Whispering Stream

Check out the POINTE

Not sure what will become of this blog, but in the meantime I'm blogging at http://thepointe.typepad.com  

Come check it out!

Happy Birthday CrossPointe Winter Park

It slipped my mind, but I was reminded today, that one year ago we had our first Sunday night worship gathering to build our launch team.  Very encouraged and thankful for all the people who have partnered with us in this crazy adventure of church planting.  So cool to see God bringing and connecting new people every week!  Feel very privileged to be part of what is happening and looking forward to what the next few months will bring.  

This milestone in the life of CPWP has also served to remind me of the message I got to share that first night...that we need an ongoing focus on the gospel.  I shared this quote from C.J. Mahaney that I hope we never lose sight of...

The greatest need in the American church today is the recovery of the church’s central message, the gospel.  Far too often in evangelical churches the gospel is simply assumed and, being so assumed, its voice is muffled, its entailments are ignored, and its power is drained.  More significantly, when the gospel is assumed it is in grave danger of being displaced.  The church is, therefore, in great need of a thoroughgoing return to gospel-centrality. 

I've lost control

Guess I'll have to indoctrinate Mackinley in the ways of Michigan, as Sydnie might be a lost cause. Please keep all "Michigan" and "lost cause" jokes to yourself.  Thank you.

Encountering Jesus

Not much activity on the blog as of late, mainly because there has been a lot of activity elsewhere.  The past few weeks have brought our oldest heading off to kindergarten, our first partnership (membership) class at CrossPointe Winter Park, and lots of preparation for our fall kickoff.  I am really looking forward to Sunday as we kick off a new series entitled ENCOUNTERING JESUS.  Along with the series we will be launching 7 Community Groups that will be journeying through a custom written curriculum that corresponds to the series.  So thankful for all the leaders God has brought to CPWP.  It was fun packing our house with about 30 of them last Monday for a cookout and our final community group leader training!  

Sydnie is off to kindegarten

Disney Pics

You can check out some pics from our recent trip to Disney by clicking here.

Where we are at

Been enjoying this place in Orlando that our kids had never been before.

Gospel Partnership Starts Sunday

Just picked up the books we will be passing out this Sunday for the start of our Gospel Partnership series.  Really looking forward to the next few weeks!  You can read more about it by clicking here.

 

A Message for Men--are you a shirker?

This past Sunday I had the opportunity to preach out of Psalm 128, which primarily addresses men and their calling.  It's our great conviction at CrossPointe that as the men go, so goes the church.  Felt like this was a good opportunity to speak to that in more detail.  I will admit this is a much easier topic to read about and imagine teaching on, than to actually get up and do it.  I think I felt more than ever that I wanted God to convict those that needed conviction but to encourage those that needed encouragement.  There can be a tendency for some to unnecessarily beat themselves up when these topics are addressed and the last thing I wanted to do was heap false guilt upon people.  Yet I am also convinced that all of us men need to frequently be reminded of our calling to work a job, pastor our family, and serve the church.  

The driving metaphor, which will explain the title and picture in this post, was the SHIRKER BULL.  The shirker bull concept was developed by a biologist named Geist who has a theory about those male deer and elk with the largest set of antlers.  Geist believes that they are often the ones who are "shirking" their biological duty to engage in the rut (two males butting heads to exert dominance and sire the next generation).  Rather than putting their energy into fulfilling their male duties, they instead expend their energy on growing large antlers.  So what at first appears to be a strong, impressive male, is in fact a weak, passive male who is disengaged from his true calling.

This is often the case with men...myself included.  We want to shirk our responsibilities to work a job, spiritually lead our families, and serve in the church.  We tend towards the shirker bull, trying to look impressive on the outside and growing our metaphorical antlers...which can be money, possessions, life of the party, or any number of stupid, immature hobbies we should have given up after we were through with puberty.  

However, the point is not that we should simply suck it up, white-knuckle it, and make the necessary changes.  You can try, but you will fail.  Maybe not at first, but eventually.  You and I can only make it as we look to Jesus, who showed us what true masculinity looks like.  But he didn't just give us an example, He has now made a way for us through the Gospel to be made more and more into His image instead of the image of our original father, Adam...the original shirker.

You can listen and/or download the sermon by clicking here.

Jesus Wants the Rose

I've seen this a bunch of times, and might have even posted before, but came upon it this morning and it's worth watching again.

Sanford Zoo Trip

This week we bid farewell

Our first major purchase as a married couple...the '95 Altima. We

drove her for 11 years. May she rest in peace. In related news, we

have filled in the missing link of suburban living...we had the two

kids and the dog, and now we have the mini-van. I mean we added the

van to the mix, not that we traded the kids and dog for it. Just

wanted to clarify.

Returned and reEngineering

Heather and I had an absolutely fantastic time at the Acts29 Retreat in Vail, CO this past week! An incredible blessing to be away and spend time with fellow church planters. Such an encouragement to hear how God is at work in various contexts through various methodologies, but all centered on the Gospel. So good. It also gave Heather and I space to think through how the past few months have been...to reflect on all the good that God is doing and to think proactively about what things need to continually be reengineered and adjusted. One of those things is my schedule. Nothing major, but things like trying to think ahead to Sydnie being gone at school all day starting in the fall. How do we maximize time spent as a family in the midst of a fairly busy schedule? These are conversations I enjoy having with Heather and am thankful for her insight and push-back (when needed). The past 6 months have been an absolute blast and an absolute blur. Definitely needed the get-away to think and process and simply enjoy what God has given us. The plane ride home was pretty productive as I got a chance to write out some of my thoughts and plans. We'll see if it translates from Moleskine to real life.

Vail Trip

Pastor Dad

I am looking forward to reading this free book courtesy of The Resurgence. I'm thinking you should check it out as well. Happy Father's Day!

Re:Lit | Pastor Dad | eBook by Mark Driscoll

What Has God Prepared in Advance for Me/Us?

In Ephesians 2:10 Paul writes, For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. I was reminded of these words last Friday night, as Vision360 church planters gathered for a time of worship and prayer. One planter, who was bold enough to go first and express what is probably in the hearts of every church planter, asked for prayer regarding his heart ability to celebrate with other pastors on how their church is going. It can be tough not to be competitive. To say the right things from the mouth, but to not speak them genuinely from the heart. At least it is for me. I appreciated this man's honesty and articulation of something I too need prayer for. In particular, the verse above was brought up and the reminder that God has prepared good works in advance for not only me, but our entire church plant collectively. The point is not to dwell on the prepared for in advance good works of other churches, but to ask if I/we are being faithful to the works that God has for me/us? It's been helpful and freeing to think on this. Helps drive out the comparisons. Helps me keep a gospel identity, rather than a works identity.

What kind of manure are you?

A friend of mine once said that Christians are like manure: spread them out and they help everything grow better, but keep them in one big pile and they stink horribly. Which are you? The kind that reeks, around which people walk a wide swath? Or the kind that trusts God enough to let Him spread you out--whether that means going outside your normal group of Christian friends, increasing your material giving, or using your time to serve others?--Francis Chan, Crazy Love

Had a chance to read this book last week and shared this quote from the final chapter on Sunday. I definitely feel the tension of not allowing myself to "pile up" and be insulated within the confines of the "church." One might think it'd be easy to not be "confined" since we don't have a church facility, but that is not the case. It's like everything wars against mission and I am realizing the continual need for intentionality.

How Tim Keller Found Manhattan

How Tim Keller Found Manhattan | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction

The Best of Van Gundy