How often life emulates art. And even more so in the church. I believe that we are living in times right now where if we don't make a decision one way or the other, the church may never become what it can become. In short, the church needs to get busy living or get busy dying.

I don't know about any of you, but I'm in the group that wants to see the church get busy living.

We have so many people that go to church Sunday after Sunday, hear a sermon, sing some songs and then go home. Many of them have good intentions but once again, nothing much ever comes out of them. Primarily because most of what our lives are about are words. We can talk about things with the best of them.

We talk politics. We are very quick to blame the "other" side for the country's problems and are quick to point out all of the mistakes, but at the end of the day, we go to bed and leave our words suspended in the air to die a lonely death.

We talk religion. Frankly, I can't stand modern "religion". But we talk about it nonetheless. We talk about how if the "traditional" fogies would just get out of the dark ages, then everything would be fine. Or if all of them "contemporary" wacko's would forget all their fancy smancy stuff, then we could finally get back to the truth. But once again, words and opinions are like......well, you know what they are like...everyone has one and they usually stink.

Let's get back to our movie for a moment. Suppose Andy had simply uttered the words "get busy living or get busy dying" and then wandered back to his cell content to live life out in the prison cell that unjustly held him captive. That wouldn't have made much for a compelling movie ending. No, the ending that needed to happen, was that he needed to "get busy living".  He made the choice, TOOK ACTION and look at the results.

So then why are we so caught up in thinking our words are actually going to make a difference? I realize that the popular (albeit unBiblical) teaching is that our words are what determines our destiny and maybe that is why people are so busy to use a lot of words.  But I think it is quite apparent that our words are not as powerful as we think they are. It is our ACTIONS that determine whether something happens or not.

God very easily could have said "Everyone of those people on earth are lost and going to hell unless they have a Savior. Somebody really should do something about that". But He didn't do that. No, God actually TOOK ACTION. He send His only Son to die for each and every one of us so that we could be forgiven of our sins if we accepted the gift.

What I find amazing out this situation is...of all the beings in the universe whose Words can actually DO something, God still chose to actually DO something rather than simply speak something. God could have spoke our Salvation into existence. He could have spoke a perfect sacrifice into existence to pay for our sins. But again, He didn't. He actually DID something about our lost state. And because of GODS ACTION, we can now be reconciled with the Father through the sacrifice of Jesus.

So what will you do? Will you continue to wake up every day and simply talk about all the problems of this country and world? Will you gripe and complain about how things are and how something really needs to be done about it?

Or, will you actually take action and DO something about it.

Will you help the church to get busy living, or will you stand back and watch it die?

I mean a typical year is here and gone before you know it anymore. We celebrate New Years. Before they even get the party hats off the shelves we are seeing Valentines boxes of candy and hearts everywhere. Mixed in with the hearts we can usually find a couple of four leaf clovers and then some American Flags. Before you know it we are buying fireworks, then school clothes then some ghosts and gobblins. Then it's off to Turkeys and before we know it, the Christmas decorations have been hung by the fireplace with care.

Then rinse and repeat.

See, I've already taken you through a year in just one paragraph. Crazy isn't it? And of course the biggest bummer of it as that the older we get, the faster time seems to fly.

Well, I don't know about you but it has certainly opened my eyes to several things. For one, it has put some teeth on the Scripture found in James 4:14 which says "What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes". Yup, that about sums it up. Here today and gone tomorrow.

But the second thing it has done for me is to force me to look at my life and decide what I'm going to do with it. Am I going to just go along each day worrying about my family and myself. Doing what I want in my own little world so that when my mist finally does disappear that there is nothing to show for it?

Or, am I going to step up and do something with my life? Am I going to embrace my God given purpose to try and reach as many people for Him as I can? Am I going to try and get out of my comfort zone and and go to places where I know I can do nothing on my own and have to completely rely on God? Basically, am I going to do something meaningfull with my life or not?

You've probably all heard the "proverb" (non Biblical one) that talks about the dash. You know, the one that says on a persons head stone they will have two numbers. One, the year they are born. The other, the year they died. But the most important part of that is the dash inbetween. The years we live.

What are you doing with your life? What are you doing that will impact the Kingdom of God?

The most amazing part about working for God and His Kingdom, is that the things that we do for Him not only have a fantastic impact on this day and age and in the lives of those we reach, but the things done for God's Kingdom echo throughout eternity. You can have no greater impact than that.

None of us know how long we have on this earth. Death is the only real certainty that we can count on. But until that day, until our mist vanishes, what will you do with yours?

Let's face it, we all intend to have the right priorities.

We all make promises to spend more time with God in His Word or in prayer. We all promise to spend time with our spouse and our families. We all promise to spend time in fellowship and co-laboring in the local church for the good of God's Kingdom. But how often does it really pan out that way? How often do we really get execute those well planned intentions?

My guess, if your life is anything like mine, is that it doesn't happen often. In fact, if it happens ever then that would be saying a lot. Why is it so difficult to follow through with what we know to be the right priorities?  One word....ME.

The real problem is me. Us. Ourselves. Basically we want what makes us happy. We want what makes us comfortable or what doesn't cost a lost in either time or money. We want what doesn't take any sacrifice. And our society of course feeds us this at every point. How many times have you flipped on the TV and heard:

• "Lose 30 pounds in 30 days with no effort or change of your lifestyle needed"
• "Make more money than you ever dreamed without spending a dime"
• "Have the greatest marriage ever by changing your spouse into the person you want them to be"

These types of things are everywhere. They all appeal to our desire to get everything without sacrificing anything. They all feed into our desires to have whatever we want without so much as lifting a finger to get it. In fact, I would say that our society and culture has gotten so bad that now it isn't enough to get without sacrifice, now we actually think that we are somehow ENTITLED to get all of this stuff. As if it were owed to us somehow.

But the Scripture is pretty plain about a few things:

Matt 16:24-25 - "Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it".

Those are strong words from a loving Savior that not only said them...HE DID THEM. He never thought of Himself but rather, gave all of Himself for you and I. And if that was the way HE lived, and we just read that we are supposed to follow HIM, then maybe we need to check out our priorities again.

It is so simple....but not easy. Getting out of the habit of thinking of ourself first or living a life that involves sacrifice is difficult. But it is so necessary.

This actually occurred to me the other night. I always gripe about not having enough time in the day to spend a significant amount of time with God or my family, yet I was able to basically put my whole life on hold so that I could watch the series finale of 24. And I even have DVR. I could have watched it any time, but I chose to do it then. Which tells me something, when I want to do something, I am more than willing to do whatever it takes to do it. Why don't I do it with God? My family? Others?

I'm not sure what it will take to break the hold that we actually have on ourselves in order to get our priorities back in line with Scriptures...but I do know that if we wanted to...we would.

Maybe we just need to stop having intentions...and just start having actions instead? Perhaps if we would just start DOING for the Lord and others, then everything else will just fall into place?

But the big question remains: Are we willing to deny ourselves? Are we willing to take up our cross and follow Jesus? Are we willing to put God, our families and others ahead of ourselves? Or are we going to continually only be concerned with the most important 3 people in our lives...me, myself and I?

The question has been asked for over 2000 years....what will your answer be?

In the first movie, as he gets back from his first delivery of toys (and for all you grinches out there, yes I know the true meaning of CHRISTmas), he is talking to an elf (stay with me here) and he makes the comment in the title of this blog "I see it, but I don't believe it". To which the elf comes back with a remark about most adults not believeing in santa clause anymore which is why he can't accept what he see's.

But his comment is what I found a bit interesting. I see it, but I don't believe it. Kind of made me think about my own experiences sometimes when it comes to God. I read the Bible often. Probably not as often as I could but I try to read everyday at least some. I pray to God. I serve God. I give to God. And over and over again I see God move in my life and in the life of my family. And yet, for some reason I still struggle with this delima. I see God move...but I don't believe He will again...or this time...or next time.

Why is that? I think a lot of it comes down to the fact that God just doesn't move or think like we do.

Think about it...when you pray and God answers your prayer the way you prayed, your faith is greatly increased and you love and praise God. But when you pray for something and you DON'T get it, you begin to doubt. Maybe God's not listening? Maybe He doesn't care? Maybe the last thing was coincidence? Over and over again we go. And what is ironic about it is that we often times pray that God's Will be done in our lives, but we refuse to accept what His Will is. We refuse to believe that perhaps the reason why God didn't answer our last prayer (or maybe just said NO) is because it isn't in our best interest. But hey, we know what's best for us right?

Maybe that is the real issue. Since we "know" what's best for us, when we pray, we really aren't praying that God's Will be done in our lives, but rather, we are praying that God will simply bless what our own plans and ideas are.

Perhaps we should simply trust God a bit more than we do? Perhaps we should recognize all the times in our lives that God has really moved and even though you didn't understand it at the time, when you looked back, you could see God doing what was best for you? And because we can see God move for our best interest, and know that He wants what is best for us, maybe we should trust Him afterall?

If we see it, maybe we should just believe it?

Now let me ask you...if God we standing out of the field in a group of people, how many of you would pick Him last? Not one of you would if you had even a bit of rational thought. Can you imagine having God on your football team? You wouldn't need anyone else. You definitely wouldn't have to fight over who would be 'all time quarterback'.

That's kind of a "well duh" question and answer but in real life, it doesn't always turn out that way. Have you ever noticed that often times God really is picked last in almost all of our daily life decisions? Why is that? Why would we want Him on our football teams, but don't want Him anywhere else?

I think for most of us, it's about control. We want to believe somehow that we have some small bit of control when it comes to our lives. We want to believe that we have a say in what we do or which way we go. And therefore the thought of relinquishing that control to anyone just doesn't sit well with us.

And yet, after we make our decisions "on our own" and have to sit back and watch the disasters that ensue afterwards, we inevitably call out to God "Lord please help me with this mess I've made".

So we know who to call out to in the time of need...we know who to call out to when we need help...we know who to seek when it comes to the really big decisions that we really don't want to make on our own....but we rarely ever call out to Him FIRST. It's like we go down a list and say "well I've tried this and it failed...I've tried that and it failed...I've done everything I can think of....so I guess I have no where left to turn but God".

We make decisions all the time knowing that God wouldn't approve but we do it anyway. Then when it has all gone south, and we've exhausted all other options, we seek Him.

Is it any wonder why some many of us struggle to hear God in our lives? Is it any wonder why so many fail to feel the presence of God in their lives? We have relegated God to that unskilled, untalented kid that is only person left to pick in kickball.

But the amazing thing to me is that every time that I have chosen to seek God first...He has never let me down. He has never disappointed me. He has never forsaken me. And yet, time after time...there are still decisions that I make without seeking Him first. It's as though I say to God "I know that you've never messed up anything in my life and always have my best interest in mind...and I know that you have offered to continue doing that for me as long as I seek you....but really God, THIS TIME I've got it figured out...I know I've made a mess of this thing a thousand times before...but NOT THIS TIME....I've got it....really".

All I know is that I am continually amazed at the long suffering and patience of God towards me. He will lovingly let me use my free will to make choices that continually cause me grief, but then is right there again when I turn around and realize that I've messed it up again.

Maybe one day I'll realize what I've known all along...God really does know best....and there is no other place that He deserves to be but FIRST.

So anyway, I've been really working at my TIME margin in my life which means cutting off things that are not at the top of my priority list and focusing on those things that are the most important. Which of course is God and my family. So I've basically stopped "tweeting" (which I really never got that into anyway), and cut back on time on things like Facebook and blogging.

Having said all of that, there is absolutely one thing that I ALWAYS HAVE TIME FOR. And that is that I just need to PRAISE GOD.

For the last few weeks, God has blessed us in ways that can only be attributed to God. We have seen a steady flow of new faces each week. I have received so many phone calls and had conversations with so many people who all are sharing the same types of things. They are hurting and just want some place that they can find some peace. Some place where they can be in the presence of the Lord.

Well, I don't know about everyone else, but I know that I have definitely been in the presence of the Lord. It is so awesome to see God work and to watch God speak into the lives of people around us. It is so encouraging to see smiles on faces that were hurting. Precious Heavenly Father, may it never stop!

More than anything, I am just praying that I stay out of the Lord's way. It is SO MUCH BETTER when God is the one in control and is the one leading things. I've tried most of my life to be the one in control and then wonder why things are such a mess. But when God is in control, it is such a load off. Of course that doesn't mean that there won't be storms. But then again, God is in control of that too.

Anyway, it may be another few weeks before I post again, I really don't know. But I do know that when an opportunity presents itself to just say THANK YOU GOD, I really need to take it. With everything happening recently, I just give all praise and glory to God, for without Him, nothing would be.

If you are in the Bitterroot or Missoula Valley, and are looking for a church to visit, it would be an honor and a privilege to have you join us.

May you all get to a place in your life where you place your life fully and complete in the hands of your Heavenly Father.

Steve

But then again, the reason for the break is actually quite an awesome one! Since my last blog we have moved into a new location and have had 3 Sunday meetings there.  And all I can say is WOW!! God is really doing some pretty awesome things. I have had an opportunity to meet some new people who have been absolutely wonderful.  My hope and prayer is that every new guest that walks through the doors of our church understands fully just how much of an honor and privilege it is for us to be able to minister to them. I'm not sure if I can ever really fully express that, but I just had to say it. All the hard work and preparation that we try and do each week is paid back in full with interest when we get to see the smiles on our guests faces. That makes everything worth while.

I also have to say that when God is the one who leads, it is a much more exciting adventure than when we try and lead. I've spent much of my Christian walk trying to tell God what I wanted to do and I can honestly say that there is just no comparison to actually yielding to Him and fully surrendering to Him and then standing back and watching Him do what only He can do. I'm really not so sure why we are so hesitant to allow God, who is not only all powerful but also all knowing, full and complete control of everything. I mean we always say the right words "oh God, have your will in my life blah blah blah", but in reality, I'm not even sure we believe it as we are saying it. And yet, how many times has God proven Himself faithful to you in your life? How many times has He let you down? I'm not asking how many times those who call themselves Christians have let you down, I'm asking how many times has HE let you down. I think if you are honest, you would have to say never.

And thus, the battle between yielding complete control of our lives to God and hanging onto whatever perceived control we think we have wages on and on. I'm not sure of what the future holds. Of this, I can be sure. All I can say is that whatever it may be, as long as God is the one at the helm of it, then it couldn't have worked out any better.

I can't make any lofty promises about myself. I know that I'm bound to let someone down at some time. I'm sure I'll disappoint people or not live up to their expectations. But one thing I know, I will do everything that I can to just let God lead and stay out of His way at Light Point Community Church. And if you would like to know what it is like to have a life that is completely surrendered to God, come on down and join us.

I can't even imagine what could happen if we had a whole church whose people were completely sold out to God. But I'm certainly anxious to try. Want to join us?

Steve

I also stated that this doesn't have anything to do with being "liberal" or "conservative". If we care what the Bible says there shouldn't really be any "liberals" or "conservative", there should simply be Christians. Those people who desire to please God and do what His Word tells us.

Therefore I recommended that we need a "Brain Reboot". In all actuality, it is God conforming us to His image to think and act more like He does.  So if that is what we need, how do we do it?

Step 1: Lay down your will

If we ever hope to see things the way that God wants us to, we have to be willing to take a step back from all that we have believed or thought about something and be willing to look diligently into the Bible and see what God says about that something. And that is hard for us to do. Sometimes is something that we may enjoy or something we may hate. But either way, if we don't get ourselves out of the way, God can never fully speak to you and never really accomplish all that He wants to through you.

We have so many preconceived ideas and opinions about everything. Most of these ideas come from how we were raised. Listening to parents or other people that we have looked up to or held in high regard. Maybe it was a college professor or spouse. But most of us feel the way we do about something based on our past experience. The biggest problem with this is that it will color everything you see. You will never fully see clearly because our view is always tinted with past experience or the ideas from others.

It's an incredibly difficult thing to do, but I believe we must be willing to lay our thoughts, wants and desires down before God and allow Him to begin to shape our thinking and opinions. Even though it may be uncomfortable to do or may even cause us some pain. We usually forget that we are not on this earth to be happy, we are here to do God's will. We can have no better example of this than looking to Jesus Christ who prayed in the garden before what would be a horrific amount of pain, suffering and eventual death:

Luke 22:42 - “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”

Jesus knew He was about to suffer incredibly. But He also knew that God had a purpose behind it. Without the pain and suffering, we would have no hope of salvation.

So how does this tie into this subject? Maybe if we all can take a few steps back and look at our beliefs, likes, dislikes and weigh them with what God wants rather than what we want, it will jump start us to begin to be more and more like Christ.

Whether it's views on sex, alcohol, music, Bible translation, church type or structure, or anything else, let us begin to forget what our own opinion is and start to ask what is God's opinion about it.

Then maybe we all can get to a place where we can pray like Jesus did "not my will, but Yours be done".

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I know that the topic of this weeks blog is pretty strange. So I guess I probably should expound on why I'm choosing it as a topic name.

I get on a lot of Christian internet forums and talk to a lot of people and I'm beginning to see a rather alarming trend among believers. Now when I mention believers, I'm talking about those that would consider themselves "born again" Christ followers. Not just "Christian" by name, but those that would normally do what they can to follow Christ to the best of their ability.

Many of these people, back when I first got saved over 12 years ago, were the same people who would stand on the rooftops and proclaim that we were to do all that we could to live a life pleasing to God.

However, more and more I see these same people balking at the idea of living such a life now. Certain things that they may have once stood for they are now against and things they once stood against they are now for. I know many would read that sentence and rejoice that these once "legalists" are now seeing the light and are now being able to experience life under the banner of "freedom in Christ".

For those that really know me, I believe they ALL would tell you who are reading that I am as far away from a legalist that you can get. I don't get caught up on what a person wears to church, or what version of the Bible they read. I don't care about whether someone likes contemporary music versus hymns and it doesn't bother me at all whether a person dresses up for halloween or not. And there is a host of other things that the "liberals" and "conservatives" argue about over and over that I feel is a waste of time. In fact, there is so much time wasted over arguing WHO is a "liberal" and WHO is a "conservative" within their own circles that it's almost impossible to decipher who is what anymore. See, I've already wasted 5 minutes of my life trying to write about them and now I'm even confused about it.

What was I talking about again? Oh yeah, let me continue.

So we get caught up arguing over "legalism", "freedom" and everything in between and I think we maybe have let something slip through the cracks.

I think the main issue is "De-sensitization". If you can take off your "liberal" or "conservative" hat for a few minutes, see if you can follow me on this without it ending up under either one of those labels.

Sex is everywhere at all times and has bombarded us in every way. From TV to the internet to the magazine racks in the grocery store. Children are exposed to violence at such an early age from either TV or video games. TV commercials will tell us that the only way you can have a good time is if you are hanging out in bars and drinking all the time. Porn is just something "guys do" right?

When you see this stuff over and over and over again, you begin to not be bothered by it. It's doesn't shock you anymore. It doesn't seem like a big deal.

I've been fairly open with the fact that through much of my life I had a porn problem (among many other problems). It is one that followed me for years. Then it is one that haunted me for years. Prior to becoming a Christian of course, it wasn't a big deal in our society. But after, God began to show me what a big deal it was and that started a very low period of my life. Falling into the sin, asking for forgiveness and then falling again. Because ultimately it came down to the fact that no matter how far I would distance myself from porn, I still had those images in my head. They still replayed over and over and that would lead me into sin again. It affected every aspect of my life.

But I have noticed something. Since I went all out to beat this sin and got accountability partners, internet filters and reporting and finally have some space between the sin and me, I seem to notice that the things that didn't bother at one time in my life, seem to bother me more and more now. It's like God is allowing me to "Reboot my Brain" to see things in a light that I really hadn't seen before.

Actually, God has a better way of explaining it than I do:

Romans 12:2 - Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

What I'm calling a "brain reboot" is actually God fulfilling a promise to me. When I CHOOSE to stop doing what society expects of me and start doing what GOD expects of me, my mind begins to be renewed and transformed. We are then able to see what God's will is for our lives. And as we can see from this verse, His will is good and pleasing and perfect.

Wanting to see things the way God does and living in a way that pleases God isn't being "legalistic". It isn't something that neatly fits under a label like "liberalism" or "conservatism". It's just called being a Christian. The word "Christian" simply means "Christ like". I know it gets thrown around by people all the time (in fact before I became one I used to do it too). But being labeled a Christian doesn't make you one. It's how you live that is the determination.

So make the choice to Re-boot your Brain. And in so doing, watch how God will open your eyes and transform your mind.  You will then be able to exclaim, as the man that Jesus healed who was blind all his life, "I was blind, but now I see".

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Next week in Part 2, we will discuss some steps you can take to allow God to get the "Re-boot" process going.

Well "Duh" you might say...."of course we're talking about Christmas". But considering people go to great lengths and spend lots of money on legal fees these days to take "Christ" out of Christmas, I figured it was worth mentioning just in case you had forgotten which "Holiday" we were talking about here. Yes, CHRISTmas in cased you missed it again.

And while most Christians run around saying "keep Christ in Christmas" (and of course I agree,) there is really something that I feel goes deeper than that. Something that most don't want to express anymore. The truth of the matter is that Christ IS Christmas.

Have you ever thought about the fact that if it wasn't for Christ, there wouldn't be a Christmas at all? Regardless of what your traditions are or whether or not they have anything to do with Christ or Christianity in any way, you still wouldn't be doing any of them if it wasn't for Christ.

Christmas is the day we celebrate the birth of Christ. Most theologians agree that Christ wasn't born on December 25th, but that is the day we celebrate it. And regardless if you hang stockings, or have a tree, or make sure your kids are in bed before jolly old saint nick arrives, you are still celebrating your traditions around a day that is only celebrated because of Christ.

If Christ wasn't born, Christmas would not exist. This really is the simple truth.

And I don't bring any of this up to detract anyone from doing the traditions that they love. In fact, my family and I have many that we love. Including decorating the house, hanging stockings, singing Christmas carols, reading "The Night Before Christmas" to our kids on Christmas eve. We do these things and we love them.

But one thing we do, on Christmas morning, before any presents are open...we sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus and we pray together to the Lord thanking Him for coming to this filthy, stinking earth to live and to die for a lowly person like me.

So as you are hanging your lights, decorating your tree, and buying presents...please, never forget that the whole reason you are doing what you are doing is because a loving God, sent His only begotten Son to this earth to stand in each of our places and to pay for our sins because He loved us just that much.

So yes...keep Christ in Christmas...but never forget...Christ IS Christmas.

However, I think there is something that clouds our thinking a bit. What if you don't have a job? What if you've lost your home? What if a dear loved one has passed? It would seem fairly obvious that you may not feel that you have very much to be thankful FOR at all. And I think if we are all honest, how in the world can you be thankful FOR losing a job or home or loved one?

And that is the reason that I named this topic "What are you thankful IN" rather than FOR.

In all reality, the Bible seems to want us to learn more to be thankful IN whatever circumstance we find ourselves in rather than FOR our circumstances.  I think Paul stated it best in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (Capitalization and bold mine):

16 Be joyful always; 17 pray continually; 18 give thanks IN all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

If we looked at Paul's situation through our own eyes, we might respond that he didn't have much to be thankful FOR. After all, he spent years of his life in prison. Was beaten and left for dead several times. He lost most of his worldly possessions. Lost his reputation among his brethren. I mean, come on, there's not a lot to be thankful FOR in that right? Quite possibly.

But I will tell you one thing for certain that Paul was thankful FOR. And that was his salvation that he found through Jesus Christ. And it is because of that one thing that he was thankful FOR, that allowed him to be thankful IN all of these situations and circumstances he found himself in.

He wasn't thankful FOR being left for dead, but he was thankful IN it because he knew who ultimately held his life in His hands. He wasn't thankful FOR being in prison, but was thankful IN prison because he knew Christ was there in Spirit with him.

So this holiday season, let's take this to heart. If your world is falling apart around you take heart. Maybe you can't find a way to be thankful FOR the situation. But if you have Christ as your Savior this thanksgiving, my prayer for you will be that you will be thankful IN the situation because ultimately, you are not alone.

Steve

My family received a huge blessing today. It's one of those blessings that can only be explained by saying it was a "God thing". No other explanation. No coincidence. Nothing but our Heavenly Father providing what we needed, when we needed it.

This year has been rough on us. I'll write more on this another time, but we almost lost our 3rd oldest daughter. It was a horrific ordeal that I'll get into another time. Our old vehicle (144,000 + miles) has needed a few kicks in the pants this year to the tune of several thousand dollars. We have had unexpected expenses right and left it seems.

We had accumulated some debt while our daughter was in the hospital, as well as having to watch what little savings we had dwindle because of these expenses.

We decided we would buckle down and not buy anything we didn't need and we might even eat beans and rice if we needed to. Thankfully, for those that don't know, my wife is a fantastic cook and mexican, so her beans are awesome so that actually wouldn't have had to be that much of a sacrifice.

In the midst of all of this, the Lord really got a hold of me and pushed me to eventually step out in faith to start this new church that we are just now starting. As a part of that my wife and I prayed and agreed that we would up our giving to well above our standard tithe. We didn't know how this was going to work, but we knew if we wanted others in this new plant to be willing to step out in faith and follow us, that we had better lead by example and be leaders that practiced what they preached.

So we began this new level of giving. Right from the start it was apparent that God was in this as He just started to ease our fears in huge ways. In fact, my wife was so excited one evening she said "I don't know how to explain it, but it's almost like we aren't even giving that extra money. All of the bills are paid, the extra tithe is given, but we are still doing ok". We couldn't explain it, but God was doing what only He could do.

Fast forward to today. We had several other expenses come up out of nowhere again in the last couple weeks with our rapidly becoming beater (vehicle). We were beginning to be a little stressed about where we would come up with some extra money. Yet, because God has never let us down, we stayed faithful in our giving knowing that God had this situation well in hand. I got word today that we were going to be recieving a check from a very unexpected source that pretty much EXACTLY equalled the amount left that we owed on our credit card from all of these expenses. Yes, it was a "God Thing".

So what is the take away? God gave us EXACTLY what we needed, EXACTLY when we needed it. It's amazing. We shelled out a lot more money this year than what I received today. We didn't get all of that money back. We didn't get gold raining down from the sky. We didn't have some rich long lost uncle pass away and leave us with some million dollar inheritance.

Nope. God just saw that we had a need and met it. God doesn't always meet your needs with montetary things. But rest assured. If you remain faithful, God will meet your need, when you need it.

In the end, STAY FAITHFUL. Too many people expect God to act like a cosmic vending machine where as long as you deposit a few coins inside, He will somehow make you win the lottery. Yet, they haven't spoken with God in a very long time or done anything to build a relationship with Him. It just doesn't work like that. We need to give our Time, Talent and Treasure to God simply because He is God and has already done all He would ever need to do to in our lives to deserve it.

Give freely. Love freely. Stay faithful to God and I can promise you that while you probably won't end up with a wad of cash, God WILL give you just what you need, right when you need it.

In fact, I'm finding myself feeling rather overwhelmed by this whole "social networking" thing. From myspace, to facebook and now twitter, I'm realizing just how behind the times I really am. But the potential advantages I'm beggining to see could be astronomical and it's no wonder people are so taken away by these apps.

The mere speed at which someones message can get out is mind boggleing. And when we are dealing with a message that has eternal consequences either way, I think it would be a mis-use of available resources to NOT use tools like this to get the word out. And by word, I'm talking The Word.

I mean, if you think about it, lets just say that you only have a few facebook "friends", but those friends have hundreds of their own friends, the message you want to get out could travel the globe in a matter of hours. Where in the world have I been? Who knows, but I'm glad to finally be a part of it.

I think I'll talk about the potential downfalls of "social networking" in a future post (which is actually why it took me so long to get involved with it), but knowing how it can be put to good use has certainly been an eye opener.

Check out the home page for the link to our Facebook page. Become a Fan. Spread the word. Get people in the prayer room and lets stand together to send our prayers to our Father in Heaven.

Steve

So the website officially launched TODAY! This is something that I'm VERY excited about because we can finally start pointing people here for basic information about what this church is going to be all about.

And yes, I realize it's really BASIC information as of right now, but hey, we're brand new so what do you expect?

For most of you reading this, I'm guessing you have at least checked out the home page so you know that we are in the process of planting a church. Why, you may ask? It's not like the Bitterroot Valley needs another church right? Well, if that's your thoughts, I would have to agree with you. But I will clarify my feelings and say that it's not that the valley doesn't need another church, it's actually that the valley doesn't need a church that's doing the same things that aren't really all that effective in reaching anyone.

So that's why we are starting this church. We want to build a church for those that are "Far from God". Seems like many pastors are building churches just simply to satisfy those that are already sitting in the chairs. So what about those that aren't or never have? How about we do our best to reach them.

We want to do that through relevance. Not only relevant environments where adults and children alike are engaged in what's happening with their age groups. But mainly, we want to show people that God is relevant. That He has the answers to a joyful life, a happier marriage, financial security and a sense of purpose for each of us.

It's hard to sense that in a lot of churches. They have lost that awe and wonder about who God is. Let's get it back! Let's show it to those around us. God is still in the business of changing lives and we hope and pray that He will use us to make an impact in this valley that has never been seen before.

So come and join us! You will be welcome with open arms.

To wrap this up, I'll be trying to update this blog at least once a week but hopefully more if time permits.

Steve