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Sunday Reflex: 7-5-09…

Yesterday was another one of my favorite days at Mountain Lake, first and foremost, because I got to attend and NOT teach!  But there were a lot of other reasons I enjoyed Sunday! Here are a few reflex on the day:

• Todd Nichols & Graham Crosby did a great job w/ an unplugged worship set!
• We had a saxophone on stage…and it WORKED! It was GREAT!
• Ron Cochran is the best sound man in America. Really.
• I rode a Sea-Doo this week on video!
• David Putman brought it today. Speaking about discipleship is his sweet spot.
• Crowd was down, but we worshipped,  & celebrated our religious and spiritual freedom!
• I look forward to getting back to teach next week!
• I look forward to going back to 2 Sun Services on Aug 2 in our new auditorium!
• I spent nearly 2 hours walking around our campus after all the services on our first PUNCHLIST for the new building! 
• Get ready for Fast & FURIOUS Tuesday!

Freedom…

“Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. “ Romans 7:24-25

Freedom is defined at dictionary.com as “the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint.”  Is there a better definition for being a Christian than that? As Christians, we are:

• FREE from the penalty of sin.
• FREE from the fear of death.
• FREE from the fear of wondering if we’ve been good enough to go to Heaven!
• FREE from the fear of Hell.
• FREE from the need to please anyone but Jesus!
• FREE from the power of sin. We CAN change through Christ!
• FREE from the lack of purpose, direction, and mission for my life.

Father, thanks for setting me free! 

Tech Thursday: Jott

I know many of you have at least HEARD of Jott. It’s been out for several years now.  It just impacts my life so much on a daily basis, I could not HELP but talk about it!

The original Jott app, (now called Jott Assistant) is basically a task list on steroids.  Jott’s real breakthrough is a voice to text  service that will turn your voice notes into text and send them anywhere you want:  Outlook: Tasks or Calendar, Google Calendar, and MANY OTHER apps! You choose where they send your transcriptions and how! 

Here’s how it works: Once you’ve set up the service, you simply add the phone number they give you to your favorite calls list or speed dial. When you dial in, a voice immediately comes on the line and says: “Who do you want to Jott?” At this point, you can Jott a note to yourself, by saying “me” or you can Jott ANYONE you add as a a contact in the service! Then the voice simply says: “Record your note.” you record the note and stop talking.  This means I NEVER have to type or write  to add something to my task list! I can can add dozen items to my to-do list while driving down the road!

 

What I’ve never liked about most task programs is that  most of them won’t REMIND you to perform the  task! But with Jott, after you transcribe your note in Jott, the voice then says: “Want a reminder?” and if you say “Yes” it asks: “What day?” Then “What time?” and BAM! You can get an email message or even a TEXT at the assigned time! How cool is that?!

The iphone also has a JOTT app that is REALLY cool and now even includes a text entry feature and set reminder feature that I use all the time, too! I’ve heard that Jott for Blackberry lets you respond to emails with your voice! Needless to say, it’s a gadget well worth the $40 a year I paid for the service, because I never forget ANYTHING that I Jott down!  You can’t beat that!

Let me know if you use Jott currently, or if you give it a try because of this post!

Determination w/o Direction (and vice versa)…

this past Sunday we talked about the fact that Determination + Direction = God’s Destination. However, I also pointed out what happens when one of the elements of this velocity equation is missing:

Direction w/o Determination = Good intentions

Are you one of those people who always has a good idea that’s going to solve the world’s problems and make you rich? But never do anything about it? Are you one of those people that tends to make the same New Year’s Resolutions every year? Are you one of those people who keep saying that “when things slow down” you're going to act on what you know God is calling you to do? If so, you need to know mom was right: “The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.” However, I would add that: “The road to NO WHERE is paved with good intentions!” There are so many things we don’t need to pray about, think about, or wait to be obedient about. We just need to OBEY GOD! What does that look like for you?

Determination w/o Direction = Drift

We’re all determined to be and do something. The problem is, most of us are either determined to do too many things, or even the wrong things in our lives. What are you determined to be and do in your life?

Are you one of those ready, fire, AIM, people? Do you tend to change course a lot? I really believe more than ever before that one of the reasons many people have no impact in this life is because they wander from one good idea to the next one w/o EVER receiving CLEAR direction from God!

Direction + Determination = God’s Destination

“As the time drew near for his return to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. “ Lk 9:51

Sunday’s message video 6-28-09

Sunday’s message was SO BIG and IMPORTANT I wanted to post it here so everyone can find it easily!

 

Velocity: Direction from Mountain Lake Church on Vimeo.

Fast & Furious Tuesday 6-30-09

Today is Mountain Lake’s first “Fast & Furious Tuesday, a day dedicated to prayer. and fasting as a family at Mountain Lake.

Why are we doing this?

Scripture regards several instances where God calls his people to cooperate in a fast. Just as God prompted them, we believe we are responding to the Holy Spirit’s prompting now. We know God desires our church to move deeper in our intimacy and in our relationship with Him.

Click here to read one of my previous blog posts for a  “why behind the what” when it comes to fasting.

But here, I want to simply take the MYSTERY out of fasting by posting the "dummies guide" to fasting, because I KNOW this is not something MOST of us do all the time!

Thanks to my friends at 12STone Church for some of these:

The idea behind fasting is to simply take our focus off of our physical wants, needs, and desires in order to better focus on our spiritual wants, needs, and desires. It is an intentional way for us to worship God and proclaim our need for Him. Though there are several relevant variations of fasting practiced in our current culture, we are inviting you to participate in a fast where we abstain from food in order to have heightened awareness of our craving for God.

(Please note, if you have any type of eating disorder, do not attempt to fast. If you have any kind of medical condition, please talk to your doctor before participating in this fast.)

Directions for ONE DAY Fasting

(Abstain from solid food for approx. 24 hours)

Choose one of these 3:

A ‘water only’ fast. (drinking only water for the day).

A water plus juice fast for the day.

Some will choose to drink water plus whatever they can get in a blender and through a straw for the day.

Choose one of these noting that ‘water’ (hydrating) is critical in all three. Also, please know that we are not prescribing the choice in liquid. It is entirely up to you, noting that there is no “wrong” or “right” juice or liquid to drink on your fast.

A Sidebar to the Family Cook (often Mom with kids)

All this sounds pretty spiritual if you don’t have kids in the house, if you don’t have to cook and see/smell food and you don’t have to nourish others! Some suggestions offered from moms in similar places:

Prepare meals ahead of time and freeze them, so less cooking needs to be done.

Pray while you’re preparing food for the kids. (and juice for yourself)

For the day of the fast, cut back on social activities for yourself/kids, and plan to have the slower/down time!

Get up early the day of the fast to have quality prayer time, you could also set up a quiet time with the kids off in a ‘special room’ to get some quiet moments to pray the day.

Other Thoughts:

While you are on your fast, consider having a partner to encourage you throughout the day. When meal times come around it can be hard to avoid temptation alone! In addition, be careful not to compare your fasting experience with someone else’s or elevate one kind of fast over another. If you haven’t done so before, try writing in a prayer journal and record your thoughts about your experience. While doing this pay attention to the Holy Spirit, as He often speaks to us in times when our minds and hearts are solely focused on Him. And finally, RELAX! There is no pressure in fasting. You can’t make anything amazing or ‘super spiritual’ happen while fasting! You might very well make it through your 24 hour fast without hearing anything specific from God. That is okay! The expectation is to SEEK God, letting Him know that nothing physical in your life is more important than knowing His love.

Here are some  other practical tips and ideas about today's fast. My advice is mainly for those of you that are new to this spiritual practice:

• Biblical passage to read on the subject: Job 23:12; Matthew 6; Luke 4:1-2; Joel 2:1-12; 2 Chronicles 7:14-15; 2 Chronicles 20; Psalm 121

• Make sure you replace food time with spiritual time. If fasting is not combined with prayer and God's Word, we're just dieting! Let's not kid ourselves! What's your plan to pray and listen to God today?

• Decide in advance of today what you want to pray for, and focus on, in your times alone with God.

• Drink lots of water.

• If you're a caffeine-a-holic, you may actually need a SMALL AMOUNT caffeine in the morning to fend off the world's GREATEST headache. 

• A small amount of juice at meal times can give you some much needed strength.

• Find someone who's on the journey with us today and schedule a time to meet or chat on the phone. Share with each other what God is teaching you today. End your time together with prayer.

• MAKE SURE you get a notebook or journal and WRITE DOWN anything you sense God may be saying to you. If God speaks to you, it MIGHT be something you want to write down!

Let me know how it's going!

Mountain Lake’s short-term multi-campus strategy…