We had a blast with our 2009 Annual Thanksgiving Banquet at FCC. For those of you that were not able to attend I am posting this video so you can share in the experience. Enjoy!
Archive for the ‘FCC Owasso’ Category
Breakfast and Mad Props Friday
Posted: January 23, 2009 in change, Christ, church, family, FCC Owasso, friends, Jesus, Mad Prop's FridayBREAKFAST! It’s meaning is deeper than just the first meal in the morning. It actually signifies the end of a prolonged period without eating or fasting. It literally means to break your fast. Since fasting can be abstaining from more than just food I decided early this month to fast from blogging. Today is my blog breakfast! Twisted logic I know but you get the meaning I am sure.
Mad props this week goes out to my boy Wes Schaefer.
Since high school Wes has dealt with one addiction after another. Each new addiction would eventually leave him wanting more than the drugs had to offer. After searching for a “high” bigger and better than the last one, Wes eventually found himself addicted to Meth and ultimately close to destroying his own life. With the help of his family, friends and church, Wes entered a drug rehabilitation facility and one year later stood before those same people and proclaimed God’s victory in his life. You can see him in this video holding up a sign that says “Addicted to Meth” and then “Clean And Sober! & Forgiven”.
His sign was ginormous and rightfully so. God had done a major work in his life. Afterwards Wes sent me a text thanking me for asking him to participate in the event and wrote “That was a better high than any drug had ever given me”. Wes had experienced the life changing power of the Gospel and it was powerful to witness.
For most people this would be enough. Enough because their lives were changed by God and they were now free to go about living their lives, building their careers, raising families and going to church. This has not been the case for Wes. Wes recognizes the power of God to change his life. He understood the power of addiction that he was under was significant but that God’s power was greater and as a result, he wants everyone to experience that same saving power in their own lives. Now Wes is actively sharing the power of God with others. He recently hosted an event at the church building to help raise awareness about the destructive nature of Meth addiction and is constantly on the lookout for ways to share the Gospel with people who are far from God.
So Mad Prop’s to Wes. He is exhibiting the true nature of the Christ. He knows first hand the power of the Gospel and desires to share its life changing power with others. He is an inspiration to me and many others around him. I can’t wait to see what God does with him next…
Everyone join me in giving Mad Prop’s to Wes.
Three Weeks, Two Prospectives and A Question of the Week
Posted: December 31, 2008 in America, basketball, Choir, Christ, Christians, Christmas, church, FCC Owasso, friends, Jesus, Mad Prop's Friday, ministry, politics, Prayer, sunday morning, Tuesday's Question of the Week
Hello! It has been over three weeks since we last met and we have so much to catch up on! I don’t have a lot of time so let me try to catch you up on the last twenty seven days of my life as quickly as possible.
- Avalon was incredible! Made some new friends through the process ( Cathy Freeman and Chris Kelly with Spirit 102.3, Greg Long with Avalon) and watched our church do a tremendous job in helping with the event.
- Mad Prop’s to Cathy Killion for all her hard work on the Avalon show! She was my hostess and really went out of her way to take care of the group.
- Christmas services FREAKING ROCKED! Jana Gorham had almost thirty people in the orchestra this year and as usual they were incredible, the Choir was bigger and better than ever, Brittany Bolt sang her guts out and rocked our faces off and as always the band was awesome. This had to be the best Christmas service EVER in our church.
- Christmas Eve services were great as well. We did some things a little different but somehow throwing acoustic worship, Charlie Brown, a live nativity, the Christmas story read by grandpa Tom, communion and candle lighting in to one service worked!
- Mad Props to my boy Mitch who managed to focus his attention to leading worship on one of the hardest days in his life.
- Christmas at the Tibbles was awesome! I will always love Christmas morning with my kids more than any other day of the year! This year was awesome… there were nice lessons learned by my youngest. More on this later…
- In-laws came to our place for Christmas #2. It was nice…
- Spent more time with my grandparents in two days than all of 2008 combined. I love them so much. They are great examples to us in all aspects of their lives.
- Had a great Christmas with my small group. I am so appreciative of them and their love for us and each other. Its great to be a part of a group where we are “Tim and April”.
- I somehow ended up catching a cold that turned into a fever and sore throat… I hate being sick. Then again, who doesn’t?
- Our Church Basketball League starts up soon… I am uber excited about this. I’m not a great player but I love basketball to a fault.
So that’s my life over the past three and a half weeks. Sorry we were not able to connect. What’s that you ask? What are my feelings on Rick Warren praying for the inauguration? Funny you should ask! What amazes me is the two opposing views of this prayer.
1. The “Liberal Left” is ticked at Obama for inviting a “gay hating”, “anti-abortion”, “narrow-minded conservative” to be a part of his inauguration. It’s funny to me because Obama is doing what he said he would do. Did these people think that he would unite only the Americans who agreed with them?
2. The “Conservative Right” is ticked at Warren because he has accepted the invitation to participate in Obama’s inauguration. This is funny to me because Warren is doing exactly what he is supposed to do as a Christian. Does this group think that Warren should stand up and call Obama a “hypocritical”, “gay loving”, “baby-killing” heathen like a lot of other so called Christian leaders? Isn’t Warren doing exactly what the rest of us should be doing… praying for Obama?
It was great to see you again! Lets meet up tomorrow. I would like to share my 2009 New Year’s Resolutions. Before you go let me give you my question of the week:
What is your top resolution for 2009?
See you tomorrow!
When it comes to Avalon, the premier vocal group in Christian music, there is much
to know:
• Five successful studio projects, a remix album, two RIAA-certified gold records
• 19 No. 1 radio hits, 14 of which were featured on a single album, Testify to Love:
The Very Best of Avalon, a feat only an elite few artists have accomplished
• 20 Dove nominations; three Dove Awards
• Two Grammy nominations
• A 2002 American Music Award for Contemporary Inspirational Music
The “Christmas with Avalon” tour is coming to First Christian Church of Owasso on December 18th and 19th at 7:00 PM. You can get your tickets now at http://www.itickets.com or by calling the church office at 918.272.9551.
Tickets are only $12.00 in advance and $15.00 at the door. We have kept the ticket prices low becuase we are asking all who attend to bring a new or gently used coat to donate to Gyles Coates for Kids. Make your plans now to be a part of this incredible night and help bring warmth to someone in need this Christmas season. I hope to see you there!
Make A Difference Monday: "IT" Matters
Posted: November 3, 2008 in band, church, community, creative planning team, FCC Owasso, planning, service, small groups, worshipI remember, several weeks ago, sitting in our weekly Creative Planning meeting and going over our upcoming services about community. One of our team members mentioned how tough it was for some people to feel comfortable committing to a small group. He began to describe it like a personal tug-of-war, constantly pulling against the demands of life in order to grow spiritually as a christian. Suddenly an idea was born. The team came up with a drama about a guy pulling on a rope that continually refused help because of his own pride.
The idea was great but there was a big problem, we do not have a drama team at FCC. That may have seemed like a deal breaker for most but we have an axiom we use a lot in our planning meetings, “Don’t let logistics get in the way of a good idea.” The team began to jot down names of people who might be able to pull this off and began the process of convincing them that they were the right people to make this happen. Here is the result.
I know there are a lot of Worship Leaders and Creative Arts people that read this so I want to take this opportunity to tell you, no matter what the obstacles you face, “IT” matters.
The time you spend in creative and planning meetings matter.
The evenings you give up to rehearse with your band matters.
The mornings you drive into the office before the sun even comes up matters.
The countless hours you spend investing into the lives of your volunteers matter.
The tech meetings matter.
Your hard work matters.
The lives you touch matter.
“IT” Matters… to God
God is so incredible. He has a way of taking the little things we do and turning them into major life changing moments. Thanks Mike for your amazing testimony!
Catalyst 08 Roadtrip #8
Posted: October 11, 2008 in catalyst 08, conference, FCC Owasso, Leadership, road trip, staffI am officially home from my Catalyst 08 road trip. I found this awesome shirt at the event
It was a perfect addition to an amazing event! From the worship time to the immense amount of information provided by some of the great church minds of our time, Catalyst 08 will be a week that I will look back on as a “catalyst” for growth in my own personal leadership.
I’m already making plans to attend next year. Thanks for everyone who prayed for us while we were gone. Here are a few more pics… Enjoy!
Catalyst 08 Road Trip #7
Posted: October 10, 2008 in catalyst 08, conference, FCC Owasso, Leadership, road trip, staffGreat morning so far. There were tons of unexpected moments. Lonnie brought a live elephant and a donkey in to the arena, Jeff Foxworthy showed up to introduce an African Children’s choir and these chicks actually made clogging (yeah you read that right- clogging) cool again!
Tim Sanders a former executive from “Yahoo!” kicked off the morning and spoke about the importance of businesses doing the right thing to help its consumers. He put an emphaisis on giving and the importance of giving to those in need and not taking advantage of them.
Dave Ramsey was up next. I was expecting a financial discussion however he spent the majority of his time speaking about leadership and unity. He gave us “5 enemies of unity”
1. Poor communication
2. Gossip
3. Unresolved disagreements
4. Lack of shared purpose
5. Sanctioned incompetence
Very solid stuff. He took some time at the end to remind us that God’s financial ways are perfect. He is in control and this econmic crisis is only temporary and should not be approached with a spirit of fear.
Franklin Graham accepted the Catalyst Lifetime Acheivment Award on behalf of his father. Billy Graham was scheduled to be here but could not make it due to health issues. It was a pretty incredible moment.
Top that off with worship led by Aaron Keys and this morning has been amazing. Aaron has so much depth as a worship leader. I can only hope to have that kind of depth one day.
We’re in the home stretch…
Catalyst 08 Raod Trip # 6
Posted: October 10, 2008 in catalyst 08, church, FCC Owasso, Leadership, ministry, road tripFriday morning and I’m still trying to process all the information from yesterday. It was like drinking from a fire hose. Today promises to be another great day capped off by another message from Andy Stanley. Stay tuned!
Catalyst 08 Road Trip #5
Posted: October 9, 2008 in catalyst 08, church, conference, FCC Owasso, Leadership, ministry, road trip, staffCatalyst 08 has been awesome so far. We had a rough start this morning. Matt T. was in charge of making sure we were all up on time. Unfortunately there was some confusion about which time zone we were in and needless to say PC and Mike were knocking on our door before we were even out of bed.
Everything you have heard about he traffic in ATL is absolutely true; “GRIDLOCK”. It was a challenge getting to the convention center. We were about 3/4 of the way there when we realized AA left my ticket at the hotel on the desk in our room. Not a good morning for the young guys… Im sure PC was wondering what kind of responsible staff members he was working with.
Once we arrived at the convention the morning got way better. So far we have listened to Andy Stanley speak about earning the moral authority of those we lead. GREAT STUFF! We also listened to Jim Collins author of the book Good to Great. He had some excellent perspective on leadership. The highlight of my morning though was actually participating in a worship service that I was not leading. This is a rare treat for me, especially since it was lead by Steve Fee.
I have tons more to share but not a lot of time. Here are some pics from this morning.
Catalyst 08 Road Trip #4
Posted: October 8, 2008 in catalyst 08, church, conference, FCC Owasso, Leadership, ministry, road trip, staffWe have arrived! Made it in to ATL about 2:30. We were able to pick up PC and Raburn at the airport so they didnt have to catch a train to North ATL. After checking in to our Hotel we all hung out at Jason’s Deli for about an hour. Looking forward to tomorrow! Registration for Catalyst 08 begins at 7:00 AM. Ugh… I thought this was a conference for young leaders!
Living Sacrifices 