Blessed Girl

February 19, 2009

Blessed Girl by guest blogger – Ashlee Bradford

This blog has been brooding in my spirit for a few days, and I’m not really sure I can adequately express what is in my heart…but honestly…God is so good! We have lived in Wisconsin for over 3 years now. The first two years were miserable — we were in the wilderness — confused at what exactly God was doing, attempting to be obedient, and struggling. I think I grew up more in those 2 years then any other time in my life. We could have turned away from ministry entirely and to be honest, I’m not certain anyone would have cared that we were throwing our destinies away. But, we pursued God anyway. It was so hard some days. We talked incessantly about what we felt God calling us to do in this region. We didn’t feel released to move forward. Then in Aug of 2007 after we went to The Call in Nashville at Titan Stadium we started the Flood House of Prayer and shortly thereafter our Life Groups. In June of 2008 we started having regular Sunday services. We are still small, but God is bringing shape to the vision he gave us and bringing us the right people in His timing. Sometimes I’d like to rush things along but I think God is building our church, carefully…with thoughtful preparation. I used to be so jealous of those who seemed to be handed ministry on a platter…that was all they had ever done. On the other hand, Kevin has been bivocational for so long…and sometimes gone to school at the same time as well…and at times it’s been a challenge. But, in retrospect (and Kevin is still bi-vocational as I write this) it’s grown us up too, made us more passionate, made us more appreciative of the authority and opportunity that God gives us. At times, we’ve had chances to walk away and take the easy way (a full-time paid ministry position) but God always answers with, “Is that what I’ve called YOU too?” I’m so thankful we have stuck the course, because I see God doing something awesome and had we left He would use someone else here. I’m sure eventually Kevin will leave his “day job” as we call it, but in the meantime God has brought contentment. Sometimes I worry about how hard it is on our kids, but Kevin is so intentional to spend quality time with them that I think they actually get MORE attention then many kids whose parents only have one job. On top of it, I’m home with them during the day, doing school, hanging out, playing games, etc. I’m so thankful we chose to home school as well, they are learning, growing, and changing everyday…and I don’t miss a minute of it! A little over a year ago, I read a book called Dangerous Surrender by Kay Warren. It really changed my mind in regards to how I think about a lot of areas of my life. Since putting some of my previous attitudes in check, it’s amazing to see what God has done. It seems that with my attitude in the right place (not being terribly concerned over material goods, free of jealousy, etc) God has really opened up the floodgates of heaven. We have been paying off debt. We have a nice home, van, and moped. In January we got new furniture…and last weekend we were finally able to buy the girls a new play set for the backyard. We now have the extra cash for fun things like getting my hair done, taking the girls to the girly salon, going on a date, etc. God has been extraordinarily faithful! You cannot out give God! Lately, over and over again I am so awestruck by God’s goodness. How much He has grown us up, how blessed we are, how excited I am to see what He wants to do in Appleton! It’s not that there aren’t needs, questions, and struggles — there certainly are — but I have a calm confidence that God is working it out and that He is bringing His Kingdom here! Praise God!

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Posted by kevinjbradford

Special Valentine’s Day Post

February 13, 2009

Well tomorrow is Valentine’s Day and I am not much into the whole Valentine’s Day thing, but I wanted to honor my lovely wife. We have been married 9 1/2 years exactly tomorrow. So here is my top 9 1/2 favorite things about her.

1. She has a Passion to see the Kingdom of God manifest itself on Earth in a way that changes people’s lives.

2. I love that she has a passion to see me succeed! (I am very blessed)

3. She thinks I am handsome & sexy! (she tells me often - yes I am blessed)

4. She is an amazing mom! Ashlee takes such good care of my girls, and she is always teaching them new things and most importantly about God!

4.5 She mother’s the people in our church in a powerful way that allows them to grow and mature.

5. Ashlee is a wonderful wife in so many ways, I could not even begin to explain.

6. Ashlee is beautiful and sexy!

7. Ashlee is intelligent, ambitious, and always believes God that anything is possible.

8. Ashlee has a good sense of humor and always loves a good romantic comedy!

9. Ashlee has an intense passion for enjoying the things I like, and makes them her own! (NFL, UFC, Suspense Movies and it blesses my socks off!)

Ashlee, will you be my Valentine :) !

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Posted by kevinjbradford

Inadequacy

February 12, 2009

Inadequacy is the sudden feeling I got Tuesday afternoon setting in my office thinking about this coming Sunday’s service.

Over the past week I have posted a little about this Special Sunday.  I was processing through all of the things that must be done, accomplished, put in place,  and finalized in order to make Sunday successful.

Suddenly, without notice, a feeling of inadequacy washed over me. I got nervous, became flush, and even started to think, “man what am I doing.”  Have you ever had that sudden feeling of inadequacy. The feeling that you have jumped in over your head? That feeling that if God does not come through in a real and relevant way this whole thing is going to be a wash! Those were the feelings that rushed around in my mind for a few minutes. My anxiety level began to rise, my blood pressure was rising, my thoughts were getting quicker and quicker to the point I could not concentrate.

Then, as quickly as the feelings of inadequacy rushed in to my mind, God began to speak to me about I was right where he wanted me. He wanted less of me, so there would be room for more of Him.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

A few moments of rattling this precious scripture around in my head created a thankfulness in me. It’s not that it was not already there, it was more like a reminding, a gentle nudge in the right direction. So I began to thank God for all of the opportunities I have in my life and in our church.

As I was thanking God for this Sunday and for the grace to deliver a powerful, life changing message and reach people imploring them to be reconciled to Christ Jesus.  The thankfulness and gratitude that I am allowed to even pastor a church in the Kingdom of God, the fact that God has honored me with such a opportunity to change lives is so amazing, and I am so thankful.

You know, His grace has brought me this far, and His grace has been sufficient for me up to this point, and it will be sufficient for me this weekend, when I am weak, He is strong!

In what areas of your life do you feel inadequate?

In what areas of your life has God’s grace been sufficient for you to achieve what you thought was impossible?

2 Comments | Challenging, God, Inspirational, Jesus, Life, Overflow, Random Thoughts, The Message | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
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Tuesday Night Reflections

February 11, 2009

If you have been around the blog for long, or if you went back and read the last few Tuesday Night Reflections then you would know that God has been really blessing my family and I. This includes my immediate family, and our church family at Overflow Church.

God has not disappointed these last seven days either. Below are a few of my reflections from the past few days.

  • Our Wednesday Night Life Group had some wonderful discussion. The topics in our Renovate series has really been inspiring some good dialogue.
  • On Friday some people that we knew as acquaintances through our home school co-op came over for dinner and an evening of games. After the night, I could say that they are some good friends, and I am excited to continue to get to know them. (And John saved me $1000…seriously)
  • Overflow Church’s Men’s Ministry (OCMM) kicked-off the 2009 schedule with men’s breakfast on Saturday morning.
  • After the  OCMM breakfast I went with a couple people from our church body and we purchased our first PA/sound equipment.
  • We used the equipment for the first time on Sunday. We got great reviews from those attending.
  • Sunday… that is a whole topic for itself. I could blog an entire series on the firsts, deep revelation released, and the worship experiences created this weekend.
  • Overall it was our most powerful service of 2009. (I was really worried that it would not be very good. I was struggling with how things had come together.)
  • The worship on Sunday was really great with the new sound equipment, the message was a little meaty (deep). God proved one more time, if you will unashamedly speak what He leads you to say.
  • I know at least 2 people that got really touched, and very, very effected by the Word.
  • On Sunday I cast vision to remind our church about the vision and goals for 2009.
  • This Sunday at Overflow will be a very special Sunday Celebration Service entitled “The Message”.  I am pumped about the message being prepared, the worship, and some of the exciting things going on during the service.
  • We currently have more visitors confirmed to attend, than we have in our church. This is going to be exciting.
  • Please pray for our service, our team, and that God moves powerfully in these peoples lives.
  • Tonight was a good night. I went to buy 1 new shirt to wear on Sunday for our service. I wanted something new and fresh to wear. I ended up with 8 new shirts, and I paid less than I had expected to pay for 1. (PRAISE GOD)

Well, those are all the thoughts I can get out tonight. Check back in the next few days for the following blog topics: Leadership Via Dora 3, Lessons Via Parenting Part 2, Inadequacy, Forgiveness and more.

In His Favor,

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The Message!

February 10, 2009

I am very excited about this Sunday’s Celebration Service here at Overflow Church!

We have some special things going on this weekend, and I have been pumping this service to our Life Groups and our friends around the area. One of the things I have been doing is casting the vision that this particular Sunday will be pivotal to us reaching our goals & vision for 2009! The team and the people in our Life Groups have caught that vision.

We are a church of 20 people! We have approximately 24 vocal commitments to attending this Sunday’s Celebration Service titled “The Message”.

Those numbers are right. This Sunday at church we will have more visitors in our body than we will partners in our church! PRAISE GOD!

You see we have been working diligently to get this set up and ordered the way that God has been speaking to us about. Last week we set up our NEW Sound System (first one actually). We have now have a full audio/video package working with the projector, and the wonderful audio components in place.

I am very excited about this weekend, and it will be one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful, messages I have every preached! Hence, the title “The Message”!

This will be a very powerful kingdom-minded presentation of the gospel. I believe that it will touch/rock those people that are far from God, or simply do not attend church for one reason or another that will be attending.

If you are in the Appleton area your invited to Overflow Church’s presentation of “the message”. If your not from the Appleton area, and you believe prayer changes things, it changes everything, then please pray for the Holy Spirit to move in power and love during this week of preparation. Please pray that all those who answered yes, will come and bring friends and/or family. Please pray that the Holy Spirit really blows through our service on Sunday in a wonderful, awe inspiring way.

4 Comments | Appleton, Family, God, His Kingdom, Inspirational, Jesus, Life, Overflow, The Message, Vision | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
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Lessons Via Parenting

February 9, 2009

Glad to be back after a few days preparing for Design for Life 1.3 (final message in that series…God Rocked it out on Sunday! Praise God!

About two weeks ago my youngest daughter (Addie) was sitting in her recliner (a child sized one for 50 lbs or less) talking to me about random things. Then she heard Ash and I start to discuss dinner.

So Addie said, “We have enough food, right?”. I said, “Yes sweetie”. She said, “We always have enough food, right?” Again I said, “yes, God takes good care of us”.

Third times, a charm. She says, “Dad, we have enough food right?”

So I walked over to her recliner and knelt down to rub noses with her, and said, “Sweetie, come over to the couch and chat with me.” So we walked over to the couch and I pulled her up into my lap and rested my cheek on the top of her head. As I did this, I began to explain that mommy and daddy discuss how much money we want to spend on things, because we want to be a good steward. I then explained that God blesses us by taking care of our needs. Finally, I spent a few minutes building her up and praising her for how good she has been doing in dancing, cleaning her room, and learning new things. Then as I was putting her back down on the ground I told her beautiful and smart she was, and that God had such a wonderful destiny for her life as she grew into a smart, intelligent, beautiful young women! She said, “When I get bigger, right?” (A common discussion at my house)

Well, later that day I was in my office talking with God about something’s. That is when God reminded me of my discussion with my daughter earlier that morning. I immediately, was reminded specifically about how the conversation ended. It ended with me speaking life over my daughters future, and her receiving it without question. Well, she did question if it was when she got bigger, sort of. (She ends 80% of things with ,Right? )

During this time, I just began to understand that God wanted me to accept somethings He had been explaining to me in the same way Addie accepted my words of live over her future. I was supposed to accept it without question, not knowing when or how, but the fact that FATHER said it. You see Addie does not question if I am right or not, she simply wanted to know is this now or the future? “When I am bigger, right?”.

Jesus describes this type of situation in Mark 10:13-16
13 Then they brought little children to Him, that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked those who brought them. 14 But when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. 15 Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.” 16 And He took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them.

Jesus is describing that we should receive the Kingdom of God in the same manner as a child. Not that we should become like Children, but that we should receive the Kingdom of God like children.

Sometimes God wants to sit us in His lap and just tell us about His plans for us, and to listen to Him talk about His Kingdom. Basically to act like a 3 year old girl listening and reacting to her Earthly father, when our Heavenly Father is speaking to us. Here are the things God showed me through Addie.

  • Trusting that what is being said is 100% true with out doubt!
  • To be straightforward with our questions. Addie did not care about money or cost, she just wanted me to tell her there was enough food. Sometimes we get carried away with the why and how. Addie did not care about that, and when Father God tells me something, I should not be either.
  • Addie obeyed my every word fully. When I called her to me, she ran expectantly to sit with me. It started though with me getting down on her level and rubbing noses. You see Father God is trying to pour out His love on you. Are you rubbing noses back or turning away?
  • To live life with a sense of Awe and Wonder! You see, Addie was tuned into every word I was saying. She was in awe of the words I was speaking. I was speaking life over her, and she was taking in what her daddy was saying for all it was worth. Are you?

My final thought is this: I expect my children to act this way when I want to speak with them to speak life over them, why should I think that God would expect anything less of me?

Is there something God is trying to teach you through your children?
Has God taught you something recently through a child’s eyes?

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In Awe…really!

December 18, 2008

Well,  I had another post for tonight. I will type it up, and post it tomorrow. Then the one I had for tomorrow, I will type up and post Friday.

Why you might ask?

Tonight after Life Group my two girls came to tell me about a discussion they had earlier in the day. My oldest daughter (6) explained that she taught my youngest (3) something today.

Here is the conversation between the two.
Y: I want to be beautiful like you.
O: Sissie, God made each of us different, and you are beautiful because you are who God made you. Then, she went on to tell her that you had to understand that Jesus loves you, because He died on the Cross to forgive you of your sins.
Y: Oh and continued to ask questions that the Older daughter answered.

The whole thing ended in my older daughter leading my younger daughter in a prayer asking Jesus into her heart, and believing that Jesus died on a cross for her sins, and that she wanted Him to live in her heart for ever. She then stated that she would pray that prayer many times.

I had to change my blog for tonight, even though God really hammered me today.

I am really in AWE…my 6 year old jumped the bridge from a conversation about being beautiful like her to understanding how beautiful each of us are, because God created us and died for us. In doing so, she led her little sister to praying to receive Jesus.

After that, my wife put on some worship music in the living room and the girls were dancing and praising.

Thank You Jesus!

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Posted by kevinjbradford