The Power of One

About a month ago, Joshua and I went down to the lake to throw stones into the water.  We had a great time choosing which stones we would throw into the lake and which stones would be taken home.

As Joshua and I threw stones into the Lake, we enjoyed watching the ripples that were created by each stone.  The amazing thing is, no matter how small or large the stone was, ripples were created.  Sometimes they were big and lasted for a while and other times they were small and didn’t last long.

Each one of us makes ripples in Life.  The ripples represent how we affect the people around us as we move through Life.  Sometimes we have a lasting affect while other time we don’t.

Leading people into a life changing relationship with Jesus Christ is the best way for each of us to have big ripples, lasting affects on people.  We need to stay focused on the Vision that God has given to us and do whatever it takes to help others know Jesus Christ.

Life is all about God, not our comforts or interests.  Each one of us has the opportunity to make a huge difference in another person’s  spiritually life.  Let us all go out and change the world, one person at a time!

Today is Gooding to be Great!

"When I hear somebody sigh, 'Life is hard,' I am
always tempted to ask, 'Compared to what?'"
— Sydney J. Harris: Was an American journalist

 

Yes, life can be a struggle. It can be cruel, relentless, and impossible. But those days are seldom, and they pass as quickly as the clouds overhead. The truth is: If you have your health, you aren't fighting in a war, and your family bond is close, you should count your blessings daily. Because every day life presents such an incredible opportunity to grow, learn, share, laugh, and love.

Make today an awesome day!

The Calling of Levi

In Luke 5.27-32, we read that Jesus has been traveling and doing some amazing things.  People were being healed and Jesus is teaching everyone who will listen about God.  From an outsider’s perspective, everything looks GREAT! 

Levi was a tax collector.  By society’s standards, tax collectors were the scum of the earth.  They were terrible people who cheated and stole from people.  So, when Jesus tells Levi to follow Him, we won’t be surprise that the religious leaders where offended.

Many time the church acts like the religious leaders’ of Jesus time.  We pick and chose who should hear about God and who shouldn’t.  Recently, I heard a story about a church who voted and successfully kicked out a man.  The man was recently released from prison b/c he had sex with a teenage boy.  Though the proper safe guards were in place and his parole office was involved, the congregation kicked him out.

Jesus is very clear that the church needs to get out of the pews and go into their surrounding areas and reach people in need of Jesus Christ.  This is not a choice.  This is a command!  It doesn’t matter what we wear, the color of our skin, the amount of tattoos, what we have done in the past, etc.  Everyone deserves to hear about Jesus Christ and experience His love.

Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

Into Thy Hands…

Sometimes, my son Joshua scares me. Although he is only 6 years old, I have seen a great amount of wisdom and heart shown by him and that scares me. Let me give you some examples...

• For the past month, Joshua has been drawing posters about a new church that he is starting for kids.  After completing these posters, we wanted to go hang them all over the neighborhood.  He has drawn the layout of our living room with details as to how we would fit everyone.  And he has even gone to the extent of assigning hymns after he preaches about Jesus.
• The other night, Joshua told me that tomorrow school would be over and then he was going to heaven.  He told me he couldn’t stand this world anymore because it was “so dirty.”  He needed to go to heaven and be with God and Jesus.  I told him that God wasn’t through with us and he wanted us to tell more people about Jesus.  Tears and sadness came upon his face.  His desire to go to heaven with Jesus was so strong. 
• Following the above conversation about going to heaven, Joshua decided to design a robot that can speak many different languages and carry a backpack with Bibles and EvangeCubes.  “This robot can tell lots of people about Jesus.”

When Mary and Joseph had Jesus dedicated at the Temple, a man named Simeon took Jesus in his arms and blessed him.  Simeon told Mary and Joseph “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed.  And a sword will pierce your own soul too.'”

I can’t imagine what Mary and Joseph felt after that prophecy.  If I were them, there would be a lot of questions.  But in my heart, I would know that God is in control and preparing him for great things. 

I pray that God is preparing Joshua for great things.  I have never seem someone so young, have such a heart for the Lord.  Like Mary and Joseph, I too marvel at what God is doing in my son’s life.

Jesus The King

Enjoy this introduction to our KING!

My Continuing Education

Back in February, I started my continuing education with Nelson Searcy and his Tele-Coaching Network. There has been a lot of work, but it’s been good for me. I want to update you on what has been going on.

During the March Webinar, I learned a lot about Assimilation. This basically means, welcoming first time guests. Since Easter was right around the corner, the focus was welcoming new guests into the church. I learned the process of welcoming these guests so they will feel welcomed to continue worshiping with us. Some of the ideas that were shared we already do: connection cards, hand written notes, and $5 gas cards. One of the new ideas was putting pens on the bulletins. The pens on the bulletins make it easier for first time guests to fill out the connection cards and the message notes. They don’t need to search for a pen.

April’s Webinar focused on Stewardship. They did not talk about how to run a stewardship program. Instead, the topic was ways to help the congregation donate. There are two things I learned in this webinar. #1. The responsibility for raising funds in a church falls squarely in the lap of the senior pastor. #2. Congregations are uneducated about money and giving. Both of these thoughts really opened my eyes.

I have read three books since the last time I updated this blog.

“Fusion”

“Money Matters in the Church”

“Ignite”

I continue to listen to seminars, participate in coaching calls, and read other books. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me. I would love to share.

He has Risen!

Easter was an amazing day for me. As I stood at Korth Park and watched the sun rise over the City of Lake Mills, I had such a sense of peace come over me. I felt like I was walking to the tomb of Christ and I had found it empty already. I had a better appreciation for Mary that day she went to the tomb.

I just want to thank everyone for helping make our Easter Services a huge blast! I was overwhelmed and encouraged by see first time guest, our regular attenders, and people we haven't seen in a long time. It was truly a great day!

Now, I look ahead to the mission trip to Quevedo, Ecuador. We leave this Friday, April 9 with a team of 15 people. We are on a mission from GOD to tell others about his Son! Please pray that God will use us,empower us, and allow us to praise His holy name!

Love you guys!  We are making a HUGE splash in God’s Kingdom!

We're Almost There!!!!

Can you believe it???? Easter is almost here. I am so excited. Easter is my favorite holiday of the year. I love the spring time with new birth, the green trees, and warm weather. This Easter is going to be the biggest event of our church. We are expecting 300 people to worship with us between the 8 am and 10 am service. Never before has this happened. And our prayer is that out of the 300 people that show up, over 150 people will be unchurched or dechurched people. I want this Sunday to be the biggest event for God.

Here's what's going on this week.

1. Jim Schmidt and I are praying everyday at 5:30 am in the Warm Room at the church.  Everyone is welcome to join us.
2. The Leadership Team is passing out over 300 door hangers this week throughout Lake Mills.
3. Jim Schmidt and I will be fasting (not eating any food) from Thursday to Saturday night.  During this time, we will be in a constant state of prayer for our church, the people in Lake Mills that God will send to us, and our Easter Services.
4. Over 300 postcards will be mailed to residents in Lake Mills inviting people to worship with us.
5. We will run the second newspaper ad in the Lake Mills Leader inviting people to worship with us.

What can you do?  Join us in praying for:

• Every member of our church.
• Our church Leadership.
• Our 8 am & 10 am Easter Worship Services.
• Every person in Lake Mills that receives an invitation to worship with us.  May God open their hearts to join us.

There are great things that are going to be done in this city!  Easter is just the start.

Easter 2010 Countdown

Easter is quickly approaching with only several weeks to go. APRIL 4 is Easter and we have a lot of work to do. I want this to be the best Easter we have ever had. We are going to Maximize Easter and reach out to all unchurched and dechurched people in our community.

Here's the game plan:

1. This week, you will receive door hangers to place on your neighbor's doors. On the hanger will be information about our church inviting them to join us for worship on Easter.
2. On March 21st, you will receive postcards during worship.  Give them to people who don’t go to church.  Hang them on bulletin boards.  Leave them on the table at the restaurant with your tip.  Mail them to friends and family.
3. We are going to hang up posters in the community inviting people to worship with us on Easter Sunday.
4. We will have a quarter page ad in the Lake Mills Leader for two weeks in a row inviting people to worship with us on Easter. 
5. If I can work out the details, we will have a LED sign in the Cook Memorial Garden advertising the Easter Service and welcoming people in.
6. Every 1st time guest that joins us on Easter will receive a free gift to thank them for coming.

I will be starting a new teaching series on Easter called “Prison Break.”  I am really excited about this new teaching series.

Please pray for me, Denise, and our church as we gear up for Easter.  Our whole Leadership Team is fasting and praying once a week and over 20 people in our congregation have committed to fasting and praying too.  Please pray that God sends 300 people to our worship services at 8 & 10 am.  Pray that 150 of those people are unchurched and dechurched people.  Pray that we will lead people to Christ during those services.

Our Vision is “Leading people into a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ.”  This will happen on Easter!!!

The Beginning of my Continuing Education

As many of you know, I have started a 12 month continuing education program with Nelson Searcy at the Journey Church in New York City. I have read several of his books and really enjoy his work. Over the next 12 months, I will use this opportunity to keep you up to date about what I am learning. Even though I am going through this program, it is meant to benefit all of us.

Each month, there will be a two hour training call and then a one hour Q & A call. During the two hour call, I will listen to Nelson teach while I using my computer to look at his computer screen and view the material. The process is called a Webinar. I had my first Webinar on Feb. 18. This call was more of an introduction to the program. We learned more about what would be happening and what was required of us.  I will have homework every month which will include listening to trainings and reading books. It's a pretty intense program. Here are three "soft truths" that I learned.

1. Your church has more potential than is being realized right now

2. You are doing way too much of the wrong things

a.Things are not most beneficial

b. We need to do replacement ministry

3. For your church to grow, the Pastor must grow!

a.Growing churches only grow with growing leaders

Nelson stated that there 8 systems of all churches. Throughout the next 12 months, we will be studying each of the 8 systems. All 8 need to be healthy in order for the church to be healthy.  Here are the systems:

8 Systems of a Church: 1.Worship planning 2.Evangelism system 3.Assimilation system 4.Small group system 5.Ministry system 6.Stewardship system 7.Leadership system 8.Strategy system

If you would like more info on these 8 systems, let me know. As I learn more about these, I will pass this information to you.

It's going to be a good journey. I am looking forward to growing with you.

Lent in 2010

For many years, I have given things up during the Lenten season.   Lent begins on Ash Wednesday (this year February 17th) and end with Easter Sunday. It spans a total of 40 days and is often thought as a parallel to Jesus’ “testing” in the wildness.  Giving something up gives me time for serious, disciplined self-examination, a time spent in intensive prayer and repentance before the cross of Calvary.

Here are some reflective questions that a friend of mine shared with his congregation that can be used during this time:

■Am I sharing gladly what I have with others, especially the stranger and the poor?

■Do I have a gracious and patient attitude with others, especially those who irritate me?

■Do I feel the power of connection to God and the church in corporate worship?

■How is my devotional and prayer life progressing? Am I listening to God more and complaining less? Is it time for a change or a growth in my Bible study and prayer life?

■What are the lurking sin problems, which still plague me?

■Am I as thoughtful and forgiving of family as others, or do I take my frustrations out on them?

■Do I speak up for the maligned and oppressed, or do I remain silent in order to remain popular?

I challenge you to use the the Lenten season as a time to re-examine who you are and who is God in your life.  Allow yourself to be drawn closer to Jesus the Christ.

Here We Go

The strength of our church can be seen in the strength of our faith. We are a people who are driven by God's vision for us- "Leading people into a life changing relationship with Jesus Christ." God has given us a laser sharp vision and we will lead the unchurched and dechurched to Jesus Christ.

Yesterday, we met to talk about the life of our church. As we discussed, there were mistakes that were made and there were big successes. It was great to put both, the positives and the negatives, on the board and discuss them openly. Open discussion makes us stronger. It allows us to share how we feel and talk about why things were done. Thanks for a good meeting.

I have been encouraged by the meeting yesterday. As a church, I believe that we are stronger than ever. 2010 is going to be a great year. We will continue to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ and expand His kingdom!

Sunday Worship

This past Sunday, we started a new sermon series called "Alignment with God." This three week series will focus our attention to 3 goals that our church and we as individuals can work on in 2010.

This past week's subject was "Supporting Others with Positive Words." Many of you have told me how helpful the message was to you on Sunday and wished others could have been there. We tape our serves every Sunday. If you would like a copy of the service, please let Denise or myself know. The DVD is FREE. Just ask and we will get you one.

This week, we will focus on "Service." If you thought last week's message was helpful, please invite a friend. You're invitation will be a blessing to those you invite!

Thank You!!!!

I want to thank everyone for a good 2009 year. We have had several challenges during 2009, but as I reflect back, there have been so many blessings. These will be shared at the Annual Meeting.

I would also like to thank the church for their wonderful and very generous Christmas gift. Annie and I truly appreciate all of the love and support you have shown us over the years. We have a great church. Our strength is seen in how we care for each other. Thank you for caring for my family like you do.