παραιτησης

changin up

2008-06-03T10:35:00.000-07:00

Sorry to throw a change up at you, but I was having some technical trouble with Blogger so I had to change sites click here to check it out...sorry for any inconvenience.

Questions?????

2008-05-20T16:28:00.001-07:00

Here lately, as we move into the future with the Warren Campus, there have been many great questions come up from people in the church and out. So, periodically I will write something in response to some of the questions we have heard. I know that if one person has voiced the question then there are probably others that have the same question.

Recently someone asked how small groups will work with both campuses? I believe the answer to this will be an answer that will be given to many questions to come…”We are ONE church, in MULTIPLE locations”. In others words, it will still be North Point Christian Church in both locations. You may have people in one small group going to two different campuses. Michele Phillips will still oversee the entire program at both campuses.

We want to be unified in all areas of the church life as possible. We serve under ONE Lord through Jesus Christ as head of the church. So, at NPC there will be ONE congregation, ONE Leadership Team, ONE Budget, ONE staff member for oversight of each of the 5 Focus Points (Weekend Services, Dennis/Tim-Student Community, Matt McClane-Children’s Department, Ramona Rendall-Small Groups, Michele Phillips-Lifeguard, Dennis/Tim)…yet meeting in different locations.

A Great Day Fishing

2008-05-17T08:31:00.000-07:00

Holding one that didn't get away...about to be processed.

Gary with a couple early morning perch.

Me as captain while Gary did some of the rigging...scary!
By the way that is a Git-R Done hat...

Gary with the typical deep lake fishing boat over his shoulder.

Gary's prized toy...it is a very nice boat.

I had a great day yesterday fishing on Lake Michigan. Gary Christianson graciously took me fishing on Lake Michigan yesterday and it was a blast. I have lived next to the Lake for going on 6 years now, and that that was the first time fishing on the big lake since we moved here. What a great experience and Gary was such a good host and guide. We caught perch in the morning and salmon in the afternoon. It was pretty eventful since we were in a relatively small boat for Lake Michigan ( a 16 foot Ranger…unsinkable they tell me…course that is what they said about the Titanic) fishing in 150-160 feet of water in some pretty rough water with whitecaps and good sized rollers…boys will be boys.

The salmon fishing was really cool. We landed 3 and had three other hook-ups. One that we lost was a 6-8 pound rainbow trout that we lost right at the boat…the one that got away. He fought like crazy and was jumping clear out of the water an unbelievable amount of fight in that fish…then the line broke right at the boat…fun none the less. I can’t wait to go back.

Great Day!

2008-05-15T15:06:00.000-07:00

Today was a great day. I had an opportunity to worship together with several church leaders from across Lake County at a Catalyst meeting. After the meeting, Mike, Dennis and I gave Jim Tomberlin a ride to the O’Hare airport. On the way we were able to pick Jim’s mind about church planting. Jim has been a church planter now for many years and has worked with many successful plants. God has utilized Jim in a variety of ministries from pastoring a church in Germany, to growing a mega-church in Colorado Springs, to pioneering the multi-site strategy at Willow Creek.

It was good to pick up some golden bits of information to use for the new Warren Campus, and I thank him very much for his words of wisdom and insight. Even his affirmation that we are on the right track with much of what we are doing was a great source of encouragement.

As we begin this move to multi-site it is amazing to see God at work in the hearts of so many people in the church. I pray that this “stirring” will remain in action as the Spirit moves in the hearts of people.

Tater is here!

2008-05-07T18:11:00.000-07:00

Never worry, never fear…Todd Tate has been here…since last Saturday night anyway. Todd is our missionary in Mexico and works with Rio Bravo Christian Ministries. It has been good to spend time with him and hear how the ministry is doing in Mexico. He will have to take a week’s vacation when he gets back to his home since he has been so busy running from event to event and home to home, as people have graciously opened their homes to him.

Issue Revisited...DNA #10

2008-05-05T12:45:00.000-07:00

Again this is a follow up to a blog post, THE 13 NPC DNA COMMANDMENTS, I did on the DNA of NPC. I had someone ask about DNA #’s 9, “Thou shall endeavor for “Seeker Friendly Services”—Designing services that Celebrate Christ and Connect with the people. Planning services that reach those who are unconnected to the church (may not necessarily be what the churched people would want). In other words, identifying and connecting to the best of our ability the gospel message of Jesus Christ with the unconnected “Everyman” of the area we serve”. and 11, “Thou shall be Staff-led.”

I tackled # 9 in the previous post, now I will endeavor to explain #11 and what it means to be “staff-led”.

I have to admit that staff-led can be very mis-leading when you just read those words alone, but placed in the context of “leadership structure” it may become more clear as to its meaning.

First of all, it must be said that the church and its leadership must be Spirit-led in all aspects of the leading of the church…again this is an absolute must. Reliance on the Holy Spirit for wisdom, knowledge and discernment are critical in understanding and following the will of God for the direction of the church.

The other term that goes along side of “staff-led” is “elder-led”…again very misleading without context. Basically, when you look at these two terms in the context of church leadership it comes down to, who takes care of the day-to-day or the timely matters of the church. Another word might be, who takes care of the micro-management of the church.

Let me share with you our (NPC) philosophy of staff-led. Our leaders/elders of the church are the shepherds of the timeless principles of God that we see in scripture. They make sure that the church is in line with the Biblical based core values of Christ's church. They are also the ones who make sure that the church adheres to the core values (DNA) of the philosophy and vision of the church. Their position is oversight of the timeless core value principles of the church.

The staff then, carries these core value principles of the church out in a timely manner. The staff is given the freedom to move forward with these principles in a way that connects with the context of the current culture and society. They are trusted and given the freedom to make day-to-day decisions within the context of the core value principles (Biblical and visional).

Example…the decision to do backyard VBS (Blastzones) was a decision made by the staff and then ran by the leadership. The leadership said yes this is exactly what we need to be doing. From there the staff ran with the ideas and the structure and the advertisement and the volunteers and engaging with the small group leaders and make sure that all the day-to-day activities were meeting the needs the families within the church and local communities.

I hope this answers the question…and I also pray that we will be a church that is obedient to the call and work of the Holy Spirit in our lives and the life of the church.

Issue Revisited...DNA #9

2008-05-03T13:27:00.000-07:00

I had been asked in a previous post, THE 13 NPC DNA COMMANDMENTS, to explain a couple of points to the NPC DNA, so I will attempt to explain this to the best of my ability.

First would be #9, “Thou shall endeavor for “Seeker Friendly Services”—Designing services that Celebrate Christ and Connect with the people. Planning services that reach those who are unconnected to the church (may not necessarily be what the churched people would want). In other words, identifying and connecting to the best of our ability the gospel message of Jesus Christ with the unconnected “Everyman” of the area we serve.”

NPC has always been a church that has been concerned about people who were/are disconnected from the church or from a relationship with Jesus Christ. Our first concern has always been to teach the hope in the gospel of Jesus Christ in a way that connects with the ‘everyman’ of our area. Side note, ‘everyman’ simply means, “an ordinary person; the typical or average person.” So our target audience is the simple everyday people you meet on the street everyday.

In meeting these people where they are at and taking them where they need to go, we want to make a concerted effort to bring the gospel alive to individuals using creativity in our worship services. This by no means insinuates that we “water down” the gospel message, but sharing it in a way that connects with people. The life changing message of the gospel of Jesus Christ is something that can be difficult to live out in our daily lives, so we want people to be able to receive it in a way that is meaningful and practical.

Some would say that non-believers cannot fully participate in worshiping God with believers. Where I understand this thought and believe there are some truths to that…I also believe that we need to give opportunity for the Holy Spirit to work on the hearts of the non-believer, this can take place in the worship services of the church. This leads me to my next thought…

Why do I say that some “churched people” may not want this or desire this. Simply…we (I label myself as a churched person here) bring much tradition (not always bad tradition…but traditions non the less) and sometimes even “baggage” as to what we think are essential for church. When you begin to strip some of these things (traditions and baggage) away and get to the core of the gospel message and preach that in a creative way it may not look like what some people are used to in the church. Not that one way of “doing” church is better or even more holy than another…but different.

I pray that NPC can continue to be a church that reaches out to an unconnected group of people and draw them into a new relationship with God. I pray that NPC will continue to meet the felt needs of others, to make it simple for them to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, and be wise in how we meet people where they are and take them to where they need to be.

Issue #11 next...

Mexico here we come

2008-05-01T13:34:00.000-07:00

I am writing this from the hospital bed due to my back being totally destroyed during the making of this video. Oh by the way my partner in this video is the new intern at NPC working with our mission’s team and our coming Warren Campus...Welcome Donna Taylor.

THE 13 NPC DNA COMMANDMENTS

2008-04-28T14:30:00.000-07:00

1. Thou shall be God Centered.

2. Thou shall be Christ Following.

3. Thou shall be Spirit-led.

4. Thou shall uphold and teach what NPC views as Biblical absolute truths.

5. Thou shall do Biblical Teaching that is balanced in “formation” and “information”.

6. Thou wilt be a church that is Reaching up, Reaching Out, Reaching In.

7. Thou shall concentrate on the Five Focal Points- Weekend Services, Small Group Ministries, Children’s Ministries, Students Ministries and Life-Guard Ministries.

8. Thou shall be a Church Characterized by Love, Acceptance and Forgiveness.

9. Thou shall endeavor for “Seeker Friendly Services”—Designing services that Celebrate Christ and Connect with the people. Planning services that reach those who are unconnected to the church (may not necessarily be what the churched people would want). In other words, identifying and connecting to the best of our ability the gospel message of Jesus Christ with the unconnected “Everyman” of the area we serve.

10. Thou shall concentrate on Externally Focused opportunities by showing the love of Christ to individuals and helping the community succeed for the cause of Christ.

11. Thou shall be Staff-led.

12. Thou shall endeavor to be a church that is open and authentic.

13. Thou shall endeavor to build openness to change that enables the church to reach the “everyman”.

NPC MULTI-SITE VISION…by MIKE FOSTER

2008-04-28T14:16:00.000-07:00

I love what what Mike shared about our vision for the new campus during our weekend services last Sunday.

The multisite vision for North Point is to have more campuses in more convenient locations for more conversions. Some of you may cringe at the sound of the word convenient in conjunction with the church. I unashamedly want to make it easier for people to come to know Jesus. Not by watering down what it means to be a Christ-follower, but by providing more places and more opportunities for people to begin a relationship with Jesus. We want more conversions, we want more life change, more people coming into relationship with Jesus and letting Him change their lives.

Some may ask why? Why take away from the group here to go and start something elsewhere. You might say, “I like my church. I like it just the way it is.” You know why? It is because the fields are ripe. According to a 2006 census estimate there are some 713,000 residents of Lake County. Some numbers that the Chicago District Evangelistic Association have come up with state that only 250,000 of those residents are “claimed” by a church. “Claimed” is a loose term meaning they are on the membership roles of a church but they may or may not actually be attending that church. The need is great in Lake County and the best way for us to reach Lake County is by starting new churches or new campuses so to create more places for people to experience Love, Acceptance and Forgiveness.

We are also going so we can meet the needs of others. I have heard many stories of how North Point has met the needs of many through acts of kindness. I got to take part with some of you yesterday helping out Mrs. B. To the best of our abilities we want to “give to anyone as he has need.” We want to give the Gospel its best hearing possible by meeting the needs of others and showing them the love of Christ. We want to do good deeds to create goodwill to share Good News. Tim said it last week but I too love the quote by St. Francis of Assisi said, “Preach the Gospel at all times; if necessary, use words.” Too often we go to the words too fast and they don’t see enough love in action.

Some of this launch is like becoming a parent for the first time. You are scared to death, yet terribly excited, all at the same time. I was describing how I felt to a friend of mine and I said, “I feel like I am at the place where peace and terror meet.” I have peace knowing this is exactly where God wants me to be and that I am doing exactly what He wants to do. At the same time, I have this sense of terror as I don’t know exactly how we are going to get from here to there. This is where God wants us to be. A place of peace totally relying on Him, yet holding on for dear life not knowing exactly where He will take us.

We serve a wild God, a furious God. A God of Adventure, and by no means tame. We’re expecting. We’re expecting God to move and to move us to greater levels of faith. So many times we limit God by the things that we can do, let’s let God be God and let Him take us to where He wants us to be.

Rebuilding Together

2008-04-28T12:52:00.000-07:00

Mark hard at it...

Mike D. preparing the header for the porch

Mike F...praying....................my son Kurt...playing with his glasses.

Awesome painters in action

About to be attacked by Nancy T...priceless!

50 North Pointer’s descended upon Mrs. B’s house this last Saturday, as NPC joined forces with the national organization called Rebuilding Together. Rebuilding Together is an organization that helps people with their homes who may not be able to afford or have the physical ability to do work on themselves. This is a great way to get into the community and help people succeed for the cause of Christ.

Last year we were able to work with Mrs. A…this year Mrs. B…next year I hope to be able to help out Mrs. C, D, &E. There were people painting the interior and exterior of her home, putting on a new porch, fixing broken windows and doors, and endless numbers of maintenance jobs around the house from electrical to drywall patch. More than the work though was this amazing time of Christian fellowship as we worked side by side. It was awesome to witness and awesome to be part of.

I want to thank the team leaders for all their extra time and effort that they put into this project…Scott Lindemann, Donna Taylor, Michele Phillips, JC Crawford, Scott Holverson, and Don Evans…THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH!!

As the day was wrapping up, Mrs B came to me one more time to say thank you…as she had done so many many times during the day. But this time, as she looked at her new porch and fresh paint, the emotions and tears were very evident that words could not express her sincere thanks.

All there was left for me to say was, “you are entirely welcome” as she gave me a huge hug…and in my mind I was thinking, “as Christians, isn’t this just what we are supposed to be doing?”……keeping our eyes open at the intersections of life to share the love of Jesus Christ with others.

The Office

2008-04-23T09:20:00.000-07:00

Synergy… defined as, “The interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects.” When the apostle Paul speaks to the churches in his letters found in the bible, you will see a repeated theme surrounding unity within the church…Romans 15:5, Ephesians 4:3-13 & 5:31, Colossians 2:2 & 3:14, I Corinthians 1:10.

There are great things that can happen when we put our thoughts together and work together as a team…whether in the church, in our homes, or where we work. As Mike Foster has come on board with us as our “New Campus Pastor” we were looking at our office space and decided to try an idea for awhile. Mike, Dennis, and I will be sharing an office. The hopes are to synergize our thoughts and efforts and to be as unified in thought as possible as we move forward. I can’t wait to see how this plays out. If things go well…I would love to be able to do this with more staff members…just finding a space big enough to do it. So the experiment begins.

Happy 13th

2008-04-23T08:25:00.001-07:00

I am not old enough to have a teenager. Happy 13^th Kurt!

Time

2008-04-23T08:15:00.000-07:00

It has been a great...but very long 2 weeks. Over the last 10 ten working days I have been putting in 12 plus hours days. All good stuff, but makes blogging a bit more difficult. But I have a few neat things I would love to share.

Seasons

2008-04-11T14:36:00.000-07:00

Seasons come and seasons go; and according to what the Bibles says every season has a purpose, its not just a famous song. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.”

Some seasons of life come upon us without warning, other seasons we see coming from a distance. Some of these seasons we look forward to while others can be a complete trial and struggle to make it through, but again it seems as though each one has a purpose.

There is a man I that I admire greatly that is on the cusp of a new season in life. He has been in his current season for nearly 48 years and has seen many ups and downs, yet through it all as been a man of great integrity and humility as God’s servant. I have only had the awesome privilege to be in this man’s life for the past 6 years, yet have witnessed God do amazing work in his life. I have come to admire his unquestionable love for God and pastoral devotion to humanity.

As I closely watch this man develop a plan for the coming season, I see both mourning and anticipation. Mourning over moving beyond a season he loves, yet anticipating the great adventure of the new ministries that lie ahead.

Here's to Dennis Corley! A Christ follower, a mentor, a counselor, a teacher, a pastor, husband, father, and an amazing friend. Dennis is by no means stepping down from his Senior Pastor ministry at this time, but will be laying out the final transition plans that he and I are in. He will be sharing with the congregation how we will be “passing the baton” during this Sunday's Worship Service. You see, as he lays out this transition plan, he will be going into a new season; a season of many transitions that will take place over the next 14 months.

I cannot imagine how he must be feeling at this moment and so I will not to put words into his mouth. I can only express what I see in him. That is a spirit of humility, which to me is one of the greatest characteristic a person can possess.

Dennis, I so look forward to seeing how God will use you in the coming seasons of life…I know He will use you as much and more than He has in the past. I thank God for allowing me the great privilege of ministering with you, learning from you, and being your friend. And I look forward to continuing to learn from you into the future.

As I have been encouraged many times, Dennis continue to “Preach the Word brother”…because it’s a “God Thing”!! love ya!

This is what I have learned so far..........

Let The Fun Begin

2008-04-09T12:22:00.000-07:00

Foster’s have arrived. Mike, Eskai, and Sarai Foster made it to their new home in Gurnee, IL last night. Thank you to all who were able to come and move their household belongings in...even in the rain.

Mike is our multi-site Campus Pastor for the new North Point Church Campus that will be located in Warren Township. I am looking forward to watching God work in the life of this family and how His Kingdom will expand due to their humble Christlike efforts.

Mike and Eskia will be working along side of several people from NPC who already live in this area (Gurnee, Wildwood, Grayslake, Lindenhurst) while reaching out to the surrounding community. They will simply be doing the best they can to show the love of Jesus Christ to the people in this area. The hopes are that God’s kingdom will grow and that people will learn to Reach Up, Reach Out, and Reach In, and that this church will have the basic foundational characteristics of Love, Acceptance, and Forgiveness.

Please continue to pray for Mike and his family and for the church as we all set out with God and this grand venture.

Fresh Paint

2008-04-08T12:56:00.000-07:00

There has been much work done...yet some work still ahead.

At NPC we strive to focus in on 5 major areas of Ministry as we teach people to Reach Up, Reach Out, & Reach In. We call these areas our “Focus Point” ministries. These include Weekend Services, Small Groups, Student Community, Children’s Ministries, & what we call our Lifeguard Ministries.

Over the last few months there have been several people who have stepped up to help out in creating some very impressive and appealing facades for K-Town and the Small Groups information center. I just want to thank all those who have helped out and all the hard work you have put in. I want to give a special thanks to Ramona Rendall, Michele Phillips, Mindy Bycroft, Don Evans, Shawn Phillips, Kelly Rice, & Fred Rickert for all the extra time they put into all of these projects.

Meant For More '08

2008-04-08T12:21:00.000-07:00

I am so proud of and excited for Anne McClane. She has put together a tremendous team of people who will be working with over 130 young women (6^th-12^th grade) from several area churches at the Meant For More '08 Conference. This year it will be held at NPC. This awesome event will be going on this weekend, Friday and Saturday. The purpose of this conference is to encourage and equip young women to be set apart for God, and to give them tools to be more for God than can be imagined. What a great initiative to reproduce into the lives of these young women.

Please pray for everyone involved, that this weekend will truly be a time of Glorifying God and that it will be a blessing to all.

Reflections

2008-04-04T21:04:00.000-07:00

I was cleaning up my office today and found a list that Mindy and I put together at the end of year 2000. As I read the concluding paragraph I couldn’t help but be reminded of that excitement of seeing God work in my life and the life of my family. My heart and my future vision was to simply hear God’s voice and follow His will. I pray that I never loose that passion for God to point the way into the future and keep my eyes open to opportunities to serve Him. I pray that we as a church never loose that passion either.

THE YEAR 2000 IN REVIEW

Actually something cool took place right before the year 2000 began during Christmas of ’99 Holly and Dave (Tim’s sister) got engaged.

January:

· Mindy and Tim decide to have another child
· Mindy and Tim made a monumental God Thing decision to go back to college and not to have another child
· Shelly and Doug (Tim’s sister) have Harrison

· Shelly has to go back to the hospital with a staff infection
· Grandma Gorsline (Tim’s mom’s mom) in the hospital at the same time as Shelly with pneumonia

February:

· Tim and Mindy found out that they were have a baby non the less the decision not to…by the way they found out while Tim was applying for LCC.

March:

· Harry (Tim’s dad) was in the hospital with Blood Pressure and Head Aches
· Put the finishing touches on the house so we could sell it.

April:

· Shelly and Doug decide that Doug is going to go to Seminary at LCS.
· Mindy and Tim house up for sale
· Angie and Randy (Mindy’s sister) found out that they were going to have their first child.

May:

· Mindy quit work to prepare for moving.

The next few months were fairly uneventful except for trying to getting ready to move, move, start college, and have a baby. In addition, our cute darling daughter Lindsey kept trying to destroy the house we were trying so desperately to sell. Hiding donuts under the chairs, getting into Mindy’s makeup, and drawing on the walls with permanent markers, and scrabbling eggs in the carpet.

July:

· Grandpa Raby (Mindy’s grandpa) goes into the hospital with health problems.
· Mindy reports to Dr. West that she was having some spotting and not feeling well with the pregnancy.

August:

5^thSaturday:

· Mindy and Tim along with many friends and family move all their belongings to the humble little home in Atlanta, IL.

7^th Monday:

· Mindy and Tim find out that they lost their baby.

9^th Wednesday:

· Benjamin Bycroft is delivered in Galesburg, IL.

11^th Friday:

· Had graveside service for Benjamin

14^th Monday

· Mindy and Tim and kids final Move to Atlanta IL

Other things that took place in August:

· Tim resigned from Stockland FS
· Jan and Larry (Mindy’s dad) finally bought a computer.
· Tim began classes at LCC
· Kurt began Kindergarten at Atlanta Elementary School

September:

· Doug began classes at LCS
· Mindy and Tim finally close on their Monmouth home.
· Holly and Dave took the plunge
· Grandpa Raby past away.
· Lindsey began pre-school

October:

· Kurt starts having difficulties in school.
· Holly and Dave have open house at RCC

November:

· Konnie (Tim’s mom) begins having health problems.
· Shelly and Doug find out that they are having another baby.
· Kurt has tubes put in his ears.

Decmber:

· Grandma Law (Mindy’s dad’s mom) is taken to the nursing home after a short visit to the hospital with some health issues.
· Jan (Mindy’s dad’s wife) starts a new job.
· Tim gets his first semester of college under his belt.

I am not sure what exactly this list actually means, maybe just the simple fact that I have too much time on my hands and needed to write something down. I am sure that every family, in the Bycroft/Law clans could put a list together that is just as long if not longer. It is just amazing to me how many things can happen to a family in a single year. As I look over the list there are things that show good times and bad. Through all these family life experiences, Mindy and I believe that we have grown as individuals, as husband and wife, as an entire family unit, and most importantly as faithful Christians. God has shown us many opportunities this last year. I pray everyday for Him to keep our eyes open to the opportunities He puts before us in the future. I truly believe He has blessed our household and extended family. Over the last twelve months, we have seen God work in our lives as well as the lives of our family. Looking over the list and thinking of the life changing experiences that have happened this year to our family, I cannot wait to see what God has in store for the next twelve months.

Celebrate Recovery

2008-04-04T14:30:00.000-07:00

NPC has reintroduced the Celebrate Recovery program for those who wish to move past life’s hurts, hang-ups and habits. People from all kinds of backgrounds and life situations are coming together to find out how Christ can help them overcome these life issues. I think that the team that Bruce and Carolyn Bakken are working with are just some phenomenal people and are doing an awesome job with this very important and life changing ministry. Thanks to all involved…lives are being changed for the cause of Christ.

Vacating

2008-04-01T17:39:00.000-07:00

Last week was spring break for the kids so we took a few days and vacated to WI Dells and to visit family. Here are a few pictures.

REPRODUCING CHURCH

2008-04-01T09:17:00.000-07:00

In the month of April, we (Dennis and I…along with the debut of Mike Foster…also Lance Hurley and Todd Tate rounding out the lineup) will be sharing an exciting sermon series revolving around the future of NPC. We will be talking about how we are called to be a “Reproducing Church”. What does “reproducing church” mean? Well, we will be spending 5 weeks covering that very thing. I will give you a brief overview today, but will be spending more time in the coming days going into more detail with this Biblical concept. The prayers and hopes of this series is to teach about and prepare our congregation for the multi-site church experience we are embarking on.

Dennis Corley will be starting off the series April 13th with a study on the mentoring process and transition that he and I have been in. He will be basing this sermon on 2 primary scriptures: 2 Kings 2 (the transition between Elijah and Elisha) and Eph. 4 (the equipping of the church). The main theme will be “Example of Reproducing Ourselves”.

I have the great privilege of sharing a sermon from 2 Tim. 2:2 on April 20th. In this sermon I will be challenging people to reproduce the “Life of Christ” living in them into someone else. This will be a time to get more specific about the theology of “individuals reproducing”.

On April 27^th Dennis, Mike and I will be sharing a sermon as a team on what reproducing church means on the cooperate church level. We will look at Acts chapter 2 and see how the Holy Spirit is at the heart of all we do to reproduce church in the multi-site direction…to be able to Reach Up, Reach Out, & Reach In to others for the cause of Christ.

These first three Sundays we stayed close to our backyards of Winthrop Harbor (Jerusalem)…the following 2 Sundays we move from Jerusalem to Samaria/Judea to the ends of the earth. Lance Hurley will be with us, May 4th, sharing the exciting things that the CDEA (Chicago District Evangelistic Association) is doing to plant churches in the Chicago land area (Samaria/Judea). Todd Tate will be here the following week, May 11th, sharing about all the great things that are being accomplished at Rio Bravo Christian Ministries in SanCarlos and surround areas of Mexico (ends of the earth).

I am very excited about this upcoming series. I hope you can all be there or at least get a chance to listen to the sermons online at NPC Sermons.

FREAKY TEETH

2008-03-24T18:36:00.000-07:00

My youngest daughter, Emma has her adult teeth coming in which is cool. The sad part is that her baby teeth have not fallen out yet so she has not collected a dime from the tooth fairy yet.

My Apologies

2008-03-24T13:40:00.000-07:00

My Apologies

Someone told to me that they tried to leave a comment and could not because they were not a “blogger”. I did not know there was a “switch” to throw…but there was and now it has been thrown...the comments can come from anyone. Not expecting any...but it is available none the less. Sorry about that.

What a GREAT Day!!!!

2008-03-24T06:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was such an awesome day! Actually, it started out as a typical hectic Sunday morning where I was running late and the kids were needing to get ready for church…but the Easter Bunny had taken precedence with his treasure filled (highly paganistic ) eggs. On top of that, there were several things that I needed to get done before church services started. So I was running around like crazy when I happen to peek in the living room and see Kurt sitting in my recliner with Emma on his lap. As I stopped for this mere moment I noticed he was reading his Bible to her…he was reading the resurrection story to her. What a sight and sound to the ears of a proud papa. All of a sudden my priorities quickly shifted…this was the start of an awesome day.

From there we all loaded up and headed to church for our Easter Celebration. It was a great morning of worship. There are so many people to thank for making this a wonderful worship experience including all the church staff and their volunteers. But I want to say a particular thank you to Jeff and Lisa Volz, Phil and Maddie Jones, and Cliff, Tracy & Brody Smith for all the extra efforts they put in this week. What they contributed to support the theme for this Easter morning at NPC was absolutely huge. It was so much fun to work with our planning team the last couple of weeks, thanks Pete, Amanda, Pam, Jake, and Dennis as well. Sunday morning was truly an awesome time to worship God on this resurrection Sunday.

After services we had a great meal with many friends at a favorite restaurant in Kenosha, Villa De Carlos, in which Emma and I got our picture taken with the Easter Bunny. We also met up with our good friends Brian and Christine Beck. It was a great time to catch up with them and hear how their ministry at Rock River Christian Camp is going. We shared late into the evening with our friends as our kids played so well together.

I hope your Easter was an awesome day to celebrate the victory in Jesus’ life.

THIS IS WHY WE CELEBRATE!

2008-03-23T18:50:00.000-07:00

His is Risen!!!!

On a Mission from God

2008-03-21T18:31:00.001-07:00

“On a mission from God” the infamous Blues Brothers slogan. I believe this memorable slogan…which I have always referred to as a “God Thing”… is the one thing that we must understand as we move into this multi-site venture. God’s vision and mission is the motivation that will propel us to be relentless in our pursuit to go multi-site.

Now understand, multi-site is not a new vision for NPC, but a way to carry out the God given vision that has been in place from day one. I love what Dennis Corley (Sr. Pastor of NPC) has done to hear God’s voice through scripture and the leading of the Holy Spirit and then implement that heart vision into NPC. This vision has always been to be a church that has done what it can to help people Reach Up to God, Reach Out to others and, and Reach In to nurture the church. My wife just shared with me about a conversation she had with someone on the phone this afternoon…the person she was talking to shared that NP has always been a church that has shown love and acceptance and forgiveness…what better characteristics for a church (sounds very similar to the characteristics of Jesus Christ).

My prayer is that we, with God’s Sovereign leading, can reproduce these great characteristics of NPC in another area of Lake County. In an effort to help people, particularly the unchurched, Reach Up, Reach Out and Reach In for the cause of Christ.

Please continue to pray for all the different aspects of this new venture. Pray that we would be humble and strive to understand God’s good, perfect and pleasing will.

Snow Day

2008-03-21T13:56:00.000-07:00

What a day to live in Kenosha. At least 8 inches on the ground and it is still coming. We even had to cancel the community Good Friday Services for tonight due to the snow. It has been a good day though having the opportunity to spend the day snowed in with the family.

"life is short"

2008-03-20T10:57:00.000-07:00

I was just talking with a very good friend today, which is something that I am so grateful to be able to do. You see, right before Christmas his brain exploded…well not exactly, but he had a double brain aneurysm. God allowed my good friend Al to stay with us a bit longer. While we were talking on the phone Al reminded me about how life is so short and how this “near death” experience instilled a greater understanding of how relationships are so important.

When we were done with our conversation, I couldn’t help but think about relationships that have been severed or hurt severely over issues in life that could have been prevented if I would have just let down my pride. This destructive behavior with relationships can happen with friends, family, co-workers, and maybe even the person we just bump into on the streets. It also got me thinking about one of the greatest relationships that has ever been broken. A relationship that was broken and now has been mended by Jesus Christ…that relationship is with God.

I am so geared up to celebrate this weekend. This time of year should be such a time of reflection and celebration for the Christ follower. This weekend as we take a concentrated time to remember the death, the burial, and most importantly the resurrection of Jesus I encourage you to thank God for mending our broken relationship.

Life is short…let’s celebrate the reconciliation of relationships this weekend. I pray that you will invite others to join with you as you celebrate.

Strange Addiction

2008-03-18T10:19:00.000-07:00

I just returned from a meeting with a group of local pastors who are part of a growing initiative to create unity of churches in Lake County. This initiative is called CATALYST. It was a great morning as we shared many different things that are going on in each others lives and the lives of their congregation. One pastor shared his grieving process over a man he was mentoring. The man he was mentoring really began to turn his life around and surrender more and more over to God after years of drug addiction and other abuses. The pastor and this man had been developing quite a friendship and relationship with each other in Christ. This past weekend, at the age of 33, this man’s heart gave out and he past away (most likely do to the years of substance abuse).

As a group of pastors it was an awesome experience to lift this man’s family up to God in prayer and do the same for the spirit of grief this pastor was going through. This pastor could say nothing but thank you to Jesus and the rest of our group for spending that brief moment in prayer with him. I believe there was sense of relief that came in that time of prayer.

When the prayer time was done we began an interesting discussion on all the different addictions that can affect each of us. We talked about everything from lust to greed to pride that comes from “victories” in the church. But one thing that was brought up by a pastor in the group that really struck me, was the addition to negativity. I have processed this thought so many time in my life before, but to hear other pastors speak of the same issues was such a relief to me. I can understand the idea that this is such an easy slope to slide down…such an easy trap to find yourself in.

I know that there are things in life that can just complete demoralize us at times…I have been there recently myself. But I love the passage of scripture in Phil. 4 where Paul encourages the Philippian church to rejoice at all times… “4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Our action is to lay everything we have up to God in prayer…to rejoice in Him first through prayer and petition and with thanksgiving…then we will have that supernatural peace that comes from God.

The addiction to negativity is one that I pray we can all avoid…but I think it begins with finding joy in God first and laying our thoughts and attitudes over to Him. When I am anxious and upset and nervous and think things are spinning out of control and then my joy begins to wane…that is a perfect sign that it is time to surrender more over to God.

I pray that we can all find the peace of God…even in the midst of all the darkness that seems to surround us.

Kurt's Debut

2008-03-16T19:15:00.000-07:00

Last night Emma and I had the great privilege to go and hear Kurt (who has been learning to play an upright bass for the last several months) and over 1100 other student in the Kenosha School District Orchestra. Kurt was pretty excited about the experience and to be quite honest, even though it last over 2 hours I really enjoyed it as well. At one point all 1100 students were playing at the same time…the bold symphonic sound was absolutely awesome.

Kurt is hoping that learning the upright bass will translate over to his electric bass. Next year he is going to try out for the jr high jazz band. I think he will love that.

And it begins

2008-03-14T13:43:00.000-07:00

Yes!!! after a long search and much prayer the exploration for our new campus pastor is over...wheewww Hoooo! Mike Foster along with his wife Eskai and their sweetheart little daughter Sarai, will be coming and ministering with us as our new campus pastor. I know that God has been preparing them in advance for the work they will be doing for His Kingdom here in Lake County, IL. There are several details that need to be worked out as they transition up here from Charlotte, NC....before all the great work begins.

As we (NPC) are heading into the new venture of the multi-site church realm, please continue to pray diligently for God's insight, discernment, and wisdom. I am so looking forward to what God has in store for Mike and his family, and how the greater Chicago Land area will be impacted for the cause of Christ.

We (NPC) are partnering with the Chicago District Evangelistic Association with this new multi-site church. I will be writing more about our partnership with the CDEA in the very near future…exciting stuff.

Mission's Trip

2008-03-13T18:10:00.000-07:00

I am so excited about the upcoming mission's trip that NPC is about to embark upon this summer. We will be heading to Rio Bravo Christian Ministries to help out with a summer camp for kids ages 6-11. We support Todd Tate and his family who work for RBCM. This summer from July 17-24, we will be doing this mission as a family trip where parents and their children will be serving side by side. This will allow families to serve God by serving others. We had a great initial meeting last Sunday and the potential team members seem eager to get underway with the preparation. I will keep in touch as things move forward.

Welcome

2008-03-13T16:39:00.000-07:00

Welcome! This is my first attempt at starting a blog. I have a simple reason for wanting to attempt such a thing, and here it is..it seems as though God has been doing so many great and interesting things in the life of my immediate family and church family. Therefore I want to share these exciting general revelations of God's grace with any and all who are interested. I look forward to not only sharing my simple little stories, but I also look forward to what may be shared from others in the blog sphere.
Here's to new beginnings....
pt