Christmas Reflections

Well, Christmas is almost over. It's almost midnight on December 25th. As I sit alone, the house is quiet, the family is in bed and I can relax, reflect and post some thoughts.

• It's amazing how in just one year, life can change dramatically. One year ago tonight, I got a phone call from Tucker, that he and Cherie were on their way to the Hospital to receive their 2nd gift from God, their son Tait. It was about 1:00am on December 26th (if I recall correctly) that I received a text message and then had a phone conversation with Tucker that Tait was born and mom and son were doing fine. However, it's been almost a month since I've had the opportunity or made the time to even speak with these friends.
  
• One year ago, I was working with one of the most excited and committed ministry teams on the plant. We were experiencing growing pains but God was working in some mighty ways. The church was growing, people were coming to Christ and following God's command to be baptized. Today, one year later, all of that is changed. God moved some of us on to other ministries posts amidst pain, heart ache and even some broken relationships. While I may not understand God's ways or timing, I do trust Him and know that He has all of us in the palm of His hand.
• In the past year, God has continued to stir in my heart the passion to reach the Lehigh Valley for Him. I thought that would be in an established church with a growing staff, completed building and committed volunteer teams. However, God has decided that my role will be with a core group of committed people and a new church start. Again, I may not understand God's ways or timing, but I do trust Him and know that He has our new church in the palm o f His hand.
• A year ago I was on the full time staff of a growing ministry, helping to carry the vision and lead the staff and ministry teams to carry out God's plan. Today, I'm "building tents" for a candy company in NJ and leading a team of people to dramatically, radically change the Lehigh Valley for Christ.
  

While I know what the last year has brought, I have no idea what the next year has in store. However I do know that God is in control, Jesus is alive and well and the Holy Spirit is directing my path. With that team of three leading the way, it's going to be an amazing year. It may not go as "I" would like but God has me in the palm of His hand and . . . I'm OK with that.

G3

WOW: Unsafe Places?

Perry had a great post today.

Read it here if you dare!

G3

Deer Xing

I met with some leaders tonight from NewSpective Church. We met at Wegmans, grabbed something to drink and spent some time reflecting on the past couple of weeks and making some plans for January, February and Easter. Several people couldn't be there but it was a good meeting.

On my way home I drove West on 248 into Nazareth, like I've done a million times before. All of a sudden, I looked up and there in the middle of my lane was a deer. He was just standing there minding his own business like I was in his way. I hit the breaks, swerved into the on-coming lane and avoided Mr. Deer and the on-coming traffic.

My heart was racing a bit faster than normal as I said to myself, "that was close." But then I thought, "no it wasn't. God had it in control the whole time." I think sometimes it's easy to go through near deer experiences and not recognize that God has every little detail in the palm of His hand. I'm not trying to be super spiritual but I'm simply acknowledging that I need God every moment and guess what . . . He's there every moment.

G3

Do We Trust God?

I was sitting in a meeting this morning and looked out the window to see some of the largest snowflakes I've ever seen in my life. They looked like little pancakes. As I watched the snow fall God brought this story to mind.

I can just image what the Israelites must have experienced as their food came down from the sky each morning like snow on a clear day. The obvious question came to mind. . . How much do I trust God? I mean how can you read the account of God providing for the daily food needs of an entire nation and not ask how much you trust God? What's so amazing about this story is that the Israelites had no choice. They had to trust God or they went hungry. Some of them tried to store some food for the next day. Some of them didn't believe that God would provide again. However, when they did not trust God and took matters into their own hands, the food spoiled and was not fit to eat.

So here's a thought. When is God enough for what we need? What do we need to hand over to Him? What area of your life or mine do we finally need to surrender to Him? He is worthy of our trust. He will bring the manna again tomorrow!

Just a Thought.

G3

M & M's and The Church

As some of you know I've been "Making Tents" by doing some consulting work for Mars Snackfood, the makers of M&M's. I recently discovered that M&M's are the number one selling chocolate candy in the world. That's right. This simple, straight forward candy coated chocolate is number one in the world.

Think about that. Candy coating and chocolate. Just two things and together they are number one in the world. Sure, I know they make several varieties. You've got dark chocolate with candy coating. You've got peanut butter with candy coating. You even have a couple of different nuts. But when you boil it all down it's just two things. Chocolate and the Candy Coating.

Isn't that what the church is supposed to be all about? Loving God and Loving Each other. Just two things.

I know there are many different kinds of churches. You've got churches that are fairly traditional and you've got churches that are extremely contemporary and there are many in between. In fact there are even ones with nuts. But here's the thing. What if churches all across this country and the Lehigh Valley would put aside their
denominational difference, personality conflicts, traditions and histories and simply preach the Gospel? What if these same churches worked together to help people connect with God, through life in Christ and then helped them connect with each other through life in community? What if Christ followers across the valley demonstrated their love for one another rather than trying to compete with each other? What if people far from Christ were able to see the simplicity of life in Christ and were able to understand Loving God and Loving Each.

Maybe it's me but I think that Christ Followers can learn a lot from M&M's. There's a reason why simplicity is number one.

G3

Weekend Reflections

Here are some thoughts from this past weekend. They're in no special order just some random thoughts.

• I love my wife! We spent some time together at Starbucks on Saturday and then got a ton of Christmas shopping finished. It was a great afternoon. And productive too!
  
• I never look forward to Christmas shopping but after it's over I now can't wait to see people open their gifts.
  
• Do you think God feels that way? He can't wait for us to accept and open His gift. Jesus!
• We had our second gathering as NewSpective Church. It was great to worship together with friends and learn from God's word. I can't wait to see what God has in store for NewSpective Church.
• We're looking at some meeting space this week. I pray that God provides us with the ideal location in preparation for our Easter Launch.
• Kentucky Fried Chicken is awesome. It may not be the the most nutritious food on the planet, but a couple of extra crispy chicken breasts with coleslaw and biscuits make for an amazing meal.
• NewSpective church is starting to create a buzz. Today at Jennifer's work, someone asked her about the new church. How cool is that?
• If someone tries to give you a computer with Windows Vista on it, don't hesitate, don't think twice . . . Just RUN as far away as you can. I believe that Vista may actually be a good competitor to Windows ME as the worst operating system on the planet.
• I can't wait until our new Mac Book Pro arrives.
• My fantasy team won again yesterday. Can you say "Number 2 seed?"

Have a great week.

G3

WOW - God is AWESOME!

It's 11:15pm. My family is all in bed and I've had the chance to catch my breath and reflect back on the day. It's been a very long day but . . . I wouldn't change a thing.

• I wouldn't change waking up to the 6:30 am phone call wondering if the snow was going to stop the first service of NewSpective Church.
• I wouldn't change the last minute music change due to our inability to get the drum set to church.
  
• I wouldn't change the fact that the room wasn't ready for us and our fantastic team of volunteers had the chance to do "whatever it took" to enable us to start the service on time.
• I wouldn't change the amazing crowd and the positive comments and encouragement of those who are on board with making a dynamic impact on the Lehigh Valley for Christ.
• I wouldn't change the look in people's eyes as I talked about the impact that NewSpective Church is going to have on our community this Easter.
• I wouldn't change the way our volunteers stepped up and began putting a plan together to make NewKids a reality.
• I wouldn't change the fact that Adam and our partners took care of the break down today so that I could connect with people after the service.
• I wouldn't change how God showed up and moved through our space this morning.
  

It was truly awesome to be a part of the first service of NewSpective Church and to be doing ministry with a great group of people. God's going to do something really amazing. I trust Him and believe that we've not seen anything like this before. I can't wait to see what He does next week!

G3

Quick Update

Well, it's been almost a week since my last post so I wanted to put out an update.

• God is doing some really cool things through NewSpective Church and we've not even held a service yet.
• Tuesday was a Roller Coaster Ride: We know where we're going to meet . . . we don't know where we're going to meet . . . we know where we're going to meet . . . no that won't work either. In the end Adam located a great place, great environment, great location, and the best rate of any place we looked at. You can check it out here.
• In preparation for our gathering this weekend, I realized how much I took Jill for granted.
• Why is it that Technology seems to fail when you need it the most?
• Why does Dazzle not make the "good" analog video capture card anymore?
• Why does Windows Vista exist?
• Pray for Emily, she's got Strep Throat and is home sick for the second straight day.
• NewSpective Church is generating some buzz but watch NBC Nightly News tonight for a story about a new church plant in North Carolina. The Pastor is Todd and the church is Pine Ridge. It's supposed to be a good story about new churches in America
• I'm really excited about the message for this weekend. It's going to be a great start to an exciting journey. You won't want to miss it.

G3

Keepin' It Real

I've been blogging for a little over a year now. At times I've been very diligent and post several times per week. There have been times when I've gone weeks without any post and times when I've posted several times in one day. There have been times when I've had very few, if any, people read my thoughts and then other times when the hit count seems to go through the roof. During this entire year, the look and feel of StevenWales.com has remained fairly constant.

However, I recently changed the header at the top of my site and I've had some "interesting" comments about the new photo. I've heard everything from "I laughed out loud when I saw it", to an implication that I'm hiding from something because my eyes aren't visible. Over the year I've had people comment on various post. Some people think I'm nuts, some people think I'm too deep, others think I'm not deep enough and the list could go on and on.

The reality is that I maintain this site and post my thoughts for one primary reason. I want those people whom I do ministry with to see my heart. I want you to get to know me. Sometimes I'll post about my family. Sometimes I'll post about seeing God is some strange place. Sometimes I'll post about a sports team I like. Sometimes I'll post about what God is teaching me. Sometimes I'll simply list a bunch of random thoughts and sometimes I'll post about the great taste of a Starbucks coffee.

There will be times when I simply state a thought:

The Buffalo Bills Lost again!
I love my wife!
I don't like Cold Weather!

And there will be other times when I'll post something like today's Starbucks experience.

You see I was in Starbucks (or St. Arbucks as some may call it) today for about an hour and a half. I enjoyed a Venti bold coffee. No cream, no sugar, just straight up bold coffee. When my meeting was over and my coffee was gone, I went home. But for the rest of the afternoon I continued to smell coffee. Apparently the coffee smell had penetrated my clothing and I continued to smell it long after I left the store. It made me think about how a good message or "God Experience" should stay with us long after the service is over or the study is complete. After all, isn't that the point. Shouldn't the God of the universe penetrate our being? Shouldn't the creator of the world, the Son of the living God stick with us all day, every day? I mean coffee is just coffee but God is God!!

I guess my point is this. With my goal being to expose my heart to those I do ministry with, sometimes that will be a heart in change. Sometimes it's a heart that's in a deep place. Sometimes it's a heart that's laughing out loud and sometimes it's a heart that is hurt. However, I pray that it will always be a heart focused on God and running after His purposes.

G3

Just Some Thoughts

Well, it's Sunday night and it's been a long but really great weekend. Here are some bullet points:

• I love our connecting point. These people are real, they care about each other and they're open and honest. I love that!!!!!
• Saturday Morning breakfast with potential NewSpective Partners was great. I love talking about what God has placed on my heart and seeing people respond to that.
• IKEA is great. Quality stuff, low prices.
• How does The Cracker Barrel stay in business? You get a ton of great food and pay very little.
• Real office furniture is great. However taking 5 hours to assemble when you don't start until 9:00pm is a real pain in the back.
• Attended a Catholic Mass today. It was packed. Standing room only. In fact, 2 rows of people standing in the back. No media, no "creative relevant message", no praise band, no special lighting and a sound system that you could not hear. Makes me wonder how many people "could" be coming.
• Snowy Sunday afternoons with Family and Friends is real life!
  

• Brian Sezter put on an amazing show tonight. Being able to experience it with some NewSpective Partners and seeing some other NewSpective Partner's there was the icing on the cake.

• My mind is racing with things to do and next steps that need to be taken to advance the vision of reaching the Lehigh Valley for Christ. I have some meetings set up this week and will forward more information as it happens. Stay tuned, it's going to get exciting.

Have a great week.

G3,

What is the Church?

The dictionary defines "church" as:

The whole body of Christian believers

As we embark on this new adventure, this new local body of believers, I want to constantly keep the above definition in mind. We need to continually remember that it's not about buildings, governmental structure, constitutions, bylaws, denominations, rules, regulations, cultural expectations, styles, preferences or other "models". It's about the people that God is bringing together, to begin a revolution for Christ, right here in the Lehigh Valley. While those other things are all things we may need to deal with and consider. None of them come close to being on the same level of importance as the "people" that are coming together to form NewSpective Church.

It's about helping people, who are far from God, connect with God and Friends. It's about those who already know God to continually live connected to Him and actively help others connect with Him. It's about lives being changed, marriages being restored, families being strengthened, and addictions being broken all because people are authentically Connecting with God and Friends.

Imagine whats going to happen as we focus on this vision and watch what God does.

It's going to be amazing. Not easy, but amazing.

G3

New Birth

I had the privilege of being in the delivery room when both of my daughters were born. It's truly an amazing experience. You've waited, prepared, prayed and "think" you're ready. Then all of a sudden, in a few moments, your world is turned upside down. You're life is never the same and you find yourself experiencing a plethora of emotions.

Fear, excitement, joy, anticipation, apprehension and wonder. You begin asking yourself a few questions: Did we do the right thing? What if I'm not a good parent? What if I drop her? What happens when she gets hurt? What if she grows up and runs away from home? What if she grows up and doesn't like me? What if I screw up and then she's screwed up for life?

Last night I felt very similar emotions. A group of Christ Followers met in a living room and began dreaming about what could happen if God chose to radically revolutionize the Lehigh Valley, right before our very eyes. After several hours of vision casting, questions, discussions and prayer, NewSpective Church was born.

All the details aren't known, all of the people and plans aren't in place yet. However, God is doing something really special and it's amazing to be a part of it. I am feeling fear, excitement, joy, anticipation, apprehension and wonder. I'm asking myself all kinds of questions. But what I do know is that God has ignited a flame and what He desires will come to pass.

It's going to get really crazy, so hang on and enjoy the ride.

G3

I couldn't Have Said It Better Myeslf

I read a couple of great Blog Posts this week. Rather than try and re-word them or give you my take on then, I thought I'd just link to them both and let them speak for themselves.

1) Steven Furtick: Pastor of Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC.
Here it is: CLICK HERE

2) Gary Lamb: Pastor of Revolution Church in Canton, GA.
Here it is: CLICK HERE

Enjoy!

G3

Monday Morning Thoughts

We had a great weekend.

Saturday night we spent some time with our Connecting Point. We had dinner together and then watched one of my favorite movies, "Facing the Giants." If you've not seen this movie I highly recommend it. However, I'd also highly recommend buying a couple of boxes of tissues prior to pressing play.

Sunday morning we went with Mark, Heidi and their family to Liquid Church in Morristown, NJ. If you ever get the chance to go and visit Liquid, it will be well worth the trip. Tim and his team have it together and they are seeing lives changed on a regular basis. It was refreshing and awesome to just allow God to speak.

Sunday night we went to Life Church in Allentown to see Lincoln Brewster. It was an awesome evening of worship and connecting with God. The place was packed and Lincoln rocked it.

The weekend was so good that even my Buffalo Bills won. The only downside to the entire weekend was the Colts loosing.

G3

Imagine part 2

A week or so ago, I asked my readers to imagine a church that was dramatically impacting the Lehigh Valley for Christ. I want to unwrap that thought process over a few more posts. I've chosen to call these posts, "Imagine."

Today, I want to ask you to imagine a church, a community of like-minded Christ followers, who:

• Care enough about the people within their sphere of influence to invite them into God's Presence.
• Care about the community enough that they are willing to do whatever it takes to reflect Christ to the world.
• Care more about those far from Christ than their own preferences.
• Care more about living God's word than simply knowing God's word.
• Care so much about people far from God that they are willing to look foolish so that other's can meet Jesus.
• Care about living out Matthew 22:39 even when those same neighbors have inflicted physical, emotional or spiritual pain on them.
  

Can you imagine a church that cares so much, no matter the cost?

I believe such a place can become a reality right here in the Lehigh Valley. . . Do you?

G3

Wii the Church

Recently I read an article about the Nintendo Wii video game console. The article appeared in the June issue of Fortune magazine. I have to say that as I was reading it, I couldn't help but think of the many parallels between Nintendo's marketing philosophy and what the Church should be doing and thinking with regard to reaching the un-churched.

The one quote that really hit me was this:

"We are not competing against Sony or Microsoft. We are battling the indifference of people who have no interest in videogames."

There it was, the focus of the church. We're not competing against other churches, traditions, music styles or rules, we need to battle the indifference of people who have no interest in God and/or Church. We need to keep the Main Thing the main thing and remember that the church's purpose is to reach the un-churched. We need to continually look for ways to demonstrate the relevance or God and His Son in today's world. We need to battle the indifference of people who don't believe that God has any place in their lives.

Imagine a church that stayed focused and was more concerned with those far from Christ than their own likes, dislikes, preferences or comfort.

Just Imagine.

G3

A Visit To Liquid

We took Patrick, Christa and Noah with us to experience Liquid today. It was about an hour away but well worth the drive time and trip. Tim and his team are doing things right. They reach about 800 people per week in a relevant, contemporary and professional environment. The worship music was powerful, moving and quality. Tim's message was straight up truth and they even handled their little crisis this morning very well.

Liquid is a great example of doing church right. Definitely someone to learn from and spend some time with.

G3

Just Imagine

When I was a kid, my brother and I used to pretend we were in a band. I remember playing the keyboard from behind my mother's ironing board. I remember holding a broom or pool cue stick and pretending it was a guitar. I remember taking one of those folding metal student music stands and putting it as high as it could go, with the top folded and pretending it was a microphone stand. I remember imagining that we were playing a big concert before a large crowd.

Maybe you have images from your childhood too. What did you imagine you could be? What did you imagine you could do? What did you imagine could happen if you just put your mind, heart and soul into it?

Why do we seem to loose that imagination as we grow older? We settle into reality. We accept things the way they are. We don't question or challenge anyone or anything. We allow life's circumstances to direct our paths rather than the God given passions within us.

So, here's my challenge. I want you to imagine some things. Don't just read over this list but actually sit down, close your eyes and imagine.

• Imagine what the Lehigh Valley would be like if a dedicated group of Christ Followers made a commitment to take this valley for Christ.
• Imagine what would happen if God chose to duplicate this story, here in the Lehigh Valley.
  
• Imagine what would happen if a church rose up and began actually living out the "Great Commandment" rather than just talking about it.
  
• Imagine a group of people so committed to reaching the Lehigh Valley for Christ that they were willing to commit time, energy, talents and financial resources to see God move through this valley like never before.
  
• Imagine a church so relevant, so dynamic & so life changing that kids, students and adults couldn't stop talking about Christ and inviting people far from Him to enter into His presence.
• Imagine being part of a team that was destined to win and being on the front lines for a God sized miracle here in this valley.
• Imagine reaching out to friends, neighbors, relatives, the poor, the afflicted, the widows and orphans with the love of Christ and watching God change their world.
• Imagine being used by God to change our families, our neighborhoods and the entire Lehigh Valley in Jesus Name.
  

I believe God can and will do some amazing things right here in the Lehigh Valley. Do you?

Stay tuned, and . . . Just Imagine.

G3

Here's The Truth

I've received several e-mails over the past few days questioning my status on the staff of The Carpenter's Church. It seems like the stories, rumors, e-mails and miss-truths have begun. So, it's time to stop the rumor mill and state the truth.

The truth is that as of this past Sunday, October 14, 2007 I am no longer on the staff at The Carpenter's Church. I am told there will be a public announcement at both the 9:00 am and 10:45 am worship services this coming weekend however, I will not be there.

The reason for my departure is fairly straight forward. Over the past few months it has become increasingly clear to me that Pastor Jim and I do not have the same Ministry and Leadership philosophies. There were several leadership and financial decisions made over the past few years that I believe are not in line with scripture and therefore I can not agree with. Recently there have been more questionable financial and ministry decisions. As a result, I can no longer submit myself to this spiritual or leadership authority. These growing differences were making for a tense working environment and so on Wednesday October 10, 2007 we decided as an Elder board that it was best for everyone if I was no longer on the staff. I was informed on Thursday afternoon, that I was to lead worship on Sunday and then have my office cleared out on Monday morning.

So, there you have it. That is the truth and it is consistent with my severance letter that Pastor Jim, Alan Shalosky and I all signed, no matter what you might hear.

I am truly sorry that I did not have the chance to say goodbye to the church and for you to say goodbye to me. Please know that I will continue to pray for The Carpenter's Church. God is not finished with you yet and he is certainly not finished with me either.

God is taking care of the financial and spiritual needs of me and my family. In fact I believe God is giving me a New Perspective about ministry and the church, which I will share here very soon.

Please feel free to leave a comment here or contact me via the e-mail me link above. However, comments on this site are monitored so anonymous comments will get deleted.

G3

Interesting Statistics

I use Google Analytics to track the number of visits and page views at StevenWales.com. I enjoy analyzing numbers and looking at statistics, so a couple of times each month I log on to Google Analytics and check to see how many people have read my blog.

I have to say that the past 5 days has seen a flurry of activity at StevenWales.com. In fact the number of people checking out this blog has tripled in the past 5 days. What's interesting about this number is that I've not posted a single post in over 2 weeks. I've been fairly silent. However, based on the activity, there seems to be a plethora of people who either think I have something to say or that I should say something.

At this time, the wait will continue. For a little while anyway. However, stay tuned. The Journey is just beginning.

G3

Silence, Listening, Thinking, Dreaming

It's been over 2 weeks since my last post. I would apologize for that but . . . well . . . I'm not really sorry.

A lot has happened in the past 2 weeks and it's been good to sit back in silence, listen to God, think about what He's teaching me and dream of what He has in store.

I turned 40 last week. While many people did and continue to call me old or make "Old Man" jokes, I don't feel any different than I did at 39. However this mile marker has forced me to think back on my life. What have I accomplished, what has God been able to do through me, what has God not been able to do because of pride or disobedience or distractions. And then there's the big question, What does God have in store for the next 40 years?

I've taken a lot of time, over the past couple of weeks, to really connect with God, plug into Him, ask some hard questions and listen to His response. While He's not laid out the next 40 years, He's starting to put the next couple of steps in front of me. I heard an illustration one time that God's will is like the headlights on your car. They don't illuminate your entire trip, they simply illuminate the next few steps. God is my headlight and is beginning to illuminate my next few steps. I'm excited about the next few steps as well as the next 40 years. As long as I'm connected with God and allowing Him to control the steps, it's going to be a crazy, exciting, challenging and totally fulfilling.

G3

Purse Update

I just received a call from Emily. The purse has been found and all of it's contents are intact. Another student found it and took it to the Art Room. Praise God. No More Tears.

It was a great learning experience for all.

G3

Reflections

Well, it's been an interesting 24 hours in the Wales household. I received a phone call yesterday afternoon from Jennifer telling me that our oldest daughter (Emily) had lost her purse at school today.

Well, since that call came in I've seen a lot of tears, called AT&T to disable her phone, seen lots of tears, watched a field hockey game (she won), seen lots of tears, tried to determine where the purse was last seen, lots of tears, tried to determine what all was in the purse (phone, keys, glasses, ID, wallet, money), again lots of tears, tried to explain 7th grade math between lots of tears, calculated the monetary loss if in fact the purse is gone, lots of tears, called several of Emily's friends to see if they saw or heard anything, lots more tears and went and met with the school principal this morning. . . . Still no purse! But lots of tears.

As I reflect on this experience and what lessons can be learned and taught through it, I'm reminded of what the important things are in life. It's not about the possessions we have or the stuff we acquire but about the relationships we form with God, through life in Christ, and the relationship we have with family and friends. My relationship with Emily and how I handle the "lost purse" incident is a million times more important than the cost of replacing the "Stuff" in the purse.

The same is true with our lives. Next week I'll reach a milestone in my own life. I'll be turning 40. As I reflect on that day, I can't help but think about what kind of a difference I am (or am not) making in the lives of family, friends and those around me. Am I living a life that is God honoring, Christ reflecting and Holy Spirit filled? Am I more concerned about what God wants for me and through me than what I want for me?

Perry Noble is the pastor at NewSpring Church in Anderson South Carolina. He had a fantastic blog post today about being "Nice Christian Boys and Girls." I'm going to link to that post below.
HOWEVER, I MUST GIVE YOU A WARNING!

Don't read this post. . . Don't click on it. . . Don't even look at it, unless you are a strong person. Not physically strong but mentally and spiritually strong. If you're comfortable in your life, if you are comfortable attending church on the weekend and then doing whatever you want throughout the week, then don't read his post. Click away, Click away now. He pulls no punches, he tells it like it is and he is leading one of the largest, fastest growing churches in America today. In fact, this past weekend they baptized 562 people on Saturday. He's a leader, he speaks the truth from God's word and he is black and white about how we as "Christ Lovers" should live.

OK, I think I've disclaimed this link enough. If you click on it, you're doing so at your own risk. Good luck and your live may never be the same again.

By the way, if you do click on the link, send me a comment and let me know what God said to you as you read it. Not what your opinion is of Perry or his post but what God said as you read it.

Here's the link. Enjoy!

Setting Sail

Well, the 30 foot long pirate ship is almost complete and ready to set sail for this weekends launch of "Parents of the Caribbean." We've been working on this series for months and I'm very excited that it's finally here. The advertisements hit the newspapers yesterday, the invite cards have been out for 2 weeks and the messages are getting their final touches.

If you are a part of a family; functional or dysfunctional, then do whatever you need to do to check out either the 9:00am or 10:45am services. In fact, bring a friend or 5 and play your part in their lives.

Where's the Faith

I've been reading through the book of Acts and recently read chapter 3. As I was reading the first 16 verses God seemed to convict me of my own faith.

In this story, Peter and John are about to enter the temple. They see a lame man outside the temple begging for money. They approach the man and he believes they're going to give him some money. However, rather than give him money, they heal him of a condition that he's had since birth. The man is astonished, as are all of those around him. However, Peter and John are quick to give credit where credit is due. They don't take credit for themselves but give it to God and faith in Jesus.

What's really cool about this passage is that the same Holy Spirit that empowered Peter and John, is the same Holy Spirit that is alive and well and living in us. The problem is that we don't have the faith to really believe in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Imagine what we could do if we truly had the faith of a mustered seed and believed that with the Holy Spirit in us we can move mountains. Imagine if we truly believed that what God did in Acts 2 He could do in Nazareth PA. Imagine if we truly believed that The Carpenter's Church exists to lead the Greater Lehigh Valley to Christ and that God is preparing us to do just that.

God's is working on my faith, how about you? Let's jump in the game, believe that God can do anything and take this Valley for Him.

Who's With Me?

G3

Sunday Night Mind Dump

What an amazing day! I'm not sure I've ever experienced a service like we had at The Carpenter's this morning. Here are some of my thoughts on the day.

• What a powerful worship set this morning. The congregation was singing louder than my ear monitors.
  
• The two highlight songs were "Awesome is the Lord Most High" and Chris Tomlin's version of "Amazing Grace: (My Chains Are Gone)"
• We had 9 people prepared to take the next step in their spiritual journey and follow God's command to be baptized.
• We then took a cue from Acts 2 and asked anyone who wanted to get baptized to come forward. We were totally blown away as 8 or 9 people came forward and proclaimed their faith in Christ by following Him in baptism. It was one of the most powerful times in the church's history.
• Our service was 1 hour and 40 minutes long and no one cared. In fact most people stayed around for a picnic afterward.
• Thank you for the entire staff and volunteer team at The Carpenter's. You all rock! You stepped up today. It was awesome.
• I'm so looking forward to the Parents of the Caribbean series that starts on September 9th. It's going to be amazing and the 30 foot long Pirate Ship is really cool.

Church, we're going to do what it takes to reach the Lehigh Valley for Christ. It is our focus and God is moving in that direction. Hang on tight because it's going to be a fast and wild ride.

G3

Shout Out to Tony and Renee

Last night Jennifer, Emily and I had the privilege of celebrating the 25 wedding anniversary of Tony and Renee Trinchere. It was a dinner party and a great time to catch up with old friends and celebrate what God is doing in Tony, Renee and their family.

In today's world, 25 years of marriage is amazing. Tony & Renee have reached that milestone with a commitment to God, each other and their family. If you know Tony and Renee, give them a shout out. If you don't, go ahead and visit Renee's web site (she's in real estate) and shoot her a quick e-mail. I know they'd appreciate it.

G3

Wednesday Morning Mind Dump

Well, it's Wednesday morning and I just realized that I've not posted anything in over a week. So, I thought I'd just do a little mind dump this morning and let you know what's happening.

• I was on vacation last week and it's taken me a couple of days to get back into the swing of things.
• Water parks, in the middle of the Summer are awesome!
• Tim did a great job leading the team and leading the congregation in Worship on Sunday. He has been a great asset to our ministry and he and his family will be greatly missed as they follow God's new opportunity in Chicago.
• Tucker brought it on Sunday and lives were changed! We know of at least 2 people who made decisions to walk with Christ.
• God is moving through The Carpenter's Church and the "Chase The Lion" series is having some great impact on people's lives.
• This weekend is going to be off the charts. Some of us are really going to look foolish. Now that the votes are in, I can tell you that Tucker and Jim will be the first two people in the dunk tanks. :-)
  
• If you ever wanted to see any of our staff get wet, then don't miss this weekend. We'll have (2) dunk tanks going after church. It's going to be crazy.
• Make plans now to attend next weekend (the 26th) as well. We're going to celebrate with at least 8 people as they take the next step in their spiritual journey and be baptized. We're also going to do something that day that we've never ever done before in the history of our church. Trust me, you won't want to miss it.
• I'm working on my message for this weekend and can't wait to preach it. I love teaching the Word of God and having it come alive in a real and practical way.
  
• I'm also working on my message for September 30th. It's going to be awesome. Mark your calendars, you won't want to miss it.
• We're announcing our major Fall Message series this weekend. It will start on September 9th and will be one of the biggest, most impacting series we've ever done. Start inviting people now, it's going to be life changing.

I don't know if anyone cares about the above, but it is what is on my mind this morning.

Discipleship

I have to say, that the past few weeks here at The Carpenter's has been really exciting. 155elementary and pre-school kidz attended our Avalanche Ranch week. 11 of those kidz gave their lives to Christ. 9 adults have made Jesus the leader of their lives in the past 3 weeks during our weekend services. With 20 people accepting Christ in 3 weeks one question needs to be asked and answered.

"What is the church doing to disciple these people?"

In order to answer that question we must look at what the Bible says about discipleship. In Matthew chapter 28 verses 19-20, Jesus is talking with the disciples and gives them what is called the "Great Commission." He instructs them to "Go and Make Disciples." The King James Version of this verse doesn't use the word Disciple. Rather it says to go and "Teach All Nations." I also like what the Message Paraphrase says; "Go out and Train Everyone You Meet."

You see, a Disciple is really just a student. The American Heritage Dictionary defines disciple as,

"One who embraces and assists in spreading the teachings of another."

As a pastor, I can't force someone to learn about Christ any more than a contractor can force someone to be a student of pouring concrete. The desire to be a student, the desire to learn must come from within. Once the desire is there, then it's my job as a Pastor to teach and provide opportunities for people to learn.

Act 2:42-47 describes the discipleship process that took place after Peter spoke and 3,000 people accepted Christ. If this process worked for 3,000 people, I think it can work for us as well. Here at The Carpenter's, we provide opportunities for discipleship in three different ways.

1. Weekend Service: Our weekend services provide the opportunity for a student of Christ to be exposed to Worship & Bible Teaching. Acts 2:42 talks about teaching and Acts 2:46 talks about Worshiping together in the Temple. This is exactly what happens each Sunday during our Weekend Services. We Worship together and teach the word of God. It doesn't matter how long you've been a follower of Christ, worshiping together and learning the Word of God together is a vital part of being a Student of Christ.
2. Connecting Points: We offer Connecting Points or small groups that meet in homes and at the church building throughout the week. It is in our Connecting Points where true community happens. Like Acts 2:42 and the end of verse 46, our Connecting Points provide the opportunity for more teaching, fellowship (hanging out with others), sharing food, prayer & experiencing joy and generosity. It doesn't matter how long you've been a follower of Christ, it is vitally important to learn from others and spend time with others in a small group. Everyone can learn from anyone and a true "Student" understands this concept.
3. Service: As we serve others, we grow and become more like Christ. Acts 2:46 indicates that they met in homes. That means that someone opened up their home and served their guests. Verses 44 & 45 talk about the people sharing everything they had and selling their "stuff" to take care of those less fortunate. That is Service! Service is also, greeting people as they enter our building, leading a KidZone small group, participating on the v-staff for Ignite, running sound on the weekend, folding programs and much more. As we serve together, we learn from one another and we learn how Christ served. That process of serving continues our education and continues the discipleship process.

You see, no matter if you are a new believer in Christ or have been following Christ for 30 years, the biblical process of discipleship remains the same. Worship, Connect, Serve. As we repeat this process over and over, we grow and become more like Christ. If we're not careful, this process could just change the world.

G3

Ministry Is Not Fair

I read a blog entry by Tim Steven's from Granger Community Church today. I agree with him 100%. He's right. Ministry is not fair. And that's OK!

Check out Tim's entry here:

Fireworks, Cell Phones, Sundays and Tears

Saturday night we went to the Nazareth Park with some friends and watched the Fireworks. This was the conclusion of Nazareth Days which is a weekend of block parties, sidewalk sales, special events and vendors throughout the town. It culminates with a big fireworks display that rivals most big cities. It really is awesome.

We try to sit in the outfield of the baseball diamond at the park. They set the fireworks off in the far out field of the park so from our vantage point they explode almost directly over our heads. As I laid on the blanket and looked up at the kaleidoscope of colors in the sky I couldn't help but notice a group of teenagers sitting near by. During the entire fireworks display they were talking with each other, talking on their cell phones, text messaging their friends and seemed to be hardly looking at the beauty all around them. It almost as if the fireworks were simply a distraction to what they came there to do.

Fast forward to yesterday morning. We had an amazing service at The Carpenter's. In fact if you missed it, please get the CD, it will rock your world. From the moment the first song started the Holy Spirit was in the room and moving. The kids from Avalanche Ranch (our VBS program) did a great job singing and doing motions, the praise team led us into God's presence and then Tucker brought it. We are in the middle of the series, "Chase The Lion" and tucker delivered the message on Overcoming Adversity. It was powerful, motivating, thought provoking and total Spirit Filled.

At the end of the service, he gave an invitation for people to accept Jesus as their Savior. We saw one woman stand up and acknowledge her need for Christ. What's interesting about this woman was that she was there just to see her daughter sing the VBS songs and then she was going to leave. She ended up staying the entire service, gave her life to Christ and stood before God and our entire congregation crying. Other people moved out of their seats and comforted this woman, prayed with here, hugged her and supported her. In fact it was one of the best displays of true "Community" I've seen in a long time.

Now, what does yesterday's story and fireworks have in common? Well, I think too often we get caught up in our own interests, focus and priorities and we totally miss the beauty of God in the sunsets, stars, trees, flowers, streams and a new believer putting her faith in Christ for the very first time. We get caught up in the details of "church" and miss the purpose of church. I think sometimes we act as if the move of the Holy Spirit is a distraction to what we came to church for.

The Carpenter's Church won't be distracted from what God has called us to do. We will communicate the best story on the planet to the Lehigh Valley. Hang on tight. As Tucker said yesterday, it's going to be an adventure.

G3

10 More Big Ones!

Well, it's Friday and Avalanche Ranch is winding down. We've had an amazing week and the kids have had an awesome time. There have been over 140 kids here and they've experienced music, media, drama, crafts, service, snacks, stories and tons of fun.

However, the best part of the week was yesterday's closing session. The story of Jesus was shared clear and straight forward. At then end of the session the kids had the opportunity to accept Jesus as their forever friend. Yes, 10 kids prayed that prayer and accepted Jesus. The applause and "Yee-haw's" were almost deafening and I can't even imagine the party that was going on in Heaven yesterday about 12:00. There were several parents in the room as well.

Tonight we'll host a Family Roundup where the Kids can show their parents what they've learned this week. It's going to be awesome. Come out and have a great time, even if you're child isn't here.

G3

Weekend Recap

If you were out of town, still in bed, or otherwise not at our weekend service yesterday, you missed a move of the Holy Spirit like we've not seen in a long time. Yes, God showed up in some big ways yesterday

Here are some highlights:

• Tucker and the band did an amazing job leading us into God's Presence. If you want/need to know the set list, contact Tucker directly from his site.
• As I got up to speak I could feel the Holy Spirit take over and He moved in the room like we've not seen in a long time.
• There were about a dozen people standing at the end of the service committing their lives to Christ and to chasing their own lions.
• Our congregation stepped up in a big way and committed over a thousand dollars toward helping Holy Fire get back on their feet from their bus fire.
• After the service over 30+ people stayed to finish the set up and final prep for Avalanche Ranch which starts this morning.
• As of last night we had almost 140 kids registered for Avalanche Ranch and we expect some 30-40 walk-in registrations as well.

Overall, it was a great weekend and all indications are that God's going to continue to move in some amazing ways this week at Avalanche Ranch. Keep praying, keep serving, keep giving and watch God keep moving.

G3

I Wonder?

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was the Roman Emperor, A.D. 161-180. He was once quoted as saying,

"Waste no more time talking about great souls and how they should be. Become one yourself!"

I wonder if we waste too much time trying to fix other people, rather than being the best individual we can be?

I wonder if we waste too much time trying to disciple other people, rather than being a disciple and authentic Christ follower ourselves?

I wonder if we waste too much time trying to reprimand other people, rather than taking care of ourselves and taking our concerns to God in prayer?

I wonder if we waste too much time trying to tell others what to do, rather than actually doing the best we can at what God has called us to do?

I wonder if we waste too much time trying to fix our own problems, rather than allowing God to work through us to accomplish His will in His timing.

I don't know about you but I don't want to waste time talking about great souls and how they should be, I want to become one myself and allow Jesus to be reflected in me everywhere and all the time.

I wonder . . .?

Final Thoughts on Chesapeake 07

Well, it's now Tuesday afternoon and I've had a few days to reflect on last week. In case some of you don't know, I was at Chesapeake 07 last week with about 50 Students and leaders on a missions trip. We took 30+ people from Nazareth, connected with 16 people from Focal Point Church in Corpus Cristi Texas and a half dozen people form Focal Point Chesapeake to spend the week in Chesapeake Virginia.

Here are some final thoughts about the week.

• Students can accomplish a ton, when they join together and focus on a common goal. In fact, maybe adults can learn something from this point.
• It costs a lot of money to feed 50 people, 3 meals a day for a week.
• It takes a lot of gas to move 50 people around for a week.
• 50 people can distribute thousands of door hangers in a relatively short period of time.
• Kids love games and winning prizes. They don't have to be complicated games or expensive prizes but showing a child that they are important, valued and worthy of a gift, goes a long way. Maybe there's something for us adults to learn here as well.
  
• Our staff and students are amazing. We spent 24 hours per day together and didn't have any major issues or concerns. We connected with total strangers and worked together to accomplish our goals. It was great to watch and be a part of.
• Photos of the trip will be available soon. Keep checking, IgniteStudents.net.
• Fast food, bagels and sandwiches are great . . . but not for every meal for 7 days.
• Chevy and Ford vans both get almost exactly the same gas mileage.
• Golden Corral is a great place for a quick meal when traveling with 30 people.
• My van was fairly quiet most of the way home. I think after very little sleep all week, the students were ready for a nice long drive home.

For the most part, this was a great trip and it will be exciting to see how God uses this trip to change lives in Virginia, Texas and here in PA.

G3

Thursday Morning Thoughts

OK, it's currently 10:00 am on Thursday morning. Here are some random thoughts (Random because they don't really fit with each other and they are in no particular order).

• Our 4th of July started at 6:00am with our departure to Washington D.C.
• We arrived in Reston Virginia and distributed about 700 fliers for Reston Community Church.
• Finally arrived in D.C. about 2:00pm.
  
• There's a reason that God has me working with Adults
• If a storm comes through D.C. on the 4th of July, they close down the National Mall and that puts a ton of people in the Smithsonian.
• Trying to sleep while laying on the floor of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum is not really that comfortable at all.
  
• If one does not get enough sleep, does not drink enough fluids and walks in the hot, humid weather of D.C. on the 4th of July, there is a 100% chance that they will be taken to the E.R. for dehydration and/or heat exhaustion. (Not to panic anyone in PA, but we did have this happen to one of the students from Texas who are with us)
• A one block cab ride, in D.C., on the 4th of July, in a rain storm is very expensive
• Watching the fireworks, from in front of the Washington Memorial, on the4th of July, with a few thousand people is really cool.
• Not leaving D.C. until 1:00am (after picking up people from the Hospital) puts you back in Chesapeake about 5:00am.
• Getting up at 5:00am and getting back in bed at 5:00am makes for a very long day.

It's been a good week . . . But I'm tired.

G3

Monday Night Mind Dump

OK, so my title is a bit deceptive. I've titled this post, "Monday Night Mind Dump" but really . . . it's currently Tuesday morning about 1:30am. Yes, I just walked in the door at Tally's house and I'm getting ready to turn in. Here are some thoughts from the first full day at Chesapeake 07 with Ignite Students.

• I love working with Adults.
• Buying food for 50 people, to eat 10+ meals, takes a lot of time, two very full large Sam's club carts and a lot of money.
• Today we distributed hundreds of door hangers to promote a "party in the park" tomorrow afternoon and Saturday afternoon. The student's did a great job, stayed together, didn't get lost and there were no cops involved at all.
  
• I love working with Adults
• I'm not the best drummer on the planet but I'm better than nothing.
• I found out today that there were 3 decisions for Christ Sunday morning at The Carpenter's. Way to go God!!!!!!
• Starbucks Coffee is a requirement on any Student Ministry Trip. In fact it should be one of the only requirements. I mean, it needs to be #1 on the list of things to have.
• We worked at a house in Norfolk today doing some work and preparing to do a full day of work on Thursday. It's amazing to me, the way some people live. We have been blessed with so much and there are so many people who live with so little.
  
• Relationships are starting to form between our students and those from Focal Point Church, Corpus Cristi, TX. It's kind of cool to see the interaction and see people start to connect as they server together. It's like watching the Body of Christ work.
• People had some strange looks for us as we left Sam's Club today.
• I love working with Adults!
• Headache remedy #1: Take 2 ibuprofen, with 2 slices of pizza and a large coke. Wait about 1 hour and your good as new. Oh, did I mention that it helps to have an empty van too.
• Wednesday is going to be a long day. Leaving at 6:00am, travel to D.C., distribute literature for Reston Community Church, watch the fireworks on the mall in D.C. and then travel 3 hours home.
• I love working with Adults!
• Tim's going to do a great job leading worship at The Carpenter's this weekend. Invite your friends as we launch "Chase the Lion".
• It's time for bed. I'm starting to retype almost everything I type or you won't even be able to tell what I'm trying to say.

Have great week and check back often as I'll try to keep you posted.

G3

What A Week!?!?!?!

Well, it's been a long week. I'm speaking tomorrow (I'm really looking forward to that by the way) and so I've been working on my message all week. In addition, we leave tomorrow after church with 30 students and adult leaders for our Ignite Students missions trip to Focal Point Church in Chesapeake, Virginia. Therefore I've had to prepare a ton of graphics and materials that are needed next weekend when I'm not around. Needless to say my weeks' been a bit hectic.

I've felt Satan around me most of the week. You see my message tomorrow is on how to have eternal life. It's a straight forward salvation message and Satan knows it. Every time I went to work on the message I was distracted. It is currently almost midnight on Saturday night and I've just finished wrapping up the details of the message. That's OK though because with everything that Satan has thrown my way this week, I think God's got some big plans in store for tomorrow and this week's missions trip.

Check in often this week as I'll be blogging from Chesapeake and keeping everyone updated on what's going on. You can read Tucker's take on his blog as well.

G3

Nothing More To Say

WOW!!!

I just read a blog post by Steven Furtick at Elevation Church in Charollete N.C.

Check out the post by clicking here.

I believe he's right! Well, I believe his thoughts are right. I've never actually eaten at Ruth's Chris so I can't verify the quality of the steaks.

G3

Summer Is Here

I can always tell when Summer has arrived. My kids stay up later, sleep in later and I get up in the morning, get ready and have breakfast by myself.

Summer brings with it warm weather, sunshine, vacations, family events, carnivals, outdoor concerts and all kinds of exciting activities. As we gear up for the Summer here at The Carpenter's we are preparing for the Summer Message Series, "Chase The Lion", that launches on July 8th. This series is going to challenge each person and our church as a whole to:

"Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive SAFELY at Death."

You'll hear more about this new series in a week or so but until then I want to share with you some thoughts that Perry Noble from NewSpring Church shared on his blog today. I echo his statements and believe they should be for The Carpenter's as well.

• NEVER be satisfied with where we are!
• ALWAYS be thankful for what God has done!
• NEVER limit what God can do!
• ALWAYS dream big…and take bold steps!
• NEVER stop reaching people for Christ!
• ALWAYS spend money on ministry!
• NEVER let the critics and skeptics silence us!
• ALWAYS be willing to make NOISE for Christ!
• NEVER forget where we came from!
• ALWAYS celebrate where we are going!
• NEVER allow creativity to trump Scripture!
• ALWAYS show the world how relevant the Gospel is!
• NEVER lift up a personality!
• ALWAYS lift up the name of Jesus!

I believe The Carpenter's Church should hold true to each of these statements and when we do that, God is going to do some amazing things. I think this is going to be a Summer to remember.

. . . Stay Tuned!

If We Can Just Touch Your Robe?

I've been fairly quite on my blog for the past couple of weeks. In fact I think it's been about 17 days since my last post. I have to admit, I've been in a little funk. I've kinda stayed below the radar and simply spent some time reading, reflecting and praying. In some respects it's been a good time and in other it's been very frustrating. During those 2 weeks, we've had 2 great services at The Carpenter's.

Chris Hull spoke on the 27th of may and challenged us all about how to handle criticism and keep Jesus in the boat. Speaking as someone who gets criticized a lot, it was a message that God spoke, just for me. This past weekend we launched the new message series "Cars." In my opinion it was one of the most well thought out, well organized, flowing and purposeful services we've ever had. The music, media, message, flow, payers, baby dedications and yes, the Austin Healey on stage all worked together to communicate the difference between an authentic relationship with God through Christ and a rules based religious experience.

However, in spite of these great services, our attendance hasn't been great and our giving is still way down. I've been spending time asking God, "what are we doing that You don't want us to be doing" (or) "what do You want us to do that we're not doing." While I've not received a clear response, I was reading in Matthew the other day and a story that I've read many times, seemed to jump off the page at me.

Matthew chapter 9 verses 19-22: tells the story of a woman who has suffered for 12 years with constant bleeding. Jesus walks by and she thinks, "If I can just touch His robe, I will be healed." She touches His robe, Jesus turns around and when He sees her He says, "Daughter, be encouraged! Your faith has made you well."

I felt like God was telling me, just reach out and touch my robe. Have the tiniest of faith and I'll take care of the rest. Your Faith Will Make You Well!

So, I have some questions. What if we all were able to reach out and touch His robe and believe that by doing this little insignificant act, He would change the world through us? What if we had just a tiny bit of faith and believed that God wants to reach the Greater Lehigh Valley through The Carpenter's Church and then started putting action behind that faith? What if we spent half as much time telling people about Christ as we do complaining about what we don't like in the church?

I don't know about you, but I want to stop playing church, stop accepting mediocre faith, stop allowing Satan to use good people as a distraction to what God is doing and simply reach out and touch his robe. I want to put my tiny grain of faith into action and work with God where He's already working. We've got a big job to do and God is a Big God and I believe He can explode the doors of The Carpenter's in the next 6 months.

Who's ready to go with me??????

Great Day!

What a great morning we had yesterday!

For the first time in 15 years, the staff at The Carpenter's presented the church vision with video, music, graphics, audio testimony and 6 different communicators at both weekend services. It was awesome to watch people start to "get it." And it was critical to ensure that we are all on the same page, heading in the same direction, with clarity of focus and ready to impact the Greater Lehigh Valley for Christ.

If you weren't here yesterday then order a copy of the service on CD. If you were here yesterday then get ready to rock because we've got some great things lined up for the rest of the year and I can't wait to see what God's going to do in and through this church.

It's been a challenging year so far, but I believe God has been preparing us to move mountains and change the Lehigh Valley in a dramatic way. We've got His vision set. We're not going to back down and we're going to go all out to reach people and share the greatest story ever in the most compelling and creative ways possible.

It's going to be amazing!!!

Preparing for Chazown

This weekend is going to be amazing! We're going to walk through the Vision or "Chazown" of The Carpenter's Church at both services this Sunday. We presented this same information to the leadership of our church about 2 months ago and so we've decided to bring it before the entire church this weekend.

In the middle of my preparation for Chazown I read a blog entry from my good friend, Tally Wilgis. Tally is the Lead Pastor at Focal Point Church in Chesapeake, Virginia. Tally and I served together at Sonlight Church when I was in Virginia as well. On his blog he wrote the following:

My passion is that we are a church where salvation is a weekly norm, baptisms are a common occurrence, the orphan and widow are cared for and poverty is defeated wherever we see it. The next level for us is to be the church that our city cannot ignore. This church cannot ever be pleased with mere existence. We must rally one another to impact our city with the gospel of Christ.

I'm often guilty however of getting caught up with other things that do not make this passion a reality.

Tally was talking about himself and Focal Point but I couldn't agree with him more. The same passion is here in Nazareth in the Staff and Leadership of The Carpenter's.

If you are a member or attender of The Carpenter's Church, please do whatever you need to do and get to one of our weekend services this week. Please forward this blog post to everyone you know and ask them to come out to one of our services this week as well. It's going to be awesome and you'll see where we are going, why we are going there, what we are doing, why we are doing it, what impact this church is going to have on the community and what part you can play in seeing this vision become a reality.

I believe this could be the tipping point for The Carpenter's Church.

Also, don't be late because the service is jammed packed from start to finish and you won't want to miss a single minute.

FX Was Awesome!

This past weekend we launched our first ever, "Carpenter's FX" service. This is where Kids and Parents come together in one service for a "Family Experience" or FX.

For those of you who missed it, let me give you a quick recap.

• Started with the Band, Vocalists, Dancers, Actors and entire cast walking through the crowd giving high fives, greeting people and creating an atmosphere of celebration to some kicking loud and bass filled music.
• The service included live music, video, drama, stories, confetti, a snake in a can, props, the backdrop of a club house, toilet flushing sounds and more.
• The entire FX Event was focused on Honesty and this theme was present from beginning to end.
  
• It was an amazing way for Families to connect with God together in one room, with one theme that they can talk about throughout the week.

We had some great feedback from many people and several have requested that we do something like this again every few months. In addition to all of that, we had the second largest attendance of the year (second only to Easter Sunday). God is doing some really cool things here and it's exciting to be a part of it.

If you want to read what another church did this past weekend, check out what NewSpring church, in Anderson S.C. did. Read it Here!

Don't forget to check back here in a couple of days as I talk about Chazown and what we've got coming up this weekend. You don't want to miss it!!!!!!!!

Ice Hockey and "The Church"?

Unless you are a die hard Hockey Fan most of you have no idea that the National Hockey League is currently in the Playoffs for their championship, The Stanley Cup.

When I was a kid, I used to follow hockey very closely. We lived in up-state New York (about 3 miles from the Canadian boarder) and the only sports programming we got in the winter time was Hockey. Back then I was a die hard Buffalo Sabers fan. We watched every game we could, I knew the players and followed some of them like rock stars. Over the years my interests changed and I must be honest that I don't really follow it much any more. However, I do know that the Sabers are playing really well and are currently in the hunt for the Cup.

Even if you've never watched an NHL game in your life you've most likely heard of Wayne Gretzky. Gretzky is the greatest hockey player to ever play the game. In 1978, his first season with the Edmonton Oilers he scored 110 points on his way to becoming the rookie of the year. He had four 200-point regular seasons and was a 10-time season leading scorer. This guy knew how to win, knew how to score and knew how to be successful.

Gretzky once said,

"A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be."

You see in order to score and have the success that Gretzky had, you can't play in the moment you need to look ahead and be ready for what's coming next.

I think the same thing is true in the church. We can't be successful reaching people, using the same methodology that we used yesterday. We won't be successful reaching people using the same tools that we are using today either. We have to constantly look ahead to where our culture and our community will be and begin taking steps to be prepared to reach people with new technologies, methodologies and tools.

I believe we've got the best and most important message to share. Our methodologies will continue to change and morph and evolve but the truth of Scripture, the truth of the Gospel and the message of Jesus Christ will always remain the same.

If you're on board with a thought process that says, "I'll do whatever it takes to stay ahead of the culture so that we can reach the culture for Christ", then please leave a comment and let me know that you're "On-Board."

I Love Baptisms

Yesterday we had the privilege of celebrating with 9 people who took the next step in their spiritual journey and followed the Lord in Baptism. It was awesome.

I love to hear testimonies of how people came to Christ, how they came to The Carpenter's and what God is doing in their lives. It is truly a privilege to be a part of the leadership team at The Carpenter's and to be a part of what God is doing here.

The next couple of weeks are going to be amazing and I'm looking forward to see what God does next.

Next Steps?

I can't wait for this weekend's service a The Carpenter's. Don't get me wrong, I look forward to almost every service we do. However, this weekend is different. This weekend we get to celebrate with about a dozen people as they take the "next step" in their spiritual journey and follow the Lord in Baptism. Baptism isn't anything magical but is simply a public expression of a personal decision to identify with Jesus as Lord of your life. It is a symbol of His burial and resurrection as the candidate goes under the water and then comes back up again. (Don't worry we won't keep them under for 3 days)

Baptism services are awesome. We get the chance to celebrate what God is doing in the lives of His people and hear people share their testimony. Add to that the opportunity to celebrate communion together with the church family and you have the makings for a fabulous day.

Then on Tuesday, we'll have several students proclaim their faith to their friends as Tucker leads another baptism service at Ignite Students.

Yes, the next 7 days here at The Carpenter's are going to awesome! Don't miss this weekends service. Invite your friends to come and celebrate with us. Come out to Ignite next Tuesday night and celebrate with our Students. It could be life changing for you too!

The Competition?

Jerry Flint is a senior automotive editor for Forbes magazine. I read a quote from him today that speaks volumes about the church. Jerry flint said this:

"Competition is a painful thing, but it produces great results."

For far too long "the church" has considered other churches to be "the competition." However, I will never consider another church to be a competitor. With 300,000 people in Northampton County and considering that national statistics suggest that 165,000 of those people don't know Christ, other churches are allies not competition. The real competition for growing, relevant, bible believing, Christ preaching churches is not other churches but anything that will keep people from coming to church on the weekend.

Our competition is the golf course, the movie theater, night clubs, sporting events, T.V. shows and anything that keeps people from coming to our church buildings. As Jerry Flint suggests, competing with those kinds of experiences can be painful but if we do it right, if we truly develop the kind of quality that people experience everywhere outside the church, if we tell the greatest story in the world in the most compelling and creative ways possible, we will reach our community!!

That's who we are! That's what we are going to do!

We will not compromise the message and we will not compromise the quality. The results will be great!

Stay tuned, invite your friends and watch what God does!

Storage Units?

I had to run to the bank this morning. The primary branch that we bank at sits up on a hill and overlooks a neighborhood and what used to be a large field. About a year ago, they began to excavate the field and I assumed they were building more homes. Much to my surprise they weren't building homes, they were building Storage Units. You know the u-store-it kind of buildings where we spend $100.00 a month to store the stuff we can't fit into our 2500 square foot homes that sit on 1/4 acre lots with 2 car garages and a shed out back. I don't know about you but I see these kind of storage companies all over the place.

Now I know that some people have legitimate reasons for needing these storage units. They run a business out of their home and they use their storage building for a warehouse. Some people are in between homes and need to store their stuff until the new place is ready. We actually used one when we first moved to Virginia because our new house wasn't ready yet.

However, as I rounded the back side of the bank this morning to go to the ATM machine, I noticed they were clearing more ground and building even more storage space. I wonder why we need so much stuff that we never use? I wonder why we strive to obtain more stuff then our neighbors only to end up not having a place to keep our stuff so we rent a storage unit to store our over abundance of stuff and most likely forget that it's even there?

Isn't this what most Christians do? We attend church every week from the time we're 6 until we're 96 and we store in our brain everything you can possible know about God, His Son Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Ten Commandments, Noah and the Ark, Paul and his journey & everything in between. We keep notebooks of every message outline since the beginning of message outlines. We have libraries filled with highlighted books that we'll never look at again. We end up forgetting most sermons, bible studies and messages within 36 hours of hearing or reading them and yet we still want more. We want to go "deeper." We want to feel "spiritual." But we forget the information and never use it. We never tell anyone about Christ, we never invite someone to church, we never put into practice the principles that Jesus taught nor do we try to emulate or reflect the lifestyle that Jesus led. I read in a book that the vast majority of "Christians" are educated way beyond there ability to actually act or live out that education. We just keep storing it up, wanting more and never using it.

Here's my challenge. Don't just acquire knowledge. Don't just sit in church, take notes, go home and file them and never use them again. Share the knowledge with those who don't know Christ. Reach out to your neighbors, friends, relatives and share your spiritual journey with them. If you don't feel comfortable sharing with them directly then invite them to church so they can hear what Jesus has done for them. Don't waste your time storing up knowledge and forgetting its there. Live it out and invite people in. It will have a dramatic impact on their lives and yours for all eternity.

Looking To The Stars

I have to admit that yesterday was a LOOOOOONNNNNGGGGGG day.

Have you ever had one of those days? About halfway through the day you feel like you've been up since yesterday and you can't even remember getting out of bed.

I arrived at the office about 7:45am, had several meetings throughout the day, worked on some long range planning stuff, finished up the music prep for this weekend, left the office about 4:15pm, arrived home about 4:30pm and helped my daughters with their homework, grabbed a quick dinner, took my daughter to her softball game at 5:20pm, left the game at 6:45pm, went back to the church for Praise Team practice at 7:00pm, ended practice at 9:00pm (ish), stayed in the office until about 9:45pm to finish up some stuff for the weekend, because I won't be in today and finally arrived home about 10:00pm last night. I have to admit that by the time I left the office, about 9:45pm last night, I was spent. However, as I locked up the church, ensured that the lights were off and as I made my way to my car, God grabbed my attention. At the end of a very long day, I was tired, I wanted to go home, I wanted to sit down and mindlessly watch anything on T.V. God showed up.

I walked out into the parking lot and looked up at the sky and . . . There He Was! God was smiling down at me. Now, I know that some of you are thinking I'm nuts. No, I didn't hallucinate and see some face in the sky. I saw a beautiful clear sky with shinning stars and an amazing sliver of the moon. The light from the stars and moon seemed to light up the sky and I felt like God was saying, "I'm here." I felt like He was telling me, don't get caught up in the stuff of life and forget Me. It was like He was reminding me that in the midst of a busy day God is still God and we can see Him in everything from big meetings to people coming to Christ to stars in the sky many miles away.

I have to say that it was a perfect end to a long day and I wouldn't want it any other way.

Keep your eyes open. You might just see God in some bizarre way today. If so, comment here and let me know about it. It would be a great encouragement.

G3,
Steven

Encouraging 411

I sat in and played bass for the Ignite Band at our Ignite Students service last night. It was really awesome to see so many students authentically connecting with God during the worship time. Yes, they had fun before the service started. Some were playing basketball, some were listening to music, some were hanging out in "the loft", some were playing the Wii and some were just sitting in the big room talking with friends.

But when the service started and the music kicked off there were many students authentically connecting with God. It's hard to see that connection from the audience but standing on the stage I was able to see hands raised, eyes closed and students singing praises to their God. It was truly awesome.

I also heard yesterday that there were several kidz who gave their lives to Christ this past weekend in KidZone. You'll be hearing more about that in the coming days/weeks. However, I just want to reiterate that God is moving in the lives of people here at The Carpenter's and we can't even dream or imagine what He has in store for us.

If you've been encouraged by this glimpse of what God is doing at The Carpenter's, then forward this information to a friend and encourage them as well.

Three Little Words

As many of you know, radio personality Don Imus was fired from his MSNBC cable show on Wednesday and his CBS Radio show yesterday. Don apparently had a very strong laps in judgment. On April 4th he made a racial comment about the Rutgers University Women's Basketball Team on his show.

Don began his radio career as a disc jockey in 1968. In 1998 he began the Imus Ranch, a home for sick children, in New Mexico. However, after a successful career spanning almost 40 years, he'll will be remembered for the three words that got him fired from both MSNBC and CBS within 24 hours of each other.

What's interesting is that after just a 3 year career as a missionary & evangelist Jesus is remembered for three little words as well.

"It Is Finished!"

When Jesus spread out His arms on that cross and he hung there for the world to see, He took on the sins of you and me forever. He stated it, once and for all . . . "IT IS FINISHED!"

We had a great weekend last week as we celebrated Christ's Death and Resurrection and the reality of those three little words. We also launched "24" and you're not going to want to miss this weekend as we enter week two of "24". We'll be talking about our Work Life and how God fits into the work hours of our day. We've got some really cool things planned and you'll want to be at either the 9:00 am or 10:45 am services and bring a friend. It's going to be awesome.

What An Awesome Weekend!

What a great weekend we had. We kicked it off with the Good Friday presentation of "Your Life" and concluding with the launch of "24" on Easter Sunday. There were 12 decisions for Christ on Friday night and almost 500 in church on Sunday. I'm pumped about what God is doing in our church and our community and it's truly awesome to be a part of it.

We're going to continue the "24" series this weekend and see if God is a part of our work life. It could get tense . . . but it's going to be truth! So, Don't miss it.

Your Journey - Your Story

Until today I had never heard of John Hope Franklin. You probably haven't heard of him either. However, Mr. Franklin was born in 1915, received his doctorate in history from Harvard in 1941. He was a professor at some our countries greatest universities including the University of Chicago and Duke University. He also wrote several books on US History and slavery. As I said, I didn't know anything about John Hope Franklin until I read a quote by him today. Mr. Franklin once said this:

"We must get beyond textbooks, go out into the bypaths... and tell the world the glories of our journey."

How true this is of life in general but more specifically I think it's true of Christ Followers. As a follower of Christ, one who has experienced God's Grace first hand, we have an amazing story to tell. However, we can get so caught up in learning "about" Jesus that we never tell anyone what Jesus has "done" for us and the glories of our own journey. I've heard many people say that they don't know how to tell others about Christ. They say they don't know enough, they aren't educated enough or they don't have enough bible knowledge to talk to someone about Christ. My response is; If you are a Christ Follower. If you have experienced His grace first hand. Then simply tell others the Glories of Your Journey. Tell others what Christ has done for you.

Maybe it's as easy as telling someone what God had done in you, through The Carpenter's Church. Maybe it's as easy as inviting them to experience what you've experienced and bring them to "Your Life" tonight and the launch of "24" on Easter Sunday. No matter how you chose to do it, don't just become book smart but "go into the bypaths . . . and tell the world the glories of your journey."

We've got the best story to tell so let's start telling it!

If you've got a story to tell, why not click the Comments link below and share it. The world needs to hear what God is doing.

It's Not Too Late!

You've noticed that I've not posted much in the past couple of days. My wife and kids have been off of school for Spring Break so we headed South and spent a few days with Tally. We visited some friends, did a lot of nothing, spent some time with Hershel from Sonlight Church and heard some great stories of what God is doing down there and just arrived home last night. So, the next two days are going to be very busy as we gear up for Friday night and Sunday morning. It's going to be awesome.

By the way. I want everyone to know that it's not too late to invite people to our Good Friday services (tomorrow at 6:30 pm & 8:15 pm) as well as the kick off of the new "24" series that starts this Sunday on Easter morning. It's going to be awesome and you're not going to want to miss it. Let me just say that if you don't bring someone to Good Friday you're going to be kicking yourself.

I also want to challenge The Carpenter's Members and Regular Attenders to fill up this building on Easter morning. All it will take is each person bringing one guest with them this weekend. It's just 1, uno, one. You don't need to bring 50, although if you want to, that's cool. Just one.

I'm telling you. Test God in this and see what He does. It's going to be amazing.