Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire

I finished this book last week...it really challenged me again on the importance of prayer. The book reminded me of the power of prayer...the urgency of prayer...that prayer is our LIFE LINE...our communication line with God.

The book talked about how church's prayer meetings are empty and then Churches wonder why they don't see life change and growth. HELLO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I believe that part of the struggle is that prayer isn't always glamorous...frankly there are times when it is WORK! It is not always easy to come and pray...and there are times when you don't see the results right away and sometimes you don't see the results. BUT WE NEED TO DO IT! If not, our friends and family...people in our community...will be heading to hell...if we don't pray...we may not have the wisdom and discernment needed to make the best decisions...if we don't pray our church may grow stagnant instead of vibrant...if we don't thank THE CREATOR OF THE WORLD WE ENJOY...COME ON CHURCH!!!!

When I was in the middle of the book, I COULDN'T WAIT to get back to Prayer Encounter...I was SOOOOOOOOOOO excited to pray again...I LOVE praying...love getting with people and getting to work...getting on my knees. When I wasn't a pastor, you would find me every week at prayer meeting...I believe that some of the prayers we prayed "back in the day"...some of those prayerwalks around the city that have opened doors for us to see people come to Jesus today. So what will happen to our church if we don't pray now...COME ON CHURCH!!!!

Here is the deal...The urgency for prayer NEVER ENDS. We never "arrive" as people until we see Jesus...we never have enough people and resources to make the impact we could...AND more than ANYTHING ELSE we should NEVER, EVER tire of coming to our God WHO GAVE HIS LIFE FOR US and telling him thank you.

It's time to wake up Church...both Grace Community and THE Church...and get on our knees and start crying out to God in thanks and in requests. DO IT!

Nuggets from my reading...

Proverbs 9 & 10

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." (9:10)

"A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son grief to his mother." (10:1)

"The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out." (10:9)

"Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs." (10: 12)

"Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning, but a rod is for the back of him who lacks judgment." (10:13)

"He who heeds discipline shows the way to life, but whoever ignores correction leads others astray." (10: 17)

"When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise." (10: 19)

"The fear of the Lord adds length to life, but the years of the wicked are cut short." (10: 27)

"The way of the Lord is a refuge for the righteous, but it is ruin of those who do evil." (10:29)

10 Hours BABY!

I worked again today! 6 1/2 hours! That makes 10 for the week...AND IT FELT GOOD! GREAT spending time with God as I prepped my message for Sunday...I am looking forward to Sunday morning...God has been doing something in me...to be "officially" back on Sunday and to have it be Easter Sunday...WHOA.

I also had the chance to meet for 2+ hours with Jerimae today...hear his heart of how things are going...how he is doing...Do you know how blessed I am to get to work with him...to work with not just an amazing man of God...not just a guy who is EXTREMELY gifted...who loves this church and what God is doing...BUT more than that...he is a GREAT friend! I cherish that guy more than I can express...and am so thankful that he and Karen, Kaleb, Z-dawg and Maeci moved up here from Indy...J has done a fantastic job while I have been away...quite a lot to jump into...so grateful that he was able to step in and take things.

Good day.

GO WELLINGS GO!

Tim and Lisa Welling are good friends of mine...last night they had a banquet and silent auction. They are adopting a child from Nepal and this was a time to educate all of us on Nepal's culture and to raise some money. They had a friend from Chicago come and prepare the meal. They met her when they went to a Nepalian (is that a word!?!?!) restaurant...they have become good friends with her and are learning A LOT about the culture from her. What a VERY COOL God contact!

The food was REALLY REALLY good...Jaden had 3 HELPINGS! He loved the spicy stuff...it was cool to see some friends as well. I haven't been over to Goshen since early December! PRAYING for the Wellings and their kids...praying for God to bring them the right child and to do it THIS YEAR! Thanks for a GREAT TIME Tim and Lisa!!

Monday Reflections

One month ago I was getting ready to head into the lab to get a stent put in...I had a lot of hope a month ago...that I would be "better than ever." That this would pass and I would come back firing. A month later, I have more questions than answers...I have to be more patient in this process than I have with anything in my life...I realize more of how this will change my life, yet I don't even know it all yet. (Did that make sense??? It sure does to me!)

This much I know...God is not done with me yet...he wants me here...on earth...for a reason. I know that my life is much more fragile than I ever thought...I'm not as good as I thought I was...not as "invincible." Some reality...

Today I'm at the church building...prepping my message this morning...feels good to be here...calling on God for his words...no wasted words...no wasted time...time is of the essence! You just don't know when the end will come...so how will we live? THAT is a question that eating at me...how will I live? What will I do with the days, weeks, months, years that God will give me to be here...how will I invest in Kelsey...Chloe-Jaden-Luke...family and friends...community...how will I be different? Looking forward to seeing God's plans...

Happy Birthday Jaden!

I have told Jaden many times that I always wished that I had a friend like him when I was his age! I NEVER had anyone who wanted to play and play and play as much as I did. And Jaden is the same way...this kid could play outside from sun-up to sun-down...fun to watch. I will never forget his face this morning when we play the "hot and cold" game so he could find his new basketball hoop outside. He probably played ball for 3-4 hours today!

More than anything I love Jaden's heart. My prayer for him is that he is a tender warrior...that he channels his passion...his competitiveness to protecting the hurting, reaching the lost and CONQUERING the enemy. I love to hear him pray...to hear him pray for people...I loved going to our new building during the construction and listening to him pray for people to come and get saved...

I'm so proud of how he is doing in school as well...the kid reads like crazy! He is devouring books...doing great with his studies...AND has great behavior! Well done son!

I CANNOT WAIT to see what God has in store for my big man...to see what he chooses to do with his life...who he will marry...until then, I'm going to do what I can to enjoy these young years...full of passion and play...innocence and fun...

Jaden Blake Boucher...I love you more than I could EVER express in words.

Prayer Works!

I want to thank EVERYONE who has prayed and kept in contact with me over the past month. Your prayers have been felt...and it has been good. Your prayers are the reason I have been able to get through this time...I still have a while to go, but am very grateful for your prayers. We need to realize that prayer is THE lifeline for us. God LONGS to be in communication with us...longs to have us call on his name. To come into his presence and talk to him.

Last night I gave a prayer request for Luke...he has been waking up at night and SCREAMING...it tears your heart out to hear it. I shared this request last night at Prayer Encounter...a couple of people prayed and then Michele DEMANDED God to intervine...it was said with a humble heart and with passion...GOD RESPONDED! Last night Luke slept GREAT...very peaceful sleep.

Prayer is so vital...it is how we get God's attention with what is most important to us...it will show our heart to him...AND to top that off...he KNOWS what the motivation is behind the words we are saying.

Here are some prayers that I've been praying over the past month:
-For God to restore me better than ever
-For God to work in my life in ways that don't make sense..."Didn't that guy have a heart attack?"
-For God to not just guard my family...but to have us THRIVE on the front lines of ministry...
-That I will NEVER-EVER push them to the back burner because of ministry
-For God to grow HIS CHURCH while I'm "out"
-For God to stir HIS CHURCH to pray...and pray PASSIONATELY
-For God to show us THE BEST ways to connect to our community (Loving families to Jesus and touching EVERY family in St. Jo County with the GOSPEL!!)
-For God to send us leaders...lots of them...from the harvest because we need them to reach every family in St. Jo County!
-For God to show me how to restructure my life...cut out the access junk...things that waste my time
-For self-discipline in eating, exercise, studying the Word, prayer.........
-To be the best man, husband, father and leader the HE desires of me

"God...HELP! I'm weak...I'm broken...I need you more than I ever have...I love you...long for you...trust you...want more of you...LONG to see you change me, my family, my church and our community...why not here? Why not now? Why not us? I love you Jesus...in Jesus name...Amen."

Getting Stronger

This past week has been very good...for the last 2 weeks every time I had 1 "full" day, I would be in my chair for 2 days. I have put together 3 or 4 "full" days. Of course, a full day is a little different now than a month ago! A full day consists of actually going out of the house...going to at least 2 places...walking close to 2 miles...playing with the kids...not the usual busy schedule. The good part is that I am feeling better...My mind has gotten as fatigued this week and my body is feeling better too!! I can tell I'm feeling better because I'm starting to write with more "!" !!!! I even got to be the mystery reader for Jaden's class today...when they were giving hints as to who the reader was...Jaden said: "It can't be my dad...it has to be my mom...my dad had a heart attack!" His face just LIT UP when I came in the room! VERY COOL!

Confessions of a Reformissional Rev

GREAT book by Mark Driscoll! I heard him speak live at a conference a few years ago and liked him then as well. He has an honesty that is really rare among pastors. He shares the story of Mars Hill (Seattle, Washington) from the ground up...he shares his personal struggles and church struggles very clearly. I really appreciated the book.

Some key things that jump out to me:

-"As a church grows it changes." OF COURSE...the point here is that the change can be hard for people who liked things "the way they were." But if we are going to continue to make an impact as a church, we HAVE TO change.

-"Adolescence (for a church) is achieved after the long and painful season of doing the hard work it takes to get a church functioning with healthy systems, competent leaders and clear expectations of people." This is hard and worth it...this is the season we are working on right now at Grace.

-I was impressed with how important THE Word is to Mark...he has a deep passion for the Word of God and for Truth...there is a misconception about a lot of large church leaders and that they compromise truth...it seems from listening to him and reading that is not the case here!

-"I knew that unless everyone gave (money) we would never make ends meet because we did not have a sugar daddy to bail us out." WOW do I relate to that now!!

-One of the main themes was what he did to himself and his family...how he really neglected them both and came to realize how important it was to protect his home first. He was VERY open about struggles that he had and how God grabbed a hold of his life!

-He spoke of a pastor from Cali who asked him more about his personal life than his ministry and how this grabbed his attention. I AM SO THANKFUL for the atmosphere Jim has built on our team. From my 1st month at Grace I believed that he cared more about me than what he got out of me. It's one of the things that I deeply miss about staff meetings. (I miss our regular staff meetings because of teaching...Jim and I talk weekly, but I'm not there with the whole staff.) It is not rare for Jim to take the whole meeting asking us how we are doing...personally...marriage...kids...just life stuff. It isn't rare for the guys to share how they are struggling either...I believe what we have is rare...but oh is it good.

-Mark's church has 3 FULL TIME staff members devoted to church planting...both for their church and for the nation! THAT is mission...THAT is a lasting impact! Not just about Mars Hill, but about THE church...very cool...

Good book...gave me a lot of things to think through to process while I'm off...I pray that Mark stays faithful to his call...to his family...to THE Truth! The church needs leaders like him...

This one is for you Grandpa Messner!

When I was a kid, grandpa Messner had heart trouble. I remember that he wasn't supposed to work in the yard and other stuff because of one of his meds would make his blood not clot as fast. One day he came inside with a little smirk on his face...he had gone out to the garden (he didn't tell grandma of course!) and had cut his finger...I remember everyone getting all worked up about it...but when I looked at him, he gave that little smirk that said "It's o.k. Timothy...no worries!" If grandpa was going to live...he still wanted to LIVE!

With that though in mind...I found out today that my anti-clotting meds really do work! I was putting together Jaden's hoop that we got for his birthday...(We are hiding it in our neighbors garage 'cause his bday isn't until Saturday)...Well...I cut my finger! It took FOREVER to clot...bled through 2 band aids!! It wasn't that bad of a cut, but MAN it took a loooooong time to clot...I guess I'll have to start waiting longer for the bleeding to stop...and I may have to give a smirk or two to my kids like grandpa did to us. (OH...I did get the hoop finished BTW!)

AND I guarantee you this...If I'm going to live...I plan to LIVE! God has given me more time here and I plan to use it!