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Stewardship Exercise

2010-04-22T13:20:00.003-05:00

Hey Everyone,
This past Sunday we launched our Stewardship exercise. What this was (for those of you who weren't there) is that each family received an envelope. Inside of that envelope was some cash. But the money does not belong to you - it belongs to the church. Now that it is in your possession, your exercise is to leverage that money for God's kingdom in some way. We asked that each of you pray about what would God have me do with this money?

On this blog, we'd love for each of you to post what you and/or your family is doing. Your ideas will spur others and then sharing our ideas with each other allows this to be something we all do together. Remember, everything belongs to God, everything comes from God, and all things are distributed by God.

Looking forward to hear from you,
Daniel

Staying in the Herd

2009-07-28T08:34:00.002-05:00

I am privileged to be in a men’s Bible study every Tuesday morning at the YMCA with men from various Christian groups and denominations. It is always one of several sources for me to be fed the Word of God and get to interact with other Christian men who have and are becoming dear friends. This morning we were in 1 Peter 5 where Peter strongly advises/admonishes us to “be sober and vigilant.” He then proceeds to tell why when he writes, “… because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”
I have always been fascinated by Peter’s analogy of Satan to a roaring lion. As any of you who watch NPT or the Discovery Channel may know, when a lion hunts, he/she usually travels and hunts particular herds or packs of animals. As they crouch in the ready position they cunningly observe the herd looking for the weak and straggling – those who are withdrawn from the herd. When an animal is isolated and separated, the lion strikes for the kill.
Some of the correlations are blatant – some maybe not. Here are some observations as to how this relates to you, me and the Body of Christ.
1) There is safety in the herd. The animals running with and within the herd are safe. A single lion or even a pride of lions wouldn’t take on an entire herd. As we stay in and within the Body of Christ we will be much safer from the attacks of the evil one. The Body of Christ is powerful, of which Jesus states, “The gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” There is covering, support, accountability, and environment for love and good works to be stirred up.

A common issue today is many people claim Christianity but have no participation in the Body of Christ. What might this passage suggest?
2) Digging deeper, as you read about the covering, support, etc. in the Body of Christ you can quickly see that this involves more than merely attending a building one day a week. It involves more than adding your name to a membership roll or even signing up to serve in a ministry. Those are all great decisions and commitments, but to be within the Body of Christ is to be in relationship with the people of the church – to have a few also within the church with whom you are accountable, who know you and your life and can speak into your life. Those who help “keep you in the herd.”

Often we can begin to stagger, to lag behind. For several reasons we choose to sort of slide to the back of the herd and even outside the herd. Some of these reasons are…
a) Busy-ness. The bane of the 21st Century American. We simply crowd God and His Body out of our lives with other endeavors and priorities.
b) Sin. We are sinning and not repenting. We know if we go to church we’ll be convicted / feel guilty and we flat don’t want to feel that way. Then, as we miss some gatherings, we’ll know people will ask us where we’ve been and, well, we just don’t want to face answering all those people. So, it’s just easier to slip out, lag behind and straggle.
c) Attitude. We begin allowing ourselves to have some negative attitudes about the church or a church and instead of thinking of all the pure, noble, and praiseworthy things for which we are to be thankful (Philippians 4:8-9), we choose the bad attitude. With the bad attitude comes distancing in some relationships. We withdraw, straggle, lag behind.
d) Pride. So often we hide in a crowd. We don’t engage in those deeper relationships where someone or a small group will really know us because, well, they may actually discover we have problems. Because of our pride, we believe we should have it all together and want people to think we have it all together so they will have a high opinion of us. We want them to esteem us. We want them to think we’re “right with God.” So, we don’t engage, we stay at a superficial distance. We use excuses such as, “well if I share the real me then I am vulnerable to getting hurt.” So, foolishly and unbiblically we straggle, lag and truly make ourselves vulnerable to the real enemy.
It can happen to any and all of us – whether we’ve been believers for 50 years or 50 minutes. That is why we must continuously be “sober and vigilant.”

Family Stories

2009-07-14T16:25:00.003-05:00

There are few things I enjoy more than sitting down with my parents and listening to some of their stories from an era that is so foreign to me. Last night was one such occasion as we had dinner with Mom and Dad. One of my dad’s favorite stories is of his dog named “Shep.” Shep was a collie that would help my dad and grandfather do the work on their farm. My dad loved Shep and Shep lived for nearly 12 years as my dad’s pet. It has really become a family joke that anything my dad loves and refuses to get rid of is now called “Shep.”

One such item is my dad’s car. He still drives a 1989 Pontiac Bonneville. It is without a doubt the absolute ugliest thing on four wheels you’ve ever seen. There is hardly any paint left, scratches, dents, rust, etc. Yet, he loves that car. Another is an old coat he’s got. I remember him wearing it when I was a kid and I’m 37 now. It’s old, faded, holes in it, but he still loves it.

Of course, there is something we can all learn from this – probably many things. But having talked about the Legacy of Love this past Sunday, the thought occurred to me – when you really love something (or more appropriately someone) you just don’t see “ugly.” They can begin to become someone you would hate to do without.

When it comes to people, we’re quick to pass judgment, to question intentions, to hold grudges, and to ignore. We’re quick to see “ugly.” But when we are truly loving people, something weird – even supernatural – happens. We cease seeing “ugly.” I encourage you today that if there is someone upon which you have been dwelling on their “ugly,” commit to loving them for the rest of this week. Pray for them. Serve them. Call them. Just love them and let God change your heart so that your eyes don’t focus on the “ugly,” but on the glory of God in them. You never know, they just may become your “Shep.”

Power in Death

2009-07-07T16:59:00.002-05:00

It was an extremely heavy day. I already know my meager attempt to put some thoughts into this blog will be utterly powerless to convey the weight and significance of what happened today. I went to the funeral of a pastor's son. The pastor is a friend of mine and has been for 10 years. We each planted a church on the same day so we went through that whole process together. We had spent a great deal of time together praying, encouraging, and sharing our struggles. Ten years later, I sit and watch this man of God deliver the message at his own 17-year old son's funeral.

I prayed and knew that God would give him the grace he needed to glorify God in the midst of the tragedy. And he did. Chris shared some remarkable stories about he and Gabe's (his son) shared faith. But he made sure everyone knew that Gabe was "dead in his trespasses" if not but for the love and power of God. Everyone in the auditorium (at Lifepoint) was teared up - some sobbing loudly as Chris lovingly and powerfully proclaimed the love of God. At the end of the message Chris invited anyone who needed a relationship with Christ to come to the front. Over twenty responded.

Every word of Scripture Chris read, every word of every song sung (especially "I Will Rise" by Chris Tomlin), every story told by Chris had this amazing power to resonate. Every aspect of this service was intensified and "anointed."

As we left, another friend of mine - Dow Smith - made the comment, "Paul says we can do all things through Christ who gives me strength and today Chris really reflected that!" Well said Dow.

I walked away from the funeral reminded what a powerful and gracious God we serve. He is in control. And He can even redeem such tragedies as the death of a 17 year old boy into powerful moments that will forever change peoples' lives.

A Skunk's Story

2009-07-03T09:06:00.004-05:00

Last night, my family and I decided to go with some friends to a drive-in movie. It was a double feature. We made the long journey to Watertown and the first movie, Ice Age 3 began at 8:45pm. This was an amazing feat in and of itself since our kids (and often Tara and me) are usually in bed by then or shortly after, and Elijah is usually in bed at least an hour before that time. Anyway, it was a good movie, the environment was very family-oriented. We were having a great time.

After the first movie, Tara wasn't feeling well so she compelled me to go ahead and leave. The girls wanted to stay, so we let them stay with our friends. SO Tara, myself, Josiah and Elijah headed home at about 11:00pm. From what I hear, we missed some good entertainment.

The second movie was Night in the Museum 2. I'm sure it was a great movie, but the entertainment went way beyond the movie. Just a little into the movie, a couple of skunks decided to invade dozens of peoples' family times. There was screaming, panic, people jumping into their mini vans and pick-up trucks. At this point, people weren't watching the movie, but were looking for those two almost glow-in-the-dark white stripes to come their way.

Believe it or not, I have two conclusions I draw from this humorous event for our church.

1) We never know who will show up.
I doubt if anyone of the several hundreds of people at the drive-in last night expected and planned for skunks. Blankets were abandoned, popcorn and snack foods were left as booty for the skunks' successful invasion, and few were able to continue enjoying the film.
In a similar fashion, we don't know who will show up on our Sunday morning worship services. That is why it is so important for us as a church family to show up with eyes open and hearts ready. As we grow, more and more people will be coming from various backgrounds, with different attitudes and outlooks on life. We must not run for cover, but embrace them, love them, welcome them! That is each individual's member calling and privilege to show God's love to those who so desperately need it.

2) When you are absent, you miss out. I am so frustrated that I missed that hilarious episode by just a few minutes. I don't regret leaving since Tara was ill, but I sure would have loved to have been there. Again, whenever we miss a gathering of worshipers at church, we have no idea what we will miss. We could be missing out on a 1) special word from God, 2) an opportunity to help someone, 3) a testimony, 4) a baptism or salvation, 5) a new friend. When we miss, we miss out.
And, you know, like those skunks, that would sure stink!

Legacy

2009-07-02T08:56:00.001-05:00

We just started a series called Leaving a Legacy. We showed a video this past week and asked two questions:
1) How has Mt. View left a legacy already in your life or the life of your family?
2) What legacy do you believe Mt View is to leave our future generations?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on these two questions. Please just post a reply by clicking on the pencil icon. Thanks!

Pastor Daniel