Archive for April, 2010
Hey NewSpring Church…Eight Quick Things… April 29, 2010
#1 – This Sunday will be one of the BEST communion services we’ve EVER had…can’t wait!
#2 – This Sunday will be an UNBELIEVABLE SUNDAY to get people to come to church with you…seriously, people receive Christ EVERY TIME we do communion…and we are fully believing He is going to “draft” people on His team this weekend. SO…go for it with the same intensity you did at Easter, reengage people again…you never know what God might do!!!
#3 – PRAY for this Sunday, specifically that His presence will be experienced, that people will surrender their lives to Him and that people will get their hearts and minds right before partaking in communion. (AND…go ahead and begin to pray for Him to prepare your heart!)
#4 - DO NOT MISS THE OPENING SONG!!! Seriously…THIS is THE SUNDAY to make sure you are in your seat when the counter hits zero!
#5 – There is a rumor that “Sweet Child ‘O Mine” is going to be performed within the next several months at NewSpring Church…(maybe around August or so)…I cannot confirm or deny that rumor! :-)
#6 – If you have ever thought that God may have something incredible planned for your life…but your not sure what it may be…then you NEED to be at our three week series on the book of Esther beginning on May 16th.
#7 – Lucretia is pregnant!
#8 – The line above is not true…I just wanted to see (once again) how many began calling and emailing other people before reading this line. :-)
Ten Random Leadership Thoughts… April 28, 2010
#1 – Throwing money at a problem doesn’t always fix it; in fact, it may actually just cause it to be a more expensive problem!
#2 – A leader should care way more about HOW people are doing rather than HOW they are doing their work. (The leader that doesn’t care about the people he serves with is most likely using them for his glory, not God’s!)
#3 – Loyalty cannot be demanded…it must be earned.
#4 – If there isn’t a system to see what you want to see happen on a consistant basis…then it probably isn’t going to happen on a consistant basis.
#5 – If we don’t make integrity an issue then it WILL become an issue.
#6 – Getting a clearer vision of JESUS is essential to having a clearer vision for our church…we can’t be like Him if we don’t know Him.
#7 – People do not naturally drift into making radical commitments…they must be challenged to go there.
#8 – The risks don’t get easier…they become more intense.
#9 – If God has called you to do “it,” then you are empowered and gifted to do “it” as well!
#10 – The people God has placed to lead with you should be listened to and valued; after all, God speaks to them too!
Seven Danger Signs That Our “Walk” May Be A “Limp” Part Two April 27, 2010
#1 – When We Lack Humility
Intimacy with God will always result in humility…period. BUT…when a person becomes obsessed with who they are rather than who HE is then it will ALWAYS show! (Sort of like the church where the pastors picture is everywhere…even in the restroom, which is TOTALLY UNNECESSARY!)
Now…please understand, if someone tells you that you are not humble then you cannot argue (and if you try then you just prove their point.) (BTW…I blogged in detail about that here if you want to read more.)
#2 – When We Read The Bible For Information, Not Transformation
All too often as a “professional minister” we open our Bibles to try to figure out how to shape other people rather than hoping that God, in His mercy, will shape us!
#3 – When We Listen To A Sermon On Sunday’s And Think, “I Hope THEY Are Getting This,” rather than, “Jesus, shape MY life through this!”
#4 – When We Say Things Like, “That song doesn’t really do it for me anymore.”
(Which is always sad and funny to me @ the same time because…”that song” wasn’t written for the purposes of “doing it” for you…but rather to honor/exalt the name of Jesus! So…if HE is pleased with it…then we should be as well, unless the singing experience is all about keeping us happy!)
#5 – When we make excuses as to the way we are instead of actually practicing confession and repentance.
If someone is a butthole…and then they are that same butthole 10 years later…they probably aren’t walking with Jesus. We can’t walk with Him and stay the same!!! (BTW…the only people who got mad at this point are the buttholes!)
#6 – When we complain that other people aren’t recognizing our gift rather than faithfully using it every single day.
When our desire moves from affection for Christ to receiving the attention of others…there’s a SERIOUS problem.
#7 – When we refuse to celebrate God’s blessing and favor on the lives of others because it seems to be “out shining” what we are currently doing.
When we begin to tear down other people and ministries out of insecurity it is merely exposing a problem in OUR lives…no one elses!
Seven Danger Signs That Our “Walk” May Be A “Limp” Part One April 26, 2010
Hey leader, pastor, church member…anyone, here’s a question for you – How’s your walk with God going…REALLY?
By the way, “I’m not sure” isn’t the right answer…because ALL OF US know when a relationship is or is not where it needs to be.
Like it or not…a dynamic walk with God isn’t just a good idea, but rather is ESSENTIAL if we want to be effective in life and ministry.
For example, the ministry of the Apostle Paul…I think we would all agree that it was pretty incredible, that Jesus used Him to accomplish some pretty amazing things. SO…how did it begin? Sure…we all know the story of Acts 9…but something hit me like a ton of bricks the other day…and it was the first question that Paul ever asked Jesus, “Who are you, Lord?”
Paul spent the rest of his life seeking the answer to THAT question…because he knew that before we can truly discover WHAT God wants…we need to see WHO He is.
So…how’s your walk with God going…REALLY?
And church staff member…STOP…don’t play games with this question. You see, it is SO easy for us to fake it…or simply confuse things. Remember…we’re not called to walk around God…we’re called to walk with Him.
We cannot initiate true ministry if we are lacking true intimacy with Him. There isn’t one example of anyone in the Scriptures who accomplished GREAT things for Him that wasn’t first set on fire by Him…
And so…this week we will look at seven danger signs we need to pay attention to that will point to how our walk is going…REALLY.
Sunday Night Reflections…Monday Edition April 26, 2010
A few thoughts on a GREAT day yesterday…
- Clayton King brought one of the best messages on the authority and practicality of Scripture I’ve EVER heard…still trying to take in all I heard.
- One of my favorite quotes from his talk yesterday was, “It’s not the time we spend in the Word that makes the difference…it’s the time we spend obeying it that matters!” DANG!
- OH…and also, “If we don’t obey the Bible we don’t believe the Bible” was pretty stout as well!
- I LOVED that we gave away LOTS of Bibles yesterday at every campus to people who did not have one.
- Our Bibles are NOT a good luck charm…having them in our home will not bring some sort of mystical blessing upon our lives…we’re not called to have them around us but rather have HIS Word INSIDE of us!
- It’s funny…when our phones go off and we get a text message we lose our flippin minds trying to see who contacted us and what they are saying…the Bible is a HUGE “text message” from God…we should do all we can to see all that He says.
- I’ve never met a person who said, “your church isn’t deep enough” that was actually spending quaility time in the Scriptures on their own!
- Hey NewSpring…don’t forget that we are going to celebrate Communion this coming Sunday at ALL campuses!!! Do all you can do to GET HERE and bring people with you!
- AND…Mother’s Day this year is going to be UNBELIEVABLE…can’t wait!
That’s all for now…got a BUSY Monday…so blessed to be able to do what I do!
Stop Expecting Excitement To Happen…Create It! April 22, 2010
Yes, as a matter of fact I am excited/pumped/stoked out of my mind…
About the NEXT sermon…
About the NEXT Sunday…
About the NEXT series…
I really don’t believe our church has achieved a fraction of all that God wants us to achieve…
AND that has me excited!
I talk about my excitement a lot…which seems to confuse some pastors. They ask, “why are you always talking about how pumped you are?”
The answer is simple…I AM PUMPED!
Hey pastor…if you want there to be excitement in the seats it has got to begin with some excitement in YOU!
You can’t expect the people you lead to be somewhere that you haven’t already been!
AND…let me be clear about this, the “excitement” can’t be fake…it can’t be manufactured…it’s got to be real, it’s got to come from a WHITE HOT vision from God that absolutely sets your soul on fire!
The way I see it we all have a choice…we can be excited about what God USED to do in our church…OR we can be excited about what we feel like He is ABOUT to do!
And while we should be THANKFUL for all He has done in the past we should not live there!
My advice in regards to how to create excitement…
#1 – Get alone with God
#2 – Ask Him to reveal Himself to you in ways you’ve never seen/experienced before
#3 – Read the book of Acts over and over
#4 – Read the Gospels over and over
#5 – Hang out with people who are on fire (NOT the ones who have fire extinguishers)
#6 – DO NOT APOLOGIZE for your passion…EVER!!! (I would MUCH rather be accused of being too passionate than being apathetic!!!)
The first step to an ON FIRE CHURCH is an ON FIRE LEADER…and with ALL of the power and resources of the Holy Spirit, God’s Word…AND the amazing technology He has given us in today’s world…there is NO EXCUSE why we should not be PUMPED UP about the potential of HIS CHURCH accomplishing SO MUCH MORE than we could EVER imagine!
“Give ‘em Hell This Sunday!” Uh…Nope! April 21, 2010
I’ve had this on my mind since last week…
I’ve heard preachers say before, “Give ‘em hell on Sunday!” I know what is meant by it…but its sort of sad really that some people actually delight in the fact that there is a place called hell and people really do go there.
Reality is this…people get enough “hell” during the week…their marriages are on the rocks, jobs are uncertain, kids are freaking out, dating life is falling apart…I could go on…
And the last thing people need is to walk into an environment where someone “gives ‘em hell!” (MAYBE that’s one of the reasons people are dropping out of church like crazy!)
I would say don’t “give ‘em hell” this Sunday–but GIVE THEM HOPE! (I heard Pete Hise say last week that Hope is on the endangered species list…that people NEED hope, but they aren’t turning to the church for it!)
The life of Jesus gives us HOPE that God actually wants us in a relationship with Him.
The cross gives us HOPE that there is no condemnation for those in Christ.
The empty tomb gives us HOPE that He can conquer anything that we face.
People need HOPE!
Don’t misunderstand…I’m not saying, “go easy and don’t call out sin!” The problem is that many pastors want to call out the sin but not point to the Savior who paid for that sin and in whom is COMPLETE forgivness and RESTORATION to a God that is desperate to reach people!
The message should be a message of HOPE…and with the world being as dark as it is the church should be shining brighter than EVER before!
We don’t shatter darkness by condemning people…but by pointing them to Christ, the One who shatters condemnation!
Give ‘em hope Sunday!