Wild Goose Chase this Sunday

This Sunday 10:30AM at New Season Church we will be starting a new message series called Wild Goose Chase. You seriously won't want to miss this series if you are interested in becoming all God has wired you to be.




Invite someone to come here.
Watch the series trailer here.
Directions to New Season here.

Celtic Christians had a name for the Holy Spirit–An Geadh-Glas, or ‘the Wild Goose.’ The name hints at mystery. Much like a wild goose, the Spirit of God cannot be tracked or tamed. An element of danger, an air of unpredictability surround Him. And while the name may sound a little sacrilegious, I cannot think of a better description of what it’s like to follow the Spirit through life. I think the Celtic Christians were on to something…

Most of us will have no idea where we are going most of the time. And I know that is unsettling. But circumstantial uncertainty also goes by another name: Adventure.

—Introduction to Wild Goose Chase. Mark Batterson

Haiti- How You Can Help

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Dear New Season Friends,

All of us have witnessed the television images of the destruction in Haiti after the devastating earthquake this week. In these times it is necessary for the church to be the church and step up to be Christ’s hands and feet to a suffering people. Many have asked, “How can I help?” At New Season Church we will be responding to what has happened in Haiti in the following ways:
• Through prayer.
• Through giving.
• Through collecting items for and assembling health kits.
• Through soliciting volunteers to be on work teams that will go to Haiti when it is safe and needed.

You can find information on each of these actions below.

1. Prayer. Please be in prayer for the people of Haiti. Pray for those who have survived, those who mourn, for rescue workers and all affected in any way by this earthquake.

2. Give. Obviously the rescue, clean up and rebuilding will be huge and take human and monetary resources. We will have special offering envelopes in the worship program for Sunday January 17th and January 24th. You may make checks out to the church and put in the envelope so they can be properly designated. You can also give online directly to the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) by going to www.umcorhaiti.org. 100% of your giving will go directly to relief efforts- none toward administrative costs.

3. Health Kits. The United Methodist Committee on Relief’s two relief supply warehouses are asking persons to make health kits that will be sent to Haiti. We will begin collecting kits immediately and will coordinate getting them to where they need to go. Simply bring them to church with you. Here is what goes in a Health Kit and how to put one together. It is best is you can put the whole kit together but we will also receive just the items if you are unable to do that. Alternatively, you can also write a check for $12 which is the approximate cost of one health kit.

Place these items inside a sealed one-gallon plastic bag.
1 hand towel (15" x 25" up to 17" x 27", No kitchen towels)
1 washcloth
1 comb (large and sturdy, not pocket-sized)
1 nail file or fingernail clippers (no emery boards or toenail clippers)
1 bath-size bar of soap (3 oz. and up)
1 toothbrush (single brushes only in original wrapper, No child-size brushes)
6 adhesive plastic strip sterile bandages

Important Kit Assembly Information
All items included in kits must be NEW items.
All emergency kits are carefully planned to make them usable in the greatest number of situations. Since strict rules often govern product entry into international countries, it is important that kits contain only the requested items-nothing more.
Do NOT include any personal notes, money or additional materials in the kits. These things must be painstakingly removed and will delay the shipment.

4. Volunteer in Mission Teams. After the initial rescue efforts have been completed and the long process of clean up and rebuilding happens volunteer teams will be needed to go to Haiti. Persons from New Season interested in serving in this capacity in the future will be connected with teams from other churches and from the region. Please let Pastor Robb know if you are interested in serving in this capacity.

Crazy Little Thing Called Love

Here are the first two messages of the Crazy Little Thing Called Love series that we have been doing at New Season Church.

Crazy Cycle

Crazy Respect

You can watch the message trailer below.

Fearless

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They're talking layoffs at work, slowdowns in the economy, flare ups in the Middle East, downturns in the housing market and on and on and on. All these things bring fear to the surface and it can take up a long term lease in our lives. Fear, though, can herd us into prisons and binds us from being who God designed us to be and doing what God calls us to do. Wouldn't it be great to break the chains of fear in our lives?

Imagine your life, wholly untouched by unhealthy angst. What if faith, not fear, was your default reaction to threats? If you could hover a fear magnet over your heart and extract every shaving of dread, insecurity, or doubt, what would remain? Envision a day, just one day where you could trust more and fear less.

Can you imagine a life without fear that binds?

I will be leading one of the Men's Journey Group this semester at New Season Church and we will be studying "Fearless" by Max Lucado. 7 weeks, every other Thursday night at 7PM. If you are ready to replace crippling fear with life giving faith through Jesus Christ then you will want to be here. All men welcome. Sign up here.

Know Your Rhythm

I have been sharing some ways to be good stewards of time in 2010 that I have learned along the way and am working to put into practice.

I have the worst rhythm in the world. I can't clap to a song to save my life. Well, I can if I watch somebody else clap, but then don't ask me to clap and sing at the same time. You get the picture.

But all of us have natural body rhythms that affect how we use our time. For example, some people are morning people (larks), others are evening people (owls). Larks do their best work and are most creative in the morning. Owls do their best work in the evening.

I am a lark. I like to get up early and get the day going before anybody else is up and spend time with God. But when 2PM or 3PM rolls around I am largely useless. I am dragging. This is my body rhythm. In light of this I made a change. Like many, I used to work out in the morning then go to the office. Inevitably, every afternoon I would hit the wall and be less effective. Noticing this I switched my routine and most times go to physically exercise in the afternoon. This allows me to use my best time in the morning and early afternoon before I hit the wall so that I can be most effective and creative.

Don't let your body rhythms control you. You exploit the rhythm.

Delegate

I have been sharing some ways to save time and to be good stewards of our time this new year that I have learned along the way. Like everybody else, I have not arrived but am working to not only to know such principles but put them into practice!

One way to be good stewards of our time is to delegate. This is a huge one and the hardest one for many of us (especially type A personalities). But delegation is a spiritual issue in many ways- remember Moses and his Father in Law Jethro who taught Moses how to delegate lest he burn himself out. Theologically, when we delegate we are admitting we cannot do it all and we are not God! The question when it comes to delegating is "can someone or should someone be doing what I am doing?"

Many of us don't want to let things go because we are afraid it won't get done up to our standard. But, if someone can do it 70% as good as you let it go. When we delegate and give away authority with such delegation we actually free people to use their God given gifts and talents.

I believe leaders always need to be ready to do anything they ask anybody else to do. However, I am learning more and more that the best leadership isn't the leadership that does everything but is leadership that creates opportunities for others to serve so you can focus on your strengths.

The "Not" To Do List

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Yesterday I began sharing some things I have picked up along the way as time savers and ways to be a good steward over the time God gives and to be organized. I am no expert and have a long way to go but have picked up some of these things a long the way.

Yesterday I shared about the importance of the "to do" list. Some would argue that just as or more important is the "not" to do list. Just like its name suggests these are the things we need to stop doing. These are the things we need to delegate (more on delegating in a later post). These are the things that are time wasters. They might be simple things we are doing at our jobs that somebody else can do or they might be something more serious such as an addiction that needs to be broken.

I find it helpful to keep a running list of "not" to dos that I am actually doing so I can look for ways to stop doing those things. This serves as a reminder. Then from time to time I pray about those things that God would help me to stop or bring someone alongside me who can do what I need to stop better for example.

New Year Time Savers and Strategies

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In the new year many of us will focus on ways to save time and make better use of our time. How we manage our time is actually an issue of stewardship and is so very important in our fast paced world. Mr. Wesley certainly had some things to say about time management for the people called Methodists and especially for clergy. What I offer is nothing new, nothing earth shattering, just some things I have picked up on along the way that have helped me.

One strategy to make better use of our time is to use the "to do" list. This is a simple list of tasks that need to be done that day, that week, that month. I actually keep two "to do" lists- one long term and one that is daily.

The thing about "to do" lists is if you are not careful they can become overwhelming. You look at all you have to do and say "ugh!" and become paralyzed into inaction. I have found it most helpful to prioritize the "to do" list into the things that absolutely must get done, those things I would like to get done, and those things that I will do if I have extra time. Inevitable, there will be divine interruptions but one way to honor God and make use of the precious time he gives to us is to be organized about our time. One way to do that is through the "to do" list. After all, God is a God of order, not chaos.