Visit Our New Blog

Okay, so we love Blogger but for the fact that it doesn't like to cooperate with other sites (like our super snazy website thatissochurch.org). So we're now posting all information directly to our website. You can follow the blog simply by going to our website or using this RSS feed, whichever you prefer.

If we can get the two two to play nice and work together, we'll let you know!

Update on Chad (pasted from email)

Hello Friends,

Just got back from the Vascular/Cardio Dr. and apparently the Thoracic surgeon jumped the gun on valve replacement. Chad has moderate stenosis and the Cardiologist does not feel there is any reason to have a valve replacement at this time since this valve is working. Chad does not have any symptoms at this time and his index is 1.3 (below 1 is severe) and the average thickening of the aortic stenosis is about .5 a year. Chad will have an echo done yearly to monitor the level of stenosis. Eventually he will need to have the valve replaced, but until he starts having symptoms, nothing needs to be done.

Thanks for all the prayers... God is good :-)

God Bless,

Anjanette

Going Missional

So, the house church meeting last night was everything we hoped for and more (thanks to Emily's amazing spread, Haley's surreal buffalo chicken dip, and all the other goodies people brought). We did a real live blog demonstration showing off the fancy information retrieval process of going to lifepointnews.blogspot.com and getting all the latest info. Then, we buckled our seat belts and went to the fully active but not yet completed website at thatissochurch.org, which will be the true hub of interweb activity for our church. We even did a live run through of the online giving process.

Then we got to the Bible. We focused on one short passage from Matthew 28, which is commonly referred to as "The Great Commission":

And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

We're on a mission people. We've been given a job to do, which is part of the specific working out of Loving God and Loving Neighbor. We're supposed to tell other people about the magnificent gift of Christ's life and death, through which he satisfied God's wrath against nasty sinners like me and made a way for us to be at peace with Him again. And after we tell them about the love of God, if they surrender to Him, we make them an official part of the Fam and walk alongside them as we all grow into better and better people. So here at LP, we're going to take this mission thing serious. Yes, we actually intend to do this.

To get us ready for said missional activity, we're going to do an 8 week study using The Tangible Kingdom: A Primer to help us further understand the idea of being missional and start the habits of reaching out and living in "incarnation community". The books have been ordered and will be passed out next week at our "Get out and do something" Party (details are coming shortly). They are $15. If you can't swing that right now, no problem. It's on us. Just let us know. You can preview the book here.

Check the website out. Check the book out. Make plans to hang out with us this Sunday night for a couple hours.

October 11 House Church

Sorry for the late post everybody! We're going to work out a schedule this Sunday so everybody can know it in advance. So, as the title suggests, we have house church this Sunday night at Jason and Emily's house, 6 PM as usual (directions below).

We have some fancy stuff planned for this meeting. We're going to demonstrate blog usage, make the schedule (as mentioned), firm up the Saturday night church plan, plus read the Bible. And who knows what else might be in store? Bring food.

See you there!


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Update on Chad (Pasted from Email)

Hi Everyone,

First, I want to apologize because I do not have everyone's email address; I didn't even think to update my Life Point info. of everyone who attends. So you are welcome to forward this to anyone I have missed.

We came away from Chad's appt. knowing he will need to have his aortic valve replaced we just don't know how soon. When the valve gets replaced that will take care of the aortic stenosis. Chad has another appt. Tues, Oct 13 to meet with a Cardiologist, Dr. Pack. Dr. Pack is the one who originally read Chad's echocardiogram so he will be able to give us a better understanding of the severity. Dr. Rashid told us today that Dr. Pack may want to do more tests in order to make a decision on when the valve should be replaced. So now we wait until Tues. for more answers.

Thank you for your continued prayers and we will keep you posted.

God Bless,

Anjanette

Online Donations Through Paypal

We now have online donation available...use the following link...

This will make a donation via PayPal which is then linked into our bank account. This is our preferred method of donations, but we will accept old school checks as well. Just give those to Jason at house church.

October 4 House Church

So. Last week was awesome. Wrapped up the Love Series. We are a lovely bunch.

This Sunday, Kyle (me) is out of town and we're encouraging everybody to explore a different worship opportunity (or a familiar one) for Sunday morning. So, I repeat, no Sunday morning this week. Go rock the house and praise the Creator of the Universe with some other Jesus follower friends.

BUT...

Do not fret! We do have house church at 6:00 PM at Andy and Bekka Mehl's house in Kazoo. Bekka will be leading and she's really smart with an awesome heart so head to her place for some good times. Bring food unless you're a first timer. Then just bring you.

Directions:



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September 27 Church

We're wrapping up our love series this Sunday. We've talked about when love goes bad and how to love God, so loving people is next. And this is where we cut through all the bull. The rubber's meeting the road and other overused metaphors for tests of authenticity. If we don't love the people around us, 1 John tells us we don't really love God. Now we're preachin'! Though it might be challenging, our call to love our neighbors is one of the most inspiring and beautiful opportunities of our existence. Few things can make your life instantly better from an inner peace perspective than deciding to make someone else's life better. This Sunday we'll reflect and discuss this awesome responsibility and what it means for us in SW MI.

Sunday morning church is at 10:15am at Lawton EMC. They are a sister church and have invited us to share how things are going. We'll also plan to share ways they can help us and pray for us. Directions to 425 S Nursery St., Lawton, MI 49065:

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Sunday evening, House Church will be at 6:00pm at Roger and Linda's (5622 Downing St., Portage, MI 49024). Bring some food. Bringing a friend earns bonus points.

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Moving Beyond Warm Fuzzies

I'm happy to say my promise of blow your mind worship via fancy projector words was delivered. The new fangled contraption also gave us the chance to look up instructional christian rap dance videos on YouTube for all to enjoy. Emily, thanks for the nod on "Snap, Crackle, Pop." Just take it to church, everybody!

We read through some 1 John verses in the morning, interspersed with moments of prayer about learning how to love God better. I'm always amazed at how cool it is to just read and pray with a group of friends. Simple, but powerful.

We also talked about the love spectrum, where Care Bear warm fuzzy love is on the left and St. Paul-I'll-die-for-you-Jesus love on the right. If your concept of loving God is working up good feelings towards God all the time, or your Christian behavior is limited to sitting in a church service once a week, then you're a warm fuzzy lover. On the other hand, if you believe that Jesus Christ is God's Son, who gives you forgiveness of sin and eternal life, and you fully surrender yourself to him out of thankfulness, living a life just like he lived, that's true love.

John's main idea is that true knowledge and love for God isn't some special knowledge or an emotional experience. It's a lifestyle. It makes me think of James who said (I'm paraphrasing, here) "You can tell me you believe in God all you want; I'll show you I believe by how I live."

By the end of the day, yesterday, there were quite of few of us committed to upgrading our love of God somehow this week.

Download the note sheet here.

September 20 Church

This Sunday we're talking about "Getting Beyond Warm Fuzzies" when it comes to loving God. God is alive. He's not a mythological creature or some far off acquaintance we shoot an emotional postcard to every now and then. He's a living being, spirit, but alive and in relationship with us. So what does it look like to love Him, truly, deeply, passionately? Read 1 John and get ready to have your warm fuzzies upgraded.

We're meeting at Kyle and Nikki's in the morning at 10 a.m. We'll have words to songs this time. It will be so fantastic you won't know what to think. Then we'll be back at night, same place, at 6:00pm. Bring food. Bring a person.

Directions to Kyle and Nikki's (25281 80th Ave., Lawton, MI 49065):

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The Love Sin, from Sept 13

Read 1 John in the New Testament and you get the feeling that you just entered into the middle of passionate conversation. Emotional, high-pitched language laying down absolutes about the nature of God and the consequential behaviors reveal that someone or something is being responded to. That something, bible scholars believe, is the Gnostic movement of the late first century.

The Gnostics believed they had received extra special revelation, which was necessary to truly "know" God (gnosis). They also felt the physical world was a product of the evil one and creatively found ways to deny the full humanity/deity of Jesus. God, being holy, could not dwell in sinful flesh. This also led to the belief that they no longer sinned, but had achieved a superior spiritual state.

John, now an old man and possibly the last remaining apostle, writes to his spiritual children to guard them against these heresies. First, we must understand that God is love, he is light, he is life. God is good and above all is passionately in love with his creation. He made us to be in a caring, affectionate relationship with Himself. Man has fallen out of this by loving other things in place of God. Almost all of our junk can be reduced to this - the misplacement of our love. John calls us to love the Father first and foremost, then all of our other loves and affections find their proper place.

So, in opposition to the Gnostic idea of special knowledge, John reveals how we truly know God and love Him: we obey Him. In obedience, we get to know God not just intellectually, but by experience. We understand what it's like to forgive or show mercy or sacrifice. We can say we know God all we want, but the real test is what our lives look like.

If we're not being obedient to God's commands to love Him and our neighbor's, then we love the world. John describes love for the world as "the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life." Loving the world means we're putting ourselves first, wanting things that make us happy while disregarding the needs of others. When we love stuff, or even people, more than our great God in Heaven, we commit the love sin.

What do you love more than God? Are you good at love? Can you be loved as God wants to love you: completely, extravagently, righteously? Can you love Him back?

Next week we'll flesh out how we actually love God.

The Super-Mandatory-Attend-Or-Die-Meeting

I just realized after returning from vacation, that I have been commissioned with finding a time for our mandatory "all about lifepoint church" meeting. Anyway...we'll discuss a time for this meeting at our next meeting which is this coming Sunday. I'm not really sure where it's at though...so I'll let Kyle or someone else post that information...

Once we have a time...attend or let this guy deal with you...

September 13 Church and Love Series

Oh, man! We had some good times this past Sunday morning. Four of us, plus my kids, got together in our living room at about 10 A.M., read some Psalms, prayed, then rocked the iPod worship for like an hour. Okay, we worshiped for like half an hour and Kyle just kept singing. Before long, it was a good old fashioned dance party...all for Jesus. Seriously, it was. Had to be there.

Anyway, we're looking to repeat this Sunday morning, 10:00 A.M. at Kyle and Nikki's (see map below). We're starting a September series on 1 John called "Love" (I know, I need to tone down the creativity).

Sunday, September 13: The Love Sin

(when a good thing goes bad and we love the wrong stuff)

Sunday, September 20: Beyond Warm Fuzzies

(everybody says we're supposed to love God, but how?)

Sunday, September 27: I Love You, Man

(don't be a wuss; love somebody)

These will also be the discussion topics for House Church (formerly "Core Group"), which will continue to meet Sunday nights at 6 P.M. This Sunday, we will also be at Kyle and Nikki's at night (for those of you following along at home, yes, you could potentially hang out at our place twice this weekend). As usual, bring food. Newbies eat free.

Directions to Kyle and Nikki's (25281 80th Ave., Lawton, MI 49065):

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August 30th Meeting, 6:00 PM at Miracle Camp

Whoa! We're late on this one. Just in case anyone checks this last minute, we are at Jason and Emily's tonight at Miracle Camp (25281 80th Ave, Lawton, MI 49065). We're meeting at 6:00 PM following Lawton EMC's baptism service (come early for ice cream). We're going over the last few chapters of Acts tonight (27 and 28) and talking about the adventure of the faith.

Kyle will also talk about the Fall plans and our Super Important Mandatory Kick-Off Meeting, which will be Sunday night, September 6, 2009 (yes, mandatory...don't even think about missing this one!). More details to follow.

Directions for tonight:

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August 23rd

We had a great meeting this past week at Andy and Bekka's house. Though we were missing quite a few of you, our discussion was long (Kyle and I didn't get home until after 10pm!). Additionally, we had delicious chilli and homemade icecream. So, with that enticement, don't miss core group this Sunday, August 23rd at Roger and Linda's house (5622 Downing St. Portage, MI 49024). 6pm, discussing Acts, bring a food dish to share.

I tried to insert a cool map here like Jason did, but I couldn't.

Pastor is Back, Next Week Meeting Location

You all should be aware that our pastor is back safely in the U.S. He's a little thinner. I guess he's missing Nikki's cooking.

Next week's meeting is at Andy and Rebecca's. Their address is 1209 Reycraft Dr. in Kalamazoo. We're meeting at 6pm as usual. Bring a friend. Read Acts. Come hungry. Here's a map to their house in case you need it...

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Weekly Church Meetings

We are now meeting every week on Sunday nights at 6pm. Next week's meeting (Sunday, August 9) will be held at the Coon's house (25329 80th Ave, Lawton, MI) at Miracle Camp. If you have any questions please call Jason at 269-365-1324 as Kyle is out of the country. What a dufus.

By the way...be sure to check out the full promo video of Life Point Church on Kyle's facebook page. The short video is below...

Meeting on Sunday July 19, 2009 at 6:00pm

Hello, folks! It's almost Sunday again, and this week we're at Jesse and Becky Hill's house in Lawton (69281 Rose Hill Meadow Dr., Lawton, MI 49065). 6:00pm as usual. Jesse will be leading this week, going over Acts 9-12 and Deliberate Simplicity chapters 4 and 5. The theme is based on the idea that if the church is doing its job, it brings in all the wrong people.

Becky is planning on a taco bar. Please bring a dessert or drink. There will be babysitters.

Also, check out the video Mike and I did to introduce me and Lifepoint to FEC at convention coming up. It's on my wall on Facebook. Let me know what you think!

I'm bummed I won't be there (not so much because of you guys, but mainly for missing the taco bar). I kid. I'll be thinking and praying about this church adventure we're embarking on together while I'm in Africa. Please pray for me and the ministry of Orphan Justice Mission. Pray that I would represent Christ in everything I do and everything I say. Pray for Nikki, too. See you all in August!

July 5th Meeting

Hey Core Groupers,

We ARE meeting this week Sunday at 6 pm at our house (25317 80th Ave Lawton) and we hope you can make it. We'll be discussing Acts 3 & 4 and Deliberate Simplicity chapter 3 and eating tacos. If you can, bring a side dish or beverage to pass. We can't wait to meet with you guys again!

Falling Up

We had a great meeting the other night (June 21). Thanks for the good times chatting about the Good Book. We missed those of you who weren't able to make it, and you missed my awesome made-from-scratch Salsa Verde. Here's a recap of our topic "Falling Up" from Acts 2-3 and Deliberate Simplicity, chapter 2:

"Pentacost" literally means "50 Days" and refers to the period of time between the Exodus from Egypt and God giving the Israelites the Law on Mt. Sinai. It was the festival of Shavout or "Feast of Weeks", celebrated yearly by the Jews. It's at this time God decides to send the Holy Spirit. Think He's trying to send a message? Exodus: God descends on the mountain in fire and gives the Law in order to form a new people with a specific purpose and unique, holy lifestyle; Acts: God descends on the disciples with "tongues of fire" and fills them with the Holy Spirit in order to form a new people with a specific purpose and unique, holy lifestyle. God parallels the official start of the church with the formation of the Israelite community. This gathering of Jesus Followers was given a special mission to demonstrate a unique way of living, which focused on loving God and loving others. They witness to the resurrection of the Messiah Jesus, sell their stuff to help out others in their need, hang out all the time, eat a lot, and generally be super cool. We identified these things that the early church devoted themselves to and asked ourselves, "What are we devoting ourselves to and what does that say about who/what we love?"

So, we find that when the Holy Spirit falls down, people's hearts "fall up" in love with God and with others. It's the one surefire way to know that the Holy Spirit is in a people.

We discussed the evidence of the Holy Spirit, which included crazy stuff like speaking in tongues, miracles, and other things that those of us at this particular meeting admitted to not seeing very often. Browning in DS quotes Harry Trumbull, who states that if we aren't willing to share Christ, maybe we should ask if we're saved ourselves. We asked, "Do we really have the Holy Spirit?" We shared stories of weird things we'd heard about, weird things we wished happened to us, and some others.

Mike H. started yelling something about needing a church sign.

The final point was made that God does different things for different people at different times to confirm His Word, but one thing is the same: When the Holy Spirit is around, people testify of Jesus and love each other. We're not going to discount crazy stuff happening, but we're not going to fake it to seem spiritual either. We're going to be a church that focuses on the essentials and lets God do what He needs to do with the other stuff. We will be a Spirit-filled church, and hopefully everybody will know it by the love we show for God and others.

To wrap up, we discussed the Deliberate Simplicity chapter in light of the work of the Holy Spirit. We asked, "Did the early church have an US or THEM focus?" The conclusion was neither and both. The early church focused on Christ and out of obedience to Him found ways to grow current believers while reaching out to those who didn't know Jesus yet. We want to be that kind of local church, one that each person, no matter where he or she is in their journey, finds the love and support needed to take the next step towards a fully surrendered life in Christ.

CORRECTION for June 21, 2009 Meeting

We are NOT meeting at Kyle and Nikki's house, we are meeting at Roger and Linda's house at 5622 Downing St, Portage, MI 49024. Also, we will be discussing first and eating second.

Thirdly, I am handing responsibility for news to my wife.

Meeting on Sunday June 21, 2009 at 6:00pm

Next meeting is coming up this Sunday night (Father's Day)! All of us dad's would like some extra special treatment after our total romancing of the ladies on Mother's Day, too. Spoiling aside, we'll be discussing chapters two and three of Acts and chapter two in Deliberate Simplicity. The theme is "Falling Up", in which we'll explore how the falling of the Holy Spirit correlates to people falling in love with Jesus.

Details are thus: we'll meet at [FALSE: Kyle and Nikki's house at Miracle Camp in Lawton at 6:00pm -- we are meeting at Roger and Linda's (see correction above)]. Meat, drinks, and child care will be provided. Bring a side dish or salad if you want. We'll eat and then study/discuss for about an hour (or vice versa) and then just hang out.

Friends, relatives, and passersby's are always welcome. If you don't have a Bible or the book, don't worry! There's no test. Call Kyle at 269.365.2697 with any questions.

Meeting on Sunday June 7, 2009 at 6:00pm

Just a reminder about our meeting this Sunday night, June 7, 2009, at Kyle and Nikki's house (25281 80th Ave., Lawton, MI 49065) at Miracle Camp. We'll start at 6:00pm. Nikki and Kyle will provide burgers, drinks, and eating utensils. Everyone else bring a salad and/or desert! First timers eat free (don't bring anything).

We're reading Acts 1 and chapter 1 in Deliberate Simplicity. If you don't get the book in time, no sweat. The topic is "Active Waiting" in our discussion about the early church.

See you Sunday!

Summer schedule and church as food

It's official! I've been credentialed as a pastor with the Fellowship of Evangelical Churches and am now the lead pastor for the young church plant Life Point Community Church in Portage, MI. Nikki and I are excited to start the adventure and help grow God's kingdom in breadth and depth.

The core group is approximately twelve people at this point and since the church is very young, we're taking summer 2009 to solidify our structure and ministry plan. Why? Church is church, right? Well, we could think of it this way: if church was like food, there would be two components—nutrition and flavor. Nutrition is what makes the body healthy, the vital stuff that God needs to see happen in His Church (big "C"). This may include worship, discipleship, acts of service, leadership roles, etc. Flavor is what makes the food taste good. Good flavor is different for different people; it's debatable, adjustable, subjective. As long, as you get the nutrition right, flavor can be modified according to who is eating, i.e. church (little "c"). This might include worship style, meeting places and times, programs, etc. We're reading the book of Acts and Deliberate Simplicity by Dave Browning over the next several months as we refresh ourselves on Church "nutrition" and work out Life Point's "flavor" before we really get things rolling in September. The goal is to have a clear vision of Life Point's ministry by the end of August.

Check out our summer schedule. We'll have an updated version soon with meeting places included. If you're interested in hanging out with us through the summer, contact me at kyledouglass@mac.com.