Scepters and Staffs

Crowns and scepters, thrones and palaces, ruler ship and riches—these are the words we associate with medieval royalty.

Celebrity and ceremony, elegance and style, popularity and paparazzi—these are the words we associate with modern royalty.

Tattered cloth and shepherd's staffs, a stable and manger, humility and servanthood—these are words we associate with the newborn king celebrated at Christmastime.

Jesus of Nazareth did not live to be served, but to serve. He gave himself away on behalf of others. His example communicated a simple but profound truth: leadership isn't about how far we advance ourselves but how far we advance others.

 Merry Christmas.

THE GRAND OPENING!

From The Pastor’s Desk,

Allow me to take a brief moment to first write a huge thank you to so many people that have supported FREEDOM LIFE CHURCH over the last two years.  First, to my wife. I love you and deeply appreciate your support in this vision we have dreamed together. There is no one better person to walk this with than you.   Two faithful years of setup and tear down has paid off.  I would also like to acknowledge all the people that have pulled, scrubbed, tore down, painted, built up, bled and labored for this building. Thank you to the leaders that help this ministry make sense. Clark and Sherry, Pastor Jym and Trish as well as Faith Miller to mention only a few.  To my board of directors, thank you for believing in me. To our district, thank you for your support as a home missions plant. You have been a huge blessing.  To avoid leaving people out I will just say a blanket thank you to all who assisted. 

This vision four months ago was only a vision but because of your labor, giving and God’s strength to endure, we are excited to present to you the structure you see above. Thank you to all who bought a soul seat across the nation as we raised $10k in this tremendous endeavor.  What a blessing!  While we aren’t 100% yet, we believe this building will be used to transform many thousands of lives for many years to come. Favor and direction have come from all angles to make Freedom Life's relocation possible. Thank you for coming alongside us.  I love you freedom life church and appreciate your heart to see Jesus change lives. Let’s changes the region together. Proud to serve you as your Pastor.  

-Rev. Tony Cruz
Lead Pastor of Freedom Life Church
www.freedomlifeag.com

Without Christmas

With all the hustle and bustle, I thought we needed to be reminded why Christmas is a good idea. 

Without Christmas…

• The candied fruit market would completely collapse!
• Our boring, uneventful lives would have no stress at all!
• Eggnog would just be a slimy, high cholesterol beverage.
• Santa would be a strange fat man with poor fashion sense!
• Three words— “No Christmas bonus!” 
• You'd have to spend your own money buying stuff that doesn't fit.
• We would never wonder if reindeer really know how to fly.
• Your cat would never know the joy of coughing up tinsel!
• Number one reason—without Christmas, there could be no Easter!

LIVE DEEP, LOVE WIDE

Bill Hybels, Becoming a Contagious Christian wrote these words: "Recently, I saw a letter written by a relatively new Christian to the person whose life had influenced hers so greatly. Listen to some of what she wrote:

'You know when we met; I began to discover a new vulnerability, a warmth, and a lack of pretense that impressed me. I saw in you a thriving spirit--no signs of internal stagnation anywhere. I could tell you were a growing person and I liked that. I saw you had strong self-esteem, not based on the fluff of self-help books, but on something a whole lot deeper. I saw that you lived by convictions and priorities and not just by convenience, selfish pleasure, and financial gain. And I had never met anyone like that before. I felt a depth of love and concern as you listened to me and didn’t judge me. You tried to understand me, you sympathized and you celebrated with me, you demonstrated kindness and generosity--and not just to me, but to other people, as well. And you stood for something. You were willing to go against the grain of society and follow what you believed to be true, no matter what people said, and no matter how much it cost you. And for those reasons and a whole host of others, I found myself really wanting what you had. Now that I’ve become a Christian, I wanted to write to tell you I’m grateful beyond words for how you lived out your Christian life in front of me.'"

How many of us can say that we have lived like this? How many of us can this be said of? Perfection is not needed to LOVE perfectly.  It takes the understanding that we have ALL sinned and fallen short so we can therefore grant the grace needed by that classmate, co-worker or neighbor. Patience is not an easy thing to possess or hold to but indeed living deeper than the shallow faith we often hold to.

What would it take to make your life make sense?

For some it’s a near death experience.

For others it’s an actual death of a loved one that will straighten them out

                  For some, its just a life LIVED DEEP, and LOVINGLY WIDE

3 Ways to Sabotoge Your Ministry - Richard Chancy

I read this small article and it might bless you as a leader.

3 Ways to Sabotage Your Ministry 
by Richard Chancy

As a leader you have many responsibilities, not the least of which are building the culture and the brand of your organization. I believe:

Culture is the leader's heart reflected in an organization.
Brand is the bi-product of culture by way of the offering.

Maybe that's why Seth Godin's blog yesterday caught my attention. He made the statement:

"Just imagine how much you'd get done if you stopped actively sabotaging your own work"

Here are 3 ways I actively sabotage my work.

1. Failing to Prioritize - I know what the 3 highest return activities I can engage in are. I write them down every Sunday morning when I do my weekly review so I won't forget to build my schedule around them. That's not the problem. The problem is actively engaging on those priorities through out the week.

2. Technology Time Suck - Social Media has become a huge part of how I add value to my clients and prospective clients. That's a good thing. The challenge comes with how much time it's possible to waste simply by being distracted from your priorities. Like trying to make that twitter link on your blog actually go to your twitter account. Or getting "Liked" on Facebook. (I can't help myself)

3. Venting - I've had to get mid-evil on praying about this. Venting is not only a waste of time, but its a waste of your emotional energy. If you want to talk to someone about a problem, talk to the someone who can do something about it. When you're talking to anyone else you're sabotaging yourself.

"When words are many, sin is not absent. He who holds his tongue is wise"

What is that in your hand?

 

We look at history and see a myriad of people, an array of individuals that simply were not the typical "hero types" in the eyes of most individuals. In those cracks we can be sure to find God at work bringing His plan to the surface through mistakes and mishaps.  It’s through those miracles and mistakes that we find some of the greatest gems reflecting God’s love for each of us.

Exodus 4:1-5 (NIV)
1 Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”

2 Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied.

3 The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.” Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. 

4 Then the Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand.

Sometimes we have to realize that the miracle CANNOT HAPPEN until we release what is in our hand. Therefore, what is in your hand?  Be obedient to God will and you will not regret it.

The cost of obedience is nothing when compared with the cost of disobedience.

P.Tony