Wrong Question

MIKE & MIKE
I was listening to Mike & Mike the other morning and they were talking about the scandal in the NBA concerning Tim Donaghy’s gambling on games. They mentioned that this is the biggest scandal since the alleged masterminding of Arizona State basketball point-shaving scandal.

That’s where Benny Silman who was a college student there was booking bets on college basketball games…. an Arizona State basketball player name Stevin “Hedake” Smith got into debt to Silman.

Greeny, as he is known to, said he was interviewing Silman later and said that the two had met about Smith indebtedness and knew what to do. Their eyes met and both knew what the other was thinking. Let’s fix Arizona State basketball games and it will be a win / win.

Smith, the Sun Devils' No. 2 all-time leading scorer, agreed to fix the four games for $20,000 a game, in part to erase a reported $10,000 gambling debt to Silman, according to Smith and Silman's plea agreements. Smith also admitted to recruiting another player Burton to take part in the scheme; Burton was paid $4,300 for helping fix two games.

Greeny said it was something that Smith never thought would ever happen…

As I heard that a scripture popped into my mind “Stay away from all appearance of evil” Not just evil but even the appearance of evil.

I often get the question - can I do this an still be a Christian? I always say - wrong question?

Here are 10 questions that need to be asked : If you are really serious about doing what pleases God and having a vibrant relationship with Him.

1. The Purity Test : I Corinthians 6:19
   Can I do this to the body where Christ dwells?
2. The Participation Test. I John 2:15-16
   Will doing this take my eyes off of Jesus?
3. The Polite Test: Romans 14:7,21
   How will doing this affect others?
4. The Partner Test. Colossians 3:17
   Could I invite Christ to do this with me?
5. The Public Test. I Thessalonians 5:22
   Will doing this give the appearance of wrong doing?
6. The Presence Test : I John 2;28
   Would I be ashamed to be found doing this upon Christ’s return ?
7. The Problem Test. Hebrew 12:1
   Will this hinder my new life in Christ?
8. The Proof Test. Romans 1:29
   Is this good for me physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually?
9. The Proclamation test. Philippians 2:15
   Does this allow my witness to shine?
10. The Peace Test. Philippians 4:6-7
    After praying about it, can I do it and have peace ?

You see the question is never can I do this and still be a Christian. That is more about being in a Religion and not a Relationship.

There are lots of things that I could do and still be married to Patty, that would hinder, harm and destroy our intimacy with one another. You see I am not content just to be married to her, I want a vibrant, healthy relationship with her. Same with my relationship with God.

Liberating Experience

Fox sports announced that Barry Bonds former mistress who is at the center of the government’s perjury investigation said that she will discuss the couple’s relationship in the November issue of Playboy magazine.

She said that the “photo shoot” was one of the most liberating experiences of her life.
It made me think. One of the most liberating experiences of her life. WOW!

Jesus said, It is the truth that will set you free, liberate you.

We get things so confused so much in life. We choose substitutes over the real thing.

You know when I go to the store and buy cheese or some other dairy product, I always look for the signature “Real” on the container. I don’t want some cheap substitute that looks, smells and sometimes even tastes ( some what ) like the real thing. I want the real thing.

In our sex crazed world, we substitute sex for intimacy ….

Intimacy means “to be known “

Does anybody really know you? Not who you want them to think you are, but who you really are?

Let me ask you this ---- Do you even know who you really are? Have you ever asked God to show you who you really are?

You see many people go through life never knowing who they are let alone allowing someone else to know them.

Want a liberating experience? No not a photo shoot, how about a “heart photo shoot?” Ask yourself these questions and ask God to help you answer them?

• What makes me mad? What am I mad about right now?
• Why makes me sad? What am I sad about right now?
• What makes me glad? What am I glad about right now?
  

Riding Waves

The waves at the beach were great. Boy, were they powerful. They just knocked you all over the place. They wear you out.

Yet for others they serve as a great source of positive momentum. They use them for their advantage and ride them with a surf board.

It is like Rick Warren has said about the church. “Only God can create a wave. What we are called to do is find the wave and ride it.” That is so true. You either take advantage of the wave coming your way or get knocked over by it.

Henry Blackaby says it this way, “We are to find out what God is blessing and start doing it instead of doing what we want and asking God to bless it.” When we do this we work in God’s power and not our own power.

I Chronicles 12:32 says “The men of Issachar understood the time and knew what Israel should do.” They saw the waves and rode them.

Ask God to show you his next wave. Then do everything in your power to understand it and ride it. It will be an experience of a life time.

Thankful

Another great day …..

Graham Cooke says, “Gratefulness may be humanity’s most underestimated devotional tool.” We often forget that gratitude is how we access God’s presence.

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations.” Ps. 100:4-5

A lack of gratitude can lead us into feeling nothing is happening or into frustration over hassles and issues. So today I made a list of things I am grateful for, not in any particular order.

1. Salvation
2. Bible
3. NewPointe Community family
4. My parents
5. My father- and mother-in-law
6. Patty, my wife
7. Caleb, Sarah, Jonathan, Benjamin
8. Kid’s health
9. My health
10. My siblings
11. My nieces and nephews
12. House
13. Friends
14. Pastoring NewPointe
15. Live in America (freedom)
16. Necessities of life (food, later, shelter, electric, clothing etc..)
17. Sense of God’s presence in my life
18. No debt (except house)
19. My small group
20. Staff at NewPointe
21. Work with friends
22. Comfortable bed
23. Prayer
24. Volunteers at NewPointe
25. Purpose in life

I could go on and on and on ……..

We have a tendency to take things for granted. That leads us to either being ungrateful or having a sense of entitlement. Neither is good for us. It is my prayer that I become a THANKFUL person.

Why don’t you sit down and make a list of things that you are thankful for. It will change you. I promise.

Evan Almighty

We went to see the movie Evan Almighty. We enjoyed a few good laughs. It had some good one-liners. I’d give it 2 ½ stars.

It also had some powerful statements about life and God. It’s always amazing to me how our world is interested in the spiritual life. It lets me know that our world once again shows that it is interested in God in the supernatural.

Evan made a dangerous but powerful statement. He wanted to change the world. God spoke to him and led him on an incredible journey.
God gave him the tools, and the material to build an ARK (which stands for Acts of Random Kindness). God provided everything that Evan needed to fulfill what God had asked him to do.

So it is with all of us. God has called us to change our world—to be salt and light, to make a difference. He will give you everything you need too, if you will accept his calling.

Acts 17:6 tells us of Paul and Silas, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.”

I remember when I got a job at a Kroger meat department. The first day I was on the job, the manager of the department learned that I was a student at a Bible college. He told me, “You will either change us or we will change you.” So it is for where you are today. You are either being changed by the people around you, or you are changing the people around you.

( Go here for ideas to change your world ) http://www.servantevangelism.com/ideas/search_ideas.php

24

I finished the first series of 24. I understand why people wait in anticipation for the next episode. It is full of twists and turns. It is filled with the unthinkable. It has an evil character fighting against that which is good and right. You see all the people’s flaws as well as their good. I have to continue to give my props to David Palmer though. Wow! I was hoping his character would be able to withstand all that was coming at him, even that which was in his own family.

How I pray that we could see reality as clearly as he did whether it is a friend, family member, co-worker etc…. You see, you can’t make good decisions on bad information and you don’t have good information if you don’t have the ability to see reality, the way things really are.

Back to 24. It has all the fixings of a great story. I just finished reading the first 7 chapters of 2 King. Let me give you the quick notes and see if you would agree it is even more exciting and thrilling than 24 .

Chapter 1

• The King sent 3 different groups of 50 to find Elijah. Fire from heaven came down and consumed 2 of the 3 groups.

Chapter 2

• Elijah takes off his coat rolled it up and hits the water. The water divided to the right and left, and Elijah and Elisha crossed over on dry ground.
• A group of boys made fun of Elisha and called him a bald head. Elisha put a curse on them and two mother bears came out of the woods and tore 42 of the boys in pieces.

Chapter 4

This chapter contains 5 miracles .

(1) A widow of one of the prophets is in dire circumstances - her two sons are about to be sold into slavery. Elisha multiplies the pot of oil.
(2) A “great woman” of Shunem entertains Elisha (v. 10). Elisha promises she would have a son.
(3) When the son was grown to manhood, he died, and Elisha restores him to life (using the same method as Elijah had).
(4) Sons of the prophets are eating a soup in which there was poison, and Elisha makes it harmless.
(5) Elisha feeds 100 men with food for one man.

Chapter 6 & 7

• Elisha warns the king of Israel concerning the plot of Ben-hadad and thereby saves his life, not once but many times.
  Ben-hadad attempts to capture Elisha by sending a great host to Dothan where the prophet is staying. The servant of Elisha thinks this will be their finish, but Elisha prays that the Lord would open his servant’s eyes. God does “and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha” (v. 17). Elisha leads the blinded Syrians to Samaria as captives.
• Ben-hadad lays siege to Samaria, and the inhabitants of the city are starving. The king of Samaria blames the prophet and tries to destroy him.
• Elisha promises an abundance for the very next day. Four leprous men outside the city enter the camp of the Syrian army in desperation and find it deserted. During the night the Lord had caused the superstitious Syrians to hear a great noise which they interpreted as the great host of a hired army coming to attack them. They fled in panic, leaving all their supplies behind. The lepers report to the starving populace of Samaria that there is an abundance of food in the deserted camp.

Our culture today loves drama, thrillers, situations that are doomed, yet transformed….

We’ve got the greatest drama ever written--God’s Word. May we share it in a way every week-end that has people full of anticipation for the next time we meet.

By the way if you haven’t read the Bible in a while, why not pick it up today. It is filled with unbelievable drama, even more suspenseful than 24.

Summer Reading

Want to add to heat to your summer?

Got just the book for you… Peter Scazzero “Emotionally Healthy Spirituality “ I read it in a day.
As John Bunn would say, let me give you the scuds from the book:

• You can’t be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature.
• Christian spiritually without an integration of emotional health can be deadly ---to yourself, your relationship with God and the people around you.
• Pretending is safer than honesty and vulnerability
• Spiritually of most often only adds additional protective layer against people growing up emotionally

Three signs of unhealthy emotions:

1. Not experiencing joy and contentment ( Matthew 11:30 )
2. Angry , Bitter and depressed.
3. Your Marriage Health

Signs of Health Galatians 5:22-23

NIV The Message

Love Affection for others
Joy Exuberance about life
Peace Serenity
Patience A willingness to stick with things
Kindness A sense of compassion in the heart
Goodness A conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people
Faithfulness Involed in loyal commitments
Gentleness Not needing to force your way in life
Self-Control Able to marshal & direct our energies wisely

We can’t change -- or better said, invite God to change us – when we are unaware and do not see the truth.

• Our problem resolves around misapplied biblical truths that no only damage our closest relationships but also obstruct God’s work of profoundly transforming us deep beneath the iceberg of our live.
• Using God to Run from God : Create a great deal of “God activity” and ignore difficult areas in my life God wants to change.
• Awareness of yourself and your relationship with God are intricately related . In fact the challenge to shed our “old false” self in order to live authentically in our ‘new true ‘self strikes at the very core of true spirituality.
• Almost all problems in the spiritual life stem from a lack of self-knowledge
• The vast majority of us go to our graves without knowing who we are. So we end up wearing a mask … This unwillingness to know ourselves stunts our growth in Christ.
• Emotionally healthy spiritually is about reality, not denial, or illusion.
• We first experience life changing awareness of God …. The move on to learning and gaining knowledge (Discipleship) … then on to the active life (serving). This is where we hit a wall…. We either have the choice to begin to deal with our hurts, habits and hang ups… or we option to learning more and serving more which leads to being stuck and becoming religious and judgmental.
• We can experience to breakthrough the wall with courage and escape the lifelessness of unhealthy spirituality and experience a fresh faith charged with authenticity and a hunger for God.
  

Go '07

This is our food drive that we launched for the month of July.

To put it, well, pointe blank, as followers of Christ, we are called to go and influence and be involved in our community, to take care of those in need, and to give. All reasons to take part in this giant effort.

For a church our size, collecting 1,000 boxes of food is a big goal, but one I know we will reach.

So this is a pretty straight forward blog. I would love for everyone to participate in this effort. Bring your non-perishable food with you to NewPointe on Sunday. You have a chance to do what Christ calls all of us to do.

I can't wait to see those boxes!

Leading at a Super Store

A friend of mine and I were shopping at a well know super store. We were standing in line waiting to check out. He told me that he gets frustrated because some times they will only have a couple of cashiers and the lines get really long. He said, there’s been times when he will just leave his cart there and leave because it is taking so long. I am not saying that is the best way to handle that ……..

BUT …. While we were waiting a person up in the front of the line, broke a bottle and it spilled all over the place. They basically just continued business as normal and left the grocery cart there so that you had to walk around it to cash out. ……

I mentioned to my friend…. Is there a leader in the house?

You see here is what Leaders do …..

SEE IT !

OWN IT !

SOLVE IT !

DO IT !

Leaders see things that need to be done that other people seemingly ignore, blame , or provide an attitude of It’s not my job …

Is there a Leader in You ?

No Cement Experience

I met with a friend of mine for breakfast. We were talking over life, work and leading. He has a concrete business that is very successful.

Here is what he told me - I won’t hire people who have worked in the concrete business. I thought wow, why not?

He said that too often they have learned either bad habits that they are either unwilling to break or that don’t mesh with the way in which we approach our work.

He said I would rather have somebody who has never worked in the profession of pouring concrete. Then he told me of one of his newest hires who had worked in a profession that had absolutely nothing in common with what he was about to do pouring concrete.

Duane said, the young man said to him. Do you think I can really do this? Duane said absolutely. I’ll teach and train you and I know that you are going to do great. Duane said it is easier to train them when they know nothing about concrete.

It got me thinking about the church.

If you are like me and grew up in the church, many of our habits, thinking patterns, and ways of doing things get in the way of what is really necessary to reach people.

If you were raised in church, you have a certain way of thinking about church, doing church if you will. It is hard to think outside that paradigm to be able to approach it with fresh, out of the box thinking. Our habits and thinking from the past limit us.

But we can’t do that. Why? Because don’t you know that is not appropriate in church?

How come? Because I was raised that you weren’t allowed to ( fill in the blank ) in church.

So just as my friend mentioned, breaking or leaving behind old work habits of pouring and finishing concrete is nearly impossible, so it is in the church.

Here is what I mean :

It is easy for the needs or interest of insiders (church folks) to ultimately drive the priorities of the church. It’s just the natural tendency of any group to become insider-focused.

If you hang out long enough with people who think like you think, you will become more and more convinced that this is the best way to think. Over time you will find yourself not even paying attention to those on the outside.

NewPointe’s vision is to be an alternative to what most people experience at other churches. We have a desire to create a church with the outsider in mind.

Afterall Tuscarawas and Holmes county doesn’t need another church. If you are from this area you know there are plenty of churches. And with all of our churches, still nearly 50% of the people in the area don’t even go to church at all.

George Barna claims “If all the unchurched people in the United States were a nation of their own, they would be the 11th most populated country on Earth.”

Now that is a lot of people who have yet to be reached.

That’s why I like to listen to people who have no church background when it comes to determining what needs to happen. They have a fresh perspective, much like someone who has never done cement work.

I feel good

I feel good ………. I knew that I would now…. I feel good … I knew that I would.

So good, so good …

That is how I am feeling these days ….

We had a great trip down to South Carolina, no van trouble, easy riding, we left earlier so we made good time.

The ocean is beautiful. It speaks of God’s greatness, and his power. To know that the one who spoke it into existence lives in me, and is my friend is overwhelming.

How many are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number-- living things both large and small. Ps.104:24-25

I have been walking the beach every morning with Patty.

Caleb’s number one goal was to get me hooked on 24. Mission Accomplished. However, more than Jack, the guy I am really impressed with is David Palmer. I do like watching shows like this, (on DVD) you don’t have to deal with the commercials .

Food --- I have enjoyed my homemade Italian sub made with ham, salami, pepperoni, provolone cheese, baked for 15 minutes, and then add lettuce, tomatoes, onions, peppers, then top it off with Italian dressing. It doesn’t get any better than that.

O by the way, I have been feeding my spirit too with Graham Cooke’s book Divine Confrontation. It is unbelievable. Here are some thoughts:

• Transition cracks the shell of our personality and breaks open our hardness
• Frustration is the key to development
• God always speaks to our potential
• Whatever we speak into people, rises up!
• If you are unable to trust, love or commit yourself, you need closure
• There is a huge difference between truth and perspective. Truth is what God says in Scripture. Everything else is perspective.
• Grumbling and complaining radically affect the development of faith, and our ability to receive all that God wants to give us.
• A person’s maturity is determined by the amount of opposition it takes to discourage them.
• Cleaving to God may necessitate leaving other people.
• Change is not about comfort but about surrender

By the way NewPointe Team, Great Job Sunday! We listened to it on the computer.

Tightening the Lug Nuts

I had an opportunity to go to my first professional car race. It was the Bush Series, in New Hampshire. A friend of mine has a car that runs in it. It was an incredible experience. The energy was very high.

I didn’t realize the amount of people that it takes to pull something like that off. It takes more than the driver, even though he is the one most people recognize. It takes a whole team, and that is more than just the pit crew. I couldn’t believe all the different roles that needed to be filled for this to happen week in and week out.

I thought wow, that is NewPointe. It takes a whole lot of people to be able to pull off what happens week in and week out here. People leave amazed at what just took place, The experience they just had.

I want to personally thank you for your Time, Talents and Treasures that you faithfully and consistently give to fulfill the vision of leading people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.

It is making a huge difference. I hear one story after another. I just heard some this Sunday. People would coming up to me saying how the service impacted them in a powerful way (Thanks John and gang). Stuff like that just doesn’t happen in any of our environments. It takes a lot of work planning, being creative, etc……

My friend’s car struggled on Saturday. It didn’t finish well.

Do you know why? In one of the early pits stops for a change of tires, one of the lug nuts was not properly tightened. It ultimately impacted the way in which the car handled. It was something that they could not recover from.

When I learned that I thought wow… No one knows who didn’t tighten the lug nut, but everyone sure felt the effects. So it is with all of us here at Newpointe.

So Props and a BIG THANK YOU especially for all of you who faithfully and consistently tighten the lug nuts in the pits here at NewPointe.

I love ya!

Another Language

Cursing ……. I am always amazed at the swearing and cussing I hear on the golf course.

Dropping the F-bomb …. and many other four letter words…

When, not if, we hit a bad shot, miss a putt, do not execute the shot, or mess up that this is a statement against our man (or woman) hood …. We know that other people are watching so we want to show displeasure and disgust at ourselves because we know that we are a better than what we are showing.

I don’t believe that golf defines a person. What does define us is the way in which we conduct ourselves. By the way you can learn a lot from a person, by playing a round of golf with them. Some one has said, you will learn more there, than from a one on one interview.

I think it would be much better that we got angry and showed emotion and disgust at:

• not giving a full day’s work for the company
• not loving and respecting our spouse
• not making our kids a priority
• not forgiving other people
• not being a person of integrity in the latest deal that was made.
• not being on time
• not keeping promises

You see these really do define us

Golf Thoughts

I went out and hit nine holes of golf recently. I always find it fun and relaxing because I have managed my expectations. I don’t play often and have never had any lessons so I approach the game differently than most people.

Golfing is a funny game…. Have you ever thought about the words we use on the golf course?

You hit it well ….. meaning the location is terrible though …

You hit it straight… it wasn’t long, but it was straight, accent the positive. It was only 50 yards )

You had it on line….. you hit it to fast and it went past the cup , but it was on line.

Nice speed …. you just didn’t have the right read on the putt

You can get there from here … You can still hit the ball, but it really isn’t that great

Nice out ….. You got it out of the sand trap, but it is still a two putt

I could go on and on ……. But you get the idea……

It is really a bunch of bull ……

Ephesians tells us to speak the truth in love. Most of us talk about life’s challenges in the same way we do in golf.

It is just a bunch of bull .. Maybe that why many of us live our life in a sand trap …

I believe we would be better off to just say the truth.

Someone has said, that if you have one person in your life that tells you the truth in life, you not only are blessed but you have a true friend.

Search and Retrieve

Luke 15 talks about search and retrieval ….. The Sheep and the Coin….

It talks about something of great value being lost. A great effort and a sense of urgency to find them, and then rejoicing once they were found.

I was reminded of this by two things happening in our world recently….

First was the memorial service for the nine fire men that died in Charleston, South Carolina.

Nine caskets lined the front of a coliseum Friday as thousands of firefighters from across the nation, their hats in their hands, honored nine colleagues killed in a furniture store blaze. Uniformed escorts walked the men’s wives, siblings and children to their seats in a long procession of red carnations, tears and hugs .

What would possess these men to go into a building that was blazing?

They thought there were people who were in the building and would die if they were not rescued ….

Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. said the men were heroes.

“It was their calling, it was their training, it was their duty and, unflinchingly, without hesitation, with extreme courage, they did it,” he said. “They are public servants of the highest order. They want to serve. They want to help. They want to save. And they want to protect.

WOW --- These guys are truly heroes

We who know Christ have an even higher calling. We believe that every one is going to spend eternity somewhere. Heaven or Hell (fire)

Mayor Riley Jr. said “it was their training, it was their duty and, unflinchingly, without hesitation, with extreme courage, they did it,” he said. “They are public servants of the highest order. They want to serve. They want to help. They want to save. And they want to protect.

I would say to the Church and every Christ follower… IT IS OUR CALLING TO SEEK AND SAVE THAT WHICH IS LOST. It needs to be our training, our duty, and unflinchingly, without hesitation, and with extreme courage we must do it.

A little closer to Home. They are doing searches that involve 1500 volunteers . People who are willingly given of their time, to search for a young mother who was abducted.

Stark County sheriff's Chief Deputy Rick Perez told reporters, "Jessie's still missing. Until we find Jessie, we're going to keep on searching.

Texas Equisearch, an internationally active search team, brought in sonar equipment to northeast Ohio to check ponds and a remote-control airplane equipped with a camera to look for any sign of Davis..
Some of the volunteers waiting for the search to start brought their dogs or children. Many sipped donated bottles of water, and one man had a hiking stick. People continued to join the line along a sidewalk to sign up at a fire station to help.

"I think every single rock will be turned over on this search," said organizer Tim Miller
I commend the people of Akron/Canton area and my prayers are with them …

What if the church has this kind of determination and persistent in reaching out to those who have yet to come to know Christ?

I am asking God to help me to see the spiritual truth in these two tragic stories.

Read Luke 16:19-31 3 times a day for the next month. Pray that God will break your heart for those who do not know him.

You see what happen in Charleston South Carolina was and what is going on in Northeast Ohio is a great tragedy……

But let me tell you of a greater tragedy. It is the death of someone who does not know Jesus Christ as the Forgiver of their sins. If those who died in the fire in Charleston knew Christ, they are forever with him. It is a tragic loss for the family and friends, but hope remains because of Christ. Those who do not know Christ, have no hope at all.