Monday, August 30, 2010
WHY TOWANDA, KANSAS FOR A CHURCH?
 posted by douglauxman at 12:11 || under General
Why would we want to go into a small community like Towanda, Kansas to start a new church?
To understand this we need to look no farther than H2O's vision of being a church which "Tranforms the culture of rural America."
I was given a statistic recently that in the USA, roughly 7000 rural churches per year are closing their doors for the last time. This is a startling statistic that needs to be addressed and this is exactly what H2OChurch.tv is trying to do with its current 12 campuses spread across 5 different states. Yes, large cities are very attractive for new church plants just because of the size of the local populations but God did not tell us just to go into large cities, but into all of the world. (Matt. 28:18)
So do I think the churches in Towanda are doing a bad job? Not at all, ... >> full
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Monday, June 21, 2010
JOY IN TRIALS.....REALLY?
posted by douglaslauxman at 9:06 || under General
A verse in the Bible that has literally haunted me, is found in the book of James, chapter one, verse two: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds..."
I have thought about this verse many times over the years, even quoted it to myself as motivation to get through difficult times, yet I still can't rap my fingers around it because it makes no logical sense. Pure joy...trials... is this an oxymoron or what?
I was listening to a message today by Andy Stanley, Senior Pastor of North Point Church, where he talked about the unexplainable versus the undeniable. His point I believe, was that we have two options when it comes to God; we can refuse to believe until everything is fully explainable or we can turn our focus as to what's undeniable. Andy used the story of the blind man found in the ... >> full
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Friday, May 7, 2010
EVERYBODY HAS A PART
posted by douglaslauxman at 11:27 || under General
With so many things to do as we begin moving our arm of the Church forward, we are often faced with the inevitable question: how do we accomplish everything?
I believe the answer can be found in the book of Nehemiah. God had placed a burden on Nehemiah's heart to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the wall around the city which had mostly been reduced to rubble. The problem is, the Isrealites had been scattered all throughout the world because of their failure to follow God's directions. Help was in short supply.
Nehemiah was faced with many detractors who either did not want the wall rebuilt or those who were nothing but excuses why it couldn't be done. Yet he moved forward, undeterred.
Nehemiah had everyone rebuild that section of the wall next to their home. Instead of everyone focusing on the monumental task at hand, they simply ... >> full
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Wednesday, March 24, 2010
TRUE POWER IS FOUND IN SERVING
posted by douglaslauxman at 8:01 || under General
I have been studying Israel’s history in the Old Testament and found some interesting stuff. I will begin in I Samuel 8:7.
The people of Israel had been whining to the prophet Samuel that they wanted a king like all the other countries had. Funny how some things never change, like the grass is always greener on the other side.
A dejected Samuel took this complaint to God. God told Samuel not to be disheartened because the people were not rejecting him, but God as their King.
God also said, “…let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.”
Well here is what Israel got through the history of it’s kings:
a.) For the first 120 years Israel remained united under kings Saul, David and Solomon. Problem is, only David did what was right in the eyes of God according to the Bible, and ... >> full
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Wednesday, February 17, 2010
SURRENDER IS NOT IN OUR CREED!
posted by douglaslauxman at 9:49 || under General
Recently I was watching an older movie that is one of my favorites. It's called "Heartbreak Ridge" and stars Clint Eastwood.
In this movie Eastwood stars as the close to retirement, grumpy old Gunnery Sergeant, Tom Highway. Highway has been placed in command of the Recon Platoon, a group of less than motivated enlisted men, who have up to this point had an easy life. Based on years of experience and trial under fire, Highway knew that the attitude of his platoon had to change if they were to survive in a real war.
During the platoons first morning of PT together, Highway begins by having his men chant "Surrender is not in our creed!" Needless to say, the less than motivated group of men were not much interested in what their Sergeant had to say.
As the story progresses the platoon tries to challenge the leadership ... >> full
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