Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Alpha in the Workplace has arrived!

Today is the big day. We've been planning this event for months and I can't believe that the day has finally arrived. I should have realized how important this course is by my frustration level last night in trying to pick music for this weekend's set or by the simple fact that my littlest boy is terribly sick. Call it a spiritual attack if you want. But we persevered and the day has finally arrived. Yes, Alpha in the Workplace has finally arrived.

If one person would have signed up, we would have been excited. We would have walked the whole 12 weeks with this person on their faith journey. But God blessed us with close to 20 people of various backgrounds and ages.

It's been a couple of years since I've been involved with Alpha as a host/facilitator and I am most excited to watch God move through the lives of those attending. I don't want to set my expectations too high but at the same token I don't want to sell God short.

Granted this will be a totally different situation since this is happening in the workplace over a lunch hour as opposed to a 3-hour a week commitment, but it's still going to be awesome.

I'm proud of our team. I'm proud of Holly and all the work she's put into this. I'm thankful for the support from our home church.

Father God, we ask that you move in the marketplace. Soften the hearts of those guests coming today and we ask that you would open up the eyes and ears of their hearts to your Words, love and grace. Move Lord God. Move.

In Jesus name...amen.

Monday, April 09, 2007

Congratulations Zach Johnson!

I loved the quotes from Zach Johnson, winner of the Masters this past weekend and Iowa native. Check out the article below for quotes about his faith...

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Winning on Easter makes Masters more special for Zach Johnson


AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) - Zach Johnson will take a win at the Masters any day.

That he did it on Easter made it even more special.

"I don't know if I was necessarily calm. I had some people looking after me today," Johnson said after he finished the 18th hole Sunday. "Being Easter, my faith is very important to me."

"I felt Jesus, I felt my grandfather, my family, everybody," he said, his voice shaking. "So it was awesome."

Johnson became one of the most unlikely Masters champions ever, holding off Tiger Woods to win the year's first major by two strokes. It was only his second victory on the PGA Tour.

Johnson is known as one of the more religious players on tour and he makes no secret of his faith. When he climbed up on a riser behind the 18th green for an interview, he joked that he should "start preaching."

But he turned serious later, discussing a thought that was foremost in his mind the entire day.

"Regardless of what happened today, my responsibility was to glorify God," Johnson said. "Hopefully I did."

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I love that last quote. Regardless if you just won the masters or you're working in a diner, imagine what the world would be like if we all lived to glorify God?