Woodside Bible News October 2009 : Page 1

COMMITTED TO ThE WORD phOTOs pages 1 -1 a BasKETBall & ChEER upWaRD page a GRanD OpEnInG page 1B laKE ORIOn CaMpus voL 4 IssuE Ix oCToBER 2009 A PuBLICATIoN oF WooDsIDE BIBLE ChuRCh Bible conference participants gain knowledge and skills BY KARoN houghToN MAThEWs WOODSIDE NEWS WRITER K ids Ministry Unleashed and the Com- mitted to the Word conferences held at Woodside of Troy in September delivered a wealth of practical knowledge, techniques and strategies for some 300 conference par- ticipants to carry back to their home churches and ministries. Keynote speakers Jeff Smith, Dr. Al Mohler and Dr. Joe Stowell were joined by other outside ministry experts, theo- logians and several Woodside staff mem- bers in presenting breakout sessions at the respective conferences on Sept. 12 and Sept. 13-14. The Kids Ministry sessions, eight in all, were offered twice, once following keynote speaker Jeff Smith’s opening session and again after lunch. The session topics ranged from recruiting workers for children’s minis- try to creative teaching and the how tos of leading small groups. Committed to the Word offered 12 ses- sions, each presented in the two afternoon rounds on Sept. 14. Luncheon in the foyer, worship led by Jeff Smith and a question and answer period with Dr. Mohler and Dr. Stowell preceded the breakout sessions which were designed to encourage pastors, church staff and leaders. WWW.WooDsIDEBIBLE.oRg Coffee doctors prescribe cure for brown water blues BY TIM FAusCh WOODSIDE NEWS WRITER S ick of slurping boring brown water? Tired of tasting the same dull drinks? Relief is at hand. Woodside’s Troy campus now has an army of coffee doctors on call in the newly opened Bridges Café. No appoint- ment is needed. OK, technically, these baristas may not be real doctors, but they are authorized to pre- scribe a wide range of delectable drinks and tasty treats to cure your thirst and hunger. On a typical Sunday, volunteers serve From left: Pastor Doug schmidt, Dr. Mohler and Dr. stowell during a Q&A session “unleAshed” presenters ChAllenge leAd- ers And teAChers to turn CreAtivity loose, try neW ideAs And enJoy themselves Jeff Smith introduced the concept of move- ment and music as means to reclaim popular culture by reframing it with biblical messag- es. Just as his opening and closing segments did, Smith’s breakout session prompted par- ticipants to abandon self-conscious notions and get moving to the beat of “Our God is an Awesome God” and other contemporary BIBLE CoNFERENCE continued on page 11 2nd Annual Missions conference and celebration BY NANCY TENNIsWooD WOODSIDE NEWS WRITER M ark November 7 and 8 on your calen- dar. This will be Woodside’s second annual missionary conference and celebra- tion held at the Troy campus. A full day is planned on Saturday to meet the mission- aries thatWoodside supports. You will also have time on Sunday to get to know them better. Opening the conference will be Dr. Mi- chael Loftis, a widely known and gifted speaker. With headquarters in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the Association of Baptists for World Evangelism (ABWE) chose Dr. Loftis as its president. His education and ex- perience well qualify him for this position. Dr. Loftis’ edu- Dr. Michael Loftis cational experiences led him to Tennessee Temple University and Temple Baptist Seminary. He received fur- ther training at Indiana University and the Goethe Institute. He holds a Bachelor of MIssIoNs CoNFERENCE continued on page 10 COnTEnTs PAsToR’s PEN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2A MIssIoNARY oF ThE MoNTh . . . . .7A YouR PC PITsToP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10A FIT AND hEALThY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15A MovIEs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17A FAMILY FuN guIDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18A ChRIsTIAN CRossWoRD . . . . . . . . 19A ThE BIBLE AND sCIENCE . . . . . . . . 22A TRoY hAPPENINgs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2B WooDsIDE oF WARREN . . . . . . . . . . . 4B FRoM DAN sTEWART . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5B TELEvIsIoN sChEDuLE . . . . . . . . . . . 6B WooDsIDE oF WhITE LAKE . . . . . . 6B FRoM BRAD huLCY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7B WARREN hAPPENINgs . . . . . . . . . . . . 8B FRoM ANDREW FRITh. . . . . . . . . . . . . 9B WooDsIDE oF RoYAL oAK . . . . . . . 9B WhITE LAKE hAPPENNINgs . . . . 10B RoYAL oAK hAPPENNINgs . . . . . . 10B FRoM RICK sEIDEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11B CLAssIFIEDs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12B It’s time to fall back! Daylight Saving Time ends on Sunday, November 1. That means it’s time to “fall back” and push your clocks back one hour before going to bed on Saturday night. It is also suggested that you take time to check your smoke detec- tors and replace the batteries if necessary. Enjoy that extra hour of sleep! Robin Mitchell Bridges Coffeehouse Manager There is little “regular” about Woodside’s coffee. It comes from The Great Lakes Cof- fee Roasting Company in Bloomfi eld Hills, which roasts its beans locally and names some after Michigan landmarks. For example, Woodside’s lobby coffee is a Mackinac Island blend. Great Lakes also offers a Motor City blend. Most coffees are Fair Trade approved and organically grown. Café manager Robin Mitchell orchestrates the café, lobby coffee kiosks, and 82 volunteer baristas. She and husband Jay have been toil- CoFFEE DoCToRs continued on page 10 about 400 cups of beverages. Regular coffee is the preferred drink, selected over decaf by a 5-to-1 ratio. Apparently, Woodsiders desire a little jump-start on Sunday mornings. PhOTO COURTESy AbWE.ORg PhOTO by TERRy SykES PhOTO by TERRy SykES

Bible Conference Participants Gain Knowledge And Skills

Karon Houghton Mathews

Kids Ministry Unleashed and the Committed to the Word conferences held at Woodside of Troy in September delivered a wealth of practical knowledge, techniques and strategies for some 300 conference participants to carry back to their home churches and ministries.

Keynote speakers Jeff Smith, Dr. Al Mohler and Dr. Joe Stowell were joined by other outside ministry experts, theologians and several Woodside staff members in presenting breakout sessions at the respective conferences on Sept. 12 and Sept. 13-14.

The Kids Ministry sessions, eight in all, were offered twice, once following keynote speaker Jeff Smith’s opening session and again after lunch. The session topics ranged from recruiting workers for children’s ministry to creative teaching and the how tos of leading small groups.

Committed to the Word offered 12 sessions, each presented in the two afternoon rounds on Sept. 14. Luncheon in the foyer, worship led by Jeff Smith and a question and answer period with Dr. Mohler and Dr. Stowell preceded the breakout sessions which were designed to encourage pastors, church staff and leaders.

UnleAshed” presenters ChAllenge leAders And teAChers to turn CreAtivity loose, try neW ideAs And enJoy themselves Jeff Smith introduced the concept of movement and music as means to reclaim popular culture by reframing it with biblical messages.

Just as his opening and closing segments did, Smith’s breakout session prompted participants to abandon self-conscious notions and get moving to the beat of “Our God is an Awesome God” and other contemporary Christian music. He also introduced the use of “God Rods” – dowel sticks – as interpretive props for lyrics and Scripture.

Beth McKenna, new campus development director, shared ideas on how to recruit and keep workers and shared Woodside’s training and procedural practices for the effectiveness and safety of its children’s ministry.

“Research and surveys tell us that 71 percent will volunteer when asked,” McKenna explained. “The better questions to be asking are, “Why haven’t they been asked?” and “How do we keep them when they say yes?” Relationships are “huge,” as McKenna puts it. To recruit and retain children’s ministry workers requires intentional effort to create relationships among the workers, children and parents. The ministry itself may occur on Sunday or a weeknight, but the relationship building spans the week.

In the Creative Teaching session, Jan Quinn, who works with Woodside preschoolers, offered sample lessons for young children. She included suggestions for smooth transitions between active and quiet and large and small group activities. She stressed the importance of advance preparations and the need for a mix of activities and projects because children learn in different ways.

The large group teaching and small group breakout format is effective with children and Roberta Bigalk outlined what makes small groups and their leaders successful. Bigalk is Woodside’s Children’s Director.

“Church should be the safest place these children come. They should feel loved and cared about. There are no dumb questions and they should feel like they are learning something each time,” said Bigalk. “Small group leaders should be sitting with students, making eye contact, showing interest, as well as encouraging good behavior, during the large group sessions. There is no standing against the wall with someone else in charge!” Becky Albert, in the “Teaching Children to Worship” session, recommended that leaders dedicate a special area and time for worship because preschool and elementary children benefit from simple, easy to follow routines. Key phrases or changes in position can signal the beginning of worship time, she told listeners. She also reminded them that prayer is an important part of the advance preparation process if children are to embrace and enjoy worship. Music, motion, spontaneity help keep children interested and eye contact can help keep them focused.

“Children need heroes,” Jim Tomazewski told those in the “Children Desiring God” session. “Let’s train them to understand that the Bible hero – God – is the ultimate hero so they will want to be like him.

Let admiration lead them.” Tomazewski was presenting a children’s ministry curriculum originally developed at Bethlehem Baptist Church, pastored by John Piper in Minneapolis MN.

Brad Mattox represented Upward Basketball, explaining how sports ministry is a powerful tool for sharing Christ’s love with children and their families and an excellent outreach to surrounding communities. Such a ministry need not be limited to basketball, as flag football, soccer, and cheerleading all draw children.

Jerri Coleman covered the principles for leading a child or even groups of children to knowledge and trust in Christ. Her session, “How to Lead a Child to Christ,” offered ways to gauge a child’s understanding and outlined ways to encourage spiritual growth.

Committed to the Word Q & A segment conveys urgent need for gospel message in fac e of today’s cultural challenges The Committed to the Word conference opened Sept. 14 with worship followed by a Q&A session.

Dr. Joe Stowell’s answer to the lead question might have surprised some who were expecting a eulogy for religious institutions across America.

The question was, “How do you view the American church in general?” Stowell’s answer was, “It depends.” Stowell quickly clarified, adding, “It depends on what church. Some churches have clarity and their worship is alive and uplifting. Others do not seem to be able to get an oar in the water. I am not an alarmist, however, and I Don’t see much difference over the decades.” What does deeply concern Stowell is the trend in popular culture to marginalize the church, as evidenced by attitudes about human sexuality and behaviors counter to Scripture. American Christians must respond, sooner rather than later, to that challenge and decisively stand up for the word of God as their brothers and sisters across the southern hemisphere and the Asian rim are doing, Stowell said.

“Do I want the old time American church back?

No, I want us to take the world for Christ,” Stowell exclaimed.

“It’s impossible to talk about an American church when the New Testament concern is spreading the gospel worldwide,” Mohler said in affirmation.

“There was no golden era. The early church lacked knowledge, yet developed young believers.

The church survived heresy, the Reformation and the Great Awakening,” said Mohler. “Marginalization is not unexpected and we should have seen it coming.” It’s a secular versus sectarian clash and we should prepare to take a stand in our culture, Mohler said, reflecting the purpose behind Woodside’s Bible conference.

The next question addressed the “500 pound gorilla among the isms” that ail our culture. Ticking off a series that included liberalism, easy believe-ism, feel-ism, and materialism, the questioner wanted to know how to deal with “public school-ism.” Taking the lead, Mohler compared the genealogy of public education to challenges in New Testament and Roman times. He noted that John Dewey, regarded as the father of the American education system, promoted public education as a necessary engine for secularizing children and assimilating the influx of immigrants.

Pointing to teachings in Deuteronomy chapter 6, Mohler encouraged parents to be home schoolers in the overall sense, for biblically they are the first and primary teachers of their children at all times.

“We must be faithful for our children and fulfill this responsibility,” said Mohler.

Stowell concurred, urging parents and other concerned adults to speak up and counter attempts to retrain children’s minds on moral issues.

Another in the series of questions posed sought Definition of women’s role in the church.

Both speakers answered, their replies based on the biblical assignment of roles and gender equality in the eyes of God.

“Every child of God, according to the Bible, is a servant of God,” said Mohler, “with women given responsibilities as wives, mothers and teachers. Experience has shown if men fail to show up, women will get the work done at the expense of their own responsibilities.” The biblical view is complementarian, one of where the differing roles of men and women are equally valued and necessary, Mohler explained. Offices of the church are gender specific, added Stowell, “but ministry gifts are not.”

Monday breakout sessions cover range of ministries, issues fac ing churches today Keynote speakers Mohler, Stowell and Smith presented breakout sessions that expanded on their individual topics.

Mohler spoke on “Presenting the Truth to People Who Think They Don’t care about Truth” and Stowell outlined “Steps toward Success in Ministry” in his sessions. Smith tied Scripture and scripting for movement to music together in his “Scripturally Based Creative Movement” lesson.

“What can we do for the homeless, the broken-spirited and the humiliated?” asked Alonzo Dover in his session on “Will Work for Faith.” Dover, representing the Detroit Rescue Mission, explained the network of services the mission offers to those who come through its doors. The mission houses 1,500 people and serves 3,500 meals daily.

“Spiritual needs are number one, but we must address natural needs in order to be effective,” Dover said. “We give them the word of God in small, digestible amounts as we solve problems ranging from addiction, joblessness, mental illness, and homelessness to physical and emotional abuse.” Ben Freudenberg, professor at Concordia University in Ann Arbor, spoke of family ministry as a lifespanning progression of learning and service that nurtures biblically strong marital and family relationships and addresses parents’ roles in shaping their children’s faith.

“Family ministry is not about the number of noses in the pew or attending class, but about a discipling process that spans ages, circumstances and stages of life,” Freudenberg said. “It’s also about relationships based on mentoring and modeling.” Woodside pastoral staff members Mike Wendland, Cliff Lambert and Cliff Johnson also conducted sessions in areas of their leadership. Wendland, communications pastor, explained the advantages of social networking such as Facebook and Twitter to pastors and staff. Lambert, worship arts pastor, shared experiences and ideas for expressing the gospel through performing arts. Johnson, young adult pastor, spoke about teaching and leading young adults.

Other sessions covered church security and liability, radio ministry, and travel by church groups to Israel.

2nd Annual Missions Conference And Celebration

NANCY Tenniswood

Mark November 7 and 8 on your calendar.

This will be Woodside’s second annual missionary conference and celebration held at the Troy campus. A full day is planned on Saturday to meet the missionaries that Woodside supports. You will also have time on Sunday to get to know them better.

Opening the conference will be Dr. Michael Loftis, a widely known and gifted speaker. With headquarters in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the Association of Baptists for World Evangelism (ABWE) chose Dr. Loftis as its president.

His education and experience well qualify him for this position.

Dr. Loftis’ educational experiences led him to Tennessee Temple University and Temple Baptist Seminary. He received further training at Indiana University and the Goethe Institute. He holds a Bachelor of Arts, Master of Religious Education, Master of Divinity and Doctor of Religious Education degrees.

His majors were Bible, church ministry and Christian education.

His experiences include growing up in Jamaica as the son of a missionary and church planter. As an adult, he held many leadership rolls in ABWE before becoming the president. He has traveled to many countries to teach the Word of God, to train Christian leaders and to share in the music ministry in churches, camps and missions conferences.

Following his message, there will be 10 breakout sessions. You will have the opportunity to choose one from schedule two and one from schedule three.

There will be a 5 p.m. evening service, immediate followed by a reception of the missionaries in the lobby. You will have this opportunity to visit the various ministries and their displays. Concluding the day, a dinner will be served in the community room.

Nursery care is provided for preschool and nursery children. Children kindergarten through fifth grade will have mission activities geared to their level. Plan now to bring the whole family to celebrate how Woodside is impacting the world.

Coffee Doctors Prescribe Cure For Brown Water Blues

TIM Fausch

Sick of slurping boring brown water? Tired of tasting the same dull drinks?

Relief is at hand. Woodside’s Troy campus now has an army of coffee doctors on call in the newly opened Bridges Café. No appointment is needed.

OK, technically, these baristas may not be real doctors, but they are authorized to prescribe a wide range of delectable drinks and tasty treats to cure your thirst and hunger.

On a typical Sunday, volunteers serve about 400 cups of beverages. Regular coffee is the preferred drink, selected over decaf by a 5-to-1 ratio.

Apparently, Woodsiders desire a little jump-start on Sunday mornings.

There is little “regular” about Woodside’s coffee. It comes from The Great Lakes Coffee Roasting Company in Bloomfi eld Hills, which roasts its beans locally and names some after Michigan landmarks.

For example, Woodside’s lobby coffee is a Mackinac Island blend. Great Lakes also offers a Motor City blend. Most coffees are Fair Trade approved and organically grown.

Café manager Robin Mitchell orchestrates the café, lobby coffee kiosks, and 82 volunteer baristas. She and husband Jay have been toilIng joyfully in grounds since 1997, when they helped launch Awana Java, a portable coffee shop.

Ironically, neither drank coffee at the time. Robin now consumes coffee in order to identify the best tasting blends.

Mitchell followed two guiding principles in preparation for launching the Bridges Café.

“We want Bridges to present a complete coffee house experience,” Mitchell said. “When someone comes into the café, they will smell the aroma of fresh ground coffee and hear the sounds of the espresso machine.

“We also want the café to be an outreach,” she added. “We will try to accommodate special requests and create a friendly atmosphere.” The café’s shiny new equipment that improves beverage preparation speed, variety, and creativity will impress visitors.

These machines include an espresso maker imported from Italy, coffee carafes with temperature readouts, and retail-grade refrigeration to allow for great fruit-based smoothies.

Mitchell also found local vendors willing to provide freshbaked pastries and bagels on Sunday mornings. Add in a remodeled décor – with cool bridges artwork – and customers will enjoy a great coffee house experience.

Mitchell did provide one warning.

Bringing your Starbucks cup into the Bridges Café is to do so at your own risk. The coffee doctors are trained to perform a java transplant on the spot.

Next Page

Publication List