Today Lifepoint Baptized 16 people
and
1st service, Pastor announced that the church as a whole has committed over 2.4 MILLION!!!
2nd service, Pastor announced that the church as a whole has committed over 2.5 Million!!!
People committed $$$ between first and second service. Isn't that cool??? God is so Good. I can't wait to see what is next.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Part 5
The night of worship and commitment for staff served as some of the beginning steps to Accelerate. Our Pastor has said often "Leaders Go First". So the staff was to lead the way. This was extremely exciting for us, but also very humbling and a little scary.
In my head there is a little soap box (ok it is not soooooo little) from it I constantly scream "LEAD OR GET OUT OF THE WAY!!!" I have major leadership issues. (That sounds worse than I mean it.) I have no problem following a leader or sometimes even being a leader... BUT if you are going to BE a leader then DO IT WELL!!! I guess that is why I said it is exciting, humbling and a little scary. I knew what God was calling the staff to do.
A week later the "Leadership" of the church (about 100 people) were brought together for a night of worship and commitment. Same concept as before just on a larger scale. The staff had been asked to "Go first" and now the Leadership was being asked to "Go First".
The night was full of stories, music, and our Pastor reading Joshua 3:14-17.
We were all asked to step out into the Jordan and have faith that the waters would part. We were asked to carry the Ark and lead the way. What an amazing night!!!
It ended with the church leadership laying there commitments on an alter.
The goal in all of this has been about changing hearts and growing faith. We don't have a specific building we want to buy, land we want to build on, big box we want to build out, we simply want to be obedient.
Of course there is also a dollar dream ;-) and We set our sights high! The goal is 1.5 million. There are skeptics.... they say:"Too high", "Your church is too young", "They'll never commit to that".
On November 3rd the leadership was asked to step out and trust that God would part the water. And on November 3rd......He did. The leadership committed close to 1.6 million dollars!! Re-read what the original goal was...1.5 million for the entire church. That was the dream and now God had blown that out of the water. The rest of the church hadn't yet had the opportunity to step out and God had already given us more than we asked.
November 15th was set as the day that Lifepoint could either step out or step off. They could either step out on the dry land or step off the cliff of faithlessness. The total has not been announced...that is this upcoming Sunday and I can't wait until this Sunday to see the fruits of the faithful. God is so good!!!!
Stay tuned for part 6 "The Grand Total"
In my head there is a little soap box (ok it is not soooooo little) from it I constantly scream "LEAD OR GET OUT OF THE WAY!!!" I have major leadership issues. (That sounds worse than I mean it.) I have no problem following a leader or sometimes even being a leader... BUT if you are going to BE a leader then DO IT WELL!!! I guess that is why I said it is exciting, humbling and a little scary. I knew what God was calling the staff to do.
A week later the "Leadership" of the church (about 100 people) were brought together for a night of worship and commitment. Same concept as before just on a larger scale. The staff had been asked to "Go first" and now the Leadership was being asked to "Go First".
The night was full of stories, music, and our Pastor reading Joshua 3:14-17.
We were all asked to step out into the Jordan and have faith that the waters would part. We were asked to carry the Ark and lead the way. What an amazing night!!!
It ended with the church leadership laying there commitments on an alter.
The goal in all of this has been about changing hearts and growing faith. We don't have a specific building we want to buy, land we want to build on, big box we want to build out, we simply want to be obedient.
Of course there is also a dollar dream ;-) and We set our sights high! The goal is 1.5 million. There are skeptics.... they say:"Too high", "Your church is too young", "They'll never commit to that".
On November 3rd the leadership was asked to step out and trust that God would part the water. And on November 3rd......He did. The leadership committed close to 1.6 million dollars!! Re-read what the original goal was...1.5 million for the entire church. That was the dream and now God had blown that out of the water. The rest of the church hadn't yet had the opportunity to step out and God had already given us more than we asked.
November 15th was set as the day that Lifepoint could either step out or step off. They could either step out on the dry land or step off the cliff of faithlessness. The total has not been announced...that is this upcoming Sunday and I can't wait until this Sunday to see the fruits of the faithful. God is so good!!!!
Stay tuned for part 6 "The Grand Total"
Monday, November 16, 2009
New Journey- 4
Ok so my "more tomorrow" actually meant three days :-)
The story continues.....
After my phone call from the corporate headquarters we completed our vacation and went home. We had alot on our plate when we got back. The BIGGEST was a new project the church was beginning called Accelerate. (Go read about it all so I don't have to type it all :-)
The short version... The Accelerate project is a brief moment in the history of Lifepoint that will change its future forever. God has called Lifepoint to reach this region. We believe that through this project God will accelerate our impact on this community by putting us in a position to at last find a permanent facility. Through Accelerate, God will stretch us, grow us, and move us to a new level of faith and anticipation! (copied from the website)
When we came home from vacation, the first step (for us) in this project was a staff commitment night. This was a time with all of the staff and spouses got together for dinner, a time of worship, and a time of commitment. Deciding on what our financial commitment to this project was NOT easy.
We already live paycheck to paycheck (barely/hardly) and I just lost my job. Steven and I had talked.....and talked....and talked. We looked at our budget. And then talked some more. We prayed. And then talked some more. We just couldn't see the "how" in giving more than our tithe. After alot more talking and praying we finally came up with an amount.
A couple of days later we had our Staff Night. We had an amazing time of worship that ended with us giving financially..... what only God could provide.
The next day....
I got a voice mail from my old store manager asking if we could talk. Let me be very transparent for a moment....... I figured that the corporate office had called him and told him he needed to call and apologize to me. But ... I never expected what I got.
I got a long heart felt conversation and a sincere apology. I hate writing that because it leads one to believe that I DIDN'T expect "a long heart felt conversation and sincere apology". But truth is I didn't expect anything. In the end.................. He offered me my job back and I accepted.
As I look back over this part of the story I am amazed. God moved a mountain!
I kind of feel like my life is a snow globe. (imagine for a minute) There was this pretty little scene ** A nice little job. A nice way to give to the project. Easy.
THEN God shook it! **I couldn't see clearly. I didn't know what we would do to make ends meet. And I Really didn't know what to do to be able to give to the project. But we stepped out and trusted.
Even though we couldn't see the scene clearly..... we knew who held the globe. And as soon as we said, "We trust you.... even though we can't understand it all and it looks like a big mess.....we trust you God." Then as quickly as He shook it....It all begins to settle and there is a new scene. One that is covered with Christ and a Faith that has been transformed.
Will God shake our globe again?
-I am sure of it
Will it be easy?
-Nope
Do I hope for it?
-Absolutely!
Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
Part 5 tomorrow :-)
The story continues.....
After my phone call from the corporate headquarters we completed our vacation and went home. We had alot on our plate when we got back. The BIGGEST was a new project the church was beginning called Accelerate. (Go read about it all so I don't have to type it all :-)
The short version... The Accelerate project is a brief moment in the history of Lifepoint that will change its future forever. God has called Lifepoint to reach this region. We believe that through this project God will accelerate our impact on this community by putting us in a position to at last find a permanent facility. Through Accelerate, God will stretch us, grow us, and move us to a new level of faith and anticipation! (copied from the website)
When we came home from vacation, the first step (for us) in this project was a staff commitment night. This was a time with all of the staff and spouses got together for dinner, a time of worship, and a time of commitment. Deciding on what our financial commitment to this project was NOT easy.
We already live paycheck to paycheck (barely/hardly) and I just lost my job. Steven and I had talked.....and talked....and talked. We looked at our budget. And then talked some more. We prayed. And then talked some more. We just couldn't see the "how" in giving more than our tithe. After alot more talking and praying we finally came up with an amount.
A couple of days later we had our Staff Night. We had an amazing time of worship that ended with us giving financially..... what only God could provide.
The next day....
I got a voice mail from my old store manager asking if we could talk. Let me be very transparent for a moment....... I figured that the corporate office had called him and told him he needed to call and apologize to me. But ... I never expected what I got.
I got a long heart felt conversation and a sincere apology. I hate writing that because it leads one to believe that I DIDN'T expect "a long heart felt conversation and sincere apology". But truth is I didn't expect anything. In the end.................. He offered me my job back and I accepted.
As I look back over this part of the story I am amazed. God moved a mountain!
I kind of feel like my life is a snow globe. (imagine for a minute) There was this pretty little scene ** A nice little job. A nice way to give to the project. Easy.
THEN God shook it! **I couldn't see clearly. I didn't know what we would do to make ends meet. And I Really didn't know what to do to be able to give to the project. But we stepped out and trusted.
Even though we couldn't see the scene clearly..... we knew who held the globe. And as soon as we said, "We trust you.... even though we can't understand it all and it looks like a big mess.....we trust you God." Then as quickly as He shook it....It all begins to settle and there is a new scene. One that is covered with Christ and a Faith that has been transformed.
Will God shake our globe again?
-I am sure of it
Will it be easy?
-Nope
Do I hope for it?
-Absolutely!
Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
Part 5 tomorrow :-)
Friday, November 13, 2009
A New Journey -3
Continues.....
After I left on the Monday I did nothing. I simply went home with my emotions and moved on with my week. The week included alot of business for the funeral of our friend's sister, but other than that....nothing abnormal. At some point during the week as I thought everything out I made a decision to write a letter to the headquarters of my job. With great wisdom, my Hubby told me to sleep on it.....for a WEEK. :-) He normally tells me to sleep on things, because he knows that I am a reactionary person. I ended up sending it to 3 people in the company in the early part of the next week. All three people, were people that would hopefully read the letter and hear my heart. The letter talked about the story that had happened and it spoke of the true meaning of ministry, what that means to me, and ultimately what that should mean to them.
Then my family left to go on vacation. We went to see my mom and step-dad in Tn, my brother and his family in Ga., and then some dear friends of our in Ky. It was a much needed break from all of the chaos of the previous weeks.
In the latter part of the trip I got a call from the corporate offices in Nashville. They received my letter!!
I talked for over an hour about my side of the story and how I felt about it all. When the conversation was over, I felt like my goal was accomplished. I never wanted anything bad, or wanted my job back, I just wanted to be heard and understood.
more tomorrow on what God did next......I will leave you with some pictures from our trip.
After I left on the Monday I did nothing. I simply went home with my emotions and moved on with my week. The week included alot of business for the funeral of our friend's sister, but other than that....nothing abnormal. At some point during the week as I thought everything out I made a decision to write a letter to the headquarters of my job. With great wisdom, my Hubby told me to sleep on it.....for a WEEK. :-) He normally tells me to sleep on things, because he knows that I am a reactionary person. I ended up sending it to 3 people in the company in the early part of the next week. All three people, were people that would hopefully read the letter and hear my heart. The letter talked about the story that had happened and it spoke of the true meaning of ministry, what that means to me, and ultimately what that should mean to them.
Then my family left to go on vacation. We went to see my mom and step-dad in Tn, my brother and his family in Ga., and then some dear friends of our in Ky. It was a much needed break from all of the chaos of the previous weeks.
In the latter part of the trip I got a call from the corporate offices in Nashville. They received my letter!!
I talked for over an hour about my side of the story and how I felt about it all. When the conversation was over, I felt like my goal was accomplished. I never wanted anything bad, or wanted my job back, I just wanted to be heard and understood.
more tomorrow on what God did next......I will leave you with some pictures from our trip.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
A New Journey -2
Story continues.......
I didn't know that while I was helping our friend through the loss of her sister, that a storm was brewing. (figuratively of course) On that Friday I was supposed to work in the evening. I had called my assistant manager and talked to her about finding coverage so that I could be with our friend. She stepped in and came to my rescue in huge way by quickly letting me know that she would take care of it all.
I have worked retail off and on for almost 15 years. (I can't believe how old that makes me sound)I have worked for tons of managers, assistant managers, district managers etc. and I can count on one hand the number of times I have had someone do, what she did, for me. I was amazed and so grateful. She later told me, "I wanted to minister to you so that you could minister to your friend."
I went on with my day doing what ever we needed to help this family with their loss. Once I came home, I discovered that things had blown up at my job. My assistant manager explained the situation to my store manager and.....let's just say he didn't take it the same way she did :-( He was pretty upset with the overtime that I was going to cost the store and with my lack of fulfilling my obligations.
I was told that the afternoon also included a nasty conversation between my Hubby and the store manager. My hubby called the store to explain all that I was going through with this family. He also explained my responsibility and duty to the ministry life we live.
When I finally came home I heard the whole story. WOW!!!! I couldn't believe that something that seemed like it was going so good, could turn out so bad. I wasn't sure how to respond. At the core I felt like I was being told (by my job) that I should have chosen them over ministry.
That Monday morning I went to the store to talk about all that had happened that weekend. I prayed alot before I went in to meet with him. I prayed that God would control my emotions and my reactions. I prayed for peace and wisdom over my words. **Side note** I don't have many PASSIONS in my life. But the few I do have are VERY important to me. If you step on them or challenge them I have a tendency to react.....loudly! :-)***** That being said, I know my self. And I am very passionate about the ministry life that we have been called to. I call it an honor and I do not take it lightly. So I needed to pray peace over my reactions :-)
I told my manager when I went into the meeting, that I had written my 2 week notice. I explained that I needed to do that , so I could be completely honest with my feelings. In the end if he needed to accept my 2 week notice, then fine. If we could work past it all, then great! But if I knew that He could fire me because of what I said....then I knew I couldn't tell him completely how I felt. I needed to be able to "empty the bucket".
I went on to tell him all of how I felt that weekend. God definitely had his hand on me. I said everything I needed to say with completely control. I never raised my voice and I did "emptied the bucket".
BUT.....
I struck a nerve with some of the things that I said. The conversation ended with my notice left on the table.
As I left the store that day, I realized how much I liked my job (I had known how much I needed my job). But, I knew I had done the right thing. I knew that ministry was supposed to come first that day. I knew that I needed to go talk to my store manager and tell him completely how I felt. And all I could do was trust that God would honor my choices.
more tomorrow!
ps. I have thought long and hard about telling this part of the story. Knowing that people in or around the store could and would read it. But I want you to see the full picture of what God has done and if you don't understand the "valleys" you can appreciate the "mountains".
**Spoiler Alert**
I end up back at my job :-)
I didn't know that while I was helping our friend through the loss of her sister, that a storm was brewing. (figuratively of course) On that Friday I was supposed to work in the evening. I had called my assistant manager and talked to her about finding coverage so that I could be with our friend. She stepped in and came to my rescue in huge way by quickly letting me know that she would take care of it all.
I have worked retail off and on for almost 15 years. (I can't believe how old that makes me sound)I have worked for tons of managers, assistant managers, district managers etc. and I can count on one hand the number of times I have had someone do, what she did, for me. I was amazed and so grateful. She later told me, "I wanted to minister to you so that you could minister to your friend."
I went on with my day doing what ever we needed to help this family with their loss. Once I came home, I discovered that things had blown up at my job. My assistant manager explained the situation to my store manager and.....let's just say he didn't take it the same way she did :-( He was pretty upset with the overtime that I was going to cost the store and with my lack of fulfilling my obligations.
I was told that the afternoon also included a nasty conversation between my Hubby and the store manager. My hubby called the store to explain all that I was going through with this family. He also explained my responsibility and duty to the ministry life we live.
When I finally came home I heard the whole story. WOW!!!! I couldn't believe that something that seemed like it was going so good, could turn out so bad. I wasn't sure how to respond. At the core I felt like I was being told (by my job) that I should have chosen them over ministry.
That Monday morning I went to the store to talk about all that had happened that weekend. I prayed alot before I went in to meet with him. I prayed that God would control my emotions and my reactions. I prayed for peace and wisdom over my words. **Side note** I don't have many PASSIONS in my life. But the few I do have are VERY important to me. If you step on them or challenge them I have a tendency to react.....loudly! :-)***** That being said, I know my self. And I am very passionate about the ministry life that we have been called to. I call it an honor and I do not take it lightly. So I needed to pray peace over my reactions :-)
I told my manager when I went into the meeting, that I had written my 2 week notice. I explained that I needed to do that , so I could be completely honest with my feelings. In the end if he needed to accept my 2 week notice, then fine. If we could work past it all, then great! But if I knew that He could fire me because of what I said....then I knew I couldn't tell him completely how I felt. I needed to be able to "empty the bucket".
I went on to tell him all of how I felt that weekend. God definitely had his hand on me. I said everything I needed to say with completely control. I never raised my voice and I did "emptied the bucket".
BUT.....
I struck a nerve with some of the things that I said. The conversation ended with my notice left on the table.
As I left the store that day, I realized how much I liked my job (I had known how much I needed my job). But, I knew I had done the right thing. I knew that ministry was supposed to come first that day. I knew that I needed to go talk to my store manager and tell him completely how I felt. And all I could do was trust that God would honor my choices.
more tomorrow!
ps. I have thought long and hard about telling this part of the story. Knowing that people in or around the store could and would read it. But I want you to see the full picture of what God has done and if you don't understand the "valleys" you can appreciate the "mountains".
**Spoiler Alert**
I end up back at my job :-)
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