Jen and I are so excited about 2012!!! Both for our own family as well as for the Westpoint Church family.

For our own family, you may have heard already that we are expecting our 6th. And we are grateful. Our kids are pumped, too. It's like it has been a norm for them to have a baby crawling around the house :-)

For the Westpoint Church family, stay tuned in the coming months for one or two things we may be birthing as new. Meanwhile, let's focus on renewing our commitment with an emphasis on growing in togetherness.

We hope to see a TOGETHER passion for praying. We hope to see a TOGETHER effort to read through the Scriptures, and not only our one local church expression but together with another five local church expressions here in West Orange who have committed to the same. And, we hope to see a TOGETHER effort to love neighbors and nations.

You will hear more about these in the coming weeks. For now, here are some awesome resources that we are highlighting as we embark on the effort to read the Bible together in 2012 beginning Jan 2nd!!!

The particular resource we are encouraging folks to get if they are able is a chronological Bible put together by my mentor and friend Dr. George Guthrie. It is called Reading God's Story, and it is broken down into daily Bible readings six days a week for 52 weeks. Click here to order it from Amazon.com. If you want to get it for Kindle, click here.

If you don't want to purchase the chronological Bible but want to read along in the same way as those who do, click here for a link to a 2-page PDF of the chronological reading plan for the 52 weeks.

If you have a smartphone enabled for apps, there is an awesome app that goes along with the Read the Bible for Life plan. This is not just another "read the Bible in a year" plan. It is an app full of rich resources along with video and audio content that helps you better understand and obey the Scriptures. Click here for the link for the app.

And finally, click here for the full website with more info and more online resources that go along with "Reading God's Story."

So excited about this!!!

Love y'all. Happy New Year from Jen and me!

-jason

Hey Westpoint family.

So glad it's Advent season!!! Looking forward to worshiping and serving and celebrating the news of Emmanuel together with you this December.

Here's a quick note out in response to some questions Jen and I have had from a good number of you about good local and global alternatives for focusing that Christmas-gift-giving money. So, here are my top five suggestions for 2011:

# 1 _ the Christmas Conspiracy of the Church of West Orange
Bottom line is to get jeans, sneakers, hooded sweatshirts and jackets, socks, underwear, and winter hats for our West Orange County homeless friends and Central Florida foster kids. This effort supports the ministry efforts of Matthew's Hope and the Florida Association of Foster Parents. You can read about what to get and where to drop it off by CLICKING HERE. Also, if you want to just give cash, you can do so by making a donation directly to Matthew's Hope.

# 2 _ the "Go and Do the Same" 1/2 Marathon Run for Clean Water effortB
Bottom line is that Chad and Cindy Nykamp will be running the Disney 1/2 marathon next month and are enlisting "sponsorship" from all of us for $1300 to go toward providing clean water to those who do not have it through Living Water International. CLICK HERE to give to their effort. You can also click here to learn more about "Go and Do the Same."

# 3 _ give a gift through Compassion Internationalo
Bottom line is that you will be surprised that the money you were gonna spend on that ridiculous fashion ensemble that would just hang in someone's closet could actually buy a cow or two goats or full vaccination for two kids or clean water for life for two families, and more. Check out how you can give into an organization that I have supported since 1993 by CLICKING HERE.

# 4 _ support artisans from other cultures by purchasing from World Craftst
Bottom line is that a friend of mine directs this really cool organization called World Crafts that partners with international artisans to sell their work and support their families and local economy in viable and sustainable ways. Really cool stuff. Check it out by clicking here.

# 5 _ buy the stuff you already buy from Project 7 & support "least of these" ministry effortst
Bottom line is that Project 7 offers some really good coffee, T's, mints, and more (stuff you already buy), but they don't keep the profits. They give it to partnering ministries to feed the hungry, provide clean water, help the sick, encourage the oppressed, and more. I just ordered some stuff from them last week. Check it out by CLICKING HERE.

# 6 _ TOMS
Ok. I said top 5, but I always have to mention TOMS. I am a TOMS junkie, wearing my fifth or sixth pair right now. And i wear one out then get another pair. They now offer sunglasses that in turn provide glasses or much needed eye procedures for those who need it. Check it out by CLICKING HERE.

There you go. Now go and get less stuff and give more hope this Christmas.

Much love! Merry Christmas!!!
-jason

Hope you guys are having a happy October and enjoying this Central FL fall weather. My son, who digs weather stuff big time, is oddly enough looking forward to the approaching tropical storm coming our way. The cold front may keep it south of us. We will see! Gonna bring some rain, which I guess we need, cause I have to put down some Scott's Bonus S this week, and rain is a good follow-up to that chemical-enhancement of our lawn.

But I digress. Cause only people who aren't trying to walk closely talk only about the weather. That's more for small-talk, porch conversations in which "I am fine" tends to be the only profound declaration. And that's not us as a church family, right?

NO WAY!!! Because we are trying to be worshippers, get equipped, live sent, grow together, and point neighbors and nations to Christ. And that insists upon deep love for one another and enduring commitment to the mission together, right? I thought you would agree :-)

So over the next few Mondays, I will be sending out a note to you trying to handle some of the "FAQs" that we have been conversing about since challenging one another with our "four next steps" as a church family together.

Once again, those are:

:: take the initiative to connect with 3 to 5 families within the Westpoint family to be family with, committing to passionately pray for one another and to deeply love each other through thick and thin.[you may already be walking closely with several families. that's great! if you are but you are not walking with a "sent" purpose, would you be willing to be more purposeful and intentional in your friendships?]

:: study the Scriptures together as a group of families for more than just greater Biblical knowledge, but rather in order to simply ask the question, "If this is true, how must we individually and together surrender to the Holy Spirit that adjustments might be made in our lives based upon the teachings of this Scripture?"

:: encourage each other and hold each other accountable to engage the lost in the pathways of our lives, praying for the lost together, being patient in the long-term of the friendship and journey, and proactively loving them first and caring for them in specific ways, welcoming them into relationship with us like they are family, too.

:: then, let's come together as a "BIG Family" frequently to celebrate what God is doing and to learn from each other as we gather on Sundays, as we connect during "together" events, and as several SENT Groups connect for meals and celebrations and to serve together.

First FAQ:
How will I have time for this?

The answer, I would suggest, comes in two parts. An encouraging part and a challenging part.

The first part of the answer is the encouraging part and is actually another question (don't you like it when people do that?). The question - who are you already doing life with that's a part of the Westpoint family? Most of the people who have told me they worry about having time for this already do life together with a few folks from our church family. Who is that? How are you doing life together? What is the purpose of doing life together? Scripturally it is to love each other through thick and thin (John 12:34-35) and to push each other onto love and service and mission (Hebrews 10:18-25). The answer, then, is not to do MORE but rather to do what you already do with MORE INTENTIONALITY.

The second part of the answer is the more challenging part of the answer. It, too, is a question (don't hate me :-)

>> Who are you short-changing both within our church family and within our community by not making time for this? <<

Yeah. Short-changing. If we really need each other, if we are the body of Christ, if we are sent as the One sent to us to love neighbors and nations, if we are to make disciples, if we are to love one another through thick and thin, if we are to obey the Scriptures TOGETHER rather than just learn them INDIVIDUALLY, then we would be short-changing each other as well as neighbors and nations if we don't make time for this. Right?

A little further with the challenge. And this one is FOR THE DADS OUT THERE - How are you short-changing your kids by not making time for this? What has wrecked me as a father is this one thought - is it rational for me to expect my kids when they go off to college to live a life surrendered to walk with Jesus and with other followers of Jesus loving neighbors and nations and making disciples IF they experience nothing more than a "sinners prayer" and "church attendance" and a tailored-to-engage-them youth program while growing up in my home? It's not. It's irrational to expect otherwise. And so I must make some adjustments.

You can ask the folks we walk with in our SENT Group. They will not describe Jen and me as the model SENT Group or the picture of the exemplary living out of these "four next steps." But I hope they would describe us as LEARNERS TRYING to grow together with them in Jesus and His ways and in love for one another and in making disciples among neighbors and nations. And we want to go deeper with them. Deeper in relationship and deeper on mission.

We aren't asking you to add a bunch of stuff here or even to immerse yourself in church activity and then do this on the side. We are suggesting, as we have been for over seven years just this time with more clarity, that this become your "church activity." With Jesus and with others for the sake of others.

May we make time. And may we even realize that there is no time to waste. May we love each other deeply and live on mission with Jesus together. We need each other. And we along with neighbors and nations need the near, real, life-changing, resurrection-power, love of Jesus, too.

I love you all. Grateful to be learning and living His ways together.
-jason

Yesterday in gathering, Tommy Novak led our teaching time through Acts 20:17-38. It was an encouraging and challenging time, encouraging in the sense that we all have a valuable part in serving together as His church and challenging in the sense that we all have a valuable part in serving together as His church.

The Sunday before, we were in verses 8 to 10 of Acts 19, and I shared with our church family the desire of our pastoral team and vision team as a whole to see us commit to some very practical next steps together as a church family. We shared the WESTPOINT acronym that we had come up with that is intended to be nothing more than a reminder of who we are as a church family together. May we:

be Worshippers
get Equipped
live Sent
grow Together
POINT neighbors and nations to Jesus

Two verses stood out to me these last two Sundays. One from Acts 19 and one from Acts 20.

10 And this went on for two years, so that all the inhabitants of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the message about the Lord.
(Acts 19:10, HCSB)

24 But that matters little. What matters most to me is to finish what God started: the job the Master Jesus gave me of letting everyone I meet know all about this incredibly extravagant generosity of God.
(Acts 20:24, the Message)

It seems to me that if we desire to see the first we must be committed to the second.

Remember, Paul did not say in verse 24 of Acts 20 that there was one specific way that he let everyone he met "know all about this incredibly extravagant generosity of God." And why? Because there are many different ways, but all of them are compelled by the Gospel of a God who came near because He so loved the world. The "how" may be via long-term, loving relationship or via immediate-prompted, loving conversation, and in either case notice the central modifier to be love.

Do you want to see all the inhabitants of West Orange County hear the message of the Lord? Are you willing to let everyone you meet know all about this incredibly extravagant generosity of God? The former won't happen without the latter. And none of it will happen, at least as I would suggest to you, without two very, very important factors.

One, a love relationship with Jesus lived out in surrender and obedience as we listen and respond to the living presence of the Holy Spirit in the everyday rhythms of our lives. And two, loving relationship with one another as a church family. We cannot live sent apart from the One sent to us. And we cannot live on "mission TO" without living on "mission TOGETHER."

So, how does your pastoral team and vision team propose that we do that? It's actually very simple, but it actually may cause a bit of re-prioritizing and reorienting for all of us. Much like Acts 2:42 declares, we must take seriously our communication with God (prayer), our immersion into and obedience to the Scriptures (the Apostles' teachings), our love for one another through thick and thin (fellowship), and our life together unified around the Gospel message and Gospel mission (the breaking of bread together). Here's specifically how we propose to live this out together:

:: take the initiative to connect with 3 to 5 families within the Westpoint family to be family with, committing to passionately pray for one another and to deeply love each other through thick and thin.[you may already be walking closely with several families. that's great! if you are but you are not walking with a "sent" purpose, would you be willing to be more purposeful and intentional in your friendships?]

:: study the Scriptures together as a group of families for more than just greater Biblical knowledge, but rather in order to simply ask the question, "If this is true, how must we individually and together surrender to the Holy Spirit that adjustments might be made in our lives based upon the teachings of this Scripture?"

:: encourage each other and hold each other accountable to engage the lost in the pathways of our lives, praying for the lost together, being patient in the long-term of the friendship and journey, and proactively loving them first and caring for them in specific ways, welcoming them into relationship with us like they are family, too.

:: then, let's come together as a "BIG Family" frequently to celebrate what God is doing and to learn from each other as we gather on Sundays, as we connect during "together" events, and as several SENT Groups connect for meals and celebrations and to serve together.

This is not "in addition" to all the other church stuff we are doing. This is it. This is being the church together and living sent daily. This is loving each other walking in deep fellowship together through thick and thin. Is this what Jesus intended? Will we see "on earth as it is in heaven" if we reorient our understanding of church and our lives on mission to this simple of a commitment? Will every inhabitant of West Orange County hear the message of the Lord as a result?

Let's try it and see.

Meantime, be praying and PLEASE COME NEXT SUNDAY MORNING IF YOU WANT TO Q & A ABOUT THIS. We will take the teaching time to dialogue further about this, to pray together, and to leave together to live sent.

Jen and I love you all so much and are so grateful for this very sobering but exciting journey together as His church.

-jason