Chris Tomlin Concert

I have some posting to get caught up on. Last Thursday night, Paige and I went to the Chris Tomlin concert. He was at the Dodge Theater with Matt Redman and Louis Giglio. It was the first night of their "How Great is our God Tour". I can say simply that they rocked! I was really looking forward to this concert. I love worshipping in music and singing. Paige and I met through music in college. We both sang in the concert choir and I toured with a musical drama group (OK the cat's out of the bag, but my voice is really out of shape). We even sang in our wedding.

Back to the concert. Giglio's message was great. He showed a picture of a star that looked like a cross, and a picture of a protein called melinin that holds our bodies together that is also shaped like a cross. God is truly great and worthy to be praised!

The only thing I wish they did at the concert, was for Matt Redman to sing "Face Down". I really love his writing and that it is founded in Scripture.

It was a great date. Great dinner (Claim Jumper - my favorite), great concert, great company, and a Great God!

God is Good all the Time

God is always good and worthy of our praise.

I'm home sick today. I went to the office this morning and lasted all of 5 minutes. My insides are rebelling. There's no fever, but man do I feel lousy! I hate being sick. I'm such a big baby. Paige was working today so she wasn't here to play nurse (darn it!). I really hope I'm better tomorrow, I need to be, at least in my thinking, it's really up to God and I really hope His plan is for me to be well tomorrow, I'm sure praying for it.

This week I'll be leading two New Believer Growth Groups at our home. Tuesday's group starts this week and should have about 8-10. The Wednesday group started last week with 18. It is really awesome to see God working in the lives of new believers. It stretches me, invigorates me, and grows my faith. Thursday night I'm meeting with the Fresh Start team and I can't wait. These guys and gals serve as coaches for our new believers and they rock! I'll blog more about them another time.

This weekend Greg started a new series at Palm Valley called Dangerous Church. He rocked! Paige's cousin was visiting Saturday night and he commented how much he like it and how much he like Greg's honesty and willingness to say what needed to be said. One thing he asked inteh message was when was the last time you trusted God for something really big? You know, something that only God could accomplish. That's was easy for me to answer. Last Friday was a really hard day. Josh (the most faith filled 7 year old I've ever known) was fighting for his life. He even coded once. I prayed hard that day and so did many others. It was really hard to see him that day. God chose to preserve his life. Truly a miracle. The dr's even admitted it. I trusted, and so did others, that God would save this child. He is doing better. He has a ways to go, but God's power is evident in his little life.

I know I've been rambling a bit, you can blame the illness, but I also wanted to share this link:
http://www.coolchurches.com/articles/nascar.html
I got this from a link from a link from a link from a blog that I read. This guy isn't a NASCAR fan, but he does a good job connecting some really good lessons from racing to the church.

Last thing, the house is temporarily ahead of schedule. The foundation will be poured this week, but the framers can't come until the end of February. OK, my stomach is telling me it's past time to stop. I've decided to start devoting one day a week to blogging about ministry to new believers (not that I'm an expert, but I've learned some things that might be helpful to others), so stay tuned.

Praying in Faith

In my devotions Tuesday, God was showing me a habit that I've picked up. I don't know where it came from, but it is really annoying. It demonstrates a lack of faith on my part. You may have this habit too. For many, I'm sure that it's not a habit, but an actual definition of their level of faith. I sure hope it's not an indicator of my level of faith. As a wise man once said, "I believe, help my unbelief" (Mark 9:24). Actually, this man was the father of a boy that needed help. I'm sure he was afraid for his son.

The habit? Hedging my bets in my prayer life. I noticed that in some of my prayers that require God to act, I tack on "if it's your will." How rediculous is that! Is there any question what God's will is when it comes to people making a decision for Him, or growing in Him? Of course not! Is there any question what God's will is when a child is fighting for his life? Of course not.

You say wait a minute on that last one, children die in spite of the prayers offered on their behalf. Yes, that's true. I am making a distinction here between God's will and God's plan. For example, the Bible says that God doesn't want anyone to perish, but have eternal life. That is God's will. Does that mean that no one dies without a relationship with Him? Unfortunately, no! God does; however, provide a way, a plan, for the gift of eternal life to be offered to all who wish to receive it.

In my prayers I need to give God the opportunity to say no. I think so many prayers go unanswered because we don't ask in faith. We don't really expect God to do anything. We need to leave it up to God whether He will say yes, no, or wait. We need to stop hedging our bets. We need to simply ask God to act, to intervene, to go big. Our prayers, my prayers, need to simply be ones of unbridled faith. Like, "God please heal Josh", not "If it's your will, please heal Josh."

We only know God's plans that have been revealed to us through the Bible. So we don't know what God's plan is in every situation. We need to simply ask, and wait to see what He does. His plans aren't our plans, though they sometimes correspond. So, I'm focusing on breaking myself of this habit. I'm asking God for His help. I'm asking, and I'm not hedging my bets. I'm sure it's His will that I ask in faith!

God Is So Good - Part 2

God is so good! We have a home team just for new believers. We currently have 19 people signed up for the next class starting this week (not including leaders). This is only the second time we have offered the class. The class focuses on giving new believers tools so that they can grow in Christ and grow in relationship with Him and other believers. After looking at tons of material we finally wrote our own. By late summer our goal is to re-create the material as a video based curriculum.

God Is So Good!

I want to thank the many who have been praying for Josh, the little boy with leukemia who has been struggling for survival. He made it through the weekend and is doing a little better! Praise God! Today was pretty awesome too. Dave and I took a pile of cards to Josh that kids at church made. His parents were doing pretty good, all things considered. Josh is down to 40% oxygen, which means that he has begun brathing on his own. They are going to begin feeding him through a feeding tube so that his system can begin working again. He's not out of the woods, but he is making progress! You can keep up with changes at www.joshinfo.com

Prayers Needed

A little boy in our church named Josh really needs as many prayers as possible right now! He is fighting Leukemia and is having complications. The next 48 hours will be critical so please pray hard. You can read about Josh on the website his parents created:

http://www.joshinfo.com/Home_Page.html

Kaleidoscope

I love kaleidoscopes. As you turn them, they are ever changing. No two are alike, and once it is turned, it will never produce the exact image again.

God is like a kaleidoscope. There are many books about God. In fact, He wrote one that we call the Bible. In it there is much about Him. In the books about God, the authors work hard to describe His attributes, personality, and character. There is much about God in the Bible.

The thing is, we can't fully comprehend God! No matter how hard we try, no matter how much we read, we will fall far short. We could memorize the Bible cover to cover and yet still not fully comprehend God.

I think that's great! It makes life fun. I enjoy constantly discovering new things about God. I love discovering new things in the Bible, through other authors, and in nature. God is infinite and so are the things that we can discover about Him.

Like a great painting, there is something new to discover every time you examine it. Or a place, like the Grand Canyon, there is always something new to notice. That's why you can look at the same passage inthe Bible over and over and learn something new each time (of course the power of the Holy Spirit has a lot to do with that!).

Look every day to discover something new about God. You'll never be disappointed, and your life really will be filled with joy.

Rain

Believe it or not, it's raining! Yup, here in Arizona. I know that's hard to believe, but I can see it for myself looking out the window. I see the splashes in the pool and the drips off the roof. Make a note of it. On Friday, January 19th, 2007, it rained in Goodyear, Arizona.

I love the rain when I can just sit and watch it. I don't know why, but it's mezmerizing. Perhaps it's because I see it so rarely. Maybe if I lived in Seattle or Portland I wouldn't enjoy it so much.

It's commical around here when it rains. It gets coverage like hurricanes do in Florida. A few drops and you would think world war three had started.

I love it when it rains except:

The downside of rain is that no work is getting done on our house today. So, for that, I wish it would rain on the weekend.

I don't want it to rain on the weekend because we are a portable church and setting up in the rain isn't good.

I don't like it to rain when I have to go out in it to run errands. Jacket on, jacket off, umbrella out, umbrella in, slick roads, stupid drivers.

Perhaps it could rain only at night, on weekdays, between the hours of midnight and four am. It would be much more convenient, except for those who work at night. Then again, I wouldn't ever get to see rain because I really prefer to be sleeping during those hours.

I guess I'll just have to leave it up to God (as if He needs to check with me when He decides to make it rain). Since God is perfect, and His perfect will is best for us all, I'll just enjoy the rain, when it comes, because it is from Him.

Deployment

I was reading some of my favorite blogs the other day (Like Tony Morgan, Gary Lamb, Greg Rohlinger, Perry Noble) and was challenged, as I often am, to think more deeply about ministry. I take the whole issue of calling very seriously. I believe that when you are called to a church you need to stay there, through thick and thin, until God releases you or calls you to another church. In the blogs I was reading (I think it was Tony's) he was talking about being re-deployed to another church. That got me thinking about the parallel between calling in ministry and deployment in the military (makes me think of the old song "Onward Christian Soldiers").

I think the parallel is perfect. In fact, I don't think it's a parallel, I think it is the same thing. God deploys us to a "theater" or mission field. A church is an outpost in that field. It is a place for soldiers to be equipped to go out into that field and confront the enemy. Lest we forget who we are fighting, it's the evil one, not the people! I'm glad that I'm currently deployed at Palm valley Church. The mission field around us is growing rapidly. The battle is truly being fought in the trenches. Christians in the marketplace here are working hard to reach their family, friends, and co-workers with the truth of Jesus Christ. It is so great to see lives changed on a regular basis. I hope God never re-deploys me to another place, but if he does, I'll gladly go, because a soldier doesn't question his commander, he obeys orders. My commander is God and it's a true joy to serve Him.

Sometimes when things get hard at a church people leave. When they are offended, they leave. When things don't go as they think they should, they leave (or stay and complain). If you are deployed by God to serve Him in a particular place, you need to serve Him with gladness in that place until He either sends you elsewhere or releases you to leave. When this happens, it should be through much prayer and counsel from other mature believers, not personal choice or opinion. We do things sometimes at PVC that I don't like. I hope we always do. I know that sounds odd, but I know I'm not the audience we are trying to reach. There is a great deal that I do like, but when there is something I don't, I just remember that it's all about Him and keep on serving. I hope that's your attitude. In the heat of battle, things will be done, or said, that will offend you. Get over it and keep on serving!

It's Easy to be a Pastor

If you're a pastor, read to the end before you freak out! A friend of mine, who is hoping to be in full time ministry at some point said that being a pastor is easy. He didn't mean it the way it sounds, and after the week we all had at PVC it was pretty commical to hear that comment yesterday.

As pastors, we've heard the people who think that we only work on Sunday morning and have plenty of time during the week to play golf, help people move, or go change someones flat tire. I actually do have it pretty easy, compared to some of our staff members. I only wear a few hats and because of my health, I get a fair amount of downtime. I see how hard our staff works and the long ours they put in. I pray often that they will be protected from burnout and attacks from the evil one. I spent time with a family in mourning and did a memorial service on Thursday and some of our staff were helping kids and teachers in crisis in our community after a horrific event took the lives of the parents of four kids who were very involved in our community. Easy? Not hardly!

As to the comment, I know what my friend meant. I've said it too. I've been there, wishing I could be back in full time ministry. For those who work a full time job, and then volunteer counless hours at church, looking at the prospect of full time ministry does sound easy. From that perspective it seems to be! I greatly appreciate the volunteers that I serve with. They work hard during the week and then work hard for Christ on the weekend. That's not easy, and I am amazed sometimes at the effort of some that I know (which makes it more disappointing to see people who can but aren't serving).

I love the fact that my job and my service are connected and that I only have one focus instead of two or three. Yes, he is right in saying that being a pastor is easy in that respect, and I thank God every day that I have the opportunity to serve Him as my job. No, the job itself isn't easy. Few worthy endeavors are easy! I'm not saying it's more difficult than another job, it's all relative. All jobs have good points and bad. Easy parts and hard parts. That's why God gives us all different gifts, so that we can each do something different to make the world work. There are other jobs that I think look easy, but I know from friends that do them, that there are hard parts to them.

I love being a pastor with the easy stuff and the hard stuff. I believe that I am doing what God wants me to do. Is it easy? Yes! And, No!

House update

This week the footings have been poured and the stem walls are going up. We almost had a huge problem that Steve caught on one of his trips out to the land. They forgot to set up for the rear garage door and entry door on the workshop garage. Fortunately, it was before the concrete was poured, so it was an easy fix.

We're meeting with the plumber today to review the rough plumbing so that I can get going on that this next week.

We got the quote on the windows. We decided to go with Low "E" vinyl, dual pane, argon filled. The extra cost should pay off in lower energy costs.

I was working on getting a garage door quote yesterday. We should get a pretty good deal since we are getting 5 for our house and 2 for Steve's. We got a great deal on openers when Lowe's was closing out some and dumped the price to $22.50 each. My neighbor was there at the time and bought a lot of them. They're exactly the type of opener I want. They sell for $225 each normally. He was selling them for 150 but I got them for 100 each (he found the deal, and I have no problem with him making some money off of them, I'm still getting a great deal).

Vision

Vision - It's easy to have, but not so easy to pass on to others! The Bible says that without vision, the people parish. I love the title of a book I read in college that says, "If you don't know where you're going, you'll end up someplace else."

Getting others to grasp and embrace the vision God has given you is the essential part of leadership. It is also the most difficult part of leadership I believe.

I have realized that I need to do a better job in this area. I know where I want my ministry teams to go, but they don't. I can't lead them if I don't bring them with me! It's so true that if you say you are a leader, but turn around and find that no one is following, than you're not really a leader.

To focus more on this, I'm planning to begin doing these things this year.

1. Meet with my teams once per quarter to hear from them, and share vision.
2. I am also planning an update note of some type every month.
3. I will also pray more for the teams in this area.
4. Continue to pray for God to continually update and clarify the vision He has given me.
5. Re-read some great leadership books I have, and read a couple of new ones. Some are actually secular business management books, but they are right on when it comes to leadership in general and easily applicable to leadership in the church. I'll blog on them as I read them.

Home update

The foundation trenches are ready for inspection, which is scheduled for today, and we will get the electrical permit for the power to the well today as well.

We met with the window guy on Friday. We had already decided on our windows when we met with him for 2 hours over 6 months ago, or so we thought! We spent over 1 1/2 hours with him and made a few changes. Nothings as easy as it looks!

I spent some time this weekend doing layouts for the pantry and kitchen and began trying to solidify information for the plumbing rough in like 1 valve or 2 on the showers.

Choosing a sink is a pain in the neck! They range in price from $90 - $3,000. I'm sure we will be toward the bottom of that scale! We decided to go with stainless steel, undermount, double, with one side extra deep for pots. That narrowed the selection down to a few hundred!

I put a small Bible in the truck so that when they are ready to poor concrete we can put the bible under the foundation. It will symbolize that the house is literally built on God's Word. It's my sister-in-law Terri's idea and I think it's great!

No Church Sunday

This past weekend we didn't have church services. It's so strange, but it was nice to have the break. Paige and I spent the day together which is always awesome! First we went out to the land to see the progress, then we went to the Desert Botanical Gardens. I love the place! It's nestled below the Papago park and the views are incredible. It was great to spend time worshipping God in His creation. It was cool to learn about plants that attract hummingbirds, butterflies and bees (bees aren't cool, but important). I love cacti and plan to have many at the new house. We have annual passes to the garden and are talking about renewing this year. If you haven't been, you should take a few hours and go.

USC - Go Trojans!

What a great game! It was great to see USC beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl today. Booty really played great!

Just think, they'll be even better next season, even if DJ goes pro.

I didn't go to USC, but grew up in So Cal and many of my friends did and two of my brother-in-laws a alumns. I spent the night on campus once then went to the game the next day. It was great! It's also the night I discovered that I'm a sleepwalker.

Anyway, go Trojans!

Excavation and Lines

The excavation is finished and the concrete guys have layed out the house. Since there isn't anything close by, there's nothing to put siz into perspective. The house looks really small.

It was great to see the outline in orange marking paint, and I could see structural points outlined in blue, but I don't know what the purple lines are for. I think possibly where they will split up the pour. I'm sure I'll find out this week.

By the way, I didn't mention before much about the house. I designed it based on the house we're currently in. It's 4br, 21/2b, 8 car garage (split as 2 four car), 3,100sq. ft., on 1 irrigated acre. It's a modified territorial design so that the main roof is conventional.

Day Trippin'

On Thursday, Paige and I spent the day together driving the Apache Trail. It was really cool, especially since about 20 miles of it is dirt road! We had a picnic lunch at Apache Lake and had a snowball fight while it snowed on us just outside of Miami (AZ) on the way home. Yes, it snows in Arizona!

We saw a lot of great places to go day hiking in the spring. We had some fries and hot chocolate at Tortilla Flats (I know, odd combination, but it tasted good).

Seeing Roosevelt Lake and dam was cool. I had no idea that it was so big.

We saw some cave dwellings too.

Definitely a trip I would recommend, but on a clear day. I really wanted a good look at the Superstition mountains, but the low clouds from the storm we were having didn't allow us to see more than about half way up.