One of my favorite Christmas traditions...

I can’t wait for one of my favorite Christmas traditions…honoring the people of LifeBridge who help create the dynamic, thriving community we are! Countless hours every week are given every week to make LifeBridge work, and without the hard work of the people of LifeBridge, we simply would not exist.

I’m excited this year to hear from Pastor G.L. Johnson, who led People’s Church to become the largest community of believers in the Central Valley. He is a tremendous leader and I’m confident that you’ll enjoy him as he is a nationally sought speaker! We are privileged to have him with us on December 9th!!

If you have not signed-up yet, you can do so by replying to this blog with how many people will be attending the banquet. Childcare is provided, and we will begin at 6:30 PM at Grand Occasions.

I can’t wait to see you Sunday as we celebrate what God is doing in your life this week!

I love being your pastor!!


Kevin

Security and Protection

This past Sunday we kicked off a series called Breakthrough. A lot of people need a breakthrough in their life! I am anticipating that as we kick off 21 days of prayer and fasting this Sunday, that we will experience breakthrough, not just personally, but also in our church.

A key element to receiving breakthough is practicing righteousness, or right living. Getting along with others, handling conflict biblically, and maintaining right relationships with God and others is at the core of being righteous. One can say they are righteous, but if you find broken and strained relationships left behind in the wake of their life, you really have to wonder how righteous they really are! Righteousness is not obeying some external set of religious codes; rather it is a life that is continually being transformed from a thriving relationship with God!!

Here’s what 1 Peter 3:12 says, “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil." When we are doing our best to living righteously, this verse states that God watches us and listens to us!! This communicates security and protection in a crazy world! When we are confident that God is watching and listening to us, it raises our faith to point where we know beyond the shadow of a doubt that God will “Breakthough” into our situation. Where do you need a Breakthough?? Ask God to show how you can become more righteous.

I can’t to see you Sunday as we celebrate our “Breakthrough” God!

I love being your pastor!


Kevin

Happy Anniversary!!

Last week, Ellen and I celebrated our 10-year anniversary. We are so excited!! Proverbs 18:22 says “The man who finds a wife, finds a treasure, and He receives favor from the Lord.” I can honestly say that I am more in love with her now more than I was 10 years ago, and that I have found my treasure. Not to say I didn’t love her then; I was smitten from the first time we met in a pool! It’s just that my love for her is much deeper and fuller now that we have lived and experienced so much together. The ups and downs during the span of a decade have caused us to grow so much, not just in our relationship with each other, but also in our relationship with God.
This week has prompted me to review our marriage and to look forward to the future. It has caused me to ask the question “Am I the husband that she needs?” and “Am I leading her closer to God?”
One of the strongest purposes of marriage is to reflect the incredible unity and community that is found in the Trinity. The relationship between God as Father, Jesus as Son, and Holy Spirit as Comforter, is the flagship example of how relationships, particularly marriages, should work. Each member of the Trinity works in very distinct ways to accomplish one purpose: the redemption of humankind.
A husband and wife are very different: just ask any guy if he can understand the ways of his wife!!! Even though they are very different, they can accomplish the same purpose: showing the love and power of God through their relationship with each other and their family. A marriage was intended by God to be a real-time example of how God is so powerful. My deepest desire is to love Ellen so well that people would come to know Him!! My prayer that God’s love would be so dominate in my relationship with Ellen that people would be attracted to God.

In what ways can your marriage show how great God is? If you’re not married, how can your closest relationships display the power of God? I would like to challenge you today to take the next step! Feel free to contact me with any prayer requests or challenges that you are facing! Ellen and I would love to pray with you that your marriage would increasingly display the mighty power of God!!!

Happy Anniversary

Last week, Ellen and I celebrated our 10-year anniversary. We are so excited!! Proverbs 18:22 says “The man who finds a wife, finds a treasure, and He receives favor from the Lord.” I can honestly say that I am more in love with her now more than I was 10 years ago, and that I have found my treasure. Not to say I didn’t love her then; I was smitten from the first time we met in a pool! It’s just that my love for her is much deeper and fuller now that we have lived and experienced so much together. The ups and downs during the span of a decade have caused us to grow so much, not just in our relationship with each other, but also in our relationship with God.
This week has prompted me to review our marriage and to look forward to the future. It has caused me to ask the question “Am I the husband that she needs?” and “Am I leading her closer to God?”
One of the strongest purposes of marriage is to reflect the incredible unity and community that is found in the Trinity. The relationship between God as Father, Jesus as Son, and Holy Spirit as Comforter, is the flagship example of how relationships, particularly marriages, should work. Each member of the Trinity works in very distinct ways to accomplish one purpose: the redemption of humankind.
A husband and wife are very different: just ask any guy if he can understand the ways of his wife!!! Even though they are very different, they can accomplish the same purpose: showing the love and power of God through their relationship with each other and their family. A marriage was intended by God to be a real-time example of how God is so powerful. My deepest desire is to love Ellen so well that people would come to know Him!! My prayer that God’s love would be so dominate in my relationship with Ellen that people would be attracted to God.

In what ways can your marriage show how great God is? If you’re not married, how can your closest relationships display the power of God? I would like to challenge you today to take the next step! Feel free to contact me with any prayer requests or challenges that you are facing! Ellen and I would love to pray with you that your marriage would increasingly display the mighty power of God!!!

What the church really should be...

This past week LifeBridge Church produced our 5th Annual Kids Bash. There are so many wins that come out of this event every year, and this year it seemed like the wins were even bigger than previous years.

The biggest win is that more people were added to the Kingdom of God! This is why we do what we do, so that more people might know how incredible God’s love is for them. At the Celebration this past Sunday, many families from outside our church attended, and encountered God in an authentic way.

Another big win is how everyone pulled his or her time, talent and resources together to pull this event off!! It was so encouraging for me to observe how God used so many diverse people with diverse talents partner together to create something so huge!

Kids Bash is a microcosm of how any church should operate on a consistent basis; diverse people with diverse gifting, pulling together to make an eternal impact. Kids Bash is a great model for what our church should be. It’s not just a gathering of strangers on Sunday morning, rather it is a community of people that know and serve each other and the community in such a dynamic way that it becomes the most attractive group in any given city.

In 1 Corinthians 12:7 it says “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” Each and every Christ follower has been given an incredible gift to be used in the local church! When every one of us operates in our gifting for the “common good” (reaching people for God), the church (not just ours) can become the most powerful force in Fresno!!

So, let’s celebrate the miracles God did from Kids Bash, but let’s also let it be a model for how we “do church” around here!

I love being your pastor!!


Kevin

History of St. Patrick's Day

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, here is a little backstory on Saint Patrick himself.

At the age of 16, Saint Patrick was captured by Irish raiders and taken to Ireland where he became a slave to the chieftain of Ulster. One night, after six years of slavery, Saint Patrick heard a voice, "Behold, thy ship is ready." He traveled two hundred miles on foot to a place where he knew no one and had never been. He wrote in his autobiographical account, "After this I took flight, and left the man with whom I had been six years; and I came in the strength of the Lord, who directed my way for good; and I feared nothing till I arrived at the ship. And on that same day on which I arrived, the ship moved out of its place."

Patrick made his way back to Britain, found his family, and could have lived out the rest of his life in relative comfort in the land of freedom. But in 432 AD, he had another vision. He saw a man coming to him from Ireland carrying innumerable letters. "And I read the beginning of the letter containing 'The voice of the Irish.' And while I was reading aloud the beginning of the letters, I myself thought indeed in my mind that I heard the voice of those who were near the wood of Foclut, which is close by the Western Sea. And they cried out thus as if with one voice, "We entreat thee, holy youth, that thou come, and henceforth walk among us." And I was deeply moved in my heart, and could read no further; and so I woke."

Saint Patrick went back to Ireland as a missionary. No outside religion had penetrated Ireland in a thousand years. Saint Patrick founded more than 300 churches and baptized more than 120,000 people. His ministry was so influential that he came to be known as the one who "found Ireland all heathen and left it all Christian."

The Big Move- Greater Things!

In John 14:12, Jesus says “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

This verse promises so much hope for us! Earlier in the passage Jesus talks about the miracles he had performed. Then in this verse He states that His followers can do greater things than the miracles he performed. Those miracles included acts such as turning water into wine, raising people from the dead, healing the lame, walking on water, healing the blind, I think this gives us a clear picture of the acts that Jesus did.

As we prepare to make the BIG MOVE to Grand Occasions, coming SUNDAY FEBRUARY, 14^TH, I think of what the “greater things” might mean for us as a church. I sense that God is going to open doors for us that we have never been able to walk through before. We’ll reach people that we would have never been able to reach staying at the school. The lives that will be transformed as result of LifeBridge will be nothing short of miraculous. Would you pray with me that God would do “greater things” in us as we prepare for our big move? In fact I’m calling an all church prayer meeting this Sunday evening, 6:30, at our house. I hope you’ll be able to make it! Not only does God want to perform miracles in our church, but He also wants to perform miracles in your life. I can’t wait to see what God does for you and for us this year. See you Sunday.

I love being your pastor!

Kevin

Btw- here’s the link to Grand Occasions so you can get a sneak peak at the facilities: http://www.gograndoccasions.com/index.html

Vision 2009

This past Sunday we discussed how life without vision, that is, the ability to see God’s preferred future, is death. Life gets so crazy and stressful that we fail to see beyond our present circumstances which often times paralyze us, and distracts us from our primary purpose.
How is life keeping you from pursuing God’s vision for your life today? It could be the economy, a relationship loss, a job loss, or just the stress of the holiday season. Let me encourage you to ask God now to help you to rise above your circumstance to see God’s future reality for you!

We also shared the vision that we sense God has for our church in 2009. If you were not able to hear it you can do so now by listening to our podcast by clicking here. We’ll see you this Sunday!

It's December Already!

They say as you get older time goes by faster. I’m turning 36 one week from today so this reality is becoming more and truer for me. It seems that just not so long ago I turned 35 and 2008 seemed so far in the future. Now I’m closer to 40 than I am 30, WOW!

As I’m reflecting on how fast time goes by, this passage from the Bible comes to mind: "So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do." Ephesians 5:15-17

As I prepare to celebrate my 36th birthday I am challenged by this verse to make every moment of my life count for eternity. Particularly, because it feels like life is flying by so fast! This verse challenges me to ask myself these questions: Do I really need to play the Wii for 2 hours, or will a half hour be enough? Do I really need to be on Facebook for 1 hour, or will 20 minutes be enough? Do I really need to surf the internet aimlessly for 3 hours or will 1 hour each day be enough??

I’d like to challenge you to evaluate the “time wasters” in your life. What are some areas you can clear up in your life to make room for “what The Lord wants you to do.” The mission we accomplish for His Kingdom will last forever! Take a moment right now, go ahead, right now, and ask God to reveal areas in your life where you can make the most of the moment!

I can’t wait to see you Sunday as we’ll celebrate together what God has done this past year, and look forward to what God has for us in 2009! Have a God-filled week!
I love being your pastor!
Kevin

I'm Hoping!

Life would sure be depressing if it were not for hope. In fact, so many people get depressed because they honestly believe that life will stay at the same level they have always known. Many people believe that their finances, relationships and life will never become anything more than the dysfunction they currently experience. I can relate! There are times in my life where I tend to focus more on the negative situations around me instead of the changeless promise that God has for me. When I focus on the negative I immediately replace my trust in God with trusting myself or some other illegitimate means of trust.

This is the point depression begins to settle in. We were never created to trust in our selves. God created us to trust in Him. So much emotional distress could be avoided if we would simply learn to trust Him when life is spinning out of control. Trusting God is the foundation for true hope, and hope diminishes depression. Romans 15:13 says “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit”. Wow! How would our life be different if we consistently “overflowed with hope”?? I venture to say that we would make major marks for The Kingdom in our communities with this overage of hope.

Crazy Thursday Night

Tonight's our small group night! Thursday nights are pretty crazy with getting the house in order, preparing the lesson, and entertaining the kids seemingly at the same time. As much as it is a challenge preparing to hang out with friends, it is worth it!
The fun, growth and just being with each other outweighs any inconvenience that is experinced. So despite all the things that make buliding true community difficult, I can't wait to see everyone in about an hour!

Are you isolated?

That is probably not a question that you are asked every day, but it really could be one of the most important questions you would ever want to ask yourself. We talked on Sunday how isolation kills community like a poisonous gas, you don’t know its affecting you until it’s too late! It’s one of the most lethal, unsuspecting weapons the Devil uses to kill true, authentic, biblical community.Busyness, offense, and hurt contribute greatly to the isolation that exists in many churches today.
I painted a picture on Sunday of a church that would truly care for, help and serve each other. I am excited because I believe that this is beginning to unfold in our church. This can only continue to happen as we fight off the poisonous gas of isolationism. If we can continue to go against what our culture values most, and go after what God’s idea for our lives, in community, we can be incredibly influencial for God’s Kingdom. Ask God to reveal to you right now if there are any ways you are allowing isolationism in your life, and then ask Him to give you the courage to overcome it!

Sleep??

Last night our 3 year old, Brynn, wanted to come into our bed to sleep. You could classify Brynn as an official "snuggler". She refuses to stay in her spot and must sleep right next to me or Ellen. For some strange reason, I can't sleep with two little feet buried in my stomach all night, while she snores! So while I didn't get much sleep last night, I'm told I should treasure these times while my kids are young, because they grow up fast. So I guess I'll embrace these tired feelings after nights like last night, and attempt to treasure them!

"Fearaith"

If that word confuses you; let me sort out what I was attempting to express. When God asks us to take steps of faith it often times is accompanied by fear. A lot of us think when God asks us to do something that there is some sort of divine cloud that hovers over us that takes away any fear associated with the step we are taking. That has rarely been my experience! Courage is not the absence of fear; it is the ability to act in spite of our fear. A major part of our growing in God is learning to trust Him even when we don’t feel like it and when things are seemingly spinning out of control. Fear is a natural human emotion that all of us experience when we feel there may be a threat to our emotional, financial, or spiritual security. Our faith level rises as we continue the process of stepping forward even though we experience intense feelings of fear and anxiety.

What step is God asking you to take? Is your own fear keeping you from stepping out? Let me challenge you with an inspiring message from the Bible. “So take courage! For I believe God. It will be just as he said.” Acts 27:25 If God has said it, that’s all we need! If He spoke it, He is the One that will bring the promise to reality. I can’t wait to see you Sunday when we’ll celebrate together the God who keeps His promises!

Entering into the blogosphere

I have finally entered the world of blogging! I am so excited because I have a chance to share with everyone who reads this what is going on in mylife. It's a great opportunity for you to take a peek into my feelings, thoughts, and perspectives about life. Be sure to check it out everyday as I will update it almost daily! Be sure to leave your comments, as this is a great opportunity for us to interact about issues all of us face. Looking forward to chatting with you in the blogosphere!

Why Worry?

I was reading this passage in my devotional time this morning and it really spoke to me! I think it probably will speak to you as well. Listen to what Matthew 6 has to say:

31 So don't worry about these things, saying, 'What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?' 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of Godabove all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. 34 So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today.

What an incredible promise! It does not matter what challenges we are facing, your Father knows exactly what you need and is actively working to provide it for you! If we will simply place His priorities and plans at the very center of our lives, he will provide for us in miraculous ways!

My challenge to you today is this: what are you worrying about, and is there anything in your life that you are elevating above God? Trust God! May this passage become a living reality for you right now! I can't wait to see you this weekend as we celebrate together God's incredible provisions.