U-Turn Ministries

OOPS!!!

You may have recently received mail from U-Turn Ministries, an invitation for our Momentum Conference being held May 4th and 5th.  It has just been confirmed that our printing company accidentally merged adresses and names incorrectly.  If you received a postcard, it was intended for you, but some of the cards were addressed incorrectly due to a glitch in production. We apologize for any confusion, but please do receive the card as our invitation to your church!

We look forward to seeing you there!

Uncomfortable - Dave Weemhoff

If you're anything like me, you want to be comfortable.  I want easy access to food.  I want my furnace and I want my air conditioner.  I want my remote control at my fingertips.  I want my warm shower.  I want to buy what I want, when I want it. I want to be comfortable. Actually, I deserve to be comfortable.  And when I'm not comfortable, I get even more crabby and selfish. Are you smelling what I'm stepping in here?

Isn't that how we often think?  We have sense of entitlement.  We deserve so much.  I often wonder if this is an American disease.  I wonder if that same cultural norm invades our view of the church?  We want to be comfortable.  We want to walk into a nice place with a soft cushioned chair with a cup of hot coffee with excellent music and excellent preaching and a "wizbang" place for kids to be cared for and then we want go home after an hour.  That is a good church experience...and if it isn't comfortable, I get crabby and selfish and I may not come back!

I know that may be extreme, but I think our view of the church can get skewed by our expectations of what church is.  I'm not throwing zingers out at anyone in particular (in fact, I am talking very clearly to myself!), but I do wonder if we have made our expectations of church into something that isn't what God intended.

Even in this time of uncertainty in Cedar Lake, I find myself more concerned about a building, land to build it on, a swift completion date and what it will look like.  That is not the church.  The focus should be the church, the people, the Good News, the truth and grace, discipleship and faith.  But that would be uncomfortable.

I wonder a lot.  I wonder if it's time to get really uncomfortable.

via cedarlakefc.typepad.com

Join the next FREE Webinar

THE U-TURN PROCESS - Q&A'S

Join Bob Bouwer and Jason DeVries 
on
Thursday, August 26th at 9:00am CDT
for a
FREE webinar 

The U-Turn Process - Q&A's

Simply click on the link above to register.  After registration you will receive an email with all the instructions you need to join the webinar.  If you have any questions, simply reply to this email and we'll be happy to assist.

We look forward to (virtually)seeing you there!

The Land Between - cmh

 

Listening to a moving message from Jeff Manion speaking at the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit right now.  Again, I stand in awe of the technology that God has provided that allows me to share my thoughts even as the speaker speaks.  

The title of the session is "The Land Between", referring to the times when we feel as though we are in the middle of the desert.   

I'm not really in the land between right now.  But the Spirit is laying on my heart that I need to be proactive about helping those who are.  Someday I will be in the land between because I believe that we all have seasons.  I know that the Spirit will whisper to someone to be there for me.

Are you in the 'Land Between'?  Do you know someone who is?  Listen carefully for the Spirit's whisper.

Having a Blast!

 

I'm having a blast!  We're putting the finishing touches on our new website.  I'm learning so much about the crazy world of technology.  It's pretty amazing what we can do now-a-days.  This website has so many components and add-ons.  We can send emails to our whole list and sign folks up for events in the blink of an eye.  We can teach, share, encourage.  There's videos and audios and all manner of techno-geek stuff going on there.  You'll want to login on launch day to hear about the upcoming Webinar with Pastor Bob.

This stuff seems light-years apart from Bible stories we read.  I don't know about you but I always try to image what it was like to live in those days.  Without all of our automation and technology. Jesus and his disciples didn't have much that made life easier back then.  And yet we can see God's hand in everything we have today.  No mere mortal could ever conceive of this new technology without the talents and gifts from God.  These are blessings from above.  

All I can do is lift up my hands in praise to the One who made it all!  And thank him for allowing me to be a part of it and enjoy it.

Kingdom Work

post by Carol Hiskes

 

Yesterday's message (Pastor Bob) from the 'Everyday Heroes' series at Faith reminded us that we are the hands and feet of Christ.  The local church is called to be more than just a bunch of people who worship together on Sunday.  

U-Turn Ministries exists to help churches turn around and become all that God desires them to be.  The U-Turn Church Conference shares Faith Church's experiences during our U-Turn.  But yesterday was a great reminder that we are called to be more than awesome worship experiences and great fellowship opportunities.  Those things are important but we can't stop there.

We should regularly question our hearts.  Do we desire a U-Turn Church experience just to put more numbers on the rolls?  or to have more impressive worship services?  or to be 'better and bigger' than the other churches?  

God's desire for all of our churches is so much bigger than that.  While it is important to bring more folks into the fold, it's not for our glory, or even the glory of our local church.  It's for HIS glory and HIS church universal.

Don't get too caught up in the busyness of the U-Turn experience that you forget the goal.  The goal is beyond your local church.

Webinars

post by Carol Hiskes

 My husband and I are business owners.  We own a waste hauling company.  But I'm also blessed with a passion for churches looking to become culturally relevant, answering God's call to increase the kingdom for His glory.  Turns out the two 'sides' of my life aren't mutually exclusive.  As God blesses our business, he increases my passion for His kingdom, and shows me how to use the gifts and talents he's given me for both.

I love webinars.  A webinar is a Web-based seminar.  I've been taking advantage of webinars offered by business organizations we belong to, like the NFIB (National Federation of Independent Businesses).  These offerings are giving me an education in new government rules and regulations that we must follow.  I'm also learning new ways to serve our customers, serve our employees and keep the company in the black, especially during difficult economic times.  And I never have to leave my office.  It's a minimal intrusion into my schedule.  I can even eat lunch while the webinar is going on!

Would this be beneficial to our U-Turn Church Leaders?  Pastor Bob, Jason DeVries and I believe the answer is a resounding YES!   We're checking into setting up a webinar soon.  The announcement will be on our new website which is getting closer to completion.  Leave us a comment if there's a specific topic you'd like us to address for our first WEBINAR!

Authenticity

Carol Hiskes

Posted by Kevin DeYoung (one of my new favorite bloggers) on March 13: 

Charles Spurgeon in Lectures to My Students:

“He who presides over a system which aims at nothing higher than formalism, is far more a servant of the devil than a minister of God.”

Wow!  Don't hold back Charles!

For more cool blogs see the Top 100 Church Blogs.

Blessings to YOU!

Carol Hiskes

Yesterday morning I made a quick stop at the grocery store.  I was missing one ingredient for dinner last night.  As I was walking out a young guy said to me "Have a blessed day!" Such a simple thing.  Yet I kept thinking about it all day long.  It put a smile on my face when he said it, and it was indeed a blessing all day!

What impact do you have on strangers you randomly cross paths with?  I Thessalonians 5:11 says "Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up..."  I thought about that a lot yesterday.  Those kinds of reminders are so good for us.  I've no doubt that God placed that young man in my path yesterday.  And he will never know the impact he had.  Until I run into him again one day.  As Pastor Bob says "Here, there, or in the air!"

Tomorrow we welcome several members of the Gibbsville Reformed Church to Faith-Dyer for a day of teaching and encouragement.  It's such a blessing to be a part of the U-Turn team.  It's a toss up who receives more encouragement when we meet, us or the churches we seek to serve.

U-Turn Board Meeting

Bob Bouwer

The U-Turn Ministries Board had a delightful meeting on Thursday.  We spoke about the new website due to launch in early April.  We decided to host the next U-Turn conference in May of 2011. 

The Ravines, which is also a part of U-Turn Ministries, is going very well.  The Ravines is a place where couples can go for several days of intensive counseling to work on a troubled marriage.  We now offer a formal Good to Great marriage boost weekend for 3-4 couple to strengthen marriages.   A new Ravines website will launch soon as well.

We also had a ‘dream’ session about having a ‘Woodstock’ type Christian music fest to raise support for U-Turn Ministries as well as the Ravines.  We spoke about having a booth at Moody’s conference in May.  We had a blast at this board meeting.  What a great group of Christians.  You’ll soon be able meet them and see their faces on the new website!