Good & Perfect isn't on sale

Think eternal and internal with gift giving and receiving.  

Does your son have an unhealthy dependence on a video game?   

     Is the newest version of that game really what's best for him?

Is your daughter obsessed with her outward appearance?  

      Is a 1000 shade make up kit what's best for her?  

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights..." (James 1:17).

This means that every good and perfect gift is eternally and internally good for us.

I love Mary's response to the unexpected gift of an unexpected pregnancy.

And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. (Luke 1:46-49 ESV)

She found the blessing in a gift from God that invited this teenage girl to give up any dreams she had of a fairy tale engagement with the man of her dreams. Joseph.   Gone was the esteem of her community, the honor of "doing things right" or the glorious wedding ceremony of her childhood dreams.

Mourning that loss and struggling with fear, she found true joy.  The true joy in receiving God's gift, that good & perfect gift, which was better than any gift of her dreams.   Unexpectedly pregnant, Mary chose to rejoice and then saw the goodness and perfection in the gift that ruined her dreams and gave her new, good and perfect dreams. 

As a parent I've leaned: 

1. My kids are way more mature and spiritually minded than I often remember.    They are deep thinkers with an honest and individual relationship with God. (Independent of me). God is working in them just like He is working in me.

2. My kids desire to do right and be righteous more than they desire the latest gadget or piece of clothing.  

3.  They struggle (just like I do) with forgetting #2 sometimes. 

So my honest desire for gift giving requires that I remember this:  

Because #1 is true, a good and perfect gift will help them overcome the struggle of #3 and inspire #2.  

Gift ideas: 

1. Time together. Teach them something even if you're not good at it. (Teach them how to be bad at something and be ok with it). 

2. Make them something and pray for them while you make it.  You'll find that God will give you a story to tell as you give the gift.  (Even if it's terrible craftsmanship). 

3. Give them your bible.  Preferrably one you have used, marked up and is stained by your smudges and tears.

4. Give them an heirloom.  If you don't have one handed down to you, start one. Go to a thrift shop, buy an old pie plate, bake their favorite pie, give them the pie with an honest request to start a tradition with the pie plate. Boom! Heirloom started.

5. Serve someone else together.  Find a need that resonates with them and coordinate a way for you to serve together.   Show them to value service, community, selflessness.  Imagine the impact you could have together?!?  Talk about a wonderful gift!  This is my favorite idea.  

Don't spend what you don't have to buy what they don't want.   They really want way more than something you can buy in a store.  

God Bless you this Holiday Season with peace, joy and the most good and most perfect gift of Jesus Christ. Because of Him, we get God, Heaven, the Earth all good and perfect gifts. 

 

Houseless, Busless and Vanless in Corvallis

A wonderful benefit of being a church in the heart of the city, engaged in the culture and committed to serving the entirety of who God has gathered, is that we have many people that are part of our church family who "live outdoors".  Many don't like the title of "homeless" as they do feel like they have a home. Some say that home is their tent, some say home is their city and for a few in our church, they call our church gathering on Sundays their "home".

I respect that and am changing my "label" from "homeless" to just using their names.  

Chris, Steve, John, Shawn, Renee, Diana, Peter, Mike, Shaun, Byron, Denacio...

These are men and women made in the image of God.  They will be the first to admit that they have some issues that drive them to not living in traditional houses, keeping traditional jobs or even having traditional relationships.  But they are God's precious creation and He is pursuing them and calling them to live in the fullness of Christ.    

In changing that mentality, God has done what seemed impossible for me to figure out on my own a year ago.

Here is an example of what God did when we changed our mindset from seeing them as "homeless" to seeing them as "brothers and sisters".  

• We set out to do a wonderful thing with our "homeless bible study" on Mondays. (and I'm sure God brought us along this process so we could truly learn and grow)
• After this shift in thinking we decided to relaunch it as a "Men's bible study" and we openly invited all men to join.  
• When it was a homeless study,  0-4 men showed up to tell one person their problems and talk about the bible.  
• Now that it is merely a "Men's study", we have men (who are "houseless") in fellowship with working, retired and student men. 
• THIS IS WHERE TRUE CHURCH COMMUNITY HAPPENS and everybody grows!  

As we shake off the labels, look people in the eyes, get over the strange odors and embrace the beauty of God's image bearing creation, we are able to truly see God.  Truly experience the Acts 2 and 4 church that we all long for.

Here is the dilemma we face.  

The City of Corvallis makes an effort to ensure that those sleeping outdoors, don't sleep within city limits.  Monday - Saturday, Corvallis has free buses which allows people to get downtown and where they need to be.   BUT, the buses don't run on Sundays.  This means that some of those who live outdoors have to walk 2-7 miles to get to church on Sunday.  

This is Steve.  (he's here with me at Starbucks as I type this and I have his permission to use his photo).   

Steve makes flutes out of scrap PVC pipe he finds in dumpsters and sells them for $5 to $10.  He lives in the northwest part of Corvallis.  During the week, he walks about a quarter mile and hops on a bus to head downtown to use the free wifi at coffee shops for his online schooling and to stay connected to his doctors, but primarily he heads downtown to engage in life with his community and church family.  Last week he helped us move in to our new offices.  

We love his sweet spirit and his respectful attitude.  The Brenners have had him in to their home to share a meal and he is a vital part of Corvallis Church.  He has expressed that he wants to go through our Growth Track to discover what gifts God has given him and how he can serve in and among his church family.

 Since city buses don't run on Sundays he walks about 5 miles to be at church for the 9am service.  Sometimes he's at the 2nd service and most of the time he sticks around to help with clean up.

This is Renae.  She is engaged to Chris. (not pictured).  

Renae is a sweet spirit and hopelessly in love with Chris.  Chris has suffered from a gun shot wound to the head when he was 17 which causes some social anxiety and cognitive impairments that has resulted in fear and anger issues in the past.  He is a gracious man, struggling with the same issues most men do.  Pride, faith, concern about his future, providing for his fiance, the desire to have children... but he's also very self aware that he has some social barriers to overcome.  He is working hard and attending his counseling meetings multiple times per week and the presence of Renae in his life has been a calming and focusing blessing from God.    

Click Here to Learn more about Chris & Renae in this article published by the local newspaper recently.

Chris & Renae recently were given a small camper trailer.  We have been praying for months that God would provide a place for them to park the trailer.  Corvallis restricts any camper living within city limits so again, it takes them out of the city limits to find anything.  They found a place in a neighboring small community called Lewisburg.   During the week, they can hop on the bus and head downtown to engage in their community and set up their busking/poetry spot and make their living.  

The issue:  The buses don't run on Sundays so they are stuck walking 5 miles to church.  Next Sunday, Renae will be trying out joining our worship team, playing her flute and blessing her church family with her gifts.  (She recently wrote me a poem on "Marriage" that after two lines, had me in tears.  Then she took it back and said "I'm not done with it yet".  I will post it when it's complete to her satisfaction.)

There is also a gentleman named John who was blessed to find an affordable apartment in a neighboring town called Philomath.    Philomath is about 6 miles outside of downtown Corvallis.  Do you see the trending need?  

We are praying a few things:  

1.  We are praising God and thanking Him for growing us in to the fullness of Christ through relationships with people different than us.  Thanking God for our outdoor living church family. 

 2.  That God would raise up or bring us someone willing to serve as a driver to take on the ministry of driving a 15 mile loop on Sunday mornings to bring people to church and then returning them home afterwards.  

3.  A van to use for picking them up (and hopefully their friends) so we can fellowship together on Sunday mornings.

Will you join us in prayer?  

Social Media in Ministry - Speaking @ Northwest Christian University

Heather and I were asked to address three topics at NCU this fall.  

1.  Marriage & Ministry

2.  Family & Ministry

3.  Social Media & Ministry

Topic 3 is today's post:  Social Media in Ministry: 

Rule #1: Anything you do MUST SUPPORT THE MISSION!

Rule #2:  Start with Why:  You must know why you’re doing social

·       Raise awareness (church planting)

·       Promote dialogue

·       Foster community

·       Deepen engagement level

Rule #3:  Commit to doing it well / Bad marketing is worse than no marketing

Facebook:

·       Page:  Everything we do on our Facebook PAGE is intended to invite people in

·       Billboard advertisement for outsiders

·       Restrict Admins / Control the message

·       First impressions = quality images / spell checked posts

·       ALL Church Group:  Foster Community - This is where we engage with each other.

(Living Room)

o   Closed Group: (Request invite) Members only

§  Gives you a chance to acknowledge their commitment

·       Once they complete the membership class and sign, we add them to the group. 

§  Creates a common ground for a safer environment

o   Lose concern with messaging

o   Allow for dissenting opinions

§  Still needs PASTORING! 

·       You’re even a Pastor on Facebook! 

·       Guiding / correcting / directing

·       Small Group / Groups: Communicate/coordinate and sharing ideas

o   Secret Groups (Invite only): 

§  Young Adults

§  Youth

§  Affinity (Dodgeball/Soccer)

§  Bible Study

§  Leadership

·       Places/Check-In

o   Make sure you have your address and location for check in

o   Encourage people to check in

·       Advertising / Promoting / Boosting on Facebook

o   Advertising is not evil:

§  If you believe in what you are doing, then you believe it can help people. 

·       Getting the word out so you can help people is worth the $. 

o   Taps in to the #1 most effective form of marketing ever known to mankind

§  Word of Mouth / Personal Reference

·       Terry Likes Corvallis Church

o   I like Terry

§  I like Corvallis Church

o   Targeting specific regions

§  It’s a waste of $ and poor etiquette to advertise a local ministry outside of your local area.

·       Specify your community you are serving

·       Pastoring Tool:

o   You can build a great prayer list for your people by watching the postings of your people on FB.

o   Also, when you see someone and ask them how "their cat’s surgery" went, they instantly feel cared for.

§  Some people have an expectation that their Pastor should know stuff that the don’t tell them. 

·       This allows you love them where they are at by entering in to their world.

o   Many people use facebook in a way that is unhealthy. 

§  Crying for help

§  Passive aggressive comments

§  Rants  

o   If you are their shepherd, engage in conversations about healthy facebook use. 

§  The rules are the same as any you would have about public behavior

·       Appropriate levels of transparency

·       Appropriate tone, volume and quantity

TWITTER – Different Target – People use twitter for different reasons

·       Twitter is for narcissists, Facebook is for creepers. 

o   We are all a bit of both

·       Our goal with twitter is to inspire people to dig deeper

o   Engage people

o   Inspire deeper thought

·       Shaping perception/image control: 

o   Branding

o   Halo affect of marketing

·       Preaching:  Encouraging people to tweet a line or two from your sermon can draw friends in.

o   Also, can help friends spark their personal witnessing conversations.

Does Leveraging Social Media help make disciples? 

§  Yes, it helps us engage people, invite people and gives us opportunity connect face to face to introduce them to Jesus.

Open Letter re: SPC Patterson & Westboro Baptist Church

The small family that makes up most of the Westboro Baptist Church are wrong!

Wrong in their doctrine:

The message of the Westboro church is unrecognizable as taken from the Bible, the teachings of Jesus or the teachings of any denominational doctrine outside of the WBC.

• John 3:16–17 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."

• 1 Tim. 2:3–6 "God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men..."

• 2 Peter 3:9"He [God] is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."

Regardless of denominational nuances, Christian Churches ALL agree that LOVE is our calling and that we are called to be a peaceful blessing in the world.

Wrong in their approach:

Regarding how they express their opinion, their approach is even anti-Jesus.   Jesus instructs His followers to “love our neighbors” and even to “love our enemies.”  As I read this I am struck that I am especially to love my neighbor when he IS my enemy!

In John 13:24-25 Jesus declares that it is our LOVE of each other that proves we are his disciples and that where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty/peace/freedom. 2 Cor3:17  The evidence of the Spirit of God is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self control.  Gal 5:22-23.    I see no reflection of the spirit of God in what WBC states or how WBC represents themselves. 

I could go on and on and on with how wrong they are.  There are so many things that make WBC anti-gospel, anti-bible and anti-God that it’s almost silly to argue so I will stop with this.

Jesus did not come to condemn the world (John 3:17), nor did He command His followers to condemn the world.

To WBC:  As a proud Veteran of the US Army, I fought for and I acknowledge your right to express even the most illogical and hateful of opinions.  However, the larger betrayal to me is in my role as a Pastor and teacher of the Bible.  For how you claim to represent God, I am outraged.  Your perversion and ignorance of the God of the Bible raises such anger inside of me, in my flesh I want to seek vengeance. (Or, if I’m being grown up, I’ll call it justice.)

But because I am submitted to Jesus more than I am my own flesh, I am reminded of these very points about my purpose of peace and calling to love.  The irony is that I now find WBC is my enemy, and for this weekend, my neighbor.  With that, I am commanded to love you.  My flesh doesn't want to, but in my spirit I submit to God and I know that Jesus’ presence in my life will empower me to be peaceful and through the power of the Holy Spirit, I will love you and hope the best for you, which I believe requires repentance and a heart turned over to the love of Jesus Christ.

To those who don’t have a history with Christianity and the Church: I want to just say that I am sorry.  The pride and ignorance of men have twisted sacred things ever since the creation of the earth and I hope that you can see that the WBC does not represent the God of the Bible or your local church.

Most importantly, to the Family of SPC Cody Patterson:  I didn’t know Cody, but as evidence that he was part of the 3/75^th Rangers, he must have been a spectacular soldier.  And from the people I know who knew him as “Mr. Philomath High School 2007”, he was well loved and respected in our community.  I am sorry for your loss, I hope that as I join in community to show support for you and your family that you are encouraged and inspired by the love of your community.  You are not alone and I pray the peace of God for your family.

Psalm 122:6-9

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:

“May those who love you be secure.

May there be peace within your walls

and security within your citadels.”

For the sake of my family and friends,

I will say, “Peace be within you.”

For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,

I will seek your prosperity

Pastor Mike Miller