Sunday Mind Dump (April 27/08)

 

 

·         Worship was awesome this Sunday, the band sounded great. I can’t relax and worship God when they don’t sound great. Audre did a great job leading, she was created to be on stage, and I’m so glad that we have had a role in helping here find here gifts.

 

Andre was behind the drums but I hear a new drummer might be coming on the team. Everything is working out according Romans 8:28.

 

I was not too satisfied with my preaching this Sunday, all though response was big, people said that they really liked it. I was trying to get people offended in the beginning of my sermon, since it seems like I do it anyway, I guess I was just trying to get it out of the way.  

Its not that I didn’t take the time to prepare my massage, I was just tired of the process. Saturday is for relaxing, and most people are having fun, I was like “Screw it” God tomorrow I will totally trust in you.(That only works sometimes)  Usually it takes me about 10 – 15 hours of study just to write one sermon and I didn’t want to be in the office so long on Saturday.

I want to preach this massage again.   Because there is just so much about PEOPLE PLEASING that I didn’t say.

 

We went out to Jonny Carrino’s after church and had a lot of fun. I told the one Joke I know. It got sum response. And then everybody else started……..

 

Andre and Yana are engaged and are going though pre marital counseling. So we have spent 2.5 hours with them this Sunday, I think they were surprised to find out so much more about each other. It’s hard to do premarital counseling with your friends.  But sum day they will be doing this with other young couples. I wish Tanya and I had someone telling us what marriage is going to be like.

 

I feel like God is personally teaching me, and it’s not fun right now. While preaching my massage this Sunday, God reveled some of my motives that I have never seen before. I had to do some repenting.

 

I feel like imprisoned John the Baptist who almost got offended at Jesus and Jesus said “Blessed is he who will not get offended because of Me” John was probably thinking “Jesus why don’t you come and rescue me, I can be of some use to you” or like disciples who cried out “Cant you see -we are drowning?” Jesus answered and said “O you of little faith, why have you doubted?” That’s kind of my prayer “Jesus I’m downing, little help would be nice” There is just so much of my self.

Sometimes I feel like “will God ever perfect me in my lifetime?”

It’s like there is always something new that He shows you about you. And it’s never finished.

But in the words of Job “Though He slays me, yet I will trust Him”

 

Its getting late, see you.

Sunday Thoughts

 

This Sunday things started kind of ruff, we had very little time to set up our instruments and our band had to improvise.

I thought “God just let them finish as soon as possible” the PA system was not working right and no matter what we did there was this noise that it was making. We installed a Digital maximize and maybe it had something to do with that. We will solve it this week.

 

We tried something new this week. People were able to Text me with their questions doing my preaching it was cool and we will do it again. (They text anyway so might as well put it to good use)

The stage setup was amazing we had many different objects that have to do with Addictions.

The message was cool and the people were responding like never before.  

One person was saved. (The service was not in vain)

 

Staff meeting

This was our first staff meeting and parents brought there children. So you can imagine how easy it was to talk with adults while some children would always have to go to the bathroom. But over all we had a very productive meeting.

 

We have implemented a program for all the staff called 10/10 (10 seconds of 10 feet)

We are all responsible for making people feel welcomed, so when a person inters through the doors of our church we have to greet them within 10 sec. or 10ft. Costumer service is what makes a difference between a successful organization and loosing one. We want to serve our people the best way we know how.  

 

Going to work

Sunday mind dump

Today I preached in two services; 9am and 11:15am. The 9 o’clock massage was harder to preach but the ministry of the Holy Spirit was awesome, so many people received the spiritual quickening and we had about 7 visitors in that service.

In the 11:15 service we had about 10 new visitors and 1 person excepted Jesus in to his heart. It was easier to preach in the second service but the ministry of the Holy Spirit could have bit stronger. I love the energy of young people today. It was a good crowd and we are growing. There is just new excitement in the air.

• The bandsounded great today, and Audre looked like she has bin leading worship for ever.    She realy had the crowd going and then in the second song the Presence of God just fell strong. Andre S. played incredibly on the drums.
• Kids did an OK job performing a “Jesus Freak song” but some of them didn’t know the words. Kids choir is just starting out and will need a lot of work.  I know they can do so much better and i don’t expect this to be the norm; lets go higher and get better. We are to make stars & that means that everything we do must be of the highest quality. Don’t hate me Sunday school teachers i love you all and i love our kids but I’m picky when it comes to quality of everything we do.
• Creative teamworked on a video but it was not of a good quality so we had to pull it.
• Our creative team had produced the funniest 3minutes play I have ever seen, people were laughing like crazy. Ilia is such an actor, Joanna played the role of Delilah & Vadim did a funny Samson.
• We sold all of our “Prison Break” Shirts, this never happened before, people were almost fighting to buy one, good job Masha.
• I love our people after the service, no one once to leave, there is so much fellowship going on.
• We are in the proses to bring a new member in to our leading team, its still a secret but i will reveal it soon.
• I’m tired and yet today was so fulfilling.
•  I’m going to see whats on TV and spend some time with my bride.
• Good night

The Greatest PRISON BREAK

This week we have bin slaving with my team and came up with some awsom ideas for the next 2 month. 

• We don’t want to water down the masadge of the Gospel
• But we want  to reach the unchurched 

Beginning Easter Sunday thru April 27 we will be starting a new series called “The Greatest Prison Break”.Its going to be cool. One thing for sure it will not be boring, i guaranty it. The stage design is going to be very unusual. This is going to be top of the line for us so far. And Saturday we are shutting a  commercial. The guys are pumped up.

 

 

 

Who is his lord?

Crazy day this Sunday. Preached 2 services 9am & 11:15am. Really joyed preaching in the 9am service, people were really responsive. Had a inner feeling to make an altar call and 7 people were saved. Over 10 people came up to me and wanted to tell me their story’s after the service and i only had few minutes to really listen. I still need to learn how to react when people tell me their story’s.

In the 11:15am service i tried to recreate the first service and i think  i failed. Although people came up to me and said that it was a good massage,  however i didn’t get that inner witness in myself. One thing i realised is that i should adapt to the crowd. Sense the people who are in second service are different than people who are in the first. Apostle Paul said “I know how to Live” i need to know how to preach to different groups of people.

Had 4 meetings on Sunday as-well, and all of them were very productive. On the third meeting Tanya and i were siting in the restaurant with a young believer and we were having a good conversation with this person. Suddenly a drunk started calling me names and looked like he wanted to pick a fight. We were having such a good time and this man wanted to disrupt what God was doing in that young persons life. I wanted to say to this drunk ”Who is your lord, who sand you, who is using you to disrupt this meeting?” That was unusual. But devil didn’t have a chance to do any damage, the meeting was a success.

We came home at 11pm, 15 hour day.  I’m Out.  

Minneapolis Trip

Monday we took Denis to Minneapolis Airport for 2pm flight and said our goodbyes.  Tanya said that i didn’t  know how to say my goodbyes, i did feel a lot of emotions but i didn’t know how to express them, “i hate goodbyes”. We just got to know Denis a little bit better and now we will not see him again  until August when  we go on a missionary trip  to Ukraine. Next day he called me from Kiev and sounded kind of sad. We will miss him too, but we will keep in touch.

While here Tanya & Abe decided to visit a mall and Alex Jr. & I hit some electronics stores. We stopped at a Guitar Center and jammed on some keyboards. Alex Jr were turning it up out there and I got a chance to play some expencive keybourds, one of them was 9000.00 dollars, it was cool. One thing I keep realizing’s, that  a good musician is way better than a poor maestro with ten thousand dollar instrument.

Also had a meeting with a pastor couple who are church planters here in Minneapolis and I think I talked a little bit to much <but I had a lot to say>. Maybe i should have listened more but you know how i am when i get in to the talking mood, fine, i will listen next time. One thing that i realized that we need to spend a lot more time with church planters. I love being with people like that, we have so much in common.  He just called and said goodbye. That was nice.

We will start driving back in a few hours.

PART A

If you want to become friends with your pastor, here are some suggestions:

1. Don’t be pushy. Pushy people come across as needy. We minister to needy people all day. We crave friendships not more counseling appointments.
2. Don’t tell us “God told you” we’re going to be friends. He may have, but that doesn’t work on us. Tons of people have told us that before. Friendship for us needs to happen over time, not be born because of something God told you but not us.
3. Coming to a stranger’s house for dinner isn’t the high point of our lives. (You know a lot about us. We don’t know as much about you.) We work a lot of nights. Our kids are busy. Finding a babysitter is hard. Bringing our kids to your house often puts stress on us. A night at home is often more meaningful than a dinner at your house. (Some pastors will disagree with me and be very blessed by these dinners. Most aren’t.)
4. My wife doesn’t want to send our kids to your house just because you want to baby sit them. You are probably an incredible person, but we don’t know about your neighbors or your kids’ friends or your uncle that might come by. There are too many weird people for us to send our kids to your house without knowing more.
5. We are grateful for “gift cards.” Many pastors don’t have the financial margin to take their families out. Gift cards mean a lot.
6. We love talking to you about things besides church and the Bible. We have other interests like you.
7. We love your notes of appreciation. They mean more than you know. You have a way of sending them when we really need them. Thank you!

(Eight more suggestions are coming tomorrow…)

Pastors, where do you agree? What would you add?

The Challenge of Ministry Friendships

By Craig Groeschel on February 22, 2008

Becoming Friends With Your Pastor

PART B

8. We love talking to the real you. Many people show us a spiritual front. Truthfully, we’d rather see your dark side than a fake spiritual one. Thank you for being yourself!

9. We are slow to open up. It is not because of you. We’ve been hurt many times by people who say the same things you are saying to us. Give us time.

10. If we can’t be close to you, it doesn’t mean we don’t truly love you. We only have room for a handful of very close friends. We simply don’t have the time or energy to be close to tons of people. Please don’t take it personally.

11. Please don’t try to use our kids to get to us. We love our kids and don’t want anyone to use them. Our kids also can’t go to every kid’s birthday party from the church.

12. If we ever say “no” to you, please understand that it is very hard for us. We want to serve you. We want to minister to you. We want you to like us. Sometimes, we simply can’t do everything. We hope you understand.

13. More than anything, we want to represent Christ to you. When we let you down (and we will), we pray you will show us grace.

14. We want you to know that we value your prayers more than you will ever know.

15. When you do become our close friend, you are an answer to prayer and a gift from God!

Dive in! What are your thoughts?

The Challenge of Ministry Friendships 1 (of 5)

By Craig Groeschel on February 18, 2008

Intimate Friendships Are Tough For Pastors

This is a series of posts I’ve wanted to write for some time. I pray you will all add valuable insight to the discussion.

(Note: I am writing to pastors. For those of you who are not in ministry, some of what I write will be difficult for you to understand. Read the comments carefully. Don’t judge these pastors. They are real people with real pain. I pray God will give you insight how to minister and befriend pastors.)

Back to the pastors… As you know, intimate friendships with church members can be very challenging! Those of you who are pastors probably understand that.

Here are a few of the reasons I’ve experienced:

• Some pastors move often from church to church making it hard to develop lasting close friendships.
• Most lay-people (non-ministers) will say that they understand you are a “real person,” but many really don’t believe that. As much as they think they look at you as normal people, they still generally have higher expectations for you.
• Because people generally have higher expectations of pastors, it is easy for pastors to blow their expectations.
• Most church members talk differently to pastors.  
• When a friend who is a church member leaves the church, it is very hard for pastors not to take it personally. This can cause a pastor to fear future intimacy with church members.
• In my experience, losing friendships can be as hard (or much harder) on the spouses than the ministers.
• People like to talk about ministers. Because people are watching so closely, we often crave privacy. Without knowing it, we can “wall people out.”
• Church members can be mean.

Enough said.

Please add some of your thoughts.

Synergize Pastors Conference

Second Billion

Last week we were privileged to be a part of “Synergize Pastors’ Conference” in Atlanta, GA. The focus of this gathering was to support and encourage pastors from all over the world to reach out and win a second billion in the next ten to fifteen years. There is about 1.2 billion Christians in the world right now. If every Christian does his or her part it becomes a real possibility. Speakers from all over the world spoke and sharpened each other, just as iron sharpens iron, to go outside of the four walls of a church and win one billion more people for Christ.

Organizers James Davis and Pastor Sunday Adelaja made sure that we would capture the vision by bringing over 40 influential speakers from India, Fiji, New Zealand, Philippines, Canada, and US.  In the beginning, we were going to this conference only for the sole purpose of attending one. So we were hoping to relax, meet new pastors, exchange business cards, see the city, eat out, and maybe learn a little. However, we did not get much relaxation or scenery. From eight in the morning to sometimes 11:30 at night we were learning from different pastors, doctors, teachers, and business people.  This was the longest time we had ever been in a seminar, twelve to fourteen hours a day. I know, it is crazy but it was totally worth it. After the second day of the conference, we were praying in our room, and the prayer broke out like a river blocked by a dam and finally got free. We were like, “Wow, what is happening; of course, we understood that, with being in the presence of God for so many hours a day, and having your faith fed and watered, it is impossible to stay the same and not be moved. Next year, we are taking more people.

 Focus on the kids and young people

I do not think it was planned that way; the Holy Spirit led the conference. It was almost like a children & youth pastors’ conference.  Pastor Ed Young Sr. spoke how important it is to take kids’ ministry seriously.  Ron Luce gave a lot of statistics about the Youth culture in America; 85% of the people who are saved right now were saved before they were eighteen years old. Only 4% of young people between the ages of sixteen and twenty are currently attending church. That number is unacceptably low.

If we are to win a second billion, all churches and denominations in the world must focus on the

Kids & the Youth,

Meet people’s needs in our communities and around the world

Equip believers to be disciples

Second billion is very reachable in the next 10 to 15yrs

More about this conference:  http://www.synergize.tv