Trip to Dallas

So our Executive Team went to Dallas for our last session with Leadership Network on Generosity! It was a good workshop. It is so good for our team to get away and have discussion that in the day to day grind we don’t have the opportunity to have. The best part for me on this trip was the realization of how cool our church is! Rock Point has a great staff and is doing really neat and progressive things in an area that is super tough to do ministry. Arizona has been hit so hard by the economy and our culture is one that is hard to teach people about commitment and priorty. We live in a culture here in Arizona where church is just one option out of many for people to choose from. In Texas, everyone goes to church. It is very rare to meet someone that does not go to church. With that said I love Arizona.

Now Dallas is a very cool place. I could totally live there. It is such a cool culture and a beautiful city. We went to see the 6th floor museum where JFK was assassinated. What a cool thing to see! It was such a treat for us to have a couple of hours as a staff to go and sight see and have some fun together! The only bummer was we had a 8:30 flight that got delayed to 11:45 and we didn’t get home until about 1:30. I don’t think I got into bed until 2:00 am! I did take a four hour nap today though – so I am feeling pretty good! Just a snapshot into my life this last week. I am so happy to be home! Hey let me know if you have ever been to Dallas – I’m interested to hear what you thought of the city!

Hope – What happens if it doesn’t work

Hope is a powerful word. The merriam webster dictionary defines hope as:

intransitive verb1: to cherish a desire with anticipation  :transitive verb1: to desire with expectation of obtainment2: to expect with confidence. 

You can’t talk about hope without understanding at the core Trust. With this economic stimulus package ready to be spent into our economy and a president who has promised hope – I can’t help but to think – what if this doesn’t work. I know it’s pesimistic and not a popular thing to think, but I am looking at a country that needs so badly to believe in something. A country that is scared about their future and desperate for someone to believe in. Obama was elected with the promise of hope and change. My question is this – what happens when the economy takes longer to recover than what is anticipated or if it doesn’t recover? Fundamentaly I am more frightened by the potential for how people are going to respond when the honeymoon is over and they realize that Obama is not the savior, than I am about our economic ressesion. 

Yes I am a conservative and yes I think the trillion dollar economic stimulus package is the equivalent of taking weight loss pills for a quick fix, but that is besides the point. I am also supportive of my president – I desperately want to see him succeed. I am just scared about the demi-god status that surrounds Obama. It seems to me to be a house built on sand. A lot of promises in a world that won’t support them. What do you think – am I off base? Is my perspective to limited? Amy I fear mongering? I’m just not sure if I can trust the promises!

Truth and Love

Truth and love…….. two principles that alone are good, but together have the power to transform the world!

 

Over the past couple of months during this season of politics, I have been asked by family and friends to engage in conversation arguing my beliefs or thoughts on candidates and views on politics and religion and at some level have entered into the conversation. I have been very weary to blog my opinions and views and very reluctant to enter into conversations that are obviously emotionally charged and biased. I do need to say that I have been pretty disappointed in how Christians have decided to conduct their conversations and voice their opinions. I have seen some very disappointing conversations that have moved way beyond having a conversation for the effort of being more educated and better informed. I have seen conversations become personal – attacking morality and character all in the name of truth! But here is my question to those of you that have had conversations that ended up heated so that your truth can be heard – where is the love that Jesus calls us to? 

See I agree that politics can bring up tough issues that we feel strongly about, but if differing ideas are not communicated in love they will never land. The second the conversation feels argumentative, people will put up their defenses and the message will not be received. I am just fed up with Christian’s alienating people for the sake of truth. YES – we need to stand up for truth, but we need to love people! We need to despise sin and for the record sin is sin….. whether the struggle is lying, cheating, infidelity, lust, homosexuality, pornography or gluttony. We need to fight against sin and make a stand, but we need to do that by embracing people no matter what issues they are dealing with. NO MATTER WHAT ISSUES THEY ARE DEALING WITH! I am reminded of Christ with the adulterous woman and those that surrounded her ready to throw their stones and Christ asks -those of you without sin cast the first stone! 

Here it is – all of us are broken and lost without Christ! So maybe we should just take a second before we speak truth and ask ourselves, what is my intention here? Am I focused on being right and winning or am I speaking truth with the purpose of loving people?

 

Thanks for letting me rant on my blog!

Yes – I’m a hunter!

It may not be the most popular pastime – especially during this economic season that we are in, but I am a hunter and love it! Let me tell you why I love to hunt.

First of all I love being in the outdoors! I love being rugged and in God’s creation! When I am hunting I feel really close to God. I think it is that I am so close to country that I would never otherwise see. I love hiking and finding myself at the top of a mountain.

Second: There is something about hunting that brings out how God created man to be. I feel a little dangerous. To me being out there where nobody hardly ever goes dirty an unshaven with deer blood on my pants – dragging a deer out of a ravine unleeshes what I feel like is at the core of what it means to be a guy! In that setting I feel like a man! Now I feel like a man when I take care of my family and am going through my everyday life, but I think God created men to be wild at heart and hunting is wild and it is good for my heart! 

Third: I have grown to love and respect the deer that I am hunting! I know this sounds crazy – but these deer are amazing! They are so stealth and smart. Coues deer are one of the hardest and most sought after deer to hunt and they deserve respect! They have mine! 

Just a little glimpse into my life and thoughts!

What role should the Church play on Politics?

 

It is an age old argument. What role does the church play on politics. Jesus was very clear that we should support the law of the land. As Christians we are to be in the world but not of it. The very nature of the gospel shows us a way to live that is focused on social change. It calls us to take care of the poor and sick. To help widows and the needy. It calls us to cloth the unclothed and to give shelter to the homeless. Jesus spent his time healing the lame and speaking to the underprivileged. So how do we live this Christian life in the context of our modern society. Does government have a role in Christians affecting change or are we supposed to act independent of politics and change society from within the church and para church organizations. I would love to hear your opinions!

Featured Artist: Shawn Tyler Gray

 

Shawn Tyler Gray is a singer song writer as well as worship director at Rock Point Church! I think he has one one of those voices that just makes you want to listen and sing along! He is incredibly talented and creative in his writing. In addition to being an amazing artist he is also a really good friend and loves the Lord with everything he is! 

Please check him out at http://www.myspace.com/shawntylergray or click on the photo above!

Rock Point Church

Christ left us with an amazing privilege to be involved as a community of believers. In Greek there is a word “Eklessia” which means the called out. It is used to communicate a gathering of people for a specific purpose. We as the church universal are called out for a specific purpose and that purpose is to be a light in the world for those that are lost. It is also to support one another as we journey through life!

I have the privalage of working at one of the coolest churches! Rock Point Church is a seven year old church plant in Gilbert Arizona. We are very active in our community and strive to embody Christ though creativity, intentionality and fun! We have amazing worship, awesome home groups, and we support local, regional and global missions. If you are in the Gilbert/Queen Creek area or come across this and want to listen online to the sermons, check out our website at www.rockpointchurch.org or click on the logo above. If you attend after reading this – come and say hi to me on Sunday morning!

God shows up in big ways!

I feel really blessed. I am blessed by my family, friends, finacialy – in every aspect of my life I feel blessed!!!

We were really struggling finacialy the past month or so. Amy and I knew that God was going to be faithful, but we felt like we were sinking. I had a health insurance claim denied and the bill was $2,600.00. We were going in the hole every month by a couple hundred dollars because Amy hasn’t been able to train in our garage durring the summer – because no AC. Our car broke down. The list goes on and as hard as it was for us we knew that God was going to take care of us! 

On Sunday I preached about fear and our perspective. The story that I preached from was the story of david and goliath. The basic premis was that our fears can often be Gods greatest opportunities. On Monday a good freind of mine fixed our car – it was less than we were expeciting and the work was done for free. We has someone want to donate us a check to cover the cost. On Wed. I got a letter in the mail from the health insurance company saying that my appeal was accepted and I wasn’t going to have to pay the $2,600.00. In addition to that someone felt like God was putting it on their heart to buy us an AC unit for our garage so that Amy could train again!!!!!

I am so overwhelmed by God’s faithfulness that I just needed to share it! Sometimes God doesn’t work in the ways that we think – but he always takes care of our needs. I want to share with anyone reading this that GOD is so good and you can place your trust in him!

If you would like to hear the sermon I just preached at RPC

 

I wanted to put a link to the Rock Point Church website in case you would like to hear the sermon that I delivered on Sunday. I am not trying to be vein or proud, but rather I am trying to use this blog to represent the thoughts and things that I am involved in throughout my weeks. If you are interested in hearing a message on Fear and Perspective please go to this link. Your comments are incredibly valuable to me.

http://www.rockpointchurch.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=255&Itemid=383

Social Gospel good or bad?

 

What should my first blog be?

 

As our nation is on the dawn of an election, we as a people are starting our metaphorical political day with a cup of coffee, chatting about some very important issues! With issues such as a war in a country that for hundreds of years has opporated without the freedoms that we Americans have quite possibly have taken for granted. With domestic issues such as same sex marriage, universal health care, imigration, and alternative fuel we are living in an era where politics have monumental meaning on the world that we live in. These are issues that affect everyone, whether they wish to admit it our not. They are issues that start to shape how we view our beliefs and our beliefs start to shape our actions. Therefore understanding what we believe becomes vital for a life that is lived with purpose and a life with purpose is a foundational creed of a Christ follower.

Question begin to glare at us Christian’s during this tumultuous time in History; how does my belief in Jesus Christ shape my political views? Would Jesus have registered as a democrat or republican, or would he have strayed completely from the mainstream and registered independent? Do politics and religion cross paths or should they remain separated from one another? Is the social gospel relevant in today’s politcal  environment or does it go to far in declaring politics as the only way of shaping our religious environment?

I have my opinions, but I want to hear yours!