Church People

To be honest, I know that NorthPoint will not be the place for everybody, but it is a place for everyone. It is crazy how the fastest growing churches in America are independent churches. People who are pulling away from the Church world as we know it and are moving out to new churches that do things different. Church people are a unique group, it takes all kinds to make a full body of believers. I personally love the different personalities that God has sent us at NorthPoint. Ironically though I find that people who have been in church all their lives seem to be harder to work with then those who are new Christians. I wonder why that is? Regardless, I love the fact that God is sending church folks. But my true prayer is that He allow us to minister to the lost, to the un-churched so that they may connect to Him. So church people, lets make this a reality and change some lives for God!

Hard Times

Recently my world has been surrounded with potential hard times. I almost feel ridiculous writing about mine because they seem so minute when compared to others. Yes the world as we know it, most of us, have brought new challenges this year.

Many people are loosing their jobs, loosing their homes, and loosing their financial stability due to the economy. These things are hard, and if we do not guard ourselves we can loose something more valuable, we can loose our faith.

I work for politicians, along with over 3,000 other people. My job was soppose to be one of the most stable jobs around, working for the government and all. But within this year we have found ourselves threatened at every turn with the possibility of loosing our jobs. Not just a few, but over 2,000 people. It has been a roller coaster of emotions. Just for notation purposes, I HATE ROLLER COASTERS.

This emotional journey has left many of my fellow employees mentally and spiritually drained. The uncertainty of not knowing from one day to the next of your work status is difficult. Today the threats became reality. Over 2,000 employees are being let go. I hate this for my family, their families. My job may be saved, I do not know at this time. I will find out tomorrow if I will have a job.

I tell you this to encourage you regardless of what you are going through. Keep the faith, God will take care of you. Life is hard, times are hard, but God is good. In the midst of uncertainty, He is there. In the midst of pain, His is your healer. In the midst of loss, He is your provider. You get the point, He is all we need to make it through hard times. We must keep the faith!

Life-Giving

So many churches are using this terminology now days and for what? Is this just a fad, a new cool word that we need to use so we can impress people? I personally love the terminology, but there is much more behind these words. It is truly the heart of God summed up in two words, three syllables. God is life, He came to give life, and we need to focus our energy on being that life giving source that we become once connected to God. People need life, there is enough death in the world. We need to plug into God and allow His life to give us true life.

Fresh Start

God is doing a new thing, I feel life in me. This church planting thing is difficult and at times can be overwhelming. But I have always found my strength in God. I look forward to moving ahead into a great future for NP. We have a new look on our website and that is cool! Come join us and get connected 4-Life.

We are taking this Sunday off, Happy Mother's Day! We hope to be in full service mode the next Sunday, 17th. God is moving, we are following, come along for the journey.

Missed you guys!

Over the last couple of months we have had the great privilege of meeting and building relationships with some really great people. They have committed to be a part of what God is doing at NorthPoint. Today, we did not meet as a group because we have spent the last couple of weekends working so hard on different projects for the launch of the church. We wanted people to rest and spend time with their families. The rest and family time was great, but we really missed getting together with everyone today. To me that is what these relationships are all about, connecting to a point that you miss one another when you do not get together.

Relationships

So much good stuff happening that I am so excited about. Some of us went to Stadium Fest yesterday and we had a blast. Chris Tomlin was by far the best I heard and the speaking was really good. It was so good to go and hang out with Christians from all over the south as we worship our creator. The most important part is I believe many lives were changed by this event.

Stadium Fest

The leadership team has been getting together and meeting every Sunday. We have accomplished so much and are so excited about what is happening. We will not be meeting this Sunday because we all will be going to Stadium Fest. We would love for you to come and enjoy the concerts with us.

www.stadiumfest.org

A few guys and I went to Georgia today to go and pick up some donated items for the church. We had a great time as we traveled and just hung out. It is very important for us to continue connecting with as many people as possible and enjoying life together. We hopefully will hear about the building soon and move forward with all the good stuff God is doing. We are trying to raise money for the church and need prayer for so much.

I am back!

I am sorry that it has taken me so long to post anything, but our computer went down after the storm we had the other night and it was days before they got it back running. We had a great meeting with a small group of the launch team last Sunday. We decided to go ahead and make an offer on a building. We also talked a lot about raising some needed cash for the church. Everything is moving with great momentum and we know that God is blessing NorthPoint as we keep striving to fulfill His plan. We have added a couple of new families to the launch team and are excited to have them with us. We will be having another meeting this Sunday and all are welcome. We will have free food after the meeting.

Change is in the Air!! - By Ashley

Change is a word that not many like to hear... But in many cases change is much needed. There are many changes in our life and we need to learn to accept them and understand that they can be God's way of leading us closer to His heart.

We are so excited about the changes coming to NorthPoint. As you may have noticed our logo has officially been changed!! Daniel, the staff and I have tossed around many ideas for a church logo that would be appealing to all age groups. At first it was really tough, but when this logo was created and emailed to us it was obvious that this was the right logo for NorthPoint. Many of you helped choose this from our other options. Thank you for your help!

Some of the staff will be meeting tonight to look at a possible building location. Please remember the need for a building when you are praying for NorthPoint. We are praying that we will soon be able to have a location and start our meeting on Sunday mornings. For those of you able to attend this coming up Sunday afternoon, we look forward to seeing you. Have a wonderful week!!

I am loving it!

God is doing some great things in our lives without a doubt. NorthPoint is blessed to have added a couple of new families to our launch team in the last couple of weeks. We have been meeting with people all throughout the weekends and some during the week, and even though I am exhausted at times, I love it. Building relationships is what it is all about, regardless if they connect with NorthPoint or not. This week we have three meetings scheduled already and next week one with the Mayor of Fultondale. Also I wanted to introduce the Nail's family who will be our Co-Pastors. They will have their profile information up by the end of this week so you can check them out. Thank you to all that are helping us, you are truly a blessing.

Stop and smell the roses

I truly love this time of year. The trees and flowers are blooming, the birds are singing, and the weather feels so good. I encourage you to join with me and enjoy this beautiful season of life. Yes, stop and smell the roses, relax and let go. God is painting a beautiful picture all around us for our enjoyment. Sometimes He wants us to simply slow down and enjoy Him and His creation.

New Stuff

I wanted to let you know about our new name. As you may know, we had another church that could not stand to share the name NorthPoint Ministries with us. Even though we only called ourselves NorthPoint, all of our official documents called us NorthPoint Ministries of Alabama Inc. We are now NorthPoint Christian Connections Inc. I like that, connecting people to people and then to God! We are working on our new logo because the other church wanted that changed as well. I look forward to sharing that with you soon. Remember, God loves you very much and He wants a relationship with you.

Another Day In Paradise

When I say another day in paradise I am simply meaning I had to go back to work today. It was a good day, just wish I was on vacation another week. Ashley and I had another great week in Gatlinburg and can not wait until we can go back again. As for the church, we have agreed to change our registered name and logo. We are trying to be Kingdom minded about all of this. We are NorthPoint, and that will not be changing. I will tell you more about all of that later. Check back with me in a couple of days as I hope to share with you some news about our meeting place. In the mean time, keep it real!

Gatlinburg here we come!!!

Just want to let everyone know that Ashley and I are leaving to go on vacation. With all of the Church planting stuff, we really need it. Please pray for us as we travel and continue to pray for NorthPoint. See Ya !

I wanted to update you on the building situation. We've been praying about a building that we would share with another church, but it did not work out. It seems that most of the owners of the buildings in Fultondale, and the schools, do not want to allow a church into their facilities. This negative news was just another set back for us in the same week as the church in Georgia name and logo problem. We have all had those weeks! So instead of getting all frustrated I decided to go out and treat myself to ice cream too celebrate. I know that sounds crazy, but the Bible tells us to give thanks in all things. So I felt that it was better to praise God because He has something better for us. I do wish He would hurry though being that the clock is counting down fast for the launch date. But God is in control and I choose to follow His time table.

At the first of the week we were contacted by a church in Georgia that utilizes a similar name and logo as ours. They strongly requested that we change ours, so we agreed to change our logo. That did not satisfy them, they want us to change our name. We have explained to them that God inspired us to be NorthPoint and we have invested too much in that name to change it. It is truly sad that a church in another state, over 3 hours away, seem to be more concerned about a name then they do connecting and making a difference for the Kingdom of God. Many churches across the country, use the same name, including ones similar to ours. We hate that we have had to spend so much time on this, but we ask for your prayers for the other church that has contacted us. We pray that God will speak peace to their hearts and bless their ministry.