Cool Church XP

Is something good not happening?

Last Saturday night at church I was a little tired, and maybe, just maybe, life was not going exactly my way.  I have a lot of trouble hiding how I'm feeling at times. 

Gayle DeJesus looked right at me in Life Cafe and asked "Is something good not happening?"  I laughed so hard.  What a wonderfully positive spin on "what's wrong?"  I had to write it down so I could use this for the rest of my life. 

Last night Cynthia and I joined her dad, Harley, and his wife for his 90th birthday dinner at Country Kitchen.  They eat there pretty much every week, with their favorite server, Kelly, and she always has a table ready for them. 

As we were driving to the restaurant, Harley was talking to the traffic light.  "Come on, turn green..."  And we joked with him about how he was so impatient and then I quipped "Well, you've been waiting 90 years for this dinner.  I guess you would be a little excited for it."

When we arrived the table was decorated with balloons, and a couple of pictures of Harley with Kelly at his surprise party last Sunday.  It was a wonderful evening.  It was something good.  And I had to wonder, how much of our time do we spend waiting for something good, versus celebrating what is good?

Read all of Psalm 136.  It starts like this:   "Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever."

Go with God!

Restoration Update and Fall Launch

We continue working through the restoration process behind the scenes.  With the recent events with George, Scott, and Dennis, something went "crunch" and we realized we'd had sort of a fender bender.  My mentor, Bill Putman, keeps reminding me "nobody died" to help us keep things in perspective. 

The Elders are taking a close look at the situations surrounding the event George shared with us in June.  They are meeeting with each of the pastors to see how we are all doing, spending time with George to encourage him, and meeting together to pray and review progress.

In this process, George has stepped away from his regular duties, he has "moved off the highway to the shoulder" if you will.  The Elders are figuring out what contributed to the situation, and what we can do better in the future.  Once things are in better shape from their perspective, we can get back out on the highway at full speed!

I'm particularly excited for October.  We'll be launching the fall with renewed vision at our campuses in Happy Valley and Parkrose, and have our first public service at our new Sandy Campus!  Watch for information meetings on August 15th for getting involved at both Sandy and Parkrose to help these campuses reach as many people as possible for Jesus Christ!

Feel free to direct any questions regarding the restoration process to the Elders at [email protected].

Church Family Financial Update

Every quarter we send out giving statements to a couple of thousand households.  Ever wonder how they get in the envelopes? 

Here's the answer:  We've got a very cool team of ladies that get together and help with all kinds of things around the office, including praying and prayer cards, to stuffing envelopes. 

Dorothy, pictured here to the left, pays close attention to Abundant Life's financial health and often catches any misprints in Coolstuff where we accidentally flip the "budget need" with the "giving to date" numbers.  It happens sometimes in a busy office...

Luela and Barb pictured here to the right,  are two more of the ladies who give tirelessly on behalf of the church family.  You'll see Luela at most every Abundant Life event doing way more that she should do, carrying way more that she should carry, but loving every minute of it.

So, as Dorothy might ask, how are we doing financially?  Well, we're struggling a bit, just like so many others out there.  We're saving money where we can (Dianne, our Facilities Manager just announced we cut our power bill by about 9% this year!), and are running pretty lean on staffing, but sticking to doing what we hear God calling us to do, and trusting Him for the resources. 

We have helped hurting families to the tune of about $65,000 in the last 12 months to save homes, keep power and gas connected, among other things.  We have connected many, many struggling famiies with mentors and counselors, and have continued to reach out and serve our community during these hard times.

We are experiencing God as He shakes us up to prepare us for the next chapter of His ministry through us, and the Elders are stepping out in faith that God has called us to move ahead, including a campus in Sandy.  We are moving toward outcomes that only God can bring to fruition.  We are operating in faith.

OK, OK, so what's that mean financially?  Well, our income has fallen short of our budget need all year by about 5%, or $150,000 total for the fiscal year.  As we get close to the finish line (July 31st), it looks like the gap may be bigger.  We'd all love our income to meet budget!

How can you help as a part of our church family?  First, pray that God goes before us in all we take on as a church.  He promises us the resources to do that which He has called us to do. 

Second, remain faithful in your giving throughout the summer.  If you're not currently giving to the finances of your church family at Abundant Life, jump in this next weekend!  You can also give on line here: Give Online.  And by all means, if you feel called to make a one-time gift to help push our fiinances to a better place by, go for it!  There's no time like the present!

Mlachai 3:10 tells us about the only time God says "test me..."

"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it."

This sounds like a test where we are the big winners.  What will you do with this challenge?

One more way to serve, one more way to think about life

This year I'm serving on the Steering Committee for the annual Bike MS event on behalf of my wife who has MS, and Abundant Life.  This event raises money for the Multiple Sclerosis Society that helps folks who suffer from this disease, and helps fund research to treat and cure it.  Abundant Life has a team of about 10 who will ride together on July 31st and August 1st, plus others who will volunteer to support the 600 or so riders.

If you've ever wanted to embrace the perspective of living one day at a time, trusting God for each new day, try on Multiple Sclerosis for size. 

This disease attacks the myelin sheath around your nerves, causing "short circuits" throughout your body, resulting in all kinds of symptoms from tingling all over and fatigue, like Cynthia has, to weakness, loss of mobility, blindness, you name it.  Anything the nervous system controls can be affected, which is everything.  And MS can attack anywhere at any time. 

So every day is a new day, and you don't know what symptoms you might have, and if they'll ever go away.  Cynthia's diagnosis 20 years ago forever changed us in how we look at life.

And frankly, we should all look at life this way.  Each day is a new day.  We do not know what it will hold.  And as Christ followers, we know we are in good hands, no matter what challenges life presents to us.

Feel like making a difference for people with MS?  You can volunteer to help at the event (Abundant Life is sponsoring a couple of rest stops), or join the cycling team by e-mailing me at [email protected].  Or donate by clicking on this link  Donate for Cynthia 

And may you awake tomorrow with a new sense of wonder at God's creation, and all that is right in the world.

Restoration Update

The Chairman of our Elders, Bob Bergers, forwarded me the statement below for everyone regarding George's restoration process.  That's him pictured to the left. 

Our Elders are a great group of guys, and I appreciate their covering over Abundant LIfe, especially during times like these where God is revealing the next place He wants us to learn and grow.  Pray for these guys.  They volunteer immense amounts of time to oversee Abundant Life, and often work behind the scenes unnoticed, but ever present.

Here's a link to their pictures on the web: Elders  George will be serving in an inactive status during his restoration process.

Here's the letter from the Elders:

The last several weeks have been some of the most challenging days in the life of our church.  We face challenges unlike any before.   God’s hand has already been evident as He uses this occasion to change lives and make our church even stronger.

 

We’d like to make you aware of some steps we are taking so that you can know how to be praying.

 

As announced during the June 19^th and 20^th services George has began meeting with a local Christian counselor.   Ann will be included in the counseling at a time to be established by the counselor.    During George’s time away from teaching he will continue to maintain normal office hours as he works with staff in processing this journey, learning, growing, and rebuilding relationships.

 

In addition, we are now several weeks into the program involving Bill Putman the consultant from CDF (Christian Development Fund).  Bill will be involved on an ongoing basis.  The term of Bill’s involvement is uncertain and yet to be defined but will become evident as progress is realized.

 

Please accept our thanks for your prayers and continued support of God’s work through Abundant Life Church. Even though these are challenging times, we hold to His word that all things work together for good for those who love Him and who are called according to His purpose.   This is our hope and the promise that fuels our energy to move forward.

 

Your Abundant Life Elder’s

If you guys have any questions, shoot them to [email protected]!

Volunteering: Happy Valley 4th of July Festival

I love Independence Day. 

Every Fourth of July, Abundant Life provides volunteers for Happy Valley's big festival in the city park.  It's a day long party serving the city.  Check out the photo album in the side bar to the right!

Hats off to all those who volunteered to make this event a wonderful day for our community.

Next opportunity? 

How would you like to volunteer for the Bike MS event July 31-Aug 1? 

Volunteer to host a rest stop, help out cheering along the route, or work at the start finish line.  Interested?  E-mail me at [email protected]

The Duck Drops Here...

A couple of thousand people gathered in Happy Valley Park for our all-church worship service last night.  We had a blast getting to see everyone, playing together, worshipping together, learning together. 

The event kicked off with Jessie and Cary Samsel, father and son, bringing us some preservice music.  These guys are great, and a blessing to our worship team.

A part of the pre-service activities was a "duck drop" from a fire truck extension ladder.  It's nice to have Jamie Karn  of the Fire Department around to pull stuff off like this...  Everyone had the opportunity to buy a duck, then they were dropped from the sky towards a bucket on the ground.  The banter was hilarious as Jamie climbed the ladder with a wireless mic so that he and Dave could talk back and forth. At one point Dave urged Jamie to stop talking and start dropping ducks.  The first place winner went home with a new Ipad.  Nice.

The music was great, and the voices of our church family filled the valley.  The kids got up and lead us in some of the songs from their week at Super Summer for Kids, and taught the rest of us the motions.  We had all three of our worship leaders, Scott, Dustin, and Devon, on stage.  What a treat.

Josh Galgan brought the message on James 1:19-25 and demonstrated getting rid of filth in our lives by having us shoort finger rockets across the crowd as fast as we could to get rid of them. 

Other elements included bouncing white beach balls and blowing soap bubbles to encourage us to do our devotional every day using SOAP (Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer).

Wow, what an evening.  If you missed it, you really missed out.  You can get a taste for the evening by taking a look at the photo album on the right!