Lifepoint Church

Well I didnt think i would write this so soon, but I had a very interesting
night. This morning at church I received a card that said “Shine the light
of Jesus by purchasing lunch for someone who is homeless”. I didn’t really
think much of ti until tonight. When I got off of work, I went by the bank
to drop off the bank deposit. A man and his boy where sitting in a car while
I was there. When i walked back to my car he walked over to me in tears. He
said his daughter had just been a bad car accident in the northern part of
the county and his daughter had to be air lifted to chapel hill. He said he
was waiting for the pastor of his church to come give him some money for
gas, but needed a phone card as well. I told him I would get one and I went
to foodlion and bought him one. Once We left there he then asked if there
was any way i could buy him and his boy some food. I said sure again and
took him by checkers and got him and his boy some food. As we were waiting
for the food I took time and prayed with him that his daughter would be ok.
He kept asking me where I went to church and I told him Lifepoint, and then
he asked if i had a card or something. I said no but remembered I got one in
todays handout. I gave that to him and he was so happy. After that I prayed
once more and left. I was very skeptical of the whole situation, but I knew
that wasn’t the point. If that man ripped me off tonight, thats between him
and God. Something that kept going through my head was in the Bible, Jesus
says “When i was hungry, you feed me…and when I was cold, you gave me
clothing”. and the disciples then asked when they had done this and Jesus
said “whenever you do this to the least of these, you have done them to me”.
I wasn’t gonna miss this chance. Like I said, if I got ripped off, its just
money. No big deal. Christ saw my heart.

It just so happened that Shawn and I got the same “Shine Assigment”, to bake some goodies and deliver them to the police or fire departments in the community…..so since I had the day off today, we baked cookies and brownies and delivered them to the Myrtle Grove Volunteer Fire Department as well as the Kure Beach Police Department. Both companies seemed very pleased and wished us a “MERRY CHRISTMAS”. It felt really good to be able to just say “we appreciate all that you do”. Especially being able to show our appreciation to the volunteers…they aren’t being paid to be there, but they risk their lives for strangers every day without question.

Thank you Lifepoint for giving us the “little push” to do something that made us feel as good as I’m sure it made those men and women feel!

MY card had said to SHINE the light of jesus by purchasing lunch for someone who is homeless! well after church i was heading to wall-mart and sure enough there was a man sitting there. My mom met me 30 min later, after i had watched where the man had walked to back in the woodsi headed to McDonalds. We decided he would want a big cheese burger, fries, and a drink. As we parked the car across from the woods where he had gone back into by wall-mart we headed that way. AS we walked up we called out to him and he replyed can i halp you. We told him we had brought him some food and wasnt sure if he was hungry, he said yes i am, we gave him the food and drink he was so thankfull it was unbelivble! HE couldnt stop thanking us. As we walked away my mom mentioned that she thought there was more then him back there. I turned around and walked back over and called out to him again and asked if he was alone he said no that there was three of them. i asked if they were hungry and he said no that someone had just fed them. I couldnt help but think that god did that with people through our church and their shine cards. Your message was amazing and that idea of a shine card was awsome. From now on im going to keep shinging for Jesus with the idesa from all the different shine cards in mine. It was amazing what five dollars can do it was life changing and i just wanted to say thank you for reminding me of the simple ways to shine the light for Jesus.

I was so moved by Sundays message and the let Jesus shine through us. It also was so sad how people are losing faith in church, but I was the same before Lifepoint.
I received the shine card with the 20 dollars included, and to ask God who I needed to give it to. After church I drove through downtown like normal, because my son has to say hi to the train on Water St at the railroad museum. As I was driving through I was praying to god to tell me who needs this money. I drove by a guy who was picking up a quarter off the ground. So I asked god if that was him…but I didn’t see or feel any kind of sign that was spoken of. So I started to head home, feeling a bit skeptical.
I know how skeptical I am so I was starting to feel unsure if I was going to recognize a sign…and ignore it. God obviously knows this because no lie, right then, I had a blowout while driving…but not where the car was hard to steer off the road, just noisy. I pulled to the side of the road and began to change my tire, when a man pulled up and refused to let me change the tire, so he did it for me. I then looked back at his car and saw a handicap decal on his mirror and baby car seats in the back. When he was done I told him that he was going to think I was crazy, but right before my blowout I was praying to God to tell me who to give money to, that my church gave me today. I told him if me having my tire go out and you coming to help me wasn’t a sign….then I don’t know what was! He kept telling me he didn’t want my money, he just stopped beause he saw my kids in the car. I told him it wasn’t MY money. Thank you Lifepoint!!!!

We set out today to deliver our homemade cookies. We took them to the local fire houses, EMT’s, and the great guy who stands on the median by Chik Fil A in Monkey Junction. It was so much fun! The firemen and EMT’s were a little shocked but very grateful. The homeless guy on the median said he hadn’t had fresh baked homemade cookies in a very long time. And best of all he said, “God Bless You” and smiled.

My daughter received $20 in her envelope last Sunday. She attends Myrtle Grove Middle School and knew one of the Bell girls that was burned in the house fire over the weekend in Leland that killed two little boys and burned the other members of the family. The school is collecting donations to help the family so my daughter decided to donate the $20 to the Bell family.

My Shine card said to write a note appreciating a coworker. I have to admit it was a bit odd at first but I thought oh well I can do this. So I thought about who to write my note to and I decided to write it to one of my coworkers that always has a positive attitude and makes the workplace enjoyable. It was neat to encourage someone in such an unusual way. Thanks Lifepoint for the idea!

I have been wandering in the dark until Lifepoint started lighting my way. My heart became so FULL on Sunday that $20 was not enough. I pledged to add another $80. There is one homeless person I am looking for and cannot find. Impatient to shine the light of Jesus I took 4 tags from the Christmas tree and went shopping. I am still keeping that money in reserve for the specific homeless person, I will find him, and continue to look for ways to shine God’s light.
I am so stoked I will be driving with the following song cranked for a long time!
Shine by Collective Soul
Give me a word
Give me a sign
Show me where to look
Tell what will I find ( will I find )
Lay me on the ground
Fly me in the sky
Show me where to look
Tell me what will I find ( will I find )

Oh, heaven let your light shine down (x4)

Love is in the water
Love is in the air
Show me where to go
Tell me will love be there ( love be there )
Teach me how to speak
Teach me how to share
Teach me where to go
Tell me will love be there ( love be there )

Oh, heaven let your light shine down (x4)

Im going to let it shine (x2)
Heavens little light gonna shine on me
Yea yea heavens little light gonna shine on me
Its gonna shine, shine on me
Its gonna shine, come on in shine

I had the “buy someone coffee” card. This past Monday at the register at Port City Java I bought a coffee, gave the girl a $3 tip then gave her $5 and asked her to “Please use this $5 to buy the next person in line a Coffee” (I just capitalized coffee – scary!!) I then went to the “fixin” station to watch from afar the reaction of the lady that came in behind me – she did not see me implement the plan. I saw no reaction after she ordered. As I walked out to go back to work the register girl asked me, “Did you say I can use this for anyone?”

Now think about it, the instructions I gave her above were very clear and verbatim to what I said that day. It reminds me how God speaks to us in his Word and we still get confused. The register girl thought it was too good to be true and she had to ask me again. The beautiful lesson here is that God loves us so much that we can go back to him over and over and ask him “Please forgive me for not living in your will, please, please forgive me”.

But why do we get confused and make life “Messy” -
Proverbs 3:5-5 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths.”

I received an envelope with 20 dollars last week during the second service. I was really shocked and caught off guard. I thought this task would be easy but found out it wasnt as easy as I thought it would be. It is funny when you dont have the money to help you can think of who and what order you would help if you had the money. Now that I have some money I found myself being real picky on who I could help the most instead of just helping anybody who needs it. I went to Walmart to buy food for the family unit and there in the check out line (over to the right of me) a Mom with 5 kids, 2 of which was under 3, was checking out. I only notice this family due to her kids knocking down the candy rack. I could tell the stress level was high and she knew the eyes were all upon her too. I had just put my food on the belt when I notice the people behind her switch over to my side. I look to see why and notice she had the teller puting food back in her cart due to her funds. I really dont know how much she was short but I knew she needed money so I step over while my food was being scaned and handed to her the 20 dollar bill with Life Point business card attached. I had attached it for the day I gave it to somebody to show Life Point cares and not to steal the thunder of our church. The teller took off the card and asked her if she wanted it, I didnt look straight at her but I could see her out of the corner of my eye. She put it in her purse and put most of the food back on the belt. I really didnt give her a chance to say thank you but I saw it is her eyes. The man behind me said “God Bless You young man” which was awesome since I am 40! I didnt care for the Thank You I cared to help.

Late day shopping at Wal-Mart: inpaticient shoppers in line, tired cashiers; not much ‘holiday cheer’ in evidence. I finished my transaction, wished the checker a merry Christmas (no response) and started for the exit. I had noticed a difference in the atmosphere in the line to my right – laughter, smiles; not what you might expect from late day shopping, and as I passed the rows, I felt a pull to return. I took the $20 from my envelope and tucked it into the pocket of the cashier with the smile on her face as I said “I think you are meant to have this-I want you to know that Jesus loves you.” She turned to me, saying ‘wait, wait” , and I was afraid that she couldn’t or wouldn’t accept the gift, but instead I was enveloped in the most intense HUG I have experienced in years. It seemed that time slowed for a moment – when we pulled back, there were tears on both sides. She replied: “They pulled me in for extra time; I usually work in the garden department – this has been a challenge. My name is Janet” I responded: ” your name means God’s precious gift”. The question in her eyes was answered when I said “I know; my name is Janet, too.

It is amazing what God can do when he changes your life and you start shining for him. This is not my story and did not happen because of Sunday’s message but happened because of Lifepoint Church. About a year ago I had a very difficult time with my father and because of how I handled that situation, my sister saw a change in my life and wanted to know more. I had her listen to several of Jeff’s messages, and then started sending her CD’s every week and eventually started sending her the DVD’s. She and her husband watched the DVD’s every week and started inviting family members to come watch. At this time, she was not saved but was led to the Lord in April of this year. She continued to live for God and share her faith daily. God started blessing her like you can not imagine. She recently found a church to call home and after a few weeks now has her husband, my other sister and her husband, her two sons and daugher-in-law and her husbands daughter and wife and family attending church with her. She told me this week she took up a whole row. Several of these individuals have now accepted Christ as their savior. Her husbands son-in-law had major drug addictions and once he accepted the Lord, he requested that they assist him in finding help for his addition. He is now at the Dream Center in Phoenix, Arizona and said this is a life changing experience for him. He is becoming drug free and growing in the Lord. As if this were not enough, she told me a story this week that had me in tears. Several years ago when she was going through a difficult divorce and had no money, a friend lent her $1,500. She never repaid the debt but was reminded by God to pay him back this week. She wrestled with God but knew what she had to do. She wrote the check, went to work but did not see her friend. She thought maybe God really did not tell her to give the money back. As she stood in line for coffee, the friend came in to the coffee shop. She said how are you doing and he said not good, my daughter is in her final year of Medical School and has requested several medical items for Christmas that she really needs. He said he did not have the money and did not know how to tell herhe could not buy the items. My sister said, stop, and handed him the check for $1,500. He broke into tears and said “You just made my Christmas”.
Because of Lifepoint Church, people are being saved in Pennsylvania, one young man is getting his life together and his family restored and one family will have a blessed Christmas. You never know how God will use you when you are obedient to Him.

We have attended Lifepoint twice and on Sunday my husband and I both got the $20 in our handout. We were very inspired by the message and were excited to see what we would be called to do with the money. After church we were planning on getting a Christmas tree with our kids. Ironically enough we had budgeted $40 to spend on a tree.We talked it over with the kids and asked them if we could use our tree money to match what the church had given us. Our kids were willing (well we had a brief discussion about whether or not you have to have a tree for presents) ,but our 7 year old decided that he would leave Santa a note telling him he could leave the presents on the floor! We then decided that we would think about it and decide what to do with the now $80.00. Our children really wanted to use it for other kids. I talked to a friend who had shared about some needs in her sons kindergarten class but those kids were already being sponsered so we again asked our kids what they thought we should do. Our 4 year old had done the angel tree with her grandmother and said that she wanted to do it again. On Thursday night we took our 2 oldest children (7&4)to the mall and they each picked an angel & we shopped. It was so amazing to see them sort of get it! They were excited to pick out things that they thought their angel might like and both enjoyed being able to help. You tell a kid that there are other children that do not have and might not get a christmas and it is almost like a secret order where they have to take care of each other!- I hope that is contagious! We need to remind ourselves that Christmas is not about a tree or presents but a celebration of our Lords birth and life and his gift to us. Don’t get me wrong next year we will probably have a tree but for this year it has been kind of neat to know why our tree isn’t up and to know that we were able to do something for someone else and have our children involved. Our kids have not mentioned the tree! I am talking to myself when I say that it is easy to get distracted by the trees and gifts and hustle and bustle of the holiday season- but my husband and I were inspired by the message and then inspired by our children and I hope that this Christmas a difference is made one person at at time. We are thankful for what God has done for us and thankful for the reminder to always do for others as well.

Yesterday afternoon was devoted towards Christmas cookie baking extraveganza 2007. My card in the bulletin last Sunday read: Make a tastey treat and deliver it to a neighbor. This sparked interest to, why not just 1 neighbor but the ones that surround us. I baked up enough cookies to fill up 5 cookie tins and last night, I roamed the neighborhood to deliver the tins. I met 2 neighbors I had yet to meet and was able to shine light on the neighbors I spoke to only briefly. How exciting to shine the light of God’s provisions on the world and to not take any credit for the good works for they are God working through us to reach others.

Wow, Shine is a fabulous series. I was so tired last week and was listening to the beginning messages about the Angel tree, how there were still 50 children who were in need for Christmas. I had taken an angel last week but I was very sad and discouraged because in the past I have been in a position to be generous and this year money has been very very tight. It really had me in a bad mood, but I am determined to get out of debt. Anyway as usual once church started, I was feeling better, but I still was trying to figure out how I could help another person from the angel tree. Then Jeff told us to open our envelopes. Well I had been in such a mood, I could not even find my envelope. I looked all over and thought I had lost it. I was even more discouraged. Finally I found it, just as Jeff was saying there was money in some of the envelopes, and I held it and prayed. Please let there be money in this envelope so I can take another angel from the angel tree. Well God knew what I needed and there was $20.00 in my envelope. I started to cry. Never has $20 meant so much to me as that money did. That 20 was my hope and my encouragement just as I was at my lowest point. I could barely wait for the service to end so I could go pick an angel becase God showed me that he is there in your darkest hour and when you need his hope the most. All week I have been spreading the word about the church that gives money away and SHINES the light of Jesus on everyone. Thank you Lifepoint.

We came to church on the 9th at the invitation of our son. Awesome message and music!! Well, I got one of the $20 bills and started furiously thinking about how to meet the challenge. One of the ladies in our church (Susan) has a couple of families she works with that don’t have much, so I thought why not buy them a couple of turkeys, etc. for Christmas dinner. When I asked Susan if she thought that to be suitable, she immediately said that she had a better idea… one of her special needs kids (she works with regularly) family’s van was broken and would I be willing to put the money to use there? I said of course and that I’d add some to it. I didn’t know it but she then took this commitment and challenge to her adult Sunday School Class. Now here’s the AWESOME GOD part of the story – the $20 turned into $200 in just 45 minutes, which I believe was just enough to get the van fixed. Shine on!!!!

First I want to say thank you to Lifepoint for giving me this gift to give to someone else. This is a gift that will remain in my heart forever.

I was anxious to find someone to give my $20 gift to. I still had the envelope after the first week. Yesterday my husband, daughter and I were driving downtown for a walk. We talked about the envelope still hanging out in my purse and I decided to say a prayer. I asked God to let me know, I mean really let me know because I can be dim, if there was someone I saw in need of this $20 gift. A few minutes later we drove by a man standing on a corner eating nabs. My heart jumped. It was what your heart does when something scares you or really surprises you. My husband must have felt it to because he said “I think he is homeless” We decided to circle the block. When we came back around he was not standing there anymore. As we were driving past we saw him on the other side of the street sitting and chatting on a bench with a UPS guy. We turned around again and pulled to the side. I folded the $20 bill and held it in my palm. I walked up to the men and the man I had my eyes on said “Well hi girl!” As if he had been waiting for me. I held out my hand and said “this is for you. Merry Christmas and God Bless you.” The UPS guy gave me a strange look and said “Merry Christmas” I walked away and got back into our car. My husband turned around again to head back down town. The man came up to our window and said “God Bless you guys. Please don’t make me cry because I can feel it.” He told us that last night he woke up because he felt the rain on him and had to rush to get under a bridge. He then said that he knew today was going to be a good day because he had received two more blankets and now had five. He talked about the good people that he has met. Something in his crystal blue eyes were shining and it made my eyes shine with tears. We chatted for a few more minutes and told him to take care of himself. His name is Billy Joe and he will forever be in our hearts and prayers. Jesus rocks my world!!! The glory is all his!

My Shine card said put a candy bar and note of appreciation in the mailbox for your mailman. Truthfully, I was disappointed. I guess I wanted to do something that was bigger…ya know?? So that Saturday, I rushed to the grocery store and picked out a few candy bars and came home and wrote a Christmas card, thanking our mail-person and letting them know we appreciated them, and I put it in the mailbox. Then, that Sunday morning I was quickly humbled when I was reminded that anything/everything I do unto the least of these, I am doing for Jesus. I cried and confessed my pride at doing such a “small” task. I did get a Christmas card back from our “Mail-mamm” saying she appreciated the sweets.

The morning we were to start the shine series I was thinking about what the message would be about that day and how I had told my father I would buy a bike fro a child he knew that was very poor, and how here it was almost Christmas and I yet again was doing nothing. Then I went to church where I got $20 and I asked someone else for theirs and now I was able to buy the bike. Well that day I felt like a miracle had happened, so I told everybody how powerful God is and that he does hear.I felt totally uplifted until 2 days later i read about the family in Leland. I was sitting there with this $40 dollars and I had done nothing to get it. I decided that day that I would give up my tips from that night to the family. The very next day the house I had to clean for my business left exactly the same amount for a tip as what I had given up the night before. I started telling peopl all these won