My last post talked about the need for us to have margin in our lives. OK, so I'm admitting I wrote that to myself - not sure whether anyone else can relate!
I've known for some time that I'm an activity junkie. When you add the potential for an activity to expand the kingdom and I'm there. One of my biggest struggles is evaluating between the good and the best. In fact, Steven Covey in his book, First Things First says that the enemy of the best is the good! So I'm going to spend some time identifying where I need to delegate, where my time can best be spent, and retool myself to become more productive with a little less cost to myself and family.
I say all this realizing there are a couple of things I can't possibly back down on. So Lord give me wisdom and insight and help us at The Grove cultivate more workers as you continue to grow us.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Do You Have Margin?
My morning devotional from Rick Warren states:
A lot of people are on overload and headed for a crash. Consider these statistics among U.S. citizens:
• People now sleep 2 1/2 fewer hours each night compared to people from one hundred years ago.
• The average work week is longer now than it was in the 1960s.
• The average office worker has 36 hours of work piled up on his or her desk. It takes three hours a week just to sort through it and find what we need.
• We spend eight months of our lives opening junk mail, two years of our lives playing phone tag with people who are too busy to answer, and five years waiting for people who are trying to do too much and are late for meetings.
We're a piled-on, stretched-to-the limit society; chronically rushed, chronically late, chronically exhausted. Many of us feel like Job did when he said, "I have no peace! I have no quiet! I have no rest! And trouble keeps coming" (Job 3:26 GWT).
Overload comes when we have too much activity in our lives, too much change, too many choices, too much work, too much debt, too much media exposure.
Dr. Richard Swenson says, "The conditions of modern day living devour margin. If you're homeless we direct you to a shelter. If you're penniless we offer you food stamps. If you're breathless we connect you to oxygen. But if you're marginless we give you one more thing to do. Marginless is being thirty minutes late to the doctor's office because you were twenty minutes late getting out of the hairdresser because you were ten minutes late dropping the children off at school because the car ran out of gas two blocks from a gas station and you forgot your purse. That's marginless."
I hope you will commit with me to work on shutting down the presses, shutting up the noise and plan margin in our crazy lives!
Visit the Grove Church Website
Read other Grove Church Blogs
A lot of people are on overload and headed for a crash. Consider these statistics among U.S. citizens:
• People now sleep 2 1/2 fewer hours each night compared to people from one hundred years ago.
• The average work week is longer now than it was in the 1960s.
• The average office worker has 36 hours of work piled up on his or her desk. It takes three hours a week just to sort through it and find what we need.
• We spend eight months of our lives opening junk mail, two years of our lives playing phone tag with people who are too busy to answer, and five years waiting for people who are trying to do too much and are late for meetings.
We're a piled-on, stretched-to-the limit society; chronically rushed, chronically late, chronically exhausted. Many of us feel like Job did when he said, "I have no peace! I have no quiet! I have no rest! And trouble keeps coming" (Job 3:26 GWT).
Overload comes when we have too much activity in our lives, too much change, too many choices, too much work, too much debt, too much media exposure.
Dr. Richard Swenson says, "The conditions of modern day living devour margin. If you're homeless we direct you to a shelter. If you're penniless we offer you food stamps. If you're breathless we connect you to oxygen. But if you're marginless we give you one more thing to do. Marginless is being thirty minutes late to the doctor's office because you were twenty minutes late getting out of the hairdresser because you were ten minutes late dropping the children off at school because the car ran out of gas two blocks from a gas station and you forgot your purse. That's marginless."
I hope you will commit with me to work on shutting down the presses, shutting up the noise and plan margin in our crazy lives!
Visit the Grove Church Website
Read other Grove Church Blogs
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Disconnected Thoughts
The last few days have been a roller coaster of thoughts and emotions.
Wednesday Night - another awesome time with my small group. The questions and discussion that followed didn't even allow us time to study the questions I had prepared! How exciting it is to be among people who have a hunger for God's Word and to understand His ways!
Thursday Night - Pastor Igor in his usually humble way, shared from his heart in his presentation, "Christ In The Passover". I have attended seder meals in the past but Igor's sharing was extra special.
Friday Morning - 12 Grovers attended the Good Friday breakfast at the YMCA. A record crowd of over 120 people were led in worship by Vince Ricci and we heard a message on the "Cost of the Cross" by Kathy Dickriede a Methodist Deacon. One of the participants stated they were surprised as to how touched they were by the experience. At the conclusion a young boy, maybe 7 or 8 years old., Theo, shared with me that his middle name meant he was a Warrior of God or a Warrior For God. He then went on to say he had a prayer request. He described a battle he had been having with a brain tumor. He expressed God's blessing in that he was now 6 months free from chemo. I will be praying for him everyday and will remember his confidence as he shared his faith with me. How deep is my faith I thought - how well do I deal with the challenge of life with all my experience compared to a young boy?
Saturday - our 3rd annual pancake breakfast and Easter egg hunt. Record crowd for this event as well. What a great time! Many thanks to Marcia who coordinated this event and the many Grovers that worked so hard for it to go so smoothly. How rewarding it is to look into the faces of these young children.
Now I wait. Seems I do a lot of that. I have such high expectations of what God is going to do this Easter at The Grove. So much effort goes intov every facet of our weekend experiences. I want them to have a sense of joy over their hard work, I want them to be appreciated by others as much as I do.
But I'll have to wait. The good news is that I know the rest of the story.
Wednesday Night - another awesome time with my small group. The questions and discussion that followed didn't even allow us time to study the questions I had prepared! How exciting it is to be among people who have a hunger for God's Word and to understand His ways!
Thursday Night - Pastor Igor in his usually humble way, shared from his heart in his presentation, "Christ In The Passover". I have attended seder meals in the past but Igor's sharing was extra special.
Friday Morning - 12 Grovers attended the Good Friday breakfast at the YMCA. A record crowd of over 120 people were led in worship by Vince Ricci and we heard a message on the "Cost of the Cross" by Kathy Dickriede a Methodist Deacon. One of the participants stated they were surprised as to how touched they were by the experience. At the conclusion a young boy, maybe 7 or 8 years old., Theo, shared with me that his middle name meant he was a Warrior of God or a Warrior For God. He then went on to say he had a prayer request. He described a battle he had been having with a brain tumor. He expressed God's blessing in that he was now 6 months free from chemo. I will be praying for him everyday and will remember his confidence as he shared his faith with me. How deep is my faith I thought - how well do I deal with the challenge of life with all my experience compared to a young boy?
Saturday - our 3rd annual pancake breakfast and Easter egg hunt. Record crowd for this event as well. What a great time! Many thanks to Marcia who coordinated this event and the many Grovers that worked so hard for it to go so smoothly. How rewarding it is to look into the faces of these young children.
Now I wait. Seems I do a lot of that. I have such high expectations of what God is going to do this Easter at The Grove. So much effort goes intov every facet of our weekend experiences. I want them to have a sense of joy over their hard work, I want them to be appreciated by others as much as I do.
But I'll have to wait. The good news is that I know the rest of the story.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Fun at the Ministry Fair
Our second annual ministry fair was a huge success!
Thanks to all who helped prepare their booths and the food. The cotton candy was a hit, Steve!
There may be some who wonder what all the hoopla is all about. At The Grove we believe that getting in the game is what being a Christ follower looks like. But not just performing tasks and playing a role within the church, it's best said by John Wesley who was an incredible servant of God. His motto was: "Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can."
Those who took the time to play our questionnaire game (and possibly win a gift card) learned more about our Kids @ The Grove ministry, our worship team, our media team, our life-growth groups, our hospitality team, and then found out about many opportunities yet to be implemented. We hope you enjoyed hearing the passion and commitment on the part of our team members - it's truly a blessing to have so many capable people serving at The Grove.
It was especially great to see parents taking their children around to participate in the fun.
If you haven't been in a while, you would find that The Grove is growing rapidly. We have first time guests every week and many are deciding to stick around and get to know us. We have many exciting plans for the spring and summer months to reach out beyond our walls and encourage the community to "Become part of the song" that is The Grove.
Hope you will join us - enjoy some of the pictures from the fair!
Thanks to all who helped prepare their booths and the food. The cotton candy was a hit, Steve!
There may be some who wonder what all the hoopla is all about. At The Grove we believe that getting in the game is what being a Christ follower looks like. But not just performing tasks and playing a role within the church, it's best said by John Wesley who was an incredible servant of God. His motto was: "Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can."
Those who took the time to play our questionnaire game (and possibly win a gift card) learned more about our Kids @ The Grove ministry, our worship team, our media team, our life-growth groups, our hospitality team, and then found out about many opportunities yet to be implemented. We hope you enjoyed hearing the passion and commitment on the part of our team members - it's truly a blessing to have so many capable people serving at The Grove.
It was especially great to see parents taking their children around to participate in the fun.
If you haven't been in a while, you would find that The Grove is growing rapidly. We have first time guests every week and many are deciding to stick around and get to know us. We have many exciting plans for the spring and summer months to reach out beyond our walls and encourage the community to "Become part of the song" that is The Grove.
Hope you will join us - enjoy some of the pictures from the fair!
Friday, March 20, 2009
What Are You Thinking?
Some Grovers recently told me they were continuing a fast from wrong thinking. Pastor Gregory Dickow has a daily devotional that he will send to anyone to help them move away from negative, non God honoring thoughts. You can subscribe at his site: http://fromtheinsideout.us/
I've always known how my thoughts can effect my mood and I've tried to help others get beyond the “WHAT IF”—what if something bad happens; what if I lose my job; what if God doesn’t help me; what if my children don’t turn out right.
Pastor Dickow stated in his devotion today - "Stop letting the “what if” thoughts paralyze you from trusting God and acting on His Word."
He then gave us some practical thoughts I wanted to share with you.
Romans 8:28 says, “All things work together for those who love God and are called according to His purpose.” THAT’S YOU.
Expect the power of God’s intervention. No matter what happens in life, the Scripture promises, it will turn for your good, if you expect it to; and invite the Holy Spirit to get involved. (Romans 8:26-27) 3. Make life happen. Rather than letting life just happen to you. Be pro-active. All speculation and fear disappear when we ACT on the Word of God. Do one thing in the Word of God. Give something away; pray for someone.
Expect the best. Jabez prayed that God would bless him and enlarge him. Read 1 Chronicles 4:10. WE HAVE A BETTER COVENANT (Read: Hebrews 8:7-13).
You are already blessed. Believe it. Ephesians 1:3 says, “He has already blessed us with all...”
Also, Romans 8:32 says "With Jesus, He has freely given us all things!"THINK IT & SAY IT:I expect the best beginning today. God has already blessed me and enlarged me. I expect His blessing to show up in my life beginning today. He will turn every negative situation around for His glory and for my good. As I act on the Word of God, I will see His blessing show up in every area of my life, in Jesus’ Name!
My challenge to everyone who reads this is that we will begin to practice expecting God's blessings to show up in our lives today and everyday.
It isn't pie in the sky, by and by thinking. This is real biblical truth.
Practice it today!
Visit the Grove Church Website
Read other Grove Church Blogs
I've always known how my thoughts can effect my mood and I've tried to help others get beyond the “WHAT IF”—what if something bad happens; what if I lose my job; what if God doesn’t help me; what if my children don’t turn out right.
Pastor Dickow stated in his devotion today - "Stop letting the “what if” thoughts paralyze you from trusting God and acting on His Word."
He then gave us some practical thoughts I wanted to share with you.
Romans 8:28 says, “All things work together for those who love God and are called according to His purpose.” THAT’S YOU.
Expect the power of God’s intervention. No matter what happens in life, the Scripture promises, it will turn for your good, if you expect it to; and invite the Holy Spirit to get involved. (Romans 8:26-27) 3. Make life happen. Rather than letting life just happen to you. Be pro-active. All speculation and fear disappear when we ACT on the Word of God. Do one thing in the Word of God. Give something away; pray for someone.
Expect the best. Jabez prayed that God would bless him and enlarge him. Read 1 Chronicles 4:10. WE HAVE A BETTER COVENANT (Read: Hebrews 8:7-13).
You are already blessed. Believe it. Ephesians 1:3 says, “He has already blessed us with all...”
Also, Romans 8:32 says "With Jesus, He has freely given us all things!"THINK IT & SAY IT:I expect the best beginning today. God has already blessed me and enlarged me. I expect His blessing to show up in my life beginning today. He will turn every negative situation around for His glory and for my good. As I act on the Word of God, I will see His blessing show up in every area of my life, in Jesus’ Name!
My challenge to everyone who reads this is that we will begin to practice expecting God's blessings to show up in our lives today and everyday.
It isn't pie in the sky, by and by thinking. This is real biblical truth.
Practice it today!
Visit the Grove Church Website
Read other Grove Church Blogs
Monday, March 9, 2009
Out With The Old, In With The New
As I woke up this morning I was still smiling from yesterday. It was a jam packed day, I was exhausted, but it was a good day! Our time of worship was sweet as we wrestled with the idea of persevering in these turbulent times. I keep hearing testimonies from those who have accepted the New Testament Challenge and even though some have fallen behind, the connection cards show a sincere desire to stay the course.
Worship was followed by the second half to Grove 101. We discussed our faith, the core beliefs and purposes of the Grove. There were many excellent questions from those seeking to understand and sincerely desiring to take their walk to a higher level.
Later in the afternoon, "The Edge" met. This is a group of young adults who, despite their hectic schedules, have made a commitment to live life together in a small group. We viewed a short video and then had a lively discussion of its pertinence to our lives. I love the hearts of these young people and how they are growing together. It only expands my dream and vision of a church that will effectively reach this generation.
The day was totally topped off with receiving pictures from Biloxi and our friends Jim and Jill. The pictures were of the finished home we worked on - enjoy the pics and to see what it looked like when we started, watch the youtube video on this blog as well.
So what am I doing writing this on my day off? It's therapy for me as I am able to cherish all the great things happening at The Grove and look with great anticipation to the week ahead. This weekend is only going to be more exciting as we hear from Pastor Igor and participate in our 2nd Annual Ministry Fair - hot dogs, cotton candy, popcorn and a chance to see what's happening in the ministries at the Grove!
I can't wait!
Worship was followed by the second half to Grove 101. We discussed our faith, the core beliefs and purposes of the Grove. There were many excellent questions from those seeking to understand and sincerely desiring to take their walk to a higher level.
Later in the afternoon, "The Edge" met. This is a group of young adults who, despite their hectic schedules, have made a commitment to live life together in a small group. We viewed a short video and then had a lively discussion of its pertinence to our lives. I love the hearts of these young people and how they are growing together. It only expands my dream and vision of a church that will effectively reach this generation.
The day was totally topped off with receiving pictures from Biloxi and our friends Jim and Jill. The pictures were of the finished home we worked on - enjoy the pics and to see what it looked like when we started, watch the youtube video on this blog as well.
So what am I doing writing this on my day off? It's therapy for me as I am able to cherish all the great things happening at The Grove and look with great anticipation to the week ahead. This weekend is only going to be more exciting as we hear from Pastor Igor and participate in our 2nd Annual Ministry Fair - hot dogs, cotton candy, popcorn and a chance to see what's happening in the ministries at the Grove!
I can't wait!
Friday, March 6, 2009
Something's Brewing
I've had the privilege in recent weeks to meet with a number of pastors who have one thing on their mind - revival in Lake County! Actually there are several things on their mind - but that's the priority. A second motive is to support each other in our roles as shepherds over those God has entrusted to us.
Yesterday we were invited to join another group of pastors that have been meeting for a couple years. What has emerged from that group is exciting. They have held community wide worship celebrations they have called Unity in the Community. In fact, the Grove Worship Team has been invited to share in their next event on Sunday, May the 3rd. Our Hospitality Team Leader, Jan Lesak will also be using her gift and passion on that evening as well.
Our prayer time was really awesome, we read scripture and prayed for each of our communities. I came away refreshed and encouraged. In the evening I then met with a group of pastors who are planning a fall celebration to be preceded by a week of service projects.
Many of these relationships began two years ago when we first participated in the Sunday celebration at Party in the Park. Our friendship has been solidified by mutual prayer and respect and a desire for the kingdom to advance. I can't wait to see what God has planned for the Grove as we partner with other churches. Save the date of Sunday, May the 3rd to join us at Unity in the Community.
Yesterday we were invited to join another group of pastors that have been meeting for a couple years. What has emerged from that group is exciting. They have held community wide worship celebrations they have called Unity in the Community. In fact, the Grove Worship Team has been invited to share in their next event on Sunday, May the 3rd. Our Hospitality Team Leader, Jan Lesak will also be using her gift and passion on that evening as well.
Our prayer time was really awesome, we read scripture and prayed for each of our communities. I came away refreshed and encouraged. In the evening I then met with a group of pastors who are planning a fall celebration to be preceded by a week of service projects.
Many of these relationships began two years ago when we first participated in the Sunday celebration at Party in the Park. Our friendship has been solidified by mutual prayer and respect and a desire for the kingdom to advance. I can't wait to see what God has planned for the Grove as we partner with other churches. Save the date of Sunday, May the 3rd to join us at Unity in the Community.
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