Had one of the most productive days of my life. Period. No way to explain all that was accomplished. Not sure why. But, wow!
Wanted to blog. Several things in my heart that I want to share about. Will get to them. I keep good notes. I will never run out of things to blog. I WILL run out of time to do it.
Was able to slip home for an awesome dinner and time with the family. My sister made yams and greens. Now, we're talking!
Just had an amazing Executive Board Meeting. Probably the most important meeting of the year. It has taken us a few years, but we are now really functioning like a team. Do due diligence before the meeting. Communication, Communication, Communication. And then, you can pass a budget in 15 minutes. Yes, you read that right.
Juggling a lot of stuff. Will be working on my day off tomorrow, but Thanksgiving is coming!
Dance Ministry and Worship Team are hard at work to prepare a special Christmas Production for us on Friday evening, December 12th immediately following the Christmas Party. Really looking forward to a great night! Flyer invitation just arrived from the designer today. Here it is. You are the first to see it. There will be plenty for you to pick up at church over the next few weeks.
I lived in PA for 6 years, and have been back in MD for 4.5 years.
I had my first car for one week before blowing a head gasket. (86 Ford Escort)
God literally sent me my Administrative Assistant, Jaye! She is the bomb. I share her with the church for now. :-)
The only TV I can watch is Football and News....anything else I am asleep or tuning it out.
My Father was adopted and we have no idea who his family is. We just started searching for them last week. My sister is leading the charge on it...she is good at this kind of stuff. I may meet a Grandparent, Uncle, Aunt or Cousin for the first time if we are successful.
I love country music! George Straight is my fave.
My Dad grew up in Japan until he was 6.
I wrestled for the boys and girls club when I was 12. My boobs hung out the side of my wrestling uniform and I got SPANKED by High School seniors (who weighed what I weighed), so I quit.
I love change.
My wife is a treasure. No one knows how wonderful she is!
I am addicted to accomplishment. Probably why I LOVE to mow, vacuum or paint. They all offer instant gratification for accomplishment.
I try to listen to rap and hip hop at least twice a month to get an idea of what our youth are hearing.
I got beat up once in my life.
I beat someone else up once in my life. (one punch...it was just a real good one)
I don't read novels.
I worked for a janitorial company in High School...until I wrecked my boss's car. It was downhill from there.
I only read church ministry books...need to expand my horizons.
Would love to Pastor Pastors someday.
My Mom's family has it's roots in coal mining communities. Learned alot about it last week.
I have thousands of Baseball Cards...even complete sets that have never been opened.
My parents thought I was going to be down syndrome. I wasn't.
I preached my first sermon at 16 years old...at CCF!
Last Saturday morning, I greeted two CCF members at my house in my underwear. Didn't know they were here. Thankfully, they were guys. If they were women, they may have left the church (after they recovered).
My family calls me "Nonie".
I have been to 30 States and 10 countries!
I just ran out of things to tell you, but this was fun while it lasted! :-)
Just sitting here in my recliner doing some reading. Just to my left our fireplace is burning, popping and crackling. We are going to try to use it more this winter to try to keep the utilities down. Every half hour or so, I need to move some wood or add some wood to keep it burning nicely. It sort of inspired me tonight. Thought I would take a moment to encourage you to keep the fire going tonight in your life.
Maybe you need some more oxygen...some more of the breath of God in your life to increase your flame and visibility for Him. I know I do.
Maybe you need the fire to burn up some of the impurities in your life. I know I do.
Maybe you need the fire to give light to your path and direction.
Maybe you need the fire to warm up some of the cold areas of your heart.
Maybe you need the power of the Holy Spirit to come like fire as it did in the early church and revive your passion for God. I know I do!
Just having a moment sitting next to the fire right now. Before heading to bed, I wanted to encourage you to keep the fire going!
I am getting excited about the message series that I will begin this Sunday called "Habakkuk; When God Seems Unfair". 3 chapters, 3 weeks. If you are a CCF member, I invite you to read Habakkuk this week. It will really prove helpful as we engage the scripture this weekend. Be in prayer about how the Lord will meet us over the next three weeks.
In a posting mood today. Just chillin some and doing one of the things I enjoy...visiting church sites, blogs and relevant ministry tools online. I run into a lot of things that I would not waste my time sharing. But, this one was good. It was on my college friend, TJ's blog. I thought that this video was provoking and adjusts the eyes with which we see church. You may or may not like it, but if you are curious, check it out. It is a parable about coffee, the church and marketing.
I go in and out of phases where I feel called to memorize scripture. There are times I feel like I really need to be hiding His word in my heart. I want those time of call to be more frequent. Well, there are 2 verse that Tricia and I are posting in visible locations around our house and cars right now that we want to fill our heads and hearts with:
"Fill your minds and meditate on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse." Phil. 4:8
"You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly. You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness." Ephesians 4:4-6
Some people have asked me recently if I’m nervous about the church and the future as it relates to finances and this current economy. First of all, let me say we have NOT met our projected income for 2008, but we have also NOT spent our projected budget. As a result, we are in great shape as we close out this year. God has once again been super faithful to us.
That said, our financial strategy has to undergo some changes this coming year in light of our economic realities. Even so, I am deeply confident and excited about the future. We will be sharing more at the upcoming business meeting.
Well, I really like what I saw on swerve tonight. It captured two principles that I thought were enlightening. Here is what it said:
Christ’s church is resilient. The church has survived persecution, poverty, terrorism, genocide, and wars. A slow or crippled economy will not destroy the church.
People will turn to Christ. In our prosperous country, people have rarely had to pray, “Give us today our daily bread…” because our cabinets have always been full of bread. In many ways, our blessings have interfered with a need for the Giver of the blessings. In hard times people will turn to Christ.
Instead of being paralyzed with fear, church leaders should be postured with faith for how God will use these rocky financial times to draw people to himself.
We heard back from an overwhelming majority of Retreat Attendees that you want to have this every year. We listened. We will be having a retreat at Black Rock in 2009! MARK YOUR CALENDARS now!!! It will be October 23-25, 2009. Tell everyone you know.
For over a month now, I have wanted to blog about the current season that I see CCF in. First of all, you need to know that I think that much of church life (and life in general) is seasonal. Ecclesiastes was not playing when it drove that point home. There is a time for everything under the sun. Well, at some point soon, I will write a few posts about how I view our current season. Until then, I thought that Kevin Stewart's recent comment on one of my posts really sets the stage for what I will share. It's good stuff. Check it out:
I love Paul's statement in 1 Cor 3:6 on planting and watering. I think that is THE seminal verse for church growth. We are meant to be gardeners. Gardeners don't make things grow, they tend gardens. They do everything they can to make sure that the garden is healthy and then let God do the growing.
I've also seen that growth is not just a one dimensional thing. In any healthy church there will be seasons of growth in width (numbers) as well as in depth (discipleship), often alternating. The only true measure of growth is the area (width times depth).
Numbers is the only growth that is easy to measure so, sadly, it is the one that most of us focus on. This becomes a real problem when we focus on it to the exclusion of more important things, like truth and the Word. Turn on the TV and you'll see that it's really easy to grow in numbers - just sell out the Gospel and tell the people what they want to hear.
Gardening is hard work, but it is the only way to bring healthy growth. It also takes lots of patience. But the good news is that God takes care of the really hard work - changing hearts.
Pastors, don't bear a burden you were never meant to bear. Don't try to grow numbers or change hearts; let God do that. Tend your garden - plant seeds, water liberally and pull weeds (un-Biblical ideas). Free yourself from the burden only God can carry and be free to tend your garden with joy.
My Great Uncle Charldon McIntosh passed away on Saturday. He was in his 90's and lived a great life. You can link to his obituary here. It is a bigger deal when we lose a Great Uncle seeing as how we have no Uncles, Aunts or Cousins...Mom and Dad are both only children.
Well, this Great Uncles' Son and his family (which would be my second cousin) live in Northern VA and have been very close to our family through the years. They have never missed a special event in our lives....weddings, funeral, graduations, etc. That is just one of the several reasons I feel like I need to be at this funeral.
Juggled a stack of appointments and leaving for Bluefield, VA in an hour. Be back late tomorrow night.
Are National Community Church and Mark Batterson challenging us to have a heart for missions? Hmmm? Shall we? Do I have any fellow CCF Cornhole takers now that we have our very own CCF Cornhole boards that we initiated at retreat last month?
Told the church that I would post my notes on my blog today. Here we go. These were the main points and text of the message today. Feel free to send this link along to others and engage the conversation.
The Election is Over!Now what?
·So much time, energy, money and attention has been given to the PRE election conversation and election day stuff.
·I am READY FOR THE CHURCH TO BE THE VOICE OF THE POST ELECTION ENVIRONMENT!!
·How do Citizens of the heavenly Kingdom respond at times like this as citizens of an earthly kingdom?
·Obviously, the Lord would not want us to be arrogant winners or bitter losers!
·So, here are a few things that the Bible offers us:
Pray for Barack Obama
·Remember in Prayer- I Tim 2: 1-8
·Notice the 4 types of prayers.
·Then, he singles out Kings and people in authority.
·Don’t pray agenda prayers!!
·Most important prayer is a prayer for WISDOM!!
·Proverbs 8: 12-17
·Prayers for our leaders should be a PRIORITY and should be done in PURITY!
Honor Barack Obama
·First of all….we can honor our new president by understanding that….Biblical principles of how we treat people apply to how we treat the President too!
·Layers of separation…I can say what I want about someone I will never see….what is he gonna do….confront me?
·Here is what the Bible says….let this speak…
·Ephesians 4:17-29
·Another way that you can honor Barack Obama is by Remembering his Humanity.
Support Barack Obama
·I wanted to use the word submit, but that is an unpopular word in America.
·Romans 13:1-7 speaks for itself.Who can add to that?
·Also, keep in mind….kids are taking notes of how to treat leaders.(Principals, Teachers, Parents, Pastors, President)
Unite with Barack Obama:
·Galatians 3:2828There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
·They set their differences aside for the sake of uniting in a common cause!
·But, they have changed their behavior to support leadership!
Top Ten predictions for the next 4 years regardless of who you voted for…
1.The Bible will still have all the answers
2.Prayer will still work
3.The Holy Spirit will still move
4.God will still inhabit the praises of his people
5.There will still be anointed preaching
6.We will still praise God
7.God will still pour out blessings on his people
8.There will still be room at the cross
9.Jesus will still love you
10.Jesus will still save the lost when they come to him
This morning at Small Group, there was this one lady (whose identity I will protect) who shared something that I thought was classic! We were sharing about our week and highlights and lowlights when she shared her perspective on stewardship. It struck a nerve for me. I thought it was a profoundly hilarious perspective. You have heard me or many others say the words "it all belongs to God." I believe that. We are simply stewards.
So, since that is true....this lady told us that she applies this theology during the tough times....
Like when the light bill is due and she barely has the money to pay it, she will tell the Lord: "God, your lights are about to get shut off!!"
Or when the brakes on the car were bad this week, she told the Lord: "God, your brakes are 'bout to go out!"
I love it! She indicated that it is almost immediately after that, the Lord shows up and meets the need. Maybe you had to have been there, but this is great stuff and I am gonna have to use this one!!
I really like what I see at www.change.gov! If you have not seen this yet, you may want to. This site was launched Wednesday morning after the elections. It is going to be interesting to watch how a younger President leverages technology. Is it just me or has he done a LOT of stuff in 4 days?!?!
The girls are in Philly at the Revolve Tour. Basically, this is the teen version of Woman of Faith. Praying for our youth girls and leaders for a fantastic time in the Lord this weekend!
The guys are having a lock-in at the church tonight. There doing all sorts of fun stuff and spending some time talking about what a real man is. Praying that they too have a safe and memorable night together.
I am really proud of our youth volunteer staff who have stepped up to the plate during these months of not having a Youth Pastor. They have been faithful and have done faaaantastic!
Let me give you a quick rule of thumb...if it is quiet in the Twittosphere and Blogosphere, and I am NOT out of town, then it is NOT because I am having a quiet day. Let me sat that in another way... If I am not writing, I am probably slammed! Like today.
Been so busy with so much from haircut to broken dishwashers to budgets to boards to emails to calls to bishops to meetings to you-name-it! Amid it all, I am dealing today with 2 intensely difficult and sensitive situations for which I would appreciate your prayers for wisdom! At times, there will be those things I cannot share, but still require prayer from those who will. If you can push through your curiosity and pray for God's will to prevail in the situations that Pastor Noah is facing today, I would appreciate it lots! God will know what you mean!
--Love!
Noah Kaye
Lover & follower of Jesus, devoted to my wife Tricia & my kids, Davis, Lily & Graceson, serving & living in Africa as a man on mission for the Kingdom of God.
