RECAP

New month. New series. New thoughts.

• I love the book of Acts! That’s why we’re taking about it the next 3-weeks.
• Rock n’ Roll worship describes us well. It may have been the bands best set yet & you could feel the energy in the room. Wow!
• New faces never get old. The coolest thing about the venue/time change has been all the new faces. One of those faces Sunday was someone who’s been prayed for a long time by one of our peeps. Great to see them there!
• I think we have the happiest teams anywhere! Smiles are always abundant and kinds word plentiful. It’s not a show either. Our people really love other love people.
• We almost had a rave. Little technical glitch during the blurbs with some rave like music made everyone smile. I’ve learned that when stuff like that happens all you can really do is smile & laugh, then try to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
• Love the response to our first set of small groups! We have nearly 20 people signed-up in two different groups for Donald Millers Open Table! I believe God is going to do some cool stuff in these groups!
• Yet another happy parent. Every week, someone tells me how much their kid love coming to church and that’s a HUGE credit to an awesome set of workers who see the big picture and create such a great environment!
• Words and Deeds. I’m a big talker when it comes to church unity but yesterday I turned my word into deed by praying for another local church before we started our service. This is something we will continue on a weekly basis.
• We’re on the verge of something huge! I believe we are closer than ever to seeing filled seats and massive life-change! God have your way with this vision!
• We always need to re-focus sometimes. That’s what this series is about. Looking at the original church in the book of Acts and examining what we can do to re-shift our priorities and be God’s church instead of our church.

CV

We’re Not That Different.

I know I’m opening up a can of worms with this post but it’s been a while, so I suppose I am due I have grown up in an area that thinks is very divided on the issue of Halloween. Some Christians celebrate it, while others don’t. This post is not to change your mind, but rather to offer a brief history on the holiday in an attempt to show that what we do, or don’t do, should actually be uniting us rather than dividing us. I don’t have this whole thing figured out but hopefully my thoughts can help add to your conversation and thinking on this issue.

Now for some history…

The celebration of Halloween originated in Europe as a festival to celebrate the transition between the harvest and winter.  Many of the traditions that became associated with this holiday predate Christianity and go back to the Celts. A pagan religious portion of the Celts, known as Druids, used this day to ward off evil spirits by starting large bonfires and performing rituals that sometimes included animal and human sacrifices. Bizarro to say the least

While many Christians seem to focus on this part of the holiday they fail to see two things. First, Christianity wasn’t even around yet therefore plenty of people were slightly odd with their expression of spirituality & secondly, not everyone celebrated the holiday this way. It was during the medieval period that much of the bizarre rituals, like sacrifices, began to wain (thank God!) It became a time of fun & fellowship which involved bonfires, food and sweet treats for those who dressed in costume; something that was thought to scare any lurking evil spirits away. It could be said that the more fun people were having, the farther away the evil spirits would stay. Not a bad concept if you think about it.

Now let’s look at the present…

Today, Halloween is still a time for fun & fellowship that still involves bonfires, food and sweet treats for all the trick-or-treaters who go door to door in costume . There is certainly still a focus on evil spirits for some but in a more comical nature than that of the Celts. As with anything, this holiday has evolved and the reasons most people used to fear this holiday are largely gone. Today, many churches offer Halloween alternatives that feature the same bonfires, food and treats you will find in most American neighborhoods so my question is, what are we arguing about? I don’t know anyone, Christian or otherwise, that will participate in an animal or human sacrifice tonight (thank God again!) but I know many who will enjoy the fire, food, costume & candy. If we’re all doing the same thing, what on earth are we so up tight about?

Whether you have a Kumbaya bonfire, or a scary story bonfire, many of us will still sit around a bonfire partaking of hotdogs and marshmallows. Whether you dress-up as Michael the Archangel, or Michael from The Office, many of us will still be in costume. Whether you pass out Testamints at your church (yeah, they’re real), or peppermints at your house, many of us will still enjoy candy, although some better than others You see, in reality, many of us are observing Halloween in one way or another whether we admit it or not. Instead of thinking our way is so different than everybody else’s way, reflect on the past, look at the present and you’ll probably find you’re not as different as you think.

P.S. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this so feel free to comment. Also, Happy Halloween

CV

RECAP

I’ve been at two conferences over the last 3-weeks so it feels good to be back in the swing of things! We closed out our Dirty Little Secrets series this past Sunday and WOW! Get the scoop by reading the bullets below.

1) Healing comes with honesty. I believe the people who have truly healed during this series are the ones who have been honest; with themselves, with God and with others. It’s been incredible to see!

2) The Dream Team rolls on! Anytime an unplanned situation or conflict arises everyone on our Dream Team rolls on like a bunch of pros and I love it! Sunday, a band member didn’t show but a replacement was found and the show went on without a hitch!

3) I love meeting new people! We hosted our first Newcomers lunch on Sunday and got to share the CP story with a group of people who are new to Centerpoint. We had great interaction and everyone of them has a passion to get their un-churched friends in the seats!

4) The Danbarry Cinema staff rocks! They have gone above & beyond in so many ways & a lot of other church planters can’t say that about their venues. We’re at the right place.

5) You won’t truly be forgiven until you forgive. I had to let my own words sink in during this teaching.

6) Kristyn was in the service! She’s been faithfully filling a needed role in Kidspoint but Sunday, for the first time in the new building, she was able to worship with everyone else! What an incredible wife & an awesome servant God has blessed me with!

7) Our leaders rock! As I alluded to in the intro paragraph, its been a crazy few weeks & while I have missed the beat a little our leaders haven’t. I thank God every single day for the team He has given to us!

I’m already looking forward to the next series! The Church, its Steeple & all of its People. We’ll be studying the book of Acts & connecting the early church there with todays church here in an attempt to better understand what role the church does & should play in society.

Catalyst Here We Come!

In just a few hours, myself along with 2 of my team members, and 3 friends from our supporting church, will fly out of Columbus, OH and descend upon Atlanta, GA with over 12,000 other leaders for the Catalyst Conference. I will be meeting up with some old friends and hope to make  new ones as well. I will give you a full recap & review next week but for now please keep us, along with all other conference attendees, in your thoughts & prayers. Pray that God will use this time to grow us spiritually, spark our creativity, & continue to shape us into the leaders and the church He wants us to be. Blessings.

P.S. Matt – we will miss you bro.

CV

RECAP

We kicked off a new series at Centerpoint yesterday (Dirty Little Secrets) and had an incredible response! Here are some of my thoughts:

1) Church can’t always be warm and fuzzy. Jesus offered peace and love but He also dealt with the real-life issues people faced. It’s not always easy but we have to talk about the hard stuff. Yesterday we talked about self-image.

2) “We often have to hurt before we can heal.” I said this yesterday and had to let my own words sink-in. We often don’t heal because we bottle up our feelings. We think we’re avoiding the hurt but we’re not and it’s only dealing with the hurt we hide that will truly allow us to heal.

3) Church should be a place of authenticity and honesty. We challenged people yesterday to take off their mask and be real. Over half of the people in attendance responded by revealing that their Dirty Little Secret was a struggle with their own self-image. Because of their confession, they will no longer walk alone.

4) Our band and production guys are out of this world! They had some major technical issues yesterday but they stayed focused and rocked it out!

5) I love feedback! Between yesterday and today I have had some amazing conversation with those in our community about how God is using CP to work in their life. Life change! Life change! Life change!

6) When the rumors aren’t true people will eventually figure it out. I had somebody tell me they had heard all the “terrible things” CP was doing. Funny that the people they heard it from have never been to CP Now that they’ve been, they’re pretty certain they’re there to stay and tell others, the rumors aren’t true.

7) Our Dream Team is incredible! I don’t know many pastors that can take a back-seat with the logistical aspects of being a portable church a month after launching. I am now one of the pastors that can! Our team is incredible and the quality of their work allows me to focus on other areas.

 This will be a series of healing. We’re dealing with a lot of hard issues over the next 3-weeks but I know God will continue to show up like He did yesterday and true healing will come. I can’t wait!

A Video For Everyone

Pastor or otherwise, we must all learn to withdraw and take a sabbath. We work, and we work, and we work some more. Work is good but so is rest. A sabbath is essentially for anyone who wishes to lead a healthy life. Do you take a sabbath?

14 Things Jesus Did Not Say

This showed up on Perry Nobles blog a few days ago and I found it quite intriguing. I wanted to share it with you and get your thoughts. Thanks Perry!

#1 – “They will know you are my disciples by your theology, and the arrogance that accompanies it.”  (John 13:35)

#2 – “Dream really small dreams and make sure you never ask for anything big!”  (John 14:12-14, Psalm 2:8)

#3 – “If someone doesn’t believe just like you believe…make sure to do all you can to attack, criticize and beat them down as much as possible.”  (Mark 9:38-41)

#4 – “Be tolerant of everyone…I am one of the many ways to God.”  (John 14:6)

#5 – “Make sure you make the church about you…that you are served well…please, don’t do anything that might cause you any type of inconvenience.  My goal is for you to be happy!”  (Matthew 20:28, Luke 9:23-24)

#6 – “Please, whatever you do, DO NOT tell people the good news…keep it to yourself!  The reason I died on the cross is so that you could get into really small groups of people and talk about ‘deep things’ that aren’t going to help anyone when it comes to eternity.”  (Matthew 28:20, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:48, John 20:21, Acts 1:8, Romans 10:14, Romans 10:17)

#7 – “Don’t EVER try anything new…don’t ever take a risk…don’t ever take a step of faith.  Be AVERAGE!”  (Isaiah 43:18-19, Hebrews 11:1, Hebrews 11:6)

#8 – “You can follow me and it will not impact your money at all!”  (Matthew 6:19-24)

#9 – “Pray a prayer to get out of hell…and then live however you want.”  (John 14:15, John 14:21)

#10 – “You can do it without me!”  (John 15:5)

#11 – “I don’t expect you OR your church to be fruitful in any way.”  (John 15:4)

#12 – “Isolate yourself from the world!”  (John 17:15)

#13 – “Make sure there is a time when you question my word because it will one day be no longer relevant.”  (Luke 21:33)

#14 – “Stop crying out to me in desperation…can’t you see I’m busy.”  (Mark 10:46-52)

RECAP

We closed out the Crazy Love series yesterday at Centerpoint & I have plenty of thoughts on what’s happened over the last 3-weeks. Consider this a post-launch recap. Enjoy.

1) This was the best series we’ve ever done! People gave, people sacrificed, people changed! This series elicited the biggest response we have ever had & I believe God used this series to show us the kind of church we need to be!

2) Love God, Love People & let God do the rest. We spend so much time focusing on the non-essentials & this series has reminded me personally that the rules are no different for pastors.

3) True life change always equals action. During this series we had new commitments and renewed passion from people who had fallen away from the church. In every single case, these individuals followed their words & thoughts with actions and deeds.

4) Centerpoint will always be outsider focused! Some people don’t think we’re churchy enough and that’s one of the biggest compliments I can hear! Jesus came for the sick not the healthy (Luke 5:31) and CP is a place for the healthy to love and serve so the sick can find restoration & healing.

5) Going the extra mile matters to visitors. I have found that it’s rarely noticed when you don’t go the extra mile but it’s often noticed when you do. Going the extra mile almost always leaves a positive impact!

6) When our leaders are gone, they are missed by the team. We’ve had two of our leaders out the last two weeks on vacation and it’s reminded me why church planting, just like sports, is a team effort.

7) All of the new faces at CP have been a treat. Plenty of newbies coming in and check things out over the past few weeks and thankfully some of them have even come back

We have a team of true servants! Those who serve on our Dream Team, get the vision and have gone above and beyond to see lives changed! It’s an honor to serve with all of them!

CV

ARC & the Fastest Growing Churches of 2009

If you are a regular reader of my blog then you know that Centerpoint recently partnered with a church planting organization known as the ARC. ARC (Association of Related Chures), provides a leadership, financial and spiritual support system for relevant, life-giving church plants.

We believe in everything ARC is doing and have already seen the benefits of partnering with ARC in our own community of faith. Every year, Outreach Magazine conducts a nationwide survey to determine what churches are the fastest growing, and largest in America.

There were 7 ARC churches on the fastest growing list & 5 ARC churches on the largest list. Considering ARC wasn’t founded until 2000 and didn’t plant their first church until 2001, this is a pretty impressive feat and speaks to ARC’s passion and knowledge of church planting.

We all know good churches aren’t only measured by size but rather by the life change that happens there and the discipleship that occurs following a new commitment. I can tell you first hand that ARC values the life change and discipleship more than they do the numbers and as result they have been incredibly blessed with some phenomenal results!

I have had the privilege of meeting several of the pastors on this list and look forward to meeting more of them in the future. So excited to be a part of such a pehnomenal organization! Just thought I would share.

CV

RECAP

It was another great weekend at Centerpoint! We have one more week to go in the Crazy Love series and it’s been nothing short of incredible so far! He are some thoughts from this past Sunday.

1) Loved sharing the Crazy Love stories! Last week we gave away $500 for people to go out & show Crazy Love to our community with the request that they submit their stories during the week. The stories poured in and I got to share several of them yesterday. It was one of the coolest things we’ve ever done!

2) God is challenging me more than ever. People keep telling me this series has been one of the deepest we’ve ever done at CP. I believe this is because it has been the most convicting for me personally. God is showing me things during my preparation I have never seen before & challenging me in new ways!

3) Kidspoint is changing lives too! One of our teachers was deeply touched yesterday as her kids remembered, and seemed truly impacted, by last weeks lesson. This is why we offer more than a babysitting service at CP. Kids matter!

4) People are excited about church again! As I talk to people coming in and going out they seem genuinely excited about being at CP. By listening to many of their stories, I am realizing it’s the first time they’ve been excited to go to church in a long time!

5) People are seeing the bigger picture. After attending twice, we have already had 4 people sign up to be a part of the Dream Team. They have already gotten beyond themselves, are seeing the bigger picture and want to be a part of the dream!

6) I think we might have the best set-up/tear-down team ever! Considering they make the same claim, we may have to challenge our friends at Origins Church on this but even after learning a completely new process/system in a new venue, our set-up and tear-down crew have been early two-weeks in a row now!

7) ARC is an incredible organization! Over the last two weeks I have had so many phone calls, e-mails, texts & tweets from fellow pastors and church planters encouraging us as we step out into this new venture. Knowing you have the true support of other churches is invaluable!

Being outsider focused matters! Over the last two weeks I have seen un-churhced and de-churched people come  to CP and feel acceptance & love. So many times we let our Christianese & traditions get in the way of relating and connecting with those outside the church. Many of us say it’s about relationship & not religion but what are we doing to show that?

CV