Sunday Wrap Up

What a great weekend!! It's really fun to see God at work in the life of our church family right now. Some examples from this weekend:

• About 30 people raised their hands to say the prayed to receive Christ in our three services. That NEVER gets old!
• What a pleasure to share in my first child dedications here at LifePoint. A wonderful time at each service of parents stepping up and declaring that they are going to raise the children that God has blessed them with in homes that honor and follow Christ. And hearing the response of the congregation as they affirmed that they were supporting and encouraging those families: priceless!!
• BONUS!! Our newest, youngest Lifer was in the house on Saturday night. In one of those, "only God could do this" stories, a family in our church got a call on Monday that they could adopt a child that was born last Sunday. In a whirlwind of joy and panic, they picked her up on Wednesday and had her in church to be dedicated on Saturday. Anna is a double gift, and her pastor loves her!!
• Great job by Pastor Tracy Conover in developing and leading the Child Dedication classes this weekend! Extra time and effort, but well worth it! Glad I could play a small part, but Pastor Tracy is the real deal!!
• Got some great feedback on the message about God having a dream for each of us that He was dreaming before we were created in our mother's womb. Cool to see people opening their eyes to the possibilities of what God has for them.
• Can't wait to see where the Dream Big series takes us! Get ready for God to do some great stuff, LifePoint!

Wrapped up my day with a trip to the theater to see Iron Man 2. Have to say, nice way to end a great day! More on that later.

And yes, I called my mom. I love that lady, and I know she loves me. I praise God for a Christian mother who dreamed big dreams for me, never gave up on me, and is proud of me to this day.

Off to bed, early morning tomorrow. God bless!

Listening To Andy

I have a number of pastor types that I respect and listen to, and one was speaking to me so loudly today, I have to share.

I'm trying to get myself back in the habit of working out after taking time off to get a bum knee back in line. So today, I was out for a walk with my IPod and Andy Stanley in my ears. Andy has a fantastically effective church in the North Atlanta suburbs, and he's a leadership and ministry guru. His podcast was about leading in uncertain times. Pretty easy to see why I was interested...

So Andy is talking, and he said a couple things I wanted to share with the staff, so I played it for them today in staff meeting. Times are uncertain at FBC, with the finances being down, the flu taking people out of weekend services and serving opportunities, and some general unrest and dis-ease. So the message was clearly for us, and the points got home: be clear about the vision, and be flexible with the plans.

Clarity will help people to make sure that we stay on track in spite of the changing atmosphere, circumstances, economy, culture, etc... Clarity of purpose, clarity of mission, clarity of values, and the clear communication of how those all connect to what's going on and what's next. Coming back to the places where God has been clear with us, and celebrating each and every memory of God's faithfulness and call helps us to stay focused on the right things, and to not panic when a plan fails, but stay true to the ultimate vision of God's preferred future.

The flexibility part was also very helpful. Plans will fail, and if we get ourselves tied to our plans, then we'll think the vision has failed just because the plans did. Plans fail for a number of reasons, and smart leaders have to pay attention to the changes in the atmosphere and surroundings that are not what was assumed when the plan was put together. We planned to be growing and adding staff by now, but the circumstances changed, so we need to get off the old plan and start a new one.

So there was a lot of excitement here today as we started to think about the core of the vision and how it has remained constant, but also how some of the pieces have moved in the last 10 years. The conversation began (and will continue over the next few weeks) about recasting and reconnecting the vision God has for this church with what is the current reality. Plans will change, they always do. We can't own the plans, they have to remain flexible, but we have to own the vision and be stubborn (Andy's word) about holding tightly to the ultimate outcome.

Good stuff to remember as God is busy shaping, forming, breaking, molding, pushing and teaching all of us in this season.

Any thoughts?

Learning to Listen

I'm in the process of trying to look back over my recent Study Leave and work through the lessons God taught me during those weeks, and at the same time putting together a message on vision for the future for Sunday. We have Vision Night Sunday night at 6, which will be a bit of both: looking back over the past year and looking ahead to what God has for us in the future.

So I'm having an interesting time getting myself in the right frame of mind for today. I need to look back, look forward, and try not to miss what's in front of me today. And just when I got settled down with a cold beverage at Starbucks to figure out what I needed to focus on until football practice starts (yes, one more year with the Lions, I'll get to that later...), my phone rings.

An emergency! There's someone in need of a pastor. A spiritual 911 call, if you will. So finishing the sermon on God's future for FBC will need to wait. The reflection on all that I've heard and learned from God during this season of study will have to wait. The immediate need is to pick up the phone and do my best to offer the hope and peace of Christ in the midst of a serious struggle. At the end of the call, things are better, and now the ministry of help and healing can begin. It's at times like this I'm glad I'm a part of a church family that I can count on to help and serve, to bless and love other people.

I don't know about you, but one struggle that I face is choosing how to balance past, present and future in my life and my walk with God. I want to honor the past, to learn from it and reflect well upon it. I want to aim toward a better future, a closer walk, a more effective ministry in my life, too. But I live in this moment, this one minute in time, this short season that is so full of potential for good, for evil, for building up or for breaking down. What will I do in this minute that will make the best of the past and the future at the same time? Sometimes, that's a hard choice. Sometimes, that's an opportunity I miss. But sometimes, like today, God steps in and makes it totally clear: "It's not about you, Bill."

My past is past - I can hopefully learn from it, but I can't go back and change it, no matter how hard I worry.

My future is still in front of me - I can hopefully honor God with my decisions and continue to walk a path that brings a smile to His face, but I won't do that by worrying, either.

My moment is now - I can listen to the Spirit the best I can right now, and do the best I can with all that I have. That's all that God ever asks.

All along the way, I see that God is teaching me that if I'm listening to Him, trusting Him, leaning into Him, I'm going to be in the right place at the right time to be used by Him for His purpose and plan. That's what I'm learning, anyway.

So, I'll get back to the sermon, the Vision Night, and the Study Leave evaluation later. The need to serve Jesus by taking that phone call was now. And in God's great plan, the rest will work itself out, too, if I will just listen.

Short Week...

This week is going to be very short and very long at the same time. I've got today, tomorrow and part of Wednesday to get my life in order, then drive to Boise, get a hotel, wake up Thursday, get on a plane, fly to Victoria, BC for a wedding, all with my beautiful daughter Rachel by my side.

See, she's the flower girl (a job she's had some experience with, I might add), and it' s very important that she be there. I'm doing the wedding, but if there's no flower girl... well, let's just not go there.

I'm looking forward to spending some time, just the two of us, hanging out, goofing off, etc... before football season starts and her brother's schedule dominates my life. I'm coaching the defense for the Lions again this year, and Mac is fired up for his eighth grade year. We're going to have a better season than last year, and Mac has been working out all summer to get ready. Kid is ripped. It's scary.

But this is going to be a crazy week. I probably will not be able to post again until after the wedding, flight home, drive back from Boise. So feel free to pray for us, for Chris and Natalie's wedding, and for Rachel as she does her very important job.

Can't wait to go do this thing, and can't wait to get back and share some vision at Vision Night on Aug. 16. Don't miss it!!

Exciting Developments!!

Last night Karl and I had a great meeting with Coop and Penny Cooper, our coordinators for the Financial Peace University classes. They were excited about a Dave Ramsey Simulcast coming up in September, and we spent an hour looking at the details to see if we could host the event at FBC. Looking at this event, it will require some faith, yet it's very doable, so we said we were going to say a 'prayerful yes.' It would be a live webcast of Dave doing his Total Money Makeover, and it gives us as a church the opportunity to introduce more people in our community to all things Dave Ramsey, including the FPU class. Pray with us, there's an upfront cost, and we would be required to sell tickets, but I'm jacked about the potential of this becoming reality. Could you imagine our Worship Center full of people being set free from financial bondage on a Saturday in September? Pray early, pray often, and let us know if you'd be interested in being a part of this opportunity!

After that exciting conversation, talk turned to New Orleans. Penny and Coop went in March and worked with some friends from Indiana on a mission project. The folks in Indiana have invited us to go along when they send a team this fall, probably the last week of October (maybe the first week of November?). I've been praying for the chance to go, and now, it's becoming a reality. If you're interested in going, we want to send a team. We'll get the details out as soon as we have them, but save some vacation time (a week), some money (about $900-1000), and pray a bunch. I'm going, and I'd love for you to come on this adventure with me, or maybe help someone else to go if you can't make it yourself. The need is still great after Hurricane Katrina, and we'd be helping share the light of Jesus, one act of service at a time.

I love hearing people bubble up vision and watching as it starts to take shape in God's hands!! These are two of the pieces of what God wants next in the life of FBC, and I'm glad for leaders like Penny and Coop who see what's not there yet, then pray and work until it starts to happen.

What's Next? - Part 1

After a weekend of God making Himself known, it's good to look and ask the question: Based on what we've seen, what is God wanting us to do next? What's next? God has a plan for our church, and He's showing us glimpses of it, but what's next?

So, let me share three ways we're seeing God show us He's working and that there's something coming from Him:

• The Opportunities: We saw the opportunity to share Christ thru the madatchurch.com series, and took it. We saw the opportunity to help a family with the house project, and we took it. We saw the opportunity to move our small group ministry forward, and we took it. We saw the opportunity to go to New Orleans, and we put it out there to challenge people to go. God is putting opportunities in front of His church, and they are leading us to what's next.
• The Responses: We keep putting the opportunities in front of people, and people are responding. The opportunity to start following Jesus saw 20-25 people accept Christ during the Easter season. The house project has prompted dozens of volunteers to step up and serve like Jesus. The small group ministry challenge has produced excited people, folks calling and emailing to get into groups. And the mere mention of going to New Orleans has more than a dozen people either preparing to go or preparing to give to those who go. God's Spirit is stirring in His people!
• The Distractions: This is hard to write, but the distractions are powering up. God never said that doing His will would be easy, and between God wanting to strengthen our faith and dependence on Him, and satan trying to get us off mission, we will have hurdles to jump over to get where God is taking us next. They almost always fall into the same basic categories: money distractions, time distractions, relational distractions, and doubt. None of them go away from being ignored; they need to be met head on and proactively. But just because something is hard doesn't mean that God is saying don't do it. There's a book on my summer reading list this year called Do Hard Things. Can't wait to get my butt kicked.
  

When God is moving His people, there will be opportunities, there will be responses, and there will be distractions. That's both individually and corporately. Look for them, pray for them, then attack them with the faith and courage that Jesus gives!