Almost August?

It's almost August - that's sad in one way and exciting another. Sad because summer is going by so quickly and happy because September and October will bring more people out to join us on Sunday's. More people means -- life change -- life change not just here and now but for eternity. That's exciting!

Looking forward to a great weekend!

I will be off next week -- getting recharged.

Who Am I Speaking To Each Sunday

Why I do what I do? My style of speaking is driven by the new people that will join us on any given Sunday. I speak in a way to communicate to that person who has never been with us before or for that matter has never been part of a church. I do this in order to make sure I touch everyone. After all we are the church for the unchurched. So if you happen to join us from another church I may sound wierd to you -- why -- becasue I am speaking to unchurched rather than churched. In the long run I stand a better chance to connect with everyone because we all understand plain everyday english:-)

Criticism Has No Place

Today one of our leaders mentioned that on his recent trip back to his home town he connected with some old church friends. In his conversation he mention about our church and how we meet in a theatre, are progressive and have a kicking band. His friends couldn't understand it and went on to say that some churches are changing too much and getting too modern. Why on earth would a church want to be relevant - it's beyond me (sarcasm).

I can't understand it for the life of me why other Christians waste their energy criticising churches like us. I don't really know why for sure? After all, we are on the same team. God will use all us

I am committed, no matter how frustrated I get with other churches, not to bad mouth them. So, I need to ask forgiveness. This past Sunday afternoon I drove past a church in Niagara Falls and said a critical word about what they had posted on their sign. The sign was stupid, but God uses stupidity -- just look at me. My words of criticism have been few and far between, but I need to move completely away from it.

The church needs to stand together. People are dying and going to a Christ-less eternity while some churches complain about the other church down the road. Shame on us.

Project Share

We sent a team of people over to Project Share on Saturday to help with their annual food drive. We had a great time with a great bunch of people. Here's the team that helped. One note, I heard the food drive did not bring in the amount that it typically does. If you can help, simply drop off a bag of nonperishable food items at Project Share.

Heart Check

I thought I would pass on these worthwhile words from Carey Nieuwhof the pastor Connexus Church in Barrie, ON.

Summer and Your Heart

I am often blown away by the emotional cost that ministry exacts not only on pastors and staff, but also on volunteers. As I've met with hundreds of church leaders over the last few years, the subject comes up again and again. Summer's a time where a lot of people in ministry ask: can I do this for another season? Usually something steals our passion and enthusiasm, and it's just so hard to get back. How do you recover?
How are you doing this summer? Enriched? Passionate? Alive? Or struggling?
I remember the first time my heart went dead -- it was six years ago. Our church at the time was going through a tough season, and it just about killed me. I just stopped feeling things. I went to a Christian counselor for the first time, and slowly my heart began to breathe again.
The last few years have brought their share of issues too. And I have felt my heart at times grow more silent than I really wanted it to. Over the last year, my heart has gradually been coming back, and this summer, it's starting to have moments of life and joy I haven't felt in a long time. It's like rain coming after a drought. It's so good, and more and more I see it as gift.
One test for me to see if my heart is working is simply whether I feel what I ought to feel when something happens. If something great happens, do I feel joy? If something sad happens, can I enter that sadness? If something moving happens, am I moved? When the answer is no, I worry. When the answer is yes, I feel incredible gratitude to God.
Things that have helped me move from flat to feeling the thrills and joy of life again:
Never quitting on God, even when I didn't feel like praying or reading the Bible. God is faithful whether we can feel him or not.
Having good people you can trust around you. Often, our hearts hurt when people we trust let us down. The challenge is to simply not stop trusting. Then the shutdown of the heart is inevitable.
Getting in on what God is doing. I think sometimes we can keep asking God to bless what we are doing, but to simply cooperate with what God is already doing is so much more refreshing.
Believing the best. Critics abound. Humbly learn what you can, but trust that God is doing to use it to reconstruct a better you. I get stuck when I let the negative voices be the only voices and fail to hear the voice of God (and others) encouraging me to believe His promises. It's great to know that God still believes in all of us.

Things That Make Me Smile

• the grace of God
• life transformation
• people who care for their family and friends (especially their spiritual needs)
• people who care about what God cares about
• creation
• a good meal
• a wonderful wife and children
• prayer
• friends
• that fact that God allows me to be part of great church
• all the great people that are part of CATF (Thank you)
• people that care for the needy

New Office

I would like to welcome anyone by our new office at 4056 Dorchester Road, The London Building. Just call me ahead of time to make sure I'm in the office.

We are blessed to have this awesome new office.

Beware

The following article is written to pastors, but I thought it would be helpful for all of us. Even though I would generally be the one that would deal with the issues below, you may come across situations like this or wonder why certain people act certain ways. I hope it is helpful. Let me say this before you read the article, we have a super bunch of people at CATF, this article is for future reference.

Pastors/Church Planters…BEWARE
Pastor Perry Noble

I was thinking the other day about what I would types of people I would warn a pastor/church planter about–there are seven, here are the first few…

#1 - The “I’m Going To Leave If” Person
Pastors, you are going to have people threaten to leave your church–period. And 999 times out of 1,000 the best thing you can do is let them go.
I remember once in the early years being on the telephone for over an hour, begging a young lady in our church not to leave. Why was she wanting to leave? A group of singles had gotten together and forgotten to call her.
You are going to have people who don’t like the music, your wife, you talking about your kids, the way you dress, the kind of car you drive, the version of the Bible you use, your hairstyle, your zodiac sign, your staff, and your belief on the end times.
You can’t please everyone…and, to be honest, that BOTHERS me! But, reality is, according to Hebrews 13:17 you and I will stand before God one day and be held accountable for how we led the church…and I would much rather a disgruntled person walk out that God’s presence go instead!
Don’t ever be held captive by a person who keeps threatening to leave.

#2 - The “Let Me Tell You How Much Money I Have” Person.
Pastors, you’ve GOT to make a choice early - are you going to be motivated by money (thus becoming a prostitute, not a prophet) OR are you going to resign to the fact that Jesus purchased you, thus making you not for sale?
I remember early on a guy calling my assistant and demanding that I come to his house for dinner. (Something I just don’t do…explanation later!) He told her where he worked, where he lived (a NICE neighborhood), the kind of car he drove and also told her he wanted to get financially involved in the church…all I had to do was some to his house for dinner.
I didn’t go. I don’t play that game. When people begin to dangle money in front of you…it is ALWAYS attached to an agenda.
We have some incredibly generous people at New Spring Church who give faithfully every single week. In our two campaigns that we’ve done we had a giver once give $1.4 million and another one gave $1 million…and neither of them ever asked me for one second of my time. They gave with a pure heart and with pure motives.
When people threaten to stop giving then that is an issue they will have to work out with God. Don’t let a person who has a lot of $$$ keep you from doing what God has called you to do.
When a person begins telling you how much money they have…trust me, they ultimately desire to either buy you or control you. Don’t let it happen. Tell them you are excited they have money, ask them to give generously, challenge them to be faithful in their giving…but don’t EVER begin to let them dangle money in front of you, thus becoming your source of motivation.

#3 - The “Feed Me” Person
I have never been able to keep one of these people around…ever!
You know the drill…they always come from another church (they weren’t being fed there either) and they want you to know that they are sincerely seeking a church that teaches the Bible (and they will stay as long as you teach THEIR VERSION of the Bible.)
But, if they become displeased with the sermon direction…or dissatisfied with your particular view on a theological issue…or convicted of not doing what they know they should be doing–they will say you are not feeding them and leave.
Pastor, being honest here…I’ve NEVER encountered a person who claimed they weren’t being fed that also had a dynamic personal walk with Jesus. If that were true then they would show up to the church FULL and not need to latch on to the breast!
It’s not our job to feed–but to lead to places where food can be found.

#4 - The “At My Other Church” Person
I have ZERO tolerance for this guy/girl.
They come into your church and begin to say, “Well, this is nice, but at my other church we used to (FILL IN THE BLANK.)”
I say, without apology, to these people that we are not “your other church,” and…if you liked your other church so much–GO BACK!
Enough about them…

#5 - The “This Is Too Big” Person
These people amaze me. A church will begin growing, lives will begin to change…literally the Bible begins to come to life…and because a person finally has to face the fact that the church is not about them…they take off, saying that the church is TOO BIG.
Now, that same person will go to a college football game the day before with between 80,000 to 100,000 fans (99% of whom they do not know) and be absolutely PUMPED that the stadium is packed. (Usually a sign that the team is winning!)
BUT…they want to go to “God’s house” the next day and desire for it to be small and “intimate.” Hmm, they want the football crowd to grow and the church crowd to be small…sounds like some very screwed up priorities to me.
Bottom line…the church is SUPPOSED to grow–period! And if it gets “too big” for someone, I would say it’s because their heart is “too small.” Seriously, ask yourself, what spiritual force would motivate someone to get angry when large numbers of people are coming to Christ and being taught to walk in an intimate relationship with Him? Jesus…or satan? Seriously–it’s NOT rocket science.
Let the “this is too big” person go…and don’t argue with them!

Masturbation

Don't get mad at me, send me emails or think I've lost my mind for putting this link in my blog. Instead send this link to as many people as you know. There is a huge problem - called masturbation - it's nothing more than single sex and it it needs to stop. Don't keep taking the easy road - do the tough work of staying sexually pure and invest in your marriage or future marriage. Click on the link below. You need to understand the truth.

http://www.perrynoble.com/2006/11/02/masturbation/

Sunday Thoughts

• It was great to have the extra hands helping with setup and tear down - Thanks everyone.
• I'm glad the talk about hope really hit home with so many. We live in a hopeless world that infects us with hopelessness. The good news - God is a God of unlimited hope.
• I am thankful for the many teens and young adults we have serving at CATF. We are creating a culture of servant hood not one of consumerism.
• We shot some video for a welcome video we will have on our website. They did a shot of me talking out front of the theatre and about mid way through those birds that live up in the overhang started squawking - we may have to shot that one again. The video, not the birds.
  
• The band rocked on Sunday - they got applause after each of the first two songs.
• Our tech and sound team did a superb job on Sunday.
• Several folks away on vacation.
• Have a great week - look for a friend to bring along with you this Sunday.
  

God Smiles When We Trust Him

By faith, Noah built a ship in the middle of dry land. He was warned about something he couldn’t see, and acted on what he was told. . . . As a result, Noah became intimate with God. Hebrews 11:7 (MSG)
http://www.purposedrivenlife.com/en-US/FreeTools/devotional/todaysDevo/Devotional.htm

Sunday Review

• The band rocked on Sunday. Great sound! More than the great sound, we have people that are working together and that's wonderful to see. Great to have our new friend Jay playing some tunes for us.
  
• We started our new series, There's An Elephant In The Room. We are looking at God's road to recovery. Dealing with the hurts, hangups and habits that we try to cover up, but are as obvious as an elephant in the room. I sensed people really tracking with me and felt like some lights were going on. I know God worked big time in my own life. I trust over the next number of weeks as we look at the 8 Beatitudes we will see amazing life change.
  
• Great crowd - met some new folks.
• Set up and tear down crew did an amazing job - our Falls Fanatic is Terry Pierce. That guy has energy coming out of his ears. He never stops. I think he does the job of about 3 men.
• Great to see all the friendly people on our Host Team today. Thanks to Lynn for making sure we have coffee and goodies each week. A special thanks to Lindsay (Jay's wife) for that amazing cake she made.
  
• Looking forward to the summer days - lots of opportunity to reach our community.
  

Are You Happy?

This during my time with God I read the following verse:
Happy are the people whose God is the Lord
Psalm 144:15 NCV

I couldn't help but sense God asking me, "Are you happy?" If not, why not. So often in life we go after stuff, people, money, status, homes, jobs, substances, etc all in the pursuit of happiness. We lift these things above God and in doing so, make them a god in our life. We wonder why they never satisfy and we search for happiness in something else - just maybe a little bit more will satisfy. God clearly says, you and I will be happy when He is first in our lives.

So, what is first in you life? What is more important than God. God wants our undivided attention. He knows we are created to worship him. Will you commit to worship God and God alone? Let's follow God's way and I know we will wear a smile on our face.

He Needed Some Help Up

Lend a hand

http://www.perrynoble.com/2008/07/01/he-needed-some-help-up/

Thoughts

Sunday was a great day because I got to meet a man named Bob who felt welcome at a place called Church at the Falls. I am so glad we have people that are reaching out to the hurting people in this world. Bob would not attend most churches. That doesn't make us any better, just different.

Sunday was great because I got to say thanks to the many who made the Peanut Butter Extravaganza a huge success. Thanks for your heart for this community.

Sunday was great because I spent time talking with someone who a year and a half ago wouldn't have ever thought about being part of a church. I talked about life and purpose. I talked about how much God had forgiven her and how much he loved her. I am so thankful for Church at the Falls.

Today is great because I'm thinking about what's coming up. We are starting a new series of Talks entitled, "There's An Elephant In The Room". I am so excited because I am learning about being a more healthy follower of Christ, so I know it's going to be a big help to the many who hear what I have to say over the next few weeks. If at all possible - be with us each Sunday to hear this series. Be warned - life change will follow.

I am tired today because I got to sleep too late the last few nights. I hate it when I feel like I must have caffeine.

I had a great lunch today at Williams Coffee Pub.

I am thinking more and more about a more fuel efficient car. Never thought that way before.

I decided today that I will not worry about church finances anymore. It's God's church and he will take care of it. My job is to teach people about giving and to make sure we use what we are given responsibly. God will take care of the rest.

I have also decided that I will no longer be bugged by people that don't return phone calls or emails and who do not keep their word. It only drives me crazy, so I won't get worked up anymore. It doesn't make any difference to get worked up. I am still working on not getting worked up about the idiot drivers on the road:-)