Eight posts that have messed me up!

As you may know I read a lot of blogs everyday, but I have a few who seem to speak directly into my life and ministry (can life and ministry truly be separated...that is a post for another day). I wanted to share five blog posts from the last week or so that have really spoken to me:

You need to read this one and this one and then one more from Craig Groeschel. It is written to pastors, but it applies to all of us.

You need to read this post from Mark Batterson. He is speaking such a profound Word of truth here.

Then there are these posts from Perry Noble. Read this post and this one, this one and finally this one.

Search your heart. Do any of these posts speak to you this morning? What is God trying to tell you about your life and relationship, or lack there of, with Him?

Land Purchase Vote

The membership gathered today and voted on the purchase of the land on the north-end of Kirksville. The vote needed to a two-thirds majority to pass. There were 29 members present and the vote was 16 in favor and 13 against. The vote needed 20 members to say yes, so as a result of this vote the church WILL NOT be pursuing the purchase of land at this time.

Patriot Day

No one will ever forget where they were or what they were doing seven years ago today. My prayers go out to all the families who lost loved ones that day. We remember the brave men and women of the New York Fire Department and Police Department. The men and women of the New York Transit Authority who acted so bravely in the darkness and chaos of such tragedy. The acts of heroism of a few men on Flight 93 that ended in a Pennsylvania cornfield. The men and women at the Pentagon who so bravely rescued others from the wreckage and fire. We will always remember the members of our military who have given their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Take a few moments and remember the freedoms we so quickly take for granted that have come to us through the blood and sacrifice of so many. Have a blessed Patriot Day!

Update

I need to do some serious catching up here. It has been a very busy August and looks to be an even busier September.

The website went down briefly, but it is back up and running. Sorry for the inconvenience.

I am going to start doing a series book reviews on what I have been reading lately. I also need to update my reading list.

All three of my fantasy football teams won this week! I love football season...oh yeah, it is September and my Dodgers are in first place in the National League West division. Now if they can just hold on.

I had one of those silly prayer moments...I found myself praying that the UCLA football team would score a touchdown late in the game against their game against Tennessee...does God answer football prayers?

We are working very hard on quarterly planning. I am excited about 2009. It looks like it will be another awesome year for TRCC.

We are taking a vote on October 5th as to whether to buy some land on the north end of Kirksville. If it is approved this will be the future site of our permanent campus. Please be in prayer for God's leading on this vote.

Catching up

I enjoyed a brief break last week. We took the family to St. Louis to see some family and take in a Dodger game...yes I know it was at Busch Stadium and the home of the Cardinals, but it was a Dodger game...they just happened to be playing in St. Louis. It was the first Major League game for Colin and Christina and it was really fun to see them enjoying themselves in their own little ways.

I finally gave in and took the kids to Build-A-Bear Workshop. Wow that is a neat place. The kids came home with new friends.

Now this is interesting...

I was going through the various blogs I read and I stumbled onto an entry by Kent Schaffer. Check this out. If the results of that survey are to be believed...and I think they should be...then we have some work to get done.

What will get the unchurched to grace the doors of TRCC? Our friendliness! Are we doing all we can to extend the hand of friendship each and every day? If not, are we doing all we can to extend the hand of friendship on Sunday morning?

The exciting thing here is that we don't have to invent new programs to reach people. We simply need to extend the hand of friendship in love. That is simple. That is the easy stuff. So let's start showing love and friendship to people around us everyday. Who can you extend the hand of friendship today? Who can you show love and kindness to today?

I am heading out to lunch right now! I am going to make a new friend. Come join me!

Mountains and Valleys

We all have those times in life where we are standing on the mountain top of life. Everything looks great and feels wonderful. We also all have those moments when we are in the valley of life and it seems dark and forbodding. Nothing seems to be going right and we wonder if we will ever be able to climb out of the darkness.

The interesting thing about a valley is that it is situated between two mountains. That is the good news. There are mountain top experiences awaiting you on both sides of the valley.

I am reminded of Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Who am I preaching to?

In this current series I have delivered a few tough messages. They were not only tough for me, but tough for some people to hear. This has gotten me thinking about my real audience for preaching God's Word.

I resolved in myself several years ago that I would not take criticism personally as long as what I preached was biblically sound. Most of the time criticism about a message is coming from someone that is wrestling with something that God is trying to work-out in their heart.

I realize now that I preach each Sunday not to the people of TimberRidge or our internet audience. Instead I preach solely and completely for the Lord. If He is happy with my proclamation of His Word then I have done what he has asked me to accomplish.

Weekend Musings

All the rain we received on Thursday ended up washing out our Golf Scramble on Saturday. We will be rescheduling the Scramble for September.

Thanks to all my guys who stood up on Sunday and recited the Warrior's Creed! We are raising up some serious Warriors in this house!

I got my passport today...no more procrastinating on this Uruguay trip. I cannot believe the amount of support I have received from the great people at Faith Community Church in West Chester, Ohio. Thank you so much!

Monday Morning Reflections

We took the kids camping this weekend. Lisa and I were reflecting that every time we have gone camping it has rained on us! We got out to the campground Friday evening and not five minutes after I got the tent up it started to rain. We tried to cook dinner anyway, but found that even my little hiking stove could not combat the rain (although it will boil pot of water in less than a minute). We tried to wait it out in the tent, but we finally just got the kids back in the car and headed for home to cook dinner. Thankfully it stopped raining and we headed back out to the tent an hour later. The next day we seriously hot, but we had a good time in the great outdoors.

This Sunday we continued "The Warrior" series. We talked about "The Wounded Warrior". We did some different things this Sunday. I asked the men from the praise band to play "By His Wounds" in the middle of the message. I had never done that before, but it seemed to be very effective. Once again, we had some men make life changing decisions. I am really thankful to Craig Groeschel and the LifeChurch.tv folks for introducing me to this series idea. It is molding the men of TRCC into warriors for God!

Weekend Reflections

I spent the 4th of July holiday with the family. We grilled some and went to the State Park for a little recreation. Loved watching my little six-year old warrior try to catch a squirrel!

Yesterday we started "The Warrior" series. I have borrowed the concept from my friends at Lifechurch.tv. I have been praying for a way to energize the men in our church to become warriors for God. I am praying that this series will be the launching pad for an awesome men's ministry.

Saturday night I got a call from a friend and long-time attender of TimberRidge. She and her husband went on short missions trip to Mexico last February. I shared with them that I have a burning desire to go on a missions trip and share the Good News and be the "hands and feet of Christ". God does answer prayers, but you better be ready when He does. They have a chance to go to...ready for this...Uruguay in late October of this year. Uruguay! I had to look on a map to find out where it was in South America. It sounds so awesome and God has put a burn in my heart like never before. I don't have any details, but they don't matter as much as the chance to go somewhere where the majority of the people do not have a relationship with God. I will be walking into furtile ground for the Kingdom and a chance to put action to my words. Thanks God for giving me this chance! Now...how do I raise the $2,000.00 needed to get there...I know God is in that also.

Have a great day!

Independence Day!

We are getting ready to have a small family cookout tomorrow and enjoy the holiday. Independence Day...the day we remember the fight our forefathers fought to free us from the tyranny of England. A battle fought on the fields of this country and in the hearts of our ancestors. It was difficult for them to imagine what self-government would look like. They had been under the Monarchy of England for their entire lives. Nevertheless they embarked on a brave an awesome journey that you and I celebrate tomorrow.

My prayer is that you will find true independence. You will find independence from addiction, oppression, self-doubt, bitterness and loneliness. I pray that you will find the freedom that comes from claiming the strong name of Jesus Christ as your Savior. You will find the independence of knowing that you are a child of God and nothing the evil one does can ever change that. You are God's beautiful creation and He has set you free from the things that bind you up. So this weekend claim your freedom and celebrate a real independence day!

Are we helping?

The leadership team has been talking a lot about the Isaiah 58 ministry here at TimberRidge. This ministry touches lives every day of the week through meeting peoples immediate needs with bills and food. The question is whether we are truly doing enough? Are we seeing lives being transformed? In my wrestling with these questions I was reminded of our church mission statement. We are a church where "no one walks alone." Are we truly walking with them, or trying to get them to follow us? There is a real difference...then I read this blog post by Perry Noble. He is the Senior Pastor of NewSpring Church in Anderson, SC.

I found myself praying the following prayer: "Lord, please just let me be your hands and feet. Help me to put aside my sinful need to control and govern Your work. May everyone we help see you in all that we do and say. Show me ways to walk alongside your people and show them the love of Jesus each and every day."

Monday morning reflections

I am reflecting on yesterday and what God is doing in my life right now. We finished up the One Prayer series yesterday with Pastor Craig Groeschel's message "Make Us One". It really got me thinking about how I relate, or fail to relate, to other churches and other pastors. I realized that may harbor some feelings of competition towards other churches that is hampering my ability to do God's ministry in partnership with them. I think we sometimes get locked into thinking that church is a "zero-sum" game. In other words, there are only so many people that are going to go to church and we better get our slice of that pie. The reality is that we are forgetting that two-thirds of that pie is not involved in the local church. Maybe if I stop trying to compete and instead look to the fields...they are very ripe and ready to be harvested. I am committing myself today to make another effort to build relationships with other pastors here in Kirksville.

There has been a lot of discussion around the topic of worship lately at TRCC. In my prayers this morning I realized that the real spirit of worship is that I should strive everyday to worship God just a little deeper than I did yesterday. When we gather on Sunday we should all strive to be a little more open and engage a little deeper with the Holy Spirit than we did the previous Sunday. That is the mark of spiritual growth. A constant moving forward and deepening relationship with God.

Sunday Reflections

Yesterday I brought my OnePrayer message. We are a little out of sync on this series because I was on vacation on June 8th, the day the series began.

My message was "Make us Transformed". No one ever came into contact with Jesus and remained the same. The church needs to be the very embodiment of Jesus to the world. The church needs to show that we worship a living God. We need to stay innovative and open to change. Traditions are made to be broken! We need to live the transformation that has happened in our hearts. We are new creatures and we need to reflect that to the world. We don't have worship "services", we have celebrations! The world is looking for something to celebrate. We have something greater than the Super Bowl, Indy 500, Kentucky Derby, World Series and Olympics combined. We have the assurance of salvation and eternal life in the Jesus Christ! It is time we started celebrating and invite people to celebrate with us.

Lord, make us transformed!

Random Thoughts...

Here some things that have been on my mind:

- Why are people amazed that Christians can have fun? I was listening to Spirit FM this morning and a caller shared that she took a friend to the Crossroads Concert in Lake of the Ozarks. Her friend was amazed that Christians could listen to rock music and have so much fun. Why are we not showing the world our real faith? We are children of the living God and we are redeemed by the blood of His Son Jesus Christ! We will live for eternity in His presence! We have reason to celebrate...why are we hiding it?

- Steven Furtick's message "Make Us Audacious" .... off the chain! He was preaching that right to me and TRCC! Thanks Steven!

- TRCC is at a huge crossroads in our life as a church. We have the opportunity to acquire some land to build a campus, but like everyone else the financial burden seems daunting. Are we going to step out in faith or are we going to shrink back in fear?

- I only caught the last 20 minutes of the U.S. Open on Sunday. It was great golf action (can you use the word "golf" and "action" in the same sentence?)...I digress...it was not the great shots and awesome putting that struck me. What got to me was the interview they did with Rocco Mediate. They asked him how he was feeling leading Tiger Woods by one stroke as Tiger was approaching the 18th green. Rocco said, "I left it all on the course. I have nothing else to give. I did the best I can do." WOW!!! That is what I want to be able to say about every single day of my life. I left it all on the course. I have nothing more to give and I did my best! ... oh yeah, and then as a sign of abundant sportsmanship he was rooting for Tiger to make the putt to tie the tournament...are we rooting for other churches? Are we praying for other churches to grow abundantly?

Well that is enough time inside my head for while. I bet you are glad you don't have to live inside my head...hehe

Lake of the Ozarks and OnePrayer

We just got back from a wonderful week in the Lake of the Ozarks. It was beautiful down there and the weather was hot, but pleasant. With that being said, we were awoken by the tornado sirens at 12:30 a.m. our first night there, but hey, what is a vacation without a little adventure. It was sure nice to find out that all those golf lessons 10 years ago were not a complete waste. I swung my clubs for the first time in at least 5 years and found my old swing again.

We started the OnePrayer series this past Sunday. I am looking forward to Pastor Furtick's message this Sunday - "Lord Make Us Audacious". I am amazed that God has brought over 1,400 churches together around one preaching series! What is your one prayer? I hope you can join us for the remainder of this series.

Back from the Arches

We got back yesterday afternoon from St. Louis. Alex had another doctor's appointment. The good news is that I think he is slowly improving.

The funny thing is that I learned to drive on the freeways of Los Angeles. I would travel them everyday and never be nervous or stressed. We got into St. Louis on Tuesday and it was raining. The traffic was moderate, but I was a nervous wreck. I guess the last six years of living in small towns has begun to effect my stress level when it comes to traffic. I just thought it was ironic that a guy who learned to drive in the mean streets of L.A. would get nervous while driving in St. Louis...

We had dinner with our friends Shaun and Jenny. They moved to St. Louis several months ago. Shaun co-designed and did all the artwork on our billboard. It was so good to talk and get caught up on life.

Sunday Reflections

I was suffering with a worsening case of the stomach flu all morning long. I was completely wore out by the time we were done. By late afternoon I was completely out of it! I felt like my preaching was not as sharp as normal, but God proved once again it is not about me. Several people stopped me to talk about the points of stress in their lives.

It was so great to see Rob and Michelle on Sunday. I think we don't always realize how much we miss someone until we see them again. I walked into band rehearsal and had to do a double take as I saw Rob up there with his guitar. We love you guys. Please come back often and visit us. I know you will always have a place in the band Rob!

Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Last night we took the kids to see the second installment in the Chronicles of Narnia series. They did a great job of capturing the adventure that is so evident in the book. They also capture the feeling of hopelessness and utter failure that you get when you read the book. All in all it was a great ride and fantastic movie.

There were some great lines that just struck me on a profound level:

Lucy says to Aslan, "You've gotten bigger." Aslan responded, "Every year you grow I also grow." Remember that Aslan the lion is the representation of Jesus in the story. I have found that it is very true that the more spiritual growth I have the bigger Jesus gets in my life. Are you growing every year?


Lucy finally finds Aslan after a very perilous and difficult search. She tells him that she saw him but the others didn't believe her. Aslan responds, "Why did that keep you from coming to me?" OUCH! How many times are we reluctant to publically profess Christ because others (family and friends) don't believe you? Should that be a reason we fail to come to Jesus? I know there are times when I have failed to give Jesus the credit for blessings in my life because others don't believe me. May we never keep ourselves from coming to Jesus.

Finally, towards the end of the film Peter, Edmund, Susan and Caspian come face to face with Aslan. They all kneel before the King. Aslan says, "Arise Kings and Queens of Narnia!" Peter, Susan and Edmund rise, but Caspian remains kneeling. Aslan says, "All of you." Caspian says, "I don't feel ready to be King." Aslan responds, "For that very reason I am confident that you are ready." I love this scene. Do you feel adequate and completely equipped to do what God has set before you? Probably not, and it is for that very reason He has chosen you. In your weakness, He is strong! In your humility, He is glorified!

Good time great food

Last night we had our small group over for a meal. We decided that the theme for the night was Italian. My wife made her signature lasagna and I must say it was one of her best yet. We had garlic bread, salad and some wonderful dessert. The highlight of the night was sitting on our deck and sharing experiences and sharing life.

Some of the highlights

I wanted to share some of the highlights of the 40 Days of Community campaign. The main highlight is the rejuvenation of our small group ministry. TRCC has always had a very robust small group ministry. During the year that they were looking for a Senior Pastor the small group ministry started to wain. When I arrived it was pretty anemic and needed a huge shot of adrenaline. The small group leaders were just not sure how to get the fire lit and keep it burning in our small groups. I tried several things and read a ton of books, but nothing seemed to work. Then along came 40 DoC and things took off. We asked people to make a six week commitment and join a small group. If they did not want to continue beyond the six weeks then that was perfectly fine. What we saw was literally the quadrupling of our small group ministry overnight. Now as awesome as that is it is nothing compared to what the impact is now. Not only did we quadruple the small group ministry for the short-term, but all of the groups have agreed to continue to meet!

We also have seen a burn for greater discipleship within the people. They appear to have a fire for deepening their relationship with Christ.

Finally, we have experienced a greater level of volunteerism. People are wanting to share their gifts and talents with the church.

So overall, we increased the community within the church and increased the community outside the church. The bottom line is that we all learned to love a little more.

Weekend Reflections

This was a week where we really tried some different things. We wrapped up our focused 40 Days of Community campaign with a huge celebration. We had cake and drinks in the lobby and went to only one celebration so everyone could worship together (the theater was packed!). Here are some of the new things that we did this past Sunday:
- Lisa joined me on stage and we team-preached the message. I brought the teaching and she highlighted what God had done in the lives of our people over the last 40 days.
- The band played at the beginning and the end of the celebration.
- Our worship leader Rhoda Kennard dismissed the crowd instead of me...it was a nice change.
- We took our offering immediately after the bands first set instead of after the message.
- We played a homemade movie I worked on and set to "God of this City" by Chris Tomlin.

All in all it was a wonderful day. I have never really felt as relaxed preaching as I did this past Sunday. I guess my focus was Lisa and how she was doing and believe me she did fantastic. She appeared very relaxed and had good command of her message. I am so proud of her stepping up and meeting this challenge God put in front of her.

Branding

One my practices is something I learned from Bill Hybels. He calls it "best practices". The idea is that you study other churches and pastors to see what practices they excel at and then figure out ways to use those best practices in your setting.

The church is always looking for the best way to market itself in this media driven society. One of the best practices I have found is branding sermon series. Instead of advertising and brandishing the church you actually market the current sermon series. Lifechurch.tv and Pastor Craig Groeschel do this with extreme excellence. I have learned alot from watching what this church in Oklahoma is doing around branding their sermon series. We are going to be experimenting with this practice here at TRCC. The next three sermon series are going to branded and marketed to see what people think of this concept.

Weekend Reflections

Just reflecting on the past weekend:

- Don't let the grass get too high because then it will take you 20 minutes to mow your small lawn. I know, but mowing is not my favorite activity.

- Colin's baseball team is going to fun to coach this year. One of the parents said she thought I was having more fun than they were. I think she may have been right!

- Once again, the people at TRCC amaze me and go beyond my expectations. We conducted a ministry fair yesterday as part of 40 Days of Community. I wanted it to grab people's attention. Well it surely did that! They put highway cones leading down the ramp to the ministry fair table complete with roadway signs. You could not help but walk past that table and find a way to get connected at TimberRidge.

- It was good to see Pastor Robert Douglas yesterday at worship. He founded TRCC 12 years ago and now pastors a Hope Community Church on the south-side of Chicago.

- I enjoyed spending time with the family yesterday, even though most of them took long naps...maybe it was the quiet time alone I really enjoyed.

Have a great Monday!

Getting Caught Up Part II...

Sorry for my two week absence so let me get you caught up on what has been happening:

1. We have been fully engaged in the 40 Days of Community campaign. We have seen some wonderful things happen so far and we won't be done until May 18th. Just one of the awesome blessings so far has been a quadrupling of our Small Group Ministry.

2. We moved the office last week and we are still trying to get set-up. No internet connection in my office yet.

3. We started a new communication piece called "Coming Attractions". This will connect our people every week with the happenings at TRCC and beyond.

4. I am working on our men's ministry called "EveryMan Ministry". I am using 1 Timothy 6:11-12a as the foundational scripture.

5. We are still trying to get Alex's school situation squared away. This and his illness are causing Lisa and I a lot of stress.

6. I started a new workout regime today and it will get me ripped if I follow it.

7. Lori and I have been working hard on getting our InStep fitness ministry set-up at church.

Have a great evening!

On the move

Spent some time yesterday with our worship team over at the new office building. We rented a larger office space on the south-end of town. This space will give the band more room for practice and give us a dedicated ministry office. It was very exciting to meet with them yesterday and get a feel for the future.

One Prayer

I am excited to announce that TRCC will be joining hundreds of churches all over the world for the One Prayer series. Pastor Craig Groeschel had a truly inspired idea about bringing the church together like never before. The idea is simply this if you could pray one prayer for the church-at-large what would it be?

So for the month of June we are going to be answering that question as part of a four-part series called "One Prayer". Craig has asked some of the most dynamic pastors from across the country to video tape messages and submit them to One Prayer. We will be hearing from a couple of these pastors via video. What a tremendous way to expose ourselves to God's teaching without the honorarium. Seriously, we will be joining hundreds of churches in June as we explore our One Prayers for the church. This could be one of the most Kingdom-minded events in our churches history. I pray you will join us for this tremendous event.

Reading List

I told all of you that one of my goals this year was to read 50 books. I like to read books from across the spectrum of life. I can easily get into a rut of reading only theology books, but I believe it is extremely important to my growth as a person and as a pastor.

Here is what I have read so far this year:
In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day - Mark Batterson
Visioneering - Andy Stanley
Twelve Ordinary Men - John MacArthur
Building a Church of Small Groups - Bill Donahue and Russ Robinson
The Relational Way - M. Scott Boren
The Ascent of a Leader - Bill Thrall, Bruce McNicol and Ken McElrath
Velvet Elvis - Rob Bell
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team - Patrick Lencioni
The Man Who Walked Through Time - Colin Fletcher
Sacred Cows Make Gourmet Burgers - William M. Easum

I have two books I am reading right now so I will be almost caught up. I know some of you say that it is hard to find time to read. I read recently that you can read a book a month if you just put a book in the bathroom and read while you are...well you know.

And we are underway...

We kicked-off our 40 Days of Community campaign yesterday in grand fashion. The theme is "Life is a highway" and so we decorated with balloons and race car and traveling decorations. Our friends over at the Manhatten Cafe provided a feast for us during our continental breakfast. We had decorating help from one of our very talented folks, Kim Reed. We decided to just have one 10:30 a.m. gathering so we could all be together in a larger community for the kick-off.

The music team had us on our feet for the entire set and the energy was through the roof. I think everyone was singing and clapping for the entire 25 minutes of music. I thought to myself...this is how church should be.

Here is the other awesome development from yesterday. We started two more new small groups and had more people than I can count ask about being in small groups. If my count is anywhere near correct I think we are at somewhere around 40% of our average attendance in small groups for the 40 Days of Community.

Awesome Easter!

We had a fantastic Easter celebration. The music team began the celebration with an awesome set that included "God With Us" and "Saving the World". I know I felt the power of the Holy Spirit during the music.

The drama team brought a poignant and funny drama about the tendency to reduce holidays down to the celebration while forgetting the meaning. Jerry did a great job as the husband conned into a wearing a bunny suit (which looked hilarious).

I finished our Easter series "Famous Last Words". We are one of two thieves on one of two crosses. Do we see our need for a savior? If so, we too can here the reassuring words of Christ, "You will be with me in Paradise".

What a glorious day!

Today the family of TRCC is fasting in preparation for 40 Days of Community. We are praying that these next 40 days will be a time of growth, discernment and inspiration as we find Christ in community with each other and show Christ to the world in community with others.

Have a great day!

Tough month

Sorry for not posting more regularly, but it has been a tough month.

For those who don't know my 13 y.o. son has been sick for the last six weeks. We have been to doctors in St. Louis twice and worked with the school to get him caught up.

I will be posting more often.

Have a great Easter.

Holistic Gospel

One of the key points of the vision is an emphasis on the holistic gospel. This can best be summed up in the following motto: The whole gospel for the whole person for the whole world.

The whole gospel: If all we focus on is salvation and sanctification then we have missed the whole gospel. A close reading of the gospel message will reveal that there is more to the whole gospel message. We must be willing to preach and teach the need to love our neighbors and live in relationship with the entirety of God's creation.

The whole person: We do a great job of helping each other with the health of our spirits and souls. If we leave our teaching there then again we have missed the whole gospel. We need to focus also on the entire person. We need to emphasize physical health, mental health and emotional health of God's people.

The whole world: We can't just be in community with the people in our church or the people in our city. We need to recognize that we are part of something much bigger. We are members of the human race and that broadens our focus to all the people on the planet. We also need to recognize that the whole gospel includes our responsibility to live in community to God's creation. That includes some of the most sensitive ecological issues of our day. Issues like pollution and deforestation.

Scripture uses many terms for our mission in the world and all of them encompass holistic ministry.

TRCC is going to be launching some new ministries in the coming months that will begin to address issues of holistic ministry.

Building a covenant

I am working with the Leadership Team on creating a covenant for our team to make sure we are being intentional about creating room for God in our plans. The wonder of a covenant is that it requires a significant and meaningful relationship between the people and God. It is not just a simple agreement or contract. It has a God element that raises it onto a more spiritual plane and gives it a much deeper meaning. When you look at the covenants God made in scripture with Abram and Moses. A covenant also requires a sacrifice on the part of both parties that is deeper than performing tasks or keeping promises. I think of the sacrifice that was required in God's covenant between us and His son Jesus on the cross.

I am also praying about the idea of covenant around issues of church membership. We all belong to clubs and other organizations and those are memberships. The only thing required of a "member" typically is the paying dues. There usually is not an element of sacrifice included in membership. My question that I am praying over is: should church membership actually be a covenant? Should we be covenanting together as a church body to move inline with God's plan for TRCC?

EPIC Worship

I follow some Emergent Church blogs. One of the main issues arising out of that movement is the need to constantly look at the way we worship God. One of the ways worship is being modified is through EPIC Worship. Let me explain:

Experiential - The emergent community desires a worship that is more experiential in nature. They need to engage their senses in worship.
Participatory - This is the desire to be a part of the worship experience and not just a passive member of the audience.
Image-Rich - Worship should be full of images that help to bring people into presence of God. These images should be rich in symbolism and meaning.
Connect - Worship should provide ways for people to connect with each other and connect with God.

The reason I bring this up is that the Worship Team is discussing ways that TRCC can be more EPIC in our worship experience. I think this essential for TRCC to keep at the forefront on reaching people with the Gospel message.

Team Ministry

I have been doing a lot of soul searching lately about my place in ministry. One of the promises I made to God when I entered ministry is that I would always remain open to His leading where ever it may take me.

I have always been drawn to team ministry models. When I look at the model Jesus gave us with the disciples it is evident that ministry should be done as a team. The disciples traveled together and lived three years of their lives together. They prayed together, ate together and lived out their daily lives together.

One of my goals this year is to develop a team at TRCC that is focused on ministry as a whole and not individual ministries. This team will be very special. We will study the Word together, eat together, pray together and share our lives.

More on this later.

unChristian?

Yesterday I was reading an article about a new book titled, unChristian: What a Generation Thinks About Christianity... and Why it Matters by Dave Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons. I have not read the book yet, but in an interview with the authors they cite that the big three reasons people dislike the church is because they perceive us as Anti-homosexual, Unfriendly and Hypocritical. Now I believe that homosexuality is not inline with God's teachings, but I would never want to come across as anti-homosexual. I don't believe that adultery is inline with God's will, but someone who has fallen to that sin is welcome in the church. Same with someone who is living a homosexual lifestyle. You see I think the church is being perceived as hating the sin and the sinner. Unfortunately there may be some truth to that across this country.

In the February 5th edition of the Washington Post Pastor Rick Warren was interviewed. The following quote struck me in relation to the above article. Pastor Rick said, "I just think we're becoming too rude," he said. "You have no right to demonize someone just because you disagree with them." Ouch...!

For the world to perceive the church as "unfriendly" is a markedly deep failing in fulfilling our mission for Christ. How can we show the world the love of Christ when they perceive us as unfriendly?

Someday...

Not that I am planning to retire for a very long time, but I have finally found the place where I will eventually hang up it up.

Several years ago my wife bought me the Thomas Kinkade painting "End of a Perfect Day 2". It has been a treasured possession in our house and always will be. It is absolutely beautiful and I have always said that I wanted to find that place and retire there when Lisa and I are ready to settle down. I have finally found it!

Here is a picture of the Thomas Kinkade painting:

Now here is a place in Northwest Montana that I found surfing the internet:

Now how similar is that? I just need to actually find this place now...sounds like a fun vacation in the planning. Now...how long will it take to drive to Montana...onto Google Maps for the answer. Have a great day!

Sunday Reflections

There are those Sunday's where time we set aside to worship our Lord is just so special and profound that they are literally moments-in-time. Yesterday was one of those times.

The theme of Sunday was "Facing Fears" and it was evident from the opening song to the closing prayer. The band opened with "God with Us" which is a new song for us. It was awesome to see some many people singing along. Vickie's drama was fantastic as it addressed the numerous fears we have and how it is easy to take God for granted in the good times and only call on Him in the tough times. I included Rhoda's testimony as part of my message on "Facing Fears". She really conquered one of her fears by sharing her life with all of us. I know that everyone who heard it was blessed hear how God has worked so richly in her life.

Getting Caught Up...

Sorry for the delay in posting, but let me take a few minutes and get you caught up.

On the 20th the church gave me a Sunday off and the family got away to the St. Louis area for a little relaxation and shopping. We had to redeem those gift cards we got at Christmas...no need in letting that stuff go to waste.

This past Sunday night I went with our youth group to Winter Jam '08 at the Family Arena in St. Charles. I went to hear MercyMe and NewSong. I might have been in the minority among the 10,000 people who packed that arena. Most of them, our youth included, were there to see and hear Skillet. Now I loved hard rock as a teenager, but this was my first experience with Christian hard rock. All I really know is that it was...LOUD. Sorry did I shout that? My ears are still ringing... NewSong was the highlight of the night for me. They performed the song "Arise, My Love" and I think all 10,000 people were on their feet praising God.

We are going to be doing some different things in worship over the next few months. We are experimenting (isn't everything and experiment?) with countdown videos. We will be streaming these videos out to the lobby of the theater. These videos will help us all know when it is time to start and get our hearts prepared for worship. Our worship is also going to get much more thematic from the opening song to the closing prayer.

Bitter cold

This is my 11th winter in the Midwest, but I simply cannot get used to these bitterly cold winter days we get sometimes. Today the high temperature was in the teens and it is going to get near freezing tonight. According to the Weather Channel it feels like -6 degrees Fahrenheit outside right now. I don't care who you are or how long you have lived in this part of the country...it is cold!

Well I hope you stay warm this weekend. They say it is only going to get colder.

Mosaic

For a few years I have followed, read and listened to the teaching of Erwin McManus. He is the Lead Pastor of Mosiac in Pasadena, California. Mosiac is one of the leaders of the emerging church movement that began several years ago. In my opinion they have their finger on the pulse of the church today. They understand that the church is about the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. We are to love the people around us and we are to serve them in mission. In their Core Values it says that "church is movement, not an institution." How true that statement is, or at least should be.

I am looking for ways that we can begin to incorporate some of what Mosiac is doing. Now I understand that we are not in California, but believe it or not, Jesus is the same Jesus in Missouri and California. The same hurt and brokenness is felt all over the country. So the same love and service is needed here as much as it is needed there.

I will be reading four of Erwin McManus' books this year:
Uprising: A Revolution of the Soul
An Unstoppable Force
Seizing Your Divine Moment
Soul Cravings

I would welcome you to join me in reading them and then let's dialogue about what you found.

Have a great day!

Interesting study results...

Yesterday we finished up our series looking at the vision for the next 40 months at TRCC. I focused on the "why" of the vision. We need to understand what our mandate is as Christians to the people of this world and how we are to partner with God to make this the world He intended.

Well I woke up this morning to find some interesting research from Lifeway Research. They are the research arm of the Southern Baptist Convention. The results are not surprising, but none the less disheartening.

- 79% think Christianity "is more about organized religion than about loving God and loving people."
- I think the church is not demonstrating the Great Commandment. If people are not seeing the church as loving them, then we are truly failing in what it means to be Christ-followers. Jesus left us with very clear instructions in Luke 10:27: He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'^[a]; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'^[b]" We are clearly not loving our neighbors enough.

- 72% said they think the church ‘is full of hypocrites, people who criticize others for doing the same things they do themselves,"
- This is where the church has become a bit pharissetical in the way we behave. We quickly point out the problems of others and fail to hold each other accountable when we fall short of the mark of God.

- 86% believe they "can have a good relationship with God without being involved in church."
- Can anyone say community? We were created in community to be in community with others.

I don't know about you, but our mandate is clear. We can see what we need to do and where we have fallen short. So let's get rockin'!

Chasing the Lion

At the end of January we are going to begin a series called "Chasing the Lion" based on Mark Batterson's book "In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day". He recently posted the Chasing the Lion Manifesto and I want to share it with you.

Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Don't let what's wrong with you keep you from worshiping what's right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze new trails. Criticize by creating. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don't try to be who you're not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away.

Chase the lion.

Happy New Year

I just want to take a minute to wish you all a very Happy New Year. May you be open to God's leading this year and follow Him with your heart and soul.

Blessings on an awesome New Year!