Moving The Millennials

  This year, the Turning Point church is "all in" and completely committed to helping move the "Millennial Generation" (18-29 year olds) toward Christ (don't worry Boomers and Gen-Xers, we still got love for you too).

     What's great is that God has already allowed us to set the year off right.  This past week Michelle Vaque and Jared Brady were baptized in the singles/college ministry. We are so happy to be able to welcome both of them into the family.  

Here are some pics... 

Thanks for taking the time,

Curtis

BIG Things in El Salvador

So I'm back after spending about a week in El Salvador.   For those who don't know, about twelve of us from the Turning Point got yet another a chance to go out there to encourage the church, visit needy families and drive to a school in a town called Suchitoto to distribute backpacks full of supplies for young students.  Many of us have been contributing money to a program called BECAS which basically helps some of our under-resourced brothers and sisters to actually pay for a college education.  It was amazing to be able to put faces to the names that so many have been praying for.  For more details go to http://www.jayminor.com/ and check out Jay's blog entiltled "All Good Things..."

The disciples in El Salvador have nowhere near the financial resources we have, and yet their faith and joy levels are through the roof!

El Salvador is a small country with a big heart, and El Salvadorans are a people who have a reputation for being hard working and resourceful. A people who understand the true value of service and dedication. Who know how to take a little and make it work.  In a country of 6 million people, 2 million live in the United States. Thats what I call heart!  That's amazing!  The church definitely followed suit.

 It is an honor to be able to spend time with men and women of God who honestly give me hope above all others.  A small church with a big heart for God. So big that even though my Spanish still isn't very good I could understand  that perfectly.  

I believe one of the reasons why God continues to send us to ES is for them to help us. Help us? Yes, because they represent a principle that I believe every disciple of Jesus needs to understand.  How God takes something small and does big things with it!

 My prayer is that the church in El Salvador never assumes that just because we come from a place with more resources, that they have nothing to give us. Spiritually, they gave us exactly what we needed.  Throughout the entire Bible, we see God working through the few to impact the many. Through the weak to impact the strong. Through the small to accomplish what is great. David, Gideon, the prophets, the Apostles...

Even the very nature of God's Kingdom is this way.  In Mathew 13:31-32 Jesus says:

He told them another parable: The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches." Matthew 13:31-32 (NIV)

Spending time with the church in El Salvador, we couldn't help but have our hearts open to the possibilities! What God can do in a small church, with a big heart for him.

 I can say that confidently because 9 years ago the Church in El Salvador changed my life. Back then, as a single man, I had the opportunity to visit El Salvador for the first time.  Jonathan and Carla Perkins were putting together a small mission trip to go encourage the brothers and sisters out there.  At that point in my life, I just lost my job in the ministry, had been single disciple for about 8 years, was spiritually struggling and seriously thinking about leaving God.  But after the prompting of a good friend, I decided to go. Through that trip, God used faith, hope and love in the church in El Salvador, to ignite the small spark in my heart and save my spiritual life.  Since then, I have watched God orchestrate and send amazing people there (Ortega's, Perkin's and Valverde's) as He has continued put El Salvador on the hearts of many back in the US.  There's no question to me, God is going to continue to do BIG THINGS in El Salvador.  Stay tuned...

 Thanks for taking the time,

Curtis

Desperate

Lately, life has been going pretty well, but the following scripture has probably resonates the most:

"When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery."  

Deut. 8:10-14 (NIV)

As I look over my life and the many ways God has taken care of me and the "blessings" he has given me (my marriage, my son, my ministry, my friends, my health), it saddens me to admit how easy it is to lose my sense desperation for God.  Blessings can become distractions, no doubt.  Recently, inspite of good circumstances, I've also been getting in touch with some gaping holes in my life and character.  As hard as it has been to admit my weaknesses, I'm grateful to once again have my eyes opened to my need for God; to be driven back to my knees in prayer and dependence on Him.  I need God like oxygen.  I am truly nothing without Him.  No matter how good I may feel about my life or try to make myself look, I am in desperate need.  I think spiritual maturity has a lot to do with how we handle "blessings." 

It's foolish to build on any foundation other than God, and it's foolish to think I can approach God in any way other than total desperation, even when life seems like it's going well.

"But respond favorably to your servant's prayer and his request for help, O Lord my God.  Answer the desperate prayer your servant is presenting to you."  

2 Chronicles 6:19 (NET)

Just Sayin'...

Leadership Defined

"Within minutes they were bickering over who of them would end up the greatest. But Jesus intervened: 'Kings like to throw their weight around and people in authority like to give themselves fancy titles. It's not going to be that way with you. Let the senior among you become like the junior; let the leader act the part of the servant. Who would you rather be: the one who eats the dinner or the one who serves the dinner? You'd rather eat and be served, right? But I've taken my place among you as the one who serves.'"  

 Luke 22:24-27 (MSG)

"Jesus called them together and said, 'You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'”

Mathew 20:25-28 (NIV)

Wow. As often as I think about wanting to have influence in the lives of others, I have to wonder, have I really embraced this principle? A slave? There's nothing glamorous in that.  Junior? No spotlight for that guy.

It's gritty, lonely, humbling and thankless.  But in the end, it's glorious.

Father, help us to love our place in obscurity...

Thanks for taking the time,

Curtis