Sunday Mind Dump

• Good church today in both services.
  
  
• Attendance was 478 – it looked much higher to me , but that’s what was turned in.
  
  
• Especially enjoyed the second half of the song service. The two songs “Inside Out” and “Refiner’s Fire” were on-target. Inside Out is downright powerful. I could tell it got off the stage and was moving people. The other song, Refiners Fire, was effective in another way; it’s sung like a prayer which tends to make us “vertically” focused, and it is easy to sing making it easy to draw everyone into participating in the moment (instead of watching).
  
  
• It was good to see so many people at the end of both services on their feet with uplifted hands worshipping God. My view from the stage was powerful – 478 people lifting their hands towards heaven translates into 956 hands up in the air. I wish someone had taken a picture.
  
  
• Seen another couple in service today that I haven’t seen in two years. I think God is up to something.
  
  
• We’ve got some serious momentum going on right now. i.e., The preaching is hard & the people are loving it. Attendance is consistently high. Old friends are coming back. Giving is good. The spiritual barometer in our church is burning red hot. Leadership standards are being raised and people are meeting the challenge. The integrity of the ministry is rock solid. Teenagers are selling out to God. Disciples are being mentored and developed. I mean good things are happening across the board at PCC!
  
  
• Did you noticed how many teenagers were sitting on the front row in the first service today? Easily 30 of them. They had their Bibles open, were taking notes (not passing them), were worshipping God, and soaking it all up. I think it’s good for the teenagers to be in “big church.” It ministers to me having them join us.
  
  
• I think the Biblical text for today’s sermon – Malachi 3 – caused a lot of people to have a spiritual epiphany (i.e., an appearance of manifestation of a deity; a sudden perception or insight). It was evident to me that a lot of people began meditating on the idea of Jesus visiting His people like a Refiner’s Fire or Fuller’s Soap for the purpose of purifying and cleansing us.
  
  
• A lot of people told me they really enjoyed the silversmith illustration.
  
  
• I liked the thought of God holding us in a “hot spot.”
  
  
• What I liked the most came from the Bible text that contrasted the difference between God’s judgment upon His people and His judgment upon the unrepentant. God judges us FIRST and for the purpose of REFINING. He judges the unrepentant for the purpose of CONSUMING them. This speaks to the security we have in God.
  
  
• I did a much better job of explaining this thought in the second service than I did in the first service.
  
  
• Maybe that’s a good reason for more of you to attend the second serivce – the sermon is better because I’ve already had a practice-run on everyone else in the first service.
  
  
• Some nice notes were turned in today.
  
  
• One man said this: “I just want to thank you for this ministry. My wife and I have been attending for about one year. With your help and that of some small groups we have attended, I feel like for the first time in my life I understand God and His Word.” He went on to say: “As a child I completed all the sacraments up to confirmation, but never felt touched by the Lord. But now I have gotten so excited about becoming a disciple of Jesus and learning more.”
  
  
• Another lady wrote this, “I loved the service today. I will definitely be returning. Bless you all.”
  
  
• All churches have a choice to make between being a FORTRESS or an OASIS. Many (if not most) churches are like fortresses. They hunker down within their four walls, in holy huddles, keeping the world out, and waiting for Jesus to return. Oasis churches are different. They exist as light on a hill – a beacon in the darkness. She is there for the weary traveler, the hurting, the outcast, the hopeless, and those lost in the darkness.
  
  
• I’m so thankful that PCC is an “Oasis” church.
  
  
• Gotta say, I love what I do.
  
  
• Looking forward to all that God is going to do in 2010.
  
  
• Fourteen days with no sugar. I’m holding out.
  
  
• I think I’m going to wear jeans to church soon… so I can be cool for a day.
  
  
• Got to go feed my dogs now. Yes, I have an exciting life.