Do Your Friends a Favor!!!

Hi all,

Well, it has been nearly three weeks since my last post...I am going to try to get in the habit of updating weekly from this post on.  I really do not have anything terribly profound to share with you this week.  Things are really busy here at the church (Hope Church).  God is clearly on the move and we are striving here at Hope to give Him our very best in all we do...it is clear that God is honoring our efforts as we are seeing record attendance across the board in all ministry areas!! Here is where you come in:

Matthew 28:19 (The Message)

I ask that each of you make your personal mission...well because it is (see above) to make it a point to invite someone to church with you on a regular basis.  As those of you who attend Fusion on Wednesday nights at Hope know, there are a lot of cool things happening.  Well, the fact is...it is only going to get better!!  So, be thinking about people you know who are not attending church regularly and challenge them to come and check Fusion out.  All research shows that God uses the invitation of friends most often to bring folks into the church and into a relationship with Him.  So, let God begin to use you today and everyday to help your friends become everything Gods created them to be!!  Oh, and it does not stop there...I know many of you are coming on Wednesday nights but, your family is not actively plugged into a church...well God can use you to help your family along as well.  Encourage your parents to come and check us out during the weekend and help them begin to attend regularly.  There are three services to choose from: Saturday's @ 6:30 p.m. and Sunday's @ 9:30 and 11:00 a.m.

Tony <><  

Okay, C.J.'s most recent post (1/26/06) and a couple of the comments on there has really got me to thinking.  So, I decided to create a new post.  I have taken some of what I posted on his site and on Sam's site and added some additional verbiage as well. 

The fact is we as Christians MUST STRIVE to hold ourselves to a higher standard.  Christian LEADERS must strive for an even higher standard.  Now, that does not mean I am perfect on this issue or many others.  However, I am VERY mindful who is around when I have a moment that is far less than God honoring and even then work very hard to be limited in what I say/do.  The fact is I have a responsibility to lead each one of you and set the right example and strive to be Christ like.  There are two key points I want you to really ponder:

1) I do not know about you all but, I have a hard time believing that if Christ were walking around today that "curse" words would be any real part of His vocabulary...so, that reasoning alone is enough to persuade me that I need to avoid it. 

2) The argument of "well, what is a curse word anyway" and how "cussing is not evil" is a very weak position to stand on...yes, there are those who want to take exception to what I just said but before you do...how many of you respect your mom's enough to not use the "f" word to or around her?  Well, the fact is we should certainly show "at least equal" respect for Christ/God...and certainly I could even argue even more respect for Him. 

Oh, and if that is not enough...choosing to do it only amongst a certain group of close friends is one thing (although, again a weak position to have) but, doing it around large groups of people when others are within ear shot and certainly putting it on the world wide web is irresponsible as a Christian and even more so as a leader.  Again, I am not perfect but, I gotta call a spade a spade. 

Also, one final thought....what differentiates holding others accountable versus being judgmental?

If you do decide to argue this with me...I really expect you to explain to me why you have enough respect to avoid the language around your mom but, not enough to avoid doing it around God.

By the way, none of this rant changes about the way I feel about any of you students that read this...I love you all!

Currently Watching The Passion of the Christ (Widescreen Edition) see related

Not much to say...except...please continue to focus on HIM everyday...and that in and of itself will require BOLD steps.  You will know you are doing some God honoring things when it feels as if you are swimming up stream and countless folks are floating right on by going in the opposite direction.  No one ever said it was easy...just look at what Jesus went through.

Tony <><

Hi all,

I hope your 2006 is off to a fantastic start!  Here is my random thought of the day...a key component of being a Christian is holding ourselves accountable by asking others to assist us AND for us to help hold others accountable!!  I mean, one of the key ways God speaks to us is through other people.  Well, I want to challenge you to start a whole new level of accountability.  That means two things:

1) Surround yourself with people that are going to give you good "God honoring" advice...way too many of us go to the people we want to give us the answer we want...knowing full well that we are NOT getting God honoring advice.

2) Stop being a weenie with your circle of friends.  Be willing to man up or woman up and say the difficult things and help your friends...stop this crap of "well, I do not want to make them mad" or "well, I do not think it is my place" or "well, they will not ever listen to me".  Stop and think about it...you might well be short-circuiting God's plan to use YOU yes YOU to speak to another person...it seems lately that I am hearing more and more students admit that they have real concerns about others but, never can get the courage to have that accountability conversation.  Stop making excuses and simply do it...God will honor you...maybe that will not be obvious in the beginning.  However, forever He is faithful!!

Tony <><

Hi all,

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and I am praying that each of you have the best year ever in 2006!!!  I had planned to post the following the night of the 25th but, I am just now getting around to it.

I heard this for the first time earlier this month and was so impressed with it, we incorporated it into the Christmas at Hope program at Hope.  If you were there that night, you heard it...regardless, this is a very powerful thing to read.  It was written by Max Lucado and I encourage you to read it, pray about it and then digest it for a while.

It's Christmas Night

It's Christmas night. The house is quiet. Even the crackle is gone from the fireplace. Warm coals issue a lighthouse glow in the darkened den. Stockings hang empty on the mantle. The tree stands naked in the corner. Christmas cards, tinsel, and memories remind Christmas night of Christmas day.

It's Christmas night. What a day it has been! Spiced tea. Santa Claus. Cranberry sauce. "Thank you, so much." "You shouldn't have!" "Grandma is on the phone." Knee-deep wrapping paper. "It just fits." Flashing cameras. It's Christmas night. The girls are in bed. Jenna dreams of her talking Big Bird and clutches her new purse. Andrea sleeps in her new Santa pajamas. It's Christmas night. The tree that only yesterday grew from soil made of gifts, again grows from the Christmas tree stand. Presents are now possessions. Wrapping paper is bagged and in the dumpsite. The dishes are washed and leftover turkey awaits next week's sandwiches.

It's Christmas night. The last of the carolers appeared on the ten o'clock news. The last of the apple pie was eaten by my brother-in-law. And the last of the Christmas albums have been stored away having dutifully performed their annual rendition of chestnuts, white Christmases, and red-nosed reindeer.

It's Christmas night.

The midnight hour has chimed and I should be asleep, but I'm awake. I'm kept awake by one stunning thought. The world was different this week. It was temporarily transformed. The magical dust of Christmas glittered on the cheeks of humanity ever so briefly, reminding us of what is worth having and what we were intended to be. We forgot our compulsion with winning, wooing, and warring. We put away our ladders and ledgers, we hung up our stop watches and weapons. We stepped off our racetracks and roller coasters and looked outward toward the star of Bethlehem.

It's the season to be jolly because, more than at any other time, we think of him. More than in any other season, his name is on our lips. And the result? For a few precious hours our heavenly yearnings intermesh and we become a chorus. A ragtag chorus of longshoremen, Boston lawyers, illegal immigrants, housewives, and a thousand other peculiar persons who are banking that Bethlehem's mystery is in reality, a reality. "Come and behold him" we sing, stirring even the sleepiest of shepherds and pointing them toward the Christ-child.

For a few precious hours, he is beheld. Christ the Lord. Those who pass the year without seeing him, suddenly see him. People who have been accustomed to using his name in vain, pause to use it in praise. Eyes, now free of the blinders of self, marvel at his majesty. All of a sudden he's everywhere. In the grin of the policeman as he drives his paddy wagon full of presents to the orphanage.

In the twinkle in the eyes of the Taiwanese waiter as he tells of his upcoming Christmas trip to see his children. In the emotion of the father who is too thankful to finish the dinner table prayer. He's in the tears of the mother as she welcomes home her son from overseas. He's in the heart of the man who spent Christmas morning on skid row giving away cold baloney sandwiches and warm wishes. And he's in the solemn silence of the crowd of shopping mall shoppers as the elementary school chorus sings "Away in a Manger." Emmanuel. He is with us. God came near.

It's Christmas night. In a few hours the cleanup will begin -- lights will come down, trees will be thrown out. Size 36 will be exchanged for size 40, eggnog will be on sale for half-price. Soon life will be normal again. December's generosity will become January's payments and the magic will begin to fade. But for the moment, the magic is still in the air. Maybe that's why I'm still awake. I want to savor the spirit just a bit more. I want to pray that those who beheld him today will look for him next August. And I can't help but linger on one fanciful thought: if he can do so much with such timid prayers lamely offered in December, how much more could he do if we thought of him every day?

God bless you all!

Tony <><