Steve Harvey Introduces Jesus

Steve Harvey, secular comedian, in front of a secular audience. He poses the question "How would you introduce God?" His response is amazing. Takes 3 minutes to watch. Well worth it.

Kideos

Josh Harris has a great link over at his blog for a new "filtered" version of Youtube for kids.  My kids 11 & 8 love to get online and see all the funny videos, but it is a full time job for me to keep them from seeing the junk that is somehow related to the other "tame" videos.  that said, there are two or three sites that may help....

1. Godtube.com -  This site was set up as a Christian site, but anyone can post to it.
2. Kideos.com - These are mostly imported & filtered from Youtube by registered parents.
3. Totlol.com - This site requires a membership, and may provide a greater security for what they might see.

Though the web is a dangerous place, and you should never let kids roam freely online, these sites provide a less risky place for kids to enjoy.

You can't provoke me!

It seems that church people who don't get involved fall into three categories... the uninformed, the uninspired, and the unprovokable.  Now, my spell checker is telling me that there is no such thing as "unprovokable", but I know because I have seen them with my very own eyes.  Over the last few weeks we have been promoting our small groups with a great amount of success, and as it stands right now we have more sign-ups than we presently average in attendance.  A feat that should not go uncelebrated, but along the way, I have kept a list of people who have not signed up yet.  I realize that some people have busy work schedules, and others are just so disconnected from church that they are not aware of the amazing thing that God is doing in our midst, but forgive me for wondering what in heaven's name is going on with those few who come every week, see what God is doing, hear the testimonies, and still stay unprovoked.  Now I need to be honest that there are only 2-3% of our people that I would categorize this way, but I am praying that God helps me to provoke them either in or out because the work is too great for mere observers.

What you don't know...

This week, between the TV camera and the repetition of a 24 hour news media, we have been privy to some amazing feats of immaturity.  Mark Twain once wrote "It's not what you don't know that kills you, it's what you know for sure that ain't true."    What Kanye, Serena, and Joe did not know [or realize at the time] was that they were all acting like 3 year olds in the line at Wal-mart.  Unfortunately there has been ample opportunity for them to learn from their mistakes, albeit the hard way.   

Ephesians 4:11-15

¹¹And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,¹²to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, ¹³until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ...

The Apostle Paul makes it clear that God gave the church to help Christians equip themselves for the work, and for their maturity to manhood.  Now some might think that manhood is achieved at some certain age level, or by the number of hairs on one's chest, but  as we saw this week immaturity still likes to sneak out of the house. (sometimes for a national audience)  What we don't know as Christians is that most of us are woefully immature.  We act like spiritual children screaming for the candy, and demanding our way. 

So God, in His infinite wisdom, gave us the church, and in the church he gave us pastors.  Now as pastor is simply a shepherd who leads the sheep to where the good grass is growing.  See sheep tend to wander and need a shepherd to lead them.  God also gave them teachers.  Teachers help us get from a place of ignorance by graduating us one level at a time.  We need teachers so that we do not remain in immaturity.  The old proverb says "What you don't know can't hurt you." but in reality what we don't know, hurts us deeply.  Our own acts of selfishness and immaturity keep us from experiencing the life that God has for us.  Our tantrums hurt other people and embarrass us.  Our selfish ways cause us to always want the toys that the other kid is playing with and we are never satisfied.  

This weekend we start a new message series entitled DEEP.  Deep is a word that scares a lot of people because they fear the unknown, they fear what lurks beneath the surface, they fear getting in over their head.  In reality, these same fears keep them from getting in all the way.  Many Christians are drowning in an inch of water, claiming that they are experiencing the Christian life, but are never fully immersed in it.  Sure once in a while they sit on the edge dangling their feet over the side, but never really get immersed.

It is my goal that everyone at Cornerstone, and all Christians everywhere would realize the joy that comes when you stop splashing around in the shallow end, and dive into the deep.  Maybe for you that means getting in a small group, or perhaps reading a book without Fabio on the cover.  Whatever form it takes, it is my prayer that we will all, as Paul wrote, "grow up in every way."

Rifqa Bary's Testimony Before the summer of 2009

Tithe Rap

Thanks to Cornerstone founding member Gabe Hernandez for sending me this link. I thought it appropriate after last weekend's message on Stewardship.
Enjoy!

Five Dangerous Faults

Yesterday I started reading Sun Tzu's "The Art of War" which is from the 6th century BC.  I have wanted to read it for some time, but it is not my typical genre.  I am half way through and it has given me some insight as a leader of "spiritual warriors" but mostly caused me to look at how I am trying to go about starting a church.  I am aware that our enemy is not of this world, but have gained some personal insight that I am just going to share and hopefully it will cause you to think as well.  About half way through, he relates the 5 major dangerous faults of a General.  I have taken these each individually and applied them to the areas of ministry that I deal in.  I have not edited for spelling or content, so take these random thoughts as Joel's personal application and make your own.

There are five dangerous faults which may affect a general:

(1)   Recklessness, which leads to destruction;

Recklessness as a pastor would look like what?

      Preaching

                  Not preparing adequately

                  Not praying

                  Not planning a comprehensive preaching calendar

      Pastoral Care

                  Not watching what you say

                  Not saying thanks

                  Not keeping your word

                  Not feeling their hurts

      Leadership    

                  Over extending with time, ministry or money

                  Letting anybody start whatever ministry

                  Not screening leaders

                  Not sticking to procedure

      Personally

                  Not guarding your heart from sin

                  Being alone with a woman who is not your wife

                  Drifting from your time in Prayer and Bible Study

(2)   Cowardice, which leads to capture;

Cowardice as a pastor would look like what?

Preaching

Not standing up for truth, and solid doctrine, and against sin

Pastoral Care

Not telling someone what you know they need to hear, but don’t want to hear.

Leadership

Not stepping out in faith to obey God

Not leading your people to personally step out in faith

Personally

Not leading in your own home, with your wife and kids

(3)   A hasty temper, which can be provoked by insults;

A hasty temper as a pastor would look like what?

Preaching

            It is easier to preach against sin than for holiness

            Don’t allow your pulpit to become a bully

            Never defend yourself when you should be preaching Christ

Pastoral Care

            Hurt people hurt people, don’t take insults personally

            Never add insult to injury

Leadership

Do not allow the insults of your enemies to cause you to come down from your wall to fight on their turf.

Never make rash vows

Be motivated by love, not hate

Personally

                        The king of the mountain makes for an easy target

                        Be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath

(4)   A delicacy of honor which is sensitive to shame;

(Those who seek after victory should be careless of public opinion.)

Preaching

            Tell it like it is, do not scratch ears

            Be Transparent, Nobody listens to an inexperienced expert

Pastoral Care

            Compliments, like perfume smells nice but don’t swallow it.

            Don’t drink from “The World’s Best Pastor” Coffee mug.

Pastoring is about the help of the sheep, not the honor of the shepherd

Leadership

            Don’t be tempted to put on Saul’s shiny new armor

            Pride is what caused Satan to fall and Eve to bite

Personally

            Remember you serve an Audience of one

At the judgment you will stand before God alone, not the board, or the crowd, or your peers.

(5)   Over-solicitude for his men, which exposes him to worry and trouble.

(The danger of sacrificing any important military advantage to the immediate comfort of his men.)

Preaching

            Do not be afraid of their faces

            Too much milk causes one to vomit.  They need meat too.

            Be careful preaching that causes people to think that they are holy.

            Be careful of setting goals that are too easily attained.

Pastoral Care

            Do not break up every fight and band-aid every scratch

            Do not pamper your people, provoke to love and good works

Leadership

            Someone has to be on the front lines

            Don’t care so much for your troops that you forget the war

We are not here to build shelters in which to hide from the world, but bases from which to go into all the world

Never let church become about the church

Personally

            Be careful of the undisciplined life.

            Never ask more from your staff or people than you ask of yourself.

                       

                        

Prime Timer's Pot Luck and Bean Bag Baseball

 

  

  

  

 

Small Groups Begin June 6

We are so excited to announce the new small group line up for our summer session.  For the first time there are multiple topics on multiple days.  Pastor Ward has been working for months training our small group leaders and we are taking the month of May to get everyone signed up for a group.  Our Summer Session goal is 200 sign-ups in 11 classes!  If you still like Sunday School, no problem, we have groups for you.  If you like home groups, no problem, half of our groups meet in homes.  If you want a ladies group, we got that.   Childcare? Many of our groups have kids and youth group times built-in.  Our goal is to help everyone related to our church know and follow the Word of God.  You can check out the online catalog here.

What's Your Big Problem?

Everyone has problems, in fact everyone has a list of problems, and the point of a job, the point of leadership is to solve problems.  In churches there are all kinds of problems, there is the problem of who gets first dibs on classroom A, and who will we get to work in the nursery during the concert etc.  There are all kinds of problems and the good news is that some of those problems are phantom problems, they don't really exist except in our paranoia, some of the problems are self correcting, and some are even insignificant.  So the question remains, what is your BIG Problem.  What is the problem, that is keeping you from moving forward as a leader, or as a church?  What is the problem, that if left undone will keep you from accomplishing the Great Commission.  If you are still saying, I have lots of problems, then your lack of ability to identify the one from the crowd may be your problem.  Identify the problem, the BIG problem.  Kill your Goliath first, then chase down the rest of your Philistines.