You’da had to been there to believe it, but since you weren’t I took pictures! Santa Clause came to our house last night! Yep, you heard me!
We were eating pizza (a Friday night ritual) when all of a sudden the dogs exploded with ferocious barking! We have two English Mastiffs so when I say “explode” I mean it almost literally! (our male weighs almost 200 pounds and the female weighs about 140 – between the two “puppies” they eat 27 pounds of dog food a week!)
I went to the door and there he was… Santa Clause!
After I addressed all of my own doubts about whether or not he was real, I invited him in!
He played with “The Ladies” and even let me get a picture with him! So, just in case you don’t believe me… here’s the proof!
This weekend is a pretty big weekend in my life! I will be graduating from St. Bonaventure University with a M.S. in Professional Leadership.
For the last 16 months I have spent almost every weekend in school – every Friday night and all day Saturday. This has been a great learning experience… but I’m looking forward to spending my weekends with “The Ladies” again!
A couple of weeks ago I took “The Ladies” to Bob Evans. As soon as they walked in they became ENTHRALLED with the cake-container-spinner-thing. They watched in amazement as they virtually (and some literally) drueled all over the case! They were enchanted, totally drawn in by what they were experiencing! They couldn’t wait to taste and see!
What would happen if every follower of Christ were to experience this kind of passionate longing for Him?
What would happen if every believer committed to creating this kind of an environment for unbelievers… an environment where when they (i.e. the unbeliever) walked in he/she would be totally enchanted and panting for an opportunity to taste and see!
Every year I keep track of what I read. I have tried, in previous years, to pre-plan my reading schedule… that doesn’t work out very well! There is always the “required reading” to do for Management Team meetings, church planning, personal development, etc. which throws the schedule out of wack!
The old plan isn’t working… I need a new plan… here it is….
Several years ago I identified five areas that I was going to dedicate my reading to:
1) Leadership
2) Theology
3) Church
4) Bio/autobiographies
5) “Other” (e.g. books on preaching, parenting, and prosperity… ok, ok, stupid alliteration
but it worked…
This year (in planning for 2007) I think I am going to shoot for seven books in each category. This will do a couple of things:
1) It will assure a balance in the reading schedule (I tend to have favorite and
least favorite subjects – e.g. least favorite is bio/autobiographies).
2) It will allow for some flexibility in the picking of the reading material (for
instance, if a new “hot” book comes out that I want to read… I can because I have not
pre-determined what I will read I have simply determined the number of books per
category)
OK, a couple of other things about the reading schedule…
1) Dead guys are valuable! The “ancients” (e.g. Jacob Arminius; John Wesley; John
Maxwell – KIDDING) have something of value to say… SO READ THEM!
2) Times they are a changin’ so don’t limit yourself to books written in the past!
There is a LOT of good stuff being written today… be discerning but read it!
3) Finally, a piece of wisdom from Steven Sample, for every book you choose to read
you choose not to read hundreds of others so choose wisely! (My summary
of his thinking in chapter four of The Contrarian’s Guide to Leadership)
Last week I posted a note about God’s creativity (see it here).
Yesterday I heard an amazing story that totally confirms it! Currently, scientists are six years into a ten year study on ocean life – an ocean census.
One of the lead scientists (there are about 2,000 from 80 countries participating) said, “We can’t find anyplace where we can’t find anything new.” And I’m SCREAMING “Way to go God! You are so creative!” Every time we think we’ve “discovered it all” we find a whole new realm that highlights, with a BIG FAT YELLOW HIGHLIGHTER, God’s creative nature!
No matter where they look the experts keep finding “new” stuff! Like I said in my previous post, in six days God created enough to keep us busy for thousands of years! Oh man that is unbestinkinlievable! (for those of you unable to figure out this word click here) ;-)
Yesterday Sherri, “The Ladies”, and I went to the Chapel @ Crosspoint. A great, growing church in Buffalo. For more on why we went to another church, see here.
They had great music and did a tag team sermon. It was kind of neat to see two guys preach one sermon. Pastor Vern and I are planning on doing this on Dec. 30 & 31 when we do some vision casting for the new year.
Back on the homefront…
1) It’s my understanding that Vern hit it out of the park. Way to go Vern!!! He talked
about the peace that Jesus offers!
2) Vern’s sermon intro clip came from the movie Jingle All the Way.
3) We had 710 people in services this weekend – last year on this week we had 637.
4) Last night we hosted Cynthia Clawson in concert. A big shout out to Roxy’s for
sponsoring this concert.
5) The Colts lost (for the third stinkin time in a row), but at least the Steelers won! And
that’s why I have two teams!
Coming soon… an interview with Anthony Hoisington!
I had a revelation on Saturday night! Maybe some of you who have been married a long time will already know this, but for me it was pretty profound! I’m a guy with some pretty basic desires (sex, food, affirmation – and in that order too). ;-)
I’m always hoping that Sherri will intuit my needs and take care of me. Now, keep in mind that Sherri is a stay-at-home mom with “The Ladies” (ages 4, 2, and 1) AND she’s pregnant with #4 (read - tired!!!)!!!!!
The other night God kind of leaned into me (actually He checked me pretty hard)! I begin thinking… Who ever intuits Sherri’s needs? Who ever thinks about what she wants (beyond the basics – help changing diapers, etc.)?
All she does is give to “The Ladies” all day long and then I come home with my trinity of desires (sex, food, affirmation). That night I decided that I was going to start thinking about what she wants (what are her secret hopes?) and making every effort to fulfill them! It has started… (and I realize that her trinity does not look like mine!)
I want Sherri to look forward to when I come home! I want her to know that someone is thinking about what she needs and hopes for, and I want her to know that that ”someone” is me.
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:
Churches that are growing typically hear some version of this charge, “All you care about is numbers.” We are no exception to this charge which has made me think a lot about this allegation. Here are my thoughts (at this point in the journey)…
1) We are “all about numbers” because every number has a name! Last weekend we
had 711 people attend our weekend worship services. The number was 711 – but that
means 711 names/people/souls were exposed to the good news of Jesus Christ! Which
one of those 711 people should we have stopped at the door by saying, “Sorry, we
already have too many”? We count numbers because we can’t count names but
we do not lose sight of the fact that every number has a name!
2) We are “all about numbers” because our mission demands it! Our mission is to “Bring people to Jesus and to build them up in that relationship.” Quite frankly, it is
hard to “Bring” an empty seat to Jesus, and even with a Craftsman drill you cannot
“Build” an empty seat up in that relationship! If we are going to accomplish our mission
then we must be about numbers!
3) We are all about numbers because the Bible has a book called Numbers (OK, kidding on
that one!)
All right, let me say a word about the content of those numbers…
1) The number should be growing because more unsaved/unchurched people
are being brought to Jesus! I DO NOT WANT TO GROW AT THE EXPENSE OF
ANOTHER CHURCH(s)!
2) As the “Bring” number increases so should the “Build” number! In other
words, the more people we bring to Jesus the more conseqent discipleship connections
(e.g. ABFs, small groups, etc.) should be created.
3) I believe that it is possible to have a LOT of people and still have a loving
environment! Why do I believe that? Check out this worship scene for starters!
Tonight we are partnering with Turner’s Funeral Home to provide a memorial service for those who have lost loved ones over the last year(s).
We are expecting over 400 people (the largest crowd they’ve seen yet)! I’m so proud of our church! To everyone who is helping, from those providing pre-service cleaning, to the parking attendants, to those providing snacks, to those providing “just a friendly face,” Let me say to you, I AM PROUD TO BE YOUR PASTOR!
I had to go and buy a suit last night for this service because none of mine fit anymore! I’d like to think that’s a result of a rigourous exercise ethic and NOT because of too many cookies!
OK, I have a few things to say about church and numbers, but I need to finish my presentation for tonight so I’ll post later!
