August 6, 2009 baby Corban went to be with Jesus.
He took a few powerful breaths and hung on as long as he could, but departed soon after. Can you blame him? I wouldn't have even hung on that long, but perhaps he new how much we wanted to see him and hold him.
He was 2.5 pounds and 11.5 inches long. He was bruised to extreme measures and every bone in his body was broken. I think he was going to look like Aly, especially his hair, but he had my nose, haha. Probably good he was going to look more like his mommy as she is much more beautiful than myself.
I want to tell you about His purpose. Yesterday at the 11am service here at Crossroads, my dad from Washington state came. We have been praying for him for years, it just never quite happened, salvation i mean. We sat in the chairs after service and sure enough he saw a picture of my baby Corban and thought, "If that precious baby boy is in heaven there's no way i'm staying out." So he gave his life to Christ and got baptized. This is the short story, but know that Corban is having eternal impacts on lives, especially those in my own family.
Love you my baby boy.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
What if we did...
This week we’re talking about how to demonstrate honor through thoughtful actions. One of the best ways to ensure this is by systematizing your thoughtfulness.
Most of us have every intention of being thoughtful toward those we care about. It’s the execution that trips us up. For years I found myself wishing I would have thought to bless someone in a certain way…after the fact. I was always a day late and a dollar short when it came to celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, and accomplishments, or meeting needs.
Adopting a systematic approach to thoughtfulness translates your good intentions into meaningful expressions. Now that I have a larger support staff, I’m able to systematize thoughtfulness on a level I used to only dream about. I’m able to write personal birthday notes a month or so in advance for every staff member and some key volunteers. I also honor our staff systematically with different types of gifts and gift cards for their birthdays and certain other occasions-and it’s all done way in advance.
My office sends personalized Bibles to certain volunteers commemorating each sermon series. I always try to bless my mentors with gifts on their birthdays and special occasions. These events don’t catch us by surprise-we make our plan at the beginning of each month, keep lists of the tastes and preferences of my network of friends, colleagues, and co-workers on hand, and make it happen. I think it means a lot to the people in my life.
-Steven furtick
Most of us have every intention of being thoughtful toward those we care about. It’s the execution that trips us up. For years I found myself wishing I would have thought to bless someone in a certain way…after the fact. I was always a day late and a dollar short when it came to celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, and accomplishments, or meeting needs.
Adopting a systematic approach to thoughtfulness translates your good intentions into meaningful expressions. Now that I have a larger support staff, I’m able to systematize thoughtfulness on a level I used to only dream about. I’m able to write personal birthday notes a month or so in advance for every staff member and some key volunteers. I also honor our staff systematically with different types of gifts and gift cards for their birthdays and certain other occasions-and it’s all done way in advance.
My office sends personalized Bibles to certain volunteers commemorating each sermon series. I always try to bless my mentors with gifts on their birthdays and special occasions. These events don’t catch us by surprise-we make our plan at the beginning of each month, keep lists of the tastes and preferences of my network of friends, colleagues, and co-workers on hand, and make it happen. I think it means a lot to the people in my life.
-Steven furtick
Monday, August 3, 2009
Nothing at all
NOTHING Is Impossible With God!
Posted: 21 Jul 2009 04:02 AM PDT
I began reading through the Gospel of Luke this week…and Luke 1:37 always captivates me,
“For nothing is impossible with God.”
This verse is the response of the angel Gabriel when asked by Mary, the mother of Jesus, how she was going to have a child since she was a virgin.
“For nothing is impossible with God.”
God is SO MUCH HIGHER than our problems, pain and perceived impossibilities that NOTHING is impossible with Him.
Mary’s question got her an answer that forced her to focus on the greatness of who God is…and the “impossibiities” that He can accomplish rather than depending on her own strength and wisdom.
“For nothing is impossible with God.”
SO…how about you…are you facing a seemingly impossible situation?
Maybe it’s your marriage…you’ve tried everything you know how to do and it looks like this is the week where you guys are going to hit the proverbial wall and it is all going to fall apart. You see no signs of things turning around and are tempted to give up…
“For nothing is impossible with God.”
The same God who brought Jesus back to life can bring your marriage back to life as well. Don’t give up on God–He hasn’t given up on you.
Maybe it’s your church. You are a pastor and/or a church planter and are SO ready to throw in the towel. You’ve actually caught yourself whispering to God, “I didn’t sign up for this.” If something don’t happen…if there isn’t some sort of breakthrough you are done…
“For nothing is impossible with God.”
Remember…it is HIS church (Matthew 16:18), He loves it WAY more than you do…and if He called you there then you’ve GOT to trust Him to do the unexplainable and undeniable! MAYBE the reason you are ready to give up is because THAT is exactly where He has been trying to get you so He can move and blow your mind!!!Maybe it’s your children…you’ve tried your absolute best to raise them right…and now they have gone down a path that is absolutely breaking your heart. You’ve quoted Proverbs 22:6 so many times it isn’t even funny and have asked God, “what did I do wrong.” You want to give up on them…but the unbelievable love inside of you won’t let go…
“For nothing is impossible with God.”
HE KNOWS…and it breaks His heart as well. This is the point as a parent where you have to admit your lack of control and fall on your face at the feet of the One who reigns…the one who CAN bring your child back…no matter how far he has wandered away!
Maybe it’s your family member/friend that does not know Christ. You’ve tried to talk to them, you’ve invited them to church–maybe they actually came once to shut you up–but you have seen NO change in them. No matter how hard you try they seem to grow more cold and indifferent…
“For nothing is impossible with God.”
Our call/mandate from Jesus is to spread the Gospel (Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:48, John 20:21, Acts 1:8). SO…don’t give up…keep on keeping on! Personally…I am SO glad a guy named David didn’t give up on me…he invited me to church over and over and over…and I finally went! It was several months before I fully surrendered to Christ…but it took me getting there (and someone continually asking me to come) for my heart to begin to soften.
NOTHING is impossible with God–NOTHING!!! Sometimes He brings us to the end of ourselves so that we can fully rely on Him by seeing how limited we are and how unlimited He is…
“For nothing is impossible with God.”
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
When did we miss the mission...
1 Mission Trip vs. 52 Sermons -Mark batterson gets it way right...
Posted: 17 Jul 2009 07:04 AM PDT
This past year we took ten missions trips as part of our A18 initiative. I honestly think one missions trip is worth more than fifty-two sermons. That's why we put so much emphasis on trips. We want to tithe our congregation to missions.We're going to do ten trips again in 2010. Here are the countries:
Nicaragua
Spain
UgandaIsrael
Las Vegas
Bolivia
Puerto Rico
Ethiopia
Thailand
Ghana
Posted: 17 Jul 2009 07:04 AM PDT
This past year we took ten missions trips as part of our A18 initiative. I honestly think one missions trip is worth more than fifty-two sermons. That's why we put so much emphasis on trips. We want to tithe our congregation to missions.We're going to do ten trips again in 2010. Here are the countries:
Nicaragua
Spain
UgandaIsrael
Las Vegas
Bolivia
Puerto Rico
Ethiopia
Thailand
Ghana
Monday, July 27, 2009
interesting concepts.
To read more get the book "Future Grace". This is a small piece of the puzzle
It's helpful to distinguish between two types of liberalism. One is the classical liberalism of the American founding. Call this Liberalism 1, which is reflected in such principles as the right to vote, to assemble freely, to trade with others and keep the fruits of one's labor, to practice one's religion, to tolerate different political and religious views, and so on.
Then there is the modern liberalism that developed in the West after World War II. Call this Liberalism 2, which is characterized by the right to blaspheme, pornography as a protected form of free expression, the exclusion of religious symbols from the public square, the right of teenagers to receive sex education and contraceptives, the right to abortion, prostitution as a worker's right, and so on.
It's helpful to distinguish between two types of liberalism. One is the classical liberalism of the American founding. Call this Liberalism 1, which is reflected in such principles as the right to vote, to assemble freely, to trade with others and keep the fruits of one's labor, to practice one's religion, to tolerate different political and religious views, and so on.
Then there is the modern liberalism that developed in the West after World War II. Call this Liberalism 2, which is characterized by the right to blaspheme, pornography as a protected form of free expression, the exclusion of religious symbols from the public square, the right of teenagers to receive sex education and contraceptives, the right to abortion, prostitution as a worker's right, and so on.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
simplicity of church growth!
How can church growth happen?
We enable experiences and interactions that leave our people saying:I love my church
So they’ll tell their friends:You’ve got to come check out my church
The friends come.We worship Jesus and preach the Gospel with excellence.
The friends leave saying:I really like this church
Inspiring them to come back again and again until they say:I love my church
And tell their friends:You’ve got to come check out my church…
We enable experiences and interactions that leave our people saying:I love my church
So they’ll tell their friends:You’ve got to come check out my church
The friends come.We worship Jesus and preach the Gospel with excellence.
The friends leave saying:I really like this church
Inspiring them to come back again and again until they say:I love my church
And tell their friends:You’ve got to come check out my church…
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