G3 Insider

There is a lot of hype going around about the new movie Paranormal Activity. Made two year’s ago for $15,000 it struggled to get a movie studios attention to pick it up for a wide release audience. Then Spielberg saw it and that all changed. He wanted to reshoot it but after a test audience screened it and Spielberg saw how scared people were(some literally got up and left) he decided to keep it just as it was except for changing the ending and released it to a few theaters in major cities. With the help of word of mouth advertising the movie quickly became a new phenomenon that reached Blair Witch Project proportions. People wanted wide release of the film but the movie studio wanted to see some proof that a wide release audience would support it. A website was setup that said if 1 million people signed the petition the studio would release it. The petition worked, the movie was released nation wide and so far has cleared $65 plus million. Not bad for only costing $15,000 to make.

The hype continues for this film as I have had multiple conversations about it from people who have seen it and were scared to death to those who refuse to see it but can’t help but talk about it. All of this discussion only continues to drive the curiosity of people and they can’t help themselves but to go and see what all this hype and excitement is about.

Every forest fire starts with a spark. Every great movement starts with one who believes. Every box office movie starts at a no name movie festival. But once people believe in the product, in the person, in the idea watch out. It will catch a fire that explodes across a people group, community, nation, or even the whole world. Christianity started this way. Jesus our Savior and 12 no name guys. The church exploded into a movement that has impacted billions upon billions of lives. That movement must not stop. What would happen if the people in our churches were as fired up about the Gospel as we are about a movie? What if people were so impacted by Jesus that they couldn’t help but talk about it everywhere? Paranormal activity is talked about everywhere. Water coolers, youth group, cubicles, Walmart isles you name it. People are fired up about it. When was the last time you were that fired up about Jesus? When was the last time we got that excited about what Christ did on the cross? When was the last time you couldn’t wait to tell so and so about Jesus?  Show me a church that is just as fired up about Jesus as people are about a movie and I’ll show you a Supernatural movement of God where thousands are being impacted for eternity.

We don’t see this movement because we are complacent. We don’t give any time to God. Sure we go to church but do we do anything outside of that? Do we talk about our faith? Do we pray? Do we study the Word and let it transform our lives? Do we have genuine concern for the hurting and the lost? No. Instead it’s about more methods, bigger buildings, less scripture and taking cautious steps to not offend. Compromise and conformity kill a movement. I hope in your church just as I hope in mine that we will begin to catch that spark that becomes a fire that turns into a nuclear explosion that impacts thousands for eternity. All you need is a few who truly believe. Who have the passion and zeal to make that movement happen. Who are so fired up about Jesus they can’t help but talk about him and get others fired up about him. A few whose hearts and love for Jesus are so infectious that people can’t help but come to their church to see what all the talk is about. Maybe you’re the one to start that fire. Maybe you’re the one to take that risk. You’ll never know what kind of movement you can start or what supernatural things God will do through you until you actually try.

Every month the vice chair of our board writes a little devotional for the church newsletter. She always does a great job and I thought November’s article was just awesome and so incredibly true. Hope you enjoy it.

Lessons from the Subway

“Mommy, what’s wrong with him?” my daughter asked as she drew closer and tightened her grip on my arm. The source of her concern was a disheveled man, who alternately sang loudly or yelled out random thoughts, pacing along the platform of the subway station. “I think he may have a drug problem or be mentally ill,” I whispered as I hurried her on the train that had just pulled into the station. As the train pulled away, I realized that my 10-year-old was experiencing more than just the historical significance of Boston. She was seeing many different types of people—people we don’t usually see in La Crosse. Having lived in a large city prior to having children, I had experienced all this before and over the years had learned that you just avoid the “unusual” people on the subway or the street corners. But something was different this time:  Did I really want to teach Laura to ignore and avoid people who made her uncomfortable? I tried to justify my thinking, “This is an issue of safety, and I’m just teaching her to be careful like I do when I tell her to run from a stranger who offers her a ride.” But that argument didn’t assuage my conscience. This seemed different somehow. Then I heard that quiet voice within my heart say, “I don’t see him the way you do. I see someone who needs to know My love.” Even when I’m on vacation, the Holy Spirit is not. He still finds me and pricks my heart and soul. As a Christian mother, I want my kids to model the love of Christ to others. Most often, they will learn how to do that from me and the example I provide. But how can I do that while still teaching them to be safe? “God,” I prayed, “show me how to balance these two competing desires in a better way the next time.” Perhaps what is most troubling to me about this episode is that I wasn’t bothered by my prior callous responses until I had one of my children with me. Isn’t it funny that the condition of my spiritual heart never bothered me until a child was monitoring it? Again I prayed, “God, forgive me for all the times I avoided people just because it was the easy thing to do. Help my heart to be less callous next time—regardless of whether someone is watching me or not.” “…The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”  I Sam. 16:7b

Last week I wrote a blog post about the 5 P’s to prayer. We looked at King Jehoshaphat and what he did when the threat of war was upon his people. Those 5 p’s were problem, petition, proclamation, praise and peace. If you want to read the post then click HERE. Immediately following this awesome story of how God moves in powerful ways when His people call on His name we see a final summary of King Jehoshaphat’s life. Although he was a good king there was something he failed to do.

II Chronicles 20:32-33, “Jehoshaphat was a good king, following the ways of his father, Asa. He did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight. During his reign, however, he failed to remove all the pagan shrines, and the people never fully committed themselves to follow the God of their ancestors.”

Jehoshaphat did what was pleasing to the Lord except he failed to remove all the pagan shrines and because of this the people never fully committed themselves to follow God. Like these people we too can be fickle in our obedience to God. We say we want to serve God yet we still have shrines in our lives that are keeping us from doing so. What is it in your life right now that is keeping you from fully following God? Is it sports, TV, work, family, money? What is it? Whatever it is you may need to cut it out or at the very least severely reduce its importance and hold on your life. We do that by giving it over to God. Asking Him to forgive us for making that “thing” more important than Him. Following Jesus is all that matters in this life. Everything else is just an idol that keeps us from becoming the sanctified mature followers He wants us to be.

In Luke 18 we see the story of the rich young ruler who wanted to know how to inherit eternal life. He wanted to earn it by his works. But Christ told him it was not by his works he could be saved. If he wanted to be saved he needed to be willing to give up everything and follow him. To die to self and serve God. The rich ruler left sad because money was his idol, his shrine. He wasn’t willing to give it up and we’ll never know if he was saved or not. But Jesus makes it clear. To be his follower means giving up everything and recognizing that all that matters is Jesus. Everything else is just a shrine that means nothing and only keeps us from being fully mature believers or believers at all.

So I ask you again; what shrines need to be removed from your life? What is keeping you from fully trusting and following God? Get rid of it and allow God to have all of you.

Big E Party tonight for all the Elev8 kids. There will be inflatables, weird games with pumpkins involved and CANDY! Wear your costume and come prepared for an awesome time.

Trick or Treat So Others Can Eat is happening this weekend. Pray for us as we go out to collect the food bags that will be passsed out on Thursday. We want to be able to collect TONS of food to help needy families in the area.

THIS Sunday will be the 7th message of the current Grace series. We will be talking about how God offers restoring grace to those who have fallen away from their faith.

We are looking for some HIGHLY organized and detailed people to help us in the areas of outreach and missions. These areas don’t necessarily have to be your “gift” or “calling”. Rather we are looking for people who LOVE to organize events and make sure all the little details get done. If that’s you let me know ASAP.

At this time we can no longer offer toddler nursery during second service. It’s unfortunate but we just don’t have enough volunteers to make it happen and we don’t have many kids of that age right now either. If you want to see it continue then please volunteer to be a part of it. We want to have enough volunteers so you only have to work it once every two months.

There are some crazy churches out there but this one might be in the top 10. I know there are some churches that believe the KJV is the only right translation of the Bible but I have yet to hear of a church that has taken extreme measures like this church by burning other bibles and books of certain Christian authors to make a point. I do agree there are some questionable translations out there that we should be careful of and there are definitely false teachers, preachers and so called “christian” authors who I encourage people to stay away from but not sure I would hold a book burning of them. In all reality the only “true” bible is that which is read in the original Greek and Hebrew. So I guess the joke’s on them.

In all seriousness these people are crazy and are taking Christianity to the most legalistic extremes possible and who teach and lead people in such a way that is not Christian but is in fact leading them in the opposite direction of Christ except they do it all in his name. I am not angry at them nor do I judge them but I absolutely feel sorry for them and hope that God would show them the Truth, capital T,  instead of the “truth”, little t, they have fabricated for themselves.

Great services today. Here are the afterthoughts…

We have great volunteers. From the greeters and ushers to the nursery workers and praise team. Love seeing everyone who gets involved each week to make this thing happen. It’s a great group of people who love their church and are willing to do anything to make it an incredible place to worship.

Continue to see more and more new families. I would guess we are seeing easily 3-5 new families each week. Some are unchurched, some are new to the area, some are curious and some are coming from another denomination. It can be overwhelming trying to meet everyone but we will continue to welcome them and help them get connected the best we can. I’m glad I have Pastor Linda who is trying really hard to connect with everyone and help our ushers and greeters make sure people are being helped. Definitely going to take continued training and strategy but we’ll get there eventually.

1st service we had a time of testimony. I love doing that once in a while and it was good to hear praises and request then pray together as a church family.

Spoke on forgiveness today. It was part 6 of my Grace series. Some thoughts I brought out today were…

• Forgiving is not forgetting…
• You will never have to forgive someone more than Christ forgave you
• It is impossible for us to receive from God what we aren’t willing to give. How can we expect God to forgive us if we won’t forgive others?
• Lack of forgiveness only leads to a life of bitterness and resentment. Bitterness only hurts the one who feels it and only stagnates our spiritual maturity.
• Christians can always trust Christ to work good out of even the most difficult and painful of circumstances. Think about what you wouldn’t have today, know today be able to help others with today if you hadn’t experienced what you had.

Continue to appreciate the testimonies of people who are being challenged by the series.

Guys are getting geared up for hunting season. Already had a few apologize for not being in church in a few weeks. Trust me I am used to it when hunting season starts.

Weather is slowly but surely getting colder and colder. I am actually ready for the snow to drop. I keep hearing about Wisconsin winters now I am ready for it to get here so I can see what all the hype is about. Of course I will probably regret typing that but oh well.

If you come up here to visit we are taking you to Lindy’s Sub’s. Absolutely fantastic. Have had them for two days in a row. They are Taylor’s new favorite as well.

I need to give a BIG THANKS to everyone who has given us cards and gift cards for pastors appreciation. It has been awesome!

That’s about it for today. Yes, I watched the Packers win. Yes, I am looking forward to the Packers/Vikings game next weekend. I am rooting for the Packers but I am also rooting for my boy Adrian Peterson. Never stop rooting for my sooners no matter who they play for.

Finally, I LOVE MY CHURCH! I get to serve with some of the best people in the world and don’t want to be anywhere else.

Have a great week!

Now I know that my problem is that I haven’t been putting my faith to rap. That’s why not as many people are reached today.

Our kids hurt. So often we think being a kid is all about having fun, watching TV, playing with friends etc. But what we seem to forget is that our kids have questions. Our kids hurt just like us. Our kids wonder why things happen, who God is, what love is and where they fit in the equation. Granger Community Church just posted a video they made of prayers that their kids were asking. These prayers are from kids 4 years old to High School. This video will make you think and break your heart. I know for me it makes me evaluate how we minister to kids. Are we just being shallow with them or are we working to help teach them how God moves and works through all the good and bad in life? Are they only learning new hip songs every week or are they being shown the Gospel so that they will trust in Christ and know that yes God loves them and will help amidst all of life’s difficulties.

In 2 Chronicles 20 we see King Jehoshaphat staring a dangerous enemy in the face. Lives are on the line and if something isn’t done quickly it will get ugly. What we see in this story is a powerful reminder to us about how God moves when His children call on His name.

First we see the problem. Verse 1 and 2 says, “…the armies of the Moabites, Amonites, and some of the Meunites declared war on Jehoshaphat. Messengers came and told Jehoshaphat, ‘A vast army from Edom is marching against you from beyond the Dead Sea.’”

There can’t be solutions unless there are problems that need solutions. Jphat (my nickname for him ) had a big problem. The enemy is coming from all sides. Multiple armies wanted to kill him and his people. What was he supposed to do? This had to be a time of immense stress and worry. In fact verse 3 says he was terrified.  Our lives may not be in danger like Jphat’s but we definitely face problems that bring about stress and worry. We have problems that definitely terrify us.  It’s what we do next that matters. Let’s look at what Jphat did.

Verses 3-12 says, Jehoshaphat was terrified by this news and begged the Lord for guidance. He also ordered everyone in Judah to begin fasting. ⁴ So people from all the towns of Judah came to Jerusalem to seek the Lord’s help^{. 5} Jehoshaphat stood before the community of Judah and Jerusalem in front of the new courtyard at the Temple of the Lord. ⁶ He prayed, “O Lord, God of our ancestors, you alone are the God who is in heaven. You are ruler of all the kingdoms of the earth. You are powerful and mighty; no one can stand against you! ⁷ O our God, did you not drive out those who lived in this land when your people Israel arrived? And did you not give this land forever to the descendants of your friend Abraham? ⁸⁹ They said, ‘Whenever we are faced with any calamity such as war, plague, or famine, we can come to stand in your presence before this Temple where your name is honored. We can cry out to you to save us, and you will hear us and rescue us.’ ¹⁰ “And now see what the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir are doing. You would not let our ancestors invade those nations when Israel left Egypt, so they went around them and did not destroy them. ¹¹ Now see how they reward us! For they have come to throw us out of your land, which you gave us as an inheritance. ¹² O our God, won’t you stop them? We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us. We do not know what to do, but we are looking to you for help.” Your people settled here and built this Temple to honor your name.

Jphat and his people are terrified and so he petitions God for help. That is the second P of prayer. He could have been arrogant and tried to gather his army and solve the problem himself by going to war. He could have put on a happy face and said that everything was going to be fine and there was nothing to worry about. Instead he humbles himself and with his people right there with him, gathered around him, he cries out to the lord begging him for help to be delivered from his enemies.

When the world seems to be caving in we can try to put on a happy face and pretend everything is okay or we can be arrogant and think we can handle the problem ourselves OR we could follow Jphat’s example. Gather people around you to petition God. Beg Him to help lift you up out of your calamity, trouble and trust that He alone has a plan because He has helped you so many times before. Jphat reminds everyone, through his prayer, how God had freed his people before and so he petitions God to do it again. We so often forget that God has helped us in the past. We need to always remember what God has always done so that we will have the faith to survive the next challenge by continuing to trust that God will keep his promises and deliver us.

God absolutely heard the people’s cry and in the next few verses we see the Spirit of the Lord come upon one of the men. God makes a proclamation to the people. Verses 15-17, He said, “Listen, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Listen, King Jehoshaphat! This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid! Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. ¹⁶ Tomorrow, march out against them. You will find them coming up through the ascent of Ziz at the end of the valley that opens into the wilderness of Jeruel. ¹⁷ But you will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the Lord’s victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out against them tomorrow, for the Lord is with you!”

God makes a proclamation to the king and his people to not be afraid. Go out to the battle, do not be afraid and watch as God leads them to victory. I love that. Go out there and just see God make it happen. Pretty cool. This is God’s answer to us. Don’t be afraid. Trust in Him. Go out into your battle and hold fast trusting in Him and just watch Him bring victory in your life. God is ALWAYS with us. He will not ALWAYS answer our prayers like we want but when we trust in Him we will always be victorious. He will give us exactly what we need to survive. He does not leave us or stop loving us. Take your positions, trust and stand firm and God will bring victory. So what happened right after God gives his proclamation? The people praised.

Verses 18-19 says, “Then King Jehoshaphat bowed low with his face to the ground. And all the people of Judah and Jerusalem did the same, worshiping the Lord. ¹⁹ Then the Levites from the clans of Kohath and Korah stood to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud shout.”

They didn’t wait till they knew for sure God would do what he said he would do. They got up and they praised. I love in the end it says that some of the clans stood up and praised God with a very loud shout. They screamed as warriors praising God because they knew He would keep His promise and deliver them. In the same way we can stand and shout with praise because God ALWAYS keeps His promises. We can thank Him in advance for helping to deliver us from the enemy in our lives. We can know that we are guaranteed victory when God is on our side. It’s an awesome feeling and it makes any problem we deal with feel pretty insignificant.

Finally, the last p is peace. The people showed up to the battle. They didn’t sit there in silence though. They immediately started praising. God moved, the enemies turned on each other and victory was theirs. They never had to lift a sword. God took care of it all. At the end of the chapter it says, “When all the surrounding kingdoms heard that the Lord himself had fought against the enemies of Israel, the fear of God came over them. So Jehoshaphat’s kingdom was at peace, for his God had given him rest on ever side.”

God brought victory to Jphat and peace came over his land. God will bring us all victory no matter what situation we face and there will be peace. A new problem will always arise but when we trust in God the enemy, like Jphat’s enemies, will be terrified. Resist them and they will flee because when God is on our side nothing is impossible.

Remember this story when a problem arises. Remember to trust in Christ to help you endure and lead you to victory. Remember that God always answers prayer. Remember that He has helped us in the past so praise Him because he will deliver you today. And remember that peace will come. One day all problems will end and there will only be peace. Until that day comes just keep leaning on Him for strength, keep showing up to the battle, take your position and watch God bring victory.

Another Sunday is in the books. Here are the afterthoughts…

Part 5 of our Grace series looked at how God brings healing to our emotional and spiritual wounds.

Rejection is something we all struggle with. People who have faced extreme rejection in their life will typically be people who crave validation from others and become consumed with taking on identities that will bring them praise.

Not all pastors are called to be pastors and not all people are called to lead a ministry. Sometimes people take on these identities because it lets them focus on other peoples problems and completely ignore their own. Plus they are in positions that bring the validation from others that they crave.

It’s a waste of time and energy to work our tails off to earn validation and acceptance from the very people who will one day be right next to us on their faces worshipping Jesus. They may seem important now but one day only Christ will matter. We should live like that now and not wait until the end.

I’ve learned that I can’t please all the people all the time or even all the people some of the time. I’ve learned that usually I can only please some of the people at random times. My identity is in Christ and being more like him not in getting man’s approval.

We don’t earn validation from God by what we do. God accepts us right where we are in life. He forgives us although we don’t deserve it. He proves we are valuable to him because of what Christ did on the cross. He loves us although we consistently turn our backs on him and He makes us capable to overcome hurt, tragedy and rejection because of Christ and the Holy Spirit in us.

This series is quickly becoming one of my favorites. I haven’t personally seen or heard of any first time believers coming out of it but its been awesome to see people deeply challenged and in many cases set free from their past.

The band closed with “Hands of the Healer” by John Waller. Amazing song. It was a powerful way to close out an emotional service and you could feel the presence of God moving. Love those moments.

Biggest crowd today since I’ve been here. Seeing new families every week and beginning to see some other families come back.

We have some awesome volunteers that make all of this happen. Can’t say thank you enough to them.

Was hoping that because I live in Wisconsin and because Wisconsin is in the Big 10 I wouldn’t have to hear about OU losing to Texas but somehow a Texas fan got into the church. He was nice though which I always appreciate.

Need to say thanks to everyone for the cards and gifts for pastors appreciation. I keep telling people I haven’t been here long enough to earn their appreciation but I appreciate it none the less.

We haven’t scratched the surface of what’s getting ready to happen. I feel like Sand Lake is in this bubble that is slowly getting bigger and bigger and pretty soon it’s going to explode (in a good way). Love serving and ministering to this church. Sand Lake thanks for letting me be your pastor!