We kicked off a new series on Sunday & it couldn’t have gone much better! It was one of those things that looked great on paper and turned out even better when it actually went down. Here are some of my thoughts:
You can’t talk too much about LOVE. Broken people hear all the time how messed-up they are but they rarely have people telling them how much their loved. Talking about love might be the glimmer of hope they need to turn the corner and Jesus proved this was true in His life time and time again. I’ll follow His lead on this one.
Pastors can & should learn from their own teachings. Week after week, I find myself challenged to process my faith & life in a new way. I believe many people think Pastors just teach but I think it’s important to point out that many pastors, including myself, also learn from what they teach. I pray this never changes in my life.
People are the best PR for any church. Week after week I see our people tweeting & Facebooking about their Centerpoint experience & today I realized how valuable that is. We had a Newcomers event after the service where over half the people calimed to have found out about Centerpoint by people talking about it through these two mediums. Wow!
Life change IS measurable. Life change is watching someone come as they are and leave as they aren’t. It doesn’t usually happen in one week but over time you simply notice that the person has changed their outlook and response to life & faith. They move from passive attenders to active participants & words become deeds. I experienced such a strong example of this yesterday & it’s stuff like this that truly keeps me going!
An amazing wife makes church planting so much easier! My wife is incredible! We both received the call to plant this church & she has stood along side me every step of the way! We’ve had ups & downs, I’m sure this will continue, but I wouldn’t want to do this thing with anyone else by my side! This journey has only confirmed that we are true soul mates, put together by God for such a time as this.
I’m a football fan so I love the Super Bowl but I also enjoy all the great commercials between the game. In the spirit of the game, I’ve posted 5 of my favorites from the last few years for your enjoyment. No need to watch them all unless you want but if you want a good laugh, watch at least one.
Like millions of people I’m incredibly excited for the final season of LOST but I must admit, I was late to the party. When I saw the previews for season 1 I questioned the longevity of a show about people stranded on an island. I didn’t want to add another show to my watch list, but I couldn’t ignore everyone around me who talked about how great this show was. Kristyn & I finally started watching at the end of season 3 & we’ve been hooked ever since!
The writing is tremendous, the acting is amazing and the production quality equals that of any big-screen masterpiece but these are not the real reasons I watch LOST.
I watch LOST because it explores the questions in life we all face. I watch LOST because it reminds me that there is more that unites than divides us. I watch LOST because it conveys our profound desire to be loved & needed. I watch LOST because it deals with the struggle between right & wrong, destiny & choice. I watch LOST because I find pieces of myself in the story.
I look at this show as much more than good television. I look at this show as a lens through which we can see our own lives reflected. As we watch, may we fully embrace the mystery and find pieces of ourselves in the story.
Another month, another series & the momentum keeps right on moving!
You can’t have enough team players on your team. We had a situation yesterday that could have gotten out of hand but it didn’t because we have people on our team who see the big picture. Week after week we they put aside personal preferences for the greater good because they get it & they get that it isn’t always about them.
True diversity can only happen by focusing on what matters. We have democrats and republicans, black and white & we have some who are poor and some who are rich. This month it has really hit me how diverse we are as a church. I believe this can only happen at church when we make the main thing the main thing and stop focusing on the rest. May we never forget this &, to borrow from our vision statement, may we always be a diverse community of passionate Jesus followers!
The tide is turning. Talked to a person yesterday who has been visiting us for several weeks now. They said when they first came to CP their perceptions of church weren’t that great but after watching, listening & connecting their perceptions have changed. This is what we pray for every single week!
Our people love helping people. We fed over 70 people last week at a soup kitchen we have joined in Chillicothe. Not only did our people help but there was genuine excitement throughout the building on Sunday when I announced the stats. Time after time I see our people stepping up with their time, money and attitude to show they truly care! I love this about our people!
It has little to do with me. I had a friend who was speaking at his church this weekend filling in for his pastor. I reminded him of Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 2:4 that it’s not about us but about God’s spirit in us that causes people to change. It’s freeing to remember I’m not alone & neither are you!
If you’re already aware of this issue then skip to the bottom of the post to see how you can help. If not, here’s some quick background:
The homeless population in Chillicothe has been growing steadily for several years and it has only gotten worse with the economic crisis. The city, & much of its government, were aware of this situation over the summer and the problems it would present this winter. While many did nothing, a group of people from Ross County Community Action chose to act. They proposed the purchase of a vacant learning center in a nicer part of town. This proposition was adamantly opposed by many who lived in the neighborhood of the proposed facility and their response has garnered a mixed reaction from the community.
Our local paper, The Chillicothe Gazette, did an article yesterday on this story which you can read HERE. Read some of the comments and you will likely be as sick as I was. Many people, on both sides of this issue, seem to be reacting with anger and hate but I believe this is an issue that requires love. The current questions being asked is “what should we do” for these people but I believe we could find the answer simply by reversing the question to “what would I want done” if I was in this situation?
Reversing the question can change our perspective. After reading the article, & the comments that accompanied it, I decided I could no longer be a passive observer on this issue. I believe my faith, and love for my fellow brother & sister requires me to act!
If you live in or around the Chillicothe area and want to help find a solution for the homeless in our city I am inviting you to attend a meeting this Monday night (Feb. 1st), 6:30pm at Schlegel’s on Paint St. Just comment on the post & let me know if you’re in. If you’re outside Chillicothe, but still want to help, feel free to share some ideas. Let me again remind any potential participants that this meeting is to answer the question “what would I want done” if I was in this situation? It’s a meeting to help take action and solve this problem, not a meeting to debate & argue about the issue at hand.
This weekend I have 3-friends launching their churches & as I’ve talked to all of them over the last month I’ve been able to humbly share some of the things we’ve learned along the way over the past few months. In no particular order, here are the Top 5 Things I’ve Learned as a Church Planter…so far.
1) Things Rarely Go As Expected. When we first started we had what we thought was a creative marketing campaign that we believed would see huge results & those huge results were about 10 people. We had a family day right before our launch that we thought might have 200 people and we ended up with over 500! For better or worse, things rarely go as expected and learning to embrace this early will help you and your team be prepared for anything.
2) Do what God has called you to do well & don’t worry about what others might be doing wrong. We had it all figured out before we ever started. We were convinced we knew exactly what do & how to do it. Before long, we realized we were talking more about what we thought other churches were doing wrong instead of putting our energy into to figuring out how we could do what God called us to do well. Your accountable for the church God has given you so stay focused, do your thing well and if you want to talk about other churches, talk about the ones who are doing much better than you & set your standards higher.
3) It’s hard to argue with love. Centerpoint set out with the desire to do things differently. Anytime you do something different people will talk, rumors will spread and your patience will be tested. We had some crazy stuff said about us when we first started but over time much of it has died down. Why? Because we love people & when you show that love, it’s hard for people to argue. Love wins!
4) People will come & people will go – Get used to it. In the beginning it was hard not to take it personal when someone visited Centerpoint, told us how much they loved it & then we never saw them again. This has happened to us more times than I care to admit in our early life as a church but after a while you realize that your church really won’t be for everyone and that’s ok. Save yourself from all the mind games. Learn now not to take this personal and continue to do what God has called you to do, the way He called you to do it.
5) Money will always be a hot button. Whether we have a lot or a little, I am learning that the management of Centerpoint’s finances is always something at the forefront of my mind. We’re still in the early stages of our church plant so we just want to make sure that a) we are budgeting with good stewardship & b) we want to make sure that our budget gets covered. I have several other pastor friends well beyond the planting stages. They have large churches with large budgets & they still want the exact same thing we do. Pray some trustworthy people onto your team who are wise, Godly individuals who understand the vision of the church & the balance between faith & business.
CV
Here are links to my friends churches. Please keep them in your prayers:
This clip was from 2004 when Jay Leno told the world that he would be handing over the reigns of The Tonight Show to Conan O’Brien & wanted to do so in the most honorable, respectable way possible. Nearly 6-years later, I think we all know how that story ended which brings me to explain why this clip is on my blog & how this saga can be contrasted with the way of Jesus.
We now live in a culture where a persons word means little to nothing. Promises are made and then broken by entertainers, athletes, employers, spouses, politicians and yes, even pastors. I would even say that today, many of us have been forced to stop giving people the benefit of the doubt. At the heart of this issue is a ME-mentality. We think little of others and much of ourselves. The way of Jesus is exactly the opposite. His way is that of servanthood, love, respect and truth. The Tonight Show debacle should remind us all that as a culture, we are far from the way of Jesus & to live His way means going against the grain.
It’s been a while since I’ve blogged & it’s been a while because it’s been crazy! Since we last chatted we’ve all started a new year (2010), Centerpoint started a new series (The Art of Elimination), & my wife and I took a lovely trip (VA). Time for some catch-up! Yesterday, I had the unique opportunity to partake of a Centerpoint service as an observer as our Executive Pastor, Matt Kysor, taught. This is the first time I’ve done this since our official launch back in September and it gave me a totally different perspective. Ready, set, GO!!!!!
A church is only as good as it’s leaders & CP has great leaders! I don’t know many church planters that would feel comfortable leaving for a week so early into their launch but you can put me in the minority on this. Every week I’m reminded how capable our leaders are & yesterday was another great example!
Elimination is the key to personal & spiritual growth. This entire series has been focused on eliminating the wrong things in life so we can add the right ones. These teachings have challenged many of our people, myself included, and I believe this series will go down as a defining moment in the history of Centerpoint! Personal growth will almost always equate to corporate growth.
I need a break from Pixelated Images! Yesterday’s topic was all about the amount of media we consume and how it can disconnect us from the significant areas of our lives. Expect a social media fast in my near future
True excellence requires constant re-alignment & change. I realized yesterday how much our weekend gathering has improved since our first service over 4-months ago. We have improved because we constantly talk about how we can make things better and we’re not afraid to say we were wrong and change something that’s not working. I pray we never lose this attitude.
New people smile when they leave. Week after week I see new people come in with reserved looks on their faces & week after week, I see the same people leaving with smiles on their faces. Either they can’t wait to get home or they’re leaving with a sense of love & acceptance they didn’t come in with. I’ll go with option #2.
When you know, you just know. We are on the verge of something incredible at CP. I don’t know what it is and I don’t know when it will happen I just know, and when you know, you just know.
This Sunday at Centerpoint we will reflect on our Top 5 moments of 2009. There is no doubt we have come a long way as a church in the past year. We have grown numerically, financially, & relationally. People have experienced true life change as a result of what God is choosing to do through this church & yet as I spent time looking back, I couldn’t help but think that sometimes, reflecting on the past, even when it’s good, can hold us back from moving forward in the future.
Before I lose you just think about this…
If our past year was riddled with mistakes and failures then of course we want to blast the past and forget it ever happened. We hear people give this advice all the time but what about a past year that was riddled with success? Rarely will someone tell you to blast that! When we make mistakes, we look for alternative solutions and seek better ways of doing things. However when we succeed, we can often find ourselves slipping into complacency. We stop pushing & striving for excellence and as a result minimize how far we can go becoming content with the status quo. In fact I would say it possible that sometimes, success can be our greatest failure.
Am I suggesting that we stop reflecting on our past whether good or bad? No. I’m simply saying that we must see the past as something we can build on instead of something we can live in. As 2010 approaches, whether you’ve had a good year or a bad one, blast the past so it doesn’t become a permanent space you find yourself living in.
This Christmas, more than ever, I believe I truly experienced the joy of giving! Kristyn & I made a commitment this year to spend less on ourselves so we could give more to others. With the gifts we did buy, we committed to making socially conscience purchases whenever we could thus giving back & doing more good through our purchases. Do I say this to boast? Absolutely not. we aren’t perfect & we still got way too much stuff. I am writing this post because I want you to know that I now realize the true joy of giving & want you to experience it as well.
I focused less on myself and more on others this year. I cared more for the least of these & my perspective has been forever changed! As we enter the new year I am challenging myself to continue these practices year round & I would ask you to consider doing the same. We can pray for the world all we want but it’s often what we do for the world that brings change. As a follower of Jesus I want a life where I’m living to give. To give of my love, my time, my presence and yes, even of my money & stuff. If we are living for giving I believe the world can change!
Posted by centerpointchris 
