Bodies and Buildings and Budgets and God

Greetings Brothers and Sisters:

The following words from Colossians grabbed me while I was praying this morning! They speak very clearly to the times in which we live, and the circumstances we are in! I would invite you to join with me in praying these verses for our church!

KNOWLEDGE - WISDOM - UNDERSTANDING - STRENGTH
ENDURANCE - PATIENCE - JOY - FREEDOM - FORGIVENESS

So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding.

Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.

We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy,
always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light.

For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.
Colossians 1:9-14 (NLT)

As I have been praying about our journey the book, "The Church Without Walls" by Thomas S. Goslin II has reached out and spoken to me!

Consider these quote:

"We wanted to build the body of Christ more than we wanted to build with bricks and mortar." P. 50

"These beloved buildings have become real problems. In the present economic setting we can scarcely afford to build or maintain them. Increasingly the time, money and energy we give to our buildings keep us from our principal ministry: winning adherents for Christ and reaching out in Christ's name to succor 'the lowest, the lonliest and the lost.'" P. 26

"To do this [ministry]effectively, you really don't need to 'meet' anywhere, but you do need to be available to go boldly 'into the world' where the problems exist, and where the power of the Spirit is tremendously needed... Functioning effectively as a gathered, beloved community of God's children, without depending on your own walls, without even a place to call your own, can be a lively and fruitful adventure in the Spirit." P. 67

Take these quotes to your listening room and spend some time with God!
Read the words of Colossians in your listening room!

Ask God to give us His...

KNOWLEDGE - WISDOM - UNDERSTANDING - STRENGTH
ENDURANCE - PATIENCE - JOY - FREEDOM - FORGIVENESS

I love you all and cherish your partnership in this great journey we are taking together!

See you soon,
Paul

On Sunday the 23rd, 2009 the following ballot measure was approved on a vote of 64-8.

Ballot for Permission to Pursue Selling our Facility and

Following Our Vision of Celebration, Life Groups, and Mentoring

NorthPoint Christian Fellowship

August 23, 2009

The Ministry Board of NorthPoint Christian Fellowship is seeking your permission

to explore the possibility of selling our current facility. We believe in, and are excited about,

our Vision of Celebration, Life Groups, and Mentoring.

We are a spiritually healthy body moving forward with exciting ministry.

However, we must deal with our financial realities.

Our current monthly income of approx $30,000

does not meet our monthly outgo of approx $45,000.

Voting yes on this ballot gives the Ministry Board permission to explore all possibilities.

Any final property decision will be brought back to you,

the members of NorthPoint, for your approval.

Your yes vote on this ballot indicates support for and commitment to this plan and vision.

I would like to thank each and every member of our church who participated in this robust and engaging business meeting. We had what my friend Dave calls, "Fierce Conversation." Some of our brothers showed "extra intensity" during the discussion. This was due, I believe, to their passion for our church, and her Vision. So I encourage that great allowance and tolerance be shown by all, for all.

During the course of our meeting a number of excellent questions were asked that I would like to respond to in this blog. It might help clear up some rumors and misunderstandings that seem to exist. I will also respond to the questions that I believe were behind some of the comments made during our meeting.

Q. "I was asked if it was true that you had resigned."

A. No. God has not called me anywhere else. I still want to see what God can do with this Church in the Inland Empire.

Q. "Are you threatening to resign?"

A. No! I offered my resignation to the Board and the Church in a gesture of submission to God leading. It was the clearest way that I knew to "put everything on the table." We need to be free to do whatever God is leading us to do... with nothing held back! If I caused any doubt or confusion by this act, I apologize.

Q. "What can we sell our building for?" "Is there a buyer in the wings?" "Have you had a secret plan to sell this building all along?"

A. I don't know! No! No! We chose the wording of this ballot very carefully. We asked permission to "explore the possibility of selling our building." We did not want to even begin this type of discussion without the permission and consultation of our congregation. The rumor mill in the I.E. is way to active. A question asked by one person becomes a "done deal" several conversations later. I can argue a great case for staying on the property. I can argue a great case for setting sail and being free to go where God leads us. As we open up all the doors to God, we are eager to see what He will say. I do not know where this journey will end us. This is frightening, exciting, and faith building all at the same time.

Q. "If Cell's are so great why have we shrunk?"

A. Great question. The reading we have done all suggests that it takes 3-5 years to transition a traditional church to the Cell Model. Many churches never make it. Not everyone really wants to pursue an Acts Two style of ministry. Many Christians like attending programs, not being responsible for the ministry that God has given them. It is not uncommon for churches to lose half or more of their membership in the process. We have gone from the 275 range in worship, down to 135, and now we are back on the rise. Last Sunday we had 192 in our parking lot for worship. [Not counting the children.] Some were there for the baptisms. Others might have come because of the Hot August Night Jam. But I believe that we hit bottom at around 135, and are now on our way back up. This time, with our Life Groups and Mentoring in place, there is no limit as to how far the ministry can go. [You can visit www.touchusa.com for an awesome selection of books, downloads, and articles on Cell Church.]

Q. "What is the Board doing?"

A. Linden Malki, our Treasurer, is speaking with Transformation Ministries and asking for assistance. She is working with the Christian Community Credit Union and seeking a loan modification, or relief. We are sharing with the congregation where we are, and asking for their faithful giving and assistance. We are also trusting in a powerful God who has never left us nor forsaken us!

Q. Where is the insurance company in all of this?

A. Gene Zender is our adjuster. He is on the verge of finalizing our claim. He and Linden met for five hours and examined every single bill related to our fire loss. Out of five pages of spread sheets there were ten missing change orders. Gene is meeting with our architect, Bob Duncan, who has a complete set of all the change orders. This is in process. When Gene is done with his report it will be agreed to by us, then sent on to Reliance Insurance Company. They will review and approve it, and then send it to the Bankruptcy Division of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania. The court is currently taking between three and six months to review the files and make a decision. The most current information we have suggests that we could receive an initial 20% payment on a claim expected to be approx $2,300,000. That means within six to nine months we should expect $460,000. We have no idea what to expect on the remainder of our claim.

Q. "Our staff should be praying about this." "God could provide this."

A. We completely agree. God could provide everything we need in an instant. We believe in prayer. Each workday our staff begins in the listening room with prayer and sharing. We have asked God to reveal His will to us. We will continue to seek God's face.We must accept that God is speaking to us in the midst of this challenge.

Thoughts:
I appreciate all of the discussion about property and money. It was very important. As I reflected upon the meeting the thought struck me that something even more important than money happened Sunday. The top of the ballet also said, "And following our Vision of Celebration, Life Groups, and Mentoring." We made a very powerful Vision decision on Sunday. We agreed that the ministry of the church was vested in the people of God, not the property where the people meet. It is easy to identify the building as the church. That is not good Biblical thinking. The building is the place where the Body of Christ meets each week. Without the building the Body is still the Body. Without the Body the building is just a building! Christ is present in His people. Church is where two or three gather in the name of Jesus. That can happen absolutely anywhere.

As I said in Sundays sermon...
Remain faithful in your giving, praying and serving. We must do everything that we can do and then trust God to do far more than we have even asked, thought, hoped or imagined! According to the Power of His Holy Spirit at work within us!

I love you all,
Paul

Half Dome

Every once in awhile you need to push yourself. So on Saturday Chris, Jeremy, and I headed off at 7:00am for a bump in Yosemite National Park known as Half Dome. We hiked 16 miles and ascended almost 5,000 vertical feet. The top of Half Dome is approx 8,500 feet. We walked the last couple miles home in the dark. It was an awesome and an exhausting day.

The great lesson learned was persistence. Even if you are sore and tired, persist. You don't need to be the baddest bull in the barn... just don't quit and you will get to your goal!

Greetings Brothers and Sisters:
It is hard to unpackage all of the things that have been raging in my mind. I have been praying consistently for God's will for our church. I want to say thanks to so many of you who have been lifting us up in prayer to the Master!

I am coming to believe that we are in a serious spiritual battle. It is bigger and more far reaching than I have ever understood before. The evil one crushes churches and pastors in the Inland Empire. Especially San Bernardino. Where are the powerhouse churches of our city? Where are the soul winning, disciple making centers? There are a few, but not enough!!! We are learning a system that is bearing huge fruit around the world. The evil one does not want this spiritual revolution coming to San Bernardino.

Many years ago I prayed that we could build a church.
We had a fire!

When I returned from Sabbatical I began to pray that we could reach our city.
The school went into financial meltdown.

Now I am praying that God will allow us to begin a Kingdom Movement.
We are praying about selling the building.

The more I dream and pray...
the more churning and burning takes place.

We have great worship and Biblical preaching.
There are 150 in church.

We shift our focus to soul winning and disciple making.
People leave because we are not a "deep church."

We begin going inter generational in our Life Groups.
People leave so they can drop there kids off somewhere at a program.

We are building a disciple making culture that is more scripture centered and Christ obeying than anything I have done in 32 years of my Christian faith!
Your a cult!

I have been so very encouraged by Luke 20. The religious people did not like Jesus. Isn't that an amazing thing? They did not like the Apostle Paul either! In fact, authentic Christianity has been fluffing the feathers of the faithful for thousands of years! There is a reason that reformers have become martyrs throughout church history. People who upset the religious status quo must be bought off, shut up, or killed. It is the way of the religious world.

I confess to you all that I am feeling a whole new dimension of fight stirring in my heart. For a long time I thought we we struggling because we were doing something wrong. God has brought me to the point where I realize things are stirred up because we are doing something right. Remember what Jesus said to His followers on the last night of His life!

“If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you. Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you. They will do all this to you because of me, for they have rejected the One who sent me. John 15:18-21 (NLT)

So let me encourage you, that we are in good company if people call us crazy for trying to do church the way Jesus and the disciples did it! Religious people didn't like Jesus 2,000 years ago, and the don't like Him any better today! The Pharisees, Sadducees, and Religious Leaders of Luke 20 are alive and well today!

Let me give you one more verse that God has brought to my mind!

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. Hebrews 12:1 (NLT)

The writer to Hebrews tells us to "strip off every weight that slows us down." I want to win souls and make disciples. I want disciples that are making disciples. Healthy Coaches, Shepherds, Interns, and multiplying Life Groups are the "success measure" of NorthPoint. I am ready to work with anything that God gives us. I am equally ready to say goodbye to whatever is slowing us down and distracting us from the work He has give us. Jesus told us to go into all of the world and make disciples, not build and maintain buildings. If God provides for buildings... praise God. If He does not... praise God. Whatever comes we are going to run the race!

I love you,
keep praying,
keep believing,
Paul

A Great Article Passed on To Me

Now That's a Community Church - Click Here
Make sure to read the Comments

Thanks Jerry

Any Thoughts?

Live a Life that Requires Explanation

I love my job at the Glass company, I have the privilege of driving all around town listening to sermons on my Ipod and meeting non-Christians (I also do some glass delivery). As I was driving today I was listening to a few sermons by Francis Chan, (Link at Bottom) and they had one of their many missionaries sharing a little in service. One of the things that the missionary said is that we should live a life that requires explanation. The idea is that we should not be living a life that looks "normal" to the world. Our normal should be what the Bible says, and if we are living what the bible says we will look a little strange to the World. But that is what the world needs, most people are sick of the world's ways and are looking for something different.

If your life, or my life, looks like our non-Christian neighbors life, there is a problem. If the only difference is that you go to church on Sunday and they don't, there is still a problem. We should be living a life that people are constantly asking "What's wrong with you, Why do you give so much, why do you love so much, why do you care so much, how can you rejoice in the hard times, how do you have so much peace in stressful situations, how come you don't worry like everyone else, and on and on and on?"

1 Peter 3:13-17 (NLT)
¹³ Now, who will want to harm you if you are eager to do good?
¹⁴ But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats.
¹⁵ Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it.
¹⁶ But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ.
¹⁷ Remember, it is better to suffer for doing good, if that is what God wants, than to suffer for doing wrong!

Christ tells us that we are not of this world, we are ambassadors to it, and we are to help bring the kingdom to this world, and we do that by following Christ to the Nth degree.

I love what Francis Chan says in his book Crazy Love. There is no such thing as a Lukewarm Christian. You are either following Christ or not, let us all be on fire, followers of Christ, willing to do whatever He asks of us (no matter how crazy).

What is the craziest thing you have ever heard God call you to?
Are you doing it?
If Not Why not?
If So Tell us About it!!!

Comments?

Cornerstone Church Website

Sermons I listened to Today
Cornerstone Media Player
What do you need in order to be happy
This is the one with the missionary, but they are all good
enCourage Pt 1
enCourage Pt 2
These two really challenged me, How Crazy am I willing to Get for God?

Camp Fun