Good News!

I can't believe it's the 14th of January. I just realized that I've only posted 2 times in 2008 and that's unacceptable. Statistics tell me that people from 15 states and 11 different countries visited this site in 2007. To those of you who check out my thoughts on any kind of consistent basis, I say . . . I'm Sorry.

However, I have Good News!

This past weekend at NewSpective Church, I spoke about being disturbed by the status quo. The status quo on this site is that over the past year, I've posted only 91 times. That means I've posted less than 8 times per month and less than 2 times per week. If I'm going to say no to the status quo, that means I need to kick it up a notch.

One of the purposes for this site is to share what God is doing in my life and in the ministries that I'm privileged to be a part of. God is certainly more active in my life than 2 times per week. So, I'm going to attempt to carve out more time to share what's going on and what God is teaching me. I pray that as you read my musings, you too will be encouraged to be more intentional about sharing Christ with those in your sphere of influence.

I believe that God is getting ready to do something really crazy at NewSpective Church. Our partners are stepping up, giving time, volunteering to serve, giving money and taking steps to make our Easter Launch a reality. Our current series of talks called, "Facing the Giants" is really going to stretch us to prepare our fields to receive all that God has for this valley. The "Free Movie" night on February 10th is going to be a great opportunity to start creating some buzz in the community. More about that event in a week or so.

NewSpective, the next few months could get totally out of hand!!! And that's a great thing!!!!

Stay tuned. Who knows what might happen next.

G3,

What's In Store?

January 1, 2008. I can't believe another year has come and gone. Like many of you, this time of year brings to mind many questions:

• Where did last year go?
• Why didn't I accomplish all I set out to accomplish?
• What's in store for the coming year?
• Will I be better off one year from now or not?

And for most of us the answers aren't easy to find. One year ago we all had plans. We had things we wanted to do, places we wanted to go, people we wanted to help, work we wanted to do and many more. Then along came . . . Life! We got busy just trying to keep up and before we knew it, the Summer had come and gone and Christmas was right around the corner.

So, here we find ourselves on January first of a new year and the same goals, thoughts, hopes and prayers are circling in our minds.

I believe 2008 is going to be an incredible growth year for me personally and for NewSpective Church. I don't have all the answers to all of the "new year" questions. I don't know if goals will be accomplished, I don't know if every need will be met, I don't know if loved ones will all survive the year or not. I don't know what God has in store for NewSpective Church. However I do have one answer. I can say with the utmost certainty that we will be better off one year from now, if we stay connected to God, through Jesus Christ each and every moment of each and every day. I believe it's impossible to walk through an entire year with God as the leader and guider of our lives and not be better off.

NewSpective Church, this year is going to be one of the most challenging and life changing years of your lives. God's getting ready to do something really powerful here in the Lehigh Valley and I believe that NewSpective Church is going to be right in the middle of it all.

We may not have all the answers but we have the God of the universe as our guide. So, this year is going to ROCK!

I can't wait to get started.

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

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