a church in pursuit of God, with a passion for people

PO Box 491150
Leesburg, FL 34749
www.vcfleesburg.com
Email: vcfleesburg@embarqmail.com
Office: (352) 365-2594 Fax: (352) 365-2594
 Randy Gideons . Lead Pastor . Warehouse Church
Salvation . Healing . Set Free . Discipled . Equipped . Empowered . Serving
I t has been a few months since I started
what turned out to be a series of
messages on the above steps of the
Christian maturity process. I was able to
freely minister week after week on the first
four steps and then I seemed to hit a wall
when I got to the equipping part. As I
began to question God on why this was
happening I felt that the timing was not
right to finish the series.
Then we had the picnic, the Brock's, and
Easter Sunday's message by Cliff to
position us for the remaining topics.
I believe we are to be freshly equipped
with updated tools and instructions for our
new season. I believe we are going to
receive an empowerment by the Holy
Spirit that will prepare us for our new
season. And I believe that all of this has
been moving us to a greater "service" in
God's Kingdom.
Matthew 20:28
"Just as the Son of Man did not come to
be served but to serve..."
Our maturity is made evident when we
reach a place in our lives when we are
prepared for service in the Kingdom.
The Armed Forces have worked out
programs and procedures to prepare,
train, equip and empower our groups for
military service.
Each church needs to do the same to
prepare its soldiers for service.
It's all found in Ephesians 4:12. Check it
out!
I look forward to seeing how God works
through the last few steps.
This reminds me of something that
happened in the warehouse just recently.
The air conditioning contractors have
worked for months bringing our whole
HVAC system up to code. New ducts,
refurbishing air handlers/compressors,
new controls and much more. It all came
down to the first new thermostat that was
switched on to see if they had done their
job right. There was a joy among the Del
Air bunch when that first cold air began to
filter through the building. The process
had worked!
We must follow Christ's plan from
salvation to service...we must!
..."until we grow up into all aspects of Him
who is the head, even Christ."
Check out Randy’s blog on the
Warehouse website.
www.vcfleesburg.com
USE WORDS IF NECESSARY
I f you know me at all, you know that I
am no orator and as a general rule, I
don’t use 1000 words when 10 will
do. It does cause some conflict at
times when discussions are needed but
for the most part, I try to get to the point
and move on. Can anybody out there
understand my point of view? Yeah, most
of those hands are from guys. So,
keeping this in mind, you can ascertain
that this article won’t be about wonderful
flowery speeches.
I love to read church signs. Most of
them I laugh at because of how “religious”
they sound. I often read them and say to
myself, “I wouldn’t go there just because
of how ridiculous the message on the sign
is”. Yes, I admitted that! However, there
was one a few months back that really
made me think and I had to say that I
TOTALLY agreed with that church! The
sign read; “GO Ye Into All The World
And Preach The Gospel- USE WORDS
IF NECESSARY”
I have to admit that it fired me up that
there was another person out there
somewhere that thought like I did! He
acknowledged the need to preach and
witness. The thing that I like is that it was
the working model that the person was
referencing. You see, salvation sermons
have their place but statistically speaking,
they are somewhat ineffective. Think
about how many folks hear that sermon
and walk out with no change. Now
ponder the number of folks that are saved
while talking to their coworker digging a
ditch, hammering nails, working on
motors, digging a drain field, fixing a
dryer, paying a light bill, patching an
asphalt road, welding broken steel… you
get the idea. The sermon is being spoken
daily on a one on one basis. Your actions
are speaking to the public.
Did your parents ever say to you, “Do
as I say, not as I do”? How did that work
for you? It didn’t work did it? A verbal
sermon spoken from someone that isn’t
walking the walk is just as useless.
However, the daily sermon spoken by the
co-worker is priceless. When you go
through something and a non-believer
sees how you walk through it, they notice.
When they go through it, they will
remember and could quite possibly come
and ask how you got through it. If you
slam your finger with a hammer, what
comes out of your mouth? That is a
perfect time to preach a sermon. There
are countless ways to preach like that.
Keep this in mind; you are the only
Jesus that the majority of the people you
deal with in a day will ever see. What will
your model say about your Jesus?
Here’s your challenge:
GO YE INTO ALL THE WORLD AND
PREACH THE GOSPEL- USE WORDS
IF ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY!

Time is in His Hands by Wendy Pope
"So the sun stood still and the moon stayed in place until the nation of Israel had defeated
its enemies." Joshua 10:13a (NLT)
H as there ever been a time when
you longed for just a little more
light in your day to accomplish
your tasks? When you need more time, do
you ask God for it? After all, time is in His
hands.
As we read in today's key verse, God
knew Joshua needed a little more time in
his day, so He gave it to him.
Joshua and the Israelite armies were in
battle against five combined Amorite
armies to conquer the land allotted to
them after crossing the Jordan. Joshua
and his men were tired. The warring for
the land had been intense. As the leader,
Joshua decided to travel all night for a
surprise attack. And then Joshua asked
God to hold the sun and moon still so they
could fight.
Over a decade ago God called me to
radically trust Him with my time and get up
each morning before the sun rose to
spend time in prayer, and in His Word.
How can I do this? I remember asking the
Lord.
I argued: I am a busy wife and mother.
The baby is only a few months old. I need
sleep.
It never occurred to me to ask God to help
me by adjusting my time so that I could
walk in obedience to Him as well as take
care of all my other responsibilities.
Eventually I obeyed, but not
wholeheartedly. My problem wasn’t that I
Submitted by Brenda Petersen
did not want to know God better through
prayer and His Word. My problem was
that I believed I could manage the time in
my day better than He could. I believed
the lie that told me I was in control,
arranged my day, and accomplished
much. The lie told me I did not need God
for the little details of my day-to-day living.
The lie told me I did not need to tithe the
first fruits of my day to God. The lie lied.
Like the Amorite armies were defeated,
eventually so was my lie.
Over the last decade I have learned
like Joshua, to call on God and ask Him to
"let the sun and moon stand still" so that I
can accomplish what He has ordained for
me to do. It is my desire to be at peace
with His timing and not to complete my
checklist.
Do I believe He has held time in His
hands for me? Yes I do. How can that be?
He is God, the great I AM, and the Creator
of time. I am just a little "i am not" enjoying
the story of God one day at a time.
When you need more time, will you
ask God for it? Will you trust Him to hold
your time in His nailed-scarred hands?
Dear Lord, help me know You are good
and that I can trust You. Remind me
today that my time is in Your hands. In
Jesus' Name, Amen.
"What is a motto you live by?"

Lucas James ~ It's all good. Jim & Ruth Bruce ~ Do to others as you
would have them do to you.
Jeff Light ~ If you're gonna be dumb,
you gotta be tough. Becky Anderson ~ God is in control.
He can do what is humanly impossible.
Cheryl Clark ~ It is what It is! Move on. There is nothing that will happen to me
that God doesn’t see. If He allows it,
Sonia Shearer ~ Don't spit in the wind then He has a plan to use it and He will
or stand next to someone who does! bless me for being His instrument. God
is watching out for me, He only wants
Mela Striker ~ Leave everything better good for me, I am the apple of His eye!
than you found it. This is especially
true for kitchens, beaches, and people.
I also often use "will it matter in ten
years?" When I find myself getting
really stressed out or irritated about
something, if it doesn't pass the ten
year rule:
fuhgeddaboudit!!

Joel Hayes ~ Life's a

garden, dig it!

Duane Sturgess ~
People don't care how
much you know, until
they know how much you
care.

Brenda Sims ~ Don’t

complain...its giving
praise to the enemy!

Elise James ~ "You do

what's right, even though
you don't want to". (My
Mama taught me this...)

Learning Godly Sorrow
2 Corinthians 7:10 "Godly sorrow brings
repentance that leads to salvation and
leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow
brings death."
Romans 12:2 “Do not conform any longer
to the pattern of this world but be
transformed by the renewing of your
mind. Then you will be able to test and
approve what God's will is... His good,
pleasing and perfect will”
E
ver wonder why things aren't going
as you imagined they might? Ever
find yourself consistently sinning in
the same way? Do you blame someone
else for your situation? Down in the
dumps? Depressed? Constantly seeking a
new place or face to discuss your
problems? Perhaps you're a victim of
worldly sorrow?
So what is worldly sorrow?
Worldly sorrow comes from our
awareness of our breaking the law.
Worldly sorrow centers upon the plans
which we make by ourselves.
Worldly sorrow centers upon what we
feel within ourselves. It focuses on our
emotions.
Worldly sorrow results in us leaving
many sinful ways, but not hating and
turning our backs on sin itself.
Worldly sorrow leaves us powerless
to resist temptation.
Worldly sorrow causes us to look to
other people for assistance.
And what about Godly Sorrow?
Godly sorrow brings about a that waste time and effort.
comprehensive repentance, not just a
turning from our sins but from our Sin
by John & Julie Macrae
(with a capital 'S'), repenting not just for
the sins others may see but for the
deepest-rooted sins that bring us guilt and
despair.
Godly sorrow brings repentance that
leads to trust in the Savior.
The common theme in worldly sorrow
is that of self - our plans, our sins, and
especially our emotions. It can leave us in
a desert - constantly searching for a
solution to our problems – seeking a new
pastor, group, church, therapy,
psychologist, counselor or the like. Its not
surprising however – its just the way we
were before we accepted Christ – deep in
a world of self – and some of the thoughts
and behaviors that were formed way back
then can be the hardest to discover and
deal with.
What Paul is saying in Romans is that
we have a lot of worldly thought and
behavior patterns to unload and unlearn
before we will be able to discern God's will
for ourselves. He's really telling us that
we need to examine ourselves daily for
any tendency to fall back into our old,
worldly lifestyle. He's also telling us that
we need to reject sin for what it is – not
just clean up our lives on the surface but
start to address those deep-rooted sins
that are part of our nature and inheritance.
“Easy to say and much harder to do”,
I hear you murmur. Yes indeed! But every
journey starts with a step – and
completing the journey requires many
steps – persistently and determinedly
making one step after the other. The key
to getting there efficiently is to keep on
track – the direct track to the goal and
avoid those little excursions to the side
 The fact is that Jesus promised us the
Holy Spirit as our counselor and
comforter, not a group, guru or other
'earthly savior' – He is the only one that
can help us. It is in Him and Him alone
that we must put our trust for the solution
to our problems. Good News! He is with
us 24/7 – always open, available with the
kindest listening ear, the warmest
embrace and the most powerful (not
necessarily palatable) solutions. He loves
a quiet one-on one conversation – in fact
He craves it. He wants to speak to us
when we are ready to give Him our
undivided attention.
Jesus also told us that the world cannot
see or accept the Holy Spirit so the
worldlier our focus the less likely we are to
be able to see the Holy Spirit work in our
lives. This is what Paul was reinforcing in
Romans 12 – it requires our consistent,
positive work on our part to reject the
ways of the world, or at least our
willingness to be transformed, in order to
begin to know God in the way He wants
us to.
08... Zachariah Greene
12... Brenda Rapp
12… Savanna Harbaugh
13... Beckie Weaver
13... Ernest Machamer, Jr.
15... Travis Windham
21… Abra Coulson
As we cast aside each and every one
of our worldly ways with true, godly
sorrow, the weight of guilt and the veil of
worldly sorrow will lift and we will begin to
experience the freedom and joy of a
relationship with Jesus. That's the
liberation we can expect when we begin to
focus our thoughts on God rather than on
ourselves and our worldly
disappointments.
Worldly sorrow is possibly the most
powerful weapon the enemy uses to
prevent us from experiencing joy and true
freedom in our lives as the result of a full
relationship with God. By the grace of
God, we have our own, personal
comforter and counselor, the Holy Spirit –
cry out to Him. He's waiting for your call.
Stay updated with our friends
John & Julie Macrae as they travel
And spread the news of Jesus Christ!
www.blog.mailasail.com/amazinggrace
23… Jennie Walleker
24… Patti Lutz
24... Savannah Greene
25… John Anderson
29... Christopher Rapp
31… Amy Bowersox
31... Joy Machamer
A Time to Plant, A Time to Heal
S ome of us take massive action
when it comes to our spiritual
walk. We then abuse our
physical man and ask God to
heal us. I believe that God sometimes
overrides our bad habits and is merciful in
spite of our unbalanced life style. But I
also believe that God wants us to take
massive action when it comes to our
temple. Following is a testimony from
Kelly a member of the Warehouse Church
who decided to take action. God has
greatly blessed her efforts. Please pray for
her as she continues on the path of Health
and Wellness.
“On December 30, 2010 the doctor
handed me a diagnosis that had potential
to cause great fear for me. She told me I
was diabetic. After I got through the
season of tears, I determined that it was a
time to laugh in the face of the enemy. As
Ecclesiastes Chapter 3 states, there is a
time to plant and a time to heal. I decided
it was time for me to make a change and
to respect my body, the temple of the
Holy Spirit.
As a result of the diagnosis, I
embarked on a new journey; a journey of
exercising and eating right, a journey of
determination and accountability. Central
to success on this journey were:
submitting to an exercise plan developed
by a personal trainer, being accountable
for everything I chose to eat or not eat,
and choosing daily to sow health and
fitness into my life. Invaluable in the
process were my many friends who were
often a text message away, tools provided
by www.sparkpeople.com and a good
sense of humor!
I am totally familiar with the verse in
scripture that says if you sow sparingly
you shall also reap sparingly. I was
determined to sow abundantly; it is my
desire to turn this situation around as
expeditiously as possible. As many of you
have commented my efforts have been
paying off. Despite years of abusing the
temple, ONE SEASON of faithfulness has
yielded an amazing crop of health.
On April 7, 2011 I had labs drawn and
on the 14th I returned to the doctor for the
results. In brief, they are as follows: I had
taken off 20 pounds, trimmed off at least
10 inches, my blood sugar was within
normal range as was my A1C, my
cholesterol level was back in normal
range for the first time in several years,
and I felt great! There were only two
negatives in the whole report—my blood
pressure was elevated and I had injured
my ankle and would not be able to run in
the Spring Fling. Irregardless, I walked
the Spring Fling, and I finished the race!!!”
Kelly failed to mention that she walk/ran a
5k in Fruitland Park. She beat her last
race time by 15 minutes and won a 3rd
place Medal for her age group. Let’s
applaud her efforts and pray for her as
she continues on the path of health and
wellness.
Tonia Hayes is an
ACE certified Personal Trainer

Alignment
F
or the majority of my life I have had
trouble in the financial department. I
have experienced periods in my life
that I have had plenty and times that
I have not had much. The past 12 years have
been especially difficult. As hard as I have tried,
I have had a poverty spirit on me that caused me
an intense struggle with finances.
I went to a conference and God began to
deal with me about aligning myself with people
who knew how to deal with finances and to
submit myself to their scrutiny. This was not
easy for me to do since I like to lead and I hate
being under scrutiny. It is also not easy to find
someone that I trusted enough to be totally open
with and know that they would still respect and
love me through this process. The final thing
was finding someone who was willing and had
time to take on this task, especially with me
since at times I’m slow at comprehension. At the
same time, God had begun dealing with a very
good friend of mine about talking to the church
regarding a poverty spirit. As she and I began to
converse and she began to pray with me, God
showed her that I had a spirit of double
mindedness. For those of you who don’t know
what that means; it means going two directions
at once. I knew immediately that she was right.
It hit me directly in the face. I wanted what God
wanted, but I wanted what I wanted too. I wasn’t
ready to give up my wants but knew that I must
in order to advance. A spiritual root to my
problem was exposed. I have submitted myself
to her authority in this area.
To come into alignment, we must first get
honest with ourselves. Sometimes that is the
hardest thing that we do. We rationalize our
weaknesses to ourselves. We say to ourselves
that we can continue to do the same thing over
and over and get a different result. Well, folks,
that is the definition of insanity.
by Sonia Shearer
I am now aligning myself up with someone
who has more wisdom than me in the area of not
only finances, but also with an entitlement and
poverty mentality spirit. This isn’t about adding
two and two and knowing that they total 5. Just
kidding, I wanted to make sure that you were
paying attention. This isn’t about balancing the
check book, though that is very helpful. This is
about alignment, and getting into balance. It is a
spiritual issue, not intellectual.
If your car is out of alignment, the tread on
your tires doesn’t wear evenly. When they
become uneven, there is a chance of a blow out,
which then causes us to stop in our tracks.
Personally, I’m tired of the blow outs and being
stopped in my tracks because I have failed to
align myself up with the word of God and
someone who can help me. We all struggle with
something that keeps coming around and hitting
us in the face. Opening ourselves up to
someone is very difficult.
I have openly shared this because I know
that if I am struggling, others are as well, though
it may be in a different area. Struggles almost
always, have a spiritual root somewhere. When
we don’t recognize that, we are only putting a
band-aid on the problem, which is surely to show
up again because we have not gotten to the core
of it. Only God can heal it up, but it takes
leaders to help us walk through it.
Alignment….I’m still working on it.
Every Sunday ~
averagejoe’s Café
Free continental breakfast served from
10:00am to 10:20am
Contact: Renee Stoffel @ 253-2465
THEWAREHOUSE BAND
Contacts: Aaron Symonds @ 330-1928
Mela Striker @ 365-1006
WAREHOUSE NURSERY & PRESCHOOL
We believe in ministering to the needs of
even our littlest members. Our qualified
teachers create a positive experience that
introduces nursery and preschool children
to the love of Jesus early on.
Contact: Jill Porvaznik @ 793-1326
WAREHOUSE KID’S
Warehouse Kid’s is for all boys and girls in
Kindergarten through 6th grade. We
provide a combination of games, interactive
characters, and fun filled songs capture
kid’s attention while showing them that
living for God is the best way to live!
Contact: Ron Sellers @ 787-0385
DON’T FORGET!!
1st Sunday of the month we will collect the
"Change Cups". For those of you who
need to pick up one of our "red" cups we
will have some on Sunday.
Your spare "change" helps
those in need in our church
and our community.
2nd & 4th Sunday ~
S T A T U R E Youth Group @ 1:00pm
Community Center West Room
Contact: Neal Hayes 365-1496
Next Meeting: May 22
1st Friday ~
READER’S Book Group @ 6:30pm
New this year in Reader’s Group!
We will be picking a book from the Bible
each month to read. Hope you can join us
for the discussion!
Brenda Sims Home
600 Bidwell St, Fruitland Park
Book to read:
The Book of Song of Solomon
Contact: Brenda Sims (352) 787-5266
Next Meeting: May 6

2nd & 4th Friday ~
Harp & Bowl - Worship & Intercession
The Harp & Bowl theme is from Rev. 5
where the 24 elders and the 4 living
creatures are giving the Father and Son
the glory that's due them. The harp
represents music and worship and the
bowls are described as the prayers of the
saints. Our goal is to worship God as
vertically, directly, and interactively as
possible and to pray the heart of Jesus in
every situation that God leads us to.
Cochran Home
3233 Indian Trail, Eustis, 32726
Snacks at 6:30; Harp & Bowl at 7:00
Contact: Cliff Cochran @ 483-3140
Next Meeting: May 13 & 27
4th Friday ~
Older Gents @ 11:30am
Older Gents is an opportunity for men
over 50 to meet for lunch and enjoy great
conversation over a variety of topics that
affect all of us.
Golden Corral, North Leesburg
Contact: Leo Lenschow 429-2563
Next Meeting: May 27
ation
elev
Young Adults of 18 to 29 years old gather
for fellowship and different activities.
Ultimately, Elevation's vision is to give
young adults a platform to fellowship, to
serve, to do life together.
Contact: Vance Harbaugh (941) 720-3912
CREATIVE ARTS
Drama! Dance! Pantomime! Sign
language! Flags! Children's ballet! These
are just a few venues that have been
incorporated into the Creative Arts
Ministry at the Warehouse Church. The
message of salvation through Jesus
Christ and the ministry of worship are key
factors in the foundation of our Creative
Arts Ministry. Many people are blessed
through the visual arts and this is why this
ministry exists. Look for future
opportunities that will allow community
oriented theater and dance.
Contact: Barbara Smith @ 315-1400
Check out the web page at
www.vcfleesburg.com
for everything on the
calendar this month.

Saturday, May 14 ~
Love & Marriage
Jeff & Sue Myers home at 6:30pm
41737 Kendra Lane, Weirsdale
This is a monthly gathering for young
couples married 15 years and less
(or soon to be married).
We hope you will join us as we
pursue discovering God's principles to
"becoming one" in our marriages; in our
relationships with one another, and with
Him.
If you need assistance in finding a sitter
for your children, please give Sue @
504-6506 a call and she will try to assist
you.
Contact: Brian Sellers 504-6221
Wax on wax off?
I started out on this journey many years ago. I
made the choice to live for Jesus the best I knew
how. I fell more times than I cared to get up from.
But the love that Jesus had for me always met me
in my time of need.
For the last 10 years or more I’ve been on this
walk with Jesus on a one on one intimacy. I put
pleasurable things around me aside as much as
possible. Even though there were more downs
than ups, one thing remained constant and true and
that was Jesus Christ, whether in spirit or word.
Recently my pastor referred to the Karate Kid
movie in a sermon. Now, I like most have seen this
movie (if you haven’t I highly recommend it). I
heard what he was saying but not until lately did it
become a reality for me.
See for months and years Jesus has had me
picking up garbage, real garbage cans, bottles and
trash things most people wouldn’t touch with gloves
on let alone without. But in faith I went out in one
town after another, state after state, year after year.
Well, after picking up all the garbage around this
lake where I live, the other day I walked around and
didn’t find much to pick up. I thought GREAT JOB!
Now I can enjoy the view, right? Nope! Wrong!
When I was ready to just enjoy the view the spirit of
God said in my heart, mind, and soul, “Pick up the
glass from the ground.” What? I said all the broken
glass?” I thought to myself, I picked up all the
garbage already, and my flesh just threw a fit
saying inside me WHAT??????? You’ve got to be
kidding, right? All I can see? I felt like a little kid
that had just cleaned her room and was soooooooo
ready to go play only to have my Dad say no not
yet, still not finished. Still work to do kiddo. I began
pouting. But knowing he was right I said, okay. I
thought I don‘t get it all but okay. So I got ready and
out the door I went.
It was a little cold so I put on socks to keep my
feet dry. I started walking and picking up broken
glass a piece here and one there and then BAM!!!!!
I came to a stretch of broken glass that was as
wide as a driveway in little pieces the size of
orange seeds for the most part. Some were so
small that I had to sweep the remainder into a pile
and use my hand as a dust pan just to get it all up.
Just as soon as I was done in one spot, another
popped up in front of me. Then I turned just right
and saw glass in the cracks of the sidewalk and my
flesh said, “Not the cracks too?” And in a
millisecond I heard the Spirit say, “Yes all”. So I
sighed and began picking it up from the crack as
well.
Then my flesh started to whine just enough for
the Lord to hear me. And he calls to mind that all
this is for his children. It’s not just about me. But He
has His reasons. My heart went out to my daughter
Gail when I was in the presence of Jesus. So again
that love engulfed me. I kept on picking up glass
as cars and trucks drove by within inches of hitting
me at times. I thought about what Jesus brought to
my mind, his words of compassion and how I
needed to know. And sure enough when my flesh
started to whine again, I heard the Spirit speak and
at the same time I heard a thump off to my left.
Then another and another so I looked up and a
man was coming down the sidewalk in a wheel
chair and the Spirit said, “This is my child.” Wow,
okay then! Two minutes later wooshhhh...a boy on
a bike whisks by me. The spirit says, “This is my
child.” Whoa, now that was something!
I choked back the tears as I started to put
things together as never before. My God, I thought,
what a blessing. Let all the people think whatever
they like, I got it. I know that what I’m doing is for
you Jesus and all your children both those that are
now, and those that will be in the future.
As I continued I heard some children from
across the highway say that I was crazy and others
said I was sick and stupid. But my heart kept telling
me, they’re just children and they don’t always
know what is good for them.
But, I also found courage to start talking to a few of
the children about Jesus and His love and how if
each one of us tries to do just a little each time we
walked around the lake, then in no time it would be
clean. Almost every child I talked to or someone
that they knew had been cut while walking around
there by glass tossed aside carelessly. The
smallest of the children, a boy, picked up a piece of
red glass and brought it to me and put it into the
garbage bag and he smiled. Jesus loves you I told
him and smiled back at him.
What Jesus does for every one of us is He
moves into our heart. He starts in our darkness and
plants a seed of love and light. It grows and the
more we hear the words of God the more we grow.
We don’t change overnight. It takes time, years
some times. Parents should know this, but we are
all human in a fleshly body. So we tend to forget
about the growth process. Jesus showed me that
when we can’t see a purpose for what he has us
doing, He always has his reasons. It is not all just
about oneself.
Wax on, wax off Danielson. Fight a good fight
in faith!
Love and Light,
Lydia

The storehouse team is patiently waiting to get moved into our new facility so
we can begin our food distribution on a regular basis. After getting into the
building and getting settled we will be doing a major food drive to help the
people in our community. If you haven’t picked up a copy of the supply list,
please pick one up beside our drop off point located in the rear of where we are
presently meeting (by the donuts.). We look forward to lots of participation
from our church family, both in donations and distribution.

Thank you for all that you have done to make our community a better place.
Blessings to you,
The Storehouse Team

You can give an offering also. Just make a memo to “Storehouse”.

Emerging Church
A
number of years ago Randy Gideons
encouraged me to re-read “Blue Like Jazz”
by Donald Miller – nonreligious thoughts on
Christian spiritually. The question I have to ask
myself again is, what am I parroting. In the pass, I
have read the “up and coming” new church growth
book or Christianity Today or Ministry Today and
immediately wanted to implement what the piece of
writing instructed. Because it is, cool. What is cool
today in religious circles? We don’t care if cool
people are right or wrong we just want to follow the
cool thing. We don’t understand the simple gospel
of God the Father, Jesus the Son and Holy Spirit
the Action person. I want to follow Jesus if he is
cool or not and what he teaches whether it is cool
or not.
The Jewish faith understands the role of
Father God in a believer’s life yet is blind to the
Messiah. Christians have the revelation of Jesus
as the Messiah yet have not identified with the
Father and his covenant. The Pentecostal
movement brought to the forefront the Holy Spirit
and the gifts yet lost sight of the importance of
biblical authority over and against personal
experience or revelation. A subculture of
evangelicalism the so-called emergent church or
the post-modern church movement has challenged
us in our walking out our faith in a comfortable
suburban environment where many of us live.
This movement is accused of a salvation by
osmosis mentality, where ‘if you hangout with us
long enough you’re in.’ Maybe, just maybe, the
presents of God through the Holy Spirit brings
people to the Lord as we share our lives and love
on them as Jesus did. Don’t be surprise, God may
use this movement as he has use a number before
to challenge the stats quo, and any movement that
is worth its salt has been contested.
I am saddened of the dreadful seduction,
which has resulted in Judaism and Christianity
becoming so acceptable. We all have many ideas
as to how this happened but most of us admit
something has transpired and it is not good and we
have to find our way forward to what God wants for
today. I believe there are Godly people who have
their ears to the ground to hear in part what is in
store for us today. God has not given up on his
people. We are more likely to give up on God
before he would even think of giving up on us yet
we as the Church have lost our light and as the
world becomes dim, the church becomes dimmer.
Where are the servants, the church has failed to
send them to the lost. Across the nation,
thousands say they are believers and have
beautiful experiences in the Lord. Yet, have
missed one very basic key, which is so important –
the kingdom of God cannot be established without
it. It is not ministry but being there (living for
something) and serving as Jesus demonstrated in
the Gospels.
Every Tuesday morning I took Betty to the Lake
Arthritis Center in Leesburg, Fl. to receive an
Embrel injection from one of Dr. Miguel A.
Gonzalez staff. One day as always, the waiting
room was full of patients. Many of the spouses wait
outside. There really isn’t anything to do but wait,
so many of us use this time to talk (that is a stretch
for me). I was conversing with a gentleman who is
retired from the Washington, DC police force. We
were talking to another gentleman whom I call the
“Professor” and the conversation is always
challenging. The Professor had to go inside to
receive an infusion so we sent him on his way with,
“we will see you next week.” He is a student of
mind control and Hypnotism. He talks about
demonstrating his craft by bending spoons etc. He
says that the church (most of the times the Roman
Catholic Church) doesn’t relate to the present day
problems and has never been relevant to society,
to human struggle and the underlining quest is
money. (To me that sounds a lot like the protestant
church, also) What he believes is not what he says
he believes nor is it what he does. I replied to my
ex-cop friend that I couldn’t let him (the professor)
get away with one of his comments for it wasn’t that
simple. My retired police officer replied, “It is that
simple, for you know basically things are pretty
simple.”
He was right! I became heady; I was caught up in
intellectualizing. The political principle he was
talking about was straightforward. I was caught up
in idealism and empty passion. I was not a voice of
change; my heart disagreed because he was liberal
in his persuasion and he borders on being an
atheist.
My heart was not right. It took this person's
comment to challenge me. Where was the Jesus in
what I said? It is simple, do as Jesus did, talk as
Jesus talked and be passionate as Jesus was in
word and deed. Jesus likes people and even loves
them. Shame on me I still need to get rid of some
more ...
Greg Stier, National youth leader of Dare 2
Share Ministries says, “If we put down our picket
signs and pick up a basin of water and towel to
wash feet with, then maybe the world would sit up
and listen. On the other hand, maybe they wouldn’t.
But either way, we’d be more like Jesus.”
May I ask a question (you are included here
Leo)? Where are the William and Catherine
Booths’ of the twenty-first-century?
“England was more decadent then, at that
period of time, than we are today. Almost every
minister had a mistress. There was the “rotten
borough system;” vested interest had bought out
the politics,” says Charles Colson long time
defender of truth. The Booths and their friends
were not satisfied with simply holding church. They
wanted to help God change people’s lives so they
held street meetings, parades, marching bands,
and posters, to attract people who felt unwelcome
by traditional church. The Army carried the war
against sin and misery into the streets befriending
prostitutes, seeking out groups of men who were
drinking or just hanging out.
“Booth was also convinced the wealthiest
should show God’s love to the neediest street
person. One Sunday, the Rev. Samuel Dunn was
sitting comfortably on his ornate red plush pulpit
chair in the Broad Street Chapel and the
congregation was singing when the chapel’s outer
door suddenly swung open. In came a shuffling,
shabby, almost ragged contingent of men and
women, obviously nervous and uncomfortable in
the presence of the chapel people who were made
up mostly of mill manager, shopkeepers and their
well-dressed wives.
Behind the ragged group stood William
blocking the efforts of those visitors who were
fearful and wanting to leave the church. Then he
began ushering his charges into the pews. The
Rev. Dunn watched in dismay. It was totally
unprecedented. In those days, the poor, if they
even came to chapel, entered by another door and
were segregated onto benches with no backs or
cushions, behind a partition that screened them
from the eyes of the congregation, as well as the
pulpit. The regular members of the congregation
stared, glared, whispered and snorted. To be
identified as “sinners” or to associate with “sinners”
was considered embarrassing, insulting and
perhaps even slanderous. Some changed seats to
avoid any contact with the “riffraff.”
Following the service, Booth was confronted
by angry deacons and the pastor who let him know
that in the future, if he wishes to bring in such
people, they were to enter by the side door and sit
on those benches in the reserved section.
William told them that he didn’t see why they
couldn’t worship God the same as the rest of the
parishioners. The deacons and Rev. Dunn replied
that they were most concerned that these folk may
be crawling with lice and vermin, and they would
make our good women uneasy.
William’s final point was, ‘I know their clothes
are shabby and threadbare. They did the best they
could with what they have and they had cleaned
themselves up for this occasion. Why are you so
concern about their clothes? I’m more interested in
their souls.’” (1)
One fuming community leader responded,
“Walking in the front door looking like that gives
decent people the wrong impression about our
congregation.”
Listen – did you hear that? Just a little stretch
of your imagination now. Yes, in the distance, I can
hear one of the deacons making a comment to
Rev. Dunn, “What is Booth complaining about, they
have a “reserved” section all to themselves” – so
goes the emerging church movement.
1. Helen K. Hosier, William &Catherine Booth.
Uhrichsville, OH: Barbour Publishing, Inc. 1999: 20-21.
Check out Leo’s blog
on the Warehouse
website at
www.vcfleesburg.com
About Mothers Day "Mother" is hiding in the kitchen. Find and circle the
letters that spell out M-O-T-H-E-R.
Mother's Day is intended
to be a day to celebrate
motherhood. Many churches
and families in the United
States recognize the second
Sunday in May to honor
mothers.
Many years ago, England
observed a day to honor
mothers in mid-Lent that was
called Mothering Sunday. In
the United Kingdom,
Mothers' Day is celebrated in
March.
The first known
suggestion of Mother's Day in
the United States was in 1872
by Julia Ward Howe. She
suggested that people observe
the day on June 2 as a day
dedicated to peace. Others
around the country
campaigned for a Mother's
Day including Mary Towles
Sasseen, Frank E. Hering, and
Anna Jarvis. In 1908, Anna
Jarvis of West Virginia began
a campaign for a nationwide
observance of Mother's Day.
She chose the second Sunday
in May and started the custom
of wearing a carnation. If a
person wears a colored
carnation, their mother is
living. A white carnation
signifies that their mother has
passed away.
In 1914, President
Woodrow Wilson signed a
joint resolution of Congress
recommending that Congress
and the executive branch of
government recognize the
observance of Mother's Day.