Two Minute Tuesday - Celebrate!

I can't wait for Sunday! I especially can't wait for this Sunday when I get to hang out with the Fresh Start Team at my house for dinner! These people love Jesus, and they love people who are getting to know Jesus. They inspire me and challenge me to work hard on their behalf.

We need to get together more, and I'm going to work on that. I want to celebrate what this team means to me, and to new believers that God brings to Palm Valley Church. Many of them have faced difficult challenges this year, which makes their faithfulness all the more special as examples to me and others.

Jesus called for workers for the harvest. God continually brings a harvest to PVC and these workers are ready. We can always use more, and we would gladly welcome others to the team, but these people rock!

Our vision to encourage people to take the next step in their spiritual journey is an integral element in the church's vision to lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ.

Thank you for leading people to take the next step!

Is Multi-Site Biblical

I loved reading this post from JD Greer this morning about the multi-site church. It made me think about some things I hadn't thought of. Here's a link. I encourage you to read it.

http://jdgreear.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/11/is-the-multi-ca.html

One thing he points out is the phrase in Acts 2:42 that says "they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching. How did they do this? There were thousands of new believers meeting in homes. They didn't have curriculum, DVDs, or podcasts. Did the apostles teach a lesson and then others taught it in their homes, or did the apostles split up and each go to a number of homes to share the same message? Hmmm!

From Darkness to Light

The past couple of months have been tough! A "side effect" of some of the physical things that I deal with is chemical depression. It occurs every so often, and fortunately doesn't last too long. I have been dealing with it for the past couple of months.

There are only a couple of medications that I can take because of other medications that I am on. The medications that I can take, I really can't, because they shut me down. When I am on them, I can't function. That's no way to run a railroad! So, for the past couple of months I have endured, and survived, by the grace of God.

I am finally emerging from the darkness into the light and the difference is so amazing!

If you have never dealt with depression, it's hard to understand the cloud of darkness that consumes you. For those who face it chronically, my prayers are with you and my heart goes out to you!

As I was praying this morning, this verse came to mind. Thank you God for releasing me, and giving me light!

1 Peter 2:9, "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."

Two Minute Tuesday

I first want to say thank you and welcome to two new members of the Fresh Start Team. Ken has a great heart and has served at PVC for some time. I have worked with his wife in the hospital ministry. They are great people you will want to get to know. Velma is new to PVC, but has served Christ for some time. I am excited to get to know her and her husband. Along with Connie, who has such a compassionate heart, the team has grown by three in the past several weeks. Keep praying that God sends workers to the harvest!

I want to focus for a minute on love and joy. In your personal and spiritual life, I encourage you to foster, focus, and grow in these areas. Learn to love God more and draw closer to Him. Learn to love people more and focus on drawing them closer to Christ, especially those our culture considers "unlovely" or "unlovable". May your joy increase as you grow closer to Christ and others and get to Him and His people better and better. Out of love and joy comes the best service! If you aren't serving out of love and joy, we need to find you another place to serve. We also need to spur one another to greater levels of love and joy. Not just as we serve new believers, but in life.

As we prepare for Thanksgiving, take some time to express your gratitude to God for what He has done and continues to do in your life. Thank Him for the opportunity to be used by Him to help others grow closer to Him. You do a great work serving new believers.

I love you all and my heart is filled with joy when I think of you and the ministry we have the privilege of sharing in together!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Paul

What I'm Reading

I finished Isaiah and have launched into a study of "The Law" by reading Leviticus. I love the exacting detail of each law. Today I read chapter two about grain offerings. I love how everything is done with purpose. I am sure there was much more meaning and significance in that culture, but I can tell by the detail what a spiritual moment the offering was. It makes me realize that I need to find a way to add significance and focus to my offerings, especially with automatic withdrawal.

I am also finishing the book "Static" which has really challenged me. After reading "The Divine Mentor" and "The Life You've Always Wanted" I will read it again and study through it. I'm not sure how I ended up reading three books at once (in addition to the Bible), but I love the challenge!

For those who read this blog, I would love to know what you are reading!

Ministry 101 - Wineskins

A longtime pastor friend of mine recently asked if I would bring some of my materials from my years of church consulting to work through with his elders. As I thought about it, I told him that I wouldn't use anything from my past, that there is much better resources available now.

I have recently thought more about this. Jesus talked about putting new wine into old wine skins. The church is different today than when I was consulting with churches. Change occurs much more rapidly, or at least it should, and while the purpose remains the same, churches are much more varied in the way they carry it out through individual vision.

Certainly there are leadership principles that transcend time, but tools to implement them and ways to communicate them change.

An example of how things change occurred to me yesterday when I picked up a book I have on the parables and metaphors of Christ. As I began to read it, I realized that this old book (I got from an older pastor's library), was basically written in a different language. It was in English, but not the language we speak today, and certainly not the Bible version I use for reading or for study. I wasn't grasping the message because I was having to concentrate so hard on the language. The message may be terrific, but if our hearers have to reinterpret it in their minds and then re-apply its meaning, so much is lost, and way to much effort has been spent (A lot could be said here about how we present the Gospel today).

I am in a sense, re-learning ministry. There is much that I can apply from the experience of my past, but the tools for today demand willingness to re-learn and to re-apply. Fortunately, there are great speakers and writers today who articulate well the principles for leadership in the church. Some things are still applicable and I love it when I here them again in new forms.

The bottom line is that we must continually learn to apply principles in a changing world. Don't assume what you learned before can be shared in the manner you learned it and that it will be understood. Application is much more important today than theory, but the theory must still be explained so the application will be effective. I'm not saying that we should never read old books, but we need to take full advantage of what is available today!

Two Minute Tuesday - Team Building

OK. So, it's Wednesday again and I'm just getting to my two minute Tuesday entry. May I should just call it "Wacky Wednesday" or something like that, but then of course, I wouldn't get to it until Thursday!

I thought I would take a moment to write about building a team. Here are some thoughts:
1. Building a good team is harder than you think!
2. Sometimes good people don't fit the team!
3. Sometimes you have to say goodbye to team members you love.
4. When you look for new team members, look for people who will help fulfill vision and purpose, not replace someone.
5. Maintaining a great team takes a lot of effort.

In our New Believer ministry, I think we have a great team and we are continually adding to it. We are always looking for people who love new believers!

Veteran's Day

Not many in my family have served in the armed forces that I know of. That doesn't mean that my appreciation for those who have served and are serving is any less than if they had.

Jesus said that there is no greater love than laying down your life for a friend. Many have laid down their lives not just for family and friends, but for people they would never know. They serve out of a sense of honor, responsibility, duty, and a number of other reasons that I can't begin to understand.

I am grateful beyond measure for their sacrifice for me and my family. As we celebrate Monday our armed forces, active and those who have served in years past, I simply, humbly, and proudly say THANK YOU!!!

Weekend Review - Wedding Celebration

What an outstanding weekend all around! Here's some thoughts:
- I saw Michael in a very pastoral role and he did awesome caring for someone struggling through a tough situation. It was great to see God using him this way. We don't often get to see Michael's pastor's heart shine through, but it's there. If you don't know him, you should take the time to!
- Our staff cleans up real good! Several of us wore suits, and Greg even had cuff links. I haven't worn a suit in about 15 years. It was actually kind of nice, but don't get used to the look!
- People really got into the vow renewal/re-affirmation services. I even saw a couple of ladies in their wedding dresses. It was obviously powerful and meaningful to so many.
- Paige is still hot and looked amazing today (of course, she always looks amazing, but even more so today!)! We re-affirmed our vows. We have a great marriage and didn't feel the need to renew them (She wants to on our 25th anniversary), and it was cool to re-affirm our commitment to live with Christ in the center of our lives and our marriage.
- The Seize the Moment event was fun. It was great to connect with people new to the church. It was also cool to see the video again. It's a great reminder.
- Greg did an awesome job incorporating the Gospel into the service today. Lives were changed! I think we had at least one person come to the Fresh Start table after each service. It's awesome to see how God works in people's lives!
- Derrick did a great job on music and on the thanks to our veterans and sodiers (More in the next post).
- Caleb had some people over tonight for dinner and some training. I was so proud watching and listening. He is becoming a great leader and his heart and passion for ministry is amazing.

Just some quick thoughts - What a great weekend!

Two Minute Tuesday - Movement

Yes, I know that it's Wednesday, but I couldn't take time to write yesterday. Most of yesterday was well spent at a one day conference with Greg Hawkins from Willow Creek talking about the study they outline in the book "Reveal". Powerful stuff and a lot of take-a-ways.

One of the main things I took and want to hit on here is that we are in the people movement business. We ask God, and by His power, to use us in the process of moving people who are far from Him into a closer relationship with Him.

The measurement is not attendance at programs, but in movement toward Christ. That doesn't mean that programs don't have a place, but we need to remember that they are not the end purpose.

How does that apply to our Ministry to New Believers? It's all about relationship!!! As we connect with people, and help them feel a sense of belonging, they are more likely to take the next steps available to them. They won't simply "attend" the next step events, but they will apply them as steps toward Christ.

We must emphasize and focus continually on building relationships with people who God brings to us. If we don't, they will simply be numbers at events instead of life change stories of people taking the next steps in their discipleship journey.