Sunday Ruminations (5-30-10)

31 05 2010

Happy Memorial Day Weekend.  WHEW did the holiday show in attendance.  Lowest since October.  OUCH!  GREAT services today.  SO EXCITED for what God is doing among our people.  Here are my ruminations on the day.

—  This in no way does enough to say thank you to all of those who are currently serving or have served in the armed forces of America, but on behalf of Element Church: “THANK YOU for all you do and have done”.  For those of you who have lost loved ones while serving for our freedom, THANK YOU for standing beside your family member as they served on our behalf.  We are literally, forever indebted to those who have served our country and given their lives for our freedom.  May we remember them, not only on this Memorial Day, but each day we enjoy the freedoms we take for granted.

—  Lowest attendance since October and 2nd highest offering in Element history!  (It’s all in your perspective though.  Our attendance today was still higher than our average one year ago and its our lowest by far in 8 months.  Can’t complain.)

—  THANK YOU so much to all who are stepping up financially to support what God is doing at Element.  SO proud of peoples commitment to support Kingdom work with their finances. Keep it up, God has GREAT things in store.

—  We closed out our series OPEN today.  It’s been a series all about worship.  I shared the back story today of where this series came from.  It’s literally been 2 years in the making as God has molded Adams and my heart on what God is calling Element to be about when it comes to worship.  It all started 2 years ago with a conversation between Adam and I in my office that was inspired by Amos 5:21-24.  We both blogged about it HERE and HERE.  We finally felt led to do a sermon series on it in May.  I’ve loved this series personally and I feel it has not only been defining for me, but for our church as well.  Here are some excerpts on the day:

  • True worship happens when our feelings our directed TO Him and our actions are guided BY Him.  That’s when we worship in spirit AND in Truth.
  • Answered the question “How do we avoid ego music?” today.  Our text was Matthew 25:31-46 (One of the most challenging passages in Scripture)
  • I will quickly get past worship being about me, when I realize that one day I’ll stand before HIM.
  • When we worship we are singing to a God who judges, that’s why I’m so GLAD he is also a God who SAVES!
  • Ego music happens when I cease to think that I need saving or cease to care that anyone else needs saved.
  • The righteous said “When did we?” in response to Christ’s list of their good deeds because they weren’t doing them to GET something.  They were doing them because they HAD something.  They had the heart of God and His heart was about those things.
  • We are NOT called to be normal.  We are called to partner with the supernatural, and when you partner with the supernatural abnormal things happen.
  • When we view the world through the lens of God we see people as He does.  Actually, when we view the world through the lens of God we begin to see people AS Jesus Himself.  “But if I saw Jesus I’d do ANYTHING for Him.”  The reality is, according to this passage, when we see our neighbor we see Jesus.  When we go to work we see Jesus.  When we go to school we see Jesus.  But to be honest, I wonder if too many times I don’t want to see the world through Jesus’ eyes…because them I’m responsible to do something about it.  And that’s going to cost me.
  • Sometimes I wonder if I’m being more responsible for my family’s pleasure, and not taking responsibility to make sure my family pleases God.

—  I challenged our church to join us on the first ever Element Church missions trip.  I shared a bunch of statistics about the area we feel called to go to.  Homeless rates.  Single parent rates.  How many below poverty level, etc.  Then I revealed where we were going.  CHEYENNE, WY!  We LIVE in the middle of a mission field and WE WILL do something about it.

—  With that challenge we are looking for people to help serve on an outreach team.  Element Gives Back Outreach is a HUGE part of what we do, and as we grow it is getting bigger and bigger.  If you have a heart and passion for outreach, and would like to help serve in some outreach planning please let us know.

—  We pulled this van up right by the main entrance yesterday and revealed what it was for.  The teens in Fusion have been giving their own money since July to buy a mini-van for a single mom.  Pastor Andy felt called to do something to impact one families life after being challenged at a youth conference last summer and laid down the gauntlet to the teens.  They responded.  They raised $4000 and Element matched that.  Andy had a BUNCH of applications and then had the difficult job of selecting one mom to show God’s love to.  He met with her and the one who nominated her and developed a list of needs she has.

—  Not only are we giving the van away to her next week, but Andy had money leftover to buy new tires for it, AND we challenged you to respond by providing some other needs she had.  Many of you took home an item off the needs board that you would provide for her.  Those need to be turned back in this coming Sunday or sooner (June 6th).  If you did not get a chance to grab an item, you can get a hold of Pastor Andy for what still needs to be provided for this mom.  She has 4 kids and could REALLY use some Christians to show her the love of Christ!

—  I believe a couple of the bigger items were not responded to.  A lawnmower, George Foreman grill (couple other things)

—  Then we unveiled the next big step we are taking in serving our community as a church.  Every year, there are HUNDREDS (if not thousands) of students who need assistance to purchase backpacks and school supplies for school.  I felt like the Lord was asking us, in a small way, to make a dent in this issue.  The best way we knew how was to just adopt one school.  That means other schools will be left out, but we have to start somewhere.  So we contacted the social representative at Rossman Elementary School here in Cheyenne and asked if Element could provide backpacks and school supplies for EVERY student for next school year.

— She did some checking and confirmed that we could help in this way.  Now, we understand that not every family at Rossman elementary is in need, and not every family will accept the help.  We know there are MANY other families who could use help too, but we can’t help everyone.  We are doing WHAT we can, WHEN we can, HOW we can for WHOEVER we can.

—  Along with the 4th quarter report cards, they are sending home a note to the parents explaining what Element is doing for them.

—  SO, at the end of June and early July you will come to church and see the lobby lined with approx 330 backpacks.  (That’s how many students are at Rossman and about how many families attend Element Church) Inside each backpack will be a school supply list for an individual student.  We will challenge each family to take one backpack home and bring it back filled with that students supplies for the year.

—  Our desire is to impact an entire school by saying “We’ll choose now to live for them and view the world through a different lens.”

—  If you belong to Element and were not able to attend yesterday, I encourage you to listen to the message online tomorrow @ www.elementweb.net   It is a challenge to all of us.

—  We bought a van for a mom, but it’s not the last one we’ll buy.  We bought a house for needy families, but it’s not the last one we’ll buy.  We’re providing a school with supplies, but it’s not the last school we’ll supply.  We started a church in Cheyenne, but it’s not the last church we will start.  We can’t change THE world, but we can change OUR world and when OUR world changes, the world changes.  One life…one school…one mom at a time.

—  This IS who we are and it IS what we are going to continue to do.  We are called to serve Cheyenne and that is where we are going.  Who’s with me?

Till the end,

Jeff


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Dandelion Flowers Or Useless Weeds?

26 05 2010

Saturday I was mowing the lawn and Jaydah asked if “she could help”.  Now, I know that being 3 years old, she was really no help at all, but I of course didn’t want to squelch her enthusiasm so I said “Of course you can.”  She quickly went to playing and then I noticed that she started plucking up the dandelions.

Now, I normally HATE dandelions and do weed control early on in spring, but have not gotten around to it yet this year, and now we have quite a few.  But Jaydah wasn’t doing weed control, she was gathering “flowers”.  And little did I know, she was gathering them for me.  She eventually walked up and made me stop the mower, and said “Dad, I picked these flowers for you.”

As her father, what did I say?  “Oh thank you but those aren’t flowers, those are weeds.”  “Oh, thanks sweetie but I really don’t care for those.  I know you worked hard and you did it out of your love for me but…”  “GREAT Jaydah, you probably have spread the weeds even worse in the yard by plucking them up and carrying them all around.”  NO!  I’d be a HORRIBLE father to say something like that.  I said “WOW!  Thank you so much Jaydah.  Those dandelion flowers are BEAUTIFUL!”  She didn’t pick them to EARN my love, my love for her is already there.  She picked them because she HAS my love, and in the only way she knew how, was trying to show me love in return.

IMMEDIATELY my heart was spoken to by God.  “Jeff, you can’t earn My love.  You already have it.  AND I delight when you show me your love…even though sometimes you’re offering me weeds.”  EVERYTHING I can give to God, is in reality, a useless weed compared to what is already His.  BUT when I give it to Him to SHOW my love in a response to HIS, He welcomes it as a dandelion flower.  When I try to EARN His love “all my righteousness is but a filthy rag”.  When I genuinely SHOW my love, it turns a useless weed into a dandelion flower.

You already HAVE God’s love, you don’t need to earn it.  But I hope you know that, as your Father, He DELIGHTS when you show your love to Him, even if it is just a weed!

Offering up my weeds,

Jeff


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We Don’t Lose People…

24 05 2010

We SEND them!  Living in a military town, we see a lot of new people come in, BUT, we also see a lot of GREAT people go.  Young men, young women and entire families are always moving into the area to serve our great country at F. E. Warren Air Force base, but just as many that are moving in, are also moving out.  It just so happened that the latest one to move out, was a pastor on our staff. We shared a moving and powerful time of prayer, as we laid hands on the Marshall family, praying God’s blessing over them as we send them on to God’s greater things.

Yesterday, we said goodbye to Pastor Curtis and his family.  (Heather, Anjali, Kaitlyn, C.J.)  To say they have been important to Element Church would be an understatement.  Nearly 3 years ago, during Element Church’s Unplugged launch team days, Pastor Curtis and Heather joined our team.  Curtis took me to lunch at Little Philly sandwhich shop and basically said “We want to serve God’s Kingdom through Element Church.  Where can you use us?”  What started that day was a 3 year journey that changed, literally, what Element would do and where we would go.

Curtis began and led our initial Fusion student ministry program.  While working full time for the Air Force, he and Heather did JV Fusion one night and Varsity Fusion (which included high school & college students) another.  Curtis then began serving on our Lead Team of pastors helping guide and direct the ministry of Element Church.  God lead us to “name” him a volunteer pastor, and he became Pastor Curtis.  Though volunteer, Curtis was as much a pastor as any of us were who were paid to be here.  Early on in Element, Curtis’ vision, insight, counsel and leadership were HUGE in the development of who we are as a church today.  In fact, I’ve said all along, that Curtis had the most natural leadership gifts of anyone on our staff.  He is greatly blessed by God in that area and has a HUGE heart to raise up new leaders in Christ.

It wasn’t long after Pastor Andy came on board as our volunteer JV leader, that God began stirring Curtis’ heart for a college/20 something ministry.  On our staff planning advance in August of 2008, Curtis cast vision for what he saw as a missing element (pun intended) in many churches today.  A ministry that helps students make the shift from high school to adulthood.  Thus came theSHIFT ministry which we have today.  And by the way, there were 57 SHIFTERS this past Sunday night and their meeting, that I believe, we WOULD NOT HAVE were it not for the vision and leadership of Pastor Curtis.

All that said, and I haven’t even talked about the incredible leadership and serving his wife Heather brought to theSHIFT and many other Element ministries.  They are truly a family blessed by God to do GREAT things in His Kingdom.  BUT I want us to understand, we aren’t losing them, we’re sending them.  They might be moving to Albuquerque, but they are going with GOD’S BEST in store for them, and we believe God will provide for us here, more families like them that will impact God’s Kingdom for eternity.

For all our military families who leave, or Elementers who God moves on, I FULLY believe that we have never lost someone, we’ve always sent them.  Sent them on to continue to do God’s will, WHEREVER He leads them.   I believe if we hold our people with open hands, God will choose to move many of them on, but He will also ALWAYS be faithful to bring more people in!  I praise God for people like Curtis and Heather and am jealous of the pastor who will inherit their leadership in the next church God brings them to.

Curtis and Heather, all I can say is “Thank you.  And I’m honored to have been blessed by your lives.  You guys are amazing and I love you all!”

Jeff


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Sunday Ruminations (5-23-10)

23 05 2010

Spring has finally arrived in Wyoming (knock on wood).  Weather is getting increasingly better and God CONTINUES to be good.  Here are my ruminations on the day.

—  Had The Tour today and got to connect with a bunch of newcomers to Element.  I always seem to leave The Tour with some great conversations with people.

—  Today I got to talk to a new Elementer who shared something cool.  He said “I love this church.  My wife told me ‘You never wanted to go to church’ But I love coming here.”  I LOVE hearing that.  That is who we are in this for.  So glad that he found a place he and his wife could attend together AND enjoy.

—  Talked with another young man (military) who got stationed here and couldn’t find a church until Element.  Now both he and his roomate are attending and LOVING church.  They were gonna get plugged into a Life Group and volunteering.

—  We are consistently seeing over 200 kids in e:kidz on a weekly basis.  That is not only INSANE, but absolutely AWESOME!

—  The work that e:kidz does, I wouldn’t want my kids in ANY other ministry.  Pastor Derek and our amazing volunteers are rockin’ it in there.  Seeing kids know AND follow Jesus is awesome.

—  LOVED the worship set today.  Adam and Jeremiah did a GREAT job setting up the word with the worship.

— Busted out some old school (funny we call it that) “I Will Give You All My Worship”.  Stuff becomes old school these days too fast.  They stinkin’ JAMMED on that song.

—  Also did one of the great old Hymns “Jesus Paid It All”.  Such a great song of surrender.

— THEN, Adam did a solo song to set up my message called “Wedding Dress”.  It was blunt and uncomfortable.  Made ya think though, and it fit my message perfectly.

—  We continued the series on worship called “Open” today.  One more week left.  Here are some excerpts from today: (It was a FULL message today.  I unloaded a TON on us. I even slashed a TON before this morning.  We need to do a whole series on money again.  SUCH a huge subject)

  • I asked the question today “What does my wallet say about my worship?”  Took on the issue of money.  I wrestled a TON with this weeks message.  It was heavy, bold and challenging.
  • Preached from 2 Corinthians 8:1-15 as my text
  • What does money have to do with worship?  EVERYTHING!  Money is a GOSPEL issue with financial implications.
  • A better praise song is giving a portion back to God.  The best worship is giving generously with what God has generously given us.
  • If God is not in control of your wallet He’s not in control of your heart.  And if He’s not in control of your heart, I don’t care how much you like to sing, serve or study, you are NOT a true worshiper.
  • True worship is when I’m able to release to God what I rely on for my security.
  • My wallet points to grace or it points to greed.
  • EVERYTHING we have is from the grace of God NOT just our salvation.  All that we have and all we can give was first given to us by God’s grace.
  • If we’d stop looking at what we don’t have compared to everyone else, start looking at all we DO have given to us BY God, maybe we’d be more comfortable giving God a portion of what’s ALREADY HIS!
  • My wallet wants to give more or to have more.
  • Generosity is not determined by how much you give but by how much it costs you.
  • Generosity is about being free.  Not the freedom FROM giving but the freedom TO give.
  • Free will giving should be based on the will of God, and God’s will ALWAYS wants to give generously.
  • Some people can’t afford to tithe because they drove their tithe to church today.  They are wearing their tithe.  They will leave church, go to Chili’s and eat their tithe.  They’ll go home and watch TV on their tithe.
  • The reality is Most we CAN afford to tithe.  We CAN afford to give.  We’d just rather mis-use God’s money to please ourselves.
  • We are not under law but under grace, and grace ALWAYS goes beyond the law.  Grace is not the freedom to live below the law, but the ability to live BEYOND the law.  Any other view of grace and we don’t understand the New Covenant.
  • People in the church want to use the New Covenant to abdicate themselves from their spiritual responsibility, when the reality is the New Covenant empowers us to actually live out our spiritual responsibility, INCLUDING what we do with our money.  That is something the Old Covenant could NEVER do.
  • We will give financially to that which we worship…Actually we will give SACRIFICIALLY to that which we worship.  Typically, we will give till it hurts to that which we love most.
  • My wallet wants to do better or feel better.
  • My wallet is eager TO give or meager IN giving.
  • Paul said “I’m going to test how genuine your love is by how you give?”  For many of us, if our love were tested that way, we’d be condemned by our own bank statement.
  • Ok, I REALLY did say a bunch today didn’t I?  lol  I’ll stop there.  You can listen online Tuesday.  www.elementweb.net
  • My prayer was “Whether you agree or disagree with everything I have to say, by the end of the day may you know what you need to do to worship God with your wallet!”  I hope God showed you some things.

—   Why is it we can preach on just about ANY sin, subject or topic, but the moment you preach on money peoples barriers go up?  Money is one of the most difficult subjects to preach on.

—  K, I know this has NOTHING to do with Ruminations, but I can’t WAIT for the Lost finale tonight.  I’m worried I’m going to be disappointed.  I hope it’s a good ending to a GREAT show.

—  This coming Sunday, May 30th, we are closing out our series on worship.  AND we are unveiling something REALLY cool that the Fusion Students have done to serve someone in our community.  SUPER proud of them.

— Gonna be another super challenging message this week.  I hope it will change the way we view our worship.  Worship is SO MUCH more than what we’ve made it.

—  Alright, that’s it.  Loved worshiping with you today!  Can’t believe God lets me be a part of this.

—  Hope to see you all next Sunday.  I know it’s Memorial Day, but you should stay here and come to church anyway.

Following Christ,

Jeff


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If Only For The One…

17 05 2010

That statement has become somewhat of a mantra for Element Church.  Now, in just over 2 1/2 years we have seen over 475 people acknowledge Jesus as their Savior.  At leadership council yesterday, one of our councilmen Keith said: “I hope we NEVER get tired of seeing people get saved!”  I don’t EVER want to take for granted someone getting saved OR tire of seeing it.  THAT is why we are here.  Yesterday was no exception.  After preaching a message on  our expression in worship, 14 people responded to the Gospel Good News that our God is a GOD WHO SAVES!  Last night then, I received this Facebook message from an Element volunteer named Tim who said this:

Pastor Jeff, had a cool thing happen today at church. Two of Ryan’s friends (Tim’s son and Fusion student) spent the night at our house last night. Ryan and his friends didn’t really want to go to church this morning but I told them we must go. When you gave the altar call, one of the friends raised his hand and accepted Jesus. It could have been easy to stay home, but we did the right thing and now there is another soul that was saved. Praise the Lord.

WAY TO GO TIM!  So thankful that you “did the right thing” as a parent and brought your son and friends to church.  Yesterday was literally IF ONLY FOR THE ONE!  Praise God!

For the one,

Jeff


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Sunday Ruminations (5-16-10)

17 05 2010

BEAUTIFUL weather in Cheyenne today.  Amazing change from the snow we had earlier this week.  Another Sunday in the books, another afternoon to be exhausted and here are my ruminations on the day.

— 14 people stood to accept Jesus as Savior today.  If only for the ONE!

—  Following Jesus is NEVER easy but it’s ALWAYS the best!

—  Adam and the creative team has been working on this series’ creative elements for over a month now.  About 2 months ago Adam came to Kody with the idea of doing something VERY different with worship.  We’re in the middle of this worship series and the team wanted to think outside the box for the whole thing.  Well, think out of the box Adam has done.

— Today we did a “style” of worship, I’m quite certain NONE of us have been a part of.  We call it “electro-worship”.  Adam and Jeremiah went down to Bakery Studio in Colorado Springs, CO last month (friend of Adams) and did some original composition to worship songs electro style.  I’ve given you a sample below of Adam’s original song “Breaking Free”. (Just the track, no lyrics)

—  Now, I’m sure some people would say “That wasn’t my style.”  And that’s EXACTLY why we did it.  We’ve had three weeks now in our worship series and have offered three different styles of worship.  AND, God is able to be worshiped in ALL of them.  It’s my choice to worship, regardless of what style is played.

—  We’re back to Element style next Sunday.

—  We continued our series on worship called “OPEN”.  I’m loving having 5 weeks to talk on the subject of worship.  I’ve done sermons before on it, but never felt I could give it enough attention.  So having the entire series to unpack it I’ve enjoyed.  Here are some excerpts from the sermon:

  • We asked the question “How should I worship?” today, and took on the issue of our expression in worship.  Literally, what should my worship look like physically?
  • There is nothing wrong with having preferences in worship.  The problem is, and its a danger for each of us, when our preferences become more important than God’s purpose for HIS church.
  • Had some fun polling the audience on their churched or NOT churched backgrounds.  Quite a number of former Catholic/Episcopalians in the house today.  Some Mennonites.  A wide array of church backgrounds.  And many with NO church background.
  • Our background will greatly affect HOW we worship.
  • There isn’t a right way to worship but there IS an appropriate way.
  • I believe if you’re worshiping God, it won’t matter how you GET to worship, or how others around you CHOOSE to worship.  You’ll just be grateful you’re ALLOWED to worship.
  • When it comes to worship, we often want to tell people what kind of expression they need to give in order to be “real” worship.  In doing so, we distract them from the offering their supposed to bring, and exalt OUR expression as the ONLY thing.  It’s then that I’m in danger of taking God’s courts and turning it into MY house.
  • Our expression does not invoke God’s presence or motivate Him to action. The reality is that God is ALREADY here and He’s ALREADY moving, we just need to connect with Him.  We connect with Him through worship.  Only God determines what TRUE worship is AND I can’t identify it by what I SEE.  So, I should worship the way I’m wired and let others do the same.
  • Who you are with is a VERY large factor in determining HOW you should worship.  There are some expressions of worship that may not be appropriate for the audience you are with or the setting you are in.  Some expressions of worship might be distracting, bring attention to ourselves, cause confusion OR cause division in the church.  We need to ask “Who am I with?” to help determine how I should worship.
  • If you can’t worship in a church unless you use a certain expression, you’re in danger of not worshiping God in the first place because you are lifting up your expression in the place of God’s presence.
  • Expression is a means to an end it’s not the end itself.  The end is capturing the heart of God.  When I capture the heart of God, I capture his heart for other people.  And when I capture His heart for other people worship will not be about How I GET to, but about who does God need to GET THROUGH to?
  • Is my worship preparing me for Christ’s return?  If not, it’s not worship.
  • If I am not changed as a result of my worship, then I am not worshiping God.
  • I’m sick of seeing people raise one hand in worship while they use the other hand to satisfy themselves with all of the worlds pleasures.  I’m tired of hearing out of one side of the mouth how holy God is, and out of the other side spews every foul four letter word known to man.  I’m weary of expression in worship but depression in lifestyle.  Of passion in our singing but being pitiful in our leading.  Of ROCKIN’ our praise but rotting in our souls.  I have to ask God the question “If worship does not change me, is it worship at all?”
  • Christ IS coming back to judge the earth.  We must remember though, He’s not coming to judge how I worship, but how I LIVE.

—  Excited about our last two weeks of worship.  Taking a look at two subjects that most people do not think about in worship.

—  The last Sunday of May we are unveiling something that’s happening in Element that is SUPER COOL.  It stems from Fusion student ministries and I am SO PROUD of them.

—  We had a GREAT team out working on the R3 house Saturday.  I have not seen it yet but I hear they got a TON done.  We have two more work Saturdays this weekend and next weekend.  I’ll post pictures later this week.

—  God REALLY provided financially for us this past week.  Pastor Jason and Steve Doolin went to buy the supplies for all the work.  Home Depot found out what our project is and we got everything at a HUGE discount!

— With that generosity we our now financially able to replace all the windows in the house, which we weren’t going to be able to do.

— We’re hoping to get a family in the upper unit in July, and one in the lower unity by September.  Can’t wait to see how God uses this to impact families’ lives and offer them life.

—  All right, I better shut her down.  Time to veg.

—  Thanks Element for letting me lead you.  I love you guys.

Till the end,

Jeff


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Pulling Out The Creative Stops

12 05 2010

Hey Element Church!  The creative team is pulling out the creative stops for our worship experience this Sunday.  I just have to say, the “way” in which we worship this weekend will be unlike anything we’ve done for worship before.  Adam and his team have put together a SUPER creative worship experience from top to bottom.  I’ve LOVED some of the different things they have already done this series to illustrate what we can do creatively in our expression to God in worship.  After this week we will have had THREE different worship experiences, and I trust that God will be present in EVERY one.  We’ve done new songs, and old songs.  Loud songs and soft songs.  Fast songs and slow songs.  We’ve done FULL VOLUME worship…acoustic worship…and this week…Sorry, I can’t tell you.  Trust me, you don’t want to miss it, and Lord willing, you won’t regret it.

If you want to read ahead on the text for this weeks sermon, go ahead and read Psalm 96.  That will be the Main Scripture for the weekend.

I trust I’ll see you in church on Sunday.  Three opportunities at 8:30 // 10 // 11:30 AM

Don’t forget, you are in the middle of 10,055 minutes of worship right now.  How you worship for 25 minutes this Sunday, PALES in comparison to how you worship today.

Worshiping,

Jeff


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Categories : Element Church, Updates, Worship

Raising A Man

11 05 2010

The GREATEST responsibility I have as “Jeff Maness” is not in leading Element Church or being a pastor.  It is not in preaching God’s Word, or discipling new believers.  It’s not casting a compelling vision, serving God’s Kingdom or serving God’s children.  The greatest responsibility I have, is loving my wife and raising my children.  Specifically, as a man with a son, I have a HUGE responsibility to raise a MAN OF GOD!

For months now I’ve been challenged about the time I have left with Jonah.  Jonah turned 9 this past Sunday, so that means I have another 9 years left (give or take) where he is living under my roof and under my care.  Almost HALF of my time with him is already gone!  Holy cow!  (That actually just hit me)  What will I do with it?  How will I leverage it?  What will come of it? So I began praying for God’s direction in this and received some HUGE help from a book called “Raising A Modern Day Knight”.

I know that following Christ is a decision HE will have to make, and becoming a man of God is a work ONLY God can do.  HOWEVER, it is my duty and obligation to set forth a path on which Jonah is steered in the right direction.  That path started today.  Next year on his 10th birthday, and for the following 9 years, I am going to take Jonah through a rite of passage.  (Jonah will be 19 when he graduates high school)

The first step?  This week I bought Jonah a Bible that I will be reading for the year.  Every day as I read, I will underline verses and make notes (as his dad), that I think are important to him becoming a man.  Next year on his 10th birthday he will receive it from me to start his rite of passage.  I’ve told him about this, showed him the Bible, and even this morning he asked “Is that the Bible you’re giving me?”  The Bible came with a poster that we are hanging in his room too, to remind him and me of the process.

I’ve also developed our own “Code of Honor” that I want to teach, instill and model for him, so that, he will not only KNOW what it means to be a man, but also what it LOOKS like.  I’ll highlight that code of honor through the Bible as I read.  At 10 years, 13, 16 and 19 we will have some special event we share together as he walks through the stages of becoming a man.  It might be a trip somewhere, a party or a celebration of some kind.  He’ll have some say in that.

Our code of honor is this:  A real man is #1  Aggressive At Purity; #2 Leads Courageously; #3 Takes Responsibility; #4 Lives For Eternity

I’ll do something similar for the girls, and am already praying through what that will look like.  I can’t wait to see what God does, not only in my son, but in ME, God’s Son!

Taking responsibility,

Jeff


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Categories : Discipleship, Element Church, Family, Husbands, Personal

Have I Settled?

10 05 2010

Today I was reading in 1 Peter and a phrase right at the beginning just hit me like it never has before.

1 Peter 1:2b says:  May God give you MORE and MORE grace AND peace. (emphasis added)  Now this isn’t a mind blowing verse here.  The Apostle Paul actually opened every one of his books with some form of the statement “May God give you grace and peace.”  For some reason though, Peter here, says MORE and MORE! Now, I am in no way saying that this is what Peter meant, but this is what the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart today and I wanted to share it.

“Have you settled?”  You might say “settled for what?”  Well, I believe that many of us have settled for “just enough” grace to get into heaven, but MORE and MORE grace?…I don’t know about that.  Personally, I don’t believe that grace JUST overlooks our sin (forgiveness), I believe grace also gives us POWER through the Holy Spirit to help overcome our sin.  I believe grace EMPOWERS us to do what God has asked us to do.  I believe grace MOBILIZES us to take risks, to make sacrifices and to step out of our comfort zone.  But often, we just want enough grace to forgive us of what we’ve done, not MORE grace to have to do anything about it, or do anything for Him or His Kingdom.

MORE grace might mean greater danger.  MORE grace might mean greater sacrifice.  MORE grace might mean greater devotion.  MORE grace might mean great loss.  MORE grace might mean moving.  MORE grace might be a multitude of things.  I just wonder if we…I often settle for ENOUGH grace?  Again, I’m not saying that’s what Peter is after here, it’s just what the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart.

Notice too, he also said “AND peace”.  WHEN, not if…but WHEN God gives MORE grace that moves me into an area of greater challenge, of greater sacrifice, or of greater uncomfortablitiy, He ALSO gives me MORE peace to ease my unsettled spirit.  God will NEVER move us into a place or position that He will not also ENABLE us to endure.  He gives MORE grace to move us further, but also MORE peace to calm our hearts.  If God wants to give us MORE grace, I want to be unsettled enough in my current position to receive it.

Unsettled,

Jeff


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Categories : Discipleship, Element Church, Personal, Uncategorized

Sunday Ruminations (5-9-10)

9 05 2010

First off, HAPPY MOTHERS DAY to all you moms out there.  I especially want to say Happy Mothers Day to my amazing wife and wonderful mom.  Sabrina, you are unbelievable.  I don’t know what I’d do without you.  Mom, your godly example and servant-hood lifestyle will always be an example to me.  I wouldn’t be who I am today without you.

Today was also our sons birthday.  Jonah turned NINE today.  Can’t believe he is 9.  Wow.  On the way to church this morning he said, “DAD, next year my age will have TWO numbers in it.”  HA!  Can I start taking #’s away from mine?  I’ll be 36 in August.

Awesome day at Element, here are my ruminations.

—  We were down some in attendance today, but MAN was the presence of God strong in the service.

—  Adam and the creative team NAILED everything today.  From the worship set, to the creative element, to the special song for communion, it was fantastic.

—  Adam had one of our Elementers do a live, progressive painting all through the worship set.  Jenna, who is in theSHIFT, painted a full painting EACH service.  One we are going to display in The Well.  The theme of the worship set and thus the painting is “Awakening”.  The painting shows the progression of someone being awakened in Christ & worship.  The pic is below. 

—  When we sang “Nothing But The Blood” she was painting the crown of thorns at the top/middle with the blood dripping down.  I thought it was VERY powerful.  I wish everyone could have seen it from my view in the front row.

—  The band did an all acoustic set.  It was VERY cool.  Had 4 acoustic guitars and a djembe drum.  We’ve done acoustic sets before, this one was by far the best.  VERY powerful and they sounded amazing.  To everyone on the team…GREAT JOB!

—  Continued our series on worship called “OPEN”.  I preached from Leviticus (YES, Leviticus), and we focused on the value of routine in worship.  Here are some excerpts from the sermon:

  • Somewhere along the line, the church came to the assumption that anything meaningful, or anything that connects us to God is pleasing to us all the time, and is full of variation.  That somehow routine is devoid of value and always leads to ritual.  The problem with that line of reasoning is, we begin to believe that what matters most in worship is how I feel.
  • The problem in the church is NOT tradition or routine, it’s when those things become MORE important than meeting with God & seeing other people come to know Him.  Most of what becomes dead ritual in the church is not the result of tradition, it is the result of the people who are involved in it REGARDLESS of worship style.  (ANY worship style can become ritual by the way)
  • Too many churches end up saying “That’s how it’s ALWAYS been done” instead of saying “What can STILL be done.” And the moment we begin to say the former, our worship becomes a farce.
  • Some people are SO excited about worship in THEIR church or THAT church, but if they go to one of “those” churches they may not show any response at all.  The reality is I am either excited about God or I’m excited about the way I sing to Him.  If I’m excited about the way I sing to Him then my worship too is a farce.
  • If you don’t routinely worship God, you’ll develop a routine of avoiding Him and you’ll have found your worship routine, you’ll just be worshiping yourself.
  • We have 20-25 minutes of worship music each Sunday.  That leaves 10,055 minutes the remainder of the week to worship.  Which block of time do you think is more important to God?  Which one does He focus on?  Is the 25 minutes important?  ABSOLUTELY.  But the 10,055 minutes are absolutely ESSENTIAL!
  • Some people say “We need more worship in church!”  My response is, YOU are the worship leader for 10,055 minutes each week.  GO for it!  I truly believe if we’d worship more as part of our routine each week, the 25 minutes on Sunday morning would be MORE than enough.
  • Sunday should be a taste of who God is which inspires us to consume more of Him through the week in His Word, His presence and personal worship.
  • So many times, instead of our routines enabling worship and reminding us of God, we trade in the worship of God, for the worship of our worship style and we end up losing the Glory of God.
  • In the Old Testament purification was IN the routine.  In the NT, the routine leads us to the ONE who can purify us…JESUS!
  • The point of worship is not me GETTING more of God, it’s God HAVING more of me.

—  It was a super challenging message for me, hope it was a challenge for those of you who heard it as well.

—  I was really struggling this morning before 8:30 service with the message.  I just didn’t feel comfortable with it, didn’t feel familiar with it, so I asked Pastor Kody to pray with me.   I put in the same amount of study and preparation as any other sermon, just didn’t feel right.  I text my dad and brother to pray for me as well.  I actually went into 8:30 service not feeling “good” about it at ALL.  But something clicked inside of me during worship.  I told Adam afterward that God straightened something out inside me during worship.  Can’t explain it, it’s just one of those things.  Now I’m seeking God to see if there is a lesson in it for me.

— One lesson I already took away is, REGARDLESS of whether I FELT like worshiping (which I didn’t), when I CHOSE to, I connected with God and something changed within me.

—  I was talking at one point about some real life routines that we appreciate or benefit from.  One of them is using deodorant.  I then went on to say this: “I’d rather smell like B.O. than smell like my wife!”  I didn’t realize until after I said that in third service what it sounded like.  I MEANT it to mean “rather than womens deodorant”  I had a good laugh in the middle of 3rd service at the expense of myself.

—  I botched up several things in third service.  I usually put that service online, NOT this time.  Felt like I butchered that one.  Hate when that happens.   Ruins my whole day.  :)

— Alright, time to shut er’ down!  Thanks Element for who you are!  Love leading you.

Following Christ,

Jeff


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Categories : Element Church, Pictures, Sunday Rumination

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