Take Home Truths from Church Revitalization Conference

This past week I spent two days near Tampa, Florida at a Church Revitalization Conference.  Every time I go to a conference, I always seek to come away with “take home” truths – things that can apply to our church.  Here is what I “took home”…

FIRST, networking is vital to health and survival.  It was great to be reminded that we are not alone in our victories and struggles.  Spending time with other like-minded leaders breads creativity and encouragement.  Receiving from others is key to renewal and refreshment in life!

This is why relationships are so important.  Life is not meant to be lived alone.  We need each other.  Together we are better.  Teamwork does make the dreamwork.  Who are you relationally connected to at Fellowship Church?

SECOND, leadership matters.  I heard this again and again.  Any organization will only be as great as the leadership base of that organization.  The way to kill any organization is to stop developing the leaders of that organization!  Could that be the reason the Bible says the pastor is to prepare God’s people for works of service (Ephesians 4:12)?

Hearing these truths affirmed our church direction.  We are in the process of seeking to strengthen our current leadership base AND increase it!  This is why we have developed a specific process over the course of 5 months which will be implemented twice in 2013 (Spring and Fall).  It all begins next Sunday at 4pm!  Are you planning on attending Leadership Training on February 10?

Fellowship Church is a place where real relationships begin with God, people, purpose and change.  I hope you are connected with others in Fellowship Church and I hope you will pray about being a part of our Leadership Development process this year!

Loving and Leading,

Jeff Powell

God Is More Than A Crutch

One of our Elders, Nelson Plasencia recently shared with me the following devotional.  I think you will enjoy it as much as I did...

“Psalm 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.”  It matters how people view God! A literal, rough translation of Psalm 46:1 from the Hebrew would read something like: “God, to us, a refuge and strength. A helper in adversities, to be found abundantly”. You see, for those who do not know Him, God is a crutch; God is a myth; God is distant; God is vengeful. 

Whenever I hear people say that God is a crutch I can’t help but think that, if anything, He is the wheelchair. A crutch implies that I have some strength to get by and only need a little assistance; a little support. The reality is that apart from God I can’t do anything. When a man is wheelchair bound, he only needs to rest all his weight on the wheelchair. It is a picture of total dependence. 

As it is written, “In Him we live and move and have our being” (i.e., exist; Acts 17:28). But to us, He is a refuge and strength. And, who is us? Those who through faith in Christ have embraced the God of the Bible; the God of creation; the God of Jacob (Psalm 46:7,11) and have thus been brought near, been forgiven and set apart. 

Who is God to you? How do you view Him? As this New Year gets underway, let us resolve to live in total dependence on the God of Jacob. He is an abundant help for all our troubles, tribulations, adversities; anything and everything that hinders our moving forward in faith!”

Thanks Nelson for sharing this devo with us all!

Loving and Leading,

Jeff Powell

Seeing God

From the outset of creation we have sought to deviate from who God has revealed Himself to be.  At times He reveals He is the generous giver of life.  At others, He reveals He is the judge.  At others, He reveals that He is loving and forgiving. At others still that He is healer, savior, deliverer, corrector, provider, on and on I could go.  Through it all, He is in control!

I honestly want a God that I can control - thus the reason for so many idols in the history of humanity - we want a God that we are in charge of.  Even faith at times, can be an agent to control God.  Or what about prayer - we pray hoping that God will respond the way we want Him to. 

But what if God does something totally out of the realm of our expectation?  In fact, the true follower of God will see this side of God. Just when I think I have Him figured out, He does something that baffles me, that I don’t agree with, that I don’t want, that I don’t like. 

Take suffering - we want it how we want it and when we want it - which is never, unless it brings glory to our flesh.  But what about God?  He brings it when He deems it best for His purposes and ends - which are way higher than my own.  He is God, I am not.  And thankfully, He took the form of a baby to reveal to us the character and nature of God and to be the sacrifice for our wretchedness! 

“Forgive me Lord for seeing you only as I want to see you and not as you truly are.  I am terrified at times, and yet you call me to trust you just the same.  Help my failing heart I pray.  Help my eyes to see you as you really are and not just the way I want you to be. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.”

Jeff Powell

He's Just Different...

This week's blog is shared by Mike Hosey, an Elder at Fellowship Church.

Over Christmas break I met an author of two books. His works are fiction, but contain strong biblical allusions. After autographing my books, we had a friendly debate. Even though we had differences about what certain scriptures might mean, we came away strengthened, and genuinely viewed each other as Christian brothers. 

Since we differed on doctrine, how were we able to maintain a Christian bond? Well, I got to thinking...

A truth that we all learn from a young age is that no two individuals are the same.  We have different heights, weights, intellectual capacities, athletic abilities, and creative strengths.

There is no domain in any individual in which he or she will not have some kind of a difference with any other individual. 

Often, these differences result in everything from personal conflicts to bloody wars between houses and nations..

But sometimes our differences strengthen us. Good teams capitalize on differences. The team's victories are marked by cooperation among different individuals.  Those teams have an understanding that not everyone can be the coach, or the quarterback or, or the waterboy.

So how do these teams get that? How can I and that author remain friends and brothers?

It takes two disciplines. First, we must be committed to the essentials.  Good teams are committed to common goals. With my new friend, we are both committed to the truth of Jesus Christ and his word and work on earth.  And we agree on what those are.  Secondly, we must be willing to submit ourselves whenever possible to our teammates. This is much harder, because it requires us to suppress our own desires, goals or views.

In the case of my new friend, I was willing to say, "Y'know, he might be right on that." And he was willing to do the same.

Consequently, our discussions strengthened our abilities to minister more fully to people who have questions about those truths!

Mike Hosey

Elder, Fellowship Church

17 Years Ago...

January 6 is a very special day for me.  It is Jane and I’s anniversary.  We celebrate being married for 17 years!

Many years ago, before I even knew Jane, my older sister  told me something that really baffled me.  She told me after she had been married to Monty for some time that the day she married him was the day that she loved him the least!  This baffled me - I didn’t understand it until I married Jane on January 6,1996.

Now I too say that on the day that I married Jane, I loved her the least.  We were just beginning our journey together.  Sure we loved each other, but compared to the love we have for each other now, it was small love back then!

With each year that passes, I love my wife more and more.  And such is the depths of love.  There is no bottom.  Sure we say things like the greatest expression of love is sacrificing one’s life for another.  Great as that is, there is greater still.  For Jesus not only gave His life for us, but He continues to live and love us with an undying love.

Now to be honest with you, Jane and I have had our fair share of fights.  There have been times I wondered IF we would make it.  And yes, there were times when we both wondered IF we had made a huge mistake in marrying each other.  But through it all one thing has kept us together:  commitment.

We have been committed to our relationship with God and we have been committed to each other.  Our commitment to God has allowed us to be committed to each other through “thick and thin!”

I am blessed to have such a wonderful wife.  Happy anniversary - I love you more today than I did yesterday!

Jeff Powell