Jim’s Memorial & Day 2 of Loft Demo

Today was Jim McEachern’s memorial service held at the facility of our friends at Summit Church.  It was such a special day.  Thank you to who all who participated, sent food, prayed, etc.  Please continue to pray for the entire family as they now take their next steps.

Day 2 (Tuesday evening) picked up right where day 1 left off.  The remainder of the carpet was removed from The Loft.  The former stage was demolished and trashed.  The remaining two-thirds of the ceiling lost its tile.  The million nail holes in the walls of the nursery were patched.

Great work….John, Mark, Jackie, Dave, Dan, Gary, Kelly, Tom….If I forgot or forget anybody I am so sorry…Doing it off the top of my head is dangerous.

We are making great progress.  Tonight the team will finish off bringing out the rails for the ceiling tile and continue the patching of all the holes in the wall.

Progress, progress, progress.

RD

Day 1 of Demo in the Books

Day 1 of project Loft renovation is in the books.  In case you haven’t heard, Orlando North is partnering with Lifepoint Christian Church in Lake Mary to reach our community together.  Here’s how it works: Lifepoint has rented the entire top floor of a beautiful, historic building in downtown Lake Mary.  They are renting three classrooms and the auditorium (“The Loft”) to us for a very cheap price.  Lifepoint is also covering the costs of all the renovations and our church is providing the majority of the muscle to get the job done.

Tonight the work began.  Our objective for the first two weeks was to get the carpet pulled from four separate rooms plus The Loft, patch all the walls, paint the walls, build a couple closets, and fix a few odds and ends.  Tonight, we made a huge dent in the project.  All the carpet was removed from each classroom, a hallway, and half of The Loft.  The ceiling was removed from approximately a third of the entire Loft area.  We got a lot more accomplished than we thought we would in the first night AND it was SO much fun.

Tom, Kelly, Jason, Louise, Dan, Jim and John….Great work.

Can’t wait to see what tomorrow night’s crew gets accomplished.  I love being a part of this tribe!!

I’m going to try and keep you all updated on our progress as much as possible.  Take a look at the pictures to see a couple before and afters.

Cancer

Cancer.

It’s a word I’ve grown to hate.  My son tells me that “hate” is a bad word and we shouldn’t say it.  For the most part I agree, but this word can’t be diluted any other way.  I hate it.

The reason for my hatred is because it’s become so personal.  In the past two years I have, along with our friends, family and church, experienced a wave of cancer attack people that I love deeply.

There’s Myra Lowe who came to Christ through Orlando North, and whom I had the honor of baptizing, who has been going through chemo treatments to work on the two existing tumors on her lungs.

There’s my mom who had a serious bout with breast cancer that resulted in twenty weeks of chemo treatments and major surgery.

There’s Pam Macchi, a very close family friend, who struggled so long with bone cancer and finally became free from it when she went to be with Jesus a few weeks ago.

There’s Mateo Coka who is a little boy who has spent more than his fair share of time struggling for his life in a hospital as he has fought leukemia.  This little guy seems to be doing very well and full of life.

Then there’s Jim McEachern.  Jim was part of our Orlando North tribe and has wrestled with cancerous tumors for years.  He too was set free from this nasty disease last Saturday when a room full of his family and myself literally watched him make the transition from the temporal into the eternal love of Jesus.

I look at all these lives and I have questions just as everyone else does.  Questions I wish deserved an explanation although I also understand that God is not required to share His explanation.  At the same time I have found God to be more real to me personally through these stories.  God has taught me an incredible truth about Himself through the journeys of these I love.  He has taught me about His sovereignty.  He has challenged me to trust unconditionally.  He has taught me the art of submission as the created to the Creator.

The truth is that we live in a fallen world.  It’s so easy for us to forget that.  God didn’t mess up, we did.  Because of the fall the world is conditioned to chaos.  Chaos brings pain.  Pain brings confusion.  Confusion brings doubt.  And doubt for some reason leads us to believe we know how things should work and how God should submit to our plans.

I had a meeting this afternoon with a friend from church and we were discussing this whole submission thing.  We chatted about how simple it seems to understand that submission to God’s plan with unconditional trust would inherently bring us peace.  The created being and doing what the Creator planned for his or her life.  But we live so anti to what we know is true and the reason for it is because we are afraid.  We’re afraid of pain.  We’re afraid that our systems that we’ve meticulously built to protect our stuff will be destroyed.  We’re afraid of suffering.  We’re afraid life won’t be easy.  Lets be honest – much of our prayer life is centered on asking God to make life easier.

As one of God’s kids I must at some point, in my incredibly stubborn life, come to grips with the fact that the very worst thing that can happen to me from my flesh’s perspective is death.  If I can somehow get a grip and realize that death is Jesus forever and that in itself is the most beautiful thing ever rather than something to be afraid of I believe I could fully submit on this earth.  After all, if death is the worst case scenario what in the world is there to be afraid of?

Loved ones battling this disease has opened my eyes to the beauty of God’s sovereignty.  He can be trusted.  Just because Pam Macchi and Jim McEachern are not physically with us anymore doesn’t mean God is any less trustworthy.  A matter of fact, if Pam or Jim could be interviewed from heaven right now I think they would give a pretty solid recommendation for God’s “trustworthiness”.  He can be trusted not because Has the ability to heal cancer…He can be trusted because He’s the Creator.  That’s just the way it is.

Plus, I don’t want to be in control.  I’d mess it all up.

RD

Prayer

Orlando North has dedicated the month of June to learning about prayer, being more deliberate in our prayer, and becoming people who prioritize our relationship with God.  We’ve done several things to bring this emphasis to life this month.  We have taught about it on Sunday nights as we are continuing to go through the series, “We Bow Our Heads.”  Last Sunday evening at service we spent the time that is normally the teaching portion of the evening praying in groups. We’ve also implemented into our house churches one evening during the month where we fasted our dinner and prayed during the entire house church.

This Friday we’re going to going to continue to be deliberate in our passion to become people of prayer.  This Friday at 8:00 pm we are gathering for corporate prayer at Gary and Patsy Hall’s house (243 Timberland Ave, Longwood 32750).  It’s going to be different from our normal gatherings.  We’re going to spend four hours together (8:00 – midnight) with the sole purpose of seeking God.  We’ll pray for a variety of specific issues – sickness, jobs, relationships, emotional stability, etc.  We’ll spend time worshiping.  We’ll pray for the future of our church.  We’ll quiet ourselves before God and we’ll passionately pursue Him.  We truly believe that prayer is the gift God has given us to connect with Him.  As we connect with Him things change.  Our circumstances change.  Our attitudes change.  Our worldview changes.  Our boldness changes.  All because we realize who our God is and that He truly lives in us and provides us with strength and power for all we are going through.  I encourage all of you to join us this Friday.  It may be a new thing for you and that’s good.  Stretch yourself and allow God to stretch you.  Be willing to go to another level with God and see what He will do in you and through you.

It’s no coincidence that during this month of prayer we have seen some pretty serious attacks on loved ones in our church that we need to be intentionally praying for:

Jim McEachern is not doing very well.  He is at ORMC undergoing several treatments.  He had a food tube surgically put into his stomach yesterday as his muscles on the left side of his body are not doing much and therefore food was getting caught on that side of his throat.  He has twelve tumors in his brain that are doing a lot of damage and a lot more throughout his body that are currently taking a backseat to the ones in his brain.  I want to urge all of you to be praying for Jim.  As long as there is breath the fight for his life here on this earth continues.  We submit him into God’s hands and God’s will, but we fight together with the family.  Please pray for his wife, Terri, as well as all nine of his kids.  His daughter Joy who is part of our tribe has really been a beacon of light for the family but she is struggling emotionally right now as you can imagine.  Lets just love on them as best we can.

Kevin Williams’ mom, Shirley, has been going through a very difficult trial of her own.  She is in the ICU at Florida Hospital South.  She had a duplicate surgery yesterday on her intestines because they were not healing from the first surgery.  Please pray that the parts that are supposed to heal together would do just that this time around.  While in the hospital she developed a very serious infection in her salivary gland known as MRSA.  Please pray that this infection would be gone and Shirley could begin to recover wholly from this ordeal.

This morning Grandma Hall was taken to the hospital as well (Florida Hospital North) as she was very lethargic and complaining of back pain.  She doesn’t remember a whole lot.  The doctors did tests to see if she had an infection in her blood.  The results came back about an hour ago and there is no infection.  She’s having a hard time remembering things and seems to be a bit on the sad side.  Please pray for her during this season of her life.

I love the church…I know when you read these things they’re not just statistics to you.  I’m sure your heart is aching when you read this.  Mine is too.  But our power, thank God, does not rest in our wishes nor our emotional instability.  Rather, our hope…our ONLY hope is in Jesus.  May we turn to Him now and continue that relationship that He so desperately desires to have with all of us.  May He be our hope.  May our hope not be in the healing itself, but rather in the one who has the capacity to bring healing.  May our hope not be in a doctor.  May our hope be in Jesus.

RD

A Proud American

Sorry for the gap between blogs.  The family and I just returned this past Saturday from vacation.  We spent two days in Myrtle Beach, and five in Washington D.C.

DC is a place I’ve always wanted to visit.  I remember as a kid my parents took my brother and I out west and we went to places where a lot of cool American history took place.  We saw all the places Billy the Kid left his mark.  We went to the Grand Canyon and learned a lot about Theodore Roosevelt.  We saw where “Young Guns” was filmed.  I remember the feelings I had when I thought about historic moments taking place a hundred years before me.  It was humbling.

DC invoked those emotions but this time at a much higher intensity.  The first glimpse I got of DC was when we exited the Metro (subway) and turned around to visually bump into the Washington Monument for the first time.  Something that only existed on television, yet stood as a national expression, was now right in front of me.  I snapped a picture with my phone to capture the moment.  That first night we just strolled through the Mall taking it all in.  It was mesmerizing.  I was slightly shocked too as this heralded ground we knew as the Mall was being used as several softball fields.  I’m not kidding.  With hundreds of people walking on the surrounding sidewalks people were in the middle of softball games.  Right fielders were standing on the sidewalks where joggers were running.  It was very American.

We saw all the sights – Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, World War II Memorial, Ford Theatre, Arlington National Cemetery, National Archives, Museum of American History, Museum of Natural History, Air and Space Museum, tour of the White House, the Capitol, Botanical Gardens, FBI, IRS, Museum of Photography…. We saw it all.

While we were at the Archives looking at the Declaration of Independence face to face I received a text from Dave Beam about what was going on at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.  We were literally two blocks from where that was all taking place.  It saddens me that people are still convinced that hatred is the way of God.

My feet are exhausted.  We walked as much as Forrest Gump ran.  My soul is inspired by all the depth our country has.

I shared this Sunday – DC is set up really as a memorial for all those that sacrificed so that those that live in American may live a free and expressive life.  I thank God for all the men and women who did that.  They deserve our gratitude and the memorials set up in their honor.  Thousands of men and women did that for us.  I am inspired by that…deeply!  But Jesus – One man died so that the dead may live.  Our soldiers died so the living may live.  Jesus died so the dead may live.  Now that’s something to remember.

I was reminded this past week that God really cares deeply for us.  As individuals and as Americans.  Our roots are deep in Him.  Yes, we’ve had incredibly horrid chapters in our short book, but at the backbone of the story we find Him.

Governmental leaders have a tough job.  I do not agree with a lot of the decisions coming out of Washington, but I do respect the level of difficulty found in the decisions our leaders must make on a daily basis.  I refuse to get angry when I believe they are making their decisions the best they know how.  That doesn’t mean they are Godly decisions or decisions I agree with.  I’m just saying they have a tough job that we are quick to criticize.  May we voice our opinions in love.  May we not come across as those pointing at the splinter while being jabbed by the log in our own eye.  May we pray for our president and our country.  May we fight for her with the passion of Lincoln, Jefferson, and the soldiers buried under plain white tombstones in Arlington, Virginia.

Is it just me or can you hear Lee Greenwood singing in the background?….

RD

Sunday @ North

I wanted to share with you some exciting news.  I met today with the pastor of LifePoint Church, Phil Ayres, concerning our upcoming move into the Loft that they are soon to lease to us.  It was an amazing meeting.  Basically, what’s happening is we’re moving into a 2,500 square foot loft area in downtown Lake Mary that will be much more our style and more suitable for us as a growing church.  The Loft needs some work and LifePoint is covering all the expenses and we’re providing the labor behind it (painting, cleaning, installation of a few things).  It looks like we’ll begin renovations at the end of this month and move in near the end of August.  LifePoint also picked up three offices on the same floor as the Loft which are going to serve as our children’s ministry classrooms.  They are large rooms that totally accommodate everything we need.  This has been such a God thing!  LifePoint is only going to be charging us about 50% of what we are currently paying.  The whole thing is ideal for where we are at as a church.

All that to say this…This Sunday, Pastor Phil is going to be speaking at Orlando North.  He invited me in to share with his congregation last Sunday so they could get a glimpse of what we’re about and who they’re partnering with.  It was an amazing time with them as their vision for the northern Orlando community is the same as ours.  Now, this Sunday, he’s sharing with us and I am so excited about that. He’s going to share his heart for us together as the Church reaching this community for Christ.

There’s a weird trend in the church world – Pastors are hesitant to let their congregations know there will be a guest speaker on any given Sunday because the normal response is a lower attended church service.  I don’t want this to happen this week at Orlando North.  This is a very important and strategic week for all of us.  My desire is that you will come and be a part of what God is doing and hear the heart of a guy who has a passion to serve this community by sistering with us as a church.  You’re going to love Phil.  He’s a passionate guy with lots of creativity and energy.  He came from Mars Hill Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he served as the worship leader under Rob Bell (author of “Velvet Elvis” and “Sex God”).  He’s also the guy that is coordinating the efforts for the Senior Intervention program here in Lake Mary in which our church is a part of.

This is a weekend I know will bless your socks off.  So…clear your schedules.  Be early to service.  Chat with a few of your friends and bring them to service.  God is up to something, not only in our tribe, but in the Church Tribe here in northern Orlando.  Lets enter these summer months together with a new passion for God and for the things that He is doing both in us and through us!!!

RD

The church is becoming the Church

A lot is changing as I get older.

1. My body – I recently took a #4 clipper to my head and shaved away all my previously hair that was dyed black.  What was unveiled underneath the faux coloring was some of my natural hair coloring and dozens of bright white friends who have decided to sprout.  Not only is my head hair turning bright white (not grey), but I even have nose hairs doing the same.
2. Our culture – We are becoming more separated by the day.  The lines between black and white are becoming much clearer.  This distinction leads to angry parties on both sides, but also forces us to choose where we stand.  Straddling in the grey is no longer an option.
3. The Church – see below

The American church, historically, has been a self-centered church.  Churches that were established with the intention to rescue the sick and dying soon found their most significant passions were to build a kingdom for themselves and spend the majority of their time ensuring that no one they “owned” ever left that kingdom.  Churches considered their competition to be the Baptist church down the street or the Methodist church across town. 

The Church had been divided by the church. 

That’s the environment I grew up in, and you may have as well.  Church was about getting and maintaining.  It was never about serving.  And it definitely was never about working together for the cause of Christ.

But…things are changing.  When we planted ONCC I was pleasantly caught off guard by two pastors in the area who are passionately seeking to build God’s Kingdom and not their own.  They both have what I would consider “successful” churches, yet their passion remains in serving God by serving alongside others rather than competing against their brothers.

Phil Ayres – Phil is the lead pastor at LifePoint Christian Church (www.LifePointChurch.com) in Lake Mary.  They meet in the YMCA every Sunday morning.  Phil is the guy who approached me about us moving into a facility they rent in downtown Lake Mary for a fraction of our current cost so they can help us get more established as part of the body in this community.  Two churches sharing a facility for the purpose of reaching this community for Christ!  Phil’s also organizing the senior’s intervention group in Lake Mary where local churches are working together to serve the elderly and helpless in our community.  I love Phil.  This past Sunday he invited me to speak at LifePoint.  Their service is literally two miles from where we host our services.  Doesn’t the typical church mindset suggest that I could be a threat?  People may come to ONCC if I do a really good job.  What a great place to recruit.  Instead Phil brought a brother in so we could be one Church.  It was awesome.  At one point during the service Phil posed the question to the congregation – “How many churches are there in Lake Mary?”  At which point I began to think in my head, “Well there’s us and LifePoint, The Well, St. Peter’s Episcopal…” and in unison the congregation shouts – “ONE CHURCH!”  Serious goose bumps at that point.  I was embarrassed by my inward response and inspired by the truth of these people.  Way to go Phil!

Isaac Hunter – Isaac’s one of those geniuses trapped in a young man’s body.  His teaching is deep.  His passion for Jesus is contagious.  He just loves Jesus and it’s so evident.  Isaac is the pastor of Summit Church (www.SummitConnect.org) off Colonial in Orlando.  Isaac has helped me tremendously as a church planter.  Despite having a tremendously busy schedule he’s taken it upon himself to host a monthly church planter’s luncheon where local planters get together to share thoughts, frustrations, etc. with one another.  Why?  To build the Kingdom together.  I’ll be speaking at Summit on July 26^th and am counting down the days in anticipation.  A church with resources and vast amounts of wisdom pouring into the little guys across town for the sake of the Kingdom.

I see hope for Christ’s church through guys like this.  Ever wonder why churches that are very possessive of what’s “theirs” are the same churches that are dying today?  I think we all know the answer.  Building our kingdom was never God’s plan.  Building His always has been.

RD

Remotes, Abortion, and Happy Meals

What do the following have in common?

• Television remotes
• Power windows
• Abortion
• CVS pharmacies
• McDonald’s
• Lying

At first glance it would appear to be a hodge-podge list with very little correlation, and of course a few dark topics.  Look closer.  There is a thread.  The correlation is….

Convenience.

All of the above mentioned items have made life, in some capacity, more convenient.  Looking at the list I’m sure we could all pick which ones have added value to our lives and which ones are a stumbling block for many.  Obviously, this is not an extensive list as we live in the 21^st century and most of today’s inventions are created for the purpose of making our lives easier.

Convenience is not inherently bad.  If my life can be simplified in areas that I don’t want taking up much of my time and effort so that I can spend that time and effort on things that matter to me, then convenience is a good thing.  But, if convenience is nothing more than an easy way out, then I have to re-examine my motives.

My television remote, for example, brings value to my life.  My stress level has gone down significantly since I was seven-years-old in this department.  We had a dial television growing up and later upgraded to a cable box with a button on it for each designated channel.  To change the channel meant I needed to get up.  I find value in this convenience.

McDonald’s is convenient.  It’s convenient on several levels.  One, there are 12,804 of them in the U.S. alone.  Drive a mile or two and you’ve run across one.  Two, the food is cheap, thus not hurting the bank account too badly.  Three, despite some opinions, I think it actually tastes good.  All that convenience….Yet, in the end, we all know that the convenience of eating there on a consistent basis is going to catch up with us.  After all, a Big Mac value meal (fries and drink) is about 1,500 calories.

Convenience is the American way.

Sunday, we’re going to chat about whether or not convenience is God’s way. 

Did you like that plug?  Marketing is my specialty.  Seriously though, this is an important topic, as we tend to make a vast majority of our decisions on what is easy and convenient when the life of Jesus exemplified something entirely different.  So, come out to Orlando North Community Church Sunday (www.OrlandoNorth.com) at 6:00 pm and be a part of this conversation with us.

Matthew 7.13,14 – Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.  For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

RD

Random Life Updates

Family:

• My little girl turned 7 last week.  Seriously, when people tell you life flies they are not kidding.  It seems like yesterday we were bringing home our little nine-pound bundle and having no clue what to do.  Seven years later I cannot imagine life without her.
• Caeden scored his first goal in soccer on Saturday.  He took the ball from our own end and went coast-to-coast on a breakaway and nailed the ball into the lower-right corner of the net.  I jumped up and down, fist pumped my hand into the air and gave my son a huge hug.  I looked over to the sidelines and Melanie was wiping tears away.  It was awesome.
• Caeden graduates from pre-k this Wednesday.

Church:

• Love is in the air at Orlando North.  Jim and Kim got married three weeks ago.  Christian and Lorie were married yesterday.  Eric and Lyndsey are getting married legally this Wednesday and then formally on September 12^th (trust me, that one’s confusing).  Glenn and Amanda are getting married on September 5^th as are Elisabeth and Jeremy.
• Significant progress is being made with our new facility.  It looks like there’s a very good chance we’ll move into the new place on Sunday, August 23^rd.  If you haven’t heard, we’re looking at leasing a loft from LifePoint Church in Lake Mary that is on the corner of Lake Mary Blvd. and Country Club Road.  The facility offers us a place that is much more our vibe as well as a place where we will have access to it throughout the week.  Plus, no more tear down or set up!
• We’re starting a focus for the month of June on prayer.  We’ll be doing a series entitled, “We Bow Our Heads”.  We’ll also be incorporating several special prayer focuses during the month.  I think it’s going to be eye opening and challenging for all of us.
• We’ve begun working on getting together 100 backpacks and gifts cards for school clothes for children of single moms and single dads.  We’re partnering with Esther Single Moms Outreach (www.esthersmo.com) and doing an open house at their facility on June 4^th at 8:00 pm.  Email me if you wish to go with us that evening.

Personal:

• Life is busy, but so much fun.  Just got done coaching my first season of soccer with Caeden.
• I will be at Missionary Ventures (www.MVI.org) today doing interviews of all their new field coordinators, as I am now a part of the personnel committee.  Orlando North is going to be playing a role in the oversight of many of the field coordinators in the upcoming months and we’re very excited about serving MVI.
• I’m reading “The Principle of the Path” by Andy Stanley and plan on finishing “Good to Great” sometime this year.

Church

Last night at Orlando North we had our missionary friend, Luther Meier, share with us.  Luther’s been an important part of our lives and served as the minister in our wedding.

If you know Luther, you know what you’re going to get.  There’s no beating around the bush with him.  He’s a very black and white guy who just says what he thinks.  I’m confident that’s what makes him such an effective missionary.

One of the thoughts Luther shared on was what Jesus’ intentions were when he declared to Peter that the gates of hell would not prevail over the church.  Would hell not prevail over a sweet worship service?  Would hell not prevail over a church facility?  Obviously, there’s more to the “church” than a facility or service.  This is a simple message that we’ve been emphasizing at North since day one.

It’s cliché to preach because it is so obvious.  Yet, as children we’re taught “Here is the church.  Here is the steeple.  Open the doors and see all the people.”  Church is delegated to a building and the people are an entirely separate entity.  We’ve diluted Christ’s message.  Can you imagine God’s plan for redemption being that a building would serve as His object of redemption?  Absolutely absurd.

We’ve worked hard at North to have a worship service that is one in which we can corporately worship, learn, evangelize, and carry on conversations.  But my favorite part of our church is that we really care for one another and for those who do not yet know Jesus.  Our mission is not to be a cool, enormous, progressive service.  Our mission is to connect people to God, to the church (relationships amongst people), and to their dreams.  Nothing about facility or service orders.  Just God’s work in God’s people.

The reason I love Orlando North?  Because it’s a church.

RD