Monday, June 29, 2009
Lifepoint Gives Back!
Josh has got the video on his blog (Yay videographer team!) and I also took some stills in the morning before we rolled out.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Cathedrals....
Before I begin, I wanted to say Congrat to Pastor Daniel and Tammie for the arrival of their daughter Faith. (Just in case you're not on twitter and somehow missed the news).
Having said that, let me begin...
This post is based off one of the talks at the Leadership convention I was at over the weekend, but this is something that stuck with me and reminded me so much about Lifepoint that I had to post it.
Most people I know who tour Europe always mention two things to me. 1) The castles and 2) The cathedrals... which if you read the topic of this post is what I'm going to be talking about.
These monolithic? neolithic? Ginormous structures were massive houses of worship, built in a time where drafting software didn't exist and heavy equipment was defined as a hammer that weighed more than 10 pounds....
Notre Dame I don't think anyone would argue with me if I were to say it's a architectural and artistic marvel... They began construction in 1163, the cathedral was completed in 1345 so that's a 182 year period, during which time life expectancy was 30 years at best, or over 7 generations of time, the people who began work on the cathedral did so knowing they would never see the completion, but that they were building something that would outlast them.
And yes there were several cathedrals that went up under in under 50 years, but even so that's beyond life expectancy for any one generation.
And the craftsmanship. There were artist who worked on the structures doing carvings and other touches, in places where people would never see the work their response when asked? God would see it. And they did this work and in some places it's there for all to see, and in others only God would be able to see their work. They dedicated their lives to build these structures and NO ONE knows their names, they were there to do something great.
People dedicated their lives to the work because they had a vision of greatness, and in their case it was building a location that honored God to worship him.
As I sit here and type this I don't know where you, the reader is in your life. I don't know if you're a member of an awesome church that's mission is to reach people far from God, or if you don't even know what this whole Christian thing is about and you look at people like me as if we're mad, my hope today is that you would understand this, when people grab hold of a dream, a vision that's bigger than they are, and when they're willing to sacrifice to see the vision through, then they can accomplish great things.
If you're a lifepointer and someone pointed you to this blog post I want to tell you a few things, that before the doors open on Sunday morning and people come pouring in, there's a team who shows up before the sun (though NOT before the Son) arrives and they go about the business of unloading tons of gear off of 3 trailers to build an environment that helps people to focus in on the Word of God that pastor is going to bring.
That during the service there's a small army of people working making sure that there's as little to distract someone as possible, they might be holding a baby, it might be pushing a sound knob, it might be teaching a 5 year-old.
That after the service and you've gone home, or more likely out to lunch (be honest!) that there's another group who'll spend over an hour restoring the school back to how it was before we began (And in some cases even better), including reloading those same three trailers.
That during the week the staff and at least a platoon's worth of volunteers are working behind the scenes to prepare for the next week,
That pastor is on his knees in desperate prayer to God his heart breaking for the lost that we KNOW is going to be walking into church, possible for the first time, possibly for the only time, and that we have one chance to reach them. That's a burden of a senior pastor and one that I'll never be able to fully comprehend. (Sorry off on a tangent).
For the most part, if you just come and go and show up to lifepoint you'll be blessed, you'll hear the Word of God preached straight from the Bible, you'll hear worship music that amplifies and glorifies our amazing God.
And you'll be just like a tourist walking through a cathedral amazed at the beauty of it all, and never know any of the stories behind the stories.
But if you get your hands on the net, if you decide to get out of the seat and join us in the field, you'll find your life on an amazing ride with other people, who like those who came before are willing to pour out their lives for a cause a purpose that's bigger then we are. You'll be putting your lives into creating something that's much more amazing than a giant building, it's seeing life change and we get to see results in our lifetime.
And should we go on for another seven generations, another 182 years, I doubt seriously that people will know our name.
But if they know the name of Jesus, if they enter a relationship with their Creator, and Savior, than like the amazing artisan ship of centuries past, our lives would have been poured out into something that truly does last.
God Bless
Matt Furukawa June 8, 2009
Having said that, let me begin...
This post is based off one of the talks at the Leadership convention I was at over the weekend, but this is something that stuck with me and reminded me so much about Lifepoint that I had to post it.
Most people I know who tour Europe always mention two things to me. 1) The castles and 2) The cathedrals... which if you read the topic of this post is what I'm going to be talking about.
These monolithic? neolithic? Ginormous structures were massive houses of worship, built in a time where drafting software didn't exist and heavy equipment was defined as a hammer that weighed more than 10 pounds....
Notre Dame I don't think anyone would argue with me if I were to say it's a architectural and artistic marvel... They began construction in 1163, the cathedral was completed in 1345 so that's a 182 year period, during which time life expectancy was 30 years at best, or over 7 generations of time, the people who began work on the cathedral did so knowing they would never see the completion, but that they were building something that would outlast them.
And yes there were several cathedrals that went up under in under 50 years, but even so that's beyond life expectancy for any one generation.
And the craftsmanship. There were artist who worked on the structures doing carvings and other touches, in places where people would never see the work their response when asked? God would see it. And they did this work and in some places it's there for all to see, and in others only God would be able to see their work. They dedicated their lives to build these structures and NO ONE knows their names, they were there to do something great.
People dedicated their lives to the work because they had a vision of greatness, and in their case it was building a location that honored God to worship him.
As I sit here and type this I don't know where you, the reader is in your life. I don't know if you're a member of an awesome church that's mission is to reach people far from God, or if you don't even know what this whole Christian thing is about and you look at people like me as if we're mad, my hope today is that you would understand this, when people grab hold of a dream, a vision that's bigger than they are, and when they're willing to sacrifice to see the vision through, then they can accomplish great things.
If you're a lifepointer and someone pointed you to this blog post I want to tell you a few things, that before the doors open on Sunday morning and people come pouring in, there's a team who shows up before the sun (though NOT before the Son) arrives and they go about the business of unloading tons of gear off of 3 trailers to build an environment that helps people to focus in on the Word of God that pastor is going to bring.
That during the service there's a small army of people working making sure that there's as little to distract someone as possible, they might be holding a baby, it might be pushing a sound knob, it might be teaching a 5 year-old.
That after the service and you've gone home, or more likely out to lunch (be honest!) that there's another group who'll spend over an hour restoring the school back to how it was before we began (And in some cases even better), including reloading those same three trailers.
That during the week the staff and at least a platoon's worth of volunteers are working behind the scenes to prepare for the next week,
That pastor is on his knees in desperate prayer to God his heart breaking for the lost that we KNOW is going to be walking into church, possible for the first time, possibly for the only time, and that we have one chance to reach them. That's a burden of a senior pastor and one that I'll never be able to fully comprehend. (Sorry off on a tangent).
For the most part, if you just come and go and show up to lifepoint you'll be blessed, you'll hear the Word of God preached straight from the Bible, you'll hear worship music that amplifies and glorifies our amazing God.
And you'll be just like a tourist walking through a cathedral amazed at the beauty of it all, and never know any of the stories behind the stories.
But if you get your hands on the net, if you decide to get out of the seat and join us in the field, you'll find your life on an amazing ride with other people, who like those who came before are willing to pour out their lives for a cause a purpose that's bigger then we are. You'll be putting your lives into creating something that's much more amazing than a giant building, it's seeing life change and we get to see results in our lifetime.
And should we go on for another seven generations, another 182 years, I doubt seriously that people will know our name.
But if they know the name of Jesus, if they enter a relationship with their Creator, and Savior, than like the amazing artisan ship of centuries past, our lives would have been poured out into something that truly does last.
God Bless
Matt Furukawa June 8, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Does your pastor know that you've got his back?
This was actually something that came about during Unleash 09 (Newspring's Conference) and it's been sitting in the unfinished pile of my blog (along with about 10 other articles) for the last several months .
Now I occasionally have trouble remembering what I had for dinner yesterday... but I can still remember this part of Perry Noble's talk like it was... errr... yesterday? Anyway, the part was, "Your senior pastor carries a weight on him that you will never understand or comprehend and needs to know that you've got his back."
I hope, what ever church you go to, what ever organization you belong too, what ever sport you play, your leader knows that you've got his back. Because if he(or she) does, then they doesn't have to worry about things like petty bickering or whats going on behind them, and can concentrate on the task that God has put before him.
More on this later...
Now I occasionally have trouble remembering what I had for dinner yesterday... but I can still remember this part of Perry Noble's talk like it was... errr... yesterday? Anyway, the part was, "Your senior pastor carries a weight on him that you will never understand or comprehend and needs to know that you've got his back."
I hope, what ever church you go to, what ever organization you belong too, what ever sport you play, your leader knows that you've got his back. Because if he(or she) does, then they doesn't have to worry about things like petty bickering or whats going on behind them, and can concentrate on the task that God has put before him.
More on this later...
Monday, May 4, 2009
Lessons learned from the tech sector....
I make no qualms, or apologies about it, I want a netbook. I know I've already got a good labtop, and a powerful desktop in the works... (planned anyway), but I've come to really like these little mini-geek toys. And honestly? I wouldn't mind a macbook pro either...
And there's something to be said about that.
The tech-sector is offering specifically different products to different people based on want people have wanted, when the netbooks first came out they were only available with Linux, something that I've got nothing against, they were very limited in capacity, but all they really were intended for was a mobile wifi internet platform, and they served their purpose, as time has past people have wanted more options and the market has responded, now most netbooks that you can find, (or at least the ones I've seen) are preloaded with Windows xp, because it's more market friendly. (Fellow geeks out there STOP! I know, and I'm right there with you, but the fact remains that the everyday normal person who DOESN'T do coding from their station, and could careless about your 37 node beowulf cluster actually likes their windows operating system). And yes if you look linux is still an option, but you know what else I've noticed they're still selling laptops.
Sorry getting WAY off topic here, my apologies.
My point is that you're looking for portability you can buy a low end netbook (for under 200 if woot has a deal and they haven't sold out... again), you can spend a bit more and get a high end netbook, or a bit more still and get a notebook, or a lot more and get a mac. (And lets not forget about the netphones now available, the iPhone being the market leader hands down, but there our android phones and the new palm {pre I think} that's out/about to come out).
Setting aside brand rivalries for a moment, (and that means pc vs mac, give it a break for a few minutes) each machine serves a different market, and sells itself to a different demographic, yet the end purpose is still the same. They guys who use macs talk down about windows notebooks, windows users can't figure out why someone would pay three times the price for something with software that takes up a single shelf at best buy... and poor Linux is left for those who truly understand.... (Sorry getting off topic again).
The Church (capital c) is supposed to be like that too. Some people like a church (lower case c) that has loud rocking music that seeks to amplify and raise up the name of Christ, some people like a church (again lower case c) that has an organ and piano and a full gospel choir with anthems of praise, some people have a church (do I really need to repeat myself at this point) that can't sing at all, they meet in secret because of persecution and sing silently and lift or wjavascript:void(0)orship to God just the same.
1 Corinthians 12:12 - The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.
Perhaps instead of complaining that the music is too loud, or too boring, perhaps we should celebrate that others are worshiping our Creator and Savior...
and who knows I might end up with a net book or a mac yet!
And there's something to be said about that.
The tech-sector is offering specifically different products to different people based on want people have wanted, when the netbooks first came out they were only available with Linux, something that I've got nothing against, they were very limited in capacity, but all they really were intended for was a mobile wifi internet platform, and they served their purpose, as time has past people have wanted more options and the market has responded, now most netbooks that you can find, (or at least the ones I've seen) are preloaded with Windows xp, because it's more market friendly. (Fellow geeks out there STOP! I know, and I'm right there with you, but the fact remains that the everyday normal person who DOESN'T do coding from their station, and could careless about your 37 node beowulf cluster actually likes their windows operating system). And yes if you look linux is still an option, but you know what else I've noticed they're still selling laptops.
Sorry getting WAY off topic here, my apologies.
My point is that you're looking for portability you can buy a low end netbook (for under 200 if woot has a deal and they haven't sold out... again), you can spend a bit more and get a high end netbook, or a bit more still and get a notebook, or a lot more and get a mac. (And lets not forget about the netphones now available, the iPhone being the market leader hands down, but there our android phones and the new palm {pre I think} that's out/about to come out).
Setting aside brand rivalries for a moment, (and that means pc vs mac, give it a break for a few minutes) each machine serves a different market, and sells itself to a different demographic, yet the end purpose is still the same. They guys who use macs talk down about windows notebooks, windows users can't figure out why someone would pay three times the price for something with software that takes up a single shelf at best buy... and poor Linux is left for those who truly understand.... (Sorry getting off topic again).
The Church (capital c) is supposed to be like that too. Some people like a church (lower case c) that has loud rocking music that seeks to amplify and raise up the name of Christ, some people like a church (again lower case c) that has an organ and piano and a full gospel choir with anthems of praise, some people have a church (do I really need to repeat myself at this point) that can't sing at all, they meet in secret because of persecution and sing silently and lift or wjavascript:void(0)orship to God just the same.
1 Corinthians 12:12 - The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.
Perhaps instead of complaining that the music is too loud, or too boring, perhaps we should celebrate that others are worshiping our Creator and Savior...
and who knows I might end up with a net book or a mac yet!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
move aside apple...
glass trackpad? pshaw, try THIS it's like they took a DS and then built a full labtop around it.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
So I guess I am a right-wing extremist...
because apparently:
(Quoted without permission from http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=46640)
But wait doesn't that make the entire Catholic Church Right-Wing extremists as well? The Baptists too,
Wow with such amazing examples of Leadership in Washington it's no wonder our Country is doing so great economically...
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has turned her attention away from acts of Islamic jihad on American soil (which she now refers to as "man-caused disasters"). Instead, her department is sounding the alarm over an unquantified "resurgence" in "right-wing extremism activity."
On Apr. 7, DHS sent a nine-page warning memo to law enforcement offices across the country entitled "Right-wing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment."
The report includes a sweeping definition of the threat:
"Right-wing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided into those groups, movements and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups), and those that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration."
(Quoted without permission from http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=46640)
But wait doesn't that make the entire Catholic Church Right-Wing extremists as well? The Baptists too,
Wow with such amazing examples of Leadership in Washington it's no wonder our Country is doing so great economically...
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Shock and Awe....
The end result of today was simply shock and awe. Shock that God would let ME be a part of what happened earlier, and awe over what He has done.
Gearing up for our Easter services as we conclude our "Old Time Religion" series (You do NOT want to miss Easter services at Lifepoint!) we, instead of our normal 2 services we did a HUGE combined one service today (at 10:22:30 (yes, thirty seconds, we split the start time directly in half). Today was our largest non-special event series... actually (someone please correct me if I'm wrong) today was our largest service ever! And the big surprise that we've been keeping under wraps, we did a baptism today.
Well actually we did 107 (One hundred seven) Baptisms today, I'm sitting here in front of my computer, still trying to wrap my mind around what happened a few hours ago....
Sorry at this point it sounds like I'm rambling, but I'm working on two hours of sleep in the last 48, and I'm still on an adrenaline rush from the baptism.
To make it more eventful a bunch of people from my team went up, I don't know if you ever have felt like your heart could explode from joy but I think mine just about did. Sorry, it was six hours ago and I'm still getting a little emotional here.
(We did a spontaneous baptism today, here's my post from the last one we did, to bring you up to speed)
Everything that went into this, every hour spent in planning, or in procuring the necessary items, every hour rehearsing the music, the time spent in meditation and prayer that God would just let the Holy spirit fall on the building even as service began, everything would be worth it, to know that even only one person would spend eternity worshiping our Creator, instead of separation from Him. We saw far more than one person cross that great divide today... excuse me for a minute I need a tissue, my eye's are sweating a bit.
Let me move on to the rest of the service, Pastor preached an awesome message and the worship set was just ON (2 songs, short set, and still amazing) I also wanted to give a Huge shout-out to my rocking bass playing Ricky Duncan who nailed a bass solo with his in-ears malfunctioning so that he had to play it without hearing a single thing he played! Awesome job man (You know I love you, but it's disgusting that you haven't been playing a year and did that... just sick :) ).
If today wasn't a God inspired day, I don't know what is, and if this is just a glimpse of what God is going to do in this community for Easter Sunday... some one please bring me a paper bag because my mind is already blown...
God thank you! I'm so humbled by what just happened today, and just so... so... thankful that you've let me take part in it, my prayer is You would be glorified and that my life would honor You, and Your sacrifice, even to the cross...
Gearing up for our Easter services as we conclude our "Old Time Religion" series (You do NOT want to miss Easter services at Lifepoint!) we, instead of our normal 2 services we did a HUGE combined one service today (at 10:22:30 (yes, thirty seconds, we split the start time directly in half). Today was our largest non-special event series... actually (someone please correct me if I'm wrong) today was our largest service ever! And the big surprise that we've been keeping under wraps, we did a baptism today.
Well actually we did 107 (One hundred seven) Baptisms today, I'm sitting here in front of my computer, still trying to wrap my mind around what happened a few hours ago....
Sorry at this point it sounds like I'm rambling, but I'm working on two hours of sleep in the last 48, and I'm still on an adrenaline rush from the baptism.
To make it more eventful a bunch of people from my team went up, I don't know if you ever have felt like your heart could explode from joy but I think mine just about did. Sorry, it was six hours ago and I'm still getting a little emotional here.
(We did a spontaneous baptism today, here's my post from the last one we did, to bring you up to speed)
Everything that went into this, every hour spent in planning, or in procuring the necessary items, every hour rehearsing the music, the time spent in meditation and prayer that God would just let the Holy spirit fall on the building even as service began, everything would be worth it, to know that even only one person would spend eternity worshiping our Creator, instead of separation from Him. We saw far more than one person cross that great divide today... excuse me for a minute I need a tissue, my eye's are sweating a bit.
Let me move on to the rest of the service, Pastor preached an awesome message and the worship set was just ON (2 songs, short set, and still amazing) I also wanted to give a Huge shout-out to my rocking bass playing Ricky Duncan who nailed a bass solo with his in-ears malfunctioning so that he had to play it without hearing a single thing he played! Awesome job man (You know I love you, but it's disgusting that you haven't been playing a year and did that... just sick :) ).
If today wasn't a God inspired day, I don't know what is, and if this is just a glimpse of what God is going to do in this community for Easter Sunday... some one please bring me a paper bag because my mind is already blown...
God thank you! I'm so humbled by what just happened today, and just so... so... thankful that you've let me take part in it, my prayer is You would be glorified and that my life would honor You, and Your sacrifice, even to the cross...
Friday, April 3, 2009
It's coming...
Really! I am working on a couple in depth posts, but for now and in other news...
Elevation Church is hiring...
Now I'm not saying that I would immediately jump up and leave Fredericksburg or anything like that, I'm just saying... it deserves some consideration.
Elevation Church is hiring...
Now I'm not saying that I would immediately jump up and leave Fredericksburg or anything like that, I'm just saying... it deserves some consideration.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
