http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/ The life of a pastor at BridgeWay Community Church, a behind the scenes look at ministry, and an occasional Cleveland sports reference. Sat, 20 Aug 2011 19:02:59 GMT en-us Copyright 2011 BridgeWay Community Church http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/are-you-ready-for-3-services/ http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/are-you-ready-for-3-services/ Sat, 20 Aug 2011 19:02:59 GMT Tomorrow's a BIG MORNING as we launch our new 3 Service Format (8:30; 9:45 and 11:15AM)! I'm sure it will take awhile for many of us to "settle in" and find the perfect spot for our family, but if you're a regular BridgeWay attender, I want to ... http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/why-forgiveness-is-tough-at-times/ http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/why-forgiveness-is-tough-at-times/ Sat, 05 Feb 2011 12:43:31 GMT I read these words from one of my favorite authors, Henri Nouwen, as I was preparing for the message tomorrow. It comes from "Forgiving in The Name of God". We are all wounded people. Who wounds us? Often those whom we love and those who love ... http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/why-god/ http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/why-god/ Mon, 27 Dec 2010 18:41:43 GMT I've appreciated so many people asking me about how my sister and my nephew are doing lately. For those of you who haven't heard, my sister was diagnosed with breast cancer just before Thanksgiving, had a masectomy and is facing another possible ... http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/heros-sunday-a-huge-success/ http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/heros-sunday-a-huge-success/ Mon, 13 Sep 2010 13:28:11 GMT I was SO PROUD of BridgeWay Community Church yesterday! We had the privilege of serving six different fire stations a meal yesterday afternoon and each one of them were so appreciative of the effort and special care that was put into each meal. ... http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/an-environment-for-life-change/ http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/an-environment-for-life-change/ Sun, 15 Aug 2010 23:11:11 GMT BridgeWay's mission is Life-Change because through the power of Jesus Christ we've created an environment where Life-Change can happen! BridgeWay is a SAFE PLACE where people can process their spirituality together with other people who are ... http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/online-church-coming-soon/ http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/online-church-coming-soon/ Mon, 09 Aug 2010 13:28:57 GMT A friend recently sent me this link to a blog post about a really cool online church http://www.chrisbrogan.com/digital-church/ and it got me thinking about what church really is and if, in fact, online churches may someday replace real churches ... http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/a-personal-spiritual-development-plan/ http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/a-personal-spiritual-development-plan/ Mon, 02 Aug 2010 14:24:31 GMT A few Sundays ago I taught about the importance of devloping a Personal Spiritual Development Plan if we want to become an Apprentice of Jesus Christ. An Apprentice is someone who studies under/spends time with an "expert" in order to learn how ... http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/how-do-you-do-worship/ http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/how-do-you-do-worship/ Mon, 28 Jun 2010 12:44:57 GMT Yesterday I spoke about the importance of learning to worship God by BEING who He created us to be. We learned how worship involves more than just singing a few songs in church on Sunday morning - worship is something we do every single day by ... http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/short-term-mission-trips-are-a-lot-more-than-short-term/ http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/short-term-mission-trips-are-a-lot-more-than-short-term/ Mon, 21 Jun 2010 15:54:01 GMT Every time I go on a short-term missions trip, I'm amazed at how long-term it affects me! When I lead a trip, or simply participate in one, I'm always thinking about how God's going to use me to impact other peoples' lives, but when I get there ... http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/what-exactly-is-a-pastoral-resident/ http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/what-exactly-is-a-pastoral-resident/ Mon, 14 Jun 2010 15:08:51 GMT What is a Pastoral Resident and what exactly does he do? That's the question I heard most after my recent blog post introducing Benton Cole as BridgeWay's newest Staff Team member. Benton started work as a full-tim Pastoral Resident at BridgeWay ... http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/welcome-benton-cole-as-bridgeways-new-pastoral-resident/ http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/welcome-benton-cole-as-bridgeways-new-pastoral-resident/ Wed, 09 Jun 2010 21:11:06 GMT Benton and Lindsay Cole (along with their son Gavin) have just joined our Staff Team as a one-year Pastoral Resident who will be helping me lead and pastor our Frontline Welcome Team, Small Group Leaders and other ministries vital to our church. ... http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/do-you-know-a-know-it-all/ http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/do-you-know-a-know-it-all/ Mon, 07 Jun 2010 14:45:51 GMT Coach John Wooden passed away this past weekend. He was a very famous college basketball coach for UCLA, but he was probably an even more "famous" Christ-follower who had a HUGE impact on many of his players. Coach Wooden was known for building ... http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/a-day-to-remember/ http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/a-day-to-remember/ Mon, 31 May 2010 20:18:43 GMT Woke up and made my kids and all the other kids in the neighborhood who slept over our house last night Daddy's Famous Pancakes. It was great watching 8 teenage boys scarf down a stack of pancakes. Then we all went to the neighborhood pool for ... http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/religulous/ http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/religulous/ Sun, 23 May 2010 12:12:13 GMT A friend recently gave me the Bill Maher movie Religulous to review so we could sit down and talk about it together. While I don't recommend the movie to the faint of heart, I found many parts of it fascinating. It was amazing to me how many ... http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/thinking-about-life-change/ http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/thinking-about-life-change/ Mon, 17 May 2010 18:14:58 GMT Can people really change? We had a great conversation about this today at our One Day with God retreat at Fatima and I'm still wondering...can people really change? I'd like to think they can! With some intentionality and some good choices, I ... http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/bps-giant-oil-spill/ http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/bps-giant-oil-spill/ Sun, 09 May 2010 23:49:21 GMT Ok, warning! Time for a bit of a rant: My dad worked for Standard Oil of Ohio (Sohio) for 36 years. It was a great company - until British Petroleum (BP) took over. Then it all started heading downhill fast. The way I observed BP doing business ... http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/always-learning/ http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/always-learning/ Wed, 05 May 2010 13:05:58 GMT I'm up in South Bend, IN at Granger Community Church at an Executive Pastors Coaching Conference and I'm learning A TON about how I can do my job more effectively. It's always good to get away from the familiar and challenge myself to think ... http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/secrets-shouted-from-the-rooftops/ http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/secrets-shouted-from-the-rooftops/ Mon, 19 Apr 2010 19:16:44 GMT I was down at Fatima today on our One Day with God spiritual retreat and for whatever reason started journaling about the power of secrets. I can't believe how many times I've tried to keep things hidden and secret in my own life. The Bible ... http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/experiencing-life-change-through-community/ http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/experiencing-life-change-through-community/ Mon, 12 Apr 2010 01:46:19 GMT I love our small group at BridgeWay! My wife and I have the privilege of being in a small group community with some very special people. We look forward to Sunday night so we can attend our small group together! We eat together, pray together, ... http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/the-return-of-christ/ http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/the-return-of-christ/ Mon, 05 Apr 2010 17:30:45 GMT This coming Sunday we'll be studying the Return of Christ as I teach out of the books of 1 & 2 Thessalonians. There has been a lot of debate through the years when it comes to Christ's Return. Will He ever come back for us? Why is He waiting ... http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/my-hands-are-what-i-use-to-serve-jesus/ http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/my-hands-are-what-i-use-to-serve-jesus/ Sat, 27 Mar 2010 23:07:59 GMT I was in Cleveland this weekend at my dad's Retirement Party. It turned out to be an amazing time. My dad had already retired once before after working for BP Oil for 36 years, this time he retired after 18 years with Baptist Mid-Missions in ... http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/living-out-the-power-of-christ-can-be-challenging/ http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/living-out-the-power-of-christ-can-be-challenging/ Mon, 22 Mar 2010 00:57:11 GMT It's one thing to get up and preach about the Power of Christ, it's quite another thing to actually try and live it out on a dialy basis! It's only Monday and I've already had to use the Prayer Card I handed out at the end of the service ... http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/the-power-of-god/ http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/the-power-of-god/ Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:58:26 GMT This Sunday, March 21 I've got the privilege of speaking on the Letter Paul wrote to the Church in Ephesus. One of the major themes Paul develops in the letter is THE POWER OF GOD. As usual, I like to allow God to work in my own life as it ... http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/im-married-to-goldilocks/ http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/im-married-to-goldilocks/ Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:01:53 GMT Our son Tyler is growing up and needs a "big boy bed." That means it's time to go out and buy a new mattress. But we're not going to get a mattress for Tyler, he's going to get our old mattress. We're going to get a new mattress for Dave and ... http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/marriage-hard-work-but-definitely-worth-it/ http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/marriage-hard-work-but-definitely-worth-it/ Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:58:58 GMT I've been married over 18 years to the girl of my dreams. We've made some great memories together and are blessed to be able to share life together. But I gotta tell ya: Marriage is hard work! Even in the best marriages, people have ... http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/the-kingdom-of-god/ http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/the-kingdom-of-god/ Mon, 22 Feb 2010 14:36:07 GMT The Kingdom of God is "the range of God's effective will" or where what God wants to have happen actually does. What an incredible thought: I can choose to live under the rule and reign of my Creator - the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! Or I ... http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/the-book-of-romans/ http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/the-book-of-romans/ Sat, 20 Feb 2010 13:56:01 GMT Wow! After a week of preparing to apeak on The Book of Romans in one Sunday, I'm completely blown away by the rich tseology of Romans. Paul is incredible! God spoke through Him in some wild ways in this book. "I am not ashamed of the Gospel ... http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/an-exquisite-letter-to-the-romans/ http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/an-exquisite-letter-to-the-romans/ Tue, 16 Feb 2010 19:10:43 GMT I'm excited about digging into the exquisite letter Paul wrote to the Romans this coming Sunday morning. There's so much great stuff in here it's going to be hard to hit it all in one week, so buckle up and hang on for a great ride! We're going ... http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/i-hate-visa-gift-cards/ http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/i-hate-visa-gift-cards/ Sun, 07 Feb 2010 17:04:08 GMT Recently some really good friends gave me a Visa Gift Card. Initially I was very grateful...and I normally try to practice the spiritual discipline of gratefulness, but this time I was pushed just a little too far. The other night while I was ... http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/patience-and-technology/ http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/patience-and-technology/ Thu, 04 Feb 2010 17:05:03 GMT Patience is one of the Fruit of the Holy Spirit. It's sometimes very challenging to exercise patience when I'm learning new technology, but I'm training myself to become more patient every day by spending time with people who stretch and ... http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/cleveland-indiana-fans-unite-its-playoff-time/ http://www.bridgewaycc.com/dave-ambrose/cleveland-indiana-fans-unite-its-playoff-time/ Thu, 07 Jan 2010 23:31:43 GMT Growing up in Cleveland, Ohio I couldn't help but become a Cleveland Indians Baseball Fan. And now it's my favorite time of the year - October! Time for the playoffs! Just think Indians fans...we get to watch all of our favorite players actually ...