Speaking on Sunday October 18th!

Just wanted to give a heads up to those that follow my blog that I'm speaking at Niagara Alliance Church in Wheatfield, NY on Sunday October 18th at the 10:30am service. The message is part of a series that started the week before on: "How to get what you want... God's way!" It's from the book of Proverbs and I'll be speaking about Prosperity. Hope to see you there!

Lonnie

Observations from "Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs"

Got home from "Cloudy with a chance of meatballs" with the family. The 3D glasses are so somebody's 1967 version of having fun with the crowd. (you'd have to see them... maybe I'll post a pic later...) Anyhow... so Here's my observations of themes that I saw in the movie:
1. We all need someone to believe in us (mom, dad, teacher, etc... God already does... sometimes we just need God with "skin on" to understand that)
2. Be yourself... I had to laugh at the guy who had to find his identity again... and the girl who thought she needed to be something else before people would accept her. (God made you and He doesn't make mistakes!)
3. Sometimes it's difficult for us to explain how much our Father loves us to others. (closing scene where the dad gets the 'universal translator' put on him to explain how much he loves his son, because communicating with fishing analogies don't seem to work) This is probably where my passion lies... I really want people to know and to understand how much God loves them. Unfortunately what I've seen in many churches does little to help people understand that. It's like "fishing analogies" to so many and they just don't get it, and even wonder if God doesn't just hate them because of what they are going through. We do a serious injustice to God when we cannot clearly and lovingly communicate His love story... how He has lavishly loved us in Jesus Christ.
I know that some will go to see the movie and think, '"Where did Lonnie see THAT in the movie!?!?" It's a gift, I don't talk about it much... :)

OH yea...Tomorrow

So as I looked back I saw that we had just begun summer and now we are hours away from Joel starting Universal Pre-K and Caleb starting 1st Grade. It's also my sister's birthday (how could I forget!) So much happening this summer. Seems that I just couldn't keep up. Maybe with the kids in school it will get easier... YEA RIGHT!

Anyhow...

Recent stuff I'm thinking about...

So I realize it's been quite some time since I posted. I added the Twitter posts but haven't kept up on that well. I haven't posted much because some of what was going through my mind was post worthy... and also not the forum to be placing my thoughts for everyone to see. But recently I had a few thoughts run through that may be worth thinking about.

We found out that we had some serious bee issues just outside the back door. I tried using some spray to kill them, but it didn't work. They were nesting in the ground. More than a few people suggested another remedy.
Well, I tried it. I asked one guy, "How much do I need to put in the hole?" He responded, "Until it's full!" I began pouring and then was told, "STOP!" I did.
The next morning (cause I did the deed at night while they were back in the nest) I saw them again. I had a couple thoughts immediately after that. The bees are like sin nesting in our lives. God knows what needs addressing in our lives and will help us to address the issue(s). It may seem that it's all gone, but in the moments when we see the issues flare up (like anger, jealousy, greed...) we come back to the application of the Blood of Jesus which wipes away the sin. We deal with the issue and move on. Confident in the work of Christ in our life.

Another thought came... as we went and picked up a love seat. We were led to believe the condition of the thing and color would be exactly what we were looking for. However it wasn't. We have had a sofa given to us when we first came to NY that WAS exactly what we were looking for. So my thought... when people enter our church(es) are they getting exactly what was described to them? Is it better?! My prayer is that who we are and WHOM we represent will be better than advertised. We aught to have quality services and be the quality people God calls us to be.

Last thought came from my pastor message on Sunday.

He was speaking about evangelism. I know that for some the word evangelism conjures really bad images... both for those who are "expected" to share the Good News of Jesus and those who are trying to be reached with that Good News.
My own experience has led me to be myself first. God doesn't ask us to be someone or do something that is out of our character. I've tried some of those things and they are not me, so I don't do them. But I do take time to share as God opens the doors. (here's where the pastor's message came in...) We never know who will respond to the message but there needs to be repeated opportunities to relay the Good News. Kind of like at bats in baseball. (My thoughts here...) In baseball not every at bat goes well. But with persistence "good hitters" continue to get better. Yea, I know that it's not up to us to "save" anyone. But we are God's Ambassadors as if Christ was making His appeal through us. The more times we share the more comfortable we are. There will be times when the Gospel "scores" and other times we just help move people around the bases, so to speak... to give them repeated opportunities to hear and see the Gospel presented.


SO there... Any thoughts? Reactions? Interactions?
Till next time...

Added my Twitter posts

Just wanted to say that I've added my Twitter posts to my blog page. The "tweets" are much more up to date and sometimes, up to the minute!

Thanks for following me!
Lonnie

Vaction Post part 2

So I left off with Amy a bit shaky because of the ride in the sand dunes. Well... the next day Caleb and Joel got to go out. Caleb started with two thumbs up and came back with two thumbs down! No surprise there. Joel left with a scowl on his face and returned with a smile a mile wide. Not surprised about him enjoying that either. However on the way back the sand rail was stalling... so my brother-in-law, Joe, went to try and figure out what was wrong. With about half the day gone he was able to get it started and running again. So I went out with him. Man what a rush! I only wish the vehicle was bigger. I said before I left, "Big boys in a little toy!" And that's the truth. Joe tried his best to really shake me up, but I played it cool. Got a feel for how he liked to drive. Got air borne a few times. Not bad, but I know that it isn't the thing I'd do every time I visit. After I got off Amy's mom got in. We thought from how she described the whole trip that she'd been on it before. Nope. First time. I said, "Linda, better strap on your depends for this one!" She came back none worse for wear. Got to hand it to her, she stepped up and took her medicine! Then Amy got back in and went out with Joe. It was about 30 minutes later that Joe came back to camp. The sand rail had died and the oil cap gone off... oil spewing out. Not good. So Amy was left to sit with the sand rail. Meanwhile, Joe tries to get his Chevy 4 x4 truck to start. It wouldn't. He tried and tried for about another 30 minutes. Finally he gave up on it and decided to take his two wheel Dodge truck through the sand dunes to try and tow his sand rail back. So being the helpful guy I am, I tagged along. We went flying back into the dunes. I kept thinking, "Ya know God, this isn't how I expected to go." We went up and over and down... straight down a dune. Bent the front bumper and lost what I thought was the bumper. Instead of throwing it back into the vehicle we kept going. Up and down and around and then trying to get up one hill on the sand highway we got to mile marker 16 and were stuck. I mean there was no amount of "try" that we had that would allow us to even go in reverse. After a few tries some riders came up to see if we needed help. Then a 4 x 4 t ruck with a guy and two girls in it came and helped tow us back far enough that we had a down hill to get momentum and head the truck back to the beach camp. The guy and girls headed out to check on Amy and we went back to the camp. Once there Joe hopped onto his 4 wheeler and took a tow strap to get Amy and the sand rail. 15 minutes later they made it back. Amy was so cold she was shaking. The sun was going down and the marine layer was cooling things down quickly. She honestly wasn't sure what was going to happen! The whole time she was out there waiting she kept thinking she might have to pull out some moves to kick butt if someone were to try something, but thankfully nothing happened. And she did have they guy and two girls find her and offer to help. Amazing. That was it for the sand rail rides. The next day we had to pack up to go.
Thankfully a guy helped tow the truck and camper to a place where AAA could tow the truck. He then towed the camper for us to the dealer where they fixed the vehicle. God was good to us. Even through the "stuff" things turned out pretty good!

I did learn a lesson through all of this. If you buy something on the cheap because you believe you can fix it, you may be just adding to your troubles and subtracting from your pocket book...

On Vacation but had to post

My last post talked about "knowing" that God was answering prayers, even when things may not look like they are going to work out.

My vacation started out looking like we were not going to make a flight to LA on the same day. Our initial plane was delayed due to storm damage at the Cleveland Airport. That meant that we would not catch our connecting flight to LAX in time. The rep from Continental kept trying to figure out a way for us to get to LA. I'm thinking it was something close to half an hour before she said, "The only route I have now is you flying to Cleveland this morning at 8:30am and then waiting till 6pm there to catch a plane to Houston and then connect there to LA." The whole process up to that I wasn't sure that we were going to fly, and honestly, I really didn't want to. But I would have missed out. We were alerted that a second flight to LA would be leaving at 12:45pm, and when we got to Cleveland to see the rep at the counter there. So we did. At that point, about 9:15am she was able to confirm seats for my family of four and put my mother-in-law on standby. Our seats were scattered through the plane at that point. An hour passed and she found us waiting at out gate for the LA flight. She had been able to change our seats so that I was sitting with Joel and Amy was across the isle from Caleb... still close. At 12:10pm we started boarding our plane. As we got on one person willingly traded spots with my son Caleb so he could sit by Amy, my wife. The plane was rapidly filling up, but the seat next to Joel in the isle still was open. I saw a girl we had been talking to and my Mother-in-law walk on the plane. The girl walked past to her seat and my Mother-in-law found she was in the same row as Joel and I, so she sat next to Joel. Before we started to leave the seat next to where my mother-in-law would have been seated was in question as it was double booked. Amazingly it was straightened out and we were on our way.

It would seem that the drama for our trip would be over with that.

Things went fairly smoothly after we landed, were picked up and went to the Santa Monica Pier where Joel was facinated by the two guys with face paint and a mouth whistle that were dancing. It was going smoothly on our way to the Oceano Beach Park (Pismol Beach). We found our place on the beach and Amy got the ride the sand rail with her brother Joe. She was shaking when she came back as the sudden drops on the dunes at dusk, with a misty marine layer of fog was decending, didn't allow her senses to process what was happening.

I'll have to post more later as I have to pack. But it gets interesting! Stay tuned!

Prayer: God's Ability vs. God's Action

We've had a little plaque hanging on our kitchen wall my mother-in-law gave us. It says, "Faith is not believing that God can, it's believing He will."
I just didn't "get it" for the longest time. There is the intellectual assumption that God is able to do whatever He wants in response to prayer. So in church we break out the anointing oil and follow the patter set out in the Bible in James 5:14-16 when we pray for the sick person. Now I've done this more than a few times and seen people walk away in the same condition and wondered, "What do we need to do differently?!" Isn't God big enough?! Isn't He all powerful?! YES and YES! However it isn't believing that God is that. It's believing that He just did that (whatever "that" would be). A few weeks ago it really hit me. I mean, I think I finally "GOT IT!" Let me illustrate with a couple stories...

I was asked to pray about a job that was opening up for my mom. I told her, "You got the job." Now she had no idea if she was going to get that position or not. She only "hoped" that she might get that position. A few days later (which happened to be June 9th) I got a call from her that she got the position! Not only was God ABLE to supply, but He DID supply that need.

A few years ago some friends were embarking to Paupa New Guinea as missionaries. They sent out a frantic e-mail that they needed their passports to make their flight and leave. I believe they had about one day to have them in hand. I sensed in my spirit that God was delivering the passports even then. I wrote, "Done deal!" I got an e-mail that said the passports had arrived just in time. Another more recent event had them in the Philippines as they were adopting their second son. They all needed to be on the plane and there was limited seating (if my memory serves me correctly). They asked for prayer. I knew that God was going to have seats for all of them. Shortly after that they sent an e-mail that God was indeed good and had made the seats available for all of the family to fly together!
Faith is believing that God will do it, because He can!

I have a friend that knows God has a specific path for him to walk. And to be honest, it's not been an easy one, yet God doesn't call us all to "easy." He calls us to take a long obedient walk in the same direction with Him. My friend will have all of His needs met. I don't have to know how that will happen. I just know that it will.

"How do you know that God will?" How do you know He won't?! If God is everything we read in our Bibles, and I believe He is and more than what we can imagine... and if Jesus said in Matthew 7:10, "If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"

I put a caution here... I don't believe God is asking us to believe that we're going to move into a mansion and drive whatever vehicle around we want and eat in luxury. Far from that. I believe that real needs are being taken care of. That real opportunities are opening up (like with my Church... Niagara Gospel Rescue Mission).

One last thought...
What I realize more every day is that we need people who will believe for us for things we can't begin to imagine God wants to do for us and in us and through us.
Do you find that to be true?!

Got a 'redneck' church?

With the onset of warmer weather comes the inevitable, "I forgot to put sun screen on and got a burn." Which left me with a red neck. As I was driving today I thought about the 'redneck' jokes that I've heard (maybe you know a few) and then it turned to the realities behind those jokes. And that led me to think about what a 'redneck' worship service and message might sound like. Then a semi profound thought hit me. How many people attend a 'redneck' church without realizing it? (DISCLAIMER: I'm generalizing this thought to quite a few churches I've been in, not necessarily the church I serve in right now!) I'm not just talking about a style of music like country or blue grass... but the question begs... How inwardly focused are people? Do that they think they are friendly folk in a friendly congregation when they won't approach a guest at the door to greet them (or want to tag them like deer to identify them)? How oblivious to their building and surroundings are they? Does it even phase them that people from the outside might be scared off from the deterioration they see (be it in the bathroom or the 70's paint color or the small lake that appears in the parking lot, etc.) Muisc is a whole other issue altogether!

So many questions need to be asked and reasked to drill down and get answers. In doing so it will allow them to answer the question, "Why we do what we do?", "Do we need to change?", and "Are we willing to do it?"!

I imagine in some parts of our country there are "redneck" churches complete with a guy playing spoons! But the question remains... Got a 'redneck' church?

Twittering and a Blog suggestion

I really enjoy having the chance to blog because I'm not limited to 140 characters as someone who is Twittering. I enjoy Facebook and find that I'm on that just a few times each week now that the "newness" has worn off. But as of yesterday (May 20th) I joined the Twitter revolution. A good friend of mine, Alan Chandler from Church Doctor Ministries, sent me a link to a Time article about using Twitter in church. Yes, people were actually Tweeting in church. It got me to thinking of the practical application of that in a church service. You have a question that comes to mind while the pastor is speaking on a subject and with Twitter you have the opportunity to express that and possibly get instant clarification. I could see it as a way to voice prayers and thoughts of worship to God. That thought got me thinking that God handles all our requests before we even voice them or think them. He's never overwhelmed with volume of petitions and won't go down or be down for maintenance. It's really amazing how great and awesome God is. So... you can follow me in between posts on twitter at twitter.com\lifewithlonnie

And while you are at it please take a moment to check out my friend Alan's blog. www.churchdoctalk.com
The work he and others do at Church Doctor Ministries is invaluable to the Body of Christ. Doctors diagnose and suggest treatment. They provide patient follow-up. These people are the real deal. Thanks for checking the blog! Feel free to post your thoughts on that blog page too!

Thanks and until next time... check my Twitter page!

Tooth Fairy Visit

Caleb officially got a tooth fairy visit tonight. He's been working on a loose tooth for a while, but was scared to pull it out. Amy did the honors with a damp washcloth and her skillful hands. He cried a bit but then realized after a while that it didn't hurt. The tooth had to go anyhow because another can be seen growing in right where it was!

Oh... what did he get from the Tooth Fairy?!?! A dollar in quarters, a Spiderman toothbrush and strawberry flavor toothpaste. :+D

Two quick stories...

Last Sunday (March 15th) I was told a story... I'd led the song "How Great Is Our God" by Chris Tomlin in Church a few weeks earlier. A granddaughter of one of our members told her grandma that she really loved the song. So they looked up the song on the internet and listened to it. The grandma found a picture of Chris Tomlin and told her that he was the guy that did the song. The granddaughter later said, "Grandma, he looked better in person when he sang at church."

Today my son Joel (3yrs) was laying down for a nap. He really has been wanting to visit "GoGo" his Aunt Jodie. But lately she's been sick and we know that Joel will pick up whatever bug seems to be near... So as he again asked me to go I told him that we needed to pray that she would be healed of her sickness before we could go. Joel started to pray! (first time ever!) "God, I love you. GoGo needs to be better now so that we can go eat smarshmellows, and pick berries and swim and have a bonfire." I was so moved. I explained to Joel that God is more likely to answer a prayer that gives Him all the credit, praise and glory... not just a prayer because we get something out of it. Even so I was so blessed.

My "Biggest Loser" Wife

After four months of working out and eating better my wife smoked the competition at work during their "Biggest Loser" competition! I am so proud of her! The picture is of her from February 2009. This is the only picture she would let me post. Enjoy!

Playing Chicken and ending up a McNugget (TM)

Well, it seems that my company has decide to play chicken. Unfortunately for us it looks like we've ended up a McNugget (tm)... battered and fried and set with a side of DIPping sauce. If you know what I mean. This is not a good time to be part of my company. It looks as if we may loose one major account and another secondary account... which accounts to more than half of the hours I work in a week. Honestly, I'm really more concerned about the merchandisers who have done this most of their lives and have nothing to fall back on. Some will be picked up by another company, but some won't because of their work ethic. Still they are people who will need a job. Unfortunately they don't have many other skills and so any Stimulus package that would employ someone to fix bridges or repair roads is not going to help them. Giving money for pet projects probably won't help either. If our President really wants to get people working he'll need more than slick big government ideas and payback to the people who helped elect him. It will take small business owners getting some breaks for hiring people they wouldn't normally be able to. That will allow them to expand and their workers will have money to spend. And spend they must! Along the way a hard and serious return to some "old fashioned values" that were discarded a few years ago would be a good way to help reign in the greed and corruption that has spread like gangrene. That and keeping our oil prices in check so that we can actually afford to work will go a long way to turning this ship around. Just a few thoughts. By the way you won't find me playing 'chicken' any time soon. I don't want to end up a McNugget (tm).

Quick Update

I'm finding that I don't have nearly the time I had before to update my blog and facebook! But it's a good thing! I'm really enjoying my position at Niagara Alliance Church as "the music guy". We've started stepping forward with some newer songs, or at least "new to you" kind of songs. Our new challenges are in the form of projection and sound. The Lord can sell a few of "the cattle on a thousand hills" that He owns so that we can get speakers on the ceiling which would help with being able to see the projected music on the wall. Yea, we're on the wall. Or is that off the wall??? Any way... I've gotten some good feedback about me so far. I was completely taken back when I got a hug and was told, "You are a special one." That made me think back to The Shack. Worship leading is more than just instrument proficiency it's being able to move beyond the details and focus on bringing people into the presence of God. I've been told that "you can't worship and lead." I would disagree with that and say the opposite. Unless you are worshiping you really are not leading. It's nearly impossible to take people where we have not been personally. But I digress...

The last time I spoke was January 4th and from that opportunity has come one chance to share Christ and to see one person respond and to be in a position to pray for others who were listening and whom God is speaking to. I'm pretty excited about that!
With that in mind I know my speaking schedule for the next couple months! These are all at Niagara Alliance Church (the website is all of that without spaces and a dot com)

February 15th
April 26th
May 17th and May 31st

Thanks for all those of you who read this and pray. We've had some challenges in the recent days... terrible threes with Joel, bullying of Caleb on the school bus, and vehicle stuff... news from my merchandising job... and health issues for Amy. Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us. Keep praying! And thanks for checking in on this blog. We appreciate our friends, family and other folks that are "just friends we haven't met yet!"
God bless you!
Lonnie

"The Shack"

I just finished reading the #1 NY Times Bestseller for Trade Paperback books. I know why this book has been flying off the shelves in the stores that I merchandised. It's filled with a treasure. I can't tell you exactly how it will affect you or is that effect you... I do know that if you take the time to actually read the book, not skim it, it will speak to you. All I know is that I'll never recover from reading this. You can find more information about this book at: theShackBook.com