5 Baptisms

There is nothing more exciting than baptizing people who have decided to follow Jesus.  

Seared Conscience

Andrew Murray once said, "The closer we are to the light, the more visible the impurity is."  I agree.  The closer I get to Jesus every single day that goes by, the more unworthy I feel.  As a result, He wraps me with his grace, and as a result I have a deeper conviction when it comes to sin.  All my confidence is in God and God alone. 

The Life of Sustainable Faith

It's very difficult to move from ground zero to extraordinary faith. Some people wait until there is a crisis before they begin to trust God for healing or something that requires faith. It's interesting to note that Jesus didn't fast for A Miracle. He fasted into a lifestyle of miracles. He told the disciples when they couldn't help someone who was tormented, "this kind only comes out with prayer and fasting", and yet He neither stopped to pray nor fast. That's because He had already prayed into a sustainable lifestyle. Oh that we would live lives of faith before we experienced the storms of life.

Brandon Watkiss and Going to Belize

Today was a great day at Life Church. God's presence was so real. It was awesome meeting a new friend today as well. Brandon Watkiss of Partnership International came and did a great job of sharing at our church and we are super excited about going to Belize this summer with him.

God's Presence

The last few weeks we've been having fantastic services. God's presence has definitely been tangeable and life changing. The word of God, the worship of God's people, and the presence of God as people are seeking God in the altars are all so special. My prayer is that God continues to pour out His Spirit on us and that people continue to come to know the Lord.

64 Salvations in 2010

For over 15 years Life Church has posted around 25 salvations each year. This past year God brought 64 people to Himself. Of those 64 people, 41 of them were first-time salvations, 23 of which are attending our church and growing. Thank God for His awesome power to bring people to Himself. :)

Marriage Series

The past couple of weeks we've been taking a look at some marriages in the Old Testament and how they can benefit our lives today. Week one we looked at Jacob and Leah and saw what happens when people think that marriage is the answer. Week two we looked at Ahab and Jezebel's relationship and we saw what happens when men don't lead and women won't let them. This next week we're going to be taking a look at Abraham and Sarah's relationship and how sometimes things in a marriage relationship don't always go as planned.

God has done some really neat things these past 2 weeks. God has used these messages to bring 3 people to Christ. There have been marriages restored, sin exposed in extramarital relationships, and supernatural direction given in people's lives over these past weeks. God is so awesome! :)

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

Trunk or Treat Success

1. Well, for starters . . . we had somewhere between 300-400 people come through our Trunk or Treat this last Saturday.
2. It is so much fun just blessing our community and showing God's love.
3. We had 3 big blow-ups for the kids to jump and play on.
4. We also had free hot chocolate and free popcorn for the community to enjoy.
5. Big thanks goes out to all the businesses who came out and passed out candy to all the trick or treaters.
6. Big thanks also goes out to all of "teamLIFE" for making this event happen. (way to go team! :))
7. Our prayer is that lots of people felt the love of Christ as we served our community! :)

weekend

1. Teri and I had a nice restful weekend with Teri's parents.
2. Jadon and Adin looked forward to seeing Mee Maw and Pee Paw . . . but they also looked forward to seeing the farm kittens as well.
3. We got to have a hay ride on uncle danny's hand built buggy (from horse and buggy days).
4. We also got to watch the OU-KU football game on TV. (sorry KU fans . . . you can take the boy out of the country but you can't take the country out of the boy . . . :)
5. Got to spend some time in a good book by Gene Woods.
6. Hung out with the pastor of June Rose a little bit . . . Jared is doing a great job!
7. Got to see a lot of childhood friends at June Rose I haven't seen in a long time.
8. We had a "Toots" hamburger and onion rings in Howard KS. (a family favorite)
9. Thanks goes out to the LC Staff and TeamLIFE making things happen while I was gone.
10. Great job Pastor Chris on the message . . . I look forward to continuing the series this Sunday!!! :)