This is now going in my '11 budget. WOW!

Jeff Van Duzer: Why Business Matters to God: (And What Still Needs to Be Fixed)
Dennis W. Bakke: Joy At Work: A Revolutionary Aproach To Fun On The Job
Patrick Lencioni: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable (J-B Lencioni Series)
Wayne Cordeiro: Divine Mentor, The: Growing Your Faith as You Sit at the Feet of the Savior
This is now going in my '11 budget. WOW!

Posted at 02:17 PM in MAC, Musing | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Betrayal Bumper from Courtney Feia on Vimeo.
Posted at 10:54 AM in High Point Church, Musing, Sports, weekend | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
I want to get something out to you about what is happening in my life. Here is a quick mind dump to share with you.
·
Pastor Drew
did an outstanding job teaching on the “Rich Young Ruler.” The best line of the talk was his
definition of RICH: “having more than you need.” We can all fit into that
mindset in America.
·
Drew
challenged us to look for things that might not be totally surrendered to
Jesus. Areas where we may be out of alignment with his callings for our lives.
This is an important thing to do every so often. The stuff of life can grow like a weed and eventually choke God’s best from
our garden if we are not careful.
·
Sunday’s
mailer dropped early... We are trying a new way of doing our mailer and it
came a week before it was supposed to. I was a little frustrated. It’s kind of
like when people come to your house an hour before they were supposed to. You are
getting ready for them and the food is being prepared, but you are still in
your cleaning clothes and the table isn’t set. Basically we have a few plans
that were going to be implemented next week for the new arrivals. They were
also sent before a major holiday, which isn’t ideal, but everything is ok.
·
We will
to try to an add on Facebook to rekindle people’s memories about the
mailer. So if you see them, hit the “Like” button and help us out.
·
Visitor
flow was great. I met a lot of new people. I love hearing people’s stories.
There was a group of guys from Sierra Leon and a lady who is a guardian for people
in an assisted living home. So cool!
·
Welcome
to the team. Alyssa Whitmire is joining the High Point Team as the Director
of Children’s Ministry. Add her as a friend Facebook and watch for great things
to come out of our Kids Department.
· Next week is the beginning of “People of the Second Chance.” I am so excited for it to begin! The Lord is going to do powerful things in people’s lives.
God of Second chances. I love this Song by "Carlos Whittaker". We will be singing it each week of this series enjoy it and see what happens when he takes the song to a park to record a video for it.
·
I am excited
for football to begin. I like football but I don’t know enough about it, so
sometimes I feel lost when they start talking about nickels and dimes. Being in
two fantasy football leagues and not knowing most of the players is going to be
a lot of fun. I play by the numbers ESPN gives me, so for me the fun isn’t
because I am imagining myself on the field. What I am excited about is watching
it with Olivia. She is at the age where she wants to do whatever Dad wants to
do and maybe that thing might be football. I am going to get her a RODGERS
jersey this year.
·
Elizabeth
is still having migraines. It has been going on since Memorial Day. Going an
entire summer with a massive pressurized headache is really starting to wear on
her. Please pray for complete healing and for pain relief.
·
The air
is crisp and I love it! I don’t wear shorts unless I have to and short
sleeves are even a stretch. Why? Because it doesn’t look sharp (at least not on
me). I see the ads of the skinny guys in their Bermuda shorts and think, “Hey,
they look good.” Then I realize I will probably meet someone and start talking
about church and Jesus and they will look at me and dismiss me because I look
sloppy. Jackets, long sleeves, and shoes look much better, and now people won’t
be wondering what it feels like to have a fur coat growing on my legs when I
talk about church and Jesus.
·
Pray for
me this week. We have a leader meeting, a wedding, and an important Sundays
service. It’s a lot to pile on top of all the other stuff going on in the
Farina house. I also feel as though I am staring a new job. You remember that feeling? As we move to a new level of church and family life so I must move to a new level of leader, husband and father. It's a bit messy but in my weakness the Lord is making himself STRONG! Thanks for praying for me.
Posted at 02:04 PM in church, High Point Church, Musing, Personal, Prayer Needed, weekend | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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.
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.
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!
Posted at 08:45 AM in church, High Point Church, Leadership, Live Your Potential!, mobile church, Musing, Team | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Our man child will be born at the end of the month. The hardest thing for us right now is picking a name for him. You need something that fits a baby, little kid and still sounds tough for when he is at football practice. We are looking for something a bit out of the ordinary but still classic and had settled into one that we both felt pretty good about. It had a good nick name, and was a solid choice for the rest of his life. We were ready.
UNTIL...
We were at the KIDS KUTS hair salon getting Olivia beautified and from across the room a lady yelled the name that we almost placed on our child. Elizabeth and I both cringed. It was the strangest moment to hear a name that you have been using for weeks in casual conversation and suddenly be revolted turned off by the sound. It didn't help that the kid screamed all the way through his hair cut.
In that moment we made a decision, our son will not have that name.
Anything like that ever happen to you?
Here is a little music in honor of naming a child.
(None of these names are our son's... I just thought the song fit the topic:)
Posted at 07:47 PM in Family, Musing | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Its Monday and I am sitting in the ER with Elizabeth again. What a goofy way to spend your day off.
This is our 5th visit since she has become pregnant. They are just making sure things are ok. She has been having shortness of breath and after having two previous blood clots, they do not want to mess around.
I am learning a lot about what it means to love someone. When they hurt you hurt. When they are scared it scares you. It doesn't matter who was right or wrong in the heated discusion you may have had earlier in the day. When your sitting in a windowless ER you just want to climb up on the bed and hold one another.
Worry is a funny thing. The 1st ER visit I carried a lot of the heavy load of worry. Each test Elizabeth undergoes has tought me that I can not carry the load of worry. I can not Carry the million worst case scenarios. If I can't direclty fix it... Which is most things in an ER... Then I need to give it to someone who can & trust. I am raliZing though this what it means to leave it in Gods hands. I like to pick it up out of His hands and carry it around like a book bag full of rocks. Jesus is teaching me how to let him hold it. It's hard fir me but the only way to stay sane.
Love is not fully realized untill you are faced with the harsh reality that you may be only a short breath away from never expressing it in the person you loves presence again. I think everyone should experience the smell of death if nothing more than to flush out your deep rarely spoken heart for that person and your relationship. While Elizabeth ends the day ok each night I have found myself telling her my heart more, holding her tighter, dwelling in her presence longer and not wanting to be away from her more than I need to be.
Talking about a life apart has actually drawn us closer. Love must be like a grape vine... Producing it's best fruit when grown under stress. Maybe it only works for relationships built on a good foundation. It has exposed some cracks but those are easier to fix when time is of the essence.
I hope you never find yourself in an ER awaiting an echo cardiagram. I pray you live long and happy lives treasuring the one you love. I hope and pray I do as well. But I do hope that the realization of how short this life actually is sets in. Love deeply, hold lovingly and never let a moment of heated conversation linger and fester.
The reports came back normal and Elizabeth and I are going home tired and feeling that icky hospital feel. But we are alive... More so than when we went in this morning. Our love has grown and our awareness of our need for one another has become clearer.
How would your relationship weather an ER visit? Let the love of your life know before you are sitting & waiting for test results to be revealed.
Just some thoughts from the ER I tapped out on my iPhone while we waited.
Posted at 03:10 PM in Family, Musing | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
In John 10 Jesus shares how he views Himself — as
a good shepherd who knows and understands His sheep. Rather than being a hired
hand who bails when things get tough. He digs in, and He’s there when His sheep
need Him the most. As a pastor, I read this and am challenged to lead the
people in my church in a
similar fashion.
I
love being a pastor. I love seeing those in the flock I’ve been entrusted with continue
to grow and discover their potential! I love surveying the needs of the flock each
week via Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, and direct conversations. It is challenging
but rewarding. When the people at High Point trust me and pour their hearts out
I can’t help but feel humbled that I am the one they go to.
Just
this week I have heard people pour out their hearts about infertility, job loss,
relational strife, discovering their place in life, and so much more. These
past four years I've seen people make it! I have also seen some not make it,
which grieves me. The sad stories
weigh on me more than the success stories. Thankfully, there have been more
successes than "failures." I am realizing that it is the accumulation
of life that counts.
To
the people of High Point:
Yours
lovingly,
Pastor Tory
Posted at 10:11 AM in church, discipleship, High Point Church, Leadership, Musing | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
My daughter Olivia this weekend got a taste of figure skating. As we were watching this weekend she looked at one of the guys outfits and said... "Daddy You were that?!!!" She was very insistent that I get this outfit and wear it. After thinking about it some more, I think I could pull it off. What do you think?
Posted at 09:26 AM in Family, Funny!, Musing, Olympics | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Things I learned through my time of Withdrawal...
Posted at 11:11 AM in closer to Jesus, discipleship, High Point Church, leadership, life change, Live Your Potential!, Music, Musing | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Posted at 04:57 PM in Musing, Personal, Sports | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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