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!

Does FAMILY GUY know Jesus Christ accurately?

As I read again the Christmas story from the Bible in Luke 2, it was verse 32 that jumped out at me when Simeon declared that “Jesus came as a LIGHT to reveal God to the nations”. God must have felt he wasn’t being known adequately and accurately to all the world that He needed to send Jesus to bridge the gap between humanity and deity. Two Thousand years later, I wonder if Jesus is known adequately and accurately. As I listen to my Muslim friends refer to Jesus as just a prophet, I long for them to know Jesus as the Son of God and the One whose acceptance can assure them of eternity in heaven. As I listen to a teacher of Cleveland Schools elementary students tell how Santa is better known than Jesus and a chocolate cross got mistaken for a “T”, I pray for those young students to personally know Jesus as the Friend who can stick closer than a brother and the LIGHT on their path of this journey through life. Last week while waiting for Fox Channel 8 news to begin, an episode of Family Guy caught my attention. My attention turned to grief and then a prayer. I pray for the creators of that blasphemous, inaccurate and disrespectful portrayal of Jesus and all those who saw it to encounter the reality that Jesus came to bind up a broken heart and set free every person locked in bondage. As we Christians busy ourselves with the traditions, gift involvement and even church activities that come with this holiday season, may we take time to lock our gaze on that Light of Luke 2:32, the person of Jesus Christ and give our heartfelt, personal focus to the Lover of our souls, the only One who can make us whole, who is still the Reason we celebrate Christmas. Possibly God can then use us as a light to point to "the LIGHT who came to reveal God to the nations."

IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS

The first time I walked into The Log Cabin Gallery in Peninsula a few years ago, I felt like I was home. It’s one of those places that just refreshes my soul every time I visit. Maybe it’s the rustic log cabin with it’s earthy, warm feel. Or it might be the ever-changing creativity by local artists beautifully displayed by it’s director, Diane Seskes. This afternoon, I had the privilege of providing Christmas music with my travel size Martin guitar as part of their OVER THE RIVER WINTER 2008 EXHIBIT. Santa and his elves showed up as well as the Tin Soldier and a few customers hummed along.

I was able to select a charity of my choice for donations that came in. My friend, Cathy Monnin (a member of Rockside Church) helps lead a missions organization that, among other things, cares for orphans in Madagascar. So Worldview International was the charity of my choice. They are set up to accept donations online at www.worldviewinternational.org if you’re looking for some children in need of a Merry Christmas.

It was a very fun afternoon and, I don’t know about you, but I’m thinking …. it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

GRAB THE CAMERA, THE TABLE IS SET!

I was sharing with our church last Sunday that our family has this strange tradition. When we gather for holidays and special occasions, prior to saying the prayer over the meal, we grab a camera and take a picture… not of the people… of the food! I’m not exactly sure why we do that. Maybe it’s because we work so hard to prepare the meal and it’s really quite a culinary masterpiece that evokes a response of pausing to admire our collective efforts and to permanently capture a snapshot so we can remember.

Sharing this really DID have something to do with the sermon. We were talking about God creating for 6 days, then resting on the 7th day. (Genesis 2:2-3) Why did he do that? Maybe that seventh day was about God stepping back to admire his beautiful creation. So when we work 6 rest 1, when we remember the sabbath, we pause to admire God, to worship Him, and admire His handiwork saying, “yes, this is an incredible God of all creation!” It’s the only command with “remember” before it. (Exodus 20:9-11)

Today I had the privilege of hosting Thanksgiving dinner at my home. And in keeping with tradition, we reached for our cameras. So here’s a picture of our table, this time with people in the scene. (my sister, Debbie, brother-in-law, Rick and my mom). I'm very thankful. I hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving!

The more I’m around the folks from CORNERSTONE OF HOPE here in Independence, the more I respect and appreciate this organization and what they represent. I’ve wanted the congregation at ROCKSIDE CHURCH to become acquainted with this organization, and vice versa, for some time now and it finally happened last Sunday! Author Henri Nouwen talks about the choice each of must make regarding what we do with PAIN in our lives. Will we take our pain under the curse of satan or under the BLESSINGS OF GOD? When Christi and Mark Tripodi (pictured here) lost their little boy sudden, they had a choice to make. They could have permitted their grief to envelop them. Many marriages do not even survive the death of a child. Instead, they took their pain under the BLESSINGS OF GOD and founded CORNERSTONE OF HOPE that is now a place of healing and restoration for others in the pain of grief. This past Sunday, Cornerstone of Hope’s spiritual director, Matt Williams, along with Bre and Megan, two interns, came to share at Rockside Church. I love this practical, entrepreneurial, local example of a Biblical theology of pain … and I love it when my friends meet my other friends!

What IS our best work?

“Our greatest asset on earth is to touch Heaven in prayer” I heard a pastor say recently, while quoting another pastor. But pastors are busy people. Is it the best use of our time to drive across town to the City Mission to pray with a room of people from all over Cleveland?
http://agreatercleveland.org/
We’ve all been to prayer meetings before, some that disappoint us. What if they only talk about prayer, but don’t ever pray? What if it’s not lead well? What will I not get done while I’m at this prayer meeting?

Those are all legitimate questions. When I took my associate and attended the prayer meeting last month, I found a room full of loving people who care deeply about what God is doing in the city. The meeting was lead with excellence. We were given good direction for our prayer time. The meeting started and ended promptly, with helpful hand-outs (which I brought home) to guide us in prayer. To maximize our time, a boxed lunch was provided to either take with you or to fellowship and network for a few minutes before leaving.

I can’t tell you a month later what I didn’t get done in order to attend. What I can tell you is that I left there feeling like I did the most important “work” a pastor can do and that is join with other Christians to talk to the One who has the power to make a difference in this city we all love.

That’s why I’m signed up to attend the next prayer meeting on Friday, September 26. I might just be the “best work” I do all month! Everyone is welcome to attend. Hope to see YOU there!

A Special Day at Rockside Church!

Today was our Fifth Anniversary at Rockside Church! Guest Speaker, Matt Anderson challenged us to celebrate what God alone can do, what God can do through me, and what God can do through us. We began by thanking God through worship with an incredible reunion band lead by (former staff) Lydia Travnik and Bryan Karas, (present worship leader) Dan O’Keefe, Brad Link, Londa Churchill and Jason Winkler. We saw a video of testimonies and enjoyed a great dinner complete with birthday cake.

At the end of the day, I want to solute a special group of people and that's the scores of hardworking volunteers, the laypeople. I celebrate the people who have hosted and lead Journey Groups, our volunteer youth director who has been faithful and hardworking from day one, the set up and tear down guys, those who process offerings, bake pastries, host missionary dinners and events, print bulletins, care for babies, work Kids Church, usher, come early for prayer, organize events, run sound, create PowerPoint and videos, make schedules, teach Bible studies, work city events, the list is endless. I celebrate the awesome laypeople that keep the Church of Jesus Christ moving forward. Happy Birthday, Rockside Church!

Colossians 3:23 "Whatever you do, do it heartily as unto the Lord..."