The Wellspring Lead Team has decided to end the Saturday @ 5 service. The last two Saturday @ 5 services will be this Saturday, Christmas Eve and next Saturday, New Year's Eve. The Saturday @ 5 services will not continue in January. We know a number of you have made Saturday @ 5 your primary worship service and many others of you have served in many capacities, from the bands to childcare to greeters and more. Wellspring has been blessed by your service and the Lead Team personally thanks you. Let us share some of the thinking behind this decision and thoughts about what we see emerging from the change.

A primary reason for starting the service was the need for more room, as our Sunday services, classrooms and parking lot were beginning to overflow. Currently we do not have this concern, and we will be able to accommodate all our ministries on Sunday morning. Saturday @ 5 was a small service, but that fact by itself was not really a concern. A small service can be wonderful. In fact, many Saturday @ 5 services were a blessed time together and with the Lord. The greater consideration was how much a third service was stretching our staff and ministry teams. Some of this stretching was valuable as it served to grow and include others in new areas. However, we witnessed that maintaining the third service required a lot of time, energy and effort. At times it limited our resources that would otherwise be available for other ministries. We had to take a serious look at the overall impact of maintaining a third worship service.

The Lead Team, the staff, and the congregation also have many ideas and desires for developing Wellspring's ministries further, many we feel are the Lord's promptings. We believe that ending the Saturday @ 5 service will actually allow us to advance our ministries. We now have developed teams and individuals who are ready and eager to serve. We have long desired to increasingly extend our ministry beyond our local church. By freeing up staff, a prime evening, and teams such as bands, we can envision ministry teams going out to other locations or hosting different worship events here. Basically, we are making room for opportunities.

Our desire as part of God's Kingdom is to be the best stewards we can of the resources and giftings the Lord has placed within us and our people. We trust that this shift will allow us to both steward well and better serve both this congregation and the Body of Christ at large. May we be an epicenter of the vibrations of the Kingdom.

The Wellspring Lead Team

Each December Pam and I review our tithes for the calendar year. It's very easy to miss some giving throughout the year, so we want to make sure we've given at least our full tithe and honor any other commitments we’ve made. As we were doing this again this year, I felt prompted to share our perspective with you. I also recently shared this with our staff and elders as well, as it is important that we lead by putting our faith into action. This is a personal note to share with you something extremely important to me, but it is also foundational to Wellspring.

Giving, and specifically tithing (giving to the Lord a tenth of our income), is much more than a percentage. It is a posture of humility and gratitude. For me, I know God provides all I need. More significantly, this means I truly have no fear or doubt about provision. I am always confident in the Lord and at genuine peace. There is nowhere else I want to be. There's nowhere else I'll choose to live.

I also know without a doubt that tithing (and giving in general) keeps my heart and mind in the proper relationship with God. It keeps an open channel to the flow of God's provision and his love. It allows me to be a steward of God's resources here on earth. There is no end to his resources and there is no better place than in the middle of his care. This is not a matter of how much we have, but how much we trust the Lord to be our provider.

As your pastor, I want the best for you. I want you to enjoy that same confidence of provision and the peace it brings. Pam and I have truly learned to rely on it. The challenge is to hold to this perspective on tithing and not let it slip from consciousness. The principle of tithing is not about being comfortable. It's about honoring God and recognizing he is our ultimate provision and peace. That is why, in a very practical step, Pam and I always use December to check our records for the year. We want to make sure we're staying true to our belief and make sure our giving honors God. Sometimes it stretched our faith, but whenever we stretch our faith, we always find God faithful.

I love the family of Wellspring, and I take seriously the responsibility to shepherd this ministry. We all know there have been financial challenges this past year. We are grateful that with committed giving, necessary adjustments, and most of all God’s faithfulness, we are ending the year covering all our expenses and maintaining all our ministries. For this we praise God and we thank you. We will continue to put our confidence in the Lord and his purposes for Wellspring. May your personal faith and trust in God continue to grow deep roots, so that your life in him will be full and complete.

We have spent the last two months focusing on what it means to be radical believers that God intends for us. We have shifted our focus to understand that a radical life is determined by the core, or root, or essence of that life. It is always God's intention that we would carry his likeness in our innermost being, not simply on the outside. In fact, attempting to be like Christ from the outside will always fall short. So we've looked at what it means to have radical hearts of faith hope and love. We've examined the call to have radical minds aligned with the Lord. We explored what lies below the surface of a life that is surrendered to Christ, a life defined as worship, and a life of holiness in relationship with our holy God.

Now the question is, what is the result of radical hearts, minds, and lives? Radical fruit! Fruit is the product of the tree and its roots. We don't find the fruit in the roots or in the trunk, but we define the tree by the fruit it produces. At the same time the essence of what is in the tree and its DNA determines the very fruit it will produce.

What is the fruit that we desire our lives to produce? At Wellspring we have come to desire, and even expect radical fruit from our lives when we walk with the Lord - fruit that we may even define as radical. Healing and wholeness, relationships restored, provision for all we need are expectations we believe in. Yet, if we step back and look, what we believe in is not considered normal to the rest of the world. It's radical. We also believe our lives can have impact for the victory of God's Kingdom come to the earth and the people around us. We believe we can be voices of hope, channels for healing, and beacons of truth. Again, this is radical to an unbelieving world. Yet, this is the very fruit we desire and believe is available to us and through us.

This weekend we'll shift our attention from radical hearts, minds, and lives to Radical Fruit. Jesus said we are to be salt and light to the world. How can we truly season the world as salt? How can we emanate light into the darkness? Are our desires for fruit, even radical fruit, realistic? Do we have the roots necessary, the core essence embodying the DNA necessary to produce radical fruit? I invite you to attend one of our weekend worship services as we continue in our series: Radical.

Pastor Wesley
(photo by Erik Johnson from our trip to Uganda in '08)

The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Genesis 2:7

We are created in the image of God. We know that does not mean we look like God from the outside in our human form. Rather, in some way within our spirit we possess the likeness of God. The life that is within all human beings carries the essence of the God who breathed life into existence. (the original Hebrew language of Genesis makes a clear distinction between this God-breath in humans and the creation of all other living beings.)

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Proverbs 4:23

Not only do we carry this essence of God in the breath of life within us, we are to live out of that wellspring. It will be the source of continued life! However, it is also clear that we have a choice. It's not automatic that our source will be pure. Guard your heart, we are instructed, because it is the wellspring of life. What happens if we don't guard our hearts? What life do we find coming forth when the likeness and essence of God deep in our spirit is not watched over and cared for, or guarded?

Are our hearts radical? As we discussed this past week, radical results are determined by the essence or root of something deep within. We all desire the radical results of a heart overflowing with wellsprings of God-breathed life. So what is our core? What are the roots or essence of the heart and spirit within us? Does it still carry the breath of God?

This week we will continue our Radical series by looking at our hearts. Join us for one of the weekend worship services, and bring your heart with you. The breath of God will be there to breathe his essence into our radical hearts.

Extreme. Intense. Beyond average. Beyond normal. Drastic. Crazy.
That's how we describe something or someone that we say is radical. We perceive their attitudes, perspectives or actions as not normal. They are "out there" in some way. Whether we like or dislike, agree or disagree with them, we recognize the extra measure of this person. It’s easy to identify: that’s a radical thought, that’s a radical thing to do, that’s a radical response, that’s a radical person. But what causes them to be radical? Are they simply extremists? Wild and crazy? Abnormal people?

What is at the core of a radical person? What inspires or motivates or causes them to think, feel, respond, and move in ways that we perceive as radical? What about the radical believer? The one who gives all she has to help others. The one who leaves his own comforts to comfort others. The one who’s passion is for something greater than and beyond themselves.

This weekend at Wellspring we will begin a new study that explores the core elements of the radical believer. We examine the radical heart. We contemplate the radical mind. We examine core elements of a radical life: surrendering our lives to the Lord, considering others before ourselves, living a life of worship, choosing to set ourselves apart in holiness. It is a radical life God calls us to.

The results are: thoughts that cut against the grain, actions that others observe as not normal, responses that are not self-centered or self-serving. Radical hearts, minds and lives cannot help but produce radical results. Our thoughts, choices, and actions will change us and change the world around us. Our lives and lifestyles will impact others and release God's transforming blessings. Our compassion and commitment will bring God's love and presence everywhere we go.

So let's go get radical!

Many of you are now quite familiar with our good friend and ministry partner Arnold Muwonge. Through our Uganda Bridge ministry, our extensive involvement with the Kampala Children's Centre, and the Destiny Africa choir we have all come to know and love Pastor Arnold's passion for the Lord and his heart for the children. And, we have been blessed and inspired by his preaching as well.

This coming weekend, we will have the wonderful privilege of experiencing the passionate heart of another Muwonge, Pastor Arnold's beautiful wife Josie. Last September I helped lead a retreat for Pastor Arnold's staff in England. As we explored one another's dreams and God-given gifts, it was very clear that the voice of the Lord stirred inside Josie, waiting for opportunities to be heard.

When I learned that Josie and a few of their children would be joining Pastor Arnold on a trip to the states, I immediately jumped at the chance to invite Josie to be our guest speaker. And, she delightedly accepted! I am confident that the Lord will bring a right-time word for Wellspring through Josie this weekend. I know we will all be blessed, so come expectantly.

I've titled this blog "Courage and Vulnerability", saying To be courageous requires vulnerability and to be vulnerable takes courage. But, what do I know...

Yesterday Pam and I toured the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam. All was pretty nice until it got to the point where they described her capture and being dragged off to the camp. I seem to have forgotten that part of her story. THEN, I learned that she died a month before the end of the war and her opportunity for release and freedom. All of a sudden my whole spirit changed. The secret hiding place I was standing in, the story I was intersecting, my perspective, my emotions all changed in an instant. I'm not sure what I became, but I knew I was no longer a tourist.

Courage and Vulnerability. What do I know about that...

When I get home I'm going to read The Diary of Anne Frank. Maybe I can learn something.

We've all heard people say, "I think Jesus was a great man. I like his teachings. I just don't believe that he was God. But that's okay, because what he said was still very good." They may also question the story of the cross and the resurrection. It's too hard to believe that a man was raised from the dead. That sounds too much like Greek mythology. But that's okay, because his teachings are still significant.

We've all heard some version of those comments. Many of us may even have said similar things at times. It sounds good, doesn't it? We believe that Jesus spoke with profound wisdom. We marvel at his faith and his ability to instantly address the root of the matter. His questions confounded his accusers. His expressions of compassion blanketed the humble and provoked the proud at the same time. So it seems like a fair statement that even if someone does not believe that Jesus was God or that he raised from the dead, there is still value in valuing his teachings.

As the apostle Paul begins to conclude his exhortations to the church at Corinth, he makes this bold statement, "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile... If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men." 1 Corinthians 15: 17,19.

Really? Does that make sense? There has to be value in the teachings of Jesus, even if he did not raise from the dead, right? This weekend at the Wellspring worship services we will take a look at this passage of scripture. What does it mean? How do we apply it to our lives? Is our faith futile?

Hint: What is the Gospel of Jesus Christ? That is, what is the good news?

I'm looking forward to seeing you this weekend...come, let us reason together.

Pastor Wesley

Entitlement. Sounds good to us. After 10 stamps on our coffee card, we're entitled to one free coffee. Who doesn't want a free coffee. A free anything! AND, we've earned it by buying the 10 previous cups. We deserve it. We're entitled to it!

We live in an entitlement culture. Just listen to our media (which reflects our cultural values). We are entitled to everything from clear skin to a pampered, all inclusive vacation at a Sandels resort in the Caribbean. Of course, those entitlements come at a cost, but that's okay because we deserve it. Entitlement has permeated our language and our perspective on everything from politics (entitlement programs), to the workplace, to our relationships. We are simply entitled.

What about our relationship with God? What about the principles of his Kingdom, his reign and rule in our lives? Does this entitlement mindset influence our perspective on our faith? Do we feel entitled to blessings? To healing? To a good and easy life?

God does say that grace is free, that Jesus came to bring us life and life abundant. He does say ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened. Jesus said he came to set us free. However, Jesus also said the last shall be first, and the one who loves her life will lose it, while the one who hates her life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

Grace, mercy, entitlement and freedom. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. This weekend at the Wellspring Worship Services we'll take a look at our entitlement culture and the true freedom that the Lord makes available to us through his son and in his kingdom. Join us as we continue our look at I Corinthians and bring practical instructions for the culture clash in which we live.

Teaser: Who is the object of entitlement? Who is the object of true freedom?

Our weekend worship services have been quite inspiring so far in 2011. We have embraced a new Year Verse, Ephesians 2:10, "For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." We are humbled that God's master craftsmanship is depicted in the heart and life of us, the believer. We are challenged to step into the plans and purposes he has for us and through us.

We have expanded our vision and vocabulary: BiHOGG (Don't understand? Click here) Do you have yours yet? Keep seeking your heart and God's voice.

We have been reminded of God's faithfulness, that he will honor his promises to us. Even when all we see is mistakes, disappointments, or even failure. God can reset the playing field and call a do-over.

Wonderful. Marvelous. Amazing. But what do we do now? Sit and wait? Demand of God that he fulfill his promises? Start measuring God to see if he lives up to his word? Let's remember the other message we heard this month, that God will be our God, AND he calls us to be his people.

This Sunday we will launch an in-depth look into what it means to be "his people". Using the book of I Corinthians, we will face the real challenges of living out the kingdom of God in the midst of a fallen world around us. The apostle Paul wrote to the church at Corinth concerning this very matter. Corinth was a prosperous pagan city, and Paul's letter was clear and pointed instruction to the believers who were called to live holy and wholly different than the world around them. In some cases their Christianity was simply a veneer layered over a worldly life. In other cases they were misinterpreting and misusing their new found freedom and faith in ways that were unhealthy to them and others.

So let's get real. Let's use the practical instruction of Corinthians, apply it to our lives and life's circumstances, and truly be "his people".

Cultures Clash at Corinth: Instruction For Living the Kingdom Life in a Corrupt World. (Click here for a preview of this series.)
Teaching begins this weekend in our worship services. LifeGroups will follow along with additional study that correlates to the weekly sermons. In addition, the pastors will facilitate an open discussion time on Wednesday nights from 7-8:30PM for anyone interested in going deeper or asking questions about that week's sermon. We are providing study guides for anyone and everyone who wants them. Pick them up this weekend in the café or Welcome Center.

Masterpieces. BiHOGGs. Do-overs. These are inspiring, and we are desiring. God promises to be our God. Let's give ourselves to be his people. May his highest and best for us bring forth the highest and best in us. May his testimony continue to resound.