Pastor's Blog

Five Best Toys Ever

Submitted by Tim Forsthoff on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 11:03am

Wired magazine ran an article on the five best toys ever.

Here’s the list:

1. Stick.

2. Box

3. String

4. Cardboard Tube

5. Dirt

Anybody want to argue with them? I doubt it.

It’s an important reminder that the best things in life – and often in ministry, leadership, business and family – are the simple things.

The Bible talks about the simplicity in Christ.

What are simple things as they relate to our spiritual walk with God? Here are 10 simple things.

1. Love God
2. Read your Bible
3. Attend Church
4. Pray

Inside vs. Outside

Submitted by Tim Forsthoff on Wed, 01/18/2012 - 11:49am

The bible says that man looks on the outward appearance but God looks on the heart.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus focused on the inside while the Pharisees focused on the outside.
I believe the inside is more important than the outside. If you are right on the inside, the outside will be right. If you are right on the outside, the inside might be full of dead man's bones. Let's take a look at three statements concerning the inside vs. the outside.

1. Listen to the inside more than the outside.
2. Be bigger on the inside than the outside.

Evaluating Your Faith Today

Submitted by Tim Forsthoff on Wed, 01/18/2012 - 10:11am

Abraham was a man of great faith. Romans 4:18 -21 talks about his faith in God concerning the promise of a son. Abraham was given the promise of a son when he was approximately 75 years old. When Abraham was 100 years old, the promise was fulfilled with the birth of Isaac. When Abraham was 99 years old, about 1 year before the birth of Isaac, Abraham's faith reached maturity. Romans 4:18 - 21 speaks of Abraham's great faith at age 99. Before we look at his faith at age 99, it is good to remember that Abraham's faith prior to age 99 was up and down, in and out, strong and weak.

Leadership Quotes and Axioms

Submitted by Tim Forsthoff on Wed, 01/11/2012 - 1:07pm

I hope you enjoy these leadership quotes. They are from respected leaders in the Christian community. Many of them are from Andy Stanley. Which ones speak to you?

Striving for balance forces a leader to invest time and energy in aspects of leadership where he will never succeed. It is not realistic to strive for balance within the sphere of our personal leadership abilities.

…discover your zone and stay there. Then delegate everything else.

You are most valuable where you add the most value – John Maxwell
And once we find it it’s even more vital that we stay there.

Can You Hear God Speak?

Submitted by Tim Forsthoff on Wed, 01/11/2012 - 12:49pm

One of the most important leadership trait is the ability to hear God. Leaders must lead not by human reasoning but by Divine revelation.

Samuel learned at an early age to discern God's voice. Eli, the High Priest, instructed Samuel on how to listen and answer the Lord. Samuel thought the voice of God was the voice of Eli. Samuel had to learn to discern the voice of God. We are similar to Samuel. Discerning God's voice is learned by us.

Balance in the Local Church

Submitted by Tim Forsthoff on Thu, 11/17/2011 - 3:08pm

I have led Cornerstone for 26 years. One of the things I learned during my journey as pastor of the church is the need to balance competing principles. Let me explain...

Worship and Teaching: I believe there needs to be a balance in the church with worship and teaching of the Word. The church needs to be strong in both areas. They are not enemies, but sometimes, the church views them as competing with each other. You can have strong worship and strong teaching. You do not have to sacrifice the one for the other.

Are Women the Weaker Vessel?

Submitted by Tim Forsthoff on Wed, 11/16/2011 - 11:20am

According to 1 Pet. 3:7, "Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered."

Keeping the Sabbath

Submitted by Tim Forsthoff on Wed, 11/09/2011 - 2:08pm

This blog is to anonymous who asked about keeping the Sabbath or worshiping on Sunday.

It is not dangerous to keep the 10 commandments as God's moral law. it is dangerous to keep them for salvation or to be righteous before God (Rom. 10:4).

You do not use the grace of God to indulge the flesh. That is out of balance the other way. Legalism is not right. Licentiousness is not right. Both are condemned in Scripture.

The Upside Down Kingdom

Submitted by Tim Forsthoff on Wed, 11/09/2011 - 11:20am

What is a paradox? A paradox is a seemingly contradictory statement that may nonetheless be true.

Here are some common paradoxes:
military intelligence
jumbo shrimp
tight slacks
pretty ugly
head butt
adult male
christian scientist
reasonable female
holy war
constructive criticism
temporary tax increase
dress pants
business ethics

What are the paradoxes of the kingdom of God?

To Save your life you must lose your life. Luke 9:23-26
To be the greatest you must be a servant. Matt. 20:25-28
To be the first you must be the last. Matt. 19:29-30

10 Signs of Ministerial Burnout

Submitted by Tim Forsthoff on Tue, 11/08/2011 - 4:08pm

My counselor shared a statistic with me two years ago that floored me – 90% of the people entering ministry do not retire from ministry. They either quit or have some sort of moral/ethical failure that disqualifies them.

Jesus did not call us to this or wants this for our lives. Yet so many of us church leaders struggle in this area (usually inwardly because if we said out loud that we are dying inside, people might perceive us as weak).

Here are 10 signs you are near a burnout and/or meltdown:

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