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Philpott Inside :: Apr 2004
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Tue, 27 Apr 2004
Apr 27, 2004, 14:38
[top/family_news]
New on April Twenty-Seventh, 2004
It has been rumoured that Ken Bell has been mistaken for the Dalai Lama!
Wilf Vandervelde reports that a new faucet has been installed in the church kitchen as well as a new outside one at Vine St.
Wade and Kathryn Buzanko are moving to Paris June 24th.
Youth Group News:
May 8th - Christian Band Concert at Canada’s Wonderland.
Marjorie Miller thanks the Lord she’s walking again.
Leah Grieshrecht has just returned from a month visiting family & friends, sharing her faith in the Philippines.
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Tue, 20 Apr 2004
Apr 20, 2004, 14:38
[top/contributions]
When Worshipping God Becomes Idolatry
I found a very good article on the web a couple of days ago. We are moving as a church from being traditionalists, or high-taste spectators to being seeker sensitive, focused on church-growth. Here’s an important warning:
All the above can be boiled down into a three-part artistic dilemma that has faced the church for centuries. First, if art is beautiful, it has to be used whether it is effective or not. This is the idol of quality. Second, if art is effective, it must be used, irrespective of quality. This is the idol of effectiveness. Third, if art has worked well, don’t change it. This is the idol of stasis. There is no church, large or small, rich or poor, ethnically diverse or homogeneous, that will not face one, two or all three of these dilemmas. But it usually works out that the high-culture/high-taste artists face the first idol; the church-growth/seeker-sensitivity leadership, the second; and the traditionalists, the third.
This is an important wake-up call for all of us as we pursue growing and being effective as a church. If we’re not careful, the whole endeavour can be an exercise in envy:
When something works well and is frozen into its own continuity, we have entered idol territory through an ecclesiastically acceptable door, because we can point to this or that church and say, “Look how God is blessing. Let’s change our ways to match theirs so we can expect the same.” Here the idol can be described in Pauline terms as the gospel being preached in envy (Phil 1:15). Church growth by envy is only a little better than church growth by compromise, which is only a little better than church shrinkage through snobbery or stasis, because all are idols going by different names.
You’ll want to read the whole article.
~Jason
“This article first appeared in the 04/06/2004 issue of Christianity Today. Used by permission of Christianity Today International, Carol Stream, IL 60188.”
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Thu, 15 Apr 2004
Apr 15, 2004, 14:38
[top/family_news]
New on April Eleventh, 2004
Wanted - Prayer for the future of the Tuesday night ESL program.
Frank Hallman will consult with a surgeon following an injury to the rotator cuff on his right shoulder.
The huge container packed by Philpott men and woman, and destined for Glen Wilton at Adi arrived completely intact. It was unloaded by chaining one end to a mango tree, and resting the other end on a pile of rubble. The customs inspectors sat passively drinking tea while all the process took place. The driver accepted the Lord shortly after the container arrived.
Aislin Booth, Gord & June Smith’s granddaughter is beginning to walk again after her surgery.
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Thu, 08 Apr 2004
Apr 08, 2004, 14:38
[top/family_news]
New on April Fourth, 2004
- Lois and Ken Bell recently returned from Japan, after a month long enjoyable visit with their daughter and son-in-law and family (missionaries in Japan).
- David Chan, and his wife Jane (Dobson) completed the Round the Bay Race last Sunday. Jane’s time was 2 hr 24 minutes, beating David, whose time was 3 hr 19 minutes.
- Corrie Vanderweed has arrived back from Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, and is still shivering!
- The College and Careers group had a delicious breakfast at the Maple Leaf Pancake House. Why not join them next time?
- Julie Garden recently played the part of a flamboyant nurse in Philpott’s “Little Theatre”.
- George and Peggy Donner spent a relaxing two weeks in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
- Glen Brown reports that the Adopt-a-People discipleship training in Nepal has been completed with 14 participants, praise God.
- A “small Group” meeting has been organized at City Mission. Hosted by Chester, led by Bernie, it takes place Wednesday nights from 7 to 9.
- Ladies are cordially invited for fellowship every Thursday afternoon at 2:00 pm. Contact Lee Mutschke.
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Tue, 06 Apr 2004
Apr 06, 2004, 14:38
[top/family_news/showers]
Baby Shower for Vicki Snider
Vicki Snider and her family are expecting
a foster child placement any time. We’d like to support her in this ministry by giving a baby shower on:
TUESDAY, APRIL 13, 2004 AT 7:30
The shower will be at the home of Jan and Malcolm Sears. For directions, contact the church office.
The baby will be from 0-2yrs, so unisex clothing in an assortment of sizes and seasons would be appropriate.
Items can be new or used, in good condition. Vicki and Stan are starting over with baby stuff, so they need everything!
RSVP to debi Fusilier by email (debifusilier@yahoo.com or phone, 905 318 2814
debi Fusilier
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Mon, 05 Apr 2004
Apr 05, 2004, 14:38
[top/contributions]
Passion Initiative Update
Dear Friends,
It has been a great privilege to coordinate The Passion Initiative here in Canada. Amid a barrage of publicity and controversy in the media, a great number of positive stories are emerging.
In early January, prior to our advance screenings of the film, I wrote about the importance of encouraging people to see the film so God could touch their hearts, and of connecting them to the gospel so Christ can change their lives.
From the beginning I was careful not to promise fruit from these efforts, only opportunity. And opportunities abound for talking to people about our wonderful Lord Jesus as a result of the release of The Passion of the Christ.
By God’s grace there has also been fruit. In the first week the film was released 76 people either received Christ or rededicated their lives to Him on our web site http://www.TheLife.com. Several visitors to our chat room told of their friends and acquaintances that came to faith during discussions after the film.
Just today one of our staff told me of a woman, a Christian of 30 years, who led her unbelieving husband to the Lord after he saw the film. In her words, “the film broke him.” I am sure you probably have heard similar stories.
This email is sent to encourage you with what God is doing and to say thank you to those who have participated in the project and have used our materials. I hope you found them helpful.
If you did not get our materials, or need more, there is one last chance to order now. You may find them appropriate for your Easter services or outreaches. Anything not sold by the end of Easter will be sent to the Philippines for use in their campaign and we do not have the ability to reprint.
To order materials you can go to http://www.sharethelife.com or call New Life Resources [604.514.2016 or 800.667.0558]. More information is enclosed below. To read the entire content of the booklets visit http://www.TheLife.com.
Finally, if you have stories of how God used the opportunity surrounding The Passion Initiative in your church and community, I would love to hear from you. With your permission, I may publish your story in our newsletter to encourage others in their efforts.
May God’s blessing rest on you, your church and your work for the Kingdom.
Together in ministry,
Bob Kraemer
National Coordinator
Passion Initiative
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Fri, 02 Apr 2004
Apr 02, 2004, 14:38
[top/family_news/events]
Exciting Series Development
The programming team which helps to plan the services Sunday morning at 9:30 has been hard at work. We’ve got some exciting direction for the upcoming weeks.
Palm Sunday and Easter we are beginning a group of talks on baggage with “Come As You Are.” Everyone has baggage, right? So do we deal with it first, and then come to God? Or does got want us, warts and all?
Following that the series is called, “All Aboard the Life-Change Express.” We’ll talk about how we should pack our baggage for the Pathway journey. God not only accepts us as we are, he loves us and will use our baggage as we reach out to others.
Finally, our long-range planning takes us to June, in which we will discuss the problem of repentance:
If you tell me to REPENT, aren’t you judging me? What is repentance anyway? What is evil? What is sin? How can you say that I’m really a bad person? I haven’t killed anybody… Why was Jesus’ tempted?
We are planning on calling this message series, “Law & Order”
We’re so enthusiastic about the upcoming months. Be sure to invite a friend to attend!
~Jason Silver
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Thu, 01 Apr 2004
Apr 01, 2004, 14:38
[top/contributions]
The Wallenda Factor
George Bullard is a innovative church-health leader, and this was taken from his blog site:
Monday, March 22, 2004 was the 26th anniversary of the day Karl Wallenda, patriarch of The Flying Wallendas, fell 75 feet to his death while walking a cable strung between two hotels in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
In reflecting on the time around his death, his widow explained that during the months preceding his death Karl transitioned from a life style and attitude of confidence and courage, to one of fear and precaution. He morphed from being an aerialist who lived to fly across the wire, to a hesitant high wire actor who was concerned about the fear of falling.
This fear of falling or failing is today known as The Wallenda Factor. It refers to people and situations where the fear of failure smothers the joy of soaring. It refers to people and situations where problem-solving erases an affirm and build process, where counting the “no” votes is more important than counting the “yes” votes, and negatives are more important than positives.
Congregations who take on challenging spiritual strategic journeys are often subject to The Wallenda Factor. They fear the possibility of failure as they travel along their journey. They focus on fixes rather than solutions. They seek to bring everyone along with them on the journey, and would rather halt the journey than leave anyone behind.
The Wallenda Factor is particularly expressed in congregations when a threat of some type is present. People often are afraid the threat will become a full reality, and that the congregation will be harmed. Much of their dialogue is around the possibility of something negative happening to the congregation, rather than the opportunity to soar that is often also present during a time of threat or challenge.
Does your congregation soar with the collective spiritual gifts, life skills, and personality preferences of the people connected with it? Or, does it focus on not failing, and thus takes few, if any, risks to minister to the people God has placed along the path of their journey; much less to engage in cutting edge discipleship development for people connected with the congregation?
Is it concerned that if it fails that it will possibly lose some of it strengths, capacities, and even members who are necessary to continue the quality and quantity of ministry to which it has become accustomed? Or, is it open to the new thing that God is doing in it, and gladly risks comfort to pioneer new areas of ministry into which God is leading it?
Are the leadership gatherings of your congregation filled with challenging dialogue about the emerging ministry trends of the congregation, and the possibilities for unconditionally sharing the love of God? Or, are their filled with cautious dialogue about the scarcity of finances, the lack of available leaders, and the necessity to not move forward if there is one person not in favor?
~Lane Fusilier
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