Tory Farina

Dead no more

I preformed my first funeral today. It was actually a committal which means it was at the graveside.

He was a man who didn’t have very many friends due to his mental problems. I was reminded as I stood out there in the crazy cold of

Minnesota

that this mans body was about to be put into the ground and this summer would rot. The soul however would not.

He had given his life to the Lord in the last few hours of his life. So he would be in heaven with Christ. The thing that struck me as I listened to the military shoot their guns in honor of there fallen comrade is that his body will no longer ail him. He will have no more pain or discomfort but that is not all. The man that was known to the family as having mental challenges was no longer dealing with those anymore either. Just as his body would decay and so would his mind. He was a new creation now truly in heaven and one day his body will be made new as well when Christ returns.

What an amazing thing to think about and hope for. I am thankful that I have a relationship with You God. I can not imagine the alternative.

2 things that hit me...

I was moved by two things this weekend… the first was a wedding I did on Friday. I am amazed at weddings. It is an amazing time to share Christ. The reality is that the marriage act is a symbolic representation of how God wants us to be connected to him. We are the bride of Christ scripture says. So there sat a hundred or more people many who had no church experience or background I was able to share Christ with them. I was prepared in that I had the message prepared and I had the ceremony down. I was however not prepared for the spiritual significance that this event carried. I made a vow to God on Friday night. I will pray as hard for a wedding as I do for a Sunday service.

The second was Sunday. We did our first ever year in review. It was a great insight into the church. I don’t have any final hard numbers yet but just looking through them I found that we had a number of people mark that they prior to

High Point

had little or no church attendance. But now they are regularly attending. That is a powerful statement to realize. We are accomplishing one of our goals. To reach people who are not inspired by Christ and church and see them connect to a life giving community. Thank you God for letting me be apart of that awesome victory.

The Year of the Impossible

I was out of the office for a couple days for a minister’s retreat. It is always good to get away from the routine.

In the past few days we have taken a dramatic transition in the next sermon series that we are going to do. I am really looking forward to what the next series will be. I am especially jazzed about what God spoke to me in the shower the other day.

(God speaks when we are relaxed and available to here him. For me it is often in the shower when I am that relaxed.)

You will not want to miss our 1 year anniversary I am working through a message God has been trying to pound into my head about how he is the God of the “Impossible.” I confess I sometimes think there are limits. There are no limits for believers! All things are possible through Christ Jesus.

So let’s live in the impossible this year!

The Night Before

My Saturday is mostly reserved for what I am finishing right now; Sunday preparation. I pray about the message and hone it, I work it and I change it. Sometimes I even re-write it.

I don’t leave it to the last minute. I start usually weeks in advance and try and have my notes out to those who need them by Thursday but there is always a lot to finish the last day. This is the most important thing I do all week. Tomorrow I don’t know who will be there and it is my responsibility to honor God and give a positive and lasting impression of Christ and His church.

So Pray with me because I need Gods help to make this work of me into a work of Him.

Gifts

Yesterday I received a check inn the mail from a church in Blaine, Minnesota.

Generous people amaze me. I got a call from Pastor Steve Finton last month asking if we had any special needs. I told him a few needs that we had that didn’t fit into the normal budgeted expenses. (I have a nice long Prayer list of those) He let me know that a check would be in the mail to help with those.  It came!

I pray that I would be a generous person. As the church grows and resources grow I want to be a Person who uses what God blesses us with to bless others. I think that is the goal, right? To spread what God gives to others.

Luke 6:38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

Steve is officially my Hero for the Day! Here is a link to there church. http://www.lifechurchblaine.com/

One Year later...

A new year has dawned and what an exciting year it feels it will be. I am excited about what God is brewing. God has been stirring my heart lately. I feel a renewed sense of His presence. It amazes me how God uses the seemingly ordinary life events to communicate his will.

I am preparing for our next series called "The Table" and I am reminded that this was the series we did before our Grand Opening last year. We had about 20 people on that first Sunday in January. I expect we will have between 115 and 130 this week. What an amazing ride we have been on.

I am awed by Gods presence and am starting to prepare for a Daniel fast for the three weeks leading up to our one year anniversary. I did that last year and I think I want to make it a New Year tradition.

So this New Year lets seek Gods presence like never before. Let’s fast and pray and believe that people’s lives will be changed. Lets Live the Potential that God has destined us to live!