Camping Reflections

Just got back camping with the family. We had a great time at Yogi Bears Campground in the Wisconsin Dells. Did a lot of swimming, played mini golf and went to Story Book Gardens and actually got to pet a giraffe. Pretty cool! My favorite part was stopping at the Cheese Factory and getting some Wisconsin Cheese. Now I understand why they call them cheese heads. Wow, that was some good cheese. It is always good to get away, clear the head and get a break.

Off to Camp

We are off to Wisconsin today to go camping for a few days. We will be camping at Yogi Bears Campground in the Dells and also going to Noah's Ark Waterpark. Lots of fun and the kids are really excited.

SIMPLE part 4

Today we finished our series called "Simple". We wrapped up with the teaching on the Holy Spirit. I know that there are many misunderstandings when it comes to the Holy Spirit. Many choose not to talk about Him while others associate things they have seen or heard with the Holy Spirit. As you look at the scriptures the scriptures are quite clear when it comes to the Holy Spirit. Jesus said wait until you receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you shall be my witnesses. First of all Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as a gift. He is a gift for us to receive. Second He said that gift gives us power. The word means ability. What is that ability for? That power and ability is for enablement. I am so thankful for the power of the Holy Spirit upon my life. I can honestly say that without the Holy Spirit I wouldn't be where I am today. There are times when I don't know how to lead a church, pray for someone or counsel someone in their need. But with the power of the Holy Spirit working in me, I can pray, speak and lead knowing I am doing these things in His Spirit and power and not my own. That is so gratifying to me to know this. If you have not received this supernatural power that the Bible talks about I encourage you to read the scriptures especially Acts, begin to pray and seek the Holy Spirit. If you do these things I believe the promise of Luke 11 that says that if any ask the Father in heaven, He will give you the good gift of the Holy Spirit.

Indy Cars

Today I got the chance to hang out with the kids and the Bushong family and go to the qualifying races for the Iowa Corn Indy. I was never a race fan and I have always been one of those that said 'how in the world can you sit for hours a watch a bunch of cars go around in circles?' Now after two years of watching a few races I would have to say that it is pretty cool live. I will probably not be an avid fan of watching NASCAR on television but the whole feel of being there and hearing the sounds and being a part of the live action is pretty cool. It was definitely a fun day at the races!

One Prayer

On Thursday nights we are doing something little different then we've ever done. We will be showing the One Prayer videos that thousands of churches are showing across the nation. The purpose is for churches to be united all across the world. Each video has a pastor who answers the question, "If you had only one prayer, what would it be?" Last week we showed Craig Groschell from Life Church. Craig had an awesome message about the his prayer of the church being one. If all the churches came together in the world we would see God do some awesome things, for example we would be able to end starvation and poverty to name a few. Pretty cool if you think about it. Instead of churches competing against one another, let's unite together so that the unbelieving world would see what the body of Christ is really about. Looking forward to hearing the others messages in this series. Tonight we will be showing Ed Youngs video.

New Camera

Just used our new video camera on Sunday. It is a Sony HD Handycam. It has a pretty decent picture and I'm really excited about using more video in our services. We have even talked about the possibility of doing our announcements on video. We live in a generation that is used to visuals. As a church we must keep up with the times without watering down our message. I believe that if Jesus was alive today and preaching, He would probably use video as well to get His message across.

Sunday Thoughts

Had a great Sunday today. Chad Varga really hit a home run in service this morning. Chad is obviously very passionate about reaching the next generation for Christ. We were very blessed to have him in service today. What I enjoyed most though is the opportunity to sit down with him at lunch. It is awesome to talk with like minded people when it comes to the future of the church. One of the things we talked about is simply our mindset to reaching people. The only way we can reach today's generation is through building relationships and being truly authentic. Some where along the way Christians have got a mindset that we should live in a bubble and get as far away from the world as possible. When I look at the ministry of Jesus and how the first church in the books of Acts ministered it was far from that. Chad is effectively reaching teenagers and business people today by going into the public schools and also speaking to highly influential business people. He is an example of building the bridge and thinking outside the box. I was truly blessed today and how you were too.

Visioneering

I am currently reading "Visioneering" by Andy Stanley and I just got done reading his chapter on warding off criticism. There are a few things that really hit me hard as I read this. First of all, every vision will have criticism. Whether that's vision for a church, vision for your relationships, vision for your future, etc. Vision is usually something that is not yet but someday will be. People are sometimes uncomfortable with change and the unknown. The Biblical example in the entire book of "Visioneering" is the story of Nehemiah. Nehemiah had a vision to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Nehemiah knew what the walls represented to God's people and he had a dream of what should be. With Nehemiah's vision came criticism. People in the surrounding nations did not want the walls to be rebuilt, it was a threat to them. Even though Nehemiah faced criticism, he remained vision centered. The reason Nehemiah was able to remain vision centered was he prayed. Every time a criticism came to Nehemiah he went directly to the Lord. Here is what Andy says in his book,

"Our natural response to criticism is to defend ourselves. This is especially true when our vision is under attack. We are tempted to begin a dialogue with our critics or with those who are parroting their criticism. Consequently, we waste energy and thought trying to answer questions for people who are not really interested in the answers. Without realizing it, our focus begins to shift. Instead of being vision centered, we slowly become critic centered."

Ouch! I know for me personally my first response is to defend myself and try to dialogue with the criticism. The better thing to do is to pray and give it to my heavenly Father. That's what Nehemiah did. Because Nehemiah gave it to God, he didn't loose sight of the vision God gave him and eventually he was able to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. If you are facing criticism today for a vision that God has birthed in you, give that criticism to God and keep moving forward with the vision God gave you. It's not easy, but its God's plan that you stay on course!

Chad Varga

This Sunday we will be having special guest Chad Varga with us. Chad played college ball at the University of Pittsburgh, recruited by the Dallas Mavericks and played pro ball in Spain. He averaged over 20 points per game and was the Slam Dunk Champion at the Spain All Star Game. Chad has a powerful testimony he is going to share with us. Please make plans to attend and invite a friend.

Simple part 3

Yesterday we continued our Simple series as we talked about the word 'obey'. I know that this word is often misrepresented in church circles. The reason is we often get things backwards in the church. Jesus first started with the invitation to follow and as we follow we have a choice of whether or not to believe. For those of us who have believed that Jesus is who He claimed to be the next step is to obey. God's plan for each of us is to practice His teachings. God wants us to live out the things He taught. Matthew 5 through 7 is a great example. In these chapters Jesus was teaching some hard things to actually practice in this life. Things like, love your enemies, give generously, don't lust, go the extra mile when not asked, etc. At the end of chapter 7 Jesus closes with the parable of the wise and foolish builder. He basically says, if you do the things I just taught you will be like a wise man that built His house on the rock. When the rains, wind and the floods come, you will be able to stand. Jesus was giving us His teaching to actually protect us. The opposite of the person who does not practice His teaching was compared to a foolish man that built His house on sand. The house built on sand was destroyed because there was no foundation. Here is the point: Jesus wants us to obey, not to earn His love but simply because it is the wisest thing to do. When we actually live out God's Word we will be able to survive the storms of life. Obedience is not something God forces us to do against our will. It is something that as believers we want to do because it is the wise thing to do. I hope all of us are practicing the teachings of God's Word in our everyday life. Why? Because we all face storms one time or another. Let's be prepared for those storms by having the right foundation.

Caleb's Birthday

Today is buddy boys birthday. He officially turns seven today. We will be having a party for him this afternoon with cake and presents. This picture was taking at his kindergarten graduation. I was so proud of him as he won the Principal's award for his class. The Principal's award is based on attitude and kindness to other classmates. Way to go bud! What can I say but I'm a proud parent.

Creative Meeting

We had our first creative meeting last night with a group of young people to talk about upcoming sermon series and ideas for what we can do. I was really excited with some of the ideas that we came up with as a collective team. In July we will be starting a series called "The New You". We will be discovering who we are in Christ. We will be going off theme of "What Not To Wear." I can't give away everything so just stayed tuned to find out all the exciting things we will be doing with this series.

Sunday Reflections

Summer has begun and boy could you ever tell at church today. This weekend seemed more like Memorial weekend then last. We had a lot of people gone at church. We had beautiful weather which probably meant people were out enjoying the sun.

Today we were in part two of our series called "Simple." Jesus Christ came to make God known. We all have a decision that whether or not we will believe that Jesus is the Christ of the Son of the living God. Romans 3 gives us a map of how we can come to belief in Jesus. I normally don't go verse by verse and explain what each verse means but I believe it was important that we understand what it means to come to faith in Christ. I encourage you to look Romans 3 for yourself and even try the new You Version website Bible. It has a lot of different versions to check out.

Flood

Yesterday was my moms birthday so we were headed to Des Moines but before we went I decided to stop by the church and I couldn't believe it but the church building had water in it once again. This time it was all in the sanctuary, the nursery and foyer. We just tiled all around the two buildings hoping it would solve this problem. I heard we had 4 inches in matter of a few minutes Friday morning. We called a cleaning crew and thankfully with a lot of fans and dehumidifiers we got it dried out. I am so thankful to those who came in today and helped put the church back together for Sunday. We are very blessed with great people who step in in a time of need. Thankfully we are all set for church tomorrow!

Quick Happenings

Lots of things going on lately. Here are just a few things;

- Had our work night last night- Cleaned up the storage area (What a mess!!!!!) Also did some painting in the new Sunday School rooms. Honestly, we could of used more help.

- Today is the first day of summer. (Kind of) The kids are officially out of school and I've already heard the famous sentence of summer, "I'm Bored!"

- Met with Heath Adamson today about the 7 Project. I'm really pumped about the 7 project coming to Montezuma. We have three schools booked including BGM and English Valley. The hard work begins now with prayer, getting the other churches on board and raising funds necessary.

- Also met with Vanna Bushong today. Vanna is going to help me out this summer with video projects and other projects in the church. Really excited about having an extra hand.

Missions Meeting

We had our missions meeting last night and I've got to say that it is always exciting giving money away. Our church was founded on the principle that missions is a priority. That is why we take 10% out of our general offering every week that goes towards missions on top of what is designated. Even when didn't have money to give, we gave and that is why I believe our church is blessed. Here are a few things that we did:

Gave $200 to the new church plant in West Des Moines
Gave $208 to the Key Bearers Ministry (Pentecostal Evangels to Prisons)
Gave $250 to one of our own church attendees missions trip
Gave $25 gift certificate to Walmart for graduation gift for Missionaries son.

Also we are starting a care package ministry for those overseas and college students and looking at possible visitation to nursery homes on a regular basis. I hope this gives everyone an idea of what we do with our Missions money. Every time we give towards missions it is making a difference.

New Look

I decided to give the blog a new look and new name this week. I've changed the name to "Hope Filled Thoughts" going off the name of our church Community Hope. I plan on blogging more as lately I haven't done a great job at keeping up. Let me know if you like the look and name or if you have any suggestions on what you would like to see on this blog.

Memorial Day Fun

Had a great day today just spending time with the family. We went to Diamond Lake and played on the playground, went fishing, took a hike and then ate a picnic lunch. I really cherish these times together as a family. We even took Maggie our dog with us!

SIMPLE

We started our new series called "Simple" today in church. I really feel that we often make the Gospel more complicated then it really is. When Jesus came to earth, He made it really simple on how we should follow Him.

Today I talked about the first step which is simply "Follow Me." The story we read was from Matthew 9 and the story of Matthew the tax collector. It is interesting that Jesus asked Matthew who was a tax collector and sinner of his time to follow. Jesus didn't say, 'get your act together' and then follow nor did He give him a bunch of rules that he had to obey before he could be a disciple. Jesus simply said "Follow Me". Somehow we have gotten this backwards in the church today. We think that people have to have it all together before they can follow. Some how we have thought that even church is for church people. The more I study Jesus the more I find that people unlike Jesus liked Him and those who were unlike Jesus were attracted to Him. Which makes me think that if we are true followers of Christ then those who are unlike us will like us and those who are not like us will be attracted to us.

Jesus extends the invitation for everyone to follow Him. As we follow, God begins to do a work in our hearts. But before He even has a chance, we must first start following. Let's remember that very important but simple step.

Children's Ministry Revamp

Tonight we had our first meeting on some of the changes in our children's ministry department. I feel that this is our number one priority right now as a church. We will be making changes to our nursery, starting a preschool ministry (3-5 year old) and also changing some of things in our Kids Church (K-5) I was a children's pastor for 10 years before entering adult ministry and I know the importance of a good kids ministry. I have seen first hand how a children's ministry can not only reach kids but also adults. There are nine references of Jesus ministering to children or referring to how we should be like children in the Bible. If Jesus thought it was important then so should we. There is a staggering statistic that says that when a kid is between the ages of 1-14 we have a 32% chance of reaching them. After they reach 18 that chance goes down to 4%. What should this teach us? We should try to reach people when they are young. In order to do this we need volunteers in all our children's department. We basically need to more then double our volunteers on Sunday morning. If you would like to be a part of reaching the next generation for Christ, we can definitely use you. Let's take the opportunity that God gives us and reach kids for the Kingdom of God.

Think like child

Sunday was definitely one of those wild days. We started at 9 a.m. with Baccalaureate at the school and then we had our own service at 10:30 a.m. Graduation was at 1 p.m. and then after parties all day. It was still great day as Pastor Keaton got the opportunity to speak at graduation and did a great job talking about becoming world changers. At church I talked about how to see life through the eyes of a child. Here are the four essentials in seeing life through the eyes of a child:

1. Walk in the wonder of worship

2. Trust with child like faith

3. Be bold and unashamed

4. Learn to walk in innocence.

At the end of the service we handed out little play-doh containers to remind our selves that being child like is not necessarily a bad thing. Jesus said if you want to be great in the kingdom than begin to see life in this way. I hope everyone has a great time playing with their play doh this week.

Mothers Day

I hope all the moms had a great Mothers Day yesterday. We had a great day in church as we had 154 in attendance! I challenged all of us to honor our mothers not just one day a year but honoring our moms and our dads on a regular basis. Remember the three A's of honor:

Acceptance: I accept that God chose you to raise me
Appreciation: I appreciate everything you have done for me
Affirmation: I affirm and respect you by listening and praying for you on a regular basis.

I hope most of us took the time to write our letter of honor which includes all three of these important things. I took my letter of honor to my mom yesterday after church. I could tell she was really touched. I hope your mom was too!

Drive Conference

Just back from Atlanta and the Drive Conference. What an amazing week of learning. I was privileged to bring the team with me this week and we even got the chance to meet Elvis. (As pictured). Every workshop and main sessions was just what I needed. I want to share with everyone five random thoughts that Andy Stanley shared about church and leadership.

1. "To reach people no one else is reaching, we must do things that no one else is doing." Wow, what a thought. As a church, let us not be satisfied with what we are currently doing but let us always find new ways to reach new people.

2. "The next generation product almost never comes from the previous generation." The takeaway is, we can either fight it or fund it? Are we willing to risk failure for the next generation? Let us not be critics, lets be students.

3. "What do we believe is impossible that could change our church." We must not put limits on God. He is the God of all possibilities!

4. "If we got kicked out of leadership and came back with fresh eyes, what would we change?" This is a good question as it is easy to become emotionally attached to the things we are comfortable with. Are we doing ministries and programs that are ineffective? What are manufacturing energy in? We must own up to the things that are not working and why they are not working?

5. "When your memories exceed your dreams, the end is near." I've heard a lot of people say, "We need to go back when........." We can't be experts on the past. If the vision isn't driving the church then the past will. When the past is driving us then the end is near. We must always look towards the future and what God is in store. Vision comes from a burden within. What do we have a broken heart for? These are the things that should drive us into the future.

Andy closed by saying that the real issue in America is not the high price or gasoline or the war in Iraq or who will be the next president. The real issue of America is the heart. Only the Gospel of Jesus can penetrate the hearts of people. This should drive us as a church because we are ones with the incredibly important message. We carry the hope of Christ with us. Let us do what is necessary to continue to reach this generation for Christ.

Grace vs. Truth

Last Sunday I preached on Grace and Truth the real balance. I think if there is any area that the church and people can get unbalanced in, it is this subject. We can either side with grace in which we get this picture of God as a nice a cudly Granfather figure or we side with truth in which God becomes angry and always ready to strike us down. We look at God through these lenses, it affects who we are, how we live and how we treat other people. John 1:14 says that Jesus came to this world full of Grace and Truth. Jesus wasn't just full of one or the other. He was full of both. At times Jesus showed grace and other times He showed truth. John 8 is a great example of how Jesus showed both in one situation when there was a women who was caught in adultery. Jesus showed the woman grace by telling her that He did not condemn her but He also pointed her to truth by telling her to go and sin no more. Jesus first showed grace in order to point her to truth.

In our culture, we need to show people grace in order to point them to truth. People don't care what we have to say unless they know that we first care. The only way we can do this is by building relationships with those that need both grace and truth. If you are a parent, it means building that relationship with your child. If you are teacher, it means building that relationship with that student. If you have a person that you want to reach for Christ, it means building that relationship with that person no matter their lifestyle or opinions are. Let us learn how to show grace so that we can point people to truth. Remember it's not one or the other, it is both. Go walk in grace and truth!

District Council

Just got back from a week of District Council. I will have to say that this was probably the best Council we have had in a long time. Ron McManus was the special guest speaker. Ron pastored a church in North Carolina and the church grew from 300 to 3000 while he was there. He then went on to start Injoy with none other then John Maxwell. John Maxwell is known for his many books on leadership. Wednesday nights service was awesome as Ron talking about getting to the top of the mountain. When we don't make it to the top, we later regret not making the trip. Many leaders stop short feeling its just way too hard. Ministry is not always easy as there will always be ups and downs. But the key is holding on to the promises of God and allowing God to speak to you in the times you feeling like giving up. When we hold on and make it to the top, we will be glad we made the trip. (And don't forget to bring others along with you!)

Also, congrats to Pastor Keaton who received his credentials Wednesday night. We love you bro!

Variety is a good thing!

I'm taking this Sunday off from preaching and handing the pulpit to Gary Smith. Gary was one of the originals that started the church. I've got to be honest, I'm looking forward to taking this Sunday off. When I preach for so many consecutive Sundays I get a little burned out. I'm always fired back up the next week when I preach. I think it is good to have variety in the pulpit as well. It is good to hear numerous voices and we are very blessed at Community Hope to have several people who could do just as good of a job as me. I know we will be blessed as Gary is ending our series on God at the Movies with Lord of the Rings.

God at the Movies

We are in the middle of a series right now called, "God at the movies." I got this idea from Mark Batterson who is the pastor of a church in Washington DC. Every year he does a series on some current and past movies. When you think about it, when Jesus taught He always used illustrations that were current to His day. In 2008 we live in media centered culture. Most everybody goes to the theater or rents a movie. Why not take current cultural movies and bring out the spiritual principles in them? Easter we did Narnia and last week we did Evan Almighty. Two great movies! I'm looking forward to this week as I am doing "Meet the Robinsons." Gary Smith will conclude this series with "Lord of the Rings." Take the opportunity to invite a friend to this series.

Easter Weekend

We had a great Easter Weekend. The Easter Egg Hunt was a success as we had over 300 kids register. We filled over 12,000 eggs! We even made the front page of the paper this week. Thanks to everyone who helped make the Easter Egg Hunt a success.

On Easter Sunday we had 193 people in service. We kicked off our new series called God at the Movies. We will be taking four popular movies and bringing out some spritual truths from each of them. I'm praying that many of our guest will be back this coming week.

40 Days comes to an end!

We have concluded our 40 Day renewal and what a great time it was getting in God's Word and also fasting something to Lord. We heard some wonderful testimonies Friday Night. We've seen salivations and even deliverance's from cigarettes and other medications. God even came through for some in different employment opportunities. All I can say is that when we seek God, God draws near. The Encounter Service last night was absolutely awesome. The presence of God was so strong you could cut it with a knife. After the service was over I had the thought that we should have these Encounter services more often. My challenge for us last night is that if we continue to seek God, God will continue to show up for us. Let us not stop after 40 days of seeking and going after Him. Let us continue to see God's presence and power working in our lives and in our church.

No Church

Yesterday we had to cancel services due to the snow and ice. I hate canceling church but it is better to be safe then sorry. As a family we decided to have church with the kids. I broke out the old puppets when we were children's pastors, sang songs and even did an old illusion. (Needle through the balloon trick.) The kids thought it was really cool. Our lesson was, "don't store up treasures on earth." We decided to make the best of the time we had and I think the kids had a really good time.

40 Days

Today we launch our 40 Day spiritual renewal. I can't say enough about how excited I am to see what God is going to do in the next month as we focus in on Him. Yesterday I encouraged our church to fast one thing to the Lord and also read the entire New Testament in 40 Days. I know that God is going to stretch us in ways that we have never been stretched but I am excited to hear the testimonies of what God is going to do. I have heard of some of our people fasting television, some cigarettes and I even heard of someone fasting "MySpace" (that's interesting.) Whatever it is, I know God will bless as we intentionally seek after Him.

Handling Criticism

I was grieved this weekend as I heard that one of our own ministers in an area not to far away from us was voted out by his congregation. This young man and his wife recently moved to this church over a year ago and poured their heart into this church. Every time I spoke with him, he was upbeat about what was happening there. To my surprise, I heard that the people decided to let him go. This man did not have a moral failure of any kind and was simply trying to do his best. Someone commented to me about this church simply saying, "The people are just plain mean there." This is something I do not understand when it comes to churches around our area. I was searching some blogs on the internet and I found an interesting article from a pastor in Ohio. He is simply quoting Spurgeon from years ago. Here is what Spurgeon said;

“Many hearers lose much blessing through criticizing too much, and meditating too little; and many more incur great sin by calumniating those who live for the good of others. True pastors have enough of care and travail without being burdened by undeserved and useless fault-finding. We have something better to do than to be for ever answering every malignant or frivolous slander which is set afloat to injure us….there are tender, loving spirits who feel the trial very keenly, and are sadly hindered in brave service by cruel assaults. The rougher and stronger among us laugh at those who ridicule us, but upon others the effect is very sorrowful…
As ministers we are very far from being perfect, but many of us are doing our best, and we are grieved that the minds of our people should be more directed to our personal imperfections than to our divine message….

Filled with the same spirit of contrariety, the men of this world still depreciate the ministers whom God sends them and profess that they would gladly listen if different preachers could be found. Nothing can please them, their cavils are dealt out with heedless universality. Cephas is too blunt, Apollos is too flowery, Paul is too argumentative, Timothy is too young, James is too severe, John is too gentle…

Well then, let each servant of God tell his message in his own way. To his own Master he shall stand or fall…

Judge the preacher if you like, but do remember that there is something better to be done than that, namely, to get all the good you can out of him, and pray his Master to put more good into him.”

Amen to Spurgeon! I am very thankful for our church as we do not deal with much criticism here but my heart goes out to the pastors around the world that deal with it day in and day out. Remember to pray for your pastor and pray as Spurgeon as said, "That God would put more good into him."

Snow Day

Do you remember when you were a kid and you looked forward to snow days and you got to get of school? Well today is one of those days. There is no way we are getting out of our drive way anytime soon. I'm just glad I took my computer home last night to work on my message for Sunday. I took a little break this afternoon and the whole family went outside and threw snow balls at each other. Had a good time! The kids are having blast enjoying just the day and having fun. I guess that's what snow days are for.

Basketball

Olivia has just started in basketball camp for the first time and I think our lives is going to get officially crazy for the next couple of months. We have practices now on Monday nights and then she will play a game on Saturday. She really seems to enjoy it and she has the height for it. (Definitely didn't get that from me.) I really feel strongly that activities are good as long as you don't have too many activities. Olivia had the choice between basketball or cheer leading camp this winter. We would not allow her to do both simply for the reason that as a family it is important that you keep your sanity. She chose basketball all on her own. (Which I was excited about.) I see too families having somewhere to go every night of the week and I really feel that it is unhealthy. Families need time to connect with one another relationally and we cannot do that if we are constantly going from place to place.

I am excited to see how the next couple months will go and by the way, Olivia's team name is "Crusaders". Go Crusaders!!!!!

Annual Meeting

Last night we had our annual meeting and what a wonderful night it was. I have been in some nightmare annual meetings in my years in ministry. Last night was was definately not a nightmare but a dream come true. I gave people the opportunity to share testimonies from this past year and what an awesome thing it was to hear all that God is doing in people's lives. It was also so cool to hear how the church has impacted many of them in different ways. It makes it worth it all when you hear stories of how people have been touched. I shared with everyone last night a word that I feel that God spoke to me in September. I don't feel that God speaks prophetically that much to me but I know that I heard God speak to me on this occasion. I felt God say that if we continue to do what we are doing and obey and follow Him that what we see now will be nothing compared to what we see in the future. I believe this and accept from Him. I am excited about this year and I believe that this will be a year of growth. I spoke yesterday about our plan to go into a 40 day spiritual renewal and fast. I want encourage everyone to give up something for God starting on Feb. 10th and continue to give it up until Easter. During that time I would like us to read the entire New Testament and seek God like never before. If we honor God in this, He will honor us back. I want us to be spiritually prepared for what God wants to do this Easter and Spring. I am believing God for a great harvest and would like you to agree with me on this. I am looking forward to seeing what God is going to do in the months ahead.

Reflections

Christmas is over and it is time to take a breather. It has been a wild month but a fruitful month at that. At our Christmas Eve service, we broke all record attendance with almost 180 in attendance. We had people all over the place and we had to bring out more chairs just to fit everybody in. It shows that people are truly hungry for something this time of year. I pray that seeds were planted and hopefully we will see some of those faces this Sunday at church.

As far as the Jones family, we had a great Christmas as well. I love watching the kids open their presents. It takes me back to the magic of it all when I was kid. Jen even surprised me this year with a new t.v. (Score!) I want to thank everyone for their gifts and cards to our family this Christmas, it is highly appreciated and we feel so blessed to be a part of such a great church. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas as well and looking forward to the New Year.

Christmas Craziness

I have to apologize that I have not blogged as much as I want lately. Things have gotten really crazy as of late. We wrapped up the adult musical "Imagine Christmas" this past week with four nights in a row including our dress rehearsal. I was so proud of all those that particpating in this great event. We have lots of talent in our church and it was neat to see that talent used for God's glory.

We also had our Santa outreach that Saturday and due to the snow that turn out wasn't as great as expected. Needless to say we had some families that came through our church door that might have never came if it wasn't for the event. We gave away bags of candy along with the Christmas story of Jesus.

This week we are gearing up for Christmas Eve service. I'm planning on doing this a little different this year then past. It will still be a wonderful time with family and celebrating our Lord's birth.

Remember in all the busyness of the season, don't forget to put Christ first. He is the reason for this season!

Sick Kids

This has been a wild week for the Jones family. We have had sick kids all week. Sunday night we had to take Olivia to the hospital as she had the flu and was not getting enough liquids in her body. Caleb has also been sick with the flu as well. Thankfully Ethan has avoided it. (I'm praying that he continues to avoid it.) Jennifer has missed church now for four weeks because of one of our kids having a bad cold or flu. YUCK! Anyways, I hope we are getting over all of this. Sure would like to see my wife in church soon.

Thanksgiving Weekend

I hope everybody had a wonderful Thanksgiving. For our family we headed to Des Moines, ate some good food. On Friday Jen and I decided to be crazy and go shopping. Our first stop was Toys R Us and that place was a mad house. We ended up turning around and leaving. The rest of the day wasn't too bad. Jen and I ended the day by celebrating her birthday at Olive Garden. All and all it was a great weekend. I hope everybody else had a great Thanksgiving weekend as well.

Having some fun with our heroes series. Here is a great video we did last Sunday.

Having fun with our new series on "Heroes of the Bible." We are diving into some of the characters of the Bible. This Sunday we covered Elijah. When I take a look at Elijah he can almost seem like a super-prophet with all the miracles he did. It is amazing that he was fed by ravens, multiplied food, raised the dead and even called fire down from heaven. But these miracles do not make Elijah a hero. What makes Elijah a hero is found in James 5:17. James tells us that Elijah was a man just like us. He was man just like us that understood how to pray. James 5:16 tells us that Elijah prayed powerful and effective prayers. The point is, we can pray powerful and effective prayers, just like Elijah. All of us can be used by God in incredible ways like Elijah if we learn the power of prayer. If you need a miracle today, don't underestimate the power of prayer!

Fun Fest

Last night was our first Fall Fun Fest with the Giant Haystack and I got to be honest because I really didn't know what to expect. At 5:00 there were only a handful of people and I got really nervous. Thankfully about ten to fifteen after we had a decent crowd. I think everybody had fun and we gave away lots of prizes and candy. Also had a good time talking with some families that do not attend our church. Definitely think we will try it again next year with some modifications and additions to the night. Thanks to everyone that helped out with the outreach, couldn't of done it without you!

Happy Birthday Olivia

This has been a month full of birthdays! Sunday was Olivia's 8th birthday. My little girl is growing up so fast. We had a slumber party Friday Night with three other girls and Jen took the girls to Libbi Lue at Jordan Creek Mall in Des Moines. I think I heard the Chicken Song a hundred times Friday and Saturday. Time goes by so fast, so remember to cherish those special moments with your kids while you have them!

Why Money?

We just got through with our Missions Convention yesterday and I feel that I need to address an issue that was brought up at church in the middle of the service of "Why Money?" Mark Oberbeck who is our Iowa Youth Director was talking about Speed the Light which is a missions organization that raises money for missionaries so that they can have vehicles, sound equipment and other tools to effectively preach the gospel in other nations. The question was basically why do we need to talk about money or can't there be other ways of helping? There are other ways we can help our missionaries, first of all by praying for our missionaries. Many missionaries will tell you that they covet our prayers while they are on the missions field. Another way is going on a missions trip ourselves and helping the missionaries with projects that they may have. About six years ago, I went to Peru and helped build a Teen Challenge Building for a church. It was an awesome experience. The third way is by giving. The fact of the matter is, it takes money to live and to have the tools necessary to do your job. For example, if our missionaries didn't have vehicles they could not reach some of the far reaching areas and villages in their nations. Our missionaries are 100% supported by the local churches. Just as we need a home to live in and food on our tables, so do missionaries. Many of the places that they live are very poor regions and the people there cannot support them. It is the local churches job to do that. These missionaries have given up their lives to the call of going over seas and reaching areas that we simply cannot reach. They will be honored in heaven because of their call and we need to honor them now on earth. Missionaries should be our heroes! I am not ashamed as your pastor to ask for money to help missionaries. We are obeying the command of Jesus to "Go into all the world and preach the gospel." Jesus said that He would come back here on earth after the Gospel has been spread to the ends of the earth. Think about that for a moment. The only thing that is holding Jesus from coming back and taking us home is His love for people who have not heard His message yet. This should show us, His concern for other nations and those who still need to be reached. One of our core values at Community Hope is "Missions Minded." If we are missions minded, God will bless. I know this, because I've seen it time and time again. Let's be about the priorities of Jesus and have a heart to reach our world with the love of God.

Missions Weekend

This Sunday is our annual Missions Convention. I am really excited as this year as we are having Mark Oberbeck who is our Iowa Youth Director speaking in the morning service. I have known Mark for years and I know he is very passionate about Missions. In the evening we are having missionary Brad Tucker speaking who is a missionary to Africa. We are also having the ministry team from Evangel University in Springfield, MO to come and lead worship and do a special drama for us. This is an exciting time for us as a church because Community Hope was built on Missions. I want us to be a church that Prays for Missions, Gives to Missions and Go and be Missions ourselves. Please be in prayer for this powerful weekend!

Truth or Snare

Wrapped up our series yesterday on the mind. I felt it was a good three weeks on study on how we must renew our minds in Christ. Yesterday we talked about the lies that Satan throws at us. Here are the three most common lies.

1. Lies about yourself- My self-worth comes from what I do and what others think.
2. Lies about the meaning of life- The meaning of life is about how much I can accumulate.
3. Lies about God- Many believe lies about God- here are a few lies that people believe;
- I am saved by what I do
- God is out to get me lie
- What I've done is too bad for God to forgive.

Satan throws traps for us all the time. Remember that Satan is the father of lies. The way we defeat the lies is by the truth of God's Word. Hebrews 4:12 says that the Word is the discerner of our thoughts. In other words, when we have these lies enter our minds we must judge that thought by God's Word. What does the truth have to say? If it's not according to the Word, then it is a lie. Don't be caught in the snare of lies that Satan throws at us. Be free by the truth of God's Word.

Breaking 250

This last Thursday I started meeting with my coaching group in Des Moines on how to break the 250 barrier. I'm really excited about meeting with this group of guys once a month. This past meeting most of our time was spent on why we lead the way we do. I was reminded once again that my past has been pleasing people and many times I lead to please. This is all right at times but dangerous in other times. My focus needs to be pleasing God and what God wants. Especially when it comes to church, many people have their own ideas on how the church should run. This is ok but we must remember that God is the one who leads and we must always listen to His voice and the leading of the Holy Spirit. This should be our main priority. Looking forward to the next six months with these guys and seeing how God moves in our churches.

Here is the video for all those that missed it yesterday. We talked about mental strongholds that can hold us captive. I believe that fear and worry can be huge mental strongholds in our lives. I hope you enjoy!

Today is Ethan's birthday! He is officially two years old today. Ethan loves music so naturally we got him a little guitar. I think Ethan is going to be our future worship leader. He loves music, especially the Wiggles. We will have a party for him on Sunday with the family so I'm sure there will be lots of presents. The picture we took here was when we were at the Omaha Zoo. Love the pic of the bear behind him. Pretty cool! Happy Birthday Big Guy!

Sunday Reflections

Sunday was a great day for us as a church as we had 147 in attendance! Praise God!!! The last few weeks we have seen several new faces and commitments to Christ. Yesterday we had many college students from Grinnell and their families. I guess it was parents week at the school. It was awesome to meet some the parents. We had people all the way from Washington to Connecticut. It is pretty cool to think that a church in a small town like Montezuma would have people from all over the United States in it. It is amazing to me how God continues to work in His church. The church is definitely an awesome thing to be a part of!

Computer Crash

So here it is.......I am preparing my sermon on the mind and I am comparing the mind to a computer. Our relationship with our computers can be a love/hate relationship. Now my sermon was already done when on Saturday my computer decides to crash. (By the way, this is the second time!) Now I love using real life illustrations but this is a little ridiculous. I don't know if God is trying to teach me patience or if I should cast out the demons in my computer. Oh well, you have to have a sense of humor in times like these because if you don't, the little things can definitely drive you crazy.

All in the Mind!

This Sunday I am preaching on "It's all the mind." I want to take a few weeks to talk about mindsets and re-thinking our thinking. We may or may not realize that our thinking has a lot to do with the way we live each day. God wants to challenge our thoughts and get us to start thinking according to His Word. Looking forward to the next few weeks.

Work Nights have begun

Those coming to church this Sunday will notice that our men have been working hard all week. We are in the process of putting a sidewalk between the two buildings that we own. Found out we really needed one a few Sunday's ago when our toilets went out during Sunday service. (By the way, you ever noticed that when things go out they choose to go out on Sunday! What's up with that!) We had some elderly people who had a hard time walking on the rock to get to the other building to use the restroom so a sidewalk is definitely needed. For those who want to know where we are currently at on the new building- We are a little over $14,000 in our match fund. Our goal is $20,000 by the end of the year, we are way on our way.

Last Sunday

Wanted to blog real quickly about last Sunday. We finished our series on God at the Grand Ole Opry. I had a blast the last three weeks playing some familar country songs and talking about the spiritual meaning of them. This past Sunday we talked about the Three Wooden Crosses by Randy Travis. I believe that God has called each of us to live the way of the cross. Remember that Jesus taught the cross and lived the cross before He ever went to the cross. It's the lifestyle He has called us to. I enjoyed sharing the video of the reunion of my sister and nephew. What an example of forgiveness. As many of you know, my sister and her son Josh hadn't seen each other in almost 20 years. But because of Nashville Star, my sister got to be reunited with her son. Josh is now touring all over the United States. His song "Rock and Roll in Pensacola" should be on the Hawk Country station this January. I got to see Josh last Sunday and had a good time catching up. Every time I see him it reminds me of God's grace and forgiveness. Let us all remember to live the way of the cross.

E2 Conference

Just got back late last night from this years E2 conference in Des Moines. Man was it AWESOME! This years speaker was Mark Batterson from National Community Church in Washington D.C. Mark is one of those pioneers in church planting and re-thinking church. I got the chance to hang out with him for just a bit yesterday and he really motivated me to do some big things for God. I want to encourage everyone to check out his blog at markbatterson.com and his church on the web at theaterchurch.com. He also has a book out called "In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day." It's a great read for anyone who wants to step out of their comfort zones and do something great for the kingdom.

As I reflect with my time at the conference and my time with Mark, God put a few things on my heart. First of all I never want our church to be in defense mode but rather offense mode. Jesus played offense. It can be easy for us to say we have enough people and we like the church the way it is but this is how churches die. Defense mode is when a church is constantly fixing problems and they get stuck in the way things are. We must be constantly looking at ways that we can reach more people and expand God's kingdom. That means that things may look differently then they did let's say six months to a year ago. Let's not get comfortable in our church. Let us not be the church that says, "We've always done it this way!" Let's keep investing and let us keep inviting those that need to hear about God's love. There are many people in our community and county that have yet heard the true gospel. Let's play offense and expand the kingdom!

Last Church Planting Meeting

Last Thursday I spent the day in Iowa City for our last church planters meeting. Starting next month the District is changing the structure of our small groups. I will definately miss meeting together with this group of guys. I've always took something away from our meetings together. I thought I would share with you the topic of our last discussion.

Attractive Attitudes and Atmospheres in the church

1. Serve with humility
2. Endorse God's plan for abundant life
3. Place a high value on individuals
4. Set an example of excellence- From worship, preaching and facilities.
5. Proclaim that God is faithful
6. Communicate the life giving nature of God

These are attitudes and atmospheres that people are attracted too. I've been in a lot of churches where people come in and leave feeling beat up by the preacher. My goal is that CH will be a place where people can be encouraged and know that with God's help they can have the victory. That's the type of church I want to be a part of.

Homosexual Marriage

I picked up a Des Monies Register yesterday and found an article on the debate of homosexual marriage in Iowa. As you know, a couple weeks ago a judge ruled that it was unconstitutional for the state of Iowa to prohibit homosexual marriages. I thought I would share with you all a statement made by Tom Jacobs who is our new superintendent for the Assemblies of God. Here is the statement he made concerning these events:

Last week a "marriage" between two homosexual males made the headlines in Iowa and throughout the nation. As a spiritual leader, you will be asked to make a statement about this development. We need to work together to make sure we are prepared for such opportunities. The following is information that I sent out to our credentialed ministers in Iowa. Hope it's helpful.

You have undoubtedly heard about the egregious action by a local judge in the Des Moines area, finding the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) passed by the Iowa legislature several years ago, as unconstitutional. In light of his judgment and the “homosexual marriage” which took place I its aftermath, I wanted to attempt to equip you with some tools you might find helpful.
First, if you are asked to make a statement before the media, you may find these “talking points” helpful (I used them yesterday when I spoke with our local NBC affiliate). These statements came from the Alliance Defense Fund and the Iowa Family Policy Center, located here in Des Moines.

Special interest groups should not trump what’s in the best interest of Iowa families and children. Who’s more important: our children or special interest groups?
Last week’s decision is an example of why marriage in Iowa must be protected by a state marriage amendment.The opponents of marriage are not trying to redefine marriage, they’re trying to eliminate it.

Nine years ago, Iowa voters clearly expressed their desire to protect marriage in the state through their elected and accountable representatives.

Now, some of those elected representatives have thwarted the will of the people to constitutionally protect marriage between one man and one woman.

The will of the people should not be trumped by a special interest group bent on using the courts to destroy marriage.

We’re all in trouble if special interests become more important than strong families.

Second, some time ago, the Executive Board of Administration issued a statement supporting the Federal Marriage Amendment which was before Congress. This statement clearly addresses the stance of the Assemblies of God on the issue of homosexual marriage. You may find it helpful:

Homosexual Marriage Statement
The Assemblies of God is deeply concerned about the attack on biblical, moral values in our nation, especially the aggressive attempt of the pro-homosexual lobby to redefine marriage. The Bible teaches marriage is God-ordained and is to be a life-long commitment between one man and one woman. (Matthew 19:4-5).
God’s design for marriage goes back to mankind’s beginning. The family, as God’s means of propagating His creation, grows out of this primary human relationship. The consistent sexual ideal of the Bible is abstinence for those outside of monogamous heterosexual marriage and faithfulness for those inside such a marriage. There is absolutely no affirmation of homosexual activity found anywhere in Scripture. However, there is abundant evidence that homosexual behavior, along with illicit heterosexual behavior, is immoral and comes under the judgment of God.
The church believes, in the light of biblical teaching, that the growing cultural acceptance of homosexual identity and behavior is symptomatic of a broader spiritual disorder that threatens the family, the government and the church.
Third, you may want to access more information and tools from the Iowa Family Policy Center at www.ifpc.org.

Bless the Broken Road

Looking forward to this Sunday as we continue our series on God and the Grand Ole Opry. I thought the band did a great job last Sunday on "Jesus take the Wheel." This week we will be exploring the song "Bless the Broken Road" by Rascal Flatts. We will be looking into the life of Joseph and how God was able to bless his broken road and how God can bless our broken roads as well. See you Sunday and invite someone you know!

Great Weekend

What a great weekend we had at Community Hope. To start things off we had our annual Softball game on Saturday night. Sad to say that we lost our first game which meant we lost the trophy from last year. Oh well, still had a blast and came back and won our second game. We kicked off the Fall with our Round Up Sunday and went back to two services. We had 143 in attendance which is a great start to the Fall. Sunday Night was the picnic and probably the greatest memory of the picnic is showed in this picture. Tammy Winburn lost her Mothers Ring in a volleyball match. We had what seemed to be at least 15 or more people looking for the ring. We were all on our hands and knees at one point looking through the grass. The award went to Cassidy Hubbard for finding the ring. Way to go Cassidy! All in all it was great weekend and I'm loooking forward to what God is going to do this Fall at CH!

I'm in the middle of TD Jakes book called "Reposition Yourself" This a great read for anyone who is looking to advance themselves spiritually, financially and as a leader. Jakes writes a lot differently then he preaches. I am amazed on how intelligent the guy is. I was really moved last night by his chapter on "Launching Yourself Toward Your Highest Goals." Jakes uses an illustration of a bow an arrow and quotes the scripture in Psalms 127:3-5. He talks about the three stages we must go through in order to reach our goals. Here they are:

1. Reservation- Before the arrows are even put in the bow, they are in reservation. Reservation is the process of waiting and the process of preparation before your goals can be accomplished. Many times, we are not ready or manage the future God has for us and so we must be in preparation for the future. Reservation can be difficult because we usually want thing and want them now. But God says, "Wait and Get Ready!"

2. Retraction- In order for an arrow to be released, the bow must be retracted as far back as possible. The further you pull back the farther the arrow goes. Retraction is the stage of bending and even going backwards before you move forward. Setbacks are not always a bad thing, affliction is not always a bad thing. Sometimes we must be pulled back to the point of breaking before God can release and use us. God can use our troubles for His good. Think of Martin Luther King Jr or Nelson Mandela. These great men went through their fair share of trouble but God used their trouble to turn two nations around and to think a different way. Think of the story of Joseph. Through Joseph's affliction, he was used by God to be second in command of all of Egypt and he was able to feed the people of God. Let us look at our troubles in a different light and let God use them for His good.

3. Release- This is the stage that God releases us to reach the goals and dreams He had in mind for us. This is the victory that God has in mind for all of us.

This three things were very encouraging to me and I hope an encouragement to you also! Next time you see a bow and arrow, remember these three stages that we must go through to achieve what God has in mind.

Compass for Discipleship

This Sunday we kick off our new Sunday School year and I'm more excited then ever about the great classes we have to offer. Here's the list and make sure you find a class for you!

Marriage and Parenting

Come discover with other what it means to have a great marriage and how to raise godly children!

Current Events and Prophecy

Discussion on the current events of today and how they apply to scripture

Adult Bible Class

This semester we will be talking about Abraham the great man of faith and also taking a look at women in the Bible!

Make sure you check these great classes out and remember Sunday School starts at 9:30 a.m! We will also be utilizing the new building for many of our classes.

Looking forward to our new series on September 9th called "God @ the Grand Ole Opry. We will be taking a look at three popular country music songs such as "Jesus take the Wheel" by Carrie Underwood and "Bless the Broken Road" by Rascal Flatts and discussing the spiritual meaning of the songs. This a great opportunity to invite those that may not attend church. I heard a staggering statistic that said 60% of Americans get their theology about God from music and movies. Most of the time, the church preaches against these things but I believe it is time that we start speaking to our culture in ways that they understand. There are thousands of Americans that has heard "Jesus take the Wheel" yet they have never set foot in a church. My prayer is that people will really understand what Jesus take the Wheel means. Let us use this opportunity and sermon series to reach out to those that need to hear this the most.

Keeping Under the Chuppah

We had a great Sunday yesterday as God's presence was so incredibly strong. I talked about the parallels of the Jewish Wedding to God's relationship to man according to Exodus 19 and 20. I think we miss so much sometimes in the scriptures not really understand the Jewish context. We tend to think Western but the Jews were great at using illustrations to get their point across. The Jewish Wedding is a great example. The Jewish bride and groom are married under the chuppah. The chuppah represents the glory of God that rests upon the marriage. The chuppah is there when they recite their vows and it is then moved over the bed when the bride and groom consummate the marriage. The point being that God rests above the marriage. Marriage is a representation of God to the world. It is interesting how our culture has tried to take marriage out of the chuppah. Satan has attacked the marriage and has brought something counterfeit. Satan is constantly trying to break up marriages and get people to settle for less. Satan has also taken sex which is supposed to be holy and pure and has made it dirty and has plastered it all over for everyone to see. It is our job to protect what God has made holy. Whether your single or married we all can take a stand and say, "I will not settle for the counterfeit but I will stay under the chuppah, God's plan for relationships."

Whirlwind

Well, I'm officially back from vacation and it has been a crazy week. I haven't had much time to blog with all that is going on. My uncle passed away on Monday so we had to drive to Des Moines to do the funeral. God keeps using me to speak to my family. Many of them do not know the Lord so I thank God for every time I get to speak into their lives.

On a positive note, I also have a wedding this week as well. The wedding is a Hawaiian theme so this is the first wedding that I've done that I get to wear a Hawaiian shirt and lei! What is really cool is the unity candle is Toucan Sam ( The parrot from Fruit Loops!) I love it!

Fishing Trip

Well, here it is. A whole week in Canada and yes Jen caught more fish then me. I only caught one fish the whole time. Oh well, it was beautiful there and we had a good time on the water. Jen caught a 33 inch Northern in the picture. With her is her Uncle from Olkahoma. Jen didn't wan't to touch the fish so he had to help her.

Vacation

Jen and I will be gone this Sunday as we will be headed to Canada with her Aunt and Uncle to do some fishing. I'm not a very good fisherman so I'm hoping my luck will change in another country. Pastor Keaton will be preaching Sunday so make sure you give him all your support.

God Moment

Sunday was one of those God-Moments. I was preaching in Revelations 2 where Jesus talks to the church about loosing its first love. The church has all the right head knowledge but their hearts had went a drift. Christ was calling them back to their first love which was Him. I used the illustration of Mount Everest and how only 1-8 people actually make it trying to climb the mountain. What is interesting is that most of the people that have died, have died climbing down the mountain instead of up. The illustration and point was that we have to be very careful when we get in a spiritually low place. There are some serious dangers in our spiritual lives if we drift from the things that are so important.

After the service, I had a woman come up to me in tears. She was visiting from Youngstown, OH (Which I'm very familiar of since we used to live in Cleveland.) She had family and friends at the Lake and decided to come to church that morning. In tears, she opened up her Bible to Revelations chapter 2. There in Revelation 2 was two obituaries of two young men. She went on to explain that these two men had died trying to climb Mount Everest and she was very close to them both. She has kept their obituaries in her Bible ever since and they were bookmarked in the passage I read that Sunday morning. WOW!

I'm not for sure what God was trying to say to this woman, but I know that God was trying to say something to her. I believe it wasn't coincidence that she happened to come to Montezuma, IA all the way from Ohio to hear about the First Love and the illustration of the mountain. God was obviously trying to say something. This was definitely one of those God-Moments that makes you say Wow!

Bait of Satan

Last night we started our video series on the "Bait of Satan." This curriculum is so important for any church to go through. So many people find themselves in offenses in the church and some people even leave the church because of offense. Jesus said that in the last days, many will be offended. I have seen this countless of times in my ministry. John Bevere lays it out so well on what our response should be in dealing with offense. I want to encourage anyone and everyone to attend this important teaching. We are meeting at 6 p.m. every Sunday Night.

10 YEARS

Today is Jen and I's 10th anniversary! Hard to believe its been 10 years since we've been married. We will be leaving tomorrow and headed to Des Moines for a little anniversary trip. Looking forward to getting away and spending some quality time together.

Reflections

This past Sunday it was two years since Jennifer and I accepted the position to be the new lead pastors of Community Hope. It is hard to believe that two years is already gone. When I think of the two years I think of the great times we have had to share with one another. This past week I was told of two pastor acquaintances that I know who have resigned from their pastorate to take other churches. These pastors started about the same time we came to Community Hope. As I reflected on that, my heart was stirred even more to stay and reach the community of Montezuma and the county of Powesheik. I stand on the dream that I know that God spoke in my heart over a year ago that Community Hope would a church that would reach the lost and be an example for other rural areas. I stand on these principles that I will not waiver on:

1. We will be Kingdom Focused
2. We will be Missions Minded
3. Reach every generation
4. Relevant to our culture
5. Every person can minister

These five essentials are so important for us as a church to move forward. I look forward to the years ahead serving this great church.

What a great week we had at Sports Camp! Here are some of the pics I promised. Make sure you come this Sunday for our special awards ceremony. The kids will be singing the songs they learned plus we will show a video of the week.

Sports Camp

Sports Camp is officially underway! We've had a great couple of days so far. Yesterday we had 44 kids and today we had 54. Thanks to all those who are helping out and making it a great week so far. I will try to post some pictures if I can.

Planted Seeds

Yesterday I got the chance to slip away and go to Des Moines to celebrate my bests friends accomplishment of being recruited to the Des Moines Fire Department. My buddy and I have been best best friends since kindergarten. While I was there I got to see some old friends from high school. One of these friends I had worked on and witnessed too about Jesus the four years in school. Sometimes it just seemed like a dead end. A couple years ago I saw him for the first time and I could tell that he was searching for something but had not yet crossed that line of faith. I once again was given the opportunity to share with Him about God's love. Well yesterday at the party my old friend came up to me and told me I would never believe that he had become a believer and was actively involved in a church. He and his wife had also been baptized together as well! He is even serving in his church's VBS this week. WE SERVE AN AWESOME GOD! My point is sometimes we may not see the fruit for our witness at the time but the seed has been planted in those that we share. I wasn't the one that harvested the fruit of my friend but I was able to plant the seed years ago in his life. How rewarding it is to see the seed grow and have someone come to faith in Christ.

Power of the Spirit

Yesterday we wrapped up our series on "Help Wanted". Yesterday was one of those challenging messages I believe for some of our people. We covered Acts 2 and the day of Pentecost. Three things happened on the day of Pentecost.

1. Given a new language
2. Given boldness
3. Given a heart to share with other people

I believe that God's Holy Spirit will do the same three things in our lives as well. When someone is filled with God's power they will receive a new language, they will be given boldness and they will be given a heart to share with other people. One of the things that stands out to me in this passage is it says that when the followers were filled with the Holy Spirit, the crowd that had gathered and witnessed this were "amazed and perplexed". I believe that Holy Spirit is amazing and perplexing at times. Our God is a supernatural God and will do supernatural things. We cannot fit God into our image and try to explain everything there is about Him and what He can do. The power of the Holy Spirit is a supernatural gift and is given to those who seek it. It is available so that we can receive empowerment from on high. This Thursday we will be giving opportunities for those who would like to receive this gift. Come for a time of worship and seeking God. I believe it will be a wonderful time in God's presence.

Camping Idea

Last weekend I took my family camping to Iowa Lake. We had a great time with the kids at the beach and also took a paddle boat on the lake. While we were there I noticed that the lake does a lot of family activities. One of the activities is they show an outdoor movie for the campers. They have built an outdoor theater screen and campers can bring their blankets and lawn chairs and watch a movie in the evening. As I was there, this thought came to me.....What if we built an outdoor theater behind our church? We can host family movie nights for the community and show some good wholesome movies. I presented this to some of our team members on Monday Night and they thought it was a good idea and are looking at plans on how we can build the screen. Let me know your thoughts, do you think Family Movie Nights would go well in the community?

Only True Church?

I don't know how many of you read the newspapers or watch the news but last week the Pope came out with a pretty bold statement. Here is the quote from MSN.com:

"In the latest document — formulated as five questions and answers — the Vatican seeks to set the record straight on Vatican II’s ecumenical intent, saying some contemporary theological interpretation had been “erroneous or ambiguous” and had prompted confusion and doubt.
It restates key sections of a 2000 document the pope wrote when he was prefect of the congregation, “Dominus Iesus,” which set off a firestorm of criticism among Protestant and other Christian denominations because it said they were not true churches but merely ecclesial communities and therefore did not have the “means of salvation.”
In the new document and an accompanying commentary, which were released as the pope vacations here in Italy’s Dolomite mountains, the Vatican repeated that position.
“Christ ‘established here on earth’ only one church,” the document said. The other communities “cannot be called ‘churches’ in the proper sense” because they do not have apostolic succession — the ability to trace their bishops back to Christ’s original apostles."

Basically this statement is saying that the Catholic church is the only true church and all other churches are not the "means of salvation." This is a pretty bold and scary statement from the Catholic church. First of all, no church can bring salvation to anyone. Only Jesus Christ can do that. It is not faith in a church but faith in Jesus that brings true salvation. Jesus clearly said, "I am the way, the truth and life, no one comes to the Father except through me." Jesus did not say, the Catholic church was the way, the truth and the life. When you take a look at the Catholic church there are many doctrinal errors that are outside the Word of God. First of all, they believe in a purgatory (place where people go after they die and the saints basically pray them into heaven.) They also believe in praying to other saints besides in the Name of Jesus. Many Catholics pray to Mary as if she was a god. Thirdly, the Catholic church has established the Apacrapha books that are added to the Bible. Scripture clearly tells us to not add or subtract to the Word. Scripture tells us that in the last days, many will try to deceive us from believing the true truth of Jesus Christ.

I believe that we need to stay away from groups that claim to put your faith in their church and their particular teachings. Jesus never put His faith in institutions but rather simple faith in Him.

If you missed this past Sunday, we started a new series called "Help Wanted." We are talking about how we can receive guidance from the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is such a vital part of our walk with God. Without Him, we could not do it. Jesus said it was to "our advantage that the Helper would come." Over the next few weeks we will be talking about how the Holy Spirit can help us with our walk with God. I am excited to see what God is going to do in the coming weeks!

Conflict Resolution

Spent all day yesterday in Des Moines for District Meetings. The District has appointed me as a part of a Church Health Team. It is pretty exciting to think and strategize how we can plant new churches and revitalize others. While we were there Glenn Reynolds did a teaching session on conflict management. It was really good so I wanted to share some of the points that he made.

There is a good way to handle conflict and then there is a bad way to handle conflict. If conflict is handled in a bad way it can result in 1) Damage to individuals 2) Loss of personnel 3) Damage to organizational trust 4) Loss of learning opportunity 5) Root of bitterness. These are five costs of poor conflict resolution. If conflict is handled the right way then; 1) Surface key issues and tensions 2)Build relational currency 3) Produce new and creative ideas 4) Cause organizations to re-evaluate and clarify goals and mission. 5) Allows for experiential learning. I have been on both sides of conflict and believe me, I would rather be on the healthy side then the unhealthy side of conflict.

So how do we resolve conflict? One way is use the triangle of Satisfaction. On the top of the triangle is the "What?". What is the tip of the iceberg? What is the conflict about? After you deal with the what, we then need to deal with the "Why?". Why did this conflict happen? Is there any Psychological or Emotional Issues behind this? One District Leader met with a board member who gave all his pastors a hard time. Each pastor ended up leaving the church because of this particular board member. Finally, a District official asked the board member if he ever met a pastor that he actually liked. The board member replied, "Yes, one and that pastor molested me when I was a child." The "Why?" behind why that board member was so mean to all his pastors was because of something that happened to him as a child and to this day he could not trust any pastor. Usually in conflict, there is an issue behind the issue. We need to discover the "Why?" of conflict. The final stage is the "How?". How do we resolve this issue or heal the past? In other words, how can we move forward? Is there issues that we need to deal with in our past? Do we need to go and ask for forgiveness to someone? Do we need to forgive the past? Conflict is not resolved unless we move forward from it.

I hope this helps anyone with dealing with issues of conflict. Conflict affects our marriages, our family and our churches. If we know how to deal with conflict when it comes, it will be a lot less painful when it happens.

Community 4th of July Service

Today we had our community service on the lawn of the courthouse. It is truly amazing that all the churches in our area can get together and worship, especially on the court house lawn of all places. What incredible freedom we have here in the United States. There are many nations that surround us that do not have the freedom to worship as we do. I know there are a lot of things wrong with our nation, but let us also be thankful for the things that we have. I am thankful for the right to go to church, play worship music in the great outdoors, and hear the Word of God preached without being scared of the government coming and arresting us or even killing us. Praise be to God! Let us be thankful for the freedom's God has given us.