Practical and Powerful

Here's a powerful story of people in our church being intentional (word of the week) in meeting practical needs in powerful ways!

Bible in a Year

Earlier this year I made a list of goals for the year. One of those was to read through the Bible chronologically in the English Standard Version. I have grown to enjoy doing that each year, although there have been years that I have focused on specific parts of the Bible and just read them over and over. There was one year I just read and studied the Gospels over and over while another year I just read the New Testament several times. Although I don't know how many times I have read through the Bible I DO know that the chronological way has been the best way for me to get the most out of it. It really helps me to get the bigger picture of God's work throughout the Bible and throughout history.
If you've ever tried a Bible reading plan or a chronological reading you have probably had some difficulties keeping track of where you were, losing your reading guide, losing your place as you jumped around in the chronological piece. Or falling too far behind that you felt like giving up. Well don't be troubled because everyone that has ever set out to learn more about God has faced similar difficulties UNTIL NOW (cue the "ShamWow" music): I just found an AWESOME way to do my Bible reading the other day. www.BibleGateway.com has an awesome reading plan system that allows you to choose between 5 different plans. You can currently add your plan to your RSS reader and it will appear each day as your other blog posts do (they are currently working on an email system too). Here are several reasons that I have found most helpful:

• You don't have to carry around reading plans (I just read my Bible and Bible reading on my phone or laptop).
• You don't have to wonder whether or not you already read something.
• If you miss a day it will be there for you when you come back.
• When you're doing a chronological reading you don't have to jump all over the place and you can really feel the flow of the greater story.
• If you're a blog reader, it sets up a system for you where you will be reminded of reading every day...which when you think about it, it's kind of messed up that we would have time to read a blog and not God's story...

So, in making the switch between my chronological plan and BibleGateway's I missed some pieces of the Prophets, but the overall benefits of switching to something that helps me be more intentional (word of the week) far outweighs that.

Another really cool thing was you can choose from multiple versions. I'm finishing up the ESV this year, but next year I'm reading the Bible in The Message translation. Trying different translations has helped me continue to gain greater perspective as I grow, so I'm very excited about finishing this year in the ESV and doing next year in The Message!

Church Planting

I'm at a meeting today and tomorrow where many things have been discussed and will be discussed, but the one that I was eagerly anticipating was the discussion on church planting. A group of pastors in our region (MN, IA, and Western WI/MI) worked on an intentional plan for starting churches in our area by working together that I am VERY excited about and today it was presented to the other regions. The plan is called Apostello (sent forth) and you can access the full version of it here. Today we talked about what role we need to play in church planting; locally, regionally, and nationally as the Fellowship of Christian Assemblies. The conclusion was that church planting is something that is already happening in our fellowship but that we can definitely grow more in that area by being more intentional. I'm excited that we're having this discussion about church planting and here's why:

• I believe that we have to be intentional (my word of the week) about reaching people everywhere with the good news of Jesus Christ and one local church cannot do that.
• I believe that churches should plant churches that plant churches that plant churches...I don't just say that because I am now working with a church plant, but because I firmly believe that healthy things grow and reproduce. Sarah and I talked about working with a church planting team "some day" for many years. I even had a vision for church planting 9 years ago. For doing many of the things we're doing as part of Bethel Christian Fellowship. Neither Sarah or I were expecting "some day" to come this soon, but we are blessed to be part of Bethel and be leading such an awesome group of people!
  
• I believe that starting new churches creates opportunities for more people to get involved in ministering to other people.
  
• I believe that churches that start new churches unleash leaders to serve in capacities in the new church and also creates opportunities for other leaders to take their place where they were. Many leaders also emerge from other areas of ministry in successful church plants and more leaders are raised up because there was a place for their giftings to be used in making a difference in people's lives.
  

I'm not saying everything will be easy for any church that decides to plant a church (or for us for that matter), but I do believe that working together towards what God has for us is better than working alone. I am eagerly looking forward to what God has in store for us in Minneapolis and throughout the churches of the FCA!

The Sound of Silence

Sarah, Abby & I made a trip up to Breck-Wahp the other night for a ONE24 Board Meeting. On the way there the muffler began to go out. By that night the broken piece had fallen off and we ended up driving it without the muffler for about 70 miles...that little thing was LOUD! I got that fixed the next morning and then we headed back to the cities. Sarah and Abby in the Civic and me on my 1979 Suzuki 750GS (which is for sale BTW). Much like the Civic the night before, my bike doesn't have baffles so it was also very loud as I cruised down the highway at 70 mph (I wore earplugs because I knew it would be a long ride).

By the time we got to our apartment I had been exposed to so much noise for so long that I felt that the absence of it was eerily quiet. It was almost as though silence had a sound. Which made me think of how rarely we spend time in silence and enjoy it. Silence is one of the reasons I like working on things at night (although it tends to make the next mornings miserable). I feel like I can think better in silence. When I pray I like to spend time in silence asking God to speak to me, this is hard because of all the other noise in my life. In 1 Kings 19:12 God speaks to Elijah in a "gentle whisper" and not in a loud way. If God spoke to you in a gentle whisper right now, would you be able to hear Him? Or, would there be too much noise?

I want to encourage you to take some time and sit in silence with God today. See what happens. See what He speaks to your heart as you wait.

On a slightly related note, I'm sorry for the "sound of silence" here on the blog. There has been a ton going on in my life and in my thoughts that hasn't made it to the blog. :-(
You have probably wondered if I would ever post again. That was a sound of silence I don't want to practice. I switched to the Palm Pre a couple of months ago and discovered I don't really need a computer anymore :-) Consequently a lot of thoughts have been jotted down on my phone and haven't made it to the blog yet. Tonight I had a little time and figured out an easy system that I could use to get those thoughts from my head - to the Pre - to the blog quickly. Soooo...hopefully you will be hearing more then silence on this blog in the near future!

Abby's Friends

I got some pictures of some of Abby's friends before we moved and I thought I'd post them. Here they are, Abby's monkeys:
Monkey Fa, Monkey Sol, Monkey La, Monkey Si...Abby is Monkey Do...
She seems to like Monkey Si the most...I guess they're meant to be together as Monkey Si and Monkey Do...
I'm still missing Monkeys Re and Mi :-(

Here they are all together having a very harmonious time (in case you didn't get it):

ONE Summer Night

Are you ready for one summer night to remember? This year we're featuring Children 18:3, Kaboose, Senseless Beauty, Solace, and Sarah O'neal!

Ticket Costs:
$8.00 [in advance]
$10.00 [at the door]

*Ticket are available in Fargo and Moorhead at Family Christian Stores, Rainbow Shop and Melberg's...for other means of purchase, please call (701) 219-0918.

This show is going down rain or shine! We have an indoor auditorium available on site in case it rains.

Come early for some outdoor fun in the sun like volleyball, ultimate frisbee, etc.

For all of us who get hungry rockin' out, concessions will be available!

And, if you think you might need it, consider bringing a lawn chair along.

way, Way...WAY More!

Sarah and I are very excited to be joining an awesome group that has launched out from Bethel Christian Fellowship in St. Paul to start a church in Minneapolis. We are currently commuting from Breckenridge on the weekends. The whole thing of launching out from this place of safety to start a church goes back to a clear impression I had of God calling us to step out of the boat, our place of safety, and take a step into the unknown where we would have to keep our eyes focused on Him. In the last several months leading up to this there have been several verses that God has used to strengthen and encourage me for the task ahead.

2 Peter 1:3 HIS divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

God's power has given us EVERYTHING we need to live for Him! Everything we need for the move. Everything we need to start a church. EVERYTHING we need for what He has called us to do!!!
One of the other passages is Ephesians 3:16-21 that says,

“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do Immeasurably More than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to HIM be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."

• Immeasurably More = exceeding abundantly above = way, Way...WAY More!

Our God is Powerful...He is Awesome! If you're facing something that seems like more than you can do in your own strength, remember that it is in our weakness that we see Him move in power! In Him we have EVERYTHING we need for life! We have been allowed to participate in God's divine Presence, Power and Purpose! We need to make sure we are tapping into His power that He has for us. I know I can get distracted easily, but these verses inspire me to pursue Him passionately!!!
He wants to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine IN and THROUGH our lives!