Tuesday Night Reflections

April 1, 2009

Just a few thoughts tonight.

  • So many church leaders are against other church leaders. I just don’t get it. We are all trying to reach the same goal of winning people to Christ, and advance the Kingdom of God on Earth! {Right?}
  • The Fox Valley is a place where thousands of Christians are unchurched. A recent survey indicated that most unchurched Christians want to attend church somewhere, but do not know where to go!
  • According to that survey people want to attend church where there are people like them!
  • That is what I love about Overflow, we are ordinary people try to provoke one another to be more like Christ, and live a life of faith!
  • In order to reach those people that are unchurch Christians & those far from God, we have to begin to think outside of the box.  {How do we do that? How do we attract people?}
  • I believe 2009 is the year for families at Overflow Church. It was apart of the vision God spoke to me back in January.  I am praying through ways to attract and engage more families this spring and summer.
  • Overflowers, please be praying for me in the area of our schedule. I have a rough outline for the semester theme’s for the rest of the year, but I need to begin putting some more details in place.
  • I need more details so that I can do some strategic planning and set some goals in order to maintain a good pace of preperation.
  • Did you know that God “blesses” preparation? It is true. When I spend time preparing, and seeking God man He really blesses me in a way I cannot describe.
  • One final note on the preparation situation. A few people I have talked with recently gave me a hard time by the way I planned out our year into 3 different semesters {to fit in with school year} as not allowing the Holy Spirit room to move.
  • I have two thoughts about that:
  1. God can speak to me today about a message He wants me to preach, or needs me to preach in October, just as well as He can speak to me in October about it. When I began to prepare for the following semester, I believe God honors my preparation and gives me more time to study and bounce the ideas around about the best way to build excitement, prepare good illustrations, etc…
  2. This past Sunday was a Holy Spirit driven Sunday at Overflow. I had a sermon completely finished and Saturday morning during my prayer time, God spoke to me clearly that I needed to change my sermon. It was for some people who would be there Sunday. I do not believe it was by accident.  I felt a little nervous with little prep time and no run through. If your an Overflower reading this, you can let me know, but I thought God rocked it out! I went for it with a passion and zeal that was amazing.
  • Final thought: If the church could come into UNITY with a common vision to see a city transformed, we could take entire regions for God.  For now, I will continue to seek out like minded pastors and leaders to build relationship with, and beg God for that unity to come!

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Posted by kevinjbradford

Tuesday Night Reflections

March 25, 2009

Well, it has been an eventful week.

  • On Monday morning, I was talking with someone in my office, and I stated that I was refreshed and had a relaxing weekend. Then it hit me, “NO you did not relax”
  • I worked for hours on Saturday for cleaning out the room that will become our sanctuary at our new building.
  • Then on Sunday I had 3 meetings, after church. It was a grueling day beginning at 5 AM and ending around 9:15.
  • Those were the facts, the truth was that it was one of the most relaxing weekends. I believe God honored me with rest, during those activities. Each day I took a couple of hours to spend with the family watching movies, taking walks, and running out for ice cream.
  • I was thinking on my drive from Green Bay today. If believers spent half as much energy and got half as excited about Church as they do March Madness, we would see entire regions won for Christ. The Kingdom could truly be advanced.
  • I think part of the problem is that we are not ashamed to be radical sports fan, but we are ashamed of being radical loves of Jesus!
  • The bathrooms at the Tundra Lodge Conference Center are the nicest I have ever seen. The room is marble with some amazing wood doors and fixtures. The restroom had a chair that was heated in a separate section with heaters. During our lunch break today, I kicked back and relaxed. I almost took a nap, but my I-phone kept me busy on Twitter and Facebook.
  • You should take a look at WINY‘s blog. The last couple of post are awesome, and the rest are good too!
  • Another blog to check out is JoNathan’s Bog.  JoNathan is moving to Appleton to work with Overflow. After a brief season of being in our services and Life Groups he will take over our children’s ministry. (CAN I GET AN AMEN!)
  • You know I have been begging God for somethings over the last several months, and many of them have come to pass.  I am blessed.
  • The real concern here is that Ashlee has set her mind to stand in faith for 3 things and they have ALL come to pass. She should be the one teaching our prayer series in a few weeks.
  • Did I mention that we are working with another Church in the Fox Valley Region and going to move our services into a new building in April. I am believing we will outgrow it quickly, but will remain involved with the building and outreaches from that location for a long time!
  • Oh, final thought… I need to pray more!

Those are my reflections. Many other things happened and went on around here, but too many to discuss.

If you live in the Appleton area we would love to see you at a Life Group or Celebration Service! Just give me a call 920-475-7595.

Check back  (Thursday) for Benefits Verses Responsibilities Part 3

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Posted by kevinjbradford

Tuesday Night Reflections

March 18, 2009

Just a few thoughts before heading off to bed…

  • LONG week… Why is it the weeks that we think are going to be easy and enjoyable turn out to be a pain, and the weeks I dread or think will be difficult are never as hard as I thought!
  • The week ended with a lot of meetings.
  • Friday night the team and I got to look around the building we are planning on using as a new location for our Sunday Services and community outreach.
  • The weather has been beautiful the last few days and our family cannot get enough of it.
  • We have been enjoying long walks, cool breezes, and the grill!
  • “If you cannot be tested, then you cannot be trusted”
  • Trials and tribulations will come, so we must ensure our attitude is one that embraces the trials as opportunities.
  • Many Christians say that God would never test us or allow us to go through trials
  • Umm… please read Gen 22, Matthew 4, and James 1, 1 Peter and get back to me.
  • The last seven days have been a pretty down time for me and the family. My family needed the rest time and a little more family time.
  • I put in 8 or 9 hour days instead of the normal 11 or 12.
  • I also took  most of Monday off and we went out to lunch and to Monkey Joe’s play center.
  • It may sound  a little contradictory to say that the week was long, and restful at the same time.
  • The warfare and pressure this week was immense for me, but Ashlee and the kids needed my attention more and needed me around more during the last few days.
  • So through out this restful and enjoyable time, there was some intense times of prayer and warfare.
  • Don’t Get it? That is okay. When someone is working full-time, raising a family, and church planting the roles and days seem to get very mixed and very complex.
  • Today I broke through some of the warfare and I feel much less discombobulated. PRAISE GOD!
  • I don’t get the NCAA selection Saturday process, but at least NCAA basketball has a play off system. The NCAA should glean some information from basketball to set up a football playoff system.

Enough Random thoughts for tonight!

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Posted by kevinjbradford

Tuesday Night Reflections

March 11, 2009

WOW…. the past 7 days have been interesting.

  1. First and foremost we must pray for the Pastor Fred Winters family in this tragic time.  We must pray for his wife and kids, but also for his church family.
  2. Sunday was amazing at Overflow Church as we wrapped up “The Message Series” with “Yield”.
  3. Without Surrender (Yielding),  God is not free to work in us and through us and; therefore we will never realize our potential or fulfill our divine destiny.
  4. The greatest threat to our relationship with God is the blessings and promises that God gives to us.
  5. If you asked me to sum up everything I know about Christianity in one word, it would be “yielding”.
  6. Sunday’s message was the pinnacle of the series, and it really rocked some people.
  7. This is a must read testimony about God breathing the breathe of life into someone. Read here!
  8. I am so blessed by the blog noted above.  IT NEVER GETS OLD!
  9. Our household has had one interesting two week period.
  • I worked late 3 nights the last week of Feb, and then flew to Nashville for 3 days on Feb 26th.
  • The first week of March I did not get home before 8:30 any night.
  • Monday Night, Ashlee and I sat down and discussed some areas of our life that we needed to make sure we are on the same page about.
  • Tuesday of last week, we found out that Ashlee is expecting #3! (We are very excited)!
  • Powerful Testimony tomorrow about how God moved in this situation.
  • I took Monday off and had a family fun day! We went to lunch, Monkey Joe’s (kids play area), took at family nap, and then enjoyed some snuggling and reading.

My good friend Jonathan (Nate) has arrived in Appleton tonight. Many of you on Twitter may know him as Jfietzer. I am excited to spend some time having fun this week, and dreaming some about what God is going to be doing here in Appleton and the Fox Cities Region.

That’s all tonight. Check back for our Guest Blogger tomorrow night (Wednesday).

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Posted by kevinjbradford

Tuesday Night Reflection

March 4, 2009

Tuesday Night Reflections is normally a time for me to reflect on the happenings of the previous week and random thoughts about the things going on in sports, culture, and the church.

This week is going to be a little different. I spent 3 days in Nashville attending some leadership meetings.  Then church on Sunday was heavy and deep with the Hebrews 12 sermon on “What can be shaken, will be shaken”.

Today I want to reflect on a couple of blogs, and then what I have done about it.

1. Where Are You? – A realistic look at yourself and where you are with your walk with Christ.
2. Questions – What are you believing for, and what are you doing about it?
3. Where are You? Part 2 – With the things in the world being shaken, are you on the same page with your spouse? Key Relationships in you life?

All three of these blogs flowed out of some processing I have been doing lately. I have been concerned with some people around me, and some old friends progression in their Walk with the Lord.

I have looking at those people in my life that I am charged with by God to disciple, and evaluating fruit. To be honest with you there has been some good fruit, and some not so good fruit.

Then I took some hard looks at my personal walk, growth,  and physical health. All of this came to a point last night.

Ashlee and I went to dinner at Chili’s (My favorite place) and had a talk. We discussed several issues and concerns about church, non-church, and family life.

She came with a list of items and concerns. She presented her case, and I repeated what I thought she was trying to communicate before giving my feedback. It was good!

We discussed the key areas of our life, and made sure we were on the same page.  Many times we assume people are on board with what we are doing, but it pays dividends to stop and find out.

My wife honored my by writing out in detail her concerns and questions to make sure I was on board with all that she was wanting to pursue. I felt respected, honored, and empowered to release her and encourage her in many areas. At the same time, I felt released and encouraged to continue to pursue somethings that I know are difficult for her and my family.

It was so powerful.  You see all the ministry and changed lives are worth the work,  long days, and painful decisions that I make and my family lives with day in and day out. There is no question that it is worth it.

Ashlee and I did come to an agreement that it is worth all the pain and suffering, but it is not worth our marriage.  Last night, we placed our marriage and family as a priority and dealt with some things even though we had meetings that I had to find someone else to lead for me. It was worth it!

I believe that God used that to bring breakthrough to my marriage, my family life, my church, and even our prayers.

Just some encouraging words for you pastors, leaders, and believers out there.

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Posted by kevinjbradford

Tuesday Night Reflections

February 25, 2009

Here are a few thoughts before I head to bed!

  • On Thursday I took the girls to Milwaukee for the day, and to have Adalee’s tooth fixed.
  • We decided to go to the Betty Brinn’s Children’s Museum with the kiddos.
  • The museum was a lot of fun and the girls had a blast in the hands-on areas.
  • It makes me wonder why the church does not step up their game. Many of the things in the museum were not that detailed. The church should have a vision to WOW kids as they enter the children’s area.
  • I am excited that Overflow is having a new website developed. I got a sneak peak at it on Friday, and it looks amazing. Thanks Nate!
  • Our Saturday Night Life Group launched on Saturday night with 10 people attending. I was very excited about the turn out.
  • The feedback was that everyone enjoyed the group. We also heard from a couple of people they were stretched.
  • Continued preaching through the Gospel of John on Sunday morning with “The Message Part 2:LOVE”.
  • The message really emphasized the love of the Kingdom and the Father through the passages in John.
  • There are some things beginning to take shape here at Overflow.
  • We need to pray for a location to facilitate our growth.
  • Please continue to pray for those far from God to be reached through our ministry.
  • I am still praying for people to join our team.
  • I am looking at some universities to continue my studies. I want to work on a Master’s in Ministry Leadership or Master’s in Transformational Leadership. God is calling me to take this step, to prepare for parts of my vision that are starting to take shape even now. I need to be prepared for those things fully.

I cannot think anymore. I am exhausted, and about to relax a little before hitting the sack. Research and writing will come at 5.

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Tuesday Night Reflections

February 18, 2009

A few thoughts from the last week.

  • Thursday Night I took the family out to Disney on Ice.  It was a blast. We went to dinner at Margarita’s in Green Bay before hand. The entire experience was a lot of fun, and my girls were so excited and cute.
  • Saturday was filled with errands, building jewelry boxes with the girls, and birthday parties.
  • Our service Sunday was powerful. Many people were ministered too, and several people were responding throughout the message.  In the end three people gave their life to Christ, and a couple renewed their commitment to Christ.  Amazing!
  • God has continued to bless our family with some amazing stuff the last several days. We have been able to buy gifts for people we care about, pay for the things we needed, and put some money in savings.
  • God is still pouring out revelation at a rate faster than I can find places to preach or teach it.
  • Our House of Prayer “The Flood” was very powerful on Monday Night. The best night of prayer and intercession this year hands down. God really showed up. Two women in particular were ministered to in a very personal way.
  • I still cannot believe we have a new sound system, a worship pastor who plays guitar (she did not 3 months ago),  and some partners becoming more committed.
  • I have been begging God for some Young Men and Women to join our church that were already walking with Him, to help round out a team for growth. I believe God is starting to do that very thing.
  • We have a young man that is quitting his day job, and heading to Appleton to help us advance the Kingdom. YEA GOD!
  • Some young couples that have become interested in Overflow, and some high school & college students will be attending Life Groups for the first time this week.

Well that is all I have for tonight, probably much more I should include, but…

Leadership Lessons Via Dora 3 coming in the next couple of days, along with a special guest blogger.

In His Favor

2 Comments | Church, God, His Kingdom, Jesus, Overflow, Prayer, Tuesday Night Reflections | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by kevinjbradford