Is there something wrong with me if I do not speak in tongues?

I had the privilege of visiting the home of a committed couple in our church this afternoon. As I was leaving the wife asked me...."Is there something wrong with me if I do not speak in tongues?" What a great question. Unfortunately, this is a very common question and I wish that it was not!

Being born and raised in a Pentecostal setting, and as a man who has received the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues, this was/is my response:

Never seek tongues! Don't seek the gifts, rather seek the giver. Scriptures states that God gives gifts as he sees fit. If you end up with the gift of tongues, great! But, Paul would rather you prophecy.

Basically, all the gifts are for the building up of the body of Christ and for the glory of God. So, God needs to decide what gifts you need to edify his church and glorify him. I personally think when we seek or demand that God give us a certain gift of the spirit, then we are doing the job that God desires to do.

Seek the fullness of the spirit of God in your life and the beauty of his faithfulness and holiness....not one gift or another. Seek the giver!

--Noah

Free Redskins Tickets for Tonight!

I have 2 free Redskins tickets for the game tonight against Jacksonville. I cannot go because I have Small Group. The first person that reaches me by email or phone can have them. First come, first serve.

--Noah

Making Connections

OK, let me try to make this crystal clear. ...Because new concepts can sometimes take a while to catch on.

• Every Small Group at CCF will be doing the same thing and covering the same topic from September 7th until the end of 2008. The title is "Making Connections." The goal us to help people in our church community make stronger connections to God and each other. (You know...love God, love people, live as disciples....sound familiar??)
• Since many of our Small Groups are biweekly, every other Sunday the message will cover the next session of the "Making Connections" curriculum. This way, our Sunday messages and Small Groups remain connected!
• Some of our Small Groups meet in the middle of the week in homes...they will keep doing so and begin "Making Connections" on 9/7.
• Also, on September 7th, other new Small Groups will begin running on Sunday mornings from 9-10 at the church and will be doing "Making Connections."
• Finally, there WILL BE SMALL GROUPS FOR KIDS AND YOUTH that will be offered at the same time as the adults (Sundays 9-10).

I hope that makes it clearer. I know that this has been confusing for some people....and that is not your fault! :-)

Good for young men

Last week I was in a meeting with a brother in our congregation in his late twenties (like me). As we were talking about spiritual growth, he made this statement that lodged into my heart. He said that his mother always told him that the "Proverbs are good for young men."

I never quite heard it put that way, but I immediately thought....yeah, your mom is right...they are!

Since I thought about that statement numerous times, I took it as a word from the Lord for me too, and I decided that I would read through Proverbs 5 times in my devotions this month. What a book action packed with wisdom, good advice and warnings.

Here are a few things that I read this morning that spoke to me:

4:25- "Let your eyes look straight ahead; Set your gaze directly before you."
8:35- "For those who find me (wisdom) find life and receive favor from the Lord!!"

Walk in the wisdom today! Seek it! Look for it! Let your decisions today be bathed in it! As it says in 6:21...Bind it to your heart and wear it around your neck!

--Wisdom to YOU, today!

What's up with the youth?

Some of you are curious about what the plan is for our youth in light of Pastor Mike's resignation. Here is the plan at this point:

• Pray! Really seek the face of the Lord as to HIS direction for our youth ministry. If to hire, when to hire, who to hire, etc.
• Empower! We have 4-6 great youth workers that will comprise a volunteer team of leaders that will care for and minister to our you in the weeks and months to come. I have met with them and they are excited about gathering and ministering to our youth starting September 1st!
• Minister! There will be a weekly youth service (probably on Wednesdays...we will let you know soon) and several events and other ministries this fall that are already underway! It is going to be great! Just watch for details.
• Small Group! There will be a Youth Small group happening every Sunday morning from 9-10 for the young people whose parents are in a Small Group. Daryl Stevens will be leading this.
• Club 78! Club 78 will continue to meet every Sunday morning during the message time. This is our ministry to 7th and 8th graders and will be led by Jaye Lindo and a team of workers that she is assembling.
• Trust! I know that the Lord will lead us. I feel strongly that God is saying to rest in Him, take our time and entrust the youth ministry into the hands of the good people who have been here and will be here to come. The volunteers!!

Pray for our youth and encourage them to be here! God has a great plan for each of their lives and CCF has been and will continue to be heartily committed to investing in the next generation!

--Pastor Noah

A picture of God's protection!

Look at this picture. It is a photo of a GFI (electrical plug) in the bathroom of our old house that we just moved out of. It sparked and melted about 4 weeks ago. It is what caused the electricity to go out in half of our house. It is also what could have caused our house to burn down! You never know the many times that God's hand of protection is on you!

--Noah

Are you comfortable with being uncomfortable?

I have to share this with blog post with you (it is by Tony Morgan, Author, Pastor and Blogger)! Here's the deal. It says some of the things that I have been feeling over the last year...but in a very real and candid way (and someone ELSE is saying it).

Warning: If you are set in your ways and/or easily offended, save yourself the frustration and do NOT click on this link.

One more thing...this is true for ME and people MY age as well as for people in their 50s and 60s and older! I have to get ready to turn stuff over to younger people too...even if I am "young"!

Here it is...Just click here!

This email blessed me!

As a Pastor, I will sometimes get emails and letters that blow my mind! I see spiritual maturity and signs of real discipleship taking place and it blesses my socks off. Last week I received this email below. While I will not be sharing the name of the person who sent it to me, I did get their permission to post it! I want you to know that perspective makes a world of difference...especially Godly perspective!

Dear Pastor Noah,

...Several years after my husband left and the divorce was final, I found myself in such deep pain from the thought of divorce that I was struggling just to stay above water, emotionally and spiritually. As I was driving to visit my parents, I had a long conversation with God about why He had allowed all of this brokenness to come into my life. It culminated in a final thought. "God, you don't know what it's like to go through a divorce. You have never been there. You were never married. You don't really understand what I'm going through. I know you say you hate divorce, but do you REALLY understand my pain? Yes, I know the verses about you identifying with our suffering, but I don't see the connection to me and my circumstances." I continued to pour out my heart to God. I want to believe, help me to see.

Very quietly, His gentle response was simply that He REALLY does understand. He had a bride named Israel that He had chosen for Himself. She was His first love. He loved her and blessed her abundantly, but she was continually unfaithful to Him. She broke His heart. So much so that He set her aside, and found a new bride, the Church. And because of that salvation is offered to all, not just to the Jew, but to anyone who believes. It is because of the pain of His broken relationship (divorce) with Israel that I am able to have a personal relationship with Him today. Oh yes, He fully understands my pain. He has been there, and fully relates to my suffering.

Blessings!!

I hope that ministered to you the way it did me.

Amazing Words!!

Good people, cheer God! Right-living people sound best when praising. Use guitars to reinforce your Hallelujahs! Play his praise on a grand piano! Invent your own new song to him; give him a trumpet fanfare.

For God's Word is solid to the core; everything he makes is sound inside and out. He loves it when everything fits, when his world is in plumb-line true. Earth is drenched in God's affectionate satisfaction.

The skies were made by God's command; he breathed the word and the stars popped out. He scooped Sea into his jug, put Ocean in his keg. Earth-creatures, bow before God; world-dwellers—down on your knees! Here's why: he spoke and there it was, in place the moment he said so.

God takes the wind out of Babel pretense, he shoots down the world's power-schemes. God's plan for the world stands up, all his designs are made to last. Blessed is the country with God for God; blessed are the people he's put in his will.

From high in the skies God looks around, he sees all Adam's brood. From where he sits he overlooks all us earth-dwellers. He has shaped each person in turn; now he watches everything we do.

No king succeeds with a big army alone, no warrior wins by brute strength. Horsepower is not the answer; no one gets by on muscle alone.

Watch this: God's eye is on those who respect him, the ones who are looking for his love. He's ready to come to their rescue in bad times; in lean times he keeps body and soul together.

We're depending on God; he's everything we need. What's more, our hearts brim with joy since we've taken for our own his holy name. Love us, God, with all you've got— that's what we're depending on.

This is Psalm Chapter 33 word for word out of The Message translation of the Bible. These words really spoke to me this morning and I wanted to share them with you!

What do Back to School Sunday & Laminin Have in Common?

• Eraser: God's eraser never wears out and does not leave marks! God want to offer you forgiveness and a clean slate for this coming school year!
• Ruler: You do measure up and you can walk straight! God is crazy about you and does not endorse your inadequacies. He thinks that you are loaded with purpose and destiny and wants you to walk in that confidence this year!
• Glue: Jesus is the glue that will hold this school year and your life together. Colossians 1:17 promises that "...in Him all things hold together!"

Our closing video was the one that I am posting here. It is pretty powerful...and I love Louie Giglio! This video is about Laminin. What's Laminin, huh? Just watch this and you shall see. It confirms the power of our God to hold all things together!

--Noah

Random Sharings

1. Had a great time connecting with old friends at my 10 year class reunion today!
2. We were really glad to be able to spend some time with Jake and Michelle this evening. They are our great friends from South Carolina who recently lost their son in a drowning accident. They are doing well. She is 6 months pregnant and expecting a girl. What a blessing they needed!
3. I am about to throw something that the TV right now as the Redskins are getting trampled 41-0 by the Panthers. Come on!!!!
4. Excited for Back to School Sunday tomorrow. The Lord directed me to a great video for the end of my message tomorrow. It was just what I needed to help things click together for the message! Excited to show it and look forward to commissioning our students and teachers for another great year! (Will post the video tomorrow)

--Noah

Davis and the Trampoline!

Thanks to his Aunt Selah, Davis had his first experience on a Trampoline yesterday! He is officially not a baby anymore. Babies do not jump on trampolines. This makes me quite sad, actually :-(. He is growing up so fast! I think I am ready for round 2!

Forgiveness; The Ocean

Did you know that the deepest part or “the depths of the sea,” is approximately seven miles to the bottom. It would actually be impossible to bring things up from that depth due to compression.

In addition, it is so far from the light of the sun that whatever is down there will never be brought to the light. To forgive is to so cast into the depths in a way that it cannot be brought up again or will ever see the light of day.

Four times the Bible says, “…their sin I will remember no more” (Isa 43:25, Jer 31:34, Heb 8:12, 10:17).

In our earthly relationships we often say that we have forgiven someone for a wrong they did to us, yet, as soon as the person steps over the line, we are quick to remind them that they “always” do this or that. We never really forget and therefore people seldom get a truly clean slate with others; but with God they ALWAYS do. When He forgives it is total and complete and it is absolutely removed from the record - it can never be brought up again, no matter what we may do in the future.

Here is a preview of one of the principles I will share Sunday: God's eraser never wears out and doesn't leave marks!!

Forgiveness; East to West

While preparing for my message this Sunday, I began to research and develop an interesting line of thought about forgiveness. Reflect on this...

Psalm 103:12 "As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us."

So, what is this East to West thing? Think about this...no matter how far east you travel, you will never touch west. This is true whether you travel in a straight line into space or in a circle around the earth. Mathematicians refer to the distance between east and west as “infinity”.

What a beautiful thing this is to contemplate, that our sins are removed from us as far as the east is from the west. At the risk of stretching the metaphor too far, isn't it amazing that He tells us they are removed as far as the east is from the west, not as far as the north is from the south? You see, if we travel north far enough, eventually we can go no further north. Standing on the north pole, there is nowhere to go but south. There is a fixed distance, then between the north and the south. It is a long distance, but a finite one.

Yet this is not true when we travel east. We never reach a point where eastward travel must end, and westward travel must start. Hence, the eastward removal of our sins has an infinite quality to it, a permanence.

In addition to this metaphor, an Old Testament prophet writes the following for God: “You (God), will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” Micah 7:19

This one has some interesting meaning as well relating to the make-up of the ocean. More later....

--Noah

That's Worship!

This morning, Pastor Mike showed me this video. He stood over my shoulder crying like a baby. Now, after reading James 1 as he advised on his blog, I am crying like a baby as I watch it a second time. This guy is dying of Cancer. The final words of the video say it all..."That's Worship!" If you take the 6 minutes to watch this, you will be glad you did. It may just give you a better perspective on worship.

Here are the Lyrics to the Hillsong Worship Song entitled "Healer":

You hold my every moment
You calm my raging seas
You walk with me through fire
And heal all my disease

I trust in you, I trust in you

I believe, You're my healer
I believe, You are all i need
I believe, You're my portion
I believe, You're more than enough for me
Jesus, you're all I need

Nothing is impossible for you
Nothing is impossible
Nothing is impossible for you
You hold my world in your hands.

Small Group Sign-Ups!

This Sunday and next Sunday, before and after service, there will be opportunity for everyone to sign up for new and existing Small Groups at CCF! Remember, several of our new groups will meet at the church on Sunday mornings from 9am-10am. I challenge everyone who is not already in a group to get connected to one over the next 2 weeks!

--Pastor Noah

Skins Fan!!

OK, so you already know that I am a big Redskins fan. By the way, regardless of whether pre-season matters or not, we have won our first 3 games!! Anyway, Samuel Collins is a little man in our church who came to church on Sunday in a Skins Jersey. Here he is later that afternoon making field goals with his arms. Touchdown! Had to share. So cute! Thanks for sharing, Kalonji and Helena!

Weekend Reflections

• Church was great yesterday. It seems that we are worshiping with more and more freedom! Love it!
• Pastor Nelson brought it! Jesus will build HIS church with or without our money or our opinions! Wow! Great message.
• Something unexplainable happened at the end of the service. As the Worship Team led us in "He Loves Us" and people began leaving, about 20 people remained and were pressing in to God. As we did, the presence of the Lord got thicker and thicker in the room. I had a purging...for lack of a better word. Just needed to cry before the Lord for 10 minutes. People were really experiencing God. For the 20 that stayed, it was a highlight of the service. Hard to explain what happened. God just met us! Moral of the story...don't hurry out.
• We are really tired from moving. Physically tired and sleep deprived. Need a few days to rebuild energy!
• Got a lot to do! And little time to do it! I need a 8-10 hour block of time for administrative catch up. Documents to complete and revise, board meeting to prepare for, Small Group curriculum to proofread, website and advertising deadlines to meet, etc. Dropped a bit behind with this move. Will catch up!

I hope that your week gets off to a strong start!

"If anyone would come after me he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me!" Luke 9:23

Checking In....

OK, here's the deal. We are between 2 houses right now. We have no internet for a few more days, and we are swamped with things to do at both houses. Soon we will wrap the one up and be back in the routine. It has been fun, but we are exhausted.

We are just about ready to start our second week of our service merge. Last week was great. Looking forward to today and to having Pastor Nelson bring the message. Looking to the Holy Spirit to meet us!

Discovery 101 is after service today! Always great to connect with new people in a deeper way.
_______________________

The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.

Numbers 6:24-26

You Arx Mxaningful!

Xvxn though my typx writxr is an old modxl, it works vxry wxll - xxcxpt for onx kxy. You would think that with all thx othxr kxys functioning propxrly, onx kxy not working would hardly bx noticxd; but onx kxy out of whack sxxms to ruin thx wholx xffort.

You may say to yoursxlf – wxll I’m only onx pxrson. No onx will noticx if I don’t do my bxst. But it doxs makx a diffxrxncx bxcausx to bx xffxctive, an organization nxxds activx participation by xvxry-onx to do thx bxst of his or hxr own ability. So thx nxxt timx you think you arx not important, rxmxmber my old typxwritxr. You arx a kxy pxrson.

Copied from “Understanding Human Communication” By Ronald B Adler & George Rodman, Chapter nine Pg. 293.