New Series: REFUEL

January 8, 2010 By nick Leave a Comment

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We are kicking off our new series “REFUEL” this Sunday- The series really began last week as we canceled service for “REFUEL Weekend” and asked everyone to take time with their family and with God to prepare for the new year. I am excited about 2010 for New Passion! We are hitting the ground running as we kickoff our 3rd children’s environement, a new group for two year olds in The Grove. We are also kicking off Community Groups for the first time as a church. We’ve had a HUGE response from people interested in sharing life with one another in community! So far we have right at 50% of our weekend attendance signed up for a group. I’m totally blown away by the response. Our groups will correspond with the message series, and each group will be traveling together through the Refuel book by Doug Fields.

I hope to see you this Sunday as we discover how to have uncomplicated connections with God. [Directions]

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Chasing Daylight Chapter 6 Thoughts (Part 2)

June 19, 2008 By nick Leave a Comment

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Here are my final thoughts on Chapter 6 (Advance) of Chasing Daylight by Erwin McManus. Join the Conversation at the end if anything stands out to you…

  • What is it about our conversations with God that we seem to hear the no more readily than the yes? Many times when we claim we are waiting on God, He is waiting on us.
  • You are called not to be a survivor, but to be a conqueror. With passion and anticipation, you move with determination into the eye of the hurricane.
  • I don’t know what it means for others, but for followers of Jesus Christ, what it means to live on the edge is to stand at the epicenter of where the kingdom of God confronts the kingdom of darkness.
  • On this journey one thing becomes certain: When you move forward on what you know, things become clearer. When you refuse to act on what you know, all that you do not know paralyzes you.
  • When we become a people of the Spirit, we join the wind of God as He moves through human history.
  • Those who seize their divine opportunities move with the God-given yes unless God says no. They work from the go and wait for the stop. They understand that the mission gives them permission. They know that the danger is their invitation to step up to the challenge. [Read more...]

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Chasing Daylight Chapter 6 Thoughts (Part 1)

June 18, 2008 By nick Leave a Comment

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Here are some quotes and thoughts that stood out to me from Chapter 6 of Chasing Daylight by Erwin McManus. Join the conversation at the end if anything sticks out to you…

  • When God’s calling and promises are made clear to us, our response will shape how the journey plays out.
  • God will give us victory in the battle, but He will not fight the battle for us.
  • When you’re moving with God, you must move with an advance mentality. You move forward unless God tells you to stop. You advance unless God tells you to wait. There are certain things that you do not need permission to do. You’ve already been commissioned to do them. There are certain things that you do not need a calling to do. You’ve already been commanded to do them.
  • Much of our religious language has been focused on the don’ts rather than the do’s. In the same way we act as if the primary word from God is Stop when it actually is Go.
  • Sometimes confirmation comes in the midst of action, when there’s uncertainty we cannot always sit around looking for a sign. [Read more...]

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What Will You Do With The Power?

June 4, 2008 By nick Leave a Comment

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The first time I heard Francis Chan was at the Thirsty Conference in 2006. He did a talk out of Haggai that blew me away. I have to admit, I stole it, changed it up slightly to make it my own, but I gave him credit for the influence. :)

Today in my daily devotional read of My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers, I was reminded of the message, and wanted to share a few thoughts (I suggest taking the time to read through the 2 short chapters of Haggai HERE after reading this post to get the full idea of what is taking place.)…

(1:12) Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of God’s people began to obey the message from the Lord their God. When they heard the words of the prophet Haggai, whom the Lord their God had sent, the people feared the Lord. Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave the people this message from the Lord: “I am with you, says the Lord!”

The basic idea from Chapter 1 of Haggai is that God is not pleased with the people because they have put themselves, their desires and ambitions, before pleasing the Lord and doing the things that He desired. Zerubbabel led the people to obey the Lord and its at that point that the Lord tells them, “I am with you.”

Kind of sounds like the promise in Matthew 28:19-20 when we are commissioned to go into all the world to make disciples, to baptize, and to teach others all that Christ has taught us, basically the things He desires. He ends by saying in the NLT, “And be sure of this: I am with you always…”

Now back to Haggai…
(2:23)”…I will honor you, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, my servant. I will make you like a signet ring on my finger, says the Lord, for I have chosen you.

Zerubbabel obeyed the Lord and did what He desired, so the Lord finishes the chapter out telling Zerubbabel that He is chosen by God and that He has made him like His signet ring. That right there is awesome! Pause and think about it…A signet ring is the King’s Seal, it is used to attest the authority of its bearer, the ring has also been seen as a symbol of his power. So that means, Zerubbabel has been given God’s authority, His power, His advanced say-so to do what needs to be done, He had God’s approval.

Oswald Chambers wrote today about “The Never-Failing God” – and his focus is on His promises to never fail us and to never forsake us. “…I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” (Hebrew 13:5) – “Neither will I in any way forsake you” – That means that no matter what we do, how bad we mess up, how sinful we are or how selfish we get, the Lord is still there. He has chosen us, He has given us power, He lives with in us, and promises to give us abundant life. Here’s how Chambers closes the devotional:

“We have the idea that God is going to do some exceptional thing, that He is preparing and fitting us for some extraordinary thing by and bye, but as we go on in grace we find that God is glorifying Himself here and now, in the present minute. If we have God’s say-so behind us, the most amazing strength comes, and we learn to sing in the ordinary days and ways.”

So…What have you been waiting for God’s say-so on? Or – What is something in the past that you were holding back on because you were waiting on God’s approval? What will you do with the power God has given you?

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Chasing Daylight Chapter 5 Thoughts (Part 2)

June 1, 2008 By nick Leave a Comment

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Here are some of the things that stood out to me from Chapter 5 of Chasing Daylight by Erwin McManus:

  • The journey that travels through divine moments is not an escape route from personal suffering. In fact, it strengthens our resolve to suffer in the now for the greater good that can be accomplished. It is a recognition that future moments are both born out of and connected to present choices.
  • If it is difficult to fail without risk, it is even more difficult to succeed without failure.
  • You do yourself a disservice when every story has a happy ending in this life. Its far more important that there be a meaningful middle. So often we’re paralyzed in our fear to do the wrong thing, and it is important to always move forward with all the wisdom possible.
  • It is as if we long to know God’s Will, but God refuses to reveal it.
  • Risk that God respects is fueled by a passion for His purpose and a willingness to subjugate our lives to His mission. Prayer moves from “God, what is your will for my life?” to “God, what is your will, and how can I give my life to fulfill it?” [Read more...]

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Chasing Daylight Chapter 5 Thoughts (Part1)

June 1, 2008 By nick Leave a Comment

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Here’s what stood out to me from Chapter 5 of Chasing Daylight by Erwin McManus…

  • Divine moments require us to move from the invisible to the visible so that the invisible can become visible.
  • Its about volunteering when God is asking, “Who will go on my behalf?”
  • It is so much easier to choose to be invisible. Oh, there are other words for ‘invisible’ – average, mediocre, normal, compliant, predictable, safe – and the list could go on and on.
  • The most important decisions of our lives will require us to forsake invisibility and risk becoming visible. Whenever you choose to seize divine moments, you move from invisibility to visibility.
  • Some moments carry within them the capacity to shape a lifetime…The greater that moment’s opportunity, the greater the risk required. [Read more...]

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Thoughts on Chapter 3 of Chasing Daylight (Part 1)

April 24, 2008 By nick Leave a Comment

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Here are some quotes and thoughts from Chapter 3 of Chasing Daylight by Erwin McManus that stood out to me or spoke to me: Please share in the discussion!

The Chapter is about Uncertainty, and how as we move with God, we will face uncertainties. I am about a quarter of the way through the chapter and it’s really good!

  • We have no control over when we die or how we die. We must instead take responsibility for what we do have control over – how we choose to live.
  • Our wealth and abundance of human resources have positioned us to accept a paradigm that provision precedes vision. This has been the foundation of building no-risk faith. This is a tragedy when a part of the adventure is the discovery that vision always precedes provision.
  • If you wait for guarantees, the only thing that will be guaranteed is that you will miss endless divine opportunities – that you can know for certain.
  • [On Uncertain Faith] “By faith Abraham, when called [by God] to go to a place where he would later receive an inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” Hebrews 11:8
  • Faith is all about character, trusting in the character of God, being certain in who God is and following Him into the unknown.
  • One of the wonders of uncertainty is that it is the environment in which God invites us to be creative.
  • First-dimension faith is about trusting the character of God – and transforming your character.
  • Much of first-dimension faith is about doing the right thing regardless of the circumstances or consequences. It is about having the faith that God will be with you when you do what is right.

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Final Thoughts on Chapter 2 Chasing Daylight

April 23, 2008 By nick Leave a Comment

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Final Thoughts on Chapter 2 of Chasing Daylight by Erwin McManus:

  • Until our bodies return to dust, there will always be a voice crying out within us to move from existence to life.
  • The possibilities that await us in each moment are fueled by the potential God has placed with in us…Its about the kind of life you live as a result of the person you are becoming. The challenges you are willing to face will rise in proportion to the character you are willing to develop. With the depth of godly character comes an intensity of godly passion.
  • It is the process of transformation that we find the fuel to engage with confidence the opportunities placed before us.
  • For some strange reason many sincere followers of Christ have come to think that their passions are always in conflict with God’s purpose.
  • When we delight in God, we become anything but apathetic. In fact, we become intensely passionate. These desires of our hearts are born out of the heart of God.
  • The more passionate you are, the more proactive you will tend to be (even if you boldly do the wrong thing).
  • **There may be another question that needs to be asked beyond “What is God doing?” and that is: “What is God dreaming?” ** I like this! [Read more...]

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Chasing Daylight Ch. 2 Thoughts (Part 1)

April 16, 2008 By nick Leave a Comment

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My thoughts from Chasing Daylight Chapter 2 (Part 1): Main Theme: Initiative “Doing Something”

  • We have put so much emphasis on avoiding evil that we have become virtually blind to the endless opportunities for doing good. (Blogged further thoughts HERE)
  • You cannot follow God in neutral.
  • Every moment is priceless, unique, and unrepeatable.
  • If there is one secret to seizing your divine moments, it is that you must take initiative.
  • The greatest danger that success brings, aside from arrogance, is the fear of losing what has been gained. The courage and willingness to risk that breed success are endangered after success is obtained.
  • If men and women who gave their lives for a purpose counter to the will of God could not stop God’s purpose in history, how could someone who longs to do God’s will and chooses to do something in line with God’s character?
  • What God can do through a person who’s willing to act is limitless!
  • When we fail to choose, we choose to fail.
  • You cannot put your life on hold. It moves forward with or without your approval.
  • Choosing not to choose does not put off the problem; it only exacerbates it.

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Chasing Daylight Ch. 1 Thoughts (Part 2)

April 15, 2008 By nick Leave a Comment

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Thoughts from Chasing Daylight by Erwin McManus Chapter 1 Part 2…

  • The divine potential of a moment is unlocked by the choices we make. Each moment’s personal, historic, and eternal value is directly related to the choices we must make within it.

  • (Erwin writes about the Biblical account of the choices that God gave Adam & Eve. They chose to go the way of death) While Adam was hiding, God set out in search for Him. This is a great point of hope. Even when we are lost in the jungle, God in His great mercy pursues us and invites us once again to join His divine adventure.

  • No matter what kind of life you’ve lived, no matter how many wrong choices you’ve made, the next moment is waiting to give birth to new life. (Erwin writes about Rahab and uses her good choice to help God’s people as an example. She created a whole new future with one choice. Rahab is in the direct blood line of King David and Joseph the earthly father of Jesus.)

  • (Erwin uses Caleb and Joshua as an example. He writes that Joshua and Caleb through their faith was ready to take the land that God promised them when they spied on it, but because of the lack of faith of 10 other men, they were left to wonder in the desert for 45 years. When that generation died off, Joshua and Caleb were obedient and took the land.) There are things that God does for you and things that God waits for you to do.

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