Thoughts From The Weekend

I'm very excited by what God's doing at LifePoint Church, and before I fade into my bed tonight, here's a sampling:

• I had dozens of people come find me after services this weekend and tell me they were done 'hiding in plain sight.' Folks were looking for places to serve, connect and show that their relationship with Jesus is real to them. There were expressions of generosity and folks making sure to tell me they were working through their issues to be ready to serve. God promises that His Word will accomplish what He intends. This weekend is proof!
• There were a couple dozen people raise their hands to accept Christ as the Leader and Forgiver of their lives - that NEVER gets old!!
• I am loving the response to the whole No Perfect People Allowed series. From the video (the 'confessional' landed on some folks, for sure!) to the responses afterward, people are hearing from God, and I am fired up to see what He does next!!
• Despite some setbacks this week, our Worship Department created an experience for people to enter God's presence and give Him our full attention. Great job, team!
• We had a group of youth and leaders go to the Thriving Musicians Summit in Roseville, learning and growing in their musical abilities and worship leading. Can't wait to hear how this shows up in our Student Ministries.

And as excited as I am about what's going on right now, I can't wait for the Assessment process to let us know what we're doing well and what needs work. Have you taken the survey yet? In my 'end-of-the-weekend-exhausted' state, I just finished it. It won't hurt a bit, and it will help your church to be more effective in the future, so take a few minutes and get this done.

Taking the day off tomorrow, then right back to another week of making Jesus famous in the Carson Valley!! Goodnight!

The Week That Was

I love this time of year. Selfishly, it's partly because of my birthday being mid-September, but there are other reasons:

In Sports: Baseball becomes meaningful in late August and into September, with pennant races, playoffs on the line, and late season call ups to see how next years rookies are going to look. Basketball talk starts to warm up and preseason camps will start to open soon. But the most important, like changing event is the beginning of football season! (HALLELUJAH CHORUS!!) My heart beats faster at the thought of pads popping and all the sights and sounds of football. It brings me back to many great memories on the field and in the stands. I. LOVE. FOOTBALL.

In Family: The kids are back in the swing of school, they are connecting with friends, doing homework, getting smarter and finding themselves a bit more every day. I am in awe to see the growth and development of my son as he becomes a young man and finds his way around the world. He's making good friends and seems to have a good head on his shoulders. My daughter is showing off her brains again, accepted into a competitive math team (math? really?), and doing great in school.

In Church: All the ministries that lay dormant over the summer spring back to life: kids midweek stuff, Adult Bible study stuff, Women's ministry stuff... all of is comes back like the flowers in spring, only on the other end of the calendar. I love the energy, the excitement of seeing the life changing message of Christ shared in so many venues. It's invigorating, like the crisp air we are beginning to notice in the mornings.

I love this time of year! It is my absolute favorite. Do you love it, or do you prefer something else?

Has It REALLY Been Six Months?

I was asked by the Accountability Team here at LifePoint Church to give a six month overview of our ministry at our last meeting this past Saturday. In all the preparation for it, I rushed past the most important part: I've been on the job here for SIX MONTHS!! In one of those "time/space continuum" issues, it feels both longer and shorter than that for me.

It feels a lot longer than six months because I've really come to love this church, the people here, the staff and the leaders. I am drawn more and more to the calling God has placed in my life to be here and lead this church family, and I keep finding new reasons to know in my heart I'm supposed to be here. The hard things as well as the good things connect me to this place, these people and this ministry. I want more than anything to see this church succeed, to prosper in God's plan, and to make Jesus famous in the Carson Valley.

It feels a lot shorter than six months because I still feel like we just landed. I still miss my friends in Idaho, I still feel like there is so much to see and do in this area, and I still feel like I'm learning at a ridiculous pace just to keep even. I constantly need to ask for a history lesson when ideas, suggestions, or issues come up, so that I don't pass over too quickly what I might need to know to make a good decision even better.

I know I'm not alone in this odd, long-and-short-time conundrum. I'm sure that for some, it feels like I've been here forever, and for others, like I just got here yesterday. I think God must laugh at us humans trying to wrap our minds around time and our perception of it. It must be a much better vantage point to be outside of time, look in, see the beginning and the end simultaneously, and know how it all plays out before it starts. I'm glad to know that God knows all, sees all, and is still willing to walk through the middle with us.

In the middle with you,

Bill

A Powerful, Peaceful Thought

I am always looking for people who are doing better and smarter work than me so I can learn from them. I listen so I can maybe shave a few extra steps off my journey where possible, and overall grow as a person, leader and pastor. I know that if I am limited to using only my own ideas, not only am I in trouble, but so is my church.

So when I got the opportunity to visit with a prominent pastor (name withheld by request), I took it. A small number of other pastors got to hang with him for a day, pick his brain, watch his process, and basically soak in whatever wisdom, leadership and spiritual growth we could carry away. I learned a great deal in that day, and I'm already putting some of it into practice in my life and in my leadership, but one nugget for sure is worth sharing.

He said that one of the thoughts that he holds onto every day is this: "I have nothing to prove and no one to impress."

Seriously, read that again.

This is an impressive guy. He's got an impressive church. He's doing impressive ministry on a national stage, and making a HUGE difference in his community. But his ministry has been built on this idea. He's made choices to not grow his church as fast as it possibly could grow, in favor of sustainability, sanity and health for him and his staff, volunteers and the rest.

When I took the role of Lead Pastor at LifePoint Church 6 months ago, I realized that I could easily fall into the trap of pushing to 'earn' what I had been given me. Much like grace, sometimes we want to earn what God has freely given us by our own good works, even though the Bible teaches we cannot add anything to what Christ has done for us. As a pastor, it's easy to think to yourself, "I'm saved by grace, but I minister by works" as if God will not love me if I'm not killing myself, over-committing, and burning the candle at both end's and in the middle, too. There's always something to do, always someone to talk to, always one more box to check. But who am I trying to impress with my schedule? What am I trying to prove with my hectic, worried pace? Does it make me a better pastor? A better leader? A better Christ-follower? I don't think so.

Hearing this obviously successful leader admit that he's trying to continue to live by this axiom, and hearing how he succeeds at that most of the time, I was able to take a huge, deep breath of peace. I do not have to impress anyone, either. I don't have to earn what has been given to me. I didn't hear this as a call to be a slacker (Proverbs calls them "sluggards"). Certainly, I must do what I've been called to do, and do it to the best of my abilities. But no more than that. I have no one to impress (meaning if God is happy with me, who else matters?), and nothing to prove (I can't add to what God has done for me, so what else is there?)

I feel like I'm giving my best to God in this new adventure, and I feel like I'm honoring Him with my time. At the same time, I am feeling a peace with myself and my life that can only be explained as supernatural. God is giving me peace, because I'm able to say: I have nothing to prove, and no one to impress.

This thought has layered peace on my heart. I hope it does the same for you.

LifeNight at LifePoint

I'm wired and wiped at the same time. We held a night of worship and praise at LifePoint Church tonight, and it was AWESOME! We called it LifeNight: A Divine Appointment, and I think it more than lived up to it's name.

I'm all for any extended time of singing praise and worship, but because I know it's not every one's cup of tea, we don't do it every single week. Personally, I've always enjoyed concerts of praise, sing-a-longs or whatever will allow for a long musical worship experience (I even sang in cantatas back in the day...), so I was pumped for this. But it was more than just the worship music that made it special:

• There was much prayer - Before, all during the preparation, all during rehearsals, from people on the platform and off, there were lots of prayers going up for this event. Then during the event, people willing to pray with folks, folks coming to the steps of the stage to pray, and leaders praying from the platform all made it a prayer concert as much as a musical one.
• One of the best testimony videos I've seen - six Lifers shared their stories of God's redeeming work in their lives. From drug addiction to gangs, from marriage issues to unemployment, the stories were real, raw and relatable. I watched the audience dial into the narratives and no one budged. The gasps as one woman shared that she was healed of a debilitating disease were audible. The joy of a soul set free was infectious. It was the shortest 8 minute video I've ever seen, and it was WORSHIP!! The rescued voices lifting their stories to the glory of God!!
• The sweetest sound ever - The sign of a good meeting/service/event is always the same: how long do people stick around afterward and talk? If everyone bolts right away - fail. If people stay until the last possible moment, wanting to soak in as much of what they experienced as possible - epic win!! Tonight = epic win!! I finally left to take my kids home about an hour after the ending, and there were STILL people talking about what they experienced. The buzz of people talking and sharing, loving and fellowshipping is the sweetest sound at the end of the night.

I'm so proud of the LifePoint team for all the parts and pieces that went into this. This was a big win for the kingdom tonight!! Can't wait to see what comes next!