Highpointe is Open for Business!!!

Yes, Highpointe Church will have services on Sunday. There is snow on the parking lot, but if you will come to the entry by the Fellowship Hall, you can drop off someone. It has been cleared. If anyone would like to help Sunday morning, you could do a couple of things. If you'll get here around 8:30 AM, you can help with additional snow shoveling and snow melt application. A few of you could post yourselves at the entrances and offer to park cars for the people driving in. You might want to call someone that is uncertain about venturing out and offer to bring them. This is a chance for ministry that we get only a few times a year. (Thank goodness) I know many of our senior members won't risk venturing out, but don't let that hinder you. God promises to be there in the hearts of those who come, so let's get as many as we can to come!

Kurtis and Kit Ivey will be ministering this week. You know them and their ministry and I know that you will enjoy it. So let's have a great day in the Lord tomorrow at Highpointe Church!

Coffee Phrases

I know that at times I can be a very petty person. I have always been mildly annoyed by the phrase, "a coffee" as in , "Let's go get a coffee." I have always alternated between, "Let's go get some coffee", or "Let's go get a cup of coffee." If I'm going to a cafe or pancake house, I'm expecting a bottomless cup so there will be much coffee drunk. Since they keep coming by at various phases of the coffee consumption, it is impossible to determine how many cups are consumed. We're just drinking coffee until we place our hands over the top of the cup to indicate that we are now finished with our conversation, hence the coffee drinking will end. That is the time to use the phrase, "some" coffee.

If we are going to a coffee shop or a Starbucks, the expectation is that the drink you order is the drink you get. No refills, no second order. You never hear anyone say, "I'll have another Grande Americano with an extra shot and room." It's considered bad form. Hence, the proper phrase for that event is going for a "cup of" coffee. One cup, and when it's gone, the experience is over.

When someone says, "I went across the street for a coffee", I immediately tag them as a coffee lightweight. Or they may be trying to sound European. Either way, I will not consider them true cafeteros. Maybe I'm being petty and judgemental. Maybe I'm just being regional and the offending phrase is perfectly acceptable on the east coast. Or maybe I'm just sick of having my agenda altered by snow and have grown grumpy.

Winter Storms

Okay folks, we have a winter storm. That's not so really amazing because it is winter. We have two or three of them every winter, usually followed by spring. But every time they occur, the local channels go non-stop with the weather and STATE OF EMERGENCY coverage. We see pictures of the salt and sand trucks. The guy in charge of them promises that they will be working through the night. We see the pictures of the snowplows. The guy in charge of them promises that they will be working through the night. We see the OG&E spokesman promising that they will be working through the night. We are warned not to get out. If you do go out, remember to pack some gummy bears so you don't starve because you might have to walk upwards of a quarter mile to get to a 7-11. We are told if we are in an accident just to exchange information with the other driver because all of the tow trucks are busy with the drivers who were lucky enough to wreck first.

Every winter event is treated as if it is the first time anything remotely like this has ever happened. Last night the Wal-Mart where my friend Martin works was wiped clean of groceries in a pre-emptory apocalyptic freak-out.

And then it's over. The ice and snow goes away. The weather forecasters go back to their 6 minutes of daily weather coverage. The memories of "Icestorm 2010" fade. We go back to driving 7 mph over the speed limit.

Until the next winter storm. And it starts all over.

Report from Haiti

This is a report from a friend of mine, Rick Ryan, who works with Convoy of Hope. It is dated January 26:

As of the end of the day today, 1.6 million meals have been served in Haiti. It is made possible because we were one of the few groups to have food, water and supplies on the ground. Our warehouse was filled and therefore we could respond right away. We have added more POD's on the ground and bought more trucks for distribution. The situation is still very critical and dangerous. We have one million pounds of product in the pipeline on its way to Haiti. Pray that it will all pass through the red tape quickly. Those are the three prayer requests: Safety of our team and the national church people who are helping up distribute food and water. Safety of emotionally, physically and spiritually. More Fuel. Our distribution depends on having enough. So many of the storage tanks are damaged. And for all the food and water in the pipeline to pass through quickly and getting to the Haitian people. We are fighting for lives. Thanks to all kinds of churches, networks, and friends who are helping us. This is truly about the Body of Christ coming together to save a nation. We do need your prayers and your continued help.

This won't be over for a long time. Don't give up early.

Moving

When Jesus called his disciples, his command was to "follow me". In reading the gospels, it is evident that Jesus was always moving around. He didn't stay in one place very long. So his command wasn't "sit down here" or "stay here", it was "follow me". As Christ followers we must constantly be on the move. We talk about witnessing a "move of God", but we want it to happen where we are. Jesus wants us to go where he is. He moved through the bad parts of town, talking to people the "church people" didn't approve of. He spoke in the synagogue, but his most effective ministry took place in the marketplace. He didn't have a headquarters. He was constantly on the move and he is still moving today. Let's stay on the move with him.

A Good Report

This morning I attended a quarterly meeting of the board of directors for Teen Challenge of Oklahoma. I am always blessed and encouraged by spending time with our program directors but today was particularly encouraging. I have always been blessed to see our directors give testimonies of how God is changing lives through the ministry of Teen Challenge and how they feel privileged to do work that I am particularly unsuited for. Today I was struck by the joy and optimism they displayed and I reflected back on the previous few years. We came through a difficult time of loss and transition. We had a period of financial lack. A year ago we were facing difficult and potentially discouraging decisions. But a year later, the finances are coming back. Our directors seem to be energized in ways I haven't seen in a while. There is an expectation of greater things. I love God's faithfulness. He never leaves us or forsakes us. Our struggles are far from over, but we are convinced that He who began a good work in us will be faithful to complete it until the day of Christ's return.

Haiti Response

I have been asked by several of the guys at Highpointe (Pointe Men) if we should be planning a trip to Haiti. I have been really blessed that our men are thinking in that way. Several years ago when we put together a team to go help with Katrina relief, we didn't get much response. But as the heart of our church has become more in tune with the heart of God, I am seeing a difference in our people and their feelings of responsibility to show God's love in real and tangible ways. This desire to go to a very difficult place and do difficult work to help relieve the suffering of the poorest of the poor shows that our hearts are beginning to be broken by the things that break the heart of God.

My answer to the guys is that there will be a lot of work to do for a long time. I will look to put a trip together for early 2011 when the efforts will have shifted from crisis relief to rebuilding. The current skill sets of our people would be used most productively in that type of ministry.

That doesn't mean that I don't ever want us involved in disaster relief. On the contrary, I would love to be prepared for immediate response to disaster; whether it be a house fire in Oklahoma City, a tornado in southern Oklahoma, a hurricane on the Gulf Coast, or a tsunami or earthquake in the far reaches of the world. As the heart of compassion in our church grows, I believe that this will be a natural outgrowth of that deep love for all of God's children.

I can't wait for what is ahead.

Haiti Response

As the tragedy unfolds and the relief efforts gain traction in Haiti it is easy to lose equilibrium at the massive scope of the project ahead. At current, there is both rescue and relief going on. There are the amazing and encouraging stories of people surviving the unthinkable and being rescued. However, those stories will not go on much longer. Soon, all survivors will be accounted for. The adreneline rush of rescue will wear off as it becomes the dismal and daunting task of recovery. The relief and rebuilding efforts will go on for years.

It would be easy for me to sit here at my computer, sipping coffee in my comfortable office and declare the reasons for the disaster or bemoan the spiritual, political and financial condition of Haiti. But that would not help the individual in Haiti, who is a Haitian because of the biological "bingo" of birth which placed him in the poorest place in the Western Hemishpere.

For Christians, we are not afforded the luxury to determine if giving to help the efforts in Haiti is "good stewardship". What we do now in relief is really the heart of God and it is in opportunities such as this that the church can have its finest hour.

Isaiah 58:6-10- Is not this the fast that I choose; to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, "Here I am." If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.

A couple of our missionary family members, Mike and Laura Clark are in Haiti now with Convoy of Hope. Otis Garrison, representing Mission of Hope has been involved in Haiti for years. Gifts to either of these fine ministries would be gifts which would be utilized to great effect in relieving the suffering of the people of Haiti.

But more importantly, all of the relief workers from each of the organizations working there, not to mention military protectors need an intense covering of prayer while they work in Haiti. They are seeing things no one should have to see, and enduring the unendurable on a daily basis. They will have turn off a portion of their comprehension just to be able to function at times. Please take time, several times a day to pray for their protection, health, endurance and immune systems. But also pray that the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard their hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil 4:7)

It is not for us to try to discern the cause of this trouble, but it is in our hands to determine the response.

4000 year promise

In our Global Perspectives class last week we talked about the Global Perspective in the Old Testament. Early in the book of Genesis, when God made his covenant with Abram it was a two-fold promise: (1) God would bless Abram and his descendents and (2) all of the people groups of the world were to be blessed by Abram's descendents. Two thousand years later Jesus reaffirmed that covenant and encouraged his disciples to get busy sharing this good news with the peoples of the world. Two thousand years after that, I am blogging about that covenant, because I am a product of that promise. I am a believer because someone with the Global Perspective brought the Good News to this continent and someone shared it with me. God is faithful to fulfill his promises. You can trust Him!

Raising Arizona

The Pointe Men of Highpointe Church will be making another construction missions trip to Arizona this summer to help build an Indian church in cooperation with missionary Charley Odell. This will be our third trip of this nature in the past four years. This time we will be working on the Cedar Creek church which is near White River, AZ. We will leave on Saturday morning, July 17 and get there late that evening. On Sunday we will attend church at Cedar Creek and make work plans for the coming week. Monday to Wednesday we will work in the church, which will be in the late stages of construction. On Thurday morning we will leave, do some siteseeing, and head back home, arriving early Friday evening.

We will be working indoors, mostly, doing finishing projects. Men of all skill levels are invited to attend. The cost of the trip is $350 per person if you ride in the church van, and $275 if you wish to furnish your own transportation. This covers all meals and lodging. Ask any of the guys who have gone on previous trips and they will tell you that we have a good time and eat really well.

We have also pledged $5000 to the project for the purchase of building materials used in the project. We will be talking about ways that we can raise this by the end of June. Kenny Hayes and Michael Weed are coordinating this trip and they will be happy to talk to you about being a part of our main men's project for 2010. Whether you can go or contribute for materials or contribute so someone else can go, every man can participate in reaching beyond our local area to build the Kingdom.

Kids like cheese!

Kids like cheese. Not exactly a profound revelation. I am watching my grandson, Tyler this morning and he has an appetite like his pawpaw. And cheese is one of his favorites, whether it is the cheese sticks or "square cheese", otherwise known as American singles. (You know, the square orange cheese-like product individually wrapped and used on cheeseburgers and grilled cheese sandwiches.) What makes cheese so kid-friendly is that it is so non-threatening. There is no rind or peel, no seed or pulp, no fat or bone to pick around and every bite is identical. It can't be spilled, and messes are minimal so they don't get into trouble while carrying it around the house. Just thought you'd want to know why kids like cheese.

Catalyst Class Article

Tonight I begin teaching a Catalyst School of Ministry class called "Global Perspective". There seems to be a little confusion about the title. This class is not a class on missions called "Perspectives". That is an awesome class that goes much deeper than my class will. My class is centered around the biblical mandate to reach the world. We will begin with a broad overview, then as the weeks go by we will bring our focus nearer and nearer until we are seeing our own individual mission fields and how we can each do our own part in carrying out the great commission. We will use the book "Peace Child" as our collateral reading assignment. It is a fascinating story. I'm looking forward to beginning the class tonight. It lasts 8 weeks. Come and be a part of it!

Proclamation

The Gospel is a proclamation and an invitation. It is not a command. The angels proclaimed Jesus' birth to the shepherds. The shepherds decided among themselves to go and see him. Coming to Christ is always the choice of the individual; not the carrying out of an order. The Gospel is presented, the Holy Spirit does his work in the heart and mind of the hearer, but it is up to the hearer to make the decision. A forced conversion is a false conversion.

No Lone Rangers

Christianity, properly lived, is never a spectator sport. It necessitates participation and cooperation with others. Many people try to remain anonymous in church, but they are cheating themselves. A person who merely attends a church service without participating is just viewing a variety show of sing-alongs and speeches where the hat is passed midway to reward the performers. And the variety show is held at a really inconvenient time.

But the true Christian knows that there is so much more than mere attendance. To get the full value, we must join the community, with all the messiness and uncertainty that comes with it. There is no place for solo acts in the community of believers. Everything happens in concert with others. In community there is strength, commitment, and relationships to bridge the inevitable distractions and uncertainties that occur in communities. When one member falters, the rest pick up the slack with the knowledge that when their turn to falter arrives, they won't be left out in the cold. When we are aggravated by another member of the community, we remember when we were the aggravator and we wait for things to settle down. Then we continue as a community. When we have a church community, we have much more than a clubhouse to go to on Sunday. We have a family to lean on, to support, and to work things out with over the long haul.

A Story Worth Telling

The Great Blizzard of 2009 hit Oklahoma City last week on Christmas eve, but remnants remain even now more than a week later. Every gathering of people eventually leads to someone's blizzard story. That story will initiate others until everyone has told their remembrance of being stuck, stranded, cold, aggravated, inconvenienced, collided with, or otherwise interrupted by this historic snowstorm. The good thing is that all of these stories are told in cozy living rooms or kitchens and both the storyteller and the listener is comfortable and out of danger. The worse the conditions faced by the storyteller, the better the story. We enjoy telling stories of tough situations that we have endured. We can even make the stories funny, now, because we have survived them and our lives have returned to normal.

No one seems to want to hear about a normal day. Imagine telling a story of the ride home: "I took 122nd down to the Hefner Parkway. I had to stop at MacArthur, but I had a green light at Meridian. It was a really easy turn onto the parkway, and the traffic was flowing really smoothly so I was able to drive 65 all the way to the 63rd street exit." If you're listening to that story for very long, you're gonna try to find some reason to get away. The reason we like to tell and hear the blizzard stories is because they are unusual and have a level of suspense. That makes them interesting.

So why do we strive to live our lives as though the goal of life is to eliminate all risk? Take a chance. Make your life a story worth telling.