Next Steps

On my way to Mars today I listened to a message by this guy. While the message wasn't really about "Next Steps", God used this message to stir in me some thoughts about my Next Steps, NewSpective's Next Steps and maybe even your Next Steps.

As many of you know, some of our NewSpective team spent some time at Liquid on Sunday. We had the chance to experience, first hand, what a move of God in a community could look like. Since our conversation with Tim and Mike and some email communication with them over the past day or so, God's been stirring up a fire inside me. He's been stoking the fire for reaching the Lehigh Valley like never before. However, this fire brings with it a fear. To move from where NewSpective Church currently is to where I believe God wants us to be, is a daunting task. Do we have the budget, do we have the volunteers, do we have the children's ministry workers, do we have the commitment, do we have the band, the greeters, . . . It's like trying to eat an elephant.

Today, God reminded me that eating an elephant is easy. It's just one bite at a time.

He reminded me of the story of Moses as he led the Israelites out of Egypt. Moses told the people, in his humanness, to stand still, sit back, relax, take a photo and watch what God does. And yet, God doesn't work that way. God responds to Moses by telling him to stop crying, stop standing around and take a Next Step. Raise your staff, enter the water, take your Next Step and then I'll show you my glory. You step and then I'll move.

I don't know that I've been sitting around waiting for God to move but there certainly are some Next Steps that I need to take. There are some Next Steps in my personal walk with God. There are some Next Steps to take with NewSpective Church.

Church, we need to take our Next Steps. Whatever that is for you and keep moving forward. God's going to do some crazy things in the Lehigh Valley through NewSpective Church. Let's take some steps and see what God's up to.

G3,

Weekend Recap

As many of you know, Jennifer and I got away for a long weekend. We went to Cape May, NJ and spent 4 days and 3 nights in stress less bliss. Here's some random thoughts from the weekend.

• I love my wife!!!
• It's important to get away and recharge: Recharge your personal life, your walk with God, your relationship with your spouse and recharge your own purpose.
• Yes, I actually went on the beach. Sand stuck to me like glue. However, please refer to thought number one above. :-)
• The little shops in Cape May were fun. All of them weren't open but we did make a purchase at "Whales Tales." (How cool is that!)
• When you view a beautiful sunset live, it really makes you appreciate the amazing creation that God put all around us.
• The view from the hotel was simply awesome. Clear shot to the ocean.
• I've never done a wine tasting before. I guess I never realized how many different subtleties there are in wine flavors and aromas.
• Sitting on the beach, listening to music, reading "Pop Goes The Church" and hanging out with my wife . . . Priceless!
• I am no competition for Jennifer when it comes to 500 rummy. She kicked my butt . . . TWICE!!!
• When are they going to get one of these restaurants in the Lehigh Valley?
• Why is it so hard to follow directions backward? Left is right and right is left, North is South and South is North.
  
• The iPhone is amazing. The only technology I brought on the trip and the only technology I needed. Full web, maps, email; what more could a man need?
• Returned home last night and capped the weekend off by taking about 17 people from NewSpective to experience a worship service at Liquid. Wow, Tim and his team do an amazing job. Set up starts at 4:45am and take down ends at 9:00pm. They are reaching their community and extending around the world. We spent a little more than an hour with Tim and Mike after the service. They were so encouraging and gracious. (More about Liquid in a future post)

All in all this was a great weekend from start to finish. God is Good. He's truly blessed me and my family and I'm grateful that He allows me to be a part of His plan.

G3,

Caption Please

So Jennifer and I saw this live tonight. Simply Amazing!!!

Wild At Heart

Ok, so I must admit, I had fun cutting a tree down this weekend. Yes, I went to Lowes, purchased a chain saw and took out this 30 foot tall crab apple tree in my yard. Wood chips were flying everywhere, I was hot, sweaty, tired, dirty, and totally worn out by the end of the day. However, there was something about working outside, using power tools, hearing that tree snap and crack as it fell to the ground and then cutting it up into little pieces that made me feel . . . Wild, Adventurous, Tough and totally like a man.

It reminded me of the book Wild At Heart by John Eldridge. About 5 years ago, God used This book and some of Eldridge's other books, The Sacred Romance, The Journey of Desire, Epic and Waking the Dead, in conjunction with personal study of God's Word to totally rock my world. Having grown up in a Christian Home and in Christian Churches, I had created a Caricature of God and my relationship with Him, that just wasn't real. God used the writings of Eldredge to expose His truth to me about why I was created, what kind of relationship God desires from us, how much Love God has for us and what God expects from His people. It has truly been an amazing journey and God has been leading the entire way.

If you've never read any of John's books, I highly recommend clicking on one or all of the links above and ordering them . . . now!

They just might change your life.

G3,

God's Church

It never ceases to amaze me when God steps in and changes things at the last minute.

I'm a firm believer that it's God's responsibility to build His church. Don't get me wrong, we (Christ Followers) have the responsibility to engage in conversations and lean in to the people around us. As the Spirit moves in those conversations, we need to be listening and invite these new friends into Christ's presence by sharing Christ with them. However, no matter what we do, it's still God's deal and He's going to do His thing in spite of us.

Yesterday was no exception. By 10:00am Sunday morning, the entire band at NewSpective was either working or sick in bed. Needless to say, I had to make some quick changes to our service. With God's prompting we used a couple of Passion videos and had Charlie Hall and Chris Tomlin lead us in worship via video. When the music portion of our service was over, it was evident that the Holy Spirit was in the room and moving. In fact, I received the following note, this morning, from one of our Partners:

God really used the music selection yesterday to reach my heart…I haven’t felt impacted in worship like that in a while. He just seemed to reach down and hold my heart. So, thanks for being used by God and doing your part in that.

God reached down, stirred things up, changed our direction and impacted lives. It's so awesome when He does that and I'm so privileged to be a part of what He's doing in the Lehigh Valley.

Pop Goes The Mailbox

I received my copies of "Pop Goes The Church" yesterday and I'm so excited about how this book is going to impact NewSpective Church. As you may recall, this is the book that I had the opportunity to preview before it went to print. I can't wait to read through the finished book. I purchased copies for some of our leaders and I'm looking forward to going through it together.

If you are a pastor or church leader or church attender I highly recommend this book. It is a must read if you have any desire to reach your community for Christ. Tim has great insight and speaks on a topic that is one of his passions.

You can purchase a copy for yourself here.

Access & Influence

As a pastor I've seen many times, where Satan has used well meaning people to try and derail the vision that God has placed in my heart and the responsibility that God has placed in my hands. People have used phrases like, "God has a word for you" or "I feel so led in my heart to tell you . . ." or "I believe God wants you to . . ."

The reality is that God "can" use anything and anyone, to communicate His truth to His people. In fact, He can even use a jackass to communicate His will. However, I've come to realize that not everyone should have access to me or have influence on me. If I allowed everyone, with an opinion or "word from God" to influence me and the path that God has placed me on, I would be a basket case going every which way but God's.

So, I've come to realize that there really are only a few people who have access to my heart and influence on my life. I'm not going to name names but I will describe these people to you.

First, my wife. She has access to my heart and certainly has influence on my life. Of all the people on the planet, I listen and respect her opinion and observations more than anyone else. She is my life partner and there isn't anyone who has access to me or influence on me, like she does. That's the way God planned it. The two shall become one.

The second group of people who have access to and influence on me, are a few pastors who I know and/or respect. There are a couple of pastors who I communicate with on a consistent basis and if any of these men brought an issue or observation to my attention I would listen in. I would take their concerns seriously and reflect on their thoughts & opinions. There are also a few pastors who God has used, via their blogs, books, messages and podcasts, to influence me on theology, leadership, marriage, responsibility, pastoral roles and many other topics. God has and will continue to use these men to access and influence my life. These man, unknowingly, have influenced me and continue to challenge me on multiple levels.

The final group of people who have access to and influence on me are those people who I do ministry with, week in and week out. These people stand by my side. They are in the trenches with me on a regular basis and if anyone of them came to me with a concern or issue they would have my attention. They have influence on my life because I respect them. We're doing life together, we're serving in ministry together and it must be a two way relationship.

Having said all of the above, there is also a group of people who don't have access to me or influence on my life. These people are the spineless cowards who hide behind anonymous email messages, anonymous blog comments and third party hearsay. These people claim to know God and feel like that fact alone should allow them access to me and influence on me. They have some issue or concern that they want to share and completely violate scripture to get their point across. They don't care about me, they don't care about the ministry that God has called me to, they don't take the time to engage in an authentic conversation and therefore they don't have access to me or influence in my life.

It's not that I'm bitter or upset, it's just that I've come to realize there are some people who have earned the right to speak into my life and there are those who have not earned that right. While this post is stronger than a lot of my posts, it's important that people know my heart.

Who has access and influence on your life? Maybe you need to take some time and evaluate this question so that you too don't get derailed from the life God has for you.

G3,

Motivation

Steven had a great post today.

Check it out HERE:

G3,

Random Thoughts

Every once in a while I list some current thoughts running around in my head. They're in no particular order or on any given topic. Simply some thoughts:

• I hate doing my taxes. I know I have 7 more days to finish them but I thought I'd beat the rush and finish them up tonight. Turbo Tax is your friend.
  
• I worked from home today. I got a lot done without any distractions.
• God is solidifying, in me, the vision He has for NewSpective Church. I believe He has some great big things in store for this church.
• I heard a quote tonight on American Idol. One of the contestants said, "if you're going to dream, dream BIG." We've all heard it before but it's great to be reminded of it. I think God wants us to dream BIG dreams, pray BIG prayers and expect God to do BIG things.
• I love the reaction I get from people when I tell them I'm a Pastor.
• Had my teeth cleaned today. They feel all smooth and shiny. :-)
• The book of James has been kicking my butt recently. I can't seem to get this passage out of my mind. Is "the church" simply hearing the Word or are we putting into practice? Are we "being" the church or simply "doing" church.
• I heard that this church had over 600 people in church on Easter Sunday. Praise God. With over 213,000 people in Northampton County, that don't know Christ, we need every church in the area to be knocking it out of the park.
  
• Had a good conversation with a friend of mine tonight. God's stirring up some big things in his heart and I'm excited to see where God leads.
• Jennifer and I are planning a little "getaway" in a couple of weeks. I love spending time with her and I'm looking forward to a little break.
  
• With over 3,000,000 square feet of commercial property for lease in Northampton County, why is it so hard to find 5,000 that's affordable?

Well, there you have it. Some of my thoughts.

Kinda scary, huh?

G3,

Wildness vs. Civilization

I read a quote the other day from Charles Lindbergh.

"Real freedom lies in wildness, not in civilization."

I'm sure he was referring to the freedom of flying, being in the clouds, above the noise of life. However, I want to take this quote one step further.

I believe that "Real LIFE lies in Wildness, not in civilization." As I read more and more about Jesus, I realize that He was all about the Wildness and very little about the Civilization.

I mean, it's not civilized to say, this. Especially in today's world.

I don't know too many people who would think this is civilized either.

Or how about this?

What happened here is certainly not very civilized.

Jesus didn't live a civilized life. He lived a wild life. Wild for the love of His father. Wild for the love of those around Him. Wild for the return of your heart and mine. He didn't follow any prescribed rules and regulations. He looked at the Heart of every man, woman and child and loved us with a Wild, unconditional kind of love.

So, here's the question. Do you want to be Wild or Civilized? Do you want to sit back in your civilized, white picket fenced world and allow those around you to continue on their hell-bound destination. Or do you want to be Wild and do whatever it takes to bring people who are far from God, into life in Christ.

I don't believe you can be both. I believe it's one or the other. Each one of us must choose.

G3,

I'm Sick!

So, I was going to post some theologically stimulating stuff tonight. You know, share a passage of scripture or famous quote and then expound upon it for a couple of paragraphs to stimulate the minds of those who stumble upon or intentionally check up on my thoughts.

It was going to be good. I had the quote all ready, I knew what I was going to say and I know it would have been meaningful to someone.

However, I have some bad news. Being a man, this news is hard for me to share. In fact, most men don't admit this and if they do, they instantly become babies about it. So, I'm going to do my best and hold back the tears as I share this information with you.

Here Goes . . . I'm Sick!!!

That's right. I thought I could fight it. I thought I could Muscle through and force myself to "feel better." I thought if I didn't say anything to anyone and "acted" normal, whatever that is, that all would be well with me and the world. And guess what ? . . . I was Wrong!

Maybe it's my schedule finally catching up to me or the fact that I sit next to someone at the office who is just getting over the flu. But whatever it is, I have that achy, stuffy head, sore throat, coughing, joint aching, head pounding, throat itching, runny nose, annoying as everything evil disease.

Or it could just be a cold. But I'm betting on the first option.

So, please pray for me. Pray that God restores my health and returns my home to normal. As I said above, most men are babies when they are sick and I am no exception. Maybe you should pray for my wife and kids as well. :-)

You keep praying and I'll keep you posted.

G3,