Another New Years Tradition “The vision for Christ Nation Church 2009

Another tradition that we have in our church is each year we spend 10 to 15 minutes talking about the vision for the upcoming year at our New Year’s party. The purpose of the New Year’s party is not really to attend another church service. Throughout the year we have church services. The purpose of the New Year’s party is to celebrate what God has done in the year before and celebrate the coming of the next year. With all that in mind the vision is always a part of the time of festivities.

This year the vision that God has given me for the church is “Building the House of God”. We are a very outreach focused church and we will always be an outreach focused church. We believe that we are called to reach the community. But also with all of the outreach there is an inward strengthening of the church that must take place as well. This year will be the year we focus on that.

As I was praying about this focus for this year I came up with 7 areas of focus. I thought you might like to see what the 7 things on my list were.
1) We as a church will dream again. Galt. 6:9 – When we first started the church two and a half years ago we had big dreams. Mostly because we were young and without experience. Over the course of time and with the general hard knocks of trying to do God’s will the batteries in our dreamer need to be recharged. In 2009 as a church we will start dreaming big again.

2) We will start giving again. 2nd Cor. 9:7-8,:12 – Since the very beginning we have considered the main reason we are in our city is to minister to the city. To do that we need more than just funds to pay for rent, salaries and utilities. We need funds to do show the love of God in the community as well. As we give in 2009 it will allow us to better minister to the community we live in.

3) We will stop getting easily offended. James 1:13 – 15, Mark 4:15 – :17. One of the main reasons why people, not just in our church but in church all over the world, have trouble building The House of God is because they have members that are easily offended. This year we have decided as a church that we will not stay offended with one another or at how God is challenging our lives.

4) We will enjoy our times together as a church family. Acts 2:42 – 46. One of the signs of a healthy church is that they enjoy spending time together. We as a church do that but this year in 2009 we will do it even more.

5) We will make God and the church the center of our lives. Acts 2:41-42. God does not want to be the god of our spiritual life He wants to be the God of our lives. That means that Jesus must have access to every little hidden corner of our lives if we are to build The Church of God.

6) We will appreciate and value those that work in the House of God. 1st Theo. 5:12-13, Hebrews 13:17-8. I have notice that there are people that each week sacrifice to make our church a reality and these members many times go unnoticed. In 2009 we want to make sure these people realize they are appreciated

7) We will have the right mindset about serving in the church. Phil. 2:7. Too many times we come to church to be served. A healthy mindset to have from time is to time is to serve the church so that the church can serve the community.

There are many things we have planned for 2009 but these are the main vision signposts. It should be an exciting year for Christ Nation Church.

We just had great New Year's party last night to usher in the new year.

“The years of hats” three years of being a mad hatter.

Even though we have only been pastoring for three years we have made some traditions. One of them is that each year we have a New Year’s Party. It is a big deal for us. People come from all over the city and from many different churches to be a part of the party. We pull out all of the stops. We order food, we play games, give away a ton of prizes, we watch funny videos and a whole ton of other things to usher in the new year as a church family. But one of the traditions that we have adopted over the years that stuck is the tradition of the New Year’s hat.
Each year the committee that is in charge of the planning the New Year’s party goes out to the market to find the largest hat they can find to plaster on the head of their pastor (me) each year. It is impressive how large the hats have gotten over the years. The first year was pretty small but 2008 was so large that I had a hard time balancing it on my head. This year was the same but Angie’s hat grew instead of mine. Needless to say New Years is a blast around Christ Nation Church. We are so blessed to pastor the church that we have in Bolivia and are excited about what God has in store for us in 2009.

Here is our New Years hats for 2009. Notice the size of Angie's hat in comparison to last year.

These are our hats that they gave us for 2008. I like this year because it all matched.

These are our hats for 2007. This was the first year we did the party and this was the year my hat was the smallest.

Dancing in the New Years

We want to say Happy New Years to everyone!!! Here is a link to our site where we dance away the old year.

http://www.christnationministries.org/English/newyearsdancedaronnandangie.html

New Web Additions for the House of Dreams Orphanage

Just wanted to communicate a few exciting things we have created for our Bolivian Orphanage “The House of Dreams Orphanage”.

New HOD website: We have just finished creating a new website specifically for the orphanage. Right now it has generic information but in the future we will upload it with new pictures and videos, testimonies and also specific information so that the people that sponsor a child can tap into the lives of the child they sponsor. www.houseofdreamsorphanage.org

Click here to go to the HOD webpage!!!

HOD facebook community: Another thing that we have done recently is create a facebook indentity for the HOD. We hav uploaded several videos and also pictures os you can get the latest on what is going on in the HOD. Also we post prayer quests. When you get a second check it out and become a part of this community. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=108233500573

Click here to visit the facebook community!!!

Another quote from a book I read that I liked

Here is another quote from a book that I read a while ago “Jesus Mean and Wild” by Mark Galli.  I will say that there were a number of things that I did not agree with but there were also a number of things I did.  It liked the book because it challenged my traditional way of viewing of Jesus.

“But at its worst, evangelicalism rationalizes the faith – crafts an explanation that “makes sense,” that is too readily grasped with the mind.  There is a temptation to systematize (thus all those dispensational charts) and to explain away all those difficult passages.  And thus the need to explain existence in Four Spiritual Laws. 

Laws – as the mystery of God and his relationship with humankind can be grasped by a series of legal or scientific formulas.  Where did we get the idea that this is the best way to describe a love affair?  Four laws?  As if four, not five, not three, and not six hundred sum up the essence of the gospel.  If this really can be done, one wonders why Jesus didn’t do it in the first place.  And one is mystified as to why He went about it so indirectly, in an aggravatingly roundabout way.  Why didn’t he just come to the point? 

                If the Four Spiritual Laws booklet is used to clarify some key points of the Christian message. And if that clarification allows a person for the first time to grasp some aspect of the Good News and set his or her life on a new course – all well and good.  Better than that – Alleluia!  But if such formulas set one on a path of certainty, clarity and fulfillment, then they will produce a faith that is a closed system, faith that brings only order to a confusing world, and order that becomes not a door into a great mystery but a rigid wall outside of which one never ventures. “

Whenever we see this legalism, rationalism, and self-righteousness we know that the faith has become a closed system – promise and fulfillment only.  As A.W. Tozer writes “Left to ourselves we tend immediately to reduce God to manageable terms.  We want to get Him where we can use Him, or at least know where He is when we need Him.  We want a God we can in some measure control.  We need the feeling of security that comes from knowing what God is like.”

I like the quote because it shows that tendency of our to find security in putting the Father in terms we can explain which may or may not be the best way to approach a relationship of love.  One of the characteristics that makes Jesus so attractive to me is because He is unpredictable at times.

What do you think?

 

Happy Holidays!!!

The House that was not made for people to live in.

A few years ago the owners of the property that we rent sold the property to another person.  The new owners were so excited about the new venture that they decided that they would build a second story on the building that we had and rent it out to our family.  The entire process took several months but once they were finished we had the opportunity to walk around and look at the house before we moved in.  From the outside it was a great looking apartment.  Everything was new.  But as time went by in only a few months things started falling apart. 

At night the house would make noises like the foundation was falling apart.  Letter the doors of the cabinets started falling off.  Afterward the wooden tablets in the floors started to pop up.  The paint on the bathroom ceiling started to peal because of the humidity.  Literally the house started to fall apart.  After a while of talking with Angie about our new home we came to the conclusion that this house was made simply for show and not to be lived in.  Just the simple wears and tears of life testified to this fact.

As I thought about this happiness theme I was struck by the realization that many times people think of life in that same way.  Their concept of life is fragile that when the normal wears and tears of life come it just does not last.  Their happiness is fleeting.  Let me try to explain it in another way. If I cannot be happy when everything is going wrong, when things do not work out like I expected and when life deals me a bad hand then I have not understood what the Bible explains as true happiness.  Anyone can be happy when everything is going good it takes a true lover of God to be able to be happy in difficult times.  Do not get me wrong; I do not think that when life hits you in the eye you should break out in a Music Man chorus but what I am saying is that if our view of life does not hold itself together when we are live life then we should find another one.

A song I like

A few years ago when I was in town I picked up a cd from The Newsboys that at first I did not like but it grew on me.  I think it puts into perspective how that in the middle of all the things we are not sure of we can still love God.  

Also I have posted the lyrics below.  Let me know what you think about the song.

Lyrics to Your Love Is Better Than Life :
I dunno nothing that I haven’t been taught,
I dunno why I was born into the family I’ve got,
I dunno if I ever had an original thought,
maybe not, maybe so, maybe later, I dunno
I dunno how I can end a prayer, then turn on a friend,
I dunno what I was thinking when I just pressed send,
I dunno why I still criticize the things I dunno
I dunno, I dunno, I dunno, but this one thing I know

YOUR LOVE IS BETTER THAN LIFE
Without your love, I’m just a broken machine
YOUR LOVE IS BETTER THAN LIFE
Without your love, it’s all a mindless routine
YOUR LOVE IS BETTER THAN LIFE
Without your love, I’m in another free fall
YOUR LOVE IS BETTER THAN LIFE
Without your love, I’ve got nothing at all

I dunno what goes down the moment we die
Do we get halos & harps? Do we sleep? Do we fly? I dunno
how, when and why this world will finally end,
Speculation’s gonna grow, who knows best, I dunno
I dunno if I should push ahead or stop and grieve,
I lie awake and wonder how to make a city believe,
I dunno when it’s a ministry and when it’s a show
maybe neither, maybe both, I dunno, but this one thing I know

YOUR LOVE IS BETTER THAN LIFE
Without your love, I’m just a broken machine
YOUR LOVE IS BETTER THAN LIFE
Without your touch I’m not a full human being
YOUR LOVE IS BETTER THAN LIFE
If I should ever leave, where would I go?
YOUR LOVE IS BETTER THAN LIFE
I look to you ‘cause you’re the lover of my soul

HERE’S TO THE LOVER OF MY SOUL
HERE’S TO THE LOVER OF MY SOUL

I dunno when to walk away or stand and fight
just when I’ve got it wrong, I’m sure I heard you right
and when my arguments are watertight you expose every hole with a flash and a flood and I know
I hear you call in the eye of the storm and I know you’ve had my back since the day I was born still
stoking my heart
still stirring my head
you’re my pillar of fire
you’re the wine, you’re the bread, and

YOUR LOVE IS BETTER THAN LIFE
Without your love, I’m just a broken machine
YOUR LOVE IS BETTER THAN LIFE
Without your love, it’s all a mindless routine
YOUR LOVE IS BETTER THAN LIFE
Without your love, I’m in another free fall
YOUR LOVE IS BETTER THAN LIFE
Without your love, I’ve got nothing at all

YOUR LOVE IS BETTER THAN LIFE
I dunno nothing that I haven’t been taught, I dunno why I was born into the family I’ve got,
YOUR LOVE IS BETTER THAN LIFE
I dunno if I ever had an original thought, maybe not, maybe so, maybe soon, maybe later, I dunno
YOUR LOVE IS BETTER THAN LIFE
I dunno when I’ve got it right or wrong, I dunno how I can wrap it in a four minute song, but I know
YOUR LOVE IS BETTER THAN LIFE
My grip is better when I’m not hanging on, your love is making us strong (all along)
Your love is better than life

Happiness theme – Post #5 – “Can I be happy with not knowing?”

Sometimes I have weird thoughts.  Like for instance a while back I had a thought “how big is our brain in comparison to God’s”?  In other words what is our capacity of understanding in comparison to God’s?  After thinking about it for a while I did not come up with an answer but I did come up with an illistration. 

Imagine the capacity of understanding as the size of a peanut.   On the other hand imagine God’s capacity, if we could measure the capacity of God, as about the size of a football field.  Not a very likely comparison.  Imagine if we were to try to pour all of the capacity for understanding into a container as small as a peanut.  There would be things that no matter how we tried to cram in there it just would not fit.  So imagine how much of a challenge God has when He tries to explain everything things to us. 

No matter what type of nut we are cashew, acorn or almond there are just some things that God will not be able to explain to us.   But boy do we hate being left out.  Just because we do not have the capacity does not keep us from asking, wondering and seeking to understand every little detail of what God is doing in our lives.  “God how come this?  God how does that work?  God when will I know?  God what about this?  God are you sure you know what you are doing?  etc., etc., etc.”    

I think one of the funniest passages of scriptures in the Bible is Philippians 4:7. Paul talks about the peace that surpasses all understanding and then he tries to explain it in a way that we understand.  The truth is that there are things that it is going to take God sometime to explain to us in a way we can understand.  Also there are some things that even He will not be able to explain to us in a way that we understand.  The question is can we be happy without knowing?    

Happy Theme post #4 – How do you define happiness?

I am interested in what type of definitions of happiness there are out there so please leave a comment briefly giving me your opinion of what happiness is.   If you would do that I would greatly appreciate it.   Happiness is defined as?