Christmas Love

If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights, and shiny balls, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another decorator.
If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals, and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another cook.
If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home, and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love to my family, it profits me nothing.
If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties, and sing in the choir's cantata but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.
Love stops the cooking to hug the child. Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the spouse.
Love is kind, though harried and tired.
Love doesn't envy another's home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.Love doesn't yell at the kids to get out of the way.
Love doesn't give only to those who are able to give in return but rejoices in giving to those who can't.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails. Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust, but giving the gift of love will endure.

www.reclaimingthemind.org

A website that offers a class in theology where you will be presented with a certificate. It looks like the class is only $100.00
It looks like a Calvinistic theology but with at least a openness to Arminanism.

They also have a lot of papers from the "Evangelical Theological Society" that can be read on line

“You can get everything in life you want, if you will just help enough other people get what they want.” Zig Ziglar

Helping each other

I appreciate the fact that our church does what it can to help each other out when one is faced with material needs weather that need is finances, food etc.

Is that not what being the church is about? It is more than just meeting together in a building on the street corner. We are to help, encourage and build each other up everyway we can.

With that said we are often put between a rock and a hard place when people who attend other churches come to us for help. My first thoughts are, "did you ask your church for help?" if so what was their response? and if they did not help you, you ought to seriously think about going to church elsewhere.

Feel free to share your thoughts along these lines. As we are faced with these type of decisions quite often.

Christmas Dinner

Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving....

Our Christmas dinner will be Sunday Dec. 9, 5:00pm at the Civic center. Bring your favorite dish to share and a $5.00 gift if you would like to be involved with our silly type gift exchange :)

Favorite Thanksgiving Story

The day before Thanksgiving an elderly man in Phoenix called his son in New York and said to him, "I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; 45 years of misery is enough. We’re sick of each other, and so you call your sister in Chicago and tell her."
Frantic, the son called his sister, who exploded on the phone. "Like heck they’re getting divorced," she shouted, "I’ll take care of this." She calledPhoenix immediately, and said to her father. "You are NOT getting divorced. Don’t do a single thing until I get there. I’m calling my brother back, and we’ll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don’t do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?"
The man hung up his phone and turned to his wife. "Okay, honey. The kids are coming for Thanksgiving and paying for their flights."

quote

"The Pessimist complains about the wind,

the Optimist expects it to change,

the Leader adjusts the sails. "

I like hanging around people like this

I went to a concert this past Saturday night where 'SOS' was playing. I asked one of the band members how his week went. His response, "Great week, I got rid of my TV, DVD, and games"

When I questioned him about it he said, "They are distractions from serving God and Helping the needy"

Concert Review

Our concert this past Saturday went well. I was a little disappointed in the number that showed up. There were about 60 in attendance compared to last year when we had about twice that. Not sure why when the fact is we did more advertising/promoting this year than last.

The bands did a good job
-"Surprise Attack" they were hard core and need to come up with a few more songs.
-"A Fight to Remember" a newer group with a 'Calibretta 13' sound
-'SOS' the popular local ska band, they get better every time I hear them
- "David' Victory" a hardcore band from Haines City. Their lead vocalist Guy is leaving them at the end of the year.

I was impressed by the appreciation each of the groups showed for the love offering we gave them (only $50.00 each). SOS even gave the offering back to the church.
Please pray for each of these groups that God will use them in building His kingdom

Birthday Party

My wife (Susan) will be 50yrs. old this Sunday, the 11th. We will be having a party after church in the civic center. Come over to share a meal and say Happy Birthday

5 more days

Just a few days left before our concert. We have been praying and getting things ready. Remember we would like to start around 6:30pm on saturday night. Bring your friends and come expecting a great time.

Remember each of the groups coming have their own 'my space'. So check them out.

some reasons for a school

Here are a few of the reasons I gave to our church Sunday for starting our own Christian School.

1) Many of the other schools in the area are expensive. It would be nice to offer a affordable alternative (prayerfully in the $200.00 per month range)

2) Many Christian schools take kids that have serious discipline problems, kids that have been kicked out of public schools and in some cases other Christian schools, just because they need the money.....We will not be a reform school, we believe in giving everyone a second chance and even a new start, but kids that come in because of previous discipline problems will be held on a short leash. The reason for that is because those kids become and cause distractions to the other kids who may be trying to learn something. We want to get the kids who want to learn or at least be motivated to learn.

3) Our history as a church started as a school. The fact being we were probably a school before we were a church. Meaning that whoever started church in this area probably came here first to start a school.

A new vision

there is that saying, "attempt something so great for God that if he does not do it, it will be a miserable failure"

Yesterday I presented to the church just such of a thing. I feel possibly the Lord leading us to begin laying the ground work to start a Christian day school next school year. It is going to take alot of work and prayer, but if it is Gods will He can make it happen.

I will post later on in the week on a few of the reasons I feel that this may be a good thing. In other words why I feel we ought to start a Christian school.

quote

"Frequently, when we reduce the time it takes to do something insignificant, we end up using the saved time on yet another insignificant activity." by

The Age of Speed: Learning to Thrive in a More-Faster-Now World by Vince Poscente.

Concert Details

We have worked out the details regarding our 2nd rock concert. It will be Saturday Nov. 3, around 6:30pm. We have 4 bands scheduled

Send Out Scuds (SOS)
David's Victory
A Fight to Remember
Surprise Attack

They all have my space sites....Check them out.
These are all hardcore rock groups and SOS is a ska band. Hardcore dancing will be allowed and expected :).....Come expecting to have a good time. (Party poopers will not be allowed in).
If you need more information you can email me at bkjohn777@aol.com put 'concert' in the subject line

O did I mention that this concert is FREE!!!!

A Prayer for Enemies

Bless my enemies, O Lord.Even I bless and do not curse them. Enemies have driven me more into your embrace than friends have.
Friends have bound me to earth; Enemies have loosed me from earth and have demolished all my aspirations in the world..

by Brian Mclaren

One of the highlights of our vacation was that we went to see the church location of the first church we pastored in the Cincinnati area (afton). We were thrilled to see not just a new building but also a new educational wing and also they were starting a daycare/preschool. And their attendance in the 70's. Please pray that God will continue to bless the Afton Wesleyan Church.

E mail

Some have wondered where the email to the blog is. Check the profile and you will find or look right here

bkjohn777@aol.com

prison ministry

Kairos prison ministry will be having their weekend retreat the weekend of September 22 in Polk County. Please pray for Bro. Emmett Harrington and others who will be ministering at that time.
Also a big thank you for everyone who brought in cookies to be used (eaten) that weekend

Beatitudes

We have been preaching/teaching on the beatitudes for the last number of weeks. I have been challenged by the fact that if our lives lined up to the beatitudes what would we have?.......

The kingdom of God

Vacation

We are leaving this week to go on vacation. A niece will be getting married this Saturday, in Indiana
My son, Aaron and his wife will be filling in for us this coming Sunday.
We would appreciate your prayers for our traveling

10 Things I Think...OK, 12

This is from church growth and evangelism department of the Wesleyan Church

10 Things I Think…OK, 12

1. The gospel informs the doctrine, not the doctrine the gospel.
2. If we don’t multiply as a denomination we will die.
3. If we can simply agree on where we are going, we’ll be able to figure out how to get there…together!
4. Loyalty does not mean we always agree, but it does mean we will do all we can to get along.
5. A genuine multiplication movement will never happen until it is driven by the local church.
6. Denominational structure must adjust to allow for a movement to be empowered, not endangered.
7. Freedom without responsibility is anarchy.
8. I don’t know everything, but this I do know: I don’t know everything.
9. Church planting and church planters can make denominational leadership uncomfortable, but I’m not sure “comfortable” is a Kingdom value.
10. God is God, we are not. We need to get used to it!
11. When it comes to church planting we just need to “get ‘er done!”
12. If you haven’t thought about planting a church…you ought to!

TV devotion

I was asked to do a 15 minute devotional for the "Good Samaritan Village' yesterday morning. they have their own TV channel which is watched by those who live there. I started with the beatitudes (what we are doing in our services on Sunday). it was a interesting experience, the only problem is trying to get what you want said in exactly 15 minutes. You cannot run short and you cannot go over. What I had planned took about 10 minutes so I had to adlib the next 5 which was kind of hard......Maybe if they have me back I can improve words with time. :)

Mother Teresa

Here is a good article from Time magazine regarding a upcoming book on the letters of Mother Teresa. Is seems she spent much time feeling that God was not near or with her, I cant wait for the book


http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1655415,00.html

Celtic Prayer

I muse on the eternal logos of God,and all creation is lit up.
I muse on the eternal Light,and every person is lit up.
I muse on the eternal Life,and God’s heaven is lit up.
I muse on the beloved disciple at the Last Supperand God’s sacrament is lit up.
I muse on the loved mother and apostle at the Crossand Christ’s church is lit up.
I muse on the risen Christ at Lake Galileeand all our Easter’s are lit up.
I muse on the eternal Lamb of Godand eternity’s tenderness is lit up.
I muse on the radiance of the Eastern lightand pray that it becomes the transforming glory of the West…

from Exploring Celtic Spirituality, 54
found at www.nextreformation.com

While at the hospital visiting yesterday we seen a young man (20 something) who use to live here in the community. He said he had been kicked out of his house, was taking drugs and cutting himself and thus was in the process of admitting himself into Park Place (rehab). We offered to take him over there and while in route tried to encourage him to look to God, he did not seem too interested in looking to God though.....

I have to wonder how low do some people have to go before they begin to think about God? How many more options does this young man have? SAD. Please pray for him

Crime watch meeting

We had our crime watch meeting here in town this past Tuesday (14th). There was a good crowd there, probably the biggest I have seen.
One of the concerns was with the drug selling businesses going on here in town and why they have not been shut down.
We asked what we could do to bring those dealers to justice....the best advice the officers could give us was to keep calling the drug hotline when we see or suspect drug activity. If we all strive to call when we see such activity maybe it will help. We can only pray that it will.
The phone number is 407-348-1174...please use it.

From the Bishops in Albania

Dear Prayer Partners,
We wanted to bring you up to speed on what’s going on with the Bishop family here in Albania… We have been very busy also here as we continue reaching out to the people here and growing our relationships. We are excited about starting some small group meetings in several peoples’ homes. One of those homes is our landlords, and I have attached a letter about my landlord and friend Mustafa. I hope it helps you pray for him and me as we continue to build a relationship in Christ.

Thank you for all your prayers,
Ken, Dawn, Eva, Joshua and Stephen

I wanted to introduce our landlord and a dear friend, Mustafa Dëlehu to you. We have been growing to love he and his family and wanted to introduce him to you so you can pray for him.

Mustafa was a merchant marine for 28 years under the communist system. Wow, the stories he can tell about traveling around the world during the cold war. He has shared many with me and I find it hard to imagine some of the conditions he has been in. Once, he was interrogated for over 9 hours by the communist government for suspicion of talking against the communist system.

He is a hard working man and built the house where we occupy the 2nd floor all by himself. He continues to get up, although retired, at 5:00 in the morning and put his mind to work on finding something to do on the house everyday. Usually repairing or working on the unfinished portions of the house in the first floor.

He loves to drink coffee at least twice a day and I am often found joining him as he invites me to sit and talk with him. During these conversations I often share with him about God and His son Jesus. We often discuss the many differences between the Muslim religion and our faith.
He was able to travel to Italy for a few months to visit his son, so I gave him a stack of books to read during his rest time there. Over the period of three months he read the entire bible and about 6 other Christian books I gave to him. He has a lot of questions and is now reading through the Bible a second time. He is also now attending church service along with his wife (Shpresa) and sometimes his adult daughter (Dora). Please pray for him (them) as we continue to share the Love of Christ and the need for a savior in his life. We have a desire to study the bible together with his family and are praying about actually inviting others to join us. Pray with us as we continue to reveal God’s word to him and His plan for their lives

good story

Willamette Valley Wesleyan Church is located in Wilsonville, Oregon. They were sensing they needed to repurpose themselves for greater effectiveness. It was believed that replanting themselves in a new ministry field would be a great contributor to this. As God was prompting this in the hearts of the leaders, Pastor Jim Winters received a phone call from the City of Wilsonville. It seems they wanted to purchase the church property for over four million dollars. This was a confirmation of the stirring leaders were receiving. They are in process of selling!

An exciting sidebar is that this church wants to invest in church planting around the district. They will invest these dollars into a Wesleyan Investment Foundation account as they search for their new ministry field. During this time 50% of their interest income will be given to the district to help fund new churches. This is a church that is moving toward fitness!

Crime Watch

There was a murder in town a week ago today. Following on the heels of that there will be a crime watch meeting in the civic center at 7:00pm Tuesday August 14th...Everyone in town needs to be there to express their concern to the authorities.

great quote

“If men and women today began by the thousands experiencing the depths of Jesus Christ in a transforming way, there would simply be no place for their expression of experience to fit into the present-day straitjackets of Christianity. Protestant or Catholic, neither one is structured to contain a mass of devoted people who long for spiritual depth. We are structured towards infancy.”
Gordon Cosby, Church of the Savior

wedding vow renewal

We held the ceremony for the Wedding Vow renewal of Neil and Diane Simmons yesterday. They have been married 40 years. I enjoy doing these renewals more than the initial weddings, with divorce rate at about 50% it is always encouraging to see those who have been married 25, 40, 50 yrs. or more.....Commitment is still a virtue.

If you would like to have your vows renewed and in need of a minister to do the ceremony. I would love to oblige :)

Conference Films

The website where you can view the films of the conference are at

www.buzzconference.com/films

THE ULTIMATE ADVENTURE

Starting the Wednesday, July 16 at 7:00pm We will be starting and doing a new seris entitled, “The Ultimate Adventure: Discovering the Joy of a Life in Christ” it will run for aprox. 6 weeks

Conference

While we were in Washington DC I went to a conference called 'Buzz conference'.
The church that held the conference has made the messages and even the films available on line at www.buzzconference.com/media
The conference was great and it is great that this church has made the talks available FREE.

Washington DC

We just came back from our vacation to DC. My take on DC is that it represents both the best and the worse of America. You see the memorials etc. and patriotism, loyal and sacrifice rise within your heart. You are glad and proud to be an American.

You see the homeless and the hungry wondering the streets and all the money and space used for musuems (musuems that are to represent art and it looks like a bunch of garbage) and you are ashamed to be an American.

Great trip with the family none the less and everyone needs to make the pilgrimage at least once in their life.

Fathers Day

THE FATHERHOOD CYCLE
4 years: "My Daddy can do anything."
7 years: "My Dad knows a lot, a whole lot."
12 years: "Oh, well - naturally - Father doesn't know that either."
14 years: "Father? Hopelessly old-fashioned."
21 years: "Oh, that man is so out-of-date. What did you expect?"
25 years: "He knows a little bit about it - but not much."
30 years: "Maybe we ought to find out what Dad thinks."
35 years: "Let's ask Dad what he would do before we make a decision."
40 years: "I wonder what Dad would have thought about that? He was pretty smart."
50 years: "My Dad knew absolutely everything."
60 years: "I'd give anything if Dad were here so I could talk this over with him. I really miss him."

Congratulations

We performed the wedding last night for Jennifer Dorfe and Joe Touhy. We congratulate them and pray Gods best for them

Sunday night services

We have decided to cancel our Sunday evening services for the months of July and August. With that service being cancelled we would like to encourage everyone to make an extra effort to be at our Wednesday evening service which begins at 7:00pm

DS Visit

Our district superintendent, Jerry Root, will be with us on Sunday June 17, Fathers Day. He will be bringing the morning message.

Annual Church Meeting

Our Annual Church Business Meeting will be Wednesday, May 30.

Childrens Worker

We are looking for someone to do a VBS for us this summer and/or start a childrens ministry with us. We can furnish a small apartment. If you are interested contact pastor Brian at bkjohn777@aol.com

GOOD WORDS ABOUT MAINTAINING UNITY

In Essentials, Unity; in Non-essentials, Liberty; in All Things, Charity.

servanthood

I used this as my outline for Sundays message on 'Servanthood'

Richard Foster, in his book Celebration of Discipline, put together a brief comparison of the characteristics of service that is focused more upon ourselves and service that is focused more upon Christ. In paraphrased form, it becomes a self-help test worth taking. Why not measure your clarity of vision against his conclusions'

Self-focused service is concerned with impressive gains. It enjoys serving when the service is titanic or growing in that direction. Christ-focused service doesn’t distinguish between small and large. It indiscriminately welcomes all opportunities to serve.

Self-focused service requires external reward, appreciation, and applause. Christ-focused service rests content in hiddenness. The divine nod of approval is sufficient.

Self-focused service is highly concerned about results. It becomes disillusioned when results fall below expectations. Christ-focused service is free of the need to calculate results; it delights only in service.

Self-focused service is affected by feelings. Christ-focused service ministers simply and faithfully because there is a need. The service disciplines the feelings.

Self-focused service insists on meeting the need; it demands the opportunity to help. Christ-focused service listens with tenderness and patience. It can serve by waiting in silence.

Antoine de Saint Extupery

“If you want to build a ship, don’t summon people to buy wood, prepare tools, distribute jobs, and organize the work, rather teach people the yearning for the wide, boundless ocean.”

Might as well be you

Found this at www.charleswear.com and liked it

somebody is going to win the race,somebody is going to make the next Million
somebody is going to be the next brownhouse
somebody is going to change the world
there will be a next president
somebody will be the highscorer
somebody will make varsity
somebody will open a cool coffee shop
somebody will write a book
somebody will plant a church
somebody will represent a social cause in a radical way
somebody will transform a town one house at a time
might as well be …. (who?)
somebody needs to be the next rockstar…

re-emerging generation

Phil Stevens, evangelism and church growth director of the wesleyan church has a good article about ministering to those 55 and over.

Church planting has often been seen as a means to engage a new generation— new churches
which are planted to connect with an emerging generationthat the existing church may not be leveraged to effectively reach. But might there be a forgotten generation? A generation, it is assumed the existing church is reaching? I will call this the “re-emerging” generation. It is the 55-and-over crowd, a crowd that has been with us, but is re-emerging and re-inventing itself. The challenge is that many churches tend to address the “Senior Adult” as they have previous older generations. This will be inadequate as we move deeper into the 21st Century. This re-emerging generation thinks of aging differently: “None of them think they’re old or are ever going to be old” (USA Today, 3.9.07). This re-emerginggeneration is wealthier, more active, and more health conscious than previous generations. “Pulte Homes has started adding river rafting,
recreational flying and even sky diving to the activities at its Del Webb-brand retirement
communities” (USA Today, 3.9.07). They are working past the “typical” retirement age.
This trend is catching the eye of homebuilders and other market-driven organizations. It needs to catch the attention of the church as well. Here are some observations regarding this re emerging generation as it applies to the church.
1. Ministry to this generation will need to be more “youthoriented” than traditional senior
adult ministries: Midweek lunch potlucks with a lecture on HMO’s will not cut it. This group wants action and adventure. They want to be challenged. They are living longer and want to squeeze life for all it’s worth.
2. They want to be engaged: They still have thoughts, insights, wisdom and abilities which they want to be used. They want to be participants in leadership. They may be busy, but will make time for that which adds value to their lives.
3. They have a new set of challenges: They, unlike previous generations, worry about outliving their retirement. It is not out of the ordinary that those in their fifties will live into their nineties. Churches that address stretching retirement dollars will be hitting felt needs.
4. They are staying put. Retirees are no longer flocking to Florida or Arizona. “Only 5% of people over 55 move in any given year, and of those, half stay in the same county and three-fourths in the same state…” (USA Today, 3.9.07). The re-emerging generation ministry field surrounds most churches.
5. Churches may want to consider planting a church in active retirement communities. 55- and-over communities are cropping up everywhere. It is estimated that “Homebuilders will start construction on 145,000 homes in 55-plus communities this year…” (USA Today, 3.9.07). These communities are typically selfcontained. Many have golf courses, activity centers, and
athletic facilities—why not a church?
6. This re-emerging generation demands quality. They have had it for most of their lives, and they won’t sacrifice it now. The church simply cannot offer second-rate ministry for those 55-plus. It must be done well. It must be done with excellence. Are you missing this reemerging
generation in your church? What might you do to re-tool to connect with them better? Where might you plant a church that will be geared toward these vibrant and vital people?

Prison Ministry

A brother from our church is involved with 'Kairos" a ministry to prisoners. They are having a reunion with some of the inmates at Plant City in April and we as a church are trying to supply the cookies for the reunion. The cookies must be sealed (no home made), store bought. If you would like to help you may drop the cookies off at the church during our regular service times. Sunday morning 10:30am @ 6:00pm. Wednesday 7:00pm......
If you would like more information you may email Emmett Harrington at hnutri@hotmail.com

Alan Hirsch

Alan Hirsch has written an excellent book titled "The Forgotten Ways". He also has a interesting blog at www.theforgottenways.org/blog

Fellowship Dinner

We will be gathering in the Civic Center this Sunday evening at 5:30pm for a pot-luck dinner. It is to welcome our new members the Harringtons. they have transfered their membership from their Wesleyan Church in New York. We are glad God has led them our way.
Everyone is welcome to the dinner

word made flesh

Here is a group that does missionary work among the poor. I like their name

www.wordmadeflesh.org

missionary

This Wednesday night, Feb.14, at 7:30pm, our missionaries, the Bishops, will be here to share with us about their ministry in Albania

Jim Elliot, missionary martyred by the Auca Indians of Ecuador in 1956, prayed: “Am I ignitable? O God, deliver me from the dread asbestos of other things! Saturate me with the oil of the Spirit that I may be aflame. But flame is transient and short-lived. Can’st thou bear this,
my soul—short lived? In me there dwells the Spirit of the Great Short-Lived, whose zeal for God’s House consumed Him. And He has promised baptism with the Spirit and with Fire. ‘Father, take my life, yes, my blood if Thou wilt, and consume it with Thine enveloping fire. I would not save it for it is not mine to save. Have it, Lord, have it all. Pour out my life as an offering for the world. Make me Thy fuel, Flame of God.’”

The Harringtons began their seris on Health/Nutrition this past Sunday (we cut it a little short because of the superbowl). It was interesting and everyone seemed excited to see what the next few weeks will bring. We invite you to join us. Each Sunday night at 6:oopm during the month of February

Community Wesleyan Church

The link for the chuck colson article is not working so to get the article, go to www.breakpoint.org and click on the 1/29/07 breakpoint commentary. That should get you there.
Sorry about the link

God is still moving

More Muslims converted to faith in Jesus Christ over the past decade than at any other time in human history. A spiritual revolution is under way throughout North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia:

http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53884

health/nutrition

Beginning Sunday evening February 4, Dr. Emmett Harrington, a PhD nutritionist and his wife Nancy, an experienced chef with be holding a seminar on "Healthy Aging through Healthy Living". They will be sharing every Sunday evening at 6:00pm in the month of February.

If you made a new year resolution to get in better health, this may be a good place to begin. The seminar is free and everyone is invited