Yes, it’s true we do have many things, too many to even mention to be thankful for here in the U.S.A.

With all that being said and while hoping that I made you think and ponder what you are thankful for as an American, and if you know Jesus as your savior as a fellow Christian.

What is it that you most treasure? Is it those things that if the freedom was taken from you that you would never have even thought of? “What do you mean?” This is probably the question facing you now… What if someone told you that you could not read the Bible, that it was against the law? Or that you could not assemble together with other believers (go to church)? Or that you could not go out and share the word of God and who Jesus was to others especially in public.

That’s some of the things that I just was wondering…Hmmm if there’s so many people out there who are confessed to be followers of God and are not really doing much right now, or have had their once hot flame grow cold for serving the Lord…does that mean that they are taking the freedom that has been afforded to them by being born in or moving to a free country? Would it take possibly losing this freedom to get them zealous for what Jesus did for them? Would it take them loosing the freedom that many died for so that they could live and experience it here in the United States Of America, for them to actually appreciate it?

I’m just saying that what if??? Why wait to do what God’s word so clearly states that we should do? Many people who don’t live in a free country like the U.S.A. have to hide to assemble together with other believers (go to church) they have to share a bible between several families..they die for what they believe in, become Martyrs.

There is a movement that’s going on right now in the U.S.A. to indoctrinate our children of this nation into believing things that are untruths. To get them to think a certain way and to vote a certain way and to grow up with those values that are given to them..by the media, school, science, political parties they all have agenda’s. We have to make a choice to consciously be aware of what the world is trying to teach our children, our next generation.

It’s so important to take an interest in the youth of America..don’t get me wrong, I love all the youth of the world..but I once heard this saying, how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time! What I mean to say is this, how do we change the world? One person at a time…the future of this country relies on how we raise our countries kids. This means we need to take the liberty’s afforded to us by those who died for our freedom. We don’t have time to waste!! Don’t wait until it’s too late..and make this statement “I wish I would’ve taken the time.” Dust off that Bible that’s been on the shelf, get on your knee’s and talk to God, assemble yourselves with other believers (go to church)…and go out and teach, be a living testimony, share the love of God with others, go or send those out to share the word of God with others.

(1 Corinthians 9:19 Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.)

At Power House we are changing the world one night at a time, by sharing the love of God and the good news of the gospel with America’s future, our children the next generation…If we don’t teach them to love all those things that are valuable the world will be teaching them to love all those things that will ultimately destroy them..(John 10:10..The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full) and this country that was founded on Biblical principals…those things our founding fathers of this country and many, many afterward have fought and even have died for…

Freedom isn’t free it cost a great price for us all here in the United States by those who was before us and who fight even now for it!

Someone paid a very costly price for you and me so that we could have a relationship with our maker the most high and only living God. That person was Jesus..John 3:16, says it all.. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

He gave so that we don’t have to..won’t you receive this gift that cost Jesus so much, or if you have share this gift of love with others?

Say this prayer if you would like to receive this freedom purchased for you:
Father God, I want to receive your gift of salvation purchased by your Son Jesus Christ. I admit, I am a sinner and I want to live for you now, I ask you to forgive me of my sins (wrong doings). I turn my back on my old life and I want to live for you now today and forever. Help me to have the boldness to share this gift with others and to live right every day. In Jesus precious name Amen.

If you prayed this prayer for the first time and want follow up prayer please contact us by replying to this blog with your name and email so that we can pray for you and answer any questions you may have.

• If you plan on giving everyone a treat after your presentation, be sure to always have more than enough. If we are giving away M&Ms for example and I know that the average attendance is 100 kids. I will bring at least 120 – 130.

• If you have a large crowd and you are giving away only a handful of prizes, it is always better to have a drawing. Kids and parents will feel that they were treated unfairly if you randomly hand out the prizes. When I first started doing sidewalk Sunday school, someone donated some really nice hockey jerseys. I had maybe 5 or 6 of them, but I had a crowd with about 80 people. I made the newbie mistake of randomly handing out the jerseys. I had some people who were really mad at me.

• If you are doing quiet seat prizes for the kids who are the most quiet during your lesson, be sure that your quiet seat prize isn’t huge in comparison to your normal give away. For example, if all the kids will be receiving a package of M&Ms after the presentation, don’t give away something like a Nintendo Wii for your quiet seat prize. If you are handing out candy bars for quiet seat prizes, the other kids may be a little bummed that they didn’t get one, but at least they won’t be absolutely devastated.

• From time to time, we will have new coats or shoes donated to us. To be a good steward of what God has given us, we like to put these items in the hands of people who really need it. Sometimes it’s hard to figure out truly is in need the most. I’ve found that principals are in the know. They can tell you what kids come to school each day either with a torn, dirty jacket or without a coat at all.  We’ve actually delivered bags full of coats to schools before and let the principal find the neediest kids to give them to. Distributing them this way also helps to build relationships with the schools.  Either way you choose to hand them out, I would do it privately unless you have enough for everyone.

• If you are having a big drawing (let’s say it is for a Nintendo Wii), be sure that neither the volunteers, and in most cases, the volunteers’ kids can enter the drawing. There’s a reason why companies like Mars don’t allow their employees or employee’s family members to win any of the sweepstakes that they occasionally offer. I would feel like someone rigged the sweepstakes if a Mars employee ended up winning a $500,000 sweepstakes. Those attending your event may feel the same if a volunteer wins the Nintendo Wii.  Besides that, the big drawing was for the people you are ministering to.

Until next time…

2004 – By August of 2004.  I became the new director of Power House. Power House went from 3 sites with the average weekly attendance of 108 kids to 5 sites with the average attendance of 201. From the months of August to December Power House had a total of 400 decisions for Christ.

2005 – Power House had 5 sites with the average weekly attendance of 233 kids. The over all attendance for the year was 5,613 kids with 431 decisions for Christ.

2006 – By the end of 2006 Power House had 6 sites with the over all attendance for the year at 4,857 with 294 decisions for Christ.

2007 – Power House had 6 sites with the over all attendance for the year at 6,656 with 354 decisions for Christ.

Current – Power House now has 8 sites with the over all attendance so far for the year at 5,095 with 383 decisions for Christ.

It will be awesome to see what God has in store for Power House in the next decade.

]]> http://powerhouselive.org/2008/10/10-years-of-excellence/feed/ 0 http://powerhouselive.org/2008/09/summer-recap/ http://powerhouselive.org/2008/09/summer-recap/#comments Wed, 24 Sep 2008 12:44:56 +0000 jonl http://powerhouse.reslifeblogs.org/2008/09/24/summer-recap/ Wow, school is back in session and Power House is going in doors again for the school year. It seems like only yesterday that we were just starting summer break.

Some of the awesome things that happened in Power House this summer were the start of two new sites, Holland and Lansing.

Our new Resurrection in Lansing started a site just over a month ago, they meet on Wednesdays. Our friends Jamal and Jamar, who were originally Power House kids at our Dickenson site, are now leaders at our new site in Lansing. Now that’s the epidomy of what Power House is all about! We want to get the gospel out to our kids and disciple them so they can rise up to be mighty men and women of God making a difference in their community and the world they live in.

As you work with kids or people in general you will notice that each person will only rise to the expectation set before them. Can we expect our children to succeed if we place a label on them that tells them they are not able to go any further than the boundaries society has placed on them?
(Welfare, divorce, drugs, teen pregnancy, gangs, alcoholism, learning disorder, poverty, race…the list can go on and on) As with any habit that starts or is broken we must be consistent in our efforts to teach that Gods word is true and his way is the best way.

How can you make a difference? Consistency is the key to showing a child that you are for real it shows them that you care and mean what you say. Each volunteer that Power House has from the set up to the leaders no job is small or insignificant, each person is vital to the TEAM! Like I’ve heard many times there is no I in team only Talented, Extraordinary, Attentive, Members. We appreciate and love each one of our volunteers that bring a talent and flavor of their own to our Power House Team.

The dedication of each team member showing their unique talent that God has gifted them with and being good stewards of them by sharing them and the love of God to our neighborhoods.

Power House has many exciting things just getting ready to explode and end 2008 with a great big BANG. I pray that you keep your eyes open so you don’t miss a thing. God is Big All over me God is Big all over Us God is Big All over The World! Matthew 5:16 “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

Acts 20:24 “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me-the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace….”

So Let’s keep our eyes set on the purpose for which we are called and don’t put God in a box! We have Power House in Greater Grand Rapids area and now in Holland (who are on fire for God and doing great things) and now Lansing. Where will Power House be next? Think about it maybe other ministries will come to train for sidewalk Sunday school here some day like we did at Metro.

Char Chandler
Power House Intern

To encourage the kids to do their Bible Adventures we take them to play laser tag after they complete 13. We do laser tag trips about twice a year. We just got done taking a group of about 13 kids this last weekend. We have another group about the same size that still need to go.

I had a parent call one time looking for the nearest Power House site. Their child went to Power House, but the family relocated to a different neighborhood. I was able to direct her to the nearest Power House which was just around the corner from their new home. During the conversation the mom encouraged us to keep giving the kids Bible Adventures. She explained to me that while living in her old neighborhood, her child would bring home the Bible Adventures and she would help her child complete them. At the time, she wasn’t going to church, but she would open her Bible to help her child to do the Bible Adventures. It encouraged her to get back into church. Isn’t it amazing what God can do with a little piece of paper called a Bible Adventure?

We had a great opportunity to use our Power house van this summer as we drove some of our kids from our Alexander site to Camp AO-WA-KIYA.

As we drove up Neland street and approached the front of the house to pick up our Power House campers, we heard them shout “they’re here!”

As I got out of the Power House van the mother of Jamari Flowers started telling me how Jamari was so excited about going to camp that he could hardly sleep for the last three nights. Jamari, already had one year of camp under his belt so he knew what kinds of awesome experiences to expect this year, and shared his anticipation with two others who were going to experience it all this week with him. Kyron and Kamari brothers who go to the Alexander Power House site with Jamari also were all packed and ready to go experience their first year at camp.

As we packed the van up with the kids camping gear, we heard things like “Wow look there’s a DVD player and TV in here!” “Hey there’s candy is that for us?” “How long will it take to get to camp?” “I’ve been waiting for you all morning!” The Mothers were kissing their sons and giving them snacks and drinks for the road and telling them to have a good time. As I told the boys that we were about to pray I heard the Moms say oh we want to pray with you to. It was so nice the Moms were very appreciative and the kids all were so polite and excited it was really cute to see the boys faces as we drove up.

We put in the movie “Because of WinnDixi” and the trip took about the exact time as the movie. The kids loved the van. Jamari said this is so nice last year I rode in the Power House truck and I think this is so much better. Jamari, Kamari, and Kyron talked about what they were going to do at camp and it was just a nice ride out to camp.

Lou, the Alexander site leader was the boys counselor for their cabin and said they had a good time and was able to read and have devotions in the book of Job at night. He said Kamari and another boy Nick were especially interested in the devotions and seemed to really get into the story of Job.

I’m glad for the opportunity to drive the boys out to camp it was a blessing to see how God was about to move in their lives. I remember my days as a youth camper and as a camp counselor, those are special memories and can be pivotal times in a young persons life. These are retreats from the everyday life where you get to build friendships with people from all walks of life… bridging the gap between poverty and those who are affluent, where all are at a level playing ground for a week of the summer, where race and income have no play in who wins. Everyone wins who participates and opens their hearts to God and opens their arms to each other. It’s often easier for kids to be excepting and forgiving than adults, as we see over and over again. It’s great to see how God uses these children to teach the teacher’s the importance of not pre-judging ones abilities or differences (some may call handicaps) as a weakness but embracing them for who and how God created them. Another way that as one goes to bless they are blessed in return, God sure has a way of using all of our experiences for our good.

It never ceases to amaze me how awesome our God is.

Char

Matthew 18:3 And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

According to this verse, we must become like children to enter into the kingdom of heaven. If we need to become like children to enter the kingdom of heaven, it seems to me children already posses whatever it is that makes it easy for them to enter the kingdom. (In my opinion, I believe that children have simple faith. They just believe. I also think that kids are a lot less prideful than most adults. Because of this, they are much more willing to admit that they need a Savior.)

Matthew 19:13-14 Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

The disciples must of thought that the kids were either not important or unable to receive spiritually. Jesus debunked whatever their thoughts were by not only allowing the kids to come to him, but making the statement that the kingdom of heaven belongs to children and to those who have become like children (Matthew 18:3).

Here are some interesting statistics about children:

• More than one-third of the world’s population is children.
• 78% of the world’s children have never heard the name of Jesus.
• The probability of someone receiving Christ as their Savior is 32% for children between the ages of 5 and 12, but only 4% for children between the ages of 14-18 and only 6% for people older than 19.

Kids are where it is at. Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Don’t forget about kids.

1. Relationships

People don’t care what you know until they know how much you care. It is vital to develop strong relationships with your LITs. When we lived in Tulsa, we would frequently take our LIT to get a soda from Quick Trip. (If you don’t know about QT, you haven’t experienced the finer things of life. Quick Trip is more than a gas station.) It is amazing how much a kid can open up to you just because you got them a soda from the store. We would take our LIT just about everywhere with us.  She would come over for dinner and hang out, and we would go over to her house for dinner. We built such a relationship with our LIT and her family that there was a total open door for ministry.

2. Involvement

It is very important for your LIT to be involved at your site. There is something about doing ministry that just changes your life. God never meant for any of us to live an unproductive Christian life. We were all created to give of ourselves. We were created to be others-focused and not me-focused. Give your LIT a job to do. It can be the games, the sound, or helping to lead the songs. Your LIT’s involvement will give them a sense of confidence. For some, it will be the only confidence builder they have in their life.

3. The Word

You can have a great relationship with your LIT, your LIT can be involved, but without God’s Word in their life, there won’t be a total transformation (Romans 12:2). Only God’s Word can change the hearts of men. Our goal is to disciple these young men and women in such a way that by the time they reach adulthood they are making quality decisions for their lives. Using God’s Word for their road map, our LITs will be able to make these decisions.

This year I want to get our LITs here to the church as much as possible, especially those who don’t have home churches. We are putting together an LIT Party at the end of the month to start this process. I’ll keep you posted.

Many times the only thing that is blocking our success is our thoughts. We can be too busy believing the lie that the grass is greener on the other side that we give up. No matter where you are in life and in ministry, there will always be elements missing, resources that you do not currently have, but really need. I’ve come to the conclusion if I can learn to use the resources that I do have and be successful, I can be successful anywhere no matter what odds are against me. There will always be obstacles, learning to work around them is key.

Currently in Power House we have about a dozen LITs. The LITs help with the sound, games, songs, and passing out giveaways at the end of each Power House event. We have given each of them a very discipleship-driven workbook called Getting a Grip on the Basics for Teens by Beth Jones. The LITs do the workbooks at their own pace and, after completing a chapter, are rewarded with a small prize like a $1 McDonald gift certificate.
The most important part of the LIT program is the relationships that are built between our site leaders and LITs. People don’t care what you have to say until they know how much you care. One of our site leaders has taken their LITs to go horse back riding. Another site leader brought their LIT to a basketball game.

Really our LIT program is in its beginning stages. We are in the process of getting a van so we can pick them up at the minimum of once or twice a month. They would be brought either here to Reslife or to one of our houses for a time of fun and Bible study. Please join us in praying in a couple who can oversee the program and really take these kids under their wing. Is God tugging at your heart to get involved?