process

what processes do you have in place in your life?

i guess you need to start with some simple questions . . .

who are you?
who do you want to be?

once you answer these 2 questions, you can begin to figure out HOW (process) you are going to get there.

today, i spent over an hour discussing with a friend the process of discipleship at his church. we @ LifePoint Church are in the process of answering those 2 questions . . . who are we & who we want to be as a church?

as soon as we define that (hopefully by tomorrow - jk), we can begin to develop the process to get there. in order to get from A to Z, we must think in steps.

what about your life? who are you? who do you want to be?

if you want to get to the end, you have to start with the beginning and begin to think in steps. maybe for you, your steps are:

(1) begin to spend more time in God's Word
(2) begin to give more time and energy somewhere besides yourself
(3) learn or develop a skill that you can use for God's purposes
(4) connect with some people who you have been at odds with
(5) begin to to use your words to speak life not death

there are many many more of these steps. do you need help? let me or someone you respect know about it and get the accountability you need.

life is a process. where are you going?

peace

small beginnings

well, the official first Sunday at LifePoint Church came and went without much noise.

i woke up Sunday am and was overwhelmed with the magnitude of the day. the responsibility of leading a church blew me away. so much so that i became physically sick to my stomach. after some prayer, i settled down and stepped into the role God had designed for me since i was born!

Pastor amanda led our church in worship and was amazing! so many people said that they were in tears as they opened their hearts to God. i was behind ther drums, but still was able to soak in the anointing that flowed from Pastor Amanda!

i felt very comfortable as i preached the message, THE CHURCH OF YESTERDAY OR THE CHURCH OF TOMORROW. the response to the message was great. many came forward to commit to do their part to make LifePoint Church a healthy church of today!

we are truly blessed that God has positioned us for this season in the great city of Delaware.

thanks to everyone who has believed in us and supported us through prayer and love!

talk to you soon!

peace

vacation

what the Valantine family did on their 08 fall vacation:

*for those of you who don't know: we went to Naples, FL to visit my parents at their new condo.

(1) we swam, and swam and swam at the condo pool & at the club house pool (bigger w/slides!)

(2) we ate a lot. i even cooked eggs for breakfast on Sunday (favorite - chocolate dunkers from Pizza Hut)

(3) watched a lot of sports - MLB playoffs, NFL, & College Football

(4) visited a new church - First Assembly Ministries (Naples, FL) and heard a great message, "don't feed the enemy"

(5) got to see a former student from xlr8 youth - SITTER!

(6) got sick!

(7) got better

(8) lost another fantasy game

(9) became the Skipbo champ

(10) slept on the couch 2x (no, ot because i was in trouble)

(11) helped Annie request her first song from a Ron at Tommy Bahamas (My Girl)

(12) impressed my family with how far i swam underwater in the pool

(13) developed the service order for our #1 service at Lifepoint on Oct 19th

(14) bought a new pair of sunglasses

(15) watched The Legend of Bagger Vance & Mr. Magorium's Wonder Imporium

(16) spent invalubale time with my family recharging my batteries for our next ministry assignment

peace

Kids

who invented kids?

okay, trivia time: who were the only 2 people ever who were never kids? come on Bible scholars. the same two people who didn't have belly buttons . . . come on, one was missing a rib, the other had only one rib (maybe) . . .

come on, wait for it . . . wait for it . . . yes! Adam and Eve.

well we are far removed from the Garden of Eden, but kids were, are and always will be. they are an amazing blessing, but can also test every ounce of patience in your DNA. they make you smile, laugh, and make weird baby sounds, but they also make you pull out your hair, question your spirituality and usemidd names!

i guess God teaches us things through our kids. i keep telling HIm i have learned the lessons, so the tests can stop. ha, i guess He doesn't think so.

the truth is, kids are very rewarding and challenging at the same time. i would never trade them permanently, but might trade them for some extra sleep at times.

whether you have one, two, or ten arrows in your kid-quiver, your life is never the same once they enter your world. having kids makes me think, "what kind of kid was i?" probably an angel! ha! right, and if you believe that, i have some swamp land off the cost of Florida to sell you.

well, one of my blessings (kids) is fussy, gotta go show the love of Jesus to him!

peace

Florida

we are enjoying a great vaction in Naples, Florida.

we woke up at 5am to make an 8:30am flight in Detroit on Tuesday. i know, i'm not gonna get any simpathy from anyone being that i have enjoyed the 85 degree weather and the pool right outside our condo.

traveling is challenging with 2 kids under 3 yrs. old. trying to make yourself relax, avoid work, and focus on refreshing yourself may be one of the hardest things i make myself do. well, running is right up there, which i am going to try to do tomorrow morning.

i remember when someone told me once that, "you teach what you know and reproduce who you are." that my seem like a weird statement for those of you who are working on reproducing offspring of your own right now, but has so much truth to it.

we can teach others stuff or we can reproduce what God has birthed inside. the older i get and the more i learn about God, i am convinced that He rarely shows/reveals/teaches someone something that is just for that person. He wants/desires/expects us to reproduce that thought/idea/vision/passion/heartbeat/love in others.

steps to reproduction (no, this will not go past PG-13 rating):

(1) know who you are in Christ

(2) invest in yourself through reading, studying, spending time with great leaders, and yes . . . vacations!

(3) never compromise your time alone with God (this is the greatest non-negotiable thing in your life) - don't mess this up!

(4) lead others by sharing who you are in Christ and your experiences

(5) pray for God's Spirit to bring the increase

so, Florida makes me think about a lot of things . . . relaxing, beaches, sunshine, and yes, even reproducing . . . who i am!

peace

live in the now

today is a new day, tomorrow is not yet here, so live in the now!

yesterday was the past, tomorrow is the future, but today is all i can really impact. (i was going to say control, but once you are following Christ and married, you don't control much!)

i preached a sermon on fear about 3 months ago in XLR8 and remember telling the students that the future doesn't exist. we can imagine what the future will look like in our minds, but it rarely ever looks like reality.

now, don't get me wrong . . . we must plan for the future, but we cannot be paralyzed by it. many people i have met (and sometimes myself) have been so overwhelmed by their future that it causes them to live in a state of panic.

the longer we serve the Lord, the more we must realize that only He knows our future. the great part of that is . . . He also holds our future. is there a better combo?

i remember a line from an old movie, Wayne's World (not recommended to watch!). Wayne (played by Mike Myers) spots the car (i think it was car. maybe it was a guitar) of his dreams and begins to imagine owning it. while he is in fantasy land, his buddy Garth (played by Dana Carvey) says, "live in the now," reminding his friend that it's not going to happen, but today is happening, so live it.

what truth! we must live in the now. learn from the past, but don't live there. embrace and plan for the future, but don't live there either. we must live today for what it is worth . . . and live it for God!

peace

packing

side note: last night we bought a digital video camera. the one we had was pretty dated and we didn't want to miss any MORE footage of our beautiful kids. we got an amazing deal. i was checking out the latest and greatest and Eric, employee at Sears, told me they had a top of the line camera that was returned and over 50% off. i looked at it, checked with Amanda (a must with big purchases) and we walked out with a new toy!

today we are packing for the BIG MOVE. yeah, i know, you can't believe we haven't started before today. well, let's just say we needed a few days to rest and a few more days to deal with our emotions about moving. in fact, this week was pretty rough. our first Wed night removed from xlr8 came and went. i had a few heart to heart talks with God about it. the truth is, i felt like an outsider and it hurt. i know that God will continue to allow amanda and i to be part of the xlr8 family, but my kids were going after God and i was spectating from the stands.

the good thing about frustration, hurt, sadness, and even anger is that Psalms gives us several Biblically healthy examples of expressing our emotions to God. the key to all of it is that we are expressing them TO GOD and not others. David did this several times and often used strong language.

i guess God can handle it.

i know this continues to be the toughest part of my spiritual journey. God is faithful and gets me through each day, and i am learning a lot about life, God, & me.

thanks for all your prayers through this transition. we miss xlr8, but we are allowing God to birth a passion for Lifepoint Church. it's a process. it's a good thing. it's a God thing!

peace