Cheryl and I are on vacation in the Southwest. First stop was Albuquerque, NM for the annual balloon festival. We spent Saturday looking at hundreds of beautiful hot air balloons and returned this morning for another look. We left in time to catch the middle service of a great church, Sagebrush Community Church. Pastor Todd Cook was ending a series called “Heart†and shared a message that encouraged us to be encouragers. It was exactly what I needed to hear.
Earlier this week I was looking for an old file and ran across some notes from a “Dream Big†planning retreat we did as a staff in August of 2007. We were almost 2 years old at that time and the assignment was to brainstorm about “the sky is the limit†and “money is not an obstacle†dreams the staff at the time had. It was amazing to look at the list today and realize that much of the list is being accomplished or could be in a short amount of time. I realized it is time for us to dream big again!
Today my role very quickly switched from pastor to dad. I was in a meeting preparing for a potential new ministry our church is considering. We were talking future, big dreams, ministry, and new ways of helping people. I love thinking Kingdom-building strategy.
I am thankful for the women that bring their family to church every Sunday alone, because their husbands will not come. I know that many of those women have one great prayer request; that their husband would become a believer and/or assume the role of spiritual leadership in the home. Having walked through this with many families over the years, I would like to share some suggestions of things I have seen that work for wives in helping to wind their husband for Christ.
I spent most of my career in the business world. I was always extremely active and in leadership roles in church and other civic activities, but I earned my living in a for-profit environment. During those years, as an outsider looking in, I believed non-profits had so much to learn from the world of business.
Yesterday I shared a message on a familiar story. We use Truthcasting to archive our video messages. I’m thankful they no longer require you to login to view. Watch yesterday’s message here.
Here is a principle I have learned in years of ministry and life experience.
Everything is relative to the context in which you live.
Operation Serve! What an experience! I am so thankful to be a part of Grace Community Church and for all that serve! Let’s not allow this to be a once a year experience. Find ways to continue to take Christ’s love to the streets of our community!
Adam Bayne is out new children’s pastor. He’s a nut and has added a whole new element to our staff. Check out his latest video he’s using to inspire children to love church. Crazy! (Adam’s the pirate BTW.)
As a church planter concerned about spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but consistently meeting people who have no interest in what they believe Christianity to be, this appears to be an important movie. My friend Michael Hyatt was the first to recommend this movie, which would be enough to encourage me to watch it. After watching the trailer, there is no question I will put this movie on my “must see” list.
Are you bringing new ideas to your organization, church, or the place where you work?
I love Southwest’s magazine. I always find interesting articles to kill time during flights. This month was no exception. I am glad that let you bring these magazines home. (They do, don’t they?)
Do you harness the greatest power in your organization? The best assets of your church, business or non-profit never appear on your balance sheet.
I read a strong reminder for those of us that have the responsibility of preaching God’s Word, but I think it’s applicable for all of use. These are Jesus words to us from The Message Version.
There is one incredibly important characteristic of a successful team or organization. It is inherent and cannot be trained or programmed. With this trait a team can weather the storms of life together. When this is an attribute of an organization, regardless of the struggles it encounters, the vision can be accomplished.
