On the road to Easter

This past week reminded me that Easter is on it's way. Not the Cadbury Egg commercials, not the previews for "HOP" on TV, but the fact that so much is happening at LifePoint Church. Just a few of the challenges/opportunities around here:

• Jeremy and Amy Malekos announcing their departure from our church staff has been a mixed blessing. Of course we're excited for their next adventure, and we know God has something for them in California, but it hurts to see them go after all that they have invested in ministry here. They will be missed, and they do leave a whole that God will need to fill.


• One of our facilities staff, Dave Henry, has also tendered his resignation. He's taking a position at a local coffee roasting plant (and he better get me a tour...). We wish Dave all God's best in his transition, too.


• We're working to hire an administrative assistant in the church office about now, and that process is underway.


• We're still looking for a Worship Pastor, and are hoping to have one this summer.


• We're going to break ground this spring on a solar collection system that Nevada Energy is giving us for FREE that will power our campus almost entirely, giving us a huge cost savings each month.


• We continue to see new people connect to our church, and people in our church connect in small groups, and our small groups connect to serving in the community. NICE!!


• Included in that small group movement is our Senior Thursday group, just getting off the ground, but growing in enthusiasm and momentum.


• We baptized 22 people this weekend, 18 in regular services, and 4 more as a part of Jeremy and Amy getting some 'last chance' opportunities.

That's not even the complete list! There's much more happening around LifePoint, but it all reminds me that while there are hard things, there are also good things that God is doing all around us. And Easter means that we will need to ramp up everything: serving, helping, loving, inviting, giving, and most especially PRAYING!!!

Pray for your church, for the leaders, for the folks who are working to make Easter a special, hope-filled event, and for the thousands of people who will come through our doors looking for hope. Now is the right time to pray, and I hope you'll join in as we follow the road to Easter.

It Will Feel Better (When It Quits Hurting...)

The announcement this week that Pastor Jeremy Malekos will be leaving our staff and taking a position in the power industry in California was greeted with mixed emotions. For some, there is sadness over losing Jeremy and Amy from our staff, and their family from our LifePoint family. For others, the joy of knowing that God has laid out a plan for their lives that will put them in position to continue to serve God, learn and grow, and be better prepared for the next ministry calling God would put on their lives in the future. There are also some feeling confusion about what this means for LifePoint, for our Student Ministries, and for our own personal lives and relationships.

So before we make any other public announcements about this transition, let me say this: we will all need space to process this both mentally and emotionally, so let's give ourselves and each other permission to grieve and walk through this loss. We all will need time to process all that this will mean in our lives and our church, and no one is in a rush to 'just get over it.' We need to move intentionally to deal with all the feelings and aspects of this loss.

A friend of mine used to joke whenever someone stubbed a toe or hit their thumb with a hammer: "It'll feel better when it quits hurting!" That's actually true. It won't feel better before the hurting is done, so you can't rush it. Some things just take time, and as Pastor Roy Conover likes to say, "There's no substitute for time." But when it does quit hurting, when the grief and grieving are past, it will feel better. We will have a fresh perspective on our lives, our church and the steps God has ahead of us, and we will be able to appreciate where we've come and get excited about where we're going.

I just want everyone to know that the leadership at LifePoint is working on the details of moving forward in this transition time, so you don't need to worry about that just yet. Focus on loving the Malekos family through their transition, and then on healthy processing of this whole deal. If you need to grieve, then do so without feeling pressured or rushed. Just walk it through, and let God's wisdom and grace (along with His family, the church) help you through it.

And trust in the promise that God has our church right where HE wants us. It's going to feel better...

Why we own a house

We held the first 'official' event at our home yesterday, and it reminds me of why we bought a house in the first place.

Yes, we've had a few friends over, and yes, we're not counting those as 'official' events, because we just called some folks and invited them to hang out. Yesterday was an Open House for our Senior Adults at LifePoint Church, and we had over 20 people fill up our living room with smiles, conversation and laughter. It was great!! We're launching a new Senior Adult ministry next week (we're looking for a cool name, don't have one yet...), and Beth and I wanted to take the opportunity to invite these precious folk over and let them see us in our 'natural habitat.'

It was great fun to talk to the folks, get to know some new people and enjoy some goodies, but the best part was hearing how they were so excited about where we are going as a church family and how they are looking forward to having their own ministry as Seniors, complete with small groups, Bible study and outreach projects to do. These folks have more experience and more time than working folks, and combined with a real desire to follow God, this is going to be the beginning of something great!!

The whole event reminded me why we own a house: it's a tool to do ministry. We live here, yes, and we raise our kids here, which is a ministry unto itself, but like everything God has given us, it's a tool for Him to use to serve His Kingdom. I love it when we get to enjoy the gifts God has given us with other people, and to use them to see His church grow. Our house is God's house, and His gift to us is a place to live and a base for ministry.

Here's to the good gifts God gives, and the opportunity to use them for Him!

Year One: Transition with a Captital T

This month marks the one year anniversary of my family leaving Idaho, our home for 14 years, and moving to Minden, Nevada, to LifePoint Church and to a whole lot of...transitions. Change is another word, but people don't like it much. Transitions - the moving from one idea/reality/concept/place/way of thinking to another. That's all we've done for a year.

We've sold and bought a house, moved twice, engaged in negotiations about real estate both personally and on behalf of the church, and learned a lot about banking, loans and customer service. Learning is a huge part of transition, because what got you to where you are won't get you where you want to go next.

There's been staff transitions of all kinds, and changes in relationships all around. There's been much growth and learning all around, and I'm very proud of the folks who have engaged in the transition with open hearts and minds to what God is doing here. It's been hard on some folks, and some haven't managed the transitions as well as others. It's the same back in Idaho where we left: some have managed to transition gracefully and others without much grace. People are people, and we deal with the changes in life the best we can. I'm learning that.

I've transitioned my leadership style to fit the new adventure of LifePoint Church (and I'm still learning this one, too!), and I've spent the last year leading a cultural shift, because as I've come to learn recently, "Culture eats strategy for lunch!" (That might be a Peter Drucker quote, no one seems quite sure. I know it's true, whoever said it.) The culture was ready for a change, but had we started with strategy, we'd have been in trouble.

We have even now begun to transition into more strategic initiatives, like our Project 40/40, our attempt to do 40 missional projects in the community in the 40 days before Easter. The buzz is palpable! People are getting into small groups just to be a part of this opportunity to show God's love to our community with no strings attached. It's exciting to hear the projects that our groups are planning, and I can't wait to see where this ends up.

But God has orchestrated all this transition, and the ones that are coming. It has been a wild ride, with ups, downs, spirals and loop-the-loops, but God's hand has been in it all, making the transitions, however challenging, all work into HIS ultimate plan. Praise God in the transitions!