Tory Farina

On my mind today...

• Packers

• Galatians 5:25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. I cant get the image of two ballroom dancers out of my head when I read this... (teaser for Sunday)

• Mute Math tickets

• Christmas Tickets for seeing Mom and Dad aka- Mimi and Papa

• thegatewaychurch.com They launch in a few months and I am praying for them.
  

• High Point Kids needs-

• • laptop to run presentations (We need to power point and dvd's)
  • another couple or team member to join the team
  • Terry Peterson Stepping down and the new team rising up (Thanks Terry!!! Ill give you a post later!)
• Meeting with one of my financial advisers today... I wonder if anything is left?
• these songs by MJ and Stevie

Man In The Mirror - Michael Ja...
Never Dreamed You'd Leave In S...
Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough...
Smile - Michael Jackson

Whats on your mind today?

Tons on my mind...

• Thanks for all the hard work that went into highpointchurch.tv. Amy Roos, Courtney Feia, Joseph Sunde, Terry Peterson, Elizabeth Farina made this thing shine!!!
• I am expectant for God to do some amazing things at High Point over the next few weeks as we walk through "The Smoothie Life". I just keep praying for the Holy Spirit to take us to the next level! To take me to another level. I am reading through Acts 19 right now and am amazed at what God did to make himself known in that day. How much more does he want to make Himself known through you and me in this day and age.
• Iran is a serious situation that needs our prayers. I love technology and I feel like we are witnessing something truly transformational... Twitter and Facebook and so many other social networking sites have given the world a glimpse into something that just a few years ago we would have no way to see inside... check this out... and this... and this if your so inclined.
• I am amazed at how the Holy Spirit works on so many levels in my life... I read a book, hear a message, get challenged by a friend, and watch a movie and they all point me to something the Holy Spirit is speaking to me. I am so grateful that he is alive and working today in our lives.
• I found out a pastor who I had fallowed over the years had an affair. It bothers me, It hurts me, it puts the FEAR OF GOD in me.Anytime this happens it causes me to reach out to God and ask him to inspect my life. I reevaluate my guidelines. I tell my wife about it and together we pray and pry into one anothers lives deeper. I am determined I will not go down like that! Sin may be natural but it is not Inevitable!!! Do a little gut check and make sure your not living to close to the fire i don't want any of you to get burned.
• I am working on our next few months of series. Pray that the Holy Spirit puts an amazing line up together like he did this last series. This is often a very intense process for me... I bear the weight of vision, growth and outreach on my shoulders. The enemy distracts, sleep gets disturbed and I never seem to get enough done. Pray that we have an amazing FALL! Pray that I and the team hear from God. Pray that lives are changed.
• Brett Favre is still in contract talks. I am so mixed about this. On one hand I love to watch that guy play!!!! Any time he take the field he does it with such joy! (Their is a real lesson in loving what you do in that.) I also think he is great for about 10-13 games and after that his age catches him. Which means that the Vikings would look pretty good until he self destructs leaving room for the Packers to come on strong at the end. On the other... He should stay retired and go back to Green Bay as a hero not a traitor.
• Equipment is getting old at High Point. We fried 2 sub-woofers on Sunday. I am not sure how you fry both of them but we did. Our signage needs love. The FCC just took away our mhz waveband for our wireless mics making them contraband. We will faze out of using them soon and slowly replace them. Its a bummer when you have to re buy equipment.
• My Parents are back in the country. I get nervous when they leave even though I know that they are fallowing Gods plan and are in His hands. "Thank you Jesus for bringing them back home safe." 
• Today my daughter taught me the Joy of dancing in my living room. I don't dance in my living room enough. I don't dance enough before the Lord. 
• My wife asked me what would make it a special Fathers Day... it took me off Guard. I do not know why but I just wasn't thinking about it. Now I think I want a manly piece of meat or something. Maybe we should grill a big chunk of animal. I am not sure... I can't wait till my daughter can make me something.

Sunday night mind dump...

• I love this series we are in. David has been a lot of fun to study and I hope that it has challenged you to go a little deeper. 
• 2 weeks left. I may have a surprise for next week if I can make it work right... You'll have to come see. Next week we are talking about Davids relationships and then it is the Bathsheba incident. (why have I never heard a little girl named Bathsheba?)
• Drew did a great job today, didn't he? He will make a great pastor. I love seeing people take steps into their future.
• I watched Kings tonight... Not bad. It is a modern day story of Saul and David. It should be interesting how much they stick to scripture. Any time people point to the bible it is a good thing.
• I am trying to get my cell phone plan down. T-mobile wants to charge me $25 a month for Internet on my phone. I don't want to spend that much so I am told that if I buy an iphone I can get Internet for $10 and get the google app features I like using for a significant savings. I'm still working all this out.
• Pastor Trent Redmond of Valley Creek Church in Woodbury had their trailer stolen and it got me a little freaked out. I trust the Lord with our equipment... it is in a visible, well lite, and videoed area. We pray over our equipment and leave it up to the Lord.
• I saw a few old faces I haven't seen in a while at church. I love when people show back up. It is like seeing family I haven't seen in a long time. I try not to over react. But I love a full house.
• The weather looks pretty amazing this week. I plan on being outside as much as possible.
• My baby girl wore pigtails today and she looked so cute... here is a picture.

• I have lost over 25lbs I just bought a pair of 35/32  jeans which is nice. I am so close to breaking the 200lbs barrier. For those wondering how I am doing it... Weight Watchers on-line... It helps me figure out my portions and if things are worth eating or not. I was surprised at how much i was eating and I ate pretty good food already. Now I eat less and much healthier food. It has been very enlightening and spiritually encouraging.

5 random thoughts...

1- If we ate less, would we appreciate food more? Would we eat higher quality food because we wouldn't want to waist eating junk?
2- I feel like more of a man for living in the climate I do... Basically people who live in the warm weather are wimps... I'm Just saying.
3- Vision is like cake... it is better shared.
4- Creativity can not be forced... adaptation can be forced.
5- Hurt People hurt people.

I Love Christmas...

1. You look for gifts for other people- 
2. Secular people like "Snoop Dog" sing about Jesus- 
3. Everything stops to honor Jesus-
4. You spend time with family and that is healing-
5. You tell people to have a merry Christmas... I never tell people happy Columbus day!-
6. EGG NOG!
7. Olive wears cute jammies and I can put antlers on my dog-
8. People send you Christmas cards with pictures of their family in scratchy sweaters-
9. I can wear boots and a coat with pockets... I am weird but I love it-
10. Things slow down... for two weeks things slow at work and people understand why-
11. Lasagna is made at my families Christmas... I'll miss it this year but watch out Christmas '09!-

Christmas Thoughts...

Why did Jesus come to this Earth?

I hate when My dog gets me up in the middle of the night to take her outside in the freezing cold so that she can sniff the snow, get frozen feet and Ill have to carry her back inside. How much more difficult would it have been for the God of Gods to confine himself to a woman's womb and depend on her body to supply his needs. Imagine if she didn't get the right nutrients from food, or if she took a tumble and He felt it, God was meant to be the one that all of life got its sustenance from and now he was receiving sustenance from his creation. Think of the humility that God showed. I have to be honest if I had the choice I don't think I would want to become an ant so that I could save ants? But that is what God did simply because he loved us.

Love doesn't come from religion, religion is all about the law and law is void of love. It can come from relationship but I have a lot of relationships with people I don't love. It isn't guaranteed to Come from Fallowing I regularly fallow the car in front of me on a road trip so they get caught speeding not me but I don’t love the car for it.

Love flows out of dependence. I love the thing that I am most dependent on. I go out of my way to be around those things and people. I depend on Elizabeth and she depends on me we live in mutual dependence and I can not imagine life separate from her. People fall out of love when they no longer live mutually submitted to one another.

Jesus chose to live dependent on Mary he further pledged his dependence on us as his favorite creation and tied part of himself to us in the form of Jesus. He invites us to live dependent on him. I think the image of a baby in the womb is the concept that God wants to use to help explain himself to us. He desires that we abide in him. That all of our life, all of our security, all of our Hope comes from our connection from him. He invites us to that kind of Life and that is the reason he came. Love comes from presence, humility, awareness, and being in dependency.

Jesus came to Earth to show God’s Love and he proved it when he came to us so that we could truly live.

Since we last talked...

I have been lying low since Sunday. I was emotionally spent. With Jeff's Funeral and the weekend I gave all I had and had no more to give. I felt like I had hit a wall and when my wife is having to tell me the same story two times because I just cant focus you know it is time to retreat. My favorite leadership Guru used to have mobs of people flocking to him on a regular basis and he would force himself to leave the crowed and go up to a mountain with just a few friends. While I am not flocked after by thousands of people and mountains are sparse in this part of the country I just had a little holiday time with my Mom and Dad and the family. We spent a lot of time chasing Olivia and talking about our dreams and passions and without fail church comes up in the mix. I meet with a few leaders I have asked to pour into my life. I read a little... a very little. And I took care of a few items on the Honey DOOOO! List. It is important when you give out to be aware of your need to recieve. Now we are ready for a Holiday Marathon.

So here are a few things that have been happening:

• My fantasy sports team resembles the Green bay Packers... we were HOT and now we are NOT! Nuts!
• I am pumped about our Team! We had a little Holiday get together at Staff and over Noodles we talked heart and vision and told stories and laughed and worked on our strategy for this new year! Pastor Mike and Amy are headed to Ohio on Friday-Pray for them. Courtney and Kendall are done with K's interviews and now they are asking God to open the door to the right location. That is code for GOD OPEN MAYO ROCHESTER up to them.
• I have loved all the Christmas cards we have gotten. Thanks for thinking of us.
• I bought E some awesome gifts... She likes lots of little things.
• Olivia is now officially a toddler. She is walking like crazy. She is into everything. I love it!
• I loved Sunday I meet a few new people and a few old friends. I love that you feel comfortable to bring new people. This is the time and place to bring them. I was talking to a guy on Sunday who I promise you I smelled liquor on his breath... THATS WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT. CHURCH should be the place for drunks, drug addicts, porn addicts, cheaters, stealer's, and hypocrites. Jesus said bless are these because the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
• My prayer... This year is going to be a year of lost coming to Christ. If you do not intend on inviting or bringing someone to High Point this year... then you may need to look for a new church. Because God is working a plan and that plan involves High Point reaching the world for the gory of GOD. That plan involves you and me going after the hurting and dying and pain filled and the widows and the orphans. That Plan involves you and me reaching out to those who do not have Christ and showing them a place and people that care.
• We are building a church that is life changing... 
• I am looking forward to these movies... Seven Pounds- Will Smith!!! Bed Time Stories- I think Adam is funny. Marley and ME- The book was great. The case of Ben Button- Um... this just looks cool.
• Live and Love like today is your last. It might be and the world is better for it!
• E and I put some money in an account for Olivia. She may need to go to college or get married.
• Christmas EVE is coming!!! bring a friend.

Celebrating Jeff Kirby's Life...

On Tuesday at around 9:30 surrounded by those who loved him Jeff Kirby fell asleep for the last time and left his broken body to be with Jesus. I was their and what an amazing moment it was. I have spent the better part of the last two days preparing for a celebration to honor and remember a man that loved people with all he had. Pray for me as I prepare a message that will speak to the family and friends of Jeff. Pray for Milly and his family as they are grieving the loss of someone that meant so much to so many. Take time to tell those you love what they mean to you. For our time on this earth is short but our love for one another is everlasting.

If you re interested in attending here is the funeral and viewing information:

VISITATION tomorrow (Thursday) from 4:00pm to 7:00pm at Washburn McReavy Funeral Chapel (Nokomis Park Chapel) located at 1838 East Minnehaha Parkway in Minneapolis. We chose this chapel because it is on the parkway and near parks and golf courses where Jeff spent most of his life working and playing.

THE FUNERAL SERVICE will be this Friday (Dec 12) at 11:00am at Calvary Baptist Church located at 2120 Lexington Avenue North, Roseville.

I wear my heart on my sleeve...

Lately I have had a number of people tell me that I am hitting an emotion in my preaching that causes them to tear up. That is not my intent necessarily. I think it is goofy when dudes cry every week. But I also think it is important to share with you the message that is on my heart and that means that I might cry I might yell I might get soft or loud. I will do what it takes to share with you in the best possible way the message I feel in my heart you need to hear. I feel like lately my messages have been deeper. Like my wrestling days... I leave it all on the mat.

I wear my heart on my sleeve...

lost post...

I had a great post going a minute ago. It was about how I can't spell and how funny it is. I shared some stories from my childhood and listed out the words I struggle with. I lost it on accident. I hate losing posts. It is so hard to get the energy back to re type it. They are never as good anyways. suffice it to say that I posted the greatest post of my life but lost it due to hitting the wrong button and auto save on typepad not working yet.

I may try again but I think it is lost forever.

Lost anything you really cared for today? I want to hear about it.