There was a time when the name of Charles Colson was synonymous with the worst side of American politics. He was a manipulative powerbroker and a ruthless hatchet man. Now the mention of his name conjures up a picture of sacrificial service, insightful leadership and gifted intellect. His life is an example of the transforming grace of God. For this week's installment of my Messages About Purpose and Strategy, I'll quote from an article Colson wrote which gives a different perspective on how we should see the current economic meltdown. His thoughts fit into the scheme of my MAPS column because they help us to move forward to accomplish God's work. Chuck wrote that these tough times can be seen as an answer to prayer because more people are rethinking their priorities. Since the rug has been pulled out from under us, we all need to reevaluate the nature of our foundation. When the pursuit of money proves to be elusive, people may be more open to considering God. Here's his point in his own words: "While I did not wish for this economic collapse, we can at least be glad to see some lessoning of our moral decay and signs of renewed spiritual interest. As the recession plays out, Christians should be looking with confidence to God, living radically holy lives, truly loving our neighbors, and letting a fearful world watch us. That would be a powerful witness."

I just left a visit with a woman who is considering whether or not to go through another round of chemotherapy. She felt so sick from the last batch that it seemed like it was going to kill her. But without it, her cancer will kill her. Her quandry about this decision may not make any difference if the doctors make her choice for her, determining she doesn't have the strength to go through the treatments. As I listened to her it seemed like I could see her heart through her eyes. They sparkled with a life that seemed inconsistent with her frail body. Her son sat with us, showing beautiful devotion. For this week's installment of my Messages About Purpose and Strategy, I just want to remind you that the work of God involves little moments of tenderness as well as big decisions. For every macro programming change we decide to implement, there are many quiet times of sensitive ministry. To glorify God by leading people to follow Jesus will involve some huge risks and some tiny gestures as well. As I arrived back at my office, the first email waiting for me was from a friend about his dad who is dying. You are facing this kind of situation as well. To sit by a bed doesn't feel like we're accomplishing much, but we need to take every chance we get to share the love of Christ in any and every circumstance. To love the weak and to help in any way as they make the final part of their journey to our heavenly home is a noble job. If you know anyone who is nearing the end of their time here on earth, let them see God through your patient attention.

For this week's installment of my Messages About Purpose and Strategy, I want to tell you how to be challenged by a challenge that doesn't challenge you and I'll also ask for your help. Are you ready for this? As I wrote in the other column here, my series of messages on decisions that will change your life will culminate this week. This last one will provide a very clear challenge for people to step over the line and follow Christ. I won't just mention trusting in what Christ did on the cross, I'll camp out on that idea. And I won't just conclude with an invitation for people to come up for prayer, the whole sermon will be pointed that direction. Evangelistic messages aren't aimed at Christians. If you've already received Christ, then the challenge is unnecessary. So, how can you be challenged by a challenge that is not aimed at challenging you? Think of it as training. Listen to the approach. Consider how you can present the gospel to someone you know. Learn how to use the Scriptures. You can glorify God by leading friends to follow Christ! Get equipped. Now, as to how you can be of help, please passionately pray for the Holy Spirit to be active, drawing people into an eternal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Pray for miraculous conversions this weekend. I'll see you in a service. Bring a friend.

For this week's installment of my Messages About Purpose and Strategy, I want to remind you about a great opportunity we have to glorify God by serving our community. Wherever we are, we are always functioning as ambassadors of Christ. We want to represent him in a way that draws others to honor him. A great chance to do just that is coming up soon. We are calling on Team Dayspring to mobilize in order to provide hospitality and support for the Cascade Surge youth soccer camp. They are using the Whiteaker fields and our facility from June 22-26. This opportunity to serve is very similar to how we helped at the Keizer Iris Festival. You can find out more about the team and these camps by going to their website: www. cascadesurge.com. Our part is just to act as hosts for the event. Josiah McDill is recruiting and organizing our volunteers. There is still a need to have people sign up to help with registration, set up, filming, greeting, and clean up. To get involved, you can visit the table between services, or call the church office.

Last weekend I included in my message a section in which I encouraged you to be open about your faith. Maybe you sat there saying, I'm no evangelist! I'm just-a housewife, just-a retired guy, just-a kid! For this week's installment of my Messages About Purpose and Strategy, I'll point you to a guy who lived back in Bible times who felt like he was just-a helper. He had some fear to overcome, some anxiety. I'm talking about Timothy. Let's listen in to some snippets of the counsel he received from the Apostle Paul. 1 Tim. 4:12 - "don't let anyone look down on you because you are young." 14 - "do not neglect your gift..." 15 - "be diligent in these matters..." 2 Tim 1:7 - "God did not give us a spirit of timidity..." 8 - "so do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord..." 2:1 - "Be strong..." 4:5 - "Do the work of an evangelist." Let's take these thoughts to heart. That last one is particularly interesting. I don't think Paul viewed Timothy as someone who was gifted as an evangelist. Though this wasn't his main role, and it may not be your perfect niche, we are all responsible to be open with our faith. Some may be specialists, but we all can be used to glorify God by leading people to follow Jesus!

Our purpose is to glorify God. We employ many strategies to accomplish this end. For this week's installment of my Messages About Purpose and Strategy, I'll point your attention to Rev. 19:6-9, where we get a peek into heaven to hear the praise God will receive for eternity. "Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: 'Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.' Then the angel said to me, 'Write: 'Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!' And he added, 'These are the true words of God.''" When I recently read these verses, I thought of how the usual question we ask in Bible study is, "What does this say about who Christ is to us and what should we do about it?" But this text calls upon us to ask another question, "What does this say about who we are to Christ and what should we do about it?" In staff meeting this week, some of our women shared about what it was like to be a bride. What they shared related to the church as the bride of Christ. One shared, "As I looked forward to our wedding day, I just longed to see him!" Another said, "Every young girl dreams of that day from the time she is twelve." This made me think of one of the ways we are to honor God. Though I have a hard time relating to the metaphor of the church as the bride of Christ, I am convicted about the importance of longing to see Jesus. I want to be full of anticipation about the culmination of this age when our Lord will take us up to himself. May we be prepared!

I don't let a day pass without evaluating how I am using my time and energy. It is crucial that we make our lives count for something eternal. This is a time to invest in what will last. Our activities should reflect the awareness that now counts forever! For this week's installment of my Messages About Purpose and Strategy, I'll provide a reminder about what Jesus said concerning how we are to spend our time while we are here on earth. In John 20: 21, he said, "As the Father has sent me; so I am sending you." We know that Jesus was sent here "to seek and save the lost." The wild truth is that he has similarly commissioned us! In John 17:18, Jesus prays to the Father, saying, "As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world." We are sent out "like sheep among wolves" (Matt 10:16). It's a cold and dark world into which he sends us, but we are Dayspring, and we are to shine! You can do it. The same one who calls and commissions us also equips and empowers us. In Acts 1:8 we read of his promised power for those who represent him. Plug into the source, turn on the light, and shine!

Way to go, Team Dayspring! The Keizer Iris Festival is coming to a head this weekend and many of you are serving God by serving in our community! Thanks for your awareness of how Reaching, Connecting, and Growing works!

For this week's installment of my Messages About Purpose and Strategy, I'll tell you more about another opportunity you have to honor God here where we live for Christ. The Cascade Surge will be running a youth soccer camp on the Whiteaker fields from June 22-26. You can find out more about the team and these camps by going to their website: www.
cascadesurge.com.

We will be acting as hosts for the event, providing tangible help and Christian input. Josiah McDill is taking the lead in mobilizing Dayspring to get involved as volunteers. I asked him to provide me with some areas where we will need help.

Here's what he's got at this point:

1. Help with registration on the first day of camp (set up tables, meet people, etc.).

2. A volunteer to video parts of the camp and assemble into a 3 minute video to show at the end of camp.

3. Help with handing out food during lunch each day. Probably some lunch clean up help.

4. A volunteer to open the door each day.

5. Volunteers to clean up each day and lock the church.

6. Volunteers during the morning and afternoon activities each day.

Does this sound like fun! It will be that and much more!

My friend Kap Otten, a godly young man who is serving the Lord in cool ways, recently gathered some unsuspecting people and had me speak for two hours on speaking. I presented a semester worth of material on sermon preparation in one evening. Several of those in attendance survived the ordeal. We may repeat the event if needed (interested parties should contact Kap). During my preparation for the class, I was reminded about the tremendous importance of teaching the Bible. Without the Word of God being taught, people will not grow. Consider these two quotes from famous men of God: Warren Wiersbe - "True preaching is the explanation and application of Bible doctrine, anything else is just religious speechmaking." G. Campbell Morgan, "Preaching is not the discussion of a theory or the discussion of doubt. A man has a perfect right to proclaim a theory...but that is not preaching. Preaching is the proclamation of the word, the truth..." For this week's installment of my Messages About Purpose and Strategy, I'll fill you in on what is coming up next in our pulpit. I'll be teaching a series of six messages on important choices we all must make. The series will features titles like, Get Well, Let Go, Open Wide, Dig In, Grow Up, and Trade Places. I still haven't decided on a title for the whole series. Maybe "Six Choices You Must Make," or, "Six Decisions That Will Change Your Life," or just, "Simple Life-changing Choices." I'll think about it.

An unfortunate aspect of our service at the Iris Festival is that the whole event comes and goes so quickly. It is like an ice cream cone: really cool, but it gets done too soon and it's gone. We want to be a church that serves God by serving people every day, not just once a year. For this week's installment of my Messages About Purpose and Strategy, I'll make an appeal for Iris Festival volunteers to keep it up - to say yes to new ways to honor God here where we live for Christ. The sign-ups for Iris Festival participation have been great. Momentum is high. I want to take advantage of the excitement by letting you know about just one of many more opportunities you will have to keep on serving your community.

You may have heard of the Cascade Surge, a soccer team with a seriously Christian slant. These young semi-pro players put on youth camps in various locations every summer. They run their own program and have a good track record. We will be hosting one of their camps this year from June 22-26. You can find out more about the team and these camps by going to their website: www.cascadesurge.com. The actual camp will be on the Whiteaker fields but they will be having drop off, lunch, and pick up in our lot and building. We can do as little or as much as we want in making this a ministry opportunity. We can be as uninvolved as we are when we host Whiteaker events like their band or choir concerts, or we can enlist many more volunteers and up the ante to something closer to our Iris Festival participation. All that remains to be seen. Right now it is all in the prayer, planning and promotion stage. Stay tuned to hear more in coming weeks from my friend, Josiah McDill, who is taking great initiative to lead this event. He will be letting you know about how you can serve and we will get serious about sign-ups just after the Iris Festival.