Tony Gonzalez on Oprah's Big Give

Our family's favorite KC Chief , Tony Gonzalez, will be part of Oprah's new show "Oprah's Big Give". Read more about it here.

He will also be appearing on her Friday, Feb. 29 show at 4pm, ct. "Oprah's Big Give" premieres this Sunday night, March 2 at 8pm, ct. on ABC.

You might be interested to know...

• I received a text message earlier this week from my friend, Kim Ganote, who works for Sprint. She had just met Nate Berkus, who was visiting Sprint to promote "Oprah's Big Give", and say "thank you" for Sprint being a major sponsor. Nate is the show's host. Kinda cool.


• Over Christmas break, Brian took our son, Joe, and his friend Isaac (both 12) up to the airport to see if they could meet the Chiefs as they returned from a road game. Joe and Isaac are both huge Chiefs fans and Joe has been dying to get Tony G's autograph. It was about midnight, and the boys were all decked out in their jerseys, etc. Well, the whole team was right there and many of them stopped to talk to the boys, including coach Herm Edwards. Of course, the absolute highlight was Tony Gonzalez who talked to the boys and signed autographs for them! Great boyhood memories. Below is a picture of Isaac & Tony:

Adders & Ladders

Recently, I was reading some thoughts from Ed Young and I came across this insight:

Ed said that when you are in a pit, you either hang out with "adders" or "ladders". I had to look this up (I don't keep up with snakes), but an "adder" is a type of snake. A venomous snake. They are not aggressive unless harassed or threatened, but they will eat their prey whole.

Isn't that interesting. There are just some people who have no ambition to get out of that pit and they want you to stay with them. It's a pity parrr-tayyy! These people are seemingly un-agressive, but their words and attitude carry a lot of venom. They look harmless, but watch out-- their negative aura will eat you alive.

"Ladders", obviously, will help you get out of the pit. These are people who not only encourage you with their words, but with their actions. They are positive and enabling. They are patient listeners, who listen without judging you (even when they don't agree with you!). They are not keeping you at arm's length because you are in a down time, but rather extending their arm of help and encouragment.

Are you in a pit? Who are you hanging out with? Are you an "adder" or a "ladder"?

C3 Conference by Pastor Ryan

Going to a conference is cool!
Going to Texas for a conference is great!
Going to Texas for a conference with the Pastoral staff from Englewood is stinkin' awesome!

There was a plethora of great information and creativity at the conference, but here are some of my take aways:

1. Watch out for snow snakes.
2. This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine! Hide it under a bushel, NO! I'm gonna let it shine!
3. I am to empower others.
4. I cannot empower others if I am too big in the frame.
5. I can empower others by creating a culture of permission. Allow people the freedom to function in their giftings.
6. It's all about people!
7. There must be a balance between challenge & grace.

C3 Conference-Final Thoughts

Here are some of my overall thoughts after attending the 2008 C3 Conference:

• Good to hang out with some of the staff AWAY from the office. Great times!


• Got to know Pastor's Ryan Elrod's Dad, Gary, better. Great man.


• Toured Pastor Ryan & Sarah Elrod's home church in Denison, Texas. Great heritage.


• Ate an awesome meal at Sarah Elrod's parents' restaurant. BBQ to die for! Great food.


• Toured The Church of Corinth (Corinth, Texas) pastored by our good friends Jeff & Sherri Williams. Great story. (I'll blog more about this soon)
• TD Jakes brought the house down on Friday. Great anointing!

Deal or No Deal sermon series

Sunday, we began a new series on stewardship, "Deal or No Deal". It seems like every church in the world has done a Deal or No Deal sermon series, so we're not original as far as titles go. I do, however, feel that this will be a series with a great impact.


In part 1, we compared The World's Pattern with God's Pattern for stewardship:


The World's Pattern:

1. Fun
2. Needs
3. Paying our debts
4. Savings
5. Giving

God's Pattern:

1. Giving
2. Savings
3. Paying our debts - Rom. 13:8
4. Needs
5. Fun - Ecc. 9:7-9

• Stewardship Is Always Spiritual - Prov. 16:16


• Obedience Always Opens The Door To Blessing

C3 Conference-Tommy Barnett

Day #2 of the Creative Church Conference in Grapevine, Texas brought my ministry hero, Tommy Barnett. Wow. I've heard him speak so many times, but every time I'm encouraged and blessed. He spoke on "The Honor of Wanting to Quit". Here are some points:

• If you’ve ever wanted to quit, you’re in good company



• When you’re in it, you want out of it. When you’re out of it, you want back in it… that’s how ministry is



• Many great men and preachers wanted to quit (Spurgeon, Churchill)



• There is honor in wanting to quit: (1) Wanting to Quit is a Sign of Success [because you have something to actually quit!] (2) The more you have to quit, the more you want to quit [the colder it becomes, the riskier it becomes, the lonelier it becomes] (3) You can enjoy the luxury of wanting to quit, if you know you’re not really going to quit.


• A burden comes and goes, but it’s the call of God that drives you when you feel you can go no further

HOW DO YOU KEEP FROM QUITTING?

1. Burn the bridges behind you- there’s no adventure like building churches for God



2. Don’t tell anybody you want to quit when you want to quit; they might take you up on it!



3. Do not expose yourself to what you don’t want to be. Eliminate negative people from your circle. (you will be what you hang around)
   


4. If you don’t want to quit, lock yourself in so you cannot quit

C3 Conference-Day 1

The past few days, I have been at Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas for the 2008 C3 Creative Church Conference. Some of the staff and I drove down Wednesday. It's really kind of a God-story why we're here at all. About 1 year ago, Jennifer and I were at a mini Creative Church Conference with Pastor Ed Young in St. Louis, Mo. They were offering a HUGE discount on registrations for their big annual C3 Conference. We have always wanted to attend this conference and felt like we should go ahead and purchase these registrations for the staff.

Fast forward one year later and we are in a pretty good financial crunch. What to do about this conference? What seemed right a year ago seemed really dumb now. I called and it was completely non-transferable to next year and non-refundable. Use it or lose it. I don't have permission to go into all the details now of how we are making this happen, but I am definitely taking this as a sign that God wanted us here at this time for a purpose. God knew a year ago that He wanted to pour into us during this week.

I'll be honest, it is a major time-sucker and inconvenience driving to Dallas and back; not to mention tiring. We're all busy and I'm kicking off a new series on Sunday. It would have been a lot easier to "stay in the boat". But God had other plans. Sometimes pastors just need to be pastored. And, Healthy Pastors = Healthy Churches!

Day #1 was awesome! Ed Young spoke on "Betrayal". And I attended the Senior Pastor & Spouse's luncheon (minus the spouse!), hosted by Ed & Lisa Young. Both of these sessions were bullseyes for me. There's nothing like being in the right God-place at the right God-time. I'm glad we came. I'll blog more about the conference for you later.

Water Baptism intro video

This is just a little intro video Brian & Jake shot that was shown after worship and right before the baptisms started. Click here to read more about & see pictures of our Feb. '08 baptism celebration service.

Is Anyone Thirsty?

John 7:37-39 - "On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified."

I don't know about you, but we go through a TON of Gatorade at our house. Those short bottles are easy to grab on your way out the door to baseball, basketball, or whatever. It seems to be the drink of choice for our boys when they are really thirsty!

On Sunday, we talked about Quenching Your Spiritual Thirst:

Why are you thirsty?

1. Are your expectations unrealistic? Spiritual passion = desire to obey. Do you find yourself constantly bucking authority? Do you frequently resist suggestions or instructions of leadership? Do you have a bad attitude? Maybe you have a passion problem.


2. Is there any sin you need to confess to God and turn from? Psalm 139:23-24
   
3. Are you engaged in practices or habits that dull your spiritual fire? Heb. 12:1 Too much TV, internet, or unhealthy music? Too many unhealthy thoughts, conversations, or relationships?


4. Are you consistent in spiritual disciplines? Download the 11 Spiritual Disciplines


5. Are you asking God's blessings upon your life and enlisting the prayers of others? I Chronicles 4:9-10

I also gave a "Thirst Quiz". Download the quiz and see how thirsty you are!

Lunar Bowl

Everybody had a good time last night at Lunar Bowl! We had a great turnout of over 100 people and could have used a few more lanes, but it all worked out. We love getting our church family together....here are some pictures:

Water Baptism

Wednesday night was AWESOME. I heard that expression over and over again from everybody who gathered to celebrate the active life of Christ in those who were baptized.

Many times baptismal services are an afterthought or a small part of a church service. But we felt like we wanted to emphasize this significant practice that Christ told us to follow. Giving the night to praise, worship and baptism really allowed the time needed to make it special.

29 individuals entered into the waters of baptism to express their public witness and desire. I pray that God will continue to shine forth in their lives as they learn to yield to Him. Congratulations to all of you who were baptized! Check out the complete slide show over in the right hand column.

A Lifestyle...ECA...

The past few weeks my eyes have been opened to a whole new lifestyle. A lifestyle I thought I already lived... but an elementary school taught me different.

As Christmas break was coming up I thought... how can I get the kids to remember what I challenge them to do? So we made the last chapel before break a “challenge” chapel. We had been talking about doing Acts of Random Kindness and I gave them a track sheet to write down their “ACTS” to bring back after Christmas break. The elementary students of Englewood Christian Academy did awesome, 40% of the kids participated.

The “ACTS” ranged from doing a sibling's chore, shoveling snow, visiting a elderly person in the hospital, picking up coins that an elderly lady dropped, donating clothes and toys, helping mom cook dinner, help dad clean the garage, helping grandma fold clothes, helping grandpa clean his car, bringing food to a homeless man....and the list goes on and on and on.

The funny thing is now all the kids are really thinking about it, how can they make a difference? How can they change their world? What would happen if everyone did “ACTS”? What would our world be like? Several of the kids did “ACTS” for strangers...how many adults would do it for a perfect stranger? This activity did more than make me think, it made me change my lifestyle. I want the kids that see me everyday to see something different about me. I want to show them “ACTS” not talk to them about it.

Jesus was that perfect example, again, of showing us to do those random acts of kindness...His whole life was about doing that. I want to be like Him and I want to show the kids that they can make a difference in this life.

Pastor Amy Bales - Children's Pastor & Elementary Chapel Director, Englewood Ministries

Israel & New Breed at the Grammys

In case you're interested: Israel Houghton ("Friend of God", "Again I Say Rejoice", etc.) will perform on the 2008 Grammy Awards telecast, Sunday Feb . 10 on CBS. His group is up for a couple of awards.

Click here for more details and information.

This is hilarious: Did you know Israel once led worship for an Englewood Men's Retreat?? Yep, that's right--a men's retreat. It was about 10 years ago. I don't think we even asked him to sing on Sunday. What were we thinking?????????????????????????????

Maybe we can get Joel Osteen to come usher when he is in town this month. Or maybe we could get Joyce Meyer to pray over the offering when she comes to KC in May. I'm just sayin'........................ :)

All Pro Dad

Our monthly All Pro Dad meeting is scheduled for this Saturday, February 9 from 9:30-10:30am at Bingham Middle School in Independence, MO. I hope to see some familiar faces and new friends there. Our time together will include a great breakfast, discussion, and door prizes. Cost is $3.00 at the door for breakfast. If you haven't RSVP'd yet, you can do so now revross12@aol.com.

The idea behind All Pro Dads Day is to create a place where dads and their children can come together, spend some quality time with each other and discuss life topics together. Dads are a vital part of the home and our communities. Let's work together at being the best we can be!

The menu for Saturday is as follows: chocolate and white milk, biscuits and gravy, hashbrowns, cereal, bacon and eggs. I'm already hungry.

Don't forget to bring a friend or family member. They will enjoy themselves and maybe win a door prize. See ya Saturday.

Here's some more pics from our January meeting:

Turning Point Church Website

Just letting everybody know that Turning Point Church's new website is up and running! Check it out- it's awesome. Put it on your favorites -- you can check the staff blogs, and listen to Sunday messages all from the site.

Great job by Creative Arts Pastor Chris Atkinson for being the catalyst in making this happen!

Favorite Super Bowl Commercial

Did you watch the game? The Giants vs. Patriots Super Bowl was the most watched SB ever. It was also the 2nd most watched TV show of all time.

Below is my favorite commercial of the night. I grew up in the St. Louis area, so I got to see the Clydesdales up close as a kid at Grant's Farm. And Brian and I had a dalmatian ("Cookie") when we were first married!

Super Bowl

We had a great evening with friends watching the Big Game last night. Let's just say it's a good thing the fast is over. We had a divided crowd with Brian and I among those hoping for the Patriots to go undefeated. We don't really like the Pats; we just thought undefeated was cool! Did anybody else notice KU athletic director Lew Perkins seated in the luxury box with Peyton Manning? What's the deal with that?

Super Bowl Factoids :

• More people watch Super Bowls (141.4 million viewers in '06) than voted in the 2004 Presidential election.


• There are 7.5 million parties on Super Bowl Sunday (National Retail Federation


• 1.5 million TV sets will be sold the week leading up to the Super Bowl (National Retail Federation) and it's no surprise sales of big screen TVs generally show a fivefold increase during that time (National Electronic Dealers Association).


• The Super Bowl is the top at-home party event of the year.


• Super Bowl Sunday is the second-largest day of food consumption behind Thanksgiving (American Institute of Food Distribution), which makes it not a surprise at all that antacid sales increase 20 percent the day after the Super Bowl (7-11 stores).


• On Super Bowl Sunday, Americans consume 8 million pounds of guacamole (California Avocado Commission).


• Super Bowl weekend is the slowest weekend for weddings (multiple sources) for one simple reason. What bride in her right mind would want to start off her marriage by making her husband miss such a big event? I mean, it is the Super Bowl after all.

Pink Impact "Soup-er Bowl"

Wed., Jan. 30, 2008 was the first ever Pink Impact Soup-er Bowl! Pink Impact is the name of our women's ministry. We had close to 70 in attendance and everyone seemed to have fun. We served a variety of homemade soups, desserts, etc. These nights are intended to foster friendships among our ladies, and to encourage them through a short message or testimony.
Our message for this night was about being "Open". Everyone received a letter opener/slicer to take home as an illustration. Be Open to:

1) Self Evaluation- what areas of your life can you improve upon this year?

2) Serving - what needs have you seen that you can help fill?

3) Savior - what is God speaking to you and are you "open" to His voice?

I really enjoy these "girl" evenings! If you haven't checked us out yet, be sure to watch for info. on our next meeting.

Click here for more pictures!