Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. Philippians 2:14-15

Hey Crew! It’s been a little while since I have written a new newsletter so it feels good to jump back on deck. This week I am actually going to be addressing something that will apply to us all, as servants in CM, but I think it spills over the boat into all believers.

The verse I began with this week is a hard one to swallow. You mean I am to do ALL THINGS without complaining? But I don’t want to...it’s so hard (oops...did it again). This verse is such an important one to keep in the front of our minds, why? Because it is SO EASY to begin complaining and arguing over everything.

The food we have (or lack of)
The clothes we wear
The car we drive
The job we have (don't have)
The friends, family, spouse we have

If we truly wanted to we could complain about everything all the time. In fact, with facebook & twitter I can complain with a few well selected status updates and get a string of comments to help fuel my pity party. I know...I've done it too.

But I must once again die to myself and take up my cross & obey the instruction God has given me - "Do EVERYTHING without arguing or complaining..." The good news is that there is a reason to do this...it's so we may shine like stars in a wicked and perverse generation.

This (once again) brings me back to social media. Crew beware. Your status, tweets, and texts are being seen my a wicked and perverse generation. The people in your friends list are getting a constant stream of your thoughts and they are seeing (or not seeing) Christ in your words. When we complain or argue we are telling the world that God is not as good as He we think He should be and this causes the unbeliever to mock out Lord.

Do we go through hard times, yes.
Do we struggle with things, yes.
Do we have to complain about those things for all to see, no.

This is not a post designed to beat up on everyone or point to anyone in particular. I am a social media guy and I need to guard my texts too. Here are a few questions to ask as you update you status:

1) Does it glorify God?
2) Am I complaining?
3) Does it benefit or hurt my church or Pastor David?
4) Can it cause someone to stumble?
5) Will it draw an unbeliever toward God?

Think about these things as you update and tweet. For those who are rebellious and have not jumped on the facebook bandwagon, this word still applies. As we teach kids and minister to parents be careful not to complain about serving or a troublesome child. While we may have the roughest day ever, we must still guard our tongues and make sure we are glorifying our Lord even amidst hardship.

So, now that the conviction boat has left the port ;-) , let me say that you all are the most amazing people in the world. I am blessed each week as I co-labor with you all each week in CM. Your hearts for the Lord and for service continue to bless me and Kat. Thank you.

Also, we look forward to another amazing VBS this year with you all! (June 13th-16th).

“Then David said, ‘This is the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar of burnt offering for Israel.” 1 Chronicles 22:1

For those who were in the service Thursday you know that it was a night of amazing announcements and Bible teaching.

First, we learned that Pastor Shawn and family have heeded the call of God to move to Birmingham to begin a Calvary Chapel. This is an amazing step of faith and a whole new adventure for the Bumper family. While we will miss this amazing couple and their two little one’s we rejoice knowing that what God has begun in this place is now branching off into other parts of the country.

Second, we got to be in attendance as pastor David and pastor Chas took the platform and announced that the Lord has opened the door for us to purchase the new building! This building is part of the Dudley property and includes a 50,000 square foot sanctuary that has the ability to hold 5000 people at once! The other 30,000 feet will house many other areas of ministry including The Disciple Ship. Of course, with 300+ kids coming through at a time we are going to need all hands on deck when we move over there.

Finally, pastor David brought an incredible teaching which was both challenging and exciting. We were in Chronicles 22 and PD spoke of David preparing the temple. God did not allow him to build it, but even with that news David went full force at making preparations for his son Solomon. As he spoke about the temple and then relayed it to our fellowship he said two words that resonate in my ears even today - come expecting.

These two words caused me to stop and think…”Am I doing that?”

Do I walk in the doors of the church and expect God to do amazing things? Do I sit down to listen to a teaching and expect God to speak to me through His word? Do I lift my voice and hands in worship and expect God to meet me there?

If not… I should.

As we turn a page in the story of Calvary Chapel of the Triad and see a new building on the horizon let’s come expecting.

Expecting…people saved.

ministry opportunities.

the power of God.

lives changed.

children experiencing God.

and so much more.

Are you ready? I know I am. As we come expecting let’s also come before Him in prayer. Pray for pastor Shawn and Christy. Pray for wisdom and provision with this new building.

Then come expecting God to answer.

“Because of God’s tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace.” Luke 1:78-79

The above verse are from an amazing prophecy from John the Baptist’s father, Zechariah. It’s a beautiful picture of what was about to take place in the life of John and then the Messiah, Jesus. This time of year is always special. After all we are celebrating one of the most incredible miracles EVER, the God of the universe wrapping Himself in human flesh and becoming one of His creations. Wow. I mean really...wow.

But (let’s be honest) how many times in the past month have we really sat in the quietness of our lives (if we even have any) and meditated on this fact? Yeah...not many times for me either. In fact, as the 25th draws closer and closer the stress level increases and the money decreases and the thought of the glorious God in a humble stable who will then go on to die to redeem mankind begins to disappear from our radar.

Now, before I find myself calling on all Christians to move our celebration of Christ’s birth to sometime in February...let me get to something that hit me as I began writing that last paragraph. This losing of focus during Christmas is not just a December issue...it effects the other 11 months too. How many times this past year did we get stressed and freaked out and find ourselves forgetting the One who bled and died so that we may have eternal life? In CM this is something that happens too...because after watching 20 hyper kids for two hours it’s hard to maintain the attitude of “I’m doing this for the Lord who loves me beyond measure” and rather it downgrades to “GET ME OUTTA HERE!!!!”.

This week in staff devotions pastor David mentioned the verse above and made the comment that while this verse was speaking of Jesus being the light of the world...our Lord then handed that off to us, as His church. We are to stand as a beacon of truth and love in the midst of a dark and hurting world. The only way we can do that is to focus on the One who provides the light. We produce nothing on our own, but when we are focused on the love of our soul we shine like the stars in the heavens and cause people to say, “they must have been with Jesus.”

So this Christmas as you fellowship with loved ones as well as tolerate hard-to-love ones focus on our Lord and what He has done. Don’t just see a manger scene and go “how sweet” but open the scriptures and soak in the amazing miracle of the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us. Immanuel (God with us) has come and He now sits at the right hand of the Father after conquering sin and death and calls us to shine with the brilliance of a billion Christmas lights to display His glory to a lost world. So celebrate Christmas this year with a renewed passion. May you all have a wonderful Christmas and thank you for being a light to the children we serve. You all are an amazing blessing to me and my family. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

So I was on twitter the other day and came across a very funny story from a guy named Jeremy Bell. I don’t know anything about Mr. Bell but he was writing a blog about a little incident that occurred with him, legos, and the SWAT team. You see, he had just purchased a lego set that was a realistic replica of a semi-automatic handgun. Someone must have spotted him through his window putting it together at work, because several hours later he hears his name being screamed down the hall and SWAT men tackling him and cuffing his hands.

In the end Mr. Bell shows them the lego gun and they let him go, but after I got done reading his story and looking at the cool lego set I starting thinking about something I read in K Magazine called, Redefining Maturity (by Sam Luce).

The fact is kids can spot a decoy a million miles away. If we are telling kids that Christ is amazing and that life committed to Him is awesome - it needs to be evident in our lives. In the article mentioned above it reads:

Perhaps [practicing the truths we teach] is the greatest gift we can give the kids under our care and ministry - a real life example that growing in Christ, indeed our spiritual formation, isn’t a plate of facts and knowledge but a dynamic relationship with Jesus that transforms and finds expression in the relationships and world around us.

Living examples - that is the key. All the teaching in the world is like a fake lego gun when it is not applied to our lives. But unlike that lego gun, a hypocritical life can do tremendous damage. The article goes on to mention that an important part of spiritual maturity is being able to feed oneself and includes a list of examples of ways to do this:

Read Your Bible - this seems like a big duh, but many times we get even too busy to read the very words of God. We all need to make sure this is priority in our lives.

Listen to Podcasts - I would also include getting into service or picking up a CD so that you have a steady diet of good biblical teaching encouraging and challenging you. As a servant in CM I know sometimes we have to double up & end up missing service, so make sure you get the podcast or CD .

Practice Transparent Faith - While we don’t need to air all our sins in front of everyone, being transparent about our faults and humanity helps bridge the gap between others. After all, it is only the grace of God that has saved us...not our super-spirituality.

Stay Connected - fellowship with like-minded believers who will encourage as well as inspire new ideas. This means beyond the walls of the church (ie: real life groups, servant fellowships etc).

As many of you know Pastor David is teaching is an awesome part of scripture that talks a lot about planting, watering, & God giving the increase. Of course, it is no coincidence that we had planned our servant appreciation week the week of all this planting talk. It’s also no coincidence that we are praying about the possible increase of a new building. So, whether you realize it or not - there’s a whole lot of growing going on.

I say all that because last night I was blown away by the shear volume of people who attended the servant dinner. I remember coming to my first servants breakfast and sitting in the 180 room enjoying eggs and grits, but last night we had a full youth sanctuary and overflow rooms filled with people who serve the Lord here at Calvary Chapel in many ways.

Today, though, I want to focus on you all who are near and dear to my heart - my CM servants. I say “my” because each one of you is part of this amazing family and so I count you as brothers and sisters. Each week I walk around the Children’s Ministry area and I am overwhelmed with the amazing things going on in the classrooms:

- The little babies & 1 year olds are being rocked and loved on.
- 2 year olds are sitting in awe as they learn biblical truths from puppets.
- 3’s & 4’s are listening to their teachers share Bible stories and fun crafts.
- Special needs children are engaged and sharing in the Christ centered environment around them.
- Kindergarten through 5th grade are laughing and learning as they watch skits, worship the Lord, and then dig into God’s word.

All of this is going on not one, not two, but four times a week. All that is made possible because you all have given of yourselves to minister to these awesome children. I know I may be biased, but I think CM is both the hardest area of service and the most rewarding area of service. That’s because in the same class you can have a child sitting in a seat upside down while singing Barney songs at the top of his lungs but then turn the corner and get a huge hug from a child who was impacted by your teaching. What a blessing.

1 Corinthians 3:8 says, “Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.” Each of you is building on the foundation of Christ, and our physical materials are paper, whiteboards, puppets, and crayons...but our other materials include a heart of God and a love for children.

I pray that the Lord rewards you each according to your hard work. Whether you see it or not, you are storing up treasures in heaven. After all, can you imagine getting to heaven and having a line of kids come up to you to say “thank you for teaching me about Jesus...I am here because of what the Lord did through you. Thank you for serving.”

Well, I realized it again this morning...I am human. And not just “human” but a clumsy, self-righteous one at that. It all started this morning while Amy was cooking up pancakes (imagine wavy “flashback” effect). I was working at my desk and had just grabbed another cup of coffee. Somehow between sitting it down and taking my hand out from between the handle I turned the mug upside down in some sort of acrobatic move that would have impressed the Ringling Brothers. In that split second I also realize that my new MacBook is sitting right next to the java flood and is about to go under, so with my bat like reflexes I grab the laptop and begin crying...that’s when Amy came over to slap me out of my stupor. Thus began my hour of unfortunate events…

About 15 minutes later I am in the kitchen staring at an empty pot of coffee hoping it will simply make itself when Emily (who is watering the plants on the porch) does not realize that she has begun to water the entire counter via a bowl that was pouring out of the sink onto the counter top. As I watch Amy is cupping her hands to catch the waterfall cascading over the brim and I am still in a stupor wondering if I can use that excess water to make some more coffee. When I finally realize what is going on we both grab every paper towel, dish rag, small animal available to wipe up the mess only to find that it has gone to the other side of the kitchen via the counter and down onto to the floor under the stove...nice.

It was at this moment that I begin losing it. I turn to Emily and as I open my mouth to tell her how she should be more careful God planted in my mind my little episode 15 minutes ago that about lost me a major item. As I looked into Emily’s eyes that were waiting for the gavel to come down I was convicted of my own frailty and simply hugged her.

After this heartwarming moment I got onto my knees and began cleaning up the water under the stove. Then as I grabbed the handle of the stove to pull myself up it gave away and broke off in my hand...nice again.

So you may be asking...why are you boring us with all these stories Mike?

Simple.

As I look at myself and my frailty and my weakness I am more and more blown away by the fact that God is using me. After all, there are much more graceful, intelligent people to use in this world...why me?

“But God has chosen the foolish things of this work to put to shame the wise, and has chosen the weak things of this world to put to shame the things that are mighty.” 1 Corinthians 1:27

Every time I read this passage I chuckle because this is my life story. I am foolish and weak, yet God has chosen to use me (and all of you) so that HIS power and HIS wisdom will be seen not our own.

As we serve parents by loving on their children and sharing Christ with them we know that God is using us. May we continue to put to shame the things of this world by showing them how God can use US to do HIS good work.

“Shout with joy to the LORD, all the earth! Worship the LORD with gladness. Come before Him, singing with joy. Acknowledge that the LORD is God! He made us, and we are His. We are His people, the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving; go into His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the LORD is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and His faithfulness continues to each generation.” Psalm 100

One of my favorite hymns is “Great Is Thy Faithfulness”. In fact, if the Lord decides to take me home before His return I want this sung at my funeral. They reason is simple...God is faithful. Not only that but when I have stumbled, fallen, & royally made a mess of things God has been there to discipline me, carry me, and forgive me. 2 Timothy 2:13 puts it this way, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.” When we are born-again we are made children of God. We are joint heirs with Christ and therefore are joined to God through the blood of Jesus. Because of this He is not going to turn His back to us, He will not deny us or reject us.

Of course, this does not mean we grab forgiveness and then jet out the door towards the next sin. 1 John is very clear that when we are saved we no longer walk in darkness because we have been given a new nature and begin desiring the things of God. BUT, as we struggle and strive (imperfectly) in this Christian walk we can know that our God is there. He is empowering us in our weakness, providing wisdom in times of need & comforting us when nothing else will.

In short...GOD IS FAITHFUL

I have seen this most recently inside the Disciple Ship. We just went through two major conferences and a jump to three services. I had doubts but God was faithful, and so where several of you.

So now I ask the tough question and it may sting a little. Since God has been faithful to us...should we not be faithful to Him? God did provide people to help serve during the conferences, but many of them pulled double (and triple) shifts. Is it fair to ask just 10 out of 150 people to be faithful and serve above & beyond? The answer is of course “no”. I know some may have had legit responsibilities (and I am not here to belittle anyone) but let me challenge you to pray about other events coming up and how you may help. As God continues to bless CCOT we will need to step up and make sure we are being faithful with what we have because what we have is from the One who is always faithful.