Crazy Love Chapter 5

Update on John's test results

First of all, please let me thank everyone for your kind thoughts and prayers. I also wanted to give a quick update on my situation just to let everybody know how things went this morning. The doctor confirmed he received results for all but one of the tests done last Friday.  All tests so far indicate the adrenal gland tumors do not appear to be producing hormones but are INCONCLUSIVE on if the tumors are benign or malignant. The one remaining test not back yet is only hormone related, so it will not provide the answers we are looking for either. The next step is to submit to a special CATSCAN of the adrenal glands for which the doctor wants to wait till around the third week of October.  The delay is to space out radiation exposure (I had a multiple exposures from my initial hospital visit) and to see if any rapid tumor growth can be detected. I was also told that these tumors have to be monitored for at least 4+ years as well even if they are eventually found benign at this time. So I am not completely out of the woods even with a good CATSCAN but I’ll take any win I can get at this point. So, this has turned back into a waiting and patience game for me and I plan to take one day a time and try not worry about something that I have very little control over. Take care all and I hope you have a good week. 

God Bless. John

Untitled: Writing Your Family Story

I'm loving this message series at - one of the best since we've been at Cornerstone over the past 5 years. If you've missed any of them, I would highly encourage you to watch the videos. Week 3& 4 were particularly good:

Untitled: Writing your family story - Week 3

Untitled: Writing Your Family Story - Week 3 from Cornerstone Chandler on Vimeo.

Untitled: Writing your family story - Week 4

Untitled: Writing Your Family Story - Week 4 from Cornerstone Chandler on Vimeo.

Crazy Love Week Two - Travis' reflections

Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes

James 4:13-14

Life is short. Yet we don't live like it is. We act like it's all about us - that everything revolves around us. We go to funerals and we say things like - "he/she had a good life". But do we really mean that? Can we really say that person lived their life fully for the Kingdom? We make life all about our goals and accomplishments. We spend our time making a name for ourselves and gathering attention to us. I like how the book describes how we make mini-kingdoms for ourselves. But do we think about how we can vanish from this world at any time? Years after your life is over, no one will probably care.

You know, I used to have a huge struggle with what people think about me. It's still a struggle here and there, but God has really worked in this area of my life. I would please people, defend myself, brag about my accomplishments - anything to make myself look good to people. It makes me sick that this was how I spent most of ministry life. I'm not saying I didn't do anything for God, but a lot of it was for my glory as well. God and I were this tag team. I no longer desire a life like this - I want to live a life worthy of God's glory. I want an epic life that reflects God's character and how amazing He is.

Last year I took a long look at my retirement savings and decided that I wasn't putting enough into it to live off of when I retire. So I restructured it and I'm now dumping tons of money into it. I will say that I will be pretty well off if I make it to my 60's or when I retire. So now I laugh at that statement - If I make it to my 60's. That's just it - there's no guarantee that I will make it to my 60's. I could die today. And can I say that I lived my life fully for the Kingdom? These are the questions I want to continue to ask myself as I move forward in life.

This part of the book really convicted me. It made me look at how busy I can make my life.

WORRY implies that we don't quite trust that God is big enough, powerful enough, or loving enough to take of what's happening in our lives. 
STRESS says that the things we are involved in are important enough to merit our impatience, our lack of grace toward others, or our tight grip of control.

Basically, these two behaviors communicate that it's okay to sin and not trust God because the stuff in my life is somehow exceptional. Both worry and stress reek of arrogance. They declare our tendency to forget that we've been forgiven, that our lives here are brief, that we are headed to a place where we won't be lonely, afraid, or hurt ever again, and that in the context of God's strength, our problems are small, indeed.

Why are we so quick to forget God? Who do we think we are?

Crazy Love Week One - Travis' reflections

Hey guys.. because I won't be able to meet with you guys on a regular basis, I thought I would post my own reflections on Crazy Love on this blog each week. I'm really enjoying the study this time around and I look forward to seeing you guys soon - Travis

Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.

Ecclesiastes 5:1-2

I love this verse from the book. Do we all have this approach when we are in prayer with our heavenly Father? Do we have this awe factor of God when we have alone time with Him. I know I don’t. My time with God is good. I feel I talk to Him throughout my day. But my alone time with Him isn’t always spent wisely. I get distracted easily and I make worldly things more important than Him.

In this study I was asked to answer this question – what would be my first words out of my mouth when I first come into the presence of God? I immediately teared up and I thought “why me?”. Why does God continue to pursue a broken-down person like me? When I think of how He sent His son to die for us and that He loves me unconditionally despite my rebellion, it blows me away. And the thing is, God uses me over and over again – even after I fail. Everyday I am used as His witness and for that I am grateful.

Revelations 4 gives this amazing picture of John coming into the presence of God. Some of it sounds amazing and some of it sounds weird. But when it comes down to it, can words really describe what it is like to come into the presence of God? I love the picture of constant eternal worship of our Heavenly Father. It sounds amazing! How I long to even worship my Lord and Savior for an hour a day.

I need to slow my days down. I need to make time for God and gaze at how awesome He is. I need to allow my time with Him to flow through my everyday life schedule. I want my thoughts and approach to life to always reflect Christ and how He first loved me.

I love this video - how cool would it be to stop and pause our busy days and praise our Lord and Savior this way??

Prayer Requests

Since we won't be meeting this week, I'd like to provide a place for prayer requests. You can add your prayer requests for the week by adding your comments to this blog post.

Men are not bull elephants

From Joe White - Men at the Cross Ministry:

At a recent conference, something happened that I want to share. Watching hundreds of men come to the Cross in humility and sincerity is always thrilling. But for me, the greatest moment was an encounter with an old Vietnam War vet at the very end of the conference. I was out on the floor visiting and saying goodbye until everyone was gone. This bald-headed man walked up quietly, humbly and said, "Will you give me a hug? When I came home from Vietnam, I asked my dad to give me a hug and he refused. I've been waiting for that hug for a long time." Needless to say, I hugged that man like I was his dad and he had just won an Olympic gold medal. If the 300 plus pound players in the NFL I speak to crave them, why should a dad be surprised when his grown son longs for the gift of affirmation?

In stark contrast, soon after this unforgetable moment,I was watching, of all things, an elephant documentary on the Discovery Channel! Watching bull elephants rebuff each other, show their pride and domination and stake out their territory is understandable. But as men, as fathers and sons, as Pauls and Timothys, as men of faith, giving each other the gift of honor, affirmation, and the "I believe in you" blessing is one of the greatest gifts we can give. You know what separates us from bull elephants? We were made in the image of God. We get our "hugs" from God in countless ways.

I believe God gives His best "hugs" when we give them away. "Atta boys" and "I'm proud of you's" and "I believe in you's" are spoken hugs that "give the blessing" and receive it two-fold. If you and I want to be known for anything, we want to be known for this, especially in our homes.

God's "hugs" come from our obedience to His Word and the grace of His Spirit that "guides us into Truth." God's little rewards of affirmation are a whole lot more vital to a man's well-being than we probably recognize. Ephesians says he gives to us "exceedingly abundantly." I'm grateful for that. Man, I'm grateful for that!

Then we get God's hugs just from meditating on His Word. Like a "cow chewing his cud" after a great meal of alfalfa, going to bed with a Psalm like 23, 32, 34, 84, 91, 145, (or a host of others) on our mind is as soothing to a weary soul as anything this side of heaven.

To my friend on the Emerald Coast...thank you for a great reminder. You gave me a whole lot more than I gave you.

'Til we see each other again,

 Joe White, President
Men at the Cross

Loiue Giglio Video

In case you missed it, here's the video that we watched for week 1 of our Crazy Love small group study.

I've updated the small group calendar to list our men's & women's group meetings. Once we get started. I'll add info about the chapters that we will study each week. Click on the Calendar tab for more info.

Video Introduction for Francis Chan's "Crazy Love"

Hey guys! Sorry we missed everyone at the big party! Sounds like it was good fun! We were out of town at a family member's cabin :). So, our babysitter that we have been using for almost the last year moved to California this last week and now we are looking for more options for a babysitter. Preferably someone that lives somewhat close to us (Recker/Warner). If you have any recommendations, let me know!

Thanks guys!
Whitney

Hey guys.. miss you all. I had a great time in Guatemala. I can't wait to share stories! Keep praying for my situation.. my next court date is June 13. Pray for Christin as well. She continues to say 'not very nice things' about me to people around church and other places. Pray for me to not be frustrated with it and to be forgiving of her. I'm doing well and I'm ready to enjoy the summer off with my kids. See you all soon!!   God Bless, Travis

Map to Ray & Dee's house:

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New Prayer Request from Lily:


Please pray for Frances Shillito.  She is the mom of one of my friends and apparently cancer is returning after a repreive .

Prayer Requests for 5.20.12

• Sarah: Brother. Going through tough issues in his life. 
• Kory: Phone interview Monday
• Praise: Lily got the promotion officially

Thanks Kory!

Small group resources... Dr. B  - Gilbert B.   He taught at Willow Creek and had a lot of influence on Bill Hybels.  We also had him come to our singles ministry retreat years ago and he was the key speaker.

Johnny Eldridge - great books and Francis Chan is very inspiring and challenging.

View the PowerPoint file for the DISC profile "Uniquely You"

I put together a list of household contractors that we've used & that I would recommend. Feel free to add your own additions.

Small Group Resources:

Community 101 by Gilbert Bilezekian
Connecting by Larry Crabb
The Safest Place on Earth by Larry Crabb
Courageous Leadership by Bill Hybels
Leadership by the Book by Blanchard, Hybels, Hodges
How People Grow by Henry Cloud, John Townsend
Leading Life Changing Small Groups by Bill Donahue
Letters from a Skeptic by Greg Boyd
The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John Maxwell
The Connecting Church by Randy Frazee
Transforming Leadership by Leighton Ford

Possible books for Small Group curriculum:
Everybody’s Normal Till You get to Know Them by John Ortberg
The Life You Always Wanted  by John Ortberg
Love Beyond Reason by John Ortberg
If you Want to Walk on Water You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat by John Ortberg
God is Closer than you Think  by John Ortberg
Making Life Work by Bill Hybels
Honest to God b y Bill Hybels
In the Grip of Grace by Max Lucado
Next Door Savior by Max Lucado
Just Like Jesus by Max Lucado
Knowing God by J. D. Packer
The Bible Jesus Read by Phillip Yancy
The Jesus I Never Knew by Phillip Yancy
What’s So Amazing about Grace? by Philip Yancey
Disappointment with God by Phillip Yancy
The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee
The Pressure’s Off  by Larry Crabb
The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren
Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back by Charles Swindoll
Waking the Dead by John Eldredge
Wild At Heart by John Eldredge
Crazy Love Francis Chang
The Truth Project  (requires certification)
True Faced (I think it’s being replaced by “The Cure’)