new life ramblings (9/4/09)

Every week (or most weeks) I take a moment to share what is on my heart.  Everything from what is happening at New Life, our culture, in my life and just random stuff.  I call this “New Life Ramblings”.  Enjoy! Feel free to respond back!  Give input!  Ask questions!  Grab a cup of coffee and catch up on what is going on in my mind. 

 

• Sept. 13 is a significant day for New Life.  It will be the first opportunity to walk through our new building. We are going to write on the walls the names of people we have a burden for.  We are all called to plant seeds of the Word of God in the hearts of people far from God.  
• This Sunday we are having the kids (K-5^th grade) join us for worship in the main auditorium.  We are going to pray for this generation after our worship time.  Then the kids will head back to their environments.
• As New Life begins Fall—I would love to see many of you choose 9am or 12pm as your main worship service. Our 10:30am service was standing room only last Sunday.  This is a problem every Pastor loves to have. 
• Simply Worship was amazing.  We have two remaining this fall—Wednesday, Oct. 7 and Wednesday, Nov. 4. 
• This week we had some conflicts between weddings and ministry at New Life.  We navigated through them for sure.  However—I can’t wait until we get the new building.  It will solve SO many problems.
• RCS school started…I love seeing all these kids at New Life throughout the week. One of the many ways we are training this generation.  
• Small groups are beginning this fall.  Group Link is the best way to get into a small group.  Group Link is Sept. 25-26.  You can sign up here.
• On Sept. 13 we are beginning one of the most important series I will ever preach at New Life called “IGrow”.  What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus? How do you grow spiritually?
• On Sept. 13 I will share three burdens God has put on my heart for New Life. I can barely wait to preach Sept. 13.
• The local church is called to preach Jesus, the gospel, the Word of God.  Not culture and not opinions. We are called to “plant seeds” of the Word of God. 
• We are adding a third lane to exit off our property on 152^nd.  This will make significant improvements on Sunday!
• Moths have no stomach.
• 30 Sundays left in this building.  Our move-in date is Sunday, April 4.  (Easter 2010)
• We sent out the Big Give Commitment card.  I would love to receive these by Sunday, Sept. 13.  
• We must fight for this generation.  Every parent, grandparent, uncle, niece, school teacher, brother or sister, coach, mentor-every adult in our church,—God wants to rock your world these next few Sundays. 
• Again—remember we will be praying for our kids this weekend (K-5^th grade).

new life ramblings (8/28/09)

Every week (or most weeks) I take a moment to share what is on my heart.  Everything from what is happening at New Life, our culture, in my life and just random stuff.  I call this “New Life Ramblings”.  Enjoy! Feel free to respond back!  Give input!  Ask questions!  Grab a cup of coffee and catch up on what is going on in my mind. 

• This Sunday we continue our series called “Taken”.  I am so pumped.  We are talking talk about fighting for this generation.
• Small groups are beginning this fall.  Group link is September 25^th and 26^th.  Click HERE for more information. 
• On Sept. 13 we are beginning one of the most important series I will ever preach at New Life called “IGrow”.  What does it mean to be a growing follower of Jesus?
• On Sept. 13 I will share three burdens God has put on my heart for New Life. I can barely wait to preach. This summer God has spoken to me very clearly on the future of New Life. 
• On Sept. 13 we are doing a “Writing on the Wall” celebration.  We will write names of people we want to get saved in this new building on the wall.
• Sept. 13 is a big day for New Life.  You don’t want to miss it.
• The local church is called to preach Jesus, the gospel, the Word of God.  Not culture and not opinions. We are called to “plant seeds” of the Word of God. 
• My baby left the house this week.  Off to Northwest University.
• This Sunday Jana will lead us in a special time for prayer for this generation.  My wife knows how to pray.  
• We are officially changing the name of New Life “Membership” to New Life Orientation.  More details to come.
• We are adding a third lane to exit off our property on 152^nd.  This will make significant improvements on Sunday!
• 31 Sundays left in this building.  Our move in date is Sunday, April 4.  (Easter 2010)
• We sent out the Big Give Commitment card.  I would love to receive these by Sunday, Sept. 13. (there is the day Sept 13. again)
• We must fight for this generation.  Every parent, grandparent, uncle, niece, school teacher, brother or sister, coach, mentor-every adult in our church,—God wants to rock your world these next few Sundays. 

new life ramblings (8/21/09)

Every week (or most weeks) I take a moment to share what is on my heart.  Everything from what is happening at New Life, our culture, in my life and just random stuff.  I call this “New Life Ramblings”.  Enjoy! Feel free to respond back!  Give input!  Ask questions!  Grab a cup of coffee and catch up on what is going on in my mind. 

• This Sunday we begin a new series called “Taken”.  I am so pumped.  We are going to talk about fighting for this generation.
• Read Matthew 18:1-10 to prepare for Sunday.
• Our Membership Orientation is this Sunday at 5:00 PM.  This is chance to hear the heart of New Life. You don’t want to miss it. Click here to sign up.
• In a couple of weeks we are adding a third lane to exit our property on 152^nd.  This will make significant improvements on Sunday!
• 32 Sundays left in this building.  Our move-in date is Sunday, April 4.  (Easter 2010)
• We sent out the Big Give Commitment card.  I would love to receive these by Sunday, Sept 6. (mail them to me or turn in giving kiosk)
• By age 60, most people have lost half their taste buds.
• If you have a twitter account, follow me.
• We must fight for this generation.  Every parent, grandparent, uncle, niece, school teacher, brother or sister, coach, mentor-every adult in our church—God wants to rock your world these next few Sundays. 
• Here is my prayer—help us fight with passion for this generation. Help us decide to parent, not delegate.   We repent for being passive.  Put in our hearts a passion for this generation.
• Go to our web site and check out our promo video.  Warning—it is emotional and stirring.  But this fight is emotional.  No apologies.
• New Life, I need you to pray.  On November 1^st I am trusting God for 60 people to give $10,000 to help us finish phase 1.  (a bunch will give less–a handful of people will give more)
• I met with the Elders this week.  I presented some thoughts I felt like God was saying to me. It was a divine moment with our Elders.  They confirm in my heart some of the new things God is speaking to me.  This fall I will be sharing a message called “iGrow”.  This may be the most important series I have ever preached. God has called the Church to fill the pews…he has called us to make disciples.
• Sept 13 is our “writing on the wall” day at New Life.  We are going to write names of people on the wall we want to see come to Jesus through this new building.

Roosevelt Hunter–His Life, My Reflections

Roosevelt Hunter—His Life,  My Reflections

My friend and brother in Christ died this week. Roosevelt Hunter went home to be with Jesus. So many emotions. It is like a roller coaster. “this shouldn’t be” “why did God allow this to happen?” I have been sad, mad and rejoicing all at the same time.

My heart is broken. Roosevelt was a brother to me. An uncle to my girls. A best friend. We have known each other since 1993. My family and I are facing incredible pain right now. I went to his funeral Saturday, August 15, 2009.

Really it wasn’t a funeral at all. It was a celebration of a life. Jana and I flew to Florida and did a quick 36 hour trip. I was asked to be one of the pallbearers. Perhaps one of the top 5 honors of my life. It was sacred for me. How do you carry the body of Roosevelt Hunter and not feel like you are walking on Holy ground? Being one of Roosevelt’s pallbearers was a sacred and holy moment for me.

On the plane home I typed out five reflections and thoughts I had in the past few days since hearing about Roosevelt Hunter dying. I am going to take the next few days to share these reflections.

So often Christians don’t take time to embrace their pain and reflect on life. We are so quickly to say, “praise God Roosevelt is in heaven”. I have good theology. I understand heaven is real. I understand Roosevelt is in a better place rejoicing in the presence of God. I understand our final hope is in Jesus and Jesus alone.

With this said, “we need to learn to embrace our pain”. Pain is part of the journey of life. To say “Roosevelt is in heaven—let’s rejoice” is only part of the process to health. I think we have to go deeper than this. What is the message of Roosevelt’s life? What are the implications for our lives? How can the pain make us better? I don’t have all the answers. But we need to get real. We need to be honest. I don’t know why Roosevelt died at such a young age. I don’t get it. It hurts. It makes me anger. As we work through these emotions then we can begin to make reflections and observation that truly can shape us to being more like Jesus.

Roosevelt Hunter’s life had way to much to offer than just saying “praise God he is in heaven”. I will reflect on five of these over the next few days.

new life ramblings (8/14/09)

What a tough week.  One of my best friends, Roosevelt Hunter, passed away.  Jana and I are flying to attend his funeral.  They asked me to be a pallbearer.  A true honor.

• For those of you who don’t know Roosevelt, he was a brother to me.  An uncle to my girls.  A best friend.  We have known each other since 1993. My family and I are facing incredible pain right now. 
• Roosevelt Hunter was a friend of New Life.  Six months ago Roosevelt and I did a two week series called “The Perfect Storm”.  Roosevelt shared his battle with colon cancer.  Then Roosevelt came back in June for our “Man up” rally and youth rally.  We as a church fell in love with him and his ministry. We will stop and pray for his family on Sunday.
• I am so excited about this Sunday.  I am going to do a message called “Thirsty”.  I am praying that God would create thirst in all of us for Jesus.  I want to always be aware of what I call “sacred moments” with God.  I want to always be open to the Spirit of God interrupting my life. 
• Terry Kelly will be with us on Sunday.   For those of you who don’t know Terry—you will love him. He is an incredible worship leader that God is using all over the nation. We will have an extended time of worship at end of each service.
• Staring August 23, we are going to do a three week series called “Taken”.  I am so pumped.  We are going to talk about fighting for our kids.  They are being taken by the enemy and our culture. 
• There is a line in the movie “Taken” that keeps me awake at night.  “I don’t know who you are but if you don’t let my daughter go, I will find you”.  We need to fight for our kids. I can’t tell you how excited I am for this three week series.  You don’t want to miss it.  It will prepare you for fall. 
• November 1^st is our “Big Give” offering for our new building.  Turn in your Big Give commitment cards by the first of September! We need these final dollars to move into phase one of our new building.
• People are either like milk or wine…they get bitter or better with time.  Get better not bitter.
• If you have a twitter account…follow me.
• This has been a week of reflection for me.  Reflection—I am blessed way more than I deserve. Incredible wife.  Beautiful girls.  Amazing church! Good health. 
• All week we had Vacation Bible School.  300 kids.  Our children’s ministry rocks.

new life ramblings (8/7/09)

Every week (or most weeks) I take a moment to share what is on my heart.  Everything from what is happening at New Life, our culture, in my life and just random stuff.  I call this “New Life Ramblings”.  Enjoy! Feel free to respond back!  Give input!  Ask questions!  Grab a cup of coffee and catch up on what is going on in my mind.

• I hear Ricardo did an incredible job last weekend.  I love this team!
• I am so excited about Sunday. I haven’t seen the walls yet because I have been gone for 8 days in Orlando, Florida.  We are here for a national conference for pastors and a competition for my daughter Chelsey. 
• Chelsey did amazing at National Fine Arts.  Currently she is in the top 10 of the nation.  On Friday night we will hear the final results. 
• Chelsey truly honored God in her preaching and heart. I am a proud dad.
• We fly back Saturday.  First thing I will do is drive to the church to see the walls of our new building.
• Tapeworms can grow to 80 feet.
• This Sunday we are having a “raise the wall” BBQ in between our services.  Excited to celebrate the building with the church.
• We finish “Outbreak” on Sunday.  Read Revelation 3:14-22 to prepare.
• We are doing a two-week series August 16 and August 23 called “Thirsty”.  I am hungry for Jesus.  We will focus on how worship creates an environment for us to thirst for Jesus.
• I sent you a personal letter talking about our “Big Give” offering on November 1.  I am asking that everyone would read this letter and pray about what God would have you do to be part of the New Life Story. 
• Thank you for all your responses to our online survey.  Excellent input.  Click here if you still want to take it. It should only take a few moments.
• Jana and I had dinner with Warren and Judy Bullock this week. Dr. Bullock was the former Superintendant of the Northwest Ministry Network.  I am so blessed to have leaders like this in my life.
• Getting away is so essential.  It reminds me how good God is, how much I enjoy living in Seattle and how much Jana and I love New Life.

are you a parrot or pastor?

We are just one click away from every idea in the world.  All you have to do is surf the web, read a blog, or listen to a podcast–and there are unlimited ideas to copy  and put into practice at your church or organization.

We all need to be inspired by leaders. But there is a danger.  The danger is we become parrots, not pastors.

To “cut and paste” another man’s dream in your church is being a parrot not a pastor.  Let that sink in for a moment.  God didn’t call me to copy ideas, he called me to create dreams.

This hurts for sure. I have done this.  This short cut is easy. 

What is the problem?  The problem is we limit our creativity, leadership, and personal growth.  The process of developing the blueprints for your church or organization is more important than the blueprints themselves.  We take the easy road.  Any “parrot” can copy someone. We need to stretch ourselves, get away on a personal retreat and hear from God, pray our guts out and unleash the creativity in your life, church and organziation

Here is another problem—God creates every church different.  Just like human beings have different personalities, strengths, and weaknesses–so every church  God has a specific DNA…God is to creative to  just have you “cut and paste” and think you are being relevant. 

With all this said, we need to learn and grow from leaders.  I am not suggesting that we should reinvent the  wheel on everything.  If an idea resonates with you….great.  No problem. 

There is an old saying, “Give a Man a Fish, Feed Him For a Day. Teach a Man to Fish, Feed Him For a Lifetime”.  We need to learn to learn.  Don’t just take a persons “fish”—learn how he caught  it.  There is a big difference.   Leaders want to know how they caught the fish.  They don’t care how big the fish is–how did you catch it?  What are the timeless principles?

Every time you  listen to another leader, keep these things in mind.

1. Look for insights, not ideas (big difference.  Ideas are good.  But insights are better)
2. Look for principles, not programs (what are core principles to take away?)
3. Adapt, not adopt (when you take an idea…adapt it to your culture and church)
4. Create, don’t copy (Leaders create.  They don’t copy.  Let an idea inspire you to create something for Jesus)
5. Discover what questions they ask, not the answers (Listen carefully to the questions they are asking..not the answer they are giving.)

Are you a parrot or a pastor? 

For what it is worth–after I hear any speaker, visit any church, read a book or listen to any pod cast–I stop and capture on one piece of paper all the nuggets.  What are the take aways? What are the principles?  What are some insights that will help? And, yes, are there one or two ideas that can help me upgrade my leadership and ministry?

What is bugging me?

So often we set a list of goals and then forget about them.  Why?  I think we start with the wrong question.  Instead of asking–what are my fall goals? or “what are my annual goals”.  We need to start with the question–what is bugging me?  What is driving me crazy about my life, ministry, church or job?  Answer that question.  Once you answer that question you can begin to determine what are your goals. You can start putting them in writing.

God speaks to me by giving a gnawing feeling in my stomach.  Something is broken.  I can’t just put my finger on it.  We have taught ourselves to ignore these uncomfortable  thoughts.  We need to learn to listen. This may be God speaking.  (or just bad pizza….another conversation)

The fall is a great season to set goals.  I set fall and spring goals (instead of annual goals).  I define fall as–Sept through December and Spring as February through June.  I know this isn’t exactly the  correct months but it works for me.  Maybe it is just church life–but it works in my mind.  (btw-summer is an very important time for church…I set goals during this time also—I just treat them differently than fall and spring.)

Pastor and leader–what is bugging you as you enter this fall? What is your burden?  I’m not asking–what should be bugging you?  I’m not even asking–what is bugging you  in life?  What is bugging you right now?  This fall?  What is going to get your up and fight against all hell to change?  What will you  fix this fall?  

What is bugging you?  Fix this core problem this fall.

new life ramblings (7/31/09)

Every week (or most weeks) I take a moment to share what is on my heart.  Everything from what is happening at New Life, our culture, in my life and just random stuff.  I call this “New Life Ramblings”.  Enjoy! Feel free to respond back!  Give input!  Ask questions!  Grab a cup of coffee and catch up on what is going on in my mind. 

• Last weekend we had 25 people raise their hand to give their lives to Jesus.  I love seeing people cross the line of faith.
• This week the walls of our new building went up.  This Sunday will be very exciting.  Click here to view online. 
• Way too hot this week.  One evening our power went out at our house.…no power, no air conditioning. Miserable.
• I am sending you a personal letter talking about our “Big Give” offering on November 1.  I am asking that everyone would read this letter and pray about what God would have you do to be a part of the New Life Story. 
• Read Revelation 3:1-6 to prepare for Sunday.
• Pray for our kids.  We have kids camp and Vacation Bible School coming.
• We are surveying the church about future service times.  Click here to take this survey.
• We have three financial principles that are guiding us for our new building: 1) debt service not to exceed 25% of general income, 2) receive $2.6 million in cash and 3) pay off our loan in 15 years.  
• Pray for me and my family.  We will be at a national conference this week.  Chelsey will be preaching.  Very exciting times.
• The top of the Empire State building was built to anchor blimps
• Sunday, August 9—we are doing a “raise the walls” BBQ after each of our services.  This will be a great day of celebration.  We want every child, youth and adult to be involved with this Sunday. 
• This fall we are doing “Financial Peace University” for the first time.  Incredible program and material.  Click here to sign up for it today.  Life changing.  Jana and I love Dave Ramsey and how his principles have impacted us.
• If you missed last Sunday, watch it online.  God is calling His bride to sexual integrity.  Everything we do should be “Holy to God, Honorable to others”
• When you drive into our parking lot this Sunday—you will see our new building. Take a moment and thank God for his faithfulness.  If you have kids use this as a “teaching moment”.  Talk about the significance of a dream and how people working together can do amazing things. 
• Jana and I went out to dinner with Sam and Jenn Leyde this weekend.  Sam does such a great job leading our worship.  I love seeing our pastors with their wives. 
• Jana and I love you.   We pray for you.  We thank God for you.  Paul said, “I thank my God every time I remember you”…..I understand the emotions and passion of this prayer.

new life ramblings (7/24/09)

• Last weekend we had 15 people raise their hand to give their lives to Jesus.  I love seeing people cross the line of faith.
• This week the message is called “Church Gone Wild”.  Very excited to unpack Rev 2:18-29
• Last week we discussed two essential ingredients for Bible study.  “Eagerness and Examination”.  Are you eager for God’s word?  Do you examine the word of God?
• I visited our Senior High camp this week.  We had 90 students and leaders at camp.  Love seeing students love Jesus.
• Sept. 20 we are planning a 40 day fast.  Praying for our community, church and world.  We are specifically going to pray for Sunday, November 1. We need to receive $800,000 to finish phase one of our building.  Everyone needs to be involved. 
• We are doing concrete tilt up walls.  They will be going up soon.  August 9 we will take a moment in our services to celebrate the walls going up.  It’s going quickly.  If you haven’t finished your “Now is the Time” commitment—now is the time.  We need this by November 1.
• We moved the offering back to the middle of the service.  We want the end of the service to be a time to respond to the preaching.  Thank you for being patient as we try different things.  A healthy church is always rethinking how and why they do everything. 
• We have three financial principles that are guiding us for our new building: 1) debt service not to exceed 25% of general income, 2) receive $2.6 million in cash and 3) pay off our loan in 15 years.  We currently have received just over $1.8 million so we still need around $800,000 to meet or fund raising needs.
• On Sunday, November 1—we are doing a “big give” offering.  I need everyone to step up and help us finish Phase One. 
• A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.
• Had a BBQ with our Elders and spouses this week.
• I meet with Bibleman this week.  He is a personal friend of mine.  Cypher may retire one day.  I could be Bibleman’s next side kick J
• I have 298 people following my tweets….if you know what I am talking about….follow me.  If not….don’t worry.
• Chelsey is preaching at National Fine Arts in 10 days.  Pray for her.
• See you Sunday!