May we deep in our hearts find a significant way to celebrate our country’s independence. Our holiday on July 4th is so much more than fireworks. I love this country. It is not perfect. It is not really Christian (I’m not trying to spark a debate). But it was established in such a way that we can truly experience freedom to worship, speak our mind and protect the rights of others. The Bill of Rights is a fantastic document.

Eight weeks ago we experienced a different kind of “fireworks.” Dave White preached a message called “Is the Bible True?” It brought about polarizing responses. For some it was extremely helpful in their faith journey. For others it was offensive. The controversy is not over for some.

Dave was scheduled to teach this weekend. That was the plan developed a long time ago, before the controversy about his message appeared. I am keenly aware that some do not want Dave to speak and others are fearful of what he might say. Some have already decided not to come this weekend. Others are so blessed by Dave and can’t wait to hear him again. Yes, we are a diverse group!

This weekend I will address the issue and where we’ve come in the last eight weeks. Dave and I have gone through a lot of soul searching - the deep kind. We’ve never really been able, due to various circumstances, to bring closure to this matter. That’s what I want to accomplish this weekend.

You need to hear from me and where I’m leading this church. I’m going to address Dave’s role on staff and on the teaching team. We are not a church that “sweeps stuff under the rug” or does things in secret. We are a genuine authentic people who put God first. So this weekend I want to address the hard stuff straight on and then I am ready to move past this distraction in order to focus on the world transforming work that God has given us to do.

If you are gone this weekend, please be sure to read the notes or listen to the podcast - just go to the weekend messages part of our web site.

Have a great holiday week! Let’s celebrate the political freedom established in our country and the spiritual freedom found in Jesus.

Together following Jesus to make the world different,

Glen

I didn’t know what to call my blog this week so it is what it is - three things I want to update you on.

Sierra Vista
I have some really great news. About a year ago a group in Sierra Vista asked us to consider helping them. They are a very diverse group that wants to form a non-denominational church that will to make a real difference in their city and world. Over the last year we’ve been learning more about each other and we’ve discovered we share common values and beliefs. A few weeks ago, the Sierra Vista group decided they wanted to formally merge with Pantano Christian Church and become PCC - Sierra Vista (not the final or official name yet). Our Elders unanimously agreed to this partnership and on July 1st, they will officially become a part of Pantano.

We have lots of work to do and many questions still to be answered. I’ll keep you updated on where we stand as time goes on. Right now some life groups are meeting, they’ve just completed a mission trip to Mexico and they meet on Sunday nights to hear the Pantano Christian Church weekend message and celebrate communion. Sometime in 2008 we’ll do a grand opening there. Welcome Sierra Vista!

Baptism
This weekend I am talking about baptism in context with my teaching on Moses. You’ll have to be here to figure out the connection between Moses and baptism! I want to invite anybody who has been thinking about being baptized to join us this weekend. I’ll invite anyone who is ready to declare through baptism that they want to follow Jesus with their whole heart for their whole life. Just come forward at the end of each of our weekend services when I call for those who desire baptism. Call Julie at the church office (298-5395 ext. 278) and let us know if you are planning on being baptized or just show up with a change of clothes!

Giving
This weekend is our final weekend of our ministry or fiscal year. As of last week we were $41,600 behind budget. In February of this year you really stepped up and we avoided the $170,000 shortfall we were projecting. Thank you again! Please remember to continue to be faithful through the summer which is usually our most difficult period.

We’ve lowered our budget for next year, made significant cuts in programming and some staff voluntarily took cuts in their salaries so that we’ll balance out. Our available cash is good as our staff has been great at spending only for essential things.

Together to make the world different,

Glen

I love our new teaching series - The Big Story, God’s Quest to Bless. I introduced this last weekend and highlighted the contrasting worlds of blessing and curse. Here’s how I believe the Bible presents the world we live in:

Kingdom of God - Kingdom of darkness
Blessing - Curse
Life - Death
Honor - Dishonor

We choose where we want to live and how we want to live. This week, after teaching, I’ve been so aware of the opportunities to bless others or be a part of the curse. Every day I have opportunities to honor my wife, or dishonor her by the way I speak and by my actions. I can honor or dishonor my kids. I have the choice to bless or curse my critics. Ok, it is really hard to honor and bless bad drivers - I’m still working on this. Receiving life and blessing from God is my choice. Giving life and blessing to others is also my choice. It’s a huge responsibility.

I found these verses as I’ve been preparing. They are so old and so contemporary. They are so challenging. Chapters 27-30 in Deuteronomy (the last of the 5 books of Moses or the Torah) repeat the blessings and curses. Listen to these words of conclusion in Deuteronomy 30:19 and 20 (NIV).

This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

God has set life and death before us. We choose life or death. We choose to bless or curse. We choose to live in God’s blessing or the curse of the way of mankind or our own selfishness.

Today, may we all choose well. May we choose to bless our spouses, children, friends, co-workers, strangers and neighbors. Like I asked this weekend, may we begin our day with the simple prayer of asking God to help us be a blessing to others. This is the will of God in Christ Jesus.

Together to bless the world;

Glen

You’ll notice that I changed the title of Pantano E-news to Glen’s blog. The word “blog” comes from weBLOG or a web log. Actually, my E-news has been a combination of blogging (sharing my thoughts, stories and personal journal) and church newsletter. We have become a blogging culture and a blogging church. The blogging that folks have done during our series “Honest Questions - Engaging Faith” was helpful to me and many others. I grew from hearing the diversity of ideas and opinions on very difficult topics.There are several other staff members that are also blogging. You might want to check Carl Cherry’s blog at http://carlcspot.blogspot.com/ or Mike Parejo’s at http://pccstudents.org/mikeparejo/.

Our culture is a fast becoming a web culture. I’m amazed at how much this 51 year old pastor now relies on the web for most everything. Even a few weeks ago when I got stuck on a major repair on my van, I went to the web to better understand quick connect fuel lines! I do many purchases on line, plan most of my vacations on line and I do tons of study and research on line. It is endless!

As a church, we are moving more and more to being web based and relying on technology to help us focus more on people ministry. Soon you’ll be able to give on line (You can also do auto-pay already through your bank), sign up and pay for all major activities on line and even reserve or see what rooms are available. There are so many stories of God working in and through people and the web is a great place to tell those stories. A lot more is in the works. Thanks to all who have helped make this tool available and so useful.

Many people visit Pantano Christian Church only after checking us out on the web. Here are some interesting stats on how much our web is being used. Since we launched the new site in January 2007, we have over 1.7 million hits with over 36,000 unique visitors. The most requested downloads are the weekend messages and the visitor’s video (You might see yourself at http://pccwired.org/visitors/).

I’ll still keep my blogs to one regular typed page but I might on rare occasion send out more than one a week. But I promise I won’t overwhelm you. If you haven’t subscribed please do so at http://pccwired.org/enews/. We’ll continue, for the immediate future, to make paper copies available in the lobby for those who do not have web access.

Together to make our world different,

Glen