Take Advantage of Today!

Leap year: Let's do something different! by Kurt Johnston & Josh Griffin Today is a free day! It’s a bonus, a perk, an extra opportunity to live in a moment of time and space that won’t show up again for four more years. Okay, it’s really just February 29th…and it’s not much different than yesterday. But since today won’t happen again for a long time we are going to give you a little challenge for today. Actually it’s several challenges, that when tallied together, will totally 29….in honor of today. Do 3 Random Acts of Kindness Today: Buy a stranger a cup of coffee, offer to empty the trash in a co-workers office, point out the fact that your boss’ toupee looks exceptionally realistic. Call 5 Folks Who Haven’t Heard From You In A While:                                      Call one of your parents, call an old friend from college, or call somebody whose birthday popped up on Facebook. Pray For 10 People By Name: It doesn’t need to be a long prayer, but mention 10 folks specifically in your quiet time today. Make A List Of 7 Things You Love About Your Spouse:                               Don’t read them to him or her, instead put them in your bible or journal and refer to the list the next time you are tempted to nit-pick about something dumb. Meditate On Your 4 Favorite Bible Verses:       These are your favorites for a reason. Spend some time reminding yourself why. Happy a great February 29th!

Outreach to Children and Adults with Special Needs

This past weekend our church held a Totally Tropical Luau for special needs children and adults in our community AND their families.  The luau was the vision of a dear lady who attends our church and runs Dream Ministries (a ministry for those with special needs).  Her passion and heart to make this happen are truly inspiring, as well as her life and ministry.

Our church is passionate about reaching our community.  One of our montras is "We are IN the community.  We are FOR the community."  The Luau is one way to show that and to reach out to an often neglected and forgotten group of people.  Very proud of our church.  Below is a video recap of the event.





Luau 2012 Recap from Grace Community Church on Vimeo.

Our Daddy/Daughter Dance

The church I grew up in was definitely an "anti-dancing" church.  It was so against dance that the mantra was "You should stay away from pre-marital sex because it can lead to dancing!"  Well, thankfully that doesn't apply at our church our youth ministry.  We do a lot of things as a church.  But, in my opinion, one of the funnest things we do (and one of the best) is our annual Daddy/Daughter Dance.  I believe this was our 6th time doing it, and every time is always so much fun!  It was a little strange for me this year because I was actually on vacation the night of the dance, so I wasn't able to be there for the first time.  But, it was also refreshing to know that I had left the dance in the very capable hands of a few of our volunteers and they did a great job pulling it off.  

We really try to do a fun mix of upbeat songs, slow songs, and Just Dance Videos.  This year we added a couple of music videos as well to shake it up a bit.  Our play list included songs like:

- Cotton Eye'd Joe (Just Dance 1)

- Double Dream Hands (A fun video)

- Just the Way You Are (Billy Joel)

- The Way You Look Tonight (Frank Sinatra)

- Cinderella (Steven Curtis Chapman music video)

- Apache: Jump On It (Just Dance 3)

- And, of course, classics like YMCA, Electric Slide, and Cha Cha Slide

It's really a fun night filled with special moments.  And, it's a great way for our dads to cherish their daughters. Below are a few pics from the night.

Axis Wrap Up - Uncommon Prayer

We spent our night at axis Wednesday focusing on Uncommon Prayer.  I rearranged the night a little bit so we could have as much time in our Chat Groups as possible.  I talked briefly on two people in the Bible who prayed "uncommon" prayers ... Joshua and Elijah.  We then watched the 9 minute video above by Steven Furtick on prayer.  Really powerful and challenging.  For the rest of the night our kids went with the adult leaders to Chat Groups and discussed questions on prayer like:

"What would it look like if everyone prayed the way I prayed?"

"What are common excuses for not praying?"

"Why do our requests to God often not measure up to the size of God?"

There were several other questions, but our last question was "What are things you'd like to see 'crushed' under the force of prayer?"  We then had students in the groups prayer for each other.

It was a great night and my prayer throughout the day for our students was that they would learn that prayer is "powerful and effective"  (James 5:17) and they's walk away with a passion to pray "God-sized" prayers.

Next Week:  A student-led night dedicated to Leap Year.  Take Leaps of Faith!

Fight Club

This is an article on a revolutionary new ministry our church has started to men called "Fight Club."  I was a part of the first group of men to go through it and IT ... IS ... POWERFUL.

Posted by Liz Cutler Gates on February 21, 2012

For the last 12 weeks, men at Grace Community Church, a Grace Brethren church in Goshen, Ind., have been participating in Fight Club, a program developed by the staff of the church that is designed to reach men where they are. “It is an incredible discipleship journey,” says Pastor Jim Brown. “It has all the components of discipleship plus all the stuff that makes men come alive.”

It was advertised as a brand new, life-changing ministry for men. If you wanted to be part of it, then come to an informational meeting at midnight on the specified Monday night.

“Yes, we met at midnight,” says Pastor Jim, “and 323 men came to that informational meeting, which had many elements to it.”

Every participant signed a creed that required them to not talk about Fight Club to people outside of the group. They were given weekly assignments that had to be accomplished. If they weren’t, strikes were accumulated.

“We finished with 145 men,” says Jim. There were 225 men who began the journey. “Men did these assignments with hopes that their actions made a difference.”

Between meetings, the men connected through a password-protected closed website.

“It lit a fire in men and turned our church upside down,” says Pastor Jim, who developed the program from scratch, often writing it as they went. “It lined up well with what I have been saying for 16 years at Grace Community, if you get the man, you get the family. You get the family, you the community. You get the community, you get the world.”

The 12 weeks culminated with an awards ceremony when the men received a shirt with the creed on it and a leather bracelet bearing the Fight Club logo. The videos on this page are from that ceremony.

Currently he and his staff is working on developing the program so that it may be used by other churches.

“I have never been more excited about anything in my entire life!” he adds, as he prepares for another 12 week program with a new group of men.

So Much Behind One Picture

We had baptisms at Grace Community yesterday.  Over 50 people were baptized and it was such a celebration!  This picture here means a lot to me for several reasons:

1. It's one of our high school students, Ryan, who is getting baptized.  He specifically asked for me and the other adult in the picture, Aaron, to baptize him.  What an honor.  Ryan really came alive for Jesus at a senior high retreat last year at Kalahari and has really been growing as a part of our church and youth ministry.  

2. To me, this picture represents the whole discipleship process.  I'm Ryan's youth pastor.  But, I'm also the pastor of Aaron, the other adult in the picture.  He's a volunteer in our youth ministry, in my small group, and we meet regularly for accountability as well.  Aaron meets regularly with Ryan for mentoring and accountability and has really been investing in his life.  It's such a clear picture of the whole process ... meet with someone, invest in them, see them meet with someone and see them invest in another, etc, etc.  It's a simple picture, but to me it means a lot because it demonstrates a process of how we care for people and help them grow in the relationship with God.

3. The picture was taken by another axis volunteer who serves in so many different ways and invests in so many people.  Not only does he work professionally with teenagers, volunteers with teenagers, but the guy takes amazing pictures and he uses his gifts to serve the church.  

This simple picture says so much to me.  It is a picture of the Church ... people using their gifts and abilities to care for others, invest in them, and help others grow closer to Jesus.  

Our Disney Trip

Ironic that the day after the Super Bowl, I too was "Going to Disney World!"  It was my first time at Disney and my family had such a wonderfully refreshing time with another family while we were there.  I wouldn't necessary call a trip to Disney relaxing (we did 4 parks in 5 days) but it was incredibly refreshing and we built some great memories with our family.  

We tried to hit the parks as soon as they opened.  So, we'd get there and then hit the really popular or rides before there were heavy crowds in the park.  We'd also get "fast passes" for other rides and be able to ride them more quickly at certain points in the afternoon.  It was a pretty good strategy that kept us from having to wait for seriously long times in lines.

We did Hollywood Studios and Epcot in the first two days.  Lots of memories I will never forget at those parks but the main one I will always remember is my son "fighting" Darth Vader at Hollywood Studios.  Seriously, this is all he talked about doing for weeks leading up to the trip.  He was so pumped for the opportunity to defeat Darth Vader.  The moment that I will never forget is when the "Jedi Master" is sending all of the jedi in training to the side of the stage when all of the sudden Storm Troopers come out on stage.  Well, Ezra stops in the middle of the stage and "activates" his light saber and just stares down the Storm Troopers.  It was seriously hilarious!  I wish I could probably describe the look on his face.  He was so ready to do some butt kicking!  Poor Darth Vader didn't realize what he was in for..

My daughter Mercy loved seeing all of the shows and the characters.  She just had a blast and I loved seeing her enjoy herself.  She was able to have her picture taken with several characters and loved watching the parades as well.  The above picture is one I never thought I'd have taken.  :)  But, it was a night out with just the adults and my daughter loves Sleeping Beauty.  So, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to get a picture with her and then show it to my daughter the next day.  She loved it!

The rides were lots of fun, the shows were amazing ... it really was a "magical" time.  I had so much fun taking Ezra on his first roller coaster.  He did both Expedition Everest and Space Mountain and had a blast.  I was in high school when I went on my first roller coaster.  The dude is 4 and he's already riding them.  He really impressed me!  I loved the Safari, the ride Soarin' (just absolutely amazing), and each of the roller coasters we went on.  The whole experience was so memorable and I loved having the opportunity to be there with family and friends.