Too Busy to Connect with God?

One of the common complaints I hear from people is how busy they, and everyone they know, are.  I was struck by a passage from Luke 5 that speaks to how busy Jesus was and how He responded.  After healing a leper in verse 13, Jesus instructs the man not to tell anyone about it but to go to the priest and present himself as clean.  But word about what Jesus did got out, and "the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses."


What a ministry opportunity!  Crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed.  I can see the disciples telling Him, "Jesus, all our dreams are coming true!  Look at the crowds of people coming to hear you and to be healed by you!  This is great!"  But then verse 16 throws us a curve: "But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed."  Why would He do that?  People had come to listen to Him teach.  They had come to be healed.  But Jesus thinks it is important enough to withdraw to lonely places to pray.


I think there is a significant lesson for us in this.  In the midst of our busyness; in the midst of all of the "good" things we are doing, are we connecting to the source of our strength?  Are we spending time talking to, and listening to, God?  Do we know what we are missing out on when we are too busy to connect with God?  I want to encourage you to carve out some times during the day to connect with God.  Just plan on a few minutes several times a day just to quiet yourself and to talk to and listen to God.  I believe you will be surprised at what it will do for you.


What do you need to do to make time to connect with God?


I want to encourage you to click on this link to watch a powerful video from International Justice Mission.  Then determine how God wants you to respond.  Go ahead, ask Him.

Be On Your Guard

We're going through Andy Stanley's book Enemies of the Heart, and yesterday's message I preached was dealing with Greed and it's antidote - Generosity.  In Luke 12 Jesus said, "Watch out!  Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." (vs. 15 - NIV)  At the end of the parable of the rich fool, Jesus warns us that those who store up things for themselves but are not rich towards God will lose everything.

In his book, Stanley recommends that we ask 2 very important questions of God and ourselves: "Why do I have so much?"; and "Lord, what do you want me to do with the extra that I do have?"  The answer to both is to be generous.  If we are willing to look into our hearts and deal with our selfishness, we can really be generous and do some good Kingdom work with our finances!  Be rich towards God and those in need (see Matthew 25:31-46)!  Be generous with the time, talents, and treasure He's given you and don't use it all on yourself!

Post your response below with how you answer the question, "why do I have so much?"

We had another great day of service this last Saturday working on 40 different projects for Serve Sunnyslope.  We tried moving the projects into our neighborhoods where we live and meet, and from everything I've heard it was a great success.  Thanks to everyone who came out to serve and help us accomplish our mission to connect, grow, and serve.

It was so great to see 3 more baptisms this last Sunday!  God is on the move and we continue to have increasing numbers of baptisms over these last 2 years.  As Perry Noble says, seeing people get baptized "never gets old!"

Catching Up

I'm loving the current message series we are in: Enemies of the Heart.  It's based on Andy Stanley's book by the same name, and it is a great book.  We have some for sale each Sunday, or you can order one here.  If you've missed either of the first 2 weeks, listen to Chuck's messages here.  I challenge you to read the book and listen to the messages and let God work on you.


This Saturday, October 22, is another Serve Sunnyslope day for FCC-Phoenix.  Be at our campus at 7 am on Saturday to get connected to a job in your neighborhood (or where we need you!) where you can serve.


We are collecting a Thank Offering on November 20 to benefit some ministry partners: Missions of Hope International in Nairobi, Kenya; Tornado Relief in Joplin, MO; and New City Church right here in Phoenix.  Our goal is to receive a $25,000 offering that day to share with these ministries.  Our hope is that giving to the Thank Offering will be over and above your normal giving as we all have so much to be thankful for.  Thanks for sharing generously with us in this special way.


In September, June and I were able to take a 5 day trip into the beautiful mountains of northeast New Mexico.  We were celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary which was in last August.  The weather was great (we enjoyed the nice cool temps!), the scenery was beautiful, and we really enjoyed hiking and exploring the area and our time together.  We're very grateful to some friends for making this trip possible!

See you Sunday.

Book Review - Enemies of the Heart

I recently finished reading Andy Stanley's book "Enemies of the Heart," and it is a great read!  I strongly recommend you purchase this book.


In his book, Stanley addresses the four enemies of the heart: Guilt, Anger, Greed, and Jealousy.  He so clearly defines and describes them that I found myself discovering each of these enemies in hidden areas of my own heart where I thought I was okay.


Stanley also gives clear and simple antidotes for each of these enemies, but as he often writes, "they area simple, but not easy."  I have several points to work on as a result of reading this book.  He writes that once we begin to practice the four habits that are the antidotes to the enemies of our heart, "life will be noticeably different.  These four habits set us free to love as God intends for us to love."


As I said, I strongly recommend this book, and am purchasing it for the entire staff at FCC.  In fact, one of our Neighborhood Groups will be studying it this fall.  Get your copy today.


I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

A Little Gift Can Make A Big Difference

One of the exciting pieces of news I received while in Kenya was that the Hope Partnership website for giving to their micro-finance loan program was up and running.  It is called bigdent.org.  As you go to this website, you can learn about micro-finance, how it benefits the people living in the Mathare slum, and how you can make a big difference in someone's life.


When you give to help an entrepreneur start a new business, you help that person have dignity and worth as well as help them change their income, their situation - their life.  I strongly encourage you to visit the website, read through their information and program, pick a project that captures your attention, and give!  You'll be glad you did, and more importantly, you'll change the life of an entrepreneur and their family.

The Power of Hope

On this, my fourth trip to Kenya, I am experiencing many familiar sights, sounds, and smells.  Once one has made their initial visit to the Mathare Valley slums, the pure shock that comes from the concentration and level of extreme poverty lessens.  It is still a difficult thing to see and experience, but one is not as shocked by it.

Even with the familiarity that comes with several visits to this location, there are also new things each time I am here.  There are many changes to the physical surroundings – new buildings, new merchants, additions to the centers, the constant changes to the roads in Nairobi – but these are superficial changes that don’t reflect the deeper, more significant changes that are taking place.

The one thing that is constant with each visit is the very strong sense of hope one gets by being involved in the work of Missions of Hope, International.  From seeing and hearing the children in their centers and sensing their hope for the future because of the education they are receiving; to visiting the boarding school at Joska and knowing the hope that comes from the great success with their schooling, meaning they will get to attend a good high school; to visiting a home in the Kosovo community and seeing the homeowners face when the tin is peeled back for their new skylight; to seeing someone who is ill being cared for by a physician or nurse and to receive medications; to sharing the gospel with a resident of the slums and watching them accept Christ; there is a very real sense of hope that one experiences when one is here.

Seeing and knowing the hope that comes from what God is doing in Mathare is very powerful. Hope comes from educating a child and knowing it will make a difference in their life.  Hope comes from instilling Christian principles in the lives of thousands of children and knowing they will someday change their culture.  Hope comes from visitors from America simply providing a sky-light and sharing the Gospel and knowing the encouragement it brings to a home filled with darkness.  Hope comes from offering a free medical clinic and knowing that the medications provided will help the ill overcome their sickness.  Hope comes from seeing another person make Jesus Christ the Lord of their life and knowing the difference that will make in their eternity.

Hope is very powerful, and it’s growing in the slums of Mathare Valley in Nairobi, Kenya.

Greetings from Kenya

It's great to be back in Kenya!  Our team of 6 from FCC joined our partners from CCV on 5 July to begin our journey to Kenya.  On our way here, we got to stop in London for an overnight stay, and we got to visit the city for about 5 hours.  It is such an amazing place.


We arrived safely on 7 July, and made it to the Grace House hotel late in the night.  On Friday, we went to the Pangani Center of Missions of Hope International in the Mathare slum for an orientation, some tea, some lunch, and a brief tour of this part of the slum.


Even though this is my fourth visit and it is less of a shock each time, it is still surprising to see the conditions some 800,000 people live in on a daily basis. Friday night was a good nights sleep, and Saturday found us heading back to Pangani to sort meds for the medical clinic that will take place next week.  We also got to visit a Giraffe Refuge Saturday afternoon.  Sunday we will visit Joska to see the work at the MoHI boarding school.


As the medical team is working next week the rest of us will be doing VBS in the morning and Bring the Light projects in the afternoon.  I will be doing some coach training next week with the MoHI pastors, and I'm really looking forward to that.


Thanks for your continued prayers for our team as we are on this trip!  More to come!  Go to my or the FCC facebook page to view photos of what we've been doing so far.