by Aarron Pina | Dec 14, 2011 | Uncategorized
Would you rather give your time, energy, and financial support to an organization that gets children out of sex trafficking or an organization that prevents them from being sold into slavery in the first place?
If you heard Andy Stanley’s recent message “An Ounce of Prevention“, you’d know that it’s a trick question – the answer is both, isn’t it?
For years, we’ve been talking to people about the value of discipleship and I’ve personally struggled with the question: “how do we show people the measurable results of discipleship?” As of today, I’m breathing a sigh of relief. Why? Because “crisis averted” or “divorce prevented” is immeasurable. From time to time, God has given us measurable items – dollars worth of food distributed to at risk families, leaders trained for DivorceCare, participants enrolled in events – but the primary work we do in one on one discipleship is something I’ve wasted weeks of time trying to measure when it cannot be measured.
I highly recommend listening to this message as soon as you can, but from a discipleship standpoint, let me give you a testimonial: the wisdom, counsel, and biblical truth given to me from my mentors during the darkest times of our marriage, our ministry, our family crises has prevented metldowns, explosions, and generational dysfunction that would otherwise have left a terrible mark on our children and their children yet to come.
Who am I to think I could measure that and report
it back to you with a neat, little bow on top?
Two men got together every week to listen to what God is doing in each others’ lives, point out scripture that deconstructs the lies they believed (about their wives, their boss, their co-worker, their kids, their God, their addictions). Over the course of years their faith was built up, maturity hastened, and perhaps – just perhaps – their marriage was saved from a divorce, an affair, a financial crisis, a lifelong wedge of misunderstanding and hard heartedness. How does one measure that?!
Two women got together over coffee to talk about one’s divorce, the lies and accusations satan reinforced in their self concept, shared truth from God’s word, prayed for each other, and that divorcee found second marriage grace with her new husband, learned step by grueling step how to “blend” families with her new son in law as God healed old hurts, exposed her to new ones, and proved Himself worthy as her protector, healer, and deliverer. Today, her two sons know that while their biological parents are no longer together, their future is secure because God is the head of their new household and Mommy & Daddy now bring all of their baggage to the cross recreationally.
How do you
measure
that?
A husband and wife on the verge of divorce sought counsel and help outside of Seasons of Life, but know the value of what this kind of “personal pastoring” had on their marriage, so they joined us in support at $50 a month. They get it. Many of you do, too. You knew it was coming, right? End of year giving appeal? But, this is precisely the point that I, now with Andy’s help, have been trying to articulate for years now. Prevention giving versus intervention giving.
So, if you’re a supporter of Seasons of Life, this article is for you, too. You’ve understood what Stanley tells us is the difference between “intervention giving” and “prevention giving”. Seasons of Life was born out of the overflow of DivorceCare – clearly an “intervention” environment. But, the Lord, who is the ultimate Interventionist, has used many of you at $20, $50, to $400 a month to “keep the lights on” for others who don’t, and hopefully never will, need intervention.
Bottom line – prevention giving is neither emotional nor measurable, but it’s necessary and far superior to intervention giving. Thank you. If you’ve responded to this call through giving or prayer, we’re so very grateful. I
by Aarron Pina | Jul 1, 2011 | Uncategorized
Pain Takes Many Forms
In discipleship as well as DivorceCare groups, we spend a good amount of time talking about the places in our lives where God wants to bring truth to counteract lies, comfort to the wounded, discernment to the naive. The question “where does it hurt?” is part and parcel of the calling. Often, those in pastoral ministry, counseling, and other helping vocations have a tendency to take great care of others and terrible care of themselves.
Guilty as charged. “Healer, heal yourself!”
Two months ago, I began reading “Leading on Empty” and “Soul Custody”. Our staff quickly realized we had been ourselves approaching burnout and needed a day off, a week off, perhaps even a month. Last month, we each scheduled a day at a local monastery where we knew we could be in silence long enough to silence every voice in our heads but God’s. After these days of solitude, silence, and simplicity, it was clear that July would be a wise time for us to “come home from the mission field”. Kind of hard to do when your home is part of the mission field.
With that in mind, we found a compromise. For the month of July, we’ll be out of our normal discipleship schedule with no extra classes or involvement, so that we can recharge and renew our minds. We’ve invited a handful of people to come by for a low-key “grill and chill” and will maintain an open door policy for the month to fellowship with some people who’ve fallen off the radar of our lives. If you feel like we’ve fallen off your radar since we got married, stepped out into ministry, and had a bunch of babies, send us an email or give us a call and we’ll save some space on the couch, pull up a chair in the backyard, and lay out a burnt offering on the grill!
Good News & Bad News
In the meantime, I’m compelled to let you know where it hurts – where we could use your prayer and support. Financially, things are tight – they always have been, but God has always provided. We’re just at one of those crossroads again where we’re looking up at Him saying “We don’t know how You’re going to pull this off, but we’re open to Your plan.” Right now, we have about $750 in matching funds available for the month of June – if you’re considering giving to SOLM, every dollar you contribute this month will help us capture a dollar of that matching gift. Overall need for the ministry is over $2,250 for June, but we’re confident that this gift can create enough momentum to exceed that, if people prayerfully engage with us in it.
It’s always a great time to join us as a seasonal (3 months only) giver and if you give online, your gift can be designated as such. Seasonal givers will have the added bonus of counting toward the matching gift. Additionally, local “realigners” Drs. Colin & Claudia Roopnarine have offered to donate half the proceeds of all July office visits to any chiropractic patient who mentions Seasons of Life Ministries. Connect with them at www.nptcc.com on North Point Parkway in Alpharetta. Help yourself & help us! 770-993-4464
by Aarron Pina | Jun 30, 2011 | Uncategorized
“Becky” was a single mom of three working hard to provide for her kids when her own mother was told she would need to begin dialysis and may need a kidney transplant. Becky had been growing in her walk with Christ and began attending a women’s small group bible study. Her small group had been praying for her needs, but what they didn’t know was something that came to another woman in a dream.
A friend of Seasons of Life Ministries (anonymous) had a dream about Becky’s car having trouble. She knew it seemed strange and was easy enough to dismiss it as “just a dream”, but on a whim contacted Becky and asked if she’d been having any car trouble. Becky was more than a little surprised and said “yes, I was actually going to let my small group know to start praying for me to get a new car.” Becky had also moved in with her mom, who now needed her help in the dialysis process. As a part of taking care of her mom, she’d be required to have “reliable transportation”.
It turns out that Becky’s friend who’d had the dream also had an extra car. She explained Becky’s situation and the story of her dream to her husband, who quickly replied – “I guess the Lord wants us to give her our car.” How great is our God? Recently, Becky’s mom was told she would need a kidney transplant. By the grace of God, the help of Seasons of Life Ministries and an oddly prophetic dream, Becky now has “reliable transportation” to bring her mom to dialysis!
What’s so amazing about discipleship to us is that God so often impresses on the hearts of believers “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. (Matthew 10.8, italics mine)” God prepares hearts, knows our needs, and provides perfectly! We are so grateful to have a ring side seat to watch God knock out the enemy and provide for His children as any good Father would. Praise God and keep “Becky” in your prayers. He’ll know who you mean!
Seasons of Life could use your help to handle a few of incidental expenses in passing on this vehicle, but we’d also love to be able to help Becky with a gas card or an oil change. This month, if you’d consider giving to our “Speak Life” initiative, we’ll be committing a large percentage of that program’s resources to making sure Becky’s transition is a smooth ride. To help support, go to www.seasonsoflifeministries.org/SOLM/support.html!
AP
by Aarron Pina | Feb 25, 2011 | Uncategorized
What do you think of when you hear the words “Judgment Day”? A Terminator movie? A meanie, cosmic judge out to get you with an earth-sized gavel? A grueling grill-session where you have to “splain yourself” in front of a tribune of angels and the Trinity? A fantastic awards show leading up to a massive celebration of the glory and greatness of God?
Only the last answer comes close to what the bible most clearly teaches that we will be “rewarded”, “repaid”, or “recompensed” for what we’ve done in the body “whether good or bad” (2 Cor. 5.9-10) The bad news is “judgment day is coming”. The good news is “judgment day is coming”! For those who are in Christ, it will be an amazing day when rewards, positions, and crowns will be given out by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
In April, Men Step Up (Gwinnett) will take four weeks to celebrate 5 years of ministry at the ugly crack of dawn in the beautiful setting of the restaurant “California Dreaming”. The night of their last day of that celebration will be punctuated by the coolest date night ever. Rock-star quality worship singer Rolin Williamson will take the stage at Crosspointe Church in Duluth, GA and play the opening song for a production of “That Day”, a 2 act, 1 man show about Dan Matthewson, a guy who gets to meet Jesus at the judgment seat.
This show has played to packed houses from Alpharetta to Gainesville and is already being looked at for later performances in the year (as far away as Dallas, TX – Glory to God!!!) It’s been highly acclaimed not only for its entertainment value, but for its impact on the faith of those who have seen it. Seasons of Life Ministries is very excited to partner with Jesus Spoken Here Ministries and Men Step Up Gwinnett to give you a look at what that day might be like when we all come face to face with Jesus. Entertaining, encouraging, exhorting… and God gets all the glory. NICE!
Tickets are now on sale – $50 each, which includes dinner (catered by California Dreaming), the music, and the show. There will also be valuable ministry takeaway for everyone in attendance. A couple of things to know, though – this is a great environment to bring someone you know who’s “unchurched” or wrestling with their faith. It’s also an event we’re hoping to use to minister to those in ministry – a few local pastors and lay leaders from other local ministries.
In this, we could use your help, and I know this month I’ve added a lot of “would you consider”s to the blog. But, would you consider helping us to scholarship a few people to this event? We know $50 is pretty steep for a ticket. We also know there’s a lot of value in return. But, regardless of return, if you ain’t got $50, you ain’t got it. Our hopes are to raise $400 to $500 to not only scholarship a few needy couples in the door for a great date night, but we’d also like to foot the bill for their babysitter that night (unless you’d like to volunteer – which we’d welcome you to do!). So, there it is, another “consider” for you to consider! Would you consider it?
For more info on “That Day”, go to “www.thatday.info“. Yeah, that was easy to remember!
by Aarron Pina | Feb 25, 2011 | Uncategorized
The World Race
We know giving is important – in fact the scripture I wrestle with in writing this post is from Matthew, chapter 6. Do I talk about how and where we’re giving? If I do, what’s my motive and am I forfeiting an eternal reward at the price of a temporal one? Or, is it appropriate to tell a story of what God has prompted us to do in hopes that it serves an encouragement to others and glorifies God because He moved us to do it rather than we?
One thing is plain about the scripture – Jesus doesn’t say “if you give”. He says “When you give…” Giving was such a part of the walk with God that He threw it right in the mix alongside “when you fast” and “when you pray“. But, do we tithe on our net or our gross? Do we tithe on child support or maintenance payments? Do we tithe on our tax return – I mean, if we get a tax return it’s based on money we’ve already received and (hopefully) already tithed against, so shouldn’t we just receive it graciously?
For a time, I wrestled with that spirit of entitlement – I earned it, it’s mine. But, over time, I have clearly seen that the truth is here: none of it belongs to us and we deserve nothing. If you can turn down the volume knob on the self condemnation channel and pump up the encouragement track, repeat that last statement. “We deserve nothing but God’s judgment.” I don’t know about you, but as that statement has settled in to a healthy place in my heart, I’ve felt less entitled to just about everything. Including that tax return.
Yes, we have debt. Yes, we’re going to use a chunk of it to pay off debt, but we sincerly feel we’d be disobedient if we didn’t do something “more direct” for the Kingdom of Christ with this year’s return. So, maybe selfishly (hopefully not), we’re helping to support a few ministries near and dear to us. One of them is Taryn Neurohr, who upon graduating from college this Spring will embark on an 11 month mission trip that will take her to 11 countries. It’s called “The World Race”.
If you’ve never heard of it, check out the video link at the top of this post – you will be astounded by what God does with people like Taryn, who love Him radically and share the gospel with vigor, candor, and tenacity in places most of us would never dare go.
While I spend a lot of time raising support for the local mission we’re on in heavily churched, yet performance based Atlanta, I’d like to appeal to you as Taryn prepares for her trip to join her in support. Not only in prayer, but in material aid. Have a yard sale. Join her at $10 a month. Or, take a big chunk of your pending IRS return and send it her way. Would you pray for her and support what God has called her to do for His kingdom?
Taryn’s blog & support page: