I love car rides.  Sometimes driving for long periods stink, but sitting in the car is great.  I get plenty of time in the car to think and ponder life everyday because I live about 30 minutes from work.  That is at least an hour a day of driving (and more if I have to run errands on the way to or from work).  As I was driving home from work tonight, I began to think about the power of ONE and the many different little meanings behind it.  For those of you that understand math, the power of ONE really changes nothing.  8 to the power of ONE is 8 (I know that there is more depth and meaning to it, but for the sake of not going into the significance of raising something to the 1st power, we will go with the basic).

What really intrigues me is the power of ONE in the world.  It can be bad power, or good power.  It can be the ONE car that is driving slowly and holding up a mile’s worth of traffic.  It can be the ONE person that pressures a teenager to start drinking or smoking, or having pre-marital sex.  It can be the ONE who makes a stupid decision about drinking and driving and kills an innocent family.

The Power of ONE can also be amazingly positive.  It can be the ONE person who takes away the keys of someone who’s been drinking.  It can be the ONE person who respects their boyfriend/girlfriend enough to wait until they are married to have sex.  It can be the ONE who is willing to walk away from their friend’s lunch table and go sit with the new kid that doesn’t have any friends.

When I think of the Power of ONE, I think of these amazing Biblical people who exemplify the Power of ONE.  You see Noah, and his willingness to build a boat in the desert even though people thought he was crazy, just because God told him to.  You look at David and his willingness to step out in front of an army and conquer a giant despite the fact that everyone else was terrified.

You look at Jesus.  The ultimate example of the power of ONE.  The man who was sent by God to conquer the sin of the world.  The man who hung out with tax-collectors and lepers, prostitutes and cripples.  The man who died a terrible death on a cross because You and I are dirty in the site of God.  The man who changed the world because the world needed it.

When I think about the power of ONE, I can’t help but wonder what effect I can have on the world.  Clearly I am not Jesus, I am not 100% man and 100% God.  But can I be a positive ONE?  Can I be the ONE to point a lost teenager down the path to Christ, rather than partying and making poor choices?  Can I be the ONE who will step out and be the friend to the new person?  Can I be the ONE who is different?

You are DARN right I can.  And I can do this because of the power of Christ!  I can do this because Jesus gave us the command to.  I can do this because “I can do anything through Christ who gives me strength” (Phil. 4:13).

The question isn’t that of “Can,” but rather that of “WILL.”

I wake up everyday and ask myself if I “WILL.”  Through Christ, I WILL!

Will you???

As I am sitting in the terminal of Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, I can’t help but notice all the people who have been truly inconvenienced by delayed and canceled flights to the San Francisco area. As we hear updates every half hour or so, the only thing that seems to change is the time the flight is leaving. I guess it is raining something horrible in the bay area and they are not allowing flights to take off that are heading there. People from all walks of life are inconvenienced by CHANGE.

A business man sits next to me frantically trying to secure overnight hotel reservations; a set of grandparents moan and groan to overcome the idleness; a young girl and her mom enjoy their 3rd cup of Starbucks; and lone traveler struggles to get comfortable in the all vinyl terminal chairs for a second of probably 3 naps today.

As I sit and observe everyone around me, I can’t help but think, “WOW, HOW THINGS CHANGE!”

Here I am, going to meet up with my family 3 days earlier than I had thought, all because I had to have an emergency appendectomy to avoid having my appendix rupture and subsequently kill me. Though I still struggle to understand why I had to miss fellowshipping with the greatest people on earth on Sunday and miss the greatest day of a pastor’s ministry, baptismal, I can’t help but be thankful for change.

It makes me thankful that everything in my life happens for a reason. I am suppose to have a big interview for a possible promotion at work this week; doesn’t look like that will happen. I was suppose to help coach a baseball team to the first week of fall baseball; looks like they will have to go at with out me. I was suppose to see my family on Thursday, but instead, I get to see them tonight. Life is good; I can’t complain.

Because of change, I will spend the next few days connecting with family and friends I don’t see that often. I will pay a visit to a church I was a pastor at a few years back. I will enjoy a great time with my wife and kids all thanks to CHANGE.

I encourage you to not always baulk at change. Sometimes change is good and leads to a great alternate set of plans. When life hands you CHANGE, be thankful and look for the frosting on the cake.

OFF TO ENJOY CHANGE!!!

Mike Clack

Ever catch yourself say something you wish you could immediately retract. Like its coming out of your mouth and you think to yourself, “self, what was I thinking?” Get back here words.

It seems so often that the mouth works nanoseconds before the mind thinks. Its like the brain is slow or something…

I just wonder if the cure isn’t in our heads but rather our hearts???

In Luke’s writing he describes the life of a Christ follower as a tree that bears fruit. He states that a good tree can’t bear bad fruit, just as a bad tree can’t bear good fruit. Now I am no farmer, but I wonder what causes a tree to go bad? Is it a faulty root system? You know, bad ground. Is it a pestering bug that causes the tree to go bad? Is it lack of food and water that causes the tree to go bad? How about a diseased heart?

I would think that any one of these or a combination of these could cause a tree to go bad. When Luke relates the life of a Christ follower to a tree, I wonder if he is using the illustration to reference things like: 

Is our faith grounded in Christ? Or are we filling the God-sized void in our life with things, money, success?

Do we allow bugs of bitterness, unforgiveness, hate, fear, or sin to overtake us?

Are we properly being fed spiritually? Do we make a commitment to attend a weekly Christ Encounter? Do we commit to being in a Connection Group doing life with other Christ Followers? Are we engaged in an active discipleship relationship?

How’s your heart? Is it healthy and full of love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control?

Luke tells us “out of the abundance of the heart our mouth speaks.” (Luke 5:45)

Whats you heart full of? What kind of fruit do you bear? Are you a good tree, ground in the faith of Christ, full of the fruits of the spirit?

Challenge yourself, to discovery what kind of tree you are.

Praying for you,

Mike

At a recent church conference, I had the awesome pleasure of hanging out with Mark Batterson, the pastor of National City Church in the metro D.C. area. He is also the author of an amazing book, The Wild Goose Chase, in which he describes the spiritual challenge of following the spirit of God as a wild goose chase.

In the time we had to hang out, I repeatedly heard him say “1 God idea is better than 1,000 good ideas”. Never more challenging to me in life than now is the spiritual revelation that a God idea is what moves mountains and revolutionizes the hearts and souls of mankind.

As a church we have been on the prowl for a more permenant residence. After weeks of negotiations and offers and counter offers with a property owner and his managment company, we finally came to agreeable terms only to be shot down by zoning in the city.

As I wrestled with God and immersed myself and the staff in a 21 day Daniel Fast, the continued confirmation of this location being a God idea surfaced. The amazing comfort of knowing, no matter how large the Goliath, no matter how many Philistines there are, no matter how long Lazzarus has been dead, no matter how long it hasn’t rained, that when it is a God idea, HE will make the provisions for an ark. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills; He is the giver of life. No man, no code, no limitation is too big for the GOD SIZED idea.

When we step back and look at our lives, how many God ideas have we had? How many “good” ideas have we had? I would confer with Mark, that 1 God idea is definitely better than a ton of good ideas!

I hope that as you journey through this life, that you too are on the prowl for a GOD IDEA. Don’t be fooled or distracted by the good ideas. Remember, God is the God of Provision. Jehovah-Jireh, the God that makes a ram miraculously appear in the thickets as Abraham had a God Idea to sacrifice his only son Issac.

So here in lies the dilemma… Are you reading the blog? Help us to know if this is something that you like and would like to see more of, by posting a comment and letting us know that you like the FCC blog. Thanks all…

I feel as though it is safe to say that I am a football fanatic. I played in high school and college and now coach. On top of that, I am also that guy that checks every update on the NFL website and looks at Mock Drafts 10 months before they occur. For those of you that don’t know, the “Draft” is the day when NFL teams get to choose from the best college players in the nation. Having the number 1 pick is awesome because you have all kinds of options. You can trade it for a player, you can trade it for more picks, you can trade it for a star player, or you can pick the next big star out of college. This Saturday is the 2009 draft, and there is a lot of speculation of who will be taken with the number 1 overall pick by the Detroit Lions.

Being the number one is an awesome privilege. This basically sets you aside as the best player in college football the previous year. It comes with MILLIONS of dollars to play football, as well as MILLIONS more to endorse products you probably haven’t heard of before.

Every year when the draft comes around, I can’t help but think of what it would be like to be the number 1 pick. My views on this have changed over the years. When I was in High School and College, I thought there was a chance that I could one day be the number 1 pick (didn’t happen). When my playing career ended, I thought of how nice it would be to have all that money and prestige and what I could do with it. Now I look back and see how stupid I was.

When I think of the number 1 pick now, I think that it was me. I was God’s number 1 pick. God sent His only son to the Earth for me. God didn’t just take me with the first pick, He traded His only son for me! God didn’t just send his son, but we are told in 1 Peter 3:18:

For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous and the unrighteous, to bring YOU to God.

It is a hard thing to grasp that any of us are worth that much. It is hard to think that God loved us so much that he traded everything for us. He gave His son’s life for us. Even though there may not be ludicrous amounts of money and prestige that comes with being God’s number 1 pick, it is worth more than playing football ever could be.

Praying for my teammates (that’s you guys)…

I am not too sure how many people follow current world events anymore but I have made a semi-interest in keeping up a little more frequently as of late. And let me tell you, it is getting pretty weird out there! Just here in America we have had two very important developments take place in the last few weeks. The first being the idea that we have been declared no longer a christian nation by our President in a recent speech made to world leaders. The second and more strange was the White House requesting that all of the symbols at Georgetown University which declare “Jesus in the Highest Sanctimonium” be covered up before the President would speak there. I am not here to be a political commentator but I am here to ask, are you ready for what’s to come?

I knew when I had heard from a buddy of mine, that we were declared no longer a christian nation, that it was not that blatant of a comment. After hearing the transcripts of the speech, it made no surprise to me the context in which everything was said. We are a diverse country, with many religions, we don’t strictly adhere to one religion or place any one religion above any other. As we have been currently talking about on Sundays, quite a “Trueish” statement isn’t it?

The whole stint at Georgetown University was much more concerning in the sense that there is absolutely no reason as to why at a Catholic University, that the decor declaring their Catholic beliefs and the uplifting of Jesus Christ should be of any offense to anyone, right? I think that in 1 John Chapter 2, it says a few things on this topic, read and study this portion of Scripture when you have the chance.

When it comes down to it, I am not here to raise a red flag and freak out about what is going on that is out of my control in the country and in the world. I am however, here to say, isn’t it time for you to be ready? Haven’t we put off things enough? Haven’t we waited long enough? Haven’t we given enough reasons as to why we haven’t jumped into this whole God thing? I do not worry about the things that are to come because I know in Him whom I believe, and I know that if Lot could have found 10, God would have spared Sodom. We are more than 10, we are more than 100, we are more than 1000, and if God is for us, then who can be against us?

Do not worry about these things. Understand that God is never surprised and that these things have been planned out for thousands of years and He has them all under control. Understand that they must happen for prophetic things to be fulfilled. And in all of your understanding, make sure today that God is for YOU!

Blessings to you

Excitment is in the air… Little pep’s all over the US are watching their favorite baseball teams take the field for the first time in 2009. As a huge fan of not only the game but also my home town Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, here I sit as happy as can be that the longest season of any professional sport has started.

As I take in the aerial shots from the blimp, I wonder if the 45 thousand plus fans have a relationship with Christ. Now don’t get me wrong, I am envious of their ability to watch the game live and in person and I would gladly take their ticket, but I am challenged with the greater quest of reaching every life possible for Christ. Paul said that he would take on the customs of a Jew just for the sake of connectting a Jew to Christ. I wonder what we would be willing to take on to lead someone to Christ.

Would we be willing to sacrafice our desires to see 100 people come to Christ? Would we be willing to skip a McD’s iced coffee so as to give to the poor? Would we be willing to sacrafice our pride and become like those we are trying to reach?

As the greatest church attended Sunday, Easter, is upon us, what are you willing to do to reach the people around you? That single mom that you know has been struggling; are you willing to invite her to church for hope? How about the lonely elderly person you see at work who you know has no family in town; are you willing to invite them to church for relationship? How about your neighbor who you see washing his truck every Sunday on your way to church; are you willing to invite him to church for purpose?

I fear that so many of us think that we don’t know the first step to reaching people around us for Christ. I would tell you that the first step has already been taken; you know who they are don’t you? I would challenge you to now take the second step and invite them to your local church service this Sunday. After all everyone goes to church on Easter…

Baseball,

Thanks for the revelation and go Angels!!!

Signed,
Your Fan — Mike Clack

I began asking myself the other day, “what does a humble person look like?” When do I know that I’ve humbled myself before God? James commands in his letter to, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” (James 4:10). Peter and Paul echo the importance of humbleness, humility, meekness and gentleness many times over.

Humbleness comes in many forms. It’s the quiet grandfather that is patient; leaning on years of experience. It’s the trusting daughter that waits for her loving father, knowing he will be there because he’s never failed her before. It’s the homeless beggar who has no idea where his next meal will come from or how to get out of his situation. It’s the convicted criminal who has fought the “system” for so long but with lowered eyes and a willing heart realizes that his selfish behavior always leads to a destructive end.

Humility is expensive. It can cost quite a bit. A humble spirit can cost: status, positions, prominence, friendships, success, financial gain, reputations, words, physical disabilities, mental health, or freedom. Humbleness can take dignity, self-esteem and security. It can demand personal preferences, personal rights and privileges, dependency on others and vulnerability, not to mention: embarrassment, fatigue, depression and anger. Humbleness usually follows highly painful and stressful circumstances.

Yet, the Bible makes it clear that this is a virtue that God desires in us. I’m not sure I want that virtue… until I see that being humble before God has great results. Daniel was heard by God because of his humbleness (Daniel 10:12). Moses was considered the most humble man and God, on multiple occasions, defended Moses in amazing ways (Numbers 12). Jesus humbled himself more than anyone else, to the point of dying as a criminal; yet he was lifted to the highest position. Clearly a humble heart is the first step of allowing God to take control of our lives, transforming us into a completely intentional work of art for HIS purpose. I think that’s why, as we grow in maturity towards Christ, we become more eager to become like him. We rid ourselves of self-pride and gladly welcome the higher position of humbleness to the point of eager anticipation. “The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position.” Humbleness draws us closer to God.

Where is your home? Is it wherever you are? Where you currently reside? Where you grew up? Where your family is? where you feel most comfortable? Maybe it is some combination of some or all of these things. The word “home” has so many meanings that you are likely to get a differant definition from everyone you ask.

I have had the experience of having to redfine home. I moved across the country to live here in Arizona. I left the town that I grew up in, where my parents live, and where my soon-to-be wife lives to live where I didn’t know anybody. A lot of people’s natural reaction is to call my original location home. That is where I spent my formative years and where the people I love are.

I just returned to Arizona from that place, and I can safely say that it is not home. Don’t get me wrong, I love my family, and my finacee, and my home town, but it is not home. This brings me to my definition of home. I would like to say that home is not a specific place. Home is where God wants you to be. It is hard to wrap your mind around this, because often it is hard to know what God wants. God clearly tells us in Jeremiah that he has a plan for us. He knows what is best for us and loves us enough to share that with us.

I would like to challange you to find your home. God has a place for you. God wants to be a part of your life. God wants to show you “home.” Let Him…

Praying that you find your Home…