As we move into this weekend I am aware of the fact that many of us are about to do something stupid.  That may seem like an obvious thing, as a race we have been doing it for millennia, but for many they will regret it on Sunday.  Why do we make choices that bring us pain?  I could go on and on and on….no seriously I could really go on…….here about sin and sin nature, about wounds in our soul, about mob mentality and culture, but the truth is I am just as perplexed with human behavior as everyone else.

Maybe we do it because we don’t understand the nature of Grace.  Grace is the scandalous love of God that embraces us despite our sin, wounds and imperfections.  Grace is what allows a perfect God to love a perfect screw-up like me.  Augustine, one of the early church father’s was so taken by the Grace of God that he once said, sin and sin big so that you can encounter God’s grace, or something like that.  And while I don’t agree with his statement, I get it!  I have felt that warm embrace of the soul that says, I don’t care who you are or what you have done, I love you, and I am glad you are home.

But Grace is more than that.  Grace isn’t just the embrace of restoration after the mistake, it is the power to keep us together as well.  Sure, if I drink too much this weekend, God’s grace will welcome me back.  If I look, or act inappropriately with that beautiful woman, or man for some of you, God’s grace will heal my heart and restore me.  But how deep can a relationship really grow that is only marked by forgiveness.  Grace is not just the power to be forgiven, it is the power to walk rightly with God.  Something formerly I could not do, I was a slave to my passions.

So this weekend, I am going to lean on Grace, not to restore me on Sunday, but to keep me on Friday and Saturday.

Father,

Thanks for send Jesus.  I am sorry that I have made too little of what He has done, thinking only of the forgiveness that He offers and not learning to lean on Him to keep me.  Please hold me up this weekend.  Don’t let me do something I will regret, say something that I will have to apologize for, or become someone I feel the need to hide.  May your grace cause my life to be wide open, honest, transparent and full.

I really love you and look forward to the day when we will be together all the time,

Your Son and slow learner,

Jerry

It has been said you are what you eat…gross!  But there is more than one way to feed yourself.  From time to time I have people ask me who I listen to, what I read, where do I go to feed myself spiritually and intellectually, so I thought I would give you a look at some of what I have been “eating” so far this year.

Podcasts:

Greg Boyd (Woodland Hills Church)

Andy Stanley’s Leadership Podcast (Northpoint Church)

Francis Chan (Cornerstone Church)

Dave Gibbons (NewSpring)

Craig Croeschel (LifeChurch.tv)

Rob Bell (Mars Hill)

Matt Chandler (The Village Church)

There are more, but seriously, do you need to know everything I do?

Books:

The Monkey and the Fish, Dave Gibbons

Less Clutter, Less Noise, Don’t remember

The Millionaire Next Door, Stanley/Danko

Love and Respect, Emmerson Eggerichs

Son of Hummas, Long Arabic Name Here

So Beautiful, Leonard Sweet

The Art of War, Sung

The Muslim Prayer Book and Qur’an

Bible (I read it through once every year, the NT & Psalms twice and the Gospels at least three times)

Some of this stuff is great, some has been like weed-eating, good, but a lot of work, and some honestly was a complete waist of my time and has made me truly “stupider”!

Anyway, that’s what I am eating, or as some may say, becoming, what about you?

Jerry

In Hebrews chapter eleven (11) we have what has been called, The Hall of Faith. This chapter is filled with men and women who did extraordinary things and had God do extraordinary things through them, men like Samson, who took on whole armies single handed, Noah, who took everything the natural world has to offer and lived, and Samuel who would lead and watch the change of nations and kings.  But there is another kind of hero within these verses as well, everyday ordinary men and women who were willing to just serve and trust God wherever they found themselves.  These are the kind of heroes that interest me today.

Sarah Gilmore is a nurse from our congregation who is currently serving in Haiti with the relief effort.  When the time finally came to be able to go and serve the call was specific, “we need medical workers” and Sarah responded.  Johnny Johnson, is lying in a hospital today and will be all week, having chemo treatments.  Through it all, nearly a year now, he has maintained a Christ-like attitude and an absolute confidence in God’s love and faithfulness.

Heb. 12:1 says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.”  I wonder if anything is more appropriate for us today.  Here in our midst we find such outstanding examples of Heroic faith in the simplest and most unassuming places, so then, let us, get rid of what is holding us back and run this race and live our lives in such a way that honors God as much as these two.

Father,

Forgive me when my life, my thoughts, my hopes, my kids, consume me.  Help me Lord to live each day, selflessly for you, so that other may see my life and glorify you.

Jerry

This year on Sunday May 30, Memorial Day Weekend, we will have our first every Dedication Sunday and our Third Annual Opening Day Church Picnic.  The Picnic will be a Big Woods Park in Batavia at 3pm and there will be softball games for the whole family after lunch.  This is going to be an incredible Day of Celebrating the family and playing together, so we hope you will make plans to join us.  Stay tuned over the next couple weeks for more information.

Yesterday I took a 9 mile hike through a beautiful White Oak forest.  It was amazing!  I don’t know what it is about being outside, cut off from everything, tuned into nature that creates thin places for me, or at least makes me aware that they are there.  What do I mean, “thin places”?

It is those moments and places where the distance and obstacles the separates us from God seem smallest, when this world and that seem to mingle and you would swear if only for a moment you caught a glimpse of God himself.  Maybe a smell in the air, a song on the wind, the smile in the face of a stranger, but for a moment of for a time you are here but somewhere else, or maybe somewhere else is here.  It is hard to say, but you know it when you have been there, when you have experienced it.

I love finding that time and stealing away.  It is with an expectation and a hope that I go to find him again in that unique way.  Sure I pray as I trust you do, I sing, I meditate on His word I do all those things but this is different, unique.  And I think we all experience it in different ways.

Sometimes it just happens, God breaks through when we didn’t expect it in ways and times when we wouldn’t have thought.  But there are familiar places too.  Places where we have met him more than once.  Places where our souls seem more free, our eyes and ears more attuned and spirits soar.  Where is that place for you?  When was the last time you went, and what keeps you from going more often.

If you haven’t been in a while I want to encourage you to go and get a glimpse of God.

Jerry

Father,

I thank you that you have said, “when we seek you, we will find you.”

a seeker,

Jerry

Man, I can’t believe it is almost May!  But we are going to have one amazing Summer.  Here are just a few events you are NOT gonna wanna miss: Mother’s Day Service (Carrie, Kristi & Jessie teaching); May 30  Dedication Sunday & Opening Day (Church Picnic & Softball game); June 11 – Movie Night; June 27 – Swedish Day’s Parade; July 2-3 – Men’s Camp-out; July 29-31 – Family Camp; Aug. 14 – Back to School Blow-Out (outreach); Sept. 3 – Movie Night; Sept. 5 – Baptism Service, and this doesn’t include our FREE Car clinic, HWM (High Water Marks), or a number or other events.

We will be doing a retro series with some wild throw back outfits, Our social Justice month, another “Sexy” Summer Series (Yuck, teenagers beware!), we will ordain a minister, have some guest speakers, and have place to be in some local parks.

I hope you sense this summer is going to be ridiculous, so make plans to laugh, cry, invite friends, feel challenged and challenge others.  This is going to be the best summer even!

Father,

Thank you for the seasons.  Thanks for this beautiful river valley and opportunity to take advantage of it.  Help us never take for granted the great natural blessings that are everywhere and help us make the most of each season for what it is.

In awe,

Your son

Well we just had our third Easter Service in the Randall 15 IMAX theater and our very first two service day.  It was awesome!  I mean the worship was good, the teaching was good (or so I was told), but what made it so amazing to me was all the people who really stepped up and made it work.

We had people at the Theater at 5:15am……….that’s right, 5:15am, talk about your stubs.  We had people come out of the woodwork to take care of coffee, greeting, kids, communion and the list goes on and on and on.  Then many of those same crazy/amazing people stuck around to clean it all up!  WOW!  We have the coolest and most inspiring group of people I have ever been around.

Anyway, we got a lot of great reports and the reason is all of you who made it happen, thanks.

Thanks for creating a welcoming environment for me and my family to come and experience the miracle of Easter.

Jerry

Father,

Thanks for allowing me the privilege of serving such a great faith community.

Jerry

This really isn’t an “ode” since thats a poem to someone that is usually recited and that would be weird and creepy, but I do have something that I feel really needs said…

To Eddie & Kristi and Jim & Jessie:

Thanks.  Thanks more than I can say.  Thanks doesn’t even begin to touch it, in fact it almost diminishes what is actually in my heart to say to each of you.  You are so much more to me than a staff, or partners or co-workers, you are my fuel, my inspiration, my challenge, my companions and on and on and on……Thanks for your creativity, your willingness to fight with me (even when I’m right), the absolute passion that you approach everything with, and your understanding when I am difficult, down, or lets be honest, moody.

Some of you Wellers may not know that I worked for nearly 4 years to get these two families here.  I looked over the entire church landscape and these are the men and women I choice to invest my life with.

Thanks for coming along side of us and making us who God intended.

To Johnny & Beth and Charlie & Sharen:

Thank you.  Thank you for believing in me and this vision long before I convinced Ed or Jim to finally come.  Thanks for being there when we were literally the only ones here.  You were our original investers, the author of our name, the worker and organizer of every outreach, the band, the office, the financial secretary, the accountant, the IT dept. and on and on and on….Your faithfulness, friendship and generosity not only bore the weight of this community but literally kept Carrie and my head above water and our hearts filled with hope.  Without any of you there would be no Well.  Thank You.

Some of you may not know that Johnny and Beth uprooted their family and left everything and everyone they knew to come up here from Arkansas to help us plant this church.  And that I prayed for an entire year DAILY after meeting Charlie and Sharen for them to come and be part of the church.  P.S. Sharen was easy, surprisingly Charlie was the holdout!  Sorry Charlie.

To Len & (getto) Bec

Thanks for the laughs, thanks for the challenge, thanks for your ability to work and sacrifice for a community that needs your gifts, thanks for your creativity, thanks for your honest questions and your demand for excellence.  Thanks for coming last and never letting it deter you but staying with it and pushing into God and our community.  Thanks for allowing me to be part of your growth, thanks for all the time you and your family gives to see that this community is healthy.

Many of you may not know that Len is the ……most frugal man in the world, but it is his keen insight that has helped us grow and provided for the needs of so many families in financial need, and that it has been Bec’s vision that has done more to affect the physical character and identity of our church than anyone else.  They are also responsible for such outreaches as the Swedish Days Parade, that have helped us gain favor in the community.  Len is also Dutch….I have nothing else to say about that.

To Carrie and my Kids:

Thanks for believing in me even when I wasn’t so sure myself.  Thanks for seeing something in me and in my dream that caused you to give me confidence to try the ridiculous.  Thanks for all the late nights, dinners without me, missed trips, broken promises, and so many other things you gave me grace on even when I didn’t deserve it.  You are my strength, my heart, my song, my laughter and my life.  I wouldn’t even want to try without each of you.

Carrie has been the woman of my dreams since I met her when we were 16 years old.  It took the Lord doing a huge work in my life and 5 years to finally catch her eye, but I got her.

To my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,

Thanks for the best group of friends and family anyone could ever ask for.  Thanks for a dream that forced me to learn to depend on you for everything.  Thanks for, what has to be, the best faith community in the world.  Thanks for your faithfulness and your direction.  Thanks for never giving up on me.

Many of you may not know, I am actually Jesus’ favorite!

Well we just finished our second Annual Spiritual Encounter Retreat and it was amazing.  We met Thursday Night, all day Friday, Friday Night, Saturday until nearly 1pm, came back and had service on Sunday morning and then HWM (High Water Mark) Sunday night.  Wew!  But man was it worth it.  Here are just some of the comments we have heard,

“The weekend was great and I woke up yesterday morning, for the first time in YEARS, not feeling like a wounded soldier… more later. ”

“Thanks for everything you have been doing for the retreat, leadership, hwm, … the past few days have been quite full!  Everything has been great.”

“Thanks for an awesome, Godly experience.  The weekend was amazing!”

But that isn’t all, lately my inbox has been flooded with notes like this about what the Lord is doing in general through out our Faith Community,

“Thank you so much for a consistently warm reception.  On our first visit, you mentioned that “The Well is different,” and you’re right.  The Well is wonderful!  The teaching, the worship and the family structure are awesome.  From the moment we walked in The Well’s place of worship, we could feel the love of God, unlike any place we have ever been.”

I am so blessed and so thankful to be a part of such an amazing church.  I pray God will continue to pour out His blessing on you all.

Your loving friend,

Jerry

We are in the middle of our series, Miracles, and my hope for you this Lent season is that you will connect with God at the deepest level of your fears, regrets, hopes and dreams.  This is the season for death and resurrection.  Let’s finally put to death all the things that have held us down, wounds, hurts, past failures, and allow God, The Great God of Wonders to breath a fresh breath of life over us.  Let’s stop living our “small, quiet lives of desperation” and live huge, God sized, God shaped lives, Miraculous lives, lives of wonder.

May God bless you and keep you,

Grace and Peace,

Jerry