Rob Ketterling

PICTURES FROM INDIA!

I'm on my way back from India with the Global Team from River Valley and I have to say, it was an amazing trip! I don't have time to say a lot but I'll post just a few pictures. One is of the nightly festivals we held in which thousands attended every night and on the last night alone, 1000 people came forward for the response of salvation! We also ran a pastor's seminar, did local village ministry as we dedicated several clean water wells and yes, that's my mug on the posters that were hung all over Nirmal India! It was a great time with Oasis Ministry and I can't tell you how much fun it was to dedicate a building that our church paid for through Kingdom Builders! Thank you so much for donating to Kingdom Builders and making this possible! You need to know that lives were changed on this trip! I'll be back soon!
 
 
 
 

GREAT MINISTRY IN INDIA!

I've been without Internet for a few days but the Pastor that I just preached for has it in his home so I'm taking a short moment to update my blog and facebook! We have been having Festivals every night in Nirmal India and having about 2000+ each night, God is moving and people are being healed, saved and feeling the love of God, I'm so glad we're here! During the day we go to villages, share about Jesus, dedicate wells and we just concluded the Pastors seminar. It's hot, and it's busy and I love it! 

This morning I preached at Moriah Harvest Church in Adilabad, India and loved it so much! I preached about here's to those not yet here from Luke 14 and felt that I got another new perspective on reaching those that don't know Jesus. I loved preaching, I hope they got something out of it! (With a good interpreter there are no bad messages overseas!) Now it's time for some spicy Indian food, it's good but trust me, it's spicy!

GREAT MINISTRY IN INDIA!

I've been without Internet for a few days but the Pastor that I just preached for has it in his home so I'm taking a short moment to update my blog and facebook! We have been having Festivals every night in Nirmal India and having about 2000+ each night, God is moving and people are being healed, saved and feeling the love of God, I'm so glad we're here! During the day we go to villages, share about Jesus, dedicate wells and we just concluded the Pastors seminar. It's hot, and it's busy and I love it! 

This morning I preached at Moriah Harvest Church in Adilabad, India and loved it so much! I preached about here's to those not yet here from Luke 14 and felt that I got another new perspective on reaching those that don't know Jesus. I loved preaching, I hope they got something out of it! (With a good interpreter there are no bad messages overseas!) Now it's time for some spicy Indian food, it's good but trust me, it's spicy!

FOUR VOLUNTEER NIGHTS IN FOUR DAYS!

We are officially done with the Volunteer Appreciation Parties at River Valley for 2011! Four parties in four nights and I ate a piece of Tres Leche every night and even managed to lose 2 lbs.! (Probably from the other stuff I was doing like preaching four times, family stuff, work, and meetings! It wasn't from the desserts or working out!) Becca and I loved every one of the parties and have to say once again, thank you to all of the people that make River Valley church an amazing church to pastor! All of the pastors appreciate you so much and count it a privilege to pastor you, I hope you feel appreciated and know that your labor is never in vain! Lives are being changed and I can assure you, the best is yet to come!

THE WORLD WILL NOT END TODAY

I can't believe that I'm getting asked if the world will end today but yes, I'm getting asked if I think it will end today. Here's the quick answer, NO! The world is not going to end today. I'm amazed at the press that you can get in this country if you're crazy. Predict the end of the world, press coverage, burn a Koran, press coverage, be raised in a dysfunctional home, become a celebrity, act out and press coverage! I have no idea why the world is caught up with Harold Camping (The preacher saying the world will end.) but he's a obscure preacher with a wild whim and the press is eating it up. Harold, do us all a favor and apologize profusely for the mess you've made for the church tonight when it doesn't happen. (He might have to wait it out until all time zones have passed 6:15 so by Sunday morning at the latest, Harold should apologize!)

MERCY MINISTRY

Becca and I had a great time yesterday sharing with Mercy Ministry in Nashville. We were there to share our story and to see the ministry as well as connect with Nancy Alcorn, the founder of Mercy Ministry. I'm so glad we're part of their ministry and I'm so glad that Kingdom Builders is going to raise 1000's of dollars for them, they are an excellent ministry and I love how they are helping girls and women find hope and healing! If you want to see pictures of our visit and hear what Nancy had to say, you can click here! It was a quick trip, but well worth it!

LEADERS MEETING

Last night we had our quarterly leaders meeting and it was amazing! We had all four of our campuses together and the energy was great, the unity was so strong and the worship was deep. I loved it! In case you missed it, and seriously, if you're a leader, you need to be there, but if you missed it, you fell behind the vision. The biggest reason to attend is to stay on track with the vision, get the latest "for leaders only" and get the training. I feel that as a leader, attending these meetings is critical to your enjoyment and growth as a leader, to staying connected to the life of the church and be encouraged. Last night I shared about our growth, our giving, our expansion plans and why I believe in multi-site. I also shared about setting goals as a leader and the 7 areas to set them in. We also had campus wins, updates from people's lives that were changed and a time of deeper worship because we were all believers there. So let me say it again, if you are a leader at River Valley, get to the next leadership meeting, don't fall behind the vision! (The next Leaders meeting will be in August and will be at each campus don't miss it!)

MATURE SO YOU CAN PLEASE GOD BETTER

I really enjoyed the conclusion of our series, "Is there an App for that?" this weekend and I loved preaching on maturity and growth. It's a big issue for the church and it's a hot button for pastors because people need to mature, and sometimes those people that think they're mature really aren't!

In case you missed it, I shared that the reason we need to mature is in Colossians 1:9-11 so that we may please God and bear fruit. The reason we don't mature is just to get smarter so we can say we're smarter. Weget smarter to do more! And the more we do, the smarter we get so we can do even more to please God and save the world. No one is getting mature by sitting in their chair reciting all the Greek and Hebrew they know and just siting there. You grow up to make a difference.

This is a hot button issue for pastors because many times the people that say "I'm not getting fed." are the ones that would say they are mature believers but many times, they're not. Actually many times, they're more of a bored believer than a mature believer. They have stopped doing the simple things, they don't participate in the life of the church (LIfe Groups, SOAP, Serving, Global Teams) and they just vent their frustration at the church. What I think they need to do is keep walking it out, daily, do the same things over and over again, teach others when you're bored, you'll never have a dull moment if you do! Also, own up to your own boredom and lack of being "fed". When my kids tell me they're not being fed, I point to the pantry! There's all sorts of food in there, go fix some and stop complaining!

Let's mature, but let's see the goal of maturity to please God and to bear fruit for others to benefit from. The world needs mature followers and I pray our church is full of them!

GIRLS NIGHT AT RIVER VALLEY

Wow! That's all I can say after seeing the Girls Night at RIver Valley last night! The place looked like a forest from a fairy tale and they had pictures, arts and crafts, crazy hair stations, balloon decorations, worship and creative teaching and carriage rides! Seriously, for a little girl, (There were 400 of them there.)  last night was a blast. I just want to say thank you for all of the workers that made it happen, our  kids ministry did an amazing job giving the girls a night they won't forget!
 
 

PRAISE AND WORSHIP HAS CHANGED

This past weekend in church we looked at 7 Hebrew words that can help us understand Praise and Worship and I feel like just knowing what they're encouraging us to do will take our worship to another level! It's so new for many of us to praise the Lord in a Spirit lead way, but I see such growth in this area that it really encourages me. I can't wait until this weekend!

I wanted to put some additional info in the sermon but ran out of time so I thought I'd pass it on to you through my blog and call it bonus material, so here goes. In the last 10 years, a transition has happened in worship and the younger generations worship in a very different way than their predecessors. I'll list these differences that I've observed and you can see if you identify with the first item listed or the second. If you like the first column more, you are probably a Baby-boomer and if you like the second column, you're probably part of the Postmodern generation. (The list is from Rick Mattson)

1- Sing about God - Sing to God  2- Quarter notes - 8th notes  3- Scripted worship - Free flowing seamless worship  4- Short songs - Long songs  5-"Why do we keep repeating the lyrics?" - "Just when I was getting into the flow, it was over."  6- Knowing God - Experiencing God  7- Worship with the mind and heart - Worship with the whole body  8- White lighting - Colored, mood lighting  9-Strings - Synth pad  10-Maranantha - Hillsong United  11- Non-distracting environment - Color, atmosphere, mood, arts, draw us closer to God.

So how did you do? Are you a Boomer or a Postmodern? If you're a postmodern worshipper, you're going to find more and more resources for your iPod but if you're a boomer, don't lose your current collection of CD's, worship is changing!