wogblog

I was reading Philippians 2:13-15 this morning. Enjoying my thoughts and God’s goodness … “for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or disputing; that you may prove yourselves to be blameless and innoicent children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation amoung whom you appear as lights in the world.”

Then I quickly remembered that I had not checked on the progress of Gustav in a few hours … and so back to the web for updates. It was while I was getting news reports from newspapers all over the gulf coast that I began to read about the evacuation plans for New Orleans and also two Texas counties.  It seems that officials are telling folks in Texas to evacuate to Houston. Which, in my opinion is still a coastal city and is very prone to flooding itself.  I then began to read comments from everyday folks about the newspaper articles … most of them very, very upset that evacuees are coming to thier town or city. Stories about a family who took in a family of 9 when Katrina hit only to witness other evacuees murder and rape victims in their small Texas town.  It seems the kindness that was available to evacuees during Rita and Katrina … is now met with disdain because of the crime that some evacuees brought with them to peaceful communities … just trying to help.

I tried to wrap my mind and my heart around the passage that I had just read and then the current event I was experiencing and asking God to reveal the truth that I needed to keep near my heart. In spite of the condition of man … it is still our mandate to “be lights”. Even if that means we are not appreciated for it. Here’s a truth … the world is full of good people and bad people. Just because you show kindness … kindness may not be returned. Does that type of love put you in harms way … unfortunately, sometimes it does. Should you cease from being kind even though you may get hurt in the process … that is up to each an every person to decide.

Even though I go through personal struggles and really bad situations … I for one have faith that “God is at work … both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”

<< wg

Two big things are happening for Journey Church next week … that we are super excited about. One of those things happen on Saturday September 6 at 10 am. We have our community wide Angel Food Organizational Meeting. We have talked to several pastors, local business owners, and excited individuals who are ready to come on board and help in a “community ministry” to help folks stretch their food budget.

We live in hard economic times. Lower income people and people on fixed incomes are finding it harder and harder to stretch their income to cover the rising costs of … everything! Angel Food is a ministry that allows people to get a hand up and not necessarily a “hand out”. Angel Food provides a menu each month of top quality groceries at half the cost. Families or seniors can order a box of food that will help them an entire month. The box or unit costs $30 … that box contains $65 worth of food. Folks even have additional options of produce, extra meat entrees, and pre-cooked meals (for seniors).

How does it work? People needing the ministry will place their orders within a given time period and pay their costs. They will place their orders with authorized Angel Food hosts. On a specified Saturday morning … they come and volunteers help them collect their order and load their car. It all happens within an hour or so. They can place an order for next month at that time or wait a few days … to start the process all over again.

Our organizational meeting will be held to teach any prospective volunteer on how to help and what type of help is needed. You don’t have to be a prospect for Journey Church or even a church member anywhere. We want to help people … who need help. If you are a pastor or church leader of a local church, a business owner, or just someone who thinks this is a great opportunity for service … we would love to have your there!

<< wg

You only get one shot at raising your kids. Creating in them a good Christ-like image is essential at a very young age. This is Caleb, my grandson. He started first grade this week. Last weekend his dad took him camping and fishing at Lake Ray Roberts. He caught this 14″ fish … looks like a small mouth bass. He caught it on a live worm … from the bank … on very light tackle. If you are a fisherman … you know that had to be fun. Probably more fun than catching it … was watching him catch it. Of course he reported to us that his first day of first grade was boring! Way to go James, make the teacher look bad.

That day … he will remember forever. Me and my boys were not much on camping and fishing … we were more throw something, burn something, ride something, or blow something up kind of guys. It really doesn’t matter … it just matters that dads are with their kids and teaching them how to live life. I still remember the day that Casey, Michael and I were “mud hoggin” around in White Oak in my CJ. We were tearing up some old oil field roads in East Texas … when we saw this really, really huge mud puddle … probably half the size of a football field. We got about 1/4 of the way into the high water and realized we had not locked out the hubs … a feature necessary if you want your 4 wheel drive to work. Since Michael was the smallest (he got so many opportunities to help) … we put him on the hood, held his feet while he hung upside down … over the mud and high water to lock out the hubs. That’s a priceless memory and a valuable life lesson. Always take your kids when you need a small person … it’s like an extra tool in your box. I do have a princess too … but she was way too smart to go on any of those excursions. She was more of a … lets bundle up in the back of the jeep while dad takes on a joy ride in the snow and ice with the top off … doing donuts in the church parking lot. Ahhh .. priceless.

<< wg

I read this yesterday morning and I think I got the revelation of that truth today. “But God, who comforts the depressed, comforted us by the coming of Titus.” 2 Cor. 7:6.  In my humble opinion … depression comes from desperation. I know there is a real physiological condition called depression.  What brings on depression is stress. It’s common knowledge that stress can wreck your health. Things happen in your body when stress takes over. The short of it is … stress robs your body of things that it needs in order to function properly.

When I say that I am stressed out … I am saying that I am in desperate situations that I have no control over. Stress robs your body of nutrients, hormones, and brain cells. What is God’s answer for depression. Obviously Paul was depressed. He wrote a letter to his favorite church correcting some errant behavior and everyone got angry with him. Here he was just trying to do what God called him to do … and wham … people got mad. He didn’t have a whole medicine cabinet full of drugs to help him out … so, God sent … a friend.

That’s right. A friend to comfort him. It works. Be a friend … tackle someones depression today and comfort them. You don’t need a seminary degree to be a friend. You don’t need a Bible to be a friend. Find the lonely … call them up … and you will be the best medicine any one could buy.

<< wg

Yesterday did not really start out to be an amazing day. I have been consumed with praying about Journey Church and really just being scared spit-less as to my next steps. As you have been reading … I’m really not starting this church in a typical fashion. I’m not going to the Christian “pool” of available believers to launch. I’m going for person “X” … the divine nobodies. Those who are losing their grip on life. Helping where I can and then trying to get them more help from the body of Christ.

I have some clear cut mandates from scripture as to how to go about this … 1.) feed the poor, 2.) take care of the lonely and abandoned, 3.) help those who want out of addictive or harmful behaviors 4.) build up the body of Christ 5.) partner with other believers who are like sighted.

Yesterday, a few of us went to Valley View UMC for training with Angel Food. We were thrilled to help the volunteers there, but these folks were also so helpful to us in learning how to help others through Angel Food. We are up and running with this ministry and excited on how we can help people with managing their food budget.

I went back up to our building to measure for another sign cover up. I hate climbing on ladders … but had to because this one is high on the building. Got that done without falling off the porch roof and breaking my neck. While at the building I noticed the sign I put up the day before and thought … I didn’t make the text bold enough … it will be hard for people traveling at 50 mph to read that sign. Ahhhrrggg. Plus it had a lot of wrinkles in the banner material that we covered the old sign with … oh well.

Back home, resting a bit, watching the Olympics. I get a call on my cell phone with no caller ID. I don’t know if I told you that I put a newspaper ad in our local paper announcing … the Business Networking Group Breakfast, Angel Food and our First … I struggled with doing that thinking it was a waste of money. So, I get this call. A girl on the other end of the phone says … “You don’t know me … but I heard that you have a church that helps people. (pause) Is that true?” At this point I thought I was getting prank-ed. I said … yes. She said, “I’m calling from Florida and I have a friend who lives in Aubrey who is having a tough time and thinking thoughts that are scaring me.” I thought … how in God’s green earth did she get my CELL number … then I thought … I put my cell number on the newspaper ad. I got a pad and began to write down info from the friend in Florida … putting aside the momentary jubilation of God’s providential hand.

I called this young lady and found that I could give her some aide in finding a job, finding a better solution in getting her glasses prescription filled, and other things. When I got off the phone with her … she seemed to have a little better idea of hope than when we began.

If that wasn’t enough … a guy calls me later … so excited that I barely could understand him. Of course that may have been because I fell asleep with my cell phone on my chest and it nearly gave me a heart attack when it rang. He shared that he and his wife were out near our church building and saw … the sign. They were so excited about getting in contact with me that they called the landlord to get my number. For nearly 20 minutes this Christian brother began to share with me about things that he and his wife were praying about for our community and that they found out that me were about it … oh, and he and his partners are putting in a Crisis teen pregnancy center right next door to our little church building … I will just let you fill in the opportunities here.

I know I am yammering on … but it is fulfilling when God gives you a slap on the backside and says … see, I’m with you.

<< wg

Pictured is our “sign cover” for the existing sign … and our building at 972 W. Walcott in Pilot Point. I know I should have taken pics of the inside … but time got away.

This week has be a test of patience and perserverance. Things are going well for the new little church. I went to the Pilot Point Chamber this week and met a couple of nice people and followed up with an invite to our Business and Network Meeting next Thursday. I got one return email … that’s cool. Being a business man and a pastor has it’s advantages.  It also has it’s disadvantages … we viturally have not had any business the last two weeks. Barely enought to cover payroll. I also had difficulty in contacting with the Angel Food people to get started with them. Fortunately, it all came together at the end of the week … in fact some of us are heading over to Valley View UMC this morning for training … it’s a distribution morning.

I also had some real bad news about friends of ours going through a really hard time in a church staff situation. It nearly broke my heart to hear how they had been treated. All I could do is just be there for them and pray.

Lots of people find it difficult to hear God. Some feel that if things go “good” when trying to find God’s will in a situation then … it must be His will. If it goes the other way … then the Devil gets the blame. Sorry, to bust your bubble … but sometimes God has us go through the fire for a purpose. You can’t just say … good=God’s will … bad=Not. I mean you could … but then you would have to deem everything like that in your life … and we know that trials come to make our faith stronger.

So the question … How do you know?? Ah, my friend … you have to go to scripture for comfort to know that “all things come to good that are called according to purpose.” It’s tough theology … not for the faint and Sunday morning attender. It is for the follower of Christ and the friend of others.

<< wg

Yesterday I didn’t quite get around to telling you what Celebrate Recovery was … senior moments. CR is a 12 step type program that is Christ centered based on 8 principles from the Bible. It is a safe place to talk about your hurts, habits and hang-ups … whatever they might be. Truthfully, we are all recovering from something.  We could go through a whole laundry list here of what we could deal with … like our addictive and compulsive thoughts and behavior patterns such as codependency, pornography, chemical dependency, eating disorders, depression, emotional/physical/sexual abuse, anger and other stuff.

We hope to get our “Journey Chapter” kicked off in September. We will need faithful leaders to help pull this off … so if this is your thing … let me know.

wg … also check out … Journey Church Pilot Point website

Journey Church Pilot Point will be deeply involved in the Celebrate Recovery ministry … along with several other vital avenues of help to people in our community. After pastoring and being a student minister of a number of years I can share with you a great insight into church growth. If you allow believers the opportunity to minister like you would if you took them on a mission trip … all year long … you would develop a strong group of caring leaders. Our tact for starting Journey Church is not wrapped up in the worship service. To some the “worship service” is the Holy Grail of each week. The only problem with that … the majority of people who attend are “at best” somewhere between passive and asleep. The act of worship is the only “group” activity of the day … and that lasts 20 minutes of the two hours you are at “the service”. What are mission trips so sucessful? Because everyone and I mean everyone has a vital role. Whether it is building a room. Painting a wall. Digging a garden or doing a drama in a city park. All of this is service … and it is all worship.

We are starting this church with the principles taught to us in the New Testament of how Jesus found followers. First … he went to them. Second … he met their needs. Third … he invited them to follow. Fourth … he allowed them to do ministry while he watched. Celebrate Recovery, feeding the hungry, community wide worship jams, business networking … all these are avenues that are starting with .. and not adding on later.

I’m not saying that it will be “sucessful” in the numbers and money game … I am counting on it being sucessful for the kingdom’s sake.

wg

Journey Church Pilot Point is a new church. Every new church says that they are different … so, I won’t say it. Really, every church should be different in some ways. Reaching the world for Christ is accomplished through … the church. I have kicked this thing around long enough and I feel that God has kicked me around long enough … for me to learn some important lessons about people and making impact into their lives.

Church planters will read this and ask things like … how long has your core group met and how did you get core group people. And where are you getting your funding? And which portable church stuff are you using? I’m pretty much not doing this by the book. I tried it by the book and I have watched it by the book … and it didn’t work. So, this is uncharted ground for all to see, but it’s not an experiment … it is the real thing. Right now … it’s just Lori and I. We have a vision of a church that is totally servant oriented (not member oriented). Exhibiting the love of Christ to all people at ground zero. I rented a building this week … quite a miraculous deal. I told the building owner I had a vision for a church … I shared it with him. I told him I didn’t have any money or any people. I told him I could pay utilities on the building for two months and then pay half of his rent and then in March pay the full amount. To my utter amazement … he gave me the keys … we shook hands. I got in my truck and drove away.

Now again, for all of you young church planters … this is not the way to do this. Don’t try it unless it is as clear cut from God as from His mouth to your ear. Today I put and ad in the local paper, not for a worship service … but a business networking prayer breakfast … two days later we will start our Angel Food Ministry to help feed the poor in our area. On Sunday September 7 … we will have a meet the pastor day and feed lunch to whoever shows up. Today I am printing flyers to start handing out to the area businesses … door to door. Word of mouth will spread. We may only have a couple of people the first time … but it is an act of obedience. So, I have no doubt that it will catch on and people will see that Journey Church is different. We won’t have a nursery or a slick children’s program the first service … heck, we may never have that … but we will minister to kids and their parents.

I think you can start a church on faith and not have $300,000 in the bank. I think things start with the vision of one man being obedient to a call of God. Lots of guys and the gurus will tell you to pull a core group around for a year … most of the core groups that I know anything about … over 50% quit within the first year of the church’s existence. That’s painful. I would rather just go and do what God has called me to do and let those who have like vision serve along side me.

So here we go. Doing it all wrong. Being a hard headed radical for Jesus.

I will share the ups as well as the downs with you here. Pray that we make it a month.

wg

I don’t think there is anything in my life that I am so conscience of as my integrity. I guess it was my grandfather who was always known to say … “the only thing a man really has is … a good name.” It was my first exposure to a man’s integrity. Experts define integrity as: the virtue of basing actions on an internally-consistent framework of principles. One may describe some one who is said to have integrity to the extent that everything that that person does derives from the same core group of values. While those values may change, their consistency with each other and with the person’s action’s determine (in this view) the person’s degree of integrity. (portions from wikipedia).

In my words … true values equal real actions. Being now in the non-church work force for the past three years and dealing primarily with many, many different Christian type people, I have become repentant of my past actions. These have become apparent to me now being on the non-consistent side of people’s integrity. There are levels of integrity that an individual must come to grips with between themselves, God … and with their fellow man. Take for example the value – truth. The value of truth is taught throughout scripture as a foundation of every believer. With me … being a man of integrity is not just knowing about truth but being truthful. Yes, even if caught in a compromising position of violating another value.

It does bother me to be involved at times with other believers who I know value … truth … and yet their actions are totally based on a lie and deception. Maybe it’s because I struggled so long with integrity in my own life and now it is a reminder of what God is bringing me from. I did say “bringing me” and not brought me. I have not arrived. I struggle with integrity everyday. It is not a question of “what would Jesus do” … but what would I do because of what Jesus did.

I can only tell you … at the end of the day, no matter if you have won or lost. No matter if you made money, saw souls saved, hit a home run, or never got in the game … you can still walk away hopeful … if your integrity is consistently improving.

The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity. proverbs 11:3

>> wg