The weekend that was...

Wow!!! What a weekend! From Thursday night ‘til Sunday morning God supplied everything we needed to celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus. This weekend two of our elders shared what God had laid on their hearts and they both did an outstanding job. Scott shared with us on Thursday night as we celebrated with a communion service and foot-washing. He shared how we should be focused on serving each other and how that love and service should reach out to the community. As Scott talked about Jesus washing the feet of the disciples he mentioned several times how here in America we don’t usually come across too many “dirty” feet as we have so many paved roads and we all wear shoes. As I started washing the feet of others I soon realized that Scott was right. The feet I was supposedly “washing” were already pretty clean.

Then it happened. One of the kids from the “neighborhood” came up and asked if she could have her feet washed also. As I poured water over her feet I saw the amount of dirt and filth falling into the basin. As I wiped her feet down I noticed the towel I was using turning black from the grime. All I could think was even here in America with our paved streets and shoes to wear ther e are some who need a simple act of love. It reminded me there is never a moment when we don’t need a Savior. All of us. The nicely dressed. The ones in rags. The church people who know how to “behave” in church and the ones who simply know that if they come on a Wednesday night they will get a free meal and a chance to play some ball.

But it did not end there. He came up and asked me if he could wash my feet. Someone I have intentionally invested in. Someone I have made it a goal to serve. This person who I have tried to pour into was now pouring what he had into me. In a moment he was Jesus to me. He was serving me. He was investing in me. I can not even begin to describe how overwhelming it was to have someone you are intentionally discipling turn around and disciple you in just a moment.
But that was just Thursday.

Sunday morning we had our Sunrise Service at the church. I’ll be honest I was not looking forward to it. We did not get much sleep Saturday night and then I got up at 5 am to get to the church on time. I know some of you get up at 5 am all the time but I do not. In any case, as we were setting things up outside for the service all I could think about was how I could get out of being at the Sunrise Service next year. What excuse could I come up with…mmmmmmm. Then another one of our elders, Paul, shared the message God had laid on his heart. Wow!!! All I can say is…it’s all about God. It’s all about what God is doing and what God wants and what God is providing. It’s not about us…all we need to do is obey and watch what God does. If you were there and were not encouraged and motivated in some way to view Jesus as not only your Savior but your Lord then you didn’t listen to the same message I did.

The regularly scheduled worship service was packed. We had chairs lining each aisle and an extra cluster in the front. God used Allison to write a beautiful service as we walked through the 7 statement Jesus made on the cross. As we observed the death of Jesus we ended that time celebrating His resurrection from the grave leading into the baptism of 15 individuals. Wow!!!
To say it was a good weekend doesn’t really seem to do it justice. God is good. He always has been and always will be. However your weekend looked God is always deserving of praise because He is God and we are not. I encourage all of you to praise Him in some way today. Don’t wait.

Maundy Thursday, Easter

Tonight we are celebrating Maundy Thursday. I just got back from setting the sanctuary up for this special service and I am pumped. Scott, one of our elders, is going to be sharing from God's Word and opening his heart tonight. I am very curious to see what all God does tonight and this weekend. Sunday morning Paul, another one of our elders, is going to be sharing at the Sunrise service. If you show up sleepy I'm sure Paul can wake you up. Afterwards, we get to eat some good breakfast here at the church and then go into our regular morning service. I say regular but it will be anything but.... Come help us celebrate Resurrection Sunday and bring a friend!!! I might even wear a tie for this one.

All time great question

I was on ragamuffinsoul.com this morning and came across one of the greatest questions I have ever read or heard. It was asked by a fairly new believer and it makes so much sense it's scary...here it is.

"Um…I have a question. Why do Christians spend over a month celebrating Christmas with parties, music, decorations, songs, and presents, then only a day celebrating Easter? I mean, isn’t Easter the reason we have our faith in the first place? Shouldn’t we be having Easter parties? It seems kind of backwards to me."

See...I told you...scary...

Correction

After rereading that last post I might have given the impression that the service this week was somewhat blah. Make no mistake when God moves...nothing is ever "blah". God rocks my world!!!!

Sunday night iritation

Tonight is Sunday night. I woke up. Got dressed. Went to church. It being Palm Sunday we had some extra music in the service with more musicians than we normally have. I was ready. We had a good service. God did some cool things in the service. Afterwards we had an easter egg hunt for the kids. Natalie had been in training for a month waiting for this moment. She was fantastic. My little girl ROCKS!!!! We left. Went to help a family in need. Went home. Etc. Etc. Etc...Overall a pretty good Sunday.

WARNING...what follows is a rant...yep that's it...a big fat rant. Tonight I had the chance to check out some of my favorite blogs and some new ones also. As I was scanning the www I soon realized there are some people who feel like it is their job to criticize and tear down other churches and other pastors for no valid reason at all! WHAT IS THE POINT IN THAT!!!!!! We have enough churches who are treating their pastors like dog food and as if that's not enough you have others who feel it is their job to criticize people they don't even know. Oh and did I mention there are people dying without Jesus every day and THAT'S NOT OK!!!!!

The level of stupidity that fills this world is astounding. Just a little something I felt like getting off my chest tonight.

Sunday night reflections

This morning EVERYONE was dragging. I have to admit I was having trouble finding my rhythm in the sermon. There was very little response from the congregation during the message. I usually play off of the responses I get whether it's verbal or non-verbal. Today I got very little. I guess the time change hit all of us a little. But some days are like that. Even though we were dragging God still showed up and He was glorified.

However...our practice for next Sunday was awesome!!!! Palm Sunday is going to be OFF THE CHAIN!!!!!! I am so excited about next week I can't even describe it. The next two Sundays are going to rock the planet. I encourage all of WJACC to come and bring a friend...or two...or three...or many...

Tonight...sleep.

Daylight savings

Just a reminder for everyone!!! This weekend is the time change for daylight savings. Set your clocks one hour forward Saturday night.

passion part #2

The idea that follows comes from Maxwell's book that I mentioned before. This is how he explained the relationship between passion and priorities.

People who have passion but no priorities are like those who are in a cabin on a cold winter day and light a bunch of small candles that don't give much light and don't really give off much heat. People who have priorities but no passion behind them are like ones who stack the fire place with wood but never light the fire. However, if someone puts their passion and priorities in line with each other then you have a fire place ablaze with plenty of wood giving off plenty of light and heat for the whole cabin.

So what does your fireplace look like today?

passion part #1

One of my most recent reads is John Maxwell's book "Talent is never Enough". One of the chapters emphasizes the need for passion in conjunction with talent. Maxwell offers three questions to help find where your passion lies.
What do you sing about?
What do you cry about?
What do you dream about?
My question is, "what do you feel so strongly about that it results in singing, crying, and dreaming?"

I have a dear friend that describes passion as "something you do and you lose track of time doing it."

If there is something that initiates song, tears, and dreams all within the same day...that's a full day.

How many "full" days have you had lately?

process

Making disciples is a process. Reaching out to the lost is a vital part of the process. If we never reach out then we become nothing more than a glorified club. However, if all we ever do is reach out and never teach and build up the ones God has put in front of us then our outreach becomes shallow and superficial. The third step in the process is to prepare people to go out and reach those God has put in their path. Sometimes we have noble intentions but never disciple people to walk with Jesus and to share their walk with others. Everyone is at a different place in the process and that's ok. What's important to know is that there is always someone who knows a little more that you can learn from and there is always someone you can help along the way as well.

This Sunday will be the best sermon I've preached yet. Some of you WJACCers may not even recognize me.

mission

I am on a mission America!!!! This weekend I traveled to West Virginia with two other men and my 19 month old daughter. We were literally 3 men and a baby. Every restaraunt and gas station we stopped at did NOT have a baby changing station in the men's bathroom. It is 2008 and I had to change my baby in the parking lot on several occasions because some places refuse to think that a man would actually change a diaper. I'm not going to leave my baby sitting in poop and pee. That's nasty and stupid. What about all of the single dads out there? They get no consideration at all. Their lives are hard enough and we're just going to make it that much more difficult for them by saying there's no place to change your innocent baby. Here's my challenge. Every time you think about it check and see if there are changing stations in the public places you visit. Restaraunts, gas stations, libraries, etc. If there is not one talk with a manager and suggest they put one in. This is a no brainer. With all of our resourses you would think we could do something about something so simple. Let's take a step together in the fight against stupidity.

I'm Chris Hall and I approved this message.

BIg Ski 2008

This past weekend was awesome! I had the privilege of hanging out with over 350 teenagers and adult youth coaches in Princeton, WV at the “Big Ski” retreat. Here are some highlights from the weekend…

1) Getting to the ski slopes first thing in the morning before the crowd makes it worth waking up!

2) Traveling more at night than by day will increase the possibility that your 19 month old daughter will sleep.

3) When approaching the top of the ski lift it is crucial that you raise the tips of your skis and slide to the edge of your seat!

4) It is possible to fall down while standing still.

5) Camp Dixie’s praise team rocks.

6) VH1 has some very stupid programming!!!! “Flavor of Love”??????? seriously!!!

7) God can use a very tired, very sore individual to preach His word. As long as God shows up and does the real work anything is possible.

8) My favorite highlight of the weekend…the kingdom of God is a little bit larger after this weekend. I’m not sure how many made a decision to follow Christ but I do know of at least one and that makes it all worth it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

9) Ps…I called the Giants win in the super bowl…

2 reasons to celebrate

Yesterday 2 things happened that initiated some serious joy in my heart this morning.
1) Yesterday we handed out a list of ministries that we at WJACC are involved in. We invited everyone to prayerfully consider what areas of ministry they would like to be involved in. At the end of the service we offered a time where individuals could place these forms they filled out on the altar as an act of worship. The response was awesome!

Today we have been pouring through the sheets and I am pumped about what God may be doing next. Please pray for us as leaders that we attempt to help people plug into where they may be used to build the Kingdom of God.

2)The second thing that happened...well...you can read about it on Allison's blog here...http://www.sidestreet-allison.blogspot.com/
Read the event of a lifetime...

Monday morning thoughts

We saw God do some cool things yesterday in the worship service. At first we were curious how it was all going to work out. Our music coordinator was sick, our coordinator of technology was out of town. Things were not going as planned before the service. However, as He is in the custom of doing, God showed up in a very real way.

People were submitting to God and what He wanted to do in their lives. Even though things didn't go exactly as WE planned everything went just as GOD planned and it was good.

Next Sunday we are attempting something that I personally have never tried. Logan and I are going to tag team the message next week. That's right...two preachers...one message...one Jesus. It should be very cool. We'll see what God does next Sunday. I'm pumped to think of the possibilities.

Children of the World

I just wanted to remind everyone that we are not having dinner or service tonight (Wed.) at WJACC. However, we are hosting the children's choir "Children of the World" tomorrow night at 7pm. This is going to be a great evening for everyone. We will be serving dinner at 6pm so everone come out and enjoy this exciting performance.

re-post

Here is a post I actually wrote in December but left in draft form and never published. Sorry about the delay but here it is...

The past is a funny thing. It is a beast that can be tamed but when let loose to run wild can be a crippling force in our lives.

Case in point...a few years ago my Granny passed away on Christmas day. She had been sick for quite a while. She was in her 90's. Her death did not catch any of us by surprise but it was still very difficult when it happened. We had a beautiful funeral service for her and celebrated her life with friends and family. However, the next year the thought was how will we celebrate Christmas knowing this is the day the enemy of death had the chance to show its face again. We made the decision that yesterday's sadness will not stop today's celebration. Afterall, this is the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus.

Without Jesus my granny's life would have been a waste. However, she knew Jesus. Jesus knew her and she lived a full and purposeful life. Sometimes we just need to make up our minds and ask ourselves how long are we going to allow something in the past to impede the present or the future.

I can't change the past. The future isn't here yet. Today is the only oppotunity I have to make any decisions.

The Kingdom

It's all about THE Kingdom!!!! Tuesday I had the privilege of sitting under the teaching of one of my mentors/disciplers. This is one guy who has always been so dead on with his teaching. It's not just me either. Others make statements all the time about this man and use terms like "forward-thinking", "progressive", "real", "with it", "permission giving". Taking all of this into consideration what did he remind me of yesterday?...it's all about THE Kingdom!!!!

The more we focus on the Kingdom of God the smaller a lot of our worries and concerns seem to be. When we begin to love the lost more than our personal preferences we are better able to see God more clearly. Who is it that God is putting in your path today that does not know Him? Let's be intentional about the Kingdom and see what God is doing.

Britney Spears?

Seriously???!!!! The other night the lead story on the news was the breakdown of Britney Spears. We saw video of her being placed in an ambulance. We received a step by step breakdown of how she got to this point. We heard how her family is reacting to this situation. We also heard how this will effect her children. If I had paid attention I would have learned more about Britney Spears' mental health than I could ever use to help improve my life over the next million years or so.

This was the lead story. Surely there wasn't anything going on in the world this week. Surely nothing of any significance was happening in our nation or world.

I did hear something about a bunch of people getting all dressed up and debating different ideas concerning the future of our country. Someone said something about donkeys and elephants. I think they were in New Hampshire maybe? But that couldn't be real important compared to a self-destructing pop star. Could it?

Holidays and 2008

In the past 2 weeks we have celebrated Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We've had Christmas parties. We've opened gifts. We flew to Iowa. We participated in the wedding of two friends. We worshiped Sunday morning with friends we haven't seen for a while. We had two baby dedications. One of the babies stuck his pacifier in my mouth as I was praying. We celebrated New Year's. Bemoaned the fact that West Virginia is not in the championship game. We flew back to Florida...celebrating the warmth the closer we got. Finally we are home and I am back in the office.

Here are some of my goals for 2008...

1. Continuing to improve as a blogger. This is still all fairly new to me but I'm excited to think of the possibilities here.
2. Study more of the Holy Spirit. It dawned on me recently how little we talk about the Holy Spirit despite the fact that the HS is a powerful force that will not be stopped.
3. Read at least one book in each of the following areas. Marriage/relationships. Parenting. Leadership. Discipleship. Evangelism. Church health/growth. Personal growth. Business. Preaching.
4. Lose the weight I promised my wife I would lose if we moved to Florida.
5. Work on my relationship with Allison.
6. Work on my relationship with Natalie.
7. Write more letters.

I know a lot of people make resolutions this time each year but these are some personal goals that I have set for myself. After all, without goals then what am I reaching for?

I pray that above all else we will see God a little more clearly in 2008!

Christmas Gold

Christmas Gold

Psalm 45:13All glorious is the princess within her chamber ; her gown is interwoven with gold.

Matthew 2:11On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.



Gold is the color of royalty. In a split second gold can make the common into something regal…something to be noticed and appreciated. The moment we see the color gold we recognize a certain value or worth. Gold will not be ignored. It stands on its own and tells the world, “I am valuable.”

When God created the world He looked at what He had done and called it good. Through man’s rebellion the dark stain of sin made creation somewhat plain and ordinary at best. God refused to leave what He had called good to be left helpless. He sent His son Jesus to provide the sacrificial blood that would make His loved ones royalty.

It was not a foolish man who brought the baby Jesus a gift of gold. It was a wise man who by his gift recognized a baby born to an unwed mother as king.

Many people search for treasures of gold and never find them. This Christmas let the color gold remind you of the treasure of life that is found in our savior Jesus Christ.