The Present/Future of Four Corners

Last night the Four Corners Area Council met to discuss the future of our area. Here is the Orlando Sentinel article.

Jonathan Who?

I love being on the front lines of ministry. Since Cornerstone began just over 5 years ago we have seen God do some remarkable transformations in the life of ordinary people in our community. Last night at our prayer meeting a lady came up to me and announced that she will be on vacation from work on October 14th and will be able to come and see me preach. I went through my calendar in my head and told her that I was going to talk about Jonathan and his armor bearer taking on the Philistines. That God is not limited to save by many or by few. Then she told me that she had never heard of this "Jonathan" and was looking forward to coming. Blown Away! As a pastor's kid who was in church 9 months before I was even born it is often astounding to me how much I take for granted the things that I learned in church as a child. I also think that many "established" churches underestimate the benefits that they enjoy after years of ministry. I am humbled to help this lady know more about her wonderful Savior and begin to grow in her walk with God, and I will always put the lambs before the sheep.

So much to celebrate

We have so much to be thankful for at Cornerstone. God has truly blessed our church over the past few years but right now it seems that we are hitting the summit of a large mountain on our journey, and though we know there are more mountains ahead it is just great to stop and enjoy the view. We are experiencing the best September ever at Cornerstone with great attendance the last two weeks and again we were talking in staff meeting about how to create more space. Also, we have seen three families join and two baptized in the last few weeks as well as numerous newcomers to our church. On top of that the worship services have been out of this world and makes me wonder why we kept the blend for so long. For instance, in both services this past Sunday, there was an amazing spirit. Spontaneous standing and clapping in the middle of the contemporary worship service, and plenty of tears and a standing ovation for God in the early service. It just goes to say that no matter the style, people need to be free to get into worship of God without the distractions of songs they don't like or know. It has also been fun to watch the reaction of other churches to our starting a classic service. I received a call from a pastor who after talking to us began a classic service and is loving it too. I also came across this article of another church who began a service called traditions. Maybe it is a coming trend. The most credit for our continued growth is the amazing small groups and how they have organized themselves for growth. Anyway, have a great Wednesday, we will be studying prayer again tonight and practice some prayer journaling. It will be fun!

Kathy Griffin

I know many of you were angry about recent comments made by comedian Kathy Griffin, FOX News' Lauren Green's rebuttle is nothing short of amazing.

My garage is always a mess

My wife is an excellent housekeeper and has taught me and our kids to take great care of our house. For instance every bed is made and rooms are cleaned before leaving for school at 6:45 a.m. However, the garage is my territory and it is a different story, maybe even a different book. Someone said that a garage is a place to keep $250 worth of junk while a $15,000 vehicle sits just outside. There is only one way to get the car in the garage, you must get the junk out. I will admit that I love my junk and even love the church's junk that I keep in the garage. Like the original sound booth, and even a pulpit complete with a gold leaf cross on the front. Truth be told, my cars may never get to spend a night in the garage. Now from time to time I will organize my garage. I will compartmentalize things and places, I will sweep the floor and clear the biggest spot int the middle of the garage that I can. After these episodes, I usually walk away feeling good about my junk, good about the fact that I can open my garage door without shame. However, it does not take long for the junk to fall back into place. In 1 week, maybe 2 it is a mess again, so I face the embarrassment, and hassle or organizing my junk. In truth many of us do this with our lives. We have a place, a spiritual or emotional garage where se keep all of our junk. While our house may be in order and visitors to our house may be impressed, we keep the garage door locked. We would hate for someone to see the mess that we keep in that junk drawer. The origin of the word holy comes from the same root where we get the word whole Meaning complete. Essentially, if there are areas of our life where we hide our junk, then we are not holy. So what do we need to do in order to stop organizing and rearranging our mess...

1. Identify the junk - We need to look long and hard at the things in our garage. Ask ourselves why are we holding onto them. Are we really going to use that again, are we really going to need a ten year old version of that ten years from now? I think we hold on to a lot of bitterness and anger this way, we think that we may need that old hurt to use on the one who hurt us.

2. Throw it out - Let it go man, just let it go. This is much easier after you have labeled it as junk. But it still requires effort. There are some things that you can easily bag up and set by the curb, and there are other things that are heavy and might require the help of some close friends.

3. Move the car inside - Let your poor garage fulfill its purpose in life. It lives for the car to pull in and to wrap its automatic door behind it. Let it be filled with all the goodness that comes when things are not just organized mess, but exactly as the builder intended.

Now I know what your going to ask. Have I cleaned out my garage? Not yet, but as I pulled out of my driveway this morning I was looking into my garage and thinking it is time to organize it again already. Then God spoke to my heart and said stop organizing your junk, and just get rid of it. So, later today, I will go out to the garage and take step number 1. What will you do with your junk today.

Postcards

Well, our post office is amazingly efficient and managed to deliver our postcards in just 1 day. unfortunately it has led to several questions. Yes, we are going to be on our new schedule for September 2, but the actual "Open House" will be on September 9th. We apologize for the miscommunication and hope that everyone will feel welcome on both days. We are very excited to add this new classic service and I know our teams have been working hard to make tomorrow a success.

Michael Vick and the Fantasy Draft

Well, Sunday is the draft for our fantasy football league. Last year I got to pick 12th so it can't get worse. Just to put it in perspective my star player last year was none other than Michael Vick. But his career has gone to the dogs, and it looks like the pound for him. I am just hoping that my season does not get put to sleep. Depending on the strength of my team, I will have to pick a new name. Year 1 was Nahum 3:6, last year was Zeke 37:5; hopefully this year we can avoid Nehemiah and Lamentations all together. I do have a few surprises up my sleeve, and plan on picking defenses in the first round and kickers in the second, but that is all I can say. If nothing else, I may just join my wife at the non-draft table for a large basket of wings and a good cry.

This Sunday

I am so excited about this coming Sunday. We are doing the soft opening of our new classic worship service, kicking off a new message series, and I will be starting my own Bible Fellowship Small Group. All that being said, we are buried in prep work getting everything put together, and could still use a ton of volunteers to make things excel. Some of the positions that we need to fill are...

1. Set up team members for both Saturday morning at 7:30 and Sunday Morning at 7:30 (we could really use some other guys with trucks to pull the trailer)
2. Nursery workers for the 8:15, 9:30, and 10:45 services. (this is a great place to get involved with only commitment for one service a month)
3. Children's Teachers and Volunteers. (Depending on turnout, we may add children's ministries at 8:15 and will need to fill several teacher and assistant roles.
4. We also could use some help with the kids on Wednesday nights. (Many hands make light work)

Finding Jesus

I was watching Miami Ink over the weekend as a woman got a tattoo. The artist posed a all intriguing question that we must consider. "Why do people wait until they *!@#% up their lives before the find Jesus?" Good question considering Jesus was never lost. In part, I somewhat believe Michael Vick and Paris Hilton and all the others who turn to Christ during crisis. There is something about being caught in sin, and helpless that causes one to turn to Christ. But are they really finding Christ as a disciple, or are they using him as a P.R. crutch? The answer was probably best given by Larry King, (not a follower of Jesus yet) He said "if Vick found Jesus, then it will be obvious in the weeks and months ahead as his behavior becomes more like that of Jesus." It has also been noted by several that Vick used the phrase "redeem myself" which does not indicate surrender, but self effort. Only time will tell, but Michael you are on the right track, it is my prayer that you will continue to walk that path. That like Pete Maravich and Dion Sanders, God will use you as a shining example of His amazing grace. This weekend at Cornerstone, we will begin a series of messages dealing with the marks of a disciple. First up, a changed life.

What was that?

Sometimes pastors wonder how well they communicated the message. Many times we go home on Sundays feeling like this is how we did. Enjoy your Monday morning!