Recent Articles
Pray for us Today
Aug 18, 2008 Uncategorized 3 Comments
Today, we have our annual Riv planning retreat. This is the one day each year that all of the staff and ministry leaders spend the day together. If you think of it, please pray for us today.
Here are some specific prayer requests:
1) That we would be “of one heart and mind.” As we are getting bigger as a staff, it is harder and harder for us all to row in the same direction. Pray for unity on our team.
2) For huge dreams. It is so easy to just get into maintenance mode. Please pray that we will dream dreams that are so huge that God would have to show up if we are to achieve them.
3) For good plans. It is kinda late in the year for us to have this retreat. Through my bad planning, instead of meeting in the spring we are literally meeting 5 days before our big fall rush begins. Please pray that this would not hinder us making great plans.
There are many other things to pray for, but that should get you started. If you would like to follow along with our retreat, check out my Twitter page where I will be twittering updates all day (assuming I have phone access in our remote location). Also, if you would like to type out your prayers here, that would be cool so we can know you are praying!
The Next Jonas Brothers
Aug 16, 2008 Uncategorized 4 Comments
My boys are working on becoming the next big brother group following in the footsteps The Jackson Five, Hanson, and of course their idols Jonas Brothers. They have been performing many concerts for us, writing their own tunes, and of course singing all the time. And when I say “all the time,” I mean ALL THE TIME. In fact, while I am typing this Ethan is singing his new song on the stool next to me.
And so, to bring you into my world, may I present Coley’s rendition of “Burnin’ Up,” which was performed shirtless and a cappella.
Is my wife right?
Aug 15, 2008 Uncategorized 3 Comments
Grace (my lovely wife) says people who post videos on the internet have too much time on their hands.
Don’t know if she is right or not…
9 Days
Aug 14, 2008 Uncategorized 4 Comments
9 days until the official start of our fall craziness at Riv! This is going to be an amazing fall.
- We will be fully into the new facility, including the remodeled section
- We are doing an ad campaign (which we haven’t done since we ran out of space several years ago)
- We are launching our East Lansing venue
- We are offering a ton of new RivU classes on theology and practical living topics
That’s just the stuff that’s visible. Behind the scenes we are planning some crazy big huge things that will only be successful if God decides to work through us on them.
And it all starts in 9 days.
Bush or Batman
Aug 13, 2008 Uncategorized 1 Comment
I don’t like to get political on this site, but I do like batman.
Monday iPhone App Review - Facebook
Aug 11, 2008 iPhone Ap Review 4 Comments
OK, being the Facebook junky I am, I was super stoked to download the Facebook ap for my shiny new iPhone.
Unfortunately, I find I hardly ever use it.
The reason is simple. No really, it’s “simple.” The problem is it is too simple.
Let’s take a look at this baby. Here’s the opening screen:
What do we see? My friend’s most recent status. That’s it. It lacks everything that makes Facebook “facebooky.” It doesn’t show me my friends’ birthdays, what they have changed on their page, or how many notifications I have. And on that front, this is my biggest pet peeve: there is no way to add friends or see who wants to add you as a friend.
Crazy.
When I tap on “Noel” at the bottom, what do I get? More info? No…just my wall.
How about “Friends”? A list of my friends that feels very “iPhone.” Tap on a friend and you get access to their wall, mini-feed, photos, etc. That’s kinda cool. I also like the “iPhone” feel of the photos, you scroll through them the same way you do with the photos on your iPhone. That’s cool.
OK…now I tap on “Inbox.” (I skipped “Chat” because homey don’t play dat.) Arg. Now I’m reminded again that all this give me is messages, but no notifications.
Overall, I like the “feel” of the Facebook ap, but because of a few things I just never find a reason to use it.
Oh and I can take a picture with the little camera icon in the corner. Whatever.
Quote of the Day
Aug 8, 2008 Uncategorized 3 Comments
“Failure is not an option, it is a necessity. It’s the first step to seeing God.” - Craig Groeschel
Why do you attend Riverview?
Aug 8, 2008 Uncategorized 7 Comments
I just read an interesting post on the top reasons people attend one church over another.
It made we wonder why people go to Riverview.
So, I would like to take my own unscientific poll here, and this is especially for those of you who go to Riverview. Here it goes:
When you are done taking this poll (don’t cheat), jump to this link to see how your answers compare to other churches out there: Top Reasons for Church Attendance.
Feel free to post additional comments, as well.
Al Gore Places Infant Son In Rocket To Escape Dying Planet
Aug 7, 2008 Uncategorized 3 Comments
Via The Onion, this is brilliant…
Al Gore—or, as he is known in his own language, Gore-Al—placed his son, Kal-Al, gently in the one-passenger rocket ship, his brow furrowed by the great weight he carried in preserving the sole survivor of humanity’s hubristic folly.
“There is nothing left now but to ensure that my infant son does not meet the same fate as the rest of my doomed race,” Gore said. “I will send him to a new planet, where he will, I hope, be raised by simple but kindly country folk and grow up to be a hero and protector to his adopted home.”
As the rocket soared through the Gore estate’s retractable solar-paneled roof—installed three years ago to save energy and provide emergency rocket-launch capability in the event that Gore’s campaign to save Earth was unsuccessful—the onetime presidential candidate and his wife, Tipper, stood arm-in-arm, nobly facing their end while gazing up in stoic dignity at the receding rocket, the ecosystem already beginning to collapse around them.
The Struggle with Porn
Aug 6, 2008 Uncategorized Leave a comment
Just read a great article on CCEF about the struggle many people face with pornography. I really like what he has to say about making progress in your struggle. Here are a couple of his points. Read the whole article for all of his thoughts:
What does progress in your struggle with pornography look like? In all typical human struggles (like anger, anxiety, escapism), winning doesn’t mean achieving perfection. It means having a new goal and a new direction. Your direction in life determines your final destination. Where are you headed? Are you going in the right direction? Going in the right direction in your struggle with pornography means learning to fight your temptation to sin, to handle your guilt when you fail, and to understand and avoid the circumstances in which you are tempted…
* A decrease in the frequency of a sin is progress. It’s not good that you are still indulging in pornography, but if you are doing it less, you are going in the right direction.
* A change in the actual nature of the sin is progress. If you are no longer having an affair or premarital sex, and now you are battling pornographic fantasy, it’s good that your struggle has changed from your actions to your imagination.
* Not always responding to difficult circumstances by indulging in sin is progress. When your life gets hard, if instead of going straight to your fantasy life, you pray for help and ask others to pray for you, then God is at work
* Repenting more quickly is progress. Learning to go more quickly to the Lord of life, instead of wallowing for days, weeks, and months in the gloom of “I failed again,” is a sign that God is at work in your life.
If you struggle with porn, read the whole article and if you are a Riverview person, check out Fight Club and Girls Only which help those who are wrestling with these areas. You can also download an old teaching I gave on this here.
Seriously…get help today.
Our Marriage is a Teenager
Aug 5, 2008 Uncategorized 11 Comments
13 years.
As of today, Grace and I have been married for 13 years.
That means our marriage is officially a teenager–hopefully it doesn’t get all moody.
13 years ago, we had no idea what was in store for us. She was a substitute school teacher, I was an Assistant Manager at a bank (yes, I wore a tie everyday). We had ministry aspirations but didn’t know what to do with them.
Looking over the past 13 years, I am amazed at what God has done in our lives and the myriad of ways he has really made us one.
In honor of protecting Grace’s sense of privacy, that’s all I will say.
Except to say that I am so glad she picked me and continues to tolerate me on a daily basis.
one hundred push ups
Aug 4, 2008 Uncategorized 13 Comments
Yesterday I played on the trampoline at my sister’s house with my son.
And I got seriously winded.
This was a couple days after my friend John asked me when I mountain biked last…and the answer was “not this year.”
I am seriously out of shape…and winter is coming.
So I have decided to do the one hundred push ups challenge. I have seen this on a few blogs lately (most recently Kat’s). Basically, it takes wimps like me and guarantees we will be able to do 100 consecutive push-ups at the end of a 6 week period.
I’m going for it. And by posting this here, I know you will all give me crap if I don’t do it.
You in?
If you’re in, leave a comment. I’m starting today.
Oh, and I plan on biking on as many of the off days as I can.
Represent
Aug 4, 2008 Uncategorized Leave a comment
My sister was kind enough to hook my kids up with grills yesterday. Coley wants to wear his to church. (Click on the picture for a larger, more glorious version).
Monday iPhone App Review - Shazam
Aug 4, 2008 iPhone Ap Review 3 Comments
Because I have nothing better to do with my time (ahem), I have decided to review some of my favorite iPhone aps. For the time being, I plan on posting these reviews on Mondays, but it may go the way of my “Site of the Week” and just disappear after awhile.
Today, I start the reviewpalooza with Shazam which is quickly becoming one of my favorite aps.
Let me lay it out there for you.
You’re riding in the car with your wife and an old song pops up on the radio.
You: “I haven’t heard this song in…like…forever. It used to be one of my favorites!”
Your Wife: “Do you know who sings this?”
**SILENCE**
“You don’t know?”
“Uh…”
“Idiot.”
And then just to screw with you, your wife won’t tell you who sings the song and it plagues you for the rest of the day. But not anymore!
Enter “Shazam!”
With this fancy ap, you literally hold your phone up to the speaker for a few seconds and a few seconds later it reminds you who sings your favorite song:
Now if that isn’t cool enough for you, you have more options, including:
- Downloading the song on iTunes
- Taking a picture of your wife being amazed with this technology to add as a tag
- Jumping over to YouTube to watch the video for the song you are listening to
I have been trying to trick Shazam for the last couple days and I am super impressed with the songs it knows. Here’s the last few I searched for:
About the only thing I have been able trick it with so far is Korean rap. Apparently, the program is racist. Other than that unseemly quality, Shazam is amazing.
Connecting with God
Jul 31, 2008 Uncategorized 5 Comments
Imagine my surprise when I surf over to the Leadership Network Advance and see this pretty picture:
I was quoted in their most recent paper on the devotional life of a leader and they must have thought I was a pretty model as well.
You can download the whole paper here or just read the snippet where they quote me (the most important part, of course):
Though the fundamental ingredients of Bible reading, reflection, and prayer are common in virtually every model of devotional life, they take widely varied forms. To create a meaningful devotional life, wise leaders recognize the link between personality and particular models.
Noel Heikkinen, pastor of Riverview Church in Holt, MI (http://www.rivchurch.com) explains that some of the spiritual disciplines used for centuries simply don’t fit his personality: “I’m such an extrovert that solitude can actually become a destructive discipline for me if I’m not careful. When I’m alone with my thoughts and pray too long, my mental process gets tied into a knot and I get stuck. I’m a verbal processor, so any time of solitude must be accompanied immediately by interaction and verbal processing.”
Noel’s perspective about his devotional life corresponds with his theology about the way God leads his people. He explains, “I’m convinced that God gives direction in community, and I’m convinced that he seldom gives it to someone apart from community.” Western culture, and particularly American culture, is fiercely individualistic, and in many churches, the pastor is perceived as the channel who uniquely hears the voice of God, receives direction, and communicates it to the people. Noel reacts to such a view: “This perspective distorts our devotional lives so that we expect God to give us direction apart from the Word and input or feedback from others. If we’re perceived as the sole the arbiters of God’s voice to our people, we get defensive if they question us. And as pastors model this individualistic approach to spiritual life and leadership, other believers follow us and claim, ‘God told me’ to do this or that, and they defy anyone to disagree.” At the Jerusalem council, church leaders wrestled with some of the most important issues of the early church. They didn’t look to one leader to tell them what God wanted them to do. Instead, God led them as they collaborated: “So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul” (Acts 15:25). Noel asserts, “That’s the model of spiritual life and wisdom we need to follow.”
Fighting WordPress TrackBack Spam
Jul 30, 2008 Uncategorized 3 Comments
I have been getting slammed lately with TrackBack Spam. In part, my redesign was prompted by cleaning up the site after getting hit one too many times.
Hopefully, I now have it under control thanks to BloggingTips.com.
Here are the steps I took for those of you having the same problem:
1. Renamed wp-comments-post.php file, which is in the the root of all Wordpress installations
2. Opened comments.php in my theme folder (wp-content/THEME FOLDER) and changed the “wp-comments-post.php” file name to my new name.
That’s it. Hopefully it works.
Scour is Amazing
Jul 30, 2008 Uncategorized 2 Comments
I’ve been playing with Scour - The social search engine lately and I have discovered it to be amazing.
Especially when you search for “noel heikkinen” under the “images” section. Click on the image for a larger version if you don’t see what I mean.
Testing
Jul 28, 2008 Uncategorized 2 Comments
Today I am going to be doing a bunch of site tests / improvements. Please forgive any flaky performance on the site.
Pray for North Korea Today
Jul 27, 2008 Uncategorized 1 Comment
Today has been declared as a day to fast and pray for North Korea. Here’s a list of a few things to pray for. For more information on each of these requests, head to Persecution.org:
- For the 200,000-1,000,000 political prisoners to be set free.
- For Human Rights
- For the Starving
- For the North Korean Children
- For Refugees
- For Freedm and Spiritual Awakening
- For the Destiny of the North Korean Church
- For Workers
- For Revival and Transformation in North Korea
- For Unification
- For Korea’s Destiny in Christ
- For the Unity and Restoration of the Church Worldwide
