Disappointed?

Last night the Christian Life Prison and Recovery Ministry (CLPRM) was blessed with the opportunity to take five guests to a service at CFCF. Two of them were back for return visits and the other three were first timers. The early nervousness that most first timers into the prison feel was quickly removed by the raw power of the Holy Spirit in the chapel. From my own experience, I can imagine the emotions flowing through them as they worship with the guys. The night rushed by, as usual, and following our normal routine of praise, prayer, share, message and the altar call we finished in the parking lot with our weekly closing prayer underneath I-95.

On the way home we got to talking about what an experience the services at CFCF are. Later, after I dropped our guests off, I thought about the rare times that I came away from a CFCF service disappointed. There was the time when Dan, Cliff, Pat and I went in without Bob, Royce or Michael. We got so psyched up because it was the first time we were going to do service on our own, and the night ended up being such a downer. Oh, wait…that’s right. They had an armband count that night and we never got in. Well I do remember that the first two times Dave had a guest pass were less than memorable. The second time he went, Kelli and I were with him and…and there an armband count that night and we never got in. But the most disappointing night I had should have been the best of all. Nobody else was available to go in, and Bob gave me an out. He said he’d understand if I didn’t want to go in by myself, but I was more than ready. And why was it so disappointing? If you guessed there was an armband count that night and I never got in, well give yourself a silver star.

I have never had a night at CFCF, when we have had a service, which was disappointing. Oh sure, there are nights that are better than others, but I’ve never come home wishing that I had spent my night differently. And then I took it a step further, and thought about worship services at Woodside. I’ll occasionally miss a service if I’m traveling, but apart from that I don’t like missing worship. As a matter of fact, I can’t remember a disappointing service since I came to Christ. I’ve come to understand that it’s not the service. It’s not the pastor. It’s the fact that I am there, listening to the word of God and soaking up the Holy Spirit that makes the difference.

It is for this reason that I like sharing my experiences with people outside of church. I want others to have that same feeling, that same relationship, that same love that I have come to have with God. I want others to join me. As a child of God – A friend of God.

Say a prayer for somebody today.

And The Name Is...

The naming of a group is important. How will we be identified? Will it match the group personality? Is it cool? And when you take a number of small groups and try to come up with a name that fits the consolidated group, it’s that much harder.

A few months ago Woodside moved towards the “Cluster” concept. This involved combining five small groups into one cluster. This “cluster” would help with Sunday morning fellowship, and hopefully work together towards achieving common goals: Small enough to be manageable, but big enough to be able to complete the job. One of our early challenges has been to find a name that would identify the group.

Tonight we got together as a Cluster and had a family movie night. Pizza, soda, friends and a showing of “Where the Wild Things Are”. The movie was, to say the least, different, unusual, and not what I expected…but an enjoyable movie nonetheless.




We also used this opportunity to select our Cluster name. We presented 6 different names that were nominated by members of the study groups. I called out each nomination and we would see which got the most positive reaction. The first couple received a smattering of applause. Another brought a raised hand (Kami: We can’t hear a raised hand) and two others were met with silence, although I believe Pastor Doug responded enthusiastically to one (he was the only one). Then the last name came up. A thunderous roar spread through the Vineyard. The dead stirred, the living took notice. We are now no longer “Scott’s Cluster Group”. We will now, and forever, be known as “Woodside’s Warriors”!

Say a prayer for somebody today.