Tory Farina

R&R starts tomarrow

I will be taking a blog break for a few days because I am headed out of town to spend some time with my family. Live Your Potential this week.

Tory

MOMS ROCK!

This Moms day I think we can be proud... The Sunday was a great day. The weather cooperated with me. I had been telling the late night news team to change the forecast but my cable hookup seems to only be working one way. But wow it was beautiful.

The service was a blast... worship Rocked I feel like we have gotten a little deeper as a church in worship lately. My message came off really well.

I spent some time trying to rally our men around the goal of living there families potential. I am convinced that how the dad goes so goes the family. it is important for single moms or parents without dads to make sure that they find men in the church that can provide that male encouragement that all young kids need.

I challenged us as a church to seek God First and let our families flow from our relationship with God. He is to be our ALL. Our kids will be in our home for a short time but our relationship with God and to our spouse is forever.

I am challenged that if we can save one family we save there kids. And we can change there lives. If we save a few families we change a city... and if we save a church full of families we can change the world.

We finished the day by giving out nail files to all the ladies. I was talking to someone and a lady pulled hers out from across the room and gave me the thumbs up with a big smile:) I went to talk with her and she said, "thank you for the gift." I said something like, "we are always trying to find fun usable gifts to give our ladies and I have never meet a lady who didn't like a nail file." She smiled big and said, "And this is a GOOD one." Yes it was! So ladies enjoy your good nail files.

The pod cast is up if you want to listen to it...

Click here to get your own player.

Parenting through our TV...

Parents... do you realize how much TV tries to parent our kids or even parent us? Just an FYI... I never realized how much the TV tries to teach us but these will show you they are not a replacement for what is in the bible and what comes out of your mouth.

Shout out!

HPC takes a lot of people to make happen. This week so far here are a few people who have had there hand on the ball and I want to thank.

The cleaning lady at the office... Don't laugh... she gives a couple hours of my week back to me... thanks... the new place has a cleaning lady... SCORE!

Elizabeth- E and I are approaching this church and life as a co-leader. She helps me so much... this church would stand still without her. It felt like it did for a while while she was pregnant and very very very sick. She is prepping for mothers day tea... Getting the office usual working and strumming along... She helps me so much... We had a decision this week that came up that I was feeling pressured about and she totally said... "This is how I see it..." She was right and crisis averted for listening to my wife.

Courtney's mom- she came to the office and worked for a day with us... odd jobs... stuff for the ladies tea... Thanks

Lisa and Joe Jackson- they make sure things are ready for Sunday for hospitality... water, napkins and make sure the food is ordered! They are very important... they also head up the hospitality and do such a good job of leading that team and making a positive and lasting impression of the church to every visitor.

Aimee Robertson- she puts the bulletin together and makes us look good. E is better than I am but we are both not great spelers.

Orion and Andrea- they are heading up our Youth connection group and also are the ones who put the deposits together and make sure that giving credit is registered. They are vital to our operation.
they are like little elves who come into the shoe shop after we have gone and when we get there in the morning work has been accomplished! NICE!

KATE Nass- More volunteer work to get ready for the weekend was needed and she pulled through after working all night she was in and did a half a day with Elizabeth.

Chad Molen- He puts the podcast up each week after condensing it and making it sound pretty. He also is always working on making our sound better. he buys gear at crazy cheap prices when he finds it. we need a lot of gear.

Neil and Orion- The make sure the track gets to where it needs to be every Sunday morning... The set the tone. If they are late, and they rarely are, things get pushed back and we are all a little late. But when they are on time or early everything falls into place nice!

Matt and Leah- they organize the infants area and also take the toys home and clean them... every week.! THEY ARE AWESOME! no one thinks about the toys and if there clean but if a new parent wonders... They are:)

Terry Peterson- who is the church tech guru and web master. He helps us with all things computer as well as puts together an awesome 6-11yr old service. He is truly valued. (his mom had a heart attack and is doing better but pray for him)

There are so many more... those who come to help in the kids area, those who set up and tear down, the Band Sunday Morning, the folks who great and those who wake up early every Sunday to transform the theater into a church.

THANK YOU! I truly appreciate it! Some day you will get to heaven and be rewarded for your effort with the applause of those who came to know Christ because of High Point. You make a positive and lasting impression of Christ and his church on all those who come. Thank you.

Theological aplication of the new office fridge!

At High Point we hold to what scripture says when it challenges us as Christ followers to not be drunk. We also see in scripture the challenge for those in leadership to stay away from alcohol because it clouds judgment. We realize as a pastoral team and as a church, people are coming from all sorts of backgrounds and may have an issue with alcohol so we as a pastoral team abstain from alcohol.

People in our church drink alcohol and I teach that we need to be careful about it not to let it control us. I think that for the most part you are better off not having it in your life but that is a personal conviction and not a scriptural one. I would lean more in the, It is permissible but probably not beneficial, camp.

This picture is funny to me because we have made a point to be a dry church. Our connection groups are not going to have alcohol at them. But we rent our office from a couple of lawyers and I walked in one morning to see this in our communal fridge. (So we are dry every where except our office...?)

I love that we as a church meeting the marketplace. We office, meet for Sunday and often meet in connection groups in places where we can be in  contact with what non believers are dealing with.  I think it is funny that in our credential organization of the Assemblies of God of Minnesota we are probably the only church that has a case of beer in there fridge.

Jesus didn't call us to live in our Christian bubble and not have community with those who have not committed there life to Christ... He called us to engage. I would say if you only have Christian friends then you are not living the fullness of your potential as a Christian. Jesus spent most of his time with people who were not of the religious majority. I don't know the commitment level of all of the people we share on office with but I do know that they are watching us.

The people we are around are asking the question... What do they have that is different? Lets see if they are who they say they are.

Check your life... are you around people and places that challenge you to live like Christ? Do you have friends who don't know the Lord?

We bring in the root beer and the ginger ale... they bring in the real thing... I think over all we are all spiritually desperate for a real encounter with Jesus.

Rick Warren!

Check this awesome interview out with Rick Warren!

World Changers...

I saw this on my way in this morning and it brought a smile to my face. I feel like they should be coming to HPC. We have so many babies and people who are pregnant or thinking about getting pregnant.

I am a big Fan of KIDS! I love there Joy, expressions, honesty and openness. The church should be the place where kids find exciting and engaging. where we realize the Sunday morning is more than just an hour of more baby sitting but rather it is an hour of preparation. We are preparing our kids for the future. We are preparing our kids to be world changers.

I look at the little ones in our church and pray that High Point will be a way of life for them. They will strive from a young age to find there place in community and feel apart of the body of Christ... Develop there faith and be inspired to live walking with the lord and Be Empowered to Live there potential! We could have the next Dr. who will cure aids, the next CEO f a fortune 100 company, the next missionary who will make a huge difference in Myanmar, The next parent of a world changer, the next car engineer who will come up with a 200mpg vehicle.

God has big plans for our kids. It is my Job to lead the church into a better future. It is your job to lead your home into a better future and together we will raise up world changers!

Open up and say AAAAHHHHH!

We asked the question this week... What Evil is coming out of your mouth?

This is one of those questions that we don't ask enough. Think about it... When was the last time you thought about what comes out of your mouth other then the last presentation you made? Think about the last words that you spoke to your lover this morning... scroll through your call log and think about what things you said to the last few people on the list.

Was it words of joy, peace, love, healing? Was it words of angst, pain, frustration, anger or fear?

God challenges us to mind our words... to pay attention to the things that come out. What Comes out is evidence of what your heart is like. If good things come out... your heart is good. If evil things come out... your heart has evil in it.

If I were to strap a recording device to you and replay your daily verbiage... what would you think? Would you be happy with your words? or embarrassed?

Lets take the challenge and live this week Pouring in good things to our heart and mind so we can speak out good things to the world around us.

check out the sweet view from my desk!

I am in bliss! I feel like I could work here for a long time. If we leave we will need to find a place with as good a view or my messages might stink.
Isn't that an awesome view?

I'm Loven it pt2

what do you love about HPC? i have been thinking about this a whole bunch these past few weeks. I received a coupe emails abut what people who love HPC think... here are a few excerpts.

• Worship band.  They are amazing and help me sing my praise to God.
• A sermon series – dedicated topics covering a variety of life’s challenges, they are focused and well thought out.
• A weekly challenge and reflection.  I take this to heart and really am emotionally challenged and charged to take action.
• Live your potential.  This reminder alone tells me after I am challenged that God has a plan for me, I can seek forgiveness and start a new day.  I have can be God’s hands and feet, if I live out my potential.  Awesome reminder.
• I learn something every week.  Every week… sometimes too much to remember.
• Blog – a great vehicle to have additional information shared, especially as we went through the green series.  This is also a good way for me to see how I can pray for you and the team.
• Translations – Biblical text and translation that can be understood, you and the team do a great job of this.
• Teamwork.  The church is in a movie theatre.  It works and works well… but with the help of so many.  I am inspired to be involved.
• 10 AM start time, I love it – sure beats rushing out @ 8:30 or 9:30.  Also, coffee is a great touch in the morning.

-Adam

I thought your message was fantastic!  I am blessed that you don’t let tension in the room hold you back from being obedient!  I felt a fresh anointing of the Holy Ghost during worship...so sweet and one point I stopped singing and just took deep breaths...I love that!
-Julie

personally- E and I started High Point as a church that we would want to attend. We wanted it to be a place where people could live life connected, Where we would talk about spiritual things in a way that we saw Jesus do it... Practical and meaningful. We desired to have a place where we could worship in a way that was relevant to us and made sense to people who were new to faith and also was challenging to those who had been in faith a long time.

Here is what I love now that HPC is out of the theoretical...

• The people- cheese aside I am foreals. We have a bunch of really cool people coming to the church. People that I enjoy to spend my time with.
• The music- there is talk about getting some of our musicians together and kick'n out some of our own tunes... that is such a dream for High Point that I have. I love the tunes and the band and the way we ROCK! I look forward to adding a sweet worship night... look for it in the future.
• Life changes- I wish I had the ability to tell every story of life change I hear. I know there are even more things happening in peoples lives than I hear. God is rock'n peoples boat and it is so GOOD!
• God showing Up in a movie theatre- Think about it... Saw IV played in the same theatre that I shared the gospel of Christ in... People have to make a choice every Sunday... Movie or Church... Church Or Movie... That tension is GOLDEN! The Holy Spirit has got to be working like crazy in those moments.
• Olivia Is going to have a ton of friends- I just found out that another lady is prego. We are brewing an awesome Kids church... in a few years our Youth church is going to ROCK the CASA! Seriously O is going to be apart of the future world changers we kick out of High Point to take on this world and reach it for the cause of Christ! We are raising world changers at HPC!

I love most of all that God gave me and E this crazy dream and that it is working. I love to be apart of something that is so much bigger than I am.