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Angel Food Christmas

This past Saturday we distributed food to over 300 families through the Angel Food ministry at NewPointe Community Church. Angel Food is a ministry to help families stretch their food budgets. One unit of food costs $30.00 (worth over 60.00) and will feed a family of four for two weeks.

We have been growing every month and have been touching people through this outreach ministry. We have people driving from 30-40 minutes away to pick up their food. We also are a host site for other churches in the area to pick up food to distribute to their communities. We currently have 7 other churches picking up food. I think it is great that we can work together as churches to help meet the basic needs of people in our community.

Angel Food at NewPointe has over 80 volunteers involved and is helping us become more outward focused in our ministry. We have heard many stories from people coming to pick up their food how they felt loved and cared for after coming here. Some have even been back to church on Sunday morning. Our goal is to make their day and share God’s love with each person that comes. A simple smile and friendly face go a long way!

I want to say thanks to all the great people that make Angel Food ministries possible. There are volunteers at the church as early as 4:00 a.m. to get ready to unload the trucks. Others come from 8:30 to 12:00 to help distribute the food and others work throughout the week in the office processing orders and doing paperwork.

Here are some pictures from distribution day at NewPointe:











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Prayer

I met with a couple that will be giving leadership to our prayer ministry at NewPointe. They have a real passion for prayer and for the church to become a church of prayer. Prayer is powerful and prayer is a special privilege we have as Christ followers. As we talked about how we can start to raise awareness of prayer, I had to think about my own prayer life.

I asked myself how are you doing in your time of talking with God. I have to admit, I am not where I want to be. Often times when I find myself in a dry spell spiritually it is because my prayer time has dwindled.

When I am spending time with God and really connecting with Him, I find that I am more energized, attentive and patient. I am more likely to pray throughout the day whenever I am facing a challenge or decision. I am more aware of the people around me and my compassion level is much higher.

When I have not been spending enough time with God, I tend to get grumpy, impatient, distracted and tired. I tend to want to be alone and do my own thing. I will often miss opportunities to minister to the people around me. I will even hurt those closest to me by saying or doing something unkind.

So how is your prayer life? Do you need to reconnect with God today? I encourage you to spend an extended time alone just talking with God. Praise Him for who He is, thank Him for what He has done and is going to do in your life, confess your sins (all of them) and pray for the people in your life and anyone that He brings to your mind.

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Go ’07 Christmas Edition

I am so excited about the Go ’07 Christmas Edition we are doing at NewPointe. I have been talking to families in need and it has made me realize how many people are in very difficult situations. We worked through Job & Family services in Tuscarawas County and through many of the local school districts to find families and individuals that are in need. We also have over 100 children from Ohio and Iraq and Jordan that we are providing monthly financial support of $20.00.

That is over 100 children and over 100 families that NewPointe Community Church is going to touch and impact. That is exciting to me, because it helps us to be an outward focused church and not inward. The church is called to change the world and if we are only inward focused we forget about all the hurting and lost people in this world.

These small acts of kindness will show people the love that Jesus talked about in the Bible. It will show them that someone cares.

We are encouraging small groups, families and individuals from NewPointe to adopt a family or a child. If they take a family they make contact with the family and help meet some of their needs. Some of those needs might be Christmas gifts for the children, clothes, school supplies, shoes, coats, gas cards, household items and supplies and even groceries. We also are encouraging them to pray for this family throughout the year and contact them periodically to encourage them.

If a small group or family takes on a child, they will send a monthly check to help meet the needs of that child. We are working with the Christian Children’s Home of Ohio and Impact Ministries to help these children. We have approximately 50 children in Ohio that are either up for adoption or in the foster care system. We also have nearly 100 children from Iraq & Jordan that need assistance. Impact ministries is partially supported by NewPointe and the money will be distributed through the local churches in those countries.

Again, I want to be an outward focused church that is making a difference in our communities and around the world. This is a small step in that direction. GO ’07

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Golden Nuggets from Dale Carnegie

I have been reading an old book from Dale Carnegie called “HOW TO STOP WORRYING AND START LIVING”. I have shared a few other thoughts from this book before and wanted to give you his “Seven ways to cultivate a mental attitude that will bring you peace and happiness”.

I believe these seven things can really help in your mental and emotional health.

Rule 1: Let’s fill our minds with thoughts of peace, courage, health, and hope, for “our life is what our thoughts make it.”

Rule 2: Let’s never try to get even with our enemies, because if we do we will still hurt ourselves far more than we hurt them. Let’s do as General Eisenhower does: let’s never waste a minute thinking about people we don’t like.

Rule 3: A. Instead of worrying about ingratitude, let’s expect it. Let’s remember that Jesus healed ten lepers in one day-and only one thanked Him. Why should we expect more gratitude than Jesus got?
B. Let’s remember that the only way to find happiness is not to expect gratitude-but to give for the joy of giving.
C. Let’s remember that gratitude is a “cultivated” trait; so if we want our children to be grateful, we must train them to be grateful.

Rule 4: Count your blessings-not your troubles!

Rule 5: Let’s not imitate others. Let’s find ourselves and be ourselves, for envy is ignorance and imitation is suicide.

Rule 6: When fate hands you a lemon, let’s try to make lemonade.

Rule 7: Let’s forget our own unhappiness-by trying to create a little happiness for others. “When you are good to others, you are best to yourself.”

I hope these rules are an encouragement to you. If you can put them into practice you will experience more peace and happiness. As I read through this book I can see that Carnegie was a Christian and was taking Biblical principles and putting it into easy to understand principles for people to follow. That is our challenge today, to put Biblical principles into action in our lives to make a difference in this world.

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Customer Service

I just had a great customer service experience and wanted to share it. I am on a short trip with some friends in Columbia South Carolina. We had great day of golf (My team won the 18 hole challenge) and ended the day at a Japanese Steak house. That was fun and the food was great, but the story is about our hotel. We are staying at the Hyatt Place. When we walked in there was a pleasant smell and everything looked clean and inviting. When we got back from our meal I sat down to have a Cafe Mocha and read my FAST Co. Magazine. Greg was very helpful and friendly. He remembered my name and made a great Cafe Mocha. We had a pleasant conversation and I met another very nice employee, Jen.

This was by far the best experience I have had at a hotel. Everything from the room to the coffee was first class and pleasant. I am even Blogging from their computer.

It reminds me that first impressions really do make a big difference. I am much more likely to pick a Hyatt Place Hotel in the future. We need to be aware of how people are viewing our business, or in my case church. Are we paying attention to the little things like smell and eye appeal. Are we making people feel welcomed and comfortable. Our win on Sunday morning at NewPointe Community Church is to get people to come back. We believe that if they come back they will be introduced to Jesus Christ and be changed forever.

First impressions really do matter. Every smile, friendly hand shake and helpful act of service contributes to making a great first impression. The same goes for the second, third and fourth impressions. All those little things contribute to the experience and make it memorable in a positive or negative way. Thanks Hyatt place!

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Loving Well

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about about what it means to be healthy emotionally, spiritually and physically. We talk and hear a lot about getting healthy physically, but how healthy are we emotionally or spiritually? We diet, exercise and think about our health, but often do nothing to grow more healthy in our emotions or to grow in our spiritual journey. I think that a lot of our physical problems come from being unhealthy emotionally and spiritually.

As a follower of Christ I want to be healthy in all three areas.

Some people have not grown into adulthood in their emotions or their relationship with God. What does that mean? It means that they do not love very well. They haven’t been growing deeper and wider in their love for God and other people. They are stuck emotionally. Many times it is because they have been hurt and have not worked through that hurt. The deeper the hurt the deeper the emotional damage.

Many of us tend to focus on ourselves and our own needs and wants. As a result many of our relationships suffer and get damaged. We tend to not handle conflict very well and we often try to bury the hurts we have experienced only to find those hurts coming out in our relationships.

Here are some questions I have been asking myself, as I try to become more healthy emotionally and spiritually:

How can I be quick to hear and slow to speak?
How can I be angry and not sin?
How can I watch my heart above all else?
How can I speak the truth in love?
How can I be a true peacemaker?
How can I mourn?
How can I not bear false witness against my neighbor?
How can I get rid of all bitterness, rage, and envy?
How can I forgive?

Those questions reveal Biblical truths that should be evident in our lives. I happen to believe that God loves me unconditionally, and He wants me to love Him and other people like He loves me. If you want to review what love is, read 1Corinthians 13.

Loving well requires us to grow more intimate with God which leads to being able to love people better. God made us for relationships, both with Him and other people. We cannot live fulfilling lives in isolation. That means taking risks with God and people and allowing them into your heart.

If we do not love well, we cannot use our gifts and abilities to further God’s kingdom. All that we have to give is worthless unless we love well. Jesus said that everything goes back to loving God with all your heart, soul and mind and loving other people as much as yourself.

I think we all have some stuff to work on.

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Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving is such a great time of year. It forces me to think about all that I am thankful for. I try very hard to do that throughout the year, but there is something about Thanksgiving that really brings it home for me. I believe that when we begin to give thanks our perspective and attitude change. A thankful and grateful attitude changes your outlook on life, marriage, relationships, work, money and possesions.

I am thankful for my wife Vikki and how important she has been in my life. We have been married for over 18 years and have been together for over 23 years.

I am also very thankful for both of our families. We have been blessed with great parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. We got to spend Thanksgiving day with Vikki’s side of the family.

A great big thank you to Paul & Lynne for hosting it over the past several years. The food is always fabulous and the fellowship fun. The day was filled with food, laughs, football, cards, crafting and some sleeping. Here are some pictures of the day.



There is so much more that I am thankful for, but most of all I am thankful for how much God loves me. I know I do not deserve His love, yet He loves me unconditionally. That still amazes me whenever I think about it. God knows everything about us, the good the bad and the ugly and yet He loves us and wants a personal relationship with each of us. WOW! that is something to be thankful for.

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Church Growth

I’ve been having some interesting conversations about church growth with some other guys. We have been discussing the reasons that some churches grow and add new people and others stay the same or decline.

One of the guys asked if the church I attend wants to keep growing. I immediately said yes, because there are still unchurched and lost people in Holmes & Tuscarawas Counties.

One of the other guys said that growth is not an option for a church it is a command from Jesus. You see, the church is the plan for reaching the entire world for Jesus Christ. Therefore churches should try to spread the Good News to as many people as possible. It would be easy and safe to sit back and protect our own and feed ourselves and forget about the people that do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Some people decide against going to a growing large church because they think it will be impersonal and cold. They think they will be ignored. Maybe they think its just a cool place to be seen and a status thing. So without ever experiencing it they choose not to go.

The truth is that there is a reason a church is growing and attracting new people. I have heard many stories in my church and other Church’s that the experience has been amazing. I hear over and over again how welcome they felt. How warm and friendly everyone was and how the music and the message really spoke to them. I hear comments all the time about how they could understand what was being taught and how they felt the pastor was speaking directly to them.

If you have never gone to a growing church, I encourage you to try it. It is probably much different from the church you grew up in or have heard about. Church can be fun and exciting. God is not boring or uninteresting. It’s all about changed lives and growing churches have stories of changed lives.

Ever Monday morning at our staff meeting we share stories, and there is never a time we don’t have several stories of lives that have been impacted because of the church. That is why we do what we do!

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Reunion

Last night my wife Vikki and I went to my 20 year High School class reunion. We had a good time catching up with the people that came. We laughed a lot and I got to hear some interesting stories from some of my classmates. I find it very interesting to see how people have changed over the years. It is also interesting to see how we have not changed in some ways. As I reflect on my High School years there are things I regret doing or saying or maybe things I should have done differently, but all that is part of my story and how God has used it to shape me into the person I am today.

There we 49 in my graduating class. There were 24 that came to the reunion. That is a very good turn out.

High School for me was a time of sports, fun, getting in trouble, and starting to become a leader. Oh, I also learned a lot thanks to good teachers like Jeff Pratt.

Here are some pictures:








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Group Life

I am in a men’s group that meets every two weeks. Actually I am two men’s groups, one meets every over Tuesday for breakfast. I have been in that group for almost 8 years. My other men’s group meets every other Saturday morning.

My Saturday morning group has been together for about 7 months. We had breakfast this morning and just talked and laughed. I really enjoy meeting with these guys. We are getting to know each other and have been praying for each other. I have already seen a change in a few of the guys and have built meaningful relationships with these five other guys.

As I think about the groups that I am in, I am thankful that I know these guys. I know that if I need help or am going through a rough time that all of these guys would be there for me. I try to do the same for them. That is what group life is about. It is building lasting friendships, encouraging each other, caring for each other, serving each other, having fun together and being available to support each other when needed.

I really look forward to my Tuesday mornings and Saturday mornings because of these guys. If you are not in a group I really encourage you to get connected in a group and give it a chance. Take the time to build relationships, it is worth it.