Church Requel Blog - Writings of Mark Pierce

When Too Much Is Not Enough [Sermon Notes]

We live in the wealthiest nation that has ever existed.  Our poorest people live better than the richest of only a century past.  While we often pray for God to bless us, we really have little concept of just how good we have it.  We do not recognize it, but we do not suffer from too little - but from too much. In this sermon we'll learn 5 ways we suffer from too much and then the one exception where we cannot have enough.

Every week I publish my sermon notes so that you may read them for yourselves.  For my parishioners, this could be a good review from the weekend before.  And it gives you a chance to see what I intended to say!  For other pastors and ministers, feel free to borrow and use any of this material.  I'd love for God to be glorified by you incorporating these notes into your own worship.

Summer Singles Part 9: "When Too Much Is Not Enough" 07.29.12

Scripture:  Judges 7:2-8 NIV/ Follow the YouVersion LIVE Event Notes

Listen to this week's CR Sermon & Podcast (fast forward to 1:03:25 to listen to sermon):

120729SweetSmile

We do not recognize it, but we do not suffer from too little - but from too much.  

• We live in a throw away society.  The avg. amount of waste per person in America = 4.5 pounds PER DAY! Each year, Americans throw away enough paper and plastic cups and spoons to circle the equator 300 times. Every year Americans use app. 1 billion shopping bags. The bags alone create 300,000 tons of landfill waste. We have too much of even small stuff - each year throw away 38,000 miles of ribbon - enough to tie a bow around Earth.
  Source: http://www.cleanair.org/Waste/wasteFacts.html/
• We have too much food. (1) We throw away 209- 253 pounds of food per person per year, enough to feed us for 2 months. http://bit.ly/iB8wbh (2) 40% of the food we create we throw away. = 1400 calories per day per person tossed out or 150 trillion calories/yr. http://bit.ly/iZtaSx (3) We eat too much. According to the Center for Disease Control 35.7% of American adults are not just overweight, but obese! http://1.usa.gov/NTBGIm 
• We have unused churches. (1) We close 3500 - 4,000 churches for good every year in America. http://bit.ly/NmU6Rr yet (2) only 18% of Americans frequently attend church. http://bit.ly/HfwQSN (3) This is not a matter of financial poverty, but spiritual. The #1 country in the world of churches per person? Jamaica, one of the poorest countries on Earth. http://anse.rs/Sjw0uj 

Single Idea Today: With God __TOO MUCH__ is not enough!
Our faith suffers not because we have too little, but because we have too much.  We are going to learn a lesson today from the life of Gideon, whose army of 32,000 was too many for God to deliver from enemies.

The Lord said to Gideon, “The troops with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand.” Judges 7:2a NRSV

This “too much” goes completely against our American culture and our natural inclinations.  We want to say that we can never have too much.  The more the better!  There are times when God says to us - “Cut back. Live on less. Trust more on me. Trust less in you.”

Gideon Transition. Story of Gideon can help us to understand our focus on TOO MUCH of everything else and TOO LITTLE of God. From Gideon’s story we learn 5 things about TOO MUCH.

019: Sweet Sweet Smile [Podcast]

Listen to this week's Church Requel Podcast:

120729SweetSmile

Subscribe to this audio podcast!  It's available every week on iTunes or for any other mp3 player.

The smiles you see above are those of Mary Kay and me back in 1978 on one of our very first dates.  I'm hoping this podcast will bring a smile to your face as well. Here's what I have lined up for you this week.

[05:30] Three Good News Stories - Mary Kay and I loved watching the Olympics' opening ceremonies Friday night.  This morning I was reading The Week magazine and came across three good news stories.  (Sorry, I can't provide a link.)

[12:08] 10 Church Growth Tips From Mayberry - Artie Davis, pastor of Cornerstone Community Church, wrote an article for Pastors.com entitled, "7 Church Growth Tips from Mayberry."  I added 3 of my own to round it up to 10.  If you liked The Andy Griffith Show, you'll love this section of the podcast.

[25:52] Congrats to Len Edgerly / Jeff Bezos Interview - Len Edgerly celebrated 4 years this past week with his podcast, The Kindle Chronicles.  To help him celebrate this achievement, Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, gave Len an interview for his podcast.  He talks about everyone at Amazon thinking of themselves as a missionary.  

[32:15] Quarterly EPS of Facebook, Amazon, & Apple - The Daily wrote a piece about companies Missing The Mark.  I followed up in this podcast with a discussion of the big week in earnings results this past week from Facebook, Amazon & Apple.  I share my thoughts about what makes each a great - or poor - investment choice. Here are the links I refer to in the podcast: (1)  New York Times Bits on Facebook's earnings; (2) WSJ's Marketwatch on Amazon; (3) Steven Windwalker's analysis on Amazon; (4) Mashable's Infographic comparing Walmart and Amazon; (5) Forbes' 7 positive trends in Apple's earnings.

[1:03:25] CR Sermon: "When Too Much Is Not Enough" - Our talk this weekend comes from Judges 7:2-8 about Gideon. We depend on too many things that often prove to be not enough.  Here are the YouVersion online sermon notes.

Music for this week's podcast is "Sweet, Sweet Smile" by the Carpenters from their 25th Anniversary album.

This Weekend At CR: Picnic Fun!

2011 Church Requel Picnic

Good Friday morning Church Requel! My... how our little family has grown! This is a photo from our picnic last summer. I can't wait to see what this pic looks like this year.

Picnic on Saturday! Tomorrow at 4pm we'll all gather at North Lake Park for our annual good eats, fun and games. This year our pavilion is inside and air-conditioned, so no worries about weather. There's a small pond with ducks and geese. The kiddos will have an enclosed playground. The bike trail ends at North Lake so you bike enthusiasts can even go for a bike ride. Or maybe more likely some of us will try to walk off our over-indulgences from the picnic.

What should you bring? Good cheer and a hearty appetite to begin with. Pastor Steve and I will grill the burgers and hot dogs for you. The church will also provide paper products, eating utensils, and lemonade. You will provide all the rest in what is sure to be a pot luck feast! We are suggesting that families bring two side dishes and single folks bring one dish. What kind of dish? Surprise us! That's why we call this thing a pot LUCK!

One more thing about tomorrow's picnic: Sean and Kyle Conrad will also be sharing our shelter to celebrate their high school graduation. You are welcome (without obligation) to bring a congrats card for them to help them celebrate their achievements.

This Sunday Night at CR. The weekend fun won't stop with the picnic on Saturday. Sunday night at 6 should be special too. We'll sing together, celebrate fellowship with our traditional way-too-long greeting time, participate in communion and prayer for one another. Our kiddos will come up front for a special children's sermon. For the first time ever, Marilyn Baumann will read our Bible verses. Yours truly has prepared a message centered on the Old Testament character of Gideon entitled, "When Too Much Is Not Enough." How do we pack so much worship into only 75 minutes? Here's a link to the LIVE sermon notes at YouVersion.com.

How This Pastor Transitioned To Working 1 Month Out

Last week I wrote about six reasons pastors should work a month in advance. In the comments, Rodney Holloman asked, "How did you ever go from week to week to a month ahead without cloning?" Great question Rodney! In this post I share four of the ways I've made the transition this summer.

I really wanted it. This idea of working a month out wasn't new to me. I had thought about the advantages of being ahead for the last couple of years. Two months ago I made the commitment that this summer would be the transition quarter. I told my leadership team and those whom would benefit from the decision. In other words, I put myself out on that proverbial limb from which I could not retreat without embarrassment. Also inside of me I was ready for the change. I was tired of the pressures that came from the week to week treadmill. For both my own sense of well being and for my church, I really wanted those six advantages I wrote about last week.

I extended my work week. I decided that if I was going to go from one week out to four weeks out, then I was going to have to work more this summer. Yeah, I know. This isn't exactly rocket science stuff. My summer hours in past years have been more relaxed. Worship attendance in the summer season usually wanes and I admit that in response, my efforts matched the falling church interest of my parishioners. This summer I have worked a solid six days a week, sometimes with 10+ hour days. (Pastors, this is nothing more than what many of our church members have been accustomed to for years!) Here's an interesting plus: our attendance this summer hasn't dropped as much as in the past. Hmmm...

I planned for seclusion. Those hours of alone time, thinking and writing, are golden for a pastor. In seminary I dreamed about what pastoral life would be like, imagining many hours of walking with God and writing down those precious nuggets of truth He shared with me. I discovered that in real-life pastoral ministry, my dream was just that - a dream! My real-life schedule as a small church pastor tended to be more like a couple hours of study time squeezed in between appointments. I would just get going good when I'd have to quit. This summer I have scheduled entire days of seclusion by bunching appointments - as much as possible - on other days. By actually having these seclusion days scheduled in my calendar, I could honestly respond to people wanting to see me that my time was already committed for that particular day. I haven't missed a single opportunity to meet with people. Every person was willing to meet on a different day!

4 Spiritual Questions From Olympic Games

The Olympic Games begin in just two days. Like many of you I will be watching and enjoying this quadrennial sporting event.  We’ll be glued to the tube, not only because there are few other good TV options, but also because there is something about the Olympic spirit that also touches our spirits.  Watching the world’s top athletes at the top of their form encourages each one of us to be “the best me I can be.”  This year, instead of just dreaming about your physical potential, consider these 4 spiritual questions as well.

How is my team participation?  My favorite Olympic events are the ones that are played together. No matter how great the individual effort, the team depends on the ability of the individuals to play well together. God did not intend for us to live individual spiritual lives either.  He gave us the church not only so that we might worship together, but also that we might do life together!  The Bible describes the church as a body: “Together you form the body of Christ and each one of you is a necessary part of it.”  Ask yourself: “Am I living my spiritual life as part of God’s team - with others?”

How is my spiritual discipline?  The one wholly remarkable aspect about every Olympic athlete is how completely disciplined each one is about their event.  No aspect of their training - exercise, diet, attitude - is too small to consider.  These people are disciplined. Seriously! Did you know that God has that same intention for us spiritually?  In fact God’s Word even puts our spiritual journey into Olympic terms: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.”  Ask yourself: “When it comes to my spiritual life, am I just out wandering around? Or am I running to win the prize?”

Why One Is The Loneliest Number [Sermon Notes]

We were never meant to serve God in isolation.  Often we shoulder more responsibility than we should.  In this post we learn three reasons why one is the loneliest number. And we learn 4 practical tips for serving together.

Every week I publish my sermon notes so that you may read them for yourselves.  For my parishioners, this could be a good review from the weekend before.  And it gives you a chance to see what I intended to say!  For other pastors and ministers, feel free to borrow and use any of this material.  I'd love for God to be glorified by you incorporating these notes into your own worship.

Summer Singles Part 8: One Is The Loneliest Number - 07.22.12 

Exodus 18:13-18 NIV / Song: “Together We Can Change The World”

Intro: Today we continue our Summer Singles.  Our text comes from Exodus 18, and our title is “One Is The Loneliest Number.”  As we continue our Summer Singles, where each week we share one single idea that can change our lives, today is a first. Brandi sang it...

Single Idea Today: __TOGETHER__ we can change the world! 

I love that song! It’s filled with truth. Today there are two groups of people I want to especially talk to.  Group #1 - (these are like me) Those who think they can do it alone.  People who love the task and just would like to get by themselves and get it done.  More task oriented than people oriented.  They like the way they do it.  They think no one else can do it quite like them.  A tad perfectionistic. Group #2 - Those who think that they don’t have much to offer. Those who are all too willing to sit back and let others lead. Those who don’t take initiative on the excuse they haven’t been asked. Those who see the task as too big for them alone and don’t feel they are an important contributor.  Both groups today need to hear this single idea.  We were built to change the world TOGETHER!

3 Reasons We Need TOGETHER:

018: One Is The Loneliest Number [Podcast]

This week's podcast theme is teamwork. Togetherness. Not being Lone Ranger Christians.  If you're task oriented like me, how do you allow others to help and use their gifts and talents?  If you don't feel like you have much to offer, how can you see your true gifts and abilities?  Here's what we have lined up for this week. 

[4:45] The Olympics and Our Spiritual Disciplines - The Olympics begin this Friday! What can we learn about our own spiritual growth by watching these extraordinary athletes?

[15:25] T.E.A.M.W.O.R.K. - Have you ever hear this acrostic? Together Everyone Achieves More With Ongoing Respect and Kindness?  I heard this quite often as a high school football players.  Join me in the locker room for some inspirational coaching!

[22:27] 4 Steps to Break Bad Habits - I take a page out of Dr. Oz's playbook with this four-part plan.  We all find ourselves in bad habits from time to time.  How do we escape?  Here's the link at RealAge.com.

[30:00] Keep A Food Journal - Scientists at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle conducted a study of older overweight and obese women.  What was the top conclusion of what really worked?  Keeping a food diary! If you want to join me using My Fitness Pal, my user name is mpiercecfp.

[39:46] 8 Measures of Personal Discipleship - Lifeway Research conducted a study of more than 4,000 people about their spiritual lives and level of maturity.  We talk about these attributes of discipleship. You can follow Ed Stezer on Twitter.

[54:41] A Christian's Response to Evil - I took a few additional minutes Sunday morning to remember the grieving families in Colorado.  How does a pastor respond to such senseless, tragic evil? My thanks to Pastors.com who provided this link to one Christian woman's response. Marie Isom writes in her A Miniature Clay Pot blog about her experience in that Aurora, CO theater a mere 40-50 feet away from the shooter.

[1:05:40] CR Sermon "One Is The Loneliest Number" - I talk about 3 reasons why God never intended us to serve alone and 4 practical tips of what we can do about isolation.  In the sermon I mention this online gifts assessment tool. You can follow the sermon notes here.

Music for this week's podcast - an obvious choice - is "One" by Three Dog Night from the album Three Dog Night - The Complete Hit Singles.

Listen to this week's Church Requel Podcast:

Subscribe to this audio podcast!  It's available every week on iTunes or for any other mp3 player.

This Weekend at CR: One Is Loneliest Number

Hello Church Requel! Pastor Mark here with all the week's news you want to know about CR. Rain! Yay! Can you tell we're parched?  We get a day of rain and we are thrilled! Sadly we learned this week that it's too late for my wife's family's corn crop in Celina.  The whole crop has been declared lost for this season.  First time ever.  The good news is that the crop was insured so we won't lose the grain. Still, we're thankful for the local rain for our local growers.

We plan to have "showers of blessings" Sunday night at Church Requel.  You won't want to miss.  Our Summer Singles teaching comes from Exodus 18:13-18.  This is the part of the Bible where Moses is overwhelmed with the administration of the new nation of Israel.  His father-in-law, Jethro, provides some helpful advice. We learn that one is the loneliest number, 3 reasons why we need TOGETHER, and 4 practical tips to make it happen.  Want a preview? You can check out the online sermon here.

Sunday night we'll experience "grace like rain" for other reasons too.  Nancy will read our Scripture. Shannon will be partying with the preschoolers. For the first time ever, Brandi will be leading our elementary children's time together.  But only after she sings a special song for all the big kids and small kids alike: "Together We Can Change The World."  I don't know about you, but I LOVE it when Brandi sings.  She's so enthusiastic.  I can't wait to hear her sing this one! And who knows... since it fits the theme so well, maybe we'll even hear Three Dog Night sing "One!"

Church Picnic Saturday July 28th at 4pm - I hope you all already have set aside a week from Saturday afternoon for our annual Church Requel picnic.  Steve reserved the North Lake Park air-conditioned pavilion for our use.  There's lots of space for all the great food you are planning to bring! Yours Truly and Pastor Steve will grill the burgers and dogs on Bryan's new Binford 5,000 rocket-fueled grill!

New Christian Radio Station - Have you heard about the new contemporary Christian radio station in town?  It's called Positive Hits 99.3 The Light.  Beyond featuring only uplifting and positive music, 99.3 The Light will also feature positive local news and weather.  Program Director Tony Mitchell in a recent News Journal article had this to say about the new station:

"In this day and age, there's so much negativity, and what we really wanted to do was have a station on the air that would only focus on the positive. You won't hear about any murders or shootings." 

You can listen to 99.3 The Light online here.  You could also follow the new station on Facebook.

CR Podcast Reaching Out - The new Church Requel Audio Podcast continues to reach new audience members, both locally and around the country.  Local CR parishioner Mike Gilbert listens every Monday as he makes the long drive back to his job in Marion, Indiana.  This morning I received an email from Len Edgerly, who told me that he has been enjoying the Wrestling with God podcast on his drives to Kennebunk, Maine in the mornings. Last week Bryan Person tweeted:

@ChurchRequel Enjoying your podcast this week, including your reading of portions of Edwards' sermon. #Awesome

— Bryan Person (@BryanPerson) July 11, 2012

Are you taking advantage of this free weekly audio program?  If you'd like to receive an email when the podcast is posted each week, just send me an email. 

Thanks For Your Prayers - Dick Jourdan continues his heart bypass surgery recovery.  If he feels up to it he will return to Church Requel this Sunday evening.  We also received good news about Lincoln Bohnke this week.  His ventilator oxygen settings are now down to 46%.  At 40% they hope to wean him off the ventilator. So close! His dad says he's a little fighter and now weighs 8 pounds 8 ounces.

That will wrap up this week's edition of What's Happening.  I hope you soak in all of God's love this weekend.  See you Sunday night at CR!  - Pastor Mark

10 Reasons Why Your Church Should Use Google Plus [Guest Post]

I'm pleased to introduce a new friend to readers of Church Requel. I've invited Michael Cornett, the founder of Church Website Design, to guest post for me today. Thank you Michael - and I will take this advice personally!  

Lately, every time I mention Google Plus in my posts, there always seems to be someone who tells me why Google Plus doesn’t matter. People tell me “no one uses Google+”, “why not just use Facebook?”, “really, another social media site I have to use?”  So today we’re going to look at 10 reasons why your church should be on Google Plus.

1 ) Unlimited Post Length – While this may seem like a trivial matter, being able to post a full devotional, thought, or event can be extremely helpful. 

2 ) Edit Your Posts – Ever make your post then realize you need to re-do it because you misspelled a word or left out some punctuation? With Google Plus, simply edit your post instead of re-typing.

3 ) Hangouts On Air – In a recent post, I described how you could stream your sermon live through Hangouts On Air.

4 ) Hangouts – Although I already mentioned Hangouts on Air, the normal hangouts can be a great way for your church staff to meet from different locations, have devotionals, or even follow up ‘in person’ to share the Gospel.

6 Reasons Pastors Should Work A Month In Advance

It's Tuesday morning early in July. I sit down at my laptop computer and begin planning for the next worship experience at Church Requel. I'm not working on next weekend, five days away. I'm working on August 5th - almost a month away!

Such working ahead does not come naturally to me. In college I was the guy who could type (yes, we used a typewriter back then) his paper the night before. As the pastor of a small church I used to get my week's work done "just in time". From many conversations with lots of my pastor friends, I know many of you are also working frantically at the last minute to finish everything for the coming Sunday.

Now that I'm working a month out, I never intend to go back to those pressure-filled days. Here's 6 reasons why working well in advance of deadlines works so well for me.

#1 - My work is better. Instead of one crack at the sermon, I now have approximately a dozen opportunities to rewrite, rethink, and polish my work. When I do the artwork for the slides, I'm thinking about the sermon. When I copy it into YouVersion LIVE, I'm thinking about how the parishioner might respond. This, I believe, honors the LORD more - giving Him my best offerings. It also benefits my congregation, making the most of those precious 30 minutes each week in the pulpit.

#2 - My work is more focused. If you are a pastor, you know what it's like staring at the blank screen. There's nothing worse, especially at the beginning of your work week. I used to waste so much time just trying to come up with what I should be working on. Not any more. I come up with game plans for weeks at a time - at times scheduled for that creative "blank page" project. So when I sit down to start my work I can dig in right away. I've also learned the secret of ending my previous work session mid stream so it's easy to pick right up where I left off.

4 Characteristics of Crossover Opportunities [Sermon Notes]

We each face one or more crucibles in our lives: crossover events that change us.  A loss of a job.  A betrayal. The death of a spouse, or a child, or a parent.  These are moments when we may feel trapped, like there's no way to move forward.  In this post we will learn to recognize these experiences for the crossover opportunities they really are, and in the process, learn the one thing we must do to crossover to the other side.

Every week I publish my sermon notes so that you may read them for yourselves.  For my parishioners, this could be a good review from the weekend before.  And it gives you a chance to see what I intended to say!  For other pastors and ministers, feel free to borrow and use any of this material.  I'd love for God to be glorified by you incorporating these notes into your own worship.

Summer Singles Part 7: Crossover - 07.15.12 

Exodus 14:30-31 ESV / Video: “Crossing Red Sea” - MovieClips.com

Intro: When you watch the 1956 movie, The Ten Commandments, what do you think? Nothing but a fairy tale? Great story, but what does it have to do with me? Wow, special effects have come a long way in the last 56 years? LOL. Today I want to talk about this crossover event of Moses and the 2-3 million Israelites crossing the Red Sea.  But I want to make it personal.  Today we learn that...

Single Idea Today: When my back is to the wall, look for the _CROSSOVER OPPORTUNITY_. 

We all have crossovers!  We all have that defining moment of our lives when everything changes. When things don’t work out the way we expect.  I faced such a crossover 3 1/2 years ago.  I had sold my business. I had become a pastor. I was serving the Lord with all my heart. Yet one day I sat in my boss’s office and heard those words, “We are letting you go.”  It was not what I thought would happen.  It was not my plan.  Out of that crossover event came the opportunity for a new church, Church Requel.  Today, some of you are facing your own crossover.  Examples - loss of job, financial setbacks, loss of spouse, sickness, storms.  Let’s talk first about what crossovers look like. 

4 Characteristics of Crossovers:

017: Crossover [Podcast]

This week's Church Requel Audio Podcast theme is Crossover.  How do we handle those crossover, crucible, life-changing events in our lives?  Plus some more fun and practical new developments in Mark and Mary Kay's life this week.  Here's what we have lined up for you.

[5:30] Pulminary Embolisms - I talk about my crossover event from 2007.  I spent 10 days in the hospital as a result of unexplained blood clots in my lungs.  What were those first few hours like, when I didn't know if I'd live another day? Yep - that was definitely a "crossover!"

[18:00] My Fitness Pal - Mary Kay and I have been using a new app this week. My Fitness Pal tracks our diet and exercise.  I tell you why this is such a great thing and why you should join us.  We'd love to have you be our friends on My Fitness Pal.

[29:45] iPad Mini Speculation - I wrote here and here about my own speculations regarding the possibilities of a new, smaller and less expensive iPad from Apple.  In this segment of the podcast, I expand on the possibilities.

[44:45] Jonathan Edward's Farewell Sermon - Jonathan Edwards is considered by many to be the greatest theologian America has ever known.  Yet, after 23 years as a senior pastor of his church, he was asked to leave.  I share an excepts from Jonathan Edwards: A Life and from his "Farewell Sermon."  Wouldn't you have liked to have been a fly on the wall in THAT church service!

[1:02:45] Church Requel Sermon: Crossover - Here's the talk from Sunday night. It's based on Exodus 14. We consider 4 characteristics of crossover events as well as the one thing we must do during a crossover.  Here are the YouVersion sermon notes. (Sorry we didn't get the audio level as good as we should have this evening.  I did the best I could in post-production.

[1:33:00] Wrap-Up - Just a short wrapup tonight.  Mary Kay is grilling hamburgers upstairs and I'm hungry! Ha!

Music for this week's podcast is from "Changes" by Butterfly Boucher and David Bowie from the Shrek 2 Album.

Listen to this week's Church Requel Podcast:

Subscribe to this audio podcast!  It's available every week on iTunes or for any other mp3 player.

This Weekend at CR: Balloon Launch

Good Friday morning to you, Church Requel community! Pastor Mark here with your weekly blog keeping you posted on all the good things happening at CR. Mary Kay and I have been so enjoying the bright, sunny weather this week. Yes, I know the rain is coming over the next few days. Can we really complain? We need it badly as evidenced by my lawn, which looks like a post card from Death Valley. Ha!

So what's this balloon launch all about? I was working on a creative way to talk to our children Sunday night about the power of God's Holy Spirit in our lives, when I came up with the object lesson of using balloons. I don't want to give everything away here, but I think it will be a fun experience for all the kids in our church, including those who haven't been to elementary school in decades!

We will enjoy the participation of lots of CRers Sunday night. Brandi Walker is back from vacation and all revved up to lead our worship time. Pastor Steve will lead our prayer and communion time. And for the first time ever on the Church Requel platform, 3rd-grader Dylan Melton will read our Scripture!

Our teaching time is titled, "Crossings" and comes from the Exodus story of the Israelites crossing the Red Sea. Of course we will see that most famous movie clip from the 1956 The Ten Commandments! (I couldn't resist.) We may not see walls of water on both sides, but we all will experience major crossings in our lives. I plan to talk about one of my own crossings as an example. We'll examine 4 characteristics of crossings and the one thing we must do when confronted with a crossing. I'm praying that Sunday night will be a God appointment for all of us. Here's a link to the YouVersion Sermon Notes.

New photo albums. Diana has done a marvelous job with our photo albums on the Church Requel website. This past week she has added some new albums. If you haven't been there in a while, check out the Baptism album, Jack and Sheri's wedding album, and a new special album about the children of Church Requel! I especially love the mosaic at the end. You can see all 15 photo albums here. Thanks Diana!

Thanks for praying. Your prayers for Dick and Lincoln are being answered! I spoke to Dick Jourdan this morning, now 2 weeks past open heart surgery. He has experienced some concerning swelling in his ankle where his staples were removed, but his doctors tell him this is normal. Other than that Dick's recovery is going well.

Lincoln's dad, Dan, writes: "Lincoln is still on a hot streak. He is currently at 49% oxygen on the ventilator... Once they get him below 40% they will consider [removing the ventilator.] ... He is currently at 3375 grams, or 7 lbs. 7.1 oz. We brought Dominik down on July 4th to meet him. Dominik loves him because he kept kissing the top of his head." I encourage you to encourage Dan and Katie by going to their Caring Bridge site and let them know you are still praying.

Pot Luck on Saturday July 28th. In two weeks we will enjoy some special fellowship time together at North Lake Park in Mansfield. I hope you will make plans to join us at 4pm. This is a great opportunity to make new friends and keep up with old ones. There are lots of places for the children to play. And for those who want to escape the heat, you can't beat the coolness of the air-conditioned pavilion. Kyle and Sean will also be celebrating their high school graduation. Families should bring two dishes and single folks bring one. Pastor Steve and I will be grilling burgers and dogs. Should be a good time for everyone.

That's going to wrap up this week's "what's happening" blog post. Hope you're staying cool and refreshed. May God bless and keep you this weekend. With affection, Pastor Mark

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5 Reasons Why New iPad Mini Important For Pastors

Yesterday I shared 5 reasons why Apple would sell their new iPad Mini for $199. This will be a big deal in the tech marketplace. But why should pastors or churches care one way or the other? Today I offer 5 reasons why this is an important development for pastors and churches.

Reason #1: The lower price means even more people will own the device. At a price point of $199 many more potential congregants will be purchasing an iPad. It's obvious that a $300 lower price will mean a much higher buy-in. Consider the Amazon Kindle. At $400 the device was for fans only. At $79 it has become the ubiquitous e-reader for everyone. I even have two elementary-age grandchildren who own one.

Reason #2: The smaller size means even more people will be toting them around. Even for fans of the 10-inch iPad, as light and thin as they are now, many people will not carry them around everywhere. At 7 inches, this device will be even more mobile. Pastors, you will be seeing lots of these in church, if you give people a reason to bring them.

Reason #3: iPads, other tablets and mobile devices will become people's primary Bible. The YouVersion Bible app has already been downloaded to more than 50 million devices. To begin to grasp the significance of this in people's lives, check out the YouVersion Now web page. You will see incredible engagement with the Scriptures with a moment by moment update. There have been more than 110 thousand verses highlighted, more than 3.3 million reading plans started, and - as of this writing - more than 26 BILLION minutes of Bible reading time. This trend will only become more significant with the iPad Mini, where the initial costs will be lower and where there are no data plan requirements.

Reason #4: The iPad Mini, as well as other mobile devices, will become people's primary communication tools. We are already seeing this as a significant trend. More and more people are using various electronic messaging services than ever before. But if your church is like mine, the congregants are divided between the haves and have-nots, when it comes to communicating electronically. There are two primary factors involved - tech comfort and cost. Some people are just not comfortable with figuring tech out. And many people cannot afford a data plan and or a computer or more expensive iPad. Apple has gone a long ways toward making the iPad so easy to use that it has become a simple appliance for the non-geek majority. And at $199 with no data plan, it will become even more affordable. This means that for pastors and churches that take advantage of this trend, you'll enjoy communication and feedback like never before! And at practically no cost for the church!

Reason #5: The entire IOS platform - as well as Android - is becoming your congregants' wallets. At a recent developer's conference, Apple introduced significant new moves that will make IOS equipped devices the payment system of choice. If people are using their mobile devices to pay for dinner and a movie, it doesn't take too much imagination to see the day when these same devices are used for the offering plate. Already a significant portion of my congregation (more than half) make their contributions through purely electronic means. Think about how few of your congregation carry cash or checks with them. But they will bring their mobile devices - the same devices they use to pay many of their other bills. This trend could also accelerate with an inexpensive iPad Mini this fall.

Yes, I admit to being an Apple fan as well as a long time enthusiast for all things tech. However, one does not need to be a geek to see the very near term future these smaller iPads could usher in to our church communities. Next week I'll talk about specific actions you and your leadership team can take to prepare for the coming new opportunities. In the meantime, I'd love to hear your feedback. What are you doing now to encourage your congregation to use their mobile devices as tools for church and spiritual growth?

Posted with Blogsy

5 Reasons Apple Will Sell iPad Mini for $199

The iPad has become an integral part of my work-flow as a pastor.  Recently I wrote about using my iPad when delivering sermons. Naturally all the recent speculation about Apple selling a smaller version of the iPad this fall has captured my attention. There is much speculation about the features of the new iPad Mini and even greater speculation about the pricing.  For five very good reasons, I believe Apple will enter the 7-inch tablet market at the $199 price point.

Reason #1 - Apple loves to surprise on the low end.  I know many readers might initially take issue with this statement, noting that Apple has always been about profitablity and higher margins.  This is true with the iPhones and MacBooks, but has not been the case with tablets.  People forget this now, having become accustomed to the $499 iPad, but when this price was initially introduced NO ONE was expecting a $500 device.  Most of the speculation was at the $1,000 price point.  Most tech prognosticators were comparing the new expected tablet to the existing net-book market.  Apple came in at half that price. 

Reason #2 - Apple has lower costs because of its purchasing power.  Even at $199, Apple can make a profit.  The gang over at This Week In Tech joked on Sunday that Apple owns the aluminum market and anyone wanting to make a new laptop would need to use magnesium.  That was a funny exaggeration, but is not far from the truth. Comparing  Apple's cost structure to anyone else's, including Amazon's, simply is not an (ahem) apples to apples comparison!

Reason #3 - Apple wants to own this market. Sure - when the 10-inch iPad was initially introduced, Steve Jobs made a big deal about never making a 7-inch version.  In fact, he said people would have to sandpaper down their fingers to use one.  Remember that Apple was never going to make a phone (or a tablet) until they did.  Apple does not want to cede this smaller tablet market to other brands.  

Reason #4 - The iPad Mini will become the gateway drug into the IOS marketplace for many new customers.  I've seen this happen myself.  My wife, Mary Kay, owned and loved her iPad before she ever bought into the iPhone.   Rather than buying a two-year old iPhone to test the IOS waters, new customers will be able to purchase a brand new, unsubsidized $199 iPad Mini.  I believe there will be significant elasticity of deman above this price point. (... meaning new people will choose not to buy if the price goes much higher.)

Reason #5 - The profits will come with more memory and with future devices.  Apple doesn't have to make money on the $199 device initially.  Surely they will still sell 2 other higher memory iPad Minis for $299 and $399 and they WILL make their profit margins on these devices.  Remember also that once Apple sets the price, they won't change it any time soon.  It's been just over 2 years since Apple initially introduced the iPad. Yet the prices are still the same.  The tech gets better but the prices don't drop. Apple knows their cost curves will drop in the future so if they can capture the lion's share of the 7-inch market now, it will be even more profitable in the future.

This blog is primarily aimed at church folks and pastors.  So why is this tech news such a big deal? Tune back in tomorrow and I'll tell you why this is something pastors should be focused on now.  In the meantime, I'd love to hear your thoughts.  Will Apple come out with the iPad Mini this fall?  Will it be priced at $199?  Comment below with your own speculations.

6 Takedowns of Real God Wrestling [Sermon Notes]

Much of pro wrestling today is fake. Sadly much of pro wrestling with God - what we call 'religion' is fake too.  We desire an authentic relationship with God, one which allows us to grapple with the hard questions of life.  In this post we will discover 6 takedowns of real God wrestling.

Every week I publish my sermon notes so that you may read them for yourselves.  For my parishioners, this could be a good review from the weekend before.  And it gives you a chance to see what I intended to say!  For other pastors and ministers, feel free to borrow and use any of this material.  I'd love for God to be glorified by you incorporating these notes into your own worship.

Summer Singles Part 6: "Wrestling With God" 07.08.12

Scripture:  Genesis 32:24-30 ESV / Follow the YouVersion LIVE Event Notes

Listen to this week's CR Sermon & Podcast (fast forward to minute 50 to listen to sermon):

Intro: If we could just pick up the phone and talk to God, would we?  Sometimes we have real issues that we have to work out with God.  Some struggle with “Why” questions: “Why did God allow this to happen?   Or “why not” questions: “Why won’t God allow me to... have this job, have better health, be in this relationship?”  Often we give up trying to wrestle through issues or questions with God.  We think it might be better just to leave things the way they are.  Or we think God really wouldn’t be interested in me. Or that we are just too busy going about our own lives to wrestle out these things with God.  We are wrong on all 3 counts!

Single Idea Today: The greatest blessings in life come from __WRESTLING WITH GOD__.  Today we are going to learn the story of Jacob, who wrestled with God.  This is a real story and it is both one of the oddest stories in the Bible AND one of the most helpful ones.  Jacob had been a deceiver and had cheated his older brother from his father’s blessing.  After decades of being away and growing his own family, now he wants to return to home. But he is afraid of Esau, his brother.  Fast-forwarding to the end of the story, we see that God blessed Jacob after wrestling with him all night long! 

“And there he blessed him.” Genesis 32:29b ESV

Wrestling God can be one of the greatest blessings we ever possess, if we are willing to do it. Much of wrestling is fake. Just a show. Religion can be same way. Today I’d like to use Jacob’s story & talk about 6 Takedowns for Real God Wrestling.

016: Wrestling With God [Podcast]

This weekend's podcast is a smackdown good time as we discuss the theme of "Wrestling With God!" Here's what you will hear:

[03:33] Authentic High School Wrestling - Real wrestling, the kind you find in high schools and colleges may be the toughest and most demanding sport.  We'll hear one high school wrestler's essay about a day in the life of a wrestler.  

[10:25] Jonathan Edwards and Wrestling With God - Mark talks a bit about Jonathan Edwards and refers to two different books.  The biography, Jonathan Edwards: A Life by George M. Marsden, is available in Kindle format.  The book of Edwards' previously unbublished sermons titled, The Blessing of God edited by Michael D. McMullen, is not available yet on the Kindle.  Mark then reads an excerpt from Edwards' sermon, The Way to Obtain the Blessing of God Is Not to Let Him Go Except He Bless Us. CORRECTION: I quoted a couple of dates regarding Jonathan Edwards life as "1958."  Clearly I meant to say "1758." Jonathan Edwards was a pre-revolutionary Massachusetts pastor.

[28:12] Overcoming Problems With Your Quiet Time - Mark continues his discussion from Podcast 013, in which he describes the Daily Quiet Time with God.  In this podcast, we talk about overcoming 4 problems - the problems of discipline, distractions, dryness, and diligence.

[50:00] Sermon: "Wrestling With God" -  Here's the MAIN EVENT! This is the weekend sermon given to Church Requel on Sunday evening, July 8th.  Mark talks about 6 takedown lessons for real God wrestling.

[1:29:00] Wrap-Up - People tell me that the last part of the podcast, this "wrap-up" is their favorite part.  I talk about the evening right after the CR worship service, trying to remember all the cool things that happened.  Tonight I try to give you a sense of all the communications that happen between a pastor and his people - and my struggle to remember everything.

Music for this week's podcast includes "Let's Get Ready To Rumble" by Michael Buffer on the album, ESPN Sport Presents: Jock Jams, Volume 1 and "Get Ready For This" by Power Music on the album, The Biggest Loser Workout Mix - Sports Stadium Anthems.

Listen to this week's Church Requel Podcast:

Subscribe to this audio podcast!  It's available every week on iTunes or for any other mp3 player.

This Weekend at CR: Wrestling With God!

Hello Church Requel community! It's hard to believe another hot week has blown by. How have you liked those thunderstorms we've had these past few days? I know some of you finally just got your power back on, only to have it shut down again when yet another storm blew through!

This weekend at Church Requel we're going to talk a bit about the stormy relationship some of us have with God. We may be afraid to admit it. We remain on God's polite side. Our heavenly Father, however, is not too fragile to hear our complaints. He is willing "to wrestle" with us in our prayers.

We are going to study an odd passage from the Bible: Genesis 32:24-30. As hard as it is to believe, we're told that Jacob wrestled with God! In our weekend experience at Church Requel, we'll learn 6 takedowns that we can apply from Jacob's wrestling match with God. I'm excited to share these takedowns with you Sunday evening. If you want to score an early pin on the Wrestling With God sermon notes, make your move here.

There will be plenty of other cool things happening Sunday night at CR as well. Should we start with the COOL air conditioning? On these 95 degree days, that's no small thing. One cool thing that will happen is that we will formally induct Diana, Mike and Lisa into membership.

Cindy Thoman has planned a cool children's program for our elementary kids. CR is always fun for the kids when Cindy puts her imagination and creativity to work!

The big kids - otherwise known as adults - will watch a cool intro video for the Wrestling With God sermon titled "Talking With God." What if we could literally talk with God on the telephone? You will discover this short film to be both funny and profound at the same time.

Katie and Linciln

Keep your prayers going for Lincoln and Dick. Sonnie told me this week that Lincoln continues to improve. Dan wrote on their Caring Bridge Site that last weekend was the best one yet for Lincoln. Dick has now been home from the hospital for a week and continues to recover well from triple bypass surgery. Your prayers really do matter!

I have just one date I want you all to keep reserved: July 28th. On this Saturday Church Requel has reserved the AIR CONDITIONED pavilion at North Lake Park in Mansfield. We will meet at 4pm. This will be a potluck meal. The church will provide hamburger and hot dogs, grilled to perfection by Steve and yours truly. We'll also provide eating utensils, napkins, paper plates, and lemonade. You provide all the side dishes and desserts.

One more highlight to mention. We posted some great photos to the web site from last weekend's baptism service. You can see all 32 here. I love the baptism shots as well as the enthusuastic children during the kid's sermon. Thanks Marci for taking these pics!

That wraps up this week's blog post. Stay cool! Hope to see you Sunday night at Church Requel for a Super Smackdown good time! Are you ready to rumble?

Posted with Blogsy

Baptism Sunday at Church Requel [Photos]

We celebrated Baptism Sunday last weekend at Church Requel.  We baptized Diana, Mike and Lisa. This coming Sunday we will welcome them into membership at CR.  Fortunately Marci used Diana's camera to grab some great shots.  If a picture is worth a thousand words, then I have a million word photo album to point you to!  Seriously, we just posted 35 photos up on the CR Website.  Click here to view the whole Baptism Sunday album. (Make sure that "Baptism Sunday" is the current album in the top left corner of the page.)  Here are a few of my favorites. (Click on any of these to see the larger version.)

I wanted to make sure that the children knew what was about to happen with the baptisms.  So I came up with a children's sermon called, "Clean or Dirty?"  I had a glass that was covered with dirty and was filled with dirty water.  When I poured out the dirty water and filled it with clean water, the glass was still dirty and no child wanted a drink.  I explained that when we come to faith in Christ, Jesus washes us - cleans us up.  It's not just a matter of our good deeds (the clean water), it's also the entire person being born anew (the clean glass).  After I was done washing the glass and then filling it with clean water, I asked the children who wanted a drink.  Above you can see the enthusiastic response.

Diana was more than just a little bit nervous.  I was so proud of her.  She took the step of faith and obedience we call baptism despite her fears.  The whole time she never looked around.  She kept her eyes focused on me and her heart focused on Jesus.  

5 Power Tips for Preaching From An iPad

A recent sermon on my iPad

I'm in the middle of delivering my sermon from my shiny new iPad. I'm focused on making the point and communicating God's truth from His Word to His people. Then my preaching device sings a loud "ding!" Up pops a notification badge: "Want to get away from it all? Cruises for as low as $399!" It took every ounce of self-control not to break out laughing. The funniest part was watching some of my older parishioners looking around to see which kid in the congregation was playing a game. I never told them the kid was me.

For the past 15 months I've been preaching from my first-generation iPad. It truly has been a gift from God, a tool that helps me be even more effective as a communicator. I use my iPad rather than paper notes for 3 reasons. First, it saves me time and money. Connecting the word processor from my laptop to my iPad through iCloud means no more printing and cutting. Second, it provides me the opportunity to make last minute edits right on my iPad.

Third, and this is the most important reason, it gives my parishioners permission to use their smart phones and tablets to follow the sermon, published in their YouVersion Bible apps. When they see their pastor opening his Bible on his iPad, they know it really is ok. Just yesterday Pastors.com reminded us how much Apple is changing the church. As a pastor I can choose to lead these changes rather than react to them.

Here are 5 power tips I have learned in the last 15 months for how to preach with an iPad.

1. Use the power of the iCloud. I've read that many pastors preaching from an iPad write their sermons on their computer's word processor, save their document as a PDF file, then email it to themselves, then open their email app on their iPad, and then open their sermon document with a PDF reader app like GoodReader. There is an easier way! I write my sermons using Pages on my MacBook, then drag the file over to the iCloud in Safari. When I open Pages on my iPad, voila! My sermon is waiting and ready to go.

2. Use the power of Pages. One huge advantage for pastors using Pages on the iPad is that it is a fully functioning word processor. I have the ability to make last-minute edits right on my iPad. In the photo above from my sermon on June 24th, you'll notice that the first paragraph begins with, "Dismiss the children..." I wrote this note to myself in the tech meeting an hour before our worship service began.

3. Use the power of YouVersion LIVE. I believe that the YouVersion Bible app is the greatest development for pastors since the Gutenberg printing press. The YouVersion Bible is now installed on over 50 million devices and the installation curve is growing exponentially. I want all of my parishioners to install the Bible app, and read from it throughout the week. When their wait-in-a-line moment happens and they grab their smart phones, I want them to read their Bibles rather than playing the latest version of Angry Birds. I can help smooth the way if I also use the YouVersion app on my iPad when I'm preaching. This is also why I publish every sermon I write for YouVersion LIVE.

4. Use the power of wider margins. I use 2-inch margins when I type my original sermon document. Then, when I use this same document in my iPad Pages document, I can use the two-finger zoom gesture to make the font size up to 30% larger in portrait mode (my preference) or up to 70% larger in landscape mode. This is so much better than actually typing my original sermon document in a larger font.

5. Use the power of the P-R-E-P-A-R-E checklist. After that first experience of my iPad chirping away during my sermon I have developed my own PREPARE acrostic checklist to make sure I have remembered to configure my iPad for preaching mode.