BIG Money

Last night at our prayer meeting I found out that there is a group of ladies who are specifically praying for God to give us 9 million dollars for the next stage of ministry here in Four Corners.   I was amazed at the specificity of the prayer and its simplicity.    I remember the days of the $25,000 pyramid, and Wheel of Fortune's cry of "Big Money Big Money!"   One's idea of big money I guess changes with time and now I can clearly see God blessing our church with $9,000,000 and not blinking an eye.  As I was driving earlier this morning I began thinking about the faith of those ladies, and pondered where and more specifically how God will answer that prayer.  I truly believe that money does not grow on trees, but that God uses people to finance His work in our community.

What is amazing is that while we were not watching, God has already begun to answer that prayer.  to date, God's people have given almost $950,000 to this community through Cornerstone Baptist Church.  By January, that number will top 1 million dollars of ministry invested into this community!  I think that is stinkin awesome!!!  It is amazing to just pause and reflect on the goodness of God, and the faithfulness of His people.  Meeting in rented facilities, it may appear to some that Cornerstone is some minor player in church world, but if the last 6 years are any indication, the people of Cornerstone believe in giving of themselves for not only changing our community, but the world.  By the way,  every investor will tell you, the first million is the most difficult.  May we all stay faithful in our giving and in the use of those funds for the effective spread of the gospel around the world.

Seriously Funny

Again John Bogenschutz makes a great point about how easy it can be for people to misunderstand and misapply His commands.  Thankfully, God has given us His Word.  The Bible not only provides us with many great examples, but it also lays out a clear set of commands that we can follow.    Mark Twain rightly said "it is not the parts of the Bible that I don't understand that scare me,  it is the parts of the Bible I do understand that does."  There may be much of the Bible that we struggle to understand, but in the end, it is very clear and when we begin by faith to follow what we do know, God reveals the difficult passages to us as well.  

Matt Staver Interview - Part One

One of my pastor friends, Greg Peters from Parkview Baptist Church in Palm Coast Recently interviewed Matt Staver, the author of Amendment 2, to show in his church. I hope you find this informative.

Matt Staver Interview - Part Two

One of my pastor friends, Greg Peters from Parkview Baptist Church in Palm Coast Recently interviewed Matt Staver, the author of Amendment 2, to show in his church. I hope you find this informative.

Seriously Funny

Life is full of surprises, however many times there has been some level of warning that we have or have not thought worthy of our attention.  Here are some areas that we often ignore until the tidal wave comes....

1. Our personal life - this may be in our eating habits or other health issues that we pretend is not there.

2. Our finances - borrow, borrow, spend, spend, until the bills come.

3. Our Spiritual life - We put off accepting Christ, or living for Him, until one day when we will wish we'd all been ready.

4. Our Family Life - Neglected spouses leave, ignored kids move away, and the cat's in the cradle...

SO.... Here is your tidal wave drill!  And don't you dare hide under your desk!

Online Meeting Place

One of the things that fascinate me about today's church culture is that we are able to be so much closer to one another than generations past.  For instance, On Tuesday night I watched the Rays Baseball game with my brother and this morning I spoke to my aunt.  On the surface, that is nothing astounding.  However, I watched that game on my couch in FL and my brother was in Raleigh.  This morning I was cooking breakfast in FL and my Aunt was cooking supper in Cambodia.  Never before has the body of Christ had so much opportunity to be  in community with people who are not in our immediate community.

This week I built a facebook group for Cornerstone that will I hope be a place where we can connect with our mission pastors overseas, as well as many of the vacation home owners, and snowbirds that regularly visit from around the world.  I believe that this is an opportunity for our church to build life together in a way that does not require us to be in proximity in order to build one another up.  I want to encourage all who attend as well as all who love and care for our church to join this group and take a moment to give a brief paragraph of how you came to Christ.

From time to time we will post pictures of events, carry on conversations, and we may even plan an online Bible Study using this format in the future.  The Bible tells us to consider one another, how to stir one another up to love and good works.  This site will give us one more opportunity to be an encouragement, why don't you join the conversation.

Skoobalon

I ran across this great toy called Wordle.net that takes a document and summarizes it in a beautiful word cloud.  I plugged in my notes from this past weekend's message and voi'la! If you were at church remember and enjoy.  If, you were not there, here is what you missed.  Click on the cloud to go to wordle.net

Seriously Funny

My good friend John Bogenschutz is one of the most creative people in our church.  He is not only a good neighbor, but a great dad and has a daily comic strip that I truly enjoy.  In what I hope to be a series, John has given me permission to reprint some of his work on the blog.  I hope to take his humor and use it as an illustration of a practical thought for Fridays.  Enjoy! Think! Apply!

  :-) I think we have all been managed like this at one time or another.  Due to regulations and policies, good work is traded for mediocre. All of us have a tendency to micromanage people around us.
  This cartoon helps me to remember that God builds the church.  It is not my job as a pastor to complain about what I don't have, but to see the talent that God has placed around us, and let His people do His work.  I pray that Cornerstone is a place where people use their gifts, time and abilities to elevate Christ in Four Corners.  In the  end, the outcome will be so much better than what is probably chiseled on my pre-historic clipboard.

How Moving!

In the next 90 days Cornerstone will be moving from the Elementary Lunch Room, over to the Middle School. Community of Faith is completing their building and we are hoping to be moving in perhaps even before Christmas.

This move will be one of the biggest opportunities in the life of our young church. As you know, the 10:45 worship service has been pretty full and the ability to bring the whole church together ounder one roof has been impossible for some time. The new worship space will provide us with much more room to grow and expand while also allowing us to expand many of our current ministries.

There is no doubt that this move will present a number of challenges including additional set up and higher rent, but we know that hte benefits will outweigh the costs by far.

Here are some things to begin praying about. 1. Pray that God will allow us to be good stewards of the finances that he provides so that we can adequately absorb the cost of the larger space. 2. If you are not already involved in set up and tear down, come and join us either on Saturdays at 4:30 or on Sundays after the 10:45 service. 3. This move will allow us to take a great leap forward in our children's church. Be part of the team. 4. We will be raising funds this Christmas to make improvements to the way we turn the lunchroom into a sanctuary. (The Tabernacle Project Phase 2).

I am so excited for the opportunity that God has given us to meet at Four Corners. It is such a blessing to be able to minister right there in the heart of the community and I look forward to seeing what God is going to do through this new and improved worship setting.

How to Give During an Economic Downturn

There is little doubt that people world round are suffering financially. I have talked with pastors all across the nation who have seen quite an impact on offerings, and on Tuesday, our staff sat down and cut a large chunk out of our budget as well.  Income is down, so naturally tithing will be down. 10% of less is obviously less.  Also, those who give to God out of their abundance is also going to be down.  We as a church know that for the foreseeable future, we will have less income with which to do ministry.  Now here is the good news.  God is not limited by budget constraints. So as a church we refuse to pull back from ministry.  We must do more with less and God is able to make that happen.  Individually, giving will require more faith.  Bottom line, faith is only necessary when things are bad.  I want to encourage everyone to remain faithful in your giving no matter what the economy does.  Giving comes in two varieties.  1. Our tithes - this is the standard amount that the Bible gives as an example of regular giving. As far as I am concerned this is a no brainer.  Failing to give back to God, this portion is something you should not do.  God can do more with 90% than you can do with 100%.  Be faithful.  2. Offerings.  Offerings are our way of showing God that we love him and that we are putting him first in our lives.  At Cornerstone, many give extra every week towards our land fund or towards differing missions projects.  Giving above and beyond takes a real step of faith, and the Bible is full of people who gave out of their poverty and God truly blessed it.  As a church we are exited about the economic downturn.  Churches exist to teach people to trust in God, and not to put their trust in the things of this world. It is our prayer that during these economically tough times that believers will increase their faith by continuing to give and that unbelievers will come to trust in God, rather than in the volatile markets.