It’s been my experience that most Christians just don’t believe God. There…I said it! I didn’t say they don’t believe IN God. Unfortunately, most people who claim allegiance to Jesus Christ really don’t believe what He said. They don’t really believe the promises that fill the pages of His word. They tend to believe enough for their salvation but not enough to live a supernatural existence. We all want to believe in His forgiveness and eternal life. However, what about all those other promises? What about all those promises about God’s presence being a reality; God’s power being demonstrated; God provision being experienced in our daily lives?

Now I know some of you are already getting defensive saying; “Yes I do believe in all the promises of God!” If that’s true, then the proof should be in the experience of your life not simply the words of your mouth. To put it another way; “The proof is in the pudding!” It’s one thing to say the right things, it’s quite another to live the right things. Our lives should demonstrate the reality of the promises of God. If they don’t, we have to ask ourselves what we really believe.

Let’s just use our current economic issues as an example. Things are getting tough; groceries are more expensive; gas prices continue to rise; the overall cost of living is increasing at an alarming rate. You may be wondering about how you’re going to make the ends meet? Are you stressed? Are you fearful? Are you trying to figure out what you can do to generate more income? Do you feel as if it’s all your responsibility to provide for your family? Are you looking at your employer to take care of you? Are you hoping the government bails you out? Have you ever considered trusting in the promise of God? I can already hear the skepticism!

Matt. 6:33 “Seek first the Kingdom of God and ALL these others things will be given to you.” This is what Jesus said. Is it true? Did He really mean material, financial, practical life things? If you read the context of that passage you will discover the answer is YES! The problem with most believers today is that they are living by the values of the wrong kingdom. If you choose to live by this world’s values, you get this world’s results. If you believe God and begin living by His Kingdom values, you get supernatural results.

The economic times that we face give us a great opportunity to ask ourselves what we really believe, who we really trust, and how we really live? They give us an opportunity to experience God in ways we never have experienced before. Be careful though, trusting in God’s promises can be addictive. Once you start believing Him and living His Kingdom values, the more you want. Why? Because you’ll discover they’re ALL true. You will ask yourself why you waited so long to believe Him. You will also discover that your life will never be the same.

Here is hoping and praying that you will REALLY believe?

Trusting in the promises of God,

Pastor Dale

Well, we’re back. We all had a tremendous time being away and enjoying the change of pace that vacation brings. We had a wonderful time as a family and made some great memories together.

Yes, that is a Taranchula!

I return feeling relaxed and refreshed ready to hit it hard once again for God’s Kingdom purposes. I noticed that Scooby filled in for me while I was gone. Hopefully you all received some good counsel from him.

As I return to my office and responsibilities here at the church, there is something the Lord is impressing upon my heart: … the need for faith. The need to trust God for that which seems impossible. The need to get my eyes off of the circumstances, off the economy, off the political process, and trust God for the miraculous. If I can confess to you all, I have been allowing the circumstances of life to dictate my faith. I have been allowing the circumstances that I see around me to dictate my expectations of what I believe God will do. To put it simply, I have been walking by sight not by faith. God has recently said to me, “Enough Dale!”

Even a casual reading of Scripture will reveal that God loves to work in the midst of adverse situations. In fact, He prefers it. This way everyone knows that it is Him and not man’s efforts. I believe now is a great time for faith. Now is a great time for us to trust God. Things are tough right now. There’s uncertainty about the future. It would be easy for us as a church to put things off until a better time; to not have any expectations for growth or progress; to wait for surplus until we move ahead. I believe all those responses dishonor the God we say we serve. I believe He wants us to live by faith despite the circumstances and we will see the power of God. I believe this is true in our personal lives and in the life of this church.

So here’s what I’m asking you to do. I want to challenge you to pray for the miraculous power of God to be demonstrated in your personal life and in the life of this church. That’s right, pray for a miracle. Pray that God shows Himself so there’s no denying who it is. Some of you have never prayed for the miraculous before. It’s a huge step of faith for some of you to just do this. Some of you are afraid of being disappointed. We must get our eyes off the overwhelming circumstances and on the God who can intervene in our lives. Will you pray every day for God’s miraculous power to be seen in your life? You know where you need it. Pray! Will you pray every day for God’s miraculous power at Foothills? God knows where we need it! Things are very tight here as well. You want to see a miracle? Then let’s pray until we see the heavens open. God is our ultimate Provider, not the economy, not the government, and not even ourselves. There is a tremendous opportunity before us to experience God in ways we never have before. Will you pray with me?

Praying and believing in God’s provision

Pastor Dale

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As the title to this post says, I am on vacation. For the next three weeks there will not be a new post. Lisa and the girls and I will be in Mexico for awhile. It’s time for me to take the “pastoral hat” off and just be a husband and a dad. My family loves our vacations because they say they don’t have to share me with anyone. This time every year I also tend to get very weary. It’s not that anything is wrong. It’s just the constant drain of ministry that takes it’s toll on my mind, spirit, and emotions. The only thing that replenishes these things is simple time away. We plan, research, save, and look forward to these times as a family all year. By Monday morning at 6am, we will be on a plane heading to Mexico.

As you have noticed, I love tropical shirts not just because they are so comfortable, but because I love the tropics! Especially after this Spring. Give me that sunshine. We are going to a place called Playa del Carmen. It is about one hour south of Cancun on the Yucatan Peninsula. There are some of the most beautiful beaches in the world in this area. I plan on spending some time with my feet in that powder white sand. The ocean is about 85 degrees and is aqua blue. We will be visiting several Mayan ruin sites while there as well. I am fascinated by Mayan culture so any chance to visit ruins is a real treat. Besides, it makes me feel like Indiana Jones! Of course we’ll be in the water as much as possible swimming and snorkeling. I’m thinking there must be mission opportunities down there. Maybe I should put together a church mission trip to the Caribbean. Think I would get any takers? C’mon, these people need Jesus too. Just because it’s in paradise does that make it less spiritual? I’ll have to pray about this!

May God bless you all while we are away. Jim Velez will be speaking on Sundays. If you haven’t heard him yet, you’ll love him. If you already have, you know you’ll be blessed. May God bring the sun back while we’re in Mexico. Coming back to rain in 50 degrees just might be more than I can bear.

I love you all!!!

Pastor Dale…in Mexico!

We live in a world that caters to the consumer. It is the consumer that drives the market, impacts the economy, influences advertising, and molds our way of life. All this has it’s place, but what happens when this mentality finds it’s way into the church? What happens when we bring a consumer mentality into the body of Christ? Answer: We end up with a church that is more American than it is Biblical. We end up with a church that is driven by the flesh rather than the Spirit. We end up with a church with no influence on the culture it is commanded to reach.

Of course the church must be knowledgeable of people’s needs, be culturally relevant, and understand the best ways to communicate and reach people. But our job is to help people go from consumers (What can the church give me?), to owners and participators (What can I do to serve God’s purposes here?). Most all people come into Foothills as consumers. “I like the messages; I like the kids program, I like the nursery, I like the music, I like the food and coffee, I like the friendly people”. Notice all the comments reflect what they “get” out of the ministries of Foothills. This is perfectly acceptable. Of course we want all that we do to be beneficial to people. We are here to help them. The unfortunate dilemma is when people stay in this mindset. They keep coming to Foothills with one thing in mind. What can Foothills give me?

Jesus said, “Freely you have received, freely give.” Unfortunately many Christians today embrace an expectation of only half of what Jesus said. They have the “freely receive” part down pretty good. The freely give part is a little bit lacking. Let me ask you a question as it relates to your involvement here at Foothills. Are you more of a consumer or a participator? Please don’t misunderstand what I’m saying. I am so glad that the ministries of Foothills are blessing your life. We are here to invest in you and see God’s purposes realized in your life. But God does not transform our lives to be consumers. He transforms our lives to partner with Him in what He’s doing. Are you coming to Foothills continuing to think what you can “get” or are you willing to move out of your chair and embrace your responsibility to participate in what God is doing here. Freely you have received…now are you willing to freely give?

There are so many ways to participate here at Foothills. There is a place for everyone. If you are already currently involved serving, I praise God for you. You have no idea how much you encourage my heart! If you’re currently not serving somewhere, will you please here the voice of your coach calling you off the bench asking you to “get in the game!” We need you. We need your gifts and abilities. In fact, we can’t be all that God has called us to be without you. Will you get in the game with us?

May God continue to grow us into a church of Kingdom participators. In a world that is obsessed with consuming, may we be people obsessed with serving the purposes of our God!

Playing in the game with you,

Pastor Dale

I love big panoramic scenery. I have been elk hunting standing on the breaks overlooking Hells Canyon in Northeastern Oregon. The view is beyond description. Standing at around 6000 feet looking down at the Snake River at 1800 feet below. Looking east, you see the Seven Devils of Idaho (Those are mountains by the way not demons to cast out.) When you look west, you are looking at the Eagle Cap wilderness area. It’s truly amazing! I’ve also been in Alaska multiple times and the scenery there is big, breathtaking and beautiful. The picture at the top of my blog was taken in Alaska. All of this big scenery reminds me of God. It reminds me how big He is, how powerful He is and how creative He is. It reminds me that a big God does big things and that I should trust Him. This is why when I get stressed, I run to the mountains. It is here where God reminds me that He is much bigger than anything I am currently facing and that I should trust Him.

As Foothills continues to chase after God and His plans for us as a church, we need to keep thinking big. WHY? Because God is big and what He wants to do is big. He has called us to impact a geographic area. He has commissioned us to reach thousands of unchurched people with the Gospel. He has empowered us to change culture. It has been my experience over the years that no matter how “big” I feel I’m thinking, it’s still pretty small compared to God. He is continually expanding my understanding, my faith, and my willingness to follow Him.

I believe that even though we live in a small rural community, God wants us to embrace a purpose that is worthy of who He is. A purpose that accurately represents Him to people. A purpose that is so big, it’s beyond what we can do. If our purpose really has come from God, then it should be “God-sized”. Why wouldn’t God’s plans for us be “Super-sized”? They are!

As we continue to trust God, may He give us “super-sized” faith to follow Him. May we not shy away from the largeness of His plans for Foothills and transformation. Can we admit that we all think too small when it comes to what God wants to do in our area? Can we climb the mountain of faith and see the panoramic view from God’s perspective and trust Him for it? Can we see how breathtaking it really is? The days ahead for us as a church will require this perspective. May God give us all the grace to THINK BIG.

Thinking bigger for His Kingdom

Pastor Dale

Over the years, many people have asked me similar questions. “How do you know what to speak on?” “How do you come up with your topics?” “How do you know just what to say?” Instead of trying to answer these very good questions individually, I thought I’d write about it here and try to remove some of the mystery.

First, know that I do not use someone else’s “canned” prepackaged messages. I do not go online and download messages from others and use them at Foothills as my own. I may look at how another pastor / speaker / or author has dealt with a particular issue, but what you hear on Sunday comes from my heart. I like to tell people that creating messages is a lot like cooking from scratch. There is no standard recipe, no cake mix and no pre-made spiritual cookie dough. It’s just God and me!

So how does all this work? The most important ingredient is prayer. I ask God what He wants to say to the people of Foothills. He knows everyone better than I ever will. This is why people say things like, “How did he know? He was talking right to me! Is there a “pastor cam” in my house?” Well, of course not. God knows what people need to hear. I simply try to listen to Him and you hear what God wants you to hear and I am completely unaware of the events in your life. Preparing messages is first and foremost a spiritual process. It starts with prayer, it is guided by prayer, is empowered by prayer, and ends with prayer.

Secondly, as I pray God many times directs me to issues or topics that are relevant / current / major struggles that people face / issues that hold them back / spiritual disciplines we need to embrace / or a particular bible passage. These can come from a variety of places. I have gotten ideas for a message series in the shower / in the Dentist office reading TIME magazine / from the front page of the paper / from a web site / even from TV programs and movies. Oh, let’s not forget hunting and fishing! God uses a variety of ways to direct my thinking. He wants me to relate His word to real life therefore He uses real life to speak to me.

Thirdly, I read and study the word of God. No matter what I speak on it must be grounded and based upon the word of God. It must be God’s opinion NOT mine. There is no authority or transformation in my opinion. There is supernatural power in the truth of the word of God. When I begin to discern a series God may want me to deal with I immediately go to the Word of God to study and discover what God has to say about it. It is from the word of God where I discover His principals and through the leading of the Holy Spirit how He wants me to address this with all of you.

The final process of preparing messages has to do with how God has gifted and wired me. He made me to do this. He has put certain qualities in me that help me accomplish this week after week. As we say in our 301 class…This is my SHAPE. I am shaped by God to fulfill this purpose for Him. Sharing God’s heart with you week after week is one of the greatest honors of my life. It is a sacred trust that I take very seriously and wish to always give God and you my best. The last thing I ever want to do is bore someone with the precious word of God. Therefore, as I pray for you, may I ask that you pray for me that I continue to keep a keen ear tuned to what God wants to say to the people of Foothills.

I love you all!!!

Pastor Dale

Remember the first Star Wars movie? OK, I was in seventh grade when it came out in the theaters. So what! I saw the original movie. It had quite an impression on me. There were so many great scenes. One in particular remains embedded in my mind. Do you recall Luke Skywalker flying his X-Wing fighter, immersed in enemy fire, flying through a narrow passageway towards the tiny opening where he could deposit his bombs and destroy the Death Star? Remember it? It was an intense moment if you’re seeing it for the first time. All of a sudden as Luke nears the moment to shoot he hears a voice telling him…”Luke, trust the force”. How stupid it would be for him to turn off his technology to guide deploying his weapons and trust some “force”. Of course, this is exactly what he does. He defies the odds, conventional wisdom, man’s normal way of doing things, and saves the universe. You just gotta love a movie like that!

So of course I’m going to make some parallels to Foothills and where God is taking us. We are in a battle between the forces of darkness and the forces of light. There is a clash of kingdoms going on. Sometimes the battles are intense and the way is unclear. Sometimes what needs to happen seems overwhelming or even impossible. It is in these times we must decide who we trust. Fortunately, we do not have some impersonal force that we have to figure out how to listen to it. We have a personal God who loves us, guides us, communicates with us and empowers us if we trust Him. Notice the “IF”! If we trust Him!

I wholeheartedly believe God is moving Foothills forward taking more ground from the enemy. We are seeing even more lives experiencing transformation. God wants to move us into a whole new season of growth, effectiveness and influence in our community. The key issue will be whether or not we will trust Him. God is taking us where we have never been before. He is taking us where no church in the Molalla area has been before. He is taking us beyond our understanding and experiences. Can we trust Him? Now is not the time to have it all “figured out”. Now is the time to trust Him.

Trust Him in what way? We must trust Him with the growth He is brining. We must trust Him with the finances it will require to go where He is asking us to go. We must trust Him to provide the facilities needed to house the growth. We must trust Him with what Foothills will become. It is not our idea of what Foothills will be 2, 5, 10 years from now. It is God’s. We must also trust Him with our part. In what way is God asking me to “let go” and trust Him? In the area of service? With your giving? In your thinking? In reaching out to your friends and neighbors? I guarantee that if you will just listen long enough, you will hear God speaking to your heart saying,…”Let go and Trust Me”.

Call me crazy, but I believe if we would really learn to trust Him, we could save the universe…or at least Molalla. So, who do you trust?
Trusting God for the impossible and praying you will trust with me,

Pastor Dale

If you were at church Sunday, you heard me discussing the financial direction of Foothills and what it will require monetarily to fulfill what God is calling us to in this next year. Between the stewardship insert in your bulletin and the fuller description on our website, hopefully you are getting a larger perspective of our financial commitments. I think one the most common responses after reading all this information is not; “Why does it cost so much?” But rather, “Is it really worth it?” “Is it really worth it for me to make financial sacrifices to participate in accomplishing the vision of this church?” Let me try to help you answer that very important question.

1. Statistics gathered from studying the life-cycle of churches report that when churches no longer move forward / no longer grow / no longer take risks / no longer pursue reaching the lost, soon become ineffective and begin a long painful process of death. What is the health of Foothills worth?

2. If you have taken the 101 Class, you will remember that the vision God has called us to is very large. It is not about filling chairs up on Sunday morning. God’s is calling us to community transformation. He has called us to join Him in reaching the 1000’s of unchurched people in our geographic area. There are approximately 45,000 people in a 10 mile radius around Molalla. Most do NOT go to church. What is community transformation worth?

3. Since Foothills began 10 years ago we have seen 100s of lives changed. We have seen people give their lives to Christ / marriages restored / addictions broken / old wounds healed / God’s presence and power replace religion / people embracing their purpose and destiny in service / A host of ministries developed to bless and reach people / and many of you reading this can give a testimony to these things. Your lives have been changed because of what God has done in you at Foothills. What is life change worth?

4. This is the direction God has called us to go regardless how difficult it looks or insurmountable the odds are. The purposes God calls His people to will always require faith, will always require trust, will always require sacrifice. God has called us to a supernatural existence and a supernatural journey with Him. When I read Scripture, things didn’t go very well for those who told God “No”. I also read about those who experienced God in amazing ways when they trusted Him. What’s obedience worth?

I guess we all have to be able to answer this question for ourselves. I believe what God has called Foothills to will be the most incredible experience this community has ever seen. We are a church of destiny. I for one want to embrace all the destiny God has for us. I believe it is worth it. My prayer is that you do too.

Chasing after the vision with you,

Pastor Dale

Let’s face it. We’re all guilty of complaining about how expensive everything is getting these days. It’s just a painful experience going to the gas pump paying $3.60 a gallon. If you drive a diesel, you’re paying over $4.00 a gallon. Of course all this fuel increase impacts everything else. Groceries are more expensive. Goods and services are more expensive. Oregon Department of Fish and Game is even going to increase the cost of licenses and some tags. Now, we’ve gone far! It’s going to cost me more money just to wet my line. Whether or not we’re in a recession, I don’t like what’s happening.

The natural inclination to all this increase is to see where we can scale back, tighten our belts, be more conservative and hope for the economy to change. Sometimes, this is the appropriate response. Is this type of response appropriate when it comes to the vision God has called us to as a church body? Does God’s vision for a geographic area ever go into a recession? Are we supposed to play it safe, be conservative, and hope for the best? Does the worldly economy dictate God’s Kingdom economy?

I THINK NOT! We are called to be His ambassadors of light in a dark world. How are we a witness to an unbelieving world if we are controlled by the same fears as they are? Don’t we have a God who transcends culture, economics, and market trends? Is God afraid about a recession slowing down His purposes of transformation? This current economic situation gives us an amazing opportunity to trust God and watch Him provide and expand His Kingdom influence.

Foothills response to our economic situation is to press on. We will not put God’s vision on hold, scale back, or embrace a ministry plateau. We believe that God will provide for what He has called us to accomplish regardless what this worldly kingdom does. While other churches may be scaling back, we are forging ahead. We are continuing to live by faith. We will continue to multiply opportunities to reach people for Christ. We will not allow a recession to hinder God’s heart for a community.

If you wanted to belong to a safe, predictable, complacent church you came to the wrong place. We believe that God’s work of transformation is worth the risk and worth the sacrifice required to go there. How about you? Regardless of our economy, are you willing to continue pressing forward? Are you willing to continue making the personal sacrifices in order to experience something bigger than all of us? It is usually in the tough circumstances where we experience God in supernatural ways. Now is one of these times. Let’s give Him that opportunity! Let’s seize this moment and show the unbelieving world the reality of our God.

Will this recession hinder the vision God has called us to? I THINK NOT!

Pressing on with you,

Pastor Dale