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When God Speaks

November 13, 2009 in Church Planting, Friends, God with 24 Comments

My friends Jarrett and Jeanne Stevens are moving from Atlanta to start a church in Chicago called Soul City Church.

They’re risking it all to chase the dream God has placed in their hearts. Just being around them right now makes my heart start beating fast.

Many of you know this weekend is our Faith, Hope and Love offering at Cross Point. We’re trying to raise 2.25 million dollars to plant a new campus in Bellevue, start two Hope centers, and launch a 5th campus we’ll plant in late 2010. I would by lying if I told you I haven’t had a few (or 113) moments of anxiety over the past few months. It seems like the closer we get to this weekend the more I have to remind myself that God is in control.

I had a conversation with Jeanne a couple days ago which was an absolute God send. She said through the process of planting this church God has clearly told her 3 things.

1) When you’re tempted to fear, lean into faith.

2) When you want to control, you must let go.

3) When comfort lures you, choose sacrifice.

Oh. My. Those statements couldn’t have had a greater impact on me if God himself had whispered them in my ear.

I just keep repeating these three things over and over and over again.

And I think I just might be finally getting it.

I would really appreciate your prayers for this weekend as it’s a historic opportunity for a whole bunch of spiritual risk tasking. It’s going to be fun to watch so many people enter into the journey of trusting God in a new way!

Can Christians Celebrate Halloween?

October 29, 2009 in Family, Friends, Holidays with 93 Comments

Usually this time of year there are all kinds of debates about “should Christians celebrate Halloween?” Of course if you’re a really good Christian it seems you will simply have a “Fall Festival” where you will do exactly what everyone else does on Halloween (costumes and candy) except you’ll only invite Christians which somehow makes it okay.

Please note, I believe this is a personal decision. If you and your family don’t celebrate Halloween, then I totally respect that decision.

As you can probably tell from last years Halloween picture, we do. Our kids dress up, we carve a pumpkin and take ALL the candy we possibly can from our neighbors. You could say we celebrate Halloween but I think we celebrate our kids, friends and neighbors.

1) My kids. My kids love to dress up. Jett’s going as Satan, Gage is going to be an evil spirit, and Brewer the angel of death. Just kidding!! They’re going to be a Jester, Frankenstein, and a Skeleton. They’ve been fired up all week about designing their pumpkins and running around the neighborhood. We’re going to have a blast.

2) My friends. We usually have two other couples and their kids come over and enjoy the evening with us. We’ve actually gone trick-or-treating with one couple for 9 years in a row. It’s kind of become our little tradition.

3) My neighbors. This is an awesome chance for me to build a bridge with my non-Christian, non-church going neighbors. Think of it as Tuesday night visitation, only this time they’re coming to you. Many will drop by the house and we’ll get a chance to talk about all kinds of things that might serve as a bridge to future conversations and future opportunities to build relationships. I’m probably not going to drop a “Christian tract” in their kids’ bag, but I do want to drop a little sincere Christian love their way.

I know I’m probably opening a can of worms but what do you think about Halloween? Any exciting plans?

Simple But Not Easy

October 5, 2009 in Friends, Leadership with 40 Comments

A lot gets written about Christian community these days. How we build it and maintain seems to be quite the popular topic. I don’t want to over simplify it, but look at Romans 12:15. It simply says…

” Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.”

This statement may be simple but it’s not easy is it? In fact, the reality is we quite often do the exact opposite.

We mourn another’s joy (jealousy) and we rejoice when someone has reason to mourn (self-righteousness).

And this is why “authentic community” may be a big buzzword in Christian circles, but we’ve got a long way to go if we want it to be a reality.

Your thoughts?

A Deadly Game

September 14, 2009 in Church Leadership, Friends, Relationships with 70 Comments

I was driving home last night from speaking at staff and spouses retreat for Long Hollow Baptist Church located in nearby Hendersonville, TN. Long Hollow is an amazing church that is growing leaps and bounds. With almost 6,ooo people in attendance each weekend it’s one of the best kept secrets in the church world. Their pastor, David Landrith is one of the most incredible men I’ve ever met. It would be an understatement to say he’s got the entire “package.”

To be honest, anytime I get around high capacity people like this I start to play this mental game. I call it the “I Wish” game.

I wish I could lead like Jeff Henderson.

I wish I was creative like Scott Hodge.

I wish I could preach like Perry Noble.

I wish I could cast vision like Greg Surratt.

I wish I could network like Brad Lomenick

But comparison is a deadly game. The danger of comparison is no matter who you do it with, eventually there is always someone whose prettier, smarter, faster, more connected or higher-up then you. They’re more _______________________.

There is always somebody who is “more.”

The danger of comparison is we find ourselves looking to other people for our value and determining our value by how we compare with other people.

You put two similar things side-by-side and compare them. We all do it when we comparison shop. It’s okay for cars, golf clubs, and shoes… but not for people. For people, comparison is deadly.

We have a tendency to keep looking over our shoulder to see who gets the car we wanted, the job we needed, the spouse we desired. Who has the most gifted children, the bigger blog, and whose got the latest iBook, iMac, iPhone or anything else that starts with an i.

I’m tired of playing this game. How about you?

Mindlessly Moving Through Life

September 4, 2009 in Friends, God, Relationships with 51 Comments

Mindlessly doing things because all our friends do them is pretty much 90 percent of what society does. Sad, but true.

If you don’t believe me here’s a case in point.

I mean what other reason could you give for wearing these things?

I was reading an interesting article last night about how our eating habits are formed by those we eat with most often. The article was pointing to a principle I’ve found true most of my life. My physical habits, spiritual methods and thought patterns are often influenced by the people I hang out with more than I would like to admit.

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by this, 1 Corinthian 15:33 says “Do not be misled: Bad company corrupts good character.”

Not exactly sure how I balance this with personal evangelism and the time I spend with people in my life whose lives are not where they should be. However, I think the warning is simple. Be very careful who you allow into the inner circle of your life and whatever you do don’t just mindlessly adopt the thoughts, actions, and patterns of the people around you.

Are the people in your “inner circle” helping guide you to become the person God designed you to be?

Artist Get A Bad Rap

August 24, 2009 in Friends with 226 Comments

When I first started a church in Nashville I had people repeatedly tell me that local artists, especially Christian artists, would be too stuck up to ever serve inside the church. People said, “They might attend from time to time but they’re too busy doing their own thing to contribute to the church.”

I’ve got to say in the seven years of Cross Point I’ve never found something to be so untrue in my life. We have artists that pull back into Nashville at 5:00 a.m. on a tour bus and step off the bus and come straight to Cross Point to volunteer playing on our stage for 4 services! We used to have a drummer who had a hard time getting up early enough for rehearsal so he would sleep in his car outside the church on Saturday night so we could wake him up on Sunday morning. Now that’s dedication.

Just last week I walked out into the lobby to find one of our artist (whose name everyone would know) folding programs and helping us address envelopes for a mailing.

The artists in Nashville whether they be musicians, songwriters, or vocalist have been instrumental in what God has done here over the years. They’ve contributed in so many unique and memorable ways.

I bring all of this up because two of my great friends from Cross Point Todd Smith and Alan Hall are the founding members of Selah and they’re celebrating their 10 year anniversary and have a new CD that comes out today.

They have to be the most humble, down to earth guys I’ve ever met and I’m so proud of the way God is using them. They’ve sold over 2.5-million-albums and have won the Dove Award for “Inspirational Album of the Year” four stinking times.

To celebrate the release of “You Deliver Me” I’m going to give away 5 copies of their new CD today.

Just leave me a comment telling me where you serve in your local church and I’ll select 5 random winners.

Waking Up In Vegas

July 25, 2009 in Friends, Leadership with 38 Comments

I’m out in Vegas for a few days with Brandi (and Jenni and Merlyn) to spend some time with the folks from Central Christian Church. I’ve been following them for sometime and can’t wait to spend the weekend learning from them. God is using Jud and the entire team at Central to do amazing things here in Vegas and around the world. I’m so thankful to have such wonderful examples in my life. Jud is not only an incredible leader, but he’s one of the most humble and gracious individuals I’ve ever met.

Brandi has become good friends with Lori, Jud’s wife, so this was the perfect trip for her to come along on. I love it when she finds other pastors wives that she just hits it off with.

In addition To Central Christian there were a couple other places I just had to visit while out here. We went by Zappos’s Corporate office. I was blown away by the environment they have created for their employees. They are routinely voted one of the best place in America to work. Now I know why. Their customer service and staff environments left me in awe.

We also got the opportunity to visit Hoover Dam. Holy cow, that is one big dam. If you’re ever out here you really need to go on the tour. To think that it was designed and built in 1920′s and 30′s just totally blows me away.

Here’s a little video I took with my iPhone from the top of the dam. Trust when I say it doesn’t do it justice.

So I’m reluctantly asking you this question but I’ll take the risk (just remember it’s a family blog and I’m a man of the cloth).

What’s your favorite Vegas memory?

Hoover Dam from Pete Wilson on Vimeo.

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