LifePoint Church of Ruston

Building Remodel Update

2010-05-15T11:05:00.005-05:00

Lifepoint Church of Ruston is right in the middle of a complete remodel of our facilities. This is a video update to serve as a reminder of how much God has done in such a short time and what is going on right now. Many thanks to all of the wonderful people who have volunteered their time, skills, money, and prayer. We are eternally grateful and are expecting God to do even great things in the future!

A Real Failure

2010-02-25T10:10:00.002-06:00

Have you ever been reading a book or listening to a presenter and all of the sudden this one thing that they say just hits you right in the gut? Recently Steven Pressfield did this to me in The War of Art.

(Check out this excerpt)

The first professional writing job I ever had, after seventeen years of trying, was on a movie called King Kong Lives. And I my partner-at-the-time, Ron Shusett (a brilliant writer and producer who also did Alien and Total Recall) hammered out the screenplay for Dino DLaurentiis. We loved it; we were sure we had a hit. Even after we’d seen the finished film, we were certain it was a blockbuster We invited everyone we knew to the premiere, even rented out the joint next door for a post-triumph blowout. Get there early, we warned our friends, the place’ll be mobbed.

Nobody showed. There was only one guy in line beside our guests and he was muttering something about spare change. In the theater, our friends endured the movie in mute stupefaction. When the lights came up, they fled like cockroaches into the night. Next day came the review in Variety: “..Ronald Shusett and Steven Pressfield; we hope these are not their real names, for their parents’ sake.” When the first week’s grosses came in, the flick barely registered. Still I clung to hope. Maybe it’s only tanking in urban areas, maybe it’s playing better in the burbs. I motored to an Edge City multiples. A youth manned the popcorn booth. “How’s King Kong Lives?” I asked. He flashed thumbs down. “Miss it man. It’s terrible.”

I was crushed. Here I was, forty-two years old, divorced, childless, having given up all normal human pursuits to chase the dreams of being a writer; now I’ve finally got my name on a big-time Hollywood production starring Linda Hamilton, and what happens? I’m a loser, a phony; my life is worthless, and so am I.

My friend Tony Keppelman snapped me out of it by asking if I was gonna quit. No way! “Then be happy. You’re where you wanted to be, aren’t you? So you’re taking a few blows. That’s the price for being in the arena and not on the sidelines stop complaining and be grateful.” That was when I realized I had become a pro. I had not yet had a success. But I had had a real failure.

At 33 I can't say I've had a lot of successes but I've realized that that's not really the point. Instead, what we should ask ourselves as we inventory our journey is "Have I had any legit, honest-to-God, failures?" If the answer is "no", you probably haven't even started the game. I don't want to turn this blog into a cheesy, self-help speech but seriously, don't let fear paralyze you to the point that you never move out of your tracks. Get out there and fail and fail big! Fail in front of peers, friends, and total strangers. Get engaged in "doing what you've always wanted to do" even though you don't even know how yet to do it.

I started my church planting journey over four and a half years ago and have been trying to figure it out ever since. Let's just say I've crammed a lot of public failure into just four short years. Is the humiliation of failure fun? Absolutely not. Do I regret any of it? Not on your life.
What does make me break out in cold sweat, however, is to think of how petty and insignificant my life would currently feel had I not dove in with both hands and feet into what I felt I was called to do and began experiencing failure...REAL FAILURE.

God Bless,

Jathan

Catching Up

2009-10-22T20:00:00.016-05:00

Happy Fall season to everyone! Not much cold but a whole lot of rain here in Ruston, LA. I've posted more pictures below to show the blessing of God upon us over the past few months at LifePoint Church. Continue to pray that God will use us to be a blessing to this community.

Baptism

Last Sunday our church family was able to share in the baptism of Jack Phillips. Jack has quite a story that includes coming to know Jesus Christ for the first time at age 68 and recovering from a near death experience during a heart operation just a few months ago. "God is good" is not just a worn out cliche.

Wild West Harvest Fest

Due to the steady rain throughout the week we had to move the Harvest Fest from the Chandler home to our church parking lot this year. Thankfully, the weather was good the day of the shindig and we had a great turnout of about 140 people. The children enjoyed the games and we old people enjoyed the food and music.

New Pulpit

A huge "Thank You" to Rev. Gordon Poe and his Times of Refreshing family including Jerry Denkens and Kelly Poe pictured below. A few months ago, upon viewing a picture of one of our church services, they noticed that we did not have a pulpit. They called me and asked if they could build and deliver a pulpit to us. I'm still wondering if that was a trick question. Not only did they custom design and build the pulpit out of Beaded Birchwood, they also drove from Longview, Tx on a rainy Friday afternoon and delivered it. On top of all that, they gave us an offering. Although I say it often, it continues to be heartfelt, we would not be where we are without the generosity of people like Gordon Poe, Jerry Denkens, and Kelly Poe and many others who support us in so many ways.

Our First Missionary Service

What a joy it was to have our first missionary service! Jonathan and Darla Sherry, missionaries to Vanuatu blessed our church tremendously. Help us pray for their ministry and that they will be able to raise the funds very quickly and get back to Vanuatu.

Heritage Day

Our Heritage was also very well attended this year. About 70 people showed up to attend church as a family, hear classic, old school gospel music, and to enjoy a fine meal. This service provided a nice moment for us to honor our family and Christian heritage while remembering to give thanks for all that God has done for over the years.

Jathan Scotte Maricelli, II enjoyed it.
Back to School Service-FROG (Fully Relying on God)

Ministry to children continues to be a priority at LifePoint Church. FROG was a great day of fun and ministry for children. The adults had a great time as well.

Candy Rain!
The LoCascio's
It was a treat to have our great friends, the LoCasios, visit and minster at LifePoint. They are fellow Home Missionaries that are starting at church in Wheaton, Illinois.

Peach Festival
Being a street musician at '09 Peach Fest was not without great cost! It was hot.

Alan wouldn't let his pastor go down in flames alone.

New Church Sign and First Baptism

2009-06-15T09:17:00.007-05:00

Things are happening fast at LifePoint! We continue to make renovations to the exterior of our building. On Friday, our brand new sign was added. My lovely wife Sarah, who is a graphic designer by trade (we've got the student loans to prove it), designed the sign and the color scheme. Rapid Signs, located here in Ruston, installed it.

Random letters

Acting like I have a clue as to what's going on

The "L"

Doesn't that look great?

Interior Renovations

One of our church members decided to make some renovations to the interior of the church on the fly. Deciding that the air conditioner wasn't keeping them cool enough, they decided to do something about it. "I've got it! I'll install my own personal, electric, fan at my seat." The following two pictures illustrate why we humans are the superior beings on earth. We have unmatched creative abilities. Said church member no longer has to use a church bulletin to manually fan themselves. The strategically placed and strategically aimed fan does it for them. I've been around church a long time, but I admit, I've never seen this one!

Jim's Baptism
Although I've known his son for a number of years, I met Jim Harkins for the first time six months ago. Some serious health complications had landed Jim in the hospital and the family asked me to go pray with him. He is an elderly man and I don't think he would mind me telling you that he had not followed Christ during his life. Thankfully, Jim got well enough to be discharged from the hospital. Over the next several months I would periodically visit Jim at his assisted living facility with my guitar and bible in tow. What a spiritual transformation I was able to see in him. On Sunday, I had the wonderful privilege to baptize Jim Harkins for the first time in his life. It was also the first baptism that we've conducted here at LifePoint Church.

Jim's wife, son, and daughter-in-law during worship service

Jim's grandchildren

Lincoln Leadership, New Baptistery, and La Style Fish Fry

2009-06-08T11:36:00.020-05:00

Lincoln Leadership
For the past 9 months I participated in a class sponsored by the Ruston-Lincoln Chamber of Commerce called Lincoln Leadership. Lincoln Leadership's mission is to raise up citizens that become leaders in the community. Throughout the class we learned the intricacies that make Ruston the unique place that it is. We toured everything from schools to local businesses to a pregnancy crisis center and everything in between. We topped it all off by taking a trip down to the State Capitol during the current legislative session and met with some of our area legislators. Thanks to Judy Copeland who administrated the class on behalf of the Chamber and Sue Billberry who served as our fearless class president. The class was not just educational, but was also tons of fun and introduced me to some great new friends.

Receiving my "diploma" from Ruston-Lincoln Chamber of Commerce President Scott Terry.

Our class photo: Adam Hohlt, Angela Lee, Joanna Allen, Derrance Nichols, Sue Billberry, Blair Walpole, and myself. Not pictured: Chris Craighead and Neill Kirkland.

New Baptistery
We are very excited about our new baptistery. We will be even more excited when start using it! Yes, it has a built in water heater. Yes, we are going to put a few coats of really nice stain on it. And yes, we are taking baptismal requests.

This tank is very, very, heavy and was extremely difficult to unload. A huge thank-you to those that dropped what they were doing to come help.

FISH FRY
On Saturday, June 6th, about 70 people turned out for a Louisiana Style Fish Fry. Not only was there a strong showing from the LifePoint family, but lots of guests joined us as well. The weather was absolutely perfect, the fish cooked just right, and the fellowship was ever better. The kids made sure we got our money's worth out of the spacewalk and the adults were a wonderful audience for the worship and bluegrass singing.

Sarah's sidewalk art

Ben Christmas and his crew catered for us.

Well you didn't think I was there JUST for the fellowship did you?

Hurry up and serve the food!

Isn't Dylan a little too old for this?

Look at those two politician smiles.

A politician smile on performance enhancing supplements.

Sarah hanging out with the Warren family..by the fan.

The bluegrass brothers..the Chipmon family and me.

Jessica, Alan, Caleb, and me doing some worship songs.

There's our raffle winner! A digital camera.

" A Man of Constant Sorrow", just for fun. And it was fun!

LifePoint Work Day 2.0

2009-05-13T09:25:00.073-05:00

Happy summer everyone! It's been a great spring at LifePoint Church and we've got the pictures to prove it.

In the first picture, Caleb, is trying his hand at leading worship while playing the keyboard. Caleb is a great addition to our worship team and does a great version of "Great Balls of Fire" on the side. The next two pictures are of Alan Roberston and Brandon Turner speaking at our midweek service. It was the very first time for these two budding young ministers do something of this nature at LifePoint. They did a great job and I'm proud of the ministerial initiative that they are taking.

The remainder of the pictures consist of renovations and aesthetic improvements to our building. Workday 2.0 produced a great labor-force turnout, more than partially motivated by Sarah's gumbo for lunch.

God bless you all and thank you for your ongoing support of LifePoint Church.

Jathan Maricelli

March Happenings!

2009-03-25T15:36:00.012-05:00

I'm thankful to say that a lot went well at LifePoint Church in March '09! I thank all of you for your continued prayers and support. Without so many of you partnering with us, it would not be possible for us to see the beauty that God is unfolding here in Ruston. Continue to pray for us and enjoy the pics!

ORDINATION CEREMONY
I was blessed to receive my Ordination from the Lousiana District of the United Pentecostal Church last week. It was a very special moment for some of my closest friends, family, and me. Thanks Louisiana District for giving me your faith in and support.
My grandfather Maricelli, Sarah, and me. Sarah is holding the certificate, I'm holding the ceremonial towel, and PaPa 'Celli is holding the pose.

Some of my dearest friends and family praying over us.

It's not a bad night when you get prayed for by your hero. Thanks dad.

NEW CHAIRS!

We have padded chairs! Get the word out in Ruston that no longer do you have to sit on a hard, metal, folding chair if you visit LifePoint Church! The great thing was that the truck showed up right in the middle of midweek worship. What did we do? We promptly shut the service down, unloaded and set up the chairs, and started the service back up. Isn't church planting a hoot?

There are 10 chairs in one of those bundles. We have 10 bundles...do the math.

The promised land!

TIMES OF REFRESHING-BOSSIER CITY

I want to thank Bro. Gordon Poe for reaching out to me as a Home Missionary. He invited me to be a part of his conference, Times of Refreshing, in Bossier City pastored by Bro. Jerry Dean. Not only did he allow me to share our story with the audience on Friday night, but he gave us a very generous offering as well. Thanks Bro. Poe for having a heart for Home Missions.

Sharing the LifePoint story at Times of Refreshing at The Pentecostals of Bossier City.

CELEBRATION SUNDAY

On March 15th we held a special service that we entitled "Celebration Sunday", during which we publicly gave God thanks for what He had done for us our first year. It was a great day, it was a big, phat day..it was a CRAWFISH BOIL day! Celebration Sunday brought about something else to celebrate, a new LifePoint Church attendance record. 107 people were in attendance, with 59 of those being guests!

Lots of work went on to get the Children's ministry rooms ready. The decor looks fabulous!

Rod holding the rug in place...in a very artistic manner I might add.

That's what 107 in our building looks like.

THe Batman bouncy thing was a hit with the kids.

The crawfish were a hit with everyone else..well, almost everyone else.

I'm not sure how much of a hit they were with Alan (pink shirt) who had them for the first time.

CHICAGO

My lovely wife and me took a little trip for our 6th wedding anniversary. Where did we go? Chicago...in March...it was 10 degrees the first night we were there! High tea at the Drake, breakfast with Pastor Jack Yonts, visiting my old friends at Wredling Middle School, the Burrito Bol from Chipotle, and worship service at The Orchard Church pastored by my dear friends Rachel and Vito LoCascio made for a wonderful time.

Pastor Jack Yonts and me at Colonial Cafe, where else? There's a church planter right there.

Some of the children at The Orchard Church.

Vito and his trusty assistant Joel praying that I would not get hypothermia before I made it back to LA.

Not only did the wonderful people at The Orchard have to hear me preach...

..but they had to hear me sing as well.

God Bless,

Jathan Maricelli

January '09 at LifePoint Church

2009-02-02T16:36:00.009-06:00

Hello to all! God is really blessing us here at LifePoint Church of Ruston these days! My last post documented that we had just purchased and moved into a brand new building. Here are a few pictures that show what we've been up to over the past month.

Crowd shot

Jessica, Rod, and Alan's worship trio debut! Very melodic indeed.

Our overhead projector rocks!

Trying to read handwriting on the prayer request cards

Alan teaching the children something about a spy. Nice costume I must say.

This past Friday night we had out first every student fellowship/pizza/Wii party!

Alan ROFL'ing!

Laney and "Red"

Dylan staring at a piece of pizza...he didn't stare for long.

Brooke, Alex, and Katie

Kevin and Syd playing Wii

Is that John Mayer or....its only Marshall...oh.

First Service in Our New Building

2009-01-06T23:43:00.009-06:00

This past Sunday we held service in our new building for the first time! There are future renovations to come, but we are very excited to have a "home". On the days leading up to Sunday, we had lots of help cleaning and getting the building in shape to have a service. I have posted a few pictures of that and of our service for your perusal.

Jathan
Alex posing on workday Not only did Greg put up our temporary sign, but...what is that dance called?

Lots of cleaning happened

Lots of coffee drinking happened

Sarah thought that if she stared long enough at the stain, it would just go away

Finally, it was ready to go at about 8pm on Saturday night

We Bought a Church Building Today!

2008-12-22T21:18:00.007-06:00

Today, December 22, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. we finalized a purchase on a 3,028 sq. ft. building that will serve as LifePoint Church's brand new place of worship! There are future renovations that will take place in order to retrofit the building to our needs, but I did want to show you all a few pictures of what our new building looks like today. Thank you so much for all of your prayer and support.

God Bless,

Jathan

Christmas at Railroad Park

2008-12-17T11:04:00.016-06:00

Wouldn't you know that the coldest night of the year, December 6th, was also the night we held our OUTDOOR Christmas singing? That's right, about 97 people braved the 29 degree temperatures at Railroad Park in Ruston to get an early start on celebrating the Christmas season. We celebrated by sucking down gallons of hot chocolate and coffee, eating cookies, shamelessly accepting door prizes, and enjoying singing by both Ricky Houck and Hodge United Pentecostal Church.

I do apologize in advance for the very pedestrian quality of the pictures. To be honest with you, it was so cold that most of us were focused way more on self presevation than taking pictures to post on some guy's blog. Nevertheless, we did manage to snap a few pictures.

Each coffee cup came with a custom "LifePoint Church of Ruston" sleeve

Thanks for being our coffee cup model, Kensie

I'm up there mumbling my way through something, wishing that I was standing under one of those heaters behind me.

We didn't have a problem moving the coffee and hot chocolate as is evidenced by this very anxious recepient

I don't think they were actually worshipping the heater...but...well, let's just say it was pretty cold

Crazy people under the coffee tent

Anytime Alan works we like to capture images of it

A very lame picture of the audience

A very lame picture of the stage...also, that's Ricky Houck singing beneath the heater

Hodge UPC Choir...they were troopers lemme tell ya'!

A view of the audience from the stage

Any picture of Ashlyn is a good one

Well, there you have it ladies and gentlemen, our last big event of 2008! Many thanks to all of the hard workers at LifePoint Church that made this possible. Also a big thank you goes out to Mike Houck and the Hodge UPC under the leadership of the Stroud's for providing stellar entertainment. Finally, thank you to all of the local businesses that donated door prizes for the event. They are as follows:

Karen's Hallmark

L.A. Design Company

The Corner Drug Store

Ruston Restaurant and Catering Company

Merle Norman

The Children's Shoppe

Hair Studios of Ruston

Bath Junkie

HR and Associates

The Frothy Monkey

Ruston Florist

All That Jazz

Wing Stop

Sundown Tavern

El Jarrito

Ponchatoula's

Piney Hills Music Superstore

First National Bank

Monjouni's

God Bless,

Jathan Maricelli

The Waiting Place: Part III

2008-11-19T12:07:00.009-06:00

Myth #3: I'm Falling Too Far behind the Field in the Waiting Place

The final myth that I want to unmask is one that says that we have wasted so much time in “The Waiting Place” that there is not enough left to become who we’ve dreamed of becoming. This myth is a result of our minds being programmed to think about things in a non-supernatural and purely linear fashion.

A few months ago, the PGA's Open Championship was held at Royal Birkdale Golf Course in Lancashire, UK. It was an extremely interesting professional golf tournament, mainly because 53 year old Greg Norman not only came out of retirement to play in the tournament, but played well enough to be in the lead going into the final day. I was rooting hard for "The Shark" because he's had such hard luck in big tournaments throughout his career. I felt that a win in this big of a tournament, especially at his age would give him redemption from so many tough losses. I think most of the golf world felt the same way, judging by the high T.V. ratings. All who tuned in on the final day hoping for a bit of drama were not disappointed as Greg Norman played well enough to still be leading the tournament going into the final 9 holes!

The back 9 was a different story, however. Over the course of the last several holes, "The Shark" began to fade. He fought hard, but at the conclusion of Hole 16, the point of inevitability was reached. Even though there were two holes to play, Greg Norman, was simply too far behind to catch eventual Open Championship winner, Padraig Harrington. Greg Norman had lost another Major Championship. I was dejected, millions of viewers were dejected, and Norman was dejected.

If you and I are not careful, "The Waiting Place" can begin to feel like Greg Norman's back nine in that we lose a little ground, then a little more. Summoning up our mental strength, we right ourselves and resolve to make up the ground only to see our best efforts result in the dreaded double-bogey. It's at this point that the feeling of inevitability kicks in. We feel as if we have simply fallen too far behind in life to ever catch up. The good news is that our walk through life with God is not analogous to a professional golf tournament, just ask Joseph.

Joseph’s Strange Path to Success
Joseph, as a young man, was given wonderful dreams of prosperity and success by God only to be promptly be sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. (Where is Dr. Phil when you need him?) By maintaining both a good attitude and his faith in God, Joseph was elevated to the "head servant" position in his master's household. This promotion meant that, even though Joseph was still a ways from reaching his dreams, his hard work and integrity and brought him significantly closer to that end.

Enter his boss's wife who, after failing to seduce him, falsely accused him of sexually forcing himself on her. Not having any witnesses to prove his innocence, Joseph was convicted by a kangaroo court and thrown into prison. All of the ground that Joseph had worked so hard to make up was lost in one felled swoop. This Joseph, son of Jacob, was one resilient fella' though.

Once in prison, by staying true to his moral compass, Joseph earned such favor with the warden, that he was elevated to a position of leadership and authority.

The LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. (Genesis 39:21)So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. (Genesis 39:22)The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph's care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did. (Genesis 39:23)

To add to Joseph's positive momentum, one day he got what he thought was the break that would lead to his legal jailbreak.

As it turned out, Pharoah's butler and baker both fell out of favor with their master in such a way that caused Pharoah to throw them in prison. During their stay in prison, on the same night, they each had dreams that while seemingly prophetic were equally as confusing. Seeking someone to interpret these dreams, they happened upon Joseph, who was the go-to-guy if you needed a freaky dream interpreted. Upon receiving the details of the two nocturnal visions, Joseph interpreted that the baker would be executed by Pharoah, while the butler would get his freedom as well as his job back. The following day, Joseph's interpretations proved to be 100% accurate

Before the much relieved butler was released Joseph was able to ask of him a favor in return for his interpreting the his dream.

But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison. (Genesis 40:14)For I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing to deserve being put in a dungeon." (Genesis 40:15)

Finally, Joseph's big break close! It's almost within his very grasp. If he was anything like you and I, he probably waited with baited breath that first day for the warden to bring him the good news from Pharoah. "Joseph, it is my pleasure to be the one to deliver to you the news that you've been waiting for these past 11 years. Joseph, you are a free man." Days turned in into weeks, however, weeks to months, and months into two full years of hearing nothing from his new best friend, the butler. Genesis 40:23 gives us succinct but capable explanation of the butler going dark on Joseph.

The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him. (Genesis 40:23)

At this point, Joseph had spent a grand total of 13 years in "The Waiting Place." Not only was he was not getting any younger, he had to have felt as if he'd lost too much ground to make up. In the words of ESPN College Game Day's Lee Corso, "Not so fast my friend." On the contrary, God was about to make up 13 years of wasted time in one day.
At some point in the two year mark it was Pharoah’s turn to have one of those baffling dreams. The dream troubled Pharoah to the point that he became desperate to know its meaning. Pharoah sought out every dream interpreter on his payroll to give him its interpretation, all to no avail. The most powerful man in Egypt could find not find one stinkin' person to interpret his dream. Then, coincidentally some would say, a funny thing happened. The butler got off of his duff and remembered his long lost inmate Joseph and his mad, dream discerning skills.
The story ends happily with Joseph being summoned from prison, delivering the proper interpretation of the dream, and being elevated from inmate to Secretary of State by Pharoah, all in one day.

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. (Genesis 41:39) You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you." (Genesis 41:40) So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt." (Genesis 41:41)

Joseph did not have to climb any corporate or political ladders once he was freed from prison. Instead, God took him from the cellar to the rooftop without his feet touching a single rung.
If you have been faithful to God, don't let discouragement engulf you when you feel as if you fallen too far behind to catch up. In much the same way that God was able to give Joseph a by-pass to the Promised Land, He can do the same for you and me if we've been faithful. Whatever you do, don’t give up on your dreams. After all, “The Waiting Place” is designed to be just that, a waiting place.

God Bless,

Jathan Maricelli

This past Sunday we held a pot-luck lunch after morning worship. Therefore, we had to turn our house into a church, then to a dining hall, then back to a house again, all in a matter of a few hours. Church planting is so much fun!

This past weekend, I was able to sneak off to my home church's leadership retreat in Orange Beach, AL.

Dad kicked off the retreat by delivering a message of vision called "Reinventing Yourself for this New Season."

Mom, me, Maurisha Lejeune, and Malinda Trentacoste

The "Food Team" for the retreat is underpaid...that's all I'm sayin'

This is a snapshot of a "church planting" session. Pictured here is me, who is planting a church here in Ruston, of course and representatives from the two other daughter churches that are being planted out of my home church. Also pictured is mom, in the middle, telling us all what to do.

Wild West Harvest Fest 2008

2008-10-20T14:50:00.025-05:00

This past Saturday LifePoint Church hosted a huge fall party which we named "Wild West Harvest Fest." A great time was had by all of 119 people! We had lots of games for the kids, plenty of good food, and a rousing hour and a half long entertainment session by the "Back 40 Band" which played all of our favorite bluegrass tunes. Thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make this event possible . Thanks to John and Sonya Chandler for hosting the event at their place. Thanks to the Back 40 Band for the timely music. Finally, thanks to all of you that showed up to party with LifePoint church. God Bless and enjoy the pictures and the video.

The Waiting Place-Part II

2008-10-15T15:28:00.009-05:00

Fasten your seatbelts for Part II of "The Waiting Place."

Myth #2: I'm Not Being Productive in the Waiting Place

Blame the Stephen Coveys of the world for this false teaching. How many have read Covey's "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People"? Ok, all three of you that read this blog. Great! Thanks mom, dad, and Sarah. The purpose of that book was to help the reader be an extremely productive, task accomplishing fiend every second of their life. Covey, asserts that perfecting his meticulous system of goal-setting, mission and values statement writing, and to-do listing, will enhance one’s daily productivity, which in turn is the key to happy life. Not only has our culture been hi-jacked by multi-tasking, but also has a propensity to buy into the belief that task accomplishment in life means everything. In an environment such as this, it’s no small wonder that we feel about as productive as a slug on holiday when we're in “The Waiting Place.”

The thing about God, however, is that he does not measure productivity with the same gauges as those lifted from the “self help” section at Barnes and Noble. In fact, I would argue that there are times when we feel as if we are doing nothing more than spinning our proverbial wheels that we are, by God’s standards, turning the world upside down. One of God's favorite benchmarks of productivity that usually doesn’t make the cut on our to-do lists is character development. I am reminded of an oft repeated phrase of the former bishop of the Louisiana District UPC Rev. T.F. Tenney, "God is interested in building the man before He builds the church." The next time you find yourself in the waiting place, leave your productivity gauge in storage. Instead of looking at what you are accomplishing, look at who you are becoming. God finally got this through to me one day when I was out for a stroll in the beautiful metropolis of St. Charles, Illinois.

Voices in the Wind

One windy afternoon I went out for a prayer walk along the Fox River. About halfway through the walk, I climbed a looking tower that provided a great view of the city of St. Charles. At this point, Sarah and I had recently made the tough decision to leave our life in Chicagoland to pastor a wonderful group of people in Ruston, LA. What made this a tough decision was not that the opportunity in Ruston was not a great one. The hard part was that we didn’t feel like we had accomplished what God sent us to Chicago to accomplish. And now we were leaving. Two years prior, we had moved to metropolitan Illinois with big dreams of starting a new church. Although we were able to make a difference in a few lives during our time there, we had fallen far short of accomplishing all that God had placed in our hearts to accomplish. As I was standing up there pondering all of this, I thought, "Man I hope the Cubbies win the World Series this year." My second thought was, “Man, we just didn’t get it done here.” I actually gave voice to the frustration that I was feeling and said, "God, I never did reach this city for you." Instantly, although His voice was not audible, God spoke to me very clearly and said, "No, but in this city, I did reach you." Wow! I've carried those words with me ever since because they were so true.

If my productivity during this foray into the Midwest were to be measured by the achievement of tangible, hard, results, I failed miserably. Contrariwise, should you pry a little deeper into the value of the construction of character, softening of the heart, and strengthening of faith, mountains were moved. As a result of this gut wrenching process, I grew in my faith and character so much that I became a very different and more substantive person. While being excommunicated from the Church of Stephen Covey, I became a member in good standing of deeper and more beautiful place in my relationship with God. Therefore, if you find yourself in a place where you feel that you're not reaching your potential, be encouraged. Perhaps a far more productive thing is happening, God may be reaching you.

Recently my mother and father, Paul and Malinda Trentacoste, and Maurisha LeJeune drove up to Ruston to "coach us up." I've posted a few pictures from that visit.

Dad preached at our worship service on Sunday. "There Is Still Light In Goshen"

Fine dining at The Blue Light Cafe.

Sarah doing what she does best and Alan...well, just being Alan.
I had to post this picture to show off Kenney Reynolds' "buffet breeches" and sherpa lined Crocs. That man sure knows how to dress. Chris Frick and Dad sharing a laugh before church.

Buddy Wells doin' what he does best.

Leading worship at midweek service.

We had 48 people at midweek service!

Malinda Trentacoste spoke for us at our midweek service..."Safe in the City".

My mom leading a discussion about church planting.

Tommorrow is our first annual Wild West Harvest Fest. Here is a sneak peak at some of the behind the scenes preparation.

Sarah and Alex painting in preparation for the Wild West Harvest Fest

Olen thought he would try his hand at painting as well. After he finished his masterpiece he told his dad in confidence, "Mine's gooder than theirs."
Then Olen and his Bubba Teeth posed for the camera

Sarah and Alex's finished product

God Bless,

Jathan Maricelli

The Waiting Place

2008-10-01T12:27:00.000-05:00

For the next few articles, I'm going to steal a bit from one of my favorite authors, Dr. Seuss. There are three parts to this article entitled "The Waiting Place." Part one is yours today, with parts two and three coming at you later.

Congratulations! Today is your day. You're off to Great Places! You're off and away!

You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.

You'll look up and down streets. Look 'em over with care. About some you will say, "I don't choose to go there." With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet, you're too smart to go down any not-so-good street.

It's opener there in the wide open air

Out there things can happen and frequently do to people as brainy and footsy as you. And when things start to happen, don't worry. Don't stew. Just go right along. You'll start happening too.

OH! THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!

You'll be on your way up! You'll be seeing great sights! You'll join high fliers who soar to high heights.

You won't lag behind, because you'll have the speed. You'll pass the whole gang and you'll soon take the lead. Wherever you fly, you'll be best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

Except when you don't. Because, sometimes, you won't. I'm sorry to say so but, sadly, it's true that Bang-ups and Hang-ups can happen to you. You can get all hung up in a prickle-ey perch. And your gang will fly on. You'll be left in a Lurch.

You'll come down from the Lurch with an unpleasant bump. And the chances are, then, that you'll be in a Slump. And when you're in a Slump, you're not in for much fun. Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.

You will come to a place where the streets are not marked. Some windows are lighted. But mostly they're darked. A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin! Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in? How much can you lose? How much can you win? And IF you go in, should you turn left or right...or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite? Or go around back and sneak in from behind? Simple it's not, I'm afraid you will find, for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.

You can get so confused that you'll start in to race down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space, headed, I fear, toward a most useless place. THE WAITING PLACE....

...for people just waiting. Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a place to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go or a phone to ring, or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No or waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or a Better Break or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants or a wig with curls, or Another Chance. Everyone is just waiting.

The Waiting Place

Although a fictional place coined by the good doctor, I am convinced that "The Waiting Place" is all too real. Furthermore, I am certain that I've had my mail shipped there more than once. "The Waiting Place" is that season when nothing good seems to happen. Metaphors for this time in one's life are "bogged up to your earns in a quagmire", "a hamster running relentlessly on its wheel", "swimming against the current", and "spitting into the wind", just to name a few. No wonder Dr. Suess called it "the most useless place."

Although it has many distinctive characteristics, one unique thing that I want to point out about "The Waiting Place" is that it is populated with people who have no idea how they've gotten there. Not only are people in "The Waiting Place" mystified by their newest zip code, they're also ticked off about it! Personally, I feel that these people are justified in their chagrin. Being sentenced without proper cause to “The Waiting Place” just isn’t fair! Trust me, I’ve talked to lots of people on park benches in “The Waiting Place”, and the only sin that they’ve committed was to actually have enough ambition to have a dream and pursue it. Then, along the way to dreamland, “The Waiting Place” just popped up out of nowhere and sucked them into its vortex.

It's as if the lady that cranks out orders on GPS devices decided to play a dirty trick on millions of people and guide them to the last destination on earth at which they would ever want to arrive. What else could possible explain the mystery of "One day I enter 'Dreams Realized' as the desired destination on my GPS For Life only to end up in 'The Waiting Place' the next day"?

Dreams are great aren't they? It's quite scintillating to think about how it's going to feel once we are actually living the dream. I love the way dreams are packaged as well. They are wrapped perfectly in a total lack of awareness and distorted reality. For example, the distance from where we stand to the land of realized dreams has never seemed to be more than a block or two of well-groomed sidewalk. As Dr. Suess said "You have brains in your head and feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose." It's no small wonder that we take our "quick brains" and agile feet" and steer ourselves the dream place.

It's only a matter of time, however, until we tear away the package of naiveté from the dream and that two block stroll down Broadway Avenue becomes a seemingly endless walk-a-bout through a swampy labyrinth of uncertainty. At some point during this mysterious and perilous stroll, it's inevitable; we will come upon "The Waiting Place." Although an occasional stint there is unavoidable, I don't believe that it’s in anyone’s destiny to become the lifelong mayor of Waitingplaceville. The purpose of this article is to bring you encouragement should you find yourself in the land of the lurch and the home of the cave by debunking a few "Waiting Place" myths.

Myth #1: God Is Not With Me in the Waiting Place

There is a popular belief out there that suggests that "The Waiting Place" is a vacuum, void of God. This belief is spawned from the relentless inability to get a break already! Don't look for a job promotion, windfall inheritance, lucky bounce, or good news from the doctor in “The Waiting Place.” When all of this nothing is happening, some allow "The Waiting Place" to use their reasoning skills against them.

Such people deduce that: Since nothing positive is happening, then God "has left the building" along with Elvis. It's very important to go Nancy Reagan on this perfectly sensible idea, however, and "Just Say No" to it. Trust me on this one, God absolutely is with us in "The Waiting Place". To mistrust His loyalty simply because our mental, spiritual, and physical bank accounts are way overdrawn, does not sit well with Him and could possibly lead to a longer “Waiting Place” sentence.

If we will, instead, stubbornly insist that God's presence remains prevalent and His love for us is as ardent as ever in "The Waiting Place", our faith will be rewarded by His divine provision. This provision of which I speak is His way of letting us know that He's still within earshot. To illustrate this point, I've got another freaky story for you this week. Ok, gather ‘round kids for another installment of Spiritually Spooky Stories with Pastor M.

Spiritually Spooky Storytime
A couple of winters ago in Chicago, my lovely bride Sarah was driving down Hwy 64, hit some black ice, spun out of control and promptly totaled her beautiful royal blue ‘98 Escort. Did I mention that the car was paid for? Did I also mention that I am very thankful that she wasn't injured? The problem was that it was going to take $2,500, which coincidentally we did not have, to get her into a top of the line ‘96 Toyota Camry. (Actually, the gold “C” was missing on the trunk display so it was an “Amry”.)

A day or so after we decided to buy this replacement car, a gentlemen approached me at our midweek church service and handed me an envelope with a card in it and said, "About a month ago I felt I needed to give you this, and tonight I decided to go ahead and do it." I took the enveloped, thanked him, and went on about my business of having some fun worshipping God during service. On the way home, I opened the card and a check fell out. The amount written on the check was, you guessed it, the nice tidy sum of $2,500! Story time with Pastor M. never disappoints does it?

I've got to be honest with you, during this time in mine and Sarah's life not a whole lot was going well. In fact, on so many fronts, never before had so many things gone badly. Yet, in the midst of the confusion and chaos, God was right beside us. Not only did God show us he was there in this particular instance, but He continued to prove to be loyal to His two scared little children over and over again during this period of uncertainty in our lives. The moral of the story is that God is absolutely with you in “The Waiting Place.”

God Bless,

Jathan Maricelli

Website Update

2008-09-16T21:38:00.005-05:00

You may have noticed the new layout of the blog. We are working on designing the website, and are trying to streamline the design between the website and the blog. Eventually, we hope to get the blog embedded into the website so you can view it from there. However, none of us are quite that tech savvy yet. We are learning as we go!

Anyways, you can check out the updates to the site so far at LifePointRuston.com

God bless!

Sarah Maricelli

Heritage Day Service

2008-09-10T10:13:00.019-05:00

As promised in the last blog, this past Sunday we held a special Heritage Day worship service at LifePoint Church. Sunday, Sept. 7th was Grandparent's Day and the purpose of the service was to honor our grandparents and the heritage that they have provided us. God's blessings was upon the service and it made for a very special day. There was lot's of energy in the building and a total of 60 people were in attendance! Enjoy the pictures and the video.

God Bless,

Jathan Maricelli

Saturday, we were able to get into the Civic Center to set up and rehearse.

These were our handy-dandy gift bags for our guests.

Then, Sunday at about 9:30, people began to show up....

At 10:00 a.m., Rene Reynolds kicked the service off by leading us in prayer and a scripture reading.

After the service, we ate and visited a bit. Thanks to Landry's for doing a fine job catering this event for us.

Thanks to all of you at LifePoint Church that worked so hard to make this worship service possible. And thanks to all of our guests that visited to honor your family heritage.

For a visual story of the families that are LifePoint Church, check out this video that we showed during the service. Thanks to my wife, Sarah, for putting this video together.

Packing Out My Living Room

2008-09-05T14:13:00.005-05:00

This Sunday, September 7th, is National Grandparent’s Day. At LifePoint Church, we will be celebrating this special day by holding a Heritage Day worship service at 10:00 a.m. at the Ruston Civic Center. During the service, there will be a slide show that gives a visual history of our families and a special sermon that implores us to leave a godly heritage for future generations. At the conclusion of the service, of course, we will all share a fine meal. This is going to be a big family event, and excitement is very high!

Speaking of excitement, the past two worship services at LifePoint have been extremely impacting! In both services the Spirit of God could be felt very strongly throughout. In such an environment, many lives were ministered to in a special way. To make the week even more special, my sister Chrysta, her husband Daniel, and their two boys Jude and Jayden were visiting from Mandeville, Louisiana. Chrysta led worship for both services and did an outstanding job. On Wednesday, Daniel was able to lend LifePoint his vocal gifts as well. There were 38 people in attendance both on Sunday and Wednesday! Below are a few pictures from the services.

God Bless,

Jathan Maricelli
This is what 38 people worshipping in my living room looks like

This is my sister, Chrysta, leading worship.

A view from the "platform".
Jayden and Owen
Our children's ministry in action. They probably should have just tried their hand at painting our table.

Jude and Jeremiah

During Wednesday night's service we actually got to hear a keyboard! Thanks Chrysta.

A Student Service, Visit From My Parents, and LifePoint Services

2008-08-24T21:43:00.013-05:00

Sunday Worship Service
Yesterday we had a great worship service in which the presence of God was prevalent. At LifePoint Church we are enjoying the wild ride of starting a new church. I thank God continually for the great group of people that he is putting together to accomplish His will in Ruston. We've had a lot going on the past two weeks, so here are a few pictures to explain.

We'll give you cookies if you come to our church!

Visiting before church

Chris Frick did a great job leading worship.

Jeremy Goss trying his hand at percussion....no pun intended. Jeremy did a great job, by the way.

Jeremy sported a great summer suit on Sunday!

Can you tell they're hanging on the every word I'm saying?

Altar service.

Al and Hazel have joined us for the past few services.

Ashlynn sported a brand new dress on Sunday!

Brandon sported a great suit of his own!

Sarah and Stephanie.

Rene and Greg

Student Worship Service
This past Friday night, I was invited to speak at a student service at The Pentecostals of Lee Road in Covington, LA. This church is pastored by my father and is also the church where Sarah and I grew up. Although it was tons of fun to go back home and see everyone, the greatest part of the visit was the service. There were close to 300 teens in attendance that were amped up about being in church on a Friday night! The worship was fantastic and altar service was even better. By the time all was said and done, 7 teenagers received the baptism of the Holy Spirit for the first time, and one of the them was baptized in Jesus name.

A young man named Caleb being baptized by Marty Bonvillain after receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit.

After church, singing "Happy Birthday" to Pastor Donavon Hill.

Giving the "Life-Point" point sign to the camera with Donavon.

Sermonizing at the student service.

This is five of the seven teens that had just spoken with other tongues for the first time.

My dad exhorting the crowd to worship.

Singing "God of this City"

Visit From My Parents
The Wednesday before last, my sweet mother made the drive from Covington, LA to spend a few days coaching the LifePoint team. During the day we had lots of nuts and bolts style discussion. For our midweek service, she was our guest speaker. A great time was had by all. Wednesday night's service was extra special because, during the altar service, for the first time at LifePoint Church, someone was filled with the baptism of the Holy Spirit! Congratulations Shannon! Here are a few pictures from the week.

Alan Robertson (background) had a knockout of a debut on the congas!

My mom, Donna Maricelli, speaking on Wednesday night. Look at that huge bible! Also, notice that it matches her shoes.
She talks with her hands a lot.

My dad, Rick Maricelli, is just noticing that mom's bible matches her shoes.

This is Brandon and Jessica Turner. We would like to welcome them to the LifePoint team.

Tea is mom's performance enhancing supplement.

Nuts and bolts discussion.

Worship time!

God Bless,

Jathan Maricelli

Fun Day on Sunday Event

2008-08-11T11:42:00.006-05:00

Yesterday, we at LifePoint Church had our first monthly preview service and it was a blast! The purpose of the service was to give the community a taste of what to expect of LifePoint's children's ministry in the future. A huge "thank you" is in order for all of you that came and visited our service as well as to the LifePoint family for all of their hard work in pulling off this event. Enjoy the pictures everyone and feel free to join us for our next preview service on Sept., 7th which will celebrate family heritage on Grandparent's Day.

God Bless,

Jathan Maricelli

LifePoint Believes In Fellowship

2008-07-29T12:20:00.014-05:00

LifePoint Values:
Prayer that connects us with God
Bible Truths as the guide for life
Fellowship that connects us as a family

The following paragraph is the voice over from the 1956 trailer of The Lone Ranger.

The Lonely Ranger
(The Lone Ranger theme,“El Cine del Oeste”, playing in the background)

The west, in the lusty days when the surge of civilization pushed onward to broader horizons and a mighty breed of man followed a new light from the wilderness. But close on the pioneer trail came the renegade hoards, land sharks, highwaymen, cattle thieves terrorizing settler and tribesman alike. Until one man rose to challenge their lawlessness, his face masked, his true identity unknown. Accompanied always by a faithful Indian companion he thundered across the frontier, appearing out of nowhere to strike down injustice, his sign, a silver bullet, his name, “The Lone Ranger.”

The Lone Ranger concept that says, we don’t need any help when facing adversity and can overcome whatever comes our way solo. This concept makes for great 1950’s entertainment, but is actually a much flawed philosophy for life. Life can, at times, fling so many dodge-balls at our head that eventually one is going to catch us right in the kisser. To quote a famous bumper sticker, “Stuff Happens.” Divorce happens, loss of loved ones happens, financial peril happens, four dollar gasoline happens, health problems happens. Life happens. When life happens on this scale, the Lone Ranger becomes nothing more than a lame poser in a weird outfit.

This adversity of which I speak happens to everyone, but not everyone handles it the same. It, to some, is their undoing. Trying times has driven more than its fair share to alcoholism, prescription drug addiction, or an extramarital affair. At the same time, others handle trials and tribulation with grace, soldier on, and become better human beings because of it. Usually, the variable that decides which statistic will be is whether or not they handle the circumstance alone or rely on the strength of others. People that have a support system usually come out on top.
We can go all the way back to the story of creation for evidence that humans were not designed to bear the weight of life alone.

The Creation Story On Fellowship
The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.(Genesis 2:20)

So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. (Genesis 2:21)

The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. (Genesis 2:22)

Sure, Adam needed God, but God was of the opinion that he also needed Eve. You and I are much the same way. First and foremost we need God, but we also need one another. As Eve was the earthly help mate for Adam, I believe the church functions in much the same way for us. With that in mind, we at LifePoint Church desire to be a group of people that bear one another’s burdens.

Jathan Seeing Things
Don’t stop reading, God showed me a vision about 10 years ago that sums up the spirit of this article. While I was praying during an altar service at a student camp, suddenly I got a very clear picture in my mind of a huge caravan of people on foot. Judging by their generally haggard appearance, these people had been on a journey for quite some time. The unique thing about the situation is that some of the people were on stretchers, in wheelchairs, bandaged up, and obviously not healthy enough to make the journey without assistance. The remainder of the group, the healthy people, were pushing the wheelchairs, carrying the stretchers, and putting an arm under the shoulders of the lame to help them walk. After a few moments of this scene, suddenly, Jesus descended from the heavens and sat down on a throne in front of the caravan. At the very moment that Jesus appeared the sick were instantly healed and the whole group ran to the throne and fell prostrate in worship. It was quite an emotionally moving scene and an experience that I'll never forget. You may think I’m weird, but in the words of Collin Raye “That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.”

The moral of the vision is that if we, as followers of Christ, are going to reach the glorious end of our journey, we will only do so with the help of others. If we live long enough, we will find ourselves on the stretcher. If we live even longer, we will look down to see our strengthened hands wrapped around the handles of the same stretcher, bearing the weight of someone else. God's purpose of that vision a decade ago was to give me a lasting metaphor for the spirit of fellowship that should be present among His followers, one that I believe was present in the early church.

The Early Church

“And they continued steadfastly in the apostle’s doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” (Acts 2:42)

At the signing of the Declaration of Independence Benjamin Franklin said, “We must all hang together or, assuredly we shall all hang separately.” The early church was a group of people that hung together. They ate together, they prayed together, and they bore one another’s burdens. When Peter was put into prison, they gathered together in one of their houses and prayed successfully for his deliverance. When a mob had plotted to murder Paul, they successfully countered with a plot to actually hide Paul in a basket and smuggle him out of town. They pooled their money and divvied it out to those who were in need. Present in the original church the DNA of the early church was a spirit of fellowship that connected them as a family.

Even though the times and our culture are much different than the book of Acts saints, the manner in which we relate to and rely on one another should not be. From its inception, inherent in the church was a spirit of fellowship that served as a beautiful and much needed support system for life. At LifePoint Church, it is our desire to follow suite and be a safe haven located right smack in the middle of a world that can sometimes be a house of horrors.

God Bless,

Jathan Maricelli
This was a week of coaching for LifePoint church. This is my mom "conferencing" into the meeting.
Paul Trentacoste speaking in our midweek service.
The gang back together again. Paul, Jathan, Sarah, and Maurisha
Sarah and the kids in our breakfast room
We had church in my house this Sunday! It rocked! The air conditioner worked and we didn't have to have church at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. The acoustics were also great which made worship really fun.

Maurisha acting like she's working during the coaching session

This was our conference room.

Paul coaching from the word.

Me and my easel pads How can you have a 5 hour coaching session withou snacks?

LifePoint Believes in Bible Truths

2008-07-21T14:38:00.006-05:00

LifePoint values….
Prayer that connects us with God.
Bible Truths as the guide for life.

I met a college student the other day at Starbuck’s and I asked him I if he went to church anywhere. His response was that he had an eclectic view of faith. As a result, he had a Bible, Koran, and a few other holy books on his bookshelf to help guide him through life. In other words “No, I don’t go to church.” We at LifePoint Church take a different stance than this young man as we believe that the Bible is the one and only guide for our lives.

Common Ground with LeBron James
Not too long ago, saw an interview with multi-billionaire Warren Buffet. During the interview, Mr. Buffet confirmed that multi-millionaire NBA superstar LeBron James had recently visited him. The purpose of the meeting was for James to receive counsel on how best to steward his millions. Kudos to LeBron James for taking his money seriously enough to get advice on how to not carelessly blow his fortune as so many high-paid athletes do. Furthermore, when seeking financial advice, who better to approach than Warren Buffet? Major props to “The King” are in order regarding this matter.

Glancing back through your life, think about how many times you have been in the same position as LeBron? Well, not in the same position as far as filthy rich and a having a 36 inch vertical. But in the same position in that you were faced with a matter of great importance that you didn’t have the expertise to deal with. Perhaps you were faced with a major career change, relational conflict with a co-worker, or crucial financial matter. Maybe your teenagers had been acting up and you didn’t know what to do about it, or you got invited by your friends to a party that you were not sure a person of Christian faith should associate themselves with. In other words, you faced an important decision that required an expert voice to enlighten you on the matter. We at LifePoint Church deem the Bible as our expert voice.

The Bible speaks on crucial subjects such as finances, sexuality, child-rearing, anger, grief, and hurt. Basically, there is nothing we will ever face in life that the Bible does not speak to in some form or fashion. I’ve seen it proven time and again that those who seek the counsel of the Bible are led down paths with scenery much more pleasant than those who do not. Often, however, the Bible is not actively sought out.

Everyone A Student
Just because we say we are Christians does not mean that we are entitled for the Bible to work in our lives without any effort on our part. Instead, we must seek out its truths by opening it up and reading it. Paul’s instruction to Timothy is true for every one of us when he said:

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)

Not only do we at LifePoint believe that the Bible is the inerrant word of God, we also believe we should read it. It is imperative that we search out its wisdom as individuals, much like the Bereans in Acts chapter 17.

Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. (Acts 17:10)
These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. (Acts 17:11)

Hopefully, each Sunday, I preach the Bible in such a way that is enlightening and helpful to our congregation. One must have more of a diet of the word of God than what the preacher delivers on Sunday, however. Christians seeking to have Bible truths guide their lives must not only hear someone else expound upon it, but also mine its treasures themselves. Enjoy the pics.

God Bless,

Jathan Maricelli

The pictures this week are from our fish fry on Satuday and our Sunday Worship Service.

Olen and Ashlyn

Olen receiving words of wisdom from Rene. Is he buying what she's sellin'?

John and Greg frying while Buddy, Terry, Megan, and Hunter lend moral support.

Jathan, Chris, and Jeremy re-enacting last weeks "broken string" debacle. This must have been a prophetic picture since I broke another string on Sunday!

Worship Service

Alex and Brook trying their hand as sidewalk artists.

Olen of Pea Ridge...Defender of the Crib

"Downtown" Greg Brown. The hardest working firsh fryer in Lincoln Parish.

Dining in the dining room.

Dining in the living room.

LifePoint Believes in Prayer

2008-07-15T11:01:00.017-05:00

In the last article, I covered our mission statement at LifePoint church. Over the next few articles I’m going to expound upon our core values. This week, I will talk about Prayer.

LifePoint Church values....Prayer that puts us in touch with God.

Personal Prayer
Matthew 6:5-8 "And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. (Matthew 6:5)

But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. (Matthew 6:6)

And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. (Matthew 6:7)
"Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. (Matthew 6:8)

Ceremonial vs. Connective Prayer
A few days ago I was at an event where a politician “prayed.” This particular prayer consisted of him reading a prayer from a piece of paper and ending with Amen. Because the prayer was so scripted, it did not evoke passion in the guy praying or in those of us hearing. We’ve all heard these types of prayers at various and sundry ceremonies such as graduations, banquets, and even sometimes church services. Every time we do hear them they are always, well, ceremonious. I don’t tell this story to rip this politician nor those who read prayers from Teleprompters and lined paper. But I do tell this story to illustrate that not all prayer is of the kind that puts us in touch with God.

When talking about spirituality, as I did regarding our mission statement, let me say that there is no spirituality without the human spirit engaging an outside spirit. Native Americans talk about the “Great Spirit” and do dances around fires in costumes in order to get their spirit in touch with this “Great Spirit.” Muslims pray in order to get in touch with “Allah”. Don’t forget psychics and people who gather around Ouija Boards late at night in candlelit rooms after drinking too much spiked apple juice. At the expense of freaking people out, let me say that there are spirits out there with which one can get in touch. I will also say that, as a follower of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit is the only spirit that we should seek to be connected with. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” I believe that to be true. In order to be connected to the spirit of God, we must do so through prayer.

Having been raised in Christianity, one thing that I find amazing is the number of Christians who do not actually seek to engage the spirit of Jesus Christ on the level of which I am speaking. Once again, if we are to “follow” Christ, we have to do so through prayer. To back this claim I would like to juxtapose this concept with the experience of Jesus’ followers during his earthly tour.

Following Jesus Through Prayer was a bit easier for the original twelve apostles. They could see Jesus’ physical being and simply fall-in and walk behind Him all day. These guys would listen to Him teach and watch Him interact with people. How freaked out were they the first time He cast demons out of a person? What a story to tell their grandkids, eye witnessing Lazarus literally walk out a tomb with his spiffy grave-duds still on! Although it took courage, it didn’t take much of an imagination to “follow Jesus” back in the day. When Jesus’ physical form lifted off of the Mt. Olivet International launching pad and disappeared into the heavens, however, the stakes were raised considerably.

Jesus' followers were now faced with the prospect of “following Him” without being able to physically see, hear, or touch Him. From that day on, prayer became a necessary virtue for those wishing to follow Christ. Jesus’ prophetic utterance “God is Spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth” became very real to the disciples. In 2008, you and I find ourselves in the same sandals as this post-ascension crowd. If we are to follow and henceforth have a relationship with Jesus Christ, it will transpire only through the kind of prayer that, at some point and on some level connects us with His spirit.

“Mob” Prayer
Not only do we at LifePoint feel that it is important for us to pray as individuals, but we also feel very strongly about those times whenever we gather as a group and rally around one another in a corporate prayer setting. The story of Peter’s imprisonment in Acts chapter 12 provides us a great example. In this story, Peter was arrested by Herod, hurled into prison, and guarded very closely. The church, upon hearing this, responded by gathering a big group of people at one of the believer’s houses with the purpose of “praying” Peter out of prison.

Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. (Acts 12:5)
So, when he had considered this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying. (Acts 12:12)

That’s right, they got together in someone’s house and talked into the air to someone they couldn’t see while believing that this invisible spirit would not only hear them, but would also prevent Peter’s proverbial neck from being stretched. The story ends happily with God sending an angel to free Peter from prison. He lived to preach another day because of “mob praying.”

LifePoint Strategy
As we effort to build a new church in Ruston, we are faced with many obstacles. The prince of darkness of this city does not want a new faith community in Ruston; our vision cost more money than we currently have; sin does not want let go of the people that we are trying to reach. At the end of the day, we at LifePoint Church, as did the believers in Acts chapter 12 know that we do not have the political, intellectual, financial, or physical prowess to change these adverse situations. We are persuaded, however, that the same God that delivered Peter from prison in Acts chapter 12 still has His ear attuned to those gather together and ask for His intervention.

As we work toward the launching of a new church over the next year, there will be many holes in our strategy that we will survive. Should we err in that we become “prayer wimps,” however, it will be our undoing.

Enjoy the pics.

God Bless,

Jathan Maricelli

Trust me, this was a deep, deep, sermon.

"Beautiful One" was groovin'.

"Days of Elijah" was somethin' special.

I'm really feeling it at this point!....until....

My "D" string broke right in the middle of "Your Name!" Notice me trying to get the string off of my guitar so we can possibly start singing again. Also notice, Chris Frick trying to figure out how in the world he's supposed to be leading the congregation in prayer while competing with the Maricelli circus. You should consider visiting our service one day so as to not miss out on special moments like this. What a funny pic!

Sarah, Jeremiah, Mackenzie, and Ashlyn.

Serenity arrived in time to get in on the goldfish.

Owen is just a rockstar.

Proof that we have a semblance of a plan.

LifePoint Church Mission Statement

2008-07-05T17:34:00.017-05:00

Ashlyn Frick getting ready to "get busy" on some hot dogs!

Chris and Owen Frick....grinnin'.

Sunday Worship at LifePoint

Lunch at our house after Sunday Worship

In this article I’m going to do my best to tell you what our mission statement at LifePoint is all about. Here goes.

LifePoint Mission: To meet the spiritual needs of our generation by telling and living the story of Jesus Christ.

Is it just me or are Americans these days tons more open to spirituality while being more closed to religion for the sake of ritualism and culture preservation? I think so. Perhaps this sea change is because high profile, opportunistic people the likes of Tom Cruise and Madonna champion their respective faiths of Scientology and Kabbalah in a very public way. Deepak Chopra in the meantime is selling books like crazy while constantly yakking at millions of viewers from the set of Oprah. There's more. Would you believe that spirituality has also crept into the business world? Scandalous I say! I was reading a book the other day on networking called "Never Eat Alone" by a really successful entrepreneur named KeithFerazzi. Keith said that while considering a career change he actually took a Vipassana meditation retreat where he sat for ten hours each day for ten days straight-in silence! (I know you can think of 10 people right now that you would love to sign up for one of those.)

We at LifePoint Church believe that the world today does have a desire to get in touch with the part of their being that is spiritual. It seems to me that more and more people buy into the idea that when one is spiritually fulfilled, everything else follows suit. Many in this generation realize that money, power, fame, success, etc., are overrated. People want to be happy and they want their families to jive. They want spiritual fulfillment.

Although we at LifePoint have respect for other faith groups, we also believe that faith in Jesus Christ and obedience to His plan to redeem the sins of mankind is the only way to truly fill the spiritual dearth in the human soul. I will say that we do not believe that "institutionalized Christianity" is the answer. Many times, this type of Christianity is clothed in self-righteousness, non-spiritual traditions, and, quite honestly, a bit of hate. When the true spirit of Christ’s message does manage to wrangle itself free from human motives, however, it really, really works.

Our passion at LifePoint Church is to burn off any dross that the business of Christianity has attached to the story of Jesus over the last couple of millennia and tell it like it was. We want to tell Ruston that Jesus was firm in His message and convictions regarding sinful humanity. Yet, His compassion for all of us was unrivaled. He unselfishly submitted Himself to torture, public shame, and Roman-style execution in order to provide mankind with the opportunity to be free of our spiritual ailments. Now, because of His aforementioned sacrifice, when we have faith in him and follow His plan, our addictions, anger, depression, worry, and whatever else may plague our minds and bodies gets kicked to the curb. There are people in Ruston who wish to hear this story; we wish to tell it to them.

In our nation, sadly, many people have developed a cynical stance toward Christianity and immediately throw up walls before we get three sentences into promoting Jesus to them. I think there are two major reasons for this unfortunate occurrence. First of all, our society has witnessed numerous, juicy, scandals among Christian ministers. Secondly, and probably the more damaging of the two, is that our society comes in contact with people every day that, while claiming to be followers of Jesus Christ, put forth attitudes of self-righteousness, traditionalism, and spiritual apathy. When these vibes are projected in the name of Christianity it has a repelling effect on all who feel them.

LifePoint Church, although we will never be perfect in word and deed, feels that Jesus has placed a responsibility on us not only to tell His story, but live it out publicly as well. Before we are broadcasters of Christ, we want to be followers of Christ. Before we open our mouths in utterance of such topics as Salvation, Christ’s' Second Advent, and the New Birth, we desire to communicate feelings of spiritual passion, compassion, and love to our society. After all, Jesus did say: By this will all know that you are My disciples, if you have love one for another (John 13:35).

It is our prayer that God gives us the grace to live out Jesus' teachings in such a way that we are attractive to our friends and neighbors. As we follow Him, we will look for every opportunity to tell His story and its implications on life in 21st century. Then, just maybe, someone's odyssey will end happily as they find the spiritual birth that we were blessed to, not all that long ago.

Street Musican Debut

2008-06-28T20:30:00.010-05:00

While playing my guitar in my office this morning a thought occurred to me. "Go to the Peach Festival and play on the street." I did and had a blast! I sweated, Jesus was bragged about, and I met some really nice people who liked music just as much as me. Take a look.

Jathan and Ashlyn Frick singing "Holy Is the Lord".

Jathan and Ashlyn, Chris, Owen, and Janice Frick.

Alanna and Ashley from Cook Baptist Church helped me sing "Days of Elijah".

Annabelle and another talented young lady whose name I can't remember danced while I played "I Know Who I Am". (If someone that knows her name reads the blog, post a comment with her name so I can edit it in.) By the way, they had really loud taps on their shoes, so they were actually "clogging".

Leah danced in her pretty little skirt to "Beautiful One".

Thanks to everyone in Ruston who walked by the corner of Mississippi and Trenton and had a listen. Thanks to those who sang and danced. Thanks to those of you that tipped. Thanks to the guy that gave me $40 and said "Made To Worship" really touched him. Thanks to the folks who offered me part of their "Bloomin' Onion." Thanks to those who smiled. Thanks to the two ladies who doubled back and gave me a 5 dollar bill because you "Just couldn't pass that man praising God without giving him something." In case you're wondering, I was paid $101.79 to enjoy myself thoroughly.

God Bless,

Jathan Maricelli

Busy Week

2008-06-28T12:25:00.006-05:00

On Friday Pam, Sarah, and I volunteered at the Ruston Peach Festival. We sold t-shirts and food coupons, ate some really good ice cream, and listened to the Buddy Tezia band cover some classics.

The T-Shirt booth.
Pam and Jathan partaking of some very special Peach ice cream.
Jathan, Shannon, and Sarah in front of the biggest fountain in Ruston.

Here are a few pics from this past Thursday night's church service. We began what will be several weeks of teaching and discussion focused on how we will reach out to the city of Ruston. During this session we talked specifically about Ruston's geographic dynamics, demographics, people groups, and cultural issues.

Trying to think of something really profound to say.

Stephanie, who was really paying attention, and some of the other folks.
You can't have a discussion without easel pads.

Terry Bradshaw, Truck Drivers, and Peach Orchards

2008-06-25T14:10:00.013-05:00

It's really swell to be a new resident of the swingin' college town of Ruston, LA. What's even sweller is to be a new pastor in said town. Sarah (lovelywife) and I spent the last two-and-a-half years in Chicagoland. What a blast that was! I worked in the public school system, Sarah earned her graphic design degree from the IL Institute of Art(great great school), we ministered on a volunteer basis at Bartlett UPC (Pastors Jack Yonts and Bob Boettcher), all while juggling bowling pins and riding unicycles.

God helped us reach some souls, meet lots of great new MIDWESTERN friends (with funny accents : ), learn a lot about what it means to really trust God, and truly appreciate the value of a cup of English tea and homeade Italian espresso. As dynamic of a city as Chicago is, as much as we love Rachel, Vito, Ben, Gigi, Lulu, and Isaac LoCascio and the Italian Beef sandwiches at Portillo's, the call God for us to pastor a wonderful church in Ruston has us stoked about leaving that adventure for this.

We've been here less than two weeks and can't wait to see what God is going to do in a city known for Terry Bradshaw, Karl Malone, a billionaire truck driver, and really tasty peaches. We currently hold services at 1000 Saratogo Street on Sundays and Thursdays at 3pm and 6:30 pm respectively. Last night we gathered for prayer in our home and it felt really good. It felt like God is with us. And wherever God is with us is a "peachy" place to be.

God Bless,
Jathan Maricelli