Dear Church,

Over the last several weeks we have journeyed through the book of Joshua. This week we finish that journey as we look into the final words of Israel's leader - Joshua. This week I would like to challenge you with a question: When it comes to the end of your life - what type of legacy will you leave: Here is another question - Have you given any thought to the legacy you will leave?

If you haven't noticed, we had the Big Red Bus with us again this week. Please take time to give blood to those who desperately need it. We have one of our own - 5 year old Sydney Phoebus, who needs a blood transfusion every 3 - 4 weeks. If you have O+ or O- blood and are CMV- and wish to donate for her, please coordinate with her parents by visiting her website at: www.friendsofsydney.org/donate. She has had 71 blood transfusions in her little 5 years of living and is in need of more regular donors.

Thank you for being such a loving church! You truly are touching and changing lives!

Love,

Pastor Todd
 

From the Pastor's Desk...

Dear Church,

As Americans we're not accustomed to the long haul.  We like things quick and clean.  Get in, get out, go to the next thing.  Every aspect of our lives are reflected by this mentality.  Our marriages aren't geared for the long haul.  We are amazed when we hear of someone being married 30, 40, or 50 years.  Rarely do you hear of a person staying with a job for 20 or more years.  Even church is affected by the lack of long haul living.

Unfortunately, our Christian experience is hampered when we do not exercise a long haul mindset.  We need to let God know we're in it for the long haul.  Count me in God, I'm in it to win it!  Not only is God encouraged when we stake our claim with him, but those around us are equally encouraged!

Thank you for your faithfulness to God by your active participation in this ministry.  God is greatly pleased!

Love,

Pastor Todd

Dear Church,

Princess Diana was known for many things and for doing a lot of charitable work. One of her longest lasting contributions to society was her tireless efforts in 1997 to bring awareness to the dangers of anti-personel landmines, especially the harm caused to children.

As harmful and catastrophic these human landmines are, there are spiritual landmines that are damaging the souls of God's people around the world. The casualty rate is very high, especially the harm caused to children. This morning as we continue our series, MapQuest - Destination:Promiseland, I want you to evaluate your walk and see if you are about to step on spiritual landmines. Detect them or detonate them. Your choice.

This week we will start a weekly routine of praying on Monday nights starting at the church. Invest a week praying for others - you'll love it!

I love you church! You are amazing!

Love,

Pastor Todd

Dear Church,

General Douglas MacArthur said, "In war there is no substitute for victory." And in the spiritual battle we are in there is no substitute for victory. Defeat cannot be an option if we are to live in our promise land - the land of blessing and victory.

God had given us a couple of high powered weapons to insure we are living the victorious Christian life - the weapon of His Word and the weapon of prayer. Both need to be employed in this spiritual battle if victory is to be ours.

This week we will continue our prayer walking around the church at 7:00 p.m. It is a great way to get to know people as you pray for them. I hope to see you this week. Win the battle for this week through prayer.

I love you church. Thank you for being such a wonderful group to lead!

Love,

Pastor Todd

Dear Church,

A few moments ago, right before writing this blog, I watched a number of cars annoyingly pass by a gentleman trying to push his car out of the middle of the road. As I jumped out to give the brother a hand, I was amazed at the reaction of the people driving by. They looked at this man in need as a nusisance, an obstacle to their desired destination. What has happened to our society? I think we've gotten too busy on our journey  that we fail to help people on theirs.

I know that there are some in this ministry who feel as if they're the ones pushing this vehicle along. And I am sure there are those thinking, "Man, it sure would be nice if someone would jump out and lend a helping hand." It doesn't need to be a big hand, just a helping hand. Just to know that you're not alone is of great encouragement.

Starting this week, we will initiate one of the best ways in which you can help. That is to pray. Starting tomorrow night we will have prayer walking at the church Monday through Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday morning at 8:00 a.m. at Cranes Roost. We will pray for our ministry, it's needs, and the needs of our people. Please make this corporate prayer time a priority.

I am also going to be asking you to join the staff and I in a time of corporate fasting every Thursday for the next four weeks. I'll explain more about that during the service. I love you church, and I am so excited to see how God is going to shine through us in the days ahead. And one last thing, never be too busy to help someone in need, Have a blessed day!

Love,

Pastor Todd

From the Pastor's Desk...

Dear Church,

Fall is an exciting time of year.  It's a time when there are a lot of new things starting up.  School for one, and let's not forget Saturday morning Pop Warner football.  This morning in the 11 a.m. service we are privileged to pray over and ask God's blessing upon all of our Pop Warner football players, cheerleaders, coaches and sponsors.

On another note, this economy has hit our people hard.  There are those within our ministry that have lost their jobs, their homes and the way that they have know life in the past.  It affects every aspect of their lives, including our church family.  The truth is church, as many of our families are hurting, this ministry needs financial prayer as well.  I encourage you to urgently pray for the financial well being of our ministry so that we may minister freely to our community.  We often say that as a body of believers when one of us suffers we all suffer.  When on hurts we all hurt.  When one has a need we all have a need.  And when we give to the Lord through this ministry we are able to meet the needs within our community.  God is good, all the time...all the time, God is good!

Join us for the cookout after the 11 a.m. service.  Let's break some bread together!

Love,

Pastor Todd

From the Pastor's Desk...

Dear Church,

Today, I want to offer some reflections on the experience of the spiritual wilderness.  Perhaps God feels far away, or has vanished altogether... faith feels doubtful or uncertain.  The watery things that used to inspire and refresh us - worship, the bible, prayer - these have become dry, meaningless, yielding nothing but dust to our weariness.  We feel alone, vulnerable, lost, and unprotected.  And there is fear too...of the things that prowl on the edge of thought -maybe Christianity is not worth it, maybe God has forgotten or abandoned me, maybe I've wasted my life, maybe I'm unlovable, maybe I'm unspiritual, maybe God is a cruel and fickle monster.

Let me be the first to give you some hope and provide some encouragement to refresh your soul.  There is a way to find our way out of life's difficult deserts.  God always provides a way through life's wilderness.  He did it for many - He will do it for you!  Read it for yourself, claim His promises and cling to His Word.  Start with meditating on Psalms 25:1-9.

Love,

Pastor Chris

From the Pastor's Desk...

Dear Church,

This morning we will be taking a look at our ministries Top Ten for this upcoming school year.  It is important that we constantly evaluate our ministry and it's effectiveness.  It is also important for us to make sure we are keeping the main things the main things.  There are so many opportunities out there and we want to be a ministry that stays on taks to the call God has for us.  Today we will refocus our scopes, sharpen our aim and maximize our effectiveness as a ministry.

Are you ready for some football?  It is that time of year again as we dedicate the Lyman High School Football team to the Lord and our players from Lake Brantley and Lake Mary High Schools to the Lord.  We want God to protect them, bless them and use them in the weeks to come.  After the 11:00 a.m. service we will have a good old fashion throw down cook-out.  Plan on staying and being a part of the party.

Really tune in this morning Church.  It is important that we stay focused on what God has for this ministry.  We'll see you after the service and save me some banana pudding!

Love,

Pastor

From the Pastor's Desk...

Dear Church,

God did not put you on this earth to live a selfish life. God didn't put you on earth just to take up space, to breathe, have fun and die. God put you here to make the world a better place. God has a contribution He wants you to make with your life. He wants you to practice serving Him. Remember life is practice for eternity. When you get to heaven, one of the things you're going to do there is to serve God and God wants you to get some practice here on earth.

How do you serve God? There is only one way -- by serving other people. You cannot serve God directly. You can only serve God by serving others.

Love,

Pastor Chris

Dear Church,

I look back on my life and am I grateful for the people who poured themselves into me. I am a product of other people's investment into my life. An so are you! This morning we are talking about spiritual mentoring, also know as Discipleship. My prayer is you will take up the challenge to become a spiritual mentor.

After the second service we will be voting on Cale Duncan as our new youth pastor. Cale is from Apopka and his wife Christy is from Virginia. We are excited to have them with us this morning.

Also this morning we will be commissioning 22 of our people as missionaries to Germany. They will spend 11 days ministering to American Military Families serving our country overseas. Also during the second service we will be praying for our Longwood Babe Ruth Under 15 State Championship Team. We will be praying blessings over them as they represent the state of Florida at the Southeast Regional Tournament in North Carolina. Congratulations players! Enjoy the ride!

Have a blessed day!

Love,

Pastor Todd

Dear Church,

Recently Christian pollster George Barna released a study his company did on the value of relationships and church. Church goers were asked about a variety of factors when deciding whether or not to return to a church they had visited. Among a number of factors considered when choosing a church, the importance of the friendliness of the church was assessed. Here is a sampling of the survey:

• 53% indicated that how much the people cared for each other is a key factor determining whether they would come back.
• 45% indicated that the friendliness of the people in the church was another key factor for their return.

God has wired us for relationships. Plain and simple. People looking to connect to God look to see if His people are connected to each other. Thank you for being such a loving fellowship!

On another note: Pick up your tickets to the Faith and Family Night we are hosting as the Alfond Stadium in Winter Park. You can get directions at the kiosk. And next Sunday we will have a business meeting to vote on a new youth pastor.

Love,

Pastor Todd

Dear Church Family,

We are excited and waiting in anticipation for our all family members in San Diego, CA to return to us safe and sound. We are humbled by the thought that they were able to represent our church but most of all the Lord Jesus Christ. Please pray for their continued safety. We rejoice over the many blessings that occurred during the course of the week. Pastor Todd says to continue to pray specifically for each member of the team and the churches they are partnering to help.

I was reading the other day this passage of scripture from Psalm 139:1-6 and this thought came to me. I don't know how else to say it: hypocrisy is very serious.
Inside we're like this; outside we're like this. The gap between what people see and what's really inside us-that's hypocrisy. It starts off as a crease between what we appear to be and what we really are. It then becomes a crack and, if neglected, it becomes a canyon between us and God.

I want my life to be different. I don't want to pose for anyone. I don't want to take up some position in my life to match anyone's expectations. I want to be real! BE REAL before God and BE REAL to others!

Love,

Pastor Chris

Dear Church Family,

Currently there are over 1.5 billion people worldwide who are Muslims. Islam is the second largest (second only to Christianity) and the fastest growing religion in the world. Over 1/5 of the worlds population is Muslim.

We watch the news, read the papers but we still know little about the beliefs and practices of Islam. This morning we will dive into the roots of Islam. Is Islam comparable to Christianity? Is the only difference naming God Allah versus Jehovah?

Are the Muslim people peace loving? What does the Qur’an say about love and war? Here is even a bigger question – Do you know a Muslim and do you know how to respond to their questions about your Christianity? Stay tuned as we explore these important issues.

On another note, for those involved in the Biggest Winner, let’s finish strong! On Monday evening March 23rd from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. we will host the Biggest Winner: Season Finale. There will be prizes to be given away and it is a great time to encourage one another. We’ll see you then!

Love,


Pastor Todd

• 25 million Americans have high blood pressure due to stress and anxiety
• 1 million Americans will develop high blood pressure this year
• 112 million Americans take medication for stress related symptoms
• 1 million Americans miss work everyday because of stress

1. Participate: Enroll today and commit to finishing the 10 weeks.
2. Partner: Find someone (co-worker, friend, family member) to take the journey with you.
3. Pray: Ask God for His help and guide.

We live in a society that tells us to take what you want. And such is the case in the violation of this sixth command. "You Shall Not Commit Adultry"

Statistically speaking, 22% of men and 14% of women have committed adultry. It is an issue that affects over 1/3 of the marriages in America. How does a spouse go from "I do" to "I did it"? I believe there are three factors that lead us into infidelity:

1. The places that we go. - This was the case with King David

2. The people that we know. - 50% to 70% of affairs begin in the work place.

3. The pornography that we show. - That's right. Did you know that the average age of exposure to porn is age 11? 90% of 8-16 year olds have viewed porn. The 12-17 year old catergory are the largest consumers of internet porn.

It is a 60 billion dollar a year business that is causing havoc in homes.

Let's remain faithful to God's standard for marriage. You'll be glad you did!

The verdict is in - we are a nation of stealers! There are over 140 million acts of stealing annually in the United States!

48% of Americans stole from their employer.

50% of Americans call in sick when they are not.

98% of students have cheated in school.

The result: The American economy loses $40 billion annually.

The cure for stealing is pretty simple; Realize EVERYTHING belongs to God. It is His. Everything! So...when I steal, I am stealing from God! Now, let that one sink in for a moment!

This final command may be one of the most violated command in America - "You shall not covet"

Mick Jagger summer it up. "I can't get no satisfaction..." But we are so intent on desire to acquire. We bow to the god of more.

How do we get off the treadmill of more? Simply put, the greatest cure for coveting is contentment. Learning to love what God has given to us.

And what is the fastest way to a content spirit? Are you ready for this? Release a genreous spirit on others. Use what you do have to help others! Sound simple? Go ahead and give it a try!

This week we look at the second of the horizontal commandments; "You shall not murder". (Exodus 20:13) It is interesting that God used the Hebrew word ratsach, which means murder and not kill.

This is an appropriate command for today's society, as are all of the commandments. The positive side to this negative command is to love life, to value life, and to honor life.

But something we don't don't do well is value life. Listen to these stats:

-By the time a child exits grade school they will have witnessed 8,000 murders and 100,000 acts on TV.

-America has the highest homicide rate in the world.

My challenge to all of us is to not get desensitized to death. Let it bother you when life is taken intentionally. Let's evaluate what we watch on TV, the movies or the video games we play. We may just be indirectly violating this sixth command. Now you think about that.

The word honor in the Hebrew language is rabeh, which means heavy, or to place much weight on. So when we talk about Commandment five; honoring our mother and father, God is telling us to place much weight on them. The Greek word for honor is timao, which means to value as precious. Are you doing that with your parents? For the record, there is no age cap on this command. We are always, at all times to honor our parents, even when we become parents and even grandparents!

One note for parents, be a parent that is honorable. Make it easy for your children to honor you, you'll be glad you did!

When it comes to worshiping God, He wants us to take one day out of the seven to spend time with Him. The Sabbath changed for us due to the resurrection of Christ and the early church's commemoration of that event. God's pattern of work six, rest one dates back to creation. Let me go over the purposes for honoring God's holy day; take the test and see how you do!

Are You Respecting The Day?

1. Is there a day set aside when I am resting my body?

2. Is there a day set aside when I am recharging my emotions?

3. Is there a day set aside when I am refreshing my spirit?

4. Is there a day set aside when I am refocusing my life?

5. Is there a day set aside when I am remembering my God?

How did you do? Mark 2:27 says this; "The Sabbath was made for the good of human beings, they were not made for the Sabbath."

Did you get that? Honoring God's holy day is for our good!

Remember to take Commandment four seriously and get some rest!!

A newspaper ad read "LOST- one dog. Brown hair with several balding spots. Right leg broken due to car accident. Left hip hurt. Right eye missing. Left ear bitten off in a dog fight. Answers to the name "Lucky".

Sometimes the name we give people doesn't really match their character. But that is not the case with God. God's name reveals God's character. And that is the motive behind the third Commandment:

"You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain..."

You see, when people trash God's name, they are in reality trashing His character. So we can protect the integrity of God's character when we protect His name. Today, let's make it our mission to have God's back on this one!

Love,

Pastor Todd

When we think about Commandment number two; "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below." Exodus 20:4, it is easy for us to dismiss this one as "unapplicable" for us. "C'mon", you may say, "I'm not bowing down to any baby Buddhas!"

But... before we down grade this command to those living 3,000 years ago, let's take a closer look at idol worship, also known as idolatry.

Dr. John MacArthur gives this definition of idolatry:

"Idolatray is having any object, idea, philosophy habit, occupation,or loyalty that to any degree decreases ones trust in, or loyalty to God."

What is first in my life? What gets my attention? What is that "thing" or "things" that I cannot live without? If the answer to the above questions is anything other than Christ, then I have an idol in my life. And that , my friend, makes us idolators.

When looked at with a closer lens, I think you will conclude that this command is far from being an outdated command, to becoming the most culturally relevant command we have.

Love,

Pastor Todd

This week we started our First and Ten Series, a study of the Ten Commandments in the 21st Century.

When we take a look the first commandment, "You shall have no other gods before me", at first glance it appears that we've got this one covered, until we realize...

The command in essence means: Put God First. Now that sheds a little brighter light on the subject. Is God truly first in my life? In every activity, thought, or action? Is He first in my focus, my finances, my friends, or my future? Only two people can answer that question, you and God. Let's make sure our evaluation matches His!

I'll leave you with a story from Suze Orman's life. It is from her book; 9 Steps to Financial Freedom:

"When I was 13, my dad owned his own business—a tiny shack where he sold chicken, ribs, hamburgers, hot dogs, and fries. One day the oil that the chicken was fried in caught fire. In a few mintures the whole place exploded in flames. My dad bolted from the store before the flames could engulf him.

Then my mom and I arrived on the scene, and we all stood outside watching the fire burn away my dads' business. All of a sudden my dad realized he had left his money in the metal cash register insde the building and I wastched in disbelief as he ran back into the inferno before anyone could stop him.

He tried to open the metal register, but the intense heat had already sealed the drawer shut. Knowing that every penny he had was locked in front on him about to go up in flames, he picked up the scalding metal box and carried it outside. When he threw the register on the ground, the skin on his arms and chest came with it. He had escaped the fire safely once, untouched. Then he voluntarily risked his life and was severly injured. The money was that important.

That was when I learned that money is obviously more important than life itself. From that point on, earning money- lots of money- not only became what drove me professionally, but also became my emotional priority."

It's amazing what can take top priority in our life! Let's keep it in check today.

Love,

Pastor Todd

Time just sorta flies doesn't it? I cannot believe that it has been so long since I last put in an entry. Sorry about that. What an incredible Easter Service at Cranes Roost with approximately 1,000 in attendance and nearly 200 recorded decisions made for Jesus Christ! It was cold but what a warm feeling on the Lord's day.

I've recently begun to visibly see the connection between prayer and impact. We minister in our community to impact, not impress. You can impress people at a distance but you can only impact them when you get up close and personal. And there is no better way to get personal with someone than to pray for them. God has placed within my heart for our staff to pray daily for our people. Yes, that is hundreds of people lifted up to the throne of God, but I cannot see I better way to invest our time than by praying for you. This is something that I will do daily as well. I will expect you to ask be about this...ask: "Have you prayed for me today?" And I will ask you the same question!

Let's love our Lord by loving each other. Have a wonderful week and let's remember to pray for each other!

Wow! Keeping up with a daily blog can be difficult if you are not used to doing so! Time has a way of slipping by you...FAST.

God is really streching me in the arena of prayer and fasting. Core value number three for our ministry is: "Prayer is the power behind our ministry." I, like most Christians, believe that in theory, but often don't flesh it out in lifestyle. As a Pastor, I often find myself so busy doing the work of the ministry, that I can find myself neglecting the LORD of the ministry. Fasting has a way of slowing you down and focusing on what truely is important.

I want to thank you all who have sent me so many wonderful letters and cards of encouragement. They mean more to me than you will ever know. God is about to do something BIG...I feel it in my spirit. Our growth has been great but I believe it is about to go off the charts with our community Easter service. I am praying every day for each name that was given to me...over 1,000 of them. I am also praying that God will give you boldness to invite...then let's see God work!

I love you Church! There is no better place to be than with you, squarely centered in the love and will of God!

Yesterday I received an e-mail from a friend of mine and one who attends our ministry. He posed a good but difficult question to me: What if your Big Ask becomes the Big Wait? In other words, you have been asking God to do that big thing in your life and He He hasn't responded...yet.

That is the question of the hour. When I don't know something about God or His ways (and that is a lot!) I go to what I do know about God. I know that God desires to have patience develop it's perfect work in me (James 1:4). I know that God says I will benefit if I do not give up (Gal.6:9) and I know that it is faith that really juices God (Heb.11:6). I also know that God is absolutely head over heels in love with me and that He is more committed to me than I could ever be to myself or my family.

So...when I have a crisis of belief or just don't understand, that is what I hang my hat on. Simple? Perhaps...but it works for me!

Today was a good day at Church. Difficult but good. Difficult in the sense that we had three things working against us. We had the new service times, we had time change Sunday and we had spring break. Yet it was an awesome day in the house of the Lord.

This concept of asking God for big things can be revolutionary for you. It has been for me. God doesn't want me just to survive, He wants me to THRIVE! Our God is the God of the Big Ask. Pray the prayer of Jabez in 1 Chronicles 4:10. Pray it, live it and believe it. See what happens and let me know.

I am praying that way in my life and for our ministry. I want to MAXIMIZE my life and this ministry. I want God to entrust to us a boat load of responsibility in building His Kingdom. By the way, I am praying for 2,000 people on Easter Sunday...and I am asking God to bring back that next week 200 new people to our Church. That is my big ask! Would you pray it with me? Have a good night!

As I sit at my desk on Saturday evening I cannot tell you how excited I am for tomorrow. The new early morning service time juices me. (Not getting here before 7:00 am thrills me!) But it is just another turning point for our ministry.

Life groups have begun this week too. The Life Group that meets at my house on Wednesday evenings started out great. Chris and Danielle Caslow head it up and the series is on Know Fear: Overcoming lifes six most common phobias. Check it out on Wednesday from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm. Call the church or my cell for directions.

Also, another Life Group started this week at Steve and Nikki Smith's house. It is led by the Smiths and Dennis and Rachelle Parezo. They meet on Thursady nights and they are going through a parenting curriculum. Check them out. The office can get you all the vitals on the group.

As I sit at my desk you have Ty Quillen, Troy Manlove and my son Craig all working hard to finish the stage design for our new series called 24. I hope they can get it finished for tomorrow. They're miracle workers...I know they will!

We all love to live life on the mountain top. All of us. Yet, it seems that so often that life is lived in the valley, or atleast part way up the mountain. I find though, in my life, that God often speaks the clearest to me when I am NOT on the mountain top. Weird isn't? Life can be a funny thing!

Here is another thing...I have found in my life that satan tends to come at me the hardest right before God is about to do something real special in my life. No, satan is not all knowing. However, he is a pretty smart cookie who has been around a long time. He knows, or maybe senses is a better word, when God is about to breakout in our lives. So what does he do? He calls for an all out attack on us to discourage us and cause us to quit.

I currently am in one of those times in my life. Satan is banging and hitting hard, real hard to be honest. But it lets me know that God is on the verge of doing something special in my life and within our ministry. Stay tuned to see what God does...

To say that God blew us away this weekend would be an understatement to say the least. The Opening Day festivities that we put on at Eastmonte Park was unbelievably more than I had personnally expected. The amount of people that we showed the love of Jesus to by serving them was HUGE! I mean BIGGER than I could have imagined.

Thank you Church for being such a great example of Jesus to our community. I love being associated with you. You really do make God look good. And as a result of serving our community...the city of Altamonte Springs has invited us to do the children's portion of RED, HOT and BOOM! (Only 100,000 people attend this event.)

Services today went well. I am excited to go to our new Sunday schedule: 9:30 am and 11:00 am worship services. Take the time this week to thank our band, the singers and all our tech people for making our services so special and unique.

It was good to talk with Col. Tom Killgore from Germany this morning. He has such a servants heart. He will be to be a joy to work with. Continue to pray for our trip to Germany this summer...and your involvement with it! Have a great week!

As I sit and wonder if the rain is going to put a damper on our Opening Day event at Eastmonte Park, I am thanking God for the privilege of serving our community. Truely, it is our responsibility to make our community look good! It really is. That always needs to be our anthem as a ministry.

I ran across a Barna study that asked people to use single words to describe Jesus. They responded, "wise, accepting, compassionate, gracious, humble." Then Barna asked them to use single words to describe Christians. They said, "critical, exclusive, self-righteous, narrow and repressive." And we wonder why some people have a hard time buying into Jesus. It is my prayer that my life will be a true representation of His life.