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Weekend Report

This was the last weekend meetings of the year for us. Next week, our only meeting is Saturday night, 5:30pm for Christmas in the Park. The following weekend, our only meeting is Sunday at 10:30am at Bon Berger for a time of worship, testimonies, prayer and communion. 

Here's what I saw the Lord do on Saturday night:
- new people... I met a young lady, it was her first time at Calvary and she had no other experience in church. Her friend who has been clean for a while invited her. There were others, there for the first time, invited by friends as well. I got to meet at least 3, and prayed with one of them in response to the message. Scott even invited his parents. That's always a big deal, when your parents come to your church.
- Encouragement in Family Time... always a blessing to hear what the Lord is doing in and through people. One of the things that was shared was what the Lord showed my friend Patrick in Psalm 37, and how he felt that God renewed his spirit through it. Others later, told me how that really encouraged them. 
- Prayer during Worship... Josh invited people to prayer around the last song in the worship set. The invitation was almost word for word of what I felt the Holy Spirit leading me to do when it was my turn to go up. I was so proud of Josh for hearing and obeying the Spirit's leading.  
- Significant Conversations... I had more than one conversation that I walked away from, realizing that it was a conversation that the Holy Spirit was present in, and hearts were being changed, moved, wisdom was being revealed, character was being shaped. It blows my mind to consider it.
- Love... They suprised me just before the Bible Study, by gathering around me, laying hands on me and praying for me and my family spontaneously. There was a lot of love in the room. There was also a lot of worship and thanksgiving given to God.
- Baptism... Looks like we will be scheduling another baptism in a couple of months. I can't wait! 

And, here's what I saw the Lord do on Sunday morning:
- Sharing... my friend Joel shared some things that the Lord had been showing him through the life of Job. It was great stuff, and really encouraged Gen and I. It was a word from the Lord for us.
- Communion... We are having some sweet times of worship and I can just tell that the Lord is ministering to hearts in a deep and healing way. We need grace. We are living for grace, we are looking for grace, and grace is the only thing that truly helps us. It opens up our hearts and allows us to let the Lord change things, help us let go of things that are toxic, it makes us vulnerable in all the best ways. 
- Encouragement... Alan came and led worship for us and brought his wife Robin. It was her first time there, and she was blessed and encouraged us in return. 

I feel very blessed to be a part of what God is doing here in Ottawa. The scope blows me away. Calvary Ottawa is playing a small role along with a lot of other groups, ministries, churches and just godly people.  We are in for a rockin' 2012. I'm headed to Florida for a vacation, with my heart full, head spinning, and full of hope. 

soon!

Weekend Report

Another hard charging weekend...

Gen had an instore concert lined up for Salem Storehouse on Saturday. She and Amy D., headed over there in the morning, Dan helped them set up some sound equipment and they did 5 sets of music from 10am - 3pm. The store was busy, some of our friends stopped by to say hi, she signed lots of CD's and got to meet some new fans. Salem has both of her CD's on sale this month for $12.99, and we are very happy with how her music has been received across Ottawa. 

A side note, Salem now has Heritage and Heritage II in stock as well. 

Saturday night was another packed house. The Gilmans led worship, Dad, son and brother. Alan shared his heart around the song 'Cry Out to Jesus' and then played it for us. I think the Lord spoke to me and gave me an idea for Orleans through it. I'll share more if that comes to fruition. 

Family time can't get any better than when someone shares how they gave their life to Christ in the preceeding weeks. These are very exciting days. 

We were in 1 Peter 3:8 through the end of the chapter, and we were talking about doing good. I had an illustration planned about a guy in our church that had been jumped and injured by another guy that has been in our church. I had permission from the guy that was injured to share the story of forgiveness and blessing and doing good, but then the other guy came to church too! It's still a fresh story, one that's obviously still in process, and it wasn't appropriate to give the illustration. I'm sharing it here hoping that you will pray for both of these guys, and pray for us as we are seeking to minister to folks in these kinds of situations. 

After the service, I had to run an errand down to Ottawa South and one of the guys jumped in with me. We had a great conversation about how to be in a dating relationship as a Christian. We have so many single adults on Saturday night, I think I'm going to be having more of those talks with people. I was all fired up after that, I love challenging young guys to purity, holiness and being a man. 

Sunday morning was a first on many levels. I should have taken a picture somewhere in there. Calvary Orleans and Bon Berger had a joint service. Gen led worship in both languages, and Pasteur Georges (that's how they spell it in French) and I took turns speaking a message on "Unity of the Spirit." We all shared in communion together and then went downstairs for a glorious potluck. I didn't get to talk with all the Calvary people, but I think we all enjoyed ourselves and expressed an interest in doing it again. 

Gen and I recognized one of the ladies from Bon Berger that has a little boy in Luc's class at school. It was cool to make another connection in the neighborhood. I love hearing and seeing how the Holy Spirit is at work all around us revealing Jesus and relationship with God to people. 

I have a big announcement to share. There's one more detail to be squared away, but I'm hoping to be able to share it with you this week. 

soon!

 

Weekend Report

Whew!

Here's how it went down for the Falleur family this weekend...

It started Thursday night with Gen singing at the Sean & Aimee Dayton Christmas tour here in Ottawa at East Gate Alliance Church. She killed it! (in a good way). She sang two songs "Breath of Heaven" written by Chris Eaton and popularized by Amy Grant and then "I Want to Be Holy" which is a song she wrote a few years ago, and has had some traction in Ottawa, California and Texas. It was a great night, I had a lot of fun, got to meet Pastor Bill there and talk ministry.

But, I ate too many cookies and deserts, and had a sugar choma the next day. Friday was basically a wash. I had a headache almost the whole day. I was able to do a couple of things that didn't require a lot of thinking, but not the stuff I was supposed to do.

Saturday, we hit the ground running in the morning. Almost everyone had to pack, because we were all headed in 4 different directions. Gen was singing at the Heritage Vol. II release in St-Lambert, QC, and Sarah and I were going with her, (Dan Schilke taught at Calvary Ottawa). Luc was going for a sleepover at his neighbor-buddy Aiden's house. Olivia was going for a sleepover with Megan in Lowertown, and Isabelle was going for a sleepover with her BFF Emma. That was all supposed to happen before noon.

Gen did a great job at the concert. That was my first Heritage experience, and it's amazing. Seb and Jimmy are doing something really wonderful in these concerts, letting people encounter the Spirit of Jesus Christ through the music of a former generation. Gen had lots of compliments on her voice, her spirit and the heart she brings to the night. I got to meet a lot of wonderful, very committed French Christians. Here's a picture and a little video from the night. (If you watch to the end, you'll see a cute moment with Sarah.)

I had 2 spiritual moments that night. The first one was when I was coming back from a little walk around the town square there in St-Lambert. I had an hour before I had to be back, and so Sarah and I went and looked at the shops and did some exploring and got a coffee. When I was coming back to the church, I just paused and reflected on how happy I was, where I was, who I was with, what we were doing, and really how much God has blessed my life. 

The second spiritual moment was on the way home when we ran out of gas on the 174 between Rockland and Cumberland. Proverbs says "Better a neighbor nearby than a brother far away." My neighbor Warren was still up and brought a gas can and helped us out. I even sang him a song there on the side of the road. "Like a good neighbor, Warren is there!"

Sunday morning was unexpected. We were more than double our normal crowd. That's not hard to do at our size, but it's still remarkable. John's wife, Penny cooked us an amazing breakfast, over the top. John's a lucky man, he married way up. We had lots of visitors, some were spouses, some were family members and some were from Newfoundland. The worship time was special, there were two new and nice voices not to far from me. We took a bit of extra time, did introductions and were blessed by the testimonies and sharing. Tears flowed at the goodness of God. "Sirens mean help is on the way." 

Before we started, Gen asked me if I was humbled. It was our largest crowd yet, and at the same time my least prepared message in the history of Calvary Ottawa. It's a good thing that I'm teaching the Bible, it won't return void. I think the Lord used it and spoke through it. I could sense His grace and power ministering during the closing prayer. He's faithful even when we are faithless. I'm glad to be on a co-mission with Him. 

Whew!

I'm glad it's time for a Sabbath!

Weekend Report

I'm drinking a lot of Americano's these days. They are available now at McDonalds and Tim Horton's too. Just in case you were wondering...

Sat. pm - 
Stellar night. What was memorable for me was to be with Gen through worship and sing together. We rarely get that opportunity. She's leading, or she's busy with kids or something. It was a real joy for us to be together, no distractions, and worship the Lord. We used to do that all the time, now it's rare, so it's all the more special.
And, it's still crazy for me to think that there's a church in Ottawa where there was no church, I still want to pinch myself. So blessed, so amazed, so in awe of the power of the Holy Spirit.
Family Time is rich. I'm always so encouraged to hear the stories and the testimonies and the revelations from God's Word... What the Lord is doing in and through Adam is still with me, encouraging me.
This message was tough for me. It's one of those texts that I would never choose on my own. But, I think it was a blessing, and I can see that I'm getting better at communicating some of those truths. I'm not where I want to be, but I know that the Lord is working in my heart, and he's promised to continue to lead, guide, shape and work in and through me.
We weren't able to record it on Saturday night, the mixer started popping and crashing. It was demon possessed, or it was refusing to live with the amplifier in an understanding way. Or, maybe it was supposed to be subject to the amplifier. Anyway... it failed.
Afterglows, or whatever you want to call them, are a blessing. We spent some time just worshipping God, giving Him praise, and glory and honor, and then praying for our civic leaders and government. We closed with praying for a fresh touch of the Holy Spirit in our lives. I left so encouraged, blessed and at peace.
I think this is what spending time with God's people, worshipping Jesus, studying His Word, and praying is supposed to do...
Oh yeah... I met a young lady from Carleton who had visited Calvary a handful of times and wanted to ask questions about relationship with God. She had grown up in a denominational church, and the things she was hearing at Calvary were revolutionary. I got to introduce her to Angela and Naomi just before the service started. I'm looking forward to hearing that the angels were rejoicing in heaven at some point this week... That never gets old... 

Sun am - 
Randy and Dan sound really good together, and it's really easy to just quiet your mind and your heart and focus on the Lord. Randy's been doing a song called "Counting on Your Name" and it's stayed with me all week. He led us in some hymns as well. We are blessed in our times of worship.
I don't want to try to describe what happened after that. But, it's clear, the people love the Lord, love others, are mature in their walk with the Lord, and the Holy Spirit is using the body of Christ to minister to the body of Christ. I'm in awe of Him.
We had a visitor. He's a great guy, his friend from Vancouver suggested Calvary to him. He seemed to enjoy himself, even though it's like a calf at a new gate to come to a church that sits in a circle and talks with each other. We might need to get better at introductions to make that transition more smooth. That can be intimidating.
We shared in the Lord's table at the end. There were silent tears, some hugs, and the room was full of the peace of God.  

The whole weekend must have been really good, because the rest of Sunday was one of the toughest I've had in a long time. One of my children was having a tough time getting along with the rest of the family which was difficult. At the same time, my body was shutting down from fatigue. It wasn't a good combination. We made it through the day, ended up all smiles at A&W for supper, and come Monday, God was still on the throne and we were all still Christians. Praise the Lord for his glorious grace.

soon!

 

Weekend Report

It was a heavy message this weekend from 1 Peter 2. I had some good feedback and questions that I hope to tackle on my blog here sometime soon. This time, I just wanted to share the stories. 

Sat PM - 
What stands out by a mile is Josh sharing a song he wrote with us. Dan was able to record it, and did a rough mix, and sent me a clip to put on my blog. It's called "I Love God". 

I Love God - 30 Sec Clip

Let me go on a little riff here. The Psalmist said "He put a new song in my mouth, even praise to our God..." I think there should e a continual flow of new songs. I think God wants to give new songs an I think we are blessed when we receive them and sing them to God. Not all of them other people will enjoy, but what a beautiful thing to sing, songs that God gave. "He put a new song in my mouth."
What made that even more meaningful is when Josh's mother stood up and shared that she was a happy atheist growing up, but God came into her life an now she's an even happier person. And now her son is leading others in the worship of God with a song called "I Love God"
Yeah, that stands out by a mile. 

Sun am - 
I'm really encouraged by what's happening in Sundays. We are a small group, but there is some sweet times of worship and sharing. Love is in the room and grace is being poured out. 

Gen - 
Gen was at Greenbelt Baptist on Sunday am leading worship for them with her friend Amy. From all I could tell it went well. She really enjoyed their guest speaker Mike Reed who is the son of Rick Reed who pastors The Met here in Ottawa. 
One lady came up to her at the end and wanted to know who wrote the last song in worship. She was so moved by the words and melody she was crying. After she found out that Gen had written it, she wanted to know if she had put it on a CD yet! She was really cute. This is why I'm so glad that Gen has been able to record. This lady will be ministered to by that song and hopefully others for a long time. 

 

So, there you go... the Holy Spirit at work all around... we're blessed!

Weekend Report

If we went for coffee, and you asked me how the weekend went, here's what I would say...

Saturday pm - 
The Big Highlight was having Gen stand next to me and share how God blessed her in France and how He encouraged her through His Word during the trip.  I'm so proud of her, and feel lucky to be her husband.
I received a word of prophecy as well. "The 7 lean years are over." It's almost impossible to not meditate on that and what it might mean.
I got another word of prophecy for the church via text message during the meeting - Acts 4:33 - "And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of Jesus, and great grace was upon them all." 
We're packed. Eddie asked people to move to the middle next week when they come, to make room for people. Lots of new faces. 

We ran out of the Bible Reading Plan we made available to people. That's a good problem! 
Loved praying with people at the end, there's just something special that happens when we close our eyes and turn our attention to the Lord of all Creation.
The Dagenais sound awesome together. More than their sound, was their heart coming through.

Sunday am -
I go through this little routine some Sundays of wondering what we are doing there. And, then, sometime in the middle of singing, I'm enjoying the presence of the Lord and then I remember. We are just gathering with the body of Christ, to worship God, study the Bible, fellowship and pray. And, that's nothing but good. And it feels good too. 
This week, I got some feedback by email from one of the people that was there, I quote: "my soul was moved..." There are some things that only seem to be able to be accomplished in small groups. God is faithful, His love never waivers, and He's always at work in His people. 
Gen brought homemade muffins too. I like those. 

One more thought...
I was telling Gen the other day. It seems like every Saturday or Sunday is big. It's not like we plan it that way, or try to make it big, it just turns out that way. There's something that happens when we get together and it ends up being big. Many times, I feel like I'm coming down off of a high or something when it's over. It's just so wonderful. I think it's just grace, grace that is poured out when we are together, worshipping Jesus, loving one another, hearing one another, opening the Bible, and praying together and big things happen. I think God is pleased and is blessing. I don't want it to stop...

Would you take a minute and pray for us? Pray that we stay humble and continue to walk in grace. Pray for us as a church (a group of believers) to be great witnesses of the resurrection.

soon!

 

Weekend Report

This one starts different.

Saturday afternoon, I had the privilege of being invited to a late luncheon with Dr. K.P. Yohannan of Gospel for Asia. I have a tremendous amount of admiration and respect for this man. He's 61 or 62 years old, but has made a gigantic contribution to the kingdom of God. His example of humility, prayer and sacrifice is something that people will write books about in the future. There's almost no point in talking about numbers and metrics. It's staggering, hard to comprehend. 27 years, 8k people in 63 Bible Colleges, a Seminary, thousands of churches, some 3million first generation Christians in gfa churches, orphan, leprosy, widows and Dalit outreaches. He was in Ottawa to speak at the MET for their annual missions week. His messages should be posted on their website within a couple of days. You won't waste your time listening to him share. 

Saturday night, packed house, borrowed chairs from adjacent rooms, new faces, familiar faces, long-time-no-see faces, happy faces, giddy faces, glowing faces. The thing that struck me is how late people stay. Christians just love hanging out, fellowshipping, they don't want to leave, they don't want to go home, they just want to be together, and they even hang out in the cold in the parking lot, an hour after we already said good-bye. They are still there, still talking, still hanging out, still glowing with the love of God. 

Sunday morning, breakfast burritos... YES & AMEN! A big shoutout to Randy, Dan and even Chelsea who made that possible. What a blessing for me and my kids! We had a couple of visitors, 2 different couples, hopefully we didn't scare them away. I think people are brave when they come to a church that's sitting in a circle and sharing. That can be intimidating. Anyway, it was a blessing to be with the body of Christ, to worship together, share, and then look together in the Bible. Only good things can come out of that. 

All in all, what's obvious to me from the whole weekend, is I sense grace, grace received, grace promised, and grace that is flowing among us. May God be glorified. 

soon!

Here's a picture of Brother KP and I at lunch... what a privilege!

Weekend Report

A little late this week, but only because it's been quite a week!

Gen is in France as I'm writing this being followed around by a camera crew as she is rehearsing with the guys from Heritage for a big concert on Friday night. They have 1200 tickets sold and the hall will hold 2k. PhareFM is sponsoring it, calling it a 'gala' to celebrate 10 years on the radio. Gen is scheduled to do a 5 song set within the Heritage set. They are releasing a sequel to the wildly successful Heritage album while they are there. PhareFM is also planning to put out a DVD of the whole night including all this behind the scenes footage that they are taking before and after. It's all very intoxicating.

But, what about Calvary?

We had another great night on Saturday night. There were a couple of things that stood out from the night. 
- Administration challenges: Dan is doing a stellar job and I have a lot of hope for the future. I saw a team of people cleaning out our storage lockers and that's awesome. We had some confusion around Children's Ministry, but we figured it out and are making some behind the scenes changes to try and make stuff easier all around.
-  Conversational Preaching! We had a couple of guys that were really into the message and were trying their best to help me. I was trying to help them not offend anyone else around them, and hopefully there was enough grace for all to go around, although I did hear that one person didn't take the exchange all so well. If you listen to the audio, you'll hear it. 
- Healing: We have been doing what we call an 'afterglow' for lack of a better term the last Saturday of each month following Communion. This week, we dismissed everyone, took a break, and then came back and spent some more time in worship and prayer. During a reading of the Scripture one middle aged lady reported a healing to her neck. She told us that she had a brain stem injury as a child and had prayed to Jesus for healing many times without any answer. She didn't stop the rest of the night moving her head and shoulders all around with complete freedom. I spoke with her afterwards and encouraged her to let us know what her doctor said next time she saw him. I'll happily report more of this story as it unfolds.
- Vulnerability: During the afterglow a couple of people really opened up and let us rejoice with them in God's work in their life. I won't disclose the details here, but all of us that were there were quite moved by what they shared, and left rejoicing in the power of God.

Sunday mornings are lots of fun.

Solid meeting. Nothing stands out to me as I write this. There is a wonderful, faithful group of people that are meeting together each week, worshipping God, learning from His Word, praying for each other and our city, and loving one another.
We are all pretty stoked about breakfast this coming Sunday at 9am. Randy and Dan are cooking up some breakfast burrito's with all the fixin's. I can't wait, and we are all allowed to invite someone.

So, would you take a minute and pray for us? Would you pray for Gen? She's got a really big weekend lined up in France. Pray that she's a blessing to the people there, that the glory of Jesus Christ is on display in her life and her music, that hearts are touched and healed and encounter the unmatched presence of God. And, pray for the rest of the church here, that we would continue in grace.

soon! 

Weekend Report

This is like a weekly missions report... It's not so much what are we doing, but what do we see the Lord doing...

Saturday night - Here's what I saw:
There's a handful of people that were helping and serving and Joe & Margie's wedding, and they did what I was doing, left the celebration at the reception a little early, changed clothes, and came and helped setup and serve at the church. That gift of unselfishness and serving is a work of God's Spirit in people. Especially, when you see them doing it with a smile, and joy in their hearts.
Because so many of our folks were at the wedding reception, it was a little different crowd on Saturday night. I think it was predominately newer people. And, so it was a little quieter. But, it was good, because there's that process of moving from I'm the new person, or newer person, to I belong here, this is my church, I love it here, I'm participating fully, I have a voice. I think that's what was going on. The prayer time was rich.
You would have loved the testimonies. One girl (it's her 3rd or 4th week, she's a student) testified that she pulled out an old journal and read through a list of prayer requests that she had written and realized that God had answered all of them. Another young man shared that 2 weeks ago, the Lord spoke to him about cigarettes, he smoked his last one shortly after that, and has been free.

Sunday am - Here's what I saw the Lord doing:
Another rich time of worship. God is letting us experience His tangible presence. These have been special times.  
We prayed for spouses and loved ones that we would like to have share with us in the fellowship of the church. It's a difficult situation in life, and I just felt that we needed to pour out that anxiety before the Lord, and allow Him to work in all of our hearts.
Joel gave a great testimony about the Lord using him in the life of an acquantance at work, way over in Quebec City. My heart was rejoicing for two reasons. One that God is using Joel's life as a testimony and that there's a fresh move of the Spirit in Quebec.
We had a great idea for outreach. John had brought some ESV New Testaments that are inexpensive and he gives to people. They have some great aids to a non-Christian, and we thought it would be good to shove some info about our church in them, and have them ready to give out. Mary-Ann shared that this was how she became a Christian, someone gave her a Bible.

So, there you go... God is at work in our midst. I'm excited, encouraged, and I have a NT in my backpack ready to share...

Would you take a minute and pray for us? Pray for our family, for Calvary Ottawa, for the discipleship groups that are starting, and for Spirit led, Spirit empowered opportunities to minister to people, especially our loved ones...

soon! 

Weekend Report

I know, I missed last week. This will be 2 weeks in one...

It was a fabulous weekend, last weekend. On Saturday night, we finished James, by just simply 'doing what it says' and what it said was to pray, pray if we were in trouble, sing if we were happy, pray for the sick, confess our sins to each other, pray for each other, pray for rain, and pray for a fresh infilling of the Spirit. 

On Sunday morning, we didn't get to all of that. We got as far as 'pray if we were in trouble'. We ran out of time. Only because we were enjoying the Lord and each other so much. 

So, this Saturday, we ended up with a free night so to speak. And, I really felt that we should do 'A Crash Course in Eschatology'. Josh did a wonderful job in leading us in worship. We're blessed to have him. Family Time was rich in sharing, and we even had a moment where we stood to pray for a building. It's so far out there, yet it's not out there for God. Nothing is impossible for God. If it was directed by the Spirit, man, we are going to be in for a ride...

What struck me about Saturday night was after the service, there was more than one person that was giddy. And, I mean, just happy, thrilled, rejoicing, full of joy. I think this is the fruit of time spent with the Lord, in His presence, with His people, looking into His Word.

So, on Sunday morning we finished James. What a rich time of prayer, worship and fellowship. There really is something wonderful happening there. We had a visitor, a first-timer to Calvary, and I think he was blessed and encouraged. I'm always so touched, to hear people pour out their hearts to the Lord in prayer. There's love, there's joy, there's vulnerability and humility. It's good. 

One of the guys wants to take our rave card and spend some time visiting the first 100 houses in the neighborhood on a Friday and invite people to come worship Jesus with us. I think it would be cool if some of the downtown folks would help him out. I don't know that it's so important that people come to church as they just simply hear about Christ and be invited to come to know Him. 

That's all big news from the weekend. 

But, Gen had a big weekend too. I'll tell you about that over another coffee...

Would you take a minute and pray for us? Pray for Orleans, pray for us downtown, that brotherly love would continue. That we wouldn't fall into dissipation, but stay alert, on task, on mission, with our eyes on our Savior. 

Soon!