FAMILY FOCUS... (Psalm 118:24)

MAX LUCADO ~ EVERY DAY DESERVES A CHANCE…

Doesn’t every day deserve a chance – a shot, a tryout, an audition, a swing at the plate…an opportunity – to be a good day? Okay. But we all know that into every day shadow cans come too. There are days when traffic snarls, airports close, friends forget, and spouses complain. Days full of deadlines, long lines, receding hairlines, luggage-losing airlines, nauseating pickup lines, and those ever-elusive bottom lines. And let’s not forget divorce days, final exam days, surgery days, tax days, and days when the cemetery dirt is still fresh. The type of DAYS that affect your ‘General Skills’ on how to be or act like a believer.

Suppose, neck deep in your tough day, you resolve to…GIVE IT A CHANCE! You choose not to drink, work, or worry it away. Instead, you decide to give it a fair shake. You trust more. Stress less. Amplify gratitude. Mute complaints. And suddenly… ‘giving a day a chance’ works! You do the same the next day, and the next. Days become a week. Weeks become months. Months become years of good days! In such a fashion good lives are built. One good day at a time!

Psalm 118:24 (NLT) THIS IS THE DAY THE LORD HAS MADE! WE WILL REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT!

“THIS is the day…” includes EVERY DAY – RIGHT? (Divorce days…Surgery Days…Tax Days…Bill-Paying Days...Job Loss Days…Foreclosure Days…911 Days…Children heading to College Days…Cancer Days…Funeral Days?)

According to what is written here… God made THIS DAY - ordained THIS HOUR - designed the details of THIS MOMENT! (Each DAY emerges from God’s drawing room!)

So… what must we do with this day? Rejoice and be Glad - IN it!

I guess here is where I wouldn’t mind editing another word… “IN”

-Maybe I could swap if for “AFTER” - “I’ll be glad AFTER the day!”

-Or maybe… “THROUGH” - “I’ll be glad to just get THROUGH the day!”

-Or maybe… “OVER” - “I’ll be glad when the day is OVER!”

How do we “REJOICE” or “BE GLAD”… “IN it"? (Is it even possible?)

-Paul rejoiced IN Prison!

-David wrote psalms IN the wilderness!

-Jonah prayed IN the fish’s belly!

-Paul and Silas sang IN Jail!

-Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego remained steadfast IN the furnace!


-John saw heaven IN his exile!


-Jesus prayed IN the garden!

Do you think it’s possible that we could REJOICE smack-dab IN the midst of the day? (Imagine – just imagine… if we could?)

Will you or Won't You? (That’s the question!)

Here's what I know... GRATITUDE IS AN OPTION!

(Need some SPICE in your DAY?) Trying THANKING GOD for every problem that comes your way IN each & every DAY! James 1:2 (NLT) Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for JOY!

TODAY (Tuesday, April 13^th ~ 2010) is the DAY the LORD HAS MADE! I WILL REJOICE & BE GLAD IN IT!

These are always a GREAT REMINDER for me to REJOICE & BE GLAD – IN – EACH DAY – the LORD HAS MADE…

SUNDAY SNAPSHOT... (UNDEFILED)

(Apr11/Wk1) GREATEST SEX EVER!

SEX has long been a taboo conversation in most churches; but guess who came up with the idea of SEX in the first place? Is it possible that the one who invented SEX is actually pro-SEX and wants us to have fulfilling SEX lives? Is it possible that what we're experiencing is only a second rate imitation of what God hoped our SEX lives would be? Is it possible we've lost the original design and have settled for something else? The Bible tells us in Hebrews 13:4... "Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be UNDEFILED..." The term UNDEFILED can be defined as pure, free from stain or blemish... IMMACULATE! Could it be possible that God designed our SEX Lives to be IMMACULATE & beyond our wildest imaginations?

If you want to EXPERIENCE the GREATEST SEX you’ve ever had – then you have to KNOW something ahead of time! You have to know… WHERE IT’S ALL GONE WRONG! In Romans 1:24–25… the Apostle Paul says that people either worship God their Creator and enjoy HIS CREATION -- including our bodies -- or people worship CREATION as God! Paul goes on to explain that those who worship creation - invariably worship the human body because it is the apex of God’s creation! In this skewed concept – SEX (itself) becomes a RELIGION! I believe that one of the greatest threats to Christianity is SEX!

Dr Kevin Leman writes in his book SHEET MUSIC… “Our marriage beds are one of the most CROWDED places on the face of this earth! It is teeming with people, some of whom you’ve never met, but they’re all there – all affecting your sexual intimacy, looking over your shoulder, and shaping the quality of your sexual pleasure! Don’t look behind the pillow, but be aware that your parents are lurking right underneath it! And if you think that’s bad, you also better get used to your in-laws, who are hiding under your spouse’s pillow! At the foot of the bed? Oh, that’s your & your spouse’s siblings. Underneath the bed? Don’t even get me started about that! WHAT AM I TALKING ABOUT? You come into marriage with more baggage than you know! This baggage has formed into what I call your “RULEBOOK” – your unconscious but very influential beliefs you hold about HOW things should be done - especially in bed! Here’s where you might say… ‘I didn’t know I had a RULEBOOK?’ Few of us do, but all of us get furious when a RULE from our ‘RULEBOOK’ is broken! (Example) A husband will ultimately pay for the mistakes of his father-in-law, just as a wife will pay dearly for the mistakes of her mother-in-law! YOU’RE NOT GETTING MARRIED TO A PERSON WITHOUT A PAST! You’re going to bed with a person who has been indelibly imprinted by his order of birth, her parents’ style of child-rearing, and his early childhood experiences with sexuality! He or she may be naked when they come to bed, but the last thing he/she is – IS ALONE!”

What does SEX really mean? For starters – you need to know that God is not FREAKED OUT about this topic! It’s His INVENTION – His CREATION! Matter of fact – God actually COMMANDS His Creation to HAVE SEX! 1 Corinthians 7:4-5…The wife’s body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband… (All the guys say right about now… AMEN!) …the husband’s body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife! (All the women say right about now… OH MY!?) (5) Do not deprive each other…except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer.

The main problem with this gift from God is what the world keeps saying… “IT’S JUST SEX! It’s just two people getting together – fulfilling each other’s needs! It’s just PHYSICAL! IT’S JUST SEX!” Now think about that… You realize the UNDERLYING THEME with that line of thinking right? It’s basically implying that YOU & I are just ANIMALS! If it’s nothing more than PHYSICAL! That if we continue to DO IT ENOUGH – DO IT DIFFERENT WAYS – DO IT WITH MULTIPLE PARTNERS – that somehow or sometime – it will SATISFY YOU! To be honest with you… NOTHING could be farther than the truth with this line of thinking! Here’s the reality folks… if God designed for us to experience ‘Big Bed Sex’ (the Greatest Sex ever) – then ‘Little Bed Sex’ (the ‘it’s just sex’ thinking) WILL NEVER SATISFY YOU – IT CAN’T! You know WHY!? WE’RE NOT ANIMALS! Matter of fact – God said something completely different to this in Scripture - He said something along these lines… “You’re not like that! You’re not an ANIMAL! I designed you incredibly DIFFERENT than that!” Check it out - Genesis 1:25-26… God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 26 THEN... (After God got done making the ANIMALS) THEN… (God says… I’m gonna do something DIFFERENT – I’m gonna do something UNIQUE – ONE OF A KIND!) God said, "Let us make MAN (ready for this…) in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over (the animals) the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." (Because they are NOT AN ANIMAL – they are a HUMAN – created in OUR IMAGE – in OUR LIKENESS! THEY ARE DIFFERENT!!)

The language used here… ‘OUR IMAGE & OUR LIKENESS’ means that you and I have… PHYSICAL BODY / SOUL / SPIRIT. This is what makes us DIFFERENT from ANIMALS! It’s also why you & I can NEVER just ‘Crawl Into Bed’ together – we can NEVER have a ‘Sexual Relationship With Each Other’ – and it ‘JUST BE SEX!’ Because you & I – bare in OURSELVES – IN OUR SOULS…(Ready for this!?) THE IMAGE OF GOD! And because of this… it’s IMPOSSIBLE for you & I to PARK OUR SOULS at the DOOR OF THE BEDROOM & GO IN WITH ONLY OUR BODIES! Because the MOMENT that we convince ourselves that ‘THIS IS JUST SEX’ – IT’S ‘PURELY PHYSICAL’ – we violate… OUR SOUL! Here’s what I know… SEX IS HIGHLY SPIRITUAL! With everything that’s happening PHYSICALLY – our SOUL is hoping to be SATISFIED & FULLFILLED as well!

Come check out the Church of Celebration over the next few weeks (Apr 11-May 02) as we take a closer look at how GOD views SEX & MARRIAGE!

CHURCH OF CELEBRATION

Maricopa Wells Middle School / 9A & 10:45A

SUNDAY SNAPSHOT... (Bricks&Sticks)

HAPPY RESURRECTION DAY!

Resurrection Sunday is a DAY of Celebration for sure! It is the DAY that we marvel in the GRACE of Jesus Christ - in His provision of GRACE granted to you and me!

The crowds that attend 'Easter' Sunday are composed of three particular groups of people...

1. RESISTING - those who are AWARE of the 'Day' - but are not too interested beyond that!

2. RESPONDING - those who understand the difference between Christianity & Religion - they just haven't yet grasped the difference between Religion & RELATIONSHIP!

3. REPRODUCING - those who are growing intimately - and know completely that Following means Fishing!

We're gonna be taking a UNIQUE look into the lives of EACH of these three attendees this coming week by looking closer at the passage in which Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15...

Because of God's grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have – Jesus Christ. Anyone who build on that foundation may use a variety of materials – gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The build will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames.

The BIG IDEA of the day is... WHAT KIND OF HOUSE ARE YOU GONNA HAVE?

See... everyone is BUILDING their LIFE with some kind of BUILDING MATERIAL! Some MATERIALS will last... some WON'T! God has given each of us the MATERIALS to BUILD a LIFE that will last for ALL OF ETERNITY! If you don't use the right MATERIALS - you will discover in due timing - the FOUNDATIONS and WALLS of your LIFE will CRUMBLE! Don't discover this TOO LATE!

Can't wait to CELEBRATE our RISEN SAVIOR with the Message of HOPE and incredible GRACE this weekend at COC! Praying to see YOU there!

BTW... Statistics show that if an unsaved person is invited to Church on EASTER - 82% will come!!

(WHO have you invited to CELEBRATE with you?)

CHURCH OF CELEBRATION / Maricopa Wells Middle School / 9A & 10:45A

FAMILY FOCUS... (What Does God Think?)

This week in my Family Focus - I thought I'd just share a little bit of what's going on in MY world at times! Family ROCKS - and I'm sure I'll be back next week with updates & pics - I just thought from time to time I'd share my heart - so look for this to happen on occasion in the future - hope you enjoy!

I'm a pretty big fan of Perry Noble's Blogs - incredible insight & foresight that often uplifts & encourages me at 'just the right moment!' Haven't ever done this before - but one post that he recently posted really spoke to me - thought I'd share...

One of the things I think church world needs to learn is that there are actually VERY few experts in the world today… especially in ours.

We love the experts… the ones who can tell us WHAT to do and HOW to do it (even if they’ve never darkened the doors of our church) and we will buy whatever they are selling because; after all, they are the EXPERTS!

Please don’t misunderstand… I am NOT saying that there is never a time for outside opinions and/or some sort of consulting… but the problem develops when we depend on THEM way more than HIM! (You know, the One who called, equipped and will sustain us!)

He has an incredible track record of using non-experts…

• Joseph was not an expert statesman… but God used him to preserve a nation.
• Moses was not an expert leader… but God used him to lead His people to the place of promise.
• David was not an expert soldier… but God used him to bring down the biggest problem the Israelite army had ever seen.
• The Apostles were not experts… but God used them to plant the church (see Acts 4:13.)

When it comes to HOW to do church… there simply are no experts! There is not one type of church that works at every place at any given time. If there was a formula for doing church then why in the world did Jesus address seven different churches in seven different ways in Revelation 2-3?

Too many times pastors/church leaders want the easy answer rather than committing themselves to doing the hard work and actually seeking the face of God and begging for His wisdom and guidance… talking to the 'EXPERTS' is easy… just plug in the formula and BAM… double your attendance. AND after years of watching this chaos happen I think we can all admit… this does not work…

Hope you enjoyed that as much as I did & that it encouraged you as well! Perry writes many incredible thoughts often & I'd encourage you to check him out sometime... perrynoble.com

Here's what I've learned the most about Church-Planting & Pastoring - IT REALLY DOESN'T MATTER WHAT I THINK - however it's vitally important that I KNOW & CARE... WHAT GOD THINKS!

SUNDAY SNAPSHOT... (GO FISH Series)

(Wk4) The One That Got Away...

BIG IDEA...

How Willing and Ready are YOU to FOLLOW 'THE Way' and GO FISH?

Everyday - You LIVE by, DRIVE by, LIVE with, WORK with - PEOPLE... who do not have the knowledge of JESUS CHRIST!

YOU are God's ANSWER to them becoming FOLLOWERS - who eventually will FISH!

YOU are the REFLECTORS of God's LIGHT that will attract them to Jesus!

The MAIN CAUTION that will issue this coming week is...

PROTECTING OURSELVES FROM GETTING CONSUMED IN OUR CHRISTIAN WORLDS!

We have to UNDERSTAND that WE are God's PLAN in reaching a LOST WORLD!

The RESPONSIBILITY that He has given to us to GO FISH is HUGE!

We have to begin seeing that SOONER rather than LATER!

It is our ROLE & RESPONSIBILITY to "GO BACK" to where we came from and FISH for those who might get away!

Don't miss COC this week as we conclude this AWESOME Series!

Church of Celebration

(Maricopa Wells Middle School)

9a & 10:45a

FAMILY FOCUS... (IGNITE 2010)

What a WEEK it's been! WOW... I was able to get a TON accomplished with the MAJOR ASSISTANCE of my Mom & Dad (Papa & Nana Day&NightCare)! Ging has been out of town for a week now - along with Miss Charis - and last week was MAJOR STUDY WEEK! I was able to finish up our current GO FISH Series - write our upcoming EASTER (Bricks & Sticks) Message - write the first Message in our upcoming Series... UNDEFILED - as well as OVERVIEW (lay-out) the remaining weeks - &... write the TWO TRACTS that I'm speaking on for this week's IGNITE 2010 (Church Planting) Conference! WHEW!!! (Say that three times fast!) I feel so ACCOMPLISHED!

Ginger & Charis... Taking a bit of SABBATICAL! Loving LIFE & being doted on a bit by her Mom & Dad - back in Missouri! While it's a comfortable 75-80 degrees here - they got SNOW over the weekend! However... she never seems to mind the COLD weather! I'm so thankful that she's had a reprieve for a few days - she SOOOOOOOOO deserves it!

Isaac... Kickin' it Nana & Papa style! The dude never wants to stay with me - he's spent HALF the time with Nana & Papa! I can't tell you how AWESOME it is to have INCREDIBLE parents who LOVE my kids - and who LIVE about 1/2 mile away! (BTW... Happy Birthday POPS! "66" Today!)

Caleb... Well - He's been back & forth the last week - in between myself & my folks! Daytimes have mostly been spent at School & then to Nana & Papa's! Night times have been at home! To which the other morning I opened his door to find his CRIB hopped all the way over to his CLOSET & discovering to find him in a completely new WARDROBE(s) (no PJ's in sight) - I believe he thought it was a fashion show!? No telling HOW MANY CLOTHES he had put on and taken off through the NIGHT - as I found at least 7 different shirts 'off the hangers' and on the floor & a couple pair of shorts! OHHHHHH... that boy!

Tonight starts IGNITE 2010 (Converge WorldWide's National Church Plant Conference) - in which we (Vision Arizona) are hosting! It should be an AWESOME EXPERIENCE as we kick tonight's conference off with the one & only... PERRY NOBLE! I actually get to 'hang' with him a bit - as I am his official 'Guide!' Talk about CHURCH PLANTING - this guy's DOING THINGS RIGHT! Ck out his blog some time - you will be impressed! perrynoble.com I actually have the privilege to do some TEACHING at the Conference as well - I'll be leading TWO TRACTS for Church Planters - 1) WHO DO YOU PLAY FOR? (Building Your Plant Team) / 2) BETWEEN THE FRAMES... (Marketing Your Church Plant)! Should be a BLAST!

SUNDAY SNAPSHOT... (GO FISH Series)

(Wk3) FISHING FRIENDS

Acts 1:8 COMMISSIONS us to 'FISH for Men' in Jerusalem - Judea - Samaria - to the uttermost parts of the world! At the COC we have 'personalized' this to mean... 'Fish for Men' in Maricopa - Arizona - USA - other Countries! We feel that it is our RESPONSIBILITY to do our very best in 'Making His Name More Famous' in these strategic areas! We've already discovered that it's not always EASY to 'Fish for Men' - that God is the LIGHT that attracts men to Him - He just uses US to REFLECT THAT LIGHT! Be WILLING & READY is our GOAL! This week at the COC - Pastor Mat (Exec Pastor / Give & Go) - will be sharing with us the UNIQUE opportunities that the COC offers to 'OUTGEAR' her members to become better 'FISHERS of MEN!' You won't want to miss these STRATEGIES!

MARICOPA...

R.E.A.C.H. Class - Evangelism 101

F.O.R. Maricopa - Maricopa Food Bank

BENEVOLENCE - Meeting the NEEDS of those enduring trials!

NSA Ministries - 'No Strings Attached' Service Projects

SERVE SUNDAYS - 5th Sunday Service Projects

MARICOPA TRICKorTREAT - COC's MAJOR Outreach Event to the City of Maricopa - heading into our 4th year - seeing attendances over 10,000!

COC's SUMMER BIBLE CLUB - COC's MAJOR Outreach Event for the CHILDREN of Maricopa - heading into our 3rd year - seeing 100's of Children discover Jesus!

ARIZONA...

VISION ARIZONA - The ongoing 'Church-Planting' efforts of this MOVEMENT is helping 'Make His Name More Famous' throughout the PHOENIX Metro area!

UNCHAINED GENERATION - Cooperative projects with a Ministry that is centralizing their efforts in the Sex Slave Trade Industry!

USA...

COC METRO - The Church of Celebration Metro - located in the 480 Corridor of Dallas/Ft Worth - a Church Plant that the COC has been playing a pivotal role in their BIRTH!

UTTERMOST PARTS OF THE WORLD...

MEXICO MISSIONS - Partnering with AMORE Ministries - we have been attempting to PROVIDE for those less fortunate in our neighboring Country of Mexico through Home-Building Projects!

VISION ABOLITION - Partnering with a FIJI Missions Ministry - 'HOMES OF HOPE' - freeing Women & Children from the Global Sex Slave Trade Industry!

DON'T MISS THIS SUNDAY - IT WILL ROCK YOUR WORLD!

Church of Celebration (Maricopa Wells Middle School)

9a & 10:45a