Free at Last!

Sorry I haven’t posted in a while. Leading the youth and young adult ministries at LWC is quite the juggling act sometimes. Oh yeah, I forgot to include the youth and young adult ministries at MFM (Mason Family Ministries).

MSM began as a children’s ministry, then it became a youth and children’s ministry, next Monday, we make the split to youth and young adult ministry because my oldest offspring, my little baby brown eyes, my tiny twirping songbird turns eighteen!!! 18!!! XVIII!

Could it be that my loins have effectively produced an adult life form? Could it be that she’s reached an age where she could tell me where to stuff it and run off with Joe Somebody and get married and live in a rusty old double-wide somewhere down in the hollers of West-by-God Vajinya? My gosh, she could join the army, teach the poor origami or even ...no she’d never.....but what if she did... start punching holes in a perfectly good suit of skin?

That’s exactly what the little weasel did. I reminisce:

It was early Sunday morning and we had gathered ‘round the fire for our usual hour of pre-church prayers and hymns. The air was filled with the peace and presence of Providence along with the smell of fresh eggs and bacon sizzling in the kitchen. Matthew was fiddling with his bow tie as he sang softly the tenor. Brittney opened her Bible for the morning reading as my lovely wife shed her apron and knelt beside me. Just then, the oldest heir to the Mason family fortune elegantly swaggered into the room with what appeared to be a small tumor protruding from the exterior of her right nostril. At that point I felt led to lay hands on her and rebuke the shimmering neoplasm. Faith welled up in my spirit as I shouted “Come out! In the name of all that is good and wholesome and Anglo Saxon Protestant- come out!”

Nothing. The nodule remained.

“Father,” she whispered. “The jewel that thine eyes hath perceived an abscess is in truth an adornment of my liking. These many years have you tended to my soiled linens, filled my stomach with choice morsels and yet tended to my soiled linens again. Now, hath come the time for me to tend to my own soilment. So shall I choose to garnish my olfactory region with such an ornament of glamour and worldliness ” she asserted.

“Yes my child,” I replied in humble tone. “But as the filler of thine stomach I protest. Now remove the steely beast at once.”

“But Father,” she pled. “Am I not of such age that the right of penetration is mine alone. Are these mucous membranes not my own?”

I am so full of bulldust!

In reality, Suzan was poking a make up stick in her eye, Matthew was griping that there wasn’t any milk, Brittney was still being yelled at for not getting up, the dog was barking, the TV was blaring and my dress socks were missing in action. Just then, the perpetrator enter my room unannounced and for some odd reason kept her head turned away from me the whole time she chatted with her mother about hairspray or something. In a flash, she was back up the stairs and out of sight. Then, as usual we all sat in the Jeep – me yelling at Sue about being late and Sue yelling at the kids about what she was going to do with Kendall if she didn’t hurry up. Eventually the princess emerged and ducked quickly into her limo. I glanced in the rearview and barked something about how she was old enough to get “left behind” next time she left me waiting. Then there was a whisper and one of those womanly glances between the queen and the princess. You know those looks that say, “I’m not hiding anything, really.” My demand for an explanation was met with a confession that Kendall had punctured her sniffer the night before in her own version of the shot heard 'round the world.

Freedom, what a concept.

In reality, I don’t really care what she does with her nose; she’s the one that picks it. However, I do care about what she does with her freedom because freedom abused leads to bondage.

It’s been so refreshing to see the people that God is bringing to the Verge Life. Many, who know the pain of mishandled liberty. Thankfully, their Heavenly Father loves them enough to arrange a leadership team that knows the way out.

One of my all-time favorite verses is 2 Cor. 3:17:

Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

I’m here to tell you, the Spirit of the Lord is moving at Verge Life and I sense a time liberation coming for many who feel trapped in the snare of addiction, fear and religiousity. That’s what Jesus came for right, to set the captives free? The good news is He’s the same yesterday, today and forever.

“GOD WANTS YOU FREE!”

Those are the words that keep echoing in my spirit these days.

Galatians 5:1 says,
Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.

So, here comes freedom. I believe it. I sense it. Find somebody wearing this world’s chains and get’em into church on Saturday night! Find someone on the verge of a breakdown and let’s lead’em to a breakthrough!!!

Let's do everything in our power to focus on the main thing, giving God a FULL HOUSE!!!

Carry the cripple!
Rise above the crowd!
Penetrate the resistance!
Just get'em where the word is being preached and the power of God is present to heal!

What an exciting time to be alive doing what we get to do! Let’s ride this wave all the way to the beach!!!, thanking God that there’s a Lighthouse in Gloucester keeping us on course!

THE LOOP

VERGE VISION/STRATEGY MEETING 2/12/06

WORD ON THE VERGE:

In late 2005 I believe the Lord wanted to convince of who we are in Him. During a time of deep prayer I began to preach the following words to myself:

I am a person of FAVOR
I am a person of POSITIVE INFLUENCE
I am a work of EXCELLENCE
I am the EVIDENCE of MY GOD

These phrases have become our anthem. A new work needs confident people to move it forward. These prophetic words have helped to lift our heads high in expectation for what God will do when we see what He sees and become what He desires.

Last week, as I sought the Lord in a “where to from here” mode, I was drawn away from the message I was planning to preach and into the following passage:

Luke 14:16-24
Jesus replied: "A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. [17] At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.'
[18] "But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, 'I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.'
[19] "Another said, 'I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.'
[20] "Still another said, 'I just got married, so I can't come.'
[21] "The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.'
[22] " 'Sir,' the servant said, 'what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.'
[23] "Then the master told his servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full. [24] I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.' "

Again, during a time of deep prayer, I believe I began to speak prophetically the words- “God’s Wants a Full House!!!!”

This obviously agrees with the Word and it also meets us where we are.

During a time of devotions last week I read a passage that seems to knit things together:

Isaiah 57:14
And it will be said:

"Build up, build up, prepare the road!
Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people."

Contextually that passage doesn’t connect- but it spoke to me prophetically. In late 2005, the Lord was “building us up.” Now, I believe He’s desiring us to remove the obstacles that hinder us from filling His house.

Two obstacles we spoke about last week:

Poor eyesight-
When we don’t see a full house we miss God! God wants us to see what He sees!!! See the difference, Be the Difference!

Poor priorities-
While we certainly need to take care of our families, many of us do not prioritize bring people into the kingdom. Beginning with our own families could there be a more important priority that seeing people saved and knitted into the Body?


MOMENTUM is when we are all moving in the same direction. I’d ask you all to meditate carefully on these sermons and scriptures to see how God wants to use you- to give Him....A FULL HOUSE!

VISION STRATEGY NOTES:

This past week the Verge Executive Staff gathered for our monthly meeting . Here’s the headlines:

OLD NEWS:

What a great 2006 so far!

VERGE ONE
V1 drew 150 out for a Saturday night packed with incredible worship. What an awesome time! I believe God has called us to be a people of positive influence in our community. Leadership from at least three different churches in our community came out for Verge One. Special thanks to Bryan Thompson for bringing out the wall of sound and light!

VERGE LIFE SUNDAY
Eddie and Audio Impact brought Saturday night worship into Sunday morning and it was awesome. Robert Cameron from the Wave Church (formerly Va. Beach CLC) brought a timely message on the importance of VISION. His Scottish accent and wry humor made the message palatable for every age.

SPECIAL SPEAKERS

Myra Hess
Our very own Myra Hess preached at the Verge Youth on how God can take the ordinary and make it extraordinary. She really connected with the students. I’m sure this won’t be the last time we see Myra in the pulpit.

Daniel McKee
Yes! Danny Boy brought the goods at Verge Life on February 4th in a pre-Super Bowl service. “You got the ball, now what are you gonna do with it?” A question we should ask ourselves everyday. This message also plays into the FULL HOUSE! Daniel & Jannifer also did an awesome job of decorating the Verge Center in football garb!
Eddie Romero
Mr. Ed spoke at the Verge Youth just this past week on the spirit of python and how the enemy wants to slither around us and suddenly put The Big Squeeze on our lives. But, thanks be to God, Jesus crushed the python’s head and even his tightest grip can be broken!

SUPER BOWL PARTY
Thanks again to Daniel & Jannifer, along with the Crave Life Cafe’ and Mike Diffucia for helping put on a stellar Super Bowl party. The Steelers won and four souls got saved at half-time! Who could ask for a better game and half-time show than that?

VALENTINE’S DINNER
Oh so many people to thank for this one. Angela Romero spear headed the effort but Ashley, Crystal, Amanda Baird, Amanda Corney, Dawn Moore, Craig Baird, Sarah Bundy, ...my gosh...the whole Verge Life staff helped put on a terrific V-Day dinner for our church. Lee & Nardozzi did a fantastic job catering the event.

WAVE COLLEGE
Nine of us have been taking a class on “Multi-:Level Worship” at the Wave Church each Tuesday night. The Wave Church is the fastest growing church in our region. They are an offshoot of Hillsong Church in Sydney- one of the fastest growing, influential churches of our day. After only three classes it’s easy to see why the Lord has so blessed. Worship, done with utter excellence, is their aim. I don’t think we could go wrong in following their lead on that one!


COMING SOON:

2/23-2/25 Verge Ski Retreat

2/25 John Bundy speaking @ Verge Life

2/26 Verge Breakout Session on Sunday morning

3/3-3/5 Unforgettable Women’s Conference @ the Wave Church

3/12 Verge One Sunday School

3/19 Evangelist Tony Cruz @ LWC Sunday Morning

3/22 Pastor Jason Hess speaks @ the Verge Youth

3/25 Billy Wayne Simmons speaks @ Verge Life

Hooked

I love’em fat. I love’em skinny. I love’em short. I love’em long. I love’em funny, serious, hard or soft. I just love’em and I’m always lookin’ for fresh ones.

I like when they’re mysterious. I like when their adventurous. I’m not crazy about the romantic types, but I do like the ones that probe my heart. I like when they touch me, teach me and tell me what I need to know.

I’ve met them at Walmart, at the library and even at church, but my favorite place of all to hook up is over coffee at a Barnes & Noble. Sure, my wife gets jealous, but she also understands: I’m a book junkie.

My friend, Mike was just in my office slobbering all over my books and lusting for his own collection. I’ll probably keep my office locked from now on. I could see it in his eyes.

All this chatter about chapter and verse reminds me of a famous quote by Abraham Lincoln. He said,

“Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.”

No wait, that wasn’t Honest Abe, that was Groucho Marx. Anyway, books are cool.

Some people say they don’t have time to read. Those people usually work for people who found the time to read. Others say they just don’t like to read. I can relate. Feeding the mind can be a chore, but so can feeding the face.

Think about it, chewing is so much of a hassle that most people prefer mushy food like fast food burgers and ice cream over raw vegetables and tiger meat. But somehow, as laborious as it may be, we find the strength to chomp and chew. We have to! The stomach growls, the mouth waters and the head aches if we fail to fill the food hole. The body hungers for substance.

So does the mind.

If we always stuff our faces with easy to eat, smooth and creamy, super salty, super sweet, high fat, fast food - our bodies will tell on us. Our figure will broadcast a lack of discipline and diligence in the area of diet and exercise.

The same is true of the mind.

When our daily brain buffet consists of listening to foul-mouthed morning DJ’s, watching King of the Hill and reading the bad news paper, our mouth will spew what the mind hath chewed.

In America, we live in a culture of learning where knowledge is the currency by which we purchase influence. Influence should be important to all of us as believers. Christian influence points people to Christ.

Unschooled, ordinary men?

Acts 4:13 says:
When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

Unschooled? These guys had tremendous influence. By the power of the Holy Spirit they won thousands to the faith and built the early church. Furthermore, John wrote five books of the New Testament and Peter wrote two; quite an accomplishment for unschooled, ordinary men.

Then there was Paul.

In Acts 22:3 Paul says of himself:
"I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. Under Gamaliel I was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers and was just as zealous for God as any of you are today.

Paul was a thoroughly trained Pharisee with a love for books. Even in the closing hours of his life he requested that young Timothy bring him his books:

2 Tim. 4:13 (MSG)
Bring the winter coat I left in Troas with Carpus; also the books and parchment notebooks.

As a result of Paul’s zeal for God and his diligence in learning, the Lord chose him to write most of the New Testament and communicate Christ to many different cultures. Paul’s knowledge allowed him to effectively travel and share the gospel with paupers, philosophers, kings, governors, soldiers and religious scholars. His education expanded his influence.

God created our minds to eat knowledge. Books are the thinker’s soufflé’. God made our minds to be stretched. Books are the bow-flex of the brain. Books make us fit for connecting with the world we hope to reach.

So give your intellect a challenge. Spend a night reading instead of watching TV. Keep a book by the bed, by the toilet and in the car. Read in chunks. Read in bite-sized nuggets. Just read. Learn. Educate to communicate.
It is no more necessary that a man should remember the different dinners and suppers which have made him healthy, than the different books which have made him wise. Let us see the results of good food in a strong body, and the results of great reading in a full and powerful mind.~ Sydney Smith ~

SUPER BOWL XL WEEKEND @ the VERGE
Saturday, February 4
Pre-Super Bowl Service @ Verge Life
with special speaker: DANIEL McKEE
DOORS OPEN @ 6:30

Sunday, February 5
Flag Football @ LWC Field
Everyone’s invited!!! Play @ your own RISK!
Kickoff @ 3:00 pm

SUPER BOWL XL @ the VERGE on the video projection screen!
Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Seattle Seahawks
DOORS OPEN @ 5:30
Crave Life Cafe’s will be open
BRING YOUR FAVORITE CHILI IN A CROCK POT!!!!

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS:

VERGE ONE SUNDAY SCHOOL
Sunday February 5 @ 9:00
Jr. Hi, High & Young Adult Students & Leadership will gather in the Verge Center

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN LEADERSHIP or ARE ALREADY IN LEADERSHIP
BE THERE!!!!

It’s been a busy January- VERGE ONE was awesome Saturday and VERGE LIFE did a fantastic job on Sunday!!! Robert Cameron brought a timely word on VISION. More on all that later...for now, I’m signing off for a couple days to go chill with the Romero’s at Massanutten. REMEMBER: YOU are the LIGHT of the WORLD! Go flood somebody’s world with hope!