Tory Farina

Take a Dip

We had an unbelievable night last night! BBQ was the largest we have ever had. 83 people came to get to know one another and celebrate in our annual baptism.

I love and look forward to this night all year long. The kids were out having a blast! The weather was awesome! Stan and Karen host it so well. I often find it interesting to put the food that was brought with the person who brought it. But none of that compares to baptizing people. It is The most beautiful moment when the person is brought out of the water. WOW!

Here are some pictures of the night for those who were there and those who wish they were.

BBQ tonight! 7pm

BBQ tonight for High Point church! Come with something to share at 7pm.

also:  Non-Perishable food drive for Neighbors Inc.- bring some food to give to our local food shelf.

I look forward to seeing you their!

Directions: 

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Courtney Got a shout out!

I am stoked when one of our own gets a shout out for the work that they do outside of the church. It confirms that we have the best! I mean that. Courtney, Mike and Elizabeth could get Jobs at the biggest and badest churches in the nation. They don't because they believe in our vision and mission. They Love you and are passionate about elevating High Point to its fullest potential.

Check out what was said abut Courtney's design work here...

Summer Easy Listening

It is the official first weekend of summer this weekend. All the news reports say that there are fewer travelers going out of town this weekend. I expect that to be true because gas is so crazy! If you are in town don't miss this Sunday... I am revved for a Big weekend!

If you are not going to be here you can still be apart. We podcast our message every week for free so you can download or subscribe with iTunes
...

Mambo pt. 1

Shout out!

HPC takes a lot of people to make happen. This week so far here are a few people who have had there hand on the ball and I want to thank.

The cleaning lady at the office... Don't laugh... she gives a couple hours of my week back to me... thanks... the new place has a cleaning lady... SCORE!

Elizabeth- E and I are approaching this church and life as a co-leader. She helps me so much... this church would stand still without her. It felt like it did for a while while she was pregnant and very very very sick. She is prepping for mothers day tea... Getting the office usual working and strumming along... She helps me so much... We had a decision this week that came up that I was feeling pressured about and she totally said... "This is how I see it..." She was right and crisis averted for listening to my wife.

Courtney's mom- she came to the office and worked for a day with us... odd jobs... stuff for the ladies tea... Thanks

Lisa and Joe Jackson- they make sure things are ready for Sunday for hospitality... water, napkins and make sure the food is ordered! They are very important... they also head up the hospitality and do such a good job of leading that team and making a positive and lasting impression of the church to every visitor.

Aimee Robertson- she puts the bulletin together and makes us look good. E is better than I am but we are both not great spelers.

Orion and Andrea- they are heading up our Youth connection group and also are the ones who put the deposits together and make sure that giving credit is registered. They are vital to our operation.
they are like little elves who come into the shoe shop after we have gone and when we get there in the morning work has been accomplished! NICE!

KATE Nass- More volunteer work to get ready for the weekend was needed and she pulled through after working all night she was in and did a half a day with Elizabeth.

Chad Molen- He puts the podcast up each week after condensing it and making it sound pretty. He also is always working on making our sound better. he buys gear at crazy cheap prices when he finds it. we need a lot of gear.

Neil and Orion- The make sure the track gets to where it needs to be every Sunday morning... The set the tone. If they are late, and they rarely are, things get pushed back and we are all a little late. But when they are on time or early everything falls into place nice!

Matt and Leah- they organize the infants area and also take the toys home and clean them... every week.! THEY ARE AWESOME! no one thinks about the toys and if there clean but if a new parent wonders... They are:)

Terry Peterson- who is the church tech guru and web master. He helps us with all things computer as well as puts together an awesome 6-11yr old service. He is truly valued. (his mom had a heart attack and is doing better but pray for him)

There are so many more... those who come to help in the kids area, those who set up and tear down, the Band Sunday Morning, the folks who great and those who wake up early every Sunday to transform the theater into a church.

THANK YOU! I truly appreciate it! Some day you will get to heaven and be rewarded for your effort with the applause of those who came to know Christ because of High Point. You make a positive and lasting impression of Christ and his church on all those who come. Thank you.

The Ikea Experience

I have a love/Hate relationship with Ikea.

We are moving offices next week. Praise the Lord I get windows! I am kinda tired of having an office in a basement with no windows. Tory needs creative nature to stimulate his mind. The new place has that. We are getting a good deal it will actually save us a few bucks a month to move... the church also received a donation for office expenses! Thus the Trip to Ikea.

High Point believes in using money wisely. We are a pretty lean operation that makes a point to live within our means. I do not believe that the church should operate out of a debt first principle. God gives resource for the challenge at hand. I don't read the bible and see the Israelites traveling through the desert with a ton of stuff they had what they needed and God supplied them when it mattered.

God will supply you based on where you are at on the journey. He rarely gives churches millions of dolor's to work with unless they are ready for millions. I remember the first $100 check, then the first $1,000 gift to the church, Elizabeth and I took a picture of our first over $10,000 gift and we have yet to receive a $100,000 gift but I know one is coming. It is our next barrier. AS WE ARE FAITHFUL IN THE LITTLE GOD TRUSTS US WITH MORE!

Every Dolor God gives us he expects us to double in the weight of souls. Think about the story of the talents. The good servants were those that when God left them with money doubled them. How are you working on doubling the few talents God has given you? If you are not working on doubling your talents it is clear that God is not pleased. So we want to use every dolor to advance the ball down the field. I am excited as we grow in our operations this summer. Hire an admin and expand our effectiveness. Now The admin and I can be in the office together without Elizabeth or another person because there are two offices and there are always people around in the building. We are sharing the building with three other lawyers. More opportunity for ministry. More opportunity for multiplying talents.


So when I got the donation for furniture and other equipment I know we had to shop around. I did my home work... looked on-line and found that the nice looking and least expensive option was at Ikea.

This is Why I love Ikea:

• We had a huge breakfast for a grand total of $5.00. It wasn't the best food but it was cheap and had funny names so that made it fun.  I kept looking for the Swedish chef but couldn't find him :(
• The place was totally family friendly! High Chairs, bottle warmers, and more! I love when places think about Olive.
• I carried a coffee cup around the store and every few desks there was a nice Swedish cookie.
• The furniture is cool! Everything says I was designed by an artist not a widget maker.
• It is inexpensive.
• WOW are the Organized! they can tell you day of arrival of merchandise and they know exactly where things are and if they have it in stock. Nice Job. That is a mad house and massive and some one knows how to keep it all running well.

Why I Hate Ikea:

• I get lost every time I go in there. It is like the coat closet in Marnia you time warp and everything. It feels like minuets and on the outside it is really hours you are in there... very tripy
• I get disorientated... there are short cuts sand you can double back and they put some stuff in home storage and some in office and some in bedroom and if you don't have the GPS tracker out you wind up circling the same yellow shirted Ikea rep. I sat down and wondered why there is no window or light to chart your course with.
• You have to pick up and load your own 400lb desk into your own cart and hall it around. I think I took a lady out with my cart but couldn't tell if it was me our her own cart that had backed over her.
• Not enough help... When you do finally find someone they are helpful but it could be days between sections to get to a person. and don't forget to write down the isle and row or your screwed.
• People in Sweden must be elfin sized... Everything is smaller... I don't know why but the tables and chairs and couches and beds are all lower to the ground and smaller. I am 6'2" and I feel like the Jolly Green Giant.

We found the stuff we needed and hauled 3 heavy carts out the door and will now begin the assembly process. Pray for ME! Pictures to fallow over the next week!

What do people Love about High Point? pt1

I was asked this question yesterday. He was asking me because we were talking about our retention rate as a church. Right now our retention rate is a little lower than it should be.

We want a Huge front door for people to come in. We also want a good sized back door for people to leave. High Point is not the church for everyone I know and understand that. However High Point is the church for a lot of people A TON of PEOPLE!

This brings us back to the question at hand... What do the people, who stick with HP, love about our church?

Once we truly have that down then we can try and target our marketing to be more strategic to those who will come in and Love who and what we are. It is like serving chocolate cake to a chocolate lover... They will apreciate it and love it but would not enjoy Lemon squares as much.

I have a lot of things that stick out to me but I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU. What do you love about HPC?
let me know your thoughts and Ill post my thoughts next week.

Rest from the battle... I'm BACK!

I love to travel... I enjoy getting a coffee at the airport and watching the crowed of people pass. One of my favorite things about traveling is the quite drone of the plane at 30k feet. It focuses my mind. I feel like I can think a little slower and more clear. Another thing that always surprises me is how things spiritually change when I am away.

High Point was started two years ago. Our church exists where one did not previous. This movie theatre was not meant to be a church (even though it fits us well). We are reaching people in a non-traditional way and with an aggressive nature because we only have a limited days on this earth to make the most out of the talents GOD has given us. We were commissioned by Christ to share the message that He came to deliver. People are responding. It is so much fun to see people every week come and connect with a living God. I hear stories every week of how God is transforming peoples lives.  We are truly accomplishing the goal we set out to do I love it.

The enemy doesn't like us here. Scripture says that we wage not against flesh and blood but against principalities. He is out to destroy the work we are doing. I feel the battle often. It can be intense. When I travel I feel the difference... I feel lighter, My head is clearer, I can pray and hear from God in  a different way. It is great. But as I am away all I can think about is being back at High Point. I am convinced that retreat and getting away is god for the soul and is a rest from the attack of the enemy. God is going to give us this land but that doesn’t mean that there will not be a fight for it.

Pray for your pastors... Pray for your city... Pray for your neighbors and coworkers... Pray for the Other pastors in this city - God wants to do something big in this city!

This next season of HPC is going to be killer. We are going to see more people come to Christ, more peoples marriages restored, more lives will discover there potential and kids will grow up in homes that honor and glorify God now because we are here.

I am back and feeling better than ever. I woke early this morning and feel super refreshed. I feel weird not having a message to prepare... I have so much burning in my heart. So much the team and I need to lay out and prepare for. So much for you to partner with and get excited about.

High Point is an exciting place to be apart of right now! I am so Glade I get to be apart of this church!

Watch your Wake of Waste...

I really worked hard on this last message. It is a topic that I have never heard taught on and one that I was especially challenged by. I hope that is came across well.

Waste management is a difficult challenge. someone said i have never prayed, "Lord help me waste less." I think it is a good and proper thing to pray. Like at the harbor when you bring your boat in there are signs... "Watch your wake" we have a wake of waste and must watch ourselves from getting out of control.

What are things that we can do to minimize our WAKE of WASTE?

Water Conservation:

• spend less time in the shower
• Set your hot water heater to a lower setting
• replace shower heads with water reducing heads
• older toilets use more water than newer ones and a kit can be purchased to use less water
• check for leaks from the tank and the bowl of your toilet.
• Fully load your dishwasher and clothes washer instead of running more smaller loads
• Stop pre-rinsing dishes... See if your dishwasher can handle it
• Use reusable water bottles such as Nalgeene

Electricity Conservation:

• Request an energy audit to see if there are leeks in your walls
• Turn of lights in rooms you are not using
• Use rechargeable batteries
• Do things manually instead of electrical... such as a can opener
• Use florescent or Led bulbs
• Close doors to the house as well as the refrigerator
• if building a new house look into thermal heating and cooling

Cars:

• Turn the car off when Idling
• Car pool
• Walk into the bank, coffee shop or fast food restaurant
• Look for cars that get a good mile per gallon rating
• buy for the size car you need... super sized isn't always better
• keep tires fully inflated and the engine tuned to maximize fuel efficiency

Other Ideas:

• Give electronics that are still working away
• start a compost pile of all your organic waste
• recycle
• add insulation to home
• use recycled materials
• Use less of what you are already consuming
• use reusable products first
• bring your own cup to the coffee shop or use a reusable one of theirs

Green Websites:
creationcare.org
green.yahoo.com
xcelevision.com
Treehugger.com
ourearth.org 
geocities.com/RainForest/Vines/4990/
thegreenguide.com
enginesoff.blogspot.com/
earth911.org 

I hope that this is helpful. If each one of use looks for a way to make a difference we will together make a massive change in the world.