God has begun a good work in the people of Community EFC and He will continue this work until it is finished. The next chapter will be written by God. Community EFC is God’s and He will do with her as He pleases. He will guide and direct her down the paths that will bring Him glory and expand His kingdom. I hope that brings a smile to your face.

It brings a smile to my face to know that God has a new chapter for Community EFC. That new chapter will be filled with many new ministry opportunities and many spiritual growth moments. Seize the opportunities. Make the most of the days.

As I bring a close to my “Pastorktd” blog let me challenge you to:

-Complain less and pray more
-Gossip less and encourage more
-Frown less and smile more
-Judge less and extend grace more
-Love more

Find the positive in the negative.

Speak the truth – seasoned with love that it may strengthen those who listen.

Enjoy life – worship freely.

Spend your time on what matters most: God, family, friends and enemies

I love you all deeply and I will miss our weekly meetings. I will miss your comments. I will miss you!!!!

I will think of you often and I will pray for you when I think of you.

May God continue in you what He began and may you enjoy the journey He has laid out for you. Be soft clay in the Potter’s hands. May God bless you and hold you fast.

Your friend, your Pastor, your teacher, your counselor, your push when you needed one and your shoulder when you needed one.

A fellow follower of Jesus saved by grace, who gave you my all,

Pastor Kevin Dixon (Adios)

When we bought the building on the corner of Franklin and 45th Streets we realized that the school across the street gave us an unparalleled opportunity to touch the lives of children and their families. We initiated a relationship with the school by offering to partner with them in a tutoring effort. We started a tutoring program in our building with 20 children who needed help with reading and math. What a great ministry it turned out to be! This opened doors for an ongoing, working rapport with the school that continues to this day.

Hurricane Katrina relief gave us a glimpse of what a church could do given the opportunity to serve a community in need. We sent countless missions trips down to Louisiana to help clean up and share the Gospel with the people devastated by the hurricane. This lit a fire in Jane who proves that enthusiasm is contagious. She, along with a few others inspired by helping others devastated by a hurricane, brought the simple truth to life “showing people Jesus by helping them in their time of need”. PWAP, “Partnering with a Purpose was born”. We have helped countless people in our community with construction jobs, plumbing jobs, yard work and by just being what they need all because we love Jesus and want others to know they are loved as well. In June there is a team heading to Alabama to help in the wake of the tornadoes. The ministry goes on!

Our partnerships have moved in new directions. We have partnered with the Salvation Army to help with their summer enrichment camp. What a great opportunity to share the gospel with about 80 kids. We also partnered with them to do an after school program. We have partnered with two local churches, Community Alliance and Living Water, in efforts to reach out to the community. This year we will be joining together with Community Alliance for VBS. We also continue to be a place where the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts meet.

Our biggest collaborative effort has been with the Eastern District of the Free Church Hispanic Mission to plant a bilingual church. We have joined the effort of reaching into a largely unreached group in Harrisburg. What an amazing privilege it is to be used by God in ways that stretch us and reach out with the Gospel.

Community EFC has a culture of trying new things, willing to take risks and learning from our successes and mistakes. May you continue with the adventures that God has placed in front of you. May you embrace the challenges and continue to love people with the love of Jesus. Thank you for letting me be a part of the adventure over the last 12 years.

In our first 4 years we were a mobile church. We bought an old U-haul truck and used it as our warehouse and our transportation. Later we bought a trailer when our old truck wouldn’t pass inspection. We set up and took down our Sunday morning worship center for 4 years. Those were great times! We grew in our relationships and we grew in our faith. It wasn’t ideal but it was effective.

We had some false starts in our first years. We wanted to reach into the city so we jumped on an idea (ICON). We brought in a full time director for one year and he moved into downtown Harrisburg and started building relationships in the Boys and Girls Club. It was a great idea and lives were touched; it just didn’t take off. We learned some valuable lessons. We needed more defined goals and objectives and when we joined a partnership we needed some deeper relationships and some common objectives.

In 2004 we bought a building. I was somewhat puzzled by the location of the building but it was an amazing work of God that made the decision of buying the Franklin Street building very, very clear and it was obvious that God wanted us in Lawnton. We (the church leaders) thought we would be in the Colonial Park area. In hindsight we can see God’s providence. He put us in a perfect place to reach into the City. We have spent the last 7 years building a ministry to the community in which God placed us. We reached out to the school across the street by tutoring and working on the building and helping the teachers. We reached out to the neighbors around the building with PWAP and VBS. We continue to try to be the best neighbors we can be so we can share Jesus with all who come in contact with us.

I want to express my sincere thank you to the Community EFC church family. During our first years together you were very patient and gracious toward me as I learned the art of preaching and leading. God sent so many of you to help along the way through encouragement and wise counsel. I have grown in my faith and God has used me in the lives of others. I pray that God will give you all exactly what you need to carry on in your own personal journey with Him and that you will carry on together the good work that was started in 1999.

Ever find yourself saying, “I wish life would slow down” or “this is too much change all at once”? Change is ever present. Change is necessary for us to grow in this life. Can there ever be “too much change”? Too much is in the eye of the beholder just as too little is in the eye of the beholder. Which is more troubling: too little change or too much? Too little change leaves us bored and stagnant. So where does too much change put us?

Too much change puts in a place to have to respond. Too much change gives us a moment of clarity. What am I going to do with this? Am I going to complain? Am I going to give the change back? Am I even aware of the change going on around me? Too much change puts us squarely in the place of faith stretching.

I believe change needs to reach the point of too much for us to cry out to Jesus for help. Too much change pushes us beyond the status quo and forces us to reach out for help. The constant flow of change forces us to face the reality of this life. Personal control of life’s circumstances is an illusion. We react much more than we control. When we reach that point of surrender to the control of God we can then rest in Him in the midst of “too much change”.

There are teachable moments in the midst of change. New job? New school? New home? New city? New Facebook status? New problems at work? New boss? New dog? New gas prices? New food prices?

New! Different! Change! In the midst of all the change there is but one constant – Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.

In a sea of “too much change” we have placed our faith in the immovable faith object: The King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and He invites us to “Cast all our cares on Him for He cares for us.”

And He invites us to rest in Him. It is where the weary find peace.

Too much change? Cling to the One who never changes!

My “big change” moment happened in the summer of 1982. I received a message that my older brother had fallen off a ladder and they were taking him to the hospital. I was 19 years old and he was 21. My first thought was that he had broken a leg. When I arrived on the scene they were giving him CPR. He had fallen on his head from about 30 feet in the air onto a paved parking lot. He died 3 days later after several surgeries – “Huge Change”. Mortality was staring me in the face. If my brother could die at 21 then anyone could die; I could die any time. Life is short and there are no guarantees. Tomorrow does not always come.

‘Little change” is palatable; “big change” is a shock to the system. How we handle little change is often a precursor to how we will handle the big ones. It took me a few months to digest my brother’s death. I must admit I still miss him sometimes. I would have loved for him to have known my children. I would have loved for him to see how I turned out. He invested so much in me in such a little time. I am a different man because of him and because of his death and I am looking forward to our reunion in heaven some day.

After the shock wore off and I got my head on straight, my big lesson was “make every day count for eternity”. Invest in the people around you. ‘Love one another’ took on a whole new meaning for me.

The really big stuff in this life has more to do with eternal substance than it does with temporary things. People will be around forever, either with the Lord or not, so people became the big thing for me after losing someone so close to me.

How are you doing when the “big changes” crash into your life? I believe without a shadow of a doubt that the big changes reveal our faith and little changes make our faith. Each little drip of water that God directs into our lives is designed to shape us and mold us by deepening our faith and to prepare us for the “big changes” that alter our life. When the big things come how we respond is a reflection of the depth of our faith.

Embrace the “little changes” for they are preparing us for the “big changes”.

Philippians 1:6 says, “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

The principle is full of great truth. A little change at a time can accomplish great goals. Saving a little change does not have as great an impact on a person’s finances. Saving a little change doesn’t hurt as badly. Saving over time requires patience. Saving change is like the constant drip of water on a rock. It may take a while but the water will drill through the rock.

Thus, we have the principle of life change. We don’t just wake up one day, look in the mirror and say, “I am old today!” While I was sleeping last night my hair turned gray, my skin got more wrinkled, my muscles got smaller, hair started growing out of my ears and I started complaining about every part of my body hurting. All these things happen a little at a time; I get old one day at a time. I change one day at a time.

So the principle of change is a principle rooted in time. Quick changes are often not very lasting. They are impulsive and often times not well thought through. We decide to change our dentist because he tells us we have a cavity and we need a filling. We don’t like what the dentist is telling us so we fire him and get a new one. Change! Impulsive and not wise.

Change, especially change that you want to last, needs to be more thought through and contemplative. We need to think through the consequences and count the cost. Are we willing to pay the price in time, money and relationships? Is the change necessary? Is it better than the status quo?

So, when is change necessary? How do we know when God wants us to do something different? I believe He shows us over time. If He showed us everything at once that we needed to change about ourselves we would be overwhelmed and unable to fathom the depth of our issues. So He shows us a little at a time. He shows us habitual sins, behaviors and attitudes that we need to change. He shows us ministry gifts we need to develop. He places people in our lives to stretch us and challenge our thinking. He changes our life circumstances so we can learn to depend on Him and trust Him.

The beauty of God working on and in our lives is that He will never give us more than we can handle, with His help of course. So, a “little change” at a time. Just as water dripping on a rock slowly changes the rock, so too, God slowly working on our hearts over time, changes us.

My children have grown up and they are now 18 and 21 years old. I have lost my hair and I have matured in my thinking and my ministry. I have grown deeper in love with my wife. I have watched friends come and go from the fellowship. I have performed countless weddings, baby dedications, funerals and baptisms. I am a different man.

Change is physically inevitable but spiritual maturity requires effort to acquire. I wish some change was not inevitable like grey hair and wrinkles, but I know that some change is necessary such as attitude adjustments, spiritual disciplines and exercising faith. Life transformation is the change we should long for – conforming to the likeness of Jesus Christ.

Community EFC has gone through amazing changes as we have tried to carry out the mission of making disciples and reaching out to the world around us with the gospel. We have taught and learned, we have related and loved, we have worshipped and prayed, we have grown and we have made mistakes. Change is inevitable as we encounter God with an open heart and a willingness to surrender our all to Him.

As we face the future more change is coming. Change is necessary. If we really want to be serious about our faith we will be in a constant state of change.
We will learn new things -Change!
We will try new things – Change!
We will meet new people – Change!
People will move away – Change!
We will apply truth to the way we live – Change!
Change is evidence of the work of God in our life.

Community will continue to change as we reach out to the neighborhood and the City. As we release our previous ideas of what church is God will fill the previous with something new. I was talking with a long time member of Community and they said the new bilingual service is like a breath of fresh air. Something new. Change! Another long time member said the new bilingual ministry is enough to stretch him in his faith. He added, “We all need our faith stretched”. Change does that!

God is working in our midst and transforming His church (Community EFC) into exactly what He wants us to be. That is great news! He is always working on us so we will grow up in our faith.
Remember this truth:
“No Growth without Change”
“No Change without Loss”
“No Loss without Pain”

For every change we go through we lose the old and gain something new! When God is involved in the change, even though it can be painful, it is always good.

I love a good challenge so rappelling was right up my alley. There is nothing like a good adrenaline rush. Riding motorcycles, water skiing, snowmobiling, riding roller coasters, planting churches, rappelling off cliffs are all just another adventure. Then it was my turn to back off the cliff. Don’t look down, trust the rope, lean back, let the rope hold you; come on, Kevin, TRUST THE ROPE! My legs were shaking and my heart was pounding and I stepped over the edge. Hanging off the side of a cliff, I changed. I grasped faith in a new way.

Change is an ongoing, inevitable, uninvited guest that pushes its way into our lives to help us deepen our faith. The rope that is tied around you in life is your security in the midst of change. I have learned that really there is only one rope worth being connected to – Jesus. He is the trustworthy security in a world filled with changes.

Change is the one thing we can choose to ignore but it will inevitably catch up with us. Growing old is a physical transformation. We can see it in others and we can see it in the mirror. Change is continuous and relentless. We either learn to embrace the changes or we fight them much to our own peril. We actually need to learn the art of navigating the perils of change.

The key to change is to have the best safety net you can. It is to know that something never changes. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. We can rest in that truth while we go through a life of changes. The One holding the rope says, “Trust me, and step off the edge. I have you! Trust me! Come on, Kevin, TRUST ME!”

If we can’t trust Jesus we will struggle with change in this life. Community EFC is going through a change. A little change in service times, some change in music styles, some added preachers and some new people. These are not a big deal in the scheme of eternal matters, but they are changes none the less. Small changes that disrupt our routine are often the most objectionable.

Here is my invitation to you! Join me on the end of the rope. Trust the One Who is keeping you safe. Your faith will grow to depths you could not have imagined as you step over the edge and experience the security of faith in Jesus as you dangle from the cliff. There is no better place to be.

Take some time on Good Friday to:
-Reflect on Jesus’ suffering
-Repent of your sin
-Remember the outcome – Resurrection
-Realize that the cross was about the Father’s glory
-Recount the ways that God loves you
-Reserve all your praises for Him
-Rejoice in your redemption

Romans 5:6-8
“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

The only true God died for you!

Rejoice!

When my turn came to travel with my kids I was going to give them a little bit more to do. I hooked up a TV and VCR so they could watch Veggie Tales along with an old Nintendo system for the never ending Mario Brothers. This kept them distracted while we were speeding down the highway. Now you can buy a mini-van or SUV with a DVD player built into the ceiling or the seat back in front of you.

With all my ingenuity and creativity of trying to entertain my children while traveling we missed out on something – time to relate to one another without some kind of electronic devise making noise.

This brings me back to our Hummer trip. What are we supposed to be doing in the Hummer while we are bouncing down the road/path on the way to our destination? Are we supposed to be entertained? Should there be a nice Christian selection of movies to watch on the DVD player? Maybe some nice video games? At least we should have some decent music to listen to. Maybe some board games? Card games? You know, stuff to do to pass the time.

I am pretty sure the church wasn’t intended to be a source of entertainment. Not that we can’t have fun in the Hummer, but I think that is a byproduct to the mission we are on. I think the pastime in the Hummer has much more to do with relationships first with the driver and then our fellow passengers.

Life in the Hummer starts with getting to know the driver (Jesus). Once you get to know the driver you understand where we are going and why we are going there. As your relationship with the driver gets deeper your trust for Him gets deeper. You have fewer questions and you have more interest in helping the others in the Hummer get acquainted with the driver. You find yourself passing the time by singing the praises of the driver and loving the passengers no matter how different they are from you.

Our relationships with those in the Hummer become an extension of our relationship with the driver. The more we love the driver the more we love the other passengers. We see the value of the others so we pray for them, encourage them, teach them, and strengthen them in the faith. We help each other work on our weaknesses and we never seem to run out of others to know and help. It seems every time we think we know everyone the driver adds more.

Man, I love the driver! It sure beats watching a movie.