Dreaming of Something New

I know that I haven't blogged in a while. We've been very busy building our new home and getting it ready for launching a new missional endeavor. I really appreciate everyone who has dropped by the blog over the last few months. I'm hoping to post more regularly and wanted to kick things off with some ideas that my wife and I have been thinking through the last few months.

Better Neighborhoods

Just like cells make up the body so neighborhoods make up a city. Think about that, if a cell becomes bad (cancer) it can bring down the whole body. Opposite of that, a good neighborhood can bring up the life of the whole city.

Needing some good ideas to help better your neighborhood? Or just want to meet your neighbors without seeming creepy?

Here's an article I ran across from GOOD magazine entitled: The GOOD Guide to Better Neighborhoods: A Neighborhood Manifesto

What I'm Thankful For

 

It's that time of year that you sit down and begin to think about all the things that you are thankful for. So here's my list of things that I'm thankful for this year.

 

 

1. God - I'm thankful that God loved me so much that he sent his Son to show us a new kingdom way of living and then died on the cross a horrible death to free me from sin and for His service.

Community Outreach and The Love Revolution

So much has happened over the last few weeks. God has really answered mine and Amy's prayers in guiding us into the ministry that He has for us. On August 8th Amy and I were welcomed as the Community Outreach Directors at Crosspointe Church in Ada, OK. This is an awesome opportunity to participate in ministry that is at the heart of our church and has deeply touched our hearts as well.

We will be actively involved in the community outreach events and ministries at Crosspointe Church. Some of the upcoming events that we are going to involved in are:

+Samaritan's Ministry Food-Giveaway (Last Tuesday Every Month)

+Ada Highschool Lunch Outreach (Sept 9th) - serving hotdogs to students for a free lunch


+Senior Citizen Outreach (Sept 11th) - Going to go out into our community and change batteries in smoke detectors, light bulbs and air filters.

Amy and I are also going to be heading up a Connection Group at Crosspointe for anyone interested in community service. We are going to be going through The Love Revolution by Joyce Meyer. This is going to be a paradigm (worldview)  changing study that will help us begin to understand that serving others is not an option for Christianity but is a primary way that others know we are Christians.

Look for our table on Connection Sunday at Crosspointe Church this Sunday. Come on by and chat with us about Servolution or The Love Revolution

Super Summer

Super Summer

I'm really excited about this summer. There are some awesome things coming up at Crosspointe. During June we are going to be meeting outside of the church building in different locations around our community for some connection time. We are going to be going to Wintersmith Park, the City pool, Star Skate, and having a barbecue on the grounds at the church. It is going to be great. I really look forward to connecting with everyone here at our church and making some connections with people outside of the church.

VBS

This year we are kicking off an incredible VBS with a bang. Hero Headquarters is coming to Crosspointe providing a place where kids join forces with God. VBS will be July 19-22 but we are going to be having a registration day on July 17th. We are hoping to have this at Glenwood park with free hotdogs, the new church bus, and other great things. I'll have more info as we get closer.

I'm really excited about all that God is doing and going to do here in Ada. I hope to see you there!

New Things on the Horizon

Amy and I met with Pastor Shawn at Crosspointe Church in Ada, OK yesterday. It was a great time of dreaming, strategizing, and planning. God has really birthed a spirit of outreach into the hearts of the leadership at our church and in Amy and myself as well. Amy and I are going to be heading up the outreach ministry at our church helping out in planning and implementing ideas to serve our community.

God has called us to be His light in a dark world and the best way we can do that is by loving people with no strings attached. The people in our community need to know that we love them and are here to serve them, even if they never make a decision for Christ. Don't get me wrong, salvation is the end result that we pray for everyone in Ada, but the people around us have been sold a bill of goods so many times that they can smell a bait-and-switch a mile away. Many times as Christians we have served people for the sole purpose that they become saved because of what we did for them. But if they never make that decision will you still love them? I believe that when Jesus served the multitude by feeding the 5,000 that several of those in the crowd never made Jesus their Savior. But did that keep Jesus from loving them?

Many times we've decided that church is what happens within the walls of our building for a few hours on Sunday and if we're lucky another hour on Wednesday. But that is totally not biblical. Acts shows us that the Church was the followers of Christ sharing life together and then ALL the people saw the love of God in them and several thousand were added to their numbers. What would happen if we took the initiative to  take the love of God into our community for the sole purpose of serving the hurting people around us? What would happen if the Church became the number one community service organization in your city?

I believe that your church would explode with exponential growth, as the people in your community really see what a Christ follower is all about. And if they never make a decision to follow Jesus, then at the very least we are obeying Jesus by feeding the hungry, giving a drink to the thirsty, visiting the sick and clothing the naked. Wow! What an amazing thing obedience can bring about in our lives.

Get out into your community today. Serve those around you. Show them the love of God even in the smallest random acts of kindness. Open a door for someone at the grocery store. Take someones shopping cart back to the store for them. Do something...

Go beyond the walls!

Reaching Out Beyond Oursleves

Over the last few months God has really been working mine and Amy's hearts about reaching out into our community. Last Fall we became part of a month of community service called Beyond the Walls that our church had put together. It really sparked something in both of us and all of this came to a head a few weeks ago.

It seems like I've had my head down truding along to find a youth ministry position somewhere and the whole time I've ignored the ministry opportunity right here where I am. We met with our Pastor about starting up an Outreach ministry at Crosspointe to reach the Ada, OK community. We've got a whole list of ideas that we've put together and we are going to meet with Pastor Shawn again on Thursday to lay some events on the calendar for the next few months.

Amy and I are really excited about this new ministry opportunity and feel that God is bringing our church to a point where we are the salt and light of our community. This isn't just an isolated incident either. This is a movement...a revolution.

Check out these links here:

www.theloverevolution.com
www.servolution.org

And here's some music lyrics to get you thinking:

The Power of Your Name
Artist: Lincoln Brewster
Album: Today is the Day.

Surely children weren't made for the streets
And fathers were not made to leave
Surely this isn't how it should be
Let Your Kingdom come

Surely nations were not made for war
Or the broken meant to be ignored
Surely this just can't be what You saw
Let Your Kingdom come
Here in my heart

I will live
To carry Your compassion
To love a world that's broken
To be Your hands and feet
I will give
With the life that I've been given
And go beyond religion
To see the world be changed
By the power of Your name

Surely life wasn't made to regret
And the lost were not made to forget
Surely faith without action is dead
Let Your Kingdom come
Lord break this heart

Your name
Is a shelter for the hurting
Jesus Your name
Is a refuge for the weak
Only Your name
Can redeem the undeserving
Jesus Your name
Holds everything I need

Lincoln Brewster and Mia Fieldes © 2008 Integrity's Praise! Music/BMI and Mia Fieldes/Hillsong Publishing (adm in the U.S. and Canada by Integrity's Hosanna! Music)/ASCAP