Thursday, September 30, 2010
ONE NIGHT
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
ENGAGE
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
OLIVE
Today is the opening of the new Olive Garden Italian Restaurant here in Kenosha. I'm sure it will be packed full of people for the unforeseen future. Right location for that here - just 1/4 mile east of KFA.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
RISK
I got a little unsafe this morning. Yeah, that's me up on a balance beam trying to deliver part of the message today. RISK.
Remember when you were a kid and - because your parents really LOVED you and had gone to some great lengths to HAVE you - and they didn’t want you DAMAGED - that they had all these HOUSE RULES so you wouldn’t hurt yourself?
SAFETY RULE #1 - ‘Don’t jump on your bed - you might fall off and crack your skull.’
SAFETY RULE #2 - ‘Don’t go swimming until 30 minutes after you eat or you might get a cramp and drown.’
SAFETY RULE #3 - ‘Don’t run with scissors. You could trip and poke an eye out.’
SAFETY RULE #4 - ‘Don’t run in the street or a car might come along and hit you.’
SAFETY RULE #5 - ‘Don’t play with your belly button or it might unravel and you’ll fly away like a balloon.’
There are safety rules in the church, too. Maybe they’re not taught formally, but they're practiced nonetheless:
SAFETY RULE #1 - ‘Church should be comfortable. Meet my needs, play it safe, and don’t get too risky with anything.’
SAFETY RULE #2 - ‘Don’t talk about CONTROVERSIAL issues. Don’t offend or upset anyone or make anybody mad.‘
SAFETY RULE #3 - ‘Don’t CHANGE anything. If it was good enough for our grandparents, it’s good enough for us.’
But when I look at the New Testament, there isn’t anything safe about that church. And maybe you’re saying right now, ‘Yeah ... a risky church ... that sounds awesome. I WANT that.’ But before you SAY that, know that there is an unseen side to being a risky church.
And actually - I know what you mean. I grew up in church and sometimes I feel the same. But there are some things I’m personally giving up because they don’t work quite as well in our present culture as they once did, even though I personally like some of those things ... even though I personally miss some of those things ... even though some of those things are still my preferences. I’m wiling to give them up for something I love even more ... and that is people far from God. It’s my loss for others' gain.
The Kingdom is about a little loss - it's about a little pain - it's about some self-sacrifice - it's about risk.
And be blessed.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
ACTION
Friday, September 24, 2010
COORS
Joelene and I had the opportunity to attend the STORY conference in Chicago today (www.storychicago.com) put together by Ben Arment. There is a link to his blog in my BlogMania section here (www.benarment.com). Check him out.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
HAPPY
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
ENEMY
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
RELIGION
Sunday, September 19, 2010
WAR
Saturday, September 18, 2010
CHAIN
PLANTING
I'm sharing a synopsis of something I read on Tony Morgan's blog this morning (www.tonymorganlive.com):
He was writing about how impressed he was that the Assemblies of God, unlike so many other denominations out there, is still growing. One of the reasons he indicated that it is so is that the AG has a commitment to planting churches.
I have the opportunity to sit on General Superintendant George Wood's Cabinet (a group that only meets once or twice a year and discusses this topic - and to be fair, I have only been to one of the meetings so far) - but I am also privileged to be part of our Wisconsin / Northern Michigan AG Ministry Network's Church Planting Board (wow - that's a mouthful) --- and it is gratifying to see not only our National leaders, but our State leaders also pursuing with great passion this element of church planting.
From www.ag.org (News & Information): Adherents in the U.S. AG increased to 2,914,669 in 2009. Worldwide, the gain was 1.6 million members - to 63,090,251. The goal for 2010 is 300 new church plants with an ultimate goal of 500 per year. One hundred thirty-three have already been planted in 2009.
This, sadly, does not address the many churches who are also closing their doors (Whew! I'm glad the church isn't actually a building - though it sure doesn't hurt to have one).
Another warning signal was that conversions to Christ were actually down .1 percent. I'm thankful for what God is doing at KFA in these areas -- we are seeing new people come to Christ on a regular basis, if not almost weekly.
Let's keep praying together about when and where God will have KFA plant a church next.
And be blessed.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
DON
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
WORLD
Let me say from the outset - with all my heart - I love the church. I believe it is the hope of the world and I am dedicated to it.
Monday, September 13, 2010
AFRICAN
Sunday, September 12, 2010
LOVE
The message at KFA (www.kenoshafirst.com) today was about LOVE. When I GOOGLED it on the internet, I found 1.4 billion references - I’m not kidding -- and I read them all ... No, no. When I put the word 'love' in a search on ‘Amazon.com,’ there were 300,000 books that somehow related.
LOVE. It’s the MAIN THING.
If you are a Christ-follower, you are born of God and you love the way God loves. And if that’s true, then the opposite is also true; the one who does not love is not born of God - does not know God - because God is love.
So it’s simple. If you love, there is great evidence God is at work in your life - and if you don’t, then maybe there should be some concern that perhaps God is not at work in your life.
The idea is that Christians - by their very names - should be marked by love. That should be normal. And I wouldn’t need to blog and preach about this over and over if all our expressions and interactions were marked by love. And the reason the Bible says it so much and the reason I say it so much is because Christians are not always known as the most loving people on the planet and that should bother us a very great deal.
Alexander the Great rode into his war camp one day and saw an officer yelling at a young foot soldier. The foot soldier had evidently shown some cowardice and had run away at the last battle ... and the officer told Alexander he was giving the kid a good tongue-lashing because those actions were unworthy of a soldier in that great army. Alexander came over to the foot soldier and asked, “What’s your name, soldier?”
And the foot soldier said, “My name is Alexander ... the same as yours, sir.”
And incensed at that, Alexander the Great said, “Soldier, either change your ways or change your name.”
In other words, ‘I don’t want you identifying yourself with me in any way if you’re going to have that kind of behavior - because it’s a reflection on me.’ And that is something we, as followers of Christ, need to hear if we’re going to be shaped by the compelling love of a God who, at His very heart, is a missionary God.
And be blessed.