Tory Farina

Future AG Blog Down

Blogger shut down www.FutureAG.blogspot.com because its security machine thought that we may have been involved in spam. We had over 30 links on one post and that is what flagged us. This is a temporary issue and as soon s they realize that we are not spam we should be back i business to find a new GS. Keep coming back and spread the word we do not want this to stop the momentum.

Sunday Review

We had a good Sunday this week.

Attendance- 102- Down for our summer average but not unexpected.

Giving- Was above average… we are going to have a great month! I love at the end of the month to see what comes in so that we can cut the tithe check for missions. It is one of my favorite things we do.

Visitors- we had some great new faces come and some return faces as well.

Service-Worship was great for me. I love the music we have. We are starting to see people site closer to the front and in the middle which is very exciting as we position ourselves for the fall growth season.

It is important that we think about the guest in every way. When I think there is going to be a large crowed I make sure I am thinking of the Guest. I make my own coffee so there is enough for them. I eat before I come just to make sure that first time visitor has a positive and lasting impression of Christ and His church. I have started to preach back from the first row of seats so I don’t sweat all over the first three rows. I pray you think about the Guest as well.

Let me know how you think about the Guest.

The Half Mile Hill...

I was running today and on the 3.5 mile route I choose I had to make a decision. Do I run down the half mile hill? Which as you know is a lot easier and more fun. Or do I run up it at the end of my run?

I choose to run up it at the end but half way through I realized that that was not a fun idea. To make matters worse they had just put road gravel down so it was like running on the beach. I felt like David Hasselhoff. I wanted to quite. But turning around only meant I would have to go up the hill again when I was less tired. Stopping would have only given me a break for the moment and walking meant that I would be giving in to the pressure. I ran the whole way up. Slowly, but it was still defined as a run… I looked it up.

I think life is like this. We have half mile hills that we face all the time. If we are pursuing Gods will we will face Half mile hills all the time. I am talking about Noah this week. 120 years he spent building the ARK. That was a long time filled with a lot of stopping or quitting moments. He kept going. Why.

It says in the passage regarding Noah that he walked with God. When I am running with James “the machine” Zwiefel, he tells me that I am not tired yet. I argue with him between gasps of air but he usually wins and I keep running. By coach knows that I can do a lot more than I feel I am able.

The first time we ran 3 miles I was tricked into it. It was actually 3.8 and when we finished I realized that 3 was no big deal. So what in your life looks like a half mile hill? What feels as impossible as 3 miles did? God your coach wants to walk you through it. He wants to see you victorious on the other side.

One final thought: For every up hill there is always a down hill!

Elizabeth and Courtney Rock!

Elizabeth Rocks because she had an awesome idea about a fall sermon series and it is so good River Valley Church is going to use it. How awesome is that! It is like the local neighborhood store giving Target and idea. So our idea gets supersized by RVC! YEAH!

Courtney Rocks because she came up with a graphic I think really expresses what we are trying to express on the Future AG blog. Here it is.

 

Little Farina

Here she is... the first picture of my beautiful baby girl. I am so ready to hold her. I am nervous about changing her and not dropping her but I am so ready to teach her about life!

The lion is scary!

You are what you preach. I have been telling

High Point

lately to go after those God sized dreams in your life and to fallow the inner prompting of the Lord. I felt that I should be apart of God sized change in the Assemblies of God. They are our pastoral accountability and set the theological tone that we at

High Point

hold to.

There is a transition of leadership in three weeks and no one is creating an organized conversation. So Paul my BFF and I with a little encouragement of some mentors took the plunge. We went from talking about a great idea to implementing a great idea.

Hopefully www.futureAG.blogspot.com becomes something that we can look back on and say, "That was when things changed."

I spoke with my pastor Clarence St. John and he said... "You can’t just sit there!" So I raise my coffee mug high into the air and say, "Cheers to all who didn’t just sit there!"

Memorials and Alters...

I went to a wedding today at ECC today. I was sitting there watching the ceremony in the same room E and I got married in and I felt how dry and thirsty for God I was. I looked around and remembered the moments in Gods presence I had had here as an intern many years ago. I recalled the words from God I had given her in this sacred space to young people that are now adults peppered through the crowed. I met God here and He changed me. I can bring my Kids to spots in this building and show them and tell them exactly what God did.

I want

High Point

to give people that experience. I want people to walk into that theatre and begin to cry as I did as they remember where God met them.

I am talking in the morning about Zacchaeus. He climbed a tree to get a glimpse of Jesus. And he was never the same that day. I don’t want to be the same. I need another glimpse of Jesus. I want to lead this church on a quest for a glimpse of Jesus. Because that is all that is necessary for a life extraordinary!

May we be tree climbers!

Maybe it is time...

I love the way Erwin McManus says it in his book Unstoppable Force: “The center of God’s will is not a safe place but the most dangerous place in the world.” Then he makes a great distinction: “To live outside of God’s will puts us in danger; to live in his will makes us dangerous.”

Maybe it is time… to do something that scares you to death but if you don't do no one else will.

I am tossing around starting a web page that would be a dialog of the future of the AG. Who will lead and who will step up to vote and make a difference? If we as a young generation showed and voted we could have fresh leadership overnight. What Power we have as young leaders. But will we show? (I say that and feel guilty because i am about to have a baby then and my wife is needing me to stay home and take care of her.) But others will be there and could if they wanted to make a difference. So pray with me about this.

If nothing else at least it would be a place to rally who knows what could come out of it? The ideas exchanged the people reached and encouraged because we collaborated. I am working on the details so any help you can give let me know.

Rock the AG Vote

I have been thinking lately about this next generation of leaders. Tom Trask General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God just resigned in the middle of a four year term. He is leaving at a critical time for the AG. There seems to be a divide that is growing... it seems to fissure along several lines.

The difference between: a rural church and a suburban church. The majority of our churches are under 50. That is a major issue because if you are in the minority you think different and look for different things than if you are one of the pastors of a church of 50.

The difference between: fresh and fast paced church lead ministry that is more concerned about growth and discipleship and the old school revivalists that are looking for the next wave and centralized

Springfield

leadership. The one group wants to break down the bureaucracy and do away with business meetings and just talk about church growth and discipleship and the other one wants to keep things as is and talk about speaking in tongues as our one and only issue.

There are more divisions but this is what I see as the largest area of concern for the AG.

So I wonder if a person under 50 with a passion for the next generations future might be who we need instead of status quo same as usual guy gets the vote. What if we rallied all of the young credentialed leaders and got them there to vote a pre picked young leader. It could change the face of the Fellowship. It could revolutionize the AG.

So there are a few people who could do well, however no one knows there name.

So I think we should gather the under 40 and show up in force and see what happens.

Re-framing our past...

I got an email this week from a lady in our church. It knocked my socks off. She said that this series we are in has been a huge influence on her spiritually. She told me that her past has been filled with a lot of hardships and until recently she didn't see any redeeming quality to it. As a result of our series Chase The Lion she said... "I am very grateful that while I was failing God, he never failed me..."

Wow what a statement!

God wants to re-frame your past. He wants to take your mistakes and your difficult times and spin them for His Glory. Thank you God that you work behind the scenes and even when we feel like a screw up you are right there lifting us up and helping us towards a better future.