Life At 6pm

Monday Morning Downloads

*Alright, so lets cover this right from the beginning.  Last week I got a bright idea and I challenged the ladies to leave 12 comments on this blog before 12:01am on February 1st.  They did.  As a result, this blog will feature the obnoxiously pink layout that you see before you.  The down side: everything I write will be in pink and any visitors to this site will immediately think that I am a woman.  I am not a woman, so that is a down side.   The up side: the color scheme will burn itself into the retinas of anyone looking at this site, so all day long when they close their eyes, they will see the words, “Life At 6pm”.

*Great day all around yesterday.  One could say it was “super”.  Pastor Mike preached an amazing message yesterday morning.  It really made me think.  A LOT!  He spoke on transitions and transformations.

*We arrived back at the church by 4:30. A bunch of people were already there setting up for different things.  Don and Dale and Heather and Scott were all setting up for the Children’s ministry.  They had a night of illusions planned for the kids and their parents.  They even had a spaghetti dinner ready for everybody.  Donovan and Erika were setting up for praise team practice and quite a few people were already hanging out.  This all made me happy because the Super Bowl really didn’t dent the amount of people joining together at TOL last night.

*Without going into details I am thankful for all of the people that work behind the scenes to ensure the safety of everyone at our church. They will never get public thanks for what they do, especially if they do what they do well.  I am thankful for them and for their spouses.

*Despite some equipment problems, Joe and Donovan worked well together to make sure that we were able to worship through music with no distractions.  I know I say this weekly, but I am blessed to work with people who love what they do.

*The whole time of music was incredible, but “Desert Song” was just amazing.  Lindsey, Keely and Lilian are a fantastic combination and Donovan shows great leadership in the way that he brings out the best in those that serve with him.  I had that song in my head all night and Jasilyn had me play it in the car this morning on the way to school.

*I think Dave wore his pink shirt to spite me.  In fact I am positive that he did.

*Joe managed to insult both teams playing in the Super Bowl, while putting in a plug for the Vikings.  I had actually forgotten that the Vikings still existed, so I am thankful to Joe for reminding me.  I’m quite sure that the only reason Joe likes the Vikings has something to do with the horned helmet.

*The Malachowskys make me laugh.

*Last night was a different style of preaching for me because it was more teaching and even though I am a teacher at heart, I felt a little out of place.  I do love unpacking scripture and digging deep into passages and that is what we did last night.  We stayed in Acts 11:19-26 all night.

*The message last night challenged me to be “kingdom minded” and not get locked into only thinking of “my ministry” or “my church” or even “my sphere of influence”.  All of these areas are important, but we have to keep the big picture in mind and remember that we are supporting characters in God’s big story.  If we see ourselves as the central characters, than we automatically limit the size of our stories right from the beginning.  I’d rather be a small character in God’s big story than a big character in my own small story.

*Next week we wrap up the “New” series as Saul becomes Paul.

*Until then!

~~Jason Queen, Sunday Night Pastor, Tree of Life Ministries

Monday Morning Downloads [on Tuesday]

*Sorry to be posting these a day late.  Right after the service Sunday night I got really sick.  That is a praise because God allowed me to bring his Word before getting sick.  I realize that I’m opening myself up to accusations that I got some of you sick, but I’m preparing myself for the whining as I type

*Sunday night was another great night. Donovan and the worship team were back with us! They brought some great reports from the youth rally but it sure was nice having them back with us.

*Tree of Life, you continue to amaze me.  Cold weather keeps most people home, but you guys come out despite the cold, and a lot of you came on in early to hang out and fellowship before the service.  Awesome!

*Before service starts I usually roam around quite a bit before praying by myself with Jacob in one of the back rooms, but Sunday night I really couldn’t leave the sanctuary because I felt the Spirit of worship even during the worship team’s practice.  They continue to be a blessing.

*The worship through music during the service was amazing.  I got lost in it.

*Lindsey, Lilian and Keely make a great combination.  Our whole worship team is a perfect example of how the Lord can draw together such different people with different backgrounds and unify them in His name.

*Man, Ryan rocked the drums!  He had me bouncing and that just doesn’t happen.  Maybe it shouldn’t happen…now I’m self conscious…

*Rachel was kind enough to take some pictures during the service.  I look forward to sharing some of those in the near future.

*Right before the service my head started pounding so I prayed and the headache was gone within minutes.

*I try to be transparent about when I struggle with messages or with certain things the Lord gives me, but I’m realizing that I need to be as equally transparent about the times when the Lord makes things so easy.  I walked in  Sunday night with complete confidence in the message He had given me and complete confidence in where He wanted it to go and I felt like He took the message beyond my limits.  I’m learning to study hard, prepare hard, pray hard and then preach while listening to Him.  That is tougher than it sounds, but when it clicks it is indescribable.  So I’ll just stop trying to describe it

*The message’s title was “New Trials” and we walked back through Acts 9, with emphasis on verse 16.  I never thought I would be excited about preaching a message on “suffering” but I was pumped up about this topic because too many people paint a false picture of Christianity when it comes to struggling and suffering.  When I was studying for this message and I read verses 20-30 of chapter 9, I kept thinking, “Man! Saul is really gettin hit hard right from the beginning”.  I guess I pictued Saul converting and then becoming some super-apostle right out of the box.  That’s not how it was, and I couldn’t wait to talk about that.  I plan on posting more about this topic later in the week.

* I will post the scriptures from last Sunday night in the next few days.

*After the message I got lots of great podium/pulpit stories.  I may compile them and share them later on.  If you’ve got a story about someone breaking a podium or being broken by a podium leave me a comment.  I could use a good laugh

*Next week: “New Life”.  I cannot wait!

~~Jason Queen, Sunday Night Pastor, Tree of Life Ministries

Monday Morning Downloads

*God blessed us with a great day yesterday! I knew from the start that last night’s service would be different because Donovan and our entire worship team was on the road over at Penuel Baptist Church for a youth rally.  I haven’t heard reports back from them yet, so for all I know they may still be rallying     I will update you as soon as I hear some reports!

*Donald Moore led worship with us last night and he was a tremendous blessing.  He kept it simple and soulful with just his voice, the piano and Beau on drums.  The worship was sweet and powerful and I am thankful to Donald.  I enjoyed talking and praying with Donald and Beau especially right before the service and I know that the Lord is going to use Donald greatly in the years to come.  How about Beau?  He had never played with Donald before last night, but they hit it off from the start and I think we’ll be seeing those two together again soon at TOL.  Thanks again to Donald and Beau.  In a world where it seems harder and harder to get people to commit, these two stepped up and blessed us!

*I try not to get caught up in numbers but I thought for sure that last night was going to be a low one.  With the praise team and their crew on the road, and with temperatures limbo stick low, I thought we would be a small group, but once again Tree of Life is unpredictable!  Great crowd last night. Full of energy and eager to learn and worship and fellowship.  I love it!

*I was reminded again last night of what a blessing Joe is to me.  He covers things that I never think about and he works largely behind the scenes.  Sometimes we take things for granted when we aren’t confronted with problems, but the fact that we aren’t confronted with problems means someone is doing what they are supposed to do.  Thank you Joe!

*The message last night was one of those that flamed up in the last few days and just blew me away as it was coming to me.  I read Acts 9 so many times that I can quote large chunks of it and the message was just not coming until Saturday morning.  I am still learning to fully trust the Holy Spirit and this was one of those defining moments for me as I learned to rely on Him.

*Yes I did ask my pregnant wife to hand out papers all over the sanctuary and yes I did repent of it afterwards

*Last night we looked at Jesus as Savior, Redeemer and Reconciler.  I will post the scripture passages we used later on today or tomorrow.

*Dude, I almost started shoutin’ at one point last night.  Jesus as redeemer has always gotten me excited but once I started getting the fact that He is our reconciler and allows us to be His ambassadors of reconciliation..MANNN!!!!  That is great stuff once it sinks in.

*Keep in mind that Jesus is the hero of the Bible.  It changes how you study the Word if you can remember that.

*Next week we are looking at “New Trials”.  Life actually seems to get tougher for Saul after he gives his life to Jesus.  What’s that about?  We’ll see next week!

~~Jason Queen, Sunday Night Pastor, Tree of Life Ministries