Momentum

Faith Church Profile

There is a woman in Faith Church-Valpo who has the coolest name.  Her name is Nita and she married Mike 29 years ago.  They have two wonderful boys, Michael and Daniel.  Their family has been part of Faith Church for about eight years.  By the way, Mike's last name is Blessing, so his wife's name is Nita Blessing.    Everyone who knows Nita has experienced the truth of her name.  If you need a blessing, you will get one when you are with her.  She would never say that, because she doesn't seek the attention and would rather humbly carry on serving God as she does so well.  Nita has been one of the lead volunteers for the "Extreme Makeover" of our Valpo site.  Of course, there were many more that some of us know served, and ultimately God knows their service to Him.  Now, receive the blessing of getting to Know Nita Blessing.

1.    Where did you grow up?  Shelbyville, In  My mom still lives in the house I grew up in  and some of my dearest friends are still there.

2.    When did you meet Mike?  1977...We met at Purdue and married on campus 3 years later!

3.    How did you end up at Faith Church? Our friends Norm and Kay Brucer invited us to a Sunday worship service in South Holland.

4.    When did you connect with Jesus?  At a very young age, my mom was always good about attending church.  I have to say I have really reconnected in the last 12 years with my husband Mike....we have a long story!

5.    When you heard Faith Church was coming to Valpo, what was your reaction?  No more hour drive to church!!!

6.    What motivated you to give so much for God’s church?  I have been blessed in so many ways that I felt it was one way to say "Thank You" to the Lord.

7.    What blessings have you received? My biggest blessing is knowing that Pastor Bob has been praying for me.  Thanks!

8.    What is your favorite thing to do to relax? Gardening.

9.    Your secret calorie-filled splurge food?  Dairy Queen...our neighbors across the street own 3 of them.

10.  Can’t-miss TV show?  Divine Design...When we were working on the church we joked that we should  submit a Church Makeover in 30 days or less.

11.  What do you want Faith Church Valpo to be like in two years? A comfortable, safe, and rewarding "home" to as many as we can reach.  Remember, we have plenty of grounds to expand on!

12.  What is the greatest blessing of being part of Faith Church?  The honor and privalege to serve in Faith-Valpo, Dyer, or anywhere I'm asked. Thank you for entrusting your faith in me to help make our new multi-site a Faith Church we can all call home!

13.  Dream vacation? I'd start out on a warm beach in Florida, then head to the San Juan Islands to sail for awhile and finally head to Europe and see some more of God's Green Earth!

Growth Spurt

Last weekend I preached Part 2 of our 3-week annual vision series.  Week 1 was “Reach.”  I spoke from I Corinthians 3:4-9 and talked about planting seeds and that Jesus Christ is the Seed.  Week 2 was “Grow.”  Again I spoke from I Corinthians 3:4-9 about how God grows us up…how our natural self collides with a supernatural God, and that produces growth.  Here’s the dilemma I faced:  while I was preaching at the Saturday night service, I had four ways through which God collides with us for growth.  When I looked at the clock after the second “way”, I had to skip the next two.  So I decided to share them via this blog post.

 

Four Growth Spurts

1.     Through prayer – James 5:16

2.     Through the Word of God – Psalm 1:2

3.     Through giving

4.     Through serving

 

I do believe that when we give of our time, talent and treasure in Christ there is a supernatural collision that happens in us.  God will take our faith and His power, and turn a widow’s mite into heavenly treasures.  I believe when a Christian serves, there is a collision between a supernatural God and natural human beings.  My best example is the orphanage in Honduras.  Whenever I have gone to serve there, something happens in me.  I feel more like Jesus, I become more focused on the kingdom than this world, and I feel closer to the Word of God. 

 

So there you have it – the four connects that God uses for growth spurts.  Grow for it!

Monday Morning Musings

It’s Monday, my day of rest, but for the rest of you it’s back to work or study.  Rest is good.  Rest is biblical.  But how do we find rest?  Read this quote from John Calvin’s commentary on Isaiah 28:12:

 

            Rest and the Word of God

“When he shows that this rest is prepared for the weary who groan under the burden, let us at least be taught by the distresses which harass us to turn to the word of God, that we may obtain peace.  We shall thus find that the word of God is undoubtedly fitted to soothe our uneasy feelings and to give peace to our perplexed and trembling consciences.  All who seek “rest” in any other way, and run beyond the limits of the word, must always be subjected to torture or wretched uncertainty, because they attempt to be wise and happy without God.”

-       John Calvin, “A Calvin Reader: Reflections on Living”

 

Take the time to rest.  Remember that God’s word can bring rest to our weary souls.  It’s God’s water sent from Heaven to nourish our parched souls.

Nice Shot

Tuesday morning I was sitting at hole #8 at Balmoral Woods Golf Club.  I never left that hole.  I was the "Beat the Pastor" competition for the Faith Church Christian Aid Golf Classic.  I had so much fun.  The Apostle Paul was beat for the gospel, now I can say I was too!  About 25 of the 75 golfers beat me at this hole, so my ego is now in place.

The really cool news is that over $12,000 was raised for our Christian Aid ministry, which assists people from within Faith Church who are in desperate need.  Nice shot, Faith Church - you hit a hole in one!

Big Night/Big Life

Monday night I was asked to open with prayer at an event at our church for Big Life.  To be honest, I first had low-level excitement because I was suffering from "Sunday hangover."  When I arrived, the first surprise was bumping into Homer Drew and his son Bryce.  Home is the head basketball coach at Valparaiso University and his son is assistant coach.  I've been a basketball player and fan my whole life, and to meet them was such a treat.  They were kind and gracious and, best of all, believers! 

The next treat was to meet Mike Huckabee, former pastor, former Governor, former candidate for President, and currently host of his own TV talk show on Fox News. 

The final treat was to learn about such a powerful ministry as Big Life.  Big Life is a Christian ministry whose sole purpose is to reach people for Christ in parts of the world where the main religion is either Hindu, Islam or Buddhism. 

You can imagine that by the end of the evening I had high-level excitement.  If you will, I challenge you to pause when you finish reading this and offer a prayer for Big Life.  Thanks.

Hope Is Coming!

Last year, close to 1500 men and women joined a Mini-Church and experienced “40 Days of Purpose”. It was remarkable to see countless lives being changed and incredible friendships being formed. This fall, because of the overwhelming success of “40 Days of Purpose”, Faith Church will again do a 5 week church-wide Mini-Church series.   

You don’t want to miss out!  We believe that maturity and wholeness in Jesus is found in Mini-Churches.  So, if you want to grow, plan on joining a Mini-Church for this year’s  series: HOPE. 

If you are interested in Hosting a Mini-Church please come to a mandatory training on either Wednesday, Sept. 16 from 6-8 pm or Saturday, Sept. 20 from 9-11 am . Sign-up for Host training online under the Mini-Church link.

Check out the Hope Series Blog.

Seedology

I joked with Faith Church this weekend that I made up a new word: seedology.  The point is, we do need to know all about the supernatural seed of the gospel.  Jesus Christ is The Seed (Galatians 3:16).

The really good news is that about 20 people stood up to receive the seed of Jesus Christ and salvation at our weekend services.  Think about how cool that is: 20 people who were lost, facing this life and the next without God's mercy, forgiveness and hope are now children of God forever.  Seedology.

There were about 100 more who stood up to be "re-seeded" or "fertilized" after experiencing a drought in their relationship with God.  Seedology.

Then the call was for those who would commit to seed planting.  That would entail a verbal witness about Jesus to family, friends or coworkers; or be willing to invite people to church, what I call the power of the invite.  My rough guesstimate would be 75% of all people at all three campuses stood up.  Now, that's cool!  Here's what I'm thinking about (seed thoughts): we may need to address space issues quickly again?  We may need to have more multi-sites, sooner?  We will need more campus pastors, elders, deacons, volunteers, coffee, etc.  Good problems to have!

What remains is for us to fulfill what we stood up for this weekend.  To offer seeds of witness, prayer, giving, serving, loving and planting for the glory of God!

Buzz

There's a buzz around Faith Church this week.  There's a heightened sense of anticipation.  There's a sense of urgency, getting details finalized and ready.  The buzz is about our Grand Opening weekend:

• Valparaiso will have its official grand opening service at 9:30 am Sunday.
• Cedar Lake has a time and location change: 10:00 am Sunday in the Performing Arts Center at Hanover Central High School.
• Dyer's new Sunday service times will be 9 and 11 am; Saturday night remains at 6 pm.

We have prayed, prepared, changed, taken away, added, rearranged, and much more.  There are only two things left to be done:

1. Faith Church people - invite people with you; and
2. God - open up hearts and change them.

See you at the Grand Opening!

Prayer Musings

I started reading a book over the Labor Day weekend called On Prayer by John Calvin.  I was surprised by two things right off the bat: first, that my professor from seminary, I. John Hesselink, wrote the introduction; and second, that the rest of the book was made up of Calvin’s writings on prayer.  That being said, that means I’ve already read a lot of it.  However, the book has been inspiring to me thus far.  I would like to share a few insights for you to ponder.

 

1.     That Jesus Christ is the Mediator and Intercessor of our prayers.  Here are a few powerful quotes:

a.     “God can listen to no prayers without the intercession of Christ.”

b.    “No prayer is pleasing to God unless the Mediator, Christ, sanctifies it.”

c.     Let us learn to wash our prayers with the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, for otherwise they shall be but profane and defiled.”

2.     That without the Holy Spirit’s aid we would not pray.  “To pray rightly is a rare gift.  Therefore, we need the guidance of the Spirit.”

3.     That we need help to even start to pray.  “When the faithful feel cold and sluggish or somewhat indisposed to pray, they should forthwith flee to God and demand that they are inflamed with the fiery darts of His Spirit, so as to be rendered fit for prayer.”

 

Here’s the weird part.  On Monday I read 40+ pages of this book which I was pumped up about, only to wake up Tuesday and have little desire to pray.  I applied Calvin’s thoughts and cried out to God, “Shoot the darts!  I’m the target!”  God hit a bullseye on this sluggish soul.  Pray on, my friends.

College Bound

This past Wednesday at 5:00 am, Laurie, Grant and I left for Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan for the beginning of Grant's freshman year.  This is our third experience as parents dropping off a child at college.  There are many things I felt, thought and experienced that day.  See if you would add any to my list.

1. It was a deja vu experience.  It brought back memories and emotions of 29 years ago at Northwestern when my parents dropped me off.
2. It is an easier dropoff when your son's roommate is his best friend from birth.
3. Boys are easier than girls.  All they cared about in the room was placement of posters.  They didn't mind at all that their moms were arranging their boxers and socks.
4. Reality still hits you.  Even though it was kid #3 dropoff, it still shocks you internally that your work as parents as major influencers is coming to a close.  You trust and pray that your Christian, biblical, Reformed, evangelical modeling will take root for the long haul.
5. Certain colleges are way better than others at the freshman dropoff.  I will not say which one of the three colleges did it best.
6. Dorm rooms today are way better than back in the day.  I had community bathrooms and showers at the end of the hall.  That's cruel.  Grant and Justin have their own bathroom and shower.
7. Christian college tuition is amazingly high.  We will pay part, but Grant will take the brunt of it.  The debt concerns me.  I will trust God for this.
8. I prayed hard all day that Grant, Justin and all these freshmen don't screw up these next four years. By God's grace and my choices to obey, I was able to come through college spiritually, emotionally, relationally, socially and academically stronger than when I entered.  I have college friends who still have guilt, pain and dysfunction from habits they began in college.
9. Friends will make or break the college experience.  I challenged Grant to meet a bunch of new people.  Experience people of different backgrounds, ethnicities, socio-economic levels, political leanings, etc.  It was at college that I met my first Democrat.  I grew up thinking it was impossible to be born again and be a Democrat.  I am still not one, but it was at college where one of my best friends taught me so much from his world view, which was different from mine.
10. Dealing with insecurity needs to be addressed in college students.  I observed freshmen that were wrestling with insecurities.  They were trying to be accepted, trying to impress, and trying too hard.  I remember my own desire to camouflage my insecurities.  They need to be owned and appropriately addressed, lest we stumble into sin.
11. College must be fun or it will not be that great.  I am a believer in studying (not crazy, not too much).  I am an advocate of higher learning, but having fun is very significant.  My college years were humorous, prank-filled, adventurous, and exceedingly fun.  College kids don't have to forsake having fun.
12. College should be spiritual.  Whether a Christian college or big state university, I pray every student grows spiritually.  That they own their own faith, practice it, worship, and take advantage of Bible study, chapel, Intervarsity, Campus Crusades, retreats, mission trips and a local church. 
13. I have heightened prayers for Grant and Justin at Calvin, Caitlin at Bethel, and all the college kids from our church.  Please join me in prayer for all of them.

Did I miss any thoughts or experiences you've had?