Wednesday, July 30, 2008
looking for passion...
Just a few months until the Leadnow 2008 event in Dallas!! I worked for this organization “The Rightnow Campaign” about a year ago and got to catch a glimpse of what it means to be ‘missional’…and then to be passionate about it! I went to Orlando and D.C. in 2007 and got to hang out with peeps like David Crowder, Donald Miller, Dan Kimball, Margaret Feinberg, Todd Phillips and way too many others to list here. So, I invited a couple from my church to come check it out. Little did I know what God had in store for them…and little did they know?!?! Insane… but really awesome what God did and is continuing to do in their lives.
Leadnow is ALL about equipping leaders and those passionate about 20-30 somethings. Expose what you’re passionate about and unleash those passions into action. I’m not talking about “ok, I love to teach soccer…so, I’ll go home, get online, research and see how this might be something I could use”. NOPE… they have over 30 mission organizations there at the events that you can connect with right then and there and get plugged into. Missions? I used to associate missions with going out of the States, but I think Dwight Ozard states it well “The greatest mission filed we face is not in some faraway land. The strange and foreign culture most Americans fear is not across the ocean, it’s barely across the street. The culture most lost to the gospel is our own, our children and our neighbors. It’s a culture that can’t say two sentences without referring to a TV show or a pop song. It’s a culture more likely to have a body part pierced than to know why Sarah laughed. It’s a culture that we stopped loving and declared a culture war on”.
SO… that’s what happened to my friends who went to Leadnow in Orlando. They heard God's voice calling them and they acted on it! They were checking out all the speakers and decided to check out a video about children in Africa. Long story short… they are currently in Uganda! Sold everything they owned, house and all…packed it up and moved to Africa. Don’t know how many of us would put all our trust and faith in God to do something so bold. Much less, just to even entertain the idea when we hear the voice of God calling us. We usually ignore it or think it’s the Taco Bueno we ate the night before.
There are so many different mission opportunities here in our area…we just have to open our eyes and engage our creative, God given brains to realize what they are. I would love see us all put as much effort into our daily mission field as my friends in Uganda are. Just think about the impact we could have on our spiritually impoverished communities?!?
Want to go to Leadnow/Fusion? let me know...it's in November
Leadnow is ALL about equipping leaders and those passionate about 20-30 somethings. Expose what you’re passionate about and unleash those passions into action. I’m not talking about “ok, I love to teach soccer…so, I’ll go home, get online, research and see how this might be something I could use”. NOPE… they have over 30 mission organizations there at the events that you can connect with right then and there and get plugged into. Missions? I used to associate missions with going out of the States, but I think Dwight Ozard states it well “The greatest mission filed we face is not in some faraway land. The strange and foreign culture most Americans fear is not across the ocean, it’s barely across the street. The culture most lost to the gospel is our own, our children and our neighbors. It’s a culture that can’t say two sentences without referring to a TV show or a pop song. It’s a culture more likely to have a body part pierced than to know why Sarah laughed. It’s a culture that we stopped loving and declared a culture war on”.
SO… that’s what happened to my friends who went to Leadnow in Orlando. They heard God's voice calling them and they acted on it! They were checking out all the speakers and decided to check out a video about children in Africa. Long story short… they are currently in Uganda! Sold everything they owned, house and all…packed it up and moved to Africa. Don’t know how many of us would put all our trust and faith in God to do something so bold. Much less, just to even entertain the idea when we hear the voice of God calling us. We usually ignore it or think it’s the Taco Bueno we ate the night before.
There are so many different mission opportunities here in our area…we just have to open our eyes and engage our creative, God given brains to realize what they are. I would love see us all put as much effort into our daily mission field as my friends in Uganda are. Just think about the impact we could have on our spiritually impoverished communities?!?
Want to go to Leadnow/Fusion? let me know...it's in November
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Youth Camp
What a freak... i cant even understand a word he's saying...! gotta love our youth pastor
Monday, July 28, 2008
good stuff to chew
I read this again today from Mark Batterson's blog. I read it every now and then... just to keep me in check. It's so true and i wanted to just throw it up here. I guess this is like blogmixing?!?
A Gut Check for Growing Churches
The more we grow...
1) ...the greater the PRIVILEGE
I never want myself or anyone on our staff to have a sense of entitlement. We're only servants--I Cor. 3:5.
2) ...the more COMPLICATED things get
Sin complicates your life in negative ways. Growth complicates your life in positive ways. Learn to thank God for complications!
3) ...the harder it is to maintain UNITY
Vision is the key to unity! The larger you get the more frequently you need to cast vision. Unity doesn't happen by default--Eph 4:3.
4) ...the better STEWARDS we need to be
Growth raises the stakes. With greater responsibility comes greater accountability.
5) ...the more ABOVE REPROACH we need to be
I Corinthians 10:23 says, "Everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial." As our leadership expands, there can be an unhealthy and unholy tendency toward the permissible end of the spectrum! Guard against it. As our influence expands, leaders need to move toward the beneficial end of that spectrum!
6) ...the easier it is to exist for those who ALREADY BELONG
As a church grows it is very easy to give in to centripetal force--we become inward-focused and ingrown. The Great Commission is centrifugal--go into all the world.
7) ...the easier it is to do ministry out of MEMORY instead of ministry out of IMAGINATION
The beginning of the end for every entreprenurial organization is the moment they stop doing what got them to where they are! You need to keep making mistakes. You need to keeping experimenting. Don't repeat the past. Create the future!
8) ...the more we have to remind ourselves of WHY we're doing what we're doing and WHO we're doing it for
There is a fine line between building Thy Kingdom and My Kingdom. As your circle of influence grows, you need to stay Christ-centered.
9) ...the more you have to guard your heart
As you grow, so does the target on your back. Leaders need to keep a pure heart in the midst of criticism and temptation. The blessings of God backfire when they produce pride. Stay humble.
10) ...the bigger our DREAMS need to get
The size of our dreams is one of the best barometers of spiritual maturity. People with a big God have big dreams!
A Gut Check for Growing Churches
The more we grow...
1) ...the greater the PRIVILEGE
I never want myself or anyone on our staff to have a sense of entitlement. We're only servants--I Cor. 3:5.
2) ...the more COMPLICATED things get
Sin complicates your life in negative ways. Growth complicates your life in positive ways. Learn to thank God for complications!
3) ...the harder it is to maintain UNITY
Vision is the key to unity! The larger you get the more frequently you need to cast vision. Unity doesn't happen by default--Eph 4:3.
4) ...the better STEWARDS we need to be
Growth raises the stakes. With greater responsibility comes greater accountability.
5) ...the more ABOVE REPROACH we need to be
I Corinthians 10:23 says, "Everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial." As our leadership expands, there can be an unhealthy and unholy tendency toward the permissible end of the spectrum! Guard against it. As our influence expands, leaders need to move toward the beneficial end of that spectrum!
6) ...the easier it is to exist for those who ALREADY BELONG
As a church grows it is very easy to give in to centripetal force--we become inward-focused and ingrown. The Great Commission is centrifugal--go into all the world.
7) ...the easier it is to do ministry out of MEMORY instead of ministry out of IMAGINATION
The beginning of the end for every entreprenurial organization is the moment they stop doing what got them to where they are! You need to keep making mistakes. You need to keeping experimenting. Don't repeat the past. Create the future!
8) ...the more we have to remind ourselves of WHY we're doing what we're doing and WHO we're doing it for
There is a fine line between building Thy Kingdom and My Kingdom. As your circle of influence grows, you need to stay Christ-centered.
9) ...the more you have to guard your heart
As you grow, so does the target on your back. Leaders need to keep a pure heart in the midst of criticism and temptation. The blessings of God backfire when they produce pride. Stay humble.
10) ...the bigger our DREAMS need to get
The size of our dreams is one of the best barometers of spiritual maturity. People with a big God have big dreams!
Drunk Fish
ok.... totally forgot about "Drunk Fish" night at my parents. Really excited about getting to hang out with my buddy Lee Hinton. My pops is cooking up some trout and I've not had trout in a while, so I'm gettin the itch to do some fly fishing el pronto!!!!
The closest place to do any fly fishing worth the drive, I think, is Beavers Bend State Park in OK. They have a fairly new fly shop and they are starting to stock it more and more up there. Need to set up a quick trip SOON!!!!!!
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Sunday Reflections
WOW...had a really good time hanging out with the crew at Four Winds this morning. Looking forward to hearing about the Youth trip when they get back next week.
We looked at one of the 7 deadly sins "Lust" this morning and how our lack of satisfaction in God leads to lust. To hear this mornings service check out fourwindschurch.org
We looked at one of the 7 deadly sins "Lust" this morning and how our lack of satisfaction in God leads to lust. To hear this mornings service check out fourwindschurch.org
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