Some subtitles that were rejected from the Top Ten Rejected List J are as follows:

As we head into the summer, I shared with our students three goals I want to see them accomplish over the summer.

1. Make new relationships.

2. Strengthen current relationships.

3. Integrate in our 5th grade graduates.

1. Make new relationships.

It is easy to get comfortable with a few people inside of your small group, the ministry you serve in within the church, and with those whom you normally sit by on a Sunday. It is good to have close friends that you invest in and share life with. But we should never stop investing in new lives and getting to know others. We are encouraging our students this summer to make it a priority to get to know someone new and to make sure no one is left out.

2. Strengthen current relationships

Sharing life together can sometimes come naturally and at other times it takes a lot of work. Add to that all of the hormonal changes that takes place in today’s teenager and it makes it that much more difficult. Someone offends you. . . you say nothing to them. . . you say something about them to someone else. . . you make assumptions. . . they make assumptions. And before you know it, the friendship is broken. This summer presents an opportunity for our students to repair any broken relationships, to forgive and forget, and to move forward. The church (God’s people) is a gift and we need to cherish and protect that gift.

3. Integrate in our 5th grade graduates.

The transition from elementary to middle school is a tough transition not just in school but also in the church. To help make this transition easier, we encourage our 5th grade graduates to make the transition from Route 356 to Mountview Student Ministries a gradual process over the summer months. Our 5th grade graduates will be starting to join us for Sunday nights during the summer, while still attending and participating in Route 356 in the summer, with the goal of being completely transitioned before the school year starts in the fall. We are encouraging our current middle school students and high school students to be reaching out to and encouraging our 5th grade grads because they remember how hard it was for them at that age.

Mountview, please continue to pray for our students this summer with the three goals we have given them and be thinking about your own life and what goals you would like to accomplish in your role as a member of the church.

One of the things I learned while we were down there was why they were all so excited about the color orange, I mean, I like the color orange just as much as the next gal, and I thought it nicely convenient that our Route 356 logo and shirts happen to be orange (because I like bright colors). But EVERYONE at that conference was decked out in orange! Orange shirts, orange shoes, orange scarves, hats, and socks. I just didn’t get it. At least, I didn’t get it until Reggie Joiner, the head of Orange, got up to speak and told us how to “Think Orange”.

He simply told us the basics of the “Orange” strategy. You see, in elementary art class, we all learned about primary and secondary colors. So, we know that the primary color red, when combined with the primary color yellow, creates the secondary color orange. And the origin of orange is as simple as that.

Red: The love of the family.

Yellow: The light of the church.

Together they are colorful.

Combine them and they are VIBRANT.

They are ORANGE.

Reggie told us, “When two influences (church and family) work together, they are greater than the two influences working alone.”

Thus my love of the color orange has deepened. Such a simple way of explaining the vision we have for our own Route 356 ministries: for our church and families to partner together in raising spiritually strong children who trust God no matter what; know how to make wise, biblical decisions; and who love others the way Christ loves us.

I am so excited to continue to find ways to partner the church and the family together–when we as the church equip our parents with resources and prayer and when our families turn around and support the church in ministry and prayer. Together we can raise up kids who will love Jesus Christ more than anything else in this world. Let’s Think Orange together, shall we?

I have been the director of Mountview Christian Preschool since March of 2006. What started out as a small two classroom preschool has been blessed to grow each year and this year has grown to six classrooms, 85 students and over a dozen staff members. I received an email this week that touched my heart with remembrance and gratitude that we do make a difference in the lives of children and their families.

In the school year 2007–2008, I was both directing the preschool and teaching the Busy Bees’ classroom. Austin Lin was enrolled in my class that year. He was three years old and could already read when he came to us! I vividly remember him sitting and reading to another preschooler in the late afternoon before pick-up time.

It was with great pleasure that I discovered an email from him this week. I lovingly share it with you and a picture he sent along as well and I praise God for allowing me to work in this ministry.

Blessings,

Pam Larson

Dear Ms. Pam & Ms. Darla,

How are you? This is Austin Lin writing from Taiwan. Do you still remember me? I am almost 10 years old now. I love and miss Mountview Christian Preschool very much. Are you still teaching there? I miss you all so much and I wish I could visit you again in the future.

Do you remember my brother Justin? He is almost 7 years old. And guess what? I have a baby sister now! Her name is Jasmine and she’s almost 9 months old. We love her very much.

Here is a picture of my family. Hope you enjoy it!

Have a nice day!

God bless,

Austin Lin

Coaching. It is not just something that Urban Meyer does and Brady Hoke wishes he could do. Coaching is one of the major assets to a discipleship relationship. When I think about coaching, my mind immediately thinks of all the fantastic role models I had from childhood sports and a few who were not so top notch. The coaching was not so helpful with advice like, “Don’t do as I do, but do as I say.” This would be great if people’s actions didn’t speak so loudly that I couldn’t hear what they said. Seriously though, a major part of coaching, as well as leading someone, is being the example! Modeling is what needs to happen in the discipler’s life, in my humble opinion. The discipler cannot ask the disciple to do something he or she is not currently doing themselves. There is a challenge in coaching that brings the heart of discipleship in the discipler to the forefront. Is the discipler willing to confront and deal with their own sin? Do they recognize the power of living life together well in love and accountability? Can we coach well as disciplers, so that disciples live out of a heart for God and not just because of the relationship with the discipler?

Let’s take a step back for a moment. What is coaching? Coaching is supporting the disciple and encouraging and helping them think of next steps to take. It is also lovingly critiquing and implementing God’s word together in their lives. Now, these aspects can be done to the best of the discipler’s ability, and yet be received negatively by the disciple. This is why the relationship has to be firmly established with trust and loyalty. There must be clear communication between them, and the disciple must understand the heart of the discipler. The heart of the discipler needs be clearly conveyed in order to achieve the very best out of the disciple. Ultimately the relationship and all of the results are for the glory of God. The goal and mission of the relationship needs to be understood at the outset and it is helpful to continually reemphasize the goal and mission as they live life together. For me personally, this is crucial. I have a tendency to always hear the negative critique and rarely focus on the positive. This is why establishing trust in the relationship early is so beneficial and critical to achieve the heavenly goal. Along the way, the discipler needs to remind the disciple that everyone is in process and no one is perfect, except of course Jesus Himself. It is important for the discipler to share about how and what they went through as they were growing and developing in those challenging areas of their life. Mutual sharing is a great way to continue to build trust in the relationship. It also reinforces, to those they are discipling, that being ‘in process’ is okay. Being a good coach is to be good at these few things and encourage, encourage, encourage. Also, it means to relate well and help facilitate God’s growth in the areas of the disciple’s life.

I look forward to helping us as a church pursue these discipleship relationships and coach well. Will we do it perfectly? No way. But to do it perfectly isn’t the point. Even the Perfect One worked with Judas Iscariot who didn’t get it. This gives me the grace and courage to go out and do the best I can along the path of discipleship being mindful to be a good coach who encourages, relates well and furthers God’s growth in others’ lives.

In Him,

Austin

Here are a few of my recently fulfilled campaign promises:

1. Bring presents every time I visit.
2. Feed Joey giant cookies at breakfast when his parents are not looking.
3. Push Joey around the park on his tricycle even though he claims HE is getting the exercise.
4. Push Jakie around the house on Thomas the Train.
5. Treat Joey to an orange sherbet push up from the local ice cream truck.
6. Walk around the Santa Barbara zoo several times oohing and aahing at the animals.
7. Eat ice cream every day.
8. Take Joey change to throw in any fountain we can find in our travels.
9. Play with them on demand.
10. Read them bedtime stories.

As wonderful as spoiling my nephews was, there was one experience that in retrospect was God at work teaching me a little more about caring for the least of these. Kaari had to leave on a business trip on Thursday. Of course, that coincided exactly with Jakie getting sick. That gave me the opportunity to do carpet cleaning at their house on a couple of occasions as Jakie continued to expel his bottles for about 24 hours. I was able to watch my brother care for his helpless little guy who didn’t understand why he didn’t feel well, why he was hungry, why he kept throwing up and why his mom wasn’t there. What a special experience it was to get up during the night to hold Jakie while Randy was cleaning up and prepping bottles. And it was a special experience to take Joey out for the morning so both Jakie and Randy could get some rest. (That’s when I fed Joey his giant cookie breakfast.)

As I reflect on that experience, I see how God directed me to visit during that time so I could be there to help and to see how a loving father cares for his little ones through it all. I have a newfound respect for parents and much more empathy for sick little ones. I am also learning, firsthand, that caring for others often requires us to get our hands a little dirty. It can be smelly and exhausting and sleep depriving but as we faithfully fulfill our responsibility to care for others, God shows us His caring Father heart. Sometimes, it also means doing what is best for those in need even when they don’t understand it or when they want something different.

Thank you, Lord, for teaching me that cleaning carpets can be a blessing and for continuing to teach me about how to care for others.

In Him Alone,

Lila

Last week I was on vacation in the U.S. Virgin Islands on the island of St. Thomas. For no reason I am aware of (I am sure God does), I decided that I was going to talk to people I met about faith, the church, and Jesus. Here are some of the people I spoke with about spiritual matters:

1. The woman at the car rental place who turned me on to the Lutheran Church she attends and where we would go for worship on Sunday morning.

2. The man from the car rental place who drove me back to the airport after I dropped off my car. We were in the car not five minutes together and I found out he grew up in church and stopped going. I recommended he check Jesus out again. He got a big grin on his face as I climbed out of the shuttle.

3. Two couples on our snorkeling trip who turned out were believers. In fact, we sat behind one of the couples in church on Sunday morning. They had two adopted girls from China.

4. Matt, one of the workers on the snorkeling trip we took. He had no faith I was aware of but we spent time on one of the beaches we visited talking about the beauty of the creation and how it was not by accident our world came to be.

5. The lady in the baggage claim office who looked like she worked on the island of misfit toys. She was involved in church but then stopped going and shared that she really needed to get back.

In the last three months, I have talked to nearly no one about my faith or about Jesus and then five plus people inside a week. I have no excuses for being silent in this area. Just lazy, detached, self-centered, and often not kingdom-minded when I am out and about moving through God’s world. God is looking to change this about me and for that I am thankful and blessed.

It was awesome to invite people into these types of conversations and thrilling to see where God would take each one. I have no idea what it meant in their lives and thankfully God does not ask me to know. He simply desires me to speak His name, share His love, and talk with others about who He is and all He has done. What an honor and an adventure. Never have I enjoyed speaking so much. I will pray that God waters those seeds scattered and planted as well as continues to use my mouth to make Him known.

In His Love,

Pastor Kevin

As we finish preparing for our retreat this year, I am especially excited for several reasons:

1. We will be heading to a new location: King’s Domain Camp in Oregonia, Ohio just north of Cincinnati. It is so pretty down there that it’s almost like being in Michigan.

2. We are going to be playing paintball, which is something we haven’t gotten to do on retreats in the past.

3. We have an amazing group of leaders going who have a great relationship with God and truly care about our students.

4. We have students going who currently don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Why is that exciting? Because our students who do have a relationship with Jesus are going to be sharing their relationship with Jesus with their friends, asking their friends specifically where they stand, and if they would like to put their trust in Jesus Christ alone.

As you read this article, the retreat will already be in process or have already happened (April 26–28), but that doesn’t mean you can’t still pray. Please be praying for follow up conversations with our students who don’t have a relationship with Jesus and for our students who do and who will be making decisions about their next step in their relationship with Jesus.

Pastor Kurt Oberlin

The last week of June is elementary camp up in Geneva, Ohio. We take our 3rd–5th graders up to elementary camp each year and staff that week of camp with counselors from Mountview. It’s a jam-packed week of ministry, with morning and evening worship, Bible study, campfires, swimming, and of course, crazy games that sometimes involve toilet paper. Throughout the week our students get an opportunity to really dig into God’s Word and own their faith. It is an amazing thing to watch as kids surrender their lives to Jesus Christ and put their faith in Him as their Savior and Lord.

August 2nd will be our annual Drive-in Movie Night which is a wonderful event for connecting with families throughout our Upper Arlington community. This year we will be watching ‘The Lorax”, a great movie to follow up with a family discussion on being good stewards of God’s creation. Popcorn, slushies, and pajamas will be in abundance at this fun ministry event.

Vacation Bible School will be here August 5–9, from 9am to 11:30am each day.  This year our theme is Gotta Move! Keepin’ in Step with the Spirit. VBS is free for children age three through 5th grade and is a great week full of energetic worship, Bible study, skits, games, and crafts all centered around aspects of the fruit of the Spirit. This year we are planning some special events throughout the week for our 4th and 5th grade VBS attendees as well. Keep an eye on the web site as on-line registration for VBS will be coming soon!

If you would like to partner with us in this action-filled summer of ministry as a volunteer at any of our summer family events, let me know at children@mountview.org. I can tell you this: God is going to be doing some cool stuff, and you don’t want to miss it!

Being distraught can teach us quite a bit about ourselves. The disciples feared for their lives but also feared losing their leader, teacher and friend. Jesus brought out the best in His disciples and He brought growth. I have had the pleasure in my adult life to be built into by several different individuals. Those people in my life I would call my disciplers. As Jesus had disciples and Apostle Paul shared the charge, “follow me as I follow Christ”, the biblical model is to follow Christ and model life after an earthly follower of Christ. As I look to past and present, I have grown the most during the times of my life where these men were sharing the Scriptures with me, teaching me to pray, teaching me to share my faith and answering the tough questions I had.

These were the ‘formal’ times of meeting. I say formal because they were typically planned out, at least to some degree. There were also, and just as important, informal times that consisted of what I like to call shared life. My disciplers shared life with me in the sense that they showed me how they lived, joked around or did some kind of non-spiritual activity together in order to be looking for those ‘teachable moments’. These teachable moments are points in life where we come to a crisis of belief about God or ourselves and the questions just flow from our mouths. The joy of these moments is that we are with someone we trust who loves us the way our heavenly Father loves us and we can just try and figure some of life out with someone who is there for us. These are great times God uses to bring about the life change in us that He so longs to bring forth in each and every area of our life.

In Francis Chan’s ‘Multiply’, Chan reinforces my experience of how life should be lived–with someone who is clearly building into us and with others into whom we are clearly building. I love this because what I learn about God is not meant just for me. It is meant to be passed along to others around me. Chan hits home with a powerful question that really brings discipleship to the forefront. He asks, “Whom has God placed in your life whom you can teach to follow Jesus?” Beyond that, seeking out an earthly model is something for each of us to pursue. Who do you want to imitate based on their life example of following Jesus?

This is how I see a discipling church: people who are being built into and who are building into others. However, these relationships can be difficult to start. If a person is uncomfortable beginning relationships like these, he or she can quickly come to a standstill in the process of making disciples. To this I say, is Christ worth it? Are Christ’s perfect life, painful death, glorious resurrection and ascension, coupled with His command to make disciples, worth our possible rejection by others? Is overcoming some of the objections, challenges and sin in our lives worth the possibility of being rejected? I hope so and I’d be honored to help you pursue relationships of being built into and building into others throughout our church. It’s a pleasure to serve alongside each and every one of you.