Monday Morning Mind Dump
Every Monday brings a new set of celebrations and challenges. We are able to celebrate all that we saw Jesus do through the ministry of Elevation Christian Church. Then walk through the challenges of being a leader of a church start and especially one that is calling the Devil on his junk. As we walk through our series “Five Lies of the Devil”. So I want to share with you some of the things that we have to celebrate from this Sunday:
- We had four people say yes to Jesus in our two gatherings. I can never stop getting excited about that.
- We had two families share with us how much there kids love coming to church. My sister shared with me that her son put going to church on his favorite thing to do list for the last year. LOVE IT!
- We had new people added to our music teams and they are doing an amazing job.
- One individual said that this is the first time that He has felt accepted at a church.
- We had 175 people come to our two gatherings. That is our largest attendance since our launch weekend.
So with all that what would be the challenges? The challenge comes from the enemy in the area of doubt. The challenge also comes in the form of trying to make sure that everything is done RIGHT NOW. The challenge comes from the comments that are not positive. The challenge comes from just feeling tired and dealing with the monday morning holy hangover. But I am excited to say that I am currently reading through Joshua and my life verse is staring me in the face.
Joshua 1:9 (NLT) “This is my command-be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
I pray that each and every one of the church leaders today is able to remember that we are commanded to be courageous and to remember that we don’t go alone.
Fast and Food
Last week I felt God asking me to take a step and try something that I had not done before. I felt the need to fast for the whole week from Monday through Friday. I felt that this was an opportunity to really rely on Him as well as to see what it is like to live like most of the world that we inhabit.
Monday was no problem I thought to myself this is not gong to be that bad at all. By Tuesday afternoon I had such a raging headache that I thought that I was going to need to get rid of something, like my head. I have to be honest that Jesus and I were then beginning to have some serious conversations. I had now not had any food or coffee in at least 48 hours, I realized that I had much more of an addiction to coffee then I thought. Wednesday the headache went away but I could feel that I was beginning to get a cold. That was not what I was planning on. Thursday was even more fun I had the opportunity to go down to the 16th street mall and meet with someone at the Cheesecake Factory. THE CHEESE CAKE FACTORY! With all honesty it was not as hard as I thought not to eat that afternoon. It was that night while watching “Survivor” with my family that I proceeded to count eleven commercials that focused either on restaurants or food. Friday I was blessed to be able to spend some great time in extended prayer and I found myself focused on really being able to see some amazing things through the bible that applied to my life. Friday afternoon we went to the movie theater and we saw a movie, the popcorn smelled well let’s just say that it caused some stress. So late Friday night my wonderful wife made me some scrambled eggs and I eased my way into eating food again.
It was a great experience and it is one that I pray I will continue and even extend in the near future. It was an opportunity to seek Jesus in an amazing way and gave me some clarity like I had never had before. Let me ask you “What are you willing to give up to grow closer to Jesus?” ”What are you willing to sacrifice?” Because He sacrificed a lot to get closer to us.
Music Monday
The story goes that Chris Botti used to play for Sting while he was touring and they became great friends. Well Sting seeing the talent that Chris had continued to encourage him to go out play on his own. Chris not feeling that he would be able to do that kept staying on playing with Sting. Until at some point Sting said, “If your not going to do it on your own then I will just have to fire you.” Now that is what I had heard and I am not sure if this is totally true but is does cause me to think. Do you have people that believe in you so much that they are willing to FIRE you. Ok, maybe they can’t fire you but do you have someone that believes in you that much. We each need to have someone that sees that much in us. Who is that person in your life today? Take the time to enjoy Sting and Chris Botti perform a great song called “Seven Days”.
Music Monday
Had the awesome opportunity to see the guys a couple of times. Great guys and I love the message of this song. May we all live a life of “I will GO!”
Elevation Prayer Gathering
Tonight was one of the most awesome nights that I have ever had in ministry. Today in our house we had a group of people get together and pray for Elevation and the future of this group of believers. We had young, old, and in between. But we all agreed on one thing, that we wanted to see the name of Jesus elevated in the lives of people all through out Aurora, Colorado, United States, and the world. We had a great night just praying because “Everything is covered in prayer (before, during, and after). I want to thank each person that was able to join us and I want to thank all of the people that could not be there but shared an encouraging note.
So here is the big news! If you plan on being a part of Elevation Christian Church, or if you just want to see what we are all about, or even if you are not sure what I am talking about. On Monday, February 8, 2010 at Colorado Community Churches “Upper Room” we will have the “All Access Elevation Party” this is where we are going to get things started! I am so jacked about this event that I am about to explode I can’t imagine what I am going to be like in 10 days. All I know is that if you know someone lives in Aurora, CO then they need to be at this party.
Music Monday
Ok, so I have to say that I love the music that Hillsong shares with the rest of us. They are definitely making the big C church better off with the amazing worship music that they write and perform. If you listen to worship music and think that is nice but I would never really listen to that during the week, that is just church music. Well, this is not your average church music.
I want you to know that this is the kind of music that I pray we are able to have at Elevation and I know that the man that God is bringing to share his talent with us as a church is a Godly man. I know that we are all so excited to not just start a church but be part of a REVOLUTION!
Music Monday
Here is a song that my son brought to my attention by Toby Mac. I love the urgency behind what he is saying “Tonight is the Night”. It is my hope and prayer that we as God’s people see the urgency to sharing about what it means to have a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Music Monday
I just love this guys music. Michelle and I were even able to go and see him on our Anniversary last year, he is a great entertainer and I appreciate the lyrics that he has in his music as well as the way that he sings the standards. Just some fun music that we all enjoy as a family. Michael Buble is family music at the Bloyer house, you might find it blaring as we sit down at the table for dinner, when Danielle is doing homework, or when we get the chance to sit out on the patio enjoying evening. Hope you enjoy.
Music Monday
What an awesome thing to be a part of last night. The global concert of U2 shown on Youtube and in conversation with Twitter. This is just another way to showcase what technology can do and how we can leverage that technology to reach the world. May we someday be able to do the same as U2 has done with this concert as we share with the world the gospel of Jesus Christ. By the way U2 rocked the house.
By the way notice the choice of song? Can you say Elevation! I thought you could.
Music Monday
There are some songs out there that I think that are really great at challenging me to think about who I am and how I live my life. This is one of those songs take some time to listen as well as watch, then think about how does your life reflect the lyrics. Have a great day.
Brandon Heath “Give me your Eyes” what a great song to cause us to think about how the way we live our life is a reflection of what we believe about Jesus and who He is to the people around us.
