Awesome Thoughts from Perry

Back in September I had the opportunity to hear Perry Noble speak at Granger Community Church's Innovative Church Conference. He totally blew me away. He spoke truth, he didn't pull any punches and he is the pastor of one of the fastest growing churches in America. He started Newspring Church a little over 6 years ago and last Sunday they had 6,816 people in church and over 100 people accepted Christ.

The other day, Perry had a great post on his blog. He was reflecting on some insights from his recent trip to Las Vegas. I don't want to even attempt to paraphrase it for you so here's the link to that post. Check it out. It will rock your world.

CLICK HERE to see Perry's Post.

Happy Hippo

Jim, the lead pastor here at The Carpenter's has been in Germany for the past two weeks on vacation. His daughter is in the Air Force and is stationed in Germany. He arrived home late yesterday afternoon and this morning he brought in some German Chocolate for us to try.

I have to say that the Kinder Happy Hippo's are the bomb. They are a wafer shell surrounding a soft chocolate center. I don't know if they sell them here in the states but they are incredible. They're like a tiny flavor explosion going on in your mouth. They alone would be worth the trip to Germany.

Your LIFE!

WOW!

Tonight I had the chance to preview the drama "Your LIFE!" for our Good Friday service and all I can say is . . . WOW!

It's going to be amazing. Do whatever you need to do to get there and bring a friend who doesn't know Jesus. Call in sick from work, cancel your vacation, return from your vacation early, cancel all existing plans, step out in faith and invite someone and do whatever it takes to get people to this special night. It's going to be incredible and God is going to show up in a big way.

You wait and see.

"24" Starts Next Weekend!

Easter is only 11 days away and that means the launch of our new message series . . . 24!

I am pumped about this new series and the impact that it's going to have on our congregation and the people of our community. The invite cards arrived yesterday and they are awesome. They'll be in the programs this weekend and they'll be available for people to give out to their friends, neighbors, co-workers and relatives to invite them to the new series.

We'll actually be launching "24" on Good Friday with a dramatic service called "Your LIFE!" If you know anyone who has not made a commitment to Christ, this is the event to invite them to. Do whatever you need to do and get them here for the 6:30 and/or 8:15 presentation of "Your LIFE!" It will impact them for eternity.

Start the BUZZ today. Tell everyone you can about this new series and make plans to be here for all 4 weeks of 24. It's going to be amazing.

It's Softball Season

Well, it's that time of the year again. Time to break out the old ball glove, grab some sunflower seeds and spend a lot of time on the softball field.

Both of my daughters, Emily & Maya, are playing again this year and I've agreed to be one of the assistant coaches on both teams. I think I'll end up spending more time with Maya's team this year but I absolutely love coaching these girls. I get to teach fundamentals and watch each girl improve from the first practice today until the end of the season in June. It's really cool.

I feel the same way with my responsibilities at The Carpenter's. I get the opportunity to help coach people in their spiritual journey. It is truly amazing to be involved in someone's life, see them come to know Christ and begin making steps toward Him. If you want to be involved in someone's life, maybe a friend or relative, make plans today to invite them to church this weekend. I'll be speaking and we're going to present the Gospel as clear as day. You won't want to miss it and neither will your friends. So, invite them and bring them with you.

Disconnected From The World

I've been a "Technology Guy" for a long time. I got my first PC for Christmas in 1981. It was a Tandy TRS80 and I was elated. You created your own "basic" program and if you wanted to save the program, you did so on the attached cassette recorder. Believe me, it was cool.

Today I've got my Palm Treo, my Notebook and Desktop computers that are all connected to the world via Wireless access and High Speed Internet. I check my e-mail many times a day, keep up with the happenings in the world via RSS Feeds from the BBC to USA Today about news, sports, entertainment, and health issues. I Keep up with the latest iTunes download statistics, follow about a dozen blogs from Pastors, Church and Technology leaders around the country and use all of this technology and information to help lead one of the most cutting edge churches in N.E. Pennsylvania.

However, this past weekend, I disconnected myself from all of that technology and connected with Jennifer. As you know, last week was our 15th Wedding Anniversary and so this past weekend we went to Fernwood Hotel & Resort in the Pocono's and had a wonderful time. We did a lot of nothing, I didn't answer a single phone call, didn't check e-mail, didn't keep up with the Blog World, didn't read a newspaper, didn't watch a news broadcast or log onto the internet at all. In fact, my wife was amazed that I didn't even bring a computer with with me. This weekend was all about disconnecting from life and connecting with my wife. Who, by the way, is an amazing women.

I tell you all this to encourage you to disconnect from life and connect with your spouse on a regular basis. It's these little things that make a big difference and build strong, rock solid relationships.

What To Learn From Apple

Apple TV hits the stores this week. This little device will allow computer users to download TV shows or feature films from iTunes, play them on the computer and see them on their TV via a built in wireless connection. I don't know if I'll ever own one of these new devices but I believe they will be very successful. One of the reasons for Apple's success is a philosophy of Steve Jobs and the leadership team at Apple, Inc. When asked about the success of Apple, Steve Jobs said this:

"It comes from saying no to 1,000 things to make sure we don't get on the wrong track or try to do too much."

I think the church can learn a lot from this philosophy. Too often, the church tries to be all things to all people and ends up with tons of "Ministries" that don't have any effect or impact on anyone.

At The Carpenter's Church we've made a decision to focus in on four areas.

1. The Weekend: Nothing competes with the weekend. This is where we have the opportunity to reach the most people and share the Gospel to our community. We'll be relevant, contemporary and show people from Scripture what God has to say about the pressures, successes, failures, joys and sorrows that everyone faces every day.
2. KidZone: The Children's Ministry at The Carpenter's is called KidZone. This is where Kids and God come together. We believe that children aren't the future but rather they are the present. They are the church of today and we're going to invest time, money and resources into making sure that the Kids of our church and our community have the chance to know Christ and learn how He can be effective and relevant in their lives.
3. Ignite Students: Our student ministry is absolutely off the hook. Tucker and his team of V-Staff do an amazing job of bringing the Gospel to life in a way that Jr. and Sr. High students can relate to and understand. Current statistics indicate that 4% of graduating high school seniors claim to have a relationship with Christ. We have made the decision that this statistic is not acceptable in our community and we're going to do our best to change it.
4. Connecting Points: Our Connecting Points are where adults can meet in a small group each week and connect with each other and with God. We believe that the Great Commandment is lived out through our Connecting Points and we are committed to continued leadership and leadership development to start, grow, build and strengthen Connecting Points all across the Lehigh Valley.

We can't be all things to all people. In fact, no church can. There are 165,000 people in Northampton County who don't know Christ. We need lots of churches and lots of Christians to focus in on a few things, do them really well and watch God do His thing.

15th Anniversary

15 years ago today, Jennifer Zugel and I exchanged "I Do's" and became Mr. & Mrs. Steven J. Wales. I don't think she completely knew what she was getting into but I want the world to know that I have the BEST wife on the planet!!!!!!!! There is no one on earth that I would rather spend time with, party with, cry with, learn with and experience life with. Absolutely no one!

She is smart, beautiful, funny, beautiful, a great mom, beautiful, a great cook, beautiful, caring, beautiful, loving, beautiful, conscientious, beautiful, selfless, beautiful, an amazing support system, beautiful, wise, beautiful and one of the most Godly women I've ever met. She is way out of my league and . . . oh yeah . . . Did I mention that she's beautiful?

Anyway, I wanted to publicly brag on her a bit and wish her a Happy Anniversary. I'm truly looking forward to the next 50 + years together. If she can endure me that long.

'til Death . . . Home Run!!!!

Well, it's Tuesday morning and I'm working through all of my "Tuesday morning, first day back to work after the weekend" stuff on my desk. I've had a few minutes to reflect on the 'til Death series that we just concluded and I must say, God knocked one out of the part on this one.

This series has been, by far, the most requested, talked about and impacting message series we've ever had here at The Carpenter's.

We've heard from many people about the impact this series has had on them as individuals, their marriages, their families and the families of people they know. We've had more requests for CD's of this series than any other series in the history of this church. The best part about this entire 5-week series is that we know of at least 12 people who gave their lives to Christ during a message series on Marriage. It just blows my mind that God would chose to use topics like Sex, Men's and Women's roles in the marriage, Communication and Affairs to bring people to Him . . . but He did.

It's really amazing being on the leadership team of a church that is being totally intentional about sharing the Gospel with people and them helping them take their "Next Steps" in their own spiritual journey.

Check back here in a day or two and we'll make an official announcement about the new series that we'll be launching on Easter Sunday. It's going to rock!!!!

Don't Monkey Around With Eternity

Today was a very interesting day. We're getting hit with a snow, sleet and ice storm, I almost missed a breakfast appointment this morning and I did my first funeral today.

The funeral was for the uncle of a woman in our church. His name was Bill. One of Bill's favorite sayings was, "I Don't Want To Be Monkeying Around With That." It was this saying that I built my message around. I told the attendee's that "Life is Precious, but you Don't Want to Monkey Around with Eternity." You see, Bill died of a heart attack just last week. It was totally unexpected and none of us knows how many days, hours or minutes we have left. While God intended us to live life to the fullest we have to ensure that we don't Monkey Around with Eternity.

There are a ton of people here in the Lehigh Valley who are monkeying around with eternity. If they were to die today, they would be facing a Christ-less eternity. This is why, we (Christ Followers) can't monkey around with eternity either. We can't afford to be fighting amongst ourselves and allowing Satan to distract us from the work God has called us to do. Eternity could be just around the corner for your co-worker, relative, neighbor, friend or family member. So, do whatever you need to do. Put these people in a position to hear about God and His Son, Jesus Christ. Either share Christ with them or invite them to church this Sunday.

Let's not be Monkeying Around with Eternity and let's get down to the work God has called us to do!

Who's With Me?

Shocking Statistics

Every once in a while I come across a shocking statistic. Something that comes out of the blue. When I read it I am completely blown away because it is so outrageous that it becomes hard to believe. Well, the other day I came across one of those Shocking Statistics that has my mind all twisted up.

I'm reading a new book by David Ferguson called "The Big Idea" (If you are a church leader and you've not read this book, I highly recommend that you drop whatever it is that you are doing, after you finish this blog, and get this book in you hands. It's awesome)

Anyway, in David's book, chapter 1, page 16 he states a statistic that blew me away. He says,

"Even though there are more big churches that ever before filled with people who proudly wear the title Christian, 50 percent of Christian churches didn't help one single person find salvation."

Now, take a moment to re-read that statement and digest it for a moment. 50 percent of the "Christian Churches" in America didn't lead one person to salvation.

WHAT???!?!?!?!?!?!!

If our churches aren't leading people to Christ, then what are they doing? I don't see any passage of scripture that suggests that we have a responsibility to feed the full, dress the clothed, care for the healthy or facilitate a social club. I see Jesus telling us to "Go and make disciples." He tells us to go and tell people about me, go and find people who are willing to follow me, to learn about me and to put that knowledge into practice by telling others about me.

Juan Carlos Ortiz once said,

"The average Christian is educated to at least three years beyond their level of obedience."

That means we have a ton of churches that are educating people in theology and those people aren't using that knowledge to minister to or reach a single soul. I don't know about you but I don't want to be a part of either of these shocking statistics.

Over the past 4 weeks of the 'til Death message series, we've seen 7 people accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. We've heard stories of marriages being restored and families being strengthened as a result of God working in the lives of people. The Carpenter's Church is intentional about evangelism and sharing Christ with our Community. We are programing our services and special events purposely to put people in a safe, comfortable, relevant environment so they can come face to face with Jesus.

We are making a difference and will continue to make a large impact on this community for Christ. Join us as we carry out God's vision for this church, this community and the world around us. It's really exciting to see what God is doing and I for one am looking forward to what He will continue to do.

March Madness

Well, it's that time of the year again. For all of you "non-basketball" fans, it's March Madness. The biggest basketball tournament in the world. For the next 3 weeks men and women from all over the globe will be glued to their TV's on Thursday, Friday Saturday and Sunday to watch 64 college basketball teams play a total of 63 games that will culminate in the national championship game on April 2nd.

One of the most successful college basketball coaches in NCAA history is John Wooden. He led UCLA to 10 National Championships in his last 12 years of coaching. During his 27 seasons as the head coach at UCLA he won 665 games including 4 perfect seasons of 30-0.

John Wooden lived by a 7-point creed that was given to him by his father, the day John graduated from Grammar School.

1. Be true to yourself
2. Make each day your masterpiece
3. Help others
4. Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible
5. Make friendship a fine art
6. Build a shelter against a rainy day
7. Pray for guidance and give thanks for your blessings every day
   

John once said, "You cannot live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you."

I don't know where John will spend eternity and I don't know where John's dad got these 7 points. What I do know is that if Christ Followers all over the world would live by these same 7 points and live out the "Perfect Day" quote our lives and our world would be very different.

What Happens In Vegas, Won't Stay In Vegas

I spoke with Tucker a little bit ago. He's pumped and ready to speak at The Carpenter's tomorrow. Let me be very clear . . . you do not want to miss this service!!!! In fact, this service is all about communication in the marriage relationship (or any relationship for that matter) so let me be crystal clear.

You Don't Want To Miss This Service!

It's going to be off the hook.

Do whatever you need to do. Invite whoever you need to invite and get them to the 9:00 am or 10:45 am service.

You'll be glad you did.

Reflections On The Day

Well, it's been a long 24-36 hours.

First, I'd like to give a big shout out to David, Donna and Amber for opening up your home to Jennifer and I last night. Donna, dinner was great and it was awesome to catch up with you. David, you've got a great family. Amber, thanks for giving up your room.

Second, I want to thank everyone who has been praying for Jennifer today. She's home and resting well.

Third, I want to thank our Connecting Point. They're going to bring us dinner the next couple of days and I'm so grateful.

As for me, I'm trying to put my thoughts together. How anyone can say that we are accidents and that we evolved from some "lesser state" or some "big bang" needs to have their head examined. Let me just clear things up. We were "created" by an Almighty God who is more creative and complex than we can possibly imagine. In fact, he created us so complex that after a couple thousand years of medical research and advancement, we still have not even scratched the surface of understanding about how our bodies actually function. Now, don't get me wrong. I believe the marvels of modern medicine are unbelievable. I mean, they inserted tubes into Jennifer's legs, manipulated them up into her heart and completely controlled her heart beat. They made it skip beats and increase and slow down. However, they can't really explain why her heart is "short circuiting" or if the new medication will actually solve the problem. As I said, my God is more creative and complex that we can possibly imagine.

Here are some random thoughts running through my head tonight.

• Stress can do some terrible things to your body. . . Relax!
• Connecting Points (Small Groups) living and supporting each other in true, authentic, Acts 2 community are awesome . . . Get in one!
• Hospital waiting rooms are not very comfortable . . . Avoid them if you can!
• Hospital cafeterias are expensive and not very good . . . Avoid them if you can!
• Starbucks cafe' Verona is great coffee . . . Enjoy it if you can!
• Life is short . . . Don't complicate it with stupid people!
• Love God and Love Others . . . The rest will take care of itself!
• My wife is an amazing woman . . . Get to know her if you can!
• Starbucks cafe' Verona is great coffee . . . Enjoy it if you can!
• I work with a great staff at The Carpenter's . . . Encourage them often!
• Traffic in Philadelphia at 4:30 pm is not fun . . . Avoid it if you can!
• God is awesome and always takes care of His people . . . Know Him today!
• The human body is absolutely amazing . . . Take care of yours!
• Starbucks cafe' Verona is great coffee . . . Enjoy it often!
• Make plans to be at The Carpenter's on Sunday morning . . . It could just rock your world!
• Be nice to your nurse . . . She's got the needle!

Random thoughts . . . Maybe I'll connect the dots in the next couple of days.

Stay tuned.

OK Here's The Latest

Jennifer is out of the procedure, she's had lunch (ribs & corn bread
thanks to a very nice nurse who got that from the employee break room
rather than the soup that the hospital brought). As it turned out
they did not do the ablation at all.

She has 4 spots where the Tachycardia is happening. One of the
locations is at the dyaphramatic nerve and would require 7-8 hours of
surgery to correct and the outcome is unknown. Doing the ablation on
that part of her heart could cause damage to that nerve and mess with
her lung (not good). The prefered course of treatment for her
situation is a medication called Flecanide (Patrick, you can get me
the details on that. :-) )

She'll be on that medication for many years to come in hopes that it
will stop the Tachycardia and potentially fix the problem all
together. She's resting now and we hope to be discharged at about
4:00 pm today.

Thank you all for your prayers and I'll post more later tonight when
we get home.

Prayer Update

It's currently 10:25 am and I just got a call from the nurse who is in
with Jennifer. Things are going well but her case is worse than they
thought. She has several shorts in her heart (they thought there was
only 1) and so it's going to take longer to correct.

Please continue to pray as the doctors continue to work.

More updates as I know more.

The Procedure Has Begun

It's currently 8:00 am and Jennifer is being wheeled into her
procedure. They tell me that it will be 2-3 hours before I'll be able
to see her but all indications are that she will be going home later
this afternoon.

I still find this amazing that they are going to go into her heart,
through tubes in her legs and that she'll be able to sleep in her own
bed tonight.

6:30 AM

Today is Jennifer's heart procedure. It's called a Catheter Ablation.
It's currently about 5:30 am. We have to be at the Hospital by 6:30
am. I'll keep you posted as the day goes on.

Why we do . . . What we do!

I must say that I've had some very mixed emotions in the past 24 hours. I found out yesterday that there is a person, who recently left our church, who is praying that our church fails. That's not a typo, this person is actually praying that God would make our church fail.

When I heard this information I was instantly defensive and angry. However, I've had a chance to reflect on it and I've come to this conclusion. Rather than get angry, I need to pray for this person to come face to face with Jesus. They apparently have a very messed up view of who He is and who we are, as a result of the Blood of Christ. I mean for any "Christian" to pray that another local body fails, simply because this person left out of anger and immaturity is sad. We, any authentic Christ Followers, are the body of Christ and we MUST work together to reach our world. Not everyone will like The Carpenter's and that's OK. However, we all need to plug into our local church, serve, tithe, support and be used by God to reach those He's called us to reach. We have 165,000 people in our county who don't know Christ and this person is praying that we reach them with one less church.

However, I also received a card yesterday in the mail. It was from a woman who attends The Carpenter's and it is the reason why we do, what we do. It is the reason we put up with the immature "adults" who are being used by Satan to attempt to derail what God is doing.

Here's a quote from this letter.

"I felt I should drop a line of encouragement to you. My husband has not quite been the same the past few weeks. It's a good thing . . . I'm not sure what part of what you shared hit home with him, but it did. For the first time in years I see rays of hope again where things were getting very grim and bleak. Thanks for being faithful to proclaim God's truths even if it's not aways the popular thing to do or what many want to here."

Ladies and Gentleman, this is why we do, what we do! Lives being changed by God's Truth.

This weekend Tucker will continue our 'til Death message series. If you know anyone who needs restoration in their marriage or is on the brink of divorce, do whatever it takes to get them here this weekend. It's going to be awesome and could just change their life.

Remember: God's love, changing lives, is what it's all about.

Long Day . . . Short Week

Well, it's taken me until Tuesday afternoon to post any information from this past weekend. Basically I took yesterday as a true "day off" from the church and didn't do anything church, ministry or blog related.

Sunday was really great. Our attendance continues to increase, we had several first-time guests, people really seemed to be connecting with God and the impact of our current 'til Death message series continues. We normally have 3-5 requests for CD's of our messages and to date we've had an average of 26 requests for each of the messages in this series.

Some people are purchasing the entire message series to give away to friends who are struggling in their marriage. We know of a gentleman who was given an invitation to this series from a friend of his, who attends another local church. The friend knew that this man's marriage was in trouble and encouraged him to check out our series. God is using this series and our church to impact our community in a big way.

Isn't it amazing what God does when we get out of His way and do what He says?

Church, continue to invite people to 'til Death. This weekend Pastor Tucker will be talking about "What Happens In Vegas, Won't Stay In Vegas." It's going to be awesome.

This week is going to be a short work week for me as Jennifer and I will be in Philly on Friday for her Heart procedure. Please pray for her and the doctors.

Chazown Recap

Well, last night was AWESOME!

We gathered our leadership team together and reviewed the Vision or "Chazown" for The Carpenter's Church. With 6 video clips, 3 audio clips, 6 different communicators, pillows, light bulbs, sunglasses and 300 & 1/2 chairs, courtesy of Tucker and a chainsaw, we explained in detail why we exist and where our church is going.

It was an awesome and unifying night and I believe a giant step forward. It's going to be incredible to see what God does as we unite together to reach our community for Christ.

Stay tuned, there's some great things on the horizon.

Chazown

I am really pumped about tomorrow night. Our staff and elders are hosting our first ever "Chazown" event. For those of you who don't know what Chazown means or have never read Craig Groeschell's Book "CHAZOWN", it is a Hebrew word that means a Dream, Revelation or Vision.

We are inviting all of the Elders, Trustees and Connecting Point leaders to come together and re-experience the Vision or Chazown of The Carpenter's Church. We've pulled out all the stops, we've prepared the media, the message, the chain saw and the illustrations. It's going to be an awesome night to unify our leadership and set the stage for what God is going to do in and through our church over the next 10 months and beyond.

For those of you who call The Carpenter's your church home, stay tuned. It's going to get really crazy around here. . . and that's a good thing. God is doing a New Thing (Isaiah 43:18-19) right here in the Lehigh Valley and it's going to be awesome to be a part of it.