Tory Farina

Tell me 1 thing...

Hey church planters... Of you could tell a pre-launch planter 1 thing what would it be?

Blog posted here.

5 Year Anniversary Video...

Five Year Video from Courtney Feia on Vimeo.

5 Year Anniversary Reflections Pt. 1...

This week is the weekend!

Five years ago today Elizabeth and I were almost on an IV of Pepto as we anxiously put the final touches on the church we were about to open. We had sent out 25,000 mail pieces, bought thousands of dollars worth of equipment and rented a facility that seated 10 times our launch team attendance.

It was exciting! We were confident that people would show up, but there was still a nagging question in the back of my mind: "What if no one showed up?"

As I was nervously letting the Lord know my concerns about attendance, money, and logistics, he spoke these words to my heart: "If you point people to Jesus and work to make him famous in your city, I will take care of everything else. People will come, money will be provided, and you will have no needs."

That is what the last five years has been about. All of the setting up and tearing down of these past 263 Sundays has occurred to prepare the way for the coming King, to proclaim His good news, to help people find their place, develop their faith, and live their potential until he arrives.

The Lord has been faithful! People showed up. After three months, our budget was sufficiently being met. We have had an amazing team of bi-vocational and part-time staff. We have seen people with a variety of backgrounds call High Point their home. From people with no church experience to disenfranchised church experience to bountiful church experience, many have come to High Point and experienced God in a meaningful way. Out of nothing, God has established a great church.

I am expecting the next five years will be even greater than the last five.

3 reasons for an IPad...

Last week someone asked me this: “Give me three reasons to get an iPad. Is it worth the $600 price tag for a pastor?”

Is it worth the price? For me? Yes. For you? I don’t know. It all depends on the apps you use, so I will give you the Top 3 apps that give me a significant return on my investment. Then I’ll mention a couple of bonus ones that are pure icing. Also, it should be known that most apps work on both the iPhone and the iPad, so it is impossible for me to separate the two.

#1) Jump Desktop — This app allows Elizabeth to use her PC without triggering a migraine. For some reason when she uses her PC the screen gives her a headache. Not so with her iPhone or iPad. This app creates a link over the Internet that turns the iPad into a Remote Access Tool for the PC. Basically, she can control her PC on the iPad. It is a HUGE tool for her.

#2) Documents to Go/Dropbox — These apps work together. Documents to Go is a way to view and edit Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents on the iPad. Dropbox is an easy way to store and sync documents and files. It sits in your hard drive and anything that gets placed in it is accessible online. Documents to Go syncs with Dropbox, which allows all of your devices (e.g. iPhone, iPad, PC/Mac, etc.) to be up to date with the latest changes. No more saving docs in three places. No more notes with handwritten ideas lost after a Sunday. No more wishing you had that scripture, illustration, or notes from that message you spoke last year that would apply to this situation. It is all right there. Click here to get dropbox.

#3) Kindle/YouVersion — This is an amazing tool for reading. You can read at night and not wake your love up. You can also sync with these tools and access them on the other devices you use often (Mac/PC, iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, Android). I love always having what I am reading with me. It makes it more likely that I will start reading while I have down time. With Kindle, I also love the ability to recall my highlights and notes on one page through Amazon’s media site.

Honorable mentions: Evernote, Pandora, Elmo's Monster Maker, EBay, Nike+ GPS, Pro Presenter Remote, Rhapsody Music, Tweet Deck, Flipboard, USA Today, Youmail*

*I use this for my answering service instead of the stock one provided by my phone company.

The iPad/iPhone is not a full functioning computer but it was never intended to be. It saves me time, keeps me organized, and I can read it in a dark theater. I also love that I can have notes prepped on my Macbook then access them in a theater, at the pool before a baptism, or in a church for a wedding. I expect now that E has basically taken mine I will be getting the next generation next year so that she and I don’t have to fight share it.

Is it worth the price? You can do everything it does with something else. But no one device does everything it does in one device. For us, it is very much worth having. Let me know if it is worth it for you.

Take the Plunge...

Take the Plunge. Jesus was clear with his disciples about how everyone who crosses the line into faith should get baptized. Just before Jesus returned to heaven, he said...

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:19

 

What is water baptism? Water baptism is an outward sign of an inward change. It is a sign to everyone watching that you have accepted Jesus as Savior and set your life's course to please Him.

 

You are baptized into Christ’s death. Baptism is an incredible sensory experience meant to help us understand what Christ did on the cross. The Greek word for baptize means “to go down under, to dip, to submerge.” Water baptism represents our identification with Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. We are literally going into a watery grave fully submerged under the water. When we come back out of the water, we find ourselves like Christ being raised from an old life into something new and beautiful. My college professor once said, “Hold ‘em under till the bubbles come up.” He was joking, but the symbolism is incredible.

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. Galatians 2:20

 

You are raised into new life. Your old life is a life of sin and separation from God. After we allow Jesus into our lives, baptism reminds us of the work he did. We are no longer burdened with the weight of sin, nor are we tainted by stains from the past. Instead, we take on the perfectness of Christ.

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. Galatians 3:26-27

Baptism is a time to tell your story. Tell what life was like before Christ, what it was like to have christ in come in your life and then share how things are different now. The testimony time is always the most moving part about being apart of a baptism.

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Romans 6: 11-12

 

Baptism is a declaration to this world that I am the Lord’s. I am no longer a wandering vagabond. No longer will I try to live this life on my own. I stand with Christ and together we will accomplish the Father’s will and live forever in eternity!

Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven. Matthew 10:32-33

 

Baptism is all about your story of life transformation. Tell the people you love to come and see you take the plunge. Share with your coworkers and show the pictures. It is a powerful moment that breaks through barriers because people want to know why you would let someone else dunk you under the pool water. Tell people what Christ means to you and get baptized.

If you would like to get baptized... Let me know. This Sunday at the church picnic you can take the plunge!

To Boldy Go...

Remember the opening to "STAR TREK"?

"Space... the Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before."

I Love the exciting Idea of Going where no man has gone before. But it is a lot of energy and isn't as necessary as we think it is. I wonder how many people get stuck, burn out, or spend more energy then necessary because they are working harder than they need to?

I spend time every week looking for people who have gone where I want to go. I realized a long time ago, I can do this the hard way and cut my own trail, or I can look for those who have been their and done that and leap off their shoulders.

The funny thing about "Star Trek" is although they were the first "MEN" to go somewhere they were not the first to experience what they found. Principles are principles. People are people and although at High Point we have never been to where we are, I have never lead the size and type of church we are and this area of the City has never had a church like High Point in it before. We are not in uncharted territory.

This weekend I am spending with Matt and Sarah Keller Pastors of NEXT LEVEL CHURCH in Fort Meyers, Florida. My biggest question for them is, "Help me see what I can't see coming on the other side of the Horizon." We will talk about budgets, staffing, volunteers, leadership principles and what they experienced when they were where we are.

I am convinced we live too isolated for our own good. Someone somewhere has been to a similar place as you are in. The key is finding them and asking them to tell their experiences and observations to you.

Who is where you want to be? What would it take to get some time with them? What questions do you need to ask them?

State of the ARC...

I just received the end of the year report for ARC and had to share! The ARC is an organization that we have been apart of for four years. They Helped us Plant High Point Church and we give 2% of our missions budget to them to help plant other churches around the nation. Here is Why...

• ARC planted 55 churches this year (last year was only 25)
• That is the equivalent of more than one new church every Sunday this year
• Given the average size of a church plant's opening launch Sunday, there were 13,000 new people attending one of the new ARC churches
• ARC has now planted 130 churches since it began 8 years ago
• ARC has invested over $1.8 million in church planters this year, bringing the total to $4.1 million since we began
• ARC churches gave over $7 million to missions last year
• ARC church plants are in 33 states
• ARC church plants have a 92% success rate
• ARC's goal is to plant 75 - 100 churches next year

ARC is an association of relational churches working with church planters, church leaders, and churches in transition to provide support, guidance and resources to launch and grow life-giving churches.

Planting churches...

I am sitting in a room with people from all over the nation who are trying to figure out how to plant more churches. I love spending time with people like this. They are creative, non-conformers, and challange me to think broader than I do. I need this sharpening on a regular basis.

My Thread...

I wanted to share with you a meeting of fellow pastors and church planters that I get with once a month online. Matt Keller leads the discussion and then we get down and dirty into what we are dealing with. It is a powerful time of encouragement and challenge. Here is a picture of it in a action.

 

Tory Farina, Matt Keller, Barry Rice, Dan Stauffer, Andrew Fortner, John Youell, Darian Raines 

We all have a funny look on our face! Captions are welcome!

Do you See what I See?...

I have spent the last few months talking and interviewing with people about helping High Point Church get to the next level. It is kind of funny for me because I live in a reality that doesn't exist. People come and see High Point and they see what is. They look around and see the kids that are their and see what the set looks like and they will see who is volunteering and they see all that we are. The funny thing when I talk with them is that I don't see that. I know that sounds so strange but it is true.

When I see High Point I don't see what is because what is has never been my reality. When it was Elizabeth and I and we had no graphics, no Courtney, no Theatre and not even a name I saw a picture that looked similar to what we have now 3.5 yrs later. I would talk to people all the time like we had a church of a couple hundred with a staff and awesome worship and engaging connection groups. People who could see what I saw jumped on board. People who couldn't see it... never called me back. That was years ago but it hasn't changed for me. Every time I walk into High Point now I see what Could Be and what Should Be.

Do you want to see what I see?

I see a section of Youth that worships God with all of their heart in the front of the church. I see two services that are full to the gills with people and we have to have to ask regular attenders to give up their seat for new visitors. I see connection groups all over this city full of people who are growing in their relationship with God. I see us in a building that gives us ample room for our Kids to be transformed with as much room as they need. I see Lost people found. Depressed people set free. Broken Homes restored. Floundering people Living Their Potential!

Do you See what I See? We are on the verge of the next level of High Point Church. We are about to go to the preferred future that I SEE. Can you see it? As I have talked with a bunch of people these last few months most haven't seen it. But the ones that have... OHHHBOOOOYYY! They are going to see God do something Great in this place for this City! We are going to see an amazing future at High Point. What I See, I am convinced is just around the corner.