ACC - Leadership Online

Ephesians 2:1-9 (NIV)

Made Alive in Christ
1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast.

Praise God!

Grace,
Chris

Today I grabbed a quick lunch with my wife and daughter. After enjoying some killer tacos, while driving my wife back to her office a big dude in a pickup truck aggressively tried to cut me off – he assumed I’d yield to him. He assumed wrong. I wasn’t in the mood to yield. He had to brake hard to avoid hitting me. He then let fly with a choice four letter word.

How did I respond?

I think my exact words were: “I know you weren’t talking to me fat man, cause I’ll take you down.” Though my window was open – I don’t think he heard me. (Could he read lips?)

I guess I have too many Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Bronson, Eastwood type movies in my memory bank.

A few hours before this little altercation, when I was starting my day I prayed that God would be glorified in me on this fine, sunny Monday!

9With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. 10Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. 11Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. James 3:9-12

Yeah, I can be a jerk sometimes. James also said that the tongue is “a restless evil, full of deadly poison.”

Constant watch must be kept over my heart, my mind, my attitude. As a follower of Christ I am to bless others – not curse others. I need God in this challenge of taming the tongue.

I have confessed my wrong to God. Check. I need to apologize to Karen and Lacey for my bad example when I get home this evening. Check.

I kind of hope that dude in the truck doesn’t choose to visit ACC this Sunday. If he does, I got some explaining to do. Check.

Peace,
Dave

As a church we feel strongly about making a difference in our community. 916 E Hintz Rd is not an island. God has placed us in a community and called us to make an impact. I'm so excited to tell you about an opportunity we have to do just that.

Sunday, October 3rd, the Wheeling Park District is putting on it's annual Heritage Classic 5k / 10k & 1 mile walk. You can find out more about the race here. ACC is getting on board as a sponsor for the race and would love for you to get involved as well. There are 2 ways you can get involved

1 - Sign up for one of the events! The 5k (3.1 miles), the 10k (6.2 miles), or the 1 mile walk. You CAN do it and we'll help you! A little over a year ago, I couldn't run a mile...last May, I completed a half marathon (13.1 miles). We're hoping to get 10-20 people to join us. I'm putting together training programs and organizing group runs so you won't have to do it alone. If you are willing to commit to the training program, you can do it! (Bonus: we're planning to order some cool "Team ACC" shirts to wear in the race)

2 - Sign up to be a volunteer for the race. An event like this takes a ton of volunteers. They need people to man water stations, help with course set up, and various other race day operations. We'd love to have a group of ACC people serving.

If you are interested in joining us, please leave me a comment, join our group on Facebook - "Team ACC - Heritage Classic Run" (announcements and training programs will be posted here), and/or call the church office.

Grace,
Chris

Below is a video that I think is worth your time. It's about the song "How He Loves". I'm sure you'll recognize it as a David Crowder Band Song that we've done here at ACC. However, this video is of John Mark McMillan, the writer and original artist of the song.

I'm so thankful for those who faithfully serve our church through using their musical gifts. If you've ever stood near me in church, you know that I seriously lack musical gifting! I married a very gifted musician and I hope she passes that on to our kids; but as for me, I can't sing a lick. When I see people using their musical gifts, it's an immediate reminder of how the body of Christ works. Every believer has a God-given ability and a role to play in the church (I Corinthians 12). God has designed it so that we need each other.

Grace,
Chris

Last week (July 25-31) I took a couple high school boys backpacking. We hiked a section of the Superior Hiking Trail along Lake Superior in NE Minnesota. It was a great trip! We were on the trail for 5 days...lots of beautiful scenery and time to connect with God.

On the first day of the trip I developed a blister on my left heel. The second day, I developed a blister on my right heel. Not a good situation! I bandaged up my feet the best I could, but nothing seemed to work. There's really not much you can do for heel blisters. I knew I had to just suck it up and deal with the pain.

I know it sounds crazy, but I'm actually kind of thankful that I developed blisters. Here's why:

-It caused me to pray. I'm not exaggerating when I say that every step was painful. In order to keep my mind off the pain, I prayed...I prayed constantly. It had a similar effect to what fasting does, the physical reminding me to engage in the spiritual.

-It helped me to reflect on suffering. As I suffered through my hiking trip, I thought about how often I suffer because of MY OWN decisions. In this case, I wasn't prepared. I've never had problems with blisters before, and I wasn't prepared to deal with it when I did have problems. Planning ahead and maybe buying a new pair of socks would have helped out a ton.

-It was humbling. We covered a lot of miles on our trip and I trained hard for it. At the end of the day, it wasn't my muscles or my back that were begging me to stop, it was my feet. It was humbling when I had to tell the boys I needed a break to rest my feet. All the training I'd done wouldn't change the fact that my feet wouldn't let me go any farther.

While I wouldn't wish blisters on anyone, and I certainly hope I don't have to deal with them again, I'm thankful for how they helped me focus my heart and mind while I was on the trail.

Grace,
Chris