Tag Archive - Vision

Funny name

April 28, 2008 in Other with 0 Comments

Our church really has a funny name – Oak Tree Community Church. Occasionally people will ask about it, and there are several answers, but here is the one that describes it the best:

An oak tree:

  • provides shelter for those who seek it
  • provides stability for the surrounding community by sinking its roots deep to prevent erosion
  • provides security for all of God’s creatures who call it home
  • provides a supply of leaves and acorns to nourish those who depend on it

Just like it takes a long time for an acorn to become a mature oak tree, it takes a long time for a core group of people to become the church God intends them to be.

I think we’re well on our way for that to be a description of us, too.

Carpe Digital

August 8, 2007 in Other with 0 Comments

I follow about 20 blogs written by people all over the country about various topics.  Most of them are pastors and church leaders sharing insights as to how they are fulfilling our shared mission.  I thought you might be inspired by this post today from Mark Batterson, pastor of National Community Church in Washington, D.C.

I shared a session called carpe digital at last night’s leadership seminar. Thought I’d share the main thought.

In 1893, a ten thousand dollar Congressional appropriation established RFD or rural free delivery. Up until that point, rural Americans had to ride their horse into town to pick up their mail at the general store. RFD provided mail service to rural residents for the first time.

Two entrepreneurs named Aaron Montgomery Ward and Richard Sears spotted a business opportunity. They saw a new distribution channel for their products. They produced so many catalogs that they were the second most widely read books in the country behind the Bible at the turn of the 20th century. They redeemed a new medium–rural free delivery–and turned it into a distribution channel.

That is what podcasting and webcasting and blogging are all about. Jesus told us to go into all the world, but he didn’t specify how. It used to be traditional modes of transportation–ships, horses, and airplanes. But digital technology is a new mode of transporation, a new distribution channel, a new medium. We’ve got to redeem every technology and use it for God’s purposes! The message is sacred, but the medium isn’t.

I talked about a few distribution channels last night:

Podcasting is circuit riding at the speed of light.
Blogging is digital discipleship.
Video technology turns screens into postmodern stained glass.
Websites are virtual front doors.
Email is word of mouse.

As new technologies emerge so do new distribution channels for the gospel.

What a time to be alive! Our generation has greater potential to fulfill the Great Commission than all previous generations combined.

Carpe digital.

All of the bold is original with Mark.  You can read his blog at www.evotional.com

Until next time,

Daniel

Technology Rocks!

July 17, 2007 in Other with 0 Comments

You know, sometimes computers and technology really end up making life more difficult.  But today – it rocks!

I just posted some links to missionary friends who are serving God all over the world.  So I thought, “Hey, I wonder who’s around?”  I looked at my Skype list of friends, and Al Konya (Hungary) is online.  I sent him a chat – “Hello, are you around?”

We chatted for a couple of sentences, then I said, “I think my microphone is working now – can we give it a try?”  (It didn’t work last time we tried.)  And we did.  And I got to talk to my good friend and former pastor for 35 minutes for FREE over the internet!

We updated each other on what is happening – the good and the bad (human perspective, of course).

How cool is it that we can talk, with clear quality, from our offices, 6 hours and thousands of miles apart?  Very cool.  The internet has made the world very small – let’s intentionally use it for the Kingdom.

Until next time,

Dan’l

Strategic Teaching

March 8, 2007 in Other with 0 Comments

Church Update
I believe that this year is a huge year for Oak Tree Community Church. I don’t know exactly how to say it any better. I am excited about OTCC.

One of my dreams for our church is to take and send people all over the world to make disciples in every nation, like Jesus wants us to do. Last night (March 25) we had some good friends at our church – my former pastor and his wife, Al and Pam Konya. It was a great time of celebrating how God is using them all over central Europe. And Al reminded us of the importance of using modern means to reach modern people, no matter where we are in the world. It takes a strategy.

You can find out more about the Konyas‘ ministry with Word of Life in Hungary at www.eletszava.org.

Here are a couple of pics that our “in-house” photographer, Adam Tarwacki, took (thanks, Adam):


Pam and Al Konya, missionaries, Word of Life Hungary


He shared stories of God changing lives in Hungary, Romania, Serbia, and the Ukraine.

Scriptural Thought of the Week
The main object of this blog is reflected in its title. In 2 Timothy 2:2 Paul encourages Timothy to keep passing on the spiritual truths he has learned and to do it in a strategic way so that it never stops.

“…and the things you have heard from me among many witnesses, you must entrust these things to faithful people, who will be competent to teach others also.” 2 Timothy 2:2 (my trans.)

It’s not just about teaching people the Bible. It’s about teaching specific people specific things that they can intentionally pass along to others. No one can know everything about the Bible, but everyone can know something. While we’re not all called to be formal Bible teachers (see James 3:1), we’re all called to make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20), and that means helping people find Jesus Christ and passing along what we know in order to build up fellow believers.

Quote of the Week
I really enjoy reading and listening to Chuck Swindoll, and the one I’m reading now (see right) has one of my favorite phrases as its subtitle: “It’s Always Something!” Whether your working with computers or people or anything else, something we don’t like is going to happen. It’s always something. Here’s what Swindoll says…

“Life is a coat that never fits right. We are forever cinching up here, taking in there, letting out over here. Life doesn’t fit our plans. We exist in a continual state of maneuvering, adjusting, shifting, believing, often doubting. Getting through the tough stuff requires it.

Thankfully God has provided us with the right perspective. He has made available a Savior, and His name is Jesus. He wants to take the blows for you, to help you through the tough stuff. Truth be told, He can become the rudder of you life when fierce winds blow, your reliable compass when you’ve lost your bearings, your harbor when sailing on isn’t possible. He’s the answer. He intersects you at life’s most critical crossroads and makes all the difference.”

Quoted from: Charles R. Swindoll, Getting Through the Tough Stuff: It’s Always Something! (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2004), xii. ISBN: 0849918138

Until next time,

Dan’l

The comments in this blog are always the personal opinions of Daniel Goepfrich and are not meant to be taken as official statements of Oak Tree Community Church, its staff, or its members.

Page 3 of 3«123