Ministry, outdoors

The soul never thinks without a picture

Reposted from  http://restoringeden.org/connect/CreationVoice/2011/june-2011/geography-affects-destiny

Have you ever been asked the question “What does God look like”?

I have been asked that question, and I have asked the question myself many times.  I love the story of a first grade teacher who was observing her students while they were drawing pictures. She occasionally walked around the classroom to see each child’s artwork. As she got to one little girl who was working very diligently, she asked what the drawing was.  The little girl replied, “I’m drawing a picture of God.”  The teacher paused for a second and said, “But no one knows what God looks like.”  Without missing a beat or even looking up from her drawing, the little girl replied, “THEY WILL IN A MINUTE.”

When you hear about Jesus’ promise of an abundant life, do you ever think, “I’m a Christian, but I don’t see God moving so abundantly in my life!” Have you ever wondered whether you have misconceptions about faith that could be blocking your view of God?

Could it be that we are our own worst enemy when it comes to realizing God’s abundant life? Maybe it’s time to change your spiritual perspective and experience God’s presence in your life like never before. Maybe God is calling you to get out of your routine and come outside to get a fresh view of just how amazingly creative God is and how amazingly hungry you are for him.

The soul never thinks without a picture

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When I look around at many people of faith today, I see people who are satisfied with just wearing a T-shirt for an adventure they’ve missed out on.

For much of our lives we’re missing the journey. We’re stuck in the same dull routine. We’re missing out on the joy, fear, laughter, doubt, mystery and confusion of following the adventurous life with God that would take us out of our synthetic virtual worlds.

Author of Wild Goose Chase, Pastor and Adventurer Mark Batterson reminds us of this very thing when he points us to Genesis 15 where we see an amazing illustration of God’s desire to get us “out there”.

God took Abraham outdoors to look up into the nighttime sky. He told him that his offspring would outnumber the stars in the sky. What God did may be just as significant as what He said. He led Abraham outside for an object lesson that he would never forget. He would never see the stars in the sky the same way again. Every time he looked into the nighttime sky, he “remembered the promises of God.”

Why did God take him outside? Because held up inside the tent, Abraham’s vision of God and God’s amazing future for him was limited. He could not see the potential of God’s promises. God wanted him to get a glimpse of just how big a God He was. Taking him outside was God’s way of telling Abraham not to put limits and ceilings on what He wanted to do through him and for him.

We are so much like Abraham. We assume what God can do and what He can’t. These assumptions become our tent of blindness which seriously blocks our ability to see and fulfill our God-given potential. When we take a moment to get out there, we are actually taking time to hear the future God has for us if we will just listen, look, and learn.

Getting outside gives you a new view of the inside, and Abraham, the father of faith, walked into an amazing new future.

Aristotle said, “The soul never thinks without a picture.”  Wow.  What are you looking at the gives your soul bigger, grander thoughts?

He determined the exact place where you should live

I believe where you live determines how you live. Yes, geography does effect your destiny, and what you see everyday defines your outlook and outcome.

I have always enjoyed the outdoors, the woods and streams.  To this day it seems whenever we are on a trip or going from one place to another and we pass over a river or go through a forest, I have an urge to stop everything and take the time to explore the place.

Any place I have had opportunity to travel, whether it was South America, Mexico, Canada, Alaska, or my own backyard I have been curious about the habitat.

Here is a picture of a place I would spend hours at a time as a boy growing up in eastern Iowa.

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I knew it as “the swamp” next to my first job at the Scott County Sportsman Club. Now it is known as Nahant Marsh.

What a great place to grow up as a child. Little did I realize at the time, but that place of adventure and exploring was a set up by God.

I found an amazing passage this morning out of Acts 17:26-27 that explains why we live where we do and why we live when we do.

According to Acts 17, God places us in certain geographical locations at certain times in history for a real specific reason. “From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27 God did this so that men would seek him.”

Pretty cool stuff!  From this perspective, I conclude that where we live has a lot to do with how we live.

Here’s a little post script: About a mile away from Nahant Marsh is a church that was very instrumental in my pursuit and search for a real relationship with the Creator.

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When I come to the understanding that God places me in an exact geographical location so that I might seek him and get to know him, I really get in a hurry to get off this computer and get out there and invest some energy and time with an amazing artist and creator God with every hike, bike trio, or view of a glimmering river.

Steve Lummer
Prescott, Arizona

Reposted from

http://restoringeden.org/connect/CreationVoice/2011/june-2011/geography-affects-destiny

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church family, Discovery Church

Three ways to contribute to Discovery Church

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Over the past few weeks, we’ve been encouraging people to give online or visit our giving kiosk at our welcome center and I wanted to THANK YOU for taking this important step.  I hope you’ll see that online giving is safe and easy, and a great way to be intentional about being generous.

I encourage you to visit http://www.discoveryprescott.com to continue to give online as well as set up an automated giving process.

We’re so grateful that you’ve chosen to partner with us.  If you ever have any questions, just let me know.

Blessings!

Steve

Here is a quick video explaining how our giving kiosk works.

 

 

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Discovery Church, Ministry

A Stress LESS Church

STRESS – LESS PART 3
How To Have A Stress LESS Church

Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox. -Proverbs 14:4

Philippians 4:5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

PRAY – THINK – LIVE

#1. RIGHT PRAYING
Vs 6. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything but in everything, by prayer
1 Peter 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

 

#2 . RIGHT THINKING.
-vs. 8 whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

 

# 3 RIGHT LIVING.
9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

James 1:22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
2 Timothy 4:5 Do the work of an evangelist,
Phil. 2:14 Do everything without complaining or arguing,
John 9:4 As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me
John 2:5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

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Discovery Church, leadership

A new cloth klôTH/ – “There were no blacksmiths in the land.”

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Shaping a culture takes someone who is ready, willing and able to shape a new cloth.

“There were no blacksmiths in the land.” 1 Samuel 13:19 NLT

There is needed today some bold spiritual blacksmiths!

A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from iron or steel by forging the metal; i.e., by using tools to hammer, bend, cut, and otherwise shape it in its non-liquid form. Usually the metal is heated until it glows red or orange as part of the forging process. Blacksmiths produce things like wrought iron gates, grills, railings, light fixtures, furniture, sculpture, tools, agricultural implements, decorative and religious items, cooking utensils, and weapons.

The Bible says, “There were no blacksmiths in the land of Israel in those days. The Philistines wouldn’t allow them for fear they would make swords and spears for the Hebrews…none of the people of Israel had a sword or spear, except for Saul and Jonathan” (1Sa 13:19-22 NLT).

To keep the Israelites in slavery, the Philistines removed all the blacksmiths. It was a devastating blow. Blacksmiths made swords to be used in battle and sickles to be used in the harvest field. Can you imagine the effect that would have on a nation? Satan’s tactics haven’t changed.

His goal is still to silence the molders and shapers of a new culture – a kingdom culture.

Why do we need spiritual blacksmiths? Because they understand how to shape raw material into something God can use. They not only shape it, they sharpen it. All great leaders have emerged from raw material. And tomorrow’s leaders are walking around today in raw form just waiting for a spiritual blacksmith to come along. Unfortunately many ministry leaders are so busy “running the show,” they don’t take the time to work with raw material. Spiritual blacksmiths aren’t only needed in the local church, they’re also needed in the nation to reshape our culture.

We need “influencers” who can reform the ranks of business, education, government and media. Any volunteers?
It’s time for the spiritual blacksmiths in the land to break free from the constraints of the Philistines and return to the ancient craft of shaping men and women for God’s service. The battle is too big for Saul and Jonathan to handle alone!

If you want to see your world change be willing to create it.

If you want a new kind of church, craft one

If you want a new family, nurture one.

If you want a new organization, build one.

Use the raw material around you and shape what you see in the future.

Even though what you see right now seems insignificant go for it anyway ….  “It’s often the small things that no one sees NOW that result in the big things that everyone wants LATER.”

Shape the future.

Steve

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9 Things You Need To Know About Your Pastor

http://forwardleadership.org/article/9-things-you-need-to-know-about-your-pastor

Guest Blogger Jason Isaacs

1. He’s trying his best
You may not believe it. You may think he’s just throwing things together, but he isn’t. The results may not be what want, but I’ve never met a pastor yet who didn’t want to succeed. He’s preaching the best sermons he can come up with, empowering the best volunteers he can find, and doing whatever he can to try and get you excited about your church. Whatever is bothering you about your church, trust me, he’s more frustrated than you are.

2. He works harder than you think he does
You may work more hours than he does, but you’re not working harder. His mind never shuts off. He’s planning sermons, making phone calls, and doing visits. He’s always on call, he’s counseling, providing care, and being a husband and a dad. And every time he gets ready to finally take a break his phone rings with a call from somebody in the church. The emotional strain of pastoring wears him out.

3. He’s rarely 100% confident
He works really hard to come across as confident, but most of the time when he is pitching a new idea or casting vision, he’s only kind of sure. He hopes it works, he hopes it was God speaking and not his head, but he’s learned that waiting to be 100% confident will never come when you are working for God.

4. He has an ego
I’ve never met a great pastor yet, who doesn’t have a little bit of an ego. He has to. When he walks into a church that hasn’t grown under the last 5 pastors, there has to be a part of him that believes he can do something the others couldn’t.  After enough people tell him “They aren’t getting fed anymore” he has to have something inside that believes he is a great speaker. Some pastors can be egotistical maniacs, but every great pastor has to have a little ego in them.

5. He’s worried you’re going to leave
It doesn’t matter if you’ve been at the church for 20 years, pastors feel like you are just one conflict away from trying another church. He probably shouldn’t be so defensive, but he has seen too many people walk out the door over small, silly things. The feeling of disappointment when someone leaves his church is impossible to explain to someone who has never experienced it, especially someone who is leaving.

6. He takes things personally
Even when you preface your statement with “Don’t take this personally, but…” I know in your mind it’s just a church, or it’s just a service, or it’s just a sermon, etc. But to him it’s his life, calling, and identity. When you say you don’t like the music, or that you’re leaving because no one has befriended you, he takes it personally because you’re talking about his family. It would be like if someone said to you, “I really love you and want to still hang out with you, but I don’t want to hang out at your house anymore because your kids are crazy. Don’t take that personally because it’s your kids not you, but we’ll have to hang out somewhere other than your house.” That’s what it feels like.

7. You get on his nerves sometimes
Don’t take this personally, but you can be annoying sometimes. You probably don’t realize how fickle, or temperamental you are, but when you want to meet to talk about something “really important” and you tell him that you’re frustrated because your daughter didn’t get a solo in the Christmas play, it’s annoying. Sometimes it can feel like the loudest people are the least involved, and that’s even worse. Which leads us to the next thing you need to know…

8. Your encouragement matters (especially Monday-Saturday)
You will never know how much your encouragement lifts his spirits, especially during the week. While your encouragement of his sermon on Sunday is nice, sometimes it can seem less genuine, but when he get’s encouragement during the week he feels like you really care, and during your busy day you were thinking good things about him.

9. He would take a bullet for you
He would take a bullet for you, even if you wouldn’t take one for him. He has a burden for you because God gave it to him. He prays for you, he cares about you, and he would do anything he could to make sure that you know God. There are times when you feel like maybe your pastor doesn’t care about you, but it’s not true; he does. He may not get to speak to you or he may miss a visit sometimes, but if he didn’t care about you he wouldn’t be your pastor.

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Discovery Church

STRESSLESS Part 2 – How to negotiate stress out of your relationships

STRESS – LESS – Part 2
How to negotiate stress out of your relationships
Steve and Brenda Lummer

The greatest single source of stress in our lives is when we try to live our lives apart from the one who made us. This Sunday morning we begin looking at how to stressLESS.
Here is Stress -Less part two “How to Negotiate Stress Out Of Your Relationships.

1. WHAT GOES WRONG?

Stages of Love:
1. ATTRACTION
2. INFATUATION
3. ATTACHMENT
Be careful what you get attached to.

“Conflict Resolution Reduces Stress in Relationships” – Brenda Lummer

The six interpretations of spoken communication are:

1. What the speaker intended to say.

2. What the speaker actually said.

3. What the speaker thought he or she said.

4. What the hearer needed to hear.

5. What the hearer actually heard.

6. What the hearer thought he or she heard.

1. Conflict Resolution Requires Listening:

*Empathic listening seeks to understand what the other person is thinking and feeling. It is trying to see the world from their perspective.
(Too many couples only listen to reload their verbal guns)

How To Be An Empathic Listener:
1. Affirm the importance of your relationship. Love conquers all.
*Choosing to lovingly affirm your relationship forces you to listen. Not listening than you are arguing.
* When you feel loved you feel heard
*Average person listens only 17 seconds before interrupting
* Agree on a time limit for each one to speak

2. Clarify What You Heard.
*Classic technique-repeat back what you think you heard with no judgements on the info

3. Give Your Partner Undivided Attention HUGE.
*Giving undivided attention communicates the relationship is important to you.
*Body language must communicate undivided attention.
*Listening while doing something else says “ You are one of my many interests”.

4. Share Your Ideas Only After Your Partner FEELS Heard.
*Listen for as long as your partner has something to say.
*Only share your perspective after the other feels heard and understood-when you respond too quickly you usually responds to the wrong issue.

2. Conflict Resolution Requires Understanding.
*Know what your partner is really saying.
*”Hear” your partner’s feelings.
*Discover what is truly important to your partner and why.
*Determine how strongly they feel about their perspective.

Face your FAULTS COLLECTIVELY remember you are on the same TEAM.

“Search me, O God, and know my heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me…” Psalm 139.23-24a

“Admit your faults to one another and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” James, 5.16

Fulfill your PARTNERS NEEDS .
“The man should fulfill his duty as a husband and the woman should fulfill her duty as a wife. and each should satisfy the other’s needs.” 1 Corinthians 7.3
“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Ephesians 4:29

Be UNDERSTANDING , not demanding.
“You husbands should try to understand the wife you live with…” 1 Peter 3.7

Enlist SUPPORT from others.
“Get all the advice and instruction you can.” Proverbs 19.20 (New Living Translation)

Get plugged into a GOD POWERED RELATIONSHIP.

http://www.discoveryprescott.com

 

 

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How to stress LESS part 1

https://vimeo.com/86846048

STRESS – LESS

stress-LESS

Part 1
How to live with LESS– STRESS
Pastor Steve

How To Be At Peace Under Pressure

1. KNOW WHO YOU ARE.
John 8:12. “When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, `I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness for they have the light of life.'”

2. KNOW WHO YOU’RE TRYING TO PLEASE. 

John 5:30 “By Myself I can do nothing. I judge only as I hear and My judgment is just for I seek not to please Myself but Him who sent Me.”

When you don’t know who you’re trying to please, you cave in to three things.

Criticism, because you’re wondering what everybody else is going to think about you.
Competition, because you’re worried whether somebody else is getting ahead of you.
Conflict, because somebody disagrees with you and you don’t know who you’re trying to please so you give into them.

3. KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO ACCOMPLISH. 

John 8:14. “Jesus answered, `Even if I testify on My own behalf, My testimony is valid. I know where I came from and I know where I’m going.'”

4. FOCUS ON ONE THING AT A TIME.
Luke 4:42 “At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for Him and when they came to Him where He was, they tried to keep Him from leaving.” He was going to leave, but they tried to keep Him from leaving. “But He said, `I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also because that’s why I was sent.'” v. 44 “And He kept right on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.”

5. YOU DON’T TRY TO DO IT ALL YOURSELF.
Mark 3:14. “Jesus went up into the hills, and called to Him those He wanted and they came to Him. He appointed twelve, designating them apostles that they might be with Him and that He might send them to preach.”

6. MAKE A HABIT OF PERSONAL PRAYER.
Mark 1:35. “Very early in the morning while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went out to a solitary place where He prayed.”
7. TAKE TIME OFF TO ENJOY LIFE.
Mark 6:30 “The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to Him all they had done and taught. Then because so many people were coming and going and they didn’t even have a chance to eat, [you know you’re busy when you don’t have a chance to eat! Jesus said to them [the twelve disciples] Come with Me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

8.  GIVE YOUR STRESS AND GIVE YOUR LIFE TO CHRIST.  He is the Prince of Peace.  You will never have ultimate inner peace or peace of mind until you have a relationship with the Prince of Peace.  He says, “Come to Me and I will give you …”

The greatest single source of stress in your life and my life is we try to live our lives apart from the one who made us.

Peace

Pastor Steve Lummer

http://www.discoveryprescott.com

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