Soul Trek

Love this pic

2011-05-09T11:03:00.001-04:00

Easter Reflections

2011-04-27T09:01:00.002-04:00

Now that I have had time to recouperate I can put some thoughts down. Easter was amazing this year. First, I want to say that all of my leaders and volunteers kicked butt. They were awesome. Thank you for what you do.

Second, and very important, at least 4 people accepted Christ for the very first time. What an awesome priviledge it is to share the Good News with someone and watch them take the first step in their spiritual journey towards God. I love what I do.

Third, we broke our attendance from last year which is pretty cool. Every year, more and more people are coming. We had 102 people this year. Very cool.

Lisa and I decided to go out to eat with my In-laws and the Chases for Easter dinner. That was a good decision. It was relaxing and the food was awesome. We ate at the Common Man. Yeah boy. Afterwards we went home and the kids decorated some eggs and we did an egg hunt with them. They loved it of course.

Later on the Gobins stopped by for a little Catan and some dessert. All in all it was a great day being with family and friends. One of the best Easters in my memory.

Rewind

2011-04-11T09:35:00.004-04:00

Another great weekend. Busy though. I was running around like crazy. Saturday we had our CSP. What a great time. Good turn out of people to serve. We washed about 80 windshields and gave away about 100 seed packets. Only one person we met was negative. Probably goes to another church. ;) Our Sunday service was great. We moved back over to theater 1 where we started out. Had a great crowd show up. We are gearing up for our Easter service. We have mailers hitting the boxes this week. Going out to Claremont, Newport and Charlestown. We gave away about 200 invite cards to everyone who showed up this week.. Told everyone to invite at least 5 people for Easter. And we are doing a contest with some of the extra mailers we have. Who ever finds the craziest place to put them and takes a pic or I see it will win a prize. I just got the mock up of our Riverstone Golf shirts. They look hot. Can't wait to start wearing it. Everyone is going to be jealous they don't have one. But guess what, we can order you some. So wait until you see it. The new office is working out great. We had our first team meeting here last week. No distractions. We also used the conference room for coffee and snacks after our CSP. This is going to be a great place to have a midweek bible study.

Did I mention that Easter is on April 24th this year? If you don't have a church home come on out to Riverstone Church. We'll leave the light on.

The Master's this year was one of the greatest I have ever seen. No doubt it will go down in the top 10 best. Awesome stuff. I had to miss the last part of it to be at FPU but Merry dvr'd it for me so Dave and I could watch it afterwards. It was awesome.

Anna turned 6 this last Sunday. I cannot believe how fast my girls are growing. I was watching them run around outside and remembered when they were only two doing that. They are so big. I don't want them to grow up so fast.

Rewind

2011-03-14T09:52:00.002-04:00

It has definitely been one of those weekends. I survived the one hour less sleep deprivation. This is probably the lowest attended Sunday of the year at church. People want to SLEEP. We did have a family or two show up an hour late. Can't do that at our church without missing it completely. :)

We had another great FPU class. Their questions have been good and I think they are learning some new stuff. No doubt they still have the deer in headlights look. But they will make it through.

Have the insurance guy here today to look at the damage to our ceiling from the ice dams. Hoping to get that squared away sooner than later. If you know a good contractor in the area let us know.

Taking a couple of days this week to be at a couple sectional councils for the AG. I've been asked by the district to share the story of Riverstone Church with the pastors. Also going to share how the district has been a great help to us launching and reaching people for Christ.

Already planning for our Easter Service. It is not that far away. The last Sunday of April this year. BTW, you're invited to be our guest at Riverstone Church on Easter Sunday. Kicking off a brand new series "Life 360".

Got some new and great things planned this year for Riverstone Church. Keep your eyes peeled for more info. Some good changes coming.

Our kids area kicked off again two weeks ago. Thanks Joan and Brenda and Cameron for your service and help in this area. The kids are very important to us and we want a great place for them to experience the love of God and grow in their faith.

Btw, we are looking for a new nursery coordinator and someone to help run the soundboard on Sunday mornings. Just give me a holler and we will talk.

Men's retreat is coming up again in May. Looks like it is going to be another great time. The info. will be in the Sunday flyer this week. Be sure to grab it.

How to Recognize the Anti-Christ

2011-03-02T13:53:00.002-05:00

I guess the very first way to recognize him would be, if the guy happens to be the ruler of the world, well, pretty good indicator. Not talking just countries, talking whole world. Humor aside there are a few ways to discover who is the anti-Christ.

It is important to note that Jesus said many "false teachers"/"antichrists" have already come. I John 4:3 says "but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world."

So the spirit of the antichrist is alive and well in the world. I believe Satan raises up a person who fits the description of the antichrist, in every generation, because he doesn't know when Jesus is coming back. I don't have a scripture text to back that up, that is just my feeling on the subject.

"This world ruler that is to come onto the scene will be the embodiment of Satan himself. He is given several titles from scripture to describe his character: "the beast (Rev. 13:1), "man of sin" (2 Thess. 2:3), "wicked one" (2 Thess. 2:8), "abomination" (Matt. 24:15), and many more too numerous to list here. " **

"He will be the most incredible human leader the world has ever known. He will be the epitome of human genius and power and a master of deception, empowered by the "father of lies" (Dan. 11:21). Promising peace, he pushes the world into war."**

There are at least 10 factors that will identify him when he comes to power.
"1. He will rise to power in the Last Days (Dan. 8:19-23).
2. He will not come on the world scene until after the rapture (2 Thess. 2:3-8).
3. He will rule the entire world (Rev. 13:7).
4. He will rule by international consent (Rev. 17:12-13).
5. He will rule by deception (Dan. 8:24-25).
6. He will be intelligent and persuasive (Dan. 7:20).
7. He will control the global economy (REv. 13:16-17).
8. He will be assisted by the False Prophet (Rev. 13:11-18).
9. He will make and break a peace treaty with Israel (Dan. 9:26-27).
10. He will claim to be God (2 Thess. 2:4)."**

Whether he is Jewish or Gentile is unclear. But what is clear is he will come proclaiming peace to the whole world but in the end will plunge it into the most catastrophic war of all time.

** Ed Hindson

The Two Witnesses of Revelation

2011-02-24T09:54:00.002-05:00

Rev. 11:3-12 , read to get a full description, gives us a description of two witnesses that will be preaching during the first 3 1/2 years of the Tribulation in Israel. There has been great debate over the years as to the identity of who these witnesses will be. Many have speculated Moses and Elijah or possibly Enoch.

Their reasoning for these choices is that the Bible tells us "it is appointed to men once to die and then the judgment.' (Hebrews 9:27) Elijah and Enoch did not die but were brought up to heaven by God. Therefore to fulfill this scripture they must die. Also, the miracles they will do are similar to those done by Moses and Elijah. So that is why they might believe it is them.

There are a few reasons why I don't believe it is them.

1. Rev. 11 is vague as to their identities. It calls them "two olive trees and lampstands" which is a designation for Spirit-filled believers. It seems to me if Moses and Elijah were the two witnesses the Bible would specifically tell us it was them since they both represent the Law and the Prophets of the Old Testament. That would be news to know.

2. The miracles they will wrought are much more powerful than anything Moses and Elijah did. They will have the power to keep it from raining for 1260 days. Also, they are given power to devour their enemies with fire that shoots out from their mouths. They will also have the power to turn the water of the earth into blood and cause all kinds of plagues to go world-wide. Moses and Elijahs miracles were limited to the Middle East.

3. As far as fulfilling Heb. 9:27, we know that not everyone will die and go to judgment. The Bible tells us about the event of the Rapture of the Church which will effectively take a huge segment of the population of the earth, the believers in Christ, and bring them up to heaven, without ever tasting death. (see I Cor. 15:50-51) Therefore Elijah and Enoch do not have to come back and die.

So who are they?

We are sure of several things. There are two of them. They work together. Their agreement further establishes the truth of their prophetic warnings. And their message and the plagues they bring leave the world with no excuse for not repenting. They are invincible until their testimony is complete.

What we can speculate is that it will be two Jewish men from Israel, who have received Christ after the rapture of the Church and God calls specifically to this task. Once their testimony is complete the anti-Christ/beast will have power over them to kill them.

The beast will go to Jerusalem, confront the two witnesses and kill them. Their bodies will lie in the streets of Jerusalem for 3 1/2 days while the world celebrates their deaths by sending gifts to one another. This is done to humilate them even further because the world hated them.

After the 3 1/2 days of their death, which anyone who goes without food or water that long is considered dead, God's Spirit/breath will enter them and they will be resurrected and live again. This will be in full view of the world, who will be dumbstruck and filled with great fear to see them come alive again. And at that moment a voice from heaven will call to them to "come up" and they will go up in a cloud.

The after effect of this will be a great earthquake that will level a 10th of the city and kill 7000 people in Jerusalem.

14 Reasons why the Church will not go through the Tribulation cont.

2011-02-15T14:33:00.003-05:00

6. The Great Tribulation, while affecting the whole earth, especially concerns Israel. Jeremiah 30:7 - "The times of Jacob's trouble".
Matt. 24:22 - "Days shorten, elect."
Israel tribes - vs.30 - "tribes mourn."

7. The promise to the church concerning her gathering to the Lord is timeless and signless.

8. Enoch, that pre-eminent O.T. saint, who escaped by translation the judgment of the flood, has always been considered a type of the true church raptured before the storm of judgment of the Great Tribulation breaks. Hebrews 11:5

9. The 70th week is described both in the Old and New Testaments described as:
a. judgment
b. indignation
c. punishment
d. hour of trial
e. hour of trouble
f. destruction
g. darkness

The antithesis of I Thess. 5:9 is conclusive evidence that the church will not go through the tribulation: "For God appointed us not unto wrath, but unto obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ."

10. The doctrine of imminence concerning the rapture of the church. The scriptures warn the believer to be watching for the Lord Himself, not for signs that would precede his coming.

11. Rev. 1-3 present the development of the church in this present age. Chapters 4-11 cover the events of the entire 70th week period and conclude with the return of Christ to the earth to reign in 11:15-18. Thus the seals are the events of the first 3 1/2 years and the trumpets the last 3 1/2 years. Chapters 12-19 a second survey of God's timing.

12. Tribulation period begins with the confirmation of the false covenant. Dan. 9:27

13. If the church is here for the first 3 1/2 years then the 144,000 are seen as saved in the church but the scriptures say they are Jewish witnesses.

14. The Last Trumpet - The trumpets of Rev. 11 are followed by judgment and Christ ascending. In I Thess. 4 the "trump of God," for the church is singular. In Rev. 11 there are several. I Thess. 4 the trumpet brings blessing, life and glory and in Rev. 11 it brings judgment. In I Thess. 4 it is a "moment," "a twinkling of an eye." In Rev. 10:7 it extends over a period of time.

Ok that is it for the 14 Reasons. Stay tuned for more posts.

Rewind 2/14 Valentines edition

2011-02-14T09:20:00.003-05:00

To break up the heaviness of all the end-times talk I should do a rewind. Been a while. So here goes.

Had a great time yesterday at church. To say I wasn't tired before and after would be a fabrication. Anna has had the flu all week so sleep has been minimal around the Gnatek house. She is doing better btw, and thanks for your prayers.

Thanks to all the volunteers who show up every week and serve at Riverstone. You guys rock. We can't do what we do without you. Keep up the good work.

Is anyone as sick of the snow as I am? I look out on my back deck and I see about 3 feet of it piling up. And if you want to know who to blame for all this snow shout out to Karen Cullison. She has been praying for it. What is it with ski instructors and snow????

Our kids service will be starting up again at the beginning of March. We took a short break and will be back into the swing of things with a new and improved class. Can't wait.

We had a great time last night at our FPU preview. Great group of people showed up. Looking forward to the 27th for our first class. Can't wait to see the alumni again. And can't wait to hear the amazing stories of how God is working in peoples lives through this class.

I'm heading out today for three days for our annual Minister's Institute. Going to be hanging out in Maine with all the men and women who faithfully serve God in ministry in our district. I hope it will be a good time of renewal and refreshing for me.

We had our first membership class of the year a few weeks ago. Looking forward to this Sunday when we invite more people into membership at Riverstone Church. Onward and upward.

The girls gave me my Valentines cards and candy last night. Read the cards, which were great, and ate the candy, which was great. So don't ask for any, all GONE!

On a real up-note, we have had to deal with carpentar ants for the past couple of months. Couldn't believe in the middle of the winter we were invaded. But we had the exterminator come and I haven't seen any ants for at least a week. Yeah boy! Die ants, die!

After several months, 4 to be exact, we finally got a new dishwasher. I installed it on Sat. and got it to fit into the hole only to find out the door is too big open all the way down because of the island cabinet in front of it. ARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!! And it's leaking out from under the door. So back to the drawing board.

ok, that's it for now. Out

14 Reasons why the Church will not go through the Tribulation

2011-02-14T08:40:00.002-05:00

When I was in Bible College I had one professor who I thought was a walking Bible. That guy knew everything it seemed to me. He was my Daniel/Revelation teacher and eschatology was his forte. I loved his classes. So in honor of Dr. Robert Lundstrom I give you the 14 Reasons why the Church will not go through the Tribulation.

"1. There is no mention anywhere in the Scriptures of the Church in connection with the tribulation.

2. In the book of Revelation, there is no mention of the word, "church", anywhere after chapter 4. In chapter 4, we believe the 24 elders encircling the throne, themselves upon the throne are representatives of the raptured church.

3. Writing to the church of Thyatira in Revelation 2, speaking of the overcomers in 2:28: 'I will give him the morning star.'
Revelation 22:16 - 'I Jesus have sent my angel to testify to these things in the churches. I am the root and off spring of David, and the bright and morning star.'
The morning star precedes the rising of the 'Sun of Righteousness' in Malachi 4:1,2 which is a distinct promise to Israel. This latter refers doubtless to Christ coming in the full orbid day of His glory breaking upon Israel, the former to His coming in the dark hour before dawn for His true Church.

4. The distinct promise to Philidelphia which is the true church of the last days. Rev. 3:10 - 'I will also keep you from the hour of temptation' from Greek Ek - out of temptation - context the Tribulation chapters 6-19.

5. The character of the Tribulation judgments are so terrible (it doesn't line up with) the promises to the believer - John 5:24 -'Veryily, verily, I say to you, He that hears my word, and believes on Him that sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death to life.'
I Thessalonians 1:10 - 'And to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.'

Ok, that's it for now. I will post the rest of the reasons over the coarse of the week.

Daniel's 70 "Sevens" continued..."Last week"

2011-02-10T13:46:00.003-05:00

The final week of Daniel is called the "Tribulation period." It is split into two periods of 3 1/2 years each. This will begin with the anti-Christ confirming a covenant with Israel. Dan. 9:27 says, "He will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven'. In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple, he will set up an abomination that causes desolation until the end that is decreed is poured out on him."

Several things are happening here as signs to anyone who has wisdom and understands scripture. The first being, whoever "confirms" a covenant with Israel, as a world leader, for seven years, will be marked out as the anti-Christ. But he will not be viewed as that. He will be viewed as a man of peace since he is bringing peace to Israel with it's surrounding neighbors. This will be a false peace.

Second, this "confirmation" of the covenant also signals the beginning of the 7 year Tribulation. Daniel says that "in the middle of the seven" the anti-Christ will break his covenant with Israel signaling the start of the Great Tribulation, which is the last 3 1/2 years. He will not only stop all sacrifices and offerings at the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem, but he will also set up an idol or statue of himself in a part of the temple. This is called the Abomination that causes Desolation. I will talk about this in another post.

Dan. 12:11 says, "From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days." That's 3 1/2 years. The book of Revelation chronicles what will happen during this seven year period.

Dan. 9:24 gives us what God's objectives are within the 7 year period of the Tribulation. We are given six restoration goals that must be completed to fulfill that time.

1. finish transgression

2. put an end to sin

3. to atone for wickedness

4. to bring in everlasting righteousness

5. to seal up vision and prophecy

6. to anoint the most holy

The 70th week is a time of tribulation for Israel and the end of the Gentile world domination. There is too much to post here on what the details are but you can find in the book of Revelation those things that will come to pass in the final days.

Remember Israel is God's prophetic time piece. The 70 weeks of Daniel is specifically laid out for the restoration of Israel back to God. It is dependent on the Jews dwelling in their land. The last 2000 years up to 1948 Israel was not a nation. Now that they are back in the land, I believe we are closer than ever to the Rapture of the church and finally the second coming of Christ.

Daniel's 70 "Sevens" continued..."Times"

2011-02-09T09:05:00.005-05:00

To better understand the timing of the "70 sevens" we need to look at what the Bible says the timing of a "week" is according to the Bible.

Clarence Larkin helps to shed light on this when he wrote, "It is clear to every careful student of the Word of God that there is a 'Time Element' in the scriptures. We come across such divisions of time as 'hours;' 'days;' 'weeks;' 'months;' 'years;' 'times;' 'time and the dividing of time.' To be intelligible and avoid confusion they must be interpreted on the same scale. What is that scale?"

It is given in Numbers 14:34. 'For forty years-one year for each of the forty days you explored the land-you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you.'

The Lord's scale is then "a day stands for a year."

"Let us apply this scale to the 'Seventy weeks.' We found that the time between the 'commandment' to restore and build Jerusalem, and 'Messiah the Prince,' was to be 69 weeks, or 69 x 7 = 483 days, or if a 'day' stand for a year, 483 years.

So when was the decree to "restore and build Jerusalem" decreed?

"Daniel was told that this 490 year period would begin 'from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem'. In the scriptures are contained several decrees that have to do with the restoration of the Jews from Babylonian captivity."

Decree of Cyrus - 2 Chronicles 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-3

Decree of Darius - Ezra 6:3-8

Decree of Artaxerxes - Ezra 7:7

"...in all these permission were granted for the rebuilding of the temple and nothing was said about the rebuilding of the city. When we turn to the decree of Artexerxes, made in his twentieth year, recorded in Nehemiah 2:1-8, for the first time is permission granted to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. This then becomes the beginning of the prophetic time appointed by God in this prophecy." - Dwight Pentecost

"Prophetic Chronology" uses a 360 day a year calendar taken from Genesis. Pentecost also says "The Persian edict which restored the autonomy of Judah was issued in the Jewish month of Nisan. I may in fact have been dated from the 1st of Nisan...the seventy weeks are therefore to be computed for the 1st of Nisan B.C. 445."

Daniels 69 weeks ran out on April 2, A.D. 30, the day that Jesus rode in triumph into the City of Jerusalem. For a more in depth look at the timing of this read Clarence Larkin's "Dispensational Truth" page 71 to understand how this time was arrived at.

My next post will deal with the "last seven" or the "last week" of Daniel's 70 Weeks.

Daniel's 70 "Sevens"

2011-02-07T12:56:00.003-05:00

Daniel 9:24-27 gives us an account of the time period between the first coming of Christ and the coming of the Anti-Christ:

"Seventy 'sevens' are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgressions, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy. Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven 'sevens' and sixty two 'sevens'. It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. After the sixty-two 'sevens', the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood; War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. He will confirm a covenant for one 'seven'. In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple, he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him."

Randall Price said, "Daniels prophecy of the seventy weeks is in the portion of his book that reveals God's divine program for the kingdoms of the world. Finding that Jeremiah had prophesied that Israel's exile would last for seventy years (Jer. 25:11, 12; 29:10), Daniel interceded for Israel in order to realize the fulfillment of the prophecy with the restoration of Jerusalem and the temple (Dan. 9:3-19). The archangel Gabriel was sent to explain to Daniel the 'seventy weeks' of years (a total of 490 years), the time necessary to compensate for Israel's violation of her sabbatical law (2 Chron. 36:21)."

Daniel's time table is broken up into three parts:

9:24 - 70 x 7 = 490 years

1. 9:25 - 7 x 7 = 49 years - first period

2. 9:26 - 62 x 7 = 434 years - second period

3. 9:27 - 1 week = 7 years - This is the time of "Jacob's trouble" and will take place after the rapture of the church when God will again deal with Israel as a nation. - third period

I will explain more this week with some other posts. So keep coming back.

Upcoming Series

2011-02-01T08:30:00.002-05:00

Starting this week I will be teaching a four week series called "The End." It is about Biblical prophecy in light of what is going on in the world. People are very interested so I am going to share what the Bible says about the end times. So keep looking here because I will be posting a series of teachings on topics I won't cover in the Sunday services.

New Years Resolutions

2011-01-05T15:21:00.001-05:00

FORGET IT!

Well, losing weight and reading through the Bible in a year. That's bought it.

Rewind 12/13

2010-12-13T10:30:00.002-05:00

Despite the weather, which started out cold, wet and icy, we had a good group of people show up. All my volunteers showed up. That is always good. We did have to share the theater with a local bank. They do their Christmas party there every year. No problem though.

I continued in my series Making Christmas Meaningful talking about Jesus being the gift for all nations. Unfortunately the reason for His coming to earth often gets lost in translation. Thankfully Christmas doesn't. Did you know that more people can recognize the golden arches of McDonald's, the Olympic rings and even Shell gasoline's shell than they can the Christian cross. BUT, across all nations they recognize Christmas. What a huge opportunity we have as Christians to share the Christ of Christmas this season!

After church we had a church potluck lunch at the Diana Love Center. Then we put together three cookie platters for the police, fire and ambulance depts. I ended up setting off the alarm at the fire dept. when we delivered them. When they saw the cookies all was forgiven. And Karen Cullison brought a group of people to a couple of nursing homes for some old fashioned Christmas songs.

To top off my day, the Pats played against the Bears in Chicago. A snow game at that. I use the word "played" loosely. They more like beat the Bears like mules. It made for a fantastic day yesterday. Oh, the Pats are #1 in the league. Superbowl, here we come.

I know many of you are wondering how I and my family are doing since my mom passed. Let me say first of all, thank you for your many prayers, kind words, cards and gifts. What a blessing you all have been to me and my family. A man without friends is lost. We are doing fine. Although we miss our mom, she is in heaven with her Lord. We WILL see her again.

On another note, don't forget that Dec. 26th is our annual church break. You can show up to church but we won't be there. I hope you have a great Christmas and New Year.

Rewind 11/22

2010-11-22T08:50:00.003-05:00

Life happens when you are making plans. And let me tell you life is happening. It's been a while since I posted so I thought now would be a good time, with the holidays and all coming up. ;)

First this past Sunday was hectic but great. We talked about Living for Christ in a Hectic World. We all have family we would rather not hang out with at the holidays but Christ has called us to be peacemakers. So don't carve up family with words this holiday season. Just carve the turkey and be quiet.

We also delivered 12 Thanksgiving baskets to families in our community. I love seeing their faces when we deliver those things. They are chock full of goodness. The kids, I am sure, loved the chocolate mints we put in there. Thanks to everyone for giving and helping with those baskets.

Then last night we had our Financial Peace University class. That has been going awesome. We actually only have two classes left. So all those who want to be part of the next class in Feb. keep your eyes and ears open for the news.

Then after class I booked it over to DG's house so we could see the last minutes of the Pats/Dolts game. (That's not a typo). Let me just say, we were not disappointed. It was awesome. The Pats won 31-28. SAweet.

Also, the one thing that has been heavy on my mind and heart is that my mom is dying. It could be any day now. The reason I share this is so that you would keep my family in prayer as we prepare to say goodbye to my mom. On the up side, she is a believer in Christ and we will definitely see her again. Thanks

Four Freedoms

2010-11-05T10:40:00.002-04:00

"In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression - everywhere in the world. The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way - everywhere in the world. The third is freedom from want - which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants - everywhere in the world. The fourth freedom is from fear...everywhere in the world." -Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jan. 6, 1941

They just don't make Democrats like that anymore.

10 Reasons for why Christians should vote

2010-11-01T08:18:00.003-04:00

I got this from Nelson Searcy who got this from someone else. :) But it is worth repeating.

"In preparation for Election Day tomorrow, here’s a list I read recently of the “Top 10 Reasons Why Christians Should Vote”:

Voting publicly recognizes that we submit to the authority of the political system in our nation as established by God. Romans 13:1-7

Voting recognizes the equality of all people and their right to speak and be heard. Deuteronomy 10:17-19

Voting is one way that we can obey God’s command to seek the good of those around us and our nation as a whole. Jeremiah 29:7

Voting shows that we care deeply about who our leaders are as we are urged to offer prayer and intercession on their behalf. 1 Timothy 2:1,2

Voting is a simple yet significant way we can do something about politics in our nation. ‘All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing’, Edmund Burke. Psalms 34:14

Voting makes a difference the way a grain of salt makes a difference, and that is how we are to influence our society for good. Matthew 5:13

Voting is a privilege not to be taken for granted. Those of us who reap the benefits of living in a democracy should play a part in upholding democracy.

Not voting is a form of voting, as it will influence the outcome. We need to take responsibility for our actions, as well as our lack of actions. Luke 10:25-37

Voting is part of our stewardship to use all the resources we have been given in ways that honor God; to waste a vote is to squander a gift.

Voting is Biblical. The Bible contains numerous references to “casting lots.” (ex. Proverbs 16:33) Acts 14:23 shows that the early Christians elected elders by voting.

Source: Adapted from “Factfile: Top Ten Reasons to Vote” by Kandiah Krish in “Just Politics.”

Death Pumpkin

2010-10-29T18:36:00.002-04:00

Now this is a pumkin I like.

Rewind

2010-08-16T09:00:00.003-04:00

Last week was one hectic week. I performed the ceremony for my bro-in-laws wedding on Sat. Everything went according to plan, mostly. It was a beautiful day. Lisa and the girls were in the wedding and they were all dolled up. Great time, and glad it is over.

We also launched our very first televised service. They will be broadcast on Sundays at 2 pm and Wed. at 1 pm. Unfortunately, the sound got messed up on it and there wasn't any. That hopefully will be fixed for next weeks. So tune in to channel 8 to watch our teachings on tv.

Yesterday I taught out of the text of Ephesians 6:10-18 on spiritual warfare. I pulled three truths from the text to share with the church. The first is "we fight spiritual forces of evil." There is no doubt that as believers in Christ we are in a daily battle with our unseen enemies. This enemy is organized and has rank. They are an army.

Peter tell us to "Be alert and sober minded. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." (I Peter 5:8)

The second truth is "Jesus has secured victory and redeemed us from the power of Satan." Colossians 2:14-15 says "...having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing ovver them by the cross."

And the third truth is, "We fight through the power of the Holy Spirit." This is not of our own power. But we have been given weapons of defense and offense. We have been given the armor of God. Paul likened this armor to that of a Roman soldiers. Interestingly enough, the armon does not adequately protect the backside. There is no running away in this battle. We have been given the victory in Jesus Christ.

FPU Update

2010-08-05T18:31:00.002-04:00

We have finally secured a meeting location for Financial Peace U. We will be using the conference room at the New Apostolic Church at 183 Plains Rd, in Claremont.

Financial Peace U.

2010-08-05T12:13:00.002-04:00

How can Financial Peace University change your life? During this 13-week, Biblically-based, life changing event with lifetime family membership you will learn:

-How to put together a spending plan that really works

-Step by step how to get out of debt

-The security of an emergency fund...

-How to confidently invest for the future

-To remove the stress that comes with financial problems

-The secret to improving your marriage

-How to make wise decisions when it comes to insurance

-The best way to buy and sell a home

-The blessings of giving

-And much, much more!

Riverstone Church will conduct an FPU starting this fall. For more info. contact Pastor Joe and plan on being at the fee preview on Aug. 29th at 5 pm. Location to be announced.

Rewind

2010-08-02T11:33:00.002-04:00

Why do we have a hard time remembering somethings and other things we remember every detail? I have a black coffee cup with a frog face on it and "Rainforest Cafe" written on the other side. I have had it for about 3 1/2 years. I remember when I got it. My mother-in-law bought it for me. I had ribs for lunch that day. Anna was about 2 and she was freaked out by the monkeys. We recently went back and I remembered the times we had gone there.

There were memories attached to that cup. It was the sight of this object that brought back so much. Do you get souviners when you go away on vacation or take a trip somewhere? Why do we do that? To remember. Mostly we take pictures. But often we will buy something to remind us of a special place and time.

Jesus did the same thing when he instituted the last supper. He said, "This is a new covenant in my blood." The Passover meal was a reminder of what God had done in the past. He delivered them from bondage in Egypt. And now Jesus is attaching a new memory to the old. He said, "Do this in remembrance of me."

Communion is all about memory. That is why we do it so often. We do not want to forget what Jesus did for us. He paid for the penalty of our sin and set us free from bondage to sin.

There were 4 cups associated with the Passover meal. These cups coincided with Exodus 6:6-7. The first was the cup of Sanctification. God was removing them from Egypt. The second was the cup of Judgment. God had sent his judgments onto Egypt. The third was the cup of Redemption, which most scholars believe, that Jesus used this cup in Luke 22:19-20 as the cup of the new covenant. This cup reminded them that by God's mighty works he was bringing Israel out of Egypt. And the fourth cup, which Jesus refused to drink until his kingdom came to earth, was the cup of praise, or restoration or consumation. This was the cup that reminded the Israelites that "they would be his people and he would be their God."

Rewind

2010-07-12T09:48:00.002-04:00

We had a great time yesterday at church. Karen and the worship team did a fantastic job. Cudos all around. I continued the teaching series "Q: questions people asked" talking about cavemen, Adam and Eve and dinosaurs.

The questions were "Did dinosaurs exist?" and "Why did cavemen who were not very bright exist when I thought we descended from Adam and Eve?"

The second question is a matter of world view. If you are a Darwinist/secular humanist then you would believe that the world was created by a big bang. And out of primordial soup a fish jumped on land, sprouted legs and walked. Then somehow it became a monkey which ultimately became cavemen. As soon as fire was discovered it was all down hill from there.

Now, if you hold a Biblical world view, you believe that "God created the heavens and the earth." (Genesis 1:1) And not only did he create the earth he created animals and plants and then humans. "So God created man in his own image; in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." (Genesis 1:27)

Moses who wrote the Penteteuch, the first five books of the Bible, did not set out to prove God's existence nor to prove He created everything. It was assumed that his readers would already have that down in their heads and hearts. Rather he stated it matter of factly. But the more interesting thing is that he stated, "they were created in God's image..." It does not say that man was made in the image of a beast or beasts.

From a Biblical standpoint, man was made the crown of God's creation, and given dominion over all the animals of the earth. "Rule over the fish...the birds...and every living creature..." (Genesis 1:28) To say we descended from a monkey, although I have seen some who could challenge this with their looks, is to remove us from a priveleged position that God has placed on us.

If monkeys were our descendents than we really do not have a standard of morality with which to live our lives. We can do what we want, when we want, how we want, to who we want as long as it makes us feel good. Survival of the fittest. No one else matters.

But if we were created in the image of God we have a high standard of morality which we find starts in the 10 Commandments and Jesus summed up in the Greatest Commandment. Therefore, it's not about how happy we can make ourselves but how we can serve others out of a heart of love from God.

If we came from monkeys than there is no such thing as right and wrong. No such thing as sin. Therefore Jesus was not the Son of God, and he was mistaken and died for nothing. But if we accept and believe the Genesis story, then we are beholden to the "law of sin and death." Because Adam was the one who brought sin into this world. But Jesus is the one who paid the debt for that sin and imputed his righteousness on all those who believe in him.

Adam was seperated from God because of his sin but Jesus reconciled us back to God through his death on the cross. He lived a sinless life therefore the "law of sin and death" had no hold on him. He was the only one who could pay for that sin. He took the sins of the world upon himself so that we can once again walk with God.

One day all men will have to stand before God and give an account for their lives. For all their deeds and their words. So the question is, depending on your world view, are you willing to stake your life on it and your eternity?

Qoute of the day

2010-07-07T14:22:00.000-04:00

"All some people think about when they're home is work and all they think about when they're at work is home. And those people ain't never nowhere." Zig Ziglar ala Tim Fowler.

Rewind

2010-07-05T20:14:00.003-04:00

I love hearing the stories of people experiencing life change and God in a new way through Riverstone Church. We kicked off our series "Q: questions people ask" and talked about what the Bible says happens to our spirits when our bodies die. In 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 the Apostle Paul tells us that our bodies are like "tents" or "houses" for our spirits. He wrote that when we are "absent from the body, we are present with the Lord." This is an immediate action as soon as we die we are ushered into the presence of God providing we are followers of Christ.

Some questions were submitted asking whether cremation was ok and where does a person go who is in a coma? I shared that I did not see any texts that prohibited someone from being cremated after they died. Last time I checked, God is God. People who are buried, their bodies decay and become part of the ground. So I believe if someone is cremated and wants to have their ashes scattered across a mountain or something that God can find those ashes at the resurrection.

And as far as people in a coma, Paul said it, "present in the body, absent from the Lord." Basically if the body has not died the spirit is still resident within it whether in a coma or not.

We had a wicked good time last night. We did our 4th of July community service project by handing out 300 glow bracelets. We did this last year too and people we very appreciative. It is a great way to serve our community in a simple and practical way. 23 of us handed those out and then we hung out at Broad St. Park after and watched the fireworks together. Thanks everyone for your help. Can't wait for next year.

11 Reasons why it's good to be a man

2010-06-20T19:52:00.002-04:00

"10. You know stuff about tanks
9. You can go the bathroom without a support group
8. If someone forgets to invite you to something he can still be your friend.
7. You can drop by to see a friend without bringing a little gift.
6. If another guy shows up at the same party in the same outfit, you might become life long friends.
5. One wallet, one pair of shoes, one color, all seasons.
4. There is always a game on somewhere.
3. Your pals can be trusted never to trap you with “So…notice anything different?”
2. If something mechanical doesn’t work, you can bash it with a hammer and throw it across the room.
1. You can do your nails with a pocket knife." -anonymous

I want to add one more, house slippers are not just for the house.

Happy Father's Day!

Qoute of the day

2010-06-16T16:33:00.000-04:00

"A sermon worth preaching once is worth preaching twice." - Bill Cornelius

Ticked

2010-05-25T09:35:00.002-04:00

I mowed the lawn yesterday and after I came in I was sitting around relaxing when I noticed I had some kind of bite or something on my leg. Well it turned out to be a tick. I removed the body but I'm pretty sure the head is still in there. So now I have to go to an er or something. I tried yesterday but they only had one doctor on duty and a full waiting room. I wan't going to sit there for four hours before someone could see me. So today I get to run around and find a place that will look at my leg. What a pain.

Updates

2010-05-23T15:42:00.003-04:00

Wow, what an awesome time we had at Men's Retreat this year. We had 7 guys go and had a stinking blast. It took about 3 hours or so to get up to Bethel, ME on Thursday. Stopped for lunch at a joint called Crabby Jack's. It was a Mexican/seafood/americana/what? kind of eatery. Got in late to the conference so we decided to go to the heated outdoor pool with attached hot tubs. Under the moon and the stars, it was awesome.

Friday, breakfast at hotel, then a short devo with all the guys and off to the races. A bunch of guys went motorcycling through the mountains. A bunch of others went and played paintball. And we had our own foursome for one of the most beautiful golf courses I have ever played. Look at this place: Sunday River It is unbelievable and it was in pristine condition. The weather was amazing. We got back around 4 and hit the hot tub again. Then at 5 we had a LFTL steak bbq. It was cooked so well that we were able to eat it with plastic forks and knives. Than another service that night.

Saturday, we got up and went to a greasy spoon (see diner) and had breakfast. Then we decided to skip the workshops and head back home. Stopped at a choke and puke (see truckstop) and had lunch and then homeward bound.

Today we had an awesome service at church. A bunch of new guests today. They loved it. I love Riverstone Church. And now, prepping for a firebowl smores night. I have had an absolutely wonderful week and weekend. God is good.

Healing

2010-04-30T08:56:00.002-04:00

I have gotten more emails, messages and calls about people who are sick. I mean really sick. That includes both of my parents. It's really weird. But one thing I know is that God still heals. As a matter of fact the Bible says: "...for I am the Lord, who heals you." (Ex. 15:26)

In this world we are told we will "have trials and tribulations" but there is a day coming when all sin and all sickness will be done away with. I love what the prophet Malachi says about the coming of Jesus, "But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays." (4:2)

I will pray and continue to believe God for healing in each persons life, even if He decides not to heal I will believe by faith that His purpose will be revealed and He will be glorified.

Leadership lessons

2010-04-20T09:34:00.002-04:00

I'll tell you. We had another great Sunday service. I try really hard not to live and die by the numbers but as a pastor that is difficult. Every pastor will tell you that, and if they say they don't care about the numbers, well, let's just say, they do.

Numbers do matter though. When you read the scriptures many times God is asking about numbers and many times the writers give numbers. God even has a whole book in the Bible called Numbers. So they must matter to God.

But, the true leadership lesson here is, what numbers matter to God and therefore should matter to us? When it comes right down to it, the best numbers are those who have accepted Christ for the first time, those who rededicated their lives back to Christ and yes, even, how many showed up on Sunday. And also how many have been baptized into Christ.

Think about that, we have 110 seats in the theater we meet in. Each seat represents a soul that could be sitting there. Each seat taken on Sunday morning means there is someone there who gets to hear the life giving message of God's Word. Therefore that makes attendance important.

The least important numbers: finances. I don't see a whole lot of financial figures getting thrown around in the Bible. I think that is because the prophets and Apostles knew that God is ultimately in control of those numbers and He can and will provide in any way He wants to. The Bible says that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. My old presbyter used to say, "And my daddy said, the potatoes under those hills too." That means God has the resources to provide for any and all of our needs.

And the best part is He has given us the Holy Spirit as our helper. We have the Great Commission of going into all the world and preaching the Gospel. Notice, (C0) mission. That means the Holy Spirit and us. We must cooperate with Him to reach this world. Also we have the power to do it through the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. Acts 1:8. You and I will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on us, to preach to the world. Awesome.

Those numbers are important. Leadership lesson: Don't count the numbers that don't matter and there are numbers that do matter that we might not think so.

Thoughts

2010-04-14T07:52:00.003-04:00

You know, I am still thinking about the great things that happened on Easter Sunday. We had almost 100 people in attendance. At least 3 people gave their lives to the Lord for the first time and at least 5 people rededicated their lives back to Christ. That is awesome stuff.

Then this past Sunday, (laughing to myself), things went the other way. Low attendance, seemed like we reverted. We did have a couple first time guests. It's tough sometimes being a church planter and pastor. I want to see Riverstone Church grow and do great things for God's Kingdom. But I am always having to put my motives into check. Do I want to see it grow for God or for me? And to be honest it is a mix of both.

But really, I believe the main reason things went so well on Easter was that God was given the glory. We prayed and fasted as a church like we haven't before. God was able to do more than we could do through advertising, community service projects and everything else. All those things are important but the one ingredient to a successful Sunday is the God factor.

Without God leading the way, everything we do is in vain. It is empty and hollow. We could have had a 150 show up but if no one accepted Christ, what good was it? So I thank God for what He did and what He is going to do. Let's keep praying and seeking God and asking Him to do what it is we cannot do. And in doing that, we humble our selves and Let God be God in us.

"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. to him be glory in the church and in Jesus Christ throughout all generations forever and ever, Amen." Eph. 3:20-21

Hello Monday

2010-04-05T09:55:00.002-04:00

WOW!!! What an amazing weekend we have had. First it started with awesome warm weather. It really felt like June rather than April. Absolutely love it. Then I got to play golf on Friday for the first time in like 5 month and I played well considering it was my first time out. Had a great time.

Then preparing for Sunday service, man, God is good. We broke all our launch service records and we saw at least 3 people give their lives to Christ and at least 5 rededicate their lives back to Him. YES! All areas were filled, the theater, the kids area and nursery. It was awesome to behold. I am flying high on a holy hangover from yesterday.

So now this week, follow up and anticipation to see what is going to happen next Sunday.

We did an egg hunt with the kids. I hid the eggs early in the morning before I took off to church. So when Lisa and the kids were leaving to come to church, they saw a squirrel take one of the eggs and lay on his back trying to open it. It kept rolling over and over in his hands. Lisa tried to get a picture but he took off with the egg into the woods up a tree. We haven't seen from that egg again. He did get into another one and he ate the candy.

Just had a fantastic weekend. I feel great, I am physically, emotionally and spiritually pumped. I want to charge hell with a water pistol.

And, lest I forget, cudos to all my volunteers at church. You all did an awesome job. Everything went smoothly and God was glorified. Thank you for what you do week in and week out.

Anticipation

2010-04-01T09:43:00.002-04:00

Waiting for Sunday to come is like waiting on Christmas eve for the next morning. Anticipation is an amazing thing. I causes your heart to soar and your prayers to be fervant. I CANNOT WAIT to see what God is going to do on Sunday. I love this time of year, the warm weather, flowers beginning to come up from the ground and the celebration of the greatest event in human history, the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

I think added to that is the anticipation with all the world events going on that Jesus is coming back quickly for his bride. The time just seems right for him to return. It's all adding up. So I have double anticipation. When he returns may he find us faithful.

Man, we have done a lot to prepare for Sunday. I personally have been inviting everyone I bump into that is not plugged in at another church. We sent out about 10,300 fliers inviting people to Easter @ Riverstone.

Our community service project went great. Originally we were going to do it from 1-2:30 but when our time was up we still had some cards and M&M's so we decided to go for cocoa at Dunkin Donuts and then get back out there. So we spent most of the afternoon doing it. What a great time we had. Our volunteers are awesome.

So, if you don't have a church home, you are invited to come to Riverstone Church on Easter Sunday. It starts at 9:30 am. Hope to see you there.

Easter Service

2010-03-26T08:54:00.002-04:00

Easter is literally right around the corner. 9 more days before Easter. You may be wondering why I am talking about Easter so much. Well, it's because it happens to be my favorite time of year and also without Easter ever happening, we would not know salvation from our sins through Jesus Christ. The cross and the resurrection are the fulcrum of Christianity. Everything hinges on his death on the cross and his resurrection from the dead three days later. It is the pivotal event of the ages. At his birth, God is with us, at his death, God has reconciled us back to him, and at his resurrection, it was proof that God was and is with us and that his words are all true. Therefore we celebrate our new life in Christ for what he did for us on Easter.

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." 2 Corinthians 1:18

"For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation-..." Colossians 1:19-22

Quick hits

2010-03-16T09:59:00.003-04:00

This is our mailer. Sorry it is sideways. Just turn your computer over and you will see it better. :)

Just touching base with you. It's been rather busy around here for the past month. Lisa is neck deep into tax season and I have started a year long coaching network that is keeping me busy. I love it though. So I started really buckling down on my time which has kept me from posting here. No worries, took a minute to do it now.

We have a lot going on to prepare for Easter. Our Easter mailer will be hitting boxes on the 25th or 26th. Going out to about 10,100 homes. It's an invite to church for Easter. Looking forward to see if anyone comes because of that.

We are also planning our community service project for the 27th. It's a double whammy. Please pray for three things, one, that it won't rain, two that we get enough people to come and serve with us and three, that God would lead us to the right people for divine appointments. Thanks

We are also giving our members and regular attenders invite cards to give to people they have influence with in their lives to invite them to our Easter Service.

Plus, I am kicking off a special series on Easter called "From Stress to Rest". Four week series dealing with the diffent stressful areas of our lives. Should be pretty cool.

Which, btw, Easter is only 19 days away. So get ready.

Hello Monday

2010-03-08T08:34:00.003-05:00

So I haven't posted in a while. Sue me. ;) Had a great day yesterday at church. Every day at Riverstone is a great day. God is doing some amazing things in peoples lives. People are letting go of past hurts and allowing God to do something amazing in their present lives. People are forgiving people that have hurt them and have unleashed them so they can live and grow and mature. I love this church. I love that God is touching peoples lives through it. I love that we are just getting started and our future is bright because we have the Light of Life. Can't wait to see what happens next.

So I started watching golf again. No Tiger Woods. Fine by me. He disgusts me. Cheata Woods is his name now. I actually enjoyed watching other guys win. It was fun.

As a leader I have always lived under the philosophy of organic time management. I am the type of person that gets inspired in the moment. To plan an inspired moment bores me. But I have always allowed my time to be organic in the sense that I never planned my days out to the hour or minutes. Just a to do list. I'm a "check off the list" kind of person. So if I got stuff done in a particular day I was happy. But now, I have so much going on, I don't have a choice but to plan out my days to basically the hour. I started last week by buying a new calendar with the weekly/monthly plan on it. So I have basically decided to plan a week ahead for everything. Monday mornings would be my planning time for the week. It worked so well last week that not only did I accomplish everything I set out to do, I did more. So I think this is going to work for me.

Can you believe Easter is only four weeks away. April 4th. Man time flies. We have so much going on right now to promote our Easter service at Riverstone. We are sending out mailers again. 10,000 to be precise. So be looking for those toward the end of March. Plus we are giving our attenders and members some invite cards so that everyone can invite at least three people to church for Easter. I am hoping we double in attendance on that day. Looking forward to it. Plus we are doing our Community Service Project this month with the intent of giving out connection cards to invite people to our Easter service.

BTW, if you want to join us on March 27th from 1-2:30 we will be splitting up into two teams, one to wash windshields and another to pass out candy with cards to people. We would really love to have you serve with us as we show people the love of God through simple and practical acts of service.

I absolutely love hearing the spring birds chirping in the trees. Walked outside this morning and they were going to town. I love it. Hate winter, love spring.

Hello Monday

2010-02-22T09:37:00.002-05:00

Well, it's Monday again. Oy. Lots going on. Yesterday we of course had another great service. People were touched by God's Word in a special way. I look forward to Riverstone Church going to the next level this year and we will, make no bones about it, go to the next level.

Just realized we have a staff meeting Thurs. night and that is the same night that Emma and Anna's school is having their geography presentation night. So we will have to cancel the staff meeting until next week.

I'm pretty excited about a new coaching network I joined. It is a year long process and I know it is going to be hard and exciting. I started last week with my first call. Now I have a ton of stuff to do until the next call. This is going to help me grow exponentially as a leader and in the process grow Riverstone Church. I and the other leaders are the lids to the growth of the church. It will only grow as far as we are willing to grow. So that means we have to keep growing all the time if we want to see the church grow.

I don't know about you but I am so looking forward to spring and the golf season. I went down to Mr. G's last week, (I LOVE THAT PLACE) and bought a new golf bag that is worth about $200. It is brand new and they wanted $50 for it. That is a fantastic price to start with but I am a haggler. So I got them down to $40. I needed a new bag too, my old one is starting to wear out. It is awesome.

I don't know about anyone else, but Tiger Woods apology "seemed" genuine, but I wonder if he was sorry he got caught. Time will tell. I am still disgusted by him and don't know that I could even bring myself to watch him play golf anymore.

Dr. George Wood sessions 3 & 4

2010-02-18T09:46:00.002-05:00

Session 3
Change:

Think through and pray through changes to be made. Make sure there is a quiet in your spirit. Allow the Holy Spirit to lead you.

Personal prophecy is either preparatory or confirming but it is not divine direction. Change should be directed by the Spirit. Change should be motivated by love. Spirit directed, love based change brings great fruitfulness.

Don't let your spirit get conflicted when in conflict. Take the high ground. Don't us the devil's tactics when fighting the devil.

Session 4
The Spirit Speaks
Acts 8:29; 10:19; 11:12; 13:2; 20:11

1. Consider the consequences if the Spirit had spoken and they didn't obey.

The Spirit speaks at seminole moments of our lives.

2. The Spirit is seeing things we don't see and if we don't hear His voice we will only do the things we can see.

3. Those who obeyed went from security to insecurity.

The ladder of success leads downward to servanthood in the spiritual realm.

4. We must recognize that the Spirit speaks individually.

He speaks different things at different times in our lives.

Difficulty is not an indication of the Spirits absence.

Romans 8 - the glory will outglow the groaning.

Dr. George Wood sessions 1 & 2

2010-02-17T15:49:00.002-05:00

These are my notes from the 5 sessions I was in with Dr. Wood.

Session 1:

Pentecostal disciples live out a Spirit filled life. They are characterized by humility. That means to be destitute and completely dependent on God as related to Prov. 3:34 and I Peter 5:5.

He shared with us a progression that he sees in Mark chapter 9. He called it the path to spiritual pride. It starts with revelation which is God's presence. The next step was argument from a lack of prayer. That leads to arrogance or spiritual pride which ultimately leads to exclusivism, a us and no one else mentality.

To break free from that it starts with humility which God will honor (Luke 2). And we must have a hunger for His Spirit (Ps. 51). God will give us health. And we need to have heart which God will give us help (Luke 4).

Session 2:

Wise Leadership I Kings 2

1. Assess what needs to be eliminated. Eliminate those things that become a barrier to ministry. The vine that is pruned is the fruitful vine. (Eph. 4:25)

2. Assess what you need to keep or retain.
a. The Apostles doctrine
b. Mission
c. core values

3. Evaluate

4. I Kings 3 - what you should add. What do we need to be doing next?

Upcoming Stuff

2010-02-06T18:58:00.002-05:00

I haven't posted much this week because I have been busy as all get out. So here are a few quickies for you. We have been studying prophecy in my life group on Wednesday nights. It has been going great. It's fun to teach people things they have never heard in their lives. And then they go and check it out for themselves. That is awesome.

The key to understanding the book of Revelation comes down to two things: One, it is a Revelation of who Jesus Christ is and two, it is a record, or pre-history, of God's redemptive plan for Israel and the world. We get to read what God is going to do to get the world and Israel to finally bow their knees and proclaim Jesus as Lord.

This coming week we will be showing the video "Ready To Rebuild". This is about how Israel is ready to rebuild the third temple at a moments notice. Definitely going to be a great discussion afterward. Don't miss it, you will want to be there.

Also, Lisa and I are going away for a few days to our Ministers Institute. Rev. George Wood, the General Superintendent for the AG national will be the guest speaker for three days. So this is going to be a great time of refreshing for Lisa and I as we get away without the kids and are able to spend some much needed alone time with each other. We will be back for Wed. Bible study, so no worries.

Really looking forward to tomorrow. Church should be really awesome. BTW, if you read this before you go, be sure to wear your favorite team jersey tomorrow. See you there.

Hello Monday

2010-02-01T16:26:00.002-05:00

Went out to lunch today with a guy who is planting a church in Lebanon. It was awesome to talk with someone in this area who knows and reads the same people and books I do. They have a similar vision as Riverstone and I think they are going to knock it out of the park. I made a new friend today and look forward to seeing him again. He's bringing his launch team down to our church on Sunday to see how we do things. Should be fun.

What can I say about Sunday? Awesome. I love Riverstone Church. I love being in Claremont. I love seeing God work in peoples lives in a fresh and new way. The sky is the limit people. Let's keep fighting the good fight of faith.

Does anyone know the best way to blow up a heating system? Mine is driving me nuts. Pumping hot water one minute and then cold the next. Retarded. I am about ready to put some holes into the thing.

Hey, just a reminder, we will be having our Wednesday night life group again at the Gobin's house. We are continuing our study on the rapture of the church. Be there or be round. See you then.

I'm looking at the flowers in my office window. I have those things for several weeks. There is something to be said about watering flowers. These things don't want to die. I'm fine with that. In the winter flowers are a vacation for the eyes. Remember you heard it hear first.

Oh, btw, 24 IS ON TONIGHT! Yeah boy.

Talk Wednesday

2010-01-27T10:55:00.002-05:00

I'm pretty excited about tonight. We are kicking off our spring semester of Life Groups with a bang. We will be starting a 10 week study on prophecy and the book of Revelation. I think the group is maxed out so you will have to wait to get into it. 6:30 tonight at the Gobin's home. If you need directions email me or call.

We had our communion service on Sunday. I love those services. We gear the entire service around the taking of communion. They are simply done but effective in our desire to grow closer to Jesus. Some of the best services we ever had have been our communion ones.

I'm excited because there is a lot going on from a church planting perspective. I'm finally getting a church planting coach. Don't know exactly when but it will be soon. That is great news. Plus I am going to be trained as a coach this summer. So that really floats my boat. I'm meeting with a church planter next week who is launching this Easter up in Lebanon. Can't wait to meet with him and hear his vision. Seems very similar to mine for Claremont.

I'm kicking off a new series this week on the Beatitudes. Nothing like preaching like Jesus did. This ought to prove to be very enlightening. Still haven't settled on a title for the series yet but I'm getting there.

Keep your eyes pealed for a new website. We are looking at changing some things up. So stay tuned.

Ok, see everyone tonight. Get ready for a great time.

Hello Monday

2010-01-18T11:16:00.002-05:00

Ok, so I decided to keep posting whether you are reading this or not. I know some come here to find out what I am up to and some to "spy" on me. LOL. Just kidding. Except to the spies. jk I'm changing the name of Monday Morning Mantra to Hello Monday. Just too long and it's weird. So Hello Monday.

Yesterday was awesome. I really enjoyed the service. Yeah I know I preached it but I love being with everyone who comes to Riverstone. It is a great church and I love it. Unfortunately I was sick most of the night before, my truck died while I was loading the trailer and my phone died when I went to make some calls. All at 6:30 in the morning. Anyway, we got everything there and set up. We had an awesome service and we were able to take in about $844 that we are sending to Convoy of Hope for Haiti relief.

I'm pretty excited about our upcoming life group. I am doing a 10 week study on prophecy and the book of Revelation. It will be a birds eye view but I think interesting none the less. That starts Jan. 27, 6:30 pm @ Dave and Bonnie Gobins. If you are interested in being a part of this please sign up in the foyer at church on Sunday.

We decided to revamp our children's and nursery areas. So now we have more teachers and helpers on the way. We are still using KIDMO but using the younger version which is based off of Blues Clues. So now it will be ages 4-7 in children's church and upto 3 in nursery. We will also be offering games and teaching and coloring in the nursery. PS - we are still looking for volunteers to serve with those who are already doing it. Talk to the teachers or me about it.

I believe that in the winter flowers are a vacation for the eyes. Think about that. If you can't afford to get away to a warm place in the winter go buy some flowers. The greens and the colors will do your heart good. My eyes are sick of the color white, I don't know about you.

Ok, I am off to call the mechanic to get my truck fixed. Peace out.

Helping Haiti

2010-01-15T09:41:00.002-05:00

Image taken from UK World News
I'm sure everyone is familiar with what is going on in Haiti. I certainly cannot get the images of women and children who were hurt or killed out of my head. So I wanted to post about what we will be doing through Riverstone Church. The purpose of this to make people aware and hopefully get you involved.

This Sunday we will be receiving a special offering to send to Convoy of Hope which is an AG organization. They have been present at all major disasters and are on the ground now in Haiti. So we are going to give EVERY dollar that comes in the offering this week to them in order to buy water, food and medical supplies. So I want to encourage you to come out on Sunday and take part in this special offering.

Also we will be praying specifically for Haiti. We are going to give out special prayer guides made up by our National Prayer Center of the AG so that we can be specific and effective in our prayers. So please be sure to take one on Sunday.

I know often in times of tragedy people far off feel helpless to do anything. This is an opportunity for you to DO something. It is timely, tangible, and tantamount that you do this. Millions of people need help and we have the resources to do that.

Galatians 6:10 says "Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of God."

Now is our time to step up to the plate and show the love of God in a very tangible way. I know some of you would love to come to church in order to be a part of what we are doing but distance keeps you from that. So there is a way you can actually donate to Convoy of Hope online. You can donate here. God bless you and thank you for being a part of helping the Haitian people through tragedy.

Also if you want an online copy of the prayer guide you can go here.

Monday Morning Mantra (last one maybe)

2010-01-11T13:55:00.002-05:00

I can't seem to catch up on my sleep and strength. This holiday season has been a long and wearing one. Weird. Although I enjoyed it. I guess the cold and the snow are really bugging me. I need some sand, sun and water.

Lisa's cousin Sue died on Friday. It is a very sad situation. The family asked me to do the funeral on Wed. Please pray for the family and for me as I try to minister effectively to them.

You know, it can be very discouraging and frustrating when you dwell on the past and think about the shoulda's, woulda's, coulda's. Yes there are some major things that I would do and not do if I had it all to do again. Ha, say that 10 times fast. But sometimes there is stuff that just puts a knot in my stomach to think about. I wonder sometimes why God allowed me to go through some of the junk I had to deal with and why in the same situation someone else reaps all the benefits. Whatever. Just wondering.

I've been thinking lately about stepping away from my blog. I won't delete it but I'm thinking of not posting anymore on a regular basis. Facebook seems to be the place for me. I might post here once in a while about some stuff. If you are reading this let me know what you think. If you have enjoyed my blog and you're learning "anything" from this let me know. If you want me to stop blogging because you don't care and you happen to come across this post, then don't post anything. ;) If you want me to continue let me know. Otherwise, see you over on facebook.

I knew I liked Brit Hume for some reason

2010-01-05T11:54:00.002-05:00

THIS IS AWESOME! Go Brit.

Resolutions

2010-01-05T10:02:00.002-05:00

2010 is here and I made it alive. Praise God. The snow didn't keep us from having our service but attendance was low. That was to be expected. But we still had an amazing time together. I kicked off a new series called Resolutions. I started with prayer. We resolve to be a church that prays and expects miracles to happen. We give our declaration of dependence on God. Next Sunday we will deal with resolving to live out of vision.

Speaking of resolutions, I didn't come out make any per se. But Lisa and I are resolving to lose weight this year and so for the very first time in our lives we both joined a gym. So I hope this is the year of the light weight.

I also resolved to read through the Bible in a year. So far so good. I have been on top of that. I also invite you to join me on this journey. What better way to spend your time this year than reading through the entire bible. It has been awesome so far. We are handing out reading plans at church. So make sure to get one on Sunday.

We also have some prayer bookmarks available to anyone who wants them. They are weekly prayer guidelines to help you in your prayer life. We will also be giving away a booklet called "Overcoming Obstacles to Prayer." Be sure to grab one of those.

My hope and prayer this year is that Riverstone Church will go to the next level. God is positioning us for some major stuff and I am anticipating that He is going to be doing some awesome stuff in Claremont and the surrounding communities. I just want to be in on it. I talked about this on Sunday, that I hope we will be faithful in prayer and Bible reading so that we will be sensitive to the Holy Spirit's voice in our lives and that we would follow His direction. I want to walk in the power and strength of the Spirit.

Good bye 2009

2009-12-31T09:11:00.002-05:00

On the eve of 2010 I want to say good bye to 2009. It has been a crazy year. A lot of ups and downs. I guess the idea is to have more ups than downs. But I have learned it is in the downs that God does His most amazing work in our lives. Read what the writer of Hebrews has said:

"In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as children? It says, 'My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his child.' Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children....No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." Hebrews 12:4-7,11

Too many times in my life I have tried to resist what God was doing because it was too painful. But eventually joy and peace come to fill our hearts. So whatever has happened to you in 2009, take heart, God is using it to produce righteousness and peace in your life. Do not fear the future for God is there already and He has a plan that is good for you.

Monday Morning Mantra

2009-12-28T18:21:00.002-05:00

Well Christmas has come and gone. We had a great time this year. We traveled a bit on Christmas eve to Lisa's family and then came home so the kids could wake up in their own beds on Christmas morning. We had a great time watching the kids open presents. They had so much fun. I got some good stuff. Chocolate, pistaccio nuts, more chocolate, mints, a couple PS3 games and odds and ends.

We took off Sunday from church to give all our volunteers a break. I only heard of one person showing up for church. Not too bad since I had been talking about it for a month and a half.

Oh, I got a new snowblower. Couldn't find the one I wanted until I went to the John Deere shop in Walpole. Glad I did. The thing is awesome. I named it "Q" because it comes with all the usual refinements. Heated hand grips, head light, clean out shovel and so on. Awesome.

I can't believe another year has come and gone. They are going by too fast. Although I am looking forward to 2010. Can't wait to see what God does through Riverstone Church. We have such an awesome crew of people. This is the best church I have ever been a part of. We really are a church filled with "no perfect people" starting with me. And everyone loves everyone enough to give them room to be themselves. Very cool to see and experience.

Lisa and I are making a commitment this year to lose some weight so we are joining a gym. I can't wait to get into the pool. Going to try to lose as much as I can this year. Should be fun, NOT.

Going to commit to reading through the Bible in a year. Feel free to join me on this journey. Starting Jan. 1st. Going to be awesome reading through the whole Bible, every day for a whole year.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

2009-12-25T21:17:00.001-05:00

Primal - A Review

2009-12-22T14:53:00.002-05:00

I just finished reading Primal: A quest for the lost soul of Christianity by Mark Batterson. Let me first say that I recommend any Christian to read this book. It is a primer of the basics of the Christian faith to help those who are spiritually thirsty to return to the wells of God.

There was so much written in this book that caused me to think outside my box that I could write several reviews over several weeks. There were many thoughts in this book that provoked me, stirred me, and convicted me. Mark writes with his usual casual style as though he were sharing his thoughts straight from his blog Evotional. He doesn't disappoint us with his wit and wisdom. One thing about Mark, he is a geek at heart. He sees God in every detail of all the "ologys" of life. At times it was eye blurring but he always brought it back to God and made his point.

I want to share a few quotes that stirred me. The first was "making money is the way you make a living and giving it away is the way you make a life." I loved it. Too many people are caught up in the worries of the here and now and not looking forward to a "city whose maker and founder is God".

This next quote will preach; "The mind is educated with facts, but the soul is educated with beauty and mystery. And the curriculum is creation." Awesome.

Being that I planted a church in a movie theater much of what Mark writes resonates with me. I loved his thought, "Just as the medieval church used stained glass to tell the gospel through pictures, we turn the screen into postmodern stained glass via moving pictures." That gives me so much freedom of thought and a ton of new ideas for Riverstone Church.

In his section on the "Law of Entropy" he talks about vision and shares the verse "Where there is no vision the people perish." He brings up the concept of double-binds and how trying not to sin is a double-bind. Yet vision is the cure for sin. Sin requires time and energy, and even more so from trying not to sin. So the cure is to have a vision for ones life that requires your time and energy and focus on that in order to complete it. Instead of wasting energy on trying not to sin, use your energy to do something positive. Great stuff.

The last thing I want to touch on from Primal is a quote he took from Phil Vischer, creator of Veggie Tales. "The impact God has planned for us doesn't occur when we're pursuing impact. It occurs when we're pursuing God. At long last, after a lifetime of striving, God was enough. Not God and impact or God and ministry. Just God." How convicting for any leader. Our hearts desire is to impact this world but how true it is that real impact happens when God gets a hold of us and we of Him.

So to sum up what I have read, it is most definitely worth your time and money to get his book. I plan on reading it again.

Monday Morning Mantra

2009-12-21T09:40:00.002-05:00

I had a great weekend. I got to baptize 4 people and bring them on as new Members for Riverstone Church. We had a good service and I was able to do some ministry to help someone. I know for a fact God has placed me here in my hometown because I the unique position of having grown up in this town and knowing people and their backgrounds. I believe that is why God spoke to me Joel 2:25-26 a few years ago when He called me to plant this church. "I will repay you for the years the locust have eaten -...You will have plenty to eat until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you..."

I have that feeling that I used to get when I would get out of school on Christmas break. Do you remember that feeling? Expectancy, freedom, joy. Well I feel that way, probably because we have our Christmas break at the church. Taking a week off for all our volunteers to get a break and relax with their families. It also gives me a break to decompress, review, revamp and revision. I hope to get some much needed thinking and praying time in this week and next week.

I'm looking forward to Christmas. We are going down to my In-laws in Manchester for x-mas eve and coming back so that the kids can wake up in their own beds and run downstairs to open presents. But we are going to take time to thank God for sending us the ultimate gift: Jesus. And then we will tear into our gifts under the tree.

Is it me or is eggnog the best drink around? Lisa is picking up some vanilla eggnog for Christmas day. Yeah boy.

I hope you all have a great Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Reality

2009-12-17T10:22:00.002-05:00

I have made a commitment to slow down and try to take a slow march toward Christmas. I wanted to do a daily devotional with my family. We have done this but we missed a few days. But the reality is so much happens outside of my control, trying to slow down is like trying to put the brakes on when you hit some ice. No choice but go for the ride. Hopefully no one will get hurt. But I am still striving to slow it down.

I have a lot going on and it has been a difficult Christmas season. Actually the past few years have been some of the hardest Advent seasons I have ever had. I am not complaining just explaining. A big thing this year is that my dad is dying. He is home, in a hospital bed with hospice workers coming in every day. So that is really weighing on me.

Also, the church is doing great but it I really want to see it move forward a little faster. That's just me though. I know I need to work on patience and trust God more. But sometimes I wonder why some guys I know plant churches and they have 100's in attendance within the first year. I know it's not about how many people show up to church but how many are experiencing life change through Christ.

The thing is, in ministry, a sense of accomplishment is quite difficult to grasp. Yeah I know it goes back to values but there are times as a pastor, we try to help people, love them, invest in them, and then they just keep making stupid decisions with their lives and get right back into the same problems they are always dealing with. I must not be making sense but I'm just kind of in a mood lately that is not consistent with what Christ wants me to be like.

I'm being purged by God's Spirit. It amazes me that He does not force me to change but He is committed to making me like His Son. It is still hard though. I'm not depressed, just kind of tired. Like I said, a lot going on. I'm writing this just to get it out of my head. Not looking for sympathy or anyone to give me some pat answer for anything. Just want to get it out. Thanks for reading and listening.

I know "God works all things together for good for those who love him and are called according to His purposes." So I wait to see what God has in store for next year. I know that when things are getting tough that God is about to do something amazing if not down right miraculous. So I wait.

Monday Morning Mantra

2009-12-07T11:05:00.003-05:00

Here we are again. Monday. Man alive. They just keep showing up. Oh well, on with the business. We again had a great Sunday. I was wondering how it would turn out since we were sharing the theater with a bank for their annual Christmas party. Everything went smoothly and even though we were missing many regulars we still had a pretty good attendance. Everything seemed to flow well and I got many positive comments on how good the service was.

Well, winter is officially here. We got probably half an inch of snow on Saturday night, which really isn't much but it signals a new winter season. So today I went out on my annual trek and bought some ice melt for the driveway and stairs. Can't say that I enjoy that. Plus our street signs got hammered by the the snow plows. Three of them were destroyed. Got to love the plow guys.

We have our sectional Christmas party tonight in Bellows Falls. It's nice not to have to travel an hour to get to it. We used to do that in CT. It was fun but the drive stunk.

I went to a memorial service of a guy who was a minister. He got into a car accident and was killed. He was 23, had a fiance, was just hired as a youth pastor at his home church and now nothing. The service was very inspirational and sad. His fiance spoke and read a letter she decided to write to him. It was heart wrenching but man was I impressed by the strength she showed through the whole thing. Don't know how I would have handled it.

The Christmas season is upon us and I want to encourage you to slow down and take a breather in the midst of shopping and parties and programs and remember why we celebrate this season in the first place. Read through the Gospels and the Christmas stories. Take time with your family or a friend and discuss the implications of Christ's Advent. And remember, one day, He is coming back again.

I'm back to model building again. I have a model of the USS Alabama, which is the ship that my grandfather served on in WWII. Unfortunately, all the instructions on building it are in Chinese or Japanese. Which btw, is quite ironic.

Looking forward to the New Year and what God has in store for Riverstone Church and claremont. We are revamping some stuff and re-organizing some leadership positions. It's all good. There is always pain in growth and we have to go through it in order to grow. We are growing and God is going to do some amazing things.

Last week was one of the hardest weeks I have been through in a while with the church. So much stuff was happening. Almost every day there was something new with some kind of people issues. I was definitely feeling the pressure. But I gave that stuff up to God and He certainly took my burden. Hey, a bad day here is infinitely better than a good day elsewhere.

Mark Batterson Webinar Notes pt. 2

2009-12-03T14:37:00.002-05:00

The Q & A session was good. In developing leaders he said he prefers "relational leadership development" over fill in the blank, informational development.

He was asked what he does with leaders who seem to lose their effectiveness. He said the problem arises when the leader ends up in maintainance mode. They have achieved their goals and don't have new ones so they stagnate. He likes to "shuffle the deck" in their portfolio and take out the 10% that is draining them and add 10% that will energize them.

Speaking about multi-site pastors he said they need to have the right campus pastor. The qualities he looks for in them are a sense of humor, loyalty, good stage presence, vision to grow the location.

The importance of stage presence is "if they are comfortable up front people will be comfortable in the seats."

He was asked about time management and what his usual work week looks like.
Monday - day off - religious about this
Tuesday - staff meetings, lunch creative team meeting, and meetings with various people
Wednesday - focus day; Sermon prep, writing
Thurday - Meetings all day
Friday - focus day; sermon prep, study, visioning, reading
Saturday - sermon prep, preaching
Sunday- preaching 3 services in morning, watching 3 football games in the evening.

Think about your rythms to life and find the best time for creativity. Don't use that time checking emails.

He was asked about the importance of family time.
"Don't sacrifice your family on the altar of ministry".
Use all your vacation days. He does only one meeting a week in the evening for church stuff. Our greatest responsibility is to disciple our families. In the new year think of any boundaries you need to put in place or anything to work on in your relationship with wife and kids.

I asked him about who he would recommend as a first staff hire.
He said musicians and media people first because they want to focus on the key elements of the weekend experience. But consider hiring a "utility player" as an associate. They should be able to do many things and willing to be delegated the less glamorous things you do as the pastor.

He ended the webinar with a bit about their coffee shop. He said "pray rediculous prayers." bold and crazy.

Great webinar and I look forward to doing that again.

Mark Batterson Webinar Notes pt. 1

2009-12-03T14:18:00.004-05:00

I want to share my notes about what Mark Batterson talked about. He focused on leadership development and shared with us several areas to consider. In talking about being a theater church he likened it to the Tabernacle vs. the Temple. He said they focus on "people not steeples." I thought that was awesome.

In the area of self-leadership he emphasized practicing spiritual disciplines. He said "Keep learning" using the 5% rule. This is budgeting 5% of your church budget towards leadership development, i.e. conferences, books, visiting other churches, etc. His staff all have a 5% budget. They live by the maxim "Everything is an experiment" therefore they allow learning and failing.

Also he said keep delegating. Use the 80% rule. If someone can do the job 80% as well as you can, delegate it. "You can't develop what you don't delegate."

Talking about their small groups he said they use a "free-market system" which means leadership is a bottom up approach. They give their leaders the freedom to choose to teach or do what they want in their groups. This means if a group doesn't have very many people they allow it to end. Their groups run on a semester system which is 3 times a year. They offer a catalogue for people to choose a small group.

They train their leaders be what he calls "baptism by immersion". That is on-the-job training. They want their leaders to have the freedom to develop a vision for their group and then go for it.

Discipleship potential as a church = # of small groups

Another aspect of leadership development they offer is their protege program. These are non-paid staff who raise their own support. It is a year long and they have major responsibilities over different ministries. They use this as their farm system for full-time staff hires.

They also have a church planter in residence.

The Stuff of Ministry

2009-12-03T10:11:00.002-05:00

Something I talk about often is the fact ministry is people. It's about people, for people, by people called of God. So any program, ministry or church that does not focus on people is definitely out of whack. Riverstone Church is about ministry and not meetings. We are about people over programs. That is why we are willing to cancel, cut or suspend programs in order to help people heal up.

This week has been a major people week. It literally has been one thing after another. Every day something new has happened. I have to admit that on Tuesday I was big time feeling the pressure. But I dove into God's word, spent time in prayer and trusted that God would be God and do what He does. And he has. So I'm not worrying about stuff.

But there are always ramifications to decisions made for the sake of people. Motives will be misinterpreted, words will be misspoken, attitudes will be misunderstood. Yet, God is in control. I love being back in Claremont. I absolutely love Riverstone Church. Every single person that is a part of it is special to me. Even those that try to tick me off sometimes. I love them all.

So, the way I see it, a bad day, or in this case week, is infinitely better than a good day in other places. I will take it as it comes because I know God is in control, He has called me to this place, and Riverstone Church is not like any church I have ever been a part of. I love it.

Over the next couple of months we will be realigning and doing some redesigning to better and more effectively serve our church and our community. So don't be discouraged or worried about the changes. They are all good. And I encourage you, if you are not using your spiritual gifts in service for God, get involved. Don't be a spectator. That's boring. Be a part of something bigger than you and help see lives changed for the glory of God.

Monday Morning Mantra

2009-11-30T08:34:00.002-05:00

It's been one great and crazy week. We had a quiet Thanksgiving with my In-laws here at the house. Friends and some of my family came over later for coffee and dessert. We definitely had a good time. Plus I taught Jeremy how to play Cribbage and he whaled on me his first time. Beginners luck.

Church was a mixed bag of emotions. Jason and Beth were not there because one of his best friends was killed in a car accident. So I was really feeling it for them. They stayed down in RI with some other friends to grieve. Please keep them in prayer. Tough stuff they are going through. But the other side of that was we had a good service and many people were touched by the message. I love Riverstone Church and I will do whatever I have to do to make sure she continues moving forward with our mission and vision.

Several people had stuff going on. Lots of heart ache out there. I would like to help but people are reluctant to share their hurt.

Pats are playing New Orleans tonight. Big game, should have fun watching it. Can't wait.

Having a bit of realignment with the church. Moving some people out of key positions and others into them. Please pray for me that I would have wisdom in this transition. I don't want to get discouraged. But sometimes it just comes at me.

I'm really tired today. Can anyone relate? Mondays are always tough. Pastors are coming down off spiritual highs. We spend the week preparing to share our hearts and God's Word and after we do we are drained. It is spiritually draining to do those things. That is why Jesus often went off alone to pray. He needed to recharge his batteries too.

Got some friends coming over for dinner and Wii. They threw down the challenge on me for bowling. So I will step up to the line and throw down some strikes. BRING IT ON!!!

Ego Driven Church

2009-11-25T10:56:00.002-05:00

I was reading an article in PE about the Great Welsh Revival. Evan Roberts is considered the catalyst to that revival. I thought there were some good notions that came out of that article that I want to explore because it relates to something that seems to be more prevelant as of late.

We live in such a narcassistic time that even in the church it becomes about the lead guy. Andy Stanley said once, "The guy in charge is usually the one who speaks the best." How true that seems.

In the article it said, "Famous preachers of that day had little success. Nothing that focused on an individual succeeded." I have noticed, unfortunately, that guys who seem to have success growing their churches tend to have a streak of pride and individuality to them. This is not a blanket statement of every pastor of growing churches. Just some that I have noticed. Yes, I believe they love Jesus with all their hearts and are doing God's will. I definitely don't question that nor the success they are having. I think it is great.

But the problem I have is with that streak of pride that comes out in the things they say. After all, Jesus said, "What is in the heart will come out the mouth." These guys have the greatest intentions and the greatest visions but I personally fear for them because Jesus also said, "Pride comes before a fall." Christianity does not need any more high profile pastors falling. We need to stick together and lift Jesus up.

The thing with Evan Roberts was he ran from the spot light. Although his ministry really was about just over a year, God used him to spark a world-wide revival. He avoided doing interviews, and being put in the spot light. His prayer was "Lord, bend me." And God did in an amazing way. He once canceled a big meeting because he felt it was going to focus on him rather than Jesus.

My question is, where are these guys today? It seems to me if you are to be a somebody in a growing church that you have to be just like all the other big guys. You know, but for the grace of God go I. I can so easily get trapped into thinking that God couldn't do this without me or without Riverstone Church. Well, guess what, He has got on well throughout eternity without any of us. He can use who He will.

To my friends in ministry, pay attention to your motives and attitudes. When you start to think that the success has come because of you, look out. There are too many to mention, pastors, some my friends, who were doing what you are doing and they are now sidelined because they let that streak of pride reign in their lives. Be careful. The devil will exploit it.

Follow Evan Robert's example and let it ALL be about Jesus. Give it up and God will take it up. I'm with you and praying for you. Do great things for God but let God be great and get ALL the glory.

Monday Morning Mantra

2009-11-23T13:14:00.003-05:00

We had an amazing time yesterday putting together the Thanksgiving baskets and delivering them to the families that needed them in Claremont. We gave away 16 baskets. Bonnie Gobin did an amazing job planning and implementing everything for these baskets. We had more food donated, more people helping and more fun than I have ever seen. It was awesome and we are looking forward to next year.

I've kicked off our Christmas series "Making Christmas Meaningful" yesterday. I am preaching two pre-Advent messages to get us ready for the x-mas ones. Great crowd, great Spirit and all around great day. I couldn't have been happier with the way things turned out.

How bout those New England Pats. They romped the Jets. The defense started sliding a bit in the second half but they held on and did an awesome job. Very glad the Pats won after last weeks game.

I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving. It's going to be quiet and we will just hang out, eat some turkey and watch the parade with my In-laws.

We are doing some special things this year at church for the Christmas season. We will be giving away a great book to all first-guests called "Why a Manger?" by Bodie & Brock Thoene. So if you invite a friend, family member, co-worker or neighbor to church for the first time they will automatically get a free book. Also we are giving our members some cool invite cards to help invite people to church for our series. I believe it is important to resource our church members with the tools they need to share their faith and invite people to church.

Tweaks

2009-11-17T19:30:00.004-05:00

Just got done reading Ignite by Nelson Searcy. That guy has good stuff going on. I learned some stuff that I think might help Riverstone Church. That thing I was talking about that was an aha moment for me wasn't anything super cool. But it was an idea and thought that made me say "duh!" We give out church pens every week and I know that many people have at least 5 if not 50 of them in their pocketbooks and cars. So I told everyone to get those pens and start leaving them places and giving them away. When you sign a receipt leave it with the person. Take them to the bathroom with you. Leave them wherever you go. It's a simple way to share God's love with our community by pointing people to a place they can find out about God. Plus it is a great way to invite people to church. So that is one tweak.

Another tweak we got going on right now is with the church staff. We are starting to put to paper those things that we do automatically every week. As we draw new people to come and serve with us we want to be able to hand them something that explains to them how we set up and break down every week. It's important because it helps us cut down on prep time so we can focus on prayer and other concerns.

I have something else we will be tweaking but that is for the leadership team to know on Thursday night. I will talk about it at the meeting and then I will let the rest of you know when the time comes.

Monday Morning Mantra

2009-11-16T08:20:00.002-05:00

Jon Keeler preached for me yesterday. He did a good job. He was a bit nervous and ended up preaching for 15 minutes rather than 25. It was nice to be able to walk around the theater while everything was going on and checking it out.

We had our third membership class for Riverstone Church. We had a really great time together and everyone signed the commitment card to become members. That's really great. We are definitely moving forward.

I was up late watching the Pats game. Had several friends over and the game was great. The Pats dominated the first half but petered out in the second. Lost by one point. Oh well.

Needless to say, I am wiped out. Tired, sore and tired. Holy Sunday hangover Batman.

Going to play some golf today. The weather is supposed to be great so this will probably be my last round of the year. Getting 18 in if I can. My back has been very sore since I cleaned out the gutters. I hope it will hold up. Advil is in my future.

Tuesday Morning

2009-11-10T08:36:00.004-05:00

Had a great time on Sunday at church. Love the fact that we are always getting new people coming through our doors checking us out. Spent Sunday afternoon watching the Patriots game with friends. We all had my jersey's on. Yes, "my", because I let them wear them so as not to jinx the game. It worked. :)

On Saturday, Walmart had a wicked sale that was not advertised. I think they only put it on their website. So I showed up just after 6:30 am and there were three people in line waiting for other stuff. The sale started at 8. So I stood in line for almost an hour and a half and at 8 they said, "Oh, yeah, the tv's are up front at the doors." I had been waiting in electronics. I was like, "Are you KIDDING ME!!" BTW, I was waiting to buy a 42" flatscreen HDTV for a price no one, and I mean NO ONE could touch. So anyway, I booked it down to the front to get the tv. Some other people started running after me as soon as I took off. It was awesome. I got the tv and it is wicked awesome. I can see every detail.

Finally cleaned out my gutters yesterday. Was not looking forward to that but it had to be done. Now I have to go up on the roof and get the gutters on the second story today. The weather has been great.

I don't know about you but I am looking forward to Thanksgiving. Just think it is a special holiday and can't wait for it.

Riverstone Church is trying to put together 18 Thanksgiving Baskets this year to give away to families in Claremont. I've been waiting on them to send me their names so I can call them. But as of yet nothing. So hopefully today I can get the names from them.

Men's Fellowship

2009-11-02T10:51:00.002-05:00

I'm preaching at a men's fellowship dinner tonight at First Baptist here in Claremont. Should be a good time. Dinner is at 5:30 pm, and it is free, so come on down guys and hang out with me. I will be there for the dinner and then I will be speaking around 6:30ish. Hope to see you there.

Outsiders

2009-10-29T09:52:00.002-04:00

I love that story in Acts 8 about the Ethiopian eunich. In ancient culture the guys who were eunichs were usually used by the kings and rulers to watch over their wives and concubines because they couldn't do anything that would compromise them. But the downside to that was they were considered outcasts in society. A eunich didn't merit recognition or acknowlegement, much less respect or attention. They were the outsiders.

But in Acts 8 God tells Philip to go to the eunich and share with him the good news. The eunich had just come back from Jerusalem to worship God yet was probably turned away from entering the temple because of the way he was. But God showed this outsider that He not only loved him but was going to make him an insider through a relationship with the risen Christ. He was baptized right there next to the side of the road.

Riverstone Churchs' mission is to make outsiders insiders and insiders faithful followers of Christ. It is our goal to bring those who are outcasts into the fold of God. He loves them and wants to make them insiders. That is why we do what we do.

I just got done reading "The Monkey and the Fish" by Dave Gibbons. It rocked my world and is right up our ally as far as our mission is concerned. I loved what he said about reaching our communities.

"Each generation must create a new language that connects with the soul and life of their community in their era. It must also create new forms not only to help carry the message, the truth, the content into a new generation but also to create a greater hunger for that message. So while the message may stay the same, the forms do change. Jesus himself modeled this; the Word, which had always been, became flesh. The message came in a new form, in the form of a messenger. Why? So that we may touch him, see him, and experience him and, by doing so, may truly understand the ancient, eternal message of God's love."

Awesome. I definitely could not have said it better.

Verse of the day

2009-10-28T09:33:00.002-04:00

"An undisciplined, self-willed life is puny; an obedient, God-willed life is spacious." Proverbs 15:32 (MSG)

Monday Morning Mantra

2009-10-26T08:43:00.002-04:00

I sit here basking in the afterglow of my morning coffee. Dunkin Donuts French Vanilla. Ahhh. It is much needed and wanted on a cold October morning such as this. Looks like it is going to be a beautiful day too. We had an amazing time at church yesterday. Are you sick of hearing me say that because I am not sick of saying it?

We had our communion service. We usually do that about once a quarter and we try to make it a very special and sacred time. I think we achieved that yesterday. The only glitch was we were missing some cords for our new soundboard which kept us from actually using it. So we did the service unplugged.

I'm looking forward to being with my life group this week. We have had about a two week furlough because of my surgery. Which, btw, my mouth is doing much better, so thanks for asking. Had a moler removed and a fibrosia on my lip removed. All seems to be well, and I have resumed my eating again. I lived on pudding, mashed potatoes, jello and ice cream for a few days. Tonight I will be eating steak off the grill. Can't wait.

I just put some new pictures of Emma and Anna in some frames. They had their pics taken at school a few weeks ago. I cannot believe how much they both have grown. It is scary to see the time fly like this. They are both so beautiful.

I picked up some pumpkins for the kids on Saturday. Emma was sick and Anna didn't want to go so it was up to me to get them. They both painted some faces on theirs and we will carve the big one on Halloween. We are going to roast the seeds and eat them after too. Yes.

God has been so gracious to Riverstone Church. Every week we have new people who visit our church. I would not be surprised at all if we have had about 300 people come through our doors and check us out since we launched. Most of them were well wishing Christians from other churches. That's cool. But we are still reaching out to the unchurched and de-churched. I love it when they connect with us and God.

We are doing the Thanksgiving baskets again this year and it is most definitely running smoother since Bonnie Gobin has taken over. We are collecting as much as we can to give the baskets away to families in our community. Last year we gave out nine and I hope we can do double that this year. A lot of food has come in so far. It is going to be awesome to bless families that cannot afford a Thanksgiving meal. And we go all out too, they get everything for the meal. Plus we put it all in a laundry basket so they can continue to use those.

Leadership 101 - Spotting Leaders

2009-10-24T08:58:00.003-04:00

Proverbs 14:28 says "The mark of a good leader is loyal followers; leadership is nothing without a following." (MSG)

I love that. It has been said if you think you are a leader and no one is following then you are just taking a walk. That is so very true. The point of leadership is leading followers. It's a no brainer. There are many people who seek leadership positions for various reasons.

I remember one person told me they were a leader even though they knew no one was following them. I choked back a laugh as not to offend and asked how is that exactly played out in their lives. They said well I am a leader of leaders. Again, I tried not to laugh, and asked where are the leaders that are following them. There wasn't anyone following. So this person was not a leader. The problem was this person wasn't much of a follower either. Didn't like to take direction and thought they knew it all already. Know-it-alls make the worst kinds of leaders. If they get that far.

Some people will create their own followers while others have leadership thrust upon them. Still some are given leadership responsibilities. But in all of this God has ordained some to be leaders and some to be followers. Not everyone is a leader. But we are all called to become servants. The essence of leadership is servant-hood. The bad leaders forget about this and try to get people to serve them and meet their needs. When it is good leaders who seek to serve others and help them achieve their God-given life purpose.

The easiest way to spot a leader is to look for someone who is serving others. Watch out for the people who ask you for leadership positions, because they just want a position. Not to serve others. Those who are serving don't have time to ask for position because they are already leading. The best followers will make the best leaders.

And the most obvious way to spot a leader, as the Bible says, people will actually be loyal followers of them.

MMM on Wednesday

2009-10-21T11:45:00.002-04:00

Lot's has been going on. I can now catch everyone up on it all. Yesterday I went to have some oral surgery done. Had a busted tooth removed and a growth from my lip. Have had both of those for about two years so it was nice to finally be rid of them. Now people can stop staring at my lip when I talk to them as they try to figure out what is on it. I've taken yesterday and today off from work to recoup. They had to drug me and I was on a powerful drug for the pain. All is well. Thanks everyone who prayerd for me.

I'm happy to announce that Barb Fluette is finally home from the hospital after 7 weeks. Much prayer went into her situation and she is doing well. We are definitely thanking God for that.

Looking forward to Sunday. We are having our communion service. This is something we don't take lightly. It's not tacked on to the end of a service it is the service. Our communion services have been some of the greatest times we have had at Riverstone Church. Can't wait to see what God does on Sunday.

Did you see the Pats game on Sunday? HOLY COW MAN. That was awesome. They didn't just win against the Titans they crushed them. Loved every minute of it. Wished they scored some more td's though. They will be playing in London this Sunday against the Buccaneers. They are a 0-5 team also. Not expecting to lose to them but anything can happen on any given Sunday.

Got to play some golf on Monday. It was a beautiful fall day. I played well, although my score didn't reflect it. My putting was not well but I drove the ball great. Hopefully I can get in a couple more rounds before the snow flies.

I took the family apple picking on Saturday. Got some wonderfully tasting apples. Also picked up some apple spice donuts. Yum. Then we took off to Mass. to see my mom. She looked great and she was big time surprised to see us. Got to hang with my sis Glenda. She cooked us lunch. Traditional Polish boiled lunch. Keilbasa, cabbage, carrots and potatoes. It was AWESOME!

Hey btw, we have some new coffee flavors at church. Pumpkin Spice, French Vanilla and now we have some coffee shop flavors. Donut House Coffee, Chocolate Glazed Donut, Cinnamon Roll and Donut House Decaf. So check it out on Sunday.

New England Patriots

2009-10-18T20:19:00.001-04:00

NE just beat the ever living snot out of the Tenn. Titans and broke about half a dozen records. It was awesome. 59-0. B-E-A-U-tiful

Leadership 101

2009-10-10T09:15:00.002-04:00

Anyone who is in a leadership position for any period of time know there are some essentials that cannot be violated. One of those is communication. Whether you are communicating about vision or about an event you have to communicate it in as many ways as you can. But this post is about the modes of communication.

If you have email, voicemail, answering machines, facebook, twitter, etc., than you have a responsibility to communicate through those modes. If someone communicates with you through one or all of these tools than you have a responsibility as a leader to get back to that person as soon as you can. If you find that you don't check your email much or that you don't really use your voicemail and remember to check for messages once a month, you might want to consider canceling those services.

There is nothing worse that to send someone information or a question and they don't get back to you for a while or never. Think about this for a moment. If someone spent the time and energy to try to get a hold of you through one of these tools, you honor them by replying to them as soon as you can. If they ask a question you don't have an answer for yet, acknowlege they sent you a message and tell them you will get back to them when you have the answer. You show people you care when you do that. Otherwise they get the impression that you don't care.

When it comes to communication you cannot over communicate. Let's put it this way, the more you communicate the more people will be on board with you. What people are not up on they are down on. For whaterever reason, when people don't have all the facts they have a default mode, oppose. So keep everyone up-to-date and they will most likely be behind you.

So when it comes to all the modes of communication, be sure to treat people with respect and get back to them as soon as you can. If you have email and don't really use it, cancel it and don't give out your address. If you don't like returning messages from your answering machine, then turn it off. Show people you respect them by returning their calls. This is leadership 101. It is a character issue.

In what ways do you show people you care that I haven't mentioned?

Advice for first year church planters

2009-10-07T11:50:00.003-04:00

Jonathan Dodson over at Church Planting Novice did a good article for church planters and I wanted to share it. The stuff in ( ) is my thoughts on what he said.

Advice for First Year Planters
June 19, 2009 in Church Leadership, Church Planting, Giving, evangelism

Here are a few tips for early stage church planters on everything from fundraising to evangelism:

Don’t forget to ask the pagans! If you are fundraising, remember that God used the pagan king Cyrus to fund the rebuilding of an entire city. He can definitely handle your church planting needs. Most pagans know more about your city than you do, and some of them love it more than you. (This is very true. I had a guy who I never met, that doesn't even go to church that I know of, drop down thousands of dollars for our church. Twice.)

Spend more time with people and less time with books in the first year of church planting. Learn your city, know its lostness, love your city, re-learn how to share the gospel in your context. Fall in love with your target people. The more you know and love them, the better your witness to the gospel will be, including your preaching. (Some church planters advocate preaching stuff from other guys for the first year, rather than spending hours and hours preparing, so you can spend that time with people. Of course in my case, I have years of stuff from pastoring before hand, so the prep. time is cut in half.)

"Identify the top 10 Obstacles to the Gospel in your Context. Don’t do this from the armchair, do it from anecdotes (conversations) and cultural exegesis (spending time in pockets of resistance or indifference)." (Sometimes that can be other churches. Ouch!)

Identify the top 10 Obstacles to the Church in your Context. Anecdotes and exegesis. Learn the history of hypocrisy in your city or town so that you can apologize and distance yourself from mockeries of the Church. What do people think of when they think “church”? Have they ever gone to one? Why did they stop? (I have to deal with a lot of this since there are many churches that have gone under in the last 5 years. That is why we say and try to do church that makes sense. No perfect people allowed.)

Don’t spend ungodly amounts of money or time on developing your first website. It will all change anyway, several times. You should be with people, not websites and blogs (!). Here are two good, inexpensive web solutions for early stage church planting: Church Root & Clover Sites. (I just chose a site that I thought would work for us. It wasn't overly expensive and we will probably be changing it very soon.)

Reflections on a funeral

2009-10-02T08:55:00.003-04:00

I was big time reminded of the power of presence this past week as I walked with a family through a tragic death of a son. I don't know, but I would have to think it is one of the hardest things a parent could go through to have to bury a child. Although this child was 49.

But, as I was sitting at the wake watching people view the body and as I was watching the family in their grief, my thoughts went to the Jewish custom of sitting shiva.

"From the time of death until the conclusion of the funeral, the primary focus and concern is on the care of the deceased and the burial preparations. The care for the departed before burial, the eulogy, the actual burial -- all are done to honor the one who has died, and not to comfort the mourners.

However, once shiva begins, the focus shifts to the mourners. The mourners experience a week of intense grief, and the community is there to love and comfort and provide for their needs. This is a critical point, for if one must feel the heart-wrenching pain of grief and loss, it should be done at a time when all those around are there to help and comfort.

The laws of mourning have the purpose of focusing a person on their own spirituality. We experience an overall feeling of physical discomfort as we totally focus on the soul of the one who has departed. We de-emphasize our own physicality by not pampering our bodies, so we remember that what we are missing at this time is not the physical person who is gone, but the essence of who that person was, which of course is their soul."

I was sitting there, sharing in the mourning of the family. Although I never knew the man, I could feel the intense pain and grief the family was going through. It is in times like this, as a pastor that I have learned to practice the power of presence. Often times as people grieve they are not looking for a quick fix or words to bring them out of their grief. It's the power of presence. Just being there, to be a listening ear, someone to hold onto, someone to grieve with that brings more healing than any words spoken. The less you speak the better in these situation. Allow the ones who are grieving to share their loss in their time.

Romans 12:15 tells us to "Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn." I felt that I was able to do that this week and in a way allow Christ's presence to be the power amongst that family. As a believer in Christ, the power of presence takes on a more significant role. Because Christ lives in us, we therefore are practicing the power of Christ's presence. He can do so much more that we can. It was my continual prayer for this family that they may find some comfort and hope through my feeble attempts to share the presence of Christ with them.

In the process God did a work in me too. Not only was I forced to focus on death and one's preparedness to meet the Creator of the universe but in a sense, God allowed death to happen in me. Death to my selfishness. Death to my pride. Death to my disobedience. So that I may live in Him. So that I may practice the power of the presence of Christ in my life daily with those around me.

That is a tall order to live up to but as the Bible says, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength."

Fall and Redemption

2009-09-25T12:49:00.003-04:00

I love the fall. It is awesome to see the leaves all change from green to brilliant oranges, reds, yellows and then brown. I love this time of year because for some reason it always seems like a season of hope. Yes winter is coming. The cold, the ice, the snow. But it reminds me that we have forgiveness of sins from God.

The Bible says that "His mercies are new every morning." In the fall the old leaves fall to make room for the new in the spring. Winter comes and everything seems to be cleansed by the bright whiteness of it all. I thank God for His grace and mercy that He gives to us every day.

This is the song written by Fanny Crosby in 1887.

“Though your sins be as scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though your sins be as scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they be red like crimson,
They shall be as wool!”
“Though your sins be as scarlet,
Though your sins be as scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow,
They shall be as white as snow.”

Hear the voice that entreats you,
O return ye unto God!
Hear the voice that entreats you,
O return ye unto God!
He is of great compassion,
And of wondrous love;
Hear the voice that entreats you,
Hear the voice that entreats you,
O return ye unto God!
O return ye unto God!

He’ll forgive your transgressions,
And remember them no more;
He’ll forgive your transgressions,
And remember them no more;
“Look unto Me, ye people,”
Saith the Lord your God!
He’ll forgive your transgressions,
He’ll forgive your transgressions,
And remember them no more,
And remember them no more.

Monday Morning Mantra (Tuesday night)

2009-09-22T19:24:00.002-04:00

Had an awesome time on Sunday afternoon with my tribe. We celebrated our one year anniversary with a picnic at Moody Park. Tons of food, lots of fun. I would have won at horse shoes but the sun was in my eyes. We had two amazing cakes made and it was an absolutely beautiful fall day. Everyone had a great time.

Went to the oral surgeon yesterday. I'm going to get a tooth surgically removed because it is completely broken off. Been that way for about two years or so. Plus I'm getting a thing removed from my lip. So you all don't have to stare at it anymore. I will be down for two days after the surgery because they are going to knock me out to do it.

I got my first life group meeting tomorrow night. Looking forward to it. Have about 12 people signed up. It's going to be a blast. I'm pretty sure I can work in a smores night one of the meetings. We are doing our class 201 in a small group setting over 5-6 weeks rather than a one time seminar. Should work out fine.

About a week ago I started smelling something nasty from our basement. I knew it must have been something dead. It started getting worse as the days went on. I told everyone it was a dead mouse but they all thought it was sewage or something. Anyway, I ended up ripping down the wood paneling on one wall of the basement where I thought the smell was coming from. Didn't find the mouse but I did find his nest. Anyway, I looked up in the ceiling tiles and there he was, dead as a door nail. Stinky too. So that mystery is solved. Now to get the smell out. Candles aren't cutting it too well.

Lisa and the kids bought me a PS3 for my birthday. I have to say that is the sweetest game platform out there. I cannot believe the quality of the games. Plus it is a blueray disc player. Haven't see one yet but I can't wait.

Kicked off a new series this week, The ABC's of stewardship. Last Sunday was Attitude. You will have to wait until next Sunday for B.

Monday Morning Mantra

2009-09-14T08:36:00.003-04:00

Hey everyone. It's been a couple of weeks. But I'm back from my blogging sloth. We had a great time at Riverstone yesterday. It was our one year anniversary service. Cannot believe it has been a year. Lots of new people showing up. Love it. We have designated this month as a celebration month rather than one day. So we have a lot going on.

On Sept. 19th, this Saturday, we are going to meet up at the rails to trails between Pleasant and Broad St.'s to clean it up. We want to serve our community in simple and practical ways so we decided to clean up the trash and glass on the trail so no one will get hurt and it will look better. We will be meeting at 10 am. Donuts will be provided.

Also Sunday after church on the 20th, we will be having a celebration picnic at the top of Moody Park. There will be food, games for the kids with prizes and fun. I will be bringing my horse shoes and showing everyone how it's done. We will get started at 1 pm. See you there.

The verse for today is Proverbs 3:35 "Wise living gets rewarded with honor; stupid living gets the booby prize." Thats out of the Message. Love it.

Our Life groups are going to kick off next week. I will be teaching our pathways to maturity class 201 over a six week period. I have many people signed up for this. Should be a great group.

Had my 36th b-day party on Sept. 9th. Had a wonderful day. Got some great gifts. PS3, which is wicked awesome. Can't wait to get some blueray movies. Also got "The Real American Hero" on dvd. Got all three seasons. Sweet. Was my favorite show when I was a kid. Still pretty good too.

Videos made by our church

2009-09-07T14:55:00.002-04:00

Merry Gobin did an awesome job with these.

Ancient wall found in Jerusalem

2009-09-05T08:55:00.002-04:00

As you know I like to keep up on archeology being done in Israel. Here is a story of a wall that was found in East Jerusalem. Interesting.

The Nines

2009-09-04T10:27:00.002-04:00

Hey just want to let all my pastor friends and leader friends know that on 9/9/09 there is a free conference called The Nines. Check it out it looks awesome. The best part is that is the same day as my birthday. So you know what to do.

Monday Morning Mantra

2009-08-24T09:08:00.002-04:00

We had an amazing month in July with all the press we got. Things seemed to be looking up but some of us had a thought that it might be going too good and our enemy (see devil), would stick his foot in the door. Well, that's what he has been doing unfortunately. I have had to deal with a few messes this month. Actually still dealing with them. Don't get me wrong, God is still in control and doing some awesome stuff but the devil is trying to mess us over. So if you are reading this please pray for our church, for wisdom in dealing with the issues, for humility for those who need to repent and for unity for the whole body. Thanks.

We had a booth at the back to school festival on Saturday. That went amazingly well. We met and talked with hundreds of people. We again gave away over 500 pieces of school supplies and 6 backpacks filled with supplies. It rained on and off and was a bit humid but we had a good time. Got to talk to many people about the church. It was cool that many of them are recognizing who we are. Just after one year. Sweet.

Is it me or does it seem like the next generation of kids that are coming up lack the basic understanding of civil relationships with one another? If you have wronged someone, don't go and hide and hope it goes away. Deal with it, ask for forgiveness, swallow your pride and put your selfishness away and man up. If you have an appointment or a meeting don't keep canceling it or just not showing up without any communication. Keep your word and stick to your appointments. If there is an emergency or something comes up, call well in advance and ask to reschedule, don't assume that will always be possible. The person you have the appointment with also has things to do. They can't keep rescheduling. It WILL eventually get to the point where they just won't meet with you. So do the right thing in the first place. When you don't do the right thing you are basically saying through your actions that other people do not matter. Your selfishness is put on display for everyone to see. The word I'm thinking of is "respect". Start showing respect for other people. You get what you give. Or in Biblical terms, "You reap what you sow". Don't expect to get respect from others when you are constantly disrespecting them.

Emma and Anna both start back in school this week. Looking forward to it. Anna will be in pre-school everyday until 12. So that means we will be getting our mornings free, which means we can actually start to get stuff done. SWEET.

Did I tell you that we got a kitten last week? She is solid black and very cute. Her name is Licorice. I will try to get some pics of her up so you can see. She loves sleeping on me. Emma is up early every morning to go down stairs and play with her. Very funny to see.

Our one year anniversary for Riverstone Church is coming up in a few weeks. We are going to try to plan something special for the whole month. Keep your eyes and ears tuned for what we have planned.

Need ideas

2009-08-18T11:29:00.003-04:00

Hey, we need some cool ideas to celebrate our 1 year anniversary for Riverstone Church. We want to party like it is 1999. So if we use your idea we will send you are Riverstone Church t-shirt.

The 411

2009-08-15T19:21:00.002-04:00

Hey everyone. Summer has been really weird. The weather for most of it has been like early Sept. temps. Now we are getting whaled on with heat and humidity. Which btw, I am not complaining. Actually glad for it. I have been pretty busy lately.

I spent the last couple of weeks painting my basement and designing and building a built in bookcase for my office. Had my buddy Bob Beal over for a few days this week to hang out, play golf and watch a movie or two. Oh yeah and MASH. We ate some amazing t-bone steaks off the grill and some baby back ribs. Oh man they were good. Thanks Bob.

The past two days I have been sick as a dog with a head cold. Hardly slept last night and have exhausted the drugs in our house, which have not been working. So Bonnie G. gave me some powerful stuff that will hopefully knock me out tonight. I hate being sick for Sunday.

We have our church picnic tomorrow. That should be fun. It's the first, of hopefully many, that we will have with the church over the years. I will stay as long as I can last with this sickness.

Looking forward to doing our community service project next week. We will have a booth in the Back To School festival again. Looking forward to giving away school supplies.

Don Butera is coming next Sunday to speak and share about his mission. We plan on taking him on as our first missionary. Can't wait. We plan on getting some golf in too.

I'll try to get some more posts going. I know we are all busy during the summer and not around our computers much, but hey, glad your still reading.

Can anyone help me with this?

2009-08-05T14:03:00.002-04:00

I keep hearing this saying in several different places and wonder where it came from and what the meaning behind it is. "the devil makes hair" or the "devil makes hare". Not entirely sure.

The closest I can find anything is this:

"Let the devil catch you but by a single hair, and you are his forever."

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
German, Critic Quotes

Can anyone help me out on the backgroud of this saying? It's not life or death but it is bugging me to figure it out.

Monday Morning Mantra

2009-08-03T08:48:00.002-04:00

It was a quiet day at church yesterday. The last few weeks has been nuts with all the media coverage we got. I think everyone decided to go to the beach. Anyway, the service was subdued and I think I put a couple of people to sleep.

My cell phone decided to freak out on me and lock up last night. So I had to hard reset it which means that I lost all my info. On top of that I can no longer sync it to my computer which means I will have to manually put in all my contacts again. Oy Vey!

Got most of my basement painted on Saturday and will hopefully finish it up today. Shouldn't be a problem. The wood paneling look is gone and a freshly painted basement has arrived. Nice.

I think I am going to have to change the date of the picnic because Lisa forgot to tell me that we are supposed to be away for a party on that day. We will see.

Got a missionary friend coming at the end of the month. First missionary to speak and he will be the first one for Riverstone Church to support. Don Butera is his name.

Tiger Woods won the Buick Invite yesterday. It is his 69th career win. That puts him in third over all players of all time. That is just nuts and he is only 35 I think. Jack Nicklaus has 73 wins I think and Byron Nelson has 86. I think Tiger will have at least 100 to his name when it is said and done. Tiger is going down in history as the greatest golfer of all time.

I cannot believe the summer is almost over. It hasn't even started yet. July floated by with all the rain so lets hope August will have some hot weather. Which btw means Patriots season starts this month. WOW!!! Are you ready for some FOOTBALL????

Quotable quotes

2009-07-27T12:38:00.003-04:00

I was listening to a podcast today from Catalyst, doing an interview with Rick Warren. I don't care what anyone says about him, yes he is not perfect, but dang, that guy has some great ideas and sayings.

He said, "You cannot win your enemies to Christ. You can only win your friends." He was responding to a question posed to him about all the political and religious leaders he has befriended. That is awesome.

Talking about wisdom, he said, "It's wise to learn from your experiences. But it's wiser to learn from others experiences." He was talking about learning from mentors and coaches.

He also gave four areas every leader/pastor needs for relationships:

Mentors - have many mentors in many different areas of expertise. One mentor cannot possibly know everything. These are your coaches.

Models - have models that are dead, i.e. Spurgeon, Wesley, Luther; because if you have someone you are modeling your life after that is still alive, they might burn out, flame out or have a moral failure before their life is over. Go with those who have proven themselves.

Partners - these are people who are our co-workers, buddies, people we are in business with.

Friends - people who just love us.

Rick said if you have these kinds of people in ministry than your chances of staying in ministry for the long haul dramatically improve. That guy has a lot of wisdom.

Monday Morning Mantra

2009-07-27T09:05:00.004-04:00

Man things have been getting crazy around here. Over the last three weeks our church has been in the media for no apparant reason other than they want to do a story on us. So far it has been completely positive. Yesterday we were on Fox News. They came down for the service and filmed and interviewed us. It came out pretty good. You can see it here: Fox 44 News coverage.

I have been preaching on the 7 deadly sins and I believe people are responding well to the series. I preached on envy yesterday and so many people told me they were glad they didn't miss church. I want to encourage you, don't miss out on this series. I could be life changing for you. You can also go to the Riverstone Church website to view the previous messages online. Check it out.

Lisa is in Fl for a few days for training for her job. So it's the kids and I all over again. They are being very good. Took them swimming yesterday and we had our fill of ice cream. I have a few things planned for them this week. But I hope I can get my work done too. We will see.

Lisa bought me an iPod for our anniversary. I have been wanting one for a few years now. It is AWESOME. Wish I had it sooner. No worries though, I already have downloaded over 75 podcasts and songs on it. Lots to listen too.

I visited my dad on vacation and I was able to get a box of family pictures that I have never seen before. I have a picture of my great grandfather. And several of my grandfather. He was a veteran of WWII. He served on the USS Alabama. Also he was a veteran of Korea. I think he served on the USS Jason. I have all his discharge papers too. He was in the Mass. State Reserves. He did a stint in the Canadian army just after war broke out with Germany. Then he came back and joined the US Army and transfered to the US Navy. After that he joined the Navy during the Korean war. He was something else.

Anniversary

2009-07-23T11:09:00.003-04:00

15 years ago today Lisa and I embarked on a whirlwind marriage tour that has taken us from NH to Canada to RI to Israel to CT and back to NH where it all started. It has been an amazing 15 years with our ups and downs. Thank God there has been more ups than downs though. I simply cannot imagine life without her. She is the sunbeam in my picture window of life. I love you Lisa.

Media Coverage

2009-07-21T16:50:00.003-04:00

Two Sundays ago a reporter and photographer came to church from The Valley News, which is a local/regional paper. Anyway they published a great article about the church the next day, full front page. Here's the link: Valley News

Anyway, the AP picked it up and now it is going out over the radio and news organizations. Boston channel 5 picked it up. Channels 8 and 9 picked it up. And I just saw that the Boston Globe and USA Today picked up the story. This is amazing. We have gone viral.

Week in Review

2009-07-20T12:11:00.004-04:00

Well we made it home alive from vacation. We were all over NH and ME. On Monday we went up to Clarks Trading Post and spent the day there. Kids thought they had a blast. That was until the next day when we took them to Story Land. They had so much fun they didn't know what to do with themselves. I will probably get some pics up of this today or tomorrow.

After that we went down to the Manchester area and spent some time with Lisa's family. We went and saw Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince. Pretty good flick but the book is infinitely better. Then on Thursday we went up to Maine and spent the night at my dad's house. Had a good time hanging with him. Got a bunch of old pics of family I never knew. Got one of my great, grandfather. Interesting.

Friday we left Brooks, ME and went to Old Orchard Beach for a few hours and let the kids have fun in the ocean. We were not there more than 10 minutes and Anna announces that she dropped a bomb in her bathing suit. SO I looked and sure enough, a brown fish. A wave popped it out though so we left that area immediately.

After we left there we went to Kittery, ME to the Yum-Yum Factory. This is a candy Store from the Halls of Heaven. They got everything you can imagine. All the candy we used to eat when we were kids. Needless to say we spent a few bucks there.

Got home Friday night, slept, and Saturday and Sunday relaxed because we were so beat from traveling on our vacation. Fun was had by all. Pics will soon follow.

It took a while but here it is.

2009-07-07T14:26:00.003-04:00

I told you I would post some stuff on the Anti-christ when I was doing those posts about prophecy. So here you go. Sorry it took so long. I forgot.

Titles Given To The Anti-Christ

1. The bloody and deceitful man (Ps.5:6)
2. The wicked one (Ps. 10:-2-4)
3. The man of the earth (Ps. 10:18)
4. The mighty man (Ps. 52:1)
5. The enemy (Ps. 55:3)
6. The adversary (Ps. 74:8-10)
7. The head of many countries (Ps. 111:6)
8. The violent man (Ps. 140:1)
9. The Assyrian (Isa. 10:5-12)
10. The King of Babylon (Isa. 14:2)
11. The sun of the morning (Isa. 14:12)
12. The spoiler (Isa. 16:4-5; Jer. 6:26)
13. The nail (Isa 22:25)
14. The branch of the terrible ones (Isa. 25:5)
15. The little horn (Dan. 7:8)
16. The prince that shall come (Dan. 9:26)
17. The profane wicked prince of Israel (Ezek. 21:25-27)
18. The vile person (Dan 11:21)
19. The willful king (Dan 11:36)
20. The idol shepherd (Zech 11:16-17)
21. The man of sin (2 Thess. 2:3)
22. The son of perdition (2 Thess. 2:3)
23. The lawless one (2 Thess. 2:8)
24. The Antichrist (I John 2:22)
25. the angel of the bottomless pit (Rev. 9:11)
26. The beast (Rev. 11:7; 13:1)
27. The one coming in his own name (John 5:43)
28. The king of fierce countenance (Dan. 8:23)
29. The abomination that causes desolation (Matt. 24:15)
30. The desolator (Dan 9:27)

Wassup?

2009-06-30T09:41:00.003-04:00

I finished off a series, Forgiveness: The Real F Word on Sunday. I really think people were helped by it. So many came to me to tell me what God has been doing in their lives. That is awesome. Btw, we will be in theater 3 starting this coming week. It seats about 110 and should be more comfortable for us. We will have signs out to let you know where to go.

July 4th is our next community service project. We are handing out glow bracelets to the kids for free. The kids will love us and the vendors will hate us. Oh well, can't please everyone. We will be meeting at 7 pm at Claremont Savings Bank. Come and be a part of the fun.

Man, I have spent the last 4 days tearing my office apart and painting it. We have wood paneling walls from the 80's in my basement. I got tired of looking at it and plus it was too dark. So I picked a nice cream color for the walls and a moss green for the trim. It looks sharp. My office is most of the way back in order. Maybe I will post some pics on facebook.

Got another charity golf tournament today. Dave Gobin and I will be playing in Hanover for CareNet. It looks like it wants to rain and I think thunder and lightning will be coming this way later today. I hope we can get through. I know, tough life.

The kids are going to VBS this week. They absolutely love it and to be honest it gives us our mornings free and that is a cool thing.

I'm looking forward to vacation this month. It has been about 2-3 years since Lisa and I have been able to go on an extended vacation. By extended I mean like a week rather than a day or two. Looking forward to that.

Drama Button

2009-06-23T21:59:00.001-04:00

I wish I had this for some of the stuff that goes on in life. Hit it as many times as you want.

drama button

Tuesday Afternoon Mantra

2009-06-23T16:42:00.003-04:00

We have been having an amazing time at church the past couple of weeks. We are talking about the real F word-forgiveness. I have been hearing great stories about how God is working in peoples lives and setting them free. I love it. That is why we started Riverstone Church. To see lives changed with the power of the Gospel.

Got to play some golf yesterday. Not the best round but I hit some great shots. Now I get to play in a tournament on Thursday. Looking forward to that.

The last couple of weeks I have been banging out projects all over the house. It is nuts. I'm starting to run out of things to do. Now I have to hit the big stuff. I still have to put in a brick walkway in the front. I have to take down more wallpaper in the hallway and the two baths upstairs. Now I also have to fix a toilet that is leaking all over the place. No matter, I'll git er done.

Almost done watching 24 season 4. The Gobins and I started a 24 watching club. We are down to the final two episodes. So far I like season 4 the best. Although 1 was good too. 24/1 baby.

I have been reading a book that is as thick as the IRS tax code called Benjamin Franklin. It's pretty good but man is it taking a long time to read. I need something else to read on the side. Does anyone have any suggestions of a good book I can pick up and read?

Worth failing

2009-06-16T12:53:00.003-04:00

One of the things that Lisa and I talked about when we realized God was calling us to plant a church in NH was that failure was possible. Let me say this though, it's not an option for me. This is all I got. I said to Lisa that I would regret it the rest of my life if I did not try to plant a church in Claremont. She knew that too, and loved me enough to sign on with what we believe God had called us to do. And I told her that even if I failed at this, I would not regret it because at least I tried.

Over at the Best Ministry Practices blog he gave a quote from Ralph Winter who said, “If I weren’t willing to fail, you’d have to call me crazy. If I were to say that I knew [this project] would definitely succeed, it would be nuts. I’m not sure it will succeed. I only know it is worth trying. Risks are not to be evaluated in terms of the probability of success, but in terms of the value of the goal.“

Any goal that is worth a successful attempt is worth a failed attempt. You haven't failed if you have gone after that goal - no matter what the outcome."

That is a great quote. I believe with all my heart that what we are doing is worth failing for. But I also believe equally as strong that we will not fail in acheiving the mission God has placed us on.

Disconnect

2009-06-16T10:25:00.002-04:00

I recently went to a church planting conference that is designed around the home church concept. The whole time the guy was teaching he was downing the church as it is using worst case scenario kinds of examples. Of course his way is the "Biblical" way and everyone else is wrong or sinning. Anyway, I don't buy into it.

I have also seen this same crowd whale on the church in one sentence and then ask that same church to let them come and speak and buy their wares. Man you got to love that. "We think you are wrong in all that you do, but I want to come and speak and take your money." That drives me nuts.

You know what, there is a place for home churches. But it's not as big as they claim it is. They should be thanking the churches because that is where they often recruit and get people from. The American church isn't perfect but God is still using it. So if you hate it then you better watch what you say, because it is still part of the Bride of Christ. Don't find yourself fighting God in your Zeal. Remember Saul. He killed Christians because they were wrong in his mind. God had to get a hold of him in a dramatic way to get his attention and then changed his name to Paul. Don't be a Saul. Also stop asking us to buy your stuff. Sell it to your home church crowd.

Ok, rant over. Had to get that off my chest.

Monday Morning Mantra

2009-06-15T08:11:00.004-04:00

Had a great service yesterday. I know God is doing a new thing in His people. Preached on forgiveness. Time to unchain the people from our lives that we have refused to forgive. Can't wait for next week.

We had an awesome time with our community project on Saturday. We handed out about 360 bottles of water. We would have done more but we were putting our foot in the water to see how this would work. It was our first time working the Home Coming Parade. Next year we will probably hand out 800-1000 bottles. It went over very well. Had a lot of conversations with people interested about the church. Exciting times.

Today is Emma's last day of school. Can't believe it. Anna is going to be in pre-school this fall. The kiddos are growing up fast. Man alive.

Saw Star Trek last night. Although the plot was similar to others, I liked the take on it surrounding Spock. I thought this movie was the best one yet. The acting was half-way decent and the action was great. I definitely want to see it again.

I'm convinced more than ever we are doing what God wants us to do. I recently went to a "church planting" seminar and the whole time the guy teaching it basically said what we were doing was wrong, not biblical and dead. It was very depressing. But I don't remember him being around when God called me to do this in Claremont. Riverstone Church exists because that is God's will. And I thank God for Riverstone Church. There is no where else I want to be.

A New PreAmble

2009-06-14T12:00:00.000-04:00

new preamble to the constitution

The following has been attributed to State Representative Mitchell Kaye from GA. This guy should run for President one day..

"We the sensible people of the United States, in an attempt to help everyone get along, restore some semblance of justice, avoid more riots, keep our nation safe, promote positive behavior, and secure the blessings of debt-free liberty to ourselves and our great-great-great-grandchildren, hereby try one more time to ordain and establish some common sense guidelines for the terminally whiny, guilt ridden, delusional, and other liberal bed-wetters. We hold these truths to be self evident: that a whole lot of people are confused by the Bill of Rights and are so dim they require a Bill of NON-Rights."

ARTICLE I: You do not have the right to a new car, big screen TV, or
any other form of wealth. More power to you if you can legally acquire them, but no one is guaranteeing anything.

ARTICLE II: You do not have the right to never be offended. This country is based on freedom, and that means freedom for everyone -- not just you! You may leave the room, turn the channel, express a different opinion, etc.; but the world is full of idiots, and probably always will be.

ARTICLE III: You do not have the right to be free from harm. If you stick a screwdriver in your eye, learn to be more careful; do not expect the tool manufacturer to make you and all your relatives independently wealthy.

ARTICLE IV: You do not have the right to free food and housing. Americans are the most charitable people to be found, and will gladly help anyone in need, but we are quickly growing weary of subsidizing generation after generation of professional couch potatoes who achieve nothing more than the creation of another generation of professional couch potatoes .

ARTICLE V: You do not have the right to free health care. That would be nice, but from the looks of public housing, we 're just not interested in public health care.

ARTICLE VI: You do not have the right to physically harm other people. If you kidnap, rape,intentionally maim, or kill someone, don ' t be surprised if the rest of us want to see you fry in the electric chair.

ARTICLE VII: You do not have the right to the possessions of others. If you rob, cheat, or coerce away the goods or services of other citizens, don ' t be surprised if the rest of us get together and lock you away in a place where you still won ' t have the right to a big screen color TV or a life of leisure.

ARTICLE VIII: You do not have the right to a job. All of us sure want you to have a job, and will gladly help you along in hard times, but we expect you to take advantage of the opportunities of education and vocational training laid before you to make yourself useful. (AMEN!)

ARTICLE IX: You do not have the right to happiness. Being an American means that you have theright to PURSUE happiness, which by the way, is a lot easier if you are unencumbered by an over abundance of idiotic laws created by those of you who were confused by the Bill of Rights.

ARTICLE X: This is an English speaking country. We don ' t care where you are from, English is our language. Learn it or go back to wherever you came from!

ARTICLE XI: You do not have the right to change our country ' s history or heritage. This country was founded on the belief in one true God. And yet, you are given the freedom to believe in any religion, any faith, or no faith at all; with no fear of persecution The phrase IN GOD WE TRUST is part of our heritage and history, and if you are uncomfortable with it, TOUGH!

I'm still here

2009-06-03T15:14:00.003-04:00

Sorry, been a bit busy lately. Had to do other stuff and forgo posting. Anyway, here I am. Had a great service on Sunday. Preached on the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. The baptism is all about power to witness (Acts 1:8) and not tongues. Unknown tongues is how you know you have power to witness. You can watch the video on our website: Riverstone Church BTW, I am an equal opportunity offender. It's my calling. ;)

I'm heading down to Manchester on Saturday for an all day Organic Church Planting Seminar put on by Praxis. I'm meeting with other church planters from our district and Dan Abbatiello, the district Church Development Director. Looks interesting and I will let you know about my thoughts about it after I get back.

We have our next community service project on June 13th for the Homecoming Parade. We will be passing out hundreds of water bottles to by-standers up and down the street. Come join us if you are around. It is our strategy to serve the community through simple and practical acts of service.

I can't believe it but we sold right through our church t-shirts. So I will be ordering new ones that are gender specific, i.e. for ladies and guys. Looking for some cool styles right now. Stay tuned. They will go fast.