After delivering a powerful acceptance speech and receiving a standing ovation, the first woman elected to the office of executive presbyter at the national level of our denomination was congratulated by her ministry colleagues of the executive presbytery (pictured here). BETH GRANT lifted our gaze to the bigger picture of the needs of our world and the value of working together. This afternoon at that podium, BETH was an inspiration to every woman in ministry and a cheerleader to ever man who has ever used his influence to affirm and assist a woman called of God. I’m especially glad to see Beth on the Presbytery because, as a world missionary, she brings a global perspective and missional sensitivity to the table that will remind us of our roots as an organization and our assignment as believers.

Moments later, BRYAN JARRETT, age 35, was elected to the Executive Presbytery representing ordained pastors under 40 years of age. I hope today’s action rings a message out across our fellowship that the Assemblies of God values it’s younger ministers and needs their voice in places of influence. I had a chance to congratulate him, take his picture and visit for a few minutes. We are so much the better for inviting diversity to the table. I love it when we can identify what we want to change, design a plan, then execute the plan. What a great day and I had a front row seat to it all!

Ash Wednesday and FACEBOOK

Today is Ash Wednesday. I saw one of my "friends" gave up FACEBOOK for Lent. It caused me to soberly think about where I put my time and affections and where the priority of my relationship with God fits into all of that.

For my time of personal reflection today, I'm looking over again the list of Strengths and Cautions about Facebook I shared with Rockside Church this past Sunday. This was compiled from feedback I received from friends when I asked how facebook impacted Biblical fellowship.

Strengths:
1) connections with life long friends across geographic/time barriers
2) Reminds us to pray for and support people
3) Creates a Christian community of presence
4) There’s a sense people are always watching (support/accountability)
5) Reinforces (but can’t replace) live connections (small group, church, get-togethers)
6) A sense of living life together/enjoying goodwill of the people Acts 2:47
7) Works against loneliness and isolation
8) Makes room for more thought-out responses (James 1:19; Proverbs 14:29)
9) When one is in need, the networking kicks in (Acts 2:45)
10) It’s fun. God likes us to have fun! (Nehemiah 8:10)

Cautions:
1) Addiction/time waster
2) Healthy emotional boundaries are easy to cross
3) Often tends to be shallow communication
4) Facebook has diluted forever the term “friend”
5) Selective sharing about ourselves
6) Bullying and rejection takes place
7) Exposure to porn and other inappropriate material
8) Miscommunications through the limitations of written words
9) Invades solitude that feeds our souls (Mark 1:35)

On this strategic day marking the start of the season leading up to Easter where we celebrate Christ's resurrection, I'm reminded that God wants us to redeem technology for His purpose responsibly (Luke 12:48), understand the times and know what to do, (I Chronicles 12;32) accomplish greater things than the first century church (John 14:12) while being wise to satan’s schemes too. (II Cor 2:11). God, help me honor you in all I am.

THREE MINUTES with Cuyahoga Valley Chamber of Commerce

(2/25/09) Each month a different business/organization is a "sponsor" for the luncheon which means they get the chance to set up a display table, put literature at each plate and share about their "business" for 3 to 5 minutes. Today, ROCKSIDE CHURCH was the sponor of the luncheon. So what did I say when I was introduced

"Good afternoon. You might wonder why a church would join the Chamber of Commerce or why the pastor would attend the monthly luncheons and activities. I was asked that question when I joined the chamber 6 years ago and talked with Christine Coniglio. The truth is that as an Ordained Minister with the Assemblies of God, I often feel more comfortable among you, business men and women from the work place, than among minister colleagues. You see, being a pastor is my third career.

"My first career was working as a court stenographer in the Mahoning County Court of Common Pleas. Then I worked in a law office in Youngstown for 7 years as a paralegal. It was during that season in my life I lived with a huge tension between my work world and my personal faith in Jesus Christ. My church world didn’t seem to understand the culture of my life in the law office. And I interfaced with people Monday through Friday who could have benefited greatly from the God factor. But the gap between the two worlds was just too large.

"As a minister, I served as a youth pastor for 10 years at a church in Austintown just west of Youngstown. I came to the Cleveland area and was an associate pastor 7 years at a church in Parma. When the opportunity arose 6 years ago to start a new church, I knew part of that church’s dna would be to bridge the gap to the business community.

"Rockside Church believes the church is the people not the building. So we meet in a rented conference room in an office building. Rockside Church wants to be near and available to the 30,000 business people who work in this Rockside Road Corridor. So we are located at 4100 Rockside Road. We don’t measure the success of our church by how many people attend service on Sunday morning at 10:30 AM, although you are certainly welcome to attend if you don’t have a home church. Rather we value being a church of influence in the area and available to serve people Monday through Friday.

"For example, last Sunday afternoon we participated in the BEACH BLAST sponsored by the City of Independence. We are active in Twenty Five and Alive. We helped a few weeks ago with mock interviews for high school seniors. We are in the process right now of co-sponsoring an assembly speaker for the Middle School and the High School.

"You might be wondering, 'What can a Church do for my business? Well, if you are in human resources or have employees, you know that the success of your business is impacted by the care for the needs of your team.Here are some examples of ways we’ve been able to help.• When we offered personal budgeting classes using Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University, of the 70 attendees, on 12 were from our church. We offered the 13 week course 2 more times after that.• When I taught a time management series at noon and again at 7 PM using Dr. Richard Swenson’s materials entitled “Margins”, 50% of the attendees were from this business community.• We can be a referral service to help you network. Recently a person called ready to get help with alcoholism. We not only referred them to a nearby support group, but were able to offer for one of our parishioners to attend the first meeting with them. They accepted, I followed up and it was a helpful connection.• We’ve were a drop off place for a person wanting to give clothing as a benevolent gift to a person in need.• Last week a professional stopped by asking for a referral for a counselor for a particular problem in another region of the city. I was able to give them contact information for someone who could help.

" Maybe it’s not you but a teenager in your home in need. We have a youth ministry that serves teenagers and children. FUSION is an open gym night we provide on the third Friday of each month where students can socialize in a positive environment, enjoy recreation, pizza and hear a 5 minute presentation about faith.• Prayer is a pretty big deal to us. You can e-mail prayer requests or stop by for prayer. We have a full time staff person, AMBER HELMS whose portfolio is to help in the areas of prayer, kids church and assist with teens.• We have a great relationship with the Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine and I’ll be giving the invocation and benediction at their upcoming graduation ceremony.• The next opportunity upcoming is DIVORCE CARE, a 13 week support seminar on Thursdays at 7:00 PM starting March 12. • We have a Bible study each Monday at 7:00.• A prayer hour each Wednesday at 7:00.• I’m available for pastoral counseling or prayer.Rockside Church is not here to proselytize people into our church or away from your church. We are here to serve people in the business community. So let us know if we can be of help to you or your business.

" Thank you very much.”

Some of the comments afterwards were, "we had no idea. Thanks for sharing." :-) It was fun!