our God unusual!

This past Friday Caleb had his adenoids taken out. I think it is always scarier for the parents then it is the kids. He was a true trooper as the doctor came in and took him to the surgery room. The hardest part was seeing him in recovery after it was all over. All and all we pray that this will help him breathe better. Please keep him in prayer as he is still recovering from all this.

Seize the Opportunities

I recently listened to a podcast by Andy Stanley who is the pastor of North Point Community Church in Atlanta. Something that has stuck with me was he said that a lot of leadership has to do with having courage to seize the opportunities that God gives us as a church. He said that if we don't seize the opportunities then God will choose someone else to do it. I cannot agree with him more. Over the last couple months God has given us some great opportunities. Celebrate Recovery is an awesome example of that. Celebrate Recovery is meeting every week and is helping people overcome their habits and addictions. Another recent opportunity is the start of a youth ministry at our church. I've always felt that it was something we needed to do but the timing was never right. God has now opened the door and we are going to have our first Impact Night on November 5th at Fun Valley. God is doing some exciting things but these things would not be possible if we didn't have the courage to step out in faith. Let me encourage everyone today to seize the opportunities that God gives you and don't let fear stop you from allowing God to use you.

25 years of service

Sunday night I had the opportunity to go back to my old church Berean Assembly of God in Des Moines to celebrate Pastor Weet's 25 year anniversary at the church. What a awesome thing to see someone serving 25 years in one church. God has really blessed Berean the last 25 years. Berean was a struggling church before Pastor Weets came and now there are a 1000 worshippers there every Sunday. I learned a lot things under Pastor Weets and I appreciate all that he taught me in just the two years that I was there. Pastor taught me the importance of prayer, Sunday School and rightly divinding the Word of God. May God continue to bless Berean as they win the lost of Des Moines to Him!

Unusual Power

We are still in our unusual series and yesterday I talked about "unuual power". The story is found in Mark 5:24-24. The woman did three unusual things in the story.

1. She had unusual faith (She spoke faith into existence)
2. She made an unusual contact (She touched Jesus' garment)
3. She walked in unusual peace. (Jesus told her to go in peace.)

The Big Idea is that unusual circumstances require unusual action. When we have problems of our own, God wants us to do the unusual. The woman in this story had a huge problem and was willing to do anything she could to get to Jesus. In our own lives, are we willing to do the unusual? Many of us face problems of our own and God wants to give us the power we need. The problem is not with God because He doesn't lack the power to give. If you have a problem, are you willing to do the unusual measures neccesary to see the answers in your own life? God wants to give all of us unsual power.

Divine Appointments

I don't know about you but I believe in divine appointments. I believe that God gives us divine appointments everyday but sometimes we just miss them because possibly we are too busy. Just a few weeks back I prayed that God would use me to be an influence to those outside our church. That simple prayer led me to two opportunities to tell someone about our church and one opportunity to be involved in a business lunch for area businesses. God is so awesome. I dare you to pray a divine appointment prayer. Believe me, if you do, God will give you those divine appointments. God wants to use us in ways that we may not even know.

Ethan turns one

Wow, I can't believe little Ethan turns one year today. It is hard to believe that it was one year ago we were at the hospital and nurse told us that we had another little boy. Ethan has truly been a blessing to our family. It is so neat how God creates us all different. Ethan is definitely different from the rest of the kids. He is a curious little guy and he is into everything. I loose my breath watching him for a just a couple of hours. He is full of energy but full of fun. Jen and I are very blessed to have three wonderful, healthy children. It is important in life that we don't loose focus on what is important. My family is a priority in my life. We can win the whole town of Montezuma to Jesus but if my kids don't follow Him then its not worth it. My challenge for us all this week is take life slow. Time goes fast as did the year with Ethan already turning one. Take time to build memories with those that you love. You will never regret making an investment in those that you love most.

Back to the Basics

Just got done with my sermon for Sunday. We are still in the "Unusual" series. God shifted gears on me early this week as I had another message planned. This Sunday I'm going to talk about the unusual God we serve. It is a basic message of grace vs. works. Ethan is being dedicated this Sunday and there will be a lot of our family members at CH that have never heard this type of message. I'm praying that God will use it greatly. Please be in prayer for God's annointing and that His Word will not return void.

Prodigal Friendly

Just got back from our Iowa District Ministers Conference. What a great couple of days. Dary Northrup spoke to us on Monday and Tuesday morning. He is the pastor of a church of 5,000 people in Fort Collins Colorado. He spoke on the prodigal friendly church. He has an amazing story on how God began to transform his church from an insider church to a church that reaches the lost. It all began with a stripper that got saved in one of his services. After she gave her life the Lord, her friends began to attend and some of them got saved and began to attend the church as well. At first, it was messy. Sometimes church folks don't like it when things get messed up. He talked about the struggle the first few years of changing the mindset of how they must welcome the prodigal home and not be like the elder brother in the parable of the prodigal son. I challenge you sometime to read the story and read how the elder brother reacted to his younger brother coming home. It is found in Luke 15 and it is very interesting. Sometimes we can be like the elder brother in the parable. Even in my own life, I have had expectations and thoughts that God has had to crush. The goal of Jesus is to seek and to save that which is lost. God's heart is to see the prodigal come home. The conference reminded me once again how important it is that we keep our focus to reach those that need to come home.

Awesome God!

Another great Sunday at CH we had. I was battling a serious cold today. During Sunday School, I could hardly talk but I was thankful that the class laid hands on me and prayed for God's touch as I preached. I am so amazed at how faithful God is. While I preached the message this morning, I didn't feel the effects of the cold at all. I am so thankful that God always comes through and His Word was delivered. How has God been faithful to you recently? Post a comment on the blog and let me know.

Gifts of the Spirit

What a great past Sunday we had. We were jammed packed full as we had 131 in attendance. Gary Smith was having to park cars on top of one another. It shows our need for the two acres directly behind us for parking. What was definitely neat about the service was the moving of the Holy Spirit after worship. The Lord spoke through a tongue and interpretation of tongue. I know for many of us, this is new. I want you to sometime look at 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 sometime. In this chapter Paul talks about the 9 gifts of the Spirit. Two of those mentioned are tongues and interpretation of tongues. Paul then goes on in chapter 14 to explain the purpose of tongues, interpretation of tongues and prophecy. In a quick overview, here is what he says.

1. Church should desire the spiritual gifts vs. 12
2. Speak in a tongue, pray that it would be interpreted vs. 14
3. Tongues are a sign to the unbelievers vs. 22
4. If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two at the most three and let one interpret vs 27
5. All things to done for the edification of the church vs. 26
6. Every shall be done in decency and in order. God is not a God of confusion. vs. 40

I hope this helps everyone understand a little more about the gifts. If you ever have any questions, please don't be afraid to ask.

Unusual Life

Here is a quick recap from yesterday on how we can live the unusual life.

1. Dare to be Different
2. Dare to be available
3. Dare to give yourself completely to God
4. Dare to never give up

Genesis 6 tells us that Noah lived the unusual life in a world that was full of evil. Today, God still searches for those who will live the unusual life even in a world that is full of darkness. 2 Peter 2:9 tells us that we have been called out of that darkness to walk into God's light. That's what makes us peculiar as the KJV states or in other words "unusual". Dare to live the unusual life!

Unusual Sundae

Here are the pics from Sunday morning and Pastor Keaton's human sundae. The kids really got behind the whole thing. We had five girls spend the night because Olivia wanted to see Keaton get the ice cream on his head. It was a huge mess but worth it all.

Unusual Weekend

What a weekend we had. The free car wash went well even though it was a cloudy day. I think people have a hard time understanding the word "free." We had lots of people ask us "what's the catch." There really wasn't a catch, it was a free car wash! That's why it was unusual. Thanks to my home church Glad Tidings in Des Moines for all their hard work. Pastor Matt Loomis is doing a great job with those youth. What is really crazy is some of those kids were in my children's church. What an awesome thing to see them grown up and still serving the Lord. At the end of the day they all laid hands on me and prayed for this community and church. What an awesome experience.

Everything is an Experiment

I was reading an article by Mark Batterson the other day about action regrets rather then inaction regrets. In a recent survey, most people regret not doing some things they wish they had when they had the chance. I'm sure all of us regret not doing some things in our lives. As a church I never want us to be afraid of failure. Let us not be afraid of trying new things and stepping out of our boats so to speak. I don't want us to say, "We never tried it because we were afraid we would fail." Remember that there are lost people in this world that need to hear about the good news of Jesus. For that reason alone, it is worth trying. For that reason we are doing a free car wash on Saturday morning and also going door to door asking people in our community if they would like prayer. Even if we can touch one person for the kingdom, it will be worth it. So remember, everything is an experiment and don't be afraid to fail. Do something unusual!

Great Exchange

I hope everyone had a good labor day weekend. Mine was full of good food and school shopping for the kids.

Sunday's message is still on my heart and I once again want to go over the main points in case you missed it. Isaiah 53:4,5 tells us of the great exchange that occurred on the cross. The Bible says that Jesus took and carried our griefs, our sorrows, our punishment and even our sicknesses at Calvary. It was the greatest exchange ever made for mankind. It is nothing that we deserved but what Christ did on our behalf. Christ died so that you and I can not only be made free from our sins but be made whole. (in our souls, spirit and body.) If you have not exchanged some things that you have been holding on too, I encourage you today to do so. Christ wants to totally set you free. He made the great exchange for us.

We are gearing up for the Fall and our theme will be the Unusual. God has called us to live in the unusual. I am excited about the month that is ahead of us. On September 9th we will be doing an unusual free car wash for our community from 9 a.m. till noon. We will also be going door to door asking our community if there is anything we can pray with them about. On September 10th we will start our new sermon series and our Sunday School contest. If our children reach 25 that Sunday, Pastor Keaton will be made into an unusual sundae. I would like to see this. Make sure you mark your calendars and get ready for the unusual.

Church Picnic

What a great time we had this past Sunday at our picnic. Curt Bates did a fantastic job grilling for us again. One of the highlights of course was the famous dunk tank. (or should I say garbage disposal because that's what it looked like.) I have to say I was scared to death as you can see from the picture. Plus the water was freezing. It was all good though because we raised $70.00 for BGMC missions. Thanks to Pastor Keaton and Katy for being a good sport and getting in the dunk tank as well.

Master Asker

It was great to be back in the pulpit yesterday after a three week break. I have to say I was pretty pumped and ready to go. I love to preach the Word of God. There is nothing greater and I thank God that He has given this great privilege to explain His Word. Yesterday's Big Idea was how to become a master asker in our prayers. A master asker finds the will of God and is persistent in their praying. Jesus gave us many examples of persistent prayer. I want to encourage everyone who hasn't seen the breakthrough to their prayer just yet. Hold on to your faith and be persistent until you see that answer come to pass. Many people give up too soon. Paul said that there is a fight to our faith. Many give up after the first round but that is not God's will for you. God's will is persistence! Why doesn't God just answer our prayers right away? Maybe He wants to teach us something along the way. Many of us will become stronger people in the end if we hold on. Life is not always easy, but find the will of God, be persistent and become a master asker in your prayer life.

The countdown to Celebrate Recovery has begun. We took a team of leaders to Des Moines on Sunday Night to watch an actual Celebrate Recovery in action. What an awesome ministry to see people being set free from their addictions and compulsive behaviors. The team we took over is absolutely awesome. I know the Lord has brought this team together for reason. Our launch date is September 10th at 6 p.m. Please be in prayer for this ministry in the coming weeks.

First Day of School

Well today is the first day of school. You would think that it would get easier the second year of school but it sure doesn't feel like it. Caleb started preschool today and Olivia is now in 1st grade. Caleb was so excited this morning that he was up before any of us. Olivia went right to her class and just waved goodbye. It is sometimes hard as a parent to let go of your kids but I am reminded by what God's Word says in the book of Proverbs, "Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it." It is our job as parents to train our kids. We are training them for life. Sometimes we want to hold on to our kids as tight as we can (believe me sometimes I do.) but that is not our job. Our job is help them and train them to become mature Christ-followers. It is our job to let them go so that they can impact the world for Christ. It's not easy but in the end it sure will be worth it all!

Great Sunday

What a great Sunday we had yesterday. I was very blessed by the ministry of John and Dina Mussacchio. It was so good to see them after so many years. I was very blessed by how our own people got behind the vision of John. The church gave yesterday the highest offering it has ever given to a special speaker. Praise God! What a privilege to bless people above and beyond. Way to go church!

Special Sunday

I am looking forward to this Sunday as my good friend and former youth pastor John Muscacchio will be with us at CH. I have great memories with John and his family at Glad Tidings in Des Moines. John is now a missionary to Guatamala. It is hard to believe that it has been almost four years since I last saw him. In fact, I was in Ohio the last time we got together. This will be a great Sunday and I hope everyone can be here to listen to what John has to say. I know you will be blessed.

DREAM

While we were in Tulsa, Jen's cousin was able to take us to Church on the Move. Church on the Move is known for their awesome children's and youth ministries. I was able to take the grand tour of their new Oneighty Youth Building. Check out some of the pics.

Excited to be back!

Today is my first day back at the office. Jen and I had a great time on our vacation. This past week we took the kids camping. Olivia and Caleb had a great time fishing and making sand castles on the beach. Overall it was a relaxing time. One of the things I was encouraged about was when we told the kids they were going to visit another church yesterday, they were disappointed that we were not going to CH. Pastor Keaton is doing a series on the Armor of God in children's church and they didn't want to miss it. I was excited to hear that that our kids enjoy going to our church above anywhere else. I guess the old saying is true,"There's no place like home" and home is here at Community Hope.

Precious Moments

I'm here in Tulsa OK on my first week of vacation. Jen's uncle has a computer so I thought I would update everybody with a picture. Before we came we stopped at Precious Moments Chapel in Carthage, MO. The kids were especially cute. Here are a few pics!