Who me? Afraid??

I was just reading a recent Perry Noble blog ("dead snakes and screaming like a girl") and though I present myself as a strong and faithful Christ follower and truly have witnessed His power and love so much more than I deserve, I was hit upside the head with how much time I spend being afraid! Not, hide in the storm cellar afraid but the kind of afraid that keeps me from asking questions, keeps me from overcoming simple, stupid habits of not speaking up because I want to avoid conflict, not asking for help because I don't want to appear as weak as I really am, not making better choices about how I save my money or how I spend my time because I am lazy. The kind of afraid that makes a project or decision that should only take a few weeks, take 3 or 4 months or a year or even never happen.

I use the excuse that I am the only person I can say no to but really, by being less than I know I should be, whether it's less organized or managing my time poorly or saying yes to my kids when I should have said no, I am not being all God would have me to be. He can not use me to all of His glory if I am wasting my time and energy being afraid or too lazy to speak up, ask questions, be organized, manage my time.

Now, I know I am a work in progress and I can look back through my life and see all the ways He has grown me for His glory. I'm not saying I will ever be perfect at these things or saying that you have to be either to be used greatly by God. I am so thankful to know the true statement "in my weakness He is strong." However, what I am saying is we have to stop confusing fear with discernment. Discernment is gathering facts and information about a new project or ministry God has laid on your heart before you start it without knowing what it should look like - discernment is praying before you go welcome the new neighbor or speak to the one who has lived next door to you for 5 years and you've never even said hello, much less invited them to church - discernment is talking to Godly friends who have kids (or Godly friends you trust) before you decide where to send them to school or whether to let them have a Facebook account or go to camp.

Fear is never doing any of the above because as soon as the thought comes to mind, you think, I don't know enough, I don't have enough experience, someone else would be better at that - they don't like me anyway so they wouldn't listen or they should have spoken to me first - they will think I am such a bad parent if I don't already know the answer to this, I'm supposed to have all the answers for my kids.

Praise Him for knowing my faults and weaknesses and loving and working through me anyway. But what greater things does He have planned that He is having to do in other ways until I wake up and stop being afraid of what I can't do when I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt that with HIM, with GOD, our loving and all powerful savior, ALL things are possible.

I know that He can use these rantings of mine to speak to your heart because while I am not all that, HE IS!!!

Love and Peace in Christ,

Amy Gieger
Children's Ministry Director

Friends Forever...

Today, I was riding down the street. I would like to say I was focused, but then I would be lying and preachers aren't supposed to do that. In all likelihood I was in Fantasyland- that big theme park in my mind. (Come on- you've been there- you drive on Argyle Forest, too)

Suddenly, this car flashes their lights in the middle of the day. My first instinct (I think you call it guilt) was to let up on the accelerator. Ten seconds later, there he was; the man in black with his smart gun. But, because someone cared enough to send a ray of light my way, I was saved.

I don't know the guy who flashed his light my way and saved me, but we are friends forever. Think about sending some of the light we have toward someone today- even someone you don't know.

Pastor Ken

Father's Day

Sunday is the last day of the U.S. Open. Who will finish the last round and win? Tiger? Phil? Only one winner, one trophy.

Sunday is also Father's Day. Men, let's decide to finish our round of responsibilities. Life includes failure and success. Tom Landry, former coach of the Dallas Cowboys, said, "A winner never stops trying."

I hope to see you on the 18th green. There's room on the trophy for our names, too.

Pastor Ken

Super Size It?

I just got back from McDonalds (sorry, Chick-fil-a). They have a drink special going on- any size for a dollar. I thought to myself- why would anyone not want the biggest size? Get more bang for the buck?

Then it occurred to me- isn't church a lot like that? We want the biggest, the shineiest, the most. Then a little girl got a drink- and she couldn't handle the biggest one- it was too much for her.

So, maybe church isn't a one size or one style fits all. There is room in the Kingdom for all of us.

Ken Dyal

A Safe Place...

is Pastor Ken's new series that focuses on the church as the Body of Christ. What does it look like, what does it do and how does it impact its members and the world?

Every now and then we take surveys of our congregation, asking them their opinions about Argyle and how we do things. One of our main questions is "Why does The Church at Argyle exist?"

If you are reading this, whether or not you are a part of the Argyle family, please comment and answer that question- why do we exist?

Summer's here...

the mosquitoes are swarming and the weeds are thriving in response to the rain, and we are following a new schedule for the summer.

We will have one Worship Gathering at 10:30 am, along with UpStreet and Amazing Place. KidStuf, Inner Space and The Argyle Café are on break, but Impact continues from 4:00 to 6:00 pm on Sundays.

When school lets out, some people seem to disappear from church, even if they don't have kids in school. There was a time when a lot of groups in the South took a summer break, but that had to do with temperature and humidity hovering in the 90's. Thank goodness and John Gorrie that we don't have to face that particular problem (at least, not indoors). So, since we have great air conditioning, that can't be the reason people stay away.

Care to offer your thoughts?

Hal Hunter

Community Groups...

Several years ago our church decided that we would do something dramatically different (for us at least) and move from a Sunday School model to a Community Group model for adults. There were several reasons. For anyone who wasn't there, or who have forgotten- here they are.

• Sunday School wasn't working- only a fairly small percentage of adults were in a Sunday School class
• Adults who were in service with children and students didn't have the opportunity to participate
• We didn't have adequate classroom space and no desire to spend a great deal of money to build space that would be used a couple hours a week
• We believed the more relaxed and intimate setting of a home would lead to deeper relationships
• It offered more flexibility and more choices for both time and curriculum

Several years into the experiment we have discovered some things.

• People who experience group life love it and would never go back
• Not everyone really wants to form deeper relationships within the body of the church or to grow spiritually- they are content with an hour or two on Sunday morning
• Not many people are willing to step forward and host or lead a group- there are a lot more people who want to participate than we can accommodate with leaders

We would love to hear some feedback from you- tell us your experience and your opinions.