Category: Egyéb

Ga BleshU

Published on by nickcady3 Comments

Do you remember that Seinfeld episode where they talked about why we say “God bless you” when someone sneezes? One of them – I can't remember if it was Elain or Jerry – suggested was that instead we should say, “You're so good looking!”, because that would really make people feel better.

I saw this display at Sprouts in Longmont today:

Ga Ble Shu: You know, for when you're not really into God, but you feel like you should say something when people sneeze.

What do you think? Harmless advertising gimmick or a sign of the spiritual climate?

 

A Message from Ukraine

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Maybe you have heard about what’s happening in Ukraine – where upwards of 25,000 people have taken to the streets in anti-government protests. 

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A friend of mine who is a pastor in Ukraine spoke at our church here in Longmont a few months ago (click here to watch that video), and today I asked him to write a brief synopsis on what is going on in Ukraine and how we can be praying for them. Here is what he wrote:

“And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it…” 1 Cor. 12:26

You may have seen in the news recently that Ukraine, a former Soviet republic sandwiched between Russia and the European Union, is in the middle of massive street protests.  These protests were originally in reaction to the president breaking his promise to sign an association agreement with the EU.  People were angry and began to protest on the main square of the capital, Kiev.  After a few days on Nov. 30th, the president tried to end the protest with a massive show of violence, sending out special forces and riot police to beat peaceful protesters with batons.  They struck in the middle of the night when the fewest number of protesters were there to resist.  They beat both men and women indiscriminately and savagely, though the protesters posed no threat.  The president hoped that he would be able to put a stop to the people calling him to accountability for his broken promises.  He was wrong.  The reaction was the opposite and the next day many more people joined the protest.  This became no longer primarily a question of economics or which countries to build alliances with, but an outcry against human rights abuses, violence and oppression.  
Last night the president sent in troops and police again to try to clear the main square, though with more restraint as far as violence goes.  They attack began around 1:30am local time, again when there were less protesters to resist.  Many believers across Ukraine began praying.  We called each other, sent texts, waking one another up to stand before our mighty God and Savior and ask for Him to intervene.  It looked like this was the end of the protest and there was a thin line of protesters holding back a flood of riot police.  But then little by little people flocked to the square from all over Kiev in the middle of the night.  Soon the numbers were even.  Then the protesters were the majority.  By a miracle of the grace of God and in response to the prayers of His people, the protesters endured through the night and are still there.  The morning found a renewed protest and masses flocked to rebuild the barricades the police and special forces had torn down during the night.  
But the conflict is not over.  Tonight promises to be an important and difficult night on Independence Square in Kiev.  The protesters are more organized now, talking about organizing shifts for the night watch, but even then it will not be easy.  Also, the temperatures dipped down to almost 5F during the night last night.  Many of our brothers and sisters in Christ, including many pastors, are on the main square and will spend the night there ministering to the people and praying for God’s protection and peace and that His justice would triumph.  Near the beginning of the protests, some pastors set up an inter-denominational prayer tent on the square and people are coming to pray and even receiving Christ during this difficult time!  
The Word of God calls us to stand in unity and solidarity with both our brothers and sisters in Christ and with the oppressed and weak.  In this case, there is great overlap in those two categories.  I would beg you to stand together with the church in Ukraine before God and intercede at this pivotal moment in the nation’s history.  

Please pray for the following points:
1. Not against any party or person per se, but for the nation of Ukraine, that God would pour out His blessing and mercy on this people.

2. That God, who is not a God of disorder, but of peace (1 Cor 14:33) would establish His peace, order and justice in this land.

3. That God, who hates the hands that shed innocent blood (Pr. 6:17) would protect the people from violence and bloodshed, regardless of political affiliation.

4. That God would bless those currently in power by bringing them to repentance and the knowledge of Him and that they would rule in submission to God and turn from their wickedness, that we might live quietly and peaceably. (2 Tim. 2:2)

5. That the people would not be cursed in turning their hope to yet another man or political party in this time of trouble, but would be blessed by putting their hope in the Lord. (Jer. 17:5-7)

6. That the true enemy of man, Satan, who desires to steal, kill and destroy, would be cast down and that his plots would not prevail. (Eph. 6:12)

7. That, as our Lord Himself taught us to pray, the kingdom of God would come and His will be done on earth as in heaven. (Mt. 6:10)

Thank you for standing together as one body with your brothers and sisters in Ukraine.  God bless you and God bless the people of Ukraine!

“Most Americans lead very busy and very undisciplined lives”
– Jim Collins, ‘Good to Great’

This quote rings true to me of people I know and oftentimes, sadly of myself.

Discipline in all areas of my life is something I have been trying to cultivate more and more. I’ve always been concerned about discipline, but for this season in my life it is one of my main focuses.

What I’ve found is that when I am more disciplined, I am happier, more content, and more focused. The areas I’ve been focusing on in this quest for greater disciple are: Spiritual, Physical (working out), Financial, and Familial (dedicating time with my family and not allowing distractions).

Thing is, that we live in a very “noisy” world. Mobile phones constantly blink and buzz, asking for our attention, for ‘just a second’. What I’ve found is, the more disciplined I am with every area of my life – giving myself boundaries and holding to them – the less time I end up running around ‘fighting fires’, and the more I am able to be fruitful in the areas where God has called me to be.

All of us are stewards of the resources we’ve been given by the Lord. May we be found to be good stewards of everything he’s given us – investing them and multiplying them for his glory and for the good of others.

I’m on a journey, seeking to be more disciplined with everything God has given me.

Thoughts?

Rest in Peace Nelson Mandela

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Here are some quotes from Nelson Mandela, who died today at age 95.

It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory, when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership.

There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.

 

Obligatory Post Bemoaning Black Friday

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As a pastor, there are a few things you are expected to blog about at Thanksgiving:

  • Thanksgiving is the best holiday ever.
  • Black Friday is the worst thing that has ever happened, ever. It is the epitome of American consumerism encroaching on family.

This week, the Longmont Times-Call ran an article about a woman who is heading up an initiative to take turkey sandwiches to employees of businesses that are open for sales on Thanksgiving day. Nice, right? Well, the lady heading it up also mentions in the article that she is planning to take her family out to eat at a restaurant on Thanksgiving day, so they can spend time together rather than spending the day cooking. Um… is she the only one who doesn’t see the irony in that? In the comments section, she claims that the difference is that retail workers ‘have to be there on Thanksgiving even though they would rather be with their families.’ I guess the restaurant workers are at work by choice on Thanksgiving day…and wouldn’t rather be home with their families?

Here’s my take on Black Friday – sales are awesome. But we should limit this whole thing to the internet. That way everyone can stay home with their families, and we can all get great prices on stuff without having to leave the house or wait in line in the cold at night. I think it would be a win-win.

Hope you have a great Thanksgiving!

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. (Psalm 9:1)

In case I forgot to mention it: Thanksgiving is the best holiday ever.

Son of God: New movie about Jesus

Published on by nickcady4 Comments

The story the world can’t get enough of…

When we worked with refugees in Hungary, we used to show them the Jesus film, which follows the Gospel of Luke. I love the Gospel of Luke, but I have to say – that was one very boring depiction of it.

After watching this trailer, I have to say that this new movie looks hopeful, that it might be the best Jesus movie yet.
We’ll have to wait and see how biblical it is and if/where they decide to take liberties.

I saw Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” – but there was something that irked me about it. Not sure what it was – although it might have been the part where Jesus is credited with inventing the chair…

I’m looking forward to this movie though. How about you?

Article in the Longmont Times-Call about Project Greatest Gift

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Article in the Longmont Times-Call about Project Greatest Gift

Last week I wrote a post about an initiative that White Fields Community Church is doing to bless children in foster care at Christmastime. 

The Longmont Times-Call newspaper featured Project Greatest Gift and some other Longmont holiday initiatives in this article.

Young Life in Longmont

Published on by nickcady2 Comments

A few months ago, my wife and I were talking with some people from White Fields – and the topic of Young Life came up. This friend of ours was telling us how she had been involved in volunteering at a YL camp up near Winter Park. Then another friend from White Fields told us that he had applied for a job up at that same camp.

So my wife and I had this conversation: “I wonder if Young Life is doing anything in Longmont…”

A few weeks later, historic flooding happened right here in Longmont. Houses were flooded, roads were washed out. Lots of destruction.

As one does, I went to go check out the destruction. Here’s the picture we took of Sunset Street in Longmont:

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Sunset Street – owned by the St Vrain River

As we’re standing there, some other guys come up and stand right on the edge of the road. I tell the guy: “Hey, watch out, that’s not stable!” Then somehow we got to talking – they asked if I was from Longmont, they told me they recently moved to town from Boulder. I asked what brought them to Longmont – and they told me: “We moved here to start a Young Life branch for the St. Vrain Valley.”

“Really?” I said. “I’m the pastor of a church here in town and my wife and I and some people from church were just talking about how we would love to work with Young Life here in Longmont.”

And that is how I met Ben and Tim, who are heading up the new Young Life branch in the St Vrain Valley.

Since then, they’ve started doing Wyld Life meetings for middle schoolers here in town, and had great turnouts. I’ve gotten together with them a few times – in fact, I just had lunch with them again today. They are great guys, doing great work.

Check out what they are doing – it’s great stuff. The meetings they do are fun and are a safe environment for kids in middle school – and they love parental involvement. Here is their website: St Vrain Valley Young Life

 

What is the best thing happening at your church?

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About 2 months ago I got invited to a pastors’ lunch up in Berthoud. There were about 12 of us there from different churches in Northern Colorado – I was the only one from Longmont. There was a guest speaker, Ray, who pastors a large church in Sacramento.

I’ve been to these kinds of meetings before – but this one was different, because Ray asked a question that I wasn’t expecting:

“What is the best thing happening at your church?”

That was the question which he opened the meeting with, and it caught me off guard! I had expected Ray to talk about the great things that he is doing, or to ask: ‘what needs to change at your church?’ – but I wasn’t ready for that question: “What is the BEST thing happening at your church?”

It seems that the other pastors in the room were caught off guard by it too, because many of them didn’t know what to say. Quickly though, momentum picked up and everyone had plenty to say on that topic – including me.

Ray went on to explain that we need to stop focusing on what is lacking, and we need to start focusing on what is right – the areas where our church is knocking it out of the park and killing it, the things that we just naturally do well, and we need to do those things more and better!

I have found this concept to be so freeing, so invigorating and exciting and so vision-focusing – not only when it comes to visioneering for church, but when it comes to life and who God has called me to be.
The essence is: Who is it that God has uniquely gifted and called you to be? What is that niche that God has created you for and called you to?  You can’t be everything – but you can be something, and if you learn to focus on being and doing what God has uniquely called and gifted you to do and be, then you will thrive, and it won’t be contrived, it won’t be a burden – it will feel like you just stepped into the fast-current on the lazy river ride at the water park, rather than being stuck in the whirlpool.

This is important when it comes to church, because the fact is that there are other churches out there. And there are many churches that are doing things that we aren’t – or can’t. BUT – there are things that we can do better than any of them; there is a culture that we have, that they don’t. There is a place and a role that God has uniquely given us in the Body of Christ in this place. There is a reason why people come to our church – and it’s not because they don’t know that there are other churches out there.

So I’ve been asking the question: What are the greatest things happening at White Fields church?
And THOSE are the things I want to be focused on. Those are the things I want to turn the dial UP on and make better. Rather than focusing on what we aren’t (yet) – I want to focus on what we ARE and what makes us great, uniquely – and turn up the dial on that! When you start thinking that way, you are no longer “competing” with other churches, but you realize that you are each filling a different role in the Body of Christ.

The danger is, that if we spend all our energy focused on what we aren’t (yet), we can neglect the things which to us are as easy and natural as falling off a log – and then those things will suffer as a result. The end result of that? We are mediocre at EVERYTHING and great at nothing. Rather, our focus should be on being GREAT at the things which God has uniquely gifted us to be and do – and those are usually the things which come most naturally to us – which are as easy as falling off a log.

People wanted David to fight Goliath the way that Goliath was good at fighting. David knew that he could probably do that – but it wasn’t what he was good at. He knew that he wasn’t Goliath. But he also knew what he was: he was David. And he had certain abilities and strengths, that he was uniquely gifted at: he could sling a rock like no one else! So he went out to battle with his strength, and ended up victorious.
It is important to know who you are, who you aren’t – and how God has uniquely gifted and called you. Go to battle with that, and you are much more likely to be victorious.

This doesn’t just apply only to church – it applies to many areas of life, business, etc. Who has God uniquely called you to be? What is the niche that God has called you to fill?  You don’t have to be everything! But God has called you and gifted you uniquely for somethings. Focus on those things. Go and kill it in those areas, and focus on developing those areas and being GREAT at those things.

Leave me a comment below and tell me: What’s the BEST thing happening in your church?

 

Project Greatest Gift – A Longmont Initiative to Help Children in Foster Care

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One of the great outreaches we do here at White Fields church in Longmont is a home-grown initiative called Project Greatest Gift, which is our ministry at Christmastime to children in foster care.

Project Greatest Gift has been a tradition at White Fields since the beginning of our church, but in the past it was limited in the number of families we were able bless. After looking at ways to broaden its impact on the community and considering alternative programs such as Operation Christmas Child, we decided to attempt to bless the “orphans” of Northern Colorado. Since no orphanages existed in this area, God led us to reach out to local foster families. A couple in the church was heavily involved in the foster system and they offered to make contacts within that system to find families in need. Beginning in 2009, as a result of God’s provision and their efforts, we were able to begin blessing the foster families in Weld and Adams counties through the generous gifts of the congregation at White Fields.  Over the years, we have continued to see God’s great provision for us so we are able to continue to share His abundance with others.

In past years, our church family has provided gifts for around 40 to 60 kids. This year we have had a great outpouring of generosity, and people from our congregation have signed up to provide gifts for 90 children in Adams and Weld counties!

For those of you unfamiliar with the purpose of foster care, it is safe homes, loving caregivers and other family members who take in and provide for children whose living situation is unsafe.  Unfortunately, through no fault of their own, many children live in homes with parents addicted to drugs, who are neglectful or abusive, or who do not know how to care for children appropriately.  So foster homes are critical to meet the needs of these children while birth parents work to recover and learn to parent.  Sometimes, foster homes are also where children’s needs are met while they await a forever home through adoption.  Children in foster care experience grief and loss.  Even when their living situation was unsafe, children mourn its loss, as that is all they had ever known.  Foster parents serve not only as loving caretakers, but often also as counselors as they help the children in their care through this grief and loss.  We are so thankful that we can in some way bless these foster families too by helping provide gifts at Christmastime.

In addition to the blessing of Christmas gifts, please pray for these children that they would soon have a forever family, and more importantly, that they would come to know Jesus Christ as their savior, and God as their Heavenly Daddy.