Easter Offering Challenge!
By Chad Dvoracek | March 11, 2009
This is posted over on our church website, www.whatifchurch.com. Maybe God will touch your heart to get involved with your community as well!
Easter Offering Challenge!
As we all know times are tough. The economy isn’t doing well, all over people are losing jobs. Where is the church in all of this? How can the body of Christ help, what should we be doing? Jesus said that he was fulfilling the prophesy in Isaiah that says:
“THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME,
BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR.
HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES,
AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND,
TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, (Luke 4:18)
We also read about the parable of The Good Samaritan in Luke 10. There are so many that are hurting and needing help right now, how can we just pass by and do nothing. Easter Sunday is known as the most attended church service all year long, which also usually means the biggest offering. We are a small church, but we will give away any offering that we take on Easter Sunday. Our offering will be going to a local agency that helps people all the time, it is called WECAN. There are so many needs and so little resources.
We usually don’t even meet on Sunday mornings but we feel strong enough that we must on this Sunday, to honor God, to honor our community. We challenge other churches, that will, to join us as we make a statement all around the Twin Cities that we care about the hurting and poor. We care about those in need in our communities. We will help.
Ask your church to make a bold statement to your community that with the biggest offering of the year, we give to our communities… we offer it back to God. If you don’t have a church or just want to be a part of this special offering. Come join us at 10:00am on Easter Sunday for our special community service. We are hoping that even as we are small, that God would take our offering of a few fish and a few loaves of bread and do something amazing with it! Will you join us?
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Living in today.
By Chad Dvoracek | March 1, 2009
Lately I have been just terrible at updating my blog and working on some of my web projects. You get so many things going that you just don’t have time for the REALLY important stuff. Blogging is nowhere near the top of my list as REALLY important by the way.
If you are busy like me, you have to prioritize the things that really matter, the things you value most. So how do you go about doing this?
For me it comes down to a simple series of goals based on what’s going on in my life today. I am really trying to live in today.
The first thing is me and God. That’s a given. Spend time with the head of the universe. His appointment book is always open to you. Spend time with the King when your mind is fresh and you can think clearly. I am not talking about the prayer list of everyone’s issues (or all the church issues) I am talking about personal talk, family stuff, getting your head screwed on right for the day.
Next comes family. What does my family need from me today. What can I give to them. What do I need to pay attention to? Anyone sad, need to talk, need a hug, need to dream, need to laugh?
Of course this also is placed in the context of what else controls my time. Work…but…really important point coming next…if all your quality time is taken up by your job and you do not have time for the above two things, you are NOT honoring God. So, in all reality you may need a career change. Be smart though, it’s not a good economy to just up and quit so if you need a change find the new job before you hand in your resignation.
Ministry to others is part of the job. Yes, it’s part of who we are as Christians but again if you aren’t getting 1 (you and God) and 2 (you and family) you do not have your values set right.
The key is to live in today. Set your time and schedule based on your top priorities and then be open to God for ministry to others as a part of life not an event. Yes…I Know…sometimes we need to schedule ministry events but serving others in the context of life is usually way more effective to actually helping people.
Live in today. Know what your values and priorities are, step up and do it! Enjoy!
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Follow up on “I don’t like going to church.”
By Chad Dvoracek | January 14, 2009
A few weeks ago I wrote about our leadership team and how many of us didn’t really like going to church or I should say didn’t like sitting though the services in prior churches that we have been a part of. I have really been spending some time thinking about what I do like about gathering together.
I like sincerity and transparency. I like being myself and allowing others to be real. In life everything isn’t always OK, everything isn’t always perfect. Sometimes we are tempted and even sin, sometimes we are just in a bad mood or cranky. Sometimes I get mad and frustrated, even at God. I don’t think any of this shocks or surprises God, it shouldn’t shock us either. When we allow others to see us as we really are…forgiveness, love and acceptance must prevail. Otherwise we all just go back to being fake.
I like being prayed for. It shows that others care. It goes back to being real, we have real needs, let’s pray about the stuff that REALLY matters for one another.
I like having the opportunity to be useful and to use my skills. Whatever that might be, I like to feel like I am a part and make a difference.
I like hearing about when God does cools things in peoples lives. I like it when I see the “light bulb” go on in peoples head and I can tell…”Yeah, they get it!” I like seeing life changes that mean something.
I like music. I like to worship in music.
I like laughing and having fun with friends.
I like to eat while laughing and having fun with friends.
I like to be taught something interesting that challenges me, both spiritually and mentally. I like it when the speaker ends before I get bored. Ouch….I need to listen to my own advice so when I speak, I end while people are still interested.
I like taking steps of faith that gives God room to do something really cool.
I like variety. Change it up a bit, do something unexpected.
I am sure there are probably more. My dream is to create a gathering place where people enjoy to go. Not out of obligation or just because they know they should, but because they really want to be there. I think we are on the right path. Always room to improve, but on the right path.
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Merry Christmas!
By Chad Dvoracek | December 25, 2008
May God bless you and your family this year as you honor Him in all you do. May your families be filled with peace and God provide your every need.
Jesus thank you for coming to us to bring us salvation and hope. Let your glory be evident in me and my family.
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I don’t like going to church.
By Chad Dvoracek | December 10, 2008
Our leadership team has been having a lot of discussions on our main service on Saturday nights (I love meeting on Saturday nights by the way). We all came to a rather shocking conclusion…non of us like attending church, for the most part any church. Wow. We have been trying to figure out what we want to be and what we want our main service to look like. This brought up the discussion of likes and dislikes. Funny part about this is we all agreed that we have been highly involved in the church services of our past, because we have been avoiding being an attendee. I had to laugh at this. This led to some really incredible discussions.
It’s not that we don’t like the idea of church and real faith, it’s just that church seems to be too event focused and we want something more. We are all tired of the monologue style of service. We agreed that we all loved music and worship, we liked the community of friendship and the hanging out but the presentation part of church needs to change. It needs to be more interactive, more relational and allow real experience with one another. What this is all going to look like in the end, I don’t know. That’s the fun part, let’s keep working at this experiment until we get where we need to be. Let it evolve into something that we can all really be proud to be a part of. Yes, I used the word evolve, the word itself isn’t evil, it’s a very definitive word.
The whole experience needs to be re-thought. We have some ideas but I am not going to share all of those yet. Maybe later. :) We want people to have a quality experience from the time they walk in, not just a polished event experience but the whole package. We have a ways to go, but we are excitied about the journey to get there.
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Go after it then!
By Chad Dvoracek | December 3, 2008
What is it that you want out of life? What are your dreams and ambitions? Most people know what they want but never take the step to go get it. Sometimes it’s as easy as asking, other times you need to create a complex strategy that takes time, determination and thought. Get after it then! You know you want a better life, marriage, job, deeper spirituality or whatever it may be, we also know its not going to just fall into your lap.
Find out the tools you needs, get a team to help you and then accomplish your dream. If you don’t know, then ask someone to help you. This is no time to be timid or bashful…use what you know, use what others know then guess on what you don’t know. Either way, take the first step.
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New Blackberry Bible version is available.
By Chad Dvoracek | November 21, 2008
For those of you that know, I am really enjoying my new Blackberry (they call it a Crackberry for good reason, it is addictive). It is amazing what this thing can do. It really helps with staying connected on the go and with productivity. In the world of electronic communication that speeds up our communication we also get slammed with too much information. It can turn it into a nightmare. By utilizing the new technology right, you can save lots of time in getting back to people and quickly sifting through the junk. No more full inbox when I come into work and all “important” communication has already happened.
I understand this may not work well for everyone. Some of you want to check out from work when you leave. As a Pastor though this is not a 9-5 job and you are somewhat always “on duty” and when working with those under 30 or in college their lives certainly don’t happen on a 9-5 schedule. Since you can waste a lot of time on technology I am really trying to focus on improving productivity and everyday things not just playing games or looking are the latest and greatest of whatever.
Anyway…what does this have to do with my title? Over at Swerve a leadership, technology, and innovation blog for pastors and church leaders operated by the guys at Lifechurch.tv have just released a free version of the Bible for Blackberry. They previously released one for the iPhone in April. It is really exciting to see the church get into this kind of developement and releasing it for FREE! All the good versions too. Anyway check it out. You can download it from www.youversion.com/bb/ A very useful item in a world full of time wasting technology.
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What do we need in our life with God?
By Chad Dvoracek | November 13, 2008
Today as I was getting ready and just spending some time in prayer and contemplation I was thinking about some of the things I really need in my spiritual journey. What are the necessities? I know the regular things like reading the Word, meditation and prayer as I thought about my relationship with God but another thought came up that took me by surprise a bit. I had to think about it for a while.
As I think about God as Father, it helps understand some of my feelings toward God. One of the things I really want to know from God is that He approves of me. Here I am, a leader in a church, grown up Father of 3 and yet I still need/want the basic things like approval and acceptance. This seems kid of sissy, but it’s true. :) As a man you want to be independent and tough, able to stand firm, to be the rock for your family. But on the inside I really need God’s approval and acceptance. I want to know that what I am doing in life and ministry God looks at it and agrees. In the past, the way I have dealt with this feeling is to compartmentalize it as seeking God’s will, but really this isn’t it. What I really want to know is does God approve.
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Be a part of your community.
By Chad Dvoracek | November 11, 2008
Our leadership team has been discussing ideas on how to reach our community. How to get involved and make a difference. How to be a part of the community not just to evangelize (that is important) but also how be a positive member of the community for the sake of the community.
I had a few thoughts on this that I want to share with all of you. First you need to think about your natural connections. Those people and things you already know or are passionate about. Like if you have kids, your natural connections would be the school (PTA etc.), sports, really whatever your kids are involved it. If you don’t have children yet, what are your passions? What do you like to do? Think of your hobbies. Find a ways to get involved with the community with areas that you are already excited about.
If you haven’t filled your calender already with just a few of these then start looking at civic organizations or other places that may need your help. We will talk more about some of these ideas later.
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Go vote!
By Chad Dvoracek | November 4, 2008
I know you have probably heard it a billion times already today, but it is important enough to say it again…get out there and vote. It sounds like this is going to be a historic turnout, as it should. These are some tough times in our economy and we certainly need good leadership for the next 4 years. Spend some time in prayer, and then go vote.
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