JON ALLEN

I asked everyone on staff to be sure and blog this week, and Doug ragged me today because I hadn’t done it yet. Seems like I am always behind. I guess I was just waiting for the right thing to prompt me. Something kind of cool happened tonight that I thought I would write about.

Jess and I went to Bailey Collins’ basketball game tonight (highly entertaining) and out to Tokyo Express afterwards for dinner. We were standing in line and a nice woman came up to me and asked “aren’t you the preacher at High Rock?”. It caught me totally off guard, but I replied, “yes I am”. She reached out her hand and had some money in it… “we want to pay for your dinner”, she told me. This surprised me even more, so I said, “really?” and she said, “yes, we really appreciate what you are doing.” I didn’t even know what to say except thanks. And then like that… poof… she was gone and I couldn’t find her anywhere.

We have been doing so much giving lately I didn’t know what to say when it was my turn to receive. Giving is really important, but sometimes we get so focused on giving that we don’t think about receiving. I know that sounds weird and some people may think it sounds kind of selfish, but it really isn’t. Normally I would have refused to accept it… but if I had done that she would not have had a chance to give. In order to have giving, there must be receiving. So thanks to the woman who did that for us and I pray that God blesses her and she continues to give.

What a weekend… clothing giveaway, gas buydowns, services, 101, so many great things! God is good!

To top it off, Saturday night Jess and I were sitting in bed winding down from the day and JD was sitting in between us in his Boppy pillow. I was about to get up and take him to the nursery when he suddenly (like he was dreaming) smiled and laughed out loud. It was the first time he has actually laughed. It was so precious, Jess and I didn’t know what to do. We just smiled. God is good and He blesses us in small ways and large ways. I can’t say it enough, God is good.

Have you ever noticed that God sends encouragement right when you need it? This weekend I needed it and God sent it… between the salvations at the Hallelujah festival, the connection with people at the gas-buydown, the connection with God during the worship, and the connection with everyone else in the church this weekend, my spirits were lifted right when they needed to be. It didn't hurt that the Bills were on today either (even if they did lose, I still got to watch them). October is Pastor Appreciation Month, but every other one should be Church Body Appreciation Month!

We are getting ready to start a new series this weekend called “Whatever It Takes”. I am REALLY excited about this series, not because of the messages, but because of what our church is actually going to be doing during this series. We will be doing some things we have never done before and really reaching out to meet the needs of people in our community that are hurting. You don’t want to miss one week in this series, it is going to be amazing!

I have really been praying that God will give me focus this week. Often at the beginning of a series (especially one as involved as this) my head gets to spinning. There are sermons to write, graphics to create, events to plan, videos to make, and much more. The week before a new series is always the craziest. So I am praying for focus and you can do me a favor by praying as well. And as we launch into a new topic and chapter of HRCC, to God be the glory great things He will do!

We had something kind of cool happen on Tuesday night…

In small group we were doing the first “Fireproof” study which talked about commitment and basing the love that we have for our spouse on they love show to us by Jesus Christ. It is a sacrificial and committed love.

During the whole group there had been a storm brewing in the sky above our house and it had started thundering and lightning(ing?). When we reached the end of our study the challenge was to commit to taking time to spend with our spouse this week that did not include the kids, cell phones, computers, tvs, yard work, etc… when all of the sudden… BAM!!! And every light on our side of Dunn’s Mountain went out. We were left sitting there in complete darkness. If that isn’t a reminder from God to eliminate the distractions in our marriage, I don’t know what is!

It turned out pretty cool though because we lit a bunch of candles and had our prayer time by candle light. It was a neat atmosphere. I just hope our neighbors didn’t see us and think we are some weird cult!

This was a crazy weekend! Ups, downs, and everything in-between.

I hope that you had a chance to come to church this weekend because we got our first peek at Brian Duncan our new campus pastor in Kannapolis. He did a great job bringing the message! I am a little worried that he is better than me… better get on my game.

The baptism was great too. It was really special to see all of them make the commitment to follow Christ in baptism. We had a really neat thing happen too, an entire family getting baptized at the same time. Drew, Alesia, and Korbynne Hill all decided to be baptized at the same time. First Drew was baptized, then he helped baptize Alesia, then he and Alesia baptized Korbynne. That was so cool!

I am really pumped about this Fireproof series we are about to start, our church needs a marriage series like no one’s business right now. That is the single biggest area I see Satan attacking our church in right now in my opinion.

I don’t know if you realize this, but I get to make a lot of the graphics for our church and most of the transition videos we use for each series. I am using a couple of new techniques and I think this video is going to be great. Everyone knows I am a nerd, but I really get excited about stuff like this. I guess that makes me weird, but you know what the scripture says… we are all a part of the body and each part has a different role. I guess my role is being a nerd… and that’s okay with me!

I know I am always making excuses for not blogging, but this time I actually have a good excuse! I have been a little bit distracted by having a little baby boy waking up at all hours of the night, peeing all over the place, and creating new emotions and priorities in my life. JD is the most beautiful baby I have ever seen in my life (of course I am biased). We took him in for a check-up today at the doctor and he is doing really well. They were worried on Friday about him having a little bit of jaundice, but he was doing better at his appointment today and they think it will be fine. We had a really great doctor today who was very reassuring. JD is putting on weight well and has the most amazing baby mullet you have ever seen in your life. If you want to see pictures, just go to this site… http://jdallen2.shutterfly.com

I talked about this in the message this weekend, but every single time I look at him I am more blown away by how much I love him. I can’t even believe it! There is nothing like it in the whole world. Thank you to everyone for all of your prayers and well-wishes and gifts. Every bit of it has made it easier to make this transition in our life. Thank you.

Our family is finally in town (JD came early) and they are giving us a lot of love and support. But thanks to our High Rock family for all you have helped us with, you are truly our NC family. We love you all very much.

Sorry I haven’t blogged lately… I guess I am just slow. But if you remember correctly the Tortoise wins the race every time (maybe that doesn’t apply here).

I am really excited about this series we are in called Econo-Me because I think that the Devil uses finances to trip us up more than just about anything. It is a shame that most pastors don’t even want to talk about money because they are afraid of the people’s reaction. I guess I am just weird! Not only do I not mind talking about finances, I look forward to it. It gives us an opportunity to talk about priorities and really managing what God has given to us to manage. What better place to learn financial techniques than in church. If we don’t teach it, who will? VISA?!!

Unfortunately churches have gotten a bad rap when it comes to money because of greedy people in past ministries. Not only were those people hurting themselves and their churches, they hurt the Kingdom of God because they made money a taboo topic. Satan wins every time someone comes in to church and thinks, “oh, that pastor’s just trying to get my money again.” I don’t need your money! But I have a responsibility to teach what the Bible says, and the Bible says tithe! No ifs, ands, or buts. If instructing people on how to use their money based on what the Bible says is uncool, then call me Steve Urkel. We as believers need to get past our pride and greed and get on God’s train. It’s easy to make Him our Savior, not as easy to make Him our Lord.

Jess and I just got back in from a two-week vacation with our families. We really needed it. Our families were kind enough to each have a baby shower for Jess. Between the two we weren’t sure if we were going to be able to bring everything back in our little Altima. Thankfully God blessed me with extraordinary packing skills and not only did we get it all in, it all fit in the trunk! Yeah, I am amazed too. Good thing too, because Jess and I have never had a baby before and we have NOTHING!!!

On a bit more reflective note, I did something completely unnatural for me… I didn’t work at all on vacation! It’s true! Usually I go on vacation and spend half the time on my computer working on the website, graphics, videos, emails, sermons, illustrations, etc… but this time, nothing. I didn’t even check my email once. Although I constantly worried about what I was missing, I needed the break and Jess appreciated it too.

You know, sometimes it is good to remember that the world will continue to spin even if you aren’t around…

I am really excited this week because my family is going to be visiting this weekend. This will be the first time they will get to host all of them at the same time. We will have Dad, Mom, Jen, Jon, Jared, and Kim all staying with us. Our house is going to look like a motel! It should be fun though, I always like seeing my family and catching up. I really count myself blessed to have a family as strong as I do. Looking around our community it is getting harder and harder to find families that are still together. It seems like divorces are as common as oil changes… change your spouse every 3 years or 3,000 arguments. Sad, isn’t it.

A message to you husbands and wives… your responsibility is not to yourself alone. When you got married you took on a responsibility for your spouse as well. Your commitment was not only to them, but to God as well. You entered a covenant relationship which is not to be broken. I know that marriage is not always easy, I know it takes work, but remember that love is a choice, not a feeling. You either choose to uphold your covenant or you don’t. Don’t give up on your promises to God, embrace them, cherish them.

And if your parents didn’t set a great example for you, then choose to be different. Stay true to your promise. It reminds me of the lyrics to an Everclear song (not necessarily endorsing the band)… “My daddy gave me a name, then he walked away… Now I’m a grown man, with a child of my own. And I swear I’m not gonna let her know all the pain I have known.” Those lyrics speak to breaking cycles. Don’t let the mistakes your parents made in their marriage break yours apart too, choose to break the cycle, break the chains.

I thank God regularly that he gave me parents who held their vows. They set a tremendous example for me as a couple and as parents. I can’t thank them enough for that. Be that example in your marriage as well, my prayer is that I will too.

God has really been laying this issue of priority on my heart lately. We will be talking about it this weekend in the message and our discussion as a staff really brought it to the forefront for me.

One thing that many pastors deal with is their inability to put their life in priority. I believe that the bible gives us an order of importance that our life should fall into. Our personal relationship with God, our relationship with our spouse, our relationship with our children, our relationship with our extended family, our job, our church, and everything else after that. We make a huge mistake when we get these things out of order!

The problem for many pastors is that we can end up substituting our role as a pastor for our personal relationship with God. We spend so much time planning for the church, so much time investing in people, we begin to identify our relationship with God through our job as a minister. However, although the work of the church is important, it is not a substitute for our relationship through Christ. What often happens, as the pastors identity in Christ gets funneled through the church, the church gets put at the top of his priority list. I have seen way too many pastors make this mistake and the role as a pastor begins to take him away from his family more and more.

With our first son on the way, I have been thinking about this more than ever. As most of you know already, I think about the church all the time. It consumes my life. If I am not careful, I could work all day, every day.

But I have a responsibility as an example to the church to live a life of priority. That means that my relationship with God comes first, Jess comes second, JD comes third, and the church comes fourth. I know that is not what some people are used to, some people grew up with a pastor that put the church first, many times before his own family. I would be greatly regretful if I got to the end of my life, looked back, and realized that I had not lived a life of priority.

My challenge to you is that you is to live a life of priority. When you are with your spouse, turn your cell phone off. When you are with your kids, don’t check your email. Eat dinner with your family. Take a day off (and don’t do any work). Spend time with God… and not just on Saturday night or Sunday morning.