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February 15th, 2010 | 3 Comments
As many of you heard yesterday, on Sunday, February 28th, we will be launching North Point Online during the 11 AM EST service. We are very excited about this new time as we believe that it will give even more people the opportunity to join us to experience North Point!
We will be rebroadcasting the same service at 6 PM EST at North Point Online as well, so you can continue to join us if that is the best time for you.
The main reason we are doing this is because we believe the 11 AM service gives more people the opportunity to engage in the service. It also gives you, our viewers a better time slot to invite your friends and family to join us online for the service! So, we would love for you to tell everyone you know that they can join us at either 11 AM or 6 PM at www.northpointonline.tv beginning February 28th!
Thanks for making North Point Online such a great success and please feel free to email us with any questions at nponline@northpoint.org!
January 25th, 2010 | 2 Comments
In light of Andy’s message last night, we would love to have you share with the NPOnline community what you feel like God is calling you to act on today. In my Series Group last night we answered the question, “What would you like to see God do in your life and what is your responsibility in making it happen?”
Here was my answer: “I pray for God to help my family grow closer to Him. I want my wife, son and daughter to walk in the light of His love. So my commitment is to practically model this for them by being up early every morning in the word and in prayer.”
Every morning I tell my wife and son (Our daughter is on the way) that I prayed for them. The other day, my 4 year old son son said, “Daddy, I prayed for you and mommy this morning too!”
That is what I want to pass on and that is what I want to model in our home! I believe that when I model this, God is able to use it in a real way to accomplish the impact in my home that He and I both want.
What do you want God to do for you? What is your responsibility in accomplishing it? Please take a minute to post whatever it is and we will pray with you as you and God work together to see it come to pass!!!!
I am learning a good but sometimes difficult principle: If I want to be everything God wants me to be, then I have to ask those I trust and am closest to, “How am I doing with my responsibilities?”
Here are a few examples:
To my Heavenly Father: “How am I doing at serving and following you?”
To my wife: “How am I doing at loving and leading you?”
To my boss: “How am I doing at being faithful and diligent in my work?”
Why is this difficult? Because sometimes I will hear things that hurt, that tap into my insecurities and fears and that leave me walking away discouraged or frustrated. Why is this a good thing ? Because I am convinced that it is in the moments after hearing hard truths that God does some of His best work.
The good news is that sometimes we will hear that we are doing really well and even when we hear the opposite, we know that the words of truth are only meant to help us become a better version of who God wants us to be. So, even if it’s hard, think about asking someone today how you are doing at your responsibilities and see how God will use that to help you grow and become a better version of you!
Ok, so I know that I am blending the last two weeks messages on this one, but I can’t stop thinking about how they relate. The goals in my life for who I want to be will inform and shape my willingness to take responsibility for my own life and actions. That is how I see it!
If I have clearly defined my “Be” goals then I can embrace and leverage my mistakes as an opportunity to grow and become more of who I want to be in my life. When I take responsibility and apologize to my wife or son for a mistake, I become more of who I want to be. When I own up to a failure or mistake at work with humility and honesty, I become more of who I want to be. When I come before my Heavenly Father and admit that I screwed up again and need His help, I become more of who I want to be.
Many times we get in the mindset that our successes show who we are really becoming and sometimes that is true, but I think that our failures and how we respond and take responsibility for them are usually a much greater indicator of who we are becoming and who we ultimately will be in our lives.
So, what do we need to take responsibility for today in order to become who we want to be and more importantly, who our Heavenly Father wants us to be?
Every morning I receive a Google calendar update in my inbox with my schedule for the day. Almost every day over the holidays I would find the email with this message: “You Have No Events Scheduled Today”. Now, I don’t know about you, but this is not a typical message in my inbox!!!! However, it is becoming more and more of a welcome one!
When I heard Andy talk this past weekend about what do I want to “Be” in life; when I read about Jesus going away to a quiet place to be alone; when I see the importance in scripture of a regular Sabbath; when I experience what happens in my soul when I have “no events scheduled today” I become more fully aware that this is a practice I must learn to cultivate if I want to be spiritually healthy.
So, what am I going to do about this in 2010? Here is a list of things I am going to try in relation to who I “Be”:-)
- A quarterly day away to reflect, pray and recalibrate
- A daily practice of quietly listening to the Spirit who lives in me
- A weekly review of my 2010 Being and Doing goals
I know, these aren’t earth shattering, but they are very helpful for me! Unfortunately I all too often miss the time for my soul because my daily/weekly schedule has far too many events that don’t allow the space for the still small voice of God to say what needs to be said. So, what about you? Do you have intentional time in your schedule for no events? Do you need to take more time for no events? What is your plan in 2010 for Being and not just Doing?
“Be still and know that I am God…” Psalm 46:10
January 4th, 2010 | 1 Comment
If you are anything like me, then you were challenged greatly by Andy’s message yesterday! As I am beginning my day this morning with the Lord, one of the questions I am asking Him is “Who do you want me to BE in 2010?” Here are a few of the words that are coming to mind for me: Trustworthy, Authentic, Loving… These are words that resonate deep in my soul. They are certainly how I want to be characterized by those closest to me and everyone I come into contact with today.
How about you? Would you be willing to post some thoughts today on what God is saying to you about who you should be this year? It could be just a word or two or a few paragraphs if you like, but I hope that by posting and reading one anothers “Be” list, we can find encouragement as we move forward together! So take a few moments to share! We would love to read about who God is calling you to be this year!
So what’s the story for 2010? What’s your story going to be? I have been thinking a lot about what my story will be in 2010 and what it is God wants to do in and through my life this year. What I know so far is that this will be a year of transition into the new and unknown for me.
First, we will be adding a new member to our family this year (a baby girl) so I will be on a huge learning curve there! Second, I will be transitioning into a new role from Group Life to the North Point Online Community Director which will mean a new learning curve and a fun time helping you get and stay connected! Lastly, I will continue my journey of healing in relation to my family and discovering the true nature of our Heavenly Father who has been there all the time whether I recognized it or not.
I have been reading a really good book over the holidays by Donald Miller called “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years”. In it, Donald talks about the story we choose to live or not to live. I am challenged and inspired by his thoughts and would recommend that you read it.
In 2010 I want to live a meaningful story and help others do the same. So, what is a meaningful story for you? What is the story God is calling you to step into? What will be your story in 2010? Give it some thought and then if you feel so led, share it with the rest of us by posting it here!
May God bless our year together as we seek to live a meaningful story for the sake of His calling in our life!!
I don’t know what you are taking away from Andy’s latest series, “An Unexpected Christmas”, but I have one big take away: how much God uses messed up people! I all to often forget how much the heroes of the Bible struggled. Talk about tabloid fodder if they lived today! It’s a good thing the Bible wasn’t fully illustrated:-)
I am so grateful to Andy for the weekly reminders during this series that some of God’s most loved people were some of the most messed up and in need of forgiveness people who ever lived. Yet, there they are, on the pages of scripture being used to build His beautiful and amazing story! WOW, does that give me hope!I have a goal to never fall as far as some of the characters in the Bible, but I am so grateful that my weakness, insecurities and failures all rest in Him and his love and forgiveness.
So, since God is in the business of using the struggling, weak, messed up lives of this world for His amazing work and to create His-story, I suppose the only thing I can say is, COUNT ME IN!!!!! How about you?
So far, the “Be Rich” campaign has been a great success and we would love to know how you at North Point Online have participated! If you have a story of how you are engaging in the “Be Rich” campaign, please post it here so that we can all celebrate with you!
In just a few weeks you will be hearing more about the results of the “Be Rich” campaign and we want to make sure that the giving and service of North Point Online is highlighted along with our other campuses!
If possible, take a few moments right now to tell us about your experience and thanks for taking this opportunity to “Be Rich” toward others during this holiday season!!!!!
Last week, I was visiting a friend at his office and we stopped by the cubicle of one of his co-workers. There, taped below her computer, was the card we gave out week one of the “@ work” series with Colossians 3:23. I have received emails of photos of that card taped around your different work environments as a reminder of what your true purpose at work really is.
I believe we have the opportunity to create a different kind of mindset at work by living out what the Bible has to say about what we do. It starts by keeping the three principles we talked about front and center in your daily work. To help with this, we handed out a series recap. If you didn’t receive one, you can print it out here.
As we said in this series, most of us are going to spend 60% of our waking hours @ work. Thank you for seeing those hours as an incredible opportunity to glorify our Savior.
Grateful,
Jeff
