The Curve Ahead

For some reason, I both HATE and LOVE riding my bikes in mountains. Of course you would think so, for riding up is usually tough, but riding down is a breeze. Both I have mixed blessings of both directions. When descending a mountain, you need to watch carefully for obstructions in the road. Even the smallest size rock or hole can send a speeding bicycle to the road surface or off the road rather quickly. And if you encounter a curve; taking the inside track towards opposing traffic, well just a little left of center can spell doom, when a car decides to use the yellow line as well. In the battle between a bike and a car–cars win, hands down.

Even though I love the speed and the ease of coasting, for some reason, I also relish a challenge of achieving the mountain peak, to enable the coast to begin. Climbing is not my forte. I have never, ever been a good climber. I carry too much extra baggage on my body. My reserve muscle is what I call it. Everyone else knows it as fat. Also, I have chicken legs. My very thin calves, strain to power the pedals around and around, dragging my reserve muscle up the mountain. And then there is the switchback.

Here is my love–hate moments. I am pedaling, all of a swift 5 or 6 mph and see up ahead a curve in the road. Looking for inspiration to keep on riding, I begin to imagine what lies beyond the bend in the road. Behind me has been sweat, tears and struggles, but hope is just around the next curve. I hope for a softer grade; I hope for the sign of a downhill cruise; I dream of seeing Lance Armstrong waiting around the corner to take over my trek. OK, sometimes my imagination gets carried away. But anyway, the curve is an unknown, but it possesses hope.

Most switchbacks disappoint. You make the bend to find, more incline, more hill, more pain and struggle. But you also see–another curve–more hope.

I am not  one to say that my life has always been an uphill struggle. I have enjoyed many times of coasting freely down the slopes. In fact I on occasions have needed to tap breaks, ease the descent. Life is good and life is rewarding. But, honestly, there are times when you look back to see a period of time when the hill has gotten the best of you. You see struggles, frustrations, unfulfilled hopes and it seems rather bleak. But, all it takes, is that one longing glance up front to see the next curve.

As Velocity Church begins to change direction over the next few months, many will see this as a struggle which failed. But, too many lives have been touched by God’s grace for that to really be the case. The next few months will be an exciting time for the church. A new leadership team is being formed; a new staff is being gathered; all with tons of experience and know how of re-directing Velocity to a successful plant. The foundation is laid, now someone must come along and build up that solid foundation.

As for me, well, Velocity Volume will come to an end. The curve up ahead will take me and my ministry a different direction. I hope to continue to blog, to share my thoughts about God, His work, my place in that work, and my thoughts on His word and His will. He means too much for me, to stop expressing all that He provides, in both the challenges and with the wind in my face on those downhill runs.

The name of the blog will change; I will seek a new place to park it. In the future a new lead pastor will pick up the cause or vision and us this platform to encourage and lift those who serve and are concerned about Velocity Church.

I am grateful for the opportunity to share in the task of a transition of creating a new church out of an old church. Many, many people worked hard, prayed a lot and served faithfully over the last several years. And many of those same are on board for the next ride of Velocity’s future.

Please pray for my next steps. The curve up ahead could bring the next exciting downhill of my life or it could only mark more time to wait till God directs. In either case, I seek His will, not mine, so I am content with what comes. This doesn’t mean I am not out there knocking on doors of opportunity, which I am. God opens doors, but sometimes we must do some knocking!!

Velocity meets at the Taylor Farm Park this Sunday and next Sunday. We also have a special informational meeting on July 19th at 7:00 pm at the office for a question and answer period with the new leadership. You are invited to this meeting. Till then, I am still climbing and seeking what God has behind this curve that I see just ahead.

PWS

Having our Cake and Eating it Too

This Sunday, Velocity Church will be at the Taylor Farm Park on Pine Valley Rd. We meet at the large pavilion and begin around 10:00 AM. I hear we will have coffee this week, which will be brewed on the spot. We will bring cold drinks as well, since I am sure the Georgia heat is back with us on Sunday. And as a special treat, we will have an anniversary cake as well. It, according to my bride, will be a token cake, that is I am not to expect a piece the size of what I usually have when I eat cake. I like the corner pieces,with loads of icing. In fact, the cake is just a delivery means to get the icing to me. But, we will have plenty of cake and everyone can enjoy the celebration time after worship.

Of course, we don’t want to belittle that fact that we are at the park to celebrate Jesus as well. Every Sunday we celebrate the anniversary of His great sacrifice at Calvary, where He gave His life that we might know eternal life with Him. Hope to see another good number of people this week. Remember, to bring a guest adn bring a lawn chair if you wish. Picnic tables are available and I promise not to preach too long.

Here is a funny I ran across when I was ordering the cake for this weekend.

Some people that work here had a going away party the other day for a woman that is leaving.

One of the supervisors called a Walmart and ordered the cake. he told them to write: “best wishes Suzanne” and underneath that write “we will miss you”. here’s the cake that was delivered:

Sunday Success

Wow, what a Sunday we had at Velocity Church. Everyone, including myself, was worried about the heat as we planned our worship service to occur at the local park, Taylor Farm. But, God had us in mind. A nice gentle rain and cooler temps were ours this first Sunday in July. Next week–stay tuned as they say. But I am trusting God to make it a great day.

We had a good day in other ways too. The singing was nice and worshipful. Without having all the electronics to depend upon, it was nice for us to connect with our voices praising God to the accompaniment of an acoustic guitar. And for some reason, being able to preach to the crowd under the pavilion, I was energized by the closeness and responsiveness of everyone. Someone said, “Great sermon preacher, maybe you should preach in shorts every week.” Don’t know about that one, but thanks.

Our fellowship cookout was good, with many bringing covered dishes that actually had food in them, and thanks to our cook at the grill. He promised that he could cook and listen to my message all at the same time. Well the burgers and dogs were not burnt, so he must have done both quite well.

We are back at the park again next week. Invite someone to join you, bring you lawn chair and remember–we are going to have our cake and eat it too.

Simple Again

This Sunday Velocity Church will move our worship to a local park, Taylor Farm Park on Pine Valley. It is only about 1 mile from the school we rent each week. This move will help us reach out and interact with our community. We are giving up air conditioning, quality sound and video production, microphones, folding chairs, curtains and everything which we have equated with a worship service. I am excited to be shedding some trappings which have for many years now, dominated how we view worship. Sometimes these “aids” to worship can hinder or block our worship. Who has experienced frustration making sure the video countdown is rolling and are all mikes sound checked and the light program–is it working today? For the worshipper, who is not “running” the production, we seem to leave the impression that the “show” is spot check on and that equates a good worship service for the week. Have we strayed away from the heart of worship.

I believe there are four essential elements which make up any corporate worship gathering, outside of the condition that two or three have gathered and God is present. In Acts 2:42 we see a model for our worship to include teaching or preaching, serving of the Lord’s Supper, prayer, and fellowship. Now, singing, which is thought to be the apex of worship, is not on the list. Singing can comprise all four elements. Singing is our expression of worship in doctrine, communion, prayer and fellowship. Singing doew not stand alone, but rather can embrace all of worship. But when singing, like preaching becomes entertainment for others to watch and even enjoy, we have drifted away from worship of God and begun to worship a performance. Now, before you cast any hate my way, let me say, I do appreciate quality and excellence in worship. Half prepared, non rehearsed worship by any team or leader only makes a mockery for those whom you are trying to lead in worship. But guard carefully the fine line between leading and being the show.

We are headed to the park and we are stripping away everything for our worship this week. No electricity–no amplification (the homes close to the park might appreciate this for at least this week–more later on when we turn up the volume) or screen with words. No lighting controls, unless God decides on a cloud cover that morning. We rather will be emphasizing the four key elements of worship. We will hear the word speak; we will listen and speak with God in prayer; we will commune with Him and His death on the cross for us; and we will fellowship with one another and with those who might be drawn to join us in the park.

Our theme for the month is “Jesus by the Lake” as we examine those moments when Jesus taught us while on or near the Sea of Galilee. Our lake is really a pond and it will provide the backdrop for our return to the heart of worship. Invite a friend or neighbor to come join us. Bring a lawn chair or share a picnic bench under the shelter as we meet with Jesus at the Lake.

Tired but very excited…

Velocity Church hosted a benefit concert yesterday in behalf of Fullerville Mission. We collected a good amount of clothing, canned and dry goods and cash donations for the Mission. My day began early in the morning and I spent most of it in the sun, with some breaks in the shade. God provided us with a cool breeze which helped us all tolerate the cloudless sky and warm Georgia temps. Our set up began with unloading our equipment truck to get at the stage and chairs, which is always first loaded. But after a while a group of about 25 of us were working hard to get everything set up for our noon start.

We began with a worship, which included what we called, Cluster Communion. Four areas were prepared for circle groups of 25 or so people or more to share in a time of communion. We read scripture, prayed and remembered what God did for us at Calvary. After the Clusters were finished, our own worship band, A Ransom Plea, led us in more worship songs. We took short break to serve the hot dogs and hamburgers and soon were back to hear more worship bands perform. Except for a small technical problem of one band locking their keys in car, which delayed things a bit, the afternoon was a great success.

Our tired volunteers once again stepped up and we cleaned up, packed up and left the premises sparkling clean. Our deadline was 4 PM and I drove the truck off the property at 3:55. After unloading stuff at the office, I was headed home for long recovery nap.

I am certain that the names of interested guests we collected will enable us to see returns to our regular worship time. I am certain that God will richly bless those who served faithfully in all aspects of Sunday’s Benefit Concert. I am proud of our team, our staff and the bands who gave of their time to share that day.

So, we look forward to reaping the blessings which God will give for us honoring Him, His Son and His Spirit in concert and service. We can’t outgive God–so I thank Him for what He has planned for Velocity Church.

Paul

Advertising our Faith

At Velocity Church, we use several forms of advertising our church. We have directional signs, and I must say, find them very successful. We track the responses and this one form of paid advertising is very effective. The billboard pictured above has not generated a particular guest to remark they came because of this sign. But we know that from the traffic which passes by this one and another very similar sign facing the other direction, people are beginning to have a name association with our church. And certainly the best advertising occurs when someone in the church invites a friend, relative or neighbor. This is the best for sure.

But how do we advertise our faith? Not our church; not our services; not our programs, but how do we advertise our faith. I believe that there are 3 areas of importance in life, especially for the Christian. We must connect to God in worship. This time in worship not only gives to God what He desires, but enables us to recieve from Him what He wants to give us in return. Secondly, we need to connect with each other. Fellowship is the glue to allow the Holy Spirit to encompass us with His presence. We have Him living inside of us, but follow Him as He dwells among us. Fellowship in groups of learning, groups of service and group of prayer all help us to grow. And finally we have a connection in service–to our Lord, but also to each other and our community around us. This “hands on” work is what allows us to be seen in our community as a caring group of people. This message then under girds the “paid” message of the signs, the ads, the billboards etc. And when we take the next step outlined below, we are entering the dangerous zone of Christ like living.

When was the last time you shared your faith? When was the last time you told someone about your conversion in Christ? I don’t mean, getting up on that soap box in the town square, but across a kitchen table, just shared with a friend, your love for Jesus and all that He means to you. This is more than wearing the T-shirt; this is more than giving away a tract; this is from your heart to one another’s heart–the faith which lives within you.

We fear failures; questions which we can not answer; rejection of our listener to our story. And because we do not want to fail–we fail to serve. Thomas Edison tried nearly 1,000 ideas and experiments to invent the light bulb. I am glad he did not let failure stop him. If we fail to convert someone–keep in mind, that’s not our job to convert. That’s God’s job. We are the spokesperson to share the story, to scatter the seed. God will bring about the growth. Begin today to pray for God to lead you to an opening to share your faith. More important than church name recogition is the salvation in Jesus for those who are lost.

Service Project Promo

Velocity Church in Hiram GA

Trail Work

Coming up later this month we are working to build and repair some trail sections in a park near our church offices and school where we meet. To help us keep the interest high, we created another video announcement. It was actually shot this morning, but will not be ready till later today or tomorrow. When its ready, we will put it on our Youtube site and possibly this blog. Thanks go out to Brandon Downs, our worship band’s drummer. And also thanks to Chase Gentes, our Worship Pastor and media expert.

Behind the Scenes

Q + A

Our next message series was introduced this past week with the following video announcement. Chase Gentes, our Worship Pastor and media expert produced and spoke for this inaugural presentation.

Collecting Questions

We are soon to hit one of those “tweener” times. You know–the message series is finished and you have two weeks to fill before kicking off the next big series. Our current series, “Living the Life You Were Meant to Live” will finish up in a couple of weeks. We have a series beginning on April 12th that will blow us out of the water, or I will be soon un-employed. It is very edgy, but relevant. That’s all the hint I can give for now.

Anyway, we will have 3 Sundays to fill between the finish of current series and our brand new series. We have decided to fill the gap with a short series called: ? I am not looking for a title–that’s the title– ? We are collecting questions from the un-churched or recently churched in our community or from within those attending Velocity Church. We ar seeking  honest questions about God, about faith, about Jesus, about social and moral issues affecting us today.

So please email the questions to me at Velocity Church. Ask your friends, family and work companions for their questions as well.

We are going to have an awesome worship experience at Velocity this Sunday. Invite someone to join you. If you invite–they will come. Statistics tell us that nearly 95% of those asked will likely respond and visit. If ASKED–so who are you asking for this Sunday?