Vetrean Pastor, Life time Learner, Problem Solver, Servant-Leader and Motivational Speaker.

Elma Update Pictures and video: Prayers needed this Easter Sunday......at First Baptist Church Elma, WA. Check out this video.

1. This morning I read Isaiah 38, and wow!!!....God is super amazing  AND SO......really Gracious. He sees our tears, He knows our pain and He can change our destiny...God is so gracious and kind....check this out.

Isaiah 38 ---In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, “This is what the LORD says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.”( God sees us when we hurt)

 ² Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, ³ “Remember, LORD, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. ( God knows when and where it hurts)

 ⁴ Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah: ⁵ “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will add fifteen years to your life. ⁶And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city ( God can change your destiny). AWESOMENESS!!!!!!! Our God is greater......

 

1. Hey Church!!!!!Thank you all for your praying and investing in our community and church!!!.
2. Continue to pray for Easter Sunday 2012 at First Baptist Church Elma. ( I love this Church)!!!!!

 

 

 

 

1. Pray that God will move in power and save lives through the preaching of His word.
2. Pray for those getting baptised this Easter Sunday.
3. Pray for those who have been invited!!!!!!
4. Our average attendance for the month of March is over 65.
5. Attendance my third Sunday in December of 2011 Sunday was 39 people.
6. Keep praying....the negative forces in my life  say: "it just the honey moon"....My spirit says " Celebrate what God is doing".. Guess what!!! I will celebrate what God is doing......
7. We are praying for over 80 people for Easter. I am planning on showing this movie this Sunday as a teaser for Easter.
8. Pray for God to use this service  this Sunday to hook people to Jesus Christ for the rest of their lives...
9. Pray that God will use these service to assist us in embracing the greatness of the cross and reality that the tomb is empty.....
10. Take some 20 minutes to watch this video and pray that as I show it this Sunday as part of my 40 minute sermon God will use it to ignite in people a passion for God.

 

 

 

Grace and Peace 
Pastor James Owolabi  3-19-2012.

Fors Clavigera: An Open Letter to Praise Bands

So let me offer just a few brief axioms with the hope of encouraging new reflection on the practice of "leading worship":

1. If we, the congregation, can't hear ourselves, it's not worship. Christian worship is not a concert. In a concert (a particular "form of performance"), we often expect to be overwhelmed by sound, particularly in certain styles of music. In a concert, we come to expect that weird sort of sensory deprivation that happens from sensory overload, when the pounding of the bass on our chest and the wash of music over the crowd leaves us with the rush of a certain aural vertigo. And there's nothing wrong with concerts! It's just that Christian worship is not a concert. Christian worship is a collective, communal, congregational practice--and the gathered sound and harmony of a congregation singing as one is integral to the practice of worship. It is a way of "performing" the reality that, in Christ, we are one body. But that requires that we actually be able to hear ourselves, and hear our sisters and brothers singing alongside us. When the amped sound of the praise band overwhelms congregational voices, we can't hear ourselves sing--so we lose that communal aspect of the congregation and are encouraged to effectively become "private," passive worshipers.

2. If we, the congregation, can't sing along, it's not worship. In other forms of musical performance, musicians and bands will want to improvise and "be creative," offering new renditions and exhibiting their virtuosity with all sorts of different trills and pauses and improvisations on the received tune. Again, that can be a delightful aspect of a concert, but in Christian worship it just means that we, the congregation, can't sing along. And so your virtuosity gives rise to our passivity; your creativity simply encourages our silence. And while you may be worshiping with your creativity, the same creativity actually shuts down congregational song.

3. If you, the praise band, are the center of attention, it's not worship. I know it's generally not your fault that we've put you at the front of the church. And I know you want to model worship for us to imitate. But because we've encouraged you to basically import forms of performance from the concert venue into the sanctuary, we might not realize that we've also unwittingly encouraged a sense that you are the center of attention. And when your performance becomes a display of your virtuosity--even with the best of intentions--it's difficult to counter the temptation to make the praise band the focus of our attention. When the praise band goes into long riffs that you might intend as "offerings to God," we the congregation become utterly passive, and because we've adopted habits of relating to music from the Grammys and the concert venue, we unwittingly make you the center of attention. I wonder if there might be some intentional reflection on placement (to the side? leading from behind?) and performance that might help us counter these habits we bring with us to worship.

Please consider these points carefully and recognize what I am not saying. This isn't just some plea for "traditional" worship and a critique of "contemporary" worship. Don't mistake this as a defense of pipe organs and a critique of guitars and drums (or banjos and mandolins). My concern isn't with style, but with form: What are we trying to do when we "lead worship?" If we are intentional about worship as a communal, congregational practice that brings us into a dialogical encounter with the living God--that worship is not merely expressive but also formative--then we can do that with cellos or steel guitars, pipe organs or African dr

via forsclavigera.blogspot.com

Sunday School problems are not Sunday School Problems

People who are not doubling their groups sincerely think they are happy. They think that because they don't know what happiness is. There is a whole other level. People who are doubling their groups are some of the happiest people I know. They have often said to me, "My group is that most exciting thing in my life." They have engaging careers and good marriages and take trips to exciting destinations but they have said to me, "Watching my group double is the most exciting thing in my life."

By comparison, groups that are not doubling are half a sleep. They are happy, but happy in a drowsy kind of way. Groups that are doubling every two years or less are happy in an exhilaration kind of way.

It is an important point because people often say to me, "OK, I am convinced. But, how do I convince my class to embrace the vision of doubling groups?" At the end of the day, you have to convince them it is a better life, and it is.

The problem with Sunday School is we don't believe this. We don't believe that life is better on the playing field than it is in the bleachers.

But again, this is not a Sunday School problem.

To fix the problems of Sunday School, we can't look to Sunday School answers. We have to fix the people. We have to fix us. I wish it were simpler. We have to exchange our values with a value that suggests that people matter to God and that reaching them is more important than my comfort. We have to willingly, eagerly, joyfully surrender our will to His and become willing to do whatever he asks. We must embrace the great adventure of joining God in seeking to double groups every two years or less.

via www.joshhunt.com

Ten Life Lessons From Business

Ten Life Lessons From Managing and Consulting

1. You can be in charge, but you're never in control.

2. If you have a Powerpoint slide with a graph whose curve always points upward, you're lying. Delete it.

3. If you look at people through your own eyes, you'll judge them for who you think they are. If you look at them through God's eyes, you'll see them for who they can become.

4. You can't be good at who you are until you stop trying to be all the things you are not.

5. Charge what you are worth. If you don't, you'll begin to resent your employer or client, even thoughyou decided to take the assignment.

6. You can't control circumstances. You can control your response to them. Those who learn to respond thoughtfully and peacefully are the ones who are accorded trust and power.

7. Overt displays of position power show weakness.  Genuine humility shows power.

8. All groups aren't "teams". Often they are just collections of people who work really, really well together. Leave them alone.

9. No one can know how to be an effective leader until they've toiled as a dedicated follower.

10. Knowledge is not wisdom. Wisdom is knowledge applied with discernment.

via www.allthingsworkplace.com

The Key to Longevity (Kurt) | YouthMinistry.com

Don’t Be Toolish: Is that a typo? Did I mean to write “foolish”? No. Youth workers fizzle out long before they should for all sorts of reasons, many of which fall into the category of “toolish behavior”; attitudes and actions that needn’t be present in the life of a Christian leader. Sadly the list of toolish youth worker behavior is long: Pride, using volunteers to your own end, favoring one type of student over others, being a promoter of self, breaking trust, constant bragging about growth of your youth group, building a ministry built around your personality, making the church know how lucky they are to have you, complaining about the long hours and low pay of youth ministry.

via www.youthministry.com

Perry Noble | Leadership, Vision & Creativity

If you are the pastor/church leader who is running around declaring that your church is “missional,” then there’s a good shot your probably not.

Before you get angry let me ask a few questions…

• Does Martha Stewart have to declare she is a good cook?
• Does Drew Brees have to declare that he is a good quarterback?
• Does Taylor Swift have to declare that she can sing?
• Does Lebron James have to declare he can dunk a basketball?
• Does B.B. King have to declare that he can play the blues?
• Does John Grisham have to declare that he can write fiction really well?

The answer to these questions is a BIG FAT NO!!!  These people aren’t who they are because of what they are declaring, but rather because of what they are doing!!!

Anyone can declare that they can do something, but a really wise man (JESUS) once said that wisdom is proved right by actions (doing) and not merely by declaration!  (That is my paraphrase of Matthew 11:19)

via www.perrynoble.com

From "Leaders Who Last.” Kraft, Dave (2010-03-03).

"I love the church. There is nothing as exciting as the local church when it is properly and dynamically led by the right kinds of leaders. I became a follower of Jesus Christ through the ministry of a local church and ever since have had a burden for local churches. I share Paul’s sentiment expressed in 2 Corinthians 11:28: “There is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.” There are many things to be concerned about today in the church scene: • A multitude of churches have plateaued, are dying, or are already dead. • Antiquated forms and methods that no longer work are still in use today. • Worship wars are raging. • There is a lack of deep spirituality among church members. • There is an absence of intentional and relevant outreach. But my biggest concern is the lack of the right kind of leadership. I have a deep and abiding concern for leaders in local churches"Kraft, Dave (2010-03-03). Leaders Who Last (p. 22). Good News Publishers/Crossway Books. Kindle Edition. 

Some wise but simple thoughts for Pastors ( Parents of Teenagers) or Leaders......Welcome to the Wall | The Resurgence

This I do believe by James Owolabi.............

1. I believe in getting 6 - 8 hours of sleep everyday.
2. I believe in getting a 40 minute "handsome nap" everyday.
3. I believe in excercising one hour six days a week when I am not traveling. 
4. I believe in connecting with a friend in ministry once a week.
5. I believe in having lunch with a vetrean in ministry once a month.
6. I love food so watching my diet is hard but thank you Pastor Mark.......

Thank you for these wise words......from Pastor Mark Driscoll.........

Get your sleep. If you don’t, you will get sick and it only gets worse. 

 

Watch your diet. You will be tempted to self-medicate with junk food, caffeine, and energy drinks. Don’t. 

 

Watch your alcohol, if you drink at all. Since it is a depressant, increasing your alcohol intake when you are slouching toward depression and exhaustion is a big mistake.

 

Watch your temptation. The more fatigued you get, the more easily tempted you become. Take more precautionary measures during this season of the year to safeguard your holiness.

 

Watch your anger. Whereas women internalize their depression and manifest it with emotion, men externalize their depression as anger and manifest it with explosion. 

 

Get some exercise. It helps you work out your frustration, aids sleep, and is good for your health.

 

You really need your day off, especially during trying seasons. Guard it. If you don’t take a voluntary Sabbath you will take an involuntary one for counseling and/or hospitalization. 

 

Keep going by the grace of God,

Pastor Mark

 

via theresurgence.com

In appreciation of Steve: Think different, remixed « Observatory

Last week, I noted that if one were to combine the words to Apple’s Crazy Ones ad with historical images of Steve Jobs, it would make perfect sense.

Well, I thought I’d take a crack at it myself.

Here’s my little tribute to Steve. Hope you enjoy.

"Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify and vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as crazy, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do."

Tags: ken segall, steve jobs, steve jobs resignation

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 28th, 2011 at 6:05 pm and is filed under apple, creative, observatory, steve jobs. You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.

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via kensegall.com

We must not let our arguments over the past dominate the present, Churchill said, or we will lose the future. There in the war cabinet room, one sees chairs reserved for Labor as well as ConIn economic turmoil, U.S. needs a leader like Churchill - CNN.com

Churchill rallied younger ministers, turned around the cabinet, and inspired his people to fight to the end. He had few weapons but, as it was said, he mobilized the English language and sent it into battle. What we would give for leaders today who are as defiant in the face of trouble.

Churchill also understood the importance of banishing fear and steadying a country. The war rooms are the fortification where he, his ministers, military advisers and secretaries worked belowground, as German bombs rained down on London streets. In taped interviews, those who had duties there spoke of cramped quarters, short rations, long hours and claustrophobia -- but to a person, they dismissed that as nothing. Churchill drove them hard and could be overbearing, but they loved him for his courage and resolve. (Stiff upper lips, chaps!)

On several walls hang posters from those days: "Keep Calm & Carry On." That is very much the spirit that leaders of today need to instill in peoples across the Atlantic. They must replace fear with faith in the future.

In Europe and especially in the U.S., the public is disgusted with politics because their leaders squabble like kids in a sandbox. Churchill lived in a day when there were bitter fights too. But upon taking the reins, he immediately formed a coalition government.

We must not let our arguments over the past dominate the present, Churchill said, or we will lose the future. There in the war cabinet room, one sees chairs reserved for Labor as well as Conservative ministers -- coming together, they could stop Hitler. Isn't that a lesson for us today, too?

via www.cnn.com