This is a quote i recently heard in a sermon podcast from Jon Tyson at http://trinitygracechurch.com/. The quote itself is off of one of his sermon slides. I posted it on Facebook a little while back and it sparked a discussion that I thought would be fun to continue on the blog.  I have included part of the discussion to get it started.  I would love to hear you thoughts?

Him:

Agree and disagree.

Me:

i love that you’re always pushing back. Makes for good Conversation. What’s the disagree?

Him:

My first problem is that this is someone’s opinion about a method of evangelism, yet they start with “the FACT is”. This is not fact. This is someone’s perception of the effectiveness of big revivals. True, it may be unlikely that someone w…ho does not know God will find him at a revival, and I happen to believe they are not the most effective tool for evangelism, but they are still effective nonetheless.

My problem with the third sentence is that someone who does not know God at all, neither in the ordinary or the exciting, still NEEDs to find and know God. If someone who already knows God is not growing past the “good feeling” they get by attending revivals then, yes, the excitement of revivals will only have a temporary effect. But I don’t see them as a distraction (?).

I believe some forms of evangelism are better than others but they are all good. I also think we tend to look at where people are NOW in their walk and compare them to ourselves. We all have different circumstances in our lives and we all grow and stretch at different times. It’s bad to say that revivals can do nothing to help person a person grow if they haven’t already made the choice on their own.

Me:

dang bro, i wasn’t expecting a dissertation:)j/k
Good points but i think you’re looking a little too far into what he’s saying. He never says that Revivals themselves are bad. He says that unless you can find God in the Ordinary “As Much As… the excitement”, then it can serve as a distraction. he doesn’t say they aren’t effective.

While i definitely agree that revivals can be effective and great ways of planting seeds. I also agree that with the idea that it could also become a hindrance or distraction.

Imagine someone wants to set you up on a blind date. they say they have the perfect person for you and they want everything to be perfect. So they arrange for you guys to meet. but not just any meeting. They fly you both first class to Hawaii. Set you up in a five star hotel for 3 days (Separate rooms of course) and pay for all your meals, a helicopter tour of the island and romantic walks on the beach each night. NO Distractions. They are trying to set up the perfect environment for you guys to connect. Sounds great and might end up leaving that weekend thinking this is your soul mate. You could see yourself spending the rest of your life with this person.

So you leave and go back home to your regular life, except
now you have the girl of your dreams. I mean you’ve just had the most amazing experience you ever had with person. But as time goes by the “Magic” wears off. The ordinary day to day stresses of life begin to creep in. Things start to get hard and it’s not quite as romantic and spectacular as it was when you first met.

So in a effort to save the relationship, you resort to the one
thing that brought you close. If only you could get back to the place you first met. Except this time it’s not as romantic, or maybe it is. You escape the pressure of the ordinary and get swept up in the moment. But is that reality.

You see Hawaii itself isn’t bad but if we aren’t careful we can glorify the experience over the relationship. At that point it’s a distraction.

We do the same thing with God. because we experience Him at one moment in one way we tend to think that when we lose that “feeling” we need to get back to that experience. And what we need is to focus on the relationship. Always a dangerous place and the experience then “Distracts” us from what we really need. To abide in Christ and be abandoned to Him and His Kingdom.See More

Him:

Yeah that’s totally true. I was looking at it kind of differently. I don’t agree with the modern church idea of letting churches and revivals bring you to Christ. The “just invite them and maybe they’ll bite!” method is so backwards. The te…aching of Christ needs to be accomplished first by our lives! And second by befriending non-believers. We get so stuck in the comfort of friends who we have common ground with, which we absolutely need, but we have to reach out and build ‘uncomfortable’ relationships. And we need to be so grounded in what we believe and know to be true, not just for us but the whole world, so that we’re able to have friendships with non-believers without giving in to bad influences. Good stuff! And so important…

Now time to add your thoughts….

To our Abundant Life Church family. We would like to invite you to join us for the Easter Choir. We are looking for 20-30 people who would like to join the worship team at Happy Valley to lead worship for our Easter services this year. Luke Coles and Carley Martin are going to be leading this group and will be making parts so everyone can rehearse.

We are also looking to continue this every 6 weeks after Easter. If you are interested please email me at worship@coolchurch.com

if you can’t commit for Easter but would love to be involved please let us know when you email.

I’ve included the Easter rehearsal schedule below.

Thursday, March 17: Have the set up on planning center and the parts for rehearsal
Thursday, March 31: First Choir rehearsal @ 7pm
Thursday, April 7:Choir Rehearsal @7
Thursday, April 14:Choir Rehearsal @7
Thursday, April 21: Final rehearsal and full rehearsal with band @7
April 23/24: Easter Services: 3 Saturday services/ 4 Sunday services

We will follow up and communicate with everyone as people respond. We are looking forward to serving with you.

Well this past weekend was a little different. Sarah and I were able to go and check out Solid Rock http://www.ajesuschurch.org/

It was a heavy weekend for them as a church.  They were announcing that one of their elder/pastors had had an affair.  They proceeded to walk through what this meant for this pastor and for the church. Restoration, grace and forgiveness. Our hearts broke for this man’s family, the staff and the solid rock church family.  It was very surreal for me; we at abundant life have been going through a process of restoration as well.  (You can read more about that here: http://coolchurchxp.com/)

After the announcement John Mark Comer (Teaching Pastor) started to share out of Proverbs 5,6 & 7.  It was about sexuality and adultery. It was a great message. He spoke about how God intended our sexual lives to be lived out. I highly recommend listening. http://www.ajesuschurch.org/teachings/teaching/?id=778&c=41

The thing that struck me most was at the end of the message. He shared a story from Jesus out of the Book of Luke:

“A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.”

Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” (Luke 7:41-50 ESV)

I could not stop thinking about the question posed by Jesus; “Now which of them will love him more?” You see I’ve been in sort of rut in my personal relationship with Jesus. It’s been a very dry time. But at that moment I felt like God was trying to break through

Of course we all would have answered the question the same way as Simon.  But this time I felt like God was asking me the question.  And not so much about another persons debt, but debt that has been paid in MY life!!

Then we see this woman, who could care less about what the people around her thought.  She wasn’t worried about being dignified about it, she was broken and willing to look like a fool because she knew she needed a savior and she was in His presence.  Nothing was going to stop her from showing her gratitude and affection for Jesus.  I felt as if God was telling me, “You used to be like that”, but something has changed.  You’ve gotten complacent, comfortable, lazy and then you wonder why you don’t feel a strong connection with me, a peace in our relationship.”  Love takes work, love is a sacrifice..

He was telling me, like the guys in the story, that he’s been in my presence and I haven’t even noticed or paid attention enough to realize who I was in the presence of.  Father forgive me.  May I never cease to stop showing you adoration and praise.  No matter what others might think.

Now that sounds strong I know but I was convicted and at the same time felt this call to remember  “YOUR sins, which are many, are forgiven“ (Emphasis mine)

We then took communion at the end of the service and I felt a sense of freedom I hadn’t felt in awhile.  It was this reminder that my debt had been Cancelled…all of it.

Do whatever you need to do to get this. Very Good

What are you listening to??

We also had a great discussion about 1 Corinthians 13 (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Cor%2013&version=NIV).  Most of us have read that section a million times, but for some reason Saturday when I read it i felt as if God was challenging me.  Do I love like this?  Am I motivated by Love in my service, in ministry?  We realized that we all struggle with this, especially with those who have wronged us.  We also realized that we cannot love like this unless we’ve experienced the Love of Christ.  Until we realize that Jesus is the example of 1 Corinthians Love and He loves us with this kind of selfless love than we cannot truly love others this way.  We can have the appearance of love with our actions, with our words, but God knows our hearts desire and if it is not love then it is just a loud gong or a clanging cymbal.

What sound are you making???? May it be a beautiful sound to his ear….

For example:

David Crowders Collision (or 3 + 4 = 7) Album http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/a-collision/id80621301

Anything by Robbie Seay Band (http://www.robbieseayband.com/) or John Mark Mcmillan (http://www.thejohnmark.com/)

And now Gungor Bands “Beautiful things” album http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/beautiful-things/id353582848

Not your typical worship album but definitely a worship album…

Watch this video about it: http://www.gungormusic.com/pages/media.html

Take a listen for free at www.lala.com.

Hope you enjoy.  What artists are you guys listening too??

If you have a few minutes check out this post from Pastor Scott over at Parkrose. I’d recommend following his blog as well.  Very good stuff!!!

My Side of the Bed

I did it again last night.  I was awakened to someone standing next to my bed.  A shadow of a person in the middle of the night.  My wife grabbed my arms and screamed, “NO, Scott, it’s…”  And in an instant I flew out from under the blankets in attack mode.  Only to discover it was…

My sweet, innocent, daughter Maicee.

She came into our room to tell us her leg was hurting.  But in an instant I reacted and almost put her through the wall.  Fortunately no one was hurt and we brought her into bed with us and cried ourselves to sleep.  I felt so much shame from reacting that way…  How could I do such a thing?

Gwenna learned a long time ago that if I’m startled from a deep sleep I will jump out of bed ready to protect myself.  I can only call it attack mode but it is rooted in fear and usually happens when I’m under a lot of stress.  You may be thinking, “Why would he do that to his daughter or his wife?”  Let me explain.  It’s called trauma and it deeply imprints your limbic system (the survival part of your brain).

I grew up in a very insecure home.  I never felt safe or protected.  That was followed by years of abuse and eventually a rape by a man.  The perpetrator attacked me while I slept and it deeply scarred my automatic response system (limbic).

Even though I spent years in counseling and support groups I will still react in a protective way when startled from my sleep.  To the point where I lashed out at my seven year old daughter.  Would I have chosen this path, no, but it shows that trauma can still affect us decades later…

Why am I sharing this with you?  Because I believe that much of what we call “sinful behavior” among Christians (and non-believers) is actually a response to trauma.   Traumatic experiences deeply imprint and ingrain automatic responses in us that will protect us from being wounded again.  God actually designed us that way to protect us.  When we believe our life is on the line we will react to survive.  But, when our God-given protective reactions are misguided, they can create more wounds.  I am thankful that last night was just a scare and my daughter is fine but that isn’t how it used to be…

I spent most of life “reacting” out of my wounds.  Addiction, dysfunctional relationships, manipulation, out-of-control sexual behavior, ECT…  I would not let anyone get close.    I had to “protect” myself.  And a lot of it was subconscious (I didn’t even know I was protecting myself).  I just thought that was who I am; mean spirited, aggressive, and a maverick when put into a vulnerable situation.  And guess what?  That’s how I started my marriage.  And guess what again?  What does a new, loving wife want from her husband?  Relationship.  Vulnerability.  Commitment.  Long talks about life.  RED ALERT!  RED ALERT!  RED ALERT!

But God changed my life.  It took a lot of painful consequences to help me see my need for change.  Then it took a lot of painful choices to face my past and face the choices I had made.  But it paid off.  God began setting me free from the past and allowed me live a productive, fulfilling life.  The answer was found in Jesus Christ.

He is the Savior but He also has experienced pain and trauma and abuse.  He understands what it feels like to be hurt and rejected and used.  That attracted me to Him and His offer of salvation.  It wasn’t eternal life or becoming a child of a loving father initially, it was the fact that I had finally identified with someone who had truly overcome the painful trials of this world.  He inspired me to find restoration in my soul.

Jesus said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

For God so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son …for me… for you!  So that …I …you… could know Him and realize that He was willing to do whatever it takes to bring us home to the Father.

“Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.” 1 John 5:5

God is a loving Father who deeply cherishes His Kids.

“…all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” John 1:12

Will I ever get to the point where I don’t wake up in the night stricken with fear?  I don’t know.  But I do know that it doesn’t happen as much as it used to and I’m not the same person I was in the beginning.  I do know that I’m deeply loved by God and many, many wonderful people.  My heart is to see people experience the love, acceptance, and forgiveness found in Him.

It’s a journey and one day we will experience the complete freedom from the chains that bind us.

I’m looking forward to that day, how about you?

Follow him @  http://www.parkrosecampus.com/

For those that don’t know Kai’s medical history, I’ll give you a very brief recap. When Sarah was 12 weeks along, we found out Kai had a birth defect known as Gastroschisis (https://health.google.com/health/ref/Gastroschisis). He was born with his intestines outside of his body. He was delivered on February 25, 2009 at Loma Linda Children’s Hospital in Southern California. He was paralyzed and sedated for the first 8 days of his life until he had surgery to put his intestines back inside. We were supposed to be in the NICU for 4-6 months. In the best case scenario for a Gastroschisis baby with no complications is 6 weeks. Every nurse and doctor told us we were in for the long haul. But…God had different plans. Kai was supposed to have multiple surgeries and ending up only have the first initial one. His bowels began working, even though we were told that there was no possible way that could happen. The Main pediatric surgeon told us in his over 2000 cases of Gastroschisis he had never seen something like this happen. Um, we can tell you… God had worked a miracle, right before our eyes.

And for 340 (or so) days Kai has been fine. No signs of any problems, on the outside. Well apparently on the inside he had an obstruction in his bowels, and that was causing the pain. The only solution was surgery.

Oh man, not this weekend. I was on a schedule and there was a lot to get prepared for and now it was looking like we were not only going to have to deal with surgery, but with an extended hospital stay.

Now, obviously my involvement in the changes at Abundant Life dropped down the priority list immediately. But how could this be happening? How can things go from being fine to surgery and maybe resection of bowel (possible ostemies) within a day? What was going to be the outcome? These things ran through our minds. We couldn’t believe that just a week or so after celebrating Kai’s 1^st Birthday we were back in the hospital.

Then while waiting for them to come get Kai to take him in for surgery a couple things popped into my mind. One was God’s faithfulness. How he has been faithful in the past when Kai was born all the way up to this moment. And, the other was the issue of Control, and more so, the lack of control that we have. There was nothing I could do in this situation. Nothing I

could have done to prevent it and I had no control of the outcome. I felt like the only thing I could do was Pray and Trust. Easier said then done, right? Then I remembered last week at our worship team devotional time we wrapped up with Hebrews 4:14-16 ¹⁴Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens,^[a] Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. ¹⁵For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. ¹⁶Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

I found comfort in this great reminder that we have a God who sympathizes with us in our weakness, even in my unbelief, and that I can go to Him with confidence trusting that He will give me mercy and grace. I need that reminder.

I don’t know where you’re at right now. Maybe you’ve had a hard time giving up control or trusting that God is there. Maybe you’re in a situation that is out of your control. I hope this can be an reminder that we have a Heavenly Father who loves and cares for his children more than we could ever know. That we can come as we are and He will carry us through. ALWAYS!! Even when things don’t turn out the way we expected. He see’s the whole picture He is still faithful.

Well Kai’s surgery went great. They removed an obstruction the size of a baseball out of his bowels, and said he should be back to normal within a week. Praise God!! Thank you for all the prayers…

Here are some more verses that I hope will be some encouragement for us all…

John 16:33

“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

Psalm 46:1-3,7

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. Selah. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah.

Isaiah 41:10

‘Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

2 Timothy 1:7

⁷For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self discipline.

Psalm 16:8

⁸ I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Psalm 55:22

²² Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you he will never let the righteous fall.

Psalm 62:6

⁶ He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.

1 Peter 5:7

⁷Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Nahum 1:7

⁷ The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him,

Isaiah 26:3

³ You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in

Worship Team Meeting Recap

Announcements:

• We are excited to have Devon back leading at Parkrose!!
• Paul is taking over sound at Parkrose!!
• Green Room Challenge!!!
• Audio Changes at Both Campuses

Happy Valley Campus

Moving the Sound board and Easy Worship down

-Construction of the booth will begin March 1^st

-Moving the Board down will start March 8^th

-New Subs, Drum shield, Drum mics

Both Campus

Moving from Stage monitors to In-ear Monitor system w/Aviom

-Each person will have the ability to mix his or her own monitor

-Eliminate Stage volume and allow for clearer, better sound for both campus

Quote from Andy Stanley

“I’m still convinced that there’s something inescapable about music. It transforms words into lyrics. It changes walls into bridges. It turns listening ears into listening hearts.

As a performer, as a listener, as a visitor who might end up in a most unexpected place on a Sunday morning, music has a transformational power. And it moves people in ways that even the best communicator cannot.

Music matters.

It’s not just songs. Or musicians. Or lights and equipment. Music is much more than that. Music is a doorway to worship.

Inviting people to walk through that door, then step out of the way while we as a church, as a community, as individuals, answer the call to worship. A call that music sends out like nothing else.

We agree and we are always trying to move forward with the desire to create the best environment for people to answer the call. And all these changes are very exciting and will be great tools to use to accomplish our Vision, but they are just that….tools but not the goal.  The goal is;

Vision: Make Jesus Famous!!!

We want to paint a picture of who God is, using the arts (Music, visual art, spoken word) and allow people to respond to who God is and What He is doing in our lives. Creating an environment for believers and unbelievers to experience God

Ministry Verse:

Ephesians 3:14-21

¹⁴For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵from whom his whole family^[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,

¹⁷so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

²⁰Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.

How do we do that? (Our Values)

• With Truth

John 4:23-24
23 “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. 24 “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Col 3:16-17

Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

• With Authenticity

Romans 5:3-5

³ We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. ⁴ And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. ⁵ And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

Philippians 2:3-4

³Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. ⁴Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

• With Excellence (Consistent Quality)

Romans 12:1

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

2 Timothy 2:15

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.

Way to achieve excellence

We are trying to build 2 teams at each campus and a 5^th week team.

Express the heart behind smaller team

• Discipleship: More than just serving on the worship team to serve, or play on the weekends, I want to be able to invest in the players lives.  The challenge is for all of us to be filled up to the fullness of God, so that naturally what flows out of the teams heart is WORSHIP!! That is more difficult with a constant rotation of people.
• Continuity
• Consistency (Quality)
• Tighter more solid sound happens when you play with the same group of people.

Areas to serve are

• Traditions (Would like have 2 teams that rotate/ A week that John doesn’t lead)

- Acoustic guitar players,

- Vocalists

- Piano Players

• Worship Team Choir (For All Vocalists to Participate)

We have lots of vocalist on our team and if we were to rotate singers every week, it would be 3 months before you would be on the rotation again.  So our answer to that is The worship team Choir.

- This will not be a traditional choir, with special choral numbers and features.

- We will be doing all the current worship songs we do, with the added element of the Choir.

- Will bring energy, excitement, powerful presence of worship…

-Every 6 Weeks, launching on Easter.

• Parkrose (A team to lead over there once a month and fill in when needed with Devon)
• Tech side (Easy worship – Who better to run words than a musician or singer, Stage Crew for transitions (if you have kids or know of anybody who would want to serve once or twice a month.)

Dustin talked about some new avenues of Creating Community with our team

• The Blog/Twitter/Email
• Avenue for feedback/ Ideas
• (Creative Team for Weekend service and special services, Songwriting, etc..)

Well I think that covers it.  Again please share any thoughts or comments and let’s make Jesus Famous in our lives, in PDX and the World!!! It’s a blessing to serve along side of you.