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Happy to be home . . . sad to be away

2009-09-20T10:50:30-07:00

With about any trip I take, it is always good to be home. Like they say . . . there's no place like it.

But I have to say that as good as it is to be back home, it's sad to be away from Israel. I'm already looking forward to going back in about 5 months.

Ann and I had already scheduled a trip prior to this one so this gracious opportunity provided by the Israel Department of Tourism was a God-thing. Wow! How it prepared us for our own trip next year.

And what a great group to travel with . . . and they were all Pastors and their wives. We had a ball together . . . we laughed . . . shared stories . . . shared ministries . . . shed tears . . . and even joked with each other. Thanks to all of you for making it a fantastic group.

I love Mark and Susie . . . what great leaders for our team. Hearts of gold and wonderful insights at the various locations we visited. Thanks guys for being so loving.

Our guide . . . what can I say . . . "Follow me please . . ." will be etched into my mind for a long time. Tsion was just awesome . . . a walking encyclopedia . . . a very fast walking one at that. How one guy can know so much . . . I'm amazed. I really hope we can connect again in the near future.

And thanks to the Israel Department of Tourism for providing this wonderful journey. What a gracious gift! It prepared us for the trip we will lead and it gave us a great platform from which to speak more intelligently to the people we will be leading.

Every Christ follower should visit the land of Israel. Here are my top 3 reasons:

1. The Bible will come alive. As I read the Bible and resume my responsibilities to teach God's Word, the places and events will jump off the page at me and add a whole new dimension.

2. You get to see what Jesus saw and walk where Jesus walked. You are transported back into time. For example sitting on the Mt. of Beatitudes and seeing what Jesus saw as He taught . . . you get the picture!

3. You'll never be the same. I'm such a fallible human being but being in Israel has opened the door of my heart just a bit wider to God's work in my life. What He did there in my heart I'll carry for a long time and I'm sure He'll use it to continue His work in me.

It's good to be home . . . I can't wait to go back.

Radical Shift #4

2009-09-18T15:03:49-07:00

The fourth radical shift the church in America needs to make today is the shift from comfort to sacrifice. Don't get me wrong I'm not opposed to comfort. I remember my childhood days of going to church and having to keep cool with those little paper fans on a wooden stick . . . that really dates me and some of you remember what I'm talking about . . . because we didn't have air conditioning. . . sitting on hard pews . . . and then when I was old enough to drink really, really bad church coffee. So I kind of like having air-conditioned buildings, soft cushioned chairs, and Starbucks coffee.

But I think our comfort has a way of causing us to become selfish. We're not quite as eager to "give up" for the sake of others. Sacrifice for us in America could be something as simple as parking further away from the main entrance, giving up our favorite seat, sliding to the center of a row, or attending a less popular service time.

Sacrifice could look more like giving up daily espresso, not buying your second or third flat screen TV, being content in your 2000 square foot house rather than moving to 4000 square feet, or any number of things and start channeling those resources toward eternal, kingdom purposes.

So radical shift number four . . . from comfort to sacrifice. Ask yourself, what could I sacrifice today that would help to advance God's purposes for eternity?

Radical Shift #3

2009-09-17T10:48:13-07:00

The third radical shift the church in America needs to make is going from being spectators to being servants. There is a world of difference between the two. Here are a few observations.

Spectators are like the fans in the stands and Monday morning quarterbacks . . . offering lots of advice and expressing views on how it should have been done . . . servants are getting it done.

Spectators make a lot of noise . . . servants make a lot of progress

Spectators are overweight . . . servants are overworked

Spectators pay money and expect a great performance . . . servants reap the rewards of blood, sweat and tears

Spectators talk a good game . . . servants bring a good game

Spectators experience a lot of frustration . . . servants experience a lot of fulfillment

Spectators are in it for themselves . . . servants are in it for God

Hey! I’m in the Holy Land!

2009-09-12T08:26:43-07:00

Oh my goodness, what a day . . . we left out of Tiberias for a day of sightseeing and study that took us entirely around the Sea of Galilee. I'll give you the cliff notes . . . first we saw a 2000 year old boat from Jesus' time discovered in the Sea of Galilee just 23 years ago. It was discovered because of a drought and what an amazing site to see. Then we boarded a boat for a ride on the Sea and headed for Capernaum. There I gave a devotional and focused on the story of Jesus healing the Centurion's servant and the words of the Centurion . . ."Jesus, just say the word and he will be healed."

Then off to Tabgha where we visited the place that commemorates where Jesus multiplied the loaves and fish . . . the Mensa Christi . . . where Jesus asked Peter three times, "Do you love Me?"

Then a quick bite to eat and off to the Jordan River as it leaves the Sea of Galilee to a baptismal site . . .9 of us were baptized . . . I baptized my wife . . . what an experience . . . words can't describe so I won't even try.

Then off to the Mount of Beatitudes for a very moving reading of parts of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount as we sat on rocks in a place that could have been the very place where Jesus taught. Unbelievable!

Back on the bus and heading north passing Bethsaida, the birthplace of Peter, Andrew, James and John . . . onto the Golan Heights with a breath-taking view of the Sea of Galilee from the Peace Vista . . . as well as some more current history and then descending back into Tiberias on one of the steepest and most curvy roads I've ever been on in my life . . . and in a tour bus at that.

In fifteen minutes I'm off to dinner and then to bed because I'm running on 3 ½ hours of sleep.

Don't worry . . . those of you joining Ann and me on our trip in February and March next year . . . it will be a much slower pace but just as life changing. I can't wait for you to be here and us walking together where Jesus walked. I'm sooooooo excited for you.

For those of you who would still like to join us, it's not too late! Just email me at george@coolchurch.com and I'll get you all the info you need. We will have one more informational meeting on Oct. 7^th at the Happy Valley campus if you'd like to hear more about this opportunity of a lifetime!

Weekend Reflections

2009-08-31T11:33:56-07:00

I've been out of the country a lot this summer and away from my blog so here are some random reflections over the past several weekends while I've been away.

It's awesome to have such a great staff to cover for me while I'm away . . . great messages guys . . . I've heard some wonderful comments

It's great to be missed . . . thanks to so many of you who expressed how good it was to see me back safe and sound

I had a blast traveling with our Uganda team, working like a dog digging ditches, first time I ever got "throw up" sick on a trip like this, and then traveling on to India with Pastor Mike. He's a hoot to travel with . . . love the guy . . . love how he cleans everything down when we arrive at a new place . . . love how he is so gracious to people . . . love how he makes people feel important

Our Uganda team did an amazing job . . . worked so hard and accomplished so much . . . way to go guys, you're absolutely awesome!

Good to have made it out of India alive . . . wow that was an experience . . . never had to run from Hindu extremists before . . . wouldn't have traded it for the world . . . what an eye-opening, hair-raising experience

Coming back from Uganda and India this time opened my eyes again to just how "good" we have it here in America. I put "good" in quotes because I sometimes think that all of our blessings has made us pretty selfish. Maybe it's just having seen the conditions people worship in and the price they pay to follow Jesus makes me less tolerable to whining Christians in America and how insensitive and uncaring we can be toward people who will go to hell without Jesus. When we complain about being asked to attend a different service time; park away from the building, sit in the middle, and of all things, tooooo many people . . . you tell me . . . is something wrong? Not too long ago when we were really trying to move people to "less desirable" service times I actually had a lady to write me an email saying "Pastor, why don't you just give more?" . . . meaning to preach 6, 7, 8 times if necessary. Hey, I'll do that but let's fill the ones we have now . . . ok, let me get off of this!

Didn't Ajai hit the ball out of the park . . . wow what a powerful message on being a Christian extremist . . . check it out on our website if you haven't heard it yet

I have just loved our worship time over the last couple of weeks . . . Dustin is doing a fantastic job

Hey, be praying for our team in Naples, Italy . . . Dennis and Karen are already there and several others will be joining them later this week!

Radical Shift #2

2009-08-31T11:27:52-07:00

The second shift the church in America needs to make is the shift from temporary to eternal values. We need to increasingly see things from an eternal perspective and not just the few years we have here on this earth.

Everything about this earth is temporary except for people. Jesus left heaven for, lived for, died for, and conquered death, for people . . . People are what matters to God and that ought to affect how we relate to those who are unconvinced, how we spend our money, how we invest our time, who we choose to hang out with, and so much more.

I'm as guilty as anyone when it comes to wanting nice things, driving nice cars, wearing nice clothes, and living in a nice house. And there is nothing wrong with these things except for when we live as if they are the only things that matter or we have these things to the complete neglect of things of eternal significance.

Statistics show that most Christ followers don't follow the Bible's teaching when it comes to putting God first with our finances. I don't think that is because they don't know to. Pastors aren't afraid to teach on money any more. At least not the ones I follow. They hit it really, really hard! People know to put God first.

I think it is more a matter of not being able to or simply just choosing not to. Why? Because, so many have gotten in over their heads and are up to their eyeballs in debt or they've just simply chosen to live for and give their lives (time, money, energy) to getting and keeping more stuff.

So most of us here in America need to make the radical shift that moves us away from living for temporal things and living more for things of eternal significance.

4 Radical Shifts the Church in America Needs to Make

2009-08-24T16:58:45-07:00

A couple weeks ago, I started a series called Red Letter Words . . . taking a look at some of the words that Jesus spoke and words, that if you and I as Christ followers truly lived by, would radically change the way we live our lives for Jesus. Not only that, but if most churches in America would live by them, they would look radically different, too.

I started the series with the last red letter word from Jesus, the word "Go." Having just returned from India and seeing the persecution Christ followers are under in that part of the world, and even experiencing just a taste of what persecution would be like (we were run off by a group of Hindu extremists), I realized in a very clear way that "going" means something completely different to Christ followers in India than it does for us in America.

Well, I didn't finish that message so I promised I would write a couple of blog entrees to finish it up.

It seems a lot of churches in America aren't too concerned about going and reaching unchurched and unconvinced people. In my personal opinion this is evidenced by the lack of conversions most churches see in a given year and in the refusal many churches have to "do church" differently in order to be more relevant to the culture around us.

So I think that American church needs to make some radical shifts if this is going to change.

First shift: Stop thinking about self and start thinking about God

. . . stop thinking about what I want and more about what God wants

. . . stop asking "what about me?" and start asking "what about God?"

. . . stop walking away from a church just because it is willing to do things different to reach the unconvinced and be willing to slide over, go to a different service, park further away in order to make it easier for an unconvinced person to hear the Good News

God's heart is for people to come into the kingdom. He paid way too high of a price, the death of His only Son, for us to sit back and whine, complain, and grow increasingly self-centered when it comes to church.

Does it take a little bit of maturity to be more focused on what God wants and less on what I want? No! It takes a lot of maturity! I think one of the greatest signs of spiritual maturity is not how much Bible we know, not how loud we sing, not how high we can raise our hands, and certainly not how many Bible studies we go to. A greater sign of maturity is how willing and how much are we willing to sacrifice that others may come to Jesus?

Think about it . . . Jesus sacrificed everything! You don't hear Him saying too often, "What about me?"

He was all about what His Father wanted and seeing people come into the Kingdom. We should be, too!

Weekend Reflections

2009-07-06T14:10:51-07:00

What an amazing weekend . . . from the July 4^th celebration in the park to Church in the Park on the 5^th . . . phenomenal!

I love our volunteers . . . they are amazing . . . I've heard so many words of appreciation from the staff and representatives of Happy Valley . . . they are so grateful for our partnership and said they couldn't do it without us . . . way to go volunteers!!!!
I love our staff . . . you all worked so hard to make an impact at the July 4^th celebration and then to pull off Church in the Park . . . all I can say is you guys knocked it out of the park
What an impact on our community and what a win for our church and for our awesome God
So fun getting our whole church together . . . can't wait to hear the estimates of numbers in attendance, numbers of people serving, and how many were baptized . . . I was stoked!
Thanks to Mike and his team for pulling off all the thousands of logistics to make things run smoothly . . . it was a work of art
Thanks to Josh and the team for heading up the pancake breakfast . . . it was a feast
Thanks to Dennis Gorton . . . you know how to run a kitchen and crank our some food
Thanks to Dave for getting the stage and sound all set . . . I think anyone who would have been at our building for church could have heard it . . . awesome!
Thanks to Dennis and Dustin for rockin' the park . . . the whole band was awesome . . . Devon, Preston, Bob, Dale, TJ, Rob . . . it was a blast
Thanks Alan for all the great pics . . . you were flashing away . . . in a good way! PTL
Thanks again to all of you who volunteered . . . way too many to even begin to name . . . you know who you are . . . God knows . . . and you will be blessed!

Somebody asked . . . why can't we do this every week? If they only knew what it took to pull off something like this! Mike . . . Dave . . . what do you think?

20th Anniversary Reflections

2009-06-08T12:52:13-07:00

Here are some random thoughts from this weekend's 20-year celebration and the past 20 years . . .

Thank you God for your faithfulness . . . You are good! For every good thing that has been accomplished through Abundant Life Church, You deserve all the praise!

It's sooooo cool that many of the original pioneers of ALC are still with us today . . . what a testimony to commitment . . . to flexibility . . . to adaptability . . . to change . . . to faithfulness

My favorite definition of commitment . . . the ability to stay with a decision long after the emotion in which the decision was made is gone

The emotion that came with starting Abundant Life wore off a long time ago and it quickly turned into hard word and endless hours of ministry . . . so thanks again to all of you who have stuck it out . . . you're amazing and to be commended

Did you catch the common tread throughout each of our Elder's comments . . . committed to the vision of reaching the lost . . . the best is yet to come . . . get involved because there is a place and a job for everyone

There are enough churches in Portland for the "already convinced" . . . Abundant Life needs to stay committed to reaching the "unconvinced"

And speaking of that, I had someone tell me yesterday that they had a relative to join us this weekend that just doesn't do the church thing . . . who made this comment . . . this is a church I think I could come to! Yeah! That's what I'm talkin' about

The cross was covered to the max with red hearts . . . absolutely awesome . . . we're not content to settle with what we've done in the past or where we are today . . . there is so much yet to come . . . so much still to be done . . . so many more people to reach for Jesus

Don't ever get fed up with all the people coming . . . many of them would possibly have gone to hell had they not found Abundant Life . . . that's worth us not knowing everyone . . . that's worth us not having church just the way we may prefer it to be . . . that's cause enough to keep inviting . . . to keep sharing . . . to keep serving . . . to keep giving

Abundant Life's best days are ahead of us . . . we have more people to help carry out the mission . . . we have more influence in our communities . . . we have two campuses instead of one . . . and soon to add a third . . . we have God's track record to look to . . . and we know God is not done yet!

I meant it when I said that my wife, Ann, is to be commended for much of our success . . . were it not for her, I probably would not even have launched a new church . . . she has been a rock in my life and a Pastor couldn't ask for a better wife . . . and by the way, as a Pastor you can't be married to just anyone . . . she better be committed to ministry, too . . . and mine is . . . thank you God and thank you Ann

I meant it when I said that as I reflect over the past 20 years the two things that come to mind are the commitment of our leaders to the vision of reaching the lost and the sacrifice of our people to see the vision become a reality

To all of us I say . . . remain faithful . . . stay committed . . . and keep sacrificing . . . imagine what the next 20 years will yield for the Kingdom if we do!

Weekend Reflections

2009-06-02T10:09:12-07:00

Worship and the Word was awesome . . . I heard so many great comments . . . like we need to do that more often . . . I appreciate the flexibility around Abundant Life . . . I couldn’t stop crying . . .

Plans are to do Worship and the Word again in December

The baptisms were awesome . . . I loved how they were spread throughout the service . . . haven’t heard how many there were but there were a lot

Thanks to all of you who expressed that it was good to see me back . . . I appreciate it . . . it’s always nice to be missed . . . Ann and I had a great time away in Mexico

Had one of my friends that I invited from the club tell me that coming to Abundant Life has changed his life . . . he’s sorry it took him a year to respond to my invitation . . . said he missed out on a year of blessings

Cool to see a man there that several of us, independent of one another, have been inviting . . . awesome how God works

Can’t believe we celebrate 20 years of ministry at Abundant Life next weekend . . . wow, what a ride it has been . . . can’t wait to see what God has in store

This weekend I threw out a challenge to bring a sacrificial gift in honor of our 20 years of ministry . . . if you’re reading this and you have a heart for what God is doing through Abundant Life would you prayerfully consider a sacrificial gift? We have an awesome vision of reaching as many people as possible for Jesus Christ . . . there is no better investment of our resources