Halloween!!!

I want to share a concern of mine. Why is the church absolutely silent when HALLOWEEN comes around? If it is on the minds of every person, why not talk about what people are thinking about?

If Jesus asked us to be Salt and light in this world, then why are we not shining our light on one of the darkest days of the year?

Happy Reformation Day

On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther (not Martin Luther King, Jr.) a Catholic teacher, pinned the 95 Thesis (basically things he noticed the Catholic Church was doing that were not found in the Bible, etc.) to the door of a Catholic Church.

That act evolved into the Protestant Movement where the Catholic Church spilt and today every Protestant Church is direct result. Just Google his name and go to Wikipedia and you will see the details.

So, Happy Reformation Day to all!!

Guess who I Know?

It is amazing the people you meet in life. Recently, Liz and myself have been attending a marriage and family training on how to start a marriage and family ministry in your church. It just so happens to be at the home of the person who created Ms. Pac-Man, among other things, like TV guide, yes, in 1993, he created a box that went on top of the TV that programed your TV to have a TV guide on the screen, even though this is extremely common today, it was before the time, but eventully someone bought his idea, etc.!!! And the guy who leads the training meets with the New England Patriots every Thursday night to teach them about being a married. Isn't that cool!

Moving to the Land of the Unknown

I think most of you know that after grad school Liz and I will be moving somewhere to begin the church planting process. Now, we don't know exactly what that looks like, but we know we might be moving to an unknown land to reach a community we don't necessarily know. What an exciting thing yet scary at the time.

I was reading in the book of Acts (Book in the Bible dedicated to church history) and the apostle Paul on a whim went to Athens. The Bible said he spoke to the people who were around him about Jesus day in and day out. I noticed something I never saw before, Paul didn't have a specific audience when he went to Athens, he was faithful to the people who were in the area, but then God opened the door to a very specific people group. Paul got to go inside to the heart of their culture where the philosophers hung around all day sharing ideas. His audience all of sudden went from whoever was around to the elite and intellectuals of Athens. He got inside.

I think there is a lesson for me as well as any church planters or anybody who will make a move to an unknown land to fulfill the call of God on there life, even if the people you are reaching is not specific, go, be faithful to the people in front of you, then somehow or another, you will get inside and be standing in front of that specific audience God has prepared for you to serve and love.

Church Planting in Beverly

I think the most exciting thing, other then my wife and family is talking about church planting. Church planting is heartbeat of God in action. The heart beat of God is "to lead people to become fully developed followers of Christ." That is the mission of the CHURCH in general and the goal of each person who comes into a relationship with Christ. Each person's goal is to help fulfill that in someway, shape or form. Everyone who accepts Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, has one mission to do. We must reflect the image of Jesus. We must act like Jesus acted and do what Jesus did (WWJD). That, I would say is the HEART BEAT of GOD. God's greatest joy comes when human beings who HE created, imitate Jesus. Even though I am not a father YET (my wife would say), I am a son of my dad, here on earth and I know this, his greatest JOY is for me to follow Christ. So, if that is the way my earthly father feels, then what would you think, our Heavenly Father feels? God's greatest joy is when, we, His children, have a relationship with Jesus, nothing more and nothing less. It is that simple, but people, including myself tend to make it a lot harder, would you agree?

Meet the Parents

NO, this blog is not about the movie MEET THE PARENTS, even though that is one of me and my wife's favorite movies.

Today, I learned two of my friends got engaged this weekend. I want to share one of their experiences.

So the reason I wrote this blog is because I think engagement stories are so cool.

The day before he popped the question, he took her parents out to dinner, asked them first. AWKWARD!! I don't think there is a more awkward moment in Life then asking the parents to marry their daughter. Would you agree? For me asking the parents was more nerve racking, then getting down on a knee and popping the big question.

So, the day of, he told her they were going hiking, they got up to the mountain 4:30AM, hiked to the top, and then as soon as they got to the top, the SUN was rising, he got on his knee, took out the ring, with the SUN as the back drop, and asked her, Would you climb mountains with me forever? (Actually, that was not it, but it sounded something like that he told me) and she said, YES.

Great Job, MIKE, I am excited for you!!!

80/20 Rule

I learned a great principle to apply to marriage from a movie my wife and I went to see on our date night.

It's called the 80/20 Rule. This is how it goes. . .

In marriage, your needs will only be met 80% of the time. The best your spouse can do, even if they are giving their all, is meet 80% of your needs. Just remember, every marriage is made up of, two imperfect people, so I think 80% is a fair estimation. . .

The problem comes when one partner in the marriage begins looking for that other 20%.

Since the 20% might look appealing from outside of a relationship, one spouse gives up their 80% for that other person who at the best can only give you 20%.

The moral of the story is don't go fishing for the 20% when you have 80% of your needs being met. The grass is not greener on the other side, take care of your own grass, because it is a product of your own doing. Always give 100% of yourself in your marriage and you won't ever have to worry about %'s.

Thought you might like that!!!

What does a church need to be a church?

CONFLICT. You might have thought I was going to say LOVE or something. Yes, for a church to be a church, it needs LOVE, but it also needs CONFLICT.

Conflict is healthy.

We see Paul in a conflict with Barnabas. The ISSUE was should John Mark go with them on their missionary journey or not?

Paul felt he should not and Barnabas believed he should, but in the end, after a sharp disagreement, they parted ways.

So now, there is not one team, but two teams who went out to share Christ. The amount of people who were ministered doubled because of a disagreement. Looks like God turned a bad situation into good.

Conflict does not always end in destruction, but when handled properly, it can be constructive.

CONFLICT was a part of the first century church, and it is still alive today.

I learned that in one of the apostle Paul's letters, he ended it by giving John Mark props.

Cafe-Church Website

A future church plant and cafe, a group of us is going to launch has a website and no its not called, Cafe-Church. It's free on GOOGLE, so I thought I might play around with it.

http://jjbousa.googlepages.com/

You can visit, it will be forever under construction as I think of new things. Going to try to channel all the ideas I have on this site.

The rule of thumb is this: Everything on this SITE is subject to change with further thinking & prayer!

My goal for this site is that anyone who wants, can track with us as we play, prepare and pray for the next two years or so until we start.

Church Planting in Beverly

Today, I met with a future church planter who will be launching a church inside this next year. We were struggling with the vision statement, mission statement and core values.

Before a church is a church, it is a vision. The vision must be articulated in such a way that people devote their lives to the mission. That is not an easy thing to do. It really good having two people present when constructing these statements because one person can always bring the other person back to reality. Dreaming can get addicting!!

One thing we are thinking of adopting as the mission/purpose statement is the mission statement for Lifechurch.tv "to lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ."

That is the bottom line. The church plant will live and die for that mission. It is a mission that has lasted over 2000 years since the time Jesus commissioned His disciples.

I know the church I start will not stop until we have made every person in our sphere of influence a fully devoted follower of Christ. Next to having a healthy family, I will be completely satisfied dedicating my life to facilitating that mission statement.

Teen Challenge

My brother is going to Teen Challenge, a Christian Drug and Alcohol program that I went to five years ago that saved my life and helped me to see the importance of having God in your life. I would not be alive today if God did not open the door for me to go to Teen Challenge instead of jail for 3 years.

Today, my brother is making the pilgrimage to the same Teen Challenge I went to in Syracuse, NY. I am excited for him. He is open to what God wants to do through the life of a person who wants to follow Jesus.

Can't wait to see what God has for my brother.

Marriage Matters

I have been disconnected from the Blogosphere for sometime. I have three exams this week, but I wanted to check back in for a minute to share with you a couple of thoughts from the marriage seminar my wife and I just got home from.

We are in a 16 session training on how to start a marriage and family ministry in the local church.

For those who are marriage and who are going to get marriage one day will appreciate what I am going to share:

The strongest marriages and families are marriages and families who model their marriage after the Godhead. The Godhead is the trinity, which is Father God, Jesus, the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit who is God.

The Godhead operates in complete unity. Marriage couples must strive to imitate their unity, even though we will not be perfect, it must be our goal.

The Godhead operates even though their is diversity. You never see in the Bible, God the Father barking out orders to God the Son, Jesus. They all have different roles, but they embrace their differences to strenghten their relationship. We must celebrate our difference. God created your spouse for a unique purpose. They can do things for you that no one else can do, not your best friend, your parents, not even God. Our spouses are different for our benefit not our detriment.

I am excited for the next trainings. I think this is going to help my marriage more then others. I know I have to be intentional in being marriage or I will be a bad husband. Marriage is hard work, but a noble task.

If I can enhance the glory of my spouse in my life, I succeeded, but if I neglect my wife for work, ministry or whatever, I will have failed.

Why not a church building?

I am always asked, are you ever going to build a church building after your church gets off the ground?

I would rather build a coffee house, rec center for kids, etc, but this weekend I met somebody who made me feel even stronger for not intending to ever build a church building.

He shared with me a time when he was a altar boy for a Catholic Church where he was molested. This has destroyed his view of the church. He told me, he would never again step into a your typical church building.

But a coffee house disguised as a church would be alright.

That is just one reason why I will not build a church buidling.

God-Father

I though the title might be catchy, but NO this blog is not about the movie the Godfather.

I wanted to DEBUT my god-son's first B-Day, my wife and I attended this weekend while in NJ.

Here is a link to see and hear him sing without words!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXvbAdmCNAs

Monday Night Football

While in New Jersey, I got to see some old friends. It's funny how much you reflect on the past when you are with old friends. We told war stories, high school stories, and any other story we could think of while watching the Dallas vs Buffalo game.

How about those COWBOYS?

(From the Left, Shawn Culleny, Jess Bousa, Luke Bousa, Matt Gurant, Joseph Bousa)

The Power of Presence

I just got back from visiting some friends and family in my hometown. I couldn't believe my eyes as I led someone to the Lord while sitting next to my dad and wife. While outside my brother was making arrangements to go to Teen Challenge so that he can learn what it means to follow Christ at the same time he is getting clean from drugs. Plus, one of our best friends who would be the last person in the world to go into a drug program broke down and decided he too needed to go to Teen Challenge. He is actually there as we speak.

Some people say miracles don't happen in the 21st century, but if what happened in front of my eyes were not miracles, then I must be dreaming. God was moving in and through me as I just placed myself in the right place at the right time.

I learned that sometimes, just being present when people are going through the storms of life will make all the difference. I didn't have to beg or coerce anyone to make the decisions they made. They made the decisions on their own and I was just there to facilitate their choices.

30 Days to Live

I heard something a pastor said that rocked my world. He said, "Would you do the things that are on your schedule, accept invitations for this thing and that event, if you only had 30 days to live?"

Talk about messing somebody up. This is got me thinking about my life. I am asking myself, am I doing the things that really matter? Is my family first? Do people know what I would live and die for?

Hopefully this question messes you up as much as it did me!!!

IF YOU HAD 30 DAYS TO LIVE WOULD YOU DO WHAT YOU ARE DOING?

Rodeo Reflections

I have to give props to the guys at the Topsfield State Fair who were in the rodeo yesterday. They were inches from death many times as the bulls threw them off only to be stepped on. The bulls feet were inches from the cowboys heads. These dudes are crazy, but exciting to watch.

What if Christ followers risked it all for their Faith like the cowboys. What if we didn't care what people would say if we shared our faith and just risked it all, got in the ring, and put our best game on and did it?

I want to suggest that Christ-Followers might have to operate a little more like cowboys who don't care about the consequences, just the fact that they get to play the game!

Just look at Jesus, He got in the ring and risked it all for you and me!

Urgent Video

Pastors, church leaders, or anybody who wants to learn innovative ways to reach people for Christ I would highly recommend this video. It is a session from the BUZZ Conference National Community Church held in Washington D.C. last June/07.

I will promise you this, session 3 with Pastor Craig from Lifechruch.tv will rock your world and challenge your philosophy in serving people.

http://buzzconference.com/media/

(Watch Session 3)

Don't put this off, do it now!

Home Improvement

My wife is going to be happy, I blogged about marriage two times in a row!!!

My wife and I just went to a marriage seminar a couple put on at our seminary (grad school). I wanted to share one of their points with you. It is actually their marriage mission statement that my wife and I are adopting as ours as well.

"The Goal of Marriage is to reflect the glory of God and to enhance the glory of your mate." (author of the book, Intimate Allies, said this)

Marriage should reflect the relationship between God the Father and God the Son, Jesus Christ.

We can do this by striving to have:

1) Ultimate Commitment

2) Extreme Submission

3) Unconditional Love

If we do these three things in any relationship not just marriage, we will bring GLORY to GOD and we will enhance the GLORY of OUR MATE/SIGNIFICANT OTHER!

Weekend to Remember

I got the best wedding gift you can get for somebody either before or after their wedding. At least I think so!! In this case, it was before. The GIFT is two tickets to a marriage conference. My brother and his fiance went to Family Life's, Weekend to Remember marriage conference this past weekend in Fort Myers, FL.

Both of them agreed that it has saved their marriage. The conference is designed and taught from God's perspective on marriage. I think that is the best place to start and end since God is the author and creator of marriage.

My wife and I went to that same marriage conference a little over six months of ago and have been impacted to this day from what we learned from that conference.

My wife and I have made a commitment to each other that for the rest of our lives we are going to attend at least on marriage conference a year!

We have realized that if you invite God into your marriage, He will help you get through the bad times and make the good times better.

I would highly recommend this conference to those who are not yet marriage to those who have been married for 30 years.

Check out their site: www.weekendtoremember.com

"If you want your marriage to work, you have to work on your marriage." Jimmy Evans

Purpose for Pain

It's funny how God takes the lowest times in our lives and turns it around to help others who are at the same exact low points.

Today, the mother of one of my best friends from high school called me crying because she had no one to talk to0 about her son who is addicted to herion and who just got arrested.

I was in the same exact situtation on Febuary 10, 2002 when I was arrested. That was the last day I did drugs in my life. Instead of going to prison for what I did my dad got me into Teen Challenge which is a Christian Drug and Alcohol Rehab and today I am doing a Dual Masters Degree Program at Gordon-Conwell Theoloical to prepare to start a church.

Now that I have been to the gutters God can use me to help those who are stuck there. Its funny how every calls me when they are introuble with drugs. God has set it up that all I have to do is make one phone call and on the spot I can get somebody into rehab.

God has purpose for our pain. He can turn our misery into our ministry. I am not ashamed for my past, but am excited to see how God will continue to use it.