“You think it’s hot here!”

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That is from an actual sign marquee in front of a church in Northern Arkansas that a friend saw earlier this summer. I know that it’s not original at all. Probably got it from some little “Church Marquee Sayings for Dummies” book at the local Christian bookstore. Are you kidding me? Katy, bar the door because people are going to come flocking to your church with an attitude like that! I find it humorous, but also extremely sad when we continue to have this almost weekly text of really bad marquee sayings. They might be funny to someone . . . I guess the guy who puts them up on the marquee, but they continue to send a sad message to the rest of the world. The message is that “we have it all together” and “you are not welcome, unless you straighten up.” We have a statement around here that says “No Perfect People Allowed.” It’s not that we aren’t striving to live holy lives for God. It is just that we want to send a message to those outside of this community of faith that they matter to God and they can come to Him no matter what their condition.

The air conditioning is broken in the sanctuary and won’t be fixed until Monday. That saying of “you think it’s hot in here” has been said several times around here lately, even by me, and is quite funny . . . but it is also quite sad that we sometimes forget what we are about and minimize what Christ did in conquering the grave. I want us to always have a good time, but also always think of what Christ has done for us to keep us out of the eternal fires of hell–separated from Christ for eternity.

See you on Sunday . . . with your shorts and flip flops on . . . cause it’s going to be pretty warm. I think I’ll become a child again on Sunday so I can hang out in the cool air!

Extreme Makeover: Great Aunt Edition

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Because of my laying laminate flooring in the motorhome, my mother-in-law has been bragging to everyone about how good it looks.? She has been bragging to her aunt who lives here in Ozark.? She has been wanting to do something with her kitchen and dinning area for many years now and was ready for me to help lay some nice flooring.

Last Saturday, we went out and she picked out some flooring and she left town on Tuesday to help a friend move here mother.? We got a key and are making over here kitchen and dining area while she is gone.? I spent a long time over there yesterday and got the lions share of work done.? I think she is going to LOVE it!!? It looks SO much better!

I was thinking about how many people all around this community need these kinds of things done.? I was thinking about how the Church here in America is sick and dying.? What if part of the problem with the Church is that we are constantly asking FOR something from each person who walks through our doors?? What if all they see is an outstretched hand with an offering plate attached?? Why is it that the world’s largest volunteer force has basically been silent for decades now?? Some would say, “we don’t just feed people, that would be a social gospel.”? Nonsense!? We have been relegated to Sunday morning worship “serve-us” and big Bibles and buildings!? We have been marginalized into simply a voting block!? We have forgotten what it is to simply be salt and light in our communities.

We have some plans for a Sunday coming up where we go out and serve our community.? It can’t come soon enough, honestly!? We have been huddled around each other in our building talking about how great the Shepherd is and we need to go out and show our community how great He is!? Wouldn’t it be great that we would begin to do all kinds of random acts of kindness with “no strings attached?”? As one pastor I listen to a lot says, “we’re not serving because we want you to become saved . . . we’re serving you because WE ARE!”

Lord, help us to become the kind of place that moves past coddling insiders and our own agendas and looks to become salt and light in our communities!

Back from Kid’s Camp 2007–1 vs. 99!

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We made it back yesterday from Kid’s Camp up at beautiful downtown Roach, MO at Windermere. We really had a great group of kids that went, 64 kids total. There were at least 5 decisions for Christ over the week and several more decisions to follow Christ in obedience in baptism! Praise God! That is why we do what we do–in order for Christ to change lives!

The theme was “The Game Show of Life: The Great Commission.” There were three main teaching times. The first was on the parable of the Lost Sheep told by Jesus. Read more

Out the Door

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Jenny and I and the boys are headed down to Big Cedar Lodge tonight for a couple of days.? We had a sweet couple give us a couple of nights of their time share as a ministry to us.? It should be a lot of fun and hopefully some quality time with the boys before we head off to Kids Camp this next weekend without them.

Had a great staff meeting this morning.? Gearing up for the fall.? I am really excited about the potential lives that are going to be changed with KidStuf as well as some great ministry opportunities in the works.

Power of Prayer

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Jenny was on the ol’ family computer last night working on a bunch of stuff for KidStuf coming up this fall and I was not able to write about our prayer time last night at church.

We felt impressed to have a time where the church comes together to pray, fast on Wednesday, and seek God for our people. We began this Wednesday night prayer and communion this summer. Last night was another awesome night!

We had conversational prayer for about an hour. Read more

Conductor Towe

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Caleb Towe, one of our CFC grads from Nixa, works down at Silver Dollar City and we have been trying to get down to see him all year. If you all know, I am a big fan of the Silver Dollar City! We have season tickets each year as a Christmas gift from my mom and dad, so we go a lot. We haven’t been down there this year and I’ve been wanting to go all year, so I decided to beg off of work early on Monday to the city.

Caleb is an actor on the the Silver Dollar Line. They rotate the duties of Alfie and dsc00021.JPGRalphie J. Bolland, “those notorious train robbers” and the conductor of the train. He happened to be the Conductor on Monday afternoon. If you have been to SDC and been as many times as I have growing up, you dsc00026.JPGprobably know the scripts by heart. They have changed some of the things, which is cool. He even added a “David Stone” on the ride for good measure . . . nice!

Good to get away for the afternoon. We will go again, especially when he is “robbing.”

Break Through??

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Ben Arment has a great post about some similar feeling I am having right now. We are at a definite “crisis of belief” stage in the life of our church family. The finances are in a word, bad. We also have a hard time getting volunteers for the ministries we are offering. There are a lot of churches in the same situation as ours, a lot of them. We are in good company. It is just that some of them have buildings and assets that they are able to lean against during the storms. Church plants don’t have that luxury. I was encouraged by Ben’s post about this temporary “dip” (more about this in a later post) is simply preparation for a huge breakthrough in our church. Here is his conclusion on the matter:

Whenever I sense tension in our church, I’ve come to get excited about what God has in store… what he’s got brewing. Because he always works it for good. It took me a while to learn not to hyperventilate and panic from the uncontrollable change, the loss of people, whatever. But amid all the crises we’ve experienced, God has built our church stronger and stronger every year.

I’m excited about what God is going to do here in the next few days with His People. God, help us to become men and women of faith that will follow Your Calling to the ends of the earth.

Hip New Hayward!

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Actually, Hayward has a new hip!? Hayward Barnett, a frequent commenter on this blog and my 7th Grade Science teacher had hip replacement surgery this morning.? He is doing well and is recovering at St. Johns Hospital.? You might give him a call of encouragement or drop by . . . but if you said that I said to do it, I’ll deny everything because he doesn’t want people “to make a fuss over him.”? So let’s not make a fuss over him this weekend!

Tuesday Evening Reflections

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This weekend was a real whirlwind of events. Taylor, Papa Bill, and myself went to a model train show on Saturday morning before the party. Taylor really had a pretty good time even though he couldn’t see the layouts real well because of his height. He was also bummed because he had some money burning a hole in his pocket that I kept refusing to let him buy some overpriced model boxcar. We then came home to his constant begging to get out my old layout to get it to run. It is going to need a lot of work to be back to running–not something a 6 year old wants to hear. All that needs to happen is that it runs . . . and fast!!

Saturday evening we had Taylor’s birthday party at Godfather’s Pizza! Read more

Tuesday Afternoon Reflections

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I have really been enjoying reading about all of the awesome “returns” from churches around the country that had AWESOME Easter weekends! I truly believe that we are all on the same team and that we all win when there are so many people coming to Christ on one day! I know that there are a bunch of churches that were planted on Sunday! How exciting to know that Christ’s bride is growing and reaching more and more people!! Katie Rentfro, former member and MSU grad, is living in Houston, TX and is a part of one of those new church plants that started on Easter Sunday. It is cool to see where God is taking people from even our little place and moving them to be a part of great things. I think the best churches still haven’t been planted yet!
I think something that Mark Batterson said on his blog sums up the weekend for me . . .

One last thought for pastors.

Is it just me or is Easter one of the toughest messages to preach? I think I put a little extra pressure on myself 🙂 And it is so hard to approximate the emotion we ought to feel. I really think the greatest truths are the toughest to put into words! No combination of the twenty-six letters of the English alphabet can adequately praise God for the victory He won over death. That is when you feel most dependent upon the Holy Spirit to do what only the Holy Spirit can do!

I agree wholeheartedly, Mark! I ran into a colleague at the hospital this week and he was talking about how much pressure we put on ourselves on Easter. It really is funny how we put all of our “eggs” (pun intended) in one Easter basket. Around here at CFC, we are a church of young families that go to grandma’s for Easter. History has shown us (and Sunday held true) that we have a lot of visitors on Easter, but they are mainly family members and friends of our people. If history holds true, we will have almost as many people here the next few weeks as we had on Easter. It is really difficult not to get frustrated with this . . . but to trust that it is Resurrection Sunday EVERY WEEK of the year!

I am really excited about the next few weeks as we start our new series called Beyond Limits.