Probably our best setup yet. We have done a little reconfiguration of our staging area to make it a little bigger and to get the screen up a little higher. We really liked the results today. Honestly, it was the best the band has ever done from a strictly sound standpoint so kudos to Tony & Noah!
Looking forward to tomorrow morning.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Friday, November 9, 2007
Collaboration, Church, and Lifechurch.tv
As we started off in church planting we and by we, I mostly mean me, I have longed to be able to work side by side with other churches. It's funny because we aren't competing with other churches we should be the biggest cheerleaders for them. When one church is succeeding, as pastors, we ought to be the first people on the phone telling the other pastors how happy we are for them. When they are struggling we ought to be the first ones on the phone offering to help in anyway we can.
Sadly enough it just doesn't seem to want to work that way. Over the last year I have personally called a half a dozen guys in the area and no one seems to want to put any energy into working together. Calls and emails go unanswered. Understand this, I am not griping about it. More than anything it just saddens me because the Bible tells us that "Two are better than one. When one falls the other is there to help them up." in another place the Bible tells us that "a three strand chord is not easily broken." In other words, there is something about being and working together that strengthens people and the same, I believe, is true about churches.
When churches link themselves together for prayer, worship, and teaching there are some great things that happen. That is one of the reasons I LOVE Lifechurch.tv. They're actively seeking people to partner with because they get it. There is strength in numbers. It's not about creating another denomination or sect of people that are isolated away from the rest of their community they're all about partnering together so that each church can more fully do what it was called to do in the community it was called to do it! We and they want to share resources, knowledge, and support so that all churches and ministries are as successful as the can be.
As we go through the next few months you'll be seeing more about Lifechurch.tv. Keep in mind the goal here is not to become them. The goal is to partner with them so that we are more fully equipped to do what we are called to do. That might take shape in any number of ways but one thing is for certain we are who we are, and we are going to stay who we are. The simple fact is I don't know how to be any else than who God created me to be.
Sadly enough it just doesn't seem to want to work that way. Over the last year I have personally called a half a dozen guys in the area and no one seems to want to put any energy into working together. Calls and emails go unanswered. Understand this, I am not griping about it. More than anything it just saddens me because the Bible tells us that "Two are better than one. When one falls the other is there to help them up." in another place the Bible tells us that "a three strand chord is not easily broken." In other words, there is something about being and working together that strengthens people and the same, I believe, is true about churches.
When churches link themselves together for prayer, worship, and teaching there are some great things that happen. That is one of the reasons I LOVE Lifechurch.tv. They're actively seeking people to partner with because they get it. There is strength in numbers. It's not about creating another denomination or sect of people that are isolated away from the rest of their community they're all about partnering together so that each church can more fully do what it was called to do in the community it was called to do it! We and they want to share resources, knowledge, and support so that all churches and ministries are as successful as the can be.
As we go through the next few months you'll be seeing more about Lifechurch.tv. Keep in mind the goal here is not to become them. The goal is to partner with them so that we are more fully equipped to do what we are called to do. That might take shape in any number of ways but one thing is for certain we are who we are, and we are going to stay who we are. The simple fact is I don't know how to be any else than who God created me to be.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Getting Pumped Up
I am getting really excited about this weekends service. I just have this hunch that this is going to be a big weekend, not only for us, but for everyone who comes out. We are hitting on some pretty touchy material this weekend (pornography and sexual sins.) Virtually everyone's life has been effected by this stuff on some level.
Most of us guys can tell you the exact time and location we saw our first naked lady photo. We can tell you because that image is burned into our brains. Those images changed our views of women. Our minds were transformed from the moment we saw them. We never looked at women the same.
This weekend we are going to hit it head on. We are going to talk about what porn does not only for us guys, but the effects that it has on women, our marriages, and our minds. This is going to be a huge weekend. Get every guy you know to church on Sunday!
Most of us guys can tell you the exact time and location we saw our first naked lady photo. We can tell you because that image is burned into our brains. Those images changed our views of women. Our minds were transformed from the moment we saw them. We never looked at women the same.
This weekend we are going to hit it head on. We are going to talk about what porn does not only for us guys, but the effects that it has on women, our marriages, and our minds. This is going to be a huge weekend. Get every guy you know to church on Sunday!
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
A method to the madness
One of the things that has always puzzled me about church growth is that people in church leadership seem to think there is some magic formula out there. If they could just tap into that magic formula then their church would be able to grow just like that church across town that is growing. While there are some basic things every church can do to help it self grow just copying another church isn't going to make growth happen.
For us, we are going to do what we are. We are a church made up of normal everyday people. That's who we are and that is who we'll be. We do music that is stuff we'd listen to on the radio, we dress like we'd dress if we where hanging out with our friends, and we'll teach on stuff that we all need to hear. We don't need smoke and mirrors, we don't need fancy $2000 suits and slicked back hair. In fact, I loathe wearing a suit! I don't spend more than $12.00 for a haircut, and if someone were to turn on a smoke machine I'd probably have an allergic reaction to it.
At Real Life we think that church growth happens best when you are actually reaching people. When lives are being changed people get excited and when people get excited they invite their friends. When people invite their friends church growth happens. It's as simple as that.
For years I served at a church I would not invite friends to because I was too afraid they'd be offended or turned off by the churches lack of understanding of people not like them. We played music no one outside of the church would have ever listened to, we talked in church-speak, and we had a culture all our own. We wondered why we weren't growing and reaching the lost. The answer was simple, we were clueless.
We had no idea how to relate to people that were not churched because we were so far removed from them that we had no idea how to reach them. That is why at Real Life we actively seek out people that are not yet Christ followers and try to include them in what we are doing with no strings attached. It might be playing in the band, helping us set up, helping deliver food to the needy, or anything else we are doing.
At times it can be messy. They don't always say the right things or do the right things. But the payoff is huge. A month or so ago, I looked out during Sunday worship and saw someone that was as far from God as a person could be a few short months ago. That person was in tears as we sang and worshiped God. That is how a church grows.
For us, we are going to do what we are. We are a church made up of normal everyday people. That's who we are and that is who we'll be. We do music that is stuff we'd listen to on the radio, we dress like we'd dress if we where hanging out with our friends, and we'll teach on stuff that we all need to hear. We don't need smoke and mirrors, we don't need fancy $2000 suits and slicked back hair. In fact, I loathe wearing a suit! I don't spend more than $12.00 for a haircut, and if someone were to turn on a smoke machine I'd probably have an allergic reaction to it.
At Real Life we think that church growth happens best when you are actually reaching people. When lives are being changed people get excited and when people get excited they invite their friends. When people invite their friends church growth happens. It's as simple as that.
For years I served at a church I would not invite friends to because I was too afraid they'd be offended or turned off by the churches lack of understanding of people not like them. We played music no one outside of the church would have ever listened to, we talked in church-speak, and we had a culture all our own. We wondered why we weren't growing and reaching the lost. The answer was simple, we were clueless.
We had no idea how to relate to people that were not churched because we were so far removed from them that we had no idea how to reach them. That is why at Real Life we actively seek out people that are not yet Christ followers and try to include them in what we are doing with no strings attached. It might be playing in the band, helping us set up, helping deliver food to the needy, or anything else we are doing.
At times it can be messy. They don't always say the right things or do the right things. But the payoff is huge. A month or so ago, I looked out during Sunday worship and saw someone that was as far from God as a person could be a few short months ago. That person was in tears as we sang and worshiped God. That is how a church grows.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Sunday mind dump
Ok....It's actually Monday but I thought I'd go ahead and unpack the mind from yesterdays service.
- A good service overall. We had a few issues with sound but that is to be expected from time to time.
- A solid turn out. We had our second highest number of attendees to date. To top that off we had our best single week offering to date.
- We have some cool things planed for the next month or so. First, we are doing a family fun day service December 18th. We'll be combining the kids into the adult service and the kids will get a small taste of what we do and we'll get a large taste of what they do!
- After the family fun day we are going to have a pizza party for everyone who wants to stick around and chow. It'll be a great time to get to know a few people from the church and we'll have a few minutes to mingle with some of the newer folks.
- The series my secrets is going very well. Tim Gurney shared his story about becoming addicted to drugs and alcohol. He did a great job telling us of his struggles.
- We have a surprise guest next week who'll be talking about the effects of pornography on the innocent party. You won't want to miss this one I can promise you that much.
- A great job by Noah Stone of stepping up and running the sound board with only my 3 minutes of minimal training for him! Great Job! You get the award for volunteer of the week!
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Set your clocks back
Remember to set your clocks back tonight!
We'll know if you didn't because you'll become a part of the set up crew without even knowing it.
Looking forward to the next couple of Sundays. We have so many cool things we have coming up. I'd love to just spill it all right now but what fun would that be?
We'll know if you didn't because you'll become a part of the set up crew without even knowing it.
Looking forward to the next couple of Sundays. We have so many cool things we have coming up. I'd love to just spill it all right now but what fun would that be?
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Grace
After a rather heated discussion with someone today I got to thinking about grace. What exactly is grace and how do you show someone grace? Grace is simply unearned mercy and unmerited favor. When we show kindness to another person that doesn't deserve kindness we are living a life of grace. When we love them even though they haven't earned it that is grace.
Grace is a big challenge for most of us because we want it shown to us. We want people to forgive us when we haven't earned it, to love us when we haven't been lovable, to be merciful to us when we haven't shown others mercy. When it comes to the wrongs committed against us most of us want justice instead of grace.
God is just the opposite. God commands us to love the the unloving, to forgive the unforgiving, and to give to those who haven't yet earned it. Jesus was talking one time to a woman at a well who was a known prostitute. While he was talking to her a bunch of religious folks approached wanting to stone this woman because of her wrongs. Jesus basically said. O.k. cool, whichever one of you is blameless go ahead and throw the first stone. Of course, they all went away sad.
Man that is so us some times.
We have the stones and are just looking for reasons to throw them...........remember that every time you have a stone in your hand....
Grace is a big challenge for most of us because we want it shown to us. We want people to forgive us when we haven't earned it, to love us when we haven't been lovable, to be merciful to us when we haven't shown others mercy. When it comes to the wrongs committed against us most of us want justice instead of grace.
God is just the opposite. God commands us to love the the unloving, to forgive the unforgiving, and to give to those who haven't yet earned it. Jesus was talking one time to a woman at a well who was a known prostitute. While he was talking to her a bunch of religious folks approached wanting to stone this woman because of her wrongs. Jesus basically said. O.k. cool, whichever one of you is blameless go ahead and throw the first stone. Of course, they all went away sad.
Man that is so us some times.
We have the stones and are just looking for reasons to throw them...........remember that every time you have a stone in your hand....
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