Riley Family Update

The Riley Family E-Letter
Volume 1, Issue 1, August 2008

As Tracey and I began planning the reality of this transition to Chicago we knew one thing, without God and outside support, it was destined to fail. From the time that we prayed for discernment and clarification of His calling, the application process and all that would follow; we have seen Him laced in the details. We have been claiming Ephesians 3:20;
“Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.”
We knew that in order for Tracey to be able to apply for the Willow Creek Internship we would need to raise a substantial amount of support, sell our house in a struggling market, find a house in Chicago, and God would also have to provide a job opportunity for me that would be flexible with what we are taking on. As of this writing, God has provided us with full monthly support, a sold home, a beautiful rental home in an incredible area near the church, and the likelihood of a great job for Chris. God is good! He has provided us more than we asked or imagined!
Authentic faith is often described as “believing God is who He says He is and that He will do what He promises us in scripture”. I cannot begin to tell you how the past 9 months have re-shaped our perception of God...our God was not big enough. How big is your God? Hopefully our stepping out will inspire you to re-think the size of your God, your goals, and realize that God is who He says he is and that He will do what He has promised us in scripture.
We want to thank each and every one of you who have supported us prayerfully, financially, and physically. Without your support, we would not be writing this newsletter. Thank you for having faith in us along with faith in a God that promises us more than we can ask or imagine.

In His Service,
Chris, Tracey, Hannah, Lydia and Ethan Riley

A Wife Speaks Out

This video offers a different perspective to an issue that many of us deal with or maybe, choose not to deal with. I would not be at the place that I am today without the blessing of a godly wife. Please watch and be encouraged and challenged. 1 John 1:9

Are You Starving Jesus?

In the book "Starving Jesus", by Craig Gross and J.R. Mahon, they refer to today's Christians as born again lazy. They substantiate their claim by saying,

"Born again laziness is common amoung Christians today. They fill the seats of both mega-churches and small town fellowships. There's inaction, idle worship, and tendancy to stay exclusive as a fellowship and not go beyond the parking lot. As a church we have become born again lazy, lazy with our money, lazy with our families, lazy with outreach, lazy with prayer, lazy with fasting, lazy with studying God's word, lazy with Him. It may be the sin we don't see, or it may be a glaring defect that stops us from exercising our faith. Either way, we are creating Christians whose main desire is to please themselves."

Are these words harsh, yes, but there is some truth to them, I know there is in my life. As you read this you may be challenged, aggravated or even offended, I was all three. As we look at the concept of being born again lazy and try to determine if indeed we are starving jesus, there is only one response...do something to find out. Maybe as you read this the Holy Spirit has been poking you lately and you've been praying or hoping for some kind of break through or opportunity. The book goes on to say,

"All the understanding about yourself still will not take the place of one big thing, and that is the absolute truth of Christ in your life.You must understand He is your Savior and he is in charge. From there, getting rid of born again laziness means you become responsible for your thoughts and behavior. Let's not back burner the sin anymore; let's get it out and start living beyond ourselves, because we can. That quiet little voice in your head telling you its time for a change is the Holy Spirit. But listening to and acting on that voice are two different things."

Would you like an opportunity to ask yourself some questions like; Am I starving Jesus? If I'm starving Jesus, what am I feeding? Where am I spiritually? Where am I going spiritually and how am I going to get there? And actually have time to think and respond to those questions. Aaron's small group has created a "Starving Jesus" mini retreat. On Saturday, April 19th we will be leaving at 7:00am from the church to go to an off-site for a 12hour, intensive retreat to explore these types of issues in our lives. The 12 hours will be made up of group time, worship time, quiet time and several opportunities to just spend time with God, however that looks for you. We have a few spots left if this sounds like something you would be interested in. If you are interested, please contact Aaron or myself for more details. We will be asking you to fast "something" on Saturday as we come before the Lord. If the Holy Spirit has been speaking to you in a quiet little voice, maybe this may be a time for you to listen, answer and act.

Vision and Self Evaluation

After reading the vision statement for the Men's Ministry, I have to ask the question...how do we "own" that? Especially were it says,"Encouraging men to fervently pursue God for the benefit of their families and themselves". Well stated but again, how do we own that? One way of accomplishing that is by evaluating where you are at in order to know where you are going. Those of you who know me (especially my small group) know that I put a great amount of weight on self evaluation. It is way too easy to walk through life claiming ignorance and never grow or mature as a husband, father, or Christ follower. Christ was constantly answering questions with questions. I wanted to challenge you today with the questions Craig Groeschel posted today on his blog. As First Pres men we must be asking ourselves these questions on a regular basis. My suggestion would be to find some time maybe this weekend to disappear and evaluate where your at with the following questions.

• Am I closer to my spouse today than I was a year ago?
• Have I read God’s word with my family this week?
• Have I prayed with each member of my family this week?
• Do my children know they come before the people in the church?
• Are my children joyfully experiencing Christ at church or do they resent the church?
• Does my spouse feel close to me spiritually?
• If my spouse could have me change one thing about me, what would it be? (Why haven’t I changed in this way? What am I going to do about it?)
• Are we honoring the Sabbath as a family?
• Do my wife and kids enjoy being around me?
• Can my family clearly articulate our family values and vision?

Maybe we need to ask our kids and wives some of these questions. Tough questions, but questions that need to be asked and answered. If we are claiming to be Christian men, we must be identifying these areas and at a minimum, have a plan. We are called in Proverbs 27:17 to sharpen one another. Are you sharp or dull?

I look forward to seeing you at the Men's Ministry Weekend on April 25th-27th. If your unsure, let me encourage you to try to make it, this is an incredible opportunity to be sharpened by fellow men and be spiritually challenged. Not to mention, how long has it been since you've had a weekend away with the guys!

Quote of the Day

Real faith is dynamic. It's controversial. It's dangerous. It's constantly growing. It asks challenging questions. It involves mystery. You can't put it in a box. You can't keep it quiet. You can't out-grow it. You can't out-dream it. It's more focused on others than it is on self. Real faith gives me peace but makes me discontent to let things stay the same.

-Tony Morgan-

Dropping Seeds of Faith Everywhere...

Recently I heard a story concerning the time when the Romans ruled Europe. The story teller explained that because of the lack of proper sewage and sanitation the city dwellers began to get very sick, so sick that many died. Over time this sickness spread so vast that it reached plague proportions. Out of fear of catching the disease many family members threw their sick loved ones in the streets left to die next to the other decaying bodies. As shocking as this may seem this was not the wildest thing. It was told that a group of people who were not yet affected by the disease took it upon themselves to search through those piles of decaying flesh and place those who where found alive upon carts, where they would wheel them back to their own homes and care for them as best they could. In most cases all they could do was ease the suffering of the sick until they died. Over time many of the search team became infected with the disease themselves and died. So who where these people who where willing to place themselves at risk? I think you already know, they were the CHURCH! As the followers of Jesus lived out their faith through kindness many of those who watched from their windows could not understand how a stranger would be willing to care for the dying family members they themselves were so quick cast into the streets. This action of love by the Church became one of the seeds of faith that God used to bring many others unto Himself.

The question we must ask is...
"IN WHAT WAYS ARE WE DROPPING SEEDS OF FAITH IN THE COMMUNITY SURROUNDING US?"

The the King will say..."Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me - you did it to me" Matthew 25:40 The Message

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in thier distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27 NIV

Wild Game Dinner and new chairs!

Just wanted to remind everyone of the Wild Game Dinner tomorrow night at 6:30. My prayer is that we have all stepped out of our comfort zone and asked a friend, family member, co-worker or neighbor to join us. We are promised in Ephesians 3:20 that God is able to do "immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine". That's exciting, what do you ask or imagine? My prayer is that God grabs a hold of some people tomorrow night and gives them a big hug. Don't you want to be a part of that?

Now, on to other important business...check out the new chairs for the new church!

Wild Game Dinner and Pete!

Wanted to remind everyone about the 2nd Annual Wild Game Dinner on Friday, March 7th at 6:30. I also wanted to ask you if you would commit to bring or ask at least one person who would normally not come to church. Please hear me when I say the following; I am not asking you to bring or ask people for the sole purpose of having a big, successful event with over a hundred men. I am asking you to do this for the simple fact that there are many men, for multiple reasons, who don't want to set foot in a church. This dinner was conceived to reach those men. This dinner was designed to be an outreach opportunity. The church is not called to save the saved. We need to look outside the same 50 men who show up for everything and get some men in here that would benefit from hearing the life changing message of Jesus Christ. Trust me, Vic Faust will be bringing it! If your in a men's small group, commit as a group to bring some men. If your in a Sunday School class, spread the word and commit to bring some men. If you have to pick them up and pay for their ticket, commit to bring at least one person. If you can't make it, buy someone a ticket and they can hang out with me...Man Up and get er done!

and finally, Pete.

Please take a minute and read this post about Pete.

Maybe you have a Pete in your life. When asked why he waited so long to make his decision he replied, "it's because no one had ever asked him to make that decision…or told him how to pray to do it."

Gentleman...were men...we know how we operate, we must reach out to those men who are un-churched or de-churched. They will not come to us.
Who's your Pete?

Quote of the Day

"Stop settling for the expectations of others."

-Perry Noble-

Pinewood Derby

I am so proud of Ethan, he may have had a slower car, but he won "Best Design" in the Tree Climbers group. Ethan and I had a great time working on his car over the last several weeks at Boys Club. I wanted Ethan to design, sand, paint and assemble his own car. So many of the men I work with, completely do their kids cars for them. I appreciate that the boys club requires the kids to complete their cars at church, it takes the focus off of competition and puts it onto communication between dad and son. Thanks to Jerry and Jamie Barwikowski, Gary Westerbeek and Gary Jenkin for racing and tabulating the race results, it was well done.

Congratulations to all the young men who won and built a car, it was alot of fun.