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Lead Pastor’s Blog II.X

Russ — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 04:00:24 +0000

I bounce back and forth between the truth that there is so much work that needs to be done versus I am so excited about where we are headed as a church family. As a general rule of church leadership summer moving into fall carries that kind of weight. Programs are getting ready to start up again. New ministries are often launched at this time of year. New people have moved in and are looking for a church. It is an exciting time each year. This year is the same and different. It is the same in that we have lots of ministries gearing up for the fall. We are truly excited about that but this year things are also different.

God has been moving in our midst this summer at Cornerstone. The Sunday in July when Mr. Mike Hack spoke was a Sunday to remember, a Sunday when people were making life-changing decisions. Mike works for a ministry called Operation Mobilization and he lives in South Africa even though he grew up in nearby Waldheim. God used Mike to awaken us to the truth that we are in a Spiritual battle and that we need to make a life decision to surrender to Jesus Christ. It seems to simple but it has such profound implications.

Our Moderator has had our church leadership read a book called “Radical” by David Platt. To say it has stirred us would be understating the truth. The message in the book is very much in line with the message Mike shared with us. We need to wake up to the truth that God is calling us to absolute surrender. The church in North America needs to wake up says Mr. Platt. Wake up to the needs of the poor in our world and the biblical truth about salvation. God is stirring in our midst, so as much as things are the same as most summers…..this year there is a difference.

It is not business as usual. It is not just another summer heading into fall. This year things are different. As you walk into a Sunday service or connect with people during the week there is just a sense that things are different in a very positive way. Cornerstone is on the move. Perhaps a wave is a good mental picture to contemplate. A fresh wave of God’s Spirit pouring over us. A cleansing wave causing us to examine our own lives and get things right with God. A wave moving us in a fresh direction of God’s choosing. We are not in control of the wave. We just choose whether we watch the wave or catch the wave. Catching the wave has an incredible excitment associated with it.

It also has our future associated with it. If this is God’s wave then we do need ride it as a church body. As a collection of individuals we need to catch this wave and ride it empowered by the Spirit who created the wave. This summer things are different at Cornerstone. This summer God has stirred within us a church family. He has called us back to the basics. Where are you? Are you riding the wave? Are you watching the wave? Are you surrendered to Jesus Christ?

Things are the same as any other year but things are definitely different this year. Have you sensed it? Come on, let’s ride the wave together.

Lead Pastor Blog II.VII

Russ — Tue, 25 May 2010 17:37:42 +0000

It’s a rainy Tuesday morning. I have found myself this past weekend revisiting my dreams for Cornerstone as well as for my own life. I have been pondering the vision of Cornerstone changing our world. I find it disturbing, dangerous, frustrating, humbling and a host of other emotions to spend much time dreaming. Are you currently chasing something that has your complete attention?

I don’t know if many of us slow down long enough to think about what is consuming our time and attention. One week slides into a month. One month leads to another and a year is gone. What have I accomplished from eternity’s perspective? I am at a stage of life where that is what matters to me. I guess that is why I find this dreaming stuff frustrating when I look back to see what has been accomplished in and through my life.

Joseph is my go to guy in the Bible when it comes to dreaming. He was an imperfect character as all men in the Bible were. Received a very cool dream from God but then he flaunted it in front of the family. Essentially he tells them that in his dream they are going to bow down to him. At this stage of his life let’s just say that Joseph did not have humility mastered. Later on in Genesis 37 as he goes to check on how the family business is doing we read in verse 19 “Here comes that dreamer!” Clearly his brothers were not saying it with any sense of respect or awe. No matter how you slice it that did characterize Jospeh, he was a dreamer. I’m not sure we have many Joseph’s in our midst these days. Men and women of vision. Individuals who have heard from God and are chasing the dream.

I really believe we need those people. We need dreamers to dream new great God-inspired dreams for the church today. If life is just about the stuff around us then life is so small. I don’t want my children and grand-children to spend their lives chasing what we can see. I don’t want the people of Cornerstone to spend their lives chasing stuff. Honestly to me that is such a small way to spend our lives. It has no lasting influence.

Joseph reminds me that dreams don’t just happen. They definitely don’t happen in a straight line. Joseph had many ups and downs on the way to his dreams becoming reality. He had long periods of time where it appeared his dreams had been derailed. It must have been tough at those times to still believe. Genesis tells us that Joseph had another party who was guiding, guarding, watching over the dream. God had not been derailed in His purposes being accomplished in and through Joseph.

Perhaps that is where I am today. Maybe God is just reminding me that He is in control and not me. But right now I want more. I want to see more of Cornerstone’s influence in this world. I want to know that my individual life is having a lasting impact. God I want more. I want to see changed lives…lots of changed lives. I want to see broken people healed. I want to see lost people find the answer in Jesus Christ. I want to see hardened people softened. I want to see the uncommited become commited to the life changer named Jesus. I want to see the unmistakable hand of God at work.

What are you chasing today? Do you have a dream that has captured your attention? Is your life being spent or invested? Does Jesus have your attention? Do you think Jesus has the attention of Cornerstone Church?

I find this stuff so humbling, frustrating, disturbing and yes even dangerous. It is really hard to just be comfortable when it feels like God is poking me.

This change the world stuff is ……….

Kathy — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 20:33:32 +0000

download Summer 2010 newsletter (.pdf)

Our Summer issue of Cornerstone Connected. Stories from the mission trips to Haiti and Louisiana, news on all the ministries and an update from Darrell and Jessica. Read and enjoy.

Pastor’s Blog II.III

Russ — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 23:31:12 +0000

What are you doing? If you have a little imagination and a tv set you may remember a series of ads a few years ago where fellows with different accents asked that question to each other while talking on the phone. That is my question for you….what are you doing? Feel free to ask it with whatever accent you want. I am not sure where or when that question first popped into my head but it is a question I find myself wondering about these days.
First let me ask that question in response to Haiti. What are you doing? Seriously…what are you doing? We have seen the single most devastating event to strike in the Western Hemishpere occur in Haiti. We have watched newscasts with visual details that most of us don’t even want to see. Now we are starting to hear first hand accounts of people from our area who have gone down and returned with more details. We know the earthquake wrecked the country. At a recent fundraiser it was estimated that the death toll could reach into the 300,000’s. We know schools have been closed and countless children have been orphaned. We know that right now most of the devastated people are living in temporary shelters. We know there is an ongoing need for food. What are you doing?
What more motivation do we need to do something? We know the need is real. We know organizations that are helping. We know they need cash and manual labour. What are you doing? We know they need prayer….are you praying?
I started the year at Cornerstone talking about Matthew 25 and it is like the Lord will not allow me to forget it or move on. The passage tells us that whatever we have done to the least of these we have done to Jesus. Think about that for a moment. You give twenty dollars to buy rice to feed a hungry family in Haiti and really what you just did was you ministered to Jesus Christ. Seriously. Why would we choose to not be involved when what we are doing is directly connected to our Saviour? The smallest thing takes on eternal significance when we do it unto the least of these. Perhaps best of all is that in the doing of practical things to help the least of these it opens a door to tell them why. Jesus is the answer to the why. Jesus is also the answer to their greatest need.

What are you doing? Attending church? I don’t see that in Matthew 25 as something that impresses God. Each one of us who call ourselves Christian has a mandate. Our mandate is to do something. Help someone. Give something. Pray for some situation. Do something. What are you doing? Seriously…what are you doing?

Pastor’s Blog II

Russ — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 16:45:51 +0000

Eventually a number will be produced. Maybe today or tomorrow or next week but the world will receive a number. The number I am referring to of course is the number of dead in Haiti after the January 12th earthquake that has devastated that poor country. The number is the problem.

On the one hand it will be so difficult to get an exact number because of the nature of Haiti itself. The accuracy of government records is suspect. Currently there is no government agency capable of overseeing or taking charge. It will be a number that will have no sense of certainty affliated with it. On the other hand the problem is the number itself. Most of the world will gasp at the staggering nature of the number. Maybe it will be 100,000 or 500,000 or worse and we will talk about how awful it is that another natural disaster has struck our world. It’s not a number to God. It is people, precious people created in His image by a creator who loves them in ways that we cannot fully grasp.

For our small team that was there so recently it is not a number. We have looked into the faces of the people of Haiti and it has changed us. Yes it is a country wracked with poverty. Yes it is a country that has a multitude of problems. Yes the governments of the past have been self-serving and often useless in relation to caring for their own but these people are not numbers. They are people with names and families and dreams and hurts. They are people learning and growing and for many of them they are just hearing the good news of Jesus Christ a Saviour who loves them.

Please don’t allow the news to tell you a number and for you to walk away thinking that was awful. The number will be awful but it is not a number. It is precious people each of whom God loves passionately and we are called to love them as well. Scripture reminds us often that God loves the widows and the orphans. There will be an abundance of new widows and orphans to be loved in Haiti. We will be a people who do that work on God’s behalf.

There are two words I have shared with our staff when it comes to this year 2010. The least and the worst. I said I want us to be a church concerned about the least and the worst. Today Haiti screams at us “we are the least and the worst.”

Make no mistake, this week Haiti is in the world media’s spotlight but that will fade. Another story will push Haiti off the stage and much of the world will forget the devastation that has occurred. Cornerstone will not be included in that picture. Let us commit now to doing whatever we can for as long as we can to make as big a difference as we can because they are not numbers. They are people and if God loves them so will we love them.

A door of opportuntiy has opened. Let us boldly walk through the door by the grace of God offering the truth and help of God to a people who are open to discovering a God who longs for relationship with them. This is our chance to really make a difference in our world.

Today allow God to break your heart with the need of people not the size of a number. Look into their faces when you see them on the news. Put yourself in their situation. Who are you looking for? What do you need? What is it you want? As you answer those questions maybe you will discover that you can be the answer to some of those questions for someone in Haiti. For a person…not a number.