Posted on October 14, 2008 by Scott Turner
life is chaotic right now. i already have a very full life as a husband, father, spiritual leader, mentor, soccer coach and out-of-shape tennis player - but, when you add in all the responsibilities that flooded me because our trailer was stolen (the insurance paperwork, the gathering of receipts, the errands, the rental / borrowing of gear, and about 50 other things), i’m just trying to stay sane and keep my head above water. in the midst of this craziness, mary, the girls and I are having the time of our lives and we have a peace that can’t be explained.
God is obviously at work and giving us the joy, strength and insight to deal with the confusion and clutter that is surrounding our church and our lives. in the middle of this mess, we had a phenomenal service sunday (it was chaos trying to set-up and get borrowed gear working right, there were too many set-backs to count - but we made it), it was one of the top 3 services in the history of our young church. i’m learning that i can be calm even when chaos surrounds me. God delievers me from the demonic static and distress. Psalm 51 (msg) says, “God make a fresh start in me, share a genesis week from the chaos of my life… put a fresh wind in my sails! I’ll sing anthems to your life-giving ways.”
Jesus spoke to the chaos and it became still (He is the same yesterday, today and forever).
I pray that in the midst of your chaos you find the calm.
Posted on October 9, 2008 by Scott Turner
i’m currently in atlanta at the catalyst conf. (hosted by andy stanley and northpoint church). i will update you on what i’m learning - today was incredible. top notch speakers, fresh music and a super-creative atmosphere. catalyst is coming to the o.c. next april and i’ve gotta take our entire leadership team.
one definition of “catalyst” is something that causes an important event to happen. the theft of our church trailer has acted as a catalyst to unite our church and bring us (some much needed) God-given momentum. just 72 hours before our trailer got ripped off - i had fasted and prayed for God to unite us as a church (john 17:20), to send a fresh wave over us (Isaiah 51:15), and to help us reach outsiders (Luke 5:31). i had no clue that God would answer our prayer through a catalytic event. God is uniting us, sending a wave of change and growth and gracing us to reach people that are far from him. this week we have the in-n-out cookout trailer coming to the summit to fill everyone present with the holy burger (yes, these burgers are supernaturally tasty - only second to the krabby patties that spongebob cooks at the krusty krab).
i can’t wait until sunday to see what God will do this week at the summit. my heart overflows with sincere thanks to the enemy for providing the catalyst for us to unite and multiply. a stolen trailer has acted as a catalytic material to accelerate what God wants to do at the summit.
Posted on October 6, 2008 by Scott Turner
the second verse in the bible describes how the earth was “empty” and then describes how God starts filling it with life. a few verses later God creates man and charges him to “fill the earth”. the prophet jeremiah said that God made the world to be filled with life, not to be a place of empty chaos. over and over in the bible we see God filling the emptiness of humanity. God fills the emptiness of the poor widow’s jars with oil. Jesus fills the emptiness of the multitude by feeding them (and there were even left overs). the Holy Spirit shows up and fills every single Christ follower in the early church. so, i’m convinced that God will fill the emptiness that we currently see and feel at the summit church. i see our emptiness as an opportunity for God to move. he is moving, he is faithful, he is starting to fill us - soon we will overflow.
here is an update on what has happened in the past few days:
Posted on October 1, 2008 by Scott Turner
our brand new church trailer was stolen - it had all of our gear in it (over $90,000 worth)! so satan is officially a punk! the trailer was jacked from our secure storage facility and we have the 3 crooks on video (i’m seriously considering putting it on youtube if enough of you comment and request to view it). basically they show up with a budget rent-a-truck and snoop around the lot for almost a full hour. then they back up to our trailer, hitch it up and take off. by the way, we totally forgive the trailer jackers and pray that somehow they experience God’s love, mercy and forgiveness in the near future. ok, to further complicate things, our insurance company is basically trying to denying our claim due to a typo on the policy (yes, a typographical error that they made), so we had to retain an attorney late last night (he has agreed to represent us free of charge - talk about a miracle). the upside is that there is such a fierce spirit of faith in the church right now and you can sense serious unity and momentum. one way or another God will restore all our stuff and help us rebuild. satan (the punk) must have thought if he jacked our stuff he could stop our church. he was dead wrong! the punk has poked the bear - it’s time to chase the punk, grizzly swat him to the ground and make him pay. leviticus 26:7-8 says, “you will chase down your enemies and slaughter them… all your enemies will fall.” the enemy will wish he never messed with us - he will pay for being a punk.
Posted on September 29, 2008 by Scott Turner
JOHN MARK MCMILAN - the medicine
GUNGOR - beautiful things
MY PASSION - jesus culture
KARI JOBE - kari jobe
Posted on September 25, 2008 by Scott Turner
this week we entered fall, even though in socal you never really notice (it’s still 85 degrees today). i’ve realized that we only have 100 days left in the year and then the ineviatable: another chapter begins. this fall, i’m expecting God to show up! not that he hasn’t in the past, but i’m in need of personal renewal and don’t feel like waiting to make some useless new years resolutions 3 months from now - i need change now! bruce barton said, “when you are through changing, you’re through.” the apostle paul wrote to christians and told them that there thoughts and attitudes must constantly be changing for the better. david bowie sang, “ch-ch-ch-ch-changes, (turn and face the strain) ch-ch-changes - just gonna have to be a different man.” the bottom line is that i have to change - change is what i crave - change is necessary!
changes i see happening this fall:
prayer - i talk about God all the time, but need to talk to him more
regular date night with mary - i have totally dropped the ball on this one
diet / exercise - playing tennis regularly, but eat to much junk
developing others - have to invest in others and challenge them more
the summit - times two (double the changed lives and break the 200 barrier)
honestly, the list could be three times as long, but these are the main changes that have to happen. thank God he empowers me to change by the power of the holy spirit. so, i will start with prayer and then follow through with the strategies God reveals to me. i pray my changes will be evident to everyone around me.
i’m sure you have a few things you need to change. so turn and face the strain
Posted on September 25, 2008 by Scott Turner
“axiom” - bill hybels
“simple church” - rainer & geiger
“the principle of the path” - andy stanley
Posted on September 25, 2008 by Scott Turner
isaiah 43:17
joshua 1:6-9
psalm 25:4-5
philippians 3:13-14
james 4:10
« Newer Posts
