Bobbie Houston's Testimony

I love learning someone's testimony, don't you?

Click here for a great faith building testimony and encouraging word from Bobbie Houston, pastor's wife at Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia.

Sample paragraph:

Should you find yourself in a position of leadership with the responsibility of influence over others, then understand that you are commissioned and expected to excel. This is the beauty and price of leadership. Leadership is about giving people something to follow. Don’t add unnecessary pressure or demand to this statement because all you have to be is the gorgeous person that God calls you to be. If you achieve that, then you will find yourself fulfilling your part.

The Golden Compass movie

Maybe you've heard some of the rumblings about The Golden Compass that will be out Dec. 7. I know there are a lot of e-mails flying around.

It appears (to me) to be very Chronicles of Narnia-ish, i.e. children's fantasy type movie. We see most kids movies that are released, so I was glad to be tipped off to the dark, anti-God background of the movie. We will not be seeing this movie. There are plenty of others.

But before you take your kids READ THIS from Focus on the Family's movie review site.

Also, can I just say that I hate it that Nicole Kidman is in this movie. She is one of my favorites :)

Confession is Good for the Soul

Confessed anything lately? Recently, I had sat down with a good friend and I did just that-confessed something.

During my prayer times, God had been dealing with me about a certain conversation we had months ago. Trying to be funny (this usually gets me in trouble every time) I said something that seemed cute at the time, but I grew to regret.

Although my comment wasn't directed at my friend, I still said it in her presence. I really felt I needed to get it cleaned up and grow up. So I did it.

This is what we're supposed to do as people who claim to have a relationship with Christ. James 5:16 tells us to...

"Make this your common practice:

confess your sins (your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins)

to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together

whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God

is something powerful to be reckoned with." (MSG + AMP)

I mess up a lot, so I could probably do this quite frequently if I really thought about it!

So, what do you need to confess? In addition to confessing to God, we must get better at James 5:16. This requires a laying down of pride, a little bit of courage, and an increase in maturity--but it's worth it, so do it soon!

Is the Multi-Campus Church Concept Biblical?

The following article was posted is by Pastor J.D. Greear of Summit Church in Durham, NC. I thought it was interesting and worth passing on:

Is The Multi-Campus Church Concept Biblical?

John Piper shared some interesting perspective on this question I thought was worth passing on to you (mixed in with this are some of my own thoughts… so, the parts that don’t make sense you can blame on me…). I found this very refreshing since many of those promoting multi-site don't seem to have wrestled with the biblical implications of the approach... they only have a "this works so it's got to be right and don't criticize me or slow me down with the Bible" kind of attitude.

Let me say right up front: you can’t mandate from Scripture that all churches should be multi-campus. But.. with that said…

Consider the church in Jerusalem. Here’s a few salient points to let marinate:

They had a massive growth problem: The 2nd chapter of Acts tell us that within a few weeks well over 10,000 people had come to Christ (5000 men…) and people were being added “every day.” Acts 2 records the crowd’s response to Peter’s sermon as, “What should we do?” Peter tells them and 3000 souls respond, and in Acts 3 5000 responded, and they are only counting the men. That created a “Holy cow, what should we do?” question for the 120-person core group also! They were dealing with going from 120 to over 10,000 in one week. No conscientious Christian ever says “we’re growing too fast” any more than a cancer patient says “I’m healing too fast.” The Jerusalem church scrambled to do what it could to accommodate that growth.
The Jerusalem church remained as ONE church: Three times in Acts a reference is made to the church in Jerusalem, and each time it is referred to in the SINGULAR. Acts 8:1: “There arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem.” Acts 11:22: “The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.” Acts 15:4, Luke describes Paul and Barnabas’ return to Jerusalem: “When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders.” Each time, it does not refer to churches, but church. Not once, that I can find, is it referred to as MULTIPLE, independent congregations.

The church devoted themselves to the Apostles’ teaching: Acts 2 says that the new church gathered around the teaching of the Apostolic team.

There is no way they could have been gathered as one large group: There was simply no facility that could hold them in Jerusalem. Acts 2 tells us they were meeting to hear the Apostles’ teaching daily “in the temple.” The temple was only about 26 acres, and a lot of other stuff was happening there. Plus, this was before microphones and video projection. Thus, it would take multiple, smaller gatherings for 10,000 to devote themselves to the Apostles’ teaching. That’s probably why it says they met “daily.” You see, it never says that all 10,000 met every day, just that every day some portion of them were meeting to hear the Apostles’ teach. Do you get what that means? A “teaching team” of Apostles were holding multiple services in the temple. I’m sure each Apostle was teaching the same sermon multiple times each week. You can’t tell me that each rushed home and prepared a new message every day. And you can’t tell me that if they had blogs, video and T-1 internet connections they wouldn’t have been using thme.

Eventually, the one church met in multiple houses every day to devote themselves to the Apostles’ teaching. This seals the deal for me. One church, meeting in multiple houses. A traveling group of Apostles’ teaching every day in different houses and different locations in the temple or wherever else they could find space.

Their megachurch had massive organization problems and members who felt left out. In Acts 6, people were complaining that in the Jerusalem megachurch member-care was not happening. Notice the Apostles’ response. They didn’t start reading Brian McLaren books and declare themselves post-megachurch and poopoo the whole idea of a big church. Nor did they read George Barna books and start meeting on the golf course with their Ipods. Nor did they complain that as trained ministers they weren’t able themselves to do the member care Jesus had ordained them to do. They appointed another organizational structure within the church to minister to the needs of the growing body. Big church is messy. But it’s better than letting people go to hell.

Happy Birthday to My Little Buddy

Our son, Braeden, was born 5 years ago today in Overland Park, Kansas. Yes, Braeden is a Jayhawk! Our other son, Joe, was born in Missouri, so we are a divided house by birth. But not in loyalty, go Jayhawks!

Today, Braeden requested Krispy Kreme doughnuts to pass out in his pre-school class. We will also take him to one of his favorite places, Fritz's (the train restaurant), at Crown Center.

I pray our sons become great men of God, husbands, and fathers someday. I treasure every moment with them as they grow.

(below is us cruising Animal Kingdom on our recent vacation in Florida)

Courage Under Fire

This was the scene in our backyard today. These turkeys looked very nervous! What a gutsy move, being out and about--it was definitely some courage under fire.

Hope your holiday was great. We've done a little bit of everything: took in the Christmas In The Sky fireworks @ Longview Lake last night, had a great meal today, watching Hairspray & Shrek 3 tonight because we can't move.

Happy Thanksgiving from the Ross family!

iPod Music Video

Below is the video we used as an intro to our "iListen" message. It was a huge hit. We used it to illustrate the point that "music speaks, music has a message, and music creates memories." It was all part of our annual Thanksgiving Outreach.


This video was produced by Granger Community Church in Granger, Indiana. If you've never heard of Granger, they are at the top of the list of innovative churches. Check them out sometime.

Thanksgiving Outreach

We had our annual "Great Gobble Giveaway" this weekend, giving away 200 food boxes and 229 turkeys to families in the community. This is a tremendous outreach that many in our city count on every year. Our school does a food drive to fill the boxes and our church gets the turkeys. We invite people to a service and hand out the food afterwards.

It was standing room-only Saturday night for the illustrated message, "iListen".



Our guests were really into the whole service. The band and media team were amazing all weekend. Our outreach team, led by Pastor Brad Oyler, did a great job as usual. Sat. night alone saw between 75-100 adults come forward to begin or renew a relationship with Christ.

Sunday we did it all again (twice!) followed by an all-church dinner, serving about 400 people.

Events like this don't just happen. It takes a lot of teamwork, a lot of planning, and a lot of prayer. Thanks to all our pastors, staff, volunteers & contributors who made it possible.

Using secular music within the backdrop of a TV game show ("Don't Forget The Lyrics") may not be something a lot of churches would do. But, we must remember that The Message is Sacred, Not the Method. If we really want to reach the lost, we've got to take creative risks once in a while and let the Holy Spirit do the rest!

Click here for the iPod music video we showed during the service.

iListen

This is going to be an incredible weekend! Last night we had rehearsal for the up-coming illustrated message entitled, "iListen." The idea comes from the TV show "Don't Forget the Lyrics."

We are going to use four songs: "Jump", by Van Halen, "Every Step You Take", by The Police, "Life is a Highway," by Rascal Flatts, and U2's "In the Name of Love." Our band is doing all of the songs live, and they sounded great! It should be a lot of fun presenting Christ this way!

I love our church for things like this. Some churches wouldn't allow illustrated messages like this, but we've found that unchurched and de-churched individuals really enjoy coming to a worship environment that isn't afraid of culture.

Along with our illustrated message, the community is invited to come and receive a FREE food box and 10 lb. turkey while supplies last. We call it the "Great Gobble Give-a-Way." Pray with us that many souls will come into the Kingdom through our three services this weekend.

Love the Bookstore!

Got to hang out with Sarah Elrod last night, our worship pastor's wife. The guys all went to the CBC (our alma mater) basketball game in Belton. It's always fun to be around Sarah; even though we're not close in age, I still manage to trick her into hanging out with me :)

First stop was the Christian Bookstore to pick up a couple new Frontline Worship CD's. We both started saying how much we loved coming to the bookstore. We sorta wandered around checking out all the new stuff! Here's a few books we looked at and I put on my radar to read soon:

Deanna Favre - Don't Bet Against Me

Joyce Meyer - I Dare You

Joyce Meyer - A New Day, A New You

Joyce Meyer - Woman to Woman

Greg Hawkins - Reveal

Next stop: Salty Iguana for dinner. Then Shoe Carnival (I am shoe-challenged and I need help picking out shoes!) and finally home.

Dave Ramsey's Holiday Spending

Brian and I were just recently discussing what our Christmas budget would look like this year. How much do we spend on everybody? How do you make it really special for your kids, without neglecting your extended family & friends? Think about this too long and you'll get a headache.


I just heard Dave Ramsey speak about holiday spending on the news. Here's a few of his points:

-TREAT CREDIT CARDS LIKE THE GRINCH!

-Last year, the avg. holiday credit user put $626 on credit cards

-It takes an avg. of 6 months to pay off holiday debt

-17% of shoppers charged $1000 or more

Talk about stress! Dave says if you can't afford the holiday gifts you want, too bad. Get creative and come up with cheaper alternatives.

That's great advice until we actually start shopping, right????

Dave's Bottom line: Christmas can't be on credit!

Frontline Worship CD Release

Just thought I'd put a plug in for the Frontline Worship CD (Phoenix Master's Commission). It is being released today, Tuesday, Nov. 13, at Family Christian Stores across the country.


Please buy a CD and support this awesome group!

Tattoos, Drinking, & Gambling

Today we finished our series, "Got Questions, Get Answers." I've already gotten a lot of good feedback. You may not agree with everything I said, but it sure created a lot of discussion. And I think that's a good thing!

The message today dealt with what many would call "grey areas." I have found that most people ask one question when dealing with these questions: "Why not?"
"Why not get a tattoo?"
"Why not socially drink, as long as drunkenness doesn't follow?"

"Why not gamble, as long as I'm responsible and it doesn't cause my family financial loss?"

(For the answers to all of these questions and more, get the cd's of the services. You might be surprised by some of my answers.)

I think there is a better question to ask. Many times we don't get the right answers
because we don't ask the right questions. The better question might just be, "Why?" Why do some of the things that are considered to be in the grey area?

"All things are permissible, but not all things are beneficial" (1 Cor. 6:12). Remember, you have been bought with a great price and "you are not your own... glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's" (1 Cor. 6:19,20).

Scripture makes it clear, "Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" (1 Cor. 10:31). Maybe if we asked, "Why," we could find the motive behind are actions. Maybe we would find we are doing whatever it is out of rebellion, pride, selfish ambition or simply out of our sinful nature. The Bible is clear here, "We should avoid every kind of evil" (1 Thes. 5:22).

Maybe as you're trying to decide how to live your life this week, instead of asking "Why not?" Try asking, "Why?" Realizing that for us as Christians, we should glorify God and seek to please Him in every area of our life.

Suicide

Part 2 of the God Questions series: One of the questions from Sunday's message was, "Will Christians who commit suicide still go to heaven"?

Well, this is highly debated and the Bible is not crystal clear on this issue. Here are some related Bible passages that would seem to caution us away from suicide:

1 John 3:15 - "The way we know we've been transferred from death to life is that we love our brothers and sisters. Anyone who doesn't love is as good as dead. Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know very well that eternal life and murder don't go together."

Romans 5:1-2 "...didn't you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit? Don't you see that you can't live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body. "

Ecc. 7:17 "Don't die before your time by being too evil or acting like a fool."

All that being said, I do believe in a loving and merciful God. A God whose grace knows no bounds. It is hard for me to imagine someone who has given their heart to God, and goes through a time of emotional/mental torment, and is denied heaven.

The Bible tells us that only God can judge the intentions of each person's heart. This is a question that will only truly be answered when we get to heaven ourselves. The bottom line is why take a chance? If you struggle with this spiritual issue, ask God to give you a peace about your personal conviction. And if you are in a suicidal situation yourself, get help. Confide in a friend. Speak to your pastor. Talk to your doctor. Don't take a chance!

Halloween Alternative

What are your Halloween traditions? When I was growing up, we did the usual: dress up, get a pillowcase to load w/candy, and hit the neighborhood. I think us kids even went by ourselves most of the time.

There were never any worries about weird stuff happening or weird people. I know a lot of families who still enjoy the traditional trick or treat, and that's cool. Our kids don't miss it, because they've never done it.

Our church just hosted it's 13th annual Kids Fest on Oct. 31. Even though it has become a tradition, it has evolved over time. For many years, we had an event with games, inflatables, food, etc. in our gym. Then, to relieve crowd pressure on the gym, we added a drama in the auditorium. And last year, we took it on the road by renting out Paradise Park in Lee's Summit.

We always have a tremendous turnout, usually over 400. Our kids absolutely love this night! They hang with their friends, there's plenty to do inside and out, and they still get CANDY! It's also the perfect night for our people to invite their un-churched friends.

Brian and I really enjoy meeting new people and connecting with our church family on this night. It's a perfect time for adults to connect while the kids are having fun. Just as our personal relationships must be intentional, so do our church relationships. They are fostered through opportunity. Kids Fest is one of those opportunities! See you next year--

"Chasing The Lion" @ Disney

Brian took these vacation pictures while we were on the Kilimanjaro Safari ride at Disney's Animal Kingdom. Although we've been on this ride several times, we've never seen a lion quite like this (you know, they sleep most of the time).

We spent the rest of the safari trying to think of a cheesy saying like, "In Disney World, With A Lion, On A Hot & Humid Day..." Corny, I know. But our kids laughed! Vacations are perfect for accumulating experiences.

By the way, if you haven't gotten around to reading In A Pit, With A Lion, On A Snowy Day yet, I would challenge you to do so. You won't be sorry! Click here for the Lion Chaser's Manifesto by author Mark Batterson that we handed out to conclude our Chase The Lion series.

Beth's Personal Pink Impact

To conclude our recent series, "Chase The Lion" (adapted from a book by our friend Mark Batterson), we passed out the Lion Chaser's Manifesto. One of the edicts of the manifesto is to "...worry less about what other people think and more about what God thinks."

Beth Wagner, who is part of the Wed. night worship team @ Englewood, and leads worship @ Eastpoint on Sundays, participated in a hair show on Saturday night. She, along with brother Lance, walked the runway for B Vogue Salon. She was definitely living out that part of the manifesto!

Courage is a wonderful thing. Did I mention it doesn't wash out?? A very personal "Pink" Impact! :)

Got Questions- Part 1

We began a new teaching series yesterday called, "Got Questions? Get Answers." People had the opportunity to submit questions for me to research and answer. We got a lot of good questions, many on "grey" areas of Christianity, such tattoos, social drinking, etc.

This Sunday, we began with the following questions:

• What happens when you die? Do you go to heaven or a resting place?
• Why does hell exist?
• How many layers of hell are there?
• What will hell be like?

Sounds a little dark--but I felt like it was a gentle reminder of the truth. The format was a good change of pace. I also sensed people were receptive and interested. We had a great altar call for salvation and Pastor Ryan and the worship team did a fantastic job yesterday!

I can't wait to tackle next Sunday's questions!

Sunday night I went over to Eastpoint. Pastor Claude brought a great word and there is such an air of genuineness and fellowship. I enjoyed myself and it was good to see those I don't get to see as often anymore.

Lion Chaser's Manifesto

Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Consider the lilies. Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Don't let what's wrong with you keep you from worshipping what's right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze a new trail. Criticize by creating. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don't try to be who you're not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away. Chase the lion!

Author: Mark Batterson

Who Painted The Trees?

This is the typical Midwest fall view we returned home to out our backyard after vacationing in Florida (88, sunny....ahhh). Braeden (4) ran to the back windows and shouted to his Dad, "Whoaaaaaaaah! Dad! Dad! Come here right now! Someone painted our trees!"

Braedenology.