Hey Ryan, What's The Big Deal?

Whoa, did you get a load of what Pastor Ryan laid down tonight at the Edge? I mean, what is THAT all about? How in the world am I supposed to react to that kind of a message?

Oh sure, let's just lay down and allow those people in our lives that have hurt us, to now kick us and demean us, as we continue to pour out our lives to make sure that they are ok ... that sounds like loads of fun! Hey, isn't that job description only reserved for Pastors? I mean where does he come off putting me in that catergory? Ohhhh, right right right - I am a follower of the One who first showed me that this was what He did for me. If I am a believer in the One who came - I must become like Him and less like me. Ergo, I need to get in the game to be used. This game is a tough game, with a lot of big hits and it involves those two big points that Ryan laid out tonight: (1) The Blessing: God has given us other people; and (2) The Challenge: God has given us other people.

Actually, most of what I heard hit me square between the eyes as I think I have come to realize why God gave me two eyes, two ears and one tongue. He wants me to see through His eyes, hear with His ears and use His tongue to speak - I am finding it most difficult at times.

You know, I used to believe that being a Christian was about keeping to the good things like not swearing, never lying, speaking nice about people -- you know do unto others as you would like done to you. Now I have come to realize that being a Christian is not about trying to follow some lame rules that I made up about what being a Christian is - it is all about Love. It is putting myself aside and "getting over myself" and letting Jesus rule my relationships through me. I continually ask for a short memory so that I am not reminded how badly I get treated by people or how hurt I can get when something doesn't go my way - you know lower my expectations so that they are met instead of unmet -- is that what Ryan said?

When I came to realize the immense depth of the Love that God has for me through Christ - I realized that He has this for all people, not just me, the saved or those that come to Him -- but all people. As I begin to understand His love in my own life - I realized that my life is not my own. It doesn't mean that I don't get caught up in those bitter feelings about others from time to time, but I try to remember how I act toward others and what messages I send to them. When I continue to pray for others to be changed and not myself - I am only posing in front of them and Christ.

Way to lay it down tonight, my brother and Pastor -- well done, that is a big deal!

Stay Strong
Rob

onemilloncan.com

Check this out...

Sunday, February 22nd, 2009
Half-Way To Amazing!

All we hear in the news is the gloom and doom of the collapse of the financial markets worldwide, and the imminent erosion of the banking, housing, retail and manufacturing markets that will plunge us into the greatest depression we have ever known. While I don’t doubt the severity of this crisis, or the probability that we really do not yet fully understand the scope of the mess we have gotten ourselves into, I still believe in the sovereignty of God, and the reality that He is impervious to financial downturns. In other words, He is not wringing His hands.
So I guess it wasn’t good timing when we launched onemillioncan.com last August while on tour in Johannesburg, SA. After all, how, in the midst of a massive recession, are people going to give to the causes of others when they, themselves, are struggling to make it through the month. Again, I say this not to make light of the situation many find themselves in, rather to wonder how those with true needs, those living in the worst of conditions, will have a hopeful outcome when those of us who have lived in abundance have leveraged ourselves beyond our means and now seek assistance to maintain financial footing that was, on our worst day, miles ahead of the vast majority of humans in the world.
But, then again, I am not one to count God out, nor will I ever underestimate the potential that resides in this generation of worshipers of Jesus Christ. So, during tough times, here comes onemillioncan.com, the answer to the question, “What can one million dollars do to touch the last and least of these in Jesus’ name?”
For us, that million bucks can fully fund seven objectives around the globe, helping to provide clean water, freedom for sex slaves, Bibles for those who have never seen one on their language, homes for former child soldiers, villages for refugees, solar powered scripture players for Muslim peoples and life-altering operations for children. The campaign rolled out in earnest in the fall and has been a focal point of Chris Tomlin’s Hello Love Tour this winter. And the results have defied logic and the climate of the day.
As of this post, you have responded to the cause of wedding worship and action and we have passed the half-way point in reaching our million dollar goal!! The current total, $503, 253, reflects the promise of a God who does not discount the plight of the poor and draws near to the brokenhearted. The money given to date is already on it’s way to our partner causes, working to bring change right now.
Thank you so much for helping us get to this point and carrying the vision forward as we invite others to join us on the journey. While most cannot do it all, all of us can do something to make a huge difference in the lives of people around the world. We’re half way to amazing, but in truth, it’s pretty amazing already!
Because everyone of us matters to God,
Louie

Gotta Love That MTV!

Found this article at www.worldnetdaily.com - wow, how far this country and its media are falling!

MTV Goes Hunting for Teenage Wiccans for Reality-Show Clash

By Tim Graham (Bio Archive)February 21, 2009 - 22:58 ET

The pagans blogging at The Wild Hunt report that the MTV program True Life is looking for a few good teenaged Wiccans. They’re concerned that "Far too often naive (or greedy) Pagans have been exploited in this sensationalist and bottom-feeding genre, providing snarky laughs to a growingly cynical audience." But MTV is hardly a convention of religious broadcasters who would scorn the pagans. It’s more likely they’d enjoy watching a few Christian parents blow a gasket while they film it. Here's a snippet of the request for subjects:

…we are casting for an upcoming episode of the award-winning series True Life. For this episode, we are looking for people who are in the process of converting to Wicca, or who have recently converted. We are focusing on how parents deal with these changes, and how it affects relationships. People should email their situations to Parents@mtvnmix.com with their name, age, location, phone number, and recent photo of themselves I would really appreciate it.
MTV’s working on an upcoming episode called "I’m Clashing With My Parents." Isn’t that what MTV is all about widening up the generation gap with a crowbar?

Clashes are great "reality show" grist, and MTV’s appetite is never-ending:
Are you clashing with your parents? Going against their wishes? Defying them even? Are you an Americanized teen growing up in a household with immigrant parents whose conservative cultural values are at odds with your modern viewpoints and lifestyle? Perhaps your religious beliefs are setting you and your parents at odds. Are you abandoning the beliefs they instilled in you as a child? Or is your deepening passion for faith and religion concerning your more secular-leaning parents? Maybe the conflict between you and your parents is a classic old disagreement over the guy or girl you’re dating. If you’re personally living through any of these scenarios, or an equally compelling conflict with your mother & father, we’d like to hear from you. MTV is working on a new episode of "True Life" that will explore the impact on young adults, and their families, when grown children challenge their upbringing and defy their parents.

It would be fascinating if MTV truly turned the usual tables around and found a religious teen horrifying his secular parents. But I wouldn't count on it.
—Tim Graham is Director of Media Analysis at the Media Research Center

Mens Ministry Happenings!

I have been blessed with the opportunity to lead a small group of men, who are sold out for Jesus and yet - still working on our relationships. Every day we come in contact with so many people that Jesus died for -- like everyone - and we are faced with tough decisions in our interactions with each other. If we have made a decision to follow Christ and have branded ourselves with the term "Christian" - we are meant to "love" all. This is so difficult! We need to band together and sharpen each others skills in this area.

Why do we continue to give our best to everyone and yet sometimes forget that our wives, kids and families deserve our best too? I know - man is it difficult or what? If you are like me, I mess up quite a bit in this area and know that Jesus wants me to have a better relationship with HIM, my wife, kids and family - as well as other people too.

I have asked several men to come alongside me to create a fellowship of men throughout our church that will lead to lasting friendships and I hope a deeper connection with my family and with Christ. Currently, we are working together to develop more opportunities for men to come together and share the same goals.

Over the next two weeks, we will be getting together to discuss what this will look like, who will join us in this and how we can drop it down so that others can come aboard. I am looking at several areas that need a focus:

1. men's get togethers: weekly men's groups that will be facilitated by someone who is willing to step up and be used by God to create an atmosphere that we can relate to. These are much like the successful Life Groups that Lamb's has developed.

2. men's breakfasts: Lance Ladd has agreed to continue to develop this program, but we need some guys to step up and come alongside him. These are the first saturday of each month and are designed to provide FOOD, FELLOWSHIP & A MESSAGE.

3. men's outings: whether it is pole position night, golf, running club, mtn. biking excursions, bowling, fishing, hiking, camping -- or something else, we need to get together and have some fun as well!

4. the book shelf: there are so many awesome books out right now that dig deep into what we are all feeling - where is the "abundant life" in Christ. This is not to discount all the Bible has to offer, but may be relatable to a certain situation that we are in. A few that I have read lately that have made a huge impact on me are: Crazy Love, Francis Chan (http://www.crazylovebook.com/) and Searching for God Knows What, Donald Miller (http://www.donaldmillerwords.com/searching.php). We need to share these with each other so that we can get away from the things that are negatively affecting our walk and focus on Christ and His Word.

We will be working on this blog, our mens ministry area on the website, launching more men's groups, outings and fellowship opportunities with possible family outings that we will host! The Lamb's family is growing and we need to get connected with each other.

If the statistics about church attendance are correct - about 35 - 40% of church is attended by men and if our weekly service attendance is 500+, this means that there are over 200 men at Lambs. With our two mens groups (~25 men attend each week) + the monthly mens breakfast (30 men attend on average) are not cutting it. We need to offer more opportunities for men to come together.

Keep your eyes pealed and Stay Strong!

Romans 1 Recap

Besides the fact that it was a very cold night, the intro and Chapter 1 of Romans discussion was awesome. It is great getting together with guys to discuss how God's word affects our daily lives. I was overcome by the simple fact that everyone knows that God exists. I spent much time on this and was thankful to be able to bounce it off the group. While we have differences about what we should do with our knowledge of Christ and how it should be done, I was stoked to hear all of the guys expressing each's desire to share Christ with others.

One of the freaky parts is the same area, where God says that he has given us/them over to the desires of their hearts - burning lust and whatnot for things that are not of him. This put me in check a bit, as I learn to keep myself free from too many things that keep me from him. It is a good reminder that our God is a jealous God - he does not want me to put things in front of my desire to be with him, have a relationship with him and look to him for my everything.

Stay strong

How Fresh is That? Ephesians Fresh!

Wow, God's word is pretty fresh. Not just April or downy fresh, but hip hop fresh -- so relevant, all the time. When we began studying Ephesians in the Tuesday night group at the Grind, I had not felt God's calling on my heart like this in quite some time. God's plan is all about love. Not only the miraculous love that he gave / gives / showers on us daily, but of our response in love to him and to all those others that he laid his life down for. You see, I often forget that God sent his son to die for me and you and that guy, that gal, that dude, his brother, sister, aunt, uncle, dad, cousin, mom and so on and so on and so on. I get so wrapped up in my own garbage that I forget about love.

Studying God's word delivered through Paul to the Ephesians and us, brought that back to me. Here are some hightlights of the last 6 weeks through Ephesians.

Jesus reconciled Jews and Gentiles to the Church and to himself so that we can be one body. When God looks at us (believers) he sees a portion of his body, like his arm or leg or hand and foot. Brings a new meaning to a hands and feet ministry. We as the body - together - are to be examples to the heavenly realms of His power, might, authority, love and grace!

Not only that, we are to be rooted in love! We are to mature in our faith and be pure for his purposes. And as such, we are to put on the full armor of God. Not just on the job or when we need him, but each and every day all the time.

We had some great discussions surrounding the fact that God gives us an unmeasurable amount of grace, not so much that we cannot know it, but enough that we cannot measure how much it truly is...amazing, no? YES.

We, as men, are to be to our wives as Christ is the to the church. When we defile our body, we are actually treating our wives in that way, as well as Christ. This is heavy stuff to contemplate, maybe make some changes? eh? I know, it is hard. But what is so cool about the whole thing is that God has already done the work. We need to stop working for it, cause we can't get it (lest no one should boast) and let him do the work - especially since he is the only good work in me!

Hope to see you for Romans on Tuesday nights. Look for some other studies that will be starting soon!

Stay Strong...

The Gway Rides Again...

So a few weeks ago, my computer crashed. Some time in the middle of the night, it had "updated" and then crashed or crashed during some kind of update. You never realize how much you rely on your computer - for just about everything - until it is gone. Of course, I am such a geek that I backup my whole system every night, so it was so easy to replace everything. Yeah, right. We lost everything!

It took a few weeks, but I finally found another harddrive to replace the old 80gb EIDE I had - and even upgraded to 160gb HD for about $80. In trying to recover any information off my old HD, I purchased one of those shells to plug in my old HD to my newly configured computer. After struggling to dismantle and reconnect the old HD to the device, it didn't work. All info had been wiped out. The reason it took a few weeks for me to get the right HD was the fact that I had to order a recovery system from Gateway to restore all my original programs on the new hard drive -- it was either that or go buy a new computer.

While waiting for my data disk to be sent from Gateway, I went searching for a new laptop. I thought that since it had been a few years, I should upgrade. After searching for a few days and walking away from several purchases, I decided that cheaper was better since I don't need all the bells and whistles. I settled on a decent purchase from Best Buy and a Compaq laptop for about $600, including 2 year extended warranty.

As soon as I got home and set the thing up - I got sick to my stomach. Here I was sitting in front of a machine that I didn't need...feeling sick of spending the money instead of waiting to fix my old one. I hate it when I know that I have done the wrong thing and then I sit stewing about it, trying to rationalize the purchase. My wife is awesome. She knew the other one blew up and was trusting that I knew what I was doing to make it work for us. What she didn't know is that we both hated the new purchase and that I felt horrible for making it.

Everything came together Friday night and Saturday morning. I put in the new $80 160gb HD and ran the recovery CD. I added the home version of microsoft office 2003 and the old Gateway was humming like new. I knew what must be done. I ripped through the Compaq and quickly transfered everyting that had been installed on it to the new Gway system, packed up the Compaq, grabbed my reciept and headed out to Best Buy. I had the computer for a week and realized that the store might not take it back, but I had to give it a shot.

Thank God, seriously, Best Buy took the computer back and for a low price of a restocking fee $67, and I had my $600 back (well $533)! Basically, I rented a new computer for a week for the fee.

The morale of this long tail is this: In the past, I would have ran right out and bought the top of the line whatever to replace what had broken. This time, I shopped around for a decent replacement and still felt horrible at spending the money. I also ended up returning the device instead of saying "oh well" at dropping the cash. I paid a small (relative to the price) fee to return the item and have never felt better about fixing and making do with the "old" one.

Sometimes I think that God is done working on me, but now I see the little things that he is doing in my life to make big changes in my attitude, character and stewardship.

What is HE doing with you?