MikeWindley.com

Back From Vacation

Posted on July 29, 2008 by mikewindley

Well, Courtney and Jackson and I just finished a week of vacation which included 5 days with my family (Dad, Dee, Matt, Cheri, Ethan, Karen, Barry, Jenny and Kimmie) and 2 days with Courtney’s parents. It’s great to get away – greater to get home! Providentially, the power cord to my computer was left at home so I had three hours of battery power to ration over the week away. I could have used my brother’s laptop for some things, but I took the opportunity to go “unplugged” for a week. It was actually really nice to be free from the computer where I do a lot of work and play. It was great to not have that option and focus on doing some other things. I did get to read a little. And, for the first time in a long time, I read fiction. I had heard about a series of mystery stories that GK Chesterton (Catholic Theologian/Writer) wrote many moons ago and I was curious. So I checked out the “Best of Father Brown” mystery stories from the library and was able to do some light reading.

Anyway…glad to be home. Ready to “get to work.” I miss the routine of daily life. And there is so much to do. Did I mention we bought a minivan on vacation as well???

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10 Things…

Posted on July 19, 2008 by mikewindley

Ten things I’m thankful for. A few years ago, at a conference, a speaker encouraged us to give thanks for 10 things from the previous day before we ever got out of bed. I took the challenge and really enjoy starting off the day with the gratitude of the many blessings in my life. This idea also goes along with our BRIDGE message series called “24 – A Day with God.” It’s a great 3-part series about walking with God all day long. I hope you’ll check it out.

So, I probably won’t remember what I thought of in bed this morning, but here’s 10 things I’m grateful for today:

Health – I could be paralyzed or partially disabled b/c of a past illness I had so I’m very grateful to be healthy and walking.
My dad – he turned 64 yesterday and I’m so proud to be his son and couldn’t ask for a more loving, godly dad who models true manhood each and every day.
Courtney and Jackson – I’m blessed to have them both.
My mom – got to spend some time with her yesterday and always enjoy that time of talking about life and what’s going on with her.
Grace – where would I be without God’s grace? I am such a selfish sinner and don’t deserve God’s grace and forgiveness but, fortunately, that is what God offers me.
Matt and Cheri and Ethan. They are awesome. I wish I could hang out with them more.
Dee. Solid step-mom. Puts others first all the time. What a servant!
Hot water. I can’t function without a morning shower.
Coffee. Is there a support group to get me off the stuff?
Electricity. It makes the hot water, and the coffee, and provides lights, A/C, etc. Thank you God for electricity!
Rain. Almost forgot about this one. After our drought a few years ago, I told God I would never complain about rain again. So far so good, I think. Thanks for the rain we had yesterday.

So what are you grateful for?

Posted in Church in General, Family, Fun | 1 Comment

Oswald Chambers Strikes Again

Posted on July 14, 2008 by mikewindley

Oswald Chambers insights never cease to amaze me. I hope you will take the time to read his devotional thought from today:

July 14, 2008

Suffering Afflictions and Going the Second Mile

I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also —Matthew 5:39This verse reveals the humiliation of being a Christian. In the natural realm, if a person does not hit back, it is because he is a coward. But in the spiritual realm, it is the very evidence of the Son of God in him if he does not hit back. When you are insulted, you must not only not resent it, but you must make it an opportunity to exhibit the Son of God in your life. And you cannot imitate the nature of Jesus— it is either in you or it is not. A personal insult becomes an opportunity for a saint to reveal the incredible sweetness of the Lord Jesus.

The teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is not, “Do your duty,” but is, in effect, “Do what is not your duty.” It is not your duty to go the second mile, or to turn the other cheek, but Jesus said that if we are His disciples, we will always do these things. We will not say, “Oh well, I just can’t do any more, and I’ve been so misrepresented and misunderstood.” Every time I insist on having my own rights, I hurt the Son of God, while in fact I can prevent Jesus from being hurt if I will take the blow myself. That is the real meaning of filling “up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ . . .” ( Colossians 1:24 ). A disciple realizes that it is his Lord’s honor that is at stake in his life, not his own honor.

Never look for righteousness in the other person, but never cease to be righteous yourself. We are always looking for justice, yet the essence of the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is— Never look for justice, but never cease to give it.

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People Matter to God

Posted on July 7, 2008 by mikewindley

“People Matter to God” is one of the core values at The Bridge. As a younger Christ-follower, I don’t think I held that value the way I do now. I was much more judgmental of people, quick, at least in my heart, to judge whomever for whatever faults I might find in them. I don’t think I was self-righteous, but I don’t think I had fully grasped the depravity of my own heart. Through my daily devotional (My Utmost for His Highest), I’ve encountered a couple of powerful quotes from the author. Oswald Chambers writes:

“I have never met the man I could despair of after discerning what lies in me apart from the grace of God.”
“…you know there is no criminal who is half so bad in actuality as you know yourself to be in possibility.”

To paraphrase the Bible, “we all our sinners.’ Bad ones. I know I am. I can really despise myself sometimes. And I realize now, much more fully than ever before, that I am no better than any man or woman. My finger of judgment is more likely to point at me than at any other. And that has helped me to more fully believe that “People Matter to God.” He loves me, you, and everyone else because of his choice. He chooses to love us. We matter to Him, not because we are good, or doing better, but simply because we matter. He values us.

At The Bridge, we want to exude that value. People matter to God. They matter to us. There should be no finger of judgment that extends to anyone that makes The Bridge a part of their week or life. There should only be open arms of love, grace, forgiveness and acceptance. People matter. No matter where you are in life, know that God loves you. He loves you too much to leave you where you are. He wants to transform your life. You matter to Him. You matter to us.

Posted in Books, Church in General, Making Sense of Faith, Quotables | 1 Comment

And the beat goes on…

Posted on July 4, 2008 by mikewindley

EBC Youts

Here’s a pic of some of my former youth ministry before they left on their World Changers mission trip to Chicago last Friday. They are due to return tomorrow night. I’m so proud of Kevin Fleegle for how he stepped up from “volunteer extraordinaire” to “youth pastor” in my absent. He does such an awesome job! He has such a heart for teenagers, for Christ, others, and for developing other leaders in the church! Way to go Kevin!

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Hitting the Wall…

Posted on July 1, 2008 by mikewindley

It seems I may be “hitting the wall” in terms of blogging. I apologize for my lack of faithfulness. Sometimes, I just don’t feel like writing anything.

Anyway…here’s what is going on these days:

Connection Group – we just finished week 6 of 10 in our Starting Point group last night. First of all, the Starting Point material is outstanding! If you might label yourself as a “spiritual seeker” or someone who wants to learn more about the God of the Bible, Starting Point is the place for you! It’s incredible stuff. And “b” (that’s a joke – let me know if you get it), I love our Starting Point Group. Last night we met out at Jordan Lake for our meeting, where Joe and Elisa were camping. What a great setting and I’m so appreciative of the dedication of our group members to make the drive out, and to brave the waters!
I ran this morning. Yup, you read that right. I woke up at ten minutes to 5 for some reason, and figured, “why not?” So I got up, strapped on my two-year-old sneakers, that no one in their right mind would run in, and hit the road. I am a s-l-o-w runner, usually running 10 minute miles. But, I haven’t run in, geez, years. But I was determined to make it one mile before stopping, pressed up the hill that felt like a quarter of a mile and then “sprinted” the last tenth of the mile in order to come in to the approximate 1 mile at 10 minutes. Then it took me 16 minutes to walk/run my way back! I hate running. But I may toy with doing it more since my sis-in-law challenged my athletism on her blog and challenged me to run with her in a half marathon. It will be nothing more than a small miracle for me to run a half marathon.
Reading a couple of different books. On is “Experiencing God through Prayer” by Madame Guyonne. Warning – this book is not for everyone – only those who so long to grow deeper in their relationship with God than you might ever imagine. It is odd book, and will leave many saying, “Huh? I don’t get it.” Give it a shot if you’d like. It’s incredibly practical, which I like.
Preparing to “lead worship” on Sunday. In theory, they (whoever they are) tell me I am the lead worshipper every Sunday at church, since I am the Lead Pastor. I can only hope that I truly do model worship in my life. But this Sunday, with our esteemed worship leader, Cary, out on vacation, and our usual back up out of town as well, I have accepted the responsibility. I enjoy playing guitar and singing, but I’m not the greatest at either. I get the job done, but I know it is not my calling. But I welcome the opportunity and look forward to sharing the responsibility with Linda who will be leading out as well. It will be a great day of worship! Come prepared!

That’s it for now.

Posted in Books, Church in General, Connection Group, Fun, Making Sense of Faith, Music, Prayer | Tagged Ice Cream | 2 Comments

Email from Across the Pond

Posted on June 26, 2008 by mikewindley

A few weeks ago, I introduced our church to a couple of missionary families in Africa that I know. The are The Boones and The Whites. Both families had been through some difficult times (one of the Whites had suffered a head injury and one of the Boones had been robbed at gunpoint while at work in a preschool). We have prayed for each family and both are doing fine. We did get an email from the Boones in reply to our request as to how we can help be an encouragment to them after the trauma of the robbery. Here is a bit of their response:

Thank you Mike; it was wonderful to hear from you!! I had forgotten that you were in TZ. I am sure you have heard of the terrible violence in South Africa lately. It has been a terrible time. We have been safe in our area, but over 20,000 are homeless as a result of the xenophobia violence. Basically, the Xhosas, (the tribe we work with), are very xenophobic, and they went to all the foreigners houses and forced them out of the townships. We have been having to be cautious about our trips to the townships. The violence has stopped now, but now you have the aftermath of 20,000 homeless foreigners- they are from Zimbabwe, Malawi, Somalia, and about every other African country.

I do really appreciate you all wanting to help us in our ministry. We of course, love “care packages”, and things for our ministry to the schools. We can always use glue sticks, and any preschool books, Kindergarten, or First Grade books where children must learn to print their letters, and other think like that. Just those littler paperback books you get in many stores. Let due know if your church would be willing to mail some things like that. Postage as you know is terrible, so many times the care package ends up being very expensive due to that. I can give you a list of a few things we can’t get here and would like:)

Again, I was very touched that you wrote us. Please pray for us at this time, especially due to the violence all around us.

May God be praised! Love, Amy Boone

The Boones have also sent us a list of items that can collect and send in the form of a “care package.” If you would like to contribute anky of the items or towards the cost of shipping, please bring your items or contributions to church on any Sunday and give them to Pastor Tim at the Information Table.

Here’s the list:

Reesees, dream whip, chocolate chips, crisco, packages of strawberyy muffins mix, and Strawberyy iced pop-tarts, Honey Nut Cheerios and the Yogurt Cheerios.

Be sure to say a prayer for the Whites and the Boones as well.

Posted in Food, Helping Others, Prayer | Leave a comment

Take The New Bridge Poll

Posted on June 25, 2008 by mikewindley

We’re giving some free advertising to a few restaurants in the Morrisville area. Go to The Bridge website to tell us where your favorite place is to eat in Morrisville. If your favorite spot is not in our top ten listed on the site, please post a comment and I’ll try and add your favorite to the list!

Posted in Church in General, Food, Fun, Helping Others | Leave a comment

Where I’ve Been…

Posted on June 24, 2008 by mikewindley

Being away at camp can really put you behind. It feels like I “hit the ground running” upon arriving home at camp and haven’t stopped since. Surprisingly, I’ve spent precious little time blogging or tweeting in the last two weeks. Let me catch you up:

Got back from camp on a Saturday, barely sat down and then went to Morrisville Day at the Park, to the office, back to the park. Church on Sunday. Don’t remember what happened Monday, besides getting ready for Innovative Church Community (ICC) on Tuesday, where I am the default leader at this time. Tuesday was all ICC. Wednesday is staff meeting and who knows what else – future planning for upcoming church campaign. Thursday, can’t remember (no surprise there). Friday Courtney leaves for a weekend trip with her college buddies and I’m on daddy duty for the weekend. Also Friday, my granddad dies (more on this later). Saturday, travel with Jackson to watch Joe and Lance play in a soccer tournament in Greensboro. Sunday is The Bridge’s “Day at the Lake” which includes a baptism, and I’m still on daddy duty and learned quickly just how hard my wife’s fulltime parenting job can be when I am not around to help. Courtney comes home to save me on Sunday afternoon as we get ready to travel to Pinetown, NC for granddad’s funeral. Monday is the funeral. Drive back in time to be at our Connection Group on Monday night. Love the Connection Group. Am blessed to be “connected” with everyone that is a part. Tuesday, today, feels like Monday. I keep trying to plan things for tomorrow and then think to myself, “Wait. Today is tomorrow!”

Anyway…I’ll survive. But I had to admit to my “accountability” partner this morning that I need prayer. Life has been crazy and I’m worn out and having a hard time staying connected with God such that I really feel like I’m truly living for Him and not for me. But God is so gracious. He’s knows my weakness/frailty. He picks me up when I need it.

And here’s a Bible passage that’s been on my mind:

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body…Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:7-11, 16-18

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Re-energizing at Camp

Posted on June 12, 2008 by mikewindley

Despite being sick and completely tired as a result, being at Camp Willow Run has been great! I love being here. It’s very much a working vacation! But even better, it’s a retreat from most things worldly and a great chance to connect with God and get revitalized spiritually. Like Moses got to go and be with God on Mt. Sinai, I get to retreat to CWR to be with Him.

It’s also great to have Courtney and Jackson here. I know Courtney feels the same way about camp as I do. And, of course, Jackson loves it – it’s kids paradise! Field to run in, lake to swim, fish and boat in, rockets, bows and arrows, basketball, soccer, and, of course, train cars!

Anyway…I love coming to camp. It get me out of my routine and gets me rethinking aobut life and church. Hopefully I’ll return with new energy and vision. One lesson to take home with me is finding that special place to retreat when at home and in the routine – to get out of the norm and take a fresh look at my connection to God and how I’m serving Him. I hope you readers will find that special place of retreat as well.

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