Introducing Ramsey

My brother and sister-in-law just adopted this sweet little boy from Ethiopia. His name is Ramsey and he is a great blessing to our family. We praise God for him and pray that the LORD will set him apart as a warrior for the Kingdom of God!

If the Shirt Fits...

Asher does indeed do all his own stunts, and he likes to talk to his Nana on the phone.

Asher's Adventures

Chuck Norris says, "buy these jeans or else"

These are a must have Bryan!!!

Resolved:

It is that time of year when you look back on the past and look forward to the future. It is a time to reflect back and dream forward. Many resolutions will be made and most will probably be broken before the first month of the year is over.

Real and enduring life transforming resolutions cannot be kept in the power of the flesh. They may only be kept as we abide in Jesus Christ, the true giver and sustainer of life.

Jonathan Edwards is well-known for his Resolutions. He knew that he could not keep his resolutions in his own power. He wrote,

"BEING SENSIBLE THAT I AM UNABLE TO DO ANYTHING WITHOUT GOD' S HELP, I DO HUMBLY ENTREAT HIM BY HIS GRACE TO ENABLE ME TO KEEP THESE RESOLUTIONS, SO FAR AS THEY ARE AGREEABLE TO HIS WILL, FOR CHRIST' S SAKE."

In the wisdom of Jonathan Edwards and the power of the Holy Spirit I resolve to feed my appetite for God alone. May all other my other appetites fall in submission to my hunger for intimacy with the Almighty.

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." ~ Matthew 5:6

Deliver Us

Sweet!

The Latest Adventures of Asher

Asher and daddy have been spending some time outside in the snow having lots of fun sledding and building a snow fort.













Daddy and Asher also put together Asher's new bed. He got it as a gift from his grandpa. Asher is very thankful that his grandpa takes good care of him.









Asher is preparing for life with a new baby. He is practicing so he can help take care of his little brother/sister.

















Asher loves his new big boy bed and today he received another package in the mail from his Uncle John, Auntee Andee, and big cousins Samantha and Robin. He loves his books and is thankful for the generosity of his family.

A Church Planters Dream

We had dinner with a young couple who has recently become a part of Pointway Church. John recently came to faith through the ministry of Teen Challenge. Last week before our cell group he called me and asked if it was alright for him to bring someone with him. I think you can guess what my response was. Tonight he asked me again if he could bring another person with him to cell group. Again my response is predictable.

In just three weeks this new believer has brought three pre Christians to our cell group. I am amazed at the way God uses new believers to connect pre Christians to our church plant. We are also working to start and Evangelistic Bible Study in the book of Mark with another group of his friends.

This goes to show the importance of having connections with pre Christians if we are going to be effective in reaching out with the gospel of Jesus Christ,who was after all THE FRIEND OF SINNERS. We must be missional in our thinking and seek to cultivate redemptive relationships with pre Christians.

Let me end this post with a thought bomb: Based on the relationships and social connections you have could you be accused, as Jesus was, of being a FRIEND OF SINNERS?

The Hobbit is Coming

"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, not yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort."

I am totally psyched that The Hobbit is coming to the Big Screen.

Read about it HERE

Ten Questions to Ask at a Christmas Gathering

Many of us struggle to make conversation at Christmas gatherings, whether church events, work-related parties, neighborhood drop-ins, or annual family occasions. Sometimes our difficulty lies in having to chat with people we rarely see or have never met. At other times we simply don’t know what to say to those with whom we feel little in common. Moreover, as Christians we want to take advantage of the special opportunities provided by the Christmas season to share our faith, but are often unsure how to begin. Here’s a list of questions designed not only to kindle a conversation in almost any Christmas situation, but also to take the dialogue gradually to a deeper level. Use them in a private conversation or as a group exercise, with believers or unbelievers, with strangers or with family.

1. What’s the best thing that’s happened to you since last Christmas?

2. What was your best Christmas ever? Why?

3. What’s the most meaningful Christmas gift you’ve ever received?

4. What was the most appreciated Christmas gift you’ve ever given?

5. What was your favorite Christmas tradition as a child?

6. What is your favorite Christmas tradition now?

7. What do you do to try to keep Christ in Christmas?

8. Why do you think people started celebrating the birth of Jesus?

9. Do you think the birth of Jesus deserves such a nearly worldwide celebration?

10. Why do you think Jesus came to earth?

Of course, remember to pray before your Christmas gatherings. Ask the Lord to grant you "divine appointments," to guide your conversations, and to open doors for the gospel. May He use you to bring glory to Christ this Christmas.

Copyright © 2003 Donald S. Whitney. All rights reserved.

For more short, reproducible pieces like this, see www.BiblicalSpirituality.org

Vision - The Way We See When Our Eyes Are Closed

"The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it."

~ Michelangelo

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
~Ephesians 3:20-21

Why are we so small minded when we serve a God who can do FAR MORE ABUNDANTLY than all we can ask or thing?

Congratulations!

StAn the Embryo is now officially StAn the Fetus!

He/She weighs in at: 0.07 ounces
and measures in at: 0.9 inches

Way to go StAn, we knew you could do it!!!

We praise God for your life and we pray for you every day.
We can't wait to meet you!

Why New Churches Fail

The following is an insightful article by James Emery White

Too many churches race head first into no-man’s-land, and then languish, never breaking through the critical growth barriers necessary to flourish.

Every year, over 1 million people in this country start a business. Forty percent of them will close by the end of the first year. Within 5 years, more than 80 percent of them will fail. Of the 20 percent that make it past the first 5 years, 80 percent won’t make it past the second 5.

The statistics are about the same for new churches, and church-planting studies with denominations bear this out. Just as there are reasons why new businesses fail, there are reasons for new church failures. Having worked with church planters for several years and having planted a new church, I have seen some common problems in churches that fail or do not flourish.

Proverbs 21:31 says, "The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the Lord" (NIV). God brings whatever victory may result from our efforts, but the horse is ours to prepare.

At Mecklenburg’s New Work Conference, we cover dozens of critical issues related to new church health and growth, including a session outlining the top 12 reasons new works fail. Here are five that often contribute to a church’s failure to prepare for the battle.

REASONS WHY CHURCHES FAIL

Lack of Ministry Gifts

Many new churches fail because the point leader or leadership team lack the ministry gifts needed to plant a successful church. Certain gifts are essential for a successful start of a church. One person does not need to have them all, but they must be present within the founding leaders. These gifts are: leadership, communication, and evangelism. Be brutal on this evaluation. There is a difference between wanting to lead and being gifted to lead. And when it comes to communication, have someone besides your spouse and family affirm your ability to speak. Ministry is through spiritual gifts; and if the proper gifts are not present, the going will be tough.

Lack of Money

New churches cost more and tend to bring in less during the first few years through offerings than church planters think. Many new churches submerge because they don’t have sufficient capital to stay afloat. Too many let trite phrases, such as "God’s work done God’s way will never lack God’s supply," flow from their lips in response to this critical need. In reality, the New Testament speaks of churches in financial need, without any indication of a lack of spirituality on the part of the church itself. This provides a responsibility for more mature churches to step up their giving (2 Corinthians 8). New churches must have working capital to sustain themselves and invest in growth until they are self-sufficient. Lack of money sets up a self-defeating cycle. Since there is barely enough money to get by, a church can’t invest in growth through additional staff, better facilities, or efforts such as direct mail campaigns. Yet without growth, the church remains financially stagnant. Denominations must give church planters the resources they need, and church planters must make sure they have the proper funding.

Wandering in No-Man’s-Land

New churches also fail because they are wandering in no-man’s-land regarding the people they are trying to reach. This is particularly the case for those churches wishing to be contemporary rather than traditional, or seeker-targeted rather than oriented toward the already convinced.

No-man’s-land is when you are too seeker-sensitive to reach large numbers of believers, but you’re not seeker-targeted enough to reach large numbers of seekers. By being in the middle, you end up reaching no one. If your vision is to be seeker-targeted, be seeker-targeted. Don’t have 30 minutes of highly participatory praise and worship for believers, followed by a Christianity 201 or 301 message, and then throw in an offering disclaimer, casual dress, and drums, and think you’re a seeker-targeted church. You’re not. Define your vision for the church, and then be pure in its presentation and operation. Too many churches race headfirst into no-man’s-land, and then languish, never breaking through the critical growth barriers necessary to flourish.

Failure To Contextualize

Other new works fail to contextualize. They take something from outside their context and put it into a form for their context. The impetus behind many new churches is an excitement about a particular church that sparked the imagination and vision of those desiring to plant a church. These leaders try to replicate or model that church. When leaders do this, they often fail to do the hard, creative work of taking that model and shaping it to their unique situation. The principles and philosophies behind most of the large, successful, fast-growing churches will translate anywhere, but there are some areas that need to be adjusted: type of music, degree of participation that a seeker may want or need, the style of worship, dress code, and the selection of sermon topics.

Mecklenburg Community Church is known as a seeker-targeted church. But when compared to other well-known churches, such as Willow Creek Community Church near Chicago or Saddleback Valley Community Church outside of Los Angeles, there are major stylistic and structural differences. It’s great to have models, but let the model be just that–a model, not a monolith.

Small-Church Mentality

A final mistake common among new churches is a small-church mentality that permeates the entire community of faith. Tom Watson, founder of IBM, was asked why the company had become successful. Here are his words: "IBM is what it is today for three special reasons. First, at the very beginning, I had a clear picture of what the company would look like when it was finally done. Second, once I had that picture, I asked myself how a company like that would need to act. Third, IBM has been successful because after I had a picture of how IBM would look when the dream was in place and how such a company would need to act, I realized that unless we began to act that way from the very beginning, we would never get there. For IBM to become a great company it would need to act like a great company long before it ever became one."

One of the keys to Mecklenburg’s rapid growth as a new church–from a single family to over 2,000 in average weekly attendance in 6 years–was that we began as a small church with a big-church mindset. This played itself out in every conceivable way–every service and every event was done as if a thousand people were going to show up. And that is one reason why a thousand people eventually did. In many churches, just about everything they do–announcements, recognizing people, demeanor, levels of quality–is done as a little church, in little church style. This may seem laid-back and cozy at first, but it breeds a small-church mentality that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

IT’S JUST PLAIN HARD

While these five reasons explain why many new works fail, there are many more of equal importance. The bottom line is that planting a church is hard work. I laugh every time I hear someone say that starting a church–instead of working toward the transition or revitalization of an existing church–is the easy way to go. They obviously have never planted a church. Different problems? Yes. But easier? Hardly. But it can be done. The key is preparing our horse for battle and then trusting God for the victory.

Thanks Lynch Mob

Asher loves his presents from the Lynch Mob! He squealed with delight when he opened the box and saw that it was filled with books. We had to begin reading them immediately. He also loves his Cookie Monster Flashlight. Thanks Uncle John, Auntee Andee, and big cousins Samantha Jeane & Robin. We Love You! Merry Christmas!!!

I Won!

I won a set of the Modern Parables DVD's from Tim Challies. Sweet!



Prodigal Sons

What is God interested in?

God is more interested in our holiness than in our comfort. He more greatly delights in the integrity and purity of his church than in the material well-being of its members. He shows himself more clearly to men and women who enjoy him and obey him than to men and women whose horizons revolve around good jobs, nice houses, and reasonable health. He is far more committed to building a corporate “temple’ in which his Spirit dwells than he is in preserving our reputations. He is more vitally disposed to display his grace than to flatter our intelligence. He is more concerned for justice than for our ease. He is more deeply committed to stretching our faith than our popularity. He prefers that his people live in disciplined gratitude and holy joy rather than in pushy self-reliance and glitzy happiness. He wants us to pursue daily death, not self-fulfillment, for the latter leaders to death, while the former leads to life.

~D.A. Carson - A Call to Spiritual Reformation

Sin, Grace and the Cross

Smashing False Idols

These are from the 2007 Evangelists' Conference

The Acts of the Apostles

Today was a great day for mail. I received that familiar box with the Amazon logo on the side. I was especially excited about this arrival because the box contained the much anticipated new commentary on The Acts of the Apostles by Darrell L. Bock from the Baker Exegetical Commentary of the New Testament Series.

When I finally got a chance to open it up and take it for a test drive I was extremely tired and ready for bed, but it was only 7:00. My goal for the night is to make it to 8:30 before I turn in so I decided to start reading through the Introduction. It is filled with the usual commentary stuff and much of it I am familiar with from my research in Acts for my Th.M at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

It got really interesting as I read Bock's overview and theology of Acts sections. In the overview he talks about four issues that dominate Luke-Acts. The forth issue caused me to stop and ponder its meaning for a while.

(4) Finally, there is the story of various faithful witnesses who respond to Jesus in the face of opposition. Whether this theme concerns Peter and John, Stephen, Philip, Paul, or Barnabas, the book is filled with those sharing in the calling to take the message of fulfillment to the end of the earth. They serve as examples for those who carry out the mission of God. (Bock p.7)

I realized that as a church planter I am one of the many who are carrying out the mission of God. Thinking about this has caused me to rejoice in my calling as a church planter and it has encouraged me with the knowledge that I am a part of something truly magnificent! I am part of a legacy of church planting that goes all the way back to the time in which Jesus Christ walked the earth; a time when Peter, Paul, Barnabas, Apollos gave their lives to the preaching of the gospel and the planting of churches.

I knew that I was doing a work here that is beyond me and bigger than me and tonight I am praising God for opening my eyes a little wider to this reality.

I am on a Journey to the End of the Earth! I am also on a Journey to my bed because it is now 8:37 ~ Goodnight!

Soli Deo Gloria

A Good Word

"We depend on plans, programs, vision statements- but somewhere along the way we have succumb to the temptation to displace the foolishness of the cross with the wisdom of strategic planning."

~ Dr. D.A. Carson

True Saving Faith

"This is what true saving faith is like...First, you must wholeheartedly believe the truth of the gospel, and love that truth. Second, you must desire Christ and his salvation about everything else, and whole heartedly receive him."

"True saving faith means that you come to a deep, heartfelt conviction of how precious Christ is, and 'account all things loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord, and coun them but rubbish, that you may gain Christ and be found in him."

True saving faith also means that you love every part of Christ's salvation - holiness as well as the forgiveness of sins."

Walter Marshall, The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification

Church Planting Partners

Pointway Church is now one month old and we have grown from 3 to 13 people. One of our core values is Church Multiplication. One thing that we want to do in planting Pointway Church is to ingrain our core values into our DNA right from the start. After all they are core values!

That is why I am so excited about an opportunity that has recently arisen for us to partner in helping a new church plant. North Star Church Plant in Hibbing, MN will begin after the first of the new year. Pointway Church will partner with North Star prayerfully, financially and in gospel ministry.

We are also making plans to daughter our first church plant together in 3 to 5 years. I count it a privilege in many ways especially because the planter is a treasured friend and mentor.

This is the outworking of a conviction I hold that a church is not a true New Testament book of Acts type church unless it is working to plant other churches. I praise the LORD of the harvest who has given us this opportunity to bear witness to the truth and power of the gospel.

May the Holy Spirit have his way with us and may God be glorified because of us.

Soli Deo Gloria

A Glimse of the Future

This is for you Joy. This is Anne and Asher shortly before he came into the world.

Challies Dot Com December Giveaway

Challies Dot Com is giving away a great resource this month.



Enter to win and if you would be so kind enter my referral number 40794

Update: I won third place!!! Pretty Sweet!

Between Two Worlds: Manifesto on Evangelism

Between Two Worlds: Manifesto on Evangelism

Free Audio Book

Christian Audio is offering Dark Night of the Soul by St. John of the Cross free this month.

Asher and Daddy Early in the Morning

Daddy has his coffee and Asher has his juice!

Asher loves shells & cheese!

Can I have some more please. (Asher ate four servings of shells and cheese)

Watch StAn (and Anne's Belly) Grow!

7 Weeks