Christmas Play 2010

Great job Team Life. Great job Pastor Chris, who worked very hard to make the Christmas Production a huge success this year. Great job goes out to the entire cast for working tirelessly and making "All I Want For Christmas" come to life. Great job goes out to all the behind the scenes help as well. You helped make things seemless. Great job goes out to all the people who helped decorate and built the sets. Also, great job goes out to the band who played and sang to God's glory. The church was packed and people are still talking about the great job done. Great effort goes out to the entire team and God was glorified by 3 people giving their hearts to Christ.

Expansion

I praise God for the 34 salvations in the last 10 weeks. I believe that kingdom growth comes by people who were "formerly" not following God, "but now" living lives to the fullest, just like Onesimus in the book of Philemon.
Many Christ-followers, when good begins to happen, they back off, thinking that this just happens because God is doing it. While I believe in sovereign moves of God, I also believe fully in the Biblical idea of sowing and reaping. One of the warriors of old said it this way..."the purpose of war is victory, and the purpose of victory is occupation." In the kingdom, we should add one more step to the process. The purpose of occupation is expansion.
If you study the children of Israel and the occupation of the promised land, God didn't give the land to them all at once. He only gave them the amount of land they could occupy at one particular time, positioning them for expansion. Expansion is vital to advancing the kingdom of heaven. The man who was given the one talent and only occupied and protected, ended up devastated because he did not take what he had been given and positioned it for increase. (Matt 25:15-28).
It's important that we begin to be people who live our lives with forward motion in mind. Expansion. It's not healthy just to find a place, get comfortable, and then occupy. The moment you find a leveling off place is the moment you begin backsliding.
When your passion begins to go down hill...you are on the decline. Continue to walk in decline and that's called backsliding. Elisha came to the king and said, "Please strike the ground with these arrows." And he struck the ground 3 times. The prophet got upset at the king and then said, "If only you had struck the ground 5 or 6 times you would have killed the enemy, but now you're only going to have 3 temporary victories." This story points out the importance of passion. He couldn't carry out the anointing God wanted to give Him because when you lack passion you won't go very far.
Now...passion and anointing go together. They kind of run in parallel. A person with passion will take necessary risks. And everything the kingdom demands is found through this veil of difficulty that is found through stepping into the realm of inconvenience. You don't get it by coasting on yesterday's breakthrough (34 salvations in 10 weeks).
But WE WERE BORN FOR EXPANSION!

Power of the Holy Spirit

In 8 weeks, 30 people have either given their heart to Christ for the first time or rededicated their lives to Christ. It is so exciting to see the power of God at work at Life Church. I know many of you are seeking the gift of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Keep seeking...God says those who seek Him will find Him! :)

Discover Life Church Sunday

Today was just a great day all the way around. Lots of guests, great time of worship, and lots of people responded to God's invitation to come to the table. Thirteen (13) people committed themselves to Jesus Christ for either the first time or recommitment and God was lifted high. Thank you Jesus for an awesome weekend! :)

Seeds and Weeds

I don't like dealing with weeds. Why? Well...some weeds are hard to spot. I mean, many weeds are obvious but then there are those weeds that have the ability to trick you. They are very sneaky, and they disguise themselves as little plants.

In ministry, one of the hardest things to do is to distinguish the real seeds from the weeds. The weed . . .
-sometimes tries to be your best friend out of selfish ambition.
-can sometimes suck the life out of you.
-seeks power and influence for bad motives.
-appears to be supportive but sneaks around planting bad thoughts.
-tries to control and manipulate the vision God gives you.

Pulling weeds isn't fun...no matter if it's in a flower bed or in a ministry. Pulling weeds stinks, but it is necessary. In the parable of the weeds (Matt 13:24-30), Christ tells us to separate the harvest from the weeds. I don't know about you, but I feel relief in knowing that God never expects me to tolerate living with weeds.

(adapted by Tiffany Cooper)

Church Hopping

I saw a book online called "Zero to Sixty" by Bob Franquiz. In it, there is a chapter on Church Hopping. Here is his Top 10 List to spot a church hopper and what they mean.

1. "But My Old Church..." - This usually means they want your church to be like their old church.
2. "I just need time to be fed." - This means they don't want to do anything. I'm just here to sit and see what I can get out of this church, so don't expect me to serve in any way, shape, or form.
3. "I'm looking for a church that teaches the Word." - This means, "I'm looking for a church that dispenses lots of information without challenging me to do anything."
4. "We came here because we are looking for deep teaching." - This usually means their last church focused too much on actually obeying the Word. They want a church that just talks about the rapture, the 2nd Coming, who the Hittites were and the identity of Theophilus.
5. "I should know my pastor." - This means, "In my last church, I got to know the pastor, but when the church grew, and the pastor couldn't have dinner with us every Tuesday night, I left and came here."
6. "We want a church that focuses on discipling people." - This means, "I want a church that is focused on me, not people who are lost."
7. "I wish you wouldn't focus so much on what people need to do." - This means they don't like commitment, they don't like to be told the Bible actually tells them how to live and follow Jesus. They want to come to church, live in their sin, and have noone tell them this is wrong.
8. "I wish you wouldn't talk about money." - This is the best way to tell a pastor, "I don't give."
9. "My old church pastor was..." - The way people come to your church is how they will leave. If your first conversation with them is all about their last church and pastor, that is how they will leave your church and how they will go to their next church.
10. "Pastor, I've been talking to a lot of people and they all say..." - Translation: "Me, my spouse, and my mother think..." If they start this way, 99.9% of the time they have no one else who thinks this way, it is just the best way to complain.

Even though this list is kind of funny...it's sad...because the New Testament model is for us to plug into a church and begin using your gifts. Life is way too short to play church. :)

Professional Ministry?

If I stay in touch with the Spirit of God simply because I want to be good at ministry, then I am developing a professional intimacy...and you know what they call people who are professionals at intimacy?

Anniversary

So last weekend Teri and I went to Kansas City for our anniversary. We spent 3 days and 2 nights there while my mom watched the kids. (thanks mom!) Anyway, we went shopping, did some shopping, and then went shopping. Yeah, you guessed it. Teri likes to shop. But we had fun though . . . shopping, laying out by the pool, and eating some good food...did I tell you I love barbecue? Anyway...we had a great time....Happy 17th babe!

Have you ever been disappointed by God? If you've lived as a Christ-follower for very long, you've probably experienced at least something of a similar nature. You thought God was going to do things a certain way and then God doesn't do what you were expecting. You knew that God had the ability to heal someone or provide a certain way . . . but He didn't. And once you experienced this, it made you question.

This is exactly what Habakkuk the prophet experienced. God told Habakkuk that He was going to bring judgment on the people. Habakkuk knew that they were vile. But when God told Habakkuk that He was going to use a people who were far worse than the children of Israel to bring the judgment, Habakkuk questioned. It took Habakkuk 3 chapters to realize God was right.

Money, Morals and Mouth Series

1. Today we wrapped up the Money, Morals, and Mouth Series.
2. This was really a very good series.
3. Proverbs offers so much wisdom to use in our everyday lives.
4. I look forward to the upcoming Easter Series "CSI Jerusalem".
5. Hope you enjoy your Easter! :)

God's Love For Haiti

The tragedy that has taken place in Haiti is absolutely unfathomable. The 7.0 earthquake has left over 100,000 dead with 3 million affected by the quake. Anderson Cooper from CNN said many are “just standing around on the streets, not really sure what to do or where to go. And for many, there is nowhere to go.”
While much good is taking place through Mission of Mercy and other organizations, we need to continue to pray for the Haitian people. While we thank the Lord for watching out for many of the Assembly of God people as well as so many others, our hearts are broken by the devastation the people in and around Port au Prince are experiencing.
We must pray! God still answers prayer! "God please rescue people both physically and spiritually. In your name, Amen!"

Tony and Teri Lantz
Lead Pastors - Life Church