Holy Moly! We went shopping for EIGHT HOURS today! That is a personal best! And I did it with only one meltdown!

Sherri said, “You did better than I could even have wished for!” Now folks, that’s a testimony to the power of Jesus working in a regular dude!!!

Tomorrow we’re going to The Chapel for church. I’ll blog about that experience later.

Why am I going to another church?  I have asked our staff (particularly the Management Team) to go to another church at least once a quarter. Here’s why…

1)  I want all of us to remember what it feels like to be a visitor at a church. When
     we’re at Northgate everyone knows who we are and after a while, if we’re not careful,
     we’ll forget what it feels like to come into an unfamiliar church with lots of people! We  
     never want to forget what it feels like to be a first-time guest! I want all of us to
     remember what it feels like to be at a church where the majority of the people don’t
     know your name.

2)  When the staff is at Northgate, our job is to minister to others. Sometimes it’s nice
     to be ministered to and going to another church offers that opportunity! When the
     sound system freaks out WE DON’T HAVE TO FIX IT!!!

3)  I always want to be learning new ideas! We don’t need to invent the wheel @
     Northgate. If someone is doing something that is working… we want to know what it is
     and if it will work at Northgate! Whenever any of us goes away to another church we
     always come back and say, “Hey, I saw this (fill in the blank) and it gave me an idea for
     Northgate!”

4)  Just like we always want to be learning, we also want to confirm when we’re
     getting it right! Sometimes it’s really cool to go to another church and see things that
     we are either doing or have improved upon! We always like to bring back “atta
     boys” (and “atta girls” too)!

 So, in a nutshell, the four big reasons that our staff visits other churches is that:

1) It reminds us

2) It refreshes us

3) It teaches us

4) It confirms us