destinychurch

"Another" Day That Changed the World

Just give this 5 seconds to set in and I bet that it blows your mind. Follow the line of facts...

Fact - Today at Missions of Hope Hospital, a ministry we support at Destiny, is where 100 families and individuals heard the gospel and then received medical attention they would not have normally been able to get. 

Fact - Today, one more house in Santa Cruz comes closer to completion thanks in part to a family solely committed to God and serving Bolivia. 

200 children gathered for VBS at a small local church and were met with gifts and snacks and most of all - the presentation of the Gospel.

We can't be everywhere at once, but as I sit here on a stiff bed in a Santa Cruz hotel in Bolivia, I am amazed at how much gets done here every single day. And it would not be happening if it weren't for believers like you. It fills my heart to think that we get to invest in Missions of Hope with our church tithe. It puts a knot in my throat when I realize this is only one day and so much has happened, this is one ministry who does so much, and this is just one of the two dozen ministries my church Destiny invests in every month. 

There is no prouder moment for a pastor like this evening when I heard the words of a mom with six children, one who had emergency surgery at Missions of Hope and miraculously survived to tell me and others about it. There's a reason God places a demand on our lives to invest in others. Destiny Church really is about loving people!

Genes Make You Attractive - But Only God Can Make You Beautiful

This last week my mom gave me some old family albums... talk about a trip down memory lane. One was of me asking my mom how to get a little girl in my class to like me. She gave an answer that didn't make much sense to an elementary age boy. It was something along the lines of, "Genes may make you attractive, but only God can make you beautiful." So, I took her advice and tried wearing a different pair of pants to see if that helped my cause. But even with a different pair of pants, the girl still wanted nothing to do with me. I guess I just didn't have the right "genes".

Beauty and Music - All in the Eyes and Ears of the Beholder

I know there will be a day when I miss the symphony of chaos that comes with parenting... it really is a beautiful thing. At this moment Jayme is downstairs playing her acoustic guitar, Mikey is in his room playing his electric, and the rain is falling against the window next to me... now if I could just get them in the same key and playing at the same time! I guess beauty "and music" are in the eyes and ears of the beholder! 

Romans 12:4-5 "Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

The Ace of Diamonds

Love it, love it, love it! This last week a member of our church walked up and handed me an ace of diamonds... one of the cards I had thrown into the congregation weeks ago as an illustration. Written on it with a sharpie was "I got the job..." Something about it just really got to me. 

God used a friend to remind that He is still on the throne and still doing amazing things. I'm not usually the sentimental type, but I'll be keeping this card in my Bible for some time to come as a continual reminder to pray and thank God that ALL our church family's needs are, and have been already met.  

Phil. 4:19 "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus"

Just 4 Fun!

Now here's something just for fun. Test your skills and see if you can tell which of the following quotes are from the Bible and which ones aren’t.

"God helps those who help themselves"

"Spare the rod, spoil the child"

“To thine ownself be true”

“This too shall pass”

“God works in mysterious ways”

“The eyes are the window to the soul”

“Beggars can't be choosers”

“Charity begins at home”

“Cleanliness is next to godliness”

 “Money is the root of all evil”

So how many of the above do you think are actually from scripture? The answer? A big fat whopping ZERO! Let’s look together...

1. "God helps those who help themselves" – 8 of 10 people surveyed believed this was scripture. Oops! But really it’s a quote from Ben Franklin.

2. "Spare the rod, spoil the child" – Nope, not in scripture either. The closest I can find is Proverbs 13:24.

3. “To thine ownself be true” – I finally found this one, but it wasn't in scripture. Come to find out it’s a quote from Uncle Klaudius, (You know, the cat from Shakespeare’s Hamlet).

4. “This too shall pass” – This one cracks me up! I wonder if my mother-in-law came up with this one when she first met me… or was it an early-day Ex-lax slogan? You decide... but it didn't originate from scripture. 

5. “God works in mysterious ways” – No one doubts this to be true, but it is from an old hymn authored by William Cowper. 

6. “The eyes are the window to the soul” – The Bible does say that the eyes are the lamp of the body, but nothing specific about windows and soul there. (Matthew 6:22)

7. “Beggars can't be choosers” – I thought perhaps my grandmother authored this when I used to fuss about what was on the table during summer break. Actually it goes back more than 400 years, but isn’t scripture.  

8. “Charity begins at home” – Compliments of an English Physician named Sir Thomas Browne.

9. “Cleanliness is next to godliness” – No clue where it came from, but it's not scripture (but that doesn’t make it a bad idea).

10. "Money is the root of all evil" – The Bible states that the “love of money is the root of all evil. (1 Timothy 6:10)

All of us (me included) should probably spend more time finding out what the Bible says. Here's one scripture that you can take to the bank... 2 Timothy 2:15 "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth."

The Fish That Got Away...

This weekend I reminisced about a fish that got away... to see it click here. My daughter added a bit of "video commentary". The point was my grandfather gave three rules to fish by; keep it simple, pay attention, and bring a net. Of course the point related to being "fishers of men" and this is an illustrations of "the one that got away".

It started with a huge 24-inch Walleye that was on the line at Black-Bear Island Lodge in Canada. What happened next blew Renae's and my minds - a four foot Norther Pike kept trying to eat the first Walleye, and had I followed my grandfathers instruction, I would have already had a net ready. You can tell by Renae's laugh and my scream that we both were freaking out.

Oh, and just for the record... I may not have landed the "giant" one, but I did end up catching a smaller, almost as-much-fun Pike.  

funny note - if you had to guess, judging by my outfit, could you tell what I was believing for?

Countdown - The Next Building Phase

It's official, the church board has met, and we all agree - it's time to take the next step in our building program. Our long-term goal is to complete the new auditorium... but first there are a few things we need to accomplish in the upcoming year.

We will be moving our Velocity Kids (1st-5th) into the new building.  This brings them closer to their families and creates more space as our church continues to grow. Also there is an immediate need to expand our nursery classrooms for our youngest members. Not only are we taking the next step in improving our buildings, but also the parking lot and landscaping... just to mention a few. WooHoo!

Now about that new kitchen project - IT'S DONE!

Goose bumps, goose bumps, goose bumps... I walked into the "finished" kitchen this morning inside the new building and I got crazy excited. A good post-construction cleaning and this place is ready to go! I reached for my cell phone just to take a couple of snapshots. Look for yourself - God is so good!

 

  

Are You Hi Tech or Gadget Challenged?

It's been a while since punch cards ran computers and 8tracks dominated the music scene. Who would have thought 20 years ago that a church's primary form of communication would be online? (Speaking of which, have you checked our the new church website at destinychurch.com yet?)

A lot has changed over the years... some would argue that some things are better and others are worse. My grandmother has a computer that members of the family bought her, but chooses to still use an IBM Selectric Typwriter to author all her corespondents. Despite our family's best efforts to introduce her to email, she has yet to show any interest. Last time I saw her computer she had a tablecloth over it with a plant on top. Too cute - as a near centenarian, she gets a pass. 

But then there's my mom. Even as I was writting this post I popped over to her facebook profile just to check on her. She learned to type in school on a nail-splitting manual typewriter, but somehow she has managed to navigate a virtual world. 

So is it time you caught up with the times... or do I need to have my seventy-something mom give you a call? Here's a couple of links to get you started... ...

Facebook.com - Destiny Church Facebook

Pastor Mike Goolsbay on Facebook Blog 

Renae Goolsbay on Facebook

Pastor Mark Collier on Facebook...Blog

Pastor Nick Agimudie on Facebook ... Blog

Pastor Iman Serna on Facebook ... Blog

Pastor Jonathan Rivers on Facebook ... Blog

Pastor Chad Olinghouse on Facebook ... Blog

Pastor Nicole Webb on Facebook ... Blog

Twitter.com - Destiny Church on Twitter

Easter in August?

Oops. For the thousands who got our e-newsletter only to find out it was the same one we sent out last Easter, sorry 'bout that. Although there has to be a sermon in the whole Easter in August thing, this weekend's message is "Defining Moments" - it's going to be awesome!