Valley Creek Road and Manning Ave
Here is the future location of Valley Creek Church. We purchased 20 acres of land on the south east corner of Valley Creek Road and Manning Ave. Looking forward to the exciting journey ahead!
23
Mar 09
How the Grinch Stole Church
This week the leader of our prayer team wrote an awesome poem about our church: By Judy Wolf (With apologies to Dr. Seuss!!)
Down in his cave the Grinch was perplexed
“That Valley Creek Church keeps on growing. What’s next?
“I don’t like the way those Whos pray in each service;
“And when Whos get saved, it makes me real nervous.
“I don’t like to see all the guests they are bringing;
“But mostly I don’t like the way they keep singing.”
“I’ve just got to stop them. But how?” was his thought.
And in his evil mind he came up with a plot.
So on Saturday night came the Grinch with his truck,
stealing their trailer, thinking, “They’re out of luck..
“Without this, they’ll surely be left in the lurch;
“Without this, they certainly can’t have their church.”
Sunday morning came round, and with it the Whos
That were sitting and drinking up their Caribous.
Then came the call – “The trailer is gone!
“Now what do we do? How will we go on?
“Where is that trailer we’re so used to bringing?
“Can we still have church? Will there still be singing?”
“Yes, our trailer was stolen,” the Who Pastors said;
“But that doesn’t mean we can stay home in bed.
“Our church isn’t made up of boxes and bins;
“It’s made up of people forgiven of sins.
“It’s made up of those to the Lord who are clinging;
“Of those who, in spite of hard time, keep on singing.
“It’s made up of all who say ‘Jesus is Lord’;
“It’s made up of all who depend on His Word.
“So we will have church, we will meet as before;
“Welcoming those who will walk through the door.
“We’ll meet and we’ll sing, and we’ll worship and pray;
“And thank God for His mercies; they’re new every day.”
“What’s this?” yelped the Grinch.
“Why, what are they bringing
“From their homes and some stores?
“And what’s that? Is that singing?”
Yes, the Whos they still came;
They weren’t left in the lurch.
And small Whos made cards saying,
“WE ARE THE CHURCH”.
And that poor old Grinch?
Why his ears must be ringing;
‘Cause at Valley Creek Church,
All the Whos are STILL SINGING!!
Acts 2:42 – “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.”
23
Mar 09
Equipment Stolen — Church Stronger
Sunday March 15, at 7:00 am, our setup team left Caribou Coffee to pick up the church trailer. A few minutes later, we discovered $50,000 in Valley Creek equipment was gone. I made a few phone calls to our team leaders and watched our church make the most of a difficult situation. Each of our leaders made Sunday morning a success! I was expecting a great service when I left the coffee shop; I didn’t realize it would be a morning that would strengthen us in ways I couldn’t imagined.
God says, “Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life.” (James 1:12 MESSAGE) When we plow through adversity, the reward is living life beyond our expectations. God has great dreams ahead for Valley Creek Church. We are a church that loves God and loves people…nothing more and nothing less. I can’t wait to see what He does through our church over the next few months.
Last week I spoke on, “How to Love God Together.” We do not need stuff to worship God. When our eyes are off ourselves, we can focus our eyes on Him. I’ve been asked a number of times this week, “How could we go on with a church service?” The answer is simple, it is because each one on our team looked to God instead of the circumstances.
KidsCreek is learning the virtue of Hope this month. Their definition of hope is: Believing something good can come out of something bad. We are living that out right now in our church.
We’ve got to look at our Creator instead of our problems. Don’t focus on the stuff that is lost, instead focus on what He is doing within us. He is uniting us closer as a church family. Together we can do more for Christ than we can ever do alone.
23
Jan 09
Great Radio Station
If I have the radio on in my car, I am usually listening to KTLK or KNOW talk radio. I love getting both sides of the news. I have recently been on a classical music kick… don’t hold it against me. Last night Melinda found a new radio station and I’ve been loving it this morning. You can find it on 95.3 FM or stream it online at www.praisefm.org. Most Christian radio stations play the same older music over and over. This has been a fresh change for me. They are broadcasting from downtown Minneapolis at North Central University. Hope you enjoy it! (Photo by praisefm)
01
Oct 08
Sunday’s Live Survey Results
Our first attempt at using live polling via text messaging went great (First service had a technical glitch, but second service had no issues). I think this will be a great way to interact with our church in the future. (Photo by Steve Ellenwoods)
30
Sep 08
Do voter guides change the world?
I read this article from the washington post. It mentions churches who support a political candidate during the Sunday service. This Sunday I’ll be talking about Jesus, not politics.
Last week I received multiple phone calls to have voter guides placed in our church and provide onsite voter registration. I politely said, “No Thanks,” and then listened for the next five minutes about how sorry he was to hear that I was supporting the decline of America.
Don’t get me wrong… I want you to vote, but our church is not going to tell you who to vote for. I do not want to reduce people’s view of a person to a “voter guide.” I believe people need to be more informed than that. The issues this world faces are complex. I listen to both conservative and liberal talk radio. I think it is healthy to listen to both sides of every issue. A great way to have an informed view on both Obama and McCain is to watch them talk with Pastor Rick Warren (Author of The Purpose Driven Life) during the two hour Saddleback Civil Forum.
Here is what I believe… The decline in America is not caused by the lack of voter guides. The decline is caused by people missing out on God. The power of politics is pretty small compared to the power of a life changed by Jesus. If I believed politics changed the world I would have become a politician. I believe the world is changed by people who discover God’s purpose for their lives instead of following a made up purpose. I am committed to “CHANGE”… but real change happens in the center of each person… a change that only happens when God gets involved. That is the change you will hear me talking about this Sunday. I’ll vote for a changed life over a changed Washington anytime.
27
Sep 08
Large Dark Roast Please
I love hanging out at coffee shops. But what is the deal with the Starbucks cup sizes? I have gone along with the funny cup size names for years. But this morning I rebelled. What in the world is “Venti” anyways? (Googled it – Italian for 20oz) Why is a “Tall” actually short? Why is a “Grande” (Italian for large) medium? In my great act of rebellion I ordered my coffee this morning by saying a “I’ll have a large dark roast please”. The barista corrects me… surely I must have been mistaken… I am a regular I should have known better than that. ”Venti?” She asks, looking at me with a puzzled look. She waits for me to acknowledge the error of my ways. I smile and nod and take my coffee. I guess I just need more coffee to keep me from making a big deal out of nothing.