Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from my family to yours! May the Peace of Christ fill this day.

Luke 2:1 through Luke 2:20 (KJV)

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

12 Days of Christmas

If you like music, you'll like this. Enjoy!

Hurting People

I am sure you have heard the tragic news from Colorado. If not, click here.

We should all be in prayer for the people, families and churches affected by such a sad event. Our changing world is filled with hurting people who desperately need help. They often turn to the church. Steve Sjorgren wrote an interesting piece about hurting people and the church. You should read it.

Steve's Blog Article

Powered by ScribeFire.

Christmas Song

I just listened to a great new Christmas song. Click the link below and enjoy!

Gather Round Ye Children

Powered by ScribeFire.

Weekend Reflections

December arrived in true winter fashion. Saturday night's snow, ice and rain made it feel like winter is really here. Of course, so does the temperature.

The church is now decorated for Christmas. I love how our sanctuary looks at this time our year. My pictures didn't turn out very well, so I am not posting them. Thank you to all who helped "deck the halls."

Our attendance this weekend was very low for all of our events. I know that a lot of folks were out of town or busy with other responsibilities. Know that you were missed if you weren't able to be at DPC this weekend.

Of course, all is well now that the Buckeyes are playing for the national championship again. By the way, Who is Michigan's coach?

Guatemala Pictures

Linda and I had such a great time in Guatemala earlier this month. It was fun to watch her experience that culture for the first time.

We went with a team of 4 other people to co-lead the national Church of God Pastor's Conference with Pastor Andy Hannich. There were 130 - 140 church leaders from all over Guatemala present. The conference was held at the Los Proceres Hotel in Guatemala City.

After the conference we went to Chichicastenango to experience market day. It's quite an event. From there we went to Champerico for an on-site visit in preparation for our next trip in February.

The last two days were in Antigua and Takaton. Antigua was the early capital of Guatemala. It's a very touristy place, but there is much to see. The last night I was able to preach at the Church of God in Takaton. It's the place my youth group from Salem Church of God went to in 1973. That was a lot of fun to be there again.

The pictures are unedited and some are a bit out of focus. But, they give you a flavor of the country. Pictures are in order of our stay.

The team: Andy & Ingrid Hannich, Angie Kilp, Susan Hardman, Linda and me. Church of God national leaders Isai and Petra Calderon and their children Sarah and Job are also pictured frequently.

Just Love Outreach

Saturday, November 17th Dodge Park Church participated in an mission outreach with several other Church of God congregations in the Detroit area.

We went to Just Love Ministries in Detroit to serve breakfast, clean up the grounds and visit several nursing homes.

Here is a slide show of some of the activities.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Personal Finances

Do you need help with your personal finances? Check out Joe Sangl's blog. Be sure to listen to his podcasts. The link is down the page on the right side.

JoeSangl.com

Powered by ScribeFire.

Getting Stuff Done

I came to the office today with the intention of not reading email until I finished some other things. Good intentions went by the way as I opened Outlook and began responding to some notes from others. So, my stuff didn't get done when I wanted.

Yesterday's blog reading included an article about email being a great time waster. that might be true for me, but reading blogs is even a bigger issue. I subscribe to 76 of them in Google reader.

O boy ....

Then I found this as I read a blog:

Death of An Icon

I have been a Cincinnati Reds fan all of my life. Baseball was my passion when I was young. In recent years it has switched more to football. But, I still love my Reds.

Many summer nights in my childhood I went to sleep listening to the Reds. My little battery operated transistor radio was always tuned to WLW in Cincinnati, "the flagship station of the Reds radio network." That meant I went to sleep listening to the voice of Joe Nuxhall. While I am sure that I listened to Reds games before he became one of their broadcasters, I don't remember it. I am also sure that I am a fan of Joe in large part because we are both left handers.

He was a storyteller and he had millions of them. His biography will always read that he was the youngest player ever to appear in a major league game. He pitched in his first game June 10, 1944 at the age of 15. No one will ever do that again.

Here's a quote from Paul Daugherty of the Cincinnati Enquirer: "Joe Nuxhall was the only person we’ve ever known about whom a bad word was never spoken. If you can go through an entire life and leave that as your epitaph, you’ve led quite a life."

That line is why I am posting this today. To my knowledge, "the ol' lefthander" was not a person of faith. Nothing in his millions of stories ever indicated a relationship with Christ. But, what an epitaph for all of us to aspire to - a person about whom a bad word was never spoken. May it be so.

For the final time the "ol' lefthander" has rounded third and headed for home.

More about Joe

Powered by ScribeFire.

Back from Guatemala

We're back from Guatemala. It was an awesome trip. It began with the Pastor's Convention. They were hoping for 100 - 120 pastors and leaders. I am sure we had more than that present.

We ended Wednesday night at the church in Takaton. It was the church my youth group visited in 1973. I was 17 years old at the time. What an honor it was to be able to preach there. The church is alive and well. It was even more special that Susan was able to go back with me.

Ruth Shinness' Visit

I have uploaded a few pictures from Sunday morning. We made history of a sorts as it was the first time the worship team wore jeans.

Click Here

Powered by ScribeFire.

Fall Fun Fest

I have posted some pictures from our Fun Fest last Saturday. They are unedited.

Click Here

Powered by ScribeFire.

Amazing Wildlife

I am continually amazed by the variety of wildlife I see outside my office window. The most fun was the day a hawk sat on top of one of the park benches trying to catch the squirrel underneath the bench. I have seen fox, coyote, hawks, and deer.

For the last week this turkey has been hanging around.

Are We Really Telling Peple About DPC?

We are trying to figure out ways to make ourselves known in the community. Last night the Fall Fest team drew up some plans for announcing the event.

I always have a sneaking suspicion we aren't really making a serious enough investment in getting the word out. Vince Antonucci's blog article verifies my suspicion. Read about what his church did to announce their two new locations below. (They are a multi-site church.)

Click to find out more about Forefront.



Ideas 4 Church Planters
from vinceantonucci.com by Vince Antonucci

Hey,

I'm assuming that some who are reading this are future church planters. We launched 2 new campuses this week, so I thought I'd share some of what we did to try and make it a "successful" launch. Hopefully you'll be able to steal some of these ideas (in fact, we stole many of them ourselves). So here's a random list of some of what we did:

1. Had our Launch Team(s) meet once, then twice a month. In these meetings we did vision casting, praying, strategizing, honoring, etc.

2. We did several absolutely free car washes in the community. We accepted no donations. We gave each person a free bottle of water with a Forefront label, and a free frisbee that said "Forefront is coming!"

3. We did donut dropoffs. People on the Launch Team chose businesses, and hospital emergency rooms, and schools - and then once a week (or more) dropped off one or two dozen donuts to the employees of that place, with a "Forefront is coming!" sticker on the box. Some people did this with pizza's instead of donuts.

4. We did a bunch of block parties, where we had our Launch Team invite all their neighbors over for a party. Some set up screens and borrowed our projector and showed a movie at night for families. At these block parties some just discreetly tried to have conversations about the new campus. Others made short announcements that they were a part of a new church startup and to see them if you had questions.

5. We handed out water bottles all over the place. We had Forefront labels on them.

6. We sent a series of 3 postcards to 57,000 homes in the vicinity of our new Sunday morning campus. (These cards did NOT land on the days they were supposed to. That really stunk.)

7. We did radio ads on four secular rock stations and ESPN radio for the week before launch, and the week after launch. The ad played about 5 or 6 times per station, per day. (So about 1,000 ads over two weeks.)

8. We had our people put about 15,000 doorhangers on the homes around the vicinity of our Tuesday night campus.

9. We did 240 days of prayer, where each day we had at least one person who "owned" praying for the launch(es) for that day. This person committed to spend as much time as possible praying (fervantly) for the launch(es).

10. We followed those 240 days with 240 hours of prayer, where we had at least one person praying every minute for 10 straight days. We had calendars where people signed up for round-the-clock praying. (Got this idea from Acts 1-2, sort of via Mark Batterson, where the Christians pray "constantly" from Passover-ish to Pentecost (10 days) and then ... Pentecost happens.)

11. We had lots of people fast for the new campus(es), some for up to ten days.

We did more stuff, but that's most of it (and all I can think of right now).

Powered by ScribeFire.

Deeper

I am starting a new blog called Deeper.

The intention is to catalyze readers to read the Bible on a regular basis. It is not yet ready for the public. But, would you check it out and make suggestions on its content? I will come up with a new layout eventually, but that will come later.

Deeper

Powered by ScribeFire.

Servant Evangelism

Over the last year or so we have done several "servant evangelism" projects. For example, we gave away pumpkins at the corner of Dodge Park Road and 16 1/2 Mile Road. We passed out winter survival kits at last year's Sterling Christmas. Memorial Day we gave away all kinds of food.

Why do we do it? Listen to Steve Sjogren, the originator of servant evangelism, talk about it:


By the way, I have been invited by the city to share the invocation at Sterling Christmas again. This time I was told we weren't allowed to pass out anything. I pushed back and he said he would check further. Pray that we will be able to provide our winter survival kits again.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Purpose?

Are you trying to figure out the "why" of your life? Do you know your purpose?

Here are some thoughts to help you think about it from the man who wrote the bestselling book The Purpose Driven Life.

Living A Life of Purpose

Powered by ScribeFire.

Genius At Work

My undergraduate degree from Anderson University is in Sacred Music. I played trumpet in those days. Sang a bit, too. The school required me to take piano lessons in order to pass a music proficiency requirement. I never passed the piano part. My official transcript makes note of the fact that I just can't play piano.

This video clip from the tonight show is humbling. Ethan is 5 years old. You will be amazed at his ability. Watch to the end.



Thanks to Pastor Gary Kendall for directing me to this.

Landscaping Videos

Here are two videos from last night's work at the church. They are my first ever youtube uploads.

Landscaping

We began our landscaping at the front of the church last night. We were pulling out bushes, grass, and sidewalk in order to prep the area for new beauty.

Click on the picture below to see some photos and videos of the work.

Church Landscaping - Sept 07

YouVersion Online Bible

Lifechurch.tv has just launched YouVersion, their online Bible. I think it will be a great tool for Bible study, especially as they finish all of the features that are planned.

Check it out: YouVersion

You can create an account and keep your own journal, post community comments, etc. Search John 3:16 and you can see some of the content Lifechurch has added. You can see one of my comments if you look at Ezra 1:5.

Enjoy surfing the Bible.

Dysfunctional Pastors

Craig Groeschel is blogging on dysfunctional pastors this week. It's good reading.

LifeChurch.tv Blog

Powered by ScribeFire.

Look How Far We've Come

Were you computer savvy in 1993? Did you use the internet? I had been using a computer for a few years by that time, but I wasn't using the internet. I do think I began emailing shortly after I moved to Illinois, which was summer 1993.

Check it out:

Powered by ScribeFire.

Outside Again

I just came back from Dodge Park - the real park, not the road or the church building. I went there to pray during my lunch time. It was good to be outside in God's sanctuary.

As I prayed for the pastors in Guatemala, I uttered a sentence inspired by a prayer guide I have: "God, what is on your heart for the Guatemalan pastors? What do you want me to teach them in November?" The answer was almost immediate. It was the same word that God gave me about Dodge Park Church last year.

His answer to my prayer? "Outside!"

The purpose of His church is to take the light of his grace to those outside it's warmth and safety.

Listen to Jesus words from Matthew 28:18 - 20 (NLT): "Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given complete authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

We are to go to those who are outside the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. These new disciples need to be taught to obey the commands of God.

We are to go.

Outside.

Outside the camp. Outside our circle of Christian friends. Outside our church family. Outside the circle of people who have already accepted the Savior we know.

Are you going? Or are you safely inside with little concern for those still outside?

If you are serious about going outside read Vince Antonucci's blog article. Then read this one, too.

Church Humor

I found this quite humorous. Maybe you will too.

Now that's unfortunate

from Inner Revolution by Geoff Surratt

If you've ever attended church in a theater you will appreciate this. Seacoast's new Asheville campus meets in a cinema that has digital signs over each door giving the name of the movie playing on that screen. This weekend their nursery was in the theater where Death Sentence was playing. That should allay the fears of new parents:

"Oh yes, we have excellent child care. Just drop your child off at Death Sentence and we'll take care of everything from there."

This isn't our first experience with unfortunate movie titles. When we opened our West Ashley campus the marquee outside read "Punch Drunk Love". That's the picture that ran in the paper announcing our Grand Opening. Gives a whole new meaning to spirit filled worship.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Death and Life

D. James Kennedy died this week. He was one of the most fruitful pastors of our time. He began his working career as a dance instructor for the Arthur Murray Studios. After accepting Christ as his savior, he felt a call from God to become a pastor. He resigned his $3,000.00 per month job at the dance studio. That was a huge sum of money in the 1950's. In a short time he was an interim pastor of a small church in Clearwater, Florida making $250.00 per month.

In 1959, after completing seminary, he moved to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to start Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church. They had 45 people in attendance their first Sunday. James often joked about "growing" the church to 17 people in the next 10 months.

Through the influence of another pastor, James developed an evangelism model that eventually was used in thousands of churches around the world. He called it Evangelism Explosion. EE was the first method of evangelism I ever used. It is famous for its two diagnostic questions:

• "Have you come to the place in your spiritual life where you know for certain that if you were to die today you would go to heaven?"
• "Suppose you were to die today and stand before God and He were to say to you, 'Why should I let you into my heaven?' What would you say?"
  

People using those two questions, then following them up with the EE presentation have led millions of people to Christ.

Those questions drove his life. Their influence is evident as he wrote about his own death:

“Now, I know that someday I am going to come to what some people will say is the end of this life. They will probably put me in a box and roll me right down here in front of the church, and some people will gather around, and a few people will cry. But I have told them not to do that because I don’t want them to cry. I want them to begin the service with the Doxology and end with the Hallelujah chorus, because I am not going to be there, and I am not going to be dead. I will be more alive than I have ever been in my life, and I will be looking down upon you poor people who are still in the land of dying and have not yet joined me in the land of the living. And I will be alive forevermore, in greater health and vitality and joy than ever, ever, I or anyone has known before.”

Some day all of us will leave the land of the dying. The way we answer those two diagnostic questions will determine whether or not we enter the land of the living.


more about Dr. Kennedy: http://65.240.226.104:8080/default.aspx

Powered by ScribeFire.

Hurricane Felix

Hurricane Felix moved on shore to Nicaragua today. There are major storm warnings for Honduras, Nicaragua, Belize and Guatemala.

Please pray for these countries. There will be storm surge and flooding along the coasts. The storm will also produce flash floods and mud slides inland as the rains are predicted to be from 8 to 25 inches.

Go Glocal

I just finished reading a fantastic book by Gene Wood. Going Glocal articulates so simply and easily what is on my heart about missions.

Everyone is a missionary. We all have a responsibility to fulfill the Great Commission.

Let me add a word to your vocabulary: Glocal. Glocal is a portmanteau of the words globalization and localization.

The world is no longer a large place. You can go anywhere within a matter of days. Because of that reality, anyone can be a missionary - at least a short-term one. You don't have to quit your job, learn a new language, go to seminary, move to a new country, etc. You don't need a mission organization to approve you. You can be a missionary by going glocal.

I have a new goal. Everyone at Dodge Park Church should go on a short-term missions trip in the next 5 years. Every Christian can do the Great Commission.

The next chance to Go Glocal happens in February 2008. We are taking a medical and construction team to Guatemala. Post a comment if you want information about going along.

"But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you,
you will receive power
and will tell people about me everywhere
—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Acts 1:8 (NLT)

Signs of Heart Attack

My brother-in-law had a heart attack this week. What a shock! We went to be with him and his family as he underwent bypass surgery. He's doing well, thank God. But, as he described how he was feeling lately I couldn't help but notice that he has been ignoring some obvious signs for a while.

Linda's family has had warning about heart problems. Her dad died of a heart attack at the age of 62. In spite of that, her brother has not had checkups or cholesterol tests. That simple blood test would have warned him that something was seriously amiss.

So, take note. Do you have a family history of heart problems? Have you had your cholesterol checked in the last year? Do you know the signs of heart attack?

Here are the signs as identified by the American Heart Association:

Heart Attack Warning Signs

Some heart attacks are sudden and intense — the "movie heart attack," where no one doubts what's happening. But most heart attacks start slowly, with mild pain or discomfort. Often people affected aren't sure what's wrong and wait too long before getting help. Here are signs that can mean a heart attack is happening:

• Chest discomfort. Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes, or that goes away and comes back. It can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain.
  
• Discomfort in other areas of the upper body. Symptoms can include pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.
  
• Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort.
  
• Other signs may include breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness.

As with men, women's most common heart attack symptom is chest pain or discomfort. But women are somewhat more likely than men to experience some of the other common symptoms, particularly shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting, and back or jaw pain.

Learn the signs, but remember this: Even if you're not sure it's a heart attack, have it checked out. Minutes matter! Fast action can save lives — maybe your own. Don’t wait more than five minutes to call 9-1-1.

Before you ask ....

I have my cholesterol checked annually. It always surprises the doctor that I am well within a healthy range. And I passed a stress test last spring with no problem.

How about you?

Calling

Paul Hardaloupas is a member of Evanswood Church of God, our sister congregation in Troy. He grew up in a Greek Orthodox family and accepted Christ after he began attending Evanswood.

As a college student at Michigan State he became involved in Campus Crusade for Christ. They helped him build a foundation for his spiritual life.

Paul has a calling. He understands that as Christians we all have a calling. Serving Christ and extending his message is not the exclusive domain of pastors and missionaries. The work of the church is never done only by the ordained.

This year he is serving as a staff member with Campus Crusade at MSU. Our missions committee just sent him $500.00 toward his support. (All CC staff have to raise their own salary.)

His vision is "to guide students into the realization that they are sons and daughters of the King ... Know Christ, they are servants of the King ... Surrender to Christ, and they are ambassadors of the King ... Share Christ."

Pray for Paul. He also asks that we pray that every student would walk in the light of their identity in Christ.

You have a calling too. There is a mission field that needs your labor. Frank Tillapaugh and Richard Hurst make a powerful statement in their book Calling: When it comes to mission, the most important resource the church has is the calling of each of each of its members.

Calling. Do you know yours? Are you making a Kingdom impact? The calling of God is not something to disregard.


For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

- Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)

30 Days to Live

How would you spend the next 30 days if you knew they were your last 30 days? LifeChurch.tv is doing a series of talks on the subject. Larry's story is a part of the series. He has ALS and will not live much longer. Watch an exerpt of his powerful story.




What are your thoughts?

Powered by ScribeFire.

Innovations the Church Should Embrace

Willow News, the periodical of the Willow Creek Association, has an interesting article on innovative ideas the church should embrace. Check it out here.

I particularly like how they define some of the innovations. Such as "Blogging: Digital Discipleship" and "Email: Word of Mouse."

Powered by ScribeFire.

Exemplary Peace

Yesterday's plans for worship were washed out. I went to the park at 8:00 AM to check out things. It was barely raining, but a very cool breeze was blowing across the lake. Everything was wet. We immediately canceled the picnic and called everyone to meet at church.

What I later discovered was that we had an enormous amount of people out of town. Since so many missed the worship service I am posting a bit of my sermon here. No illustrations. No fills or frills. Just some of the basic ideas I talked about. The sermon title is "Exemplary Peace."

Paul reminds us that relational peace is an outgrowth of inner peace. I see a Personal Peace Plan outlined as we develop the virtues of joy, gentleness, and trust.

Here goes ....

Philippians 4:1 through Philippians 4:7 (NLT)
¹Dear brothers and sisters, I love you and long to see you, for you are my joy and the reward for my work. So please stay true to the Lord, my dear friends.

²And now I want to plead with those two women, Euodia and Syntyche. Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement. ³And I ask you, my true teammate, to help these women, for they worked hard with me in telling others the Good News. And they worked with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are written in the Book of Life.

⁴Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! ⁵Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.

⁶Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. ⁷If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."

Michael Vick, quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, is scrambling for his reputation. Once known for his strong arm, fast feet, and substantial income, now he is known for questionable water bottles, vulgar hand gestures, and mounting legal troubles. A few weeks ago his sports paraphernalia were some of the most sold items on the market. Now you can only buy them on Ebay. When I last checked, his jerseys were drawing almost no bids.

His reputation has gone from the penthouse to the outhouse in a matter of months.

Reputation is defined as the “overall quality or character as seen or judged by people in general.” (Miriam-Webster Online)

Two women in the city of Philippi developed quite a reputation. Euodia and Syntyche are only known because they had a quarrel. What a legacy they have left of themselves! We know so few names of people from 2000 years ago. But, these two women have managed to have their names included in the best selling book of all time. Wouldn’t it have been nice to have them remembered for something positive?

Imagine this – 2000 years from now someone opens a church history book and finds your name recorded for a significant event. “John and Jill destroyed the reputation of the congregation in Sterling Heights because they had a fight and couldn’t settle it.”

Many Christians have named their little girls after women in the Bible: Sarah, Deborah, Lois, Naomi, Ruth, Rhoda Rebecca, Rachel, Leah, Esther, Mary Abigail, Hannah, Phoebe, Anna, Candace, Chloe, Elizabeth, Judith, Julia, Lydia, Martha, Tabitha, Susanna, and Pricilla. These are all names we have known in contemporary time. But, when have you heard of someone named Euodia or Syntyche?

Those two women had a reputation for quarreling. What are you known for? Are you known for being a loving person? For serving others? Are you known as a person of peace?

Immediately after encouraging these two women to settle their disagreement, Paul urges the church to live at peace. He describes a way of living that includes the inner dimension of personal peace as well as the relational peace we ought to have with others.

Let’s look at his personal peace plan.

1. Paul's peace plan begins with joy.

⁴Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!

Rejoicing is the keynote of Paul’s letter to the Philippians. It is a quality that we are to live with. It recognizes that life may not always be filled with happy circumstances. However, our spiritual and emotional well-being is not dependent on circumstances, but rather our fellowship with Christ.

Our inner attitudes do not have to be directed by our outward circumstances. It is amazing to note that Paul wrote these words from prison. He does not consider his encouragement to rejoice to be an unattainable attitude.

Psalm 16:8 through Psalm 16:9 (NIV)
I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;

2. The second part of Paul’s peace plan is gentleness.

Philippians 4:5 (NIV)

⁵Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.

The Greek word here is “epeikes.” It is one of the most untranslatable words in the Greek language. As such, it is translated differently in almost every English translation of the Bible.

Let me list some of the various translations of the word. Do these words and phrases describe you?

KJV – moderation

Wycliffe – patience

Tyndale – softness

Geneva – patient mind

Rheims – modesty

Moffatt & RSV – forbearance

NEB – magnanimity

NLT – considerate

PH – reputation for being reasonable

NIV – gentle

• Are your hearts homes where other people can come without being worthy or deserving? (Magnanimous)
• Are you patient with others?
• Is there softness about how you relate to others?
• Are you modest in your estimate of yourself?
• Are you considerate of others?
• Is there a gentle quality about you?
• Do you have a reputation for being reasonable?

3. The third leg of Paul’s personal peace plan has to do with trust.

Philippians 4:6 (NLT) "Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.

Anxiety is our most common problem. We sell millions of dollars of medications to treat it. Anxiety is the futile and frustrating attempt to bear the burdens of life and our future alone.

Paul’s peace plan teaches us to quit carrying our problems and to turn them over to God. The question is whether or not we trust God enough to commit them to him. He encourages us to tell God every detail of our need in prayer. We yield the problem to God and leave it safe in his hands.

What is your reputation? Are you a person of peace?

Purple Cow

I am posting this so that I can find it again. Maybe you will enjoy it too.

What is remarkable about your church?

Make a Good Presentation

Guy Kawasaki is a big-time name in the business world. I am reading his book "Art of the Start." He has some interesting comments about making presentations. For those of us in the church world, a presentation is a sermon or talk.

So, for those speakers among my readers, here are his suggestions.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Prosper

It's time to pray some positive prayers for the financial health of our neighbors and family. There has been too much bad financial news this week.

My brother's business is not going well and financial pressures mount. Our neighbors are about to lose their house due to layoffs. This morning, my daughter-in-law lost her job. My son's family will face a trying time until she can find a new one.

Enough is enough! Here are some great prayers from my friend, Ruth Shinness:

• You, God, are supplying all my needs according to Your riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (But my God shall supply all of your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. - Philippians 4:19 KJV)
• Because you are my shepherd I do not want for any good thing. (The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. - Psalm 21:1 KJV)
• I enjoy all the things you have richly given me. (God giveth us richly all things to enjoy. - 1 Timothy 6:17b KJV)
• Because I love you, you have caused me to inherit wealth; You have filled my treasures. My heart is overflowing with thanksgiving. (That I may cause you to inherit wealth, that I may fill their treasuries. - Psalm 8:21 NKJV)
• Everything I set my hand on is blessed. I am blessed in the land you have given me. (The Lord shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. - Deuteronomy 28:8 KJV

I wrote down a line from Carly Fiorina last week at the Leadership Summit. Commenting on being fired from Hewlett-Packard, she said, "There is a gift in everything." I can't wait to see the gifts that God unfolds.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Leadership Summit Session 3

Floyd Flake is senior pastor of the Greater Allen A.M.E. Cathredal of New York in Queens, NY. He is also the president of Wilberforce University in Wilberforce, Ohio (That's about 15 miles from where I grew up!) Dr. Flake was a US Congressman for 1986 - 1997.

I think Dr. Flake had much good to say, but he struggled with his presentation. He obviously had too much content for his alloted time. I found him difficult to follow. The notes below are from Scot McKnight, posted at the Summit blog.

Floyd Flake’s talk deals with five models of leadership.

#1: Transitional Leadership:

No matter what kind of leader you are, there is always a need for transition and transformation to achieve our goals and make the needed changes. But it is difficult to “sell” new ideas, to get folks to leave their comfort zone. Getting people involved in this change, getting them to see their own essence needs the change, is the secret of leadership. Leaders need to be selfless and know where they are going. This means they need to have a design for change, identifying needs and expecting opposition.

Identifying needs is crucial: whatever needs one finds in the community is for the “ecclesia.” Flake saw home ownership in trouble, education in decline, and the need for solid institutional support systems to sustain a community and pave the way for the future. They saw a future in Acts 2:1-4, 42-47: they built community by staying where the community was!

Opposition may occur. They built a school, and some didn’t think was a good idea. Elaine, an educator, took the responsibility and the congregation raised $1.5 million to build a $4 million school. Leadership doesn’t mean everyone will agree with you. They’ve continued to develop in the community. They’ve developed equity in people and empowered them.

#2: Transactional Leadership:

Committee work, persuasion, listen to the voices. Flake has worked as a pastor, as a politician, and as a college president; each involves transactional leadership. Delegation matters.

#3: Transparent Leadership:

Moral leadership and integrity. Information to the people and back to the leaders, communication. Get your finances in order and let the folks know what’s going on. Have competent co-leaders.

#4: Transcendent Leadership

Pastor Floyd cut back on this due to time constraints. He returned to this idea to emphasize that leaders prepare for leaders beyond the current leader’s lifetime. He’s developed a “transcendency plan” for the next 20 years. He wants to leave something for the next generation.

#5: Transformational Leadership
Is aggressive and confident. Sometimes the people bring a vision to the leadership, asking “What are we going to do next?” You may never have unanimous support, but you do need a majority. Transforming leaders are not intimidated. Pastor Flake expects opposition in NYC; he’s under the microscope. His life was threatened once; had he buckled, then the rest may not have happened. The senior citizen building is testimony of courage. Evangelism is about changing people, not denominations and buildings.

Leadership Summit Session 2

Carly Fiorina was named "The Most Powerful Woman in Business" by Fortune Magazine when she was 45 years old. She became CEO of Hewlett-Packard which ranked her as the first female CEO of a Fortune 20 company.

Her highlight statements:

• Educate yourself widely. Learn about the things that fascinate you.
• It is more important to ask the right question than to know the right answer.
• Every time you overcome something that you are afraid of you become stronger.
• I won't let other people's smaller ideas about who I am define me.
• Leadership is about moving people in a new direction. Management is about producing within defined parameters.
• Give people a vision that is more compelling than what they are afraid of.
• Leadership is about seeing and unlocking potential in others.
• You have to be learning all the time. You learn when you are outside your comfort zone. Create experiences that put people outside their comfort zone.
• In order to see truth, you need passion and dispassion.
• At it's core, leadership is about character.
  
• When fired from HP, she learned that there is a gift in everything.
  

Leadership Summit Session 1

Bill Hybels is founding pastor of Willow Creek Community Church. His talks are always outstanding. He has taught me as much about pastoral leadership as anyone. His talk is titled "A Vision to Die For".

Main points of his talk:

• Create a prayer mantra as you approach big events. His mantra for this year's summit is "Record Registrations, Record Impact."
• Nothing matters more than the vision. It must be held by significant numbers of leaders within the organization.
• You motivate people to own a vision to die for through process.
• Stages of Vision Development:
• Vision Formation - In the Sinai approach, senior leaders get a vision from God and deliver it to others. It worked for Moses, but it is not likely to work today. A team approach works better. Gather leaders and ask "What does God want our church to look like 5 years from now?
• Vision Refinement - Develop a first draft of the vision and take it to many groups for input, refinement, questions, etc.
• Vision Declaration - Give your talk to a test group to try to refine it. Get feedback. Vision declaration is a team activity rather than a solo activity.
• Remember that vision leaks. Use any and all resources to fill vision buckets back up. Celebrate along the way to accomplishment.
  
• Be willing to die for the mission God has given you. The choice is between being an owner or a hireling. The owner will pay any price. The hireling is interested in fame, career, how high the price might be.
  

Leadership Summit

The summit has been awesome, as usual. I will post some things in the next few days. In the interim, enjoy this guitar player I heard at the beginning of one of the sessions. He was wonderful.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Happy Birthday!

Today is my best friend's birthday. Happy birthday, Linda. I love you.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Oh What a Day

Today will be one of my favorite days of the year. I will be able to attend two of my favorite events.

In an few hours I will be leaving home for Kensington Church where I will attend the Leadership Summit.This is an annual can't miss event for me hosted by the Willow Creek Association. For the next three days I will listen to people like Marcus Buckingham, President Jimmy Carter, John Ortberg, Colin Powell, and Bill Hybels talk about leadership. This is the 12th year for the event. I attended the first one and since have been able to attend at least six others.

Then tonight I will celebrate the beginning of football season with all the other maniacs at Ford Field. One has to be a little bit football crazy to attend the first preseason game. The starters will play only a handful of plays, then the game will be turned over to a bunch of players you've never heard of. But, the Lions are playing my beloved Bengals. I just can't miss it.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Stats

Readership of the church web page and this blog are growing! Here are the stats for the last week.

www.dodgeparkchurch.org

	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thur	Fri	Sat	Sun	Total	Avg
Pageloads	0	5	2	5	6	13	1	32	5
Unique Visitors	0	2	2	5	2	6	1	18	3
First Time Visitors	0	2	2	3	0	4	1	12	2
Returning Visitors	0	0	0	2	2	2	0	6	1

http://dodgeparkcog.blogspot.com/

	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thur	Fri	Sat	Sun	Total	Avg
Pageloads	0	11	6	1	0	1	0	19	3
Unique Visitors	0	1	6	1	0	1	0	9	1
First Time Visitors	0	1	6	1	0	1	0	9	1
Returning Visitors	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Thanks for stopping by!

Powered by ScribeFire.

Idol Fans

Many in my family are American Idol fans. Below is an example of Idol British style. What a powerful singer!



This guy has talent. Yet, he works at a place called Car Phone Warehouse. Makes me think of the church. Our pews are lined with people filled with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. These little lumps of coal are meant to be released to help others become fully formed in Christ. In the process, the little lump of coal is transformed into a diamond.

Diamonds sparkle. They have great value.

You are a precious child of God filled with His dreams. You have gifts to be used in His church. You have value. You can sparkle for Him. And in the process others are healed, saved, filled with the power and glory of God.

Go ahead. Sparkle.

Powered by ScribeFire.

A Friend in Heaven

Rev. Oscar Berzins was an incredible person. I met him when I became pastor at Dodge Park Church. He had served the church well as its interim pastor between Pastor Lubek and me. Folks at Dodge Park Church knew him for many years as he pastored several of our sister German congregations in the US and Canada.

Oscar passed away today. He had been ill for several months with an inoperable brain tumor. His last days were uncomfortable. Our prayers are certainly with his wife, family, and church family today. Oscar and Helga live in St. Joe and are a valuable part of the Washington Ave. Church of God.

Oscar always had a smile. His positive attitude radiated to those around him. He loved people. I often looked to him as a person that I would want to be like. He was joyful, loving, humble, and kind. His love for Christ was ever present. Being around him encouraged me.

While we grieve, he is enjoying the reward of a lifetime of service to Christ and His church. I remember today that we grieve with hope, not hopelessness.

This Bible says in Psalm 116:15 (GWT) that

Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his faithful ones.

A precious man is now enjoying heaven ... No more tears ... No more pain.

Glory be to God.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Day Trip to Canada

Rolf and Agnes Siegle told us about a great day trip to Canada. So, we went last Friday with my mother and our daughter. We had a lot of fun at Point Pelee National Park of Canada.

I would encourage you to go. Take along some good walking shoes, bikes, a picnic basket, your swim gear if you want to jump into Lake Erie, and anything else you like to take with you on an outdoors adventure. Oh, yes. You might want some bug spray for the flies.

Be sure to take the shuttle to the point. You then have a short walk to the southern-most point of Canada.

On the way back we stopped in Windsor at one of Angie Kilp's favorite restaurants. Don't miss the May Wah Inn if you like good Chinese. After dinner we walked along the riverfront and enjoyed the view of downtown Detroit. We had a great time and I am sure we will do it again.

The pictures were taken on the boardwalk as we walked through the marsh.

Guatemala Mission Offering

The people at Dodge Park Church continue to amaze me! Our mission offering last Sunday was $2,099.00. That will more than cover our basic needs for the Pastor's Conference in November.

I am hoping that Pastor Hannich's church will add to the total. If they do, we will have a head start on funding the trip in February, 2008. See the Dodge Park Church web site for more details about that trip.

Now that our basic needs for November are met, I am trying to raise an additional $500.00 to buy an Evangecube for each of the pastors that attend. It is a really neat tool that helps explain the gospel to people. A friend of mine has used them in Columbia to lead many people to the Lord. Call or email if you would like to help with that project.

Good Video

My friend Jim put me onto this video. It is from an event called Winterfest held in Knoxville, TN. It is set to the song Everything by the band Lifehouse.

Are you rich?

It is unlikely that you have ever thought of yourself as rich. In the US, most don't think of being rich until acquiring a 7 figure net worth. Most often we only compare ourselves with the ultra rich we see in business, sports, or Hollywood.

It's probable, though, that our perspective is too narrow. According to the Global Rich List I am the 53,205,017th richest person in the world. That puts me in the top 1% of the wealthiest people on the planet.

Compared to America's rich I don't have much. Compared to the poor of the world I am among the wealthiest.

I believe that the Lord entrusts riches to those who will steward it well. There are some incredibly wealthy people in the Church of God who are doing great work for the Kingdom. I applaud them and hope they will continue to make great sums of money so that they can fund ministry at even greater levels. Most Kingdom work, however, is funded by the faithful, consistent giving of ordinary people who make a regular sacrifice of tithes and offerings.

With wealth comes great responsibility. Whose Kingdom are we building with our money? Our own? The Lords? Will we help the poor or settle into comfortable lives of ease and leisure for ourselves?

Earlier this year I read a book on personal finance that encouraged me to save an amount of money equivalent to two hours of salary per day. That amount can prepare a person for retirement and emergencies if continued over a long period of time.

The idea begs other questions. Can you give away an hour's salary a day? More than that? If not that much, then how much? What are you giving to the poor? How are you stewarding your wealth to build a Kingdom that literally has the potential to change the world?

This Sunday our church is taking a missions offering. It's something we try to do about once per quarter. This offering is just a part of the money we give to various people and ministries that are making a Kingdom impact around the world. Giving reminds us that it is not about us. It also helps us to remember that we depend upon the Lord for all things.

This week's offering will be earmarked for two mission trips to Guatemala. In November Pastor Andy Hannich, Church of God Missionary Susan Hardman and I will be teaching 100-120 Guatemalan Church of God pastors. Your gifts will make it possible for them to attend. It will pay their motel bill, food, books, ministry tools, etc. None of it will be used for personal travel expenses for Andy or me. A second team will be going to the city of Xela next February to do construction work on a church building and host a medical clinic where people can be treated for their physical problems.

What can you give? Whatever it is, you'll be glad you did so. God blesses faithful stewardship.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Post More Often

Statcounter.com offers a free service that can be linked to a web page or blog. It gives you stats about readers to your site. So, last week I signed up this blog and the church web site to see if anyone was really looking.

Surprise!

Since last Wednesday this blog has had 11 page loads and 10 unique visitors and a comment from a friend. The church web site - www.dodgeparkchurch.org - has had 30 page loads, 8 uniques visitors, 7 first time visitors and 1 returning visitor.

So, I guess I need to post blog articles more often and make sure the church web site is fresh.

Thanks for looking us over.

Powered by ScribeFire.