Tory Farina

Quotes from Steve Jobs...

Steve Jobs visionary work has been an inspiration to me over the years. I like how he designs great products that seem to make you want to use them. He resigned his post at Apple yesterday, due to health concerns. In honor of him here are some of his more famous quotes.

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“The most compelling reason for most people to buy a computer for the home will be to link it to a nationwide communications network. We’re just in the beginning stages of what will be a truly remarkable breakthrough for most people––as remarkable as the telephone.” 1985

"I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.[…] It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith." [On being fired from Apple, 1984]

“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. [ Wired, February 1996 ]

“For something this complicated, it’s really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.” [ BusinessWeek, May, 1998 ]

“Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me.”

“My job is to not be easy on people. My job is to make them better.”

“People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully.”

“I’m as proud of what we don’t do as I am of what we do.”

“Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water or do you want a chance to change the world?”

 

 

Martin Luther King "I have a Dream"

How You Can Help Me, Part 2

Stay Unified

We are a family. It blesses me to see this church operate with such health. Each week people set up/tear down, greet, work with the kids, usher, pray for one another, connect in homes across the south metro, and live life connected. When everyone is in proper relationship we can accomplish great and powerful things. Lets stay a healthy body by remaining unified.

How wonderful and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony! Harmony is as refreshing as the dew from Mount Hermon that falls on the mountains of Zion. And there the Lord has pronounced his blessing, even life everlasting. (Psalm 133:1,3)

Stay Away from Discord

It is a fear of mine that the healthy church we have built will be corrupted. High Point doesn’t have gossipers, dissention, factions, or discord.

There are six things the Lord hates — no, seven things he detests: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent, a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong, a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord in a family. (Proverbs 6:16-19)

Elizabeth and I fight hard to snuff out anything that is not harmonious and healthy. We set up our bylaws in a way that allows for relational integrity and accountability. Help us by nipping anything in the bud that you hear or see. As scripture says, avoid it.

I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. (Romans 16:17)

Don’t Bite One Another!

As Phillip Keller explains in his book on Psalms 23, one of the things a shepherd does is keeps the sheep from biting each other.

While I am away, don’t bit one another. Live in peace and offer up grace to one another at every turn.

Draw on Our Great Leaders

We have pastors, deacons, ministry team leaders, and connection group leaders. It is a social network built on discipleship. This network is built as a way to draw out the wisdom that God has placed at the heart of those who love Him and are living in community with Him. This church is not built on one person or personality. This church is built on a firm foundation of people who are bound together by the mission and vision of High Point.

Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water, But a man of understanding will draw it out. (Proverbs 20:5)

If you are in need of wisdom, there is someone who you can get a hold of while Elizabeth and I are gone. The water is deep at High Point and many know how to draw out the good stuff.

 

Pastor Rob Ketterling's Anouncement...

Sunday we showed a special anouncement that Pastor Rob gave to the church. He is a friend, mentor and one of our Oversears for High Point. I am blessed to have his leadership in my life.

How You Can Help Me, Part 1

While I am on my sabbatical, you can help me by staying faithful in the following areas.

Attendance

Be faithful in your attendance. We are a family, and when one member needs rest, the others step up to help. We are a team and when one player is out, the rest of the team ups their game to compensate. Your attendance at church is absolutely essential in order for God to do what he wants in our individual lives and in our church family.

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:23-25)

Stewardship

Be faithful in your stewardship. Scripture challenges us to be faithful as it is honoring the Lord. Tithing and giving is a way for us to fuel our future. We are going to announce some pretty bold initiatives this coming year and your faithfulness in giving will confirm what steps God is challenging me to take.

Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the LORD your God has blessed you. (Deuteronomy 16:17)

Outreach

Be faithful in bringing visitors. We are going to have an amazing line-up of guests. These are people who are strong communicators and who challenge and encourage me in my faith. You are not going to want to miss the next few weeks. Your friends are going to be challenged and experience God as they normally would at High Point.

A faithful man will abound with blessings... (Proverbs 28:20)

7 of Sabbaticals...

I read this in a recent article from the Hardy Group about sabbaticals.

Here are some quick observations on the value of taking a sustained period of time off called a sabbatical.

1. Spiritual Renewal – This is the single component which differentiates a pastor’s sabbatical from virtually every other career field. Because pastors eat, sleep and breathe in the spiritual world, there comes a point where they need to come apart from the work of the ministry before they truly come apart. This time away is perfect for God to speak to the quieted spirit within us.

2. Physical wind-down – It will take at least seven days and maybe more to bring your body to a slowed pace to actually relax. Physical rest will truly begin to set in when this happen.

3. Emotional wind-down – It will take an equally long period of time for your emotions to begin to settle down. Those stresses and emotional drains will begin to ebb from your life and a true sense of relaxation will set in. You will be amazed at just how relaxed you can be when your emotions are not all over the map.

4. Relationships improve – Presuming you take your sabbatical with your spouse, you will find your time together to be enriched. The pace of running your life by the clock will defer to the ease of spending time, extended time together. The stronger the pastor’s marital relationship, the more secure the Body feels as it moves forward.

5. Vision clears – Your ability to separate wild and crazy ideas from true vision for the future will become clear. There may be times on your sabbatical that you set aside to think about your own personal future. Depending on the designs of your sabbatical, it may be that vision for your ministry can become part of the mix. The ability to focus is increased.

6. Planning increases – If planning for the future is part of your sabbatical, the ability to do so without the clutter of phone, email, correspondence and emergencies is increased dramatically. Consequently, the resulting plan is of greater value to the church and its leadership.

7. Church benefits – The church learns that the staff and volunteers who serve so capably when you are physically at the helm are more than capable in carrying the day in your absence. Further, a renewed pastor results in a renewed congregation. The Body responds positively to the refreshing in their pastor. It can be said that sabbaticals, when implemented properly, can contribute to the numerical, financial and spiritual growth of the church because the leader comes back firing on all cylinders as opposed to when they left firing on only half of them.

I’m taking a sabbatical...

It’s been 6 years since High Point Church began in our home. Emotionally, spiritually, and physically we have held nothing back. As we were talking with our overseers recently, about our plans and where God is taking us as a church, they stopped us and asked if we had been on a Sabbatical yet.

We said no, but after this last year and with what we have planned for High Points future, it sounds like we could use it. They agreed.

The word sabbatical comes from the word Sabbath: observance of a day or time of rest. The Hebrew word shabbath means “rest.”

Genesis 2: 2–3 “By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating He had done.”

Elizabeth and I will be spending the month of November on sabbatical. 

I plan on doing 3 things while I am away with my family. I believe my focus on these 3 areas will increase my effectiveness and longevity as a father, husband, and pastor.

1.) Rest — We will not be working. This will be an emotional break from weekly deadlines, carrying others’ burdens and from the weight of leading.

2.) Spiritual Renewal — There is a weight we carry for this city. Leaving for a short season is like taking a step off the front line of war. As a pastor my focus in life is on the caring and feeding of others. I am convinced that not having to carry the burden of spiritual care for hundreds of people will bring personal spiritual renewal to our lives.

3.) Personal Growth — The Lord is leading me to structure the last half of my life on prioritizing my roles. Often I find my role as pastor taking priority over my other responsibilities as a disciple (follower), husband, father, and mentor.

It is going to be a great time of renewal. Please pray for us as while we are gone. Pray for refreshment. Pray for God to speak new words of encouragement.

 

My Spiritual Gifts...

According to Spiritualgiftstest.com here are my spiritual gifts.

Exhortation – 22

Evangelism - 21

Faith - 21 

Giving - 21

Knowledge - 21

Wisdom - 18

Teaching - 16
  
Mercy – 11

Discernment – 9

Administration/Ruling – 8

Pastor/Teacher – 7

Helps/Serving/Ministering - 5 

It is funny to see how low some of my scores got. I am aware of these areas and try and surround myself with complimentary people. It's no surprise that Elizabeth and I are very well matched. She is strong where I am weak and I am weak where she is strong.

How are you matched with your significant other? 

The WHY Behind the WHAT...

What are you trying to accomplish when you ask a person to do something? Does the other person know? The big picture can be so clear to one and a mystery to another.

The biggest leadership lesson I am learning right now has to do with the WHY behind the WHAT. I have to make sure people do not just know what I want them to do but why I want them to do it. If they know that doing what I ask will accomplish something bigger than both of us then we both win.

In the church world it is easy to lose sight of the big picture and see our role as an isolated task. Isolated tasks are no fun. They’re not motivating. But being apart of a mission, accomplishing something grand, or seeing what you do make a kingdom difference in people’s lives — that is worth getting up in the morning for.

Set Up/Tear Down at High Point is a great example. It is easy to default into a task-driven mindset. Do this because we need it done fast. Those involved in this part of High Point are preparing an unholy place to be a place where God and man can meet. People who are far from God and are without hope and in need of restoration come every Sunday because we work at transforming a movie theater into a Holy Place.

 

High Point Kids is another example. It would be easy to see it as babysitting, but that is far from what is happening. We are helping kids meet GOD! By using language and concepts that are age-appropriate, we are changing the world because we are helping change their world. They discover Christ by watching how we model Him. We have an opportunity to pray over their futures and be partners with their parents as we raise these children in the Lord. That is pretty powerful stuff!

 

Hospitality is another example. We serve coffee and donuts every Sunday. We buy the good stuff and spend a large percent of our annual budget on sugary bread and hot water with bean juice in it. Why? Because people are hungry in the morning? No... Because Tory freaks on coffee? Maybe... but that's not the main reason. We spend lots of money and have people put lots of time into this area on a Sunday because it creates an environment that fosters community. When people are in community (Find Your Place) they are more inclined to grow in their faith (Develop Your Faith). When people are developing their faith and have friends to live life with, they are more inclined to make better decisions (Live Your Potential!). Serving donuts changes lives!

 

My #1 job as the pastor of High Point Church is to show everyone in the church how they can be apart of helping people Find Their Place, Develop Their Faith, and Live Their Potential! If I do that, we will have a church that everyone in this city will want to be a part of. Jesus’ name will be made famous because a lot of people who do not love or serve Him will discover How AWESOME He is.

 

Do You know what a big role you play? If you’re from High Point, I'll be letting you know a lot this year.

Go be a part of something great!

 

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?