March of Dimes 4.5 Mile Walk

Today after church, Teresa and I went and joined with Teresa's company (QVC) and participated in the Suffolk March if Dimes 4.5 Walk. It was neat to see the different companies who had people walking. I saw a banner of one of the sponsors and it was a local church. It made me think how Connection Point can do this with the Isle of Wright County March of Dimes. I took some pics using my cell phone. Take a look.

People warming up before the walk starts.

March of Dimes walk starting

People walking through downtown Suffolk, VA.

Cameraman filming when walk started.

The Twins and Me

One of Teresa's employees has 3 sons, and they were with her at the March of Dimes walk so we stayed with her to make sure they could finish the 4.5 miles. Deevon and Teevon are 4 year old identical twins. Within the first mile they were running ahead so I walked fast with them. After awhile, they started to get tired so I carried both one at a time. They were cool, energized, and polite boys.

After a while both boys were very comfortable with me. Deevon (AKA the hummer boy) would just sit on my shoulders and hum a song as he looked around. Teevon (AKA the "And then" boy) would tell me stories while on my shoulder with "And then" between sentences. It was cute. The boys called riding on my shoulders "sitting on my head." It was very cool to carry them the 4.5 miles.

Goal Achieved

On Tuesday, 4/15 I posted that I set a goal to run on the treadmill for the entire 30 minutes by Thursday, 4/24. I achieved this goal one day later than planned but did achieve the goal. Not only did I run the entire 30 minutes but I ran for 3 miles. Not too bad for someone who hasn’t run for almost 5 years and is 38 years old.

What goal have you set for yourself lately? Even if you miss the time allowed, keep trying until you achieve it. Goals are just targets; aim at yours.

Gas Relief Ad

I bought a "Smithfield Times" newspaper to check out the ad we placed to announce this Saturday's outreach. It is bigger than I thought for the money. I pray God's will be done with this event. My hope is that people will be drawn to Christ. Check out the ad.

A Dream

This week is very busy getting everything ready for Saturday’s Community Gas Price Relief outreach. I’ve been praying that God’s will be done with this event. My desire is that people will see that we care for them and that they will check us out. Since this is in my mind, there is no wander that I’m dreaming about the outcome of this event. Last night or this morning, I had a very realistic dream regarding the church and the outcome of Saturday’s event.
I dreamt that I was at work in my cubical and my cell phone rings. I answer it like I always do, “This is Tom.” On the other end is lady who wants to get more information about Connection Point. I answer all her questions and I asked how she heard about us and she is one of the people who saved 10 cents per gallon at the Gas Relief event. Before we ended the conversation, I asked if she has any prayer needs and she shares a bombshell with me that caused us to talk another 10 minutes. Just as I was ending the call my alarm clock rang and I woke up.
Not to sound like a spooky Christian but I wonder if God is showing me something or it was just a reaction to dinner. Only time will tell.

Totally Depraved

I recently read through “The Five Points of Calvinism, 2nd Ed.” by: David N. Steele, Curtis C. Thomas, S. Lance Quinn, and it was a very good read. One of the appendices was an article written by Charles H. Spurgeon. I told Teresa now I know why Spurgeon is called “The Prince of Preachers.” The article was just brilliant. One of the things I remember is how humble a man Spurgeon was in the area of being a sinner. One of the points of Calvinism is the total depravity of man. Since we are total depraved, God is the One who chose us and draws us to Himself. We are saved only because before the creation of time and space, God chose those of us who will accept Him as Savior. Spurgeon wrote it is only because God chose him that he wasn’t a worse sinner than he was when he was saved.

Paul wrote in Romans that no one seeks after God. No one decides one day to get saved on their own. It is because God chose that people to turn to Him for salvation. Calvinism in a nutshell is:

God chose people to be saved before He created time and Space.
Jesus Christ came to Earth to pay the sin debt (by dieing on the cross) so the chosen people could be saved.
The Holy Spirit proclaims the truth of salvation in the hearts of sinners and draws them to God and upon salvation the Holy Spirit seals us with the security of eternal salvation.

I believe that salvation is only through God. Humanity has nothing to do with it. We don’t accept anything; God accepts us or chooses us. Praise the Lord!!

Rest

Next Saturday is the community outreach and there is still must to do. This week has been a long and busy one for me with working my regular job and planning the outreach. I left the house today at 10:00 and planned to spend the day putting out flyers for the event. After only an hour of doing so I was spent. I couldn’t force myself to continue. Teresa told me before leaving not to overdo it today. She knows me well; sometimes too well. I got back into my truck and started home. I felt like a loser and a lazy piece of trash. As I drove through Carrollton, I kept praying to God to forgive me of my tiredness. I’m a fool.
After beating myself up, I turned the radio back on and K-Love was playing music that spoke to my soul. God let me know that I did not let Him down. He created man to need rest. We have a week and He will make sure all is done for the event. I tell people all the time that it is God who does the work and we just follow Him. I was trying to take the lead. After my soul was spoken to, I came home and Teresa saw as soon as I walked through the door I was tired. She gave me the couch to relax. She’s a great partner.
Today, I will rest at the house. I’ve watched two DVDs and have 3 more to watch. I’m a couch potato today and am enjoying it. We have time to put out the flyers and if we don’t, God’s will still have His way with the outreach event. I will trust in Him.
I wanted to share my thoughts as I was thinking about the lesson I learned today. I tend to have to relearn these lessons time and again. It’s tough being human, but someone has to do it and I do it so well.

; - )

Discount

I had 500 copies made of the Gas Buy Down flyers at FedEx Kinko’s today. Since I had it printed on color paper, it was 9 cents each. The cost should have come to $45.00 plus tax, but it was $34.13 (including tax). I was looking at the receipt and there is a $12.50 discount. I’m not sure what the discount is for but I’m wondering maybe it’s because I have at the bottom of the flyer “The Gas Relief is sponsored by Connection Point Church” and this person who rang me up gave us a church discount. Either way, God blessed and we have good looking flyers that were less than we budgeted for. Praise God!

Goals

I have set mini-goals for the church plant in Carrollton. We have accomplished one and planning to accomplish the second one next week. Goals help you achieve things that you dream about. The goals for Connection Point Church are set and will be accomplished by God and Him alone.

I was thinking about the goals we are planning to hit for the church and I haven’t set a personal goal in awhile. I set one back in early spring to loss 30 pounds and I lost 35 pounds by September. That was an awesome feeling. I hate looking and being fat. I’m been in and out of fitness since high school and now that I’m 38 I want to stay in good shape. This morning a set a new personal goal and I pretty excited about.

You see I started to run on the treadmill every Tuesday and Thursday instead of just walking. I used to run all the time when I was younger. I started running 2 weeks ago and man I forgot how much I enjoyed it. The treadmills at the YMCAs are preset to run up to 30 minutes. Today I ran 25 of the 30 minutes, and I feel good. My goal is to run the entire 30 minutes. I’ve set the achievement of this goal for next Thursday. After achieving this goal, I have another; to run in a 5 or 10 K race.

My long term personal goals are not only regarding physical fitness but also Spiritual fitness. I want to keep walking with God and learning as I preach and teach His word.

Most people don’t set goals and that’s all right. I need to set goals or I won’t grow. By nature, I’m lazy so I have to set goals to stay moving. It’s too easy for me to sit around and do nothing. I hope you have set goals for youself.

No King

I finished reading through the book of Judges this morning and the statement “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” struck me. The statement is found several times in the book of Judges. There’s a pattern to the book and Israel’s behavior. The children of Israel did their own thing and worshipped other gods and God judges them. The children of Israel say they’re sorry and God delivers them through men He chooses. There is peace for a number of years and the cycle repeats. The book shows the longsuffering of God and His love for His people.

The statement is so true for our society, “In our days there is no king; everyone does what was right in his own eyes.” In our society, we have no king for the most part. People who don’t have the King of the universe as their Lord and Master do what they feel is right in their own eyes. It’s not until the King reveals Himself to them that they see how far off they truly are in their actions and are changed. Until God draws these people to Himself, what they do seems right to them. Remember, only Christians are children of God so we know what is truly right; the average person is still the child of Satan and doesn’t know what right truly is.

Our society doesn’t have the true King. We do as Christians. As Christians (child of God) we have the King and do what He says is right and we have true peace. The world doesn’t have the King so they do what seems right for them and they have no peace. A friend sent me a link to a You Tube video about what Oprah is promoting these days on her show. It’s eye opening. Below is the link to it. If the link doesn’t work, just copy it and paste it and it will take you to the video at You Tube.

http://www.youtube.com/v/JW4LLwkgmqA&hl=en

I hope you do know the King and that you do have peace.

Worship Practice

This Sunday, our Worship Leader will be preaching on worship. Since he’s preaching, our co-pastor will lead the worship and he has asked me to help with it. I love to sing and worship but it has been a while since I’ve done so as a leader. We had practice last night and it was awesome. While practicing the songs and harmonizing with the other singers, the Holy Spirit showed up (well OK, He manifested Himself to us). The practice turned into a worship session. I love when that happens.

God Is Closer Than You Think

I finished reading “God Is Closer Than You Think” by John Ortberg. It was a good read. I’m leading the small group study based on this book. John Ortherg worked with Bill Hybels for 10 years and is now pastoring in CA. His insights are quite good.

I know that as a Christian, I know that God is always with us as the Holy Spirit. There are times, it’s great knowing that I’m never alone because He is with me. But there are still other times that I live like I’m alone but He is with me when I acting like I’m alone; He is with me when I’m walking through the sewer and mud. He sees and hears everything; the good and the bad.

In the book, there is a story about a little girl who loves to play in mud but her grandmother is trying to get her to stop it. The little girl asks her grandmother to look away so she can’t see her playing in the mud. The little girl thinks that as long as her grandmother can’t see her, it’s alright. We tend to do the same thing with God. We may not say it, but just before we sin we want God to look away so He doesn’t see what we are doing. It doesn’t work like that.

If you are like me, there are times I take God’s grace for granted. He is always faithful to forgive my short comings. I’m so unworthy of His love and grace, but so thankful for it.

Gas Buy Down

I just talked with the manager of a local BP Gas Station and they agreed to let us use their station for a Bas Buy Down. It is so awesome to have this place; God is working His will out. It’s great to see His hand at work. I’ve tried for 2 weeks to use another station but they never returned my calls and when I talked with the manager face-to-face I could tell she was blowing me off.

The cool thing is that when I was driving home from my encounter with the other station’s manager I looked at the BP station and thought maybe this one. God works at different speeds, and with this one He worked it all out in less than 30 minutes. I called and talked with the asst-manager who gave me the home office phone number. I talked with the owner and he told me to expect a call from his manager (who is his daughter) of the station. Within 10 minutes, Legina called me and after 5 minutes everything was set and ready to go. We serve an awesome God!

Keep us in your prayers as we plan this out. We will have the Gas Buy Down on Saturday, April 26. Pray for good weather and that God will use this to let the community know we care for them.

Mentoring

I read a really good blog today by Tally Wilgis on the subject of Mentoring. It was him talking about what mentors have done for him and how he is looking for one now as he prays about moving forward in the ministry God has laid on his heart. It was a great read because he laid his heart out on the table for all to see.

I saw the mentor I had from my teen years until on late 20’s on Sunday. Lynn and I e-mail one another and have seen each other off and on but not that much that last year because our schedules. Lynn was my pastor from age 14 to 29. He let a teenage boy hang out at the church’s office during the summers and help where I could. He gave me responsibilities that seem unusual because of my age. He allowed me to cut my teeth in ministry. When I failed we talked about how to get past it. I was one of many he mentored. I have no idea how many men are in ministry today because he walked beside them and mentored them. When we talk, I hear that he is still doing it today but with younger pastors. He is making sure that he can be available to help men in the ministry. Because I know he has a full plate, I’ve not tried to keep up with him except for an occasional e-mail.

I know the importance for mentoring. I’ve mentored several men and watched them grow. Since I know the importance of help others and making sure I’m available to them I’ve forgot to have a mentor for myself. That’s why Tally’s blog hit so hard in my heart. In order for me to grow beyond myself, I’ve been reading blogs of men who have planted churches and reading books to learn. I need to find a mentor that can walk beside me and meet with me face-to-face. Talking on the phone and e-mails are alright, but I love face-to-face meetings. Pray that God will send me a mentor that I can learn from.