“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” Genesis 50:20

Let me start by putting this into context. This was Joseph speaking in the Old Testament after being sold into slavery by his brothers, working his way up the Egyptian hierarchy, and finally using his position of authority to rescue his family. His brothers are showing remorse, and that’s what he says.

It reminds me of Romans 8:28, but, with one distinction. This verse infers that there is someone trying to do us harm, and our God is so sovereign that he knew about it, knew it was going to happen, and was planning to use it before it even happened. The implications spread from there, but let’s not get into that. Let’s stay here, God can, wants to, and plans to use every bad circumstance and painful experience as a testament to his provision and grace if we will let him. We just need to live with the right perspective.

Let me put it this way. Have you ever played chess with someone who is much better than you are? Maybe it seems like they knew about and planned for every move you were going to make before you made it. That’s what I picture when I see that verse. The enemy tries so hard to take us out with all the accusation, and sin. But God promises, in this verse, that he knows about and planned for every move that the enemy uses to try and take us out. In fact, those experiences will make us better equipped to do what God had planned for us in the first place!

Right now there are people seeing what they held their security in disappearing; like the job market, the stock market, retirement, and the value of homes. The enemy is trying to get us so focused on ourselves that we ignore what God is doing all around us. At the same time, God is calling us into a deeper relationship with Him. He is allowing all the false feelings of self-reliance to be stripped away to give us no other choice but to trust him. I see this economy as God giving me an opportunity to find my security in the only constant in this world, and that is the unchanging God.

No matter where you find yourself today, God knows right where you are. He loves you and promises that, no matter what has happened to you or who has hurt you, he will use your life and story to accomplish his plan, which is the saving of many lives. Amen.

Aram

“When you’re through changing, you’re through.”
— Bruce Barton

•    We serve an unchanging God who changes everything.
•    The scriptures are a document about change.

•    Once you belong to Jesus, change is inevitable. Our whole Christian experience is an experience of change.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)

•    The local church is to be God’s expression of his radical commitment to change.
•    God calls us to take the memories with us but leave the memorabilia behind.
•    If the Bible doesn’t bring change, it is not being engaged.
•    In everything that is about style and preference, the church must be willing to change for the sake of those who are lost.
•    We must remove every nonessential barrier facing those who seek God but have not yet found him.
•    We must return to the world from which we ran. We must face the dangers and challenges that filled our hearts with fear and realize that God has called us to stand in the midst and call sinners to God.
•    The same God that changes our hearts and changes the world around us calls the church to change. When the church refuses to change, she refuses to obey.
•    We are not only called to be changed and to embrace change but to be catalysts of change.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21 (NIV)

Fuel For Thought

1.    Have you invited God to bring his change into our church?

2.    What would build a change mentality into our congregation?

3.    How is change fundamental to being a follower of Jesus? to personal leadership? to movement of the church through history?

4.    Imagine what God could do with the wisdom of the old and the passion
of the young.

I want to invite you to “The Pulse” gathering at the Warehouse next Wednesday night the 19th of November at 7:00 p.m..

We don’t want you to miss a single beat of what is happening in our church. There are so many things we want to share with you and we just don’t have time to talk about all of them on Sunday morning. So we’ve decided to call the Warehouse tribe together every other month on a Wednesday night to talk about where we believe God is taking us, how were going to get there, and the vital part we all have in what God is doing.

We hope each Pulse gathering will be exciting and encouraging as we step into the future together.

We are calling this Pulse gathering “Fast Forward.” As you might guess, it’s about change and the future. We serve an unchanging God who changes everything. The Scriptures are a document about change. And once you belong to Jesus, change is inevitable. God is always calling his people to be agents of change in the world and to move “fast forward” into the future He has prepared for us. God is raising up a new generation of leaders who are discovering their part in God’s story. Just imagine what God could do with the wisdom of the old and the passion of the young.

Come imagine with us at the Pulse next Wednesday night from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m..

Joe

“I believe that the greatest trick of the devil is not to get us into some sort of evil, but rather have us wasting time. This is why the devil tries so hard to get Christians to be religious. If he can sink a man’s mind into habit, he will prevent his heart from engaging God.” Donald Miller, “Blue like Jazz”

Let that sink in for a second…. read it again if you need to.

Now, if you’re like me you just got the chills. I mean, could that be true? I often think of Satan as the evil one (which he is) going around tempting us to do evil (which he does) but I rarely think of him as someone who would want to get us so focused on religious dogma that we miss the point of Christ altogether. But, that makes sense, doesn’t it? Satan’s number one weapon is stealth. If he can cloak himself with the guise of religiousness, than he can fool you into thinking you are doing the right thing, even if you miss the whole point of why Jesus came here. I mean, Christ said himself that he came to bring “freedom for the captives”, not to impose a set of rules and regulations. In fact, the people Jesus had his harshest words for were the religious establishment that was oppressing the people.

So, the question remains, why would we do this to ourselves? Why, when Jesus made it so obvious that we were missing the point, would we try so hard to establish a set of rules to follow again? How has Satan deceived us into thinking that is what God wants?

The only reason I can think of is control. We try so hard to control everything about ourselves, our jobs, our emotions, our lives, and even our God. As long as we can keep God manageable, we feel like we are in control. As long as we know where God is, then we also know where God isn’t. Why do you think that Jesus rarely healed the same way twice? Once, he heals by spitting on the blind man’s eyes, another time he touches them, then he simply speaks to them. Why didn’t he always do it the same way each time? He could have, but did not. I think it’s to show us that he cannot be put in a box. He is God, he created everything, and he knows us and how we think. He can do whatever, whenever, however he wants to, and the second we think we have him figured out he changes. Not to trick us, but to try and keep us from feeling like we are in control of him. Not to fool us, but to keep us thinking in the proper perspective.

I don’t know, maybe I have an overly idealistic view of what Christianity was meant to be, but I don’t want my life to be a series of dead rituals and habits. I think God intended much more when he talked about abundant life. I, for one, want my life to be filled with worshipping the living God. Talking to him, listening to him, following him, loving him, and allowing him to love me. And as God fills and directs my life, I will be compelled to do the same to others. It’s not a matter of doing God’s will out of obligation, but rather doing it because that’s what comes naturally.

I hate it when people call me religious…

I don’t want to be considered religious…

My religion is love.

Their free-of-charge program serves a diverse population of young women from various socio-economic backgrounds, aged 13-28. Many of the girls, who come to Mercy for help, are facing a combination of debilitating circumstances and have been in various treatment facilities with unsuccessful long-term results. Mercy is committed to providing the young women they serve with the most excellent program services that allow the young women to recognize their self-worth and prepare them to reach their full potential. Mercy’s non-conventional approach to healing allows young women to permanently stop destructive cycles and prepares them to take hope out into their communities.

You can support Mercy Ministries by participating in their run/walk event - Run for Mercy - on November 15. For more information or to sign up, go to their website at www.runformercy.org.

God bless. Pastor Tom

I want to invite you to a gathering of the Warehouse Tribe (that includes you) next Wednesday night the 24^th of September at 7:00 p.m. We are calling this get-together “The Pulse” because we want you to be in on the heart beat of the church: what we’ve been thinking and praying about; where we believe God is taking us; how we’re going to get there; and, most important, your part in the story God is telling. Every one of us is critical to the outcome of this story. Jesus is always inviting us to be His intimate allies and to discover how we can be partners with Him in redeeming this fallen world. His passion is for people who are lost without His grace. May our hearts be filled with the same love that brought Him to this broken world, and driven by the knowledge that the eternal destiny of so many hangs in the balance. It’s all about people.

Come, join us at “The Pulse’.  Grace to you till then,

Joe

It is a journey, not a destination. We were challenged to allow God to be God and follow wherever He may lead, whatever the process may hold. It was a very real weekend with real men.

God bless, Pastor Tom

God always does amazzzzzing things @ camp in the hearts and minds of kids and adults. We will do our best to bring ALL campers back safe and sound. We have not lost a camper to date and don’t intend to start this year.

May you walk in the grace and peace of Jesus this week and find more of yourself in God as you live real life with real people @ the Warehouse . . . a real church.

Pastor Tom

Thanks to all you parents who have entrusted your kids to our team, and what an amazing team it has been. Our adult volunteers are awesome. They are taking such good care of the kids and having way too much fun at the same time

Friday nite @ 6:30 we will be having hot dogs with the kids, parents and grandparents and doing a short program @ 7. It will be a fun ending to this incredible week.

Thank you to all who have made this week so great. May God bless you abundantly.

Pastor Tom