Adolescence

Just read an article (Our Adolescent Culture) that discusses today's culture that has lost vision and challenge and is but "entertained" in their teen years.  The article says:  "Adolescence didn't always exist". It is a recent phenomenon.  "The word teenager wasn't really used until 1941. In virtually every culture in the history of the world, kids became adults.  In other cultures, "teenagers" were marrying, farming fighting wars, writing books, and in one case, bearing the Messiah."  What we need to do is challenge them, provide the vision for them to take on the real problems in our neighborhoods and world and thus make the church of God attractive to a world turned inward.  Case in point, John Quincy Adams, 6th president, was only 14 when he traveled to Russia as a secretary to obtain recognition of the new United States. 

Missions and Success

I just finished reading Numbers 20 as I read through the Bible and I was struck by Moses' failure that caused him not to enter the Promised Land. I enjoy teaching about the uncomplicated truth of how God values simple obedience and I often am brought back to 1 Samuel 15 where Saul is given a mission and essentially accomplishes most of what he was supposed to do, except he skips over some of the details and keeps some of the spoils and… makes all kinds of excuses and blames everyone else.  In verse 22, Samuel tells Saul that God desires obedience over our sacrifice.  Pastor Danny alluded to it today. Sometimes we get caught up in "doing" and forget that what God really wants is relationship (and all else flows out of that, including our "doing").   Back track to Numbers 20- Moses was supposed to speak to the rock and instead, he whacks it twice.  God had an illustration he wanted to make and Moses messed it up. Verse 12 says that he didn't hallow God (make holy) in the eyes of the people.  But then strangely enough, he says in v. 13 that God was hallowed among the people.  Which is it?  The answer was that because of the miracle, God was ultimately glorified but in the actions of Moses, he wasn't.  What do we learn from this in regards to missions and our service to God?  1. The means doesn't justify the end 2. The measuring stick is not the outcome or result but the obedience of the servant. 3. The heart behind the obedience of the law is critical.  Regardless of your agreement with the theology of Mother Theresa, I like a quote she once said, "God hasn't called me to be successful but rather to be faithful". Obedience is key!

Great quote from a frirend

“decide what you believe before trouble comes: the time to settle our belief about the goodness of God is now, not when the bottom drops out of life. The pain of circumstances can easily tempt anybody to question the goodness of God. Overwhelmed by tragedy, it doesn’t feel like He is good and circumstances don’t cause it to look that way either. That is why it’s necessary to settle the issue before trouble comes into your life.”

Mark Driscoll- Confessions of a Reformission Rev- Book Review and Thoughts

As always, Mark hits a home run with an insightful look into the history of Mars Hill church and his experience as a church planter.  I really recommend this book to anyone interested in planting a church as a great look at lessons learned (I really prefer to learn from other's mistakes rather than make them myself!).  I thought I'd include some adapted thoughts below:

On the problems of many of the contemporary churches- Pg. 24 The contemporary church generally proclaims a gospel of fulfillment (Maslow’s hierarchy of Needs establishes each individual as their own god, on their own mission, pursuing their own glory). In other words, I don’t exist for God, he exists for me.   In this gospel, the cross is an echo of my own great worth, since God found me so loveable and so valuable that he was willing to die for me so that I could love myself, believe in myself, and achieve my full glory. This “therapeutic gospel” is a false gospel because it does not call me to love God and my neighbor, but instead to love only myself.  It doesn’t call me to God’s mission but rather calls God to my mission.  Third, it does not call me to be part of the church to serve God’s mission, but instead to use the church to make me a better person.  It takes pride and repackages it as self-esteem. 

Host homes needed

We still need another dozen host homes for the International Students outreach for 3 days right after Christmas.  Please let Helen Dean know if you can take any students on for this ministry. I guarantee that you will be blessed.

Cuba Trip

Just finished talking to Bri about the CC St. Pete Cuba trip.  They hosted a camp for 250 kids last weekend that were between 8 years old to 19.  Bri said it was neat to see them arriving Friday crammed into the back of dump trucks (not a lot of access to public transportation in Cuba!).  They used sports and games to create a great environment and each evening and morning taught a well rounded series of messages on evangelism, growing in your faith, discipling, etc.  They were able to raise enough money for the Cuban believers to duplicate their efforts on the east side of the island and to bless 5 of the poorest churches with some extra money. 

Pray for the Costa Rica trip as they get ready to leave Dec. 12th with the Christmas outreach gifts and water filters. 

Church planting bootcamp

Thanks to everyone who came out the Bilmar Resort on Treasure Island for the bootcamp. The speakers were such a great blessing and I am very thankful for each one of them.  Lord willing, we'll be looking to do it again in the future.  I'll post when the MP3's are online.

Louie Giglio Quote

There's one more reason worship should really matter to you--whatever you worship, you become. You can worship whatever you want, but there'll always be a last twist to the story. Whatever you worship, you become obsessed with. Whatever you become obsessed with, you imitate. And whatever you imitate, you become.  In other words, whatever you value most will ultimately determine who you are.

If you worship money, you 'll become greedy at the core of your heart. If you worship some sinful habit, that same sin will grip your soul and poison your character to death. If you worship stuff, your life will become material, void of eternal significance. If you give all your praise to the god of you, you'll become a disappointing little god both to yourself and to all those who trust in you.

Church plant bootcamp

We have just finished our brochure for the church planter bootcamp.  Go to www.calvarystp.org and click on the Bootcamp button for more info or to sign up!  Anyone interested in leading, helping or the just plain curious are welcome to sign up!

Great quote

Grace and pride are eternal enemies. Pride demands that God bless me in light of my merits, whether real or imagined. But grace will not deal with me on the basis of anything in me, good or bad, but only on the basis of who God is. 

Reading Glasses needed

Anyone who would like to donate reading glasses for the slums of Nairobi, please drop them off at the church office! It would be huge for them.  We have a few people going in October to work with Paul and Marcia.  Thanks!

Plumbing/Tiling experience?

I am going to be at Asif Shaik’s place in Lutz next Tuesday (Sept 15) to rip out and install a tub (Asif is one of our supported missionaries).  Anybody with some plumbing background and a penchant for installing tubs or putting down tile is welcome; let me know if you can help. 

Statistics on Poverty

According to the IMF 50% of the world has a standard living less than that of the USA 100 years ago.   The country is going through a rough spot but we are still blessed tremendously.  We need to remember that and continue being generous and remember the source of our blessings! Read Deut. 8:10-20 sometime today as a good reminder.  Remember, it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth… (v.18)

Cuba Missions event

Join the Cuba team for some great music by the David Esposito Band and hear the vision for an upcoming mission trip to Cuba where we will be putting on the first ever youth conference since Fidel Castro came into power. Location: The Gathering, 9601 Bay Pines Boulevard, St. Petersburg on Sunday, August 30th @ 6pm.  A free-will offering box will be at the event (no donation required) and all donations will go towards the trip.

Romania Orphanage Fundraiser

Just wanted to let everyone know that the Romania team leaving in a little over one week raised $25,721.97 in their auction. All proceeds go toward constructing a home for orphans!  Very cool.

Correction to Missions 101

The starting date for Missions 101 is August 25^th, not September… Whoops!

Mission 101

It's not too late to sign up for the Missions 101 class starting September 25th.  Go to the lobby, grab a syllabus and sign up!

Huge Missions Auction Fundraiser for Romania

Support the Romania Mission trip by attending the Auction on August 15^th at 6pm at the Wine Cellar on North Redington Beach. Contact Kim Wasserman 727 641 8189 for more details.

 

Here is a partial listing of articles for auction

 

 1.     Kida - Australian Shepherd Puppy 10 weeks

 2.     Scenic Flights of St Pete

 3.     SkinMedica Pharmaceutical Grade Skin Care

 4.     Air Tran Airways - 6 Roundtrip tickets

 5.     Villa in Sicily Italy 1 week

 6.     Lorelei Resort Treasure Island

 7.     Boca Raton Resort

 8.     Antler Bend - Georgia - Luxury Cabin

 9.     Silver Forest Inn - Montana

10.    Fontana Village Mountain Stay - North Carolina

11.    TN Cabin sleeps 8

12.    Maine Coast Cottage

13.    46' Beneteau 8 Hour Sailing Charter w/Captain Z

14.    Ford Amphitheatre - 2 Brad Paisley VIP Box Seats & more

15.    Bracelet and Earrings $2300

16.    Gourmet Dinner for 4 cooked in your home

17.    Laser, Lipo, Microdermabrasion, Botox, Peels, and more

18.    Visage Dermatology

19.    Academic Alliance In Dermatology

20.    South Tampa Dermatology

21.    Indulgence Medical Day Spa

22.    Salon Volo

 

Great quote

Steve McVey - Faith seldom answers the “why” of our problems, but instead offers the answer to “how” we can survive our circumstances.

 

Pathway to Joy

 

Back in March, Jim and I rene Byers  had a display booth for Pathway to Joy Ministries (Romania) at Calvary Chapel Merritt Island.  They were interviewed for an internet radio broadcast. The interview is being aired now. Please take some time to listen to this broadcast regarding the orphans and abandoned children there. Here is how to tune in:   Go to www.wrdj.com/missions

 

Then you will see  their picture on the left and across from that is a bar with “Interview” above it. You will see a “Play” button, and that is what you click on. The whole interview is 15 minutes.

GFA

I just got the final count for the amount of sponsored children for Gospel for Asia.  We sponsored 371 kids that weekend! Nice!  What a blessing!

Art

Lori Ogle

Lori is getting geared up to get out on the field, ministering in France! Saturday night at 7pm is a dessert night and raffle at D and D Missions homes to help send Lori on her way.  So, if you want to bless her, come! If you want to win prizes and eat, come!  If you just want to get rid of her, give extra!  (that's a joke by the way). You'll be blessed!

Missions food for thought

According to Ralph Winter of the US Center for World Missions, “A person must overeat by at least two dollars worth of food per month to maintain one excess pound of flesh.  Yet two dollars per month is more than what 90% of all Christians in America give to missions. If the average mission supporter is only five pounds overweight, it means he spends (to his own hurt) at least five times as much as he gives for missions. If he were to choose simple food (as well as not overeat) he could give ten times as much as he does to mission and not modify his standard of living in any other way!

Newsletter

Get your free CC Missions Newsletter in the lobby this weekend. It is printed and out! Or get it online at http://calvarystp.org/pdf/missions/missions-newsletter.pdf If you have an article you'd like to contribute, please let us know! Our next issue is on the equipping of the saints.
Be blessed!

Missionaries following the call

Last week in my meetings with Pioneers (www.pioneers.org ), I inquired about something that was weighing on my mind and I was told a fascinating statistic.  Pioneers has 1,000 missionaries serving all over the world and do several orientation trainings every year.  In those trainings, roughly 40% have no idea where they are going to be serving and around 10% have an idea but change the area during orientation.  After talking to Pastor Viv who was a missionary in Africa for 35 years, he agreed with the stat and even gave his own testimony of how God moved in his life, called him to missions but he never really knew where to serve except in Africa.  In that time, Viv faithfully served in Nigeria, Kenya and Sudan.  I find it reassuring to read about the great men and women of faith like Adonirom Judson, William Carey, Amy Carmichael, etc that moved around until God planted them in the soil where they were to flourish. All God wanted was a submitted, available heart, to be used by the Potter’s hands!

 

How To Prepare For a Mission Trip

Many people ask “how do I prepare for a mission trip?” Well, I am glad you asked. We have in our bookstore a Short Term Mission leader’s training manual that we’ve put together with a nuts and bolts approach to equipping teams for overseas mission trips. For the most part, many churches have no idea how to properly send a team and unfortunately, the consequences can be disastrous. We’ve seen all kinds of problems and dependencies created by good intentions and as a result, the manual was designed to plan, prepare and send a short term trip. In this manual, you’ll find everything you need to develop a vision, plan team meetings, build unity/teamwork and debrief your short term team.

Key Chain Prayer Rings

KEY CHAIN PRAYER RINGS

 Ephesians 6:18
 Praying always with all prayer and supplication for all the saints.

If you have a heart and desire to be dedicated to prayer for our missionaries, please pick up a FREE Key Chain Prayer Ring. Each ring has cards with pictures of our supported missionaries and their prayer requests. If you are willing to commit to regular prayer for our missionaries, it is our gift to you.   Pick one up at the bookstore today! If you aren’t committed to praying for them, take one and leave your wallet (we’d prefer the prayer, but we’ll take cash too). 

Andy Falleur's blog

I just finished reading Andy Falleur’s blog (Andy left the St. Pete area to plant a CC in Ottawa, Canada).  Anyway, I am going to quote Andy Falleur, quoting Bob Coy! What if everyone in the church worshipped like you, served like you, prayed like you, gave like you, witnessed like you and lived for Jesus during the week like you? What kind of church would this be?

 

Check out Andy’s blog at http://www.andyfalleur.typepad.com/

Same Kinda Different As Me

I just finished reading a fantastic book.  I was up until 2 am for the last 3 nights as I tried to finish the book.  I couldn’t put it down.  The funny thing was that I was 1/3 of the way through the book before I realized it was a true story. Not based on a true story, but true!  I was reading it because a friend lent it to me and then kept asking me if I read it. I finally acquiesced and started it. That was my first mistake because I ceased all extra curricular activities.  The book chronicles the background of 3 people:  A wealthy art dealer and his wife in Texas and a poor black homeless man from a sharecropping family in Louisiana. The book weaves a heart wrenching and challenging tale of two unlikely sources of friendship and how they impacted each other in radically different ways.  Check out the webpage for more information http://www.samekindofdifferentasme.com/ .  As a guy’s guy, I secretly had to hold back the tears in a few chapters but I can easily say that it ranks as one of the top books I’ve read in the last year.  Our CC bookstore will be ordering it soon!

JAARS- Missions Aviation

The first time I flew on a missions aviation aircraft was in 1995 when a group of us flew in Papua New Guinea into our remote villages where we’d spend part of our summer serving Wycliffe Bible translators.  We flew a Cessna 210 into a small Bimin village airstrip, built by hand, at 5500 ft above sea level.  The pilot literally had to land on a considerably upward slope cut into the mountains.  Landing was a challenge, but taking off was a piece of cake.  I was welcomed by a village of former headhunters who loved to touch and poke my hair and skin.  I felt like a combination of a rock star and zoo animal.  The next opportunity was years later as I flew with MAF into the Ecuador jungle town of Shell in the Amazon basin. This location was the base of famed missionary pilot and martyr, Nate Saint.  Missions aviation is essentially the same since those days except for the use of GPS equipment.  JAARS (Jungle Aviation and Radio Service serving Wycliffe) will be presenting Missions at the Airport May 2^nd and 3^rd at Albert Whitted from 9-5:30 on Saturday and 1-5:30 on Sunday.  Albert Whitted is located at 107 8^th ave South in St. Pete.  Airplane rides are a fantastically priced $20 and the helicopter rides are $25.  Coming from a pilot, this is a fantastic price! I belong to the Albert Whitted flight club and a 4 seater Cessna 172 rents out at $140 per hour.  For more info on missions aviation, click here: http://www.iamanet.org/  

Missions opportunities

We have two great opportunities coming up for Calvary Corps (2 weeks to one year opportunities).  1. Come to the Tilapia Fish Farm class this Monday night in room C11 at 7pm and learn more about the 6-8 week opportunities in Indonesia.  2. Give me a call at the office to learn more about teaching English for 6 months (or more) in Kathmandu, Nepal.  Fantastic place! 

GFA

I just heard from Gospel For Asia.  Their staff photographer recently got back from a trip to India. When he was there, he talked to one missionary who graduated from a GFA Bible School nine years ago and has already planted 6 churches.  Out of those 6 churches, 45 more missionaries have been sent out to reach the lost.  And through these missionaries, 25 more churches have been planted.  So that's a total of 31 churches that have been planted as a result of one missionary being sent out to reach the lost.  What a fantastic ministry.

 

On that note, KP Yohannan from GFA will be speaking in May for our weekend service on the 16^th and 17^th. 

Buckle up! It will be a crazy ride!

 

 

 

Missions Quote of the Day

Dawson Trotman (founder of the Navigators) once said, “If you can’t see very far ahead… go ahead as far as you can see.”

Nice quote from an evangelist, missionary and teacher!  Like Pastor Danny says, “go through the open doors”, when praying to discern God’s direction for you.

 

Bob Sjogren

Our missions class, Perspectives on the World Christian Movement, has been going incredibly well and I can’t believe the caliber of teachers we’ve had.  Two weeks ago was Jim Elliot’s old roommate and brother of Elizabeth Elliot and one of the former brains behind the URBANA conferences, Don Richardson was here because of the class and this week Sunday is Bob Sjogren, a well know author and speaker coming in from Arizona.  The guy is a gifted speaker and I highly recommend coming to the class. It will be well worth it!

 

We will be offering PERSPECTIVES again next September, Lord willing, so this is a great opportunity to visit and see what it is all about.

We crave clarity to avoid the risk of trusting

This week in our Perspectives on the World Christian Movement class (highly recommend it, this class is radically changing people’s “perspectives” on missions), we discussed our key world, “faithfulness”.  A great quote I just heard really summed it up well:  “We crave clarity to avoid the risk of trusting”.  I remember a conversation in college with one of the student government leaders. She wanted to know from God every aspect of her life (who she would marry, her job, etc).  But the Word says that it will be lamp and to my feet, and a light unto my path, not a giant spotlight, 2 miles down the road illuminating every pitfall, every blessing.   Why does God seem to place such a value on faith?  Why does Hebrews 11 tell us that without faith it is impossible to please God? Because only acting in faith does it show our true colors, our true motivations.  We crave clarity because it helps us avoid living in faith.  Living by faith is hard but it is essential to any relationship, how much more so for the most important one. 

 

In our class, we discussed the sufferings of virtually all missionaries as we took a look at 1 Peter.  Out of suffering, Peter penned this epistle to a church scattered by persecution throughout Asia.  God’s people have suffered, and only those with faith in God and a hope that this life was nothing compared to the “weight and glory” of heaven, could persevere.  Take one look at the many examples from Foxes book of Martyrs: “The account of John Huss: Accordingly, the bishops appointed by the Council stripped him of his priestly garments, degraded him, put a paper miter on his head, on which was painted devils, with this inscription, "A ringleader of heretics." Which when he saw, he said: "My Lord Jesus Christ, for my sake, did wear a crown of thorns; why should not I then, for His sake, again wear this light crown, be it ever so ignominious? Truly I will do it, and that willingly." When the chain was put about him at the stake, he said, with a smiling countenance, "My Lord Jesus Christ was bound with a harder chain than this for my sake, and why then should I be ashamed of this rusty one?" The flames were now applied to the wood, when our martyr sung a hymn with so loud and cheerful a voice that he was heard through all the cracklings of the combustibles, and the noise of the multitude. At length his voice was interrupted by the severity of the flames, which soon closed his existence.”  Faith will sustain someone through anything the evil one can fling. 

 

To answer the question, How do we build our lives upon faith in God? Nancy Missler, quoted on Chuck Missler’s website, Khouse, says:  “By daily choosing to walk in childlike dependence and trusting Him, even in the smallest of ways (Matthew 18:3); by being obedient to His Word (1 John 3:22); by appropriating His promises (Matthew 21:22; John 14:13-14; John 15:7); and, by loving others in His Name (Matthew 22:37).”  Real faith is not feeling, not seeing, not understanding and not knowing, but still trusting God. Real faith is being convinced that no matter what we see happening, no matter what we understand to be true, and no matter how we feel, God will be faithful to His Word and He will perform His promises to us, in His timing and in His way!

 

Perspectives Perspective

Many are wondering how the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement class on Sunday nights is going.  Well, glad you asked.  In one short word: Fantastic! Although I have taught the Vision for the Nations class, the in depth level of this class is amazing.  Our first speaker, Dr. Gerald Robison, co-author of Cat and Dog theology shared about the theme of the book and how there are two types of Christians in this world:  Cats and Dogs.  Cat Christians are those who when the Master feeds them, pets them, takes care of them, they turn around and say “IT IS ALL ABOUT ME!”; where as Dogs, when they are pet, fed, taken care of say, “IT IS ALL ABOUT THE MASTER!”  How can I serve the Master?, etc. 

 

In the same way, we look at Christianity in two ways.  Is God the big vending machine in the sky, catering to my every want and need or do we exist to serve, to love and glorify HIM?  Dr. Robison gave a challenging and convicting message on how we view serving the master. Is it to give him glory for the sake of His name or are we living lives that revolve around us.

 

Our next class, taught by Art Sanborn was equally engaging.  Pastor Sanborn was a church planter and teacher in South East Asia for many years and now directs the YWAM Tampa base.  He is a man with a big vision because he serves a big God. Art was healed of an injury that left him a quadriplegic.  Currently, he and his family are working on a full Broadway play called Judah Ben-Hur and even have a multi million dollar set and a cast that did their first production in Singapore.  They hope to open in NYC so they can tour through closed countries. His amazing stories about how worship and prayer made radical inroads into the spiritual and physical realm of entire areas of Thailand and Malaysia.  His stories emphasized our current readings on how “Missions exist because worship doesn’t”. The premise is that God, for the sake of who He is, deserves to be worshipped and as we truly worship, when we are most satisfied in Him, only then do we experience our greatest joy.  And amazing works of God get done at the same time!  Strongholds are ripped down, spiritual oppression ceases, battles are won!  Art presented us with incredible examples from his missionary experience and each one of us was freshly challenged in a new way.  This weekend, Don Richardson of Peace Child fame is our guest speaker. 

Hostetler Update

Here is an update from Ron and Uli Hostetler, church planters in Germany. They will be in town.  If you or your life group would like to meet up with them, please send a note! 

 

Dear Friends,

 

just a quick update to let you know, that we are well on our way and very excited!

 

* we are scheduled to arrive Sunday, March 29 in the evening and will leave again on Wednesday, April 15

* we have a reservation at D&D Missionary Homes

* we are allowed to use the CC Missions van

* there is a pay as you go cell phone waiting for us to use as well

 

The only open issue remains Uli's Greencard. We have to decide if and how to renew it - this is a BIG thing for Uli - please pray for God to clearly lead - He knows what will be needful in the future...

 

Also, we cannot seem to find Anja's brand-new US pass port... This means another trip to the US Consulate in Frankfurt to get new passports for both of the kids. We have an appointment and it should work out in time. Nevertheless prayer for that is still desired!

 

We cannot tell you how much we look forward to being with you all soon!

Looking to Him to make it all happen, 4 very excited Hostetlers

Brad Bright's book- God is the Issue

God is the Issue

 

I was recently reviewing a book that I read a few months ago, compiling some quotes and I thought I would share some of them with you. It really had an impact on me.

 

Pg.11 Morality is a symptom, God is the issue. Do we wish to cure the symptom or the disease. How we answer this question has major implications how we spend out time, energies and resources.

Pg.13 God is the answer to every dysfunction I face

Pg 14 The church in America generally communicates with the culture in one of two ways. Either we preached the straight gospel without regard to the cultural and personal context, or we simply react defensively to the symptomatic cultural ills: such as homosexual behavior, abortion, racism and pornography.

 

Page 20.  The current strategy of promoting morality without reestablishing a source of morality is not working

Pg 21 Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.

Pg 24 Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, articulated the difference between cause and effect: birth-control appeals to the advanced radical because it is calculated to undermine the authority of the Christian churches.  I look forward to seeing humanity free someday from the tyranny of Christianity.

 

Pg 26 We must begin rebuilding the foundation by making the God of the Bible the central issue of life in the minds of those around us

Pg 30 only 9% of all born-again teens believe in absolute moral truth

Pg32 Dr. Christopher Bader: you learn more about people’s moral and political behavior if you know their image of God than almost any other measure

Pg. 37 no amount of marriage counseling would do any good until he decided to put God first in his life

Pg. When God gives me the privilege of mentoring believers I make it very clear that they will hear very little about behavior but a lot about having a heart for God.  Because behavior is an indicator of where the heart is at.

Pg. If we are to win, we must reframe the entire issue in a manner that allows us to move back onto the offense, stay on message.  Therefore, if our rhetorical response is merely to condemn a symptomatic issues such as homosexual behavior, abortion, racism as morally reprehensible we will lose: the behavior will continue or other symptomatic behavior will replace it each time we defensively react to their issue they are able to further marginalize us in the eyes of the broad culture and worse gets us off message because in much of our culture condemning a moral behavior is deemed intolerant.

 

Pg.61 Dr. Martin Luther King – hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that

Pg. do not answer the question asked; rather view the question as an opportunity to talk about our issue -- -- the God of the Bible.  For example – that’s a good question but I think the real issue is….  Move immediately to the critical question of the existence and identity of God.

Pg. 81 we start from their felt need and show how it relates to their real everyday need for God. for example – I would go in and talk about leadership and then transition to the greatest leader who ever lived – Jesus Christ.  Jesus consistently did this. He almost always began with stories to which his audience could relate. He then gave them something they can readily understand and then rhetorically moved them to he wanted them to go.  He not only knew his message – he knew his audience.

Pg.  90 speaking to a homosexual – you start with your behavior and try to conform God to what you want. I start with God and try to conform my behavior to who God is.

Pg.91 never, never, never feel obligated to answer the question (reframe it)

 

Reframing- Chapter 5

Pg.112 perception constitutes reality for most people.

Pg.112 we must learn to aggressively reframe the rhetoric of the opposition, just as Jesus did.  We redefine it. Redefining does two things, first, it broadens the meaning of the opposition’s rhetoric or to carry our message, while simultaneously diluting their original intent.  For example – such as what happened to the term family values under Bill Clinton -- he redefined family to be something other than the traditional nuclear family.  One of the key components in the communication process is creating linkage. E.G. - Visualize world peace – visualize whirled peas.

Pg. 115 violence is a symptom of a person’s beliefs, ultimately one’s view of God, not a symptom of owning a gun.

Pg 116 when the opposition talks about hate crimes we should talk about hate crimes against people of faith.

Pg.124 President Theodore Roosevelt – the thought of modern industry in the hands of Christian charity is a dream worth dreaming.  The thought of industry in the hands of paganism is a nightmare beyond imagining.

Pg. 125 a fuzzy view of God will eventually lead to a fuzzy view of truth.

Pg 150 The next time you face something you truly believe is a problem, ask yourself the following question, “What attribute of God do I not really believe is true in this situation?” (By the way, this is a great question to ask as well when you’re worried, feeling hopeless or angry at someone).  Never forget, life is not about you, rather it is all about who God is.  Until you truly learn that lesson you are destined always to have “problems”. 

 

Intervarsity- Stacy Gaskins update

I had the privilege of meeting with Stacy Gaskins, the regional director for Intervarsity the other day and I was so encouraged to hear how the staff and students of IV were stepping out in faith and reaching their campuses.  At USF Tampa this past semester, in two days of campaigning to invite students to their Bible Studies, over 300 students signed up to attend an IV Bible study.  Simply because someone asked! 

 

From 2005-2008, 106 small groups started and 562 students were discipled

163 Student Leaders were trained and 170 students went on a domestic or international mission trip.

1540 were impacted by the gospel and 43 solid responses of faith were made!

 

Why Intervarsity, you might ask?  Well, simply because the 16.5 million university students in the USA are the ones who will largely shape the world.  We need to be reaching this group.  Secondly, only 20% of high school students who grow up in the churches will still actively be involved with Christianity at the age of 30!  But, if we are influencing them with the gospel message, we can change those stats! 

 

Please pray for IV Tampa Bay as they broaden their vision to triple their staff, disciple 500+ students a year and start 65+ on-campus small group Bible studies by 2011. 

 

Florida Cold- Homeless Need

This just came in through email from a friend of someone working at the homeless shelter at St. Vincent de Paul. 

 

“I need a blanket.”

We were serving food to the homeless at the Sophie Sampson center last night and this simple request from a homeless man could not be answered. It is going to get colder over the next several days. Anything you can donate is appreciated. Please forward this email to anyone who may want to help.

We are collecting blankets and adult sized warm clothing (jackets, sweatshirts, winter hats) for the homeless and will be distributing them at the Sophie Sampson Center of Vincent DePaul tonight after the homeless feeding. If you have anything, it would be greatly appreciated.

There are approximately 200-250 people who come to the Sophie Sampson center every night for a meal. Serving meals at the center has made me realize that the stereotypes we have of our homeless population do not apply to the majority. Many of the homeless are our elderly, our veterans, our retirees who have no other option. The majority of them are so grateful for the food that is provided. Serving at the center given us a new appreciation for food, shelter, and warm clothing.

Call Stacey & Dave to arrange drop off
(727) 612-1163

DIRT Training

The DIRT (Disaster International Relief Team) was developed to help out with disaster internationally. Unlike domestic disasters, international disasters bring their own challenges but also opportunities.  It is absolutely critical to be prepared if we are dealing with disaster situations outside the comfort and safety of the United States. As a result, DIRT has an emphasis on training and equipping.  Interestingly enough, 3 of the original DIRT members are now EMT’s because of their involvement.  A fantastic way of getting prepared is by going through the CERT training provided by Lealman Fire Department.

 

The CERT course offers basic training to members of the community to prepare them to react

safely when a disaster strikes. This 2-day course was designed and is supported by the United

States Department of Homeland Security.

Where: Lealman Fire District Station #18

4360 55th Avenue North

Saint Petersburg, Florida 33714

Dates: Friday, January 16th 2009 from 6:30pm – 9:30pm

Saturday, January 17th 2009 2009 from 8:30am – 6pm

Topics include:

Disaster Preparedness Fire Safety

Disaster Medical Operations Light Search and Rescue Operations

CERT Organization Disaster Psychology

Terrorism and CERT

To sign up for the CERT course or for more information,

contact the Lealman Fire District at (727) 526-5650

or email at klt@lealmanfire.com

 

Russia Short Term Team

The Russia team is back safe and sound after a long detour through Newfoundland, Canada (an unruly passenger caused them to stop there).  I just wanted to share the report back from Pastor Bart from CC St. Petersburg, Russia:

 

Our family and the church were blessed so abundantly with the team that we are without words.

Yes, we are exhausted - but in a very good sense. Tired, but very satisfied. To be able to see how the Lord has lead and protected the team, how He has used them to encourage our church and the people of Russia, how the 

Lord has used CCSTP to bless our church with crafts and other materials for the generations to come :)

The fellowship and the spiritual oneness were very encouraging. Please thank everyone who has been praying for the team and for our church. We are greatly blessed with you all! Also thank the "Missions minded" group. Monika's favorite word of the 

month without a doubt is "gift/present" - and she received a whole bunch of neat stuff from you guys.

The toys for the Sunday school / nursery came very timely and are just awesome.

 

In short our cup is running over with joy and thankfulness. We praise Jesus for his providence and care and for the friends we have in you. May the Lord continue to bless you all,

 

Bart