Tory Farina

What is your god?

I am preparing for Sundays message. Reading 1 Kings 18 and the question keeps crossing my mind is what is my god. A pastor in Seattle asks the same question and this is what he comes up with...

What might it be for you? A car, a job, Kids, a spouse or relationship that is out of balance. What has taken a higher place than the Lord your GOD? Come Sunday and lets talk more about this.

Elijah Series Plan...

I wanted to give you the details of this series because I think this series could be HUGE in your life.

Read 1 Kings 17- 2 Kings 2

Wk 1- The Making- The journey you are on will not be easy. Only through our pain can God truly use us to touch those around us. Who is God making you to be?

Wk 2- Battle Royal - Who will you serve? God is going to set some people free this week.

Wk 3- Power of prayer- What are you praying for? Bring your needs to the Lord and he will hear you!

Wk 4- Depression- Elijah dealt with it, David dealt with it and you and I deal with it so what can we learn from Elijah's story?

Questions about Prayer?...

I am prepping for a series in the next few months on prayer. I want to get some feed back as to what would be helpful to you for me to address. Hit me up with your questions about the subject and Ill try and deal with whats on your mind and heart. What do you pray about? What do you struggle with? What do you love/hate about prayer?

"When we pray properly, sorrows disappear like snow before the sun..." -Jon Vianney, Cure of ARS

Sunday Morning Routine...

Sunday Morning Routine... from tory farina on Vimeo.

What does your Sunday morning routine look like?

Threads pt. 2...

What did they tell you to do, that after you gave in cost you BIG TIME?

I am amazed at the influence that the wrong people have on us. I think we are good at letting the people who tell us what we want to hear surround us and when someone tells us what we do not want to hear we tend to go get another opinion.

Saul dealt with this and the cost was incredible!!! Saul put is this way, "I was afraid of the people and so I gave in to them." It cost him his kingdom and ultimately destroyed his family. All because the misdirection they gave him. He listened to what he wanted to hear instead of what he needed to hear. 

Check out the story in 1 Samuel 15... Who are you listening to?

Ill share a bit more about this Sunday.

 ²⁰ "But I did obey the LORD," Saul said. "I went on the mission the LORD assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. ²¹ The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal."  ²² But Samuel replied:
       "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
       as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD ?
       To obey is better than sacrifice,
       and to heed is better than the fat of rams.  ²³ For rebellion is like the sin of divination,
       and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.
       Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,
       he has rejected you as king."  ²⁴ Then Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned. I violated the LORD's command and your instructions. I was afraid of the people and so I gave in to them. ²⁵ Now I beg you, forgive my sin and come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD."  ²⁶ But Samuel said to him, "I will not go back with you. You have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you as king over Israel!"

Undone...

I figured this was a fitting song for two reasons...

1) Last weeks message was all about relational snags... "If you want to destroy my sweater, pull the string as i walk away..." So this is the antithesis of what I was talking about but fun non the less to hear.

2) It is Mute Math week on my Blog... Saturday night I will be at the show with a bunch of you and I thought I would share a few of their live moments as we get closer to the show. 

Enjoy!

Weekly Recap...

I love when Our band reinterprets a song and makes it contemporary and exciting. This Sunday during the offering time The Band played... "The Touch The Feel of Cotton" Song.I asked the 1st service to text in what they thought it was but no one got it.

I am enjoying this series. It is a challenge for me. I feel like each week I am boiling a box of spaghetti as I prepare. I am realizing how much content their is to cover and how little time I have on a Sunday to get it covered. We will defiantly be revisiting these subjects in the new year.

Monday night was fun to be apart of but not so fun to watch. Favre was consistent and Rogers was not. It might have had something to do with his O-line but It just wasn't a great game for my packers. I look forward to next month in Lambeau. 

Elizabeth Update... She is doing a little better with the fluids they have been giving her by IV. This afternoon we are going in to get a picc line put in so that she doesn't have to get an IV every few days. She has small veins and it takes a half a dozen tries sometimes. She also found out yesterday that she needs a root canal... YEAH! She hates dentists, (she had a bad experience as a kid, but haven't we all?) So We keep saying "Put it on my tab" and laughing because that is about all we can do. Keep praying for her she is going through a lot to get this baby here.

I am being challenged lately about how we are training and developing you as the church to "Live Your Potential" lots of thoughts and planning. I am going to be challenging you in the next few months to do somethings you have never been challenged to do! Maybe I have been watching too much "Biggest Loser" but I want to get you into shape spiritually, physically and mentally and help you experience a new level that God has for you! Stay tuned in... And start praying about if you are where God wants you to be? What your next step may be?

We have our 3rd Leadership Lunch this Sunday. I love this time with our Ministry Team Leaders. They do a great Job and deserve to be thanked and developed. I look forward to who God is developing to be our next leaders.

Phil Wickham is coming out with a new album soon http://philwickham.com/.I was sent his 1st album this week. He put it together in High School. It got me excited to find a Youth specialist to help us find and cultivate the next Great Worshiper, Leader, Politician, Teacher, Salesman, Missionary. If we can show our kids their potential at a Young age they will thrive in this life. Scripture calls it shooting arrows! I want to shoot O and the next little one we have as far as I can to make a difference in this world!

Take a minute and listen to this song as you Thank God today for His grace and mercy and Love. Take a minute to allow his presence to wash over you. Take a minute and Thank God for His Grace!

Double Shot Starts Next Sunday...

We had an awesome prequel to our fall series. If you missed the "AROMA"  Check it out here. The basic premise, for those who were not available this last Sunday, was that God designed us to the be the aroma to the world of His presence. I compared it to the aroma of coffee in the morning. God is seeking out somebody to use to reach out to the world that they have influence in like the smell of coffee spreads through the house so should your aroma as a Christ fallow spread through all you do. God is seeking you and me to reach into the lives of people we love and care about and be the Aroma of Jesus in their lives. 

This next week we start two services. 9 and 10:30. This is a great opportunity to pass out the fall "Caffeinate your Life"  invitation and share a story of how God has touched your life. This also gives you a great opportunity to Volunteer in an area and affords you the joy of attending a service and serving in a service. 

Which service do you think people will take advantage of the most? I am thinking 10:30 but 9 is great for people with Kids. What are you most excited about as we move to 2 services?

S.O.A.P....

At High Point Church, My desire is that every believer would not just attend church on Sunday, but also receive from God daily out of His Word.  As we read God's words, we begin to see how God responds to things. Doing daily devotions re-patterns the way we think and transforms the spirit of the mind. Then when we face similar situations as Jesus did, we begin to respond in the same way. Journaling is an excellent way to both record and process what God has spoken to us. It's also a useful tool to use at a later time, to reflect on and review some of the 'gems' that you have received. Without writing them down, you may forget those blessings and some very important lessons! And while journaling is a very personal time with the Lord, you may want to share some of your daily journaling with your connection group or spouse. Through discussion, you may be able to look deeper into what God is speaking to you, gain new insight and even encourage others.
 
How to Journal- S.O.A.P.
You’ll need three items (Bible, Pen & Journal) or use a program like Youversion.com to store your journals and show you a daily reading plan.  Here is a simple way to journal every day! (Click here for a Download Soap 365 Daily Journal to aid you in your process.) Pray before you begin that the Word will Come alive!

S for Scripture-  Open your Bible to your reading for the day. Take time reading and allow God to speak to you. When you are done, look for a verse that particularly spoke to you that day, and write it in your journal. Don't know what to read? Try a daily reading plan. But remember the goal is change not quantity. Here is a screen shot from Youversion .com showing the daily reading plan

O for Observation- What do you think God is saying to you in this scripture? Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you and reveal Jesus to you. Look for the one word or phrase that screams at you off the page.

A for Application- Personalize what you have read, by asking yourself how it applies to your life right now. Perhaps it is instruction, encouragement, a new promise, or corrections for a particular area of your life. Write how this scripture can apply to you today.

Here is another shot of a journal entry I did in Youversion.com

P for Prayer- This can be as simple as asking God to help you use this scripture, or it may be a greater insight on what He may be revealing to you. Remember, prayer is a two way conversation, so be sure to listen to what God has to say! Now, write it out.

Tell me how this goes for you? We as a staff are sharing every week our S.O.A.P.ing experience. Elizabeth have enjoyed asking each other what  the other is being challenged in. It is a great way to grow together!

Whats your Top 3?...

I got an email from a buddy at High Point giving me his Top 3 series of all time (since he has been coming to High Point...) It was fun for me to see what he thought was really challenging and helpful. So here are mine.

1) Face the Music... (I don't have an image for this) It was a while back but I Had a blast with it and love talking about the souls longing in Music and what how gods word answers it.
2) God of this City... It is the essence of my calling. It is why High Point exists. It is the Why behind the What and the How. It is Gods prophetic drawing for us as a Church.
3)The Shack... I feel like this one is drawing us to a deeper place. It is like that honest conversation you have with someone you love that makes the relationship really strong and life long. Evey week we are hitting the hard stuff and every week you and I are meeting God. We as people and as a church will never be the same.

What 3 was it for you? Why? This is the time to say what God did in you. Testimony time. I can not wait to read what you say.