Tamara Lowe at Christ Fellowship

Conrad and Louise Kinnaman just sent me this via email...just had to share it on my blog!

They also shared this amazing link of Red Skelton on the Pledge of Allegiance...Check it out: http://media.causes.com/604250?p_id=42563578 I've seen this one before...It's SO GOOD...I've even used it in a Sunday morning service...

irreligious reading

Tonight at book club we started an irreligious reading: The Visit by Adrian Plass.
We're doing this one a little different...
It's kinda like story-time at church with Pastor Paul, hee hee

I'm reading a chapter a night, pausing for discussion...

The conversation was ALIVE tonight!

This book really makes you think about what the church does and why!

Everyone is welcome at Pastor Paul's book club, Wednesdays at 7:30pm after the children's ministries...

Remember, you do not have to be an avid reader to attend.

ranger camp out

I am SO THANKFUL for the amazing volunteers at our church!

Our church truly knows that everybody is a minister, everybody needs a ministry!

Bob and John took a group of boys camping last week!

Here's a couple picts from their fun trip:

(Our kids clubs are making an eternal difference every Wednesday Evening and beyond!)

I Am Thirsty

I don't wanna just go thru the motions, falling into a religious trap! So, I sought the Lord regarding my new sermon series and the Holy Spirit dropped a word into my heart: THIRSTY! The Lord has been anointing our Sunday Morning gatherings in a special way! I almost feel a holy momentum building....
Here is a few notes from the first few sermons in this new series entitled: I AM THIRSTY...

John 4 (woman at the well)
Sometimes, We are thirsty because of sin...
1. Breaking down walls
2. True Worship
HE IS ALIVE, HIS CHURCH SHOULD BE TOO
3. Just can't keep it to yourself
This LIVING WATER can't be contained it bursts out, overflows

Psalm 63
1. What do you long for?
keep a log of your longings, you may be surprised what you find out about yourself
2. What do you praise?
INSTEAD OF MAGNIFYING THE PROBLEM, MAGNIFY THE LORD
attitude check: Praise The LORD!
3. What do you do with the first and last moments of your day?
Living in Jesus Name

Revelation 21
(shared alot of District Council material)
1. vs.5: Behold, I make all things new
2 Corinthians 5:17
Isaiah 43:19
2. vs.6: I will give freely to him who thirsts
It is Done!
Max Lucado: Come Thirsty
W.E.L.L.: God's work, God's energy, His lordship, and His love
3. vs.7: He who OVERCOMES shall inherit all things
Don't live a circumstantial faith...
Revelation 22:17...If you are thirsty, come! If you want life-giving water, come and take it. It's free!...

There is a heaven. There is a Hell.
Where are you spending eternity?
Come THIRSTY to Jesus and find eternal life!

Please pray for our missionaries

Our missionary to North Africa dropped by the church the other day to meet the new pastor.

I was so blessed he took time out of his busy schedule on furlough to greet me.

He and his wife came to our church several months ago to share their ministry.

I'm not supposed to share their personal info on the internet because of the extremely sensitive area they are called to...

He gifted me a beautiful daily prayer guide for the berbers of central morocco...again I can't share specifics...

Please remember to pray for our missionaries around the world, some of them truly put themselves in danger for the gospel!

Visit http://world.ag.org/

PS...I'm working on the details for a special missions dinner at the church with our missionaries from Chile in June. We are going to prepare a special intercultural meal, renew our faith promises to help us remain faithful in our giving to missions, and ofcourse hear what God is doing thru our AG missionaries...

North Platte Canteen

Another reason to LOVE NEBRASKA! Check out this amazing video!

In the Valley I Grow

A very good friend gave me a beautifully framed poem as a parting gift when God called us away from Oak Harbor, WA. It hangs in my office and has been a wonderful reminder for many years!

In The Valley I Grow

Sometimes life seem hard to bear,
full of sorrow, trouble and woe.
It's then I have to remember
that it's in the valley I grow.

If I always stayed on the mountain top,
and never experienced pain,
I would never appreciate God's love
and would be living in vain.

I have so much to learn
and my growth is very slow.
Sometimes I need the mountain tops
but it's in the valley I grow.

My little valleys are nothing
when I picture Christ on the cross.
He went through the valley of death.
His victory was Satan's loss.

Thank you for the valleys, Lord.
For this one thing I know.
The mountain tops are glorious,
but it's in the valleys I grow.


I found a beautiful web-page with the author named...my plaque says author unknown...
http://www.llerrah.com/dreams.htm

a "normal" week at Cornerstone

So, I was thinking (a dangerous past-time, I know)...
Maybe I should blog a kind of "day in the life of" Cornerstone Fellowship post...
But then I realized there no such thing as a "normal day" at our fabulous church!
Take this last week for example...

We were coming off of the "holy-week high"! We had some amazing Easter celebrations!
A lot of times you'd expect a trough after the peak, but not around here...
Tuesday morning at prayer group the topic was: HOW TO HEAR FROM GOD!
I wasn't able to stick around for the whole discussion and teaching by Joyce Meyer because I had a pastors mtg. to go to...BUT, what I heard challenged me...
Stop running to people for confirmation, people pleasing, impulsive, flesh, emotions...Choose an attitude (even an atmosphere) of being willing to wait because we want God's will more than anything else...walking in anointing even in the little stuff of life...
The prayer group is truly bringing a little heaven to earth every morning at Cornerstone!

Wednesday night there was what seemed like hundreds of kids running around having FUN at church! LOVE IT! Then us old people gathered around a table to continue discussing John Ortberg's book: The Life You've Always Wanted. We dreamed of truly LIVING IN JESUS NAME! We prayed that our attitudes and actions would reflect the heart of Jesus more and more with each passing day!

Thursday I took some time to pay some visits to the "slightly older crowd" of our church.
I can't even begin to express the fun I had listening to Helen McQuay share stories of the faithfulness of God over the many years the Lord has blessed her with...

I call Friday my "holly-day"...I get a holiday every week! I don't want to be one of those pastors that pours all of his energy into his church while his family has to get the left-overs...

I look forward to getting together with the worship team on Saturdays to practice the songs the Lord puts on Keith's heart...

And of course Sunday...Keith Sr. taught Sunday School, I loved what he called his rabbit trails! I began a new sermon series entitled: I AM THIRSTY! I don't wish to just "go thru the motions"! I asked the Holy Spirit what he wanted me to do for my next sermon series and the word spoken to my heart was...thirst...So, we began in John 4, I believe the LORD truly touched hearts!
Tom and Sheila had us over for some roast, mashed potatoes, fruit salad, veggies, home-made bread, strawberry pie...YUMMY!
AND Team Night began with me at the piano for a time of worship and prayer and then into the fellowship hall where we discussed a video by Rick Warren on MAKING GOD SMILE and ended the evening with some goodies and more fellowship...

HONESTLY, we are SPOILED at Cornerstone Fellowship! And that's just a quick overview from a "normal" week...

Church Board

I was thinking today about how blessed our church is with wonderful leadership!

Our Church Board is a special group of individuals: Keith and Carie Sinks, Tom and Sheila Henson and Wayne and Tammy McMurtry!

(and this is only a sampling of all the amazing Christian leaders in our pews)

I thought it would be fun to not just go thru the motions, getting together for a board meeting monthly but truly grow closer together over a meal, etc.

So, we are taking turns going to each others homes having amazing dinners and doing church business...

(it really has been amazing so far: Holly's chili, Tammy's lasagna, Carie's steaks and next it's Sheila's ???)

We aren't just getting together, growing our bellies and glossing over church material...

Our meetings have been very productive...actually our last mtg. at Keith and Carie's went late into the night discussing God's will for Cornerstone Fellowship...

We've been growing in Christian Leadership with John Maxwell's teaching on Leadership Promises...

Here's some of what we have learned already...

A Leader's Promise to the Team:

1. I am humbly aware of how much I've already been forgiven, and I will continue owning up to my mistakes...Times of failure not only reveal a leader's true character, but also present opportunities for significant leadership lessons...

2. I know how much I need God's help, And I turn to Him Daily for counsel and encouragement...Unless God remains at the center of your efforts, you labor in vain...

3. I understand that the quality of my leadership springs from the quality of my heart. I will Guard my Heart!...Most natural leaders don't aspire to be great leaders; they aspire to be great persons...

Easter Weekend

(the Lord has truly blessed me with my beautiful little family)

...special music and a moving narrative, sunrise service and breakfast, good friday service and Holly's peach cobbler, even a community egg hunt....
What a Wonderful Celebration of our Lord's Resurrection!
Here's a few picts from Cornerstone's amazing weekend and a short clip of Angie's song:

(thanks for the warm fire, Bob)

(all those breakfast casseroles were incredible)

http://www.oneplace.com/

Last night at book club I shared this fabulous website:

http://www.oneplace.com/

It is a wonderful Christian resource, an enormous web page full of FAITH TALK!

The online home for Christian radio ministry.

You can find almost any reputable Christian Speaker on almost any subject you may need to hear at any time...

I encourage you to check it out!

For Instance...Last night's Ortberg Chapter was dealing with THE UNDIVIDED LIFE (the practice of reflection on scripture)...To be undivided, living without multiplicity, duplicity: living a life of integrity, one thing...The subject of sexual purity was discussed (something the church needs to talk more about) AND I had just seen/heard of a wonderful ministry at http://www.oneplace.com/ called the Sexual Resolution with Joe Dallas...he's doing a new series on this CRISIS of our society...

By the way, book club is SO MUCH FUN!

Last night the evening began with a room full of joksters.

For some reason we were all in the mood to have a good laugh.

Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is LAUGH!

Come join us on Wednesday Evenings at 7:30pm (after our amazing kids ministries at 6pm)!