team proud

what can i say about a great staff that pushes past the comfort zone on a consistent daily basis...we gathered to go to the nursing home...I mentioned, matt 25 the passage about doing things for the 'least of these' the poor, the shut in, the elderly, the unnoticed mostly underthanked people who serve the 'least of these'... i asked our team to focus on the staff, to verbalize thanks, to pray and to care...we took special flower vases, with some beautiful flowers...our ladies made some cool displays, we also took balloons, goodie bags for the staff room...and 100 boxes of tissues for the residents...

it was great to see people being cared for, people stepping out of the zone to offer prayer and to look for the lonely...one of our ladies hadn't prayed for anyone and felt drawn to the small frail receptionist so she just went for it and walked over and said 'seeing you here i was just wondering what's been going on with you?'...the receptionist told her story of becoming attached to so many people who either recover or pass away and how hard it was.' my friend asked 'can i pray for you?', the receptionist replied 'yes', as they prayed the receptionist began to weep it was a moving moment...

moments small, yet meaningful carry great care when done with great love...

way to go staff

young in mind, slow in body

ya know getting older is sometimes very strange...what the mind says i can do and what the body refuses to do is both interesting and frustrating...yesterday we had a party at a friends home, he has a pool...being the swimmer that I am, i decided to launch out into the pool by doing a graceful can opener...as i jumped my right leg cramped and i pulled a muscle...so for the rest of the day i hobbled around...my youngest son kept asking 'you ok dad?'

i think there is a saying
Ps 90:12
Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

FunFest

had a great day yesterday...50+ vols helped pull our first FunFest of the season...kids and families played games, made crafts, had their faces painted and ate over 160 Hotdogs and over 120 hamburgers with all the fixings...that's a lot of food...it was a great buzz and good connection...i had more than one person who attended from the community say a big thanks for the event...

great day good vibe fun people to work with...

cars. who'd have them

last night sitting home eating some excellent pasta from Deslavos...resting on my night off when the phone rang...by the way last night major weather threats everywhere...my son phones...'dad i'm on the way to pick up the engagement ring my car just stopped i'm on the highway what should i do?' I ask a reasonable question 'did you purchased AAA like i asked you to the last time i had to drive to get the tow truck? Ans:'nope i was going to purchase AAA yesterday but... so to make a long story short...i jump into my car call AAA head south meet my son, call AAA agian, wait... car heads north on tow truck, son is dropped off at wendys i head home...

anyway in the end it was a good connection, we had a good laugh, and talk... the car? we'll see...i offered to sell him mine if he takes over the payments...

returned home to veg and saw a program of a family whose son was killed in Iraq...a touching story / moment was when the mom was making pancakes and the dad went in to be with his son...the son was under the covers, the dad laid down on the bed next to him and gave him a big hug...the mom just happened to walk in during the caring hug...made her smile...dad's reply, 'he reminded me of when he was a child, i wanted to hug him and pat him on the head so i did... i'll take the memory of our hug to my death...

car's who'd have them...memories of care, love and connection with those that matter priceless

hard days night

thinking about people who haven't made it to the end...one of my friends was on the cover of outreach magazine one month and the next month ran off to Calif...leaving his ministry, family and friends...how'd it happen? unresolved issues...

in the 70's one of the best speakers i ever heard taught on leadership at the bible college i attended...he mentioned 'you see me speak, think i'm great, but you don't know what is going on in my life'...weeks later he too was out of ministry away from family and friends...

my friend david addressed this issue in his blog http://pastordavidkerr.blogspot.com...and talked about completing the race...

Hebrews talks about casting aside 'anything' that hinders...i think it's the 'anythings' that grab us...whatever our anythings may be, sometimes it is disappointment, disappointment in our leaders, getting burned by the church, or discouragement, perhaps sin issues, or wounded ego, or general pressures etc.

I think this is why we need friends and people around us who will tell us the truth...to be honest ...i remember a movie the catch line was...'you couldn't handle the truth'... that makes for a hard days night... just musing inward... wanting to finish the race...

Our 25th is 6.6.06 maybe that's why i'm thinking...

tuesday

prepping for the weekend funfest...ever wondered why things happen when they happen...like all my stuffed animals were destroyed in the mold episode...i was planning on purchasing some new ones last week...i received a phone call from a lady who asked...'i was just wondering if you could use any stuffed animals?'...interesting that you asked...

over 50 people have signed up...for this weekend...i live to see people playing in the game...playing out there changes a heart...helps the heart to be more other centered than self centered...that's healthy...

Phil 2 sums it up NLT
1 Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and sympathetic? 2 Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one heart and purpose. 3 Don't be selfish; don't live to make a good impression on others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself. 4 Don't think only about your own affairs, but be interested in others, too, and what they are doing. 5 Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. 6 Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. 7 He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. 8 And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal's death on a cross. 9 Because of this, God raised him up to the heights of heaven and gave him a name that is above every other name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

monday, monday

had a great day yesterday...the flowers everywhere experiment went well...people were buzzed about the idea and voted by taking the flowers the info sheet and some cards...i'll be looking for feed back

Starting Point our new believers class is a real riot...it is so refreshing to talk to people who have little or 0% Bible what being a believer is all about...fresh questions, interest and a willingness to learn...with this group the Da Vinci deal is a no deal...i explained that you don't base theology on fiction...Tip:reading the bible look for context, who the writer was writing to, why was the writer writing what he wrote, how does it apply to my life today...context is really important,,,

the Beginnings Class had a good response to the section on why we are an outward focused church...i basically told stories, connected to our value and showed a few video clips...again a good buzz...

i'm glad to be connected to a pretty good church...we are inching forward this week we have WOW and a church staff outreach...we will be going to a nursing home to plant some flowers, and visit and pray for the people...then we will have a bbq and an evening of worship 90mins...last wow hundreds of people showed up...always an up event...

Saturday we kick off our summer Community FunFest we go to low income areas and throw a huge party with all the fixins...food, raffle a tv, games, prizes, face painting, popcorn, snowcones etc...all begins at 10am running to about 1pm..

flowers everywhere

looking forward to the flowers everywhere outreach this weekend...people who would like to reach out to a friend, enemy or neighbor will collect 4 small flowers to give to away, and hopefully plant...we designed a flowers everywhere a pretty good outreach tipsheet...

Step one grab a set of flowers
Step two think of a friend or neighbor
Step three take flowers to location
Step four say something like, 'I have some flowers for you? Where would you like them planted?
Step five if person says they'd like to plant the flowers that's ok...smile and hand them a connect card...

easy to the point...as the flowers grow hopefully the friend or neighbor will notice and be reminded of a person showing them God's love in a practical way...

last i asked the participants in the experience to email feed back to relate how things went...a pretty good outreach.

3 outreach ideas

heading out using 3 outreach ideas over the coming weeks...

1. Flowers for neighbors...we will have 40 to 50 flats of flowers this weekend...i'm targeting our 10:45am service...as people leave they will have the opportunity to grab a 4 pack of flowers to take home and to give / plant for a neighbor...we will have an outreach card and some simple instructions for each flat.

2. Man's best friend outreach we will be going to a major dog walk, show at delco park...we will have boxes of IAMs dog biscuits to give to the dog owners with a small card...thinking this will be a fun one.

3. Gas buy down on the July 4th weekend at a local station...we have the station...gas prices remain high...so we will be doing a full service gas station...washing windows...putting fluid in car windshield wash receivers...and giving a $2 to $3 cash back to each car participating...

Faith a Paradox J.O. Sanders a thought

Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed John 20:29

Seeing is believing, says Mr. Worldly-Wiseman. Believing is seeing, affirms the man of faith. The bible abounds in such paradox - somethings apparently wrong and contrary to reason, and yet actually true. Our Lord frequently employed this arresting method of conveying spiritual truth. For ecample, he said that the grain of wheat was dead because it had not died, and its only hope of living lay in dying (John 12:24) Paul's writings, too abound in paradox. I am crucified with Christ Nevertheless I live, yet not I (Galatioans 2:20) Similarly, teaching on faith is often enshrined in paradox...

Abrahams's faith was evidenced in his enduring as seeing him who is invisible. But how can one see the invisible? Faith operates in the sphere of 'things not seen' things which cannot be proved mathematically, yet true and real. There is no problem in believing in things which are visible, but faith does not operate in that realm; it is unnecessary. It is the 'evidence of things not seen' that brings the unseen into the realm of personal experience. Faith is being sure without seeing.

Paradoxically, faith sings while still in prison. Its song of praise antedates its release, as in the case of Paul and Silas. Faith glorifies God by singing in hopeless situations. It fights effectively in chains.

Unseen forces surround us, none the less real even though invisible, Elisha's young servant saw the invading army and cried in dismay, 'Alas, my master, what shall we do?' Elisha, veteran of faith, prayed, 'Lord open his eyes and behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about.

water 8,000 bottles

gearing up for our huge water outreach in July...it may seem strange but i have to think several months out to make sure everything is going to go without any hitches and it helps relieve the stress concerning the event...this year we went for simple, clear and concise label...we help the City Folk every year with 1500 bottles for their celebration of Celtic or Jazz over the 4th weekend. The water goes to all the volunteers who help at the event...last year on the 4th of July the city gave away free city water can you believe that...they got the idea from a pretty good church...

oh by the way the lady who is running the dog event said, 'Oh you're going to give dog biscuits away like the water you gave away last year'...she went on to mention she was one of the ones to receive a bottle of water... said, 'that's cool!'

sow seeds you never know who is going to be a recipient...a few years ago Billy Graham received a bottle of water from one of the students participating in the world largest drink give away in one weekend many churches touched over 300,000 people.

Dog's don't you just love em! man's best friend

after a month learing more of God's mercy in my life i finally spoke to the gathered in Dayton on a Wednesday night...it was a good night...i pretty much stuck to the script told some stories and connected a few passages...Eph 2 Titus 3 and Rom 12 interesting all three passages deal with who we were, then a 'but' which connected grace and mercy given, then something to do...interestingly the thought then shifted to encourage believers to become outward focused...doing good deeds...or serving others as in rom 12 so there is a direct link to who we were, who we are, and what we should be doing...interestingly if we focus on serving doing good according to the grace / mercy we have received we most likely won't have time to be bad...many people focus on cleaning themselves up, inward focus, instead of pressing ahead seeking to love God with all heart soul and strength and to love in action...outward focus...interesting thoughts...

SISCA... heading out to give away doggie biscits at a yearly event in Delco park... i'm having some great cards made and we will be blitzing the park...it should be an interesting time next 1st sat outreach...did anyone count the intersting words

single parents / grandparents raising kids

we are launching a new ministry...we placed a needs survey in the program and on the back a i can help vol sign up .... great response we have over 100 people who stepped up saying they want to help and 40 single parents / grandparents who described their deepest need and their affrirmation to become involved in such a ministry... we've had two planning meetings and we are planning to:
complete the database entrys
travel to Columbus to view a single parent fair

Single Parents Fair
This event was intended to reach out a welcoming hand to single parents by providing free services pertinent to their needs. Some of the services we provided at the event were oil changes, car wash, legal advice, and medical services. We also provided a free lunch and lots of activities for the kids like games, crafts, motorcycle rides and a visit from the fire department. A resource table is available with information about Vineyard ministries that provide programming relevant to singles and parenting. Over 900 families turn out for this event each year.



plan a special classy meal for the parents
plan a free oil change
schedule a single parent fair september 16
schedule 2 weeks of serving where we connect willing people to serve the single parents / grandparents... the serving will include cleaning, fixing, a parents day out childcare, listening, coaching, praying etc.
make our reimbursment childcare / baby sitting forms available...

eventually we envision a drop in center...

lot's of work but off to a good start.

steve

Growing Faith

A weekly thought from J.O. Sanders

Your faith grows exceedingly 2 Thess. 1:3

Jesus commanded His disciples to forgive a repentant brother though he had sinned against them seven times in a single day. Their bewildered response was, 'Lord increase our faith.' But was their need not increased love rather than increased faith? No, their diagnosis of their own need was in the main correct, for it stemmed from a consciousness of their inability to fulfill the more requirements Jesus had enunciated in the previous verses. Only faith would bring the enabling.

Yet it was not wholly correct, for in His reply Jesus instructed them that their need was not so much of additional faith as of vital faith. The tiniest mustard seed enshrines a germ of life. It was a question of quality, not quantity. There must be a growing faith, for life spontaneously issues in growth. In writing to the Christians at Thessalonica Paul said, 'We are bound to thank God always for you, for your faith grows exceedingly ( Thess. 1:3). The depth and progress of our spiritual development depends on the growth of our faith.

Growing is automatic when the conditions are fulfilled. Faith feeds on the promises of God. The presence of God is the atmosphere of faith, but it will remain stagnant in the malarial swamps of man's question marks. It is strengthened by the removal of human props. It increases through response to the requirements and challenges of His word. Contrary to popular belief it is not always fostered by great encouragements and swift answers to prayer. It thrives more in the midst of difficulties and conflicts when all secondary support has been removed.

Faith grows most when we believe our beliefs and doubt our doubts.

J.Oswald Sanders

goodday sunshine

we took nathan out for his 15th birthday a couple of days ago...15 years amazing...pattie, andrew, nathan and i went to Olive Garden ate then went shopping for some new duds for nathan...

it was a great family time...Andrew mentioned what a great time it was to be a family...prayer works for sure...glad to have all my family connected...

outreach today was real fun...we cleaned windshields, then went to a skate park to hand out gatoraid...several out of state parents talked to us and liked what we did for their kids...the kettering skate park is supposed to be the best street course in the USA...so kids were from, MD, PA, IL and all parts of dayton...another group went to the 2 nursing homes we go to each month...i purchased some great carnation bundles, hues of blue, purple, yellow, white, pink, red and mixed...flowers most always brings some grace to the people in the homes...another group headed out to wright state area and did a business blast...lot's of talks etc...

a good outward focued day...

mold spores

Interesting day yesterday...walked into our lock up space for like 3 min...i came out dizzy, feeling wired and generally out of the norm...i looked up black mold on line...i had the symptoms and almost went to urgent care...anyway it cleared in about 4 hours...today we tackled all my games for community funfest...$75 bucks later Will, a great pa and i went into the lock up...full gear...suits, respirators, gloves etc. we went in and pulled everything out...and with a pressure sprayer sprayed water and bleach onto the items...fun...the respirators worked we couldn't even smell the bleach...as we sprayed the spores popped into green smoke...we loaded the games up and move to the vineyard where we pressured washed all items and left outside to receive sun rays...i'm thinking ... BA in theology qualifies me to spray bleach... yep...

keeping kingdom of God in the forefront of thinking really helps in such situations...the Son of man did not come to be served but to serve...

anyway a good day...busy time this coming week...

it begins

like the running of the roses(kentucky derby for the uninformed),and they're off... every year running up to May i gear up for the season ahead...it is a busy time stretching out and reaching out...

this weekend is 1st saturday outreach we have several projects planned:

flowers to nursing homes...i just connected with a great guy who picks up flowers next to nothing i.e. a bunch of carnations $1 so we'll be picking up some flowers taking them to nursing homes

business blast...mom's day is coming up so we'll head out into the strip malls, giving flowers to mom's who are working on sat...

windshield wash...we wash windshields and fill up washer fluid at a gas station...

gatoraid...we take a couple of coolers of gatoraid to the local skate park...kettering has one of the best in the usa.

2 carwashes with a twist...we go to coin operated carwashes, give away quarters and offer to towel dry the cars...

all of these are available...we prepare for all...but if we only have so many people we nix one or two...

1st saturday is a project that is emerging...a work in progress...

emotions are a surprise

had an emotional last couple of days...my dad died many years ago while i was living in scotland...i didn't return for the funeral and didn't get to go through his stuff etc... so his birthday is in may... pattie walked in and there i was, blubbering away...i was amazed that the emotions bubbled up...probably normal...but i've been pretty sensitive last couple of days...also i had a good weekend, touched several hundred people on ud campus, had a great time last weekend encouraging a church so i reckon there would be some personal splash back...to be honest i think i need a break...been going since last summer...a vacation i think is needed...

this weekend is 1st sat outreach...good to focus outward...and to seek to serve others in need.